From c3acf1b243932bb6e4cbf16b0cd0b7ccfaef35a2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jay Amin Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2022 15:03:14 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] First commit --- MiniProject1.ipynb => jamin.ipynb | 0 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-) rename MiniProject1.ipynb => jamin.ipynb (100%) diff --git a/MiniProject1.ipynb b/jamin.ipynb similarity index 100% rename from MiniProject1.ipynb rename to jamin.ipynb From 8e413fccc984252cfb7d554a7e354e32faaaa879 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jay Amin Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2022 19:41:59 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Part 1 and 2 --- .ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb | 382 + jamin.ipynb | 22135 +++++++++++++++++++- 2 files changed, 22490 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-) create mode 100644 .ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb diff --git a/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb b/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0bb6768 --- /dev/null +++ b/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb @@ -0,0 +1,382 @@ +{ + "cells": [ + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "# Written text as operational data\n", + "\n", + "Written text is one type of data\n", + "\n", + "### Why people write?\n", + "\n", + " - To communicate: their thoughts, feelings, urgency, needs, information\n", + "\n", + "### Why people communicate?\n", + "\n", + "1. To express emotions\n", + "1. To share information\n", + "1. To enable or elicit an action\n", + "1. ...\n", + "\n", + "### We will use written text for the purpose other than \n", + "1. To experience emotion\n", + "1. To learn something the author intended us to learn\n", + "1. To do what the author intended us to do\n", + "\n", + "### Instead, we will use written text to recognize who wrote it\n", + " - By calculating and comparing word frequencies in written documents\n", + " \n", + "See, for example, likely fictional story https://medium.com/@amuse/how-the-nsa-caught-satoshi-nakamoto-868affcef595" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "### Example 1. Dictionaries in python (associative arrays)\n", + "\n", + "Plot the frequency distribution of words on a web page." + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 5, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "class=\"menu-item\t54\n", + "\t38\n", + "\t35\n", + "
  • \t28\n", + "\t21\n", + "\t21\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "import requests, re\n", + "# re is a module for regular expressions: to detect various combinations of characters\n", + "import operator\n", + "\n", + "# Start from a simple document\n", + "r = requests .get('http://eecs.utk.edu')\n", + "\n", + "# What comes back includes headers and other HTTP stuff, get just the body of the response\n", + "t = r.text\n", + "\n", + "# obtain words by splitting a string using as separator one or more (+) space/like characters (\\s) \n", + "wds = re.split('\\s+',t)\n", + "\n", + "# now populate a dictionary (wf)\n", + "wf = {}\n", + "for w in wds:\n", + " if w in wf: wf [w] = wf [w] + 1\n", + " else: wf[w] = 1\n", + "\n", + "# dictionaries can not be sorted, so lets get a sorted *list* \n", + "wfs = sorted (wf .items(), key = operator .itemgetter (1), reverse=True) \n", + "\n", + "# lets just have no more than 15 words \n", + "ml = min(len(wfs),15)\n", + "for i in range(1,ml,1):\n", + " print (wfs[i][0]+\"\\t\"+str(wfs[i][1])) " + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "### Example 2\n", + "\n", + "Lots of markup in the output, lets remove it --- \n", + "\n", + "use BeautifulSoup and nltk modules and practice some regular expressions." + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 12, + "metadata": { + "collapsed": true + }, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "import requests, re, nltk\n", + "from bs4 import BeautifulSoup\n", + "from nltk import clean_html\n", + "from collections import Counter\n", + "import operator\n", + "\n", + "# we may not care about the usage of stop words\n", + "stop_words = nltk.corpus.stopwords.words('english') + [\n", + " 'ut', '\\'re','.', ',', '--', '\\'s', '?', ')', '(', ':', '\\'',\n", + " '\\\"', '-', '}', '{', '&', '|', u'\\u2014' ]\n", + "\n", + "# We most likely would like to remove html markup\n", + "def cleanHtml (html):\n", + " from bs4 import BeautifulSoup\n", + " soup = BeautifulSoup(html, 'html.parser')\n", + " return soup .get_text()\n", + "\n", + "# We also want to remove special characters, quotes, etc. from each word\n", + "def cleanWord (w):\n", + " # r in r'[.,\"\\']' tells to treat \\ as a regular character \n", + " # but we need to escape ' with \\'\n", + " # any character between the brackets [] is to be removed \n", + " wn = re.sub('[,\"\\.\\'&\\|:@>*;/=]', \"\", w)\n", + " # get rid of numbers\n", + " return re.sub('^[0-9\\.]*$', \"\", wn)\n", + " \n", + "# define a function to get text/clean/calculate frequency\n", + "def get_wf (URL):\n", + " # first get the web page\n", + " r = requests .get(URL)\n", + " \n", + " # Now clean\n", + " # remove html markup\n", + " t = cleanHtml (r .text) .lower()\n", + " \n", + " # split string into an array of words using any sequence of spaces \"\\s+\" \n", + " wds = re .split('\\s+',t)\n", + " \n", + " # remove periods, commas, etc stuck to the edges of words\n", + " for i in range(len(wds)):\n", + " wds [i] = cleanWord (wds [i])\n", + " \n", + " # If satisfied with results, lets go to the next step: calculate frequencies\n", + " # We can write a loop to create a dictionary, but \n", + " # there is a special function for everything in python\n", + " # in particular for counting frequencies (like function table() in R)\n", + " wf = Counter (wds)\n", + " \n", + " # Remove stop words from the dictionary wf\n", + " for k in stop_words:\n", + " wf. pop(k, None)\n", + " \n", + " #how many regular words in the document?\n", + " tw = 0\n", + " for w in wf:\n", + " tw += wf[w] \n", + " \n", + " \n", + " # Get ordered list\n", + " wfs = sorted (wf .items(), key = operator.itemgetter(1), reverse=True)\n", + " ml = min(len(wfs),15)\n", + "\n", + " #Reverse the list because barh plots items from the bottom\n", + " return (wfs [ 0:ml ] [::-1], tw)\n", + " \n", + "# Now populate two lists \n", + "(wf_ee, tw_ee) = get_wf('http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342.txt.utf-8')\n", + "(wf_bu, tw_bu) = get_wf('http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76.txt.utf-8')" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 14, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "image/png": 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AOHwz8mL809Q/Bz6PY9nT8X0hFwDrwl6XOOdKgEuAjvgnsR8N1rUjSj5j8A8C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+ "text/plain": [ + "" + ] + }, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "display_data" + } + ], + "source": [ + "#Plot the results: are there striking differences in language?\n", + "import numpy as np\n", + "import pylab\n", + "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt\n", + "\n", + "%matplotlib inline\n", + "def plotTwoLists (wf_ee, wf_bu, title):\n", + " f = plt.figure (figsize=(10, 6))\n", + " # this is painfully tedious....\n", + " f .suptitle (title, fontsize=20)\n", + " ax = f.add_subplot(111)\n", + " ax .spines ['top'] .set_color ('none')\n", + " ax .spines ['bottom'] .set_color ('none')\n", + " ax .spines ['left'] .set_color ('none')\n", + " ax .spines ['right'] .set_color ('none')\n", + " ax .tick_params (labelcolor='w', top='off', bottom='off', left='off', right='off', labelsize=20)\n", + "\n", + " # Create two subplots, this is the first one\n", + " ax1 = f .add_subplot (121)\n", + " plt .subplots_adjust (wspace=.5)\n", + "\n", + " pos = np .arange (len(wf_ee)+1) \n", + " ax1 .tick_params (axis='both', which='major', labelsize=14)\n", + " pylab .yticks (pos, [ x [0] for x in wf_ee ])\n", + " ax1 .barh (range(len(wf_ee)), [ x [1] for x in wf_ee ], align='center')\n", + "\n", + " ax2 = f .add_subplot (122)\n", + " ax2 .tick_params (axis='both', which='major', labelsize=14)\n", + " pos = np .arange (len(wf_bu)+1) \n", + " pylab .yticks (pos, [ x [0] for x in wf_bu ])\n", + " ax2 .barh (range (len(wf_bu)), [ x [1] for x in wf_bu ], align='center')\n", + "\n", + "plotTwoLists (wf_ee, wf_bu, 'Difference between Pride and Prejudice and Huck Finn')" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 9, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "and\t2836\n", + "of\t2676\n", + "to\t2646\n", + "a\t2217\n", + "in\t1422\n", + "his\t1205\n", + "he\t928\n", + "that\t920\n", + "was\t823\n", + "for\t798\n", + "with\t797\n", + "as\t672\n", + "I\t505\n", + "you\t497\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "#In case Project gutenberg is blocked you can download text to your laptop and copy to the docker container via scp\n", + "#Assuming the file name you copy is pg4680.txt here is how you change the script\n", + "# Please note the option errors='replace'\n", + "# without it python invariably runs into unicode errors\n", + "f = open ('pg4680.txt', 'r', encoding=\"ascii\", errors='replace')\n", + " \n", + "# What comes back includes headers and other HTTP stuff, get just the body of the response\n", + "t = f.read()\n", + "\n", + "# obtain words by splitting a string using as separator one or more (+) space/like characters (\\s) \n", + "wds = re.split('\\s+',t)\n", + "\n", + "# now populate a dictionary (wf)\n", + "wf = {}\n", + "for w in wds:\n", + " if w in wf: wf [w] = wf [w] + 1\n", + " else: wf [w] = 1\n", + "\n", + "# dictionaries can not be sorted, so lets get a sorted *list* \n", + "wfs = sorted (wf .items(), key = operator .itemgetter (1), reverse=True) \n", + "\n", + "# lets just have no more than 15 words \n", + "ml = min(len(wfs),15)\n", + "for i in range(1,ml,1):\n", + " print (wfs[i][0]+\"\\t\"+str(wfs[i][1])) " + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "# Assignment 1\n", + "\n", + "1. Compare word frequencies between two works of a single author.\n", + "1. Compare word frequencies between works of two authors.\n", + "1. Are there some words preferred by one author but used less frequently by another author?\n", + "\n", + "Extra credit\n", + "\n", + "1. The frequency of a specific word, e.g., \"would\" should follow a binomial distribution (each regular word in a document is a trial and with probability p that word is \"would\". The estimate for p is N(\"would\")/N(regular word)). Do these binomial distributions for your chosen word differ significantly between books of the same author or between authors? \n", + "\n", + "Project Gutenberg is a good source of for fiction and non-fiction.\n", + "\n", + "E.g below are two most popular books from Project Gutenberg:\n", + "- Pride and Prejudice at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342.txt.utf-8\n", + "- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76.txt.utf-8" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 18, + "metadata": { + "collapsed": true + }, + "outputs": [], + "source": [ + "import requests, re, nltk\n", + "#In case your text is not on Project Gutenberg but at some other URL\n", + "#http://www.fullbooks.com/Our-World-or-The-Slaveholders-Daughter2.html\n", + "# that contains 12 parts\n", + "t = \"\"\n", + "for i in range(2,13):\n", + " r = requests .get('http://www.fullbooks.com/Our-World-or-The-Slaveholders-Daughter' + str(i) + '.html')\n", + " t = t + r.text" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": 23, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "text/plain": [ + "1323653" + ] + }, + "execution_count": 23, + "metadata": {}, + "output_type": "execute_result" + } + ], + "source": [ + "len(t)" + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "code", + "execution_count": null, + "metadata": { + "collapsed": true + }, + "outputs": [], + "source": [] + } + ], + "metadata": { + "kernelspec": { + "display_name": "Python 3 (ipykernel)", + "language": "python", + "name": "python3" + }, + "language_info": { + "codemirror_mode": { + "name": "ipython", + "version": 3 + }, + "file_extension": ".py", + "mimetype": "text/x-python", + "name": "python", + "nbconvert_exporter": "python", + "pygments_lexer": "ipython3", + "version": "3.8.10" + } + }, + "nbformat": 4, + "nbformat_minor": 1 +} diff --git a/jamin.ipynb b/jamin.ipynb index 59b489b..fa68c86 100644 --- a/jamin.ipynb +++ b/jamin.ipynb @@ -310,57 +310,22138 @@ "- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76.txt.utf-8" ] }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "1. Single Author review by KEVIN PURDY about to differnt tech products" + ] + }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 18, - "metadata": { - "collapsed": true - }, - "outputs": [], + "execution_count": 16, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "image/png": 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\n", + "text/plain": [ + "
    " + ] + }, + "metadata": { + "needs_background": "light" + }, + "output_type": "display_data" + } + ], "source": [ - "import requests, re, nltk\n", - "#In case your text is not on Project Gutenberg but at some other URL\n", - "#http://www.fullbooks.com/Our-World-or-The-Slaveholders-Daughter2.html\n", - "# that contains 12 parts\n", - "t = \"\"\n", - "for i in range(2,13):\n", - " r = requests .get('http://www.fullbooks.com/Our-World-or-The-Slaveholders-Daughter' + str(i) + '.html')\n", - " t = t + r.text" + "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt \n", + "import requests, re\n", + "from bs4 import BeautifulSoup\n", + "from collections import Counter\n", + "\n", + "\n", + "def main():\n", + " common_words = {\n", + " \"with\": 0, \"the\": 0, \"a\": 0,\"for\": 0,\".\\n\": 0,\".\": 0,\"it\": 0,\"is\": 0, \"on\": 0,\"of\": 0,\"to\": 0,\"and\": 0,\"an\": 0,\"which\": 0,\"it's\": 0,\"when\": 0,\"can\": 0,\"will\": 0,\"are\": 0,\"|\" : 0,\"as\": 0,\"this\": 0,\"that\": 0,\"has\": 0,\"or\": 0,\"·\": 0,\"be\": 0,\"gm\": 0,\"you\": 0,\"we\": 0,\"by\": 0\n", + " }\n", + " all_Art = ['https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/09/iphone-14-battery-replacement-costs-quietly-rise-to-99/',\n", + " 'https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/apple-watch-pro-rumored-to-have-new-bands-price-close-to-1000/']\n", + " all_words = [] \n", + " \n", + " for book in all_Art:\n", + " r = requests.get(book)\n", + " soup = BeautifulSoup(r.text, 'html.parser')\n", + " text = soup.get_text().lower()\n", + " words = re.split('\\s+', text)\n", + "\n", + " for i in range(len(words)):\n", + " words[i] = words[i].strip()\n", + " finalWords = [word for word in words if word not in common_words]\n", + " \n", + " all_words.append(finalWords)\n", + " freqs = []\n", + " for i in range(len(all_words)):\n", + " c = Counter(all_words[i])\n", + " freqs.append(c)\n", + " \n", + " make_graph(freqs[0].most_common(25), freqs[1].most_common(25))\n", + "\n", + "def make_graph(article1, article2):\n", + " \n", + " fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10,5))\n", + " ax1.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article1], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article1], color='blue')\n", + " ax2.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article2], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article2], color='red')\n", + " ax1.set_title('IPhone 14')\n", + " ax2.set_title('Apple Watch') \n", + " ax1.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " ax2.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " plt.show()\n", + "\n", + "if __name__ == \"__main__\":\n", + " main()\n", + " " + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "1. Word Frequency between 2 authors" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 23, + "execution_count": 17, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { "data": { + "image/png": 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\n", 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    " ] }, - "execution_count": 23, - "metadata": {}, - "output_type": "execute_result" + "metadata": { + "needs_background": "light" + }, + "output_type": "display_data" } ], "source": [ - "len(t)" + "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt \n", + "import requests, re\n", + "from bs4 import BeautifulSoup\n", + "from collections import Counter\n", + "\n", + "\n", + "def main():\n", + " common_words = {\n", + " \"with\": 0, \"the\": 0, \"a\": 0,\"for\": 0,\".\\n\": 0,\".\": 0,\"it\": 0,\"is\": 0, \"on\": 0,\"of\": 0,\"to\": 0,\"and\": 0,\"an\": 0,\"which\": 0,\"it's\": 0,\"when\": 0,\"can\": 0,\"will\": 0,\"are\": 0,\"|\" : 0,\"as\": 0,\"this\": 0,\"that\": 0,\"has\": 0,\"or\": 0,\"·\": 0,\"be\": 0,\"gm\": 0,\"you\": 0,\"we\": 0,\"by\": 0\n", + " }\n", + " all_Art = ['https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/13/apple-watch-ultra-76-larger-battery/',\n", + " 'https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/apple-watch-pro-rumored-to-have-new-bands-price-close-to-1000/']\n", + " all_words = [] \n", + " \n", + " for book in all_Art:\n", + " r = requests.get(book)\n", + " soup = BeautifulSoup(r.text, 'html.parser')\n", + " text = soup.get_text().lower()\n", + " words = re.split('\\s+', text)\n", + "\n", + " for i in range(len(words)):\n", + " words[i] = words[i].strip()\n", + " finalWords = [word for word in words if word not in common_words]\n", + " \n", + " all_words.append(finalWords)\n", + " freqs = []\n", + " for i in range(len(all_words)):\n", + " c = Counter(all_words[i])\n", + " freqs.append(c)\n", + " \n", + " make_graph(freqs[0].most_common(25), freqs[1].most_common(25))\n", + "\n", + "def make_graph(article1, article2):\n", + " \n", + " fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10,5))\n", + " ax1.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article1], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article1], color='blue')\n", + " ax2.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article2], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article2], color='red')\n", + " ax1.set_title('IPhone 14')\n", + " ax2.set_title('Apple Watch') \n", + " ax1.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " ax2.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " plt.show()\n", + "\n", + "if __name__ == \"__main__\":\n", + " main()\n", + " " ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": null, - "metadata": { - "collapsed": true - }, - "outputs": [], - "source": [] + "execution_count": 5, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "name": "stdout", + "output_type": "stream", + "text": [ + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 2/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "

    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "

    Part 2 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Passing to the cabin of Ellen Juvarna, we see her in the same
    \r\n", + "confusion which seems to have beset the plantation: her dark,
    \r\n", + "piercing eyes, display more of that melancholy which marks
    \r\n", + "Clotilda's; nor does thoughtfulness pervade her countenance, and yet
    \r\n", + "there is the restlessness of an Indian about her,--she is Indian by
    \r\n", + "blood and birth; her look calls up all the sad associations of her
    \r\n", + "forefathers; her black glossy hair, in heavy folds, hangs carelessly
    \r\n", + "about her olive shoulders, contrasting strangely with the other.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And you, Nicholas! remember what your father will say: but you must
    \r\n", + "not call him such,\" she says, taking by the hand a child we have
    \r\n", + "described, who is impatient to join the gay group.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That ain't no harm, mother! Father always is fondling about me when
    \r\n", + "nobody's lookin',\" the child answers, with a pertness indicating a
    \r\n", + "knowledge of his parentage rather in advance of his years.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We pass to the kitchen,--a little, dingy cabin, presenting the most
    \r\n", + "indescribable portion of the scene, the smoke issuing from every
    \r\n", + "crevice. Here old Peggy, the cook,--an enveloped representative of
    \r\n", + "smoke and grease,--as if emerging from the regions of Vulcan, moves
    \r\n", + "her fat sides with the independence of a sovereign. In this
    \r\n", + "miniature smoke-pit she sweats and frets, runs to the door every few
    \r\n", + "minutes, adjusts the points of her flashy bandana, and takes a
    \r\n", + "wistful look at the movements without. Sal, Suke, Rose, and Beck,
    \r\n", + "young members of Peggy's family, are working at the top of their
    \r\n", + "energy among stew-pans, griddles, pots and pails, baskets, bottles
    \r\n", + "and jugs. Wafs, fritters, donjohns and hominy flap-jacks, fine
    \r\n", + "doused hams, savoury meats, ices, and fruit-cakes, are being
    \r\n", + "prepared and packed up for the occasion. Negro faces of every shade
    \r\n", + "seem full of interest and freshness, newly brightened for the
    \r\n", + "pleasures of the day. Now and then broke upon our ear that plaintive
    \r\n", + "melody with the words, \"Down on the Old Plantation;\" and again, \"Jim
    \r\n", + "crack corn, an' I don't care, for Mas'r's gone away.\" Then came Aunt
    \r\n", + "Rachel, always persisting in her right to be master of ceremonies,
    \r\n", + "dressed in her Sunday bombazine, puffed and flounced, her gingham
    \r\n", + "apron so clean, her head \"did up\" with the flashiest bandana in her
    \r\n", + "wardrobe; it's just the colour for her taste-real yellow, red, and
    \r\n", + "blue, tied with that knot which is the height of plantation toilet:
    \r\n", + "there is as little restraint in her familiarity with the gentry of
    \r\n", + "the mansion as there is in her control over the denizens of the
    \r\n", + "kitchen. Even Dandy and Enoch, dressed in their best black coats,
    \r\n", + "white pantaloons, ruffled shirts, with collars endangering their
    \r\n", + "ears, hair crisped with an extra nicety, stand aside at her bidding.
    \r\n", + "The height of her ambition is to direct the affairs of the mansion:
    \r\n", + "sometimes she extends it to the overseer. The trait is amiably
    \r\n", + "exercised: she is the best nigger on the plantation, and Marston
    \r\n", + "allows her to indulge her feelings, while his guests laugh at her
    \r\n", + "native pomposity, so generously carried out in all her commands. She
    \r\n", + "is preparing an elegant breakfast, which \"her friends\" must partake
    \r\n", + "of before starting. Everything must be in her nicest: she runs from
    \r\n", + "the ante-room to the hall, and from thence to the yard, gathering
    \r\n", + "plates and dishes; she hurries Old Peggy the cook, and again scolds
    \r\n", + "the waiters.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daddy Bob and Harry have come into the yard to ask Marston's
    \r\n", + "permission to join the party as boatmen. They are in Aunt Rachel's
    \r\n", + "way, and she rushes past them, pushing them aside, and calling Mas'r
    \r\n", + "to come and attend to their wants. Marston comes forward, greets
    \r\n", + "them with a familiar shake of the hand, granting their request
    \r\n", + "without further ceremony. Breakfast is ready; but, anxious for the
    \r\n", + "amusement of the day, their appetites are despoiled. Franconia, more
    \r\n", + "lovely than ever, presenting that ease, elegance, and reserve of the
    \r\n", + "southern lady, makes her appearance in the hall, is escorted to the
    \r\n", + "table leaning on the arm of Maxwell. Delicacy, sensitiveness,
    \r\n", + "womanly character full of genial goodness, are traits with which the
    \r\n", + "true southern lady is blessed:--would she were blessed with another,
    \r\n", + "an energy to work for the good of the enslaved! Could she add that
    \r\n", + "to the poetry of her nature, how much greater would be her charm-how
    \r\n", + "much more fascinating that quiet current of thought with which she
    \r\n", + "seems blessed! There is a gentleness in her impulses--a pensiveness
    \r\n", + "in her smile--a softness in her emotions--a grace in her movements--an
    \r\n", + "ardent soul in her love! She is gay and lightsome in her youth; she
    \r\n", + "values her beauty, is capricious with her admirers, and yet becomes
    \r\n", + "the most affectionate mother; she can level her frowns, play with
    \r\n", + "the feelings, make her mercurial sympathy touching, knows the power
    \r\n", + "of her smiles: but once her feelings are enlisted, she is sincere
    \r\n", + "and ardent in her responses. If she cannot boast of the bright
    \r\n", + "carnatic cheek, she can swell the painter's ideal with her fine
    \r\n", + "features, her classic face, the glow of her impassioned eyes. But
    \r\n", + "she seldom carries this fresh picture into the ordinary years of
    \r\n", + "womanhood: the bloom enlivening her face is but transient; she loses
    \r\n", + "the freshness of girlhood, and in riper years, fades like a
    \r\n", + "sensitive flower, withering, unhappy with herself, unadmired by
    \r\n", + "others.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia sat at the table, a pensiveness pervading her countenance
    \r\n", + "that bespoke melancholy: as she glanced inquiringly round, her eyes
    \r\n", + "rested upon Lorenzo fixedly, as if she detected something in his
    \r\n", + "manner at variance with his natural deportment. She addressed him;
    \r\n", + "but his cold reply only excited her more: she resolved upon knowing
    \r\n", + "the cause ere they embarked. Breakfast was scarcely over before the
    \r\n", + "guests of the party from the neighbouring plantations began to
    \r\n", + "assemble in the veranda, leaving their servants in charge of the
    \r\n", + "viands grouped together upon the grass, under a clump of oaks a few
    \r\n", + "rods from the mansion. Soon the merry-makers, about forty in number,
    \r\n", + "old and young, their servants following, repaired to the landing,
    \r\n", + "where a long barge, surrounded by brakes and water-lilies, presented
    \r\n", + "another picture.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Him all straight, Mas'r-him all straight, jus so!\" said Daddy Bob,
    \r\n", + "as he strode off ahead, singing \"Dis is de way to de jim crack
    \r\n", + "corn.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Servants of all ages and colour, mammies and daddies, young 'uns and
    \r\n", + "prime fellows,--\"wenches\" that had just become hand-maids,--brought
    \r\n", + "up the train, dancing, singing, hopping, laughing, and sporting:
    \r\n", + "some discuss the looks of their young mistresses, others are
    \r\n", + "criticising their dress. Arrived at the landing, Daddy Bob and
    \r\n", + "Harry, full of cares, are hurrying several prime fellows, giving
    \r\n", + "orders to subordinate boatmen about getting the substantial on
    \r\n", + "board,--the baskets of champagne, the demijohns, the sparkling
    \r\n", + "nectar. The young beaux and belles, mingling with their dark sons
    \r\n", + "and daughters of servitude, present a motley group indeed-a scene
    \r\n", + "from which the different issues of southern life may be faithfully
    \r\n", + "drawn.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A band of five musicians, engaged to enliven the sports of the day
    \r\n", + "with their music, announce, \"All on board!\" and give the signal for
    \r\n", + "starting by striking up \"Life on the Ocean Wave.\" Away they speed,
    \r\n", + "drawn by horses on the bank, amidst the waving of handkerchiefs, the
    \r\n", + "soft notes of the music reverberating over the pine-clad hills.
    \r\n", + "Smoothly and gently, onward they speed upon the still bosom of the
    \r\n", + "Ashly;-the deep, dark stream, its banks bedecked with blossoms and
    \r\n", + "richest verdure, is indeed enough to excite the romantic of one's
    \r\n", + "nature. Wild, yet serene with rural beauty, if ever sensations of
    \r\n", + "love steal upon us, it is while mingling in the simple
    \r\n", + "convivialities so expressive of southern life. On, on, the barge
    \r\n", + "moved, as lovers gathered together, the music dancing upon the
    \r\n", + "waters. Another party sing the waterman's merry song, still another
    \r\n", + "trail for lilies, and a third gather into the prow to test champagne
    \r\n", + "and ice, or regale with choice Havannas. Marston, and a few of the
    \r\n", + "older members, seated at midships, discuss the all-absorbing
    \r\n", + "question of State-rights; while the negroes are as merry as larks in
    \r\n", + "May, their deep jargon sounding high above the clarion notes of the
    \r\n", + "music. Now it subsides into stillness, broken only by the splashing
    \r\n", + "of an alligator, whose sports call forth a rapturous shout.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After some three hours' sailing the barge nears a jut of rising
    \r\n", + "ground on the left bank. Close by it is a grove of noble old pines,
    \r\n", + "in the centre of which stands a dilapidated brick building, deserted
    \r\n", + "for some cause not set forth on the door: it is a pretty, shaded
    \r\n", + "retreat-a spot breathing of romance. To the right are broad lagoons
    \r\n", + "stretching far into the distance; their dark waters, beneath thick
    \r\n", + "cypress, presenting the appearance of an inundated grove. The
    \r\n", + "cypress-trees hang their tufted tops over the water's surface,
    \r\n", + "opening an area beneath studded with their trunks, like rude columns
    \r\n", + "supporting a panoply of foliage.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The barge stops, the party land; the shrill music, still dancing
    \r\n", + "through the thick forest, re-echoes in soft chimes as it steals
    \r\n", + "back upon the scene. Another minute, and we hear the voices of Daddy
    \r\n", + "Bob and Harry, Dandy and Enoch: they are exchanging merry laughs,
    \r\n", + "shouting in great good-nature, directing the smaller fry, who are
    \r\n", + "fagging away at the larder, sucking the ice, and pocketing the
    \r\n", + "lemons. \"Dat ain't just straight, nohow: got de tings ashore, an' ye
    \r\n", + "get 'e share whin de white folk done! Don' make 'e nigger ob
    \r\n", + "yourse'f, now, old Boss, doing the ting up so nice,\" Daddy says,
    \r\n", + "frowning on his minions. A vanguard have proceeded in advance to
    \r\n", + "take possession of the deserted house; while Aunt Rachel, with her
    \r\n", + "cort�ge of feminines, is fussing over \"young missus.\" Here, a group
    \r\n", + "are adjusting their sun-shades; there, another are preparing their
    \r\n", + "fans and nets. Then they follow the train, Clotilda and Ellen
    \r\n", + "leading their young representatives by the hand, bringing up the
    \r\n", + "rear among a cluster of smaller fry. Taking peaceable possession of
    \r\n", + "the house, they commence to clear the rooms, the back ones being
    \r\n", + "reserved for the sumptuous collation which Rachel and her juniors
    \r\n", + "are preparing. The musicians are mustered,--the young belles and
    \r\n", + "beaux, and not a few old bachelors, gather into the front room,
    \r\n", + "commence the f�tes with country dances, and conclude with the polka
    \r\n", + "and schottische.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Rachel's department presents a bustling picture; she is master of
    \r\n", + "ceremonies, making her sombre minions move at her bidding, adjusting
    \r\n", + "the various dishes upon the table. None, not even the most favoured
    \r\n", + "guests, dare intrude themselves into her apartments until she
    \r\n", + "announces the completion of her tables, her readiness to receive
    \r\n", + "friends. And yet, amidst all this interest of character, this happy
    \r\n", + "pleasantry, this seeming contentment, there is one group pauses ere
    \r\n", + "it arrives at the house,--dare not enter. The distinction seems
    \r\n", + "undefinable to us; but they, poor wretches, feel it deeply. Shame
    \r\n", + "rankles deep, to their very heart's core. They doubt their position,
    \r\n", + "hesitate at the door, and, after several nervous attempts to enter,
    \r\n", + "fall back,--gather round a pine-tree, where they enjoy the day,
    \r\n", + "separated from the rest. There is a simplicity-a forlornness, about
    \r\n", + "this little group, which attracts our attention, excites our
    \r\n", + "sympathies, unbends our curiosity: we would relieve the burden it
    \r\n", + "labours under. They are Ellen Juvarna, Clotilda, and their children.
    \r\n", + "Socially, they are disowned; they are not allowed to join the
    \r\n", + "festivities with those in the dance, and their feelings revolt at
    \r\n", + "being compelled to associate with the negroes. They are as white as
    \r\n", + "many of the whitest, have the same outlines of interest upon their
    \r\n", + "faces; but their lives are sealed with the black seal of slavery.
    \r\n", + "Sensible of the injustice that has stripped them of their rights,
    \r\n", + "they value their whiteness; the blood of birth tinges their face,
    \r\n", + "and through it they find themselves mere dregs of human
    \r\n", + "kind,--objects of sensualism in its vilest associations.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Maxwell has taken a deep interest in Clotilda; and the solicitude
    \r\n", + "she manifests for her child has drawn him still further in her
    \r\n", + "favour; he is determined to solve the mystery that shrouds her
    \r\n", + "history. Drawing near to them, he seats himself upon the ground at
    \r\n", + "their side, inquires why they did not come into the house. \"There's
    \r\n", + "no place there for us,--none for me,\" Clotilda modestly replies,
    \r\n", + "holding down her head, placing her arm around Annette's waist.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You would enjoy it much better, and there is no restraint upon
    \r\n", + "anyone.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We know not why the day was not for us to enjoy as well as others;
    \r\n", + "but it is ordained so. Where life is a dreary pain, pleasure is no
    \r\n", + "recompense for disgrace enforced upon us. They tell us we are not
    \r\n", + "what God made us to be; but it is the worst torture to be told so.
    \r\n", + "There is nothing in it-it is the curse only that remains to enforce
    \r\n", + "wrong. Those who have gifts to enjoy life, and those who move to
    \r\n", + "make others happy, can enjoy their separate pleasures; our lives are
    \r\n", + "between the two, hence there is little pleasure for us,\" she
    \r\n", + "answered, her eyes moistening with tears.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If you will but come with me-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, I will go anywhere,\" she rejoined, quickly; \"anywhere from
    \r\n", + "this; that I may know who I am-may bear my child with me-may lead a
    \r\n", + "virtuous life, instead of suffering the pangs of shame through a
    \r\n", + "life of unholy trouble.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"She never knows when she's well off. If Marston was to hear her
    \r\n", + "talk in that way, I wouldn't stand in her shoes,\" interrupted Ellen,
    \r\n", + "with a significant air.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Touched by this anxious reply, Maxwell determined to know more of
    \r\n", + "her feelings-to solve the anxiety that was hanging upon her mind,
    \r\n", + "and, if possible, to carry her beyond the power that held her and
    \r\n", + "her child in such an uncertain position.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I meant into the house,\" said he, observing that Ellen was not
    \r\n", + "inclined to favour Clotilda's feelings; and just at that moment the
    \r\n", + "shrill sounds of a bugle summoned the party to the collation. Here
    \r\n", + "another scene was enacted, which is beyond the power of pen to
    \r\n", + "describe. The tables, decorated with wild flowers, were spread with
    \r\n", + "meats of all descriptions,--fowl, game, pastry, and fruit, wines, and
    \r\n", + "cool drinks. Faces wearing the blandest smiles, grave matrons, and
    \r\n", + "cheerful planters,--all dressed in rustic style and neatness-gathered
    \r\n", + "around to partake of the feast, while servants were running hither
    \r\n", + "and thither to serve mas'r and missus with the choicest bits.
    \r\n", + "Toasts, compliments, and piquant squibs, follow the wine-cup. Then
    \r\n", + "came that picture of southern life which would be more worthy of
    \r\n", + "praise if it were carried out in the purity of motive:--as soon as
    \r\n", + "the party had finished, the older members, in their turn, set about
    \r\n", + "preparing a repast for the servants. This seemed to elate the
    \r\n", + "negroes, who sat down to their meal with great pomp, and were not
    \r\n", + "restrained in the free use of the choicest beverage. While this was
    \r\n", + "going on, Marston ordered Rachel to prepare fruit and pastry for
    \r\n", + "Ellen and Clotilda. \"See to them; and they must have wine too,\"
    \r\n", + "whispered Marston.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I know's dat, old Boss,\" returned Rachel, with a knowing wink.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After the collation, the party divided into different sections. Some
    \r\n", + "enjoyed the dance, others strolled through the pine-grove,
    \r\n", + "whispering tales of love. Anglers repaired to the deep pond in quest
    \r\n", + "of trout, but more likely to find water-snakes and snapping turtles.
    \r\n", + "Far in the distance, on the right, moving like fairy gondolas
    \r\n", + "through the cypress-covered lagoon, little barks skim the dark
    \r\n", + "surface. They move like spectres, carrying their fair freight,
    \r\n", + "fanned by the gentle breeze pregnant with the magnolia' sweet
    \r\n", + "perfume. The fair ones in those tiny barks are fishing; they move
    \r\n", + "from tree to tree trailing their lines to tempt the finny tribe
    \r\n", + "here, and there breaking the surface with their gambols.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Lorenzo, as we have before informed the reader, exhibited signs of
    \r\n", + "melancholy during the day. So evident were they that Franconia's
    \r\n", + "sympathies became enlisted in his behalf, and even carried so far,
    \r\n", + "that Maxwell mistook her manner for indifference toward himself.
    \r\n", + "And, as if to confirm his apprehensions, no sooner had the collation
    \r\n", + "ended than she took Lorenzo's arm and retired to the remains of an
    \r\n", + "old mill, a few rods above the landing. It was a quiet, sequestered
    \r\n", + "spot-just such an one as would inspire the emotions of a sensitive
    \r\n", + "heart, recall the associations of childhood, and give life to our
    \r\n", + "pent-up enthusiasm. There they seated themselves, the one waiting
    \r\n", + "for the other to speak.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Tell me, Lorenzo,\" said Franconia, laying her hand on his arm, and
    \r\n", + "watching with nervous anxiety each change of his countenance, \"why
    \r\n", + "are you not joyous? you are gloomy to-day. I speak as a sister-you
    \r\n", + "are nervous, faltering with trouble-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Trouble!\" he interrupted, raising his eyes, and accompanying an
    \r\n", + "affected indifference with a sigh. It is something he hesitates to
    \r\n", + "disclose. He has erred! his heart speaks, it is high-handed crime!
    \r\n", + "He looks upon her affectionately, a forced smile spreads itself over
    \r\n", + "his face. How forcibly it tells its tale. \"Speak out,\" she
    \r\n", + "continues, tremulously: \"I am a sister; a sister cannot betray a
    \r\n", + "brother's secrets.\" She removes her hand and lays it gently upon his
    \r\n", + "shoulder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Looking imploringly in her face for a few minutes, he replies as if
    \r\n", + "it were an effort of great magnitude. \"Something you must not
    \r\n", + "know-nor must the world! Many things are buried in the secrets of
    \r\n", + "time that would make great commotion if the world knew them. It were
    \r\n", + "well they passed unknown, for the world is like a great stream with
    \r\n", + "a surface of busy life moving on its way above a troubled current,
    \r\n", + "lashing and foaming beneath, but only breaking here and there as if
    \r\n", + "to mark the smothered conflict. And yet with me it is nothing, a
    \r\n", + "moment of disappointment creeping into my contemplations,
    \r\n", + "transplanting them with melancholy-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Something more!\" interrupted Franconia, \"something more; it is a
    \r\n", + "step beyond melancholy, more than disappointment. Uncle feels it
    \r\n", + "sensibly-it pains him, it wears upon him. I have seen it foremost in
    \r\n", + "his thoughts.\" Her anxiety increases, her soft meaning eyes look
    \r\n", + "upon him imploringly, she fondles him with a sister's tenderness,
    \r\n", + "the tears trickling down her cheeks as she beholds him downcast and
    \r\n", + "in sorrow. His reluctance to disclose the secret becomes more
    \r\n", + "painful to her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You may know it soon enough,\" he replies. \"I have erred, and my
    \r\n", + "errors have brought me to a sad brink. My friends-those who have
    \r\n", + "indulged my follies-have quickened the canker that will destroy
    \r\n", + "themselves. Indulgence too often hastens the cup of sorrow, and when
    \r\n", + "it poisons most, we are least conscious. It is an alluring charmer,
    \r\n", + "betraying in the gayest livery-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Lorenzo,\" she interrupts, wiping the tears from her eyes. \"Tell me
    \r\n", + "all; remember woman's influence-she can relieve others when she
    \r\n", + "cannot relieve herself. Make me your confidant--relieve your
    \r\n", + "feelings.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"This night, Franconia, I shall bid a painful good-bye to those
    \r\n", + "familiar scenes which have surrounded my life,--to you, my sister, to
    \r\n", + "those faithful old friends of the plantation, Daddy Bob and Harry.
    \r\n", + "They have fondled me, protected me, played with me in my childhood,
    \r\n", + "led me to my boyish sports when all was bright and pleasant, when
    \r\n", + "the plantation had its merry scenes for slave and master. I must go
    \r\n", + "upon the world, mingle with strange life, make experience my
    \r\n", + "guardian. I have committed a crime-one which for ever disgraces the
    \r\n", + "honourable-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Crime, crime, crime! weighed itself in her mind. \"And what of that?\"
    \r\n", + "she rejoined, suddenly; \"a sister can forgive a brother any crime;
    \r\n", + "and even a lover, if she love truly, can forget them in her
    \r\n", + "affections. Do not go upon the world; be a man above crime, above
    \r\n", + "the bar of scandal. Have confidence in yourself; do not let the
    \r\n", + "injustice overcome you. Once on the world a wanderer, remember the
    \r\n", + "untold tale of misery, speeding its victims to that death of
    \r\n", + "conscience burning unseen.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nay, Franconia, you mean well; but you have not learned the world.
    \r\n", + "Take this as my advice, remember it when I am gone, and in years to
    \r\n", + "come you will acknowledge its truth--Fortune at the south rests on
    \r\n", + "an unsound foundation! We are lofty in feelings, but poor in
    \r\n", + "principle, poor in government,--poor in that which has built our
    \r\n", + "great republic. Uncertainty hangs over us at every step; but,
    \r\n", + "whatever befall you, stand firm through adversity. Never chide
    \r\n", + "others for the evils that may befall you; bear your burdens without
    \r\n", + "casting reflections on others,--it is nobler! Befriend those who have
    \r\n", + "no power to befriend themselves; and when the world forgets you, do
    \r\n", + "not forget yourself. There is no step of return for those who falter
    \r\n", + "in poverty. To-night I shall leave for the city; in a few days you
    \r\n", + "will know all.\" Thus saying, he conducted Franconia back to rejoin
    \r\n", + "the party, already making preparations to return.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He gave her an insight of his troubles, in such a manner as to
    \r\n", + "create deep agitation; and, although satisfied that an event of more
    \r\n", + "than ordinary magnitude was at hand, she could not associate it with
    \r\n", + "the commission of crime. The day, spent with all the conviviality of
    \r\n", + "southern life, ended amidst the clang of merry voices, and soft
    \r\n", + "music: a gay group assembled at the bank, ready to return under the
    \r\n", + "cheering influence of music and moonlight.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The bugle sounded,--the soft notes of \"Home, sweet Home!\" followed:
    \r\n", + "the party, forming into double file, gay and grotesque, marched
    \r\n", + "through the grove to the barge. Servants, old and young, were in
    \r\n", + "high glee; some joining in chorus with the music; some preparing the
    \r\n", + "barge, others strewing branches and flowers in the pathway, to the
    \r\n", + "delight of young \"mas'r\" and \"missus,\"-all singing. Aunt Rachel,
    \r\n", + "high above her minions in authority, is poised on the bank, giving
    \r\n", + "directions at the very top of her voice. Daddy Bob, Harry, and
    \r\n", + "Dandy-the latter named after \"mas'r's\" fleetest horse-are freighting
    \r\n", + "their young \"missusses\" in their arms to the boat, shielding their
    \r\n", + "feet from the damp.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, mas'r, Old Boss,\" Bob says, directing himself to Marston,
    \r\n", + "after completing his charge with the young ladies, \"Jus' lef' 'um
    \r\n", + "tote, old mas'r safe da'? So 'e don' mus e' foot.\" And forthwith he
    \r\n", + "shoulders Marston, lands him like a bale of cotton on one of the
    \r\n", + "seats, much to the amusement of those on board, sending forth shouts
    \r\n", + "of applause. The party are on board; all is quiet for a minute;
    \r\n", + "again the music strikes up, the barge is gliding over the still
    \r\n", + "bosom of the fairy-like stream.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sun has just sunk into a fiery cloud that hangs its crimson
    \r\n", + "curtains high in the heavens, shedding refulgent beauty over the
    \r\n", + "dark jungle lining the river's banks. And then, twilight, as if
    \r\n", + "stealing its way across the hills, follows, softening the scene.
    \r\n", + "Soon it has gone, the landscape sleeps, tranquilly arched by the
    \r\n", + "serene vault of a southern sky. Everything seems peaceful, reposing,
    \r\n", + "and serene; the air breathes warm and balmy, distributing its
    \r\n", + "invigorating influence. The music has ceased, nothing but the ripple
    \r\n", + "of the water is heard; then the stars, like pearls suspended over
    \r\n", + "the dark surface, begin to glimmer and shine. Above all is the moon,
    \r\n", + "like a silver goddess, rising stealthily and shedding her pale light
    \r\n", + "upon the calm glow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Onward, onward, onward, over the still stream, winding its way to
    \r\n", + "the great deep, they move; and again the music echoes and re-echoes
    \r\n", + "through the forest, over the lawn; dying away in chimes that faintly
    \r\n", + "play around us. The sudden changes in the heavens,--monitor of things
    \r\n", + "divine,--call up in Lorenzo's feelings the reverses of fortune that
    \r\n", + "will soon take place on the plantation. He had never before
    \r\n", + "recognised the lesson conveyed by heavenly bodies; and such was the
    \r\n", + "effect at that moment that it proved a guardian to him in his future
    \r\n", + "career.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It was near midnight when the barge reached the plantation. Fires
    \r\n", + "were lighted on the bank, negroes were here and there stretched upon
    \r\n", + "the ground, sleeping with such superlative comfort that it landed
    \r\n", + "ere they awoke. One by one the parties returned for their homes;
    \r\n", + "and, after shaking hands with Marston, taking an affectionate adieu
    \r\n", + "of Franconia (telling her he would call on the morrow), lisping a
    \r\n", + "kind word to the old negroes, Lorenzo ordered a horse, and left for
    \r\n", + "the city. He took leave of the plantation, of its dearest
    \r\n", + "associations, like one who had the conflict of battle before him,
    \r\n", + "and the light of friendship behind.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER VI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ANOTHER SCENE IN SOUTHERN LIFE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN the city, a few miles from the plantation, a scene which too
    \r\n", + "often affords those degrading pictures that disgrace a free and
    \r\n", + "happy country, was being enacted. A low brick building, standing in
    \r\n", + "an area protected by a high fence, surmounted with spikes and other
    \r\n", + "dangerous projectiles, formed the place. The upper and lower windows
    \r\n", + "of this building were strongly secured with iron gratings, and
    \r\n", + "emitted the morbid air from cells scarcely large enough to contain
    \r\n", + "human beings of ordinary size. In the rear, a sort of triangular
    \r\n", + "area opened, along which was a line of low buildings, displaying
    \r\n", + "single and double cells. Some had iron rings in the floor; some had
    \r\n", + "rings in the walls; and, again, others had rings over head. Some of
    \r\n", + "these confines of misery-for here men's souls were goaded by the
    \r\n", + "avarice of our natures-were solitary; and at night, when the turmoil
    \r\n", + "of the day had ceased, human wailings and the clank of chains might
    \r\n", + "be heard breaking through the walls of this charnel-house. These
    \r\n", + "narrow confines were filled with living beings-beings with souls,
    \r\n", + "souls sold according to the privileges of a free and happy
    \r\n", + "country,--a country that fills us with admiration of its greatness.
    \r\n", + "It is here, O man, the tyrant sways his hand most! it is here the
    \r\n", + "flesh and blood of the same Maker, in chains of death, yearns for
    \r\n", + "freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We walk through the corridor, between narrow arches containing the
    \r\n", + "abodes of misery, while our ears drink the sad melancholy that
    \r\n", + "sounds in agitated throbs, made painful by the gloom and darkness.
    \r\n", + "Touching an iron latch, the door of a cell opens, cold and damp, as
    \r\n", + "if death sat upon its walls; but it discloses no part of the
    \r\n", + "inmate's person, and excites our sympathies still more. We know the
    \r\n", + "unfortunate is there,--we hear the murmuring, like a death-bell in
    \r\n", + "our ears; it is mingled with a dismal chaos of sound, piercing deep
    \r\n", + "into our feelings. It tells us in terror how gold blasts the very
    \r\n", + "soul of man-what a dark monster of cruelty he can become,--how he can
    \r\n", + "forget the grave, and think only of his living self,--how he can
    \r\n", + "strip reason of its right, making himself an animal with man for his
    \r\n", + "food. See the monster seeking only for the things that can serve him
    \r\n", + "on earth-see him stripping man of his best birth-right, see him the
    \r\n", + "raving fiend, unconscious of his hell-born practices, dissevering
    \r\n", + "the hope that by a fibre hangs over the ruins of those beings who
    \r\n", + "will stand in judgment against him. His soul, like their faces, will
    \r\n", + "be black, when theirs has been whitened for judgment in the world to
    \r\n", + "come!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ascending a few steps, leading into a centre building-where the
    \r\n", + "slave merchant is polished into respectability-we enter a small room
    \r\n", + "at the right hand. Several men, some having the appearance of
    \r\n", + "respectable merchants, some dressed in a coarse, red-mixed homespun,
    \r\n", + "others smoking cigars very leisurely, are seated at a table, upon
    \r\n", + "which are several bottles and tumblers. They drank every few
    \r\n", + "minutes, touched glasses, uttered the vilest imprecations.
    \r\n", + "Conspicuous among them is Marco Graspum: it is enough that we have
    \r\n", + "before introduced him to the reader at Marston's mansion. His dark
    \r\n", + "peering eyes glisten as he sits holding a glass of liquor in one
    \r\n", + "hand, and runs his fingers through his bristly hair with the other.
    \r\n", + "\"The depths of trade are beyond some men,\" he says, striking his
    \r\n", + "hand on the table; then, catching up a paper, tears it into pieces.
    \r\n", + "\"Only follow my directions; and there can be no missing your man,\"
    \r\n", + "he continued, addressing one who sat opposite to him; and who up to
    \r\n", + "that time had been puffing his cigar with great unconcern. His whole
    \r\n", + "energies seemed roused to action at the word. After keeping his eyes
    \r\n", + "fixed upon Graspum for more than a minute, he replied, at the same
    \r\n", + "time replenishing his cigar with a fresh one--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yee'h sees, Marco,--you'r just got to take that ar' say back, or
    \r\n", + "stand an all-fired chaffing. You don't scar' this 'un, on a point a'
    \r\n", + "business. If I hain't larned to put in the big pins, no fellow has.
    \r\n", + "When ye wants to 'sap' a tall 'un, like Marston, ye stands shy until
    \r\n", + "ye thinks he's right for pulling, and then ye'll make a muffin on
    \r\n", + "him, quicker. But, ye likes to have yer own way in gettin' round
    \r\n", + "things, so that a fellow can't stick a pinte to make a hundred or
    \r\n", + "two unless he weaves his way clean through the law-unless he
    \r\n", + "understands Mr. Justice, and puts a double blinder on his eye.
    \r\n", + "There's nothing like getting on the right side of a fellow what
    \r\n", + "knows how to get on the wrong side of the law; and seeing how I've
    \r\n", + "studied Mr. Justice a little bit better than he's studied his books,
    \r\n", + "I knows just what can be done with him when a feller's got chink in
    \r\n", + "his pocket. You can't buy 'em, sir, they're so modest; but you can
    \r\n", + "coax 'em at a mighty cheaper rate-you can do that!\" \"And ye can make
    \r\n", + "him feel as if law and his business warn't two and two,\" rejoined
    \r\n", + "Anthony Romescos, a lean, wiry man, whose small indescribable face,
    \r\n", + "very much sun-scorched, is covered with bright sandy hair, matted
    \r\n", + "and uncombed. His forehead is low, the hair grows nearly to his
    \r\n", + "eyebrows, profuse and red; his eyes wander and glisten with
    \r\n", + "desperation; he is a merciless character. Men fear him, dread him;
    \r\n", + "he sets the law at defiance, laughs when he is told he is the
    \r\n", + "cunningest rogue in the county. He owns to the fearful; says it has
    \r\n", + "served him through many a hard squeeze; but now that he finds law so
    \r\n", + "necessary to carry out villainy, he's taken to studying it himself.
    \r\n", + "His dress is of yellow cotton, of which he has a short roundabout
    \r\n", + "and loose pantaloons. His shirt bosom is open, the collar secured at
    \r\n", + "the neck with a short black ribbon; he is much bedaubed with
    \r\n", + "tobacco-juice, which he has deposited over his clothes for the want
    \r\n", + "of a more convenient place. A gray, slouch hat usually adorns his
    \r\n", + "head, which, in consequence of the thinking it does, needs a deal of
    \r\n", + "scratching. Reminding us how careful he is of his feet, he shows
    \r\n", + "them ensconced in a pair of Indian moccasins ornamented with
    \r\n", + "bead-work; and, as if we had not become fully conscious of his
    \r\n", + "power, he draws aside his roundabout, and there, beneath the waist
    \r\n", + "of his pantaloons, is a girdle, to which a large hunting-knife is
    \r\n", + "attached, some five inches of the handle protruding above the belt.
    \r\n", + "\"Now, fellers, I tell ye what's what, ye'r point-up at bragin'; but
    \r\n", + "ye don't come square up to the line when there's anything to put
    \r\n", + "through what wants pluck. 'Tain't what a knowin' 'un like I can do;
    \r\n", + "it's just what he can larn to be with a little training in things
    \r\n", + "requiring spunk. I'm a going to have a square horse, or no horse; if
    \r\n", + "I don't, by the great Davy, I'll back out and do business on my own
    \r\n", + "account,--Anthony Romescos always makes his mark and then masters it.
    \r\n", + "If ye don't give Anthony a fair showin', he'll set up business on
    \r\n", + "his own account, and pocket the comins in. Now! thar's Dan Bengal
    \r\n", + "and his dogs; they can do a thing or two in the way of trade now and
    \r\n", + "then; but it requires the cunnin as well as the plucky part of a
    \r\n", + "feller. It makes a great go when they're combined, though,--they
    \r\n", + "ala's makes sure game and slap-up profit.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hold a stave, Anthony,\" interrupted a grim-visaged individual who
    \r\n", + "had just filled his glass with whiskey, which he declared was only
    \r\n", + "to counteract the effect of what he had already taken. He begs they
    \r\n", + "will not think him half so stupid as he seems, says he is always
    \r\n", + "well behaved in genteel society, and is fully convinced from the
    \r\n", + "appearance of things that they are all gentlemen. He wears a
    \r\n", + "semi-bandittical garb, which, with his craven features, presents his
    \r\n", + "character in all its repulsiveness. \"You needn't reckon on that
    \r\n", + "courage o' yourn, old fellow; this citizen can go two pins above it.
    \r\n", + "If you wants a showin', just name the mark. I've seed ye times
    \r\n", + "enough,--how ye would not stand ramrod when a nigger looked lightning
    \r\n", + "at ye. Twice I seed a nigger make ye show flum; and ye darn't make
    \r\n", + "the cussed critter toe the line trim up, nohow,\" he mumbles out,
    \r\n", + "dropping his tumbler on the table, spilling his liquor. They are
    \r\n", + "Graspum's \"men;\" they move as he directs-carry out his plans of
    \r\n", + "trade in human flesh. Through these promulgators of his plans, his
    \r\n", + "plots, his desperate games, he has become a mighty man of trade.
    \r\n", + "They are all his good fellows-they are worth their weight in gold;
    \r\n", + "but he can purchase their souls for any purpose, at any price! \"Ah,
    \r\n", + "yes, I see-the best I can do don't satisfy. My good fellows, you are
    \r\n", + "plum up on business, do the square thing; but you're becomin' a
    \r\n", + "little too familiar. Doing the nigger business is one thing, and
    \r\n", + "choosing company's another. Remember, gentlemen, I hold a position
    \r\n", + "in society, I do,\" says Graspum, all the dignity of his dear self
    \r\n", + "glowing in his countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I see! There's no spoilin' a gentleman what's got to be one by his
    \r\n", + "merits in trade. Thar's whar ye takes the shine out of us. Y'er
    \r\n", + "gentleman gives ye a right smart chance to walk into them ar' big
    \r\n", + "bugs what's careless,--don't think yer comin' it over 'em with a sort
    \r\n", + "o' dignity what don't 'tract no s'picion.\" rejoined Romescos, taking
    \r\n", + "up his hat, and placing it carelessly on his head, as if to assure
    \r\n", + "Graspum that he is no better than the rest.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Comprehend me, comprehend me, gentlemen! There can, and must be,
    \r\n", + "dignity in nigger trading; it can be made as honourable as any other
    \r\n", + "branch of business. For there is an intricacy about our business
    \r\n", + "requiring more dignity and ability than general folks know. You
    \r\n", + "fellers couldn't carry out the schemes, run the law down, keep your
    \r\n", + "finger on people's opinion, and them sort o' things, if I didn't
    \r\n", + "take a position in society what 'ud ensure puttin' ye straight
    \r\n", + "through. South's the place where position's worth somethin'; and
    \r\n", + "then, when we acts independent, and don't look as if we cared two
    \r\n", + "toss-ups, ah!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I wonder you don't set up a dignity shop, and go to selling the
    \r\n", + "article;-might have it manufactured to sell down south.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, Romescos,\" continued Graspum, \"you may play the fool; but you
    \r\n", + "must play it wisely to make it profitable. Here, position puts law
    \r\n", + "at defiance!-here it puts croakers over humanity to rest-here, when
    \r\n", + "it has money, it makes lawyers talk round the points, get fat among
    \r\n", + "themselves, fills the old judge's head with anything; so that he
    \r\n", + "laughs and thinks he don't know nothin'. Listen to what I'm goin' to
    \r\n", + "say, because you'll all make somethin' out on't. I've just got the
    \r\n", + "dignity to do all; and with the coin to back her up, can safe every
    \r\n", + "chance. When you fellers get into a snarl running off a white 'un,
    \r\n", + "or a free nigger, I has to bring out the big talk to make it seem
    \r\n", + "how you didn't understand the thing. 'Tain't the putting the big on,
    \r\n", + "but it's the keepin' on it on. You'd laugh to see how I does it;
    \r\n", + "it's the way I keeps you out of limbo, though.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We have said these men were Graspum's \"men;\" they are more-they are
    \r\n", + "a band of outlaws, who boast of living in a free country, where its
    \r\n", + "institutions may be turned into despotism. They carry on a system of
    \r\n", + "trade in human bodies; they stain the fairest spots of earth with
    \r\n", + "their crimes. They set law at defiance-they scoff at the depths of
    \r\n", + "hell that yawn for them,--the blackness of their villainy is known
    \r\n", + "only in heaven. Earth cares little for it; and those familiar with
    \r\n", + "the devices of dealers in human bodies shrink from the shame of
    \r\n", + "making them known to the world. There was a discontent in the party,
    \r\n", + "a clashing of interests, occasioned by the meagre manner in which
    \r\n", + "Graspum had divided the spoils of their degradation. He had set his
    \r\n", + "dignity and position in society at a much higher value than they
    \r\n", + "were willing to recognise,--especially when it was to share the
    \r\n", + "spoils in proportion. Dan Bengal, so called from his ferocity of
    \r\n", + "character, was a celebrated dog-trainer and negro-hunter, \"was great
    \r\n", + "in doing the savager portion of negro business.\" This, Romescos
    \r\n", + "contended, did not require so much cunning as his branch of the
    \r\n", + "business-which was to find \"loose places,\" where doubtful whites see
    \r\n", + "out remnants of the Indian race, and free negroes could be found
    \r\n", + "easy objects of prey; to lay plots, do the \"sharp,\" carry out plans
    \r\n", + "for running all free rubbish down south, where they would sell for
    \r\n", + "something.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True! it's all true as sunshine,\" says Romescos; \"we understand Mr.
    \r\n", + "Graspum inside and out. But ye ain't paid a dime to get me out of
    \r\n", + "any scrape. I was larned to nigger business afore I got into the
    \r\n", + "'tarnal thing; and when I just gits me eye on a nigger what nobody
    \r\n", + "don't own, I comes the sly over him-puts him through a course of
    \r\n", + "nigger diplomacy. The way he goes down to the Mississippi is a
    \r\n", + "caution to nigger property!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He has enlisted their attention, all eyes are set upon him, every
    \r\n", + "voice calls out to know his process. He begs they will drink round;
    \r\n", + "they fill their glasses, and demand that he will continue the
    \r\n", + "interest of his story.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My plans are worth a fortune to those who follow the business,\" he
    \r\n", + "says, giving his glass a twirl as he sets it upon the table, and
    \r\n", + "commences--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Born 'cute, you see; trade comes natural. Afore a free 'un don't
    \r\n", + "know it, I has him bonded and tucked off for eight or nine hundred
    \r\n", + "dollars, slap-up, cash and all. And then, ye sees, it's worth
    \r\n", + "somethin' in knowin' who to sell such criturs too-so that the brute
    \r\n", + "don't git a chance to talk about it without getting his back
    \r\n", + "troubled. And then, it requires as much knowin' as a senator's got
    \r\n", + "just to fix things as smooth so nobody won't know it; and just like
    \r\n", + "ye can jingle the coin in yer pocket, for the nigger, what
    \r\n", + "everybody's wonderin' where he can be gone to. I tell ye what, it
    \r\n", + "takes some stameny to keep the price of a prime feller in your
    \r\n", + "pocket, and wonder along with the rest where the rascal can be. If
    \r\n", + "you'd just see Bob Osmand doe it up, you'd think his face was made
    \r\n", + "for a methodist deacon in camp meeting-time. The way he comes it
    \r\n", + "when he wants to prove a free nigger's a runaway, would beat all the
    \r\n", + "disciples of Blackstone between here and old Kentuck. And then,
    \r\n", + "Bob's any sort of a gentleman, what you don't get in town every day,
    \r\n", + "and wouldn't make a bad senator, if he'd bin in Congress when the
    \r\n", + "compromise was settled upon,--'cos he can reason right into just
    \r\n", + "nothin' at all. Ye see it ain't the feelings that makes a feller a
    \r\n", + "gentleman in our business, it's knowing the human natur o' things;
    \r\n", + "how to be a statesman, when ye meets the like, how to be a
    \r\n", + "gentleman, and talk polite things, and sich like; how to be a jolly
    \r\n", + "fellow, an' put the tall sayings into the things of life; and when
    \r\n", + "ye gets among the lawyers, to know all about the pintes of the law,
    \r\n", + "and how to cut off the corners, so they'll think ye're bin a parish
    \r\n", + "judge. And then, when ye comes before the squire, just to talk
    \r\n", + "dignity to him-tell him where the law is what he don't seem to
    \r\n", + "comprehend. You've got to make a right good feller of the squire by
    \r\n", + "sticking a fee under his vest-pocket when he don't obsarve it. And
    \r\n", + "then, ye know, when ye make the squire a right good feller, you must
    \r\n", + "keep him to the point; and when there's any swarin' to be done, he's
    \r\n", + "just as easily satisfied as the law. It's all business, you see; and
    \r\n", + "thar's just the same kind a thing in it; because profit rules
    \r\n", + "principle, and puts a right smart chance o' business into their
    \r\n", + "hands without troubling their consciences. But then, Bob ain't got
    \r\n", + "the cunnin' in him like I-nor he can't \"rope-in on the sly,\"-knock
    \r\n", + "down and drag out, and just tell a whole possee to come on, as I do.
    \r\n", + "And that's what ye don't seem to come at, Graspum,\" said Romescos,
    \r\n", + "again filling his glass, and drawing a long black pipe from his
    \r\n", + "pocket prepares it for a smoke.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, the trouble is, you all think you can carry out these matters
    \r\n", + "on your own hook; but it's no go, and you'll find it so. It's a
    \r\n", + "scheme that must have larger means at the head of it; and each man's
    \r\n", + "rights must be stipulated, and paid according to his own enterprise.
    \r\n", + "But this discontent is monstrous and injurious, and if continued
    \r\n", + "will prove unprofitable. You see, fellers, you've no responsibility,
    \r\n", + "and my position is your protection, and if you don't get rich you
    \r\n", + "must not charge the blame to me; and then just see how you live now
    \r\n", + "to what you did when ranging the piny woods and catching a stray
    \r\n", + "nigger here and there, what didn't hardly pay dog money. There's a
    \r\n", + "good deal in the sport of the thing, too; and ye know it amounts to
    \r\n", + "a good deal to do the gentleman and associate with big folks, who
    \r\n", + "puts the business into one's hands, by finding out who's got lean
    \r\n", + "purses and prime niggers,\" rejoined Graspum, very coolly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, yes; that's the way ye comes it over these haristocrats, by
    \r\n", + "doin' the modest. Now, Graspum, 'tain't no trouble to leak a sap
    \r\n", + "like that Lorenzo, and make his friends stand the blunt after we've
    \r\n", + "roped him into your fixings,\" replied Romescos.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, no; not a bit of it,\" resounded several voices. \"We do all the
    \r\n", + "dragwork with the niggers, and Graspum gets the tin.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But he pays for the drink. Come, none of this bickering; we must
    \r\n", + "agree upon business, and do the thing up brown under the old
    \r\n", + "system,\" interrupted another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hold! close that bread trap o' yourn,\" Romescos shouts at the top
    \r\n", + "of his voice. \"You're only a green croaker from the piny woods,
    \r\n", + "where gophers crawl independent; you ain't seen life on the borders
    \r\n", + "of Texas. Fellers, I can whip any man in the crowd,--can maker the
    \r\n", + "best stump speech, can bring up the best logic; and can prove that
    \r\n", + "the best frightenin' man is the best man in the nigger business.
    \r\n", + "Now, if you wants a brief sketch of this child's history, ye can
    \r\n", + "have it.\" Here Romescos entered into an interesting account of
    \r\n", + "himself. He was the descendant of a good family, living in the city
    \r\n", + "of Charleston; his parents, when a youth, had encouraged his
    \r\n", + "propensities for bravery. Without protecting them with that medium
    \r\n", + "of education which assimilates courage with gentlemanly conduct,
    \r\n", + "carrying out the nobler impulses of our nature, they allowed him to
    \r\n", + "roam in that sphere which produces its ruffians. At the age of
    \r\n", + "fifteen he entered a counting-room, when his quick mercurial
    \r\n", + "temperament soon rendered him expert at its minor functions. Three
    \r\n", + "years had hardly elapsed when, in a moment of passion, he drew his
    \r\n", + "dirk, (a weapon he always carried) and, in making a plunge at his
    \r\n", + "antagonist, inflicted a wound in the breast of a near friend. The
    \r\n", + "wound was deep, and proved fatal. For this he was arraigned before a
    \r\n", + "jury, tried for his life. He proved the accident by an existing
    \r\n", + "friendship-he was honourably acquitted. His employer, after
    \r\n", + "reproaching him for his proceedings, again admitted him into his
    \r\n", + "employment. Such, however, was his inclination to display the
    \r\n", + "desperado, that before the expiration of another year he killed a
    \r\n", + "negro, shot two balls at one of his fellows, one of which was well
    \r\n", + "nigh proving fatal, and left the state. His recklessness, his
    \r\n", + "previous acts of malignity, his want of position, all left him
    \r\n", + "little hope of escaping the confines of a prison. Fleeing to parts
    \r\n", + "unknown, his absence relieved the neighbourhood of a responsibility.
    \r\n", + "For a time, he roamed among farmers and drovers in the mountains of
    \r\n", + "Tennessee; again he did menial labour, often forced to the direst
    \r\n", + "necessity to live. One day, when nearly famished, he met a
    \r\n", + "slave-driver, conducting his coffle towards the Mississippi, to whom
    \r\n", + "he proffered his services. The coarse driver readily accepted them;
    \r\n", + "they proceeded on together, and it was not long before they found
    \r\n", + "themselves fitting companions. The one was desperate-the other
    \r\n", + "traded in desperation. An ardent nature, full of courage and
    \r\n", + "adventure, was a valuable acquisition to the dealer, who found that
    \r\n", + "he had enlisted a youngster capable of relieving him of inflicting
    \r\n", + "that cruelty so necessary to his profession. With a passion for
    \r\n", + "inflicting torture, this youth could now gratify it upon those
    \r\n", + "unfortunate beings of merchandise who were being driven to the
    \r\n", + "shambles: he could gloat in the exercise of those natural
    \r\n", + "propensities which made the infliction of pain a pleasant
    \r\n", + "recreation. In the trade of human flesh all these cruel traits
    \r\n", + "became valuable; they enabled him to demand a good price for his
    \r\n", + "services. Initiated in all the mysteries of the trade, he was soon
    \r\n", + "entrusted with gangs of very considerable extent; then he made
    \r\n", + "purchases, laid plans to entrap free negroes, performed the various
    \r\n", + "intricacies of procuring affidavits with which to make slave
    \r\n", + "property out of free flesh. Nature was nature, and what was hard in
    \r\n", + "him soon became harder; he could crib \"doubtful white stuff\" that
    \r\n", + "was a nuisance among folks, and sell it for something he could put
    \r\n", + "in his pocket. In this way Romescos accumulated several hundred
    \r\n", + "dollars; but avarice increased, and with it his ferocity. It
    \r\n", + "belonged to the trade, a trade of wanton depravity. He became the
    \r\n", + "terror of those who assumed to look upon a negro's sufferings with
    \r\n", + "sympathy, scoffing at the finer feelings of mankind. Twice had his
    \r\n", + "rapacity been let loose-twice had it nearly brought him to the
    \r\n", + "gallows, or to the tribunal of Judge Lynch. And now, when completely
    \r\n", + "inured in the traffic of human flesh,--that traffic which transposes
    \r\n", + "man into a demon, his progress is checked for a while by a false
    \r\n", + "step.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It was this; and this only to the deep disgrace of the freest and
    \r\n", + "happiest country on earth. A poor orphan girl, like many of her
    \r\n", + "class in our hospitable slave world, had been a mere cast-off upon
    \r\n", + "the community. She knew nothing of the world, was ignorant, could
    \r\n", + "neither read nor write,--something quite common in the south, but
    \r\n", + "seldom known in New England. Thus she became the associate of
    \r\n", + "depraved negroes, and again, served Romescos as a victim. Not
    \r\n", + "content with this, after becoming tired of her, he secured her in
    \r\n", + "the slave-pen of one of his fellow traders. Here he kept her for
    \r\n", + "several weeks, closely confined, feeding her with grits. Eventually
    \r\n", + "\"running\" her to Vicksburg, he found an accomplice to sign a bill of
    \r\n", + "sale, by which he sold her to a notorious planter, who carried her
    \r\n", + "into the interior. The wretched girl had qualities which the planter
    \r\n", + "saw might, with a little care, be made extremely valuable in the New
    \r\n", + "Orleans market,--one was natural beauty. She was not suitable
    \r\n", + "property for the agricultural department of either a cotton or sugar
    \r\n", + "plantation, nor was she \"the stripe\" to increase prime stock; hence
    \r\n", + "she must be prepared for the general market. When qualified
    \r\n", + "according to what the planter knew would suit the fancy market, she
    \r\n", + "was conveyed to New Orleans, a piece of property bright as the very
    \r\n", + "brightest, very handsome, not very intelligent,--just suited to the
    \r\n", + "wants of bidders.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Here, at the shambles in the crescent city, she remained guarded,
    \r\n", + "and for several weeks was not allowed to go beyond the door-sill;
    \r\n", + "after which a sale was effected of her with the keeper of a brothel,
    \r\n", + "for the good price of thirteen hundred dollars. In this sink of
    \r\n", + "iniquity she remained nearly two years. Fearing the ulterior
    \r\n", + "consequences, she dared not assert her rights to freedom, she dared
    \r\n", + "not say she was born free in a free country. Her disappearance from
    \r\n", + "the village in which she had been reared caused some excitement; but
    \r\n", + "it soon reduced itself to a very trifling affair. Indeed, white
    \r\n", + "trash like this was considered little else than rubbish, not worth
    \r\n", + "bringing up respectably. And while suspicion pointed to Romescos, as
    \r\n", + "the person who could account for her mysterious disappearance, such
    \r\n", + "was the fear of his revenge that no one dared be the accuser.
    \r\n", + "Quietly matters rested, poor virtue was mean merchandise, had its
    \r\n", + "value, could be bought and sold-could be turned to various uses,
    \r\n", + "except enlisting the sympathies of those who study it as a market
    \r\n", + "commodity. A few days passed and all was hushed; no one enquired
    \r\n", + "about the poor orphan, Martha Johnson. In the hands of her creole
    \r\n", + "owner, who held her as a price for licentious purposes, she
    \r\n", + "associated with gentlemen of polite manners-of wealth and position.
    \r\n", + "Even this, though profane, had advantages, which she employed for
    \r\n", + "the best of purposes; she learned to read and to write,--to
    \r\n", + "assimilate her feelings with those of a higher class. Society had
    \r\n", + "degraded her, she had not degraded herself. One night, as the
    \r\n", + "promiscuous company gathered into the drawing-room, she recognised a
    \r\n", + "young man from her native village; the familiar face inspired her
    \r\n", + "with joy, her heart leaped with gladness; he had befriended her poor
    \r\n", + "mother-she knew he had kind feelings, and would be her friend once
    \r\n", + "her story was told. The moments passed painfully; she watched him
    \r\n", + "restlessly through the dance,--sat at his side. Still he did not
    \r\n", + "recognise her,--toilet had changed her for another being; but she had
    \r\n", + "courted self-respect rather than yielded to degradation. Again she
    \r\n", + "made signs to attract his attention; she passed and repassed him,
    \r\n", + "and failed. Have I thus changed, she thought to herself.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At length she succeeded in attracting his attention; she drew him
    \r\n", + "aside, then to her chamber. In it she disclosed her touching
    \r\n", + "narrative, unfolded her sorrows, appealed to him with tears in her
    \r\n", + "eyes to procure her freedom and restore her to her rights. Her story
    \r\n", + "enlisted the better feelings of a man, while her self-respect, the
    \r\n", + "earnestness with which she pleaded her deliverance, and the
    \r\n", + "heartlessness of the act, strongly rebuked the levity of those who
    \r\n", + "had made her an orphan outcast in her own village. She was then in
    \r\n", + "the theatre of vice, surrounded by its allurements, consigned to its
    \r\n", + "degradation, a prey to libertinism-yet respecting herself. The
    \r\n", + "object of his visit among the denizens was changed to a higher
    \r\n", + "mission, a duty which he owed to his moral life,--to his own
    \r\n", + "manliness. He promised his mediation to better her eventful and
    \r\n", + "mysterious life, to be a friend to her; and nobly did he keep his
    \r\n", + "promise. On the following day he took measures for her rescue, and
    \r\n", + "though several attempts were made to wrest her from him, and the
    \r\n", + "mendacity of slave-dealers summoned to effect it, he had the
    \r\n", + "satisfaction of seeing her restored to her native village,--to
    \r\n", + "freedom, to respectability.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We withhold the details of this too true transaction, lest we should
    \r\n", + "be classed among those who are endeavouring to create undue
    \r\n", + "excitement. The orphan girl we here refer to was married to a
    \r\n", + "respectable mechanic, who afterwards removed to Cincinnati, and with
    \r\n", + "his wife became much respected citizens.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Proceedings were after some delay commenced against Romescos,
    \r\n", + "but,--we trust it was not through collusion with officials-he escaped
    \r\n", + "the merited punishment that would have been inflicted upon him by a
    \r\n", + "New England tribunal. Again he left the state, and during his
    \r\n", + "absence it is supposed he was engaged in nefarious practices with
    \r\n", + "the notorious Murrel, who carried rapine and death into the
    \r\n", + "unoffending villages of the far west. However, be this as it may,
    \r\n", + "little was known of him for several years, except in some desperate
    \r\n", + "encounter. The next step in his career of desperation known, was
    \r\n", + "joining a band of guerillos led by one of the most intrepid captains
    \r\n", + "that infested the borders of Mexico, during the internal warfare by
    \r\n", + "which her Texan provinces struggled for independence. Freebooters,
    \r\n", + "they espoused the Texan cause because it offered food for their
    \r\n", + "rapacity, and through it they became formidable and desperate foes
    \r\n", + "to the enemy. They were the terror of the ranchoes, the inhabitants
    \r\n", + "fled at their approach; their pillage, rapine, and slaughtering,
    \r\n", + "would stain the annals of barbarous Africa. They are buried, let us
    \r\n", + "hope for the name of a great nation, that they may remain beneath
    \r\n", + "the pale of oblivion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In their incursions, as mounted riflemen, they besieged villages,
    \r\n", + "slaughtered the inhabitants, plundered churches, and burned
    \r\n", + "dwellings; they carried off captive females, drove herds of cattle
    \r\n", + "to distant markets. Through the auspices of this band, as is now
    \r\n", + "well known, many young females were carried off and sold into
    \r\n", + "slavery, where they and their offspring yet remain. While pursuing
    \r\n", + "this nefarious course of life, Romescos accumulated more than twenty
    \r\n", + "thousand dollars; and yet,--though ferocity increased with the
    \r\n", + "daring of his profession,--there was one impulse of his nature,
    \r\n", + "deeply buried, directing his ambition. Amid the dangers of war, the
    \r\n", + "tumult of conflict, the passion for daring-this impulse kept alive
    \r\n", + "the associations of home,--it was love! In early life he had formed
    \r\n", + "an attachment for a beautiful young lady of his native town; it had
    \r\n", + "ripened with his years; the thoughts of her, and the hope of
    \r\n", + "regaining her love if he gained wealth, so worked upon his mind that
    \r\n", + "he resolved to abandon the life of a guerillo, and return home.
    \r\n", + "After an absence of fourteen years he found the object of his early
    \r\n", + "love,--that woman who had refused to requite his affection,--a widow,
    \r\n", + "having buried her husband, a gentleman of position, some months
    \r\n", + "previous.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos had money,--the man was not considered; he is not considered
    \r\n", + "where slavery spreads its vices to corrupt social life. He had been
    \r\n", + "careful to keep his business a profound secret, and pressing his
    \r\n", + "affections, soon found the object of his ambition keenly sensitive
    \r\n", + "to his advances. Rumour recounted his character with mystery and
    \r\n", + "suspicion; friends remonstrated, but in vain; they were united
    \r\n", + "despite all opposition, all appeals. For a time he seemed a better
    \r\n", + "man, the business he had followed harassed his mind, seeming to
    \r\n", + "haunt him, and poison his progress. He purchased a plantation on the
    \r\n", + "banks of the Santee; for once resolved to pursue an honest course,
    \r\n", + "to be a respectable citizen, and enjoy the quiet of home.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A year passed: he might have enjoyed the felicity of domestic life,
    \r\n", + "the affections of a beautiful bride; but the change was too sudden
    \r\n", + "for his restless spirit. He was not made to enjoy the quiet of life,
    \r\n", + "the task stood before him like a mountain without a pass, he could
    \r\n", + "not wean himself from the vices of a marauder. He had abused the
    \r\n", + "free offerings of a free country, had set law at defiance; he had
    \r\n", + "dealt in human flesh, and the task of resistance was more than the
    \r\n", + "moral element in his nature could effect. Violations of human laws
    \r\n", + "were mere speculations to him; they had beguiled him, body and soul.
    \r\n", + "He had no apology for violating personal feeling; what cared he for
    \r\n", + "that small consideration, when the bodies of men, women, and
    \r\n", + "children could be sacrificed for that gold which would give him
    \r\n", + "position among the men of the south. If he carried off poor whites,
    \r\n", + "and sold them into slavery, he saw no enormity in the performance;
    \r\n", + "the law invested him with power he made absolute. Society was
    \r\n", + "chargeable with all his wrongs, with all his crimes, all his
    \r\n", + "enormities. He had repeatedly told it so, pointing for proof to that
    \r\n", + "literal observance of the rule by which man is made mere
    \r\n", + "merchandise. Society had continued in its pedantic folly,
    \r\n", + "disregarding legal rights, imposing no restraints on the holder of
    \r\n", + "human property, violating its spirit and pride by neglecting to
    \r\n", + "enforce the great principles of justice whereby we are bound to
    \r\n", + "protect the lives of those unjustly considered inferior beings. Thus
    \r\n", + "ends a sketch of what Romescos gave of his own career.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We now find him associated with the desperadoes of slave-dealing, in
    \r\n", + "the scene we have presented. After Romescos had related what he
    \r\n", + "called the romance of his life,--intended, no doubt, to impress the
    \r\n", + "party with his power and intrepidity, and enable him to set a higher
    \r\n", + "value upon his services,--he lighted a pipe, threw his hat upon the
    \r\n", + "floor, commenced pacing up and down the room, as if labouring under
    \r\n", + "deep excitement. And while each one seemed watching him intently, a
    \r\n", + "loud knocking was heard at the door,--then the baying of
    \r\n", + "blood-hounds, the yelps of curs, mingling with the murmurs of those
    \r\n", + "poor wretches confined in the cells beneath. Then followed the
    \r\n", + "clanking of chains, cries, and wailings, startling and fearful.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Dan Bengal sprang to the door, as if conscious of its import. A
    \r\n", + "voice demanded admittance; and as the door opened Bengal exclaimed,
    \r\n", + "\"Halloo!-here's Nath Nimrod: what's the tune of the adventure?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A short, stout man entered, dressed in a coarse homespun hunting
    \r\n", + "dress, a profuse black beard and moustache nearly covering his face.
    \r\n", + "\"I is'nt so bad a feller a'ter all-is I?\" he says, rushing forward
    \r\n", + "into the centre of the room, followed by four huge hounds. They were
    \r\n", + "noble animals, had more instinctive gentleness than their masters,
    \r\n", + "displayed a knowledge of the importance of the prize they had just
    \r\n", + "gained.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hurrah for Nath! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah, for Nath! You got him,
    \r\n", + "Nath-did'nt ye?\" resounded from several tongues, and was followed by
    \r\n", + "a variety of expressions highly complimentary to his efficiency.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos, however, remained silent, pacing the floor unconcerned,
    \r\n", + "except in his own anxiety-as if nothing had occurred to disturb him.
    \r\n", + "Advancing to the table, the new visitor, his face glowing with
    \r\n", + "exultation, held forth, by the crispy hair, the blanched and bloody
    \r\n", + "head of an unfortunate negro who had paid the penalty of the State's
    \r\n", + "allowance for outlaws. \"There: beat that, who can? Four hundred
    \r\n", + "dollars made since breakfast;\" he cries out at the top of his voice.
    \r\n", + "They cast a measured look at the ghastly object, as if it were a
    \r\n", + "precious ornament, much valued for the price it would bring,
    \r\n", + "according to law. The demon expresses his joy, descants on his
    \r\n", + "expertness and skill, holds up his prize again, turns it round,
    \r\n", + "smiles upon it as his offering, then throws it into the fire place,
    \r\n", + "carelessly, like a piece of fuel. The dogs spring upon it, as if the
    \r\n", + "trophy was for their feast; but he repulses them; dogs are not so
    \r\n", + "bad after all-the canine is often the better of the two-the morsel
    \r\n", + "is too precious for canine dogs,--human dogs must devour it. \"There
    \r\n", + "is nothing like a free country, nothing; and good business, when
    \r\n", + "it's well protected by law,\" says Nimrod, seating himself at the
    \r\n", + "table, filling a glass, bowing to his companions, drinking to the
    \r\n", + "health of his friends. He imagines himself the best fellow of the
    \r\n", + "lot. Taking Graspum by the hand, he says, \"there is a clear hundred
    \r\n", + "for you, old patron!\" pulls an Executive proclamation from his
    \r\n", + "pocket, and points to where it sets forth the amount of reward for
    \r\n", + "the outlaw-dead or alive. \"I know'd whar the brute had his hole in
    \r\n", + "the swamp,\" he continues: \"and I summed up the resolution to bring
    \r\n", + "him out. And then the gal o' Ginral Brinkle's, if I could pin her,
    \r\n", + "would be a clear fifty more, provided I could catch her without
    \r\n", + "damage, and twenty-five if the dogs havocked her shins. There was no
    \r\n", + "trouble in getting the fifty, seeing how my dogs were trained to the
    \r\n", + "point and call. Taste or no taste, they come square off at the word.
    \r\n", + "To see the critters trace a nigger, you'd think they had human in
    \r\n", + "them; they understands it so! But, I tell you what, it's one thing
    \r\n", + "to hunt a gal nigger, and another to run down an outlaw what has had
    \r\n", + "two or three years in the swamp. The catching him's not much, but
    \r\n", + "when ye have to slide the head off, all the pious in yer natur comes
    \r\n", + "right up to make yer feelings feel kind a' softish. However, the law
    \r\n", + "protects ye, and the game being only a nigger, different rules and
    \r\n", + "things govern one's feelings.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Bengal interrupts by laconically insinuating-raising his moody face,
    \r\n", + "and winking at Graspum-that it was all moonshine to talk about
    \r\n", + "trouble in that kind of business; \"It's the very highest of
    \r\n", + "exhilarating sport!\" he concludes emphatically.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dan!\" returns the other, with a fierce stare, as he seizes the
    \r\n", + "bottle and is about to enjoy a glass of whisky uninvited; \"let your
    \r\n", + "liquor stop your mouth. I set the whole pack upon the trail at
    \r\n", + "daylight, and in less than two hours they came upon him, bolted him,
    \r\n", + "and put him to the river. The leader nabbed him about half way
    \r\n", + "across, but the chap, instead of giving in, turned and fought like a
    \r\n", + "hero. Twice I thought he would whip the whole pack, but the way they
    \r\n", + "made the rags fly warn't nobody's business. Well, I just come up
    \r\n", + "with him as he plunged into the stream, lifts old sure mark, as
    \r\n", + "gives him about a dozen plugs; and then the old feller begged just
    \r\n", + "so, you'd thought he was a Christian pleadin' forgiveness at the
    \r\n", + "last moment. But, when I seizes him and gives him three or four
    \r\n", + "levellers with the butt of the rifle, ye never saw a sarpent plunge,
    \r\n", + "and struggle, and warp so. Says I, 'It's no use, old feller,--yer
    \r\n", + "might as well give her up;' and the way his eyes popped, just as if
    \r\n", + "he expected I war'nt goin to finish him. I tell ye, boys, it
    \r\n", + "required some spunk about then, for the critter got his claws upon
    \r\n", + "me with a death grip, and the dogs ripped him like an old corn
    \r\n", + "stalk, and would'nt keep off. And then there was no fracturin his
    \r\n", + "skull; and seeing how he was overpowering me, I just seizes him by
    \r\n", + "the throat and pops his head off quicker than a Chinese executioner.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The author has given the language of the slave-hunter who related
    \r\n", + "the case personally.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, thar' war'nt so much in takin' the gal, cos jist when she seed
    \r\n", + "the dogs comin', the critter took to tree and gin right up: but when
    \r\n", + "I went to muzlin' on her, so she could'nt scream, then she gets
    \r\n", + "saucy; and I promised to gin her bricks,--which, fellers, I reckon
    \r\n", + "yer must take a hand in so the brute won't wake the neighbours; and
    \r\n", + "I'll do'e it afore I sleeps,\" said Nimrod, getting up from the table
    \r\n", + "and playfully touching Romescos upon the arm. \"I see ye ain't
    \r\n", + "brightened to-day--Graspum's share don't seem to suit yer, old
    \r\n", + "feller; ah! ah!!\" he continued.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Just put another ten per cent. upon the out-lining, and running
    \r\n", + "free 'uns, and I'll stand flint,\" said Romescos, seeming to be acted
    \r\n", + "upon by a sudden change of feelings, as he turned to Graspum, with a
    \r\n", + "look of anxiety.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Very well,\" returned Graspum. \"Yer see, there's that Marston affair
    \r\n", + "to be brought to a point; and his affairs are just in such a fix
    \r\n", + "that he don't know what's what, nor who's who. Ther'll have to be
    \r\n", + "some tall swearing done in that case afore it's brought to the
    \r\n", + "hammer. That cunning of yours, Romescos, will just come into play in
    \r\n", + "this case. It'll be just the thing to do the crooked and get round
    \r\n", + "the legal points.\" Thus Graspum, with the dignity and assurance of a
    \r\n", + "gentleman, gave his opinion, drank with his companions, and withdrew
    \r\n", + "for the night.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos, Bengal, and Nimrod, soon after descended into the vaults
    \r\n", + "below, followed by a negro bearing a lantern. Here they unbolted one
    \r\n", + "of the cells, dragged forth a dejected-looking mulatto woman, her
    \r\n", + "rags scarcely covering her nakedness. The poor wretch, a child born
    \r\n", + "to degradation and torture, whose cries were heard in heaven, heaved
    \r\n", + "a deep sigh, then gave vent to a flood of tears. They told how deep
    \r\n", + "was her anguish, how she struggled against injustice, how sorrow was
    \r\n", + "burning her very soul. The outpourings of her feelings might have
    \r\n", + "aroused the sympathies of savage hearts; but the slave monsters were
    \r\n", + "unmoved. Humbleness, despair, and even death, sat upon her very
    \r\n", + "countenance; hope had fled her, left her a wreck for whom man had no
    \r\n", + "pity. And though her prayers ascended to heaven, the God of mercy
    \r\n", + "seemed to have abandoned her to her tormentors. She came forward
    \r\n", + "trembling and reluctantly, her countenance changed; she gave a
    \r\n", + "frowning look at her tormentors, wild and gloomy, shrank back into
    \r\n", + "the cell, the folds of straight, black hair hanging about her
    \r\n", + "shoulders.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Come out here!\" Nimrod commands in an angry tone; then, seizing her
    \r\n", + "by the arm, dragged her forth, and jerked her prostrate on the
    \r\n", + "ground. Here, like as many fiends in human form, the rest fell upon
    \r\n", + "her, held her flat to the floor by the hands and feet, her face
    \r\n", + "downwards, while Nimrod, with a raw hide, inflicted thirty lashes on
    \r\n", + "her bare back. Her cries and groans, as she lay writhing, the flesh
    \r\n", + "hanging in quivering shreds, and lifting with the lash,--her appeals
    \r\n", + "for mercy, her prayers to heaven, her fainting moans as the agony of
    \r\n", + "her torture stung into her very soul, would have touched a heart of
    \r\n", + "stone. But, though her skin had not defiled her in the eyes of the
    \r\n", + "righteous, there was none to take pity on her, nor to break the
    \r\n", + "galling chains; no! the punishment was inflicted with the measured
    \r\n", + "coolness of men engaged in an every-day vocation. It was simply the
    \r\n", + "right which a democratic law gave men to become lawless, fierce in
    \r\n", + "the conspiracy of wrong, and where the legal excitement of
    \r\n", + "trafficking in the flesh and blood of one another sinks them
    \r\n", + "unconsciously into demons.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER VII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"BUCKRA-MAN VERY UNCERTAIN.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE caption, a common saying among negroes at the south, had its
    \r\n", + "origin in a consciousness, on the part of the negro, of the many
    \r\n", + "liabilities to which his master's affairs are subject, and his own
    \r\n", + "dependence on the ulterior consequences. It carries with it a deep
    \r\n", + "significance, opens a field for reflection, comprehends the negro's
    \r\n", + "knowledge of his own uncertain state, his being a piece of property
    \r\n", + "the good or evil of which is effected by his master's caprices, the
    \r\n", + "binding force of the law that makes him merchandise. Nevertheless,
    \r\n", + "while the negro feels them in all their force, the master values
    \r\n", + "them only in an abstract light. Ask the negro whose master is kind
    \r\n", + "to him, if he would prefer his freedom and go north?-At first he
    \r\n", + "will hesitate, dilate upon his master's goodness, his affection for
    \r\n", + "him, the kindly feeling evinced for him by the family-they often
    \r\n", + "look upon him with a patriarchal tenderness-and, finally, he will
    \r\n", + "conclude by telling you he wishes master and missus would live for
    \r\n", + "ever. He tells you, in the very simplicity of his nature, that \"Eve'
    \r\n", + "ting so unsartin! and mas'r don't know if he die when he gwine to.\"
    \r\n", + "That when he is dying he does not realise it; and though his
    \r\n", + "intention be good, death may blot out his desires, and he, the
    \r\n", + "dependent, being only a chattel, must sink into the uncertain stream
    \r\n", + "of slave-life. Marston's plantation might have been taken as an
    \r\n", + "illustration of the truth of this saying. Long had it been
    \r\n", + "considered one of eminent profit; his field slaves were well cared
    \r\n", + "for; his favourite house servants had every reasonable indulgence
    \r\n", + "granted them. And, too, Marston's mansion was the pleasant retreat
    \r\n", + "of many a neighbour, whose visits were welcomed by the kindly
    \r\n", + "attention he had taught his domestics to bestow. Marston's fault lay
    \r\n", + "in his belonging to that class of planters who repose too much
    \r\n", + "confidence in others.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The morning following Lorenzo's departure ushered forth bright and
    \r\n", + "balmy. A quiet aspect reigned in and about the plantation, servants
    \r\n", + "moved sluggishly about, the incidents of the preceding night
    \r\n", + "oppressed Marston's mind; his feelings broke beyond his power of
    \r\n", + "restraint. Like contagion, the effect seized each member of his
    \r\n", + "household,--forcibly it spoke in word and action! Marston had
    \r\n", + "bestowed much care upon Lorenzo and Franconia; he had indulged and
    \r\n", + "idolised the latter, and given the former some good advice. But
    \r\n", + "advice without example seldom produces lasting good; in truth,
    \r\n", + "precept had the very worst effect upon Lorenzo,--it had proved his
    \r\n", + "ruin! His singular and mysterious departure might for a time be
    \r\n", + "excused,--even accounted for in some plausible manner, but suspicion
    \r\n", + "was a stealing monster that would play upon the deeply tinctured
    \r\n", + "surface, and soar above in disgrace. That the Rovero family were
    \r\n", + "among the first of the State would not be received as a palliation;
    \r\n", + "they had suffered reverses of fortune, and, with the addition of
    \r\n", + "Lorenzo's profligacy, which had been secretly drawing upon their
    \r\n", + "resources, were themselves well nigh in discredit. And now that this
    \r\n", + "sudden and unexpected reverse had befallen Marston, he could do
    \r\n", + "nothing for their relief. Involved, perplexed, and distrusted-with
    \r\n", + "ever-slaying suspicion staring him in the face-he was a victim
    \r\n", + "pursued by one who never failed to lay low his object. That man
    \r\n", + "moved with unerring method, could look around him upon the
    \r\n", + "destitution made by his avarice, without evincing a shadow of
    \r\n", + "sympathy. Yes! he was in the grasp of a living Shylock, whose soul,
    \r\n", + "worn out in the love of gold, had forgotten that there existed a
    \r\n", + "distinction between right and wrong.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Surrounded by all these dark forebodings, Marston begins to reflect
    \r\n", + "on his past life. He sees that mercy which overlooks the sins of man
    \r\n", + "when repentance is pure; but his life is full of moral blemishes; he
    \r\n", + "has sinned against the innocent, against the God of forgiveness. The
    \r\n", + "inert of his nature is unfolding itself,--he has lived according to
    \r\n", + "the tolerated vices of society-he has done no more than the law gave
    \r\n", + "him a right to do! And yet, that very society, overlooking its own
    \r\n", + "wrongs, would now strip him of its associations. He lives in a State
    \r\n", + "where it is difficult to tell what society will approve or
    \r\n", + "reprobate; where a rich man may do with impunity what would consign
    \r\n", + "a poor man to the gallows.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "If we examine the many rencontres that take place in the south,
    \r\n", + "especially those proving fatal, we will find that the perpetrator,
    \r\n", + "if he be a rich man, invariably receives an \"honourable acquittal.\"
    \r\n", + "Again, when the man of position shoots down his victim in the
    \r\n", + "streets of a city, he is esteemed brave; but a singular reversion
    \r\n", + "takes place if the rencontre be between poor men. It is then a
    \r\n", + "diabolical act, a murder, which nothing short of the gallows can
    \r\n", + "serve for punishment. The creatures whom he had made mere objects to
    \r\n", + "serve his sensuality were before him; he traced the gloomy history
    \r\n", + "of their unfortunate sires; he knew that Ellen and Clotilda were
    \r\n", + "born free. The cordon that had bound his feelings to the system of
    \r\n", + "slavery relaxed. For the first time, he saw that which he could not
    \r\n", + "recognise in his better nature-himself the medium of keeping human
    \r\n", + "beings in slavery who were the rightful heirs of freedom. The
    \r\n", + "blackness of the crime-its cruelty, its injustice-haunted him; they
    \r\n", + "were at that very moment held by Graspum's caprice. He might doom
    \r\n", + "the poor wretches to irretrievable slavery, to torture and death!
    \r\n", + "Then his mind wandered to Annette and Nicholas; he saw them of his
    \r\n", + "own flesh and blood; his natural affections bounded forth; how could
    \r\n", + "he disown them? The creations of love and right were upon him,
    \r\n", + "misfortune had unbound his sensations; his own offspring stood
    \r\n", + "before him clothed in trouble thick and dangerous. His follies have
    \r\n", + "entailed a life-rent of misery upon others; the fathomless depth of
    \r\n", + "the future opens its yawning jaws to swallow up those upon whom the
    \r\n", + "fondness of a father should have been bestowed for their moral and
    \r\n", + "physical good.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As he sits contemplating this painful picture, Aunt Rachel enters
    \r\n", + "the room to inquire if Lorenzo breakfasts with them. \"Why! old
    \r\n", + "mas'r, what ail ye dis mornin'? Ye don't seems nohow. Not a stripe
    \r\n", + "like what ye was yesterday; somethin' gi 'h de wrong way, and mas'r
    \r\n", + "done know what i' is,\" she mutters to herself, looking seriously at
    \r\n", + "Marston.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nothing! old bustler; nothing that concerns you. Do not mention
    \r\n", + "Lorenzo's name again; he has gone on a journey. Send my old faithful
    \r\n", + "Daddy Bob to me.\" Rachel hastened to fulfil the command; soon
    \r\n", + "brought the old servant to the door. His countenance lighted up with
    \r\n", + "smiles as he stood at the doorway, bowing and scraping, working his
    \r\n", + "red cap in his hand. There stood the old man, a picture of
    \r\n", + "attachment.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Come in, Bob, come in!\" Marston says, motioning his hand, \"I wish
    \r\n", + "the world was as faithful as you are. You are worthy the indulgence
    \r\n", + "I have bestowed upon you; let me hope there is something better in
    \r\n", + "prospect for you. My life reproves me; and when I turn and review
    \r\n", + "its crooked path-when I behold each inconsistency chiding me-I
    \r\n", + "lament what I cannot recall.\" Taking the old man by the hand, the
    \r\n", + "tears glistening in his eyes, he looks upon him as a father would
    \r\n", + "his child.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"In a short time, Bob, you shall be free to go where you please, on
    \r\n", + "the plantation or off it. But remember, Bob, you are old-you have
    \r\n", + "grown grey in faithfulness,--the good southerner is the true friend
    \r\n", + "of the negro! I mean he is the true friend of the negro, because he
    \r\n", + "has associated with him from childhood, assimilated with his
    \r\n", + "feelings, made his nature a study. He welcomes him without reserve,
    \r\n", + "approaches him without that sensitiveness and prejudice which the
    \r\n", + "northerner too often manifests towards him. You shall be free, Bob!
    \r\n", + "you shall be free!-free to go where you please; but you must remain
    \r\n", + "among southerners, southerners are your friends.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, mas'r, 'im all just so good, if t'warn't dat I so old. Free
    \r\n", + "nigger, when 'e old, don't gwane to get along much. Old Bob tink on
    \r\n", + "dat mighty much, he do dat! Lef Bob free win 'e young, den 'e get
    \r\n", + "tru' de world like Buckra, only lef 'im de chance what Buckra hab.
    \r\n", + "Freedom ain't wof much ven old Bob worn out, mas'r; and Buckra what
    \r\n", + "sell nigger,--what make 'e trade on him, run 'im off sartin. He sell
    \r\n", + "old nigger what got five dollar wof' a work in 'e old bones. Mas'r
    \r\n", + "set 'um free, bad Buckra catch 'um, old Bob get used up afo' he know
    \r\n", + "nofin,\" quaintly replied the old man, seeming to have an instinctive
    \r\n", + "knowledge of the \"nigger trade,\" but with so much attachment for his
    \r\n", + "master that he could not be induced to accept his freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It's not the leaving me, Bob; you may be taken from me. You are
    \r\n", + "worth but little, 'tis true, and yet you may be sold from me to a
    \r\n", + "bad master. If the slave-dealers run you off, you can let me know,
    \r\n", + "and I will prosecute them,\" returned Marston.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! mas'r; dat's just whar de blunt is-in de unsartainty! How I
    \r\n", + "gwane to let mas'r know, when mas'r no larn nigger to read,\" he
    \r\n", + "quickly responded. There is something in his simple remark that
    \r\n", + "Marston has never before condescended to contemplate,--something the
    \r\n", + "simple nature of the negro has just disclosed; it lies deeply rooted
    \r\n", + "at the foundation of all the wrongs of slavery. Education would be
    \r\n", + "valuable to the negro, especially in his old age; it would soften
    \r\n", + "his impulses rather than impair his attachment, unless the master be
    \r\n", + "a tyrant fearing the results of his own oppression. Marston, a good
    \r\n", + "master, had deprived the old man of the means of protecting himself
    \r\n", + "against the avarice of those who would snatch him from freedom, and
    \r\n", + "while his flesh and blood contained dollars and cents, sell him into
    \r\n", + "slavery. Freedom, under the best circumstances, could do him little
    \r\n", + "good in his old age; and yet, a knowledge of the wrong rankled deep
    \r\n", + "in Marston's feelings: he could relieve it only by giving Daddy Bob
    \r\n", + "and Harry their freedom if they would accept it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Relinquishing Daddy's hand, he commanded him to go and bring him
    \r\n", + "Annette and Nicholas. \"Bring them,\" he says, \"without the knowledge
    \r\n", + "of their mothers.\" Bob withdrew, hastened to the cabins in the yard
    \r\n", + "to fulfil the mission. Poor things, thought Marston; they are mine,
    \r\n", + "how can I disown them? Ah, there's the point to conquer-I cannot! It
    \r\n", + "is like the mad torrents of hell, stretched out before me to consume
    \r\n", + "my very soul, to bid me defiance. Misfortune is truly a great
    \r\n", + "purifier, a great regenerator of our moral being; but how can I make
    \r\n", + "the wrong right?-how can I live to hope for something beyond the
    \r\n", + "caprice of this alluring world? My frailties have stamped their
    \r\n", + "future with shame.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus he mused as the children came scampering into the room.
    \r\n", + "Annette, her flaxen curls dangling about her neck, looking as tidy
    \r\n", + "and bright as the skill of Clotilda could make her, runs to Marston,
    \r\n", + "throws herself on his knee, fondles about his bosom, kisses his hand
    \r\n", + "again and again. She loves him,--she knows no other father. Nicholas,
    \r\n", + "more shy, moves slowly behind a chair, his fingers in his mouth the
    \r\n", + "while. Looking through its rounds wistfully, he shakes his head
    \r\n", + "enviously, moves the chair backwards and forwards, and is too
    \r\n", + "bashful to approach Annette's position.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston has taken Annette in his arms, he caresses her; she twirls
    \r\n", + "her tiny fingers through his whiskers, as if to play with him in the
    \r\n", + "toying recognition of a father. He is deeply immersed in thought,
    \r\n", + "smooths her hair, walks to the glass with her in his arms, holds her
    \r\n", + "before it as if to detect his own features in the countenance of the
    \r\n", + "child. Resuming his seat, he sets her on one knee, calls Nicholas to
    \r\n", + "him, takes him on the other, and fondles them with an air of
    \r\n", + "kindness it had never before been their good fortune to receive at
    \r\n", + "his hands. He looked upon them again, and again caressed them,
    \r\n", + "parted their hair with his fingers. And as Annette would open her
    \r\n", + "eyes and gaze in his, with an air of sweetest acknowledgment, his
    \r\n", + "thoughts seemed contending with something fearful. He was in
    \r\n", + "trouble; he saw the enemy brooding over the future; he heaved a
    \r\n", + "sigh, a convulsive motion followed, a tear stealing down his cheek
    \r\n", + "told the tale of his reflections.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, Daddy;\" he speaks, directing himself to old Bob, who stands at
    \r\n", + "the door surprised at Marston's singular movements, \"you are my
    \r\n", + "confidant, what do you think the world-I mean the people about the
    \r\n", + "district, about the city-would say if they knew these were mine? You
    \r\n", + "know, Bob,--you must tell me straight out, do they look like me?-have
    \r\n", + "they features like mine?\" he inquires with rapid utterance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mas'r, Bob don' like to say all he feels,\" meekly muttered the old
    \r\n", + "man.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There is the spot on which we lay the most unholy blot; and yet, it
    \r\n", + "recoils upon us when we least think. Unfortunate wretches bear them
    \r\n", + "unto us; yet we dare not make them our own; we blast their lives for
    \r\n", + "selfish ends, yield them to others, shield ourselves by a misnomer
    \r\n", + "called right! We sell the most interesting beings for a
    \r\n", + "price,--beings that should be nearest and dearest to our hearts.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The old slave's eyes glistened with excitement; he looked on
    \r\n", + "astonished, as if some extraordinary scene had surprised him. As his
    \r\n", + "agitation subsided, he continued, \"Mas'r, I bin watch 'im dis long
    \r\n", + "time. Reckon how nobody wouldn't take 'em fo'h nobody else's-fo'h
    \r\n", + "true! Dar ain't no spozin' bout 'em, 'e so right smart twarn't no
    \r\n", + "use to guise 'em: da'h just like old Boss. Mas'r, nigger watch dem
    \r\n", + "tings mighty close; more close den Buckra, cos' Buckra tink 'e all
    \r\n", + "right when nigger tink 'e all wrong.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston is not quite content with this: he must needs put another
    \r\n", + "question to the old man. \"You are sure there can be no mistaking
    \r\n", + "them for mine?\" he rejoins, fixing his eyes upon the children with
    \r\n", + "an almost death-like stare, as Daddy leads them out of the room. The
    \r\n", + "door closes after them, he paces the room for a time, seats himself
    \r\n", + "in his chair again, and is soon absorbed in contemplation. \"I must
    \r\n", + "do something for them-I must snatch them from the jaws of danger.
    \r\n", + "They are full of interest-they are mine; there is not a drop of
    \r\n", + "negro blood in their veins, and yet the world asks who are their
    \r\n", + "mothers, what is their history? Ah! yes; in that history lies the
    \r\n", + "canker that has eaten out the living springs of many lives. It is
    \r\n", + "that which cuts deepest. Had I known myself, done what I might have
    \r\n", + "done before it was too late, kindness would have its rewards; but I
    \r\n", + "am fettered, and the more I move the worse for them. Custom has laid
    \r\n", + "the foundation of wrong, the law protects it, and a free government
    \r\n", + "tolerates a law that shields iniquities blackening earth.\" In this
    \r\n", + "train of thought his mind wandered. He would send the children into
    \r\n", + "a free state, there to be educated; that they may live in the
    \r\n", + "enjoyment of those rights with which nature had blest them. The
    \r\n", + "obstacles of the law again stared him in the face; the wrong by
    \r\n", + "which they were first enslaved, now forgotten, had brought its
    \r\n", + "climax.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Suddenly arousing from his reverie, he started to his feet, and
    \r\n", + "walking across the floor, exclaimed in an audible voice, \"I will
    \r\n", + "surmount all difficulties,--I will recognise them as my children; I
    \r\n", + "will send them where they may become ornaments of society, instead
    \r\n", + "of living in shame and licentiousness. This is my resolve, and I
    \r\n", + "will carry it out, or die!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER VIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A CLOUD OF MISFORTUNE HANGS OVER THE PLANTATION.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE document Marston signed for Lorenzo-to release him from the
    \r\n", + "difficulties into which he had been drawn by Graspum-guaranteed the
    \r\n", + "holder against all loss. This, in the absence of Lorenzo, and under
    \r\n", + "such stranger circumstances, implied an amount which might be
    \r\n", + "increased according to the will of the man into whose hands he had
    \r\n", + "so unfortunately fallen.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Nearly twelve months had now elapsed since the disclosure of the
    \r\n", + "crime. Maxwell, our young Englishman, had spent the time among the
    \r\n", + "neighbouring plantations; and failing to enlist more than friendly
    \r\n", + "considerations from Franconia, resolved to return to Bermuda and
    \r\n", + "join his family. He had, however, taken a deep interest in Clotilda
    \r\n", + "and Annette,--had gone to their apartment unobserved, and in secret
    \r\n", + "interviews listened to Clotilda's tale of trouble. Its recital
    \r\n", + "enlisted his sympathies; and being of an ardent and impressible
    \r\n", + "temper, he determined to carry out a design for her relief. He
    \r\n", + "realised her silent suffering,--saw how her degraded condition
    \r\n", + "wrangled with her noble feelings,--how the true character of a woman
    \r\n", + "loathed at being the slave of one who claimed her as his property.
    \r\n", + "And this, too, without the hope of redeeming herself, except by some
    \r\n", + "desperate effort. And, too, he saw but little difference between the
    \r\n", + "blood of Franconia and the blood of Clotilda; the same outline of
    \r\n", + "person was there,--her delicate countenance, finely moulded bust,
    \r\n", + "smoothly converging shoulders. There was the same Grecian cast of
    \r\n", + "face, the same soft, reflective eyes,--filling a smile with
    \r\n", + "sweetness, and again with deep-felt sorrow. The same sensitive
    \r\n", + "nature, ready to yield forth love and tenderness, or to press onward
    \r\n", + "the more impassioned affections, was visible in both. And yet, what
    \r\n", + "art had done for Franconia nature had replenished for Clotilda. But,
    \r\n", + "the servile hand was upon her, she crouched beneath its grasp; it
    \r\n", + "branded her life, and that of her child, with ignominy and death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "During these interviews he would watch her emotions as she looked
    \r\n", + "upon her child; when she would clasp it to her bosom, weeping, until
    \r\n", + "from the slightest emotion her feelings would become frantic with
    \r\n", + "anguish.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And you, my child, a mother's hope when all other pleasures are
    \r\n", + "gone! Are you some day to be torn from me, and, like myself, sent to
    \r\n", + "writhe under the coarse hand of a slave-dealer, to be stung with
    \r\n", + "shame enforced while asking God's forgiveness? Sometimes I think it
    \r\n", + "cannot be so; I think it must all be a dream. But it is so, and we
    \r\n", + "might as well submit, say as little of the hardship as possible, and
    \r\n", + "think it's all as they tell us-according to God's will,\" she would
    \r\n", + "say, pressing the child closer and closer to her bosom, the
    \r\n", + "agitation of her feelings rising into convulsions as the tears
    \r\n", + "coursed down her cheeks. Then she would roll her soft eyes upwards,
    \r\n", + "her countenance filling with despair. The preservation of her child
    \r\n", + "was pictured in the depth of her imploring look. For a time her
    \r\n", + "emotions would recede into quiet,--she would smile placidly upon
    \r\n", + "Annette, forget the realities that had just swept her mind into such
    \r\n", + "a train of trouble.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "One night, as Maxwell entered her apartment, he found her kneeling
    \r\n", + "at her bed-side, supplicating in prayer. The word, \"Oh, God; not me,
    \r\n", + "but my child-guide her through the perils that are before her, and
    \r\n", + "receive her into heaven at last,\" fell upon his ear. He paused,
    \r\n", + "gazed upon her as if some angel spirit had touched the tenderest
    \r\n", + "chord of his feelings-listened unmoved. A lovely woman, an
    \r\n", + "affectionate mother, the offspring of a noble race,--herself forced
    \r\n", + "by relentless injustice to become an instrument of
    \r\n", + "licentiousness-stood before him in all that can make woman an
    \r\n", + "ornament to her sex. What to Ellen Juvarna seemed the happiness of
    \r\n", + "her lot, was pain and remorse to Clotilda; and when she arose there
    \r\n", + "was a nervousness, a shrinking in her manner, betokening
    \r\n", + "apprehension. \"It is not now; it is hereafter. And yet there is no
    \r\n", + "glimmer of hope!\" she whispers, as she seats herself in a chair,
    \r\n", + "pulls the little curtain around the bed, and prepares to retire.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The scene so worked upon Maxwell's feelings that he could withstand
    \r\n", + "the effect no longer; he approached her, held out his hand, greeted
    \r\n", + "her with a smile: \"Clotilda, I am your friend,\" he whispers, \"come,
    \r\n", + "sit down and tell me what troubles you!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If what I say be told in confidence?\" she replied, as if
    \r\n", + "questioning his advance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You may trust me with any secret; I am ready to serve you, if it be
    \r\n", + "with my life!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Clasping her arms round her child, again she wept in silence. The
    \r\n", + "moment was propitious--the summer sun had just set beneath dark
    \r\n", + "foliage in the west, its refulgent curtains now fading into mellow
    \r\n", + "tints; night was closing rapidly over the scene, the serene moon
    \r\n", + "shone softly through the arbour into the little window at her
    \r\n", + "bedside. Again she took him by the hand, invited him to sit down at
    \r\n", + "her side, and, looking imploringly in his face, continued,--\"If you
    \r\n", + "are a friend, you can be a friend in confidence, in purpose. I am a
    \r\n", + "slave! yes, a slave; there is much in the word, more than most men
    \r\n", + "are disposed to analyse. It may seem simple to you, but follow it to
    \r\n", + "its degraded depths-follow it to where it sows the seeds of sorrow,
    \r\n", + "and there you will find it spreading poison and death, uprooting all
    \r\n", + "that is good in nature. Worse than that, my child is a slave too. It
    \r\n", + "is that which makes the wrong more cruel, that mantles the polished
    \r\n", + "vice, that holds us in that fearful grasp by which we dare not seek
    \r\n", + "our rights.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My mother, ah! yes, my mother\"-Clotilda shakes her head in sorrow.
    \r\n", + "\"How strange that, by her misfortune, all, all, is misfortune for
    \r\n", + "ever! from one generation to another, sinking each life down, down,
    \r\n", + "down, into misery and woe. How oft she clasped my hand and whispered
    \r\n", + "in my ear: 'If we could but have our rights.' And she, my mother,--as
    \r\n", + "by that sacred name I called her-was fair; fairer than those who
    \r\n", + "held her for a hideous purpose, made her existence loathsome to
    \r\n", + "herself, who knew the right but forced the wrong. She once had
    \r\n", + "rights, but was stripped of them; and once in slavery who can ask
    \r\n", + "that right be done?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What rights have you beyond these?\" he interrupted, suddenly.
    \r\n", + "\"There is mystery in what you have said, in what I have seen;
    \r\n", + "something I want to solve. The same ardent devotion, tenderness,
    \r\n", + "affection,--the same touching chasteness, that characterises
    \r\n", + "Franconia, assimilates in you. You are a slave, a menial-she is
    \r\n", + "courted and caressed by persons of rank and station. Heavens! here
    \r\n", + "is the curse confounding the flesh and blood of those in high
    \r\n", + "places, making slaves of their own kinsmen, crushing out the spirit
    \r\n", + "of life, rearing up those broken flowers whose heads droop with
    \r\n", + "shame. And you want your freedom?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"For my child first,\" she replied, quickly: \"I rest my hopes of her
    \r\n", + "in the future.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Maxwell hesitated for a moment, as if contemplating some plan for
    \r\n", + "her escape, ran his fingers through his hair again and again, then
    \r\n", + "rested his forehead in his hand, as the perspiration stood in heavy
    \r\n", + "drops upon it. \"My child!\" There was something inexpressibly
    \r\n", + "touching in the words of a mother ready to sacrifice her own
    \r\n", + "happiness for the freedom of her child. And yet an awful
    \r\n", + "responsibility hung over him; should he attempt to gain their
    \r\n", + "freedom, and fail in carrying out the project, notwithstanding he
    \r\n", + "was in a free country, the act might cost him his life. But there
    \r\n", + "was the mother, her pride beaming forth in every action, a wounded
    \r\n", + "spirit stung with the knowledge of being a slave, the remorse of her
    \r\n", + "suffering soul-the vicissitudes of that sin thus forced upon her.
    \r\n", + "The temptation became irresistible.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You are English!\"-northerners and Englishmen know what liberty is.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Negroes at the South have a very high opinion of Northern cleverness
    \r\n", + "in devising means of procuring their liberty. The Author here uses
    \r\n", + "the language employed by a slave girl who frequently implored aid to
    \r\n", + "devise some plan by which she would be enabled to make her escape.
    \r\n", + "Northerners could do great things for us, if they would but know us
    \r\n", + "as we are, study our feelings, cast aside selfish motives, and
    \r\n", + "sustain our rights!\" Clotilda now commenced giving Maxwell a history
    \r\n", + "of her mother,--which, however, we must reserve for another chapter.
    \r\n", + "\"And my mother gave me this!\" she said, drawing from her pocket a
    \r\n", + "paper written over in Greek characters, but so defaced as to be
    \r\n", + "almost unintelligible. \"Some day you will find a friend who will
    \r\n", + "secure your freedom through that,\" she would say. \"But freedom-that
    \r\n", + "which is such a boon to us-is so much feared by others that you must
    \r\n", + "mark that friend cautiously, know him well, and be sure he will not
    \r\n", + "betray the liberty you attempt to gain.\" And she handed him the
    \r\n", + "defaced paper, telling him to put it in his pocket.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And where is your mother?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There would be a store of balm in that, if I did but know. Her
    \r\n", + "beauty doomed her to a creature life, which, when she had worn out,
    \r\n", + "she was sold, as I may be, God knows how soon. Though far away from
    \r\n", + "me, she is my mother still, in all that recollection can make her;
    \r\n", + "her countenance seems like a wreath decorating our past
    \r\n", + "associations. Shrink not when I tell it, for few shrink at such
    \r\n", + "things now,--I saw her chained; I didn't think much of it then, for I
    \r\n", + "was too young. And she took me in her arms and kissed me, the tears
    \r\n", + "rolled down her cheeks; and she said-'Clotilda, Clotilda, farewell!
    \r\n", + "There is a world beyond this, a God who knows our hearts, who
    \r\n", + "records our sorrows;' and her image impressed me with feelings I
    \r\n", + "cannot banish. To look back upon it seems like a rough pilgrimage;
    \r\n", + "and then when I think of seeing her again my mind gets lost in
    \r\n", + "hopeless expectations\"--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You saw her chained?\" interrupted Maxwell.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, even chained with strong irons. It need not surprise you.
    \r\n", + "Slavery is a crime; and they chain the innocent lest the wrong
    \r\n", + "should break forth upon themselves.\" And she raised her hands to her
    \r\n", + "face, shook her head, and laid Annette in the little bed at the foot
    \r\n", + "of her own.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "What is it that in chaining a woman, whether she be black as ebony
    \r\n", + "or white as snow, degrades all the traits of the southerner's
    \r\n", + "character, which he would have the world think noble? It is fear!
    \r\n", + "The monster which the southerner sees by day, tolerates in his
    \r\n", + "silence, protects as part and parcel of a legal trade, only clothes
    \r\n", + "him with the disgrace that menials who make themselves mere fiends
    \r\n", + "are guilty of, Maxwell thought to himself.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I will set you free, if it cost my life!\" he exclaimed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hush, hush!\" rejoined Clotilda: \"remember those wretches on the
    \r\n", + "plantation. They, through their ignorance, have learned to wield the
    \r\n", + "tyranny of petty power; they look upon us with suspicious eyes. They
    \r\n", + "know we are negroes (white negroes, who are despicable in their
    \r\n", + "eyes), and feeling that we are more favoured, their envy is excited.
    \r\n", + "They, with the hope of gaining favour, are first to disclose a
    \r\n", + "secret. Save my child first, and then save me\"--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I will save you first; rest assured, I will save you;\" he
    \r\n", + "responded, shaking her hand, bidding her good night. On returning to
    \r\n", + "the mansion he found Marston seated at the table in the
    \r\n", + "drawing-room, in a meditative mood. Good night, my friend!\" he
    \r\n", + "accosted him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, good night!\" was the sudden response.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You seem cast down?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No!-all's not as it seems with a man in trouble. How misfortune
    \r\n", + "quickens our sense of right! O! how it unfolds political and moral
    \r\n", + "wrongs! how it purges the understanding, and turns the good of our
    \r\n", + "natures to thoughts of justice. But when the power to correct is
    \r\n", + "beyond our reach we feel the wrong most painfully,\" Marston coldly
    \r\n", + "replied.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It never is too late to do good; my word for it, friend Marston,
    \r\n", + "good is always worth its services. I am young and may serve you yet;
    \r\n", + "rise above trouble, never let trifles trouble a man like you. The
    \r\n", + "world seems wagging pleasantly for you; everybody on the plantation
    \r\n", + "is happy; Lorenzo has gone into the world to distinguish himself;
    \r\n", + "grief should never lay its scalpel in your feelings. Remember the
    \r\n", + "motto-peace, pleasantry, and plenty; they are things which should
    \r\n", + "always dispel the foreshadowing of unhappiness,\" says Maxwell,
    \r\n", + "jocularly, taking a chair at Marston's request, and seating himself
    \r\n", + "by the table.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston declares such consolation to be refreshing, but too easily
    \r\n", + "conceived to effect his purpose. The ripest fruits of vice often
    \r\n", + "produce the best moral reflections: he feels convinced of this
    \r\n", + "truth; but here the consequences are entailed upon others. The
    \r\n", + "degradation is sunk too deep for recovery by him,--his reflections
    \r\n", + "are only a burden to him. The principle that moves him to atone is
    \r\n", + "crushed by the very perplexity of the law that compels him to do
    \r\n", + "wrong. \"There's what goads me,\" he says: \"it is the system, the
    \r\n", + "forced condition making one man merchandise, and giving another
    \r\n", + "power to continue him as such.\" He arises from the table, his face
    \r\n", + "flushed with excitement, and in silence paces the room to and fro
    \r\n", + "for several minutes. Every now and then he watches at the
    \r\n", + "window,--looks out towards the river, and again at the pine-woods
    \r\n", + "forming a belt in the background, as if he expected some one from
    \r\n", + "that direction. The serene scene without, calm and beautiful,
    \r\n", + "contrasting with the perplexity that surrounded him within,
    \r\n", + "brought the reality of the change which must soon take place in his
    \r\n", + "affairs more vividly to his mind.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Your feelings have been stimulated and modified by education; they
    \r\n", + "are keenly sensitive to right,--to justice between man and man. Those
    \r\n", + "are the beautiful results of early instruction. New England
    \r\n", + "education! It founds a principle for doing good; it needs no
    \r\n", + "contingencies to rouse it to action. You can view slavery with the
    \r\n", + "unprejudiced eye of a philosopher. Listen to what I am about to say:
    \r\n", + "but a few months have passed since I thought myself a man of
    \r\n", + "affluence, and now nothing but the inroads of penury are upon me.
    \r\n", + "The cholera (that scourge of a southern plantation) is again
    \r\n", + "sweeping the district: I cannot expect to escape it, and I am in the
    \r\n", + "hands of a greater scourge than the cholera,--a slow death-broker. He
    \r\n", + "will take from you that which the cholera would not deign to touch:
    \r\n", + "he has no more conscience than a cotton-press,\" says Marston,
    \r\n", + "reclining back in his chair, and calling the negro waiter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The word conscience fell upon Maxwell's ear with strange effect. He
    \r\n", + "had esteemed Marston according to his habits-not a good test when
    \r\n", + "society is so remiss of its duties: he could not reconcile the touch
    \r\n", + "of conscience in such a person, nor could he realise the impulse
    \r\n", + "through which some sudden event was working a moral regeneration in
    \r\n", + "his mind. There was something he struggled to keep from notice. The
    \r\n", + "season had been unpropitious, bad crops had resulted; the cholera
    \r\n", + "made its appearance, swept off many of the best negroes, spread
    \r\n", + "consternation, nearly suspended discipline and labour. One by one
    \r\n", + "his negroes fell victims to its ravages, until it became
    \r\n", + "imperatively necessary to remove the remainder to the pine-woods.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Families might be seen here and there making their little
    \r\n", + "preparations to leave for the hills: the direful scourge to them was
    \r\n", + "an evil spirit, sent as a visitation upon their bad deeds. This they
    \r\n", + "sincerely believe, coupling it with all the superstition their
    \r\n", + "ignorance gives rise to. A few miles from the mansion, among the
    \r\n", + "pines, rude camps are spread out, fires burn to absorb the malaria,
    \r\n", + "to war against mosquitoes, to cook the evening meal; while, up
    \r\n", + "lonely paths, ragged and forlorn-looking negroes are quietly
    \r\n", + "wending their way to take possession. The stranger might view this
    \r\n", + "forest bivouac as a picture of humble life pleasantly domiciled; but
    \r\n", + "it is one of those unfortunate scenes, fruitful of evil, which beset
    \r\n", + "the planter when he is least able to contend against them. Such
    \r\n", + "events develope the sin of an unrighteous institution, bring its
    \r\n", + "supporters to the portals of poverty, consign harmless hundreds to
    \r\n", + "the slave-marts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In this instance, however, we must give Marston credit for all that
    \r\n", + "was good in his intentions, and separate him from the system.
    \r\n", + "Repentance, however produced, is valuable for its example, and if
    \r\n", + "too late for present utility, seldom fails to have an ultimate
    \r\n", + "influence. Thus it was with Marston; and now that all these
    \r\n", + "inevitable disasters were upon him, he resolved to be a father to
    \r\n", + "Annette and Nicholas,--those unfortunates whom law and custom had
    \r\n", + "hitherto compelled him to disown.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Drawing his chair close to Maxwell, he lighted a cigar, and resumed
    \r\n", + "the disclosure his feelings had apparently interrupted a few minutes
    \r\n", + "before. \"Now, my good friend, all these things are upon me; there is
    \r\n", + "no escaping the issue. My people will soon be separated from me; my
    \r\n", + "old, faithful servants, Bob and Harry, will regret me, and if they
    \r\n", + "fall into the hands of a knave, will die thinking of the old
    \r\n", + "plantation. As for Harry, I have made him a preacher,--his knowledge
    \r\n", + "is wonderfully up on Scripture; he has demonstrated to me that
    \r\n", + "niggers are more than mortal, or transitory things. My conscience
    \r\n", + "was touched while listening to one of his sermons; and then, to
    \r\n", + "think how I had leased him to preach upon a neighbouring plantation,
    \r\n", + "just as a man would an ox to do a day's work! Planters paid me so
    \r\n", + "much per sermon, as if the gospel were merchandise, and he a mere
    \r\n", + "thing falsifying all my arguments against his knowledge of the Word
    \r\n", + "of God. Well, it makes me feel as if I were half buried in my own
    \r\n", + "degradation and blindness. And then, again, they are our property,
    \r\n", + "and are bestowed upon us by a legal-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If that be wrong,\" interrupted Maxwell, \"you have no excuse for
    \r\n", + "continuing it.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True! That's just what I was coming at. The evil in its broadest
    \r\n", + "expanse is there. We look calmly on the external objects of the
    \r\n", + "system without solving its internal grievances,--we build a right
    \r\n", + "upon the ruins of ancient wrongs, and we swathe our thoughts with
    \r\n", + "inconsistency that we may make the curse of a system invulnerable.
    \r\n", + "It is not that we cannot do good under a bad system, but that we
    \r\n", + "cannot ameliorate it, lest we weaken the foundation. And yet all
    \r\n", + "this seems as nothing when I recall a sin of greater magnitude-a sin
    \r\n", + "that is upon me-a hideous blot, goading my very soul, rising up
    \r\n", + "against me like a mountain, over which I can see no pass. Again the
    \r\n", + "impelling force of conscience incites me to make a desperate effort;
    \r\n", + "but conscience rebukes me for not preparing the way in time. I could
    \r\n", + "translate my feelings further, but, in doing so, the remedy seems
    \r\n", + "still further from me-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Is it ever too late to try a remedy-to make an effort to surmount
    \r\n", + "great impediments-to render justice to those who have suffered from
    \r\n", + "such acts?\" inquired Maxwell, interrupting Marston as he proceeded.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If I could do it without sacrificing my honour, without exposing
    \r\n", + "myself to the vengeance of the law. We are great sticklers for
    \r\n", + "constitutional law, while we care little for constitutional justice.
    \r\n", + "There is Clotilda; you see her, but you don't know her history: if
    \r\n", + "it were told it would resound through the broad expanse of our land.
    \r\n", + "Yes, it would disclose a wrong, perpetrated under the smiles of
    \r\n", + "liberty, against which the vengeance of high Heaven would be
    \r\n", + "invoked. I know the secret, and yet I dare not disclose it; the
    \r\n", + "curse handed down from her forefathers has been perpetuated by me.
    \r\n", + "She seems happy, and yet she is unhappy; the secret recesses of her
    \r\n", + "soul are poisoned. And what more natural? for, by some unlucky
    \r\n", + "incident, she has got an inkling of the foul means by which she was
    \r\n", + "made a slave. To him who knows the right, the wrong is most painful;
    \r\n", + "but I bought her of him whose trade it was to sell such flesh and
    \r\n", + "blood! And yet that does not relieve me from the curse: there's the
    \r\n", + "stain; it hangs upon me, it involves my inclinations, it gloats over
    \r\n", + "my downfall-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You bought her!\" again interrupts Maxwell.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True,\" rejoins the other, quickly, \"'tis a trade well protected by
    \r\n", + "our democracy. Once bought, we cannot relieve ourselves by giving
    \r\n", + "them rights in conflict with the claims of creditors. Our will may
    \r\n", + "be good, but the will without the means falls hopeless. My heart
    \r\n", + "breaks under the knowledge that those children are mine. It is a sad
    \r\n", + "revelation to make,--sad in the eyes of heaven and earth. My
    \r\n", + "participation in wrong has proved sorrow to them: how can I look to
    \r\n", + "the pains and struggles they must endure in life, when stung with
    \r\n", + "the knowledge that I am the cause of it? I shall wither under the
    \r\n", + "torture of my own conscience. And there is even an interest about
    \r\n", + "them that makes my feelings bound joyfully when I recur them. Can it
    \r\n", + "be aught but the fruit of natural affection? I think not; and yet I
    \r\n", + "am compelled to disown them, and even to smother with falsehood the
    \r\n", + "rancour that might find a place in Franconia's bosom. Clotilda loves
    \r\n", + "Annette with a mother's fondness; but with all her fondness for her
    \r\n", + "child she dare not love me, nor I the child.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Maxwell suggests that his not having bought the child would
    \r\n", + "certainly give him the right to control his own flesh and blood: but
    \r\n", + "he knows little of slave law, and less of its customs. He, however,
    \r\n", + "was anxious to draw from Marston full particulars of the secret that
    \r\n", + "would disclose Clotilda's history, over which the partial exposition
    \r\n", + "had thrown the charm of mystery. Several times he was on the eve of
    \r\n", + "proffering his services to relieve the burden working upon Marston's
    \r\n", + "mind; but his sympathies were enlisted toward the two unfortunate
    \r\n", + "women, for whom he was ready to render good service, to relieve them
    \r\n", + "and their children. Again, he remembered how singularly sensitive
    \r\n", + "Southerners were on matters concerning the peculiar institution,
    \r\n", + "especially when approached by persons from abroad. Perhaps it was a
    \r\n", + "plot laid by Marston to ascertain his feelings on the subject, or,
    \r\n", + "under that peculiar jealousy of Southerners who live in this manner,
    \r\n", + "he might have discovered his interview with Clotilda, and, in
    \r\n", + "forming a plan to thwart his project, adopted this singular course
    \r\n", + "for disarming apprehensions.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At this stage of the proceedings a whispering noise was heard, as if
    \r\n", + "coming from another part of the room. They stopped at the moment,
    \r\n", + "looked round with surprise, but not seeing anything, resumed the
    \r\n", + "conversation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Of whom did you purchase?\" inquired Maxwell, anxiously.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One Silenus; a trader who trades in this quality of property only,
    \r\n", + "and has become rich by the traffic. He is associated with Anthony
    \r\n", + "Romescos, once a desperado on the Texan frontier. These two coveys
    \r\n", + "would sell their mossmates without a scruple, and think it no harm
    \r\n", + "so long as they turned a dime. They know every justice of the peace
    \r\n", + "from Texas to Fort M'Henry. Romescos is turned the desperado again,
    \r\n", + "shoots, kills, and otherwise commits fell deeds upon his neighbour's
    \r\n", + "negroes; he even threatens them with death when they approach him
    \r\n", + "for reparation. He snaps his fingers at law, lawyers, and judges:
    \r\n", + "slave law is moonshine to those who have no rights in common law-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And he escapes? Then you institute laws, and substitute custom to
    \r\n", + "make them null. It is a poor apology for a namesake. But do you
    \r\n", + "assert that in the freest and happiest country-a country that boasts
    \r\n", + "the observance of its statute laws-a man is privileged to shoot,
    \r\n", + "maim, and torture a fellow-being, and that public opinion fails to
    \r\n", + "bring him to justice?\" ejaculated Maxwell.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" returns Marston, seriously; \"it is no less shameful than
    \r\n", + "true. Three of my negroes has he killed very good-naturedly, and yet
    \r\n", + "I have no proof to convict him. Even were I to seek redress, it
    \r\n", + "would be against that prejudice which makes the rights of the
    \r\n", + "enslaved unpopular.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The trouble exists in making the man merchandise, reducing him to an
    \r\n", + "abject being, without the protection of common law. Presently the
    \r\n", + "tears began to flow down Marston's cheeks, as he unbuttoned his
    \r\n", + "shirt-collar with an air of restlessness, approached a desk that
    \r\n", + "stood in one corner of the room, and drew from it a somewhat defaced
    \r\n", + "bill of sale. There was something connected with that bit of paper,
    \r\n", + "which, apart from anything else, seemed to harass him most. \"But a
    \r\n", + "minute before you entered I looked upon that paper,\" he spoke,
    \r\n", + "throwing it upon the table, \"and thought how much trouble it had
    \r\n", + "brought me, how through it I had left a curse upon innocent life. I
    \r\n", + "paid fifteen hundred dollars for the souls and bodies of those two
    \r\n", + "women, creatures of sense, delicacy, and tenderness. But I am not a
    \r\n", + "bad man, after all. No, there are worse men than me in the world.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gather, gather, ye incubus of misfortune, bearing to me the light
    \r\n", + "of heaven, with which to see my sins. May it come to turn my heart
    \r\n", + "in the right way, to seek its retribution on the wrong!\" Thus
    \r\n", + "concluding, Marston covers his face in his hands, and for several
    \r\n", + "minutes weeps like a child. Again rising from his seat, he throws
    \r\n", + "the paper on a table near an open window, and himself upon a couch
    \r\n", + "near by.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Maxwell attempts to quiet him by drawing his attention from the
    \r\n", + "subject. There is little use, however,--it is a terrible
    \r\n", + "conflict,--the conflict of conscience awakening to a sense of its
    \r\n", + "errors; the fate of regrets when it is too late to make amends.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While this was going on, a brawny hand reached into the window, and
    \r\n", + "quickly withdrew the paper from the table. Neither observed it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And at the moment, Marston ejaculated, \"I will! I will! let it cost
    \r\n", + "what it may. I will do justice to Clotilda and her child,--to Ellen
    \r\n", + "and her child; I will free them, send them into a free country to be
    \r\n", + "educated.\" In his excitement he forgot the bill of sale.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Like enough you will!\" responds a gruff voice; and a loud rap at
    \r\n", + "the hall-door followed. Dandy was summoned, opened the door, bowed
    \r\n", + "Romescos into the room. He pretends to be under the influence of
    \r\n", + "liquor, which he hopes will excuse his extraordinary familiarity at
    \r\n", + "such a late hour. Touching the hilt of his knife, he swaggers into
    \r\n", + "the presence of Marston, looks at him fixedly, impertinently demands
    \r\n", + "something to drink. He cares not what it be, waits for no ceremony,
    \r\n", + "tips the decanter, gulps his glass, and deliberately takes a seat.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The reader will perhaps detect the object of his presence; but,
    \r\n", + "beyond that, there is something deep and desperate in the appearance
    \r\n", + "of the man, rendering his familiarity exceedingly disagreeable. That
    \r\n", + "he should present himself at such an untimely hour was strange,
    \r\n", + "beyond Marston's comprehension. It was, indeed, most inopportune;
    \r\n", + "but knowing him, he feared him. He could not treat him with
    \r\n", + "indifference,--there was his connection with Graspum, his power over
    \r\n", + "the poor servile whites; he must be courteous-so, summoning his
    \r\n", + "suavity, he orders Dandy to wait upon him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos amuses himself with sundry rude expressions about the
    \r\n", + "etiquette of gentlemen,--their rights and associations,--the glorious
    \r\n", + "freedom of a glorious land. Not heeding Dandy's attention, he fills
    \r\n", + "another glass copiously, twirls it upon the table, eyes Marston, and
    \r\n", + "then Maxwell, playfully-drinks his beverage with the air of one
    \r\n", + "quite at home.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Marston, old feller,\" he says, winking at Maxwell, \"things don't
    \r\n", + "jibe so straight as they use't-do they? I wants a stave o'
    \r\n", + "conversation on matters o' business with ye to-morrow. It's a smart
    \r\n", + "little property arrangement; but I ain't in the right fix just now;
    \r\n", + "I can't make the marks straight so we can understand two and two. Ye
    \r\n", + "take, don't ye? Somethin' touching a genteel business with your fast
    \r\n", + "young nephew, Lorenzo. Caution to the wise.\" Romescos, making
    \r\n", + "several vain attempts, rises, laughing with a half-independent air,
    \r\n", + "puts his slouch hat on his head, staggers to the door, makes passes
    \r\n", + "at Dandy, who waits his egress, and bidding them good night,
    \r\n", + "disappears.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER IX.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WHO IS SAFE AGAINST THE POWER?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE cholera raging on Marston's plantation, had excited Graspum's
    \r\n", + "fears. His pecuniary interests were above every other
    \r\n", + "consideration-he knew no higher object than the accumulation of
    \r\n", + "wealth; and to ascertain the precise nature and extent of the malady
    \r\n", + "he had sent Romescos to reconnoitre.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Returning to the long-room at Graspum's slave-pen, we must introduce
    \r\n", + "the reader to scenes which take place on the night following that
    \r\n", + "upon which Romescos secured the bill of sale at Marston's mansion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Around the table we have before described sit Graspum and some dozen
    \r\n", + "of his clan. Conspicuous among them is Dan Bengal, and Nath Nimrod,
    \r\n", + "whom we described as running into the room unceremoniously, holding
    \r\n", + "by the hair the head of a negro, and exulting over it as a prize of
    \r\n", + "much value. They are relating their adventures, speculating over the
    \r\n", + "prospects of trade, comparing notes on the result of making free
    \r\n", + "trash human property worth something! They all manifest the happiest
    \r\n", + "of feelings, have a language of their own, converse freely; at times
    \r\n", + "sprinkle their conversation with pointed oaths. They are conversant
    \r\n", + "with the business affairs of every planter in the State, know his
    \r\n", + "liabilities, the condition of his negroes, his hard cases, his bad
    \r\n", + "cases, his runaways, and his prime property. Their dilations on the
    \r\n", + "development of wenches, shades of colour, qualities of stock suited
    \r\n", + "to the various markets-from Richmond to New Orleans-disclose a
    \r\n", + "singular foresight into the article of poor human nature.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's nothing like pushing our kind of business, specially whin
    \r\n", + "ye gits it where ye can push profitably,\" speaks Bengal, his fiery
    \r\n", + "red eyes glaring over the table as he droops his head sluggishly,
    \r\n", + "and, sipping his whiskey, lets it drip over his beard upon his
    \r\n", + "bosom; \"if 't warn't for Anthony's cunnin' we'd have a pesky deal of
    \r\n", + "crooked law to stumble through afore we'd get them rich uns upset.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "My reader must know that southern law and justice for the poor
    \r\n", + "succumb to popular feeling in all slave atmospheres; and happy is
    \r\n", + "the fellow who can work his way through slavedom without being
    \r\n", + "dependent upon the one or brought under the influence of the other.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum, in reply to Bengal, feels that gentlemen in the \"nigger
    \r\n", + "business\" should respect themselves. He well knows there exists not
    \r\n", + "the best feeling in the world between them and the more exclusive
    \r\n", + "aristocracy, whose feelings must inevitably be modified to suit the
    \r\n", + "democratic spirit of the age. He himself enjoys that most refined
    \r\n", + "society, which he asserts to be strong proof of the manner in which
    \r\n", + "democracy is working its way to distinction. Our business, he says,
    \r\n", + "hath so many avenues that it has become positively necessary that
    \r\n", + "some of them should be guarded by men of honour, dignity, and
    \r\n", + "irreproachable conduct. Now, he has sent Anthony Romescos to do some
    \r\n", + "watching on the sly, at Marston's plantation; but there is nothing
    \r\n", + "dishonourable in that, inasmuch as the victim is safe in his claws.
    \r\n", + "Contented with these considerations, Graspum puffs his cigar very
    \r\n", + "composedly. From slave nature, slave-seeking adventures, and the
    \r\n", + "intricacies of the human-property-market, they turn to the
    \r\n", + "discussion of state rights, of freedom in its broadest and most
    \r\n", + "practical sense. And, upon the principle of the greatest despot
    \r\n", + "being foremost to discuss what really constitutes freedom, which,
    \r\n", + "however, he always argues in an abstract sense, Nimrod was loudest
    \r\n", + "and most lavish in his praises of a protective government--a
    \r\n", + "government that would grant great good justice to the white man
    \r\n", + "only. It matters little to Nimrod which is the greater nigger; he
    \r\n", + "believes in the straight principles of right in the white man. It is
    \r\n", + "not so much how justice is carried out when menial beings form a
    \r\n", + "glorious merchandise; but it is the true essence of liberty, giving
    \r\n", + "men power to keep society all straight, to practice liberty very
    \r\n", + "liberally. \"Ye see, now, Graspum,\" he quaintly remarks, as he takes
    \r\n", + "up the candle to light his cigar, \"whatever ye do is right, so long
    \r\n", + "as the law gives a feller a right to do it. 'Tisn't a bit o' use to
    \r\n", + "think how a man can be too nice in his feelings when a hundred or
    \r\n", + "two's to be made on nigger property what's delicate, t'aint! A
    \r\n", + "feller feels sore once in a while, a' cos his conscience is a little
    \r\n", + "touchy now and then; but it won't do to give way to it-conscience
    \r\n", + "don't bring cash. When ye launches out in the nigger-trading
    \r\n", + "business ye must feel vengeance agin the brutes, and think how it's
    \r\n", + "only trade; how it's perfectly legal-and how it's encouraged by the
    \r\n", + "Governor's proclamations. Human natur's human natur'; and when ye
    \r\n", + "can turn a penny at it, sink all the in'ard inclinations. Just let
    \r\n", + "the shiners slide in, it don't matter a tenpence where ye got 'em.
    \r\n", + "Trade's everything! you might as well talk about patriotism among
    \r\n", + "crowned heads,--about the chivalry of commerce: cash makes
    \r\n", + "consequence, and them's what makes gentlemen, south.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They welcome the spirits, although it has already made them
    \r\n", + "soulless. The negro listens to a dialogue of singular import to
    \r\n", + "himself; his eyes glistened with interest, as one by one they
    \r\n", + "sported over the ignorance enforced upon the weak. One by one they
    \r\n", + "threw their slouch hats upon the floor, drew closer in conclave,
    \r\n", + "forming a grotesque picture of fiendish faces. \"Now, gentlemen,\"
    \r\n", + "Graspum deigns to say, after a moment's pause, motioning to the
    \r\n", + "decanter, \"pass it along round when ye gets a turn about.\" He fills
    \r\n", + "his glass and drinks, as if drink were a necessary accompaniment of
    \r\n", + "the project before them. \"This case of Marston's is a regular
    \r\n", + "plumper; there's a spec to be made in that stock of stuff; and them
    \r\n", + "bright bits of his own-they look like him-'ll make right smart
    \r\n", + "fancy. Ther' developing just in the right sort of way to be valuable
    \r\n", + "for market.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's movin' o' the shrewdest kind to be done there, Graspum!
    \r\n", + "Where's the dockerment what 'll make 'um property, eh?\" interrupted
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 3/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 3 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Nimrod, twisting the hair with which his face is covered into
    \r\n", + "fantastic points.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, my good fellows, public opinion's the dockerment; with the
    \r\n", + "bright side of public opinion! Public opinion whispers about
    \r\n", + "Clotilda: it says she looks so much like that niece of Marston's,
    \r\n", + "that you couldn't tell them apart. And they are like two pins,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen; but then one's property and t'other's anything but
    \r\n", + "property. One will bring something substantial in the market: I
    \r\n", + "wouldn't say much about the other. But there's pride in the whole
    \r\n", + "family, and where it's got into the niggers it's worth a few extra
    \r\n", + "dollars. The Marstons and Roveros don't think much of we dealers
    \r\n", + "when they don't want our money; but when they do we are cousins of
    \r\n", + "the right stripe. However, these ere little aristocratic notions
    \r\n", + "don't mount to much; they are bin generous blood-mixers, and now
    \r\n", + "they may wince over it-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum is interrupted again. Bengal has been analysing his logic,
    \r\n", + "and rises to dispute the logic of his arguments. He is ready to
    \r\n", + "stake his political faith, and all his common sense-of which he
    \r\n", + "never fails to boast-that mixing the blood of the two races destroys
    \r\n", + "the purity of the nigger, spiles the gauge of the market, detracts
    \r\n", + "from real plantation property, and will just upset the growin' of
    \r\n", + "young niggers. He is sure he knows just as much about the thing as
    \r\n", + "anybody else, has never missed his guess, although folks say he aint
    \r\n", + "no way clever at selection; and, rubbing his eyes after adjusting
    \r\n", + "the long black hair that hangs down over his shoulders, he folds his
    \r\n", + "arms with an independent air, and waits the rejoinder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The dingy room breathes thick of deleterious fumes; a gloom hangs
    \r\n", + "over their meditations, deep and treacherous: it excites fear, not
    \r\n", + "of the men, but of the horrors of their trade. A dim light hangs
    \r\n", + "suspended from the ceiling: even the sickly shade contrasts
    \r\n", + "strangely with their black purpose.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Variety of shade, my dear Bengal, is none of our business. If you
    \r\n", + "make a division you destroy the property and the principle. We don't
    \r\n", + "represent the South: if we did, my stars! how the abolitionists
    \r\n", + "would start up,--eh! Now, there's a right smart chance of big
    \r\n", + "aristocrat folks in the district, and they think something of their
    \r\n", + "niggers, and some are fools enough to think niggers have souls just
    \r\n", + "as white as we. That's where the thing don't strike our morals
    \r\n", + "alike. It's all right to let such folks represent us-that it is! It
    \r\n", + "tells down north.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I goes in for that! It puts a polished face on the brown side of
    \r\n", + "things. That's the way I puts it on when I gets among the big 'uns
    \r\n", + "on 'Change. I talks to one, shakes hands with another, touches my
    \r\n", + "hat to the president of the bank; and then them what don't know
    \r\n", + "thinks how I do a little in the taking a corner of notes line!\" \"In
    \r\n", + "the same sly way that directors of banks do,\" interrupts a voice,
    \r\n", + "sullenly and slow. It was long Joe Morphet, the constable's sponge,
    \r\n", + "who did a little in the line of nigger trailing, and now and then
    \r\n", + "acted as a contingent of Graspum. Joe had, silently and with great
    \r\n", + "attention, listened to their consultations, expecting to get a hook
    \r\n", + "on at some point where his services would play at a profit; but it
    \r\n", + "all seemed beyond his comprehension-amounted to nothing.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's something in Joe, gentlemen! But our genteelest folks don't
    \r\n", + "alway do the genteelest things, arter all. Right-right! Joe's
    \r\n", + "right!\" Graspum has suddenly comprehended Joe's logic, and brightens
    \r\n", + "up with the possession of a new idea, that at first was inclined to
    \r\n", + "get crosswise in his mind, which he has drilled in the minor details
    \r\n", + "of human nature rather than the political dignity of the state.
    \r\n", + "Joe's ideas are ranging over the necessity of keeping up a good
    \r\n", + "outside for the state; Graspum thinks only of keeping up the dignity
    \r\n", + "of himself. \"Well, give in, fellers; Joe's right clever. He's got
    \r\n", + "head enough to get into Congress, and if polished up wouldn't make
    \r\n", + "the worst feller that ever was sent: he wouldn't, to my certain
    \r\n", + "knowledge. Joe's clever! What great men do with impunity little men
    \r\n", + "have no scruples in following; what the state tolerates, knaves may
    \r\n", + "play upon to their own advantage. To keep up the dignity of a slave
    \r\n", + "state, slave dealers must keep up dignity among themselves: the one
    \r\n", + "cannot live without the other. They must affect, and the state must
    \r\n", + "put on, the dignity; and northerners what aint gentlemen must be
    \r\n", + "taught to know that they aint gentlemen.\" This is the conclusion to
    \r\n", + "which Graspum has arrived on the maturest reflection of a few
    \r\n", + "minutes: it conforms with the opinion and dignity of
    \r\n", + "slaveocracy-must be right, else the glorious Union, with the
    \r\n", + "free-thinking north unfortunately attached, could never be
    \r\n", + "preserved. It's the nut of a glorious compact which the south only
    \r\n", + "must crack, and will crack. Graspum apologised for the thing having
    \r\n", + "escaped his memory so long. He remembered that southerners left no
    \r\n", + "stone unturned that could serve the policy of concentrating slave
    \r\n", + "power; and he remembered that it was equally necessary to keep an
    \r\n", + "eye to the feeling abroad. There were in America none but southern
    \r\n", + "nobles,--no affable gentlemen who could do the grace of polite
    \r\n", + "circles except themselves,--none who, through their bland manners,
    \r\n", + "could do more to repel the awful descriptions given of southern
    \r\n", + "society, nor who could not make strangers believe slaves were happy
    \r\n", + "mortals, happily created to live in all the happiness of slave life.
    \r\n", + "\"There's nothing like putting our learned folks ahead-they're
    \r\n", + "polished down for the purpose, you see-and letting them represent us
    \r\n", + "when abroad; they puts a different sort of shine on things what our
    \r\n", + "institution makes profitable. They don't always set good examples at
    \r\n", + "home, but we can't control their tastes on small matters of that
    \r\n", + "kind: and then, what a valuable offset it is, just to have the power
    \r\n", + "of doing the free and easy gentleman, to be the brilliant companion,
    \r\n", + "to put on the smooth when you go among nobility what don't
    \r\n", + "understand the thing!\" Graspum adds, with a cunning wink.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Pooh! pooh! such talk don't jingle. You can't separate our
    \r\n", + "aristocracy from mistress-keeping. It's a matter of romance with
    \r\n", + "them,--a matter of romance, gentlemen, that's all. The south couldn't
    \r\n", + "live without romance, she couldn't!\" adds Nimrod, stretching back in
    \r\n", + "his chair.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And where did you get that broad idea from, Jakey? I kind o' likes
    \r\n", + "that sort of philosophy,\" adds another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Philosophy! I reckon how there is deep and strong philosophy in
    \r\n", + "that ar; but ye can't calc'late much on't when ye haint talents to
    \r\n", + "bring it out. That point where the soul comes in is a puzzler on
    \r\n", + "Yankees; but it takes our editors and parsons to put the arguments
    \r\n", + "where the Yankees can't demolish them. Read the Richmond--, my
    \r\n", + "grandmother of the day, if ye want to see the philosophy of niggers,
    \r\n", + "and their souls. That editor is a philosopher; the world's got to
    \r\n", + "learn his philosophy. Just take that preacher from New Jersey, what
    \r\n", + "preaches in All Saints; if he don't prove niggers aint no souls I'm
    \r\n", + "a Dutchman, and dead at that! He gives 'em broadside logic,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen; and if he hadn't been raised north he wouldn't bin so up
    \r\n", + "on niggers when he cum south,\" was the quick rejoinder of our
    \r\n", + "knowing expounder, who, looking Graspum in the face, demanded to
    \r\n", + "know if he was not correct. Graspum thinks it better to waste no
    \r\n", + "more time in words, but to get at the particular piece of business
    \r\n", + "for which they have been called together. He is a man of money,--a
    \r\n", + "man of trade, ever willing to admit the philosophy of the
    \r\n", + "man-market, but don't see the difference of honour between the
    \r\n", + "aristocrat who sells his bits in the market, and the honourable
    \r\n", + "dealer who gets but a commission for selling them. And there's
    \r\n", + "something about the parson who, forgetting the sanctity of his
    \r\n", + "calling, sanctifies everything pertaining to slavery. Conscience, he
    \r\n", + "admits, is a wonderful thing fixed somewhere about the heart, and,
    \r\n", + "in spite of all he can do, will trouble it once in a while.
    \r\n", + "Marston-poor Marston!-he declares to be foolishly troubled with it,
    \r\n", + "and it makes him commit grievous errors. And then, there's no
    \r\n", + "understandin' it, because Marston has a funny way of keeping it
    \r\n", + "under such a knotty-looking exterior. Graspum declares he had
    \r\n", + "nothing to do with the breaking out of the cholera, is very sorry
    \r\n", + "for it,--only wants his own, just like any other honest man. He kind
    \r\n", + "o' likes Marston, admits he is a sort of good fellow in his way;
    \r\n", + "mighty careless though, wouldn't cheat anybody if he knew it, and
    \r\n", + "never gave half a minute's thinking about how uncertain the world
    \r\n", + "was. But the cholera-a dire disease among niggers-has broke out in
    \r\n", + "all the fury of its ravages; and it makes him think of his sick
    \r\n", + "niggers and paying his debts. \"You see, gentlemen-we are all
    \r\n", + "gentlemen here,\" Graspum continues,--\"a man must pay the penalty of
    \r\n", + "his folly once in a while. It's the fate of great men as well as
    \r\n", + "smaller ones; all are liable to it. That isn't the thing, though; it
    \r\n", + "don't do to be chicken-hearted afore niggers, nor when yer dealing
    \r\n", + "in niggers, nor in any kind o' business what ye want to make coin
    \r\n", + "at. Marston 'll stick on that point, he will; see if he don't. His
    \r\n", + "feelins' are troubling him: he knows I've got the assignment; and if
    \r\n", + "he don't put them ar' white 'uns of his in the schedule, I'll snap
    \r\n", + "him up for fraud,--I will-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The conversation is here interrupted by a loud rap at the door,
    \r\n", + "which is opened by the negro, who stands with his finger on the
    \r\n", + "latch. Romescos, in his slovenly garb, presents himself with an air
    \r\n", + "of self-assurance that marks the result of his enterprise. He is a
    \r\n", + "prominent feature in all Graspum's great operations; he is desperate
    \r\n", + "in serving his interests. Drawing a handkerchief from his pocket-it
    \r\n", + "is printed with the stars and stripes of freedom-he calls it a New
    \r\n", + "England rag, disdainfully denounces that area of unbelievers in
    \r\n", + "slaveocracy, wipes his blistered face with it, advances to the
    \r\n", + "table-every eye intently watching him-and pauses for breath.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What success, Anthony? Tell us quickly,\" Graspum demands, extending
    \r\n", + "his hand nervously. \"Anthony never fails! It's a fool who fails in
    \r\n", + "our business,\" was the reply, delivered with great unconcern, and
    \r\n", + "responded to with unanimous applause. A warrior returned from
    \r\n", + "victory was Anthony,--a victory of villainy recorded in heaven, where
    \r\n", + "the rewards will, at some day, be measured out with a just but awful
    \r\n", + "retribution.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The bosom of his shirt lays broadly open: one by one they shake his
    \r\n", + "hand, as he hastily unties the chequered cloth about his neck, pours
    \r\n", + "out his drink of whiskey, seats himself in a chair, and deliberately
    \r\n", + "places his feet upon the table. \"Ther's nothin' like making a
    \r\n", + "triangle of oneself when ye wants to feel so ye can blow
    \r\n", + "comfortable,\" he says. \"I done nothin' shorter than put all straight
    \r\n", + "at Marston's last night. It was science, ye see, gents; and I done
    \r\n", + "it up strictly according to science. A feller what aint cunnin', and
    \r\n", + "don't know the nice work o' the law, can't do nothin' in the way o'
    \r\n", + "science. It's just as you said\"-addressing his remarks to Graspum,--
    \r\n", + "\"Marston's slackin' out his conscience because he sees how things
    \r\n", + "are goin' down hill with him. If that old hoss cholera don't clar
    \r\n", + "off the nigger property, I'm no prophet. It'll carry 'em into glory;
    \r\n", + "and glory, I reckon, isn't what you calls good pay, eh, Graspum? I
    \r\n", + "overheard his intentions: he sees the black page before him; it
    \r\n", + "troubles the chicken part of his heart. Feels mighty meek and gentle
    \r\n", + "all at once; and, it's no lie, he begins to see sin in what he has
    \r\n", + "done; and to make repentance good he's goin' to shove off that nabob
    \r\n", + "stock of his, so the creditors can't lay paws upon it. Ye got to
    \r\n", + "spring; Marston 'll get ahead of ye if he don't, old feller. This
    \r\n", + "child 'll show him how he can't cum some o' them things while Squire
    \r\n", + "Hobble and I'm on hand.\" Thus quaintly he speaks, pulling the bill
    \r\n", + "of sale from a side-pocket, throwing it upon the table with an air
    \r\n", + "of satisfaction amounting to exultation. \"Take that ar; put it where
    \r\n", + "ye can put yer finger on't when the 'mergency comes.\" And he smiles
    \r\n", + "to see how gratefully and anxiously Graspum receives it, reviews it,
    \r\n", + "re-reviews it,--how it excites the joy of his nature. He has no soul
    \r\n", + "beyond the love of gold, and the system of his bloody trade. It was
    \r\n", + "that fatal instrument, great in the atmosphere of ungrateful law,
    \r\n", + "bending some of nature's noblest beneath its seal of crimes. \"It's
    \r\n", + "from Silenus to Marston; rather old, but just the thing! Ah, you're
    \r\n", + "a valuable fellow, Anthony.\" Mr. Graspum manifests his approbation
    \r\n", + "by certain smiles, grimaces, and shakes of the hand, while word by
    \r\n", + "word he reads it, as if eagerly relishing its worth. \"It's a little
    \r\n", + "thing for a great purpose; it'll tell a tale in its time;\" and he
    \r\n", + "puts the precious scrip safely in his pocket, and rubbing his hands
    \r\n", + "together, declares \"that deserves a bumper!\" They fill up at
    \r\n", + "Graspum's request, drink with social cheers, followed by a song from
    \r\n", + "Nimrod, who pitches his tune to the words, \"Come, landlord, fill the
    \r\n", + "flowing bowl.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Nimrod finishes his song: Romescos takes the floor to tell a story
    \r\n", + "about the old judge what hung the nigger a'cos he didn't want to
    \r\n", + "spend his patience listening to the testimony, and adjourned the
    \r\n", + "court to go and take a drink at Sal Stiles's grocery. His
    \r\n", + "description of the court, its high jurisdiction, the dignity of the
    \r\n", + "squire what sits as judge, how he drinks the three
    \r\n", + "jurymen-freeholders-what are going to try a nigger, how they goes
    \r\n", + "out and takes three drinks when the case gets about half way
    \r\n", + "through, how the nigger winks and blinks when he sees the jury
    \r\n", + "drunk, and hears the judge say there's only two things he likes to
    \r\n", + "hang,--niggers and schoolmasters. But as it's no harm to kill
    \r\n", + "schoolmasters-speaking in a southern sense-so Romescos thinks the
    \r\n", + "squire who got the jury inebriated afore he sent the \"nigger\" to be
    \r\n", + "hung doesn't mean the least harm when he evinces an abhorrence to
    \r\n", + "the whole clan of schoolmaster trash. He turns to the old story of
    \r\n", + "doing everything by system; ends by describing his method of
    \r\n", + "drinking a whole jury. He has surprised Marston, got him on the hip,
    \r\n", + "where he can feather him or sciver him, and where things must be
    \r\n", + "done sly. Public opinion, he whispers, may set folks moving, and
    \r\n", + "then they'll all be down upon him like hawks after chickens. In his
    \r\n", + "mind, the feller what pulls first comes off first best-if the law
    \r\n", + "hounds are not too soon let loose! If they are, there will be a long
    \r\n", + "drag, a small cage for the flock, and very few birds with feathers
    \r\n", + "on. Romescos cares for nobody but the judge: he tells us how the
    \r\n", + "judge and he are right good cronies, and how it's telling a good
    \r\n", + "many dollars at the end of the year to keep on the best of terms
    \r\n", + "with him, always taking him to drink when they meet. The judge is a
    \r\n", + "wonderfully clever fellow, in Romescos' opinion; ranks among
    \r\n", + "first-class drinkers; can do most anything, from hanging a nigger to
    \r\n", + "clearing the fellow that killed the schoolmaster, and said he'd
    \r\n", + "clear a dozen in two two's, if they'd kill off ever so many of the
    \r\n", + "rubbish. It is well to make his favour a point of interest. The
    \r\n", + "company are become tired of this sort of cantation; they have heard
    \r\n", + "enough of high functionaries, know quite enough of judges:--such
    \r\n", + "things are in their line of business. Romescos must needs turn the
    \r\n", + "conversation. \"Well, taking it how I can entertain ye to most
    \r\n", + "anything, I'll give ye a story on the secrets of how I used to run
    \r\n", + "off Ingin remnants of the old tribes. 'Taint but a few years ago, ye
    \r\n", + "know, when ther was a lot of Ingin and white, mixed stuff-some
    \r\n", + "called it beautiful-down in Beaufort district. It was temptin'
    \r\n", + "though, I reckon, and made a feller feel just as if he was runnin'
    \r\n", + "it off to sell, every time it come in his way. Ye see, most on't was
    \r\n", + "gal property, and that kind, ollers keeps the whole district in a
    \r\n", + "hubbub; everybody's offended, and there's so much delicacy about the
    \r\n", + "ladies what come in contact with it. Yes, gentlemen! the ladies-I
    \r\n", + "means the aristocracy's ladies-hate these copper-coloured Ingins as
    \r\n", + "they would female devils. It didn't do to offend the delicacy of our
    \r\n", + "ladies, ye see; so something must be done, but it was all for
    \r\n", + "charity's sake. Squire Hornblower and me fixes a plan a'tween us: it
    \r\n", + "was just the plan to do good for the town-we must always be kind, ye
    \r\n", + "know, and try to do good-and save the dear good ladies a great deal
    \r\n", + "of unnecessary pain.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, the squire had law larnin', and I had cunnin'; and both put
    \r\n", + "together made the thing work to a point. The scheme worked so nicely
    \r\n", + "that we put twelve out of fifteen of 'em right into pocket-money in
    \r\n", + "less than three years-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hold a second, Romescos; how did you play the game so adroitly,
    \r\n", + "when they were all members of families living in the town? You're a
    \r\n", + "remarkable fellow,\" Graspum interposes, stretching his arms, and
    \r\n", + "twisting his sturdy figure over the side of his chair.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's what I was coming at. Ye see, whenever ye makes white trash
    \r\n", + "what ain't slaved a nuisance, you makes it mightily unpopular; and
    \r\n", + "when folks is unpopular the nuisance is easily removed, especially
    \r\n", + "when ye can get pay for removing it. The law will be as tame as a
    \r\n", + "mouse-nobody 'll say nothin'? Ingin and white rubbish is just
    \r\n", + "alike-one's worth as little as t'other. Both's only fit to sell,
    \r\n", + "sir!-worthless for any other purpose. Ye see, gentlemen, I'm
    \r\n", + "something of a philosopher, and has strong faith in the doctrine of
    \r\n", + "our popular governor, who believes it better to sell all poor whites
    \r\n", + "into slavery. 'Tain't a free country where ye don't have the right
    \r\n", + "to sell folks what don't provide for number one. I likes to hear our
    \r\n", + "big folks talk so\"-Anthony's face brightens-\"'cause it gives a
    \r\n", + "feller a chance for a free speculation in them lank, lean rascals;
    \r\n", + "and, too, it would stop their rifle-shooting and corn-stealing-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You never try your hand at such hits-do you, Nathe?\" Bengal
    \r\n", + "interrupts, his fore-finger poised on his nose.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, Dan,\" Anthony quaintly replies, \"none o' yer pointed
    \r\n", + "insinuations. 'Twouldn't be much harm if the varmin would only keep
    \r\n", + "its mouth shut along the road. But when the critturs ar' got
    \r\n", + "schoolmaster gumption it's mighty apt to get a feller into a
    \r\n", + "tarnation snarl. Schoolmaster gumption makes d-d bad niggers; and
    \r\n", + "there's why I say it's best to hang schoolmasters. It's dangerous,
    \r\n", + "'cos it larns the critturs to writin' a scrawl now and then; and,
    \r\n", + "unless ye knows just how much talent he's got, and can whitewash him
    \r\n", + "yaller, it's plaguy ticklish. When the brutes have larnin', and can
    \r\n", + "write a little, they won't stay sold when ye sell 'em-that is, I
    \r\n", + "mean, white riff-raff stuff; they ain't a bit like niggers and
    \r\n", + "Ingins. And there's just as much difference a'tween the human natur
    \r\n", + "of a white nigger and a poverty-bloated white as there is a'twixt
    \r\n", + "philosophy and water-melons.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You're drawing a long bow, Anthony,\" interrupts Graspum, with a
    \r\n", + "suggestion that it were better to come to the point; and concludes
    \r\n", + "by saying: \"We don't care sevenpence about the worthless whites all
    \r\n", + "over the State. They can't read nor write-except a few on 'em-and
    \r\n", + "everybody knows it wouldn't do to give them learning-that wouldn't
    \r\n", + "do! We want the way you cleared that nuisance out of Beaufort
    \r\n", + "district so quick-that's what we want to hear.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, ye'h sees, it took some keen play, some sly play, some
    \r\n", + "dignity, and some talent; but the best thing of the whole was the
    \r\n", + "squire's honour. He and me, ye see, joined partners--that is, he gets
    \r\n", + "places for 'em away out o' town--you understand--places where I keeps
    \r\n", + "a couple of the very best nags that ever stepped turf. And then he
    \r\n", + "puts on the soft sauder, an' is so friendly to the critturs--gets 'em
    \r\n", + "to come out with him to where he will make 'um nice house servants,
    \r\n", + "and such things. He is good at planin', as all justices is, and
    \r\n", + "would time it to arrive at midnight. I, havin' got a start, has all
    \r\n", + "ready to meet him; so when he gives me the papers, I makes a bolt at
    \r\n", + "full speed, and has 'um nowhere afore they knows it. And then, when
    \r\n", + "they sees who it is, it don't do to make a fuss about it--don't! And
    \r\n", + "then, they're so handsome, it ain't no trouble finding a market for
    \r\n", + "'em down Memphis way. It only takes forty-eight hours--the way things
    \r\n", + "is done up by steam--from the time I clears the line until Timothy
    \r\n", + "Portman signs the bond-that's five per cent. for him-and Ned Sturm
    \r\n", + "does the swearin', and they're sold for a slap-up price--sent to
    \r\n", + "where there's no muttering about it. That's one way we does it; and
    \r\n", + "then, there's another. But, all in all, there's a right smart lot of
    \r\n", + "other ways that will work their way into a talented mind. And when a
    \r\n", + "feller gets the hang on it, and knows lawyer gumption, he can do it
    \r\n", + "up smooth. You must strap 'em down, chain 'em, look vengeance at
    \r\n", + "'em; and now and then, when the varmin will squeal, spite of all the
    \r\n", + "thrashin' ye can give 'em, box 'em up like rats, and put yer horses
    \r\n", + "like Jehu until ye cl'ar the State. The more ye scars 'em the
    \r\n", + "better-make 'em as whist as mice, and ye can run 'em through the
    \r\n", + "rail-road, and sell 'um just as easy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There was another way I used to do the thing-it was a sort of an
    \r\n", + "honourable way; but it used to take the talents of a senator to do
    \r\n", + "it up square, so the dignity didn't suffer. Then the gals got shy of
    \r\n", + "squire, 'cos them he got places for never cum back; and I know'd how
    \r\n", + "'twas best to leave two or three for a nest-egg. It was the way to
    \r\n", + "do, in case some green should raise a fuss. But connected with these
    \r\n", + "Ingin gals was one of the likleest yaller fellers that ever shined
    \r\n", + "on a stand. Thar' was about twelve hundred dollars in him, I saw it
    \r\n", + "just as straight, and felt it just as safe in my pocket; and then it
    \r\n", + "made a feller's eyes glisten afore it was got out of him. I tell you
    \r\n", + "what, boys, it's rather hard when ye comes to think on't.\" Anthony
    \r\n", + "pauses for a moment, sharpens his eloquence with another drop of
    \r\n", + "whiskey, and resumes his discourse. \"The feller shined all outside,
    \r\n", + "but he hadn't head talents-though he was as cunnin' as a fox-and
    \r\n", + "every time the squire tried an experiment to get him out o'town, the
    \r\n", + "nigger would dodge like a wounded raccoon. 'Twarn't a bit of use for
    \r\n", + "the squire-so he just gin it up. Then I trys a hand, ye see, comes
    \r\n", + "the soft soap over him, in a Sam Slick kind of a way. I'se a private
    \r\n", + "gentleman, and gets the fellers round to call me a sort of an
    \r\n", + "aristocrat. Doing this 'ere makes me a nabob in the town-another
    \r\n", + "time I'm from New York, and has monstrous letters of introduction to
    \r\n", + "the squire. Then I goes among the niggers and comes it over their
    \r\n", + "stupid; tells 'em how I'm an abolitionist in a kind of secret
    \r\n", + "way-gets their confidence. And then I larns a right smart deal of
    \r\n", + "sayings from the Bible-a nigger's curious on Christianity, ye
    \r\n", + "see-and it makes him think ye belong to that school, sartin! All the
    \r\n", + "deviltry in his black natur' 'll cum out then; and he'll do just
    \r\n", + "what ye tells him. So, ye see, I just draws the pious over him, and
    \r\n", + "then-like all niggers-I gets him to jine in what he calculates to be
    \r\n", + "a nice little bit of roguery-running off.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum becomes interested in the fine qualities of the prospective
    \r\n", + "property, and must needs ask if he is bright and trim.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bright! I reckon he warn't nothin' else in a money sense-brighter
    \r\n", + "nor most niggers, but mighty Inginy. Had the fierce of one and the
    \r\n", + "cunnin' of t'other. Tom Pridgeon and me has an understandin' about
    \r\n", + "the thing; and Tom's such a ripper for tradin' in nigger property-he
    \r\n", + "is about the only devil niggers can imagine; and they delight to
    \r\n", + "play tricks on Tom. Well, the nigger and me's good friends, right to
    \r\n", + "the point; a good trick is to be played off on Tom, who buys the
    \r\n", + "nigger in confidence; the nigger is to run off when he gets to
    \r\n", + "Savannah, and Tom is to be indicted for running off 'free niggers.'
    \r\n", + "I'se a great Christian, and joins heart and hand with the darkey; we
    \r\n", + "takes our walks together, reads together, prays together. And then
    \r\n", + "'tain't long afore I becomes just the best white man in his
    \r\n", + "estimation. Knowing when Tom makes up his gang, I proposes a walk in
    \r\n", + "the grove to the nigger. 'Thank ye, sir,' says he, in an Ingin kind
    \r\n", + "of way, and out we goes, sits down, talks pious, sings hymns, and
    \r\n", + "waits to see the rascally nigger-trader come along. Presently Tom
    \r\n", + "makes his appearance, with a right smart lot of extra prime
    \r\n", + "property. The nigger and me marches down the road just like master
    \r\n", + "and servant, and stops just when we meets Tom. You'd laughed to see
    \r\n", + "Tom and me do the stranger, 'Well, mister,' says I, 'how's trade in
    \r\n", + "your line?-there's mighty good prices for cotton just now; an' I
    \r\n", + "'spose 't keeps the market stiff up in your line!'\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Well, no,' says Tom: 'a feller can turn a good penny in the way o'
    \r\n", + "fancy articles, just now; but 'tain't the time for prime
    \r\n", + "plantation-stock. Planters are all buying, and breeders down
    \r\n", + "Virginia way won't give a feller a chance to make a shaving. It
    \r\n", + "drives a feller hard up, ye see, and forces more business in running
    \r\n", + "the free 'uns.'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Why, stranger! what on 'arth do you mean by that 'ar;-wouldn't ye
    \r\n", + "get straightened if you'd git catched at that business?'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Oh, nothing, nothing! I forgot what I was saying,' says Tom, just
    \r\n", + "as if he was scared at what he had let slip.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'I say, trader, ye got the brightest assortment of property thar' I
    \r\n", + "seen for many a day: you don't call them gals slaves, do you? Down
    \r\n", + "where I cum from, our folks wouldn't know 'em from white folks.' I
    \r\n", + "tell you, boys, he had some bits that would o' made yer heart cum
    \r\n", + "straight up.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'But I say, mister, I kind 'a like yer horse property-somehow he's
    \r\n", + "full blood,' says I.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Yes,' says Tom; 'he's one o' the best critturs to drive niggers
    \r\n", + "with that ye ever did see; and he's beat the best horse on the
    \r\n", + "Columbia course, twice.'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Well, now; seein' how I likes the animal, about how much do ye'h
    \r\n", + "set him at?' says I.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Well! can't part with the nag nohow; seems as if he knowed a
    \r\n", + "nigger, and understands the business right up.'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'But, you see, I'se got a bit of nigger property here what ye'h
    \r\n", + "don't pick up every day for the Memphis trade,' says I, looking at
    \r\n", + "the feller, who played his part right up to the hilt.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Well, I don't mind strikin' a trade,' says Tom: 'but you see my
    \r\n", + "nag's worth a little risin' a thousand dollars.'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'I don't doubt that, stranger,' says I: 'but ye'h sees this 'ar
    \r\n", + "piece of property o' mine is worth more 'an twelve hundred. You
    \r\n", + "don't come across such a looking chap every day. There's a spec. in
    \r\n", + "him, in any market down south,' says I; and I puts my hands on the
    \r\n", + "nigger and makes him show out, just as if Tom and me was striking
    \r\n", + "for a trade. So Tom examines him, as if he was green in nigger
    \r\n", + "business, and he and me strangers just come from t'other side of
    \r\n", + "moon shadows.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Well, now,' says Tom, 'it's mighty likely property, and seeing it's
    \r\n", + "you, jist name a trade.'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "'Put down the nag and two hundred dollars, and I'll sign the bill of
    \r\n", + "sale, for a swap.' And Tom plants down the dimes, and takes the
    \r\n", + "nigger. When Tom gets him to Savannah, he plunks him into jail, and
    \r\n", + "keeps him locked up in a cell until he is ready to start south. I
    \r\n", + "promises the nigger half of the spiles; but I slips an X
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ten dollars. into his hand, and promises him the rest when he gets
    \r\n", + "back-when he does! And ye see how Tom just tryced him up to the
    \r\n", + "cross and put thirty-nine to his bare skin when he talked about
    \r\n", + "being free, in Savannah; and gagged him when he got his Ingin up.
    \r\n", + "Warn't that doing the thing up slick, fellers?\" exclaimed Romescos,
    \r\n", + "chuckling over the sport.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It warn't nothing else. That's what I calls catching a nigger in
    \r\n", + "his own trap,\" said one. \"That's sarvin' him right; I go for sellin'
    \r\n", + "all niggers and Ingins,\" said another. \"Free niggers have no souls,
    \r\n", + "and are impediments to personal rights in a free country,\" said a
    \r\n", + "third.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ye'h see, there's such an infernal lot of loose corners about our
    \r\n", + "business, that it takes a feller what has got a big head to do all
    \r\n", + "the things smooth, in a legal way; and it's so profitable all round
    \r\n", + "that it kind o' tempts a feller, once in a while, to do things he
    \r\n", + "don't feel just right in; but then a glass of old monongahela brings
    \r\n", + "ye'h all straight in yer feelins again, a'ter a few minutes,\" said
    \r\n", + "Romescos.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It's an amusing business; a man's got to have nerve and maxim, if
    \r\n", + "he wants to make a fortune at it. But-now, gentlemen, we'll take
    \r\n", + "another round,\" said Graspum, stopping short. \"Anthony, tell us how
    \r\n", + "you work it when you want to run a free nigger down Maryland way.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There ain't no trouble about that,\" replied Romescos, quickly. \"You
    \r\n", + "see,\" he continued, squinting his eye, and holding his glass between
    \r\n", + "his face and the light. \"Shut out all hope first, and then prime
    \r\n", + "legal gentlemen along the road, and yer sartin to make safe
    \r\n", + "business. I has chaps what keeps their eye on all the free bits, and
    \r\n", + "makes good fellers with 'em; niggers think they'r the right stripe
    \r\n", + "friends; and then they gives 'em jobs once in a while, and tobacco,
    \r\n", + "and whiskey. So when I gets all fixed for a run, some on 'm gets the
    \r\n", + "nigger into a sly spot, and then we pounces upon him like a hawk on
    \r\n", + "a chicken-gags him, and screws him up in the chains, head and
    \r\n", + "feet,--boxes him up, too, and drives him like lightning until I meets
    \r\n", + "Tilman at the cross-roads; and then I just has a document
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A forged bill of sale, all ready, which I gives to Till, and he
    \r\n", + "puts his nags in-a pair what can take the road from anything
    \r\n", + "about-and the way he drives, just to make the nigger forget where
    \r\n", + "he's going, and think he's riding in a balloon on his way to glory.
    \r\n", + "Just afore Til. gets to the boat, ye see, he takes the headchains
    \r\n", + "off-so the delicate-hearted passengers won't let their feelins get
    \r\n", + "kind-a out o' sorts. Once in a while the nigger makes a blubber
    \r\n", + "about being free, to the captain,--and if he's fool enough t' take
    \r\n", + "any notice on't then there's a fuss; but that's just the easiest
    \r\n", + "thing to get over, if ye only know the squire, and how to manage
    \r\n", + "him. You must know the pintes of the law, and ye must do the clean
    \r\n", + "thing in the 'tin' way with the squire; and then ye can cut 'em
    \r\n", + "right off by makin' t'other pintes make 'em mean nothing. Once in a
    \r\n", + "while t'll do to make the nigger a criminal, and then there's no
    \r\n", + "trouble in't, 'cos ye can ollers git the swearin' done cheap. Old
    \r\n", + "Captain Smith used to get himself into a scrape a heap o' times by
    \r\n", + "listenin' to free nigger stories, till he gets sick and would kick
    \r\n", + "every nigger what came to him about being free. He takes the law in
    \r\n", + "his hands with a nigger o' mine once, and hands him over to a city
    \r\n", + "policeman as soon as we lands. He didn't understand the thing, ye
    \r\n", + "see, and I jist puts an Ten dollars into the pole's hand, what he
    \r\n", + "takes the hint at. 'Now, ye'll take good care on the feller,\" says
    \r\n", + "I, giving him a wink. \"And he just keeps broad off from the old
    \r\n", + "hard-faced mayor, and runs up to the squire's, who commits him on
    \r\n", + "his own committimus. Then I gets Bob Blanker to stand 'all right'
    \r\n", + "with the squire, who's got all the say in the matter, when it's done
    \r\n", + "so. I cuts like lightenin' on to far down Mississippi, and there
    \r\n", + "gets Sam Slang, just one o' the keenest fellers in that line, about.
    \r\n", + "Sam's a hotel-keeper all at once, and I gets him up afore the
    \r\n", + "Mississippi squire; and as Sam don't think much about the swearin'
    \r\n", + "and the squire ain't particular, so he makes a five: we proves
    \r\n", + "straight off how the crittur's Sam's runaway, gets the dockerment
    \r\n", + "and sends to Bob Blanker, who puts a blinder on the squire's eye,
    \r\n", + "and gets an order to the old jailor, who must give him up, when he
    \r\n", + "sees the squire's order. You see, it's larnin' the secret, that's
    \r\n", + "the thing, and the difference between common law and nigger law; and
    \r\n", + "the way to work the matter so the squire will have it all in his own
    \r\n", + "fingers, and don't let the old judge get a pick. Squire makes it
    \r\n", + "square, hands the nigger over to Bob, Bob puts fifty cuts on his
    \r\n", + "hide, makes him as clever as a kitten, and ships him off down south
    \r\n", + "afore he has time to wink. Then, ye sees, I goes back as independent
    \r\n", + "as a senator from Arkansas, and sues Captain Smith for damages in
    \r\n", + "detainin' the property, and I makes him pay a right round sum, what
    \r\n", + "larns him never to try that agin.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus Romescos concludes the details of his nefarious trade, amid
    \r\n", + "cheers and bravos. The party are in ecstasies, evincing a singular
    \r\n", + "merriment at the issue. There is nothing like liberty--liberty to do
    \r\n", + "what you please, to turn freedom into barbarity! They gloat over the
    \r\n", + "privileges of a free country; and, as Romescos recounts each
    \r\n", + "proceeding,--tracing it into the lowest depths of human villainy,
    \r\n", + "they sing songs to right, justice, freedom-they praise the bounties
    \r\n", + "of a great country. How different is the picture below! Beneath this
    \r\n", + "plotting conclave, devising schemes to defraud human nature of its
    \r\n", + "rights, to bring poverty and disgrace upon happy families-all in
    \r\n", + "accordance with the law-are chained in narrow cells poor mortals,
    \r\n", + "hoping for an end to their dreary existence, pining under the weight
    \r\n", + "of pinions dashing their very souls into endless despair. A tale of
    \r\n", + "freedom is being told above, but their chains of death clank in
    \r\n", + "solemn music as the midnight revelry sports with the very agony of
    \r\n", + "their sorrows. Oh! who has made their lives a wanton jest?-can it be
    \r\n", + "the will of heaven, or is it the birthright of a downtrodden race?
    \r\n", + "They look for to-morrow, hope reverberates one happy thought, it may
    \r\n", + "bring some tidings of joy; but again they sink, as that endless
    \r\n", + "gloom rises before them. Hope fades from their feelings, from the
    \r\n", + "bleeding heart for which compassion is dead. The tyrant's heart is
    \r\n", + "of stone; what cares he for their supplications, their cries, their
    \r\n", + "pleadings to heaven; such things have no dollars for him!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Arranging the preliminaries necessary for proceeding with Marston's
    \r\n", + "affairs, they agreed to the plans, received orders from Graspum in
    \r\n", + "reference to their proceedings on the following day, and retired to
    \r\n", + "their homes, singing praises to great good laws, and the freedom of
    \r\n", + "a free country.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER X.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ANOTHER SHADE OF THE PICTURE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WHILE the proceedings we have detailed in the foregoing chapter were
    \r\n", + "progressing at Graspum's slave-pen, a different phase of the system
    \r\n", + "was being discussed by several persons who had assembled at the
    \r\n", + "house of Deacon Rosebrook. Rumour had been busy spreading its
    \r\n", + "many-sided tales about Marston-his difficulties, his connection with
    \r\n", + "Graspum, his sudden downfall. All agreed that Marston was a
    \r\n", + "noble-minded fellow, generous to a fault-generous in his worst
    \r\n", + "errors; and, like many other southerners, who meant well, though
    \r\n", + "personally kind to his slaves, never set a good example in his own
    \r\n", + "person. Religion was indispensably necessary to preserve submission;
    \r\n", + "and, with a view to that end, he had made the Church a means of
    \r\n", + "producing it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Now, if the southerner resorted to the Church in the purity of
    \r\n", + "Christian motives, he would merit that praise which many are so
    \r\n", + "willing to bestow. Or, if Christianity were embraced by the
    \r\n", + "southerner with heartfelt purity and faith, it would undoubtedly
    \r\n", + "have a beneficial influence, elevate the character of the slave,
    \r\n", + "promote kindly feelings between him and his master, and ultimately
    \r\n", + "prove profitable to both. But where Christianity, used by
    \r\n", + "irreligious persons, whose very acts destroy the vitality of the
    \r\n", + "means, is made the medium of enforcing superstition, and of debasing
    \r\n", + "the mind of the person it degrades into submission, its application
    \r\n", + "becomes nothing less than criminal. It is criminal because it brings
    \r\n", + "true religion into contempt, perverts Christianity-makes it a
    \r\n", + "mockery, and gives to the degraded whites of the South a plea for
    \r\n", + "discarding its precepts. Religion-were it not used as a mechanical
    \r\n", + "agency-would elevate the degraded white population of the South;
    \r\n", + "they would, through its influence, become valuable citizens.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "These remarks have been forced upon us by observation. Frequently
    \r\n", + "have we lamented its application, and grieved that its holy mission
    \r\n", + "were made to serve the vilest purposes in a land of liberty, of
    \r\n", + "Christian love. Religion a means of degrading the masses-a
    \r\n", + "subservient agent! It is so, nevertheless; and men use it whose only
    \r\n", + "desire it is to make it serve a property interest-the interest of
    \r\n", + "making men, women, and children, more valuable in the market. God
    \r\n", + "ordained it for a higher purpose,--man applies it for his benefit in
    \r\n", + "the man-market. Hence, where the means for exercising the mind upon
    \r\n", + "the right is forbidden-where ignorance becomes the necessary part of
    \r\n", + "the maintenance of a system, and religion is applied to that end, it
    \r\n", + "becomes farcical; and while it must combine all the imperfections of
    \r\n", + "the performer, necessarily tends to confine the ignorance of those
    \r\n", + "it seeks to degrade, within the narrowest boundary. There are
    \r\n", + "different ways of destroying the rights of different classes; and as
    \r\n", + "many different ways, after they are destroyed, of wiping out the
    \r\n", + "knowledge of their ever having had rights. But, we regret to say,
    \r\n", + "that most resorted to by the South, in the face of civilisation, is
    \r\n", + "the Holy Scriptures, which are made the medium of blotting out all
    \r\n", + "knowledge of the rights a people once possessed. The wrong-doer thus
    \r\n", + "fears the result of natural laws; if they be allowed to produce
    \r\n", + "results through the cultivation of a slave's mind, such may prove
    \r\n", + "fatal to his immediate interests. And to maintain a system which is
    \r\n", + "based on force, the southern minister of the gospel is doubly
    \r\n", + "culpable in the sight of heaven; for while he stimulates ignorance
    \r\n", + "by degrading the man, he mystifies the Word of God, that he may
    \r\n", + "remain for ever and ever degraded.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "What a deplorable process of stealing-nay, gently taking away the
    \r\n", + "knowledge which an all-wise Providence has given to man as his
    \r\n", + "inheritance; how it reduces his natural immunities to sensual
    \r\n", + "misery! And, too, it forbids all legitimate influences that could
    \r\n", + "possibly give the menial a link to elevation, to the formation of a
    \r\n", + "society of his own. We would fain shrink from such a system of
    \r\n", + "debasing mankind-even more, from the hideous crimes of those who
    \r\n", + "would make Scripture the means to such an end. And yet, the Church
    \r\n", + "defender of slavery-the Christian little one-his neck-cloth as white
    \r\n", + "as the crimes he defends are black-must distinguish his arguments;
    \r\n", + "and that the world may not suspect his devotion, his honesty, his
    \r\n", + "serious intention, he points us to the many blessings of the
    \r\n", + "plantation-service.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Heavenly divinity! Let us have faith in the little ones sent to
    \r\n", + "teach it; they tell us slavery enforces Christianity! The management
    \r\n", + "of ignorance under the direction of ministers of the gospel is
    \r\n", + "certainly becoming well-defined; while statesmen more energetically
    \r\n", + "legalise it. The one devises, the other carries out a law to make
    \r\n", + "man ignorant of everything but labour. But while the statesman
    \r\n", + "moulds the theory, the preacher manufactures Scripture texts, that
    \r\n", + "the menial may believe God has ordained him the pliable victim.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Under the apparent necessity of the slave world, Marston had
    \r\n", + "regularly paid Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy for preaching to his
    \r\n", + "property on Sundays; and to the requisite end the good Elder felt
    \r\n", + "himself in duty bound to inculcate humility in all things that would
    \r\n", + "promote obedience to a master's will. Of course, one sermon was
    \r\n", + "quite sufficient; and this the credulous property had listened to
    \r\n", + "for more than three years. The effect was entirely satisfactory, the
    \r\n", + "result being that the honest property were really impressed with a
    \r\n", + "belief, that to evince Christian fortitude under suffering and
    \r\n", + "punishment was the best means of cleansing themselves of the sins
    \r\n", + "they were born to. This formality was misnamed Christianity--it was!
    \r\n", + "And through the force of this one sermon the Elder became indolent;
    \r\n", + "and indolence led him to its natural yoke-fellow-intemperance. His
    \r\n", + "indulgent mood, such as we have described him enjoying in a previous
    \r\n", + "chapter, became too frequent, leading to serious annoyances. They
    \r\n", + "had been especially serious for Marston, whom they placed in an
    \r\n", + "awkward situation before his property, and he resolved to tolerate
    \r\n", + "them no longer. Probably this resolution was hastened by the sudden
    \r\n", + "discovery of Harry's singular knowledge of Scripture; be that as it
    \r\n", + "may, the only difficulty in the way was to know if Harry could be so
    \r\n", + "trained, that he would preach the \"right stripe\" doctrine. This,
    \r\n", + "however, was soon settled, and Marston not only suspended his
    \r\n", + "engagement with the Elder, but entered into a contract with the
    \r\n", + "neighbouring planters, by the terms of which Harry will fill their
    \r\n", + "pulpit, and preach extempore--the Elder has brought written sermons
    \r\n", + "into contempt with Harry--at a stipulated price per Sunday. In this
    \r\n", + "new avocation-this leap from the plantation to the pulpit, Harry, as
    \r\n", + "a piece of property, became extremely valuable; while, through the
    \r\n", + "charm of his new black coat, he rose a great man in the estimation
    \r\n", + "of the common property. Here was a valuable incentive of submission,
    \r\n", + "a lesson for all bad niggers, a chance for them to improve under the
    \r\n", + "peculiar institution. It proved to niggerdom what a good nigger
    \r\n", + "could be if he only fear God and obey his master in all things.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Here was proof that a nigger could be something more than a nigger,
    \r\n", + "in spite of southern philosophy. The Elder-good, pious man that he
    \r\n", + "was-found himself out of pocket and out of preaching. Thrown upon
    \r\n", + "the resources of his ingenuity, he had, in order to save the
    \r\n", + "dictates of his conscience, while taking advantage of the many
    \r\n", + "opportunities of making money afforded by the peculiar institution,
    \r\n", + "entered upon another branch of business, having for its object the
    \r\n", + "advancement of humanity. He resolved to go forth purchasing the sick
    \r\n", + "and the dying; to reclaim sinking humanity and make it marketable.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "But, before describing the vicissitudes through which Elder
    \r\n", + "Pemberton Praiseworthy passes in his new mission of humanity, we
    \r\n", + "must introduce the reader to the precincts of a neat little villa,
    \r\n", + "situated at the outskirts of the city of C--. It is a small cottage
    \r\n", + "surrounded with verandas and trellis-work, over which are creeping
    \r\n", + "numerous woodbines and multafloras, spreading their fragrant
    \r\n", + "blossoms, giving it an air of sequestered beauty. An arbour of
    \r\n", + "grapevines extends from a little portico at the front to a wicker
    \r\n", + "fence that separates the embankment of a well-arranged garden, in
    \r\n", + "which are pots of rare plants, beds and walks decorated with
    \r\n", + "flowers, presenting great care and taste. A few paces in the rear of
    \r\n", + "the cottage are several \"negro cabins\" nicely white-washed without,
    \r\n", + "and an air of cheerfulness and comfort reigning within. The house-
    \r\n", + "servants are trimly dressed; they look and act as if their thoughts
    \r\n", + "and affections were with \"mas'r and missus.\" Their white aprons and
    \r\n", + "clean bright frocks-some bombazine, and some gingham-give them an
    \r\n", + "appearance of exactness, which, whether it be voluntary or force of
    \r\n", + "discipline, bears evidence of attention in the slave, and
    \r\n", + "encouragement on the part of the master. This is the Villa of Deacon
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook; they call him deacon, by courtesy; in the same sense that
    \r\n", + "Georgia majors and South Carolina generals are honoured with those
    \r\n", + "far-famed titles which so distinguish them when abroad. Perhaps we
    \r\n", + "should be doing the deacon no more than justice if we were to admit
    \r\n", + "that he had preached in very respectable spheres; but, feeling that
    \r\n", + "he was wanting in the purity of divine love-that he could not do
    \r\n", + "justice to his conscience while setting forth teachings he did not
    \r\n", + "follow, he laid the profession aside for the more genial
    \r\n", + "associations of plantation life. Indeed, he was what many called a
    \r\n", + "very easy backslider; and at times was recognised by the somewhat
    \r\n", + "singular soubriquet of Deacon Pious-proof. But he was kind to his
    \r\n", + "slaves, and had projected a system singularly at variance with that
    \r\n", + "of his neighbours-a system of mildness, amelioration, freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His plantation, a small one, some few miles from the Villa,
    \r\n", + "presented the same neatness and comfort, the same cheerfulness among
    \r\n", + "the negroes, and the same kindly feeling between master and slave,
    \r\n", + "which characterised the Villa.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We enter a neatly-furnished parlour, where the deacon and a friend
    \r\n", + "are seated on a sofa; various pictures are suspended from the
    \r\n", + "wall,--everything betokens New England neatness. The old-fashioned
    \r\n", + "dog-irons and fender are polished to exquisite brightness, a
    \r\n", + "Brussels carpet spreads the floor, a bright surbase encircles the
    \r\n", + "room; upon the flossy hearth-rug lies crouched the little canine
    \r\n", + "pet, which Aunt Dolly has washed to snowy whiteness. Aunt Dolly
    \r\n", + "enters the room with a low curtsy, gently raises the poodle, then
    \r\n", + "lays him down as carefully as if he were an heir to the estate.
    \r\n", + "Master is happy, \"missus\" is happy, and Aunt Dolly is happy; and the
    \r\n", + "large bookcase, filled with well-selected volumes, adds to the air
    \r\n", + "of contentment everywhere apparent. In a niche stands a large
    \r\n", + "pier-table, upon which are sundry volumes with gilt edges, nets of
    \r\n", + "cross-work, porcelain ornaments, and card-cases inlaid with mosaic.
    \r\n", + "Antique tables with massive carved feet, in imitation of lions'
    \r\n", + "paws, chairs of curious patterns, reclines and ottomans of softest
    \r\n", + "material, and covered with satin damask, are arranged round the room
    \r\n", + "in harmony and good taste.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, Mr. Scranton,\" the deacon says to his friend, who is a tall,
    \r\n", + "prim, sedate-looking man, apparently about forty, \"I pity Marston; I
    \r\n", + "pity him because he is a noble-hearted fellow. But, after all, this
    \r\n", + "whispering about the city may be only mother Rumour distributing her
    \r\n", + "false tales. Let us hope it is all rumour and scandal. Come, tell
    \r\n", + "me-what do you think of our negroes?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nigger character has not changed a bit in my mind, since I came
    \r\n", + "south. Inferior race of mortals, sir!-without principles, and fit
    \r\n", + "only for service and submission. A southern man knows their
    \r\n", + "composition, but it takes a northern to study the philosophy-it
    \r\n", + "does,\" replies Mr. Scranton, running his left hand over his
    \r\n", + "forehead, and then his right over the crown of his head, as if to
    \r\n", + "cover a bald spot with the scanty remnant of hair that projected
    \r\n", + "from the sides.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The deacon smiles at the quaint reply. He knows Mr. Scranton's
    \r\n", + "northern tenacity, and begs to differ with him. \"You are ultra, a
    \r\n", + "little ultra, in all things, Mr. Scranton. I fear it is that,
    \r\n", + "carried out in morals as well as politics, that is fast reducing our
    \r\n", + "system to degradation and tyranny. You northern gentlemen have a
    \r\n", + "sort of pedantic solicitude for our rights, but you underrate our
    \r\n", + "feelings upon the slavery question. I'm one among the few
    \r\n", + "southerners who hold what are considered strange views: we are
    \r\n", + "subjected to ridicule for our views; but it is only by those who see
    \r\n", + "nothing but servitude in the negro,--nothing but dollars and cents in
    \r\n", + "the institution of slavery.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton is struck with astonishment, interrupts the argument by
    \r\n", + "insisting upon the great superiority of the gentlemen whites, and
    \r\n", + "the Bible philosophy which he can bring to sustain his argument.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stop one moment, my philosophic friend,\" the deacon interposes,
    \r\n", + "earnestly. \"Upon that you northerners who come out here to sustain
    \r\n", + "the cause of slavery for the south, all make fools of yourselves.
    \r\n", + "This continual reasoning upon Bible philosophy has lost its life,
    \r\n", + "funeral dirges have been played over it, the instruments are worn
    \r\n", + "out. And yet, the subject of the philosophy lives,--he belies it with
    \r\n", + "his physical vigour and moral action. We doubt the sincerity of
    \r\n", + "northerners; we have reasons for so doing; they know little of the
    \r\n", + "negro, and care less. Instead of assisting southerners who are
    \r\n", + "inclined to do justice to the wretch-to be his friend-to improve his
    \r\n", + "condition-to protect him against a tyrant's wrong, you bring us into
    \r\n", + "contempt by your proclaiming virtue over the vice we acknowledge
    \r\n", + "belongs to the institution. We know its defects-we fear them; but,
    \r\n", + "in the name of heaven, do not defend them at the cost of virtue,
    \r\n", + "truth, honesty. Do not debase us by proclaiming its glories over our
    \r\n", + "heads;-do not take advantage of us by attempting to make wrong
    \r\n", + "right.\" The deacon's feelings have become earnest; his face glows
    \r\n", + "with animation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton seems discomfited. \"That's just like all you
    \r\n", + "southerners: you never appreciate anything we do for you. What is
    \r\n", + "the good of our love, if you always doubt it?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Such love!\" says the deacon, with a sarcastic curl on his lip.
    \r\n", + "\"It's cotton-bag love, as full of self as a pressed bale-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But, deacon; you're getting up on the question.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Up as high as northern sincerity is low. Nothing personal,\" is the
    \r\n", + "cool rejoinder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton inquires very seriously-wishing it particularly to be
    \r\n", + "understood that he is not a fighting-man-if Deacon Rosebrook
    \r\n", + "considers all northerners white-washed, ready to deceive through the
    \r\n", + "dim shadows of self. The deacon's frank and manly opinion of
    \r\n", + "northern editors and preachers disturbs Scranton's serious
    \r\n", + "philosophy. \"Cotton-bag love!\" there's something in it, and contempt
    \r\n", + "at the bottom, he declares within himself. And he gives a serious
    \r\n", + "look, as much as to say-\"go on.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I do! He who maketh right, what those most interested in know to be
    \r\n", + "wrong, cherishes a bad motive. When a philosopher teaches doctrines
    \r\n", + "that become doubtful in their ultraness, the weakness carries the
    \r\n", + "insincerity,--the effort becomes stagnant. Never sell yourself to any
    \r\n", + "class of evils for popularity's sake. If you attempt it you mistake
    \r\n", + "the end, and sell yourself to the obscurity of a political
    \r\n", + "trickster, flatttered by a few, believed by none.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Deacon! a little more moderate. Give us credit for the good we do.
    \r\n", + "Don't get excited, don't. These are ticklish times, and we
    \r\n", + "northerners are quick to observe-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, when it will turn a penny on a nigger or a bale of cotton.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Allow me; one minute if you please!\" returned Scranton, with a
    \r\n", + "nasal twang peculiar to his class, as he began to work himself up
    \r\n", + "into a declamatory attitude. \"You southerners don't understand what
    \r\n", + "a force them northern abolitionists are bringing against you; and
    \r\n", + "you know how slow you are to do things, and to let your property all
    \r\n", + "go to waste while you might make a good speculation on it. There's
    \r\n", + "just the difference of things: we study political economy so as to
    \r\n", + "apply it to trade and such like; you let things go to waste, just
    \r\n", + "thinking over it. And, you see, it's our nature to be restless and
    \r\n", + "searching out the best avenues for developing trade. Why, deacon,
    \r\n", + "your political philosophy would die out if the New Englander didn't
    \r\n", + "edit your papers and keep your nigger principles straight.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nigger principles straight! Ah, indeed! Only another evidence of
    \r\n", + "that cotton bag love that has caused the banns of matrimony to be
    \r\n", + "published between tyrants who disgrace us and northern speculators.
    \r\n", + "The book-publisher-poor servile tool-fears to publish Mrs. Johnson's
    \r\n", + "book, lest it should contain something to offend Mrs. Colonel
    \r\n", + "Sportington, at the south. Mr. Stevens, the grocer, dare not put his
    \r\n", + "vote into the ballot-box for somebody, because he fears one of his
    \r\n", + "customers at the south will hear of it. Parson Munson dare not speak
    \r\n", + "what he thinks in a New England village, because Mrs. Bruce and
    \r\n", + "Deacon Donaldson have yearly interests in slaves at the south; and
    \r\n", + "old Mattock, the boot-maker, thinks it aint right for niggers to be
    \r\n", + "in church with white folks, and declares, if they do go, they should
    \r\n", + "sit away back in one corner, up stairs. He thinks about the
    \r\n", + "combination that brings wealth, old age, and the grave, into one
    \r\n", + "vortex,--feels little misgiving upon humanity, but loves the union,
    \r\n", + "and wants nothing said about niggers. We understand what it all
    \r\n", + "means, Mr. Scranton; and we can credit it for what it's worth,
    \r\n", + "without making any account for its sincerity and independence. I am
    \r\n", + "one among the few who go for educating the negroes, and in that
    \r\n", + "education to cultivate affections between slave and master, to make
    \r\n", + "encouragement perform the part of discipline, and inspire energy
    \r\n", + "through proper rewards.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What!-educate a nigger! These are pretty principles for a
    \r\n", + "southerner to maintain! Why, sir, if such doctrines were advocated
    \r\n", + "in the body politic they would be incendiary to southern
    \r\n", + "institutions. Just educate the niggers, and I wouldn't be an editor
    \r\n", + "in the south two days. You'd see me tramping, bag and baggage, for
    \r\n", + "the north, much as I dislike it! It would never do to educate such a
    \r\n", + "miserable set of wretches as they are. You may depend what I say is
    \r\n", + "true, sir. Their condition is perfectly hopeless at the north, and
    \r\n", + "the more you try to teach them, the greater nuisance they become.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, my good northern friend, not so fast, if you please; I can see
    \r\n", + "the evil of all this, and so can you, if you will but study the
    \r\n", + "negro's character a little deeper. The menial man who has passed
    \r\n", + "through generations of oppression, and whose life and soul are
    \r\n", + "blotted from the right of manhood, is sensitive of the power that
    \r\n", + "crushes him. He has been robbed of the means of elevating himself by
    \r\n", + "those who now accuse him of the crime of degradation: and, wherever
    \r\n", + "the chance is afforded him of elevation, as that increases so does a
    \r\n", + "tenacious knowledge of his rights; yet, he feels the prejudice that
    \r\n", + "cuts and slights him in his progress, that charges him with the
    \r\n", + "impudence of a negro, that calls his attempts to be a man mere
    \r\n", + "pompous foolery.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And it is so! To see a nigger setting himself up among white
    \r\n", + "folks-it's perfectly ridiculous!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mark me, Mr. Scranton: there's where you northerners mistake
    \r\n", + "yourselves. The negro seldom desires to mix with whites, and I hold
    \r\n", + "it better they should keep together; but that two races cannot live
    \r\n", + "together without the one enslaving the other is a fallacy popular
    \r\n", + "only with those who will not see the future, and obstinately refuse
    \r\n", + "to review the past. You must lessen your delicate sensibilities; and
    \r\n", + "when you make them less painful to the man of colour at the north,
    \r\n", + "believe me, the south will respond to the feeling. Experience has
    \r\n", + "changed my feelings,--experience has been my teacher. I have based
    \r\n", + "my new system upon experience; and its working justifies me in all I
    \r\n", + "have said. Let us set about extracting the poison from our
    \r\n", + "institutions, instead of losing ourselves in contemplating an
    \r\n", + "abstract theory for its government.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Remember, deacon, men are not all born to see alike. There are
    \r\n", + "rights and privileges belonging to the southerner: he holds the
    \r\n", + "trade in men right, and he would see the Union sundered to atoms
    \r\n", + "before he would permit the intervention of the federal government on
    \r\n", + "that subject,\" Mr. Scranton seriously remarks, placing his two
    \r\n", + "thumbs in the armpits of his vest, and assuming an air of
    \r\n", + "confidence, as if to say, \"I shall outsouthern the southerner yet, I
    \r\n", + "shall.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's just the point upon which all the villainy of our
    \r\n", + "institution rests: the simple word man!-man a progressive being; man
    \r\n", + "a chattel,--a thing upon which the sordid appetite of every wretch
    \r\n", + "may feed. Why cannot Africa give up men? She has been the victim of
    \r\n", + "Christendom-her flesh and blood have served its traffic, have
    \r\n", + "enriched its coffers, and even built its churches; but like a
    \r\n", + "ferocious wolf that preys upon the fold in spite of watchers, she
    \r\n", + "yet steals Afric's bleeding victims, and frowns upon them because
    \r\n", + "they are not white, nor live as white men live.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mercy on me!\" says Mr. Scranton, with a sigh, \"you can't ameliorate
    \r\n", + "the system as it stands: that's out of the question. Begin to loosen
    \r\n", + "the props, and the whole fabric will tumble down. And then, niggers
    \r\n", + "won't be encouraged to work at a price for their labour; and how are
    \r\n", + "you going to get along in this climate, and with such an enormous
    \r\n", + "population of vagabonds?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Remember, Mr. Scranton,\" ejaculated the deacon, \"there's where you
    \r\n", + "mistake the man in the negro; and through these arguments, set forth
    \r\n", + "in your journal, we suffer. You must have contracted them by
    \r\n", + "association with bad slave-owners. Mark ye! the negro has been sunk
    \r\n", + "to the depths where we yet curse him; and is it right that we should
    \r\n", + "keep him cursed?-to say nothing of the semi-barbarous position in
    \r\n", + "which it finds our poor whites. He feels that his curse is for
    \r\n", + "life-time; his hopes vibrate with its knowledge, and through it he
    \r\n", + "falls from that holy inspiration that could make him a man, enjoying
    \r\n", + "manhood's rights. Would not our energy yield itself a sacrifice to
    \r\n", + "the same sacrificer? Had we been loaded with chains of tyranny, what
    \r\n", + "would have been our condition? Would not that passion which has led
    \r\n", + "the Saxon on to conquest, and spread his energy through the western
    \r\n", + "world, have yielded when he saw the last shadow of hope die out, and
    \r\n", + "realised that his degradation was for life-time? Would not the
    \r\n", + "yearnings of such a consummation have recoiled to blast every action
    \r\n", + "of the being who found himself a chattel? And yet this very chattel,
    \r\n", + "thus yoked in death, toils on in doubts and fears, in humbleness and
    \r\n", + "submission, with unrequited fortitude and affection. And still all
    \r\n", + "is doubted that he does, even crushed in the prejudice against his
    \r\n", + "colour!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, deacon, you perfectly startle me, to hear a southerner talk
    \r\n", + "that way at the south. If you keep on, you'll soon have an abolition
    \r\n", + "society without sending north for it.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's just what I want. I want our southerners to look upon the
    \r\n", + "matter properly, and to take such steps as will set us right in the
    \r\n", + "eyes of the world. Humanity is progressing with rapid
    \r\n", + "strides-slavery cannot exist before it! It must fall; and we should
    \r\n", + "prepare to meet it, and not be so ungrateful, at least, that we
    \r\n", + "cannot reflect upon its worth, and give merit to whom merit is due.\"
    \r\n", + "Thus were presented the north and south; the former loses her
    \r\n", + "interests in humanity by seeking to serve the political ends of the
    \r\n", + "latter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "MRS. ROSEBROOK'S PROJECT.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "AT this juncture of the conversation, a sprightly, well-dressed
    \r\n", + "servant opens the parlour-door, announces missus! The deacon's good
    \r\n", + "lady enters. She is a perfect pattern of neatness,--a
    \r\n", + "finely-developed woman of more than ordinary height, with blonde
    \r\n", + "features, and a countenance as full of cheerfulness as a bright May
    \r\n", + "morning. She bows gracefully; her soft eyes kindle with intelligence
    \r\n", + "as she approaches Mr. Scranton, who rises with the coldness of an
    \r\n", + "iceberg.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Be seated, Mr. Scranton,\" she says, with a voice so full of
    \r\n", + "gentleness,--\"be seated.\" Her form is well-rounded, her features
    \r\n", + "exquisite. Mr. Scranton views her seriously, as if he found
    \r\n", + "something of great interest in that marble forehead, those fine
    \r\n", + "features moulding a countenance full of soul, love, and sweetness.
    \r\n", + "Her dress is of plain black brocade, made high at the neck, where it
    \r\n", + "is secured with a small diamond pin, the front opening and
    \r\n", + "disclosing a lace stomacher set with undressed pearls. Rufflets and
    \r\n", + "diamond bracelets, of chaste workmanship, clasp her wrists; while
    \r\n", + "her light auburn hair, neatly laid in plain folds, and gathered into
    \r\n", + "a plait on the back of her head, where it is delicately secured with
    \r\n", + "gold and silver cord, forms a soft contrast. There is chasteness and
    \r\n", + "simplicity combined to represent character, sense, and refinement.
    \r\n", + "She is the mother of the plantation: old negroes call her mother,
    \r\n", + "young ones clamour with joy when she visits their abodes: her very
    \r\n", + "soul is in their wants; they look to her for guidance. Their
    \r\n", + "happiness is her pleasure, and by sharing the good fortune that has
    \r\n", + "followed them she has fostered the energy of their negroes, formed
    \r\n", + "them into families, encouraged their morality, impressed them with
    \r\n", + "the necessity of preserving family relations. Against the stern
    \r\n", + "mandates of the law, she has taught them to read the Bible, reading
    \r\n", + "and explaining it to them herself. Indeed, she has risen above the
    \r\n", + "law: she has taught the more tractable ones to write; she has
    \r\n", + "supplied the younger with little story-books, attractive and
    \r\n", + "containing good moral lessons. She rejoices over her system: it is
    \r\n", + "honest, kind, generous,--it will serve the future, and is not
    \r\n", + "unprofitable at present. It is different from that pursued by those
    \r\n", + "who would, through the instrumentality of bad laws, enforce
    \r\n", + "ignorance. Nay, to her there is something abhorrent in using the
    \r\n", + "Word of God as an excuse for the existence of slavery. Her system is
    \r\n", + "practicable, enlightening first, and then enforcing that which gives
    \r\n", + "encouragement to the inert faculties of our nature. Punishments were
    \r\n", + "scarcely known upon her plantation; the lash never used. Old and
    \r\n", + "young were made to feel themselves part and parcel of a family
    \r\n", + "compact, to know they had an interest in the crop, to gather hopes
    \r\n", + "for the future, to make home on the old plantation pleasant. There
    \r\n", + "was something refreshing in the pride and protection evinced in the
    \r\n", + "solicitation of this gentle creature for her negroes. In early life
    \r\n", + "she had listened to their fables, had mixed with them as children,
    \r\n", + "had enjoyed their hours of play, had studied their sympathies, and
    \r\n", + "entered with delight into the very soul of their jargon merriment.
    \r\n", + "She felt their wants, and knew their grievances; she had come
    \r\n", + "forward to be their protector, their mother! \"Why, Mr. Scranton,\"
    \r\n", + "she exclaims, laughingly, in reply to that gentleman's remarks, as
    \r\n", + "she interrupted the conversation between him and the deacon, \"we
    \r\n", + "would sooner suffer than sell one of our boys or girls-even if the
    \r\n", + "worst came to the worst. I know the value of family ties; I know how
    \r\n", + "to manage negroes. I would just as soon think of selling our
    \r\n", + "Matilda, I would! If some of you good northern folks could only see
    \r\n", + "how comfortable my negroes are!-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, yes!\" interrupts the deacon, \"she takes it all out of my hands;
    \r\n", + "I'm going to give her the reins altogether one of these days. She
    \r\n", + "has got a nice way of touching a negro's feelings so that anything
    \r\n", + "can be done with him: it tells largely at times.\" Mr. Scranton's
    \r\n", + "face becomes more serious; he doesn't seem to understand this new
    \r\n", + "\"nigger philosophy.\" \"Poor creatures!\" the deacon continues, \"how
    \r\n", + "wonderful is the power of encouragement;-how much may be done if
    \r\n", + "proper means are applied-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The trouble is in the means,\" Mr. Scranton interposes, scratching
    \r\n", + "his head, as if ideas were scarce, and valuable for the distance
    \r\n", + "they had to be transported.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our good lady smiles. \"I cannot help smiling, Mr. Scranton.\" She
    \r\n", + "speaks softly. \"There are two things I want done-done quickly: I
    \r\n", + "want southern philosophers to consider, and I want southern ladies
    \r\n", + "to act-to put on energy-to take less care of themselves and more of
    \r\n", + "the poor negro!\" She lays her hand gently upon Mr. Scranton's arm,
    \r\n", + "her soft blue eyes staring him in the face. \"When they do this,\" she
    \r\n", + "continues, \"all will be well. We can soon show the north how much
    \r\n", + "can be done without their assistance. I don't believe in women's
    \r\n", + "rights meetings,--not I; but I hold there should be some combination
    \r\n", + "of southern ladies, to take the moral elevation of the slave into
    \r\n", + "consideration,--to set about the work in good earnest, to see what
    \r\n", + "can be done. It's a monster work; but monster evils can be removed
    \r\n", + "if females will give their hands and hearts to the task. This
    \r\n", + "separating families to serve the interests of traders in human
    \r\n", + "beings must be stopped: females know the pains it inflicts on
    \r\n", + "suffering wretches; they are best suited to stop that heinous
    \r\n", + "offence in the sight of God and man. They must rise to the work;
    \r\n", + "they must devise means to stay the waste of fortune now progressing
    \r\n", + "through dissipation; and, above all other things, they must rise up
    \r\n", + "and drive these frightful slave-dealers from their doors.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton admits there is something in all this, but suggests
    \r\n", + "that it were better to let the future take care of itself; there's
    \r\n", + "no knowing what the future may do; and to let those who come in it
    \r\n", + "enjoy our labours \"aint just the policy.\" He contends-willing to
    \r\n", + "admit how much the ladies could do if they would-it would not be
    \r\n", + "consistent with the times to put forth such experiments, especially
    \r\n", + "when there is so much opposition. \"It wouldn't do!\" he whispers.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The deacon here interrupts Mr. Scranton, by stepping to the door and
    \r\n", + "ordering one of the servants to prepare refreshments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'It must do! It won't do!' keeps us where we are, and where we are
    \r\n", + "always complaining that we never have done. You know I speak
    \r\n", + "frankly, Mr. Scranton-women may say what they please;-and let me
    \r\n", + "tell you, that when you do your duty it will do. Hard times never
    \r\n", + "were harder than when everybody thought them hard. We must infuse
    \r\n", + "principle into our poor people; we must make them earnest in
    \r\n", + "agricultural pursuits; we must elevate the character of labour; we
    \r\n", + "must encourage the mechanic, and give tone to his pursuits; and,
    \r\n", + "more than all, we must arrest the spread of conventional nonsense,
    \r\n", + "and develope our natural resources by establishing a system of paid
    \r\n", + "labour, and removing the odium which attaches itself to those who
    \r\n", + "pursue such avocations as the slave may be engaged in. My word for
    \r\n", + "it, Mr. Scranton, there's where the trouble lies. Nature has been
    \r\n", + "lavish in her good gifts to the south; but we must lend Nature a
    \r\n", + "helping hand,--we must be the women of the south for the south's
    \r\n", + "good; and we must break down those social barriers clogging our
    \r\n", + "progress. Nature wants good government to go along with her, to be
    \r\n", + "her handfellow in regeneration; but good government must give Nature
    \r\n", + "her rights. This done, slavery will cease to spread its loathsome
    \r\n", + "diseases through the body politic, virtue will be protected and
    \r\n", + "receive its rewards, and the buds of prosperity will be nourished
    \r\n", + "with energy and ripen into greatness.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton suggests that the nigger question was forced upon him,
    \r\n", + "and thinks it better to change the conversation. Mr. Scranton was
    \r\n", + "once in Congress, thinks a deal of his Congressional experience, and
    \r\n", + "declares, with great seriousness, that the nigger question will come
    \r\n", + "to something one of these days. \"Ah! bless me, madam,\" he says,
    \r\n", + "adjusting his arms, \"you talk-very-like-a-statesman. Southerners
    \r\n", + "better leave all this regenerating of slaves to you. But let me say,
    \r\n", + "whatever you may see in perspective, it's mighty dangerous when you
    \r\n", + "move such principles to practice. Mark me! you'll have to pull down
    \r\n", + "the iron walls of the south, make planters of different minds, drive
    \r\n", + "self out of mankind, and overthrow the northern speculator's
    \r\n", + "cotton-bag love. You've got a great work before you, my dear
    \r\n", + "madam,--a work that'll want an extended lease of your life-time.
    \r\n", + "Remember how hard it is to convince man of the wrong of anything
    \r\n", + "that's profitable. A paid system, even emancipation, would have been
    \r\n", + "a small affair in 1824 or 1827. Old niggers and prime fellows were
    \r\n", + "then of little value; now it is different. You may see the obstacle
    \r\n", + "to your project in the Nashville Convention or Georgia platform-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nashville Convention, indeed!\" exclaims Mrs. Rosebrook, her face
    \r\n", + "infused with animation, and a curl of disdain on her lip. \"Such
    \r\n", + "things! Mere happy illustrations of the folly of our political
    \r\n", + "affairs. The one was an exotic do-nothing got up by Mister
    \r\n", + "Wanting-to-say-something, who soon gets ashamed of his mission; the
    \r\n", + "other was a mixture of political log-rolling, got up by those who
    \r\n", + "wanted to tell the Union not to mind the Nashville Convention. What
    \r\n", + "a pity they did not tell the Union to be patient with us! We must
    \r\n", + "have no more Nashville Conventions; we must change Georgia platforms
    \r\n", + "for individual enterprise,--southern conventions for moral
    \r\n", + "regeneration. Give us these changes, and we shall show you what can
    \r\n", + "be done without the aid of the north.\" Several servants in tidy
    \r\n", + "dresses, their white aprons looking so clean, come bustling into the
    \r\n", + "room and invite missus and her guest into an airy ante-room, where a
    \r\n", + "table is bountifully spread with cake, fruit, fine old Madeira, and
    \r\n", + "lemonade. Mr. Scranton bows and asks \"the pleasure;\" Mrs. Rosebrook
    \r\n", + "acknowledgingly takes his arm, while the negroes bow and scrape as
    \r\n", + "they enter the room. Mr. Scranton stands a few moments gazing at the
    \r\n", + "set-out. \"I hope Mr. Scranton will make himself quite at home,\" the
    \r\n", + "good lady interposes. Everything was so exquisitely arranged, so set
    \r\n", + "off with fresh-plucked flowers, as if some magic hand had just
    \r\n", + "touched the whole.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now!\" continued Mrs. Rosebrook, motioning her head as she points to
    \r\n", + "the table: \"you'll admit my negroes can do something? Poor helpless
    \r\n", + "wretches, we say continually: perhaps they are worse when bad owners
    \r\n", + "can make the world look upon them through northern prejudice. They
    \r\n", + "are just like children; nobody gives them credit for being anything
    \r\n", + "else; and yet they can do much for our good. It would trouble some
    \r\n", + "persons to arrange a table so neatly; my boys did it all, you see!\"
    \r\n", + "And she exults over the efficiency of her negroes, who stand at her
    \r\n", + "side acknowledging the compliment with broad grins. The deacon helps
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton, who commences stowing away the sweetmeats with great
    \r\n", + "gusto. \"It is truly surprising what charming nigger property you
    \r\n", + "have got. They don't seem a bit like niggers\" he concludes
    \r\n", + "deliberately taking a mouthful. Mrs. Rosebrook, pleased at the
    \r\n", + "honest remark, reminds him that the deacon carries out her views
    \r\n", + "most charmingly, that she studies negro character, and knows that by
    \r\n", + "stimulating it with little things she promotes good. She studies
    \r\n", + "character while the deacon studies politics. At the same time, she
    \r\n", + "rather ironically reminds Mr. Scranton that the deacon is not guilty
    \r\n", + "of reading any long-winded articles on \"state rights and secession.\"
    \r\n", + "\"Not he!\" she says, laughingly; \"you don't catch him with such
    \r\n", + "cast-iron material in his head. They call him pious-proof now and
    \r\n", + "then, but he's progress all over.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton, attentive to his appetite, draws a serious face, gives
    \r\n", + "a side glance, begs a negro to supply his plate anew, and reckons he
    \r\n", + "may soon make a new discovery in southern political economy. But he
    \r\n", + "fears Mrs. Rosebrook's plan will make a mongrel, the specific nature
    \r\n", + "of which it would be difficult to define in philosophy. Perhaps it
    \r\n", + "will not be acceptable to the north as a thinking people, nor will
    \r\n", + "it please the generosity of southern ladies.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There is where the trouble lies!\" exclaimed the deacon, who had
    \r\n", + "until then yielded up the discussion to his good lady. \"They look
    \r\n", + "upon our system with distrust, as if it were something they could
    \r\n", + "not understand.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I move we don't say another word about it, but take our part
    \r\n", + "quietly,\" says Mrs. Rosebrook, insinuating that Mr. Scranton had
    \r\n", + "better be left to take his refreshment comfortably; that he is a
    \r\n", + "little misanthropic; that he must be cheered up. \"Come, my
    \r\n", + "boys\"-directing her conversation to the negroes-\"see that Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton is cared for. And you must summon Daddy; tell him to get
    \r\n", + "the carriage ready, to put on his best blue coat,--that we are going
    \r\n", + "to take Mr. Scranton over the plantation, to show him how things can
    \r\n", + "prosper when we ladies take a hand in the management.\" The negro
    \r\n", + "leaves to execute the order: Mr. Scranton remains mute, now and then
    \r\n", + "sipping his wine. He imagines himself in a small paradise, but
    \r\n", + "\"hadn't the least idea how it was made such a place by niggers.\"
    \r\n", + "Why, they are just the smartest things in the shape of property that
    \r\n", + "could be started up. Regular dandy niggers, dressed up to \"shine
    \r\n", + "so,\" they set him thinking there was something in his politics not
    \r\n", + "just straight. And then, there was so much intelligence, so much
    \r\n", + "politeness about the critters! Why, if it had not been for the
    \r\n", + "doctrines he had so long held, he would have felt bashful at his
    \r\n", + "want of ease and suavity,--things seldom taught in the New England
    \r\n", + "village where our pro-slavery advocate was born and educated.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Presently servants are seen outside, running here and there, their
    \r\n", + "eyes glistening with anxiety, as if preparing for a May-day
    \r\n", + "festival. Old Dolly, the cook, shining with the importance of her
    \r\n", + "profession, stands her greasy portions in the kitchen door, scolds
    \r\n", + "away at old Dad, whose face smiles with good-nature as he fusses
    \r\n", + "over the carriage, wipes it, rubs it, and brushes it, every now and
    \r\n", + "then stopping to see if it will reflect his full black face. Little
    \r\n", + "woolly-headed urchins are toddling round old Maum Dolly, pulling the
    \r\n", + "folds of her frock, teasing for cakes and fritters. One, more expert
    \r\n", + "in mischief, has perched himself in an aperture over the door,
    \r\n", + "substituting himself for the old black hat with which it is usually
    \r\n", + "filled. Here, his face like a full moon in a cloud, he twists his
    \r\n", + "moving fingers into the ingeniously-tied knot of Dolly's bandana,
    \r\n", + "which he cunningly draws from her head. Ben and Loblolly, two minor
    \r\n", + "sprats of the race, are seated in the centre of the yard, contending
    \r\n", + "for the leaves of a picture-book, which, to appease their
    \r\n", + "characteristic inquisitiveness, they have dissected. Daddy has the
    \r\n", + "horses ready and the carriage waiting; and Uncle Bradshaw, the
    \r\n", + "coachman, and C�sar, the likely fellow, wait at the door with as
    \r\n", + "much satisfaction expressed in their faces as if it were all for
    \r\n", + "them. Missus is not to be outdone in expertness: a few minutes ago
    \r\n", + "she was \"snaring\" Mr. Scranton with his own philosophy; now she is
    \r\n", + "ready to take her seat.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Missus! I wants t' go down yander wid ye, I doe,\" says Daddy,
    \r\n", + "approaching her with hand extended, and working his black face up
    \r\n", + "into a broad grin as he detects Mr. Scranton's awkwardness in
    \r\n", + "getting into the carriage.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Certainly, Daddy, certainly: you shall go. Daddy knows how to get
    \r\n", + "alongside of Aunt Rachel when he gets down on the plantation. He
    \r\n", + "knows where to get a good cup of coffee and a waff.\" And she pats
    \r\n", + "the old negro on the head as he clambers up on the box. \"No, him
    \r\n", + "aint dat. Daddy want t' go wid missus-ya'h, ya! dat him, tis. Missus
    \r\n", + "want somebody down da'h what spry, so'e take care on 'em round de
    \r\n", + "old plantation. Takes my missus to know what nigger is,\" says Daddy,
    \r\n", + "taking off his cap, and bowing missus into the carriage.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not one word for mas'r, eh, Daddy?\" rejoins the deacon, looking
    \r\n", + "playfully at Daddy. \"Why, Boss, you aint nofin whin missus about,\"
    \r\n", + "returns Daddy, tauntingly, as he buttons his grey coat, and tells
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw to \"go ahead!\" Away they go, galloping over the plain,
    \r\n", + "through the swamp, for the plantation,--that model experiment doubted
    \r\n", + "by so many. Major Sprag, the politician, and Judge Snow, the
    \r\n", + "statesman, had declared publicly it never would do any good. With
    \r\n", + "them it was not practical,--it gave negroes too much liberty; and
    \r\n", + "they declared the system must be kept within the narrowest sphere of
    \r\n", + "law, or it would be destroyed for ever.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Onward the carriage bounded, and long before it reached the
    \r\n", + "plantation gate was espied by the negroes, who came sallying forth
    \r\n", + "from their white cabins, crying out at the top of their
    \r\n", + "voices-\"Missus comin'! Missus comin! Da'h missus-dat she! I know'd
    \r\n", + "missus wa' comin' t' day!\" and the music of their voices re-echoed
    \r\n", + "through the arbour of oaks that lined the road. Their tongues seemed
    \r\n", + "to have taken new impulse for the occasion. The dogs, at full run,
    \r\n", + "came barking to the gate; old daddies and mammas, with faces \"all
    \r\n", + "over smiles,\" followed in the train. And they were dressed so
    \r\n", + "tidily, looked so cheerful, and gave such expressions of their
    \r\n", + "exuberant feelings, that Mr. Scranton seemed quite at a loss how to
    \r\n", + "account for it. He had never before witnessed such a mingling of
    \r\n", + "fondness for owners,--the welcome sounds of \"God bless good missus!\"
    \r\n", + "They were at variance with the misanthropic ideas he had imbibed at
    \r\n", + "the north. And then there was a regular retinue of the \"small-fry
    \r\n", + "property\" bringing up the rear, with curious faces, and making the
    \r\n", + "jargon more confounding with the music of their voices. They
    \r\n", + "toddled, screamed, and shouted, clustered around the gate, and
    \r\n", + "before Daddy had time to dismount, had it wide open, and were
    \r\n", + "contending for the palm of shaking missus by the hand \"fust.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The carriage drives to the plantation house, followed by the train
    \r\n", + "of moving darkness, flocking around it like as many devotees before
    \r\n", + "an object of superstitious worship. Mas'r is only a secondary
    \r\n", + "consideration, Missus is the angel of their thoughts; her kindness
    \r\n", + "and perseverance in their behalf has softened their
    \r\n", + "feelings--stimulated their energy. How touching is the fondness and
    \r\n", + "tenderness of these degraded mortals! They love their benefactor.
    \r\n", + "And, too, there is a lesson in it worthy the statesman's
    \r\n", + "consideration,--it shows a knowledge of right, and a deep sense of
    \r\n", + "gratitude for kindness bestowed. Mrs. Rosebrook alights from the
    \r\n", + "carriage, receives their warm congratulations, and, turning to Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton, touches him on the arm, and remarks:--\"Now, here they are.
    \r\n", + "Poor old bodies,\"--taking them by the hand in rotation-just like as
    \r\n", + "many children. \"What do you think of them, Mr. Scranton? do you not
    \r\n", + "find a softening sympathy creeping upon you? I forgot, though, your
    \r\n", + "political responsibility! Ah! that is the point with statesmen. You
    \r\n", + "feel a touch of conscience once in a while, but cannot speak for
    \r\n", + "fear of the consequences.\" And she laughs heartily at Mr. Scranton,
    \r\n", + "who draws his face into a very serious length. \"Pest the niggers!\"
    \r\n", + "he says, as they gather at his feet, asking all sorts of importune
    \r\n", + "questions.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My good lady is a regular reformer, you see, Mr. Scranton,\" rejoins
    \r\n", + "the deacon, as he follows that gentleman into the hall.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton remarks, in reply, that such does not become caste, and
    \r\n", + "two pompous-looking servants set upon him brushing the dirt from
    \r\n", + "his clothes with great earnestness. The negroes understand Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton at a glance; he is an amiable stoic!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook disappears for a few minutes, and returns minus her
    \r\n", + "bonnet and mantle. She delights to have the old and the young around
    \r\n", + "her,--to study their characters, to hear their stories, their
    \r\n", + "grievances, and to relieve their wants. \"These little black imps,\"
    \r\n", + "she says, patting them on the head as they toddle around her,
    \r\n", + "\"They're just as full of interest as their shiny black skins are
    \r\n", + "full of mischief;\" and one after another, with hand extended, they
    \r\n", + "seek a recognition; and she takes them in her arms, fondling them
    \r\n", + "with the affection of a nurse.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Here's Toby, too; the little cunning rascal! He is as sleek as a
    \r\n", + "mole, a young coon,\" she ejaculates, stooping down and playfully
    \r\n", + "working her fingers over Toby's crispy hair, as he sits upon the
    \r\n", + "grass in front of the house, feasting on a huge sweet potato, with
    \r\n", + "which he has so bedaubed his face that it looks like a mask with the
    \r\n", + "terrific portrayed in the rolling of two immense white eyes. \"And
    \r\n", + "here is Nichol Garvio!\" and she turns to another, pats him on the
    \r\n", + "head, and shakes his hand. \"We mean to make a great man of him, you
    \r\n", + "see,--he has head enough to make a Congress man; who knows but that
    \r\n", + "he'll get there when he grows up?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Congress, happily, is beyond niggers,\" replies Mr. Scranton,
    \r\n", + "approving the lady: \"Congress is pure yet!\" Turning round, she
    \r\n", + "recommends Mr. Scranton to put his northern prejudices in his
    \r\n", + "pocket, where they will be safe when required for the purposes of
    \r\n", + "the south. \"A nigger 's a nigger all over the world,\" rejoins Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton, significantly shrugging his shoulders and casting a
    \r\n", + "doubtful glance at the young type.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True! true!\" she returns, giving Mr. Scranton a look of pity. \"God
    \r\n", + "give us sight to see! We praise our forefathers-honest praise!-but
    \r\n", + "we forget what they did. They brought them here, poor wretches;
    \r\n", + "decoyed them, deceived them,--and now we wish them back at the very
    \r\n", + "time it would be impossible to live without them. How happy is the
    \r\n", + "mind that believes a 'nigger' must be a nigger for ever and ever;
    \r\n", + "and that we must do all in our power to keep him from being anything
    \r\n", + "else!\" And her soft blue eyes glowed with sympathy; it was the soul
    \r\n", + "of a noble woman intent on doing good. She had stepped from the
    \r\n", + "darkness of a political error into the airy height of light and
    \r\n", + "love.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daddy and Bradshaw had taken care of the horses; the deacon greeted
    \r\n", + "his negroes as one by one they came to welcome him; and for each he
    \r\n", + "had a kind word, a joke, a shake of the hand, or an enquiry about
    \r\n", + "some missing member of a family. The scene presented an interesting
    \r\n", + "picture-the interest, policy, and good faith between master and
    \r\n", + "slave. No sooner were the horses cared for, than Daddy and Bradshaw
    \r\n", + "started for the \"cabins,\" to say welcome to the old folks, \"a heap
    \r\n", + "a' how de\" to the gals, and tell de boys, down yander, in de tater
    \r\n", + "patch, dat Missus come. They must have their touching
    \r\n", + "congratulations, interchange the news of the city for the gossip of
    \r\n", + "the plantation, and drink the cup of tea Mamma makes for the
    \r\n", + "occasion. Soon the plantation is all agog; and the homely, but neat
    \r\n", + "cabins, swarm with negroes of all ages, bustling here and there, and
    \r\n", + "making preparations for the evening supper, which Aunt Peggy, the
    \r\n", + "cook, has been instructed to prepare in her very best style.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The deacon joins his good lady, and, with Mr. Scranton, they prepare
    \r\n", + "to walk over and view the plantation. They are followed by a retinue
    \r\n", + "of old and young property, giving vent to their thoughts in
    \r\n", + "expressions of gratitude to Missus and Mas'r. A broad expanse of
    \r\n", + "rural beauty stretches towards the west, soft and enchanting. The
    \r\n", + "sun is sinking into the curtains of a refulgent cloud; its crimson
    \r\n", + "light casts a mellow shade over the broad landscape; the evening
    \r\n", + "breeze is wafting coolly over the foliage, a welcome relief to the
    \r\n", + "scorching heat of mid-day; the balmy atmosphere breathes sweetness
    \r\n", + "over the whole. To the north stands a clump of fine old oaks, high
    \r\n", + "above the distant \"bottom,\" reflecting in all their richness the
    \r\n", + "warm tints of the setting sun. The leaves rustle as they pass along;
    \r\n", + "long lines of cotton plants, with their healthy blossoms, brighten
    \r\n", + "in the evening shade; the corn bends under its fruit; the potato
    \r\n", + "field looks fresh and luxuriant, and negroes are gathering from the
    \r\n", + "slip-beds supplies of market gardening. There is but one appearance
    \r\n", + "among the workers-cheerfulness! They welcome Mas'r as he passes
    \r\n", + "along; and again busily employ themselves, hoeing, weeding, and
    \r\n", + "working at the roots of vines in search of destructive insects.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My overseers are all black, every one! I would'nt have a white one;
    \r\n", + "they are mostly tyrants,\" says the deacon, looking at his fields,
    \r\n", + "exultingly. \"And my overseers plan out the very best mode of
    \r\n", + "planting. They get through a heap of work, with a little kindness
    \r\n", + "and a little management. Those two things do a deal, Sir! Five years
    \r\n", + "ago, I projected this new system of managing negroes-or, rather my
    \r\n", + "lady planned it,--she is a great manager, you see,--and I adopted it.
    \r\n", + "You see how it has worked, Mr. Scranton.\" The deacon takes Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton by the arm, pointing over the broad expanse of cultivated
    \r\n", + "land, bending under the harvest. I make all my negroes marry when
    \r\n", + "they have arrived at a specific age; I assure them I never will sell
    \r\n", + "one unless he or she commits a heinous crime; and I never have.
    \r\n", + "There is a great deal in keeping faith with a negro; he is of
    \r\n", + "mankind, and moved by natural laws mentally and physically, and
    \r\n", + "feels deeply the want of what we rarely regard of much
    \r\n", + "consequence-confidence in his master's word. Wife encourages their
    \r\n", + "moral energy; I encourage their physical by filling their bellies
    \r\n", + "with as much corn and bacon as they can eat; and then I give them
    \r\n", + "five cents per day (the heads of families) to get those little
    \r\n", + "necessaries which are so essential to their comfort and
    \r\n", + "encouragement. I call it our paid-labour system; and I give them
    \r\n", + "tasks, too, and when they have finished them I allow a small stipend
    \r\n", + "for extra work. It's a small mite for a great end; and it's such an
    \r\n", + "encouragement with them that I get about thirty per cent. more work
    \r\n", + "done. And then I allow them to read just as much as they please-what
    \r\n", + "do I care about law? I don't want to live where learning to read is
    \r\n", + "dangerous to the State, I don't. Their learning to read never can
    \r\n", + "destroy their affections for me and wife; and kindness to them will
    \r\n", + "make them less dangerous in case of insurrection. It's not the
    \r\n", + "education we've got to fear; our fears increase with the knowledge
    \r\n", + "of our oppression. They know these things-they feel them; and if by
    \r\n", + "educating them one can cultivate their confidence, had we not better
    \r\n", + "do it with a view to contingencies? Now, as the result of our
    \r\n", + "system, we have promised to give all our negroes their freedom at
    \r\n", + "the expiration of ten years, and send such as wish to go, to
    \r\n", + "Liberia; but, I hold that they can do as much for us at home, work
    \r\n", + "for us if properly encouraged, and be good free citizens, obedient
    \r\n", + "to the laws of the State, serving the general good of a great
    \r\n", + "country.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes!\" the good lady interposes; \"I want to see those things carried
    \r\n", + "out; they will yet work for the regeneration of their own race.
    \r\n", + "Heaven will some day reward the hand that drags the cursed mantle
    \r\n", + "from off poor Africa; and Africa herself will breathe a prayer to
    \r\n", + "Heaven in grateful acknowledgment of the act that frees her from the
    \r\n", + "stain of being the world's bonded warehouse for human flesh and
    \r\n", + "blood.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The deacon interrupts,--suggests \"that it were better to move
    \r\n", + "practically; and that small streams may yet direct how a mountain
    \r\n", + "may be removed. Our Union is a great monument of what a Republic may
    \r\n", + "be,--a happy combination of life, freshness, and greatness, upon
    \r\n", + "which the Old World looks with distrust. The people have founded its
    \r\n", + "happiness-its greatness! God alone knows its destiny; crowned heads
    \r\n", + "would not weep over its downfall! It were better each citizen felt
    \r\n", + "his heart beating to the words-It is my country; cursed be the hand
    \r\n", + "raised to sever its members!\" The lady tells Mr. Scranton that their
    \r\n", + "produce has increased every year; that last year they planted one
    \r\n", + "hundred and twenty acres with cotton, ninety with corn, forty with
    \r\n", + "sweet potatoes, as many more with slips and roots; and three acres
    \r\n", + "of water-melons for the boys, which they may eat or sell. She
    \r\n", + "assures him that by encouraging the pay system they get a double
    \r\n", + "profit, besides preparing the way for something that must come.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Come!\" Mr. Scranton interrupts: \"let the south be true to herself,
    \r\n", + "and there's no fear of that. But I confess, deacon, there is
    \r\n", + "something good as well as curious about your way of treating
    \r\n", + "niggers.\" And Mr. Scranton shakes his head, as if the practicability
    \r\n", + "yet remained the great obstacle in his mind. \"Your niggers ain't
    \r\n", + "every body's,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Try it, try it!\" Mrs. Rosebrook rejoins: \"Go home and propound
    \r\n", + "something that will relieve us from fear-something that will prepare
    \r\n", + "us for any crisis that may occur!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It was six o'clock, the plantation bell struck, and the cry sounded
    \r\n", + "\"All hands quit work, and repair to supper!\" Scarcely had the echoes
    \r\n", + "resounded over the woods when the labourers were seen scampering for
    \r\n", + "their cabins, in great glee. They jumped, danced, jostled one
    \r\n", + "another, and sang the cheering melodies, \"Sally put da' hoe cake
    \r\n", + "down!\" and \"Down in Old Tennessee.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Reaching their cabins they gathered into a conclave around Daddy and
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw, making the very air resound with their merry jargon. Such
    \r\n", + "a happy meeting-such social congratulations, pouring forth of the
    \r\n", + "heart's affections, warm and true,--it had never been before Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton's fortune to witness. Indeed, when he listened to the ready
    \r\n", + "flashes of dialogue accompanying their animation, and saw the
    \r\n", + "strange contortions of their fresh, shining faces, he began to
    \r\n", + "\"reckon\" there was something about niggers that might, by a process
    \r\n", + "not yet discovered, be turned into something.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Old \"Mammies\" strive for the honour of having Daddy and Bradshaw sup
    \r\n", + "at their cabins, taunting each other on the spareness of their meal.
    \r\n", + "Fires are soon lit, the stew-pans brought into requisition, and the
    \r\n", + "smoke, curling upward among a myriad of mosquitoes, is dispersing
    \r\n", + "them like a band of unwelcome intruders; while the corn-mills rattle
    \r\n", + "and rumble, making the din and clatter more confounding. Daddy and
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw being \"aristocratic darkies from the city\"-caste being
    \r\n", + "tenaciously kept up among negroes-were, of course, recipients of the
    \r\n", + "choicest delicacies the plantation afforded, not excepting fresh
    \r\n", + "eggs poached, and possum. Bradshaw is particularly fond of ghost
    \r\n", + "stories; and as old Maum Nancy deals largely in this article, as
    \r\n", + "well as being the best believer in spectres on the plantation, he
    \r\n", + "concludes to sup with her, in her hospitable cabin, when she will
    \r\n", + "relate all that she has seen since she last saw him. Maum Nancy is
    \r\n", + "as black as a crow, has a rich store of tales on hand; she will
    \r\n", + "please the old man, more particularly when she tells him about the
    \r\n", + "very bad ghost seen about the mansion for more than \"three weeks of
    \r\n", + "nights.\" He has got two sarpents' heads; Maum Nancy declares the
    \r\n", + "statement true, for uncle Enoch \"seen him,\"-he is a grey ghost-and
    \r\n", + "might a' knocked him over with his wattle, only he darn't lest he
    \r\n", + "should reek his vengeance at some unexpected moment. And then he was
    \r\n", + "the very worst kind of a ghost, for he stole all the chickens, not
    \r\n", + "even leaving the feathers. They said he had a tail like the thing
    \r\n", + "Mas'r Sluck whipped his \"niggers\" with. Bradshaw sups of Maum
    \r\n", + "Nancy's best, listening to her stories with great concern. The story
    \r\n", + "of the ghost with two heads startles him; his black picture, frame
    \r\n", + "fills with excitement; he has never before heard that ghosts were
    \r\n", + "guilty of predatory crimes. So enchained and excited is he with her
    \r\n", + "story, that the party at the house having finished supper, have made
    \r\n", + "preparations to leave for the city. A finger touches him on the
    \r\n", + "shoulder; he startles, recognises Daddy, who is in search of him,
    \r\n", + "and suddenly becomes conscious that his absence has caused great
    \r\n", + "anxiety. Daddy has found him quietly eating Maum Nancy's cakes,
    \r\n", + "while intently listening to the story about the ghost \"what\" steals
    \r\n", + "all her chickens. He is quite unconcerned about Mas'r,
    \r\n", + "Missus-anything but the ghost! He catches his cap, gives Nancy's
    \r\n", + "hand a warm shake, says God bless 'em, hastens for the mansion,
    \r\n", + "finds the carriage waiting at the door, for Mas'r and Missus, who
    \r\n", + "take their seats as he arrives. Bradshaw mounts the box again, and
    \r\n", + "away it rolls down the oak avenue. The happy party leave for home;
    \r\n", + "the plantation people are turned out en masse to say good bye to
    \r\n", + "Missus, and \"hope Mas'r get safe home.\" Their greetings sound forth
    \r\n", + "as the carriage disappears in the distance; fainter and fainter the
    \r\n", + "good wish falls upon their ears. They are well on the road; Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton, who sits at the side of the good lady, on the back seat,
    \r\n", + "has not deigned to say a word: the evening grows dark, and his mind
    \r\n", + "seems correspondingly gloomy. \"I tell you, I feel so pleased, so
    \r\n", + "overjoyed, and so happy when I visit the plantation, to see those
    \r\n", + "poor creatures so happy and so full of fondness! It's worth all the
    \r\n", + "riches to know that one is loved by the poor. Did you ever see such
    \r\n", + "happiness, Mr. Scranton?\" Mrs. Rosebrook enquires, coolly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It requires a great deal of thinking, a great deal of caution, a
    \r\n", + "great deal of political foresight, before answering such questions.
    \r\n", + "You'll pardon me, my dear madam, I know you will; I always speak
    \r\n", + "square on questions, you know. It's hard to reconcile oneself to
    \r\n", + "niggers being free.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! yes-it's very amiable to think; but how much more praiseworthy
    \r\n", + "to act! If we southern ladies set ourselves about it we can do a
    \r\n", + "great deal; we can save the poor creatures being sold, like cows and
    \r\n", + "calves, in this free country. We must save ourselves from the moral
    \r\n", + "degradation that is upon us. What a pity Marston's friends did not
    \r\n", + "make an effort to change his course! If they had he would not now be
    \r\n", + "in the hands of that Graspum. We are surrounded by a world of
    \r\n", + "temptation; and yet our planters yield to them; they think
    \r\n", + "everything a certainty, forgetting that the moment they fall into
    \r\n", + "Graspum's hands they are gone.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton acknowledges he likes the look of things on the
    \r\n", + "plantation, but suggests that it will be considered an
    \r\n", + "innovation,--an innovation too dangerous to be considered.
    \r\n", + "Innovations are dangerous with him,--unpopular, cannot amount to much
    \r\n", + "practical good. He gives these insinuations merely as happy
    \r\n", + "expressions of his own profound opinion. The carriage approaches the
    \r\n", + "villa, which, seen from the distance, seems sleeping in the calm of
    \r\n", + "night. Mr. Scranton is like those among us who are always fearing,
    \r\n", + "but never make an effort to remove the cause; they, too, are
    \r\n", + "doggedly attached to political inconsistency, and, though at times
    \r\n", + "led to see the evil, never can be made to acknowledge the wrong.
    \r\n", + "They reach the garden gate; Mr. Scranton begs to be excused from
    \r\n", + "entering the Villa,--takes a formal leave of his friend, and wends
    \r\n", + "his way home, thinking. \"There's something in it!\" he says to
    \r\n", + "himself, as he passes the old bridge that separates the city from
    \r\n", + "the suburb. \"It's not so much for the present as it is for the
    \r\n", + "hereafter. Nobody thinks of repairing this old bridge, and yet it
    \r\n", + "has been decaying under our eyes for years. Some day it will
    \r\n", + "suddenly fall,--a dozen people will be precipitated into the water
    \r\n", + "below, some killed; the city will then resound with lamentations;
    \r\n", + "every body knows it must take place one of these days, everybody is
    \r\n", + "to blame, but no special criminal can be found. There's something in
    \r\n", + "the comparison!\" he says, looking over the old railing into the
    \r\n", + "water. And then his thoughts wandered to the plantation. There the
    \r\n", + "germs of an enlightened policy were growing up; the purity of a
    \r\n", + "noble woman's heart was spreading blessings among a downcast race,
    \r\n", + "cultivating their minds, raising them up to do good for themselves,
    \r\n", + "to reward the efforts of the benefactor. Her motto was:--Let us
    \r\n", + "through simple means seek the elevation of a class of beings whose
    \r\n", + "degradation has distracted the political wisdom of our happy
    \r\n", + "country, from its conquest to the present day. \"There's something in
    \r\n", + "it,\" again mutters Mr. Scranton, as he enters his room, lights his
    \r\n", + "taper, and with his elbow resting on the table, his head supported
    \r\n", + "in his hand, sits musing over the subject.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ELDER PEMBERTON PRAISEWORTHY CHANGES HIS BUSINESS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "LET us beg the reader's indulgence for a few moments, while we say
    \r\n", + "that Mr. Scranton belonged to that large class of servile flatterers
    \r\n", + "who too often come from the New England States-men, who, having no
    \r\n", + "direct interest in slaves, make no scruple of sacrificing their
    \r\n", + "independence that they may appear true to the south and slavery.
    \r\n", + "Such men not unfrequently do the political vampirism of the south
    \r\n", + "without receiving its thanks, but look for the respect of political
    \r\n", + "factions for being loudest supporters of inconsistency. They never
    \r\n", + "receive the thanks of the southerner; frequently and deservedly do
    \r\n", + "they sink into contempt!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A few days after the visit to the plantation we have described in
    \r\n", + "the foregoing chapter, Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy, divested of his
    \r\n", + "pastoral occupation, and seriously anxious to keep up his friendly
    \r\n", + "associations with those who had taken a part in furthering the cause
    \r\n", + "of humanity, calls on his old acquaintance, Mrs. Rosebrook. He has
    \r\n", + "always found a welcome under her hospitable roof,--a good meal, over
    \r\n", + "which he could discourse the benefits he bestowed, through his
    \r\n", + "spiritual mission, upon a fallen race; never leaving without kindly
    \r\n", + "asking permission to offer up a prayer, in which he invoked the
    \r\n", + "mercy of the Supreme Ruler over all things. In this instance he
    \r\n", + "seems somewhat downcast, forlorn; he has changed his business; his
    \r\n", + "brown, lean face, small peering eyes, and low forehead, with bristly
    \r\n", + "black hair standing erect, give his features a careworn air. He
    \r\n", + "apologises for the unceremonious call, and says he always forgets
    \r\n", + "etiquette in his fervour to do good; to serve his fellow-creatures,
    \r\n", + "to be a Christian among the living, and serve the dying and the
    \r\n", + "dead-if such have wants--is his motto. And that his motives may not
    \r\n", + "be misconstrued he has come to report the peculiar phases of the
    \r\n", + "business he found it actually necessary to turn his hand to. That he
    \r\n", + "will gain a complete mastery over the devil he has not the fraction
    \r\n", + "of a doubt; and as he has always--deeming him less harmless than many
    \r\n", + "citizens of the south--had strong prejudices against that gentleman,
    \r\n", + "he now has strong expectations of carrying his point against him.
    \r\n", + "Elder Praiseworthy once heard a great statesman--who said singular
    \r\n", + "things as well in as out of Congress--say that he did'nt believe the
    \r\n", + "devil was a bad fellow after all; and that with a little more
    \r\n", + "schooling he might make a very useful gentleman to prevent
    \r\n", + "duelling--in a word, that there was no knowing how we'd get along at
    \r\n", + "the south without such an all-important personage. He has had
    \r\n", + "several spells of deep thinking on this point, which, though he
    \r\n", + "cannot exactly agree with it, he holds firmly to the belief that, so
    \r\n", + "far as it affects duelling, the devil should be one of the
    \r\n", + "principals, and he, being specially ordained, the great antagonist
    \r\n", + "to demolish him with his chosen weapon--humanity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"They tell me you have gone back into the world,\" says Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook, as the waiter hands Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy a chair.
    \r\n", + "\"It's only the duty of love, of Christian goodness, he humbly
    \r\n", + "replies, and takes his seat as Mrs. Rosebrook says-\"pray be seated!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'm somewhat fatigued; but it's the fatigue of loving to do good,\"
    \r\n", + "he says, rubbing his hands very piously, and giving a look of great
    \r\n", + "ministerial seriousness at the good lady. We will omit several minor
    \r\n", + "portions of the Elder's cautious introduction of his humane
    \r\n", + "occupation, commencing where he sets forth the kind reasons for such
    \r\n", + "a virtuous policy. \"You honestly think you are serving the Lord, do
    \r\n", + "you?\" enquires the lady, as she takes her seat.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The Elder evinces surprise at such a question. Hath he moved among
    \r\n", + "Christians so many years, ministering to spiritual wants, and yet
    \r\n", + "the purity of his motives be questioned? \"Good madam! we must have
    \r\n", + "faith to believe. All that is meant well should be accepted in the
    \r\n", + "greatness of the intention. You will observe, I am neither a lawyer
    \r\n", + "nor a politician; I would'nt be for the world! We must always be
    \r\n", + "doing something for the good of others; and we must not forget,
    \r\n", + "whilst we are doing it, to serve the Allwise one; and while we are
    \r\n", + "effecting the good of one we are serving the designs of the other.\"
    \r\n", + "Thus emphatically spoke the Elder, fingering a book that lay on the
    \r\n", + "table. \"I buy sick people, I save the dying, and I instruct them in
    \r\n", + "the ways of the Lord as soon as they are cured, and-\" And here the
    \r\n", + "Elder suddenly stops.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Add, Mr. Praiseworthy, that when you have cured them, and
    \r\n", + "instructed them in the way of the Lord, you sell them!\" interrupts
    \r\n", + "the lady, watching the sudden changes that pass over his craven
    \r\n", + "features.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I always get them good masters; I never fail in that. Nor do I
    \r\n", + "stand upon the profit-it's the humanity I takes into the balance.\"
    \r\n", + "He conceives good under the motley garb of his new mission.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Humanity-strange humanity, with self coiled beneath. Why, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Praiseworthy!\" the lady starts from her seat, and speaks with
    \r\n", + "emphasis, \"do you tell me that you have become a resurrection man,
    \r\n", + "standing at the platform of death, interposing with it for a
    \r\n", + "speculation?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It's no uncommon business, Madam; hundreds follow it; some have got
    \r\n", + "rich at it.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Got rich at it!\" Mrs. Rosebrook interrupts, as a sagacious looking
    \r\n", + "cat bounds on the table, much to the discomfiture of the Elder, who
    \r\n", + "jumps up in a great fright,--\"What irresistible natures we have; may
    \r\n", + "heaven save us from the cravings of avarice!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The Elder very methodically puts the interrupting cat upon the
    \r\n", + "floor, and resumes his seat. \"Why, bless us, good madam, we must
    \r\n", + "have something to keep our consciences clear; there's nothing like
    \r\n", + "living a straightforward life.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What a horrible inconsistency! Buying the sick and the dying. May
    \r\n", + "the dead not come in for a portion of your singular generosity? If
    \r\n", + "you can speculate in the dying why exclude the dead? the principle
    \r\n", + "would serve the same faith in Christianity. The heart that can
    \r\n", + "purchase the dying must be full of sad coldness, dragging the woes
    \r\n", + "and pains of mortality down to a tortuous death. Save us from the
    \r\n", + "feelings of speculation,--call them Christian, if you will,--that
    \r\n", + "makes man look upon a dying mortal, valuing but the dollars and
    \r\n", + "cents that are passing away with his life,\" she interrupts, giving
    \r\n", + "vent to her pent-up feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Praiseworthy suggests that the good lady does not comprehend the
    \r\n", + "virtue lying beneath his motives; that it takes a philosophical mind
    \r\n", + "to analyse the good that can be done to human nature, especially
    \r\n", + "poor black human nature. And he asserts, with great sincerity, that
    \r\n", + "saving the lives of those about to die miserable deaths is a
    \r\n", + "wonderful thing for the cause of humanity. Buying them saves their
    \r\n", + "hopeless lives; and if that isn't praiseworthy nothing can be, and
    \r\n", + "when the act is good the motive should not be questioned.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Do you save their lives for a Christian purpose, or is it lucre you
    \r\n", + "seek, Mr. Praiseworthy?\" she enquires, giving the Elder a
    \r\n", + "significant look, and waiting for a reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The Elder rises sedately, and walks across the room, considering his
    \r\n", + "reply. \"The question's so kind of round about,\" he mutters, as she
    \r\n", + "continues:--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sick when you purchase, your Christianity consists in the art of
    \r\n", + "healing; but you sell them, and consequently save their lives for a
    \r\n", + "profit. There is no cholera in our plantation, thank God! you cannot
    \r\n", + "speculate on our sick. You outshine the London street Jews; they
    \r\n", + "deal in old clothes, you deal in human oddities, tottering
    \r\n", + "infirmity, sick negroes.\" Mrs. Rosebrook suggests that such a
    \r\n", + "business in a great and happy country should be consigned to its
    \r\n", + "grave-digger and executioner, or made to pay a killing income tax.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The humane Elder views his clothes; they have become somewhat
    \r\n", + "threadbare since he entered upon his new profession. He, as may be
    \r\n", + "supposed, feels the force of the lady's remarks, and yet cannot
    \r\n", + "bring his mind to believe himself actuated by anything but a love to
    \r\n", + "do good. Kindness, he contends, was always the most inherent thing
    \r\n", + "in his nature: it is an insult to insinuate anything degrading
    \r\n", + "connected with his calling. And, too, there is another consolation
    \r\n", + "which soars above all,--it is legal, and there is a respectability
    \r\n", + "connected with all legal callings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"To be upright is my motto, madam,\" the Elder says, drawing his hand
    \r\n", + "modestly over his mouth, and again adjusting the tie of his white
    \r\n", + "neck-cloth. \"I'm trying to save them, and a penny with them. You
    \r\n", + "see-the Lord forgive him!-my dear madam, Marston didn't do the clean
    \r\n", + "thing with me; and, the worst of all was, he made a preacher of that
    \r\n", + "nigger of his. The principle is a very bad one for nigger property
    \r\n", + "to contend for; and when their masters permit it, our profession is
    \r\n", + "upset; for, whenever a nigger becomes a preacher, he's sure to be a
    \r\n", + "profitable investment for his owner. There is where it injures us;
    \r\n", + "and we have no redress, because the nigger preacher is his master's
    \r\n", + "property, and his master can make him preach, or do what he pleases
    \r\n", + "with him,\" says Mr. Praiseworthy, becoming extremely serious.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! yes,--self pinches the principles; I see where it is, Elder,\"
    \r\n", + "says the lady. \"But you were indiscreet, given to taking at times;
    \r\n", + "and the boy Harry, proving himself quite as good at preaching,
    \r\n", + "destroyed your practice. I wish every negro knew as much of the
    \r\n", + "Bible as that boy Harry. There would be no fear of insurrections; it
    \r\n", + "would be the greatest blessing that ever befell the South. It would
    \r\n", + "make some of your Christians blush,--perhaps ashamed.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ashamed! ashamed! a thing little used the way times are,\" he
    \r\n", + "mutters, fretting his fingers through his bristly hair, until it
    \r\n", + "stands erect like quills on a porcupine's back. This done, he
    \r\n", + "measuredly adjusts his glasses on the tip of his nose, giving his
    \r\n", + "tawny visage an appearance at once strange and indicative of all the
    \r\n", + "peculiarities of his peculiar character. \"It wasn't that,\" he says,
    \r\n", + "\"Marston did'nt get dissatisfied with my spiritual conditions; it
    \r\n", + "was the saving made by the negro's preaching. But, to my new
    \r\n", + "business, which so touches your sensitive feelings. If you will
    \r\n", + "honour me, my dear madam, with a visit at my hospital, I am certain
    \r\n", + "your impressions will change, and you will do justice to my
    \r\n", + "motives.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Indeed!\" interrupts the lady, quickly, \"nothing would give me more
    \r\n", + "gratification,--I esteem any person engaged in a laudable pursuit;
    \r\n", + "but if philanthropy be expressed through the frailties of
    \r\n", + "speculation,--especially where it is carried out in the buying and
    \r\n", + "selling of afflicted men and women,--I am willing to admit the age of
    \r\n", + "progress to have got ahead of me. However, Elder, I suppose you go
    \r\n", + "upon the principle of what is not lost to sin being gained to the
    \r\n", + "Lord: and if your sick property die pious, the knowledge of it is a
    \r\n", + "sufficient recompense for the loss.\" Thus saying, she readily
    \r\n", + "accepted the Elder's kind invitation, and, ordering a basket of
    \r\n", + "prepared nourishment, which, together with the carriage, was soon
    \r\n", + "ready, she accompanied him to his infirmary. They drove through
    \r\n", + "narrow lanes and streets lined with small dilapidated cottages, and
    \r\n", + "reached a wooden tenement near the suburb of the city of C--. It was
    \r\n", + "surrounded by a lattice fence, the approach being through a gate, on
    \r\n", + "which was inscribed, \"Mr. Praiseworthy's Infirmary;\" and immediately
    \r\n", + "below this, in small letters, was the significant notice, \"Planters
    \r\n", + "having the cholera and other prevailing diseases upon their
    \r\n", + "plantations will please take notice that I am prepared to pay the
    \r\n", + "highest price for the infirm and other negroes attacked with the
    \r\n", + "disease. Offers will be made for the most doubtful cases!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Elder Praiseworthy!\" ejaculates the lady, starting back, and
    \r\n", + "stopping to read the strange sign. \"'Offers will be made for the
    \r\n", + "most doubtful cases!'\" she mutters, turning towards him with a look
    \r\n", + "of melancholy. \"What thoughts, feelings, sentiments! That means,
    \r\n", + "that unto death you have a pecuniary interest in their bodies; and,
    \r\n", + "for a price, you will interpose between their owners and death. The
    \r\n", + "mind so grotesque as to conceive such a purpose should be
    \r\n", + "restrained, lest it trifle with life unconsciously.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You see,\" interrupts Mr. Praiseworthy, looking more serious than
    \r\n", + "ever, \"It's the life saved to the nigger; he's grateful for it; and
    \r\n", + "if they ain't pious just then, it gives them time to consider, to
    \r\n", + "prepare themselves. My little per centage is small-it's a mean
    \r\n", + "commission; and if it were not for the satisfaction of knowing how
    \r\n", + "much good I do, it wouldn't begin to pay a professional gentleman.\"
    \r\n", + "As the Elder concludes his remarks, melancholy sounds are breaking
    \r\n", + "forth in frightful discord. From strange murmurings it rises into
    \r\n", + "loud wailings and implorings. \"Take me, good Lord, to a world of
    \r\n", + "peace!\" sounds in her ears, as they approach through a garden and
    \r\n", + "enter a door that opens into a long room, a store-house of human
    \r\n", + "infirmity, where moans, cries, and groans are made a medium of
    \r\n", + "traffic. The room, about thirty feet long and twenty wide, is
    \r\n", + "rough-boarded, contains three tiers of narrow berths, one above the
    \r\n", + "other, encircling its walls. Here and there on the floor are cots,
    \r\n", + "which Mr. Praiseworthy informs us are for those whose cases he would
    \r\n", + "not give much for. Black nurses are busily attending the sick
    \r\n", + "property; some are carrying bowls of gruel, others rubbing limbs and
    \r\n", + "quieting the cries of the frantic, and again supplying water to
    \r\n", + "quench thirst. On a round table that stands in the centre of the
    \r\n", + "room is a large medicine-chest, disclosing papers, pills, powders,
    \r\n", + "phials, and plasters, strewn about in great disorder. A bedlam of
    \r\n", + "ghastly faces presents itself,--dark, haggard, and frantic with the
    \r\n", + "pains of the malady preying upon the victims. One poor wretch
    \r\n", + "springs from his couch, crying, \"Oh, death! death! come soon!\" and
    \r\n", + "his features glare with terror. Again he utters a wild shriek, and
    \r\n", + "bounds round the room, looking madly at one and another, as if
    \r\n", + "chased by some furious animal. The figure of a female, whose
    \r\n", + "elongated body seems ready to sink under its disease, sits on a
    \r\n", + "little box in the corner, humming a dolorous air, and looking with
    \r\n", + "glassy eyes pensively around the room at those stretched in their
    \r\n", + "berths. For a few seconds she is quiet; then, contorting her face
    \r\n", + "into a deep scowl, she gives vent to the most violent bursts of
    \r\n", + "passion,--holds her long black hair above her head, assumes a tragic
    \r\n", + "attitude, threatens to distort it from the scalp. \"That one's lost
    \r\n", + "her mind-she's fitty; but I think the devil has something to do with
    \r\n", + "her fits. And, though you wouldn't think it, she's just as harmless
    \r\n", + "as can be,\" Mr. Praiseworthy coolly remarks, looking at Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook, hoping she will say something encouraging in reply. The
    \r\n", + "lady only replies by asking him if he purchased her from her owner?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Praiseworthy responds in the affirmative, adding that she
    \r\n", + "doesn't seem to like it much. He, however, has strong hopes of
    \r\n", + "curing her mind, getting it \"in fix\" again, and making a good penny
    \r\n", + "on her. \"She's a'most white, and, unfortunately, took a liking to a
    \r\n", + "young man down town. Marston owned her then, and, being a friend of
    \r\n", + "hers, wouldn't allow it, and it took away her senses; he thought her
    \r\n", + "malady incurable, and sold her to me for a little or nothing,\" he
    \r\n", + "continues, with great complacency.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "This poor broken flower of misfortune holds down her head as the
    \r\n", + "lady approaches, gives a look of melancholy expressive of shame and
    \r\n", + "remorse. \"She's sensitive for a nigger, and the only one that has
    \r\n", + "said anything about being put among men,\" Mr. Praiseworthy remarks,
    \r\n", + "advancing a few steps, and then going from berth to berth,
    \r\n", + "descanting on the prospects of his sick, explaining their various
    \r\n", + "diseases, their improvements, and his doubts of the dying. The lady
    \r\n", + "watches all his movements, as if more intently interested in Mr.
    \r\n", + "Praiseworthy's strange character. \"And here's one,\" he says, \"I fear
    \r\n", + "I shall lose; and if I do, there's fifty dollars gone, slap!\" and he
    \r\n", + "points to an emaciated yellow man, whose body is literally a crust
    \r\n", + "of sores, and whose painful implorings for water and nourishment are
    \r\n", + "deep and touching.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Poor wretch!\" Mr. Praiseworthy exclaims, \"I wish I'd never bought
    \r\n", + "him-it's pained my feelings so; but I did it to save his life when
    \r\n", + "he was most dead with the rheumatics, and was drawn up as crooked as
    \r\n", + "branch cord-wood. And then, after I had got the cinques out of him-
    \r\n", + "after nearly getting him straight for a 'prime fellow' (good care
    \r\n", + "did the thing), he took the water on the chest, and is grown out
    \r\n", + "like that.\" He points coolly to the sufferer's breast, which is
    \r\n", + "fearfully distended with disease; saying that, \"as if that wasn't
    \r\n", + "enough, he took the lepors, and it's a squeak if they don't end
    \r\n", + "him.\" He pities the \"crittur,\" but has done all he can for him,
    \r\n", + "which he would have done if he hadn't expected a copper for selling
    \r\n", + "him when cured. \"So you see, madam,\" he reiterates, \"it isn't all
    \r\n", + "profit. I paid a good price for the poor skeleton, have had all ny
    \r\n", + "trouble, and shall have no gain-except the recompense of feeling.
    \r\n", + "There was a time when I might have shared one hundred and fifty
    \r\n", + "dollars by him, but I felt humane towards him; didn't want him to
    \r\n", + "slide until he was a No. 1.\" Thus the Elder sets forth his own
    \r\n", + "goodness of heart.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Pray, what do you pay a head for them, Mr. Praiseworthy?\" enquires
    \r\n", + "the lady, smoothing her hand over the feverish head of the poor
    \r\n", + "victim, as the carnatic of her cheek changed to pallid languor.
    \r\n", + "Pursuing her object with calmness, she determined not to display her
    \r\n", + "emotions until fully satisfied how far the Elder would go.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That, madam, depends on cases; cripples are not worth much. But,
    \r\n", + "now and then, we get a legless fellow what's sound in body, can get
    \r\n", + "round sprightly, and such like; and, seeing how we can make him
    \r\n", + "answer a sight of purposes, he'll bring something,\" he sedately
    \r\n", + "replies, with muscles unmoved. \"Cases what doctors give up as 'done
    \r\n", + "gone,' we gets for ten and twenty dollars; cases not hanging under
    \r\n", + "other diseases, we give from thirty to fifty-and so on! Remember,
    \r\n", + "however, you must deduct thirty per cent. for death. At times, where
    \r\n", + "you would make two or three hundred dollars by curing one, and
    \r\n", + "saving his life, you lose three, sometimes half-a-dozen head.\" The
    \r\n", + "Elder consoles his feelings with the fact that it is not all profit,
    \r\n", + "looks highly gratified, puts a large cut of tobacco in his mouth,
    \r\n", + "thanks God that the common school-bill didn't pass in the
    \r\n", + "legislature, and that his business is more humane than people
    \r\n", + "generally admit.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How many have you in all?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The number of head, I suppose? Well, there's about thirty sick, and
    \r\n", + "ten well ones what I sent to market last week. Did-n-'t-make-a-good
    \r\n", + "market, though,\" he drawls out.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You are alone in the business?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, no; I've a partner-Jones; there's a good many phases in the
    \r\n", + "business, you see, and one can't get along. Jones was a
    \r\n", + "nigger-broker, and Jones and me went into partnership to do the
    \r\n", + "thing smooth up, on joint account. I does the curing, and he does
    \r\n", + "the selling, and we both turns a dollar or two-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, horrors!\" interrupts the lady, looking at Mr. Praiseworthy
    \r\n", + "sarcastically. \"Murder will out, men's sentiments will betray them,
    \r\n", + "selfishness will get above them all; ornament them as you will,
    \r\n", + "their ornaments will drop,--naked self will uncover herself and be
    \r\n", + "the deceiver.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not at all!\" the Elder exclaims, in his confidence. \"The Lord's
    \r\n", + "will is in everything; without it we could not battle with the
    \r\n", + "devil; we relieve suffering humanity, and the end justifies the
    \r\n", + "means.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You should have left out the means: it is only the end you aim at.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's like accusing Deacon Seabury of impious motives, because he
    \r\n", + "shaves notes at an illegal interest. It's worse-because what the law
    \r\n", + "makes legal the church should not make sinful.\" This is
    \r\n", + "Praiseworthy's philosophy, which he proclaims while forgetting the
    \r\n", + "existence of a law of conscience having higher claims than the
    \r\n", + "technicalities of statutes. We must look to that to modify our
    \r\n", + "selfishness, to strengthen our love for human laws when founded in
    \r\n", + "justice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And who is this poor girl?\" enquires Mrs. Rosebrook, stepping
    \r\n", + "softly forward, and taking her by the hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Marston's once; some Indian in her, they say. She's right fair
    \r\n", + "looks when she's herself. Marston's in trouble now, and the cholera
    \r\n", + "has made sad havoc of his niggers,\" Mr. Praiseworthy replies,
    \r\n", + "placing a chair, and motioning his hand for the lady to be seated.
    \r\n", + "The lady seats herself beside the girl,--takes her hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, missus; God bless good missus. Ye don't know me now,\" mutters
    \r\n", + "the poor girl, raising her wild glassy eyes, as she parts the long
    \r\n", + "black hair from her forehead: \"you don't know me; I'm changed so!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My child, who has made you this wretch?\" says the good lady,
    \r\n", + "pressing her tawny hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "My child!\" she exclaims, with emphasis: \"My child Nicholas,--my
    \r\n", + "child! Missus, save Nicholas; he is my child. Oh! do save him!\" and,
    \r\n", + "as if terrified, she grasps tighter the lady's hand, while her
    \r\n", + "emotions swell into a frantic outburst of grief. \"Nicholas, my
    \r\n", + "child!\" she shrieks.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"She will come to, soon: it's only one of her strange fits of
    \r\n", + "aberration. Sometimes I fling cold water over her; and, if it's very
    \r\n", + "cold, she soon comes to,\" Mr. Praiseworthy remarks, as he stands
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 4/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 4 out of 12

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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "unmoved, probably contemplating the goodness of a forgiving God.
    \r\n", + "What magic simplicity lies concealed in his nature; and yet it is
    \r\n", + "his trade, sanctioned by the law of a generous state. Let us bless
    \r\n", + "the land that has given us power to discover the depths to which
    \r\n", + "human nature can reduce itself, and what man can make himself when
    \r\n", + "human flesh and blood become mere things of traffic.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That gal's name is Ellen. I wish I knew all that has turned up at
    \r\n", + "Marston's,\" remarks the Elder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ellen!\" ejaculates the lady, looking at her more intently, placing
    \r\n", + "her left hand under her chin. \"Not Ellen Juvarna?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, good missus-the lady has distributed her nourishment among the
    \r\n", + "sick-that's my name,\" she says, raising her eyes with a look of
    \r\n", + "melancholy that tells the tale of her troubles. Again her feelings
    \r\n", + "subside into quiet; she seems in meditation. \"I knowed you once,
    \r\n", + "good missus, but you don't know me now, I'm changed so!\" she
    \r\n", + "whispers, the good lady holding her hand, as a tear courses down her
    \r\n", + "cheek-\"I'm changed so!\" she whispers, shaking her head.
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    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A FATHER TRIES TO BE A FATHER.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WE have conducted the reader through scenes perhaps unnecessary to
    \r\n", + "our narration, nevertheless associated with and appertaining to the
    \r\n", + "object of our work. And, in this sense, the reader cannot fail to
    \r\n", + "draw from them lessons developing the corrupting influences of a
    \r\n", + "body politic that gives one man power to sell another. They go to
    \r\n", + "prove how soon a man may forget himself,--how soon he may become a
    \r\n", + "demon in the practice of abominations, how soon he can reconcile
    \r\n", + "himself to things that outrage the most sacred ties of our social
    \r\n", + "being. And, too, consoling himself with the usages of society,
    \r\n", + "making it right, gives himself up to the most barbarous practices.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "When we left Marston in a former chapter, he had become sensible of
    \r\n", + "the wrong he so long assisted to inflict upon innocent and
    \r\n", + "defenceless persons; and, stung with remorse made painful by the
    \r\n", + "weight of misfortune, had avowed his object of saving his children.
    \r\n", + "Yet, strange as it may seem, so inured were his feelings to those
    \r\n", + "arbitrary customs which slave-owners are educated to view as
    \r\n", + "privileges guaranteed in the rights of a peculiar institution-the
    \r\n", + "rights of property in the being slave-that, although conscious of
    \r\n", + "his duty toward the children, no sooner had the mother of Nicholas
    \r\n", + "been attacked with cholera, than he sold her to the Elder Pemberton
    \r\n", + "Praiseworthy, in whose infirmary we have just left her. The Elder,
    \r\n", + "since his discharge from parochial life,--from ministering the
    \r\n", + "gospel, has transferred his mission to that of being the partner in
    \r\n", + "a firm, the ostensible business of which is purchasing the sick, the
    \r\n", + "living, and the dying.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Do not blush, reader; you know not how elastic dealing in human kind
    \r\n", + "makes man's feelings. Gold is the beacon-light of avarice; for it
    \r\n", + "man will climb over a catacomb of the dead. In this instance the
    \r\n", + "very man-Marston-who, touched by misfortune, began to cherish a
    \r\n", + "father's natural feelings, could see nothing but property in the
    \r\n", + "mother, though he knew that mother to be born free. Perhaps it was
    \r\n", + "not without some compunction of feelings-perhaps it was done to
    \r\n", + "soften the separation at that moment so necessary to the
    \r\n", + "preservation of the children. But we must leave this phase of the
    \r\n", + "picture, and turn to another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum had diligently watched Marston's affairs, and through the
    \r\n", + "cunning and perseverance of Romescos, carefully noted every movement
    \r\n", + "on the plantation. Each death from cholera was reported,--the change
    \r\n", + "in Marston's feelings observed and provided against,--every stage of
    \r\n", + "the crop carefully watched. Graspum, however, had secured himself in
    \r\n", + "the real estate, and gave little heed to the epidemic that was
    \r\n", + "carrying off the negro property. Finally, to pass over several
    \r\n", + "stages in the decline of Marston's affairs, the ravages of the
    \r\n", + "disease continued until but forty-three negroes, old and young,
    \r\n", + "were left on the old homestead. The culminating point had arrived.
    \r\n", + "He was in the grasp of Graspum, and nothing could save him from
    \r\n", + "utter ruin. It had lately been proved that the Rovero family,
    \r\n", + "instead of being rich, were extremely poor, their plantation having
    \r\n", + "long been under a mortgage, the holder of which was threatening
    \r\n", + "foreclosure.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "With Marston, an amount of promiscuous debts had accumulated so far
    \r\n", + "beyond his expectation that he was without means of discharging
    \r\n", + "them. His affairs became more and more confused, while the amount of
    \r\n", + "his liabilities remained a perfect obscurity to the community.
    \r\n", + "Rumour began to disseminate his troubles, suspicion summoned her
    \r\n", + "charges, and town-talk left little unadded; while those of his
    \r\n", + "creditors who had been least suspicious of his wealth and honour
    \r\n", + "became the most importunate applicants for their claims. At length,
    \r\n", + "driven by the pressure of the times, he calls Clotilda to him, and
    \r\n", + "tells her that he is resolved to send Annette and Nicholas into the
    \r\n", + "city, where they will remain in the care of a coloured woman, until
    \r\n", + "an opportunity offers of sending them to the north. He is fond of
    \r\n", + "Clotilda,--tells her of the excitement concerning his business
    \r\n", + "affairs, and impresses her with the necessity of preserving
    \r\n", + "calmness; it is requisite to the evasion of any ulterior consequence
    \r\n", + "that may be brought upon him. Every-thing hangs upon a thread-a
    \r\n", + "political thread, a lawful thread-a thread that holds the fate of
    \r\n", + "thirty, forty, or fifty human beings-that separates them from that
    \r\n", + "verge of uncertainty upon which a straw may turn the weal or woe of
    \r\n", + "their lives. \"When I get them comfortably cared for, Clotilda, I
    \r\n", + "will send for you. Nicholas's mother has gone, but you shall be a
    \r\n", + "mother to them both,\" he says, looking upon her seriously, as if
    \r\n", + "contemplating the trouble before him in the attempt to rescue his
    \r\n", + "children.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You will not send Annette away without me?\" she inquires, quickly,
    \r\n", + "falling on her knees at his side, and reiterating, \"Don't send
    \r\n", + "Annette away without me,--don't, mas'r!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The separation will only be for a few days. Annette shall be
    \r\n", + "educated-I care not for the laws of our free land against it-and
    \r\n", + "together you shall go where your parentage will not shame you,--where
    \r\n", + "you may ornament society,\" he replies, as Clotilda's face lights up
    \r\n", + "with satisfaction. With such an assurance-she does not comprehend
    \r\n", + "the tenour of his troubles-her freedom seems at hand: it excites her
    \r\n", + "to joy. Marston retires and she takes his seat, writes a note to
    \r\n", + "Maxwell, who is then in the city, relating what has transpired, and
    \r\n", + "concluding with a request that he will call and see her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A few days passed, and the two children were sent into the city and
    \r\n", + "placed in the charge of a free woman, with instructions to keep them
    \r\n", + "secreted for several weeks. This movement being discovered by
    \r\n", + "Romescos, was the first signal for an onset of creditors. Graspum,
    \r\n", + "always first to secure himself, in this instance compelled Marston
    \r\n", + "to succumb to his demands by threatening to disclose the crime
    \r\n", + "Lorenzo had committed. Forcing him to fulfil the obligation in the
    \r\n", + "bond, he took formal possession of the plantation. This increased
    \r\n", + "the suspicion of fraud; there was a mystery somewhere,--nobody could
    \r\n", + "solve it. Marston, even his former friends declared, was a swindler.
    \r\n", + "He could not be honestly indebted in so large an amount to Graspum;
    \r\n", + "nor could he be so connected with such persons without something
    \r\n", + "being wrong somewhere. Friends began to insinuate that they had been
    \r\n", + "misled; and not a few among those who had enjoyed his hospitality
    \r\n", + "were first inclined to scandalise his integrity. Graspum had
    \r\n", + "foreseen all this, and, with Romescos, who had purloined the bill of
    \r\n", + "sale, was prepared to do any amount of swearing. Marston is a victim
    \r\n", + "of circumstances; his proud spirit prompts him to preserve from
    \r\n", + "disgrace the name of his family, and thus he the more easily yielded
    \r\n", + "to the demands of the betrayer. Hence, Graspum, secure in his
    \r\n", + "ill-gotten booty, leaves his victim to struggle with those who come
    \r\n", + "after him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A few weeks pass over, and the equity of Graspum's claim is
    \r\n", + "questioned: his character for honour being doubted, gives rise to
    \r\n", + "much comment. The whole thing is denounced-proclaimed a concerted
    \r\n", + "movement to defraud the rightful creditors. And yet, knowing the
    \r\n", + "supremacy of money over law in a slave state, Graspum's power, the
    \r\n", + "revenge his followers inflict, and their desperate character, not
    \r\n", + "one dare come forward to test the validity of the debt. They know
    \r\n", + "and fear the fierce penalty: they are forced to fall back,--to seize
    \r\n", + "his person, his property, his personal effects.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In this dilemma, Marston repairs to the city, attempts to make an
    \r\n", + "arrangement with his creditors, singularly fails; he can effect
    \r\n", + "nothing. Wherever he goes his salutation meets a cold, measured
    \r\n", + "response; whisper marks him a swindler. The knife stabs deep into
    \r\n", + "the already festered wound. Misfortune bears heavily upon a
    \r\n", + "sensitive mind; but accusation of wrong, when struggling under
    \r\n", + "trials, stabs deepest into the heart, and bears its victim suffering
    \r\n", + "to the very depths of despair.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "To add to this combination of misfortunes, on his return to the
    \r\n", + "plantation he found it deserted,--a sheriff's keeper guarding his
    \r\n", + "personal effects, his few remaining negroes seized upon and marched
    \r\n", + "into the city for the satisfaction of his debts. Clotilda has been
    \r\n", + "seized upon, manacled, driven to the city, committed to prison.
    \r\n", + "Another creditor has found out the hiding-place of the children;
    \r\n", + "directs the sheriff, who seizes upon them, like property of their
    \r\n", + "kind, and drags them to prison. Oh, that prison walls were made for
    \r\n", + "torturing the innocent!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston is left poor upon the world; Ellen Juvarna is in the hands
    \r\n", + "of a resurrectionist; Nicholas-a bright boy he has grown-is within
    \r\n", + "the dark confines of a prison cell, along with Clotilda and Annette.
    \r\n", + "Melancholy broods over the plantation now. The act of justice,--the
    \r\n", + "right which Marston saw through wrong, and which he had intended to
    \r\n", + "carry out,--is now beyond his power. Stripped of those comforts he
    \r\n", + "had enjoyed, his offspring carried off as trophies of
    \r\n", + "avarice,--perhaps for sale to some ruffian who would set a price upon
    \r\n", + "their beauty,--he sits down, sick at heart, and weeps a child's
    \r\n", + "tears. The mansion, so long the scene of pleasure and hospitality,
    \r\n", + "is like a deserted barrack;-still, gloomy, cold, in the absence of
    \r\n", + "familiar faces. No servant comes to call him master,--Dandy and Enoch
    \r\n", + "are gone; and those familiar words, so significant of affection
    \r\n", + "between master and slave, \"Glad to see ye home, mas'r,\" no longer
    \r\n", + "sounded in his ears. Even his overseer has become alarmed, and like
    \r\n", + "the rest levied for arrears of wages.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There is nothing for Marston but to give up all,--to leave the home
    \r\n", + "of his childhood, his manhood, his happier days. He is suddenly
    \r\n", + "reminded that there is virtue in fortitude; and, as he gazes round
    \r\n", + "the room, the relics of happier days redouble his conviction of the
    \r\n", + "evil he has brought upon himself by straying from the paths of
    \r\n", + "rectitude. Indeed, so sudden was his fall from distinction, that the
    \r\n", + "scene around him seemed like a dream, from which he had just awoke
    \r\n", + "to question its precipitancy. \"A sheriff is here now, and I am a
    \r\n", + "mere being of sufferance,\" he says, casting a moody glance around
    \r\n", + "the room, as if contemplating the dark prospect before him. A few
    \r\n", + "moments' pause, and he rises, walks to the window, looks out upon
    \r\n", + "the serene scene spread out before the mansion. There is the river,
    \r\n", + "on which he has spent so many pleasant hours, calmly winding its way
    \r\n", + "through deep green foliage mellowed by the moonlight. Its beauties
    \r\n", + "only remind him of the past. He walks away,--struggles to forget, to
    \r\n", + "look above his trials. He goes to the old side-board that has so
    \r\n", + "long given forth its cheer; that, too, is locked! \"Locked to me!\" he
    \r\n", + "says, attempting to open its doors. A sheriff's lock hangs upon
    \r\n", + "them. Accustomed to every indulgence, each check indicated a doubt
    \r\n", + "of his honour, wounding his feelings. The smaller the restraint the
    \r\n", + "deeper did it pierce his heart. While in this desponding mood,
    \r\n", + "vainly endeavouring to gain resolution to carry him through, a
    \r\n", + "gentle rap is heard at the door. Who can it be at this hour? he
    \r\n", + "questions to himself. No servant is near him; servants have all been
    \r\n", + "led into captivity for the satisfaction of debts. He approaches the
    \r\n", + "door and opens it himself, looking cautiously into the corridor.
    \r\n", + "There, crouched in a niche, alternately presenting fear and
    \r\n", + "joy,--fear lest he be seen by the enemy, and joy to see his
    \r\n", + "master,--is a dark figure with the familiar face of Daddy Bob,--Bob of
    \r\n", + "the old plantation. The old, faithful servant puts out his wrinkled
    \r\n", + "hand nervously, saying, \"Oh, good mas'r!\" He has looked up to
    \r\n", + "Marston with the same love that an affectionate child does to a kind
    \r\n", + "parent; he has enjoyed mas'r's warm welcome, nurtured his
    \r\n", + "confidence, had his say in directing the affairs of the plantation,
    \r\n", + "and watched the frailties that threatened it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Why, Daddy Bob! Can it be you?\" Marston says, modulating his voice,
    \r\n", + "as a change comes over his feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dis is me, mas'r; it is me,\" again says the old man. He is wet with
    \r\n", + "the night dew, but his heart is warm and affectionate. Marston
    \r\n", + "seizes his hand as if to return the old man's gratitude, and leads
    \r\n", + "him into the room, smiling. \"Sit down, Bob, sit down!\" he says,
    \r\n", + "handing him a chair. The old servant stands at the chair
    \r\n", + "hesitatingly, doubting his position. \"Fear nothing, Bob; sit down.
    \r\n", + "You are my best friend,\" Marston continues. Bob takes a seat, lays
    \r\n", + "his cap quietly upon the floor, smiles to see old mas'r, but don't
    \r\n", + "feel just right because there's something wrong: he draws the laps
    \r\n", + "of his jacket together, covers the remnant of a shirt. \"Mas'r, what
    \r\n", + "be da' gwine to do wid de old plantation? Tings, Bob reckon, b'nt
    \r\n", + "gwine straight,\" he speaks, looking at Marston shyly. The old slave
    \r\n", + "knew his master's heart, and had waited for him to unfold its
    \r\n", + "beatings; but the kind heart of the master yielded to the burden
    \r\n", + "that was upon it, and never more so than when moved by the strong
    \r\n", + "attachment evinced by the old man. There was mutual sympathy
    \r\n", + "pourtrayed in the tenderest emotions. The one was full of grief,
    \r\n", + "and, if touched by the word of a friend, would overflow; the other
    \r\n", + "was susceptible of kindness, knew something had befallen his master,
    \r\n", + "and was ready to present the best proofs of his attachment.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And how did you get here, my old faithful?\" inquires Marston,
    \r\n", + "drawing nearer to him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, mas'r, ye see, t'ant just so wid nigger what don' know how
    \r\n", + "tings is! But, Bob up t' dese tings. I sees Buckra, what look as if
    \r\n", + "he hab no rights on dis plantation, grab'n up all de folks. And
    \r\n", + "Lor,' mas'r, old Bob could'nt leave mas'r no how. An, den, when da'
    \r\n", + "begins to chain de folks up-da' chain up old Rachel, mas'r!-Old Bob
    \r\n", + "feel so de plantation war'nt no-whare; and him time t'be gwine. Da'h
    \r\n", + "an't gwine t' cotch old Bob, and carry 'm way from mas'r, so I jist
    \r\n", + "cum possum ober dem-stows away yander, down close in de old corn
    \r\n", + "crib,--\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And you eluded the sheriff to take care of me, did you, Daddy?\"
    \r\n", + "interrupts Marston, and again takes the old man's hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, mas'r, Bob ain't white, but 'is feeling get so fo' h mas'r, he
    \r\n", + "can't speak 'em,\" the old slave replies, pearls glistening in his
    \r\n", + "eyes. \"My feelings feel so, I can't speak 'em!\" And with a brother's
    \r\n", + "fondness he shakes his master's hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We must beg the reader's indulgence here for the purpose of making a
    \r\n", + "few remarks upon the negro's power of observation. From the many
    \r\n", + "strange disquisitions that have been put forward on the mental
    \r\n", + "qualities of the man of colour-more particularly the African-few can
    \r\n", + "be selected which have not had for their object his
    \r\n", + "disqualification. His power of observation has been much
    \r\n", + "undervalued; but it has been chiefly by those who judge him by a
    \r\n", + "superficial scale, or from a selfish motive. In the position of mere
    \r\n", + "property, he is, of necessity, compelled to yield all claims to
    \r\n", + "mental elevation. And yet, forced to degradation, there are few
    \r\n", + "negroes on the plantation, or in the spheres of labour, who do not
    \r\n", + "note the rise and fall of their master's fortunes, study the nature
    \r\n", + "and prospects of the crop, make enquiries about the market, concoct
    \r\n", + "the best economy in managing lands, and consult among themselves as
    \r\n", + "to what would promote the interests of the whole. So far is this
    \r\n", + "carried out, that in many districts a rivalry for the largest amount
    \r\n", + "of crop on a given space is carried on among the slaves, who not
    \r\n", + "unfrequently \"chafe\" each other upon the superior wealth and talent
    \r\n", + "of their masters. It is a well-known fact, that John C. Calhoun's
    \r\n", + "slaves, in addition to being extremely fond of him, were proud and
    \r\n", + "boastful of his talent.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daddy Bob is an exemplification. The faithful old slave had become
    \r\n", + "sensible of something wrong on the plantation: he saw the sheriff
    \r\n", + "seizing upon the families, secreted himself in the corn crib, and
    \r\n", + "fled to the woods when they were out of sight. Here, sheltered by
    \r\n", + "the myrtle, he remained until midnight, intently watching the
    \r\n", + "mansion for signs of old mas'r. Suddenly a light glimmers from the
    \r\n", + "window; the old slave's feelings bound with joy; he feels it an
    \r\n", + "invitation for him to return, and, leaving his hiding-place,
    \r\n", + "approaches the house stealthily, and descries his master at the
    \r\n", + "window. Confidence returns, his joy is complete, his hopes have not
    \r\n", + "misled him. Hungry and wet, he has found his way back to master,
    \r\n", + "whose face at the window gladdens his heart,--carries him beyond the
    \r\n", + "bounds of caution. Hence the cordial greeting between the old slave
    \r\n", + "and his indulgent master. We hear the oft-expressed words-\"Master! I
    \r\n", + "love ye, I do!\" Marston gets a candle, lights the old man to a bed
    \r\n", + "in the attic, bids him good night, and retires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XIV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH THE EXTREMES ARE PRESENTED.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WHILE the gloomy prospect we have just presented hovered over
    \r\n", + "Marston's plantation, proceedings of no minor importance, and having
    \r\n", + "reference to this particular case, are going on in and about the
    \r\n", + "city. Maxwell, moved by Clotilda's implorings, had promised to gain
    \r\n", + "her freedom for her; but he knew the penalty, feared the result of a
    \r\n", + "failure, and had hesitated to make the attempt. The consequences
    \r\n", + "were upon him, he saw the want of prompt action, and regretted that
    \r\n", + "the time for carrying his resolution into effect had passed. The
    \r\n", + "result harassed him; he saw this daughter of misfortune, on her
    \r\n", + "bended knees, breathing a prayer to Omnipotence for the deliverance
    \r\n", + "of her child; he remembered her appeal to him, imploring him to
    \r\n", + "deliver her from the grasp of slavery, from that licentiousness
    \r\n", + "which the female slave is compelled to bear. He saw her confiding in
    \r\n", + "him as a deliverer,--the sight haunted him unto madness! Her child!
    \r\n", + "her child! Yes, that offspring in which her hopes were centered! For
    \r\n", + "it she pleaded and pleaded; for it she offered to sacrifice her own
    \r\n", + "happiness; for it she invoked the all-protecting hand. That child,
    \r\n", + "doomed to a life of chattel misery; to serve the lusts of modern
    \r\n", + "barbarism in a country where freedom and civilization sound praises
    \r\n", + "from ocean to ocean; to be obscured in the darkness and cruelty of
    \r\n", + "an institution in which justice is scoffed, where distress has no
    \r\n", + "listeners, and the trap-keepers of men's souls scorn to make honest
    \r\n", + "recompense while human flesh and blood are weighed in the scale of
    \r\n", + "dollars and cents! He trembles before the sad picture; remonstrances
    \r\n", + "and entreaties from him will be in vain; nor can he seize them and
    \r\n", + "carry them off. His life might be forfeited in the attempt, even
    \r\n", + "were they without prison walls. No! it is almost hopeless. In the
    \r\n", + "narrow confines of a securely grated cell, where thoughts and
    \r\n", + "anxieties waste the soul in disappointment, and where hopes only
    \r\n", + "come and go to spread time with grief, he could only see her and her
    \r\n", + "child as they suffered. The spectacle had no charm; and those who
    \r\n", + "carried them into captivity for the satisfaction of paltry debts
    \r\n", + "could not be made to divest themselves of the self in nature. Cries
    \r\n", + "and sobs were nothing,--such were poor stock for \"niggers\" to have;
    \r\n", + "pains and anxieties were at a discount, chivalry proclaimed its
    \r\n", + "rule, and nothing was thought well of that lessened the market value
    \r\n", + "of body and soul. Among great, generous, hospitable, and chivalrous
    \r\n", + "men, such things could only be weighed in the common scale of trade.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Again, Maxwell remembered that Marston had unfolded his troubles to
    \r\n", + "him, and being a mere stranger the confidence warranted mutual
    \r\n", + "reciprocity. If it were merely an act dictated by the impulse of his
    \r\n", + "feelings at that moment, the secret was now laid broadly open. He
    \r\n", + "was father of the children, and, sensible of their critical
    \r\n", + "situation, the sting was goading him to their rescue. The question
    \r\n", + "was-would he interpose and declare them as such? Ah, he forgot it
    \r\n", + "was not the father's assertion,--it was the law. The crime of being
    \r\n", + "property was inherited from the mother. Acknowledging them his
    \r\n", + "children would neither satisfy law nor the creditors. What
    \r\n", + "honourable-we except the modernly chivalrous-man would see his
    \r\n", + "children jostled by the ruffian trader? What man, with feelings less
    \r\n", + "sensitive than iron, would see his child sold to the man-vender for
    \r\n", + "purposes so impious that heaven and earth frowned upon them? And yet
    \r\n", + "the scene was no uncommon one; slavery affords the medium, and men,
    \r\n", + "laying their hearts aside, make it serve their pockets. Those whom
    \r\n", + "it would insult to call less than gentlemen have covered their
    \r\n", + "scruples with the law, while consigning their own offspring to the
    \r\n", + "hand of an auctioneer. Man property is subvervient material,--woman
    \r\n", + "is even more; for where her virtue forms its tissues, and can be
    \r\n", + "sold, the issue is indeed deplorable. Again, where vice is made a
    \r\n", + "pleasure, and the offspring of it become a burden on our hands,
    \r\n", + "slavery affords the most convenient medium of getting rid of the
    \r\n", + "incumbrance. They sell it, perhaps profitably, and console
    \r\n", + "themselves with the happy recollection of what a great thing it is
    \r\n", + "to live in a free country, where one may get rid of such things
    \r\n", + "profitably. It may save our shame in the eyes of man, but God sees
    \r\n", + "all,--records the wrong!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus Maxwell contemplated the prospects before him. At length he
    \r\n", + "resolved to visit Marston upon his plantation, impress him with the
    \r\n", + "necessity of asserting their freedom, in order to save them from
    \r\n", + "being sold with the effects of the estate.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He visits Marston's mansion,--finds the picture sadly changed; his
    \r\n", + "generous friend, who has entertained him so hospitably, sits in a
    \r\n", + "little ante-chamber, pensively, as if something of importance has
    \r\n", + "absorbed his attention. No well-dressed servants welcome him with
    \r\n", + "their smiles and grimaces; no Franconia greets him with her
    \r\n", + "vivacity, her pleasing conversation, her frankness and fondness for
    \r\n", + "the old servants. No table is decked out with the viands of the
    \r\n", + "season-Marston's viands have turned into troubles,--loneliness reigns
    \r\n", + "throughout. It is night, and nothing but the dull sound of the
    \r\n", + "keeper's tread breaks the silence. His (Maxwell's) mission is a
    \r\n", + "delicate one. It may be construed as intrusive, he thinks. But its
    \r\n", + "importance outweighs the doubt, and, though he approaches with
    \r\n", + "caution, is received with that embrace of friendship which a
    \r\n", + "gentleman can claim as his own when he feels the justice of the
    \r\n", + "mission of him who approaches, even though its tenor be painful.
    \r\n", + "Maxwell hesitated for a few moments, looked silently upon the scene.
    \r\n", + "Trouble had already left its prints of sadness upon Marston's
    \r\n", + "countenance; the past, full of happy associations, floated in his
    \r\n", + "mind; the future--ah! that was--. Happily, at that moment, he had
    \r\n", + "been contemplating the means by which he could save Clotilda and the
    \r\n", + "children. He rises, approaches Maxwell, hands him a chair, listens
    \r\n", + "to his proposal. \"If I can assist you, we will save them,\" concludes
    \r\n", + "Maxwell.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That,\" he replies, doubtingly, \"my good friend, has engaged my
    \r\n", + "thoughts by night and day--has made me most uneasy. Misfortune likes
    \r\n", + "sympathy; your words are as soothing as praiseworthy. I will defend
    \r\n", + "my children if every creditor call me swindler. I will destroy the
    \r\n", + "infernal bill of sale,--I will crush the hell-born paper that gives
    \r\n", + "life to deeds so bloody,--I will free them from the shame!\" Thus, his
    \r\n", + "feelings excited to the uttermost, he rises from his seat,
    \r\n", + "approaches a cupboard, draws forth the small trunk we have before
    \r\n", + "described, unlocks it. \"That fatal document is here, I put it here,
    \r\n", + "I will destroy it now; I will save them through its destruction.
    \r\n", + "There shall be no evidence of Clotilda's mother being a slave, oh
    \r\n", + "no!\" he mutters rapidly, running his fingers over packages, papers,
    \r\n", + "and documents. Again he glances vacantly over the whole file,
    \r\n", + "examining paper after paper, carefully. He looks in vain. It is not
    \r\n", + "there; there is no document so fatal. Sharper men have taken better
    \r\n", + "care of it. \"It is not here!\" he whispers, his countenance becoming
    \r\n", + "pallid and death-like. \"Not here!\"-and they will swear to suit their
    \r\n", + "purposes. Oaths are only worth what they bring in the market, among
    \r\n", + "slave dealers. But, who can have taken it?\" he continues, looking
    \r\n", + "wildly at Maxwell. Consternation is pictured on his countenance; he
    \r\n", + "feels there is intrigue at work, and that the want of that paper
    \r\n", + "will prove fatal to his resolution. A man in trouble always confides
    \r\n", + "in others, sometimes those whom he would scarce have trusted before.
    \r\n", + "He throws the paper aside, takes a seat at Maxwell's side, grasps
    \r\n", + "him by the hand, saying, \"My friend! save them! save them! save
    \r\n", + "them! Use what stratagem you please; make it the experiment of your
    \r\n", + "life. Consummate it, and a penitent's prayer will bless you! I see
    \r\n", + "the impending catastrophe-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We may do without it; be quiet. Let your feelings calm. I have
    \r\n", + "consulted Franconia on the same subject. Woman can do much if she
    \r\n", + "will; and she has promised me she will. My knowledge of her womanly
    \r\n", + "nature tells me she will be true to Clotilda!\" Maxwell speaks
    \r\n", + "assuringly, and his words seem as balm to a wounded spirit.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The bill of sale was among the things intended for a more profitable
    \r\n", + "use. Marston has satisfied Graspum's claim; but he knew that slavery
    \r\n", + "deadened the sensibilities of men. Yet, could it have so deadened
    \r\n", + "Graspum's feeling that he would have been found in a plot against
    \r\n", + "him? No! he could not believe it. He would not look for foul play
    \r\n", + "from that quarter. It might have been mislaid-if lost, all the
    \r\n", + "better. A second thought, and he begins to quiet himself with the
    \r\n", + "belief that it had become extinct; that, there not being evidence to
    \r\n", + "prove them property, his word would be sufficient to procure their
    \r\n", + "release. Somewhat relieved of the force of parental anxiety-we can
    \r\n", + "call it by no other name-the troubled planter, with his troubles
    \r\n", + "inherited, promises Maxwell, who has postponed his departure that he
    \r\n", + "may aid in saving Clotilda and her child, that he will proceed
    \r\n", + "direct to the sheriff's office, give notice of their freedom to that
    \r\n", + "functionary, and forbid the sale. Upon this resolution they part for
    \r\n", + "the night, and on the following morning, Marston, sick at heart,
    \r\n", + "leaves for the city, hoping to make arrangements with his attorney,
    \r\n", + "who will serve notice of freedom with all the expense and legality
    \r\n", + "of form.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The reader will excuse us for passing over many things of minor
    \r\n", + "importance which take place during the progress of arrangements
    \r\n", + "between Marston and the attorney, Mr. Dyson--commonly called Thomas
    \r\n", + "Dyson, Esq., wonderfully clever in the practice of slave law--and
    \r\n", + "proceeding to where we find the notice formally served. The document
    \r\n", + "forbids the sale of certain persons, physically and mentally
    \r\n", + "described, according to the nicest rules of law and tenour of trade;
    \r\n", + "and is, with the dignity of legal proceedings, served on the
    \r\n", + "honourable sheriff. We give a portion of it, for those who are not
    \r\n", + "informed on such curious matters: it runs thus:--\"'The girl
    \r\n", + "Clotilda-aged 27 years; her child Annette-aged 7 years, and a
    \r\n", + "remarkable boy, Nicholas, 6 years old, all negroes, levied upon at
    \r\n", + "the suit of--, to satisfy a fi fa issued from the--, and set forth
    \r\n", + "to be the property of Hugh Marston of--, &c. &c.;'\" as set forth in
    \r\n", + "the writ of attachment. Thus runs the curious law, based on
    \r\n", + "privilege, not principle.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The document served on the sheriff, Marston resolved to remain a few
    \r\n", + "days in the city and watch its effect. The sheriff, who is seldom
    \r\n", + "supposed to evince sympathy in his duties, conforms with the
    \r\n", + "ordinary routine of law in nigger cases; and, in his turn, gives
    \r\n", + "notice to the plaintiff, who is required to enter security for the
    \r\n", + "purpose of testing the point of freedom. Freedom here is a slender
    \r\n", + "commodity; it can be sworn away for a small compensation. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Anthony Romescos has peculiar talent that way, and his services are
    \r\n", + "always in the market. The point, however, has not resolved itself
    \r\n", + "into that peculiar position where it must be either a matter of
    \r\n", + "compromise, or a question for the court and jury to decide.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "If Marston, now sensible of his position as father of the children,
    \r\n", + "will yield them a sacrifice to the man trader, it is in his power;
    \r\n", + "the creditors will make it their profit. Who, then, can solve the
    \r\n", + "perplexity for him? The custom of society, pointing the finger of
    \r\n", + "shame, denies him the right to acknowledge them his children.
    \r\n", + "Society has established the licentious wrong,--the law protects it,
    \r\n", + "custom enforces it. He can only proceed by declaring the mother to
    \r\n", + "be a free woman, and leaving the producing proof to convict her of
    \r\n", + "being slave property to the plaintiff. In doing this, his judgment
    \r\n", + "wars with his softer feelings. Custom--though it has nothing to give
    \r\n", + "him-is goading him with its advice; it tells him to abandon the
    \r\n", + "unfashionable, unpolite scheme. Natural laws have given birth to
    \r\n", + "natural feelings--natural affections are stronger than bad laws. They
    \r\n", + "burn with our nature,--they warm the gentle, inspire the noble, and
    \r\n", + "awake the daring that lies unmoved until it be called into action
    \r\n", + "for the rescue of those for whom our affections have taken life.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Things had arrived at that particular point where law-lovers-we mean
    \r\n", + "lawyers-look on with happy consciences and pleasing expectations;
    \r\n", + "that is, they had arrived at that certain hinge of slave law the
    \r\n", + "turn of which sends men, women, and children, into the vortex of
    \r\n", + "slavery, where their hopes are for ever crushed. One day Marston had
    \r\n", + "strong hopes of saving them; but his hopes vanished on the next. The
    \r\n", + "fair creature, by him made a wretch, seemed before him, on her
    \r\n", + "bended knees, clasping his hand while imploring him to save her
    \r\n", + "child. The very thought would have doubly nerved him to action; and
    \r\n", + "yet, what mattered such action against the force of slavery
    \r\n", + "injustice? All his exertions, all his pleadings, all his
    \r\n", + "protestations, in a land where liberty boasts its greatness, would
    \r\n", + "sink to nothing under the power he had placed in their possession
    \r\n", + "for his overthrow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "With this fatal scene before him, this indecision, he walked the
    \r\n", + "streets, resolving and re-resolving, weighing and re-weighing the
    \r\n", + "consequences, hoping without a chance for hope. He would be a father
    \r\n", + "as he has been a kind master; but the law says, no! no! Society
    \r\n", + "forbids right, the law crushes justice,--the justice of heaven!
    \r\n", + "Marston is like one driven from his home, from the scene of his
    \r\n", + "happy childhood, upon which he can now only look back to make the
    \r\n", + "present more painful. He has fallen from the full flow of pleasure
    \r\n", + "and wealth to the low ebb of poverty clothed in suspicion; he is
    \r\n", + "homeless, and fast becoming friendless. A few days after, as he
    \r\n", + "takes his morning walk, he is pointed to the painful fact, made
    \r\n", + "known through certain legal documents, posted at certain corners of
    \r\n", + "streets, that his \"negro property\" is advertised for sale by the
    \r\n", + "sheriff. He fears his legal notice has done little legal good,
    \r\n", + "except to the legal gentlemen who receive the costs. He retires to a
    \r\n", + "saloon, finds the morning paper, commences glancing over its legal
    \r\n", + "columns. The waiter is surprised to see him at that hour, is
    \r\n", + "ignorant of the war of trouble that is waging within him, knows him
    \r\n", + "only as a great man, a rice planter of wealth in negroes, treats him
    \r\n", + "with becoming civility, and enquires, with a polite bow, what he
    \r\n", + "will be served with. He wants nothing that will supply the physical
    \r\n", + "man. He has supped on trouble,--the following, painful as it is, will
    \r\n", + "serve him for breakfast; it meets his eye as he traces down the
    \r\n", + "column:--\"SHERIFF'S SALE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"According to former notice, will be sold on the first Tuesday in
    \r\n", + "September next, between the usual hours of sale, before the Court
    \r\n", + "House door, in this city, the following property-to wit!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Three yoke of prime oxen, and four carts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Seven horses; two of celebrated breed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Twenty-two mules, together with sundry other effects as per
    \r\n", + "previous schedule, which will be produced at the sale, when the
    \r\n", + "property will be pointed out. The said being levied on as the
    \r\n", + "property of Hugh Marston, of--District, and sold to satisfy a fi
    \r\n", + "fa issued from the Superior Court, W. W. C--.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Also the following gang of negroes, many of whom have been
    \r\n", + "accustomed to the cultivation of cotton and rice. Said negroes are
    \r\n", + "very prime and orderly, having been well trained and fed, in
    \r\n", + "addition to enjoying the benefit of Christian teaching through a
    \r\n", + "Sunday-school worship on the plantation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dandy, and Enock (yellow), prime house servants.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Choate, and Cato, aged 29 and 32, coachman and blacksmith.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Harry, a prime fellow of remarkable sagacity, said to be very
    \r\n", + "pious, and has been very valuable as a preacher.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Seventeen prime field hands, ranging from 17 to 63 years old,
    \r\n", + "together with sundry children, set forth in the schedule.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Peggy, aged 23 years, an excellent cook, house servant-can do
    \r\n", + "almost any work, is faithful and strictly honest.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Rachel, one of the very best wenches in the County; has had charge
    \r\n", + "of the Manor for several years, is very motherly and well disposed,
    \r\n", + "and fully capable of taking charge of a plantation.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The description of the negro property continues until it reaches the
    \r\n", + "last and most touching point, which Marston reads with tears
    \r\n", + "coursing down his cheeks. But, it is only trade, and it is
    \r\n", + "refreshing to see how much talent the auctionee-himself a
    \r\n", + "distinguished politician,--exhibits in displaying his bill. It is
    \r\n", + "that which has worked itself so deep into Marston's feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Clotilda, a white negro, and her child Annette; together with
    \r\n", + "Nicholas--a bright boy,\" remarkably intelligent-six years old. \"These
    \r\n", + "last,\" adds the list, \"have been well brought up, with great care,
    \r\n", + "and are extremely promising and pleasant when speaking. The woman
    \r\n", + "has superior looks, is sometimes called beautiful, has finely
    \r\n", + "developed features, and is considered to be the handsomest bright
    \r\n", + "woman in the county.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We acknowledge the italics to be ours. The list, displaying great
    \r\n", + "competency in the trade of human beings, concludes with warranting
    \r\n", + "them sound and healthy, informing all those in want of such property
    \r\n", + "of the wonderful opportunity of purchasing, and offering to
    \r\n", + "guarantee its qualities. The above being \"levied on to satisfy three
    \r\n", + "fi fas,\" &c. &c.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Poor Clotilda! her beauty has betrayed her: her mother was made a
    \r\n", + "slave, and she has inherited the sin which the enlightened of the
    \r\n", + "western world say shall be handed down from generation to generation
    \r\n", + "until time itself has an end. She is within the damp walls of a
    \r\n", + "narrow cell; the cold stones give forth their moisture to chill her
    \r\n", + "bleeding heart; the rust of oppression cuts into her very soul. The
    \r\n", + "warm sunlight of heaven, once so cheering, has now turned black and
    \r\n", + "cold to her. She sits in that cold confine, filled with sorrow,
    \r\n", + "hope, and expectation, awaiting her doom, like a culprit who
    \r\n", + "measures the chances of escape between him and the gallows. She
    \r\n", + "thinks of Marston. \"He was a kind friend to me-he was a good
    \r\n", + "master,\" she says, little thinking that at that very moment he sits
    \r\n", + "in the saloon reading that southern death-warrant which dooms so
    \r\n", + "many to a life of woe. In it fathers were not mentioned-Marston's
    \r\n", + "feelings were spared that pain; mothers' tears, too, were omitted,
    \r\n", + "lest the sensitiveness of the fashionable world should be touched.
    \r\n", + "Pained, and sick at heart-stung by remorse at finding himself
    \r\n", + "without power to relieve Clotilda-he rises from his seat, and makes
    \r\n", + "arrangement to return to his plantation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A SCENE OF MANY LIGHTS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WE must leave Marston wending his way for the old plantation, and
    \r\n", + "pass to another phase of this complicated affair. In doing this, we
    \r\n", + "must leave the reader to draw from his own imagination much that
    \r\n", + "must have transpired previous to the present incidents.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The Rovero family-old and distinguished-had struggled against the
    \r\n", + "misfortunes brought upon them by their son Lorenzo. Deeply involved,
    \r\n", + "they had allowed their difficulties to go on till they had found
    \r\n", + "themselves living by the favour of courtesy and indulgence. Lorenzo
    \r\n", + "and Franconia were only children; and since the departure of the
    \r\n", + "former the latter had been the idol of their indulgence. She was, as
    \r\n", + "we have before said, delicate, sensitive, endowed with generous
    \r\n", + "impulses, and admired for her gentleness, grace, and vivacity. To
    \r\n", + "these she added firmness, and, when once resolved upon any object,
    \r\n", + "could not be moved from her purpose. Nor was she-as is the popular
    \r\n", + "fallacy of the South-susceptible to the influence of wealth. Her
    \r\n", + "love and tenderness soared above it; she prized wealth less than
    \r\n", + "moral worth. But she could not appease the pride of her parents with
    \r\n", + "her feelings. They, labouring under the influence of their reduced
    \r\n", + "fortunes, had favoured and insisted upon the advances of the very
    \r\n", + "wealthy Colonel M'Carstrow, a rice-planter, who had a few years
    \r\n", + "before inherited a large estate. The colonel is a sturdy specimen of
    \r\n", + "the Southern gentleman, which combines a singular mixture of
    \r\n", + "qualities, some of which are represented by a love of good living,
    \r\n", + "good drinking, good horse-racing, good gambling, and fast company.
    \r\n", + "He lives on the fat of the land, because the fat of the land was
    \r\n", + "made for him to enjoy. He has no particular objection to anybody in
    \r\n", + "the world, providing they believe in slavery, and live according to
    \r\n", + "his notions of a gentleman. His soul's delight is faro, which he
    \r\n", + "would not exchange for all the religion in the world; he has strong
    \r\n", + "doubts about the good of religion, which, he says, should be boxed
    \r\n", + "up with modern morality.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Laying these things aside, however, he is anything but what would
    \r\n", + "have been properly selected as a partner for Franconia; and, while
    \r\n", + "she is only eighteen, he has turned the corner of his forty-third
    \r\n", + "year. In a word, his manners are unmodelled, his feelings coarse,
    \r\n", + "his associations of the worst kind; nor is he adapted to make the
    \r\n", + "happiness of domestic life lasting. He is one of those persons so
    \r\n", + "often met with, whose affections-if they may be supposed to have
    \r\n", + "any-are held in a sort of compromise between an incitement to love,
    \r\n", + "and their natural inclination to revel in voluptuous pleasures. The
    \r\n", + "two being antagonistic at times, the latter is sure to be the
    \r\n", + "stronger, and not unfrequently carries its victim into dissolute
    \r\n", + "extremes. Riches, however, will always weigh heavy in the scale;
    \r\n", + "their possession sways,--the charm of gold is precious and powerful.
    \r\n", + "And, too, the colonel had another attraction-very much esteemed
    \r\n", + "among slave-dealers and owners--he had a military title, though no
    \r\n", + "one knew how he came by it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia must be the affianced bride of the supposed wealthy
    \r\n", + "Colonel M'Carstrow; so say her parents, who feel they are being
    \r\n", + "crushed out by misfortune. It is their desire; and, however
    \r\n", + "repulsive it may be to Franconia's feelings, she must accept the
    \r\n", + "man: she must forget his years, his habits, his associations, for
    \r\n", + "the wealth he can bring to the relief of the family.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "To add �clat to the event, it is arranged that the nuptial ceremony
    \r\n", + "shall take place in the spacious old mansion of General P--, in the
    \r\n", + "city. General P--is a distant relation of the Rovero family. His
    \r\n", + "mansion is one of those noble old edifices, met here and there in
    \r\n", + "the South--especially in South Carolina-which strongly mark the
    \r\n", + "grandeur of their ancient occupants. It is a massive pile of marble,
    \r\n", + "of mixed style of Grecian and Doric architecture, with three stories
    \r\n", + "divided by projecting trellised arbours, and ornamented with fluted
    \r\n", + "columns surmounted with ingeniously-worked and sculptured capitals,
    \r\n", + "set off with grotesque figures. The front is ornamented with tablets
    \r\n", + "of bas-relief, variegated and chaste. These are bordered with
    \r\n", + "scroll-work, chases of flowers, graces, and historical designs.
    \r\n", + "Around the lower story, palisades and curvatures project here and
    \r\n", + "there between the divisions, forming bowers shaded by vines and
    \r\n", + "sweet-scented blossoms. These are diffusing their fragrance through
    \r\n", + "the spacious halls and corridors beneath. The stately old pile wears
    \r\n", + "a romantic appearance; but it has grown brown with decay, and stands
    \r\n", + "in dumb testimony of that taste and feeling which prevailed among
    \r\n", + "its British founders. The garden in which it stands, once rich with
    \r\n", + "the choicest flowers of every clime, now presents an area overgrown
    \r\n", + "with rank weeds, decaying hedges, dilapidated walks, and sickly
    \r\n", + "shrubbery. The hand that once nurtured this pretty scene of buds and
    \r\n", + "blossoms with so much care has passed away. Dull inertness now hangs
    \r\n", + "its lifeless festoons over the whole, from the vaulted hall to the
    \r\n", + "iron railing enclosing the whole.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The day for consummating the nuptial ceremony has arrived; many
    \r\n", + "years have passed since the old mansion witnessed such a scene. The
    \r\n", + "gay, wealthy, and intelligent of the little fashionable world will
    \r\n", + "be here. The spell of loneliness in which the old walls have so long
    \r\n", + "slept will be broken. Sparkling jewels, bland smiles, the rich
    \r\n", + "decorations of former years, are to again enhance the scene.
    \r\n", + "Exhausted nature is to shake off its monotony, to be enlivened with
    \r\n", + "the happiness of a seemingly happy assemblage. A lovely bride is to
    \r\n", + "be showered with smiles, congratulations, tokens of love. Southern
    \r\n", + "gallantry will doff its cares, put on its smiling face. Whatever may
    \r\n", + "smoulder beneath, pleasure and gaiety will adorn the surface.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia sits in her spacious chamber. She is arrayed in flowing
    \r\n", + "n�glig�; a pensive smile invades her countenance; she supports her
    \r\n", + "head on her left hand, the jewels on her tiny fingers sparkling
    \r\n", + "though her hair. Everything round her bears evidence of comfort and
    \r\n", + "luxury; the gentle breeze, as it sweeps through the window to fan
    \r\n", + "her blushing cheek, is impregnated with sweetest odours. She
    \r\n", + "contemplates the meeting of him who is to be the partner of her
    \r\n", + "life; can she reconcile it? Nay, there is something forcing itself
    \r\n", + "against her will. Her bridesmaids,--young, gay, and
    \r\n", + "accomplished,--gather around her. The fierce conflict raging in her
    \r\n", + "bosom discloses itself; the attempt to cheer her up, under the
    \r\n", + "impression that it arises from want of vigour to buoy up her
    \r\n", + "sensitive system, fails. Again she seems labouring under excitement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Franconia!\" exclaims one, taking her by the hand, \"is not the time
    \r\n", + "approaching?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Time always approaches,\" she speaks: her mind has been wandering,
    \r\n", + "picturing the gloomy spectacle that presents itself in Clotilda's
    \r\n", + "cell. She moves her right hand slowly across her brow, casts an
    \r\n", + "enquiring glance around the room, then at those beside her, and
    \r\n", + "changes her position in the chair. \"The time to have your toilet
    \r\n", + "prepared-the servants await you,\" is the reply. Franconia gathers
    \r\n", + "strength, sits erect in her chair, seems to have just resolved upon
    \r\n", + "something. A servant hastens into her presence bearing a
    \r\n", + "delicately-enveloped note. She breaks the seal, reads it and
    \r\n", + "re-reads it, holds it carelessly in her hand for a minute, then puts
    \r\n", + "it in her bosom. There is something important in the contents,
    \r\n", + "something she must keep secret. It is from Maxwell. Her friend
    \r\n", + "evinced some surprise, while waiting a reply as she read the letter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No! not yet,\" she says, rising from her chair and sallying across
    \r\n", + "the room. \"That which is forced upon me-ah! I cannot love him. To me
    \r\n", + "there is no loving wealth. Money may shelter; but it never moves
    \r\n", + "hearts to love truly. How I have struggled against it!\" Again she
    \r\n", + "resumes her chair, weeps. Her tears gush from the parent
    \r\n", + "fountain-woman's heart. \"My noble uncle in trouble, my dear brother
    \r\n", + "gone; yes! to where, and for what, I dare not think; and yet it has
    \r\n", + "preyed upon me through the struggle of pride against love. My father
    \r\n", + "may soon follow; but I am to be consigned to the arms of one whom it
    \r\n", + "would be folly to say I respect.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Her friend, Miss Alice Latel, reminds her that it were well not to
    \r\n", + "let such melancholy wanderings trouble her. She suggests that the
    \r\n", + "colonel, being rich, will fill the place of father as well as
    \r\n", + "husband; that she will be surrounded by the pleasures which wealth
    \r\n", + "only can bring, and in this world what more can be desired?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Such fathers seldom make affectionate husbands; nor do I want the
    \r\n", + "father without the husband; his wealth would not make me respect
    \r\n", + "him.\" Franconia becomes excited, giving rapid utterance to her
    \r\n", + "language. \"Can I suppress my melancholy-can I enjoy such pleasure,
    \r\n", + "and my dear Clotilda in a prison, looking through those galling
    \r\n", + "gratings? Can I be happy when the anguish of despair pierces deep
    \r\n", + "into her heart? No! oh, no! Never, while I think of her, can I
    \r\n", + "summon resolution to put on a bridal robe. Nay! I will not put them
    \r\n", + "on without her. I will not dissemble joy while she sinks in her
    \r\n", + "prison solitude!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can you mean that-at this hour?\" enquires Miss Alice, looking upon
    \r\n", + "her with anxiety pictured in her face. One gives the other a look of
    \r\n", + "surprise. Miss Alice must needs call older counsel.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes!\" replies Franconia, more calm; \"even at this hour! It is never
    \r\n", + "too late to serve our sisters. Could I smile-could I seem happy, and
    \r\n", + "so many things to contemplate? We cannot disguise them now; we
    \r\n", + "cannot smother scandal with a silken mantle. Clotilda must be with
    \r\n", + "me. Negro as she is by law, she is no less dear to me. Nor can I
    \r\n", + "yield to those feelings so prominent in southern breasts,--I cannot
    \r\n", + "disclaim her rights, leave her the mere chattel subject of brute
    \r\n", + "force, and then ask forgiveness of heaven!\" This declaration, made
    \r\n", + "in a positive tone, at once disclosed her resolution. We need not
    \r\n", + "tell the reader with what surprise it took the household; nor, when
    \r\n", + "she as suddenly went into a violent paroxysm of hysterics, the alarm
    \r\n", + "it spread.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The quiet of the mansion has changed for uproar and confusion.
    \r\n", + "Servants are running here and there, getting in each other's way,
    \r\n", + "blocking the passages, and making the confusion more intense.
    \r\n", + "Colonel M'Carstrow is sent for, reaches the mansion in great
    \r\n", + "consternation, expects to find Franconia a corpse, for the negro
    \r\n", + "messenger told him such a crooked story, and seemed so frightened,
    \r\n", + "that he can't make anything straight of it-except that there is
    \r\n", + "something very alarming.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "She has been carried to one of the ante-chambers, reclines on a
    \r\n", + "couch of softest tapestry, a physician at one side, and Alice,
    \r\n", + "bathing her temples with aromatic liquid, on the other. She presents
    \r\n", + "a ravishing picture of delicacy, modesty, and simplicity,--of all
    \r\n", + "that is calmly beautiful in woman. \"I can scarcely account for it;
    \r\n", + "but, she's coming to,\" says the man of medicine, looking on
    \r\n", + "mechanically. Her white bosom swells gently, like a newly-waked
    \r\n", + "zephyr playing among virgin leaves; while her eyes, like melancholy
    \r\n", + "stars, glimmer with the lustre of her soul. \"Ah me!\" she sighs,
    \r\n", + "raising her hand over her head and resting it upon the cushion, as
    \r\n", + "her auburn hair floats, calm and beautiful, down her pearly
    \r\n", + "shoulder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The colonel touches her hand; and, as if it had been too rudely, she
    \r\n", + "draws it to her side, then places it upon her bosom. Again raising
    \r\n", + "her eyes till they meet his, she blushes. It is the blush of
    \r\n", + "innocence, that brightens beneath the spirit of calm resolution. She
    \r\n", + "extends her hand again, slowly, and accepts his. \"You will gratify
    \r\n", + "me-will you not?\" she mutters, attempting to gain a recumbent
    \r\n", + "position. They raise her as she intimates a desire; she seems
    \r\n", + "herself again.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Whatever your wish may be, you have but to intimate it,\" replies
    \r\n", + "the colonel, kissing her hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Then, I want Clotilda. Go, bring her to me; she only can wait on
    \r\n", + "me; and I am fond of her. With her I shall be well soon; she will
    \r\n", + "dress me. Uncle will be happy, and we shall all be happy.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But,\" the colonel interrupts, suddenly, \"where is she to be found?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"In the prison. You'll find her there!\" There is little time to
    \r\n", + "lose,--a carriage is ordered, the colonel drives to the prison, and
    \r\n", + "there finds the object of Franconia's trouble. She, the two children
    \r\n", + "at her side, sits in a cell seven by five feet; the strong grasp of
    \r\n", + "slave power fears itself, its tyranny glares forth in the emaciated
    \r\n", + "appearance of its female victim. The cell is lighted through a small
    \r\n", + "aperture in the door, which hangs with heavy bolts and bars, as if
    \r\n", + "torturing the innocent served the power of injustice. The
    \r\n", + "prison-keeper led the way through a narrow passage between stone
    \r\n", + "walls. His tap on the door startles her; she moves from her
    \r\n", + "position, where she had been seated on a coarse blanket. It is all
    \r\n", + "they (the hospitable southern world, with its generous laws) can
    \r\n", + "afford her; she makes it a bed for three. A people less boastful of
    \r\n", + "hospitality may give her more. She holds a prayer-book in her hand,
    \r\n", + "and motions to the children as they crouch at her feet.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Come, girl! somebody's here to see you,\" says the keeper, looking
    \r\n", + "in at the aperture, as the sickly stench escapes from the dark
    \r\n", + "cavern-like place.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Nervously, the poor victim approaches, lays her trembling hand on
    \r\n", + "the grating, gives a doubting glance at the stranger, seems
    \r\n", + "surprised, anxious to know the purport of his mission.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Am I wanted?\" she enquires eagerly, as if fearing some rude dealer
    \r\n", + "has come-perhaps to examine her person, that he may be the better
    \r\n", + "able to judge of her market value.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Notwithstanding the coldness of M'Carstrow's nature, his feelings
    \r\n", + "are moved by the womanly appearance of the wench, as he calls her,
    \r\n", + "when addressing the warden. There is something in the means by which
    \r\n", + "so fair a creature is reduced to merchandise he cannot altogether
    \r\n", + "reconcile. Were it not for what habit and education can do, it would
    \r\n", + "be repulsive to nature in its crudest state. But it is according to
    \r\n", + "law, that inhuman law which is tolerated in a free country.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I want you to go with me, and you will see your young missis,\" says
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow, shrugging his shoulders. He is half inclined to let his
    \r\n", + "better feelings give way to sympathy. But custom and commerce forbid
    \r\n", + "it; they carry off the spoil, just as the sagacious pumpkin
    \r\n", + "philosopher of England admits slavery a great evil, while delivering
    \r\n", + "an essay for the purpose of ridiculing emancipation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow soon changes his feelings,--addresses himself to business.
    \r\n", + "\"Are you in here for sale?\" he enquires, attempting to whistle an
    \r\n", + "air, and preserve an unaffected appearance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The question touches a tender chord of her feelings; her bosom
    \r\n", + "swells with emotions of grief; he has wounded that sensitive chord
    \r\n", + "upon which the knowledge of her degradation hangs. She draws a
    \r\n", + "handkerchief from her pocket, wipes the tear that glistens in her
    \r\n", + "eye, clasps Annette in her arms-while Nicholas, frightened, hangs by
    \r\n", + "the skirts of her dress,--buries her face in her bosom, retires a few
    \r\n", + "steps, and again seats herself on the blanket.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The question is pending. If I'm right about it-and I believe I'm
    \r\n", + "generally so on such cases-it comes on before the next session, fall
    \r\n", + "term,\" says the gaoler, turning to M'Carstrow with a look of
    \r\n", + "wonderful importance. The gaoler, who, with his keys, lets loose the
    \r\n", + "anxieties of men, continues his learned remarks. \"Notice has been
    \r\n", + "served how she's free. But that kind o' twisting things to make
    \r\n", + "slave property free never amounts to much, especially when a man
    \r\n", + "gets where they say Marston is! Anthony Romescos has been quizzing
    \r\n", + "about, and it don't take much to make such things property when he's
    \r\n", + "round.\" The man of keys again looks very wise, runs his hand deep
    \r\n", + "into the pocket of his coat, and says something about this being a
    \r\n", + "great country.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How much do you reckon her worth, my friend?\" enquires M'Carstrow,
    \r\n", + "exchanging a significant glance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, now you've got me. It's a point of judgment, you see. The
    \r\n", + "article's rather questionable-been spoiled. There's a doubt about
    \r\n", + "such property when you put it up, except a gentleman wants it; and
    \r\n", + "then, I reckon, it'll bring a smart price. There's this to be
    \r\n", + "considered, I reckon, though they haven't set a price on her yet,
    \r\n", + "she's excellent good looking; and the young un's a perfect cherry.
    \r\n", + "It'll bring a big heap one of these days.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We won't mind that, just now, gaoler,\" M'Carstrow says, very
    \r\n", + "complacently; \"you'll let me have her tonight, and I'll return her
    \r\n", + "safe in the morning.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, no,\" interposes Clotilda, mistaking M'Carstrow's object. She
    \r\n", + "crouches down on the blanket, as if shrinking from a deadly assault:
    \r\n", + "\"let me remain, even in my cell.\" She draws the children to her
    \r\n", + "side.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't mistake me, my girl: I am a friend. I want you for Franconia
    \r\n", + "Rovero. She is fond of you, you know.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Franconia!\" she exclaims with joy, starting to her feet at the
    \r\n", + "sound of the name. \"I do know her, dear Franconia! I know her, I
    \r\n", + "love her, she loves me-I wish she was my mother. But she is to be
    \r\n", + "the angel of my freedom-\" Here she suddenly stopped, as if she had
    \r\n", + "betrayed something.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We must lose no time,\" M'Carstrow says, informing her that
    \r\n", + "Franconia is that night to be his bride, and cannot be happy without
    \r\n", + "seeing her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bride! and cannot prepare without me,\" mutters the woman, seeming
    \r\n", + "to doubt the reality of his statement. A thought flashes in her
    \r\n", + "mind: \"Franconia has not forgotten me; I will go and be Franconia's
    \r\n", + "friend.\" And with a child-like simplicity she takes Annette by the
    \r\n", + "hand, as if they were inseparable. \"Can't Nicholas go, too?\" she
    \r\n", + "inquires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You must leave the child,\" is the cool reply. M'Carstrow attempts
    \r\n", + "to draw the heavy bolt that fastens the door.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not so fast, if you please,\" the warden speaks. \"I cannot permit
    \r\n", + "her to leave without an order from the sheriff.\" He puts his hand
    \r\n", + "against the door.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"She will surely be returned in the morning; I'm good for a hundred
    \r\n", + "such pieces of property.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can't help that,\" interrupts the gaoler, coolly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But, there's my honour!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"An article gaolers better not deal in. It may be very good
    \r\n", + "commodity in some kinds of business-don't pay in ours; and then,
    \r\n", + "when this kind of property is in question, it won't do to show a
    \r\n", + "favour beyond the rule.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow is in a sad dilemma. He must relieve himself through a
    \r\n", + "problem of law, which, at this late hour, brings matters to a
    \r\n", + "singular point. He believes Franconia suffers from a nervous
    \r\n", + "affection, as the doctors call it, and has fixed her mind upon the
    \r\n", + "only object of relief. He had made no preparation for such a
    \r\n", + "critical event; but there is no postponing the ceremony,--no
    \r\n", + "depriving her of the indulgence. Not a moment is to be lost: he sets
    \r\n", + "off, post-haste, for the sheriff's office. That functionary is well
    \r\n", + "known for his crude method of executing business; to ask a favour of
    \r\n", + "him would be like asking the sea to give up its dead. He is cold,
    \r\n", + "methodical, unmoveable; very much opposed to anything having the
    \r\n", + "appearance of an innovation upon his square rules of business.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow finds him in just the mood to interpose all the frigid
    \r\n", + "peculiarities of his incomprehensible nature. The colonel has known
    \r\n", + "him by reputation; he knows him now through a different medium.
    \r\n", + "After listening to M'Carstrow's request, and comporting himself with
    \r\n", + "all imaginable dignity, he runs his fingers through his hair, looks
    \r\n", + "at M'Carstrow vacantly, and well nigh rouses his temper. M'Carstrow
    \r\n", + "feels, as southern gentlemen are wont to feel, that his position and
    \r\n", + "title are enough to ensure courtesy and a quick response. The man of
    \r\n", + "writs and summonses feels quite sure that the pomp of his office is
    \r\n", + "sufficient to offset all other distinctions.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Whar' d'ye say the gal was,--in my gaol?\" the sheriff inquires, with
    \r\n", + "solemn earnestness, and drawling his words measuredly, as if the
    \r\n", + "whole affair was quite within his line of business. The sheriff has
    \r\n", + "the opportunity of making a nice little thing of it; the object to
    \r\n", + "be released will serve the profits of the profession. \"Gittin' that
    \r\n", + "gal out yander ain't an easy thing now, 'taint! It'll cost ye 'bout
    \r\n", + "twenty dollars, sartin,\" he adds, turning over the leaves of his big
    \r\n", + "book, and running his finger down a scale of names.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I don't care if it costs a hundred! Give me an order for her
    \r\n", + "release!\" M'Carstrow begins to understand Mr. Sheriff's composition,
    \r\n", + "and putting his hand into his pocket, draws forth a dwenty-dollar
    \r\n", + "gold piece, throws it upon the table. The effect is electric: it
    \r\n", + "smooths down the surface of Mr. Sheriff's nature,--brings out the
    \r\n", + "disposition to accommodate. The Sheriff's politeness now taxes
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow's power to reciprocate.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, ye see, my friend,\" says Mr. Sheriff, in a quaint tone,
    \r\n", + "\"there's three fi fas on that critter. Hold a minute!\" He must needs
    \r\n", + "take a better glance; he runs his fingers over the page again,
    \r\n", + "mutters to himself, and then breaks out into a half-musical,
    \r\n", + "half-undefinable humming. \"It's a snarled-up affair, the whole on't.
    \r\n", + "T'll take a plaguy cunnin' lawyer to take the shine out.\" The
    \r\n", + "sheriff pushes the piece of coin nearer the inkstand, into the
    \r\n", + "centre of the table. \"I feel all over like accommodatin' ye,\" he
    \r\n", + "deigns to say; \"but then t'll be so pestky crooked gettin' the thing
    \r\n", + "straight.\" He hesitates before the wonderful difficulty,--he can't
    \r\n", + "see his way straight through it. \"Three fi fas! I believe I'm
    \r\n", + "correct; there's one principal one, however.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I pledge my honour for her return in the morning; and she shall be
    \r\n", + "all shined up with a new dress. Her presence is imperatively
    \r\n", + "necessary to-night,\" M'Carstrow remarks, becoming impatient.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Two fi fas!-well, the first look looked like three. But, the
    \r\n", + "principal one out of the way,--no matter.\" Mr. Sheriff becomes more
    \r\n", + "and more enlightened on the unenlightened difficulties of the law.
    \r\n", + "He remarks, touching M'Carstrow on the arm, with great seriousness
    \r\n", + "of countenance, \"I sees how the knot's tied. Ye know, my functions
    \r\n", + "are turned t' most everything; and it makes a body see through a
    \r\n", + "thing just as straight as--. Pest on't! Ye see, it's mighty likely
    \r\n", + "property,--don't strike such every day. That gal 'll bring a big tick
    \r\n", + "in the market-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Excuse me, my dear sir,\" M'Carstrow suddenly interrupts.
    \r\n", + "\"Understand me, if you please. I want her for nothing that you
    \r\n", + "contemplate,--nothing, I pledge you my honour as a southern
    \r\n", + "gentleman!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'Ah,--bless me! Well, but there's nothin' in that. I see! I see! I
    \r\n", + "see!\" Mr. Sheriff brightens up, his very soul seems to expand with
    \r\n", + "legal tenacity. \"Well, ye see, there's a question of property raised
    \r\n", + "about the gal, and her young 'un, too-nice young 'un 'tis; but it's
    \r\n", + "mighty easy tellin' whose it is. About the law matter, though, you
    \r\n", + "must get the consent of all the plaintiff's attorneys,--that's no
    \r\n", + "small job. Lawyers are devilish slippery, rough a feller amazingly,
    \r\n", + "once in a while; chance if ye don't have to get the critter valued
    \r\n", + "by a survey. Graspum, though's ollers on hand, is first best good at
    \r\n", + "that: can say her top price while ye'd say seven,\" says Mr. Sheriff,
    \r\n", + "maintaining his wise dignity, as he reminds M'Carstrow that his name
    \r\n", + "is Cur, commonly called Mr. Cur, sheriff of the county. It must not
    \r\n", + "be inferred that Mr. Cur has any of the canine qualities about him.
    \r\n", + "The hour for the ceremony is close at hand. M'Carstrow, satisfied
    \r\n", + "that rules of law are very arbitrary things in the hands of
    \r\n", + "officials-that such property is difficult to get out of the meshes
    \r\n", + "of legal technicality-that honour is neither marketable or
    \r\n", + "pledgeable in such cases, must move quickly: he seeks the very
    \r\n", + "conscientious attorneys, gets them together, pleads the necessity of
    \r\n", + "the case: a convention is arranged, Graspum will value the
    \r\n", + "property-as a weigher and gauger of human flesh. This done,
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow signs a bond in the sum of fifteen hundred dollars,
    \r\n", + "making himself responsible for the property. The instrument contains
    \r\n", + "a provision, that should any unforeseen disaster befall it, the
    \r\n", + "question of property will remain subject to the decision of Court.
    \r\n", + "Upon these conditions, M'Carstrow procures an order for her release.
    \r\n", + "He is careful, however, that nothing herein set forth shall affect
    \r\n", + "the suit already instituted.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Love is an exhilarating medicine, moving and quickening the hearts
    \r\n", + "of old and young. M'Carstrow felt its influence sensibly, as he
    \r\n", + "hurried back to the prison-excited by the near approach of the
    \r\n", + "ceremony-with the all-important order. Bolts, bars, and malarious
    \r\n", + "walls, yield to it the pining captive whose presence will soothe
    \r\n", + "Franconia's feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Clotilda was no less elated at the hope of changing her prison for
    \r\n", + "the presence of her young mistress; and yet, the previous summons
    \r\n", + "had nearly unnerved her. She lingers at the grating, waiting
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow's return. Time seems to linger, until her feelings are
    \r\n", + "nearly overwhelmed in suspense. Again, there is a mystery in the
    \r\n", + "mission of the stranger; she almost doubts his sincerity. It may be
    \r\n", + "one of those plots, so often laid by slave-traders, to separate her
    \r\n", + "from her child,--perhaps to run her where all hope of regaining
    \r\n", + "freedom will be for ever lost. One after another did these things
    \r\n", + "recur to her mind, only to make the burden of her troubles more
    \r\n", + "painful.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Her child has eaten its crust, fallen into a deep sleep, and, its
    \r\n", + "little hands resting clasped on its bosom, lies calmly upon the
    \r\n", + "coarse blanket. She gazes upon it, as a mother only can gaze. There
    \r\n", + "is beauty in that sweet face; it is not valued for its loveliness,
    \r\n", + "its tenderness, its purity. How cursed that it is to be the prime
    \r\n", + "object of her disgrace! Thus contemplating, M'Carstrow appears at
    \r\n", + "the outer gate, is admitted into the prison, reaches the inner
    \r\n", + "grating, is received by the warden, who smiles generously. \"I'm as
    \r\n", + "glad as anything! Hope you had a good time with his honour, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Cur?\" he says, holding the big key in his hand, and leading the way
    \r\n", + "into the office. He takes his seat at a table, commences preparing
    \r\n", + "the big book. \"Here is the entry,\" he says, with a smile of
    \r\n", + "satisfaction. \"We'll soon straighten the thing now.\" Puts out his
    \r\n", + "hand for the order which M'Carstrow has been holding. \"That's just
    \r\n", + "the little thing,\" he says, reading it word by word carefully, and
    \r\n", + "concluding with the remark that he has had a deal of trouble with
    \r\n", + "it. M'Carstrow places some pieces of silver in his hand; they turn
    \r\n", + "the man of keys into a subservient creature. He hastens to the cell,
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow following,--draws the heavy bolts,--bids the prisoner come
    \r\n", + "forth. \"Yes, come, girl; I've had a tough time to get you out of
    \r\n", + "that place: it holds its prey like lawyers' seals,\" rejoins
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not without my child?\" she inquires quickly. She stoops down and
    \r\n", + "kisses it. \"My daughter,--my sweet child!\" she mutters.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Till to-morrow. You must leave her for to-night.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If I must!\" Again she kisses the child, adding, as she smoothed her
    \r\n", + "hand over Annette, and parted her hair, \"Mother will return soon.\"
    \r\n", + "There was something so touching in the word mother, spoken while
    \r\n", + "leaning over a sleeping babe. Clotilda reaches the door, having kept
    \r\n", + "her eyes upon the child as she left her behind. A tremor comes over
    \r\n", + "her,--she reluctantly passes the threshold of the narrow arch; but
    \r\n", + "she breathes the fresh air of heaven,--feels as if her life had been
    \r\n", + "renewed. A mother's thoughts, a mother's anxieties, a mother's love,
    \r\n", + "veil her countenance. She turns to take a last look as the cold door
    \r\n", + "closes upon the dearest object of her life. How it grates upon its
    \r\n", + "hinges! her hopes seem for ever extinguished.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The law is thus far satisfied-the legal gentlemen are satisfied, the
    \r\n", + "warden is not the least generous; and Mr. Cur feels that, while the
    \r\n", + "job was a very nice one, he has not transcended one jot of his
    \r\n", + "importance. Such is highly gratifying to all parties. Clotilda is
    \r\n", + "hurried into a carriage, driven at a rapid rate, and soon arrives at
    \r\n", + "the mansion. Here she is ushered into a chamber, arrayed in a new
    \r\n", + "dress, and conducted into the presence of Franconia. The meeting may
    \r\n", + "be more easily imagined than described. Their congratulations were
    \r\n", + "warm, affectionate, touching. Clotilda kisses Franconia's hand again
    \r\n", + "and again; Franconia, in turn, lays her hand upon Clotilda's
    \r\n", + "shoulder, and, with a look of commiseration, sets her eyes intently
    \r\n", + "upon her, as if she detects in her countenance those features she
    \r\n", + "cannot disown. She requests to be left alone with Clotilda for a
    \r\n", + "short time. Her friends withdraw. She discloses the difficulties
    \r\n", + "into which the family have suddenly fallen, the plan of escape she
    \r\n", + "has arranged, the hopes she entertains of her regaining her freedom.
    \r\n", + "\"Public opinion and the state of our difficulties prompted this
    \r\n", + "course,--I prefer it to any other: follow my directions,--Maxwell has
    \r\n", + "everything prepared, and to-night will carry you off upon the broad
    \r\n", + "blue ocean of liberty. Enjoy that liberty, Clotilda,--be a
    \r\n", + "woman,--follow the path God has strewn for your happiness; above all,
    \r\n", + "let freedom be rewarded with your virtue, your example,\" says
    \r\n", + "Franconia, as she again places her arm round Clotilda's neck.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And leave my child, Franconia?\" the other inquires, looking up
    \r\n", + "imploringly in Franconia's face.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"To me,\" is the quick response. \"I will be her guardian, her mother.
    \r\n", + "Get you beyond the grasp of slavery-get beyond its contaminating
    \r\n", + "breath, and I will be Annette's mother. When you are safely there,
    \r\n", + "when you can breathe the free air of liberty, write me, and she
    \r\n", + "shall meet you. Leave her to me; think of her only in my care, and
    \r\n", + "in my trust she will be happy. Meet Maxwell-he is your friend-at the
    \r\n", + "centre corridor; he will be there as soon as the ceremony commences;
    \r\n", + "he will have a pass from me; he will be your guide!\" She overcomes
    \r\n", + "Clotilda's doubts, reasons away her pleadings for her child, gives
    \r\n", + "her a letter and small miniature (they are to be kept until she
    \r\n", + "reaches her destination of freedom), and commences preparing for the
    \r\n", + "ceremony.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Night arrives, the old mansion brightens and resounds with the
    \r\n", + "bustle of preparation. Servants are moving about in great confusion.
    \r\n", + "Everything is in full dress; \"yellow fellows,\" immersed in trim
    \r\n", + "black coats, nicely-cut pantaloons, white vests and gloves,
    \r\n", + "shirt-collars of extraordinary dimensions, and hair curiously
    \r\n", + "crimped, are standing at their places along the halls, ready for
    \r\n", + "reception. Another class, equally well dressed, are running to and
    \r\n", + "fro through the corridors in the despatch of business. Old mammas
    \r\n", + "have a new shine on their faces, their best \"go to church\" fixings
    \r\n", + "on their backs. Younger members of the same property species are
    \r\n", + "gaudily attired-some in silk, some in missus's slightly worn
    \r\n", + "cashmere. The colour of their faces grades from the purest ebony to
    \r\n", + "the palest olive. A curious philosophy may be drawn from the
    \r\n", + "mixture: it contrasts strangely with the flash and dazzle of their
    \r\n", + "fantastic dresses, their large circular ear-rings, their
    \r\n", + "curiously-tied bandanas, the large bow points of which lay crossed
    \r\n", + "on the tufts of their crimpy hair. The whole scene has an air of
    \r\n", + "bewitching strangeness. In another part of the mansion we find the
    \r\n", + "small figures of the estate, all agog, toddling and doddling, with
    \r\n", + "faces polished like black-balled shoes; they are as piquant and
    \r\n", + "interesting as their own admiration of the dress master has provided
    \r\n", + "them for the occasion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The darkness increases as the night advances. The arbour leading
    \r\n", + "from the great gate to the vaulted hall in the base of the mansion
    \r\n", + "is hung with lanterns of grotesque patterns, emitting light and
    \r\n", + "shade as variegated as the hues of the rainbow. The trees and
    \r\n", + "shrubbery in the arena, hung with fantastic lanterns, enliven the
    \r\n", + "picture-make it grand and imposing. It presents a fairy-like
    \r\n", + "perspective, with spectre lights hung here and there, their mellow
    \r\n", + "glows reflecting softly upon the luxuriant foliage.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Entering the vaulted hall, its floor of antique tiles; frescoed
    \r\n", + "walls with well-executed mythological designs, jetting lights
    \r\n", + "flickering and dazzling through its arches, we find ourselves amidst
    \r\n", + "splendour unsurpassed in our land. At the termination of the great
    \r\n", + "hall a massive flight of spiral steps, of Egyptian marble, ascends
    \r\n", + "to the fourth story, forming a balcony at each, where ottomans are
    \r\n", + "placed, and from which a fine view of the curvature presents itself,
    \r\n", + "from whence those who have ascended may descry those ascending. On
    \r\n", + "the second story is a corridor, with moulded juttings and fretwork
    \r\n", + "overhead; these are hung with festoons of jasmines and other
    \r\n", + "delicate flowers, extending its whole length, and lighted by
    \r\n", + "globular lamps, the prismatic ornaments of which shed their soft
    \r\n", + "glows on the fixtures beneath. They invest it with the appearance of
    \r\n", + "a bower decorated with buds and blossoms. From this, on the right, a
    \r\n", + "spacious arched door, surmounted by a semi-circle of stained glass
    \r\n", + "containing devices of the Muses and other allegorical figures, leads
    \r\n", + "into an immense parlour, having a centre arch hung with heavy folds
    \r\n", + "of maroon coloured velvet overspread with lace. Look where you will,
    \r\n", + "the picture of former wealth and taste presents itself. Around the
    \r\n", + "walls hang costly paintings, by celebrated Italian masters; some are
    \r\n", + "portraits of the sovereigns of England, from that of Elizabeth to
    \r\n", + "George the Third. Brilliant lights jet forth from massive
    \r\n", + "chandeliers and girandoles, lighting up the long line of chaste
    \r\n", + "furniture beneath. The floor is spread with softest Turkey carpet;
    \r\n", + "groups of figures in marble, skilfully executed, form a curiously
    \r\n", + "arranged fire-place; Britannia's crest surmounting the whole. At
    \r\n", + "each end of the room stand chastely designed pieces of statuary of
    \r\n", + "heroes and heroines of past ages. Lounges, ottomans, reclines, and
    \r\n", + "couches, elaborately carved and upholstered, stand here and there in
    \r\n", + "all their antiqueness and grandeur. Pier-glasses, massive tables
    \r\n", + "inlaid with mosaic and pearl, are arranged along the sides, and
    \r\n", + "overhung with flowing tapestry that falls carelessly from the large
    \r\n", + "Doric windows. Over these windows are massive cornices, richly
    \r\n", + "designed and gilded. Quiet grandeur pervades the whole; even the
    \r\n", + "fairy-like dais that has been raised for the nuptial ceremony rests
    \r\n", + "upon four pieces of statuary, and is covered with crimson velvet set
    \r\n", + "with sparkling crystals. And while this spectacle presents but the
    \r\n", + "vanity of our nature, grand but not lasting, the sweet breath of
    \r\n", + "summer is wafting its balmy odours to refresh and give life to its
    \r\n", + "lifeless luxury.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gay cort�ge begins to assemble; the halls fill with guests; the
    \r\n", + "beauty, grace, and intelligence of this little fashionable world,
    \r\n", + "arrayed in its very best, will be here with its best face. Sparkling
    \r\n", + "diamonds and other precious stones, dazzling, will enhance the
    \r\n", + "gorgeous display. And yet, how much of folly's littleness does it
    \r\n", + "all present! All this costly drapery-all this show of worldly
    \r\n", + "voluptuousness-all this tempest of gaiety, is but the product of
    \r\n", + "pain and sorrow. The cheek that blushes in the gay circle, that fair
    \r\n", + "form born to revel in luxury, would not blush nor shrink to see a
    \r\n", + "naked wretch driven with the lash. Yea! we have said it was the
    \r\n", + "product of pain and sorrow; it is the force of oppression wringing
    \r\n", + "from ignorance and degradation the very dregs of its life. Men say,
    \r\n", + "what of that?-do we not live in a great good land of liberty?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The young affianced,--dressed in a flowing skirt of white satin, with
    \r\n", + "richly embroidered train; a neat bodice of the same material, with
    \r\n", + "incisions of lace tipped with brilliants; sleeves tapering into neat
    \r\n", + "rufflets of lace clasped upon the wrist with diamond bracelets, a
    \r\n", + "stomacher of chastely worked lace with brilliants in the centre,
    \r\n", + "relieved by two rows of small unpolished pearls,--is ushered into the
    \r\n", + "parlour, followed by groomsmen and bridesmaids as chastely dressed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There is a striking contrast between the youth and delicacy of
    \r\n", + "Franconia, blushing modestly and in her calmness suppressing that
    \r\n", + "inert repugnance working in her mind, and the brusqueness of
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow, who assumes the free and easy dash, hoping thereby to
    \r\n", + "lessen his years in the picture of himself. Clotilda, for the last
    \r\n", + "time, has arranged Franconia's hair, which lies in simple braids
    \r\n", + "across her polished brows, and folds upon the back, where it is
    \r\n", + "secured and set off with a garland of wild flowers. The hand that
    \r\n", + "laid it there, that arranged it so neatly, will never arrange it
    \r\n", + "again. As a last token of affection for her young mistress, Clotilda
    \r\n", + "has plucked a new-blown chiponique, white with crystal dew, and
    \r\n", + "surrounded it with tiny buds and orange blossoms: this, Franconia
    \r\n", + "holds in her left hand, the lace to which it is attached falling
    \r\n", + "like mist to the ground.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus arrayed, they appear at the altar: the good man of modest cloth
    \r\n", + "takes his place, the ceremony commences; and as it proceeds, and the
    \r\n", + "solemn words fall upon her ear, \"Those whom God hath joined together
    \r\n", + "let no man put asunder,\" she raises her eyes upwards, with a look of
    \r\n", + "melancholy, as tears, like pearls, glisten in her soft expressive
    \r\n", + "eyes. Her heart is moved with deeper emotion than this display of
    \r\n", + "southern galaxy can produce. The combination of circumstances that
    \r\n", + "has brought her to the altar, the decline of fortune, perhaps
    \r\n", + "disgrace, worked upon her mind. It is that which has consigned her
    \r\n", + "to the arms of one she cannot love, whose feelings and associations
    \r\n", + "she never can respect. Was she to be the ransom?-was she to atone
    \r\n", + "for the loss of family fortune, family pride, family inconsistency?
    \r\n", + "kept forcing itself upon her. There was no gladness in it-no
    \r\n", + "happiness. And there was the captive, the victim of foul slavery-so
    \r\n", + "foul that hell yearns for its abettors-whose deliverance she prayed
    \r\n", + "for with her earnest soul. She knew the oppressor's grasp-she had,
    \r\n", + "with womanly pride, come forward to relieve the wronged, and she had
    \r\n", + "become sensible of the ties binding her to Clotilda. Unlike too many
    \r\n", + "of her sex, she did not suppress her natural affections; she could
    \r\n", + "not see only the slave in a disowned sister; she acknowledged the
    \r\n", + "relationship, and hastened to free her, to send her beyond slavery's
    \r\n", + "grasp, into the glad embrace of freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The ceremony ends; the smiles and congratulations of friends, as
    \r\n", + "they gather round Franconia, shower upon her; she receives them
    \r\n", + "coldly, her heart has no love for them, it throbs with anxiety for
    \r\n", + "that slave whose liberty she has planned, and for whose safety she
    \r\n", + "invokes the all-protecting hand of heaven.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XVI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ANOTHER PHASE OF THE PICTURE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WHILE the ceremony we have described in the foregoing chapter was
    \r\n", + "proceeding, Clotilda, yielding to the earnest request of Franconia,
    \r\n", + "dresses herself in garments she has provided, and awaits the
    \r\n", + "commencement of the scene. A little schooner from one of the Bahama
    \r\n", + "Islands lies moored in the harbour awaiting a fair wind to return.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We need scarcely tell the reader that a plan of escape had been
    \r\n", + "previously arranged between Franconia and Maxwell; but why she took
    \r\n", + "so earnest a part in carrying it out, we must reserve for another
    \r\n", + "chapter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Maxwell had sought the captain of this schooner, found him of a
    \r\n", + "generous disposition, ready to act in behalf of freedom. Having soon
    \r\n", + "gained his confidence, and enlisted his good services, it took no
    \r\n", + "great amount of persuasion to do this, his feelings having already
    \r\n", + "been aroused against slavery, the giant arms of which, stretched out
    \r\n", + "between fear and injustice, had interfered with his rights. He had
    \r\n", + "seen it grasp the bones and sinews of those who were born in
    \r\n", + "freedom-he had seen men laugh at his appeals for justice-he had seen
    \r\n", + "one of his free-born British seamen manacled and dragged to prison
    \r\n", + "at noonday, merely because his skin was slightly coloured; he had
    \r\n", + "been compelled to pay tribute to keep alive the oppressor's power,
    \r\n", + "to compensate the villainy rogues practise upon honest men.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes!\" says the captain, a sturdy son of the sea, in answer to
    \r\n", + "Maxwell; \"bring her on board; and with a heart's best wishes, if I
    \r\n", + "don't land her free and safe in Old Bahama I'll never cross the gulf
    \r\n", + "stream again.\" And the mode of getting the boats ready was at once
    \r\n", + "arranged.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The night was still and dark; picturesque illuminations in and
    \r\n", + "around the mansion glittered in contrast with the starry arch of
    \r\n", + "heaven; the soft south breeze fans to life the dark foliage that
    \r\n", + "clusters around-nature has clothed the scene with her beauties.
    \r\n", + "Clotilda-she has eagerly awaited the coming time-descends to the
    \r\n", + "balustrade in the rear of the mansion. Here she meets a band of
    \r\n", + "musicians; they have assembled to serenade, and wait the
    \r\n", + "benediction, a signal for which will be made from one of the
    \r\n", + "balconies. She fears they may recognise her, hesitates at the
    \r\n", + "entrance, paces backward and forward in the colonnade, and professes
    \r\n", + "to be awaiting some message from her mistress. Again scanning the
    \r\n", + "scene, she watches intently, keeping her eyes fixed in the direction
    \r\n", + "Franconia has suggested. \"I was to meet Maxwell there!\" works upon
    \r\n", + "her mind until she becomes nervous and agitated. \"I was, and must
    \r\n", + "meet him there;\" and she walks slowly back to the entrance, turns
    \r\n", + "and returns, watches until her soul has nearly sickened, at length
    \r\n", + "espies the joyous signal. Franconia did not deceive her. Oh, no! he
    \r\n", + "stands there in the glare of a lamp that hangs from a willow-tree.
    \r\n", + "She vaults over the path, grasps his hand with a sister's affection,
    \r\n", + "and simultaneously the soft swelling music of \"Still so gently o'er
    \r\n", + "me stealing!\" floats in the air, as dulcet and soul-stirring as ever
    \r\n", + "touched the fancy, or clothed with holy inspiration the still repose
    \r\n", + "of a southern landscape at midnight. But she is with Maxwell; they
    \r\n", + "have passed the serenaders,--liberty is the haven of her joy, it
    \r\n", + "gives her new hopes of the future. Those hopes dispel the regrets
    \r\n", + "that hover over her mind as she thinks of her child.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "For several minutes they stand together, listening to the music, and
    \r\n", + "watching the familiar faces of old friends as they come upon the
    \r\n", + "balcony in the second story. Southern life had its pleasant
    \r\n", + "associations-none would attempt to deny them; but the evil brooded
    \r\n", + "in the uncertainty that hung over the fate of millions, now yielding
    \r\n", + "indulgence to make life pleasant, then sinking them for ever in the
    \r\n", + "cruelties of a tyrant's power. It is the crushing out of the mind's
    \r\n", + "force,--the subduing the mental and physical man to make the chattel
    \r\n", + "complete,--the shutting out of all the succinct virtues that nurture
    \r\n", + "freedom, that incite us to improve the endowments of nature, that
    \r\n", + "proves the rankling poison. And this poison spreads its baneful
    \r\n", + "influence in and around good men's better desires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After watching in silence for a few moments, Clotilda gives vent to
    \r\n", + "her feelings. \"I should like to see old Daddy Bob once more, I
    \r\n", + "should! And my poor Annette; she is celled to be sold, I'm afraid;
    \r\n", + "but I must yield to the kindness of Franconia. I have seen some
    \r\n", + "good times among the old folks on the plantation. And there's Aunt
    \r\n", + "Rachel,--a good creature after all,--and Harry. Well; I mustn't think
    \r\n", + "of these things; freedom is sweetest,\" she says. Maxwell suggests
    \r\n", + "that they move onward. The music dies away in the stillness, as they
    \r\n", + "turn from the scene to flee beyond the grasp of men who traffic in
    \r\n", + "human things called property,--not by a great constitution, but under
    \r\n", + "a constitution's freedom giving power. Would that a great and
    \r\n", + "glorious nation had not sold its freedom to the damning stain of
    \r\n", + "avarice! would that it had not perverted that holy word, for the
    \r\n", + "blessings of which generations have struggled in vain! would that it
    \r\n", + "had not substituted a freedom that mystifies a jurisprudence,--that
    \r\n", + "brings forth the strangest fruit of human passions,--that makes
    \r\n", + "prison walls and dreary cells death-beds of the innocent;-that
    \r\n", + "permits human beings to be born for the market, and judged by the
    \r\n", + "ripest wisdom! \"Has God ordained such freedom lasting?\" will force
    \r\n", + "itself upon us.-We must return to our humble adventurers.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The fugitives reached the back gate, leading into a narrow lane,
    \r\n", + "from whence they cross into the main street. Clotilda has none of
    \r\n", + "the African about her; the most observing guardsman would not stop
    \r\n", + "her for a slave. They pass along unmolested; the guardsmen, some
    \r\n", + "mounted and some walking at a slow pace, bow politely. No one
    \r\n", + "demands a pass. They arrive in safety at a point about two miles
    \r\n", + "from the city, where the captain and his boat await them. No time is
    \r\n", + "lost in embarking: the little bark rides at anchor in the stream;
    \r\n", + "the boat quietly glides to her; they are safely on board. A few
    \r\n", + "minutes more, and the little craft moves seaward under the pressure
    \r\n", + "of a gentle breeze. There is no tragic pursuit of slave-hunters, no
    \r\n", + "tramp of horses to terrify the bleeding victim, no howlings of
    \r\n", + "ravenous bloodhounds,--nothing that would seem to make the issue
    \r\n", + "freedom or death. No! all is as still as a midsummer night in the
    \r\n", + "same clime. The woman--this daughter of slavery's vices--cherishes a
    \r\n", + "love for freedom; the hope of gaining it, and improving those
    \r\n", + "endowments nature has bestowed upon her, freshens her spirits and
    \r\n", + "gives her life to look forward without desponding. Maxwell is her
    \r\n", + "friend; he has witnessed the blighting power of slavery-not alone in
    \r\n", + "its workings upon the black man, but upon the lineal offspring of
    \r\n", + "freemen-and has resolved to work against its mighty arm. With him it
    \r\n", + "is the spontaneous action of a generous heart sympathising for the
    \r\n", + "wrongs inflicted upon the weak, and loving to see right respected.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The fair Franconia, who has just been forced to accept the hand of a
    \r\n", + "mere charlatan, disclosed the secrets of her mind to him; it was she
    \r\n", + "who incited him to an act which might have sacrificed his freedom,
    \r\n", + "perhaps his life. But mankind is possessed of an innate feeling to
    \r\n", + "do good; and there is a charm added when the object to be served is
    \r\n", + "a fair creature about to be dragged into the miseries of slavery.
    \r\n", + "Even the rougher of our kind cannot resist it; and at times-we
    \r\n", + "except the servile opinion which slavery inflicts upon a people
    \r\n", + "through its profitable issues-prompts the ruffian to generous acts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The little bark, bound for the haven of freedom, sailed onward over
    \r\n", + "the blue waters, and when daylight dawned had crossed the bar
    \r\n", + "separating the harbour from the ocean. Clotilda ascends to the deck,
    \r\n", + "sits on the companion-seat, and in a pensive mood watches the fading
    \r\n", + "hills where slavery stains the fair name of freedom,--where
    \r\n", + "oppression rears its dark monuments to for ever torture and disgrace
    \r\n", + "a harmless race. She looks intently upon them, as one by one they
    \r\n", + "fade in the obscure horizon, seeming to recall the many
    \r\n", + "associations, pleasant and painful, through which she has passed.
    \r\n", + "She turns from the contemplation to the deep blue sea, and the
    \r\n", + "unclouded arch of heaven, as they spread out before her: they are
    \r\n", + "God's own, man cannot pollute them; they are like a picture of glory
    \r\n", + "inspiring her with emotions she cannot suppress. As the last dim
    \r\n", + "sight of land is lost in the distance, she waves a handkerchief, as
    \r\n", + "if to bid it adieu for ever; then looking at Maxwell, who sits by
    \r\n", + "her side, she says, with a sigh, \"I am beyond it! Free,--yes, free!
    \r\n", + "But, have I not left a sufferer behind? There is my poor Annette, my
    \r\n", + "child; I will clasp her to my bosom,--I will love her more when I
    \r\n", + "meet her again. Good-bye, Franconia-dear Franconia! She will be a
    \r\n", + "mother to my little one; she will keep her word.\" Thus saying, she
    \r\n", + "casts a look upward, invokes heaven to be merciful to her
    \r\n", + "persecutors,--to protect her child,--to guard Franconia through life.
    \r\n", + "Tears stream down her cheeks as she waves her hand and retires to
    \r\n", + "the cabin.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XVII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "PLEASANT DEALINGS WITH HUMAN PROPERTY.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WE must deal gently with our scenes; we must describe them without
    \r\n", + "exaggeration, and in rotation. While the scenes we have just
    \r\n", + "described were proceeding, another, of deeper import, and more
    \r\n", + "expressive of slavery's complicated combinations, was being enacted
    \r\n", + "in another part of the city.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A raffle of ordinary character had been announced in the morning
    \r\n", + "papers,--we say ordinary, because it came within the ordinary
    \r\n", + "specification of trade, and violated neither statute law nor
    \r\n", + "municipal ordinance,--and the raffler, esteemed a great character in
    \r\n", + "the city, was no less celebrated for his taste in catering for the
    \r\n", + "amusement of his patrons. On this occasion, purporting to be a very
    \r\n", + "great one, the inducements held out were no less an incentive of
    \r\n", + "gambling propensities than an aim to serve licentious purposes. In a
    \r\n", + "word, it offered \"all young connoisseurs of beauty a chance to
    \r\n", + "procure one of the finest-developed young wenches,--fair, bright,
    \r\n", + "perfectly brought up, young, chaste, and of most amiable
    \r\n", + "disposition, for a trifling sum.\" This was all straight in the way
    \r\n", + "of trade, in a free country; nobody should blush at it (some
    \r\n", + "maidens, reading the notice, might feel modestly inclined to),
    \r\n", + "because nobody could gainsay it. This is prize No. 1, prime-as set
    \r\n", + "down in the schedule-and the amount per toss being only a trifle,
    \r\n", + "persons in want of such prizes are respectfully informed of the fact
    \r\n", + "that only a few chances remain, which will command a premium before
    \r\n", + "candle-light. Prize No. 2 is a superior pony, of well-known
    \r\n", + "breed-here the pedigree is set forth; which advantage had not been
    \r\n", + "accorded to the human animal, lest certain members of the same stock
    \r\n", + "should blush-raised with great care and attention, and exactly
    \r\n", + "suited for a gentleman's jant or a lady's saddle-nag. Prize No. 3 is
    \r\n", + "a superior setter dog, who has also been well brought up, is from
    \r\n", + "good stock, is kind to children, who play with him when they please.
    \r\n", + "He knows niggers, is good to watch them, has been known to catch
    \r\n", + "runaways, to tear their shins wonderfully. Indeed, according to the
    \r\n", + "setting forth of the sagacious animal, he would seem to understand
    \r\n", + "slave-law quite well, and to be ready and willing to lend his aid
    \r\n", + "with dogs of a different species to enforce its provisions. The only
    \r\n", + "fault the brute has, if fault it may be called, is that he does not
    \r\n", + "understand the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law,--a law
    \r\n", + "destined to be exceedingly troublesome among a free people. Did the
    \r\n", + "sagacity of the animal thus extend to the sovereign law of the land
    \r\n", + "of the brave and free, he would bring a large price at the north,
    \r\n", + "where men are made to do what dogs most delight in at the south.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The first prize, as set forth, is valued at seven hundred dollars:
    \r\n", + "the magnanimous gentleman who caters thus generously for his patrons
    \r\n", + "states the delicate prize to be worth fifty or a hundred dollars
    \r\n", + "more, and will, with a little more developing, be worth a great deal
    \r\n", + "more money. Hence, he hopes his patrons will duly appreciate
    \r\n", + "enterprising liberality.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The second prize he considers generously low at two hundred dollars;
    \r\n", + "and the dog-the sagacious animal constituting the third prize-would
    \r\n", + "be a great bargain to anybody wanting such an animal, especially in
    \r\n", + "consideration of his propensity to catch negroes, at sixty dollars.
    \r\n", + "The trio of human and animal prizes produce no distinctive effect
    \r\n", + "upon the feelings of those who speculate in such property; with them
    \r\n", + "it is only a matter of gradation between dollars and cents.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "But, to be more off-handed in this generous undertaking, and in
    \r\n", + "consideration of the deep-felt sensibility and hospitality which
    \r\n", + "must always protect southern character, the chances will be
    \r\n", + "restricted to two hundred, at five dollars per chance. Money must be
    \r\n", + "paid in before friends can consider themselves stock-holders. It is
    \r\n", + "to be a happy time, in a happy country, where all are boasted happy.
    \r\n", + "The first lucky dog will get the human prize; the next lucky dog
    \r\n", + "will get the pony; the third will make a dog of himself by only
    \r\n", + "winning a dog. The fun of the thing, however, will be the great
    \r\n", + "attraction; men of steady habits are reminded of this. Older
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, having very nice taste for colour, but no particular
    \r\n", + "scruples about religion, and who seldom think morals worth much to
    \r\n", + "niggers, \"because they aint got sense to appreciate such things,\"
    \r\n", + "are expected to be on hand. Those who know bright and fair niggers
    \r\n", + "were never made for anything under the sun but to gratify their own
    \r\n", + "desires, are expected to spread the good news, to set the young
    \r\n", + "aristocracy of the city all agog,--to start up a first-best
    \r\n", + "crowd,--have some tall drinking and first-rate amusement. Everybody
    \r\n", + "is expected to tell his friend, and his friend is expected to help
    \r\n", + "the generous man out with his generous scheme, and all are expected
    \r\n", + "to join in the \"bender.\" Nobody must forget that the whole thing is
    \r\n", + "to come off at \"Your House,\"-an eating and drinking saloon, of great
    \r\n", + "capacity, kept by the very distinguished man, Mr. O'Brodereque.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. O'Brodereque, who always pledges his word upon the honour of a
    \r\n", + "southern gentleman-frequently asserting his greatness in the
    \r\n", + "political world, and wondering who could account for his not finding
    \r\n", + "his way into Congress, where talent like his would be brought out
    \r\n", + "for the protection of our south-has made no end of money by selling
    \r\n", + "a monstrous deal of very bad liquor to customers of all
    \r\n", + "grades,--niggers excepted. And, although his hair is well mixed with
    \r\n", + "the grey of many years, he declares the guilt of selling liquor to
    \r\n", + "niggers is not on his shoulders. It is owing to this clean state of
    \r\n", + "his character, that he has been able to maintain his aristocratic
    \r\n", + "position. \"Yes, indeed,\" said one of his patrons, who, having fallen
    \r\n", + "in arrears, found himself undergoing the very disagreeable process
    \r\n", + "of being politely kicked into the street, \"money makes a man big in
    \r\n", + "the south: big in niggers, big in politics, big with everything but
    \r\n", + "the way I'm big,--with an empty pocket. I don't care, though; he's
    \r\n", + "going up by the process that I'm coming down. There's philosophy in
    \r\n", + "that.\" It could not be denied that Mr. O'Brodereque-commonly called
    \r\n", + "General O'Brodereque-was very much looked up to by great people and
    \r\n", + "Bacchanalians,--men who pay court to appease the wondrous discontent
    \r\n", + "of the belly, to the total neglect of the back. Not a few swore, by
    \r\n", + "all their importance, a greater man never lived. He is, indeed, all
    \r\n", + "that can be desired to please the simple pretensions of a
    \r\n", + "free-thinking and free-acting southern people, who, having elevated
    \r\n", + "him to the office of alderman, declare him exactly the man to
    \r\n", + "develope its functions. A few of the old school aristocracy, who
    \r\n", + "still retain the bad left them by their English ancestry, having
    \r\n", + "long since forgotten the good, do sneer now and then at Mr.
    \r\n", + "Brodereque's pretensions. But, like all great men who have a great
    \r\n", + "object to carry out, he affects to frown such things down,--to remind
    \r\n", + "the perpetrators of such aristocratic sneers what a spare few they
    \r\n", + "are. He asserts, and with more truth than poetry, that any gentleman
    \r\n", + "having the capacity to deluge the old aristocracy with doubtful
    \r\n", + "wine, line his pockets while draining theirs-all the time making
    \r\n", + "them feel satisfied he imports the choicest-and who can keep on a
    \r\n", + "cheerful face the while, can fill an alderman's chair to a nicety.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In addition to the above, Mr. O'Brodereque is one of those very
    \r\n", + "accommodating individuals who never fail to please their customers,
    \r\n", + "while inciting their vanity; and, at the same time, always secure a
    \r\n", + "good opinion for themselves. And, too, he was liberally inclined,
    \r\n", + "never refused tick, but always made it tell; by which well-devised
    \r\n", + "process, his patrons were continually becoming his humble servants,
    \r\n", + "ready to serve him at call.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Always civil, and even obsequious at first, ready to condescend and
    \r\n", + "accommodate, he is equally prompt when matters require that peculiar
    \r\n", + "turn which southerners frequently find themselves turned into,--no
    \r\n", + "more tick and a turn out of doors. At times, Mr. O'Brodereque's
    \r\n", + "customers have the very unenviable consolation of knowing that a
    \r\n", + "small document called a mortgage of their real and personal property
    \r\n", + "remains in his hands, which he will very soon find it necessary to
    \r\n", + "foreclose.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is dark,--night has stolen upon us again,--the hour for the raffle
    \r\n", + "is at hand. The saloon, about a hundred and forty feet long by forty
    \r\n", + "wide, is brilliantly lighted for the occasion. The gas-lights throw
    \r\n", + "strange shadows upon the distemper painting with which the walls are
    \r\n", + "decorated. Hanging carelessly here and there are badly-daubed
    \r\n", + "paintings of battle scenes and heroic devices, alternated with
    \r\n", + "lithographic and badly-executed engravings of lustfully-exposed
    \r\n", + "females. Soon the saloon fills with a throng of variously-mixed
    \r\n", + "gentlemen. The gay, the grave, the old, and the young men of the
    \r\n", + "fashionable world, are present. Some affect the fast young man;
    \r\n", + "others seem mere speculators, attracted to the place for the purpose
    \r\n", + "of enjoying an hour, seeing the sight, and, it may be, taking a
    \r\n", + "throw for the \"gal.\" The crowd presents a singular contrast of
    \r\n", + "beings. Some are dressed to the very extreme of fantastic fashion,
    \r\n", + "and would seem to have wasted their brains in devising colours for
    \r\n", + "their backs; others, aspiring to the seriously genteel, are
    \r\n", + "fashioned in very extravagant broadcloth; while a third group is
    \r\n", + "dressed in most niggardly attire, which sets very loosely. In
    \r\n", + "addition to this they wear very large black, white, and
    \r\n", + "grey-coloured felt hats, slouched over their heads; while their
    \r\n", + "nether garments, of red and brown linsey-woolsey, fit like
    \r\n", + "Falstaff's doublet on a whip stock. They seem proud of the grim
    \r\n", + "tufts of hair that, like the moss-grown clumps upon an old oak,
    \r\n", + "spread over their faces; and they move about in the grotesque crowd,
    \r\n", + "making their physiognomies increase its piquancy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The saloon is one of those places at the south where great men,
    \r\n", + "small men, men of different spheres and occupations, men in
    \r\n", + "prominently defined positions, men in doubtful calls of life, and
    \r\n", + "men most disreputably employed, most do congregate. At one end of
    \r\n", + "the saloon is a large oyster counter, behind which stand two
    \r\n", + "coloured men, with sauces, savories, and other mixtures at hand,
    \r\n", + "ready to serve customers who prefer the delicacy in its raw state.
    \r\n", + "Men are partaking without noting numbers. Mr. O'Brodereque has boys
    \r\n", + "serving who take very good care of the numbers. Extending along one
    \r\n", + "side of the saloon is an elaborately carved mahogany counter, with
    \r\n", + "panels of French white and gilt mouldings. This is surmounted with a
    \r\n", + "marble slab, upon which stand well-filled decanters, vases, and
    \r\n", + "salvers. Behind this counter, genteelly-dressed and polite
    \r\n", + "attendants are serving customers who stand along its side in a line,
    \r\n", + "treating in true southern style. The calling for drinks is a problem
    \r\n", + "for nice ears to solve, so varied are the sounds, so strange the
    \r\n", + "names: style, quantity, and mixture seemed without limit, set on in
    \r\n", + "various colours to flow and flood the spirits of the jovial. On the
    \r\n", + "opposite side of the saloon are rows of seats and arm-chairs,
    \r\n", + "interspersed with small tables, from which the beverage can be
    \r\n", + "imbibed more at ease. On the second story is the great \"eating
    \r\n", + "saloon,\" with its various apartments, its curtained boxes, its
    \r\n", + "prim-looking waiters, its pier-glass walls. There is every
    \r\n", + "accommodation for belly theologians, who may discuss the choicest
    \r\n", + "viands of the season.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The company are assembled,--the lower saloon is crowded; Mr.
    \r\n", + "O'Brodereque, with great dignity, mounts the stand,--a little table
    \r\n", + "standing at one end of the room. His face reddens, he gives several
    \r\n", + "delinquent coughs, looks round and smiles upon his motley patrons,
    \r\n", + "points a finger recognisingly at a wag in the corner, who has
    \r\n", + "addressed some remarks to him, puts his thumbs in the sleeve-holes
    \r\n", + "of his vest, throws back his coat-collar, puts himself in a defiant
    \r\n", + "attitude, and is ready to deliver himself of his speech.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A political speech from the General! Gentlemen, hats off, and give
    \r\n", + "your attention to Mr. General O'Brodereque's remarks!\" resounds from
    \r\n", + "several voices. Mr. O'Brodereque is somewhat overcome, his friends
    \r\n", + "compliment him so: he stands, hesitating, as if he had lost the
    \r\n", + "opening part of his speech, like a statue on a molasses-cask. At
    \r\n", + "length he speaks. \"If it was a great political question, gentlemen,
    \r\n", + "I'd get the twist of the thing,--I'd pitch into it, big! These little
    \r\n", + "things always trouble public men more than the important intricacies
    \r\n", + "of government do. You see, they are not comesurate,--that's it!\" says
    \r\n", + "Mr. Brodereque, looking wondrously wise the while. After bowing,
    \r\n", + "smiling, and acknowledging the compliments of his generous customers
    \r\n", + "with prodigious grace, he merely announces to his friends--with
    \r\n", + "eloquence that defies imitation, and turns rhetoric into a
    \r\n", + "discordant exposition of his own important self--that, not having
    \r\n", + "examined the constitution for more nor three Sundays, they must,
    \r\n", + "upon the honour of a gentleman, excuse his political speech. \"But,
    \r\n", + "gents,\" he says, \"you all know how I trys to please ye in the way of
    \r\n", + "raffles and such things, and how I throws in the belly and stomach
    \r\n", + "fixins. Now, brighten up, ye men of taste\"--Mr. Brodereque laughs
    \r\n", + "satisfactorily as he surveys his crowd--\"I'm going to do the thing
    \r\n", + "up brown for ye,--to give ye a chance for a bit of bright property
    \r\n", + "what ye don't get every day; can't scare up such property only once
    \r\n", + "in a while. It'll make ye old fellers wink, some\"--Mr. O'Brodereque
    \r\n", + "winks at several aged gentlemen, whose grey hair is figurative in
    \r\n", + "the crowd--\"think about being young again. And, my friends below
    \r\n", + "thirty-my young friends--ah, ye rascals! I thought I'd play the tune
    \r\n", + "on the right string!\"--he laughs, and puts his finger to his mouth
    \r\n", + "quizzically--\"I likes to suit ye, and please ye: own her up, now,--
    \r\n", + "don't I?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hurrah! for Brod,--Brod's a trump!\" again resounds from a dozen
    \r\n", + "voices.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They all agree to the remark that nobody can touch the great Mr.
    \r\n", + "O'Brodereque in getting up a nice bit of fun, amusing young men with
    \r\n", + "more money than mind, and being in the favour of aristocratic
    \r\n", + "gentlemen who think nothing of staking a couple of prime niggers on
    \r\n", + "a point of faro.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. O'Brodereque has been interrupted; he begs his friends will, for
    \r\n", + "a moment, cease their compliments and allow him to proceed.
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen!\" he continues, \"the gal's what ye don't get every day;
    \r\n", + "and she's as choice as she's young; and she's as handsome as she's
    \r\n", + "young; and for this delicious young crittur throws are only five
    \r\n", + "dollars a piece.\" The sentimental southern gentleman has no
    \r\n", + "reference to the throes of anguish that are piercing the wounded
    \r\n", + "soul of the woman.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A gentleman what ain't got a five-dollar bill in his pocket better
    \r\n", + "not show his winkers in this crowd. After that, gentlemen, there's a
    \r\n", + "slap-up pony, and one of the knowinest dogs outside of a
    \r\n", + "court-house. Now,--gents! if this ain't some tall doings,--some of a
    \r\n", + "raffle, just take my boots and I'll put it for Texas. A chance for a
    \r\n", + "nigger gal-a pony-a dog; who on 'arth wants more, gentlemen?\" Mr.
    \r\n", + "O'Brodereque again throws back his coat, shrugs his shoulders, wipes
    \r\n", + "the perspiration from his brow, and is about to descend from the
    \r\n", + "table. No, he won't come down just yet. He has struck a vein; his
    \r\n", + "friends are getting up a favourable excitement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bravo! bravo!-long may General Brodereque keep the hospitable Your
    \r\n", + "House! Who wouldn't give a vote for Brodereque at the next
    \r\n", + "election?\" re-echoes through the room.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One more remark, gentlemen.\" Mr. Brodereque again wipes the
    \r\n", + "perspiration from his forehead, and orders a glass of water, to
    \r\n", + "loosen his oratorical organs. He drinks the water, seems to increase
    \r\n", + "in his own greatness; his red face glows redder, he makes a
    \r\n", + "theatrical gesticulation with his right hand, crumples his hair into
    \r\n", + "curious points, and proceeds:--\"The lucky man what gets the gal prize
    \r\n", + "is to treat the crowd!\" This is seconded and carried by acclamation,
    \r\n", + "without a dissenting voice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A murmuring noise, as of some one in trouble, is now heard at the
    \r\n", + "door: the crowd gives way: a beautiful mulatto girl, in a black silk
    \r\n", + "dress, with low waist and short sleeves, and morocco slippers on her
    \r\n", + "feet, is led in and placed upon the stand Mr. O'Brodereque has just
    \r\n", + "vacated. Her complexion is that of a swarthy Greek; her countenance
    \r\n", + "is moody and reflective; her feelings are stung with the poison of
    \r\n", + "her degraded position. This last step of her disgrace broods in the
    \r\n", + "melancholy of her face. Shame, pain, hope, and fear, combine to goad
    \r\n", + "her very soul. But it's all for a bit of fun, clearly legal; it's
    \r\n", + "all in accordance with society; misfortune is turned into a
    \r\n", + "plaything, that generous, good, and noble-hearted men may be amused.
    \r\n", + "Those who stand around her are extravagant with joy. After remaining
    \r\n", + "a few moments in silence, a mute victim of generous freedom, she
    \r\n", + "turns her head bashfully, covers her face with her hands. Her
    \r\n", + "feelings gush forth in a stream of tears; she cannot suppress them
    \r\n", + "longer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There is a touching beauty in her face, made more effective by the
    \r\n", + "deplorable condition to which she is reduced. Again she looks
    \r\n", + "upward, and covers her face with her hands; her soul seems merged in
    \r\n", + "supplication to the God who rules all things aright. He is a
    \r\n", + "forgiving God! Can he thus direct man's injustice to man, while this
    \r\n", + "poor broken flower thus withers under the bane? Sad, melancholy,
    \r\n", + "doomed! there is no hope, no joy for her. She weeps over her
    \r\n", + "degradation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stop that whimperin!\" says a ruffianly bystander, who orders a
    \r\n", + "coloured boy to let down her hair. He obeys the summons; it falls in
    \r\n", + "thick, black, undulating tresses over her neck and shoulders. A few
    \r\n", + "moments more, and she resumes a calm appearance, looks resolutely
    \r\n", + "upon her auditors, with indignation and contempt pictured in her
    \r\n", + "countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"She'll soon get over that!\" ejaculates another bystander, as he
    \r\n", + "smooths the long beard on his haggard face. \"Strip her down!\" The
    \r\n", + "request is no sooner made, than Mr. O'Brodereque mounts the stand to
    \r\n", + "perform the feat. \"Great country this, gentlemen!\" he speaks, taking
    \r\n", + "her by the shoulders.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All off! all off, general!\" is the popular demand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sensitive nature of the innocent girl recoils; she cringes from
    \r\n", + "his touch; she shudders, and vainly attempts to resist. She must
    \r\n", + "yield; the demand is imperative. Her dress falls at Mr.
    \r\n", + "O'Brodereque's touch. She stands before the gazing crowd, exposed to
    \r\n", + "the very thighs, holding the loose folds of her dress in her hands.
    \r\n", + "There is no sympathy for those moistened eyes; oh, no! it is a
    \r\n", + "luscious feast-puritans have no part in the sin-for those who, in
    \r\n", + "our land of love and liberty, buy and sell poor human nature, and
    \r\n", + "make it food for serving hell.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Naked she stands for minutes; the assembled gentlemen have feasted
    \r\n", + "their eyes,--good men have played the part of their good natures.
    \r\n", + "General O'Brodereque, conscious of his dignity, orders her to be
    \r\n", + "taken down. The waiter performs the duty, and she is led out midst
    \r\n", + "the acclamations and plaudits of the crowd, who call for the raffle.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. O'Brodereque hopes gentlemen are satisfied with what they have
    \r\n", + "seen, and will pledge his honour that the pony and dog are quite as
    \r\n", + "sound and healthy as the wench whose portions they have had a chance
    \r\n", + "to shy; and for which-the extra sight-they should pay an extra
    \r\n", + "treat. This, however, his generosity will not allow him to stand
    \r\n", + "upon; and, seeing how time is precious, and the weather warm, he
    \r\n", + "hopes his friends will excuse the presence of the animals, take his
    \r\n", + "word of honour in consideration of the sight of the wench.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, gentlemen,\" he says, \"the throws are soon to commence, and all
    \r\n", + "what ain't put down the tin better attend that ar' needful
    \r\n", + "arrangement, quicker!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As the general concludes this very significant invitation, Dan
    \r\n", + "Bengal, Anthony Romescos, and Nath Nimrod, enter together. Their
    \r\n", + "presence creates some little commotion, for Romescos is known to be
    \r\n", + "turbulent, and very uncertain when liquor flows freely, which is the
    \r\n", + "case at present.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I say, general!-old hoss! I takes all the chances what's left,\"
    \r\n", + "Romescos shouts at the top of his voice. His eyes glare with
    \r\n", + "anxiety,--his red, savage face, doubly sun-scorched, glows out as he
    \r\n", + "elbows his way through the crowd up to the desk, where sits a
    \r\n", + "corpulent clerk. \"Beg your pardon, gentlemen: not so fast, if you
    \r\n", + "please!\" he says, entering names in his ledger, receiving money,
    \r\n", + "\"doing the polite of the establishment.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos's coat and nether clothing are torn in several places, a
    \r\n", + "hunting-belt girdles his waist; a bowie-knife (Sheffield make)
    \r\n", + "protrudes from his breast-pocket, his hair hangs in jagged tufts
    \r\n", + "over the collar of his coat, which, with the rough moccasons on his
    \r\n", + "feet, give him an air of fierce desperaton and recklessness. His
    \r\n", + "presence is evidently viewed with suspicion; he is a curious object
    \r\n", + "which the crowd are willing to give ample space to.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, you don't take 'em all, neither!\" says another, in a defiant
    \r\n", + "tone. The remaining \"chances\" are at once put up for sale; they
    \r\n", + "bring premiums, as one by one they are knocked down to the highest
    \r\n", + "bidders, some as much as fifty per cent. advance. Gentlemen are not
    \r\n", + "to know it, because Mr. O'Brodereque thinks his honour above
    \r\n", + "everything else; but the fact is, there is a collusion between
    \r\n", + "Romescos and the honourable Mr. O'Brodereque. The former is playing
    \r\n", + "his part to create a rivalry that will put dollars and cents into
    \r\n", + "the pocket of the latter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well!\" exclaims Romescos, with great indifference, as soon as the
    \r\n", + "sale had concluded, \"I've got seven throws, all lucky ones. I'll
    \r\n", + "take any man's bet for two hundred dollars that I gets the gal
    \r\n", + "prize.\" Nobody seems inclined to accept the challenge. A table is
    \r\n", + "set in the centre of the saloon, the dice are brought on, amidst a
    \r\n", + "jargon of noise and confusion; to this is added drinking, smoking,
    \r\n", + "swearing, and all kinds of small betting.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The raffle commences; one by one the numbers are called. Romescos'
    \r\n", + "turn has come; all eyes are intently set upon him. He is celebrated
    \r\n", + "for tricks of his trade; he seldom repudiates the character, and
    \r\n", + "oftener prides in the name of a shrewd one, who can command a prize
    \r\n", + "for his sharp dealing. In a word, he has a peculiar faculty of
    \r\n", + "shielding the doubtful transactions of a class of men no less
    \r\n", + "dishonest, but more modest in point of reputation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos spreads himself wonderfully, throws his dice, and exults
    \r\n", + "over the result. He has turned up three sixes at the first and
    \r\n", + "second throws, and two sixes and five at the third.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Beat that! who can?\" he says. No one discovers that he has, by a
    \r\n", + "very dexterous movement, slipped a set of false dice into the box,
    \r\n", + "while O'Brodereque diverted attention at the moment by introducing
    \r\n", + "the pony into the saloon.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We will pass over many things that occurred, and inform the reader
    \r\n", + "that Romescos won the first prize-the woman. The dog and pony prizes
    \r\n", + "were carried off by legitimate winners. This specific part of the
    \r\n", + "scene over, a band of negro minstrels are introduced, who strike up
    \r\n", + "their happy glees, the music giving new life to the revelry. Such a
    \r\n", + "medley of drinking, gambling, and carousing followed, as defies
    \r\n", + "description. What a happy thing it is to be free; they feel this,--it
    \r\n", + "it is a happy feeling! The sport lasts till the small hours of
    \r\n", + "morning advance. Romescos is seen leaving the saloon very quietly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There!\" says Mr. O'Brodereque exultingly, \"he hasn't got so much of
    \r\n", + "a showing. That nigger gal ain't what she's cracked up to be!\" and
    \r\n", + "he shakes his head knowingly, thrusts his hands deep into his
    \r\n", + "breeches pockets, smiles with an air of great consequence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Where did ye raise the critter? devil of a feller ye be,
    \r\n", + "Brodereque!\" says a young sprig, giving his hat a particular set on
    \r\n", + "the side of his head, and adjusting his eye-glass anew. \"Ye ain't
    \r\n", + "gin her a name, in all the showin',\" he continues, drawlingly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That gal! She ain't worth so much, a'ter all. She's of Marston's
    \r\n", + "stock; Ellen Juvarna, I think they call her. She's only good for her
    \r\n", + "looks, in the animal way,--that's all!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hav'n't told where ye got her, yet,\" interrupts the sprig; \"none of
    \r\n", + "yer crossin' corners, general.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, I started up that gal of Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy. She
    \r\n", + "takes it into her mind to get crazed now and then, and Marston had
    \r\n", + "to sell her; and the Elder bought her for a trifle, cured up her
    \r\n", + "thinkin'-trap, got her sound up for market, and I makes a strike
    \r\n", + "with the Elder, and gets her at a tall bargain.\" Mr. O'Brodereque
    \r\n", + "has lost none of his dignity, none of his honour, none of his hopes
    \r\n", + "of getting into Congress by the speculation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is poor Ellen Juvarna; she has been cured for the market. She
    \r\n", + "might have said, and with truth,--\"You don't know me now, so
    \r\n", + "wonderful are they who deal with my rights in this our world of
    \r\n", + "liberty!\"
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XVII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A NOT UNCOMMON SCENE SLIGHTLY CHANGED.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ROMESCOS, having withdrawn from the saloon while the excitement
    \r\n", + "raged highest, may be seen, with several others, seated at a table
    \r\n", + "in the upper room. They are in earnest consultation,--evidently
    \r\n", + "devising some plan for carrying out a deep-laid plot.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I have just called my friend, who will give us the particulars
    \r\n", + "about the constitutionality of the thing. Here he is. Mr. Scranton,
    \r\n", + "ye see, knows all about such intricacies; he is an editor! formerly
    \r\n", + "from the North,\" one of the party is particular to explain, as he
    \r\n", + "directs his conversation to Romescos. That gentleman of slave-cloth
    \r\n", + "only knows the part they call the rascality; he pays the gentlemen
    \r\n", + "of the learned law profession to shuffle him out of all the legal
    \r\n", + "intricacies that hang around his murderous deeds. He seems revolving
    \r\n", + "the thing over in his mind at the moment, makes no reply. The
    \r\n", + "gentleman turns to Mr. Scranton--the same methodical gentleman we
    \r\n", + "have described with the good Mrs. Rosebrook--hopes he will be good
    \r\n", + "enough to advise on the point in question. Mr. Scranton sits in all
    \r\n", + "the dignity of his serious philosophy, quite unmoved; his mind is
    \r\n", + "nearly distracted about all that is constitutionally right or
    \r\n", + "constitutionally wrong. He is bound to his own ways of thinking, and
    \r\n", + "would suffer martyrdom before his own conscientious scruples would
    \r\n", + "allow him to acknowledge a right superior to that constitution. As
    \r\n", + "for the humanity! that has nothing to do with the constitution,
    \r\n", + "nothing to do with the laws of the land, nothing to do with popular
    \r\n", + "government,--nothing to do with anything, and never should be taken
    \r\n", + "into consideration when the point at issue involved negro property.
    \r\n", + "The schedule of humanity would be a poor account at one's banker's.
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton begins to smooth his face, which seems to elongate like
    \r\n", + "a wet moon. \"The question is, as I understand it, gentlemen, how far
    \r\n", + "the law will give you a right to convict and sell the woman in the
    \r\n", + "absence of papers and against the assertions of her owner, that she
    \r\n", + "is free? Now, gentlemen, in the absence of my law books, and without
    \r\n", + "the least scruple that I am legally right, for I'm seldom legally
    \r\n", + "wrong, having been many years secretary to a senator in Congress who
    \r\n", + "made it my particular duty to keep him posted on all points of the
    \r\n", + "constitution--he drawls out with the serious complacency of a London
    \r\n", + "beggar--I will just say that, whatever is legal must be just. Laws
    \r\n", + "are always founded in justice--that's logical, you see,--and I always
    \r\n", + "maintained it long 'afore I come south, long 'afore I knowed a thing
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 5/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 5 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "about 'nigger law.' The point, thus far, you see, gentlemen, I've
    \r\n", + "settled. Now then!\" Mr. Scranton rests his elbow on the table, makes
    \r\n", + "many legal gesticulations with his finger; he, however, disclaims
    \r\n", + "all and every connection with the legal body, inasmuch as its
    \r\n", + "members have sunk very much in the scale of character, and will
    \r\n", + "require a deal of purifying ere he can call them brothers; but he
    \r\n", + "knows a thing or two of constitutional law, and thus proceeds:
    \r\n", + "\"'Tain't a whit of matter about the woman, barring the dockerment's
    \r\n", + "all right. You only want to prove that Marston bought her, that's
    \r\n", + "all! As for the young scraps, why--supposing they are his-that won't
    \r\n", + "make a bit of difference; they are property for all that, subject to
    \r\n", + "legal restraints. Your claim will be valid against it. You may have
    \r\n", + "to play nicely over some intricate legal points. But, remember,
    \r\n", + "nigger law is wonderfully elastic; it requires superhuman wisdom to
    \r\n", + "unravel its social and political intricacies, and when I view it
    \r\n", + "through the horoscope of an indefinite future it makes my very head
    \r\n", + "ache. You may, however, let your claim revert to another, and
    \r\n", + "traverse the case until such time as you can procure reliable proof
    \r\n", + "to convict.\" Mr. Scranton asserts this as the force of his legal and
    \r\n", + "constitutional acumen. He addresses himself to a mercantile-looking
    \r\n", + "gentleman who sits at the opposite side of the table, attentively
    \r\n", + "listening. He is one of several of Marston's creditors, who sit at
    \r\n", + "the table; they have attached certain property, and having some
    \r\n", + "doubts of overthrowing Marston's plea of freedom, which he has
    \r\n", + "intimated his intention to enter, have called in the valuable aid of
    \r\n", + "Romescos. That indomitable individual, however, has more interests
    \r\n", + "than one to serve, and is playing his cards with great \"diplomatic
    \r\n", + "skill.\" Indeed, he often remarks that his wonderful diplomatic skill
    \r\n", + "would have been a great acquisition to the federal government,
    \r\n", + "inasmuch as it would have facilitated all its Southern American
    \r\n", + "projects.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The point in question at present, and which they must get over, in
    \r\n", + "order to prove the property, is made more difficult by the doubt in
    \r\n", + "which the origin of Clotilda has always been involved. Many are the
    \r\n", + "surmises about her parentage-many are the assertions that she is not
    \r\n", + "of negro extraction--she has no one feature indicating it--but no one
    \r\n", + "can positively assert where she came from; in a word, no one dare!
    \r\n", + "Hence is constituted the ground for fearing the issue of Marston's
    \r\n", + "notice of freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! I'll own it puzzles my cunnin'; there's a way to get round
    \r\n", + "it-there is-but deuced if 'tain't too much for my noddle,\" Romescos
    \r\n", + "interposes, taking a little more whiskey, and seeming quite
    \r\n", + "indifferent about the whole affair. \"Suppose-Marston-comes-forward!
    \r\n", + "yes, and brings somebody to swear as a kind a' sideways? That'll be
    \r\n", + "a poser in asserting their freedom; it'll saddle you creditors with
    \r\n", + "the burden of proof. There'll be the rub; and ye can't plead a right
    \r\n", + "to enjoin the schedule he files in bankruptcy unless ye show how
    \r\n", + "they were purchased by him. Perchance on some legal uncertainty it
    \r\n", + "might be done,--by your producing proof that he had made an
    \r\n", + "admission, anterior to the levy, of their being purchased by him,\"
    \r\n", + "Romescos continues, very wisely appealing to his learned and
    \r\n", + "constitutional friend, Mr. Scranton, who yields his assent by adding
    \r\n", + "that the remarks are very legal, and contain truths worth
    \r\n", + "considering, inasmuch as they involve great principles of popular
    \r\n", + "government. \"I think our worthy friend has a clear idea of the
    \r\n", + "points,\" Mr. Scranton concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One word more, gentlemen: a bit of advice what's worth a right
    \r\n", + "smart price to ye all\"--here he parenthesises by saying he has great
    \r\n", + "sympathy for creditors in distress--\"and ye must profit by it, for
    \r\n", + "yer own interests. As the case now stands, it's a game for lawyers
    \r\n", + "to play and get fat at. And, seein' how Marston's feelins are up in
    \r\n", + "a sort of tender way, he feels strong about savin' them young 'uns;
    \r\n", + "and ye, nor all the gentlemen of the lower place, can't make 'em
    \r\n", + "property, if he plays his game right;--he knows how to! ye'll only
    \r\n", + "make a fuss over the brutes, while the lawyers bag all the game
    \r\n", + "worth a dollar. Never see'd a nigger yet what raised a legal squall,
    \r\n", + "that didn't get used up in law leakins; lawyers are sainted pocket
    \r\n", + "masters! But--that kind a' stuff!--it takes a mighty deal of
    \r\n", + "cross-cornered swearing to turn it into property. The only way ye
    \r\n", + "can drive the peg in so the lawyers won't get hold on't, is by
    \r\n", + "sellin' out to old Graspum-Norman, I mean--he does up such business
    \r\n", + "as fine as a fiddle. Make the best strike with him ye can--he's as
    \r\n", + "tough as a knot on nigger trade!--and, if there's any making
    \r\n", + "property out on 'em, he's just the tinker to do it.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They shake their heads doubtingly, as if questioning the policy of
    \r\n", + "the advice. Mr. Scranton, however, to whom all looked with great
    \r\n", + "solicitation, speaks up, and affirms the advice to be the wiser
    \r\n", + "course, as a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, yes!\" says Romescos, significantly, \"you'll be safe then, and
    \r\n", + "free from responsibility; Graspum's a great fellow to buy risks;
    \r\n", + "but, seeing how he's not popular with juries, he may want to play
    \r\n", + "behind the scenes, continue to prosecute the case in the name of the
    \r\n", + "creditors,--that's all! Curious work, this making property out of
    \r\n", + "doubtful women. Sell out to them what understands the curious of the
    \r\n", + "things, clear yerselfs of the perplexin' risks--ye won't bag a bit of
    \r\n", + "the game, you won't. Saddle it on Norman; he knows the philosophy of
    \r\n", + "nigger trade, and can swim through a sea of legal perplexities in
    \r\n", + "nigger cases.\" Mr. Romescos never gave more serious advice in his
    \r\n", + "life; he finishes his whiskey, adjusts his hat slouchingly on his
    \r\n", + "head, bids them good night; and, in return for their thanks, assures
    \r\n", + "them that they are welcome. He withdraws; Mr. Scranton, after a
    \r\n", + "time, gets very muddled; so much so, that, when daylight appears, he
    \r\n", + "finds, to his utter astonishment, he has enjoyed a sweet sleep on
    \r\n", + "the floor, some of his quizzical friends having disfigured his face
    \r\n", + "very much after the fashion of a clown's. He modestly, and
    \r\n", + "mechanically, picks up his lethargic body, views his constitutional
    \r\n", + "self in the glass, and is much horrified, much disgusted with those
    \r\n", + "who perpetrated the freak.
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XVIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THEY ARE ALL GOING TO BE SOLD.
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "SLOWLY we pass through the precious scenes, hoping our readers will
    \r\n", + "indulge us with their patience.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Five days have passed since Clotilda's departure; her absence is
    \r\n", + "creating alarm. No one knows anything of her! a general search is
    \r\n", + "instituted, but the searchers search in vain. Maxwell has eluded
    \r\n", + "suspicion-Franconia no one for a moment suspects. Colonel
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow-his mind, for the time, absorbed in the charms of his
    \r\n", + "young bride-gives little attention to the matter. He only knows that
    \r\n", + "he has signed a bond for fifteen hundred dollars, to indemnify the
    \r\n", + "sheriff, or creditors, in the event of loss; he reconciles himself
    \r\n", + "with the belief that she has been enticed into some of the
    \r\n", + "neighbouring bright houses, from which he can regain her in the
    \r\n", + "course of time. M'Carstrow knows little of Clotilda's real
    \r\n", + "character; and thus the matter rests a time.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sheriff,--important gentleman of an important office,--will give
    \r\n", + "himself no concern about the matter: the plaintiff's attorney
    \r\n", + "acknowledged the deed of release, which is quite enough for him.
    \r\n", + "Graspum, a perfect savan where human property was to be judged, had
    \r\n", + "decided that her square inches of human vitality were worth strong
    \r\n", + "fifteen hundred; that was all desirable for the sheriff-it would
    \r\n", + "leave margin enough to cover the cost. But M'Carstrow, when given
    \r\n", + "the bond, knew enough of nigger law to demand the insertion of a
    \r\n", + "clause leaving it subject to the question of property, which is to
    \r\n", + "be decided by the court. A high court this, where freemen sit
    \r\n", + "assembled to administer curious justice. What constitutional
    \r\n", + "inconsistencies hover over the monstrous judicial dignity of this
    \r\n", + "court,--this court having jurisdiction over the monetary value of
    \r\n", + "beings moulded after God's own image! It forms a happy jurisprudence
    \r\n", + "for those who view it for their selfish ends; it gains freedom
    \r\n", + "tyranny's license, gives birth to strange incongruities, clashing
    \r\n", + "between the right of property in man and all the viler passions of
    \r\n", + "our nature. It holds forth a jurisprudence that turns men into
    \r\n", + "hounds of hell, devouring one another, and dragging human nature
    \r\n", + "down into the very filth of earth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston's troubles keep increasing. All the preliminaries of law
    \r\n", + "necessary to a sale of the undisputed property have been gone
    \r\n", + "through; the day of its disposal has arrived. The children, Annette
    \r\n", + "and Nicholas, have remained in a cell, suffering under its malarious
    \r\n", + "atmosphere, anxiously awaiting their fate. Marston has had them
    \r\n", + "taught to read,--contrary to a generous law of a generous land,--and
    \r\n", + "at intervals they sit together pondering over little books he has
    \r\n", + "sent them.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "What are such little books to them? the unbending avarice of human
    \r\n", + "nature, fostered by slavery's power, is grappling at their
    \r\n", + "existence. There is no sympathy for them; it is crushed out by the
    \r\n", + "law which makes them chattels. Oh, no! sympathy, generosity, human
    \r\n", + "affections, have little to do with the transactions of slave
    \r\n", + "dealing; that belongs to commerce,--commerce has an unbending rule to
    \r\n", + "maintain while money is to be made by a legalised traffic.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We must invite the reader to accompany us to the county gaol, on the
    \r\n", + "morning of sale.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The \"gang\"-Marston's slaves-have been ordered to prepare themselves
    \r\n", + "for the market; the yard resounds with their jargon. Some are
    \r\n", + "arranging their little clothing, washing, \"brightening up\" their
    \r\n", + "faces to make the property show off in the market. Others are
    \r\n", + "preparing homony for breakfast; children, in ragged garments, are
    \r\n", + "toddling, running, playing, and sporting about the brick pavement;
    \r\n", + "the smallest are crouched at the feet of their mothers, as if
    \r\n", + "sharing the gloom or nonchalance of their feeling. Men are gathering
    \r\n", + "together the remnants of some cherished memento of the old
    \r\n", + "plantation; they had many a happy day upon it. Women view as things
    \r\n", + "of great worth the little trinkets with which good master, in former
    \r\n", + "days, rewarded their energy. They recall each happy association of
    \r\n", + "the cabin. Husbands, or such as should be husbands, look upon their
    \r\n", + "wives with solicitude; they feel it is to be the last day they will
    \r\n", + "meet together on earth. They may meet in heaven; there is no slavery
    \r\n", + "there. Mothers look upon their children only to feel the pangs of
    \r\n", + "sorrow more keenly; they know and feel that their offspring are born
    \r\n", + "for the market, not for the enjoyment of their affections. They may
    \r\n", + "be torn from them, and sold like sheep in the shambles. Happy, free
    \r\n", + "country! How fair, how beautiful the picture of constitutional
    \r\n", + "rights! how in keeping with every-day scenes of southern life!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'ze gwine to be sold; you're gwint to be sold; we're all gwine to
    \r\n", + "be sold. Wonder what mas'r's gwine t'buy dis child,\" says Aunt
    \r\n", + "Rachel, arranging her best dress, making her face \"shine just so.\"
    \r\n", + "Aunt Rachel endeavours to suit her feelings to the occasion, trims
    \r\n", + "her bandana about her head with exquisite taste, and lets the
    \r\n", + "bright-coloured points hang about her ears in great profusion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Da'h 's a right smart heap o' dollar in dis old nigger, yet!-if
    \r\n", + "mas'r what gwine t'buy 'em know how't fotch um out; Mas'r must do
    \r\n", + "da'h clean ting wid dis child,\" Rachel says, as if exulting over the
    \r\n", + "value of her own person. She brushes and brushes, views and reviews
    \r\n", + "herself in a piece of mirror-several are waiting to borrow it-thinks
    \r\n", + "she is just right for market, asks herself what's the use of
    \r\n", + "fretting? It's a free country, with boundless hospitality-of the
    \r\n", + "southern stamp,--and why not submit to all freedom's dealings? Aunt
    \r\n", + "Rachel is something of a philosopher.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Aunte! da' would'nt gin much fo'h yer old pack a' bones if mas'r
    \r\n", + "what gwine to buy ye know'd ye like I. Ye' h'ant da property what
    \r\n", + "bring long price wid Buckra,\" replies Dandy, who views Aunt Rachel
    \r\n", + "rather suspiciously, seems inclined to relieve her conceit, and has
    \r\n", + "taken very good care that his own dimensions are trimmed up to the
    \r\n", + "highest point.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dis nigger would'nt swop h'r carcas fo'h yourn. Dat she don't,\"
    \r\n", + "Rachel retorts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Reckon how ye wouldn't, ah!\" Dandy's face fills with indignation.
    \r\n", + "\"Buckra what sting ye back wid de lash 'll buy ye old bag a' bones
    \r\n", + "fo'h down south; and when 'e get ye down da' he make ye fo'h a corn
    \r\n", + "grinder.\" Dandy is somewhat inflated with his rank among the
    \r\n", + "domestics; he is none of yer common niggers, has never associated
    \r\n", + "with black, field niggers, which he views as quite too common for
    \r\n", + "his aristocratic notions, has on his very best looks, his hair
    \r\n", + "combed with extraordinary care, his shirt collar dangerously
    \r\n", + "standing above his ears. He feels something better than nigger blood
    \r\n", + "in his composition, knows the ins and outs of nigger philosophy; he
    \r\n", + "knows it to be the very best kind of philosophy for a \"nigger\" to
    \r\n", + "put on a good appearance at the shambles. A dandy nigger is not
    \r\n", + "plantation stock,--hence he has \"trimmed up,\" and hopes to find a
    \r\n", + "purchaser in want of his specific kind of property; it will save him
    \r\n", + "from that field-life so much dreaded.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The property, in all its varied shades, comes rolling out from all
    \r\n", + "manner of places in and about the gaol, filling the yard. It is a
    \r\n", + "momentous occasion, the most momentous of their life-time. And yet
    \r\n", + "many seem indifferent about its consequences. They speak of the old
    \r\n", + "plantation, jeer each other about the value of themselves, offer
    \r\n", + "bets on the price they will bring, assert a superiority over each
    \r\n", + "other, and boast of belonging to some particular grade of the
    \r\n", + "property. Harry--we mean Harry the preacher--is busy getting his wife
    \r\n", + "and children ready for market. He evinces great affection for his
    \r\n", + "little ones, has helped his wife to arrange their apparel with so
    \r\n", + "much care. The uninitiated might imagine them going to church
    \r\n", + "instead of the man shambles. Indeed, so earnest are many good
    \r\n", + "divines in the promotion of slavery, that it would not be unbecoming
    \r\n", + "to form a connection between the southern church and the southern
    \r\n", + "man shambles. The material aid they now give each other for the
    \r\n", + "purpose of keeping up the man trade would be much facilitated.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "However, there is a chance of Harry being sold to a brother divine,
    \r\n", + "who by way of serving his good Lord and righteous master, may let
    \r\n", + "him out to preach, after the old way. Harry will then be serving his
    \r\n", + "brother in brotherly faith; that is, he will be his brother's
    \r\n", + "property, very profitable, strong in the faith with his dear divine
    \r\n", + "brother, to whom he will pay large tribute for the right to serve
    \r\n", + "the same God.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry's emotions-he has been struggling to suppress them-have got
    \r\n", + "beyond his control; tears will now and then show themselves and
    \r\n", + "course down his cheeks. \"Never mind, my good folks! it is something
    \r\n", + "to know that Jesus still guards us; still watches over us.\" He
    \r\n", + "speaks encouragingly to them. \"The scourge of earth is man's wrongs,
    \r\n", + "the deathspring of injustice. We are made bearers of the burden; but
    \r\n", + "that very burden will be our passport into a brighter, a juster
    \r\n", + "world. Let us meekly bear it. Cheer up! arm yourselves with the
    \r\n", + "spirit of the Lord; it will give you fortitude to live out the long
    \r\n", + "journey of slave life. How we shall feel when, in heaven, we are
    \r\n", + "brought face to face with master, before the Lord Judge. Our rights
    \r\n", + "and his wrongs will then weigh in the balance of heavenly justice.\"
    \r\n", + "With these remarks, Harry counsels them to join him in prayer. He
    \r\n", + "kneels on the brick pavement of the yard, clasps his hands together
    \r\n", + "as they gather around him kneeling devotedly. Fervently he offers up
    \r\n", + "a prayer,--he invokes the God of heaven to look down upon them, to
    \r\n", + "bestow his mercy upon master, to incline his ways in the paths of
    \r\n", + "good; and to protect these, his unfortunate children, and guide them
    \r\n", + "through their separate wayfaring. The ardour, grotesqueness, and
    \r\n", + "devotion of this poor forlorn group, are painfully touching. How it
    \r\n", + "presents the portrait of an oppressed race! how sunk is the nature
    \r\n", + "that has thus degraded it! Under the painful burden of their sorrow
    \r\n", + "they yet manifest the purity of simple goodness. \"Oh! Father in
    \r\n", + "heaven, hast thou thus ordained it to be so?\" breaks forth from
    \r\n", + "Harry's lips, as the criminals, moved by the affecting picture,
    \r\n", + "gather upon the veranda, and stand attentive listeners. Their
    \r\n", + "attention seems rivetted to his words; the more vicious, as he looks
    \r\n", + "through grated bars upon them, whispers words of respect.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry has scarcely concluded his prayer when the sheriff,
    \r\n", + "accompanied by several brokers (slave-dealers), comes rushing
    \r\n", + "through the transept into the yard. The sheriff is not rude; he
    \r\n", + "approaches Harry, tells him he is a good boy, has no objection to
    \r\n", + "his praying, and hopes a good master will buy him. He will do all he
    \r\n", + "can to further his interests, having heard a deal about his talents.
    \r\n", + "He says this with good-natured measure, and proceeds to take a
    \r\n", + "cursory view of the felons. While he is thus proceeding, the
    \r\n", + "gentlemen of trade who accompanied him are putting \"the property\"
    \r\n", + "through a series of examinations.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Property like this ye don't start up every day,\" says one. \"Best
    \r\n", + "I'ze seen come from that ar' district. Give ye plenty corn, down
    \r\n", + "there, don't they, boys?\" enjoins another, walking among them, and
    \r\n", + "every moment bringing the end of a small whip which he holds in his
    \r\n", + "right hand about their legs. This, the gentleman remarks, is merely
    \r\n", + "for the purpose-one of the phrases of the very honourable trade-of
    \r\n", + "testing their nimbleness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well!\" replies a tall, lithe dealer, whose figure would seem to
    \r\n", + "have been moulded for chasing hogs through the swamp, \"There's some
    \r\n", + "good bits among it; but it won't stand prime, as a lot!\" The
    \r\n", + "gentleman, who seems to have a nicely balanced mind for judging the
    \r\n", + "human nature value of such things, is not quite sure that they have
    \r\n", + "been bacon fed. He continues his learned remarks. \"Ye'h han't had
    \r\n", + "full tuck out, I reckon, boys?\" he inquires of them, deliberately
    \r\n", + "examining the mouths and nostrils of several. The gentleman is very
    \r\n", + "cool in this little matter of trade; it is an essential element of
    \r\n", + "southern democracy; some say, nothing more!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, Boss!\" replies Enoch, one of the negroes; \"Mas'r ollers good
    \r\n", + "t' e niggers, gin him bacon free times a week-sometimes mo' den
    \r\n", + "dat.\" Several voices chime in to affirm what Enoch says.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, very good. Few planters in that district give their negroes
    \r\n", + "bacon; and an all corn-fed nigger won't last two years on a sugar
    \r\n", + "plantation,\" remarks one of the gentlemen dealers, as he smokes his
    \r\n", + "cigar with great nonchalance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While these quaint appendancies of the trade are proceeding,
    \r\n", + "Romescos and Graspum make their appearance. They have come to
    \r\n", + "forestall opinion, to make a few side-winded remarks. They are ready
    \r\n", + "to enter upon the disgusting business of examining property more
    \r\n", + "carefully, more scrupulously, more in private. The honourable
    \r\n", + "sheriff again joins the party. He orders that every accommodation be
    \r\n", + "afforded the gentlemen in their examinations of the property. Men,
    \r\n", + "women, and children-sorrowing property-are made to stand erect; to
    \r\n", + "gesticulate their arms; to expand their chests, to jump about like
    \r\n", + "jackals, and to perform sundry antics pleasing to the gentlemen
    \r\n", + "lookers-on. This is all very free, very democratic, very gentlemanly
    \r\n", + "in the way of trade,--very necessary to test the ingredient of the
    \r\n", + "valuable square inches of the property. What matters all this! the
    \r\n", + "honourable sheriff holds it no dishonour; modest gentlemen never
    \r\n", + "blush at it; the coarse dealer makes it his study,--he trades in
    \r\n", + "human nature; the happy democrat thinks it should have a
    \r\n", + "co-fellowship with southern hospitality-so long and loudly boasted.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Those little necessary displays over, the honourable sheriff invites
    \r\n", + "his distinguished friends to \"have a cigar round;\" having satisfied
    \r\n", + "their taste in gymnastarising the property. Romescos, however,
    \r\n", + "thinks he has not quite satisfied his feelings; he is very dogged on
    \r\n", + "nigger flesh. The other gentlemen may smoke their cigars; Mr.
    \r\n", + "Romescos thinks he will enjoy the exercise of his skill in testing
    \r\n", + "the tenacity of negroes' chests; which he does by administering
    \r\n", + "heavy blows, which make them groan out now and then. Groans,
    \r\n", + "however, don't amount to much; they are only nigger groans. Again
    \r\n", + "Mr. Romescos applies the full force of his hands upon their ears;
    \r\n", + "then he will just pull them systematically. \"Nice property!\" he
    \r\n", + "says, telling the forbearing creatures not to mind the pain.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Messrs. Graspum and Romescos will make a close inspection of a few
    \r\n", + "pieces. Here, several men and women are led into a basement cell,
    \r\n", + "under the veranda, and stript most rudely. No discrimination is
    \r\n", + "permitted. Happy freedom! What a boon is liberty! Mr. Romescos views
    \r\n", + "their nice firm bodies, and their ebony black skins, with great
    \r\n", + "skill and precaution; his object is to prove the disposition of the
    \r\n", + "articles,--strong evidence being absence of scars. He lays his bony
    \r\n", + "fingers on their left shoulders-they being compelled to stand in a
    \r\n", + "recumbent position-tracing their bodies to the hips and thighs. Here
    \r\n", + "the process ends. Mr. Romescos has satisfied his very nice judgment
    \r\n", + "on the solidity of the human-flesh-property-he has put their bodies
    \r\n", + "through other disgusting inspections-they belong to the trade-which
    \r\n", + "cannot be told here; but he finds clean skins, very smooth, without
    \r\n", + "scars or cuts, or dangerous diseases. He laughs exultingly, orders
    \r\n", + "the people to stow themselves in their clothes again, and relights
    \r\n", + "his cigar. \"If it 'ant a tall lot!\" he whispers to Graspum, and
    \r\n", + "gives him a significant touch with his elbow. \"Bright-smooth as a
    \r\n", + "leather ninepence; han't had a lash-Marston was a fool, or his
    \r\n", + "niggers are angels, rather black, though-couldn't start up a scar on
    \r\n", + "their flesh. A little trimmin' down-it wants it, you see!-to make it
    \r\n", + "show off; must have it-eh! Graspum, old feller? It only wants a
    \r\n", + "little, though, and them dandy niggers, and that slap-up preacher,
    \r\n", + "will bring a smart price fixed up. Great institution! The preacher's
    \r\n", + "got knowin'; can discourse like a college-made deacon, and can
    \r\n", + "convert a whole plantation with his nigger eloquence. A nigger
    \r\n", + "preacher with Bible knowin, when it's smart, is right valuable when
    \r\n", + "ye want to keep the pious of a plantation straight. And then! when
    \r\n", + "the preacher 'ant got a notion a' runnin away in him.\" Romescos
    \r\n", + "crooks his finger upon Graspum's arm, whispers cautiously in his
    \r\n", + "ear.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There 'll be a sharp bidding for some of it; they 'll run up some
    \r\n", + "on the preacher. He 'll be a capital investment,--pay more than
    \r\n", + "thirty per cent. insinuates another gentleman-a small inquisitive
    \r\n", + "looking dealer in articles of the nigger line. When a planter's got
    \r\n", + "a big gang a' niggers, and is just fool enough to keep such a thing
    \r\n", + "for the special purpose of making pious valuable in 'um,\" Mr.
    \r\n", + "Romescos rejoins, shrugging his shoulders, rubbing his little hawk's
    \r\n", + "eyes, and looking seriously indifferent. Romescos gives wonderful
    \r\n", + "evidence of his \"first best cunning propensities;\" and here he
    \r\n", + "fancies he has pronounced an opinion that will be taken as profound.
    \r\n", + "He affects heedlessness of everything, is quite disinterested, and,
    \r\n", + "thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, assumes an air of dignity
    \r\n", + "that would not unbecome my Lord Chief Justice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Let us see them two bits of disputed property,--where are they?\"
    \r\n", + "inquires Graspum, turning half round, and addressing himself to the
    \r\n", + "gaoler.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"In the close cells,\" is the quick reply,--\"through the narrow vault,
    \r\n", + "up the stone passage, and on the right, in the arched cell.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gaoler-good, honest-hearted man-leads the way, through a chilly
    \r\n", + "vault, up the narrow passage, to the left wing of the building. The
    \r\n", + "air is pestiferous; warm and diseased, it fans us as we approach.
    \r\n", + "The gaoler puts his face to the grating, and in a guttural voice,
    \r\n", + "says, \"You're wanted, young uns.\" They understand the summons; they
    \r\n", + "come forward as if released from torture to enjoy the pure air of
    \r\n", + "heaven. Confinement, dreary and damp, has worn deep into their
    \r\n", + "systems.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Annette speaks feebly, looks pale and sickly. Her flaxen curls still
    \r\n", + "dangle prettily upon her shoulders. She expected her mother; that
    \r\n", + "mother has not come. The picture seems strange; she looks childishly
    \r\n", + "and vacantly round,--at the dealers, at Graspum, at the sheriff, at
    \r\n", + "the familiar faces of the old plantation people. She recognizes
    \r\n", + "Harry, and would fain leap into his arms. Nicholas, less moved by
    \r\n", + "what is going on around him, hangs reluctantly behind, holding by
    \r\n", + "the skirt of Annette's frock. He has lost that vivacity and pertness
    \r\n", + "so characteristic on the plantation. Happy picture of freedom's
    \r\n", + "love! Happy picture of immortalised injustice! Happy picture of
    \r\n", + "everything that is unhappy! How modest is the boast that we live to
    \r\n", + "be free; and that in our virtuous freedom a child's mother has been
    \r\n", + "sold for losing her mind: a faithful divine, strong with love for
    \r\n", + "his fellow divines, is to be sold for his faith; the child-the
    \r\n", + "daughter of the democrat-they say, will be sold from her democratic
    \r\n", + "father. The death-stinging enemy Washington and Jefferson sought to
    \r\n", + "slaughter-to lay ever dead at their feet, has risen to life again.
    \r\n", + "Annette's mother has fled to escape its poison. We must pause! we
    \r\n", + "must not discourse thus in our day, when the sordid web of trade is
    \r\n", + "being drawn over the land by King Cotton.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The children, like all such doubtful stock, are considered very
    \r\n", + "fancy, very choice of their kind. It must be dressed in style to
    \r\n", + "suit nice eyes at the shambles.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! ye'r right interesting looking,\" says the sheriff--Messrs.
    \r\n", + "Graspum and Co. look upon them with great concern, now and then
    \r\n", + "interrupting with some observations upon their pedigree,--taking them
    \r\n", + "by the arms, and again rumpling their hair by rubbing his hands over
    \r\n", + "their heads. \"Fix it up, trim; we must put them up along with the
    \r\n", + "rest to-day. It 'll make Marston--I pity the poor fellow--show his
    \r\n", + "hand on the question of their freedom. Mr. sheriff, being
    \r\n", + "sufficiently secured against harm, is quite indifferent about the
    \r\n", + "latent phases of the suit. He remarks, with great legal logic--we
    \r\n", + "mean legal slave logic--that Marston must object to the sale when the
    \r\n", + "children are on the stand. It is very pretty kind a' property, very
    \r\n", + "like Marston--will be as handsome as pictures when they grow up,\" he
    \r\n", + "says, ordering it put back to be got ready.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Why didn't my mother come?\" the child whimpers, dewy tears
    \r\n", + "decorating her eyes. \"Why won't she come back and take me to the
    \r\n", + "plantation again? I want her to come back; I've waited so long.\" As
    \r\n", + "she turns to follow the gaoler--Nicholas still holds her by the skirt
    \r\n", + "of her frock--her flaxen curls again wave to and fro upon her
    \r\n", + "shoulders, adding beauty to her childlike simplicity. \"You'll grow
    \r\n", + "to be something, one of these days, won't ye, little dear?\" says the
    \r\n", + "gaoler, taking her by the hand. She replies in those silent and
    \r\n", + "touching arguments of the soul; she raises her soft blue eyes, and
    \r\n", + "heaven fills them with tears, which she lifts her tiny hands to wipe
    \r\n", + "away.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Nicholas tremblingly-he cannot understand the strange
    \r\n", + "movement-follows them through the vault; he looks up submissively,
    \r\n", + "and with instinctive sympathy commences a loud blubbering. \"You're
    \r\n", + "going to be sold, little uns! but, don't roar about it; there's no
    \r\n", + "use in that,\" says the gaoler, inclining to sympathy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Nicholas does'nt comprehend it; he looks up to Annette, plaintively,
    \r\n", + "and, forgetting his own tears, says, in a whisper, \"Don't cry,
    \r\n", + "Annette; they 'll let us go and see mother, and mother will be so
    \r\n", + "kind to us-.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It does seem a pity to sell ye, young 'uns; ye'r such nice
    \r\n", + "'uns,--have so much interestin' in yer little skins!\" interrupts the
    \r\n", + "gaoler, suddenly. The man of keys could unfold a strange history of
    \r\n", + "misery, suffering, and death, if fear of popular opinion,
    \r\n", + "illustrated in popular liberty, did not seal his lips. He admits the
    \r\n", + "present to be
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We are narrating a scene related to us by the very gaoler we here
    \r\n", + "describe, and as nearly as possible in his own language. rather an
    \r\n", + "uncommon case, says it makes a body feel kind a' unhinged about the
    \r\n", + "heart, which heart, however rocky at times, will have its own way
    \r\n", + "when little children are sorrowing. \"And then, to know their
    \r\n", + "parents! that's what tells deeper on a body's feeling,--it makes a
    \r\n", + "body look into the hereafter.\" The man of keys and shackles would be
    \r\n", + "a father, if the law did but let him. There is a monster power over
    \r\n", + "him, a power he dreads-it is the power of unbending democracy, moved
    \r\n", + "alone by fretful painstakers of their own freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Poor little things! ye 'r most white, yes!-suddenly changing-just
    \r\n", + "as white as white need be. Property's property, though, all over the
    \r\n", + "world. What's sanctioned by the constitution, and protected by the
    \r\n", + "spirit and wisdom of Congress, must be right, and maintained,\" the
    \r\n", + "gaoler concludes. His heart is at war with his head; but the head
    \r\n", + "has the power, and he must protect the rights of an unrighteous
    \r\n", + "system. They have arrived at a flight of steps, up which they
    \r\n", + "ascend, and are soon lost in its windings. They are going to be
    \r\n", + "dressed for the market.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sheriff is in the yard, awaiting the preparation of the
    \r\n", + "property. Even he-iron-hearted, they say-gives them a look of
    \r\n", + "generous solicitude, as they pass out. He really feels there is a
    \r\n", + "point, no less in the scale of slave dealing, beyond which there is
    \r\n", + "something so repugnant that hell itself might frown upon it. \"It's a
    \r\n", + "phase too hard, touches a body's conscience,\" he says, not observing
    \r\n", + "Romescos at his elbow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Conscience!\" interrupts Romescos, his eyes flashing like meteors of
    \r\n", + "red fire, \"the article don't belong to the philosophy of our
    \r\n", + "business. Establish conscience-let us, gentlemen, give way to our
    \r\n", + "feelins, and trade in nigger property 'd be deader than Chatham's
    \r\n", + "statue, what was pulled through our streets by the neck. The great
    \r\n", + "obstacle, however, is only this-it is profitable in its way!\"
    \r\n", + "Romescos cautiously attempts to shield this, but it will not do.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gaoler, protruding his head from a second-story window, like a
    \r\n", + "mop in a rain storm, enquires if it is requisite to dress the
    \r\n", + "children in their very best shine. It is evident he merely views
    \r\n", + "them as two bales of merchandise.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sheriff, angrily, says, \"Yes! I told you that already. Make them
    \r\n", + "look as bright as two new pins.\" His honour has been contemplating
    \r\n", + "how they will be mere pins in the market,--pins to bolt the doors of
    \r\n", + "justice, pins to play men into Congress, pins to play men out of
    \r\n", + "Congress, pins to play a President into the White House.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "An old negress, one of the plantation nurses, is called into
    \r\n", + "service. She commences the process of preparing them for market.
    \r\n", + "They are nicely washed, dressed in clean clothes; they shine out as
    \r\n", + "bright and white as anybody's children. Their heads look so sleek,
    \r\n", + "their hair is so nicely combed, so nicely parted, so nicely curled.
    \r\n", + "The old slave loves them,--she loved their father. Her skill has been
    \r\n", + "lavished upon them,--they look as choice and interesting as the human
    \r\n", + "property of any democratic gentleman can be expected to do. Let us
    \r\n", + "be patriotic, let us be law-loving, patient law-abiding citizens,
    \r\n", + "loving that law of our free country which puts them under the
    \r\n", + "man-vender's hammer,--say our peace-abiding neighbours.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gaoler has not been long in getting Annette and Nicholas ready.
    \r\n", + "He brings them forward, so neatly and prettily dressed: he places
    \r\n", + "them among the \"gang.\" But they are disputed property: hence all
    \r\n", + "that ingenuity which the system engenders for the advancement of
    \r\n", + "dealers is brought into use to defeat the attempt to assert their
    \r\n", + "freedom. Romescos declares it no difficult matter to do this: he has
    \r\n", + "the deadly weapon in his possession; he can work (shuffle) the debt
    \r\n", + "into Graspum's hands, and he can supply the proof to convict. By
    \r\n", + "this very desirable arrangement the thing may be made nicely
    \r\n", + "profitable.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "No sooner has Aunt Rachel seen the children in their neat and
    \r\n", + "familiar attire, than her feelings bound with joy,--she cannot longer
    \r\n", + "restrain them. She has watched Marston's moral delinquencies with
    \r\n", + "suspicion; but she loves the children none the less. And with honest
    \r\n", + "negro nature she runs to them, clasps them to her bosom, fondles
    \r\n", + "them, and kisses them like a fond mother. The happy associations of
    \r\n", + "the past, contrasted with their present unhappy condition, unbind
    \r\n", + "the fountain of her solicitude,--she pours it upon them, warm and
    \r\n", + "fervent. \"Gwine t' sell ye, too! Mas'r, poor old Mas'r, would'nt
    \r\n", + "sell ye, no how! that he don't. But poor old Boss hab 'e trouble
    \r\n", + "now, God bless 'em,\" she says, again pressing Annette to her bosom,
    \r\n", + "nearer and nearer, with fondest, simplest, holiest affection.
    \r\n", + "Looking intently in the child's face, she laughs with the bounding
    \r\n", + "joy of her soul; then she smooths its hair with her brawny black
    \r\n", + "hands: they contrast strangely with the pure carnatic of the child's
    \r\n", + "cheek.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Lor! good Lor, Mas'r Buckra,\" aunt Rachel exclaims, \"if eber de
    \r\n", + "Lor' smote 'e vengence on yeh, 't'll be fo' sellin' de likes o'
    \r\n", + "dese. Old Mas'r tinks much on 'em, fo' true. Gwine t' sell dem what
    \r\n", + "Mas'r be so fond on? Hard tellin' what Buckra don't sell win i'
    \r\n", + "makes money on him. Neber mind, children; de Lor' aint so unsartin
    \r\n", + "as white man. He,--da'h good Mas'r yonder in the clouds,--save ye yet;
    \r\n", + "he'll make white man gin ye back when de day o' judgment come.\" Aunt
    \r\n", + "Rachel has an instinctive knowledge of the errors, accidents, and
    \r\n", + "delays which have brought about this sad event,--she becomes absorbed
    \r\n", + "in their cares, as she loses sight of her own trouble.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "All ready for the market, they are chained together in pairs, men
    \r\n", + "and women, as if the wrongs they bore had made them untrustworthy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos, ever employed in his favourite trade, is busily engaged
    \r\n", + "chaining up-assorting the pairs! One by one they quietly submit to
    \r\n", + "the proceeding, until he reaches Harry. That minister-of-the-gospel
    \r\n", + "piece of property thinks,--that is, is foolish enough to think,--his
    \r\n", + "nigger religion a sufficient guarantee against any inert propensity
    \r\n", + "to run away. \"Now, good master, save my hands from irons, and my
    \r\n", + "heart from pain. Trust me, let me go unbound; my old Master trust me
    \r\n", + "wid 'is life-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Halloo!\" says Romescos, quickly interrupting, and beginning to
    \r\n", + "bristle with rage; \"preach about old Master here you'll get the
    \r\n", + "tinglers, I reckon. Put 'em on-not a grunt-or you'll get thirty
    \r\n", + "more-yes, a collar on yer neck.\" Holding a heavy stick over the poor
    \r\n", + "victim's head, for several minutes with one hand, he rubs the other,
    \r\n", + "clenched, several times across his nose. Graspum interposes by
    \r\n", + "reminding the minister that it is for his interest to be very
    \r\n", + "careful how he makes any reply to white gentlemen.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Why, massa, I'ze the minister on de plantation. My old master
    \r\n", + "wouldn't sell-wouldn't do so wid me. Master knows I love God, am
    \r\n", + "honest and peaceable. Why chain the honest? why chain the peaceable?
    \r\n", + "why chain the innocent? They need no fetters, no poisoning shackles.
    \r\n", + "The guilty only fear the hand of retribution,\" says Harry, a curl of
    \r\n", + "contempt on his lip. He takes a step backwards as Romescos holds the
    \r\n", + "heavy irons before him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You don't come nigger preacher over this ar' child; 't'ant what's
    \r\n", + "crack'd up to be. I larns niggers to preach different tunes. Don't
    \r\n", + "spoil prime stock for such nonsense-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Master Sheriff will stand answerable for me,\" interrupts Harry,
    \r\n", + "turning to that honourable functionary, and claiming his protection.
    \r\n", + "That gentleman says it is rather out of his line to interfere.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not a preacher trick, I say again-Romescos evinces signs of
    \r\n", + "increasing temper-ya' black theologin. Preachers can't put on such
    \r\n", + "dignity when they'r property.\" Preachers of colour must be doubly
    \r\n", + "humbled: they must be humble before God, humbled before King Cotton,
    \r\n", + "humbled before the king dealer, who will sell them for their
    \r\n", + "dollars' worth. Harry must do the bidding of his king master; his
    \r\n", + "monkey tricks won't shine with such a philosopher as Romescos. The
    \r\n", + "man of bones, blood, and flesh, can tell him to sell a nigger
    \r\n", + "preacher to his brother of the ministry, and make it very
    \r\n", + "profitable. He assures Harry, while holding the shackles in his
    \r\n", + "hands, that he may put on just as much of the preacher as he can
    \r\n", + "get, when he gets to the shambles, and hears the fives and tens
    \r\n", + "bidding on his black hide.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry must submit; he does it with pain and reluctance. He is
    \r\n", + "chained to his wife-a favour suggested by the sheriff-with whom he
    \r\n", + "can walk the streets of a free country,--but they must be bound in
    \r\n", + "freedom's iron fellowship. The iron shackle clasps his wrist; the
    \r\n", + "lock ticks as Romescos turns the key: it vibrates to his very heart.
    \r\n", + "With a sigh he says, \"Ours is a life of sorrow, streaming its dark
    \r\n", + "way along a dangerous path. It will ebb into the bright and
    \r\n", + "beautiful of heaven; that heaven wherein we put our trust-where our
    \r\n", + "hopes are strengthened. O! come the day when we shall be borne to
    \r\n", + "the realms of joy-joy celestial! There no unholy shade of
    \r\n", + "birth-unholy only to man-shall doom us; the colour of our skin will
    \r\n", + "not there be our misfortune-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What!\" quickly interrupts Romescos, \"what's that?\" The property
    \r\n", + "minister, thus circumstanced, must not show belligerent feelings.
    \r\n", + "Romescos simply, but very skilfully, draws his club; measures him an
    \r\n", + "unamiable blow on the head, fells him to the ground. The poor wretch
    \r\n", + "struggles a few moments, raises his manacled hands to his face as
    \r\n", + "his wife falls weeping upon his shuddering body. She supplicates
    \r\n", + "mercy at the hands of the ruffian-the ruffian torturer. \"Quietly,
    \r\n", + "mas'r; my man 'ill go wid me,\" says the woman, interposing her hand
    \r\n", + "to prevent a second blow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry opens his eyes imploringly, casts a look of pity upon the man
    \r\n", + "standing over him. Romescos is in the attitude of dealing him
    \r\n", + "another blow. The wretch stays his hand. \"Do with me as you please,
    \r\n", + "master; you are over me. My hope will be my protector when your
    \r\n", + "pleasure will have its reward.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A second thought has struck Romescos; the nigger isn't so bad, after
    \r\n", + "all. \"Well, reckon how nobody won't have no objection to ya'r
    \r\n", + "thinking just as ya'v mind to; but ya' can't talk ya'r own way, nor
    \r\n", + "ya' can't have ya'r own way with this child. A nigger what puts on
    \r\n", + "parson airs-if it is a progressive age nigger-musn't put on fast
    \r\n", + "notions to a white gentleman of my standing! If he does, we just
    \r\n", + "take 'em out on him by the process of a small quantity of first-
    \r\n", + "rate knockin down,\" says Romescos, amiably lending him a hand to get
    \r\n", + "up. Graspum and the honourable sheriff are measuredly pacing up and
    \r\n", + "down the yard, talking over affairs of state, and the singular
    \r\n", + "purity of their own southern democracy-that democracy which will
    \r\n", + "surely elect the next President. Stepping aside in one of his
    \r\n", + "sallies, Graspum, in a half whisper, reminds Romescos that, now the
    \r\n", + "nigger has shown symptoms of disobedience, he had better prove the
    \r\n", + "safety of the shackles. \"Right! right! all right!\" the man of chains
    \r\n", + "responds; he had forgot this very necessary piece of amusement. He
    \r\n", + "places both hands upon the shackles; grasps them firmly; places his
    \r\n", + "left foot against Harry's stomach; and then, uttering a fierce
    \r\n", + "imprecation, makes his victim pull with might and main while he
    \r\n", + "braces against him with full power. The victim, groaning under the
    \r\n", + "pain, begs for mercy. Mercy was not made for him. Freedom and mercy,
    \r\n", + "in this our land of greatness, have been betrayed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry, made willing property, is now placed by the side of his wife,
    \r\n", + "as four small children--the youngest not more than two years
    \r\n", + "old--cling at the skirts of her gown. The children are scarcely old
    \r\n", + "enough to chain; their strong affections for poor chained mother and
    \r\n", + "father are quite enough to guarantee against their running away.
    \r\n", + "Romescos, in his ample kindness, will allow them to toddle their way
    \r\n", + "to market. They are not dangerous property;--they have their
    \r\n", + "feelings, and will go to market to be sold, without running away.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gang is ready. The gaoler, nearly out of breath, congratulates
    \r\n", + "himself upon the manner of dispatching business at his
    \r\n", + "establishment. Romescos will put them through a few evolutions
    \r\n", + "before marching in the street; so, placing himself at their right,
    \r\n", + "and the gaoler at their left flank, they are made to march and
    \r\n", + "counter-march several times round the yard. This done, the generous
    \r\n", + "gaoler invites the gentlemen into his office: he has a good glass of
    \r\n", + "whiskey waiting their superior tastes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The ward gates are opened; the great gate is withdrawn; the
    \r\n", + "property, linked in iron fellowship,--the gentlemen having taken
    \r\n", + "their whiskey,--are all ready for the word, march! This significant
    \r\n", + "admonition the sheriff gives, and the property sets off in solemn
    \r\n", + "procession, like wanderers bound on a pilgrimage. Tramp, tramp,
    \r\n", + "tramp, their footsteps fall in dull tones as they sally forth, in
    \r\n", + "broken file, through the long aisles. Romescos is in high glee,--his
    \r\n", + "feelings bound with exultation, he marches along, twirling a stick
    \r\n", + "over his head. They are soon in the street, where he invites them to
    \r\n", + "strike up a lively song--\"Jim crack corn, and I don't care, fo'h
    \r\n", + "Mas'r's gone away!\" he shouts; and several strike up, the rest
    \r\n", + "joining in the old plantation chorus--\"Away! away! away! Mas'r's
    \r\n", + "gone away.\" Thus, with jingling chorus and seemingly joyous hearts,
    \r\n", + "they march down to the man-market. The two children, Annette and
    \r\n", + "Nicholas, trail behind, in charge of the sheriff, whose better
    \r\n", + "feelings seem to be troubling him very much. Every now and then, as
    \r\n", + "they walk by his side, he casts a serious look at Annette, as if
    \r\n", + "conscience, speaking in deep pulsations, said it wasn't just right
    \r\n", + "to sell such an interesting little creature. Onward they marched,
    \r\n", + "his head and heart warring the while. \"There's something about it
    \r\n", + "that does'nt seem to come just right in a fellow's feelins,\" keeps
    \r\n", + "working itself in his mind, until at length he mutters the words. It
    \r\n", + "is the natural will to do good, struggling against the privileges
    \r\n", + "which a government gives ungovernable men to do wrong.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XVIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "LET US FOLLOW POOR HUMAN NATURE TO THE MAN SHAMBLES.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "GENTLEMEN dealers in want of human property,--planters in want of a
    \r\n", + "few prime people,--brokers who have large transactions in such
    \r\n", + "articles,--and factors who, being rather sensitive of their dignity,
    \r\n", + "give to others the negotiation of their business,--are assembled in
    \r\n", + "and around the mart, a covered shed, somewhat resembling those used
    \r\n", + "by railroad companies for the storing of coarse merchandise.
    \r\n", + "Marston's negroes are to be sold. Suspicious circumstances are
    \r\n", + "connected with his sudden decline: rumour has sounded her
    \r\n", + "seven-tongued symbols upon it, and loud are the speculations. The
    \r\n", + "cholera has made mighty ravages; but the cholera could not have done
    \r\n", + "all. Graspum has grasped the plantation, quietly and adroitly, but
    \r\n", + "he has not raised the veil of mystery that hangs over the process.
    \r\n", + "There must be long explanations before the obdurate creditors are
    \r\n", + "satisfied.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The irons have been removed from the property, who are crouched
    \r\n", + "round the stand-an elevated platform-in a forlorn group, where
    \r\n", + "sundry customers can scrutinize their proportions. Being little or
    \r\n", + "no fancy among it, the fast young gentlemen of the town, finding
    \r\n", + "nothing worthy their attention and taste, make a few cursory
    \r\n", + "observations, and slowly swagger out of the ring. The children are
    \r\n", + "wonderfully attractive and promising; they are generally admired by
    \r\n", + "the customers, who view them with suspicious glances. Annette's
    \r\n", + "clean white skin and fine features are remarkably promising,--much
    \r\n", + "valued as articles of merchandise,--and will, in time, pay good
    \r\n", + "interest. Her youth, however, saves her from present sacrifice,--it
    \r\n", + "thwarts that spirited competition which older property of the same
    \r\n", + "quality produces when about to be knocked down under the hammer of
    \r\n", + "freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is a great day, a day of tribulation, with the once happy people
    \r\n", + "of Marston's plantation. No prayer is offered up for them, their
    \r\n", + "souls being only embodied in their market value. Prayers are not
    \r\n", + "known at the man shambles, though the hammer of the vender seals
    \r\n", + "with death the lives of many. No gentleman in modest black cares
    \r\n", + "aught for such death. The dealer will not pay the service fee! Good
    \r\n", + "master is no longer their protector; his familiar face, so buoyant
    \r\n", + "with joy and affection, has passed from them. No more will that
    \r\n", + "strong attachment manifest itself in their greetings. Fathers will
    \r\n", + "be fathers no longer-it is unlawful. Mothers cannot longer clasp
    \r\n", + "their children in their arms with warm affections. Children will no
    \r\n", + "longer cling around their mothers,--no longer fondle in that bosom
    \r\n", + "where once they toyed and joyed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The articles murmur among themselves, cast longing glances at each
    \r\n", + "other, meet the gaze of their purchasers, with pain and distrust
    \r\n", + "brooding over their countenances. They would seem to trace the
    \r\n", + "character-cruel or gentle-of each in his look.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Was it that God ordained one man thus to doom another? No! the very
    \r\n", + "thought repulsed the plea. He never made one man's life to be sorrow
    \r\n", + "and fear-to be the basest object, upon which blighting strife for
    \r\n", + "gold fills the passions of tyrants. He never made man to be a dealer
    \r\n", + "in his own kind. He never made man after his own image to imprecate
    \r\n", + "the wrath of heaven by blackening earth with his foul deeds. He
    \r\n", + "never made man to blacken this fair portion of earth with storms of
    \r\n", + "contention, nor to overthrow the principles that gave it greatness.
    \r\n", + "He never made man to fill the cup that makes the grim oppressor
    \r\n", + "fierce in his triumphs over right.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Come reader-come with us: let us look around the pale of these
    \r\n", + "common man shambles. Here a venerable father sits, a bale of
    \r\n", + "merchandise, moved with the quick pulsation of human senses. He
    \r\n", + "looks around him as the storm of resentment seems ready to burst
    \r\n", + "forth: his wrinkled brow and haggard face in vain ask for sympathy.
    \r\n", + "A little further on, and a mother leans over her child,--tremblingly
    \r\n", + "draws it to her side; presses it nearer and nearer to her bosom.
    \r\n", + "Near her, feeding a child with crumbs of bread, is a coarse negro,
    \r\n", + "whose rough exterior covers a good heart. He gives a glance of hate
    \r\n", + "and scorn at those who are soon to tear from him his nearest and
    \r\n", + "dearest. A gloomy ring of sullen faces encircle us: hope, fear, and
    \r\n", + "contempt are pictured in each countenance. Anxious to know its doom,
    \r\n", + "the pent-up soul burns madly within their breasts; no tears can
    \r\n", + "quench the fire-freedom only can extinguish it. But, what are such
    \r\n", + "things? mere trifles when the soul loves only gold. What are they to
    \r\n", + "men who buy such human trifles? who buy and sell mankind, with
    \r\n", + "feelings as unmoved as the virgin heart that knows no guilt?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Various are the remarks made by those who are taking a cursory view
    \r\n", + "of the people; very learned in nigger nature are many; their sayings
    \r\n", + "evince great profoundness. A question seems to be the separating of
    \r\n", + "wenches from their young 'uns. This is soon settled. Graspum, who
    \r\n", + "has made his appearance, and is very quaintly and slowly making his
    \r\n", + "apprehensions known, informs the doubting spectators that Romescos,
    \r\n", + "being well skilled, will do that little affair right up for a mere
    \r\n", + "trifle. It takes him to bring the nonsense out of nigger wenches.
    \r\n", + "This statement being quite satisfactory, the gentlemen purchasers
    \r\n", + "are at rest on that point.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The hour of sale has arrived,--the crier rings his bell, the
    \r\n", + "purchasers crowd up to the stand, the motley group of negroes take
    \r\n", + "the alarm, and seem inclined to close in towards a centre as the
    \r\n", + "vender mounts the stand. The bell, with the sharp clanking sound,
    \r\n", + "rings their funeral knell; they startle, as with terror; they listen
    \r\n", + "with subdued anxiety; they wait the result in painful suspense. How
    \r\n", + "little we would recognise the picture from abroad. The vender, an
    \r\n", + "amiable gentleman dressed in modest black, and whose cheerful
    \r\n", + "countenance, graced with the blandest smile, betokens the antipodes
    \r\n", + "of his inhuman traffic, holding his hat in his left hand, and a long
    \r\n", + "paper in his right, makes an obsequious bow to those who have
    \r\n", + "honoured him with their company. He views them for a few moments,
    \r\n", + "smiles, casts his eye over the paper again,--it sets forth age and
    \r\n", + "quality--and then at his marketable people. The invoice is complete;
    \r\n", + "the goods correspond exactly. The texture and quality have been
    \r\n", + "appraised by good judges. Being specified, he commences reading the
    \r\n", + "summons and writs, and concludes with other preliminaries of the
    \r\n", + "sale.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, gentlemen,\" says Mr. Forshou--for such is his name--as he
    \r\n", + "adjusts his hat, lays the document on the desk at his right hand,
    \r\n", + "pulls up the point of his shirt-collar, sets his neatly-trimmed
    \r\n", + "whiskers a point forward, and smooths his well-oiled hair:
    \r\n", + "\"We-will-proceed-with-the-sale-of this lot of negroes, according to
    \r\n", + "the directions of the sheriff of the county. And if no restrictions
    \r\n", + "are imposed, gentlemen can make their selection of old or young to
    \r\n", + "suit their choice or necessities! Gentlemen, however, will be
    \r\n", + "expected to pay for separating.\" Mr. Forshou, by way of
    \r\n", + "interpolation, reminds his friends that, seeing many of his very
    \r\n", + "best customers present, he expects sharp and healthy bids. He will
    \r\n", + "further remind them (smiling and fretting his hands, as if to show
    \r\n", + "the number of diamond rings he can afford to wear), that the
    \r\n", + "property has been well raised, is well known, and ranges from the
    \r\n", + "brightest and most interesting, to the commonest black field hand.
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, gentlemen,\" he adds, \"by the fortune of this unfortunate sale
    \r\n", + "we can accommodate you with anything in the line of negro property.
    \r\n", + "We can sell you a Church and a preacher-a dance-house and a
    \r\n", + "fiddler-a cook and an oyster-shop. Anything! All sold for no fault;
    \r\n", + "and warranted as sound as a roach. The honourable sheriff will gives
    \r\n", + "titles-that functionary being present signifies his willingness-and
    \r\n", + "every man purchasing is expected to have his shiners ready, so that
    \r\n", + "he can plunk down cash in ten days. I need not recount the
    \r\n", + "circumstances under which this property is offered for sale; it is
    \r\n", + "enough to say that it is offered; but, let me say, gentlemen, to
    \r\n", + "enlarge upon it would be painful to my feelings. I will merely read
    \r\n", + "the schedule, and, after selling the people, put up the oxen, mules,
    \r\n", + "and farming utensils.\" Mr. Forshou, with easy contentment, takes up
    \r\n", + "the list and reads at the top of his voice. The names of heads of
    \r\n", + "families are announced one by one; they answer the call promptly. He
    \r\n", + "continues till he reaches Annette and Nicholas, and here he pauses
    \r\n", + "for a few moments, turning from the paper to them, as if he one
    \r\n", + "minute saw them on the paper and the next on the floor. \"Here,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen,\" he ejaculates, in a half guttural voice-something he
    \r\n", + "could not account for touched his conscience at the moment-holding
    \r\n", + "the paper nearer his eye-glass, \"there is two bits of property
    \r\n", + "bordering on the sublime. It dazzles-seems almost too interesting to
    \r\n", + "sell. It makes a feller's heart feel as if it warn't stuck in the
    \r\n", + "right place.\" Mr. Forshou casts another irresistible look at the
    \r\n", + "children; his countenance changes; he says he is very sensitive, and
    \r\n", + "shows it in his blushes. He might have saved his blushes for the
    \r\n", + "benefit of the State. The State is careful of its blushes; it has
    \r\n", + "none to sell-none to bestow on a child's sorrow!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Annette returns his somewhat touching manifestation of remorse with
    \r\n", + "a childlike smile.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! I reckon how folks is gettin' tenderish, now a' days. Who'd
    \r\n", + "thought the major had such touchy kind a' feelins? Anything wrong
    \r\n", + "just about yer goggler?\" interrupts Romescos, giving the vender a
    \r\n", + "quizzical look, and a \"half-way wink.\" Then, setting his slouch hat
    \r\n", + "on an extra poise, he contorts his face into a dozen grimaces. \"Keep
    \r\n", + "conscience down, and strike up trade,\" he says, very coolly, drawing
    \r\n", + "a large piece of tobacco from his breast-pocket and filling his
    \r\n", + "mouth to its utmost capacity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Feelings are over all things,\" responds the sheriff, who stands by,
    \r\n", + "and will speak for the vender, who is less accustomed to speaking
    \r\n", + "for himself. \"Feelings bring up recollections of things one never
    \r\n", + "thought of before,--of the happiest days of our happiest home.
    \r\n", + "'Tain't much, no, nothing at all, to sell regular black and coloured
    \r\n", + "property; but there's a sort of cross-grained mythology about the
    \r\n", + "business when it comes to selling such clear grain as this.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The vender relieves the honourable sheriff from all further display
    \r\n", + "of sympathy, by saying that he feels the truth of all the honourable
    \r\n", + "and learned gentleman has said, \"which has 'most made the inward
    \r\n", + "virtue of his heart come right up.\" He leans over the desk, extends
    \r\n", + "his hand, helps himself to a generous piece of Romescos' tobacco.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos rejoins in a subdued voice-\"He thinks a man what loves
    \r\n", + "dimes like the major cannot be modest in nigger business, because
    \r\n", + "modesty ain't trade commodity. It cannot be; the man who thinks of
    \r\n", + "such nonsense should sell out-should go north and join the humane
    \r\n", + "society. Folks are all saints, he feels sure, down north yander;
    \r\n", + "wouldn't sell nigger property;--they only send south right smart
    \r\n", + "preachers to keep up the dignity of the institution; to do the
    \r\n", + "peculiar religion of the very peculiar institution. No objection to
    \r\n", + "that; nor hain't no objection to their feelin' bad about the poor
    \r\n", + "niggers, so long as they like our cash and take our cotton. That's
    \r\n", + "where the pin's drove in; while it hangs they wouldn't be bad
    \r\n", + "friends with us for the world.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You may, Mr. Romescos, suspend your remarks,\" says the vender,
    \r\n", + "looking indignant, as he thrusts his right hand into his bosom, and
    \r\n", + "attempts a word of introduction.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos must have his last word; he never says die while he has a
    \r\n", + "word at hand. \"The major's love must be credited, gentlemen; he's a
    \r\n", + "modest auctioneer,--a gentleman what don't feel just right when white
    \r\n", + "property's for sale,\" he whispers, sarcastically.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Another pause, then a hearty laughing, and the man commences to sell
    \r\n", + "his people. He has uttered but a few words, when Marston's attorney,
    \r\n", + "stepping into the centre of the ring, and near the vender, draws a
    \r\n", + "paper from his pocket, and commences reading in a loud tone. It is a
    \r\n", + "copy of the notice he had previously served on the sheriff, setting
    \r\n", + "forth in legal phraseology the freedom of the children, \"And
    \r\n", + "therfo'h this is t' stay proceedings until further orders from the
    \r\n", + "honourable Court of Common Pleas,\" is audible at the conclusion. The
    \r\n", + "company are not much surprised. There is not much to be surprised
    \r\n", + "at, when slave law and common law come in contact. With Marston's
    \r\n", + "sudden decline and unfathomable connection with Graspum, there is
    \r\n", + "nothing left to make the reading of the notice interesting.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You hear this, gentlemen?\" says the vender, biting his lips: \"the
    \r\n", + "sale of this very interesting portion of this very interesting
    \r\n", + "property is objected to by the attorney for the defendant at law.
    \r\n", + "They must, therefore, be remanded to the custody of the sheriff, to
    \r\n", + "await the decision of court.\" That court of strange judgments! The
    \r\n", + "sheriff, that wonderful medium of slaveocratic power, comes forward,
    \r\n", + "muttering a word of consolation; he will take them away. He passes
    \r\n", + "them over to an attendant, who conducts them to their dark chilly
    \r\n", + "cells.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All right!\" says Graspum, moving aside to let the children pass
    \r\n", + "out. \"No more than might have been expected; it's no use, though.
    \r\n", + "Marston will settle that little affair in a very quiet way.\" He
    \r\n", + "gives the man-vender a look of approval; the very celebrated Mr.
    \r\n", + "Graspum has self-confidence enough for \"six folks what don't deal
    \r\n", + "in niggers.\" A bystander touching him on the arm, he gives his head
    \r\n", + "a cunning shake, crooks his finger on his red nose. \"Just a thing of
    \r\n", + "that kind,\" he whispers, making some very delicate legal
    \r\n", + "gesticulations with the fore-finger of his right hand in the palm of
    \r\n", + "his left; then, with great gravity, he discusses some very nice
    \r\n", + "points of nigger law. He is heard to say it will only be a waste of
    \r\n", + "time, and make some profitable rascality for the lawyers. He could
    \r\n", + "have settled the whole on't in seven minutes. \"Better give them up
    \r\n", + "honourably, and let them be sold with the rest. Property's property
    \r\n", + "all over the world; and we must abide by the laws, or what's the
    \r\n", + "good of the constitution? To feel bad about one's own folly! The
    \r\n", + "idea of taking advantage of it at this late hour won't hold good in
    \r\n", + "law. How contemptibly silly! men feeling fatherly after they have
    \r\n", + "made property of their own children! Poor, conscientious fools, how
    \r\n", + "they whine at times, never thinking how they would let their
    \r\n", + "womanish feelings cheat their creditors. There's no honour in that.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen!\" interrupts the vender, \"we have had enough discussion,
    \r\n", + "moral, legal, and otherwise. We will now have some selling.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The honourable sheriff desires to say a word or two upon points not
    \r\n", + "yet advanced. \"The sheriff! the sheriff!\" is exclaimed by several
    \r\n", + "voices. He speaks, having first adjusted his spectacles, and
    \r\n", + "relieved himself of three troublesome coughs. \"The institution-I
    \r\n", + "mean, gentlemen, the peculiar institution-must be preserved; we
    \r\n", + "cannot, must not, violate statutes to accommodate good-feeling
    \r\n", + "people. My friend Graspum is right, bob and sinker; we'd get
    \r\n", + "ourselves into an everlasting snarl, if we did. I am done!\" The
    \r\n", + "sheriff withdraws his spectacles, places them very carefully in a
    \r\n", + "little case, wipes his mouth modestly, and walks away humming an
    \r\n", + "air.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, gentlemen,\" says the vender, bristling with renewed animation
    \r\n", + "\"seeing how you've all recovered from a small shock of conscience,
    \r\n", + "we will commence the sale.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Aunt Rachel is now placed upon the stand. Her huge person, cleanly
    \r\n", + "appearance-Auntie has got her bandana tied with exquisite knot-and
    \r\n", + "very motherly countenance excite general admiration, as on an
    \r\n", + "elevated stand she looms up before her audience. Mr. Forshou, the
    \r\n", + "very gentlemanly vender, taking up the paper, proceeds to describe
    \r\n", + "Aunt Rachel's qualities, according to the style and manner of a
    \r\n", + "celebrated race-horse. Auntie doesn't like this,--her dignity is
    \r\n", + "touched; she honours him with an angry frown. Then she appeals to
    \r\n", + "the amiable gentleman; \"come, mas'r, sell 'um quick; don' hab no
    \r\n", + "nonsense wid dis child! Sell 'um to some mas'r what make I
    \r\n", + "housekeeper. Old mas'r,--good old Boss,--know I fus' rate at dat. Let
    \r\n", + "'um done gone, mas'r, fo'h soon.\" Rachel is decidedly opposed to
    \r\n", + "long drawn-out humbuggery.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The bids now commence; Rachel, in mute anxiety, tremblingly watches
    \r\n", + "the lips they fall from.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Give you a first best title to this ar' old critter, gentlemen!\"
    \r\n", + "says the vender, affecting much dignity, as he holds up his baton of
    \r\n", + "the trade in flesh. \"Anybody wanting a good old mother on a
    \r\n", + "plantation where little niggers are raised will find the thing in
    \r\n", + "the old institution before you. The value is not so much in the size
    \r\n", + "of her, as in her glorious disposition.\" Aunt Rachel makes three or
    \r\n", + "four turns, like a peacock on a pedestal, to amuse her admirers.
    \r\n", + "Again, Mr. Wormlock intimates, in a tone that the vender may hear,
    \r\n", + "that she has some grit, for he sees it in her demeanour, which is
    \r\n", + "assuming the tragic. Her eyes, as she turns, rest upon the crispy
    \r\n", + "face of Romescos. She views him for a few moments-she fears he will
    \r\n", + "become her purchaser. Her lip curls with contempt, as she turns from
    \r\n", + "his gaze and recognises an old acquaintance, whom she at once
    \r\n", + "singles out, accosts and invites beseechingly to be her purchaser,
    \r\n", + "\"to save her from dat man!\" She points to Romescos.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Her friend shakes his head unwillingly. Fearing he may become an
    \r\n", + "object of derision, he will not come forward. Poor old slave!
    \r\n", + "faithful from her childhood up, she has reached an age where few
    \r\n", + "find it profitable to listen to her supplications. The black veil of
    \r\n", + "slavery has shut out the past good of her life,--all her faithfulness
    \r\n", + "has gone for nothing; she has passed into that channel where only
    \r\n", + "the man-dealer seeks her for the few dollars worth of labour left in
    \r\n", + "a once powerful body. Oh! valuable remnant of a life, how soon it
    \r\n", + "may be exhausted-forgotten!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Bidders have some doubts about the amount of labour she can yet
    \r\n", + "perform; and, after much manifest hesitancy, she is knocked down to
    \r\n", + "Romescos for the sum of two hundred and seventy dollars. \"There!
    \r\n", + "'tain't a bad price for ye, nohow!\" says the vender, laconically.
    \r\n", + "\"Get down, old woman.\" Rachel moves to the steps, and is received by
    \r\n", + "Romescos, who, taking his purchase by the arm, very mechanically
    \r\n", + "sets it on one side. \"Come, Auntie, we'll make a corn-cracker a'
    \r\n", + "you, until such time as we can put yer old bones in trim to send
    \r\n", + "south. Generousness, ye see, made me gin more nor ye war' worth-not
    \r\n", + "much work in ye when ye take it on the square;--but a feller what
    \r\n", + "understands the trimmin' a' niggers like I can do ye up young, and
    \r\n", + "put an honest face on while he's cheatin' some green chap with yer
    \r\n", + "old bones.\" Romescos, very clever in his profession, is not quite
    \r\n", + "sure that his newly-purchased property will \"stay put.\" He turns
    \r\n", + "about suddenly, approaches Rachel-crouched in a corner-mumbling over
    \r\n", + "some incomprehensible jargon, evidently very much disturbed in her
    \r\n", + "feelings, saying, \"I kind a' think I see devil in yer eye, old
    \r\n", + "woman.\" Rachel turns her head aside, but makes no answer. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Romescos will make everything certain; so, drawing a cord, similar
    \r\n", + "to a small sized clothes line, from his pocket, she holds up her
    \r\n", + "hands at his bidding: he winds it several times round her wrists,
    \r\n", + "then ties it securely. \"The property's all safe now,\" he whispers,
    \r\n", + "and returns to attend the bidding arrangements.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "One by one-mothers, fathers, and single property, old and young, as
    \r\n", + "may be-are put upon the stand; sold for the various uses of manifest
    \r\n", + "democracy. Harry,--the thinking property, whose sense-keeping has
    \r\n", + "betrayed the philosophy of profound democracy,--is a preacher, and,
    \r\n", + "by the value of his theological capacity, attracts more than
    \r\n", + "ordinary attention. But his life has been a failure,--a mere
    \r\n", + "experiment in divinity struggling with the sensitive power of model
    \r\n", + "democracy. He now seems impatient to know that doom to which the
    \r\n", + "freedom of an enlightened age has consigned him. One minute some
    \r\n", + "cheering hope of his getting a good master presents itself in a
    \r\n", + "familiar face; then it turns away, and with it vanishes his hope.
    \r\n", + "Another comes forward, but it is merely to view his fine
    \r\n", + "proportions.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry has feelings, and is strongly inclined to cling to the opinion
    \r\n", + "that those who know his character and talents, will be inclined to
    \r\n", + "purchase. Will they save him from the cruelties of ordinary
    \r\n", + "plantation life?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now for the preacher!\"-Mr. Forshou touches his hat, politely.
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen purchasing, and wanting a church can be accommodated with
    \r\n", + "that article to-morrow. Come, boy, mount up here!\" The preaching
    \r\n", + "article draws his steps reluctantly, gets up, and there stands,--a
    \r\n", + "black divine: anybody may look at him, anybody may examine him,
    \r\n", + "anybody may kick him; anybody may buy him, body, soul, and theology.
    \r\n", + "How pleasing, how charmingly liberal, is the democracy that grants
    \r\n", + "the sweet privilege of doing all these things! Harry has a few
    \r\n", + "simple requests to make, which his black sense might have told him
    \r\n", + "the democracy could not grant. He requests (referring to his
    \r\n", + "position as a minister of the gospel) that good master-the
    \r\n", + "vender-will sell him with his poor old woman, and that he do not
    \r\n", + "separate him from his dear children. In support of his appeal he
    \r\n", + "sets forth, in language that would be impressive were it from white
    \r\n", + "lips, that he wants to teach his little ones in the ways of the
    \r\n", + "Lord. \"Do, mas'r! try sell us so we live together, where my heart
    \r\n", + "can feel and my eyes see my children,\" he concludes, pointing to his
    \r\n", + "children (living emblems of an oppressed race), who, with his
    \r\n", + "hapless wife, are brought forward and placed on the stand at his
    \r\n", + "feet. Harry (the vender pausing a moment) reaches out his hand (that
    \r\n", + "hand so feared and yet so harmless), and affectionately places it on
    \r\n", + "the head of his youngest child; then, taking it up, he places it in
    \r\n", + "the arms of his wife,--perhaps not long to be so,--who stands
    \r\n", + "trembling and sobbing at his side. Behold how picturesque is the
    \r\n", + "fruit of democracy! Three small children, clinging round the skirts
    \r\n", + "of a mother's garment, casting sly peeps at purchasers as if they
    \r\n", + "had an instinctive knowledge of their fate. They must be sold for
    \r\n", + "the satisfaction of sundry debts held by sundry democratic
    \r\n", + "creditors. How we affect to scorn the tyranny of Russia, because of
    \r\n", + "her serfdom! Would to God there were truth and virtue in the scorn!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Forshou, the very sensitive and gentlemanly vender-he has
    \r\n", + "dropped the title of honourable, which was given him on account of
    \r\n", + "his having been a member of the State Senate-takes Harry by the
    \r\n", + "right hand, and leads him round, where, at the front of the tribune,
    \r\n", + "customers may have a much better opportunity of seeing for
    \r\n", + "themselves.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes! he's a swell-a right good fellow.\" Mr. Forshou turns to his
    \r\n", + "schedule, glancing his eye up and down. \"I see; it's put down here
    \r\n", + "in the invoice: a minister-warranted sound in every respect. It does
    \r\n", + "seem to me, gentlemen, that here 's a right smart chance for a
    \r\n", + "planter who 'tends to the pious of his niggers, giving them a little
    \r\n", + "preaching once in a while. Now, let the generous move; shake your
    \r\n", + "dimes; let us turn a point, and see what can be done in the way of
    \r\n", + "selling the lot,--preacher, wife, and family. The boy, Harry, is a
    \r\n", + "preacher by nature; has by some unknown process tumbled into the
    \r\n", + "profession. He's a methodist, I reckon! But there's choice field
    \r\n", + "property in him; and his wife, one of the primest wenches in the
    \r\n", + "gang, never says die when there's plenty of cotton to pick. As for
    \r\n", + "the young uns, they are pure stock. You must remember, gentlemen,
    \r\n", + "preachers are not in the market every day; and when one's to be got
    \r\n", + "that'll preach the right stripe, there's no knowing the value of
    \r\n", + "him-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We don't want so much of this,\" interrupts a voice in the crowd.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Rather anxious to buy the feller,\" Mr. Forshou replies, affecting
    \r\n", + "much indifference. He will say a few words more. \"Think the matter
    \r\n", + "over, upon strict principles of political economy, and you'll find,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, he's just the article for big planters. I am happy to see
    \r\n", + "the calm and serene faces of three of my friends of the clergy
    \r\n", + "present; will they not take an interest for a fellow-worker in a
    \r\n", + "righteous cause?\" The vender smiles, seems inclined to jocularity,
    \r\n", + "to which the gentlemen in black are unwilling to submit. They have
    \r\n", + "not been moving among dealers, and examining a piece of property
    \r\n", + "here and there, with any sinecure motive. They view the vender's
    \r\n", + "remarks as exceedingly offensive, return a look of indignation, and
    \r\n", + "slowly, as if with wounded piety, walk away. The gentlemen in black
    \r\n", + "are most sensitive when any comparison is made between them and a
    \r\n", + "black brother. How horible shocked they seem, as, with white
    \r\n", + "neckerchiefs so modest, they look back as they merge from the mart
    \r\n", + "into the street!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is a question whether these sensitive divines were shocked at the
    \r\n", + "affectation and cold indifference manifested by legitimate dealers,
    \r\n", + "or at the vender's very impertinent remarks. We will not charge
    \r\n", + "aught against our brethren of the clergy: no, we will leave the
    \r\n", + "question open to the reader. We love them as good men who might
    \r\n", + "labour for a better cause; we will leave them valiant defenders of
    \r\n", + "southern chivalry, southern generosity, southern affability, and
    \r\n", + "southern injustice. To be offended at so small an affair as selling
    \r\n", + "a brother clergyman,--to make the insinuation that they are not
    \r\n", + "humane, cause of insult,--is, indeed, the very essence of absurdity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The vender makes a few side-motions with his thumbs, winks to
    \r\n", + "several of his customers, and gives a significant nod, as the
    \r\n", + "gentlemen in black pass out of the insulting establishment. \"Well,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, I'm sorry if I've offended anybody; but there's a
    \r\n", + "deep-rooted principle in what I've said, nor do I think it christian
    \r\n", + "for the clergy to clear out in that shape. However, God bless 'em;
    \r\n", + "let 'em go on their way rejoicing. Here's the boy-he turns and puts
    \r\n", + "his hand kindly on Harry's shoulder-and his wench, and his young
    \r\n", + "uns,--a minister and family, put down in the invoice as genuine
    \r\n", + "prime. Our worthy sheriff's a good judge of deacons-the sheriff-high
    \r\n", + "functionary-acknowledges the compliment by respectfully nodding-and
    \r\n", + "my opinion is that the boy'll make a good bishop yet: he only wants
    \r\n", + "an apron and a fair showing.\" He touches Harry under the chin,
    \r\n", + "laughing heartily the while.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, master,\" replies Harry-he has little of the negro
    \r\n", + "accent-quieting his feelings; \"what I larn is all from the Bible,
    \r\n", + "while master slept. Sell my old woman and little ones with me; my
    \r\n", + "heart is in their welfare-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't trifle with the poor fellow's feelings; put him up and sell
    \r\n", + "him to the best advantage. There's nobody here that wants a preacher
    \r\n", + "and family. It's only depreciating the value of the property to sell
    \r\n", + "it in the lot,\" says Graspum, in a firm voice. He has been standing
    \r\n", + "as unmoved as a stoic, seeing nothing but property in the wretch of
    \r\n", + "a clergyman, whose natural affections, pictured in his imploring
    \r\n", + "looks, might have touched some tender chord of his feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After several attempts, it is found impossible to sell the minister
    \r\n", + "and his family in one lot. Hence, by the force of necessity, his
    \r\n", + "agonising beseechings pouring forth, he is put up like other single
    \r\n", + "bales of merchandise, and sold to Mr. M'Fadden, of A--district. The
    \r\n", + "minister brought eleven hundred dollars, ready money down! The
    \r\n", + "purchaser is a well-known planter; he has worked his way up in the
    \r\n", + "world, is a rigid disciplinarian, measuring the square inches of
    \r\n", + "labour in his property, and adapting the best process of bringing it
    \r\n", + "all out.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He's all I want,\" says M'Fadden, making a move outward, and edging
    \r\n", + "his way through the crowd.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A moment with my poor old woman, master, if you please?\" says
    \r\n", + "Harry, turning round to his wife.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"None of your black humbugging; there's wives enough on my place,
    \r\n", + "and a parson can have his choice out of fifty,\" returns M'Fadden,
    \r\n", + "dragging him along by the arm. The scene that here ensues is
    \r\n", + "harrowing in the extreme. The cries and sobs of children,--the
    \r\n", + "solicitude and affection of his poor wife, as she throws her arms
    \r\n", + "about her husband's neck,--his falling tears of sorrow, as one by one
    \r\n", + "he snatches up his children and kisses them,--are painfully touching.
    \r\n", + "It is the purest, simplest, holiest of love, gushing forth from
    \r\n", + "nature's fountain. It were well if we could but cherish its heavenly
    \r\n", + "worth. That woman, the degraded of a despised race, her arms round a
    \r\n", + "fond husband's neck, struggling with death-like grasp, and imploring
    \r\n", + "them not to take him from her. The men who have made him
    \r\n", + "merchandise,--who have trodden his race in the dust,--look on unmoved
    \r\n", + "as the unfeeling purchaser drags him from the embrace of all that is
    \r\n", + "near and dear to him on earth. Here, in this boasted freest country
    \r\n", + "the sun shines on-where freedom was bequeathed by our brave
    \r\n", + "forefathers,--where the complex tyranny of an old world was
    \r\n", + "overthrown,--such scenes violate no law. When will the glorious, the
    \r\n", + "happy day of their death come? When shall the land be free?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, having paid the price of his clergyman, drags him to the
    \r\n", + "door. \"Once more, master,\" mutters the victim, looking back with
    \r\n", + "fear and hope pictured on his imploring face. M'Fadden has no
    \r\n", + "patience with such useless implorings, and orders him to move along.
    \r\n", + "\"I will see them once more!\" the man exclaims, \"I will! Good bye!
    \r\n", + "may Heaven bless you on earth, my little ones!-God will protect us
    \r\n", + "when we meet again!\" The tears course down his cheeks.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"None of that ar' kind of nonsense! Shut down yer tear-trap,\" says
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, calling an attendant, and, drawing a pair of irons from
    \r\n", + "his pocket, placing them about Harry's hands. Mr. M'Fadden's
    \r\n", + "property shows signs of being somewhat belligerent: to obviate any
    \r\n", + "further nonsense, and to make short work of the thing, Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "calls in aid, throws his property on the ground, ties its legs with
    \r\n", + "a piece of rope, places it upon a drag, and orders it to be conveyed
    \r\n", + "to the depot, from whence it will be despatched by rail for a new
    \r\n", + "home.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "This little ceremony over, the wife and children (Romescos and
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, not very good friends, were competitors for the preacher
    \r\n", + "property) are put up and sold to Romescos. That skilful and very
    \r\n", + "adroit gentleman is engaged to do the exciting business of
    \r\n", + "separating, which he is progressing with very coolly and cleverly.
    \r\n", + "The whole scene closes with selling the animal property and farming
    \r\n", + "utensils. Happy Christian brothers are they who would spread the
    \r\n", + "wings of their Christianity over such scenes!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XX.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A FATHER'S TRIALS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IF modern Christianity, as improved in our southern world-we mean
    \r\n", + "our world of slavery-had blushes, it might improve the use of them
    \r\n", + "were we to recount in detail the many painful incidents which the
    \r\n", + "improved and very christianly process of separating husbands from
    \r\n", + "wives, parents from children, brothers from sisters, and friends
    \r\n", + "from all the ties and associations the heart, gives birth to.
    \r\n", + "Negroes have tender sympathies, strong loves. Reader, we will save
    \r\n", + "your feelings,--we will not recount them; our aim is not to excite
    \r\n", + "undue feeling, but to relate every-day scenes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Days and weeks pass on drearily with Marston. Unhappy, forlorn,
    \r\n", + "driven to the last extremity by obdurate creditors, he waits the
    \r\n", + "tardy process of the law. He seldom appears in public; for those who
    \r\n", + "professed to be his best friends have become his coldest
    \r\n", + "acquaintances. But he has two friends left,--friends whose pure
    \r\n", + "friendship is like sweetest dew-drops: they are Franconia and Daddy
    \r\n", + "Bob. The rusty old servant is faithful, full of benevolence,
    \r\n", + "gratitude, and unshaken fidelity; the other is the generous woman,
    \r\n", + "in whose bosom beat the tender impulses of a noble soul. Those
    \r\n", + "impulses have been moved to action in defence of the innocent; they
    \r\n", + "never can be defeated. Bob is poor, abject, and old with toil. He
    \r\n", + "cares not to be free,--he wants mas'r free. But there yet remains
    \r\n", + "some value in Bob; and he has secreted himself, in hopes of escaping
    \r\n", + "the man-dealer, and sharing his earnings in the support of old
    \r\n", + "mas'r. Franconia is differently situated; yet she can only take
    \r\n", + "advantage of circumstances which yet depend upon the caprice of a
    \r\n", + "subtle-minded husband. Over both these friends of the unfortunate,
    \r\n", + "slavery has stretched its giant arms, confusing the social system,
    \r\n", + "uprooting the integrity of men, weakening respect for law, violating
    \r\n", + "the best precepts of nature, substituting passion for principle,
    \r\n", + "confounding reason, and enslaving public opinion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Under the above disorganising state of the social compact, the
    \r\n", + "children, known to be Marston's, are pursued as property belonging
    \r\n", + "to the bankrupt estate. When the law has made it such, it must be
    \r\n", + "sold in satisfaction of Marston's debts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Seven months have passed since they were shut up in a felon's cell.
    \r\n", + "They have been visited by Marston; he has been kind to them,--kind as
    \r\n", + "a father could be under such circumstances. Franconia has not
    \r\n", + "forgotten them: she sends many little things to lighten the gloom of
    \r\n", + "their confinement; but society closes her lips, and will frown upon
    \r\n", + "any disclosure she may make of their parentage. Were she to disclose
    \r\n", + "it to Colonel M'Carstrow, the effect would be doubtful: it might add
    \r\n", + "to the suspicious circumstances already excited against her
    \r\n", + "unfortunate uncle. The paramount question-whether they are hereafter
    \r\n", + "to be chattel slaves, or human beings with inalienable rights-must
    \r\n", + "be submitted to the decision of a judicial tribunal. It is by no
    \r\n", + "means an uncommon case, but very full of interest. It will merely be
    \r\n", + "interesting-not as involving any new question of law, nor presenting
    \r\n", + "new phases of southern jurisprudence-in showing what very notorious
    \r\n", + "dealers in human kind, and lawyers of great legal ability, can
    \r\n", + "morally and legally perform. It will show how great men figure in
    \r\n", + "the arena of legal degradation, how they unravel the mystery of
    \r\n", + "slave power.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum, professedly uninterested, has purchased the claims, and
    \r\n", + "will pursue the payment in the name of the original plaintiffs. With
    \r\n", + "Romescos's cunning aid, of course the trial will be a perfect farce,
    \r\n", + "the only exception being that the very profound Mr. Graspum will
    \r\n", + "exhibit a degree of great sincerity on his part.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sessions are sitting; the day for the trial of this important
    \r\n", + "case has arrived; the little dingy court-room is early crowded to
    \r\n", + "excess, but there is not much expression of anxiety. Men speak
    \r\n", + "lightly of the issue, as if some simple game were to be played. The
    \r\n", + "judge, a grave-looking gentleman of no ordinary mien, in whose full
    \r\n", + "countenance sternness is predominant in the well-displayed
    \r\n", + "estimation in which he holds his important self, walks measuredly
    \r\n", + "into court-the lacqueys of the law crying \"Court! court!\" to which
    \r\n", + "he bows-and takes his seat upon an elevated tribune. There is great
    \r\n", + "solemnity preserved at the opening: the sheriff, with well-ordained
    \r\n", + "costume and sword, sits at his honour's left, his deputy on the
    \r\n", + "right, and the very honourable clerk of the court just below, where
    \r\n", + "there can be no impediment during the process of feeding \"the Court\"
    \r\n", + "on very legal points of \"nigger law.\" In truth, the solemnity of
    \r\n", + "this court, to those unacquainted with the tenor of legal
    \r\n", + "proceedings at the south, might have been misconstrued for something
    \r\n", + "more in keeping with justice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The legal gentlemen, most modest of face, are seated round the bar-a
    \r\n", + "semicircular railing dividing their dignity from the common
    \r\n", + "spectator-waiting the reading of the docket. The clerk takes his
    \r\n", + "time about that, and seems a great favourite with the spectators,
    \r\n", + "who applaud his rising. He reads, the sheriff crying \"order! order!\"
    \r\n", + "while the judge learnedly examines his notes. Some consultation
    \r\n", + "takes place between several of the attorneys, which is interlarded
    \r\n", + "with remarks from the judge, who, with seeming satisfaction to all
    \r\n", + "parties, orders the case of B. C. R. K. Marston's writ of replevin
    \r\n", + "to be called and proceeded with. \"As there are three fi fas,\" says
    \r\n", + "the junior attorney for the defendants, a very lean strippling of
    \r\n", + "the law, just working his way up in the world, \"I object to the
    \r\n", + "manner of procedure; the case only involves a question of law, and
    \r\n", + "should be submitted to the special decision of the Court. It is not
    \r\n", + "a matter for a jury to decide upon,\" he concludes. The judge has
    \r\n", + "listened to his remarks, objections, and disclaimers, with marked
    \r\n", + "attention; nevertheless, he is compelled to overrule them, and order
    \r\n", + "the case to proceed. Upon this it is agreed among the
    \r\n", + "attorneys-happy fellows, always ready to agree or disagree-that a
    \r\n", + "decision taken upon one fi fa shall be held as establishing a
    \r\n", + "decision for all the cases at issue.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The children are now brought into Court, and seated near one of the
    \r\n", + "attorneys. Marston stands, almost motionless, a few steps back,
    \r\n", + "gazing upon them as intently and solicitously as if the issue were
    \r\n", + "life or death. Deacon Rosebrook, his good lady, and Franconia, have
    \r\n", + "been summoned as witnesses, and sit by the side of each other on a
    \r\n", + "bench within the bar. We hear a voice here and there among the crowd
    \r\n", + "of spectators expressing sympathy for the children; others say they
    \r\n", + "are only \"niggers,\" and can't be aught else, if it be proved that
    \r\n", + "Marston bought the mother. And there is Mr. Scranton! He is well
    \r\n", + "seated among the gentlemen of the legal profession, for whom he has
    \r\n", + "a strong fellow feeling. He sits, unmoved, in his wonted moodiness;
    \r\n", + "now and then he gives the children a sly look of commiseration, as
    \r\n", + "if the screws of his feelings were unloosing. They-the little
    \r\n", + "property-look so interesting, so innocent, so worthy of being
    \r\n", + "something more than merchandise in a land of liberty, that Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton's heart has become irresistibly softened. It gets a few
    \r\n", + "degrees above Mr. Scranton's constitutional scruples. \"Painful
    \r\n", + "affair this! What do you think of it, Mr. Scranton?\" enquires a
    \r\n", + "member of the profession, touching his arm.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It is the fruit of Marston's weakness, you see!-don't feel just
    \r\n", + "straight, I reckon. Didn't understand the philosophy of the law,
    \r\n", + "neither; and finds himself pinched up by a sort of humanity that
    \r\n", + "won't pass for a legal tender in business-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! we cannot always look into the future,\" interrupts the
    \r\n", + "attorney.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton holds that whatever is constitutional must be right and
    \r\n", + "abidable; that one's feelings never should joggle our better
    \r\n", + "understanding when these little curiosities come in the way. He
    \r\n", + "admits, however, that they are strange attendants coming up once in
    \r\n", + "a while, like the fluctuations of an occult science. With him, the
    \r\n", + "constitution gives an indisputable right to overlook every outrage
    \r\n", + "upon natural law; and, while it exists in full force, though it may
    \r\n", + "strip one half the human race of rights, he has no right to complain
    \r\n", + "so long as it does not interfere with him. It strikes Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", + "that people who differ with him in opinion must have been educated
    \r\n", + "under the teaching of a bad philosophy. Great governments, he holds,
    \r\n", + "often nurture the greatest errors. It matters not how much they feel
    \r\n", + "their magnitude; often, the more they do, the least inclined are
    \r\n", + "they to correct them. Others fear the constitutional structure so
    \r\n", + "much, that they stand trembling lest the slightest correction totter
    \r\n", + "it to the ground. Great governments, too, are most likely to stand
    \r\n", + "on small points when these errors are pointed out. Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", + "declares, with great emphasis, that all these things are most
    \r\n", + "legally true, perfectly natural: they follow in man as well as
    \r\n", + "governments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "With all due deference to Mr. Scranton's opinion, so much demanded
    \r\n", + "among his admiring neighbours, it must be said that he never could
    \r\n", + "bring his mind to understand the difference between natural
    \r\n", + "philosophy and his own constitutional scruples, and was very apt to
    \r\n", + "commit himself in argument, forgetting that the evil was in the
    \r\n", + "fruits of a bad system, bringing disgrace upon his countrymen,
    \r\n", + "corrupting the moral foundation of society, spreading vice around
    \r\n", + "the domestic fireside, and giving to base-minded men power to
    \r\n", + "speculate in the foulness of their own crimes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The case is opened by the attorney for the plaintiff, who makes a
    \r\n", + "great many direct and indirect remarks, and then calls witnesses.
    \r\n", + "\"Marco Graspum!\" the clerk exclaims. That gentleman comes forward,
    \r\n", + "takes his place, calmly, upon the witnesses' stand. At first he
    \r\n", + "affects to know but little; then suddenly remembers that he has
    \r\n", + "heard Marston call their mothers property. Further, he has heard
    \r\n", + "him, while extolling their qualities, state the purchase to have
    \r\n", + "been made of one Silenus, a trader.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He stated-be sure now!-to you, that he purchased them of one
    \r\n", + "Silenus, a trader?\" interpolates the judge, raising his glasses, and
    \r\n", + "advancing his ear, with his hand raised at its side.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Yes, yer honour!\" \"Please observe this testimony,\" rejoins the
    \r\n", + "attorney, quickly. He bows; says that is enough. The opposing
    \r\n", + "attorney has no question to put on cross-examination: he knows
    \r\n", + "Graspum too well. Being quite at home with the gentlemen of the
    \r\n", + "legal profession, they know his cool nonchalance never can be shaken
    \r\n", + "upon a point of testimony.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Any questions to put?\" asks the legal opponent, with an air of
    \r\n", + "indifference.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, nothing,\" is the reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His brother of special pleas smiles, gives a cunning glance at
    \r\n", + "Graspum, and wipes his face with a very white handkerchief. He is
    \r\n", + "conscious of the character of his man; it saves all further trouble.
    \r\n", + "\"When we know who we have to deal with, we know how to deal,\" he
    \r\n", + "mutters, as he sits down.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum retires from the stand, and takes his seat among the
    \r\n", + "witnesses. \"We will now call Anthony Romescos,\" says the attorney. A
    \r\n", + "few minutes' pause, and that individual rolls out in all his
    \r\n", + "independence, takes his place on the stand. He goes through a long
    \r\n", + "series of questioning and cross-questioning, answers for which he
    \r\n", + "seems to have well studied.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The whole amounts to nothing more than a corroboration of Graspum's
    \r\n", + "testimony. He has heard Marston call their mothers property: once,
    \r\n", + "he thinks, but would hesitate before pledging his honour, that
    \r\n", + "Marston offered to him the woman Clotilda. Yes; it was her!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Considerable excitement is now apparent; the auditory whisper among
    \r\n", + "themselves, attorneys put their heads together, turn and turn over
    \r\n", + "the leaves of their statutes. His honour, the Court, looks wiser
    \r\n", + "still. Marston trembles and turns pale; his soul is pinioned between
    \r\n", + "hope and fear. Romescos has told something more than he knows, and
    \r\n", + "continues, at random, recounting a dozen or more irrelevant things.
    \r\n", + "The court, at length, deems it necessary to stop his voluntary
    \r\n", + "testimony, orders that he only answer such questions as are put to
    \r\n", + "him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's no harm in a feller tellin' what he knows, eh! judge?\"
    \r\n", + "returns Romescos, dropping a quid of tobacco at his side, bowing
    \r\n", + "sarcastically to the judge, and drawing his face into a comical
    \r\n", + "picture.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Romescos is told that he can stand aside. At this seemingly
    \r\n", + "acceptable announcement, he bristles his crispy red hair with his
    \r\n", + "fingers, shrugs his shoulders, winks at two or three of the jurymen,
    \r\n", + "pats Graspum on the shoulder as he passes him, and takes his seat.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We will close the case here, but reserve the right of introducing
    \r\n", + "further testimony, if necessary,\" says the learned and very
    \r\n", + "honourable counsel.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The defence here rises, and states the means by which his client
    \r\n", + "intends to prove the freedom of the children; and concludes by
    \r\n", + "calling over the names of the witnesses. Franconia! Franconia! we
    \r\n", + "hear that name called; it sounds high above the others, and falls
    \r\n", + "upon our ear most mournfully. Franconia, that sweet creature of
    \r\n", + "grace and delicacy, brought into a court where the scales of
    \r\n", + "injustice are made to serve iniquity!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia's reserve and modesty put legal gentlemen's gallantry to
    \r\n", + "the test. One looks over the pages of his reports, another casts a
    \r\n", + "sly look as she sweeps by to take that place the basest of men has
    \r\n", + "just left. The interested spectators stretch their persons
    \r\n", + "anxiously, to get a look at the two pretty children, honourable and
    \r\n", + "legal gentlemen are straining their ability to reduce to property.
    \r\n", + "There stands the blushing woman, calm and beautiful, a virtuous
    \r\n", + "rebuke to curious spectators, mercenary slave dealers, the very
    \r\n", + "learned gentlemen of the bar, and his enthroned honour, the Court!
    \r\n", + "She will give testimony that makes nature frown at its own
    \r\n", + "degradation. Not far from Franconia sits the very constitutional Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton, casting side glances now and then. Our philosopher
    \r\n", + "certainly thinks, though he will not admit it, the chivalry is
    \r\n", + "overtaxing itself; there was no occasion for compelling so fair a
    \r\n", + "creature to come into court, and hear base testimony before a base
    \r\n", + "crowd,--to aid a base law in securing base ends. And then, just think
    \r\n", + "and blush, ye who have blushes to spare.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Will the learned gentleman proceed with the examination of this
    \r\n", + "witness?\" says his honour, who, pen in hand, has been waiting
    \r\n", + "several minutes to take down her testimony. Court and audience,
    \r\n", + "without knowing why, have come to an unconscious pause.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Will the witness state to the court in what relation she stands to
    \r\n", + "the gentleman who defends title freedom of the children,--Mr. Hugh
    \r\n", + "Marston?\" says the attorney, addressing his bland words to
    \r\n", + "Franconia, somewhat nervously.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He--he--he--is my--,\" she mutters, and stops. Her face turns pale; then
    \r\n", + "suddenly changes to glowing crimson. She rests her left hand on the
    \r\n", + "rail, while the judge, as if suddenly moved by a generous impulse,
    \r\n", + "suggests that the attorney pause a moment, until the deputy provides
    \r\n", + "a chair for the lady. She is quiet again. Calmly and modestly, as
    \r\n", + "her soft, meaning eyes wander over the scene before her, compelled
    \r\n", + "to encounter its piercing gaze, the crystal tears leave their wet
    \r\n", + "courses on her blushing cheeks. Her feelings are too delicate, too
    \r\n", + "sensitive, to withstand the sharp and deadly poison of liberty's
    \r\n", + "framework of black laws. She sees her uncle, so kind, so fond of her
    \r\n", + "and her absent brother; her eye meets his in kindred sympathy,
    \r\n", + "imagination wings its way through recollections of the past, draws
    \r\n", + "forth its pleasures with touching sensations, and fills the cup too
    \r\n", + "full. That cup is the fountain of the soul, from which trouble draws
    \r\n", + "its draughts. She watches her uncle as he turns toward the children;
    \r\n", + "she knows they are his; she feels how much he loves them.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The attorney--the man of duty--is somewhat affected. \"I have a duty to
    \r\n", + "perform,\" he says, looking at the court, at the witness, at the
    \r\n", + "children, at the very red-faced clerk, at the opposing counsel, and
    \r\n", + "anything within the precincts of the court-room. We see his lips
    \r\n", + "move; he hesitates, makes slight gesticulations, turns and turns a
    \r\n", + "volume of Blackstone with his hands, and mutters something we cannot
    \r\n", + "understand. The devil is doing battle with his heart-a heart bound
    \r\n", + "with the iron strings of the black law. At length, in broken
    \r\n", + "accents, we catch the following remarks, which the learned gentleman
    \r\n", + "thinks it necessary to make in order to save his gallantry:--\"I am
    \r\n", + "sorry--extremely sorry, to see the witness, a lady so touchingly
    \r\n", + "sensitive, somewhat affected; but, nevertheless\" (the gentleman bows
    \r\n", + "to the judge, and says the Court will understand his position!) \"it
    \r\n", + "is one of those cases which the demands of the profession at times
    \r\n", + "find us engaged in. As such we are bound, morally, let me say, as
    \r\n", + "well as legally, to protect the interests of our clients. In doing
    \r\n", + "so, we are often compelled to encounter those delicate
    \r\n", + "irregularities to which the laws governing our peculiar institutions
    \r\n", + "are liable. I may say that they are so interwoven with our peculiar
    \r\n", + "institution, that to act in accordance with our duty makes it a
    \r\n", + "painful task to our feelings. We--I may appeal to the court for
    \r\n", + "corroboration--can scarcely pursue an analysation of these cases
    \r\n", + "without pain; I may say, remorse of conscience.\" Mr. Petterwester,
    \r\n", + "for such is his name, is evidently touched with that sense of shame
    \r\n", + "which the disclosures of the black system bring upon his profession.
    \r\n", + "This is aided by the fascinating appearance of the witness on the
    \r\n", + "stand. It is irresistible because it is at variance with those legal
    \r\n", + "proceedings, those horrors of southern jurisprudence, which he is
    \r\n", + "pressing for the benefit of his clients. Again he attempts to put
    \r\n", + "another question, but is seized with a tremor; he blushes, is
    \r\n", + "nervous and confused, casts a doubting look at the judge. That
    \r\n", + "functionary is indeed very grave--unmoved. The responsibility of the
    \r\n", + "peculiar institution sorely hardened the war of heart against head
    \r\n", + "that was waging among the learned gentlemen; but the institution
    \r\n", + "must be preserved, for its political power works wonders, and its
    \r\n", + "legal power is wondrously curious. \"Please tell the court and jury
    \r\n", + "what you know about the relation in which these children stand to
    \r\n", + "the gentleman who asserts their freedom, dear madam? We will not
    \r\n", + "trouble you with questions; make a statement,\" says Mr.
    \r\n", + "Petterwester, with great sincerity of manner. Indeed, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Petterwester has been highly spoken of among the very oldest, most
    \r\n", + "respectable, and best kind of female society, for his gallantry.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The brother opposite, a small gentleman, with an exceedingly
    \r\n", + "studious countenance, dressed in shining black, and a profusion of
    \r\n", + "glossy hair falling upon his shoulders, rises with great legal
    \r\n", + "calmness, and objects to the manner of procedure, describing it as
    \r\n", + "contrary to the well-established rules of the bar. The court
    \r\n", + "interpolates a few remarks, and then intimates that it very
    \r\n", + "seriously thinks gentlemen better waive the points,--better come to
    \r\n", + "an understanding to let the lady make her statements! Courtesy
    \r\n", + "entitles her, as a lady, to every respect and consideration. The
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, having whispered a few words together, bow assent to the
    \r\n", + "high functionary's intimation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia proceeds. She asserts that Hugh Marston (pointing to him)
    \r\n", + "is her uncle; that she knows little or nothing of his business
    \r\n", + "affairs, cannot tell why her brother left the country so suddenly;
    \r\n", + "she knew Clotilda and Ellen Juvarna, mothers of the children. They
    \r\n", + "never were considered among the property of the plantation. Her
    \r\n", + "short story is told in touching tones. The learned and gallant
    \r\n", + "attorney, esteeming it indispensable, puts a question or two as to
    \r\n", + "whether anything was ever said about selling them in consequence of
    \r\n", + "certain jealousies. Before the brother can object, she answers them
    \r\n", + "evasively, and the testimony amounts to just no testimony at all.
    \r\n", + "The court, bowing respectfully, informs the lady she can get down
    \r\n", + "from the stand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The next witness called is Mrs. Rosebrook. This good and benevolent
    \r\n", + "lady is more resolute and determined. The gentlemen of the bar find
    \r\n", + "her quite clever enough for them. Approaching the stand with a firm
    \r\n", + "step, she takes her place as if determined upon rescuing the
    \r\n", + "children. Her answers come rather faster than is compatible with the
    \r\n", + "dignity of the learned gentlemen of the bar. She knows Marston,
    \r\n", + "knows Franconia, knows the old plantation, has spent many happy
    \r\n", + "hours upon it, is sorry to see the old proprietor reduced to this
    \r\n", + "state of things. She knows the two children,--dear creatures,--has
    \r\n", + "always had a kindly feeling for them; knew their poor mothers, has
    \r\n", + "befriended them since Marston's troubles began. She always-her
    \r\n", + "large, loving eyes glowing with the kindness of her soul-heard
    \r\n", + "Marston say they were just as free as people could be, and they
    \r\n", + "should be free, too! Some people did'nt look at the moral obligation
    \r\n", + "of the thing. Here, the good lady, blushing, draws the veil over her
    \r\n", + "face. There is something more she would like to disclose if modesty
    \r\n", + "did not forbid.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nothing direct in such testimony, your honour will perceive!\" says
    \r\n", + "Mr. Petterwester, directing himself to the judge.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Is there any question with regard to the father of the children?\"
    \r\n", + "enquires his honour, again placing his hand to his ear and leaning
    \r\n", + "forward inquisitively. His honour suddenly forgot himself.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, ha'h, he-em! The question, so buried under a mountain of
    \r\n", + "complexity, requires very nice legal discrimination to define it
    \r\n", + "properly. However, we must be governed by distinct pleadings, and I
    \r\n", + "think that, in this case, this specific question is not material;
    \r\n", + "nor do my brother colleagues of the Bench think it would be
    \r\n", + "advisable to establish such questions, lest they affect the moral
    \r\n", + "purity of the atmosphere we live in.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If your honour will permit it, I may say it will only be necessary
    \r\n", + "in this case to establish the fact of property existing in the
    \r\n", + "mothers. That will settle the whole question; fathers, as you are
    \r\n", + "aware, not being embraced in the law regulating this species of
    \r\n", + "property;\" the learned gentleman instructs the court.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour, rejoining with a few very grave and very legal remarks,
    \r\n", + "says they look very much alike, and are of one mother. He is a
    \r\n", + "little undecided, however, takes another good stare at them, and
    \r\n", + "then adds his glasses, that the affinity may be more clear. Turning
    \r\n", + "again to his book, he examines his pages, vacantly. A legal wag, who
    \r\n", + "has been watching the trial for mere amusement, whispering in the
    \r\n", + "ear of his brother, insinuates that the presiding functionary is
    \r\n", + "meditating some problem of speculation, and has forgotten the point
    \r\n", + "at issue.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No!\" interrupts Mr. Petterwester, \"your honour is curiously
    \r\n", + "labouring under an error; they have two mothers, both of the same
    \r\n", + "tenour in life--that is\"--Mr. Petterwester corrects himself--\"embodying
    \r\n", + "the same questions of property. The issue of the case now on is
    \r\n", + "taken as final over the rest.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! bless me, now-I-rather-see-into it. The clerk will hand me
    \r\n", + "Cobb's Georgia Reports. A late case, curiously serious, there
    \r\n", + "recorded, may lead me to gather a parallel. Believe me, gentlemen,
    \r\n", + "my feelings are not so dead-his honour addresses himself to the bar
    \r\n", + "in general--that I cannot perceive it to be one of those very
    \r\n", + "delicate necessities of our law which so embarrasses the gallantry
    \r\n", + "of the profession at times--\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes! yer honour,\" the attorney for the defence suddenly interrupts,
    \r\n", + "\"and which renders it no less a disgrace to drag ladies of high rank
    \r\n", + "into a court of this kind--.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour can assure the learned gentleman that this court has very
    \r\n", + "high functions, and can administer justice equal to anything this
    \r\n", + "side of divine power,--his honour interrupts, indignantly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The court misunderstood the counsel,--he had no reference to the
    \r\n", + "unquestioned high authority of the tribunal; it was only the
    \r\n", + "character of the trials brought before it. When, notwithstanding our
    \r\n", + "boasts of chivalry, delicate ladies are dragged before it in this
    \r\n", + "manner, they must not only endure the painful tenour of the
    \r\n", + "evidence, but submit to the insolence of men who would plunder
    \r\n", + "nature of its right--\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I shall claim the protection of the court against such
    \r\n", + "unprofessional imputations,\" his brother of the opposite interrupts,
    \r\n", + "rising and affecting an air of indignation. The court, quite
    \r\n", + "bewildered, turns a listening ear to his remarks--\"Hopes the learned
    \r\n", + "gentlemen will not disgrace themselves.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Order! order! order! demands the sheriff, making a flourish with his
    \r\n", + "sword. The spectators, rising on tip-toe, express their anxiety to
    \r\n", + "have the case proceed. They whisper, shake their heads, and are
    \r\n", + "heard to say that it will be utterly useless to attempt anything
    \r\n", + "against the testimony of Graspum and Romescos. Mr. Graspum, in the
    \r\n", + "fulness of his slavish and impudent pedantry, feeling secure in the
    \r\n", + "possession of his victims, sits within the bar, seeming to feel his
    \r\n", + "position elevated a few degrees above his highness the judge.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I do hope the interposition of this Court will not be necessary in
    \r\n", + "this case. Gentlemen of the learned profession should settle those
    \r\n", + "differences more like gentlemen,\" says his honour, looking down upon
    \r\n", + "his minions with a frown of contempt.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The matter is one entirely of a professional nature, yer honour!\"
    \r\n", + "responds the scion of the law, quickly, first addressing himself to
    \r\n", + "the judge, and then to the jury. \"If the testimony we have already
    \r\n", + "adduced--direct as it is--be not sufficient to establish the existence
    \r\n", + "of property in these children\" (Romescos has just whispered
    \r\n", + "something in his ear) \"we will produce other testimony of the most
    \r\n", + "conclusive character. However, we will yield all further
    \r\n", + "cross-questioning the ladies; and I now suggest that they be
    \r\n", + "relieved from the painful position of appearing before this court
    \r\n", + "again.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook descends from the stand amidst murmurs and applause.
    \r\n", + "Some amount of legal tact now ensues; the attorney for the
    \r\n", + "prosecution displays an earnestness amounting to personal interest.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Here the counsel for the defence steps forward, whispers to the
    \r\n", + "clerk, and gives notice that he shall call witnesses to impeach the
    \r\n", + "characters of Graspum and Romescos. These two high dignitaries,
    \r\n", + "sitting together, express the utmost surprise at such an
    \r\n", + "insinuation. The character of neither is sacred material, nor will
    \r\n", + "it stand even in a southern atmosphere. They have been pronounced
    \r\n", + "legally impure many years ago.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Just at this juncture there is quite an excitement in the
    \r\n", + "court-room. Romescos, like a disfigured statue, rises from among his
    \r\n", + "legal friends and addresses the court on the independent principle.
    \r\n", + "\"Well now, Squire, if ya'r goin' to play that ar' lawyer game on a
    \r\n", + "feller what don't understand the dodge, I'll just put a settler
    \r\n", + "on't; I'll put a settler on't what ya' won't get over. My word's my
    \r\n", + "honour; didn't come into this establishment to do swarin' cos I
    \r\n", + "wanted to; seein' how, when a feller's summoned by the Boss Squire,
    \r\n", + "he's got to walk up and tell the truth and nothin' shorter. I knows
    \r\n", + "ya' don't feel right about it; and it kind a hurts a feller's
    \r\n", + "feelins to make property of such nice young uns, especially when one
    \r\n", + "knows how nice they've been brought up. This aint the thing, though;
    \r\n", + "'taint the way to get along in the world; and seein' I'm a man of
    \r\n", + "honour, and wouldn't do a crooked thing nohow-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour the Sheriff, being somewhat impressed with the fact that
    \r\n", + "Mr. Romescos is rather transgressing the rules of the court,
    \r\n", + "interposes. His defence of his honour cannot longer be tolerated;
    \r\n", + "and yet, very much after the fashion of great outlaws, who, when
    \r\n", + "arraigned for their crimes, think themselves very badly used men,
    \r\n", + "Romescos has the most exalted opinion of himself; never for a moment
    \r\n", + "entertains a doubt of his own integrity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He reaches over the bar; places his lips to the attorney's ear; is
    \r\n", + "about to whisper something. That gentleman quickly draws back, as if
    \r\n", + "his presence were repulsive. Not the least offended, Romescos winks
    \r\n", + "significantly, crooks the fore-finger of his right hand, and
    \r\n", + "says-\"something that'll put the stopper on.\" The legal gentleman
    \r\n", + "seems reconciled; listens attentively to the important information.
    \r\n", + "\"All right! nothing more is needed,\" he says, rising from his seat,
    \r\n", + "and asking permission to introduce proof which will render it quite
    \r\n", + "unnecessary to proceed with anything that may have for its object
    \r\n", + "the impeachment of the witnesses.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The attorney for the defence objects to this mode of procedure; and
    \r\n", + "the judge, having sustained the objections, orders the counsel to
    \r\n", + "proceed with his witnesses. Several persons, said to be of very high
    \r\n", + "standing, are now called. They successively depose that they would
    \r\n", + "not believe Romescos nor Graspum upon oath; notwithstanding, both
    \r\n", + "may be very honourable and respectable gentlemen. Thus invalidating
    \r\n", + "the testimony of these high functionaries of the peculiar
    \r\n", + "institution, the gentleman of the prosecution has an opportunity of
    \r\n", + "producing his conclusive proof. Romescos has been seen passing him a
    \r\n", + "very suspicious-looking document.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "All attention is now directed to the children; they sit pensively,
    \r\n", + "unconscious of the dread fate hanging over them. \"What can this
    \r\n", + "testimony be?\" rings in whispers about the court-room. Some deep
    \r\n", + "intrigue is going on; it is some unforeseen movement of the
    \r\n", + "slave-dealers, not comprehended by the spectators. Can the bon�-fide
    \r\n", + "creditors be implicated? Even Mr. Scranton feels that his knowledge
    \r\n", + "of the philosophy of slave power is completely at fault.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, your honour, and gentlemen of the jury,\" says the gentleman of
    \r\n", + "the prosecution, \"I am fully aware of the painful suspense in which
    \r\n", + "this case has kept the court, the jury, and the very respectable
    \r\n", + "persons I see assembled; but, notwithstanding the respectability and
    \r\n", + "well-known position of my clients and witnesses, the defence in this
    \r\n", + "case has succeeded in expunging the testimony, and compelling us to
    \r\n", + "bring forward such proof as cannot be impeached.\" Here the legal
    \r\n", + "gentleman draws from his pocket a stained and coloured paper,
    \r\n", + "saying, \"Will the gentlemen of the jury be kind enough to minutely
    \r\n", + "examine that instrument.\" He passes it to the foreman.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What is the purport of the instrument?\" his honour enquires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The bill of sale, your honour.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Foreman has examined it satisfactorily; passes it to several of his
    \r\n", + "fellows. All are satisfied. He returns it to the learned gentleman.
    \r\n", + "That very important and chivalrous individual throws it upon the
    \r\n", + "table with great self-confidence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour would like to scan over its details. It is passed to the
    \r\n", + "little fat clerk, and by that gentleman to his honour. \"Very,
    \r\n", + "singularly strong!\" his honour says, giving his head a very wise
    \r\n", + "shake.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"When the court gets through,\" says the advocate for the defence,
    \r\n", + "rising and placing his hand on the clerk's desk.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The gentleman can examine,\" replies the court, passing it coldly to
    \r\n", + "the Sheriff, who politely forwards it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He turns it and turns it; reads it slowly; examines the dates
    \r\n", + "minutely. \"How did the prosecution come in possession of this
    \r\n", + "document?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His brother of the law objects, \"That's not an admissible question.
    \r\n", + "If the defence will institute an action against the parties for
    \r\n", + "unlawfully procuring it, we will take great pleasure in showing our
    \r\n", + "hands. It may be, however, well to say, that Mr. Marston and Mr.
    \r\n", + "Graspum have always been on the most friendly terms; but the former
    \r\n", + "gentleman forgot to take care of this very essential document,\" he
    \r\n", + "continues, taking it from the hand of his professional brother, and
    \r\n", + "turning toward the spectators, his countenance glowing with
    \r\n", + "exultation. The pride of his ambition is served. The profession has
    \r\n", + "honourably sustained itself through the wonderful abilities of this
    \r\n", + "learned brother, who, holding the paper in his hand, awaits the
    \r\n", + "gracious applause of the assembled spectators. There is some
    \r\n", + "applause, some murmuring, much whispering.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The court, in coldly measured words, hopes the audience will evince
    \r\n", + "no excitement pro or con.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Some persons declare the bill of sale a forgery,--that Romescos has
    \r\n", + "tried that very same trick twice before. Others say it matters but
    \r\n", + "little on that score,--that all the law in the country won't restrain
    \r\n", + "Graspum; if he sets at it in good earnest he can turn any sort of
    \r\n", + "people into property. A third whispers that the present order of
    \r\n", + "things must be changed, or nobody's children will be safe. Legal
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, not interested in the suit, shake their heads, and
    \r\n", + "successively whisper, \"The prosecution never came by that bill of
    \r\n", + "sale honestly.\" Creditors, not parties to this suit, and brokers who
    \r\n", + "now and then do something in the trade of human beings, say, \"If
    \r\n", + "this be the way Marston's going to play the dodge with his property,
    \r\n", + "we will see if there be not some more under the same shaded
    \r\n", + "protection.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Will the counsel for the defence permit his client to inspect this
    \r\n", + "instrument?\" says the learned gentleman, passing it across the
    \r\n", + "table.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston's face flushes with shame; he is overcome; he extends his
    \r\n", + "trembling hand and takes the fatal document. It is, to him, his
    \r\n", + "children's death-warrant. A cloud of darkness overshadows his hopes;
    \r\n", + "he would question the signature, but the signer, Silenus, is
    \r\n", + "dead,--as dead as the justice of the law by which the children are
    \r\n", + "being tried. And there is the bond attached to it! Again the thought
    \r\n", + "flashed through his mind, that he had sold Ellen Juvarna to Elder
    \r\n", + "Pemberton Praiseworthy. However much he might struggle to save his
    \r\n", + "children-however much a father's obligations might force themselves
    \r\n", + "upon him-however much he might acknowledge them the offspring of his
    \r\n", + "own body, they were property in the law-property in the hands of
    \r\n", + "Graspum; and, with the forethought of that honourable gentleman
    \r\n", + "opposed to him--as it evidently was--his efforts and pleadings would
    \r\n", + "not only prove futile, but tend to expose Lorenzo's crime.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The philosophy of the thing is coming out, just as I
    \r\n", + "said-precisely,\" ejaculates Mr. Scranton, raising his methodical
    \r\n", + "eyes, and whispering to a legal gentleman who sits at his right.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Serious philosophy, that embraces and sanctions the sale of such
    \r\n", + "lovely children,--making property of one's children against his
    \r\n", + "wishes! I'm a great Southern rights man, but this is shaving the
    \r\n", + "intermixture a little too close,\" rejoins the other, casting a
    \r\n", + "solicitous look at Marston, who has been intently and nervously
    \r\n", + "examining the bill of sale.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Any objections to make to it?\" says the learned gentleman, bowing
    \r\n", + "politely and extending his hand, as he concludes by inquiring how it
    \r\n", + "happened, in the face of such an array of evidence, that he sold the
    \r\n", + "girl, Ellen Juvarna?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No objection, none!\" is Marston's quick response. His head droops;
    \r\n", + "he wipes the tears from his eyes; he leaves the court in silence,
    \r\n", + "amid murmurs from the crowd. The female witnesses left before him;
    \r\n", + "it was well they did so.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "That this is the original bill of sale, from one Silenus to Hugh
    \r\n", + "Marston, has been fully established. However painful the issue,
    \r\n", + "nothing remained but to give the case to the jury. All is silent for
    \r\n", + "several minutes. The judge has rarely sat upon a case of this kind.
    \r\n", + "He sits unnerved, the pen in his hand refusing to write as his
    \r\n", + "thoughts wander into the wondrous vortex of the future of slavery.
    \r\n", + "But the spell has passed; his face shades with pallor as slowly he
    \r\n", + "rises to address the jury. He has but few words to say; they fall
    \r\n", + "like death-knells on the ears of his listeners. Some touching words
    \r\n", + "escape his hesitating lips; but duty, enforced by the iron rod of
    \r\n", + "slave power, demands him to sustain the laws of the land. He sets
    \r\n", + "forth the undisputed evidence contained in the bill of sale, the
    \r\n", + "unmistakeable bond, the singular and very high-handed attempt to
    \r\n", + "conceal it from the honest creditors, and the necessity of jurymen
    \r\n", + "restraining their sympathies for the children while performing a
    \r\n", + "duty to the laws of the land. Having thus made his brief address, he
    \r\n", + "sits down; the sheriff shoulders his tip-staff, and the august
    \r\n", + "twelve, with papers provided, are marched into the jury-room, as the
    \r\n", + "court orders that the case of Dunton v. Higgins be called.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Five minutes have intervened; the clerk calling the case s
    \r\n", + "interrupted by a knocking at the jury-room door; he stops his
    \r\n", + "reading, the door is opened, and the sheriff conducts his twelve
    \r\n", + "gentlemen back to their seats. Not a whisper is heard; the stillness
    \r\n", + "of the tomb reigns over this high judicial scene. The sheriff
    \r\n", + "receives a packet of papers from the foreman's hands, and passes
    \r\n", + "them to the clerk.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen of the jury will please stand up,\" says that very amiable
    \r\n", + "functionary. \"Have you agreed on your verdict?\" The foreman bows
    \r\n", + "assent.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Guilty or not guilty, gentlemen?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Guilty,\" says the former, in tones like church-yard wailings:
    \r\n", + "\"Guilty. I suppose that's the style we must render the verdict in?\"
    \r\n", + "The foreman is at a loss to know what style of verdict is necessary.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" returns the clerk, bowing; and the gentlemen of the jury well
    \r\n", + "complimented by the judge, are discharged until to-morrow. The
    \r\n", + "attorney for the defence made a noble, generous, and touching appeal
    \r\n", + "to the fatherly twelve; but his appeal fell like dull mist before
    \r\n", + "the majesty of slavery. Guilty! O heavens, that ever the innocent
    \r\n", + "should be made guilty of being born of a mother! That a mother-that
    \r\n", + "name so holy-should be stained with the crime of bearing her child
    \r\n", + "to criminal life!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Two children, fair and beautiful, are judged by a jury of
    \r\n", + "twelve-perhaps all good and kind fathers, free and enlightened
    \r\n", + "citizens of a free and happy republic-guilty of the crime of being
    \r\n", + "born of a slave mother. Can this inquiring jury, this thinking
    \r\n", + "twelve, feel as fathers only can feel when their children are on the
    \r\n", + "precipice of danger? Could they but break over that seeming
    \r\n", + "invulnerable power of slavery which crushes humanity, freezes up the
    \r\n", + "souls of men, and makes the lives of millions but a blight of
    \r\n", + "misery, and behold with the honesty of the heart what a picture of
    \r\n", + "misery their voice \"Guilty!\" spreads before these unfortunate
    \r\n", + "children, how changed would be the result!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A judge, endeared to his own children by the kindest affections,
    \r\n", + "feels no compunction of conscience while administering the law which
    \r\n", + "denies a father his own children-which commands those children to be
    \r\n", + "sold with the beasts of the field! Mark the slender cord upon which
    \r\n", + "the fate of these unfortunates turns; mark the suffering through
    \r\n", + "which they must pass.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The hand on the clock's pale face marks four. His honour reminds
    \r\n", + "gentlemen of the bar that it is time to adjourn court. Court is
    \r\n", + "accordingly adjourned. The crowd disperse in silence. Gentlemen of
    \r\n", + "the legal profession are satisfied the majesty of the law has been
    \r\n", + "sustained.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Hence the guilty children, scions of rights-loving democracy, like
    \r\n", + "two pieces of valuable merchandise judicially decreed upon, are led
    \r\n", + "back to prison, where they will await sale. Annette has caught the
    \r\n", + "sound of \"Guilty!\"-she mutters it while being taken home from the
    \r\n", + "court, in the arms of an old slave. May heaven forgive the guilt we
    \r\n", + "inherit from a mother, in this our land of freedom!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 6/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 6 out of 12

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    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WE CHANGE WITH FORTUNE.
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    \r\n", + "BUT a few months have passed since the popularly called gallant
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow led the fair Franconia to the hymeneal altar; and, now
    \r\n", + "that he has taken up his residence in the city, the excitement of
    \r\n", + "the honeymoon is waning, and he has betaken himself to his more
    \r\n", + "congenial associations. The beautiful Franconia for him had but
    \r\n", + "transient charms, which he now views as he would objects necessary
    \r\n", + "to the gratifications of his coarse passions. His feelings have not
    \r\n", + "been softened with those finer associations which make man the kind
    \r\n", + "patron of domestic life; nor is his mind capable of appreciating
    \r\n", + "that respect for a wife which makes her an ornament of her circle.
    \r\n", + "Saloons, race-courses, and nameless places, have superior
    \r\n", + "attractions for him: home is become but endurable.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In truth, Franconia, compelled to marry in deference to fortune,
    \r\n", + "finds she is ensnared into misfortunes. M'Carstrow (Colonel by
    \r\n", + "courtesy) had fifteen hundred dollars, cash down, to pay for
    \r\n", + "Clotilda: this sad grievance excites his feelings, inasmuch as it
    \r\n", + "was all owing to his wife's whims, and the poverty of her relations.
    \r\n", + "The verdict of the jury, recently rendered, was to his mind a
    \r\n", + "strictly correct one; but he cannot forget the insane manner in
    \r\n", + "which the responsibility was fastened upon him, and the hard
    \r\n", + "cash-which might have made two handsome stakes on the turf-drawn
    \r\n", + "from his pocket. His wife's poverty-stricken relations he now
    \r\n", + "detests, and can tolerate them best when farthest away from him. But
    \r\n", + "Franconia does not forget that he is her husband; no, night after
    \r\n", + "night she sits at the window until midnight, waiting his return.
    \r\n", + "Feeble and weary with anxiety, she will despatch a negro on a
    \r\n", + "hopeless errand of search; he, true to his charge, returns with the
    \r\n", + "confidential intelligence of finding Mas'r in a place less reputable
    \r\n", + "than it is proper to mention. Such is our southern society,--very
    \r\n", + "hospitable in language, chivalrous in memory,--base in morals! Some-
    \r\n", + "times the gallant colonel deems it necessary to remain until
    \r\n", + "daylight, lest, in returning by night, the pavement may annoy his
    \r\n", + "understanding. Of this, however, he felt the world knew but little.
    \r\n", + "Now and then, merely to keep up the luxury of southern life, the
    \r\n", + "colonel finds it gratifying to his feelings, on returning home at
    \r\n", + "night, to order a bed to be made for him in one of the yard-houses,
    \r\n", + "in such manner as to give the deepest pain to his Franconia. Coarse
    \r\n", + "and dissolute, indifference follows, cold and cutting; she finds
    \r\n", + "herself a mere instrument of baser purpose in the hands of one she
    \r\n", + "knows only as a ruffian-she loathes! Thus driven under the burden of
    \r\n", + "trouble, she begins to express her unhappiness, to remonstrate
    \r\n", + "against his associations, to plead with him against his course of
    \r\n", + "life. He jeers at this, scouts such prudery, proclaims it far
    \r\n", + "beneath the dignity of his standing as a southern gentleman.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The generous woman could have endured his dissipation-she might have
    \r\n", + "tolerated his licentiousness, but his arbitrary and very
    \r\n", + "uncalled-for remarks upon the misfortunes of her family are more
    \r\n", + "than she can bear. She has tried to respect him-love him she
    \r\n", + "cannot-and yet her sensitive nature recoils at the thought of being
    \r\n", + "attached to one whose feelings and associations are so at variance
    \r\n", + "with her own. Her impulsive spirit quails under the bitterness of
    \r\n", + "her lot; she sees the dreary waste of trouble before her only to
    \r\n", + "envy the happiness of those days of rural life spent on the old
    \r\n", + "plantation. That she should become fretful and unhappy is a natural
    \r\n", + "consequence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We must invite the reader to go with us to M'Carstrow's residence,
    \r\n", + "an old-fashioned wooden building, three stories high, with large
    \r\n", + "basement windows and doors, on the south side of King Street. It is
    \r\n", + "a wet, gloomy night, in the month of November,--the wind, fierce and
    \r\n", + "chilling, has just set in from the north-east; a drenching rain
    \r\n", + "begins to fall, the ships in the harbour ride ill at ease; the
    \r\n", + "sudden gusts of wind, sweeping through the narrow streets of the
    \r\n", + "city, lighted here and there by the sickly light of an old-fashioned
    \r\n", + "lamp, bespread the scene with drear. At a second-story window,
    \r\n", + "lighted by a taper burning on the sill, sits Franconia, alone,
    \r\n", + "waiting the return of M'Carstrow. M'Carstrow is enjoying his night
    \r\n", + "orgies! He cares neither for the pelting storm, the anxiety of his
    \r\n", + "wife, nor the sweets of home.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A gust of wind shakes the house; the windows rattle their stormy
    \r\n", + "music; the cricket answers to the wailings of the gale as it gushes
    \r\n", + "through the crevices; Franconia's cares are borne to her husband.
    \r\n", + "Now the wind subsides,--a slow rap is heard at the hall door, in the
    \r\n", + "basement: a female servant, expecting her master, hastens to open
    \r\n", + "it. Her master is not there; the wind has extinguished the flaring
    \r\n", + "light; and the storm, sweeping through the sombre arch, spreads
    \r\n", + "noise and confusion. She runs to the kitchen, seizes the globular
    \r\n", + "lamp, and soon returns, frightened at the sight presented in the
    \r\n", + "door. Master is not there-it is the lean figure of a strange old
    \r\n", + "\"nigger,\" whose weather-worn face, snowy with beard and wrinkled
    \r\n", + "with age, is lit up with gladness. He has a warm soul within him,--a
    \r\n", + "soul not unacceptable to heaven! The servant shrinks back,--she is
    \r\n", + "frightened at the strange sight of the strange old man. \"Don' be
    \r\n", + "feared, good child; Bob ain't bad nigger,\" says the figure, in a
    \r\n", + "guttural whisper.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"An't da'h fo'h notin good; who is ye'?\" returns the girl, holding
    \r\n", + "the globular lamp before her shining black face. Cautiously she
    \r\n", + "makes a step or two forward, squinting at the sombre figure of the
    \r\n", + "old negro, as he stands trembling in the doorway. \"Is my good young
    \r\n", + "Miss wid'n?\" he enquires, in the same whispering voice, holding his
    \r\n", + "cap in his right hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Reckon how ye bes be gwine out a dat afo'h Miss come. Yer miss don'
    \r\n", + "lib in dis ouse.\" So saying, the girl is about to close the door in
    \r\n", + "the old man's face, for he is ragged and dejected, and has the
    \r\n", + "appearance of a \"suspicious nigger without a master.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don' talk so, good gal; ye don' know dis old man,--so hungry,--most
    \r\n", + "starved. I lub Miss Franconia. Tell she I'ze here,\" he says, in a
    \r\n", + "supplicating tone, as the girl, regaining confidence, scrutinises
    \r\n", + "him from head to foot with the aid of her lamp.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The servant is about to request he will come inside that she may
    \r\n", + "shut out the storm. \"Frankone knows old Daddy Bob,--dat she do!\" he
    \r\n", + "reiterates, working his cap in his fingers. The familiar words have
    \r\n", + "caught Franconia's ear; she recognises the sound of the old man's
    \r\n", + "voice; she springs to her feet, as her heart gladdens with joy. She
    \r\n", + "bounds down the stairs, and to the door, grasps the old man's hand,
    \r\n", + "as a fond child warmly grasps the hand of a parent, and welcomes him
    \r\n", + "with the tenderness of a sister. \"Poor-my poor old Daddy!\" she says,
    \r\n", + "looking in his face so sweetly, so earnestly, \"where have you come
    \r\n", + "from? who bought you? how did you escape?\" she asks, in rapid
    \r\n", + "succession. Holding his hand, she leads him along the passage, as he
    \r\n", + "tells her. \"Ah, missus, I sees hard times since old mas'r lef' de
    \r\n", + "plantation. Him an't how he was ven you dah.\" He views her,
    \r\n", + "curiously, from head to foot; kisses her hand; laughs with joy, as
    \r\n", + "he was wont to laugh on the old plantation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Faithful as ever, Daddy? You found me out, and came to see me,
    \r\n", + "didn't you?\" says Franconia, so kindly, leading him into a small
    \r\n", + "room on the left hand of the hall, where, after ordering some supper
    \r\n", + "for him, she begs he will tell her all about his wayfaring. It is
    \r\n", + "some minutes before Bob can get an opportunity to tell Franconia
    \r\n", + "that he is a fugitive, having escaped the iron grasp of the law to
    \r\n", + "stand true to old mas'r. At length he, in the enthusiastic boundings
    \r\n", + "of his heart, commences his story.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nigger true, Miss Franconia\"-he mumbles out-\"on'e gib 'im chance to
    \r\n", + "be. Ye sees, Bob warn't gwine t' lef' old mas'r, nohow; so I gin
    \r\n", + "'ein da slip when'e come t' takes 'em fo'h sell-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Then they didn't sell you, old Dad? That's good! that's good! And
    \r\n", + "Daddy's cold and wet?\" she interrupts, anxiously, telling the
    \r\n", + "servant to get some dry clothes for him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I is dat, Miss Frankone. Han't ad nofin t' eat dis most two days,\"
    \r\n", + "he returns, looking at her affectionately, with one of those simple
    \r\n", + "smiles, so true, so expressive.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A supper is soon ready for Daddy, to which he sits down as if he
    \r\n", + "were about to renew all his former fondness and familiarity. \"Seems
    \r\n", + "like old times, don 'un, Miss Frankone? Wish old mas'r war here,
    \r\n", + "too,\" says the old man, putting the bowl of coffee to his lips, and
    \r\n", + "casting a side-look at the servant.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia sits watching him intently, as if he were a child just
    \r\n", + "rescued from some impending danger. \"Don't mention my poor uncle,
    \r\n", + "Daddy. He feels as much interest in you as I do; but the world don't
    \r\n", + "look upon him now as it once did-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Neber mind: I gwine to work fo' old mas'r. It'll take dis old child
    \r\n", + "to see old mas'r all right,\" replies the old man, forgetting that he
    \r\n", + "is too old to take care of himself, properly. Bob finishes his
    \r\n", + "supper, rests his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, and
    \r\n", + "commences disclosing his troubles to Franconia. He tells her how he
    \r\n", + "secreted himself in the pine-woods,--how he wandered through swamps,
    \r\n", + "waded creeks, slept on trunks of trees, crept stealthily to the old
    \r\n", + "mansion at night, listened for mas'r's footsteps, and watched
    \r\n", + "beneath the veranda; and when he found he was not there, how he
    \r\n", + "turned and left the spot, his poor heart regretting. How his heart
    \r\n", + "beat as he passed the old familiar cabin, retracing his steps to
    \r\n", + "seek a shelter in the swamp; how, when he learned her residence,
    \r\n", + "famished with hunger, he wended his way into the city to seek her
    \r\n", + "out, knowing she would relieve his wants.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What vil da do wid me, spose da cotch me, Miss Frankone?\" enquires
    \r\n", + "the old man, simply, looking down at his encrusted feet, and again
    \r\n", + "at his nether wardrobe, which he feels is not just the thing to
    \r\n", + "appear in before young missus.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"They won't do anything cruel to you, Daddy. You are too old; your
    \r\n", + "grey hairs will protect you. Why, Daddy, you would not fetch a bid
    \r\n", + "if they found out who owned you, and put you up at auction
    \r\n", + "to-morrow,\" she says, with seeming unconsciousness. She little knew
    \r\n", + "how much the old man prided in his value,--how much he esteemed the
    \r\n", + "amount of good work he could do for master. He shakes his head,
    \r\n", + "looks doubtingly at her, as if questioning the sincerity of her
    \r\n", + "remark.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Just get Daddy Bob-he mutters-a badge, den 'e show missus how much
    \r\n", + "work in 'um.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia promises to comply with his request, and, with the aid of
    \r\n", + "a friend, will intercede for him, and procure for him a badge, that
    \r\n", + "he may display his energies for the benefit of old mas'r. This done,
    \r\n", + "she orders the servant to show him his bed in one of the \"yard
    \r\n", + "houses;\" bids the old man an affectionate good night, retires to her
    \r\n", + "room, and watches the return of her truant swain.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There, seated in an arm-chair, she waits, and waits, and waits, hope
    \r\n", + "and anxiety recording time as it passes. The servant has seen Daddy
    \r\n", + "safe in his room, and joins her missus, where, by the force of
    \r\n", + "habit, she coils herself at her feet, and sleeps. She has not long
    \r\n", + "remained in this position when loud singing breaks upon her ear;
    \r\n", + "louder and louder it vibrates through the music of the storm, and
    \r\n", + "approaches. Now she distinctly recognises the sharp voice of
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow, which is followed by loud rappings at the door of the
    \r\n", + "basement hall. M'Carstrow, impatiently, demands entrance. The
    \r\n", + "half-sleeping servant, startled at the noise, springs to her feet,
    \r\n", + "rubs her eyes, bounds down the stairs, seizes the globular lamp, and
    \r\n", + "proceeds to open the door. Franconia, a candle in her hand, waits at
    \r\n", + "the top of the stairs. She swings back the door, and there,
    \r\n", + "bespattered with mud, face bleeding and distorted, and eyes glassy,
    \r\n", + "stands the chivalrous M'Carstrow. He presents a sorry picture;
    \r\n", + "mutters, or half growls, some sharp imprecations; makes a grasp at
    \r\n", + "the girl, falls prostrate on the floor. Attempting to gain his
    \r\n", + "perpendicular, he staggers a few yards-the girl screaming with
    \r\n", + "fright-and groans as his face again confronts the tiles. To make the
    \r\n", + "matter still worse, three of his boon companions follow him, and,
    \r\n", + "almost in succession, pay their penance to the floor, in an
    \r\n", + "indescribable catacomb.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I tell you what, Colonel! if that nigger gal a' yourn don't stand
    \r\n", + "close with her blazer we'll get into an all-fired snarl,\" says one,
    \r\n", + "endeavouring to extricate himself and regain his upright. After
    \r\n", + "sundry ineffectual attempts, surging round the room in search of his
    \r\n", + "hat, which is being very unceremoniously transformed into a muff
    \r\n", + "beneath their entangled extremes, he turns over quietly, saying,
    \r\n", + "\"There's something very strange about the floor of this
    \r\n", + "establishment,--it don't seem solid; 'pears how there's ups and downs
    \r\n", + "in it.\" They wriggle and twist in a curious pile; endeavour to bring
    \r\n", + "their knees out of \"a fix\"--to free themselves from the angles which
    \r\n", + "they are most unmathematically working on the floor. Working and
    \r\n", + "twisting,--now staggering, and again giving utterance to the coarsest
    \r\n", + "language,--one of the gentry--they belong to the sporting world-calls
    \r\n", + "loudly for the colonel's little 'oman. Regaining his feet, he makes
    \r\n", + "indelicate advances towards the female servant, who, nearly pale
    \r\n", + "with fright--a negro can look pale--runs to her mistress at the top
    \r\n", + "of the stairs.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He misses the frightened maid, and seats himself on the lowest step
    \r\n", + "of the stairs. Here he delivers a sort of half-musical soliloquy,
    \r\n", + "like the following: \"Gentlemen! this kind a' thing only happens at
    \r\n", + "times, and isn't just the square thing when yer straight; but--seein'
    \r\n", + "how southern life will be so--when a body get's crooked what's got a
    \r\n", + "wife what don't look to matters and things, and never comes to take
    \r\n", + "care on a body when he's done gone, he better shut up shop. Better
    \r\n", + "be lookin' round to see what he can scare up!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia holds the flaring light over the stairs: pale and
    \r\n", + "death-like, she trembles with fear, every moment expecting to see
    \r\n", + "them ascend.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I see the colonel's 'oman! yander she is; she what was imposed on
    \r\n", + "him to save the poverty of her folks. The M'Carstrows know a thing
    \r\n", + "or two: her folks may crawl under the dignity of the name, but they
    \r\n", + "don't shell under the dignity of the money-they don't!\" says a
    \r\n", + "stalwart companion, attempting to gain a position by the side of his
    \r\n", + "fellow on the steps. He gives a leering wink, contorts his face into
    \r\n", + "a dozen grimaces, stares vacantly round the hall (sliding himself
    \r\n", + "along on his hands and knees), his glassy eyes inflamed like balls
    \r\n", + "of fire. \"It'll be all square soon,\" he growls out.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The poor affrighted servant again attempts-having descended the
    \r\n", + "stairs-to relieve her master; but the crawling creature has regained
    \r\n", + "his feet. He springs upon her like a fiend, utters a fierce yell,
    \r\n", + "and, snatching the lamp from her hand, dashes it upon the tiles,
    \r\n", + "spreading the fractured pieces about the hall. Wringing herself from
    \r\n", + "his grasp, she leaves a portion of her dress in his bony hand, and
    \r\n", + "seeks shelter in a distant part of the hall. Holding up the fragment
    \r\n", + "as a trophy, he staggers from place to place, making hieroglyphics
    \r\n", + "on the wall with his fingers. His misty mind searches for some point
    \r\n", + "of egress. Confronting (rather uncomfortably) hat stands, tables,
    \r\n", + "porcelains, and other hall appurtenances, he at length shuffles his
    \r\n", + "way back to the stairs, where, as if doubting his bleered optics, he
    \r\n", + "stands some moments, swaying to and fro. His hat again falls from
    \r\n", + "his head, and his body, following, lays its lumbering length on the
    \r\n", + "stairs. Happy fraternity! how useful is that body! His companion,
    \r\n", + "laying his muddled head upon it, says it will serve for a pillow.
    \r\n", + "\"E'ke-hum-spose 'tis so? I reckon how I'm some-ec! eke!-somewhere or
    \r\n", + "nowhere; aint we, Joe? It's a funny house, fellers,\" he continues to
    \r\n", + "soliloquise, laying his arm affectionately over his companion's
    \r\n", + "neck, and again yielding to the caprice of his nether limbs.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gentlemen will now enjoy a little refreshing sleep; to further
    \r\n", + "which enjoyment, they very coolly and unceremoniously commence a
    \r\n", + "pot-pourri of discordant snoring. This seems of grateful concord for
    \r\n", + "their boon companions, who-forming an equanimity of good feeling on
    \r\n", + "the floor-join in.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The servant is but a slave, subject to her owner's will; she dare
    \r\n", + "not approach him while in such an uncertain condition. Franconia
    \r\n", + "cannot intercede, lest his companions, strangers to her, and having
    \r\n", + "the appearance of low-bred men, taking advantage of M'Carstrow's
    \r\n", + "besotted condition, make rude advances. M'Carstrow, snoring high
    \r\n", + "above his cares, will take his comfort upon the tiles.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The servant is supplied with another candle, which, at Franconia's
    \r\n", + "bidding, she places in a niche of the hall. It will supply light to
    \r\n", + "the grotesque sleepers, whose lamp has gone out.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia has not forgotten that M'Carstrow is her husband; she has
    \r\n", + "not forgotten that she owes him a wife's debt of kindness. She
    \r\n", + "descends the stairs gently, leans over his besotted body, smooths
    \r\n", + "his feverish brow with her hand, and orders the servant to bring a
    \r\n", + "soft cushion; which done, she raises his head and places it
    \r\n", + "beneath-so gently, so carefully. Her loving heart seems swelling
    \r\n", + "with grief, as compassionately she gazes upon him; then, drawing a
    \r\n", + "cambric handkerchief from her bosom, spreads it so kindly over his
    \r\n", + "face. Woman! there is worth in that last little act. She leaves him
    \r\n", + "to enjoy his follies, but regrets their existence. Retiring to the
    \r\n", + "drawing-room, agitated and sleepless, she reclines on a lounge to
    \r\n", + "await the light of morning. Again the faithful servant, endeavouring
    \r\n", + "to appease her mistress's agitation, crouches upon the carpet,
    \r\n", + "resting her head on the ottoman at Franconia's feet.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The morning dawns bright and sunny: Franconia has not slept. She has
    \r\n", + "passed the hours in watchfulness; has watched the negro sleeping,
    \r\n", + "while her thoughts were rivetted to the scene in the hall. She gets
    \r\n", + "up, paces the room from the couch to the window, and sits down again
    \r\n", + "undecided, unresolved. Taking Diana-such is the servant's name-by
    \r\n", + "the hand, she wakes her, and sends her into the hall to ascertain
    \r\n", + "the condition of the sleepers. The metamorphosed group, poisoning
    \r\n", + "the air with their reeking breath, are still enjoying the morbid
    \r\n", + "fruits of their bacchanalianism. Quietly, coolly, and promiscuously,
    \r\n", + "they lay as lovingly as fellows of the animal world could desire.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The servant returns, shaking her head. \"Missus, da'h lays yander, so
    \r\n", + "in all fixins dat no tellin' which most done gone. Mas'r seems done
    \r\n", + "gone, sartin!\" says the servant, her face glowing with apprehension.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The significant phrase alarms Franconia. She repairs to the hall,
    \r\n", + "and commences restoring the sleepers to consciousness. The gentlemen
    \r\n", + "are doggedly obstinate; they refuse to be disturbed. She recognises
    \r\n", + "the face of one whose business it is to reduce men to the last stage
    \r\n", + "of poverty. Her sensitive nature shudders at the sight, as she views
    \r\n", + "him with a curl of contempt on her lip. \"Oh,
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow,--M'Carstrow!\" she whispers, and taking him by the hand,
    \r\n", + "shakes it violently. M'Carstrow, with countenance ghastly and
    \r\n", + "inflamed, begins to raise his sluggish head. He sees Franconia
    \r\n", + "pensively gazing in his face; and yet he enquires who it is that
    \r\n", + "disturbs the progress of his comforts. \"Only me!\" says the good
    \r\n", + "woman, soliciting him to leave his companions and accompany her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Oh, you, is it?\" he replies, grumblingly, rising on his right elbow,
    \r\n", + "and rubbing his eyes with his left hand. Wildly and vacantly he
    \r\n", + "stares round the hall, as if aroused from a trance, and made
    \r\n", + "sensible of his condition.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, me-simply me, who, lost to your affections, is made most
    \r\n", + "unhappy-\" Franconia would proceed, but is interrupted by her
    \r\n", + "muddling swain.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Unhappy! unhappy!\" says the man of southern chivalry, making sundry
    \r\n", + "irresistible nods. \"Propagator of mischief, of evil contentions, of
    \r\n", + "peace annihilators. Ah! ah! ah! Thinking about the lustre of them
    \r\n", + "beggared relations. It always takes fools to make a fuss over small
    \r\n", + "things: an angel wouldn't make a discontented woman happy.\"
    \r\n", + "Franconia breaks out into a paroxysm of grief, so unfeeling is the
    \r\n", + "tone in which he addresses her. He is a southern gentleman,--happily
    \r\n", + "not of New England in his manners, not of New England in his
    \r\n", + "affections, not of New England in his domestic associations. He
    \r\n", + "thinks Franconia very silly, and scouts with derision the idea of
    \r\n", + "marrying a southern gentleman who likes enjoyment, and then making a
    \r\n", + "fuss about it. He thinks she had better shut up her
    \r\n", + "whimpering,--learn to be a good wife upon southern principles.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Husbands should be husbands, to claim a wife's respect; and they
    \r\n", + "should never forget that kindness makes good wives. Take away the
    \r\n", + "life springs of woman's love, and what is she? What is she with her
    \r\n", + "happiness gone, her pride touched, her prospects blasted? What
    \r\n", + "respect or love can she have for the man who degrades her to the
    \r\n", + "level of his own loathsome companions?\" Franconia points to those
    \r\n", + "who lie upon the floor, repulsive, and reeking with the fumes of
    \r\n", + "dissipation. \"There are your companions,\" she says.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Companions?\" he returns, enquiringly. He looks round upon them with
    \r\n", + "surprise. \"Who are those fellows you have got here?\" he enquires,
    \r\n", + "angrily.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You brought them to your own home; that home you might make happy-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not a bit of it! They are some of your d-d disreputable relations.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My relations never violate the conduct of gentlemen.\" \"No; but they
    \r\n", + "sponge on me. These my companions!\" looking at them inquisitively.
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, no! Don't let us talk about such things; I'ze got fifteen
    \r\n", + "hundred dollars and costs to pay for that nigger gal you were fool
    \r\n", + "enough to get into a fit about when we were married. That's what
    \r\n", + "I'ze got for my good-heartedness.\" M'Carstrow permits his very
    \r\n", + "gentlemanly southern self to get into a rage. He springs to his feet
    \r\n", + "suddenly, crosses and recrosses the hall like one frenzied with
    \r\n", + "excitement. Franconia is frightened, runs up the stairs, and into
    \r\n", + "her chamber, where, secreting herself, she fastens the door. He
    \r\n", + "looks wistfully after her, stamping his foot, but he will not
    \r\n", + "follow. Too much of a polished gentleman, he will merely amuse
    \r\n", + "himself by running over the gamut of his strongest imprecations. The
    \r\n", + "noise creates general alarm among his companions, who, gaining their
    \r\n", + "uprights, commence remonstrating with him on his rude conduct, as if
    \r\n", + "they were much superior beings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, colonel, major,--or whatever they dubbed ye, in the way of a
    \r\n", + "title,\" says one, putting his hand to his hat with a swaggering bow;
    \r\n", + "\"just stop that ar' sort a' nonsense, and pay over this 'ere little
    \r\n", + "affair afore we gets into polite etiquette and such things. When, to
    \r\n", + "make the expenses, ye comes into a place like ours, and runs up a
    \r\n", + "credit score,--when ye gets so lofty that ye can't tell fifty from
    \r\n", + "five, we puts a sealer on, so customers don't forget in the
    \r\n", + "morning.\" The modest gentleman presents to M'Carstrow's astonished
    \r\n", + "eyes a note for twenty-seven hundred dollars, with the genuine
    \r\n", + "signature. M'Carstrow takes it in his hand, stares at it, turns it
    \r\n", + "over and over. The signature is his; but he is undecided about the
    \r\n", + "manner of its getting there, and begins to give expression to some
    \r\n", + "doubt.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gentleman watches M'Carstrow very cautiously. \"Straight!
    \r\n", + "colonel-he says-just turn out the shiners, or, to 'commodate, we'll
    \r\n", + "let ye off with a sprinkling of niggers.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The colonel puts the fore-finger of his left hand to his lips, and,
    \r\n", + "with serious countenance, walks twice or thrice across the hall, as
    \r\n", + "if consulting his dignity: \"Shell out the niggers first; we'll take
    \r\n", + "the dignity part a'ter,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I demand to know how you came in my house,\" interrupts the colonel,
    \r\n", + "impatiently. He finds himself in very bad company; company southern
    \r\n", + "gentlemen never acknowledge by daylight.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We brought you here! Anything else you'd like to know?\" is the
    \r\n", + "cool, sneering response. The gentleman will take a pinch of snuff;
    \r\n", + "he draws his fancy box from his pocket, gives the cover a polite rap
    \r\n", + "with his finger, invites the enraged M'Carstrow to \"take.\" That
    \r\n", + "gentleman shakes his head,--declines. He is turning the whole affair
    \r\n", + "over in his head, seems taking it into serious consideration.
    \r\n", + "Seriously, he accepted their accommodation, and now finds himself
    \r\n", + "compelled to endure their painful presence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I, I, I-m, rather in doubt,\" stammers M'Carstrow, fingering the
    \r\n", + "little obligation again, turning it over and over, rubbing his eyes,
    \r\n", + "applying his glass. He sees nothing in the signature to dispute. \"I
    \r\n", + "must stop this kind of fishing,\" he says; \"don't do. It 's just what
    \r\n", + "friend Scranton would call very bad philosophy. Gentlemen, suppose
    \r\n", + "you sit down; we'd better consider this matter a little. Han't got a
    \r\n", + "dime in the bank, just now.\" M'Carstrow is becoming more quiet,
    \r\n", + "takes a philosophical view of the matter, affects more suavity.
    \r\n", + "Calling loudly for the negro servant, that personage presents
    \r\n", + "herself, and is ordered to bring chairs to provide accommodation for
    \r\n", + "the gentlemen, in the hall.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Might just as well settle the matter in the parlour, colonel;
    \r\n", + "t'wont put you out a mite,\" the gambler suggests, with a laconic
    \r\n", + "air. He will not trouble M'Carstrow by waiting for his reply. No; he
    \r\n", + "leads the way, very coolly, asking no odds of etiquette; and, having
    \r\n", + "entered the apartment, invites his comrades to take seats. The
    \r\n", + "dignity and coolness with which the manouvre is executed takes
    \r\n", + "\"Boss\" M'Carstrow by surprise; makes him feel that he is merely a
    \r\n", + "dependent individual, whose presence there is not much need of. \"I
    \r\n", + "tell you what it is, gents, I'ze shaved my accounts at the bank down
    \r\n", + "to the smallest figure, have! but there's an honourable
    \r\n", + "consideration about this matter; and, honour's honour, and I want to
    \r\n", + "discharge it somehow--niggers or cash!\" The gentlemen's feelings
    \r\n", + "have smoothed down amazingly. M'Carstrow is entirely serious, and
    \r\n", + "willing to comply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gentlemen have seated themselves in a triangle, with the \"done
    \r\n", + "over\" colonel in the centre.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, niggers will do just as well, provided they are sound, prime,
    \r\n", + "and put at prices so a feller can turn 'em into tin, quick,\" says
    \r\n", + "the gentleman, who elects himself spokesman of the party.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Keeps my property in tall condition, but won't shove it off under
    \r\n", + "market quotations, no how!\" M'Carstrow interrupts, as the spokesman,
    \r\n", + "affecting the nonchalance of a newly-elected alderman, places his
    \r\n", + "feet upon the rich upholstery of a sofa close by. He would enjoy the
    \r\n", + "extremes of southern comfort. \"Colonel, I wish you had a more
    \r\n", + "convenient place to spit,\" rejoins the gentleman. He will not
    \r\n", + "trouble the maid, however-he let's fly the noxious mixture,
    \r\n", + "promiscuously; it falls from his lips upon the soft hearth-rug. \"It
    \r\n", + "will add another flower to the expensive thing,\" he says, very
    \r\n", + "coolly, elongating his figure a little more. He has relieved
    \r\n", + "himself, wondrously. M'Carstrow calls the servant, points to the
    \r\n", + "additional wreath on the hearth-rug!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All your nigger property as good-conditioned as that gal?\" enquires
    \r\n", + "the gentleman, the others laughing at the nicety of his humour.
    \r\n", + "Rising from his seat very deliberately, he approaches the servant,
    \r\n", + "lays his hand upon her neck and shoulders.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not quite so fast, my friend: d-n it, gentlemen, don't be rude.
    \r\n", + "That's coming the thing a little too familiar. There is a medium:
    \r\n", + "please direct your moist appropriations and your improper remarks in
    \r\n", + "their proper places.\" The girl, cringing beneath the ruffian's hand,
    \r\n", + "places the necessary receptacle at his feet.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gentleman is offended,--very much offended. He thinks it beneath
    \r\n", + "the expansion of his mind-to be standing on aristocratic nonsense!
    \r\n", + "\"Spit boxes and nigger property ain't the thing to stand on about
    \r\n", + "haristocrats; just put down the dimes. Three bright niggers 'll do:
    \r\n", + "turn 'em out.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Three of my best niggers!\" ejaculates the Colonel.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nothin' shorter, Colonel.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Remember, gentlemen, the market price of such property. The demand
    \r\n", + "for cotton has made niggers worth their weight in gold, for any
    \r\n", + "purpose. Take the prosperity of our country into consideration,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen; remember the worth of prime men. The tip men of the
    \r\n", + "market are worth 1200 dollars.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Might as well lay that kind a' financerin aside, Colonel. What's
    \r\n", + "the use of living in a free country, where every man has a right to
    \r\n", + "make a penny when he can, and talk so? Now, 'pears to me t'aint no
    \r\n", + "use a' mincing the matter; we might a' leaked ye in for as many
    \r\n", + "thousands as hundreds. Seein' how ye was a good customer, we saved
    \r\n", + "ye on a small shot. Better put the niggers out: ownin' such a lot,
    \r\n", + "ye won't feel it! Give us three prime chaps; none a' yer old
    \r\n", + "sawbones what ye puts up at auction when ther' worked down to
    \r\n", + "nothin'.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow's powers of reasoning are quite limited; and, finding
    \r\n", + "himself in one of those strange situations southern gentlemen so
    \r\n", + "often get into, and which not unfrequently prove as perplexing as
    \r\n", + "the workings of the peculiar institution itself, he seeks relief by
    \r\n", + "giving an order for three prime fellows. They will be delivered up,
    \r\n", + "at the plantation, on the following day, when the merchandise will
    \r\n", + "be duly made over, as per invoice. Everything is according to style
    \r\n", + "and honour; the gentlemen pledge their faith to be gentlemen, to
    \r\n", + "leave no dishonourable loop-hole for creeping out. And now, having
    \r\n", + "settled the little matter, they make M'Carstrow the very best of
    \r\n", + "bows, desire to be remembered to his woman, bid him good morning,
    \r\n", + "and leave. They will claim their property-three prime men-by the
    \r\n", + "justice of a \"free-born democracy.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow watches them from the house, moralising over his folly.
    \r\n", + "They have gone! He turns from the sight, ascends the stairs, and
    \r\n", + "repairs to meet his Franconia.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE VICISSITUDES OF A PREACHER.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WE left Harry, the faithful servant, whose ministerial functions had
    \r\n", + "been employed in elevating the souls of Marston's property, being
    \r\n", + "separated from his wife and sold to Mr. M'Fadden. M'Fadden is a
    \r\n", + "gentleman--we do not impugn the name, in a southern sense--of that
    \r\n", + "class--very large class--who, finding the laws of their own country
    \r\n", + "too oppressive for their liberal thoughts, seek a republican's home
    \r\n", + "in ours. It is to such men, unhappily, the vices of slavery are
    \r\n", + "open. They grasp them, apply them to purposes most mercenary, most
    \r\n", + "vile. The most hardened of foreigners-that essence of degraded
    \r\n", + "outcasts,--may, under the privileges of slavery, turn human misery
    \r\n", + "into the means of making money. He has no true affiliations with the
    \r\n", + "people of the south, nor can he feel aught beyond a selfish interest
    \r\n", + "in the prosperity of the State; but he can be active in the work of
    \r\n", + "evil. With the foreigner--we speak from observation--affecting love
    \r\n", + "of liberty at home, it would seem, only makes him the greater tyrant
    \r\n", + "when slavery gives him power to execute its inhuman trusts. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Lawrence M'Fadden is one of this description of persons; he will
    \r\n", + "make a fortune in the South, and live a gentleman in the North--
    \r\n", + "perhaps, at home on his own native Isle. Education he has none;
    \r\n", + "moral principle he never enjoyed,--never expects to. He is a tall,
    \r\n", + "athletic man, nearly six feet two inches in height, with extremely
    \r\n", + "broad, stooping shoulders, and always walks as if he were meditating
    \r\n", + "some speculation. His dress is usually of southern red-mixed
    \r\n", + "homespun,--a dress which he takes much pride in wearing, in
    \r\n", + "connection with a black brigand hat, which gives his broad face,
    \r\n", + "projecting cheek-bones, and blunt chin, a look of unmistakeable
    \r\n", + "sullenness. Add to this a low, narrow forehead, generally covered
    \r\n", + "with thick tufts of matted black hair, beneath which two savage eyes
    \r\n", + "incessantly glare, and, reader, you have the repulsive
    \r\n", + "personification of the man. Mr. M'Fadden has bought a preacher,--an
    \r\n", + "article with the very best kind of a soul,--which he would send to
    \r\n", + "his place in the country. Having just sent the article to the
    \r\n", + "rail-road, he stands in a neighbouring bar-room, surrounded by his
    \r\n", + "cronies, who are joining him in a social glass, discussing the
    \r\n", + "qualities of the article preacher. We are not favoured with the
    \r\n", + "point at issue; but we hear Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden say, with great
    \r\n", + "force,--\"Preachers are only good property under certain
    \r\n", + "circumstances; and if them circumstances ain't just so, it won't do
    \r\n", + "to buy 'em. Old aristocrat rice planters may make a good thing or
    \r\n", + "two on 'em, because they can make 'em regulate the cummin' o' their
    \r\n", + "property, and make it understand what the Lord says about minding
    \r\n", + "their masters.\" For his-Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden's-own part, he
    \r\n", + "wouldn't give seven coppers for the thinking part of any property,
    \r\n", + "having no belief in that fashionable way of improving its value. \"My
    \r\n", + "preacher has been nicely packed up and sent off in advance,\" he
    \r\n", + "says, wiping his mouth with his coat sleeve, and smacking his lips,
    \r\n", + "as he twirls his glass upon the zinc counter, shakes hands with his
    \r\n", + "friends-they congratulate him upon the good bargain in his
    \r\n", + "divine-and proceeds to the railroad dep�t. Harry has arrived nearly
    \r\n", + "two hours in advance,--delivered in good condition, as stated in a
    \r\n", + "receipt which he holds in his hand, and which purports to be from
    \r\n", + "the baggage-master. \"Ah! here you are,\" says M'Fadden, taking the
    \r\n", + "paper from Harry's hand, as he enters the luggage-room. \"Take good
    \r\n", + "care on ye,--I reckon I will!\" He looks down upon him with an air of
    \r\n", + "satisfaction. The poor preacher-the soul-glowing property-is yet
    \r\n", + "chained, hand and foot. He sits upon the cold floor, those imploring
    \r\n", + "eyes swelling at the thought that freedom only awaits him in another
    \r\n", + "world. M'Fadden takes a little flask from his breast pocket, and,
    \r\n", + "with a motion of kindness, draws the cork, passes it to him. \"It's
    \r\n", + "whiskey!\" he says; \"take a drop-do ye good, old feller.\" Quietly the
    \r\n", + "man passes it to his lips, and moistens his mouth. \"No winking and
    \r\n", + "blinking-it's tip-top stuff,\" enjoins M'Fadden; \"don't get it every
    \r\n", + "day.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden will take a little himself. \"Glad to find ye here, all
    \r\n", + "straight!\" he mutters, taking the flask from his mouth. He had
    \r\n", + "returned the receipt to his property; and, having gratified his
    \r\n", + "appetite a little, he begins to take a more perspective view of his
    \r\n", + "theological purchase.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, master; I am here!\" He again holds up his chained hands, drops
    \r\n", + "his face upon his knees; as much as to say, be sure I am all safe
    \r\n", + "and sound.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Looking at the receipt again, and then at his preacher, \"Guess
    \r\n", + "'hain't made a bad rap on ye' to-day!\" he ejaculates, taking out his
    \r\n", + "pocket-book and laying away the precious paper as carefully as if it
    \r\n", + "were a hundred dollar note. \"Should like to have bought your old
    \r\n", + "woman and young 'uns, but hadn't tin enough. And the way stock's up
    \r\n", + "now, ain't slow! Look up here, my old buck! just put on a face as
    \r\n", + "bright and smooth as a full moon-no sulkin'. Come along here.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The manacled preacher turns upon his hands, gets up as best he
    \r\n", + "can-M'Fadden kindly assists by taking hold of his shoulder-and
    \r\n", + "follows his purchaser to the platform,--like a submissive animal
    \r\n", + "goaded to the very flesh, but chained, lest it make some show of
    \r\n", + "resentment. \"Good heap o' work in ye', old chuck; had a master what
    \r\n", + "didn't understand bringing on't out, though!\" mutters M'Fadden, as
    \r\n", + "he introduces Harry to the negro car, at the same time casting a
    \r\n", + "look of satisfaction at the brakeman standing at his left hand ready
    \r\n", + "to receive the freight.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In the car-a dungeon-like box about ten feet square, the only
    \r\n", + "aperture for admitting light being a lattice of about eight inches
    \r\n", + "square, in the door-are three rough negro men and one woman, the
    \r\n", + "latter apparently about twenty years of age.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Got a tall chap here, boys! Make ye stand round some, in pickin'
    \r\n", + "time; and can preach, too.\" M'Fadden shakes his head exultingly!
    \r\n", + "\"Can put in the big licks preachin'; and I'ze goin' t' let 'im, once
    \r\n", + "in a while. Goin' t' have good times on my place, boys--ha'h! Got a
    \r\n", + "jug of whiskey to have a fandango when ye gits home. Got it
    \r\n", + "somewhere, I knows.\" Mr. M'Fadden exults over the happy times his
    \r\n", + "boys have at home. He shakes himself all over, like a polar bear
    \r\n", + "just out of the water, and laughs heartily. He has delivered himself
    \r\n", + "of something that makes everybody else laugh; the mania has caught
    \r\n", + "upon his own subtle self. The negroes laugh in expressive
    \r\n", + "cadences, and shrug their shoulders as Mr. M'Fadden continues to
    \r\n", + "address them so sportively, so familiarly. Less initiated persons
    \r\n", + "might have formed very satisfactory opinions of his character. He
    \r\n", + "takes a peep under one of the seats, and with a rhapsody of laughter
    \r\n", + "draws forth a small jug. \"You can't come the smuggle over me, boys!
    \r\n", + "I knew ye had a shot somewhere,\" he exclaims. At his bidding, the
    \r\n", + "woman hands him a gourd, from which he very deliberately helps
    \r\n", + "himself to a stout draught.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sit down here!-Isaac, Abraham, Daniel, or whatever yer name is-Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden addresses himself to his preacher. Ye'll get yer share on't
    \r\n", + "when ye gits to my place.\" He sets the jug down, and passes the
    \r\n", + "gourd back, saying: \"What a saucy hussy ye are!\" slapping the
    \r\n", + "woman's black shoulder playfully. \"Give him some-won't ye', boys?\"
    \r\n", + "he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden (the cars are not yet ready to start, but the dep�t is
    \r\n", + "thronging with travellers, and the engine is puffing and snorting,
    \r\n", + "as the driver holds his hand on the throttle, and the stoker crams
    \r\n", + "with pitch pine knots the iron steed of fiery swiftness) will step
    \r\n", + "out and take the comfort of his cigar. He pats his preacher on the
    \r\n", + "shoulder, takes off his shackles, rubs his head with his hand, tells
    \r\n", + "the boys to keep an eye on him. \"Yes, mas'r,\" they answer, in tones
    \r\n", + "of happy ignorance. The preacher must be jolly, keep on a bright
    \r\n", + "face, never mind the old gal and her young 'uns, and remember what a
    \r\n", + "chance he will have to get another. He can have two or more, if he
    \r\n", + "pleases; so says his very generous owner.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden shakes hands with his friends on the platform, smokes
    \r\n", + "his cigar leisurely, mingles with the crowd importantly, thinking
    \r\n", + "the while what an unalloyed paragon of amiability he is. Presently
    \r\n", + "the time-bell strikes its warning; the crowd of passengers rush for
    \r\n", + "the cars; the whistle shrieks; the exhaust gives forth its gruff
    \r\n", + "snorts, the connections clank, a jerk is felt, and onward
    \r\n", + "bounds-mighty in power, but controlled by a finger's slightest
    \r\n", + "touch-the iron steed, dragging its curious train of living
    \r\n", + "merchandise.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden again finds his way to the negroes' car, where, sitting
    \r\n", + "down in front of his property, he will take a bird's-eye view of it.
    \r\n", + "It is very fascinating to a man who loves the quality of such
    \r\n", + "articles as preachers. He will draw his seat somewhat closer to the
    \r\n", + "minister; his heart bounds with joy at the prime appearance of his
    \r\n", + "purchase. Reaching out his hand, he takes the cap from Harry's head,
    \r\n", + "throws it into the woman's lap; again rubs his hair into a friz.
    \r\n", + "Thus relieved of his pleasing emotions, he will pass into one of the
    \r\n", + "fashionable cars, and take his place among the aristocrats.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Boss mighty funny when 'e come t' town, and git just so 'e don't
    \r\n", + "see straight: wish 'e so good wen 'e out da'h on de plantation
    \r\n", + "yander,\" ejaculates one of the negroes, who answers to the name-Joe!
    \r\n", + "Joe seems to have charge of the rest; but he watches M'Fadden's
    \r\n", + "departure with a look of sullen hatred.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hard old Boss on time-an't he, boys?\" enquires Harry, as an
    \r\n", + "introduction to the conversation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Won't take ye long t' find 'um out, I reckon! Git nigger on de
    \r\n", + "plantation 'e don't spa' him, nohow,\" rejoins another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Lor', man, if ye ain't tough ye'll git used up in no time, wid
    \r\n", + "him!\" the woman speaks up, sharply. Then, pulling her ragged skirts
    \r\n", + "around her, she casts a sympathising look at Harry, and, raising her
    \r\n", + "hand in a threatening attitude, and shaking it spitefully in the
    \r\n", + "direction M'Fadden has gone, says:--\"If only had dat man, old Boss,
    \r\n", + "where 'um could revenge 'um, how a' would make 'um suffer! He don'
    \r\n", + "treat 'e nigger like 'e do 'e dog. If 'twarn't fo'h Buckra I'd cut
    \r\n", + "'e troat, sartin.\" This ominous expression, delivered with such
    \r\n", + "emphasis, satisfies Harry that he has got into the hands of a master
    \r\n", + "very unlike the kind and careless Marston.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Onward the cars speed, with clanking music making din as they go.
    \r\n", + "One of the negroes will add something to change the monotony.
    \r\n", + "Fumbling beneath the seats for some minutes, he draws forth a little
    \r\n", + "bag, carefully unties it, and presents his favourite violin. Its
    \r\n", + "appearance gladdens the hearts of his comrades, who welcome it with
    \r\n", + "smiling faces and loud applause. The instrument is of the most
    \r\n", + "antique and original description. It has only two strings; but Simon
    \r\n", + "thinks wonders of it, and would not swap it for a world of modern
    \r\n", + "fiddles, what don't touch the heart with their music. He can bring
    \r\n", + "out tremendous wailings with these two strings; such as will set the
    \r\n", + "whole plantation dancing. He puts it through the process of tuning,
    \r\n", + "adding all the scientific motions and twists of an Italian
    \r\n", + "first-fiddling artiste. Simon will moisten its ears by spitting on
    \r\n", + "them, which he does, turning and twisting himself into the attitudes
    \r\n", + "of a pompous maestro. But now he has got it in what he considers the
    \r\n", + "very nick of tune; it makes his face glow with satisfaction.
    \r\n", + "\"Jest-lef'-'um cum, Simon;--big and strong!\" says Joe, beginning to
    \r\n", + "keep time by slapping his hands on his knees. And such a sawing,
    \r\n", + "such a scraping, as he inflicts, never machine of its kind, ancient
    \r\n", + "or modern, got before. Simon and his companions are in ecstasies;
    \r\n", + "but such cross-grained, such painful jingling of sounds! Its charm
    \r\n", + "is irresistible with the negro; he mustn't lose a note of the tune;
    \r\n", + "every creak is exhausted in a break-down dance, which the motion of
    \r\n", + "the \"Jim Crow\" car makes more grotesque by every now and then
    \r\n", + "jolting them into a huddle in one corner.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden has been told that his property are having a lively
    \r\n", + "time, and thinks he will leave his aristocratic friends, and go to
    \r\n", + "see it; here he is followed by several young gentlemen, anxious to
    \r\n", + "enjoy the hilarity of the scene.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All my property,--right prime, isn't it?\" says M'Fadden, exultingly,
    \r\n", + "nudging one of the young men on the shoulder, as he, returning,
    \r\n", + "enters the car. The gentleman nods assent, sits down, and coolly
    \r\n", + "lights his cigar. \"Good thing to have a fiddler on a plantation! I'd
    \r\n", + "rather have it than a preacher; keeps the boys together, and makes
    \r\n", + "'um a deal better contented,\" he adds, beginning to exhale the fumes
    \r\n", + "from his weed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes!-and ye sees, fellers, how I'ze bought a parson, too. Can do
    \r\n", + "the thing up brown now, boys, I reckon,\" remarks the happy
    \r\n", + "politician, slapping his professional gentleman on the knee, and
    \r\n", + "laughing right heartily.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Turning to Harry with a firm look, he informs the gentlemen that
    \r\n", + "\"this critter's kind o got the sulks, a'cos Romescos-he hates
    \r\n", + "Romescos-has bought his wench and young 'uns. Take that out on him,
    \r\n", + "at my place,\" he adds.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The dancing continues right merrily. One of the young gentlemen
    \r\n", + "would like to have the fiddler strike up \"Down in Old Tennessee.\"
    \r\n", + "The tune is sounded forth with all that warmth of feeling the negro
    \r\n", + "only can add to the comical action of his body.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Clar' the way; let the boys have a good time,\" says Mr. Lawrence
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, taking Harry by the arm and giving him a violent shake. He
    \r\n", + "commands him to join in, and have a jolly good tune with the rest on
    \r\n", + "'em.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Have no call for that, master. Let me act but the part of servant
    \r\n", + "to you.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Do you mean to come nigger sulks over this child?\" interrupts
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, impatiently, scowling his heavy eyebrows, and casting a
    \r\n", + "ferocious look at Harry. After ordering him to stow himself in a
    \r\n", + "corner, he gets the others upon the floor, and compels them to
    \r\n", + "shuffle what he calls a plantation \"rip-her-up.\" The effect of this,
    \r\n", + "added to the singular positions into which they are frequently
    \r\n", + "thrown by the motion of the cars, affords infinite amusement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You see, gentlemen, there's nothing like putting the springs of
    \r\n", + "life into property. Makes it worth fifty per cent. more; and then
    \r\n", + "ye'll get the hard knocks out to a better profit. Old southerners
    \r\n", + "spoil niggers, makin' so much on 'em; and soft-soapin' on 'em. That
    \r\n", + "bit o' property's bin spiled just so-he points to Harry, crouched in
    \r\n", + "the corner-And the critter thinks he can preach! Take that out on
    \r\n", + "him with a round turn, when I git to my place,\" he continues.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry cares very little for M'Fadden's conversation; he sits as
    \r\n", + "quietly and peaceably as if it had been addressed to some other
    \r\n", + "negro. M'Fadden, that he may not be found wanting in his efforts to
    \r\n", + "amuse the young gentlemen, reaches out his hand to one of them,
    \r\n", + "takes his cigar from a case, lights it, and proceeds to keep time by
    \r\n", + "beating his hands on his knees.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The train is approaching the crossing where Mr. M'Fadden will
    \r\n", + "discharge his property,--his human merchandise, and proceed with it
    \r\n", + "some eleven miles on the high road. The noise created by the
    \r\n", + "exuberance of feeling on the part of Mr. M'Fadden has attracted a
    \r\n", + "numerous assemblage of passengers to the \"Jim Crow\" car. The
    \r\n", + "conductor views this as violating the rules of the corporation; he
    \r\n", + "demands it shall be stopped. All is quiet for a time; they reach the
    \r\n", + "\"crossing\" about five o'clock P.M., where, to Mr. Lawrence
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's great delight, he finds himself surrounded by a
    \r\n", + "promiscuous assembly of sovereign citizens, met to partake of the
    \r\n", + "hospitalities offered by the candidate for the Assembly, who, having
    \r\n", + "offered himself, expects the distinguished honour of being elected.
    \r\n", + "The assembled citizens will hear what the learned man's going to
    \r\n", + "talk about when he gets into the Assembly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As Mr. M'Fadden is a great politician, and a greater democrat-we
    \r\n", + "speak according to the southern acceptation-his presence is welcomed
    \r\n", + "with an enthusiastic burst of applause. Shout after shout makes the
    \r\n", + "very welkin ring, as his numerous friends gather round him, smile
    \r\n", + "solicitously, shake him warmly by the hand, honour him as the
    \r\n", + "peasantry honour the Lord of the Manor.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The crossing-one of those points so well known in the south-is a
    \r\n", + "flat, wooded lawn, interspersed here and there with clumps of tall
    \r\n", + "pine-trees. It is generally dignified with a grocery, a justice's
    \r\n", + "office, and a tavern, where entertainment for man and beast may
    \r\n", + "always be had. An immense deal of judicial and political business
    \r\n", + "\"is put through a process\" at these strange places. The squire's
    \r\n", + "law-book is the oracle; all settlements must be made by it; all
    \r\n", + "important sayings drawn from it. The squire himself is scarcely less
    \r\n", + "an individual of mysterious importance; he draws settled facts from
    \r\n", + "his copious volume, and thus saves himself the trouble of analysing
    \r\n", + "them. Open it where he will, the whys and wherefores for every case
    \r\n", + "are never wanting.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our present crossing is a place of much importance, being where the
    \r\n", + "political effervescence of the state often concentrates. It will not
    \r\n", + "do, however, to analyse that concentration, lest the fungi that give
    \r\n", + "it life and power may seem to conflict with the safety of law and
    \r\n", + "order. On other occasions it might be taken for a place of rural
    \r\n", + "quiet, instead of those indescribable gatherings of the rotten
    \r\n", + "membranes of a bad political power.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Here the justice's office is attached to the grocery, a little shop
    \r\n", + "in which all men may drink very deleterious liquor; and, in addition
    \r\n", + "to the tavern, which is the chief building-a quadrangular structure
    \r\n", + "raised a few feet from the ground on piles of the palmetto
    \r\n", + "tree-there is a small church, shingled and clapboarded, and having a
    \r\n", + "belfry with lattice-work sides. An upper and lower veranda surround
    \r\n", + "the tavern, affording gentlemen an opportunity to enjoy the shade.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Several of Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden's friends meet him at the station,
    \r\n", + "and, as he receives his property, assist him in securing it with
    \r\n", + "irons preparatory to lodging it in a place of safe keeping.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Goin' t' make this chap a deacon on my place; can preach like
    \r\n", + "sixty. It'll save the trouble sendin' north for such trash as they
    \r\n", + "send us. Can make this feller truer on southern principles,\" says
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, exultingly, addressing himself to his companions, looking
    \r\n", + "Harry smilingly in the face, and patting him on the shoulder. The
    \r\n", + "gentlemen view Harry with particular admiration, and remark upon his
    \r\n", + "fine points with the usual satisfaction of connoisseurs. Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden will secure his preacher, in iron fellowship, to the left
    \r\n", + "hand of the woman slave.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All right!\" he says, as the irons are locked, and he marches his
    \r\n", + "property up to the tavern, where he meets mine host-a short, fat
    \r\n", + "man, with a very red and good-natured face, who always dresses in
    \r\n", + "brown clothes, smiles, and has an extra laugh for 'lection days-who
    \r\n", + "stands his consequential proportions in the entrance to the lower
    \r\n", + "veranda, and is receiving his customers with the blandest smiles. \"I
    \r\n", + "thinks a right smart heap on ye, or I would'nt a' 'gin ye that gal
    \r\n", + "for a mate,\" continues M'Fadden, walking along, looking at Harry
    \r\n", + "earnestly, and, with an air of self-congratulation, ejecting a
    \r\n", + "quantity of tobacco-juice from his capacious mouth. \"Mr. M'Fadden is
    \r\n", + "very, very welcome;\" so says mine host, who would have him take a
    \r\n", + "social glass with his own dear self.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden must be excused until he has seen the place in which to
    \r\n", + "deposit his preacher and other property.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, ha!\"-mine host cants his ear, enquiringly;--\"want grits for 'em,
    \r\n", + "I s'pose?\" he returns, and his round fat face glows with
    \r\n", + "satisfaction. \"Can suit you to a shavin'.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's right, Colonel; I know'd ye could,\" ejaculates the other.
    \r\n", + "Mine host is much elated at hearing his title appended. Colonel
    \r\n", + "Frank Jones-such is mine host's name--never fought but one duel, and
    \r\n", + "that was the time when, being a delegate to the southern blowing-up
    \r\n", + "convention, lately holden in the secession city of Charleston, he
    \r\n", + "entered his name on the register of the Charleston Hotel--\"Colonel
    \r\n", + "Frank Jones, Esq., of the South Carolina Dragoons;\" beneath which an
    \r\n", + "impertinent wag scrawled-\"Corporal James Henry Williamson M'Donal
    \r\n", + "Cudgo, Esq. of the same regiment.\" Colonel Frank Jones, Esq. took
    \r\n", + "this very gross insult in the highest kind of dudgeon, and forthwith
    \r\n", + "challenged the impertinent wag to settle the matter as became
    \r\n", + "gentlemen. The duel, however, ended quite as harmlessly as the
    \r\n", + "blowing-up convention of which Mr. Colonel Frank Jones was a
    \r\n", + "delegate, the seconds-thoughtless wretches-having forgot to put
    \r\n", + "bullets in the weapons.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our readers must excuse us for digressing a little. Mine host rubs
    \r\n", + "his hands, draws his mouth into a dozen different puckers, and then
    \r\n", + "cries out at the top of his voice, \"Ho, boys, ho!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Three or four half-clad negroes come scampering into the room, ready
    \r\n", + "to answer the summons. \"Take charge o' this property o' my friend's
    \r\n", + "here. Get 'em a good tuck out o' grits.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can grind 'em themselves,\" interrupts M'Fadden, quickly. \"About the
    \r\n", + "price, Colonel?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's all straight,\" spreading his hands with an accompanying nod
    \r\n", + "of satisfaction: \"'commodate ye with a first-rate lock-up and the
    \r\n", + "grits at seven-pence a day.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No objection.\" Mr. M'Fadden is entirely satisfied. The waiters take
    \r\n", + "the gentleman's property in charge, and conduct it to a small
    \r\n", + "building, an appropriate habitation of hens and pigs. It was of
    \r\n", + "logs, rough hewn, without chinking; without floor to keep Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's property from the ground, damp and cold. Unsuited as it
    \r\n", + "is to the reception of human beings, many planters of great opulence
    \r\n", + "have none better for their plantation people. It is about ten feet
    \r\n", + "high, seven broad, and eleven long.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Have a dandy time on't in here to-night,\" says Mr. M'Fadden,
    \r\n", + "addressing himself to Harry, as one of the waiters unlocks the door
    \r\n", + "and ushers the human property into its dreary abode. Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "will step inside, to take a bird's-eye view of the security of the
    \r\n", + "place. He entertains some doubts about the faith of his preacher,
    \r\n", + "however, and has half an inclination to turn round as he is about
    \r\n", + "making his exit. He will. Approaches Harry a second time; he feels
    \r\n", + "his pockets carefully, and suggests that he has some mischievous
    \r\n", + "weapon of liberty stowed away somewhere. He presses and presses his
    \r\n", + "hands to his skirts and bosom. And now he knew he was not mistaken,
    \r\n", + "for he feels something solid in the bosom of his shirt, which is not
    \r\n", + "his heart, although that thing makes a deuce of a fluttering. Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's anxiety increases as he squeezes his hands over its
    \r\n", + "shapes, and watches the changes of Harry's countenance. \"Book,
    \r\n", + "ha'h!\" he exclaims, drawing the osnaburg tight over the square with
    \r\n", + "his left hand, while, with his right, he suddenly grasps Harry
    \r\n", + "firmly by the hair of the head, as if he has discovered an infernal
    \r\n", + "machine. \"Book, ha'h!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Pull it out, old buck. That's the worst o' learned niggers; puts
    \r\n", + "the very seven devils in their black heads, and makes 'em carry
    \r\n", + "their conceit right into nigger stubbornness, so ye have t' bring it
    \r\n", + "out by lashin' and botherin'. Can't stand such nigger nonsense
    \r\n", + "nohow.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry has borne all very peaceably; but there is a time when even
    \r\n", + "the worm will turn. He draws forth the book,--it is the Bible, his
    \r\n", + "hope and comforter; he has treasured it near his heart-that heart
    \r\n", + "that beats loudly against the rocks of oppression. \"What man can he
    \r\n", + "be who feareth the word of God, and says he is of his chosen?
    \r\n", + "Master, that's my Bible: can it do evil against righteousness? It is
    \r\n", + "the light my burdened spirit loves, my guide--\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Your spirit?\" inquires M'Fadden, sullenly, interrupting Harry. \"A
    \r\n", + "black spirit, ye' mean, ye' nigger of a preacher. I didn't buy that,
    \r\n", + "nor don't want it. 'Taint worth seven coppers in picking time. But I
    \r\n", + "tell ye, cuff, wouldn't mind lettin' on ye preach, if a feller can
    \r\n", + "make a spec good profit on't.\" The gentleman concludes, contracting
    \r\n", + "his eyebrows, and scowling at his property forbiddingly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You'll let me have it again when I gets on the plantation, won't
    \r\n", + "ye, master?\" inquires Harry, calmly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Let you have it on the plantation?\"-Mr. M'Fadden gives his preacher
    \r\n", + "a piercingly fierce look-\"that's just where ye won't have 't. Have
    \r\n", + "any kind o' song-book ye' wants; only larn 'em to other niggers, so
    \r\n", + "they can put in the chorus once in a while. Now, old buck (I'm a man
    \r\n", + "o' genius, ye know), when niggers get larnin' the Bible out o' ther'
    \r\n", + "own heads, 't makes 'em sassy'r than ther's any calculatin' on. It
    \r\n", + "just puts the very d-l into property. Why, deacon,\" he addresses
    \r\n", + "himself to Harry with more complacency, \"my old father-he was as
    \r\n", + "good a father as ever came from Dublin-said it was just the spilin'
    \r\n", + "on his children to larn 'em to read. See me, now! what larnin' I'ze
    \r\n", + "got; got it all don't know how: cum as nat'ral as daylight. I've got
    \r\n", + "the allfired'st sense ye ever did see; and it's common sense what
    \r\n", + "makes money. Yer don't think a feller what's got sense like me would
    \r\n", + "bother his head with larnin' in this ar' down south?\" Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "exhibits great confidence in himself, and seems quite playful with
    \r\n", + "his preacher, whom he pats on the shoulder and shakes by the hand.
    \r\n", + "\"I never read three chapters in that ar' book in my whole
    \r\n", + "life-wouldn't neither. Really, deacon, two-thirds of the people of
    \r\n", + "our State can't read a word out o' that book. As for larnin', I just
    \r\n", + "put me mind on the thing, and got the meanin' out on't sudden.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden's soothing consolation, that, as he has become such a
    \r\n", + "wonderful specimen of mankind without learning, Harry must be a very
    \r\n", + "dangerous implement of progress if allowed to go about the
    \r\n", + "plantation with a Bible in his pocket, seems strange in this our
    \r\n", + "Christian land. \"Can fiddle just as much as yer mind t',\" concludes
    \r\n", + "Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden, as he again shakes the hand of his preacher,
    \r\n", + "and proceeds to mingle with the political gathering, the Bible in
    \r\n", + "his pocket.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HOW WE MANUFACTURE POLITICAL FAITH.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "MR. M'FADDEN enters the tavern, which presents one of those
    \r\n", + "grotesque scenes so peculiarly southern, almost impossible for the
    \r\n", + "reader to imagine, and scarcely less for pen to describe. In and
    \r\n", + "around the verandas are numerous armchairs, occupied by the
    \r\n", + "fashionable portion of the political material, who, dressed in
    \r\n", + "extreme profuseness, are displaying their extraordinary distinctions
    \r\n", + "in jewellery of heavy seals and long dangling chains. Some are young
    \r\n", + "men who have enjoyed the advantage of a liberal education, which
    \r\n", + "they now turn into the more genial duty of ornamenting themselves.
    \r\n", + "They have spent much time and many valuable cosmetics on their
    \r\n", + "heads, all of which is very satisfactorily repaid by the smoothness
    \r\n", + "of their hair. Their pleasure never penetrated beyond this; they ask
    \r\n", + "no more.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They ask but little of the world, and are discussing the
    \r\n", + "all-important question, whether Colonel Mophany or General Vandart
    \r\n", + "will get the more votes at the polls. So they smoke and harangue,
    \r\n", + "and drink and swear, and with inimitable provincialisms fill up the
    \r\n", + "clattering music. There is a fascinating piquancy in the strange
    \r\n", + "slang and conversational intermixture. It is a great day at the
    \r\n", + "crossing; the political sediment has reduced all men to one grade,
    \r\n", + "one harmonious whole, niggers excepted. Spirits that cannot flow one
    \r\n", + "way must flow another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In an adjoining room sit the two candidates-gentlemen of high
    \r\n", + "distinction-for the votes of the sovereign people. Through those
    \r\n", + "sovereign rights they will satisfy their yearning desire to reach
    \r\n", + "the very high position of member of the general assembly. Anxiety is
    \r\n", + "pictured on their very countenances; it is the fruit of care when
    \r\n", + "men travel the road to distinction without finding it. They are well
    \r\n", + "dressed, and would be modest, if modesty were worth its having in
    \r\n", + "such an atmosphere. Indeed, they might have been taken for men with
    \r\n", + "other motives than those of gaining office by wallowing in a
    \r\n", + "political quagmire reeking with democratic filth. Courteous to each
    \r\n", + "other, they sit at a large table containing long slips of paper,
    \r\n", + "each candidate's sentiments printed thereon. As each voter--good
    \r\n", + "fellow that he is--enters the room, one or the other candidate
    \r\n", + "reaches out his hand to welcome him, and, as a sequel, hands him his
    \r\n", + "slip, making the politest bow. Much is said about the prospects of
    \r\n", + "the South, and much more that is very acceptable to those about to
    \r\n", + "do the drinking part of the scene.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Both candidates are very ambitious men; both profess to be the
    \r\n", + "people's champion-the sovereign people-the dear people-the
    \r\n", + "noble-hearted people-the iron-handed, unbribable, unterrified
    \r\n", + "democracy-the people from whom all power springs. The
    \r\n", + "never-flinching, unterrified, irresistible democracy are smothered
    \r\n", + "with encomiums of praise, sounding from all parts of the room. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Lawrence M'Fadden is ushered into the room to the great joy of his
    \r\n", + "friends: being a very great man among the loyal voters, his
    \r\n", + "appearance produces great excitement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Several friends of the candidates, working for their favourites, are
    \r\n", + "making themselves very humble in their behalf. Although there is
    \r\n", + "little care for maintaining any fundamental principle of government
    \r\n", + "that does not serve his own pocket, Mr. M'Fadden can and will
    \r\n", + "control a large number of votes, do a deal of knocking down at the
    \r\n", + "polls, and bring up first-rate fighting men to do the keeping away
    \r\n", + "the opposite's constituents. Thus our man, who has lately been
    \r\n", + "bought as preacher, is most useful in this our little democratic
    \r\n", + "world.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Some two or three hundred persons have collected near a clump of
    \r\n", + "trees on the lawn, and are divided into knots intermixed with
    \r\n", + "ruffian-looking desperadoes, dressed most coarsely and
    \r\n", + "fantastically. They are pitting their men, after the fashion of good
    \r\n", + "horses; then they boldly draw forth and expose the minor
    \r\n", + "delinquencies of opposing candidates. Among them are the \"Saw-
    \r\n", + "piters,\" who affect an air of dignity, and scout the planter's offer
    \r\n", + "of work so long as a herring runs the river; the \"piny woods-man,\"
    \r\n", + "of great independence while rabbits are found in the woods, and he
    \r\n", + "can wander over the barren unrestrained; and the \"Wire-Grass-Men;\"
    \r\n", + "and the Crackers,
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Singular species of gypsies, found throughout the State. who live
    \r\n", + "anywhere and everywhere, and whom the government delights to keep
    \r\n", + "in ignorance, while declaring it much better they were enslaved. The
    \r\n", + "State possesses many thousands of these people; but few of them can
    \r\n", + "read, while never having written a stroke in their lives is a boast.
    \r\n", + "Continually armed with double-barrel guns, to hunt the panting buck
    \r\n", + "is one of their sports; to torture a runaway negro is another; to
    \r\n", + "make free with a planter's corn field is the very best. The reader
    \r\n", + "may imagine this picture of lean, craven faces-unshaven and made
    \r\n", + "fiercely repulsive by their small, treacherous eyes, if he can. It
    \r\n", + "can only be seen in these our happy slave states of our happy Union.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The time draws near when the candidates will come forward, address
    \r\n", + "the sovereign constituency, and declare their free and open
    \r\n", + "principles-their love of liberal governments, and their undying
    \r\n", + "affection for the great truths of democracy. The scene, as the time
    \r\n", + "approaches, becomes more and more animated. All are armed to the
    \r\n", + "teeth, with the symbol of honour--something so called--beneath their
    \r\n", + "coarse doublets, or in the waistbands of their pantaloons. The group
    \r\n", + "evinces so much excitement that belligerents are well nigh coming to
    \r\n", + "blows; in fact, peace is only preserved by the timely appearance of
    \r\n", + "the landlord, who proclaims that unless order be preserved until
    \r\n", + "after the candidates have addressed them, the next barrel of whiskey
    \r\n", + "will positively \"not be tapped.\" He could not use a more effectual
    \r\n", + "argument. Mr. M'Fadden, who exercises great authority over the
    \r\n", + "minions under him, at this announcement mounts the top of an empty
    \r\n", + "whiskey barrel, and declares he will whip the \"whole crowd,\" if they
    \r\n", + "do not cease to wage their political arguments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While the above cursory remarks and party sparrings are going on,
    \r\n", + "some forty negroes are seen busily employed preparing the
    \r\n", + "indispensable adjuncts of the occasion-the meats. Here, beneath the
    \r\n", + "clump of trees, a few yards from the grocery and justices' office,
    \r\n", + "the candidates' tables are being spread with cold meats, crackers,
    \r\n", + "bread and cheese, cigars, &c., &c. As soon as the gentlemen
    \r\n", + "candidates have delivered themselves of their sentiments, two
    \r\n", + "barrels of real \"straight-back\" whiskey will be added.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"This is the way we puts our candidate through, down south, ye see,
    \r\n", + "fellers, voters: it's we what's the bone and siners o' the rights o'
    \r\n", + "the south. It's we what's got t' take the slow-coach politics out o'
    \r\n", + "the hands o' them ar' old harristocrats what don't think them ar'
    \r\n", + "northern abolitionists han't goin to do nothin. It's we, fellow
    \r\n", + "citizens, what puts southern-rights principles clean through; it's
    \r\n", + "we what puts them ar' old Union haristocrats, what spiles all the
    \r\n", + "nigger property, into the straight up way o' doing things! Now,
    \r\n", + "feller voters, free and independent citizens-freemen who have fought
    \r\n", + "for freedom,--you, whose old, grey-headed fathers died for freedom!
    \r\n", + "it takes you t' know what sort a thing freedom is; and how to enjoy
    \r\n", + "it so niggers can't take it away from you! I'ze lived north way,
    \r\n", + "know how it is! Yer jist the chaps to put niggers straight,--to vote
    \r\n", + "for my man, Colonel Mohpany,\" Mr. M'Fadden cries out at the very top
    \r\n", + "of his voice, as he comes rushing out of the tavern, edging his way
    \r\n", + "through the crowd, followed by the two candidates. The gentlemen
    \r\n", + "look anxiously good-natured; they walk together to the rostrum,
    \r\n", + "followed by a crowd, measuring their way to the assembly through the
    \r\n", + "darling affections of our free and independent voters. Gossamer
    \r\n", + "citizenship, this!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As they reach the rostrum, a carriage is seen in the distance,
    \r\n", + "approaching in great haste. All attention being directed to it, the
    \r\n", + "first candidate, Colonel Mohpany, mounts the stump, places his right
    \r\n", + "hand in his bosom, and pauses as if to learn who it brings. To the
    \r\n", + "happy consolation of Mr. M'Fadden and his friends, it bears Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton the philosopher. Poor Mr. Scranton looks quite worn out
    \r\n", + "with anxiety; he has come all the way from the city, prepared with
    \r\n", + "the very best kind of a southern-rights speech, to relieve his
    \r\n", + "friend, General Vardant, who is not accustomed to public
    \r\n", + "declamation. The General is a cunning fellow, fears the stump
    \r\n", + "accomplishments of his antagonist, and has secured the valuable
    \r\n", + "services of philosopher Scranton. Mr. S. will tell the constituency,
    \r\n", + "in very logical phraseology,--making the language suit the sentiments
    \r\n", + "of his friends,--what principles must be maintained; how the General
    \r\n", + "depends upon the soundness of their judgment to sustain him; how
    \r\n", + "they are the bone and sinews of the great political power of the
    \r\n", + "South; how their hard, uncontrastable appearance, and their garments
    \r\n", + "of similar primitiveness, are emblematic of the iron firmness of
    \r\n", + "their democracy. Mr. Scranton will further assure them that their
    \r\n", + "democracy is founded on that very accommodating sort of freedom
    \r\n", + "which will be sure to keep all persons of doubtful colour in
    \r\n", + "slavery.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Scranton arrives, receives the congratulations of his friends,
    \r\n", + "gets the negroes to brush him down,--for it is difficult to
    \r\n", + "distinguish him from a pillar of dust, save that we have his modest
    \r\n", + "eyes for assurances-takes a few glasses of moderate mixture, and
    \r\n", + "coolly collects his ideas. The mixture will bring out Mr. Scranton's
    \r\n", + "philosophical facts: and, now that he has got his face and beard
    \r\n", + "cleanly washed, he will proceed to the stand. Here he is received
    \r\n", + "with loud cheering; the gentleman is a great man, all the way from
    \r\n", + "the city. Sitting on a chair he is sorry was made at the north, he
    \r\n", + "exhibits a deal of method in taking from his pocket a long cedar
    \r\n", + "pencil, with which he will make notes of all Colonel Mohpany's loose
    \r\n", + "points.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The reader, we feel assured, will excuse us for not following
    \r\n", + "Colonel Mohpany through his speech, so laudatory of the patriotism
    \r\n", + "of his friends, so much interrupted by applause. The warm manner in
    \r\n", + "which his conclusion is received assures him that he now is the most
    \r\n", + "popular man in the State. Mr. Scranton, armed with his usually
    \r\n", + "melancholy countenance, rises to the stump, makes his modestly
    \r\n", + "political bow, offers many impressive apologies for the unprepared
    \r\n", + "state in which he finds himself, informs his hearers that he appears
    \r\n", + "before them only as a substitute for his very intimate and
    \r\n", + "particular friend, General Vardant. He, too, has a wonderful
    \r\n", + "prolixity of compliments to bestow upon the free, the patriotic, the
    \r\n", + "independent voters of the very independent district. He tries to be
    \r\n", + "facetious; but his temperament will not admit of any
    \r\n", + "inconsistencies, not even in a political contest. No! he must be
    \r\n", + "serious; because the election of a candidate to so high an office is
    \r\n", + "a serious affair. So he will tell the \"Saw-pit men\" a great deal
    \r\n", + "about their noble sires; how they lived and died for liberty; how
    \r\n", + "the tombstones of immortality are emblazoned with the fame of their
    \r\n", + "glorious deeds. And he will tell these glorious squatters what
    \r\n", + "inalienable rights they possess; how they must be maintained; and
    \r\n", + "how they have always been first to maintain the principle of keeping
    \r\n", + "\"niggers\" in their places, and resisting those mischievous
    \r\n", + "propagators of northern villainy-abolitionists. He will tell the
    \r\n", + "deep-thinking saw-pit voters how it has been charged against them
    \r\n", + "that they were only independent once a year, and that was when
    \r\n", + "herrings run up the Santee river. Such a gross slander Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", + "declares to be the most impious. They were always independent; and,
    \r\n", + "if they were poor, and preferred to habit themselves in primitive
    \r\n", + "garbs, it was only because they preferred to be honest! This, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton, the northern philosopher, asserts with great emphasis.
    \r\n", + "Yes! they are honest; and honest patriots are always better than
    \r\n", + "rich traitors. From the san-pit men, Mr. Scranton, his face
    \r\n", + "distended with eloquence, turns to his cracker and \"wire-grass\"
    \r\n", + "friends, upon whom he bestows most piercing compliments. Their lean
    \r\n", + "mules-the speaker laughs at his own wit-and pioneer waggons always
    \r\n", + "remind him of the good old times, when he was a boy, and everybody
    \r\n", + "was so honest it was unnecessary even to have such useless finery as
    \r\n", + "people put on at the present day. A word or two, very derogatory of
    \r\n", + "the anti-slavery people, is received with deafening applause. Of the
    \r\n", + "descendants of the Huguenots he says but little; they are few, rich,
    \r\n", + "and very unpopular in this part of the little sovereign state. And
    \r\n", + "he quite forgot to tell this unlettered mass of a sovereign
    \r\n", + "constituency the true cause of their poverty and degradation. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton, however, in one particular point, which is a vital one to
    \r\n", + "the slave-ocracy, differs with the ungovernable Romescos,--he would
    \r\n", + "not burn all common schools, nor scout all such trash as
    \r\n", + "schoolmasters.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In another part of Mr. Scranton's speech he enjoins them to be
    \r\n", + "staunch supporters of men known to be firm to the south, and who
    \r\n", + "would blow up every yankee who came south, and refused to declare
    \r\n", + "his sentiments to be for concession. \"You!\"-he points round him to
    \r\n", + "the grotesque crowd-\"were first to take a stand and keep niggers
    \r\n", + "down; to keep them where they can't turn round and enslave you!
    \r\n", + "Great Britain, fell ercitizens,\"-Mr. Scranton begins to wax warm; he
    \r\n", + "adjusts his coat sleeves, and draws himself into a tragic attitude
    \r\n", + "as he takes his tobacco from his mouth, seemingly unconscious of his
    \r\n", + "own enthusiasm-I say Great Britain-\" A sudden interruption is
    \r\n", + "caused. Mr. Scranton's muddled quid, thrown with such violence, has
    \r\n", + "bedaubed the cheek of an admiring saw-pitter, whose mind was
    \r\n", + "completely absorbed in his eloquence. He was listening with
    \r\n", + "breathless suspense, and only saved its admission in his capacious
    \r\n", + "mouth by closing it a few seconds before.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sarved him just right; keep on, Colonel!\" exclaims Mr. M'Fadden. He
    \r\n", + "takes the man by the arm, pushes him aside, and makes a slight bow
    \r\n", + "to Mr. Scranton. He would have him go on.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Great Britain-feller citizens, I say-was first to commence the
    \r\n", + "warfare against nigger slavery; and now she is joining the north to
    \r\n", + "seek its permanent overthrow. She is a monster tyrant wherever she
    \r\n", + "sets her foot-I say! (Three cheers for that.) She contributed to
    \r\n", + "fasten the curse upon us; and now she wants to destroy us by taking
    \r\n", + "it away according to the measures of the northern
    \r\n", + "abolitionists-fanaticism! Whatever the old school southerner
    \r\n", + "neglects to do for the preservation of the peculiar institution, we
    \r\n", + "must do for him! And we, who have lived at the north, can, with your
    \r\n", + "independent support, put the whole thing through a course of
    \r\n", + "political crooks.\" Again Mr. Scranton pauses; surveys his assembly
    \r\n", + "of free and independent citizens.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That we can: I knows what fanatics down east be!\" rejoins Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, shaking his head very knowingly. He laughs with an air of
    \r\n", + "great satisfaction, as much as to say that, with such northern
    \r\n", + "philosophers to do the championism of slavery in the south, all the
    \r\n", + "commercial relations for which northern merchants are under so many
    \r\n", + "obligations to slave-labour, will be perfectly safe. But Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton has drawn out his speech to such an uncommon length, that
    \r\n", + "the loquacious M'Fadden is becoming decidedly wearied. His eyes
    \r\n", + "begin to glow languid, and the lids to close,--and now he nods assent
    \r\n", + "to all Mr. Scranton's sayings, which singularly attracts the
    \r\n", + "attention of that orator's hearers. The orator becomes very much
    \r\n", + "annoyed at this, suddenly stops-begs Mr. M'Fadden will postpone his
    \r\n", + "repose. This, from so great a man as Mr. Scranton, is accepted as
    \r\n", + "provokingly witty. Mr. M'Fadden laughs; and they all laugh. The
    \r\n", + "gentleman will continue his speech.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The South must come out; must establish free trade, direct
    \r\n", + "trade,--trade that will free her from her disreputable association
    \r\n", + "with the North. She can do it!\" Mr. Scranton wipes his forehead with
    \r\n", + "his white pocket-handkerchief.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ain't we deeply indebted to the North?\" a voice in the crowd cries
    \r\n", + "out.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! what if we are? Can't we offset the debts on the principles
    \r\n", + "of war? Let it go against the injury of abolition excitements!\" Mr.
    \r\n", + "Scranton makes a theatrical flourish with his right hand, and runs
    \r\n", + "the fingers of his left through his crispy hair, setting it on end
    \r\n", + "like quills on a porcupine's back. Three long and loud cheers
    \r\n", + "follow, and the gentleman is involuntarily compelled to laugh at his
    \r\n", + "own singular sayings. \"The South must hold conventions; she must
    \r\n", + "enforce constitutional guarantees; she must plant herself in the
    \r\n", + "federal capital, and plead her cause at the bar of the world. She
    \r\n", + "will get a hearing there! And she must supplant that dangerous
    \r\n", + "engine of abolition, now waging war against our property, our
    \r\n", + "rights, our social system.\" Thus concluding, Mr. Scranton sits down,
    \r\n", + "very much fatigued from his mental effervescence, yet much lighter
    \r\n", + "from having relieved himself of his speech, amidst a storm of
    \r\n", + "applause. Such a throwing up of hats and slouches, such jostling,
    \r\n", + "abetting, and haranguing upon the merits of the candidates, their
    \r\n", + "speeches and their sentiments, never was heard or seen before.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mine host now mounts the stand to make the welcome announcement,
    \r\n", + "that, the speeches being over, the eating entertainments are ready.
    \r\n", + "He hopes the friends of the candidates will repair to the tables,
    \r\n", + "and help themselves without stint or restraint. As they are on the
    \r\n", + "point of rushing upon the tables, Colonel Mohpany suddenly jumps up,
    \r\n", + "and arrests the progress of the group by intimating that he has one
    \r\n", + "word more to say. That word is, his desire to inform the bone and
    \r\n", + "sinew of the constituency that his opponent belongs to a party which
    \r\n", + "once declared in the Assembly that they-the very men who stand
    \r\n", + "before him now-were a dangerous class unless reduced to slavery! The
    \r\n", + "Colonel has scarcely delivered himself of this very clever charge,
    \r\n", + "when the tables, a few yards distant, are surrounded by promiscuous
    \r\n", + "friends and foes, who help themselves after the fashion most
    \r\n", + "advantageous. All rules of etiquette are unceremoniously dispensed
    \r\n", + "with,--he who can secure most is the best diplomatist. Many find
    \r\n", + "their mouths so inadequate to the temptation of the feast, that they
    \r\n", + "improve on Mr. Scranton's philosophy by making good use of their
    \r\n", + "ample pockets. Believe us, reader, the entertainment is the
    \r\n", + "essential part of the candidate's political virtue, which must be
    \r\n", + "measured according to the extent of his cold meats and very bad
    \r\n", + "whiskey.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "To carry out the strength of General Vardant's principles, several
    \r\n", + "of his opponent's friends are busily employed in circulating a
    \r\n", + "report that his barrel of whiskey has been \"brought on\" only half
    \r\n", + "full. A grosser slander could not have been invented. But the report
    \r\n", + "gains circulation so fast, that his meats and drinks are
    \r\n", + "mischievously absorbed, and the demonstration of his unpopular
    \r\n", + "position begins to be manifest. The candidates, unflinching in their
    \r\n", + "efforts, mix with the medley, have the benefit of the full exercise
    \r\n", + "of free thought and action, hear various opinions upon \"the Squire's
    \r\n", + "chances,\" and listen to the chiming of high-sounding compliments.
    \r\n", + "While this clanging of merry jargon is at its highest, as if by some
    \r\n", + "magic influence Romescos makes his appearance, and immediately
    \r\n", + "commences to pit sides with Mr. M'Fadden. With all Romescos'
    \r\n", + "outlawry, he is tenacious of his southern origin; and he will assert
    \r\n", + "its rights against Mr. M'Fadden, whom he declares to be no better
    \r\n", + "than a northern humbug, taking advantage of southern institutions.
    \r\n", + "To him all northerners are great vagabonds, having neither
    \r\n", + "principles nor humanity in their composition; he makes the assertion
    \r\n", + "emphatically, without fear or trembling; and he calls upon his
    \r\n", + "friends to sustain him, that he may maintain the rights of the
    \r\n", + "South. Those rights Romescos asserts, and re-asserts, can only be
    \r\n", + "preserved by southern men-not by sneaking northerners, who, with
    \r\n", + "their trade, pocket their souls. Northerners are great men for
    \r\n", + "whitewashing their faces with pretence! Romescos is received with
    \r\n", + "considerable �clat. He declares, independently, that Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", + "too is no less a sheer humbug of the same stripe, and whose
    \r\n", + "humbugging propensities make him the humble servant of the south so
    \r\n", + "long as he can make a dollar by the bemeaning operation. His full
    \r\n", + "and unmeasured appreciation of all this northern-southern
    \r\n", + "independence is here given to the world for the world's good. And he
    \r\n", + "wants the world to particularly understand, that the old southerner
    \r\n", + "is the only independent man, the only true protector of humanity!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos' sudden appearance, and the bold stand he takes against Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden and his candidate, produce the utmost confusion; he being
    \r\n", + "unpopular with the saw-pit men, with whom he once exhibited
    \r\n", + "considerable dexterity in carrying off one of their number and
    \r\n", + "putting the seal of slavery on him, they take sides against him. It
    \r\n", + "is the Saw-pitters against Romescos and the Crackers. The spirits
    \r\n", + "have flowed, and now the gods of our political power sway to and fro
    \r\n", + "under most violent shocks. Many, being unable to keep a
    \r\n", + "perpendicular, are accusing each other of all sorts of misdeeds-of
    \r\n", + "the misdeeds of their ancestors-of the specific crimes they
    \r\n", + "committed-the punishments they suffered. From personalities of their
    \r\n", + "own time they descend forth into jeering each other on matters of
    \r\n", + "family frailty, setting what their just deserts would have entitled
    \r\n", + "them to receive. They continue in this strain of jargon for some
    \r\n", + "time, until at length it becomes evident the storm of war is fast
    \r\n", + "approaching a crisis. Mr. M'Fadden is mentally unprepared to meet
    \r\n", + "this crisis, which Romescos will make to suit himself; and to this
    \r\n", + "end the comical and somewhat tragical finale seems pretty well
    \r\n", + "understood by the candidates and a few of the \"swell-ocracy,\" who
    \r\n", + "have assembled more to see the grand representation of physical
    \r\n", + "power on the part of these free and enlightened citizens, than to
    \r\n", + "partake of the feast or listen to the rhetoric of the speeches. In
    \r\n", + "order to get a good view of the scene they have ascended trees,
    \r\n", + "where, perched among their branches like so many jackals, they cheer
    \r\n", + "and urge on the sport, as the nobility of Spain applaud a favourite
    \r\n", + "champion of the ring. At length the opposing parties doff their hats
    \r\n", + "and coats, draw knives, make threatening grimaces, and twirl their
    \r\n", + "steel in the air: their desperation is earnest; they make an onset,
    \r\n", + "charging with the bravado of men determined to sacrifice life. The
    \r\n", + "very air resounds with their shouts of blasphemy; blood flows from
    \r\n", + "deep incisions of bowie-knives, garments are rent into shreds; and
    \r\n", + "men seem to have betaken themselves to personating the demons.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Would that they were rational beings! would that they were men
    \r\n", + "capable of constituting a power to protect the liberty of principle
    \r\n", + "and the justice of law! Shout after shout goes up; tumult is
    \r\n", + "triumphant. Two fatal rencontres are announced, and Mr. Lawrence
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden is dangerously wounded; he has a cut in the abdomen. The
    \r\n", + "poor victims attract but little attention; such little trifling
    \r\n", + "affairs are very common, scarcely worth a word of commiseration. One
    \r\n", + "gentleman insinuates that the affair has been a desperately amusing
    \r\n", + "one; another very coolly adds, that this political feed has had much
    \r\n", + "more interest in it than any preceding one.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The victims are rolled in blankets, and laid away in the corn-shed;
    \r\n", + "they will await the arrival of the coroner, who, the landlord says,
    \r\n", + "it will be no more than right to send for. They are only two dead
    \r\n", + "Crackers, however, and nobody doubts what the verdict will be. In
    \r\n", + "truth-and it must be told once in a while, even in our
    \r\n", + "atmosphere-the only loss is the two votes, which the candidate had
    \r\n", + "already secured with his meat and drink, and which have now, he
    \r\n", + "regrets, been returned to the box of death instead of his ballot.
    \r\n", + "Poor voters, now only fit to serve the vilest purpose! how degraded
    \r\n", + "in the scale of human nature is the being, only worth a suffrance at
    \r\n", + "elections, where votes cast from impulse control the balance of
    \r\n", + "power. Such beings are worth just nothing; they would not sell in
    \r\n", + "the market. The negro waiters say, \"It don't make a bit of matter
    \r\n", + "how much white rubbish like this is killed, it won't fetch a bid in
    \r\n", + "the market; and when you sell it, it won't stay sold.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Lose I dat way, Cato, might jist as well take tousand dollar
    \r\n", + "straight out o' mas'r's pocket; but dese critters b'nt notin'
    \r\n", + "nohow,\" says old Daniel, one of the servants, who knows the value of
    \r\n", + "his own body quite well. Daniel exults as he looks upon the dead
    \r\n", + "bodies he is assisting to deposit in the corn-shed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden is carefully borne into the tavern, where, after much
    \r\n", + "difficulty, he is got up stairs and laid on a very nice bed, spread
    \r\n", + "with snowy white linen. A physician is called, and his wound dressed
    \r\n", + "with all possible skill and attention. He is in great pain, however;
    \r\n", + "begs his friends to bestow all care upon him, and save no expense.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus ends our political day. The process of making power to shape
    \r\n", + "the social and political weal of our State, closes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXIV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "MR. M'FADDEN SEES SHADOWS IN THE FUTURE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "NIGHT has quickly drawn its curtain over the scene. Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "lies on his bed, writhing under the pain of the poisoned wound. He
    \r\n", + "left his preacher locked up for the night in a cold hovel, and he
    \r\n", + "has secured the dangerous Bible, lest it lessen his value. Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, however, feels that now his earthly career is fast closing
    \r\n", + "he must seek redemption. Hie has called in the aid of a physician,
    \r\n", + "who tells him there is great danger, and little hope unless his case
    \r\n", + "takes a favourable turn about midnight. The professional gentleman
    \r\n", + "merely suggests this, but the suggestion conveys an awful warning.
    \r\n", + "All the misdeeds of the past cloud before his eyes; they summon him
    \r\n", + "to make his peace with his Maker. He remembers what has been told
    \r\n", + "him about the quality of mercy,--the duration of hope in
    \r\n", + "redemption,--which he may secure by rendering justice to those he has
    \r\n", + "wronged. But now conscience wars with him; he sees the fierce
    \r\n", + "elements of retribution gathering their poisoned shafts about him;
    \r\n", + "he quails lest their points pierce his heart; and he sees the God of
    \r\n", + "right arraigning him at the bar of justice. There, that Dispenser of
    \r\n", + "all Good sits in his glory and omnipotence, listening while the
    \r\n", + "oppressed recites his sufferings: the oppressed there meets him face
    \r\n", + "to face, robed in that same garb of submission which he has
    \r\n", + "inflicted upon him on earth. His fevered brain gives out strange
    \r\n", + "warnings,--warnings in which he sees the angel of light unfolding the
    \r\n", + "long list of his injustice to his fellow man, and an angry God
    \r\n", + "passing the awful sentence. Writhing, turning, and contorting his
    \r\n", + "face, his very soul burns with the agony of despair. He grasps the
    \r\n", + "hand of his physician, who leans over his wounded body, and with
    \r\n", + "eyes distorted and glassy, stares wildly and frantically round the
    \r\n", + "room. Again, as if suffering inward torture, he springs from his
    \r\n", + "pillow, utters fierce imprecations against the visions that surround
    \r\n", + "him, grasps at them with his out-stretched fingers, motions his
    \r\n", + "hand backward and forward, and breaks out into violent paroxysms of
    \r\n", + "passion, as if struggling in the unyielding grasp of death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "That physical power which has so long borne him up in his daily
    \r\n", + "pursuits yields to the wanderings of his haunted mind. He lays his
    \r\n", + "hand upon the physician's shoulder as his struggles now subside,
    \r\n", + "looks mournfully in his face, and rather mutters than speaks:
    \r\n", + "\"Bring-bring-bring him here: I'll see him,--I must see him! I-I-I
    \r\n", + "took away the book; there's what makes the sting worse! And when I
    \r\n", + "close my eyes I see it burning fiercely-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Who shall I bring?\" interrupts the physician, mildly, endeavouring
    \r\n", + "to soothe his feelings by assuring him there is no danger, if he
    \r\n", + "will but remain calm.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Heaven is casting its thick vengeance round me; heaven is consuming
    \r\n", + "me with the fire of my own heart! How can I be calm, and my past
    \r\n", + "life vaulted with a glow of fire? The finger of Almighty God points
    \r\n", + "to that deed I did today. I deprived a wretch of his only hope: that
    \r\n", + "wretch can forgive me before heaven. Y-e-s, he can,--can speak for
    \r\n", + "me,--can intercede for me; he can sign my repentance, and save me
    \r\n", + "from the just vengeance of heaven. His-his-his-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What?\" the physician whispers, putting his ear to his mouth. \"Be
    \r\n", + "calm.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Calm!\" he mutters in return.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Neither fear death nor be frightened at its shadows-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It's life, life, life I fear--not death!\" he gurgles out. \"Bring him
    \r\n", + "to me; there is the Bible. Oh! how could I have robbed him of it!
    \r\n", + "'Twas our folly--all folly--my folly!\" Mr. M'Fadden had forgotten that
    \r\n", + "the bustle of current life was no excuse for his folly; that it
    \r\n", + "would be summed up against him in the day of trouble. He never for
    \r\n", + "once thought that the Bible and its teachings were as dear to slave
    \r\n", + "as master, and that its truths were equally consoling in the hour of
    \r\n", + "death. In life it strengthens man's hopes; could it have been thus
    \r\n", + "with M'Fadden before death placed its troubled sea before his eyes,
    \r\n", + "how happy he would have died in the Lord!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The emphatic language, uttered in such supplicating tones, and so at
    \r\n", + "variance with his habits of life, naturally excited the feelings of
    \r\n", + "his physician, whose only solicitude had been evinced in his efforts
    \r\n", + "to save life,--to heal the wound. Never had he watched at a patient's
    \r\n", + "bed-side who had exhibited such convulsions of passion,--such fears
    \r\n", + "of death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Now struggling against a storm of convulsions, then subsiding into
    \r\n", + "sluggish writhings, accompanied with low moans, indicating more
    \r\n", + "mental disquietude than bodily pain. Again he is quiet; points to
    \r\n", + "his coat.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The physician brings it forward and lays it upon the bed, where Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden can put his hand upon it. \"It is there--in there!\" he says,
    \r\n", + "turning on his left side, and with a solicitous look pointing to the
    \r\n", + "pockets of his coat. The professional gentleman does not understand
    \r\n", + "him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He half raises himself on his pillow, but sinks back fatigued, and
    \r\n", + "faintly whispers, \"Oh, take it to him--to him! Give him the
    \r\n", + "comforter: bring him, poor fellow, to me, that his spirit may be my
    \r\n", + "comforter!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The physician understands, puts his hand into the pocket; draws
    \r\n", + "forth the little boon companion. It is the Bible, book of books; its
    \r\n", + "great truths have borne Harry through many trials,--he hopes it will
    \r\n", + "be his shield and buckler to carry him through many more. Its
    \r\n", + "associations are as dear to him as its teachings are consoling in
    \r\n", + "the days of tribulation. It is dear to him, because the promptings
    \r\n", + "of a noble-hearted woman secretly entrusted it to his care, in
    \r\n", + "violation of slavery's statutes. Its well-worn pages bear testimony
    \r\n", + "of the good service it has done. It was Franconia's gift-Franconia,
    \r\n", + "whose tender emotions made her the friend of the slave-made in the
    \r\n", + "kindness of woman's generous nature. The good example, when
    \r\n", + "contrasted with the fierce tenor of slavery's fears, is worthy many
    \r\n", + "followers.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "But men seldom profit by small examples, especially when great fears
    \r\n", + "are paramount.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The physician, holding the good book in his hand, enquires if Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden would have him read from it? He has no answer to make,
    \r\n", + "turns his feverish face from it, closes his eyes, and compressing
    \r\n", + "his forehead with his hands, mutely shakes his head. A minute or two
    \r\n", + "passes in silence; he has re-considered the point,--answers, no! He
    \r\n", + "wants Harry brought to him, that he may acknowledge his crimes; that
    \r\n", + "he may quench the fire of unhappiness burning within him. \"How
    \r\n", + "seldom we think of death while in life,--and how painful to see death
    \r\n", + "while gathering together the dross of this worldly chaos! Great,
    \r\n", + "great, great is the reward of the good, and mighty is the hand of
    \r\n", + "Omnipotence that, holding the record of our sins, warns us to
    \r\n", + "prepare.\" As Mr. M'Fadden utters these words, a coloured woman
    \r\n", + "enters the room to enquire if the patient wants nourishment. She
    \r\n", + "will wait at the door.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The physician looks at the patient; the patient shakes his head and
    \r\n", + "whispers, \"Only the boy. The boy I bought to-day.\" The Bible lays at
    \r\n", + "his side on the sheet. He points to it, again whispering, \"The boy I
    \r\n", + "took it from!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The boy, the preacher, Mr. M'Fadden's purchase, can read; she will
    \r\n", + "know him by that; she must bring him from the shed, from his cold
    \r\n", + "bed of earth. That crime of slavery man wastes his energies to make
    \r\n", + "right, is wrong in the sight of heaven; our patient reads the
    \r\n", + "glaring testimony as the demons of his morbid fancy haunt him with
    \r\n", + "their damning terrors, their ghastly visages.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Go, woman, bring him!\" he whispers again.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Almost motionless the woman stands. She has seen the little book-she
    \r\n", + "knows it, and her eyes wander over the inscription on the cover. A
    \r\n", + "deep blush shadows her countenance; she fixes her piercing black
    \r\n", + "eyes upon it until they seem melting into sadness; with a delicacy
    \r\n", + "and reserve at variance with her menial condition, she approaches
    \r\n", + "the bed, lays her hand upon the book, and, while the physician's
    \r\n", + "attention is attracted in another direction, closes its pages, and
    \r\n", + "is about to depart.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can you tell which one he wants, girl?\" enquires the physician, in
    \r\n", + "a stern voice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"His name, I think, is Harry; and they say the poor thing can
    \r\n", + "preach; forgive me what I have done to him, oh Lord! It is the
    \r\n", + "weakness of man grasping the things of this world, to leave behind
    \r\n", + "for the world's nothingness,\" says Mr. M'Fadden, as the woman leaves
    \r\n", + "the room giving an affirmative reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The presence of the Bible surprised the woman; she knew it as the
    \r\n", + "one much used by Harry, on Marston's plantation. It was Franconia's
    \r\n", + "gift! The associations of the name touched the chord upon which hung
    \r\n", + "the happiest incidents of her life. Retracing her steps down the
    \r\n", + "stairs, she seeks mine host of the tavern, makes known the demand,
    \r\n", + "and receives the keys of this man-pen of our land of liberty.
    \r\n", + "Lantern in hand, she soon reaches the door, unlocks it gently, as if
    \r\n", + "she expects the approach of some strange object, and fears a sudden
    \r\n", + "surprise.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There the poor dejected wretches lay; nothing but earth's surface
    \r\n", + "for a bed,--no blanket to cover them. They have eaten their measure
    \r\n", + "of corn, and are sleeping; they sleep while chivalry revels! Harry
    \r\n", + "has drawn his hat partly over his face, and made a pillow of the
    \r\n", + "little bundle he carried under his arm.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Passing from one to the other, the woman approaches him, as if to
    \r\n", + "see if she can recognise any familiar feature. She stoops over him,
    \r\n", + "passes the light along his body, from head to foot, and from foot to
    \r\n", + "head. \"Can it be our Harry?\" she mutters. \"It can't be; master
    \r\n", + "wouldn't sell him.\" Her eyes glare with anxiety as they wander up
    \r\n", + "and down his sleeping figure.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Harry,--Harry,--Harry! which is Harry?\" she demands.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Scarcely has she lisped the words, when the sleeper starts to his
    \r\n", + "feet, and sets his eyes on the woman with a stare of wonderment. His
    \r\n", + "mind wanders-bewildered; is he back on the old plantation? That
    \r\n", + "cannot be; they would not thus provide for him there. \"Back at the
    \r\n", + "old home! Oh, how glad I am: yes, my home is there, with good old
    \r\n", + "master. My poor old woman; I've nothing for her, nothing,\" he says,
    \r\n", + "extending his hand to the woman, and again, as his mind regains
    \r\n", + "itself, their glances become mutual; the sympathy of two old
    \r\n", + "associates gushes forth from the purest of fountains,--the oppressed
    \r\n", + "heart.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Harry-oh, Harry! is it you?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ellen! my good Ellen, my friend, and old master's friend!\" is the
    \r\n", + "simultaneous salutation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sold you, too?\" enquires Harry, embracing her with all the fervour
    \r\n", + "of a father who has regained his long-lost child. She throws her
    \r\n", + "arms about his neck, and clings to him, as he kisses, and kisses,
    \r\n", + "and kisses her olive brow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My sale, Harry, was of little consequence; but why did they sell
    \r\n", + "you? (Her emotions have swollen into tears). You must tell me all,
    \r\n", + "to-night! You must tell me of my child, my Nicholas,--if master
    \r\n", + "cares for him, and how he looks, grows, and acts. Oh, how my heart
    \r\n", + "beats to have him at my side;--when, when will that day come! I would
    \r\n", + "have him with me, even if sold for the purpose.\" Tears gush down her
    \r\n", + "cheeks, as Harry, encircling her with his arm, whispers words of
    \r\n", + "consolation in her ear.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If we were always for this world, Ellen, our lot could not be
    \r\n", + "borne. But heaven has a recompense, which awaits us in the world to
    \r\n", + "come. Ellen!\"-he holds her from him and looks intently in her
    \r\n", + "face-\"masters are not to blame for our sufferings,--the law is the
    \r\n", + "sinner! Hope not, seek not for common justice, rights, privileges,
    \r\n", + "or anything else while we are merchandise among men who, to please
    \r\n", + "themselves, gamble with our souls and bodies. Take away that
    \r\n", + "injustice, Ellen, and men who now plead our unprofitableness would
    \r\n", + "hide their heads with shame. Make us men, and we will plead our own
    \r\n", + "cause; we will show to the world that we are men; black men, who can
    \r\n", + "be made men when they are not made merchandise.\" Ellen must tell him
    \r\n", + "what has brought her here, first! He notices sad changes in her
    \r\n", + "countenance, and feels anxious to listen to the recital of her
    \r\n", + "troubles.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "She cannot tell him now, and begs that he will not ask her, as the
    \r\n", + "recollection of them fills her heart with sorrow. She discloses the
    \r\n", + "object of her mission, will guide him to his new master, who, they
    \r\n", + "say, is going to die, and feels very bad about it. He was a
    \r\n", + "desperate man on his plantation, and has become the more contrite at
    \r\n", + "death's call. \"I hope God will forgive him!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He will!-He will! He is forgiving,\" interrupts Harry, hurriedly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ellen reconnoitres the wearied bodies of the others as they lie
    \r\n", + "around. \"Poor wretches! what can I do for them?\" she says, holding
    \r\n", + "the lamp over them. She can do but little for them, poor girl. The
    \r\n", + "will is good, but the wherewith she hath not. Necessity is a hard
    \r\n", + "master; none know it better than the slave woman. She will take
    \r\n", + "Harry by the hand, and, retracing her steps, usher him into the
    \r\n", + "presence of the wounded man. Pressing his hand as she opens the
    \r\n", + "door, she bids him good night, and retires to her cabin. \"Poor
    \r\n", + "Harry!\" she says, with a sigh.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The kind woman is Ellen Juvarna. She has passed another eventful
    \r\n", + "stage of her eventful life. Mine host, good fellow, bought her of
    \r\n", + "Mr. O'Brodereque, that's all!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HOW THEY STOLE THE PREACHER.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE scenes we have described in the foregoing chapter have not yet
    \r\n", + "been brought to a close. In and about the tavern may be seen groups
    \r\n", + "of men, in the last stage of muddled mellowness, the rank fumes of
    \r\n", + "bad liquor making the very air morbid. Conclaves of grotesque
    \r\n", + "figures are seated in the veranda and drinking-room, breaking the
    \r\n", + "midnight stillness with their stifled songs, their frenzied
    \r\n", + "congratulations, their political jargon; nothing of fatal
    \r\n", + "consequence would seem to have happened.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Did master send for me? You've risen from a rag shop, my man!\"
    \r\n", + "interrupts the physician.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Master there-sorry to see him sick-owns me.\" Harry cast a subdued
    \r\n", + "look on the bed where lay his late purchaser.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry's appearance is not the most prepossessing,--he might have been
    \r\n", + "taken for anything else but a minister of the gospel; though the
    \r\n", + "quick eye of the southerner readily detected those frank and manly
    \r\n", + "features which belong to a class of very dark men who exhibit
    \r\n", + "uncommon natural genius.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At the sound of Harry's voice, M'Fadden makes an effort to raise
    \r\n", + "himself on his elbow. The loss of blood has so reduced his physical
    \r\n", + "power that his effort is unsuccessful. He sinks back,
    \r\n", + "prostrate,--requests the physician to assist him in turning over. He
    \r\n", + "will face his preacher. Putting out his hand, he embraces him
    \r\n", + "cordially,--motions him to be seated.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The black preacher, that article of men merchandise, takes a seat at
    \r\n", + "the bed-side, while the man of medicine withdraws to the table. The
    \r\n", + "summons is as acceptable to Harry as it is strange to the physician,
    \r\n", + "who has never before witnessed so strange a scene of familiarity
    \r\n", + "between slave and master. All is silent for several minutes. Harry
    \r\n", + "looks at his master, as if questioning the motive for which he is
    \r\n", + "summoned into his presence; and still he can read the deep anxiety
    \r\n", + "playing upon M'Fadden's distorted countenance. At length, Harry,
    \r\n", + "feeling that his presence may be intrusive, breaks the silence by
    \r\n", + "enquiring if there is anything he can do for master. Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "whispers something, lays his trembling hand on Harry's, casts a
    \r\n", + "meaning glance at the physician, and seems to swoon. Returning to
    \r\n", + "his bed-side, the physician lays his hand upon the sick man's brow;
    \r\n", + "he will ascertain the state of his system.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Give-him-his-Bible,\" mutters the wounded man, pointing languidly to
    \r\n", + "the table. \"Give it to him that he may ask God's blessing for me-for
    \r\n", + "me-for me,--\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The doctor obeys his commands, and the wretch, heart bounding with
    \r\n", + "joy, receives back his inspiring companion. It is dear to him, and
    \r\n", + "with a smile of gratitude invading his countenance he returns
    \r\n", + "thanks. There is pleasure in that little book. \"And now, Harry, my
    \r\n", + "boy,\" says M'Fadden, raising his hand to Harry's shoulder, and
    \r\n", + "looking imploringly in his face as he regains strength; \"forgive
    \r\n", + "what I have done. I took from you that which was most dear to your
    \r\n", + "feelings; I took it from you when the wounds of your heart were
    \r\n", + "gushing with grief-\" He makes an effort to say more, but his voice
    \r\n", + "fails; he will wait a few moments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The kind words touch Harry's feelings; tears glistening in his eyes
    \r\n", + "tell how he struggles to suppress the emotions of his heart. \"Did
    \r\n", + "you mean my wife and children, master?\" he enquires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, somewhat regaining strength, replies in the affirmative.
    \r\n", + "He acknowledges to have seen that the thing \"warn't just right.\" His
    \r\n", + "imagination has been wandering through the regions of heaven, where,
    \r\n", + "he is fully satisfied, there is no objection to a black face. God
    \r\n", + "has made a great opening in his eyes and heart just now. He sees and
    \r\n", + "believes such things as he neither saw nor believed before; they
    \r\n", + "pass like clouds before his eyes, never, never to be erased from his
    \r\n", + "memory. Never before has he thought much about repentance; but now
    \r\n", + "that he sees heaven on one side and hell on the other, all that once
    \r\n", + "seemed right in bartering and selling the bodies and souls of men,
    \r\n", + "vanishes. There, high above all, is the vengeance of heaven written
    \r\n", + "in letters of blood, execrating such acts, and pointing to the
    \r\n", + "retribution. It is a burning consciousness of all the suffering he
    \r\n", + "has inflicted upon his negroes. Death, awful monitor! stares him in
    \r\n", + "the face; it holds the stern realities of truth and justice before
    \r\n", + "him; it tells him of the wrong,--points him to the right. The
    \r\n", + "unbending mandates of slave law, giving to man power to debase
    \r\n", + "himself with crimes the judicious dare not punish, are being
    \r\n", + "consumed before Omnipotence, the warning voice of which is calling
    \r\n", + "him to his last account.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now the wounded man is all condescension, hoping forgiveness!
    \r\n", + "His spirit has yielded to Almighty power; he no longer craves for
    \r\n", + "property in man; no, his coarse voice is subdued into softest
    \r\n", + "accents. He whispers \"coloured man,\" as if the merchandise changed
    \r\n", + "as his thoughts are brought in contact with revelations of the
    \r\n", + "future.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Take the Bible, my good boy-take it, read it to me, before I die.
    \r\n", + "Read it, that it may convert my soul. If I have neglected myself on
    \r\n", + "earth, forgive me; receive my repentance, and let me be saved from
    \r\n", + "eternal misery. Read, my dear good boy,\"-M'Fadden grasps his hand
    \r\n", + "tighter and tighter-\"and let your voice be a warning to those who
    \r\n", + "never look beyond earth and earth's enjoyments.\" The physician
    \r\n", + "thinks his patient will get along until morning, and giving
    \r\n", + "directions to the attendants, leaves him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry has recovered from the surprise which so sudden a change of
    \r\n", + "circumstances produced, and has drawn from the patient the cause of
    \r\n", + "his suffering. He opens the restored Bible, and reads from it, to
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden's satisfaction. He reads from Job; the words producing
    \r\n", + "a deep effect upon the patient's mind.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The wretched preacher, whose white soul is concealed beneath black
    \r\n", + "skin, has finished his reading. He will now address himself to his
    \r\n", + "master, in the following simple manner.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Master, it is one thing to die, and another to die happy. It is one
    \r\n", + "thing to be prepared to die, another to forget that we have to die,
    \r\n", + "to leave the world and its nothingness behind us. But you are not
    \r\n", + "going to die, not now. Master, the Lord will forgive you if you,
    \r\n", + "make your repentance durable. 'Tis only the fear of death that has
    \r\n", + "produced the change on your mind. Do, master! learn the Lord; be
    \r\n", + "just to we poor creatures, for the Lord now tells you it is not
    \r\n", + "right to buy and sell us.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Buy and sell you!\" interrupts the frightened man, making an effort
    \r\n", + "to rise from his pillow; \"that I never will, man nor woman. If God
    \r\n", + "spares my life, my people shall be liberated; I feel different on
    \r\n", + "that subject, now! The difference between the commerce of this world
    \r\n", + "and the glory of heaven brightens before me. I was an ignorant man
    \r\n", + "on all religious matters; I only wanted to be set right in the way
    \r\n", + "of the Lord,--that's all.\" Again he draws his face under the sheet,
    \r\n", + "writhing with the pain of his wound.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I wish everybody could see us as master does, about this time; for
    \r\n", + "surely God can touch the heart of the most hardened. But master
    \r\n", + "ain't going to die so soon as he thinks,\" mutters Harry, wiping the
    \r\n", + "sweat from his face, as he lays his left hand softly upon master's
    \r\n", + "arm. \"God guide us in all coming time, and make us forget the
    \r\n", + "retribution that awaits our sins!\" he concludes, with a smile
    \r\n", + "glowing on his countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The half spoken words catch upon the patient's ear. He starts
    \r\n", + "suddenly from his pillow, as if eager to receive some favourable
    \r\n", + "intelligence. \"Don't you think my case dangerous, my boy? Do you
    \r\n", + "know how deep is the wound?\" he enquires, his glassy eyes staring
    \r\n", + "intently at Harry.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It is all the same, master!\" is the reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Give me your hand again\"-M'Fadden grasps his hand and seems to
    \r\n", + "revive-\"pray for me now; your prayers will be received into heaven,
    \r\n", + "they will serve me there!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, master,\" says Harry, kindly, interrupting him at this juncture,
    \r\n", + "\"I feel more than ever like a christian. It does my heart good to
    \r\n", + "hear you talk so true, so kind. How different from yesterday! then I
    \r\n", + "was a poor slave, forced from my children, with nobody to speak a
    \r\n", + "kind word for me; everybody to reckon me as a good piece of property
    \r\n", + "only. I forgive you, master-I forgive you; God is a loving God, and
    \r\n", + "will forgive you also.\" The sick man is consoled; and, while his
    \r\n", + "preacher kneels at his bed-side, offering up a prayer imploring
    \r\n", + "forgiveness, he listens to the words as they fall like cooling drops
    \r\n", + "on his burning soul. The earnestness--the fervency and pathos of the
    \r\n", + "words, as they gush forth from the lips of a wretch, produce a still
    \r\n", + "deeper effect upon the wounded man. Nay, there is even a chord
    \r\n", + "loosened in his heart; he sobs audibly. \"Live on earth so as to be
    \r\n", + "prepared for heaven; that when death knocks at the door you may
    \r\n", + "receive him as a welcome guest. But, master! you cannot meet our
    \r\n", + "Father in heaven while the sin of selling men clings to your
    \r\n", + "garments. Let your hair grow grey with justice, and God will reward
    \r\n", + "you,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True, Harry; true!\"--he lays his hand on the black man's shoulder, is
    \r\n", + "about to rise--\"it is the truth plainly told, and nothing more.\" He
    \r\n", + "will have a glass of water to quench his thirst; Harry must bring it
    \r\n", + "to him, for there is consolation in his touch. Seized with another
    \r\n", + "pain, he grasps with his left hand the arm of his consoler, works
    \r\n", + "his fingers through his matted hair, breathes violently, contorts
    \r\n", + "his face haggardly, as if suffering acutely. Harry waits till the
    \r\n", + "spasm has subsided, then calls an attendant to watch the patient
    \r\n", + "while he goes to the well. This done he proceeds into the kitchen to
    \r\n", + "enquire for a vessel. Having entered that department as the clock
    \r\n", + "strikes two, he finds Ellen busily engaged preparing food for Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's property, which is yet fast secured in the pen. Feeling
    \r\n", + "himself a little more at liberty to move about unrestrained, he
    \r\n", + "procures a vessel, fills it at the well, carries it to his master's
    \r\n", + "bed-side, sees him comfortably cared for, and returns to the
    \r\n", + "kitchen, where he will assist Ellen in her mission of goodness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The little pen is situated a few yards from the tavern, on the edge
    \r\n", + "of a clump of tall pines.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ellen has got ready the corn and bacon, and with Harry she proceeds
    \r\n", + "to the pen, where the property are still enjoying that inestimable
    \r\n", + "boon,--a deep sleep.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Always sleeping,\" he says, waking them one by one at the
    \r\n", + "announcement of corn and bacon. \"Start up and get something good my
    \r\n", + "girl has prepared for you.\" He shakes them, while Ellen holds the
    \r\n", + "lantern. There is something piercing in the summons-meats are strong
    \r\n", + "arguments with the slave-they start from their slumbers, seize upon
    \r\n", + "the food, and swallow it with great relish. Harry and Ellen stand
    \r\n", + "smiling over the gusto with which they swallow their coarse meal.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You must be good boys to-night. Old master's sick; flat down on e'
    \r\n", + "back, and 'spects he's going to die, he does.\" Harry shakes his head
    \r\n", + "as he tells it to the astonished merchandise. \"Had a great time at
    \r\n", + "the crossing to-day; killed two or three certain, and almost put
    \r\n", + "master on the plank.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'Twarn't no matter, nohow: nobody lose nofin if old Boss do die:
    \r\n", + "nigger on e' plantation don' put e' hat in mournin',\" mutters the
    \r\n", + "negro woman, with an air of hatred. She has eaten her share of the
    \r\n", + "meal, shrugs her shoulders, and again stretches her valuable body on
    \r\n", + "the ground.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Uncle Sparton know'd old Boss warn't gwine t' be whar de debil
    \r\n", + "couldn't cotch 'em, so long as 'e tink. If dat old mas'r debil, what
    \r\n", + "white man talk 'bout so much, don' gib 'em big roasting win 'e git
    \r\n", + "'e dah, better hab no place wid fireins fo' such folks,\" speaks up
    \r\n", + "old Uncle Sparton, one of the negroes, whose face shines like a
    \r\n", + "black-balled boot.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Neber mind dat, Uncle Sparton; 'taint what ye say 'bout he. Ven
    \r\n", + "mas'r debil cotch old Boss 'e don't cotch no fool. Mas'r debil down
    \r\n", + "yander find old Boss too tuf fo' he business; he jus' like old hoss
    \r\n", + "what neber die,\" rejoins another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In a word, M'Fadden had told his negroes what a great democrat he
    \r\n", + "was-how he loved freedom and a free country-until their ideas of
    \r\n", + "freedom became strangely mystified; and they ventured to assert that
    \r\n", + "he would not find so free a country when the devil became his
    \r\n", + "keeper. \"Mas'r tink 'e carry 'e plantation t' t'oder world wid him,
    \r\n", + "reckon,\" Uncle Sparton grumblingly concludes, joining the motley
    \r\n", + "conclave of property about to resume its repose.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ellen returns to the house. Harry will remain, and have a few words
    \r\n", + "more with the boys. A few minutes pass, and Ellen returns with an
    \r\n", + "armful of blankets, with which she covers the people carefully and
    \r\n", + "kindly. How full of goodness-how touching is the act! She has done
    \r\n", + "her part, and she returns to the house in advance of Harry, who
    \r\n", + "stops to take a parting good-night, and whisper a word of
    \r\n", + "consolation in their ears. He looks upon them as dear brothers in
    \r\n", + "distress, objects for whom he has a fellow sympathy. He leaves them
    \r\n", + "for the night; closes the door after him; locks it. He will return
    \r\n", + "to Ellen, and enjoy a mutual exchange of feeling.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Scarcely has he left the door, when three persons, disguised, rush
    \r\n", + "upon him, muffle his head with a blanket, bind his hands and feet,
    \r\n", + "throw him bodily into a waggon, and drive away at a rapid speed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXVI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "COMPETITION IN HUMAN THINGS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IT is enough to inform the reader that Romescos and Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "were not only rival bidders for this very desirable piece of
    \r\n", + "preaching property, but, being near neighbours, had become
    \r\n", + "inveterate enemies and fierce political opponents. The former, a
    \r\n", + "reckless trader in men, women, and children, was a daring,
    \r\n", + "unprincipled, and revengeful man, whose occupation seldom called him
    \r\n", + "to his plantation; while the latter was notorious as a hard master
    \r\n", + "and a cruel tyrant, who exacted a larger amount of labour from his
    \r\n", + "negroes than his fellow planters, and gave them less to eat. His
    \r\n", + "opinion was, that a peck of corn a week was quite enough for a
    \r\n", + "negro; and this was his systematic allowance;--but he otherwise
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 7/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 7 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "tempted the appetites of his property, by driving them, famished, to
    \r\n", + "the utmost verge of necessity. Thus driven to predatory acts in
    \r\n", + "order to sustain life, the advantages offered by Romescos'
    \r\n", + "swamp-generally well sprinkled with swine-were readily appropriated
    \r\n", + "to a very good use.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Under covert of Romescos' absence, Mr. M'Fadden had no very
    \r\n", + "scrupulous objection to his negroes foraging the amply provided
    \r\n", + "swamp,--provided, however, they did the thing on the sly, were
    \r\n", + "careful whose porker they dispatched, and said nothing to him about
    \r\n", + "the eating. In fact, it was simply a matter of economy with Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden; and as Romescos had a great number of the obstinate
    \r\n", + "brutes, it saved the trouble of raising such undignified stock.
    \r\n", + "Finding, however, that neighbour M'Fadden, or his predatory
    \r\n", + "negroes-such they were called-were laying claim to more than a
    \r\n", + "generous share of their porkships, Romescos thought it high time to
    \r\n", + "put the thing down by a summary process. But what particularly
    \r\n", + "\"riled\" Romescos in this affair of the hogs was, that M'Fadden's
    \r\n", + "negroes were not content with catching them in an honourable way,
    \r\n", + "but would do it through the agency of nasty cur-dogs, which he
    \r\n", + "always had despised, and held as unfit even to hunt niggers with.
    \r\n", + "Several times had he expressed his willingness to permit a small
    \r\n", + "number of his grunters to be captured for the benefit of his
    \r\n", + "neighbour's half-starved negroes, provided, always, they were hunted
    \r\n", + "with honourable hound-dogs. He held such animals in high esteem,
    \r\n", + "while curs he looked upon with utter contempt; he likened the one to
    \r\n", + "the chivalrous old rice-planter, the other to a pettifogging
    \r\n", + "schoolmaster fit for nothing but to be despised and shot. With these
    \r\n", + "feelings he (Romescos) declared his intention to kill the very first
    \r\n", + "negro he caught in his swamp with cur-dogs; and he kept his word.
    \r\n", + "Lying in ambush, he would await their approach, and, when most
    \r\n", + "engaged in appropriating the porkers, rush from his hiding-place,
    \r\n", + "shoot the dogs, and then take a turn at the more exhilarating
    \r\n", + "business of shooting the negroes. He would, with all possible
    \r\n", + "calmness, command the frightened property to approach and partake of
    \r\n", + "his peculiar mixture, administered from his double-barrel gun.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "That the reader may better understand Romescos' process of curing
    \r\n", + "this malady of his neighbour's negroes, we will give it as related
    \r\n", + "by himself. It is a curious mode of dispatching negro property; the
    \r\n", + "reader, however, cannot fail to comprehend it. \"Plantin' didn't suit
    \r\n", + "my notions o' gittin' rich, ye see, so I spec'lates in nigger
    \r\n", + "property, and makes a better thing on't. But there's philosophy
    \r\n", + "about the thing, and a body's got t' know the hang on't afore he can
    \r\n", + "twist it out profitably; so I keeps a sort of a plantation just to
    \r\n", + "make a swell; cos ye got to make a splash to be anybody down south.
    \r\n", + "Can't be a gentleman, ye see, 'cept ye plants cotton and rice; and
    \r\n", + "then a feller what's got a plantation in this kind of a way can be a
    \r\n", + "gentleman, and do so many other bits of trade to advantage. The
    \r\n", + "thing works like the handle of a pump; and then it makes a right
    \r\n", + "good place for raising young niggers, and gettin' old uns trimmed
    \r\n", + "up. With me, the worst thing is that old screwdriver, M'Fadden, what
    \r\n", + "don't care no more for the wear and tear of a nigger than nothin',
    \r\n", + "and drives 'em like as many steam-engines he thinks he can keep
    \r\n", + "going by feeding on saw-dust. He han't no conception o' nigger
    \r\n", + "constitution, and is just the worst sort of a chap that ever cum
    \r\n", + "south to get a fortune. Why, look right at his niggers: they look
    \r\n", + "like crows after corn-shuckin. Don't give 'em no meat, and the
    \r\n", + "critters must steal somethin' t' keep out o' the bone-yard. Well, I
    \r\n", + "argers the case with Mack, tells him how t'll be atween he and me on
    \r\n", + "this thing, and warns him that if he don't chunk more corn and
    \r\n", + "grease into his niggers, there 'll be a ruptous fuss. But he don't
    \r\n", + "stand on honour, as I does, especially when his property makes a
    \r\n", + "haul on my swamp of shoats. I an't home often; so the hogs suffer;
    \r\n", + "and Mack's niggers get the pork. This 'ere kind o'
    \r\n", + "business\"--Romescos maintains the serious dignity of himself the
    \r\n", + "while--\"don't go down nohow with me; so Mack and me just has a bit
    \r\n", + "of a good-natured quarrel; and from that we gets at daggers' points,
    \r\n", + "and I swears how I'll kill the first nigger o' his'n what steals
    \r\n", + "hogs o' mine. Wouldn't a cared a sous, mark ye, but it cum crossways
    \r\n", + "on a feller's feelins to think how the 'tarnal niggers had no more
    \r\n", + "sense than t' hunt hogs o' mine with cur-dogs: bin hounds,
    \r\n", + "honourable dogs, or respectable dogs what 'll do to hunt niggers
    \r\n", + "with, wouldn't a cared a toss about it; but-when-I-hears-a cur-dog
    \r\n", + "yelp, oh! hang me if it don't set my sensations all on pins, just as
    \r\n", + "somethin' was crucifyin' a feller. I warns and talks, and then
    \r\n", + "pleads like a lawyer what's got a bad case; but all to no end o'
    \r\n", + "reformin' Mack's morals,--feller han't got no sense o' reform in him.
    \r\n", + "So I sets my niggers on the scent-it gives 'em some fun-and swears
    \r\n", + "I'll kill a nigger for every hog he steals. This I concludes on; and
    \r\n", + "I never backs out when once I fixes a conclusion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hears the infernal cur-dog's yelp, yelp, yelp, down in the swamp;
    \r\n", + "then I creeps through the jungle so sly, lays low till the fellers
    \r\n", + "cum up, all jumpin'-pig ahead, then dogs, niggers follerin', puffin'
    \r\n", + "and blowin', eyes poppin' out, 'most out o' breath, just as if they
    \r\n", + "tasted the sparerib afore they'd got the critter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, ye see, I know'd all the ins and outs of the law,--keeps
    \r\n", + "mighty shy about all the judicial quibbles on't,--never takes nobody
    \r\n", + "with me whose swearin' would stand muster in a court of law. All
    \r\n", + "right on that score (Romescos exults in his law proficiency). I
    \r\n", + "makes sure o' the dogs fust, ollers keepin' the double-barrel on the
    \r\n", + "right eye for the best nigger in the lot. It would make the
    \r\n", + "longest-faced deacon in the district laugh to see the fire flash out
    \r\n", + "o' the nigger's big black eyes, when he sees the cur drop, knowin'
    \r\n", + "how he'll get the next plugs souced into him. It's only natural, cos
    \r\n", + "it would frighten a feller what warn't used to it just to see what a
    \r\n", + "thunder-cloud of agitation the nigger screws his black face into.
    \r\n", + "And then he starts to run, and puts it like streaks o' cannon-balls
    \r\n", + "chased by express lightnin'.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'Stand still, ye thievin' varmint! hold up,--bring to a mooring:
    \r\n", + "take the mixture according to Gunter!' I shouts. The way the nigger
    \r\n", + "pulls up, begs, pleads, and says things what'll touch a feller's
    \r\n", + "tender feelins, aint no small kind of an institution. 'Twould just
    \r\n", + "make a man what had stretchy conscience think there was somethin'
    \r\n", + "crooked somewhere. 'Well, boys,' says I, feeling a little soft about
    \r\n", + "the stomach, 'seeing how it's yer Boss what don't feed ye, I'll be
    \r\n", + "kind o' good, and give ye a dose of the mixture in an honourable
    \r\n", + "way.' Then I loads t'other barrel, the feller's eyes flashin'
    \r\n", + "streaks of blue lightnin' all the time, lookin' at how I rams it
    \r\n", + "down, chunk! 'Now, boys,' says I, when the plugs
    \r\n", + "shot is all ready, 'there's system 'bout this ere thing a'
    \r\n", + "mine--t'aint killin' ye I wants,--don't care a copper about that
    \r\n", + "(there an't no music in that), but must make it bring the finances
    \r\n", + "out a' yer master's pocket. That's the place where he keeps all his
    \r\n", + "morals. Now, run twenty paces and I'll gin ye a fair chance! The
    \r\n", + "nigger understands me, ye see, and moves off, as if he expected a
    \r\n", + "thunderbolt at his heel, lookin' back and whining like a puppy
    \r\n", + "what's lost his mother. Just when he gets to an honourable
    \r\n", + "distance,--say twenty paces, according to fighting rule,--I draws up,
    \r\n", + "takes aim, and plumps the plugs into him. The way the critter jumps
    \r\n", + "reminds me of a circus rider vaultin' and turnin' sumersets. You'd
    \r\n", + "think he was inginrubber 'lectrified. A'ter all, I finds these
    \r\n", + "playin' doses don't do; they don't settle things on the square. So I
    \r\n", + "tries a little stronger mixture, which ends in killin' three o'
    \r\n", + "Mack's niggers right up smooth. But the best on't is that Mack finds
    \r\n", + "he han't no proof, goes right into it and kills three o' my prime
    \r\n", + "fat niggers: that makes us bad friends on every score. But he got a
    \r\n", + "nigger ahead o' me a'ter awhile, and I ware detarmined to straighten
    \r\n", + "accounts, if it was by stealin' the odds. Them ar's my principles,
    \r\n", + "and that's just the way I settles accounts with folks what don't do
    \r\n", + "the square thing in the way o' nigger property.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus the two gentlemen lived in the terror of internal war; and
    \r\n", + "Romescos, seeing such a fine piece of property pass into the hands
    \r\n", + "of his antagonist, resolved on squaring accounts by stealing the
    \r\n", + "preacher,--an act Mr. M'Fadden least expected.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The candidates' festival offered every facility for carrying this
    \r\n", + "singular coup-d'�tat into effect. Hence, with the skilful assistance
    \r\n", + "of Nath. Nimrod, and Dan Bengal, Harry was very precipitately and
    \r\n", + "dexterously passed over to the chances of a new phase of slave life.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ellen waited patiently for Harry's return until it became evident
    \r\n", + "some ill-luck had befallen him. Lantern in hand, she proceeds to the
    \r\n", + "pen in search. No Harry is to be found there; Mr. M'Fadden's common
    \r\n", + "negroes only are there, and they sleep sweetly and soundly. What can
    \r\n", + "have befallen him? She conjectures many things, none of which are
    \r\n", + "the right. The lock is upon the door; all is still outside; no
    \r\n", + "traces of kidnapping can be found. She knows his faithfulness,--
    \r\n", + "knows he would not desert his master unless some foul means had been
    \r\n", + "used to decoy him into trouble. She returns to the house and
    \r\n", + "acquaints her master.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Straggling members, who had met to enjoy the generous political
    \r\n", + "banquet, and who still remain to see the night \"through\" with
    \r\n", + "appropriate honour, are apprised of the sudden disappearance of this
    \r\n", + "very valuable piece of property. They are ready for any turn of
    \r\n", + "excitement,--anything for \"topping off\" with a little amusement; and
    \r\n", + "to this end they immediately gather round mine host in a party of
    \r\n", + "pursuit. Romescos-he must make his innocence more imposing-has been
    \r\n", + "conspicuous during the night, at times expressing sympathy for Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, and again assuring the company that he has known fifty
    \r\n", + "worse cases cured. In order to make this better understood, he will
    \r\n", + "pay the doctor's bill if M'Fadden dies. Mine host has no sooner
    \r\n", + "given the alarm than Romescos expresses superlative surprise. He was
    \r\n", + "standing in the centre of a conclave of men, whom he harangues on
    \r\n", + "the particular political points necessary for the candidates to
    \r\n", + "support in order to maintain the honour of the State; now he listens
    \r\n", + "to mine host as he recounts the strange absence of the preacher,
    \r\n", + "pauses and combs his long red beard with his fingers, looks
    \r\n", + "distrustfully, and then says, with a quaintness that disarmed
    \r\n", + "suspicion, \"Nigger-like!-preacher or angel, nigger will be nigger!
    \r\n", + "The idea o' makin' the black rascals preachers, thinkin' they won't
    \r\n", + "run away! Now, fellers, that ar' chap's skulkin' about, not far off,
    \r\n", + "out among the pines; and here's my two dogs\"-he points to his dogs,
    \r\n", + "stretched on the floor-\"what'll scent him and bring him out afore
    \r\n", + "ten minutes! Don't say a word to Mack about it; don't let it 'scape
    \r\n", + "yer fly-trap, cos they say he's got a notion o' dying, and suddenly
    \r\n", + "changed his feelins 'bout nigger tradin'. There's no tellin' how it
    \r\n", + "would affect the old democrat if he felt he warnt goin' to slip his
    \r\n", + "breeze. This child\"-Romescos refers to himself-\"felt just as Mack
    \r\n", + "does more nor a dozen times, when Davy Jones looked as if he was
    \r\n", + "making slight advances: a feller soon gets straight again,
    \r\n", + "nevertheless. It's only the difference atween one's feelings about
    \r\n", + "makin' money when he's well, and thinkin' how he made it when he's
    \r\n", + "about to bid his friends good morning and leave town for awhile.
    \r\n", + "Anyhow, there aint no dodging now, fellers! We got to hunt up the
    \r\n", + "nigger afore daylight, so let us take a drop more and be moving.\" He
    \r\n", + "orders the landlord to set on the decanters,--they join in a social
    \r\n", + "glass, touch glasses to the recovery of the nigger, and then rush
    \r\n", + "out to the pursuit. Romescos heads the party. With dogs, horses,
    \r\n", + "guns, and all sorts of negro-hunting apparatus, they scour the
    \r\n", + "pinegrove, the swamp, and the heather. They make the pursuit of man
    \r\n", + "full of interest to those who are fond of the chase; they allow
    \r\n", + "their enthusiasm to bound in unison with the sharp baying of the
    \r\n", + "dogs.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "For more than two hours is this exhilarating sport kept up. It is
    \r\n", + "sweet music to their ears; they have been trained (educated) to the
    \r\n", + "fascination of a man-hunt, and dogs and men become wearied with the
    \r\n", + "useless search.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos declares the nigger is near at hand: he sees the dogs curl
    \r\n", + "down their noses; he must be somewhere in a hole or jungle of the
    \r\n", + "swamp, and, with more daylight and another dog or two, his
    \r\n", + "apprehension is certain. He makes a halt on the brow of a hill, and
    \r\n", + "addresses his fellow-hunters from the saddle. In his wisdom on
    \r\n", + "nigger nature he will advise a return to the tavern-for it is now
    \r\n", + "daylight-where they will spend another hour merrily, and then return
    \r\n", + "brightened to the pursuit. Acting on this advice, friends and
    \r\n", + "foes-both join as good fellows in the chase for a nigger-followed
    \r\n", + "his retreat as they had his advance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No nigger preacher just about this circle, Major!\" exclaims
    \r\n", + "Romescos, addressing mine host, as he puts his head into the
    \r\n", + "bar-room, on his return. \"Feller's burrowed somewhere, like a coon:
    \r\n", + "catch him on the broad end of morning, or I'll hang up my old
    \r\n", + "double-barrel,\" he concludes, shaking his head, and ordering drink
    \r\n", + "for the party at his expense.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The morning advanced, however, and nothing was to be seen of
    \r\n", + "Romescos: he vanished as suddenly from among them as Harry had from
    \r\n", + "the pen. Some little surprise is expressed by the knowing ones; they
    \r\n", + "whisper among themselves, while mine host reaches over the counter,
    \r\n", + "cants his head solicitously, and says:--\"What's that, gentlemen?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In this dilemma they cannot inform mine host; they must continue the
    \r\n", + "useless chase without Romescos' valuable services. And here we must
    \r\n", + "leave mine host preparing further necessaries for capturing the lost
    \r\n", + "property, that he may restore it to its owner so soon as he shall
    \r\n", + "become convalescent, and turn to Harry.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Like a well-stowed bale of merchandise, to be delivered at a stated
    \r\n", + "place within a specified time, he was rolled in bagging, and not
    \r\n", + "permitted to see the direction in which he was being driven. When
    \r\n", + "the pursuing party started from the crossing, Romescos took the lead
    \r\n", + "in order to draw it in an opposite direction, and keep the dogs from
    \r\n", + "the trail. This would allow the stolen clergyman to get beyond their
    \r\n", + "reach. When daylight broke upon the capturers they were nearly
    \r\n", + "twenty miles beyond the reach of the pursuers, approaching an inn by
    \r\n", + "the road side. The waggon suddenly stopped, and Harry found himself
    \r\n", + "being unrolled from his winding sheet by the hands of two strangers.
    \r\n", + "Lifting him to his feet, they took him from the waggon, loosed the
    \r\n", + "chains from his legs, led him into the house, and placed him in a
    \r\n", + "dark back room. Here, his head being uncovered, he looks upon his
    \r\n", + "captors with an air of confusion and distrust. \"Ye know me too, I
    \r\n", + "reckon, old feller, don't ye?\" enquires one of the men, with a
    \r\n", + "sardonic grin, as he lifts his hat with his left hand, and scratches
    \r\n", + "his head with his right.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, mas'r; there's no mistakin on ye!\" returns Harry, shaking his
    \r\n", + "head, as they release the chains from his hands. He at length
    \r\n", + "recognises the familiar faces of Dan Bengal and Nath. Nimrod. Both
    \r\n", + "have figured about Marston's plantation, in the purchase and sale of
    \r\n", + "negroes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ye had a jolly good ride, old feller, had'nt ye?\" says Bengal,
    \r\n", + "exultingly, looking Harry in the face, shrugging his shoulders, and
    \r\n", + "putting out his hand to make his friendship.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry has no reply to make; but rubs his face as if he is not quite
    \r\n", + "satisfied with his new apartment, and wants to know a little more of
    \r\n", + "the motive of the expedition. \"Mas'r! I don't seem to know myself,
    \r\n", + "nor nothin'. Please tell me where I am going to, and who is to be my
    \r\n", + "master? It will relieve my double troubles,\" he says, casting an
    \r\n", + "enquiring look at Nimrod.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Shook up yer parson-thinkin' some, I reckon, did'nt it, old chap?\"
    \r\n", + "returns Nimrod, laughing heartily, but making no further reply. He
    \r\n", + "thinks it was very much like riding in a railroad backwards.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Did my sick mas'r sell me to you?\" again he enquires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No business o' yourn, that ain't; yer nigger-knowin ought to tell
    \r\n", + "you how ye'd got into safe hands. We'll push along down south as
    \r\n", + "soon as ye gets some feed. Put on a straight face, and face the
    \r\n", + "music like a clever deacon, and we'll do the square in selling ye to
    \r\n", + "a Boss what 'll let ye preach now and then. (Nimrod becomes very
    \r\n", + "affectionate). Do the thing up righteous, and when yer sold there
    \r\n", + "'ll be a five-dollar shiner for yerself. (He pats him on the head,
    \r\n", + "and puts his arm over his shoulder.) Best t' have a little shot in a
    \r\n", + "body's own pocket; now, shut up yer black bread-trap, and don't go
    \r\n", + "makin a fuss about where yer goin' to: that's my business!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry pauses as if in contemplation; he is struggling against his
    \r\n", + "indignation excited by such remarks. He knew his old master's
    \r\n", + "weaknesses, enjoyed his indulgences; but he had never been made to
    \r\n", + "feel so acutely how degraded he could be as a mere article of trade.
    \r\n", + "It would have been some consolation to know which way he was
    \r\n", + "proceeding, and why he had been so suddenly snatched from his new
    \r\n", + "owner. Fate had not ordained this for him; oh no! He must resign
    \r\n", + "himself without making any further enquiries; he must be nothing
    \r\n", + "more than a nigger--happy nigger happily subdued! Seating himself
    \r\n", + "upon the floor, in a recumbent position, he drops his face on his
    \r\n", + "knees,--is humbled among the humblest. He is left alone for some
    \r\n", + "time, while his captors, retiring into an adjoining room, hold a
    \r\n", + "consultation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Breakfast is being prepared, and much conversation is kept up in an
    \r\n", + "inaudible tone of voice. Harry has an instinctive knowledge that it
    \r\n", + "is about him, for he hears the words, \"Peter! Peter!\" his name must
    \r\n", + "be transmogrified into \"Peter!\" In another minute he hears dishes
    \r\n", + "rattling on the table, and Bengal distinctly complimenting the
    \r\n", + "adjuncts, as he orders some for the nigger preacher. This excites
    \r\n", + "his anxiety; he feels like placing his ear at the keyhole,--doing a
    \r\n", + "little evesdropping. He is happily disappointed, however, for the
    \r\n", + "door opens, and a black boy bearing a dish of homony enters, and,
    \r\n", + "placing it before him, begs that he will help himself. Harry takes
    \r\n", + "the plate and sets it beside him, as the strange boy watches him
    \r\n", + "with an air of commiseration that enlists his confidence. \"Ain't
    \r\n", + "da'h somefin mo' dat I can bring ye?\" enquires the boy, pausing for
    \r\n", + "an answer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nothing,--nothing more!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry will venture to make some enquiries about the locality. \"Do
    \r\n", + "you belong to master what live here?\" He puts out his hand, takes
    \r\n", + "the other by the arm.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hard tellin who I belongs to. Buckra man own 'em to-day; ain't
    \r\n", + "sartin if he own 'em to-morrow, dough. What country-born nigger is
    \r\n", + "you?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Down country! My poor old master's gone, and now I'm goin'; but God
    \r\n", + "only knows where to. White man sell all old Boss's folks in a
    \r\n", + "string,--my old woman and children among the rest. My heart is with
    \r\n", + "them, God bless them!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Reckon how ya' had a right good old Boss what larn ye somethin.\"
    \r\n", + "The boy listens to Harry with surprise. \"Don't talk like dat down
    \r\n", + "dis a way; no country-born nigger put in larn'd wods so, nohow,\"
    \r\n", + "returns the boy, with a look of curious admiration.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But you harn't told me what place this is?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dis 'ouse! e' ant nowhare when Buckra bring nigger what he want to
    \r\n", + "sell, and don' want nobody to know whar e' bring him from. Dat man
    \r\n", + "what bring ye here be great Buckra. De 'h way he lash nigger whin e'
    \r\n", + "don do jist so!\" The boy shakes his head with a warning air.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How did you get here? There must be roads leading in some
    \r\n", + "directions?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Roads runnin' every which way, yand'r; and trou de woods anyway,
    \r\n", + "but mighty hard tellin whar he going to, he is. Mas'r Boss don lef
    \r\n", + "'e nigger know how 'e bring'um, nor how he takes 'um way. Guess da
    \r\n", + "'h gwine to run ye down country, so God bless you,\" says the boy,
    \r\n", + "shaking him by the hand, and taking leave.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! if I only knew which way I was going I should feel happy;
    \r\n", + "because I could then write to my old master, somewhere or somehow.
    \r\n", + "And I know my good friend Missus Rosebrook will buy me for her
    \r\n", + "plantation,--I know she will. She knows my feelings, and in her heart
    \r\n", + "wouldn't see me abused, she wouldn't! I wish I knew who my master
    \r\n", + "is, where I am, and to whom I'm going to be sold next. I think new
    \r\n", + "master has stolen me, thinking old master was going to die,\" Harry
    \r\n", + "mutters to himself, commencing his breakfast, but still applying his
    \r\n", + "listening faculties to the conversation in the next room. At length,
    \r\n", + "after a long pause, they seem to have finished breakfast and taken
    \r\n", + "up the further consideration of his sale.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I don't fear anything of the kind! Romescos is just the keenest
    \r\n", + "fellow that can be scared up this side of Baltimore. He never takes
    \r\n", + "a thing o' this stamp in hand but what he puts it through,\" says
    \r\n", + "Bengal, in a whispering tone.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True! the trouble's in his infernal preaching; that's the devil of
    \r\n", + "niggers having intelligence. Can do anything in our way with common
    \r\n", + "niggers what don't know nothin'; but when the critters can do
    \r\n", + "clergy, and preach, they'll be sending notes to somebody they know
    \r\n", + "as acquaintances. An intelligent nigger's a bad article when ye want
    \r\n", + "to play off in this way,\" replies the other, curtly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Never mind,\" returns Bengal, \"can't ollers transpose a nigger, as
    \r\n", + "easy as turnin' over a sixpence, specially when he don't have his
    \r\n", + "ideas brightened. Can't steer clar on't. Larnin's mighty dangerous
    \r\n", + "to our business, Nath.-better knock him on the head at once; better
    \r\n", + "end him and save a sight of trouble. It'll put a stopper on his
    \r\n", + "preaching, this pesks exercisin' his ideas.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A third interrupts. \"Thinks such a set of chicken-hearted fellows
    \r\n", + "won't do when it comes to cases of 'mergency like this. He will just
    \r\n", + "make clergyman Peter Somebody the deacon; and with this honorary
    \r\n", + "title he'll put him through to Major Wiley's plantation, when he'll
    \r\n", + "be all right down in old Mississippi. The Colonel and he,
    \r\n", + "understanding the thing, can settle it just as smooth as sunrise.
    \r\n", + "The curate is what we call a right clever fellow, would make the
    \r\n", + "tallest kind of a preacher, and pay first-rate per centage on
    \r\n", + "himself.\" Bengal refers to Harry. His remarks are, indeed, quite
    \r\n", + "applicable. \"I've got the dockerment, ye see, all prepared; and
    \r\n", + "we'll put him through without a wink,\" he concludes, in a measured
    \r\n", + "tone of voice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The door of Harry's room opens, and the three enter together. \"Had a
    \r\n", + "good breakfast, old feller, hain't ye?\" says Nimrod, approaching
    \r\n", + "with hand extended, and patting him on the head with a child's
    \r\n", + "playfulness. \"I kind o' likes the looks on ye\" (a congratulatory
    \r\n", + "smile curls over his countenance), \"old feller; and means to do the
    \r\n", + "square thing in the way o' gettin' on ye a good Boss. Put on the
    \r\n", + "Lazarus, and no nigger tricks on the road. I'm sorry to leave ye on
    \r\n", + "the excursion, but here's the gentleman what'll see ye through,--will
    \r\n", + "put ye through to old Mississip just as safe as if ye were a nugget
    \r\n", + "of gold.\" Nimrod introduces Harry to a short gentleman with a bald
    \r\n", + "head, and very smooth, red face. His dress is of brown homespun, a
    \r\n", + "garb which would seem peculiar to those who do the villainy of the
    \r\n", + "peculiar institution. The gentleman has a pair of handcuffs in his
    \r\n", + "left hand, with which he will make his pious merchandise safe.
    \r\n", + "Stepping forward, he places the forefinger of his right hand on the
    \r\n", + "preacher's forehead, and reads him a lesson which he must get firm
    \r\n", + "into his thinking shell. It is this. \"Now, at this very time, yer
    \r\n", + "any kind of a nigger; but a'ter this ar' ye got to be a Tennessee
    \r\n", + "nigger, raised in a pious Tennessee family. And yer name is
    \r\n", + "Peter-Peter-Peter!-don't forget the Peter: yer a parson, and ought
    \r\n", + "t' keep the old apostle what preached in the marketplace in yer
    \r\n", + "noddle. Peter, ye see, is a pious name, and Harry isn't; so ye must
    \r\n", + "think Peter and sink Harry.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What do I want to change my name for? Old master give me that name
    \r\n", + "long time ago!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"None o' yer business; niggers ain't t' know the philosophy of such
    \r\n", + "things. No nigger tricks, now!\" interrupts Bengal, quickly, drawing
    \r\n", + "his face into savage contortions. At this the gentleman in whose
    \r\n", + "charge he will proceed steps forward and places the manacles on
    \r\n", + "Harry's hands with the coolness and indifference of one executing
    \r\n", + "the commonest branch of his profession. Thus packed and baled for
    \r\n", + "export, he is hurried from the house into a two-horse waggon, and
    \r\n", + "driven off at full speed. Bengal watches the waggon as it rolls down
    \r\n", + "the highway and is lost in the distance. He laughs heartily, thinks
    \r\n", + "how safe he has got the preacher, and how much hard cash he will
    \r\n", + "bring. God speed the slave on his journey downward, we might add.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It will be needless for us to trace them through the many incidents
    \r\n", + "of their journey; our purpose will be served when we state that his
    \r\n", + "new guardian landed him safely at the plantation of Major Wiley, on
    \r\n", + "the Tallahatchee River, Mississippi, on the evening of the fourth
    \r\n", + "day after their departure, having made a portion of their passage on
    \r\n", + "the steamer Ohio. By some process unknown to Harry he finds himself
    \r\n", + "duly ingratiated among the major's field hands, as nothing more than
    \r\n", + "plain Peter. He is far from the high-road, far from his friends,
    \r\n", + "without any prospect of communicating with his old master. The
    \r\n", + "major, in his way, seems a well-disposed sort of man, inclined to
    \r\n", + "\"do right\" by his negroes, and willing to afford them an opportunity
    \r\n", + "of employing their time after task, for their own benefit. And yet
    \r\n", + "it is evident that he must in some way be connected with Graspum and
    \r\n", + "his party, for there is a continual interchange of negroes to and
    \r\n", + "from his plantation. This, however, we must not analyse too closely,
    \r\n", + "but leave to the reader's own conjectures, inasmuch as Major Wiley
    \r\n", + "is a very distinguished gentleman, and confidently expects a very
    \r\n", + "prominent diplomatic appointment under the next administration.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry, in a very quiet way, sets himself about gaining a knowledge
    \r\n", + "of his master's opinions on religion, as well as obtaining his
    \r\n", + "confidence by strict fidelity to his interests. So far does he
    \r\n", + "succeed, that in a short time he finds himself holding the
    \r\n", + "respectable and confidential office of master of stores. Then he
    \r\n", + "succeeds in inducing his master to hear him preach a sermon to his
    \r\n", + "negroes. The major is perfectly willing to allow him the full
    \r\n", + "exercise of his talents, and is moved to admiration at his fervency,
    \r\n", + "his aptitude, his knowledge of the Bible, and the worth there must
    \r\n", + "be in such a piece of clergy property. Master Wiley makes his man
    \r\n", + "the offer of purchasing his time, which Harry, under the alias of
    \r\n", + "Peter, accepts, and commences his mission of preaching on the
    \r\n", + "neighbouring plantations.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Ardently and devoutedly does he pursue his mission of Christianity
    \r\n", + "among his fellow-bondmen; but he has reaped little of the harvest
    \r\n", + "to himself, his master having so increased the demand for his time
    \r\n", + "that he can scarcely save money enough to purchase clothes. At first
    \r\n", + "he was only required to pay six dollars a week; now, nothing less
    \r\n", + "than ten is received. It is a happy premium on profitable human
    \r\n", + "nature; and through it swings the strongest hinge of that cursed
    \r\n", + "institution which blasts alike master and slave. Major Wiley is very
    \r\n", + "chivalrous, very hospitable, and very eminent for his many
    \r\n", + "distinguished qualifications; but his very pious piece of property
    \r\n", + "must pay forty-seven per cent. annual tribute for the very
    \r\n", + "hospitable privilege of administering the Word of God to his brother
    \r\n", + "bondmen. Speak not of robed bishops robbing Christianity in a
    \r\n", + "foreign land, ye men who deal in men, and would rob nature of its
    \r\n", + "tombstone! Ye would rob the angels did their garments give forth
    \r\n", + "gold.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The poor fellow's income, depending, in some measure, upon small
    \r\n", + "presents bestowed by the negroes to whom he preached, was scarcely
    \r\n", + "enough to bring him out at the end of the week, and to be thus
    \r\n", + "deprived of it seemed more than his spirits could bear. Again and
    \r\n", + "again had he appealed to his master for justice; but there was no
    \r\n", + "justice for him,--his appeals proved as fruitless as the wind, on his
    \r\n", + "master's callous sensibilities. Instead of exciting compassion, he
    \r\n", + "only drew upon him his master's prejudices; he was threatened with
    \r\n", + "being sold, if he resisted for a day the payment of wages for his
    \r\n", + "own body. Hence he saw but one alternative left-one hope, one smile
    \r\n", + "from a good woman, who might, and he felt would, deliver him; that
    \r\n", + "was in writing to his good friend, Mrs. Rosebrook, whose generous
    \r\n", + "heart he might touch through his appeals for mercy. And yet there
    \r\n", + "was another obstacle; the post-office might be ten miles off, and
    \r\n", + "his master having compelled him to take the name of Peter Wiley, how
    \r\n", + "was he to get a letter to her without the knowledge of his master?
    \r\n", + "Should his letter be intercepted, his master, a strict
    \r\n", + "disciplinarian, would not only sell him farther south, but inflict
    \r\n", + "the severest punishment. Nevertheless, there was one consolation
    \r\n", + "left; his exertions on behalf of the slaves, and his earnestness in
    \r\n", + "promoting the interests of their masters, had not passed unnoticed
    \r\n", + "with the daughter of a neighbouring planter (this lady has since
    \r\n", + "distinguished herself for sympathy with the slave), who became much
    \r\n", + "interested in his welfare. She had listened to his exhortations with
    \r\n", + "admiration; she had listened to his advice on religion, and become
    \r\n", + "his friend and confidant. She would invite him to her father's
    \r\n", + "house, sit for hours at his side, and listen with breathless
    \r\n", + "attention to his pathos, his display of natural genius. To her he
    \r\n", + "unfolded his deep and painful troubles; to her he looked for
    \r\n", + "consolation; she was the angel of light guiding him on his weary
    \r\n", + "way, cheering his drooping soul on its journey to heaven. To her he
    \r\n", + "disclosed how he had been called to the bedside of his dying master;
    \r\n", + "how, previously, he had been sold from his good old master, Marston,
    \r\n", + "his wife, his children; how he was mysteriously carried off and left
    \r\n", + "in the charge of his present master, who exacts all he can earn.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The simple recital of his story excites the genial feelings of the
    \r\n", + "young lady; she knows some foul transaction is associated with his
    \r\n", + "transition, and at once tenders her services to release him. But she
    \r\n", + "must move cautiously, for even Harry's preaching is in direct
    \r\n", + "violation of the statutes; and were she found aiding in that which
    \r\n", + "would unfavourably affect the interests of his master she would be
    \r\n", + "subjected to serious consequences-perhaps be invited to spend a
    \r\n", + "short season at the sheriff's hotel, commonly called the county
    \r\n", + "gaol. However, there was virtue in the object to be served, and
    \r\n", + "feeling that whatever else she could do to relieve him would be
    \r\n", + "conferring a lasting benefit on a suffering mortal, she will brave
    \r\n", + "the attempt.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Tell me he is not a man, but a slave! tell me a being with such
    \r\n", + "faculties should be thus sunken beneath the amenities of freedom!
    \r\n", + "that man may barter almighty gifts for gold! trample his religion
    \r\n", + "into dust, and turn it into dollars and cents! What a mockery is
    \r\n", + "this against the justice of heaven! When this is done in this our
    \r\n", + "happy land of happy freedom, scoffers may make it their foot-ball,
    \r\n", + "and kings in their tyranny may point the finger of scorn at us, and
    \r\n", + "ask us for our honest men, our cherished freedom!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Woman can do something, if she will; let me see what I can do to
    \r\n", + "relieve this poor oppressed,\" she exclaims one day, after he has
    \r\n", + "consulted her on the best means of relief. \"I will try.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Woman knows the beatings of the heart; she can respond more quickly
    \r\n", + "to its pains and sorrows. Our youthful missionary will sit down and
    \r\n", + "write a letter to Mrs. Rosebrook-she will do something, the
    \r\n", + "atmosphere of slavery will hear of her yet-it will!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXVII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE PRETTY CHILDREN ARE TO BE SOLD.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HOW varied are the sources of human nature-how changing its tints
    \r\n", + "and glows-how immeasurable its uncertainties, and how obdurate the
    \r\n", + "will that can turn its tenderest threads into profitable
    \r\n", + "degradation! But what democrat can know himself a freeman when the
    \r\n", + "whitest blood makes good merchandise in the market? When the only
    \r\n", + "lineal stain on a mother's name for ever binds the chains, let no
    \r\n", + "man boast of liberty. The very voice re-echoes, oh, man, why be a
    \r\n", + "hypocrite! cans't thou not see the scorner looking from above? But
    \r\n", + "the oligarchy asks in tones so modest, so full of chivalrous
    \r\n", + "fascination, what hast thou to do with that? be no longer a fanatic.
    \r\n", + "So we will bear the warning-pass from it for the present.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "More than two years have passed; writs of error have been filed and
    \r\n", + "argued; the children have dragged out time in a prison-house. Is it
    \r\n", + "in freedom's land a prison was made for the innocent to waste in? So
    \r\n", + "it is, and may Heaven one day change the tenour! Excuse, reader,
    \r\n", + "this digression, and let us proceed with our narrative.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The morning is clear and bright; Mrs. Rosebrook sits at the window
    \r\n", + "of her cheerful villa, watching the approach of the post-rider seen
    \r\n", + "in the distance, near a cluster of oaks that surround the entrance
    \r\n", + "of the arbour, at the north side of the garden. The scene spread out
    \r\n", + "before her is full of rural beauty, softened by the dew-decked
    \r\n", + "foliage, clothing the landscape with its clumps. As if some fairy
    \r\n", + "hand had spread a crystal mist about the calm of morning, and angels
    \r\n", + "were bedecking it with the richest tints of a rising sun at morn,
    \r\n", + "the picture sparkles with silvery life. There she sits, her soft
    \r\n", + "glowing eyes scanning the reposing scene, as her graceful form seems
    \r\n", + "infusing spirit into its silent loveliness. And then she speaks, as
    \r\n", + "if whispering a secret to the wafting air: \"our happy union!\" It
    \r\n", + "falls upon the ear like some angel voice speaking of things too
    \r\n", + "pure, too holy for the caprices of earth. She would be a type of
    \r\n", + "that calmness pervading the scene-that sweetness and repose which
    \r\n", + "seem mingling to work out some holy purpose; and yet there is a
    \r\n", + "touching sadness depicted in her face.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Two years have passed; how changed!\" she exclaims, as if rousing
    \r\n", + "from a reverie: \"I would not be surprised if he brought bad
    \r\n", + "tidings.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The postman has reached the gate and delivered a letter, which the
    \r\n", + "servant quickly bears to her hand. She grasps it anxiously, as if
    \r\n", + "recognising the superscription; opens it nervously; reads the
    \r\n", + "contents. It is from Franconia, interceding with her in behalf of
    \r\n", + "her uncle and the two children, in the following manner:--\"My
    \r\n", + "dearest Friend,
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can I appeal to one whose feelings are more ready to be enlisted in
    \r\n", + "a good cause? I think not. I wish now to enlist your feelings in
    \r\n", + "something that concerns myself. It is to save two interesting
    \r\n", + "children-who, though our eyes may at times be blinded to facts, I
    \r\n", + "cannot forget are nearly allied to me by birth and association-from
    \r\n", + "the grasp of slavery. Misfortune never comes alone; nor, in this
    \r\n", + "instance, need I recount ours to you. Of my own I will say but
    \r\n", + "little; the least is best. Into wedlock I have been sold to one it
    \r\n", + "were impossible for me to love; he cannot cherish the respect due to
    \r\n", + "my feelings. His associations are of the coarsest, and his heartless
    \r\n", + "treatment beyond my endurance. He subjects me to the meanest
    \r\n", + "grievances; makes my position more degraded than that of the slave
    \r\n", + "upon whom he gratifies his lusts. Had my parents saved me from such
    \r\n", + "a monster-I cannot call him less-they would have saved me many a
    \r\n", + "painful reflection. As for his riches-I know not whether they really
    \r\n", + "exist-they are destined only to serve his lowest passions. With him
    \r\n", + "misfortune is a crime; and I am made to suffer under his taunts
    \r\n", + "about the disappearance of my brother, the poverty of my parents.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You are well aware of the verdict of the jury, and the affirmation
    \r\n", + "of the Court of Appeal, upon those dear children. The decree orders
    \r\n", + "them to be sold in the market, for the benefit of my uncle's
    \r\n", + "creditors: this is the day, the fatal day, the sale takes place. Let
    \r\n", + "me beseech of you, as you have it in your power, to induce the
    \r\n", + "deacon to purchase them. O, save them from the fate that awaits
    \r\n", + "them! You know my uncle's errors; you know also his goodness of
    \r\n", + "heart; you can sympathise with him in his sudden downfall. Then the
    \r\n", + "affection he has for Annette is unbounded. No father could be more
    \r\n", + "dotingly fond of his legitimate child. But you know what our laws
    \r\n", + "are-what they force us to do against our better inclinations.
    \r\n", + "Annette's mother, poor wretch, has fled, and M'Carstrow charges me
    \r\n", + "with being accessory to her escape: I cannot, nor will I, deny it,
    \r\n", + "while my most ardent prayer invokes her future happiness. That she
    \r\n", + "has saved herself from a life of shame I cannot doubt; and if I have
    \r\n", + "failed to carry out a promise I made her before her departure-that
    \r\n", + "of rescuing her child-the satisfaction of knowing that she at least
    \r\n", + "is enjoying the reward of freedom partially repays my feelings. Let
    \r\n", + "me entreat you to repair to the city, and, at least, rescue Annette
    \r\n", + "from that life of shame and disgrace now pending over her-a shame
    \r\n", + "and disgrace no less black in the sight of heaven because society
    \r\n", + "tolerates it as among the common things of social life.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I am now almost heart-broken, and fear it will soon be my lot to be
    \r\n", + "driven from under the roof of Colonel M'Carstrow, which is no longer
    \r\n", + "a home, but a mere place of durance to me. It would be needless for
    \r\n", + "me here to recount his conduct. Were I differently constituted I
    \r\n", + "might tolerate his abuse, and accept a ruffian's recompense in
    \r\n", + "consideration of his wealth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Go, my dear friend, save that child,
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Is the prayer of your affectionate
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"FRANCONIA.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook reads and re-reads the letter; then heaves a sigh as
    \r\n", + "she lays it upon the table at her side. As if discussing the matter
    \r\n", + "in her mind, her face resumes a contemplative seriousness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And those children are to be sold in the market! Who won't they
    \r\n", + "sell, and sanctify the act? How can I relieve them? how can I be
    \r\n", + "their friend, for Franconia's sake? My husband is away on the
    \r\n", + "plantation, and I cannot brave the coarse slang of a slave mart; I
    \r\n", + "cannot mingle with those who there congregate.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And, too, there are so many such cases-bearing on their front the
    \r\n", + "fallacy of this our democracy-that however much one may have claims
    \r\n", + "over another, it were impossible to take one into consideration
    \r\n", + "without inciting a hundred to press their demands. In this sense,
    \r\n", + "then, the whole accursed system would have to be uprooted before the
    \r\n", + "remedy could be applied effectually. Notwithstanding, I will go; I
    \r\n", + "will go: I'll see what can be done in the city,\" says Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook, bristling with animation. \"Our ladies must have something
    \r\n", + "to arouse their energies; they all have a deep interest to serve,
    \r\n", + "and can do much:\" she will summon resolution and brave all. Rising
    \r\n", + "from her seat, she paces the room several times, and then orders a
    \r\n", + "servant to command Uncle Bradshaw to get the carriage ready, and be
    \r\n", + "prepared for a drive into the city.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Soon Bradshaw has got the carriage ready, and our good lady is on
    \r\n", + "the road, rolling away toward the city. As they approach a curvature
    \r\n", + "that winds round a wooded hill, Bradshaw intimates to \"missus\" that
    \r\n", + "he sees signs of a camp a short distance ahead. He sees smoke
    \r\n", + "curling upwards among the trees, and very soon the notes of a
    \r\n", + "long-metre tune fall softly on the ear, like the tinkling of distant
    \r\n", + "bells in the desert. Louder and louder, as they approach, the sounds
    \r\n", + "become more and more distinct. Then our good lady recognises the
    \r\n", + "familiar voice of Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy. This worthy
    \r\n", + "christian of the Southern Church is straining his musical organ to
    \r\n", + "its utmost capacity, in the hope there will be no doubt left on the
    \r\n", + "minds of those congregated around him as to his very sound piety.
    \r\n", + "The carriage rounds the curvature, and there, encamped in a grove of
    \r\n", + "pines by the road side, is our pious Elder, administering
    \r\n", + "consolation to his infirm property. Such people! they present one of
    \r\n", + "the most grotesque and indiscriminate spectacles ever eyes beheld.
    \r\n", + "The cholera has subsided; the Elder's greatest harvest time is gone;
    \r\n", + "few victims are to be found for the Elder's present purposes. Now he
    \r\n", + "is constrained to resort to the refuse of human property (those
    \r\n", + "afflicted with what are called ordinary diseases), to keep alive the
    \r\n", + "Christian motive of his unctuous business. To speak plainly, he must
    \r\n", + "content himself with the purchase of such infirmity as can be picked
    \r\n", + "up here and there about the country.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A fire of pine knots blazes in the centre of a mound, and over it
    \r\n", + "hangs an iron kettle, on a straddle, filled with corn-grits. Around
    \r\n", + "this, and anxiously watching its boiling, are the lean figures of
    \r\n", + "negroes, with haggard and sickly faces, telling but too forcibly the
    \r\n", + "tale of their troubles. They watch and watch, mutter in grumbling
    \r\n", + "accents, stir the homony, and sit down again. Two large mule carts
    \r\n", + "stand in the shade of a pine tree, a few yards from the fire. A few
    \r\n", + "paces further on are the mules tethered, quietly grazing; while,
    \r\n", + "seated on a whiskey-keg, is the Elder, book in hand, giving out the
    \r\n", + "hymn to some ten or a dozen infirm negroes seated round him on the
    \r\n", + "ground. They have enjoyed much consolation by listening with
    \r\n", + "wondrous astonishment to the Elder's exhortations, and are now ready
    \r\n", + "to join their musical jargon to the words of a Watts's hymn.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "On arriving opposite the spot, our good lady requests Bradshaw to
    \r\n", + "stop; which done, the Elder recognises her, and suddenly adjourning
    \r\n", + "his spiritual exercises, advances to meet her, his emotions
    \r\n", + "expanding with enthusiastic joy. In his eagerness, with outstretched
    \r\n", + "hand, he comes sailing along, trips his toe in a vine, and plunges
    \r\n", + "head foremost into a broad ditch that separates the road from the
    \r\n", + "rising ground.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The accident is very unfortunate at this moment; the Elder's
    \r\n", + "enthusiasm is somewhat cooled, nevertheless; but, as there is seldom
    \r\n", + "a large loss without a small gain, he finds himself strangely
    \r\n", + "bespattered from head to foot with the ingredients of a quagmire.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"U'h! u'h! u'h! my dear madam, pardon me, I pray;--strange moment to
    \r\n", + "meet with a misfortune of this kind. But I was so glad to see you!\"
    \r\n", + "he ejaculates, sensitively, making the best of his way out, brushing
    \r\n", + "his sleeves, and wiping his face with his never-failing India
    \r\n", + "handkerchief. He approaches the carriage, apologising for his
    \r\n", + "appearance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He hopes our lady will excuse him, having so far lost himself in his
    \r\n", + "enthusiasm, which, together with the fervency and devotion of the
    \r\n", + "spiritual exercises he was enjoying with his poor, helpless
    \r\n", + "property, made him quite careless of himself. Begging a thousand
    \r\n", + "pardons for presenting himself in such a predicament (his gallantry
    \r\n", + "is proverbially southern), he forgets that his hat and spectacles
    \r\n", + "have been dislodged by his precipitation into the ditch.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The good lady reaches out her hand, as a smile curls over her face;
    \r\n", + "but Bradshaw must grin; and grin he does, in right good earnest.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bless me, my dear Elder! what trade are you now engaged in?\" she
    \r\n", + "enquires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A little devotional exercises, my dear madam! We were enjoying them
    \r\n", + "with so much christian feeling that I was quite carried away, indeed
    \r\n", + "I was!\" He rubs his fingers through his bristly hair, and then
    \r\n", + "downwards to his nasal organ, feeling for his devoted glasses. He is
    \r\n", + "surprised at their absence-makes another apology. He affirms, adding
    \r\n", + "his sacred honour, as all real southerners do, that he had begun to
    \r\n", + "feel justified in the belief that there never was a religion like
    \r\n", + "that preached by the good apostles, when such rural spots as this
    \r\n", + "(he points to his encampment) were chosen for its administration.
    \r\n", + "Everything round him made him feel so good, so much like the purest
    \r\n", + "christian of the olden time. He tells her, with great seriousness,
    \r\n", + "that we must serve God, and not forget poor human nature, never! To
    \r\n", + "the world he would seem labouring under the influence of those inert
    \r\n", + "convictions by which we strive to conceal our natural inclinations,
    \r\n", + "while drawing the flimsy curtain of \"to do good\" over the real
    \r\n", + "object.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He winks and blinks, rubs his eyes, works his face into all the
    \r\n", + "angles and contortions it is capable of, and commences searching for
    \r\n", + "his hat and spectacles. Both are necessary adjuncts to his pious
    \r\n", + "appearance; without them there is that in the expression of his
    \r\n", + "countenance from which none can fail to draw an unfavourable opinion
    \r\n", + "of his real character. The haggard, care-worn face, browned to the
    \r\n", + "darkest tropical tints; the ceaseless leer of that small, piercing
    \r\n", + "eye, anxiety and agitation pervading the tout ensemble of the man,
    \r\n", + "will not be dissembled. Nay; those acute promontories of the face,
    \r\n", + "narrow and sharp, and that low, reclining forehead, and head covered
    \r\n", + "with bristly iron-grey hair, standing erect in rugged tufts, are too
    \r\n", + "strong an index of character for all the disguises Elder Pemberton
    \r\n", + "Praiseworthy can invent.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One minute, my dear madam,\" he exclaims, in his eagerness for the
    \r\n", + "lost ornaments of his face.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Never mind them, Elder; never mind them! In my eyes you are just as
    \r\n", + "well without them,\" she rejoins, an ironical smile invading her
    \r\n", + "countenance, and a curl of contempt on her lip. \"But,--tell me what
    \r\n", + "are you doing here?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Here! my dear madam? Doing good for mankind and the truth of
    \r\n", + "religion. I claim merit of the parish, for my pursuit is laudable,
    \r\n", + "and saves the parish much trouble,\" says the Elder, beginning to wax
    \r\n", + "warm in the goodness of his pursuit, before anyone has undertaken to
    \r\n", + "dispute him, or question the purity of his purpose.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Still speculating in infirmity; making a resurrection man of
    \r\n", + "yourself! You are death's strongest opponent; you fight the great
    \r\n", + "slayer for small dollars and cents.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, now,\" interrupts the Elder, with a serious smile, \"I'd rather
    \r\n", + "face a Mexican army than a woman's insinuating questions,--in matters
    \r\n", + "of this kind! But it's business, ye see! according to law; and ye
    \r\n", + "can't get over that. There's no getting over the law; and he that
    \r\n", + "serveth the Lord, no matter how, deserveth recompense; my recompense
    \r\n", + "is in the amount of life I saves for the nigger.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That is not what I asked; you evade my questions, Elder! better
    \r\n", + "acknowledge honestly, for the sake of the country, where did you
    \r\n", + "pick up these poor wretches?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I goes round the district, madam, and picks up a cripple here, and
    \r\n", + "a cancer case there, and a dropsy doubtful yonder; and then, some on
    \r\n", + "em's got diseases what don't get out until one comes to apply
    \r\n", + "medical skill. Shan't make much on these sort o' cases,--\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The lady interrupts him, by bidding him good morning, and advising
    \r\n", + "him, whenever he affects to serve the Lord, to serve him honestly,
    \r\n", + "without a selfish motive. She leaves the Elder to his own
    \r\n", + "reflections, to carry his victim property to his charnel-house,
    \r\n", + "where, if he save life for the enjoyment of liberty, he may serve
    \r\n", + "the Lord to a good purpose. She leaves him to the care of the
    \r\n", + "christian church of the South,--the church of christian slavery, the
    \r\n", + "rules of which he so strictly follows.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As our good lady moves quickly away toward the city, the Elder looks
    \r\n", + "up, imploringly, as if invoking the praise of heaven on his good
    \r\n", + "deeds. He is, indeed, astonished, that his dear friend, the lady,
    \r\n", + "should have made such a declaration so closely applied, so
    \r\n", + "insinuating. That such should have escaped her lips when she must
    \r\n", + "know that his very soul and intention are purity! \"I never felt like
    \r\n", + "making a wish before now; and now I wishes I was, or that my father
    \r\n", + "had made me, a lawyer. I would defend my position in a legal sense
    \r\n", + "then! I don't like lawyers generally, I confess; the profession's
    \r\n", + "not as honourable as ours, and its members are a set of sharpers,
    \r\n", + "who would upset gospel and everything else for a small fee, they
    \r\n", + "would!\" He concludes, as his eyes regrettingly wander after the
    \r\n", + "carriage. The words have moved him; there is something he wishes to
    \r\n", + "say, but can't just get the point he would arrive at. He turns away,
    \r\n", + "sad at heart, to his sadder scenes. \"I know that my Redeemer
    \r\n", + "liveth,\" he sings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In the city a different piece is in progress of performance. Papers,
    \r\n", + "and all necessary preparations for procuring the smooth transfer of
    \r\n", + "the youthful property, are completed; customers have begun to gather
    \r\n", + "round the mart. Some are searching among the negroes sent to the
    \r\n", + "warehouse; others are inquiring where this property, advertised in
    \r\n", + "the morning journals, and so strongly commented upon, may be found.
    \r\n", + "They have been incited to examine, in consequence of the many
    \r\n", + "attractions set forth in the conditions of sale.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There the two children sit, on a little seat near the vender's
    \r\n", + "tribune. Old Aunt Dina, at the prison, has dressed Annette so
    \r\n", + "neatly! Her white pinafore shines so brightly, is so neatly
    \r\n", + "arranged, and her silky auburn locks curl so prettily, in tiny
    \r\n", + "ringlets, over her shoulders; and then her round fair face looks so
    \r\n", + "sweetly, glows with such innocent curiosity, as her soft blue eyes,
    \r\n", + "deep with sparkling vivacity, wander over the strange scene. She
    \r\n", + "instinctively feels that she is the special object of some important
    \r\n", + "event. Laying her little hand gently upon the arm of an old slave
    \r\n", + "that sits by her side, she casts shy glances at those admirers who
    \r\n", + "stand round her and view her as a marketable article only.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Auntie, where are they going to take me?\" the child inquires, with
    \r\n", + "a solicitous look, as she straightens the folds of her dress with
    \r\n", + "her little hands.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gwine t' sell 'um,\" mumbles the old slave. \"Lor', child, a'h wishes
    \r\n", + "ye wa'h mine; reckon da'h wouldn't sell ye. T'ant much to sell
    \r\n", + "nigger like I, nohow; but e' hurt my feelins just so 'twarnt right
    \r\n", + "t' sell de likes o' ye.\" The old slave, in return, lays her hand
    \r\n", + "upon Annette's head, and smooths her hair, as if solicitous of her
    \r\n", + "fate. \"Sell ye, child-sell ye?\" she concludes, shaking her head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And what will they do with me and Nicholas when they get us sold?\"
    \r\n", + "continues the child, turning to Nicholas and taking him by the arm.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don' kno': perhaps save ye fo'h sinnin' agin de Lor',\" is the old
    \r\n", + "slave's quick reply. She shakes her head doubtingly, and bursts into
    \r\n", + "tears, as she takes Annette in her arms, presses her to her bosom,
    \r\n", + "kisses and kisses her pure cheek. How heavenly is the affection of
    \r\n", + "that old slave--how it rebukes our Christian mockery!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Will they sell us where we can't see mother, auntie? I do want to
    \r\n", + "see mother so,\" says the child, looking up in the old slave's face.
    \r\n", + "There seemed something too pure, too holy, in the child's
    \r\n", + "simplicity, as it prattled about its mother, for such purposes as it
    \r\n", + "is about to be consigned to. \"They do not sell white folks, auntie,
    \r\n", + "do they? My face is as white as anybody's; and Nicholas's aint
    \r\n", + "black. I do want to see mother so! when will she come back and take
    \r\n", + "care of me, auntie?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Lor', child,\" interrupts the old negro, suppressing her emotions,
    \r\n", + "\"no use to ax dem questions ven ye gwine t' market. Buckra right
    \r\n", + "smart at makin' nigger what bring cash.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The child expresses a wish that auntie would take her back to the
    \r\n", + "old plantation, where master, as mother used to call him, wouldn't
    \r\n", + "let them sell her away off. And she shakes her head with an air of
    \r\n", + "unconscious pertness; tells the old negro not to cry for her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The cryer's bell sounds forth its muddling peals to summon the
    \r\n", + "customers; a grotesque mixture of men close round the stand. The old
    \r\n", + "slave, as if from instinct, again takes Annette in her arms, presses
    \r\n", + "and presses her to her bosom, looks compassionately in her face, and
    \r\n", + "smiles while a tear glistens in her eyes. She is inspired by the
    \r\n", + "beauty of the child; her heart bounds with affection for her tender
    \r\n", + "years; she loves her because she is lovely; and she smiles upon her
    \r\n", + "as a beautiful image of God's creation. But the old slave grieves
    \r\n", + "over her fate; her grief flows from the purity of the heart; she
    \r\n", + "knows not the rules of the slave church.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Annette is born a child of sorrow in this our land of love and
    \r\n", + "liberty; she is a democrat's daughter, cursed by the inconsistencies
    \r\n", + "of that ever-praised democratic goodness. A child! nothing more than
    \r\n", + "an item of common trade. It is even so; but let not happy democracy
    \r\n", + "blush, for the child, being merchandise, has no claims to that law
    \r\n", + "of the soul which looks above the frigidity of slave statutes. What
    \r\n", + "generosity is there in this generous land? what impulses of nature
    \r\n", + "not quenched by force of public opinion, when the associations of a
    \r\n", + "child like this (we are picturing a true story), her birth and
    \r\n", + "blood, her clear complexion, the bright carnatic of her cheek, will
    \r\n", + "not save her from the mercenary grasp of dollars and cents? It was
    \r\n", + "the law; the law had made men demons, craving the bodies and souls
    \r\n", + "of their fellow men. It was the white man's charge to protect the
    \r\n", + "law and the constitution; and any manifestation of sympathy for this
    \r\n", + "child would be in violation of a system which cannot be ameliorated
    \r\n", + "without endangering the whole structure: hence the comments escaping
    \r\n", + "from purchasers are only such as might have been expressed by the
    \r\n", + "sporting man in his admiration of a finely proportioned animal.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What a sweet child!\" says one, as they close round.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Make a woman when she grows up!\" rejoins another, twirling his
    \r\n", + "cane, and giving his hat an extra set on the side of his head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Take too long to keep it afore its valuable is developed; but it's
    \r\n", + "a picture of beauty. Face would do to take drawings from, it's so
    \r\n", + "full of delicate outlines,\" interposes a third.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "An old gentleman, with something of the ministerial in his
    \r\n", + "countenance, and who has been very earnestly watching them for some
    \r\n", + "time, thinks a great deal about the subject of slavery, and the
    \r\n", + "strange laws by which it is governed just at this moment. He says,
    \r\n", + "\"One is inspired with a sort of admiration that unlocks the heart,
    \r\n", + "while gazing at such delicacy and child-like sweetness as is
    \r\n", + "expressed in the face of that child.\" He points his cane coldly at
    \r\n", + "Annette. \"It causes a sort of reaction in one's sense of right,
    \r\n", + "socially and politically, when we see it mixed up with niggers and
    \r\n", + "black ruffians to be sold.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Must abide the laws, though,\" says a gentleman in black, on his
    \r\n", + "left.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" returns our friend, quickly, \"if such property could be saved
    \r\n", + "the hands of speculators\"--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Speculators! speculators!\" rejoins the gentleman in black, knitting
    \r\n", + "his brows.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes; it's always the case in our society. The beauty of such
    \r\n", + "property makes it dangerous about a well-ordained man's house. Our
    \r\n", + "ladies, generally, have no sympathy with, and rather dislike its
    \r\n", + "ill-gotten tendencies. The piety of the south amounts to but little
    \r\n", + "in its influence on the slave population. The slave population
    \r\n", + "generates its own piety. There is black piety and white piety; but
    \r\n", + "the white piety effects little when it can dispose of poor black
    \r\n", + "piety just as it pleases; and there's no use in clipping the
    \r\n", + "branches off the tree while the root is diseased,\" concludes our
    \r\n", + "ministerial-looking gentleman, who might have been persuaded himself
    \r\n", + "to advance a bid, were he not so well versed in the tenour of
    \r\n", + "society that surrounded him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "During the above ad interim at the shambles, our good lady, Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook, is straining every nerve to induce a gentleman of her
    \r\n", + "acquaintance to repair to the mart, and purchase the children on her
    \r\n", + "account.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXVIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "NATURE SHAMES ITSELF.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "MRS. ROSEBROOK sits in Mrs. Pringle's parlour. Mrs. Pringle is
    \r\n", + "thought well of in the city of Charleston, where she resides, and
    \r\n", + "has done something towards establishing a church union for the
    \r\n", + "protection of orphan females. They must, however, be purely white,
    \r\n", + "and without slave or base blood in their veins, to entitle them to
    \r\n", + "admittance into its charitable precincts. This is upon the principle
    \r\n", + "that slave blood is not acceptable in the sight of Heaven; and that
    \r\n", + "allowing its admittance into this charitable earthly union would
    \r\n", + "only be a sad waste of time and Christian love. Mrs. Pringle,
    \r\n", + "however, feels a little softened to the good cause, and does hope
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook may succeed at least in rescuing the little girl. She
    \r\n", + "has counselled Mr. Seabrook, commonly called Colonel Seabrook, a
    \r\n", + "very distinguished gentleman, who has a very distinguished opinion
    \r\n", + "of himself, having studied law to distinguish himself, and now and
    \r\n", + "then merely practises it for his own amusement. Mr. Seabrook never
    \r\n", + "gives an opinion, nor acts for his friends, unless every thing he
    \r\n", + "does be considered distinguished, and gratuitously rendered.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What will you do with such property, madam?\" inquires the
    \r\n", + "gentleman, having listened profoundly to her request.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"To save them from being sold into the hands of such men as Graspum
    \r\n", + "and Romescos; it's the only motive I have\" she speaks, gently: \"I
    \r\n", + "love the child; and her mother still loves her: I am a mother.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Remember, my dear lady, they are adjudged property by law; and all
    \r\n", + "that you can do for them won't save them, nor change the odour of
    \r\n", + "negro with which it has stamped them.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Of that I am already too well aware, Mr. Seabrook; and I know, too,
    \r\n", + "when once enslaved, how hard it is to unslave. Public sentiment is
    \r\n", + "the worst slave we have; unslave that, and the righteousness of
    \r\n", + "heaven will give us hearts to save ourselves from the
    \r\n", + "unrighteousness of our laws.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Go, Mr. Seabrook, purchase the children for me, and you will soon
    \r\n", + "see what ornaments of society I will make them!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ornaments to our society!\" interrupts Mr. Seabrook, pausing for a
    \r\n", + "moment, as he places the fore-finger of his right hand upon his
    \r\n", + "upper lip. \"That would be a pretty consummation-at the south! Make
    \r\n", + "ornaments of our society!\" Mr. Seabrook turns the matter over and
    \r\n", + "over and over in his mind. \"Of such things as have been pronounced
    \r\n", + "property by law! A pretty fix it would get our society into!\" he
    \r\n", + "rejoins, with emphasis. Mr. Seabrook shakes his head doubtingly, and
    \r\n", + "then, taking three or four strides across the room, his hands well
    \r\n", + "down in his nether pockets, relieves himself of his positive
    \r\n", + "opinion. \"Ah! ah! hem! my dear madam,\" he says, \"if you undertake
    \r\n", + "the purchase of all that delicate kind of property-I mean the amount
    \r\n", + "total, as it is mixed up-your head'll grow grey afore you get all
    \r\n", + "the bills of sale paid up,--my word for it! That's my undisguised
    \r\n", + "opinion, backed up by all the pale-faced property about the city.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We will omit the opinion, Mr. Seabrook; such have kept our society
    \r\n", + "where it now is. I am resolved to have those children. If you
    \r\n", + "hesitate to act for me, I'll brave-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't say that, my dear lady. Let me remind you that it ill becomes
    \r\n", + "a lady of the south to be seen at a slave-mart; more especially when
    \r\n", + "such delicate property is for sale. Persons might be present who did
    \r\n", + "not understand your motive, and would not only make rude advances,
    \r\n", + "but question the propriety of your proceedings. You would lose
    \r\n", + "caste, most surely.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook cares little for Mr. Seabrook's very learned opinion,
    \r\n", + "knowing that learned opinions are not always the most sensible ones,
    \r\n", + "and is seen arranging her bonnet hastily in a manner betokening her
    \r\n", + "intention to make a bold front of it at the slave-mart. This is
    \r\n", + "rather too much for Mr. Seabrook, who sets great value on his
    \r\n", + "chivalrous virtues, and fearing they may suffer in the esteem of the
    \r\n", + "softer sex, suddenly proffers his kind interposition, becomes
    \r\n", + "extremely courteous, begs she will remain quiet, assuring her that
    \r\n", + "no stone that can further her wishes shall be left unturned. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Seabrook (frequently called the gallant colonel) makes one of his
    \r\n", + "very best bows, adjusts his hat with exquisite grace, and leaves to
    \r\n", + "exercise the wisest judgment and strictest faith at the man-market.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Such matters are exceedingly annoying to gentlemen of my standing,\"
    \r\n", + "says Mr. Seabrook, as deliberately he proceeds to the fulfilment of
    \r\n", + "his promise. He is a methodical gentleman, and having weighed the
    \r\n", + "matter well over in his legal mind, is deeply indebted to it for the
    \r\n", + "conclusion that Mrs. Rosebrook has got a very unsystematised
    \r\n", + "crotchet into her brain. \"The exhibition of sympathy for
    \r\n", + "'niggers'-they're nothing else\" says Mr. Seabrook-\"much adds to that
    \r\n", + "popular prejudice which is already placing her in an extremely
    \r\n", + "delicate position.\" He will call to his aid some very nice legal
    \r\n", + "tact, and by that never-failing unction satisfy the good lady.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "When Mr. Seabrook enters the mart (our readers will remember that we
    \r\n", + "have already described it) he finds the children undergoing a very
    \r\n", + "minute examination at the hands of several slave-dealers. As Mr.
    \r\n", + "Forshou, the very polite man-seller, is despatching the rougher
    \r\n", + "quality of human merchandise, our hero advances to the children,
    \r\n", + "about whose father he asks them unanswerable questions. How
    \r\n", + "interesting the children look!-how like a picture of beauty
    \r\n", + "Annette's cherub face glows forth! Being seriously concerned about
    \r\n", + "the child, his countenance wears an air of deep thought. \"Colonel,
    \r\n", + "what's your legal opinion of such pretty property?\" enquires
    \r\n", + "Romescos, who advances to Mr. Seabrook, and, after a minute's
    \r\n", + "hesitation, takes the little girl in his arms, rudely kissing her as
    \r\n", + "she presses his face from her with her left hand, and poutingly
    \r\n", + "wipes her mouth with her right.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Pretty as a picture\"-Romescos has set the child down-\"but I
    \r\n", + "wouldn't give seven coppers for both; for, by my faith, such
    \r\n", + "property never does well.\" The gentleman shakes his head in return.
    \r\n", + "\"It's a pity they're made it out nigger, though,--it's so handsome.
    \r\n", + "Sweet little creature, that child, I declare: her beauty would be
    \r\n", + "worth a fortune on the stage, when she grows up.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos touches Mr. Seabrook on the arm; remarks that such things
    \r\n", + "are only good for certain purposes; although one can make them pay
    \r\n", + "if they know how to trade in them. But it wants a man with a capable
    \r\n", + "conscience to do the business up profitably. \"No chance o' your
    \r\n", + "biddin' on 'um, is there, colonel?\" he enquires, with a significant
    \r\n", + "leer, folding his arms with the indifference of a field-marshal.
    \r\n", + "After a few minutes' pause, during which Mr. Seabrook seems
    \r\n", + "manufacturing an answer, he shrugs his shoulders, and takes a few
    \r\n", + "pleasing steps, as if moved to a waltzing humour. \"Don't scare up
    \r\n", + "the like o' that gal-nigger every day,\" he adds. Again, as if moved
    \r\n", + "by some sudden idea, he approaches Annette, and placing his hand on
    \r\n", + "her head, continues: \"If this ain't tumbling down a man's affairs by
    \r\n", + "the run! Why, colonel, 'taint more nor three years since old Hugh
    \r\n", + "Marston war looked on as the tallest planter on the Ashley; and he
    \r\n", + "thought just as much o' these young 'uns as if their mother had
    \r\n", + "belonged to one of the first families. Now-I pity the poor
    \r\n", + "fellow!-because he tried to save 'em from being sold as slaves,
    \r\n", + "they-his creditors-think he has got more property stowed away
    \r\n", + "somewhere. They're going to cell him, just to try his talent at
    \r\n", + "putting away things.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The \"prime fellows\" and wenches of the darker and coarser quality
    \r\n", + "have all been disposed of; and the vender (the same gentlemanly man
    \r\n", + "we have described selling Marston's undisputed property) now orders
    \r\n", + "the children to be brought forward. Romescos, eagerly seizing them
    \r\n", + "by the arms, brings them forward through the crowd, places them upon
    \r\n", + "the stand, before the eager gaze of those assembled. Strangely
    \r\n", + "placed upon the strange block, the spectators close in again,
    \r\n", + "anxious to gain the best position for inspection: but little
    \r\n", + "children cannot stand the gaze of such an assemblage: no; Annette
    \r\n", + "turns toward Nicholas, and with a childish embrace throws her tiny
    \r\n", + "arms about his neck, buries her face on his bosom. The child of
    \r\n", + "misfortune seeks shelter from that shame of her condition, the
    \r\n", + "evidence of which is strengthened by the eager glances of those who
    \r\n", + "stand round the shambles, ready to purchase her fate. Even the
    \r\n", + "vender,--distinguished gentleman that he is, and very respectably
    \r\n", + "allied by marriage to one of the \"first families,\"-is moved with a
    \r\n", + "strange sense of wrong at finding himself in a position somewhat
    \r\n", + "repugnant to his feelings. He cannot suppress a blush that indicates
    \r\n", + "an innate sense of shame.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Here they are, gentlemen! let no man say I have not done my duty.
    \r\n", + "You have, surely, all seen the pedigree of these children set forth
    \r\n", + "in the morning papers; and, now that you have them before you, the
    \r\n", + "living specimen of their beauty will fully authenticate anything
    \r\n", + "therein set forth,\" the vender exclaims, affecting an appearance in
    \r\n", + "keeping with his trade. Notwithstanding this, there is a faltering
    \r\n", + "nervousness in his manner, betraying all his efforts at
    \r\n", + "dissimulation. He reads the invoice of human property to the
    \r\n", + "listening crowd, dilates on its specific qualities with powers of
    \r\n", + "elucidation that would do credit to any member of the learned
    \r\n", + "profession. This opinion is confirmed by Romescos, the associations
    \r\n", + "of whose trade have gained for him a very intimate acquaintance with
    \r\n", + "numerous gentlemen of that very honourable profession.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, gentlemen,\" continues the vender, \"the honourable high sheriff
    \r\n", + "is anxious, and so am I-and it's no more than a feelin' of deserving
    \r\n", + "humanity, which every southern gentleman is proud to exercise-that
    \r\n", + "these children be sold to good, kind, and respectable owners; and
    \r\n", + "that they do not fall into the hands, as is generally the case, of
    \r\n", + "men who raise them up for infamous purposes. Gentlemen, I am
    \r\n", + "decidedly opposed to making licentiousness a means of profit.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That neither means you nor me,\" mutters Romescos, touching Mr.
    \r\n", + "Seabrook on the arm, shaking his head knowingly, and stepping aside
    \r\n", + "to Graspum, in whose ear he whispers a word. The very distinguished
    \r\n", + "Mr. Graspum has been intently listening to the outpouring of the
    \r\n", + "vender's simplicity. What sublime nonsense it seems to him! He
    \r\n", + "suggests that it would be much more effectual if it came from the
    \r\n", + "pulpit,--the southern pulpit!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Better sell 'um to some deacon's family,\" mutters a voice in the
    \r\n", + "crowd.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's precisely what we should like, gentlemen; any bidder of that
    \r\n", + "description would get them on more favourable terms than a trader,
    \r\n", + "he would,\" he returns, quickly. The man of feeling, now wealthy from
    \r\n", + "the sale of human beings, hopes gentlemen will pardon his
    \r\n", + "nervousness on this occasion. He never felt the delicacy of his
    \r\n", + "profession so forcibly-never, until now! His countenance changes
    \r\n", + "with the emotions of his heart; he blushes as he looks upon the
    \r\n", + "human invoice, glances slily over the corner at the children, and
    \r\n", + "again at his customers. The culminating point of his profession has
    \r\n", + "arrived; its unholy character is making war upon his better
    \r\n", + "feelings. \"I am not speaking ironically, gentlemen: any bidder of
    \r\n", + "the description I have named will get these children at a
    \r\n", + "satisfactory figure. Remember that, and that I am only acting in my
    \r\n", + "office for the honourable sheriff and the creditors,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If that be the case,\" Mr. Seabrook thinks to himself, \"it's quite
    \r\n", + "as well. Our good lady friend will be fully satisfied. She only
    \r\n", + "wants to see them in good hands: deacons are just the fellows.\" He
    \r\n", + "very politely steps aside, lights his choice habanero, and sends
    \r\n", + "forth its curling fumes as the bidding goes on.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A person having the appearance of a country gentleman, who has been
    \r\n", + "some time watching the proceedings, is seen to approach Graspum:
    \r\n", + "this dignitary whispers something in his ear, and he leaves the
    \r\n", + "mart.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I say, squire!\" exclaims Romescos, addressing himself to the
    \r\n", + "auctioneer, \"do you assume the responsibility of making special
    \r\n", + "purchasers? perhaps you had better keep an eye to the law and the
    \r\n", + "creditors, you had!\" (Romescos's little red face fires with
    \r\n", + "excitement.) \"No objection t' yer sellin' the gal to deacons and
    \r\n", + "elders,--even to old Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy, who's always
    \r\n", + "singing, 'I know that my Redeemer cometh!' But the statutes give me
    \r\n", + "just as good a right to buy her, as any first-class deacon. I knows
    \r\n", + "law, and got lots o' lawyer friends.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The issue is painful enough, without any interposition from you, my
    \r\n", + "friend,\" rejoins the vender, interrupting Romescos in his
    \r\n", + "conversation. After a few minutes pause, during which time he has
    \r\n", + "been watching the faces of his customers, he adds: \"Perhaps, seeing
    \r\n", + "how well mated they are, gentlemen will not let them be separated.
    \r\n", + "They have been raised together.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Certainly!\" again interrupts Romescos, \"it would be a pity to
    \r\n", + "separate them, 'cos it might touch somebody's heart.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, that comes from Romescos; we may judge of its motive as we
    \r\n", + "please,\" rejoins the man of feeling, taking Annette by the arm and
    \r\n", + "leading her to the extreme edge of the stand. \"Make us a bid,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, for the pair. I can see in the looks of my customers that
    \r\n", + "nobody will be so hard-hearted as to separate them. What do you
    \r\n", + "offer? say it! Start them; don't be bashful, gentlemen!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Rather cool for a hard-faced nigger-seller! Well, squire, say four
    \r\n", + "hundred dollars and the treats,--that is, sposin' ye don't double my
    \r\n", + "bid cos I isn't a deacon. Wants the boy t' make a general on when he
    \r\n", + "grows up; don't want the gal at all. Let the deacon here (he points
    \r\n", + "to the man who was seen whispering to Graspum) have her, if he
    \r\n", + "wants.\" The deacon, as Romescos calls him, edges his way through the
    \r\n", + "crowd up to the stand, and looks first at the vender and then at the
    \r\n", + "children. Turning his head aside, as if it may catch the ears of
    \r\n", + "several bystanders, Romescos whispers, \"That's deacon Staggers, from
    \r\n", + "Pineville.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Like your bid; but I'm frank enough to say I don't want you to have
    \r\n", + "them, Romescos,\" interposes the auctioneer, with a smile.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Four hundred and fifty dollars!\" is sounded by a second bidder. The
    \r\n", + "vender enquires, \"For the two?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes! the pair on 'em,\" is the quick reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Four hundred and fifty dollars!\" re-echoes the man of feeling.
    \r\n", + "\"What good democrats you are! Why, gentlemen, it's not half the
    \r\n", + "value of them. You must look upon this property in a social light;
    \r\n", + "then you will see its immense value. It's intelligent, civil, and
    \r\n", + "promisingly handsome; sold for no fault, and here you are hesitating
    \r\n", + "on a small bid.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Only four hundred and fifty dollars for such property, in this
    \r\n", + "enlightened nineteenth century!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Trade will out, like murder. Squire wouldn't sell 'em to nobody but
    \r\n", + "a deacon a few minutes ago!\" is heard coming from a voice in the
    \r\n", + "crowd. The vender again pauses, blushes, and contorts his face: he
    \r\n", + "cannot suppress the zest of his profession; it is uppermost in his
    \r\n", + "feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos says it is one of the squire's unconscious mistakes. There
    \r\n", + "is no use of humbugging; why not let them run off to the highest
    \r\n", + "bidder?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The deacon has bid upon them; why not continue his advance?\" says
    \r\n", + "Mr. Seabrook, who has been smoking his cigar the while.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh, well! seein' how it's the deacon, I won't stand agin his bid.
    \r\n", + "It's Deacon Staggers of Pineville; nobody doubts his generosity,\"
    \r\n", + "ejaculates Romescos, in a growling tone. The bids quicken,--soon
    \r\n", + "reach six hundred dollars.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Getting up pretty well, gentlemen! You must not estimate this
    \r\n", + "property upon their age: it's the likeliness and the promise.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Six hundred and twenty-five!\" mutters the strange gentleman they
    \r\n", + "call Deacon Staggers from Pineville.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All right,\" rejoins Romescos; \"just the man what ought to have 'em.
    \r\n", + "I motion every other bidder withdraw in deference to the deacon's
    \r\n", + "claim,\" rejoins Romescos, laughing.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The clever vender gets down from the stand, views the young property
    \r\n", + "from every advantageous angle, dwells upon the bid, makes further
    \r\n", + "comments on its choiceness, and after considerable bantering, knocks
    \r\n", + "them down to-\"What name, sir?\" he enquires, staring at the stranger
    \r\n", + "vacantly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Deacon Staggers,\" replies the man, with a broad grin. Romescos
    \r\n", + "motions him aside,--slips a piece of gold into his hand; it is the
    \r\n", + "price of his pretensions.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The clerk enters his name in the sales book: \"Deacon Staggers, of
    \r\n", + "Pineville, bought May 18th, 18-.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Two children, very likely: boy, prime child, darkish hair, round
    \r\n", + "figure, intelligent face, not downcast, and well outlined in limb.
    \r\n", + "Girl, very pretty, bluish eyes, flaxen hair, very fair and very
    \r\n", + "delicate. Price 625 dollars. Property of Hugh Marston, and sold per
    \r\n", + "order of the sheriff of the county, to satisfy two fi fas issued
    \r\n", + "from the Court of Common Pleas, &c. &c. &c.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "An attendant now steps forward, takes the children into his charge,
    \r\n", + "and leads them away. To where? The reader may surmise to the gaol.
    \r\n", + "No, reader, not to the gaol; to Marco Graspum's slave-pen,--to that
    \r\n", + "pent-up hell where the living are tortured unto death, and where
    \r\n", + "yearning souls are sold to sink!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Thus are the beauties of this our democratic system illustrated in
    \r\n", + "two innocent children being consigned to the miseries of slave life
    \r\n", + "because a mother is supposed a slave: a father has acknowledged
    \r\n", + "them, and yet they are sold before his eyes. It is the majesty of
    \r\n", + "slave law, before which good men prostrate their love of
    \r\n", + "independence. Democracy says the majesty of that law must be carried
    \r\n", + "out; creditors must be satisfied, even though all that is generous
    \r\n", + "and noble in man should be crushed out, and the rights of free men
    \r\n", + "consigned to oblivion. A stout arm may yet rise up in a good cause;
    \r\n", + "democrats may stand ashamed of the inhuman traffic, and seek to
    \r\n", + "cover its poisoning head with artifices and pretences; but they
    \r\n", + "write only an obituary for the curse.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A quaint-faced, good-looking country deacon has bought them. Very
    \r\n", + "good; I can now go home, and relieve Mrs. Rosebrook's very generous
    \r\n", + "feelings,\" says the very distinguished Mr. Seabrook, shrugging his
    \r\n", + "shoulders, lighting a fresh cigar, and turning toward home with a
    \r\n", + "deliberate step, full of good tidings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXX.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE VISION OF DEATH HAS PAST.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "MR. SEABROOK returns to the mansion, and consoles the anxious lady
    \r\n", + "by assuring her the children have been saved from the hands of
    \r\n", + "obnoxious traders-sold to a good, country deacon. He was so
    \r\n", + "delighted with their appearance that he could not keep from admiring
    \r\n", + "them, and does not wonder the good lady took so great an interest in
    \r\n", + "their welfare. He knows the ministerial-looking gentleman who bought
    \r\n", + "them is a kind master; he has an acute knowledge of human nature,
    \r\n", + "and judges from his looks. And he will further assure the good lady
    \r\n", + "that the auctioneer proved himself a gentleman-every inch of him! He
    \r\n", + "wouldn't take a single bid from a trader, not even from old Graspum
    \r\n", + "(he dreads to come in contact with such a brute as he is, when he
    \r\n", + "gets his eye on a good piece o' nigger property), with all his
    \r\n", + "money. As soon as he heard the name of a deacon among the bidders,
    \r\n", + "something in his heart forbade his bidding against him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You were not as good as your word, Mr. Seabrook,\" says the good
    \r\n", + "lady, still holding Mr. Seabrook by the hand. \"But, are you sure
    \r\n", + "there was no disguise about the sale?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not the least, madam!\" interrupts Mr. Seabrook, emphatically.
    \r\n", + "\"Bless me, madam, our people are too sensitive not to detect
    \r\n", + "anything of that kind; and too generous to allow it if they did
    \r\n", + "discover it. The children-my heart feels for them-are in the very
    \r\n", + "best hands; will be brought up just as pious and morally. Can't go
    \r\n", + "astray in the hands of a deacon-that's certain!\" Mr. Seabrook rubs
    \r\n", + "his hands, twists his fingers in various ways, and gives utterance
    \r\n", + "to words of consolation, most blandly. The anxious lady seems
    \r\n", + "disappointed, but is forced to accept the assurance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We need scarcely tell the reader how intentionally Mr. Seabrook
    \r\n", + "contented himself with the deception practised at the mart, nor with
    \r\n", + "what freedom he made use of that blandest essence of southern
    \r\n", + "assurance,--extreme politeness, to deceive the lady. She, however,
    \r\n", + "had long been laudably engaged in behalf of a down-trodden race; and
    \r\n", + "her knowledge of the secret workings of an institution which could
    \r\n", + "only cover its monstrosity with sophistry and fraud impressed her
    \r\n", + "with the idea of some deception having been practised. She well knew
    \r\n", + "that Mr. Seabrook was one of those very contented gentlemen who have
    \r\n", + "strong faith in the present, and are willing to sacrifice the
    \r\n", + "future, if peace and plenty be secured to their hands. He had many
    \r\n", + "times been known to listen to the advice of his confidential slaves,
    \r\n", + "and even to yield to their caprices. And, too, he had been known to
    \r\n", + "decry the ill-treatment of slaves by brutal and inconsiderate
    \r\n", + "masters; but he never thinks it worth while to go beyond expressing
    \r\n", + "a sort of rain-water sympathy for the maltreated. With those traits
    \r\n", + "most prominent in his character, Annette and Nicholas were to him
    \r\n", + "mere merchandise; and whatever claims to freedom they might have,
    \r\n", + "through the acknowledgments of a father, he could give them no
    \r\n", + "consideration, inasmuch as the law was paramount, and the great
    \r\n", + "conservator of the south.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our worthy benefactress felt the force of the above, in his
    \r\n", + "reluctance to execute her commands, and the manner in which he
    \r\n", + "faltered when questioned about the purchase. Returning to her home,
    \r\n", + "weighing the circumstances, she resolves to devise some method of
    \r\n", + "ascertaining the true position of the children. \"Women are not to be
    \r\n", + "outdone,\" she says to herself.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We must again beg the reader's indulgence while accompanying us in a
    \r\n", + "retrograde necessary to the connection of our narrative. When we
    \r\n", + "left Mr. M'Fadden at the crossing, more than two years ago, he was
    \r\n", + "labouring under the excitement of a wound he greatly feared would
    \r\n", + "close the account of his mortal speculations.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "On the morning following that great political gathering, and during
    \r\n", + "the night Harry had so singularly disappeared, the tavern was rife
    \r\n", + "with conjectures. On the piazza and about the \"bar-room\" were a few
    \r\n", + "stupefied and half-insensible figures stretched upon benches, or
    \r\n", + "reclining in chairs, their coarse garments rent into tatters, and
    \r\n", + "their besotted faces resembling as many florid masks grouped
    \r\n", + "together to represent some demoniacal scene among the infernals;
    \r\n", + "others were sleeping soundly beside the tables, or on the lawn. With
    \r\n", + "filthy limbs bared, they snored with painful discord, in superlative
    \r\n", + "contempt of everything around. Another party, reeking with the fumes
    \r\n", + "of that poisonous drug upon which candidates for a people's favours
    \r\n", + "had built their high expectations, were leaning carelessly against
    \r\n", + "the rude counter of the \"bar-room,\" casting wistful glances at the
    \r\n", + "fascinating bottles so securely locked within the lattice-work in
    \r\n", + "the corner. Oaths of touching horror are mingling with loud calls
    \r\n", + "for slave attendants, whose presence they wait to quench their
    \r\n", + "burning thirst. Reader! digest the moral. In this human menagerie-in
    \r\n", + "this sink of besotted degradation-lay the nucleus of a power by
    \r\n", + "which the greatest interests of state are controlled.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A bedusted party of mounted men have returned from a second
    \r\n", + "ineffectual attempt to recover the lost preacher: the appearance of
    \r\n", + "responsibility haunts mine host. He assured Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "that his property would be perfectly secure under the lock of the
    \r\n", + "corn-shed. And now his anxiety exhibits itself in the readiness
    \r\n", + "with which he supplies dogs, horses, guns, and such implements as
    \r\n", + "are necessary to hunt down an unfortunate minister of the gospel.
    \r\n", + "What makes the whole thing worse, was the report of M'Fadden having
    \r\n", + "had a good sleep and awaking much more comfortable; that there was
    \r\n", + "little chance of the fortunate issue of his death. In this, mine
    \r\n", + "host saw the liability increasing two-fold.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He stands his important person, (hat off, face red with expectancy,
    \r\n", + "and hands thrust well down into his breeches pocket), on the top
    \r\n", + "step of the stairs leading to the veranda, and hears the
    \r\n", + "unfavourable report with sad discomfiture. \"That's what comes of
    \r\n", + "making a preacher of a slave! Well! I've done all I can. It puts all
    \r\n", + "kinds of deviltry about runnin' away into their heads,\" he ventures
    \r\n", + "to assert, as he turns away, re-enters the \"bar-room,\" and invites
    \r\n", + "all his friends to drink at his expense.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mark what I say, now, Squire Jones. The quickest way to catch that
    \r\n", + "ar' nigger 's just to lay low and keep whist. He's a pious nigger;
    \r\n", + "and a nigger can't keep his pious a'tween his teeth, no more nor a
    \r\n", + "blackbird can his chattering. The feller 'll feel as if he wants to
    \r\n", + "redeem somebody; and seeing how 'tis so, if ye just watch close some
    \r\n", + "Sunday ye'll nab the fellow with his own pious bait. Can catch a
    \r\n", + "pious runaway nigger 'most any time; the brute never knows enough to
    \r\n", + "keep it to himself,\" says a flashily dressed gentleman, as he leaned
    \r\n", + "against the counter, squinted his eye with an air of ponderous
    \r\n", + "satisfaction, and twirled his tumbler round and round on the
    \r\n", + "counter. \"'Pears to me,\" he continues, quizzically, \"Squire, you've
    \r\n", + "got a lot o' mixed cracker material here, what it'll be hard to
    \r\n", + "manufactor to make dependable voters on, 'lection day:\" he casts a
    \r\n", + "look at the medley of sleepers.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I wish the whole pack on 'em was sold into slavery, I do! They form
    \r\n", + "six-tenths of the voters in our state, and are more ignorant, and a
    \r\n", + "great deal worse citizens, than our slaves. Bl-'em, there is'nt one
    \r\n", + "in fifty can read or write, and they're impudenter than the
    \r\n", + "Governor.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hush! hush! squire. 'Twon't do to talk so. There ain't men nowhere
    \r\n", + "stand on dignity like them fellers; they are the very
    \r\n", + "bone-and-siners of the unwashed, hard-fisted democracy. The way
    \r\n", + "they'd pull this old tavern down, if they heard reflections on their
    \r\n", + "honour, would be a caution to storms. But how's old iron-sided
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden this morning? Begins to think of his niggers, I reckon,\"
    \r\n", + "interrupts the gentleman; to which mine host shakes his head,
    \r\n", + "despondingly. Mine host wishes M'Fadden, nigger, candidates and all,
    \r\n", + "a very long distance from his place.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I s'pose he thinks old Death, with his grim visage, ain't going to
    \r\n", + "call for him just now. That's ollers the way with northerners, who
    \r\n", + "lives atween the hope of something above, and the love of makin'
    \r\n", + "money below: they never feel bad about the conscience, until old
    \r\n", + "Davy Jones, Esq., the gentleman with the horns and tail, takes them
    \r\n", + "by the nose, and says-'come!'\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I have struck an idea,\" says our worthy host, suddenly striking his
    \r\n", + "hand on the counter. \"I will put up a poster. I will offer a big
    \r\n", + "reward. T'other property's all safe; there's only the preacher
    \r\n", + "missing.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Just the strike! Give us yer hand, squire!\" The gentleman reaches
    \r\n", + "his hand across the counter, and smiles, while cordially embracing
    \r\n", + "mine host. \"Make the reward about two hundred, so I can make a good
    \r\n", + "week's work for the dogs and me. Got the best pack in the parish;
    \r\n", + "one on 'em knows as much as most clergymen, he does!\" he very
    \r\n", + "deliberately concludes, displaying a wonderful opinion of his own
    \r\n", + "nigger-catching philosophy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And Mr. Jones, such is mine host's name, immediately commenced
    \r\n", + "exercising his skill in composition on a large, poster, which with a
    \r\n", + "good hour's labour he completes, and posts upon the ceiling of the
    \r\n", + "\"bar-room,\" just below an enormously illustrated Circus bill.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There! now's a chance of some enterprise and some sense. There's a
    \r\n", + "deuced nice sum to be made at that!\" says Mr. Jones, emphatically,
    \r\n", + "as he stands a few steps back, and reads aloud the following sublime
    \r\n", + "outline of his genius:--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"GREAT INDUCEMENT FOR SPORTSMEN. Two Hundred Dollars Reward.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The above reward will be given anybody for the apprehension of the
    \r\n", + "nigger-boy, Harry, the property of Mr. M'Fadden. Said Harry
    \r\n", + "suddenly disappeared from these premises last night, while his
    \r\n", + "master was supposed to be dying. The boy's a well-developed nigger,
    \r\n", + "'ant sassy, got fine bold head and round face, and intelligent eye,
    \r\n", + "and 's about five feet eleven inches high, and equally proportionate
    \r\n", + "elsewhere. He's much giv'n to preachin', and most likely is secreted
    \r\n", + "in some of the surrounding swamps, where he will remain until
    \r\n", + "tempted to make his appearance on some plantation for the purpose of
    \r\n", + "exortin his feller niggers. He is well disposed, and is said to have
    \r\n", + "a good disposition, so that no person need fear to approach him for
    \r\n", + "capture. The above reward will be paid upon his delivery at any gaol
    \r\n", + "in the State, and a hundred and fifty dollars if delivered at any
    \r\n", + "gaol out of the State.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"JETHRO JONES.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Just the instrument to bring him, Jethro!\" intimates our
    \r\n", + "fashionable gent, quizzically, as he stands a few feet behind Mr.
    \r\n", + "Jones, making grimaces. Then, gazing intently at the bill for some
    \r\n", + "minutes, he runs his hands deep into his pockets, affects an air of
    \r\n", + "greatest satisfaction, and commences whistling a tune to aid in
    \r\n", + "suppressing a smile that is invading his countenance. \"Wouldn't be
    \r\n", + "in that nigger's skin for a thousand or more dollars, I wouldn't!\"
    \r\n", + "he continues, screeching in the loudest manner, and then shaking,
    \r\n", + "kicking, and rousing the half-animate occupants of the floor and
    \r\n", + "benches. \"Come! get up here! Prize money ahead! Fine fun for a week.
    \r\n", + "Prize money ahead! wake up, ye jolly sleepers, loyal citizens,
    \r\n", + "independent voters-wake up, I say. Here's fun and frolic, plenty of
    \r\n", + "whiskey, and two hundred dollars reward for every mother's son of ye
    \r\n", + "what wants to hunt a nigger; and he's a preachin nigger at that!
    \r\n", + "Come; whose in for the frolic, ye hard-faced democracy that love to
    \r\n", + "vote for your country's good and a good cause?\" After exerting
    \r\n", + "himself for some time, they begin to scramble up like so many
    \r\n", + "bewildered spectres of blackness, troubled to get light through the
    \r\n", + "means of their blurred faculties.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Who's dragging the life out o' me?\" exclaims one, straining his
    \r\n", + "mottled eyes, extending his wearied limbs, gasping as if for breath;
    \r\n", + "then staggering to the counter. Finally, after much struggling,
    \r\n", + "staggering, expressing consternation, obscene jeering, blasphemous
    \r\n", + "oaths and filthy slang, they stand upright, and huddle around the
    \r\n", + "notice. The picture presented by their ragged garments, their
    \r\n", + "woebegone faces, and their drenched faculties, would, indeed, be
    \r\n", + "difficult to transfer to canvas.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, stare! stare! with all yer fire-stained eyes, ye clan of
    \r\n", + "motley vagrants-ye sovereign citizens of a sovereign state. Two
    \r\n", + "hundred dollars! aye, two hundred dollars for ye. Make plenty o'
    \r\n", + "work for yer dogs; knowin brutes they are. And ye'll get whiskey
    \r\n", + "enough to last the whole district more nor a year,\" says our worthy
    \r\n", + "Jones, standing before them, and pointing his finger at the notice.
    \r\n", + "They, as if doubting their own perceptibilities, draw nearer and
    \r\n", + "nearer, straining their eyes, while their bodies oscillate against
    \r\n", + "each other.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mine host tells them to consider the matter, and be prepared for
    \r\n", + "action, while he will proceed to M'Fadden's chamber and learn the
    \r\n", + "state of his health.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He opens the sick man's chamber, and there, to his surprise, is the
    \r\n", + "invalid gentleman, deliberately taking his tea and toast. Mine host
    \r\n", + "congratulates him upon his appearance, extends his hand, takes a
    \r\n", + "seat by his bed-side. \"I had fearful apprehensions about you, my
    \r\n", + "friend,\" he says.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"So had I about myself. I thought I was going to slip it in right
    \r\n", + "earnest. My thoughts and feelins-how they wandered!\" M'Fadden raises
    \r\n", + "his hand to his forehead, and slowly shakes his head. \"I would'nt a'
    \r\n", + "given much for the chances, at one time; but the wound isn't so bad,
    \r\n", + "after all. My nigger property gets along all straight, I suppose?\"
    \r\n", + "he enquires, coolly, rolling his eyes upwards with a look of serious
    \r\n", + "reflection. \"Boy preacher never returned last night. It's all right,
    \r\n", + "though, I suppose?\" again he enquired, looking mine host right in
    \r\n", + "the eye, as if he discovered some misgiving. His seriousness soon
    \r\n", + "begins to give place to anxiety.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That boy was a bad nigger,\" says mine host, in a half-whisper; \"but
    \r\n", + "you must not let your property worry you, my friend.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bad nigger!\" interrupts the invalid. Mine host pauses for a moment,
    \r\n", + "while M'Fadden sets his eyes upon him with a piercing stare.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not been cutting up nigger tricks?\" he ejaculates, enquiringly,
    \r\n", + "about to spring from his couch with his usual nimbleness. Mine host
    \r\n", + "places his left hand upon his shoulder, and assures him there is no
    \r\n", + "cause of alarm.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Tell me if any thing's wrong about my property. Now do,--be candid:\"
    \r\n", + "his eyes roll, anxiously.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"All right-except the preacher; he's run away,\" mine host answers,
    \r\n", + "suggesting how much better it will be to take the matter cool, as he
    \r\n", + "is sure to be captured.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What! who-how? you don't say! My very choicest piece of property.
    \r\n", + "Well-well! who will believe in religion, after that? He came to my
    \r\n", + "sick chamber, the black vagabond did, and prayed as piously as a
    \r\n", + "white man. And it went right to my heart; and I felt that if I died
    \r\n", + "it would a' been the means o' savin my soul from all sorts of things
    \r\n", + "infernal,\" says the recovering M'Fadden. He, the black preacher, is
    \r\n", + "only a nigger after all; and his owner will have him back, or he'll
    \r\n", + "have his black hide-that he will! The sick man makes another effort
    \r\n", + "to rise, but is calmed into resignation through mine host's further
    \r\n", + "assurance that the property will be \"all right\" by the time he gets
    \r\n", + "well.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How cunning it was in the black vagrant! I shouldn't be a bit
    \r\n", + "surprised if he cleared straight for Massachusetts-Massachusetts
    \r\n", + "hates our State. Her abolitionists will ruin us yet, sure as the
    \r\n", + "world. We men of the South must do something on a grand scale to
    \r\n", + "protect our rights and our property. The merchants of the North will
    \r\n", + "help us; they are all interested in slave labour. Cotton is king;
    \r\n", + "and cotton can rule, if it will. Cotton can make friendship strong,
    \r\n", + "and political power great.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's my cousin John, ye see; he lives north, but is married to a
    \r\n", + "woman south. He got her with seventeen mules and twenty-three
    \r\n", + "niggers. And there's brother Jake's daughter was married to a
    \r\n", + "planter out south what owns lots o' niggers. And there's good old
    \r\n", + "uncle Richard; he traded a long time with down south folks, made
    \r\n", + "heaps a money tradin niggers in a sly way, and never heard a word
    \r\n", + "said about slavery not being right, that he did'nt get into a deuce
    \r\n", + "of a fuss, and feel like fightin? Two of Simon Wattler's gals were
    \r\n", + "married down south, and all the family connections became down-south
    \r\n", + "in principle. And here's Judge Brooks out here, the very best
    \r\n", + "down-south Judge on the bench; he come from cousin Ephraim's
    \r\n", + "neighbourhood, down east. It's just this way things is snarled up
    \r\n", + "a'tween us and them ar' fellers down New England way. It keeps up
    \r\n", + "the strength of our peculiar institution, though. And southern
    \r\n", + "Editors! just look at them; why, Lord love yer soul! two thirds on'
    \r\n", + "em are imported from down-north way; and they make the very best
    \r\n", + "southern-principled men. I thought of that last night, when Mr.
    \r\n", + "Jones with the horns looked as if he would go with him. But, I'll
    \r\n", + "have that preachin vagrant, I'll have him!\" says Mr. M'Fadden,
    \r\n", + "emphatically, seeming much more at rest about his departing affairs.
    \r\n", + "As the shadows of death fade from his sight into their proper
    \r\n", + "distance, worldly figures and property justice resume their wonted
    \r\n", + "possession of his thoughts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Again, as if suddenly seized with pain, he contorts his face, and
    \r\n", + "enquires in a half-whisper--\"What if this wound should mortify?
    \r\n", + "would death follow quickly? I'm dubious yet!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mine host approaches nearer his bed-side, takes his hand. M'Fadden,
    \r\n", + "with much apparent meekness, would know what he thought of his case?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He is assured by the kind gentleman that he is entirely out of
    \r\n", + "danger-worth a whole parish of dead men. At the same time, mine host
    \r\n", + "insinuates that he will never do to fight duels until he learns to
    \r\n", + "die fashionably.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden smiles,--remembers how many men have been nearly killed and
    \r\n", + "yet escaped the undertaker,--seems to have regained strength, and
    \r\n", + "calls for a glass of whiskey and water. Not too strong! but,
    \r\n", + "reminding mine host of the excellent quality of his bitters, he
    \r\n", + "suggests that a little may better his case.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I didn't mean the wound,\" resuming his anxiety for the lost
    \r\n", + "preacher: \"I meant the case of the runaway?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh! oh! bless me! he will forget he is a runaway piece of property
    \r\n", + "in his anxiousness to put forth his spiritual inclinations. That's
    \r\n", + "what'll betray the scamp;--nigger will be nigger, you know! They
    \r\n", + "can't play the lawyer, nohow,\" mine host replies, with an assurance
    \r\n", + "of his ability to judge negro character. This is a new idea, coming
    \r\n", + "like the dew-drops of heaven to relieve his anxiety. The consoling
    \r\n", + "intelligence makes him feel more comfortable.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The whiskey-and-bitters-most unpoetic drink-is brought to his
    \r\n", + "bed-side. He tremblingly carries it to his lips, sips and sips;
    \r\n", + "then, with one gulp, empties the glass. At this moment the pedantic
    \r\n", + "physician makes his appearance, scents the whiskey, gives a
    \r\n", + "favourable opinion of its application as a remedy in certain cases.
    \r\n", + "The prescription is not a bad one. Climate, and such a rusty
    \r\n", + "constitution as Mr. M'Fadden is blest with, renders a little
    \r\n", + "stimulant very necessary to keep up the one thing needful-courage!
    \r\n", + "The patient complains bitterly to the man of pills and powders;
    \r\n", + "tells a great many things about pains and fears. What a dreadful
    \r\n", + "thing if the consequence had proved fatal! He further thinks that it
    \r\n", + "was by the merest act of Providence, in such a desperate affray, he
    \r\n", + "had not been killed outright. A great many bad visions have haunted
    \r\n", + "him in his dreams, and he is very desirous of knowing what the man
    \r\n", + "of salts and senna thinks about the true interpretation of such.
    \r\n", + "About the time he was dreaming such dreams he was extremely anxious
    \r\n", + "to know how the spiritual character of slave-holders stood on the
    \r\n", + "records of heaven, and whether the fact of slave-owning would cause
    \r\n", + "the insertion of an item in the mortal warrant forming the exception
    \r\n", + "to a peaceful conclusion with the Father's forgiveness. He felt as
    \r\n", + "if he would surely die during the night past, and his mind became so
    \r\n", + "abstracted about what he had done in his life,--what was to come, how
    \r\n", + "negro property had been treated, how it should be treated,--that,
    \r\n", + "although he had opinions now and then widely-different, it had left
    \r\n", + "a problem which would take him all his life-time to solve,--if he
    \r\n", + "should live ever so long. And, too, there were these poor wretches
    \r\n", + "accidentally shot down at his side; his feelings couldn't withstand
    \r\n", + "the ghostly appearance of their corpses as he was carried past them,
    \r\n", + "perhaps to be buried n the same forlorn grave, the very next day.
    \r\n", + "All these things reflected their results through the morbidity of
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden's mind; but his last observation, showing how slender
    \r\n", + "is the cord between life and death, proved what was uppermost in his
    \r\n", + "mind. \"You'll allow I'm an honest man? I have great faith in your
    \r\n", + "opinion, Doctor! And if I have been rather go-ahead with my niggers,
    \r\n", + "my virtue in business matters can't be sprung,\" he mutters. The
    \r\n", + "physician endeavours to calm his anxiety, by telling him he is a
    \r\n", + "perfect model of goodness,--a just, honest, fearless, and
    \r\n", + "enterprising planter; and that these attributes of our better nature
    \r\n", + "constitute such a balance in the scale as will give any gentleman
    \r\n", + "slaveholder very large claims to that spiritual proficiency
    \r\n", + "necessary for the world to come.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden acquiesces in the correctness of this remark, but
    \r\n", + "desires to inform the practitioner what a sad loss he has met with.
    \r\n", + "He is sure the gentleman will scarcely believe his word when he
    \r\n", + "tells him what it is. \"I saw how ye felt downright affected when
    \r\n", + "that nigger o' mine prayed with so much that seemed like honesty and
    \r\n", + "christianity, last night,\" he says.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" interrupts the man of medicine, \"he was a wonderful nigger
    \r\n", + "that. I never heard such natural eloquence nor such pathos; he is a
    \r\n", + "wonder among niggers, he is! Extraordinary fellow for one raised up
    \r\n", + "on a plantation. Pity, almost, that such a clergyman should be a
    \r\n", + "slave.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You don't say so, Doctor, do you? Well! I've lost him just when I
    \r\n", + "wanted him most.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He is not dead?\" enquires the physician, suddenly interrupting. He
    \r\n", + "had seen Mr. M'Fadden's courage fail at the approach of death, and
    \r\n", + "again recover quickly when the distance widened between that monitor
    \r\n", + "and himself, and could not suppress the smile stealing over his
    \r\n", + "countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dead! no indeed. Worse-he has run away!\" Mr. M'Fadden quickly
    \r\n", + "retorted, clenching his right hand, and scowling. In another minute
    \r\n", + "he turns back the sheets, and, with returned strength, makes a
    \r\n", + "successful attempt to sit up in bed. \"I don't know whether I'm
    \r\n", + "better or worse; but I think it would be all right if I warn't
    \r\n", + "worried so much about the loss of that preacher. I paid a tremendous
    \r\n", + "sum for him. And the worst of it is, my cousin deacon Stoner, of a
    \r\n", + "down-east church, holds a mortgage on my nigger stock, and he may
    \r\n", + "feel streaked when he hears of the loss;\" Mr. M'Fadden concludes,
    \r\n", + "holding his side to the physician, who commences examining the
    \r\n", + "wound, which the enfeebled man says is very sore and must be dressed
    \r\n", + "cautiously, so that he may be enabled to get out and see to his
    \r\n", + "property.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "To the great surprise of all, the wound turns out to be merely a
    \r\n", + "slight cut, with no appearance of inflammation, and every prospect
    \r\n", + "of being cured through a further application of a very small bit of
    \r\n", + "dressing plaster.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The physician smiled, mine host smiled; it was impossible to
    \r\n", + "suppress the risible faculties. The poor invalid is overpowered with
    \r\n", + "disappointment. His imagination had betrayed him into one of those
    \r\n", + "desperate, fearful, and indubitable brinks of death, upon which it
    \r\n", + "seems the first law of nature reminds us what is necessary to die
    \r\n", + "by. They laughed, and laughed, and laughed, till Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "suddenly changed countenance, and said it was no laughing
    \r\n", + "affair,--such things were not to be trifled with; men should be
    \r\n", + "thinking of more important matters. And he looked at the wound, run
    \r\n", + "his fingers over it gently, and rubbed it as if doubting the depth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A little more whiskey would'nt hurt me, Doctor?\" he enquires,
    \r\n", + "complacently, looking round the room distrustfully at those who were
    \r\n", + "enjoying the joke, more at his expense than he held to be in
    \r\n", + "accordance with strict rules of etiquette.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'll admit, my worthy citizen, your case seemed to baffle my skill,
    \r\n", + "last night,\" the physician replies, jocosely. \"Had I taken your
    \r\n", + "political enthusiasm into consideration,--and your readiness to
    \r\n", + "instruct an assemblage in the holy democracy of our south,--and your
    \r\n", + "hopes of making strong draughts do strong political work, I might
    \r\n", + "have saved my opiate, and administered to your case more in
    \r\n", + "accordance with the skilfully administered prescriptions of our
    \r\n", + "politicians. Notwithstanding, I am glad you are all right, and trust
    \r\n", + "that whenever you get your enthusiasm fired with bad brandy, or the
    \r\n", + "candidates' bad whiskey, you will not tax other people's feelings
    \r\n", + "with your own dying affairs; nor send for a 'nigger' preacher to
    \r\n", + "redeem your soul, who will run away when he thinks the job
    \r\n", + "completed.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden seemed not to comprehend the nature of his physician's
    \r\n", + "language, and after a few minutes pause he must needs enquire about
    \r\n", + "the weather? if a coroner's inquest has been held over the dead men?
    \r\n", + "what was its decision? was there any decision at all? and have they
    \r\n", + "been buried? Satisfied on all these points, he gets up, himself
    \r\n", + "again, complaining only of a little muddled giddiness about the
    \r\n", + "head, and a hip so sore that he scarcely could reconcile his mind to
    \r\n", + "place confidence in it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Good by! good by!\" says the physician, shaking him by the hand.
    \r\n", + "\"Measure the stimulant carefully; and take good care of dumplin
    \r\n", + "dep�t No. 1, and you'll be all right very soon. You're a good
    \r\n", + "democrat, and you'll make as good a stump orator as ever took the
    \r\n", + "field.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The man of medicine, laughing heartily within himself, descends the
    \r\n", + "stairs and reaches the bar-room, where are concentrated sundry of
    \r\n", + "the party we have before described. They make anxious enquiries
    \r\n", + "about Mr. M'Fadden,--how he seemed to \"take it;\" did he evince want
    \r\n", + "of pluck? had he courage enough to fight a duel? and could his vote
    \r\n", + "be taken afore he died? These, and many other questions of a like
    \r\n", + "nature, were put to the physician so fast, and with so many
    \r\n", + "invitations to drink \"somethin',\" that he gave a sweeping answer by
    \r\n", + "saying Mac had been more frightened than hurt; that the fear of
    \r\n", + "death having passed from before his eyes his mind had now centered
    \r\n", + "on the loss of his nigger preacher-a valuable piece of property that
    \r\n", + "had cost him no less than fifteen hundred dollars. And the worst of
    \r\n", + "it was, that the nigger had aggravatingly prayed for him when he
    \r\n", + "thought he was going to sink out into the arms of father death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "So pressing were the invitations to drink, that our man of medicine
    \r\n", + "advanced to the counter, like a true gentleman of the south, and
    \r\n", + "with his glass filled with an aristocratic mixture, made one of his
    \r\n", + "politest bows, toasted the health of all free citizens, adding his
    \r\n", + "hope for the success of the favourite candidate.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Drink it with three cheers, standin'!\" shouted a formidably
    \r\n", + "mustached figure, leaning against the counter with his left hand,
    \r\n", + "while his right was grasping the jug from which he was attempting in
    \r\n", + "vain to water his whiskey. To this the physic gentleman bows assent;
    \r\n", + "and they are given to the very echo. Taking his departure for the
    \r\n", + "city, as the sounds of cheering die away, he emerged from the front
    \r\n", + "door, as Mr. M'Fadden, unexpectedly as a ghost rising from the tomb,
    \r\n", + "made his entrance from the old staircase in the back. The
    \r\n", + "citizens-for of such is our assembly composed-are astonished and
    \r\n", + "perplexed. \"Such a set of scapegoats as you are!\" grumbles out the
    \r\n", + "debutant, as he stands before them like a disentombed spectre. With
    \r\n", + "open arms they approach him, congratulate him on his recovery, and
    \r\n", + "shower upon him many good wishes, and long and strong drinks.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A few drinks more, and our hero is quite satisfied with his welcome.
    \r\n", + "His desire being intimated, mine host conducts himself to the
    \r\n", + "corn-shed, where he satisfies himself that his faithful property
    \r\n", + "(the preacher excepted) is all snugly safe. Happy property in the
    \r\n", + "hands of a prodigious democrat! happy republicanism that makes
    \r\n", + "freedom but a privilege! that makes a mockery of itself, and
    \r\n", + "enslaves the noblest blood of noble freemen! They were happy, the
    \r\n", + "victims of ignorance, contented with the freedom their country had
    \r\n", + "given them, bowing beneath the enslaving yoke of justice-boasting
    \r\n", + "democracy, and ready to be sold and shipped, with an invoice of
    \r\n", + "freight, at the beckon of an owner.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden questions the people concerning Harry's departure; but
    \r\n", + "they are as ignorant of his whereabouts as himself. They only
    \r\n", + "remember that he came to the shed at midnight, whispered some words
    \r\n", + "of consolation, and of his plain fare gave them to eat;--nothing
    \r\n", + "more.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Poor recompense for my goodness!\" says Mr. M'Fadden, muttering some
    \r\n", + "indistinct words as he returns to the tavern, followed by a humorous
    \r\n", + "negro, making grimaces in satisfaction of \"mas'r's\" disappointment.
    \r\n", + "Now friends are gathered together, chuckling in great glee over the
    \r\n", + "large reward offered for the lost parson, for the capture of which
    \r\n", + "absconding article they have numerous horses, dogs, confidential
    \r\n", + "negroes, and a large supply of whiskey, with which very necessary
    \r\n", + "liquid they will themselves become dogs of one kine. The game to be
    \r\n", + "played is purely a democratic one; hence the clansmen are ready to
    \r\n", + "loosen their souls' love for the service. M'Fadden never before
    \r\n", + "witnessed such satisfactory proofs of his popularity; his tenderest
    \r\n", + "emotions are excited; he cannot express the fullness of his heart;
    \r\n", + "he bows, puts his hand to his heart, orders the balance of his
    \r\n", + "invoice sent to his plantation, mounts his horse, and rides off at
    \r\n", + "full gallop, followed by his friends.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A FRIEND IS WOMAN.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE reader will again accompany us to the time when we find Annette
    \r\n", + "and Nicholas in the hands of Graspum, who will nurture them for
    \r\n", + "their increasing value.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Merciless creditors have driven Marston from that home of so many
    \r\n", + "happy and hospitable associations, to seek shelter in the obscure
    \r\n", + "and humble chamber of a wretched building in the outskirts of the
    \r\n", + "city. Fortune can afford him but a small cot, two or three broken
    \r\n", + "chairs, an ordinary deal table, a large chest, which stands near the
    \r\n", + "fire-place, and a dressing-stand, for furniture. Here, obscured from
    \r\n", + "the society he had so long mingled with, he spends most of his time,
    \r\n", + "seldom venturing in public lest he may encounter those indomitable
    \r\n", + "gentlemen who would seem to love the following misfortune into its
    \r\n", + "last stage of distress. His worst enemy, however, is that source of
    \r\n", + "his misfortunes he cannot disclose; over it hangs the mystery he
    \r\n", + "must not solve! It enshrines him with guilt before public opinion;
    \r\n", + "by it his integrity lies dead; it is that which gives to mother
    \r\n", + "rumour the weapons with which to wield her keenest slanders.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Having seized Marston's real estate, Graspum had no scruples about
    \r\n", + "swearing to the equity of his claim; nor were any of the creditors
    \r\n", + "willing to challenge an investigation; and thus, through fear of
    \r\n", + "such a formidable abettor, Marston laboured under the strongest, and
    \r\n", + "perhaps the most unjust imputations. But there was no limit to
    \r\n", + "Graspum's mercenary proceedings; for beyond involving Marston
    \r\n", + "through Lorenzo, he had secretly purchased many claims of the
    \r\n", + "creditors, and secured his money by a dexterous movement, with which
    \r\n", + "he reduced the innocent children to slavery.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Reports have spread among the professedly knowing that Marston can
    \r\n", + "never have made away with all his property in so few years. And the
    \r\n", + "manner being so invisible, the charge becomes stronger. Thus,
    \r\n", + "labouring between the pain of misfortune and the want of means to
    \r\n", + "resent suspicion, his cheerless chamber is all he can now call his
    \r\n", + "home. But he has two good friends left-Franconia, and the old negro
    \r\n", + "Bob. Franconia has procured a municipal badge for Daddy; and,
    \r\n", + "through it (disguised) he seeks and obtains work at stowing cotton
    \r\n", + "on the wharfs. His earnings are small, but his soul is large, and
    \r\n", + "embued with attachment for his old master, with whom he will share
    \r\n", + "them. Day by day the old slave seems to share the feelings of his
    \r\n", + "master,--to exhibit a solicitous concern for his comfort. Earning his
    \r\n", + "dollars and twenty-five cents a day, he will return when the week
    \r\n", + "has ended, full of exultation, spread out his earnings with
    \r\n", + "childlike simplicity, take thirty cents a day for himself, and slip
    \r\n", + "the remainder into Marston's pocket. How happy he seems, as he
    \r\n", + "watches the changes of Marston's countenance, and restrains the
    \r\n", + "gushing forth of his feelings!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It was on one of those nights upon which Daddy had received his
    \r\n", + "earnings, that Marston sat in his cheerless chamber, crouched over
    \r\n", + "the faint blaze of a few pieces of wood burning on the bricks of his
    \r\n", + "narrow fire-place, contemplating the eventful scenes of the few
    \r\n", + "years just passed. The more he contemplated the more it seemed like
    \r\n", + "a dream; his very head wearied with the interminable maze of his
    \r\n", + "difficulties. Further and further, as he contemplated, did it open
    \r\n", + "to his thoughts the strange social and political mystery of that
    \r\n", + "more strange institution for reducing mankind to the level of
    \r\n", + "brutes. And yet, democracy, apparently honest, held such inviolable
    \r\n", + "and just to its creed; which creed it would defend with a cordon of
    \r\n", + "steel. The dejected gentleman sighs, rests his head on his left
    \r\n", + "hand, and his elbow on the little table at his side. Without, the
    \r\n", + "weather is cold and damp; an incessant rain had pattered upon the
    \r\n", + "roof throughout the day, wild and murky clouds hang their dreary
    \r\n", + "festoons along the heavens, and swift scudding fleeces, driven by
    \r\n", + "fierce, murmuring winds, bespread the prospect with gloom that finds
    \r\n", + "its way into the recesses of the heart.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Who is worse than a slave!\" sighs the rejected man, getting up and
    \r\n", + "looking out of his window into the dreary recesses of the narrow
    \r\n", + "lane. \"If it be not a ruined planter I mistake the policy by which
    \r\n", + "we govern our institution! As the slave is born a subject being, so
    \r\n", + "is the planter a dependent being. We planters live in
    \r\n", + "disappointment, in fear, in unhappy uncertainty; and yet we make no
    \r\n", + "preparations for the result. Nay, we even content ourselves with
    \r\n", + "pleasantly contemplating what may come through the eventful issue of
    \r\n", + "political discord; and when it comes in earnest, we find ourselves
    \r\n", + "the most hapless of unfortunates. For myself, bereft of all I had
    \r\n", + "once,--even friends, I am but a forlorn object in the scale of weak
    \r\n", + "mankind! No man will trust me with his confidence,--scarce one knows
    \r\n", + "me but to harass me; I can give them no more, and yet I am suspected
    \r\n", + "of having more. It is so, and ever will be so. Such are the phases
    \r\n", + "of man's downfall, that few follow them to the facts, while rumour
    \r\n", + "rules supreme over misfortune. There may be a fountain of human pain
    \r\n", + "concealed beneath it; but few extend the hand to stay its
    \r\n", + "quickening. Nay, when all is gone, mammon cries, more! until body
    \r\n", + "and soul are crushed beneath the \"more\" of relentless self.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Few know the intricacies of our system; perhaps 'twere well, lest
    \r\n", + "our souls should not be safe within us. But, ah! my conscience
    \r\n", + "chides me here. And betwixt those feelings which once saw all things
    \r\n", + "right, but now through necessity beholds their grossest wrongs,
    \r\n", + "comes the pain of self-condemnation. It is a condemnation haunting
    \r\n", + "me unto death. Had I been ignorant of Clotilda's history, the
    \r\n", + "fiendish deed of those who wronged her in her childhood had not now
    \r\n", + "hung like a loathsome pestilence around my very garments. That which
    \r\n", + "the heart rebukes cannot be concealed; but we must be obedient to
    \r\n", + "the will that directs all things;--and if it be that we remain blind
    \r\n", + "in despotism until misfortune opens our eyes, let the cause of the
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 8/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 8 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "calamity be charged to those it belongs to,\" he concludes; and then,
    \r\n", + "after a few minutes' silence, he lights his taper, and sets it upon
    \r\n", + "the table. His care-worn countenance pales with melancholy; his hair
    \r\n", + "has whitened with tribulation; his demeanour denotes a man of tender
    \r\n", + "sensibility fast sinking into a physical wreck. A well-soiled book
    \r\n", + "lies on the table, beside which he takes his seat; he turns its
    \r\n", + "pages over and over carelessly, as if it were an indifferent
    \r\n", + "amusement to wile away the time. \"They cannot enslave affection, nor
    \r\n", + "can they confine it within prison walls,\" he mutters. He has proof
    \r\n", + "in the faithfulness of Daddy, his old slave. And as he contemplates,
    \r\n", + "the words \"she will be more than welcome to-night,\" escape his lips.
    \r\n", + "Simultaneously a gentle tapping is heard at the door. Slowly it
    \r\n", + "opens, and the figure of an old negro, bearing a basket on his arm,
    \r\n", + "enters. He is followed by the slender and graceful form of
    \r\n", + "Franconia, who approaches her uncle, hand extended, salutes him with
    \r\n", + "a kiss, seats herself at his side, says he must not be sad. Then she
    \r\n", + "silently gazes upon him for a few moments, as if touched by his
    \r\n", + "troubles, while the negro, having spread the contents of the basket
    \r\n", + "upon the chest, makes a humble bow, wishes mas'r and missus good
    \r\n", + "night, and withdraws. \"There, uncle,\" she says, laying her hand
    \r\n", + "gently on his arm, \"I didn't forget you, did I?\" She couples the
    \r\n", + "word with a smile-a smile so sweet, so expressive of her soul's
    \r\n", + "goodness. \"You are dear to me, uncle; yes, as dear as a father. How
    \r\n", + "could I forget that you have been a father to me? I have brought
    \r\n", + "these little things to make you comfortable,\"-she points to the
    \r\n", + "edibles on the chest-\"and I wish I were not tied to a slave, uncle,
    \r\n", + "for then I could do more. Twice, since my marriage to M'Carstrow,
    \r\n", + "have I had to protect myself from his ruffianism.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"From his ruffianism!\" interrupts Marston, quickly: \"Can it be, my
    \r\n", + "child, that even a ruffian would dare exhibit his vileness toward
    \r\n", + "you?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Even toward me, uncle. With reluctance I married him, and my only
    \r\n", + "regret is, that a slave's fate had not been mine ere the fruits of
    \r\n", + "that day fell upon me. Women like me make a feeble defence in the
    \r\n", + "world; and bad husbands are the shame of their sex,\" she returns,
    \r\n", + "her eyes brightening with animation, as she endeavours to calm the
    \r\n", + "excitement her remarks have given rise to: \"Don't, pray don't mind
    \r\n", + "it, uncle,\" she concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Such news had been anticipated; but I was cautious not to\"--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Never mind,\" she interrupts, suddenly coiling her delicate arm
    \r\n", + "round his neck, and impressing a kiss on his care-worn cheek. \"Let
    \r\n", + "us forget these things; they are but the fruits of weak nature. It
    \r\n", + "were better to bear up under trouble than yield to trouble's
    \r\n", + "burdens: better far. Who knows but that it is all for the best?\" She
    \r\n", + "rises, and, with seeming cheerfulness, proceeds to spread the little
    \r\n", + "table with the refreshing tokens of her friendship. Yielding to
    \r\n", + "necessity, the table is spread, and they sit down, with an
    \r\n", + "appearance of domestic quietness touchingly humble.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There is some pleasure, after all, in having a quiet spot where we
    \r\n", + "can sit down and forget our cares. Perhaps (all said and done) a man
    \r\n", + "may call himself prince of his own garret, when he can forget all
    \r\n", + "beyond it,\" says Marston affected to tears by Franconia's womanly
    \r\n", + "resignation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" returns Franconia, joyously, \"it's a consolation to know that
    \r\n", + "we have people among us much worse off than we are. I confess,
    \r\n", + "though, I feel uneasy about our old slaves. Slavery's wrong, uncle;
    \r\n", + "and it's when one's reduced to such extremes as are presented in
    \r\n", + "this uninviting garret that we realise it the more forcibly. It
    \r\n", + "gives the poor wretches no chance of bettering their condition; and
    \r\n", + "if one exhibits ever so much talent over the other, there is no
    \r\n", + "chance left him to improve it. It is no recompense to the slave that
    \r\n", + "his talent only increases the price of the article to be sold. Look
    \r\n", + "what Harry would have been had he enjoyed freedom. Uncle, we forget
    \r\n", + "our best interests while pondering over the security of a bad
    \r\n", + "system. Would it not be better to cultivate the slave's affections,
    \r\n", + "rather than oppress his feelings?\" Franconia has their cause at
    \r\n", + "heart-forgets her own. She is far removed from the cold speculations
    \r\n", + "of the south; she is free from mercenary motives; unstained by that
    \r\n", + "principle of logic which recognises only the man merchandise. No
    \r\n", + "will hath she to contrive ingenious apologies for the wrongs
    \r\n", + "inflicted upon a fallen race. Her words spring from the purest
    \r\n", + "sentiment of the soul; they contain a smarting rebuke of Marston's
    \r\n", + "former misdoings: but he cannot resent it, nor can he turn the tide
    \r\n", + "of his troubles against her noble generosity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They had eaten their humble supper of meats and bread, and coffee,
    \r\n", + "when Franconia hears a rap at the lower entrance, leading into the
    \r\n", + "street. Bearing the taper in her hand, she descends the stairs
    \r\n", + "quickly, and, opening the door, recognises the smiling face of Daddy
    \r\n", + "Bob. Daddy greets her as if he were surcharged with the very best
    \r\n", + "news for old mas'r and missus. He laughs in the exuberance of his
    \r\n", + "simplicity, and, with an air of fondness that would better become a
    \r\n", + "child, says, \"Lor', young missus, how glad old Bob is to see ye!
    \r\n", + "Seems like long time since old man see'd Miss Frankone look so spry.
    \r\n", + "Got dat badge.\" The old man shows her his badge, exultingly.
    \r\n", + "\"Missus, nobody know whose nigger I'm's, and old Bob arns a right
    \r\n", + "smart heap o' money to make mas'r comfortable.\" The old slave never
    \r\n", + "for once thinks of his own infirmities; no, his attachment for
    \r\n", + "master soars above every thing else; he thinks only in what way he
    \r\n", + "can relieve his necessities. Honest, faithful, and affectionate, the
    \r\n", + "associations of the past are uppermost in his mind; he forgets his
    \r\n", + "slavery in his love for master and the old plantation. Readily would
    \r\n", + "he lay down his life, could he, by so doing, lighten the troubles he
    \r\n", + "instinctively sees in the changes of master's position. The old
    \r\n", + "plantation and its people have been sold; and he, being among the
    \r\n", + "separated from earth's chosen, must save his infirm body lest some
    \r\n", + "man sell him for the worth thereof. Bob's face is white with beard,
    \r\n", + "and his coarse garments are much worn and ragged; but there is
    \r\n", + "something pleasing in the familiarity with which Franconia accepts
    \r\n", + "his brawny hand. How free from that cold advance, that measured
    \r\n", + "welcome, and that religious indifference, with which the would-be
    \r\n", + "friend of the slave, at the north, too often accepts the black man's
    \r\n", + "hand! There is something in the fervency with which she shakes his
    \r\n", + "wrinkled hand that speaks of the goodness of the heart; something
    \r\n", + "that touches the old slave's childlike nature. He smiles bashfully,
    \r\n", + "and says, \"Glad t' see ye, missus; dat I is: 'spishilly ven ye takes
    \r\n", + "care on old mas'r.\" After receiving her salutation he follows her to
    \r\n", + "the chamber, across which he hastens to receive a welcome from old
    \r\n", + "mas'r. Marston warmly receives his hand, and motions him to be
    \r\n", + "seated on the chest near the fire-place. Bob takes his seat, keeping
    \r\n", + "his eye on mas'r the while. \"Neber mind, mas'r,\" he says, \"Big Mas'r
    \r\n", + "above be better dan Buckra. Da'h is somefin' what Buckra no sell
    \r\n", + "from ye, dat's a good heart. If old mas'r on'y keeps up he spirit,
    \r\n", + "de Lor' 'll carry un throu' 'e triblation,\" he continues; and, after
    \r\n", + "watching his master a few minutes, returns to Franconia, and resumes
    \r\n", + "his jargon.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia is the same fair creature Bob watched over when she
    \r\n", + "visited the plantation: her countenance wears the same air of
    \r\n", + "freshness and frankness; her words are of the same gentleness; she
    \r\n", + "seems as solicitous of his comfort as before. And yet a shadow of
    \r\n", + "sadness shrouds that vivacity which had made her the welcome guest
    \r\n", + "of the old slaves. He cannot resist those expressions which are ever
    \r\n", + "ready to lisp forth from the negro when his feelings are excited.
    \r\n", + "\"Lor, missus, how old Bob's heart feels! Hah, ah! yah, yah! Looks so
    \r\n", + "good, and reminds old Bob how e' look down on dah Astley, yander.
    \r\n", + "But, dah somefin in dat ar face what make old nigger like I know
    \r\n", + "missus don't feel just right,\" he exclaims.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The kind woman reads his thoughts in the glowing simplicity of his
    \r\n", + "wrinkled face. \"It has been said that a dog was our last friend,
    \r\n", + "Bob: I now think a slave should have been added. Don't you think so,
    \r\n", + "uncle?\" she enquires, looking at Marston, and, again taking the old
    \r\n", + "slave by the hand, awaits the reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We rarely appreciate their friendship until it be too late to
    \r\n", + "reward it,\" he replies, with an attempt to smile.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True, true! but the world is full of ingratitude,--very amiable
    \r\n", + "ingratitude. Never mind, Daddy; you must now tell me all about your
    \r\n", + "affairs, and what has happened since the night you surprised me at
    \r\n", + "our house; and you must tell me how you escaped M'Carstrow on the
    \r\n", + "morning of the disturbance,\" she enjoins. And while Bob relates his
    \r\n", + "story Franconia prepares his supper. Some cold ham, bread, and
    \r\n", + "coffee, are soon spread out before him. He will remove them to the
    \r\n", + "chest, near the fire-place. \"Why, Missus Frankone,\" he says, \"ye
    \r\n", + "sees how I'se so old now dat nobody tink I'se werf ownin; and so
    \r\n", + "nobody axes old Bob whose nigger he is. An't prime nigger, now; but
    \r\n", + "den a' good fo' work some, and get cash, so t' help old mas'r yander
    \r\n", + "(Bob points to old master). Likes t' make old master feel not so
    \r\n", + "bad.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" rejoins Marston, \"Bob's good to me. He makes his sleeping
    \r\n", + "apartments, when he comes, at the foot of my bed, and shares his
    \r\n", + "earnings with me every Saturday night. He's like an old clock that
    \r\n", + "can keep time as well as a new one, only wind it up with care.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dat I is!\" says Daddy, with an exulting nod of the head, as he, to
    \r\n", + "his own surprise, lets fall his cup. It was only the negro's
    \r\n", + "forgetfulness in the moment of excitement. Giving a wistful look at
    \r\n", + "Franconia, he commences picking up the pieces, and drawing his
    \r\n", + "week's earnings from a side pocket of his jacket.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Eat your supper, Daddy; never mind your money now\" says Franconia,
    \r\n", + "laughing heartily: at which Bob regains confidence and resumes his
    \r\n", + "supper, keeping a watchful eye upon his old master the while. Every
    \r\n", + "now and then he will pause, cant his ear, and shake his head, as if
    \r\n", + "drinking in the tenour of the conversation between Franconia and her
    \r\n", + "uncle. Having concluded, he pulls out his money and spreads it upon
    \r\n", + "the chest. \"Old Bob work hard fo' dat!\" he says, with emphasis,
    \r\n", + "spreading a five-dollar bill and two dollars and fifty cents in
    \r\n", + "silver into divisions. \"Dah!\" he ejaculates, \"dat old mas'r share,
    \r\n", + "and dis is dis child's.\" The old man looks proudly upon the coin,
    \r\n", + "and feels he is not so worthless, after all. \"Now! who say old Bob
    \r\n", + "aint werf nofin?\" he concludes, getting up, putting his share into
    \r\n", + "his pocket, and then, as if unobserved, slipping the balance into
    \r\n", + "Marston's. This done, he goes to the window, affects to be looking
    \r\n", + "out, and then resuming his seat upon the chest, commences humming a
    \r\n", + "familiar plantation tune, as if his pious feelings had been
    \r\n", + "superseded by the recollection of past scenes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What, Daddy,--singing songs?\" interrupts Franconia, looking at him
    \r\n", + "enquiringly. He stops as suddenly as he commenced, exchanges an
    \r\n", + "expressive look, and fain would question her sincerity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Didn't mean 'um, missus,\" he returns, after a moment's hesitation,
    \r\n", + "\"didn't mean 'um. Was thinkin 'bout somefin back'ards; down old
    \r\n", + "plantation times.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You had better forget them times, Bob.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Buckra won't sell dis old nigger,--will he, Miss Frankone?\" he
    \r\n", + "enquires, resuming his wonted simplicity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sell you, Bob? You're a funny old man. Don't think your old
    \r\n", + "half-worn-out bones are going to save you. Money's the word: they'll
    \r\n", + "sell anything that will produce it,--dried up of age are no
    \r\n", + "exceptions. Keep out of Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy's way: whenever
    \r\n", + "you hear him singing, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
    \r\n", + "shall come,' as he always does,--run! He lives on the sale of
    \r\n", + "infirmity, and your old age would be a capital thing for the
    \r\n", + "exercise of his genius. He will put you through a course of
    \r\n", + "regeneration, take the wrinkles smooth out of your face, dye those
    \r\n", + "old grey whiskers, and get a profit for his magic power of
    \r\n", + "transposing the age of negro property,\" she replied, gravely, while
    \r\n", + "Bob stares at her as if doubting his own security.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Why, missus!\" he interposes, his face glowing with astonishment;
    \r\n", + "\"Buckra don't be so smart dat he make old nigger young, be he?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Traders can do anything with niggers that have got money in them,
    \r\n", + "as they say. Our distinguished people are sensitive of the crime,
    \r\n", + "but excuse themselves with apologies they cannot make cover the
    \r\n", + "shame.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Franke!\" interrupts Marston, \"spare the negro's feelings,--it may
    \r\n", + "have a bad effect.\" He touches her on the arm, and knits his brows
    \r\n", + "in caution.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How strange, to think that bad influence could come of such an
    \r\n", + "inoffensive old man! Truth, I know and feel, is powerfully painful
    \r\n", + "when brought home to the doors of our best people,--it cuts deep when
    \r\n", + "told in broad letters; but they make the matter worse by attempting
    \r\n", + "to enshrine the stains with their chivalry. We are a wondrous
    \r\n", + "people, uncle, and the world is just finding it out, to our shame.
    \r\n", + "We may find it out ourselves, by and by; perhaps pay the penalty
    \r\n", + "with sorrow. We look upon negroes as if they were dropped down from
    \r\n", + "some unaccountable origin,--intended to raise the world's cotton,
    \r\n", + "rice, and sugar, but never to get above the menial sphere we have
    \r\n", + "conditioned for them. Uncle, there is a mistake somewhere,--a mistake
    \r\n", + "sadly at variance with our democratic professions. Democracy needs
    \r\n", + "to reclaim its all-claiming principles of right and justice for the
    \r\n", + "down-trodden. And yet, while the negro generously submits to serve
    \r\n", + "us, we look upon him as an auspicious innovator, who never could
    \r\n", + "have been born to enjoy manhood, and was subjected to bear a black
    \r\n", + "face because God had marked him for servitude. Did God found an
    \r\n", + "aristocracy of colour, or make men to be governed by their
    \r\n", + "distinctive qualifications of colour relationship?\" says Franconia,
    \r\n", + "her face resuming a flush of agitation. Touching Marston on the arm
    \r\n", + "with the fore-finger of her right hand, and giving a glance at Bob,
    \r\n", + "who listens attentively to the theme of conversation, she continues:
    \r\n", + "\"Say no more of bad influence coming of slaves, when the corruptest
    \r\n", + "examples are set by those who hold them as such,--who crash their
    \r\n", + "hopes, blot out their mental faculties, and turn their bodies into
    \r\n", + "licentious merchandise that they may profit by its degradation! Show
    \r\n", + "me the humblest slave on your plantation, and, in comparison with
    \r\n", + "the slave-dealer, I will prove him a nobleman of God's kind,--of
    \r\n", + "God's image: his simple nature will be his clean passport into
    \r\n", + "heaven. The Father of Mercy will receive him there; he will forgive
    \r\n", + "the crimes enforced upon him by man; and that dark body on earth
    \r\n", + "will be recompensed in a world of light,--it will shine with the
    \r\n", + "brighter spirits of that realm of justice and love. Earth may bring
    \r\n", + "the slavetrader bounties; but heaven will reject the foul offering.\"
    \r\n", + "The good woman unfolds the tender emotions of her heart, as only
    \r\n", + "woman can.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Bob listens, as if taking a deep interest in the force and
    \r\n", + "earnestness of young missus's language. He is swayed by her pathos,
    \r\n", + "and at length interposes his word.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nigger ain't so good as white man\" (he shakes his head,
    \r\n", + "philosophically). \"White man sharp; puzzle nigger to find out what
    \r\n", + "'e don, know ven 'e mind t'.\" Thus saying, he takes a small hymn-
    \r\n", + "book from his pocket, and, Franconia setting the light beside him,
    \r\n", + "commences reading to himself by its dim glare.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! now, uncle, it's getting late, and I've a good way to go, and
    \r\n", + "the night's stormy; so I must prepare for home.\" Franconia gets up,
    \r\n", + "and evinces signs of withdrawing. She walks across the little
    \r\n", + "chamber three or four times, looks out of the window, strains her
    \r\n", + "sight into the gloomy prospect, and then, as if reluctant to leave
    \r\n", + "her uncle, again takes a seat by his side. Gently laying her left
    \r\n", + "hand upon his shoulder, she makes an effort at pleasantry, tells him
    \r\n", + "to keep up his resolution-to be of good cheer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Remember, uncle,\" she says, calmly, \"they tell us it is no disgrace
    \r\n", + "to be poor,--no shame to work to live; and yet poor people are
    \r\n", + "treated as criminals. For my own part, I would rather be poor and
    \r\n", + "happy than rich with a base husband; I have lived in New England,
    \r\n", + "know how to appreciate its domestic happiness. It was there
    \r\n", + "Puritanism founded true American liberty.--Puritanism yet lives, and
    \r\n", + "may be driven to action; but we must resign ourselves to the will of
    \r\n", + "an all-wise Providence.\" Thus concluding, she makes another attempt
    \r\n", + "to withdraw.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You must not leave me yet!\" says Marston, grasping her hand firmly
    \r\n", + "in his. \"Franke, I cannot part with you until I have disclosed what
    \r\n", + "I have been summoning resolution to suppress. I know your
    \r\n", + "attachment, Franconia; you have been more than dear to me. You have
    \r\n", + "known my feelings,--what they have already had to undergo.\" He
    \r\n", + "pauses.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Speak it, uncle, speak it! Keep nothing from me, nor make secrets
    \r\n", + "in fear of my feelings. Speak out,--I may relieve you!\" she
    \r\n", + "interrupts, nervously: and again encircling her arm round his neck,
    \r\n", + "waits his reply, in breathless suspense.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He falters for a moment, and then endeavours to regain his usual
    \r\n", + "coolness. \"To-morrow, Franconia,\" he half mutters out, \"to-morrow,
    \r\n", + "you may find me not so well situated,\" (here tears are seen
    \r\n", + "trickling down his cheeks) \"and in a place where it will not become
    \r\n", + "your delicate nature to visit me.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nay, uncle!\" she stops him there; \"I will visit you wherever you
    \r\n", + "may be-in a castle or a prison.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The word prison has touched the tender chord upon which all his
    \r\n", + "troubles are strung. He sobs audibly; but they are only sobs of
    \r\n", + "regret, for which there is no recompense in this late hour. \"And
    \r\n", + "would you follow me to a prison, Franconia?\" he enquires, throwing
    \r\n", + "his arms about her neck, kissing her pure cheek with the fondness of
    \r\n", + "a father.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yea, and share your sorrows within its cold walls. Do not yield to
    \r\n", + "melancholy, uncle,--you have friends left: if not, heaven will
    \r\n", + "prepare a place of rest for you; heaven shields the unfortunate at
    \r\n", + "last,\" rejoins the good woman, the pearly tears brightening in
    \r\n", + "mutual sympathy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"To-morrow, my child, you will find me the unhappy tenant of those
    \r\n", + "walls where man's discomfiture is complete.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nay, uncle, nay! you are only allowing your melancholy forebodings
    \r\n", + "to get the better of you. Such men as Graspum-men who have stripped
    \r\n", + "families of their all-might take away your property, and leave you
    \r\n", + "as they have left my poor parents; but no one would be so heartless
    \r\n", + "as to drive you to the extreme of imprisonment. It is a foolish
    \r\n", + "result at best.\" Franconia's voice falters; she looks more and more
    \r\n", + "intently in her uncle's face, struggles to suppress her rising
    \r\n", + "emotions. She knows his frankness, she feels the pain of his
    \r\n", + "position; but, though the dreadful extreme seems scarcely possible,
    \r\n", + "there is that in his face conveying strong evidence of the truth of
    \r\n", + "his remark.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Do not weep, Franconia; spare your tears for a more worthy object:
    \r\n", + "such trials have been borne by better men than I. I am but the
    \r\n", + "merchandise of my creditors. There is, however, one thing which
    \r\n", + "haunts me to grief; could I have saved my children, the pain of my
    \r\n", + "position had been slight indeed.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Speak not of them, uncle,\" Franconia interrupts, \"you cannot feel
    \r\n", + "the bitterness of their lot more than myself. I have saved a mother,
    \r\n", + "but have failed to execute my plan of saving them; and my heart
    \r\n", + "throbs with pain when I think that now it is beyond my power. Let me
    \r\n", + "not attempt to again excite in your bosom feelings which must ever
    \r\n", + "be harassing, for the evil only can work its destruction. To clip
    \r\n", + "the poisoning branches and not uproot the succouring trunk, is like
    \r\n", + "casting pearls into the waste of time. My heart will ever be with
    \r\n", + "the destinies of those children, my feelings bound in unison with
    \r\n", + "theirs; our hopes are the same, and if fortune should smile on me in
    \r\n", + "times to come I will keep my word-I will snatch them from the
    \r\n", + "devouring element of slavery.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stop, my child!\" speaks Marston, earnestly: \"Remember you can do
    \r\n", + "little against the strong arm of the law, and still stronger arm of
    \r\n", + "public opinion. Lay aside your hopes of rescuing those children,
    \r\n", + "Franconia, and remember that while I am in prison I am the property
    \r\n", + "of my creditors, subject to their falsely conceived notions of my
    \r\n", + "affairs,\" he continues. \"I cannot now make amends to the law of
    \r\n", + "nature,\" he adds, burying his face in his hand, weeping a child's
    \r\n", + "tears.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia looks solicitously upon her uncle, as he sorrows. She
    \r\n", + "would dry her tears to save his throbbing heart. Her noble
    \r\n", + "generosity and disinterestedness have carried her through many
    \r\n", + "trials since her marriage, but it fails to nerve her longer. Her's
    \r\n", + "is a single-hearted sincerity, dispensing its goodness for the
    \r\n", + "benefit of the needy; she suppresses her own troubles that she may
    \r\n", + "administer consolation to others. \"The affection that refuses to
    \r\n", + "follow misfortune to its lowest step is weak indeed. If you go to
    \r\n", + "prison, Franconia will follow you there,\" she says, with touching
    \r\n", + "pathos, her musical voice adding strength to the resolution. Blended
    \r\n", + "with that soft angelic expression her eyes give forth, her calm
    \r\n", + "dignity and inspiring nobleness show how firm is that principle of
    \r\n", + "her nature never to abandon her old friend.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The old negro, who had seemed absorbed in his sympathetic
    \r\n", + "reflections, gazes steadfastly at his old master, until his emotions
    \r\n", + "spring forth in kindest solicitude. Resistance is beyond his power.
    \r\n", + "\"Neber mind, old mas'r,\" (he speaks in a devoted tone) \"dar's better
    \r\n", + "days comin, bof fo' old Bob and mas'r. Tink 'um sees de day when de
    \r\n", + "old plantation jus so 't was wid mas'r and da' old folks.\"
    \r\n", + "Concluding in a subdued voice, he approaches Franconia, and seats
    \r\n", + "himself, book in hand, on the floor at her feet. Moved by his
    \r\n", + "earnestness, she lays her hand playfully upon his head, saying:
    \r\n", + "\"Here is our truest friend, uncle!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My own heart lubs Miss Frankone more den eber,\" he whispers in
    \r\n", + "return. How pure, how holy, is the simple recompense! It is nature's
    \r\n", + "only offering, all the slave can give; and he gives it in the bounty
    \r\n", + "of his soul.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston's grief having subsided, he attempts to soothe Franconia's
    \r\n", + "feelings, by affecting an air of indifference. \"What need I care,
    \r\n", + "after all? my resolution should be above it,\" he says, thrusting his
    \r\n", + "right hand into his breast pocket, and drawing out a folded paper,
    \r\n", + "which he throws upon the little table, and says, \"There, Franconia,
    \r\n", + "my child! that contains the climax of my unlamented misfortunes;
    \r\n", + "read it: it will show you where my next abode will be-I may be at
    \r\n", + "peace there; and there is consolation at being at peace, even in a
    \r\n", + "cell.\" He passes the paper into her hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "With an expression of surprise she opens it, and glances over its
    \r\n", + "contents; then reads it word by word. \"Do they expect to get
    \r\n", + "something from nothing?\" she says, sarcastically. \"It is one of
    \r\n", + "those soothsayers so valuable to men whose feelings are only with
    \r\n", + "money-to men who forget they cannot carry money to the graves; and
    \r\n", + "that no tribute is demanded on either road leading to the last abode
    \r\n", + "of man.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stop there, my child! stop!\" interrupts Marston. \"I have given them
    \r\n", + "all, 'tis true; but suspicion is my persecutor-suspicion, and trying
    \r\n", + "to be a father to my own children!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It is, indeed, a misfortune to be a father under such
    \r\n", + "circumstances, in such an atmosphere!\" the good woman exclaims,
    \r\n", + "clasping her hands and looking upward, as if imploring the
    \r\n", + "forgiveness of Heaven. Tremblingly she held the paper in her hand,
    \r\n", + "until it fell upon the floor, as she, overcome, swooned in her
    \r\n", + "uncle's arms.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "She swooned! yes, she swooned. That friend upon whom her affections
    \r\n", + "had been concentrated was a prisoner. The paper was a bail writ,
    \r\n", + "demanding the body of the accused. The officer serving had been kind
    \r\n", + "enough to allow Marston his parole of honour until the next morning.
    \r\n", + "He granted this in accordance with Marston's request, that by the
    \r\n", + "lenity he might see Daddy Bob and Franconia once more.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Lifting Franconia in his arms, her hair falling loosely down,
    \r\n", + "Marston lays her gently on the cot, and commences bathing her
    \r\n", + "temples. He has nothing but water to bathe them with,--nothing but
    \r\n", + "poverty's liquid. The old negro, frightened at the sudden change
    \r\n", + "that has come over his young missus, falls to rubbing and kissing
    \r\n", + "her hands,--he has no other aid to lend. Marston has drawn his chair
    \r\n", + "beside her, sits down upon it, unbuttons her stomacher, and
    \r\n", + "continues bathing and chafing her temples. How gently heaves that
    \r\n", + "bosom so full of fondness, how marble-like those features, how
    \r\n", + "pallid but touchingly beautiful that face! Love, affection, and
    \r\n", + "tenderness, there repose so calmly! All that once gave out so much
    \r\n", + "hope, so much joy, now withers before the blighting sting of
    \r\n", + "misfortune. \"Poor child, how fondly she loves me!\" says Marston,
    \r\n", + "placing his right arm under her head, and raising it gently. The
    \r\n", + "motion quickens her senses-she speaks; he kisses her pallid
    \r\n", + "cheek-kisses and kisses it. \"Is it you uncle?\" she whispers. She has
    \r\n", + "opened her eyes, stares at Marston, then wildly along the ceiling.
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, I'm in uncle's arms; how good!\" she continues, as if fatigued.
    \r\n", + "Reclining back on the pillow, she again rests her head upon his arm.
    \r\n", + "\"I am at the mansion-how pleasant; let me rest, uncle; let me rest.
    \r\n", + "Send aunt Rachel to me.\" She raises her right hand and lays her arms
    \r\n", + "about Marston's neck, as anxiously he leans over her. How dear are
    \r\n", + "the associations of that old mansion! how sweet the thought of home!
    \r\n", + "how uppermost in her wandering mind the remembrance of those happy
    \r\n", + "days!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "MARSTON IN PRISON.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WHILE Franconia revives, let us beg the reader's indulgence for not
    \r\n", + "recounting the details thereof. The night continues dark and stormy,
    \r\n", + "but she must return to her own home,--she must soothe the excited
    \r\n", + "feelings of a dissolute and disregarding husband, who, no doubt, is
    \r\n", + "enjoying his night orgies, while she is administering consolation to
    \r\n", + "the downcast. \"Ah! uncle,\" she says, about to take leave of him for
    \r\n", + "the night, \"how with spirit the force of hope fortifies us; and yet
    \r\n", + "how seldom are our expectations realised through what we look
    \r\n", + "forward to! You now see the value of virtue; but when seen through
    \r\n", + "necessity, how vain the repentance. Nevertheless, let us profit by
    \r\n", + "the lesson before us; let us hope the issue may yet be favourable!\"
    \r\n", + "Bob will see his young missus safe home-he will be her guide and
    \r\n", + "protector. So, preparing his cap, he buttons his jacket, laughs and
    \r\n", + "grins with joy, goes to the door, then to the fire-place, and to the
    \r\n", + "door again, where, keeping his left hand on the latch, and his right
    \r\n", + "holding the casement, he bows and scrapes, for \"Missus comin.\"
    \r\n", + "Franconia arranges her dress as best she can, adjusts her bonnet,
    \r\n", + "embraces Marston, imprints a fond kiss on his cheek, reluctantly
    \r\n", + "relinquishes his hand, whispers a last word of consolation, and bids
    \r\n", + "him good night,--a gentle good night-in sorrow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "She has gone, and the old slave is her guide, her human watch-dog.
    \r\n", + "Slowly Marston paces the silent chamber alone, giving vent to his
    \r\n", + "pent-up emotions. What may to-morrow bring forth? runs through his
    \r\n", + "wearied mind. It is but the sudden downfall of life, so inseparable
    \r\n", + "from the planter who rests his hopes on the abundance of his human
    \r\n", + "property. But the slave returns, and relieves him of his musings. He
    \r\n", + "has seen his young missus safe to her door; he has received her kind
    \r\n", + "word, and her good, good night! Entering the chamber with a smile,
    \r\n", + "he sets about clearing away the little things, and, when done, draws
    \r\n", + "his seat close to Marston, at the fire-place. As if quite at home
    \r\n", + "beside his old master, he eyes Marston intently for some time,--seems
    \r\n", + "studying his thoughts and fears. At length the old slave commences
    \r\n", + "disclosing his feelings. His well-worn bones are not worth a large
    \r\n", + "sum; nor are the merits of his worthy age saleable;--no! there is
    \r\n", + "nothing left but his feelings, those genuine virtues so happily
    \r\n", + "illustrated. Daddy Bob will stand by mas'r, as he expresses it, in
    \r\n", + "power or in prison. Kindness has excited all that vanity in Bob so
    \r\n", + "peculiar to the negro, and by which he prides himself in the prime
    \r\n", + "value of his person. There he sits-Marston's faithful friend,
    \r\n", + "contemplating his silence with a steady gaze, and then, giving his
    \r\n", + "jet-black face a double degree of seriousness, shrugs his shoulders,
    \r\n", + "significantly nods his head, and intimates that it will soon be time
    \r\n", + "to retire, by commencing to unboot master.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You seem in a hurry to get rid of me, Daddy! Want to get your own
    \r\n", + "cranium into a pine-knot sleep, eh?\" says Marston, with an
    \r\n", + "encouraging smile, pulling the old slave's whiskers in a playful
    \r\n", + "manner.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, Boss; 'tant dat,\" returns Bob, keeping on tugging at Marston's
    \r\n", + "boots until he has got them from his feet, and safely stowed away in
    \r\n", + "a corner. A gentle hint that he is all ready to relieve Marston of
    \r\n", + "his upper garments brings him to his feet, when Bob commences upon
    \r\n", + "him in right good earnest, and soon has him stowed away between the
    \r\n", + "sheets. \"Bob neber likes to hurry old Boss, but den 'e kno' what's
    \r\n", + "on old Mas'r's feelins, an 'e kno' dat sleep make 'um forget 'um!\"
    \r\n", + "rejoins Bob, in a half whisper that caught Marston's ear, as he
    \r\n", + "patted and fussed about his pillow, in order to make him as
    \r\n", + "comfortable as circumstances would admit. After this he extinguishes
    \r\n", + "the light, and, accustomed to a slave's bed, lumbers himself down on
    \r\n", + "the floor beside his master's cot. Thus, watchfully, he spends the
    \r\n", + "night.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "When morning dawned, Bob was in the full enjoyment of what the negro
    \r\n", + "so pertinently calls a long and strong sleep. He cannot resist its
    \r\n", + "soothing powers, nor will master disturb him in its enjoyment.
    \r\n", + "Before breakfast-time arrives, however, he arouses with a loud
    \r\n", + "guffaw, looks round the room vacantly, as if he were doubting the
    \r\n", + "presence of things about him. Rising to his knees, he rubs his eyes
    \r\n", + "languidly, yawns, and stretches his arms, scratches his head, and
    \r\n", + "suddenly gets a glimpse of old master, who is already dressed, and
    \r\n", + "sits by the window, his attention intently set upon some object
    \r\n", + "without. The old slave recognises the same chamber from which he
    \r\n", + "guided Franconia on the night before, and, after saluting mas'r,
    \r\n", + "sets about arranging the domestic affairs of the apartment, and
    \r\n", + "preparing the breakfast table, the breakfast being cooked at Aunt
    \r\n", + "Beckie's cabin, in the yard. Aunt Beckie had the distinguished
    \r\n", + "satisfaction of knowing Marston in his better days, and now esteems
    \r\n", + "it an honour to serve him, even in his poverty. Always happy to
    \r\n", + "inform her friends that she was brought up a first-rate pastry-cook,
    \r\n", + "she now adds, with great satisfaction, that she pays her owner, the
    \r\n", + "very Reverend Mr. Thomas Tippletony, the ever-pious rector of St.
    \r\n", + "Michael's, no end of money for her time, and makes a good profit at
    \r\n", + "her business beside. Notwithstanding she has a large family of
    \r\n", + "bright children to maintain in a respectable way, she hopes for a
    \r\n", + "continuance of their patronage, and will give the best terms her
    \r\n", + "limited means admit. She knows how very necessary it is for a
    \r\n", + "southern gentleman who would be anybody to keep up appearances, and,
    \r\n", + "with little means, to make a great display: hence she is very easy
    \r\n", + "in matters of payment. In Marston's case, she is extremely proud to
    \r\n", + "render him service,--to \"do for him\" as far as she can, and wait a
    \r\n", + "change for the better concerning any balance outstanding.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Bob fetches the breakfast of coffee, fritters, homony, and bacon,--a
    \r\n", + "very good breakfast it is, considering the circumstances,--and
    \r\n", + "spreads the little rustic board with an air of comfort and neatness
    \r\n", + "complimentary to the old slave's taste. And, withal, the old man
    \r\n", + "cannot forego the inherent vanity of his nature, for he is,
    \r\n", + "unconsciously, performing all the ceremonies of attendance he has
    \r\n", + "seen Dandy and his satellites go through at the plantation mansion.
    \r\n", + "He fusses and grins, and praises and laughs, as he sets the dishes
    \r\n", + "down one by one, keeping a watchful eye on mas'r, as if to detect an
    \r\n", + "approval in his countenance. \"Reckon 'ow dis old nigger can fix old
    \r\n", + "Boss up aristocratic breakfast like Dandy. Now, Boss-da'h he is!\" he
    \r\n", + "says, whisking round the table, setting the cups just so, and
    \r\n", + "spreading himself with exultation. \"Want to see master smile-laugh
    \r\n", + "some-like 'e used down on da'h old plantation!\" he ejaculates,
    \r\n", + "emphatically, placing a chair at Marston's plate. This done, he
    \r\n", + "accompanies his best bow with a scrape of his right foot, spreads
    \r\n", + "his hands,--the gesture being the signal of readiness. Marston takes
    \r\n", + "his chair, as Bob affects the compound dignity of the very best
    \r\n", + "trained nigger, doing the distinguished in waiting.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A little less ceremony, my old faithful! the small follies of
    \r\n", + "etiquette ill become such a place as this. We must succumb to
    \r\n", + "circumstances: come, sit down, Bob; draw your bench to the chest,
    \r\n", + "and there eat your share, while I wait on myself,\" says Marston,
    \r\n", + "touching Bob on the arm. The words were no sooner uttered, than
    \r\n", + "Bob's countenance changed from the playful to the serious; he could
    \r\n", + "see nothing but dignity in master, no matter in what sphere he might
    \r\n", + "be placed. His simple nature recoils at the idea of dispensing with
    \r\n", + "the attention due from slave to master. Master's fallen fortunes,
    \r\n", + "and the cheerless character of the chamber, are nothing to Daddy-
    \r\n", + "master must keep up his dignity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You need'nt look so serious, Daddy; it only gives an extra shade to
    \r\n", + "your face, already black enough for any immediate purpose!\" says
    \r\n", + "Marston, turning round and smiling at the old slave's discomfiture.
    \r\n", + "To make amends, master takes a plate from the table, and gives Bob a
    \r\n", + "share of his homony and bacon. This is very pleasing to the old
    \r\n", + "slave, who regains his wonted earnestness, takes the plate politely
    \r\n", + "from his master's hand, retires with it to the chest, and keeps up a
    \r\n", + "regular fire of chit-chat while dispensing its contents. In this
    \r\n", + "humble apartment, master and slave-the former once opulent, and the
    \r\n", + "latter still warm with attachment for his friend-are happily
    \r\n", + "companioned. They finish their breakfast,--a long pause intervenes.
    \r\n", + "\"I would I were beyond the bounds of this our south,\" says Marston,
    \r\n", + "breaking the silence, as he draws his chair and seats himself by the
    \r\n", + "window, where he can look out upon the dingy little houses in the
    \r\n", + "lane.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The unhappy man feels the burden of a misspent life; he cannot
    \r\n", + "recall the past, nor make amends for its errors. But, withal, it is
    \r\n", + "some relief that he can disclose his feelings to the old man, his
    \r\n", + "slave.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mas'r,\" interrupts the old slave, looking complacently in his face,
    \r\n", + "\"Bob 'll fowler ye, and be de same old friend. I will walk behind
    \r\n", + "Miss Frankone.\" His simple nature seems warming into fervency.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! old man,\" returns Marston, \"if there be a wish (you may go
    \r\n", + "before me, though) I have on earth, it is that when I die our graves
    \r\n", + "may be side by side, with an epitaph to denote master, friend, and
    \r\n", + "faithful servant lie here.\" He takes the old man by the hand again,
    \r\n", + "as the tears drop from his cheeks. \"A prison is but a grave to the
    \r\n", + "man of honourable feelings,\" he concludes. Thus disclosing his
    \r\n", + "feelings, a rap at the door announces a messenger. It is nine
    \r\n", + "o'clock, and immediately the sheriff, a gentlemanly-looking man,
    \r\n", + "wearing the insignia of office on his hat, walks in, and politely
    \r\n", + "intimates that, painful as may be the duty, he must request his
    \r\n", + "company to the county gaol, that place so accommodatingly prepared
    \r\n", + "for the reception of unfortunates.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sorry for your misfortunes, sir! but we'll try to make you as
    \r\n", + "comfortable as we can in our place.\" The servitor of the law seems
    \r\n", + "to have some sympathy in him. \"I have my duty to perform, you know,
    \r\n", + "sir; nevertheless, I have my opinion about imprisoning honest men
    \r\n", + "for debt: it's a poor satisfaction, sir. I'm only an officer, you
    \r\n", + "see, sir, not a law-maker-never want to be, sir. I very much dislike
    \r\n", + "to execute these kind of writs,\" says the man of the law, as, with
    \r\n", + "an expression of commiseration, he glances round the room, and then
    \r\n", + "at Daddy, who has made preparations for a sudden dodge, should such
    \r\n", + "an expedient be found necessary.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nay, sheriff, think nothing of it; it's but a thing of common
    \r\n", + "life,--it may befall us all. I can be no exception to the rule, and
    \r\n", + "may console myself with the knowledge of companionship,\" replies
    \r\n", + "Marston, as coolly as if he were preparing for a journey of
    \r\n", + "pleasure.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "How true it is, that, concealed beneath the smallest things, there
    \r\n", + "is a consolation which necessity may bring out: how Providence has
    \r\n", + "suited it to our misfortunes!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There are a few things here-a very few-I should like to take to my
    \r\n", + "cell; perhaps I can send for them,\" he remarks, looking at the
    \r\n", + "officer, enquiringly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My name is Martin-Captain Martin, they call me,\"-returns that
    \r\n", + "functionary, politely. \"If you accept my word of honour, I pledge it
    \r\n", + "they are taken care of, and sent to your apartments.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You mean my new lodging-house, or my new grave, I suppose,\"
    \r\n", + "interrupted Marston, jocosely, pointing out to Daddy the few
    \r\n", + "articles of bedding, chairs, and a window-curtain he desired
    \r\n", + "removed. Daddy has been pensively standing by the fire-place the
    \r\n", + "while, contemplating the scene.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston soon announces his readiness to proceed; and, followed by
    \r\n", + "the old slave, the officer leads the way down the ricketty old
    \r\n", + "stairs to the street. \"I's gwine t'see whar dey takes old mas'r, any
    \r\n", + "how, reckon I is,\" says the old slave, giving his head a significant
    \r\n", + "turn.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, sir,\" interrupts the officer, as they arrive at the bottom of
    \r\n", + "the stairs, \"perhaps you have a delicacy about going through the
    \r\n", + "street with a sheriff; many men have: therefore I shall confide in
    \r\n", + "your honour, sir, and shall give you the privilege of proceeding to
    \r\n", + "the gaol as best suits your feelings. I never allow myself to follow
    \r\n", + "the will of creditors; if I did, my duties would be turned into a
    \r\n", + "system of tyranny, to gratify their feelings only. Now, you may take
    \r\n", + "a carriage, or walk; only meet me at the prison gate.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Thanks, thanks!\" returns Marston, grateful for the officer's
    \r\n", + "kindness, \"my crime is generosity; you need not fear me. My old
    \r\n", + "faithful here will guide me along.\" The officer bows assent, and
    \r\n", + "with a respectful wave of the hand they separate to pursue different
    \r\n", + "routes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston walks slowly along, Bob keeping pace close behind. He passes
    \r\n", + "many of his old acquaintances, who, in better times, would have
    \r\n", + "recognised him with a cordial embrace; at present they have scarcely
    \r\n", + "a nod to spare. Marston, however, is firm in his resolution, looks
    \r\n", + "not on one side nor the other, and reaches the prison-gate in good
    \r\n", + "time. The officer has reached it in advance, and waits him there.
    \r\n", + "They pause a few moments as Marston scans the frowning wall that
    \r\n", + "encloses the gloomy-looking old prison. \"I am ready to go in,\" says
    \r\n", + "Marston; and just as they are about to enter the arched gate, the
    \r\n", + "old slave touches him on the arm, and says, \"Mas'r, dat's no place
    \r\n", + "fo'h Bob. Can't stand seein' on ye locked up wid sich folks as in
    \r\n", + "dah!\" Solicitously he looks in his master's face. The man of trouble
    \r\n", + "grasps firmly the old slave's hand, holds it in silence for some
    \r\n", + "minutes-the officer, moved by the touching scene, turns his head
    \r\n", + "away-as tears course down his cheeks. He has no words to speak the
    \r\n", + "emotions of his heart; he shakes the old man's hand affectionately,
    \r\n", + "attempts to whisper a word in his ear, but is too deeply affected.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Good by, mas'r: may God bless 'um! Ther's a place fo'h old mas'r
    \r\n", + "yet. I'll com t' see mas'r every night,\" says the old man, his words
    \r\n", + "flowing from the bounty of his heart. He turns away reluctantly,
    \r\n", + "draws his hand from Marston's, heaves a sigh, and repairs to his
    \r\n", + "labour. How precious was that labour of love, wherein the old slave
    \r\n", + "toils that he may share the proceeds with his master!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As Marston and the sheriff disappear through the gate, and are about
    \r\n", + "to ascend the large stone steps leading to the portal in which is
    \r\n", + "situated the inner iron gate opening into the debtors' ward, the
    \r\n", + "sheriff made a halt, and, placing his arm in a friendly manner
    \r\n", + "through Marston's, enquires, \"Anything I can do for you? If there
    \r\n", + "is, just name it. Pardon my remark, sir, but you will, in all
    \r\n", + "probability, take the benefit of the act; and, as no person seems
    \r\n", + "willing to sign your bail, I may do something to relieve your wants,
    \r\n", + "in my humble way.\" Marston shakes his head; the kindness impedes an
    \r\n", + "expression of his feelings. \"A word of advice from me, however, may
    \r\n", + "not be without its effect, and I will give it you; it is this:--Your
    \r\n", + "earnestness to save those two children, and the singular manner in
    \r\n", + "which those slave drudges of Graspum produced the documentary
    \r\n", + "testimony showing them property, has created wondrous suspicion
    \r\n", + "about your affairs. I will here say, Graspum's no friend of yours;
    \r\n", + "in fact, he's a friend to nobody but himself; and even now, when
    \r\n", + "questioned on the manner of possessing all your real estate, he
    \r\n", + "gives out insinuations, which, instead of exonerating you, create a
    \r\n", + "still worse impression against you. His conversation on the matter
    \r\n", + "leaves the inference with your creditors that you have still more
    \r\n", + "property secreted. Hence, mark me! it behoves you to keep close
    \r\n", + "lips. Don't let your right hand know what your left does,\" continues
    \r\n", + "the officer, in a tone of friendliness. They ascend to the iron
    \r\n", + "gate, look through the grating. The officer, giving a whistle, rings
    \r\n", + "the bell by touching a spring in the right-hand wall. \"My lot at
    \r\n", + "last!\" exclaims Marston. \"How many poor unfortunates have passed
    \r\n", + "this threshold-how many times the emotions of the heart have burst
    \r\n", + "forth on this spot-how many have here found a gloomy rest from their
    \r\n", + "importuners-how many have here whiled away precious time in a gloomy
    \r\n", + "cell, provided for the punishment of poverty!\" The disowned man, for
    \r\n", + "such he is, struggles to retain his resolution; fain would he,
    \r\n", + "knowing the price of that resolution, repress those sensations
    \r\n", + "threatening to overwhelm him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The brusque gaoler appears at the iron gate; stands his burly figure
    \r\n", + "in the portal; nods recognition to the officer; swings back the iron
    \r\n", + "frame, as a number of motley prisoners gather into a semicircle in
    \r\n", + "the passage. \"Go back, prisoners; don't stare so at every new
    \r\n", + "comer,\" says the gaoler, clearing the way with his hands extended.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "One or two of the locked-up recognise Marston. They lisp strange
    \r\n", + "remarks, drawn forth by his appearance in charge of an officer. \"Big
    \r\n", + "as well as little fish bring up here,\" ejaculates one.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Where are his worshippers and his hospitable friends?\" whispers
    \r\n", + "another.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's not much hospitality for poverty,\" rejoins a third,
    \r\n", + "mutteringly. \"Southern hospitality is unsound, shallow, and flimsy;
    \r\n", + "a little dazzling of observances to cover very bad facts. You are
    \r\n", + "sure to find a people who maintain the grossest errors in their
    \r\n", + "political system laying the greatest claims to benevolence and
    \r\n", + "principle-things to which they never had a right. The phantom of
    \r\n", + "hospitality draws the curtain over many a vice-it is a well-told
    \r\n", + "nothingness ornamenting the beggared system of your slavery; that's
    \r\n", + "my honest opinion,\" says a third, in a gruff voice, which indicates
    \r\n", + "that he has no very choice opinion of such generosity. \"If they want
    \r\n", + "a specimen of true hospitality, they must go to New England; there
    \r\n", + "the poor man's offering stocks the garden of liberty, happiness, and
    \r\n", + "justice; and from them spring the living good of all,\" he concludes;
    \r\n", + "and folding his arms with an air of independence, walks up the long
    \r\n", + "passage running at right angles with the entrance portal, and
    \r\n", + "disappears in a cell on the left.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I knew him when he was great on the turf. He was very distinguished
    \r\n", + "then.\" \"He'll be extinguished here,\" insinuates another, as he
    \r\n", + "protrudes his eager face over the shoulders of those who are again
    \r\n", + "crowding round the office-door, Marston and the officer having
    \r\n", + "entered following the gaoler.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The sheriff passes the committimus to the man of keys; that
    \r\n", + "functionary takes his seat at a small desk, while Marston stands by
    \r\n", + "its side, watching the process of his prison reception, in silence.
    \r\n", + "The gaoler reads the commitment, draws a book deliberately from off
    \r\n", + "a side window, spreads it open on his desk, and commences humming an
    \r\n", + "air. \"Pootty smart sums, eh!\" he says, looking up at the sheriff, as
    \r\n", + "he holds a quill in his left hand, and feels with the fingers of his
    \r\n", + "right for a knife, which, he observes, he always keeps in his right
    \r\n", + "vest pocket. \"We have a poor debtor's calendar for registering these
    \r\n", + "things. I do these things different from other gaolers, and it loses
    \r\n", + "me nothin'. I goes on the true principle, that 'tant right to put
    \r\n", + "criminals and debtors together; and if the state hasn't made
    \r\n", + "provision for keeping them in different cells, I makes a difference
    \r\n", + "on the books, and that's somethin'. Helps the feelins over the
    \r\n", + "smarting point,\" says the benevolent keeper of all such troublesome
    \r\n", + "persons as won't pay their debts;--as if the monstrous concentration
    \r\n", + "of his amiability, in keeping separate books for the criminal and
    \r\n", + "poverty-stricken gentlemen of his establishment, must be duly
    \r\n", + "appreciated. Marston, particularly, is requested to take the
    \r\n", + "initiative, he being the most aristocratic fish the gaoler has
    \r\n", + "caught in a long time. But the man has made his pen, and now he
    \r\n", + "registers Marston's name among the state's forlorn gentlemen,
    \r\n", + "commonly called poor debtors. They always confess themselves in
    \r\n", + "dependent circumstances. Endorsing the commitment, he returns it to
    \r\n", + "the sheriff, who will keep the original carefully filed away in his
    \r\n", + "own well-stocked department. The sheriff will bid his prisoner good
    \r\n", + "morning! having reminded the gaoler what good care it was desirable
    \r\n", + "to take of his guest; and, extending his hand and shaking that of
    \r\n", + "Marston warmly, takes his departure, whilst our gaoler leads Marston
    \r\n", + "into an almost empty cell, where he hopes he will find things
    \r\n", + "comfortable, and leaves him to contemplate upon the fallen fruit of
    \r\n", + "poverty. \"Come to this, at last!\" said Marston, entering the
    \r\n", + "cavern-like place.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "VENDERS OF HUMAN PROPERTY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS MENTAL
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CAPRICES.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "READER! be patient with us, for our task is complex and tedious. We
    \r\n", + "have but one great object in view-that of showing a large number of
    \r\n", + "persons in the south, now held as slaves, who are by the laws of the
    \r\n", + "land, as well as the laws of nature, entitled to their freedom.
    \r\n", + "These people, for whom, in the name of justice and every offspring
    \r\n", + "of human right, we plead, were consigned to the bondage they now
    \r\n", + "endure through the unrighteous act of one whose name (instead of
    \r\n", + "being execrated by a nation jealous of its honour), a singular
    \r\n", + "species of southern historian has attempted to enshrine with fame.
    \r\n", + "Posterity, ignorant of his character, will find his name clothed
    \r\n", + "with a paragon's armour, while respecting the writer who so cleverly
    \r\n", + "with a pen obliterated his crimes. We have only feelings of pity for
    \r\n", + "the historian who discards truth thus to pollute paper with his
    \r\n", + "kindness; such debts due to friendship are badly paid at the shrine
    \r\n", + "of falsehood. No such debts do we owe; we shall perform our duty
    \r\n", + "fearlessly, avoiding dramatic effect, or aught else that may tend to
    \r\n", + "improperly excite the feelings of the benevolent. No one better
    \r\n", + "knows the defects of our social system-no one feels more forcibly
    \r\n", + "that much to be lamented fact of there being no human law extant not
    \r\n", + "liable to be evaded or weakened by the intrigues of designing
    \r\n", + "men;--we know of no power reposed in man the administration of which
    \r\n", + "is not susceptible of abuse, or being turned to means of oppression:
    \r\n", + "how much more exposed, then, must all these functions be where
    \r\n", + "slavery in its popular sway rides triumphant over the common law of
    \r\n", + "the land. Divine laws are with impunity disregarded and abused by
    \r\n", + "anointed teachers of divinity. Peculation, in sumptuous garb, and
    \r\n", + "with modern appliances, finds itself modestly-perhaps
    \r\n", + "unconsciously-gathering dross at the sacred altar. How saint-like in
    \r\n", + "semblance, and how unconscious of wrong, are ye bishops (holy ones,
    \r\n", + "scarce of earth, in holy lawn) in that land of freedom where the
    \r\n", + "slave's chains fall ere his foot pads its soil! how calmly resigned
    \r\n", + "the freemen who yield to the necessity of making strong the altar
    \r\n", + "with the sword of state! How, in the fulness of an expansive soul,
    \r\n", + "these little ones, in lawn so white, spurn the unsanctified
    \r\n", + "spoiler-themselves neck-deep in the very coffers of covetousness the
    \r\n", + "while! How to their christian spirit it seems ordained they should
    \r\n", + "see a people's ekeings serve their rolling in wealth and luxury!
    \r\n", + "and, yet, let no man question their walking in the ways of a meek
    \r\n", + "and lowly Saviour-that Redeemer of mankind whose seamless garb no
    \r\n", + "man purchaseth with the rights of his fellow. Complacently innocent
    \r\n", + "of themselves, they would have us join their flock and follow
    \r\n", + "them,--their pious eyes seeing only heavenly objects to be gained,
    \r\n", + "and their pure hearts beating in heavy throbs for the wicked turmoil
    \r\n", + "of our common world. Pardon us, brother of the flesh, say they, in
    \r\n", + "saintly whispers,--it is all for the Church and Christ. Boldly
    \r\n", + "fortified with sanctimony, they hurl back the shafts of reform, and
    \r\n", + "ask to live on sumptuously, as the only sought recompense for their
    \r\n", + "christian love. Pious infallibility! how blind, to see not the
    \r\n", + "crime!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Reader! excuse the diversion, and accompany us while we retrace our
    \r\n", + "steps to where we left the loquacious Mr. M'Fadden, recovered from
    \r\n", + "the fear of death, which had been produced by whiskey in draughts
    \r\n", + "too strong. In company with a numerous party, he is just returning
    \r\n", + "from an unsuccessful search for his lost preacher. They have scoured
    \r\n", + "the lawns, delved the morasses, penetrated thick jungles of brakes,
    \r\n", + "driven the cypress swamps, and sent the hounds through places
    \r\n", + "seemingly impossible for human being to seclude himself, and where
    \r\n", + "only the veteran rattlesnake would seek to lay his viperous head. No
    \r\n", + "preacher have they found. They utter vile imprecations on his head,
    \r\n", + "pit him \"a common nigger,\" declare he has just learned enough, in
    \r\n", + "his own crooked way, to be dubious property-good, if a man can keep
    \r\n", + "him at minister business.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mine host of the Inn feels assured, if he be hiding among the swamp
    \r\n", + "jungle, the snakes and alligators will certainly drive him out: an
    \r\n", + "indisputable fact this, inasmuch as alligators and snakes hate
    \r\n", + "niggers. M'Fadden affirms solemnly, that the day he bought that
    \r\n", + "clergyman was one of the unlucky days of his life; and he positively
    \r\n", + "regrets ever having been a politician, or troubling his head about
    \r\n", + "the southern-rights question. The party gather round the front
    \r\n", + "stoop, and are what is termed in southern parlance \"tuckered out.\"
    \r\n", + "They are equally well satisfied of having done their duty to the
    \r\n", + "state and a good cause. Dogs, their tails drooping, sneak to their
    \r\n", + "kennels, horses reek with foam, the human dogs will \"liquor\" long
    \r\n", + "and strong.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Tisn't such prime stock, after all!\" says M'Fadden, entering the
    \r\n", + "veranda, reeking with mud and perspiration: \"after a third attempt
    \r\n", + "we had as well give it up.\" He shakes his head, and then strikes his
    \r\n", + "whip on the floor. \"I'll stand shy about buying a preacher, another
    \r\n", + "time,\" he continues; like a man, much against his will, forced to
    \r\n", + "give up a prize.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The crackers and wire-grass men (rude sons of the sand hills), take
    \r\n", + "the matter more philosophically,--probably under the impression that
    \r\n", + "to keep quiet will be to \"bring the nigger out\" where he may be
    \r\n", + "caught and the reward secured. Two hundred dollars is a sum for
    \r\n", + "which they would not scruple to sacrifice life; but they have three
    \r\n", + "gods-whiskey, ignorance, and idleness, any one of which can easily
    \r\n", + "gain a mastery over their faculties.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. M'Fadden requests that his friends will all come into the
    \r\n", + "bar-room-all jolly fellows; which, when done, he orders mine host to
    \r\n", + "supply as much \"good strong stuff\" as will warm up their spirits.
    \r\n", + "He, however, will first take a glass himself, that he may drink all
    \r\n", + "their very good healths. This compliment paid, he finds himself
    \r\n", + "pacing up and down, and across the room, now and then casting
    \r\n", + "suspicious glances at the notice of reward, as if questioning the
    \r\n", + "policy of offering so large an amount. But sundown is close upon
    \r\n", + "them, and as the bar-room begins to fill up again, each new-comer
    \r\n", + "anxiously enquires the result of the last search,--which only serves
    \r\n", + "to increase the disappointed gentleman's excitement. The affair has
    \r\n", + "been unnecessarily expensive, for, in addition to the loss of his
    \r\n", + "preacher, the price of whom is no very inconsiderable sum, he finds
    \r\n", + "a vexatious bill running up against him at the bar. The friendship
    \r\n", + "of those who have sympathised with him, and have joined him in the
    \r\n", + "exhilarating sport of man-hunting, must be repaid with swimming
    \r\n", + "drinks. Somewhat celebrated for economy, his friends are surprised
    \r\n", + "to find him, on this occasion, rather inclined to extend the
    \r\n", + "latitude of his liberality. His keen eye, however, soon detects, to
    \r\n", + "his sudden surprise, that the hunters are not alone enjoying his
    \r\n", + "liberality, but that every new comer, finding the drinks provided at
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's expense, has no objection to join in drinking his health;
    \r\n", + "to which he would have no sort of an objection, but for the cost.
    \r\n", + "Like all men suffering from the effect of sudden loss, he begins to
    \r\n", + "consider the means of economising by which he may repay the loss of
    \r\n", + "the preacher. \"I say, Squire!\" he ejaculates, suddenly stopping
    \r\n", + "short in one of his walks, and beckoning mine host aside, \"That
    \r\n", + "won't do, it won't! It's a coming too tough, I tell you!\" he says,
    \r\n", + "shaking his head, and touching mine host significantly on the arm.
    \r\n", + "\"A fellow what's lost his property in this shape don't feel like
    \r\n", + "drinkin everybody on whiskey what costs as much as your 'bright
    \r\n", + "eye.' You see, every feller what's comin in's 'takin' at my expense,
    \r\n", + "and claiming friendship on the strength on't. It don't pay, Squire!
    \r\n", + "just stop it, won't ye?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mine host immediately directs the bar-keeper, with a sign and a
    \r\n", + "whisper:--\"No more drinks at M'Fadden's score, 'cept to two or three
    \r\n", + "o' the most harristocratic.\" He must not announce the discontinuance
    \r\n", + "openly; it will insult the feelings of the friendly people, many of
    \r\n", + "whom anticipate a feast of drinks commensurate with their services
    \r\n", + "and Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden's distinguished position in political
    \r\n", + "life. Were they, the magnanimous people, informed of this sudden
    \r\n", + "shutting off of their supplies, the man who had just enjoyed their
    \r\n", + "flattering encomiums would suddenly find himself plentifully
    \r\n", + "showered with epithets a tyrant slave-dealer could scarcely endure.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Calling mine host into a little room opening from the bar, he takes
    \r\n", + "him by the arm,--intimates his desire to have a consultation on the
    \r\n", + "state of his affairs, and the probable whereabouts of his
    \r\n", + "divine:--\"You see, this is all the thanks I get for my kindness (he
    \r\n", + "spreads his hands and shrugs his shoulders.) A northern man may do
    \r\n", + "what he pleases for southern rights, and it's just the same; he
    \r\n", + "never gets any thanks for it. These sort o' fellers isn't to be
    \r\n", + "sneered at when a body wants to carry a political end,\" he adds,
    \r\n", + "touching mine host modestly on the shoulder, and giving him a
    \r\n", + "quizzing look, \"but ye can't make 'um behave mannerly towards
    \r\n", + "respectable people, such as you and me is. But 'twould'nt do to give
    \r\n", + "'um edukation, for they'd just spile society-they would! Ain't my
    \r\n", + "ideas logical, now, squire?\" Mr. M'Fadden's mind seems soaring away
    \r\n", + "among the generalities of state.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well!\" returns mine host, prefacing the importance of his opinion
    \r\n", + "with an imprecation, \"I'm fixed a'tween two fires; so I can't say
    \r\n", + "what would be square policy in affairs of state. One has feelins
    \r\n", + "different on these things: I depends a deal on what our big folks
    \r\n", + "say in the way of setting examples. And, too, what can you expect
    \r\n", + "when this sort a ruff-scuff forms the means of raising their
    \r\n", + "political positions; but, they are customers of mine,--have made my
    \r\n", + "success in tavern-keeping!\" he concludes, in an earnest whisper.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, squire!\" M'Fadden places his hand in mine host's arm, and
    \r\n", + "looks at him seriously: \"What 'bout that ar nigger preacher gittin
    \r\n", + "off so? No way t' find it out, eh squire?\" M'Fadden enquires, with
    \r\n", + "great seriousness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can't tell how on earth the critter did the thing; looked like
    \r\n", + "peaceable property when he went to be locked up, did!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I think somebody's responsible for him, squire?\" interrupts
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden, watching the changes of the other's countenance: \"seems
    \r\n", + "how I heard ye say ye'd take the risk-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No,--no,--no!\" rejoins the other, quickly; \"that never will do. I
    \r\n", + "never receipt for nigger property, never hold myself responsible to
    \r\n", + "the customers, and never run any risks about their niggers. You
    \r\n", + "forget, my friend, that whatever shadow of a claim you had on me by
    \r\n", + "law was invalidated by your own act.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My own act?\" interrupts the disappointed man. \"How by my own act?
    \r\n", + "explain yourself!\" suddenly allowing his feelings to become excited.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sending for him to come to your bedside and pray for you. It was
    \r\n", + "when you thought Mr. Jones, the gentleman with the horns, stood over
    \r\n", + "you with a warrant in his hand,\" mine host whispers in his ear,
    \r\n", + "shrugging his shoulders, and giving his face a quizzical expression.
    \r\n", + "\"You appreciated the mental of the property then; but now you view
    \r\n", + "it as a decided defect.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The disappointed gentleman remains silent for a few moments. He is
    \r\n", + "deeply impressed with the anomaly of his case, but has not the
    \r\n", + "slightest objection to fasten the responsibility on somebody, never
    \r\n", + "for a moment supposing the law would interpose against the exercise
    \r\n", + "of his very best inclinations. He hopes God will bless him, says it
    \r\n", + "is always his luck; yet he cannot relinquish the idea of somebody
    \r\n", + "being responsible. He will know more about the preaching rascal's
    \r\n", + "departure. Turning to mine host of the inn: \"But, you must have a
    \r\n", + "clue to him, somewhere?\" he says, enquiringly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's my woman; can see if she knows anything about the nigger!\"
    \r\n", + "returns mine host, complacently. Ellen Juvarna is brought into the
    \r\n", + "presence of the injured man, who interrogates her with great care;
    \r\n", + "but all her disclosures only tend to throw a greater degree of
    \r\n", + "mystery over the whole affair. At this, Mr. M'Fadden declares that
    \r\n", + "the policy he has always maintained with reference to education is
    \r\n", + "proved true with the preacher's running away. Nigger property should
    \r\n", + "never be perverted by learning; though, if you could separate the
    \r\n", + "nigger from the preaching part of the property, it might do some
    \r\n", + "good, for preaching was at times a good article to distribute among
    \r\n", + "certain slaves \"what had keen instincts.\" At times, nevertheless, it
    \r\n", + "would make them run away. Ellen knew Harry as a good slave, a good
    \r\n", + "man, a good Christian, sound in his probity, not at all inclined to
    \r\n", + "be roguish,--as most niggers are--a little given to drink, but never
    \r\n", + "bad-tempered. Her honest opinion is that such a pattern of worthy
    \r\n", + "nature and moral firmness would not disgrace itself by running away,
    \r\n", + "unless induced by white \"Buckra.\" She thinks she heard a lumbering
    \r\n", + "and shuffling somewhere about the pen, shortly after midnight. It
    \r\n", + "might have been wolves, however. To all this Mr. M'Fadden listens
    \r\n", + "with marked attention. Now and then he interposes a word, to gratify
    \r\n", + "some new idea swelling his brain. There is nothing satisfactory yet:
    \r\n", + "he turns the matter over and over in his mind, looks Ellen
    \r\n", + "steadfastly in the face, and watches the movement of every muscle.
    \r\n", + "\"Ah!\" he sighs, \"nothing new developing.\" He dismissed the wench,
    \r\n", + "and turns to mine host of the inn. \"Now, squire, (one minute mine
    \r\n", + "host is squire, and the next Mr. Jones) tell ye what 'tis; thar's
    \r\n", + "roguery goin on somewhere among them ar' fellers--them sharpers in
    \r\n", + "the city, I means! (he shakes his head knowingly, and buttons his
    \r\n", + "light sack-coat round him). That's a good gal, isn't she?\" he
    \r\n", + "enquires, drawing his chair somewhat closer, his hard face assuming
    \r\n", + "great seriousness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mine host gives an affirmative nod, and says, \"Nothin shorter! Can
    \r\n", + "take her word on a turn of life or death. Tip top gal, that! Paid a
    \r\n", + "price for her what u'd make ye wink, I reckon.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's just what I wanted to know,\" he interrupts, suddenly
    \r\n", + "grasping the hand of his friend. \"Ye see how I'se a little of a
    \r\n", + "philosopher, a tall politician, and a major in the brigade down our
    \r\n", + "district,--I didn't get my law akermin for nothin; and now I jist
    \r\n", + "discovers how somebody-I mean some white somebody-has had a hand in
    \r\n", + "helpin that ar' nig' preacher to run off. Cus'd critters! never know
    \r\n", + "nothing till some white nigger fills their heads with roguery.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Say, my worthy M'Fadden,\" interrupts the publican, rising suddenly
    \r\n", + "from his seat, as if some new discovery had just broke forth in his
    \r\n", + "mind, \"war'nt that boy sold under a warrant?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Warranted-warranted-warranted sound in every particular? That he
    \r\n", + "was. Just think of this, squire; you're a knowin one. It takes you!
    \r\n", + "I never thought on't afore, and have had all my nervousness for
    \r\n", + "nothin. Warranted sound in every particular, means-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A moment!\" mine host interposes, suddenly: \"there's a keen point of
    \r\n", + "law there; but it might be twisted to some account, if a body only
    \r\n", + "had the right sort of a lawyer to twist it.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The perplexed man rejoins by hoping he may not be interrupted just
    \r\n", + "at this moment. He is just getting the point of it straight in his
    \r\n", + "mind. \"You see,\" he says, \"the thing begun to dissolve itself in my
    \r\n", + "philosophy, and by that I discovered the pint the whole thing stands
    \r\n", + "on. Its entirely metaphysical, though,\" he says, with a significant
    \r\n", + "shake of the head. He laughs at his discovery; his father, long
    \r\n", + "since, told him he was exceedingly clever. Quite a match for the
    \r\n", + "publican in all matters requiring a comprehensive mind, he declares
    \r\n", + "there are few lawyers his equal at penetrating into points. \"He
    \r\n", + "warranted him in every particular,\" he mutters, as mine host,
    \r\n", + "watching his seriousness, endeavours to suppress a smile. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "makes a most learned motion of the fore finger of the right hand,
    \r\n", + "which he presses firmly into the palm of his left, while contracting
    \r\n", + "his brows. He will soon essay forth the point of logic he wishes to
    \r\n", + "enforce. The property being a certain man endowed with preaching
    \r\n", + "propensities, soundness means the qualities of the man, mental as
    \r\n", + "well as physical; and running away being an unsound quality, the
    \r\n", + "auctioneer is responsible for all such contingencies. \"I have him
    \r\n", + "there,--I have!\" he holds up his hands exultingly, as he exclaims the
    \r\n", + "words; his face brightens with animation. Thrusting his hands into
    \r\n", + "his trowsers pockets he paces the room for several minutes, at a
    \r\n", + "rapid pace, as if his mind had been relieved of some deep study. \"I
    \r\n", + "will go directly into the city, and there see what I can do with the
    \r\n", + "chap I bought that feller of. I think when I put the law points to
    \r\n", + "him, he'll shell out.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Making some preliminary arrangements with Jones of the tavern, he
    \r\n", + "orders a horse to the door immediately, and in a few minutes more is
    \r\n", + "hastening on his way to the city.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Arriving about noon-day, he makes his way through its busy
    \r\n", + "thoroughfares, and is soon in the presence of the auctioneer. There,
    \r\n", + "in wondrous dignity, sits the seller of bodies and souls, his
    \r\n", + "cushioned arm-chair presenting an air of opulence. How coolly that
    \r\n", + "pomp of his profession sits on the hard mask of his iron features,
    \r\n", + "beneath which lurks a contempt of shame! He is an important item in
    \r\n", + "the political hemisphere of the state, has an honourable position in
    \r\n", + "society (for he is high above the minion traders), joined the
    \r\n", + "Episcopal church not many months ago, and cautions Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", + "against the immorality of using profane language, which that
    \r\n", + "aggrieved individual allows to escape his lips ere he enters the
    \r\n", + "door.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The office of our man of fame and fortune is thirty feet long by
    \r\n", + "twenty wide, and sixteen high. Its walls are brilliantly papered,
    \r\n", + "and painted with landscape designs; and from the centre of the
    \r\n", + "ceiling hangs a large chandelier, with ground-glass globes, on which
    \r\n", + "eagles of liberty are inscribed. Fine black-walnut desks, in chaste
    \r\n", + "carving, stand along its sides, at which genteelly-dressed clerks
    \r\n", + "are exhibiting great attention to business. An oil-cloth, with large
    \r\n", + "flowers painted on its surface, spreads the floor, while an air of
    \r\n", + "neatness reigns throughout the establishment singularly at variance
    \r\n", + "with the outer mart, where Mr. Forshou sells his men, women, and
    \r\n", + "little children. But its walls are hung with badly-executed
    \r\n", + "engravings, in frames of gilt. Of the distinguished vender's taste a
    \r\n", + "correct estimation may be drawn when we inform the reader that many
    \r\n", + "of these engravings represented nude females and celebrated
    \r\n", + "racehorses.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Excuse me, sir! I didn't mean it,\" Mr. M'Fadden says, in reply to
    \r\n", + "the gentleman's caution, approaching him as he sits in his elegant
    \r\n", + "chair, a few feet from the street door, luxuriantly enjoying a
    \r\n", + "choice regalia. \"It's the little point of a very nasty habit that
    \r\n", + "hangs upon me yet. I does let out the swear once in a while, ye see;
    \r\n", + "but it's only when I gets a crook in my mind what won't come
    \r\n", + "straight.\" Thus M'Fadden introduces himself, surprised to find the
    \r\n", + "few very consistent oaths he has made use of not compatible with the
    \r\n", + "man-seller's pious business habits. He will be cautious the next
    \r\n", + "time; he will not permit such foul breath to escape and wound the
    \r\n", + "gentleman's very tender feelings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden addresses him as squire, and with studious
    \r\n", + "words informs him of the nigger preacher property he sold him having
    \r\n", + "actually run away! \"Ye warranted him, ye know, squire!\" he says,
    \r\n", + "discovering the object of his visit, then drawing a chair, and
    \r\n", + "seating himself in close proximity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can't help that-quality we never warrant!\" coolly returns the
    \r\n", + "other, turning politely in his arm-chair, which works in a socket,
    \r\n", + "and directing a clerk at one of the desks to add six months'
    \r\n", + "interest to the item of three wenches sold at ten o'clock.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't talk that ar way, squire! I trades a deal in your line, and a
    \r\n", + "heap o' times, with you. Now we'll talk over the legal points.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Make them short, if you please!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! ye warranted the nigger in every particular. There's the
    \r\n", + "advertisement; and there's no getting over that! Ye must do the
    \r\n", + "clean thing-no possumin-squire, or there 'll be a long lawsuit what
    \r\n", + "takes the tin. Honour's the word in our trade.\" He watches the
    \r\n", + "changes that are fast coming over the vender's countenance, folds
    \r\n", + "his arms, places his right foot over his left knee, and awaits a
    \r\n", + "reply. Interrupting the vender just as he is about to give his
    \r\n", + "opinion he draws from his pocket a copy of the paper containing
    \r\n", + "the advertisement, and places it in his hand: \"If ye'll be good
    \r\n", + "enough to squint at it, ye'll see the hang o' my ideas,\" he says.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My friend,\" returns the vender, curtly, having glanced over the
    \r\n", + "paper, \"save me and yourself any further annoyance. I could have
    \r\n", + "told you how far the property was warranted, before I read the
    \r\n", + "paper; and I remember making some very particular remarks when
    \r\n", + "selling that item in the invoice. A nigger's intelligence is often a
    \r\n", + "mere item of consideration in the amount he brings under the hammer;
    \r\n", + "but we never warrant the exercise or extension of it. Po'h, man! we
    \r\n", + "might just as well attempt to warrant a nigger's stealing, lying,
    \r\n", + "cunning, and all such 'cheating master' propensities. Some of them
    \r\n", + "are considered qualities of much value-especially by poor planters.
    \r\n", + "Warrant nigger property not to run away, eh! Oh! nothing could be
    \r\n", + "worse in our business.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A minute, squire!\" interrupts the appealing Mr. M'Fadden, just as
    \r\n", + "the other is about to add a suspending clause to his remarks. \"If
    \r\n", + "warrantin nigger proper sound in all partiklers is'nt warrantin it
    \r\n", + "not to run away, I'm no deacon! When a nigger's got run-away in him
    \r\n", + "he ain't sound property, no way ye can fix it. Ye may turn all the
    \r\n", + "law and philosophy yer mind to over in yer head, but it won't cum
    \r\n", + "common sense to me, that ye warrant a nigger's body part, and let
    \r\n", + "the head part go unwarranted. When ye sells a critter like that, ye
    \r\n", + "sells all his deviltry; and when ye warrants one ye warrants
    \r\n", + "t'other; that's the square rule o' my law and philosophy!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The vender puffs his weed very coolly the while; and then, calling a
    \r\n", + "negro servant, orders a chair upon which to comfortably place his
    \r\n", + "feet. \"Are you through, my friend?\" he enquires, laconically; and
    \r\n", + "being answered in the affirmative, proceeds-\"I fear your philosophy
    \r\n", + "is common philosophy-not the philosophy upon which nigger law is
    \r\n", + "founded. You don't comprehend, my valued friend, that when we insert
    \r\n", + "that negro property will be warranted, we don't include the thinking
    \r\n", + "part; and, of course, running away belongs to that!\" he would inform
    \r\n", + "all those curious on such matters. Having given this opinion for the
    \r\n", + "benefit of M'Fadden, and the rest of mankind interested in slavery,
    \r\n", + "he rises from his seat, elongates himself into a consequential posi-
    \r\n", + "tion, and stands biting his lips, and dangling his watch chain with
    \r\n", + "the fingers of his left hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Take ye up, there,\" the other suddenly interrupts, as if he has
    \r\n", + "drawn the point from his antagonist, and is prepared to sustain the
    \r\n", + "principle, having brought to his aid new ideas from the deepest
    \r\n", + "recesses of his logical mind. Grasping the vender firmly by the arm,
    \r\n", + "he looks him in the face, and reminds him that the runaway part of
    \r\n", + "niggers belongs to the heels, and not to the head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The vender exhibits some discomfiture, and, at the same time, a
    \r\n", + "decided unwillingness to become a disciple of such philosophy. Nor
    \r\n", + "is he pleased with the familiarity of his importuning customer,
    \r\n", + "whose arm he rejects with a repulsive air.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "There has evidently become a very nice and serious question, of
    \r\n", + "which Mr. M'Fadden is inclined to take a commonsense view. His
    \r\n", + "opponent, however, will not deviate from the strictest usages of
    \r\n", + "business. Business mentioned the mental qualities of the property,
    \r\n", + "but warranted only the physical,--hence the curious perplexity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While the point stands thus nicely poised between their logic,
    \r\n", + "Romescos rushes into the office, and, as if to surprise M'Fadden,
    \r\n", + "extends his hand, smiling and looking in his face gratefully, as if
    \r\n", + "the very soul of friendship incited him. \"Mighty glad to see ye, old
    \r\n", + "Buck!\" he ejaculates, \"feared ye war going to kick out.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The appalled man stands for a few seconds as unmoved as a statue;
    \r\n", + "and then, turning with a half-subdued smile, takes the hand of the
    \r\n", + "other, coldly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Friends again! ain't we, old boy?\" breaks forth from Romescos, who
    \r\n", + "continues shaking his hand, at the same time turning his head and
    \r\n", + "giving a significant wink to a clerk at one of the desks. \"Politics
    \r\n", + "makes bad friends now and then, but I always thought well of you,
    \r\n", + "Mack! Now, neighbour, I'll make a bargain with you; we'll live as
    \r\n", + "good folks ought to after this,\" Romescos continues, laconically.
    \r\n", + "His advance is so strange that the other is at a loss to comprehend
    \r\n", + "its purport. He casts doubting glances at his wily antagonist, seems
    \r\n", + "considering how to appreciate the quality of such an unexpected
    \r\n", + "expression of friendship, and is half inclined to demand an earnest
    \r\n", + "of its sincerity. At the same time, and as the matter now stands, he
    \r\n", + "would fain give his considerate friend wide space, and remain within
    \r\n", + "a proper range of etiquette until his eyes behold the substantial.
    \r\n", + "He draws aside from Romescos, who says tremblingly: \"Losing that
    \r\n", + "preacher, neighbour, was a hard case-warn't it? You wouldn't a'
    \r\n", + "catched this individual buyin' preachers-know too much about 'em, I
    \r\n", + "reckon! It's no use frettin, though; the two hundred dollars 'll
    \r\n", + "bring him. This child wouldn't want a profitabler day's work for his
    \r\n", + "hound dogs.\" Romescos winks at the vender, and makes grimaces over
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's shoulder, as that gentleman turns and grumbles out,--\"He
    \r\n", + "warranted him in every partikler; and running away is one of a
    \r\n", + "nigger's partiklers?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My pertinacious friend!\" exclaims the vender, turning suddenly
    \r\n", + "towards his dissatisfied customer, \"seeing you are not disposed to
    \r\n", + "comprehend the necessities of my business, nor to respect my
    \r\n", + "position, I will have nothing further to say to you upon the
    \r\n", + "subject-not another word, now!\" The dignified gentleman expresses
    \r\n", + "himself in peremptory tones. It is only the obtuseness of his innate
    \r\n", + "character becoming unnecessarily excited.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos interposes a word or two, by way of keeping up the zest;
    \r\n", + "for so he calls it. Things are getting crooked, according to his
    \r\n", + "notion of the dispute, but fightin' won't bring back the lost.
    \r\n", + "\"'Spose ye leaves the settlin on't to me? There's nothing like
    \r\n", + "friendship in trade; and seeing how I am up in such matters, p'raps
    \r\n", + "I can smooth it down.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's not much friendship about a loss of this kind; and he was
    \r\n", + "warranted sound in every particular!\" returns the invincible man,
    \r\n", + "shaking his head, and affecting great seriousness of countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stop that harpin, I say!\" the vender demands, drawing himself into
    \r\n", + "a pugnacious attitude; \"your insinuations against my honour
    \r\n", + "aggravate me more and more.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well! just as you say about it,\" is the cool rejoinder. \"But you
    \r\n", + "'ll have to settle the case afore lawyer Sprouts, you will!\"
    \r\n", + "Stupidly inclined to dog his opinions, the sensitive gentleman,
    \r\n", + "claiming to be much better versed in the mode of selling human
    \r\n", + "things, becomes fearfully enraged. M'Fadden contends purely upon
    \r\n", + "contingencies which may arise in the mental and physical
    \r\n", + "complications of property in man; and this the gentleman man-seller
    \r\n", + "cannot bear the reiteration of.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Romescos thinks it is at best but a perplexin snarl, requiring
    \r\n", + "gentlemen to keep very cool. To him they are both honourable men,
    \r\n", + "who should not quarrel over the very small item of one preacher.
    \r\n", + "\"This warrantin' niggers' heads never amounts to anything,--it's just
    \r\n", + "like warrantin' their heels; and when one gets bad, isn't t'other
    \r\n", + "sure to be movin? Them's my sentiments, gratis!\" Stepping a few feet
    \r\n", + "behind M'Fadden, Romescos rubs his hands in great anxiety, makes
    \r\n", + "curious signs to the clerks at the desk, and charges his mouth with
    \r\n", + "a fresh cut of tobacco.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nobody bespoke your opinion,\" says the disconsolate M'Fadden,
    \r\n", + "turning quickly, in consequence of a sign he detected one of the
    \r\n", + "clerks making, and catching Romescos bestowing a grimace of no very
    \r\n", + "complimentary character, \"Your presence and your opinion are, in my
    \r\n", + "estimation, things that may easily be dispensed with.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I say!\" interrupts Romescos, his right hand in a threatening
    \r\n", + "attitude, \"not quite so fast\"-he drawls his words-\"a gentleman don't
    \r\n", + "stand an insult o' that sort. Just draw them ar' words back, like a
    \r\n", + "yard of tape, or this individual 'll do a small amount of bruising
    \r\n", + "on that ar' profile, (he draws his hand backward and forward across
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's face). 'Twon't do to go to church on Sundays with a
    \r\n", + "broken phiz?\" His face reddens with anger, as he works his head into
    \r\n", + "a daring attitude, grates his teeth, again draws his fist across
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's face; and at length rubs his nasal organ.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I understand you too well!\" replies M'Fadden, with a curt twist of
    \r\n", + "his head. \"A man of your cloth can't insult a gentleman like me;
    \r\n", + "you're lawless!\" He moves towards the door, stepping sideways,
    \r\n", + "watching Romescos over his left shoulder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I say!-Romescos takes his man by the arm-Come back here, and make a
    \r\n", + "gentleman's apology!\" He lets go M'Fadden's arm and seizes him by
    \r\n", + "the collar violently, his face in a blaze of excitement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nigger killer!\" ejaculates M'Fadden, \"let go there!\" He gives his
    \r\n", + "angry antagonist a determined look, as he, for a moment, looses his
    \r\n", + "hold. He pauses, as if contemplating his next move.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The very amiable and gentlemanly man-vender thinks it time he
    \r\n", + "interposed for the purpose of reconciling matters. \"Gentlemen!
    \r\n", + "gentlemen! respect me, if you do not respect yourselves. My office
    \r\n", + "is no place for such disgraceful broils as these; you must go
    \r\n", + "elsewhere.\" The modest gentleman, whose very distinguished family
    \r\n", + "connexions have done much to promote his interests, would have it
    \r\n", + "particularly understood that his office is an important place, used
    \r\n", + "only for the very distinguished business of selling men, women, and
    \r\n", + "little children. But Romescos is not so easily satisfied. He pushes
    \r\n", + "the amiable gentleman aside, calls Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden a tyrant
    \r\n", + "what kills niggers by the detestably mean process of starving them
    \r\n", + "to death. \"A pretty feller he is to talk about nigger killin! And
    \r\n", + "just think what our state has come to when such fellers as him can
    \r\n", + "make votes for the next election!\" says Romescos, addressing himself
    \r\n", + "to the vender. \"The Irish influence is fast destroying the political
    \r\n", + "morality of the country.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Turning to Mr. M'Fadden, who seems preparing for a display of his
    \r\n", + "combativeness, he adds, \"Ye see, Mack, ye will lie, and lie crooked
    \r\n", + "too! and ye will steal, and steal dishonourably; and I can lick a
    \r\n", + "dozen on ye quicker nor chain lightnin? I can send the hol batch on
    \r\n", + "ye-rubbish as it is-to take supper t'other side of sundown.\" To be
    \r\n", + "equal with his adversary, Romescos is evidently preparing himself
    \r\n", + "for the reception of something more than words. Twice or thrice he
    \r\n", + "is seen to pass his right hand into the left breast pocket of his
    \r\n", + "sack, where commonly his shining steel is secreted. In another
    \r\n", + "moment he turns suddenly towards the vender, pushes him aside with
    \r\n", + "his left hand, and brings his right in close proximity with Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden's left listener. That individual exhibits signs of renewed
    \r\n", + "courage, to which he adds the significant warning: \"Not quite so
    \r\n", + "close, if you please!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"As close as I sees fit!\" returns the other, with a sardonic grin.
    \r\n", + "\"Why don't you resent it?-a gentleman would!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Following the word, Mr. M'Fadden makes a pass at his antagonist,
    \r\n", + "which, he says, is only with the intention of keeping him at a
    \r\n", + "respectful distance. Scarcely has his arm passed when Romescos cries
    \r\n", + "out, \"There! he has struck me! He has struck me again!\" and deals
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden a blow with his clenched fist that fells him lumbering to
    \r\n", + "the floor. Simultaneously Romescos falls upon his prostrate victim,
    \r\n", + "and a desperate struggle ensues.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The vender, whose sacred premises are thus disgraced, runs out to
    \r\n", + "call the police, while the clerks make an ineffectual attempt to
    \r\n", + "separate the combatants. Not a policeman is to be found. At night
    \r\n", + "they may be seen swarming the city, guarding the fears of a white
    \r\n", + "populace ever sensitive of black rebellion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Like an infuriated tiger, Romescos, nimble as a catamount, is fast
    \r\n", + "destroying every vestige of outline in his antagonist's face,
    \r\n", + "drenching it with blood, and adding ghastliness by the strangulation
    \r\n", + "he is endeavouring to effect.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Try-try-trying to-kill-me-eh? You-you mad brute!\" gutters out the
    \r\n", + "struggling man, his eyes starting from the sockets like balls of
    \r\n", + "fire, while gore and saliva foam from his mouth and nostrils as if
    \r\n", + "his struggles are in death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Kill ye-kill ye?\" Romescos rejoins, the shaggy red hair falling in
    \r\n", + "tufts about his face, now burning with desperation: \"it would be
    \r\n", + "killin' only a wretch whose death society calls for.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At this, the struggling man, like one borne to energy by the last
    \r\n", + "throes of despair, gives a desperate spring, succeeds in turning his
    \r\n", + "antagonist, grasps him by the throat with his left hand, and from
    \r\n", + "his pocket fires a pistol with his right. The report alarms; the
    \r\n", + "shrill whistle calls to the rescue; but the ball has only taken
    \r\n", + "effect in the flesh of Romescos's right arm. Quick to the moment,
    \r\n", + "his arm dripping with gore from the wound, he draws his glittering
    \r\n", + "dirk, and plunges it, with unerring aim, into the breast of his
    \r\n", + "antagonist. The wounded man starts convulsively, as the other coolly
    \r\n", + "draws back the weapon, the blood gushing forth in a livid stream.
    \r\n", + "\"Is not that in self-defence?\" exclaims the bloody votary, turning
    \r\n", + "his haggard and enraged face to receive the approval of the
    \r\n", + "bystanders. The dying man, writhing under the grasp of his murderer,
    \r\n", + "utters a piercing shriek. \"Murdered! I'm dying! Oh, heaven! is this
    \r\n", + "my last-last-last? Forgive me, Lord,--forgive me!\" he gurgles; and
    \r\n", + "making another convulsive effort, wrings his body from under the
    \r\n", + "perpetrator of the foul deed. How tenacious of life is the dying
    \r\n", + "man! He grasps the leg of a desk, raises himself to his feet, and,
    \r\n", + "as if goaded with the thoughts of hell, in his last struggles
    \r\n", + "staggers to the door,--discharges a second shot, vaults, as it were,
    \r\n", + "into the street, and falls prostrate upon the pavement, surrounded
    \r\n", + "by a crowd of eager lookers-on. He is dead! The career of Mr.
    \r\n", + "M'Fadden is ended; his spirit is summoned for trial before a just
    \r\n", + "God.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The murderer (perhaps we abuse the word, and should apply the more
    \r\n", + "southern, term of renconterist), sits in a chair, calling for water,
    \r\n", + "as a few among the crowd prepare to carry the dead body into
    \r\n", + "Graspum's slave-pen, a few squares below.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Southern sensibility may call these scenes by whatever name it will;
    \r\n", + "we have no desire to change the appropriateness, nor to lessen the
    \r\n", + "moral tenor of southern society. It nurtures a frail democracy, and
    \r\n", + "from its bastard offspring we have a tyrant dying by the hand of a
    \r\n", + "tyrant, and the spoils of tyranny serving the good growth of the
    \r\n", + "Christian church. Money constructs opinions, pious as well as
    \r\n", + "political, and even changes the feelings of good men, who invoke
    \r\n", + "heaven's aid against the bondage of the souls of men.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos will not flee to escape the terrible award of earthly
    \r\n", + "justice. Nay, that, in our atmosphere of probity, would be
    \r\n", + "dishonourable; nor would it aid the purpose he seeks to gain.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXIV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A COMMON INCIDENT SHORTLY TOLD.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE dead body of Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden, whose heart was strong with
    \r\n", + "love of southern democracy, lies upon two pine-boards, ghastly and
    \r\n", + "unshrouded, in a wretched slave-pen. Romescos, surrounded by
    \r\n", + "admiring friends, has found his way to the gaol, where, as is the
    \r\n", + "custom, he has delivered himself up to its keeper. He has spent a
    \r\n", + "good night in that ancient establishment, and on the following
    \r\n", + "morning finds his friends vastly increased. They have viewed him as
    \r\n", + "rather desperate now and then; but, knowing he is brave withal, have
    \r\n", + "\"come to the rescue\" on the present occasion. These frequent visits
    \r\n", + "he receives with wonderful coolness and deference, their meats and
    \r\n", + "drinks (so amply furnished to make his stay comfortable) being a
    \r\n", + "great Godsend to the gaoler, who, while they last, will spread a
    \r\n", + "princely table.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Brien Moon, Esq.-better known as the good-natured coroner-has placed
    \r\n", + "a negro watchman over the body of the deceased, on which he proposes
    \r\n", + "to hold one of those curious ceremonies called inquests. Brien Moon,
    \r\n", + "Esq. is particularly fond of the ludicrous, is ever ready to
    \r\n", + "appreciate a good joke, and well known for his happy mode of
    \r\n", + "disposing of dead dogs and cats, which, with anonymous letters, are
    \r\n", + "in great numbers entrusted to his care by certain waggish gentlemen,
    \r\n", + "who desire he will \"hold an inquest over the deceased, and not
    \r\n", + "forget the fees.\" It is said-the aristocracy, however, look upon the
    \r\n", + "charge with contempt-that Brien Moon, Esq. makes a small per centage
    \r\n", + "by selling those canine remains to the governor of the workhouse,
    \r\n", + "which very humane gentleman pays from his own pocket the means of
    \r\n", + "transferring them into giblet-pies for the inmates. It may be all
    \r\n", + "scandal about Mr. Moon making so large an amount from his office;
    \r\n", + "but it is nevertheless true that sad disclosures have of late been
    \r\n", + "made concerning the internal affairs of the workhouse.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The hour of twelve has arrived; and since eight in the morning Mr.
    \r\n", + "Moon's time has been consumed in preliminaries necessary to the
    \r\n", + "organisation of a coroner's jury. The reader we know will excuse our
    \r\n", + "not entering into the minuti� of the organisation. Eleven jurors
    \r\n", + "have answered the summons, but a twelfth seems difficult to procure.
    \r\n", + "John, the good Coroner's negro servant, has provided a sufficiency
    \r\n", + "of brandy and cigars, which, since the hour of eleven, have been
    \r\n", + "discussed without stint. The only objection our worthy disposer of
    \r\n", + "the dead has to this is, that some of his jurors, becoming very
    \r\n", + "mellow, may turn the inquest into a farce, with himself playing the
    \r\n", + "low-comedy part. The dead body, which lies covered with a sheet, is
    \r\n", + "fast becoming enveloped in smoke, while no one seems to have a
    \r\n", + "passing thought for it. Colonel Tom Edon,--who, they say, is not
    \r\n", + "colonel of any regiment, but has merely received the title from the
    \r\n", + "known fact of his being a hogdriver, which honourable profession is
    \r\n", + "distinguished by its colonels proceeding to market mounted, while
    \r\n", + "the captains walk,--merely wonders how much bad whiskey the dead 'un
    \r\n", + "consumed while he lived.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"This won't do!\" exclaims Brien Moon, Esq., and proceeds to the door
    \r\n", + "in the hope of catching something to make his mournful number
    \r\n", + "complete. He happens upon Mr. Jonas Academy, an honest cracker, from
    \r\n", + "Christ's parish, who visits the city on a little business. Jonas is
    \r\n", + "a person of great originality, is enclosed in loosely-setting
    \r\n", + "homespun, has a woe-begone countenance, and wears a large-brimmed
    \r\n", + "felt hat. He is just the person to make the number complete, and is
    \r\n", + "led in, unconscious of the object for which he finds himself a
    \r\n", + "captive. Mr. Brien Moon now becomes wondrous grave, mounts a barrel
    \r\n", + "at the head of the corpse, orders the negro to uncover the body, and
    \r\n", + "hopes gentlemen will take seats on the benches he has provided for
    \r\n", + "them, while he proceeds to administer the oath. Three or four yet
    \r\n", + "retain their cigars: he hopes gentlemen will suspend their smoking
    \r\n", + "during the inquest. Suddenly it is found that seven out of the
    \r\n", + "twelve can neither read nor write; and Mr. Jonas Academy makes known
    \r\n", + "the sad fact that he does not comprehend the nature of an oath,
    \r\n", + "never having taken such an article in his life. Five of the
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, who can read and write, are from New England; while Mr.
    \r\n", + "Jonas Academy declares poor folks in Christ's parish are not fools,
    \r\n", + "troubled with reading and writing knowledge. He has been told they
    \r\n", + "have a thing called a college at Columbia; but only haristocrats get
    \r\n", + "any good of it. In answer to a question from Mr. Moon, he is happy
    \r\n", + "to state that their parish is not pestered with a schoolmaster.
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, they killed the one we had more nor two years ago, thank Good!
    \r\n", + "Han't bin trubl'd with one o' the critters since\" he adds, with
    \r\n", + "unmoved nerves. The Coroner suggests that in a matter of expediency
    \r\n", + "like the present it may be well to explain the nature of an oath;
    \r\n", + "and, seeing that a man may not read and write, and yet comprehend
    \r\n", + "its sacredness, perhaps it would be as well to forego the letter of
    \r\n", + "the law. \"Six used to do for this sort of a jury, but now law must
    \r\n", + "have twelve,\" says Mr. Moon. Numerous voices assent to this, and Mr.
    \r\n", + "Moon commences what he calls \"an halucidation of the nature of an
    \r\n", + "oath.\" The jurors receive this with great satisfaction, take the
    \r\n", + "oath according to his directions, and after listening to the
    \r\n", + "statement of two competent witnesses, who know but very little about
    \r\n", + "the affair, are ready to render a verdict,--\"that M'Fadden, the
    \r\n", + "deceased, came to his death by a stab in the left breast, inflicted
    \r\n", + "by a sharp instrument in the hand or hands of Anthony Romescos,
    \r\n", + "during an affray commonly called a rencontre, regarding which there
    \r\n", + "are many extenuating circumstances.\" To this verdict Mr. Moon
    \r\n", + "forthwith bows assent, directs the removal of the body, and invites
    \r\n", + "the gentlemen jurors to join him in another drink, which he does in
    \r\n", + "compliment to their distinguished services. The dead body will be
    \r\n", + "removed to the receiving vault, and Mr. Moon dismisses his jurors
    \r\n", + "with many bows and thanks; and nothing more.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE CHILDREN ARE IMPROVING.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THREE years have rolled round, and wrought great changes in the
    \r\n", + "aspect of affairs. M'Fadden was buried on his plantation, Romescos
    \r\n", + "was bailed by Graspum, and took his trial at the sessions for
    \r\n", + "manslaughter. It was scarcely worth while to trouble a respectable
    \r\n", + "jury with the paltry case-and then, they were so frequent! We need
    \r\n", + "scarcely tell the reader that he was honourably acquitted, and borne
    \r\n", + "from the court amid great rejoicing. His crime was only that of
    \r\n", + "murder in self-defence; and, as two tyrants had met, the successful
    \r\n", + "had the advantage of public opinion, which in the slave world soars
    \r\n", + "high above law. Romescos being again on the world, making his
    \r\n", + "cleverness known, we must beg the reader's indulgence, and request
    \r\n", + "him to accompany us while we return to the children.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Annette and Nicholas are, and have been since the sale, the property
    \r\n", + "of Graspum. They develope in size and beauty-two qualities very
    \r\n", + "essential in the man-market of our democratic world, the South.
    \r\n", + "Those beautiful features, intelligence, and reserve, are much
    \r\n", + "admired as merchandise; for southern souls are not lifted above this
    \r\n", + "grade of estimating coloured worth. Annette's cherub face, soft blue
    \r\n", + "eyes, clear complexion, and light auburn hair, add to the sweetness
    \r\n", + "of a countenance that education and care might make brilliant; and
    \r\n", + "yet, though reared on Marston's plantation, with unrestricted
    \r\n", + "indulgence, her childish heart seems an outpouring of native
    \r\n", + "goodness. She speaks of her mother with the affection of one of
    \r\n", + "maturer years; she grieves for her return, wonders why she is left
    \r\n", + "alone, remembers how kind that mother spoke to her when she said
    \r\n", + "good by, at the cell door. How sweet is the remembrance of a mother!
    \r\n", + "how it lingers, sparkling as a dewdrop, in a child's memory. Annette
    \r\n", + "feels the affliction, but is too young to divine the cause thereof.
    \r\n", + "She recalls the many happy plantation scenes; they are bright to her
    \r\n", + "yet! She prattles about Daddy Bob, Harry, Aunt Rachel, and old Sue,
    \r\n", + "now and then adding a solicitous question about Marston. But she
    \r\n", + "does not realise that he is her father; no, it was not her lot to
    \r\n", + "bestow a daughter's affection upon him, and she is yet too young to
    \r\n", + "comprehend the poison of slave power. Her childlike simplicity
    \r\n", + "affords a touching contrast to that melancholy injustice by which a
    \r\n", + "fair creature with hopes and virtues after God's moulding, pure and
    \r\n", + "holy, is made mere merchandise for the slave-market.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Annette has learned to look upon Nicholas as a brother; but, like
    \r\n", + "herself, he is kept from those of his own colour by some, to him,
    \r\n", + "unintelligible agency. Strange reflections flit through her youthful
    \r\n", + "imagination, as she embraces him with a sister's fondness. How oft
    \r\n", + "she lays her little head upon his shoulder, encircles his neck with
    \r\n", + "her fair arm, and braids his raven hair with her tiny fingers! She
    \r\n", + "little thinks how fatal are those charms she bears bloomingly into
    \r\n", + "womanhood.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "But, if they alike increase in beauty as they increase in age, their
    \r\n", + "dispositions are as unlike as two opposites can be moulded. Nicholas
    \r\n", + "has inherited that petulant will, unbending determination, and
    \r\n", + "lurking love of avenging wrong, so peculiar to the Indian race. To
    \r\n", + "restlessness he adds distrust of those around him; and when
    \r\n", + "displeased, is not easily reconciled. He is, however, tractable, and
    \r\n", + "early evinced an aptitude for mechanical pursuits that would have
    \r\n", + "done credit to maturer years. Both have been at service, and during
    \r\n", + "the period have created no small degree of admiration-Annette for
    \r\n", + "her promising personal appearance, Nicholas for his precocious
    \r\n", + "display of talent. Both have earned their living; and now Nicholas
    \r\n", + "is arrived at an age when his genius attracts purchasers.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Conspicuous among those who have been keeping an eye on the little
    \r\n", + "fellow, is Mr. Jonathan Grabguy, a master-builder, largely engaged
    \r\n", + "in rearing dwellings. His father was a builder, and his mother used
    \r\n", + "to help the workmen to make Venetian blinds. Fortune showered her
    \r\n", + "smiles upon their energies, and brought them negro property in great
    \r\n", + "abundance. Of this property they made much; the father of the
    \r\n", + "present Mr. Grabguy (who became a distinguished mayor of the city)
    \r\n", + "viewing it peculiarly profitable to use up his niggers in five
    \r\n", + "years. To this end he forced them to incessant toil, belabouring
    \r\n", + "them with a weapon of raw hide, to which he gave the singular
    \r\n", + "cognomen of \"hell-fire.\" When extra punishment was-according to his
    \r\n", + "policy-necessary to bring out the \"digs,\" he would lock them up in
    \r\n", + "his cage (a sort of grated sentry-box, large enough to retain the
    \r\n", + "body in an upright position), and when the duration of this
    \r\n", + "punishment was satisfactory to his feelings, he would administer a
    \r\n", + "counter quantity of stings with his \"hell-fire\" wattle. Indeed, the
    \r\n", + "elder Mr. Grabguy, who afterwards became \"His Worship the Mayor,\"
    \r\n", + "was a wonderful disciplinarian, which very valuable traits of
    \r\n", + "character his son retains in all their purity. His acts deserve more
    \r\n", + "specific notice than we are at present able to give them, inasmuch
    \r\n", + "as by them the safety of a state is frequently endangered, as we
    \r\n", + "shall show in the climax.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our present Mr. Grabguy is a small man, somewhat slender of person,
    \r\n", + "about five feet seven inches high, who usually dresses in the
    \r\n", + "habiliments of a working man, and is remarkable for his quickness.
    \r\n", + "His features are dark and undefinable, marked with that
    \r\n", + "thoughtfulness which applies only to the getting of wordly goods.
    \r\n", + "His face is narrow and careworn, with piercing brown eyes, high
    \r\n", + "cheek bones, projecting nose and chin, low forehead, and greyish
    \r\n", + "hair, which he parts in the centre. These form the strongest index
    \r\n", + "to his stubborn character; nevertheless he hopes, ere long, to reach
    \r\n", + "the same distinguished position held by his venerable father, who,
    \r\n", + "peace to his ashes! is dead.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, good neighbour Graspum,\" says our Mr. Grabguy, as he stands in
    \r\n", + "Graspum's warehouse examining a few prime fellows, \"I've got a small
    \r\n", + "amount to invest in stock, but I wants somethin' choice-say two or
    \r\n", + "three prime uns, handy at tools. I wants somethin' what 'll make
    \r\n", + "mechanics. Then I wants to buy,\" he continues, deliberately, \"a few
    \r\n", + "smart young uns, what have heads with somethin' in 'um, that ye can
    \r\n", + "bring up to larn things. White mechanics, you see, are so
    \r\n", + "independent now-a-days, that you can't keep 'um under as you can
    \r\n", + "niggers.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I've bin thinkin' 'bout tryin' an experiment with nigger prentices;
    \r\n", + "and, if it goes, we can dispense with white mechanics entirely. My
    \r\n", + "word for it, they're only a great nuisance at best. When you put 'um
    \r\n", + "to work with niggers they don't feel right, and they have notions
    \r\n", + "that our society don't respect 'um because they must mix with the
    \r\n", + "black rascals in following their trades; and this works its way into
    \r\n", + "their feelings so, that the best on 'um from the north soon give
    \r\n", + "themselves up to the worst dissipation. Ah! our white mechanics are
    \r\n", + "poor wretches; there isn't twenty in the city you can depend on to
    \r\n", + "keep sober two days.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, sir,\" interrupts Graspum, with an air of great importance,
    \r\n", + "as, with serious countenance, he stands watching every change in Mr.
    \r\n", + "Grabguy's face, at intervals taking a cursory survey of his
    \r\n", + "merchandise, \"can suit you to most anything in the line. You
    \r\n", + "understand my mode of trade, perfectly?\" He touches Mr. Grabguy on
    \r\n", + "the arm, significantly, and waits the reply, which that gentleman
    \r\n", + "makes with a bow. \"Well, if you do,\" he continues, \"you know the
    \r\n", + "means and markets I have at my command. Can sell you young uns of
    \r\n", + "any age, prime uns of various qualities-from field hands down to
    \r\n", + "watch-makers, clergymen!\" He always keeps a good supply on hand, and
    \r\n", + "has the very best means of supply. So Mr. Grabguy makes a purchase
    \r\n", + "of three prime men, whom he intends to transform into first-rate
    \r\n", + "mechanics. He declares he will not be troubled hereafter with those
    \r\n", + "very miserable white workmen he is constrained to import from the
    \r\n", + "north. They are foolish enough to think they are just as good as any
    \r\n", + "body, and can be gentlemen in their profession. They, poor fools!
    \r\n", + "mistake the south in their love of happy New England and its
    \r\n", + "society, as they call it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Having completed his bargain, he hesitates, as if there is something
    \r\n", + "more he would like to have. \"Graspum!\" he says, \"What for trade? can
    \r\n", + "we strike for that imp o' yours at Mrs. Tuttlewill's?\" Without
    \r\n", + "waiting for Graspum's reply, he adds-\"That chap 's goin to make a
    \r\n", + "tall bit of property one of these days!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ought to,\" rejoins Graspum, stoically; \"he's got right good stock
    \r\n", + "in him.\" The man of business gives his head a knowing shake, and
    \r\n", + "takes a fresh quid of tobacco. \"Give that 'sprout' a chance in the
    \r\n", + "world, and he'll show his hand!\" he adds.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's what I wants,\" intimates our tradesman. He has had his eye
    \r\n", + "on the fellow, and knows he's got a head what 'll make the very best
    \r\n", + "kind of a workman. But it will be necessary to take the stubborn out
    \r\n", + "without injuring the \"larning\" part. Mr. Grabguy, with great
    \r\n", + "unconcern, merely suggests these trifling matters for the better
    \r\n", + "regulating of Mr. Graspum's price.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Can do that easy enough, if you only study the difference between a
    \r\n", + "nigger's hide and head. Can put welts on pretty strong, if you
    \r\n", + "understand the difference a'tween the too,\" intimates our man of
    \r\n", + "business, as he places his thumbs in his vest, and commences humming
    \r\n", + "a tune. Then he stops suddenly, and working his face into a very
    \r\n", + "learned contortion, continues-\"Ye see, Grabguy, a man has to study
    \r\n", + "the human natur of a nigger just the same as he would a mule or a
    \r\n", + "machine. In truth, Grabguy, niggers are more like mules nor anything
    \r\n", + "else, 'cause the brute 'll do everything but what ye wants him to
    \r\n", + "do, afore he's subdued. You must break them when they are young.
    \r\n", + "About ten or a dozen welts, sir, well laid on when ye first begin,
    \r\n", + "and every time he don't toe the mark, will, in the course of a year,
    \r\n", + "make him as submissive as a spaniel-it will! The virtue of
    \r\n", + "submission is in the lash, it supples like seeds.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"About the stock, Graspum: I don't quite agree with you about
    \r\n", + "that,--I never believed in blood, ye know. As far as this imp goes, I
    \r\n", + "have my doubts about the blood doin on him much good; seein' how it
    \r\n", + "kind o' comes across my mind that there's some Ingin in him. Now, if
    \r\n", + "my philosophy serves me right, Ingin blood makes slave property want
    \r\n", + "to run away (the speaker spreads himself with great nonchalance),
    \r\n", + "the very worst fault.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Poh! poh!-isn't a bit o' that about him. That imp 's from Marston's
    \r\n", + "estate, can't scare up nothin so promisin' in the way of likely
    \r\n", + "colour,\" Graspum interposes, with great assurance of manner. \"You
    \r\n", + "didn't see the gal-did you?\" he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I reckon I've taken a squint at both on 'em! Pretty fine and
    \r\n", + "likely. From the same bankrupt concern, I s'pose?\" Mr. Grabguy looks
    \r\n", + "quite serious, and waits for a reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes-nothing less,\" Graspum replies, measuredly. \"But won't it make
    \r\n", + "your eye water, neighbour Grabguy, one of these days! Bring a tall
    \r\n", + "price among some of our young bucks, eh!\" He gives neighbour Grabguy
    \r\n", + "a significant touch on the arm, and that gentleman turns his head
    \r\n", + "and smiles. How quaintly modest!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"By the by, talking of Marston, what has become of him? His affairs
    \r\n", + "seem to have died out in the general levity which the number of such
    \r\n", + "cases occasion. But I tell you what it is, Graspum,\" (he whispers,
    \r\n", + "accompanying the word with an insinuating look), \"report implicates
    \r\n", + "you in that affair.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Me?-Me?-Me, Sir? God bless you! why, you really startle me. My
    \r\n", + "honour is above the world's scandal. Ah! if you only knew what I've
    \r\n", + "done for that man, Marston;--that cussed nephew of his came within a
    \r\n", + "feather of effecting my ruin. And there he lies, stubborn as a door-
    \r\n", + "plate, sweating out his obstinacy in gaol. Lord bless your soul, I'm
    \r\n", + "not to blame, you know!-I have done a world of things for him; but
    \r\n", + "he won't be advised.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"His creditors think he has more money, and money being the upshot
    \r\n", + "of all his troubles, interposes the point of difficulty in the
    \r\n", + "present instance. I tell them he has no more money, but--I know not
    \r\n", + "why--they doubt the fact the more, and refuse to release him, on the
    \r\n", + "ground of my purchasing their claims at some ulterior period, as I
    \r\n", + "did those two fi fas when the right of freedom was being contested
    \r\n", + "in the children. But, you see, Grabguy, I'm a man of standing; and
    \r\n", + "no money would tempt me to have anything to do with another such
    \r\n", + "case. It was by a mere quirk of law, and the friendship of so many
    \r\n", + "eminent lawyers, that I secured that fifteen hundred dollars from
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow for the gal what disappeared so mysteriously.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Graspum!\" interrupts Mr. Grabguy, suddenly, accompanying his remark
    \r\n", + "with a laugh, \"you're a good bit of a lawyer when it comes to the
    \r\n", + "cross-grained. You tell it all on one side, as lawyers do. I know
    \r\n", + "the risk you run in buying the fi fas on which those children were
    \r\n", + "attached!\" Mr. Grabguy smiles, doubtingly, and shakes his head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There are liabilities in everything,\" Graspum drawls out,
    \r\n", + "measuredly. \"Pardon me, my friend, you never should found opinion on
    \r\n", + "suspicion. More than a dozen times have I solicited Marston to file
    \r\n", + "his schedule, and take the benefit of the act. However, with all my
    \r\n", + "advice and kindness to him, he will not move a finger towards his
    \r\n", + "own release. Like all our high-minded Southerners, he is ready to
    \r\n", + "maintain a sort of compound between dignity and distress, with which
    \r\n", + "he will gratify his feelings. It's all pride, sir-pride!-you may
    \r\n", + "depend upon it.\" (Graspum lays his hands together, and affects
    \r\n", + "wondrous charity). \"I pity such men from the very bottom of my
    \r\n", + "heart, because it always makes me feel bad when I think what they
    \r\n", + "have been. Creditors, sir, are very unrelenting; and seldom think
    \r\n", + "that an honourable man would suffer the miseries of a prison rather
    \r\n", + "than undergo the pain of being arraigned before an open court, for
    \r\n", + "the exposition of his poverty. Sensitiveness often founds the charge
    \r\n", + "of wrong. The thing is much misunderstood; I know it, sir! Yes, sir!
    \r\n", + "My own feelings make me the best judge,\" continues Graspum, with a
    \r\n", + "most serious countenance. He feels he is a man of wonderful parts,
    \r\n", + "much abused by public opinion, and, though always trying to promote
    \r\n", + "public good, never credited for his many kind acts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Turning his head aside to relieve himself of a smile, Mr. Grabguy
    \r\n", + "admits that he is quite an abused man; and, setting aside small
    \r\n", + "matters, thinks it well to be guided by the good motto:--'retire
    \r\n", + "from business with plenty of money.' It may not subdue tongues, but
    \r\n", + "it will soften whispers. \"Money,\" Mr. Grabguy intimates, \"upon the
    \r\n", + "strength of his venerable father's experience, is a curious medium
    \r\n", + "of overcoming the ditchwork of society. In fact,\" he assures Graspum,
    \r\n", + "\"that with plenty of shiners you may be just such a man as you
    \r\n", + "please; everybody will forget that you ever bought or sold a nigger,
    \r\n", + "and ten chances to one if you do not find yourself sloped off into
    \r\n", + "Congress, before you have had time to study the process of getting
    \r\n", + "there. But, enough of this, Graspum;--let us turn to trade matters.
    \r\n", + "What's the lowest shot ye'll take for that mellow mixture of Ingin
    \r\n", + "and aristocracy. Send up and bring him down: let us hear the lowest
    \r\n", + "dodge you'll let him slide at.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy evinces an off-handedness in trade that is quite equal
    \r\n", + "to Graspum's keen tact. But Graspum has the faculty of preserving a
    \r\n", + "disinterested appearance singularly at variance with his object.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A messenger is despatched, receipt in hand, for the boy Nicholas.
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Tuttlewell, a brusque body of some sixty years, and with
    \r\n", + "thirteen in a family, having had three husbands (all gentlemen of
    \r\n", + "the highest standing, and connected with first families), keeps a
    \r\n", + "stylish boarding-house, exclusively for the aristocracy, common
    \r\n", + "people not being competent to her style of living; and as nobody
    \r\n", + "could ever say one word against the Tuttlewell family, the present
    \r\n", + "head of the Tuttlewell house has become very fashionably
    \r\n", + "distinguished. The messenger's arrival is made known to Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Tuttlewell, who must duly consider the nature of the immediate
    \r\n", + "demand. She had reason to expect the services of the children would
    \r\n", + "have been at her command for some years to come. However, she must
    \r\n", + "make the very best of it; they are Graspum's property, and he can do
    \r\n", + "what he pleases with them. She suggests, with great politeness, that
    \r\n", + "the messenger take a seat in the lower veranda. Her house is located
    \r\n", + "in a most fashionable street, and none knew better than good lady
    \r\n", + "Tuttlewell herself the value of living up to a fashionable nicety;
    \r\n", + "for, where slavery exists, it is a trade to live.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Both children have been \"waiting on table,\" and, on hearing the
    \r\n", + "summons, repair to their cabin in the yard. Mrs. Tuttlewell,
    \r\n", + "reconsidering her former decision, thinks the messenger better
    \r\n", + "follow them, seeing that he is a nigger with kindly looks. \"Uncle!\"
    \r\n", + "says Annette, looking up at the old Negro, as he joins them: \"Don't
    \r\n", + "you want me too?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No,\" returns the man, coolly shaking his head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I think they must be going to take us back to the old plantation,
    \r\n", + "where Daddy Bob used to sing so. Then I shall see mother-how I do
    \r\n", + "want to see her!\" she exclaims, her little heart bounding with
    \r\n", + "ecstasy. Three years or more have passed since she prattled on her
    \r\n", + "mother's knee.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The negro recognizes the child's simplicity. \"I on'e wants dat
    \r\n", + "child; but da'h an't gwine t' lef ye out on da plantation, nohow!\"
    \r\n", + "he says.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not going to take us home!\" she says, with a sigh. Nicholas moodily
    \r\n", + "submits himself to be prepared, as Annette, more vivacious, keeps
    \r\n", + "interposing with various enquiries. She would like to know where
    \r\n", + "they are going to take little Nicholas; and when they will let her
    \r\n", + "go and see Daddy Bob and mother? \"Now, you can take me; I know you
    \r\n", + "can!\" she says, looking up at the messenger, and taking his hand
    \r\n", + "pertly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No-can't, little 'un! Mus' lef' 'um fo'h nuder time. You isn't
    \r\n", + "broder and sister-is ye?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No!\" quickly replies the little girl, swinging his hand playfully;
    \r\n", + "\"but I want to go where he goes; I want to see mother when he does.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, den, little 'un (the negro sees he cannot overcome the
    \r\n", + "child's simplicity by any other means), dis child will come fo'h 'um
    \r\n", + "to-morrow-dat I will!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And you'll bring Nicholas back-won't you?\" she enquires, grasping
    \r\n", + "the messenger more firmly by the hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sartin! no mistake 'bout dat, little 'uman.\" At this she takes
    \r\n", + "Nicholas by the hand, and retires to their little room in the cabin.
    \r\n", + "Here, like one of older years, she washes him, and dresses him, and
    \r\n", + "fusses over him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He is merely a child for sale; so she combs his little locks, puts
    \r\n", + "on his new osnaburgs, arranges his nice white collar about his neck,
    \r\n", + "and makes him look so prim. And then she ties a piece of black
    \r\n", + "ribbon about his neck, giving him the bright appearance of a
    \r\n", + "school-boy on examination-day. The little girl's feelings seem as
    \r\n", + "much elated as would be a mother's at the prospect of her child
    \r\n", + "gaining a medal of distinction.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, Nicholas!\" she whispers, with touching simplicity, as she
    \r\n", + "views him from head to foot with a smile of exultation on her face,
    \r\n", + "\"your mother never dressed you so neat. But I like you more and
    \r\n", + "more, Nicholas, because both our mothers are gone; and maybe we
    \r\n", + "shall never see 'um again.\" And she kisses him fondly,--tells him not
    \r\n", + "to stay long,--to tell her all he has seen and heard about mother,
    \r\n", + "when he returns.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I don't know, 'Nette, but 'pears to me we ain't like other
    \r\n", + "children-they don't have to be sold so often; and I don't seem to
    \r\n", + "have any father.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Neither do I; but Mrs. Tuttlewell says I mustn't mind that, because
    \r\n", + "there's thousands just like us. And then she says we ain't the same
    \r\n", + "kind o' white folks that she is; she says we are white, but niggers
    \r\n", + "for all that. I don't know how it is! I'm not like black folks,
    \r\n", + "because I'm just as white as any white folks,\" she rejoins, placing
    \r\n", + "her little arms round his neck and smoothing his hair with her left
    \r\n", + "hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'll grow up, one o' these days.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And so will I,\" she speaks, boldly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And I'm goin' to know where my mother's gone, and why I ain't as
    \r\n", + "good as other folks' white children,\" he rejoins sullenly, shaking
    \r\n", + "his head, and muttering away to himself. It is quite evident that
    \r\n", + "the many singular stages through which he is passing, serve only to
    \r\n", + "increase the stubborness of his nature. The only black
    \r\n", + "distinguishable in his features are his eyes and hair; and, as he
    \r\n", + "looks in the glass to confirm what he has said, Annette takes him by
    \r\n", + "the hand, tells him he must not mind, now; that if he is good he
    \r\n", + "shall see Franconia,--and mother, too, one of these days. He must not
    \r\n", + "be pettish, she remarks, holding him by the hand like a sister whose
    \r\n", + "heart glows with hope for a brother's welfare. She gives him in
    \r\n", + "charge of the messenger, saying, \"Good by!\" as she imprints a kiss
    \r\n", + "on his cheek, its olive hues changing into deep crimson.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The negro answers her adieu with \"Good by, little dear! God bless
    \r\n", + "'um!\" Nay, the native goodness of his heart will not permit him to
    \r\n", + "leave her thus. He turns round, takes her in his arms, kisses and
    \r\n", + "kisses her fair cheek. It is the truth of an honest soul, expressed
    \r\n", + "with tears glistening in his eyes. Again taking Nicholas by the
    \r\n", + "hand, he hastens through the passage of Mrs. Tuttlewell's house
    \r\n", + "where, on emerging into the street, he is accosted by that very
    \r\n", + "fashionable lady, who desires to know if he has got the boy \"all
    \r\n", + "right!\" Being answered in the affirmative, she gives a very
    \r\n", + "dignified-\"Glad of it,\" and desires her compliments to Mr. Graspum,
    \r\n", + "who she hopes will extend the same special regards to his family,
    \r\n", + "and retires to the quietude of her richly-furnished parlour.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The gentleman dealer and his customer are waiting in the man
    \r\n", + "shambles, while the negro messenger with his boy article of trade
    \r\n", + "plod their way along through the busy streets. The negro looks on
    \r\n", + "his charge with a smile of congratulation. \"Mas'r 'll laugh all over
    \r\n", + "'e clothes when he sees ye-dat he will!\" he says, with an air of
    \r\n", + "exultation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'd like to know where I'm goin' to afore I go much further,\"
    \r\n", + "returns the boy, curtly, as he walks along, every few minutes asking
    \r\n", + "unanswerable questions of the negro.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Lor, child!\" returns the negro, with a significant smile, \"take ye
    \r\n", + "down to old massa what own 'um! Fo'h true!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Own me!\" mutters the child, surlily. \"How can they own me without
    \r\n", + "owning my mother?--and I've no father.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"White man great 'losipher; he know so much, dat nigger don't know
    \r\n", + "nofin,\" is the singularly significant answer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But God didn't make me for a nigger,--did he?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don' know how dat is, child. 'Pears like old mas'r tink da' ain't
    \r\n", + "no God; and what he sees in yander good book lef 'um do just as 'e
    \r\n", + "mind to wid nigger. Sometimes Buckra sell nigger by de pound, just
    \r\n", + "like 'e sell pig; and den 'e say 't was wid de Lord's will.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"If mas'r Lord be what Buckra say he be, dis child don' want t'be
    \r\n", + "'quainted wid 'um,\" he coolly dilates, as if he foresees the
    \r\n", + "mournful result of the child's bright endowments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The negro tries to quiet the child's apprehensions by telling him he
    \r\n", + "thinks \"Buckra, what's waiting down in da'h office, gwine t' buy 'um
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 9/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 9 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "of old mas'r. Know dat Buckra he sharp feller. Get e' eye on ye, and
    \r\n", + "make up 'e mind what 'e gwine to give fo'h 'um, quicker!\" says the
    \r\n", + "negro.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum has invited his customer, Mr. Grabguy, into his more
    \r\n", + "comfortable counting-room, where, as Nicholas is led in, they may be
    \r\n", + "found discussing the rights of the south, as guaranteed by the
    \r\n", + "federal constitution. The south claim rights independent of the
    \r\n", + "north; and those rights are to secede from the wrongs of the north
    \r\n", + "whenever she takes into her head the very simple notion of carrying
    \r\n", + "them out. Graspum, a man of great experience, whose keen sense of
    \r\n", + "justice is made keener by his sense of practical injustice,--thinks
    \r\n", + "the democracy of the south was never fully understood, and that the
    \r\n", + "most sure way of developing its great principles is by hanging every
    \r\n", + "northerner, whose abolition mania is fast absorbing the liberties of
    \r\n", + "the country at large.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's the feller!\" says Mr. Grabguy, as the negro leads Nicholas
    \r\n", + "into his presence, and orders him to keep his hands down while the
    \r\n", + "gentleman looks at him. \"Stubborn sticks out some, though, I
    \r\n", + "reckon,\" Mr. Grabguy adds, rather enthusiastically. \"Absalom! Isaac!
    \r\n", + "Joe! eh? what's your name?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He's a trump!\" interposes Graspum, rubbing his hands together, and
    \r\n", + "giving his head a significant shake.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nicholas, they call me, master,\" answers the boy, pettishly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy takes him by the arms, feels his muscle with great care
    \r\n", + "and caution, tries the elasticity of his body by lifting him from
    \r\n", + "the floor by his two ears. This is too much, which the child
    \r\n", + "announces with loud screams. \"Stuff! out and out,\" says Mr. Grabguy,
    \r\n", + "patting him on the back, in a kind sort of way. At the same time he
    \r\n", + "gives a look of satisfaction at Graspum.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Everything a man wants, in that yaller skin,\" returns that
    \r\n", + "methodical tradesman, with a gracious nod.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Black lightnin' eyes-long wiry black hair, a skin full of Ingin
    \r\n", + "devil, and a face full of stubborn,\" Mr. Grabguy discourses, as he
    \r\n", + "contemplates the article before him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, now, about the lowest figure for him?\" he continues, again
    \r\n", + "looking at Graspum, and waiting his reply. That gentleman, drawing
    \r\n", + "his right hand across his mouth, relieves it of the virtueless
    \r\n", + "deposit, and supplies it with a fresh quid.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sit down, neighbour Grabguy,\" he says, placing a chair beside him.
    \r\n", + "They both sit down; the negro attendant stands a few feet behind
    \r\n", + "them: the boy may walk a line backward and forward. \"Say the word!
    \r\n", + "You know I'll have a deal o' trouble afore breaking the feller in,\"
    \r\n", + "Grabguy exclaims, impatiently.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum is invoking his philosophy. He will gauge the point of value
    \r\n", + "according to the coming prospect and Mr. Grabguy's wants. \"Well,
    \r\n", + "now, seeing it's you, and taking the large amount of negro property
    \r\n", + "I have sold to your distinguished father into consideration-I hope
    \r\n", + "to sell forty thousand niggers yet, before I die-he should bring six
    \r\n", + "hundred.\" Graspum lays his left hand modestly on Mr. Grabguy's right
    \r\n", + "arm, as that gentleman rather starts with surprise. \"Take the
    \r\n", + "extraordinary qualities into consideration, my friend; he's got a
    \r\n", + "head what's worth two hundred dollars more nor a common nigger,--that
    \r\n", + "is, if you be going to turn it into knowledge profit. But that
    \r\n", + "wasn't just what I was going to say\" (Graspum becomes profound, as
    \r\n", + "he spreads himself back in his chair). \"I was going to say, I'd let
    \r\n", + "you-you mustn't whisper it, though-have him for five hundred and
    \r\n", + "twenty; and he's as cheap at that as bull-dogs at five dollars.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Grabguy shakes his head: he thinks the price rather beyond his mark.
    \r\n", + "He, however, has no objection to chalking on the figure; and as both
    \r\n", + "are good democrats, they will split the difference.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum, smiling, touches his customer significantly with his elbow.
    \r\n", + "\"I never do business after that model,\" he says. \"Speaking of
    \r\n", + "bull-dogs, why, Lord bless your soul, Sam Beals and me traded
    \r\n", + "t'other day: I gin him a young five-year old nigger for his hound,
    \r\n", + "and two hundred dollars to boot. Can't go five hundred and twenty
    \r\n", + "for that imp, nohow! Could o' got a prime nigger for that, two years
    \r\n", + "ago.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Wouldn't lower a fraction! He's extraordinary prime, and'll
    \r\n", + "increase fifty dollars a year every year for ten years or more.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy can't help that: he is merely in search of an article
    \r\n", + "capable of being turned into a mechanic, or professional
    \r\n", + "man,--anything to suit the exigencies of a free country, in which
    \r\n", + "such things are sold. And as it will require much time to get the
    \r\n", + "article to a point where it'll be sure to turn the pennies back,
    \r\n", + "perhaps he'd as well let it alone: so he turns the matter over in
    \r\n", + "his head. And yet, there is a certain something about the \"young
    \r\n", + "imp\" that really fascinates him; his keen eye, and deep sense of
    \r\n", + "nigger natur' value, detect the wonderful promise the article holds
    \r\n", + "forth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not one cent lower would I take for that chap. In fact, I almost
    \r\n", + "feel like recanting now,\" says Graspum, by way of breaking the
    \r\n", + "monotony.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, I'll bid you good day,\" says the other, in return, affecting
    \r\n", + "preparation to leave. He puts out his hand to Graspum, and with a
    \r\n", + "serious look desires to know if that be the lowest figure.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Fact! Don't care 'bout selling at that. Couldn't have a better
    \r\n", + "investment than to keep him!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy considers and reconsiders the matter over in his mind;
    \r\n", + "paces up and down the floor several times, commences humming a tune,
    \r\n", + "steps to the door, looks up and down the street, and says, \"Well,
    \r\n", + "I'll be moving homeward, I will.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Like yer custom, that I do; but then, knowing what I can do with
    \r\n", + "the fellow, I feels stiff about letting him go,\" interposes Graspum,
    \r\n", + "with great indifference, following to the door, with hands extended.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "This is rather too insinuating for Mr. Grabguy. Never did piece of
    \r\n", + "property loom up so brightly, so physically and intellectually
    \r\n", + "valuable. He will return to the table. Taking his seat again, he
    \r\n", + "draws forth a piece of paper, and with his pencil commences figuring
    \r\n", + "upon it. He wants to get at the cost of free and slave labour, and
    \r\n", + "the relative advantages of the one over the other. After a deal of
    \r\n", + "multiplying and subtracting, he gives it up in despair. The fine
    \r\n", + "proportions of the youth before him distract his very brain with
    \r\n", + "contemplation. He won't bother another minute; figures are only
    \r\n", + "confusions: so far as using them to compute the relative value of
    \r\n", + "free and slave labour, they are enough to make one's head ache.
    \r\n", + "\"Would ye like to go with me, boy? Give ye enough to eat, but make
    \r\n", + "ye toe the mark!\" He looks at Nicholas, and waits a reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't matter!\" is the boy's answer. \"Seems as if nobody cared for
    \r\n", + "me; and so I don't care for nobody.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's enough,\" he interrupts, turning to Graspum: \"there's a
    \r\n", + "showing of grit in that, eh?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Soon take it out,\" rejoins that methodical gentleman. \"Anyhow, I've
    \r\n", + "a mind to try the fellow, Graspum. I feel the risk I run; but I
    \r\n", + "don't mind-it's neck or nothin here in the south! Ye'll take a long
    \r\n", + "note, s'pose? Good, ye know!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Graspum motions his head and works his lips, half affirmatively.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Good as old gold, ye knows that,\" insinuates Mr. Grabguy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, but notes aint cash; and our banks are shut down as tight as
    \r\n", + "steel traps. At all events make it bankable, and add the interest
    \r\n", + "for six months. It's against my rules of business, though,\" returns
    \r\n", + "Graspum, with great financial emphasis.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After considerably more very nice exhibitions of business tact, it
    \r\n", + "is agreed that Mr. Grabguy takes the \"imp\" at five hundred and
    \r\n", + "twenty dollars, for which Graspum accepts his note at six months,
    \r\n", + "with interest. Mr. Grabguy's paper is good, and Graspum considers it
    \r\n", + "equal to cash, less the interest. The \"imp\" is now left in charge of
    \r\n", + "the negro, while the two gentlemen retire to the private
    \r\n", + "counting-room, where they will settle the preliminaries.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A grave-looking gentleman at a large desk is ordered to make the
    \r\n", + "entry of sale; as the initiate of which he takes a ponderous ledger
    \r\n", + "from the case, and, with great coolness, opens its large leaves.
    \r\n", + "\"Nicholas, I think his name is?\" he ejaculates, turning to Graspum,
    \r\n", + "who, unconcernedly, has resumed his seat in the great arm-chair.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes; but I suppose it must be Nicholas Grabguy, now,\" returns
    \r\n", + "Graspum, bowing to his book-keeper, and then turning to Mr. Grabguy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One minute, if you please!\" rejoins that gentlemen, as the sedate
    \r\n", + "book-keeper turns to his page of N's in the index. Mr. Grabguy will
    \r\n", + "consider that very important point for a few seconds.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Better drop the Marston, as things are. A good many high feeling
    \r\n", + "connections of that family remain; and to continue the name might be
    \r\n", + "to give pain.\" This, Graspum says, he only puts out as a suggestion.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Enter him as you say, gentlemen,\" interposes the clerk, who will
    \r\n", + "mend his pen while waiting their pleasure.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy runs his right hand several times across his forehead,
    \r\n", + "and after a breathless pause, thinks it as well not to connect his
    \r\n", + "distinguished name with that of the nigger,--not just at this moment!
    \r\n", + "Being his property, and associating with his business and people,
    \r\n", + "that will naturally follow. \"Just enter him, and make out the bill
    \r\n", + "of sale describing him as the boy Nicholas,\" he adds.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Boy Nicholas!\" reiterates the book-keeper, and straight-way enters
    \r\n", + "his name, amount fetched, to whom sold, and general description, on
    \r\n", + "his files. In a few minutes more-Graspum, in his chair of state, is
    \r\n", + "regretting having sold so quick,--Mr. Grabguy is handed his bill of
    \r\n", + "sale, duly made out. At the same time, that sedate official places
    \r\n", + "the note for the amount into Graspum's hands. Graspum examines it
    \r\n", + "minutely, while Mr. Grabguy surveys the bill of sale. \"Mr. Benson,
    \r\n", + "my clerk here, does these things up according to legal tenour; he,
    \r\n", + "let me inform you, was brought up at the law business, and was
    \r\n", + "rather celebrated once; but the profession won't pay a man of his
    \r\n", + "ability,\" remarks Graspum, with an \"all right!\" as he lays the note
    \r\n", + "of hand down for Mr. Grabguy's signature.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Benson smiles in reply, and adjusts the very stiffly starched
    \r\n", + "corners of his ponderous shirt collar, which he desires to keep well
    \r\n", + "closed around his chin. \"An honourable man, that's true, sir, can't
    \r\n", + "live honestly by the law, now-a-days,\" he concludes, with measured
    \r\n", + "sedateness. He will now get his bill-book, in which to make a record
    \r\n", + "of the piece of paper taken in exchange for the human 'imp.'
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Clap your name across the face!\" demands Graspum; and Grabguy
    \r\n", + "seizes a pen, and quickly consummates the bargain by inscribing his
    \r\n", + "name, passing it to Mr. Benson, and, in return, receiving the bill
    \r\n", + "of sale, which he places in his breast pocket. He will not trouble
    \r\n", + "Mr. Benson any further; but, if he will supply a small piece of
    \r\n", + "paper, Mr. Grabguy will very kindly give the imp an order, and send
    \r\n", + "him to his workshop.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Will the gentleman be kind enough to help himself,\" says Mr.
    \r\n", + "Benson, passing a quire upon the table at which Mr. Grabguy sits.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'll trim that chap into a first-rate mechanic,\" says Mr. Grabguy,
    \r\n", + "as he writes,--\"I have bought the bearer, Nicholas, a promising chap,
    \r\n", + "as you will see. Take him into the shop and set him at something, if
    \r\n", + "it is only turning the grindstone; as I hav'nt made up my mind
    \r\n", + "exactly about what branch to set him at. He's got temper-you'll see
    \r\n", + "that in a minute, and will want some breakin in, if I don't calklate
    \r\n", + "'rong.\" This Mr. Grabguy envelopes, and directs to his master
    \r\n", + "mechanic. When all things are arranged to his satisfaction, Nicholas
    \r\n", + "is again brought into his presence, receives an admonition, is told
    \r\n", + "what he may expect if he displays his bad temper, is presented with
    \r\n", + "the note, and despatched, with sundry directions, to seek his way
    \r\n", + "alone, to his late purchaser's workshop.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Come, boy! ain't you going to say 'good-by' to me 'afore you go? I
    \r\n", + "hav'nt been a bad master to you,\" says Graspum, putting out his
    \r\n", + "hand.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, master,\" mutters the child, turning about ere he reaches the
    \r\n", + "door. He advances towards Graspum, puts out his little hand; and in
    \r\n", + "saying \"good by, master,\" there is so much childish simplicity in
    \r\n", + "his manner that it touches the tender chord embalmed within that
    \r\n", + "iron frame. \"Be a good little fellow!\" he says, his emotions rising.
    \r\n", + "How strong are the workings of nature when brought in contact with
    \r\n", + "unnatural laws! The monster who has made the child wretched--who has
    \r\n", + "for ever blasted its hopes, shakes it by the hand, and says--\"good
    \r\n", + "by, little 'un!\" as it leaves the door to seek the home of a new
    \r\n", + "purchaser. How strange the thoughts invading that child's mind, as,
    \r\n", + "a slave for life, it plods its way through the busy thoroughfares!
    \r\n", + "Forcibly the happy incidents of the past are recalled; they are
    \r\n", + "touching reclections-sweets in the dark void of a slave's life; but
    \r\n", + "to him no way-marks, to measure the happy home embalmed therein, are
    \r\n", + "left.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXVI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WORKINGS OF THE SLAVE SYSTEM.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "DEMOCRACY! thy trumpet voice for liberty is ever ringing in our
    \r\n", + "ears; but thy strange workings defame thee. Thou art rampant in love
    \r\n", + "of the \"popular cause,\" crushing of that which secures liberty to
    \r\n", + "all; and, whilst thou art great at demolishing structures, building
    \r\n", + "firm foundations seems beyond thee, for thereto thou forgetteth to
    \r\n", + "lay the cornerstone well on the solid rock of principle. And, too,
    \r\n", + "we love thee when thou art moved and governed by justice; we hate
    \r\n", + "thee when thou showest thyself a sycophant to make a mad mob serve a
    \r\n", + "pestilential ambition. Like a young giant thou graspest power; but,
    \r\n", + "when in thy hands, it becomes a means of serving the baser ends of
    \r\n", + "factious demagogues. Hypocrite! With breath of poison thou hast sung
    \r\n", + "thy songs to liberty while making it a stepping-stone to injustice;
    \r\n", + "nor hast thou ever ceased to wage a tyrant's war against the rights
    \r\n", + "of man. Thou wearest false robes; thou blasphemest against heaven,
    \r\n", + "that thy strength in wrong may be secure-yea, we fear thy end is
    \r\n", + "fast coming badly, for thou art the bastard offspring of
    \r\n", + "Republicanism so purely planted in our land. Clamour and the lash
    \r\n", + "are thy sceptres, and, like a viper seeking its prey, thou charmest
    \r\n", + "with one and goadeth men's souls with the other. Having worked thy
    \r\n", + "way through our simple narrative, show us what thou hast done. A
    \r\n", + "father hast thou driven within the humid wall of a prison, because
    \r\n", + "he would repent and acknowledge his child. Bolts and bars, in such
    \r\n", + "cases, are democracy's safeguards; but thou hast bound with heavy
    \r\n", + "chains the being who would rise in the world, and go forth healing
    \r\n", + "the sick and preaching God's word. Even hast thou turned the hearts
    \r\n", + "of men into stone, and made them weep at the wrong thou gavest them
    \r\n", + "power to inflict. That bond which God gave to man, and charged him
    \r\n", + "to keep sacred, thou hast sundered for the sake of gold,--thereby
    \r\n", + "levelling man with the brutes of the field. Thou hast sent two
    \r\n", + "beautiful children to linger in the wickedness of slavery,--to die
    \r\n", + "stained with its infamy! Thou hast robbed many a fair one of her
    \r\n", + "virtue, stolen many a charm; but thy foulest crime is, that thou
    \r\n", + "drivest mothers and fathers from the land of their birth to seek
    \r\n", + "shelter on foreign soil. Would to God thou could'st see thyself as
    \r\n", + "thou art,--make thy teachings known in truth and justice,--cease to
    \r\n", + "mock thyself in the eyes of foreign tyrants, nor longer serve
    \r\n", + "despots who would make thee the shield of their ill-gotten power!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Within those malarious prison walls, where fast decays a father who
    \r\n", + "sought to save from slavery's death the offspring he loved, will be
    \r\n", + "found a poor, dejected negro, sitting at the bedside of the
    \r\n", + "oppressed man, administering to his wants. His friendship is true
    \r\n", + "unto death,--the oppressed man is his angel, he will serve him at
    \r\n", + "the sacrifice of life and liberty. He is your true republican, the
    \r\n", + "friend of the oppressed! Your lessons of democracy, so swelling, so
    \r\n", + "boastfully arrayed for a world's good, have no place in his
    \r\n", + "soul,--goodness alone directs his examples of republicanism. But we
    \r\n", + "must not be over venturous in calling democracy to account, lest we
    \r\n", + "offend the gods of power and progress. We will, to save ourselves,
    \r\n", + "return to our narrative.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Marston, yet in gaol, stubbornly refuses to take the benefit of the
    \r\n", + "act,--commonly called the poor debtor's act. He has a faithful friend
    \r\n", + "in Daddy Bob, who has kept his ownership concealed, and, with the
    \r\n", + "assistance of Franconia, still relieves his necessities. Rumour,
    \r\n", + "however, strongly whispers that Colonel M'Carstrow is fast gambling
    \r\n", + "away his property, keeping the worst of company, and leading the
    \r\n", + "life of a debauchee,--which sorely grieves his noble-hearted wife. In
    \r\n", + "fact, Mrs. Templeton, who is chief gossip-monger of the city,
    \r\n", + "declares that he is more than ruined, and that his once beautiful
    \r\n", + "wife must seek support at something.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "An honest jury of twelve free and enlightened citizens, before the
    \r\n", + "honourable court of Sessions, have declared Romescos honourably
    \r\n", + "acquitted of the charge of murder, the fatal blow being given in
    \r\n", + "commendable self-defence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The reader will remember that in a former chapter we left the stolen
    \r\n", + "clergyman (no thanks to his white face and whiter necked brethren of
    \r\n", + "the profession), on the banks of the Mississippi, where, having
    \r\n", + "purchased his time of his owner, he is not only a very profitable
    \r\n", + "investment to that gentleman, but of great service on the
    \r\n", + "neighbouring plantations. Earnest in doing good for his fellow
    \r\n", + "bondmen, his efforts have enlisted for him the sympathy of a
    \r\n", + "generous-hearted young lady, the daughter of a neighbouring planter.
    \r\n", + "Many times had he recounted Mrs. Rosebrook's friendship for him to
    \r\n", + "her, and by its influence succeeded in opening the desired
    \r\n", + "communication. Mrs. Rosebrook had received and promptly answered all
    \r\n", + "his fair friend's letters: the answers contained good news for
    \r\n", + "Harry; she knew him well, and would at once set about inducing her
    \r\n", + "husband to purchase him. But here again his profession interposed a
    \r\n", + "difficulty, inasmuch as its enhancing the value of the property to
    \r\n", + "so great an extent would make his master reluctant to part with him.
    \r\n", + "However, as nothing could be more expressive of domestic attachment
    \r\n", + "than the manner in which the Rosebrooks studied each other's
    \r\n", + "feelings for the purpose of giving a more complete happiness, our
    \r\n", + "good lady had but to make known her wish, and the deacon stood ready
    \r\n", + "to execute it. In the present case he was but too glad of the
    \r\n", + "opportunity of gratifying her feelings, having had the purchase of a
    \r\n", + "clergyman in contemplation for some months back. He sought Harry
    \r\n", + "out, and, after bartering (the planter setting forth what a deal of
    \r\n", + "money he had made by his clergyman) succeeded in purchasing him for
    \r\n", + "fourteen hundred dollars, the gentleman producing legalised papers
    \r\n", + "of his purchase, and giving the same. As for his running away, there
    \r\n", + "is no evidence to prove that; nor will Harry's pious word be taken
    \r\n", + "in law to disclose the kidnapping. M'Fadden is dead,--his estate has
    \r\n", + "long since been administered upon; Romescos murdered the proof, and
    \r\n", + "swept away the dangerous contingency.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Here, then, we find Harry-we must pass over the incidents of his
    \r\n", + "return back in the old district-about to administer the Gospel to
    \r\n", + "the negroes on the Rosebrook estates. He is the same good,
    \r\n", + "generous-hearted black man he was years ago. But he has worked hard,
    \r\n", + "paid his master a deal of money for his time, and laid up but little
    \r\n", + "for himself. His clothes, too, are somewhat shabby, which, in the
    \r\n", + "estimation of the Rosebrook negroes-who are notoriously aristocratic
    \r\n", + "in their notions-is some detriment to his ministerial character. At
    \r\n", + "the same time, they are not quite sure that Harry Marston, as he
    \r\n", + "must now be called, will preach to please their peculiar mode of
    \r\n", + "thinking. Master and missus have given them an interest in their
    \r\n", + "labour; and, having laid by a little money in missus's savings bank,
    \r\n", + "they are all looking forward to the time when they will have gained
    \r\n", + "their freedom, according to the promises held out. With these
    \r\n", + "incitements of renewed energy they work cheerfully, take a deep
    \r\n", + "interest in the amount of crop produced, and have a worthy regard
    \r\n", + "for their own moral condition. And as they will now pay tribute for
    \r\n", + "the support of a minister of the Gospel, his respectability is a
    \r\n", + "particular object of their watchfulness. Thus, Harry's first
    \r\n", + "appearance on the plantation, shabbily dressed, is viewed with
    \r\n", + "distrust. Uncle Bradshaw, and old Bill, the coachman, and Aunt
    \r\n", + "Sophy, and Sophy's two gals, and their husbands, are heard in
    \r\n", + "serious conclave to say that \"It won't do!\" A clergy gentleman, with
    \r\n", + "no better clothes than that newcomer wears, can't preach good and
    \r\n", + "strong, nohow! Dad Daniel is heard to say. Bradshaw shakes his white
    \r\n", + "head, and says he's goin' to have a short talk with master about it.
    \r\n", + "Something must be done to reconcile the matter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia and good Mrs. Rosebrook are not so exacting: the latter
    \r\n", + "has received him with a warm welcome, while the former, her heart
    \r\n", + "bounding with joy on hearing of his return, hastened into his
    \r\n", + "presence, and with the affection of a child shook, and shook, and
    \r\n", + "shook his hand, as he fell on his knees and kissed hers. \"Poor
    \r\n", + "Harry!\" she says, \"how I have longed to see you, and your poor wife
    \r\n", + "and children!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, Franconia, my young missus, it is for them my soul fears.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But we have found out where they are,\" she interrupts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Where they are!\" he reiterates.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Indeed we have!\" Franconia makes a significant motion with her
    \r\n", + "head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It's true, Harry; and we'll see what can be done to get them back,
    \r\n", + "one of these days,\" adds Mrs. Rosebrook, her soul-glowing eyes
    \r\n", + "affirming the truth of her assertion. They have come out to spend
    \r\n", + "the day at the plantation, and a happy day it is for those whose
    \r\n", + "hearts they gladden with their kind words. How happy would be our
    \r\n", + "south-how desolate the mania for abolition--if such a comity of good
    \r\n", + "feeling between master and slaves existed on every plantation! And
    \r\n", + "there is nothing to hinder such happy results of kindness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"When that day comes, missus,--that day my good old woman and me will
    \r\n", + "be together again,--how happy I shall be! Seems as if the regaining
    \r\n", + "that one object would complete my earthly desires. And my
    \r\n", + "children,--how much I have felt for them, and how little I have
    \r\n", + "said!\" returns Harry, as, seated in the veranda of the plantation
    \r\n", + "mansion, the two ladies near him are watching his rising emotions.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Never mind, Harry,\" rejoins Franconia; \"it will all be well, one of
    \r\n", + "these days. You, as well as uncle, must bear with trouble. It is a
    \r\n", + "world of trouble and trial.\" She draws her chair nearer him, and
    \r\n", + "listens to his narrative of being carried off,--his endeavours to
    \r\n", + "please his strange master down in Mississippi,--the curious manner in
    \r\n", + "which his name was changed,--the sum he was compelled to pay for his
    \r\n", + "time, and the good he effected while pursuing the object of his
    \r\n", + "mission on the neighbouring plantations. Hope carried him through
    \r\n", + "every trial,--hope prepared his heart for the time of his
    \r\n", + "delivery,--hope filled his soul with gratitude to his Maker, and
    \r\n", + "hope, which ever held its light of freedom before him, inspired him
    \r\n", + "with that prayer he so thankfully bestowed on the head of his
    \r\n", + "benefactor, whose presence was as the light of love borne to him on
    \r\n", + "angels' wings.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Moved to tears by his recital of past struggles, and the expression
    \r\n", + "of natural goodness exhibited in the resignation with which he bore
    \r\n", + "them, ever praying and trusting to Him who guides our course in
    \r\n", + "life, Franconia in turn commenced relating the misfortunes that had
    \r\n", + "befallen her uncle. She tells him how her uncle has been reduced to
    \r\n", + "poverty through Lorenzo's folly, and Graspum, the negro dealer's
    \r\n", + "undiscoverable mode of ensnaring the unwary. He has been importuned,
    \r\n", + "harassed, subjected to every degradation and shame, scouted by
    \r\n", + "society for attempting to save those beautiful children, Annette and
    \r\n", + "Nicholas, from the snares of slavery. And he now welters in a
    \r\n", + "debtor's prison, with few save his old faithful Daddy Bob for
    \r\n", + "friends.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Master, and my old companion, Daddy Bob!\" exclaims Harry,
    \r\n", + "interrupting her at the moment.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes: Daddy takes care of him in his prison cell.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How often old Bob's expressive face has looked upon me in my
    \r\n", + "dreams! how often he has occupied my thoughts by day!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Goodness belongs to him by nature.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And master is in prison; but Daddy is still his friend and
    \r\n", + "faithful! Well, my heart sorrows for master: I know his proud heart
    \r\n", + "bleeds under the burden,\" he says, shaking his head sorrowfully.
    \r\n", + "There is more sympathy concealed beneath that black exterior than
    \r\n", + "words can express. He will go and see master; he will comfort him
    \r\n", + "within his prison walls; he will rejoin Daddy Bob, and be master's
    \r\n", + "friend once more. Mrs. Rosebrook, he is sure, will grant him any
    \r\n", + "privilege in her power. That good lady is forthwith solicited, and
    \r\n", + "grants Harry permission to go into the city any day it suits his
    \r\n", + "convenience-except Sunday, when his services are required for the
    \r\n", + "good of the people on the plantation. Harry is delighted with this
    \r\n", + "token of her goodness, and appoints a day when he will meet Miss
    \r\n", + "Franconia,--as he yet calls her,--and go see old master and Daddy. How
    \r\n", + "glowing is that honest heart, as it warms with ecstasy at the
    \r\n", + "thought of seeing \"old master,\" even though he be degraded within
    \r\n", + "prison walls!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While this conversation is going on in the veranda, sundry aged
    \r\n", + "members of negro families--aunties and mammies--are passing backwards
    \r\n", + "and forwards in front of the house, casting curious glances at the
    \r\n", + "affection exhibited for the new preacher by \"Miss Franconia.\" The
    \r\n", + "effect is a sort of reconciliation of the highly aristocratic
    \r\n", + "objections they at first interposed against his reception. \"Mus' be
    \r\n", + "somebody bigger dan common nigger preacher; wudn't cotch Miss
    \r\n", + "Frankone spoken wid 'um if 'um warn't,\" says Dad Timothy's Jane, who
    \r\n", + "is Uncle Absalom's wife, and, in addition to having six coal-black
    \r\n", + "children, as fat and sleek as beavers, is the wise woman of the
    \r\n", + "cabins, around whom all the old veteran mammies gather for
    \r\n", + "explanations upon most important subjects. In this instance she is
    \r\n", + "surrounded by six or seven grave worthies, whose comical faces add
    \r\n", + "great piquancy to the conclave. Grandmumma Dorothy, who declares
    \r\n", + "that she is grandmother to she don't know how much little growing-up
    \r\n", + "property, will venture every grey hair in her head-which is as white
    \r\n", + "as the snows of Nova Scotia-that he knows a deal o' things about the
    \r\n", + "gospel, or he wouldn't have missus for such a close acquaintance.
    \r\n", + "\"But his shirt ain't just da'h fashon fo'h a 'spectable minister ob
    \r\n", + "de gospel,\" she concludes, with profound wisdom evinced in her
    \r\n", + "measured nod.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Aunt Betsy, than whose face none is blacker, or more comically
    \r\n", + "moulded, will say her word; but she is very profound withal. \"Reckon
    \r\n", + "how tain't de clo' what make e' de preacher tink good\" (Aunty's lip
    \r\n", + "hangs seriously low the while). \"Lef missus send some calico fum
    \r\n", + "town, and dis old woman son fix 'um into shirt fo'h him,\" she says,
    \r\n", + "with great assurance of her sincerity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry-Mister Harry, as he is to be called by the people-finds
    \r\n", + "himself comfortably at home; the only drawback, if such it may be
    \r\n", + "called, existing in the unwillingness exhibited on the part of one
    \r\n", + "of the overseers to his being provided with apartments in the
    \r\n", + "basement of the house instead of one of the cabins. This, however,
    \r\n", + "is, by a few conciliatory words from Mrs. Rosebrook, settled to the
    \r\n", + "satisfaction of all. Harry has supper provided for him in one of the
    \r\n", + "little rooms downstairs, which he is to make his Study, and into
    \r\n", + "which he retires for the night.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "When daylight has departed, and the very air seems hanging in
    \r\n", + "stillness over the plantation, a great whispering is heard in Dad
    \r\n", + "Daniel's cabin-the head quarters, where grave matters of state, or
    \r\n", + "questions affecting the moral or physical interests of the
    \r\n", + "plantation, are discussed, and Dad Daniel's opinion held as most
    \r\n", + "learned-the importance of which over the other cabins is denoted by
    \r\n", + "three windows, one just above the door being usually filled with
    \r\n", + "moss or an old black hat. Singular enough, on approaching the cabin
    \r\n", + "it is discovered that Daniel has convoked a senate of his sable
    \r\n", + "brethren, to whom he is proposing a measure of great importance.
    \r\n", + "\"Da'h new precher, gemen! is one ob yer own colur-no more Buckra
    \r\n", + "what on'e gib dat one sarmon,--tank God fo'h dat!-and dat colour
    \r\n", + "geman, my children, ye must look up to fo'h de word from de good
    \r\n", + "book. Now, my bredren, 'tis posin' on ye dat ye make dat geman
    \r\n", + "'spectable. I poses den, dat we, bredren, puts in a mite apiece, and
    \r\n", + "gib dat ar' geman new suit ob fus' bes'clof', so 'e preach fresh and
    \r\n", + "clean,\" Dad Daniel is heard to say. And this proposition is carried
    \r\n", + "out on the following morning, when Daddy Daniel-his white wool so
    \r\n", + "cleanly washed, and his face glowing with great
    \r\n", + "good-nature-accompanied by a conclave of his sable companions,
    \r\n", + "presents himself in the front veranda, and demands to see \"missus.\"
    \r\n", + "That all-conciliating personage is ever ready to receive
    \r\n", + "deputations, and on making her appearance, and receiving the usual
    \r\n", + "salutations from her people, receives from the hand of that
    \r\n", + "venerable prime minister, Daddy Daniel, a purse containing twelve
    \r\n", + "dollars and fifty cents. It is the amount of a voluntary
    \r\n", + "contribution-a gift for the new preacher. \"Missus\" is requested,
    \r\n", + "after adding her portion, to expend it in a suit of best black for
    \r\n", + "the newcomer, whom they would like to see, and say \"how de, to.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Missus receives this noble expression of their gratitude with thanks
    \r\n", + "and kind words. Harry is summoned to the veranda, where, on making
    \r\n", + "his appearance, he is introduced to Dad Daniel, who, in return,
    \r\n", + "escorts him down on the plazza where numbers of the people have
    \r\n", + "assembled to receive him. Here, with wondrous ceremony, Dad Daniel
    \r\n", + "doing the polite rather strong, he is introduced to all the
    \r\n", + "important people of the plantation. And such a shaking of hands,
    \r\n", + "earnest congratulations, happy \"how des,\" bows, and joyous laughs,
    \r\n", + "as follow, place the scene so expressive of happiness beyond the
    \r\n", + "power of pen to describe. Then he is led away, followed by a train
    \r\n", + "of curious faces, to see Dad Daniel's neatly-arranged cabin; after
    \r\n", + "which he will see plantation church, and successively the people's
    \r\n", + "cabins. To-morrow evening, at early dusk, it is said, according to
    \r\n", + "invitation and arrangement, he will sup on the green with his sable
    \r\n", + "brethren, old and young, and spice up the evening's entertainment
    \r\n", + "with an exhortation; Dad Daniel, as is his custom, performing the
    \r\n", + "duties of deacon.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Let us pass over this scene, and-Harry having ingratiated himself
    \r\n", + "with the plantation people, who are ready to give him their
    \r\n", + "distinguished consideration-ask the reader to follow us through the
    \r\n", + "description of another, which took place a few days after.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our clergyman has delivered to his sable flock his first sermon,
    \r\n", + "which Dad Daniel and his compatriots pronounce great and good,--just
    \r\n", + "what a sermon should be. Such pathos they never heard before; the
    \r\n", + "enthusiasm and fervency with which it was delivered inspires
    \r\n", + "delight; they want no more earnestness of soul than the fervency
    \r\n", + "with which his gesticulations accompanied the words; and now he has
    \r\n", + "obtained a furlough that he may go into the city and console his old
    \r\n", + "master. A thrill of commiseration seizes him as he contemplates his
    \r\n", + "once joyous master now in prison; but, misgivings being useless,
    \r\n", + "onward he goes. And he will see old Bob, recall the happy incidents
    \r\n", + "of the past, when time went smoothly on.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He reaches the city, having tarried a while at missus's villa, and
    \r\n", + "seeks M'Carstrow's residence, at the door of which he is met by
    \r\n", + "Franconia, who receives him gratefully, and orders a servant to show
    \r\n", + "him into the recess of the hall, where he will wait until such time
    \r\n", + "as she is ready to accompany him to the county prison. M'Carstrow
    \r\n", + "has recently removed into plainer tenements: some whisper that
    \r\n", + "necessity compelled it, and that the \"large shot\" gamblers have
    \r\n", + "shorn him down to the lowest imaginable scale of living. Be this as
    \r\n", + "it may, certain it is that he has not looked within the doors of his
    \r\n", + "own house for more than a week: report says he is enjoying himself
    \r\n", + "in a fashionable house, to the inmates of which he is familiarly
    \r\n", + "known. He certainly leads his beautiful wife anything but a pleasant
    \r\n", + "or happy life. Soon Franconia is ready, and onward wending her way
    \r\n", + "for the gaol, closely followed by Harry. She would have no objection
    \r\n", + "to his walking by her side, but custom (intolerant interposer) will
    \r\n", + "not permit it. They pass through busy thoroughfares and narrow
    \r\n", + "streets into the suburbs, and have reached the prison outer gate, on
    \r\n", + "the right hand of which, and just above a brass knob, are the
    \r\n", + "significant words, \"Ring the bell.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What a place to put master in!\" says Harry, in a half whisper,
    \r\n", + "turning to Franconia, as he pulls the brass handle and listens for
    \r\n", + "the dull tinkling of the bell within. He starts at the muffled
    \r\n", + "summons, and sighs as he hears the heavy tread of the officer,
    \r\n", + "advancing through the corridor to challenge his presence. The man
    \r\n", + "advances, and has reached the inner iron gate, situated in a narrow,
    \r\n", + "vaulted arch in the main building. A clanking and clicking sound is
    \r\n", + "heard, and the iron door swings back: a thick-set man, with features
    \r\n", + "of iron, advances to the stoop, down the steps, and to the gate.
    \r\n", + "\"What's here now?\" he growls, rather than speaks, looking sternly at
    \r\n", + "the coloured man, as he thrusts his left hand deep into his side
    \r\n", + "pocket, while holding the key of the inner door in his right.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Visitor,\" returns Franconia, modestly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Who does the nigger want to see?\" he enquires, with pertinacity in
    \r\n", + "keeping with his profession.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"His old master!\" is the quick reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You both? I guess I know what it is,--you want to see Marston: he
    \r\n", + "used to be a rice-planter, but's now in the debtor's ward for a
    \r\n", + "swimming lot of debts. Well, s'pose I must let you in: got a lot o'
    \r\n", + "things, I s'pose?\" he says, looking wickedly through the bars as he
    \r\n", + "springs the bolts, and swings back the gate. \"I beg yer pardon a
    \r\n", + "dozen times! but I didn't recognise ye on the outer side,\" continues
    \r\n", + "the official, becoming suddenly servile. He makes a low bow as he
    \r\n", + "recognises Franconia-motions his hand for them to walk ahead. They
    \r\n", + "reach the steps leading to the inner gate, and ascending, soon are
    \r\n", + "in the vaulted passage.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "If they will allow him, the polite official will unlock the grated
    \r\n", + "door. Stepping before Franconia, who, as the clanking of the locks
    \r\n", + "grate on her ear, is seized with sensations she cannot describe, he
    \r\n", + "inserts the heavy key. She turns to Harry, her face pallid as
    \r\n", + "marble, and lays her tremulous hand on his arm, as if to relieve the
    \r\n", + "nervousness with which she is seized. Click! click! sounds forth:
    \r\n", + "again the door creaks on its hinges, and they are in the confines of
    \r\n", + "the prison. A narrow vaulted arch, its stone walls moistened with
    \r\n", + "pestilential malaria, leads into a small vestibule, on the right
    \r\n", + "hand of which stretched a narrow aisle lined on both sides with
    \r\n", + "cells. Damp and pestiferous, a hollow gloominess seems to pervade
    \r\n", + "the place, as if it were a pest-house for torturing the living.
    \r\n", + "Even the air breathes of disease,--a stench, as of dead men buried in
    \r\n", + "its vaults, darts its poison deep into the system. It is this,
    \r\n", + "coupled with the mind's discontent, that commits its ravages upon
    \r\n", + "the poor prisoner,--that sends him pale and haggard to a soon-
    \r\n", + "forgotten grave.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Last door on the right,--you know, mum,\" says the official: \"boy
    \r\n", + "will follow, lightly: whist! whist!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I know, to my sorrow,\" is her reply, delivered in a whisper. Ah!
    \r\n", + "her emotions are too tender for prison walls; they are yielding
    \r\n", + "tears from the fountain of her very soul.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He's sick: walk softly, and don't think of the prisoners. Knock at
    \r\n", + "the door afore enterin',\" says a staid-looking warden, emerging
    \r\n", + "from a small door on the left hand of the vestibule.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Zist! zist!\" returns the other, pointing with the forefinger of his
    \r\n", + "right hand down the aisle, and, placing his left, gently, on
    \r\n", + "Franconia's shoulder, motioning her to move on.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Slowly, her handkerchief to her face, she obeys the sign, and is
    \r\n", + "moving down the corridor, now encountering anxious eyes peering
    \r\n", + "through the narrow grating of huge black doors. And then a faint,
    \r\n", + "dolorous sound strikes on their listening ears. They pause for a
    \r\n", + "moment,--listen again! It becomes clearer and clearer; and they
    \r\n", + "advance with anxious curiosity. \"It's Daddy Bob's voice,\" whispers
    \r\n", + "Harry; \"but how distant it sounds!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Even that murmurs in his confinement,\" returns Franconia.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How, like a thing of life, it recalls the past-the past of
    \r\n", + "happiness!\" says Harry, as they reach the cell door, and,
    \r\n", + "tremulously, hesitate for a few moments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Listen again!\" continues Harry. The sound having ceased a moment or
    \r\n", + "two, again commences, and the word \"There's a place for old mas'r
    \r\n", + "yet, And de Lord will see him dar,\" are distinctly audible. \"How the
    \r\n", + "old man battles for his good master!\" returns Harry, as Franconia
    \r\n", + "taps gently on the door. The wooden trap over the grating is closed;
    \r\n", + "bolts hang carelessly from their staples; and yet, though the door
    \r\n", + "is secured with a hook on the inside, disease and death breathe
    \r\n", + "their morbid fumes through the scarce perceptible crevices. A
    \r\n", + "whispering-\"Come in!\" is heard in reply to the tap upon the door,
    \r\n", + "which slowly opens, and the face of old Bob, bathed in grief,
    \r\n", + "protrudes round the frame. \"Oh, missus-missus-missus-God give good
    \r\n", + "missus spirit!\" he exclaims, seizing Franconia fervently by the
    \r\n", + "hand, and looking in her face imploringly. A fotid stench pervaded
    \r\n", + "the atmosphere of the gloomy cell; it is death spreading its humid
    \r\n", + "malaria. \"Good old master is g-g-g-gone!\" mutters the negro, in
    \r\n", + "half-choked accents.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "With a wild shriek, the noble woman rushes to the side of his prison
    \r\n", + "cot, seizes his blanched hand that hangs carelessly over the iron
    \r\n", + "frame, grasps his head frantically, and draws it to her bosom, as
    \r\n", + "the last gurgle of life bids adieu to the prostrate body. He is
    \r\n", + "dead!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The old slave has watched over him, shared his sorrows and his
    \r\n", + "crust, has sung a last song to his departing spirit. How truthful
    \r\n", + "was that picture of the dying master and his slave! The old man,
    \r\n", + "struggling against the infirmities of age, had escaped the hands of
    \r\n", + "the man-seller, served his master with but one object-his soul's
    \r\n", + "love-and relieved his necessities, until death, ending his troubles,
    \r\n", + "left no more to relieve. Now, distracted between joy at meeting
    \r\n", + "Harry, and sorrow for the death of master, the poor old man is lost
    \r\n", + "in the confusion of his feelings. After saluting Franconia, he
    \r\n", + "turned to Harry, threw his arms around his neck, buried his head in
    \r\n", + "his bosom, and wept like a child. \"Home-home again,--my Harry! but
    \r\n", + "too late to see mas'r,\" he says, as the fountains of his soul give
    \r\n", + "out their streams.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We must all go where master has gone,\" returns Harry, as he, more
    \r\n", + "calm, fondles the old man, and endeavours to reconcile his feelings.
    \r\n", + "\"Sit there, my old friend-sit there; and remember that God called
    \r\n", + "master away. I must go to his bed-side,\" whispers Harry, seating the
    \r\n", + "old man on a block of wood near the foot of the cot, where he pours
    \r\n", + "forth the earnest of his grief.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXVII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "AN ITEM IN THE COMMON CALENDAR.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THUS painfully has Marston paid his debtors. Around his lifeless
    \r\n", + "body may spring to life those sympathies which were dead while he
    \r\n", + "lived; but deplorings fall useless on dead men. There is one
    \r\n", + "consideration, however, which must always be taken into account; it
    \r\n", + "is, that while sympathy for the living may cost something, sympathy
    \r\n", + "for the dead is cheap indeed, and always to be had. How simply plain
    \r\n", + "is the dead man's cell! In this humid space, ten by sixteen feet,
    \r\n", + "and arched over-head, is a bucket of water, with a tin cup at the
    \r\n", + "side, a prison tub in one corner, two wooden chairs, a little deal
    \r\n", + "stand, (off which the prisoner ate his meals), and his trunk of
    \r\n", + "clothing. The sheriff, insisting that it was his rule to make no
    \r\n", + "distinction of persons, allowed prison cot and prison matress to
    \r\n", + "which, by the kind permission of the warden, Franconia added sheets
    \r\n", + "and a coverlit. Upon this, in a corner at the right, and opposite a
    \r\n", + "spacious fire-place, in which are two bricks supporting a small iron
    \r\n", + "kettle, lies the once opulent planter,--now with eyes glassy and
    \r\n", + "discoloured, a ghastly corpse. His house once was famous for its
    \r\n", + "princely hospitality,--the prison cot is not now his bequest: but it
    \r\n", + "is all the world has left him on which to yield up his life. \"Oh,
    \r\n", + "uncle! uncle! uncle!\" exclaims Franconia, who has been bathing his
    \r\n", + "contorted face with her tears, \"would that God had taken me
    \r\n", + "too-buried our troubles in one grave! There is no trouble in that
    \r\n", + "world to which he has gone: joy, virtue, and peace, reign triumphant
    \r\n", + "there,\" she speaks, sighing, as she raises her bosom from off the
    \r\n", + "dead man. Harry has touched her on the shoulder with his left hand,
    \r\n", + "and is holding the dead man's with his right: he seems in deep
    \r\n", + "contemplation. His mind is absorbed in the melancholy scene; but,
    \r\n", + "though his affection is deep, he has no tears to shed at this
    \r\n", + "moment. No; he will draw a chair for Franconia, and seat her near
    \r\n", + "the head of the cot, for the fountains of her grief have overflown.
    \r\n", + "Discoloured and contorted, what a ghastly picture the dead man's
    \r\n", + "face presents! Glassy, and with vacant glare, those eyes, strange in
    \r\n", + "death, seem wildly staring upward from earth. How unnatural those
    \r\n", + "sunken cheeks--those lips wet with the excrement of black vomit--that
    \r\n", + "throat reddened with the pestilential poison! \"Call a warden,
    \r\n", + "Daddy!\" says Harry; \"he has died of black vomit, I think.\" And he
    \r\n", + "lays the dead body square upon the cot, turns the sheets from off
    \r\n", + "the shoulders, unbuttons the collar of its shirt. \"How changed! I
    \r\n", + "never would have known master; but I can see something of him left
    \r\n", + "yet.\" Harry remains some minutes looking upon the face of the
    \r\n", + "departed, as if tracing some long lost feature. And then he takes
    \r\n", + "his hands-it's master's hand, he says-and places them gently to his
    \r\n", + "sides, closes his glassy eyes, wipes his mouth and nostrils, puts
    \r\n", + "his ear to the dead man's mouth, as if doubting the all-slayer's
    \r\n", + "possession of the body, and with his right hand parts the matted
    \r\n", + "hair from off the cold brow. What a step between the cares of the
    \r\n", + "world and the peace of death! Harry smooths, and smooths, and
    \r\n", + "smooths his forehead with his hand; until at length his feelings get
    \r\n", + "the better of his resolution; he will wipe the dewy tears from his
    \r\n", + "eyes. \"Don't weep, Miss Franconia,--don't weep! master is happy with
    \r\n", + "Jesus,--happier than all the plantations and slaves of the world
    \r\n", + "could make him\" he says, turning to her as she sits weeping, her
    \r\n", + "elbow resting on the cot, and her face buried in her handkerchief.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bad job this here!\" exclaims the warden, as he comes lumbering into
    \r\n", + "the cell, his face flushed with anxiety. \"This yaller-fever beats
    \r\n", + "everything: but he hasn't been well for some time,\" he continues,
    \r\n", + "advancing to the bed-side, looking on the deceased for a few
    \r\n", + "minutes, and then, as if it were a part of his profession to look on
    \r\n", + "dead men, says: \"How strange to die out so soon!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He was a good master,\" rejoins Harry.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He wasn't your master-Was he?\" enquires the gaoler, in gruff
    \r\n", + "accents.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Once he was.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But, did you see him die, boy?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Thank God, I did not.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And this stupid old nigger hadn't sense to call me!\" (he turns
    \r\n", + "threateningly to Bob): \"Well,--must 'a drop'd off like the snuff of
    \r\n", + "a tallow candle!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daddy knew master was a poor man now;--calling would have availed
    \r\n", + "nothing; gaolers are bad friends of poverty.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Could you not have sent for me, good man?\" enquires Franconia, her
    \r\n", + "weeping eyes turning upon the warden, who says, by way of answering
    \r\n", + "her question, \"We must have him out o' here.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I said mas'r was sicker den ye s'posed, yesterday; nor ye didn't
    \r\n", + "notice 'um!\" interposes Bob, giving a significant look at the
    \r\n", + "warden, and again at Franconia.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"What a shame, in this our land of boasted hospitality! He died
    \r\n", + "neglected in a prison cell!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Truth is, ma'am,\" interrupts the warden, who, suddenly becoming
    \r\n", + "conscious that it is polite to be courteous to ladies wherever they
    \r\n", + "may be met, uncovers, and holds his hat in his hand,--\"we are sorely
    \r\n", + "tried with black-vomit cases; no provision is made for them, and
    \r\n", + "they die on our hands afore we know it, just like sheep with the
    \r\n", + "rot. It gives us a great deal of trouble;--you may depend it does,
    \r\n", + "ma'am; and not a cent extra pay do we get for it. For my own part,
    \r\n", + "I've become quite at home to dead men and prisoners. My name is-you
    \r\n", + "have no doubt heard of me before-John Lafayette Flewellen: my
    \r\n", + "situation was once, madam, that of a distinguished road contractor;
    \r\n", + "and then they run me for the democratic senator from our district,
    \r\n", + "and I lost all my money without getting the office-and here I am
    \r\n", + "now, pestered with sick men and dead prisoners. And the very worst
    \r\n", + "is that ye can't please nobody; but if anything is wanted, ma'am,
    \r\n", + "just call for me: John Lafayette Flewellen's my name, ma'am.\" The
    \r\n", + "man of nerve, with curious indifference, is about to turn away,--to
    \r\n", + "leave the mourning party to themselves, merely remarking, as he
    \r\n", + "takes his hand from that of the corpse, that his limbs are becoming
    \r\n", + "fridgid, fast.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stay-a-moment,--warden,\" says Franconia, sobbing: \"When was he
    \r\n", + "seized with the fever?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Day afore yesterday, ma'am; but he didn't complain until yesterday.
    \r\n", + "That he was in a dangerous way I'm sure I'd no idea.\" The warden
    \r\n", + "shrugs his shoulders, and spreads his hands. \"My eyes, ma'am, but he
    \r\n", + "drank strongly of late! Perhaps that, combined with the fever,
    \r\n", + "helped slide him off?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! yes,--it was something else-it was grief! His troubles were his
    \r\n", + "destroyer.\" She wipes her eyes, and, with a look of commiseration,
    \r\n", + "turns from the man whose business it is to look coldly upon
    \r\n", + "unfortunate dead men.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There was the things you sent him, ma'am; and he got his gaol
    \r\n", + "allowance, and some gruel. The law wouldn't allow us to do more for
    \r\n", + "him,--no, it wouldn't!\" He shakes his head in confirmation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I wanted old mas'r to let 'um bring doctor; but he said no! he
    \r\n", + "would meet de doctor what cured all diseases in another world,\"
    \r\n", + "interrupts old Bob, as he draws his seat close to the foot of the
    \r\n", + "cot, and, with his shining face of grief, gazes on the pale features
    \r\n", + "of his beloved master.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Let him lie as he is, till the coroner comes,\" says the warden,
    \r\n", + "retiring slowly, and drawing the heavy door after him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The humble picture was no less an expression of goodness, than proof
    \r\n", + "of the cruel severity of the law. The news of death soon brought
    \r\n", + "curious debtors into the long aisle, while sorrow and sympathy might
    \r\n", + "be read on every face. But he was gone, and with him his wants and
    \r\n", + "grievances. A physician was called in, but he could not recall life,
    \r\n", + "and, after making a few very learned and unintelligible remarks on
    \r\n", + "the appearance of the body, took his departure, saying that they
    \r\n", + "must not grieve-that it was the way all flesh would go. \"He, no
    \r\n", + "doubt, died of the black vomit, hastened by the want of care,\" he
    \r\n", + "concluded, as he left the cell.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Want of care!\" rejoins Franconia, again giving vent to her
    \r\n", + "feelings. How deeply did the arrow dart into the recesses of her
    \r\n", + "already wounded heart!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Moon, the methodical coroner, was not long repairing to the
    \r\n", + "spot. He felt, and felt, and felt the dead man's limbs, asked a few
    \r\n", + "questions, bared the cold breast, ordered the body to be
    \r\n", + "straightened a little, viewed it from several angles, and said an
    \r\n", + "inquest was unnecessary. It would reveal no new facts, and, as so
    \r\n", + "many were dying of the same disease, could give no more relief to
    \r\n", + "his friends. Concerning his death, no one could doubt the cause
    \r\n", + "being black vomit. With a frigid attempt at consolation for
    \r\n", + "Franconia, he will withdraw. He has not been long gone, when the
    \r\n", + "warden, a sheet over his left arm, again makes his appearance; he
    \r\n", + "passes the sheet to Harry, with a request that he will wind the dead
    \r\n", + "debtor up in it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Franconia, sobbing, rises from her seat, opens a window at the head
    \r\n", + "of the cot (the dead will not escape through the iron grating), and
    \r\n", + "paces the floor, while Harry and Daddy sponge the body, lay it
    \r\n", + "carefully down, and fold it in the winding-sheet. \"Poor master,--God
    \r\n", + "has taken him; but how I shall miss him! I've spent happy days wid
    \r\n", + "'im in dis place, I have!\" says Bob, as they lay his head on the
    \r\n", + "hard pillow. He gazes upon him with affection,--and says \"Mas'r 'll
    \r\n", + "want no more clothes.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now night is fast drawing its dark mantle over the scene,--the
    \r\n", + "refulgent shadows of the setting sun play through the grated window
    \r\n", + "into the gloomy cell: how like a spirit of goodness sent from on
    \r\n", + "high to lighten the sorrows of the downcast, seems the light. A
    \r\n", + "faint ray plays its soft tints on that face now pallid in death; how
    \r\n", + "it inspires our thoughts of heaven! Franconia watches, and watches,
    \r\n", + "as fainter and fainter it fades away, like an angel sent for the
    \r\n", + "spirit taking its departure. \"Farewell!\" she whispers, as darkness
    \r\n", + "shuts out the last mellow glimmer: \"Come sombre night, and spread
    \r\n", + "thy stillness!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The warden, moved by the spark of generosity his soul possesses, has
    \r\n", + "brought some cologne, and silently places it in Franconia's hands.
    \r\n", + "She advances to the cot, seats herself near the head of her dear
    \r\n", + "departed, encircles his head with her left arm, and with her white
    \r\n", + "'kerchief bathes his face with the liquid, Harry holding the vessel
    \r\n", + "in his hand, at her request. A candle sheds its sickly light upon
    \r\n", + "the humid walls; faintly it discloses the face of Daddy Bob,
    \r\n", + "immersed in tears, watching intently over the foot of the cot.
    \r\n", + "\"Missus Frankone is alw's kind to mas'r!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I loved uncle because his heart was good,\" returns Franconia.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'Tis dat, missus. How kindly old mas'r, long time ago, used to say,
    \r\n", + "'Good mornin', Bob! Daddy, mas'r lubs you!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "How firmly the happy recollection of these kind words is sealed in
    \r\n", + "the old man's memory.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXVIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH REGRETS ARE SHOWN OF LITTLE WORTH.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE reader may remember, that we, in the early part of our
    \r\n", + "narrative, made some slight mention of the Rovero family, of which
    \r\n", + "Franconia and Lorenzo were the only surviving children. They, too,
    \r\n", + "had been distinguished as belonging to a class of opulent planters;
    \r\n", + "but, having been reduced to poverty by the same nefarious process
    \r\n", + "through which we have traced Marston's decline, and which we shall
    \r\n", + "more fully disclose in the sequel, had gathered together the
    \r\n", + "remnants of a once extensive property, and with the proceeds
    \r\n", + "migrated to a western province of Mexico, where, for many years,
    \r\n", + "though not with much success, Rovero pursued a mining speculation.
    \r\n", + "They lived in a humble manner; Mrs. Rovero, Marston's sister-and of
    \r\n", + "whom we have a type in the character of her daughter,
    \r\n", + "Franconia-discarded all unnecessary appurtenances of living, and
    \r\n", + "looked forward to the time when they would be enabled to retrieve
    \r\n", + "their fortunes and return to their native district to spend the
    \r\n", + "future of their days on the old homestead. More than four years,
    \r\n", + "however, had passed since any tidings had been received of them by
    \r\n", + "Franconia; and it was strongly surmised that they had fallen victims
    \r\n", + "to the savage incursions of marauding parties, who were at that time
    \r\n", + "devastating the country, and scattering its defenceless inhabitants
    \r\n", + "homeless over the western shores of central America. So strong had
    \r\n", + "this impression found place in Franconia's mind that she had given
    \r\n", + "up all hopes of again meeting them. As for M'Carstrow's friends,
    \r\n", + "they had never taken any interest in her welfare, viewing her
    \r\n", + "marriage with the distinguished colonel as a mere catch on the part
    \r\n", + "of her parents, whose only motive was to secure themselves the
    \r\n", + "protection of a name, and, perhaps, the means of sustaining
    \r\n", + "themselves above the rank disclosure of their real poverty. To keep
    \r\n", + "\"above board\" is everything in the south; and the family not
    \r\n", + "distinguished soon finds itself well nigh extinguished. Hence that
    \r\n", + "ever tenacious clinging to pretensions, sounding of important names,
    \r\n", + "and maintenance of absurd fallacies,--all having for their end the
    \r\n", + "drawing a curtain over that real state of poverty there existing.
    \r\n", + "Indeed, it was no secret that even the M'Carstrow family (counting
    \r\n", + "itself among the very few really distinguished families of the
    \r\n", + "state, and notorious for the contempt in which they affected to hold
    \r\n", + "all common people), had mortgaged their plantation and all its
    \r\n", + "negroes for much more than their worth in ordinary times. As for
    \r\n", + "tradesmen's bills, there were any quantity outstanding, without the
    \r\n", + "shadow of a prospect of their being paid, notwithstanding
    \r\n", + "importuners had frequently intimated that a place called the gaol
    \r\n", + "was not far distant, and that the squire's office was within a
    \r\n", + "stone's throw of \"the corner.\" Colonel M'Carstrow, reports say, had
    \r\n", + "some years ago got a deal of money by an unexplainable hocus pocus,
    \r\n", + "but it was well nigh gone in gambling, and now he was keeping
    \r\n", + "brothel society and rioting away his life faster than the
    \r\n", + "race-horses he had formerly kept on the course could run.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Hospitality hides itself when friends are needy; and it will be seen
    \r\n", + "here that Franconia had few friends-we mean friends in need. The
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook family formed an exception. The good deacon, and his ever
    \r\n", + "generous lady, had remained Franconia's firmest friends; but so
    \r\n", + "large and complicated were the demands against Marston, and so gross
    \r\n", + "the charges of dishonour--suspicion said he fraudulently made over
    \r\n", + "his property to Graspum-that they dared not interpose for his
    \r\n", + "relief; nor would Marston himself have permitted it. The question
    \r\n", + "now was, what was to be done with the dead body?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We left Franconia bathing its face, and smoothing the hair across
    \r\n", + "its temples with her hand. She cannot bury the body from her own
    \r\n", + "home:--no! M'Carstow will not permit that. She cannot consign it to
    \r\n", + "the commissioners for the better regulation of the \"poor house,\"-her
    \r\n", + "feelings repulse the thought. One thought lightens her cares; she
    \r\n", + "will straightway proceed to Mrs. Rosebrook's villa,--she will herself
    \r\n", + "be the bearer of the mournful intelligence; while Harry will watch
    \r\n", + "over the remains of the departed, until Daddy, who must be her guide
    \r\n", + "through the city, shall return. \"I will go to prepare the next
    \r\n", + "resting-place for uncle,\" says Franconia, as if nerving herself to
    \r\n", + "carry out the resolution.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"With your permission, missus,\" returns Harry, touching her on the
    \r\n", + "arm, and pointing through the grated window into the gloomy yard.
    \r\n", + "\"Years since-before I passed through a tribulation worse than
    \r\n", + "death-when we were going to be sold in the market, I called my
    \r\n", + "brothers and sisters of the plantation together, and in that yard
    \r\n", + "invoked heaven to be merciful to its fallen. I was sold on that day;
    \r\n", + "but heaven has been merciful to me; heaven has guided me through
    \r\n", + "many weary pilgrimages, and brought me here to-night; and its
    \r\n", + "protecting hand will yet restore me my wife and little ones. Let us
    \r\n", + "pray to-night; let us be grateful to Him who seeth the fallen in his
    \r\n", + "tribulation, but prepareth a place for him in a better world. Let us
    \r\n", + "pray and hope,\" he continued: and they knelt at the side of the
    \r\n", + "humble cot on which lay the departed, while he devoutly and
    \r\n", + "fervently invoked the Giver of all Good to forgive the oppressor, to
    \r\n", + "guide the oppressed, to make man feel there is a world beyond this,
    \r\n", + "to strengthen the resolution of that fair one who is thus sorely
    \r\n", + "afflicted, to give the old man who weeps at the feet of the departed
    \r\n", + "new hope for the world to come,--and to receive that warm spirit
    \r\n", + "which has just left the cold body into his realms of bliss.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "What of roughness there was in his manner is softened by simplicity
    \r\n", + "and truthfulness. The roughest lips may breathe the purest prayer.
    \r\n", + "At the conclusion, Franconia and Daddy leave for Mrs. Rosebrook's
    \r\n", + "villa, while Harry, remaining to watch over the remains, draws his
    \r\n", + "chair to the stand, and reads by the murky light.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I won't be long; take care of old mas'r,\" says Daddy, as he leaves
    \r\n", + "the cell, solicitously looking back into the cavern-like place.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is past ten when they reach the house of Mrs. Rosebrook, the
    \r\n", + "inmates of which have retired, and are sleeping. Everything is quiet
    \r\n", + "in and about the enclosure; the luxuriant foliage bespreading a lawn
    \r\n", + "extending far away to the westward, seems refreshing itself with dew
    \r\n", + "that sparkles beneath the starlight heavens, now arched like a
    \r\n", + "crystal mist hung with diamond lights. The distant watchdog's bark
    \r\n", + "re-echoes faintly over the broad lagoon, to the east; a cricket's
    \r\n", + "chirrup sounds beneath the woodbine arbour; a moody guardsman,
    \r\n", + "mounted on his lean steed, and armed for danger, paces his slow way
    \r\n", + "along: he it is that breaks the stillness while guarding the fears
    \r\n", + "of a watchful community, who know liberty, but crush with steel the
    \r\n", + "love thereof.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A rap soon brings to the door the trim figure of a mulatto servant.
    \r\n", + "He conveys the name of the visitor to his \"missus,\" who, surprised
    \r\n", + "at the untimely hour Franconia seeks her, loses no time in reaching
    \r\n", + "the ante-room, into which she has been conducted.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daddy has taken his seat in the hall, and recognises \"missus\" as she
    \r\n", + "approaches; but as she puts out her hand to salute him, she
    \r\n", + "recognises trouble seated on his countenance. \"Young missus in
    \r\n", + "da'h,\" he says, pointing to the ante-room while rubbing his eyes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"But you must tell me what trouble has befallen you,\" she returns,
    \r\n", + "as quickly, in her dishabille, she drops his hand and starts back.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Missus know 'um all,--missus da'h.\" Again he points, and she hastens
    \r\n", + "into the ante-room, when, grasping Franconia by the hand, she stares
    \r\n", + "at her with breathless anxiety expressed in her face. A pause ensues
    \r\n", + "in which both seem bewildered. At length Franconia breaks the
    \r\n", + "silence. \"Uncle is gone!\" she exclaims, following the words with a
    \r\n", + "flow of tears.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gone!\" reiterates the generous-hearted woman, encircling
    \r\n", + "Franconia's neck with her left arm, and drawing her fondly to her
    \r\n", + "bosom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,--dead!\" she continues, sobbing audibly. There is something
    \r\n", + "touching in the words,--something which recalls the dearest
    \r\n", + "associations of the past, and touches the fountains of the heart. It
    \r\n", + "is the soft tone in which they are uttered,--it gives new life to old
    \r\n", + "images. So forcibly are they called up, that the good woman has no
    \r\n", + "power to resist her violent emotions: gently she guides Franconia to
    \r\n", + "the sofa, seats her upon its soft cushion, and attempts to console
    \r\n", + "her wrecked spirit.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The men-servants are called up,--told to be prepared for orders. One
    \r\n", + "of them recognises Daddy, and, inviting him into the pantry, would
    \r\n", + "give him food, Trouble has wasted the old man's appetite; he thinks
    \r\n", + "of master, but has no will to eat. No; he will see missus, and
    \r\n", + "proceed back to the prison, there join Harry, and watch over all
    \r\n", + "that is mortal of master. He thanks Abraham for what he gave him,
    \r\n", + "declines the coat he would kindly lend him to keep out the chill,
    \r\n", + "seeks the presence of his mistress (she has become more reconciled),
    \r\n", + "says, \"God bless 'um!\" bids her good night, and sallies forth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook listens to the recital of the melancholy scene with
    \r\n", + "astonishment and awe. \"How death grapples for us!\" she exclaims, her
    \r\n", + "soft, soul-beaming eyes glaring with surprise. \"How it cuts its way
    \r\n", + "with edge unseen. Be calm, be calm, Franconia; you have nobly done
    \r\n", + "your part,--nobly! Whatever the pecuniary misfortunes,--whatever the
    \r\n", + "secret cause of his downfall, you have played the woman to the very
    \r\n", + "end. You have illustrated the purest of true affection; would it had
    \r\n", + "repaid you better. Before daylight-negroes are, in consequence of
    \r\n", + "their superstition, unwilling to remove the dead at midnight-I will
    \r\n", + "have the body removed here,--buried from my house.\" The good woman
    \r\n", + "did not disclose to Franconia that her husband was from home, making
    \r\n", + "an effort to purchase Harry's wife and children from their present
    \r\n", + "owner. But she will do all she can,--the best can do no more.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At the gaol a different scene is presented. Harry, alone with the
    \r\n", + "dead man, waits Daddy's return. Each tap of the bell awakes a new
    \r\n", + "hope, soon to be disappointed. The clock strikes eleven: no Daddy
    \r\n", + "returns. The gates are shut: Harry must wile away the night, in this
    \r\n", + "tomb-like abode, with the dead. What stillness pervades the cell;
    \r\n", + "how mournfully calm in death sleeps the departed! The watcher has
    \r\n", + "read himself to sleep; his taper, like life on its way, has nearly
    \r\n", + "shed out its pale light; the hot breath of summer breathes balmy
    \r\n", + "through the lattice bars; mosquitoes sing their torturous tunes
    \r\n", + "while seeking for the dead man's blood; lizards, with diamond eyes,
    \r\n", + "crawl upon the wall, waiting their ration: but death, less
    \r\n", + "inexorable than creditors, sits pale king over all. The palace and
    \r\n", + "the cell are alike to him; the sharp edge of his unseen sword spares
    \r\n", + "neither the king in his purple robe, nor the starving beggar who
    \r\n", + "seeks a crust at his palace gate,--of all places the worst.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As morning dawns, and soft fleeting clouds tinge the heavens with
    \r\n", + "light, four negroes may be seen sitting at the prison gate, a litter
    \r\n", + "by their side, now and then casting silent glances upward, as if
    \r\n", + "contemplating the sombre wall that frowns above their heads,
    \r\n", + "enclosing the prison. The guard, armed to the teeth, have passed and
    \r\n", + "repassed them, challenged and received their answer, and as often
    \r\n", + "examined their passes. They-the negroes-have come for a dead man.
    \r\n", + "Guardmen get no fees of dead men,--the law has no more demands to
    \r\n", + "serve: they wish the boys much joy with their booty, and pass on.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Six o'clock arrives; the first bell rings; locks, bolts, and bars
    \r\n", + "clank in ungrateful medley; rumbling voices are heard within the
    \r\n", + "hollow-sounding aisles; whispers from above chime ominously with the
    \r\n", + "dull shuffle rumbling from below. \"Seven more cases,--how it rages!\"
    \r\n", + "grumbles a monotonous voice, and the gate opens at the warden's
    \r\n", + "touch. \"Who's here?\" he demands, with stern countenance unchanged,
    \r\n", + "as he shrugs his formidable shoulders. \"I see, (he continues,
    \r\n", + "quickly), you have come for the dead debtor. Glad of it, my good
    \r\n", + "fellow; this is the place to make dead men of debtors. Brought an
    \r\n", + "order, I s'pose?\" Saying \"follow me,\" he turns about, hastens to the
    \r\n", + "vestibule, receives the order from the hand of Duncan, the chief
    \r\n", + "negro, reads it with grave attention, supposes it is all straight,
    \r\n", + "and is about to show him the cell where the body lays, and which he
    \r\n", + "is only too glad to release. \"Hold a moment!\" Mr. Winterflint--such
    \r\n", + "is his name--says. Heaven knows he wants to get rid of the dead
    \r\n", + "debtor; but the laws are so curious, creditors are so obdurate, and
    \r\n", + "sheriffs have such a crooked way of doing straight things, that he
    \r\n", + "is in the very bad position of not knowing what to do. Some document
    \r\n", + "from the sheriff may be necessary; perhaps the creditors must agree
    \r\n", + "to the compromise. He forgets that inexorable Death, as he is
    \r\n", + "vulgarly styled, has forced a compromise: creditors must now credit
    \r\n", + "\"by decease.\" Upon this point, however, he must be satisfied by his
    \r\n", + "superior. He now wishes Mr. Brien Moon would evince more exactness
    \r\n", + "in holding inquests, and less anxiety for the fees. Mr. Winterflint
    \r\n", + "depends not on his own decisions, where the laws relating to debtors
    \r\n", + "are so absurdly mystical. \"Rest here, boy,\" he says; \"I won't be a
    \r\n", + "minute or two,--must do the thing straight.\" He seeks the presence of
    \r\n", + "that extremely high functionary, the gaoler (high indeed wherever
    \r\n", + "slavery rules), who, having weighed the points with great legal
    \r\n", + "impartiality, gives it as his most distinguished opinion that no
    \r\n", + "order of release from the high sheriff is requisite to satisfy the
    \r\n", + "creditors of his death: take care of the order sent, and make a note
    \r\n", + "of the niggers who take him away, concludes that highly important
    \r\n", + "gentleman, as comfortably his head reclines on soft pillow. To this
    \r\n", + "end was Mr. Moon's certificate essential.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Winterflint returns; enquires who owns the boys.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mas'r Rosebrook's niggers,\" Duncan replies, firmly; \"but Missus
    \r\n", + "send da order.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sure of that, now? Good niggers them of Rosebrook's: wouldn't a'
    \r\n", + "gin it to nobody else's niggers. Follow me-zist, zist!\" he says,
    \r\n", + "crooking his finger at the other three, and scowling, as Duncan
    \r\n", + "relieves their timidity by advancing. They move slowly and
    \r\n", + "noiselessly up the aisle, the humid atmosphere of which, pregnant
    \r\n", + "with death, sickens as it steals into the very blood. \"In
    \r\n", + "there-zist! make no noise; the dead debtor lies there,\" whispers the
    \r\n", + "warden, laying his left hand upon Duncan's shoulder, and, the
    \r\n", + "forefinger of his right extended, pointing toward the last cell on
    \r\n", + "the left. \"Door's open; not locked, I meant. Left it unsecured last
    \r\n", + "night. Rap afore ye go in, though.\" At the methodical warden's
    \r\n", + "bidding Duncan proceeds, his foot falling lightly on the floor.
    \r\n", + "Reaching the door, he places his right hand on the swinging bolt,
    \r\n", + "and for a few seconds seems listening. He hears the muffled sound of
    \r\n", + "a footfall pacing the floor, and then a muttering as of voices in
    \r\n", + "secret communion, or dying echoes from the tomb. He has not mistaken
    \r\n", + "the cell; its crevices give forth odours pergnant of proof. Two
    \r\n", + "successive raps bring Harry to the door: they are admitted to the
    \r\n", + "presence of the dead. One by one Harry receives them by the hand,
    \r\n", + "but he must needs be told why Daddy is not with them. They know not.
    \r\n", + "He ate a morsel, and left late last night, says one of the negroes.
    \r\n", + "Harry is astonished at this singular intelligence: Daddy Bob never
    \r\n", + "before was known to commit an act of unfaithfulness; he was true to
    \r\n", + "Marston in life,--strange that he should desert him in death.
    \r\n", + "\"Mas'r's death-bed wasn't much at last,\" says Duncan, as they gather
    \r\n", + "round the cot, and, with curious faces, mingle their more curious
    \r\n", + "remarks. Harry draws back the white handkerchief which Franconia had
    \r\n", + "spread over the face of the corpse, as the negroes start back
    \r\n", + "affrighted. As of nervous contortion, the ghastly face presents an
    \r\n", + "awful picture. Swollen, discoloured, and contracted, no one outline
    \r\n", + "of that once cheerful countenance can be traced. \"Don't look much
    \r\n", + "like Mas'r Marston used to look; times must a' changed mightily
    \r\n", + "since he used to look so happy at home,\" mutters Duncan, shaking his
    \r\n", + "head, and telling the others not to be \"fear'd; dead men can't hurt
    \r\n", + "nobody.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Died penniless;--but e' war good on e' own plantation,\" rejoins
    \r\n", + "another. \"One ting be sartin 'bout nigger-he know how he die wen 'e
    \r\n", + "time cum; Mas'r don know how 'e gwine to die!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Having seen enough of the melancholy finale, they spread the litter
    \r\n", + "in the aisle, as the warden enters the cell to facilitate the dead
    \r\n", + "debtor's exit. Harry again covers the face, and prepares to roll the
    \r\n", + "body in a coverlit brought by Duncan. \"I kind of liked him-he was so
    \r\n", + "gentlemanly-has been with us so long, and did'nt seem like a
    \r\n", + "prisoner. He was very quiet, and always civil when spoken to,\"
    \r\n", + "interposes the warden, as, assisting the second shrouding, he
    \r\n", + "presses the hand of the corpse in his own.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Now he is ready; they place his cold body on the litter; a few
    \r\n", + "listless prisoners stand their sickly figures along the passage,
    \r\n", + "watch him slowly borne to the iron gate in the arched vault.
    \r\n", + "Death-less inexorable than creditors-has signed his release, thrown
    \r\n", + "back prison bolts and bars, wrested him from the grasp of human
    \r\n", + "laws, and now mocks at creditors, annuls fi fas, bids the dead
    \r\n", + "debtor make his exit. Death pays no gaol fees; it makes that bequest
    \r\n", + "to creditors; but it reserves the keys of heaven for another
    \r\n", + "purpose. \"One ration less,\" says the warden, who, closing the grated
    \r\n", + "door, casts a lingering look after the humble procession, bearing
    \r\n", + "away the remains of our departed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "With Harry as the only follower, they proceed along, through
    \r\n", + "suburban streets, and soon reach the house of that generous woman. A
    \r\n", + "minister of the gospel awaits his coming; the good man's words are
    \r\n", + "consoling, but he cannot remodel the past for the advantage of the
    \r\n", + "dead. Soon the body is placed in a \"ready-made coffin,\" and the good
    \r\n", + "man offers up the last funeral rites; he can do no more than invoke
    \r\n", + "the great protector to receive the departed into his bosom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"How the troubles of this world rise up before me! Oh! uncle! uncle!
    \r\n", + "how I could part with the world and bury my troubles in the same
    \r\n", + "grave!\" exclaims Franconia, as, the ceremony having ended, they bear
    \r\n", + "the body away to its last resting-place; and, in a paroxysm of
    \r\n", + "grief, she shrieks and falls swooning to the floor.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In a neatly inclosed plat, a short distance from the Rosebrook
    \r\n", + "Villa, and near the bank of a meandering rivulet, overhung with
    \r\n", + "mourning willows and clustering vines, they lay him to rest. The
    \r\n", + "world gave the fallen man nothing but a prison-cell wherein to
    \r\n", + "stretch his dying body; a woman gives him a sequestered grave, and
    \r\n", + "nature spreads it with her loveliest offering. It is the last
    \r\n", + "resting-place of the Rosebrook family, which their negroes,
    \r\n", + "partaking of that contentment so characteristic of the family, have
    \r\n", + "planted with flowers they nurture with tenderest care. There is
    \r\n", + "something touching in the calm beauty of the spot; something
    \r\n", + "breathing of rural contentment. It is something to be buried in a
    \r\n", + "pretty grave-to be mourned by a slave-to be loved by the untutored.
    \r\n", + "How abject the slave, and yet how true his affection! how dear his
    \r\n", + "requiem over a departed friend! \"God bless master-receive his
    \r\n", + "spirit!\" is heard mingling with the music of the gentle breeze, as
    \r\n", + "Harry, sitting at the head of the grave, looks upward to heaven,
    \r\n", + "while earth covers from sight the mortal relics of a once kind
    \r\n", + "master.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It has been a day of sadness at the villa-a day of mourning and
    \r\n", + "tribulation. How different the scene in the city! There, men whisper
    \r\n", + "strange regrets. Sympathy is let loose, and is expanding itself to
    \r\n", + "an unusual degree. Who was there that did not know Marston's
    \r\n", + "generous, gushing soul! Who was there that would not have stretched
    \r\n", + "forth the helping hand, had they known his truly abject condition!
    \r\n", + "Who that was not, and had not been twenty times, on the very brink
    \r\n", + "of wresting him from the useless tyranny of his obdurate creditors!
    \r\n", + "Who that had not waited from day to day, with purse-strings open,
    \r\n", + "ready to pour forth the unmistakeable tokens of friendship! How many
    \r\n", + "were only restrained from doing good-from giving vent to the
    \r\n", + "fountains of their hospitality-through fear of being contaminated
    \r\n", + "with that scandal rumour had thrown around his decline! Over his
    \r\n", + "death hath sprung to life that curious fabric of living generosity,
    \r\n", + "so ready to bespread a grave with unneeded bounties,--so emblematic
    \r\n", + "of how many false mourners hath the dead. But Graspum would have all
    \r\n", + "such expressions shrink beneath his glowing goodness. With honied
    \r\n", + "words he tells the tale of his own honesty: his business intercourse
    \r\n", + "with the deceased was in character most generous. Many a good turn
    \r\n", + "did Marston receive at his hands; long had he been his faithful and
    \r\n", + "unwearied friend. Fierce are the words with which he would execrate
    \r\n", + "the tyrant creditors; yea, he would heap condign punishment on their
    \r\n", + "obdurate heads. Time after time did he tell them the fallen man was
    \r\n", + "penniless; how strange, then, that they tortured him to death within
    \r\n", + "prison walls. He would sweep away such vengeance, bury it with his
    \r\n", + "curses, and make obsolete such laws as give one man power to gratify
    \r\n", + "his passion on another. His burning, surging anger can find no
    \r\n", + "relief; nor can he tolerate such antiquated debtor laws: to him they
    \r\n", + "are the very essence of barbarism, tainting that enlightened
    \r\n", + "civilisation so long implanted by the State, so well maintained by
    \r\n", + "the people. It is on those ennobling virtues of state, he says, the
    \r\n", + "cherished doctrines of our democracy are founded. Graspum is,
    \r\n", + "indeed, a well-developed type of our modern democracy, the flimsy
    \r\n", + "fabric of which is well represented in the gasconade of the above
    \r\n", + "outpouring philanthropy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now, as again the crimson clouds of evening soften into golden
    \r\n", + "hues-as the sun, like a fiery chariot, sinks beneath the western
    \r\n", + "landscape, and still night spreads her shadowy mantle down the
    \r\n", + "distant hills, and over the broad lagoon to the north-two sable
    \r\n", + "figures may be seen patting, sodding, and bespreading with
    \r\n", + "fresh-plucked flowers the new grave. As the rippling brook gives out
    \r\n", + "its silvery music, and earth seems drinking of the misty dew, that,
    \r\n", + "like a bridal veil, spreads over its verdant hillocks, they whisper
    \r\n", + "their requiem of regret, and mould the grave so carefully. \"It's
    \r\n", + "mas'r's last,\" says one, smoothing the cone with his hands.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We will plant the tree now,\" returns the other, bringing forward a
    \r\n", + "young clustering pine, which he places at the head of the grave, and
    \r\n", + "on which he cuts the significant epitaph-\"Good master lies here!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Duncan and Harry have paid their last tribute. \"He is at peace with
    \r\n", + "this world,\" says the latter, as, at the gate, he turns to take a
    \r\n", + "last look over the paling.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XXXIX.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HOW WE SHOULD ALL BE FORGIVING.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "LET us forget the scenes of the foregoing chapters, and turn to
    \r\n", + "something of pleasanter hue. In the meantime, let us freely
    \r\n", + "acknowledge that we live in a land-our democratic south, we
    \r\n", + "mean-where sumptuous living and abject misery present their boldest
    \r\n", + "outlines,--where the ignorance of the many is excused by the polished
    \r\n", + "education of a very few,--where autocracy sways its lash with
    \r\n", + "bitterest absolutism,--where menial life lies prostrate at the feet
    \r\n", + "of injustice, and despairingly appeals to heaven for succour,--where
    \r\n", + "feasts and funerals rival each other,--and when pestilence, like a
    \r\n", + "glutton, sends its victims to the graveyard most, the ball-room
    \r\n", + "glitters brightest with its galaxy. Even here, where clamour cries
    \r\n", + "aloud for popular government, men's souls are most crushed-not with
    \r\n", + "legal right, but by popular will! And yet, from out all this
    \r\n", + "incongruous substance, there seems a genial spirit working itself
    \r\n", + "upon the surface, and making good its influence; and it is to that
    \r\n", + "influence we should award the credit due. That genial spirit is the
    \r\n", + "good master's protection; we would it were wider exercised for the
    \r\n", + "good of all. But we must return to our narrative.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The Rosebrook Villa has assumed its usual cheerfulness; but while
    \r\n", + "pestilence makes sad havoc among the inhabitants of the city, gaiety
    \r\n", + "is equally rampant. In a word, even the many funeral trains which
    \r\n", + "pass along every day begin to wear a sort of cheerfulness, in
    \r\n", + "consequence of which, it is rumoured, the aristocracy-we mean those
    \r\n", + "who have money to spend-have made up their minds not to depart for
    \r\n", + "the springs yet awhile. As for Franconia, finding she could no
    \r\n", + "longer endure M'Carstrow's dissolute habits, and having been told by
    \r\n", + "that very distinguished gentleman, but unamiable husband, that he
    \r\n", + "despised the whole tribe of her poor relations, she has retired to
    \r\n", + "private boarding, where, with the five dollars a week, he, in the
    \r\n", + "outpouring of his southern generosity, allows her, she subsists
    \r\n", + "plainly but comfortably. It is, indeed, a paltry pittance, which the
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow family will excuse to the public with the greatness of
    \r\n", + "their name.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry has returned to the plantation, where the people have
    \r\n", + "smothered him in a new suit of black. Already has he preached three
    \r\n", + "sermons in it, which said sermons are declared wonderful proofs of
    \r\n", + "his biblical knowledge. Even Daddy Daniel, who expended fourteen
    \r\n", + "picayunes in a new pair of spectacles, with which to hear the new
    \r\n", + "parson more distinctly, pronounces the preaching prodigious. He is
    \r\n", + "vehement in his exultation, lavishes his praise without stint; and
    \r\n", + "as his black face glows with happiness, thanks missus for her great
    \r\n", + "goodness in thus providing for their spiritual welfare. The
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook \"niggers\" were always extremely respectable and well
    \r\n", + "ordered in their moral condition; but now they seem invested with a
    \r\n", + "new impulse for working out their own good; and by the advice of
    \r\n", + "missus, whom every sable son and daughter loves most dearly, Daddy
    \r\n", + "Daniel has arranged a system of evening prayer meetings, which will
    \r\n", + "be held in the little church, twice a week. And, too, there prevails
    \r\n", + "a strong desire for an evening gathering now and then, at which the
    \r\n", + "young shiners may be instructed how to grow. A curiously democratic
    \r\n", + "law, however, offers a fierce impediment to this; and Daddy Daniel
    \r\n", + "shakes his head, and aunt Peggy makes a belligerent muttering when
    \r\n", + "told such gatherings cannot take place without endangering the
    \r\n", + "state's rights. It is, nevertheless, decided that Kate, and Nan, and
    \r\n", + "Dorothy, and Webster, and Clay, and such like young folks, may go to
    \r\n", + "\"settings up\" and funerals, but strictly abstain from all
    \r\n", + "fandangoes. Dad Daniel and his brother deacons cannot countenance
    \r\n", + "such fiddling and dancing, such break-downs, and shoutings, and
    \r\n", + "whirlings, and flouncing and frilling, and gay ribboning, as
    \r\n", + "generally make up the evening's merriment at these fandangoes, so
    \r\n", + "prevalent on neighbouring plantations about Christmas time. \"Da don'
    \r\n", + "mount to no good!\" Daniel says, with a broad guffaw. \"Nigger what
    \r\n", + "spect t' git hi' way up in da world bes lef dem tings.\" And so one
    \r\n", + "or two more screws are to be worked up for the better regulation of
    \r\n", + "the machinery of the plantation. As for Master Rosebrook-why, he
    \r\n", + "wouldn't sell a nigger for a world of money; and he doesn't care how
    \r\n", + "much they learn; the more the better, provided they learn on the
    \r\n", + "sly. They are all to be freed at a certain time, and although
    \r\n", + "freedom is sweet, without learning they might make bad use of it.
    \r\n", + "But master has had a noble object in view for some days past, and
    \r\n", + "which, after encountering many difficulties, he has succeeded in
    \r\n", + "carrying out to the great joy of all parties concerned.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "One day, as the people were all busily engaged on the plantation,
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw's familiar figure presents itself at the house, and demands
    \r\n", + "to see Harry. He has great good news, but don't want to tell him
    \r\n", + "\"nofin\" till he arrives at the Villa. \"Ah, good man\" (Bradshaw's
    \r\n", + "face beams good tidings, as he approaches Harry, and delivers a
    \r\n", + "note) \"mas'r specs ye down da' wid no time loss.\" Bradshaw rubs his
    \r\n", + "hands, and grins, and bows, his face seeming two shades blacker than
    \r\n", + "ever, but no less cheerful.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Master wants me to preach somewhere, next Sunday,--I know he does,\"
    \r\n", + "says Harry, reading the note, which requests him to come immediately
    \r\n", + "into the city. He will prepare to obey the summons, Dan and Sprat
    \r\n", + "meanwhile taking good care of the horse and carriage, while Bradshaw
    \r\n", + "makes a friendly visit to a few of the more distinguished cabins,
    \r\n", + "and says \"how de\" to venerable aunties, who spread their best fare
    \r\n", + "before him, and, with grave ceremony, invite him in to refresh
    \r\n", + "before taking his return journey into the city; and Maum Betsy packs
    \r\n", + "up six of her real smart made sweet cakes for the parson and
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw to eat along the road. Betsy is in a strange state of
    \r\n", + "bewilderment to know why master wants to take the new parson away
    \r\n", + "just now, when he's so happy, and is only satisfied when assured
    \r\n", + "that he will be safely returned to-morrow. A signal is made for Dad
    \r\n", + "Daniel, who hastens to the cabin in time to see everything properly
    \r\n", + "arranged for the parson's departure, and say: \"God bless 'um,--good
    \r\n", + "by!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, what can master want with me?\" enquires Harry, as, on the
    \r\n", + "road, they roll away towards the city.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw cracks his whip, and with a significant smile looks Harry
    \r\n", + "in the face, and returns: \"Don' ax dis child no mo' sich question.
    \r\n", + "Old mas'r and me neber break secret. Tell ye dis, do'h! Old mas'r do
    \r\n", + "good ting, sartin.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You know, but won't tell me, eh?\" rejoins Harry, his manly face
    \r\n", + "wearing a solicitous look. Bradshaw shakes his head, and adds a
    \r\n", + "cunning wink in reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is three o'clock when they arrive at the Villa, where, without
    \r\n", + "reserve, missus extends her hand, and gives him a cordial
    \r\n", + "welcome,--tells him Franconia has been waiting to see him with great
    \r\n", + "patience, and has got a present for him. Franconia comes rushing
    \r\n", + "into the hall, and is so glad to see him; but her countenance wears
    \r\n", + "an air of sadness, which does not escape his notice-she is not the
    \r\n", + "beautiful creature she was years ago, care has sadly worn upon those
    \r\n", + "rounded features. But master is there, and he looks happy and
    \r\n", + "cheerful; and there is something about the house servants, as they
    \r\n", + "gather round him to have their say, which looks of suspiciously good
    \r\n", + "omen. He cannot divine what it is; his first suspicions being
    \r\n", + "aroused by missus saying Franconia had been waiting to see him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We must not call him Harry any longer-it doesn't become his
    \r\n", + "profession: now that he is Elder of my plantation flock, he must,
    \r\n", + "from this time, be called Elder!\" says Rosebrook, touching him on
    \r\n", + "the arm with the right hand. And the two ladies joined in, that it
    \r\n", + "must be so. \"Go into the parlour, ladies; I must say a word or two
    \r\n", + "to the Elder,\" continued Rosebrook, taking Harry by the arm, and
    \r\n", + "pacing through the hall into the conservatory at the back of the
    \r\n", + "house. Here, after ordering Harry to be seated, he recounts his plan
    \r\n", + "of emancipation, which, so far, has worked admirably, and, at the
    \r\n", + "time proposed, will, without doubt or danger, produce the hoped-for
    \r\n", + "result. \"You, my good man,\" he says, \"can be a useful instrument in
    \r\n", + "furthering my ends; I want you to be that instrument!\" His negroes
    \r\n", + "have all an interest in their labour, which interest is preserved
    \r\n", + "for them in missus's savings-bank; and at a given time they are to
    \r\n", + "have their freedom, but to remain on the plantation if they choose,
    \r\n", + "at a stipulated rate of wages. Indeed, so strongly impressed with
    \r\n", + "the good results of his proposed system is Rosebrook, that he long
    \r\n", + "since scouted that contemptible fallacy, which must have had its
    \r\n", + "origin in the very dregs of selfishness, that the two races can only
    \r\n", + "live in proximity by one enslaving the other. Justice to each other,
    \r\n", + "he holds, will solve the problem of their living together; but,
    \r\n", + "between the oppressor and the oppressed, a volcano that may at any
    \r\n", + "day send forth its devouring flame, smoulders. Rosebrook knows
    \r\n", + "goodness always deserves its reward; and Harry assures him he never
    \r\n", + "will violate the trust. Having said thus much, he rises from his
    \r\n", + "chair, takes Harry by the arm, and leading him to the door of the
    \r\n", + "conservatory, points him to a passage leading to the right, and
    \r\n", + "says: \"In there!-proceed into that passage, enter a door, first door
    \r\n", + "on the left, and then you will find something you may consider your
    \r\n", + "own.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry hesitated for a moment, watched master's countenance
    \r\n", + "doubtingly, as if questioning the singular command.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Fear not! nobody will hurt you,\" continues Rosebrook.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Master never had a bad intention,\" thinks Harry; \"I know he would
    \r\n", + "not harm me; and then missus is so good.\" Slowly and nervously he
    \r\n", + "proceeds, and on reaching the door hears a familiar \"come in\"
    \r\n", + "answering his nervous rap. The door opened into a neat little room,
    \r\n", + "with carpet and chairs, a mahogany bureau and prints, all so neatly
    \r\n", + "arranged, and wearing such an air of cleanliness. No sooner has he
    \r\n", + "advanced beyond the threshold than the emaciated figure of a black
    \r\n", + "sister vaults into his arms, crying, \"Oh Harry! Harry! Harry!-my
    \r\n", + "dear husband!\" She throws her arms about his neck, and kisses, and
    \r\n", + "kisses him, and buries her tears of joy in his bosom. How she pours
    \r\n", + "out her soul's love!-how, in rapturous embraces, her black impulses
    \r\n", + "give out the purest affection!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And you!-you!-you!-my own dear Jane! Is it you? Has God commanded
    \r\n", + "us to meet once more, to be happy once more, to live as heaven hath
    \r\n", + "ordained us to live?\" he returns, as fervently and affectionately he
    \r\n", + "holds her in his arms, and returns her token of love. \"Never! never!
    \r\n", + "I forget you, never! By night and by day I have prayed the
    \r\n", + "protecting hand of Providence to guide you through life's trials.
    \r\n", + "How my heart has yearned to meet you in heaven! happy am I we have
    \r\n", + "met once more on earth; yea, my soul leaps with joy. Forgive them,
    \r\n", + "Father, forgive them who separate us on earth, for heaven makes the
    \r\n", + "anointed!\" And while they embrace thus fondly, their tears mingling
    \r\n", + "with joy, children, recognising a returned father as he entered the
    \r\n", + "door, are clinging at his feet beseechingly. He is their father;--how
    \r\n", + "like children they love! \"Sam, Sue, and Beckie, too!\" he says, as
    \r\n", + "one by one he takes them in his arms and kisses them. But there are
    \r\n", + "two more, sombre and strange. He had caught the fourth in his arms,
    \r\n", + "unconsciously. \"Ah, Jane!\" he exclaims, turning toward her, his face
    \r\n", + "filled with grief and chagrin, \"they are not of me, Jane!\" He still
    \r\n", + "holds the little innocent by the hand, as nervously he waits her
    \r\n", + "reply. It is not guilt, but shame, with which she returns an answer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It was not my sin, Harry! It was him that forced me to live with
    \r\n", + "another,--that lashed me when I refused, and, bleeding, made me obey
    \r\n", + "the will,\" she returns, looking at him imploringly. Virtue is weaker
    \r\n", + "than the lash; none feel it more than the slave. She loved Harry,
    \r\n", + "she followed him with her thoughts; but it was the Christian that
    \r\n", + "reduced her to the level of the brute. Laying her coloured hand upon
    \r\n", + "his shoulder, she besought his forgiveness, as God was forgiving.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Why should I not forgive thee, Jane? I would not chide thee, for no
    \r\n", + "sin is on thy garments. Injustice gave master the right to sell
    \r\n", + "thee, to make of thee what he pleased. Heaven made thy soul
    \r\n", + "purest,--man thy body an outcast for the unrighteous to feast upon.
    \r\n", + "How could I withhold forgiveness, Jane? I will be a father to them,
    \r\n", + "a husband to thee; for what thou hast been compelled to do is right,
    \r\n", + "in the land we live in.\" So saying, he again embraces her, wipes the
    \r\n", + "tears from her eyes, and comforts her. How sweet is forgiveness! It
    \r\n", + "freshens like the dew of morning on the drooping plant; it
    \r\n", + "strengthens the weary spirit, it steals into the desponding soul,
    \r\n", + "and wakes to life new hopes of bliss,--to the slave it is sweet
    \r\n", + "indeed!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I will kiss them, too,\" he ejaculates, taking them in his arms with
    \r\n", + "the embrace of a fond father,--which simple expression of love they
    \r\n", + "return with prattling. They know not the trials of their parents;
    \r\n", + "how blessed to know them not!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now they gather the children around them, and seat themselves on
    \r\n", + "a little settee near the window, where Harry, overjoyed at meeting
    \r\n", + "his dear ones once more, fondles them and listens to Jane, as with
    \r\n", + "her left arm round his neck she discloses the sad tale of her
    \r\n", + "tribulation. Let us beg the reader to excuse the recital; there is
    \r\n", + "nothing fascinating in it, nor would we call forth the modest
    \r\n", + "blushes of our generous south. A few words of the woman's story,
    \r\n", + "however, we cannot omit; and we trust the forgiving will pardon
    \r\n", + "their insertion. She tells Harry she was not separated from her
    \r\n", + "children; but that Romescos, having well considered her worth, sold
    \r\n", + "her with her \"young uns\" to the Rev. Peter--, who had a small
    \r\n", + "plantation down in Christ's Parish. The reverend gentleman, being
    \r\n", + "born and educated to the degrading socialities of democratic states,
    \r\n", + "always says he is not to blame for \"using\" the rights the law gives
    \r\n", + "him; nor does he forget to express sundry regrets that he cannot see
    \r\n", + "as preachers at the north see. As for money, he thinks preachers
    \r\n", + "have just as good a right to get it as gentlemen of any other
    \r\n", + "honourable profession. Now and then he preaches to niggers; and for
    \r\n", + "telling them how they must live in the fear of the Lord, be obedient
    \r\n", + "to their master, and pay for redemption by the sweat of their brows,
    \r\n", + "he adds to his pile of coin. But he is strongly of the opinion that
    \r\n", + "niggers are inferior \"brutes\" of the human species, and in
    \r\n", + "furtherance of this opinion (so popular in the whole south) he
    \r\n", + "expects them to live a week on a peck of corn. As for Jane-we must
    \r\n", + "excuse the reverend gentleman, because of his faith in southern
    \r\n", + "principles-he compelled her to live with the man Absalom ere she had
    \r\n", + "been two days on his plantation, and by the same Absalom she had two
    \r\n", + "children, which materially increased the cash value of the Reverend
    \r\n", + "Peter--'s slave property. Indeed, so well is the reverend gentleman
    \r\n", + "known for his foul play, that it has been thrown up to him in open
    \r\n", + "court-by wicked planters who never had the fear of God before their
    \r\n", + "eyes-that he more than half starved his niggers, and charged them
    \r\n", + "toll for grinding their corn in his mill. Though the Reverend Peter
    \r\n", + "--never failed to assure his friends and acquaintances of his
    \r\n", + "generosity (a noble quality which had long been worthily maintained
    \r\n", + "by the ancient family to which he belonged), the light of one
    \r\n", + "generous act had never found its way to the public. In truth, so
    \r\n", + "elastically did his reverend conscientiousness expand when he
    \r\n", + "learned the strange motive which prompted Rosebrook to purchase Jane
    \r\n", + "and her little ones, that he sorely regretted he had not put two
    \r\n", + "hundred dollars more on the price of the lot. Fortunately Jane was
    \r\n", + "much worn down by grief and toil, and was viewed by the reverend
    \r\n", + "gentleman as a piece of property he would rather like to dispose of
    \r\n", + "to the best advantage, lest she should suddenly make a void in his
    \r\n", + "dollars and cents by sliding into some out of the way grave-yard.
    \r\n", + "But Rosebrook, duly appreciating the unchristian qualities of our
    \r\n", + "worthy one's generosity, kept his motive a profound secret until the
    \r\n", + "negociation was completed. Now that it had become known that the
    \r\n", + "Reverend Peter--(who dresses in blackest black, most
    \r\n", + "sanctimoniously cut, whitest neckcloth wedded to his holy neck, and
    \r\n", + "face so simply serious) assures Rosebrook he has got good
    \r\n", + "people,--they are valuably promising-he will pray for them, that the
    \r\n", + "future may prosper their wayfaring. He cannot, however, part with
    \r\n", + "the good man without admonishing him how dangerous it is to give
    \r\n", + "unto \"niggers\" the advantage of a superior position.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Reader, let us hope the clergy of the south will take heed lest by
    \r\n", + "permitting their brethren to be sold and stolen in this manner they
    \r\n", + "bring the profession into contempt. Let us hope the southern church
    \r\n", + "will not much longer continue to bring pure Christianity into
    \r\n", + "disgrace by serving ends so vile that heaven and earth frowns upon
    \r\n", + "them; for false is the voice raised in sanctimony to heaven for
    \r\n", + "power to make a footstool of a fallen race!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XL.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CONTAINING VARIOUS MATTERS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "GREAT regularity prevails on the Rosebrook plantation, and cheering
    \r\n", + "are the prospects held out to those who toil thereon. Mrs. Rosebrook
    \r\n", + "has dressed Jane (Harry's wife) in a nice new calico, which, with
    \r\n", + "her feet encased in shining calf-skin shoes, and her head done up in
    \r\n", + "a bandana, with spots of great brightness, shows her lean figure to
    \r\n", + "good advantage. Like a good wife, happy with her own dear husband,
    \r\n", + "she pours forth the emotions of a grateful heart, and feels that the
    \r\n", + "world-not so bad after all-has something good in store for her. And
    \r\n", + "then Harry looks even better than he did on Master Marston's
    \r\n", + "plantation; and, with their little ones-sable types of their
    \r\n", + "parents-dressed so neatly, they must be happy. And now that they are
    \r\n", + "duly installed at the plantation, where Harry pursues his duties as
    \r\n", + "father of the flock, and Jane lends her cheering voice and helping
    \r\n", + "hand to make comfort in the various cabins complete-and with Dad
    \r\n", + "Daniel's assurance that the people won't go astray-we must leave
    \r\n", + "them for a time, and beg the reader's indulgence while following us
    \r\n", + "through another phase of the children's history.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A slave is but a slave--an article subject to all the fluctuations of
    \r\n", + "trade--a mere item in the scale of traffic, and reduced to serving
    \r\n", + "the ends of avarice or licentiousness. This is a consequence
    \r\n", + "inseparable from his sale. It matters not whether the blood of the
    \r\n", + "noblest patriot course in his veins, his hair be of flaxen
    \r\n", + "brightness, his eyes of azure blue, his skin of Norman whiteness,
    \r\n", + "and his features classic,--he can be no more than a slave, and as
    \r\n", + "such must yield to the debasing influences of an institution that
    \r\n", + "crushes and curses wherever it exists. In proof of this, we find the
    \r\n", + "bright eyes of our little Annette, glowing with kindliest love,
    \r\n", + "failing to thaw the frozen souls of man-dealers. Nay, bright eyes
    \r\n", + "only lend their aid to the law that debases her life. She has become
    \r\n", + "valuable only as a finely and delicately developed woman, whose
    \r\n", + "appearance in the market will produce sharp bidding, and a deal of
    \r\n", + "dollars and cents. Graspum never lost an opportunity of trimming up
    \r\n", + "these nice pieces of female property, making the money invested in
    \r\n", + "them turn the largest premium, and satisfying his customers that, so
    \r\n", + "far as dealing in the brightest kind of fancy stock was concerned,
    \r\n", + "he is not a jot behind the most careful selecter in the Charleston
    \r\n", + "market. Major John Bowling--who is very distinguished, having
    \r\n", + "descended from the very ancient family of that name, and is highly
    \r\n", + "thought of by the aristocracy--has made the selection of such
    \r\n", + "merchandise his particular branch of study for more than fourteen
    \r\n", + "years. In consequence of the major's supposed taste, his pen was
    \r\n", + "hitherto most frequented by gentlemen and connoisseur; but now
    \r\n", + "Graspum assures all respectable people, gentlemen of acknowledged
    \r\n", + "taste, and young men who are cultivating their way up in the world,
    \r\n", + "that his selections are second to none; of this he will produce
    \r\n", + "sufficient proof, provided customers will make him a call and look
    \r\n", + "into the area of his fold. The fold itself is most uninviting (it
    \r\n", + "is, he assures us, owing to his determination to carry out the faith
    \r\n", + "of his plain democracy); nevertheless, it contains the white,
    \r\n", + "beautiful, and voluptuous,--all for sale. In fact--the truth must be
    \r\n", + "told--Mr. Graspum assures the world that he firmly believes there is
    \r\n", + "a sort of human nature extant--he is troubled sometimes to know just
    \r\n", + "where the line breaks off--which never by any possibility could have
    \r\n", + "been intended for any thing but the other to traffic in-to turn into
    \r\n", + "the most dollars and cents. In proof of this principle he kept
    \r\n", + "Annette until she had well nigh merged into womanhood, or until such
    \r\n", + "time as she became a choice marketable article, with eyes worth so
    \r\n", + "much; nose, mouth, so much; pretty auburn hair, worth so much; and
    \r\n", + "fine rounded figure--with all its fascinating appurtenances--worth so
    \r\n", + "much;--the whole amounting to so much; to be sold for so much, the
    \r\n", + "nice little profit being chalked down on the credit side of his
    \r\n", + "formidable ledger, in which stands recorded against his little soul
    \r\n", + "(he knows will get to heaven) the sale of ten thousand black souls,
    \r\n", + "which will shine in brightness when his is refused admittance to the
    \r\n", + "portal above.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Having arrived at the point most marketable, he sells her to Mr.
    \r\n", + "Gurdoin Choicewest, who pays no less a sum than sixteen hundred
    \r\n", + "dollars in hard cash for the unyielding beauty-money advanced to him
    \r\n", + "by his dear papa, who had no objection to his having a pretty
    \r\n", + "coloured girl, provided Madam Choicewest-most indulgent mother she
    \r\n", + "was, too-gave her consent; and she said she was willing, provided-;
    \r\n", + "and now, notwithstanding she was his own, insisted on the
    \r\n", + "preservation of her virtue, or death. Awful dilemma, this! To lash
    \r\n", + "her will be useless; and the few kicks she has already received have
    \r\n", + "not yet begun to thaw her frozen determination. Such an unyielding
    \r\n", + "thing is quite useless for the purpose for which young Choicewest
    \r\n", + "purchased her. What must be done with her? The older Choicewest is
    \r\n", + "consulted, and gives it as his decided opinion that there is one of
    \r\n", + "two things the younger Choicewest must do with this dear piece of
    \r\n", + "property he has so unfortunately got on his hands,--he must sell her,
    \r\n", + "or tie her up every day and pump her with cold water, say fifteen
    \r\n", + "minutes at a time. Pumping niggers, the elder Mr. Choicewest
    \r\n", + "remarks, with the coolness of an Austrian diplomatist, has a
    \r\n", + "wondrous effect upon them; \"it makes 'em give in when nothing else
    \r\n", + "will.\" He once had four prime fellows, who, in stubbornness, seemed
    \r\n", + "a match for Mr. Beelzebub himself. He lashed them, and he burned
    \r\n", + "them, and he clipped their ears; and then he stretched them on
    \r\n", + "planks, thinking they would cry \"give in\" afore the sockets of their
    \r\n", + "joints were drawn out; but it was all to no purpose, they were as
    \r\n", + "unyielding as granite.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "About that time there was a celebrated manager of negroes keeping
    \r\n", + "the prison. This clever functionary had a peculiar way of bringing
    \r\n", + "the stubbornness out of them; so he consigned the four unbending
    \r\n", + "rascals to his skill. And this very valuable and very skilful
    \r\n", + "gaol-keeper had a large window in his establishment, with iron bars
    \r\n", + "running perpendicular; to the inside of which he would strap the
    \r\n", + "four stubborn rascals, with their faces scientifically arranged
    \r\n", + "between the bars, to prevent the moving of a muscle. Thus caged,
    \r\n", + "their black heads bound to the grating, the scientific gaoler, who
    \r\n", + "was something of a humourist withal, would enjoy a nice bit of fun
    \r\n", + "at seeing the more favoured prisoners (with his kind permission)
    \r\n", + "exercise their dexterity in throwing peas at the faces of the
    \r\n", + "bounden. How he would laugh-how the pea-punishing prisoners would
    \r\n", + "enjoy it-how the fast bound niggers, foaming with rage and maddened
    \r\n", + "to desperation, would bellow, as their very eyeballs darted fire and
    \r\n", + "blood! What grand fun it was! bull-baiting sank into a mere shadow
    \r\n", + "beside it. The former was measuredly passive, because the bull only
    \r\n", + "roared, and pitched, and tossed; whereas here the sport was made
    \r\n", + "more exhilarating by expressions of vengeance or implorings. And
    \r\n", + "then, as a change of pastime, the skilful gaoler would demand a
    \r\n", + "cessation of the pea hostilities, and enjoin the commencement of the
    \r\n", + "water war; which said war was carried out by supplying about a dozen
    \r\n", + "prisoners with as many buckets, which they would fill with great
    \r\n", + "alacrity, and, in succession, throw the contents with great force
    \r\n", + "over the unyielding, from the outside. The effect of this on naked
    \r\n", + "men, bound with chains to iron bars, may be imagined; but the older
    \r\n", + "Choicewest declares it was a cure. It brought steel out of the
    \r\n", + "\"rascals,\" and made them as submissive as shoe-strings. Sometimes
    \r\n", + "the jolly prisoners would make the bath so strong, that the niggers
    \r\n", + "would seem completely drowned when released; but then they'd soon
    \r\n", + "come to with a jolly good rolling, a little hartshorn applied to
    \r\n", + "their nostrils, and the like of that. About a dozen times putting
    \r\n", + "through the pea and water process cured them.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "So says the very respectable Mr. Choicewest, with great dignity of
    \r\n", + "manners, as he seriously advises the younger Choicewest to try a
    \r\n", + "little quantity of the same sort on his now useless female purchase.
    \r\n", + "Lady Choicewest must, however, be consulted on this point, as she is
    \r\n", + "very particular about the mode in which all females about her
    \r\n", + "establishment are chastised. Indeed, Lady Choicewest is much
    \r\n", + "concerned about the only male, heir of the family, to whom she looks
    \r\n", + "forward for very distinguished results to the family name. The
    \r\n", + "family (Lady Choicewest always assures those whom she graciously
    \r\n", + "condescends to admit into the fashionable precincts of her small but
    \r\n", + "very select circle), descended from the very ancient and chivalric
    \r\n", + "house of that name, whose celebrated estate was in Warwickshire,
    \r\n", + "England; and, in proof of this, my Lady Choicewest invariably points
    \r\n", + "to a sad daub, illustrative of some incomprehensible object,
    \r\n", + "suspended over the antique mantelpiece. With methodical grace, and
    \r\n", + "dignity which frowns with superlative contempt upon every thing very
    \r\n", + "vulgar--for she says \"she sublimely detests them very low creatures
    \r\n", + "what are never brought up to manners at the north, and are worse
    \r\n", + "than haystacks to larn civility\"--my lady solicits a near inspection
    \r\n", + "of this wonderful hieroglyphic, which she tells us is the family
    \r\n", + "arms,--an ancient and choice bit of art she would not part with for
    \r\n", + "the world. If her friends evince any want of perception in tracing
    \r\n", + "the many deeds of valour it heralds, on behalf of the noble family
    \r\n", + "of which she is an undisputed descendant, my lady will at once enter
    \r\n", + "upon the task of instruction; and with the beautiful fore-finger of
    \r\n", + "her right hand, always jewelled with great brilliancy, will she
    \r\n", + "satisfactorily enlighten the stupid on the fame of the ancient
    \r\n", + "Choicewest family, thereon inscribed. With no ordinary design on the
    \r\n", + "credulity of her friends, Lady Choicewest has several times strongly
    \r\n", + "intimated that she was not quite sure that one or two of her
    \r\n", + "ancestors in the male line of the family were not reigning dukes as
    \r\n", + "far down as the noble reign of the ignoble Oliver Cromwell! The
    \r\n", + "question, nevertheless, is whether the honour of the ancient
    \r\n", + "Choicewest family descended from Mr. or Mrs. Choicewest. The vulgar
    \r\n", + "mass have been known to say (smilingly) that Lady Choicewest's name
    \r\n", + "was Brown, the father of which very ancient family sold herrings and
    \r\n", + "small pigs at a little stand in the market: this, however, was a
    \r\n", + "very long time ago, and, as my lady is known to be troubled with an
    \r\n", + "exceedingly crooked memory, persons better acquainted with her are
    \r\n", + "more ready to accept the oblivious excuse.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Taking all these things into consideration, my Lady Choicewest is
    \r\n", + "exceedingly cautious lest young Gourdoin Choicewest should do aught
    \r\n", + "to dishonour the family name; and on this strange perplexity in
    \r\n", + "which her much indulged son is placed being referred to her, she
    \r\n", + "gives it as her most decided opinion that the wench, if as obstinate
    \r\n", + "as described, had better be sold to the highest bidder-the sooner
    \r\n", + "the better. My lady lays great emphasis on \"the sooner the better.\"
    \r\n", + "That something will be lost she has not the slightest doubt; but
    \r\n", + "then it were better to lose a little in the price of the stubborn
    \r\n", + "wretch, than to have her always creating disturbance about the
    \r\n", + "genteel premises. In furtherance of this-my lady's mandate-Annette
    \r\n", + "is sold to Mr. Blackmore Blackett for the nice round sum of fifteen
    \r\n", + "hundred dollars. Gourdoin Choicewest hates to part with the beauty,
    \r\n", + "grieves and regrets,--she is so charmingly fascinating. \"Must let her
    \r\n", + "slide, though; critter won't do at all as I wants her to,\" he lisps,
    \r\n", + "regretting the serious loss of the dollars. His friend Blackmore
    \r\n", + "Blackett, however, is a gentleman, and therefore he would not
    \r\n", + "deceive him in the wench: hence he makes the reduction, because he
    \r\n", + "finds her decidedly faulty. Had Blackmore Blackett been a regular
    \r\n", + "flesh trader, he would not have scrupled to take him in. As it is,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen must always be gentlemen among themselves. Blackett, a
    \r\n", + "gentleman of fortune, who lives at his ease in the city, and has the
    \r\n", + "very finest taste for female beauty, was left, most unfortunately, a
    \r\n", + "widower with four lovely daughters, any one of which may be
    \r\n", + "considered a belle not to be rung by gentlemen of ordinary rank or
    \r\n", + "vulgar pretension. In fact, the Blackett girls are considered very
    \r\n", + "fine specimens of beauty, are much admired in society, and expect
    \r\n", + "ere long, on the clear merit of polish, to rank equal with the first
    \r\n", + "aristocracy of the place.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Blackmore Blackett esteems himself an extremely lucky fellow in
    \r\n", + "having so advantageously procured such a nice piece of property,--so
    \r\n", + "suited to his taste. Her price, when compared with her singularly
    \r\n", + "valuable charms, is a mere nothing; and, too, all his fashionable
    \r\n", + "friends will congratulate him upon his good fortune. But as
    \r\n", + "disappointments will come, so Mr. Blackmore Blackett finds he has
    \r\n", + "got something not quite so valuable as anticipated; however, being
    \r\n", + "something of a philosopher, he will improve upon the course pursued
    \r\n", + "by the younger Choicewest: he makes his first advances with great
    \r\n", + "caution; whispers words of tenderness in her ear; tells her his
    \r\n", + "happy jewel for life she must be. Remembering her mother, she turns
    \r\n", + "a deaf ear to Mr. Blackett's pleadings. The very cabin which he has
    \r\n", + "provided for her in the yard reminds her of that familiar domicile
    \r\n", + "on Marston's plantation. Neither by soft pleadings, nor threatenings
    \r\n", + "of sale to plantation life, nor terrors of the lash, can he soften
    \r\n", + "the creature's sympathies, so that the flesh may succumb. When he
    \r\n", + "whispered soft words and made fascinating promises, she would shake
    \r\n", + "her head and move from him; when he threatened, she would plead her
    \r\n", + "abject position; when he resorted to force, she would struggle with
    \r\n", + "him, making the issue her virtue or death. Once she paid the penalty
    \r\n", + "of her struggles with a broken wrist, which she shows us more in
    \r\n", + "sorrow than anger. Annette is beautiful but delicate; has soft eyes
    \r\n", + "beaming with the fulness of a great soul; but they were sold,
    \r\n", + "once,--now, sympathy for her is dead. The law gives her no protection
    \r\n", + "for her virtue; the ruffian may violate it, and Heaven only can
    \r\n", + "shelter it with forgiveness. As for Blackett, he has no forgiveness
    \r\n", + "in his temperament,--passion soars highest with him; he would slay
    \r\n", + "with violent hands the minion who dared oppose its triumph.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "About this time, Mr. Blackett, much to his surprise, finds a storm
    \r\n", + "of mischief brewing about his domestic domain. The Miss Blacketts,
    \r\n", + "dashing beauties, have had it come to their ears over and over again
    \r\n", + "that all the young men about the city say Annette Mazatlin (as she
    \r\n", + "is now called) is far more beautiful than any one of the Blacketts.
    \r\n", + "This is quite enough to kindle the elements of a female war. In the
    \r\n", + "south nothing can spread the war of jealousy and vanity with such
    \r\n", + "undying rage as comparing slave beauty with that of the more
    \r\n", + "favoured of the sexes. A firman of the strongest kind is now issued
    \r\n", + "from the portfolio of the Miss Blacketts, forbidding the wretched
    \r\n", + "girl entering the house; and storms of abuse are plentifully and
    \r\n", + "very cheaply lavished on her head, ere she puts it outside the
    \r\n", + "cabin. She was a nasty, impudent hussy; the very worst of all kind
    \r\n", + "of creatures to have about a respectable mansion,--enough to shock
    \r\n", + "respectable people! The worst of it was, that the miserable white
    \r\n", + "nigger thought she was handsome, and a lot of young, silly-headed
    \r\n", + "men flattered her vanity by telling the fool she was prettier than
    \r\n", + "the Blacketts themselves,--so said the very accomplished Miss
    \r\n", + "Blacketts. And if ever domicile was becoming too warm for man to
    \r\n", + "live in, in consequence of female indignation, that one was Mr.
    \r\n", + "Blackmore Blackett's. It was not so much that the father had
    \r\n", + "purchased this beautiful creature to serve fiendish purposes. Oh
    \r\n", + "no!-that was a thing of every-day occurrence,--something excusable in
    \r\n", + "any respectable man's family. It was beauty rivalling, fierce and
    \r\n", + "jealous of its compliments. Again, the wretch-found incorrigible,
    \r\n", + "and useless for the purpose purchased-is sold. Poor, luckless
    \r\n", + "maiden! she might add, as she passed through the hands of so many
    \r\n", + "purchasers. This time, however, she is less valuable from having
    \r\n", + "fractured her left wrist, deformity being always taken into account
    \r\n", + "when such property is up at the flesh shambles. But Mr. Blackmore
    \r\n", + "Blackett has a delicacy about putting her up under the hammer just
    \r\n", + "now, inasmuch as he could not say she was sold for no fault; while
    \r\n", + "the disfigured wrist might lead to suspicious remarks concerning his
    \r\n", + "treatment of her. Another extremely unfortunate circumstance was its
    \r\n", + "getting all about the city that she was a cold, soulless thing, who
    \r\n", + "declared that sooner than yield to be the abject wretch men sought
    \r\n", + "to make her, she would die that only death. She had but one life,
    \r\n", + "and it were better to yield that up virtuously than die degraded.
    \r\n", + "Graspum, then, is the only safe channel in which to dispose of the
    \r\n", + "like. That functionary assures Mr. Blackmore Blackett that the girl
    \r\n", + "is beautiful, delicate, and an exceedingly sweet creature yet! but
    \r\n", + "that during the four months she has depreciated more than fifty per
    \r\n", + "cent in value. His remarks may be considered out of place, but they
    \r\n", + "are none the less true, for it is ascertained, on private
    \r\n", + "examination, that sundry stripes have been laid about her bare
    \r\n", + "loins. Gurdoin Choicewest declared to his mother that he never for
    \r\n", + "once had laid violent hands on the obstinate wench; Mr. Blackmore
    \r\n", + "Blackett stood ready to lay his hand on the Bible, and lift his eyes
    \r\n", + "to heaven for proof of his innocence; but a record of the
    \r\n", + "infliction, indelible of blood, remained there to tell its sad
    \r\n", + "tale,--to shame, if shame had aught in slavery whereon to make itself
    \r\n", + "known. Notwithstanding this bold denial, it is found that Mr.
    \r\n", + "Blackmore Blackett did on two occasions strip her and secure her
    \r\n", + "hands and feet to the bed-post, where he put on \"about six at a
    \r\n", + "time,\" remarkably \"gently.\" He admired her symmetrical form, her
    \r\n", + "fine, white, soft, smooth skin-her voluptuous limbs, so beautifully
    \r\n", + "and delicately developed; and then there was so much gushing
    \r\n", + "sweetness, mingled with grief, in her face, as she cast her soft
    \r\n", + "glances upon him, and implored him to end her existence, or save her
    \r\n", + "such shame! Such, he says, laconically, completely disarmed him, and
    \r\n", + "he only switched her a few times.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"She's not worth a dot more than a thousand dollars. I couldn't give
    \r\n", + "it for her, because I couldn't make it out on her. The fact is,
    \r\n", + "she'll get a bad name by passing through so many hands-a deuced bad
    \r\n", + "name!\" says Graspum, whose commercial language is politically cold.
    \r\n", + "\"And then there's her broken wrist-doubtful! doubtful! doubtful!
    \r\n", + "what I can do with her. For a plantation she isn't worth seven
    \r\n", + "coppers, and sempstresses and housemaids of her kind are looked on
    \r\n", + "suspiciously. It's only with great nicety of skill ye can work such
    \r\n", + "property to advantage,\" he continues, viewing her in one of Mr.
    \r\n", + "Blackmore Blackett's ante-rooms.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The upshot of the matter is, that Mr. Blackmore Blackett accepts the
    \r\n", + "offer, and Graspum, having again taken the damaged property under
    \r\n", + "his charge, sends it back to his pen. As an offset for the broken
    \r\n", + "wrist, she has three new dresses, two of which were presented by the
    \r\n", + "younger Choicewest, and one by the generous Blackmore Blackett.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Poor Annette! she leaves for her home in the slave-pen, sad at
    \r\n", + "heart, and in tears. \"My mother! Oh, that I had a mother to love me,
    \r\n", + "to say Annette so kindly,--to share with me my heart's bitter
    \r\n", + "anguish. How I could love Nicholas, now that there is no mother to
    \r\n", + "love me!\" she mutters as she sobs, wending her way to that place of
    \r\n", + "earthly torment. How different are the feelings of the oppressor. He
    \r\n", + "drinks a social glass of wine with his friend Blackett, lights his
    \r\n", + "cigar most fashionably, bids him a polite good morning, and
    \r\n", + "intimates that a cheque for the amount of the purchase will be ready
    \r\n", + "any time he may be pleased to call. And now he wends his way
    \r\n", + "homeward, little imagining what good fortune awaits him at the pen
    \r\n", + "to which he has despatched his purchase.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Annette has reached the pen, in which she sits, pensively, holding
    \r\n", + "her bonnet by the strings, the heavy folds of her light auburn hair
    \r\n", + "hanging dishevelled over her shoulders. Melancholy indeed she is,
    \r\n", + "for she has passed an ordeal of unholy brutality. Near her sits one
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers, a man of coarse habits, who resides on his
    \r\n", + "rice-plantation, a few miles from the city, into which he frequently
    \r\n", + "comes, much to the annoyance of quietly disposed citizens and
    \r\n", + "guardsmen, who are not unfrequently called upon to preserve the
    \r\n", + "peace he threatens to disturb. Dearly does he love his legitimate
    \r\n", + "brandy, and dearly does it make him pay for the insane frolics it
    \r\n", + "incites him to perpetrate, to the profit of certain saloons, and
    \r\n", + "danger of persons. Madman under the influence of his favourite
    \r\n", + "drink, a strange pride besets his faculties, which is only appeased
    \r\n", + "with the demolition of glass and men's faces. For this strange
    \r\n", + "amusement he has become famous and feared; and as the light of his
    \r\n", + "own besotted countenance makes its appearance, citizens generally
    \r\n", + "are not inclined to interpose any obstacle to the exercise of his
    \r\n", + "belligerent propensities.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Here he sits, viewing Annette with excited scrutiny. Never before
    \r\n", + "has he seen anything so pretty, so bright, so fascinating-all
    \r\n", + "clothed with a halo of modesty-for sale in the market. The nigger is
    \r\n", + "completely absorbed in the beauty, he mutters to himself: and yet
    \r\n", + "she must be a nigger or she would not be here. That she is an
    \r\n", + "article of sale, then, there can be no doubt. \"Van, yer the nicest
    \r\n", + "gal I've seen! Reckon how Grasp. paid a tall shot for ye, eh?\" he
    \r\n", + "says, in the exuberance of his fascinated soul. He will draw nearer
    \r\n", + "to her, toss her undulating hair, playfully, and with seeming
    \r\n", + "unconsciousness draw his brawny hand across her bosom. \"Didn't mean
    \r\n", + "it!\" he exclaims, contorting his broad red face, as she puts out her
    \r\n", + "hand, presses him from her, and disdains his second attempt. \"Pluck,
    \r\n", + "I reckon! needn't put on mouths, though, when a feller's only
    \r\n", + "quizzin.\" He shrugs his great round shoulders, and rolls his wicked
    \r\n", + "eyes.
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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 10/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 10 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\"I am not for you, man!\" she interrupts: \"I would scorn you, were I
    \r\n", + "not enslaved,\" she continues, a curl of contempt on her lip, as her
    \r\n", + "very soul kindles with grief. Rising quickly from his side she
    \r\n", + "walked across the pen, and seated herself on the opposite side. Here
    \r\n", + "she casts a frowning look upon him, as if loathing his very
    \r\n", + "presence. This, Mr. Pringle Blowers don't altogether like: slaves
    \r\n", + "have no right to look loathingly on white people. His flushed face
    \r\n", + "glows red with excitement; he runs his brawny fingers through the
    \r\n", + "tufted mats of short curly hair that stand almost erect on his head,
    \r\n", + "draws his capacious jaws into a singular angle, and makes a hideous
    \r\n", + "grimace.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The terrified girl has no answer to make; she is a forlorn outcast
    \r\n", + "of democracy's rule. He takes the black ribbon from round his neck,
    \r\n", + "bares his bosom more broadly than before, throws the plaid sack in
    \r\n", + "which he is dressed from off him, and leaping as it were across the
    \r\n", + "room, seizes her in his arms. \"Kisses are cheap, I reckon, and a
    \r\n", + "feller what don't have enough on 'em 's a fool,\" he ejaculates, as
    \r\n", + "with a desperate struggle she bounds from his grasp, seizes the
    \r\n", + "knife from a negro's hand as she passes him, and is about to plunge
    \r\n", + "the shining steel into her breast. \"Oh, mother, mother!-what have I
    \r\n", + "done?-is not God my Saviour?-has he forsaken me?-left me a prey to
    \r\n", + "those who seek my life?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I settle those things,\" said a voice in the rear, and immediately a
    \r\n", + "hand grasped her arm, and the knife fell carelessly upon the floor.
    \r\n", + "It was Graspum; the sudden surprise overcame her; she sank back in
    \r\n", + "his arms, and swooned. \"She swoons,--how limber, how lifeless she
    \r\n", + "seems!\" says Graspum, as with great coolness he calls a negro
    \r\n", + "attendant, orders him to remove her to the grass plat, and bathe her
    \r\n", + "well with cold water. \"A good dowsing of water is the cure for
    \r\n", + "fainting niggers,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The black man takes her in his arms, and with great kindness, lays
    \r\n", + "her on the plat, bathes her temples, loosens her dress, and with his
    \r\n", + "rough hand manipulates her arms. How soft and silky they seem to his
    \r\n", + "touch! \"Him hard to slave ye, miss,\" he says, laying his hand upon
    \r\n", + "her temples, gently, as with commiseration he looks intently on her
    \r\n", + "pallid features.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now, Blowers,\" says Graspum, as soon as they are by themselves,
    \r\n", + "\"what in the name of the Gentiles have you been up to?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Wal-can't say its nothin, a'cos that wouldn't do. But, ye see, the
    \r\n", + "critter made my mouth water so; there was no standin on't! And I
    \r\n", + "wanted to be civil, and she wouldn't,--and I went t' fumlin with her
    \r\n", + "hair what looked so inviting, as there was no resistin on't, and she
    \r\n", + "looked just as sassy as sixty; and to stun the whole, when I only
    \r\n", + "wanted to kiss them ar' temptin lips, the fool was going to kill
    \r\n", + "herself. It wasn't how I cared two buttons about it; but then the
    \r\n", + "feelin just came over me at the time,\" he answers, shaking his huge
    \r\n", + "sides, giving Graspum a significant wink, and laughing heartily.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Never at a loss, I see!\" returns the other, nodding his head,
    \r\n", + "pertinently: \"If I didn't know ye, Blowers, that might go down
    \r\n", + "without sticking.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ye don't tell where ye raised that critter, eh?\" he interrupts,
    \r\n", + "inquisitively, pointing his thumb over his right shoulder, and
    \r\n", + "crooking his finger, comically.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Raised her with shiners-lots on 'em!\" he rejoins, pushing Mr.
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers in the stomach, playfully, with his forefinger.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Graspum! yer a wicked 'un.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Suit ye, kind 'a-eh, Blowers?\" he rejoins, enquiringly, maintaining
    \r\n", + "great gravity of manner as he watches each change of Blowers'
    \r\n", + "countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Blowers laughs in reply. His laugh has something sardonic in it,
    \r\n", + "seeming more vicious as he opens his great wicked mouth, and
    \r\n", + "displays an ugly row of coloured teeth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Sit down, Blowers, sit down!\" says Graspum, motioning his hand,
    \r\n", + "with a studied politeness. The two gentlemen take seats side by
    \r\n", + "side, on a wooden bench, stretched across the centre of the pen, for
    \r\n", + "negroes to sit upon. \"As I live, Blowers, thar ain't another
    \r\n", + "individual like you in the county. You can whip a file of common
    \r\n", + "guardsmen, put the Mayor's court through a course of affronts,
    \r\n", + "frighten all the females out of the fashionable houses, treat a
    \r\n", + "regiment of volunteers, drink a bar-room dry-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Compliments thick, long and strong,\" interposes Blowers, winking
    \r\n", + "and wiping his mouth. \"Can elect half the members of the assembly!\"
    \r\n", + "he concludes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"True! nevertheless,\" rejoins Graspum, \"a great man cannot be
    \r\n", + "flattered-compliments are his by merit! And the city knows you're a
    \r\n", + "man of exquisite taste.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Blowers interrupts with a loud laugh, as he suggests the propriety
    \r\n", + "of seeing the \"gal get round again.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not so fast, Blowers; not so fast!\" Graspum ejaculates, as Blowers
    \r\n", + "is about to rise from his seat and follow Annette.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, now!\" returns Blowers, remaining seated, \"Might just as well
    \r\n", + "come square to the mark,--ye want to sell me that wench?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Truth's truth!\" he replies. \"Blowers is the man who's got the gold
    \r\n", + "to do it.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Name yer price; and no rounding the corners!\" exclaims Blowers, his
    \r\n", + "countenance quickening with animation. He takes Graspum by the arm
    \r\n", + "with his left hand, turns him half round, and waits for a reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Seeing it's Blowers, (the keen business man replies, in an off-hand
    \r\n", + "manner), who's a trump in his way, and don't care for a few dollars,
    \r\n", + "he'll take seventeen hundred for her, tin down; not a fraction less!
    \r\n", + "He will have no bantering, inasmuch as his friends all know that he
    \r\n", + "has but one price for niggers, from which it is no use to seek a
    \r\n", + "discount. Mr. Blowers, generally a good judge of such articles,
    \r\n", + "would like one more view at it before fully making up his mind.
    \r\n", + "Graspum calls \"Oh, boy!\" and the negro making his appearance, says:
    \r\n", + "\"Dat gal 'um all right agin; went mos asleep, but am right as
    \r\n", + "parched pen now.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Have her coming,\" he returns, facing Blowers. \"Nothing the matter
    \r\n", + "with that gal,\" he exclaims, touching his elbow. \"It is merely one of
    \r\n", + "her flimsy fits; she hasn't quite come to maturity.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Slowly the negro leads her, weeping (Graspum says they will cry-it's
    \r\n", + "natural!) into the presence of the far-famed and much-feared Mr.
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers. Her hair hangs carelessly about her neck and
    \r\n", + "shoulders, the open incision of her dress discloses a neatly worked
    \r\n", + "stomacher; how sweetly glows the melancholy that broods over her
    \r\n", + "countenance! \"I'll take her-I'll take her!\" exclaims Blowers, in
    \r\n", + "spasmodic ecstasy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I know'd you would; I'll suit you to a charm,\" rejoins the man of
    \r\n", + "trade, laconically, as the negro steps a few feet backward, and
    \r\n", + "watches the process. \"Considers it a trade,\" is the reply of
    \r\n", + "Blowers, as he orders his waggon to be brought to the door.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Oh! master, master! save me-save me! and let me die in peace.
    \r\n", + "Don't, good master, don't sell me again!\" Thus saying she falls on
    \r\n", + "her knees at Graspum's feet, and with hands uplifted beseeches him
    \r\n", + "to save her from the hands of a man whose very sight she loathes.
    \r\n", + "She reads the man's character in his face; she knows too well the
    \r\n", + "hellish purpose for which he buys her. Bitter, bitter, are the tears
    \r\n", + "of anguish she sheds at his feet, deep and piercing are her
    \r\n", + "bemoanings. Again her soft, sorrowing eyes wander in prayer to
    \r\n", + "heaven: as Graspum is a husband, a brother, and a father,--whose
    \r\n", + "children are yet in the world's travel of uncertainty, she beseeches
    \r\n", + "him to save her from that man.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't be mad, girl,\" he says, pushing her hand from him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Frightened, eh? Make ye love me, yet! Why, gal, ye never had such a
    \r\n", + "master in the world as I'll be to ye. I lay I makes a lady on ye,
    \r\n", + "and lets ye have it all yer own way, afore a fortnight,\" he rejoins,
    \r\n", + "spreading his brawny arms over her, as she, in an attitude of
    \r\n", + "fright, vaults from beneath them, and, uttering a faint cry, glides
    \r\n", + "crouching into a corner of the pen. There is no protection for her
    \r\n", + "now; her weepings and implorings fall harmless on the slavedealer's
    \r\n", + "ears; heaven will protect her when earth knows her no more!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's two can play a game like that, gal!\" exclaims Blowers.
    \r\n", + "\"Rough play like that don't do with this ere citizen. Can just take
    \r\n", + "the vixen out on a dozen on ye as what don't know what's good for
    \r\n", + "'em.\" Blowers is evidently allowing his temper to get the better of
    \r\n", + "him. He stands a few feet from her, makes grim his florid face,
    \r\n", + "gesticulates his hands, and daringly advances toward her as the
    \r\n", + "negro announces the arrival of his waggon.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You must go with him, girl; stop working yourself into a fever;
    \r\n", + "stop it, I say,\" interposes Graspum, peremptorily. \"The waggon! the
    \r\n", + "waggon! the waggon! to carry me away, away;--never, never to return
    \r\n", + "and see my mother?\" she exclaims, as well nigh in convulsions she
    \r\n", + "shrieks, when Blowers grasps her in his arms (Graspum saying, be
    \r\n", + "gentle, Blowers), drags her to the door, and by force thrusts her
    \r\n", + "into the waggon, stifling her cries as on the road they drive
    \r\n", + "quickly away. As the last faint wail dies away, and the vehicle
    \r\n", + "bearing its victim disappears in the distance, we think how sweet is
    \r\n", + "liberty, how prone to injustice is man, how crushing of right are
    \r\n", + "democracy's base practices.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Does seem kind of hard; but it's a righteous good sale. Shouldn't
    \r\n", + "wonder if she played the same game on him she did with t'other two
    \r\n", + "fools. Get her back then, and sell her over again. Well! come now;
    \r\n", + "there's no great loss without-some-small-gain!\" says Graspum, as,
    \r\n", + "standing his prominent figure in the door of his man pen, he watches
    \r\n", + "the woman pass out of sight, thrusts his hands deep into his
    \r\n", + "breeches pockets, and commences humming an air for his own special
    \r\n", + "amusement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "NICHOLAS'S SIMPLE STORY.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE reader will remember that we left Nicholas seeking his way to
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy's workshop, situated in the outskirts of the city. And
    \r\n", + "we must here inform him that considerable change in the social
    \r\n", + "position of the younger Grabguy family has taken place since we left
    \r\n", + "them, which is some years ago. The elder Grabguy, who, it will be
    \r\n", + "remembered, was very distinguished as his Worship the Mayor of the
    \r\n", + "City (that also was some years ago), has departed this life, leaving
    \r\n", + "the present principal of the Grabguy family a large portion of his
    \r\n", + "estate, which, being mostly of \"nigger property,\" requires some
    \r\n", + "little transforming before it can be made to suit his more extended
    \r\n", + "business arrangements. This material addition to the already well-
    \r\n", + "reputed estate of Mr. Grabguy warrants his admittance into very
    \r\n", + "respectable, and, some say, rather distinguished society. Indeed, it
    \r\n", + "is more than whispered, that when the question of admitting Mr. and
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Grabguy to the membership of a very select circle, the saintly
    \r\n", + "cognomen of which is as indefinable as its system of selecting
    \r\n", + "members, or the angles presented by the nasal organs of a few ladies
    \r\n", + "when anything short of the very first families are proposed, there
    \r\n", + "were seven very fashionable ladies for, and only three against. The
    \r\n", + "greatest antagonist the Grabguys have to getting into the embrace of
    \r\n", + "this very select circle is Mrs. Chief Justice Pimpkins, a matronly
    \r\n", + "body of some fifty summers, who declares there can be no judge in
    \r\n", + "the world so clever as her own dear Pimpkins, and that society was
    \r\n", + "becoming so vulgar and coarse, and so many low people-whose English
    \r\n", + "was as hopefully bad as could be, and who never spoke when they
    \r\n", + "didn't impugn her risible nerves-were intruding themselves upon its
    \r\n", + "polished sanctity, that she felt more and more every day the
    \r\n", + "necessity of withdrawing entirely from it, and enjoying her own
    \r\n", + "exclusively distinguished self. In the case of Grabguy's admittance
    \r\n", + "to the St. Cecilia, my Lady Pimpkins-she is commonly called Lady
    \r\n", + "Chief Justice Pimpkins-had two most formidable black balls; the
    \r\n", + "first because Mrs. Grabguy's father was a bread-baker, and the
    \r\n", + "second that the present Grabguy could not be considered a gentleman
    \r\n", + "while he continued in mechanical business. Another serious objection
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Pimpkins would merely suggest as a preventive;--such people
    \r\n", + "were ill suited to mix with titled and other distinguished society!
    \r\n", + "But, Grabguy, to make up for the vexatious rejection, has got to be
    \r\n", + "an alderman, which is a step upward in the scale of his father's
    \r\n", + "attained distinction. There is nothing more natural, then, than that
    \r\n", + "Grabguy should seek his way up in the world, with the best means at
    \r\n", + "his hands; it is a worthy trait of human nature, and is as natural
    \r\n", + "to the slave. In this instance-when master and slave are both
    \r\n", + "incited to a noble purpose-Grabguy is a wealthy alderman, and
    \r\n", + "Nicholas-the whiter of the two-his abject slave. The master, a man
    \r\n", + "of meagre mind, and exceedingly avaricious, would make himself
    \r\n", + "distinguished in society; the slave, a mercurial being of
    \r\n", + "impassioned temper, whose mind is quickened by a sense of the
    \r\n", + "injustice that robs him of his rights, seeks only freedom and what
    \r\n", + "may follow in its order.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Let us again introduce the reader to Nicholas, as his manly figure,
    \r\n", + "marked with impressive features, stands before us, in Grabguy's
    \r\n", + "workshop. Tall, and finely formed, he has grown to manhood,
    \r\n", + "retaining all the quick fiery impulses of his race. Those black eyes
    \r\n", + "wandering irresistibly, that curl of contempt that sits upon his
    \r\n", + "lip, that stare of revenge that scowls beneath those heavy eyebrows,
    \r\n", + "and that hate of wrong that ever and anon pervades the whole, tell
    \r\n", + "how burns in his heart the elements of a will that would brave death
    \r\n", + "for its rights-that would bear unmoved the oppressor's lash-that
    \r\n", + "would embrace death rather than yield to perfidy. He tells us-\"I
    \r\n", + "came here, sold-so they said-by God's will. Well. I thought to
    \r\n", + "myself, isn't this strange, that a curious God-they tell me he loves
    \r\n", + "everybody-should sell me? It all seemed like a misty waste to me. I
    \r\n", + "remembered home-I learned to read, myself-I remembered mother, I
    \r\n", + "loved her, but she left me, and I have never seen her since. I loved
    \r\n", + "her, dear mother! I did love her; but they said she was gone far
    \r\n", + "away, and I musn't mind if I never see'd her again. It seemed hard
    \r\n", + "and strange, but I had to put up with it, for they said I never had
    \r\n", + "a father, and my mother had no right to me\" (his piercing black eyes
    \r\n", + "glare, as fervently he says, mother!). \"I thought, at last, it was
    \r\n", + "true, for everybody had a right to call me nigger,--a blasted white
    \r\n", + "nigger, a nigger as wouldn't be worth nothing. And then they used to
    \r\n", + "kick me, and cuff me, and lash me; and if nigger was nigger I was
    \r\n", + "worse than a nigger, because every black nigger was laughing at me,
    \r\n", + "and telling me what a fool of a white nigger I was;--that white
    \r\n", + "niggers was nobody, could be nobody, and was never intended for
    \r\n", + "nobody, as nobody knew where white niggers come from. But I didn't
    \r\n", + "believe all this; it warn't sensible. Something said-Nicholas!
    \r\n", + "you're just as good as anybody: learn to read, write, and cypher,
    \r\n", + "and you'll be something yet. And this something-I couldn't tell what
    \r\n", + "it was, nor could I describe it-seemed irresistible in its power to
    \r\n", + "carry me to be that somebody it prompted in my feelings. I was
    \r\n", + "white, and when I looked at myself I knew I wasn't a nigger; and
    \r\n", + "feeling that everybody could be somebody, I began to look forward to
    \r\n", + "the time when I should rise above the burden of misfortune that
    \r\n", + "seemed bearing me down into the earth. And then, Franconia, like a
    \r\n", + "sister, used to come to me, and say so many kind things to me that I
    \r\n", + "felt relieved, and resolved to go forward. Then I lost sight of
    \r\n", + "Franconia, and saw nobody I knew but Annette; and she seemed so
    \r\n", + "pretty, and loved me so affectionately. How long it seems since I
    \r\n", + "have seen her! She dressed me so nicely, and parted my hair, and
    \r\n", + "kissed me so kindly; and said good-by, when I left her, so in
    \r\n", + "regret, I never can forget it. And it was then they said I was sold.
    \r\n", + "Mr. Graspum said he owned me, and owning me was equal to doing what
    \r\n", + "he pleased with me. Then I went home to Mr. Grabguy's; and they said
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy owned me just as he owned his great big dog they called
    \r\n", + "a democratic bull-dog, the foreman said he paid a democratic
    \r\n", + "ten-dollar gold piece for. They used to say the only difference
    \r\n", + "between me and the dog was, that the dog could go where he pleased
    \r\n", + "without being lashed, and I couldn't. And the dog always got enough
    \r\n", + "to eat, and seemed a great favourite with everybody, whereas I got
    \r\n", + "only more kicks than cucumbers, didn't seem liked by anybody, and if
    \r\n", + "I got enough to eat I had nobody to thank but good old Margery, the
    \r\n", + "cook, who was kind to me now and then, and used to say-\"I like you,
    \r\n", + "Nicholas!\" And that used to make me feel so happy! Old Margery was
    \r\n", + "coal-black; but I didn't care for that,--the knowledge of somebody
    \r\n", + "loving you is enough to light up the happy of life, and make the
    \r\n", + "heart feel contented. In this manner my thoughts went here and there
    \r\n", + "and everywhere; and the truth is, I had so many thoughts, that I got
    \r\n", + "completely bewildered in thinking how I was to better myself, and be
    \r\n", + "like other folks. Mr. Grabguy seemed kind to me at first,--said he
    \r\n", + "would make a great mechanic of me, and give me a chance to buy
    \r\n", + "myself. I didn't know what this \"buy myself\" meant, at first. But I
    \r\n", + "soon found out-he tells us he must speak with caution-that I must
    \r\n", + "pay so many hundred dollars afore I could be like other folks. The
    \r\n", + "kindness Mr. Grabguy at first exhibited for me didn't last long; he
    \r\n", + "soon began to kick me, and cuff me, and swear at me. And it 'pear'd
    \r\n", + "to me as if I never could please anybody, and so my feelings got so
    \r\n", + "embittered I didn't know what to do. I was put into the shop among
    \r\n", + "the men, and one said Nigger, here! and another said, Nigger, get
    \r\n", + "there!-and they all seemed not to be inclined to help me along. And
    \r\n", + "then I would get in a passion: but that never made things better.
    \r\n", + "The foreman now and then said a kind word to me; and whenever he
    \r\n", + "did, it made my heart feel so good that I seemed a new being with
    \r\n", + "brighter hopes. Well, Mr. Grabguy put me to turning the grindstone,
    \r\n", + "first; and from turning the grindstone-the men used to throw water
    \r\n", + "in my face when they ground their chisels, and their plane irons,
    \r\n", + "and axes and adzes-I was learned to saw, and to plain boards, and
    \r\n", + "then to mortice and frame, and make mouldings, and window-sashes,
    \r\n", + "and door-frames. When I could do all these, master used to say I was
    \r\n", + "bound to make a great workman, and, laughingly, would say I was the
    \r\n", + "most valuable property he ever owned. About this time I began to
    \r\n", + "find out how it was that the other white folks owned themselves and
    \r\n", + "master owned me; but then, if I said anything about it, master might
    \r\n", + "tie me up and lash me as he used to do; and so I remained quiet, but
    \r\n", + "kept up a thinking. By and by I got perfect at the carpenter's
    \r\n", + "trade, and I learned engineering; and when I had got engineering
    \r\n", + "perfect, I took a fancy for making stucco work and images. And
    \r\n", + "people said I learned wondrously fast, and was the best workman far
    \r\n", + "or near. Seeing these things, people used to be coming to me, and
    \r\n", + "talking to me about my value, and then end by wanting me to make
    \r\n", + "them specimens of stucco. I seemed liked by everybody who came to
    \r\n", + "see me, and good people had a kind word for me; but Mr. Grabguy was
    \r\n", + "very strict, and wouldn't allow me to do anything without his
    \r\n", + "permission. People said my work was perfect, and master said I was a
    \r\n", + "perfect piece of property; and it used to pain deep into my heart
    \r\n", + "when master spoke so. Well! I got to be a man, and when the foreman
    \r\n", + "got drunk master used to put me in his place. And after a while I
    \r\n", + "got to be foreman altogether: but I was a slave, they said, and men
    \r\n", + "wouldn't follow my directions when master was away; they all
    \r\n", + "acknowledged that I was a good workman, but said a nigger never
    \r\n", + "should be allowed to direct and order white people. That made my
    \r\n", + "very blood boil, as I grew older, because I was whiter than many of
    \r\n", + "them. However, submit was the word; and I bore up and trusted to
    \r\n", + "heaven for deliverance, hoping the day would come soon when its will
    \r\n", + "would be carried out. With my knowledge of mechanics increased a
    \r\n", + "love of learning, which almost amounted to a passion. They said it
    \r\n", + "was against the law for a nigger to read; but I was raised so far
    \r\n", + "above black niggers that I didn't mind what the law said: so I got
    \r\n", + "'Pilgrim's Progress,' and the Bible, and 'Young's Night Thoughts,'
    \r\n", + "and from them I learned great truths: they gave me new hopes,
    \r\n", + "refreshed my weary soul, and made me like a new-clothed being ready
    \r\n", + "to soar above the injustice of this life. Oh, how I read them at
    \r\n", + "night, and re-read them in the morning, and every time found
    \r\n", + "something new in them, something that suited my case! Through the
    \r\n", + "sentiments imbibed from them I saw freedom hanging out its light of
    \r\n", + "love, fascinating me, and inciting me to make a death struggle to
    \r\n", + "gain it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One day, as I was thinking of my hard fate, and how I did all the
    \r\n", + "work and master got all the money for it-and how I had to live and
    \r\n", + "how he lived, master came in-looking good-natured. He approached
    \r\n", + "me, shook hands with me, said I was worth my weight in gold; and
    \r\n", + "then asked me how I would like to be free. I told him I would jump
    \r\n", + "for joy, would sing praises, and be glad all the day long.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'Aint you contented where you are, Nicholas?' he enquired. I told
    \r\n", + "him I didn't dislike him; but freedom was sweetest. 'Give me a
    \r\n", + "chance of my freedom, master, and yet you may know me as a man,'
    \r\n", + "says I, feeling that to be free was to be among the living; to be a
    \r\n", + "slave was to be among the moving dead. To this he said, he always
    \r\n", + "had liked me, was proud of me, had unbounded confidence in my
    \r\n", + "directions over the men, and always felt safe when he went from home
    \r\n", + "leaving things in my charge. 'In this view of the case, Nicholas,'
    \r\n", + "he says, 'I have come to the conclusion,--and it's Mrs. Grabguy's
    \r\n", + "conclusion, too,--to let you work evenings, on overtime, for
    \r\n", + "yourself. You can earn a deal of money that way, if you please; just
    \r\n", + "save it up, and let me keep it for you, and in consideration of your
    \r\n", + "faithfulness I will set you free whenever you get a thousand dollars
    \r\n", + "to put into my hands. Now that's generous-I want to do the straight
    \r\n", + "thing, and so Mrs. Grabguy wants to do the straight thing; and what
    \r\n", + "money you save you can put in Mrs. Grabguy's hands for safe keeping.
    \r\n", + "She's a noble-minded woman, and 'll take good care of it.' This was
    \r\n", + "to me like entering upon a new life of hope and joy. How my heart
    \r\n", + "yearned for the coming day, when I should be free like other folks!
    \r\n", + "I worked and struggled by night and day; and good Mr. Simons
    \r\n", + "befriended me, and procured me many little orders, which I executed,
    \r\n", + "and for which I got good pay. All my own earnings I put into Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Grabguy's hands; and she told me she would keep it for me, safe,
    \r\n", + "till I got enough to buy my freedom. My confidence in these
    \r\n", + "assurances was undivided. I looked upon Mrs. Grabguy as a friend and
    \r\n", + "mother; and good Mr. Simons, who was poor but honest, did many kind
    \r\n", + "things to help me out. When I got one hundred dollars in missus'
    \r\n", + "hands I jumped for joy; with it I seemed to have got over the first
    \r\n", + "difficult step in the great mountain. Then missus said I must take
    \r\n", + "Jerushe for my wife. I didn't like Jerushe at first--she was almost
    \r\n", + "black; but missus said we were both slaves; hence, that could be no
    \r\n", + "objection. As missus's order was equally as positive as master's,
    \r\n", + "there was no alternative but to obey it, and Jerushe became my wife.
    \r\n", + "We were lawfully married, and missus made a nice little party for
    \r\n", + "us, and Jerushe loved me, and was kind to me, and her solicitude for
    \r\n", + "my welfare soon made me repay her love. I pitied her condition, and
    \r\n", + "she seemed to pity mine; and I soon forgot that she was black, and
    \r\n", + "we lived happily together, and had two children, which missus said
    \r\n", + "were hers. It was hard to reconcile this, and yet it was so, by law
    \r\n", + "as well as social right. But then missus was kind to Jerushe, and
    \r\n", + "let her buy her time at four dollars a week, which, having learned
    \r\n", + "to make dresses, she could pay and have a small surplus to lay by
    \r\n", + "every week. Jerushe knew I was struggling for freedom, and she would
    \r\n", + "help me to buy that freedom, knowing that, if I was free, I would
    \r\n", + "return her kindness, and struggle to make her free, and our children
    \r\n", + "free.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Years rolled on,--we had placed nearly five hundred dollars in
    \r\n", + "missus's hands: but how vain were the hopes that had borne us
    \r\n", + "through so many privations for the accumulation of this portion of
    \r\n", + "our price of freedom! Master has sold my children,--yes, sold them!
    \r\n", + "He will not tell me where nor to whom. Missus will neither see nor
    \r\n", + "hear me; and master threatens to sell me to New Orleans if I resent
    \r\n", + "his act. To what tribunal can I appeal for justice? Shut from the
    \r\n", + "laws of my native land, what justice is there for the slave where
    \r\n", + "injustice makes its law oppression? Master may sell me, but he
    \r\n", + "cannot vanquish the spirit God has given me; never, never, will I
    \r\n", + "yield to his nefarious designs. I have but one life to yield up a
    \r\n", + "sacrifice for right-I care not to live for wrong!\" Thus he speaks,
    \r\n", + "as his frenzied soul burns with indignation. His soul's love was
    \r\n", + "freedom; he asked but justice to achieve it. Sick at heart he has
    \r\n", + "thrown up that zeal for his master's welfare which bore him onward,
    \r\n", + "summoned his determination to resist to the last-to die rather than
    \r\n", + "again confront the dreary waste of a slave's life. Grabguy has
    \r\n", + "forfeited the amount deposited by Nicholas as part of the price of
    \r\n", + "his freedom,--betrayed his confidence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He tells us his simple story, as the workmen, with fear on their
    \r\n", + "countenances, move heedlessly about the room. As he concludes,
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, with sullen countenance, enters the great door at the end
    \r\n", + "of the building; he is followed by three men in official garbs, two
    \r\n", + "of whom bear manacles in their hands. Nicholas's dark eye flashes
    \r\n", + "upon them, and with an instinctive knowledge of their errand, he
    \r\n", + "seizes a broad axe, salutes them, and, defiantly, cautions their
    \r\n", + "advance. Grabguy heeds not; and as the aggrieved man slowly retreats
    \r\n", + "backward to protect himself with the wall, still keeping his eye set
    \r\n", + "on Grabguy, two negroes make a sudden spring upon him from behind,
    \r\n", + "fetter his arms as the officers rush forward, bind him hand and
    \r\n", + "foot, and drag him to the door, regardless of his cries for mercy:
    \r\n", + "they bind him to a dray, and drive through the streets to the slave
    \r\n", + "pen of Graspum. We hear his pleading voice, as his ruffian captors,
    \r\n", + "their prey secure, disappear among the busy crowd.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HE WOULD DELIVER HER FROM BONDAGE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ABOUT twelve o'clock of a hazy night, in the month of November, and
    \r\n", + "while Annette, in the hands of Mr. Pringle Blowers, with death-like
    \r\n", + "tenacity refuses to yield to his vile purposes, a little
    \r\n", + "taunt-rigged schooner may be seen stealing her way through the grey
    \r\n", + "mist into Charleston inner harbour. Like a mysterious messenger, she
    \r\n", + "advances noiselessly, gibes her half-dimmed sails, rounds to a short
    \r\n", + "distance from an old fort that stands on a ridge of flats extending
    \r\n", + "into the sea, drops her anchor, and furls her sails. We hear the
    \r\n", + "rumble of the chain, and \"aye, aye!\" sound on the still air, like
    \r\n", + "the murmur of voices in the clouds. A pause is followed by the sharp
    \r\n", + "sound of voices echoing through the hollow mist; then she rides like
    \r\n", + "a thing of life reposing on the polished water, her masts half
    \r\n", + "obscured in mist, looming high above, like a spectre in gauze
    \r\n", + "shroud. The sound dies away, and dimly we see the figure of a man
    \r\n", + "pacing the deck from fore-shroud to taffrail. Now and then he stops
    \r\n", + "at the wheel, casts sundry glances about the horizon, as if to catch
    \r\n", + "a recognition of some point of land near by, and walks again. Now he
    \r\n", + "places his body against the spokes, leans forward, and compares the
    \r\n", + "\"lay\" of the land with points of compass. He will reach his hand
    \r\n", + "into the binnacle, to note the compass with his finger, and wait its
    \r\n", + "traversing motion. Apparently satisfied, he moves his slow way along
    \r\n", + "again; now folding his arms, as if in deep study, then locking his
    \r\n", + "hands behind him, and drooping his head. He paces and paces for an
    \r\n", + "hour, retires below, and all is still.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Early on the following morning, a man of middle stature, genteelly
    \r\n", + "dressed, may be seen leaving the craft in a boat, which, rowed by
    \r\n", + "two seamen, soon reaches a wharf, upon the landing slip of which he
    \r\n", + "disembarks. He looks pale, and his countenance wears a placidness
    \r\n", + "indicating a mind absorbed in reflection. With a carpet-bag in his
    \r\n", + "right hand does he ascend the steps to the crown of the wharf, as
    \r\n", + "the boat returns to the mysterious-looking craft. Standing on the
    \r\n", + "capsill for a few minutes, his blue eyes wander over the scene, as
    \r\n", + "if to detect some familiar object. The warehouses along the wharfs
    \r\n", + "wear a dingy, neglected air; immense piles of cotton bales stand
    \r\n", + "under slender sheds erected here and there along the line of
    \r\n", + "buildings which form a curvature declining to the east and west.
    \r\n", + "Again, open spaces are strewn with bales of cotton waiting its turn
    \r\n", + "through the press (a large building near by, from which steam is
    \r\n", + "issuing in successive puffings and roarings); from which compressed
    \r\n", + "bales emerge out of the lower story, followed by a dozen half-naked
    \r\n", + "negroes, who, half-bent, trundle it onward into piles, or on board
    \r\n", + "ships. Far above these is spread out a semicircle of dwellings,
    \r\n", + "having a gloomy and irregular appearance, devoid of that freshness
    \r\n", + "and brightness which so distinguish every New England city. The
    \r\n", + "bustle of the day is just commencing, and the half-mantled ships,
    \r\n", + "lying unmoved at the wharfs, give out signs of activity. The new
    \r\n", + "comer is about to move on up the wharf, when suddenly he is accosted
    \r\n", + "by a negro, who, in ragged garb, touches his hat politely, and says,
    \r\n", + "with a smile, \"Yer sarvant, mas'r!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Your name, my boy?\" returns the man, in a kind tone of voice. The
    \r\n", + "negro, thrusting his hands deep into the pockets of his old sack
    \r\n", + "coat, seems contemplating an answer. He has had several names, both
    \r\n", + "surname and Christian; names are but of little value to a slave.
    \r\n", + "\"Pompe they once called me, but da' calls me Bill now,\" he answers,
    \r\n", + "eyeing the stranger, suspiciously. \"Pompe, Pompe! I've heard that
    \r\n", + "name: how familiar it sounds!\" the stranger says to himself.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"One mas'r call me Turtle Tom,\" rejoins the negro, scratching his
    \r\n", + "head the while.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Turtle Tom!\" reiterates the stranger. \"Had you no other name
    \r\n", + "coupled with Pompe, when that was the name by which you were
    \r\n", + "recognised?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The negro will not wait his finishing the sentence. He says he had
    \r\n", + "good old mas'r's name; but good old mas'r-\"so dey tells\"-dead and
    \r\n", + "gone long time ago. \"His name was Marston; and dat war dis child's
    \r\n", + "name den, God bless 'um!\" he answers the stranger.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Marston, who lived on the banks of the Ashley?\" again he enquires,
    \r\n", + "as his face crimsons with excitement.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Dat war my mas'r; and dem war good old times when I lived dar,\"
    \r\n", + "returns the negro, significantly nodding his head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Then you are the first man I have met, the first I want to see,\"
    \r\n", + "exclaimed the stranger, grasping the negro by the hand, and, much to
    \r\n", + "his surprise, shaking it heartily.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"'Taint Lorenzo,\" returns the negro, contemplating the stranger with
    \r\n", + "astonishment.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The stranger is not Lorenzo, but he has heard much of him. What
    \r\n", + "happy recollections its familiar sound recalls: how it strengthens
    \r\n", + "his hopes of success in his mission. The negro tells him he is a
    \r\n", + "labourer on the wharf, and cannot leave to conduct him to an hotel;
    \r\n", + "he will, however, direct the stranger to a comfortable abode in
    \r\n", + "Church Street. It is quiet and unostentatious, but will serve his
    \r\n", + "purpose. Placing a piece of money in the negro's hand, he assures
    \r\n", + "him that he is his friend-has much need of his services-will pay him
    \r\n", + "well for their employment. He has equally aroused the negro's
    \r\n", + "curiosity; and, were it nothing more than satisfying that, he would
    \r\n", + "be faithful to his promise to call the same night at seven o'clock.
    \r\n", + "Precisely at that hour the negro will fulfil his engagement. The
    \r\n", + "stranger wends his way to Church Street, and up a narrow alley, on
    \r\n", + "the left hand side, finds comfortable apartments, as directed. Here
    \r\n", + "he makes his toilet, and sallies out to reconnoitre the city.
    \r\n", + "Meanwhile the little craft is entered at the custom-house as a
    \r\n", + "fruiter, bound from New Providence to New York, and put in for a
    \r\n", + "harbour. There is something suspicious about a fruiter putting in
    \r\n", + "for a harbour at this season, and many curious glances are cast upon
    \r\n", + "the little captain as he bows to the truth of his entry before the
    \r\n", + "deputy collector.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The stranger has spent the day in viewing the city, and at
    \r\n", + "nightfall, the negro, true to his engagement, presents his sable
    \r\n", + "figure at his lodgings. A servant having shown him up stairs, he is
    \r\n", + "ushered into his presence, where, seeming bewildered, he looks about
    \r\n", + "inquiringly, as if doubting the object for which he has been
    \r\n", + "summoned. Abjectly he holds his tattered cap in his hand, and
    \r\n", + "tremblingly inquires what master wants with him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Have confidence, my good fellow,\" the stranger speaks, with a
    \r\n", + "smile; \"my mission is love and peace.\" He places a chair beside a
    \r\n", + "small table in the centre of the room; bids the negro sit down,
    \r\n", + "which he does with some hesitation. The room is small; it contains a
    \r\n", + "table, bureau, washstand, bed, and four chairs, which, together with
    \r\n", + "a few small prints hanging from the dingy walls, and a square piece
    \r\n", + "of carpet in the centre of the room, constitute its furniture. \"You
    \r\n", + "know Marston's plantation-know it as it was when Marston resided
    \r\n", + "thereon, do you?\" enquires the stranger, seating himself beside the
    \r\n", + "negro, who evidently is not used to this sort of familiarity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Know 'um well, dat I does,\" answers the negro, quickly, as if the
    \r\n", + "question had recalled scenes of the past.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"And you know the people, too, I suppose?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Da'h people!\" ejaculates the negro, with a rhapsody of enthusiasm;
    \r\n", + "\"reckon I does.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Will you recount them.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The negro, commencing with old master, recounts the names of Miss
    \r\n", + "Franconia, Clotilda, Ellen, Aunt Rachel, old Daddy Bob, and Harry.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It is enough,\" says the stranger, \"they are all familiar names.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Did you know my good old master?\" interrupts the negro, suddenly,
    \r\n", + "as if detecting some familiar feature in the stranger's countenance.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No,\" he replies, measuredly; \"but his name has sounded in my ears a
    \r\n", + "thousand times. Tell me where are the children, Annette and
    \r\n", + "Nicholas? and where may I find Franconia?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The negro shakes his head, and remains silent for a few minutes. At
    \r\n", + "length he raises his hand, and in a half-whisper says, \"Gone, gone,
    \r\n", + "gone; sold and scattered, good mas'r. Habn't see dem child dis many
    \r\n", + "a day: reckon da'h done gone down south.\" He hesitates suddenly, as
    \r\n", + "if calling something to memory; and then, placing his left hand on
    \r\n", + "the stranger's right arm, as he rubs his left across his forehead,
    \r\n", + "stammers out-\"Mas'r, mas'r, I reckon dis child do know somefin 'bout
    \r\n", + "Miss Frankone. Anyhow, mas'r (ye knows I'se nigger do'h, and don't
    \r\n", + "keep up 'quaintance a'ter mas'r sell um), can put ye straight 'bout
    \r\n", + "Missus Rosebrook's house, and reckon how dat lady can put ye
    \r\n", + "straight on Miss Frankone's where'bout.\" It is what the stranger
    \r\n", + "wants. He has heard of Mrs. Rosebrook before; she will give him the
    \r\n", + "information he seeks; so, turning again to the negro, he tells him
    \r\n", + "that, for a few days at least, he shall require his presence at the
    \r\n", + "same hour in the evening: tonight he must conduct him to Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook's sequestered villa.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The watch-tower bell of the guard-house sounds forth nine o'clock.
    \r\n", + "The soldier-like sentinel, pacing with loaded musket, and armed with
    \r\n", + "sharpest steel, cries out in hoarse accents, \"All's well!\" The bell
    \r\n", + "is summoning all negroes to their habitations: our guide, Bill,
    \r\n", + "informs the stranger that he must have a \"pass\" from a white man
    \r\n", + "before he can venture into the street. \"Mas'r may write 'um,\" he
    \r\n", + "says, knowing that it matters but little from whom it comes, so long
    \r\n", + "as the writer be a white man. The pass is written; the negro
    \r\n", + "partakes of refreshment that has been prepared for him at the
    \r\n", + "stranger's request, and they are wending their way through the city.
    \r\n", + "They pass between rows of massive buildings, many of which have an
    \r\n", + "antique appearance, and bear strong signs of neglect; but their
    \r\n", + "unique style of architecture denotes the taste of the time in which
    \r\n", + "they were erected. Some are distinguished by heavy stone colonnades,
    \r\n", + "others by verandas of fret-work, with large gothic windows standing
    \r\n", + "in bold outline. Gloomy-looking guard-houses, from which numerous
    \r\n", + "armed men are issuing forth for the night's duty,--patrolling figures
    \r\n", + "with white cross belts, and armed with batons, standing at corners
    \r\n", + "of streets, or moving along with heavy tread on the uneven
    \r\n", + "side-walk,--give the city an air of military importance. The love of
    \r\n", + "freedom is dangerous in this democratic world; liberty is simply a
    \r\n", + "privilege. Again the stranger and his guide (the negro) emerge into
    \r\n", + "narrow lanes, and pass along between rows of small dwellings
    \r\n", + "inhabited by negroes; but at every turn they encounter mounted
    \r\n", + "soldiery, riding two abreast, heavily armed. \"Democracy, boast not
    \r\n", + "of thy privileges! tell no man thou governest with equal justice!\"
    \r\n", + "said the stranger to himself, as the gas-light shed its flickers
    \r\n", + "upon this military array formed to suppress liberty.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They have reached the outskirts of the city, and are approaching a
    \r\n", + "pretty villa, which the negro, who has been explaining the nature
    \r\n", + "and duties of this formidable display of citizen soldiery, points
    \r\n", + "to, as the peaceful home of the Rosebrook family. Brighter and
    \r\n", + "brighter, as they approach, glares the bright light of a window in
    \r\n", + "the north front. \"I wish Mas'r Rosebrook owned me,\" says the negro,
    \r\n", + "stopping at the garden gate, and viewing the pretty enclosure ere he
    \r\n", + "opens it. \"If ebery mas'r and missus war as kind as da'h is, dar
    \r\n", + "wouldn't be no need o' dem guard-houses and dem guardmen wid dar
    \r\n", + "savage steel,\" he continues, opening the gate gently, and motioning
    \r\n", + "the stranger to walk in. Noiselessly he advances up the brick walk
    \r\n", + "to the hall entrance, and rings the bell. A well-dressed negro man
    \r\n", + "soon makes his appearance, receives him politely, as the guide
    \r\n", + "retires, and ushers him into a sumptuously furnished parlour. The
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook negroes quickly recognise a gentleman, and detecting it in
    \r\n", + "the bearing of the stranger they treat him as such. Mrs. Rosebrook,
    \r\n", + "followed by her husband, soon makes her appearance, saluting the
    \r\n", + "stranger with her usual suavity. \"I have come, madam,\" he says, \"on
    \r\n", + "a strange mission. With you I make no secret of it; should I be
    \r\n", + "successful it will remove the grief and anxiety of one who has for
    \r\n", + "years mourned the fate of her on whom all her affections seem to
    \r\n", + "have centred. If you will but read this it will save the further
    \r\n", + "recital of my mission.\" Thus saying, he drew a letter from his
    \r\n", + "pocket, presented it, and watched her countenance as line by line
    \r\n", + "she read it, and, with tears glistening in her eyes, passed it to
    \r\n", + "her husband.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I am, good sir, heartily glad your mission is thus laudable. Be at
    \r\n", + "home, and while you are in the city let our home be yours. Franconia
    \r\n", + "is here with us to-night; the child you search after is also with
    \r\n", + "us, and it was but to-day we learned the cruelties to which she has
    \r\n", + "been subjected during the last few years. Indeed, her fate had been
    \r\n", + "kept concealed from us until a few weeks ago, and to-day, having
    \r\n", + "escaped the brutal designs of a ruffian, she fled to us for
    \r\n", + "protection, and is now concealed under our roof-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, poor wretch-it is too true!\" rejoins Rosebrook. \"But something
    \r\n", + "must be done as quickly as possible, for if Pringle Blowers regains
    \r\n", + "her she will be subjected to tortures her frame is too delicate to
    \r\n", + "bear up under. There must be no time lost, not a day!\" he says, as
    \r\n", + "Mrs. Rosebrook quickly leaves the room to convey the news to
    \r\n", + "Franconia, who, with Annette, is in an adjoining apartment.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Like a hunted deer, Annette's fears were excited on hearing the
    \r\n", + "stranger enter; Franconia is endeavoring to quiet them. The poor
    \r\n", + "slave fears the ruffian's pursuit, trembles at each foot-fall upon
    \r\n", + "the door-sill, and piteously turns to her old friend for protection.
    \r\n", + "Blowers, maddened with disappointment, would rather sacrifice her to
    \r\n", + "infamy than sell her for money to a good master. The price of a
    \r\n", + "pretty slave is no object with this boasting democrat,--the
    \r\n", + "gratification of his carnal desires soars supreme. Rosebrook knows
    \r\n", + "this, as the abject woman does to her sorrow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As Rosebrook and the stranger sit conversing upon the object of his
    \r\n", + "mission, and the best way to effect it, this good woman returns
    \r\n", + "leading by the arm a delicately-formed girl, whose blonde
    \r\n", + "countenance is shadowed with an air of melancholy which rather adds
    \r\n", + "to her charms than detracts from her beauty. The stranger's eye
    \r\n", + "rests upon her,--quickly he recognises Clotilda's features,
    \r\n", + "Clotilda's form, and gentleness; but she is fairer than Clotilda,
    \r\n", + "has blue eyes, and almost golden hair. She hesitates as her eyes
    \r\n", + "meet the stranger's. \"Do not fear, my child,\" speaks Franconia,
    \r\n", + "whose slender figure follows her into the room. Assured that the
    \r\n", + "stranger is her friend, she is introduced to him, and modestly takes
    \r\n", + "her seat on a chair by the window. The stranger's name is Maxwell,
    \r\n", + "and on hearing it announced Franconia anticipated the pleasure of
    \r\n", + "meeting with her old friend, through whose agency she effected
    \r\n", + "Clotilda's escape. Advancing towards him with extended hand, she
    \r\n", + "looks enquiringly in his face, saying, \"Am I mistaken?\" She shakes
    \r\n", + "her head, doubtingly. \"No! it is not my friend Maxwell,\" she
    \r\n", + "continues.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No!\" rejoins the stranger; \"he is my cousin: by his directions I
    \r\n", + "have come here. I have brought a letter from his wife Clotilda,
    \r\n", + "whose dear deliverer you were; and whose thoughts now daily recur to
    \r\n", + "you, to your love and kindness to her, with undying brightness.\"
    \r\n", + "\"Ah!\" interrupts Franconia, welcoming him with a fervent heart, \"I
    \r\n", + "knew Clotilda would never forget Annette; I knew she would remember
    \r\n", + "me; I knew her ardent soul would give forth its measure of
    \r\n", + "gratitude. Happy am I that you have come-though years have rolled by
    \r\n", + "since I gave up all hopes of the joyous consummation-to relieve this
    \r\n", + "sorrowing child,\" she says, running to Annette, and with tears of
    \r\n", + "joy in her eyes, exclaiming, \"My child! my child! you 'll yet be
    \r\n", + "saved. The ruffian who tortured you to-day will torture you no
    \r\n", + "more-no more!\" And she kisses the sorrowing girl's cheek, as tears
    \r\n", + "of sympathy gush into her eyes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook handed Franconia the letter, which she read as her face
    \r\n", + "brightened with joy. \"Good Clotilda! how happy she must be! How
    \r\n", + "generous, how kind, how true dear Maxwell was to her; and they are
    \r\n", + "living together so comfortably, and have such a nice family growing
    \r\n", + "up; but she wants her slave child! A slave mother never forgets her
    \r\n", + "slave offspring!\" she exclaims, with enthusiastic delight, as she
    \r\n", + "reads and re-reads the letter. Back she paces to Annette, lays her
    \r\n", + "right arm gently over her shoulder, and pats her cheek with her left
    \r\n", + "hand: \"Annette will see her mother, yet. There is an all-protecting
    \r\n", + "hand guiding us through every ill of life. Be of good cheer, my
    \r\n", + "child; never despond while there is a hope left; bury the horrors of
    \r\n", + "the past in the brighter prospect of the future.\" And leading her to
    \r\n", + "the table she seats her by her side and reads the letter aloud, as
    \r\n", + "with joy the forlorn girl's feelings bound forth. We need scarcely
    \r\n", + "tell the reader that Clotilda's letter was read in listening
    \r\n", + "silence, and ran thus:--\"Nassau, New Providence, \"October 24, 18-.
    \r\n", + "\"My Dear Franconia,
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My thoughts have never ceased to recur to you, nor to my dear
    \r\n", + "Annette. You were a mother and a deliverer to me; I know-though I
    \r\n", + "have not received a word in reply to any of my letters-you have been
    \r\n", + "a mother to my child. As you know, I dare not write as much as I
    \r\n", + "would, lest this letter fall into the hands of those whose interest
    \r\n", + "it is to perpetuate our enslavement. I hope you are happy with a
    \r\n", + "good husband, as I am. Years have rolled by since we parted, and
    \r\n", + "many have been the scenes and changes through which I have passed,
    \r\n", + "but they were all pleasant changes, each for brighter and happier
    \r\n", + "prospects. I was married to him who, with you, effected my escape, a
    \r\n", + "few weeks after landing at Harbour Island. Since then we have
    \r\n", + "resided in Nassau, where my husband, who loves me dearly, pursues an
    \r\n", + "extensive and lucrative business, and we both move in the best
    \r\n", + "society of the place. We have a pretty family of three children, the
    \r\n", + "oldest nine years old, and the youngest five. How my heart would
    \r\n", + "leap with joy if I thought you would accept an invitation to come
    \r\n", + "and see me, to spend a few weeks with me, and see yourself how
    \r\n", + "comfortable and happy a slave may be! Perhaps I should not say
    \r\n", + "happy, for I never can be truly happy without my Annette. Something
    \r\n", + "haunts my mind whenever I recur to her,--which is every day. And then
    \r\n", + "I have written so many letters to which no answers have been
    \r\n", + "returned; but, a whispering angel, as if to console me, says,
    \r\n", + "Franconia will be her mother, and you will yet see her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The gentleman who bears this letter is my husband's cousin. He has
    \r\n", + "all my husband's generosity of character, and will seek you for the
    \r\n", + "purpose of finding Annette, and bearing her safely to me. He has
    \r\n", + "proffered his services, and sworn to carry out his object; and being
    \r\n", + "on his way to New York for the purpose of entering into business
    \r\n", + "with his uncle now in that city, will touch at Charleston, for the
    \r\n", + "object herein stated. Further his object, my dear Franconia, and
    \r\n", + "that heaven will reward the hand that in mercy helps the enslaved,
    \r\n", + "\"Is the prayer of your grateful \"CLOTILDA MAXWELL.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I knew mother would never forget me; I knew she would come back to
    \r\n", + "me, would be kind to me, as she used to be, and save me from such
    \r\n", + "cruelty as I have suffered. Several times have I resolved on putting
    \r\n", + "an end to my unhappy existence, but as often did something say to
    \r\n", + "me, 'live hoping-there is a better day coming.' God guides, governs,
    \r\n", + "and raises up the weary soul,\" says Annette, in touching accents, as
    \r\n", + "Franconia finished reading the letter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While this conversation is progressing, and the plan of getting
    \r\n", + "Annette out of the city being devised, a nice supper, at Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook's request, is being prepared in the adjoining room. To
    \r\n", + "this the stranger is invited, and all sit down in a happy circle.
    \r\n", + "Franconia seems invested with new life; Annette forgets for the time
    \r\n", + "her troubles; Mrs. Rosebrook, who does the honours of the table,
    \r\n", + "wishes every ill-used slave could find means of escaping into
    \r\n", + "freedom; and Deacon Rosebrook says he will join heart and hand in
    \r\n", + "getting the forlorn girl free from her base purchaser.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "OTHER PHASES OF THE SUBJECT.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WE must leave to the reader's imagination much that transpired at
    \r\n", + "the Rosebrook Villa during the night above mentioned, and ask him to
    \r\n", + "accompany us on the following morning, when curious placards may be
    \r\n", + "seen posted here and there at corners of streets and other
    \r\n", + "conspicuous places about the city. Mr. Pringle Blowers has lost a
    \r\n", + "beautiful female slave, whose fair hair, beautiful complexion, deep
    \r\n", + "blue eyes, delicate features, and charming promise, is in large type
    \r\n", + "and blackest printer's ink set forth most glowingly. Had Mr. Pringle
    \r\n", + "Blowers been a poet instead of a chivalric rice-planter, he might
    \r\n", + "have emblazoned his loss in sentimental rhyme. But Pringle Blowers
    \r\n", + "says poets always make fools of themselves; and, although the south
    \r\n", + "is a sweet and sunny land, he is happy indeed that it is troubled
    \r\n", + "with none of the miscreants. He owned niggers innumerable; but they
    \r\n", + "were only common stock, all of whom he could have lost without
    \r\n", + "feeling any more than ordinary disappointment at the loss of their
    \r\n", + "worth in money. For this one, however, he had a kind of undefined
    \r\n", + "love, which moved his heart most indescribably. Disappointed in the
    \r\n", + "gratification of his desires, he is mortified and maddened to
    \r\n", + "desperation. Why should a slave he had invested so much money in,
    \r\n", + "and felt so like making a lady of, and never would have thought of
    \r\n", + "setting at field labour, run away? He only wanted her for the most
    \r\n", + "aristocratic purpose the south can provide for a beautiful slave.
    \r\n", + "Hence Mr. Pringle Blowers, through the medium of his knowledge of
    \r\n", + "letters, puts forward his placard-a copy of which he inserts in all
    \r\n", + "the most respectable morning journals-in which the fair outlines of
    \r\n", + "his lost woman are simply set forth. He will give three hundred
    \r\n", + "dollars for her apprehension, fifty dollars more for proof to
    \r\n", + "convict any person of harbouring her, and an additional sum for
    \r\n", + "lodging her in any gaol in the country. This large reward Mr.
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers will pay in hard cash; and he has no doubt the
    \r\n", + "offering will be quite enough to excite the hunting propensities of
    \r\n", + "fashionable young gentlemen, as well as inveterate negro hunters.
    \r\n", + "Beside this, negro hunting being rather a democratic sport than
    \r\n", + "otherwise, Mr. Pringle Blowers reconciles his feelings with the fact
    \r\n", + "of these sports being uncommonly successful.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The reader will naturally conclude that the offer of this large
    \r\n", + "reward produced some sensation in and about the city. People stopped
    \r\n", + "along the streets, read the curious hand-bill, smiled, and made
    \r\n", + "various remarks. Ladies, always curious to know what is prominent
    \r\n", + "among the current events of the day, sent servants to ascertain what
    \r\n", + "so attractive the posters contained. It was, indeed, a regular bit
    \r\n", + "of self-enjoyed fun for them; for the ladies had all heard of
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers, and that a female slave for whose capture he would
    \r\n", + "give three hundred dollars had run away from him they were heartily
    \r\n", + "glad to learn.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The day-police were equally happy to hear of the loss, and anxious
    \r\n", + "to make the capture. In this position it was doubly necessary to be
    \r\n", + "cautious in proceeding to effect the escape of the fair girl. If
    \r\n", + "discovered in the act the stranger might be subjected to a series of
    \r\n", + "inprisonments that would sacrifice his life. Again, he might be
    \r\n", + "assassinated by some disguised hand; or, if an infuriated mob were
    \r\n", + "let loose upon him, no police interference could save his life. As
    \r\n", + "suspicion is ever on the point of giving out its dangerous caprices
    \r\n", + "where a community live fearing one another, so the stranger became
    \r\n", + "sensible of the shafts of suspicion that might at any moment be
    \r\n", + "darted at him. Despatching his schooner on her voyage, he continued
    \r\n", + "for several days walking about the city, as if indifferent to what
    \r\n", + "was passing. He read the curious poster in which was offered the
    \r\n", + "goodly reward for the apprehension of a lost slave, affected great
    \r\n", + "coolness, and even ignorance of the mode by which such articles were
    \r\n", + "recovered.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Fortunate was it for the stranger that he despatched the schooner
    \r\n", + "without the prize he intended to carry off, for no sooner had she
    \r\n", + "got under way and begun to move down the harbour, than she was
    \r\n", + "boarded by four men, who, producing their authority, searched her
    \r\n", + "from stem to stern. Such were their suspicions, that they would not
    \r\n", + "be satisfied until they had opened a few boxes and bales that were
    \r\n", + "stowed away in the hold. This done, the schooner was permitted to
    \r\n", + "continue her voyage, and the stranger, unmolested, continues his
    \r\n", + "walks about the city. A few days pass and the excitement has calmed
    \r\n", + "down. Pringle Blowers, although chagrined at the loss of his
    \r\n", + "valuable piece of woman property, resolves to wait the issue with
    \r\n", + "patience and forbearance. If she, fool like, has made away with
    \r\n", + "herself, he cannot bring her to life; if she be carried off by
    \r\n", + "villainous kidnappers, they must eventually suffer the consequences.
    \r\n", + "Her beauty will expose their plots. He will absorb his usual
    \r\n", + "requirement of spirit, keep the nerve up, and never despond of
    \r\n", + "regaining her while his reward of three hundred dollars stands
    \r\n", + "before a money-loving public. He would rather have lost two dozen
    \r\n", + "common niggers than this one he set so much by, intended to make so
    \r\n", + "much of, and upon whom he had set his very heart, soul, and burning
    \r\n", + "passions. But there is no profit in grief, no use in giving way to
    \r\n", + "disappointment. Philosophers bear disappointments with fortitude; he
    \r\n", + "must be a philosopher, keep a sharp look out and not despair.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "How different is the scene presented at Rosebrook's Villa! There,
    \r\n", + "Annette is seen, prepared to take her departure. Dressed in male
    \r\n", + "attire, with frock coat and trousers setting so neatly, dress boots,
    \r\n", + "white vest, and brightly arranged shirt-bosom, she is the type of
    \r\n", + "perfection of a youthful southron. Franconia has expended her skill
    \r\n", + "in completing the fair girl's toilet, when Mrs. Rosebrook places a
    \r\n", + "pair of green spectacles over her eyes, bids her look in the glass,
    \r\n", + "and tells her she will pass for a planter's son among a million.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nobody will know me, now,\" she answers, viewing herself in the
    \r\n", + "mirror. Her neat setting suit, Panama hat, and green spectacles,
    \r\n", + "give a peculiar air to her lithe figure. And though her emotions are
    \r\n", + "well nigh ready to give forth tears, she cannot suppress a smile at
    \r\n", + "the singular transformation of her person.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"It'll take sharper eyes than policemen's to discover the disguise,\"
    \r\n", + "says Rosebrook, who, having ordered a carriage to the door, enters
    \r\n", + "the room and takes her kindly by the hand. \"Keep up a good heart;
    \r\n", + "don't despond, my child, and the chances are that you'll be
    \r\n", + "safe-you'll be in Wilmington to-morrow morning\" he continues: then,
    \r\n", + "turning to Franconia, who will accompany her to that place, he
    \r\n", + "awaits her pleasure. \"I am ready!\" returns that generous woman, as,
    \r\n", + "arrayed in her travelling dress, she takes Annette by the hand, and
    \r\n", + "is about to proceed to the gate where the carriage waits. Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook must take one more fond parting. Laying her right arm over
    \r\n", + "her shoulder, and pressing her to her bosom, she kisses and kisses
    \r\n", + "her fair cheek, bids her remember that God alone is her protector,
    \r\n", + "her guide to a happy future. In freedom may she live to freedom's
    \r\n", + "God; in slavery, hope ever, and trust in his mercy! With this
    \r\n", + "admonition, the excited girl, trembling, leaves the Villa, leaning
    \r\n", + "on Franconia's arm. Bradshaw has the carriage at the door, piled
    \r\n", + "with sundry boxes and portmanteaus, giving it the appearance of a
    \r\n", + "gentleman's travelling equipage. He has orders to drive to the
    \r\n", + "steam-boat landing, where the young invalid planter will embark for
    \r\n", + "New York via Wilmington and the land route. Soon they have taken
    \r\n", + "their seats, and with Rosebrook's good-natured face shining beside
    \r\n", + "Bradshaw, on the front seat, they say their happy adieu! and bound
    \r\n", + "over the road for the steamer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is now within fifteen minutes of the starting time. The wharf
    \r\n", + "presents a bustling scene: carriages and coaches are arriving with
    \r\n", + "eager-looking passengers, who, fearing they are a little behind
    \r\n", + "time, stare about as if bewildered, scold heedless drivers, point
    \r\n", + "out heir baggage to awkward porters who run to and fro with trunks
    \r\n", + "and boxes on their heads, and then nervously seek the ticket-office,
    \r\n", + "where they procure the piece of paper that insures them through to
    \r\n", + "New York. Albeit, finding they have quite time enough on their
    \r\n", + "hands, they escort their female voyagers on board, and loiter about
    \r\n", + "in the way of every one else, enjoying that excitement in others
    \r\n", + "which they have fortunately passed through. Here and there about the
    \r\n", + "wharf, leaning their head carelessly over black piles, are
    \r\n", + "sly-looking policemen, who scan every voyager with a searching eye.
    \r\n", + "They are incog., but the initiated recognise them at a glance. The
    \r\n", + "restless leer of that lynx eye discovers their object; anything,
    \r\n", + "from a runaway nigger to a houseless debtor, is to them acceptable
    \r\n", + "prey. Atween decks of the steamer, secured at the end of the wharf,
    \r\n", + "another scene of bustle and confusion presents itself. A passenger
    \r\n", + "is not quite sure his baggage is all on board, and must needs waste
    \r\n", + "his breath in oaths at the dumb porter, who works at his utmost
    \r\n", + "strength, under the direction of Mr. Mate, whose important figure is
    \r\n", + "poised on the wharf. Another wants to \"lay over\" at Richmond, and is
    \r\n", + "using most abusive language to a mulatto waiter, who has put his
    \r\n", + "trunk on one side of the boat and carpet bag on the other. A third,
    \r\n", + "a fussy old lady with two rosy-faced daughters she is, against her
    \r\n", + "southern principles, taking to the north to be educated, is making a
    \r\n", + "piteous lamentation over the remains of two bonnets-just from the
    \r\n", + "hands of the milliner-hopelessly smashed in her bandbox. The
    \r\n", + "careless porter set it on a pile of baggage, from where it tottled
    \r\n", + "over under the feet of an astonished gentleman, who endeavours to
    \r\n", + "soothe the good lady's feelings with courteous apologies. On the
    \r\n", + "upper deck, heeding no one, but now and then affecting to read a
    \r\n", + "newspaper, as passengers pace to and fro, is the stranger, seated on
    \r\n", + "one of the side seats. The engineer moves his valve now and then,
    \r\n", + "the cross-head ascends, the steam hisses below, the condenser
    \r\n", + "rumbles, the steam from the funnel roars furiously forth, spreading
    \r\n", + "its scalding vapour through the air. Again, the man, almost
    \r\n", + "imperceptibly touches the iron rod with his finger, the magic
    \r\n", + "monster again moves its piston downward, the wheels make a turn, the
    \r\n", + "massive vessel surges upon her lines, as if eager to press forward
    \r\n", + "on her course. Another gentle touch, and, obeying the summons, the
    \r\n", + "motive power is still; the man subjects the monster with his little
    \r\n", + "finger. He has stopped her near the centre, where, with a slight
    \r\n", + "touch, he can turn back or forward. Again, he lifts a small key, and
    \r\n", + "the steam, with a deafening roar, issues from the escape: he is
    \r\n", + "venting his chest. Simultaneously the second bell sounds forth its
    \r\n", + "clanking medley: two minutes more, and the snake-like craft will be
    \r\n", + "buffeting the waves, on her daily errand. As passengers begin to
    \r\n", + "muster on board, their friends clustering round the capsill of the
    \r\n", + "wharf, obstructing the way, the sturdy figure of Mr. Pringle Blowers
    \r\n", + "may be seen behind a spile near the capsill, his sharp, peering eyes
    \r\n", + "scanning the ship from fore to aft. He is not sure she will get off
    \r\n", + "by this route; common sense tells him that, but there exists a
    \r\n", + "prompting something underneath common sense telling him it's money
    \r\n", + "saved to keep a sharp look-out. And this he does merely to gratify
    \r\n", + "that inert something, knowing at the same time that, having no
    \r\n", + "money, no person will supply her, and she must be concealed in the
    \r\n", + "swamps, where only \"niggers\" will relieve her necessities. At this
    \r\n", + "moment Rosebrook's carriage may be seen driving to the ticket office
    \r\n", + "at the head of the wharf, where Rosebrook, with great coolness, gets
    \r\n", + "out, steps within the railing, and procures the tickets in his own
    \r\n", + "name. Again taking his seat, the mate, who stands on the capsill of
    \r\n", + "the wharf, now and then casting a glance up, cries out, \"Another
    \r\n", + "carriage coming!\" Bradshaw cracks his whip, and the horses dash down
    \r\n", + "the wharf, scatter the people who have gathered to see the boat off,
    \r\n", + "as a dozen black porters, at the mate's command, rush round the
    \r\n", + "carriage, seize the baggage, and hurry it on board. Rosebrook,
    \r\n", + "fearing his friends will lose their passage, begs people to clear
    \r\n", + "the gangway, and almost runs on board, his fugitive charge clinging
    \r\n", + "to his arms. The captain stands at the gangway, and recognising the
    \r\n", + "late comer, makes one of his blandest bows: he will send a steward
    \r\n", + "to show them a good state-room. \"Keep close till the boat leaves,
    \r\n", + "and remember there is a world before you,\" Rosebrook says, shaking
    \r\n", + "Annette by the hand, as she returns, \"God bless good master!\" They
    \r\n", + "are safe in the state-room: he kisses Franconia's cheek, shuts the
    \r\n", + "door, and, hurrying back, regains the wharf just as the last bell
    \r\n", + "strikes, and the gangway is being carried on board.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not going along with us, eh?\" ejaculates the captain, as, from the
    \r\n", + "capsill, Rosebrook looks round to bid him good-by.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not to-day\" (he returns, laconically). \"Take good care of my
    \r\n", + "friends; the young invalid from Lousiana in particular.\" Just then
    \r\n", + "he catches the stranger's eye, and, with a significant motion of his
    \r\n", + "fingers, says, \"All safe!\" With a nod of recognition the stranger
    \r\n", + "makes his adieu; the fastenings are cast away, the faint tinkle of a
    \r\n", + "bell is heard amid the roar of steam; the man at the valves touches
    \r\n", + "the throttle bar; up mounts the piston rod-down it surges again; the
    \r\n", + "revolving wheels rustle the water; the huge craft moves backward
    \r\n", + "easy, and then ahead; a clanking noise denotes the connections are
    \r\n", + "\"hooked on,\" and onward she bounds over the sea. How leaps with joy
    \r\n", + "that heart yearning for freedom, as the words \"She's away!\" gladden
    \r\n", + "Annette's very soul! Her enraptured feelings gush forth in prayer to
    \r\n", + "her deliverers; it is as a new spring of life, infusing its
    \r\n", + "refreshing waters into desert sands. She seems a new being, with
    \r\n", + "hope, joy, and happiness brightening the future for her. But, alas!
    \r\n", + "how vain are hopes,--how uncertain the future!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook watched the steaming craft as she crosses the bar, and
    \r\n", + "dwindles out of sight. \"Thou art safe, poor slave,\" he says to
    \r\n", + "himself, as she passes from view behind the distant peak.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Something touches him on the shoulder as he returns to his carriage.
    \r\n", + "\"Ah! this you, Pringle Blowers?\" he exclaims, turning round
    \r\n", + "suddenly, as the full face of that important personage presented
    \r\n", + "itself. \"Been seeing some friends off to--?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No,\" replies Blowers, with seeming indifference. He is just shying
    \r\n", + "round,--keeping an eye out for a smart kind of \"a gal,\" lost last
    \r\n", + "week.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Quite a misfortune, that, Blowers! God bless me, I'm sorry,\"
    \r\n", + "returns Rosebrook, dryly. Rosebrook invites him to get in and ride a
    \r\n", + "short distance. Blowers has not the slightest objection; seats his
    \r\n", + "square frame on the left side of the carriage. \"Those were clever
    \r\n", + "posters you put out for the apprehension of that girl, Blowers!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Took some genius, I reckon,\" interrupts Blowers, with broad laugh.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"They say she was very handsome, and, if it be true, I hope you may
    \r\n", + "get her, Blowers,\" continues Rosebrook, naively.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The disappointed man shakes his head, touches the other on the arm,
    \r\n", + "and says, \"Nothing is more sure!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLIV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HOW DADDY BOB DEPARTED.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "LET us again beg the indulgence of the reader, while we go back to
    \r\n", + "the night when Marston was found dead in his cell, and when that old
    \r\n", + "negro, whose eventful history we shall here close, sat by his
    \r\n", + "bed-side, unconscious that the spirit of master had winged its way
    \r\n", + "to another world. Bob, faithful unto death, remained his lone
    \r\n", + "watcher. Disguising his ownership, he has toiled from day to day
    \r\n", + "that the fruits thereof might relieve master's necessities; and he
    \r\n", + "had shared them with the flowing goodness of a simple heart. In a
    \r\n", + "malarious cell, how happy was he to make his bed on the cold plank
    \r\n", + "beside his master's cot, where he might watch over his declining
    \r\n", + "spirit. Kindness was his by nature,--no cruel law could rob his heart
    \r\n", + "of its treasure: he would follow master to the grave, and lavish it
    \r\n", + "upon the soil that covered him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Having accompanied Franconia to the Rosebrook Villa, he will return
    \r\n", + "to the prison and join Harry, alone watching over the dead. The city
    \r\n", + "clock strikes the hour of eleven as he leaves the outer gate, and
    \r\n", + "turns into the broad road leading to the city. The scene before him
    \r\n", + "is vamped in still darkness; a murky light now and then sheds its
    \r\n", + "glimmers across the broad road; and as he hurries onward,
    \r\n", + "contemplating the sad spectacle presented in the prison, happy
    \r\n", + "incidents of old plantation life mingle their associations with his
    \r\n", + "thoughts. He muses to himself, and then, as if bewildered, commences
    \r\n", + "humming his favourite tune-\"There's a place for old mas'r yet, when
    \r\n", + "all 'um dead and gone!\" His soul is free from suspicion: he fears
    \r\n", + "not the savage guardsman's coming; the pure kindliness of his heart
    \r\n", + "is his shield. How often has he scanned this same scene,--paced this
    \r\n", + "same road on his master's errands! How death has changed the
    \r\n", + "circumstances of this his nightly errand! Far away to the east, on
    \r\n", + "his left, the broad landscape seems black and ominous; before him,
    \r\n", + "the sleeping city spreads its panorama, broken and sombre, beneath
    \r\n", + "heavy clouds; the fretted towers on the massive prison frown dimly
    \r\n", + "through the mist to the right, from which a low marshy expanse
    \r\n", + "dwindles into the dark horizon. And ever and anon the forked
    \r\n", + "lightning courses its way through the heavens, now tinging the
    \r\n", + "sombre scene with mellow light, then closing it in deeper darkness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Onward the old man wends his way. If he be shut out from the prison,
    \r\n", + "he will find shelter at Jane's cabin near by, from whence he may
    \r\n", + "reach the cell early next morning. Presently the dull tramp of
    \r\n", + "horses breaks upon his ear,--the sound sharpening as they advance.
    \r\n", + "Through the dimming haze he sees two mounted guardsmen advancing:
    \r\n", + "the murmuring sound of their conversation floats onward through the
    \r\n", + "air,--their side arms rattle ominously. Now their white cross belts
    \r\n", + "are disclosed; their stalwart figures loom out. Nearer and nearer
    \r\n", + "they approach: as the old man, trembling with fear, remembers he is
    \r\n", + "without a pass, a gruff voice cries out, \"Stop there!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A prowling nigger!\" rejoins another, in a voice scarcely less
    \r\n", + "hoarse. The old man halts in the light of a lamp, as the right-hand
    \r\n", + "guard rides up, and demands his pass.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Whose nigger are you?\" again demands the first voice. \"Your pass,
    \r\n", + "or come with us!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The old man has no pass; he will go to his master, dead in the
    \r\n", + "county prison!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Guardsmen will hear neither falsehoods nor pleading. He doesn't know
    \r\n", + "\"whose nigger he is! he is a runaway without home or master,\" says
    \r\n", + "the left-hand guardsman, as he draws his baton from beneath his
    \r\n", + "coat, and with savage grimace makes a threatening gesture. Again he
    \r\n", + "poises it over the old man's head, as he, with hand uplifted,
    \r\n", + "supplicates mercy. \"Nobody's nigger, and without a pass!\" he
    \r\n", + "grumbles out, still motioning his baton.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"He says his master is in gaol; that's enough! Stop, now, no more
    \r\n", + "such nonsense!\" rejoins the other, as the old man is about to
    \r\n", + "explain. \"Not another word.\" He is good prey, made and provided by
    \r\n", + "the sovereign law of the state. Placing him between their horses,
    \r\n", + "they conduct him in silence forward to the guard-house. He is a
    \r\n", + "harmless captive, in a world where democracy with babbling tongue
    \r\n", + "boasts of equal justice. \"A prowler!\" exclaims one of the guards-
    \r\n", + "men, as, dismounting in front of the massive building, with frowning
    \r\n", + "facade of stone, they disappear, leading the old man within its
    \r\n", + "great doors, as the glaring gas-light reflects upon his withered
    \r\n", + "features.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Found prowling on the neck, sir!\" says the right-hand guardsman,
    \r\n", + "addressing himself to the captain, a portly-looking man in a
    \r\n", + "military suit, who, with affected importance, casts a look of
    \r\n", + "suspicion at the old man. \"Have seen you before, I think?\" he
    \r\n", + "enquires.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Reckon so, mas'r; but neber in dis place,\" replies Bob, in
    \r\n", + "half-subdued accents.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "You are nobody's nigger, give a false account of yourself, and have
    \r\n", + "no home, I hear,\" interrupts the captain, at the same time ordering
    \r\n", + "a clerkly-looking individual who sits at a desk near an iron railing
    \r\n", + "enclosing a tribune, to make the entry in his book.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Your name?\" demands the clerk.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bob!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Without owner, or home?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My master's cell was my home.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That won't do, my man!\" interrupts the portly-looking captain. \"Mr.
    \r\n", + "Clerk\" (directing himself to that functionary) \"you must enter
    \r\n", + "him-nobody's nigger, without home or master.\" And as such he is
    \r\n", + "entered upon that high record of a sovereign state-the guard-house
    \r\n", + "calendar. If this record were carried before the just tribunal of
    \r\n", + "heaven, how foul of crime, injustice, and wrong, would its pages be
    \r\n", + "found! The faithful old man has laboured under an assumed ownership.
    \r\n", + "His badge, procured for him through the intercession of Franconia,
    \r\n", + "shows him as the property of Mr. Henry Frazer. That gentleman is
    \r\n", + "many hundred miles away: the old man, ignorant of the barbarous
    \r\n", + "intricacy of the law, feels it to his sorrow. The production of the
    \r\n", + "badge, and the statement, though asserting that Miss Franconia is
    \r\n", + "his friend, show a discrepancy. His statement has no truth for
    \r\n", + "guardsmen; his poor frame is yet worth something, but his oath has
    \r\n", + "no value in law: hence he must march into a cold cell, and there
    \r\n", + "remain till morning.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Before that high functionary, the mayor-whose judgments the Russian
    \r\n", + "Czar might blush to acknowledge or affirm,--he is arraigned at ten
    \r\n", + "o'clock on the following morning. He has plenty of accusers,--no one
    \r\n", + "to plead the justice of his case. A plain story he would tell, did
    \r\n", + "the law and his honour grant the boon. The fatal badge shows him the
    \r\n", + "property of Mr. Henry Frazer: Mr. Henry Frazer is nowhere to be
    \r\n", + "found, and the statement that master was in prison tends to increase
    \r\n", + "the suspicions against him. Against this increasing force of proof,
    \r\n", + "the old man begs his honour will send to the prison, where master
    \r\n", + "will be found,--dead! In his love of clemency that functionary yields
    \r\n", + "to the request. There looks something harmless about the old negro,
    \r\n", + "something that warms his honour's legal coldness. An officer is
    \r\n", + "despatched, and soon returns with a description that corresponds
    \r\n", + "with the old man's. \"He waited on Marston, made Marston's cell his
    \r\n", + "home; but, your honour-and I have the assurance of the gaoler-he was
    \r\n", + "not Marston's nigger; all that man's niggers were sold for the
    \r\n", + "benefit of his creditors.\" So says the official, returning to his
    \r\n", + "august master with cringing servility. His honour, in the fulness of
    \r\n", + "his wisdom, and with every regard for legal straightforwardness (his
    \r\n", + "honour searched into the profoundest depths of the \"nigger statutes\"
    \r\n", + "while learning the tailoring trade, which he now pursues with great
    \r\n", + "success), is now doubly satisfied that the negro before him is a
    \r\n", + "vagabond-perhaps, and he is more than half inclined to believe he
    \r\n", + "is, the very marauder who has been committing so many depredations
    \r\n", + "about the city. With a profound admonition, wisdom glowing from his
    \r\n", + "very countenance the while, he orders him twenty-nine paddles on his
    \r\n", + "bare posteriors,--is sorry the law does not give him power to extend
    \r\n", + "the number. And with compliments for the lucky fellows who have thus
    \r\n", + "timely relieved the public of such a dangerous outlaw, his honour
    \r\n", + "orders him to be taken away to that prison-house where even-handed
    \r\n", + "democracy has erected a place for torturing the souls of men who
    \r\n", + "love liberty.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He will get the stripes-large, democratic stripes,--generously laid
    \r\n", + "on. How much more he will get remains for a proud state, in its
    \r\n", + "sovereign littleness, to provide. His honour, feeling his duties
    \r\n", + "toward the state discharged, and his precautionary measures for the
    \r\n", + "protection of the people fully exemplified in this awful judgment,
    \r\n", + "orders one of the officers to summon Mr. Ford Fosdick, a
    \r\n", + "distinguished gentleman of the state's own, who, he is quite sure,
    \r\n", + "will not neglect her more important interests. Bob has no interests
    \r\n", + "in this world, nor doth he murmur that he hath not eaten bread for
    \r\n", + "fourteen hours. Kindliness yet lingers in his withered face as he
    \r\n", + "goes forth, yields submission to a state's lnjustice, and bares his
    \r\n", + "back before he eats.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Return him after administering the dressing,\" says his honour,
    \r\n", + "directing his remarks to the official about to lead his victim away.
    \r\n", + "That functionary, half turning, replies with a polite bow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The reader, we feel assured, will excuse a description of this
    \r\n", + "unsavoury dressing, beautifully administered on behalf of a
    \r\n", + "republican state that makes it a means of crushing out the love of
    \r\n", + "liberty. Bob has received his dressing and returned; but he has no
    \r\n", + "tears to shed for democrats who thus degrade him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Ford Fosdick, a gentleman of the learned profession, very
    \r\n", + "straight of person, and most bland of manners, is what may be called
    \r\n", + "escheator in ordinary to the state. Keeping a sharp eye on her
    \r\n", + "interests, he has anticipated the commands of his august master,
    \r\n", + "presents his polite person very unexpectedly in his honour's
    \r\n", + "court-room. Fosdick, in addition to an excellent reputation for
    \r\n", + "being the very best gentleman \"nigger grabber\" the state ever had,
    \r\n", + "is well thought of in fashionable circles, having fought two duels
    \r\n", + "of the most desperate character. He is of middle stature, with a
    \r\n", + "face finely oval, and to which are added features of much softness,
    \r\n", + "altogether giving him more the appearance of a well-ordained divine,
    \r\n", + "than the medium of those high functions by which the state's
    \r\n", + "\"grab-all\" of homeless negroes distinguishes himself. If the state
    \r\n", + "tolerated an ignominy, Ford Fosdick--between whom there exists a
    \r\n", + "mutual partnership--found in it an apology for the part he played;
    \r\n", + "for--let no man blush when we tell it--the sum total for which
    \r\n", + "friendless, homeless, and ownerless negroes sold for in the market
    \r\n", + "was equally divided between them. Generous as was this
    \r\n", + "copartnership, there were few well-disposed persons independent
    \r\n", + "enough to sanction it; while here and there an outspoken voice said
    \r\n", + "it was paying a premium for edging Fosdick's already sharp appetite
    \r\n", + "for apprehending the wretched, who--God save the state's
    \r\n", + "honour!--having no means of protecting themselves, would be sold for
    \r\n", + "the sovereign interests of his own pocket, instead of the peace of
    \r\n", + "the dear people, of which the state was ever jealous. Mr. Fosdick is
    \r\n", + "present,--thanks his honour the mayor: he thinks he has seen the
    \r\n", + "negro before; that he is a prowler not a doubt can exist. Quite
    \r\n", + "indifferent as to his own interests, he says the city is literally
    \r\n", + "beset with such vermin: in his own mind, however, he has not a doubt
    \r\n", + "but that something handsome will be realised from the sale of the
    \r\n", + "old fellow. There is now a most fearful case in the city,--a negro
    \r\n", + "belonging to Mr. Grabguy has become mad with disobedience: they have
    \r\n", + "chained him to the floor, but he sets everything at defiance,
    \r\n", + "threatens the lives of all who come near him,--says he will die or be
    \r\n", + "free. Against this there is little hope for old Bob; his crooked
    \r\n", + "story will not suit the high considerations of these amiable
    \r\n", + "worthies of state: he must be siezed and dragged to the workhouse,
    \r\n", + "there to await the result. It is a profitable morning's work for Mr.
    \r\n", + "Ford Fosdick, who makes a large note in his ledger, and will soon
    \r\n", + "carry out a very acceptable item on behalf of his dear self. So,
    \r\n", + "while Bob eats his corn-grits in a cell, and his heart beats high
    \r\n", + "with purity, Mr. Ford Fosdick revels in luxury he thinks not
    \r\n", + "ill-gotten.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Due notice, in accordance with the statutes, is given to all persons
    \r\n", + "whomsoever may claim a piece of property answering the description
    \r\n", + "of Daddy Bob, as herein set forth. Weeks pass, but no one comes to
    \r\n", + "claim Bob. In the eyes of an ignoble law he is a cast out, homeless
    \r\n", + "upon the world; and as such must be sold. He is put up at the
    \r\n", + "man-shambles, and, by order of Mr. Ford Fosdick, sold to Mr. Cordes
    \r\n", + "Kemp for the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, one half of which
    \r\n", + "sum is the state's own, the other Mr. Ford Fosdick's. Mr. Cordes
    \r\n", + "Kemp had seen Bob working about the wharf, and learned that the old
    \r\n", + "man was of more value than his outward appearance indicated,
    \r\n", + "inasmuch as he was a good carpenter; which we have not before
    \r\n", + "informed the reader. But Bob had never been accustomed to a cruel
    \r\n", + "master: such Cordes Kemp was to the fullest extent of the term. A
    \r\n", + "few months passed, and Bob became heartily sick of his new master,
    \r\n", + "who gave him little to eat, and had nearly ended his life with
    \r\n", + "labour and the lash. Finding he could no longer stand such
    \r\n", + "treatment, he fled to the swamp; and for two years did he make his
    \r\n", + "home among the morasses and hillocks, now making his bed by the
    \r\n", + "trunk of a fallen tree, then seeking shelter in a temporary camp
    \r\n", + "built with the axe he carried away with him. At times he was forced
    \r\n", + "to make food of roots, nuts, and such wild fruit as the woods
    \r\n", + "afforded; and as the ravens found food, so the outcast man did not
    \r\n", + "suffer while an all-wise Providence watched over him. And then he
    \r\n", + "found a kind friend in old Jerushe-Aunt Jerushe, as she was commonly
    \r\n", + "called, who lived on a plantation a few miles from his hiding-place,
    \r\n", + "and met him at night, and shared her coarse meal with him. Jerushe's
    \r\n", + "heart was full of kindness; she would have given him more, but for
    \r\n", + "the want thereof. Full two years did even-handed democracy drive the
    \r\n", + "old man homeless to seek a shelter among the poisonous reptiles of
    \r\n", + "the morass. Mr. Cordes Kemp must regain his property, and to that
    \r\n", + "generous end he puts forth the following extremely southern
    \r\n", + "proclamation, which may be found in all respectable morning
    \r\n", + "journals, on posters hung at the \"Rough and Ready,\" at \"Your House,\"
    \r\n", + "and at \"Our House\":--
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"SEVENTY-FIVE (75) DOLLARS REWARD is offered for the delivery of my
    \r\n", + "old negro carpenter man named BOB, in gaol in Charleston, within a
    \r\n", + "month from this date. The said BOB is a complete carpenter, about
    \r\n", + "sixty-five years of age, has a fine, full, good-natured face,
    \r\n", + "knock-kneed, bald-headed, and ran away about two years ago: he is
    \r\n", + "thought to be harboured in Charleston or James' Island. He was
    \r\n", + "bought of Mr. Ford Fosdick, on behalf of the state. June 28,--
    \r\n", + "CORDES KEMP.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Cordes Kemp, sorely grieved at the loss of so venerable and
    \r\n", + "valuable a piece of property,--and which he bought of the state, for
    \r\n", + "the rights of which he is a great champion,--will give the above sum
    \r\n", + "in hard cash to the clever fellow who will secure it within a
    \r\n", + "prison, so he may get it. If this cannot be done, he will declare
    \r\n", + "him an outlaw, offer a premium for the old man's head, and, with the
    \r\n", + "bleeding trophy, demand the premium paid by the state. However,
    \r\n", + "seventy-five dollars is no mean offer for so old a negro, and as the
    \r\n", + "said negro cannot be a fast runner, the difficulty of catching him
    \r\n", + "will not be very great, while the sport will be much more exciting.
    \r\n", + "Romescos and Dan Bengal keep a sharp look-out for all such little
    \r\n", + "chances of making money; and as their dogs are considered the very
    \r\n", + "best and savagest in the country, they feel certain they will be
    \r\n", + "able to deliver the article over to Mr. Kemp in a very few days.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A few days after the appearance of Mr. Cordes Kemp's proclamation,
    \r\n", + "these two worthies may be seen riding along the Camden Road, a sandy
    \r\n", + "level, with little to indicate its tortuous course save a beaten and
    \r\n", + "irregular path through a forest of stately pines. Their
    \r\n", + "reddish-coloured home-spun clothes, set loosely, and their large,
    \r\n", + "felt hats, slouching over their bearded faces, give their figures a
    \r\n", + "brigand-like appearance which excites apprehension. They are heavily
    \r\n", + "armed with rifles, revolvers, and bowie-knives; and as their horses
    \r\n", + "move along at a quick walk, the riders may be heard keeping up an
    \r\n", + "animated discussion on matters of state policy. The state and its
    \r\n", + "policy is a matter of deep interest to slave-dealer and
    \r\n", + "slave-hunter; none discuss them with more pertinacity. And as every
    \r\n", + "great measure is supposed to have some bearing, directly or
    \r\n", + "indirectly, on the right of one class to enslave the other, a
    \r\n", + "never-ceasing political jar is kept up by these worthies, and too
    \r\n", + "often finds its way into the public acts of men who should be far
    \r\n", + "removed above their selfishness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The horse on which Romescos rides, a sprightly dark-bay, seeming to
    \r\n", + "have an instinctive knowledge of his master's pursuit, pricks his
    \r\n", + "ears erect, and keeps his head turning from one side to the other,
    \r\n", + "as if watching the approach of some object in the forest. A few
    \r\n", + "paces ahead are seven fierce hounds, now scenting about the ground,
    \r\n", + "then scampering through the trees, and again, quickly obeying the
    \r\n", + "call, return to the horses. Not a bark is heard, not a growl escapes
    \r\n", + "them! Nothing could be under more explicit subjection-not even those
    \r\n", + "northern dogs who pollute their own free soil by making it a forest,
    \r\n", + "where the souls of men are humbled, and where, willing allies of the
    \r\n", + "sport, they desecrate that holy sentence, \"Our Pilgrim Fathers!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Presently the lean figure of a man is seen advancing from a thicket
    \r\n", + "in the distance. Rifle in hand he advances a few paces, leans
    \r\n", + "against the trunk of a pine tree, relieves his shoulders of a
    \r\n", + "well-filled haversack, and supports his arms on the stock of his
    \r\n", + "weapon, the muzzle of which he sets in the ground. He will wait the
    \r\n", + "horsemen's coming. With lightning quickness the hounds start
    \r\n", + "suddenly, prick up their ears, make a bound forward. \"Hold there!\"
    \r\n", + "exclaims Romescos, at the same time directing Bengal's attention to
    \r\n", + "the figure far away to the right. His horse shies, an imprecation
    \r\n", + "quickly follows; the dogs as suddenly obey the word, and crouch back
    \r\n", + "to await another signal.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nothing, I reckon!\" returns Bengal, coolly, as the figure in the
    \r\n", + "distance is seen with smoking fusee lighting a cigar.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Romescos thinks he is a gentleman returning from hunting in the big
    \r\n", + "swamp, to the north. He has a kind of presentiment, nevertheless,
    \r\n", + "that some lucky prize will turn up before sunset.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, strangers, what luck to day?\" enquires the hunter, as they
    \r\n", + "run up their horses. At the same time he gracefully raises a
    \r\n", + "delicate hand, relieves his mouth of the cigar, twists a well-
    \r\n", + "trimmed mustache, and lifts his hunting-cap from off his head,
    \r\n", + "disclosing a finely-chiselled face.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not a shy!\" replies Romescos, taking a cigar from his side pocket,
    \r\n", + "and motioning his hand: the hunter politely extends his habanna,
    \r\n", + "with which he communicates a light to his own. It is well nigh
    \r\n", + "noon-day, and at the hunter's invitation do they dismount, seat
    \r\n", + "themselves at the foot of the tree, and regale with bread, cheese,
    \r\n", + "and brandy, he draws from his haversack.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Thought ye'd got game in that,\" remarks Bengal, measuredly. Ho has
    \r\n", + "scoured the woods, but found little game of the kind he hunts. \"Our
    \r\n", + "game is of a different species: you, I take it, hunt niggers, I'm in
    \r\n", + "search of birds.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Would have no objection to a stray deer or two!\" is the reply, as
    \r\n", + "he passes his horn and flask to Romescos, who helps himself to a
    \r\n", + "dose of the liquid, which, he says, smacking his lips, is not bad to
    \r\n", + "take.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Especially when yer on a hunting excursion!\" rejoins Bengal.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Now,\" says the gentleman hunter, quietly resuming his cigar, \"as
    \r\n", + "you do not hunt my game, nor I yours, I think I can give you a scent
    \r\n", + "that may prove profitable.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Where away?\" interrupts Bengal. Romescos respects the stranger-he
    \r\n", + "has dignity concealed beneath his hunting garb, which the quick eye
    \r\n", + "recognised as it flashed upon him. He gives Bengal a significant
    \r\n", + "wink, the meaning of which he instinctively understands-\"Don't be
    \r\n", + "rude,--he belongs to one of the first families!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The stranger lays his left hand on Romescos' arm, and with the fore
    \r\n", + "finger of his right hand pointing to the south-west, says, \"My
    \r\n", + "plantation is nine miles in that direction. I left it this morning,
    \r\n", + "early. In crossing an inlet of the Pedee, I discovered white smoke,
    \r\n", + "far ahead, curling upward through the trees, and expanding itself in
    \r\n", + "the clear blue atmosphere. Feeling sure it indicated the haunt of
    \r\n", + "runaways, I approached it stealthily, and had almost unconsciously
    \r\n", + "come upon a negro, who, suddenly springing from his hiding-place,
    \r\n", + "ran to the water's edge, plunged in, and swam to a little island a
    \r\n", + "few yards in the stream. It did not become me to pursue him, so I
    \r\n", + "passed on heedlessly, lest he might have companions, who would set
    \r\n", + "upon me, and make me an easy prey to their revengeful feelings.\" As
    \r\n", + "each word fell from the stranger's lips, Romescos and his companion
    \r\n", + "became irresistibly excited.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Again repeating the directions, which the stranger did with great
    \r\n", + "precision, they drank a parting social glass: the mounted huntsmen
    \r\n", + "thanked the pedestrian for his valuable information, gave him a warm
    \r\n", + "shake of the hand, and, as he arranged his haversack, rode off at
    \r\n", + "full gallop in the direction indicated. The dogs, cunning brutes,
    \r\n", + "trained to the state's brutality, mutely kept in advance. \"In luck
    \r\n", + "yet!\" exclaims Bengal, as they rode onward, in high glee,
    \r\n", + "anticipating the valuable game about to fall into their hands.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ho! dogs-and back!\" shrieked Romescos, at the top of his shrill
    \r\n", + "voice, his sandy hair hanging in tufts over his little reddened
    \r\n", + "face, now glowing with excitement. Instantly the dogs started off
    \r\n", + "through the thicket, and after making a circle of about a mile,
    \r\n", + "returned with heads up, and eyes fiercely flashing. Trailing in a
    \r\n", + "semicircle ahead they seemed eager for another command.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Better keep them back,\" mutters Bengal; and as Romescos gives the
    \r\n", + "word,--\"Come back!\" they form a trail behind.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Now white fleecy clouds begin to obscure the sun; then it disappears
    \r\n", + "in a murky haze, and is no longer their guide. After two hours'
    \r\n", + "riding they find a wrong turn has led them far away from their
    \r\n", + "course, and to avoid retracing their steps they make a short cut
    \r\n", + "through the thicket. In another hour they have reached the bank of
    \r\n", + "the stream they sought. Dogs, horses, and men, together drink of its
    \r\n", + "limpid waters, and proceed onward. They have yet several miles of
    \r\n", + "travel before reaching the spot designated by the strange hunter;
    \r\n", + "and seeking their way along the bank is a slow and tedious process.
    \r\n", + "The prize-that human outcast, who has no home where democracy
    \r\n", + "rules,--is the all-absorbing object of their pursuit; money is the
    \r\n", + "god of their hellish purpose.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It is near night-fall, when they, somewhat wearied of the day's
    \r\n", + "ride, halt on a little slope that extends into the river, and from
    \r\n", + "which a long view of its course above opens out. It seems a quiet,
    \r\n", + "inviting spot, and so sequestered that Bengal suggests it be made a
    \r\n", + "resting-place for the night.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Not a whisper,\" says Romescos, who, having dismounted, is nervously
    \r\n", + "watching some object in the distance. It is a pretty spot, clothed
    \r\n", + "in softest verdure. How suddenly the quick eye of Romescos
    \r\n", + "discovered the white smoke curling above the green foliage! \"See!
    \r\n", + "see!\" he whispers again, motioning his hand behind, as Bengal
    \r\n", + "stretches his neck, and looks eagerly in the same direction. \"Close
    \r\n", + "dogs-close!\" he demands, and the dogs crouch back, and coil their
    \r\n", + "sleek bodies at the horses' feet. There, little more than a mile
    \r\n", + "ahead, the treacherous smoke curls lazily upward, spreading a white
    \r\n", + "haze in the blue atmosphere. Daddy Bob has a rude camp there. A few
    \r\n", + "branches serve for a covering, the bare moss is his bed; the fires
    \r\n", + "of his heart would warm it, were nothing more at hand! Near by is
    \r\n", + "the island on which he seeks refuge when the enemy approaches; and
    \r\n", + "from this lone spot-his home for more than two years-has he sent
    \r\n", + "forth many a fervent prayer, beseeching Almighty God to be his
    \r\n", + "shield and his deliverer. It was but yesterday he saw Jerushe, who
    \r\n", + "shared with him her corn-cakes, which, when she does not meet him at
    \r\n", + "his accustomed spot, she places at the foot of a marked tree. Bob
    \r\n", + "had added a few chips to his night fire, (his defence against
    \r\n", + "tormenting mosquitoes), and made his moss bed. Having tamed an owl
    \r\n", + "and a squirrel, they now make his rude camp their home, and share
    \r\n", + "his crumbs. The squirrel nestles above his head, as the owl, moping
    \r\n", + "about the camp entrance, suddenly hoots a warning and flutters its
    \r\n", + "way into the thicket. Starting to his feet with surprise-the
    \r\n", + "squirrel chirping at the sudden commotion-the tramp of horses breaks
    \r\n", + "fearfully upon the old man's ear; bewildered he bounds from the
    \r\n", + "camp. Two water oaks stand a few feet from its entrance, and through
    \r\n", + "them he descries his pursuers bearing down upon him at full speed,
    \r\n", + "the dogs making the very forest echo with their savage yelps. They
    \r\n", + "are close upon him; the island is his only refuge! Suddenly he leaps
    \r\n", + "to the bank, plunges into the stream, and with death-like struggles
    \r\n", + "gains the opposite shore, where he climbs a cedar, as the dogs,
    \r\n", + "eager with savage pursuit, follow in his wake, and are well nigh
    \r\n", + "seizing his extremities ere they cleared their vicious spring. The
    \r\n", + "two horsemen vault to the spot from whence the old man plunged into
    \r\n", + "the water; and while the dogs make hideous ravings beneath the tree,
    \r\n", + "they sit upon their horses, consulting, as the old man, from the
    \r\n", + "tree top, looks piteously over the scene. Life has few charms for
    \r\n", + "him; death would not be unwelcome.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The tedious journey, and disappointment at seeing the old man's
    \r\n", + "resolution, has excited Romescos' ire. \"He's an old rack-not worth
    \r\n", + "much, but he doesn't seem like Kemp's old saw-horse,\" Romescos
    \r\n", + "remarks to Bengal, as his hawk eye scans the old man perched among
    \r\n", + "the cedar branches. They are not more than forty yards apart, and
    \r\n", + "within speaking distance. Bengal, less excited, thinks it better to
    \r\n", + "secure the old \"coon\" without letting the dogs taste of him.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"They'll only hold him with a firm grip, when he dismounts, and swim
    \r\n", + "him safe back,\" grumblingly returns Romescos. \"Now! old
    \r\n", + "nig\"-Romescos shouts at the top of his voice, directing himself to
    \r\n", + "the old man-\"just trot back here-come along!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The old man shakes his head, and raises his hands, as if pleading
    \r\n", + "for mercy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You won't, eh?\" returns the angry man, raising his rifle in an
    \r\n", + "attitude of preparation. Bengal reminds Romescos that his horse is
    \r\n", + "not accustomed to firing from the saddle.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I will larn him, then,\" is the reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Mas'r,\" says Bob, putting out his hand and uncovering his bald
    \r\n", + "head, \"I can harm no white man. Let me live where 'um is, and die
    \r\n", + "where 'um is.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"None o' that ar kind o' nigger talk;--just put it back here, or
    \r\n", + "ye'll get a plug or two out o' this long Bill.\" (He points to his
    \r\n", + "rifle.) \"Ye'll come down out of that-by heavens you will!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Wing him; don't shoot the fool!\" suggests Bengal, as the old man,
    \r\n", + "pleading with his pursuers, winds his body half round the tree.
    \r\n", + "Tick! tick! went the cock of Romescos' rifle; he levelled it to his
    \r\n", + "eye,--a sharp whistling report rung through the air, and the body of
    \r\n", + "the old man, shot through the heart, lumbered to the earth, as a
    \r\n", + "deadly shriek sounds high above the echoes over the distant
    \r\n", + "landscape-\"M'as'r in heaven take 'um and have mercy on 'um!\" gurgles
    \r\n", + "on the air: his body writhes convulsively-the devouring dogs spring
    \r\n", + "savagely upon the ration-all is over with the old slave!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Instantly with the report of the rifle, Romescos' horse darts,
    \r\n", + "vaults toward the oaks, halts suddenly, and, ere he has time to
    \r\n", + "grasp the reins, throws him headlong against one of their trunks. An
    \r\n", + "oath escapes his lips as from the saddle he lifted; not a word more
    \r\n", + "did he lisp, but sank on the ground a corpse. His boon companion,
    \r\n", + "forgetting the dogs in their banquet of flesh, quickly dismounts,
    \r\n", + "seizes the body in his arms, the head hanging carelessly from the
    \r\n", + "shoulders: a few quivering shrugs, and all is over. \"Neck broken,
    \r\n", + "and dead!\" ejaculates the affrighted companion, resting the dead
    \r\n", + "hunter's back against his left knee, and with his right hand across
    \r\n", + "the breast, moving the head to and fro as if to make sure life has
    \r\n", + "left.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Poor Anthony,--it's a bad end; but the state should bury him with
    \r\n", + "honours; he ware the best 'un at this kind o' business the state
    \r\n", + "ever had,\" mutters Bengal, glancing revengefully toward the island,
    \r\n", + "where his democratic dogs are busy in the work of destruction. Then
    \r\n", + "he stretches the lifeless body on the ground, crosses those hands
    \r\n", + "full of blood and treachery, draws a handkerchief from his pocket,
    \r\n", + "spreads it over the ghastly face fast discolouring, as the riderless
    \r\n", + "horse, as if by instinct, bounds back to the spot and suddenly halts
    \r\n", + "over his dead master, where he frets the ground with his hoof, and,
    \r\n", + "with nostrils extended, scents along the body. Having done this, as
    \r\n", + "if in sorrow, he will rest on the ground beside him; slowly he
    \r\n", + "lumbers his body down, his head and neck circled toward that of the
    \r\n", + "lifeless ruffian on the ground.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The disconsolate hunter here leaves his useless companion, swims the
    \r\n", + "stream, recalls the gory-mouthed dogs, looks with satisfaction on
    \r\n", + "the body of the torn slave. \"You're settled for,\" says Bengal, as
    \r\n", + "with his right foot he kicks together the distended and torn limbs.
    \r\n", + "\"Not all loss, yet!\" he adds, a glow of satisfaction infusing his
    \r\n", + "face. With the ghastly head for proof, he will apply for, and
    \r\n", + "perhaps obtain, the state's reward for the despatch of outlaws; and
    \r\n", + "with the gory trophy he returns across the limpid stream to his
    \r\n", + "hapless companion, who, having watched over during the night, he
    \r\n", + "will convey into the city to-morrow morning. Over his body the very
    \r\n", + "humorous Mr. Brien Moon will hold one of those ceremonies called
    \r\n", + "inquests, for which, fourteen dollars and forty cents being paid
    \r\n", + "into his own pocket, he will order the valueless flesh under the
    \r\n", + "sod, handsomely treating with cigars and drinks those who honour him
    \r\n", + "with their presence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In the old man's camp, a hatchet, a few bits of corn-bread, (old
    \r\n", + "Jerushe's gift), and two fresh caught fish, are found; they
    \r\n", + "constituted his earthly store. But he was happy, for his heart's
    \r\n", + "impulses beat high above the conflict of a State's wrongs. That
    \r\n", + "spirit so pure has winged its way to another and better world,
    \r\n", + "where, with that of the monster who wronged nature while making
    \r\n", + "cruelty his pastime, it will appear before a just God, who sits in
    \r\n", + "glory and judgeth justly.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "HOW SLAVEHOLDERS FEAR EACH OTHER.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE reader will please remember that we left Nicholas, maddened to
    \r\n", + "distraction at the perfidy of which Grabguy makes him the victim,
    \r\n", + "chained to an iron ring in the centre of Graspum's slave pen. In
    \r\n", + "addition to this very popular mode of subduing souls that love
    \r\n", + "liberty, his wife and children are sold from him, the ekings of his
    \r\n", + "toil, so carefully laid up as the boon of his freedom, are
    \r\n", + "confiscated, and the wrong-doer now seeks to cover his character by
    \r\n", + "proclaiming to a public without sympathy that no such convention
    \r\n", + "existed, no such object entertained. Grabguy is a man of position,
    \r\n", + "and lady Grabguy moves well in society no way vulgar; but the slave
    \r\n", + "(the more honourable of the two) hath no voice-he is nothing in the
    \r\n", + "democratic world. Of his origin he knows not; and yet the sting
    \r\n", + "pierces deeper into his burning heart, as he feels that, would
    \r\n", + "justice but listen to his tale, freedom had not been a stranger. No
    \r\n", + "voice in law, no common right of commoners, no power to appeal to
    \r\n", + "the judiciary of his own country, hath he. Overpowered, chained, his
    \r\n", + "very soul tortured with the lash, he still proclaims his
    \r\n", + "resolution-\"death or justice!\" He will no longer work for him who
    \r\n", + "has stripped away his rights, and while affecting honesty, would
    \r\n", + "crush him bleeding into the earth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Grabguy will counsel an expedient wherewith further to conceal his
    \r\n", + "perfidy; and to that end, with seeming honesty lady Grabguy would
    \r\n", + "have her fashionable neighbours believe sincere, he will ship the
    \r\n", + "oppressed man to New Orleans, there to be sold.-\"Notwithstanding, he
    \r\n", + "is an extremely valuable nigger,\" he says, affecting superlative
    \r\n", + "indifference.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'd rather sell him for a song than he should disturb the peace of
    \r\n", + "the city thus.\" To New Orleans Mr. Grabguy sends his unsubdued
    \r\n", + "property; but that the threatened sale is only a feint to more
    \r\n", + "effectually dissolve the contract and forfeit the money paid as part
    \r\n", + "of his freedom, he soon becomes fully sensible. Doubly incensed at
    \r\n", + "such conduct the fire of his determination burns more fiercely; if
    \r\n", + "no justice for him be made manifest on earth his spirit is consoled
    \r\n", + "with the knowledge of a reward in heaven. Having tortured for months
    \r\n", + "the unyielding man, Grabguy, with blandest professions of kindness,
    \r\n", + "commands that the lacerated servant be brought back to his domicile.
    \r\n", + "Here, with offers of kindness, and sundry pretexts of his sincerity,
    \r\n", + "the master will pledge his honour to keep faith with his slave. The
    \r\n", + "defrauded wretch knows but too well how little confidence he can
    \r\n", + "place in such promises; to such promises does he turn a deaf ear.
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, if serious, must give him back his wife, his children, and
    \r\n", + "his hard earnings, in which the joyous hope of gaining freedom was
    \r\n", + "centred: that hope had carried him through many trials. Sad is the
    \r\n", + "dilemma in which Mr. Grabguy finds himself placed; simple justice to
    \r\n", + "the man would have long since settled the question.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now Nicholas is a second time sent to Graspum's pen, where
    \r\n", + "living men are chained to rings of fierce iron for loving freedom
    \r\n", + "and their country. For twenty-two days and nights is he chained to
    \r\n", + "that floor where his soul had before been tortured. Threats of being
    \r\n", + "returned to New Orleans again ring their leaden music in his ears;
    \r\n", + "but they have no terrors for him; his indignant spirit has battled
    \r\n", + "with torture and vanquished its smart--he will defend himself unto
    \r\n", + "death rather than be made the object of a sham sale. A vessel for
    \r\n", + "New Orleans waits in the harbour a fair wind for sailing. On board
    \r\n", + "of her Mr. Grabguy will carry out his resolve; and to which end the
    \r\n", + "reader will please accompany us to a small cell in Graspum's pen,
    \r\n", + "about fourteen by sixteen feet, and seven in height--in the centre
    \r\n", + "of which is chained to a ring that man, once so manly of figure,
    \r\n", + "whose features are now worn down by sorrow or distorted by
    \r\n", + "torture,--as three policemen enter to carry out the order of
    \r\n", + "shipment. The heavy chain and shackle with which his left foot is
    \r\n", + "secured yield to him a circuit of some four feet. As the officials
    \r\n", + "advance his face brightens up with animation; his spirit resumes its
    \r\n", + "fiery action, and with a flashing knife, no one knows by whom
    \r\n", + "provided, he bids them advance no further.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You must go to the whipping-post, my good fellow! I know it's kind
    \r\n", + "of hard; but obey orders we must. Ye see, I've gin ye good advice,
    \r\n", + "time and agin; but ye won't take it, and so ye must abide the
    \r\n", + "consequences,\" says one of the officials, who advances before the
    \r\n", + "others, and addresses himself to the chained man.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I'll go to a whipping-post no more!\" exclaims Nicholas, his angry
    \r\n", + "spirit flashing in his face, as in an attitude of defence he presses
    \r\n", + "his right hand into his bosom, and frowns defiantly upon the
    \r\n", + "intruders.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My name is Monsel, an officer! Not a word of disobedience,\" returns
    \r\n", + "the officer, in a peremptory voice.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Another suggests that he had better be throated at once. But the
    \r\n", + "chained victim of democracy's rule warns them against advancing
    \r\n", + "another step. \"Either must die if you advance. I have counselled
    \r\n", + "death, and will lay my prostrate body on the cold floor rather than
    \r\n", + "be taken from this cell to the whipping-post. It is far better to
    \r\n", + "die defending my right, than to yield my life under the lash! I
    \r\n", + "appeal to you, officers of the state, protectors of the peace, men
    \r\n", + "who love their right as life's boons!\" The men hesitate, whisper
    \r\n", + "among themselves, seem at a loss as to what course to pursue. \"You
    \r\n", + "are setting the laws of the state at defiance, my good fellow!\"
    \r\n", + "rejoins Monsel.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I care not for the law of the state! Its laws for me are founded in
    \r\n", + "wrong, exercised with injustice!\" Turning towards the door, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Monsel despatches his fellow-officers for a reinforcement. That
    \r\n", + "there will be a desperate struggle he has no doubt. The man's
    \r\n", + "gestures show him fully armed; and he is stark mad. During the
    \r\n", + "interim, Mr. Monsel will hold a parley with the boy. He finds,
    \r\n", + "however, that a few smooth words will not subdue him. One of the
    \r\n", + "officials has a rope in his hand, with which he would make a lasso,
    \r\n", + "and, throwing it over his head, secure him an easy captive. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Monsel will not hear of such a cowardly process. He is a wiry man,
    \r\n", + "with stunted features, and has become enured to the perils of negro
    \r\n", + "catching. Hand to hand he has had many an encounter with the brutes,
    \r\n", + "and always came off victor; never did he fail to serve the interests
    \r\n", + "of the state, nor to protect the property of his client. With a sort
    \r\n", + "of bravado he makes another advance. The city esteems him for the
    \r\n", + "valuable services he has rendered its safety; why should he shrink
    \r\n", + "in this emergency?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our southern readers, in a certain state, will readily recognise the
    \r\n", + "scene we here describe. The chained man, drawing his shining steel
    \r\n", + "from his bosom, says, \"You take me not from here, alive.\" Mr.
    \r\n", + "Monsel's face becomes pale, while Nicholas's flashes angry scowls;
    \r\n", + "an irresistible nervousness seizes him,--for a moment he hesitates,
    \r\n", + "turns half round to see if his companions stand firm. They are close
    \r\n", + "behind, ready for the spring, like sharp-eyed catamounts; while
    \r\n", + "around the door anxious visitors crowd their curious faces. The
    \r\n", + "officers second in command file off to the right and left, draw
    \r\n", + "their revolvers, and present them in the attitude of firing. \"Use
    \r\n", + "that knife, and you fall!\" exclaims one, with a fearful imprecation.
    \r\n", + "At the next moment he fires, as Monsel rushes upon the chained man,
    \r\n", + "followed by half a dozen officials. An agonising shriek is heard,
    \r\n", + "and Monsel, in guttural accents, mutters, \"I am a murdered man-he
    \r\n", + "has murdered me! Oh, my God,--he has murdered me!\" Nicholas has
    \r\n", + "plunged the knife into the fleshy part of Monsel's right arm; and
    \r\n", + "while the bloody weapon, wrested from his hand, lies on the floor,
    \r\n", + "an official drags the wounded man from his grasp. As some rise,
    \r\n", + "others fall upon him like infuriated animals, and but for the timely
    \r\n", + "presence of Grabguy and Graspum would have despatched him like a
    \r\n", + "bullock chained to a stake. The presence of these important
    \r\n", + "personages produces a cessation of hostilities; but the victim,
    \r\n", + "disarmed, lies prostrate on the ground, a writhing and distorted
    \r\n", + "body, tortured beyond his strength of endurance. A circle where the
    \r\n", + "struggle ensued is wet with blood, in which Nicholas bathes his poor
    \r\n", + "writhing body until it becomes one crimson mass.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "All attention is now directed to the wounded man, who, it is found,
    \r\n", + "although he has bled freely of good red blood, is neither fatally
    \r\n", + "nor seriously wounded. It is merely a flesh wound in the arm, such
    \r\n", + "as young gentlemen of the south frequently inflict upon each other
    \r\n", + "for the purpose of sustaining their character for bravery. But the
    \r\n", + "oppressed slave has raised his hand against a white man,--he must pay
    \r\n", + "the penalty with his life; he no longer can live to keep peaceful
    \r\n", + "citizens in fear and trembling. Prostrate on the floor, the victors
    \r\n", + "gather round him again, as Graspum stoops down and unlocks the
    \r\n", + "shackle from his leg. \"It's the Ingin, you see: the very devil
    \r\n", + "wouldn't subdue it, and when once its revenge breaks out you might
    \r\n", + "just as well try to govern a sweeping tornado,\" Graspum remarks,
    \r\n", + "coolly, as he calls a negro attendant, and orders the body to be
    \r\n", + "drawn from out the puddle of disfiguring gore. Languidly that poor
    \r\n", + "bosom heaves, his eyes half close, and his motionless lips pale as
    \r\n", + "death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Had I know'd it when I bargained for him, he would never have
    \r\n", + "pested me in this way, never! But he looked so likely, and had such
    \r\n", + "a quick insight of things,--Ingin's Ingin, though!\" says Grabguy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The very look might have told you that, my dear fellow; I sold him
    \r\n", + "to you with your eyes open, and, of course, expected you to be the
    \r\n", + "judge,\" interrupts Graspum, his countenance assuming great
    \r\n", + "commercial seriousness.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy politely says, he meant no insinuations. \"Come,
    \r\n", + "Nicholas! I told you this would be the end on't,\" he continues,
    \r\n", + "stooping down and taking him by the shoulders, with an air of
    \r\n", + "commiseration.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The bruised body, as if suddenly inspired with new life, raises
    \r\n", + "itself half up, and with eyes opening, gazes vacantly at those
    \r\n", + "around, at its own hands besmeared with gore; then, with a curl of
    \r\n", + "contempt on his lip, at the shackle just released from his limb-\"Ah,
    \r\n", + "well, it's ended here; this is the last of me, no doubt,\" he
    \r\n", + "murmurs, and makes another attempt to rise.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Don't move from where you are!\" commands an official, setting his
    \r\n", + "hand firmly against his right shoulder, and pressing him back. He
    \r\n", + "has got the infective crimson on his hands, chafes them one against
    \r\n", + "the other, perpendicularly, as Nicholas looks at him doubtingly.
    \r\n", + "\"It's all over--I'll not harm you; take me to a slaughter-house if
    \r\n", + "you will,--I care not,\" he says, still keeping his eye on the
    \r\n", + "official.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, somewhat moved at the sight, would confirm his
    \r\n", + "harmlessness. \"You'll give up now, won't you?\" he enquires, and
    \r\n", + "before Nicholas has time to answer, turns to the official, saying,
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, I know'd he would!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The official bows his head significantly, but begs to inform Mr.
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, that the negro, having violated the most sacred law of the
    \r\n", + "state, is no longer under his care. He is a prisoner, and must, as
    \r\n", + "the law directs, answer for the heinous crime just committed. Mr.
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, if he please, may forward his demand to the state
    \r\n", + "department, and by yielding all claim to his criminal property,
    \r\n", + "receive its award-two hundred round dollars, or thereabouts.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stand back, gentlemen-stand back, I say!\" commands the officer, as
    \r\n", + "the crowd from the outside come pressing in, the news of the
    \r\n", + "struggle having circulated through the city with lightning speed.
    \r\n", + "Rumour, ever ready to spread its fears in a slave state, reported an
    \r\n", + "insurrection, and many were they who armed themselves to the very
    \r\n", + "teeth.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The officer, in answer to a question why he does not take the man
    \r\n", + "away, says he has sent for means to secure him. He had scarcely
    \r\n", + "given out the acceptable information, when an official, followed by
    \r\n", + "a negro man, bearing cords over his right arm, makes his appearance.
    \r\n", + "The oppressed man seems subdued, and as they make the first knot
    \r\n", + "with the cord they wind about his neck, he says, sarcastically,
    \r\n", + "\"'Twouldn't be much to hang a slave! Now round my hands. Now, with a
    \r\n", + "half hitch, take my legs!\" thus mocking, as it were, while they
    \r\n", + "twist the cords about his yielding limbs. Now they draw his head to
    \r\n", + "his knees, and his hands to his feet, forming a curve of his
    \r\n", + "disabled body. \"How I bend to your strong ropes, your strong laws,
    \r\n", + "and your still stronger wills! You make good slip-nooses, and better
    \r\n", + "bows of human bodies,\" he says, mildly, shaking his head
    \r\n", + "contemptuously. The official, with a brutal kick, reminds him that
    \r\n", + "there will be no joking when he swings by the neck, which he
    \r\n", + "certainly will, to the great delight of many.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I welcome the reality,--by heaven I do, for only in heaven is there
    \r\n", + "justice for me!\" With these words falling from his lips, four negro
    \r\n", + "men seize the body, bear it to the door: an excited crowd having
    \r\n", + "assembled, place it upon a common dray, amid shouts and furious
    \r\n", + "imprecations of \"D--him, kill him at once!\" Soon the dray rolls
    \r\n", + "speedily away for the county prison, followed by the crowd, who
    \r\n", + "utter a medley of yells and groans, as it disappears within the
    \r\n", + "great gates, bearing its captive to a cell of torture.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLVI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "SOUTHERN ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IT is just a week since Nicholas committed the heinous offence of
    \r\n", + "wounding officer Monsel in the arm. That distinguished personage,
    \r\n", + "having been well cared for, is-to use a common phrase-about again,
    \r\n", + "as fresh as ever. With Nicholas the case is very different. His
    \r\n", + "bruised and lacerated body, confined in an unhealthy cell, has
    \r\n", + "received little care. Suspicion of treachery has been raised against
    \r\n", + "him; his name has become a terror throughout the city; and all his
    \r\n", + "bad qualities have been magnified five-fold, while not a person can
    \r\n", + "be found to say a word in praise of his good. That he always had
    \r\n", + "some secret villainy in view no one for a moment doubts; that he
    \r\n", + "intended to raise an insurrection among the blacks every one is
    \r\n", + "quite sure; and that confession of all his forelaid evil designs may
    \r\n", + "be extorted from him, the cruellest means have been resorted to.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The day upon which the trial is to take place has arrived. On the
    \r\n", + "south side of Broad Street there stands a small wooden building, the
    \r\n", + "boarding discoloured and decayed, looking as if it had been
    \r\n", + "accidentally dropped between the walls of two brick buildings
    \r\n", + "standing at its sides. In addition, it has the appearance of one
    \r\n", + "side having been set at a higher elevation than the other for some
    \r\n", + "purpose of convenience known only to its occupants. About fifteen
    \r\n", + "feet high, its front possesses a plain door, painted green, two
    \r\n", + "small windows much covered with dust, and a round port-hole over the
    \r\n", + "door. A sheet of tin, tacked above the door, contains, in broad
    \r\n", + "yellow letters, the significant names of \"Fetter and Felsh,
    \r\n", + "Attorneys at Law.\" Again, on a board about the size of a shingle,
    \r\n", + "hanging from a nail at the right side of the door, is \"Jabez Fetter,
    \r\n", + "Magistrate.\" By these unmistakeable signs we feel assured of its
    \r\n", + "being the department where the legal firm of Fetter and Felsh do
    \r\n", + "their customers-that is, where they dispose of an immense amount of
    \r\n", + "legal filth for which the state pays very acceptable fees. Squire
    \r\n", + "Fetter, as he is usually called, is extremely tall and well-formed,
    \r\n", + "and, though straight of person, very crooked in morals. With an oval
    \r\n", + "and ruddy face, nicely trimmed whiskers, soft blue eyes, tolerably
    \r\n", + "good teeth, he is considered rather a handsome man. But (to use a
    \r\n", + "vulgar phrase) he is death on night orgies and nigger trials. He may
    \r\n", + "be seen any day of the week, about twelve o'clock, standing his long
    \r\n", + "figure in the door of his legal domicile, his hat touching the sill,
    \r\n", + "looking up and then down the street, as if waiting the arrival of a
    \r\n", + "victim upon whom to pronounce one of his awful judgments. Felsh is a
    \r\n", + "different species of person, being a short, stunted man, with a
    \r\n", + "flat, inexpressive face. He has very much the appearance of a man
    \r\n", + "who had been clumsily thrown together for any purpose future
    \r\n", + "circumstances might require. Between these worthies and one Hanz Von
    \r\n", + "Vickeinsteighner there has long existed a business connection, which
    \r\n", + "is now being transferred into a fraternity of good fellowship. Hanz
    \r\n", + "Von Vickeinsteighner keeps a small grocery, a few doors below: that
    \r\n", + "is, Von, in a place scarcely large enough to turn his fat sides
    \r\n", + "without coming in contact with the counter, sells onions,
    \r\n", + "lager-beer, and whiskey; the last-named article is sure to be very
    \r\n", + "bad, inasmuch as his customers are principally negroes. Von is
    \r\n", + "considered a very clever fellow, never a very bad citizen, and
    \r\n", + "always on terms of politeness with a great many squires, and other
    \r\n", + "members of the legal profession. A perfect picture of the
    \r\n", + "good-natured Dutchman is Von, as seen standing his square sides in
    \r\n", + "his doorway, stripped to his sleeves, his red cap tipped aside, a
    \r\n", + "crooked grin on his broad fat face, and his hands thrust beneath a
    \r\n", + "white apron into his nether pockets. Von has a great relish for
    \r\n", + "squires and police officers, esteems them the salt of all good, nor
    \r\n", + "ever charges them a cent for his best-brewed lager-beer. There is,
    \r\n", + "however, a small matter of business in the way, which Von, being
    \r\n", + "rather a sharp logician, thinks it quite as well to reconcile with
    \r\n", + "beer. The picture is complete, when of a morning, some exciting
    \r\n", + "negro case being about to be brought forward, Fetter and Von may be
    \r\n", + "seen, as before described, standing importantly easy in their
    \r\n", + "respective doors; while Felsh paces up and down the side-walk,
    \r\n", + "seemingly in deep study. On these occasions it is generally said Von
    \r\n", + "makes the criminal \"niggers,\" Felsh orders them caught and brought
    \r\n", + "before Fletter, and Fetter passes awful judgment upon them. Now and
    \r\n", + "then, Felsh will prosecute on behalf of the state, for which that
    \r\n", + "generous embodiment of bad law is debtor the fees.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The city clock has struck twelve; Fetter stands in his doorway, his
    \r\n", + "countenance wearing an air of great seriousness. Felsh saunters at
    \r\n", + "the outside, now and then making some legal remark on a point of the
    \r\n", + "negro statutes, and at every turn casting his bleared eye up the
    \r\n", + "street. Presently, Nicholas is seen, his hands pinioned, and a heavy
    \r\n", + "chain about his neck, approaching between two officials. A crowd
    \r\n", + "follows; among it are several patriotic persons who evince an
    \r\n", + "inclination to wrest him from the officials, that they may,
    \r\n", + "according to Judge Lynch's much-used privileges, wreak their
    \r\n", + "vengeance in a summary manner. \"The boy Nicholas is to be tried to-
    \r\n", + "day!\" has rung through the city: curious lookers-on begin to
    \r\n", + "assemble round the squire's office, and Hanz Von Vickeinsteighner is
    \r\n", + "in great good humour at the prospect of a profitable day at his
    \r\n", + "counter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Bring the criminal in!\" says Squire Fetter, turning into his office
    \r\n", + "as Nicholas is led in,--still bearing the marks of rough usage. Rows
    \r\n", + "of board seats stretch across the little nook, which is about
    \r\n", + "sixteen feet wide by twenty long, the floor seeming on the verge of
    \r\n", + "giving way under its professional burden. The plaster hangs in
    \r\n", + "broken flakes from the walls, which are exceedingly dingy, and
    \r\n", + "decorated with festoons of melancholy cobwebs. At the farther end is
    \r\n", + "an antique book-case of pine slats, on which are promiscuously
    \r\n", + "thrown sundry venerable-looking works on law, papers, writs,
    \r\n", + "specimens of minerals, branches of coral, aligators' teeth, several
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 11/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 11 out of 12

    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "ship's blocks, and a bit of damaged fishing-tackle. This is Felsh's
    \r\n", + "repository of antique collections; what many of them have to do with
    \r\n", + "his rough pursuit of the learned profession we leave to the reader's
    \r\n", + "discrimination. It has been intimated by several waggishly-inclined
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, that a valuable record of all the disobedient \"niggers\"
    \r\n", + "Fetter had condemned to be hung might be found among this confused
    \r\n", + "collection of antiquities. A deal table, covered with a varnished
    \r\n", + "cloth, standing on the right side of the room, and beside which a
    \r\n", + "ponderous arm-chair is raised a few inches, forms Fetter's tribune.
    \r\n", + "Hanging from the wall, close behind this, is a powder-horn and
    \r\n", + "flask, several old swords, a military hat somewhat broken, and
    \r\n", + "sundry other indescribable things, enough to make one's head ache to
    \r\n", + "contemplate.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The office is become crowded to excess, the prisoner (his hands
    \r\n", + "unpinioned, but the heavy chain still about his neck!) is placed in
    \r\n", + "a wooden box fronting the squire's table, as a constable is ordered
    \r\n", + "to close the court. It is quite evident that Fetter has been taking
    \r\n", + "a little too much on the previous night; but, being a \"first-rate
    \r\n", + "drinker,\" his friends find an apology in the arduousness of his
    \r\n", + "legal duties. In answer to a question from Felsh, who has been
    \r\n", + "looking at the prisoner somewhat compassionately, the serving
    \r\n", + "constable says two of the jury of \"freeholders\" he has summoned have
    \r\n", + "not yet made their appearance. Fetter, who was about to take his
    \r\n", + "seat in the great chair, and open court, politely draws forth his
    \r\n", + "watch, and after addressing a few words to the persons present, on
    \r\n", + "the necessity of keeping order in a court with such high functions,
    \r\n", + "whispers a few words in Felsh's ear, holding his hand to his mouth
    \r\n", + "the while.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Maintain order in court!\" says Fetter, nodding his head to the
    \r\n", + "official; \"we will return in five minutes.\" Soon they are seen
    \r\n", + "passing into Von's crooked establishment, where, joined by a number
    \r\n", + "of very fashionable friends, they \"take\" of the \"hardware\" he keeps
    \r\n", + "in a sly place under the counter, in a special bottle for his
    \r\n", + "special customers. Having taken several special glasses, Fetter is
    \r\n", + "much annoyed at sundry remarks made by his friends, who press round
    \r\n", + "him, seeming anxious to instruct him on intricate points of the
    \r\n", + "\"nigger statutes.\" One hopes he will not let the nigger off without
    \r\n", + "a jolly good hanging; another will bet his life Felsh takes care of
    \r\n", + "that small item, for then his claim on the state treasury will be
    \r\n", + "doubled. And now, Fetter finding that Felsh, having imbibed rather
    \r\n", + "freely of the liquid, hath somewhat diminished his brilliant
    \r\n", + "faculties, will take him by the arm and return into court. With all
    \r\n", + "the innate dignity of great jurists they enter their sanctum of
    \r\n", + "justice, as the usher exclaims, \"Court! Court!-hats off and cigars
    \r\n", + "out!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Jury are present?\" enquires Fetter, with great gravity, bowing to
    \r\n", + "one side and then to the other, as he resumes his seat on the
    \r\n", + "tribune.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Present, yer 'oner;\" the officer answers in a deep, gruff voice, as
    \r\n", + "he steps forward and places a volume of the revised statutes before
    \r\n", + "that high jurist. Fetter moves the book to his left, where Felsh has
    \r\n", + "taken his seat. With placid countenance and softest accents, Fetter
    \r\n", + "orders the prisoner at the bar to stand up while our constable calls
    \r\n", + "the names of the jurymen.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Our victim of democracy's even-handed justice obeys the summons,
    \r\n", + "rising as his dark eyes flash angrily, and that hatred wrong which
    \r\n", + "lurks in his bosom seems kindling anew. \"James M'Neilty! Terrance
    \r\n", + "M'Quade! Harry Johanna! Baldwin Dobson! Patrick Henessy! Be dad and
    \r\n", + "I have um all now, yer 'oner,\" ejaculates the official, exultingly,
    \r\n", + "as one by one the \"nigger jurymen\" respond to the call and take
    \r\n", + "their seats on a wooden slab at the right of his Honour, squire
    \r\n", + "Fetter. \"You are, I may be sure, gentlemen, freeholders?\" enquires
    \r\n", + "his honour, with a mechanical bow. They answer simultaneously in the
    \r\n", + "affirmative, and then, forming in a half circle, lay their hands on
    \r\n", + "a volume of Byron, which Fetter makes do for a Bible, and subscribe
    \r\n", + "to the sacred oath Felsh administers. By the Giver of all Good will
    \r\n", + "they return a verdict according to the evidence and the facts.
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen will take their seats\" (the officer must preserve order
    \r\n", + "in the court!) \"the prisoner may also sit down,\" says Felsh, the
    \r\n", + "words falling from his lips with great gravity, as, opening the
    \r\n", + "revised statutes, he rises to address the jury.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen of the Jury!\"-suddenly hesitates for a moment-\"the solemn
    \r\n", + "duties which you are now called upon to perform\" (at this moment
    \r\n", + "Terrance M'Quade draws a small bottle from his pocket, and after
    \r\n", + "helping himself to a portion of its contents passes it to his
    \r\n", + "fellows, much to the surprise of the learned Felsh, who hopes such
    \r\n", + "indecorum will cease) \"and they are duties which you owe to the
    \r\n", + "safety of the state as well as to the protection of your own
    \r\n", + "families, are much enhanced by the superior mental condition of the
    \r\n", + "criminal before you.\" Here Mr. Felsh calls for a volume of Prince's
    \r\n", + "Digest, from which he instructs the jury upon several important
    \r\n", + "points of the law made and provided for making the striking a white
    \r\n", + "person by a slave or person of colour a capital offence. \"Your
    \r\n", + "honour, too, will see the case to which I refer-'State and
    \r\n", + "Prudence!'\" The learned gentleman extends the book, that his august
    \r\n", + "eyes may have a near view.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Your word is quite sufficient, Mr. Felsh,\" returns Fetter, his eyes
    \r\n", + "half closed, as he waves his hand, adding that he is perfectly
    \r\n", + "posted on the case cited. \"Page 499, I think you said?\" he
    \r\n", + "continues, placing his thumbs in his waistcoat armlets, with an air
    \r\n", + "of indifference.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, your honour,\" rejoins Felsh, with a polite bow. His honour,
    \r\n", + "ordering a glass of water mixed with a little brandy, Mr. Felsh
    \r\n", + "continues:--\"The case, gentlemen, before you, is that of the 'State
    \r\n", + "v. Nicholas.' This case, gentlemen, and the committal of the heinous
    \r\n", + "crime for which he stands arraigned before you, has excited no small
    \r\n", + "amount of interest in the city. It is one of those peculiar cases
    \r\n", + "where intelligence creeps into the property interest of our noble
    \r\n", + "institution-the institution of slavery-makes the property restless,
    \r\n", + "disobedient to the will and commands of the master, disaffected to
    \r\n", + "the slave population, and dangerous to the peace and the progress of
    \r\n", + "the community. Now, gentlemen\" (his honour has dropped into a
    \r\n", + "moderate nap-Mr. Felsh pauses for a moment, and touches him gently
    \r\n", + "on the shoulder, as he suddenly resumes his wonted attention, much
    \r\n", + "to the amusement of those assembled) \"you will be told by the
    \r\n", + "witnesses we shall here produce, that the culprit is an exceedingly
    \r\n", + "intelligent and valuable piece of property, and as such might, even
    \r\n", + "now, be made extremely valuable to his master\"--Mr. Grabguy is in
    \r\n", + "court, watching his interests!-\"who paid a large sum for him, and
    \r\n", + "was more than anxious to place him at the head of his manufacturing
    \r\n", + "establishment, which office he was fully capable of filling. Now,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen-his honour will please observe this point-much as I may
    \r\n", + "consider the heavy loss the master will suffer by the conviction of
    \r\n", + "the prisoner, and which will doubtless be felt severely by him, I
    \r\n", + "cannot help impressing upon you the necessity of overlooking the
    \r\n", + "individual loss to the master, maintaining the law, and preserving
    \r\n", + "the peace of the community and stability of our noble institution.
    \r\n", + "That the state will only allow the master two hundred dollars for
    \r\n", + "his valuable slave you have nothing to do with-you must sink that
    \r\n", + "from your minds, listen to the testimony, and form your verdict in
    \r\n", + "accordance with that and the law. That he is a dangerous slave, has
    \r\n", + "long maintained a disobedience towards his owner, set the
    \r\n", + "authorities at defiance, attempted to create an insurrection, and
    \r\n", + "made a dangerous assault on a white man-which constitutes a capital
    \r\n", + "offence-we shall now call witnesses to prove.\" The learned gentleman
    \r\n", + "having finished his opening for the prosecution, sits down. After a
    \r\n", + "moment's pause, he orders an attendant to bring something \"to
    \r\n", + "take\"-\"Similar to the squire's!\" he ejaculates, hoarsely.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen!\" says his honour, as if seized with the recollection of
    \r\n", + "some important appointment, the time for which was close at hand,
    \r\n", + "drawing out his watch, \"Call witnesses as fast as possible! The
    \r\n", + "evidence in this case, I reckon, is so direct and positive, that the
    \r\n", + "case can be very summarily despatched.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I think so, too! yer 'oner,\" interrupts Terrance M'Quade, starting
    \r\n", + "from his seat among the five jurors. Terrance has had what in vulgar
    \r\n", + "parlance is termed a \"tough time\" with several of his own stubborn
    \r\n", + "negroes; and having already heard a deal about this very bad case,
    \r\n", + "is prepared to proclaim him fit only to be hanged. His honour
    \r\n", + "reminds Terrance that such remarks from a juror are neither strictly
    \r\n", + "legal nor in place.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The first witness called is Toby, a slave of Terrance M'Quade, who
    \r\n", + "has worked in the same shop with Nicholas. Toby heard him say he got
    \r\n", + "his larnin' when he was young,--that his heart burned for his
    \r\n", + "freedom-that he knew he was no slave by right-that some day would
    \r\n", + "see him a great man; that if all those poor wretches now in slavery
    \r\n", + "knew as much as he did, they would rise up, have their liberties,
    \r\n", + "and proclaim justice without appealing to heaven for it!-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I said all that, and more!\" interrupted the criminal bondman,
    \r\n", + "rising quickly to his feet, and surveying those around him with a
    \r\n", + "frown of contempt.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Silence! sit down!\" resounds from the officer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "He will sit down, but they cannot quench the fires of his soul; they
    \r\n", + "may deny him the commonest right of his manhood, but they cannot
    \r\n", + "take from him the knowledge that God gave him those rights; they may
    \r\n", + "mock with derision the firm mien with which he disputes the power of
    \r\n", + "his oppressors, and their unjust laws, but they cannot make him less
    \r\n", + "than a man in his own feelings!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour, squire Fetter, reminds him that it were better he said
    \r\n", + "nothing, sit down,--or be punished instanter. Turning to Felsh, who
    \r\n", + "is sipping his quencher, he enquires what that gentleman means to
    \r\n", + "prove by the witness Toby?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"His intention to raise an insurrection, yer honour!\" Felsh, setting
    \r\n", + "his glass aside, quickly responds, wiping his lips as he adds, \"It
    \r\n", + "is essentially necessary, yer honour!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour, leaning forward, places the fore-finger of his right
    \r\n", + "hand to his lip, and making a very learned gesture, says, \"Toby has
    \r\n", + "said enough to establish that point.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The next witness is Mr. Brien Calligan, a criminal in the prison,
    \r\n", + "who for his good behaviour has been promoted to the honourable post
    \r\n", + "of under-warden. Mr. Brien Calligan testifies that the prisoner,
    \r\n", + "while in prison, confined in a cell under his supervision, admitted
    \r\n", + "that he intended to kill Mr. Monsel when he inflicted the wound. He
    \r\n", + "must qualify this statement, however, by saying that the prisoner
    \r\n", + "added he was altogether beside himself with rage.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, who has been intently watching the proceedings, suddenly
    \r\n", + "springs to his feet. He would like to know if that admission was not
    \r\n", + "extorted from the culprit by cruelty!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Brien Calligan pauses a moment, looks innocently at the court,
    \r\n", + "as one of the jurors suggests that quite enough evidence has already
    \r\n", + "been put in to warrant a conviction. It's a pity to hang such
    \r\n", + "valuable property; but, being bent on disturbing the peace of the
    \r\n", + "community, what else can be done?
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour listens with great concern to the juror's remarks, but
    \r\n", + "suggests that Mr. Grabguy had better not interrupt the court with
    \r\n", + "questions. That he has an indirect interest in the issue of the
    \r\n", + "suit, not a doubt exists, but if he be not satisfied with the
    \r\n", + "witness's statement, he has his remedy in the court of appeals,
    \r\n", + "where, upon the ground of testimony having been elicited by coercion
    \r\n", + "or cruelty, a new trial will probably be granted.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Grabguy would merely suggest to his honour that although
    \r\n", + "sentencing a negro to be hung may be a matter of small consequence
    \r\n", + "to him, yet his position in society gives him a right to be heard
    \r\n", + "with proper respect. Aware that he does not move in that exclusively
    \r\n", + "aristocratic sphere of society awarded to lawyers in general, he is
    \r\n", + "no less entitled to respect, and being a man of honour, and an
    \r\n", + "alderman as well, he shall always insist on that respect.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Order, order!\" demand a dozen voices. His honour's face flashing
    \r\n", + "with indignation, he seizes the statutes, and rising to his feet, is
    \r\n", + "about to throw them with unerring aim at the unhandsome head of the
    \r\n", + "municipal functionary. A commotion here ensues. Felsh is esteemed
    \r\n", + "not a bad fighting man; and rising almost simultaneously, his face
    \r\n", + "like a full moon peeping through a rain cloud, attempts to pacify
    \r\n", + "his colleague, Fetter. The court is foaming with excitement; Mr.
    \r\n", + "Felsh is excited, the jury are excited to take a little more drink,
    \r\n", + "the constables are excited, the audience are excited to amusement;
    \r\n", + "Messrs. Fetter and Felsh's court rocks with excitement: the only
    \r\n", + "unexcited person present is the criminal, who looks calmly on, as if
    \r\n", + "contemplating with horror the debased condition of those in whose
    \r\n", + "hands an unjust law has placed his life.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As the uproar and confusion die away, and the court resumes its
    \r\n", + "dignity, Mr. Grabguy, again asserting his position of a gentleman,
    \r\n", + "says he is not ashamed to declare his conviction to be, that his
    \r\n", + "honour is not in a fit state to try a \"nigger\" of his: in fact, the
    \r\n", + "truth must be told, he would not have him sit in judgment upon his
    \r\n", + "spaniel.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At this most unwarranted declaration Fetter rises from his judicial
    \r\n", + "chair, his feelings burning with rage, and bounds over the table at
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, prostrating his brother Felsh, tables, benches, chairs, and
    \r\n", + "everything else in his way,--making the confusion complete. Several
    \r\n", + "gentlemen interpose between Fetter; but before he can reach Grabguy,
    \r\n", + "who is no small man in physical strength--which he has developed by
    \r\n", + "fighting his way \"through many a crowd\" on election days-that
    \r\n", + "municipal dignitary is ejected, sans ceremonie, into the street.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Justice to me! My honest rights, for which I laboured when he gave
    \r\n", + "me no bread, would have saved him his compunction of conscience: I
    \r\n", + "wanted nothing more,\" says Nicholas, raising the side of his coarse
    \r\n", + "jacket, and wiping the sweat from his brow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Silence there!\" demands an official, pointing his tipstaff, and
    \r\n", + "punching him on the shoulder.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Grabguy goes to his home, considering and reconsidering his own
    \r\n", + "course. His heart repeats the admonition, \"Thou art the wrong-doer,
    \r\n", + "Grabguy!\" It haunts his very soul; it lays bare the sources from
    \r\n", + "whence the slave's troubles flow; places the seal of aggression on
    \r\n", + "the state. It is a question with him, whether the state, through its
    \r\n", + "laws, or Messrs. Fetter and Felsh, through the justice meted out at
    \r\n", + "their court, play the baser part.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A crowd of anxious persons have gathered about the door, making the
    \r\n", + "very air resound with their shouts of derision. Hans Von
    \r\n", + "Vickeinsteighner, his fat good-natured face shining like a pumpkin
    \r\n", + "on a puncheon, and his red cap dangling above the motley faces of
    \r\n", + "the crowd, moves glibly about, and says they are having a right
    \r\n", + "jolly good time at the law business within.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Fetter, again taking his seat, apologises to the jury, to the
    \r\n", + "persons present, and to his learned brother, Felsh. He is very sorry
    \r\n", + "for this ebullition of passion; but they may be assured it was
    \r\n", + "called forth by the gross insult offered to all present. \"Continue
    \r\n", + "the witnesses as fast as possible,\" he concludes, with a methodical
    \r\n", + "bow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Mr. Monsel steps forward: he relates the fierce attempt made upon
    \r\n", + "his life; has no doubt the prisoner meant to kill him, and raise an
    \r\n", + "insurrection. \"It is quite enough; Mr. Monsel may stand down,\"
    \r\n", + "interposes Felsh, with an air of dignity.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Paul Vampton, an intelligent negro, next bears testimony. The
    \r\n", + "criminal at the bar (Paul does not believe he has a drop of negro
    \r\n", + "blood in his veins) more than once told him his wife and children
    \r\n", + "were sold from him, his rights stripped from him, the hopes of
    \r\n", + "gaining his freedom for ever gone. Having nothing to live for, he
    \r\n", + "coveted death, because it was more honourable to die in defence of
    \r\n", + "justice, than live the crawling slave of a tyrant's rule.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"I feel constrained to stop the case, gentlemen of the jury,\"
    \r\n", + "interposes his honour, rising from his seat. \"The evidence already
    \r\n", + "adduced is more than sufficient to establish the conviction.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A juror at Terrance M'Quade's right, touches that gentleman on the
    \r\n", + "shoulder: he had just cooled away into a nice sleep: \"I think so,
    \r\n", + "too, yer 'oner,\" rejoins Terrance, in half bewilderment, starting
    \r\n", + "nervously and rubbing his eyes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A few mumbled words from his honour serve as a charge to the jury.
    \r\n", + "They know the law, and have the evidence before them. \"I see not,
    \r\n", + "gentlemen, how you can render a verdict other than guilty; but that,
    \r\n", + "let me here say, I shall leave to your more mature deliberation.\"
    \r\n", + "With these concluding remarks his honour sips his mixture, and sits
    \r\n", + "down.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Gentlemen of the jury rise from their seats, and form into a circle;
    \r\n", + "Mr. Felsh coolly turns over the leaves of the statutes; the audience
    \r\n", + "mutter to themselves; the prisoner stares vacantly over the scene,
    \r\n", + "as if heedless of the issue.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Guilty! it's that we've made it; and the divil a thing else we
    \r\n", + "could make out of it,\" exclaims Terrance M'Quade, as they, after the
    \r\n", + "mature length of two minutes' consultation, turn and face his
    \r\n", + "honour. They pause for a reply.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Stand up, prisoner!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hats off during the sentence!\" rejoins a constable.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Guilty.\" His honour rises to his feet with ponderous dignity to
    \r\n", + "pronounce the awful sentence. \"Gentlemen, I must needs compliment
    \r\n", + "your verdict; you could have come to no other.\" His honour bows
    \r\n", + "gracefully to the jury, reminds gentlemen present of the solemn
    \r\n", + "occasion, and will hear what the prisoner has to say for himself.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "An angry frown pervades the prisoner's face. He has nothing to say.
    \r\n", + "Burning tears course down his cheeks; but they are not tears of
    \r\n", + "contrition,--Oh, no! he has no such tears to shed. Firmly and
    \r\n", + "resolutely he says, \"Guilty! guilty! yes, I am guilty-guilty by the
    \r\n", + "guilty laws of a guilty land. You are powerful-I am weak; you have
    \r\n", + "might-I have right. Mine is not a chosen part. Guilty on earth, my
    \r\n", + "soul will be innocent in heaven; and before a just judge will my
    \r\n", + "cause be proclaimed, before a holy tribunal my verdict received, and
    \r\n", + "by angels my soul be enrolled among the righteous. Your earthly law
    \r\n", + "seals my lips; your black judgment-enough to make heaven frown and
    \r\n", + "earth tremble, fearing justice-crushes the man; but you cannot judge
    \r\n", + "the spirit. In fear and trembling your wrongs will travel broken
    \r\n", + "paths-give no man rest. I am guilty with you; I am innocent in
    \r\n", + "heaven. He who judgeth all things right, receives the innocent soul
    \r\n", + "into his bosom; and He will offer repentance to him who takes the
    \r\n", + "innocent life.\" He pauses, as his eye, with intense stare, rests
    \r\n", + "upon his honour.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"You are through?\" enquires his honour, raising his eyebrows.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"In this court of justice,\" firmly replies the prisoner.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Order in the court!\" is echoed from several voices.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Nicholas-Nicholas Grabguy! the offence for which you stand
    \r\n", + "convicted is one for which I might, according to the laws of the
    \r\n", + "land, pronounce a more awful sentence than the one now resolved
    \r\n", + "upon. But the advanced and enlightened spirit of the age calls for a
    \r\n", + "more humane manner of taking life and inflicting punishments. Never
    \r\n", + "before has it been my lot to pass sentence-although I have
    \r\n", + "pronounced the awful benediction on very many-on so valuable and
    \r\n", + "intelligent a slave. I regret your master's loss as much as I
    \r\n", + "sympathise with your condition; and yet I deplore the hardened and
    \r\n", + "defiant spirit you yet evince. And permit me here to say, that while
    \r\n", + "you manifest such an unyielding spirit there is no hope of pardon.
    \r\n", + "Nicholas! you have been tried before a tribunal of the land, by the
    \r\n", + "laws of your state, and found guilty by a tribunal of competent men.
    \r\n", + "Nothing is now left for me but to pass sentence upon you in
    \r\n", + "accordance with the law. The sentence of the court is, that you be
    \r\n", + "taken hence to the prison from whence you came, and on this day
    \r\n", + "week, at twelve o'clock, from thence to the gallows erected in the
    \r\n", + "yard thereof, and there and then be hanged by the neck until you are
    \r\n", + "dead; and may the Lord have mercy on your soul!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His honour, concluding nervously, orders the jury to be dismissed,
    \r\n", + "and the court adjourned.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "How burns the inward hate of the oppressed culprit, as mutely, his
    \r\n", + "hands pinioned, and the heavy chain about his neck, he is led away
    \r\n", + "to his prison-house, followed by a deriding crowd. \"Come that happy
    \r\n", + "day, when men will cease to make their wrong fire my very blood!\" he
    \r\n", + "says, firmly marching to the place of death.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLVII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "PROSPERITY THE RESULT OF JUSTICE.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "TEN years have rolled into the past since the Rosebrook family-moved
    \r\n", + "by a sense of right to enquire into the errors of a bad system of
    \r\n", + "labour-resolved to try the working of a new scheme. There was to be
    \r\n", + "no cutting, nor lashing, nor abusing with overburdening tasks.
    \r\n", + "Education was to regulate the feelings, kindness to expand the
    \r\n", + "sympathies, and justice to bind the affections and stimulate
    \r\n", + "advancement. There were only some fifty negroes on the Rosebrook
    \r\n", + "plantation, but its fame for raising great crops had resounded far
    \r\n", + "and wide. Some planters said it \"astonished everything,\" considering
    \r\n", + "how much the Rosebrooks indulged their slaves. With a third less in
    \r\n", + "number of hands, did they raise more and better cotton than their
    \r\n", + "neighbours; and then everything was so neat and bright about the
    \r\n", + "plantation, and everybody looked so cheerful and sprightly. When
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook's cotton was sent into the market, factors said it was
    \r\n", + "characteristic of his systemised negroes; and when his negroes
    \r\n", + "rolled into the city, as they did on holidays, all brightened up
    \r\n", + "with new clothes, everybody said-There were Rosebrook's dandy, fat,
    \r\n", + "and saucy \"niggers.\" And then the wise prophets, who had all along
    \r\n", + "predicted that Rosebrook's project would never amount to much, said
    \r\n", + "it was all owing to his lady, who was worth her weight in gold at
    \r\n", + "managing negroes. And she did conceive the project, too; and her
    \r\n", + "helping hand was felt like a quickening spring, giving new life to
    \r\n", + "the physical being. That the influence might not be lost upon others
    \r\n", + "of her sex in the same sphere of life, she was ever reasoning upon
    \r\n", + "the result of female sympathy. She felt that, were it exercised
    \r\n", + "properly, it could raise up the menial slave, awaken his inert
    \r\n", + "energies, give him those moral guides which elevate his passive
    \r\n", + "nature, and regenerate that manhood which provides for its own good.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "They had promised their people that all children born at and after a
    \r\n", + "given date should be free; that all those over sixty should be
    \r\n", + "nominally free, the only restriction being the conditions imposed by
    \r\n", + "the state law; that slaves under fifteen years of age, and able to
    \r\n", + "do plantation work, should, during the ten years prescribed, be
    \r\n", + "allowed for their extra labour at a given rate, and expected to have
    \r\n", + "the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars set to their credit; that
    \r\n", + "all prime people should be required to work a given number of hours,
    \r\n", + "as per task, for master, beyond which they would be allotted a
    \r\n", + "\"patch\" for cultivation, the products of which were entrusted to
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook for sale, and the proceeds placed in missus' savings bank
    \r\n", + "to their credit. The people had all fulfilled the required
    \r\n", + "conditions ere the ten years expired; and a good round sum for extra
    \r\n", + "earnings was found in the bank. The Rosebrooks kept faith with their
    \r\n", + "slaves; and the happy result is, that Rosebrook, in addition to the
    \r\n", + "moral security he has founded for the good of his people-and which
    \r\n", + "security is a boon of protection between master and slave-has been
    \r\n", + "doubly repaid by the difference in amount of product, the result of
    \r\n", + "encouragement incited by his enlightened system. The family were
    \r\n", + "bound in affection to their slaves; and the compact has given forth
    \r\n", + "its peaceful products for a good end. Each slave being paid for his
    \r\n", + "or her labour, there is no decline of energy, no disaffection, no
    \r\n", + "clashing of interests, no petulant disobedience. Rosebrook finds his
    \r\n", + "system the much better of the two. It has relieved him of a deal of
    \r\n", + "care; he gets more work for less money; he laughs at his neighbours,
    \r\n", + "who fail to raise as much cotton with double the number of negroes;
    \r\n", + "and he knows that his negroes love instead of fear him. And yet,
    \r\n", + "notwithstanding the proof he has produced, the whole district of
    \r\n", + "planters look upon him with suspicion, consider him rather a
    \r\n", + "dangerous innovator, and say, that while his foolish system cannot
    \r\n", + "be other than precarious to the welfare of the state, time will
    \r\n", + "prove it a monster fallacy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A happy moment was it when the time rolled round, and the morning of
    \r\n", + "the day upon which Rosebrook would proclaim the freedom of his
    \r\n", + "people broke serenely forth. The cabins looked bright and airy, were
    \r\n", + "sanded and whitewashed, and, surrounded by their neatly attired
    \r\n", + "inhabitants, presented a picturesque appearance. It was to be a
    \r\n", + "great gala-day, and the bright morning atmosphere seemed propitious
    \r\n", + "of the event. Daddy Daniel had got a new set of shiny brass buttons
    \r\n", + "put on his long blue coat, and an extremely broad white cravat for
    \r\n", + "his neck. Daniel was a sort of lawgiver for the plantation, and sat
    \r\n", + "in judgment over all cases brought before him, with great gravity of
    \r\n", + "manner. As to his judgments, they were always pronounced with
    \r\n", + "wondrous solemnity, and in accordance with what he conceived to be
    \r\n", + "the most direct process of administering even-handed justice. Daddy
    \r\n", + "was neither a democrat nor an unjust judge. Believing that it were
    \r\n", + "better to forgive than inflict undue punishments, he would rather
    \r\n", + "shame the transgressor, dismiss him with a firm admonition to do
    \r\n", + "better, and bid him go, transgress no more!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Harry had prepared a new sermon for the eventful day; and with it he
    \r\n", + "was to make his happy flock remember the duty which they would
    \r\n", + "henceforth owe to those who had been their kind protectors, as well
    \r\n", + "as the promoters of that system which would result in happier days.
    \r\n", + "How vivid of happiness was that scene presented in the plantation
    \r\n", + "church, where master and missus, surrounded by their faithful old
    \r\n", + "slaves, who, with a patriarchal attachment, seemed to view them with
    \r\n", + "reverence, sat listening to the fervent discourse of that once
    \r\n", + "wretched slave, now, by kindness, made a man! Deep, soul-stirring,
    \r\n", + "and affecting to tears, were the words of prayer with which that
    \r\n", + "devout negro invoked the all-protecting hand of Almighty God, that
    \r\n", + "he would guide master and slave through the troubles of this earthly
    \r\n", + "stage, and receive them into his bosom. How in contrast with that
    \r\n", + "waging of passion, and every element of evil that has its source in
    \r\n", + "injustice, so rife of plantation life, was the picture here
    \r\n", + "presented!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The service ended, Rosebrook addresses a few remarks to his people;
    \r\n", + "after which they gather around him and pour forth their gratitude in
    \r\n", + "genial sentiments. Old and young have a \"Heaven save master!\" for
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook, and a \"God bless missus!\" for his noble-hearted lady, to
    \r\n", + "whom they cling, shaking her hand with warmest affection.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "How enviable to her sex is the position of that woman who labours
    \r\n", + "for the fallen, and whose heart yields its kindred sympathy for the
    \r\n", + "oppressed!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After congratulations and tokens of affection had been exchanged,
    \r\n", + "master, missus, and the people-for such they now were-repaired to
    \r\n", + "the green in front of the plantation mansion, where a sumptuous
    \r\n", + "collation was spread out, to which all sat down in one harmonious
    \r\n", + "circle. Then the festivities of the day-a 4th of July in
    \r\n", + "miniature-ended with a gathering at Dad Daniel's cabin, where he
    \r\n", + "profoundly laid down a system of rules for the future observance of
    \r\n", + "the people.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Six months have passed under the new r�gime; and Rosebrook, feeling
    \r\n", + "that to require labour of his people for a sum much beneath its
    \r\n", + "value must in time become a source from which evil results would
    \r\n", + "flow, awarded them a just and adequate remuneration, and finds it
    \r\n", + "work well. Harry had not been included among those who were enrolled
    \r\n", + "as candidates for the enjoyment offered by the new system; but
    \r\n", + "missus as well as master had confidentially promised him he should
    \r\n", + "be free before many years, and with his family, if he desired, sent
    \r\n", + "to Liberia, to work for the enlightenment of his fellow Africans.
    \r\n", + "Harry was not altogether satisfied that the greater amount of labour
    \r\n", + "to be done by him for the unfortunate of his race was beyond the
    \r\n", + "southern democratic states of America; and, with this doubt
    \r\n", + "instinctively before him, he was not restless for the consummation.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Some three months after the introduction of the new state of
    \r\n", + "affairs, Dad Daniel was observed to have something weighing heavily
    \r\n", + "on his mind. At times he was seen consulting seriously with Harry;
    \r\n", + "but of the purport of these consultations no one, except themselves,
    \r\n", + "was made acquainted. That very many venerable uncles and aunts were
    \r\n", + "curious to know Daddy's secret contemplations was equally evident.
    \r\n", + "At length Daniel called a meeting of his more aged and sagacious
    \r\n", + "brethren, and with sage face made known his cherished project.
    \r\n", + "Absalom and Uncle Cato listened with breathless suspense as the sage
    \r\n", + "sayings fell from his lips. His brethren had all felt the sweet
    \r\n", + "pleasures of justice, right, freedom, and kindness. \"Well, den,
    \r\n", + "broderin, is't 'um right in de sight ob de Lord, dat ye forgets dat
    \r\n", + "broder what done so much fo'h ye body and ye soul too?\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, No! dat tisn't!\" interrupted a dozen voices.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, den!-I know'd, broderin, ye hab got da' bright spirit in ye,
    \r\n", + "and wouldn't say 'twas!\" Daniel continues, making a gesture with his
    \r\n", + "left hand, as he raises the spectacles from his eyes with his right,
    \r\n", + "and in his fervency lets them speed across the room. Daniel is only
    \r\n", + "made conscious of his ecstasy when his broken eyes are returned to
    \r\n", + "him. Turning to his brethren, he makes one of his very best
    \r\n", + "apologies, and continues-\"Dis ar poposition I'se gwine to put! And
    \r\n", + "dat is, dat all ye broderin ere present put up somefin ob he arnin,
    \r\n", + "and wid dat somefin, and what mas'r gib, too, we sarve dat geman
    \r\n", + "what preach the gospel dat do 'em good wid 'e freedom for sef and
    \r\n", + "family. Tain't right in de sight ob de Lor, nohow, to have preacher
    \r\n", + "slave and congration free: I tell ye dat, my broderin, tain't!\" With
    \r\n", + "these sage remarks, Daddy Daniel concluded his proposition, leaned
    \r\n", + "his body forward, spread his hands, and, his wrinkled face filled
    \r\n", + "with comicality, waited the unanimous response which sounded forth
    \r\n", + "in rapturous medley. Each one was to put in his mite, the preacher
    \r\n", + "was to have a fund made up for him, which was to be placed in the
    \r\n", + "hands of missus, and when sufficiently large (master will add his
    \r\n", + "mite) be handed over for the freedom of the clergyman and his
    \r\n", + "family. But missus, ever generous and watchful of their interests,
    \r\n", + "had learned their intentions, and forestalled their kindness by
    \r\n", + "herself setting them free, and leaving it to their own discretion to
    \r\n", + "go where they will. There were many good men at the south-men whose
    \r\n", + "care of their slaves constituted a bond of good faith; but they
    \r\n", + "failed to carry out means for protecting the slave against the
    \r\n", + "mendacity of the tyrant. None more than Harry had felt how
    \r\n", + "implicated was the state for giving great power to tyrant
    \r\n", + "democracy-that democracy giving him no common right under the laws
    \r\n", + "of the land, unless, indeed, he could change his skin. Ardently as
    \r\n", + "he was attached to the plantation and its people-much as he loved
    \r\n", + "good master and missus, he would prefer a home in happy New England,
    \r\n", + "a peaceful life among its liberty-loving people. To this end the
    \r\n", + "Rosebrooks provided him with money, sent him to the land he had
    \r\n", + "longed to live in. In Connecticut he has a neat and comfortable
    \r\n", + "home, far from the cares of slave life; no bloodhounds seek him
    \r\n", + "there, no cruel slave-dealer haunts his dreams. An intelligent
    \r\n", + "family have grown up around him; their smiles make him happy; they
    \r\n", + "welcome him as a father who will no more be torn from them and sold
    \r\n", + "in a democratic slave mart. And, too, Harry is a hearty worker in
    \r\n", + "the cause of freedom, preaches the gospel, and is the inventor of a
    \r\n", + "system of education by which he hopes to elevate the fallen of his
    \r\n", + "race. He has visited foreign lands, been listened to by dukes and
    \r\n", + "nobles, and enlisted the sympathies of the lofty in the cause of the
    \r\n", + "lowly. And while his appeals on behalf of his race are fervent and
    \r\n", + "fiery, his expositions of the wrongs of slavery are equally fierce;
    \r\n", + "but he is not ungrateful to the good master, whom he would elevate
    \r\n", + "high above the cruel laws he is born and educated to observe. With
    \r\n", + "gratitude and affection does he recur to the generous Rosebrooks; he
    \r\n", + "would hold them forth as an example to the slave world, and emblazon
    \r\n", + "their works on the pages of history, as proof of what can be done.
    \r\n", + "Bright in his eventful life, was the day, when, about to take his
    \r\n", + "departure from the slave world, he bid the Rosebrooks a long, long
    \r\n", + "good by. He vividly remembers how hope seemed lighting up the
    \r\n", + "prospect before him-how good missus shook his hand so motherly-how
    \r\n", + "kindly she spoke to Jane, and how fondly she patted his little ones
    \r\n", + "on the head. \"The Rosebrooks,\" says our restored clergyman, \"have
    \r\n", + "nothing to fear save the laws of the state, which may one day make
    \r\n", + "tyrranny crumble beneath its own burden.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLVIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH THE FATE OF FRANCONIA IS SEEN.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE reader may remember that in a former chapter we left Annette and
    \r\n", + "Franconia, in company of the stranger, on board the steamer for
    \r\n", + "Wilmington, swiftly gliding on her course. Four bells struck as the
    \r\n", + "surging craft cleared the headlands and shaped her course. The
    \r\n", + "slender invalid, so neat of figure, and whose dress exhibited so
    \r\n", + "much good taste, has been suddenly transformed into a delicate girl
    \r\n", + "of some seventeen summers. As night spreads its shadows over the
    \r\n", + "briny scene, and the steaming craft surges onward over rolling
    \r\n", + "swells, this delicate girl may be seen emerging from her cabin
    \r\n", + "confines, leaning on Franconia's arm as she approaches the promenade
    \r\n", + "deck. Her fawn-coloured dress, setting as neatly as it is
    \r\n", + "chastefully cut, displays a rounded form nicely compact; and,
    \r\n", + "together with a drawn bonnet of green silk, simply arranged, and
    \r\n", + "adding to her fair oval face an air of peculiar delicacy, present
    \r\n", + "her with personal attractions of no ordinary character. And then her
    \r\n", + "soft blue eyes, and her almost golden hair, hanging in thick wavy
    \r\n", + "folds over her carnatic cheeks, add to the symmetry of her features
    \r\n", + "that sweetness which makes modesty more fascinating. And though she
    \r\n", + "has been but a slave, there is a glow of gentleness pervading her
    \r\n", + "countenance, over which a playful smile now sheds a glow of
    \r\n", + "vivacity, as if awakening within her bosom new hopes of the future.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The suddenness with which they embarked served to confuse and dispel
    \r\n", + "all traces of recognition; and even the stranger, as they advanced
    \r\n", + "toward him, hesitated ere he greeted Annette and extended his hand.
    \r\n", + "But they soon joined in conversation, promenaded and mingled with
    \r\n", + "the passengers. Cautious not to enter the main cabin, they remained,
    \r\n", + "supperless, on the upper deck, until near midnight. That social
    \r\n", + "prejudice which acts like a crushing weight upon the slave's mind
    \r\n", + "was no longer to deaden her faculties; no, she seemed like a new
    \r\n", + "being, as, with childish simplicity, her soul bounded forth in
    \r\n", + "rhapsody of praise and thankfulness. Holding Franconia by the hand,
    \r\n", + "she would kiss her, fondle her head on her bosom, and continue to
    \r\n", + "recount the pleasure she anticipated when meeting her long-lost
    \r\n", + "mother. \"They'll sell me no more, Franconia, will they?\" she would
    \r\n", + "exclaim, looking enquiringly in her face.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"No, my poor child; you won't be worth selling in a land of
    \r\n", + "freedom!\" Franconia would answer, jocosely. After charging Maxwell
    \r\n", + "to be a father and a brother to the fugitive girl,--to remember that
    \r\n", + "a double duty was to be performed in his guardianship over the being
    \r\n", + "who had just escaped from slavery, they retired below, and on the
    \r\n", + "following morning found themselves safely landed at Wilmington,
    \r\n", + "where, after remaining about six hours, Franconia bid Annette and
    \r\n", + "Maxwell adieu! saw them on their way to New York, and returned to
    \r\n", + "Charleston by the same steamer.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "On reaching her home, she was overjoyed at finding a letter from her
    \r\n", + "parents, who, as set forth, had many years resided on the west coast
    \r\n", + "of Mexico, and had amassed a considerable fortune through a
    \r\n", + "connection with some mining operations. Lorenzo, on the first
    \r\n", + "discovery of gold in California, having joined a marauding party who
    \r\n", + "were traversing that country, was amongst the earliest who enriched
    \r\n", + "themselves from its bountiful yield. They gave up their wild
    \r\n", + "pursuits, and with energy and prudence stored-up their diggings, and
    \r\n", + "resolved to lead a new life. With the result of one year's digging,
    \r\n", + "Lorenzo repaired to San Francisco, entered upon a lucrative
    \r\n", + "business, increased his fortune, and soon became a leading man of
    \r\n", + "the place. The hope that at some day he would have means wherewith
    \r\n", + "to return home, wipe away the stain which blotted his character, and
    \r\n", + "relieve his parents from the troubles into which his follies had
    \r\n", + "brought them, seemed like a guiding star ever before him. And then
    \r\n", + "there was his generous-hearted uncle in the hands of Graspum,--that
    \r\n", + "man who never lost an opportunity of enriching himself while
    \r\n", + "distressing others. And now, by one of those singularities of
    \r\n", + "fortune which give persons long separated a key to each other's
    \r\n", + "wayfaring, Lorenzo had found out the residence of his parents on the
    \r\n", + "west coast of Mexico. Yes; he was with them, enjoying the comforts
    \r\n", + "of their domicile, at the date of their letter. How happy they would
    \r\n", + "be to see their Franconia, to have her with them, and once more
    \r\n", + "enjoy their social re-unions so pleasantly given on brother
    \r\n", + "Marston's plantation! Numberless were the letters they had written
    \r\n", + "her, but not an answer to one had been received. This had been to
    \r\n", + "them a source of great misgiving; and as a last resource they had
    \r\n", + "sent this letter enclosed to a friend, through whose kindness it
    \r\n", + "reached her.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The happy intelligence brought by this letter so overjoyed Franconia
    \r\n", + "that she could with difficulty restrain her feelings. Tears of
    \r\n", + "gladness coursed down her cheeks, as she rested her head on Mrs.
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook's bosom, saying, \"Oh, how happy I am! Sweet is the
    \r\n", + "forgiveness which awaits us,--strong is the hope that through
    \r\n", + "darkness carries us into brighter prospects of the future.\" Her
    \r\n", + "parents were yet alive-happy and prosperous; her brother, again an
    \r\n", + "honourable man, and regretting that error which cost him many a
    \r\n", + "tear, was with them. How inscrutable was the will of an all-wise
    \r\n", + "Providence: but how just! To be ever sanguine, and hope for the
    \r\n", + "best, is a passion none should be ashamed of, she thought. Thus
    \r\n", + "elated in spirits she could not resist the temptation of seeking
    \r\n", + "them out, and enjoying the comforts of their parental roof.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "But we must here inform the reader that M'Carstrow no longer acted
    \r\n", + "the part of a husband towards Franconia. His conduct as a debauchee
    \r\n", + "had driven her to seek shelter under the roof of Rosebrook's
    \r\n", + "cottage, while he, a degraded libertine, having wasted his living
    \r\n", + "among cast-out gamblers, mingled only with their despicable society.
    \r\n", + "Stripped of all arts and disguises, and presented in its best form,
    \r\n", + "the result of Franconia's marriage with Colonel M'Carstrow was but
    \r\n", + "one of those very many unhappy connections so characteristic of
    \r\n", + "southern life.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Provided with funds which the generous Rosebrooks kindly furnished
    \r\n", + "her, a fortnight after the receipt of her father's letter found her
    \r\n", + "embarked on board a steamer bound for the Isthmus, from whence she
    \r\n", + "would seek her parents overland. With earnest resolution she had
    \r\n", + "taken a fond leave of the Rosebrooks, and bid adieu to that home and
    \r\n", + "its associations so dear to her childhood; and with God and happy
    \r\n", + "associations her guide and her protector, was bounding over the sea.
    \r\n", + "For three days the gallant ship sped swiftly onward, and the
    \r\n", + "passengers, among whom she made many friends, seemed to enjoy
    \r\n", + "themselves with one accord, mingling together for various
    \r\n", + "amusements, spreading their social influence for the good of all,
    \r\n", + "and, with elated spirits at the bright prospect, anticipating a
    \r\n", + "speedy voyage. All was bright, calm, and cheering-the monster
    \r\n", + "machines working smoothly, pressing the leviathan forward with
    \r\n", + "curling brine at her bows, until the afternoon of the fourth day,
    \r\n", + "when the wind in sharp gusts from the south-west, and the sudden
    \r\n", + "falling of the barometer, admonished the mariner of the approaching
    \r\n", + "heavy weather. At sunset a heavy bank in the west hung its
    \r\n", + "foreboding festoons along the horizon, while light, fleecy clouds
    \r\n", + "gathered over the heavens, and scudded swiftly into the east.
    \r\n", + "Steadily the wind increased, the sea became restless, and the sharp
    \r\n", + "chops thundering at the weather bow, veering the ship from her
    \r\n", + "course, rendering it necessary to keep her head a point nearer the
    \r\n", + "westward, betokened a gale. To leeward were the Bahamas, their
    \r\n", + "dangerous banks spreading awe among the passengers, and exciting the
    \r\n", + "fears of the more timid. On the starboard bow was Key West, with its
    \r\n", + "threatening and deceptive reefs, but far enough ahead to be out of
    \r\n", + "danger. At midnight, the wind, which had increased to a gale, howled
    \r\n", + "in threatening fierceness. Overhead, the leaden clouds hung low
    \r\n", + "their massive folds, and thick spray buried the decks and rigging;
    \r\n", + "beneath, the angry ocean spread out in resistless waves of
    \r\n", + "phosphorous light, and the gallant craft surged to and fro like a
    \r\n", + "thing of life on a plain of rolling fire. Now she yields to the
    \r\n", + "monster wave threatening her bow, over another she rides proudly,
    \r\n", + "and to a third her engines slowly rumble round, as with half-buried
    \r\n", + "deck she careens to its force. The man at the wheel, whose head we
    \r\n", + "see near a glimmering light at the stern, watches anxiously for the
    \r\n", + "word of command, and when received, executes it with quickness. An
    \r\n", + "intruding sea has driven the look-out from the knight-heads to a
    \r\n", + "post at the funnel, where, near the foremast, he clings with
    \r\n", + "tenacious grip. Near him is the first officer, a veteran seaman, who
    \r\n", + "has seen some twenty years' service, receiving orders from the
    \r\n", + "captain, who stands at the weather quarter. Noiselessly the men
    \r\n", + "proceed to execute their duties. There is not that bustle nor
    \r\n", + "display of seamanship, in preparing a steamer for encountering a
    \r\n", + "gale, so necessary in a sailing-ship; and all, save the angry
    \r\n", + "elements, move cautiously on. The engineer, in obedience to the
    \r\n", + "captain's orders, has slowed his engines. The ship can make but
    \r\n", + "little headway against the fierce sea; but still, obedient to her
    \r\n", + "command, it is thought better to maintain power just sufficient to
    \r\n", + "keep her head to the sea. The captain says it is necessary, as well
    \r\n", + "to ease her working as not to strain her machinery. He is supposed
    \r\n", + "the better judge, and to his counsel all give ear. Now and then a
    \r\n", + "more resolute passenger shoots from no one knows where, holds
    \r\n", + "struggling by the jerking shroud, and, wrapt in his storm cloak, his
    \r\n", + "amazed eyes, watching the scudding elements overhead, peer out upon
    \r\n", + "the raging sea: then he mutters, \"What an awful sight! how madly
    \r\n", + "grand with briny light!\" How sublimely terrific are the elements
    \r\n", + "here combined to wage war against the craft he thought safe from
    \r\n", + "their thunders! She is but a pigmy in their devouring sweep, a
    \r\n", + "feeble prey at their mercy. The starboard wheel rumbles as it turns
    \r\n", + "far out of water; the larboard is buried in a deep sea the ship
    \r\n", + "careens into. Through the fierce drear he sees the black funnel
    \r\n", + "vomiting its fiery vapour high aloft; he hears the chain braces
    \r\n", + "strain and creak in its support; he is jerked from his grasp,
    \r\n", + "becomes alarmed for his safety, and suddenly disappears. In the
    \r\n", + "cabin he tells his fellow voyagers how the storm rages fearfully:
    \r\n", + "but it needed not his word to confirm the fact: the sudden lurching,
    \r\n", + "creaking of panel-work, swinging to and fro of lamps, sliding from
    \r\n", + "larboard to starboard of furniture, the thumping of the sea against
    \r\n", + "the ship's sides, prostrate passengers made helpless by sea
    \r\n", + "sickness, uncouched and distributed about the floor, moaning
    \r\n", + "females, making those not ill sick with their wailings, timid
    \r\n", + "passengers in piteous accents making their lamentations in state
    \r\n", + "rooms, the half frightened waiter struggling timidly along, and the
    \r\n", + "wind's mournful music as it plays through the shrouds, tell the tale
    \r\n", + "but too forcibly. Hope, fear, and prayer, mingle in curious discord
    \r\n", + "on board this seemingly forlorn ship on an angry sea. Franconia lies
    \r\n", + "prostrate in her narrow berth, now bracing against the panels, then
    \r\n", + "startled by an angry sea striking at her pillow, like death with his
    \r\n", + "warning mallet announcing, \"but sixteen inches separate us!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daylight dawns forth, much to the relief of mariners and passengers;
    \r\n", + "but neither the wind nor the sea have lessened their fierceness.
    \r\n", + "Slowly and steadily the engines work on; the good ship looks
    \r\n", + "defiantly at each threatening sea, as it sweeps along irresistibly;
    \r\n", + "the yards have been sent down, the topmasts are struck and housed;
    \r\n", + "everything that can render her easy in a sea has been stowed to the
    \r\n", + "snuggest compass; but the broad ocean is spread out a sheet of
    \r\n", + "raging foam. The drenched captain, his whiskers matted with saline,
    \r\n", + "and his face glowing and flushed (he has stood the deck all night),
    \r\n", + "may be seen in the main cabin, cheering and dispelling the fears of
    \r\n", + "his passengers. The storm cannot last-the wind will soon lull-the
    \r\n", + "sea at meridian will be as calm as any mill-pond-he has seen a
    \r\n", + "thousand worse gales; so says the mariner, who will pledge his
    \r\n", + "prophecy on his twenty years' experience. But in this one instance
    \r\n", + "his prophecy failed, for at noon the gale had increased to a
    \r\n", + "hurricane, the ship laboured fearfully, the engines strained and
    \r\n", + "worked unsteadily, while the sea at intervals made a breach of the
    \r\n", + "deck. At two o'clock a more gloomy spectacle presented itself; and
    \r\n", + "despondency seemed to have seized all on board, as a sharp,
    \r\n", + "cone-like sea boarded the ship abaft, carried away the quarter-boats
    \r\n", + "from the starboard davys, and started several stancheons. Scarcely
    \r\n", + "was the work of destruction complete, when the condenser of the
    \r\n", + "larboard engine gave out, rendering the machine useless, and
    \r\n", + "spreading dismay among the passengers. Thus, dragging the wheel in
    \r\n", + "so fearful a sea strained the ship more and more, and rendered her
    \r\n", + "almost unmanageable. Again a heavy, clanking noise was heard, the
    \r\n", + "steam rumbled from the funnel, thick vapour escaped from the
    \r\n", + "hatchways, the starboard engine stopped, and consternation reigned
    \r\n", + "triumphant, as a man in oily fustian approached the captain and
    \r\n", + "announced both engines disabled. The unmanageable monster now rolled
    \r\n", + "and surged at the sweep of each succeeding sea, which threatened to
    \r\n", + "engulph her in its sway. A piece of canvas is set in the main
    \r\n", + "rigging, and her helm put hard down, in the hope of keeping her head
    \r\n", + "to the wind. But she obeys not its direction. Suddenly she yaws off
    \r\n", + "into the trough of the sea, lurches broad on, and ere she regains
    \r\n", + "her way, a fierce sea sweeps the house from the decks, carrying
    \r\n", + "those within it into a watery grave. Shrieks and moans, for a
    \r\n", + "moment, mingle their painful discord with the murmuring wind, and
    \r\n", + "all is buried in the roar of the elements. By bracing the fore-yard
    \r\n", + "hard-a-starboard the unwieldy wreck is got before the wind; but the
    \r\n", + "smoke-funnel has followed the house, and so complete is the work of
    \r\n", + "demolition that it is with difficulty she can be kept afloat. Those
    \r\n", + "who were in the main, or lower cabin, startled at the sudden crash
    \r\n", + "which had removed the house above, and leaving the passages open,
    \r\n", + "exposing them to the rushing water that invaded their state-rooms,
    \r\n", + "seek the deck, where a more dismal sight is presented in the
    \r\n", + "fragments of wreck spread from knight-head to taffrail. The anxious
    \r\n", + "captain, having descended from the upper deck a few minutes before
    \r\n", + "the dire calamity, is saved to his passengers, with whom and his men
    \r\n", + "he labours to make safe what remains of his noble ship. Now more at
    \r\n", + "ease in the sea, with canvas brought from the store-rooms, are the
    \r\n", + "hatches and companions battened down, the splintered stancheons
    \r\n", + "cleared away, and extra pumps prepared for clearing the water fast
    \r\n", + "gaining in the lower hold. Lumbering moves the heavy mass over the
    \r\n", + "mounting surge; but a serious leak having sprung in the bow,
    \r\n", + "consternation and alarm seem on the point of adding to the sources
    \r\n", + "of danger. \"Coolness is our safeguard,\" says the captain. Indeed,
    \r\n", + "the exercise of that all-important virtue when destruction threatens
    \r\n", + "would have saved thousands from watery graves.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "His admonition was heeded,--all worked cheerfully, and for some time
    \r\n", + "the water was kept within bounds of subjection. As night approached
    \r\n", + "the sea became calmer, a bright streak gleamed along the western
    \r\n", + "horizon; hearts that had sorrowed gladdened with joy, as the murky
    \r\n", + "clouds overhead chased quickly into the east and dissolved, and the
    \r\n", + "blue arch of heaven-hung with pearly stars of hope-shed its peaceful
    \r\n", + "glows over the murmuring sea.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Again the night was passed in incessant labour of pumping and
    \r\n", + "clearing up the dismantled hull; but when daylight appeared, the
    \r\n", + "wind having veered and increased, the sea ran in short swells,
    \r\n", + "rocking the unwieldly hull, and fearfully straining every timber in
    \r\n", + "its frame. The leak now increased rapidly, as also did the water in
    \r\n", + "the hold, now beyond their exertions to clear. At ten o'clock all
    \r\n", + "hopes of keeping the wreck afloat had disappeared; and the last
    \r\n", + "alternative of a watery grave, or launching upon the broad ocean,
    \r\n", + "presented its stern terms for their acceptance. A council decided to
    \r\n", + "adopt the latter, when, as the hulk began to settle in the sea, and
    \r\n", + "with no little danger of swamping, boats were launched, supplied
    \r\n", + "with such stores as were at hand, the passengers and crew embarked,
    \r\n", + "and the frail barks sent away with their hapless freight to seek a
    \r\n", + "haven of safety. The leviathan hulk soon disappeared from sight.
    \r\n", + "Franconia, with twenty-five fellow unfortunates, five of whom were
    \r\n", + "females, had embarked in the mate's boat, which now shaped her
    \r\n", + "course for Nassau, the wind having veered into the north-west, and
    \r\n", + "that seeming the nearest and most available point. The clothing they
    \r\n", + "stood in was all they saved; but with that readiness to protect the
    \r\n", + "female, so characteristic and noble of the sailor, the mate and his
    \r\n", + "men lightened the sufferings of the women by giving them a portion
    \r\n", + "of their own: incasing them with their jackets and fearnoughts, they
    \r\n", + "would shield them from the night chill. For five days were
    \r\n", + "sufferings endured without a murmur that can only be appreciated by
    \r\n", + "those who have passed through shipwreck, or, tossed upon the ocean
    \r\n", + "in an open boat, been left to stare in the face grim hunger and
    \r\n", + "death. At noonday they sighted land ahead; and as each eager eye
    \r\n", + "strained for the welcome sight, it seemed rising from the ocean in a
    \r\n", + "dim line of haze. Slowly, as they neared, did it come bolder and
    \r\n", + "bolder to view, until it shone out a long belt of white panoramic
    \r\n", + "banks. Low, and to the unpractised eye deceptive of distance, the
    \r\n", + "mate pronounced it not many miles off, and, the wind freshening
    \r\n", + "fair, kept the little bark steadily on her course, hoping thereby to
    \r\n", + "gain it before night came on: but the sun sank in a heavy cloud when
    \r\n", + "yet some four miles intervened. Distinctly they saw a cluster of
    \r\n", + "houses on a projecting point nearly ahead; but not a sail was off
    \r\n", + "shore, to which the increasing wind was driving them with great
    \r\n", + "violence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now that object which had been sighted with so much welcome in
    \r\n", + "the morning-that had cheered many a drooping heart, and seemed a
    \r\n", + "haven of safety, threatened their destruction. The water shoaled;
    \r\n", + "the sea broke and surged in sharp cones; the little craft tippled
    \r\n", + "and yawed confusedly; the counter eddies twirled and whirled in
    \r\n", + "foaming concaves; and leaden clouds again hung their threatening
    \r\n", + "festoons over the awful sea. To lay her head to the sea was
    \r\n", + "impracticable-an attempt to \"lay-to\" under the little sail would be
    \r\n", + "madness; onward she rode, hurrying to an inevitable fate. Away she
    \r\n", + "swept through the white crests, as the wind murmured and the sea
    \r\n", + "roared, and the anxious countenance of the mate, still guiding the
    \r\n", + "craft with a steady hand, seemed masked in watchfulness. His hand
    \r\n", + "remained firm to the helm, his eyes peered into the black prospect
    \r\n", + "ahead: but not a word did he utter.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "It was near ten o'clock, when a noise as of thunder rolling in the
    \r\n", + "distance, and re-echoing in booming accents, broke fearfully upon
    \r\n", + "their ears. The sea, every moment threatening to engulph the little
    \r\n", + "craft, to sweep its freight of human beings into eternity, and to
    \r\n", + "seal for ever all traces of their fate, was now the lesser enemy.
    \r\n", + "Not a word had escaped the lips of a being on board for several
    \r\n", + "minutes; all seemed resigned to whatever fate Providence awarded.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"The beach roars, Mr. Slade-\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The mate interrupted before the seaman in the sheets had time to
    \r\n", + "finish his sentence: \"I have not been deaf to the breakers; but
    \r\n", + "there is no hope for us but upon the beach; and may heaven save us
    \r\n", + "there! Passengers, be calm! let me enjoin you to remain firm to your
    \r\n", + "places, and, if it be God's will that we strike, the curling surf
    \r\n", + "may be our deliverer. If it carry you to the sand in its sweep,
    \r\n", + "press quickly and resolutely forward, lest it drag you back in its
    \r\n", + "grasp, and bury you beneath its angry surge. Be firm, and hope for
    \r\n", + "the best!\" he said, with great firmness. The man who first spoke sat
    \r\n", + "near Franconia, and during the five days they had been in the boat
    \r\n", + "exhibited great sympathy and kindness of heart. He had served her
    \r\n", + "with food, and, though a common sailor, displayed those traits of
    \r\n", + "tenderness for the suffering which it were well if those in higher
    \r\n", + "spheres of life did but imitate. As the mate ceased speaking, the
    \r\n", + "man took his pilot coat from his shoulder and placed it about
    \r\n", + "Franconia's, saying, \"I will save this lady, or die with her in the
    \r\n", + "very same sea.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"That's well done, Mr. Higgins!\" (for such was the man's name). \"Let
    \r\n", + "the hardiest not forget the females who have shown so much fortitude
    \r\n", + "under trying circumstances; let the strong not forget the weak, but
    \r\n", + "all save who can,\" returned the mate, as he scanned through the
    \r\n", + "stormy elements ahead, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the
    \r\n", + "point.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Drenched with the briny spray that swept over the little bark, never
    \r\n", + "did woman exhibit fortitude more resolute. Franconia thanked the man
    \r\n", + "for his solicitude, laid her hand nervously upon his arm, and,
    \r\n", + "through the dark, watched his countenance as if her fate was in its
    \r\n", + "changes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The din and murmur of the surf now rose high above the wail of the
    \r\n", + "sea. Fearful and gloomy, a fretted shore stood out before them,
    \r\n", + "extending from a bold jut on the starboard hand away into the
    \r\n", + "darkness on the left. Beneath it the angry surf beat and lashed
    \r\n", + "against the beach in a sheet of white foam, roaring in dismal
    \r\n", + "cadences.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Hadn't you better put her broad on, Mr. Slade?\" enquired the young
    \r\n", + "seaman, peering along the line of surf that bordered the shore with
    \r\n", + "its deluging bank.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ask no questions!\" returned the mate, in a firm voice: \"Act to the
    \r\n", + "moment, when she strikes-I will act until then.\" At the moment a
    \r\n", + "terrific rumbling broke forth; the din of elements seemed in battle
    \r\n", + "conflict; the little bark, as if by some unforeseen force, swept
    \r\n", + "through the lashing surge, over a high curling wave, and with a
    \r\n", + "fearful crash lay buried in the boiling sand. Agonising shrieks
    \r\n", + "sounded amid the rage of elements; and then fainter and fainter they
    \r\n", + "died away on the wind's murmurs. Another moment, and the young
    \r\n", + "sailor might have been seen, Franconia's slender form in his arms,
    \r\n", + "struggling against the devouring surf; but how vain against the
    \r\n", + "fierce monster were his noble efforts! The receding surge swept them
    \r\n", + "far from the shore, and buried them in its folds,--a watery grave
    \r\n", + "received the fair form of one whose life of love had been spotless,
    \r\n", + "just, and holy. The white wave was her winding-sheet,--the wind sang
    \r\n", + "a requiem over her watery grave,--and a just God received her spirit,
    \r\n", + "and enthroned it high among the angels.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Of the twenty-seven who embarked in the little craft, but two gained
    \r\n", + "the beach, where they stood drenched and forlorn, as if
    \r\n", + "contemplating the raging surf that had but a minute before swallowed
    \r\n", + "up their fellow voyagers. The boat had driven on a flat sandy beach
    \r\n", + "some two miles from the point on which stood the cluster of
    \r\n", + "dwellings before described; and from which two bright lights
    \r\n", + "glimmered, like beacons to guide the forlorn mariner. For them, the
    \r\n", + "escaped men-one a passenger, the other a seaman-shaped their course,
    \r\n", + "wet, and sad at heart.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER XLIX.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH IS A SAD RECOGNITION.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "THE mate did not mistake his position, for the jut of land we
    \r\n", + "described in the last chapter is but a few hours' ride from Nassau,
    \r\n", + "and the houses are inhabited by wreckers. With desponding hearts did
    \r\n", + "our unfortunates approach one of the rude cabins, from the window of
    \r\n", + "which a faint light glimmered, and hesitate at the door, as if
    \r\n", + "doubting the reception they were about to receive. The roaring of
    \r\n", + "the beach, and the sharp whistling of the wind, as in clouds it
    \r\n", + "scattered the sand through the air, drowned what sound might
    \r\n", + "otherwise be heard from within. \"This cabin seems deserted,\" says
    \r\n", + "one, as he taps on the door a second time. \"No, that cannot be!\"
    \r\n", + "returns the other, peering through a small window into the
    \r\n", + "barrack-like room. It was from this window the light shone, and,
    \r\n", + "being a bleak November night, a wood fire blazed on the great
    \r\n", + "hearth, shedding its lurid glows over everything around. It is the
    \r\n", + "pale, saline light of wreckwood. A large binnacle lamp, of copper,
    \r\n", + "hung from the centre of the ceiling, its murky light mingling in
    \r\n", + "curious contrast to the pale shadows of the wreckwood fire. Rude
    \r\n", + "chains, and chests, and boxes, and ropes, and canvas, and broken
    \r\n", + "bolts of copper, and pieces of valuable wood, and various nautical
    \r\n", + "relics-all indicating the trade of shipwreck, lie or stand
    \r\n", + "promiscuously about the room; while in the centre is a table
    \r\n", + "surrounded by chairs, some of which are turned aside, as if the
    \r\n", + "occupants had just left. Again, there may be seen hanging from the
    \r\n", + "unplastered walls numerous teeth of fish, bones and jaws of sharks,
    \r\n", + "fins and flukes of curious species, heads of the Floridian
    \r\n", + "mamalukes, and preserved dolphins-all is interspersed here and there
    \r\n", + "with coloured prints, illustrative of Jack's leaving or returning to
    \r\n", + "his favourite Mary, with a lingering farewell or fond embrace.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Louder and louder, assured of some living being within they knock at
    \r\n", + "the door, until a hoarse voice rather roars than speaks-\"Aye, aye!
    \r\n", + "hold hard a bit! I'se bearin' a hand!\" The sound came as if from the
    \r\n", + "clouds, for not a living being was visible. A pause followed; then
    \r\n", + "suddenly a pair of dingy legs and feet descended from a small
    \r\n", + "opening above the window, which, until that moment, had escaped
    \r\n", + "their notice. The sight was, indeed, not the most encouraging to
    \r\n", + "weak nerves. Clumsily lowered the legs, the feet making a ladder of
    \r\n", + "cleets of wood nailed to the window, until the burly figure of the
    \r\n", + "wrecker, encased with red shirt and blue trousers, stood out full to
    \r\n", + "view. Over his head stood bristly hair in jagged tufts; and as he
    \r\n", + "drew his brawny hand over the broad disc of his sun-scorched face,
    \r\n", + "winking and twisting his eyes in the glare, there stood boldly
    \r\n", + "outlined on his features the index of his profession. He shrugged
    \r\n", + "his shoulders, gathered his nether garments quickly about him,
    \r\n", + "paused as if half confused and half overjoyed, then ran to the
    \r\n", + "fire-place, threw into a heap the charred wood with a long wooden
    \r\n", + "poker, and sought the door, saying--\"Avast heavin a bit, Tom!\" Having
    \r\n", + "removed a wooden bar, he stands in the opening, braving out the
    \r\n", + "storm. \"A screachin nor'easter this, Tom--what'r ye sighted away,
    \r\n", + "eh!\" he concludes. He is--to use a vulgar term--aghast with surprise.
    \r\n", + "It was Tom Dasher's watch to-night; but no Tom stands before him.
    \r\n", + "\"Hallo!--From whence came you?\" he enquires of the stranger, with an
    \r\n", + "air of anxious surprise. He bids them come in, for the wind carries
    \r\n", + "the sand rushing into his domicile.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We are shipwrecked men in distress,\" says the passenger--the
    \r\n", + "wrecker, with an air of kindness, motioning them to sit down: \"Our
    \r\n", + "party have been swallowed up in the surf a short distance below, and
    \r\n", + "we are the only survivors here seeking shelter.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Zounds you say--God be merciful!\" interrupts the hardy wrecker, ere
    \r\n", + "the stranger had time to finish his sentence. \"It was Tom's look-out
    \r\n", + "to-night. Its ollers the way wi' him--he gits turned in, and sleeps
    \r\n", + "as niver a body see'd, and when time comes to unbunk himself, one
    \r\n", + "disn't know whether 'ts wind or Tom's snoarin cracks hardest. Well,
    \r\n", + "well,--God help us! Think ye now, if wife and I, didn't, in a half
    \r\n", + "sort of dream, fancy folks murmuring and crying on the beach about
    \r\n", + "twelve, say. But the wind and the surf kept up such a piping, and
    \r\n", + "Tom said ther war nought a sight at sundown.\" With a warm expression
    \r\n", + "of good intention did our hardy host set about the preparing
    \r\n", + "something to cheer their drooping spirits. \"Be at home there wi'
    \r\n", + "me,\" says he; \"and if things b'nt as fine as they might be, remember
    \r\n", + "we're poor folks, and have many a hard knock on the reefs for what
    \r\n", + "we drag out. Excuse the bits o' things ye may see about; and wife
    \r\n", + "'ll be down in a fip and do the vary best she can fo'h ye.\" He had a
    \r\n", + "warm heart concealed beneath that rough exterior; he had long
    \r\n", + "followed the daring profession, seen much suffering, lightened many
    \r\n", + "a sorrowing heart. Bustling about among old boxes and bags, he soon
    \r\n", + "drew forth a lot of blankets and quilts, which he spread upon the
    \r\n", + "broad brick hearth, at the same time keeping up a series of
    \r\n", + "questions they found difficult to answer, so rapidly were they put.
    \r\n", + "They had indeed fallen into the hands of a good Samaritan, who would
    \r\n", + "dress their wounds with his best balms.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"An' now I tak it ye must be famished; so my old woman must get up
    \r\n", + "an' help mak ye comfortable,\" says he, bringing forth a black
    \r\n", + "tea-kettle, and filling it from a pail that stood on a shelf near
    \r\n", + "the fire-frame. He will hang it on the fire. He had no need of
    \r\n", + "calling the good dame; for as suddenly as mysteriously does the
    \r\n", + "chubby figure of a motherly-looking female of some forty years shoot
    \r\n", + "from the before described opening, and greeting the strangers with a
    \r\n", + "hearty welcome, set about preparing something to relieve their
    \r\n", + "exhaustion. A gentle smile pervades her little red face, so simply
    \r\n", + "expressive; her peaked cap shines so brightly in contrast with the
    \r\n", + "black ribbon with which she secures it under her mole-bedecked chin;
    \r\n", + "and her short homespun frock sets so comely, showing her thick knit
    \r\n", + "stockings, and her feet well protected in calfskin laces, with heels
    \r\n", + "a trooper might not despise; and then, she spreads her little table
    \r\n", + "with a heartiness that adds its value to simple goodness,--her
    \r\n", + "invitingly clean cups and saucers, and knives and forks, as she
    \r\n", + "spreads them, look so cheerful. The kettle begins to sing, and the
    \r\n", + "steam fumes from the spout, and the hardy wrecker brings his bottle
    \r\n", + "of old Jamaica, and his sugar; and such a bowl of hot punch was
    \r\n", + "never made before. \"Come now,\" he says, \"ye're in my little place;
    \r\n", + "the wrecker as don't make the distressed comfortable aneath his ruf
    \r\n", + "'s a disgrace to the craft.\" And now he hands each a mug of steaming
    \r\n", + "punch, which they welcomely receive, a glow of satisfaction
    \r\n", + "bespreading his face, telling with what sincerity he gives it. Ere
    \r\n", + "they commenced sipping, the good dame brought pilot bread and set it
    \r\n", + "before them; and while she returned to preparing her supper the
    \r\n", + "wrecker draws his wooden seat by their side, and with ears attentive
    \r\n", + "listens to the passenger as he recites the disaster.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Only two out of twenty-seven saved-a sorry place that gulf!\" he
    \r\n", + "exclaims; \"you bear away, wife. Ah, many a good body's bones, too,
    \r\n", + "have whitened the beach beside us; many 's the bold fellow has been
    \r\n", + "dashed upon it to die unknown,\" he continues, with serious face.
    \r\n", + "\"And war ner onny wemen amang ye, good man?\" interposes the good
    \r\n", + "dame.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Seven; they have all passed into eternity!\" rejoins the seaman,
    \r\n", + "who, till then, had been a mute looker-on.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Poor souls! how they mun' 'ave suffered!\" she sighs, shaking her
    \r\n", + "head, and leaning against the great fire frame, as her eyes fill
    \r\n", + "with tears. The wrecker must needs acquaint Tom Dasher, bring him to
    \r\n", + "his aid, and, though the storm yet rages, go search the beating surf
    \r\n", + "where roll the unfortunates. Nay, the good dame will herself execute
    \r\n", + "the errand of mercy, while he supplies the strangers with dry
    \r\n", + "clothes; she will bring Tom hither. She fears not the tempest while
    \r\n", + "her soul warms to do good; she will comfort the distressed who seek
    \r\n", + "shelter under her roof. With the best his rough wardrobe affords
    \r\n", + "does the wrecker clothe them, while his good wife, getting Tom up,
    \r\n", + "relates her story, and hastens back with him to her domicile. Tom is
    \r\n", + "an intrepid seafarer, has spent some seven years wrecking, saved
    \r\n", + "many a life from the grasp of the grand Bahama, and laid up a good
    \r\n", + "bit of money lest some stormy day may overtake him and make the wife
    \r\n", + "a widow.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"This is a hard case, Stores!\" says Tom, addressing himself to our
    \r\n", + "wrecker, as with sharp, hairy face, and keen black eyes, his
    \r\n", + "countenance assumes great seriousness. Giving his sou'-wester a
    \r\n", + "cant back on his head, running his left hand deep into the pocket of
    \r\n", + "his pea-jacket, and supplying his mouth with tobacco from his right,
    \r\n", + "he stands his tall figure carelessly before the fire, and in a
    \r\n", + "contemplative mood remains silent for a few minutes.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Aye, but somethin' mun' be done, Tom,\" says the first wrecker,
    \r\n", + "breaking silence.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes; as my name is Tom Dasher, there must. We must go to the beach,
    \r\n", + "and see what it's turned up,--what there is to be seen, an' the like
    \r\n", + "o' that.\" Then, turning to the strangers, he continued, \"Pity yer
    \r\n", + "skipper hadn't a headed her two points further suthard, rounded the
    \r\n", + "point just above here a bit, and made a lee under the bend. Our
    \r\n", + "craft lies there now,--as snug as Tompkins' wife in her chamber!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes, but, Tom! ye dinna think as the poor folks could know all
    \r\n", + "things,\" speaks up the woman, as Tom was about to add a few items
    \r\n", + "more, merely to give the strangers some evidence of his skill.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Aye, aye,--all right; I didn't get the balance on't just then,\"
    \r\n", + "returned Tom, nodding his head with an air of satisfaction.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A nice supper of broiled fish, and toast, and tea, and hot rum
    \r\n", + "punch-of which Tom helped himself without stint-was set out, the
    \r\n", + "strangers invited to draw up, and all partook of the plain but
    \r\n", + "cheering fare. As daylight was fast approaching, the two wreckers
    \r\n", + "dispatched their meal before the others, and sought the spot on the
    \r\n", + "beach described as where the fatal wreck took place, while the good
    \r\n", + "dame put the shipwrecked to sleep in the attic, and covered them
    \r\n", + "with her warmest rugs and blankets.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Not a vestige of the wreck was to be seen-not a fragment to mark the
    \r\n", + "spot where but a few hours before twenty-five souls were hurried
    \r\n", + "into eternity. They stood and stood, scanning over the angry ocean
    \r\n", + "into the gloom: nothing save the wail of the wind and the sea's roar
    \r\n", + "greeted their ears. Tom Dasher thinks either they have been borne
    \r\n", + "out into the fathomless caves, or the men are knaves with false
    \r\n", + "stories in their mouths.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Stores,--for such is our good man's name-turning from the spot, says
    \r\n", + "daylight will disclose a different scene; with the wind as it is the
    \r\n", + "bodies will be drawn into the eddy on the point, and thrown ashore
    \r\n", + "by the under-current, for burial. \"Poor creatures! there's no help
    \r\n", + "for them now;\" he adds, sighing, as they wend their way back to the
    \r\n", + "cabin, where the good dame waits their coming. Their search was in
    \r\n", + "vain; having no news to bring her, she must be contented until
    \r\n", + "morning. If the bodies wash ashore, the good woman of the Humane
    \r\n", + "Society will come down from the town, and see them decently buried.
    \r\n", + "Stores has several times spoken of this good woman; were she a
    \r\n", + "ministering angel he could not speak of her name with more
    \r\n", + "reverence. For years, he tells us, has she been a harbinger of good,
    \r\n", + "ever relieving the sick and needy, cheering the downcast, protecting
    \r\n", + "the unfortunate. Her name has become a symbol of compassion; she
    \r\n", + "mingles with the richest and the poorest, and none know her but to
    \r\n", + "love and esteem her. \"And she, too, is an American lady!\" Stores
    \r\n", + "says, exultingly. And to judge from his praise, we should say, if
    \r\n", + "her many noble deeds were recorded on fair marble, it would not add
    \r\n", + "one jot to that impression of her goodness made on the hearts of the
    \r\n", + "people among whom she lives.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Ah, man! she's a good woman, and everybody loves and looks up to
    \r\n", + "her. And she's worth loving, too, because she's so kind,\" adds the
    \r\n", + "good dame, significantly canting her head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Daylight was now breaking in the east, and as there seemed no chance
    \r\n", + "of making a search on the bank that day, such was the fierceness of
    \r\n", + "the wind, the two men drank again of the punch, spread their
    \r\n", + "blankets before the fire, lay their hardy figures down, and were
    \r\n", + "soon in a profound sleep. The woman, more watchful, coiled herself
    \r\n", + "in a corner of the room on some sail-cloth, but did not sleep.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "At ten o'clock they were aroused by the neighbours, who, in great
    \r\n", + "anxiety, had come to inform them of an event they were already
    \r\n", + "conscious of,--adding, however, as an evidence of what had taken
    \r\n", + "place, that sixteen male and three female bodies, borne to the rips
    \r\n", + "at the point, had been thrown upon the shore. The denizens of the
    \r\n", + "point were indeed in a state of excitement; a messenger had been
    \r\n", + "sent into the town for the coroner, which said functionary soon
    \r\n", + "spread the news about, creating no little commotion among the
    \r\n", + "inhabitants, many of whom repaired to the scene of the disaster.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "When it became known that two witnesses to the dire misfortune had
    \r\n", + "been spared to tell the tale, and were now at Stores' house, the
    \r\n", + "excitement calmed into sympathy. The wrecker's little village
    \r\n", + "resounded with curious enquiries, and few were they who would be
    \r\n", + "satisfied without a recital of the sad tale by the rescued men.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Carefully they brought the dead bodies from the shore, and laid them
    \r\n", + "in an untenanted house, to await the coroner's order. Among them was
    \r\n", + "the slender form of Franconia, the dark dress in which she was clad
    \r\n", + "but little torn, and the rings yet remaining on her fingers. \"How
    \r\n", + "with fortitude she bore the suffering!\" said the rescued passenger,
    \r\n", + "gazing on her blanched features as they laid her on the floor: the
    \r\n", + "wrecker's wife covered her with a white sheet, and spread a pillow
    \r\n", + "carefully beneath her head.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes!\" returns the unfortunate seaman, who stood by his side, \"she
    \r\n", + "seemed of great goodness and gentleness. She said nothing, bore
    \r\n", + "everything without a murmur; she was Higgins' pet; and I'll lay he
    \r\n", + "died trying to save her, for never a braver fellow than Jack Higgins
    \r\n", + "stood trick at a wheel.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The coroner arrives as the last corpse is brought from the sand: he
    \r\n", + "holds his brief inquest, orders them buried, and retires. Soon,
    \r\n", + "three ladies-Stores' wife tells us they are of the Humane
    \r\n", + "Society-make their appearance in search of the deceased. They enter
    \r\n", + "Stores' house, greet his good dame familiarly, and remain seated
    \r\n", + "while she relates what has happened. One of the three is tall and
    \r\n", + "stately of figure, and dressed with that quiet taste so becoming a
    \r\n", + "lady. And while to the less observing eye no visible superiority
    \r\n", + "over the others is discernible, it is evident they view her in such
    \r\n", + "a light, always yielding to her counsels. Beneath a silk bonnet
    \r\n", + "trimmed with great neatness, is disclosed a finely oval face,
    \r\n", + "glowing with features of much regularity, large dark eyes of great
    \r\n", + "softness, and silky hair, laid in heavy wavy folds across a
    \r\n", + "beautifully arched brow-to which is added a sweet smile that ever
    \r\n", + "and anon plays over her slightly olive countenance. There, boldly
    \r\n", + "outlined, is the unmistakeable guide to a frank and gentle nature.
    \r\n", + "For several minutes does she listen to the honest woman's recital of
    \r\n", + "the sad event, which is suspended by the passenger making his
    \r\n", + "appearance. The wrecker's wife introduces him by motioning her hand,
    \r\n", + "and saying, \"This is the kind lady of whose goodness I spoke so last
    \r\n", + "night.\" Anxiously does she gather from the stranger each and every
    \r\n", + "incident of the voyage: this done, she will go to the house where
    \r\n", + "lay the dead, our good Dame Stores leading the way, talking from the
    \r\n", + "very honesty of her heart the while. In a small dilapidated dwelling
    \r\n", + "on the bleak sands, the dead lay. Children and old men linger about
    \r\n", + "the door,--now they make strange mutterings, and walk away, as if in
    \r\n", + "fear. Our messengers of mercy have entered the abode of the dead.
    \r\n", + "The wrecker's wife says, \"They are to be buried to-morrow, ma'am;\"
    \r\n", + "while the lady, with singular firmness, glances her eye along the
    \r\n", + "row of male bodies, counting them one by one. She has brought
    \r\n", + "shrouds, in which to bury them like Christians.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Them three females is here, ma'am,\" says Dame Stores, touching the
    \r\n", + "lady on the elbow, as she proceeds to uncover the bodies. The
    \r\n", + "passenger did, indeed, tell our Lady of Mercy there was one handsome
    \r\n", + "lady from Carolina. One by one she views their blanched and besanded
    \r\n", + "features.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"A bonny figure that, mum; I lay she's bin a handsome in her day,\"
    \r\n", + "with honest simplicity remarks Dame Stores, as, bent over the
    \r\n", + "lifeless body of Franconia, she turns back the sheet, carefully.
    \r\n", + "\"Yes,\" is the quick reply: the philanthropic woman's keen eye scans
    \r\n", + "along the body from head to foot. Dame Stores will part the silken
    \r\n", + "hair from off that cold brow, and smooth it with her hand. Suddenly
    \r\n", + "our lady's eyes dart forth anxiety; she recognises some familiar
    \r\n", + "feature, and trembles. The rescued seaman had been quietly viewing
    \r\n", + "the bodies, as if to distinguish their different persons, when a
    \r\n", + "wrecker, who had assisted in removing the bodies, entered the room
    \r\n", + "and approached him, \"Ah!\" exclaims the seaman, suddenly, \"yonder's
    \r\n", + "poor Jack Higgins.\" He points to a besanded body at the right, the
    \r\n", + "arms torn and bent partly over the breast, adding, \"Jack had a good
    \r\n", + "heart, he had.\" Turning half round, the wrecker replies, \"That 'un
    \r\n", + "had this 'un fast grappled in his arms; it was a time afore we got
    \r\n", + "'um apart.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Was it this body?\" enquires the lady, looking at the lifeless form
    \r\n", + "before her. He says, \"That same, ma'am; an' it looked as if he had
    \r\n", + "tried to save the slender woman.\" He points to the body which Dame
    \r\n", + "Stores has just uncovered. The good lady kneels over the body: her
    \r\n", + "face suddenly becomes pale; her lips purple and quiver; she seems
    \r\n", + "sinking with nervous excitement, as tremulously she seizes the
    \r\n", + "blanched hand in her own. Cold and frigid, it will not yield to her
    \r\n", + "touch \"That face-those brows, those pearly teeth, those lips so
    \r\n", + "delicate,--those hands,--those deathless emblems! how like Franconia
    \r\n", + "they seem,\" she ejaculates frantically, the bystanders looking on
    \r\n", + "with surprise. \"And are they not my Franconia's-my dear
    \r\n", + "deliverer's?\" she continues. She smooths the cold hands, and chafes
    \r\n", + "them in her own. The rings thereon were a present from Marston.
    \r\n", + "\"Those features like unto chiselled marble are hers; I am not
    \r\n", + "deceived: no! oh no! it cannot be a dream\" (in sorrow she shakes her
    \r\n", + "head as the tears begin to moisten her cheeks), \"she received my
    \r\n", + "letter, and was on her way seeking me.\" Again she smooths and
    \r\n", + "smooths her left hand over those pallid cheeks, her right still
    \r\n", + "pressing the cold hand of the corpse, as her emotions burst forth in
    \r\n", + "agonising sobs.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The wrecker's wife loosens the dress from about deceased's
    \r\n", + "neck-bares that bosom once so fair and beautiful. A small locket,
    \r\n", + "attached to a plain black necklace, lies upon it, like a moat on a
    \r\n", + "snowy surface. Nervously does the good woman grasp it, and opening
    \r\n", + "it behold a miniature of Marston, a facsimile of which is in her own
    \r\n", + "possession. \"Somethin' more 'ere, mum,\" says Dame Stores, drawing
    \r\n", + "from beneath a lace stomacher the lap of her chemise, on which is
    \r\n", + "written in indelible ink-\"Franconia M'Carstrow.\" The doubt no longer
    \r\n", + "lent its aid to hope; the lady's sorrowing heart can no longer
    \r\n", + "withstand the shock. Weeping tears of anguish, she says, \"May the
    \r\n", + "God of all goodness preserve her pure spirit, for it is my
    \r\n", + "Franconia! she who was my saviour; she it was who snatched me from
    \r\n", + "death, and put my feet on the dry land of freedom, and gave me-ah,
    \r\n", + "me!\" she shrieked,--and fell swooning over the lifeless body, ere
    \r\n", + "Dame Stores had time to clasp her in her arms.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "My reader can scarcely have failed to recognise in this messenger of
    \r\n", + "mercy,--this good woman who had so ennobled herself by seeking the
    \r\n", + "sufferer and relieving his wants, and who makes light the cares of
    \r\n", + "the lowly, the person of that slave-mother, Clotilda. Having drank
    \r\n", + "of the bitterness of slavery, she the more earnestly cheers the
    \r\n", + "desponding. That lifeless form, once so bright of beauty, so buoyant
    \r\n", + "of heart and joyous of spirit, is Franconia; she it was who
    \r\n", + "delivered the slave-mother from the yoke of bondage, set her feet on
    \r\n", + "freedom's heights, and on her head invoked its genial blessings. Her
    \r\n", + "soul had yearned for the slave's good; she had been a mother to
    \r\n", + "Annette, and dared snatch her from him who made the slave a
    \r\n", + "wretch,--democracy his boast! It was Franconia who placed the
    \r\n", + "miniature of Marston about Clotilda's neck on the night she effected
    \r\n", + "her escape,--bid her God speed into freedom. All that once so
    \r\n", + "abounded in goodness now lies cold in death. Eternity has closed her
    \r\n", + "lips with its strong seal,--no longer shall her soul be harassed with
    \r\n", + "the wrongs of a slave world: no! her pure spirit has ascended among
    \r\n", + "the angels.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We will not longer pain the reader's feelings with details of this
    \r\n", + "sad recognition, but inform him that the body was removed to
    \r\n", + "Clotilda's peaceful habitation, from whence, with becoming ceremony,
    \r\n", + "it was buried on the following day. A small marble tablet, standing
    \r\n", + "in a sequestered churchyard near the outskirts of Nassau, and on
    \r\n", + "which the traveller may read these simple words:--\"Franconia, my
    \r\n", + "friend, lies here!\" over which, in a circle, is chiseled the figure
    \r\n", + "of an angel descending, and beneath, \"How happy in Heaven are the
    \r\n", + "Good!\" marks the spot where her ashes rest in peace.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER L.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH A DANGEROUS PRINCIPLE IS ILLUSTRATED.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "SHOULD the sagacious reader be disappointed in our hero Nicholas,
    \r\n", + "who, instead of being represented as a model of disinterestedness,
    \r\n", + "perilling his life to save others, sacrificing his own interests for
    \r\n", + "the cause of liberty, and wasting on hardened mankind all those
    \r\n", + "amiable qualities which belong only to angels, but with which heroes
    \r\n", + "are generally invested for the happy purpose of pleasing the lover
    \r\n", + "of romance, has evinced little else than an unbending will, he will
    \r\n", + "find a palliation in that condition of life to which his oppressors
    \r\n", + "have forced him to submit. Had Nicholas enjoyed his liberty, many
    \r\n", + "incidents of a purely disinterested character might have been
    \r\n", + "recorded to his fame, for indeed he had noble traits. That we have
    \r\n", + "not put fiery words into his mouth, with which to execrate the
    \r\n", + "tyrant, while invoking the vengeance of heaven-and, too, that we are
    \r\n", + "guilty of the crime of thus suddenly transferring him from boyhood
    \r\n", + "to manhood, nor have hanged him to please the envious and
    \r\n", + "vicious,--will find excuse with the indulgent reader, who will be
    \r\n", + "kind enough to consider that it is our business to relate facts as
    \r\n", + "they are, to the performance of which-unthankful though it may be-we
    \r\n", + "have drawn from the abundance of material placed in our hand by the
    \r\n", + "southern world. We may misname characters and transpose scenes, but
    \r\n", + "southern manners and customs we have transcribed from nature, to
    \r\n", + "which stern book we have religiously adhered. And, too (if the
    \r\n", + "reader will pardon the digression), though we never have agreed with
    \r\n", + "our very best admirers of the gallows, some of whom hold it a means
    \r\n", + "of correcting morals-nor, are yet ready to yield assent to the
    \r\n", + "opinions of the many, so popularly laid down in favour of what we
    \r\n", + "consider a medium of very unwholesome influence, we readily admit
    \r\n", + "the existence of many persons who have well merited a very good
    \r\n", + "hanging. But, were the same rules of evidence admissible in a court
    \r\n", + "of law when a thief is on trial, applied against the practice of
    \r\n", + "\"publicly hanging,\" there would be little difficulty in convicting
    \r\n", + "it of inciting to crime. Not only does the problem of complex
    \r\n", + "philosophy-the reader may make the philosophy to suit his
    \r\n", + "taste-presented in the contrariety of scenes on and about the
    \r\n", + "gallows offer something irreconcileable to ordinary minds, but gives
    \r\n", + "to the humorous large means with which to feast their love of the
    \r\n", + "ludicrous. On the scaffold of destruction, our good brothers of the
    \r\n", + "clergy would, pointing to the \"awful example,\" assure the motley
    \r\n", + "assembly gathered beneath, that he hath purified that soul, which
    \r\n", + "will surely be accepted in heaven; but, he can in no wise condescend
    \r\n", + "to let it, still directing the flesh, live on the less pure platform
    \r\n", + "of earth. With eager eyes, the mass beneath him, their morbid
    \r\n", + "appetites curiously distended, heed not the good admonition; nay,
    \r\n", + "the curious wait in breathless suspense the launching a human being
    \r\n", + "into eternity; the vicious are busy in crime the while; the heedless
    \r\n", + "make gay the holiday. Sum up the invention and perpetration of crime
    \r\n", + "beneath the gallows on one of those singular gala-days, and the
    \r\n", + "culprit expiating his guilt at the rope's end, as an \"awful
    \r\n", + "warning,\" will indeed have disclosed a shallow mockery. Taking this
    \r\n", + "view of the hanging question, though we would deprive no man of his
    \r\n", + "enjoyment, we deem it highly improper that our hero should die by
    \r\n", + "any other means than that which the chivalrous sons of the south
    \r\n", + "declared \"actually necessary.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "But before proceeding further with Nicholas, it may be proper here
    \r\n", + "to state that Annette and the stranger, in whose hands we left her,
    \r\n", + "have arrived safe at New York. Maxwell-for such is his name-is with
    \r\n", + "his uncle engaged in a lucrative commercial business; while Annette,
    \r\n", + "for reasons we shall hereafter explain, instead of forthwith seeking
    \r\n", + "the arms of an affectionate mother, is being educated at a female
    \r\n", + "seminary in a village situated on the left bank of the Hudson River.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In returning to Nicholas, the reader will remember that Grabguy was
    \r\n", + "something of a philosopher, the all-important functions of which
    \r\n", + "medium he invoked on the occasion of his ejectment from Fetter's
    \r\n", + "court, for an interference which might at that moment have been
    \r\n", + "taken as evidence of repentance. The truth, however, was, that
    \r\n", + "Grabguy, in the exercise of his philosophy, found the cash value of
    \r\n", + "his slave about to be obliterated by the carrying out of Fetter's
    \r\n", + "awful sentence. Here there rose that strange complexity which the
    \r\n", + "physical action and mental force of slave property, acting in
    \r\n", + "contrariety, so often produce. The physical of the slave was very
    \r\n", + "valuable, and could be made to yield; but the mental being all
    \r\n", + "powerful to oppose, completely annulled the monetary worth. But by
    \r\n", + "allowing the lacerations to heal, sending him to New Orleans, and
    \r\n", + "making a positive sale, some thousand or twelve hundred dollars
    \r\n", + "might be saved; whereas, did Fetter's judgment take effect, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Grabguy must content himself with the state's more humble award of
    \r\n", + "two hundred dollars, less the trouble of getting. In this democratic
    \r\n", + "perplexity did our economical alderman find himself placed, when,
    \r\n", + "again invoking his philosophy-not in virtue of any sympathetic
    \r\n", + "admonition, for sympathy was not of Grabguy-he soon found means of
    \r\n", + "protecting his interests. To this end he sought and obtained an
    \r\n", + "order from the Court of Appeals, which grave judiciary, after duly
    \r\n", + "considering the evidence on which the criminal was convicted before
    \r\n", + "Fetter's tribunal, was of opinion that evidence had been improperly
    \r\n", + "extorted by cruelty; and, in accordance with that opinion, ordered a
    \r\n", + "new trial, which said trial would be dististinguished above that at
    \r\n", + "Fetter's court by being presided over by a judicial magistrate. This
    \r\n", + "distinguished functionary, the judicial magistrate, who generally
    \r\n", + "hears the appeals from Fetter's court, is a man of the name of
    \r\n", + "Fairweather Fuddle, a clever wag, whose great good-nature is only
    \r\n", + "equalled by the rotundity of his person, which is not a bad
    \r\n", + "portraiture of our much-abused Sir John Falstaff, as represented by
    \r\n", + "the heavy men of our country theatres. Now, to enter upon an
    \r\n", + "analysis of the vast difference between Fetter's court in ordinary,
    \r\n", + "and Fuddle's court in judiciary, would require the aid of more
    \r\n", + "philosophy than we are capable of summoning; nor would the sagacious
    \r\n", + "reader be enlightened thereby, inasmuch as the learned of our own
    \r\n", + "atmosphere have spent much study on the question without arriving at
    \r\n", + "any favourable result. Very low people, and intelligent negroes--
    \r\n", + "whose simple mode of solving difficult problems frequently produces
    \r\n", + "results nearest the truth--do say without fear or trembling that the
    \r\n", + "distinction between these great courts exists in the fact of Justice
    \r\n", + "Fuddle drinking the more perfect brandy. Now, whether the quality of
    \r\n", + "brandy has anything to do with the purity of ideas, the character of
    \r\n", + "the judiciary, or the tempering of the sentences, we will leave to
    \r\n", + "the reader's discrimination; but true it is, that, while Fetter's
    \r\n", + "judgments are always for the state, Fuddle leans to mercy and the
    \r\n", + "master's interests. Again, were Fuddle to evince that partiality for
    \r\n", + "the gallows which has become a trait of character with his legal
    \r\n", + "brother, it would avail him nothing, inasmuch as by confirming
    \r\n", + "Fetter's judgments the fees would alike remain that gentleman's. If,
    \r\n", + "then, the reader reason on the philosophy of self-interest, he may
    \r\n", + "find the fees, which are in no wise small, founding the great
    \r\n", + "distinction between the courts of Messrs. Fuddle and Fetter; for by
    \r\n", + "reversing Fetter's judgments fees accrue to Fuddle's own court, and
    \r\n", + "belong to his own well-lined pocket; whereas, did he confirm them,
    \r\n", + "not one cent of fees could he claim. The state should without delay
    \r\n", + "remedy this great wrong, and give its judicial gentlemen a fair
    \r\n", + "chance of proving their judgments well founded in contrariety. We
    \r\n", + "should not, forsooth, forget to mention that Fuddle, in his love of
    \r\n", + "decorum--though he scarce ever sat in judgment without absorbing his
    \r\n", + "punch the while--never permitted in his forum the use of those
    \r\n", + "knock-down arguments which were always a prelude to Fetter's
    \r\n", + "judgments.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Before Fuddle's court, then, Grabguy has succeeded in getting a
    \r\n", + "hearing for his convicted property, still mentally obstinate. Not
    \r\n", + "the least doubt has he of procuring a judgment tempered by mercy;
    \r\n", + "for, having well drunk Fuddle on the previous night, and improved
    \r\n", + "the opportunity for completely winning his distinguished
    \r\n", + "consideration, he has not the slightest apprehension of being many
    \r\n", + "months deprived of his property merely to satisfy injured justice.
    \r\n", + "And, too, the evidence upon which Nicholas was convicted in Fetter's
    \r\n", + "court, of an attempt to create an insurrection--the most fatal
    \r\n", + "charge against him--was so imperfect that the means of overthrowing
    \r\n", + "it can be purchased of any of the attendant constables for a mere
    \r\n", + "trifle,--oaths with such fellows being worth about sixty-two and a
    \r\n", + "half cents each.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "If the reader will be pleased to fancy the trial before Fetter's
    \r\n", + "tribunal--before described--with the knock-down arguments omitted, he
    \r\n", + "will have a pretty clear idea of that now proceeding before
    \r\n", + "Fuddle's; and having such will excuse our entering into details.
    \r\n", + "Having heard the case with most, learned patience, the virtue of
    \r\n", + "which has been well sustained by goodly potions of Paul and Brown's
    \r\n", + "perfect \"London Dock,\" Fuddle, with grave deportment, receives from
    \r\n", + "the hands of the clerical-looking clerk-a broken-down gentleman of
    \r\n", + "great legal ability-the charge he is about to make the jury.
    \r\n", + "\"Gentlemen,\" he says, \"I might, without any detriment to perfect
    \r\n", + "impunity, place the very highest encomiums on the capabilities
    \r\n", + "displayed in the seriousness you have given to this all-important
    \r\n", + "case, in which the state has such deep and constitutional interests;
    \r\n", + "but that I need not do here. The state having placed in my
    \r\n", + "possession such responsible functions, no one more than me can feel
    \r\n", + "the importance of the position; and which position has always been
    \r\n", + "made the judicial medium of equity and mercy. I hold moderation to
    \r\n", + "be the essential part of the judiciary, gentlemen! And here I would
    \r\n", + "say\" (Fuddle directs himself to his gentlemanly five) \"and your
    \r\n", + "intelligence will bear me out in the statement, that the trial below
    \r\n", + "seems to have been in error from beginning to end. I say
    \r\n", + "this-understand, gentlemen!--with all deference to my learned
    \r\n", + "brother, Fetter, whose judgments, in the exercise of the powers in
    \r\n", + "me invested, and with that respect for legal equity by which this
    \r\n", + "court is distinguished, it has become me so often to reverse. On the
    \r\n", + "charge of creating an insurrection--rather an absurdity, by the
    \r\n", + "way--you must discharge the prisoner, there being no valid proof;
    \r\n", + "whereas the charge of maiming or raising his hand to a white man,
    \r\n", + "though clearly proved, and according to the statutes a capital
    \r\n", + "offence, could not in the spirit of mercy which now prevails in our
    \r\n", + "judiciary--and, here, let me say, which is emulated by that high
    \r\n", + "state of civilisation for which the people of this state are
    \r\n", + "distinguished--be carried rigidly into effect. There is only this one
    \r\n", + "point, then, of maiming a white gentleman, with intention--Ah! yes (a
    \r\n", + "pause) the intention the court thinks it as well not to mind! open
    \r\n", + "to you for a conviction. Upon this point you will render your
    \r\n", + "verdict, guilty; only adding a recommendation to the mercy of the
    \r\n", + "court.\" With this admonition, our august Mr. Fuddle, his face
    \r\n", + "glowing in importance, sits down to his mixture of Paul and Brown's
    \r\n", + "best. A few moments' pause--during which Fetter enters looking very
    \r\n", + "anxious--and the jury have made up their verdict, which they submit
    \r\n", + "on a slip of paper to the clerk, who in turn presents it to Fuddle.
    \r\n", + "That functionary being busily engaged with his punch, is made
    \r\n", + "conscious of the document waiting his pleasure by the audience
    \r\n", + "bursting into a roar of laughter at the comical picture presented in
    \r\n", + "the earnestness with which he regards his punch-some of which is
    \r\n", + "streaming into his bosom-and disregards the paper held for some
    \r\n", + "minutes in the clerk's hand, which is in close proximity with his
    \r\n", + "nasal organ. Starting suddenly, he lets the goblet fall to the
    \r\n", + "floor, his face flushing like a broad moon in harvest-time, takes
    \r\n", + "the paper in his fingers with a bow, making three of the same nature
    \r\n", + "to his audience, as Fetter looks over the circular railing in front
    \r\n", + "of the dock, his face wearing a facetious smile. \"Nigger boy will
    \r\n", + "clear away the break,--prisoner at the bar will stand up for the
    \r\n", + "sentence, and the attending constable will reduce order!\" speaks
    \r\n", + "Fuddle, relieving his pocket of a red kerchief with which he will
    \r\n", + "wipe his capacious mouth. These requests being complied with, he
    \r\n", + "continues-having adjusted his glasses most learnedly-making a
    \r\n", + "gesture with his right hand--\"I hold in my hand the solemn verdict of
    \r\n", + "an intelligent jury, who, after worthy and most mature deliberation,
    \r\n", + "find the prisoner at the bar, Nicholas Grabguy, guilty of the
    \r\n", + "heinous offence of raising his hand to a white man, whom he severely
    \r\n", + "maimed with a sharp-edged tool; and the jury in their wisdom,
    \r\n", + "recognising the fact of their verdict involving capital punishment,
    \r\n", + "have, in the exercise of that enlightened spirit which is
    \r\n", + "inseparable from our age, recommended him to the mercy of this
    \r\n", + "court, and, in the discretion of that power in me invested, I shall
    \r\n", + "now pronounce sentence. Prepare, then, ye lovers of civilisation,
    \r\n", + "ye friends of humanity, ye who would temper the laws of our land of
    \r\n", + "freedom to the circumstance of offences--prepare, I say, to have your
    \r\n", + "ears and hearts made glad over the swelling sound of this most
    \r\n", + "enlightened sentence of a court, where judgments are tempered with
    \r\n", + "mercy.\" Our hero, a chain hanging loosely from his left arm, stands
    \r\n", + "forward in the dock, his manly deportment evincing a stern
    \r\n", + "resolution to meet his fate unsubdued. Fuddle continues:--\"There is
    \r\n", + "no appeal from this court!\" (he forgot the court of a brighter
    \r\n", + "world) \"and a reversing the decision of the court below, I sentence
    \r\n", + "the prisoner to four years' imprisonment with hard labour, two
    \r\n", + "months' solitary confinement in each year, and thirty blows with the
    \r\n", + "paddle, on the first day of each month until the expiration of the
    \r\n", + "sentence.\" Such, reader, was Fuddle's merciful sentence upon one
    \r\n", + "whose only crime was a love of freedom and justice. Nicholas bowed
    \r\n", + "to the sentence; Mr. Grabguy expressed surprise, but no further
    \r\n", + "appeal on earth was open to him; Squire Fetter laughed immeasurably;
    \r\n", + "and the officer led his victim away to the place of durance vile.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "To this prison, then, must we go with our hero. In this magnificent
    \r\n", + "establishment, its princely exterior seeming like a modern fort with
    \r\n", + "frowning bastions, are some four hundred souls for sale and
    \r\n", + "punishment. Among them Nicholas is initiated, having, for the time
    \r\n", + "being, received his first installment of blows, and takes his first
    \r\n", + "lesson in the act of breaking stone, which profession is exclusively
    \r\n", + "reserved for criminals of his class. Among the notable characters
    \r\n", + "connected with this establishment is Philip Fladge, the wily
    \r\n", + "superintendent, whose power over the criminals is next to absolute.
    \r\n", + "Nicholas has been under Philip's guardianship but a few months, when
    \r\n", + "it is found that he may be turned into an investment which will
    \r\n", + "require only the outlay of kindness and amelioration on his part to
    \r\n", + "become extremely profitable. Forthwith a convention is entered into,
    \r\n", + "the high contracting parties being Nicholas and himself. Mr. Fladge
    \r\n", + "stipulates on his part that the said Nicholas, condemned by
    \r\n", + "Fairweather Fuddle's court to such punishments as are set forth in
    \r\n", + "the calendar, shall be exempt from all such punishments, have the
    \r\n", + "free use of the yard, comfortable apartments to live in, and be
    \r\n", + "invested with a sort of foremanship over his fellow criminals; in
    \r\n", + "consideration of which it is stipulated on the part of Nicholas that
    \r\n", + "he do work at the more desirable profession of stucco-making,
    \r\n", + "together with the execution of orders for sculpture, the proceeds of
    \r\n", + "which were to be considered the property of Fladge, he allowing the
    \r\n", + "generous stipend of one shilling a week to the artist. Here, then,
    \r\n", + "Mr. Fladge becomes sensible of the fact that some good always come
    \r\n", + "of great evils, for indeed his criminal was so far roving a mine of
    \r\n", + "wealth that he only hoped it might be his fortune to receive many
    \r\n", + "more such enemies of the state: he cared not whether they came from
    \r\n", + "Fetter or Fuddle's court. With sense enough to keep his
    \r\n", + "heart-burnings well stored away in his own bosom, Nicholas soon
    \r\n", + "became a sort of privileged character. But if he said little, he
    \r\n", + "felt much; nor did he fail to occupy every leisure moment in
    \r\n", + "inciting his brother bondmen to a love of freedom. So far had he
    \r\n", + "gained complete control over their feelings, that scarce two months
    \r\n", + "of his sentence had expired ere they would have followed his lead to
    \r\n", + "death or freedom.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Among those human souls stored for sale was one Sal Stiles, an olive
    \r\n", + "wench of great beauty, and daughter of one of the very first
    \r\n", + "families. This Sal Stiles, who was indeed one of the most charming
    \r\n", + "creatures to look upon, had cousins whom the little world of
    \r\n", + "Charleston viewed as great belles; but these said belles were never
    \r\n", + "known to ring out a word in favour of poor Sal, who was, forsooth,
    \r\n", + "only what-in our vulgar parlance-is called a well-conditioned and
    \r\n", + "very marketable woman. Considering, then, that Nicholas had been
    \r\n", + "separated by Grabguy from his wife and children, the indulgent
    \r\n", + "reader, we feel assured, will excuse our hero for falling
    \r\n", + "passionately in love with this woman. That it was stipulated in the
    \r\n", + "convention between himself and Fladge, he should take her unto
    \r\n", + "himself, we are not justified in asserting; nevertheless, that that
    \r\n", + "functionary encouraged the passion rather than prevented their
    \r\n", + "meetings is a fact our little world will not pretend to deny.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER LI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A CONTINUATION OF THE LAST CHAPTER.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A YEAR and two months have rolled by, since Nicholas, a convict,
    \r\n", + "took up his abode within the frowning walls of a prison: thus much
    \r\n", + "of Fuddle's merciful sentence has he served out. In the dreary hours
    \r\n", + "of night, fast secured in his granite cell, has he cherished, and
    \r\n", + "even in his dreams contemplated, the means of escaping into that
    \r\n", + "freedom for which his soul yearns. But, dearly does he love Sal
    \r\n", + "Stiles, to whose keeping he confides the secret of his ambition;
    \r\n", + "several times might he, having secured the confidence of Fladge,
    \r\n", + "have effected his own escape; but the admonitions of a faithful
    \r\n", + "heart bid him not leave her behind in slavery. To that admonition of
    \r\n", + "his bosom did he yield, and resolve never to leave her until he
    \r\n", + "secured her freedom. A few days after he had disclosed to her his
    \r\n", + "resolution, the tall figure of Guy Grantham, a broker of slaves by
    \r\n", + "profession, appeared in the prison yard, for the purpose of carrying
    \r\n", + "away the woman, whom he had sold for the Washington market, where
    \r\n", + "her charms would indeed be of much value during the session, when
    \r\n", + "congress-men most do riot. Already were the inseparable chains about
    \r\n", + "her hands, and the miserable woman, about to be led away, bathed in
    \r\n", + "grief. Nicholas, in his studies, had just finished a piece of
    \r\n", + "scroll-work for Mrs. Fladge, as a companion approached him in great
    \r\n", + "haste, and whispered the word of trouble-\"they're taking her
    \r\n", + "away\"-in his ear. Quick as lightning did the anger of his very soul
    \r\n", + "break forth like a tempest: he rushed from his place of labour,
    \r\n", + "vaulted as it were to the guard gate, seized the woman as she
    \r\n", + "stepped on the threshold in her exit, drew her back with great
    \r\n", + "force, and in a defiant attitude, drawing a long stiletto from his
    \r\n", + "belt, placed himself between her and her destroyer. \"Foes of the
    \r\n", + "innocent, your chains were not made for this woman; never shall you
    \r\n", + "bear her from this; not, at least, while I have arm to defend her,
    \r\n", + "and a soul that cares not for your vengeance!\" spake he, with
    \r\n", + "curling contempt on his lip, as his adversaries stood aghast with
    \r\n", + "fear and trembling. \"Nay!-do not advance one step, or by the God of
    \r\n", + "justice I make ye feel the length of this steel!\" he continued, as
    \r\n", + "Grantham nervously motioned an attempt to advance. Holding the woman
    \r\n", + "with his left hand pressed backward, he brandished his stiletto in
    \r\n", + "the faces of his opponents with his right. This was rebellion in its
    \r\n", + "most legal acceptation, and would have justified the summary process
    \r\n", + "Grantham was about adopting for the disposal of the instigator, at
    \r\n", + "whose head he levelled his revolver, and, without effect, snapped
    \r\n", + "two caps, as Nicholas bared his bosom with the taunt--\"Coward,
    \r\n", + "shoot!\" Mr. Fladge, who was now made sensible of the error his
    \r\n", + "indulgence had committed, could not permit Grantham the happy
    \r\n", + "display of his bravery; no, he has called to his aid some ten
    \r\n", + "subguardsmen, and addressing the resolute Grantham, bids him lay
    \r\n", + "aside his weapon. Albeit he confesses his surprise at such strange
    \r\n", + "insolence and interference; but, being responsible for the life,
    \r\n", + "thinks it well to hold a parley before taking it. Forsooth his words
    \r\n", + "fall useless on the ears of Nicholas, as defiantly he encircles the
    \r\n", + "woman's waist with his left arm, bears her away to the block, dashes
    \r\n", + "the chains from her hands, and, spurning the honied words of Fladge,
    \r\n", + "hurls them in the air, crying: \"You have murdered the flesh;--would
    \r\n", + "you chain the soul?\" As he spoke, the guard, having ascended the
    \r\n", + "watch tower, rings out the first alarm peal. \"Dogs of savage might!
    \r\n", + "ring your alarms; I care not,\" he continued, casting a sardonic
    \r\n", + "glance at the tower as the sound died away on his ear. His pursuers
    \r\n", + "now made a rush upon him, but ere they had secured him he seized a
    \r\n", + "heavy bludgeon, and repelling their attack, found some hundred of
    \r\n", + "his companions, armed with stone hammers, rallying in his defence.
    \r\n", + "Seeing this formidable force thus suddenly come to his rescue, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Fladge and his force were compelled to fall back before the advance.
    \r\n", + "Gallantly did Nicholas lead on his sable band, as the woman sought
    \r\n", + "refuge in one of the cells, Mr. Fladge and his posse retreating into
    \r\n", + "the guard-house. Nicholas, now in full possession of the citadel,
    \r\n", + "and with consternation and confusion triumphant within the walls,
    \r\n", + "found it somewhat difficult to restrain his forces from taking
    \r\n", + "possession of the guardhouse, and putting to death those who had
    \r\n", + "sought shelter therein. Calmly but firmly did he appeal to them, and
    \r\n", + "beseech them not to commit an outrage against life. As he had placed
    \r\n", + "himself between the woman and her pursuers, so did he place himself
    \r\n", + "before a file of his sable companions, who, with battle hammers
    \r\n", + "extended, rushed for the great gates, as the second alarm rung out
    \r\n", + "its solemn peal. Counselling his compatriots to stand firm, he
    \r\n", + "gathered them together in the centre of the square, and addressed
    \r\n", + "them in a fervent tone, the purport of which was, that having thus
    \r\n", + "suddenly and unexpectedly become plunged into what would be viewed
    \r\n", + "by the laws of the land as insurrection, they must stand on the
    \r\n", + "defensive, and remember it were better to die in defence of right
    \r\n", + "than live under the ignorance and sorrow of slavery.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "While our hero-whose singular exploit we have divested of that
    \r\n", + "dramatic effect presented in the original-addressed his forlorn band
    \r\n", + "in the area of the prison, strange indeed was the scene of confusion
    \r\n", + "presenting along the streets of the city. The alarm peals had not
    \r\n", + "died ineffectual on the air, for as a messenger was despatched to
    \r\n", + "warn the civil authorities of the sad dilemma at the prison, the
    \r\n", + "great bell of St. Michael's church answered the warning peal with
    \r\n", + "two loud rings; and simultaneously the city re-echoed the report of
    \r\n", + "a bloody insurrection. On the long line of wharfs half circling the
    \r\n", + "city, stood men aghast with fright; to the west all was quiet about
    \r\n", + "the battery; to the south, the long rampart of dark moving pines
    \r\n", + "that bordered on that side the calm surface of a harbour of
    \r\n", + "unsurpassed beauty, seemed sleeping in its wonted peacefulness; to
    \r\n", + "the east, as if rising from the sea to mar the beauty of the scene,
    \r\n", + "stood fort Sumpter's sombre bastions, still and quiet like a monster
    \r\n", + "reposing; while retracing along the north side of the harbour, no
    \r\n", + "sign of trouble flutters from Fort Moultrie or Castle Pinkney-no,
    \r\n", + "their savage embrasures are closed, and peace hangs in mists over
    \r\n", + "their dark walls. The feud is in the city of democrats, wherein
    \r\n", + "there are few who know not the nature of the warning peal; nor,
    \r\n", + "indeed, act on such occasions like a world in fear, waiting but the
    \r\n", + "tap of the watchman's baton ere it rushes to bloodshed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "In the busy portion of the city have men gathered at the corners of
    \r\n", + "the street to hold confused controversy; with anxious countenances
    \r\n", + "and most earnest gesticulations do they discuss the most certain
    \r\n", + "means of safety. Ladies, in fright, speedily seek their homes, now
    \r\n", + "asking questions of a passerby, whose intense excitement has carried
    \r\n", + "off his power of speech, then shunning every luckless negro who
    \r\n", + "chances in their way. The rumour of an insurrection, however falsely
    \r\n", + "founded, turns every negro (of skin there is no distinction) into an
    \r\n", + "enemy; whilst the second sound of the alarm peal makes him a bloody
    \r\n", + "votary, who it needs but the booming of the cannon ere he be put to
    \r\n", + "the sword. Guardsmen, with side-arms and cross-belts, are eager and
    \r\n", + "confused, moving to and fro with heavy tread; merchants and men of
    \r\n", + "more easy professions hasten from their labours, seek their homes,
    \r\n", + "prepare weapons for the conflict, and endeavour to soothe the fears
    \r\n", + "of their excited families, beseeching protection. That a deadly
    \r\n", + "struggle is near at hand no one doubts, for men have gathered on the
    \r\n", + "house-tops to watch the moving mass, bearing on its face the
    \r\n", + "unmistakeable evidence of fear and anxiety, as it sweeps along the
    \r\n", + "streets. Now the grotesque group is bespotted with forms half
    \r\n", + "dressed in military garb; then a dark platoon of savage faces and
    \r\n", + "ragged figures brings up the rear; and quickly catching the sound
    \r\n", + "\"To the Workhouse!\" onward it presses to the scene of tumult.
    \r\n", + "Firemen in curious habiliment, and half-accoutred artillerymen, at
    \r\n", + "the alarm peal's call are rallying to their stations, as if some
    \r\n", + "devouring element, about to break over the city, demanded their
    \r\n", + "strongest arm; while eager and confused heads, protruded from green,
    \r\n", + "masking shutters, and in terror, would know whither lies the scene
    \r\n", + "of the outbreak. Alarm has beset the little world, which now moves a
    \r\n", + "medley of fear and trembling.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The clock in St. Michael's tall spire has just struck two, as, in
    \r\n", + "the arena of the prison, Nicholas is seen, halted in front of his
    \r\n", + "little band, calmly awaiting the advance of his adversaries, who,
    \r\n", + "fearing to open the great gates, have scaled the long line of wall
    \r\n", + "on the north side. Suddenly the sound of an imploring voice breaks
    \r\n", + "upon his ear, and his left hand is firmly grasped, as starting with
    \r\n", + "surprise he turns and beholds the slave woman, her hair hanging
    \r\n", + "loosely over her shoulders, and her face bathed in tears. With
    \r\n", + "simple but earnest words does she admonish him against his fatal
    \r\n", + "resolution. Fast, and in the bitter anguish of her soul, fall her
    \r\n", + "implorings; she would have him yield and save his life, that she may
    \r\n", + "love him still. Her words would melt his resolution, had he not
    \r\n", + "taken the rash step. \"In my soul do I love thee, woman!\" he says,
    \r\n", + "raising her gently to her feet, and imprinting a kiss upon her olive
    \r\n", + "brow; \"but rather would I die a hero than live a crawling slave:
    \r\n", + "nay, I will love thee in heaven!\" The woman has drawn his attention
    \r\n", + "from his adversaries, when, in that which seems a propitious moment,
    \r\n", + "they rush down from the walls, and ere a cry from his band warn him
    \r\n", + "of the danger, have well nigh surprised and secured him. With two
    \r\n", + "shots of a revolver pierced through the fleshy part of his left arm,
    \r\n", + "does he bound from the grasp of his pursuers, rally his men, and
    \r\n", + "charge upon the miscreants with undaunted courage. Short but deadly
    \r\n", + "is the struggle that here ensues; far, indeed, shrieks and horrid
    \r\n", + "groans rend the very air; but the miscreants are driven back from
    \r\n", + "whence they came, leaving on the ground five dead bodies to atone
    \r\n", + "for treble the number dead of our hero's band. In the savage
    \r\n", + "conflict did the woman receive a fatal bullet, and now lies writhing
    \r\n", + "in the agonies of death (a victim of oppression in a land of
    \r\n", + "liberty) at our hero's feet. Not a moment is there to spare, that he
    \r\n", + "may soothe her dying agonies, for a thundering at the great gates is
    \r\n", + "heard, the bristling of fire-arms falls upon his ear, and the drums
    \r\n", + "of the military without beat to the charge. Simultaneously the great
    \r\n", + "gates swing back, a solid body of citizen soldiery, ready to rush
    \r\n", + "in, is disclosed, and our hero, as if by instinct moved to rashness,
    \r\n", + "cries aloud to his forces, who, following his lead, dash recklessly
    \r\n", + "into the soldiery, scatter it in amazement, and sweep triumphantly
    \r\n", + "into the street. The first line of soldiery did not yield to the
    \r\n", + "impetuous charge without effect, for seven dead bodies, strewn
    \r\n", + "between the portals of the gate, account for the sharp report of
    \r\n", + "their rifles. Wild with rage, and not knowing whither to go, or for
    \r\n", + "what object they have rushed from the bounds of their prison house,
    \r\n", + "our forlorn band, still flourishing their battle hammers, have
    \r\n", + "scarcely reached the second line of military, stationed, in war
    \r\n", + "order, a few squares from the prison, when our hero and nine of his
    \r\n", + "forlorn band fall pierced through the hearts with rifle bullets. Our
    \r\n", + "Nicholas has a sudden end; he dies, muttering, \"My cause was only
    \r\n", + "justice!\" as twenty democratic bayonets cut into shreds his
    \r\n", + "quivering body. Oh, Grabguy! thou wilt one day be made to atone for
    \r\n", + "this thy guilt. Justice to thy slave had saved the city its
    \r\n", + "foreboding of horror, and us the recital of a bloody tragedy we
    \r\n", + "would spare the feelings of our readers by ending here.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Having informed the reader that Ellen Juvarna was mother of
    \r\n", + "Nicholas, whom she bore unto Marston, we will now draw aside the
    \r\n", + "veil, that he may know her real origin and be the better prepared to
    \r\n", + "appreciate the fate of her child. This name, then, was a fictitious
    \r\n", + "one, which she had been compelled to take by Romescos, who stole her
    \r\n", + "from her father, Neamathla, a Creek Indian. In 1820, this brave
    \r\n", + "warrior ruled chief of the Mickasookees, a tribe of brave Indians
    \r\n", + "settled on the borders of the lake of that name, in Florida. Old in
    \r\n", + "deeds of valour, Neamathla sank into the grave in the happy belief
    \r\n", + "that his daughter, the long-lost Nasarge, had been carried into
    \r\n", + "captivity by chiefs of a hostile tribe, in whose chivalrous spirit
    \r\n", + "she would find protection, and religious respect for her caste.
    \r\n", + "Could that proud spirit have condescended to suppose her languishing
    \r\n", + "in the hands of mercenary slave-dealers, his tomahawk had been first
    \r\n", + "dipped in the blood of the miscreant, to avenge the foul deed. From
    \r\n", + "Romescos, Nasarge, who had scarce seen her twelve summers, passed
    \r\n", + "into the hands of one Silenus, who sold her to Marston, for that
    \r\n", + "purpose a fair slave seems born to in our democratic world.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now again must we beg the indulgence of the reader, while we
    \r\n", + "turn to the counter-scene of this chapter. The influence of that
    \r\n", + "consternation which had spread throughout the city, was not long in
    \r\n", + "finding its way to the citadel, a massive fort commanding the city
    \r\n", + "from the east. On the plat in front are three brass field-pieces,
    \r\n", + "which a few artillery-men have wheeled out, loaded, and made ready
    \r\n", + "to belch forth that awful signal, which the initiated translate
    \r\n", + "thus:--\"Proceed to the massacre! Dip deep your knives in the heart
    \r\n", + "of every negro!\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Certain alarm bells are rung in case of an insurrection of the
    \r\n", + "negroes, which, if accompanied by the firing of three guns at the
    \r\n", + "citadel, is the signal for an onslaught of the whites. The author,
    \r\n", + "on asking a gentleman why he exhibited so much fear, or why he
    \r\n", + "deemed it necessary to put to the sword his faithful servants,
    \r\n", + "answered,--\"Slaves, no matter of what colour, sympathise with each
    \r\n", + "other in their general condition of slavery. I could not, then,
    \r\n", + "leave my family to the caprice of their feelings, while I sought the
    \r\n", + "scene of action to aid in suppressing the outbreak.\" At the
    \r\n", + "alarm-bell's first tap were the guns made ready-at the second peal
    \r\n", + "were matchlocks lighted-and nervous men waited in breathless
    \r\n", + "suspense the third and last signal peal from the Guard Tower. But,
    \r\n", + "in a moment that had nearly proved fatal to thousands, and as the
    \r\n", + "crash of musketry echoed in the air, a confused gunner applied the
    \r\n", + "match: two vivid flashes issued from the cannon, their peals booming
    \r\n", + "successively over the city. It was at that moment, citizens who had
    \r\n", + "sought in their domiciles the better protection of their families
    \r\n", + "might be seen in the tragic attitude of holding savage pistols and
    \r\n", + "glistening daggers at the breasts of their terrified but faithful
    \r\n", + "servants,--those, perhaps, whose only crime was sincerity, and an
    \r\n", + "earnest attachment to master's interests. The booming of a third
    \r\n", + "cannon, and they had fallen, victims of fear, at the feet of their
    \r\n", + "deluded victors. Happily, an act of heroism (which we would record
    \r\n", + "to the fame of the hero) saved the city that bloody climax we sicken
    \r\n", + "while contemplating. Ere the third gun belched its order of death, a
    \r\n", + "mounted officer, sensible of the result that gun would produce,
    \r\n", + "dashed before its angry mouth, and at the top of his voice cried
    \r\n", + "out-\"In Heaven's name, lay your matchlock down: save the city!\" Then
    \r\n", + "galloping to the trail, the gunner standing motionless at the
    \r\n", + "intrepid sight, he snatched the fiery torch from his hand, and
    \r\n", + "dismounting, quenched it on the ground. Thus did he save the city
    \r\n", + "that awful massacre the misdirected laws of a democratic state would
    \r\n", + "have been accountable for to civilisation and the world.
    \r\n", + "
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    \r\n", + "CHAPTER LII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH ARE PLEASURES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN a former chapter of this narrative, have we described our fair
    \r\n", + "fugitive, Annette, as possessing charms of no ordinary kind; indeed,
    \r\n", + "she was fair and beautiful, and even in the slave world was by many
    \r\n", + "called the lovely blonde. In a word, to have been deeply enamoured
    \r\n", + "of her would have reflected the highest credit on the taste and
    \r\n", + "sentiment of any gallant gentleman. Seeming strange would it be,
    \r\n", + "then, if the stranger to whose care we confided her (and hereafter
    \r\n", + "to be called Montague, that being his Christian name) should render
    \r\n", + "himself liable to the charge of stupidity did these attractions not
    \r\n", + "make a deep impression on his heart. And here we would not have the
    \r\n", + "reader lay so grave a charge at his door; for, be it known, ye who
    \r\n", + "are not insensible to love's electric force, that scarce had they
    \r\n", + "reached New York, ere Montague began to look upon Annette with that
    \r\n", + "species of compassion which so often, in the workings of nature's
    \r\n", + "mystery, turns the sympathies of the heart into purest love. The
    \r\n", + "misery or happiness of this poor girl he viewed as dependent on
    \r\n", + "himself: this, forsooth, was strengthened by the sad recital of her
    \r\n", + "struggles, which caused his sympathies to flow in mutual fellowship
    \r\n", + "with her sorrows. As he esteemed her gentleness, so was he enamoured
    \r\n", + "of her charms; but her sorrows carried the captive arrow into his
    \r\n", + "bosom, where she fastened it with holding forth that wrist broken in
    \r\n", + "defence of her virtue: nay, more, he could not refrain a caress, as
    \r\n", + "in the simplicity of her heart she looked in his face smilingly, and
    \r\n", + "said she would he were the father of her future in this life. But,
    \r\n", + "when did not slavery interpose its barbarous obstacles?-when did it
    \r\n", + "not claim for itself the interests of federal power, and the
    \r\n", + "nation's indulgence?-when did it not regard with coldest
    \r\n", + "indifference the good or ill of all beyond its own limits? The slave
    \r\n", + "world loves itself; but, though self-love may now and then give out
    \r\n", + "a degree of virtue, slavery has none to lead those beyond its own
    \r\n", + "atmosphere. To avoid, then, the terrors to which, even on the free
    \r\n", + "soil of the north, a fugitive slave is constantly liable, as also
    \r\n", + "that serpent-like prejudice--for into the puritanic regions of New
    \r\n", + "England, forsooth, does slavery spread its more refined objections
    \r\n", + "to colour--which makes the manners of one class cold and icy, while
    \r\n", + "acting like a dagger in the hearts of the other, was it necessary to
    \r\n", + "change her name. How many of my fair readers, then, will recur to
    \r\n", + "and recognise in the lovely Sylvia De Lacy--whose vivacity made them
    \r\n", + "joyous in their school days, and whose charms all envied-the person
    \r\n", + "of Annette Mazatlin. Nothing could be more true than that the pretty
    \r\n", + "blonde, Sylvia De Lacy, who passed at school as the daughter of a
    \r\n", + "rich Bahamian, was but the humble slave of our worthy wag, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers. But we beg the reader to remember that, as Sylvia
    \r\n", + "De Lacy, with her many gallant admirers, she is a far different
    \r\n", + "person from Annette the slave.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Clotilda is made acquainted with the steps Montague has taken in
    \r\n", + "behalf of his charge, as also of a further intention he will carry
    \r\n", + "out at the expiration of two years; which said intention is neither
    \r\n", + "more nor less than the making Sylvia De Lacy his bride ere her
    \r\n", + "school days have ended. In the earnestness of a heart teeming of
    \r\n", + "joy, does Clotilda respond to the disclosures she is pleased to term
    \r\n", + "glad tidings. Oft and fervently has she invoked the All-protecting
    \r\n", + "hand to save her child from the licentious snares of slavery; and
    \r\n", + "now that she is rescued, her soul can rest satisfied. How her heart
    \r\n", + "rejoices to learn that her slave child will hereafter be happy in
    \r\n", + "this life! ever will she pray that peace and prosperity reward their
    \r\n", + "virtues. Her own prospects brighten with the thought that she may,
    \r\n", + "ere long, see them under her own comfortable roof, and bestow a
    \r\n", + "mother's love on the head of her long-lost child.
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    \r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 12/12)\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "\r\n", + "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 12 out of 12

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    \r\n", + "And now my reader will please to suppose these two years of
    \r\n", + "school-days passed-that nuptial ceremony in which so many mingled
    \r\n", + "their congratulations, and showered blandest smiles upon the fair
    \r\n", + "bride, celebrated in a princely mansion not far from the
    \r\n", + "aristocratic Union Square of New York-and our happy couple launched
    \r\n", + "upon that path of matrimony some facetious old gentlemen have been
    \r\n", + "pleased to describe as so crooked that others fear to journey upon
    \r\n", + "it. They were indeed a happy couple, with each future prospect
    \r\n", + "golden of fortune's sunshine. Did we describe in detail the reign of
    \r\n", + "happiness portended on the bright day of that nuptial ceremony, how
    \r\n", + "many would recognise the gay figures of those who enlivened the
    \r\n", + "scene-how deceptive would seem the fair face of events-how obscured
    \r\n", + "would be presented the life of a slave in this our world of
    \r\n", + "freedom-how false that democracy so boastful of its even-handed
    \r\n", + "rule!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Two years have rolled into the past, since Montague led the fair
    \r\n", + "Sylvia to the altar. Pringle Blowers has pocketed the loss of his
    \r\n", + "beauty, the happy couple have lost all thought of slavery, and a
    \r\n", + "little responsibility coming in due time adds to make their
    \r\n", + "happiness complete. Now the house to which Montague was connected in
    \r\n", + "New York had an agent in New Orleans; which agent was his brother.
    \r\n", + "In the course of time, then, and as the avenues of business
    \r\n", + "expanded, was it deemed necessary to establish a branch house at
    \r\n", + "Memphis, the affairs of which it was agreed should be conducted by
    \r\n", + "Montague. To this new scene of life my reader will please suppose
    \r\n", + "our happy couple, having journeyed by railroad to Cincinnatti, and
    \r\n", + "with hearts gladdened of hope for the future, now gliding down that
    \r\n", + "river of gorgeous banks, on board the good steamer bearing its name.
    \r\n", + "As our young mother again enters the atmosphere of slavery,
    \r\n", + "misgivings force themselves irresistibly upon her feelings. The very
    \r\n", + "face of nature wears a sluggish air; the fresh, bright offspring of
    \r\n", + "northern energy, so forcibly illustrated in the many cheerful
    \r\n", + "looking villages here and there dotting its free soil, is nowhere to
    \r\n", + "be seen,--society again puts forth its blighting distinctions: there
    \r\n", + "is the man-owner's iron deportment contrasting with the abjectness
    \r\n", + "of his slave: forcibly does the change recall scenes of the past.
    \r\n", + "But, with the certain satisfaction that no one will recognize the
    \r\n", + "slave in her, do those misgivings give way to the happier
    \r\n", + "contemplation of her new home affording the means of extending a
    \r\n", + "succouring hand to some poor mortal, suffering in that condition of
    \r\n", + "life through which she herself has passed.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "After a pleasant passage, then, do we find them comfortably settled
    \r\n", + "in Memphis, that city of notorious character, where the venerable
    \r\n", + "Lynch presides judge over all state cases, and administers summary
    \r\n", + "justice according to the most independent of bar rules. Montague
    \r\n", + "pursues the ordinary routine of a flourishing business, and moves
    \r\n", + "among the very best society of the little fashionable world; with
    \r\n", + "which his Sylvia, being the fair belle of the place, is not only a
    \r\n", + "great favourite, but much sought after and caressed. Gentle as a
    \r\n", + "slave, so was she an affectionate mother and dutiful wife. Some
    \r\n", + "twelve months passed pleasantly at their new home, when there came
    \r\n", + "to the city a Jew of the name of Salamons Finch. This Finch, who was
    \r\n", + "\"runner\" to a commercial firm in the city of Charleston (he was lank
    \r\n", + "of person, with sallow, craven features), knew Annette when but a
    \r\n", + "child. Indeed, he was a clerk of Graspum when that gentleman sold
    \r\n", + "the fair slave to Gurdoin Choicewest; in addition to which he had
    \r\n", + "apartments at Lady Tuttlewell's most fashionable house, where the
    \r\n", + "little doll-like thing used to be so sprightly in waiting at table.
    \r\n", + "The quick eye of this harpy, as may readily be supposed, was not
    \r\n", + "long in detecting the person of Annette the slave in our fair
    \r\n", + "mother; which grand discovery he as soon communicated to Montague,
    \r\n", + "pluming himself a generous fellow for being first to disclose what
    \r\n", + "he supposed a valuable secret. Indeed, such was the force of
    \r\n", + "association on this fellow, that he could not bring his mind to
    \r\n", + "believe such a match possible, unless the fair fugitive (of the
    \r\n", + "circumstances of whose escape he was well posted) had, by the
    \r\n", + "exercise of strategy, imposed herself on the gentleman. The reader
    \r\n", + "may easily picture to himself the contempt in which Montague held
    \r\n", + "the fellow's generous expos�; but he as readily became sensible of
    \r\n", + "the nature of the recognition, and of its placing him in a dangerous
    \r\n", + "position. At first he thought of sending his wife and child
    \r\n", + "immediately to her mother, in Nassau; but having intimations from
    \r\n", + "the fellow that the matter might be reconciled with golden eagles,
    \r\n", + "he chose rather to adopt that plan of procuring peace and quietness.
    \r\n", + "With a goodly number of these gold eagles, then, did he from time to
    \r\n", + "time purchase the knave's secrecy; but, with that singular
    \r\n", + "propensity so characteristic of the race, was he soon found making
    \r\n", + "improper advances to the wife of the man whose money he received for
    \r\n", + "keeping secret her early history. This so exasperated Montague, that
    \r\n", + "in addition to sealing the fellow's lips with the gold coin, he
    \r\n", + "threatened his back with stripes of the raw hide, in payment of his
    \r\n", + "insolence. Albeit, nothing but the fear of exposure, the
    \r\n", + "consequences of which must prove fatal, caused him to bear with pain
    \r\n", + "the insult while withholding payment of this well-merited debt. With
    \r\n", + "keen instincts, and a somewhat cultivated taste for the beautiful,
    \r\n", + "Finch might with becoming modesty have pleaded them in extenuation
    \r\n", + "of his conduct; but the truth was, he almost unconsciously found
    \r\n", + "himself deeply enamoured of the fair woman, without being able to
    \r\n", + "look upon her as a being elevated above that menial sphere his
    \r\n", + "vulgar mind conditioned for her when in slavery. Here, then, the
    \r\n", + "reader will more readily conceive than we can describe the grievous
    \r\n", + "annoyances our otherwise happy couple were subjected to; nor, if a
    \r\n", + "freeman's blood course in his veins, can he fail to picture the
    \r\n", + "punishment it so dearly merited. However, it came to pass that in
    \r\n", + "the course of a few months this fellow disappeared suddenly, and
    \r\n", + "nearly at the same time was Montague summoned to New Orleans to
    \r\n", + "direct some complicated affairs of his brother, who lay a victim to
    \r\n", + "that fearful scourge which so often devastates that city of balmy
    \r\n", + "breezes. After due preparations for an absence of some two months,
    \r\n", + "Montague set out on his journey; but had not been forty-eight hours
    \r\n", + "gone, when Finch again made his appearance, and taking advantage of
    \r\n", + "a husband's absence, pressed his advances with grossest insult,
    \r\n", + "threatening at the same time to convey information of the discovery
    \r\n", + "to Pringle Blowers. Successively did these importunities fail to
    \r\n", + "effect Mr. Finch's purpose; but he was of an indomitable temper, and
    \r\n", + "had strong faith in that maxim of his race, which may be transcribed
    \r\n", + "thus:--\"If one effort fail you, try another.\" To carry out this
    \r\n", + "principle, then, did Finch draw from the cunning inventive of his
    \r\n", + "brain a plan which he could not doubt for a moment would be
    \r\n", + "successful. The reader may blush while we record the fact, of Finch,
    \r\n", + "deeming a partner necessary to the gaining his purpose, finding a
    \r\n", + "willing accomplice in one of Montague's clerks, to whom he disclosed
    \r\n", + "the secret of the fair woman being nothing more than a fugitive
    \r\n", + "slave, whose shame they would share if the plan proved successful.
    \r\n", + "This ingenious plan, so old that none but a fellow of this stamp
    \r\n", + "would have adopted it, was nothing more than the intercepting by the
    \r\n", + "aid of the clerk all Montague's letters to his wife. By this they
    \r\n", + "came in possession of the nature of his family affairs; and after
    \r\n", + "permitting the receipt of two letters by Sylvia, possessed
    \r\n", + "themselves of her answers that they might be the better able to
    \r\n", + "carry out the evil of their scheme. After sufficient time had
    \r\n", + "passed, did Sylvia receive a letter, duly posted at New Orleans,
    \r\n", + "purporting to have been written by a clerk in the employ of the
    \r\n", + "firm, and informing her, having acknowledged becomingly the receipt
    \r\n", + "of her letter, that Montague had been seized with the epidemic, and
    \r\n", + "now lay in a precarious state. Much concerned was she at the painful
    \r\n", + "intelligence; but she almost as soon found consolation in the
    \r\n", + "assurances of the clerk who brought her the letter, and, to
    \r\n", + "strengthen his own cause, told her he had seen a captain just
    \r\n", + "arrived up, who had met her husband a day after the date of the
    \r\n", + "letter, quite well. Indeed, this was necessary to that functionary's
    \r\n", + "next move, for he was the conspirator of Finch, and the author of
    \r\n", + "the letter which had caused so much sadness to the woman who now
    \r\n", + "sought his advice. In suspense did the anxious woman wait the coming
    \r\n", + "tidings of her affectionate husband: alas! in a few days was the sad
    \r\n", + "news of his death by the fatal scourge brought to her in an envelope
    \r\n", + "with broad black border and appropriate seal. Overwhelmed with
    \r\n", + "grief, the good woman read the letter, describing her Montague to
    \r\n", + "have died happy, as the conspirator looked on with indifference. The
    \r\n", + "confidential clerk of the firm had again performed a painful and
    \r\n", + "unexpected duty. The good man died, said he, invoking a blessing on
    \r\n", + "the head of his child, and asking heaven to protect his wife; to
    \r\n", + "which he would add, that the affairs of the house were in the worst
    \r\n", + "possible condition, there not being assets to pay a fraction of the
    \r\n", + "debts. And here we would beg the reader to use his imagination, and
    \r\n", + "save us the description of much that followed. Not all their threats
    \r\n", + "nor persuasions, however, could induce her to yield to their
    \r\n", + "designs; defiantly did she repulse the advances of the crawling
    \r\n", + "Finch; nobly did she spurn his persuasions; firmly did she, heedless
    \r\n", + "of his threat to acquaint Pringle Blowers of her whereabouts, bid
    \r\n", + "him be gone from her door. The fellow did go, grievously
    \r\n", + "disappointed; and, whether from malice or mercenary motives we will
    \r\n", + "not charge, sought and obtained from Pringle Blowers, in exchange
    \r\n", + "for his valuable discovery, a promise of the original reward.
    \r\n", + "Shudder not, reader, while we tell it! It was not many days ere the
    \r\n", + "notorious Blowers set out for Memphis, recovered his lost property,
    \r\n", + "who, like a lamb panting in the grasp of a pursuing wolf, was, with
    \r\n", + "her young child, dragged back, a wretch, into the melancholy waste
    \r\n", + "of slavery. Long and loudly was the grand discovery resounded
    \r\n", + "through the little world of Memphis; not in sympathy for the slave,
    \r\n", + "for many hearts were made glad with joy over what the fashionable
    \r\n", + "were pleased to term a fortunate disclosure and a happy removal.
    \r\n", + "Many very grave gentlemen said the miscreant who dared impose a
    \r\n", + "slave on society, well merited punishment at the hands of the
    \r\n", + "venerable Lynch,--a judge of that city whose celebrity is almost
    \r\n", + "world wide.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER LIII.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "A FAMILIAR SCENE, IN WHICH PRINGLE BLOWERS HAS BUSINESS.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "OF a bright morning, not many days after Pringle Blowers returned
    \r\n", + "with his fair slave to Charleston (which said slave he would not
    \r\n", + "sell for gold), there sat on a little bench at the entrance gate of
    \r\n", + "the \"upper workhouse,\" the brusque figure of a man, whose coarse and
    \r\n", + "firmly knit frame, to which were added hard and weather-stained
    \r\n", + "features, indicated his having seen some fifty summers. But, if he
    \r\n", + "was brusque of figure and coarse of deportment, he had a good soft
    \r\n", + "heart in the right place; nor did he fail to exercise its virtues
    \r\n", + "while pursuing the duties of a repulsive profession; albeit, he was
    \r\n", + "keeper of the establishment, and superintended all punishments.
    \r\n", + "Leisurely he smoked of a black pipe; and with shirt sleeves rolled
    \r\n", + "up, a grey felt hat almost covering his dark, flashing eyes, and his
    \r\n", + "arms easily folded, did he seem contemplating the calm loveliness of
    \r\n", + "morning. Now he exhaled the curling fume, then scanned away over the
    \r\n", + "bright landscape to the east, and again cast curious glances up and
    \r\n", + "down the broad road stretching in front of his prison to the north
    \r\n", + "and south. It was not long before a carriage and pair appeared on
    \r\n", + "the hill to the south, advancing at a slow pace towards the city.
    \r\n", + "The keeper's keen eye rested upon it intently, as it neared, bearing
    \r\n", + "in a back seat what seemed to be a lady fine of figure and
    \r\n", + "deportment; while on the front drove a figure of great rotundity,
    \r\n", + "the broad, full face shining out like a ripe pumpkin in a sun
    \r\n", + "shower. \"It's Pringle Blowers, I do believe in my soul! but it's
    \r\n", + "seeming strange how he's got a lady to ride with him,\" mused the
    \r\n", + "man, who, still watching the approach, had quite forgotten the
    \r\n", + "escape of the fair slave. The man was not mistaken, for as he
    \r\n", + "touched his hat, on the carriage arriving opposite the gate, it
    \r\n", + "halted, and there, sure enough, was our valiant democrat, who,
    \r\n", + "placing his whip in the socket, crooked his finger and beckoned the
    \r\n", + "keeper. \"Broadman!\" said he, (for that was the man's name) \"I'ze a
    \r\n", + "bit of something in your way of business this morning.\" The honest
    \r\n", + "functionary, with seeming surprise, again touching his hat as he
    \r\n", + "approached the vehicle, replied: \"Your servant, sir!\" Blowers
    \r\n", + "motioned his hand to the woman, whose tears were now, to Broadman's
    \r\n", + "surprise, seen coursing down her pale cheeks. To use a vulgar
    \r\n", + "phrase, Broadman was entirely \"taken aback\" by the singularity of
    \r\n", + "Blowers' manner; for the woman, whose dress and deportment the
    \r\n", + "honest man conceived to be nothing less than that of a lady of one
    \r\n", + "of the \"first families,\" obeying the motion, began to descend from
    \r\n", + "the carriage. \"Now, Broadman,\" continued Blowers, arranging his
    \r\n", + "reins, and with clumsy air making his descent over the fore wheels,
    \r\n", + "\"take that 'ar wench o' mine, and, by the State's custom, give her
    \r\n", + "the extent of the law, well laid on.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "The author here writes the incident as given by the prison-keeper.
    \r\n", + "The man hesitated, as if doubting his senses; rather would he have
    \r\n", + "been courteous to what he still viewed as a lady, than extend his
    \r\n", + "rude hand to lead her away.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Pardon me, Sir! but you cannot mean what you say,\" nervously spoke
    \r\n", + "the man, as in doubt he exchanged glances first with the fair woman
    \r\n", + "and then with Blowers. \"I means just what I says,\" returned that
    \r\n", + "gentleman, peremptorily; \"you'ze hearn o' that 'un afore. She's a
    \r\n", + "nigger o' mine, what runned away more nor six years ago; come, do
    \r\n", + "the job for her, and no fussing over't.\" \"Nigger!\" interrupted the
    \r\n", + "man, in surprise. \"Yes!\" rejoined Blowers, emphasising his assurance
    \r\n", + "with oaths, of which he had a never-failing supply, \"that's the
    \r\n", + "cussed white nigger what's gin me all the bother. The whiter niggers
    \r\n", + "is, the more devil's in em; and that ar' one's got devil enough for
    \r\n", + "a whole plantation; 'tisn't the licks I cares about, but it's the
    \r\n", + "humblin' on her feelings by being punished in the workhouse!\" The
    \r\n", + "man of duty was now brought to his senses, when, seeing Blowers was
    \r\n", + "inclined to relieve his anger on what he was pleased to consider the
    \r\n", + "stupidity of a keeper, he took the weeping but resolute woman by the
    \r\n", + "arm, and called a negro attendant, into whose charge he handed her,
    \r\n", + "with an order to \"put her in the slings.\" Soon she disappeared
    \r\n", + "within the gate, following the mulatto man. And here we will again
    \r\n", + "spare the reader's feelings, by omitting much that followed. Blowers
    \r\n", + "and Broadman follow the hapless woman, as she proceeds through a
    \r\n", + "narrow passage leading to the punishment room, and when about half
    \r\n", + "way to that place of torture, a small, square door opens on the
    \r\n", + "right, into a dingy office, the keeper says is where he keeps his
    \r\n", + "accounts with the State, which derives a large revenue from the
    \r\n", + "punishments. Into this does the worthy man invite his patron, whom
    \r\n", + "he would have be seated while the criminal is got \"all right\" in the
    \r\n", + "slings. Fain would Blowers go and attend the business himself; but
    \r\n", + "Broadman saying \"that cannot be,\" he draws from his pocket a small
    \r\n", + "flask, and, seemingly contented, invites him to join in \"somethin\"
    \r\n", + "he says is the very choicest. Broadman has no objection to
    \r\n", + "encouraging this evidence of good feeling, which he will take
    \r\n", + "advantage of to introduce the dialogue that follows. \"Good sir,\"
    \r\n", + "says he, \"you will pardon what I am about to say, for indeed I feel
    \r\n", + "the weakness of my position when addressing you, fortune having made
    \r\n", + "a wide distinction between us; but judge me not because I am coarse
    \r\n", + "of flesh, nor have polished manners, for I have a heart that feels
    \r\n", + "for the unfortunate.\" Here Blowers interrupted the keeper by saying
    \r\n", + "he would hear no chicken-hearted interpositions. \"Remember, keeper,\"
    \r\n", + "he added, \"you must not presume on the small familiarity I have
    \r\n", + "condescended to admit in drinking with you. I hold no controversies
    \r\n", + "with prison-keepers (again he gulps his brandy) or their subs; being
    \r\n", + "a servant of the state, I order you to give that wench the extent of
    \r\n", + "the law. She shall disclose the secret of her escape, or I'll have
    \r\n", + "her life; I'm a man what won't stand no nonsense, I am!\" The keeper,
    \r\n", + "rejoining, hopes he will pardon the seeming presumption; but,
    \r\n", + "forsooth, notwithstanding necessity has driven him to seek a
    \r\n", + "livelihood in his repulsive occupation, there is a duty of the heart
    \r\n", + "he cannot betray, though the bread of his maintenance be taken from
    \r\n", + "him. Blowers again assumes his dignity, rises from his seat, scowls
    \r\n", + "significantly at the keeper, and says he will go put through the
    \r\n", + "business with his own hands. \"Good friend,\" says Broadman, arresting
    \r\n", + "Blowers' progress, \"by the state's ruling you are my patron;
    \r\n", + "nevertheless, within these walls I am master, and whatever you may
    \r\n", + "bring here for punishment shall have the benefit of my discretion. I
    \r\n", + "loathe the law that forces me to, in such cases, overrule the admo-
    \r\n", + "nitions of my heart. I, sir, am low of this world,--good! but, in
    \r\n", + "regret do I say it, I have by a slave mother two fair daughters, who
    \r\n", + "in the very core of my heart I love; nor would I, imitating the
    \r\n", + "baser examples of our aristocracy, sell them hapless outcasts for
    \r\n", + "life.\" Here Blowers again interrupted by allowing his passion to
    \r\n", + "manifest itself in a few very fashionable oaths; to which he added,
    \r\n", + "that he (pacing the room several times) would no longer give ear to
    \r\n", + "such nonsense from a man of Broadman's position,--which was neither
    \r\n", + "socially nor politically grand. \"No doubt, good sir, my humble and
    \r\n", + "somewhat repulsive calling does not meet your distinguished
    \r\n", + "consideration; but I am, nevertheless, a man. And what I was about
    \r\n", + "to say-I hope you will grant me a hearing-was, that having these two
    \r\n", + "daughters-poverty only prevents my purchasing them-has made me
    \r\n", + "sensible of these slaves having delicate textures. The unhappy
    \r\n", + "possession of these daughters has caused me to reflect-to study
    \r\n", + "constitutions, and their capacity to endure punishments. The woman
    \r\n", + "it has pleased you to bring here for chastisement, I take it, is not
    \r\n", + "coarse of flesh; but is one of those unfortunates whom kindness
    \r\n", + "might reform, while the lash never fails to destroy. Why, then, not
    \r\n", + "consider her in the light of a friendless wretch, whom it were
    \r\n", + "better to save, than sink in shame? One word more and I am done\"
    \r\n", + "(Blowers was about to cut short the conversation); \"the extent of
    \r\n", + "the law being nothing less than twenty blows of the paddle, is most
    \r\n", + "severe punishment for a woman of fine flesh to withstand on her
    \r\n", + "naked loins. Nor, let me say-and here I speak from twelve years'
    \r\n", + "experience-can the lady-I beg pardon, the slave you bring me!-bear
    \r\n", + "these blows: no, my lips never spoke truer when I say she'll quiver
    \r\n", + "and sink in spasms ere the second blow is laid on.\" Here-some twenty
    \r\n", + "minutes having passed since the fair slave was led into the
    \r\n", + "punishment room-Blowers cut short the conversation which had failed
    \r\n", + "to thaw his resolution, by saying Broadman had bored his ears in
    \r\n", + "spinning out his long song, and if he were unwilling to fulfil the
    \r\n", + "duties of his office, such should be reported to the authorities,
    \r\n", + "who would not permit workhouse-keepers so to modify their ordnances
    \r\n", + "that black and white niggers have different punishments. \"Nay, sir!\"
    \r\n", + "says the honest man, with an air of earnestness, as he rises from
    \r\n", + "his seat; \"follow me, and with the reality will I prove the truth of
    \r\n", + "my words.\" Here he proceeds to that place of torments, the
    \r\n", + "punishment-room, followed by Blowers; who says, with singular
    \r\n", + "indifference-\"Can do the job in five minutes; then I'll leave her
    \r\n", + "with you for two, three, or four days or so. Then if she's civilly
    \r\n", + "humbled down, I'll send my nigger fellow, Joe, with an order for
    \r\n", + "her. Joe'll be the fellow's name; now, mind that: but you know my
    \r\n", + "Joe, I reckon?\" The keeper led the way, but made no reply; for
    \r\n", + "indeed he knew nothing of his Joe, there being innumerable niggers
    \r\n", + "of that name. As the men left the little office, and were sauntering
    \r\n", + "up the passage, our worthy friend Rosebrook might be seen entering
    \r\n", + "in search of Broadman; when, discovering Blowers in his company, and
    \r\n", + "hearing the significant words, he shot into a niche, unobserved by
    \r\n", + "them, and calling a negro attendant, learned the nature of his
    \r\n", + "visit. And here it becomes necessary that we discover to the reader
    \r\n", + "the fact of Rosebrook having been apprised of the forlorn woman's
    \r\n", + "return, and her perilous position in the hands of Pringle Blowers;
    \r\n", + "and, further, that the communication was effected by the negro man
    \r\n", + "Pompe, who we have before described in connection with Montague at
    \r\n", + "the time of his landing from the witch-like schooner. This Pompe was
    \r\n", + "sold to Blowers but a few months before Annette's recovery, and
    \r\n", + "acting upon the force of that sympathy which exists among fellow
    \r\n", + "slaves of a plantation, soon renewed old acquaintance, gained her
    \r\n", + "confidence, and, cunningly eluding the owner's watchfulness,
    \r\n", + "conveyed for her a letter to the Rosebrooks. In truth, Pompe had an
    \r\n", + "inveterate hatred of Blowers, and under the incitement would not
    \r\n", + "have hesitated to stake his life in defence of the fair woman. Now,
    \r\n", + "the exacting reader may question Rosebrook's intrepidity in not
    \r\n", + "proceeding at once to the rescue of the victim; but when we say that
    \r\n", + "he was ignorant of the positive order given the keeper, and only
    \r\n", + "caught distinctly the words-\"I'll send my nigger fellow, Joe, with
    \r\n", + "an order for her!\" they may discover an excuse for his hastily
    \r\n", + "withdrawing from the establishment. Indeed, that my reader may
    \r\n", + "withhold his censure, it may be well to add that he did this in
    \r\n", + "order to devise more strategical means of effecting her escape.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now, ye who have nerves-let them not be shaken; let not your
    \r\n", + "emotions rise, ye who have souls, and love the blessings of liberty;
    \r\n", + "let not mothers nor fathers weep over democracy's wrongs; nor let
    \r\n", + "man charge us with picturing the horrors of a black romance when we
    \r\n", + "introduce the spectacle in the room of punishments: such, be it
    \r\n", + "known, is not our business, nor would we trifle unjustly with the
    \r\n", + "errors of society; but, if chivalry have blushes, we do not object
    \r\n", + "to their being used here. The keeper, followed by Blowers, enters a
    \r\n", + "small room at the further end of the passage. It is some sixteen
    \r\n", + "feet long by twelve wide, and proportionately high of ceiling. The
    \r\n", + "pale light of a tallow candle, suspended from the ceiling by a wire,
    \r\n", + "and from which large flakes of the melted grease lay cone-like on
    \r\n", + "the pine floor, discloses the gloom, and discovers hanging from the
    \r\n", + "walls, grim with smoke, sundry curious caps, cords, leathern cats,
    \r\n", + "and the more improved paddles of wood, with flat blades. The very
    \r\n", + "gloom of the place might excite the timid; but the reflection of how
    \r\n", + "many tortures it has been the scene, and the mysterious stillness
    \r\n", + "pervading its singularly decorated walls, add still more to increase
    \r\n", + "apprehension. A plank, some two feet wide, and raised a few inches,
    \r\n", + "stretches across the floor, and is secured at each end with cleets.
    \r\n", + "About midway of this are ropes securing the victim's feet; and
    \r\n", + "through the dim light is disclosed the half nude body of our fair
    \r\n", + "girl, suspended by the wrists, which are clasped in bands of cord,
    \r\n", + "that, being further secured to a pulley block, is hauled taut by a
    \r\n", + "tackle. Suddenly the wretched woman gives vent to her feelings, and
    \r\n", + "in paroxysms of grief sways her poor body to and fro, imploring
    \r\n", + "mercy! \"Nay, master! think that I am a woman-that I have a heart to
    \r\n", + "feel and bleed; that I am a mother and a wife, though a slave. Let
    \r\n", + "your deeds be done quickly, or end me and save me this shame!\" she
    \r\n", + "supplicates, as the bitter, burning anguish of her goaded soul gives
    \r\n", + "out its flood of sorrow. Chivalry, forsooth, lies cold and
    \r\n", + "unmoved-Blowers has no relish for such inconsistency;--such whinings,
    \r\n", + "he says, will not serve southern principles. The mulatto attendant
    \r\n", + "has secured the fall, and stands a few feet behind Blowers and the
    \r\n", + "keeper, as that functionary says, laying his coarse hands on the
    \r\n", + "woman's loins, \"How silky!\" The mulatto man shakes his head,
    \r\n", + "revengefully, making a grimace, as Broadman, having selected the
    \r\n", + "smallest paddle (reminding us of the curious sympathy now budding
    \r\n", + "between the autocratic knout and democratic lash) again addresses
    \r\n", + "Blowers. \"I doubt, sir,\" he says, \"if the woman stand a blow.
    \r\n", + "Necessity 's a hard master, sir; and in this very act is the test
    \r\n", + "more trying than I have ever known it. I dissemble myself when I see
    \r\n", + "a wretch of fine flesh-a woman with tender senses, in distress, and
    \r\n", + "I am made the instrument of adding to her suffering. Indeed, sir,
    \r\n", + "when I contemplate the cause of such wretchedness, and the poverty
    \r\n", + "forcing me to remain in this situation, no imagination can represent
    \r\n", + "the horror of my feelings.\"
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"We have no demand on your feelings, my man! we want your duty-what
    \r\n", + "the state put you here to perform,\" interrupted Blowers, placing his
    \r\n", + "thumbs in his vest, and making a step backward. Another second, and
    \r\n", + "the attendant lighted a hand-lamp,--a sharp, slapping blow was heard,
    \r\n", + "a death-like shriek followed; the flesh quivered and contracted into
    \r\n", + "a discoloured and inflamed pustule; the body writhed a few seconds
    \r\n", + "in convulsive spasms; a low moaning followed, and that fair form
    \r\n", + "hung swooning in the slings, as the keeper, in fright, cried out, at
    \r\n", + "the top of his voice, to the attendant--\"Lower away the fall!\" As if
    \r\n", + "the fiend had not yet gratified his passion, no sooner was the
    \r\n", + "seemingly lifeless body lowered clumsily to the floor, than he
    \r\n", + "grasped the weapon from Broadman's hand, and like a tiger seeking
    \r\n", + "its banquet of flesh, was about to administer a second blow. But
    \r\n", + "Broadman had a good heart, the admonitions of which soared high
    \r\n", + "above the state's mandate: seizing Blowers in his arms, he ejected
    \r\n", + "him from the door, ran back to the prostrate woman, released her
    \r\n", + "bruised limbs from the fastenings, gathered her to his arms; and
    \r\n", + "with nervous hands and anxious face did he draw from his pocket the
    \r\n", + "well-timed hartshorn, by the application of which he sought to
    \r\n", + "restore her, as the mulatto man stood by, bathing her temples with
    \r\n", + "cold water. \"Ah! shame on the thing called a man who could abuse a
    \r\n", + "sweet creature of fine flesh, like thee! it's not many has such a
    \r\n", + "pretty sweet face,\" says Broadman, with an air of compassion,
    \r\n", + "resting her shoulder against his bended knee as he encircles it with
    \r\n", + "his left arm, and looks upon the pale features, tears glistening in
    \r\n", + "his honest eyes. We might say with Broadman--\"It's not the finest,
    \r\n", + "nor the polished of flesh, that hath the softest hearts.\" But,
    \r\n", + "reader, having performed our duty, let us drop the curtain over this
    \r\n", + "sad but true scene; and when you have conjectured the third and
    \r\n", + "fourth acts of the drama, join with us in hoping the chivalry of our
    \r\n", + "State may yet awake to a sense of its position, that, when we again
    \r\n", + "raise it, a pleasanter prospect may be presented.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER LIV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH ARE DISCOVERIES AND PLEASANT SCENES.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "ST. PATRICK'S night closed the day on which the scenes of the
    \r\n", + "foregoing chapter were enacted; and that patron saint being of
    \r\n", + "aristocratic descent, which caused him to be held in high esteem by
    \r\n", + "our \"very first families,\" than among whom better admirers could
    \r\n", + "nowhere be found, his anniversary was sure to be celebrated with
    \r\n", + "much feasting and drinking. But while this homage to the good saint
    \r\n", + "made glad the hearts of thousands-while the city seemed radiant of
    \r\n", + "joy, and reeling men from Hibernia's gorgeous hall found in him an
    \r\n", + "excuse for their revelries--there sat in the box of a caf�, situated
    \r\n", + "on the west side of Meeting Street, two men who seemed to have a
    \r\n", + "deeper interest at heart than that of the Saint's joy on his road to
    \r\n", + "paradise. The one was a shortish man, coarse of figure, and whose
    \r\n", + "browned features and figured hands bespoke him a sailor; the other
    \r\n", + "was delicate of figure, with pale, careworn countenance and nervous
    \r\n", + "demeanour. Upon the marble slab, on which they rested their elbows,
    \r\n", + "sat a bottle of old Madeira, from which they sipped leisurely, now
    \r\n", + "and then modulating their conversation into whispers. Then the man
    \r\n", + "of brown features spoke out more at ease, as if they had concluded
    \r\n", + "the preliminaries of some important business.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Well, well,--now isn't that strange?\" said he, sighing as he spread
    \r\n", + "his brawny hands upon the white marble. \"Natur's a curious mystery,
    \r\n", + "though\" (he looked intently at the other): \"why, more nor twenty
    \r\n", + "years have rolled over since I did that bit of a good turn, and here
    \r\n", + "I is the very same old Jack Hardweather, skipper of the Maggy Bell.
    \r\n", + "But for all that--and I'd have folks know it!--the Maggy's as trim a
    \r\n", + "little craft as ever lay to on a sou'-easter; and she can show as
    \r\n", + "clean a pair of heels as any other--barring her old top timbers
    \r\n", + "complain now and then--to the best cutter as ever shook Uncle Sam's
    \r\n", + "rags.\" His hard features softened, as in the earnest of his heart he
    \r\n", + "spoke. He extended his hand across the table, grasping firmly that
    \r\n", + "of his nervous friend, and continued--\"And it was no other witch
    \r\n", + "than the taunt Maggy Bell that landed that good woman safe on the
    \r\n", + "free sands of old Bahama!\" The Maggy, he tells the other, is now at
    \r\n", + "the wharf, where the good wife, Molly Hardweather, keeps ship while
    \r\n", + "the boys take a turn ashore.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"There's always a wise provision to relieve one's feelings when
    \r\n", + "sorrow comes unexpectedly,\" returns the nervous man, his hand
    \r\n", + "trembling as he draws forth the money to pay the waiter who answered
    \r\n", + "his call.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Yes!\" quickly rejoined the other, \"but keep up a good heart, like a
    \r\n", + "sailor hard upon a lee shore, and all 'll be bright and sunny in a
    \r\n", + "day or two. And now we'll just make a tack down the bay-street-and
    \r\n", + "sight the Maggy. There's a small drop of somethin' in the locker,
    \r\n", + "that'll help to keep up yer spirits, I reckon--a body's spirits has
    \r\n", + "to be tautened now and then, as ye do a bobstay,--and the wife (she's
    \r\n", + "a good sort of a body, though I say it) will do the best she can in
    \r\n", + "her hard way to make ye less troubled at heart. Molly Hardweather
    \r\n", + "has had some hard ups and downs in life, knows well the cares of a
    \r\n", + "mother, and has had twins twice; yes\"-adds the hardy seafarer-\"we
    \r\n", + "arn't polished folks, nor high of blood, but we've got hearts, and
    \r\n", + "as every true heart hates slavery, so do we, though we are forced to
    \r\n", + "dissemble our real feelings for the sake of peace in the trade.\"
    \r\n", + "Here the delicate man took the sailor's arm, and sallied out to seek
    \r\n", + "the little Maggy Bell, the former saying the meeting was as strange
    \r\n", + "as grateful to his very soul. Down Market Street, shaded in
    \r\n", + "darkness, they wended their way, and after reaching the wharf,
    \r\n", + "passed along between long lines of cotton bales, piled eight and ten
    \r\n", + "feet high, to the end, where lay motionless the pretty Maggy Bell,
    \r\n", + "as clipper-like a craft as ever spread canvas. The light from the
    \r\n", + "cabin shed its faint gleams over the quarter-deck, as Hardweather
    \r\n", + "halted on the capsill, and with a sailor's pride run his quick black
    \r\n", + "eye along her pirate-like hull, then aloft along the rigging.
    \r\n", + "Exultingly, he says, \"She is the sauciest witch that ever faced sea
    \r\n", + "or showed a clean pair of heels. The Maggy Bell!\"-he pats his friend
    \r\n", + "on the shoulder-\"why, sir, she has-just between ourselves now-slided
    \r\n", + "many a poor slave off into freedom; but folks here don't think it of
    \r\n", + "me. Now, if I reckon right\"-he bites his tobacco, and extends it to
    \r\n", + "the stranger-\"and I believe I do, it's twenty years since the Maggy,
    \r\n", + "of one dark night, skimmed it by that point, with Fort Pinkney on
    \r\n", + "it, yonder, that good creature on board.\" He points to the murky
    \r\n", + "mass, scarce visible in the distance, to the east. \"And now she's
    \r\n", + "one of the noblest women that ever broke bread to the poor; and
    \r\n", + "she's right comfortable off, now,--alwa's has a smile, and a kind
    \r\n", + "word, and something good for old Jack Hardweather whenever she sees
    \r\n", + "him. Lord bless yer soul!\"-here he shakes his head earnestly, and
    \r\n", + "says he never was a lubber-\"Jack Hardweather didn't care about the
    \r\n", + "soft shot for his locker; it was my heart that felt the kindness.
    \r\n", + "Indeed, it always jumps and jerks like a bobstay in a head sea, when
    \r\n", + "I meets her. And then, when I thinks how 'twas me done the good
    \r\n", + "turn, and no thanks to nobody! You hearn of me 'afore, eh\" (he turns
    \r\n", + "to his companion, who measuredly answers in the affirmative). \"Well,
    \r\n", + "then, my name's Skipper Jack Hardweather, known all along the coast;
    \r\n", + "but, seeing how the world and navigation's got shortened down, they
    \r\n", + "call me old Jack Splitwater. I suppose it's by the way of
    \r\n", + "convenience, and so neither wife nor me have a bit of objection.\"
    \r\n", + "Here the conversation was interrupted by the good wife's round,
    \r\n", + "cheery face shooting suddenly from out the companion-way, and
    \r\n", + "enjoining our friend Jack to come away aboard, her high peaked cap
    \r\n", + "shining like snow on a dark surface. The truth was, that Splitwater,
    \r\n", + "as he was styled, had become so much absorbed in excitement as to
    \r\n", + "forget the length of his yarn. \"Come away, now!\" says the good wife,
    \r\n", + "\"everybody's left the Maggy to-night; and ther's na knowin' what 'd
    \r\n", + "a' become 'un her if a'h hadn't looked right sharp, for ther' wer' a
    \r\n", + "muckle ship a'mast run her dune; an' if she just had, the Maggy wad
    \r\n", + "na mar bene seen!\" The good wife shakes her head; her rich Scotch
    \r\n", + "tongue sounding on the still air, as with apprehension her chubby
    \r\n", + "face shines in the light of the candle she holds before it with her
    \r\n", + "right hand. Skipper Splitwater will see his friend on board, he
    \r\n", + "says, as they follow her down the companion-ladder. \"Wife thinks as
    \r\n", + "much of the Maggy-and would, I believe in my soul, cry her life out
    \r\n", + "if anything happened till her: wife's a good body aboard a ship, and
    \r\n", + "can take a trick at the wheel just as well as Harry Span the mate.\"
    \r\n", + "Skipper Splitwater leads the way into a little dingy cabin, a
    \r\n", + "partition running athwart ships dividing it into two apartments; the
    \r\n", + "former being where Skipper Hardweather \"sleeps his crew\" and cooks
    \r\n", + "his mess, the sternmost where he receives his friends. This latter
    \r\n", + "place, into which he conducts the nervous man, is lumbered with
    \r\n", + "boxes, chests, charts, camp-seats, log lines, and rusty quadrants,
    \r\n", + "and sundry marine relics which only the inveterate coaster could
    \r\n", + "conceive a use for. But the good wife Molly, whose canny face bears
    \r\n", + "the wrinkles of some forty summers, and whose round, short figure is
    \r\n", + "so simply set off with bright plaid frock and apron of gingham
    \r\n", + "check, in taste well adapted to her humble position, is as clean and
    \r\n", + "tidy as ever was picture of mine Vrow Vardenstein. Nevertheless,--we
    \r\n", + "know the reader will join us in the sentiment-that which gave the
    \r\n", + "air of domestic happiness a completeness hitherto unnoticed, was a
    \r\n", + "wee responsibility, as seen sprawling and kicking goodnaturedly on
    \r\n", + "the white pillow of the starboard berth, where its two peering eyes
    \r\n", + "shone forth as bright as new-polished pearls. The little darling is
    \r\n", + "just a year old, Dame Hardweather tells us; it's a twin,--the other
    \r\n", + "died, and, she knows full well, has gone to heaven. Here she takes
    \r\n", + "the little cherub in her lap, and having made her best courtesy as
    \r\n", + "Hardweather introduces her to his nervous friend, seats herself on
    \r\n", + "the locker, and commences suckling it, while he points to the very
    \r\n", + "place on the larboard side where Clotilda-\"Ah! I just caught the
    \r\n", + "name,\" he says,--used to sit and sorrow for her child. \"And then,\"
    \r\n", + "he continues, \"on the quarter-deck she'd go and give such longing
    \r\n", + "looks back, like as if she wanted to see it; and when she couldn't,
    \r\n", + "she'd turn away and sigh so. And this, Molly,\" he continues, \"is the
    \r\n", + "self-same child my friend here, who I am as happy to meet as a body
    \r\n", + "can be, wants me to carry off from these wolves of slavery; and if I
    \r\n", + "don't, then my name's not Jack Splitwater!\" So saying, he bustles
    \r\n", + "about, tells the nervous man he must excuse the want of finery, that
    \r\n", + "he has been a hard coaster for God knows how many years, and the
    \r\n", + "little place is all he can afford; for indeed he is poor, but
    \r\n", + "expects a better place one of these days. Then he draws forth from a
    \r\n", + "little nook in the stern locker a bottle, which he says contains
    \r\n", + "pure stuff, and of which he invites his visitor to partake, that he
    \r\n", + "may keep up a good heart, still hoping for the best. The nervous man
    \r\n", + "declines his kind invitation,--he has too much at heart, and the
    \r\n", + "sight of the child so reminds him of his own now blighted in
    \r\n", + "slavery. The good woman now becoming deeply concerned, Hardweather
    \r\n", + "must needs recount the story, and explain the strange man's
    \r\n", + "troubles, which he does in simple language; but, as the yarn is
    \r\n", + "somewhat long, the reader must excuse our not transcribing it here.
    \r\n", + "With anxious face and listening ears did the woman absorb every
    \r\n", + "word; and when the earnest skipper concluded with grasping firmly
    \r\n", + "the man's hand, and saying-\"Just you scheme the strategy, and if I
    \r\n", + "don't carry it out my name aint Jack Hardweather!\" would she fain
    \r\n", + "have had him go on. \"Lack a day, good man!\" she rejoined, fondling
    \r\n", + "closer to her bosom the little suckling; \"get ye the wee bairn and
    \r\n", + "bring it hither, and I'll mak it t'uther twin-na body'll kno't! and
    \r\n", + "da ye ken hoo ye may mak the bonny wife sik a body that nane but
    \r\n", + "foxes wad ken her. Just mak her a brae young sailor, and the Maggy
    \r\n", + "Bell 'll do the rest on't.\" Hardweather here interrupted Molly's
    \r\n", + "suggestion which was, indeed, most fortunate, and albeit supplied
    \r\n", + "the initiative to the strategy afterwards adopted-for slavery opens
    \r\n", + "wide the field of strategy-by reminding the stranger that she had a
    \r\n", + "long Scotch head. The night had now well advanced; the stranger
    \r\n", + "shook the woman's hand firmly, and bade her good night, as a tear
    \r\n", + "gushed into his eyes. The scene was indeed simple, but touching. The
    \r\n", + "hard mariner will accompany his friend to the wharf; and then as he
    \r\n", + "again turns on the capsill, he cannot bid him good night without
    \r\n", + "adding a few words more in praise of the little Maggy Bell, whose
    \r\n", + "name is inscribed in gilt letters upon the flash-board of her stern.
    \r\n", + "Holding his hand, he says: \"Now, keep the heart up right! and in a
    \r\n", + "day or two we'll have all aboard, and be in the stream waiting for a
    \r\n", + "fair breeze-then the Maggy 'll play her part. Bless yer soul! the
    \r\n", + "little craft and me's coasted down the coast nobody knows how many
    \r\n", + "years; and she knows every nook, creek, reef, and point, just as
    \r\n", + "well as I does. Just give her a double-reefed mainsail, and the lug
    \r\n", + "of a standing jib, and in my soul I believe she'd make the passage
    \r\n", + "without compass, chart, or a hand aboard. By the word of an old
    \r\n", + "sailor, such a craft is the Maggy Bell. And when the Spanish and
    \r\n", + "English and French all got mixed up about who owned Florida, the
    \r\n", + "Maggy and me's coasted along them keys when, blowing a screecher,
    \r\n", + "them Ingins' balls flew so, a body had to hold the hair on his head;
    \r\n", + "but never a bit did the Maggy mind it.\" The stranger's heart was too
    \r\n", + "full of cares to respond to the generous man's simplicity; shaking
    \r\n", + "his hand fervently, he bid him good night, and disappeared up the
    \r\n", + "wharf.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "We apprehend little difficulty to the reader in discovering the
    \r\n", + "person of Montague in our nervous man, who, in the absence of
    \r\n", + "intelligence from his wife, was led to suspect some foul play. Nor
    \r\n", + "were his suspicions unfounded; for, on returning to Memphis, which
    \r\n", + "he did in great haste, he found his home desolate, his wife and
    \r\n", + "child borne back into slavery, and himself threatened with Lynch
    \r\n", + "law. The grief which threatened to overwhelm him at finding those he
    \r\n", + "so dearly loved hurled back into bondage, was not enough to appease
    \r\n", + "a community tenacious of its colour. No! he must leave his business,
    \r\n", + "until the arrival of some one from New York, to the clerk who so
    \r\n", + "perfidiously betrayed him. With sickened heart, then, does he-only
    \r\n", + "too glad to escape the fury of an unreasoning mob-seek that place of
    \r\n", + "bondage into which the captives have been carried; nay, more, he
    \r\n", + "left the excited little world (reporting his destination to be New
    \r\n", + "York) fully resolved to rescue them at the hazard of his life, and
    \r\n", + "for ever leave the country. Scarcely necessary then, will it be for
    \r\n", + "us to inform the reader, that, having sought out the Rosebrooks, he
    \r\n", + "has counselled their advice, and joined them in devising means of
    \r\n", + "relief. Blowers had declared, on his sacred honour, he would not
    \r\n", + "sell the captives for their weight in gold.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Rosebrook had no sooner received Annette's letter from the hand of
    \r\n", + "Pompe than he repaired to Blowers' plantation-as well to sound that
    \r\n", + "gentleman's disposition to sell his captives, as a necessary
    \r\n", + "precaution against the dangers he had incurred through his
    \r\n", + "participation in the fair girl's escape; for albeit the disclosure
    \r\n", + "might be extorted from her by cruelty. But Blowers was too much of a
    \r\n", + "gentleman to condescend to sell his captive; nor would he listen to
    \r\n", + "arguments in her behalf. Nevertheless, we will not underrate
    \r\n", + "Blowers' character, that the reader may suppose him devoid of
    \r\n", + "compassion; for-be it recorded to his fame-he did, on the morning
    \r\n", + "following that on which the punishment we have described in the
    \r\n", + "foregoing chapter took place, send the child, whose long and
    \r\n", + "piercing cries he could no longer endure, to the arms of its poor
    \r\n", + "disconsolate mother, whom he hoped would take good care of it.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "Now, let not the reader restrain his fancy, but imagine, if he can,
    \r\n", + "Pringle Blowers' disappointment and state of perturbation, when,
    \r\n", + "three days after the punishment, he presented himself at Broadman's
    \r\n", + "establishment, and was informed by that functionary that the fair
    \r\n", + "mother was non est. With honest face did Broadman assert his
    \r\n", + "ignorance of wrong. That he had not betrayed his duty he would
    \r\n", + "satisfy the enraged man, by producing the very order on which he
    \r\n", + "delivered them to Joe! \"Yes, Joe was his name!\" continues the honest
    \r\n", + "man; \"and he asserted his ownership, and told a straightforward
    \r\n", + "story, and didn't look roguish.\" He passes the order over to
    \r\n", + "Blowers, who, having examined it very cautiously, says: \"Forgery,
    \r\n", + "forgery!-'tis, by the Eternal!\" Turning his fat sides, he approaches
    \r\n", + "the window, and by the light reads each successive word. It is
    \r\n", + "written in a scrawl precisely like his own; but, forsooth, it cannot
    \r\n", + "be his. However, deeming it little becoming a man of his standing to
    \r\n", + "parley with Broadman, he quickly makes his exit, and, like a
    \r\n", + "locomotive at half speed, exhausting his perturbation the while,
    \r\n", + "does he seek his way into the city, where he discovers his loss to
    \r\n", + "the police. We have in another part of our history described Blowers
    \r\n", + "as something of a wag; indeed, waggery was not the least trait in
    \r\n", + "his curious character, nor was he at all cautious in the exercise of
    \r\n", + "it; and, upon the principle that those who give must take, did he
    \r\n", + "render himself a fit object for those who indulge in that sort of
    \r\n", + "pastime to level their wit upon. On this occasion, Blowers had not
    \r\n", + "spent many hours in the city ere he had all its convenient corners
    \r\n", + "very fantastically decorated with large blue placards, whereon was
    \r\n", + "inscribed the loss of his valuable woman, and the offer of the
    \r\n", + "increased sum of four hundred dollars for her apprehension. The
    \r\n", + "placards were wonderful curiosities, and very characteristic of
    \r\n", + "Blowers, who in this instance excited no small amount of merriment
    \r\n", + "among the city wags, each of whom cracked a joke at his expense. Now
    \r\n", + "it was not that those waggish spirits said of his placard things
    \r\n", + "exceedingly annoying to his sensitive feelings, but that every prig
    \r\n", + "made him the butt of his borrowed wit. One quizzed him with want of
    \r\n", + "gallantry,--another told him what the ladies said of his oss,--a third
    \r\n", + "pitied him, but hoped he might get back his property; and then, Tom
    \r\n", + "Span, the dandy lawyer, laconically told him that to love a fair
    \r\n", + "slave was a business he must learn over again; and Sprout, the
    \r\n", + "cotton-broker, said there was a law against ornamenting the city
    \r\n", + "with blue placards and type of such uncommon size. In this
    \r\n", + "interminable perplexity, and to avoid the last-named difficulty, did
    \r\n", + "he invoke the genius of the \"bill-sticker,\" who obliterated the blue
    \r\n", + "placards by covering them over with brown ones, the performance of
    \r\n", + "which, Blowers himself superintended. This made the matter still
    \r\n", + "worse, for with jocose smile did every wag say he had hung the city
    \r\n", + "in mourning for his loss; which singular proceeding the ladies had
    \r\n", + "one and all solemnly protested against. Now, Blowers regard for the
    \r\n", + "ladies was proverbial; nor will it disparage his character to say
    \r\n", + "that no one was more sensitive of their opinions concerning himself.
    \r\n", + "In this unhappy position, then, which he might have avoided had he
    \r\n", + "exercised more calmly his philosophy, did his perturbation get the
    \r\n", + "better of him;--an object of ridicule for every wag, and in
    \r\n", + "ill-favour with the very first ladies, never was perplexed man's
    \r\n", + "temper so near the exploding point of high pressure. And here,
    \r\n", + "forsooth, disgusted within the whole city, nor at all pleased with
    \r\n", + "the result of his inventive genius, he sought relief in strong
    \r\n", + "drinks and a week of dissipation; in which sad condition we must
    \r\n", + "leave him to the reader's sympathy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "As some of our fair readers may be a little prudish, or exacting of
    \r\n", + "character, and as we are peculiarly sensitive of the reputation some
    \r\n", + "of the characters embodied in this history should bear to the very
    \r\n", + "end, we deem it prudent here not to disclose the nature of the
    \r\n", + "little forgery which was perpetrated at Blowers' expense, nor the
    \r\n", + "means by which it was so cleverly carried out, to the release of the
    \r\n", + "fair captives, who must now be got out of the city. Should we, in
    \r\n", + "the performance of this very desirable duty, fail to please the
    \r\n", + "reader's taste for hair-breadth escapes, unnatural heroism, and
    \r\n", + "sublime disinterestedness, an excuse may be found in our lack of
    \r\n", + "soul to appreciate those virtues of romance. We have no taste for
    \r\n", + "breathless suspenses, no love of terror: we deal not in tragedy, nor
    \r\n", + "traffic in dramatic effects. But as the simplest strategy is often
    \r\n", + "the most successful of results, so did it prove in this particular
    \r\n", + "case; for, be it known, that on the morning of the twenty-fourth of
    \r\n", + "March,--, was Molly Hardweather's suggestion adopted and
    \r\n", + "effectually carried out, to the gratification of sundry interested
    \r\n", + "persons. Calm and bright was that morning; Charleston harbour and
    \r\n", + "its pretty banks seemed radiant of loveliness: the phantom-like
    \r\n", + "Maggy Bell, with mainsail and jib spread motionless in the air,
    \r\n", + "swung gently at anchor midway the stream; and Dame Hardweather sat
    \r\n", + "in the dingy cabin, her little chubby face beaming contentment as
    \r\n", + "she nursed the \"t'other twin.\" The brusque figure of old Jack,
    \r\n", + "immersed in watchfulness, paced to and fro the Maggy's deck; and in
    \r\n", + "the city as trim a young sailor as ever served signal halliards on
    \r\n", + "board man-o'-war, might be seen, his canvas bag slung over his
    \r\n", + "shoulder, carelessly plodding along through the busy street, for the
    \r\n", + "landing at the market slip. Soon the Maggy's flying jib was run up,
    \r\n", + "then the foresail followed and hung loose by the throat. Near the
    \r\n", + "wheel, as if in contemplation, sat Montague, while Hardweather
    \r\n", + "continued his pacing, now glancing aloft, then to seaward, as if
    \r\n", + "invoking Boreas' all-welcome aid, and again watching intently in the
    \r\n", + "direction of the slip. A few minutes more and a boat glided from the
    \r\n", + "wharf, and rowed away for the little craft, which it soon reached,
    \r\n", + "and on board of which the young sailor flung his bag, clambered over
    \r\n", + "the rail, and seemed happy, as old Jack put out his brawny hand,
    \r\n", + "saying: \"Come youngster, bear a hand now, and set about brightening
    \r\n", + "up the coppers!\" We need not here discover the hearts that leaped
    \r\n", + "with joy just then; we need not describe the anxiety that found
    \r\n", + "relief when the young sailor set foot on the Maggy's deck; nor need
    \r\n", + "we describe those eyes on shore that in tears watched the slender
    \r\n", + "form as it disappeared from sight. Just then a breeze wafted from
    \r\n", + "the north, the anchor was hove up, the sails trimmed home, and
    \r\n", + "slowly seaward moved the little bark. As she drifted rather than
    \r\n", + "sailed past Fort Pinkney, two burly officials, as is the custom,
    \r\n", + "boarded to search for hapless fugitives; but, having great
    \r\n", + "confidence in the honesty of Skipper Splitwater, who never failed to
    \r\n", + "give them of his best cheer, they drank a pleasant passage to him,
    \r\n", + "made a cursory search, a note of the names of all on board (Jack
    \r\n", + "saying Tom Bolt was the young sailor's), and left quite satisfied.
    \r\n", + "Indeed, there was nothing to excite their suspicions, for the good
    \r\n", + "dame sat nursing the \"twa twins,\" nor left aught to discover the
    \r\n", + "discrepancy between their ages, if we except a pair of little red
    \r\n", + "feet that dangled out from beneath the fringe of a plaid shawl. And
    \r\n", + "the young sailor, who it is hardly necessary to inform the reader is
    \r\n", + "Annette, was busy with his cooking. And now the little craft, free
    \r\n", + "upon the wave, increased her speed as her topsails spread out, and
    \r\n", + "glided swiftly seaward, heaven tempering the winds to her well-worn
    \r\n", + "sails. God speed the Maggy Bell as she vaults over the sea; and may
    \r\n", + "she never want water under keel, slaves to carry into freedom, or a
    \r\n", + "good Dame Hardweather to make cheerful the little cabin! say we.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "And now, reader, join us in taking a fond farewell of the
    \r\n", + "Rosebrooks, who have so nobly played their part, to the shame of
    \r\n", + "those who stubbornly refuse to profit by their example. They played
    \r\n", + "no inactive part in the final escape; but discretion forbids our
    \r\n", + "disclosing its minuti�. They sought to give unto others that liquid
    \r\n", + "of life to which they owed their own prosperity and happiness; nor
    \r\n", + "did selfish motive incite them to action. No; they sought peace and
    \r\n", + "prosperity for the state; they would bind in lasting fellowship that
    \r\n", + "union so mighty of states, which the world with mingled admiration
    \r\n", + "and distrust watches; which in kindred compact must be mightier,
    \r\n", + "which divided must fall! And while taking leave of them, hoping
    \r\n", + "their future may be brightened with joys-and, too, though it may not
    \r\n", + "comport with the interests of our southern friends, that their
    \r\n", + "inventive genius may never want objects upon which to illustrate
    \r\n", + "itself so happily-let us not forget to shake old Jack Hardweather
    \r\n", + "warmly by the hand, invoking for him many fair winds and profitable
    \r\n", + "voyages. A big heart enamelled of \"coarse flesh\" is his; but with
    \r\n", + "his warm functions he has done much good; may he be rich in heaven's
    \r\n", + "rewards, for he is poor in earth's!
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER LV.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH IS A HAPPY MEETING, SOME CURIOUS FACTS DEVELOPED, AND
    \r\n", + "CLOTILDA'S HISTORY DISCLOSED.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IT was seven days after the sailing of the Maggy Bell, as described
    \r\n", + "in the foregoing chapter, that Montague was seen sitting in the
    \r\n", + "comfortably furnished parlour of a neat cottage in the suburbs of
    \r\n", + "Nassau. The coal fire burned brightly in a polished grate; the
    \r\n", + "carpets and rugs, and lolling mats, indicated of care and comfort;
    \r\n", + "the tabbied furniture and chastely worked ottomans, and sofas, and
    \r\n", + "chairs, and inlaid workstands, seem bright of regularity and taste;
    \r\n", + "and the window curtains of lace and damask, and the scroll cornices
    \r\n", + "from which they flowingly hung, and the little landscape paintings
    \r\n", + "that hung upon the satin-papered walls, and the soft light that
    \r\n", + "issued from two girandoles on the mantel-piece of figured marble,
    \r\n", + "all lent their cheering aid to make complete the radiant picture of
    \r\n", + "a happy home. But Montague sat nervous with anxiety. \"Mother won't
    \r\n", + "be a minute!\" said a pert little fellow of some seven summers, who
    \r\n", + "played with his hands as he sat on the sofa, and asked questions his
    \r\n", + "emotions forbid answering. On an ottoman near the cheerful fire,
    \r\n", + "sat, with happy faces, the prettily dressed figures of a boy and
    \r\n", + "girl, older in age than the first; while by the side of Montague sat
    \r\n", + "Maxwell, whose manly countenance we transcribed in the early part of
    \r\n", + "our narrative, and to whom Montague had in part related the sad
    \r\n", + "events of the four months past, as he heaved a sigh, saying, \"How
    \r\n", + "happy must he die who careth for the slave!\" Ere the words had
    \r\n", + "escaped his lips, the door opened, and the graceful form of a
    \r\n", + "beautiful woman entered, her finely oval but pensive face made more
    \r\n", + "expressive by the olive that shaded it, and those deep soul-like
    \r\n", + "eyes that now sparkled in gentleness, and again flashed with
    \r\n", + "apprehension. Nervously she paused and set her eyes with intense
    \r\n", + "stare on Montague; then vaulted into his arms and embraced him,
    \r\n", + "crying, \"Is not my Annette here?\" as a tear stole down her cheeks.
    \r\n", + "Her quick eye detected trouble in his deportment; she grasped his
    \r\n", + "left hand firmly in her right, and with quivering frame besought him
    \r\n", + "to keep her no longer in the agony of suspense. \"Why thus suddenly
    \r\n", + "have you come? ah!-you disclose a deep-rooted trouble in not
    \r\n", + "forewarning me! tell me all and relieve my feelings!\" she
    \r\n", + "ejaculated, in broken accents. \"I was driven from that country
    \r\n", + "because I loved nature and obeyed its laws. My very soul loved its
    \r\n", + "greatness, and would have done battle for its glories-yea, I loved
    \r\n", + "it for the many blessings it hath for the favoured; but one dark
    \r\n", + "stain on its bright escutcheon so betrayed justice, that no home was
    \r\n", + "there for me-none for the wife I had married in lawful wedlock.\"
    \r\n", + "Here the woman, in agonising throbs, interrupted him by enquiring
    \r\n", + "why he said there was no home for the wife he had married in lawful
    \r\n", + "wedlock-was not the land of the puritans free? \"Nay!\" he answered,
    \r\n", + "in a measured tone, shaking his head, \"it is bestained not with
    \r\n", + "their crimes-for dearly do they love justice and regard the rights
    \r\n", + "of man-but with the dark deeds of the man-seller, who, heedless of
    \r\n", + "their feelings, and despising their moral rectitude, would make
    \r\n", + "solitary those happy homes that brighten in greatness over its
    \r\n", + "soil.\" Again, frantic of anxiety, did the woman interrupt him:
    \r\n", + "\"Heavens!-she is not dragged back into slavery?\" she enquired, her
    \r\n", + "emotions rising beyond her power of restraint, as she drew bitter
    \r\n", + "pangs from painful truths. With countenance bathed in trouble did
    \r\n", + "Montague return her solicitous glance, and speak. \"Into slavery\" he
    \r\n", + "muttered, in half choked accents \"was she hurled back.\" He had not
    \r\n", + "finished the sentence ere anxiety burst its bounds, and the anxious
    \r\n", + "woman shrieked, and fell swooning in his arms. Even yet her olive
    \r\n", + "face was beautefully pale. The cheerful parlour now rung with
    \r\n", + "confusion, servants bustled about in fright, the youthful family
    \r\n", + "shrieked in fear, the father sought to restore the fond mother, as
    \r\n", + "Montague chafed her right hand in his. Let us leave to the reader's
    \r\n", + "conjecture a scene his fancy may depict better than we can describe,
    \r\n", + "and pass to one more pleasant of results. Some half an hour had
    \r\n", + "transpired, when, as if in strange bewilderment, Clotilda opened her
    \r\n", + "eyes and seemed conscious of her position. A deep crimson shaded her
    \r\n", + "olive cheeks, as in luxurious ease she lay upon the couch, her
    \r\n", + "flushed face and her thick wavy hair, so prettily parted over her
    \r\n", + "classic brow, curiously contrasting with the snow-white pillow on
    \r\n", + "which it rested. A pale and emaciated girl sat beside her, smoothing
    \r\n", + "her brow with her left hand, laying the right gently on the almost
    \r\n", + "motionless bosom, kissing the crimsoning cheek, and lisping rather
    \r\n", + "than speaking, \"Mother, mother, oh mother!-it's only me.\" And then
    \r\n", + "the wet courses on her cheeks told how the fountain of her soul had
    \r\n", + "overflown. Calmly and vacantly the woman gazed on the fair girl,
    \r\n", + "with whom she had been left alone. Then she raised her left hand to
    \r\n", + "her brow, sighed, and seemed sinking into a tranquil sleep. \"Mother!
    \r\n", + "mother! I am once more with my mother!\" again ejaculates the fair
    \r\n", + "girl, sobbing audibly; \"do you not know me, mother?\" Clotilda
    \r\n", + "started as if suddenly surprised. \"Do I dream?\" she muttered,
    \r\n", + "raising herself on her elbow, as her great soft eyes wandered about
    \r\n", + "the room. She would know who called her mother. \"'Tis me,\" said the
    \r\n", + "fair girl, returning her glances, \"do you not know your Annette-your
    \r\n", + "slave child?\" Indeed the fair girl was not of that bright
    \r\n", + "countenance she had anticipated meeting, for though the punishment
    \r\n", + "had little soiled her flesh the dagger of disgrace had cut deep into
    \r\n", + "her heart, and spread its poison over her soul. \"This my Annette!\"
    \r\n", + "exclaimed Clotilda, throwing her arms about the fair girl's neck,
    \r\n", + "drawing her frantically to her bosom, and bathing her cheeks with
    \r\n", + "her tears of joy. \"Yes, yes, 'tis my long-lost child; 'tis she for
    \r\n", + "whom my soul has longed-God has been merciful, rescued her from the
    \r\n", + "yawning death of slavery, and given her back to her mother! Oh, no,
    \r\n", + "I do not dream-it is my child,--my Annette!\" she continued. Long and
    \r\n", + "affectionately did they mingle their tears and kisses. And now a
    \r\n", + "fond mother's joy seemed complete, a child's sorrow ended, and a
    \r\n", + "happy family were made happier. Again the family gathered into the
    \r\n", + "room, where, as of one accord, they poured out their affectionate
    \r\n", + "congratulations. One after another were the children enjoined to
    \r\n", + "greet Annette, kiss her, and call her sister. To them the meeting
    \r\n", + "was as strange as to the parents it was radiant of joy. \"Mother!\"
    \r\n", + "said the little boy, as he took Annette by the hand and called her
    \r\n", + "sister, and kissed her as she kissed him, \"was you married before
    \r\n", + "you was married to father?\" The affectionate mother had no answer to
    \r\n", + "make; she might have found one in the ignominy of the slave world.
    \r\n", + "And now, when the measure of joy seemed full-when the bitterness of
    \r\n", + "the past dwindled away like a dream, and when the future like a
    \r\n", + "beacon hung out its light of promise,--Clotilda drew from a small
    \r\n", + "workstand a discoloured paper written over in Greek characters,
    \r\n", + "scarce intelligible. \"Annette!\" said she, \"my mother gave me this
    \r\n", + "when last I saw her. The chains were then about her hands, and she
    \r\n", + "was about to be led away to the far south slave market: by it did I
    \r\n", + "discover my history.\" Here she unfolded its defaced pages, lifted
    \r\n", + "her eyes upwards invokingly, and continued--\"To speak the crimes of
    \r\n", + "great men is to hazard an oblivion for yourself, to bring upon you
    \r\n", + "the indifference of the multitude; but great men are often greatest
    \r\n", + "in crime-for so it proved with those who completed my mother's
    \r\n", + "destruction. Give ear, then, ye grave senators, and if ye have
    \r\n", + "hearts of fathers, lend them! listen, ye queen mothers of my
    \r\n", + "country, whose sons and daughters are yet travelling the world's
    \r\n", + "uncertainties! listen, ye fathers, who have souls above Mammon's
    \r\n", + "golden grasp, and sons in whom ye put your trust! listen, ye
    \r\n", + "brothers, whose pride brightens in a sister's virtue! listen, ye
    \r\n", + "sisters, who enjoy paternal affections, and feel that one day you
    \r\n", + "may grace a country's social life! listen, ye philanthropists, ye
    \r\n", + "men of the world, who love your country, and whose hearts yearn for
    \r\n", + "its liberties-ye men sensitive of our great Republic's honour, nor
    \r\n", + "seek to traffic in the small gains of power when larger ones await
    \r\n", + "you; and, above all, lend your hearts, ye brothers of the clergy in
    \r\n", + "the slave church, and give ear while I tell who I am, and pray ye,
    \r\n", + "as ye love the soul of woman, to seek out those who, like unto what
    \r\n", + "I was, now wither in slavery. My grandfather's name was Iznard
    \r\n", + "Maldonard, a Minorcan, who in the year 1767 (some four years after
    \r\n", + "Florida was by the king of Spain ceded to Great Britain) emigrated
    \r\n", + "with one Dr. Turnbull-whose name has since shone on the pages of
    \r\n", + "history-to that land of sunshine and promise; for, indeed, Florida
    \r\n", + "is the Italy of America. In that year did numerous of the English
    \r\n", + "aristocracy conceive plans as various as inconsistent for the
    \r\n", + "population and improvement of the colony. With a worthy motive did
    \r\n", + "Lord Rolle draw from the purlieus of London [Footnote: See Williams'
    \r\n", + "History of Florida, page 188.] State Papers, three hundred wretched
    \r\n", + "females, whose condition he would better by reforming and making aid
    \r\n", + "in founding settlements. This his lordship found no easy task; but
    \r\n", + "the climate relieved him of the perplexity he had brought upon
    \r\n", + "himself, for to it did they all fall victims in a very short time.
    \r\n", + "But Turnbull, with motive less commendable, obtained a grant of his
    \r\n", + "government, and, for the sum of four hundred pounds, (being then in
    \r\n", + "the Peleponnesus) was the governor of Modon bribed into a permission
    \r\n", + "to convey sundry Greek families to Florida, for colonization.
    \r\n", + "Returning from Modon with a number of families, he touched at the
    \r\n", + "islands of Corsica and Minorca, added another vessel to his fleet,
    \r\n", + "and increased the number of his settlers to fifteen hundred. With
    \r\n", + "exciting promises did he decoy them to his land of Egypt, which
    \r\n", + "proved a bondage to his shame. He would give them lands, free
    \r\n", + "passages, good provisions and clothing; but none of these promises
    \r\n", + "did he keep. A long passage of four months found many victims to its
    \r\n", + "hardships, and those who arrived safe were emaciated by sickness.
    \r\n", + "Into the interior were these taken; and there they founded a
    \r\n", + "settlement called New Smyrna, the land for which-some sixty thousand
    \r\n", + "acres-was granted by the governor of Florida. Faithfully and
    \r\n", + "earnestly did they labour for the promised reward, and in less than
    \r\n", + "five years had more than three thousand acres of land in the highest
    \r\n", + "state of cultivation; but, as Turnbull's prosperity increased, so
    \r\n", + "did the demon avarice; and men, women, and children, were reduced to
    \r\n", + "the most abject slavery. Tasks greater than they could perform were
    \r\n", + "assigned them, and a few Italians and negroes made overseers and
    \r\n", + "drivers. For food the labourers were allotted seven quarts of corn
    \r\n", + "per week. Many who had lived in affluence in their own country were
    \r\n", + "compelled to wear osnaburgs, and go bare-foot through the year. More
    \r\n", + "than nine years were those valuable settlers kept in this state of
    \r\n", + "slavery, the cruelties inflicted upon them surpassing in enormity
    \r\n", + "those which so stigmatised the savage Spaniards of St. Domingo.
    \r\n", + "Drivers were compelled to beat and lacerate those who had not
    \r\n", + "performed their tasks; many were left naked, tied all night to
    \r\n", + "trees, that mosquitoes might suck their blood, and the suffering
    \r\n", + "wretches become swollen from torture. Some, to end their troubles,
    \r\n", + "wandered off, and died of starvation in the forest, and, including
    \r\n", + "the natural increase, less than six hundred souls were left at the
    \r\n", + "end of nine years. But, be it known to those whose hearts and ears I
    \r\n", + "have before invoked, that many children of these unfortunate parents
    \r\n", + "were fair and beautiful, which valuable charms singularly excited
    \r\n", + "the cupidity of the tyrant, who betook himself to selling them for
    \r\n", + "purposes most infamous. A child overhearing the conversation of
    \r\n", + "three English gentlemen who made an excursion to the settlement, and
    \r\n", + "being quick of ear, conveyed the purport of it to his mother, who,
    \r\n", + "in the night, summoned a council of her confidants to concoct the
    \r\n", + "means of gaining more intelligence. The boy heard the visitors, who
    \r\n", + "stood in the great mansion, which was of stone, say, \"Did the
    \r\n", + "wretches know their rights they had not suffered such enormities of
    \r\n", + "slavery.\" It was resolved that three ask for long tasks, under the
    \r\n", + "pretext of gaining time to catch turtle on the coast; but having
    \r\n", + "gained the desired time, they set off for St. Augustine, which they
    \r\n", + "reached, after swimming rivers and delving almost impenetrable
    \r\n", + "morasses. They sought the attorney-general of the province, Mr.
    \r\n", + "Younge,--I speak his name with reverence-and with an earnest zeal
    \r\n", + "did he espouse the cause of this betrayed people. At that time,
    \r\n", + "Governor Grant-since strongly suspected of being concerned with
    \r\n", + "Turnbull in the slavery of the Greeks and Minorcans-had just been
    \r\n", + "superseded by Tonyn, who now had it in his power to rebuke a tyrant,
    \r\n", + "and render justice to a long-injured people. Again, on the return of
    \r\n", + "the envoys, who bore good tidings, did they meet in secret, and
    \r\n", + "choose one Pallicier, a Greek, their leader. This man had been
    \r\n", + "master mechanic of the mansion. With wooden spears were the men
    \r\n", + "armed and formed into two lines, the women, children, and old men in
    \r\n", + "the centre; and thus did they set off from the place of bondage to
    \r\n", + "seek freedom. In vain did the tyrant-whose name democracy has
    \r\n", + "enshrined with its glories-pursue them, and exhaust persuasion to
    \r\n", + "procure their return. For three days did they wander the woods,
    \r\n", + "delve morasses, and swim rivers, ere they reached the haven of St.
    \r\n", + "Augustine, where, being provided with provisions, their case was
    \r\n", + "tried, and, albeit, though Turnbull interposed all the perfidy
    \r\n", + "wealth could purchase, their fredeom established. But alas! not so
    \r\n", + "well was it with those fair daughters whom the tyrant sold slaves to
    \r\n", + "a life of infamy, and for whose offspring, now in the bitterness of
    \r\n", + "bondage, do we plead. Scores of these female children were sold by
    \r\n", + "the tyrant; but either the people were drunk of joy over their own
    \r\n", + "liberty, and forgot to demand the return of their children, or the
    \r\n", + "good Younge felt forcibly his weakness to bring to justice the rich
    \r\n", + "and great-for the law is weak where slavery makes men great-so as to
    \r\n", + "make him disgorge the ill-gotten treasure he might have concealed,
    \r\n", + "but the proof of which nothing was easier than to obliterate.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"Maldonard, then, was my grandfather; and, with my grandmother and
    \r\n", + "three children, was of those who suffered the cruelties I have
    \r\n", + "detailed. Two of his children were girls, fair and beautiful, whom
    \r\n", + "the tyrant, under the pretext of bettering their condition in
    \r\n", + "another colony, sold away into slavery. One was my dear mother.\"
    \r\n", + "Here tears coursed down the woman's cheeks. \"And she, though I blush
    \r\n", + "to tell it, was sold to Rovero, who was indeed my father as well as
    \r\n", + "Franconia's. But I was years older than Franconia-I visit her grave
    \r\n", + "by day, and dream of her by night;--nor was it strange that she
    \r\n", + "should trace the cause of similarity in our features. Forsooth, it
    \r\n", + "was that singular discovery-of which I was long ignorant-coupled
    \r\n", + "with the virtues of a great soul, that incited her to effect my
    \r\n", + "escape. Rovero, ere he married Franconia's mother, sold Sylvia
    \r\n", + "Maldonard, who was my mother; and may angels bring glad tidings of
    \r\n", + "her spirit! Yes, true is it that my poor mother was sold to one
    \r\n", + "Silenus, of whom Marston bought my body while heaven guarded the
    \r\n", + "soul: but here would I drop the curtain over the scene, for
    \r\n", + "Maldonard is dead; and in the grave of his Italian wife, ere he
    \r\n", + "gained his freedom, was he buried.\" Here again the fond mother, as
    \r\n", + "she concluded, lifted her eyes invokingly, fondled her long-lost
    \r\n", + "child to her bosom,--smiled upon her, kissed her, and was happy.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "CHAPTER LVI.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "IN WHICH A PLOT IS DISCLOSED, AND THE MAN-SELLER MADE TO PAY THE
    \r\n", + "PENALTY OF HIS CRIMES.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "WHILE the scenes which we have detailed in the foregoing chapter
    \r\n", + "were being enacted at Nassau, there stood in the portico of a
    \r\n", + "massive dwelling, fronting what in Charleston is called the \"Battery
    \r\n", + "Promenade,\" the tall and stately figure of a man, wrapped in a
    \r\n", + "costly black cloak, the folds of which lay carelessly about his neck
    \r\n", + "and shoulders. For some minutes did he stand, hesitating, and
    \r\n", + "watching up and down the broad walk in front. The gas-light overhead
    \r\n", + "shed its glare upon the freestone walls-for the night was dark-and,
    \r\n", + "as he turned, discovered the fine features of a frank and open
    \r\n", + "countenance, to which the flashing of two great intelligent eyes, a
    \r\n", + "long silvery beard, and a flowing moustache, all shaded by the broad
    \r\n", + "brim of a black felt hat, lent their aid to make impressive. Closer
    \r\n", + "he muffled his face in the folds of his cloak, and spoke. \"Time!\"
    \r\n", + "said he, in a voice musical and clear, \"hath worn little on his
    \r\n", + "great mansion; like his heart, it is of good stone.\" The mansion,
    \r\n", + "indeed, was of princely front, with chiselled fa�ade and great doric
    \r\n", + "windows of deep fluted mouldings, grand in outline. Now a small hand
    \r\n", + "stole from beneath his cloak, rapped gently upon the carved door of
    \r\n", + "black walnut, and rang the bell. Soon the door swung open, and a
    \r\n", + "negro in a black coat, white vest, and handkerchief of great
    \r\n", + "stiffness, and nether garments of flashy stripes, politely bowed him
    \r\n", + "into a hall of great splendour. Rows of statuary stood in alcoves
    \r\n", + "along its sides; the walls dazzled with bright coloured paintings in
    \r\n", + "massive gilt frames; highly coloured and badly blended mythological
    \r\n", + "designs spread along the ceiling: the figure of a female, with
    \r\n", + "pearly tears gushing from her eyes, as on bended knee she besought
    \r\n", + "mercy of the winged angel perched above her, stood beside the broad
    \r\n", + "stairway at the further end of the hall-strangely emblematical of
    \r\n", + "the many thousand souls the man-seller had made weep in the
    \r\n", + "bitterness of slavery; the softest rugs and costly Turkey carpets,
    \r\n", + "with which its floor was spread, yielded lightly to the footfall, as
    \r\n", + "the jetting lights of a great chandelier shed refulgence over the
    \r\n", + "whole: indeed, what there lacked of taste was made up with air of
    \r\n", + "opulence. The negro exhibited some surprise at the stranger's dress
    \r\n", + "and manner, for he affected ease and indifference. \"Is your master
    \r\n", + "at leisure?\" said he. \"Business, or a friend?\" inquired the negro,
    \r\n", + "making one of his best bows, and drawing back his left foot. \"Both,\"
    \r\n", + "was the quick reply. \"I, boy, am a gentleman!\" \"I sees dat, mas'r,\"
    \r\n", + "rejoined the boy, accompanying his answer with another bow, and
    \r\n", + "requesting the stranger's name, as he motioned him into a spacious
    \r\n", + "drawing-room on the right, still more gorgeously furnished.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "\"My name is Major Blank: your master knows my name: I would see him
    \r\n", + "quickly!\" again spoke the stranger, as the boy promptly disappeared
    \r\n", + "to make the announcement. The heavy satin-damask curtains, of finest
    \r\n", + "texture, that adorned the windows; the fresco-paintings of the
    \r\n", + "walls; the elaborate gilding that here and there in bad taste
    \r\n", + "relieved the cornices; the massive pictures that hung in
    \r\n", + "gauze-covered frames upon the walls; the chastely designed carpets,
    \r\n", + "and lolls, and rugs, with which the floor gave out its brilliancy;
    \r\n", + "the costly tapestry of the curiously carved furniture that stood
    \r\n", + "here and there about the room; and the soft light of a curiously
    \r\n", + "constructed chandelier, suspended from the left hand of an angel in
    \r\n", + "bronze, the said angel having its wings pinioned to the ceiling, its
    \r\n", + "body in the attitude of descending, and its right hand gracefully
    \r\n", + "raised above the globe, spreading its prismatic glows over the
    \r\n", + "whole, did indeed make the scene resplendent of luxury. The man
    \r\n", + "carelessly seated himself at a table that stood in the centre of the
    \r\n", + "room, threw the hat he had declined yielding to the negro on the
    \r\n", + "floor beside him, rested the elbow of his left arm on the table, and
    \r\n", + "his head in his hand, as with the fingers of his right hand did he
    \r\n", + "fret the long silvery beard that bedecked his chin, and contemplate
    \r\n", + "with eager gaze the scene around him. \"Yea, the man-seller hath,
    \r\n", + "with his spoils of greed, gotten him a gorgeous mansion; even he
    \r\n", + "liveth like a prince, his head resteth more in peace, and because he
    \r\n", + "hath great wealth of crime men seek to honour him. The rich criminal
    \r\n", + "hath few to fear; but hard is the fate of him who hath not the
    \r\n", + "wherewith to be aught but a poor one!\" he muttered to himself, as
    \r\n", + "the door opened, and the well-rounded figure of Graspum whisked into
    \r\n", + "the room. The negro bowed politely, and closed the door after him,
    \r\n", + "as the stranger's eye flashed upon his old acquaintance, who,
    \r\n", + "bedecked somewhat extravagantly, and with a forced smile on his
    \r\n", + "subtle countenance, advanced rubbing his hands one over the other,
    \r\n", + "making several methodical bows, to which the stranger rose, as he
    \r\n", + "said, \"Most happy am I to see you, Major! Major Blake, I believe, I
    \r\n", + "have the pleasure of receiving?\" Here the stranger interpolated by
    \r\n", + "saying his name was not Blake, but Blank: the other apologised, said
    \r\n", + "he was just entertaining a small but very select circle of friends;
    \r\n", + "nevertheless, always chose to follow the maxim of \"business before
    \r\n", + "pleasure.\" Again he bustled about, worked his fingers with a
    \r\n", + "mechanical air, frisked them through his hair, with which he covered
    \r\n", + "the bald surface of his head, kept his little keen eyes leering
    \r\n", + "apprehensively on what he deemed a ripe customer, whom he bid keep
    \r\n", + "his seat. To an invitation to lay off his cloak the stranger replied
    \r\n", + "that it was of no consequence. \"A planter just locating, if I may be
    \r\n", + "permitted to suggest?\" enquired Graspum, taking his seat on the
    \r\n", + "opposite side of the table. \"No!\" returned the other, emphatically;
    \r\n", + "\"but I have some special business in your line.\" The man of
    \r\n", + "business, his face reddening of anxiety, rose quickly from his seat,
    \r\n", + "advanced to what seemed a rosewood cabinet elaborately carved, but
    \r\n", + "which was in reality an iron safe encased with ornamental wood, and
    \r\n", + "from it drew forth a tin case, saying, as he returned and set it
    \r\n", + "upon the table, \"Lots from one to five were sold yesterday at almost
    \r\n", + "fabulous prices-never was the demand for prime people better; but we
    \r\n", + "have Lots (here he began to disgorge invoices) six, seven, eight,
    \r\n", + "and nine left; all containing the primest of people! Yes, sir, let
    \r\n", + "me assure you, the very choicest of the market.\" He would have the
    \r\n", + "customer examine the invoices himself, and in the morning the live
    \r\n", + "stock may be seen at his yard. \"You cherish no evil in your breast,
    \r\n", + "in opposition to the command of Him who reproved the wrong of
    \r\n", + "malice; but you still cling to the sale of men, which you conceive
    \r\n", + "no harm, eh, Graspum?\" returned the stranger, knitting his brows, as
    \r\n", + "a curl of fierce hatred set upon his lip. With an air of surprise
    \r\n", + "did Graspum hesitate for a moment, and then, with a measured smile,
    \r\n", + "said, \"Why, Lord bless you! it would be a dishonour for a man of my
    \r\n", + "celebrity in business to let a day escape without a sale; within the
    \r\n", + "last ten days I have sold a thousand people, or more,--provided you
    \r\n", + "throw in the old ones!\" Here he again frisked his fingers, and
    \r\n", + "leaned back in his chair, as his face resumed an air of
    \r\n", + "satisfaction. The stranger interrupted as the man-seller was about
    \r\n", + "to enquire the number and texture of the people he desired.
    \r\n", + "\"Graspum,\" said he, with significant firmness, setting his eyes upon
    \r\n", + "him with intense stare,--\"I want neither your men, nor your women,
    \r\n", + "nor your little children; but, have you a record of souls you have
    \r\n", + "sunk in the bitterness of slavery in that box\"-here the stranger
    \r\n", + "paused, and pointed at the box on the table-\"keep it until you knock
    \r\n", + "for admittance at the gates of eternity.\" It was not until this
    \r\n", + "moment that he could bring his mind, which had been absorbed in the
    \r\n", + "mysteries of man-selling, to regard the stranger in any other light
    \r\n", + "than that of a customer. \"Pardon me, sir!\" said he, somewhat
    \r\n", + "nervously, \"but you speak with great familiarity.\" The stranger
    \r\n", + "would not be considered intrusive. \"Then you have forgotten me,
    \r\n", + "Graspum?\" exclaimed the man, with an ominous laugh. As if deeply
    \r\n", + "offended at such familiarity, the man-seller shook his head
    \r\n", + "rebukingly, and replied by saying he had an advantage of him not
    \r\n", + "comprehensible. \"Then have you sent my dearest relatives to an
    \r\n", + "untimely grave, driven me from the home of my childhood, and made a
    \r\n", + "hundred wretches swim a sea of sorrow; and yet you do not know me?\"
    \r\n", + "Indeed, the charges here recounted would have least served to aid
    \r\n", + "the recognition, for they belonged only to one case among many
    \r\n", + "scores that might have been enumerated. He shook his head in reply.
    \r\n", + "For a minute did they,--the stranger scowling sarcastically upon his
    \r\n", + "adversary (for such he now was),--gaze upon each other, until
    \r\n", + "Graspum's eyes drooped and his face turned pale. \"I have seen you;
    \r\n", + "but at this moment cannot place you,\" he replied, drawing back his
    \r\n", + "chair a pace. \"It were well had you never known me!\" was the
    \r\n", + "stranger's rejoinder, spoken in significant accents, as he
    \r\n", + "deliberately drew from beneath his cloak a revolver, which he laid
    \r\n", + "on the table, warning his adversary that it were well he move
    \r\n", + "cautiously. Graspum affects not to comprehend such importune
    \r\n", + "demeanor, or conjecture what has brought him hither. Trembling in
    \r\n", + "fright, and immersed in the sweat of his cowardice, he would
    \r\n", + "proclaim aloud his apprehension; to which medium of salvation he
    \r\n", + "makes an attempt to reach the door. But the stranger is too quick
    \r\n", + "for him: \"Calm your fears, Graspum,\" he says; \"act not the child,
    \r\n", + "but meet the consequences like a hero: strange is it, that you, who
    \r\n", + "have sold twenty thousand souls, should shrink at the yielding up of
    \r\n", + "one life!\" concludes he, placing his back firmly against the door,
    \r\n", + "and commanding Graspum to resume his seat. Having locked the door
    \r\n", + "and placed the key in his pocket, he paced twice or thrice up and
    \r\n", + "down the floor, seemingly in deep contemplation, and heaved a sigh.
    \r\n", + "\"Graspum!\" he ejaculated, suddenly turning towards that terrified
    \r\n", + "gentleman; \"in that same iron chest have you another box, the same
    \r\n", + "containing papers which are to me of more value than all your
    \r\n", + "invoices of souls. Go! bring it hither!\" Tremblingly did the
    \r\n", + "man-seller obey the command, drew from the chest an antiquated box,
    \r\n", + "and placed it hesitatingly upon the table. \"I will get the key, if
    \r\n", + "you will kindly permit me,\" he said, bowing, as the sweat fell from
    \r\n", + "his chin upon the carpet. The stranger says it wants no key; he
    \r\n", + "breaks it open with his hands. \"You have long stored it with goodly
    \r\n", + "papers; let us see of what they are made,\" said he. Here Graspum
    \r\n", + "commenced drawing forth package after package of papers, the
    \r\n", + "inscriptions on which were eagerly observed by the stranger's keen
    \r\n", + "eye. At length there came out a package of letters, superscribed in
    \r\n", + "the stranger's own hand, and directed to Hugh Marston. \"How came you
    \r\n", + "by these?\" enquired the stranger, grasping them quickly: \"Ah,
    \r\n", + "Graspum, I have heard all! Never mind,--continue!\" he resumed.
    \r\n", + "Presently there came forth a package addressed to \"Franconia
    \r\n", + "M'Carstrow,\" some of which the stranger recognised as superscribed
    \r\n", + "by his mother, others by Clotilda, for she could write when a slave.
    \r\n", + "Graspum would put this last aside; but in an angry tone did the
    \r\n", + "stranger demand it, as his passion had well nigh got the better of
    \r\n", + "his resolution. \"How the deep and damning infamy discovers itself!
    \r\n", + "Ah, Graspum, for the dross of this world hast thou betrayed the
    \r\n", + "innocent. Through thine emissaries has thus intercepted these
    \r\n", + "letters, and felt safe in thy guilt. And still you know not who I
    \r\n", + "am?\" Indeed, the man-seller was too much beside himself with terror
    \r\n", + "to have recognised even a near friend. \"My name is Lorenzo,--he who
    \r\n", + "more than twenty years ago you beguiled into crime. There is
    \r\n", + "concealed beneath those papers a bond that bears on its face the
    \r\n", + "secret of the many sorrows brought upon my family.\" \"Lorenzo!\"
    \r\n", + "interrupted Graspum, as he let fall a package of papers, and sat
    \r\n", + "aghast and trembling. \"Yes,\" replied the other, \"you cannot mistake
    \r\n", + "me, though time hath laid a heavy hand upon my brow. Now is your
    \r\n", + "infamy complete!\" Here the stranger drew forth the identical bond we
    \r\n", + "have described in the early part of our history, as being signed by
    \r\n", + "Marston, at his mansion, on the night previous to Lorenzo's
    \r\n", + "departure. Bidding the man-seller move not an inch, he spread the
    \r\n", + "document before him, and commanded him to read the contents. This he
    \r\n", + "had not resolution to do. \"Graspum!\" spoke Lorenzo, his countenance
    \r\n", + "flushed in passion; \"you can see, if you cannot read; look ye upon
    \r\n", + "the words of that paper (here he traced the lines with the
    \r\n", + "forefinger of his right hand as he stood over the wretched
    \r\n", + "miscreant) and tell me if it be honourable to spare the life of one
    \r\n", + "who would commit so foul a deed. On the night you consummated my
    \r\n", + "shame, forced me to relieve you by procuring my uncle's signature to
    \r\n", + "a document not then filled up, or made complete, how little did I
    \r\n", + "conjecture the germs of villainy so deep in your heart as to betray
    \r\n", + "the confidence I reposed in you. You, in your avarice, changed the
    \r\n", + "tenor of that instrument, made the amount more than double that
    \r\n", + "which I had injudiciously become indebted to you, and transcribed it
    \r\n", + "in the instrument, in legal phraseology, which you made a
    \r\n", + "death-warrant to my nearest and dearest relatives. Read it,
    \r\n", + "miscreant! read it! Read on it sixty-two thousand dollars, the cause
    \r\n", + "of your anxiety to hurry me out of the city into a foreign land. I
    \r\n", + "returned to seek a sister, to relieve my uncle, to live an
    \r\n", + "honourable man on that home so dear in my boyhood, so bright of that
    \r\n", + "which was pleasant in the past, to make glad the hearts of my aged
    \r\n", + "parents, and to receive the sweet forgiveness of those who honoured
    \r\n", + "me when fortune smiled; but you have left me none of these
    \r\n", + "boons-nay, you would have me again wander an outcast upon the
    \r\n", + "world!\" And now, as the miscreant fell tremblingly on his knees, and
    \r\n", + "beseeching that mercy which he had denied so many, Lorenzo's frenzy
    \r\n", + "surmounted all his resolution. With agitated hand he seized his
    \r\n", + "revolver, saying, \"I will go hence stained with a miscreant's
    \r\n", + "blood.\" Another moment, and the loud shriek of the man-seller echoed
    \r\n", + "forth, the sharp report of a pistol rung ominously through the
    \r\n", + "mansion; and quivering to the ground fell dead a wretch who had
    \r\n", + "tortured ten thousand souls, as Lorenzo disappeared and was seen no
    \r\n", + "more.
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "
    \r\n", + "

     


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    \r\n", + "\n" + ] + } + ], + "source": [ + "print(t)" + ] } ], "metadata": { "kernelspec": { - "display_name": "Python 3", + "display_name": "Python 3 (ipykernel)", "language": "python", "name": "python3" }, @@ -374,7 +22455,7 @@ "name": "python", "nbconvert_exporter": "python", "pygments_lexer": "ipython3", - "version": "3.5.2" + "version": "3.8.10" } }, "nbformat": 4, From e845ac83fdac35e99d3ec80c0fe54aa925f530f1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jay Amin Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2022 18:25:49 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Final --- .ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb | 156 +- jamin.ipynb | 21989 +------------------- 2 files changed, 142 insertions(+), 22003 deletions(-) diff --git a/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb b/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb index 0bb6768..e2dba08 100644 --- a/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb +++ b/.ipynb_checkpoints/jamin-checkpoint.ipynb @@ -310,52 +310,162 @@ "- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76.txt.utf-8" ] }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "1. Single Author review by KEVIN PURDY about to differnet tech products" + ] + }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 18, - "metadata": { - "collapsed": true - }, - "outputs": [], + "execution_count": 16, + "metadata": {}, + "outputs": [ + { + "data": { + "image/png": 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\n", + "text/plain": [ + "
    " + ] + }, + "metadata": { + "needs_background": "light" + }, + "output_type": "display_data" + } + ], "source": [ - "import requests, re, nltk\n", - "#In case your text is not on Project Gutenberg but at some other URL\n", - "#http://www.fullbooks.com/Our-World-or-The-Slaveholders-Daughter2.html\n", - "# that contains 12 parts\n", - "t = \"\"\n", - "for i in range(2,13):\n", - " r = requests .get('http://www.fullbooks.com/Our-World-or-The-Slaveholders-Daughter' + str(i) + '.html')\n", - " t = t + r.text" + "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt \n", + "import requests, re\n", + "from bs4 import BeautifulSoup\n", + "from collections import Counter\n", + "\n", + "\n", + "def main():\n", + " common_words = {\n", + " \"with\": 0, \"the\": 0, \"a\": 0,\"for\": 0,\".\\n\": 0,\".\": 0,\"it\": 0,\"is\": 0, \"on\": 0,\"of\": 0,\"to\": 0,\"and\": 0,\"an\": 0,\"which\": 0,\"it's\": 0,\"when\": 0,\"can\": 0,\"will\": 0,\"are\": 0,\"|\" : 0,\"as\": 0,\"this\": 0,\"that\": 0,\"has\": 0,\"or\": 0,\"·\": 0,\"be\": 0,\"gm\": 0,\"you\": 0,\"we\": 0,\"by\": 0\n", + " }\n", + " all_Art = ['https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/09/iphone-14-battery-replacement-costs-quietly-rise-to-99/',\n", + " 'https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/apple-watch-pro-rumored-to-have-new-bands-price-close-to-1000/']\n", + " all_words = [] \n", + " \n", + " for book in all_Art:\n", + " r = requests.get(book)\n", + " soup = BeautifulSoup(r.text, 'html.parser')\n", + " text = soup.get_text().lower()\n", + " words = re.split('\\s+', text)\n", + "\n", + " for i in range(len(words)):\n", + " words[i] = words[i].strip()\n", + " finalWords = [word for word in words if word not in common_words]\n", + " \n", + " all_words.append(finalWords)\n", + " freqs = []\n", + " for i in range(len(all_words)):\n", + " c = Counter(all_words[i])\n", + " freqs.append(c)\n", + " \n", + " make_graph(freqs[0].most_common(25), freqs[1].most_common(25))\n", + "\n", + "def make_graph(article1, article2):\n", + " \n", + " fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10,5))\n", + " ax1.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article1], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article1], color='blue')\n", + " ax2.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article2], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article2], color='red')\n", + " ax1.set_title('IPhone 14')\n", + " ax2.set_title('Apple Watch') \n", + " ax1.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " ax2.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " plt.show()\n", + "\n", + "if __name__ == \"__main__\":\n", + " main()\n", + " " + ] + }, + { + "cell_type": "markdown", + "metadata": {}, + "source": [ + "1. Word Frequency between 2 authors" ] }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 23, + "execution_count": 19, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { "data": { + "image/png": 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\n", "text/plain": [ - "1323653" + "
    " ] }, - "execution_count": 23, - "metadata": {}, - "output_type": "execute_result" + "metadata": { + "needs_background": "light" + }, + "output_type": "display_data" } ], "source": [ - "len(t)" + "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt \n", + "import requests, re\n", + "from bs4 import BeautifulSoup\n", + "from collections import Counter\n", + "\n", + "\n", + "def main():\n", + " common_words = {\n", + " \"with\": 0, \"the\": 0, \"a\": 0,\"*\" : 0,\"for\": 0,\".\\n\": 0,\".\": 0,\"it\": 0,\"is\": 0, \"on\": 0,\"of\": 0,\"to\": 0,\"and\": 0,\"an\": 0,\"which\": 0,\"it's\": 0,\"when\": 0,\"can\": 0,\"will\": 0,\"are\": 0,\"|\" : 0,\"as\": 0,\"this\": 0,\"that\": 0,\"has\": 0,\"or\": 0,\"·\": 0,\"be\": 0,\"gm\": 0,\"you\": 0,\"we\": 0,\"by\": 0\n", + " }\n", + " all_Art = ['https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/13/apple-watch-ultra-76-larger-battery/',\n", + " 'https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/apple-watch-pro-rumored-to-have-new-bands-price-close-to-1000/']\n", + " all_words = [] \n", + " \n", + " for book in all_Art:\n", + " r = requests.get(book)\n", + " soup = BeautifulSoup(r.text, 'html.parser')\n", + " text = soup.get_text().lower()\n", + " words = re.split('\\s+', text)\n", + "\n", + " for i in range(len(words)):\n", + " words[i] = words[i].strip()\n", + " finalWords = [word for word in words if word not in common_words]\n", + " \n", + " all_words.append(finalWords)\n", + " freqs = []\n", + " for i in range(len(all_words)):\n", + " c = Counter(all_words[i])\n", + " freqs.append(c)\n", + " \n", + " make_graph(freqs[0].most_common(25), freqs[1].most_common(25))\n", + "\n", + "def make_graph(article1, article2):\n", + " \n", + " fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10,5))\n", + " ax1.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article1], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article1], color='blue')\n", + " ax2.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article2], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article2], color='red')\n", + " ax1.set_title('Apple Watch by Mac rumors')\n", + " ax2.set_title('Apple Watch by arstechnica') \n", + " ax1.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " ax2.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", + " plt.show()\n", + "\n", + "if __name__ == \"__main__\":\n", + " main()\n", + " " ] }, { "cell_type": "code", "execution_count": null, - "metadata": { - "collapsed": true - }, + "metadata": {}, "outputs": [], - "source": [] + "source": [ + "One author uses the words iphone and battery more while the other author uses the words apple and share more" + ] } ], "metadata": { diff --git a/jamin.ipynb b/jamin.ipynb index fa68c86..e2dba08 100644 --- a/jamin.ipynb +++ b/jamin.ipynb @@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ "cell_type": "markdown", "metadata": {}, "source": [ - "1. Single Author review by KEVIN PURDY about to differnt tech products" + "1. Single Author review by KEVIN PURDY about to differnet tech products" ] }, { @@ -393,12 +393,12 @@ }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 17, + "execution_count": 19, "metadata": {}, "outputs": [ { "data": { - "image/png": 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\n", 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\n", 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    " ] @@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ "\n", "def main():\n", " common_words = {\n", - " \"with\": 0, \"the\": 0, \"a\": 0,\"for\": 0,\".\\n\": 0,\".\": 0,\"it\": 0,\"is\": 0, \"on\": 0,\"of\": 0,\"to\": 0,\"and\": 0,\"an\": 0,\"which\": 0,\"it's\": 0,\"when\": 0,\"can\": 0,\"will\": 0,\"are\": 0,\"|\" : 0,\"as\": 0,\"this\": 0,\"that\": 0,\"has\": 0,\"or\": 0,\"·\": 0,\"be\": 0,\"gm\": 0,\"you\": 0,\"we\": 0,\"by\": 0\n", + " \"with\": 0, \"the\": 0, \"a\": 0,\"*\" : 0,\"for\": 0,\".\\n\": 0,\".\": 0,\"it\": 0,\"is\": 0, \"on\": 0,\"of\": 0,\"to\": 0,\"and\": 0,\"an\": 0,\"which\": 0,\"it's\": 0,\"when\": 0,\"can\": 0,\"will\": 0,\"are\": 0,\"|\" : 0,\"as\": 0,\"this\": 0,\"that\": 0,\"has\": 0,\"or\": 0,\"·\": 0,\"be\": 0,\"gm\": 0,\"you\": 0,\"we\": 0,\"by\": 0\n", " }\n", " all_Art = ['https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/13/apple-watch-ultra-76-larger-battery/',\n", " 'https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/08/apple-watch-pro-rumored-to-have-new-bands-price-close-to-1000/']\n", @@ -447,8 +447,8 @@ " fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10,5))\n", " ax1.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article1], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article1], color='blue')\n", " ax2.barh([wordCount[0] for wordCount in article2], [wordCount[1] for wordCount in article2], color='red')\n", - " ax1.set_title('IPhone 14')\n", - " ax2.set_title('Apple Watch') \n", + " ax1.set_title('Apple Watch by Mac rumors')\n", + " ax2.set_title('Apple Watch by arstechnica') \n", " ax1.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", " ax2.set(xlabel='# of Words', ylabel='# of Frequency')\n", " plt.show()\n", @@ -460,21982 +460,11 @@ }, { "cell_type": "code", - "execution_count": 5, + "execution_count": null, "metadata": {}, - "outputs": [ - { - "name": "stdout", - "output_type": "stream", - "text": [ - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 2/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "

    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "

    Part 2 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Passing to the cabin of Ellen Juvarna, we see her in the same
    \r\n", - "confusion which seems to have beset the plantation: her dark,
    \r\n", - "piercing eyes, display more of that melancholy which marks
    \r\n", - "Clotilda's; nor does thoughtfulness pervade her countenance, and yet
    \r\n", - "there is the restlessness of an Indian about her,--she is Indian by
    \r\n", - "blood and birth; her look calls up all the sad associations of her
    \r\n", - "forefathers; her black glossy hair, in heavy folds, hangs carelessly
    \r\n", - "about her olive shoulders, contrasting strangely with the other.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And you, Nicholas! remember what your father will say: but you must
    \r\n", - "not call him such,\" she says, taking by the hand a child we have
    \r\n", - "described, who is impatient to join the gay group.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That ain't no harm, mother! Father always is fondling about me when
    \r\n", - "nobody's lookin',\" the child answers, with a pertness indicating a
    \r\n", - "knowledge of his parentage rather in advance of his years.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We pass to the kitchen,--a little, dingy cabin, presenting the most
    \r\n", - "indescribable portion of the scene, the smoke issuing from every
    \r\n", - "crevice. Here old Peggy, the cook,--an enveloped representative of
    \r\n", - "smoke and grease,--as if emerging from the regions of Vulcan, moves
    \r\n", - "her fat sides with the independence of a sovereign. In this
    \r\n", - "miniature smoke-pit she sweats and frets, runs to the door every few
    \r\n", - "minutes, adjusts the points of her flashy bandana, and takes a
    \r\n", - "wistful look at the movements without. Sal, Suke, Rose, and Beck,
    \r\n", - "young members of Peggy's family, are working at the top of their
    \r\n", - "energy among stew-pans, griddles, pots and pails, baskets, bottles
    \r\n", - "and jugs. Wafs, fritters, donjohns and hominy flap-jacks, fine
    \r\n", - "doused hams, savoury meats, ices, and fruit-cakes, are being
    \r\n", - "prepared and packed up for the occasion. Negro faces of every shade
    \r\n", - "seem full of interest and freshness, newly brightened for the
    \r\n", - "pleasures of the day. Now and then broke upon our ear that plaintive
    \r\n", - "melody with the words, \"Down on the Old Plantation;\" and again, \"Jim
    \r\n", - "crack corn, an' I don't care, for Mas'r's gone away.\" Then came Aunt
    \r\n", - "Rachel, always persisting in her right to be master of ceremonies,
    \r\n", - "dressed in her Sunday bombazine, puffed and flounced, her gingham
    \r\n", - "apron so clean, her head \"did up\" with the flashiest bandana in her
    \r\n", - "wardrobe; it's just the colour for her taste-real yellow, red, and
    \r\n", - "blue, tied with that knot which is the height of plantation toilet:
    \r\n", - "there is as little restraint in her familiarity with the gentry of
    \r\n", - "the mansion as there is in her control over the denizens of the
    \r\n", - "kitchen. Even Dandy and Enoch, dressed in their best black coats,
    \r\n", - "white pantaloons, ruffled shirts, with collars endangering their
    \r\n", - "ears, hair crisped with an extra nicety, stand aside at her bidding.
    \r\n", - "The height of her ambition is to direct the affairs of the mansion:
    \r\n", - "sometimes she extends it to the overseer. The trait is amiably
    \r\n", - "exercised: she is the best nigger on the plantation, and Marston
    \r\n", - "allows her to indulge her feelings, while his guests laugh at her
    \r\n", - "native pomposity, so generously carried out in all her commands. She
    \r\n", - "is preparing an elegant breakfast, which \"her friends\" must partake
    \r\n", - "of before starting. Everything must be in her nicest: she runs from
    \r\n", - "the ante-room to the hall, and from thence to the yard, gathering
    \r\n", - "plates and dishes; she hurries Old Peggy the cook, and again scolds
    \r\n", - "the waiters.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daddy Bob and Harry have come into the yard to ask Marston's
    \r\n", - "permission to join the party as boatmen. They are in Aunt Rachel's
    \r\n", - "way, and she rushes past them, pushing them aside, and calling Mas'r
    \r\n", - "to come and attend to their wants. Marston comes forward, greets
    \r\n", - "them with a familiar shake of the hand, granting their request
    \r\n", - "without further ceremony. Breakfast is ready; but, anxious for the
    \r\n", - "amusement of the day, their appetites are despoiled. Franconia, more
    \r\n", - "lovely than ever, presenting that ease, elegance, and reserve of the
    \r\n", - "southern lady, makes her appearance in the hall, is escorted to the
    \r\n", - "table leaning on the arm of Maxwell. Delicacy, sensitiveness,
    \r\n", - "womanly character full of genial goodness, are traits with which the
    \r\n", - "true southern lady is blessed:--would she were blessed with another,
    \r\n", - "an energy to work for the good of the enslaved! Could she add that
    \r\n", - "to the poetry of her nature, how much greater would be her charm-how
    \r\n", - "much more fascinating that quiet current of thought with which she
    \r\n", - "seems blessed! There is a gentleness in her impulses--a pensiveness
    \r\n", - "in her smile--a softness in her emotions--a grace in her movements--an
    \r\n", - "ardent soul in her love! She is gay and lightsome in her youth; she
    \r\n", - "values her beauty, is capricious with her admirers, and yet becomes
    \r\n", - "the most affectionate mother; she can level her frowns, play with
    \r\n", - "the feelings, make her mercurial sympathy touching, knows the power
    \r\n", - "of her smiles: but once her feelings are enlisted, she is sincere
    \r\n", - "and ardent in her responses. If she cannot boast of the bright
    \r\n", - "carnatic cheek, she can swell the painter's ideal with her fine
    \r\n", - "features, her classic face, the glow of her impassioned eyes. But
    \r\n", - "she seldom carries this fresh picture into the ordinary years of
    \r\n", - "womanhood: the bloom enlivening her face is but transient; she loses
    \r\n", - "the freshness of girlhood, and in riper years, fades like a
    \r\n", - "sensitive flower, withering, unhappy with herself, unadmired by
    \r\n", - "others.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia sat at the table, a pensiveness pervading her countenance
    \r\n", - "that bespoke melancholy: as she glanced inquiringly round, her eyes
    \r\n", - "rested upon Lorenzo fixedly, as if she detected something in his
    \r\n", - "manner at variance with his natural deportment. She addressed him;
    \r\n", - "but his cold reply only excited her more: she resolved upon knowing
    \r\n", - "the cause ere they embarked. Breakfast was scarcely over before the
    \r\n", - "guests of the party from the neighbouring plantations began to
    \r\n", - "assemble in the veranda, leaving their servants in charge of the
    \r\n", - "viands grouped together upon the grass, under a clump of oaks a few
    \r\n", - "rods from the mansion. Soon the merry-makers, about forty in number,
    \r\n", - "old and young, their servants following, repaired to the landing,
    \r\n", - "where a long barge, surrounded by brakes and water-lilies, presented
    \r\n", - "another picture.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Him all straight, Mas'r-him all straight, jus so!\" said Daddy Bob,
    \r\n", - "as he strode off ahead, singing \"Dis is de way to de jim crack
    \r\n", - "corn.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Servants of all ages and colour, mammies and daddies, young 'uns and
    \r\n", - "prime fellows,--\"wenches\" that had just become hand-maids,--brought
    \r\n", - "up the train, dancing, singing, hopping, laughing, and sporting:
    \r\n", - "some discuss the looks of their young mistresses, others are
    \r\n", - "criticising their dress. Arrived at the landing, Daddy Bob and
    \r\n", - "Harry, full of cares, are hurrying several prime fellows, giving
    \r\n", - "orders to subordinate boatmen about getting the substantial on
    \r\n", - "board,--the baskets of champagne, the demijohns, the sparkling
    \r\n", - "nectar. The young beaux and belles, mingling with their dark sons
    \r\n", - "and daughters of servitude, present a motley group indeed-a scene
    \r\n", - "from which the different issues of southern life may be faithfully
    \r\n", - "drawn.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A band of five musicians, engaged to enliven the sports of the day
    \r\n", - "with their music, announce, \"All on board!\" and give the signal for
    \r\n", - "starting by striking up \"Life on the Ocean Wave.\" Away they speed,
    \r\n", - "drawn by horses on the bank, amidst the waving of handkerchiefs, the
    \r\n", - "soft notes of the music reverberating over the pine-clad hills.
    \r\n", - "Smoothly and gently, onward they speed upon the still bosom of the
    \r\n", - "Ashly;-the deep, dark stream, its banks bedecked with blossoms and
    \r\n", - "richest verdure, is indeed enough to excite the romantic of one's
    \r\n", - "nature. Wild, yet serene with rural beauty, if ever sensations of
    \r\n", - "love steal upon us, it is while mingling in the simple
    \r\n", - "convivialities so expressive of southern life. On, on, the barge
    \r\n", - "moved, as lovers gathered together, the music dancing upon the
    \r\n", - "waters. Another party sing the waterman's merry song, still another
    \r\n", - "trail for lilies, and a third gather into the prow to test champagne
    \r\n", - "and ice, or regale with choice Havannas. Marston, and a few of the
    \r\n", - "older members, seated at midships, discuss the all-absorbing
    \r\n", - "question of State-rights; while the negroes are as merry as larks in
    \r\n", - "May, their deep jargon sounding high above the clarion notes of the
    \r\n", - "music. Now it subsides into stillness, broken only by the splashing
    \r\n", - "of an alligator, whose sports call forth a rapturous shout.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After some three hours' sailing the barge nears a jut of rising
    \r\n", - "ground on the left bank. Close by it is a grove of noble old pines,
    \r\n", - "in the centre of which stands a dilapidated brick building, deserted
    \r\n", - "for some cause not set forth on the door: it is a pretty, shaded
    \r\n", - "retreat-a spot breathing of romance. To the right are broad lagoons
    \r\n", - "stretching far into the distance; their dark waters, beneath thick
    \r\n", - "cypress, presenting the appearance of an inundated grove. The
    \r\n", - "cypress-trees hang their tufted tops over the water's surface,
    \r\n", - "opening an area beneath studded with their trunks, like rude columns
    \r\n", - "supporting a panoply of foliage.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The barge stops, the party land; the shrill music, still dancing
    \r\n", - "through the thick forest, re-echoes in soft chimes as it steals
    \r\n", - "back upon the scene. Another minute, and we hear the voices of Daddy
    \r\n", - "Bob and Harry, Dandy and Enoch: they are exchanging merry laughs,
    \r\n", - "shouting in great good-nature, directing the smaller fry, who are
    \r\n", - "fagging away at the larder, sucking the ice, and pocketing the
    \r\n", - "lemons. \"Dat ain't just straight, nohow: got de tings ashore, an' ye
    \r\n", - "get 'e share whin de white folk done! Don' make 'e nigger ob
    \r\n", - "yourse'f, now, old Boss, doing the ting up so nice,\" Daddy says,
    \r\n", - "frowning on his minions. A vanguard have proceeded in advance to
    \r\n", - "take possession of the deserted house; while Aunt Rachel, with her
    \r\n", - "cort�ge of feminines, is fussing over \"young missus.\" Here, a group
    \r\n", - "are adjusting their sun-shades; there, another are preparing their
    \r\n", - "fans and nets. Then they follow the train, Clotilda and Ellen
    \r\n", - "leading their young representatives by the hand, bringing up the
    \r\n", - "rear among a cluster of smaller fry. Taking peaceable possession of
    \r\n", - "the house, they commence to clear the rooms, the back ones being
    \r\n", - "reserved for the sumptuous collation which Rachel and her juniors
    \r\n", - "are preparing. The musicians are mustered,--the young belles and
    \r\n", - "beaux, and not a few old bachelors, gather into the front room,
    \r\n", - "commence the f�tes with country dances, and conclude with the polka
    \r\n", - "and schottische.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Rachel's department presents a bustling picture; she is master of
    \r\n", - "ceremonies, making her sombre minions move at her bidding, adjusting
    \r\n", - "the various dishes upon the table. None, not even the most favoured
    \r\n", - "guests, dare intrude themselves into her apartments until she
    \r\n", - "announces the completion of her tables, her readiness to receive
    \r\n", - "friends. And yet, amidst all this interest of character, this happy
    \r\n", - "pleasantry, this seeming contentment, there is one group pauses ere
    \r\n", - "it arrives at the house,--dare not enter. The distinction seems
    \r\n", - "undefinable to us; but they, poor wretches, feel it deeply. Shame
    \r\n", - "rankles deep, to their very heart's core. They doubt their position,
    \r\n", - "hesitate at the door, and, after several nervous attempts to enter,
    \r\n", - "fall back,--gather round a pine-tree, where they enjoy the day,
    \r\n", - "separated from the rest. There is a simplicity-a forlornness, about
    \r\n", - "this little group, which attracts our attention, excites our
    \r\n", - "sympathies, unbends our curiosity: we would relieve the burden it
    \r\n", - "labours under. They are Ellen Juvarna, Clotilda, and their children.
    \r\n", - "Socially, they are disowned; they are not allowed to join the
    \r\n", - "festivities with those in the dance, and their feelings revolt at
    \r\n", - "being compelled to associate with the negroes. They are as white as
    \r\n", - "many of the whitest, have the same outlines of interest upon their
    \r\n", - "faces; but their lives are sealed with the black seal of slavery.
    \r\n", - "Sensible of the injustice that has stripped them of their rights,
    \r\n", - "they value their whiteness; the blood of birth tinges their face,
    \r\n", - "and through it they find themselves mere dregs of human
    \r\n", - "kind,--objects of sensualism in its vilest associations.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Maxwell has taken a deep interest in Clotilda; and the solicitude
    \r\n", - "she manifests for her child has drawn him still further in her
    \r\n", - "favour; he is determined to solve the mystery that shrouds her
    \r\n", - "history. Drawing near to them, he seats himself upon the ground at
    \r\n", - "their side, inquires why they did not come into the house. \"There's
    \r\n", - "no place there for us,--none for me,\" Clotilda modestly replies,
    \r\n", - "holding down her head, placing her arm around Annette's waist.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You would enjoy it much better, and there is no restraint upon
    \r\n", - "anyone.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We know not why the day was not for us to enjoy as well as others;
    \r\n", - "but it is ordained so. Where life is a dreary pain, pleasure is no
    \r\n", - "recompense for disgrace enforced upon us. They tell us we are not
    \r\n", - "what God made us to be; but it is the worst torture to be told so.
    \r\n", - "There is nothing in it-it is the curse only that remains to enforce
    \r\n", - "wrong. Those who have gifts to enjoy life, and those who move to
    \r\n", - "make others happy, can enjoy their separate pleasures; our lives are
    \r\n", - "between the two, hence there is little pleasure for us,\" she
    \r\n", - "answered, her eyes moistening with tears.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If you will but come with me-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, I will go anywhere,\" she rejoined, quickly; \"anywhere from
    \r\n", - "this; that I may know who I am-may bear my child with me-may lead a
    \r\n", - "virtuous life, instead of suffering the pangs of shame through a
    \r\n", - "life of unholy trouble.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"She never knows when she's well off. If Marston was to hear her
    \r\n", - "talk in that way, I wouldn't stand in her shoes,\" interrupted Ellen,
    \r\n", - "with a significant air.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Touched by this anxious reply, Maxwell determined to know more of
    \r\n", - "her feelings-to solve the anxiety that was hanging upon her mind,
    \r\n", - "and, if possible, to carry her beyond the power that held her and
    \r\n", - "her child in such an uncertain position.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I meant into the house,\" said he, observing that Ellen was not
    \r\n", - "inclined to favour Clotilda's feelings; and just at that moment the
    \r\n", - "shrill sounds of a bugle summoned the party to the collation. Here
    \r\n", - "another scene was enacted, which is beyond the power of pen to
    \r\n", - "describe. The tables, decorated with wild flowers, were spread with
    \r\n", - "meats of all descriptions,--fowl, game, pastry, and fruit, wines, and
    \r\n", - "cool drinks. Faces wearing the blandest smiles, grave matrons, and
    \r\n", - "cheerful planters,--all dressed in rustic style and neatness-gathered
    \r\n", - "around to partake of the feast, while servants were running hither
    \r\n", - "and thither to serve mas'r and missus with the choicest bits.
    \r\n", - "Toasts, compliments, and piquant squibs, follow the wine-cup. Then
    \r\n", - "came that picture of southern life which would be more worthy of
    \r\n", - "praise if it were carried out in the purity of motive:--as soon as
    \r\n", - "the party had finished, the older members, in their turn, set about
    \r\n", - "preparing a repast for the servants. This seemed to elate the
    \r\n", - "negroes, who sat down to their meal with great pomp, and were not
    \r\n", - "restrained in the free use of the choicest beverage. While this was
    \r\n", - "going on, Marston ordered Rachel to prepare fruit and pastry for
    \r\n", - "Ellen and Clotilda. \"See to them; and they must have wine too,\"
    \r\n", - "whispered Marston.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I know's dat, old Boss,\" returned Rachel, with a knowing wink.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After the collation, the party divided into different sections. Some
    \r\n", - "enjoyed the dance, others strolled through the pine-grove,
    \r\n", - "whispering tales of love. Anglers repaired to the deep pond in quest
    \r\n", - "of trout, but more likely to find water-snakes and snapping turtles.
    \r\n", - "Far in the distance, on the right, moving like fairy gondolas
    \r\n", - "through the cypress-covered lagoon, little barks skim the dark
    \r\n", - "surface. They move like spectres, carrying their fair freight,
    \r\n", - "fanned by the gentle breeze pregnant with the magnolia' sweet
    \r\n", - "perfume. The fair ones in those tiny barks are fishing; they move
    \r\n", - "from tree to tree trailing their lines to tempt the finny tribe
    \r\n", - "here, and there breaking the surface with their gambols.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Lorenzo, as we have before informed the reader, exhibited signs of
    \r\n", - "melancholy during the day. So evident were they that Franconia's
    \r\n", - "sympathies became enlisted in his behalf, and even carried so far,
    \r\n", - "that Maxwell mistook her manner for indifference toward himself.
    \r\n", - "And, as if to confirm his apprehensions, no sooner had the collation
    \r\n", - "ended than she took Lorenzo's arm and retired to the remains of an
    \r\n", - "old mill, a few rods above the landing. It was a quiet, sequestered
    \r\n", - "spot-just such an one as would inspire the emotions of a sensitive
    \r\n", - "heart, recall the associations of childhood, and give life to our
    \r\n", - "pent-up enthusiasm. There they seated themselves, the one waiting
    \r\n", - "for the other to speak.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Tell me, Lorenzo,\" said Franconia, laying her hand on his arm, and
    \r\n", - "watching with nervous anxiety each change of his countenance, \"why
    \r\n", - "are you not joyous? you are gloomy to-day. I speak as a sister-you
    \r\n", - "are nervous, faltering with trouble-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Trouble!\" he interrupted, raising his eyes, and accompanying an
    \r\n", - "affected indifference with a sigh. It is something he hesitates to
    \r\n", - "disclose. He has erred! his heart speaks, it is high-handed crime!
    \r\n", - "He looks upon her affectionately, a forced smile spreads itself over
    \r\n", - "his face. How forcibly it tells its tale. \"Speak out,\" she
    \r\n", - "continues, tremulously: \"I am a sister; a sister cannot betray a
    \r\n", - "brother's secrets.\" She removes her hand and lays it gently upon his
    \r\n", - "shoulder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Looking imploringly in her face for a few minutes, he replies as if
    \r\n", - "it were an effort of great magnitude. \"Something you must not
    \r\n", - "know-nor must the world! Many things are buried in the secrets of
    \r\n", - "time that would make great commotion if the world knew them. It were
    \r\n", - "well they passed unknown, for the world is like a great stream with
    \r\n", - "a surface of busy life moving on its way above a troubled current,
    \r\n", - "lashing and foaming beneath, but only breaking here and there as if
    \r\n", - "to mark the smothered conflict. And yet with me it is nothing, a
    \r\n", - "moment of disappointment creeping into my contemplations,
    \r\n", - "transplanting them with melancholy-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Something more!\" interrupted Franconia, \"something more; it is a
    \r\n", - "step beyond melancholy, more than disappointment. Uncle feels it
    \r\n", - "sensibly-it pains him, it wears upon him. I have seen it foremost in
    \r\n", - "his thoughts.\" Her anxiety increases, her soft meaning eyes look
    \r\n", - "upon him imploringly, she fondles him with a sister's tenderness,
    \r\n", - "the tears trickling down her cheeks as she beholds him downcast and
    \r\n", - "in sorrow. His reluctance to disclose the secret becomes more
    \r\n", - "painful to her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You may know it soon enough,\" he replies. \"I have erred, and my
    \r\n", - "errors have brought me to a sad brink. My friends-those who have
    \r\n", - "indulged my follies-have quickened the canker that will destroy
    \r\n", - "themselves. Indulgence too often hastens the cup of sorrow, and when
    \r\n", - "it poisons most, we are least conscious. It is an alluring charmer,
    \r\n", - "betraying in the gayest livery-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Lorenzo,\" she interrupts, wiping the tears from her eyes. \"Tell me
    \r\n", - "all; remember woman's influence-she can relieve others when she
    \r\n", - "cannot relieve herself. Make me your confidant--relieve your
    \r\n", - "feelings.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"This night, Franconia, I shall bid a painful good-bye to those
    \r\n", - "familiar scenes which have surrounded my life,--to you, my sister, to
    \r\n", - "those faithful old friends of the plantation, Daddy Bob and Harry.
    \r\n", - "They have fondled me, protected me, played with me in my childhood,
    \r\n", - "led me to my boyish sports when all was bright and pleasant, when
    \r\n", - "the plantation had its merry scenes for slave and master. I must go
    \r\n", - "upon the world, mingle with strange life, make experience my
    \r\n", - "guardian. I have committed a crime-one which for ever disgraces the
    \r\n", - "honourable-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Crime, crime, crime! weighed itself in her mind. \"And what of that?\"
    \r\n", - "she rejoined, suddenly; \"a sister can forgive a brother any crime;
    \r\n", - "and even a lover, if she love truly, can forget them in her
    \r\n", - "affections. Do not go upon the world; be a man above crime, above
    \r\n", - "the bar of scandal. Have confidence in yourself; do not let the
    \r\n", - "injustice overcome you. Once on the world a wanderer, remember the
    \r\n", - "untold tale of misery, speeding its victims to that death of
    \r\n", - "conscience burning unseen.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nay, Franconia, you mean well; but you have not learned the world.
    \r\n", - "Take this as my advice, remember it when I am gone, and in years to
    \r\n", - "come you will acknowledge its truth--Fortune at the south rests on
    \r\n", - "an unsound foundation! We are lofty in feelings, but poor in
    \r\n", - "principle, poor in government,--poor in that which has built our
    \r\n", - "great republic. Uncertainty hangs over us at every step; but,
    \r\n", - "whatever befall you, stand firm through adversity. Never chide
    \r\n", - "others for the evils that may befall you; bear your burdens without
    \r\n", - "casting reflections on others,--it is nobler! Befriend those who have
    \r\n", - "no power to befriend themselves; and when the world forgets you, do
    \r\n", - "not forget yourself. There is no step of return for those who falter
    \r\n", - "in poverty. To-night I shall leave for the city; in a few days you
    \r\n", - "will know all.\" Thus saying, he conducted Franconia back to rejoin
    \r\n", - "the party, already making preparations to return.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He gave her an insight of his troubles, in such a manner as to
    \r\n", - "create deep agitation; and, although satisfied that an event of more
    \r\n", - "than ordinary magnitude was at hand, she could not associate it with
    \r\n", - "the commission of crime. The day, spent with all the conviviality of
    \r\n", - "southern life, ended amidst the clang of merry voices, and soft
    \r\n", - "music: a gay group assembled at the bank, ready to return under the
    \r\n", - "cheering influence of music and moonlight.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The bugle sounded,--the soft notes of \"Home, sweet Home!\" followed:
    \r\n", - "the party, forming into double file, gay and grotesque, marched
    \r\n", - "through the grove to the barge. Servants, old and young, were in
    \r\n", - "high glee; some joining in chorus with the music; some preparing the
    \r\n", - "barge, others strewing branches and flowers in the pathway, to the
    \r\n", - "delight of young \"mas'r\" and \"missus,\"-all singing. Aunt Rachel,
    \r\n", - "high above her minions in authority, is poised on the bank, giving
    \r\n", - "directions at the very top of her voice. Daddy Bob, Harry, and
    \r\n", - "Dandy-the latter named after \"mas'r's\" fleetest horse-are freighting
    \r\n", - "their young \"missusses\" in their arms to the boat, shielding their
    \r\n", - "feet from the damp.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, mas'r, Old Boss,\" Bob says, directing himself to Marston,
    \r\n", - "after completing his charge with the young ladies, \"Jus' lef' 'um
    \r\n", - "tote, old mas'r safe da'? So 'e don' mus e' foot.\" And forthwith he
    \r\n", - "shoulders Marston, lands him like a bale of cotton on one of the
    \r\n", - "seats, much to the amusement of those on board, sending forth shouts
    \r\n", - "of applause. The party are on board; all is quiet for a minute;
    \r\n", - "again the music strikes up, the barge is gliding over the still
    \r\n", - "bosom of the fairy-like stream.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sun has just sunk into a fiery cloud that hangs its crimson
    \r\n", - "curtains high in the heavens, shedding refulgent beauty over the
    \r\n", - "dark jungle lining the river's banks. And then, twilight, as if
    \r\n", - "stealing its way across the hills, follows, softening the scene.
    \r\n", - "Soon it has gone, the landscape sleeps, tranquilly arched by the
    \r\n", - "serene vault of a southern sky. Everything seems peaceful, reposing,
    \r\n", - "and serene; the air breathes warm and balmy, distributing its
    \r\n", - "invigorating influence. The music has ceased, nothing but the ripple
    \r\n", - "of the water is heard; then the stars, like pearls suspended over
    \r\n", - "the dark surface, begin to glimmer and shine. Above all is the moon,
    \r\n", - "like a silver goddess, rising stealthily and shedding her pale light
    \r\n", - "upon the calm glow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Onward, onward, onward, over the still stream, winding its way to
    \r\n", - "the great deep, they move; and again the music echoes and re-echoes
    \r\n", - "through the forest, over the lawn; dying away in chimes that faintly
    \r\n", - "play around us. The sudden changes in the heavens,--monitor of things
    \r\n", - "divine,--call up in Lorenzo's feelings the reverses of fortune that
    \r\n", - "will soon take place on the plantation. He had never before
    \r\n", - "recognised the lesson conveyed by heavenly bodies; and such was the
    \r\n", - "effect at that moment that it proved a guardian to him in his future
    \r\n", - "career.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It was near midnight when the barge reached the plantation. Fires
    \r\n", - "were lighted on the bank, negroes were here and there stretched upon
    \r\n", - "the ground, sleeping with such superlative comfort that it landed
    \r\n", - "ere they awoke. One by one the parties returned for their homes;
    \r\n", - "and, after shaking hands with Marston, taking an affectionate adieu
    \r\n", - "of Franconia (telling her he would call on the morrow), lisping a
    \r\n", - "kind word to the old negroes, Lorenzo ordered a horse, and left for
    \r\n", - "the city. He took leave of the plantation, of its dearest
    \r\n", - "associations, like one who had the conflict of battle before him,
    \r\n", - "and the light of friendship behind.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER VI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ANOTHER SCENE IN SOUTHERN LIFE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN the city, a few miles from the plantation, a scene which too
    \r\n", - "often affords those degrading pictures that disgrace a free and
    \r\n", - "happy country, was being enacted. A low brick building, standing in
    \r\n", - "an area protected by a high fence, surmounted with spikes and other
    \r\n", - "dangerous projectiles, formed the place. The upper and lower windows
    \r\n", - "of this building were strongly secured with iron gratings, and
    \r\n", - "emitted the morbid air from cells scarcely large enough to contain
    \r\n", - "human beings of ordinary size. In the rear, a sort of triangular
    \r\n", - "area opened, along which was a line of low buildings, displaying
    \r\n", - "single and double cells. Some had iron rings in the floor; some had
    \r\n", - "rings in the walls; and, again, others had rings over head. Some of
    \r\n", - "these confines of misery-for here men's souls were goaded by the
    \r\n", - "avarice of our natures-were solitary; and at night, when the turmoil
    \r\n", - "of the day had ceased, human wailings and the clank of chains might
    \r\n", - "be heard breaking through the walls of this charnel-house. These
    \r\n", - "narrow confines were filled with living beings-beings with souls,
    \r\n", - "souls sold according to the privileges of a free and happy
    \r\n", - "country,--a country that fills us with admiration of its greatness.
    \r\n", - "It is here, O man, the tyrant sways his hand most! it is here the
    \r\n", - "flesh and blood of the same Maker, in chains of death, yearns for
    \r\n", - "freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We walk through the corridor, between narrow arches containing the
    \r\n", - "abodes of misery, while our ears drink the sad melancholy that
    \r\n", - "sounds in agitated throbs, made painful by the gloom and darkness.
    \r\n", - "Touching an iron latch, the door of a cell opens, cold and damp, as
    \r\n", - "if death sat upon its walls; but it discloses no part of the
    \r\n", - "inmate's person, and excites our sympathies still more. We know the
    \r\n", - "unfortunate is there,--we hear the murmuring, like a death-bell in
    \r\n", - "our ears; it is mingled with a dismal chaos of sound, piercing deep
    \r\n", - "into our feelings. It tells us in terror how gold blasts the very
    \r\n", - "soul of man-what a dark monster of cruelty he can become,--how he can
    \r\n", - "forget the grave, and think only of his living self,--how he can
    \r\n", - "strip reason of its right, making himself an animal with man for his
    \r\n", - "food. See the monster seeking only for the things that can serve him
    \r\n", - "on earth-see him stripping man of his best birth-right, see him the
    \r\n", - "raving fiend, unconscious of his hell-born practices, dissevering
    \r\n", - "the hope that by a fibre hangs over the ruins of those beings who
    \r\n", - "will stand in judgment against him. His soul, like their faces, will
    \r\n", - "be black, when theirs has been whitened for judgment in the world to
    \r\n", - "come!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ascending a few steps, leading into a centre building-where the
    \r\n", - "slave merchant is polished into respectability-we enter a small room
    \r\n", - "at the right hand. Several men, some having the appearance of
    \r\n", - "respectable merchants, some dressed in a coarse, red-mixed homespun,
    \r\n", - "others smoking cigars very leisurely, are seated at a table, upon
    \r\n", - "which are several bottles and tumblers. They drank every few
    \r\n", - "minutes, touched glasses, uttered the vilest imprecations.
    \r\n", - "Conspicuous among them is Marco Graspum: it is enough that we have
    \r\n", - "before introduced him to the reader at Marston's mansion. His dark
    \r\n", - "peering eyes glisten as he sits holding a glass of liquor in one
    \r\n", - "hand, and runs his fingers through his bristly hair with the other.
    \r\n", - "\"The depths of trade are beyond some men,\" he says, striking his
    \r\n", - "hand on the table; then, catching up a paper, tears it into pieces.
    \r\n", - "\"Only follow my directions; and there can be no missing your man,\"
    \r\n", - "he continued, addressing one who sat opposite to him; and who up to
    \r\n", - "that time had been puffing his cigar with great unconcern. His whole
    \r\n", - "energies seemed roused to action at the word. After keeping his eyes
    \r\n", - "fixed upon Graspum for more than a minute, he replied, at the same
    \r\n", - "time replenishing his cigar with a fresh one--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yee'h sees, Marco,--you'r just got to take that ar' say back, or
    \r\n", - "stand an all-fired chaffing. You don't scar' this 'un, on a point a'
    \r\n", - "business. If I hain't larned to put in the big pins, no fellow has.
    \r\n", - "When ye wants to 'sap' a tall 'un, like Marston, ye stands shy until
    \r\n", - "ye thinks he's right for pulling, and then ye'll make a muffin on
    \r\n", - "him, quicker. But, ye likes to have yer own way in gettin' round
    \r\n", - "things, so that a fellow can't stick a pinte to make a hundred or
    \r\n", - "two unless he weaves his way clean through the law-unless he
    \r\n", - "understands Mr. Justice, and puts a double blinder on his eye.
    \r\n", - "There's nothing like getting on the right side of a fellow what
    \r\n", - "knows how to get on the wrong side of the law; and seeing how I've
    \r\n", - "studied Mr. Justice a little bit better than he's studied his books,
    \r\n", - "I knows just what can be done with him when a feller's got chink in
    \r\n", - "his pocket. You can't buy 'em, sir, they're so modest; but you can
    \r\n", - "coax 'em at a mighty cheaper rate-you can do that!\" \"And ye can make
    \r\n", - "him feel as if law and his business warn't two and two,\" rejoined
    \r\n", - "Anthony Romescos, a lean, wiry man, whose small indescribable face,
    \r\n", - "very much sun-scorched, is covered with bright sandy hair, matted
    \r\n", - "and uncombed. His forehead is low, the hair grows nearly to his
    \r\n", - "eyebrows, profuse and red; his eyes wander and glisten with
    \r\n", - "desperation; he is a merciless character. Men fear him, dread him;
    \r\n", - "he sets the law at defiance, laughs when he is told he is the
    \r\n", - "cunningest rogue in the county. He owns to the fearful; says it has
    \r\n", - "served him through many a hard squeeze; but now that he finds law so
    \r\n", - "necessary to carry out villainy, he's taken to studying it himself.
    \r\n", - "His dress is of yellow cotton, of which he has a short roundabout
    \r\n", - "and loose pantaloons. His shirt bosom is open, the collar secured at
    \r\n", - "the neck with a short black ribbon; he is much bedaubed with
    \r\n", - "tobacco-juice, which he has deposited over his clothes for the want
    \r\n", - "of a more convenient place. A gray, slouch hat usually adorns his
    \r\n", - "head, which, in consequence of the thinking it does, needs a deal of
    \r\n", - "scratching. Reminding us how careful he is of his feet, he shows
    \r\n", - "them ensconced in a pair of Indian moccasins ornamented with
    \r\n", - "bead-work; and, as if we had not become fully conscious of his
    \r\n", - "power, he draws aside his roundabout, and there, beneath the waist
    \r\n", - "of his pantaloons, is a girdle, to which a large hunting-knife is
    \r\n", - "attached, some five inches of the handle protruding above the belt.
    \r\n", - "\"Now, fellers, I tell ye what's what, ye'r point-up at bragin'; but
    \r\n", - "ye don't come square up to the line when there's anything to put
    \r\n", - "through what wants pluck. 'Tain't what a knowin' 'un like I can do;
    \r\n", - "it's just what he can larn to be with a little training in things
    \r\n", - "requiring spunk. I'm a going to have a square horse, or no horse; if
    \r\n", - "I don't, by the great Davy, I'll back out and do business on my own
    \r\n", - "account,--Anthony Romescos always makes his mark and then masters it.
    \r\n", - "If ye don't give Anthony a fair showin', he'll set up business on
    \r\n", - "his own account, and pocket the comins in. Now! thar's Dan Bengal
    \r\n", - "and his dogs; they can do a thing or two in the way of trade now and
    \r\n", - "then; but it requires the cunnin as well as the plucky part of a
    \r\n", - "feller. It makes a great go when they're combined, though,--they
    \r\n", - "ala's makes sure game and slap-up profit.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hold a stave, Anthony,\" interrupted a grim-visaged individual who
    \r\n", - "had just filled his glass with whiskey, which he declared was only
    \r\n", - "to counteract the effect of what he had already taken. He begs they
    \r\n", - "will not think him half so stupid as he seems, says he is always
    \r\n", - "well behaved in genteel society, and is fully convinced from the
    \r\n", - "appearance of things that they are all gentlemen. He wears a
    \r\n", - "semi-bandittical garb, which, with his craven features, presents his
    \r\n", - "character in all its repulsiveness. \"You needn't reckon on that
    \r\n", - "courage o' yourn, old fellow; this citizen can go two pins above it.
    \r\n", - "If you wants a showin', just name the mark. I've seed ye times
    \r\n", - "enough,--how ye would not stand ramrod when a nigger looked lightning
    \r\n", - "at ye. Twice I seed a nigger make ye show flum; and ye darn't make
    \r\n", - "the cussed critter toe the line trim up, nohow,\" he mumbles out,
    \r\n", - "dropping his tumbler on the table, spilling his liquor. They are
    \r\n", - "Graspum's \"men;\" they move as he directs-carry out his plans of
    \r\n", - "trade in human flesh. Through these promulgators of his plans, his
    \r\n", - "plots, his desperate games, he has become a mighty man of trade.
    \r\n", - "They are all his good fellows-they are worth their weight in gold;
    \r\n", - "but he can purchase their souls for any purpose, at any price! \"Ah,
    \r\n", - "yes, I see-the best I can do don't satisfy. My good fellows, you are
    \r\n", - "plum up on business, do the square thing; but you're becomin' a
    \r\n", - "little too familiar. Doing the nigger business is one thing, and
    \r\n", - "choosing company's another. Remember, gentlemen, I hold a position
    \r\n", - "in society, I do,\" says Graspum, all the dignity of his dear self
    \r\n", - "glowing in his countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I see! There's no spoilin' a gentleman what's got to be one by his
    \r\n", - "merits in trade. Thar's whar ye takes the shine out of us. Y'er
    \r\n", - "gentleman gives ye a right smart chance to walk into them ar' big
    \r\n", - "bugs what's careless,--don't think yer comin' it over 'em with a sort
    \r\n", - "o' dignity what don't 'tract no s'picion.\" rejoined Romescos, taking
    \r\n", - "up his hat, and placing it carelessly on his head, as if to assure
    \r\n", - "Graspum that he is no better than the rest.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Comprehend me, comprehend me, gentlemen! There can, and must be,
    \r\n", - "dignity in nigger trading; it can be made as honourable as any other
    \r\n", - "branch of business. For there is an intricacy about our business
    \r\n", - "requiring more dignity and ability than general folks know. You
    \r\n", - "fellers couldn't carry out the schemes, run the law down, keep your
    \r\n", - "finger on people's opinion, and them sort o' things, if I didn't
    \r\n", - "take a position in society what 'ud ensure puttin' ye straight
    \r\n", - "through. South's the place where position's worth somethin'; and
    \r\n", - "then, when we acts independent, and don't look as if we cared two
    \r\n", - "toss-ups, ah!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I wonder you don't set up a dignity shop, and go to selling the
    \r\n", - "article;-might have it manufactured to sell down south.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, Romescos,\" continued Graspum, \"you may play the fool; but you
    \r\n", - "must play it wisely to make it profitable. Here, position puts law
    \r\n", - "at defiance!-here it puts croakers over humanity to rest-here, when
    \r\n", - "it has money, it makes lawyers talk round the points, get fat among
    \r\n", - "themselves, fills the old judge's head with anything; so that he
    \r\n", - "laughs and thinks he don't know nothin'. Listen to what I'm goin' to
    \r\n", - "say, because you'll all make somethin' out on't. I've just got the
    \r\n", - "dignity to do all; and with the coin to back her up, can safe every
    \r\n", - "chance. When you fellers get into a snarl running off a white 'un,
    \r\n", - "or a free nigger, I has to bring out the big talk to make it seem
    \r\n", - "how you didn't understand the thing. 'Tain't the putting the big on,
    \r\n", - "but it's the keepin' on it on. You'd laugh to see how I does it;
    \r\n", - "it's the way I keeps you out of limbo, though.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We have said these men were Graspum's \"men;\" they are more-they are
    \r\n", - "a band of outlaws, who boast of living in a free country, where its
    \r\n", - "institutions may be turned into despotism. They carry on a system of
    \r\n", - "trade in human bodies; they stain the fairest spots of earth with
    \r\n", - "their crimes. They set law at defiance-they scoff at the depths of
    \r\n", - "hell that yawn for them,--the blackness of their villainy is known
    \r\n", - "only in heaven. Earth cares little for it; and those familiar with
    \r\n", - "the devices of dealers in human bodies shrink from the shame of
    \r\n", - "making them known to the world. There was a discontent in the party,
    \r\n", - "a clashing of interests, occasioned by the meagre manner in which
    \r\n", - "Graspum had divided the spoils of their degradation. He had set his
    \r\n", - "dignity and position in society at a much higher value than they
    \r\n", - "were willing to recognise,--especially when it was to share the
    \r\n", - "spoils in proportion. Dan Bengal, so called from his ferocity of
    \r\n", - "character, was a celebrated dog-trainer and negro-hunter, \"was great
    \r\n", - "in doing the savager portion of negro business.\" This, Romescos
    \r\n", - "contended, did not require so much cunning as his branch of the
    \r\n", - "business-which was to find \"loose places,\" where doubtful whites see
    \r\n", - "out remnants of the Indian race, and free negroes could be found
    \r\n", - "easy objects of prey; to lay plots, do the \"sharp,\" carry out plans
    \r\n", - "for running all free rubbish down south, where they would sell for
    \r\n", - "something.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True! it's all true as sunshine,\" says Romescos; \"we understand Mr.
    \r\n", - "Graspum inside and out. But ye ain't paid a dime to get me out of
    \r\n", - "any scrape. I was larned to nigger business afore I got into the
    \r\n", - "'tarnal thing; and when I just gits me eye on a nigger what nobody
    \r\n", - "don't own, I comes the sly over him-puts him through a course of
    \r\n", - "nigger diplomacy. The way he goes down to the Mississippi is a
    \r\n", - "caution to nigger property!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He has enlisted their attention, all eyes are set upon him, every
    \r\n", - "voice calls out to know his process. He begs they will drink round;
    \r\n", - "they fill their glasses, and demand that he will continue the
    \r\n", - "interest of his story.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My plans are worth a fortune to those who follow the business,\" he
    \r\n", - "says, giving his glass a twirl as he sets it upon the table, and
    \r\n", - "commences--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Born 'cute, you see; trade comes natural. Afore a free 'un don't
    \r\n", - "know it, I has him bonded and tucked off for eight or nine hundred
    \r\n", - "dollars, slap-up, cash and all. And then, ye sees, it's worth
    \r\n", - "somethin' in knowin' who to sell such criturs too-so that the brute
    \r\n", - "don't git a chance to talk about it without getting his back
    \r\n", - "troubled. And then, it requires as much knowin' as a senator's got
    \r\n", - "just to fix things as smooth so nobody won't know it; and just like
    \r\n", - "ye can jingle the coin in yer pocket, for the nigger, what
    \r\n", - "everybody's wonderin' where he can be gone to. I tell ye what, it
    \r\n", - "takes some stameny to keep the price of a prime feller in your
    \r\n", - "pocket, and wonder along with the rest where the rascal can be. If
    \r\n", - "you'd just see Bob Osmand doe it up, you'd think his face was made
    \r\n", - "for a methodist deacon in camp meeting-time. The way he comes it
    \r\n", - "when he wants to prove a free nigger's a runaway, would beat all the
    \r\n", - "disciples of Blackstone between here and old Kentuck. And then,
    \r\n", - "Bob's any sort of a gentleman, what you don't get in town every day,
    \r\n", - "and wouldn't make a bad senator, if he'd bin in Congress when the
    \r\n", - "compromise was settled upon,--'cos he can reason right into just
    \r\n", - "nothin' at all. Ye see it ain't the feelings that makes a feller a
    \r\n", - "gentleman in our business, it's knowing the human natur o' things;
    \r\n", - "how to be a statesman, when ye meets the like, how to be a
    \r\n", - "gentleman, and talk polite things, and sich like; how to be a jolly
    \r\n", - "fellow, an' put the tall sayings into the things of life; and when
    \r\n", - "ye gets among the lawyers, to know all about the pintes of the law,
    \r\n", - "and how to cut off the corners, so they'll think ye're bin a parish
    \r\n", - "judge. And then, when ye comes before the squire, just to talk
    \r\n", - "dignity to him-tell him where the law is what he don't seem to
    \r\n", - "comprehend. You've got to make a right good feller of the squire by
    \r\n", - "sticking a fee under his vest-pocket when he don't obsarve it. And
    \r\n", - "then, ye know, when ye make the squire a right good feller, you must
    \r\n", - "keep him to the point; and when there's any swarin' to be done, he's
    \r\n", - "just as easily satisfied as the law. It's all business, you see; and
    \r\n", - "thar's just the same kind a thing in it; because profit rules
    \r\n", - "principle, and puts a right smart chance o' business into their
    \r\n", - "hands without troubling their consciences. But then, Bob ain't got
    \r\n", - "the cunnin' in him like I-nor he can't \"rope-in on the sly,\"-knock
    \r\n", - "down and drag out, and just tell a whole possee to come on, as I do.
    \r\n", - "And that's what ye don't seem to come at, Graspum,\" said Romescos,
    \r\n", - "again filling his glass, and drawing a long black pipe from his
    \r\n", - "pocket prepares it for a smoke.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, the trouble is, you all think you can carry out these matters
    \r\n", - "on your own hook; but it's no go, and you'll find it so. It's a
    \r\n", - "scheme that must have larger means at the head of it; and each man's
    \r\n", - "rights must be stipulated, and paid according to his own enterprise.
    \r\n", - "But this discontent is monstrous and injurious, and if continued
    \r\n", - "will prove unprofitable. You see, fellers, you've no responsibility,
    \r\n", - "and my position is your protection, and if you don't get rich you
    \r\n", - "must not charge the blame to me; and then just see how you live now
    \r\n", - "to what you did when ranging the piny woods and catching a stray
    \r\n", - "nigger here and there, what didn't hardly pay dog money. There's a
    \r\n", - "good deal in the sport of the thing, too; and ye know it amounts to
    \r\n", - "a good deal to do the gentleman and associate with big folks, who
    \r\n", - "puts the business into one's hands, by finding out who's got lean
    \r\n", - "purses and prime niggers,\" rejoined Graspum, very coolly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, yes; that's the way ye comes it over these haristocrats, by
    \r\n", - "doin' the modest. Now, Graspum, 'tain't no trouble to leak a sap
    \r\n", - "like that Lorenzo, and make his friends stand the blunt after we've
    \r\n", - "roped him into your fixings,\" replied Romescos.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, no; not a bit of it,\" resounded several voices. \"We do all the
    \r\n", - "dragwork with the niggers, and Graspum gets the tin.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But he pays for the drink. Come, none of this bickering; we must
    \r\n", - "agree upon business, and do the thing up brown under the old
    \r\n", - "system,\" interrupted another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hold! close that bread trap o' yourn,\" Romescos shouts at the top
    \r\n", - "of his voice. \"You're only a green croaker from the piny woods,
    \r\n", - "where gophers crawl independent; you ain't seen life on the borders
    \r\n", - "of Texas. Fellers, I can whip any man in the crowd,--can maker the
    \r\n", - "best stump speech, can bring up the best logic; and can prove that
    \r\n", - "the best frightenin' man is the best man in the nigger business.
    \r\n", - "Now, if you wants a brief sketch of this child's history, ye can
    \r\n", - "have it.\" Here Romescos entered into an interesting account of
    \r\n", - "himself. He was the descendant of a good family, living in the city
    \r\n", - "of Charleston; his parents, when a youth, had encouraged his
    \r\n", - "propensities for bravery. Without protecting them with that medium
    \r\n", - "of education which assimilates courage with gentlemanly conduct,
    \r\n", - "carrying out the nobler impulses of our nature, they allowed him to
    \r\n", - "roam in that sphere which produces its ruffians. At the age of
    \r\n", - "fifteen he entered a counting-room, when his quick mercurial
    \r\n", - "temperament soon rendered him expert at its minor functions. Three
    \r\n", - "years had hardly elapsed when, in a moment of passion, he drew his
    \r\n", - "dirk, (a weapon he always carried) and, in making a plunge at his
    \r\n", - "antagonist, inflicted a wound in the breast of a near friend. The
    \r\n", - "wound was deep, and proved fatal. For this he was arraigned before a
    \r\n", - "jury, tried for his life. He proved the accident by an existing
    \r\n", - "friendship-he was honourably acquitted. His employer, after
    \r\n", - "reproaching him for his proceedings, again admitted him into his
    \r\n", - "employment. Such, however, was his inclination to display the
    \r\n", - "desperado, that before the expiration of another year he killed a
    \r\n", - "negro, shot two balls at one of his fellows, one of which was well
    \r\n", - "nigh proving fatal, and left the state. His recklessness, his
    \r\n", - "previous acts of malignity, his want of position, all left him
    \r\n", - "little hope of escaping the confines of a prison. Fleeing to parts
    \r\n", - "unknown, his absence relieved the neighbourhood of a responsibility.
    \r\n", - "For a time, he roamed among farmers and drovers in the mountains of
    \r\n", - "Tennessee; again he did menial labour, often forced to the direst
    \r\n", - "necessity to live. One day, when nearly famished, he met a
    \r\n", - "slave-driver, conducting his coffle towards the Mississippi, to whom
    \r\n", - "he proffered his services. The coarse driver readily accepted them;
    \r\n", - "they proceeded on together, and it was not long before they found
    \r\n", - "themselves fitting companions. The one was desperate-the other
    \r\n", - "traded in desperation. An ardent nature, full of courage and
    \r\n", - "adventure, was a valuable acquisition to the dealer, who found that
    \r\n", - "he had enlisted a youngster capable of relieving him of inflicting
    \r\n", - "that cruelty so necessary to his profession. With a passion for
    \r\n", - "inflicting torture, this youth could now gratify it upon those
    \r\n", - "unfortunate beings of merchandise who were being driven to the
    \r\n", - "shambles: he could gloat in the exercise of those natural
    \r\n", - "propensities which made the infliction of pain a pleasant
    \r\n", - "recreation. In the trade of human flesh all these cruel traits
    \r\n", - "became valuable; they enabled him to demand a good price for his
    \r\n", - "services. Initiated in all the mysteries of the trade, he was soon
    \r\n", - "entrusted with gangs of very considerable extent; then he made
    \r\n", - "purchases, laid plans to entrap free negroes, performed the various
    \r\n", - "intricacies of procuring affidavits with which to make slave
    \r\n", - "property out of free flesh. Nature was nature, and what was hard in
    \r\n", - "him soon became harder; he could crib \"doubtful white stuff\" that
    \r\n", - "was a nuisance among folks, and sell it for something he could put
    \r\n", - "in his pocket. In this way Romescos accumulated several hundred
    \r\n", - "dollars; but avarice increased, and with it his ferocity. It
    \r\n", - "belonged to the trade, a trade of wanton depravity. He became the
    \r\n", - "terror of those who assumed to look upon a negro's sufferings with
    \r\n", - "sympathy, scoffing at the finer feelings of mankind. Twice had his
    \r\n", - "rapacity been let loose-twice had it nearly brought him to the
    \r\n", - "gallows, or to the tribunal of Judge Lynch. And now, when completely
    \r\n", - "inured in the traffic of human flesh,--that traffic which transposes
    \r\n", - "man into a demon, his progress is checked for a while by a false
    \r\n", - "step.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It was this; and this only to the deep disgrace of the freest and
    \r\n", - "happiest country on earth. A poor orphan girl, like many of her
    \r\n", - "class in our hospitable slave world, had been a mere cast-off upon
    \r\n", - "the community. She knew nothing of the world, was ignorant, could
    \r\n", - "neither read nor write,--something quite common in the south, but
    \r\n", - "seldom known in New England. Thus she became the associate of
    \r\n", - "depraved negroes, and again, served Romescos as a victim. Not
    \r\n", - "content with this, after becoming tired of her, he secured her in
    \r\n", - "the slave-pen of one of his fellow traders. Here he kept her for
    \r\n", - "several weeks, closely confined, feeding her with grits. Eventually
    \r\n", - "\"running\" her to Vicksburg, he found an accomplice to sign a bill of
    \r\n", - "sale, by which he sold her to a notorious planter, who carried her
    \r\n", - "into the interior. The wretched girl had qualities which the planter
    \r\n", - "saw might, with a little care, be made extremely valuable in the New
    \r\n", - "Orleans market,--one was natural beauty. She was not suitable
    \r\n", - "property for the agricultural department of either a cotton or sugar
    \r\n", - "plantation, nor was she \"the stripe\" to increase prime stock; hence
    \r\n", - "she must be prepared for the general market. When qualified
    \r\n", - "according to what the planter knew would suit the fancy market, she
    \r\n", - "was conveyed to New Orleans, a piece of property bright as the very
    \r\n", - "brightest, very handsome, not very intelligent,--just suited to the
    \r\n", - "wants of bidders.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Here, at the shambles in the crescent city, she remained guarded,
    \r\n", - "and for several weeks was not allowed to go beyond the door-sill;
    \r\n", - "after which a sale was effected of her with the keeper of a brothel,
    \r\n", - "for the good price of thirteen hundred dollars. In this sink of
    \r\n", - "iniquity she remained nearly two years. Fearing the ulterior
    \r\n", - "consequences, she dared not assert her rights to freedom, she dared
    \r\n", - "not say she was born free in a free country. Her disappearance from
    \r\n", - "the village in which she had been reared caused some excitement; but
    \r\n", - "it soon reduced itself to a very trifling affair. Indeed, white
    \r\n", - "trash like this was considered little else than rubbish, not worth
    \r\n", - "bringing up respectably. And while suspicion pointed to Romescos, as
    \r\n", - "the person who could account for her mysterious disappearance, such
    \r\n", - "was the fear of his revenge that no one dared be the accuser.
    \r\n", - "Quietly matters rested, poor virtue was mean merchandise, had its
    \r\n", - "value, could be bought and sold-could be turned to various uses,
    \r\n", - "except enlisting the sympathies of those who study it as a market
    \r\n", - "commodity. A few days passed and all was hushed; no one enquired
    \r\n", - "about the poor orphan, Martha Johnson. In the hands of her creole
    \r\n", - "owner, who held her as a price for licentious purposes, she
    \r\n", - "associated with gentlemen of polite manners-of wealth and position.
    \r\n", - "Even this, though profane, had advantages, which she employed for
    \r\n", - "the best of purposes; she learned to read and to write,--to
    \r\n", - "assimilate her feelings with those of a higher class. Society had
    \r\n", - "degraded her, she had not degraded herself. One night, as the
    \r\n", - "promiscuous company gathered into the drawing-room, she recognised a
    \r\n", - "young man from her native village; the familiar face inspired her
    \r\n", - "with joy, her heart leaped with gladness; he had befriended her poor
    \r\n", - "mother-she knew he had kind feelings, and would be her friend once
    \r\n", - "her story was told. The moments passed painfully; she watched him
    \r\n", - "restlessly through the dance,--sat at his side. Still he did not
    \r\n", - "recognise her,--toilet had changed her for another being; but she had
    \r\n", - "courted self-respect rather than yielded to degradation. Again she
    \r\n", - "made signs to attract his attention; she passed and repassed him,
    \r\n", - "and failed. Have I thus changed, she thought to herself.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At length she succeeded in attracting his attention; she drew him
    \r\n", - "aside, then to her chamber. In it she disclosed her touching
    \r\n", - "narrative, unfolded her sorrows, appealed to him with tears in her
    \r\n", - "eyes to procure her freedom and restore her to her rights. Her story
    \r\n", - "enlisted the better feelings of a man, while her self-respect, the
    \r\n", - "earnestness with which she pleaded her deliverance, and the
    \r\n", - "heartlessness of the act, strongly rebuked the levity of those who
    \r\n", - "had made her an orphan outcast in her own village. She was then in
    \r\n", - "the theatre of vice, surrounded by its allurements, consigned to its
    \r\n", - "degradation, a prey to libertinism-yet respecting herself. The
    \r\n", - "object of his visit among the denizens was changed to a higher
    \r\n", - "mission, a duty which he owed to his moral life,--to his own
    \r\n", - "manliness. He promised his mediation to better her eventful and
    \r\n", - "mysterious life, to be a friend to her; and nobly did he keep his
    \r\n", - "promise. On the following day he took measures for her rescue, and
    \r\n", - "though several attempts were made to wrest her from him, and the
    \r\n", - "mendacity of slave-dealers summoned to effect it, he had the
    \r\n", - "satisfaction of seeing her restored to her native village,--to
    \r\n", - "freedom, to respectability.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We withhold the details of this too true transaction, lest we should
    \r\n", - "be classed among those who are endeavouring to create undue
    \r\n", - "excitement. The orphan girl we here refer to was married to a
    \r\n", - "respectable mechanic, who afterwards removed to Cincinnati, and with
    \r\n", - "his wife became much respected citizens.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Proceedings were after some delay commenced against Romescos,
    \r\n", - "but,--we trust it was not through collusion with officials-he escaped
    \r\n", - "the merited punishment that would have been inflicted upon him by a
    \r\n", - "New England tribunal. Again he left the state, and during his
    \r\n", - "absence it is supposed he was engaged in nefarious practices with
    \r\n", - "the notorious Murrel, who carried rapine and death into the
    \r\n", - "unoffending villages of the far west. However, be this as it may,
    \r\n", - "little was known of him for several years, except in some desperate
    \r\n", - "encounter. The next step in his career of desperation known, was
    \r\n", - "joining a band of guerillos led by one of the most intrepid captains
    \r\n", - "that infested the borders of Mexico, during the internal warfare by
    \r\n", - "which her Texan provinces struggled for independence. Freebooters,
    \r\n", - "they espoused the Texan cause because it offered food for their
    \r\n", - "rapacity, and through it they became formidable and desperate foes
    \r\n", - "to the enemy. They were the terror of the ranchoes, the inhabitants
    \r\n", - "fled at their approach; their pillage, rapine, and slaughtering,
    \r\n", - "would stain the annals of barbarous Africa. They are buried, let us
    \r\n", - "hope for the name of a great nation, that they may remain beneath
    \r\n", - "the pale of oblivion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In their incursions, as mounted riflemen, they besieged villages,
    \r\n", - "slaughtered the inhabitants, plundered churches, and burned
    \r\n", - "dwellings; they carried off captive females, drove herds of cattle
    \r\n", - "to distant markets. Through the auspices of this band, as is now
    \r\n", - "well known, many young females were carried off and sold into
    \r\n", - "slavery, where they and their offspring yet remain. While pursuing
    \r\n", - "this nefarious course of life, Romescos accumulated more than twenty
    \r\n", - "thousand dollars; and yet,--though ferocity increased with the
    \r\n", - "daring of his profession,--there was one impulse of his nature,
    \r\n", - "deeply buried, directing his ambition. Amid the dangers of war, the
    \r\n", - "tumult of conflict, the passion for daring-this impulse kept alive
    \r\n", - "the associations of home,--it was love! In early life he had formed
    \r\n", - "an attachment for a beautiful young lady of his native town; it had
    \r\n", - "ripened with his years; the thoughts of her, and the hope of
    \r\n", - "regaining her love if he gained wealth, so worked upon his mind that
    \r\n", - "he resolved to abandon the life of a guerillo, and return home.
    \r\n", - "After an absence of fourteen years he found the object of his early
    \r\n", - "love,--that woman who had refused to requite his affection,--a widow,
    \r\n", - "having buried her husband, a gentleman of position, some months
    \r\n", - "previous.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos had money,--the man was not considered; he is not considered
    \r\n", - "where slavery spreads its vices to corrupt social life. He had been
    \r\n", - "careful to keep his business a profound secret, and pressing his
    \r\n", - "affections, soon found the object of his ambition keenly sensitive
    \r\n", - "to his advances. Rumour recounted his character with mystery and
    \r\n", - "suspicion; friends remonstrated, but in vain; they were united
    \r\n", - "despite all opposition, all appeals. For a time he seemed a better
    \r\n", - "man, the business he had followed harassed his mind, seeming to
    \r\n", - "haunt him, and poison his progress. He purchased a plantation on the
    \r\n", - "banks of the Santee; for once resolved to pursue an honest course,
    \r\n", - "to be a respectable citizen, and enjoy the quiet of home.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A year passed: he might have enjoyed the felicity of domestic life,
    \r\n", - "the affections of a beautiful bride; but the change was too sudden
    \r\n", - "for his restless spirit. He was not made to enjoy the quiet of life,
    \r\n", - "the task stood before him like a mountain without a pass, he could
    \r\n", - "not wean himself from the vices of a marauder. He had abused the
    \r\n", - "free offerings of a free country, had set law at defiance; he had
    \r\n", - "dealt in human flesh, and the task of resistance was more than the
    \r\n", - "moral element in his nature could effect. Violations of human laws
    \r\n", - "were mere speculations to him; they had beguiled him, body and soul.
    \r\n", - "He had no apology for violating personal feeling; what cared he for
    \r\n", - "that small consideration, when the bodies of men, women, and
    \r\n", - "children could be sacrificed for that gold which would give him
    \r\n", - "position among the men of the south. If he carried off poor whites,
    \r\n", - "and sold them into slavery, he saw no enormity in the performance;
    \r\n", - "the law invested him with power he made absolute. Society was
    \r\n", - "chargeable with all his wrongs, with all his crimes, all his
    \r\n", - "enormities. He had repeatedly told it so, pointing for proof to that
    \r\n", - "literal observance of the rule by which man is made mere
    \r\n", - "merchandise. Society had continued in its pedantic folly,
    \r\n", - "disregarding legal rights, imposing no restraints on the holder of
    \r\n", - "human property, violating its spirit and pride by neglecting to
    \r\n", - "enforce the great principles of justice whereby we are bound to
    \r\n", - "protect the lives of those unjustly considered inferior beings. Thus
    \r\n", - "ends a sketch of what Romescos gave of his own career.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We now find him associated with the desperadoes of slave-dealing, in
    \r\n", - "the scene we have presented. After Romescos had related what he
    \r\n", - "called the romance of his life,--intended, no doubt, to impress the
    \r\n", - "party with his power and intrepidity, and enable him to set a higher
    \r\n", - "value upon his services,--he lighted a pipe, threw his hat upon the
    \r\n", - "floor, commenced pacing up and down the room, as if labouring under
    \r\n", - "deep excitement. And while each one seemed watching him intently, a
    \r\n", - "loud knocking was heard at the door,--then the baying of
    \r\n", - "blood-hounds, the yelps of curs, mingling with the murmurs of those
    \r\n", - "poor wretches confined in the cells beneath. Then followed the
    \r\n", - "clanking of chains, cries, and wailings, startling and fearful.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Dan Bengal sprang to the door, as if conscious of its import. A
    \r\n", - "voice demanded admittance; and as the door opened Bengal exclaimed,
    \r\n", - "\"Halloo!-here's Nath Nimrod: what's the tune of the adventure?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A short, stout man entered, dressed in a coarse homespun hunting
    \r\n", - "dress, a profuse black beard and moustache nearly covering his face.
    \r\n", - "\"I is'nt so bad a feller a'ter all-is I?\" he says, rushing forward
    \r\n", - "into the centre of the room, followed by four huge hounds. They were
    \r\n", - "noble animals, had more instinctive gentleness than their masters,
    \r\n", - "displayed a knowledge of the importance of the prize they had just
    \r\n", - "gained.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hurrah for Nath! hurrah! hurrah! hurrah, for Nath! You got him,
    \r\n", - "Nath-did'nt ye?\" resounded from several tongues, and was followed by
    \r\n", - "a variety of expressions highly complimentary to his efficiency.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos, however, remained silent, pacing the floor unconcerned,
    \r\n", - "except in his own anxiety-as if nothing had occurred to disturb him.
    \r\n", - "Advancing to the table, the new visitor, his face glowing with
    \r\n", - "exultation, held forth, by the crispy hair, the blanched and bloody
    \r\n", - "head of an unfortunate negro who had paid the penalty of the State's
    \r\n", - "allowance for outlaws. \"There: beat that, who can? Four hundred
    \r\n", - "dollars made since breakfast;\" he cries out at the top of his voice.
    \r\n", - "They cast a measured look at the ghastly object, as if it were a
    \r\n", - "precious ornament, much valued for the price it would bring,
    \r\n", - "according to law. The demon expresses his joy, descants on his
    \r\n", - "expertness and skill, holds up his prize again, turns it round,
    \r\n", - "smiles upon it as his offering, then throws it into the fire place,
    \r\n", - "carelessly, like a piece of fuel. The dogs spring upon it, as if the
    \r\n", - "trophy was for their feast; but he repulses them; dogs are not so
    \r\n", - "bad after all-the canine is often the better of the two-the morsel
    \r\n", - "is too precious for canine dogs,--human dogs must devour it. \"There
    \r\n", - "is nothing like a free country, nothing; and good business, when
    \r\n", - "it's well protected by law,\" says Nimrod, seating himself at the
    \r\n", - "table, filling a glass, bowing to his companions, drinking to the
    \r\n", - "health of his friends. He imagines himself the best fellow of the
    \r\n", - "lot. Taking Graspum by the hand, he says, \"there is a clear hundred
    \r\n", - "for you, old patron!\" pulls an Executive proclamation from his
    \r\n", - "pocket, and points to where it sets forth the amount of reward for
    \r\n", - "the outlaw-dead or alive. \"I know'd whar the brute had his hole in
    \r\n", - "the swamp,\" he continues: \"and I summed up the resolution to bring
    \r\n", - "him out. And then the gal o' Ginral Brinkle's, if I could pin her,
    \r\n", - "would be a clear fifty more, provided I could catch her without
    \r\n", - "damage, and twenty-five if the dogs havocked her shins. There was no
    \r\n", - "trouble in getting the fifty, seeing how my dogs were trained to the
    \r\n", - "point and call. Taste or no taste, they come square off at the word.
    \r\n", - "To see the critters trace a nigger, you'd think they had human in
    \r\n", - "them; they understands it so! But, I tell you what, it's one thing
    \r\n", - "to hunt a gal nigger, and another to run down an outlaw what has had
    \r\n", - "two or three years in the swamp. The catching him's not much, but
    \r\n", - "when ye have to slide the head off, all the pious in yer natur comes
    \r\n", - "right up to make yer feelings feel kind a' softish. However, the law
    \r\n", - "protects ye, and the game being only a nigger, different rules and
    \r\n", - "things govern one's feelings.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Bengal interrupts by laconically insinuating-raising his moody face,
    \r\n", - "and winking at Graspum-that it was all moonshine to talk about
    \r\n", - "trouble in that kind of business; \"It's the very highest of
    \r\n", - "exhilarating sport!\" he concludes emphatically.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dan!\" returns the other, with a fierce stare, as he seizes the
    \r\n", - "bottle and is about to enjoy a glass of whisky uninvited; \"let your
    \r\n", - "liquor stop your mouth. I set the whole pack upon the trail at
    \r\n", - "daylight, and in less than two hours they came upon him, bolted him,
    \r\n", - "and put him to the river. The leader nabbed him about half way
    \r\n", - "across, but the chap, instead of giving in, turned and fought like a
    \r\n", - "hero. Twice I thought he would whip the whole pack, but the way they
    \r\n", - "made the rags fly warn't nobody's business. Well, I just come up
    \r\n", - "with him as he plunged into the stream, lifts old sure mark, as
    \r\n", - "gives him about a dozen plugs; and then the old feller begged just
    \r\n", - "so, you'd thought he was a Christian pleadin' forgiveness at the
    \r\n", - "last moment. But, when I seizes him and gives him three or four
    \r\n", - "levellers with the butt of the rifle, ye never saw a sarpent plunge,
    \r\n", - "and struggle, and warp so. Says I, 'It's no use, old feller,--yer
    \r\n", - "might as well give her up;' and the way his eyes popped, just as if
    \r\n", - "he expected I war'nt goin to finish him. I tell ye, boys, it
    \r\n", - "required some spunk about then, for the critter got his claws upon
    \r\n", - "me with a death grip, and the dogs ripped him like an old corn
    \r\n", - "stalk, and would'nt keep off. And then there was no fracturin his
    \r\n", - "skull; and seeing how he was overpowering me, I just seizes him by
    \r\n", - "the throat and pops his head off quicker than a Chinese executioner.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The author has given the language of the slave-hunter who related
    \r\n", - "the case personally.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, thar' war'nt so much in takin' the gal, cos jist when she seed
    \r\n", - "the dogs comin', the critter took to tree and gin right up: but when
    \r\n", - "I went to muzlin' on her, so she could'nt scream, then she gets
    \r\n", - "saucy; and I promised to gin her bricks,--which, fellers, I reckon
    \r\n", - "yer must take a hand in so the brute won't wake the neighbours; and
    \r\n", - "I'll do'e it afore I sleeps,\" said Nimrod, getting up from the table
    \r\n", - "and playfully touching Romescos upon the arm. \"I see ye ain't
    \r\n", - "brightened to-day--Graspum's share don't seem to suit yer, old
    \r\n", - "feller; ah! ah!!\" he continued.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Just put another ten per cent. upon the out-lining, and running
    \r\n", - "free 'uns, and I'll stand flint,\" said Romescos, seeming to be acted
    \r\n", - "upon by a sudden change of feelings, as he turned to Graspum, with a
    \r\n", - "look of anxiety.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Very well,\" returned Graspum. \"Yer see, there's that Marston affair
    \r\n", - "to be brought to a point; and his affairs are just in such a fix
    \r\n", - "that he don't know what's what, nor who's who. Ther'll have to be
    \r\n", - "some tall swearing done in that case afore it's brought to the
    \r\n", - "hammer. That cunning of yours, Romescos, will just come into play in
    \r\n", - "this case. It'll be just the thing to do the crooked and get round
    \r\n", - "the legal points.\" Thus Graspum, with the dignity and assurance of a
    \r\n", - "gentleman, gave his opinion, drank with his companions, and withdrew
    \r\n", - "for the night.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos, Bengal, and Nimrod, soon after descended into the vaults
    \r\n", - "below, followed by a negro bearing a lantern. Here they unbolted one
    \r\n", - "of the cells, dragged forth a dejected-looking mulatto woman, her
    \r\n", - "rags scarcely covering her nakedness. The poor wretch, a child born
    \r\n", - "to degradation and torture, whose cries were heard in heaven, heaved
    \r\n", - "a deep sigh, then gave vent to a flood of tears. They told how deep
    \r\n", - "was her anguish, how she struggled against injustice, how sorrow was
    \r\n", - "burning her very soul. The outpourings of her feelings might have
    \r\n", - "aroused the sympathies of savage hearts; but the slave monsters were
    \r\n", - "unmoved. Humbleness, despair, and even death, sat upon her very
    \r\n", - "countenance; hope had fled her, left her a wreck for whom man had no
    \r\n", - "pity. And though her prayers ascended to heaven, the God of mercy
    \r\n", - "seemed to have abandoned her to her tormentors. She came forward
    \r\n", - "trembling and reluctantly, her countenance changed; she gave a
    \r\n", - "frowning look at her tormentors, wild and gloomy, shrank back into
    \r\n", - "the cell, the folds of straight, black hair hanging about her
    \r\n", - "shoulders.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Come out here!\" Nimrod commands in an angry tone; then, seizing her
    \r\n", - "by the arm, dragged her forth, and jerked her prostrate on the
    \r\n", - "ground. Here, like as many fiends in human form, the rest fell upon
    \r\n", - "her, held her flat to the floor by the hands and feet, her face
    \r\n", - "downwards, while Nimrod, with a raw hide, inflicted thirty lashes on
    \r\n", - "her bare back. Her cries and groans, as she lay writhing, the flesh
    \r\n", - "hanging in quivering shreds, and lifting with the lash,--her appeals
    \r\n", - "for mercy, her prayers to heaven, her fainting moans as the agony of
    \r\n", - "her torture stung into her very soul, would have touched a heart of
    \r\n", - "stone. But, though her skin had not defiled her in the eyes of the
    \r\n", - "righteous, there was none to take pity on her, nor to break the
    \r\n", - "galling chains; no! the punishment was inflicted with the measured
    \r\n", - "coolness of men engaged in an every-day vocation. It was simply the
    \r\n", - "right which a democratic law gave men to become lawless, fierce in
    \r\n", - "the conspiracy of wrong, and where the legal excitement of
    \r\n", - "trafficking in the flesh and blood of one another sinks them
    \r\n", - "unconsciously into demons.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER VII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"BUCKRA-MAN VERY UNCERTAIN.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE caption, a common saying among negroes at the south, had its
    \r\n", - "origin in a consciousness, on the part of the negro, of the many
    \r\n", - "liabilities to which his master's affairs are subject, and his own
    \r\n", - "dependence on the ulterior consequences. It carries with it a deep
    \r\n", - "significance, opens a field for reflection, comprehends the negro's
    \r\n", - "knowledge of his own uncertain state, his being a piece of property
    \r\n", - "the good or evil of which is effected by his master's caprices, the
    \r\n", - "binding force of the law that makes him merchandise. Nevertheless,
    \r\n", - "while the negro feels them in all their force, the master values
    \r\n", - "them only in an abstract light. Ask the negro whose master is kind
    \r\n", - "to him, if he would prefer his freedom and go north?-At first he
    \r\n", - "will hesitate, dilate upon his master's goodness, his affection for
    \r\n", - "him, the kindly feeling evinced for him by the family-they often
    \r\n", - "look upon him with a patriarchal tenderness-and, finally, he will
    \r\n", - "conclude by telling you he wishes master and missus would live for
    \r\n", - "ever. He tells you, in the very simplicity of his nature, that \"Eve'
    \r\n", - "ting so unsartin! and mas'r don't know if he die when he gwine to.\"
    \r\n", - "That when he is dying he does not realise it; and though his
    \r\n", - "intention be good, death may blot out his desires, and he, the
    \r\n", - "dependent, being only a chattel, must sink into the uncertain stream
    \r\n", - "of slave-life. Marston's plantation might have been taken as an
    \r\n", - "illustration of the truth of this saying. Long had it been
    \r\n", - "considered one of eminent profit; his field slaves were well cared
    \r\n", - "for; his favourite house servants had every reasonable indulgence
    \r\n", - "granted them. And, too, Marston's mansion was the pleasant retreat
    \r\n", - "of many a neighbour, whose visits were welcomed by the kindly
    \r\n", - "attention he had taught his domestics to bestow. Marston's fault lay
    \r\n", - "in his belonging to that class of planters who repose too much
    \r\n", - "confidence in others.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The morning following Lorenzo's departure ushered forth bright and
    \r\n", - "balmy. A quiet aspect reigned in and about the plantation, servants
    \r\n", - "moved sluggishly about, the incidents of the preceding night
    \r\n", - "oppressed Marston's mind; his feelings broke beyond his power of
    \r\n", - "restraint. Like contagion, the effect seized each member of his
    \r\n", - "household,--forcibly it spoke in word and action! Marston had
    \r\n", - "bestowed much care upon Lorenzo and Franconia; he had indulged and
    \r\n", - "idolised the latter, and given the former some good advice. But
    \r\n", - "advice without example seldom produces lasting good; in truth,
    \r\n", - "precept had the very worst effect upon Lorenzo,--it had proved his
    \r\n", - "ruin! His singular and mysterious departure might for a time be
    \r\n", - "excused,--even accounted for in some plausible manner, but suspicion
    \r\n", - "was a stealing monster that would play upon the deeply tinctured
    \r\n", - "surface, and soar above in disgrace. That the Rovero family were
    \r\n", - "among the first of the State would not be received as a palliation;
    \r\n", - "they had suffered reverses of fortune, and, with the addition of
    \r\n", - "Lorenzo's profligacy, which had been secretly drawing upon their
    \r\n", - "resources, were themselves well nigh in discredit. And now that this
    \r\n", - "sudden and unexpected reverse had befallen Marston, he could do
    \r\n", - "nothing for their relief. Involved, perplexed, and distrusted-with
    \r\n", - "ever-slaying suspicion staring him in the face-he was a victim
    \r\n", - "pursued by one who never failed to lay low his object. That man
    \r\n", - "moved with unerring method, could look around him upon the
    \r\n", - "destitution made by his avarice, without evincing a shadow of
    \r\n", - "sympathy. Yes! he was in the grasp of a living Shylock, whose soul,
    \r\n", - "worn out in the love of gold, had forgotten that there existed a
    \r\n", - "distinction between right and wrong.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Surrounded by all these dark forebodings, Marston begins to reflect
    \r\n", - "on his past life. He sees that mercy which overlooks the sins of man
    \r\n", - "when repentance is pure; but his life is full of moral blemishes; he
    \r\n", - "has sinned against the innocent, against the God of forgiveness. The
    \r\n", - "inert of his nature is unfolding itself,--he has lived according to
    \r\n", - "the tolerated vices of society-he has done no more than the law gave
    \r\n", - "him a right to do! And yet, that very society, overlooking its own
    \r\n", - "wrongs, would now strip him of its associations. He lives in a State
    \r\n", - "where it is difficult to tell what society will approve or
    \r\n", - "reprobate; where a rich man may do with impunity what would consign
    \r\n", - "a poor man to the gallows.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "If we examine the many rencontres that take place in the south,
    \r\n", - "especially those proving fatal, we will find that the perpetrator,
    \r\n", - "if he be a rich man, invariably receives an \"honourable acquittal.\"
    \r\n", - "Again, when the man of position shoots down his victim in the
    \r\n", - "streets of a city, he is esteemed brave; but a singular reversion
    \r\n", - "takes place if the rencontre be between poor men. It is then a
    \r\n", - "diabolical act, a murder, which nothing short of the gallows can
    \r\n", - "serve for punishment. The creatures whom he had made mere objects to
    \r\n", - "serve his sensuality were before him; he traced the gloomy history
    \r\n", - "of their unfortunate sires; he knew that Ellen and Clotilda were
    \r\n", - "born free. The cordon that had bound his feelings to the system of
    \r\n", - "slavery relaxed. For the first time, he saw that which he could not
    \r\n", - "recognise in his better nature-himself the medium of keeping human
    \r\n", - "beings in slavery who were the rightful heirs of freedom. The
    \r\n", - "blackness of the crime-its cruelty, its injustice-haunted him; they
    \r\n", - "were at that very moment held by Graspum's caprice. He might doom
    \r\n", - "the poor wretches to irretrievable slavery, to torture and death!
    \r\n", - "Then his mind wandered to Annette and Nicholas; he saw them of his
    \r\n", - "own flesh and blood; his natural affections bounded forth; how could
    \r\n", - "he disown them? The creations of love and right were upon him,
    \r\n", - "misfortune had unbound his sensations; his own offspring stood
    \r\n", - "before him clothed in trouble thick and dangerous. His follies have
    \r\n", - "entailed a life-rent of misery upon others; the fathomless depth of
    \r\n", - "the future opens its yawning jaws to swallow up those upon whom the
    \r\n", - "fondness of a father should have been bestowed for their moral and
    \r\n", - "physical good.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As he sits contemplating this painful picture, Aunt Rachel enters
    \r\n", - "the room to inquire if Lorenzo breakfasts with them. \"Why! old
    \r\n", - "mas'r, what ail ye dis mornin'? Ye don't seems nohow. Not a stripe
    \r\n", - "like what ye was yesterday; somethin' gi 'h de wrong way, and mas'r
    \r\n", - "done know what i' is,\" she mutters to herself, looking seriously at
    \r\n", - "Marston.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nothing! old bustler; nothing that concerns you. Do not mention
    \r\n", - "Lorenzo's name again; he has gone on a journey. Send my old faithful
    \r\n", - "Daddy Bob to me.\" Rachel hastened to fulfil the command; soon
    \r\n", - "brought the old servant to the door. His countenance lighted up with
    \r\n", - "smiles as he stood at the doorway, bowing and scraping, working his
    \r\n", - "red cap in his hand. There stood the old man, a picture of
    \r\n", - "attachment.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Come in, Bob, come in!\" Marston says, motioning his hand, \"I wish
    \r\n", - "the world was as faithful as you are. You are worthy the indulgence
    \r\n", - "I have bestowed upon you; let me hope there is something better in
    \r\n", - "prospect for you. My life reproves me; and when I turn and review
    \r\n", - "its crooked path-when I behold each inconsistency chiding me-I
    \r\n", - "lament what I cannot recall.\" Taking the old man by the hand, the
    \r\n", - "tears glistening in his eyes, he looks upon him as a father would
    \r\n", - "his child.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"In a short time, Bob, you shall be free to go where you please, on
    \r\n", - "the plantation or off it. But remember, Bob, you are old-you have
    \r\n", - "grown grey in faithfulness,--the good southerner is the true friend
    \r\n", - "of the negro! I mean he is the true friend of the negro, because he
    \r\n", - "has associated with him from childhood, assimilated with his
    \r\n", - "feelings, made his nature a study. He welcomes him without reserve,
    \r\n", - "approaches him without that sensitiveness and prejudice which the
    \r\n", - "northerner too often manifests towards him. You shall be free, Bob!
    \r\n", - "you shall be free!-free to go where you please; but you must remain
    \r\n", - "among southerners, southerners are your friends.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, mas'r, 'im all just so good, if t'warn't dat I so old. Free
    \r\n", - "nigger, when 'e old, don't gwane to get along much. Old Bob tink on
    \r\n", - "dat mighty much, he do dat! Lef Bob free win 'e young, den 'e get
    \r\n", - "tru' de world like Buckra, only lef 'im de chance what Buckra hab.
    \r\n", - "Freedom ain't wof much ven old Bob worn out, mas'r; and Buckra what
    \r\n", - "sell nigger,--what make 'e trade on him, run 'im off sartin. He sell
    \r\n", - "old nigger what got five dollar wof' a work in 'e old bones. Mas'r
    \r\n", - "set 'um free, bad Buckra catch 'um, old Bob get used up afo' he know
    \r\n", - "nofin,\" quaintly replied the old man, seeming to have an instinctive
    \r\n", - "knowledge of the \"nigger trade,\" but with so much attachment for his
    \r\n", - "master that he could not be induced to accept his freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It's not the leaving me, Bob; you may be taken from me. You are
    \r\n", - "worth but little, 'tis true, and yet you may be sold from me to a
    \r\n", - "bad master. If the slave-dealers run you off, you can let me know,
    \r\n", - "and I will prosecute them,\" returned Marston.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! mas'r; dat's just whar de blunt is-in de unsartainty! How I
    \r\n", - "gwane to let mas'r know, when mas'r no larn nigger to read,\" he
    \r\n", - "quickly responded. There is something in his simple remark that
    \r\n", - "Marston has never before condescended to contemplate,--something the
    \r\n", - "simple nature of the negro has just disclosed; it lies deeply rooted
    \r\n", - "at the foundation of all the wrongs of slavery. Education would be
    \r\n", - "valuable to the negro, especially in his old age; it would soften
    \r\n", - "his impulses rather than impair his attachment, unless the master be
    \r\n", - "a tyrant fearing the results of his own oppression. Marston, a good
    \r\n", - "master, had deprived the old man of the means of protecting himself
    \r\n", - "against the avarice of those who would snatch him from freedom, and
    \r\n", - "while his flesh and blood contained dollars and cents, sell him into
    \r\n", - "slavery. Freedom, under the best circumstances, could do him little
    \r\n", - "good in his old age; and yet, a knowledge of the wrong rankled deep
    \r\n", - "in Marston's feelings: he could relieve it only by giving Daddy Bob
    \r\n", - "and Harry their freedom if they would accept it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Relinquishing Daddy's hand, he commanded him to go and bring him
    \r\n", - "Annette and Nicholas. \"Bring them,\" he says, \"without the knowledge
    \r\n", - "of their mothers.\" Bob withdrew, hastened to the cabins in the yard
    \r\n", - "to fulfil the mission. Poor things, thought Marston; they are mine,
    \r\n", - "how can I disown them? Ah, there's the point to conquer-I cannot! It
    \r\n", - "is like the mad torrents of hell, stretched out before me to consume
    \r\n", - "my very soul, to bid me defiance. Misfortune is truly a great
    \r\n", - "purifier, a great regenerator of our moral being; but how can I make
    \r\n", - "the wrong right?-how can I live to hope for something beyond the
    \r\n", - "caprice of this alluring world? My frailties have stamped their
    \r\n", - "future with shame.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus he mused as the children came scampering into the room.
    \r\n", - "Annette, her flaxen curls dangling about her neck, looking as tidy
    \r\n", - "and bright as the skill of Clotilda could make her, runs to Marston,
    \r\n", - "throws herself on his knee, fondles about his bosom, kisses his hand
    \r\n", - "again and again. She loves him,--she knows no other father. Nicholas,
    \r\n", - "more shy, moves slowly behind a chair, his fingers in his mouth the
    \r\n", - "while. Looking through its rounds wistfully, he shakes his head
    \r\n", - "enviously, moves the chair backwards and forwards, and is too
    \r\n", - "bashful to approach Annette's position.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston has taken Annette in his arms, he caresses her; she twirls
    \r\n", - "her tiny fingers through his whiskers, as if to play with him in the
    \r\n", - "toying recognition of a father. He is deeply immersed in thought,
    \r\n", - "smooths her hair, walks to the glass with her in his arms, holds her
    \r\n", - "before it as if to detect his own features in the countenance of the
    \r\n", - "child. Resuming his seat, he sets her on one knee, calls Nicholas to
    \r\n", - "him, takes him on the other, and fondles them with an air of
    \r\n", - "kindness it had never before been their good fortune to receive at
    \r\n", - "his hands. He looked upon them again, and again caressed them,
    \r\n", - "parted their hair with his fingers. And as Annette would open her
    \r\n", - "eyes and gaze in his, with an air of sweetest acknowledgment, his
    \r\n", - "thoughts seemed contending with something fearful. He was in
    \r\n", - "trouble; he saw the enemy brooding over the future; he heaved a
    \r\n", - "sigh, a convulsive motion followed, a tear stealing down his cheek
    \r\n", - "told the tale of his reflections.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, Daddy;\" he speaks, directing himself to old Bob, who stands at
    \r\n", - "the door surprised at Marston's singular movements, \"you are my
    \r\n", - "confidant, what do you think the world-I mean the people about the
    \r\n", - "district, about the city-would say if they knew these were mine? You
    \r\n", - "know, Bob,--you must tell me straight out, do they look like me?-have
    \r\n", - "they features like mine?\" he inquires with rapid utterance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mas'r, Bob don' like to say all he feels,\" meekly muttered the old
    \r\n", - "man.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There is the spot on which we lay the most unholy blot; and yet, it
    \r\n", - "recoils upon us when we least think. Unfortunate wretches bear them
    \r\n", - "unto us; yet we dare not make them our own; we blast their lives for
    \r\n", - "selfish ends, yield them to others, shield ourselves by a misnomer
    \r\n", - "called right! We sell the most interesting beings for a
    \r\n", - "price,--beings that should be nearest and dearest to our hearts.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The old slave's eyes glistened with excitement; he looked on
    \r\n", - "astonished, as if some extraordinary scene had surprised him. As his
    \r\n", - "agitation subsided, he continued, \"Mas'r, I bin watch 'im dis long
    \r\n", - "time. Reckon how nobody wouldn't take 'em fo'h nobody else's-fo'h
    \r\n", - "true! Dar ain't no spozin' bout 'em, 'e so right smart twarn't no
    \r\n", - "use to guise 'em: da'h just like old Boss. Mas'r, nigger watch dem
    \r\n", - "tings mighty close; more close den Buckra, cos' Buckra tink 'e all
    \r\n", - "right when nigger tink 'e all wrong.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston is not quite content with this: he must needs put another
    \r\n", - "question to the old man. \"You are sure there can be no mistaking
    \r\n", - "them for mine?\" he rejoins, fixing his eyes upon the children with
    \r\n", - "an almost death-like stare, as Daddy leads them out of the room. The
    \r\n", - "door closes after them, he paces the room for a time, seats himself
    \r\n", - "in his chair again, and is soon absorbed in contemplation. \"I must
    \r\n", - "do something for them-I must snatch them from the jaws of danger.
    \r\n", - "They are full of interest-they are mine; there is not a drop of
    \r\n", - "negro blood in their veins, and yet the world asks who are their
    \r\n", - "mothers, what is their history? Ah! yes; in that history lies the
    \r\n", - "canker that has eaten out the living springs of many lives. It is
    \r\n", - "that which cuts deepest. Had I known myself, done what I might have
    \r\n", - "done before it was too late, kindness would have its rewards; but I
    \r\n", - "am fettered, and the more I move the worse for them. Custom has laid
    \r\n", - "the foundation of wrong, the law protects it, and a free government
    \r\n", - "tolerates a law that shields iniquities blackening earth.\" In this
    \r\n", - "train of thought his mind wandered. He would send the children into
    \r\n", - "a free state, there to be educated; that they may live in the
    \r\n", - "enjoyment of those rights with which nature had blest them. The
    \r\n", - "obstacles of the law again stared him in the face; the wrong by
    \r\n", - "which they were first enslaved, now forgotten, had brought its
    \r\n", - "climax.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Suddenly arousing from his reverie, he started to his feet, and
    \r\n", - "walking across the floor, exclaimed in an audible voice, \"I will
    \r\n", - "surmount all difficulties,--I will recognise them as my children; I
    \r\n", - "will send them where they may become ornaments of society, instead
    \r\n", - "of living in shame and licentiousness. This is my resolve, and I
    \r\n", - "will carry it out, or die!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER VIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A CLOUD OF MISFORTUNE HANGS OVER THE PLANTATION.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE document Marston signed for Lorenzo-to release him from the
    \r\n", - "difficulties into which he had been drawn by Graspum-guaranteed the
    \r\n", - "holder against all loss. This, in the absence of Lorenzo, and under
    \r\n", - "such stranger circumstances, implied an amount which might be
    \r\n", - "increased according to the will of the man into whose hands he had
    \r\n", - "so unfortunately fallen.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Nearly twelve months had now elapsed since the disclosure of the
    \r\n", - "crime. Maxwell, our young Englishman, had spent the time among the
    \r\n", - "neighbouring plantations; and failing to enlist more than friendly
    \r\n", - "considerations from Franconia, resolved to return to Bermuda and
    \r\n", - "join his family. He had, however, taken a deep interest in Clotilda
    \r\n", - "and Annette,--had gone to their apartment unobserved, and in secret
    \r\n", - "interviews listened to Clotilda's tale of trouble. Its recital
    \r\n", - "enlisted his sympathies; and being of an ardent and impressible
    \r\n", - "temper, he determined to carry out a design for her relief. He
    \r\n", - "realised her silent suffering,--saw how her degraded condition
    \r\n", - "wrangled with her noble feelings,--how the true character of a woman
    \r\n", - "loathed at being the slave of one who claimed her as his property.
    \r\n", - "And this, too, without the hope of redeeming herself, except by some
    \r\n", - "desperate effort. And, too, he saw but little difference between the
    \r\n", - "blood of Franconia and the blood of Clotilda; the same outline of
    \r\n", - "person was there,--her delicate countenance, finely moulded bust,
    \r\n", - "smoothly converging shoulders. There was the same Grecian cast of
    \r\n", - "face, the same soft, reflective eyes,--filling a smile with
    \r\n", - "sweetness, and again with deep-felt sorrow. The same sensitive
    \r\n", - "nature, ready to yield forth love and tenderness, or to press onward
    \r\n", - "the more impassioned affections, was visible in both. And yet, what
    \r\n", - "art had done for Franconia nature had replenished for Clotilda. But,
    \r\n", - "the servile hand was upon her, she crouched beneath its grasp; it
    \r\n", - "branded her life, and that of her child, with ignominy and death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "During these interviews he would watch her emotions as she looked
    \r\n", - "upon her child; when she would clasp it to her bosom, weeping, until
    \r\n", - "from the slightest emotion her feelings would become frantic with
    \r\n", - "anguish.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And you, my child, a mother's hope when all other pleasures are
    \r\n", - "gone! Are you some day to be torn from me, and, like myself, sent to
    \r\n", - "writhe under the coarse hand of a slave-dealer, to be stung with
    \r\n", - "shame enforced while asking God's forgiveness? Sometimes I think it
    \r\n", - "cannot be so; I think it must all be a dream. But it is so, and we
    \r\n", - "might as well submit, say as little of the hardship as possible, and
    \r\n", - "think it's all as they tell us-according to God's will,\" she would
    \r\n", - "say, pressing the child closer and closer to her bosom, the
    \r\n", - "agitation of her feelings rising into convulsions as the tears
    \r\n", - "coursed down her cheeks. Then she would roll her soft eyes upwards,
    \r\n", - "her countenance filling with despair. The preservation of her child
    \r\n", - "was pictured in the depth of her imploring look. For a time her
    \r\n", - "emotions would recede into quiet,--she would smile placidly upon
    \r\n", - "Annette, forget the realities that had just swept her mind into such
    \r\n", - "a train of trouble.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "One night, as Maxwell entered her apartment, he found her kneeling
    \r\n", - "at her bed-side, supplicating in prayer. The word, \"Oh, God; not me,
    \r\n", - "but my child-guide her through the perils that are before her, and
    \r\n", - "receive her into heaven at last,\" fell upon his ear. He paused,
    \r\n", - "gazed upon her as if some angel spirit had touched the tenderest
    \r\n", - "chord of his feelings-listened unmoved. A lovely woman, an
    \r\n", - "affectionate mother, the offspring of a noble race,--herself forced
    \r\n", - "by relentless injustice to become an instrument of
    \r\n", - "licentiousness-stood before him in all that can make woman an
    \r\n", - "ornament to her sex. What to Ellen Juvarna seemed the happiness of
    \r\n", - "her lot, was pain and remorse to Clotilda; and when she arose there
    \r\n", - "was a nervousness, a shrinking in her manner, betokening
    \r\n", - "apprehension. \"It is not now; it is hereafter. And yet there is no
    \r\n", - "glimmer of hope!\" she whispers, as she seats herself in a chair,
    \r\n", - "pulls the little curtain around the bed, and prepares to retire.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The scene so worked upon Maxwell's feelings that he could withstand
    \r\n", - "the effect no longer; he approached her, held out his hand, greeted
    \r\n", - "her with a smile: \"Clotilda, I am your friend,\" he whispers, \"come,
    \r\n", - "sit down and tell me what troubles you!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If what I say be told in confidence?\" she replied, as if
    \r\n", - "questioning his advance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You may trust me with any secret; I am ready to serve you, if it be
    \r\n", - "with my life!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Clasping her arms round her child, again she wept in silence. The
    \r\n", - "moment was propitious--the summer sun had just set beneath dark
    \r\n", - "foliage in the west, its refulgent curtains now fading into mellow
    \r\n", - "tints; night was closing rapidly over the scene, the serene moon
    \r\n", - "shone softly through the arbour into the little window at her
    \r\n", - "bedside. Again she took him by the hand, invited him to sit down at
    \r\n", - "her side, and, looking imploringly in his face, continued,--\"If you
    \r\n", - "are a friend, you can be a friend in confidence, in purpose. I am a
    \r\n", - "slave! yes, a slave; there is much in the word, more than most men
    \r\n", - "are disposed to analyse. It may seem simple to you, but follow it to
    \r\n", - "its degraded depths-follow it to where it sows the seeds of sorrow,
    \r\n", - "and there you will find it spreading poison and death, uprooting all
    \r\n", - "that is good in nature. Worse than that, my child is a slave too. It
    \r\n", - "is that which makes the wrong more cruel, that mantles the polished
    \r\n", - "vice, that holds us in that fearful grasp by which we dare not seek
    \r\n", - "our rights.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My mother, ah! yes, my mother\"-Clotilda shakes her head in sorrow.
    \r\n", - "\"How strange that, by her misfortune, all, all, is misfortune for
    \r\n", - "ever! from one generation to another, sinking each life down, down,
    \r\n", - "down, into misery and woe. How oft she clasped my hand and whispered
    \r\n", - "in my ear: 'If we could but have our rights.' And she, my mother,--as
    \r\n", - "by that sacred name I called her-was fair; fairer than those who
    \r\n", - "held her for a hideous purpose, made her existence loathsome to
    \r\n", - "herself, who knew the right but forced the wrong. She once had
    \r\n", - "rights, but was stripped of them; and once in slavery who can ask
    \r\n", - "that right be done?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What rights have you beyond these?\" he interrupted, suddenly.
    \r\n", - "\"There is mystery in what you have said, in what I have seen;
    \r\n", - "something I want to solve. The same ardent devotion, tenderness,
    \r\n", - "affection,--the same touching chasteness, that characterises
    \r\n", - "Franconia, assimilates in you. You are a slave, a menial-she is
    \r\n", - "courted and caressed by persons of rank and station. Heavens! here
    \r\n", - "is the curse confounding the flesh and blood of those in high
    \r\n", - "places, making slaves of their own kinsmen, crushing out the spirit
    \r\n", - "of life, rearing up those broken flowers whose heads droop with
    \r\n", - "shame. And you want your freedom?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"For my child first,\" she replied, quickly: \"I rest my hopes of her
    \r\n", - "in the future.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Maxwell hesitated for a moment, as if contemplating some plan for
    \r\n", - "her escape, ran his fingers through his hair again and again, then
    \r\n", - "rested his forehead in his hand, as the perspiration stood in heavy
    \r\n", - "drops upon it. \"My child!\" There was something inexpressibly
    \r\n", - "touching in the words of a mother ready to sacrifice her own
    \r\n", - "happiness for the freedom of her child. And yet an awful
    \r\n", - "responsibility hung over him; should he attempt to gain their
    \r\n", - "freedom, and fail in carrying out the project, notwithstanding he
    \r\n", - "was in a free country, the act might cost him his life. But there
    \r\n", - "was the mother, her pride beaming forth in every action, a wounded
    \r\n", - "spirit stung with the knowledge of being a slave, the remorse of her
    \r\n", - "suffering soul-the vicissitudes of that sin thus forced upon her.
    \r\n", - "The temptation became irresistible.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You are English!\"-northerners and Englishmen know what liberty is.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Negroes at the South have a very high opinion of Northern cleverness
    \r\n", - "in devising means of procuring their liberty. The Author here uses
    \r\n", - "the language employed by a slave girl who frequently implored aid to
    \r\n", - "devise some plan by which she would be enabled to make her escape.
    \r\n", - "Northerners could do great things for us, if they would but know us
    \r\n", - "as we are, study our feelings, cast aside selfish motives, and
    \r\n", - "sustain our rights!\" Clotilda now commenced giving Maxwell a history
    \r\n", - "of her mother,--which, however, we must reserve for another chapter.
    \r\n", - "\"And my mother gave me this!\" she said, drawing from her pocket a
    \r\n", - "paper written over in Greek characters, but so defaced as to be
    \r\n", - "almost unintelligible. \"Some day you will find a friend who will
    \r\n", - "secure your freedom through that,\" she would say. \"But freedom-that
    \r\n", - "which is such a boon to us-is so much feared by others that you must
    \r\n", - "mark that friend cautiously, know him well, and be sure he will not
    \r\n", - "betray the liberty you attempt to gain.\" And she handed him the
    \r\n", - "defaced paper, telling him to put it in his pocket.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And where is your mother?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There would be a store of balm in that, if I did but know. Her
    \r\n", - "beauty doomed her to a creature life, which, when she had worn out,
    \r\n", - "she was sold, as I may be, God knows how soon. Though far away from
    \r\n", - "me, she is my mother still, in all that recollection can make her;
    \r\n", - "her countenance seems like a wreath decorating our past
    \r\n", - "associations. Shrink not when I tell it, for few shrink at such
    \r\n", - "things now,--I saw her chained; I didn't think much of it then, for I
    \r\n", - "was too young. And she took me in her arms and kissed me, the tears
    \r\n", - "rolled down her cheeks; and she said-'Clotilda, Clotilda, farewell!
    \r\n", - "There is a world beyond this, a God who knows our hearts, who
    \r\n", - "records our sorrows;' and her image impressed me with feelings I
    \r\n", - "cannot banish. To look back upon it seems like a rough pilgrimage;
    \r\n", - "and then when I think of seeing her again my mind gets lost in
    \r\n", - "hopeless expectations\"--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You saw her chained?\" interrupted Maxwell.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, even chained with strong irons. It need not surprise you.
    \r\n", - "Slavery is a crime; and they chain the innocent lest the wrong
    \r\n", - "should break forth upon themselves.\" And she raised her hands to her
    \r\n", - "face, shook her head, and laid Annette in the little bed at the foot
    \r\n", - "of her own.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "What is it that in chaining a woman, whether she be black as ebony
    \r\n", - "or white as snow, degrades all the traits of the southerner's
    \r\n", - "character, which he would have the world think noble? It is fear!
    \r\n", - "The monster which the southerner sees by day, tolerates in his
    \r\n", - "silence, protects as part and parcel of a legal trade, only clothes
    \r\n", - "him with the disgrace that menials who make themselves mere fiends
    \r\n", - "are guilty of, Maxwell thought to himself.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I will set you free, if it cost my life!\" he exclaimed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hush, hush!\" rejoined Clotilda: \"remember those wretches on the
    \r\n", - "plantation. They, through their ignorance, have learned to wield the
    \r\n", - "tyranny of petty power; they look upon us with suspicious eyes. They
    \r\n", - "know we are negroes (white negroes, who are despicable in their
    \r\n", - "eyes), and feeling that we are more favoured, their envy is excited.
    \r\n", - "They, with the hope of gaining favour, are first to disclose a
    \r\n", - "secret. Save my child first, and then save me\"--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I will save you first; rest assured, I will save you;\" he
    \r\n", - "responded, shaking her hand, bidding her good night. On returning to
    \r\n", - "the mansion he found Marston seated at the table in the
    \r\n", - "drawing-room, in a meditative mood. Good night, my friend!\" he
    \r\n", - "accosted him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, good night!\" was the sudden response.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You seem cast down?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No!-all's not as it seems with a man in trouble. How misfortune
    \r\n", - "quickens our sense of right! O! how it unfolds political and moral
    \r\n", - "wrongs! how it purges the understanding, and turns the good of our
    \r\n", - "natures to thoughts of justice. But when the power to correct is
    \r\n", - "beyond our reach we feel the wrong most painfully,\" Marston coldly
    \r\n", - "replied.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It never is too late to do good; my word for it, friend Marston,
    \r\n", - "good is always worth its services. I am young and may serve you yet;
    \r\n", - "rise above trouble, never let trifles trouble a man like you. The
    \r\n", - "world seems wagging pleasantly for you; everybody on the plantation
    \r\n", - "is happy; Lorenzo has gone into the world to distinguish himself;
    \r\n", - "grief should never lay its scalpel in your feelings. Remember the
    \r\n", - "motto-peace, pleasantry, and plenty; they are things which should
    \r\n", - "always dispel the foreshadowing of unhappiness,\" says Maxwell,
    \r\n", - "jocularly, taking a chair at Marston's request, and seating himself
    \r\n", - "by the table.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston declares such consolation to be refreshing, but too easily
    \r\n", - "conceived to effect his purpose. The ripest fruits of vice often
    \r\n", - "produce the best moral reflections: he feels convinced of this
    \r\n", - "truth; but here the consequences are entailed upon others. The
    \r\n", - "degradation is sunk too deep for recovery by him,--his reflections
    \r\n", - "are only a burden to him. The principle that moves him to atone is
    \r\n", - "crushed by the very perplexity of the law that compels him to do
    \r\n", - "wrong. \"There's what goads me,\" he says: \"it is the system, the
    \r\n", - "forced condition making one man merchandise, and giving another
    \r\n", - "power to continue him as such.\" He arises from the table, his face
    \r\n", - "flushed with excitement, and in silence paces the room to and fro
    \r\n", - "for several minutes. Every now and then he watches at the
    \r\n", - "window,--looks out towards the river, and again at the pine-woods
    \r\n", - "forming a belt in the background, as if he expected some one from
    \r\n", - "that direction. The serene scene without, calm and beautiful,
    \r\n", - "contrasting with the perplexity that surrounded him within,
    \r\n", - "brought the reality of the change which must soon take place in his
    \r\n", - "affairs more vividly to his mind.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Your feelings have been stimulated and modified by education; they
    \r\n", - "are keenly sensitive to right,--to justice between man and man. Those
    \r\n", - "are the beautiful results of early instruction. New England
    \r\n", - "education! It founds a principle for doing good; it needs no
    \r\n", - "contingencies to rouse it to action. You can view slavery with the
    \r\n", - "unprejudiced eye of a philosopher. Listen to what I am about to say:
    \r\n", - "but a few months have passed since I thought myself a man of
    \r\n", - "affluence, and now nothing but the inroads of penury are upon me.
    \r\n", - "The cholera (that scourge of a southern plantation) is again
    \r\n", - "sweeping the district: I cannot expect to escape it, and I am in the
    \r\n", - "hands of a greater scourge than the cholera,--a slow death-broker. He
    \r\n", - "will take from you that which the cholera would not deign to touch:
    \r\n", - "he has no more conscience than a cotton-press,\" says Marston,
    \r\n", - "reclining back in his chair, and calling the negro waiter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The word conscience fell upon Maxwell's ear with strange effect. He
    \r\n", - "had esteemed Marston according to his habits-not a good test when
    \r\n", - "society is so remiss of its duties: he could not reconcile the touch
    \r\n", - "of conscience in such a person, nor could he realise the impulse
    \r\n", - "through which some sudden event was working a moral regeneration in
    \r\n", - "his mind. There was something he struggled to keep from notice. The
    \r\n", - "season had been unpropitious, bad crops had resulted; the cholera
    \r\n", - "made its appearance, swept off many of the best negroes, spread
    \r\n", - "consternation, nearly suspended discipline and labour. One by one
    \r\n", - "his negroes fell victims to its ravages, until it became
    \r\n", - "imperatively necessary to remove the remainder to the pine-woods.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Families might be seen here and there making their little
    \r\n", - "preparations to leave for the hills: the direful scourge to them was
    \r\n", - "an evil spirit, sent as a visitation upon their bad deeds. This they
    \r\n", - "sincerely believe, coupling it with all the superstition their
    \r\n", - "ignorance gives rise to. A few miles from the mansion, among the
    \r\n", - "pines, rude camps are spread out, fires burn to absorb the malaria,
    \r\n", - "to war against mosquitoes, to cook the evening meal; while, up
    \r\n", - "lonely paths, ragged and forlorn-looking negroes are quietly
    \r\n", - "wending their way to take possession. The stranger might view this
    \r\n", - "forest bivouac as a picture of humble life pleasantly domiciled; but
    \r\n", - "it is one of those unfortunate scenes, fruitful of evil, which beset
    \r\n", - "the planter when he is least able to contend against them. Such
    \r\n", - "events develope the sin of an unrighteous institution, bring its
    \r\n", - "supporters to the portals of poverty, consign harmless hundreds to
    \r\n", - "the slave-marts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In this instance, however, we must give Marston credit for all that
    \r\n", - "was good in his intentions, and separate him from the system.
    \r\n", - "Repentance, however produced, is valuable for its example, and if
    \r\n", - "too late for present utility, seldom fails to have an ultimate
    \r\n", - "influence. Thus it was with Marston; and now that all these
    \r\n", - "inevitable disasters were upon him, he resolved to be a father to
    \r\n", - "Annette and Nicholas,--those unfortunates whom law and custom had
    \r\n", - "hitherto compelled him to disown.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Drawing his chair close to Maxwell, he lighted a cigar, and resumed
    \r\n", - "the disclosure his feelings had apparently interrupted a few minutes
    \r\n", - "before. \"Now, my good friend, all these things are upon me; there is
    \r\n", - "no escaping the issue. My people will soon be separated from me; my
    \r\n", - "old, faithful servants, Bob and Harry, will regret me, and if they
    \r\n", - "fall into the hands of a knave, will die thinking of the old
    \r\n", - "plantation. As for Harry, I have made him a preacher,--his knowledge
    \r\n", - "is wonderfully up on Scripture; he has demonstrated to me that
    \r\n", - "niggers are more than mortal, or transitory things. My conscience
    \r\n", - "was touched while listening to one of his sermons; and then, to
    \r\n", - "think how I had leased him to preach upon a neighbouring plantation,
    \r\n", - "just as a man would an ox to do a day's work! Planters paid me so
    \r\n", - "much per sermon, as if the gospel were merchandise, and he a mere
    \r\n", - "thing falsifying all my arguments against his knowledge of the Word
    \r\n", - "of God. Well, it makes me feel as if I were half buried in my own
    \r\n", - "degradation and blindness. And then, again, they are our property,
    \r\n", - "and are bestowed upon us by a legal-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If that be wrong,\" interrupted Maxwell, \"you have no excuse for
    \r\n", - "continuing it.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True! That's just what I was coming at. The evil in its broadest
    \r\n", - "expanse is there. We look calmly on the external objects of the
    \r\n", - "system without solving its internal grievances,--we build a right
    \r\n", - "upon the ruins of ancient wrongs, and we swathe our thoughts with
    \r\n", - "inconsistency that we may make the curse of a system invulnerable.
    \r\n", - "It is not that we cannot do good under a bad system, but that we
    \r\n", - "cannot ameliorate it, lest we weaken the foundation. And yet all
    \r\n", - "this seems as nothing when I recall a sin of greater magnitude-a sin
    \r\n", - "that is upon me-a hideous blot, goading my very soul, rising up
    \r\n", - "against me like a mountain, over which I can see no pass. Again the
    \r\n", - "impelling force of conscience incites me to make a desperate effort;
    \r\n", - "but conscience rebukes me for not preparing the way in time. I could
    \r\n", - "translate my feelings further, but, in doing so, the remedy seems
    \r\n", - "still further from me-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Is it ever too late to try a remedy-to make an effort to surmount
    \r\n", - "great impediments-to render justice to those who have suffered from
    \r\n", - "such acts?\" inquired Maxwell, interrupting Marston as he proceeded.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If I could do it without sacrificing my honour, without exposing
    \r\n", - "myself to the vengeance of the law. We are great sticklers for
    \r\n", - "constitutional law, while we care little for constitutional justice.
    \r\n", - "There is Clotilda; you see her, but you don't know her history: if
    \r\n", - "it were told it would resound through the broad expanse of our land.
    \r\n", - "Yes, it would disclose a wrong, perpetrated under the smiles of
    \r\n", - "liberty, against which the vengeance of high Heaven would be
    \r\n", - "invoked. I know the secret, and yet I dare not disclose it; the
    \r\n", - "curse handed down from her forefathers has been perpetuated by me.
    \r\n", - "She seems happy, and yet she is unhappy; the secret recesses of her
    \r\n", - "soul are poisoned. And what more natural? for, by some unlucky
    \r\n", - "incident, she has got an inkling of the foul means by which she was
    \r\n", - "made a slave. To him who knows the right, the wrong is most painful;
    \r\n", - "but I bought her of him whose trade it was to sell such flesh and
    \r\n", - "blood! And yet that does not relieve me from the curse: there's the
    \r\n", - "stain; it hangs upon me, it involves my inclinations, it gloats over
    \r\n", - "my downfall-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You bought her!\" again interrupts Maxwell.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True,\" rejoins the other, quickly, \"'tis a trade well protected by
    \r\n", - "our democracy. Once bought, we cannot relieve ourselves by giving
    \r\n", - "them rights in conflict with the claims of creditors. Our will may
    \r\n", - "be good, but the will without the means falls hopeless. My heart
    \r\n", - "breaks under the knowledge that those children are mine. It is a sad
    \r\n", - "revelation to make,--sad in the eyes of heaven and earth. My
    \r\n", - "participation in wrong has proved sorrow to them: how can I look to
    \r\n", - "the pains and struggles they must endure in life, when stung with
    \r\n", - "the knowledge that I am the cause of it? I shall wither under the
    \r\n", - "torture of my own conscience. And there is even an interest about
    \r\n", - "them that makes my feelings bound joyfully when I recur them. Can it
    \r\n", - "be aught but the fruit of natural affection? I think not; and yet I
    \r\n", - "am compelled to disown them, and even to smother with falsehood the
    \r\n", - "rancour that might find a place in Franconia's bosom. Clotilda loves
    \r\n", - "Annette with a mother's fondness; but with all her fondness for her
    \r\n", - "child she dare not love me, nor I the child.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Maxwell suggests that his not having bought the child would
    \r\n", - "certainly give him the right to control his own flesh and blood: but
    \r\n", - "he knows little of slave law, and less of its customs. He, however,
    \r\n", - "was anxious to draw from Marston full particulars of the secret that
    \r\n", - "would disclose Clotilda's history, over which the partial exposition
    \r\n", - "had thrown the charm of mystery. Several times he was on the eve of
    \r\n", - "proffering his services to relieve the burden working upon Marston's
    \r\n", - "mind; but his sympathies were enlisted toward the two unfortunate
    \r\n", - "women, for whom he was ready to render good service, to relieve them
    \r\n", - "and their children. Again, he remembered how singularly sensitive
    \r\n", - "Southerners were on matters concerning the peculiar institution,
    \r\n", - "especially when approached by persons from abroad. Perhaps it was a
    \r\n", - "plot laid by Marston to ascertain his feelings on the subject, or,
    \r\n", - "under that peculiar jealousy of Southerners who live in this manner,
    \r\n", - "he might have discovered his interview with Clotilda, and, in
    \r\n", - "forming a plan to thwart his project, adopted this singular course
    \r\n", - "for disarming apprehensions.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At this stage of the proceedings a whispering noise was heard, as if
    \r\n", - "coming from another part of the room. They stopped at the moment,
    \r\n", - "looked round with surprise, but not seeing anything, resumed the
    \r\n", - "conversation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Of whom did you purchase?\" inquired Maxwell, anxiously.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One Silenus; a trader who trades in this quality of property only,
    \r\n", - "and has become rich by the traffic. He is associated with Anthony
    \r\n", - "Romescos, once a desperado on the Texan frontier. These two coveys
    \r\n", - "would sell their mossmates without a scruple, and think it no harm
    \r\n", - "so long as they turned a dime. They know every justice of the peace
    \r\n", - "from Texas to Fort M'Henry. Romescos is turned the desperado again,
    \r\n", - "shoots, kills, and otherwise commits fell deeds upon his neighbour's
    \r\n", - "negroes; he even threatens them with death when they approach him
    \r\n", - "for reparation. He snaps his fingers at law, lawyers, and judges:
    \r\n", - "slave law is moonshine to those who have no rights in common law-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And he escapes? Then you institute laws, and substitute custom to
    \r\n", - "make them null. It is a poor apology for a namesake. But do you
    \r\n", - "assert that in the freest and happiest country-a country that boasts
    \r\n", - "the observance of its statute laws-a man is privileged to shoot,
    \r\n", - "maim, and torture a fellow-being, and that public opinion fails to
    \r\n", - "bring him to justice?\" ejaculated Maxwell.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" returns Marston, seriously; \"it is no less shameful than
    \r\n", - "true. Three of my negroes has he killed very good-naturedly, and yet
    \r\n", - "I have no proof to convict him. Even were I to seek redress, it
    \r\n", - "would be against that prejudice which makes the rights of the
    \r\n", - "enslaved unpopular.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The trouble exists in making the man merchandise, reducing him to an
    \r\n", - "abject being, without the protection of common law. Presently the
    \r\n", - "tears began to flow down Marston's cheeks, as he unbuttoned his
    \r\n", - "shirt-collar with an air of restlessness, approached a desk that
    \r\n", - "stood in one corner of the room, and drew from it a somewhat defaced
    \r\n", - "bill of sale. There was something connected with that bit of paper,
    \r\n", - "which, apart from anything else, seemed to harass him most. \"But a
    \r\n", - "minute before you entered I looked upon that paper,\" he spoke,
    \r\n", - "throwing it upon the table, \"and thought how much trouble it had
    \r\n", - "brought me, how through it I had left a curse upon innocent life. I
    \r\n", - "paid fifteen hundred dollars for the souls and bodies of those two
    \r\n", - "women, creatures of sense, delicacy, and tenderness. But I am not a
    \r\n", - "bad man, after all. No, there are worse men than me in the world.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gather, gather, ye incubus of misfortune, bearing to me the light
    \r\n", - "of heaven, with which to see my sins. May it come to turn my heart
    \r\n", - "in the right way, to seek its retribution on the wrong!\" Thus
    \r\n", - "concluding, Marston covers his face in his hands, and for several
    \r\n", - "minutes weeps like a child. Again rising from his seat, he throws
    \r\n", - "the paper on a table near an open window, and himself upon a couch
    \r\n", - "near by.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Maxwell attempts to quiet him by drawing his attention from the
    \r\n", - "subject. There is little use, however,--it is a terrible
    \r\n", - "conflict,--the conflict of conscience awakening to a sense of its
    \r\n", - "errors; the fate of regrets when it is too late to make amends.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While this was going on, a brawny hand reached into the window, and
    \r\n", - "quickly withdrew the paper from the table. Neither observed it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And at the moment, Marston ejaculated, \"I will! I will! let it cost
    \r\n", - "what it may. I will do justice to Clotilda and her child,--to Ellen
    \r\n", - "and her child; I will free them, send them into a free country to be
    \r\n", - "educated.\" In his excitement he forgot the bill of sale.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Like enough you will!\" responds a gruff voice; and a loud rap at
    \r\n", - "the hall-door followed. Dandy was summoned, opened the door, bowed
    \r\n", - "Romescos into the room. He pretends to be under the influence of
    \r\n", - "liquor, which he hopes will excuse his extraordinary familiarity at
    \r\n", - "such a late hour. Touching the hilt of his knife, he swaggers into
    \r\n", - "the presence of Marston, looks at him fixedly, impertinently demands
    \r\n", - "something to drink. He cares not what it be, waits for no ceremony,
    \r\n", - "tips the decanter, gulps his glass, and deliberately takes a seat.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The reader will perhaps detect the object of his presence; but,
    \r\n", - "beyond that, there is something deep and desperate in the appearance
    \r\n", - "of the man, rendering his familiarity exceedingly disagreeable. That
    \r\n", - "he should present himself at such an untimely hour was strange,
    \r\n", - "beyond Marston's comprehension. It was, indeed, most inopportune;
    \r\n", - "but knowing him, he feared him. He could not treat him with
    \r\n", - "indifference,--there was his connection with Graspum, his power over
    \r\n", - "the poor servile whites; he must be courteous-so, summoning his
    \r\n", - "suavity, he orders Dandy to wait upon him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos amuses himself with sundry rude expressions about the
    \r\n", - "etiquette of gentlemen,--their rights and associations,--the glorious
    \r\n", - "freedom of a glorious land. Not heeding Dandy's attention, he fills
    \r\n", - "another glass copiously, twirls it upon the table, eyes Marston, and
    \r\n", - "then Maxwell, playfully-drinks his beverage with the air of one
    \r\n", - "quite at home.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Marston, old feller,\" he says, winking at Maxwell, \"things don't
    \r\n", - "jibe so straight as they use't-do they? I wants a stave o'
    \r\n", - "conversation on matters o' business with ye to-morrow. It's a smart
    \r\n", - "little property arrangement; but I ain't in the right fix just now;
    \r\n", - "I can't make the marks straight so we can understand two and two. Ye
    \r\n", - "take, don't ye? Somethin' touching a genteel business with your fast
    \r\n", - "young nephew, Lorenzo. Caution to the wise.\" Romescos, making
    \r\n", - "several vain attempts, rises, laughing with a half-independent air,
    \r\n", - "puts his slouch hat on his head, staggers to the door, makes passes
    \r\n", - "at Dandy, who waits his egress, and bidding them good night,
    \r\n", - "disappears.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER IX.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WHO IS SAFE AGAINST THE POWER?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE cholera raging on Marston's plantation, had excited Graspum's
    \r\n", - "fears. His pecuniary interests were above every other
    \r\n", - "consideration-he knew no higher object than the accumulation of
    \r\n", - "wealth; and to ascertain the precise nature and extent of the malady
    \r\n", - "he had sent Romescos to reconnoitre.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Returning to the long-room at Graspum's slave-pen, we must introduce
    \r\n", - "the reader to scenes which take place on the night following that
    \r\n", - "upon which Romescos secured the bill of sale at Marston's mansion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Around the table we have before described sit Graspum and some dozen
    \r\n", - "of his clan. Conspicuous among them is Dan Bengal, and Nath Nimrod,
    \r\n", - "whom we described as running into the room unceremoniously, holding
    \r\n", - "by the hair the head of a negro, and exulting over it as a prize of
    \r\n", - "much value. They are relating their adventures, speculating over the
    \r\n", - "prospects of trade, comparing notes on the result of making free
    \r\n", - "trash human property worth something! They all manifest the happiest
    \r\n", - "of feelings, have a language of their own, converse freely; at times
    \r\n", - "sprinkle their conversation with pointed oaths. They are conversant
    \r\n", - "with the business affairs of every planter in the State, know his
    \r\n", - "liabilities, the condition of his negroes, his hard cases, his bad
    \r\n", - "cases, his runaways, and his prime property. Their dilations on the
    \r\n", - "development of wenches, shades of colour, qualities of stock suited
    \r\n", - "to the various markets-from Richmond to New Orleans-disclose a
    \r\n", - "singular foresight into the article of poor human nature.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's nothing like pushing our kind of business, specially whin
    \r\n", - "ye gits it where ye can push profitably,\" speaks Bengal, his fiery
    \r\n", - "red eyes glaring over the table as he droops his head sluggishly,
    \r\n", - "and, sipping his whiskey, lets it drip over his beard upon his
    \r\n", - "bosom; \"if 't warn't for Anthony's cunnin' we'd have a pesky deal of
    \r\n", - "crooked law to stumble through afore we'd get them rich uns upset.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "My reader must know that southern law and justice for the poor
    \r\n", - "succumb to popular feeling in all slave atmospheres; and happy is
    \r\n", - "the fellow who can work his way through slavedom without being
    \r\n", - "dependent upon the one or brought under the influence of the other.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum, in reply to Bengal, feels that gentlemen in the \"nigger
    \r\n", - "business\" should respect themselves. He well knows there exists not
    \r\n", - "the best feeling in the world between them and the more exclusive
    \r\n", - "aristocracy, whose feelings must inevitably be modified to suit the
    \r\n", - "democratic spirit of the age. He himself enjoys that most refined
    \r\n", - "society, which he asserts to be strong proof of the manner in which
    \r\n", - "democracy is working its way to distinction. Our business, he says,
    \r\n", - "hath so many avenues that it has become positively necessary that
    \r\n", - "some of them should be guarded by men of honour, dignity, and
    \r\n", - "irreproachable conduct. Now, he has sent Anthony Romescos to do some
    \r\n", - "watching on the sly, at Marston's plantation; but there is nothing
    \r\n", - "dishonourable in that, inasmuch as the victim is safe in his claws.
    \r\n", - "Contented with these considerations, Graspum puffs his cigar very
    \r\n", - "composedly. From slave nature, slave-seeking adventures, and the
    \r\n", - "intricacies of the human-property-market, they turn to the
    \r\n", - "discussion of state rights, of freedom in its broadest and most
    \r\n", - "practical sense. And, upon the principle of the greatest despot
    \r\n", - "being foremost to discuss what really constitutes freedom, which,
    \r\n", - "however, he always argues in an abstract sense, Nimrod was loudest
    \r\n", - "and most lavish in his praises of a protective government--a
    \r\n", - "government that would grant great good justice to the white man
    \r\n", - "only. It matters little to Nimrod which is the greater nigger; he
    \r\n", - "believes in the straight principles of right in the white man. It is
    \r\n", - "not so much how justice is carried out when menial beings form a
    \r\n", - "glorious merchandise; but it is the true essence of liberty, giving
    \r\n", - "men power to keep society all straight, to practice liberty very
    \r\n", - "liberally. \"Ye see, now, Graspum,\" he quaintly remarks, as he takes
    \r\n", - "up the candle to light his cigar, \"whatever ye do is right, so long
    \r\n", - "as the law gives a feller a right to do it. 'Tisn't a bit o' use to
    \r\n", - "think how a man can be too nice in his feelings when a hundred or
    \r\n", - "two's to be made on nigger property what's delicate, t'aint! A
    \r\n", - "feller feels sore once in a while, a' cos his conscience is a little
    \r\n", - "touchy now and then; but it won't do to give way to it-conscience
    \r\n", - "don't bring cash. When ye launches out in the nigger-trading
    \r\n", - "business ye must feel vengeance agin the brutes, and think how it's
    \r\n", - "only trade; how it's perfectly legal-and how it's encouraged by the
    \r\n", - "Governor's proclamations. Human natur's human natur'; and when ye
    \r\n", - "can turn a penny at it, sink all the in'ard inclinations. Just let
    \r\n", - "the shiners slide in, it don't matter a tenpence where ye got 'em.
    \r\n", - "Trade's everything! you might as well talk about patriotism among
    \r\n", - "crowned heads,--about the chivalry of commerce: cash makes
    \r\n", - "consequence, and them's what makes gentlemen, south.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They welcome the spirits, although it has already made them
    \r\n", - "soulless. The negro listens to a dialogue of singular import to
    \r\n", - "himself; his eyes glistened with interest, as one by one they
    \r\n", - "sported over the ignorance enforced upon the weak. One by one they
    \r\n", - "threw their slouch hats upon the floor, drew closer in conclave,
    \r\n", - "forming a grotesque picture of fiendish faces. \"Now, gentlemen,\"
    \r\n", - "Graspum deigns to say, after a moment's pause, motioning to the
    \r\n", - "decanter, \"pass it along round when ye gets a turn about.\" He fills
    \r\n", - "his glass and drinks, as if drink were a necessary accompaniment of
    \r\n", - "the project before them. \"This case of Marston's is a regular
    \r\n", - "plumper; there's a spec to be made in that stock of stuff; and them
    \r\n", - "bright bits of his own-they look like him-'ll make right smart
    \r\n", - "fancy. Ther' developing just in the right sort of way to be valuable
    \r\n", - "for market.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's movin' o' the shrewdest kind to be done there, Graspum!
    \r\n", - "Where's the dockerment what 'll make 'um property, eh?\" interrupted
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 3/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 3 out of 12

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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Nimrod, twisting the hair with which his face is covered into
    \r\n", - "fantastic points.
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    \r\n", - "\"Oh, my good fellows, public opinion's the dockerment; with the
    \r\n", - "bright side of public opinion! Public opinion whispers about
    \r\n", - "Clotilda: it says she looks so much like that niece of Marston's,
    \r\n", - "that you couldn't tell them apart. And they are like two pins,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen; but then one's property and t'other's anything but
    \r\n", - "property. One will bring something substantial in the market: I
    \r\n", - "wouldn't say much about the other. But there's pride in the whole
    \r\n", - "family, and where it's got into the niggers it's worth a few extra
    \r\n", - "dollars. The Marstons and Roveros don't think much of we dealers
    \r\n", - "when they don't want our money; but when they do we are cousins of
    \r\n", - "the right stripe. However, these ere little aristocratic notions
    \r\n", - "don't mount to much; they are bin generous blood-mixers, and now
    \r\n", - "they may wince over it-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum is interrupted again. Bengal has been analysing his logic,
    \r\n", - "and rises to dispute the logic of his arguments. He is ready to
    \r\n", - "stake his political faith, and all his common sense-of which he
    \r\n", - "never fails to boast-that mixing the blood of the two races destroys
    \r\n", - "the purity of the nigger, spiles the gauge of the market, detracts
    \r\n", - "from real plantation property, and will just upset the growin' of
    \r\n", - "young niggers. He is sure he knows just as much about the thing as
    \r\n", - "anybody else, has never missed his guess, although folks say he aint
    \r\n", - "no way clever at selection; and, rubbing his eyes after adjusting
    \r\n", - "the long black hair that hangs down over his shoulders, he folds his
    \r\n", - "arms with an independent air, and waits the rejoinder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The dingy room breathes thick of deleterious fumes; a gloom hangs
    \r\n", - "over their meditations, deep and treacherous: it excites fear, not
    \r\n", - "of the men, but of the horrors of their trade. A dim light hangs
    \r\n", - "suspended from the ceiling: even the sickly shade contrasts
    \r\n", - "strangely with their black purpose.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Variety of shade, my dear Bengal, is none of our business. If you
    \r\n", - "make a division you destroy the property and the principle. We don't
    \r\n", - "represent the South: if we did, my stars! how the abolitionists
    \r\n", - "would start up,--eh! Now, there's a right smart chance of big
    \r\n", - "aristocrat folks in the district, and they think something of their
    \r\n", - "niggers, and some are fools enough to think niggers have souls just
    \r\n", - "as white as we. That's where the thing don't strike our morals
    \r\n", - "alike. It's all right to let such folks represent us-that it is! It
    \r\n", - "tells down north.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I goes in for that! It puts a polished face on the brown side of
    \r\n", - "things. That's the way I puts it on when I gets among the big 'uns
    \r\n", - "on 'Change. I talks to one, shakes hands with another, touches my
    \r\n", - "hat to the president of the bank; and then them what don't know
    \r\n", - "thinks how I do a little in the taking a corner of notes line!\" \"In
    \r\n", - "the same sly way that directors of banks do,\" interrupts a voice,
    \r\n", - "sullenly and slow. It was long Joe Morphet, the constable's sponge,
    \r\n", - "who did a little in the line of nigger trailing, and now and then
    \r\n", - "acted as a contingent of Graspum. Joe had, silently and with great
    \r\n", - "attention, listened to their consultations, expecting to get a hook
    \r\n", - "on at some point where his services would play at a profit; but it
    \r\n", - "all seemed beyond his comprehension-amounted to nothing.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's something in Joe, gentlemen! But our genteelest folks don't
    \r\n", - "alway do the genteelest things, arter all. Right-right! Joe's
    \r\n", - "right!\" Graspum has suddenly comprehended Joe's logic, and brightens
    \r\n", - "up with the possession of a new idea, that at first was inclined to
    \r\n", - "get crosswise in his mind, which he has drilled in the minor details
    \r\n", - "of human nature rather than the political dignity of the state.
    \r\n", - "Joe's ideas are ranging over the necessity of keeping up a good
    \r\n", - "outside for the state; Graspum thinks only of keeping up the dignity
    \r\n", - "of himself. \"Well, give in, fellers; Joe's right clever. He's got
    \r\n", - "head enough to get into Congress, and if polished up wouldn't make
    \r\n", - "the worst feller that ever was sent: he wouldn't, to my certain
    \r\n", - "knowledge. Joe's clever! What great men do with impunity little men
    \r\n", - "have no scruples in following; what the state tolerates, knaves may
    \r\n", - "play upon to their own advantage. To keep up the dignity of a slave
    \r\n", - "state, slave dealers must keep up dignity among themselves: the one
    \r\n", - "cannot live without the other. They must affect, and the state must
    \r\n", - "put on, the dignity; and northerners what aint gentlemen must be
    \r\n", - "taught to know that they aint gentlemen.\" This is the conclusion to
    \r\n", - "which Graspum has arrived on the maturest reflection of a few
    \r\n", - "minutes: it conforms with the opinion and dignity of
    \r\n", - "slaveocracy-must be right, else the glorious Union, with the
    \r\n", - "free-thinking north unfortunately attached, could never be
    \r\n", - "preserved. It's the nut of a glorious compact which the south only
    \r\n", - "must crack, and will crack. Graspum apologised for the thing having
    \r\n", - "escaped his memory so long. He remembered that southerners left no
    \r\n", - "stone unturned that could serve the policy of concentrating slave
    \r\n", - "power; and he remembered that it was equally necessary to keep an
    \r\n", - "eye to the feeling abroad. There were in America none but southern
    \r\n", - "nobles,--no affable gentlemen who could do the grace of polite
    \r\n", - "circles except themselves,--none who, through their bland manners,
    \r\n", - "could do more to repel the awful descriptions given of southern
    \r\n", - "society, nor who could not make strangers believe slaves were happy
    \r\n", - "mortals, happily created to live in all the happiness of slave life.
    \r\n", - "\"There's nothing like putting our learned folks ahead-they're
    \r\n", - "polished down for the purpose, you see-and letting them represent us
    \r\n", - "when abroad; they puts a different sort of shine on things what our
    \r\n", - "institution makes profitable. They don't always set good examples at
    \r\n", - "home, but we can't control their tastes on small matters of that
    \r\n", - "kind: and then, what a valuable offset it is, just to have the power
    \r\n", - "of doing the free and easy gentleman, to be the brilliant companion,
    \r\n", - "to put on the smooth when you go among nobility what don't
    \r\n", - "understand the thing!\" Graspum adds, with a cunning wink.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Pooh! pooh! such talk don't jingle. You can't separate our
    \r\n", - "aristocracy from mistress-keeping. It's a matter of romance with
    \r\n", - "them,--a matter of romance, gentlemen, that's all. The south couldn't
    \r\n", - "live without romance, she couldn't!\" adds Nimrod, stretching back in
    \r\n", - "his chair.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And where did you get that broad idea from, Jakey? I kind o' likes
    \r\n", - "that sort of philosophy,\" adds another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Philosophy! I reckon how there is deep and strong philosophy in
    \r\n", - "that ar; but ye can't calc'late much on't when ye haint talents to
    \r\n", - "bring it out. That point where the soul comes in is a puzzler on
    \r\n", - "Yankees; but it takes our editors and parsons to put the arguments
    \r\n", - "where the Yankees can't demolish them. Read the Richmond--, my
    \r\n", - "grandmother of the day, if ye want to see the philosophy of niggers,
    \r\n", - "and their souls. That editor is a philosopher; the world's got to
    \r\n", - "learn his philosophy. Just take that preacher from New Jersey, what
    \r\n", - "preaches in All Saints; if he don't prove niggers aint no souls I'm
    \r\n", - "a Dutchman, and dead at that! He gives 'em broadside logic,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen; and if he hadn't been raised north he wouldn't bin so up
    \r\n", - "on niggers when he cum south,\" was the quick rejoinder of our
    \r\n", - "knowing expounder, who, looking Graspum in the face, demanded to
    \r\n", - "know if he was not correct. Graspum thinks it better to waste no
    \r\n", - "more time in words, but to get at the particular piece of business
    \r\n", - "for which they have been called together. He is a man of money,--a
    \r\n", - "man of trade, ever willing to admit the philosophy of the
    \r\n", - "man-market, but don't see the difference of honour between the
    \r\n", - "aristocrat who sells his bits in the market, and the honourable
    \r\n", - "dealer who gets but a commission for selling them. And there's
    \r\n", - "something about the parson who, forgetting the sanctity of his
    \r\n", - "calling, sanctifies everything pertaining to slavery. Conscience, he
    \r\n", - "admits, is a wonderful thing fixed somewhere about the heart, and,
    \r\n", - "in spite of all he can do, will trouble it once in a while.
    \r\n", - "Marston-poor Marston!-he declares to be foolishly troubled with it,
    \r\n", - "and it makes him commit grievous errors. And then, there's no
    \r\n", - "understandin' it, because Marston has a funny way of keeping it
    \r\n", - "under such a knotty-looking exterior. Graspum declares he had
    \r\n", - "nothing to do with the breaking out of the cholera, is very sorry
    \r\n", - "for it,--only wants his own, just like any other honest man. He kind
    \r\n", - "o' likes Marston, admits he is a sort of good fellow in his way;
    \r\n", - "mighty careless though, wouldn't cheat anybody if he knew it, and
    \r\n", - "never gave half a minute's thinking about how uncertain the world
    \r\n", - "was. But the cholera-a dire disease among niggers-has broke out in
    \r\n", - "all the fury of its ravages; and it makes him think of his sick
    \r\n", - "niggers and paying his debts. \"You see, gentlemen-we are all
    \r\n", - "gentlemen here,\" Graspum continues,--\"a man must pay the penalty of
    \r\n", - "his folly once in a while. It's the fate of great men as well as
    \r\n", - "smaller ones; all are liable to it. That isn't the thing, though; it
    \r\n", - "don't do to be chicken-hearted afore niggers, nor when yer dealing
    \r\n", - "in niggers, nor in any kind o' business what ye want to make coin
    \r\n", - "at. Marston 'll stick on that point, he will; see if he don't. His
    \r\n", - "feelins' are troubling him: he knows I've got the assignment; and if
    \r\n", - "he don't put them ar' white 'uns of his in the schedule, I'll snap
    \r\n", - "him up for fraud,--I will-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The conversation is here interrupted by a loud rap at the door,
    \r\n", - "which is opened by the negro, who stands with his finger on the
    \r\n", - "latch. Romescos, in his slovenly garb, presents himself with an air
    \r\n", - "of self-assurance that marks the result of his enterprise. He is a
    \r\n", - "prominent feature in all Graspum's great operations; he is desperate
    \r\n", - "in serving his interests. Drawing a handkerchief from his pocket-it
    \r\n", - "is printed with the stars and stripes of freedom-he calls it a New
    \r\n", - "England rag, disdainfully denounces that area of unbelievers in
    \r\n", - "slaveocracy, wipes his blistered face with it, advances to the
    \r\n", - "table-every eye intently watching him-and pauses for breath.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What success, Anthony? Tell us quickly,\" Graspum demands, extending
    \r\n", - "his hand nervously. \"Anthony never fails! It's a fool who fails in
    \r\n", - "our business,\" was the reply, delivered with great unconcern, and
    \r\n", - "responded to with unanimous applause. A warrior returned from
    \r\n", - "victory was Anthony,--a victory of villainy recorded in heaven, where
    \r\n", - "the rewards will, at some day, be measured out with a just but awful
    \r\n", - "retribution.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The bosom of his shirt lays broadly open: one by one they shake his
    \r\n", - "hand, as he hastily unties the chequered cloth about his neck, pours
    \r\n", - "out his drink of whiskey, seats himself in a chair, and deliberately
    \r\n", - "places his feet upon the table. \"Ther's nothin' like making a
    \r\n", - "triangle of oneself when ye wants to feel so ye can blow
    \r\n", - "comfortable,\" he says. \"I done nothin' shorter than put all straight
    \r\n", - "at Marston's last night. It was science, ye see, gents; and I done
    \r\n", - "it up strictly according to science. A feller what aint cunnin', and
    \r\n", - "don't know the nice work o' the law, can't do nothin' in the way o'
    \r\n", - "science. It's just as you said\"-addressing his remarks to Graspum,--
    \r\n", - "\"Marston's slackin' out his conscience because he sees how things
    \r\n", - "are goin' down hill with him. If that old hoss cholera don't clar
    \r\n", - "off the nigger property, I'm no prophet. It'll carry 'em into glory;
    \r\n", - "and glory, I reckon, isn't what you calls good pay, eh, Graspum? I
    \r\n", - "overheard his intentions: he sees the black page before him; it
    \r\n", - "troubles the chicken part of his heart. Feels mighty meek and gentle
    \r\n", - "all at once; and, it's no lie, he begins to see sin in what he has
    \r\n", - "done; and to make repentance good he's goin' to shove off that nabob
    \r\n", - "stock of his, so the creditors can't lay paws upon it. Ye got to
    \r\n", - "spring; Marston 'll get ahead of ye if he don't, old feller. This
    \r\n", - "child 'll show him how he can't cum some o' them things while Squire
    \r\n", - "Hobble and I'm on hand.\" Thus quaintly he speaks, pulling the bill
    \r\n", - "of sale from a side-pocket, throwing it upon the table with an air
    \r\n", - "of satisfaction amounting to exultation. \"Take that ar; put it where
    \r\n", - "ye can put yer finger on't when the 'mergency comes.\" And he smiles
    \r\n", - "to see how gratefully and anxiously Graspum receives it, reviews it,
    \r\n", - "re-reviews it,--how it excites the joy of his nature. He has no soul
    \r\n", - "beyond the love of gold, and the system of his bloody trade. It was
    \r\n", - "that fatal instrument, great in the atmosphere of ungrateful law,
    \r\n", - "bending some of nature's noblest beneath its seal of crimes. \"It's
    \r\n", - "from Silenus to Marston; rather old, but just the thing! Ah, you're
    \r\n", - "a valuable fellow, Anthony.\" Mr. Graspum manifests his approbation
    \r\n", - "by certain smiles, grimaces, and shakes of the hand, while word by
    \r\n", - "word he reads it, as if eagerly relishing its worth. \"It's a little
    \r\n", - "thing for a great purpose; it'll tell a tale in its time;\" and he
    \r\n", - "puts the precious scrip safely in his pocket, and rubbing his hands
    \r\n", - "together, declares \"that deserves a bumper!\" They fill up at
    \r\n", - "Graspum's request, drink with social cheers, followed by a song from
    \r\n", - "Nimrod, who pitches his tune to the words, \"Come, landlord, fill the
    \r\n", - "flowing bowl.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Nimrod finishes his song: Romescos takes the floor to tell a story
    \r\n", - "about the old judge what hung the nigger a'cos he didn't want to
    \r\n", - "spend his patience listening to the testimony, and adjourned the
    \r\n", - "court to go and take a drink at Sal Stiles's grocery. His
    \r\n", - "description of the court, its high jurisdiction, the dignity of the
    \r\n", - "squire what sits as judge, how he drinks the three
    \r\n", - "jurymen-freeholders-what are going to try a nigger, how they goes
    \r\n", - "out and takes three drinks when the case gets about half way
    \r\n", - "through, how the nigger winks and blinks when he sees the jury
    \r\n", - "drunk, and hears the judge say there's only two things he likes to
    \r\n", - "hang,--niggers and schoolmasters. But as it's no harm to kill
    \r\n", - "schoolmasters-speaking in a southern sense-so Romescos thinks the
    \r\n", - "squire who got the jury inebriated afore he sent the \"nigger\" to be
    \r\n", - "hung doesn't mean the least harm when he evinces an abhorrence to
    \r\n", - "the whole clan of schoolmaster trash. He turns to the old story of
    \r\n", - "doing everything by system; ends by describing his method of
    \r\n", - "drinking a whole jury. He has surprised Marston, got him on the hip,
    \r\n", - "where he can feather him or sciver him, and where things must be
    \r\n", - "done sly. Public opinion, he whispers, may set folks moving, and
    \r\n", - "then they'll all be down upon him like hawks after chickens. In his
    \r\n", - "mind, the feller what pulls first comes off first best-if the law
    \r\n", - "hounds are not too soon let loose! If they are, there will be a long
    \r\n", - "drag, a small cage for the flock, and very few birds with feathers
    \r\n", - "on. Romescos cares for nobody but the judge: he tells us how the
    \r\n", - "judge and he are right good cronies, and how it's telling a good
    \r\n", - "many dollars at the end of the year to keep on the best of terms
    \r\n", - "with him, always taking him to drink when they meet. The judge is a
    \r\n", - "wonderfully clever fellow, in Romescos' opinion; ranks among
    \r\n", - "first-class drinkers; can do most anything, from hanging a nigger to
    \r\n", - "clearing the fellow that killed the schoolmaster, and said he'd
    \r\n", - "clear a dozen in two two's, if they'd kill off ever so many of the
    \r\n", - "rubbish. It is well to make his favour a point of interest. The
    \r\n", - "company are become tired of this sort of cantation; they have heard
    \r\n", - "enough of high functionaries, know quite enough of judges:--such
    \r\n", - "things are in their line of business. Romescos must needs turn the
    \r\n", - "conversation. \"Well, taking it how I can entertain ye to most
    \r\n", - "anything, I'll give ye a story on the secrets of how I used to run
    \r\n", - "off Ingin remnants of the old tribes. 'Taint but a few years ago, ye
    \r\n", - "know, when ther was a lot of Ingin and white, mixed stuff-some
    \r\n", - "called it beautiful-down in Beaufort district. It was temptin'
    \r\n", - "though, I reckon, and made a feller feel just as if he was runnin'
    \r\n", - "it off to sell, every time it come in his way. Ye see, most on't was
    \r\n", - "gal property, and that kind, ollers keeps the whole district in a
    \r\n", - "hubbub; everybody's offended, and there's so much delicacy about the
    \r\n", - "ladies what come in contact with it. Yes, gentlemen! the ladies-I
    \r\n", - "means the aristocracy's ladies-hate these copper-coloured Ingins as
    \r\n", - "they would female devils. It didn't do to offend the delicacy of our
    \r\n", - "ladies, ye see; so something must be done, but it was all for
    \r\n", - "charity's sake. Squire Hornblower and me fixes a plan a'tween us: it
    \r\n", - "was just the plan to do good for the town-we must always be kind, ye
    \r\n", - "know, and try to do good-and save the dear good ladies a great deal
    \r\n", - "of unnecessary pain.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, the squire had law larnin', and I had cunnin'; and both put
    \r\n", - "together made the thing work to a point. The scheme worked so nicely
    \r\n", - "that we put twelve out of fifteen of 'em right into pocket-money in
    \r\n", - "less than three years-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hold a second, Romescos; how did you play the game so adroitly,
    \r\n", - "when they were all members of families living in the town? You're a
    \r\n", - "remarkable fellow,\" Graspum interposes, stretching his arms, and
    \r\n", - "twisting his sturdy figure over the side of his chair.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's what I was coming at. Ye see, whenever ye makes white trash
    \r\n", - "what ain't slaved a nuisance, you makes it mightily unpopular; and
    \r\n", - "when folks is unpopular the nuisance is easily removed, especially
    \r\n", - "when ye can get pay for removing it. The law will be as tame as a
    \r\n", - "mouse-nobody 'll say nothin'? Ingin and white rubbish is just
    \r\n", - "alike-one's worth as little as t'other. Both's only fit to sell,
    \r\n", - "sir!-worthless for any other purpose. Ye see, gentlemen, I'm
    \r\n", - "something of a philosopher, and has strong faith in the doctrine of
    \r\n", - "our popular governor, who believes it better to sell all poor whites
    \r\n", - "into slavery. 'Tain't a free country where ye don't have the right
    \r\n", - "to sell folks what don't provide for number one. I likes to hear our
    \r\n", - "big folks talk so\"-Anthony's face brightens-\"'cause it gives a
    \r\n", - "feller a chance for a free speculation in them lank, lean rascals;
    \r\n", - "and, too, it would stop their rifle-shooting and corn-stealing-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You never try your hand at such hits-do you, Nathe?\" Bengal
    \r\n", - "interrupts, his fore-finger poised on his nose.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, Dan,\" Anthony quaintly replies, \"none o' yer pointed
    \r\n", - "insinuations. 'Twouldn't be much harm if the varmin would only keep
    \r\n", - "its mouth shut along the road. But when the critturs ar' got
    \r\n", - "schoolmaster gumption it's mighty apt to get a feller into a
    \r\n", - "tarnation snarl. Schoolmaster gumption makes d-d bad niggers; and
    \r\n", - "there's why I say it's best to hang schoolmasters. It's dangerous,
    \r\n", - "'cos it larns the critturs to writin' a scrawl now and then; and,
    \r\n", - "unless ye knows just how much talent he's got, and can whitewash him
    \r\n", - "yaller, it's plaguy ticklish. When the brutes have larnin', and can
    \r\n", - "write a little, they won't stay sold when ye sell 'em-that is, I
    \r\n", - "mean, white riff-raff stuff; they ain't a bit like niggers and
    \r\n", - "Ingins. And there's just as much difference a'tween the human natur
    \r\n", - "of a white nigger and a poverty-bloated white as there is a'twixt
    \r\n", - "philosophy and water-melons.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You're drawing a long bow, Anthony,\" interrupts Graspum, with a
    \r\n", - "suggestion that it were better to come to the point; and concludes
    \r\n", - "by saying: \"We don't care sevenpence about the worthless whites all
    \r\n", - "over the State. They can't read nor write-except a few on 'em-and
    \r\n", - "everybody knows it wouldn't do to give them learning-that wouldn't
    \r\n", - "do! We want the way you cleared that nuisance out of Beaufort
    \r\n", - "district so quick-that's what we want to hear.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, ye'h sees, it took some keen play, some sly play, some
    \r\n", - "dignity, and some talent; but the best thing of the whole was the
    \r\n", - "squire's honour. He and me, ye see, joined partners--that is, he gets
    \r\n", - "places for 'em away out o' town--you understand--places where I keeps
    \r\n", - "a couple of the very best nags that ever stepped turf. And then he
    \r\n", - "puts on the soft sauder, an' is so friendly to the critturs--gets 'em
    \r\n", - "to come out with him to where he will make 'um nice house servants,
    \r\n", - "and such things. He is good at planin', as all justices is, and
    \r\n", - "would time it to arrive at midnight. I, havin' got a start, has all
    \r\n", - "ready to meet him; so when he gives me the papers, I makes a bolt at
    \r\n", - "full speed, and has 'um nowhere afore they knows it. And then, when
    \r\n", - "they sees who it is, it don't do to make a fuss about it--don't! And
    \r\n", - "then, they're so handsome, it ain't no trouble finding a market for
    \r\n", - "'em down Memphis way. It only takes forty-eight hours--the way things
    \r\n", - "is done up by steam--from the time I clears the line until Timothy
    \r\n", - "Portman signs the bond-that's five per cent. for him-and Ned Sturm
    \r\n", - "does the swearin', and they're sold for a slap-up price--sent to
    \r\n", - "where there's no muttering about it. That's one way we does it; and
    \r\n", - "then, there's another. But, all in all, there's a right smart lot of
    \r\n", - "other ways that will work their way into a talented mind. And when a
    \r\n", - "feller gets the hang on it, and knows lawyer gumption, he can do it
    \r\n", - "up smooth. You must strap 'em down, chain 'em, look vengeance at
    \r\n", - "'em; and now and then, when the varmin will squeal, spite of all the
    \r\n", - "thrashin' ye can give 'em, box 'em up like rats, and put yer horses
    \r\n", - "like Jehu until ye cl'ar the State. The more ye scars 'em the
    \r\n", - "better-make 'em as whist as mice, and ye can run 'em through the
    \r\n", - "rail-road, and sell 'um just as easy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There was another way I used to do the thing-it was a sort of an
    \r\n", - "honourable way; but it used to take the talents of a senator to do
    \r\n", - "it up square, so the dignity didn't suffer. Then the gals got shy of
    \r\n", - "squire, 'cos them he got places for never cum back; and I know'd how
    \r\n", - "'twas best to leave two or three for a nest-egg. It was the way to
    \r\n", - "do, in case some green should raise a fuss. But connected with these
    \r\n", - "Ingin gals was one of the likleest yaller fellers that ever shined
    \r\n", - "on a stand. Thar' was about twelve hundred dollars in him, I saw it
    \r\n", - "just as straight, and felt it just as safe in my pocket; and then it
    \r\n", - "made a feller's eyes glisten afore it was got out of him. I tell you
    \r\n", - "what, boys, it's rather hard when ye comes to think on't.\" Anthony
    \r\n", - "pauses for a moment, sharpens his eloquence with another drop of
    \r\n", - "whiskey, and resumes his discourse. \"The feller shined all outside,
    \r\n", - "but he hadn't head talents-though he was as cunnin' as a fox-and
    \r\n", - "every time the squire tried an experiment to get him out o'town, the
    \r\n", - "nigger would dodge like a wounded raccoon. 'Twarn't a bit of use for
    \r\n", - "the squire-so he just gin it up. Then I trys a hand, ye see, comes
    \r\n", - "the soft soap over him, in a Sam Slick kind of a way. I'se a private
    \r\n", - "gentleman, and gets the fellers round to call me a sort of an
    \r\n", - "aristocrat. Doing this 'ere makes me a nabob in the town-another
    \r\n", - "time I'm from New York, and has monstrous letters of introduction to
    \r\n", - "the squire. Then I goes among the niggers and comes it over their
    \r\n", - "stupid; tells 'em how I'm an abolitionist in a kind of secret
    \r\n", - "way-gets their confidence. And then I larns a right smart deal of
    \r\n", - "sayings from the Bible-a nigger's curious on Christianity, ye
    \r\n", - "see-and it makes him think ye belong to that school, sartin! All the
    \r\n", - "deviltry in his black natur' 'll cum out then; and he'll do just
    \r\n", - "what ye tells him. So, ye see, I just draws the pious over him, and
    \r\n", - "then-like all niggers-I gets him to jine in what he calculates to be
    \r\n", - "a nice little bit of roguery-running off.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum becomes interested in the fine qualities of the prospective
    \r\n", - "property, and must needs ask if he is bright and trim.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bright! I reckon he warn't nothin' else in a money sense-brighter
    \r\n", - "nor most niggers, but mighty Inginy. Had the fierce of one and the
    \r\n", - "cunnin' of t'other. Tom Pridgeon and me has an understandin' about
    \r\n", - "the thing; and Tom's such a ripper for tradin' in nigger property-he
    \r\n", - "is about the only devil niggers can imagine; and they delight to
    \r\n", - "play tricks on Tom. Well, the nigger and me's good friends, right to
    \r\n", - "the point; a good trick is to be played off on Tom, who buys the
    \r\n", - "nigger in confidence; the nigger is to run off when he gets to
    \r\n", - "Savannah, and Tom is to be indicted for running off 'free niggers.'
    \r\n", - "I'se a great Christian, and joins heart and hand with the darkey; we
    \r\n", - "takes our walks together, reads together, prays together. And then
    \r\n", - "'tain't long afore I becomes just the best white man in his
    \r\n", - "estimation. Knowing when Tom makes up his gang, I proposes a walk in
    \r\n", - "the grove to the nigger. 'Thank ye, sir,' says he, in an Ingin kind
    \r\n", - "of way, and out we goes, sits down, talks pious, sings hymns, and
    \r\n", - "waits to see the rascally nigger-trader come along. Presently Tom
    \r\n", - "makes his appearance, with a right smart lot of extra prime
    \r\n", - "property. The nigger and me marches down the road just like master
    \r\n", - "and servant, and stops just when we meets Tom. You'd laughed to see
    \r\n", - "Tom and me do the stranger, 'Well, mister,' says I, 'how's trade in
    \r\n", - "your line?-there's mighty good prices for cotton just now; an' I
    \r\n", - "'spose 't keeps the market stiff up in your line!'\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Well, no,' says Tom: 'a feller can turn a good penny in the way o'
    \r\n", - "fancy articles, just now; but 'tain't the time for prime
    \r\n", - "plantation-stock. Planters are all buying, and breeders down
    \r\n", - "Virginia way won't give a feller a chance to make a shaving. It
    \r\n", - "drives a feller hard up, ye see, and forces more business in running
    \r\n", - "the free 'uns.'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Why, stranger! what on 'arth do you mean by that 'ar;-wouldn't ye
    \r\n", - "get straightened if you'd git catched at that business?'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Oh, nothing, nothing! I forgot what I was saying,' says Tom, just
    \r\n", - "as if he was scared at what he had let slip.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'I say, trader, ye got the brightest assortment of property thar' I
    \r\n", - "seen for many a day: you don't call them gals slaves, do you? Down
    \r\n", - "where I cum from, our folks wouldn't know 'em from white folks.' I
    \r\n", - "tell you, boys, he had some bits that would o' made yer heart cum
    \r\n", - "straight up.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'But I say, mister, I kind 'a like yer horse property-somehow he's
    \r\n", - "full blood,' says I.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Yes,' says Tom; 'he's one o' the best critturs to drive niggers
    \r\n", - "with that ye ever did see; and he's beat the best horse on the
    \r\n", - "Columbia course, twice.'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Well, now; seein' how I likes the animal, about how much do ye'h
    \r\n", - "set him at?' says I.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Well! can't part with the nag nohow; seems as if he knowed a
    \r\n", - "nigger, and understands the business right up.'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'But, you see, I'se got a bit of nigger property here what ye'h
    \r\n", - "don't pick up every day for the Memphis trade,' says I, looking at
    \r\n", - "the feller, who played his part right up to the hilt.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Well, I don't mind strikin' a trade,' says Tom: 'but you see my
    \r\n", - "nag's worth a little risin' a thousand dollars.'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'I don't doubt that, stranger,' says I: 'but ye'h sees this 'ar
    \r\n", - "piece of property o' mine is worth more 'an twelve hundred. You
    \r\n", - "don't come across such a looking chap every day. There's a spec. in
    \r\n", - "him, in any market down south,' says I; and I puts my hands on the
    \r\n", - "nigger and makes him show out, just as if Tom and me was striking
    \r\n", - "for a trade. So Tom examines him, as if he was green in nigger
    \r\n", - "business, and he and me strangers just come from t'other side of
    \r\n", - "moon shadows.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Well, now,' says Tom, 'it's mighty likely property, and seeing it's
    \r\n", - "you, jist name a trade.'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "'Put down the nag and two hundred dollars, and I'll sign the bill of
    \r\n", - "sale, for a swap.' And Tom plants down the dimes, and takes the
    \r\n", - "nigger. When Tom gets him to Savannah, he plunks him into jail, and
    \r\n", - "keeps him locked up in a cell until he is ready to start south. I
    \r\n", - "promises the nigger half of the spiles; but I slips an X
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ten dollars. into his hand, and promises him the rest when he gets
    \r\n", - "back-when he does! And ye see how Tom just tryced him up to the
    \r\n", - "cross and put thirty-nine to his bare skin when he talked about
    \r\n", - "being free, in Savannah; and gagged him when he got his Ingin up.
    \r\n", - "Warn't that doing the thing up slick, fellers?\" exclaimed Romescos,
    \r\n", - "chuckling over the sport.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It warn't nothing else. That's what I calls catching a nigger in
    \r\n", - "his own trap,\" said one. \"That's sarvin' him right; I go for sellin'
    \r\n", - "all niggers and Ingins,\" said another. \"Free niggers have no souls,
    \r\n", - "and are impediments to personal rights in a free country,\" said a
    \r\n", - "third.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ye'h see, there's such an infernal lot of loose corners about our
    \r\n", - "business, that it takes a feller what has got a big head to do all
    \r\n", - "the things smooth, in a legal way; and it's so profitable all round
    \r\n", - "that it kind o' tempts a feller, once in a while, to do things he
    \r\n", - "don't feel just right in; but then a glass of old monongahela brings
    \r\n", - "ye'h all straight in yer feelins again, a'ter a few minutes,\" said
    \r\n", - "Romescos.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It's an amusing business; a man's got to have nerve and maxim, if
    \r\n", - "he wants to make a fortune at it. But-now, gentlemen, we'll take
    \r\n", - "another round,\" said Graspum, stopping short. \"Anthony, tell us how
    \r\n", - "you work it when you want to run a free nigger down Maryland way.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There ain't no trouble about that,\" replied Romescos, quickly. \"You
    \r\n", - "see,\" he continued, squinting his eye, and holding his glass between
    \r\n", - "his face and the light. \"Shut out all hope first, and then prime
    \r\n", - "legal gentlemen along the road, and yer sartin to make safe
    \r\n", - "business. I has chaps what keeps their eye on all the free bits, and
    \r\n", - "makes good fellers with 'em; niggers think they'r the right stripe
    \r\n", - "friends; and then they gives 'em jobs once in a while, and tobacco,
    \r\n", - "and whiskey. So when I gets all fixed for a run, some on 'm gets the
    \r\n", - "nigger into a sly spot, and then we pounces upon him like a hawk on
    \r\n", - "a chicken-gags him, and screws him up in the chains, head and
    \r\n", - "feet,--boxes him up, too, and drives him like lightning until I meets
    \r\n", - "Tilman at the cross-roads; and then I just has a document
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A forged bill of sale, all ready, which I gives to Till, and he
    \r\n", - "puts his nags in-a pair what can take the road from anything
    \r\n", - "about-and the way he drives, just to make the nigger forget where
    \r\n", - "he's going, and think he's riding in a balloon on his way to glory.
    \r\n", - "Just afore Til. gets to the boat, ye see, he takes the headchains
    \r\n", - "off-so the delicate-hearted passengers won't let their feelins get
    \r\n", - "kind-a out o' sorts. Once in a while the nigger makes a blubber
    \r\n", - "about being free, to the captain,--and if he's fool enough t' take
    \r\n", - "any notice on't then there's a fuss; but that's just the easiest
    \r\n", - "thing to get over, if ye only know the squire, and how to manage
    \r\n", - "him. You must know the pintes of the law, and ye must do the clean
    \r\n", - "thing in the 'tin' way with the squire; and then ye can cut 'em
    \r\n", - "right off by makin' t'other pintes make 'em mean nothing. Once in a
    \r\n", - "while t'll do to make the nigger a criminal, and then there's no
    \r\n", - "trouble in't, 'cos ye can ollers git the swearin' done cheap. Old
    \r\n", - "Captain Smith used to get himself into a scrape a heap o' times by
    \r\n", - "listenin' to free nigger stories, till he gets sick and would kick
    \r\n", - "every nigger what came to him about being free. He takes the law in
    \r\n", - "his hands with a nigger o' mine once, and hands him over to a city
    \r\n", - "policeman as soon as we lands. He didn't understand the thing, ye
    \r\n", - "see, and I jist puts an Ten dollars into the pole's hand, what he
    \r\n", - "takes the hint at. 'Now, ye'll take good care on the feller,\" says
    \r\n", - "I, giving him a wink. \"And he just keeps broad off from the old
    \r\n", - "hard-faced mayor, and runs up to the squire's, who commits him on
    \r\n", - "his own committimus. Then I gets Bob Blanker to stand 'all right'
    \r\n", - "with the squire, who's got all the say in the matter, when it's done
    \r\n", - "so. I cuts like lightenin' on to far down Mississippi, and there
    \r\n", - "gets Sam Slang, just one o' the keenest fellers in that line, about.
    \r\n", - "Sam's a hotel-keeper all at once, and I gets him up afore the
    \r\n", - "Mississippi squire; and as Sam don't think much about the swearin'
    \r\n", - "and the squire ain't particular, so he makes a five: we proves
    \r\n", - "straight off how the crittur's Sam's runaway, gets the dockerment
    \r\n", - "and sends to Bob Blanker, who puts a blinder on the squire's eye,
    \r\n", - "and gets an order to the old jailor, who must give him up, when he
    \r\n", - "sees the squire's order. You see, it's larnin' the secret, that's
    \r\n", - "the thing, and the difference between common law and nigger law; and
    \r\n", - "the way to work the matter so the squire will have it all in his own
    \r\n", - "fingers, and don't let the old judge get a pick. Squire makes it
    \r\n", - "square, hands the nigger over to Bob, Bob puts fifty cuts on his
    \r\n", - "hide, makes him as clever as a kitten, and ships him off down south
    \r\n", - "afore he has time to wink. Then, ye sees, I goes back as independent
    \r\n", - "as a senator from Arkansas, and sues Captain Smith for damages in
    \r\n", - "detainin' the property, and I makes him pay a right round sum, what
    \r\n", - "larns him never to try that agin.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus Romescos concludes the details of his nefarious trade, amid
    \r\n", - "cheers and bravos. The party are in ecstasies, evincing a singular
    \r\n", - "merriment at the issue. There is nothing like liberty--liberty to do
    \r\n", - "what you please, to turn freedom into barbarity! They gloat over the
    \r\n", - "privileges of a free country; and, as Romescos recounts each
    \r\n", - "proceeding,--tracing it into the lowest depths of human villainy,
    \r\n", - "they sing songs to right, justice, freedom-they praise the bounties
    \r\n", - "of a great country. How different is the picture below! Beneath this
    \r\n", - "plotting conclave, devising schemes to defraud human nature of its
    \r\n", - "rights, to bring poverty and disgrace upon happy families-all in
    \r\n", - "accordance with the law-are chained in narrow cells poor mortals,
    \r\n", - "hoping for an end to their dreary existence, pining under the weight
    \r\n", - "of pinions dashing their very souls into endless despair. A tale of
    \r\n", - "freedom is being told above, but their chains of death clank in
    \r\n", - "solemn music as the midnight revelry sports with the very agony of
    \r\n", - "their sorrows. Oh! who has made their lives a wanton jest?-can it be
    \r\n", - "the will of heaven, or is it the birthright of a downtrodden race?
    \r\n", - "They look for to-morrow, hope reverberates one happy thought, it may
    \r\n", - "bring some tidings of joy; but again they sink, as that endless
    \r\n", - "gloom rises before them. Hope fades from their feelings, from the
    \r\n", - "bleeding heart for which compassion is dead. The tyrant's heart is
    \r\n", - "of stone; what cares he for their supplications, their cries, their
    \r\n", - "pleadings to heaven; such things have no dollars for him!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Arranging the preliminaries necessary for proceeding with Marston's
    \r\n", - "affairs, they agreed to the plans, received orders from Graspum in
    \r\n", - "reference to their proceedings on the following day, and retired to
    \r\n", - "their homes, singing praises to great good laws, and the freedom of
    \r\n", - "a free country.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER X.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ANOTHER SHADE OF THE PICTURE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WHILE the proceedings we have detailed in the foregoing chapter were
    \r\n", - "progressing at Graspum's slave-pen, a different phase of the system
    \r\n", - "was being discussed by several persons who had assembled at the
    \r\n", - "house of Deacon Rosebrook. Rumour had been busy spreading its
    \r\n", - "many-sided tales about Marston-his difficulties, his connection with
    \r\n", - "Graspum, his sudden downfall. All agreed that Marston was a
    \r\n", - "noble-minded fellow, generous to a fault-generous in his worst
    \r\n", - "errors; and, like many other southerners, who meant well, though
    \r\n", - "personally kind to his slaves, never set a good example in his own
    \r\n", - "person. Religion was indispensably necessary to preserve submission;
    \r\n", - "and, with a view to that end, he had made the Church a means of
    \r\n", - "producing it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Now, if the southerner resorted to the Church in the purity of
    \r\n", - "Christian motives, he would merit that praise which many are so
    \r\n", - "willing to bestow. Or, if Christianity were embraced by the
    \r\n", - "southerner with heartfelt purity and faith, it would undoubtedly
    \r\n", - "have a beneficial influence, elevate the character of the slave,
    \r\n", - "promote kindly feelings between him and his master, and ultimately
    \r\n", - "prove profitable to both. But where Christianity, used by
    \r\n", - "irreligious persons, whose very acts destroy the vitality of the
    \r\n", - "means, is made the medium of enforcing superstition, and of debasing
    \r\n", - "the mind of the person it degrades into submission, its application
    \r\n", - "becomes nothing less than criminal. It is criminal because it brings
    \r\n", - "true religion into contempt, perverts Christianity-makes it a
    \r\n", - "mockery, and gives to the degraded whites of the South a plea for
    \r\n", - "discarding its precepts. Religion-were it not used as a mechanical
    \r\n", - "agency-would elevate the degraded white population of the South;
    \r\n", - "they would, through its influence, become valuable citizens.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "These remarks have been forced upon us by observation. Frequently
    \r\n", - "have we lamented its application, and grieved that its holy mission
    \r\n", - "were made to serve the vilest purposes in a land of liberty, of
    \r\n", - "Christian love. Religion a means of degrading the masses-a
    \r\n", - "subservient agent! It is so, nevertheless; and men use it whose only
    \r\n", - "desire it is to make it serve a property interest-the interest of
    \r\n", - "making men, women, and children, more valuable in the market. God
    \r\n", - "ordained it for a higher purpose,--man applies it for his benefit in
    \r\n", - "the man-market. Hence, where the means for exercising the mind upon
    \r\n", - "the right is forbidden-where ignorance becomes the necessary part of
    \r\n", - "the maintenance of a system, and religion is applied to that end, it
    \r\n", - "becomes farcical; and while it must combine all the imperfections of
    \r\n", - "the performer, necessarily tends to confine the ignorance of those
    \r\n", - "it seeks to degrade, within the narrowest boundary. There are
    \r\n", - "different ways of destroying the rights of different classes; and as
    \r\n", - "many different ways, after they are destroyed, of wiping out the
    \r\n", - "knowledge of their ever having had rights. But, we regret to say,
    \r\n", - "that most resorted to by the South, in the face of civilisation, is
    \r\n", - "the Holy Scriptures, which are made the medium of blotting out all
    \r\n", - "knowledge of the rights a people once possessed. The wrong-doer thus
    \r\n", - "fears the result of natural laws; if they be allowed to produce
    \r\n", - "results through the cultivation of a slave's mind, such may prove
    \r\n", - "fatal to his immediate interests. And to maintain a system which is
    \r\n", - "based on force, the southern minister of the gospel is doubly
    \r\n", - "culpable in the sight of heaven; for while he stimulates ignorance
    \r\n", - "by degrading the man, he mystifies the Word of God, that he may
    \r\n", - "remain for ever and ever degraded.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "What a deplorable process of stealing-nay, gently taking away the
    \r\n", - "knowledge which an all-wise Providence has given to man as his
    \r\n", - "inheritance; how it reduces his natural immunities to sensual
    \r\n", - "misery! And, too, it forbids all legitimate influences that could
    \r\n", - "possibly give the menial a link to elevation, to the formation of a
    \r\n", - "society of his own. We would fain shrink from such a system of
    \r\n", - "debasing mankind-even more, from the hideous crimes of those who
    \r\n", - "would make Scripture the means to such an end. And yet, the Church
    \r\n", - "defender of slavery-the Christian little one-his neck-cloth as white
    \r\n", - "as the crimes he defends are black-must distinguish his arguments;
    \r\n", - "and that the world may not suspect his devotion, his honesty, his
    \r\n", - "serious intention, he points us to the many blessings of the
    \r\n", - "plantation-service.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Heavenly divinity! Let us have faith in the little ones sent to
    \r\n", - "teach it; they tell us slavery enforces Christianity! The management
    \r\n", - "of ignorance under the direction of ministers of the gospel is
    \r\n", - "certainly becoming well-defined; while statesmen more energetically
    \r\n", - "legalise it. The one devises, the other carries out a law to make
    \r\n", - "man ignorant of everything but labour. But while the statesman
    \r\n", - "moulds the theory, the preacher manufactures Scripture texts, that
    \r\n", - "the menial may believe God has ordained him the pliable victim.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Under the apparent necessity of the slave world, Marston had
    \r\n", - "regularly paid Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy for preaching to his
    \r\n", - "property on Sundays; and to the requisite end the good Elder felt
    \r\n", - "himself in duty bound to inculcate humility in all things that would
    \r\n", - "promote obedience to a master's will. Of course, one sermon was
    \r\n", - "quite sufficient; and this the credulous property had listened to
    \r\n", - "for more than three years. The effect was entirely satisfactory, the
    \r\n", - "result being that the honest property were really impressed with a
    \r\n", - "belief, that to evince Christian fortitude under suffering and
    \r\n", - "punishment was the best means of cleansing themselves of the sins
    \r\n", - "they were born to. This formality was misnamed Christianity--it was!
    \r\n", - "And through the force of this one sermon the Elder became indolent;
    \r\n", - "and indolence led him to its natural yoke-fellow-intemperance. His
    \r\n", - "indulgent mood, such as we have described him enjoying in a previous
    \r\n", - "chapter, became too frequent, leading to serious annoyances. They
    \r\n", - "had been especially serious for Marston, whom they placed in an
    \r\n", - "awkward situation before his property, and he resolved to tolerate
    \r\n", - "them no longer. Probably this resolution was hastened by the sudden
    \r\n", - "discovery of Harry's singular knowledge of Scripture; be that as it
    \r\n", - "may, the only difficulty in the way was to know if Harry could be so
    \r\n", - "trained, that he would preach the \"right stripe\" doctrine. This,
    \r\n", - "however, was soon settled, and Marston not only suspended his
    \r\n", - "engagement with the Elder, but entered into a contract with the
    \r\n", - "neighbouring planters, by the terms of which Harry will fill their
    \r\n", - "pulpit, and preach extempore--the Elder has brought written sermons
    \r\n", - "into contempt with Harry--at a stipulated price per Sunday. In this
    \r\n", - "new avocation-this leap from the plantation to the pulpit, Harry, as
    \r\n", - "a piece of property, became extremely valuable; while, through the
    \r\n", - "charm of his new black coat, he rose a great man in the estimation
    \r\n", - "of the common property. Here was a valuable incentive of submission,
    \r\n", - "a lesson for all bad niggers, a chance for them to improve under the
    \r\n", - "peculiar institution. It proved to niggerdom what a good nigger
    \r\n", - "could be if he only fear God and obey his master in all things.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Here was proof that a nigger could be something more than a nigger,
    \r\n", - "in spite of southern philosophy. The Elder-good, pious man that he
    \r\n", - "was-found himself out of pocket and out of preaching. Thrown upon
    \r\n", - "the resources of his ingenuity, he had, in order to save the
    \r\n", - "dictates of his conscience, while taking advantage of the many
    \r\n", - "opportunities of making money afforded by the peculiar institution,
    \r\n", - "entered upon another branch of business, having for its object the
    \r\n", - "advancement of humanity. He resolved to go forth purchasing the sick
    \r\n", - "and the dying; to reclaim sinking humanity and make it marketable.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "But, before describing the vicissitudes through which Elder
    \r\n", - "Pemberton Praiseworthy passes in his new mission of humanity, we
    \r\n", - "must introduce the reader to the precincts of a neat little villa,
    \r\n", - "situated at the outskirts of the city of C--. It is a small cottage
    \r\n", - "surrounded with verandas and trellis-work, over which are creeping
    \r\n", - "numerous woodbines and multafloras, spreading their fragrant
    \r\n", - "blossoms, giving it an air of sequestered beauty. An arbour of
    \r\n", - "grapevines extends from a little portico at the front to a wicker
    \r\n", - "fence that separates the embankment of a well-arranged garden, in
    \r\n", - "which are pots of rare plants, beds and walks decorated with
    \r\n", - "flowers, presenting great care and taste. A few paces in the rear of
    \r\n", - "the cottage are several \"negro cabins\" nicely white-washed without,
    \r\n", - "and an air of cheerfulness and comfort reigning within. The house-
    \r\n", - "servants are trimly dressed; they look and act as if their thoughts
    \r\n", - "and affections were with \"mas'r and missus.\" Their white aprons and
    \r\n", - "clean bright frocks-some bombazine, and some gingham-give them an
    \r\n", - "appearance of exactness, which, whether it be voluntary or force of
    \r\n", - "discipline, bears evidence of attention in the slave, and
    \r\n", - "encouragement on the part of the master. This is the Villa of Deacon
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook; they call him deacon, by courtesy; in the same sense that
    \r\n", - "Georgia majors and South Carolina generals are honoured with those
    \r\n", - "far-famed titles which so distinguish them when abroad. Perhaps we
    \r\n", - "should be doing the deacon no more than justice if we were to admit
    \r\n", - "that he had preached in very respectable spheres; but, feeling that
    \r\n", - "he was wanting in the purity of divine love-that he could not do
    \r\n", - "justice to his conscience while setting forth teachings he did not
    \r\n", - "follow, he laid the profession aside for the more genial
    \r\n", - "associations of plantation life. Indeed, he was what many called a
    \r\n", - "very easy backslider; and at times was recognised by the somewhat
    \r\n", - "singular soubriquet of Deacon Pious-proof. But he was kind to his
    \r\n", - "slaves, and had projected a system singularly at variance with that
    \r\n", - "of his neighbours-a system of mildness, amelioration, freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His plantation, a small one, some few miles from the Villa,
    \r\n", - "presented the same neatness and comfort, the same cheerfulness among
    \r\n", - "the negroes, and the same kindly feeling between master and slave,
    \r\n", - "which characterised the Villa.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We enter a neatly-furnished parlour, where the deacon and a friend
    \r\n", - "are seated on a sofa; various pictures are suspended from the
    \r\n", - "wall,--everything betokens New England neatness. The old-fashioned
    \r\n", - "dog-irons and fender are polished to exquisite brightness, a
    \r\n", - "Brussels carpet spreads the floor, a bright surbase encircles the
    \r\n", - "room; upon the flossy hearth-rug lies crouched the little canine
    \r\n", - "pet, which Aunt Dolly has washed to snowy whiteness. Aunt Dolly
    \r\n", - "enters the room with a low curtsy, gently raises the poodle, then
    \r\n", - "lays him down as carefully as if he were an heir to the estate.
    \r\n", - "Master is happy, \"missus\" is happy, and Aunt Dolly is happy; and the
    \r\n", - "large bookcase, filled with well-selected volumes, adds to the air
    \r\n", - "of contentment everywhere apparent. In a niche stands a large
    \r\n", - "pier-table, upon which are sundry volumes with gilt edges, nets of
    \r\n", - "cross-work, porcelain ornaments, and card-cases inlaid with mosaic.
    \r\n", - "Antique tables with massive carved feet, in imitation of lions'
    \r\n", - "paws, chairs of curious patterns, reclines and ottomans of softest
    \r\n", - "material, and covered with satin damask, are arranged round the room
    \r\n", - "in harmony and good taste.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, Mr. Scranton,\" the deacon says to his friend, who is a tall,
    \r\n", - "prim, sedate-looking man, apparently about forty, \"I pity Marston; I
    \r\n", - "pity him because he is a noble-hearted fellow. But, after all, this
    \r\n", - "whispering about the city may be only mother Rumour distributing her
    \r\n", - "false tales. Let us hope it is all rumour and scandal. Come, tell
    \r\n", - "me-what do you think of our negroes?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nigger character has not changed a bit in my mind, since I came
    \r\n", - "south. Inferior race of mortals, sir!-without principles, and fit
    \r\n", - "only for service and submission. A southern man knows their
    \r\n", - "composition, but it takes a northern to study the philosophy-it
    \r\n", - "does,\" replies Mr. Scranton, running his left hand over his
    \r\n", - "forehead, and then his right over the crown of his head, as if to
    \r\n", - "cover a bald spot with the scanty remnant of hair that projected
    \r\n", - "from the sides.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The deacon smiles at the quaint reply. He knows Mr. Scranton's
    \r\n", - "northern tenacity, and begs to differ with him. \"You are ultra, a
    \r\n", - "little ultra, in all things, Mr. Scranton. I fear it is that,
    \r\n", - "carried out in morals as well as politics, that is fast reducing our
    \r\n", - "system to degradation and tyranny. You northern gentlemen have a
    \r\n", - "sort of pedantic solicitude for our rights, but you underrate our
    \r\n", - "feelings upon the slavery question. I'm one among the few
    \r\n", - "southerners who hold what are considered strange views: we are
    \r\n", - "subjected to ridicule for our views; but it is only by those who see
    \r\n", - "nothing but servitude in the negro,--nothing but dollars and cents in
    \r\n", - "the institution of slavery.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton is struck with astonishment, interrupts the argument by
    \r\n", - "insisting upon the great superiority of the gentlemen whites, and
    \r\n", - "the Bible philosophy which he can bring to sustain his argument.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stop one moment, my philosophic friend,\" the deacon interposes,
    \r\n", - "earnestly. \"Upon that you northerners who come out here to sustain
    \r\n", - "the cause of slavery for the south, all make fools of yourselves.
    \r\n", - "This continual reasoning upon Bible philosophy has lost its life,
    \r\n", - "funeral dirges have been played over it, the instruments are worn
    \r\n", - "out. And yet, the subject of the philosophy lives,--he belies it with
    \r\n", - "his physical vigour and moral action. We doubt the sincerity of
    \r\n", - "northerners; we have reasons for so doing; they know little of the
    \r\n", - "negro, and care less. Instead of assisting southerners who are
    \r\n", - "inclined to do justice to the wretch-to be his friend-to improve his
    \r\n", - "condition-to protect him against a tyrant's wrong, you bring us into
    \r\n", - "contempt by your proclaiming virtue over the vice we acknowledge
    \r\n", - "belongs to the institution. We know its defects-we fear them; but,
    \r\n", - "in the name of heaven, do not defend them at the cost of virtue,
    \r\n", - "truth, honesty. Do not debase us by proclaiming its glories over our
    \r\n", - "heads;-do not take advantage of us by attempting to make wrong
    \r\n", - "right.\" The deacon's feelings have become earnest; his face glows
    \r\n", - "with animation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton seems discomfited. \"That's just like all you
    \r\n", - "southerners: you never appreciate anything we do for you. What is
    \r\n", - "the good of our love, if you always doubt it?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Such love!\" says the deacon, with a sarcastic curl on his lip.
    \r\n", - "\"It's cotton-bag love, as full of self as a pressed bale-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But, deacon; you're getting up on the question.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Up as high as northern sincerity is low. Nothing personal,\" is the
    \r\n", - "cool rejoinder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton inquires very seriously-wishing it particularly to be
    \r\n", - "understood that he is not a fighting-man-if Deacon Rosebrook
    \r\n", - "considers all northerners white-washed, ready to deceive through the
    \r\n", - "dim shadows of self. The deacon's frank and manly opinion of
    \r\n", - "northern editors and preachers disturbs Scranton's serious
    \r\n", - "philosophy. \"Cotton-bag love!\" there's something in it, and contempt
    \r\n", - "at the bottom, he declares within himself. And he gives a serious
    \r\n", - "look, as much as to say-\"go on.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I do! He who maketh right, what those most interested in know to be
    \r\n", - "wrong, cherishes a bad motive. When a philosopher teaches doctrines
    \r\n", - "that become doubtful in their ultraness, the weakness carries the
    \r\n", - "insincerity,--the effort becomes stagnant. Never sell yourself to any
    \r\n", - "class of evils for popularity's sake. If you attempt it you mistake
    \r\n", - "the end, and sell yourself to the obscurity of a political
    \r\n", - "trickster, flatttered by a few, believed by none.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Deacon! a little more moderate. Give us credit for the good we do.
    \r\n", - "Don't get excited, don't. These are ticklish times, and we
    \r\n", - "northerners are quick to observe-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, when it will turn a penny on a nigger or a bale of cotton.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Allow me; one minute if you please!\" returned Scranton, with a
    \r\n", - "nasal twang peculiar to his class, as he began to work himself up
    \r\n", - "into a declamatory attitude. \"You southerners don't understand what
    \r\n", - "a force them northern abolitionists are bringing against you; and
    \r\n", - "you know how slow you are to do things, and to let your property all
    \r\n", - "go to waste while you might make a good speculation on it. There's
    \r\n", - "just the difference of things: we study political economy so as to
    \r\n", - "apply it to trade and such like; you let things go to waste, just
    \r\n", - "thinking over it. And, you see, it's our nature to be restless and
    \r\n", - "searching out the best avenues for developing trade. Why, deacon,
    \r\n", - "your political philosophy would die out if the New Englander didn't
    \r\n", - "edit your papers and keep your nigger principles straight.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nigger principles straight! Ah, indeed! Only another evidence of
    \r\n", - "that cotton bag love that has caused the banns of matrimony to be
    \r\n", - "published between tyrants who disgrace us and northern speculators.
    \r\n", - "The book-publisher-poor servile tool-fears to publish Mrs. Johnson's
    \r\n", - "book, lest it should contain something to offend Mrs. Colonel
    \r\n", - "Sportington, at the south. Mr. Stevens, the grocer, dare not put his
    \r\n", - "vote into the ballot-box for somebody, because he fears one of his
    \r\n", - "customers at the south will hear of it. Parson Munson dare not speak
    \r\n", - "what he thinks in a New England village, because Mrs. Bruce and
    \r\n", - "Deacon Donaldson have yearly interests in slaves at the south; and
    \r\n", - "old Mattock, the boot-maker, thinks it aint right for niggers to be
    \r\n", - "in church with white folks, and declares, if they do go, they should
    \r\n", - "sit away back in one corner, up stairs. He thinks about the
    \r\n", - "combination that brings wealth, old age, and the grave, into one
    \r\n", - "vortex,--feels little misgiving upon humanity, but loves the union,
    \r\n", - "and wants nothing said about niggers. We understand what it all
    \r\n", - "means, Mr. Scranton; and we can credit it for what it's worth,
    \r\n", - "without making any account for its sincerity and independence. I am
    \r\n", - "one among the few who go for educating the negroes, and in that
    \r\n", - "education to cultivate affections between slave and master, to make
    \r\n", - "encouragement perform the part of discipline, and inspire energy
    \r\n", - "through proper rewards.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What!-educate a nigger! These are pretty principles for a
    \r\n", - "southerner to maintain! Why, sir, if such doctrines were advocated
    \r\n", - "in the body politic they would be incendiary to southern
    \r\n", - "institutions. Just educate the niggers, and I wouldn't be an editor
    \r\n", - "in the south two days. You'd see me tramping, bag and baggage, for
    \r\n", - "the north, much as I dislike it! It would never do to educate such a
    \r\n", - "miserable set of wretches as they are. You may depend what I say is
    \r\n", - "true, sir. Their condition is perfectly hopeless at the north, and
    \r\n", - "the more you try to teach them, the greater nuisance they become.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, my good northern friend, not so fast, if you please; I can see
    \r\n", - "the evil of all this, and so can you, if you will but study the
    \r\n", - "negro's character a little deeper. The menial man who has passed
    \r\n", - "through generations of oppression, and whose life and soul are
    \r\n", - "blotted from the right of manhood, is sensitive of the power that
    \r\n", - "crushes him. He has been robbed of the means of elevating himself by
    \r\n", - "those who now accuse him of the crime of degradation: and, wherever
    \r\n", - "the chance is afforded him of elevation, as that increases so does a
    \r\n", - "tenacious knowledge of his rights; yet, he feels the prejudice that
    \r\n", - "cuts and slights him in his progress, that charges him with the
    \r\n", - "impudence of a negro, that calls his attempts to be a man mere
    \r\n", - "pompous foolery.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And it is so! To see a nigger setting himself up among white
    \r\n", - "folks-it's perfectly ridiculous!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mark me, Mr. Scranton: there's where you northerners mistake
    \r\n", - "yourselves. The negro seldom desires to mix with whites, and I hold
    \r\n", - "it better they should keep together; but that two races cannot live
    \r\n", - "together without the one enslaving the other is a fallacy popular
    \r\n", - "only with those who will not see the future, and obstinately refuse
    \r\n", - "to review the past. You must lessen your delicate sensibilities; and
    \r\n", - "when you make them less painful to the man of colour at the north,
    \r\n", - "believe me, the south will respond to the feeling. Experience has
    \r\n", - "changed my feelings,--experience has been my teacher. I have based
    \r\n", - "my new system upon experience; and its working justifies me in all I
    \r\n", - "have said. Let us set about extracting the poison from our
    \r\n", - "institutions, instead of losing ourselves in contemplating an
    \r\n", - "abstract theory for its government.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Remember, deacon, men are not all born to see alike. There are
    \r\n", - "rights and privileges belonging to the southerner: he holds the
    \r\n", - "trade in men right, and he would see the Union sundered to atoms
    \r\n", - "before he would permit the intervention of the federal government on
    \r\n", - "that subject,\" Mr. Scranton seriously remarks, placing his two
    \r\n", - "thumbs in the armpits of his vest, and assuming an air of
    \r\n", - "confidence, as if to say, \"I shall outsouthern the southerner yet, I
    \r\n", - "shall.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's just the point upon which all the villainy of our
    \r\n", - "institution rests: the simple word man!-man a progressive being; man
    \r\n", - "a chattel,--a thing upon which the sordid appetite of every wretch
    \r\n", - "may feed. Why cannot Africa give up men? She has been the victim of
    \r\n", - "Christendom-her flesh and blood have served its traffic, have
    \r\n", - "enriched its coffers, and even built its churches; but like a
    \r\n", - "ferocious wolf that preys upon the fold in spite of watchers, she
    \r\n", - "yet steals Afric's bleeding victims, and frowns upon them because
    \r\n", - "they are not white, nor live as white men live.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mercy on me!\" says Mr. Scranton, with a sigh, \"you can't ameliorate
    \r\n", - "the system as it stands: that's out of the question. Begin to loosen
    \r\n", - "the props, and the whole fabric will tumble down. And then, niggers
    \r\n", - "won't be encouraged to work at a price for their labour; and how are
    \r\n", - "you going to get along in this climate, and with such an enormous
    \r\n", - "population of vagabonds?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Remember, Mr. Scranton,\" ejaculated the deacon, \"there's where you
    \r\n", - "mistake the man in the negro; and through these arguments, set forth
    \r\n", - "in your journal, we suffer. You must have contracted them by
    \r\n", - "association with bad slave-owners. Mark ye! the negro has been sunk
    \r\n", - "to the depths where we yet curse him; and is it right that we should
    \r\n", - "keep him cursed?-to say nothing of the semi-barbarous position in
    \r\n", - "which it finds our poor whites. He feels that his curse is for
    \r\n", - "life-time; his hopes vibrate with its knowledge, and through it he
    \r\n", - "falls from that holy inspiration that could make him a man, enjoying
    \r\n", - "manhood's rights. Would not our energy yield itself a sacrifice to
    \r\n", - "the same sacrificer? Had we been loaded with chains of tyranny, what
    \r\n", - "would have been our condition? Would not that passion which has led
    \r\n", - "the Saxon on to conquest, and spread his energy through the western
    \r\n", - "world, have yielded when he saw the last shadow of hope die out, and
    \r\n", - "realised that his degradation was for life-time? Would not the
    \r\n", - "yearnings of such a consummation have recoiled to blast every action
    \r\n", - "of the being who found himself a chattel? And yet this very chattel,
    \r\n", - "thus yoked in death, toils on in doubts and fears, in humbleness and
    \r\n", - "submission, with unrequited fortitude and affection. And still all
    \r\n", - "is doubted that he does, even crushed in the prejudice against his
    \r\n", - "colour!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, deacon, you perfectly startle me, to hear a southerner talk
    \r\n", - "that way at the south. If you keep on, you'll soon have an abolition
    \r\n", - "society without sending north for it.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's just what I want. I want our southerners to look upon the
    \r\n", - "matter properly, and to take such steps as will set us right in the
    \r\n", - "eyes of the world. Humanity is progressing with rapid
    \r\n", - "strides-slavery cannot exist before it! It must fall; and we should
    \r\n", - "prepare to meet it, and not be so ungrateful, at least, that we
    \r\n", - "cannot reflect upon its worth, and give merit to whom merit is due.\"
    \r\n", - "Thus were presented the north and south; the former loses her
    \r\n", - "interests in humanity by seeking to serve the political ends of the
    \r\n", - "latter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "MRS. ROSEBROOK'S PROJECT.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "AT this juncture of the conversation, a sprightly, well-dressed
    \r\n", - "servant opens the parlour-door, announces missus! The deacon's good
    \r\n", - "lady enters. She is a perfect pattern of neatness,--a
    \r\n", - "finely-developed woman of more than ordinary height, with blonde
    \r\n", - "features, and a countenance as full of cheerfulness as a bright May
    \r\n", - "morning. She bows gracefully; her soft eyes kindle with intelligence
    \r\n", - "as she approaches Mr. Scranton, who rises with the coldness of an
    \r\n", - "iceberg.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Be seated, Mr. Scranton,\" she says, with a voice so full of
    \r\n", - "gentleness,--\"be seated.\" Her form is well-rounded, her features
    \r\n", - "exquisite. Mr. Scranton views her seriously, as if he found
    \r\n", - "something of great interest in that marble forehead, those fine
    \r\n", - "features moulding a countenance full of soul, love, and sweetness.
    \r\n", - "Her dress is of plain black brocade, made high at the neck, where it
    \r\n", - "is secured with a small diamond pin, the front opening and
    \r\n", - "disclosing a lace stomacher set with undressed pearls. Rufflets and
    \r\n", - "diamond bracelets, of chaste workmanship, clasp her wrists; while
    \r\n", - "her light auburn hair, neatly laid in plain folds, and gathered into
    \r\n", - "a plait on the back of her head, where it is delicately secured with
    \r\n", - "gold and silver cord, forms a soft contrast. There is chasteness and
    \r\n", - "simplicity combined to represent character, sense, and refinement.
    \r\n", - "She is the mother of the plantation: old negroes call her mother,
    \r\n", - "young ones clamour with joy when she visits their abodes: her very
    \r\n", - "soul is in their wants; they look to her for guidance. Their
    \r\n", - "happiness is her pleasure, and by sharing the good fortune that has
    \r\n", - "followed them she has fostered the energy of their negroes, formed
    \r\n", - "them into families, encouraged their morality, impressed them with
    \r\n", - "the necessity of preserving family relations. Against the stern
    \r\n", - "mandates of the law, she has taught them to read the Bible, reading
    \r\n", - "and explaining it to them herself. Indeed, she has risen above the
    \r\n", - "law: she has taught the more tractable ones to write; she has
    \r\n", - "supplied the younger with little story-books, attractive and
    \r\n", - "containing good moral lessons. She rejoices over her system: it is
    \r\n", - "honest, kind, generous,--it will serve the future, and is not
    \r\n", - "unprofitable at present. It is different from that pursued by those
    \r\n", - "who would, through the instrumentality of bad laws, enforce
    \r\n", - "ignorance. Nay, to her there is something abhorrent in using the
    \r\n", - "Word of God as an excuse for the existence of slavery. Her system is
    \r\n", - "practicable, enlightening first, and then enforcing that which gives
    \r\n", - "encouragement to the inert faculties of our nature. Punishments were
    \r\n", - "scarcely known upon her plantation; the lash never used. Old and
    \r\n", - "young were made to feel themselves part and parcel of a family
    \r\n", - "compact, to know they had an interest in the crop, to gather hopes
    \r\n", - "for the future, to make home on the old plantation pleasant. There
    \r\n", - "was something refreshing in the pride and protection evinced in the
    \r\n", - "solicitation of this gentle creature for her negroes. In early life
    \r\n", - "she had listened to their fables, had mixed with them as children,
    \r\n", - "had enjoyed their hours of play, had studied their sympathies, and
    \r\n", - "entered with delight into the very soul of their jargon merriment.
    \r\n", - "She felt their wants, and knew their grievances; she had come
    \r\n", - "forward to be their protector, their mother! \"Why, Mr. Scranton,\"
    \r\n", - "she exclaims, laughingly, in reply to that gentleman's remarks, as
    \r\n", - "she interrupted the conversation between him and the deacon, \"we
    \r\n", - "would sooner suffer than sell one of our boys or girls-even if the
    \r\n", - "worst came to the worst. I know the value of family ties; I know how
    \r\n", - "to manage negroes. I would just as soon think of selling our
    \r\n", - "Matilda, I would! If some of you good northern folks could only see
    \r\n", - "how comfortable my negroes are!-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, yes!\" interrupts the deacon, \"she takes it all out of my hands;
    \r\n", - "I'm going to give her the reins altogether one of these days. She
    \r\n", - "has got a nice way of touching a negro's feelings so that anything
    \r\n", - "can be done with him: it tells largely at times.\" Mr. Scranton's
    \r\n", - "face becomes more serious; he doesn't seem to understand this new
    \r\n", - "\"nigger philosophy.\" \"Poor creatures!\" the deacon continues, \"how
    \r\n", - "wonderful is the power of encouragement;-how much may be done if
    \r\n", - "proper means are applied-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The trouble is in the means,\" Mr. Scranton interposes, scratching
    \r\n", - "his head, as if ideas were scarce, and valuable for the distance
    \r\n", - "they had to be transported.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our good lady smiles. \"I cannot help smiling, Mr. Scranton.\" She
    \r\n", - "speaks softly. \"There are two things I want done-done quickly: I
    \r\n", - "want southern philosophers to consider, and I want southern ladies
    \r\n", - "to act-to put on energy-to take less care of themselves and more of
    \r\n", - "the poor negro!\" She lays her hand gently upon Mr. Scranton's arm,
    \r\n", - "her soft blue eyes staring him in the face. \"When they do this,\" she
    \r\n", - "continues, \"all will be well. We can soon show the north how much
    \r\n", - "can be done without their assistance. I don't believe in women's
    \r\n", - "rights meetings,--not I; but I hold there should be some combination
    \r\n", - "of southern ladies, to take the moral elevation of the slave into
    \r\n", - "consideration,--to set about the work in good earnest, to see what
    \r\n", - "can be done. It's a monster work; but monster evils can be removed
    \r\n", - "if females will give their hands and hearts to the task. This
    \r\n", - "separating families to serve the interests of traders in human
    \r\n", - "beings must be stopped: females know the pains it inflicts on
    \r\n", - "suffering wretches; they are best suited to stop that heinous
    \r\n", - "offence in the sight of God and man. They must rise to the work;
    \r\n", - "they must devise means to stay the waste of fortune now progressing
    \r\n", - "through dissipation; and, above all other things, they must rise up
    \r\n", - "and drive these frightful slave-dealers from their doors.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton admits there is something in all this, but suggests
    \r\n", - "that it were better to let the future take care of itself; there's
    \r\n", - "no knowing what the future may do; and to let those who come in it
    \r\n", - "enjoy our labours \"aint just the policy.\" He contends-willing to
    \r\n", - "admit how much the ladies could do if they would-it would not be
    \r\n", - "consistent with the times to put forth such experiments, especially
    \r\n", - "when there is so much opposition. \"It wouldn't do!\" he whispers.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The deacon here interrupts Mr. Scranton, by stepping to the door and
    \r\n", - "ordering one of the servants to prepare refreshments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'It must do! It won't do!' keeps us where we are, and where we are
    \r\n", - "always complaining that we never have done. You know I speak
    \r\n", - "frankly, Mr. Scranton-women may say what they please;-and let me
    \r\n", - "tell you, that when you do your duty it will do. Hard times never
    \r\n", - "were harder than when everybody thought them hard. We must infuse
    \r\n", - "principle into our poor people; we must make them earnest in
    \r\n", - "agricultural pursuits; we must elevate the character of labour; we
    \r\n", - "must encourage the mechanic, and give tone to his pursuits; and,
    \r\n", - "more than all, we must arrest the spread of conventional nonsense,
    \r\n", - "and develope our natural resources by establishing a system of paid
    \r\n", - "labour, and removing the odium which attaches itself to those who
    \r\n", - "pursue such avocations as the slave may be engaged in. My word for
    \r\n", - "it, Mr. Scranton, there's where the trouble lies. Nature has been
    \r\n", - "lavish in her good gifts to the south; but we must lend Nature a
    \r\n", - "helping hand,--we must be the women of the south for the south's
    \r\n", - "good; and we must break down those social barriers clogging our
    \r\n", - "progress. Nature wants good government to go along with her, to be
    \r\n", - "her handfellow in regeneration; but good government must give Nature
    \r\n", - "her rights. This done, slavery will cease to spread its loathsome
    \r\n", - "diseases through the body politic, virtue will be protected and
    \r\n", - "receive its rewards, and the buds of prosperity will be nourished
    \r\n", - "with energy and ripen into greatness.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton suggests that the nigger question was forced upon him,
    \r\n", - "and thinks it better to change the conversation. Mr. Scranton was
    \r\n", - "once in Congress, thinks a deal of his Congressional experience, and
    \r\n", - "declares, with great seriousness, that the nigger question will come
    \r\n", - "to something one of these days. \"Ah! bless me, madam,\" he says,
    \r\n", - "adjusting his arms, \"you talk-very-like-a-statesman. Southerners
    \r\n", - "better leave all this regenerating of slaves to you. But let me say,
    \r\n", - "whatever you may see in perspective, it's mighty dangerous when you
    \r\n", - "move such principles to practice. Mark me! you'll have to pull down
    \r\n", - "the iron walls of the south, make planters of different minds, drive
    \r\n", - "self out of mankind, and overthrow the northern speculator's
    \r\n", - "cotton-bag love. You've got a great work before you, my dear
    \r\n", - "madam,--a work that'll want an extended lease of your life-time.
    \r\n", - "Remember how hard it is to convince man of the wrong of anything
    \r\n", - "that's profitable. A paid system, even emancipation, would have been
    \r\n", - "a small affair in 1824 or 1827. Old niggers and prime fellows were
    \r\n", - "then of little value; now it is different. You may see the obstacle
    \r\n", - "to your project in the Nashville Convention or Georgia platform-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nashville Convention, indeed!\" exclaims Mrs. Rosebrook, her face
    \r\n", - "infused with animation, and a curl of disdain on her lip. \"Such
    \r\n", - "things! Mere happy illustrations of the folly of our political
    \r\n", - "affairs. The one was an exotic do-nothing got up by Mister
    \r\n", - "Wanting-to-say-something, who soon gets ashamed of his mission; the
    \r\n", - "other was a mixture of political log-rolling, got up by those who
    \r\n", - "wanted to tell the Union not to mind the Nashville Convention. What
    \r\n", - "a pity they did not tell the Union to be patient with us! We must
    \r\n", - "have no more Nashville Conventions; we must change Georgia platforms
    \r\n", - "for individual enterprise,--southern conventions for moral
    \r\n", - "regeneration. Give us these changes, and we shall show you what can
    \r\n", - "be done without the aid of the north.\" Several servants in tidy
    \r\n", - "dresses, their white aprons looking so clean, come bustling into the
    \r\n", - "room and invite missus and her guest into an airy ante-room, where a
    \r\n", - "table is bountifully spread with cake, fruit, fine old Madeira, and
    \r\n", - "lemonade. Mr. Scranton bows and asks \"the pleasure;\" Mrs. Rosebrook
    \r\n", - "acknowledgingly takes his arm, while the negroes bow and scrape as
    \r\n", - "they enter the room. Mr. Scranton stands a few moments gazing at the
    \r\n", - "set-out. \"I hope Mr. Scranton will make himself quite at home,\" the
    \r\n", - "good lady interposes. Everything was so exquisitely arranged, so set
    \r\n", - "off with fresh-plucked flowers, as if some magic hand had just
    \r\n", - "touched the whole.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now!\" continued Mrs. Rosebrook, motioning her head as she points to
    \r\n", - "the table: \"you'll admit my negroes can do something? Poor helpless
    \r\n", - "wretches, we say continually: perhaps they are worse when bad owners
    \r\n", - "can make the world look upon them through northern prejudice. They
    \r\n", - "are just like children; nobody gives them credit for being anything
    \r\n", - "else; and yet they can do much for our good. It would trouble some
    \r\n", - "persons to arrange a table so neatly; my boys did it all, you see!\"
    \r\n", - "And she exults over the efficiency of her negroes, who stand at her
    \r\n", - "side acknowledging the compliment with broad grins. The deacon helps
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton, who commences stowing away the sweetmeats with great
    \r\n", - "gusto. \"It is truly surprising what charming nigger property you
    \r\n", - "have got. They don't seem a bit like niggers\" he concludes
    \r\n", - "deliberately taking a mouthful. Mrs. Rosebrook, pleased at the
    \r\n", - "honest remark, reminds him that the deacon carries out her views
    \r\n", - "most charmingly, that she studies negro character, and knows that by
    \r\n", - "stimulating it with little things she promotes good. She studies
    \r\n", - "character while the deacon studies politics. At the same time, she
    \r\n", - "rather ironically reminds Mr. Scranton that the deacon is not guilty
    \r\n", - "of reading any long-winded articles on \"state rights and secession.\"
    \r\n", - "\"Not he!\" she says, laughingly; \"you don't catch him with such
    \r\n", - "cast-iron material in his head. They call him pious-proof now and
    \r\n", - "then, but he's progress all over.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton, attentive to his appetite, draws a serious face, gives
    \r\n", - "a side glance, begs a negro to supply his plate anew, and reckons he
    \r\n", - "may soon make a new discovery in southern political economy. But he
    \r\n", - "fears Mrs. Rosebrook's plan will make a mongrel, the specific nature
    \r\n", - "of which it would be difficult to define in philosophy. Perhaps it
    \r\n", - "will not be acceptable to the north as a thinking people, nor will
    \r\n", - "it please the generosity of southern ladies.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There is where the trouble lies!\" exclaimed the deacon, who had
    \r\n", - "until then yielded up the discussion to his good lady. \"They look
    \r\n", - "upon our system with distrust, as if it were something they could
    \r\n", - "not understand.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I move we don't say another word about it, but take our part
    \r\n", - "quietly,\" says Mrs. Rosebrook, insinuating that Mr. Scranton had
    \r\n", - "better be left to take his refreshment comfortably; that he is a
    \r\n", - "little misanthropic; that he must be cheered up. \"Come, my
    \r\n", - "boys\"-directing her conversation to the negroes-\"see that Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton is cared for. And you must summon Daddy; tell him to get
    \r\n", - "the carriage ready, to put on his best blue coat,--that we are going
    \r\n", - "to take Mr. Scranton over the plantation, to show him how things can
    \r\n", - "prosper when we ladies take a hand in the management.\" The negro
    \r\n", - "leaves to execute the order: Mr. Scranton remains mute, now and then
    \r\n", - "sipping his wine. He imagines himself in a small paradise, but
    \r\n", - "\"hadn't the least idea how it was made such a place by niggers.\"
    \r\n", - "Why, they are just the smartest things in the shape of property that
    \r\n", - "could be started up. Regular dandy niggers, dressed up to \"shine
    \r\n", - "so,\" they set him thinking there was something in his politics not
    \r\n", - "just straight. And then, there was so much intelligence, so much
    \r\n", - "politeness about the critters! Why, if it had not been for the
    \r\n", - "doctrines he had so long held, he would have felt bashful at his
    \r\n", - "want of ease and suavity,--things seldom taught in the New England
    \r\n", - "village where our pro-slavery advocate was born and educated.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Presently servants are seen outside, running here and there, their
    \r\n", - "eyes glistening with anxiety, as if preparing for a May-day
    \r\n", - "festival. Old Dolly, the cook, shining with the importance of her
    \r\n", - "profession, stands her greasy portions in the kitchen door, scolds
    \r\n", - "away at old Dad, whose face smiles with good-nature as he fusses
    \r\n", - "over the carriage, wipes it, rubs it, and brushes it, every now and
    \r\n", - "then stopping to see if it will reflect his full black face. Little
    \r\n", - "woolly-headed urchins are toddling round old Maum Dolly, pulling the
    \r\n", - "folds of her frock, teasing for cakes and fritters. One, more expert
    \r\n", - "in mischief, has perched himself in an aperture over the door,
    \r\n", - "substituting himself for the old black hat with which it is usually
    \r\n", - "filled. Here, his face like a full moon in a cloud, he twists his
    \r\n", - "moving fingers into the ingeniously-tied knot of Dolly's bandana,
    \r\n", - "which he cunningly draws from her head. Ben and Loblolly, two minor
    \r\n", - "sprats of the race, are seated in the centre of the yard, contending
    \r\n", - "for the leaves of a picture-book, which, to appease their
    \r\n", - "characteristic inquisitiveness, they have dissected. Daddy has the
    \r\n", - "horses ready and the carriage waiting; and Uncle Bradshaw, the
    \r\n", - "coachman, and C�sar, the likely fellow, wait at the door with as
    \r\n", - "much satisfaction expressed in their faces as if it were all for
    \r\n", - "them. Missus is not to be outdone in expertness: a few minutes ago
    \r\n", - "she was \"snaring\" Mr. Scranton with his own philosophy; now she is
    \r\n", - "ready to take her seat.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Missus! I wants t' go down yander wid ye, I doe,\" says Daddy,
    \r\n", - "approaching her with hand extended, and working his black face up
    \r\n", - "into a broad grin as he detects Mr. Scranton's awkwardness in
    \r\n", - "getting into the carriage.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Certainly, Daddy, certainly: you shall go. Daddy knows how to get
    \r\n", - "alongside of Aunt Rachel when he gets down on the plantation. He
    \r\n", - "knows where to get a good cup of coffee and a waff.\" And she pats
    \r\n", - "the old negro on the head as he clambers up on the box. \"No, him
    \r\n", - "aint dat. Daddy want t' go wid missus-ya'h, ya! dat him, tis. Missus
    \r\n", - "want somebody down da'h what spry, so'e take care on 'em round de
    \r\n", - "old plantation. Takes my missus to know what nigger is,\" says Daddy,
    \r\n", - "taking off his cap, and bowing missus into the carriage.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not one word for mas'r, eh, Daddy?\" rejoins the deacon, looking
    \r\n", - "playfully at Daddy. \"Why, Boss, you aint nofin whin missus about,\"
    \r\n", - "returns Daddy, tauntingly, as he buttons his grey coat, and tells
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw to \"go ahead!\" Away they go, galloping over the plain,
    \r\n", - "through the swamp, for the plantation,--that model experiment doubted
    \r\n", - "by so many. Major Sprag, the politician, and Judge Snow, the
    \r\n", - "statesman, had declared publicly it never would do any good. With
    \r\n", - "them it was not practical,--it gave negroes too much liberty; and
    \r\n", - "they declared the system must be kept within the narrowest sphere of
    \r\n", - "law, or it would be destroyed for ever.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Onward the carriage bounded, and long before it reached the
    \r\n", - "plantation gate was espied by the negroes, who came sallying forth
    \r\n", - "from their white cabins, crying out at the top of their
    \r\n", - "voices-\"Missus comin'! Missus comin! Da'h missus-dat she! I know'd
    \r\n", - "missus wa' comin' t' day!\" and the music of their voices re-echoed
    \r\n", - "through the arbour of oaks that lined the road. Their tongues seemed
    \r\n", - "to have taken new impulse for the occasion. The dogs, at full run,
    \r\n", - "came barking to the gate; old daddies and mammas, with faces \"all
    \r\n", - "over smiles,\" followed in the train. And they were dressed so
    \r\n", - "tidily, looked so cheerful, and gave such expressions of their
    \r\n", - "exuberant feelings, that Mr. Scranton seemed quite at a loss how to
    \r\n", - "account for it. He had never before witnessed such a mingling of
    \r\n", - "fondness for owners,--the welcome sounds of \"God bless good missus!\"
    \r\n", - "They were at variance with the misanthropic ideas he had imbibed at
    \r\n", - "the north. And then there was a regular retinue of the \"small-fry
    \r\n", - "property\" bringing up the rear, with curious faces, and making the
    \r\n", - "jargon more confounding with the music of their voices. They
    \r\n", - "toddled, screamed, and shouted, clustered around the gate, and
    \r\n", - "before Daddy had time to dismount, had it wide open, and were
    \r\n", - "contending for the palm of shaking missus by the hand \"fust.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The carriage drives to the plantation house, followed by the train
    \r\n", - "of moving darkness, flocking around it like as many devotees before
    \r\n", - "an object of superstitious worship. Mas'r is only a secondary
    \r\n", - "consideration, Missus is the angel of their thoughts; her kindness
    \r\n", - "and perseverance in their behalf has softened their
    \r\n", - "feelings--stimulated their energy. How touching is the fondness and
    \r\n", - "tenderness of these degraded mortals! They love their benefactor.
    \r\n", - "And, too, there is a lesson in it worthy the statesman's
    \r\n", - "consideration,--it shows a knowledge of right, and a deep sense of
    \r\n", - "gratitude for kindness bestowed. Mrs. Rosebrook alights from the
    \r\n", - "carriage, receives their warm congratulations, and, turning to Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton, touches him on the arm, and remarks:--\"Now, here they are.
    \r\n", - "Poor old bodies,\"--taking them by the hand in rotation-just like as
    \r\n", - "many children. \"What do you think of them, Mr. Scranton? do you not
    \r\n", - "find a softening sympathy creeping upon you? I forgot, though, your
    \r\n", - "political responsibility! Ah! that is the point with statesmen. You
    \r\n", - "feel a touch of conscience once in a while, but cannot speak for
    \r\n", - "fear of the consequences.\" And she laughs heartily at Mr. Scranton,
    \r\n", - "who draws his face into a very serious length. \"Pest the niggers!\"
    \r\n", - "he says, as they gather at his feet, asking all sorts of importune
    \r\n", - "questions.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My good lady is a regular reformer, you see, Mr. Scranton,\" rejoins
    \r\n", - "the deacon, as he follows that gentleman into the hall.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton remarks, in reply, that such does not become caste, and
    \r\n", - "two pompous-looking servants set upon him brushing the dirt from
    \r\n", - "his clothes with great earnestness. The negroes understand Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton at a glance; he is an amiable stoic!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook disappears for a few minutes, and returns minus her
    \r\n", - "bonnet and mantle. She delights to have the old and the young around
    \r\n", - "her,--to study their characters, to hear their stories, their
    \r\n", - "grievances, and to relieve their wants. \"These little black imps,\"
    \r\n", - "she says, patting them on the head as they toddle around her,
    \r\n", - "\"They're just as full of interest as their shiny black skins are
    \r\n", - "full of mischief;\" and one after another, with hand extended, they
    \r\n", - "seek a recognition; and she takes them in her arms, fondling them
    \r\n", - "with the affection of a nurse.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Here's Toby, too; the little cunning rascal! He is as sleek as a
    \r\n", - "mole, a young coon,\" she ejaculates, stooping down and playfully
    \r\n", - "working her fingers over Toby's crispy hair, as he sits upon the
    \r\n", - "grass in front of the house, feasting on a huge sweet potato, with
    \r\n", - "which he has so bedaubed his face that it looks like a mask with the
    \r\n", - "terrific portrayed in the rolling of two immense white eyes. \"And
    \r\n", - "here is Nichol Garvio!\" and she turns to another, pats him on the
    \r\n", - "head, and shakes his hand. \"We mean to make a great man of him, you
    \r\n", - "see,--he has head enough to make a Congress man; who knows but that
    \r\n", - "he'll get there when he grows up?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Congress, happily, is beyond niggers,\" replies Mr. Scranton,
    \r\n", - "approving the lady: \"Congress is pure yet!\" Turning round, she
    \r\n", - "recommends Mr. Scranton to put his northern prejudices in his
    \r\n", - "pocket, where they will be safe when required for the purposes of
    \r\n", - "the south. \"A nigger 's a nigger all over the world,\" rejoins Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton, significantly shrugging his shoulders and casting a
    \r\n", - "doubtful glance at the young type.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True! true!\" she returns, giving Mr. Scranton a look of pity. \"God
    \r\n", - "give us sight to see! We praise our forefathers-honest praise!-but
    \r\n", - "we forget what they did. They brought them here, poor wretches;
    \r\n", - "decoyed them, deceived them,--and now we wish them back at the very
    \r\n", - "time it would be impossible to live without them. How happy is the
    \r\n", - "mind that believes a 'nigger' must be a nigger for ever and ever;
    \r\n", - "and that we must do all in our power to keep him from being anything
    \r\n", - "else!\" And her soft blue eyes glowed with sympathy; it was the soul
    \r\n", - "of a noble woman intent on doing good. She had stepped from the
    \r\n", - "darkness of a political error into the airy height of light and
    \r\n", - "love.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daddy and Bradshaw had taken care of the horses; the deacon greeted
    \r\n", - "his negroes as one by one they came to welcome him; and for each he
    \r\n", - "had a kind word, a joke, a shake of the hand, or an enquiry about
    \r\n", - "some missing member of a family. The scene presented an interesting
    \r\n", - "picture-the interest, policy, and good faith between master and
    \r\n", - "slave. No sooner were the horses cared for, than Daddy and Bradshaw
    \r\n", - "started for the \"cabins,\" to say welcome to the old folks, \"a heap
    \r\n", - "a' how de\" to the gals, and tell de boys, down yander, in de tater
    \r\n", - "patch, dat Missus come. They must have their touching
    \r\n", - "congratulations, interchange the news of the city for the gossip of
    \r\n", - "the plantation, and drink the cup of tea Mamma makes for the
    \r\n", - "occasion. Soon the plantation is all agog; and the homely, but neat
    \r\n", - "cabins, swarm with negroes of all ages, bustling here and there, and
    \r\n", - "making preparations for the evening supper, which Aunt Peggy, the
    \r\n", - "cook, has been instructed to prepare in her very best style.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The deacon joins his good lady, and, with Mr. Scranton, they prepare
    \r\n", - "to walk over and view the plantation. They are followed by a retinue
    \r\n", - "of old and young property, giving vent to their thoughts in
    \r\n", - "expressions of gratitude to Missus and Mas'r. A broad expanse of
    \r\n", - "rural beauty stretches towards the west, soft and enchanting. The
    \r\n", - "sun is sinking into the curtains of a refulgent cloud; its crimson
    \r\n", - "light casts a mellow shade over the broad landscape; the evening
    \r\n", - "breeze is wafting coolly over the foliage, a welcome relief to the
    \r\n", - "scorching heat of mid-day; the balmy atmosphere breathes sweetness
    \r\n", - "over the whole. To the north stands a clump of fine old oaks, high
    \r\n", - "above the distant \"bottom,\" reflecting in all their richness the
    \r\n", - "warm tints of the setting sun. The leaves rustle as they pass along;
    \r\n", - "long lines of cotton plants, with their healthy blossoms, brighten
    \r\n", - "in the evening shade; the corn bends under its fruit; the potato
    \r\n", - "field looks fresh and luxuriant, and negroes are gathering from the
    \r\n", - "slip-beds supplies of market gardening. There is but one appearance
    \r\n", - "among the workers-cheerfulness! They welcome Mas'r as he passes
    \r\n", - "along; and again busily employ themselves, hoeing, weeding, and
    \r\n", - "working at the roots of vines in search of destructive insects.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My overseers are all black, every one! I would'nt have a white one;
    \r\n", - "they are mostly tyrants,\" says the deacon, looking at his fields,
    \r\n", - "exultingly. \"And my overseers plan out the very best mode of
    \r\n", - "planting. They get through a heap of work, with a little kindness
    \r\n", - "and a little management. Those two things do a deal, Sir! Five years
    \r\n", - "ago, I projected this new system of managing negroes-or, rather my
    \r\n", - "lady planned it,--she is a great manager, you see,--and I adopted it.
    \r\n", - "You see how it has worked, Mr. Scranton.\" The deacon takes Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton by the arm, pointing over the broad expanse of cultivated
    \r\n", - "land, bending under the harvest. I make all my negroes marry when
    \r\n", - "they have arrived at a specific age; I assure them I never will sell
    \r\n", - "one unless he or she commits a heinous crime; and I never have.
    \r\n", - "There is a great deal in keeping faith with a negro; he is of
    \r\n", - "mankind, and moved by natural laws mentally and physically, and
    \r\n", - "feels deeply the want of what we rarely regard of much
    \r\n", - "consequence-confidence in his master's word. Wife encourages their
    \r\n", - "moral energy; I encourage their physical by filling their bellies
    \r\n", - "with as much corn and bacon as they can eat; and then I give them
    \r\n", - "five cents per day (the heads of families) to get those little
    \r\n", - "necessaries which are so essential to their comfort and
    \r\n", - "encouragement. I call it our paid-labour system; and I give them
    \r\n", - "tasks, too, and when they have finished them I allow a small stipend
    \r\n", - "for extra work. It's a small mite for a great end; and it's such an
    \r\n", - "encouragement with them that I get about thirty per cent. more work
    \r\n", - "done. And then I allow them to read just as much as they please-what
    \r\n", - "do I care about law? I don't want to live where learning to read is
    \r\n", - "dangerous to the State, I don't. Their learning to read never can
    \r\n", - "destroy their affections for me and wife; and kindness to them will
    \r\n", - "make them less dangerous in case of insurrection. It's not the
    \r\n", - "education we've got to fear; our fears increase with the knowledge
    \r\n", - "of our oppression. They know these things-they feel them; and if by
    \r\n", - "educating them one can cultivate their confidence, had we not better
    \r\n", - "do it with a view to contingencies? Now, as the result of our
    \r\n", - "system, we have promised to give all our negroes their freedom at
    \r\n", - "the expiration of ten years, and send such as wish to go, to
    \r\n", - "Liberia; but, I hold that they can do as much for us at home, work
    \r\n", - "for us if properly encouraged, and be good free citizens, obedient
    \r\n", - "to the laws of the State, serving the general good of a great
    \r\n", - "country.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes!\" the good lady interposes; \"I want to see those things carried
    \r\n", - "out; they will yet work for the regeneration of their own race.
    \r\n", - "Heaven will some day reward the hand that drags the cursed mantle
    \r\n", - "from off poor Africa; and Africa herself will breathe a prayer to
    \r\n", - "Heaven in grateful acknowledgment of the act that frees her from the
    \r\n", - "stain of being the world's bonded warehouse for human flesh and
    \r\n", - "blood.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The deacon interrupts,--suggests \"that it were better to move
    \r\n", - "practically; and that small streams may yet direct how a mountain
    \r\n", - "may be removed. Our Union is a great monument of what a Republic may
    \r\n", - "be,--a happy combination of life, freshness, and greatness, upon
    \r\n", - "which the Old World looks with distrust. The people have founded its
    \r\n", - "happiness-its greatness! God alone knows its destiny; crowned heads
    \r\n", - "would not weep over its downfall! It were better each citizen felt
    \r\n", - "his heart beating to the words-It is my country; cursed be the hand
    \r\n", - "raised to sever its members!\" The lady tells Mr. Scranton that their
    \r\n", - "produce has increased every year; that last year they planted one
    \r\n", - "hundred and twenty acres with cotton, ninety with corn, forty with
    \r\n", - "sweet potatoes, as many more with slips and roots; and three acres
    \r\n", - "of water-melons for the boys, which they may eat or sell. She
    \r\n", - "assures him that by encouraging the pay system they get a double
    \r\n", - "profit, besides preparing the way for something that must come.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Come!\" Mr. Scranton interrupts: \"let the south be true to herself,
    \r\n", - "and there's no fear of that. But I confess, deacon, there is
    \r\n", - "something good as well as curious about your way of treating
    \r\n", - "niggers.\" And Mr. Scranton shakes his head, as if the practicability
    \r\n", - "yet remained the great obstacle in his mind. \"Your niggers ain't
    \r\n", - "every body's,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Try it, try it!\" Mrs. Rosebrook rejoins: \"Go home and propound
    \r\n", - "something that will relieve us from fear-something that will prepare
    \r\n", - "us for any crisis that may occur!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It was six o'clock, the plantation bell struck, and the cry sounded
    \r\n", - "\"All hands quit work, and repair to supper!\" Scarcely had the echoes
    \r\n", - "resounded over the woods when the labourers were seen scampering for
    \r\n", - "their cabins, in great glee. They jumped, danced, jostled one
    \r\n", - "another, and sang the cheering melodies, \"Sally put da' hoe cake
    \r\n", - "down!\" and \"Down in Old Tennessee.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Reaching their cabins they gathered into a conclave around Daddy and
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw, making the very air resound with their merry jargon. Such
    \r\n", - "a happy meeting-such social congratulations, pouring forth of the
    \r\n", - "heart's affections, warm and true,--it had never been before Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton's fortune to witness. Indeed, when he listened to the ready
    \r\n", - "flashes of dialogue accompanying their animation, and saw the
    \r\n", - "strange contortions of their fresh, shining faces, he began to
    \r\n", - "\"reckon\" there was something about niggers that might, by a process
    \r\n", - "not yet discovered, be turned into something.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Old \"Mammies\" strive for the honour of having Daddy and Bradshaw sup
    \r\n", - "at their cabins, taunting each other on the spareness of their meal.
    \r\n", - "Fires are soon lit, the stew-pans brought into requisition, and the
    \r\n", - "smoke, curling upward among a myriad of mosquitoes, is dispersing
    \r\n", - "them like a band of unwelcome intruders; while the corn-mills rattle
    \r\n", - "and rumble, making the din and clatter more confounding. Daddy and
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw being \"aristocratic darkies from the city\"-caste being
    \r\n", - "tenaciously kept up among negroes-were, of course, recipients of the
    \r\n", - "choicest delicacies the plantation afforded, not excepting fresh
    \r\n", - "eggs poached, and possum. Bradshaw is particularly fond of ghost
    \r\n", - "stories; and as old Maum Nancy deals largely in this article, as
    \r\n", - "well as being the best believer in spectres on the plantation, he
    \r\n", - "concludes to sup with her, in her hospitable cabin, when she will
    \r\n", - "relate all that she has seen since she last saw him. Maum Nancy is
    \r\n", - "as black as a crow, has a rich store of tales on hand; she will
    \r\n", - "please the old man, more particularly when she tells him about the
    \r\n", - "very bad ghost seen about the mansion for more than \"three weeks of
    \r\n", - "nights.\" He has got two sarpents' heads; Maum Nancy declares the
    \r\n", - "statement true, for uncle Enoch \"seen him,\"-he is a grey ghost-and
    \r\n", - "might a' knocked him over with his wattle, only he darn't lest he
    \r\n", - "should reek his vengeance at some unexpected moment. And then he was
    \r\n", - "the very worst kind of a ghost, for he stole all the chickens, not
    \r\n", - "even leaving the feathers. They said he had a tail like the thing
    \r\n", - "Mas'r Sluck whipped his \"niggers\" with. Bradshaw sups of Maum
    \r\n", - "Nancy's best, listening to her stories with great concern. The story
    \r\n", - "of the ghost with two heads startles him; his black picture, frame
    \r\n", - "fills with excitement; he has never before heard that ghosts were
    \r\n", - "guilty of predatory crimes. So enchained and excited is he with her
    \r\n", - "story, that the party at the house having finished supper, have made
    \r\n", - "preparations to leave for the city. A finger touches him on the
    \r\n", - "shoulder; he startles, recognises Daddy, who is in search of him,
    \r\n", - "and suddenly becomes conscious that his absence has caused great
    \r\n", - "anxiety. Daddy has found him quietly eating Maum Nancy's cakes,
    \r\n", - "while intently listening to the story about the ghost \"what\" steals
    \r\n", - "all her chickens. He is quite unconcerned about Mas'r,
    \r\n", - "Missus-anything but the ghost! He catches his cap, gives Nancy's
    \r\n", - "hand a warm shake, says God bless 'em, hastens for the mansion,
    \r\n", - "finds the carriage waiting at the door, for Mas'r and Missus, who
    \r\n", - "take their seats as he arrives. Bradshaw mounts the box again, and
    \r\n", - "away it rolls down the oak avenue. The happy party leave for home;
    \r\n", - "the plantation people are turned out en masse to say good bye to
    \r\n", - "Missus, and \"hope Mas'r get safe home.\" Their greetings sound forth
    \r\n", - "as the carriage disappears in the distance; fainter and fainter the
    \r\n", - "good wish falls upon their ears. They are well on the road; Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton, who sits at the side of the good lady, on the back seat,
    \r\n", - "has not deigned to say a word: the evening grows dark, and his mind
    \r\n", - "seems correspondingly gloomy. \"I tell you, I feel so pleased, so
    \r\n", - "overjoyed, and so happy when I visit the plantation, to see those
    \r\n", - "poor creatures so happy and so full of fondness! It's worth all the
    \r\n", - "riches to know that one is loved by the poor. Did you ever see such
    \r\n", - "happiness, Mr. Scranton?\" Mrs. Rosebrook enquires, coolly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It requires a great deal of thinking, a great deal of caution, a
    \r\n", - "great deal of political foresight, before answering such questions.
    \r\n", - "You'll pardon me, my dear madam, I know you will; I always speak
    \r\n", - "square on questions, you know. It's hard to reconcile oneself to
    \r\n", - "niggers being free.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! yes-it's very amiable to think; but how much more praiseworthy
    \r\n", - "to act! If we southern ladies set ourselves about it we can do a
    \r\n", - "great deal; we can save the poor creatures being sold, like cows and
    \r\n", - "calves, in this free country. We must save ourselves from the moral
    \r\n", - "degradation that is upon us. What a pity Marston's friends did not
    \r\n", - "make an effort to change his course! If they had he would not now be
    \r\n", - "in the hands of that Graspum. We are surrounded by a world of
    \r\n", - "temptation; and yet our planters yield to them; they think
    \r\n", - "everything a certainty, forgetting that the moment they fall into
    \r\n", - "Graspum's hands they are gone.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton acknowledges he likes the look of things on the
    \r\n", - "plantation, but suggests that it will be considered an
    \r\n", - "innovation,--an innovation too dangerous to be considered.
    \r\n", - "Innovations are dangerous with him,--unpopular, cannot amount to much
    \r\n", - "practical good. He gives these insinuations merely as happy
    \r\n", - "expressions of his own profound opinion. The carriage approaches the
    \r\n", - "villa, which, seen from the distance, seems sleeping in the calm of
    \r\n", - "night. Mr. Scranton is like those among us who are always fearing,
    \r\n", - "but never make an effort to remove the cause; they, too, are
    \r\n", - "doggedly attached to political inconsistency, and, though at times
    \r\n", - "led to see the evil, never can be made to acknowledge the wrong.
    \r\n", - "They reach the garden gate; Mr. Scranton begs to be excused from
    \r\n", - "entering the Villa,--takes a formal leave of his friend, and wends
    \r\n", - "his way home, thinking. \"There's something in it!\" he says to
    \r\n", - "himself, as he passes the old bridge that separates the city from
    \r\n", - "the suburb. \"It's not so much for the present as it is for the
    \r\n", - "hereafter. Nobody thinks of repairing this old bridge, and yet it
    \r\n", - "has been decaying under our eyes for years. Some day it will
    \r\n", - "suddenly fall,--a dozen people will be precipitated into the water
    \r\n", - "below, some killed; the city will then resound with lamentations;
    \r\n", - "every body knows it must take place one of these days, everybody is
    \r\n", - "to blame, but no special criminal can be found. There's something in
    \r\n", - "the comparison!\" he says, looking over the old railing into the
    \r\n", - "water. And then his thoughts wandered to the plantation. There the
    \r\n", - "germs of an enlightened policy were growing up; the purity of a
    \r\n", - "noble woman's heart was spreading blessings among a downcast race,
    \r\n", - "cultivating their minds, raising them up to do good for themselves,
    \r\n", - "to reward the efforts of the benefactor. Her motto was:--Let us
    \r\n", - "through simple means seek the elevation of a class of beings whose
    \r\n", - "degradation has distracted the political wisdom of our happy
    \r\n", - "country, from its conquest to the present day. \"There's something in
    \r\n", - "it,\" again mutters Mr. Scranton, as he enters his room, lights his
    \r\n", - "taper, and with his elbow resting on the table, his head supported
    \r\n", - "in his hand, sits musing over the subject.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ELDER PEMBERTON PRAISEWORTHY CHANGES HIS BUSINESS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "LET us beg the reader's indulgence for a few moments, while we say
    \r\n", - "that Mr. Scranton belonged to that large class of servile flatterers
    \r\n", - "who too often come from the New England States-men, who, having no
    \r\n", - "direct interest in slaves, make no scruple of sacrificing their
    \r\n", - "independence that they may appear true to the south and slavery.
    \r\n", - "Such men not unfrequently do the political vampirism of the south
    \r\n", - "without receiving its thanks, but look for the respect of political
    \r\n", - "factions for being loudest supporters of inconsistency. They never
    \r\n", - "receive the thanks of the southerner; frequently and deservedly do
    \r\n", - "they sink into contempt!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A few days after the visit to the plantation we have described in
    \r\n", - "the foregoing chapter, Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy, divested of his
    \r\n", - "pastoral occupation, and seriously anxious to keep up his friendly
    \r\n", - "associations with those who had taken a part in furthering the cause
    \r\n", - "of humanity, calls on his old acquaintance, Mrs. Rosebrook. He has
    \r\n", - "always found a welcome under her hospitable roof,--a good meal, over
    \r\n", - "which he could discourse the benefits he bestowed, through his
    \r\n", - "spiritual mission, upon a fallen race; never leaving without kindly
    \r\n", - "asking permission to offer up a prayer, in which he invoked the
    \r\n", - "mercy of the Supreme Ruler over all things. In this instance he
    \r\n", - "seems somewhat downcast, forlorn; he has changed his business; his
    \r\n", - "brown, lean face, small peering eyes, and low forehead, with bristly
    \r\n", - "black hair standing erect, give his features a careworn air. He
    \r\n", - "apologises for the unceremonious call, and says he always forgets
    \r\n", - "etiquette in his fervour to do good; to serve his fellow-creatures,
    \r\n", - "to be a Christian among the living, and serve the dying and the
    \r\n", - "dead-if such have wants--is his motto. And that his motives may not
    \r\n", - "be misconstrued he has come to report the peculiar phases of the
    \r\n", - "business he found it actually necessary to turn his hand to. That he
    \r\n", - "will gain a complete mastery over the devil he has not the fraction
    \r\n", - "of a doubt; and as he has always--deeming him less harmless than many
    \r\n", - "citizens of the south--had strong prejudices against that gentleman,
    \r\n", - "he now has strong expectations of carrying his point against him.
    \r\n", - "Elder Praiseworthy once heard a great statesman--who said singular
    \r\n", - "things as well in as out of Congress--say that he did'nt believe the
    \r\n", - "devil was a bad fellow after all; and that with a little more
    \r\n", - "schooling he might make a very useful gentleman to prevent
    \r\n", - "duelling--in a word, that there was no knowing how we'd get along at
    \r\n", - "the south without such an all-important personage. He has had
    \r\n", - "several spells of deep thinking on this point, which, though he
    \r\n", - "cannot exactly agree with it, he holds firmly to the belief that, so
    \r\n", - "far as it affects duelling, the devil should be one of the
    \r\n", - "principals, and he, being specially ordained, the great antagonist
    \r\n", - "to demolish him with his chosen weapon--humanity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"They tell me you have gone back into the world,\" says Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook, as the waiter hands Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy a chair.
    \r\n", - "\"It's only the duty of love, of Christian goodness, he humbly
    \r\n", - "replies, and takes his seat as Mrs. Rosebrook says-\"pray be seated!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'm somewhat fatigued; but it's the fatigue of loving to do good,\"
    \r\n", - "he says, rubbing his hands very piously, and giving a look of great
    \r\n", - "ministerial seriousness at the good lady. We will omit several minor
    \r\n", - "portions of the Elder's cautious introduction of his humane
    \r\n", - "occupation, commencing where he sets forth the kind reasons for such
    \r\n", - "a virtuous policy. \"You honestly think you are serving the Lord, do
    \r\n", - "you?\" enquires the lady, as she takes her seat.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The Elder evinces surprise at such a question. Hath he moved among
    \r\n", - "Christians so many years, ministering to spiritual wants, and yet
    \r\n", - "the purity of his motives be questioned? \"Good madam! we must have
    \r\n", - "faith to believe. All that is meant well should be accepted in the
    \r\n", - "greatness of the intention. You will observe, I am neither a lawyer
    \r\n", - "nor a politician; I would'nt be for the world! We must always be
    \r\n", - "doing something for the good of others; and we must not forget,
    \r\n", - "whilst we are doing it, to serve the Allwise one; and while we are
    \r\n", - "effecting the good of one we are serving the designs of the other.\"
    \r\n", - "Thus emphatically spoke the Elder, fingering a book that lay on the
    \r\n", - "table. \"I buy sick people, I save the dying, and I instruct them in
    \r\n", - "the ways of the Lord as soon as they are cured, and-\" And here the
    \r\n", - "Elder suddenly stops.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Add, Mr. Praiseworthy, that when you have cured them, and
    \r\n", - "instructed them in the way of the Lord, you sell them!\" interrupts
    \r\n", - "the lady, watching the sudden changes that pass over his craven
    \r\n", - "features.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I always get them good masters; I never fail in that. Nor do I
    \r\n", - "stand upon the profit-it's the humanity I takes into the balance.\"
    \r\n", - "He conceives good under the motley garb of his new mission.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Humanity-strange humanity, with self coiled beneath. Why, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Praiseworthy!\" the lady starts from her seat, and speaks with
    \r\n", - "emphasis, \"do you tell me that you have become a resurrection man,
    \r\n", - "standing at the platform of death, interposing with it for a
    \r\n", - "speculation?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It's no uncommon business, Madam; hundreds follow it; some have got
    \r\n", - "rich at it.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Got rich at it!\" Mrs. Rosebrook interrupts, as a sagacious looking
    \r\n", - "cat bounds on the table, much to the discomfiture of the Elder, who
    \r\n", - "jumps up in a great fright,--\"What irresistible natures we have; may
    \r\n", - "heaven save us from the cravings of avarice!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The Elder very methodically puts the interrupting cat upon the
    \r\n", - "floor, and resumes his seat. \"Why, bless us, good madam, we must
    \r\n", - "have something to keep our consciences clear; there's nothing like
    \r\n", - "living a straightforward life.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What a horrible inconsistency! Buying the sick and the dying. May
    \r\n", - "the dead not come in for a portion of your singular generosity? If
    \r\n", - "you can speculate in the dying why exclude the dead? the principle
    \r\n", - "would serve the same faith in Christianity. The heart that can
    \r\n", - "purchase the dying must be full of sad coldness, dragging the woes
    \r\n", - "and pains of mortality down to a tortuous death. Save us from the
    \r\n", - "feelings of speculation,--call them Christian, if you will,--that
    \r\n", - "makes man look upon a dying mortal, valuing but the dollars and
    \r\n", - "cents that are passing away with his life,\" she interrupts, giving
    \r\n", - "vent to her pent-up feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Praiseworthy suggests that the good lady does not comprehend the
    \r\n", - "virtue lying beneath his motives; that it takes a philosophical mind
    \r\n", - "to analyse the good that can be done to human nature, especially
    \r\n", - "poor black human nature. And he asserts, with great sincerity, that
    \r\n", - "saving the lives of those about to die miserable deaths is a
    \r\n", - "wonderful thing for the cause of humanity. Buying them saves their
    \r\n", - "hopeless lives; and if that isn't praiseworthy nothing can be, and
    \r\n", - "when the act is good the motive should not be questioned.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Do you save their lives for a Christian purpose, or is it lucre you
    \r\n", - "seek, Mr. Praiseworthy?\" she enquires, giving the Elder a
    \r\n", - "significant look, and waiting for a reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The Elder rises sedately, and walks across the room, considering his
    \r\n", - "reply. \"The question's so kind of round about,\" he mutters, as she
    \r\n", - "continues:--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sick when you purchase, your Christianity consists in the art of
    \r\n", - "healing; but you sell them, and consequently save their lives for a
    \r\n", - "profit. There is no cholera in our plantation, thank God! you cannot
    \r\n", - "speculate on our sick. You outshine the London street Jews; they
    \r\n", - "deal in old clothes, you deal in human oddities, tottering
    \r\n", - "infirmity, sick negroes.\" Mrs. Rosebrook suggests that such a
    \r\n", - "business in a great and happy country should be consigned to its
    \r\n", - "grave-digger and executioner, or made to pay a killing income tax.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The humane Elder views his clothes; they have become somewhat
    \r\n", - "threadbare since he entered upon his new profession. He, as may be
    \r\n", - "supposed, feels the force of the lady's remarks, and yet cannot
    \r\n", - "bring his mind to believe himself actuated by anything but a love to
    \r\n", - "do good. Kindness, he contends, was always the most inherent thing
    \r\n", - "in his nature: it is an insult to insinuate anything degrading
    \r\n", - "connected with his calling. And, too, there is another consolation
    \r\n", - "which soars above all,--it is legal, and there is a respectability
    \r\n", - "connected with all legal callings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"To be upright is my motto, madam,\" the Elder says, drawing his hand
    \r\n", - "modestly over his mouth, and again adjusting the tie of his white
    \r\n", - "neck-cloth. \"I'm trying to save them, and a penny with them. You
    \r\n", - "see-the Lord forgive him!-my dear madam, Marston didn't do the clean
    \r\n", - "thing with me; and, the worst of all was, he made a preacher of that
    \r\n", - "nigger of his. The principle is a very bad one for nigger property
    \r\n", - "to contend for; and when their masters permit it, our profession is
    \r\n", - "upset; for, whenever a nigger becomes a preacher, he's sure to be a
    \r\n", - "profitable investment for his owner. There is where it injures us;
    \r\n", - "and we have no redress, because the nigger preacher is his master's
    \r\n", - "property, and his master can make him preach, or do what he pleases
    \r\n", - "with him,\" says Mr. Praiseworthy, becoming extremely serious.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! yes,--self pinches the principles; I see where it is, Elder,\"
    \r\n", - "says the lady. \"But you were indiscreet, given to taking at times;
    \r\n", - "and the boy Harry, proving himself quite as good at preaching,
    \r\n", - "destroyed your practice. I wish every negro knew as much of the
    \r\n", - "Bible as that boy Harry. There would be no fear of insurrections; it
    \r\n", - "would be the greatest blessing that ever befell the South. It would
    \r\n", - "make some of your Christians blush,--perhaps ashamed.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ashamed! ashamed! a thing little used the way times are,\" he
    \r\n", - "mutters, fretting his fingers through his bristly hair, until it
    \r\n", - "stands erect like quills on a porcupine's back. This done, he
    \r\n", - "measuredly adjusts his glasses on the tip of his nose, giving his
    \r\n", - "tawny visage an appearance at once strange and indicative of all the
    \r\n", - "peculiarities of his peculiar character. \"It wasn't that,\" he says,
    \r\n", - "\"Marston did'nt get dissatisfied with my spiritual conditions; it
    \r\n", - "was the saving made by the negro's preaching. But, to my new
    \r\n", - "business, which so touches your sensitive feelings. If you will
    \r\n", - "honour me, my dear madam, with a visit at my hospital, I am certain
    \r\n", - "your impressions will change, and you will do justice to my
    \r\n", - "motives.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Indeed!\" interrupts the lady, quickly, \"nothing would give me more
    \r\n", - "gratification,--I esteem any person engaged in a laudable pursuit;
    \r\n", - "but if philanthropy be expressed through the frailties of
    \r\n", - "speculation,--especially where it is carried out in the buying and
    \r\n", - "selling of afflicted men and women,--I am willing to admit the age of
    \r\n", - "progress to have got ahead of me. However, Elder, I suppose you go
    \r\n", - "upon the principle of what is not lost to sin being gained to the
    \r\n", - "Lord: and if your sick property die pious, the knowledge of it is a
    \r\n", - "sufficient recompense for the loss.\" Thus saying, she readily
    \r\n", - "accepted the Elder's kind invitation, and, ordering a basket of
    \r\n", - "prepared nourishment, which, together with the carriage, was soon
    \r\n", - "ready, she accompanied him to his infirmary. They drove through
    \r\n", - "narrow lanes and streets lined with small dilapidated cottages, and
    \r\n", - "reached a wooden tenement near the suburb of the city of C--. It was
    \r\n", - "surrounded by a lattice fence, the approach being through a gate, on
    \r\n", - "which was inscribed, \"Mr. Praiseworthy's Infirmary;\" and immediately
    \r\n", - "below this, in small letters, was the significant notice, \"Planters
    \r\n", - "having the cholera and other prevailing diseases upon their
    \r\n", - "plantations will please take notice that I am prepared to pay the
    \r\n", - "highest price for the infirm and other negroes attacked with the
    \r\n", - "disease. Offers will be made for the most doubtful cases!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Elder Praiseworthy!\" ejaculates the lady, starting back, and
    \r\n", - "stopping to read the strange sign. \"'Offers will be made for the
    \r\n", - "most doubtful cases!'\" she mutters, turning towards him with a look
    \r\n", - "of melancholy. \"What thoughts, feelings, sentiments! That means,
    \r\n", - "that unto death you have a pecuniary interest in their bodies; and,
    \r\n", - "for a price, you will interpose between their owners and death. The
    \r\n", - "mind so grotesque as to conceive such a purpose should be
    \r\n", - "restrained, lest it trifle with life unconsciously.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You see,\" interrupts Mr. Praiseworthy, looking more serious than
    \r\n", - "ever, \"It's the life saved to the nigger; he's grateful for it; and
    \r\n", - "if they ain't pious just then, it gives them time to consider, to
    \r\n", - "prepare themselves. My little per centage is small-it's a mean
    \r\n", - "commission; and if it were not for the satisfaction of knowing how
    \r\n", - "much good I do, it wouldn't begin to pay a professional gentleman.\"
    \r\n", - "As the Elder concludes his remarks, melancholy sounds are breaking
    \r\n", - "forth in frightful discord. From strange murmurings it rises into
    \r\n", - "loud wailings and implorings. \"Take me, good Lord, to a world of
    \r\n", - "peace!\" sounds in her ears, as they approach through a garden and
    \r\n", - "enter a door that opens into a long room, a store-house of human
    \r\n", - "infirmity, where moans, cries, and groans are made a medium of
    \r\n", - "traffic. The room, about thirty feet long and twenty wide, is
    \r\n", - "rough-boarded, contains three tiers of narrow berths, one above the
    \r\n", - "other, encircling its walls. Here and there on the floor are cots,
    \r\n", - "which Mr. Praiseworthy informs us are for those whose cases he would
    \r\n", - "not give much for. Black nurses are busily attending the sick
    \r\n", - "property; some are carrying bowls of gruel, others rubbing limbs and
    \r\n", - "quieting the cries of the frantic, and again supplying water to
    \r\n", - "quench thirst. On a round table that stands in the centre of the
    \r\n", - "room is a large medicine-chest, disclosing papers, pills, powders,
    \r\n", - "phials, and plasters, strewn about in great disorder. A bedlam of
    \r\n", - "ghastly faces presents itself,--dark, haggard, and frantic with the
    \r\n", - "pains of the malady preying upon the victims. One poor wretch
    \r\n", - "springs from his couch, crying, \"Oh, death! death! come soon!\" and
    \r\n", - "his features glare with terror. Again he utters a wild shriek, and
    \r\n", - "bounds round the room, looking madly at one and another, as if
    \r\n", - "chased by some furious animal. The figure of a female, whose
    \r\n", - "elongated body seems ready to sink under its disease, sits on a
    \r\n", - "little box in the corner, humming a dolorous air, and looking with
    \r\n", - "glassy eyes pensively around the room at those stretched in their
    \r\n", - "berths. For a few seconds she is quiet; then, contorting her face
    \r\n", - "into a deep scowl, she gives vent to the most violent bursts of
    \r\n", - "passion,--holds her long black hair above her head, assumes a tragic
    \r\n", - "attitude, threatens to distort it from the scalp. \"That one's lost
    \r\n", - "her mind-she's fitty; but I think the devil has something to do with
    \r\n", - "her fits. And, though you wouldn't think it, she's just as harmless
    \r\n", - "as can be,\" Mr. Praiseworthy coolly remarks, looking at Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook, hoping she will say something encouraging in reply. The
    \r\n", - "lady only replies by asking him if he purchased her from her owner?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Praiseworthy responds in the affirmative, adding that she
    \r\n", - "doesn't seem to like it much. He, however, has strong hopes of
    \r\n", - "curing her mind, getting it \"in fix\" again, and making a good penny
    \r\n", - "on her. \"She's a'most white, and, unfortunately, took a liking to a
    \r\n", - "young man down town. Marston owned her then, and, being a friend of
    \r\n", - "hers, wouldn't allow it, and it took away her senses; he thought her
    \r\n", - "malady incurable, and sold her to me for a little or nothing,\" he
    \r\n", - "continues, with great complacency.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "This poor broken flower of misfortune holds down her head as the
    \r\n", - "lady approaches, gives a look of melancholy expressive of shame and
    \r\n", - "remorse. \"She's sensitive for a nigger, and the only one that has
    \r\n", - "said anything about being put among men,\" Mr. Praiseworthy remarks,
    \r\n", - "advancing a few steps, and then going from berth to berth,
    \r\n", - "descanting on the prospects of his sick, explaining their various
    \r\n", - "diseases, their improvements, and his doubts of the dying. The lady
    \r\n", - "watches all his movements, as if more intently interested in Mr.
    \r\n", - "Praiseworthy's strange character. \"And here's one,\" he says, \"I fear
    \r\n", - "I shall lose; and if I do, there's fifty dollars gone, slap!\" and he
    \r\n", - "points to an emaciated yellow man, whose body is literally a crust
    \r\n", - "of sores, and whose painful implorings for water and nourishment are
    \r\n", - "deep and touching.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Poor wretch!\" Mr. Praiseworthy exclaims, \"I wish I'd never bought
    \r\n", - "him-it's pained my feelings so; but I did it to save his life when
    \r\n", - "he was most dead with the rheumatics, and was drawn up as crooked as
    \r\n", - "branch cord-wood. And then, after I had got the cinques out of him-
    \r\n", - "after nearly getting him straight for a 'prime fellow' (good care
    \r\n", - "did the thing), he took the water on the chest, and is grown out
    \r\n", - "like that.\" He points coolly to the sufferer's breast, which is
    \r\n", - "fearfully distended with disease; saying that, \"as if that wasn't
    \r\n", - "enough, he took the lepors, and it's a squeak if they don't end
    \r\n", - "him.\" He pities the \"crittur,\" but has done all he can for him,
    \r\n", - "which he would have done if he hadn't expected a copper for selling
    \r\n", - "him when cured. \"So you see, madam,\" he reiterates, \"it isn't all
    \r\n", - "profit. I paid a good price for the poor skeleton, have had all ny
    \r\n", - "trouble, and shall have no gain-except the recompense of feeling.
    \r\n", - "There was a time when I might have shared one hundred and fifty
    \r\n", - "dollars by him, but I felt humane towards him; didn't want him to
    \r\n", - "slide until he was a No. 1.\" Thus the Elder sets forth his own
    \r\n", - "goodness of heart.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Pray, what do you pay a head for them, Mr. Praiseworthy?\" enquires
    \r\n", - "the lady, smoothing her hand over the feverish head of the poor
    \r\n", - "victim, as the carnatic of her cheek changed to pallid languor.
    \r\n", - "Pursuing her object with calmness, she determined not to display her
    \r\n", - "emotions until fully satisfied how far the Elder would go.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That, madam, depends on cases; cripples are not worth much. But,
    \r\n", - "now and then, we get a legless fellow what's sound in body, can get
    \r\n", - "round sprightly, and such like; and, seeing how we can make him
    \r\n", - "answer a sight of purposes, he'll bring something,\" he sedately
    \r\n", - "replies, with muscles unmoved. \"Cases what doctors give up as 'done
    \r\n", - "gone,' we gets for ten and twenty dollars; cases not hanging under
    \r\n", - "other diseases, we give from thirty to fifty-and so on! Remember,
    \r\n", - "however, you must deduct thirty per cent. for death. At times, where
    \r\n", - "you would make two or three hundred dollars by curing one, and
    \r\n", - "saving his life, you lose three, sometimes half-a-dozen head.\" The
    \r\n", - "Elder consoles his feelings with the fact that it is not all profit,
    \r\n", - "looks highly gratified, puts a large cut of tobacco in his mouth,
    \r\n", - "thanks God that the common school-bill didn't pass in the
    \r\n", - "legislature, and that his business is more humane than people
    \r\n", - "generally admit.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How many have you in all?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The number of head, I suppose? Well, there's about thirty sick, and
    \r\n", - "ten well ones what I sent to market last week. Did-n-'t-make-a-good
    \r\n", - "market, though,\" he drawls out.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You are alone in the business?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, no; I've a partner-Jones; there's a good many phases in the
    \r\n", - "business, you see, and one can't get along. Jones was a
    \r\n", - "nigger-broker, and Jones and me went into partnership to do the
    \r\n", - "thing smooth up, on joint account. I does the curing, and he does
    \r\n", - "the selling, and we both turns a dollar or two-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, horrors!\" interrupts the lady, looking at Mr. Praiseworthy
    \r\n", - "sarcastically. \"Murder will out, men's sentiments will betray them,
    \r\n", - "selfishness will get above them all; ornament them as you will,
    \r\n", - "their ornaments will drop,--naked self will uncover herself and be
    \r\n", - "the deceiver.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not at all!\" the Elder exclaims, in his confidence. \"The Lord's
    \r\n", - "will is in everything; without it we could not battle with the
    \r\n", - "devil; we relieve suffering humanity, and the end justifies the
    \r\n", - "means.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You should have left out the means: it is only the end you aim at.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's like accusing Deacon Seabury of impious motives, because he
    \r\n", - "shaves notes at an illegal interest. It's worse-because what the law
    \r\n", - "makes legal the church should not make sinful.\" This is
    \r\n", - "Praiseworthy's philosophy, which he proclaims while forgetting the
    \r\n", - "existence of a law of conscience having higher claims than the
    \r\n", - "technicalities of statutes. We must look to that to modify our
    \r\n", - "selfishness, to strengthen our love for human laws when founded in
    \r\n", - "justice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And who is this poor girl?\" enquires Mrs. Rosebrook, stepping
    \r\n", - "softly forward, and taking her by the hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Marston's once; some Indian in her, they say. She's right fair
    \r\n", - "looks when she's herself. Marston's in trouble now, and the cholera
    \r\n", - "has made sad havoc of his niggers,\" Mr. Praiseworthy replies,
    \r\n", - "placing a chair, and motioning his hand for the lady to be seated.
    \r\n", - "The lady seats herself beside the girl,--takes her hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, missus; God bless good missus. Ye don't know me now,\" mutters
    \r\n", - "the poor girl, raising her wild glassy eyes, as she parts the long
    \r\n", - "black hair from her forehead: \"you don't know me; I'm changed so!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My child, who has made you this wretch?\" says the good lady,
    \r\n", - "pressing her tawny hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "My child!\" she exclaims, with emphasis: \"My child Nicholas,--my
    \r\n", - "child! Missus, save Nicholas; he is my child. Oh! do save him!\" and,
    \r\n", - "as if terrified, she grasps tighter the lady's hand, while her
    \r\n", - "emotions swell into a frantic outburst of grief. \"Nicholas, my
    \r\n", - "child!\" she shrieks.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"She will come to, soon: it's only one of her strange fits of
    \r\n", - "aberration. Sometimes I fling cold water over her; and, if it's very
    \r\n", - "cold, she soon comes to,\" Mr. Praiseworthy remarks, as he stands
    \r\n", - "
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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 4/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 4 out of 12

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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "unmoved, probably contemplating the goodness of a forgiving God.
    \r\n", - "What magic simplicity lies concealed in his nature; and yet it is
    \r\n", - "his trade, sanctioned by the law of a generous state. Let us bless
    \r\n", - "the land that has given us power to discover the depths to which
    \r\n", - "human nature can reduce itself, and what man can make himself when
    \r\n", - "human flesh and blood become mere things of traffic.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That gal's name is Ellen. I wish I knew all that has turned up at
    \r\n", - "Marston's,\" remarks the Elder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ellen!\" ejaculates the lady, looking at her more intently, placing
    \r\n", - "her left hand under her chin. \"Not Ellen Juvarna?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, good missus-the lady has distributed her nourishment among the
    \r\n", - "sick-that's my name,\" she says, raising her eyes with a look of
    \r\n", - "melancholy that tells the tale of her troubles. Again her feelings
    \r\n", - "subside into quiet; she seems in meditation. \"I knowed you once,
    \r\n", - "good missus, but you don't know me now, I'm changed so!\" she
    \r\n", - "whispers, the good lady holding her hand, as a tear courses down her
    \r\n", - "cheek-\"I'm changed so!\" she whispers, shaking her head.
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    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A FATHER TRIES TO BE A FATHER.
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    \r\n", - "WE have conducted the reader through scenes perhaps unnecessary to
    \r\n", - "our narration, nevertheless associated with and appertaining to the
    \r\n", - "object of our work. And, in this sense, the reader cannot fail to
    \r\n", - "draw from them lessons developing the corrupting influences of a
    \r\n", - "body politic that gives one man power to sell another. They go to
    \r\n", - "prove how soon a man may forget himself,--how soon he may become a
    \r\n", - "demon in the practice of abominations, how soon he can reconcile
    \r\n", - "himself to things that outrage the most sacred ties of our social
    \r\n", - "being. And, too, consoling himself with the usages of society,
    \r\n", - "making it right, gives himself up to the most barbarous practices.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "When we left Marston in a former chapter, he had become sensible of
    \r\n", - "the wrong he so long assisted to inflict upon innocent and
    \r\n", - "defenceless persons; and, stung with remorse made painful by the
    \r\n", - "weight of misfortune, had avowed his object of saving his children.
    \r\n", - "Yet, strange as it may seem, so inured were his feelings to those
    \r\n", - "arbitrary customs which slave-owners are educated to view as
    \r\n", - "privileges guaranteed in the rights of a peculiar institution-the
    \r\n", - "rights of property in the being slave-that, although conscious of
    \r\n", - "his duty toward the children, no sooner had the mother of Nicholas
    \r\n", - "been attacked with cholera, than he sold her to the Elder Pemberton
    \r\n", - "Praiseworthy, in whose infirmary we have just left her. The Elder,
    \r\n", - "since his discharge from parochial life,--from ministering the
    \r\n", - "gospel, has transferred his mission to that of being the partner in
    \r\n", - "a firm, the ostensible business of which is purchasing the sick, the
    \r\n", - "living, and the dying.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Do not blush, reader; you know not how elastic dealing in human kind
    \r\n", - "makes man's feelings. Gold is the beacon-light of avarice; for it
    \r\n", - "man will climb over a catacomb of the dead. In this instance the
    \r\n", - "very man-Marston-who, touched by misfortune, began to cherish a
    \r\n", - "father's natural feelings, could see nothing but property in the
    \r\n", - "mother, though he knew that mother to be born free. Perhaps it was
    \r\n", - "not without some compunction of feelings-perhaps it was done to
    \r\n", - "soften the separation at that moment so necessary to the
    \r\n", - "preservation of the children. But we must leave this phase of the
    \r\n", - "picture, and turn to another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum had diligently watched Marston's affairs, and through the
    \r\n", - "cunning and perseverance of Romescos, carefully noted every movement
    \r\n", - "on the plantation. Each death from cholera was reported,--the change
    \r\n", - "in Marston's feelings observed and provided against,--every stage of
    \r\n", - "the crop carefully watched. Graspum, however, had secured himself in
    \r\n", - "the real estate, and gave little heed to the epidemic that was
    \r\n", - "carrying off the negro property. Finally, to pass over several
    \r\n", - "stages in the decline of Marston's affairs, the ravages of the
    \r\n", - "disease continued until but forty-three negroes, old and young,
    \r\n", - "were left on the old homestead. The culminating point had arrived.
    \r\n", - "He was in the grasp of Graspum, and nothing could save him from
    \r\n", - "utter ruin. It had lately been proved that the Rovero family,
    \r\n", - "instead of being rich, were extremely poor, their plantation having
    \r\n", - "long been under a mortgage, the holder of which was threatening
    \r\n", - "foreclosure.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "With Marston, an amount of promiscuous debts had accumulated so far
    \r\n", - "beyond his expectation that he was without means of discharging
    \r\n", - "them. His affairs became more and more confused, while the amount of
    \r\n", - "his liabilities remained a perfect obscurity to the community.
    \r\n", - "Rumour began to disseminate his troubles, suspicion summoned her
    \r\n", - "charges, and town-talk left little unadded; while those of his
    \r\n", - "creditors who had been least suspicious of his wealth and honour
    \r\n", - "became the most importunate applicants for their claims. At length,
    \r\n", - "driven by the pressure of the times, he calls Clotilda to him, and
    \r\n", - "tells her that he is resolved to send Annette and Nicholas into the
    \r\n", - "city, where they will remain in the care of a coloured woman, until
    \r\n", - "an opportunity offers of sending them to the north. He is fond of
    \r\n", - "Clotilda,--tells her of the excitement concerning his business
    \r\n", - "affairs, and impresses her with the necessity of preserving
    \r\n", - "calmness; it is requisite to the evasion of any ulterior consequence
    \r\n", - "that may be brought upon him. Every-thing hangs upon a thread-a
    \r\n", - "political thread, a lawful thread-a thread that holds the fate of
    \r\n", - "thirty, forty, or fifty human beings-that separates them from that
    \r\n", - "verge of uncertainty upon which a straw may turn the weal or woe of
    \r\n", - "their lives. \"When I get them comfortably cared for, Clotilda, I
    \r\n", - "will send for you. Nicholas's mother has gone, but you shall be a
    \r\n", - "mother to them both,\" he says, looking upon her seriously, as if
    \r\n", - "contemplating the trouble before him in the attempt to rescue his
    \r\n", - "children.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You will not send Annette away without me?\" she inquires, quickly,
    \r\n", - "falling on her knees at his side, and reiterating, \"Don't send
    \r\n", - "Annette away without me,--don't, mas'r!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The separation will only be for a few days. Annette shall be
    \r\n", - "educated-I care not for the laws of our free land against it-and
    \r\n", - "together you shall go where your parentage will not shame you,--where
    \r\n", - "you may ornament society,\" he replies, as Clotilda's face lights up
    \r\n", - "with satisfaction. With such an assurance-she does not comprehend
    \r\n", - "the tenour of his troubles-her freedom seems at hand: it excites her
    \r\n", - "to joy. Marston retires and she takes his seat, writes a note to
    \r\n", - "Maxwell, who is then in the city, relating what has transpired, and
    \r\n", - "concluding with a request that he will call and see her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A few days passed, and the two children were sent into the city and
    \r\n", - "placed in the charge of a free woman, with instructions to keep them
    \r\n", - "secreted for several weeks. This movement being discovered by
    \r\n", - "Romescos, was the first signal for an onset of creditors. Graspum,
    \r\n", - "always first to secure himself, in this instance compelled Marston
    \r\n", - "to succumb to his demands by threatening to disclose the crime
    \r\n", - "Lorenzo had committed. Forcing him to fulfil the obligation in the
    \r\n", - "bond, he took formal possession of the plantation. This increased
    \r\n", - "the suspicion of fraud; there was a mystery somewhere,--nobody could
    \r\n", - "solve it. Marston, even his former friends declared, was a swindler.
    \r\n", - "He could not be honestly indebted in so large an amount to Graspum;
    \r\n", - "nor could he be so connected with such persons without something
    \r\n", - "being wrong somewhere. Friends began to insinuate that they had been
    \r\n", - "misled; and not a few among those who had enjoyed his hospitality
    \r\n", - "were first inclined to scandalise his integrity. Graspum had
    \r\n", - "foreseen all this, and, with Romescos, who had purloined the bill of
    \r\n", - "sale, was prepared to do any amount of swearing. Marston is a victim
    \r\n", - "of circumstances; his proud spirit prompts him to preserve from
    \r\n", - "disgrace the name of his family, and thus he the more easily yielded
    \r\n", - "to the demands of the betrayer. Hence, Graspum, secure in his
    \r\n", - "ill-gotten booty, leaves his victim to struggle with those who come
    \r\n", - "after him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A few weeks pass over, and the equity of Graspum's claim is
    \r\n", - "questioned: his character for honour being doubted, gives rise to
    \r\n", - "much comment. The whole thing is denounced-proclaimed a concerted
    \r\n", - "movement to defraud the rightful creditors. And yet, knowing the
    \r\n", - "supremacy of money over law in a slave state, Graspum's power, the
    \r\n", - "revenge his followers inflict, and their desperate character, not
    \r\n", - "one dare come forward to test the validity of the debt. They know
    \r\n", - "and fear the fierce penalty: they are forced to fall back,--to seize
    \r\n", - "his person, his property, his personal effects.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In this dilemma, Marston repairs to the city, attempts to make an
    \r\n", - "arrangement with his creditors, singularly fails; he can effect
    \r\n", - "nothing. Wherever he goes his salutation meets a cold, measured
    \r\n", - "response; whisper marks him a swindler. The knife stabs deep into
    \r\n", - "the already festered wound. Misfortune bears heavily upon a
    \r\n", - "sensitive mind; but accusation of wrong, when struggling under
    \r\n", - "trials, stabs deepest into the heart, and bears its victim suffering
    \r\n", - "to the very depths of despair.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "To add to this combination of misfortunes, on his return to the
    \r\n", - "plantation he found it deserted,--a sheriff's keeper guarding his
    \r\n", - "personal effects, his few remaining negroes seized upon and marched
    \r\n", - "into the city for the satisfaction of his debts. Clotilda has been
    \r\n", - "seized upon, manacled, driven to the city, committed to prison.
    \r\n", - "Another creditor has found out the hiding-place of the children;
    \r\n", - "directs the sheriff, who seizes upon them, like property of their
    \r\n", - "kind, and drags them to prison. Oh, that prison walls were made for
    \r\n", - "torturing the innocent!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston is left poor upon the world; Ellen Juvarna is in the hands
    \r\n", - "of a resurrectionist; Nicholas-a bright boy he has grown-is within
    \r\n", - "the dark confines of a prison cell, along with Clotilda and Annette.
    \r\n", - "Melancholy broods over the plantation now. The act of justice,--the
    \r\n", - "right which Marston saw through wrong, and which he had intended to
    \r\n", - "carry out,--is now beyond his power. Stripped of those comforts he
    \r\n", - "had enjoyed, his offspring carried off as trophies of
    \r\n", - "avarice,--perhaps for sale to some ruffian who would set a price upon
    \r\n", - "their beauty,--he sits down, sick at heart, and weeps a child's
    \r\n", - "tears. The mansion, so long the scene of pleasure and hospitality,
    \r\n", - "is like a deserted barrack;-still, gloomy, cold, in the absence of
    \r\n", - "familiar faces. No servant comes to call him master,--Dandy and Enoch
    \r\n", - "are gone; and those familiar words, so significant of affection
    \r\n", - "between master and slave, \"Glad to see ye home, mas'r,\" no longer
    \r\n", - "sounded in his ears. Even his overseer has become alarmed, and like
    \r\n", - "the rest levied for arrears of wages.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There is nothing for Marston but to give up all,--to leave the home
    \r\n", - "of his childhood, his manhood, his happier days. He is suddenly
    \r\n", - "reminded that there is virtue in fortitude; and, as he gazes round
    \r\n", - "the room, the relics of happier days redouble his conviction of the
    \r\n", - "evil he has brought upon himself by straying from the paths of
    \r\n", - "rectitude. Indeed, so sudden was his fall from distinction, that the
    \r\n", - "scene around him seemed like a dream, from which he had just awoke
    \r\n", - "to question its precipitancy. \"A sheriff is here now, and I am a
    \r\n", - "mere being of sufferance,\" he says, casting a moody glance around
    \r\n", - "the room, as if contemplating the dark prospect before him. A few
    \r\n", - "moments' pause, and he rises, walks to the window, looks out upon
    \r\n", - "the serene scene spread out before the mansion. There is the river,
    \r\n", - "on which he has spent so many pleasant hours, calmly winding its way
    \r\n", - "through deep green foliage mellowed by the moonlight. Its beauties
    \r\n", - "only remind him of the past. He walks away,--struggles to forget, to
    \r\n", - "look above his trials. He goes to the old side-board that has so
    \r\n", - "long given forth its cheer; that, too, is locked! \"Locked to me!\" he
    \r\n", - "says, attempting to open its doors. A sheriff's lock hangs upon
    \r\n", - "them. Accustomed to every indulgence, each check indicated a doubt
    \r\n", - "of his honour, wounding his feelings. The smaller the restraint the
    \r\n", - "deeper did it pierce his heart. While in this desponding mood,
    \r\n", - "vainly endeavouring to gain resolution to carry him through, a
    \r\n", - "gentle rap is heard at the door. Who can it be at this hour? he
    \r\n", - "questions to himself. No servant is near him; servants have all been
    \r\n", - "led into captivity for the satisfaction of debts. He approaches the
    \r\n", - "door and opens it himself, looking cautiously into the corridor.
    \r\n", - "There, crouched in a niche, alternately presenting fear and
    \r\n", - "joy,--fear lest he be seen by the enemy, and joy to see his
    \r\n", - "master,--is a dark figure with the familiar face of Daddy Bob,--Bob of
    \r\n", - "the old plantation. The old, faithful servant puts out his wrinkled
    \r\n", - "hand nervously, saying, \"Oh, good mas'r!\" He has looked up to
    \r\n", - "Marston with the same love that an affectionate child does to a kind
    \r\n", - "parent; he has enjoyed mas'r's warm welcome, nurtured his
    \r\n", - "confidence, had his say in directing the affairs of the plantation,
    \r\n", - "and watched the frailties that threatened it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Why, Daddy Bob! Can it be you?\" Marston says, modulating his voice,
    \r\n", - "as a change comes over his feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dis is me, mas'r; it is me,\" again says the old man. He is wet with
    \r\n", - "the night dew, but his heart is warm and affectionate. Marston
    \r\n", - "seizes his hand as if to return the old man's gratitude, and leads
    \r\n", - "him into the room, smiling. \"Sit down, Bob, sit down!\" he says,
    \r\n", - "handing him a chair. The old servant stands at the chair
    \r\n", - "hesitatingly, doubting his position. \"Fear nothing, Bob; sit down.
    \r\n", - "You are my best friend,\" Marston continues. Bob takes a seat, lays
    \r\n", - "his cap quietly upon the floor, smiles to see old mas'r, but don't
    \r\n", - "feel just right because there's something wrong: he draws the laps
    \r\n", - "of his jacket together, covers the remnant of a shirt. \"Mas'r, what
    \r\n", - "be da' gwine to do wid de old plantation? Tings, Bob reckon, b'nt
    \r\n", - "gwine straight,\" he speaks, looking at Marston shyly. The old slave
    \r\n", - "knew his master's heart, and had waited for him to unfold its
    \r\n", - "beatings; but the kind heart of the master yielded to the burden
    \r\n", - "that was upon it, and never more so than when moved by the strong
    \r\n", - "attachment evinced by the old man. There was mutual sympathy
    \r\n", - "pourtrayed in the tenderest emotions. The one was full of grief,
    \r\n", - "and, if touched by the word of a friend, would overflow; the other
    \r\n", - "was susceptible of kindness, knew something had befallen his master,
    \r\n", - "and was ready to present the best proofs of his attachment.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And how did you get here, my old faithful?\" inquires Marston,
    \r\n", - "drawing nearer to him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, mas'r, ye see, t'ant just so wid nigger what don' know how
    \r\n", - "tings is! But, Bob up t' dese tings. I sees Buckra, what look as if
    \r\n", - "he hab no rights on dis plantation, grab'n up all de folks. And
    \r\n", - "Lor,' mas'r, old Bob could'nt leave mas'r no how. An, den, when da'
    \r\n", - "begins to chain de folks up-da' chain up old Rachel, mas'r!-Old Bob
    \r\n", - "feel so de plantation war'nt no-whare; and him time t'be gwine. Da'h
    \r\n", - "an't gwine t' cotch old Bob, and carry 'm way from mas'r, so I jist
    \r\n", - "cum possum ober dem-stows away yander, down close in de old corn
    \r\n", - "crib,--\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And you eluded the sheriff to take care of me, did you, Daddy?\"
    \r\n", - "interrupts Marston, and again takes the old man's hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, mas'r, Bob ain't white, but 'is feeling get so fo' h mas'r, he
    \r\n", - "can't speak 'em,\" the old slave replies, pearls glistening in his
    \r\n", - "eyes. \"My feelings feel so, I can't speak 'em!\" And with a brother's
    \r\n", - "fondness he shakes his master's hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We must beg the reader's indulgence here for the purpose of making a
    \r\n", - "few remarks upon the negro's power of observation. From the many
    \r\n", - "strange disquisitions that have been put forward on the mental
    \r\n", - "qualities of the man of colour-more particularly the African-few can
    \r\n", - "be selected which have not had for their object his
    \r\n", - "disqualification. His power of observation has been much
    \r\n", - "undervalued; but it has been chiefly by those who judge him by a
    \r\n", - "superficial scale, or from a selfish motive. In the position of mere
    \r\n", - "property, he is, of necessity, compelled to yield all claims to
    \r\n", - "mental elevation. And yet, forced to degradation, there are few
    \r\n", - "negroes on the plantation, or in the spheres of labour, who do not
    \r\n", - "note the rise and fall of their master's fortunes, study the nature
    \r\n", - "and prospects of the crop, make enquiries about the market, concoct
    \r\n", - "the best economy in managing lands, and consult among themselves as
    \r\n", - "to what would promote the interests of the whole. So far is this
    \r\n", - "carried out, that in many districts a rivalry for the largest amount
    \r\n", - "of crop on a given space is carried on among the slaves, who not
    \r\n", - "unfrequently \"chafe\" each other upon the superior wealth and talent
    \r\n", - "of their masters. It is a well-known fact, that John C. Calhoun's
    \r\n", - "slaves, in addition to being extremely fond of him, were proud and
    \r\n", - "boastful of his talent.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daddy Bob is an exemplification. The faithful old slave had become
    \r\n", - "sensible of something wrong on the plantation: he saw the sheriff
    \r\n", - "seizing upon the families, secreted himself in the corn crib, and
    \r\n", - "fled to the woods when they were out of sight. Here, sheltered by
    \r\n", - "the myrtle, he remained until midnight, intently watching the
    \r\n", - "mansion for signs of old mas'r. Suddenly a light glimmers from the
    \r\n", - "window; the old slave's feelings bound with joy; he feels it an
    \r\n", - "invitation for him to return, and, leaving his hiding-place,
    \r\n", - "approaches the house stealthily, and descries his master at the
    \r\n", - "window. Confidence returns, his joy is complete, his hopes have not
    \r\n", - "misled him. Hungry and wet, he has found his way back to master,
    \r\n", - "whose face at the window gladdens his heart,--carries him beyond the
    \r\n", - "bounds of caution. Hence the cordial greeting between the old slave
    \r\n", - "and his indulgent master. We hear the oft-expressed words-\"Master! I
    \r\n", - "love ye, I do!\" Marston gets a candle, lights the old man to a bed
    \r\n", - "in the attic, bids him good night, and retires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XIV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH THE EXTREMES ARE PRESENTED.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WHILE the gloomy prospect we have just presented hovered over
    \r\n", - "Marston's plantation, proceedings of no minor importance, and having
    \r\n", - "reference to this particular case, are going on in and about the
    \r\n", - "city. Maxwell, moved by Clotilda's implorings, had promised to gain
    \r\n", - "her freedom for her; but he knew the penalty, feared the result of a
    \r\n", - "failure, and had hesitated to make the attempt. The consequences
    \r\n", - "were upon him, he saw the want of prompt action, and regretted that
    \r\n", - "the time for carrying his resolution into effect had passed. The
    \r\n", - "result harassed him; he saw this daughter of misfortune, on her
    \r\n", - "bended knees, breathing a prayer to Omnipotence for the deliverance
    \r\n", - "of her child; he remembered her appeal to him, imploring him to
    \r\n", - "deliver her from the grasp of slavery, from that licentiousness
    \r\n", - "which the female slave is compelled to bear. He saw her confiding in
    \r\n", - "him as a deliverer,--the sight haunted him unto madness! Her child!
    \r\n", - "her child! Yes, that offspring in which her hopes were centered! For
    \r\n", - "it she pleaded and pleaded; for it she offered to sacrifice her own
    \r\n", - "happiness; for it she invoked the all-protecting hand. That child,
    \r\n", - "doomed to a life of chattel misery; to serve the lusts of modern
    \r\n", - "barbarism in a country where freedom and civilization sound praises
    \r\n", - "from ocean to ocean; to be obscured in the darkness and cruelty of
    \r\n", - "an institution in which justice is scoffed, where distress has no
    \r\n", - "listeners, and the trap-keepers of men's souls scorn to make honest
    \r\n", - "recompense while human flesh and blood are weighed in the scale of
    \r\n", - "dollars and cents! He trembles before the sad picture; remonstrances
    \r\n", - "and entreaties from him will be in vain; nor can he seize them and
    \r\n", - "carry them off. His life might be forfeited in the attempt, even
    \r\n", - "were they without prison walls. No! it is almost hopeless. In the
    \r\n", - "narrow confines of a securely grated cell, where thoughts and
    \r\n", - "anxieties waste the soul in disappointment, and where hopes only
    \r\n", - "come and go to spread time with grief, he could only see her and her
    \r\n", - "child as they suffered. The spectacle had no charm; and those who
    \r\n", - "carried them into captivity for the satisfaction of paltry debts
    \r\n", - "could not be made to divest themselves of the self in nature. Cries
    \r\n", - "and sobs were nothing,--such were poor stock for \"niggers\" to have;
    \r\n", - "pains and anxieties were at a discount, chivalry proclaimed its
    \r\n", - "rule, and nothing was thought well of that lessened the market value
    \r\n", - "of body and soul. Among great, generous, hospitable, and chivalrous
    \r\n", - "men, such things could only be weighed in the common scale of trade.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Again, Maxwell remembered that Marston had unfolded his troubles to
    \r\n", - "him, and being a mere stranger the confidence warranted mutual
    \r\n", - "reciprocity. If it were merely an act dictated by the impulse of his
    \r\n", - "feelings at that moment, the secret was now laid broadly open. He
    \r\n", - "was father of the children, and, sensible of their critical
    \r\n", - "situation, the sting was goading him to their rescue. The question
    \r\n", - "was-would he interpose and declare them as such? Ah, he forgot it
    \r\n", - "was not the father's assertion,--it was the law. The crime of being
    \r\n", - "property was inherited from the mother. Acknowledging them his
    \r\n", - "children would neither satisfy law nor the creditors. What
    \r\n", - "honourable-we except the modernly chivalrous-man would see his
    \r\n", - "children jostled by the ruffian trader? What man, with feelings less
    \r\n", - "sensitive than iron, would see his child sold to the man-vender for
    \r\n", - "purposes so impious that heaven and earth frowned upon them? And yet
    \r\n", - "the scene was no uncommon one; slavery affords the medium, and men,
    \r\n", - "laying their hearts aside, make it serve their pockets. Those whom
    \r\n", - "it would insult to call less than gentlemen have covered their
    \r\n", - "scruples with the law, while consigning their own offspring to the
    \r\n", - "hand of an auctioneer. Man property is subvervient material,--woman
    \r\n", - "is even more; for where her virtue forms its tissues, and can be
    \r\n", - "sold, the issue is indeed deplorable. Again, where vice is made a
    \r\n", - "pleasure, and the offspring of it become a burden on our hands,
    \r\n", - "slavery affords the most convenient medium of getting rid of the
    \r\n", - "incumbrance. They sell it, perhaps profitably, and console
    \r\n", - "themselves with the happy recollection of what a great thing it is
    \r\n", - "to live in a free country, where one may get rid of such things
    \r\n", - "profitably. It may save our shame in the eyes of man, but God sees
    \r\n", - "all,--records the wrong!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus Maxwell contemplated the prospects before him. At length he
    \r\n", - "resolved to visit Marston upon his plantation, impress him with the
    \r\n", - "necessity of asserting their freedom, in order to save them from
    \r\n", - "being sold with the effects of the estate.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He visits Marston's mansion,--finds the picture sadly changed; his
    \r\n", - "generous friend, who has entertained him so hospitably, sits in a
    \r\n", - "little ante-chamber, pensively, as if something of importance has
    \r\n", - "absorbed his attention. No well-dressed servants welcome him with
    \r\n", - "their smiles and grimaces; no Franconia greets him with her
    \r\n", - "vivacity, her pleasing conversation, her frankness and fondness for
    \r\n", - "the old servants. No table is decked out with the viands of the
    \r\n", - "season-Marston's viands have turned into troubles,--loneliness reigns
    \r\n", - "throughout. It is night, and nothing but the dull sound of the
    \r\n", - "keeper's tread breaks the silence. His (Maxwell's) mission is a
    \r\n", - "delicate one. It may be construed as intrusive, he thinks. But its
    \r\n", - "importance outweighs the doubt, and, though he approaches with
    \r\n", - "caution, is received with that embrace of friendship which a
    \r\n", - "gentleman can claim as his own when he feels the justice of the
    \r\n", - "mission of him who approaches, even though its tenor be painful.
    \r\n", - "Maxwell hesitated for a few moments, looked silently upon the scene.
    \r\n", - "Trouble had already left its prints of sadness upon Marston's
    \r\n", - "countenance; the past, full of happy associations, floated in his
    \r\n", - "mind; the future--ah! that was--. Happily, at that moment, he had
    \r\n", - "been contemplating the means by which he could save Clotilda and the
    \r\n", - "children. He rises, approaches Maxwell, hands him a chair, listens
    \r\n", - "to his proposal. \"If I can assist you, we will save them,\" concludes
    \r\n", - "Maxwell.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That,\" he replies, doubtingly, \"my good friend, has engaged my
    \r\n", - "thoughts by night and day--has made me most uneasy. Misfortune likes
    \r\n", - "sympathy; your words are as soothing as praiseworthy. I will defend
    \r\n", - "my children if every creditor call me swindler. I will destroy the
    \r\n", - "infernal bill of sale,--I will crush the hell-born paper that gives
    \r\n", - "life to deeds so bloody,--I will free them from the shame!\" Thus, his
    \r\n", - "feelings excited to the uttermost, he rises from his seat,
    \r\n", - "approaches a cupboard, draws forth the small trunk we have before
    \r\n", - "described, unlocks it. \"That fatal document is here, I put it here,
    \r\n", - "I will destroy it now; I will save them through its destruction.
    \r\n", - "There shall be no evidence of Clotilda's mother being a slave, oh
    \r\n", - "no!\" he mutters rapidly, running his fingers over packages, papers,
    \r\n", - "and documents. Again he glances vacantly over the whole file,
    \r\n", - "examining paper after paper, carefully. He looks in vain. It is not
    \r\n", - "there; there is no document so fatal. Sharper men have taken better
    \r\n", - "care of it. \"It is not here!\" he whispers, his countenance becoming
    \r\n", - "pallid and death-like. \"Not here!\"-and they will swear to suit their
    \r\n", - "purposes. Oaths are only worth what they bring in the market, among
    \r\n", - "slave dealers. But, who can have taken it?\" he continues, looking
    \r\n", - "wildly at Maxwell. Consternation is pictured on his countenance; he
    \r\n", - "feels there is intrigue at work, and that the want of that paper
    \r\n", - "will prove fatal to his resolution. A man in trouble always confides
    \r\n", - "in others, sometimes those whom he would scarce have trusted before.
    \r\n", - "He throws the paper aside, takes a seat at Maxwell's side, grasps
    \r\n", - "him by the hand, saying, \"My friend! save them! save them! save
    \r\n", - "them! Use what stratagem you please; make it the experiment of your
    \r\n", - "life. Consummate it, and a penitent's prayer will bless you! I see
    \r\n", - "the impending catastrophe-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We may do without it; be quiet. Let your feelings calm. I have
    \r\n", - "consulted Franconia on the same subject. Woman can do much if she
    \r\n", - "will; and she has promised me she will. My knowledge of her womanly
    \r\n", - "nature tells me she will be true to Clotilda!\" Maxwell speaks
    \r\n", - "assuringly, and his words seem as balm to a wounded spirit.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The bill of sale was among the things intended for a more profitable
    \r\n", - "use. Marston has satisfied Graspum's claim; but he knew that slavery
    \r\n", - "deadened the sensibilities of men. Yet, could it have so deadened
    \r\n", - "Graspum's feeling that he would have been found in a plot against
    \r\n", - "him? No! he could not believe it. He would not look for foul play
    \r\n", - "from that quarter. It might have been mislaid-if lost, all the
    \r\n", - "better. A second thought, and he begins to quiet himself with the
    \r\n", - "belief that it had become extinct; that, there not being evidence to
    \r\n", - "prove them property, his word would be sufficient to procure their
    \r\n", - "release. Somewhat relieved of the force of parental anxiety-we can
    \r\n", - "call it by no other name-the troubled planter, with his troubles
    \r\n", - "inherited, promises Maxwell, who has postponed his departure that he
    \r\n", - "may aid in saving Clotilda and her child, that he will proceed
    \r\n", - "direct to the sheriff's office, give notice of their freedom to that
    \r\n", - "functionary, and forbid the sale. Upon this resolution they part for
    \r\n", - "the night, and on the following morning, Marston, sick at heart,
    \r\n", - "leaves for the city, hoping to make arrangements with his attorney,
    \r\n", - "who will serve notice of freedom with all the expense and legality
    \r\n", - "of form.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The reader will excuse us for passing over many things of minor
    \r\n", - "importance which take place during the progress of arrangements
    \r\n", - "between Marston and the attorney, Mr. Dyson--commonly called Thomas
    \r\n", - "Dyson, Esq., wonderfully clever in the practice of slave law--and
    \r\n", - "proceeding to where we find the notice formally served. The document
    \r\n", - "forbids the sale of certain persons, physically and mentally
    \r\n", - "described, according to the nicest rules of law and tenour of trade;
    \r\n", - "and is, with the dignity of legal proceedings, served on the
    \r\n", - "honourable sheriff. We give a portion of it, for those who are not
    \r\n", - "informed on such curious matters: it runs thus:--\"'The girl
    \r\n", - "Clotilda-aged 27 years; her child Annette-aged 7 years, and a
    \r\n", - "remarkable boy, Nicholas, 6 years old, all negroes, levied upon at
    \r\n", - "the suit of--, to satisfy a fi fa issued from the--, and set forth
    \r\n", - "to be the property of Hugh Marston of--, &c. &c.;'\" as set forth in
    \r\n", - "the writ of attachment. Thus runs the curious law, based on
    \r\n", - "privilege, not principle.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The document served on the sheriff, Marston resolved to remain a few
    \r\n", - "days in the city and watch its effect. The sheriff, who is seldom
    \r\n", - "supposed to evince sympathy in his duties, conforms with the
    \r\n", - "ordinary routine of law in nigger cases; and, in his turn, gives
    \r\n", - "notice to the plaintiff, who is required to enter security for the
    \r\n", - "purpose of testing the point of freedom. Freedom here is a slender
    \r\n", - "commodity; it can be sworn away for a small compensation. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Anthony Romescos has peculiar talent that way, and his services are
    \r\n", - "always in the market. The point, however, has not resolved itself
    \r\n", - "into that peculiar position where it must be either a matter of
    \r\n", - "compromise, or a question for the court and jury to decide.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "If Marston, now sensible of his position as father of the children,
    \r\n", - "will yield them a sacrifice to the man trader, it is in his power;
    \r\n", - "the creditors will make it their profit. Who, then, can solve the
    \r\n", - "perplexity for him? The custom of society, pointing the finger of
    \r\n", - "shame, denies him the right to acknowledge them his children.
    \r\n", - "Society has established the licentious wrong,--the law protects it,
    \r\n", - "custom enforces it. He can only proceed by declaring the mother to
    \r\n", - "be a free woman, and leaving the producing proof to convict her of
    \r\n", - "being slave property to the plaintiff. In doing this, his judgment
    \r\n", - "wars with his softer feelings. Custom--though it has nothing to give
    \r\n", - "him-is goading him with its advice; it tells him to abandon the
    \r\n", - "unfashionable, unpolite scheme. Natural laws have given birth to
    \r\n", - "natural feelings--natural affections are stronger than bad laws. They
    \r\n", - "burn with our nature,--they warm the gentle, inspire the noble, and
    \r\n", - "awake the daring that lies unmoved until it be called into action
    \r\n", - "for the rescue of those for whom our affections have taken life.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Things had arrived at that particular point where law-lovers-we mean
    \r\n", - "lawyers-look on with happy consciences and pleasing expectations;
    \r\n", - "that is, they had arrived at that certain hinge of slave law the
    \r\n", - "turn of which sends men, women, and children, into the vortex of
    \r\n", - "slavery, where their hopes are for ever crushed. One day Marston had
    \r\n", - "strong hopes of saving them; but his hopes vanished on the next. The
    \r\n", - "fair creature, by him made a wretch, seemed before him, on her
    \r\n", - "bended knees, clasping his hand while imploring him to save her
    \r\n", - "child. The very thought would have doubly nerved him to action; and
    \r\n", - "yet, what mattered such action against the force of slavery
    \r\n", - "injustice? All his exertions, all his pleadings, all his
    \r\n", - "protestations, in a land where liberty boasts its greatness, would
    \r\n", - "sink to nothing under the power he had placed in their possession
    \r\n", - "for his overthrow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "With this fatal scene before him, this indecision, he walked the
    \r\n", - "streets, resolving and re-resolving, weighing and re-weighing the
    \r\n", - "consequences, hoping without a chance for hope. He would be a father
    \r\n", - "as he has been a kind master; but the law says, no! no! Society
    \r\n", - "forbids right, the law crushes justice,--the justice of heaven!
    \r\n", - "Marston is like one driven from his home, from the scene of his
    \r\n", - "happy childhood, upon which he can now only look back to make the
    \r\n", - "present more painful. He has fallen from the full flow of pleasure
    \r\n", - "and wealth to the low ebb of poverty clothed in suspicion; he is
    \r\n", - "homeless, and fast becoming friendless. A few days after, as he
    \r\n", - "takes his morning walk, he is pointed to the painful fact, made
    \r\n", - "known through certain legal documents, posted at certain corners of
    \r\n", - "streets, that his \"negro property\" is advertised for sale by the
    \r\n", - "sheriff. He fears his legal notice has done little legal good,
    \r\n", - "except to the legal gentlemen who receive the costs. He retires to a
    \r\n", - "saloon, finds the morning paper, commences glancing over its legal
    \r\n", - "columns. The waiter is surprised to see him at that hour, is
    \r\n", - "ignorant of the war of trouble that is waging within him, knows him
    \r\n", - "only as a great man, a rice planter of wealth in negroes, treats him
    \r\n", - "with becoming civility, and enquires, with a polite bow, what he
    \r\n", - "will be served with. He wants nothing that will supply the physical
    \r\n", - "man. He has supped on trouble,--the following, painful as it is, will
    \r\n", - "serve him for breakfast; it meets his eye as he traces down the
    \r\n", - "column:--\"SHERIFF'S SALE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"According to former notice, will be sold on the first Tuesday in
    \r\n", - "September next, between the usual hours of sale, before the Court
    \r\n", - "House door, in this city, the following property-to wit!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Three yoke of prime oxen, and four carts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Seven horses; two of celebrated breed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Twenty-two mules, together with sundry other effects as per
    \r\n", - "previous schedule, which will be produced at the sale, when the
    \r\n", - "property will be pointed out. The said being levied on as the
    \r\n", - "property of Hugh Marston, of--District, and sold to satisfy a fi
    \r\n", - "fa issued from the Superior Court, W. W. C--.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Also the following gang of negroes, many of whom have been
    \r\n", - "accustomed to the cultivation of cotton and rice. Said negroes are
    \r\n", - "very prime and orderly, having been well trained and fed, in
    \r\n", - "addition to enjoying the benefit of Christian teaching through a
    \r\n", - "Sunday-school worship on the plantation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dandy, and Enock (yellow), prime house servants.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Choate, and Cato, aged 29 and 32, coachman and blacksmith.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Harry, a prime fellow of remarkable sagacity, said to be very
    \r\n", - "pious, and has been very valuable as a preacher.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Seventeen prime field hands, ranging from 17 to 63 years old,
    \r\n", - "together with sundry children, set forth in the schedule.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Peggy, aged 23 years, an excellent cook, house servant-can do
    \r\n", - "almost any work, is faithful and strictly honest.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Rachel, one of the very best wenches in the County; has had charge
    \r\n", - "of the Manor for several years, is very motherly and well disposed,
    \r\n", - "and fully capable of taking charge of a plantation.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The description of the negro property continues until it reaches the
    \r\n", - "last and most touching point, which Marston reads with tears
    \r\n", - "coursing down his cheeks. But, it is only trade, and it is
    \r\n", - "refreshing to see how much talent the auctionee-himself a
    \r\n", - "distinguished politician,--exhibits in displaying his bill. It is
    \r\n", - "that which has worked itself so deep into Marston's feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Clotilda, a white negro, and her child Annette; together with
    \r\n", - "Nicholas--a bright boy,\" remarkably intelligent-six years old. \"These
    \r\n", - "last,\" adds the list, \"have been well brought up, with great care,
    \r\n", - "and are extremely promising and pleasant when speaking. The woman
    \r\n", - "has superior looks, is sometimes called beautiful, has finely
    \r\n", - "developed features, and is considered to be the handsomest bright
    \r\n", - "woman in the county.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We acknowledge the italics to be ours. The list, displaying great
    \r\n", - "competency in the trade of human beings, concludes with warranting
    \r\n", - "them sound and healthy, informing all those in want of such property
    \r\n", - "of the wonderful opportunity of purchasing, and offering to
    \r\n", - "guarantee its qualities. The above being \"levied on to satisfy three
    \r\n", - "fi fas,\" &c. &c.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Poor Clotilda! her beauty has betrayed her: her mother was made a
    \r\n", - "slave, and she has inherited the sin which the enlightened of the
    \r\n", - "western world say shall be handed down from generation to generation
    \r\n", - "until time itself has an end. She is within the damp walls of a
    \r\n", - "narrow cell; the cold stones give forth their moisture to chill her
    \r\n", - "bleeding heart; the rust of oppression cuts into her very soul. The
    \r\n", - "warm sunlight of heaven, once so cheering, has now turned black and
    \r\n", - "cold to her. She sits in that cold confine, filled with sorrow,
    \r\n", - "hope, and expectation, awaiting her doom, like a culprit who
    \r\n", - "measures the chances of escape between him and the gallows. She
    \r\n", - "thinks of Marston. \"He was a kind friend to me-he was a good
    \r\n", - "master,\" she says, little thinking that at that very moment he sits
    \r\n", - "in the saloon reading that southern death-warrant which dooms so
    \r\n", - "many to a life of woe. In it fathers were not mentioned-Marston's
    \r\n", - "feelings were spared that pain; mothers' tears, too, were omitted,
    \r\n", - "lest the sensitiveness of the fashionable world should be touched.
    \r\n", - "Pained, and sick at heart-stung by remorse at finding himself
    \r\n", - "without power to relieve Clotilda-he rises from his seat, and makes
    \r\n", - "arrangement to return to his plantation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A SCENE OF MANY LIGHTS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WE must leave Marston wending his way for the old plantation, and
    \r\n", - "pass to another phase of this complicated affair. In doing this, we
    \r\n", - "must leave the reader to draw from his own imagination much that
    \r\n", - "must have transpired previous to the present incidents.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The Rovero family-old and distinguished-had struggled against the
    \r\n", - "misfortunes brought upon them by their son Lorenzo. Deeply involved,
    \r\n", - "they had allowed their difficulties to go on till they had found
    \r\n", - "themselves living by the favour of courtesy and indulgence. Lorenzo
    \r\n", - "and Franconia were only children; and since the departure of the
    \r\n", - "former the latter had been the idol of their indulgence. She was, as
    \r\n", - "we have before said, delicate, sensitive, endowed with generous
    \r\n", - "impulses, and admired for her gentleness, grace, and vivacity. To
    \r\n", - "these she added firmness, and, when once resolved upon any object,
    \r\n", - "could not be moved from her purpose. Nor was she-as is the popular
    \r\n", - "fallacy of the South-susceptible to the influence of wealth. Her
    \r\n", - "love and tenderness soared above it; she prized wealth less than
    \r\n", - "moral worth. But she could not appease the pride of her parents with
    \r\n", - "her feelings. They, labouring under the influence of their reduced
    \r\n", - "fortunes, had favoured and insisted upon the advances of the very
    \r\n", - "wealthy Colonel M'Carstrow, a rice-planter, who had a few years
    \r\n", - "before inherited a large estate. The colonel is a sturdy specimen of
    \r\n", - "the Southern gentleman, which combines a singular mixture of
    \r\n", - "qualities, some of which are represented by a love of good living,
    \r\n", - "good drinking, good horse-racing, good gambling, and fast company.
    \r\n", - "He lives on the fat of the land, because the fat of the land was
    \r\n", - "made for him to enjoy. He has no particular objection to anybody in
    \r\n", - "the world, providing they believe in slavery, and live according to
    \r\n", - "his notions of a gentleman. His soul's delight is faro, which he
    \r\n", - "would not exchange for all the religion in the world; he has strong
    \r\n", - "doubts about the good of religion, which, he says, should be boxed
    \r\n", - "up with modern morality.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Laying these things aside, however, he is anything but what would
    \r\n", - "have been properly selected as a partner for Franconia; and, while
    \r\n", - "she is only eighteen, he has turned the corner of his forty-third
    \r\n", - "year. In a word, his manners are unmodelled, his feelings coarse,
    \r\n", - "his associations of the worst kind; nor is he adapted to make the
    \r\n", - "happiness of domestic life lasting. He is one of those persons so
    \r\n", - "often met with, whose affections-if they may be supposed to have
    \r\n", - "any-are held in a sort of compromise between an incitement to love,
    \r\n", - "and their natural inclination to revel in voluptuous pleasures. The
    \r\n", - "two being antagonistic at times, the latter is sure to be the
    \r\n", - "stronger, and not unfrequently carries its victim into dissolute
    \r\n", - "extremes. Riches, however, will always weigh heavy in the scale;
    \r\n", - "their possession sways,--the charm of gold is precious and powerful.
    \r\n", - "And, too, the colonel had another attraction-very much esteemed
    \r\n", - "among slave-dealers and owners--he had a military title, though no
    \r\n", - "one knew how he came by it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia must be the affianced bride of the supposed wealthy
    \r\n", - "Colonel M'Carstrow; so say her parents, who feel they are being
    \r\n", - "crushed out by misfortune. It is their desire; and, however
    \r\n", - "repulsive it may be to Franconia's feelings, she must accept the
    \r\n", - "man: she must forget his years, his habits, his associations, for
    \r\n", - "the wealth he can bring to the relief of the family.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "To add �clat to the event, it is arranged that the nuptial ceremony
    \r\n", - "shall take place in the spacious old mansion of General P--, in the
    \r\n", - "city. General P--is a distant relation of the Rovero family. His
    \r\n", - "mansion is one of those noble old edifices, met here and there in
    \r\n", - "the South--especially in South Carolina-which strongly mark the
    \r\n", - "grandeur of their ancient occupants. It is a massive pile of marble,
    \r\n", - "of mixed style of Grecian and Doric architecture, with three stories
    \r\n", - "divided by projecting trellised arbours, and ornamented with fluted
    \r\n", - "columns surmounted with ingeniously-worked and sculptured capitals,
    \r\n", - "set off with grotesque figures. The front is ornamented with tablets
    \r\n", - "of bas-relief, variegated and chaste. These are bordered with
    \r\n", - "scroll-work, chases of flowers, graces, and historical designs.
    \r\n", - "Around the lower story, palisades and curvatures project here and
    \r\n", - "there between the divisions, forming bowers shaded by vines and
    \r\n", - "sweet-scented blossoms. These are diffusing their fragrance through
    \r\n", - "the spacious halls and corridors beneath. The stately old pile wears
    \r\n", - "a romantic appearance; but it has grown brown with decay, and stands
    \r\n", - "in dumb testimony of that taste and feeling which prevailed among
    \r\n", - "its British founders. The garden in which it stands, once rich with
    \r\n", - "the choicest flowers of every clime, now presents an area overgrown
    \r\n", - "with rank weeds, decaying hedges, dilapidated walks, and sickly
    \r\n", - "shrubbery. The hand that once nurtured this pretty scene of buds and
    \r\n", - "blossoms with so much care has passed away. Dull inertness now hangs
    \r\n", - "its lifeless festoons over the whole, from the vaulted hall to the
    \r\n", - "iron railing enclosing the whole.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The day for consummating the nuptial ceremony has arrived; many
    \r\n", - "years have passed since the old mansion witnessed such a scene. The
    \r\n", - "gay, wealthy, and intelligent of the little fashionable world will
    \r\n", - "be here. The spell of loneliness in which the old walls have so long
    \r\n", - "slept will be broken. Sparkling jewels, bland smiles, the rich
    \r\n", - "decorations of former years, are to again enhance the scene.
    \r\n", - "Exhausted nature is to shake off its monotony, to be enlivened with
    \r\n", - "the happiness of a seemingly happy assemblage. A lovely bride is to
    \r\n", - "be showered with smiles, congratulations, tokens of love. Southern
    \r\n", - "gallantry will doff its cares, put on its smiling face. Whatever may
    \r\n", - "smoulder beneath, pleasure and gaiety will adorn the surface.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia sits in her spacious chamber. She is arrayed in flowing
    \r\n", - "n�glig�; a pensive smile invades her countenance; she supports her
    \r\n", - "head on her left hand, the jewels on her tiny fingers sparkling
    \r\n", - "though her hair. Everything round her bears evidence of comfort and
    \r\n", - "luxury; the gentle breeze, as it sweeps through the window to fan
    \r\n", - "her blushing cheek, is impregnated with sweetest odours. She
    \r\n", - "contemplates the meeting of him who is to be the partner of her
    \r\n", - "life; can she reconcile it? Nay, there is something forcing itself
    \r\n", - "against her will. Her bridesmaids,--young, gay, and
    \r\n", - "accomplished,--gather around her. The fierce conflict raging in her
    \r\n", - "bosom discloses itself; the attempt to cheer her up, under the
    \r\n", - "impression that it arises from want of vigour to buoy up her
    \r\n", - "sensitive system, fails. Again she seems labouring under excitement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Franconia!\" exclaims one, taking her by the hand, \"is not the time
    \r\n", - "approaching?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Time always approaches,\" she speaks: her mind has been wandering,
    \r\n", - "picturing the gloomy spectacle that presents itself in Clotilda's
    \r\n", - "cell. She moves her right hand slowly across her brow, casts an
    \r\n", - "enquiring glance around the room, then at those beside her, and
    \r\n", - "changes her position in the chair. \"The time to have your toilet
    \r\n", - "prepared-the servants await you,\" is the reply. Franconia gathers
    \r\n", - "strength, sits erect in her chair, seems to have just resolved upon
    \r\n", - "something. A servant hastens into her presence bearing a
    \r\n", - "delicately-enveloped note. She breaks the seal, reads it and
    \r\n", - "re-reads it, holds it carelessly in her hand for a minute, then puts
    \r\n", - "it in her bosom. There is something important in the contents,
    \r\n", - "something she must keep secret. It is from Maxwell. Her friend
    \r\n", - "evinced some surprise, while waiting a reply as she read the letter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No! not yet,\" she says, rising from her chair and sallying across
    \r\n", - "the room. \"That which is forced upon me-ah! I cannot love him. To me
    \r\n", - "there is no loving wealth. Money may shelter; but it never moves
    \r\n", - "hearts to love truly. How I have struggled against it!\" Again she
    \r\n", - "resumes her chair, weeps. Her tears gush from the parent
    \r\n", - "fountain-woman's heart. \"My noble uncle in trouble, my dear brother
    \r\n", - "gone; yes! to where, and for what, I dare not think; and yet it has
    \r\n", - "preyed upon me through the struggle of pride against love. My father
    \r\n", - "may soon follow; but I am to be consigned to the arms of one whom it
    \r\n", - "would be folly to say I respect.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Her friend, Miss Alice Latel, reminds her that it were well not to
    \r\n", - "let such melancholy wanderings trouble her. She suggests that the
    \r\n", - "colonel, being rich, will fill the place of father as well as
    \r\n", - "husband; that she will be surrounded by the pleasures which wealth
    \r\n", - "only can bring, and in this world what more can be desired?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Such fathers seldom make affectionate husbands; nor do I want the
    \r\n", - "father without the husband; his wealth would not make me respect
    \r\n", - "him.\" Franconia becomes excited, giving rapid utterance to her
    \r\n", - "language. \"Can I suppress my melancholy-can I enjoy such pleasure,
    \r\n", - "and my dear Clotilda in a prison, looking through those galling
    \r\n", - "gratings? Can I be happy when the anguish of despair pierces deep
    \r\n", - "into her heart? No! oh, no! Never, while I think of her, can I
    \r\n", - "summon resolution to put on a bridal robe. Nay! I will not put them
    \r\n", - "on without her. I will not dissemble joy while she sinks in her
    \r\n", - "prison solitude!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can you mean that-at this hour?\" enquires Miss Alice, looking upon
    \r\n", - "her with anxiety pictured in her face. One gives the other a look of
    \r\n", - "surprise. Miss Alice must needs call older counsel.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes!\" replies Franconia, more calm; \"even at this hour! It is never
    \r\n", - "too late to serve our sisters. Could I smile-could I seem happy, and
    \r\n", - "so many things to contemplate? We cannot disguise them now; we
    \r\n", - "cannot smother scandal with a silken mantle. Clotilda must be with
    \r\n", - "me. Negro as she is by law, she is no less dear to me. Nor can I
    \r\n", - "yield to those feelings so prominent in southern breasts,--I cannot
    \r\n", - "disclaim her rights, leave her the mere chattel subject of brute
    \r\n", - "force, and then ask forgiveness of heaven!\" This declaration, made
    \r\n", - "in a positive tone, at once disclosed her resolution. We need not
    \r\n", - "tell the reader with what surprise it took the household; nor, when
    \r\n", - "she as suddenly went into a violent paroxysm of hysterics, the alarm
    \r\n", - "it spread.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The quiet of the mansion has changed for uproar and confusion.
    \r\n", - "Servants are running here and there, getting in each other's way,
    \r\n", - "blocking the passages, and making the confusion more intense.
    \r\n", - "Colonel M'Carstrow is sent for, reaches the mansion in great
    \r\n", - "consternation, expects to find Franconia a corpse, for the negro
    \r\n", - "messenger told him such a crooked story, and seemed so frightened,
    \r\n", - "that he can't make anything straight of it-except that there is
    \r\n", - "something very alarming.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "She has been carried to one of the ante-chambers, reclines on a
    \r\n", - "couch of softest tapestry, a physician at one side, and Alice,
    \r\n", - "bathing her temples with aromatic liquid, on the other. She presents
    \r\n", - "a ravishing picture of delicacy, modesty, and simplicity,--of all
    \r\n", - "that is calmly beautiful in woman. \"I can scarcely account for it;
    \r\n", - "but, she's coming to,\" says the man of medicine, looking on
    \r\n", - "mechanically. Her white bosom swells gently, like a newly-waked
    \r\n", - "zephyr playing among virgin leaves; while her eyes, like melancholy
    \r\n", - "stars, glimmer with the lustre of her soul. \"Ah me!\" she sighs,
    \r\n", - "raising her hand over her head and resting it upon the cushion, as
    \r\n", - "her auburn hair floats, calm and beautiful, down her pearly
    \r\n", - "shoulder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The colonel touches her hand; and, as if it had been too rudely, she
    \r\n", - "draws it to her side, then places it upon her bosom. Again raising
    \r\n", - "her eyes till they meet his, she blushes. It is the blush of
    \r\n", - "innocence, that brightens beneath the spirit of calm resolution. She
    \r\n", - "extends her hand again, slowly, and accepts his. \"You will gratify
    \r\n", - "me-will you not?\" she mutters, attempting to gain a recumbent
    \r\n", - "position. They raise her as she intimates a desire; she seems
    \r\n", - "herself again.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Whatever your wish may be, you have but to intimate it,\" replies
    \r\n", - "the colonel, kissing her hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Then, I want Clotilda. Go, bring her to me; she only can wait on
    \r\n", - "me; and I am fond of her. With her I shall be well soon; she will
    \r\n", - "dress me. Uncle will be happy, and we shall all be happy.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But,\" the colonel interrupts, suddenly, \"where is she to be found?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"In the prison. You'll find her there!\" There is little time to
    \r\n", - "lose,--a carriage is ordered, the colonel drives to the prison, and
    \r\n", - "there finds the object of Franconia's trouble. She, the two children
    \r\n", - "at her side, sits in a cell seven by five feet; the strong grasp of
    \r\n", - "slave power fears itself, its tyranny glares forth in the emaciated
    \r\n", - "appearance of its female victim. The cell is lighted through a small
    \r\n", - "aperture in the door, which hangs with heavy bolts and bars, as if
    \r\n", - "torturing the innocent served the power of injustice. The
    \r\n", - "prison-keeper led the way through a narrow passage between stone
    \r\n", - "walls. His tap on the door startles her; she moves from her
    \r\n", - "position, where she had been seated on a coarse blanket. It is all
    \r\n", - "they (the hospitable southern world, with its generous laws) can
    \r\n", - "afford her; she makes it a bed for three. A people less boastful of
    \r\n", - "hospitality may give her more. She holds a prayer-book in her hand,
    \r\n", - "and motions to the children as they crouch at her feet.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Come, girl! somebody's here to see you,\" says the keeper, looking
    \r\n", - "in at the aperture, as the sickly stench escapes from the dark
    \r\n", - "cavern-like place.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Nervously, the poor victim approaches, lays her trembling hand on
    \r\n", - "the grating, gives a doubting glance at the stranger, seems
    \r\n", - "surprised, anxious to know the purport of his mission.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Am I wanted?\" she enquires eagerly, as if fearing some rude dealer
    \r\n", - "has come-perhaps to examine her person, that he may be the better
    \r\n", - "able to judge of her market value.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Notwithstanding the coldness of M'Carstrow's nature, his feelings
    \r\n", - "are moved by the womanly appearance of the wench, as he calls her,
    \r\n", - "when addressing the warden. There is something in the means by which
    \r\n", - "so fair a creature is reduced to merchandise he cannot altogether
    \r\n", - "reconcile. Were it not for what habit and education can do, it would
    \r\n", - "be repulsive to nature in its crudest state. But it is according to
    \r\n", - "law, that inhuman law which is tolerated in a free country.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I want you to go with me, and you will see your young missis,\" says
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow, shrugging his shoulders. He is half inclined to let his
    \r\n", - "better feelings give way to sympathy. But custom and commerce forbid
    \r\n", - "it; they carry off the spoil, just as the sagacious pumpkin
    \r\n", - "philosopher of England admits slavery a great evil, while delivering
    \r\n", - "an essay for the purpose of ridiculing emancipation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow soon changes his feelings,--addresses himself to business.
    \r\n", - "\"Are you in here for sale?\" he enquires, attempting to whistle an
    \r\n", - "air, and preserve an unaffected appearance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The question touches a tender chord of her feelings; her bosom
    \r\n", - "swells with emotions of grief; he has wounded that sensitive chord
    \r\n", - "upon which the knowledge of her degradation hangs. She draws a
    \r\n", - "handkerchief from her pocket, wipes the tear that glistens in her
    \r\n", - "eye, clasps Annette in her arms-while Nicholas, frightened, hangs by
    \r\n", - "the skirts of her dress,--buries her face in her bosom, retires a few
    \r\n", - "steps, and again seats herself on the blanket.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The question is pending. If I'm right about it-and I believe I'm
    \r\n", - "generally so on such cases-it comes on before the next session, fall
    \r\n", - "term,\" says the gaoler, turning to M'Carstrow with a look of
    \r\n", - "wonderful importance. The gaoler, who, with his keys, lets loose the
    \r\n", - "anxieties of men, continues his learned remarks. \"Notice has been
    \r\n", - "served how she's free. But that kind o' twisting things to make
    \r\n", - "slave property free never amounts to much, especially when a man
    \r\n", - "gets where they say Marston is! Anthony Romescos has been quizzing
    \r\n", - "about, and it don't take much to make such things property when he's
    \r\n", - "round.\" The man of keys again looks very wise, runs his hand deep
    \r\n", - "into the pocket of his coat, and says something about this being a
    \r\n", - "great country.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How much do you reckon her worth, my friend?\" enquires M'Carstrow,
    \r\n", - "exchanging a significant glance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, now you've got me. It's a point of judgment, you see. The
    \r\n", - "article's rather questionable-been spoiled. There's a doubt about
    \r\n", - "such property when you put it up, except a gentleman wants it; and
    \r\n", - "then, I reckon, it'll bring a smart price. There's this to be
    \r\n", - "considered, I reckon, though they haven't set a price on her yet,
    \r\n", - "she's excellent good looking; and the young un's a perfect cherry.
    \r\n", - "It'll bring a big heap one of these days.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We won't mind that, just now, gaoler,\" M'Carstrow says, very
    \r\n", - "complacently; \"you'll let me have her tonight, and I'll return her
    \r\n", - "safe in the morning.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, no,\" interposes Clotilda, mistaking M'Carstrow's object. She
    \r\n", - "crouches down on the blanket, as if shrinking from a deadly assault:
    \r\n", - "\"let me remain, even in my cell.\" She draws the children to her
    \r\n", - "side.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't mistake me, my girl: I am a friend. I want you for Franconia
    \r\n", - "Rovero. She is fond of you, you know.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Franconia!\" she exclaims with joy, starting to her feet at the
    \r\n", - "sound of the name. \"I do know her, dear Franconia! I know her, I
    \r\n", - "love her, she loves me-I wish she was my mother. But she is to be
    \r\n", - "the angel of my freedom-\" Here she suddenly stopped, as if she had
    \r\n", - "betrayed something.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We must lose no time,\" M'Carstrow says, informing her that
    \r\n", - "Franconia is that night to be his bride, and cannot be happy without
    \r\n", - "seeing her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bride! and cannot prepare without me,\" mutters the woman, seeming
    \r\n", - "to doubt the reality of his statement. A thought flashes in her
    \r\n", - "mind: \"Franconia has not forgotten me; I will go and be Franconia's
    \r\n", - "friend.\" And with a child-like simplicity she takes Annette by the
    \r\n", - "hand, as if they were inseparable. \"Can't Nicholas go, too?\" she
    \r\n", - "inquires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You must leave the child,\" is the cool reply. M'Carstrow attempts
    \r\n", - "to draw the heavy bolt that fastens the door.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not so fast, if you please,\" the warden speaks. \"I cannot permit
    \r\n", - "her to leave without an order from the sheriff.\" He puts his hand
    \r\n", - "against the door.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"She will surely be returned in the morning; I'm good for a hundred
    \r\n", - "such pieces of property.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can't help that,\" interrupts the gaoler, coolly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But, there's my honour!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"An article gaolers better not deal in. It may be very good
    \r\n", - "commodity in some kinds of business-don't pay in ours; and then,
    \r\n", - "when this kind of property is in question, it won't do to show a
    \r\n", - "favour beyond the rule.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow is in a sad dilemma. He must relieve himself through a
    \r\n", - "problem of law, which, at this late hour, brings matters to a
    \r\n", - "singular point. He believes Franconia suffers from a nervous
    \r\n", - "affection, as the doctors call it, and has fixed her mind upon the
    \r\n", - "only object of relief. He had made no preparation for such a
    \r\n", - "critical event; but there is no postponing the ceremony,--no
    \r\n", - "depriving her of the indulgence. Not a moment is to be lost: he sets
    \r\n", - "off, post-haste, for the sheriff's office. That functionary is well
    \r\n", - "known for his crude method of executing business; to ask a favour of
    \r\n", - "him would be like asking the sea to give up its dead. He is cold,
    \r\n", - "methodical, unmoveable; very much opposed to anything having the
    \r\n", - "appearance of an innovation upon his square rules of business.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow finds him in just the mood to interpose all the frigid
    \r\n", - "peculiarities of his incomprehensible nature. The colonel has known
    \r\n", - "him by reputation; he knows him now through a different medium.
    \r\n", - "After listening to M'Carstrow's request, and comporting himself with
    \r\n", - "all imaginable dignity, he runs his fingers through his hair, looks
    \r\n", - "at M'Carstrow vacantly, and well nigh rouses his temper. M'Carstrow
    \r\n", - "feels, as southern gentlemen are wont to feel, that his position and
    \r\n", - "title are enough to ensure courtesy and a quick response. The man of
    \r\n", - "writs and summonses feels quite sure that the pomp of his office is
    \r\n", - "sufficient to offset all other distinctions.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Whar' d'ye say the gal was,--in my gaol?\" the sheriff inquires, with
    \r\n", - "solemn earnestness, and drawling his words measuredly, as if the
    \r\n", - "whole affair was quite within his line of business. The sheriff has
    \r\n", - "the opportunity of making a nice little thing of it; the object to
    \r\n", - "be released will serve the profits of the profession. \"Gittin' that
    \r\n", - "gal out yander ain't an easy thing now, 'taint! It'll cost ye 'bout
    \r\n", - "twenty dollars, sartin,\" he adds, turning over the leaves of his big
    \r\n", - "book, and running his finger down a scale of names.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I don't care if it costs a hundred! Give me an order for her
    \r\n", - "release!\" M'Carstrow begins to understand Mr. Sheriff's composition,
    \r\n", - "and putting his hand into his pocket, draws forth a dwenty-dollar
    \r\n", - "gold piece, throws it upon the table. The effect is electric: it
    \r\n", - "smooths down the surface of Mr. Sheriff's nature,--brings out the
    \r\n", - "disposition to accommodate. The Sheriff's politeness now taxes
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow's power to reciprocate.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, ye see, my friend,\" says Mr. Sheriff, in a quaint tone,
    \r\n", - "\"there's three fi fas on that critter. Hold a minute!\" He must needs
    \r\n", - "take a better glance; he runs his fingers over the page again,
    \r\n", - "mutters to himself, and then breaks out into a half-musical,
    \r\n", - "half-undefinable humming. \"It's a snarled-up affair, the whole on't.
    \r\n", - "T'll take a plaguy cunnin' lawyer to take the shine out.\" The
    \r\n", - "sheriff pushes the piece of coin nearer the inkstand, into the
    \r\n", - "centre of the table. \"I feel all over like accommodatin' ye,\" he
    \r\n", - "deigns to say; \"but then t'll be so pestky crooked gettin' the thing
    \r\n", - "straight.\" He hesitates before the wonderful difficulty,--he can't
    \r\n", - "see his way straight through it. \"Three fi fas! I believe I'm
    \r\n", - "correct; there's one principal one, however.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I pledge my honour for her return in the morning; and she shall be
    \r\n", - "all shined up with a new dress. Her presence is imperatively
    \r\n", - "necessary to-night,\" M'Carstrow remarks, becoming impatient.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Two fi fas!-well, the first look looked like three. But, the
    \r\n", - "principal one out of the way,--no matter.\" Mr. Sheriff becomes more
    \r\n", - "and more enlightened on the unenlightened difficulties of the law.
    \r\n", - "He remarks, touching M'Carstrow on the arm, with great seriousness
    \r\n", - "of countenance, \"I sees how the knot's tied. Ye know, my functions
    \r\n", - "are turned t' most everything; and it makes a body see through a
    \r\n", - "thing just as straight as--. Pest on't! Ye see, it's mighty likely
    \r\n", - "property,--don't strike such every day. That gal 'll bring a big tick
    \r\n", - "in the market-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Excuse me, my dear sir,\" M'Carstrow suddenly interrupts.
    \r\n", - "\"Understand me, if you please. I want her for nothing that you
    \r\n", - "contemplate,--nothing, I pledge you my honour as a southern
    \r\n", - "gentleman!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'Ah,--bless me! Well, but there's nothin' in that. I see! I see! I
    \r\n", - "see!\" Mr. Sheriff brightens up, his very soul seems to expand with
    \r\n", - "legal tenacity. \"Well, ye see, there's a question of property raised
    \r\n", - "about the gal, and her young 'un, too-nice young 'un 'tis; but it's
    \r\n", - "mighty easy tellin' whose it is. About the law matter, though, you
    \r\n", - "must get the consent of all the plaintiff's attorneys,--that's no
    \r\n", - "small job. Lawyers are devilish slippery, rough a feller amazingly,
    \r\n", - "once in a while; chance if ye don't have to get the critter valued
    \r\n", - "by a survey. Graspum, though's ollers on hand, is first best good at
    \r\n", - "that: can say her top price while ye'd say seven,\" says Mr. Sheriff,
    \r\n", - "maintaining his wise dignity, as he reminds M'Carstrow that his name
    \r\n", - "is Cur, commonly called Mr. Cur, sheriff of the county. It must not
    \r\n", - "be inferred that Mr. Cur has any of the canine qualities about him.
    \r\n", - "The hour for the ceremony is close at hand. M'Carstrow, satisfied
    \r\n", - "that rules of law are very arbitrary things in the hands of
    \r\n", - "officials-that such property is difficult to get out of the meshes
    \r\n", - "of legal technicality-that honour is neither marketable or
    \r\n", - "pledgeable in such cases, must move quickly: he seeks the very
    \r\n", - "conscientious attorneys, gets them together, pleads the necessity of
    \r\n", - "the case: a convention is arranged, Graspum will value the
    \r\n", - "property-as a weigher and gauger of human flesh. This done,
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow signs a bond in the sum of fifteen hundred dollars,
    \r\n", - "making himself responsible for the property. The instrument contains
    \r\n", - "a provision, that should any unforeseen disaster befall it, the
    \r\n", - "question of property will remain subject to the decision of Court.
    \r\n", - "Upon these conditions, M'Carstrow procures an order for her release.
    \r\n", - "He is careful, however, that nothing herein set forth shall affect
    \r\n", - "the suit already instituted.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Love is an exhilarating medicine, moving and quickening the hearts
    \r\n", - "of old and young. M'Carstrow felt its influence sensibly, as he
    \r\n", - "hurried back to the prison-excited by the near approach of the
    \r\n", - "ceremony-with the all-important order. Bolts, bars, and malarious
    \r\n", - "walls, yield to it the pining captive whose presence will soothe
    \r\n", - "Franconia's feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Clotilda was no less elated at the hope of changing her prison for
    \r\n", - "the presence of her young mistress; and yet, the previous summons
    \r\n", - "had nearly unnerved her. She lingers at the grating, waiting
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow's return. Time seems to linger, until her feelings are
    \r\n", - "nearly overwhelmed in suspense. Again, there is a mystery in the
    \r\n", - "mission of the stranger; she almost doubts his sincerity. It may be
    \r\n", - "one of those plots, so often laid by slave-traders, to separate her
    \r\n", - "from her child,--perhaps to run her where all hope of regaining
    \r\n", - "freedom will be for ever lost. One after another did these things
    \r\n", - "recur to her mind, only to make the burden of her troubles more
    \r\n", - "painful.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Her child has eaten its crust, fallen into a deep sleep, and, its
    \r\n", - "little hands resting clasped on its bosom, lies calmly upon the
    \r\n", - "coarse blanket. She gazes upon it, as a mother only can gaze. There
    \r\n", - "is beauty in that sweet face; it is not valued for its loveliness,
    \r\n", - "its tenderness, its purity. How cursed that it is to be the prime
    \r\n", - "object of her disgrace! Thus contemplating, M'Carstrow appears at
    \r\n", - "the outer gate, is admitted into the prison, reaches the inner
    \r\n", - "grating, is received by the warden, who smiles generously. \"I'm as
    \r\n", - "glad as anything! Hope you had a good time with his honour, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Cur?\" he says, holding the big key in his hand, and leading the way
    \r\n", - "into the office. He takes his seat at a table, commences preparing
    \r\n", - "the big book. \"Here is the entry,\" he says, with a smile of
    \r\n", - "satisfaction. \"We'll soon straighten the thing now.\" Puts out his
    \r\n", - "hand for the order which M'Carstrow has been holding. \"That's just
    \r\n", - "the little thing,\" he says, reading it word by word carefully, and
    \r\n", - "concluding with the remark that he has had a deal of trouble with
    \r\n", - "it. M'Carstrow places some pieces of silver in his hand; they turn
    \r\n", - "the man of keys into a subservient creature. He hastens to the cell,
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow following,--draws the heavy bolts,--bids the prisoner come
    \r\n", - "forth. \"Yes, come, girl; I've had a tough time to get you out of
    \r\n", - "that place: it holds its prey like lawyers' seals,\" rejoins
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not without my child?\" she inquires quickly. She stoops down and
    \r\n", - "kisses it. \"My daughter,--my sweet child!\" she mutters.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Till to-morrow. You must leave her for to-night.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If I must!\" Again she kisses the child, adding, as she smoothed her
    \r\n", - "hand over Annette, and parted her hair, \"Mother will return soon.\"
    \r\n", - "There was something so touching in the word mother, spoken while
    \r\n", - "leaning over a sleeping babe. Clotilda reaches the door, having kept
    \r\n", - "her eyes upon the child as she left her behind. A tremor comes over
    \r\n", - "her,--she reluctantly passes the threshold of the narrow arch; but
    \r\n", - "she breathes the fresh air of heaven,--feels as if her life had been
    \r\n", - "renewed. A mother's thoughts, a mother's anxieties, a mother's love,
    \r\n", - "veil her countenance. She turns to take a last look as the cold door
    \r\n", - "closes upon the dearest object of her life. How it grates upon its
    \r\n", - "hinges! her hopes seem for ever extinguished.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The law is thus far satisfied-the legal gentlemen are satisfied, the
    \r\n", - "warden is not the least generous; and Mr. Cur feels that, while the
    \r\n", - "job was a very nice one, he has not transcended one jot of his
    \r\n", - "importance. Such is highly gratifying to all parties. Clotilda is
    \r\n", - "hurried into a carriage, driven at a rapid rate, and soon arrives at
    \r\n", - "the mansion. Here she is ushered into a chamber, arrayed in a new
    \r\n", - "dress, and conducted into the presence of Franconia. The meeting may
    \r\n", - "be more easily imagined than described. Their congratulations were
    \r\n", - "warm, affectionate, touching. Clotilda kisses Franconia's hand again
    \r\n", - "and again; Franconia, in turn, lays her hand upon Clotilda's
    \r\n", - "shoulder, and, with a look of commiseration, sets her eyes intently
    \r\n", - "upon her, as if she detects in her countenance those features she
    \r\n", - "cannot disown. She requests to be left alone with Clotilda for a
    \r\n", - "short time. Her friends withdraw. She discloses the difficulties
    \r\n", - "into which the family have suddenly fallen, the plan of escape she
    \r\n", - "has arranged, the hopes she entertains of her regaining her freedom.
    \r\n", - "\"Public opinion and the state of our difficulties prompted this
    \r\n", - "course,--I prefer it to any other: follow my directions,--Maxwell has
    \r\n", - "everything prepared, and to-night will carry you off upon the broad
    \r\n", - "blue ocean of liberty. Enjoy that liberty, Clotilda,--be a
    \r\n", - "woman,--follow the path God has strewn for your happiness; above all,
    \r\n", - "let freedom be rewarded with your virtue, your example,\" says
    \r\n", - "Franconia, as she again places her arm round Clotilda's neck.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And leave my child, Franconia?\" the other inquires, looking up
    \r\n", - "imploringly in Franconia's face.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"To me,\" is the quick response. \"I will be her guardian, her mother.
    \r\n", - "Get you beyond the grasp of slavery-get beyond its contaminating
    \r\n", - "breath, and I will be Annette's mother. When you are safely there,
    \r\n", - "when you can breathe the free air of liberty, write me, and she
    \r\n", - "shall meet you. Leave her to me; think of her only in my care, and
    \r\n", - "in my trust she will be happy. Meet Maxwell-he is your friend-at the
    \r\n", - "centre corridor; he will be there as soon as the ceremony commences;
    \r\n", - "he will have a pass from me; he will be your guide!\" She overcomes
    \r\n", - "Clotilda's doubts, reasons away her pleadings for her child, gives
    \r\n", - "her a letter and small miniature (they are to be kept until she
    \r\n", - "reaches her destination of freedom), and commences preparing for the
    \r\n", - "ceremony.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Night arrives, the old mansion brightens and resounds with the
    \r\n", - "bustle of preparation. Servants are moving about in great confusion.
    \r\n", - "Everything is in full dress; \"yellow fellows,\" immersed in trim
    \r\n", - "black coats, nicely-cut pantaloons, white vests and gloves,
    \r\n", - "shirt-collars of extraordinary dimensions, and hair curiously
    \r\n", - "crimped, are standing at their places along the halls, ready for
    \r\n", - "reception. Another class, equally well dressed, are running to and
    \r\n", - "fro through the corridors in the despatch of business. Old mammas
    \r\n", - "have a new shine on their faces, their best \"go to church\" fixings
    \r\n", - "on their backs. Younger members of the same property species are
    \r\n", - "gaudily attired-some in silk, some in missus's slightly worn
    \r\n", - "cashmere. The colour of their faces grades from the purest ebony to
    \r\n", - "the palest olive. A curious philosophy may be drawn from the
    \r\n", - "mixture: it contrasts strangely with the flash and dazzle of their
    \r\n", - "fantastic dresses, their large circular ear-rings, their
    \r\n", - "curiously-tied bandanas, the large bow points of which lay crossed
    \r\n", - "on the tufts of their crimpy hair. The whole scene has an air of
    \r\n", - "bewitching strangeness. In another part of the mansion we find the
    \r\n", - "small figures of the estate, all agog, toddling and doddling, with
    \r\n", - "faces polished like black-balled shoes; they are as piquant and
    \r\n", - "interesting as their own admiration of the dress master has provided
    \r\n", - "them for the occasion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The darkness increases as the night advances. The arbour leading
    \r\n", - "from the great gate to the vaulted hall in the base of the mansion
    \r\n", - "is hung with lanterns of grotesque patterns, emitting light and
    \r\n", - "shade as variegated as the hues of the rainbow. The trees and
    \r\n", - "shrubbery in the arena, hung with fantastic lanterns, enliven the
    \r\n", - "picture-make it grand and imposing. It presents a fairy-like
    \r\n", - "perspective, with spectre lights hung here and there, their mellow
    \r\n", - "glows reflecting softly upon the luxuriant foliage.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Entering the vaulted hall, its floor of antique tiles; frescoed
    \r\n", - "walls with well-executed mythological designs, jetting lights
    \r\n", - "flickering and dazzling through its arches, we find ourselves amidst
    \r\n", - "splendour unsurpassed in our land. At the termination of the great
    \r\n", - "hall a massive flight of spiral steps, of Egyptian marble, ascends
    \r\n", - "to the fourth story, forming a balcony at each, where ottomans are
    \r\n", - "placed, and from which a fine view of the curvature presents itself,
    \r\n", - "from whence those who have ascended may descry those ascending. On
    \r\n", - "the second story is a corridor, with moulded juttings and fretwork
    \r\n", - "overhead; these are hung with festoons of jasmines and other
    \r\n", - "delicate flowers, extending its whole length, and lighted by
    \r\n", - "globular lamps, the prismatic ornaments of which shed their soft
    \r\n", - "glows on the fixtures beneath. They invest it with the appearance of
    \r\n", - "a bower decorated with buds and blossoms. From this, on the right, a
    \r\n", - "spacious arched door, surmounted by a semi-circle of stained glass
    \r\n", - "containing devices of the Muses and other allegorical figures, leads
    \r\n", - "into an immense parlour, having a centre arch hung with heavy folds
    \r\n", - "of maroon coloured velvet overspread with lace. Look where you will,
    \r\n", - "the picture of former wealth and taste presents itself. Around the
    \r\n", - "walls hang costly paintings, by celebrated Italian masters; some are
    \r\n", - "portraits of the sovereigns of England, from that of Elizabeth to
    \r\n", - "George the Third. Brilliant lights jet forth from massive
    \r\n", - "chandeliers and girandoles, lighting up the long line of chaste
    \r\n", - "furniture beneath. The floor is spread with softest Turkey carpet;
    \r\n", - "groups of figures in marble, skilfully executed, form a curiously
    \r\n", - "arranged fire-place; Britannia's crest surmounting the whole. At
    \r\n", - "each end of the room stand chastely designed pieces of statuary of
    \r\n", - "heroes and heroines of past ages. Lounges, ottomans, reclines, and
    \r\n", - "couches, elaborately carved and upholstered, stand here and there in
    \r\n", - "all their antiqueness and grandeur. Pier-glasses, massive tables
    \r\n", - "inlaid with mosaic and pearl, are arranged along the sides, and
    \r\n", - "overhung with flowing tapestry that falls carelessly from the large
    \r\n", - "Doric windows. Over these windows are massive cornices, richly
    \r\n", - "designed and gilded. Quiet grandeur pervades the whole; even the
    \r\n", - "fairy-like dais that has been raised for the nuptial ceremony rests
    \r\n", - "upon four pieces of statuary, and is covered with crimson velvet set
    \r\n", - "with sparkling crystals. And while this spectacle presents but the
    \r\n", - "vanity of our nature, grand but not lasting, the sweet breath of
    \r\n", - "summer is wafting its balmy odours to refresh and give life to its
    \r\n", - "lifeless luxury.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gay cort�ge begins to assemble; the halls fill with guests; the
    \r\n", - "beauty, grace, and intelligence of this little fashionable world,
    \r\n", - "arrayed in its very best, will be here with its best face. Sparkling
    \r\n", - "diamonds and other precious stones, dazzling, will enhance the
    \r\n", - "gorgeous display. And yet, how much of folly's littleness does it
    \r\n", - "all present! All this costly drapery-all this show of worldly
    \r\n", - "voluptuousness-all this tempest of gaiety, is but the product of
    \r\n", - "pain and sorrow. The cheek that blushes in the gay circle, that fair
    \r\n", - "form born to revel in luxury, would not blush nor shrink to see a
    \r\n", - "naked wretch driven with the lash. Yea! we have said it was the
    \r\n", - "product of pain and sorrow; it is the force of oppression wringing
    \r\n", - "from ignorance and degradation the very dregs of its life. Men say,
    \r\n", - "what of that?-do we not live in a great good land of liberty?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The young affianced,--dressed in a flowing skirt of white satin, with
    \r\n", - "richly embroidered train; a neat bodice of the same material, with
    \r\n", - "incisions of lace tipped with brilliants; sleeves tapering into neat
    \r\n", - "rufflets of lace clasped upon the wrist with diamond bracelets, a
    \r\n", - "stomacher of chastely worked lace with brilliants in the centre,
    \r\n", - "relieved by two rows of small unpolished pearls,--is ushered into the
    \r\n", - "parlour, followed by groomsmen and bridesmaids as chastely dressed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There is a striking contrast between the youth and delicacy of
    \r\n", - "Franconia, blushing modestly and in her calmness suppressing that
    \r\n", - "inert repugnance working in her mind, and the brusqueness of
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow, who assumes the free and easy dash, hoping thereby to
    \r\n", - "lessen his years in the picture of himself. Clotilda, for the last
    \r\n", - "time, has arranged Franconia's hair, which lies in simple braids
    \r\n", - "across her polished brows, and folds upon the back, where it is
    \r\n", - "secured and set off with a garland of wild flowers. The hand that
    \r\n", - "laid it there, that arranged it so neatly, will never arrange it
    \r\n", - "again. As a last token of affection for her young mistress, Clotilda
    \r\n", - "has plucked a new-blown chiponique, white with crystal dew, and
    \r\n", - "surrounded it with tiny buds and orange blossoms: this, Franconia
    \r\n", - "holds in her left hand, the lace to which it is attached falling
    \r\n", - "like mist to the ground.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus arrayed, they appear at the altar: the good man of modest cloth
    \r\n", - "takes his place, the ceremony commences; and as it proceeds, and the
    \r\n", - "solemn words fall upon her ear, \"Those whom God hath joined together
    \r\n", - "let no man put asunder,\" she raises her eyes upwards, with a look of
    \r\n", - "melancholy, as tears, like pearls, glisten in her soft expressive
    \r\n", - "eyes. Her heart is moved with deeper emotion than this display of
    \r\n", - "southern galaxy can produce. The combination of circumstances that
    \r\n", - "has brought her to the altar, the decline of fortune, perhaps
    \r\n", - "disgrace, worked upon her mind. It is that which has consigned her
    \r\n", - "to the arms of one she cannot love, whose feelings and associations
    \r\n", - "she never can respect. Was she to be the ransom?-was she to atone
    \r\n", - "for the loss of family fortune, family pride, family inconsistency?
    \r\n", - "kept forcing itself upon her. There was no gladness in it-no
    \r\n", - "happiness. And there was the captive, the victim of foul slavery-so
    \r\n", - "foul that hell yearns for its abettors-whose deliverance she prayed
    \r\n", - "for with her earnest soul. She knew the oppressor's grasp-she had,
    \r\n", - "with womanly pride, come forward to relieve the wronged, and she had
    \r\n", - "become sensible of the ties binding her to Clotilda. Unlike too many
    \r\n", - "of her sex, she did not suppress her natural affections; she could
    \r\n", - "not see only the slave in a disowned sister; she acknowledged the
    \r\n", - "relationship, and hastened to free her, to send her beyond slavery's
    \r\n", - "grasp, into the glad embrace of freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The ceremony ends; the smiles and congratulations of friends, as
    \r\n", - "they gather round Franconia, shower upon her; she receives them
    \r\n", - "coldly, her heart has no love for them, it throbs with anxiety for
    \r\n", - "that slave whose liberty she has planned, and for whose safety she
    \r\n", - "invokes the all-protecting hand of heaven.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XVI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ANOTHER PHASE OF THE PICTURE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WHILE the ceremony we have described in the foregoing chapter was
    \r\n", - "proceeding, Clotilda, yielding to the earnest request of Franconia,
    \r\n", - "dresses herself in garments she has provided, and awaits the
    \r\n", - "commencement of the scene. A little schooner from one of the Bahama
    \r\n", - "Islands lies moored in the harbour awaiting a fair wind to return.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We need scarcely tell the reader that a plan of escape had been
    \r\n", - "previously arranged between Franconia and Maxwell; but why she took
    \r\n", - "so earnest a part in carrying it out, we must reserve for another
    \r\n", - "chapter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Maxwell had sought the captain of this schooner, found him of a
    \r\n", - "generous disposition, ready to act in behalf of freedom. Having soon
    \r\n", - "gained his confidence, and enlisted his good services, it took no
    \r\n", - "great amount of persuasion to do this, his feelings having already
    \r\n", - "been aroused against slavery, the giant arms of which, stretched out
    \r\n", - "between fear and injustice, had interfered with his rights. He had
    \r\n", - "seen it grasp the bones and sinews of those who were born in
    \r\n", - "freedom-he had seen men laugh at his appeals for justice-he had seen
    \r\n", - "one of his free-born British seamen manacled and dragged to prison
    \r\n", - "at noonday, merely because his skin was slightly coloured; he had
    \r\n", - "been compelled to pay tribute to keep alive the oppressor's power,
    \r\n", - "to compensate the villainy rogues practise upon honest men.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes!\" says the captain, a sturdy son of the sea, in answer to
    \r\n", - "Maxwell; \"bring her on board; and with a heart's best wishes, if I
    \r\n", - "don't land her free and safe in Old Bahama I'll never cross the gulf
    \r\n", - "stream again.\" And the mode of getting the boats ready was at once
    \r\n", - "arranged.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The night was still and dark; picturesque illuminations in and
    \r\n", - "around the mansion glittered in contrast with the starry arch of
    \r\n", - "heaven; the soft south breeze fans to life the dark foliage that
    \r\n", - "clusters around-nature has clothed the scene with her beauties.
    \r\n", - "Clotilda-she has eagerly awaited the coming time-descends to the
    \r\n", - "balustrade in the rear of the mansion. Here she meets a band of
    \r\n", - "musicians; they have assembled to serenade, and wait the
    \r\n", - "benediction, a signal for which will be made from one of the
    \r\n", - "balconies. She fears they may recognise her, hesitates at the
    \r\n", - "entrance, paces backward and forward in the colonnade, and professes
    \r\n", - "to be awaiting some message from her mistress. Again scanning the
    \r\n", - "scene, she watches intently, keeping her eyes fixed in the direction
    \r\n", - "Franconia has suggested. \"I was to meet Maxwell there!\" works upon
    \r\n", - "her mind until she becomes nervous and agitated. \"I was, and must
    \r\n", - "meet him there;\" and she walks slowly back to the entrance, turns
    \r\n", - "and returns, watches until her soul has nearly sickened, at length
    \r\n", - "espies the joyous signal. Franconia did not deceive her. Oh, no! he
    \r\n", - "stands there in the glare of a lamp that hangs from a willow-tree.
    \r\n", - "She vaults over the path, grasps his hand with a sister's affection,
    \r\n", - "and simultaneously the soft swelling music of \"Still so gently o'er
    \r\n", - "me stealing!\" floats in the air, as dulcet and soul-stirring as ever
    \r\n", - "touched the fancy, or clothed with holy inspiration the still repose
    \r\n", - "of a southern landscape at midnight. But she is with Maxwell; they
    \r\n", - "have passed the serenaders,--liberty is the haven of her joy, it
    \r\n", - "gives her new hopes of the future. Those hopes dispel the regrets
    \r\n", - "that hover over her mind as she thinks of her child.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "For several minutes they stand together, listening to the music, and
    \r\n", - "watching the familiar faces of old friends as they come upon the
    \r\n", - "balcony in the second story. Southern life had its pleasant
    \r\n", - "associations-none would attempt to deny them; but the evil brooded
    \r\n", - "in the uncertainty that hung over the fate of millions, now yielding
    \r\n", - "indulgence to make life pleasant, then sinking them for ever in the
    \r\n", - "cruelties of a tyrant's power. It is the crushing out of the mind's
    \r\n", - "force,--the subduing the mental and physical man to make the chattel
    \r\n", - "complete,--the shutting out of all the succinct virtues that nurture
    \r\n", - "freedom, that incite us to improve the endowments of nature, that
    \r\n", - "proves the rankling poison. And this poison spreads its baneful
    \r\n", - "influence in and around good men's better desires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After watching in silence for a few moments, Clotilda gives vent to
    \r\n", - "her feelings. \"I should like to see old Daddy Bob once more, I
    \r\n", - "should! And my poor Annette; she is celled to be sold, I'm afraid;
    \r\n", - "but I must yield to the kindness of Franconia. I have seen some
    \r\n", - "good times among the old folks on the plantation. And there's Aunt
    \r\n", - "Rachel,--a good creature after all,--and Harry. Well; I mustn't think
    \r\n", - "of these things; freedom is sweetest,\" she says. Maxwell suggests
    \r\n", - "that they move onward. The music dies away in the stillness, as they
    \r\n", - "turn from the scene to flee beyond the grasp of men who traffic in
    \r\n", - "human things called property,--not by a great constitution, but under
    \r\n", - "a constitution's freedom giving power. Would that a great and
    \r\n", - "glorious nation had not sold its freedom to the damning stain of
    \r\n", - "avarice! would that it had not perverted that holy word, for the
    \r\n", - "blessings of which generations have struggled in vain! would that it
    \r\n", - "had not substituted a freedom that mystifies a jurisprudence,--that
    \r\n", - "brings forth the strangest fruit of human passions,--that makes
    \r\n", - "prison walls and dreary cells death-beds of the innocent;-that
    \r\n", - "permits human beings to be born for the market, and judged by the
    \r\n", - "ripest wisdom! \"Has God ordained such freedom lasting?\" will force
    \r\n", - "itself upon us.-We must return to our humble adventurers.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The fugitives reached the back gate, leading into a narrow lane,
    \r\n", - "from whence they cross into the main street. Clotilda has none of
    \r\n", - "the African about her; the most observing guardsman would not stop
    \r\n", - "her for a slave. They pass along unmolested; the guardsmen, some
    \r\n", - "mounted and some walking at a slow pace, bow politely. No one
    \r\n", - "demands a pass. They arrive in safety at a point about two miles
    \r\n", - "from the city, where the captain and his boat await them. No time is
    \r\n", - "lost in embarking: the little bark rides at anchor in the stream;
    \r\n", - "the boat quietly glides to her; they are safely on board. A few
    \r\n", - "minutes more, and the little craft moves seaward under the pressure
    \r\n", - "of a gentle breeze. There is no tragic pursuit of slave-hunters, no
    \r\n", - "tramp of horses to terrify the bleeding victim, no howlings of
    \r\n", - "ravenous bloodhounds,--nothing that would seem to make the issue
    \r\n", - "freedom or death. No! all is as still as a midsummer night in the
    \r\n", - "same clime. The woman--this daughter of slavery's vices--cherishes a
    \r\n", - "love for freedom; the hope of gaining it, and improving those
    \r\n", - "endowments nature has bestowed upon her, freshens her spirits and
    \r\n", - "gives her life to look forward without desponding. Maxwell is her
    \r\n", - "friend; he has witnessed the blighting power of slavery-not alone in
    \r\n", - "its workings upon the black man, but upon the lineal offspring of
    \r\n", - "freemen-and has resolved to work against its mighty arm. With him it
    \r\n", - "is the spontaneous action of a generous heart sympathising for the
    \r\n", - "wrongs inflicted upon the weak, and loving to see right respected.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The fair Franconia, who has just been forced to accept the hand of a
    \r\n", - "mere charlatan, disclosed the secrets of her mind to him; it was she
    \r\n", - "who incited him to an act which might have sacrificed his freedom,
    \r\n", - "perhaps his life. But mankind is possessed of an innate feeling to
    \r\n", - "do good; and there is a charm added when the object to be served is
    \r\n", - "a fair creature about to be dragged into the miseries of slavery.
    \r\n", - "Even the rougher of our kind cannot resist it; and at times-we
    \r\n", - "except the servile opinion which slavery inflicts upon a people
    \r\n", - "through its profitable issues-prompts the ruffian to generous acts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The little bark, bound for the haven of freedom, sailed onward over
    \r\n", - "the blue waters, and when daylight dawned had crossed the bar
    \r\n", - "separating the harbour from the ocean. Clotilda ascends to the deck,
    \r\n", - "sits on the companion-seat, and in a pensive mood watches the fading
    \r\n", - "hills where slavery stains the fair name of freedom,--where
    \r\n", - "oppression rears its dark monuments to for ever torture and disgrace
    \r\n", - "a harmless race. She looks intently upon them, as one by one they
    \r\n", - "fade in the obscure horizon, seeming to recall the many
    \r\n", - "associations, pleasant and painful, through which she has passed.
    \r\n", - "She turns from the contemplation to the deep blue sea, and the
    \r\n", - "unclouded arch of heaven, as they spread out before her: they are
    \r\n", - "God's own, man cannot pollute them; they are like a picture of glory
    \r\n", - "inspiring her with emotions she cannot suppress. As the last dim
    \r\n", - "sight of land is lost in the distance, she waves a handkerchief, as
    \r\n", - "if to bid it adieu for ever; then looking at Maxwell, who sits by
    \r\n", - "her side, she says, with a sigh, \"I am beyond it! Free,--yes, free!
    \r\n", - "But, have I not left a sufferer behind? There is my poor Annette, my
    \r\n", - "child; I will clasp her to my bosom,--I will love her more when I
    \r\n", - "meet her again. Good-bye, Franconia-dear Franconia! She will be a
    \r\n", - "mother to my little one; she will keep her word.\" Thus saying, she
    \r\n", - "casts a look upward, invokes heaven to be merciful to her
    \r\n", - "persecutors,--to protect her child,--to guard Franconia through life.
    \r\n", - "Tears stream down her cheeks as she waves her hand and retires to
    \r\n", - "the cabin.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XVII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "PLEASANT DEALINGS WITH HUMAN PROPERTY.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WE must deal gently with our scenes; we must describe them without
    \r\n", - "exaggeration, and in rotation. While the scenes we have just
    \r\n", - "described were proceeding, another, of deeper import, and more
    \r\n", - "expressive of slavery's complicated combinations, was being enacted
    \r\n", - "in another part of the city.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A raffle of ordinary character had been announced in the morning
    \r\n", - "papers,--we say ordinary, because it came within the ordinary
    \r\n", - "specification of trade, and violated neither statute law nor
    \r\n", - "municipal ordinance,--and the raffler, esteemed a great character in
    \r\n", - "the city, was no less celebrated for his taste in catering for the
    \r\n", - "amusement of his patrons. On this occasion, purporting to be a very
    \r\n", - "great one, the inducements held out were no less an incentive of
    \r\n", - "gambling propensities than an aim to serve licentious purposes. In a
    \r\n", - "word, it offered \"all young connoisseurs of beauty a chance to
    \r\n", - "procure one of the finest-developed young wenches,--fair, bright,
    \r\n", - "perfectly brought up, young, chaste, and of most amiable
    \r\n", - "disposition, for a trifling sum.\" This was all straight in the way
    \r\n", - "of trade, in a free country; nobody should blush at it (some
    \r\n", - "maidens, reading the notice, might feel modestly inclined to),
    \r\n", - "because nobody could gainsay it. This is prize No. 1, prime-as set
    \r\n", - "down in the schedule-and the amount per toss being only a trifle,
    \r\n", - "persons in want of such prizes are respectfully informed of the fact
    \r\n", - "that only a few chances remain, which will command a premium before
    \r\n", - "candle-light. Prize No. 2 is a superior pony, of well-known
    \r\n", - "breed-here the pedigree is set forth; which advantage had not been
    \r\n", - "accorded to the human animal, lest certain members of the same stock
    \r\n", - "should blush-raised with great care and attention, and exactly
    \r\n", - "suited for a gentleman's jant or a lady's saddle-nag. Prize No. 3 is
    \r\n", - "a superior setter dog, who has also been well brought up, is from
    \r\n", - "good stock, is kind to children, who play with him when they please.
    \r\n", - "He knows niggers, is good to watch them, has been known to catch
    \r\n", - "runaways, to tear their shins wonderfully. Indeed, according to the
    \r\n", - "setting forth of the sagacious animal, he would seem to understand
    \r\n", - "slave-law quite well, and to be ready and willing to lend his aid
    \r\n", - "with dogs of a different species to enforce its provisions. The only
    \r\n", - "fault the brute has, if fault it may be called, is that he does not
    \r\n", - "understand the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law,--a law
    \r\n", - "destined to be exceedingly troublesome among a free people. Did the
    \r\n", - "sagacity of the animal thus extend to the sovereign law of the land
    \r\n", - "of the brave and free, he would bring a large price at the north,
    \r\n", - "where men are made to do what dogs most delight in at the south.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The first prize, as set forth, is valued at seven hundred dollars:
    \r\n", - "the magnanimous gentleman who caters thus generously for his patrons
    \r\n", - "states the delicate prize to be worth fifty or a hundred dollars
    \r\n", - "more, and will, with a little more developing, be worth a great deal
    \r\n", - "more money. Hence, he hopes his patrons will duly appreciate
    \r\n", - "enterprising liberality.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The second prize he considers generously low at two hundred dollars;
    \r\n", - "and the dog-the sagacious animal constituting the third prize-would
    \r\n", - "be a great bargain to anybody wanting such an animal, especially in
    \r\n", - "consideration of his propensity to catch negroes, at sixty dollars.
    \r\n", - "The trio of human and animal prizes produce no distinctive effect
    \r\n", - "upon the feelings of those who speculate in such property; with them
    \r\n", - "it is only a matter of gradation between dollars and cents.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "But, to be more off-handed in this generous undertaking, and in
    \r\n", - "consideration of the deep-felt sensibility and hospitality which
    \r\n", - "must always protect southern character, the chances will be
    \r\n", - "restricted to two hundred, at five dollars per chance. Money must be
    \r\n", - "paid in before friends can consider themselves stock-holders. It is
    \r\n", - "to be a happy time, in a happy country, where all are boasted happy.
    \r\n", - "The first lucky dog will get the human prize; the next lucky dog
    \r\n", - "will get the pony; the third will make a dog of himself by only
    \r\n", - "winning a dog. The fun of the thing, however, will be the great
    \r\n", - "attraction; men of steady habits are reminded of this. Older
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, having very nice taste for colour, but no particular
    \r\n", - "scruples about religion, and who seldom think morals worth much to
    \r\n", - "niggers, \"because they aint got sense to appreciate such things,\"
    \r\n", - "are expected to be on hand. Those who know bright and fair niggers
    \r\n", - "were never made for anything under the sun but to gratify their own
    \r\n", - "desires, are expected to spread the good news, to set the young
    \r\n", - "aristocracy of the city all agog,--to start up a first-best
    \r\n", - "crowd,--have some tall drinking and first-rate amusement. Everybody
    \r\n", - "is expected to tell his friend, and his friend is expected to help
    \r\n", - "the generous man out with his generous scheme, and all are expected
    \r\n", - "to join in the \"bender.\" Nobody must forget that the whole thing is
    \r\n", - "to come off at \"Your House,\"-an eating and drinking saloon, of great
    \r\n", - "capacity, kept by the very distinguished man, Mr. O'Brodereque.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. O'Brodereque, who always pledges his word upon the honour of a
    \r\n", - "southern gentleman-frequently asserting his greatness in the
    \r\n", - "political world, and wondering who could account for his not finding
    \r\n", - "his way into Congress, where talent like his would be brought out
    \r\n", - "for the protection of our south-has made no end of money by selling
    \r\n", - "a monstrous deal of very bad liquor to customers of all
    \r\n", - "grades,--niggers excepted. And, although his hair is well mixed with
    \r\n", - "the grey of many years, he declares the guilt of selling liquor to
    \r\n", - "niggers is not on his shoulders. It is owing to this clean state of
    \r\n", - "his character, that he has been able to maintain his aristocratic
    \r\n", - "position. \"Yes, indeed,\" said one of his patrons, who, having fallen
    \r\n", - "in arrears, found himself undergoing the very disagreeable process
    \r\n", - "of being politely kicked into the street, \"money makes a man big in
    \r\n", - "the south: big in niggers, big in politics, big with everything but
    \r\n", - "the way I'm big,--with an empty pocket. I don't care, though; he's
    \r\n", - "going up by the process that I'm coming down. There's philosophy in
    \r\n", - "that.\" It could not be denied that Mr. O'Brodereque-commonly called
    \r\n", - "General O'Brodereque-was very much looked up to by great people and
    \r\n", - "Bacchanalians,--men who pay court to appease the wondrous discontent
    \r\n", - "of the belly, to the total neglect of the back. Not a few swore, by
    \r\n", - "all their importance, a greater man never lived. He is, indeed, all
    \r\n", - "that can be desired to please the simple pretensions of a
    \r\n", - "free-thinking and free-acting southern people, who, having elevated
    \r\n", - "him to the office of alderman, declare him exactly the man to
    \r\n", - "develope its functions. A few of the old school aristocracy, who
    \r\n", - "still retain the bad left them by their English ancestry, having
    \r\n", - "long since forgotten the good, do sneer now and then at Mr.
    \r\n", - "Brodereque's pretensions. But, like all great men who have a great
    \r\n", - "object to carry out, he affects to frown such things down,--to remind
    \r\n", - "the perpetrators of such aristocratic sneers what a spare few they
    \r\n", - "are. He asserts, and with more truth than poetry, that any gentleman
    \r\n", - "having the capacity to deluge the old aristocracy with doubtful
    \r\n", - "wine, line his pockets while draining theirs-all the time making
    \r\n", - "them feel satisfied he imports the choicest-and who can keep on a
    \r\n", - "cheerful face the while, can fill an alderman's chair to a nicety.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In addition to the above, Mr. O'Brodereque is one of those very
    \r\n", - "accommodating individuals who never fail to please their customers,
    \r\n", - "while inciting their vanity; and, at the same time, always secure a
    \r\n", - "good opinion for themselves. And, too, he was liberally inclined,
    \r\n", - "never refused tick, but always made it tell; by which well-devised
    \r\n", - "process, his patrons were continually becoming his humble servants,
    \r\n", - "ready to serve him at call.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Always civil, and even obsequious at first, ready to condescend and
    \r\n", - "accommodate, he is equally prompt when matters require that peculiar
    \r\n", - "turn which southerners frequently find themselves turned into,--no
    \r\n", - "more tick and a turn out of doors. At times, Mr. O'Brodereque's
    \r\n", - "customers have the very unenviable consolation of knowing that a
    \r\n", - "small document called a mortgage of their real and personal property
    \r\n", - "remains in his hands, which he will very soon find it necessary to
    \r\n", - "foreclose.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is dark,--night has stolen upon us again,--the hour for the raffle
    \r\n", - "is at hand. The saloon, about a hundred and forty feet long by forty
    \r\n", - "wide, is brilliantly lighted for the occasion. The gas-lights throw
    \r\n", - "strange shadows upon the distemper painting with which the walls are
    \r\n", - "decorated. Hanging carelessly here and there are badly-daubed
    \r\n", - "paintings of battle scenes and heroic devices, alternated with
    \r\n", - "lithographic and badly-executed engravings of lustfully-exposed
    \r\n", - "females. Soon the saloon fills with a throng of variously-mixed
    \r\n", - "gentlemen. The gay, the grave, the old, and the young men of the
    \r\n", - "fashionable world, are present. Some affect the fast young man;
    \r\n", - "others seem mere speculators, attracted to the place for the purpose
    \r\n", - "of enjoying an hour, seeing the sight, and, it may be, taking a
    \r\n", - "throw for the \"gal.\" The crowd presents a singular contrast of
    \r\n", - "beings. Some are dressed to the very extreme of fantastic fashion,
    \r\n", - "and would seem to have wasted their brains in devising colours for
    \r\n", - "their backs; others, aspiring to the seriously genteel, are
    \r\n", - "fashioned in very extravagant broadcloth; while a third group is
    \r\n", - "dressed in most niggardly attire, which sets very loosely. In
    \r\n", - "addition to this they wear very large black, white, and
    \r\n", - "grey-coloured felt hats, slouched over their heads; while their
    \r\n", - "nether garments, of red and brown linsey-woolsey, fit like
    \r\n", - "Falstaff's doublet on a whip stock. They seem proud of the grim
    \r\n", - "tufts of hair that, like the moss-grown clumps upon an old oak,
    \r\n", - "spread over their faces; and they move about in the grotesque crowd,
    \r\n", - "making their physiognomies increase its piquancy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The saloon is one of those places at the south where great men,
    \r\n", - "small men, men of different spheres and occupations, men in
    \r\n", - "prominently defined positions, men in doubtful calls of life, and
    \r\n", - "men most disreputably employed, most do congregate. At one end of
    \r\n", - "the saloon is a large oyster counter, behind which stand two
    \r\n", - "coloured men, with sauces, savories, and other mixtures at hand,
    \r\n", - "ready to serve customers who prefer the delicacy in its raw state.
    \r\n", - "Men are partaking without noting numbers. Mr. O'Brodereque has boys
    \r\n", - "serving who take very good care of the numbers. Extending along one
    \r\n", - "side of the saloon is an elaborately carved mahogany counter, with
    \r\n", - "panels of French white and gilt mouldings. This is surmounted with a
    \r\n", - "marble slab, upon which stand well-filled decanters, vases, and
    \r\n", - "salvers. Behind this counter, genteelly-dressed and polite
    \r\n", - "attendants are serving customers who stand along its side in a line,
    \r\n", - "treating in true southern style. The calling for drinks is a problem
    \r\n", - "for nice ears to solve, so varied are the sounds, so strange the
    \r\n", - "names: style, quantity, and mixture seemed without limit, set on in
    \r\n", - "various colours to flow and flood the spirits of the jovial. On the
    \r\n", - "opposite side of the saloon are rows of seats and arm-chairs,
    \r\n", - "interspersed with small tables, from which the beverage can be
    \r\n", - "imbibed more at ease. On the second story is the great \"eating
    \r\n", - "saloon,\" with its various apartments, its curtained boxes, its
    \r\n", - "prim-looking waiters, its pier-glass walls. There is every
    \r\n", - "accommodation for belly theologians, who may discuss the choicest
    \r\n", - "viands of the season.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The company are assembled,--the lower saloon is crowded; Mr.
    \r\n", - "O'Brodereque, with great dignity, mounts the stand,--a little table
    \r\n", - "standing at one end of the room. His face reddens, he gives several
    \r\n", - "delinquent coughs, looks round and smiles upon his motley patrons,
    \r\n", - "points a finger recognisingly at a wag in the corner, who has
    \r\n", - "addressed some remarks to him, puts his thumbs in the sleeve-holes
    \r\n", - "of his vest, throws back his coat-collar, puts himself in a defiant
    \r\n", - "attitude, and is ready to deliver himself of his speech.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A political speech from the General! Gentlemen, hats off, and give
    \r\n", - "your attention to Mr. General O'Brodereque's remarks!\" resounds from
    \r\n", - "several voices. Mr. O'Brodereque is somewhat overcome, his friends
    \r\n", - "compliment him so: he stands, hesitating, as if he had lost the
    \r\n", - "opening part of his speech, like a statue on a molasses-cask. At
    \r\n", - "length he speaks. \"If it was a great political question, gentlemen,
    \r\n", - "I'd get the twist of the thing,--I'd pitch into it, big! These little
    \r\n", - "things always trouble public men more than the important intricacies
    \r\n", - "of government do. You see, they are not comesurate,--that's it!\" says
    \r\n", - "Mr. Brodereque, looking wondrously wise the while. After bowing,
    \r\n", - "smiling, and acknowledging the compliments of his generous customers
    \r\n", - "with prodigious grace, he merely announces to his friends--with
    \r\n", - "eloquence that defies imitation, and turns rhetoric into a
    \r\n", - "discordant exposition of his own important self--that, not having
    \r\n", - "examined the constitution for more nor three Sundays, they must,
    \r\n", - "upon the honour of a gentleman, excuse his political speech. \"But,
    \r\n", - "gents,\" he says, \"you all know how I trys to please ye in the way of
    \r\n", - "raffles and such things, and how I throws in the belly and stomach
    \r\n", - "fixins. Now, brighten up, ye men of taste\"--Mr. Brodereque laughs
    \r\n", - "satisfactorily as he surveys his crowd--\"I'm going to do the thing
    \r\n", - "up brown for ye,--to give ye a chance for a bit of bright property
    \r\n", - "what ye don't get every day; can't scare up such property only once
    \r\n", - "in a while. It'll make ye old fellers wink, some\"--Mr. O'Brodereque
    \r\n", - "winks at several aged gentlemen, whose grey hair is figurative in
    \r\n", - "the crowd--\"think about being young again. And, my friends below
    \r\n", - "thirty-my young friends--ah, ye rascals! I thought I'd play the tune
    \r\n", - "on the right string!\"--he laughs, and puts his finger to his mouth
    \r\n", - "quizzically--\"I likes to suit ye, and please ye: own her up, now,--
    \r\n", - "don't I?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hurrah! for Brod,--Brod's a trump!\" again resounds from a dozen
    \r\n", - "voices.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They all agree to the remark that nobody can touch the great Mr.
    \r\n", - "O'Brodereque in getting up a nice bit of fun, amusing young men with
    \r\n", - "more money than mind, and being in the favour of aristocratic
    \r\n", - "gentlemen who think nothing of staking a couple of prime niggers on
    \r\n", - "a point of faro.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. O'Brodereque has been interrupted; he begs his friends will, for
    \r\n", - "a moment, cease their compliments and allow him to proceed.
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen!\" he continues, \"the gal's what ye don't get every day;
    \r\n", - "and she's as choice as she's young; and she's as handsome as she's
    \r\n", - "young; and for this delicious young crittur throws are only five
    \r\n", - "dollars a piece.\" The sentimental southern gentleman has no
    \r\n", - "reference to the throes of anguish that are piercing the wounded
    \r\n", - "soul of the woman.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A gentleman what ain't got a five-dollar bill in his pocket better
    \r\n", - "not show his winkers in this crowd. After that, gentlemen, there's a
    \r\n", - "slap-up pony, and one of the knowinest dogs outside of a
    \r\n", - "court-house. Now,--gents! if this ain't some tall doings,--some of a
    \r\n", - "raffle, just take my boots and I'll put it for Texas. A chance for a
    \r\n", - "nigger gal-a pony-a dog; who on 'arth wants more, gentlemen?\" Mr.
    \r\n", - "O'Brodereque again throws back his coat, shrugs his shoulders, wipes
    \r\n", - "the perspiration from his brow, and is about to descend from the
    \r\n", - "table. No, he won't come down just yet. He has struck a vein; his
    \r\n", - "friends are getting up a favourable excitement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bravo! bravo!-long may General Brodereque keep the hospitable Your
    \r\n", - "House! Who wouldn't give a vote for Brodereque at the next
    \r\n", - "election?\" re-echoes through the room.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One more remark, gentlemen.\" Mr. Brodereque again wipes the
    \r\n", - "perspiration from his forehead, and orders a glass of water, to
    \r\n", - "loosen his oratorical organs. He drinks the water, seems to increase
    \r\n", - "in his own greatness; his red face glows redder, he makes a
    \r\n", - "theatrical gesticulation with his right hand, crumples his hair into
    \r\n", - "curious points, and proceeds:--\"The lucky man what gets the gal prize
    \r\n", - "is to treat the crowd!\" This is seconded and carried by acclamation,
    \r\n", - "without a dissenting voice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A murmuring noise, as of some one in trouble, is now heard at the
    \r\n", - "door: the crowd gives way: a beautiful mulatto girl, in a black silk
    \r\n", - "dress, with low waist and short sleeves, and morocco slippers on her
    \r\n", - "feet, is led in and placed upon the stand Mr. O'Brodereque has just
    \r\n", - "vacated. Her complexion is that of a swarthy Greek; her countenance
    \r\n", - "is moody and reflective; her feelings are stung with the poison of
    \r\n", - "her degraded position. This last step of her disgrace broods in the
    \r\n", - "melancholy of her face. Shame, pain, hope, and fear, combine to goad
    \r\n", - "her very soul. But it's all for a bit of fun, clearly legal; it's
    \r\n", - "all in accordance with society; misfortune is turned into a
    \r\n", - "plaything, that generous, good, and noble-hearted men may be amused.
    \r\n", - "Those who stand around her are extravagant with joy. After remaining
    \r\n", - "a few moments in silence, a mute victim of generous freedom, she
    \r\n", - "turns her head bashfully, covers her face with her hands. Her
    \r\n", - "feelings gush forth in a stream of tears; she cannot suppress them
    \r\n", - "longer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There is a touching beauty in her face, made more effective by the
    \r\n", - "deplorable condition to which she is reduced. Again she looks
    \r\n", - "upward, and covers her face with her hands; her soul seems merged in
    \r\n", - "supplication to the God who rules all things aright. He is a
    \r\n", - "forgiving God! Can he thus direct man's injustice to man, while this
    \r\n", - "poor broken flower thus withers under the bane? Sad, melancholy,
    \r\n", - "doomed! there is no hope, no joy for her. She weeps over her
    \r\n", - "degradation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stop that whimperin!\" says a ruffianly bystander, who orders a
    \r\n", - "coloured boy to let down her hair. He obeys the summons; it falls in
    \r\n", - "thick, black, undulating tresses over her neck and shoulders. A few
    \r\n", - "moments more, and she resumes a calm appearance, looks resolutely
    \r\n", - "upon her auditors, with indignation and contempt pictured in her
    \r\n", - "countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"She'll soon get over that!\" ejaculates another bystander, as he
    \r\n", - "smooths the long beard on his haggard face. \"Strip her down!\" The
    \r\n", - "request is no sooner made, than Mr. O'Brodereque mounts the stand to
    \r\n", - "perform the feat. \"Great country this, gentlemen!\" he speaks, taking
    \r\n", - "her by the shoulders.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All off! all off, general!\" is the popular demand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sensitive nature of the innocent girl recoils; she cringes from
    \r\n", - "his touch; she shudders, and vainly attempts to resist. She must
    \r\n", - "yield; the demand is imperative. Her dress falls at Mr.
    \r\n", - "O'Brodereque's touch. She stands before the gazing crowd, exposed to
    \r\n", - "the very thighs, holding the loose folds of her dress in her hands.
    \r\n", - "There is no sympathy for those moistened eyes; oh, no! it is a
    \r\n", - "luscious feast-puritans have no part in the sin-for those who, in
    \r\n", - "our land of love and liberty, buy and sell poor human nature, and
    \r\n", - "make it food for serving hell.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Naked she stands for minutes; the assembled gentlemen have feasted
    \r\n", - "their eyes,--good men have played the part of their good natures.
    \r\n", - "General O'Brodereque, conscious of his dignity, orders her to be
    \r\n", - "taken down. The waiter performs the duty, and she is led out midst
    \r\n", - "the acclamations and plaudits of the crowd, who call for the raffle.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. O'Brodereque hopes gentlemen are satisfied with what they have
    \r\n", - "seen, and will pledge his honour that the pony and dog are quite as
    \r\n", - "sound and healthy as the wench whose portions they have had a chance
    \r\n", - "to shy; and for which-the extra sight-they should pay an extra
    \r\n", - "treat. This, however, his generosity will not allow him to stand
    \r\n", - "upon; and, seeing how time is precious, and the weather warm, he
    \r\n", - "hopes his friends will excuse the presence of the animals, take his
    \r\n", - "word of honour in consideration of the sight of the wench.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, gentlemen,\" he says, \"the throws are soon to commence, and all
    \r\n", - "what ain't put down the tin better attend that ar' needful
    \r\n", - "arrangement, quicker!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As the general concludes this very significant invitation, Dan
    \r\n", - "Bengal, Anthony Romescos, and Nath Nimrod, enter together. Their
    \r\n", - "presence creates some little commotion, for Romescos is known to be
    \r\n", - "turbulent, and very uncertain when liquor flows freely, which is the
    \r\n", - "case at present.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I say, general!-old hoss! I takes all the chances what's left,\"
    \r\n", - "Romescos shouts at the top of his voice. His eyes glare with
    \r\n", - "anxiety,--his red, savage face, doubly sun-scorched, glows out as he
    \r\n", - "elbows his way through the crowd up to the desk, where sits a
    \r\n", - "corpulent clerk. \"Beg your pardon, gentlemen: not so fast, if you
    \r\n", - "please!\" he says, entering names in his ledger, receiving money,
    \r\n", - "\"doing the polite of the establishment.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos's coat and nether clothing are torn in several places, a
    \r\n", - "hunting-belt girdles his waist; a bowie-knife (Sheffield make)
    \r\n", - "protrudes from his breast-pocket, his hair hangs in jagged tufts
    \r\n", - "over the collar of his coat, which, with the rough moccasons on his
    \r\n", - "feet, give him an air of fierce desperaton and recklessness. His
    \r\n", - "presence is evidently viewed with suspicion; he is a curious object
    \r\n", - "which the crowd are willing to give ample space to.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, you don't take 'em all, neither!\" says another, in a defiant
    \r\n", - "tone. The remaining \"chances\" are at once put up for sale; they
    \r\n", - "bring premiums, as one by one they are knocked down to the highest
    \r\n", - "bidders, some as much as fifty per cent. advance. Gentlemen are not
    \r\n", - "to know it, because Mr. O'Brodereque thinks his honour above
    \r\n", - "everything else; but the fact is, there is a collusion between
    \r\n", - "Romescos and the honourable Mr. O'Brodereque. The former is playing
    \r\n", - "his part to create a rivalry that will put dollars and cents into
    \r\n", - "the pocket of the latter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well!\" exclaims Romescos, with great indifference, as soon as the
    \r\n", - "sale had concluded, \"I've got seven throws, all lucky ones. I'll
    \r\n", - "take any man's bet for two hundred dollars that I gets the gal
    \r\n", - "prize.\" Nobody seems inclined to accept the challenge. A table is
    \r\n", - "set in the centre of the saloon, the dice are brought on, amidst a
    \r\n", - "jargon of noise and confusion; to this is added drinking, smoking,
    \r\n", - "swearing, and all kinds of small betting.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The raffle commences; one by one the numbers are called. Romescos'
    \r\n", - "turn has come; all eyes are intently set upon him. He is celebrated
    \r\n", - "for tricks of his trade; he seldom repudiates the character, and
    \r\n", - "oftener prides in the name of a shrewd one, who can command a prize
    \r\n", - "for his sharp dealing. In a word, he has a peculiar faculty of
    \r\n", - "shielding the doubtful transactions of a class of men no less
    \r\n", - "dishonest, but more modest in point of reputation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos spreads himself wonderfully, throws his dice, and exults
    \r\n", - "over the result. He has turned up three sixes at the first and
    \r\n", - "second throws, and two sixes and five at the third.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Beat that! who can?\" he says. No one discovers that he has, by a
    \r\n", - "very dexterous movement, slipped a set of false dice into the box,
    \r\n", - "while O'Brodereque diverted attention at the moment by introducing
    \r\n", - "the pony into the saloon.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We will pass over many things that occurred, and inform the reader
    \r\n", - "that Romescos won the first prize-the woman. The dog and pony prizes
    \r\n", - "were carried off by legitimate winners. This specific part of the
    \r\n", - "scene over, a band of negro minstrels are introduced, who strike up
    \r\n", - "their happy glees, the music giving new life to the revelry. Such a
    \r\n", - "medley of drinking, gambling, and carousing followed, as defies
    \r\n", - "description. What a happy thing it is to be free; they feel this,--it
    \r\n", - "it is a happy feeling! The sport lasts till the small hours of
    \r\n", - "morning advance. Romescos is seen leaving the saloon very quietly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There!\" says Mr. O'Brodereque exultingly, \"he hasn't got so much of
    \r\n", - "a showing. That nigger gal ain't what she's cracked up to be!\" and
    \r\n", - "he shakes his head knowingly, thrusts his hands deep into his
    \r\n", - "breeches pockets, smiles with an air of great consequence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Where did ye raise the critter? devil of a feller ye be,
    \r\n", - "Brodereque!\" says a young sprig, giving his hat a particular set on
    \r\n", - "the side of his head, and adjusting his eye-glass anew. \"Ye ain't
    \r\n", - "gin her a name, in all the showin',\" he continues, drawlingly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That gal! She ain't worth so much, a'ter all. She's of Marston's
    \r\n", - "stock; Ellen Juvarna, I think they call her. She's only good for her
    \r\n", - "looks, in the animal way,--that's all!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hav'n't told where ye got her, yet,\" interrupts the sprig; \"none of
    \r\n", - "yer crossin' corners, general.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, I started up that gal of Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy. She
    \r\n", - "takes it into her mind to get crazed now and then, and Marston had
    \r\n", - "to sell her; and the Elder bought her for a trifle, cured up her
    \r\n", - "thinkin'-trap, got her sound up for market, and I makes a strike
    \r\n", - "with the Elder, and gets her at a tall bargain.\" Mr. O'Brodereque
    \r\n", - "has lost none of his dignity, none of his honour, none of his hopes
    \r\n", - "of getting into Congress by the speculation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is poor Ellen Juvarna; she has been cured for the market. She
    \r\n", - "might have said, and with truth,--\"You don't know me now, so
    \r\n", - "wonderful are they who deal with my rights in this our world of
    \r\n", - "liberty!\"
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XVII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A NOT UNCOMMON SCENE SLIGHTLY CHANGED.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ROMESCOS, having withdrawn from the saloon while the excitement
    \r\n", - "raged highest, may be seen, with several others, seated at a table
    \r\n", - "in the upper room. They are in earnest consultation,--evidently
    \r\n", - "devising some plan for carrying out a deep-laid plot.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I have just called my friend, who will give us the particulars
    \r\n", - "about the constitutionality of the thing. Here he is. Mr. Scranton,
    \r\n", - "ye see, knows all about such intricacies; he is an editor! formerly
    \r\n", - "from the North,\" one of the party is particular to explain, as he
    \r\n", - "directs his conversation to Romescos. That gentleman of slave-cloth
    \r\n", - "only knows the part they call the rascality; he pays the gentlemen
    \r\n", - "of the learned law profession to shuffle him out of all the legal
    \r\n", - "intricacies that hang around his murderous deeds. He seems revolving
    \r\n", - "the thing over in his mind at the moment, makes no reply. The
    \r\n", - "gentleman turns to Mr. Scranton--the same methodical gentleman we
    \r\n", - "have described with the good Mrs. Rosebrook--hopes he will be good
    \r\n", - "enough to advise on the point in question. Mr. Scranton sits in all
    \r\n", - "the dignity of his serious philosophy, quite unmoved; his mind is
    \r\n", - "nearly distracted about all that is constitutionally right or
    \r\n", - "constitutionally wrong. He is bound to his own ways of thinking, and
    \r\n", - "would suffer martyrdom before his own conscientious scruples would
    \r\n", - "allow him to acknowledge a right superior to that constitution. As
    \r\n", - "for the humanity! that has nothing to do with the constitution,
    \r\n", - "nothing to do with the laws of the land, nothing to do with popular
    \r\n", - "government,--nothing to do with anything, and never should be taken
    \r\n", - "into consideration when the point at issue involved negro property.
    \r\n", - "The schedule of humanity would be a poor account at one's banker's.
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton begins to smooth his face, which seems to elongate like
    \r\n", - "a wet moon. \"The question is, as I understand it, gentlemen, how far
    \r\n", - "the law will give you a right to convict and sell the woman in the
    \r\n", - "absence of papers and against the assertions of her owner, that she
    \r\n", - "is free? Now, gentlemen, in the absence of my law books, and without
    \r\n", - "the least scruple that I am legally right, for I'm seldom legally
    \r\n", - "wrong, having been many years secretary to a senator in Congress who
    \r\n", - "made it my particular duty to keep him posted on all points of the
    \r\n", - "constitution--he drawls out with the serious complacency of a London
    \r\n", - "beggar--I will just say that, whatever is legal must be just. Laws
    \r\n", - "are always founded in justice--that's logical, you see,--and I always
    \r\n", - "maintained it long 'afore I come south, long 'afore I knowed a thing
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 5/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 5 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "about 'nigger law.' The point, thus far, you see, gentlemen, I've
    \r\n", - "settled. Now then!\" Mr. Scranton rests his elbow on the table, makes
    \r\n", - "many legal gesticulations with his finger; he, however, disclaims
    \r\n", - "all and every connection with the legal body, inasmuch as its
    \r\n", - "members have sunk very much in the scale of character, and will
    \r\n", - "require a deal of purifying ere he can call them brothers; but he
    \r\n", - "knows a thing or two of constitutional law, and thus proceeds:
    \r\n", - "\"'Tain't a whit of matter about the woman, barring the dockerment's
    \r\n", - "all right. You only want to prove that Marston bought her, that's
    \r\n", - "all! As for the young scraps, why--supposing they are his-that won't
    \r\n", - "make a bit of difference; they are property for all that, subject to
    \r\n", - "legal restraints. Your claim will be valid against it. You may have
    \r\n", - "to play nicely over some intricate legal points. But, remember,
    \r\n", - "nigger law is wonderfully elastic; it requires superhuman wisdom to
    \r\n", - "unravel its social and political intricacies, and when I view it
    \r\n", - "through the horoscope of an indefinite future it makes my very head
    \r\n", - "ache. You may, however, let your claim revert to another, and
    \r\n", - "traverse the case until such time as you can procure reliable proof
    \r\n", - "to convict.\" Mr. Scranton asserts this as the force of his legal and
    \r\n", - "constitutional acumen. He addresses himself to a mercantile-looking
    \r\n", - "gentleman who sits at the opposite side of the table, attentively
    \r\n", - "listening. He is one of several of Marston's creditors, who sit at
    \r\n", - "the table; they have attached certain property, and having some
    \r\n", - "doubts of overthrowing Marston's plea of freedom, which he has
    \r\n", - "intimated his intention to enter, have called in the valuable aid of
    \r\n", - "Romescos. That indomitable individual, however, has more interests
    \r\n", - "than one to serve, and is playing his cards with great \"diplomatic
    \r\n", - "skill.\" Indeed, he often remarks that his wonderful diplomatic skill
    \r\n", - "would have been a great acquisition to the federal government,
    \r\n", - "inasmuch as it would have facilitated all its Southern American
    \r\n", - "projects.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The point in question at present, and which they must get over, in
    \r\n", - "order to prove the property, is made more difficult by the doubt in
    \r\n", - "which the origin of Clotilda has always been involved. Many are the
    \r\n", - "surmises about her parentage-many are the assertions that she is not
    \r\n", - "of negro extraction--she has no one feature indicating it--but no one
    \r\n", - "can positively assert where she came from; in a word, no one dare!
    \r\n", - "Hence is constituted the ground for fearing the issue of Marston's
    \r\n", - "notice of freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! I'll own it puzzles my cunnin'; there's a way to get round
    \r\n", - "it-there is-but deuced if 'tain't too much for my noddle,\" Romescos
    \r\n", - "interposes, taking a little more whiskey, and seeming quite
    \r\n", - "indifferent about the whole affair. \"Suppose-Marston-comes-forward!
    \r\n", - "yes, and brings somebody to swear as a kind a' sideways? That'll be
    \r\n", - "a poser in asserting their freedom; it'll saddle you creditors with
    \r\n", - "the burden of proof. There'll be the rub; and ye can't plead a right
    \r\n", - "to enjoin the schedule he files in bankruptcy unless ye show how
    \r\n", - "they were purchased by him. Perchance on some legal uncertainty it
    \r\n", - "might be done,--by your producing proof that he had made an
    \r\n", - "admission, anterior to the levy, of their being purchased by him,\"
    \r\n", - "Romescos continues, very wisely appealing to his learned and
    \r\n", - "constitutional friend, Mr. Scranton, who yields his assent by adding
    \r\n", - "that the remarks are very legal, and contain truths worth
    \r\n", - "considering, inasmuch as they involve great principles of popular
    \r\n", - "government. \"I think our worthy friend has a clear idea of the
    \r\n", - "points,\" Mr. Scranton concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One word more, gentlemen: a bit of advice what's worth a right
    \r\n", - "smart price to ye all\"--here he parenthesises by saying he has great
    \r\n", - "sympathy for creditors in distress--\"and ye must profit by it, for
    \r\n", - "yer own interests. As the case now stands, it's a game for lawyers
    \r\n", - "to play and get fat at. And, seein' how Marston's feelins are up in
    \r\n", - "a sort of tender way, he feels strong about savin' them young 'uns;
    \r\n", - "and ye, nor all the gentlemen of the lower place, can't make 'em
    \r\n", - "property, if he plays his game right;--he knows how to! ye'll only
    \r\n", - "make a fuss over the brutes, while the lawyers bag all the game
    \r\n", - "worth a dollar. Never see'd a nigger yet what raised a legal squall,
    \r\n", - "that didn't get used up in law leakins; lawyers are sainted pocket
    \r\n", - "masters! But--that kind a' stuff!--it takes a mighty deal of
    \r\n", - "cross-cornered swearing to turn it into property. The only way ye
    \r\n", - "can drive the peg in so the lawyers won't get hold on't, is by
    \r\n", - "sellin' out to old Graspum-Norman, I mean--he does up such business
    \r\n", - "as fine as a fiddle. Make the best strike with him ye can--he's as
    \r\n", - "tough as a knot on nigger trade!--and, if there's any making
    \r\n", - "property out on 'em, he's just the tinker to do it.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They shake their heads doubtingly, as if questioning the policy of
    \r\n", - "the advice. Mr. Scranton, however, to whom all looked with great
    \r\n", - "solicitation, speaks up, and affirms the advice to be the wiser
    \r\n", - "course, as a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, yes!\" says Romescos, significantly, \"you'll be safe then, and
    \r\n", - "free from responsibility; Graspum's a great fellow to buy risks;
    \r\n", - "but, seeing how he's not popular with juries, he may want to play
    \r\n", - "behind the scenes, continue to prosecute the case in the name of the
    \r\n", - "creditors,--that's all! Curious work, this making property out of
    \r\n", - "doubtful women. Sell out to them what understands the curious of the
    \r\n", - "things, clear yerselfs of the perplexin' risks--ye won't bag a bit of
    \r\n", - "the game, you won't. Saddle it on Norman; he knows the philosophy of
    \r\n", - "nigger trade, and can swim through a sea of legal perplexities in
    \r\n", - "nigger cases.\" Mr. Romescos never gave more serious advice in his
    \r\n", - "life; he finishes his whiskey, adjusts his hat slouchingly on his
    \r\n", - "head, bids them good night; and, in return for their thanks, assures
    \r\n", - "them that they are welcome. He withdraws; Mr. Scranton, after a
    \r\n", - "time, gets very muddled; so much so, that, when daylight appears, he
    \r\n", - "finds, to his utter astonishment, he has enjoyed a sweet sleep on
    \r\n", - "the floor, some of his quizzical friends having disfigured his face
    \r\n", - "very much after the fashion of a clown's. He modestly, and
    \r\n", - "mechanically, picks up his lethargic body, views his constitutional
    \r\n", - "self in the glass, and is much horrified, much disgusted with those
    \r\n", - "who perpetrated the freak.
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    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XVIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THEY ARE ALL GOING TO BE SOLD.
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "SLOWLY we pass through the precious scenes, hoping our readers will
    \r\n", - "indulge us with their patience.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Five days have passed since Clotilda's departure; her absence is
    \r\n", - "creating alarm. No one knows anything of her! a general search is
    \r\n", - "instituted, but the searchers search in vain. Maxwell has eluded
    \r\n", - "suspicion-Franconia no one for a moment suspects. Colonel
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow-his mind, for the time, absorbed in the charms of his
    \r\n", - "young bride-gives little attention to the matter. He only knows that
    \r\n", - "he has signed a bond for fifteen hundred dollars, to indemnify the
    \r\n", - "sheriff, or creditors, in the event of loss; he reconciles himself
    \r\n", - "with the belief that she has been enticed into some of the
    \r\n", - "neighbouring bright houses, from which he can regain her in the
    \r\n", - "course of time. M'Carstrow knows little of Clotilda's real
    \r\n", - "character; and thus the matter rests a time.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sheriff,--important gentleman of an important office,--will give
    \r\n", - "himself no concern about the matter: the plaintiff's attorney
    \r\n", - "acknowledged the deed of release, which is quite enough for him.
    \r\n", - "Graspum, a perfect savan where human property was to be judged, had
    \r\n", - "decided that her square inches of human vitality were worth strong
    \r\n", - "fifteen hundred; that was all desirable for the sheriff-it would
    \r\n", - "leave margin enough to cover the cost. But M'Carstrow, when given
    \r\n", - "the bond, knew enough of nigger law to demand the insertion of a
    \r\n", - "clause leaving it subject to the question of property, which is to
    \r\n", - "be decided by the court. A high court this, where freemen sit
    \r\n", - "assembled to administer curious justice. What constitutional
    \r\n", - "inconsistencies hover over the monstrous judicial dignity of this
    \r\n", - "court,--this court having jurisdiction over the monetary value of
    \r\n", - "beings moulded after God's own image! It forms a happy jurisprudence
    \r\n", - "for those who view it for their selfish ends; it gains freedom
    \r\n", - "tyranny's license, gives birth to strange incongruities, clashing
    \r\n", - "between the right of property in man and all the viler passions of
    \r\n", - "our nature. It holds forth a jurisprudence that turns men into
    \r\n", - "hounds of hell, devouring one another, and dragging human nature
    \r\n", - "down into the very filth of earth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston's troubles keep increasing. All the preliminaries of law
    \r\n", - "necessary to a sale of the undisputed property have been gone
    \r\n", - "through; the day of its disposal has arrived. The children, Annette
    \r\n", - "and Nicholas, have remained in a cell, suffering under its malarious
    \r\n", - "atmosphere, anxiously awaiting their fate. Marston has had them
    \r\n", - "taught to read,--contrary to a generous law of a generous land,--and
    \r\n", - "at intervals they sit together pondering over little books he has
    \r\n", - "sent them.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "What are such little books to them? the unbending avarice of human
    \r\n", - "nature, fostered by slavery's power, is grappling at their
    \r\n", - "existence. There is no sympathy for them; it is crushed out by the
    \r\n", - "law which makes them chattels. Oh, no! sympathy, generosity, human
    \r\n", - "affections, have little to do with the transactions of slave
    \r\n", - "dealing; that belongs to commerce,--commerce has an unbending rule to
    \r\n", - "maintain while money is to be made by a legalised traffic.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We must invite the reader to accompany us to the county gaol, on the
    \r\n", - "morning of sale.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The \"gang\"-Marston's slaves-have been ordered to prepare themselves
    \r\n", - "for the market; the yard resounds with their jargon. Some are
    \r\n", - "arranging their little clothing, washing, \"brightening up\" their
    \r\n", - "faces to make the property show off in the market. Others are
    \r\n", - "preparing homony for breakfast; children, in ragged garments, are
    \r\n", - "toddling, running, playing, and sporting about the brick pavement;
    \r\n", - "the smallest are crouched at the feet of their mothers, as if
    \r\n", - "sharing the gloom or nonchalance of their feeling. Men are gathering
    \r\n", - "together the remnants of some cherished memento of the old
    \r\n", - "plantation; they had many a happy day upon it. Women view as things
    \r\n", - "of great worth the little trinkets with which good master, in former
    \r\n", - "days, rewarded their energy. They recall each happy association of
    \r\n", - "the cabin. Husbands, or such as should be husbands, look upon their
    \r\n", - "wives with solicitude; they feel it is to be the last day they will
    \r\n", - "meet together on earth. They may meet in heaven; there is no slavery
    \r\n", - "there. Mothers look upon their children only to feel the pangs of
    \r\n", - "sorrow more keenly; they know and feel that their offspring are born
    \r\n", - "for the market, not for the enjoyment of their affections. They may
    \r\n", - "be torn from them, and sold like sheep in the shambles. Happy, free
    \r\n", - "country! How fair, how beautiful the picture of constitutional
    \r\n", - "rights! how in keeping with every-day scenes of southern life!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'ze gwine to be sold; you're gwint to be sold; we're all gwine to
    \r\n", - "be sold. Wonder what mas'r's gwine t'buy dis child,\" says Aunt
    \r\n", - "Rachel, arranging her best dress, making her face \"shine just so.\"
    \r\n", - "Aunt Rachel endeavours to suit her feelings to the occasion, trims
    \r\n", - "her bandana about her head with exquisite taste, and lets the
    \r\n", - "bright-coloured points hang about her ears in great profusion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Da'h 's a right smart heap o' dollar in dis old nigger, yet!-if
    \r\n", - "mas'r what gwine t'buy 'em know how't fotch um out; Mas'r must do
    \r\n", - "da'h clean ting wid dis child,\" Rachel says, as if exulting over the
    \r\n", - "value of her own person. She brushes and brushes, views and reviews
    \r\n", - "herself in a piece of mirror-several are waiting to borrow it-thinks
    \r\n", - "she is just right for market, asks herself what's the use of
    \r\n", - "fretting? It's a free country, with boundless hospitality-of the
    \r\n", - "southern stamp,--and why not submit to all freedom's dealings? Aunt
    \r\n", - "Rachel is something of a philosopher.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Aunte! da' would'nt gin much fo'h yer old pack a' bones if mas'r
    \r\n", - "what gwine to buy ye know'd ye like I. Ye' h'ant da property what
    \r\n", - "bring long price wid Buckra,\" replies Dandy, who views Aunt Rachel
    \r\n", - "rather suspiciously, seems inclined to relieve her conceit, and has
    \r\n", - "taken very good care that his own dimensions are trimmed up to the
    \r\n", - "highest point.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dis nigger would'nt swop h'r carcas fo'h yourn. Dat she don't,\"
    \r\n", - "Rachel retorts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Reckon how ye wouldn't, ah!\" Dandy's face fills with indignation.
    \r\n", - "\"Buckra what sting ye back wid de lash 'll buy ye old bag a' bones
    \r\n", - "fo'h down south; and when 'e get ye down da' he make ye fo'h a corn
    \r\n", - "grinder.\" Dandy is somewhat inflated with his rank among the
    \r\n", - "domestics; he is none of yer common niggers, has never associated
    \r\n", - "with black, field niggers, which he views as quite too common for
    \r\n", - "his aristocratic notions, has on his very best looks, his hair
    \r\n", - "combed with extraordinary care, his shirt collar dangerously
    \r\n", - "standing above his ears. He feels something better than nigger blood
    \r\n", - "in his composition, knows the ins and outs of nigger philosophy; he
    \r\n", - "knows it to be the very best kind of philosophy for a \"nigger\" to
    \r\n", - "put on a good appearance at the shambles. A dandy nigger is not
    \r\n", - "plantation stock,--hence he has \"trimmed up,\" and hopes to find a
    \r\n", - "purchaser in want of his specific kind of property; it will save him
    \r\n", - "from that field-life so much dreaded.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The property, in all its varied shades, comes rolling out from all
    \r\n", - "manner of places in and about the gaol, filling the yard. It is a
    \r\n", - "momentous occasion, the most momentous of their life-time. And yet
    \r\n", - "many seem indifferent about its consequences. They speak of the old
    \r\n", - "plantation, jeer each other about the value of themselves, offer
    \r\n", - "bets on the price they will bring, assert a superiority over each
    \r\n", - "other, and boast of belonging to some particular grade of the
    \r\n", - "property. Harry--we mean Harry the preacher--is busy getting his wife
    \r\n", - "and children ready for market. He evinces great affection for his
    \r\n", - "little ones, has helped his wife to arrange their apparel with so
    \r\n", - "much care. The uninitiated might imagine them going to church
    \r\n", - "instead of the man shambles. Indeed, so earnest are many good
    \r\n", - "divines in the promotion of slavery, that it would not be unbecoming
    \r\n", - "to form a connection between the southern church and the southern
    \r\n", - "man shambles. The material aid they now give each other for the
    \r\n", - "purpose of keeping up the man trade would be much facilitated.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "However, there is a chance of Harry being sold to a brother divine,
    \r\n", - "who by way of serving his good Lord and righteous master, may let
    \r\n", - "him out to preach, after the old way. Harry will then be serving his
    \r\n", - "brother in brotherly faith; that is, he will be his brother's
    \r\n", - "property, very profitable, strong in the faith with his dear divine
    \r\n", - "brother, to whom he will pay large tribute for the right to serve
    \r\n", - "the same God.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry's emotions-he has been struggling to suppress them-have got
    \r\n", - "beyond his control; tears will now and then show themselves and
    \r\n", - "course down his cheeks. \"Never mind, my good folks! it is something
    \r\n", - "to know that Jesus still guards us; still watches over us.\" He
    \r\n", - "speaks encouragingly to them. \"The scourge of earth is man's wrongs,
    \r\n", - "the deathspring of injustice. We are made bearers of the burden; but
    \r\n", - "that very burden will be our passport into a brighter, a juster
    \r\n", - "world. Let us meekly bear it. Cheer up! arm yourselves with the
    \r\n", - "spirit of the Lord; it will give you fortitude to live out the long
    \r\n", - "journey of slave life. How we shall feel when, in heaven, we are
    \r\n", - "brought face to face with master, before the Lord Judge. Our rights
    \r\n", - "and his wrongs will then weigh in the balance of heavenly justice.\"
    \r\n", - "With these remarks, Harry counsels them to join him in prayer. He
    \r\n", - "kneels on the brick pavement of the yard, clasps his hands together
    \r\n", - "as they gather around him kneeling devotedly. Fervently he offers up
    \r\n", - "a prayer,--he invokes the God of heaven to look down upon them, to
    \r\n", - "bestow his mercy upon master, to incline his ways in the paths of
    \r\n", - "good; and to protect these, his unfortunate children, and guide them
    \r\n", - "through their separate wayfaring. The ardour, grotesqueness, and
    \r\n", - "devotion of this poor forlorn group, are painfully touching. How it
    \r\n", - "presents the portrait of an oppressed race! how sunk is the nature
    \r\n", - "that has thus degraded it! Under the painful burden of their sorrow
    \r\n", - "they yet manifest the purity of simple goodness. \"Oh! Father in
    \r\n", - "heaven, hast thou thus ordained it to be so?\" breaks forth from
    \r\n", - "Harry's lips, as the criminals, moved by the affecting picture,
    \r\n", - "gather upon the veranda, and stand attentive listeners. Their
    \r\n", - "attention seems rivetted to his words; the more vicious, as he looks
    \r\n", - "through grated bars upon them, whispers words of respect.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry has scarcely concluded his prayer when the sheriff,
    \r\n", - "accompanied by several brokers (slave-dealers), comes rushing
    \r\n", - "through the transept into the yard. The sheriff is not rude; he
    \r\n", - "approaches Harry, tells him he is a good boy, has no objection to
    \r\n", - "his praying, and hopes a good master will buy him. He will do all he
    \r\n", - "can to further his interests, having heard a deal about his talents.
    \r\n", - "He says this with good-natured measure, and proceeds to take a
    \r\n", - "cursory view of the felons. While he is thus proceeding, the
    \r\n", - "gentlemen of trade who accompanied him are putting \"the property\"
    \r\n", - "through a series of examinations.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Property like this ye don't start up every day,\" says one. \"Best
    \r\n", - "I'ze seen come from that ar' district. Give ye plenty corn, down
    \r\n", - "there, don't they, boys?\" enjoins another, walking among them, and
    \r\n", - "every moment bringing the end of a small whip which he holds in his
    \r\n", - "right hand about their legs. This, the gentleman remarks, is merely
    \r\n", - "for the purpose-one of the phrases of the very honourable trade-of
    \r\n", - "testing their nimbleness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well!\" replies a tall, lithe dealer, whose figure would seem to
    \r\n", - "have been moulded for chasing hogs through the swamp, \"There's some
    \r\n", - "good bits among it; but it won't stand prime, as a lot!\" The
    \r\n", - "gentleman, who seems to have a nicely balanced mind for judging the
    \r\n", - "human nature value of such things, is not quite sure that they have
    \r\n", - "been bacon fed. He continues his learned remarks. \"Ye'h han't had
    \r\n", - "full tuck out, I reckon, boys?\" he inquires of them, deliberately
    \r\n", - "examining the mouths and nostrils of several. The gentleman is very
    \r\n", - "cool in this little matter of trade; it is an essential element of
    \r\n", - "southern democracy; some say, nothing more!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, Boss!\" replies Enoch, one of the negroes; \"Mas'r ollers good
    \r\n", - "t' e niggers, gin him bacon free times a week-sometimes mo' den
    \r\n", - "dat.\" Several voices chime in to affirm what Enoch says.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, very good. Few planters in that district give their negroes
    \r\n", - "bacon; and an all corn-fed nigger won't last two years on a sugar
    \r\n", - "plantation,\" remarks one of the gentlemen dealers, as he smokes his
    \r\n", - "cigar with great nonchalance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While these quaint appendancies of the trade are proceeding,
    \r\n", - "Romescos and Graspum make their appearance. They have come to
    \r\n", - "forestall opinion, to make a few side-winded remarks. They are ready
    \r\n", - "to enter upon the disgusting business of examining property more
    \r\n", - "carefully, more scrupulously, more in private. The honourable
    \r\n", - "sheriff again joins the party. He orders that every accommodation be
    \r\n", - "afforded the gentlemen in their examinations of the property. Men,
    \r\n", - "women, and children-sorrowing property-are made to stand erect; to
    \r\n", - "gesticulate their arms; to expand their chests, to jump about like
    \r\n", - "jackals, and to perform sundry antics pleasing to the gentlemen
    \r\n", - "lookers-on. This is all very free, very democratic, very gentlemanly
    \r\n", - "in the way of trade,--very necessary to test the ingredient of the
    \r\n", - "valuable square inches of the property. What matters all this! the
    \r\n", - "honourable sheriff holds it no dishonour; modest gentlemen never
    \r\n", - "blush at it; the coarse dealer makes it his study,--he trades in
    \r\n", - "human nature; the happy democrat thinks it should have a
    \r\n", - "co-fellowship with southern hospitality-so long and loudly boasted.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Those little necessary displays over, the honourable sheriff invites
    \r\n", - "his distinguished friends to \"have a cigar round;\" having satisfied
    \r\n", - "their taste in gymnastarising the property. Romescos, however,
    \r\n", - "thinks he has not quite satisfied his feelings; he is very dogged on
    \r\n", - "nigger flesh. The other gentlemen may smoke their cigars; Mr.
    \r\n", - "Romescos thinks he will enjoy the exercise of his skill in testing
    \r\n", - "the tenacity of negroes' chests; which he does by administering
    \r\n", - "heavy blows, which make them groan out now and then. Groans,
    \r\n", - "however, don't amount to much; they are only nigger groans. Again
    \r\n", - "Mr. Romescos applies the full force of his hands upon their ears;
    \r\n", - "then he will just pull them systematically. \"Nice property!\" he
    \r\n", - "says, telling the forbearing creatures not to mind the pain.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Messrs. Graspum and Romescos will make a close inspection of a few
    \r\n", - "pieces. Here, several men and women are led into a basement cell,
    \r\n", - "under the veranda, and stript most rudely. No discrimination is
    \r\n", - "permitted. Happy freedom! What a boon is liberty! Mr. Romescos views
    \r\n", - "their nice firm bodies, and their ebony black skins, with great
    \r\n", - "skill and precaution; his object is to prove the disposition of the
    \r\n", - "articles,--strong evidence being absence of scars. He lays his bony
    \r\n", - "fingers on their left shoulders-they being compelled to stand in a
    \r\n", - "recumbent position-tracing their bodies to the hips and thighs. Here
    \r\n", - "the process ends. Mr. Romescos has satisfied his very nice judgment
    \r\n", - "on the solidity of the human-flesh-property-he has put their bodies
    \r\n", - "through other disgusting inspections-they belong to the trade-which
    \r\n", - "cannot be told here; but he finds clean skins, very smooth, without
    \r\n", - "scars or cuts, or dangerous diseases. He laughs exultingly, orders
    \r\n", - "the people to stow themselves in their clothes again, and relights
    \r\n", - "his cigar. \"If it 'ant a tall lot!\" he whispers to Graspum, and
    \r\n", - "gives him a significant touch with his elbow. \"Bright-smooth as a
    \r\n", - "leather ninepence; han't had a lash-Marston was a fool, or his
    \r\n", - "niggers are angels, rather black, though-couldn't start up a scar on
    \r\n", - "their flesh. A little trimmin' down-it wants it, you see!-to make it
    \r\n", - "show off; must have it-eh! Graspum, old feller? It only wants a
    \r\n", - "little, though, and them dandy niggers, and that slap-up preacher,
    \r\n", - "will bring a smart price fixed up. Great institution! The preacher's
    \r\n", - "got knowin'; can discourse like a college-made deacon, and can
    \r\n", - "convert a whole plantation with his nigger eloquence. A nigger
    \r\n", - "preacher with Bible knowin, when it's smart, is right valuable when
    \r\n", - "ye want to keep the pious of a plantation straight. And then! when
    \r\n", - "the preacher 'ant got a notion a' runnin away in him.\" Romescos
    \r\n", - "crooks his finger upon Graspum's arm, whispers cautiously in his
    \r\n", - "ear.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There 'll be a sharp bidding for some of it; they 'll run up some
    \r\n", - "on the preacher. He 'll be a capital investment,--pay more than
    \r\n", - "thirty per cent. insinuates another gentleman-a small inquisitive
    \r\n", - "looking dealer in articles of the nigger line. When a planter's got
    \r\n", - "a big gang a' niggers, and is just fool enough to keep such a thing
    \r\n", - "for the special purpose of making pious valuable in 'um,\" Mr.
    \r\n", - "Romescos rejoins, shrugging his shoulders, rubbing his little hawk's
    \r\n", - "eyes, and looking seriously indifferent. Romescos gives wonderful
    \r\n", - "evidence of his \"first best cunning propensities;\" and here he
    \r\n", - "fancies he has pronounced an opinion that will be taken as profound.
    \r\n", - "He affects heedlessness of everything, is quite disinterested, and,
    \r\n", - "thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, assumes an air of dignity
    \r\n", - "that would not unbecome my Lord Chief Justice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Let us see them two bits of disputed property,--where are they?\"
    \r\n", - "inquires Graspum, turning half round, and addressing himself to the
    \r\n", - "gaoler.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"In the close cells,\" is the quick reply,--\"through the narrow vault,
    \r\n", - "up the stone passage, and on the right, in the arched cell.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gaoler-good, honest-hearted man-leads the way, through a chilly
    \r\n", - "vault, up the narrow passage, to the left wing of the building. The
    \r\n", - "air is pestiferous; warm and diseased, it fans us as we approach.
    \r\n", - "The gaoler puts his face to the grating, and in a guttural voice,
    \r\n", - "says, \"You're wanted, young uns.\" They understand the summons; they
    \r\n", - "come forward as if released from torture to enjoy the pure air of
    \r\n", - "heaven. Confinement, dreary and damp, has worn deep into their
    \r\n", - "systems.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Annette speaks feebly, looks pale and sickly. Her flaxen curls still
    \r\n", - "dangle prettily upon her shoulders. She expected her mother; that
    \r\n", - "mother has not come. The picture seems strange; she looks childishly
    \r\n", - "and vacantly round,--at the dealers, at Graspum, at the sheriff, at
    \r\n", - "the familiar faces of the old plantation people. She recognizes
    \r\n", - "Harry, and would fain leap into his arms. Nicholas, less moved by
    \r\n", - "what is going on around him, hangs reluctantly behind, holding by
    \r\n", - "the skirt of Annette's frock. He has lost that vivacity and pertness
    \r\n", - "so characteristic on the plantation. Happy picture of freedom's
    \r\n", - "love! Happy picture of immortalised injustice! Happy picture of
    \r\n", - "everything that is unhappy! How modest is the boast that we live to
    \r\n", - "be free; and that in our virtuous freedom a child's mother has been
    \r\n", - "sold for losing her mind: a faithful divine, strong with love for
    \r\n", - "his fellow divines, is to be sold for his faith; the child-the
    \r\n", - "daughter of the democrat-they say, will be sold from her democratic
    \r\n", - "father. The death-stinging enemy Washington and Jefferson sought to
    \r\n", - "slaughter-to lay ever dead at their feet, has risen to life again.
    \r\n", - "Annette's mother has fled to escape its poison. We must pause! we
    \r\n", - "must not discourse thus in our day, when the sordid web of trade is
    \r\n", - "being drawn over the land by King Cotton.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The children, like all such doubtful stock, are considered very
    \r\n", - "fancy, very choice of their kind. It must be dressed in style to
    \r\n", - "suit nice eyes at the shambles.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! ye'r right interesting looking,\" says the sheriff--Messrs.
    \r\n", - "Graspum and Co. look upon them with great concern, now and then
    \r\n", - "interrupting with some observations upon their pedigree,--taking them
    \r\n", - "by the arms, and again rumpling their hair by rubbing his hands over
    \r\n", - "their heads. \"Fix it up, trim; we must put them up along with the
    \r\n", - "rest to-day. It 'll make Marston--I pity the poor fellow--show his
    \r\n", - "hand on the question of their freedom. Mr. sheriff, being
    \r\n", - "sufficiently secured against harm, is quite indifferent about the
    \r\n", - "latent phases of the suit. He remarks, with great legal logic--we
    \r\n", - "mean legal slave logic--that Marston must object to the sale when the
    \r\n", - "children are on the stand. It is very pretty kind a' property, very
    \r\n", - "like Marston--will be as handsome as pictures when they grow up,\" he
    \r\n", - "says, ordering it put back to be got ready.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Why didn't my mother come?\" the child whimpers, dewy tears
    \r\n", - "decorating her eyes. \"Why won't she come back and take me to the
    \r\n", - "plantation again? I want her to come back; I've waited so long.\" As
    \r\n", - "she turns to follow the gaoler--Nicholas still holds her by the skirt
    \r\n", - "of her frock--her flaxen curls again wave to and fro upon her
    \r\n", - "shoulders, adding beauty to her childlike simplicity. \"You'll grow
    \r\n", - "to be something, one of these days, won't ye, little dear?\" says the
    \r\n", - "gaoler, taking her by the hand. She replies in those silent and
    \r\n", - "touching arguments of the soul; she raises her soft blue eyes, and
    \r\n", - "heaven fills them with tears, which she lifts her tiny hands to wipe
    \r\n", - "away.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Nicholas tremblingly-he cannot understand the strange
    \r\n", - "movement-follows them through the vault; he looks up submissively,
    \r\n", - "and with instinctive sympathy commences a loud blubbering. \"You're
    \r\n", - "going to be sold, little uns! but, don't roar about it; there's no
    \r\n", - "use in that,\" says the gaoler, inclining to sympathy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Nicholas does'nt comprehend it; he looks up to Annette, plaintively,
    \r\n", - "and, forgetting his own tears, says, in a whisper, \"Don't cry,
    \r\n", - "Annette; they 'll let us go and see mother, and mother will be so
    \r\n", - "kind to us-.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It does seem a pity to sell ye, young 'uns; ye'r such nice
    \r\n", - "'uns,--have so much interestin' in yer little skins!\" interrupts the
    \r\n", - "gaoler, suddenly. The man of keys could unfold a strange history of
    \r\n", - "misery, suffering, and death, if fear of popular opinion,
    \r\n", - "illustrated in popular liberty, did not seal his lips. He admits the
    \r\n", - "present to be
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We are narrating a scene related to us by the very gaoler we here
    \r\n", - "describe, and as nearly as possible in his own language. rather an
    \r\n", - "uncommon case, says it makes a body feel kind a' unhinged about the
    \r\n", - "heart, which heart, however rocky at times, will have its own way
    \r\n", - "when little children are sorrowing. \"And then, to know their
    \r\n", - "parents! that's what tells deeper on a body's feeling,--it makes a
    \r\n", - "body look into the hereafter.\" The man of keys and shackles would be
    \r\n", - "a father, if the law did but let him. There is a monster power over
    \r\n", - "him, a power he dreads-it is the power of unbending democracy, moved
    \r\n", - "alone by fretful painstakers of their own freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Poor little things! ye 'r most white, yes!-suddenly changing-just
    \r\n", - "as white as white need be. Property's property, though, all over the
    \r\n", - "world. What's sanctioned by the constitution, and protected by the
    \r\n", - "spirit and wisdom of Congress, must be right, and maintained,\" the
    \r\n", - "gaoler concludes. His heart is at war with his head; but the head
    \r\n", - "has the power, and he must protect the rights of an unrighteous
    \r\n", - "system. They have arrived at a flight of steps, up which they
    \r\n", - "ascend, and are soon lost in its windings. They are going to be
    \r\n", - "dressed for the market.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sheriff is in the yard, awaiting the preparation of the
    \r\n", - "property. Even he-iron-hearted, they say-gives them a look of
    \r\n", - "generous solicitude, as they pass out. He really feels there is a
    \r\n", - "point, no less in the scale of slave dealing, beyond which there is
    \r\n", - "something so repugnant that hell itself might frown upon it. \"It's a
    \r\n", - "phase too hard, touches a body's conscience,\" he says, not observing
    \r\n", - "Romescos at his elbow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Conscience!\" interrupts Romescos, his eyes flashing like meteors of
    \r\n", - "red fire, \"the article don't belong to the philosophy of our
    \r\n", - "business. Establish conscience-let us, gentlemen, give way to our
    \r\n", - "feelins, and trade in nigger property 'd be deader than Chatham's
    \r\n", - "statue, what was pulled through our streets by the neck. The great
    \r\n", - "obstacle, however, is only this-it is profitable in its way!\"
    \r\n", - "Romescos cautiously attempts to shield this, but it will not do.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gaoler, protruding his head from a second-story window, like a
    \r\n", - "mop in a rain storm, enquires if it is requisite to dress the
    \r\n", - "children in their very best shine. It is evident he merely views
    \r\n", - "them as two bales of merchandise.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sheriff, angrily, says, \"Yes! I told you that already. Make them
    \r\n", - "look as bright as two new pins.\" His honour has been contemplating
    \r\n", - "how they will be mere pins in the market,--pins to bolt the doors of
    \r\n", - "justice, pins to play men into Congress, pins to play men out of
    \r\n", - "Congress, pins to play a President into the White House.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "An old negress, one of the plantation nurses, is called into
    \r\n", - "service. She commences the process of preparing them for market.
    \r\n", - "They are nicely washed, dressed in clean clothes; they shine out as
    \r\n", - "bright and white as anybody's children. Their heads look so sleek,
    \r\n", - "their hair is so nicely combed, so nicely parted, so nicely curled.
    \r\n", - "The old slave loves them,--she loved their father. Her skill has been
    \r\n", - "lavished upon them,--they look as choice and interesting as the human
    \r\n", - "property of any democratic gentleman can be expected to do. Let us
    \r\n", - "be patriotic, let us be law-loving, patient law-abiding citizens,
    \r\n", - "loving that law of our free country which puts them under the
    \r\n", - "man-vender's hammer,--say our peace-abiding neighbours.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gaoler has not been long in getting Annette and Nicholas ready.
    \r\n", - "He brings them forward, so neatly and prettily dressed: he places
    \r\n", - "them among the \"gang.\" But they are disputed property: hence all
    \r\n", - "that ingenuity which the system engenders for the advancement of
    \r\n", - "dealers is brought into use to defeat the attempt to assert their
    \r\n", - "freedom. Romescos declares it no difficult matter to do this: he has
    \r\n", - "the deadly weapon in his possession; he can work (shuffle) the debt
    \r\n", - "into Graspum's hands, and he can supply the proof to convict. By
    \r\n", - "this very desirable arrangement the thing may be made nicely
    \r\n", - "profitable.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "No sooner has Aunt Rachel seen the children in their neat and
    \r\n", - "familiar attire, than her feelings bound with joy,--she cannot longer
    \r\n", - "restrain them. She has watched Marston's moral delinquencies with
    \r\n", - "suspicion; but she loves the children none the less. And with honest
    \r\n", - "negro nature she runs to them, clasps them to her bosom, fondles
    \r\n", - "them, and kisses them like a fond mother. The happy associations of
    \r\n", - "the past, contrasted with their present unhappy condition, unbind
    \r\n", - "the fountain of her solicitude,--she pours it upon them, warm and
    \r\n", - "fervent. \"Gwine t' sell ye, too! Mas'r, poor old Mas'r, would'nt
    \r\n", - "sell ye, no how! that he don't. But poor old Boss hab 'e trouble
    \r\n", - "now, God bless 'em,\" she says, again pressing Annette to her bosom,
    \r\n", - "nearer and nearer, with fondest, simplest, holiest affection.
    \r\n", - "Looking intently in the child's face, she laughs with the bounding
    \r\n", - "joy of her soul; then she smooths its hair with her brawny black
    \r\n", - "hands: they contrast strangely with the pure carnatic of the child's
    \r\n", - "cheek.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Lor! good Lor, Mas'r Buckra,\" aunt Rachel exclaims, \"if eber de
    \r\n", - "Lor' smote 'e vengence on yeh, 't'll be fo' sellin' de likes o'
    \r\n", - "dese. Old Mas'r tinks much on 'em, fo' true. Gwine t' sell dem what
    \r\n", - "Mas'r be so fond on? Hard tellin' what Buckra don't sell win i'
    \r\n", - "makes money on him. Neber mind, children; de Lor' aint so unsartin
    \r\n", - "as white man. He,--da'h good Mas'r yonder in the clouds,--save ye yet;
    \r\n", - "he'll make white man gin ye back when de day o' judgment come.\" Aunt
    \r\n", - "Rachel has an instinctive knowledge of the errors, accidents, and
    \r\n", - "delays which have brought about this sad event,--she becomes absorbed
    \r\n", - "in their cares, as she loses sight of her own trouble.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "All ready for the market, they are chained together in pairs, men
    \r\n", - "and women, as if the wrongs they bore had made them untrustworthy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos, ever employed in his favourite trade, is busily engaged
    \r\n", - "chaining up-assorting the pairs! One by one they quietly submit to
    \r\n", - "the proceeding, until he reaches Harry. That minister-of-the-gospel
    \r\n", - "piece of property thinks,--that is, is foolish enough to think,--his
    \r\n", - "nigger religion a sufficient guarantee against any inert propensity
    \r\n", - "to run away. \"Now, good master, save my hands from irons, and my
    \r\n", - "heart from pain. Trust me, let me go unbound; my old Master trust me
    \r\n", - "wid 'is life-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Halloo!\" says Romescos, quickly interrupting, and beginning to
    \r\n", - "bristle with rage; \"preach about old Master here you'll get the
    \r\n", - "tinglers, I reckon. Put 'em on-not a grunt-or you'll get thirty
    \r\n", - "more-yes, a collar on yer neck.\" Holding a heavy stick over the poor
    \r\n", - "victim's head, for several minutes with one hand, he rubs the other,
    \r\n", - "clenched, several times across his nose. Graspum interposes by
    \r\n", - "reminding the minister that it is for his interest to be very
    \r\n", - "careful how he makes any reply to white gentlemen.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Why, massa, I'ze the minister on de plantation. My old master
    \r\n", - "wouldn't sell-wouldn't do so wid me. Master knows I love God, am
    \r\n", - "honest and peaceable. Why chain the honest? why chain the peaceable?
    \r\n", - "why chain the innocent? They need no fetters, no poisoning shackles.
    \r\n", - "The guilty only fear the hand of retribution,\" says Harry, a curl of
    \r\n", - "contempt on his lip. He takes a step backwards as Romescos holds the
    \r\n", - "heavy irons before him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You don't come nigger preacher over this ar' child; 't'ant what's
    \r\n", - "crack'd up to be. I larns niggers to preach different tunes. Don't
    \r\n", - "spoil prime stock for such nonsense-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Master Sheriff will stand answerable for me,\" interrupts Harry,
    \r\n", - "turning to that honourable functionary, and claiming his protection.
    \r\n", - "That gentleman says it is rather out of his line to interfere.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not a preacher trick, I say again-Romescos evinces signs of
    \r\n", - "increasing temper-ya' black theologin. Preachers can't put on such
    \r\n", - "dignity when they'r property.\" Preachers of colour must be doubly
    \r\n", - "humbled: they must be humble before God, humbled before King Cotton,
    \r\n", - "humbled before the king dealer, who will sell them for their
    \r\n", - "dollars' worth. Harry must do the bidding of his king master; his
    \r\n", - "monkey tricks won't shine with such a philosopher as Romescos. The
    \r\n", - "man of bones, blood, and flesh, can tell him to sell a nigger
    \r\n", - "preacher to his brother of the ministry, and make it very
    \r\n", - "profitable. He assures Harry, while holding the shackles in his
    \r\n", - "hands, that he may put on just as much of the preacher as he can
    \r\n", - "get, when he gets to the shambles, and hears the fives and tens
    \r\n", - "bidding on his black hide.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry must submit; he does it with pain and reluctance. He is
    \r\n", - "chained to his wife-a favour suggested by the sheriff-with whom he
    \r\n", - "can walk the streets of a free country,--but they must be bound in
    \r\n", - "freedom's iron fellowship. The iron shackle clasps his wrist; the
    \r\n", - "lock ticks as Romescos turns the key: it vibrates to his very heart.
    \r\n", - "With a sigh he says, \"Ours is a life of sorrow, streaming its dark
    \r\n", - "way along a dangerous path. It will ebb into the bright and
    \r\n", - "beautiful of heaven; that heaven wherein we put our trust-where our
    \r\n", - "hopes are strengthened. O! come the day when we shall be borne to
    \r\n", - "the realms of joy-joy celestial! There no unholy shade of
    \r\n", - "birth-unholy only to man-shall doom us; the colour of our skin will
    \r\n", - "not there be our misfortune-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What!\" quickly interrupts Romescos, \"what's that?\" The property
    \r\n", - "minister, thus circumstanced, must not show belligerent feelings.
    \r\n", - "Romescos simply, but very skilfully, draws his club; measures him an
    \r\n", - "unamiable blow on the head, fells him to the ground. The poor wretch
    \r\n", - "struggles a few moments, raises his manacled hands to his face as
    \r\n", - "his wife falls weeping upon his shuddering body. She supplicates
    \r\n", - "mercy at the hands of the ruffian-the ruffian torturer. \"Quietly,
    \r\n", - "mas'r; my man 'ill go wid me,\" says the woman, interposing her hand
    \r\n", - "to prevent a second blow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry opens his eyes imploringly, casts a look of pity upon the man
    \r\n", - "standing over him. Romescos is in the attitude of dealing him
    \r\n", - "another blow. The wretch stays his hand. \"Do with me as you please,
    \r\n", - "master; you are over me. My hope will be my protector when your
    \r\n", - "pleasure will have its reward.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A second thought has struck Romescos; the nigger isn't so bad, after
    \r\n", - "all. \"Well, reckon how nobody won't have no objection to ya'r
    \r\n", - "thinking just as ya'v mind to; but ya' can't talk ya'r own way, nor
    \r\n", - "ya' can't have ya'r own way with this child. A nigger what puts on
    \r\n", - "parson airs-if it is a progressive age nigger-musn't put on fast
    \r\n", - "notions to a white gentleman of my standing! If he does, we just
    \r\n", - "take 'em out on him by the process of a small quantity of first-
    \r\n", - "rate knockin down,\" says Romescos, amiably lending him a hand to get
    \r\n", - "up. Graspum and the honourable sheriff are measuredly pacing up and
    \r\n", - "down the yard, talking over affairs of state, and the singular
    \r\n", - "purity of their own southern democracy-that democracy which will
    \r\n", - "surely elect the next President. Stepping aside in one of his
    \r\n", - "sallies, Graspum, in a half whisper, reminds Romescos that, now the
    \r\n", - "nigger has shown symptoms of disobedience, he had better prove the
    \r\n", - "safety of the shackles. \"Right! right! all right!\" the man of chains
    \r\n", - "responds; he had forgot this very necessary piece of amusement. He
    \r\n", - "places both hands upon the shackles; grasps them firmly; places his
    \r\n", - "left foot against Harry's stomach; and then, uttering a fierce
    \r\n", - "imprecation, makes his victim pull with might and main while he
    \r\n", - "braces against him with full power. The victim, groaning under the
    \r\n", - "pain, begs for mercy. Mercy was not made for him. Freedom and mercy,
    \r\n", - "in this our land of greatness, have been betrayed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry, made willing property, is now placed by the side of his wife,
    \r\n", - "as four small children--the youngest not more than two years
    \r\n", - "old--cling at the skirts of her gown. The children are scarcely old
    \r\n", - "enough to chain; their strong affections for poor chained mother and
    \r\n", - "father are quite enough to guarantee against their running away.
    \r\n", - "Romescos, in his ample kindness, will allow them to toddle their way
    \r\n", - "to market. They are not dangerous property;--they have their
    \r\n", - "feelings, and will go to market to be sold, without running away.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gang is ready. The gaoler, nearly out of breath, congratulates
    \r\n", - "himself upon the manner of dispatching business at his
    \r\n", - "establishment. Romescos will put them through a few evolutions
    \r\n", - "before marching in the street; so, placing himself at their right,
    \r\n", - "and the gaoler at their left flank, they are made to march and
    \r\n", - "counter-march several times round the yard. This done, the generous
    \r\n", - "gaoler invites the gentlemen into his office: he has a good glass of
    \r\n", - "whiskey waiting their superior tastes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The ward gates are opened; the great gate is withdrawn; the
    \r\n", - "property, linked in iron fellowship,--the gentlemen having taken
    \r\n", - "their whiskey,--are all ready for the word, march! This significant
    \r\n", - "admonition the sheriff gives, and the property sets off in solemn
    \r\n", - "procession, like wanderers bound on a pilgrimage. Tramp, tramp,
    \r\n", - "tramp, their footsteps fall in dull tones as they sally forth, in
    \r\n", - "broken file, through the long aisles. Romescos is in high glee,--his
    \r\n", - "feelings bound with exultation, he marches along, twirling a stick
    \r\n", - "over his head. They are soon in the street, where he invites them to
    \r\n", - "strike up a lively song--\"Jim crack corn, and I don't care, fo'h
    \r\n", - "Mas'r's gone away!\" he shouts; and several strike up, the rest
    \r\n", - "joining in the old plantation chorus--\"Away! away! away! Mas'r's
    \r\n", - "gone away.\" Thus, with jingling chorus and seemingly joyous hearts,
    \r\n", - "they march down to the man-market. The two children, Annette and
    \r\n", - "Nicholas, trail behind, in charge of the sheriff, whose better
    \r\n", - "feelings seem to be troubling him very much. Every now and then, as
    \r\n", - "they walk by his side, he casts a serious look at Annette, as if
    \r\n", - "conscience, speaking in deep pulsations, said it wasn't just right
    \r\n", - "to sell such an interesting little creature. Onward they marched,
    \r\n", - "his head and heart warring the while. \"There's something about it
    \r\n", - "that does'nt seem to come just right in a fellow's feelins,\" keeps
    \r\n", - "working itself in his mind, until at length he mutters the words. It
    \r\n", - "is the natural will to do good, struggling against the privileges
    \r\n", - "which a government gives ungovernable men to do wrong.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XVIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "LET US FOLLOW POOR HUMAN NATURE TO THE MAN SHAMBLES.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "GENTLEMEN dealers in want of human property,--planters in want of a
    \r\n", - "few prime people,--brokers who have large transactions in such
    \r\n", - "articles,--and factors who, being rather sensitive of their dignity,
    \r\n", - "give to others the negotiation of their business,--are assembled in
    \r\n", - "and around the mart, a covered shed, somewhat resembling those used
    \r\n", - "by railroad companies for the storing of coarse merchandise.
    \r\n", - "Marston's negroes are to be sold. Suspicious circumstances are
    \r\n", - "connected with his sudden decline: rumour has sounded her
    \r\n", - "seven-tongued symbols upon it, and loud are the speculations. The
    \r\n", - "cholera has made mighty ravages; but the cholera could not have done
    \r\n", - "all. Graspum has grasped the plantation, quietly and adroitly, but
    \r\n", - "he has not raised the veil of mystery that hangs over the process.
    \r\n", - "There must be long explanations before the obdurate creditors are
    \r\n", - "satisfied.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The irons have been removed from the property, who are crouched
    \r\n", - "round the stand-an elevated platform-in a forlorn group, where
    \r\n", - "sundry customers can scrutinize their proportions. Being little or
    \r\n", - "no fancy among it, the fast young gentlemen of the town, finding
    \r\n", - "nothing worthy their attention and taste, make a few cursory
    \r\n", - "observations, and slowly swagger out of the ring. The children are
    \r\n", - "wonderfully attractive and promising; they are generally admired by
    \r\n", - "the customers, who view them with suspicious glances. Annette's
    \r\n", - "clean white skin and fine features are remarkably promising,--much
    \r\n", - "valued as articles of merchandise,--and will, in time, pay good
    \r\n", - "interest. Her youth, however, saves her from present sacrifice,--it
    \r\n", - "thwarts that spirited competition which older property of the same
    \r\n", - "quality produces when about to be knocked down under the hammer of
    \r\n", - "freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is a great day, a day of tribulation, with the once happy people
    \r\n", - "of Marston's plantation. No prayer is offered up for them, their
    \r\n", - "souls being only embodied in their market value. Prayers are not
    \r\n", - "known at the man shambles, though the hammer of the vender seals
    \r\n", - "with death the lives of many. No gentleman in modest black cares
    \r\n", - "aught for such death. The dealer will not pay the service fee! Good
    \r\n", - "master is no longer their protector; his familiar face, so buoyant
    \r\n", - "with joy and affection, has passed from them. No more will that
    \r\n", - "strong attachment manifest itself in their greetings. Fathers will
    \r\n", - "be fathers no longer-it is unlawful. Mothers cannot longer clasp
    \r\n", - "their children in their arms with warm affections. Children will no
    \r\n", - "longer cling around their mothers,--no longer fondle in that bosom
    \r\n", - "where once they toyed and joyed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The articles murmur among themselves, cast longing glances at each
    \r\n", - "other, meet the gaze of their purchasers, with pain and distrust
    \r\n", - "brooding over their countenances. They would seem to trace the
    \r\n", - "character-cruel or gentle-of each in his look.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Was it that God ordained one man thus to doom another? No! the very
    \r\n", - "thought repulsed the plea. He never made one man's life to be sorrow
    \r\n", - "and fear-to be the basest object, upon which blighting strife for
    \r\n", - "gold fills the passions of tyrants. He never made man to be a dealer
    \r\n", - "in his own kind. He never made man after his own image to imprecate
    \r\n", - "the wrath of heaven by blackening earth with his foul deeds. He
    \r\n", - "never made man to blacken this fair portion of earth with storms of
    \r\n", - "contention, nor to overthrow the principles that gave it greatness.
    \r\n", - "He never made man to fill the cup that makes the grim oppressor
    \r\n", - "fierce in his triumphs over right.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Come reader-come with us: let us look around the pale of these
    \r\n", - "common man shambles. Here a venerable father sits, a bale of
    \r\n", - "merchandise, moved with the quick pulsation of human senses. He
    \r\n", - "looks around him as the storm of resentment seems ready to burst
    \r\n", - "forth: his wrinkled brow and haggard face in vain ask for sympathy.
    \r\n", - "A little further on, and a mother leans over her child,--tremblingly
    \r\n", - "draws it to her side; presses it nearer and nearer to her bosom.
    \r\n", - "Near her, feeding a child with crumbs of bread, is a coarse negro,
    \r\n", - "whose rough exterior covers a good heart. He gives a glance of hate
    \r\n", - "and scorn at those who are soon to tear from him his nearest and
    \r\n", - "dearest. A gloomy ring of sullen faces encircle us: hope, fear, and
    \r\n", - "contempt are pictured in each countenance. Anxious to know its doom,
    \r\n", - "the pent-up soul burns madly within their breasts; no tears can
    \r\n", - "quench the fire-freedom only can extinguish it. But, what are such
    \r\n", - "things? mere trifles when the soul loves only gold. What are they to
    \r\n", - "men who buy such human trifles? who buy and sell mankind, with
    \r\n", - "feelings as unmoved as the virgin heart that knows no guilt?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Various are the remarks made by those who are taking a cursory view
    \r\n", - "of the people; very learned in nigger nature are many; their sayings
    \r\n", - "evince great profoundness. A question seems to be the separating of
    \r\n", - "wenches from their young 'uns. This is soon settled. Graspum, who
    \r\n", - "has made his appearance, and is very quaintly and slowly making his
    \r\n", - "apprehensions known, informs the doubting spectators that Romescos,
    \r\n", - "being well skilled, will do that little affair right up for a mere
    \r\n", - "trifle. It takes him to bring the nonsense out of nigger wenches.
    \r\n", - "This statement being quite satisfactory, the gentlemen purchasers
    \r\n", - "are at rest on that point.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The hour of sale has arrived,--the crier rings his bell, the
    \r\n", - "purchasers crowd up to the stand, the motley group of negroes take
    \r\n", - "the alarm, and seem inclined to close in towards a centre as the
    \r\n", - "vender mounts the stand. The bell, with the sharp clanking sound,
    \r\n", - "rings their funeral knell; they startle, as with terror; they listen
    \r\n", - "with subdued anxiety; they wait the result in painful suspense. How
    \r\n", - "little we would recognise the picture from abroad. The vender, an
    \r\n", - "amiable gentleman dressed in modest black, and whose cheerful
    \r\n", - "countenance, graced with the blandest smile, betokens the antipodes
    \r\n", - "of his inhuman traffic, holding his hat in his left hand, and a long
    \r\n", - "paper in his right, makes an obsequious bow to those who have
    \r\n", - "honoured him with their company. He views them for a few moments,
    \r\n", - "smiles, casts his eye over the paper again,--it sets forth age and
    \r\n", - "quality--and then at his marketable people. The invoice is complete;
    \r\n", - "the goods correspond exactly. The texture and quality have been
    \r\n", - "appraised by good judges. Being specified, he commences reading the
    \r\n", - "summons and writs, and concludes with other preliminaries of the
    \r\n", - "sale.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, gentlemen,\" says Mr. Forshou--for such is his name--as he
    \r\n", - "adjusts his hat, lays the document on the desk at his right hand,
    \r\n", - "pulls up the point of his shirt-collar, sets his neatly-trimmed
    \r\n", - "whiskers a point forward, and smooths his well-oiled hair:
    \r\n", - "\"We-will-proceed-with-the-sale-of this lot of negroes, according to
    \r\n", - "the directions of the sheriff of the county. And if no restrictions
    \r\n", - "are imposed, gentlemen can make their selection of old or young to
    \r\n", - "suit their choice or necessities! Gentlemen, however, will be
    \r\n", - "expected to pay for separating.\" Mr. Forshou, by way of
    \r\n", - "interpolation, reminds his friends that, seeing many of his very
    \r\n", - "best customers present, he expects sharp and healthy bids. He will
    \r\n", - "further remind them (smiling and fretting his hands, as if to show
    \r\n", - "the number of diamond rings he can afford to wear), that the
    \r\n", - "property has been well raised, is well known, and ranges from the
    \r\n", - "brightest and most interesting, to the commonest black field hand.
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, gentlemen,\" he adds, \"by the fortune of this unfortunate sale
    \r\n", - "we can accommodate you with anything in the line of negro property.
    \r\n", - "We can sell you a Church and a preacher-a dance-house and a
    \r\n", - "fiddler-a cook and an oyster-shop. Anything! All sold for no fault;
    \r\n", - "and warranted as sound as a roach. The honourable sheriff will gives
    \r\n", - "titles-that functionary being present signifies his willingness-and
    \r\n", - "every man purchasing is expected to have his shiners ready, so that
    \r\n", - "he can plunk down cash in ten days. I need not recount the
    \r\n", - "circumstances under which this property is offered for sale; it is
    \r\n", - "enough to say that it is offered; but, let me say, gentlemen, to
    \r\n", - "enlarge upon it would be painful to my feelings. I will merely read
    \r\n", - "the schedule, and, after selling the people, put up the oxen, mules,
    \r\n", - "and farming utensils.\" Mr. Forshou, with easy contentment, takes up
    \r\n", - "the list and reads at the top of his voice. The names of heads of
    \r\n", - "families are announced one by one; they answer the call promptly. He
    \r\n", - "continues till he reaches Annette and Nicholas, and here he pauses
    \r\n", - "for a few moments, turning from the paper to them, as if he one
    \r\n", - "minute saw them on the paper and the next on the floor. \"Here,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen,\" he ejaculates, in a half guttural voice-something he
    \r\n", - "could not account for touched his conscience at the moment-holding
    \r\n", - "the paper nearer his eye-glass, \"there is two bits of property
    \r\n", - "bordering on the sublime. It dazzles-seems almost too interesting to
    \r\n", - "sell. It makes a feller's heart feel as if it warn't stuck in the
    \r\n", - "right place.\" Mr. Forshou casts another irresistible look at the
    \r\n", - "children; his countenance changes; he says he is very sensitive, and
    \r\n", - "shows it in his blushes. He might have saved his blushes for the
    \r\n", - "benefit of the State. The State is careful of its blushes; it has
    \r\n", - "none to sell-none to bestow on a child's sorrow!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Annette returns his somewhat touching manifestation of remorse with
    \r\n", - "a childlike smile.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! I reckon how folks is gettin' tenderish, now a' days. Who'd
    \r\n", - "thought the major had such touchy kind a' feelins? Anything wrong
    \r\n", - "just about yer goggler?\" interrupts Romescos, giving the vender a
    \r\n", - "quizzical look, and a \"half-way wink.\" Then, setting his slouch hat
    \r\n", - "on an extra poise, he contorts his face into a dozen grimaces. \"Keep
    \r\n", - "conscience down, and strike up trade,\" he says, very coolly, drawing
    \r\n", - "a large piece of tobacco from his breast-pocket and filling his
    \r\n", - "mouth to its utmost capacity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Feelings are over all things,\" responds the sheriff, who stands by,
    \r\n", - "and will speak for the vender, who is less accustomed to speaking
    \r\n", - "for himself. \"Feelings bring up recollections of things one never
    \r\n", - "thought of before,--of the happiest days of our happiest home.
    \r\n", - "'Tain't much, no, nothing at all, to sell regular black and coloured
    \r\n", - "property; but there's a sort of cross-grained mythology about the
    \r\n", - "business when it comes to selling such clear grain as this.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The vender relieves the honourable sheriff from all further display
    \r\n", - "of sympathy, by saying that he feels the truth of all the honourable
    \r\n", - "and learned gentleman has said, \"which has 'most made the inward
    \r\n", - "virtue of his heart come right up.\" He leans over the desk, extends
    \r\n", - "his hand, helps himself to a generous piece of Romescos' tobacco.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos rejoins in a subdued voice-\"He thinks a man what loves
    \r\n", - "dimes like the major cannot be modest in nigger business, because
    \r\n", - "modesty ain't trade commodity. It cannot be; the man who thinks of
    \r\n", - "such nonsense should sell out-should go north and join the humane
    \r\n", - "society. Folks are all saints, he feels sure, down north yander;
    \r\n", - "wouldn't sell nigger property;--they only send south right smart
    \r\n", - "preachers to keep up the dignity of the institution; to do the
    \r\n", - "peculiar religion of the very peculiar institution. No objection to
    \r\n", - "that; nor hain't no objection to their feelin' bad about the poor
    \r\n", - "niggers, so long as they like our cash and take our cotton. That's
    \r\n", - "where the pin's drove in; while it hangs they wouldn't be bad
    \r\n", - "friends with us for the world.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You may, Mr. Romescos, suspend your remarks,\" says the vender,
    \r\n", - "looking indignant, as he thrusts his right hand into his bosom, and
    \r\n", - "attempts a word of introduction.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos must have his last word; he never says die while he has a
    \r\n", - "word at hand. \"The major's love must be credited, gentlemen; he's a
    \r\n", - "modest auctioneer,--a gentleman what don't feel just right when white
    \r\n", - "property's for sale,\" he whispers, sarcastically.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Another pause, then a hearty laughing, and the man commences to sell
    \r\n", - "his people. He has uttered but a few words, when Marston's attorney,
    \r\n", - "stepping into the centre of the ring, and near the vender, draws a
    \r\n", - "paper from his pocket, and commences reading in a loud tone. It is a
    \r\n", - "copy of the notice he had previously served on the sheriff, setting
    \r\n", - "forth in legal phraseology the freedom of the children, \"And
    \r\n", - "therfo'h this is t' stay proceedings until further orders from the
    \r\n", - "honourable Court of Common Pleas,\" is audible at the conclusion. The
    \r\n", - "company are not much surprised. There is not much to be surprised
    \r\n", - "at, when slave law and common law come in contact. With Marston's
    \r\n", - "sudden decline and unfathomable connection with Graspum, there is
    \r\n", - "nothing left to make the reading of the notice interesting.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You hear this, gentlemen?\" says the vender, biting his lips: \"the
    \r\n", - "sale of this very interesting portion of this very interesting
    \r\n", - "property is objected to by the attorney for the defendant at law.
    \r\n", - "They must, therefore, be remanded to the custody of the sheriff, to
    \r\n", - "await the decision of court.\" That court of strange judgments! The
    \r\n", - "sheriff, that wonderful medium of slaveocratic power, comes forward,
    \r\n", - "muttering a word of consolation; he will take them away. He passes
    \r\n", - "them over to an attendant, who conducts them to their dark chilly
    \r\n", - "cells.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All right!\" says Graspum, moving aside to let the children pass
    \r\n", - "out. \"No more than might have been expected; it's no use, though.
    \r\n", - "Marston will settle that little affair in a very quiet way.\" He
    \r\n", - "gives the man-vender a look of approval; the very celebrated Mr.
    \r\n", - "Graspum has self-confidence enough for \"six folks what don't deal
    \r\n", - "in niggers.\" A bystander touching him on the arm, he gives his head
    \r\n", - "a cunning shake, crooks his finger on his red nose. \"Just a thing of
    \r\n", - "that kind,\" he whispers, making some very delicate legal
    \r\n", - "gesticulations with the fore-finger of his right hand in the palm of
    \r\n", - "his left; then, with great gravity, he discusses some very nice
    \r\n", - "points of nigger law. He is heard to say it will only be a waste of
    \r\n", - "time, and make some profitable rascality for the lawyers. He could
    \r\n", - "have settled the whole on't in seven minutes. \"Better give them up
    \r\n", - "honourably, and let them be sold with the rest. Property's property
    \r\n", - "all over the world; and we must abide by the laws, or what's the
    \r\n", - "good of the constitution? To feel bad about one's own folly! The
    \r\n", - "idea of taking advantage of it at this late hour won't hold good in
    \r\n", - "law. How contemptibly silly! men feeling fatherly after they have
    \r\n", - "made property of their own children! Poor, conscientious fools, how
    \r\n", - "they whine at times, never thinking how they would let their
    \r\n", - "womanish feelings cheat their creditors. There's no honour in that.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen!\" interrupts the vender, \"we have had enough discussion,
    \r\n", - "moral, legal, and otherwise. We will now have some selling.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The honourable sheriff desires to say a word or two upon points not
    \r\n", - "yet advanced. \"The sheriff! the sheriff!\" is exclaimed by several
    \r\n", - "voices. He speaks, having first adjusted his spectacles, and
    \r\n", - "relieved himself of three troublesome coughs. \"The institution-I
    \r\n", - "mean, gentlemen, the peculiar institution-must be preserved; we
    \r\n", - "cannot, must not, violate statutes to accommodate good-feeling
    \r\n", - "people. My friend Graspum is right, bob and sinker; we'd get
    \r\n", - "ourselves into an everlasting snarl, if we did. I am done!\" The
    \r\n", - "sheriff withdraws his spectacles, places them very carefully in a
    \r\n", - "little case, wipes his mouth modestly, and walks away humming an
    \r\n", - "air.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, gentlemen,\" says the vender, bristling with renewed animation
    \r\n", - "\"seeing how you've all recovered from a small shock of conscience,
    \r\n", - "we will commence the sale.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Aunt Rachel is now placed upon the stand. Her huge person, cleanly
    \r\n", - "appearance-Auntie has got her bandana tied with exquisite knot-and
    \r\n", - "very motherly countenance excite general admiration, as on an
    \r\n", - "elevated stand she looms up before her audience. Mr. Forshou, the
    \r\n", - "very gentlemanly vender, taking up the paper, proceeds to describe
    \r\n", - "Aunt Rachel's qualities, according to the style and manner of a
    \r\n", - "celebrated race-horse. Auntie doesn't like this,--her dignity is
    \r\n", - "touched; she honours him with an angry frown. Then she appeals to
    \r\n", - "the amiable gentleman; \"come, mas'r, sell 'um quick; don' hab no
    \r\n", - "nonsense wid dis child! Sell 'um to some mas'r what make I
    \r\n", - "housekeeper. Old mas'r,--good old Boss,--know I fus' rate at dat. Let
    \r\n", - "'um done gone, mas'r, fo'h soon.\" Rachel is decidedly opposed to
    \r\n", - "long drawn-out humbuggery.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The bids now commence; Rachel, in mute anxiety, tremblingly watches
    \r\n", - "the lips they fall from.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Give you a first best title to this ar' old critter, gentlemen!\"
    \r\n", - "says the vender, affecting much dignity, as he holds up his baton of
    \r\n", - "the trade in flesh. \"Anybody wanting a good old mother on a
    \r\n", - "plantation where little niggers are raised will find the thing in
    \r\n", - "the old institution before you. The value is not so much in the size
    \r\n", - "of her, as in her glorious disposition.\" Aunt Rachel makes three or
    \r\n", - "four turns, like a peacock on a pedestal, to amuse her admirers.
    \r\n", - "Again, Mr. Wormlock intimates, in a tone that the vender may hear,
    \r\n", - "that she has some grit, for he sees it in her demeanour, which is
    \r\n", - "assuming the tragic. Her eyes, as she turns, rest upon the crispy
    \r\n", - "face of Romescos. She views him for a few moments-she fears he will
    \r\n", - "become her purchaser. Her lip curls with contempt, as she turns from
    \r\n", - "his gaze and recognises an old acquaintance, whom she at once
    \r\n", - "singles out, accosts and invites beseechingly to be her purchaser,
    \r\n", - "\"to save her from dat man!\" She points to Romescos.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Her friend shakes his head unwillingly. Fearing he may become an
    \r\n", - "object of derision, he will not come forward. Poor old slave!
    \r\n", - "faithful from her childhood up, she has reached an age where few
    \r\n", - "find it profitable to listen to her supplications. The black veil of
    \r\n", - "slavery has shut out the past good of her life,--all her faithfulness
    \r\n", - "has gone for nothing; she has passed into that channel where only
    \r\n", - "the man-dealer seeks her for the few dollars worth of labour left in
    \r\n", - "a once powerful body. Oh! valuable remnant of a life, how soon it
    \r\n", - "may be exhausted-forgotten!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Bidders have some doubts about the amount of labour she can yet
    \r\n", - "perform; and, after much manifest hesitancy, she is knocked down to
    \r\n", - "Romescos for the sum of two hundred and seventy dollars. \"There!
    \r\n", - "'tain't a bad price for ye, nohow!\" says the vender, laconically.
    \r\n", - "\"Get down, old woman.\" Rachel moves to the steps, and is received by
    \r\n", - "Romescos, who, taking his purchase by the arm, very mechanically
    \r\n", - "sets it on one side. \"Come, Auntie, we'll make a corn-cracker a'
    \r\n", - "you, until such time as we can put yer old bones in trim to send
    \r\n", - "south. Generousness, ye see, made me gin more nor ye war' worth-not
    \r\n", - "much work in ye when ye take it on the square;--but a feller what
    \r\n", - "understands the trimmin' a' niggers like I can do ye up young, and
    \r\n", - "put an honest face on while he's cheatin' some green chap with yer
    \r\n", - "old bones.\" Romescos, very clever in his profession, is not quite
    \r\n", - "sure that his newly-purchased property will \"stay put.\" He turns
    \r\n", - "about suddenly, approaches Rachel-crouched in a corner-mumbling over
    \r\n", - "some incomprehensible jargon, evidently very much disturbed in her
    \r\n", - "feelings, saying, \"I kind a' think I see devil in yer eye, old
    \r\n", - "woman.\" Rachel turns her head aside, but makes no answer. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Romescos will make everything certain; so, drawing a cord, similar
    \r\n", - "to a small sized clothes line, from his pocket, she holds up her
    \r\n", - "hands at his bidding: he winds it several times round her wrists,
    \r\n", - "then ties it securely. \"The property's all safe now,\" he whispers,
    \r\n", - "and returns to attend the bidding arrangements.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "One by one-mothers, fathers, and single property, old and young, as
    \r\n", - "may be-are put upon the stand; sold for the various uses of manifest
    \r\n", - "democracy. Harry,--the thinking property, whose sense-keeping has
    \r\n", - "betrayed the philosophy of profound democracy,--is a preacher, and,
    \r\n", - "by the value of his theological capacity, attracts more than
    \r\n", - "ordinary attention. But his life has been a failure,--a mere
    \r\n", - "experiment in divinity struggling with the sensitive power of model
    \r\n", - "democracy. He now seems impatient to know that doom to which the
    \r\n", - "freedom of an enlightened age has consigned him. One minute some
    \r\n", - "cheering hope of his getting a good master presents itself in a
    \r\n", - "familiar face; then it turns away, and with it vanishes his hope.
    \r\n", - "Another comes forward, but it is merely to view his fine
    \r\n", - "proportions.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry has feelings, and is strongly inclined to cling to the opinion
    \r\n", - "that those who know his character and talents, will be inclined to
    \r\n", - "purchase. Will they save him from the cruelties of ordinary
    \r\n", - "plantation life?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now for the preacher!\"-Mr. Forshou touches his hat, politely.
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen purchasing, and wanting a church can be accommodated with
    \r\n", - "that article to-morrow. Come, boy, mount up here!\" The preaching
    \r\n", - "article draws his steps reluctantly, gets up, and there stands,--a
    \r\n", - "black divine: anybody may look at him, anybody may examine him,
    \r\n", - "anybody may kick him; anybody may buy him, body, soul, and theology.
    \r\n", - "How pleasing, how charmingly liberal, is the democracy that grants
    \r\n", - "the sweet privilege of doing all these things! Harry has a few
    \r\n", - "simple requests to make, which his black sense might have told him
    \r\n", - "the democracy could not grant. He requests (referring to his
    \r\n", - "position as a minister of the gospel) that good master-the
    \r\n", - "vender-will sell him with his poor old woman, and that he do not
    \r\n", - "separate him from his dear children. In support of his appeal he
    \r\n", - "sets forth, in language that would be impressive were it from white
    \r\n", - "lips, that he wants to teach his little ones in the ways of the
    \r\n", - "Lord. \"Do, mas'r! try sell us so we live together, where my heart
    \r\n", - "can feel and my eyes see my children,\" he concludes, pointing to his
    \r\n", - "children (living emblems of an oppressed race), who, with his
    \r\n", - "hapless wife, are brought forward and placed on the stand at his
    \r\n", - "feet. Harry (the vender pausing a moment) reaches out his hand (that
    \r\n", - "hand so feared and yet so harmless), and affectionately places it on
    \r\n", - "the head of his youngest child; then, taking it up, he places it in
    \r\n", - "the arms of his wife,--perhaps not long to be so,--who stands
    \r\n", - "trembling and sobbing at his side. Behold how picturesque is the
    \r\n", - "fruit of democracy! Three small children, clinging round the skirts
    \r\n", - "of a mother's garment, casting sly peeps at purchasers as if they
    \r\n", - "had an instinctive knowledge of their fate. They must be sold for
    \r\n", - "the satisfaction of sundry debts held by sundry democratic
    \r\n", - "creditors. How we affect to scorn the tyranny of Russia, because of
    \r\n", - "her serfdom! Would to God there were truth and virtue in the scorn!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Forshou, the very sensitive and gentlemanly vender-he has
    \r\n", - "dropped the title of honourable, which was given him on account of
    \r\n", - "his having been a member of the State Senate-takes Harry by the
    \r\n", - "right hand, and leads him round, where, at the front of the tribune,
    \r\n", - "customers may have a much better opportunity of seeing for
    \r\n", - "themselves.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes! he's a swell-a right good fellow.\" Mr. Forshou turns to his
    \r\n", - "schedule, glancing his eye up and down. \"I see; it's put down here
    \r\n", - "in the invoice: a minister-warranted sound in every respect. It does
    \r\n", - "seem to me, gentlemen, that here 's a right smart chance for a
    \r\n", - "planter who 'tends to the pious of his niggers, giving them a little
    \r\n", - "preaching once in a while. Now, let the generous move; shake your
    \r\n", - "dimes; let us turn a point, and see what can be done in the way of
    \r\n", - "selling the lot,--preacher, wife, and family. The boy, Harry, is a
    \r\n", - "preacher by nature; has by some unknown process tumbled into the
    \r\n", - "profession. He's a methodist, I reckon! But there's choice field
    \r\n", - "property in him; and his wife, one of the primest wenches in the
    \r\n", - "gang, never says die when there's plenty of cotton to pick. As for
    \r\n", - "the young uns, they are pure stock. You must remember, gentlemen,
    \r\n", - "preachers are not in the market every day; and when one's to be got
    \r\n", - "that'll preach the right stripe, there's no knowing the value of
    \r\n", - "him-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We don't want so much of this,\" interrupts a voice in the crowd.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Rather anxious to buy the feller,\" Mr. Forshou replies, affecting
    \r\n", - "much indifference. He will say a few words more. \"Think the matter
    \r\n", - "over, upon strict principles of political economy, and you'll find,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, he's just the article for big planters. I am happy to see
    \r\n", - "the calm and serene faces of three of my friends of the clergy
    \r\n", - "present; will they not take an interest for a fellow-worker in a
    \r\n", - "righteous cause?\" The vender smiles, seems inclined to jocularity,
    \r\n", - "to which the gentlemen in black are unwilling to submit. They have
    \r\n", - "not been moving among dealers, and examining a piece of property
    \r\n", - "here and there, with any sinecure motive. They view the vender's
    \r\n", - "remarks as exceedingly offensive, return a look of indignation, and
    \r\n", - "slowly, as if with wounded piety, walk away. The gentlemen in black
    \r\n", - "are most sensitive when any comparison is made between them and a
    \r\n", - "black brother. How horible shocked they seem, as, with white
    \r\n", - "neckerchiefs so modest, they look back as they merge from the mart
    \r\n", - "into the street!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is a question whether these sensitive divines were shocked at the
    \r\n", - "affectation and cold indifference manifested by legitimate dealers,
    \r\n", - "or at the vender's very impertinent remarks. We will not charge
    \r\n", - "aught against our brethren of the clergy: no, we will leave the
    \r\n", - "question open to the reader. We love them as good men who might
    \r\n", - "labour for a better cause; we will leave them valiant defenders of
    \r\n", - "southern chivalry, southern generosity, southern affability, and
    \r\n", - "southern injustice. To be offended at so small an affair as selling
    \r\n", - "a brother clergyman,--to make the insinuation that they are not
    \r\n", - "humane, cause of insult,--is, indeed, the very essence of absurdity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The vender makes a few side-motions with his thumbs, winks to
    \r\n", - "several of his customers, and gives a significant nod, as the
    \r\n", - "gentlemen in black pass out of the insulting establishment. \"Well,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, I'm sorry if I've offended anybody; but there's a
    \r\n", - "deep-rooted principle in what I've said, nor do I think it christian
    \r\n", - "for the clergy to clear out in that shape. However, God bless 'em;
    \r\n", - "let 'em go on their way rejoicing. Here's the boy-he turns and puts
    \r\n", - "his hand kindly on Harry's shoulder-and his wench, and his young
    \r\n", - "uns,--a minister and family, put down in the invoice as genuine
    \r\n", - "prime. Our worthy sheriff's a good judge of deacons-the sheriff-high
    \r\n", - "functionary-acknowledges the compliment by respectfully nodding-and
    \r\n", - "my opinion is that the boy'll make a good bishop yet: he only wants
    \r\n", - "an apron and a fair showing.\" He touches Harry under the chin,
    \r\n", - "laughing heartily the while.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, master,\" replies Harry-he has little of the negro
    \r\n", - "accent-quieting his feelings; \"what I larn is all from the Bible,
    \r\n", - "while master slept. Sell my old woman and little ones with me; my
    \r\n", - "heart is in their welfare-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't trifle with the poor fellow's feelings; put him up and sell
    \r\n", - "him to the best advantage. There's nobody here that wants a preacher
    \r\n", - "and family. It's only depreciating the value of the property to sell
    \r\n", - "it in the lot,\" says Graspum, in a firm voice. He has been standing
    \r\n", - "as unmoved as a stoic, seeing nothing but property in the wretch of
    \r\n", - "a clergyman, whose natural affections, pictured in his imploring
    \r\n", - "looks, might have touched some tender chord of his feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After several attempts, it is found impossible to sell the minister
    \r\n", - "and his family in one lot. Hence, by the force of necessity, his
    \r\n", - "agonising beseechings pouring forth, he is put up like other single
    \r\n", - "bales of merchandise, and sold to Mr. M'Fadden, of A--district. The
    \r\n", - "minister brought eleven hundred dollars, ready money down! The
    \r\n", - "purchaser is a well-known planter; he has worked his way up in the
    \r\n", - "world, is a rigid disciplinarian, measuring the square inches of
    \r\n", - "labour in his property, and adapting the best process of bringing it
    \r\n", - "all out.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He's all I want,\" says M'Fadden, making a move outward, and edging
    \r\n", - "his way through the crowd.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A moment with my poor old woman, master, if you please?\" says
    \r\n", - "Harry, turning round to his wife.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"None of your black humbugging; there's wives enough on my place,
    \r\n", - "and a parson can have his choice out of fifty,\" returns M'Fadden,
    \r\n", - "dragging him along by the arm. The scene that here ensues is
    \r\n", - "harrowing in the extreme. The cries and sobs of children,--the
    \r\n", - "solicitude and affection of his poor wife, as she throws her arms
    \r\n", - "about her husband's neck,--his falling tears of sorrow, as one by one
    \r\n", - "he snatches up his children and kisses them,--are painfully touching.
    \r\n", - "It is the purest, simplest, holiest of love, gushing forth from
    \r\n", - "nature's fountain. It were well if we could but cherish its heavenly
    \r\n", - "worth. That woman, the degraded of a despised race, her arms round a
    \r\n", - "fond husband's neck, struggling with death-like grasp, and imploring
    \r\n", - "them not to take him from her. The men who have made him
    \r\n", - "merchandise,--who have trodden his race in the dust,--look on unmoved
    \r\n", - "as the unfeeling purchaser drags him from the embrace of all that is
    \r\n", - "near and dear to him on earth. Here, in this boasted freest country
    \r\n", - "the sun shines on-where freedom was bequeathed by our brave
    \r\n", - "forefathers,--where the complex tyranny of an old world was
    \r\n", - "overthrown,--such scenes violate no law. When will the glorious, the
    \r\n", - "happy day of their death come? When shall the land be free?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, having paid the price of his clergyman, drags him to the
    \r\n", - "door. \"Once more, master,\" mutters the victim, looking back with
    \r\n", - "fear and hope pictured on his imploring face. M'Fadden has no
    \r\n", - "patience with such useless implorings, and orders him to move along.
    \r\n", - "\"I will see them once more!\" the man exclaims, \"I will! Good bye!
    \r\n", - "may Heaven bless you on earth, my little ones!-God will protect us
    \r\n", - "when we meet again!\" The tears course down his cheeks.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"None of that ar' kind of nonsense! Shut down yer tear-trap,\" says
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, calling an attendant, and, drawing a pair of irons from
    \r\n", - "his pocket, placing them about Harry's hands. Mr. M'Fadden's
    \r\n", - "property shows signs of being somewhat belligerent: to obviate any
    \r\n", - "further nonsense, and to make short work of the thing, Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "calls in aid, throws his property on the ground, ties its legs with
    \r\n", - "a piece of rope, places it upon a drag, and orders it to be conveyed
    \r\n", - "to the depot, from whence it will be despatched by rail for a new
    \r\n", - "home.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "This little ceremony over, the wife and children (Romescos and
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, not very good friends, were competitors for the preacher
    \r\n", - "property) are put up and sold to Romescos. That skilful and very
    \r\n", - "adroit gentleman is engaged to do the exciting business of
    \r\n", - "separating, which he is progressing with very coolly and cleverly.
    \r\n", - "The whole scene closes with selling the animal property and farming
    \r\n", - "utensils. Happy Christian brothers are they who would spread the
    \r\n", - "wings of their Christianity over such scenes!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XX.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A FATHER'S TRIALS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IF modern Christianity, as improved in our southern world-we mean
    \r\n", - "our world of slavery-had blushes, it might improve the use of them
    \r\n", - "were we to recount in detail the many painful incidents which the
    \r\n", - "improved and very christianly process of separating husbands from
    \r\n", - "wives, parents from children, brothers from sisters, and friends
    \r\n", - "from all the ties and associations the heart, gives birth to.
    \r\n", - "Negroes have tender sympathies, strong loves. Reader, we will save
    \r\n", - "your feelings,--we will not recount them; our aim is not to excite
    \r\n", - "undue feeling, but to relate every-day scenes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Days and weeks pass on drearily with Marston. Unhappy, forlorn,
    \r\n", - "driven to the last extremity by obdurate creditors, he waits the
    \r\n", - "tardy process of the law. He seldom appears in public; for those who
    \r\n", - "professed to be his best friends have become his coldest
    \r\n", - "acquaintances. But he has two friends left,--friends whose pure
    \r\n", - "friendship is like sweetest dew-drops: they are Franconia and Daddy
    \r\n", - "Bob. The rusty old servant is faithful, full of benevolence,
    \r\n", - "gratitude, and unshaken fidelity; the other is the generous woman,
    \r\n", - "in whose bosom beat the tender impulses of a noble soul. Those
    \r\n", - "impulses have been moved to action in defence of the innocent; they
    \r\n", - "never can be defeated. Bob is poor, abject, and old with toil. He
    \r\n", - "cares not to be free,--he wants mas'r free. But there yet remains
    \r\n", - "some value in Bob; and he has secreted himself, in hopes of escaping
    \r\n", - "the man-dealer, and sharing his earnings in the support of old
    \r\n", - "mas'r. Franconia is differently situated; yet she can only take
    \r\n", - "advantage of circumstances which yet depend upon the caprice of a
    \r\n", - "subtle-minded husband. Over both these friends of the unfortunate,
    \r\n", - "slavery has stretched its giant arms, confusing the social system,
    \r\n", - "uprooting the integrity of men, weakening respect for law, violating
    \r\n", - "the best precepts of nature, substituting passion for principle,
    \r\n", - "confounding reason, and enslaving public opinion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Under the above disorganising state of the social compact, the
    \r\n", - "children, known to be Marston's, are pursued as property belonging
    \r\n", - "to the bankrupt estate. When the law has made it such, it must be
    \r\n", - "sold in satisfaction of Marston's debts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Seven months have passed since they were shut up in a felon's cell.
    \r\n", - "They have been visited by Marston; he has been kind to them,--kind as
    \r\n", - "a father could be under such circumstances. Franconia has not
    \r\n", - "forgotten them: she sends many little things to lighten the gloom of
    \r\n", - "their confinement; but society closes her lips, and will frown upon
    \r\n", - "any disclosure she may make of their parentage. Were she to disclose
    \r\n", - "it to Colonel M'Carstrow, the effect would be doubtful: it might add
    \r\n", - "to the suspicious circumstances already excited against her
    \r\n", - "unfortunate uncle. The paramount question-whether they are hereafter
    \r\n", - "to be chattel slaves, or human beings with inalienable rights-must
    \r\n", - "be submitted to the decision of a judicial tribunal. It is by no
    \r\n", - "means an uncommon case, but very full of interest. It will merely be
    \r\n", - "interesting-not as involving any new question of law, nor presenting
    \r\n", - "new phases of southern jurisprudence-in showing what very notorious
    \r\n", - "dealers in human kind, and lawyers of great legal ability, can
    \r\n", - "morally and legally perform. It will show how great men figure in
    \r\n", - "the arena of legal degradation, how they unravel the mystery of
    \r\n", - "slave power.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum, professedly uninterested, has purchased the claims, and
    \r\n", - "will pursue the payment in the name of the original plaintiffs. With
    \r\n", - "Romescos's cunning aid, of course the trial will be a perfect farce,
    \r\n", - "the only exception being that the very profound Mr. Graspum will
    \r\n", - "exhibit a degree of great sincerity on his part.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sessions are sitting; the day for the trial of this important
    \r\n", - "case has arrived; the little dingy court-room is early crowded to
    \r\n", - "excess, but there is not much expression of anxiety. Men speak
    \r\n", - "lightly of the issue, as if some simple game were to be played. The
    \r\n", - "judge, a grave-looking gentleman of no ordinary mien, in whose full
    \r\n", - "countenance sternness is predominant in the well-displayed
    \r\n", - "estimation in which he holds his important self, walks measuredly
    \r\n", - "into court-the lacqueys of the law crying \"Court! court!\" to which
    \r\n", - "he bows-and takes his seat upon an elevated tribune. There is great
    \r\n", - "solemnity preserved at the opening: the sheriff, with well-ordained
    \r\n", - "costume and sword, sits at his honour's left, his deputy on the
    \r\n", - "right, and the very honourable clerk of the court just below, where
    \r\n", - "there can be no impediment during the process of feeding \"the Court\"
    \r\n", - "on very legal points of \"nigger law.\" In truth, the solemnity of
    \r\n", - "this court, to those unacquainted with the tenor of legal
    \r\n", - "proceedings at the south, might have been misconstrued for something
    \r\n", - "more in keeping with justice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The legal gentlemen, most modest of face, are seated round the bar-a
    \r\n", - "semicircular railing dividing their dignity from the common
    \r\n", - "spectator-waiting the reading of the docket. The clerk takes his
    \r\n", - "time about that, and seems a great favourite with the spectators,
    \r\n", - "who applaud his rising. He reads, the sheriff crying \"order! order!\"
    \r\n", - "while the judge learnedly examines his notes. Some consultation
    \r\n", - "takes place between several of the attorneys, which is interlarded
    \r\n", - "with remarks from the judge, who, with seeming satisfaction to all
    \r\n", - "parties, orders the case of B. C. R. K. Marston's writ of replevin
    \r\n", - "to be called and proceeded with. \"As there are three fi fas,\" says
    \r\n", - "the junior attorney for the defendants, a very lean strippling of
    \r\n", - "the law, just working his way up in the world, \"I object to the
    \r\n", - "manner of procedure; the case only involves a question of law, and
    \r\n", - "should be submitted to the special decision of the Court. It is not
    \r\n", - "a matter for a jury to decide upon,\" he concludes. The judge has
    \r\n", - "listened to his remarks, objections, and disclaimers, with marked
    \r\n", - "attention; nevertheless, he is compelled to overrule them, and order
    \r\n", - "the case to proceed. Upon this it is agreed among the
    \r\n", - "attorneys-happy fellows, always ready to agree or disagree-that a
    \r\n", - "decision taken upon one fi fa shall be held as establishing a
    \r\n", - "decision for all the cases at issue.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The children are now brought into Court, and seated near one of the
    \r\n", - "attorneys. Marston stands, almost motionless, a few steps back,
    \r\n", - "gazing upon them as intently and solicitously as if the issue were
    \r\n", - "life or death. Deacon Rosebrook, his good lady, and Franconia, have
    \r\n", - "been summoned as witnesses, and sit by the side of each other on a
    \r\n", - "bench within the bar. We hear a voice here and there among the crowd
    \r\n", - "of spectators expressing sympathy for the children; others say they
    \r\n", - "are only \"niggers,\" and can't be aught else, if it be proved that
    \r\n", - "Marston bought the mother. And there is Mr. Scranton! He is well
    \r\n", - "seated among the gentlemen of the legal profession, for whom he has
    \r\n", - "a strong fellow feeling. He sits, unmoved, in his wonted moodiness;
    \r\n", - "now and then he gives the children a sly look of commiseration, as
    \r\n", - "if the screws of his feelings were unloosing. They-the little
    \r\n", - "property-look so interesting, so innocent, so worthy of being
    \r\n", - "something more than merchandise in a land of liberty, that Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton's heart has become irresistibly softened. It gets a few
    \r\n", - "degrees above Mr. Scranton's constitutional scruples. \"Painful
    \r\n", - "affair this! What do you think of it, Mr. Scranton?\" enquires a
    \r\n", - "member of the profession, touching his arm.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It is the fruit of Marston's weakness, you see!-don't feel just
    \r\n", - "straight, I reckon. Didn't understand the philosophy of the law,
    \r\n", - "neither; and finds himself pinched up by a sort of humanity that
    \r\n", - "won't pass for a legal tender in business-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! we cannot always look into the future,\" interrupts the
    \r\n", - "attorney.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton holds that whatever is constitutional must be right and
    \r\n", - "abidable; that one's feelings never should joggle our better
    \r\n", - "understanding when these little curiosities come in the way. He
    \r\n", - "admits, however, that they are strange attendants coming up once in
    \r\n", - "a while, like the fluctuations of an occult science. With him, the
    \r\n", - "constitution gives an indisputable right to overlook every outrage
    \r\n", - "upon natural law; and, while it exists in full force, though it may
    \r\n", - "strip one half the human race of rights, he has no right to complain
    \r\n", - "so long as it does not interfere with him. It strikes Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", - "that people who differ with him in opinion must have been educated
    \r\n", - "under the teaching of a bad philosophy. Great governments, he holds,
    \r\n", - "often nurture the greatest errors. It matters not how much they feel
    \r\n", - "their magnitude; often, the more they do, the least inclined are
    \r\n", - "they to correct them. Others fear the constitutional structure so
    \r\n", - "much, that they stand trembling lest the slightest correction totter
    \r\n", - "it to the ground. Great governments, too, are most likely to stand
    \r\n", - "on small points when these errors are pointed out. Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", - "declares, with great emphasis, that all these things are most
    \r\n", - "legally true, perfectly natural: they follow in man as well as
    \r\n", - "governments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "With all due deference to Mr. Scranton's opinion, so much demanded
    \r\n", - "among his admiring neighbours, it must be said that he never could
    \r\n", - "bring his mind to understand the difference between natural
    \r\n", - "philosophy and his own constitutional scruples, and was very apt to
    \r\n", - "commit himself in argument, forgetting that the evil was in the
    \r\n", - "fruits of a bad system, bringing disgrace upon his countrymen,
    \r\n", - "corrupting the moral foundation of society, spreading vice around
    \r\n", - "the domestic fireside, and giving to base-minded men power to
    \r\n", - "speculate in the foulness of their own crimes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The case is opened by the attorney for the plaintiff, who makes a
    \r\n", - "great many direct and indirect remarks, and then calls witnesses.
    \r\n", - "\"Marco Graspum!\" the clerk exclaims. That gentleman comes forward,
    \r\n", - "takes his place, calmly, upon the witnesses' stand. At first he
    \r\n", - "affects to know but little; then suddenly remembers that he has
    \r\n", - "heard Marston call their mothers property. Further, he has heard
    \r\n", - "him, while extolling their qualities, state the purchase to have
    \r\n", - "been made of one Silenus, a trader.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He stated-be sure now!-to you, that he purchased them of one
    \r\n", - "Silenus, a trader?\" interpolates the judge, raising his glasses, and
    \r\n", - "advancing his ear, with his hand raised at its side.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Yes, yer honour!\" \"Please observe this testimony,\" rejoins the
    \r\n", - "attorney, quickly. He bows; says that is enough. The opposing
    \r\n", - "attorney has no question to put on cross-examination: he knows
    \r\n", - "Graspum too well. Being quite at home with the gentlemen of the
    \r\n", - "legal profession, they know his cool nonchalance never can be shaken
    \r\n", - "upon a point of testimony.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Any questions to put?\" asks the legal opponent, with an air of
    \r\n", - "indifference.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, nothing,\" is the reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His brother of special pleas smiles, gives a cunning glance at
    \r\n", - "Graspum, and wipes his face with a very white handkerchief. He is
    \r\n", - "conscious of the character of his man; it saves all further trouble.
    \r\n", - "\"When we know who we have to deal with, we know how to deal,\" he
    \r\n", - "mutters, as he sits down.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum retires from the stand, and takes his seat among the
    \r\n", - "witnesses. \"We will now call Anthony Romescos,\" says the attorney. A
    \r\n", - "few minutes' pause, and that individual rolls out in all his
    \r\n", - "independence, takes his place on the stand. He goes through a long
    \r\n", - "series of questioning and cross-questioning, answers for which he
    \r\n", - "seems to have well studied.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The whole amounts to nothing more than a corroboration of Graspum's
    \r\n", - "testimony. He has heard Marston call their mothers property: once,
    \r\n", - "he thinks, but would hesitate before pledging his honour, that
    \r\n", - "Marston offered to him the woman Clotilda. Yes; it was her!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Considerable excitement is now apparent; the auditory whisper among
    \r\n", - "themselves, attorneys put their heads together, turn and turn over
    \r\n", - "the leaves of their statutes. His honour, the Court, looks wiser
    \r\n", - "still. Marston trembles and turns pale; his soul is pinioned between
    \r\n", - "hope and fear. Romescos has told something more than he knows, and
    \r\n", - "continues, at random, recounting a dozen or more irrelevant things.
    \r\n", - "The court, at length, deems it necessary to stop his voluntary
    \r\n", - "testimony, orders that he only answer such questions as are put to
    \r\n", - "him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's no harm in a feller tellin' what he knows, eh! judge?\"
    \r\n", - "returns Romescos, dropping a quid of tobacco at his side, bowing
    \r\n", - "sarcastically to the judge, and drawing his face into a comical
    \r\n", - "picture.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Romescos is told that he can stand aside. At this seemingly
    \r\n", - "acceptable announcement, he bristles his crispy red hair with his
    \r\n", - "fingers, shrugs his shoulders, winks at two or three of the jurymen,
    \r\n", - "pats Graspum on the shoulder as he passes him, and takes his seat.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We will close the case here, but reserve the right of introducing
    \r\n", - "further testimony, if necessary,\" says the learned and very
    \r\n", - "honourable counsel.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The defence here rises, and states the means by which his client
    \r\n", - "intends to prove the freedom of the children; and concludes by
    \r\n", - "calling over the names of the witnesses. Franconia! Franconia! we
    \r\n", - "hear that name called; it sounds high above the others, and falls
    \r\n", - "upon our ear most mournfully. Franconia, that sweet creature of
    \r\n", - "grace and delicacy, brought into a court where the scales of
    \r\n", - "injustice are made to serve iniquity!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia's reserve and modesty put legal gentlemen's gallantry to
    \r\n", - "the test. One looks over the pages of his reports, another casts a
    \r\n", - "sly look as she sweeps by to take that place the basest of men has
    \r\n", - "just left. The interested spectators stretch their persons
    \r\n", - "anxiously, to get a look at the two pretty children, honourable and
    \r\n", - "legal gentlemen are straining their ability to reduce to property.
    \r\n", - "There stands the blushing woman, calm and beautiful, a virtuous
    \r\n", - "rebuke to curious spectators, mercenary slave dealers, the very
    \r\n", - "learned gentlemen of the bar, and his enthroned honour, the Court!
    \r\n", - "She will give testimony that makes nature frown at its own
    \r\n", - "degradation. Not far from Franconia sits the very constitutional Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton, casting side glances now and then. Our philosopher
    \r\n", - "certainly thinks, though he will not admit it, the chivalry is
    \r\n", - "overtaxing itself; there was no occasion for compelling so fair a
    \r\n", - "creature to come into court, and hear base testimony before a base
    \r\n", - "crowd,--to aid a base law in securing base ends. And then, just think
    \r\n", - "and blush, ye who have blushes to spare.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Will the learned gentleman proceed with the examination of this
    \r\n", - "witness?\" says his honour, who, pen in hand, has been waiting
    \r\n", - "several minutes to take down her testimony. Court and audience,
    \r\n", - "without knowing why, have come to an unconscious pause.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Will the witness state to the court in what relation she stands to
    \r\n", - "the gentleman who defends title freedom of the children,--Mr. Hugh
    \r\n", - "Marston?\" says the attorney, addressing his bland words to
    \r\n", - "Franconia, somewhat nervously.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He--he--he--is my--,\" she mutters, and stops. Her face turns pale; then
    \r\n", - "suddenly changes to glowing crimson. She rests her left hand on the
    \r\n", - "rail, while the judge, as if suddenly moved by a generous impulse,
    \r\n", - "suggests that the attorney pause a moment, until the deputy provides
    \r\n", - "a chair for the lady. She is quiet again. Calmly and modestly, as
    \r\n", - "her soft, meaning eyes wander over the scene before her, compelled
    \r\n", - "to encounter its piercing gaze, the crystal tears leave their wet
    \r\n", - "courses on her blushing cheeks. Her feelings are too delicate, too
    \r\n", - "sensitive, to withstand the sharp and deadly poison of liberty's
    \r\n", - "framework of black laws. She sees her uncle, so kind, so fond of her
    \r\n", - "and her absent brother; her eye meets his in kindred sympathy,
    \r\n", - "imagination wings its way through recollections of the past, draws
    \r\n", - "forth its pleasures with touching sensations, and fills the cup too
    \r\n", - "full. That cup is the fountain of the soul, from which trouble draws
    \r\n", - "its draughts. She watches her uncle as he turns toward the children;
    \r\n", - "she knows they are his; she feels how much he loves them.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The attorney--the man of duty--is somewhat affected. \"I have a duty to
    \r\n", - "perform,\" he says, looking at the court, at the witness, at the
    \r\n", - "children, at the very red-faced clerk, at the opposing counsel, and
    \r\n", - "anything within the precincts of the court-room. We see his lips
    \r\n", - "move; he hesitates, makes slight gesticulations, turns and turns a
    \r\n", - "volume of Blackstone with his hands, and mutters something we cannot
    \r\n", - "understand. The devil is doing battle with his heart-a heart bound
    \r\n", - "with the iron strings of the black law. At length, in broken
    \r\n", - "accents, we catch the following remarks, which the learned gentleman
    \r\n", - "thinks it necessary to make in order to save his gallantry:--\"I am
    \r\n", - "sorry--extremely sorry, to see the witness, a lady so touchingly
    \r\n", - "sensitive, somewhat affected; but, nevertheless\" (the gentleman bows
    \r\n", - "to the judge, and says the Court will understand his position!) \"it
    \r\n", - "is one of those cases which the demands of the profession at times
    \r\n", - "find us engaged in. As such we are bound, morally, let me say, as
    \r\n", - "well as legally, to protect the interests of our clients. In doing
    \r\n", - "so, we are often compelled to encounter those delicate
    \r\n", - "irregularities to which the laws governing our peculiar institutions
    \r\n", - "are liable. I may say that they are so interwoven with our peculiar
    \r\n", - "institution, that to act in accordance with our duty makes it a
    \r\n", - "painful task to our feelings. We--I may appeal to the court for
    \r\n", - "corroboration--can scarcely pursue an analysation of these cases
    \r\n", - "without pain; I may say, remorse of conscience.\" Mr. Petterwester,
    \r\n", - "for such is his name, is evidently touched with that sense of shame
    \r\n", - "which the disclosures of the black system bring upon his profession.
    \r\n", - "This is aided by the fascinating appearance of the witness on the
    \r\n", - "stand. It is irresistible because it is at variance with those legal
    \r\n", - "proceedings, those horrors of southern jurisprudence, which he is
    \r\n", - "pressing for the benefit of his clients. Again he attempts to put
    \r\n", - "another question, but is seized with a tremor; he blushes, is
    \r\n", - "nervous and confused, casts a doubting look at the judge. That
    \r\n", - "functionary is indeed very grave--unmoved. The responsibility of the
    \r\n", - "peculiar institution sorely hardened the war of heart against head
    \r\n", - "that was waging among the learned gentlemen; but the institution
    \r\n", - "must be preserved, for its political power works wonders, and its
    \r\n", - "legal power is wondrously curious. \"Please tell the court and jury
    \r\n", - "what you know about the relation in which these children stand to
    \r\n", - "the gentleman who asserts their freedom, dear madam? We will not
    \r\n", - "trouble you with questions; make a statement,\" says Mr.
    \r\n", - "Petterwester, with great sincerity of manner. Indeed, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Petterwester has been highly spoken of among the very oldest, most
    \r\n", - "respectable, and best kind of female society, for his gallantry.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The brother opposite, a small gentleman, with an exceedingly
    \r\n", - "studious countenance, dressed in shining black, and a profusion of
    \r\n", - "glossy hair falling upon his shoulders, rises with great legal
    \r\n", - "calmness, and objects to the manner of procedure, describing it as
    \r\n", - "contrary to the well-established rules of the bar. The court
    \r\n", - "interpolates a few remarks, and then intimates that it very
    \r\n", - "seriously thinks gentlemen better waive the points,--better come to
    \r\n", - "an understanding to let the lady make her statements! Courtesy
    \r\n", - "entitles her, as a lady, to every respect and consideration. The
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, having whispered a few words together, bow assent to the
    \r\n", - "high functionary's intimation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia proceeds. She asserts that Hugh Marston (pointing to him)
    \r\n", - "is her uncle; that she knows little or nothing of his business
    \r\n", - "affairs, cannot tell why her brother left the country so suddenly;
    \r\n", - "she knew Clotilda and Ellen Juvarna, mothers of the children. They
    \r\n", - "never were considered among the property of the plantation. Her
    \r\n", - "short story is told in touching tones. The learned and gallant
    \r\n", - "attorney, esteeming it indispensable, puts a question or two as to
    \r\n", - "whether anything was ever said about selling them in consequence of
    \r\n", - "certain jealousies. Before the brother can object, she answers them
    \r\n", - "evasively, and the testimony amounts to just no testimony at all.
    \r\n", - "The court, bowing respectfully, informs the lady she can get down
    \r\n", - "from the stand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The next witness called is Mrs. Rosebrook. This good and benevolent
    \r\n", - "lady is more resolute and determined. The gentlemen of the bar find
    \r\n", - "her quite clever enough for them. Approaching the stand with a firm
    \r\n", - "step, she takes her place as if determined upon rescuing the
    \r\n", - "children. Her answers come rather faster than is compatible with the
    \r\n", - "dignity of the learned gentlemen of the bar. She knows Marston,
    \r\n", - "knows Franconia, knows the old plantation, has spent many happy
    \r\n", - "hours upon it, is sorry to see the old proprietor reduced to this
    \r\n", - "state of things. She knows the two children,--dear creatures,--has
    \r\n", - "always had a kindly feeling for them; knew their poor mothers, has
    \r\n", - "befriended them since Marston's troubles began. She always-her
    \r\n", - "large, loving eyes glowing with the kindness of her soul-heard
    \r\n", - "Marston say they were just as free as people could be, and they
    \r\n", - "should be free, too! Some people did'nt look at the moral obligation
    \r\n", - "of the thing. Here, the good lady, blushing, draws the veil over her
    \r\n", - "face. There is something more she would like to disclose if modesty
    \r\n", - "did not forbid.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nothing direct in such testimony, your honour will perceive!\" says
    \r\n", - "Mr. Petterwester, directing himself to the judge.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Is there any question with regard to the father of the children?\"
    \r\n", - "enquires his honour, again placing his hand to his ear and leaning
    \r\n", - "forward inquisitively. His honour suddenly forgot himself.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, ha'h, he-em! The question, so buried under a mountain of
    \r\n", - "complexity, requires very nice legal discrimination to define it
    \r\n", - "properly. However, we must be governed by distinct pleadings, and I
    \r\n", - "think that, in this case, this specific question is not material;
    \r\n", - "nor do my brother colleagues of the Bench think it would be
    \r\n", - "advisable to establish such questions, lest they affect the moral
    \r\n", - "purity of the atmosphere we live in.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If your honour will permit it, I may say it will only be necessary
    \r\n", - "in this case to establish the fact of property existing in the
    \r\n", - "mothers. That will settle the whole question; fathers, as you are
    \r\n", - "aware, not being embraced in the law regulating this species of
    \r\n", - "property;\" the learned gentleman instructs the court.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour, rejoining with a few very grave and very legal remarks,
    \r\n", - "says they look very much alike, and are of one mother. He is a
    \r\n", - "little undecided, however, takes another good stare at them, and
    \r\n", - "then adds his glasses, that the affinity may be more clear. Turning
    \r\n", - "again to his book, he examines his pages, vacantly. A legal wag, who
    \r\n", - "has been watching the trial for mere amusement, whispering in the
    \r\n", - "ear of his brother, insinuates that the presiding functionary is
    \r\n", - "meditating some problem of speculation, and has forgotten the point
    \r\n", - "at issue.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No!\" interrupts Mr. Petterwester, \"your honour is curiously
    \r\n", - "labouring under an error; they have two mothers, both of the same
    \r\n", - "tenour in life--that is\"--Mr. Petterwester corrects himself--\"embodying
    \r\n", - "the same questions of property. The issue of the case now on is
    \r\n", - "taken as final over the rest.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! bless me, now-I-rather-see-into it. The clerk will hand me
    \r\n", - "Cobb's Georgia Reports. A late case, curiously serious, there
    \r\n", - "recorded, may lead me to gather a parallel. Believe me, gentlemen,
    \r\n", - "my feelings are not so dead-his honour addresses himself to the bar
    \r\n", - "in general--that I cannot perceive it to be one of those very
    \r\n", - "delicate necessities of our law which so embarrasses the gallantry
    \r\n", - "of the profession at times--\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes! yer honour,\" the attorney for the defence suddenly interrupts,
    \r\n", - "\"and which renders it no less a disgrace to drag ladies of high rank
    \r\n", - "into a court of this kind--.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour can assure the learned gentleman that this court has very
    \r\n", - "high functions, and can administer justice equal to anything this
    \r\n", - "side of divine power,--his honour interrupts, indignantly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The court misunderstood the counsel,--he had no reference to the
    \r\n", - "unquestioned high authority of the tribunal; it was only the
    \r\n", - "character of the trials brought before it. When, notwithstanding our
    \r\n", - "boasts of chivalry, delicate ladies are dragged before it in this
    \r\n", - "manner, they must not only endure the painful tenour of the
    \r\n", - "evidence, but submit to the insolence of men who would plunder
    \r\n", - "nature of its right--\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I shall claim the protection of the court against such
    \r\n", - "unprofessional imputations,\" his brother of the opposite interrupts,
    \r\n", - "rising and affecting an air of indignation. The court, quite
    \r\n", - "bewildered, turns a listening ear to his remarks--\"Hopes the learned
    \r\n", - "gentlemen will not disgrace themselves.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Order! order! order! demands the sheriff, making a flourish with his
    \r\n", - "sword. The spectators, rising on tip-toe, express their anxiety to
    \r\n", - "have the case proceed. They whisper, shake their heads, and are
    \r\n", - "heard to say that it will be utterly useless to attempt anything
    \r\n", - "against the testimony of Graspum and Romescos. Mr. Graspum, in the
    \r\n", - "fulness of his slavish and impudent pedantry, feeling secure in the
    \r\n", - "possession of his victims, sits within the bar, seeming to feel his
    \r\n", - "position elevated a few degrees above his highness the judge.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I do hope the interposition of this Court will not be necessary in
    \r\n", - "this case. Gentlemen of the learned profession should settle those
    \r\n", - "differences more like gentlemen,\" says his honour, looking down upon
    \r\n", - "his minions with a frown of contempt.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The matter is one entirely of a professional nature, yer honour!\"
    \r\n", - "responds the scion of the law, quickly, first addressing himself to
    \r\n", - "the judge, and then to the jury. \"If the testimony we have already
    \r\n", - "adduced--direct as it is--be not sufficient to establish the existence
    \r\n", - "of property in these children\" (Romescos has just whispered
    \r\n", - "something in his ear) \"we will produce other testimony of the most
    \r\n", - "conclusive character. However, we will yield all further
    \r\n", - "cross-questioning the ladies; and I now suggest that they be
    \r\n", - "relieved from the painful position of appearing before this court
    \r\n", - "again.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook descends from the stand amidst murmurs and applause.
    \r\n", - "Some amount of legal tact now ensues; the attorney for the
    \r\n", - "prosecution displays an earnestness amounting to personal interest.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Here the counsel for the defence steps forward, whispers to the
    \r\n", - "clerk, and gives notice that he shall call witnesses to impeach the
    \r\n", - "characters of Graspum and Romescos. These two high dignitaries,
    \r\n", - "sitting together, express the utmost surprise at such an
    \r\n", - "insinuation. The character of neither is sacred material, nor will
    \r\n", - "it stand even in a southern atmosphere. They have been pronounced
    \r\n", - "legally impure many years ago.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Just at this juncture there is quite an excitement in the
    \r\n", - "court-room. Romescos, like a disfigured statue, rises from among his
    \r\n", - "legal friends and addresses the court on the independent principle.
    \r\n", - "\"Well now, Squire, if ya'r goin' to play that ar' lawyer game on a
    \r\n", - "feller what don't understand the dodge, I'll just put a settler
    \r\n", - "on't; I'll put a settler on't what ya' won't get over. My word's my
    \r\n", - "honour; didn't come into this establishment to do swarin' cos I
    \r\n", - "wanted to; seein' how, when a feller's summoned by the Boss Squire,
    \r\n", - "he's got to walk up and tell the truth and nothin' shorter. I knows
    \r\n", - "ya' don't feel right about it; and it kind a hurts a feller's
    \r\n", - "feelins to make property of such nice young uns, especially when one
    \r\n", - "knows how nice they've been brought up. This aint the thing, though;
    \r\n", - "'taint the way to get along in the world; and seein' I'm a man of
    \r\n", - "honour, and wouldn't do a crooked thing nohow-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour the Sheriff, being somewhat impressed with the fact that
    \r\n", - "Mr. Romescos is rather transgressing the rules of the court,
    \r\n", - "interposes. His defence of his honour cannot longer be tolerated;
    \r\n", - "and yet, very much after the fashion of great outlaws, who, when
    \r\n", - "arraigned for their crimes, think themselves very badly used men,
    \r\n", - "Romescos has the most exalted opinion of himself; never for a moment
    \r\n", - "entertains a doubt of his own integrity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He reaches over the bar; places his lips to the attorney's ear; is
    \r\n", - "about to whisper something. That gentleman quickly draws back, as if
    \r\n", - "his presence were repulsive. Not the least offended, Romescos winks
    \r\n", - "significantly, crooks the fore-finger of his right hand, and
    \r\n", - "says-\"something that'll put the stopper on.\" The legal gentleman
    \r\n", - "seems reconciled; listens attentively to the important information.
    \r\n", - "\"All right! nothing more is needed,\" he says, rising from his seat,
    \r\n", - "and asking permission to introduce proof which will render it quite
    \r\n", - "unnecessary to proceed with anything that may have for its object
    \r\n", - "the impeachment of the witnesses.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The attorney for the defence objects to this mode of procedure; and
    \r\n", - "the judge, having sustained the objections, orders the counsel to
    \r\n", - "proceed with his witnesses. Several persons, said to be of very high
    \r\n", - "standing, are now called. They successively depose that they would
    \r\n", - "not believe Romescos nor Graspum upon oath; notwithstanding, both
    \r\n", - "may be very honourable and respectable gentlemen. Thus invalidating
    \r\n", - "the testimony of these high functionaries of the peculiar
    \r\n", - "institution, the gentleman of the prosecution has an opportunity of
    \r\n", - "producing his conclusive proof. Romescos has been seen passing him a
    \r\n", - "very suspicious-looking document.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "All attention is now directed to the children; they sit pensively,
    \r\n", - "unconscious of the dread fate hanging over them. \"What can this
    \r\n", - "testimony be?\" rings in whispers about the court-room. Some deep
    \r\n", - "intrigue is going on; it is some unforeseen movement of the
    \r\n", - "slave-dealers, not comprehended by the spectators. Can the bon�-fide
    \r\n", - "creditors be implicated? Even Mr. Scranton feels that his knowledge
    \r\n", - "of the philosophy of slave power is completely at fault.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, your honour, and gentlemen of the jury,\" says the gentleman of
    \r\n", - "the prosecution, \"I am fully aware of the painful suspense in which
    \r\n", - "this case has kept the court, the jury, and the very respectable
    \r\n", - "persons I see assembled; but, notwithstanding the respectability and
    \r\n", - "well-known position of my clients and witnesses, the defence in this
    \r\n", - "case has succeeded in expunging the testimony, and compelling us to
    \r\n", - "bring forward such proof as cannot be impeached.\" Here the legal
    \r\n", - "gentleman draws from his pocket a stained and coloured paper,
    \r\n", - "saying, \"Will the gentlemen of the jury be kind enough to minutely
    \r\n", - "examine that instrument.\" He passes it to the foreman.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What is the purport of the instrument?\" his honour enquires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The bill of sale, your honour.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Foreman has examined it satisfactorily; passes it to several of his
    \r\n", - "fellows. All are satisfied. He returns it to the learned gentleman.
    \r\n", - "That very important and chivalrous individual throws it upon the
    \r\n", - "table with great self-confidence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour would like to scan over its details. It is passed to the
    \r\n", - "little fat clerk, and by that gentleman to his honour. \"Very,
    \r\n", - "singularly strong!\" his honour says, giving his head a very wise
    \r\n", - "shake.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"When the court gets through,\" says the advocate for the defence,
    \r\n", - "rising and placing his hand on the clerk's desk.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The gentleman can examine,\" replies the court, passing it coldly to
    \r\n", - "the Sheriff, who politely forwards it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He turns it and turns it; reads it slowly; examines the dates
    \r\n", - "minutely. \"How did the prosecution come in possession of this
    \r\n", - "document?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His brother of the law objects, \"That's not an admissible question.
    \r\n", - "If the defence will institute an action against the parties for
    \r\n", - "unlawfully procuring it, we will take great pleasure in showing our
    \r\n", - "hands. It may be, however, well to say, that Mr. Marston and Mr.
    \r\n", - "Graspum have always been on the most friendly terms; but the former
    \r\n", - "gentleman forgot to take care of this very essential document,\" he
    \r\n", - "continues, taking it from the hand of his professional brother, and
    \r\n", - "turning toward the spectators, his countenance glowing with
    \r\n", - "exultation. The pride of his ambition is served. The profession has
    \r\n", - "honourably sustained itself through the wonderful abilities of this
    \r\n", - "learned brother, who, holding the paper in his hand, awaits the
    \r\n", - "gracious applause of the assembled spectators. There is some
    \r\n", - "applause, some murmuring, much whispering.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The court, in coldly measured words, hopes the audience will evince
    \r\n", - "no excitement pro or con.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Some persons declare the bill of sale a forgery,--that Romescos has
    \r\n", - "tried that very same trick twice before. Others say it matters but
    \r\n", - "little on that score,--that all the law in the country won't restrain
    \r\n", - "Graspum; if he sets at it in good earnest he can turn any sort of
    \r\n", - "people into property. A third whispers that the present order of
    \r\n", - "things must be changed, or nobody's children will be safe. Legal
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, not interested in the suit, shake their heads, and
    \r\n", - "successively whisper, \"The prosecution never came by that bill of
    \r\n", - "sale honestly.\" Creditors, not parties to this suit, and brokers who
    \r\n", - "now and then do something in the trade of human beings, say, \"If
    \r\n", - "this be the way Marston's going to play the dodge with his property,
    \r\n", - "we will see if there be not some more under the same shaded
    \r\n", - "protection.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Will the counsel for the defence permit his client to inspect this
    \r\n", - "instrument?\" says the learned gentleman, passing it across the
    \r\n", - "table.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston's face flushes with shame; he is overcome; he extends his
    \r\n", - "trembling hand and takes the fatal document. It is, to him, his
    \r\n", - "children's death-warrant. A cloud of darkness overshadows his hopes;
    \r\n", - "he would question the signature, but the signer, Silenus, is
    \r\n", - "dead,--as dead as the justice of the law by which the children are
    \r\n", - "being tried. And there is the bond attached to it! Again the thought
    \r\n", - "flashed through his mind, that he had sold Ellen Juvarna to Elder
    \r\n", - "Pemberton Praiseworthy. However much he might struggle to save his
    \r\n", - "children-however much a father's obligations might force themselves
    \r\n", - "upon him-however much he might acknowledge them the offspring of his
    \r\n", - "own body, they were property in the law-property in the hands of
    \r\n", - "Graspum; and, with the forethought of that honourable gentleman
    \r\n", - "opposed to him--as it evidently was--his efforts and pleadings would
    \r\n", - "not only prove futile, but tend to expose Lorenzo's crime.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The philosophy of the thing is coming out, just as I
    \r\n", - "said-precisely,\" ejaculates Mr. Scranton, raising his methodical
    \r\n", - "eyes, and whispering to a legal gentleman who sits at his right.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Serious philosophy, that embraces and sanctions the sale of such
    \r\n", - "lovely children,--making property of one's children against his
    \r\n", - "wishes! I'm a great Southern rights man, but this is shaving the
    \r\n", - "intermixture a little too close,\" rejoins the other, casting a
    \r\n", - "solicitous look at Marston, who has been intently and nervously
    \r\n", - "examining the bill of sale.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Any objections to make to it?\" says the learned gentleman, bowing
    \r\n", - "politely and extending his hand, as he concludes by inquiring how it
    \r\n", - "happened, in the face of such an array of evidence, that he sold the
    \r\n", - "girl, Ellen Juvarna?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No objection, none!\" is Marston's quick response. His head droops;
    \r\n", - "he wipes the tears from his eyes; he leaves the court in silence,
    \r\n", - "amid murmurs from the crowd. The female witnesses left before him;
    \r\n", - "it was well they did so.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "That this is the original bill of sale, from one Silenus to Hugh
    \r\n", - "Marston, has been fully established. However painful the issue,
    \r\n", - "nothing remained but to give the case to the jury. All is silent for
    \r\n", - "several minutes. The judge has rarely sat upon a case of this kind.
    \r\n", - "He sits unnerved, the pen in his hand refusing to write as his
    \r\n", - "thoughts wander into the wondrous vortex of the future of slavery.
    \r\n", - "But the spell has passed; his face shades with pallor as slowly he
    \r\n", - "rises to address the jury. He has but few words to say; they fall
    \r\n", - "like death-knells on the ears of his listeners. Some touching words
    \r\n", - "escape his hesitating lips; but duty, enforced by the iron rod of
    \r\n", - "slave power, demands him to sustain the laws of the land. He sets
    \r\n", - "forth the undisputed evidence contained in the bill of sale, the
    \r\n", - "unmistakeable bond, the singular and very high-handed attempt to
    \r\n", - "conceal it from the honest creditors, and the necessity of jurymen
    \r\n", - "restraining their sympathies for the children while performing a
    \r\n", - "duty to the laws of the land. Having thus made his brief address, he
    \r\n", - "sits down; the sheriff shoulders his tip-staff, and the august
    \r\n", - "twelve, with papers provided, are marched into the jury-room, as the
    \r\n", - "court orders that the case of Dunton v. Higgins be called.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Five minutes have intervened; the clerk calling the case s
    \r\n", - "interrupted by a knocking at the jury-room door; he stops his
    \r\n", - "reading, the door is opened, and the sheriff conducts his twelve
    \r\n", - "gentlemen back to their seats. Not a whisper is heard; the stillness
    \r\n", - "of the tomb reigns over this high judicial scene. The sheriff
    \r\n", - "receives a packet of papers from the foreman's hands, and passes
    \r\n", - "them to the clerk.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen of the jury will please stand up,\" says that very amiable
    \r\n", - "functionary. \"Have you agreed on your verdict?\" The foreman bows
    \r\n", - "assent.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Guilty or not guilty, gentlemen?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Guilty,\" says the former, in tones like church-yard wailings:
    \r\n", - "\"Guilty. I suppose that's the style we must render the verdict in?\"
    \r\n", - "The foreman is at a loss to know what style of verdict is necessary.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" returns the clerk, bowing; and the gentlemen of the jury well
    \r\n", - "complimented by the judge, are discharged until to-morrow. The
    \r\n", - "attorney for the defence made a noble, generous, and touching appeal
    \r\n", - "to the fatherly twelve; but his appeal fell like dull mist before
    \r\n", - "the majesty of slavery. Guilty! O heavens, that ever the innocent
    \r\n", - "should be made guilty of being born of a mother! That a mother-that
    \r\n", - "name so holy-should be stained with the crime of bearing her child
    \r\n", - "to criminal life!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Two children, fair and beautiful, are judged by a jury of
    \r\n", - "twelve-perhaps all good and kind fathers, free and enlightened
    \r\n", - "citizens of a free and happy republic-guilty of the crime of being
    \r\n", - "born of a slave mother. Can this inquiring jury, this thinking
    \r\n", - "twelve, feel as fathers only can feel when their children are on the
    \r\n", - "precipice of danger? Could they but break over that seeming
    \r\n", - "invulnerable power of slavery which crushes humanity, freezes up the
    \r\n", - "souls of men, and makes the lives of millions but a blight of
    \r\n", - "misery, and behold with the honesty of the heart what a picture of
    \r\n", - "misery their voice \"Guilty!\" spreads before these unfortunate
    \r\n", - "children, how changed would be the result!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A judge, endeared to his own children by the kindest affections,
    \r\n", - "feels no compunction of conscience while administering the law which
    \r\n", - "denies a father his own children-which commands those children to be
    \r\n", - "sold with the beasts of the field! Mark the slender cord upon which
    \r\n", - "the fate of these unfortunates turns; mark the suffering through
    \r\n", - "which they must pass.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The hand on the clock's pale face marks four. His honour reminds
    \r\n", - "gentlemen of the bar that it is time to adjourn court. Court is
    \r\n", - "accordingly adjourned. The crowd disperse in silence. Gentlemen of
    \r\n", - "the legal profession are satisfied the majesty of the law has been
    \r\n", - "sustained.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Hence the guilty children, scions of rights-loving democracy, like
    \r\n", - "two pieces of valuable merchandise judicially decreed upon, are led
    \r\n", - "back to prison, where they will await sale. Annette has caught the
    \r\n", - "sound of \"Guilty!\"-she mutters it while being taken home from the
    \r\n", - "court, in the arms of an old slave. May heaven forgive the guilt we
    \r\n", - "inherit from a mother, in this our land of freedom!
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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 6/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 6 out of 12

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    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXI.
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    \r\n", - "WE CHANGE WITH FORTUNE.
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    \r\n", - "BUT a few months have passed since the popularly called gallant
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow led the fair Franconia to the hymeneal altar; and, now
    \r\n", - "that he has taken up his residence in the city, the excitement of
    \r\n", - "the honeymoon is waning, and he has betaken himself to his more
    \r\n", - "congenial associations. The beautiful Franconia for him had but
    \r\n", - "transient charms, which he now views as he would objects necessary
    \r\n", - "to the gratifications of his coarse passions. His feelings have not
    \r\n", - "been softened with those finer associations which make man the kind
    \r\n", - "patron of domestic life; nor is his mind capable of appreciating
    \r\n", - "that respect for a wife which makes her an ornament of her circle.
    \r\n", - "Saloons, race-courses, and nameless places, have superior
    \r\n", - "attractions for him: home is become but endurable.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In truth, Franconia, compelled to marry in deference to fortune,
    \r\n", - "finds she is ensnared into misfortunes. M'Carstrow (Colonel by
    \r\n", - "courtesy) had fifteen hundred dollars, cash down, to pay for
    \r\n", - "Clotilda: this sad grievance excites his feelings, inasmuch as it
    \r\n", - "was all owing to his wife's whims, and the poverty of her relations.
    \r\n", - "The verdict of the jury, recently rendered, was to his mind a
    \r\n", - "strictly correct one; but he cannot forget the insane manner in
    \r\n", - "which the responsibility was fastened upon him, and the hard
    \r\n", - "cash-which might have made two handsome stakes on the turf-drawn
    \r\n", - "from his pocket. His wife's poverty-stricken relations he now
    \r\n", - "detests, and can tolerate them best when farthest away from him. But
    \r\n", - "Franconia does not forget that he is her husband; no, night after
    \r\n", - "night she sits at the window until midnight, waiting his return.
    \r\n", - "Feeble and weary with anxiety, she will despatch a negro on a
    \r\n", - "hopeless errand of search; he, true to his charge, returns with the
    \r\n", - "confidential intelligence of finding Mas'r in a place less reputable
    \r\n", - "than it is proper to mention. Such is our southern society,--very
    \r\n", - "hospitable in language, chivalrous in memory,--base in morals! Some-
    \r\n", - "times the gallant colonel deems it necessary to remain until
    \r\n", - "daylight, lest, in returning by night, the pavement may annoy his
    \r\n", - "understanding. Of this, however, he felt the world knew but little.
    \r\n", - "Now and then, merely to keep up the luxury of southern life, the
    \r\n", - "colonel finds it gratifying to his feelings, on returning home at
    \r\n", - "night, to order a bed to be made for him in one of the yard-houses,
    \r\n", - "in such manner as to give the deepest pain to his Franconia. Coarse
    \r\n", - "and dissolute, indifference follows, cold and cutting; she finds
    \r\n", - "herself a mere instrument of baser purpose in the hands of one she
    \r\n", - "knows only as a ruffian-she loathes! Thus driven under the burden of
    \r\n", - "trouble, she begins to express her unhappiness, to remonstrate
    \r\n", - "against his associations, to plead with him against his course of
    \r\n", - "life. He jeers at this, scouts such prudery, proclaims it far
    \r\n", - "beneath the dignity of his standing as a southern gentleman.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The generous woman could have endured his dissipation-she might have
    \r\n", - "tolerated his licentiousness, but his arbitrary and very
    \r\n", - "uncalled-for remarks upon the misfortunes of her family are more
    \r\n", - "than she can bear. She has tried to respect him-love him she
    \r\n", - "cannot-and yet her sensitive nature recoils at the thought of being
    \r\n", - "attached to one whose feelings and associations are so at variance
    \r\n", - "with her own. Her impulsive spirit quails under the bitterness of
    \r\n", - "her lot; she sees the dreary waste of trouble before her only to
    \r\n", - "envy the happiness of those days of rural life spent on the old
    \r\n", - "plantation. That she should become fretful and unhappy is a natural
    \r\n", - "consequence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We must invite the reader to go with us to M'Carstrow's residence,
    \r\n", - "an old-fashioned wooden building, three stories high, with large
    \r\n", - "basement windows and doors, on the south side of King Street. It is
    \r\n", - "a wet, gloomy night, in the month of November,--the wind, fierce and
    \r\n", - "chilling, has just set in from the north-east; a drenching rain
    \r\n", - "begins to fall, the ships in the harbour ride ill at ease; the
    \r\n", - "sudden gusts of wind, sweeping through the narrow streets of the
    \r\n", - "city, lighted here and there by the sickly light of an old-fashioned
    \r\n", - "lamp, bespread the scene with drear. At a second-story window,
    \r\n", - "lighted by a taper burning on the sill, sits Franconia, alone,
    \r\n", - "waiting the return of M'Carstrow. M'Carstrow is enjoying his night
    \r\n", - "orgies! He cares neither for the pelting storm, the anxiety of his
    \r\n", - "wife, nor the sweets of home.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A gust of wind shakes the house; the windows rattle their stormy
    \r\n", - "music; the cricket answers to the wailings of the gale as it gushes
    \r\n", - "through the crevices; Franconia's cares are borne to her husband.
    \r\n", - "Now the wind subsides,--a slow rap is heard at the hall door, in the
    \r\n", - "basement: a female servant, expecting her master, hastens to open
    \r\n", - "it. Her master is not there; the wind has extinguished the flaring
    \r\n", - "light; and the storm, sweeping through the sombre arch, spreads
    \r\n", - "noise and confusion. She runs to the kitchen, seizes the globular
    \r\n", - "lamp, and soon returns, frightened at the sight presented in the
    \r\n", - "door. Master is not there-it is the lean figure of a strange old
    \r\n", - "\"nigger,\" whose weather-worn face, snowy with beard and wrinkled
    \r\n", - "with age, is lit up with gladness. He has a warm soul within him,--a
    \r\n", - "soul not unacceptable to heaven! The servant shrinks back,--she is
    \r\n", - "frightened at the strange sight of the strange old man. \"Don' be
    \r\n", - "feared, good child; Bob ain't bad nigger,\" says the figure, in a
    \r\n", - "guttural whisper.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"An't da'h fo'h notin good; who is ye'?\" returns the girl, holding
    \r\n", - "the globular lamp before her shining black face. Cautiously she
    \r\n", - "makes a step or two forward, squinting at the sombre figure of the
    \r\n", - "old negro, as he stands trembling in the doorway. \"Is my good young
    \r\n", - "Miss wid'n?\" he enquires, in the same whispering voice, holding his
    \r\n", - "cap in his right hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Reckon how ye bes be gwine out a dat afo'h Miss come. Yer miss don'
    \r\n", - "lib in dis ouse.\" So saying, the girl is about to close the door in
    \r\n", - "the old man's face, for he is ragged and dejected, and has the
    \r\n", - "appearance of a \"suspicious nigger without a master.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don' talk so, good gal; ye don' know dis old man,--so hungry,--most
    \r\n", - "starved. I lub Miss Franconia. Tell she I'ze here,\" he says, in a
    \r\n", - "supplicating tone, as the girl, regaining confidence, scrutinises
    \r\n", - "him from head to foot with the aid of her lamp.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The servant is about to request he will come inside that she may
    \r\n", - "shut out the storm. \"Frankone knows old Daddy Bob,--dat she do!\" he
    \r\n", - "reiterates, working his cap in his fingers. The familiar words have
    \r\n", - "caught Franconia's ear; she recognises the sound of the old man's
    \r\n", - "voice; she springs to her feet, as her heart gladdens with joy. She
    \r\n", - "bounds down the stairs, and to the door, grasps the old man's hand,
    \r\n", - "as a fond child warmly grasps the hand of a parent, and welcomes him
    \r\n", - "with the tenderness of a sister. \"Poor-my poor old Daddy!\" she says,
    \r\n", - "looking in his face so sweetly, so earnestly, \"where have you come
    \r\n", - "from? who bought you? how did you escape?\" she asks, in rapid
    \r\n", - "succession. Holding his hand, she leads him along the passage, as he
    \r\n", - "tells her. \"Ah, missus, I sees hard times since old mas'r lef' de
    \r\n", - "plantation. Him an't how he was ven you dah.\" He views her,
    \r\n", - "curiously, from head to foot; kisses her hand; laughs with joy, as
    \r\n", - "he was wont to laugh on the old plantation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Faithful as ever, Daddy? You found me out, and came to see me,
    \r\n", - "didn't you?\" says Franconia, so kindly, leading him into a small
    \r\n", - "room on the left hand of the hall, where, after ordering some supper
    \r\n", - "for him, she begs he will tell her all about his wayfaring. It is
    \r\n", - "some minutes before Bob can get an opportunity to tell Franconia
    \r\n", - "that he is a fugitive, having escaped the iron grasp of the law to
    \r\n", - "stand true to old mas'r. At length he, in the enthusiastic boundings
    \r\n", - "of his heart, commences his story.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nigger true, Miss Franconia\"-he mumbles out-\"on'e gib 'im chance to
    \r\n", - "be. Ye sees, Bob warn't gwine t' lef' old mas'r, nohow; so I gin
    \r\n", - "'ein da slip when'e come t' takes 'em fo'h sell-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Then they didn't sell you, old Dad? That's good! that's good! And
    \r\n", - "Daddy's cold and wet?\" she interrupts, anxiously, telling the
    \r\n", - "servant to get some dry clothes for him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I is dat, Miss Frankone. Han't ad nofin t' eat dis most two days,\"
    \r\n", - "he returns, looking at her affectionately, with one of those simple
    \r\n", - "smiles, so true, so expressive.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A supper is soon ready for Daddy, to which he sits down as if he
    \r\n", - "were about to renew all his former fondness and familiarity. \"Seems
    \r\n", - "like old times, don 'un, Miss Frankone? Wish old mas'r war here,
    \r\n", - "too,\" says the old man, putting the bowl of coffee to his lips, and
    \r\n", - "casting a side-look at the servant.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia sits watching him intently, as if he were a child just
    \r\n", - "rescued from some impending danger. \"Don't mention my poor uncle,
    \r\n", - "Daddy. He feels as much interest in you as I do; but the world don't
    \r\n", - "look upon him now as it once did-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Neber mind: I gwine to work fo' old mas'r. It'll take dis old child
    \r\n", - "to see old mas'r all right,\" replies the old man, forgetting that he
    \r\n", - "is too old to take care of himself, properly. Bob finishes his
    \r\n", - "supper, rests his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, and
    \r\n", - "commences disclosing his troubles to Franconia. He tells her how he
    \r\n", - "secreted himself in the pine-woods,--how he wandered through swamps,
    \r\n", - "waded creeks, slept on trunks of trees, crept stealthily to the old
    \r\n", - "mansion at night, listened for mas'r's footsteps, and watched
    \r\n", - "beneath the veranda; and when he found he was not there, how he
    \r\n", - "turned and left the spot, his poor heart regretting. How his heart
    \r\n", - "beat as he passed the old familiar cabin, retracing his steps to
    \r\n", - "seek a shelter in the swamp; how, when he learned her residence,
    \r\n", - "famished with hunger, he wended his way into the city to seek her
    \r\n", - "out, knowing she would relieve his wants.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What vil da do wid me, spose da cotch me, Miss Frankone?\" enquires
    \r\n", - "the old man, simply, looking down at his encrusted feet, and again
    \r\n", - "at his nether wardrobe, which he feels is not just the thing to
    \r\n", - "appear in before young missus.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"They won't do anything cruel to you, Daddy. You are too old; your
    \r\n", - "grey hairs will protect you. Why, Daddy, you would not fetch a bid
    \r\n", - "if they found out who owned you, and put you up at auction
    \r\n", - "to-morrow,\" she says, with seeming unconsciousness. She little knew
    \r\n", - "how much the old man prided in his value,--how much he esteemed the
    \r\n", - "amount of good work he could do for master. He shakes his head,
    \r\n", - "looks doubtingly at her, as if questioning the sincerity of her
    \r\n", - "remark.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Just get Daddy Bob-he mutters-a badge, den 'e show missus how much
    \r\n", - "work in 'um.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia promises to comply with his request, and, with the aid of
    \r\n", - "a friend, will intercede for him, and procure for him a badge, that
    \r\n", - "he may display his energies for the benefit of old mas'r. This done,
    \r\n", - "she orders the servant to show him his bed in one of the \"yard
    \r\n", - "houses;\" bids the old man an affectionate good night, retires to her
    \r\n", - "room, and watches the return of her truant swain.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There, seated in an arm-chair, she waits, and waits, and waits, hope
    \r\n", - "and anxiety recording time as it passes. The servant has seen Daddy
    \r\n", - "safe in his room, and joins her missus, where, by the force of
    \r\n", - "habit, she coils herself at her feet, and sleeps. She has not long
    \r\n", - "remained in this position when loud singing breaks upon her ear;
    \r\n", - "louder and louder it vibrates through the music of the storm, and
    \r\n", - "approaches. Now she distinctly recognises the sharp voice of
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow, which is followed by loud rappings at the door of the
    \r\n", - "basement hall. M'Carstrow, impatiently, demands entrance. The
    \r\n", - "half-sleeping servant, startled at the noise, springs to her feet,
    \r\n", - "rubs her eyes, bounds down the stairs, seizes the globular lamp, and
    \r\n", - "proceeds to open the door. Franconia, a candle in her hand, waits at
    \r\n", - "the top of the stairs. She swings back the door, and there,
    \r\n", - "bespattered with mud, face bleeding and distorted, and eyes glassy,
    \r\n", - "stands the chivalrous M'Carstrow. He presents a sorry picture;
    \r\n", - "mutters, or half growls, some sharp imprecations; makes a grasp at
    \r\n", - "the girl, falls prostrate on the floor. Attempting to gain his
    \r\n", - "perpendicular, he staggers a few yards-the girl screaming with
    \r\n", - "fright-and groans as his face again confronts the tiles. To make the
    \r\n", - "matter still worse, three of his boon companions follow him, and,
    \r\n", - "almost in succession, pay their penance to the floor, in an
    \r\n", - "indescribable catacomb.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I tell you what, Colonel! if that nigger gal a' yourn don't stand
    \r\n", - "close with her blazer we'll get into an all-fired snarl,\" says one,
    \r\n", - "endeavouring to extricate himself and regain his upright. After
    \r\n", - "sundry ineffectual attempts, surging round the room in search of his
    \r\n", - "hat, which is being very unceremoniously transformed into a muff
    \r\n", - "beneath their entangled extremes, he turns over quietly, saying,
    \r\n", - "\"There's something very strange about the floor of this
    \r\n", - "establishment,--it don't seem solid; 'pears how there's ups and downs
    \r\n", - "in it.\" They wriggle and twist in a curious pile; endeavour to bring
    \r\n", - "their knees out of \"a fix\"--to free themselves from the angles which
    \r\n", - "they are most unmathematically working on the floor. Working and
    \r\n", - "twisting,--now staggering, and again giving utterance to the coarsest
    \r\n", - "language,--one of the gentry--they belong to the sporting world-calls
    \r\n", - "loudly for the colonel's little 'oman. Regaining his feet, he makes
    \r\n", - "indelicate advances towards the female servant, who, nearly pale
    \r\n", - "with fright--a negro can look pale--runs to her mistress at the top
    \r\n", - "of the stairs.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He misses the frightened maid, and seats himself on the lowest step
    \r\n", - "of the stairs. Here he delivers a sort of half-musical soliloquy,
    \r\n", - "like the following: \"Gentlemen! this kind a' thing only happens at
    \r\n", - "times, and isn't just the square thing when yer straight; but--seein'
    \r\n", - "how southern life will be so--when a body get's crooked what's got a
    \r\n", - "wife what don't look to matters and things, and never comes to take
    \r\n", - "care on a body when he's done gone, he better shut up shop. Better
    \r\n", - "be lookin' round to see what he can scare up!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia holds the flaring light over the stairs: pale and
    \r\n", - "death-like, she trembles with fear, every moment expecting to see
    \r\n", - "them ascend.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I see the colonel's 'oman! yander she is; she what was imposed on
    \r\n", - "him to save the poverty of her folks. The M'Carstrows know a thing
    \r\n", - "or two: her folks may crawl under the dignity of the name, but they
    \r\n", - "don't shell under the dignity of the money-they don't!\" says a
    \r\n", - "stalwart companion, attempting to gain a position by the side of his
    \r\n", - "fellow on the steps. He gives a leering wink, contorts his face into
    \r\n", - "a dozen grimaces, stares vacantly round the hall (sliding himself
    \r\n", - "along on his hands and knees), his glassy eyes inflamed like balls
    \r\n", - "of fire. \"It'll be all square soon,\" he growls out.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The poor affrighted servant again attempts-having descended the
    \r\n", - "stairs-to relieve her master; but the crawling creature has regained
    \r\n", - "his feet. He springs upon her like a fiend, utters a fierce yell,
    \r\n", - "and, snatching the lamp from her hand, dashes it upon the tiles,
    \r\n", - "spreading the fractured pieces about the hall. Wringing herself from
    \r\n", - "his grasp, she leaves a portion of her dress in his bony hand, and
    \r\n", - "seeks shelter in a distant part of the hall. Holding up the fragment
    \r\n", - "as a trophy, he staggers from place to place, making hieroglyphics
    \r\n", - "on the wall with his fingers. His misty mind searches for some point
    \r\n", - "of egress. Confronting (rather uncomfortably) hat stands, tables,
    \r\n", - "porcelains, and other hall appurtenances, he at length shuffles his
    \r\n", - "way back to the stairs, where, as if doubting his bleered optics, he
    \r\n", - "stands some moments, swaying to and fro. His hat again falls from
    \r\n", - "his head, and his body, following, lays its lumbering length on the
    \r\n", - "stairs. Happy fraternity! how useful is that body! His companion,
    \r\n", - "laying his muddled head upon it, says it will serve for a pillow.
    \r\n", - "\"E'ke-hum-spose 'tis so? I reckon how I'm some-ec! eke!-somewhere or
    \r\n", - "nowhere; aint we, Joe? It's a funny house, fellers,\" he continues to
    \r\n", - "soliloquise, laying his arm affectionately over his companion's
    \r\n", - "neck, and again yielding to the caprice of his nether limbs.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gentlemen will now enjoy a little refreshing sleep; to further
    \r\n", - "which enjoyment, they very coolly and unceremoniously commence a
    \r\n", - "pot-pourri of discordant snoring. This seems of grateful concord for
    \r\n", - "their boon companions, who-forming an equanimity of good feeling on
    \r\n", - "the floor-join in.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The servant is but a slave, subject to her owner's will; she dare
    \r\n", - "not approach him while in such an uncertain condition. Franconia
    \r\n", - "cannot intercede, lest his companions, strangers to her, and having
    \r\n", - "the appearance of low-bred men, taking advantage of M'Carstrow's
    \r\n", - "besotted condition, make rude advances. M'Carstrow, snoring high
    \r\n", - "above his cares, will take his comfort upon the tiles.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The servant is supplied with another candle, which, at Franconia's
    \r\n", - "bidding, she places in a niche of the hall. It will supply light to
    \r\n", - "the grotesque sleepers, whose lamp has gone out.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia has not forgotten that M'Carstrow is her husband; she has
    \r\n", - "not forgotten that she owes him a wife's debt of kindness. She
    \r\n", - "descends the stairs gently, leans over his besotted body, smooths
    \r\n", - "his feverish brow with her hand, and orders the servant to bring a
    \r\n", - "soft cushion; which done, she raises his head and places it
    \r\n", - "beneath-so gently, so carefully. Her loving heart seems swelling
    \r\n", - "with grief, as compassionately she gazes upon him; then, drawing a
    \r\n", - "cambric handkerchief from her bosom, spreads it so kindly over his
    \r\n", - "face. Woman! there is worth in that last little act. She leaves him
    \r\n", - "to enjoy his follies, but regrets their existence. Retiring to the
    \r\n", - "drawing-room, agitated and sleepless, she reclines on a lounge to
    \r\n", - "await the light of morning. Again the faithful servant, endeavouring
    \r\n", - "to appease her mistress's agitation, crouches upon the carpet,
    \r\n", - "resting her head on the ottoman at Franconia's feet.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The morning dawns bright and sunny: Franconia has not slept. She has
    \r\n", - "passed the hours in watchfulness; has watched the negro sleeping,
    \r\n", - "while her thoughts were rivetted to the scene in the hall. She gets
    \r\n", - "up, paces the room from the couch to the window, and sits down again
    \r\n", - "undecided, unresolved. Taking Diana-such is the servant's name-by
    \r\n", - "the hand, she wakes her, and sends her into the hall to ascertain
    \r\n", - "the condition of the sleepers. The metamorphosed group, poisoning
    \r\n", - "the air with their reeking breath, are still enjoying the morbid
    \r\n", - "fruits of their bacchanalianism. Quietly, coolly, and promiscuously,
    \r\n", - "they lay as lovingly as fellows of the animal world could desire.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The servant returns, shaking her head. \"Missus, da'h lays yander, so
    \r\n", - "in all fixins dat no tellin' which most done gone. Mas'r seems done
    \r\n", - "gone, sartin!\" says the servant, her face glowing with apprehension.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The significant phrase alarms Franconia. She repairs to the hall,
    \r\n", - "and commences restoring the sleepers to consciousness. The gentlemen
    \r\n", - "are doggedly obstinate; they refuse to be disturbed. She recognises
    \r\n", - "the face of one whose business it is to reduce men to the last stage
    \r\n", - "of poverty. Her sensitive nature shudders at the sight, as she views
    \r\n", - "him with a curl of contempt on her lip. \"Oh,
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow,--M'Carstrow!\" she whispers, and taking him by the hand,
    \r\n", - "shakes it violently. M'Carstrow, with countenance ghastly and
    \r\n", - "inflamed, begins to raise his sluggish head. He sees Franconia
    \r\n", - "pensively gazing in his face; and yet he enquires who it is that
    \r\n", - "disturbs the progress of his comforts. \"Only me!\" says the good
    \r\n", - "woman, soliciting him to leave his companions and accompany her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Oh, you, is it?\" he replies, grumblingly, rising on his right elbow,
    \r\n", - "and rubbing his eyes with his left hand. Wildly and vacantly he
    \r\n", - "stares round the hall, as if aroused from a trance, and made
    \r\n", - "sensible of his condition.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, me-simply me, who, lost to your affections, is made most
    \r\n", - "unhappy-\" Franconia would proceed, but is interrupted by her
    \r\n", - "muddling swain.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Unhappy! unhappy!\" says the man of southern chivalry, making sundry
    \r\n", - "irresistible nods. \"Propagator of mischief, of evil contentions, of
    \r\n", - "peace annihilators. Ah! ah! ah! Thinking about the lustre of them
    \r\n", - "beggared relations. It always takes fools to make a fuss over small
    \r\n", - "things: an angel wouldn't make a discontented woman happy.\"
    \r\n", - "Franconia breaks out into a paroxysm of grief, so unfeeling is the
    \r\n", - "tone in which he addresses her. He is a southern gentleman,--happily
    \r\n", - "not of New England in his manners, not of New England in his
    \r\n", - "affections, not of New England in his domestic associations. He
    \r\n", - "thinks Franconia very silly, and scouts with derision the idea of
    \r\n", - "marrying a southern gentleman who likes enjoyment, and then making a
    \r\n", - "fuss about it. He thinks she had better shut up her
    \r\n", - "whimpering,--learn to be a good wife upon southern principles.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Husbands should be husbands, to claim a wife's respect; and they
    \r\n", - "should never forget that kindness makes good wives. Take away the
    \r\n", - "life springs of woman's love, and what is she? What is she with her
    \r\n", - "happiness gone, her pride touched, her prospects blasted? What
    \r\n", - "respect or love can she have for the man who degrades her to the
    \r\n", - "level of his own loathsome companions?\" Franconia points to those
    \r\n", - "who lie upon the floor, repulsive, and reeking with the fumes of
    \r\n", - "dissipation. \"There are your companions,\" she says.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Companions?\" he returns, enquiringly. He looks round upon them with
    \r\n", - "surprise. \"Who are those fellows you have got here?\" he enquires,
    \r\n", - "angrily.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You brought them to your own home; that home you might make happy-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not a bit of it! They are some of your d-d disreputable relations.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My relations never violate the conduct of gentlemen.\" \"No; but they
    \r\n", - "sponge on me. These my companions!\" looking at them inquisitively.
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, no! Don't let us talk about such things; I'ze got fifteen
    \r\n", - "hundred dollars and costs to pay for that nigger gal you were fool
    \r\n", - "enough to get into a fit about when we were married. That's what
    \r\n", - "I'ze got for my good-heartedness.\" M'Carstrow permits his very
    \r\n", - "gentlemanly southern self to get into a rage. He springs to his feet
    \r\n", - "suddenly, crosses and recrosses the hall like one frenzied with
    \r\n", - "excitement. Franconia is frightened, runs up the stairs, and into
    \r\n", - "her chamber, where, secreting herself, she fastens the door. He
    \r\n", - "looks wistfully after her, stamping his foot, but he will not
    \r\n", - "follow. Too much of a polished gentleman, he will merely amuse
    \r\n", - "himself by running over the gamut of his strongest imprecations. The
    \r\n", - "noise creates general alarm among his companions, who, gaining their
    \r\n", - "uprights, commence remonstrating with him on his rude conduct, as if
    \r\n", - "they were much superior beings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, colonel, major,--or whatever they dubbed ye, in the way of a
    \r\n", - "title,\" says one, putting his hand to his hat with a swaggering bow;
    \r\n", - "\"just stop that ar' sort a' nonsense, and pay over this 'ere little
    \r\n", - "affair afore we gets into polite etiquette and such things. When, to
    \r\n", - "make the expenses, ye comes into a place like ours, and runs up a
    \r\n", - "credit score,--when ye gets so lofty that ye can't tell fifty from
    \r\n", - "five, we puts a sealer on, so customers don't forget in the
    \r\n", - "morning.\" The modest gentleman presents to M'Carstrow's astonished
    \r\n", - "eyes a note for twenty-seven hundred dollars, with the genuine
    \r\n", - "signature. M'Carstrow takes it in his hand, stares at it, turns it
    \r\n", - "over and over. The signature is his; but he is undecided about the
    \r\n", - "manner of its getting there, and begins to give expression to some
    \r\n", - "doubt.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gentleman watches M'Carstrow very cautiously. \"Straight!
    \r\n", - "colonel-he says-just turn out the shiners, or, to 'commodate, we'll
    \r\n", - "let ye off with a sprinkling of niggers.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The colonel puts the fore-finger of his left hand to his lips, and,
    \r\n", - "with serious countenance, walks twice or thrice across the hall, as
    \r\n", - "if consulting his dignity: \"Shell out the niggers first; we'll take
    \r\n", - "the dignity part a'ter,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I demand to know how you came in my house,\" interrupts the colonel,
    \r\n", - "impatiently. He finds himself in very bad company; company southern
    \r\n", - "gentlemen never acknowledge by daylight.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We brought you here! Anything else you'd like to know?\" is the
    \r\n", - "cool, sneering response. The gentleman will take a pinch of snuff;
    \r\n", - "he draws his fancy box from his pocket, gives the cover a polite rap
    \r\n", - "with his finger, invites the enraged M'Carstrow to \"take.\" That
    \r\n", - "gentleman shakes his head,--declines. He is turning the whole affair
    \r\n", - "over in his head, seems taking it into serious consideration.
    \r\n", - "Seriously, he accepted their accommodation, and now finds himself
    \r\n", - "compelled to endure their painful presence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I, I, I-m, rather in doubt,\" stammers M'Carstrow, fingering the
    \r\n", - "little obligation again, turning it over and over, rubbing his eyes,
    \r\n", - "applying his glass. He sees nothing in the signature to dispute. \"I
    \r\n", - "must stop this kind of fishing,\" he says; \"don't do. It 's just what
    \r\n", - "friend Scranton would call very bad philosophy. Gentlemen, suppose
    \r\n", - "you sit down; we'd better consider this matter a little. Han't got a
    \r\n", - "dime in the bank, just now.\" M'Carstrow is becoming more quiet,
    \r\n", - "takes a philosophical view of the matter, affects more suavity.
    \r\n", - "Calling loudly for the negro servant, that personage presents
    \r\n", - "herself, and is ordered to bring chairs to provide accommodation for
    \r\n", - "the gentlemen, in the hall.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Might just as well settle the matter in the parlour, colonel;
    \r\n", - "t'wont put you out a mite,\" the gambler suggests, with a laconic
    \r\n", - "air. He will not trouble M'Carstrow by waiting for his reply. No; he
    \r\n", - "leads the way, very coolly, asking no odds of etiquette; and, having
    \r\n", - "entered the apartment, invites his comrades to take seats. The
    \r\n", - "dignity and coolness with which the manouvre is executed takes
    \r\n", - "\"Boss\" M'Carstrow by surprise; makes him feel that he is merely a
    \r\n", - "dependent individual, whose presence there is not much need of. \"I
    \r\n", - "tell you what it is, gents, I'ze shaved my accounts at the bank down
    \r\n", - "to the smallest figure, have! but there's an honourable
    \r\n", - "consideration about this matter; and, honour's honour, and I want to
    \r\n", - "discharge it somehow--niggers or cash!\" The gentlemen's feelings
    \r\n", - "have smoothed down amazingly. M'Carstrow is entirely serious, and
    \r\n", - "willing to comply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gentlemen have seated themselves in a triangle, with the \"done
    \r\n", - "over\" colonel in the centre.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, niggers will do just as well, provided they are sound, prime,
    \r\n", - "and put at prices so a feller can turn 'em into tin, quick,\" says
    \r\n", - "the gentleman, who elects himself spokesman of the party.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Keeps my property in tall condition, but won't shove it off under
    \r\n", - "market quotations, no how!\" M'Carstrow interrupts, as the spokesman,
    \r\n", - "affecting the nonchalance of a newly-elected alderman, places his
    \r\n", - "feet upon the rich upholstery of a sofa close by. He would enjoy the
    \r\n", - "extremes of southern comfort. \"Colonel, I wish you had a more
    \r\n", - "convenient place to spit,\" rejoins the gentleman. He will not
    \r\n", - "trouble the maid, however-he let's fly the noxious mixture,
    \r\n", - "promiscuously; it falls from his lips upon the soft hearth-rug. \"It
    \r\n", - "will add another flower to the expensive thing,\" he says, very
    \r\n", - "coolly, elongating his figure a little more. He has relieved
    \r\n", - "himself, wondrously. M'Carstrow calls the servant, points to the
    \r\n", - "additional wreath on the hearth-rug!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All your nigger property as good-conditioned as that gal?\" enquires
    \r\n", - "the gentleman, the others laughing at the nicety of his humour.
    \r\n", - "Rising from his seat very deliberately, he approaches the servant,
    \r\n", - "lays his hand upon her neck and shoulders.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not quite so fast, my friend: d-n it, gentlemen, don't be rude.
    \r\n", - "That's coming the thing a little too familiar. There is a medium:
    \r\n", - "please direct your moist appropriations and your improper remarks in
    \r\n", - "their proper places.\" The girl, cringing beneath the ruffian's hand,
    \r\n", - "places the necessary receptacle at his feet.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gentleman is offended,--very much offended. He thinks it beneath
    \r\n", - "the expansion of his mind-to be standing on aristocratic nonsense!
    \r\n", - "\"Spit boxes and nigger property ain't the thing to stand on about
    \r\n", - "haristocrats; just put down the dimes. Three bright niggers 'll do:
    \r\n", - "turn 'em out.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Three of my best niggers!\" ejaculates the Colonel.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nothin' shorter, Colonel.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Remember, gentlemen, the market price of such property. The demand
    \r\n", - "for cotton has made niggers worth their weight in gold, for any
    \r\n", - "purpose. Take the prosperity of our country into consideration,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen; remember the worth of prime men. The tip men of the
    \r\n", - "market are worth 1200 dollars.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Might as well lay that kind a' financerin aside, Colonel. What's
    \r\n", - "the use of living in a free country, where every man has a right to
    \r\n", - "make a penny when he can, and talk so? Now, 'pears to me t'aint no
    \r\n", - "use a' mincing the matter; we might a' leaked ye in for as many
    \r\n", - "thousands as hundreds. Seein' how ye was a good customer, we saved
    \r\n", - "ye on a small shot. Better put the niggers out: ownin' such a lot,
    \r\n", - "ye won't feel it! Give us three prime chaps; none a' yer old
    \r\n", - "sawbones what ye puts up at auction when ther' worked down to
    \r\n", - "nothin'.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow's powers of reasoning are quite limited; and, finding
    \r\n", - "himself in one of those strange situations southern gentlemen so
    \r\n", - "often get into, and which not unfrequently prove as perplexing as
    \r\n", - "the workings of the peculiar institution itself, he seeks relief by
    \r\n", - "giving an order for three prime fellows. They will be delivered up,
    \r\n", - "at the plantation, on the following day, when the merchandise will
    \r\n", - "be duly made over, as per invoice. Everything is according to style
    \r\n", - "and honour; the gentlemen pledge their faith to be gentlemen, to
    \r\n", - "leave no dishonourable loop-hole for creeping out. And now, having
    \r\n", - "settled the little matter, they make M'Carstrow the very best of
    \r\n", - "bows, desire to be remembered to his woman, bid him good morning,
    \r\n", - "and leave. They will claim their property-three prime men-by the
    \r\n", - "justice of a \"free-born democracy.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow watches them from the house, moralising over his folly.
    \r\n", - "They have gone! He turns from the sight, ascends the stairs, and
    \r\n", - "repairs to meet his Franconia.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE VICISSITUDES OF A PREACHER.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WE left Harry, the faithful servant, whose ministerial functions had
    \r\n", - "been employed in elevating the souls of Marston's property, being
    \r\n", - "separated from his wife and sold to Mr. M'Fadden. M'Fadden is a
    \r\n", - "gentleman--we do not impugn the name, in a southern sense--of that
    \r\n", - "class--very large class--who, finding the laws of their own country
    \r\n", - "too oppressive for their liberal thoughts, seek a republican's home
    \r\n", - "in ours. It is to such men, unhappily, the vices of slavery are
    \r\n", - "open. They grasp them, apply them to purposes most mercenary, most
    \r\n", - "vile. The most hardened of foreigners-that essence of degraded
    \r\n", - "outcasts,--may, under the privileges of slavery, turn human misery
    \r\n", - "into the means of making money. He has no true affiliations with the
    \r\n", - "people of the south, nor can he feel aught beyond a selfish interest
    \r\n", - "in the prosperity of the State; but he can be active in the work of
    \r\n", - "evil. With the foreigner--we speak from observation--affecting love
    \r\n", - "of liberty at home, it would seem, only makes him the greater tyrant
    \r\n", - "when slavery gives him power to execute its inhuman trusts. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Lawrence M'Fadden is one of this description of persons; he will
    \r\n", - "make a fortune in the South, and live a gentleman in the North--
    \r\n", - "perhaps, at home on his own native Isle. Education he has none;
    \r\n", - "moral principle he never enjoyed,--never expects to. He is a tall,
    \r\n", - "athletic man, nearly six feet two inches in height, with extremely
    \r\n", - "broad, stooping shoulders, and always walks as if he were meditating
    \r\n", - "some speculation. His dress is usually of southern red-mixed
    \r\n", - "homespun,--a dress which he takes much pride in wearing, in
    \r\n", - "connection with a black brigand hat, which gives his broad face,
    \r\n", - "projecting cheek-bones, and blunt chin, a look of unmistakeable
    \r\n", - "sullenness. Add to this a low, narrow forehead, generally covered
    \r\n", - "with thick tufts of matted black hair, beneath which two savage eyes
    \r\n", - "incessantly glare, and, reader, you have the repulsive
    \r\n", - "personification of the man. Mr. M'Fadden has bought a preacher,--an
    \r\n", - "article with the very best kind of a soul,--which he would send to
    \r\n", - "his place in the country. Having just sent the article to the
    \r\n", - "rail-road, he stands in a neighbouring bar-room, surrounded by his
    \r\n", - "cronies, who are joining him in a social glass, discussing the
    \r\n", - "qualities of the article preacher. We are not favoured with the
    \r\n", - "point at issue; but we hear Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden say, with great
    \r\n", - "force,--\"Preachers are only good property under certain
    \r\n", - "circumstances; and if them circumstances ain't just so, it won't do
    \r\n", - "to buy 'em. Old aristocrat rice planters may make a good thing or
    \r\n", - "two on 'em, because they can make 'em regulate the cummin' o' their
    \r\n", - "property, and make it understand what the Lord says about minding
    \r\n", - "their masters.\" For his-Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden's-own part, he
    \r\n", - "wouldn't give seven coppers for the thinking part of any property,
    \r\n", - "having no belief in that fashionable way of improving its value. \"My
    \r\n", - "preacher has been nicely packed up and sent off in advance,\" he
    \r\n", - "says, wiping his mouth with his coat sleeve, and smacking his lips,
    \r\n", - "as he twirls his glass upon the zinc counter, shakes hands with his
    \r\n", - "friends-they congratulate him upon the good bargain in his
    \r\n", - "divine-and proceeds to the railroad dep�t. Harry has arrived nearly
    \r\n", - "two hours in advance,--delivered in good condition, as stated in a
    \r\n", - "receipt which he holds in his hand, and which purports to be from
    \r\n", - "the baggage-master. \"Ah! here you are,\" says M'Fadden, taking the
    \r\n", - "paper from Harry's hand, as he enters the luggage-room. \"Take good
    \r\n", - "care on ye,--I reckon I will!\" He looks down upon him with an air of
    \r\n", - "satisfaction. The poor preacher-the soul-glowing property-is yet
    \r\n", - "chained, hand and foot. He sits upon the cold floor, those imploring
    \r\n", - "eyes swelling at the thought that freedom only awaits him in another
    \r\n", - "world. M'Fadden takes a little flask from his breast pocket, and,
    \r\n", - "with a motion of kindness, draws the cork, passes it to him. \"It's
    \r\n", - "whiskey!\" he says; \"take a drop-do ye good, old feller.\" Quietly the
    \r\n", - "man passes it to his lips, and moistens his mouth. \"No winking and
    \r\n", - "blinking-it's tip-top stuff,\" enjoins M'Fadden; \"don't get it every
    \r\n", - "day.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden will take a little himself. \"Glad to find ye here, all
    \r\n", - "straight!\" he mutters, taking the flask from his mouth. He had
    \r\n", - "returned the receipt to his property; and, having gratified his
    \r\n", - "appetite a little, he begins to take a more perspective view of his
    \r\n", - "theological purchase.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, master; I am here!\" He again holds up his chained hands, drops
    \r\n", - "his face upon his knees; as much as to say, be sure I am all safe
    \r\n", - "and sound.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Looking at the receipt again, and then at his preacher, \"Guess
    \r\n", - "'hain't made a bad rap on ye' to-day!\" he ejaculates, taking out his
    \r\n", - "pocket-book and laying away the precious paper as carefully as if it
    \r\n", - "were a hundred dollar note. \"Should like to have bought your old
    \r\n", - "woman and young 'uns, but hadn't tin enough. And the way stock's up
    \r\n", - "now, ain't slow! Look up here, my old buck! just put on a face as
    \r\n", - "bright and smooth as a full moon-no sulkin'. Come along here.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The manacled preacher turns upon his hands, gets up as best he
    \r\n", - "can-M'Fadden kindly assists by taking hold of his shoulder-and
    \r\n", - "follows his purchaser to the platform,--like a submissive animal
    \r\n", - "goaded to the very flesh, but chained, lest it make some show of
    \r\n", - "resentment. \"Good heap o' work in ye', old chuck; had a master what
    \r\n", - "didn't understand bringing on't out, though!\" mutters M'Fadden, as
    \r\n", - "he introduces Harry to the negro car, at the same time casting a
    \r\n", - "look of satisfaction at the brakeman standing at his left hand ready
    \r\n", - "to receive the freight.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In the car-a dungeon-like box about ten feet square, the only
    \r\n", - "aperture for admitting light being a lattice of about eight inches
    \r\n", - "square, in the door-are three rough negro men and one woman, the
    \r\n", - "latter apparently about twenty years of age.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Got a tall chap here, boys! Make ye stand round some, in pickin'
    \r\n", - "time; and can preach, too.\" M'Fadden shakes his head exultingly!
    \r\n", - "\"Can put in the big licks preachin'; and I'ze goin' t' let 'im, once
    \r\n", - "in a while. Goin' t' have good times on my place, boys--ha'h! Got a
    \r\n", - "jug of whiskey to have a fandango when ye gits home. Got it
    \r\n", - "somewhere, I knows.\" Mr. M'Fadden exults over the happy times his
    \r\n", - "boys have at home. He shakes himself all over, like a polar bear
    \r\n", - "just out of the water, and laughs heartily. He has delivered himself
    \r\n", - "of something that makes everybody else laugh; the mania has caught
    \r\n", - "upon his own subtle self. The negroes laugh in expressive
    \r\n", - "cadences, and shrug their shoulders as Mr. M'Fadden continues to
    \r\n", - "address them so sportively, so familiarly. Less initiated persons
    \r\n", - "might have formed very satisfactory opinions of his character. He
    \r\n", - "takes a peep under one of the seats, and with a rhapsody of laughter
    \r\n", - "draws forth a small jug. \"You can't come the smuggle over me, boys!
    \r\n", - "I knew ye had a shot somewhere,\" he exclaims. At his bidding, the
    \r\n", - "woman hands him a gourd, from which he very deliberately helps
    \r\n", - "himself to a stout draught.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sit down here!-Isaac, Abraham, Daniel, or whatever yer name is-Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden addresses himself to his preacher. Ye'll get yer share on't
    \r\n", - "when ye gits to my place.\" He sets the jug down, and passes the
    \r\n", - "gourd back, saying: \"What a saucy hussy ye are!\" slapping the
    \r\n", - "woman's black shoulder playfully. \"Give him some-won't ye', boys?\"
    \r\n", - "he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden (the cars are not yet ready to start, but the dep�t is
    \r\n", - "thronging with travellers, and the engine is puffing and snorting,
    \r\n", - "as the driver holds his hand on the throttle, and the stoker crams
    \r\n", - "with pitch pine knots the iron steed of fiery swiftness) will step
    \r\n", - "out and take the comfort of his cigar. He pats his preacher on the
    \r\n", - "shoulder, takes off his shackles, rubs his head with his hand, tells
    \r\n", - "the boys to keep an eye on him. \"Yes, mas'r,\" they answer, in tones
    \r\n", - "of happy ignorance. The preacher must be jolly, keep on a bright
    \r\n", - "face, never mind the old gal and her young 'uns, and remember what a
    \r\n", - "chance he will have to get another. He can have two or more, if he
    \r\n", - "pleases; so says his very generous owner.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden shakes hands with his friends on the platform, smokes
    \r\n", - "his cigar leisurely, mingles with the crowd importantly, thinking
    \r\n", - "the while what an unalloyed paragon of amiability he is. Presently
    \r\n", - "the time-bell strikes its warning; the crowd of passengers rush for
    \r\n", - "the cars; the whistle shrieks; the exhaust gives forth its gruff
    \r\n", - "snorts, the connections clank, a jerk is felt, and onward
    \r\n", - "bounds-mighty in power, but controlled by a finger's slightest
    \r\n", - "touch-the iron steed, dragging its curious train of living
    \r\n", - "merchandise.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden again finds his way to the negroes' car, where, sitting
    \r\n", - "down in front of his property, he will take a bird's-eye view of it.
    \r\n", - "It is very fascinating to a man who loves the quality of such
    \r\n", - "articles as preachers. He will draw his seat somewhat closer to the
    \r\n", - "minister; his heart bounds with joy at the prime appearance of his
    \r\n", - "purchase. Reaching out his hand, he takes the cap from Harry's head,
    \r\n", - "throws it into the woman's lap; again rubs his hair into a friz.
    \r\n", - "Thus relieved of his pleasing emotions, he will pass into one of the
    \r\n", - "fashionable cars, and take his place among the aristocrats.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Boss mighty funny when 'e come t' town, and git just so 'e don't
    \r\n", - "see straight: wish 'e so good wen 'e out da'h on de plantation
    \r\n", - "yander,\" ejaculates one of the negroes, who answers to the name-Joe!
    \r\n", - "Joe seems to have charge of the rest; but he watches M'Fadden's
    \r\n", - "departure with a look of sullen hatred.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hard old Boss on time-an't he, boys?\" enquires Harry, as an
    \r\n", - "introduction to the conversation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Won't take ye long t' find 'um out, I reckon! Git nigger on de
    \r\n", - "plantation 'e don't spa' him, nohow,\" rejoins another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Lor', man, if ye ain't tough ye'll git used up in no time, wid
    \r\n", - "him!\" the woman speaks up, sharply. Then, pulling her ragged skirts
    \r\n", - "around her, she casts a sympathising look at Harry, and, raising her
    \r\n", - "hand in a threatening attitude, and shaking it spitefully in the
    \r\n", - "direction M'Fadden has gone, says:--\"If only had dat man, old Boss,
    \r\n", - "where 'um could revenge 'um, how a' would make 'um suffer! He don'
    \r\n", - "treat 'e nigger like 'e do 'e dog. If 'twarn't fo'h Buckra I'd cut
    \r\n", - "'e troat, sartin.\" This ominous expression, delivered with such
    \r\n", - "emphasis, satisfies Harry that he has got into the hands of a master
    \r\n", - "very unlike the kind and careless Marston.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Onward the cars speed, with clanking music making din as they go.
    \r\n", - "One of the negroes will add something to change the monotony.
    \r\n", - "Fumbling beneath the seats for some minutes, he draws forth a little
    \r\n", - "bag, carefully unties it, and presents his favourite violin. Its
    \r\n", - "appearance gladdens the hearts of his comrades, who welcome it with
    \r\n", - "smiling faces and loud applause. The instrument is of the most
    \r\n", - "antique and original description. It has only two strings; but Simon
    \r\n", - "thinks wonders of it, and would not swap it for a world of modern
    \r\n", - "fiddles, what don't touch the heart with their music. He can bring
    \r\n", - "out tremendous wailings with these two strings; such as will set the
    \r\n", - "whole plantation dancing. He puts it through the process of tuning,
    \r\n", - "adding all the scientific motions and twists of an Italian
    \r\n", - "first-fiddling artiste. Simon will moisten its ears by spitting on
    \r\n", - "them, which he does, turning and twisting himself into the attitudes
    \r\n", - "of a pompous maestro. But now he has got it in what he considers the
    \r\n", - "very nick of tune; it makes his face glow with satisfaction.
    \r\n", - "\"Jest-lef'-'um cum, Simon;--big and strong!\" says Joe, beginning to
    \r\n", - "keep time by slapping his hands on his knees. And such a sawing,
    \r\n", - "such a scraping, as he inflicts, never machine of its kind, ancient
    \r\n", - "or modern, got before. Simon and his companions are in ecstasies;
    \r\n", - "but such cross-grained, such painful jingling of sounds! Its charm
    \r\n", - "is irresistible with the negro; he mustn't lose a note of the tune;
    \r\n", - "every creak is exhausted in a break-down dance, which the motion of
    \r\n", - "the \"Jim Crow\" car makes more grotesque by every now and then
    \r\n", - "jolting them into a huddle in one corner.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden has been told that his property are having a lively
    \r\n", - "time, and thinks he will leave his aristocratic friends, and go to
    \r\n", - "see it; here he is followed by several young gentlemen, anxious to
    \r\n", - "enjoy the hilarity of the scene.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All my property,--right prime, isn't it?\" says M'Fadden, exultingly,
    \r\n", - "nudging one of the young men on the shoulder, as he, returning,
    \r\n", - "enters the car. The gentleman nods assent, sits down, and coolly
    \r\n", - "lights his cigar. \"Good thing to have a fiddler on a plantation! I'd
    \r\n", - "rather have it than a preacher; keeps the boys together, and makes
    \r\n", - "'um a deal better contented,\" he adds, beginning to exhale the fumes
    \r\n", - "from his weed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes!-and ye sees, fellers, how I'ze bought a parson, too. Can do
    \r\n", - "the thing up brown now, boys, I reckon,\" remarks the happy
    \r\n", - "politician, slapping his professional gentleman on the knee, and
    \r\n", - "laughing right heartily.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Turning to Harry with a firm look, he informs the gentlemen that
    \r\n", - "\"this critter's kind o got the sulks, a'cos Romescos-he hates
    \r\n", - "Romescos-has bought his wench and young 'uns. Take that out on him,
    \r\n", - "at my place,\" he adds.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The dancing continues right merrily. One of the young gentlemen
    \r\n", - "would like to have the fiddler strike up \"Down in Old Tennessee.\"
    \r\n", - "The tune is sounded forth with all that warmth of feeling the negro
    \r\n", - "only can add to the comical action of his body.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Clar' the way; let the boys have a good time,\" says Mr. Lawrence
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, taking Harry by the arm and giving him a violent shake. He
    \r\n", - "commands him to join in, and have a jolly good tune with the rest on
    \r\n", - "'em.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Have no call for that, master. Let me act but the part of servant
    \r\n", - "to you.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Do you mean to come nigger sulks over this child?\" interrupts
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, impatiently, scowling his heavy eyebrows, and casting a
    \r\n", - "ferocious look at Harry. After ordering him to stow himself in a
    \r\n", - "corner, he gets the others upon the floor, and compels them to
    \r\n", - "shuffle what he calls a plantation \"rip-her-up.\" The effect of this,
    \r\n", - "added to the singular positions into which they are frequently
    \r\n", - "thrown by the motion of the cars, affords infinite amusement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You see, gentlemen, there's nothing like putting the springs of
    \r\n", - "life into property. Makes it worth fifty per cent. more; and then
    \r\n", - "ye'll get the hard knocks out to a better profit. Old southerners
    \r\n", - "spoil niggers, makin' so much on 'em; and soft-soapin' on 'em. That
    \r\n", - "bit o' property's bin spiled just so-he points to Harry, crouched in
    \r\n", - "the corner-And the critter thinks he can preach! Take that out on
    \r\n", - "him with a round turn, when I git to my place,\" he continues.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry cares very little for M'Fadden's conversation; he sits as
    \r\n", - "quietly and peaceably as if it had been addressed to some other
    \r\n", - "negro. M'Fadden, that he may not be found wanting in his efforts to
    \r\n", - "amuse the young gentlemen, reaches out his hand to one of them,
    \r\n", - "takes his cigar from a case, lights it, and proceeds to keep time by
    \r\n", - "beating his hands on his knees.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The train is approaching the crossing where Mr. M'Fadden will
    \r\n", - "discharge his property,--his human merchandise, and proceed with it
    \r\n", - "some eleven miles on the high road. The noise created by the
    \r\n", - "exuberance of feeling on the part of Mr. M'Fadden has attracted a
    \r\n", - "numerous assemblage of passengers to the \"Jim Crow\" car. The
    \r\n", - "conductor views this as violating the rules of the corporation; he
    \r\n", - "demands it shall be stopped. All is quiet for a time; they reach the
    \r\n", - "\"crossing\" about five o'clock P.M., where, to Mr. Lawrence
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's great delight, he finds himself surrounded by a
    \r\n", - "promiscuous assembly of sovereign citizens, met to partake of the
    \r\n", - "hospitalities offered by the candidate for the Assembly, who, having
    \r\n", - "offered himself, expects the distinguished honour of being elected.
    \r\n", - "The assembled citizens will hear what the learned man's going to
    \r\n", - "talk about when he gets into the Assembly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As Mr. M'Fadden is a great politician, and a greater democrat-we
    \r\n", - "speak according to the southern acceptation-his presence is welcomed
    \r\n", - "with an enthusiastic burst of applause. Shout after shout makes the
    \r\n", - "very welkin ring, as his numerous friends gather round him, smile
    \r\n", - "solicitously, shake him warmly by the hand, honour him as the
    \r\n", - "peasantry honour the Lord of the Manor.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The crossing-one of those points so well known in the south-is a
    \r\n", - "flat, wooded lawn, interspersed here and there with clumps of tall
    \r\n", - "pine-trees. It is generally dignified with a grocery, a justice's
    \r\n", - "office, and a tavern, where entertainment for man and beast may
    \r\n", - "always be had. An immense deal of judicial and political business
    \r\n", - "\"is put through a process\" at these strange places. The squire's
    \r\n", - "law-book is the oracle; all settlements must be made by it; all
    \r\n", - "important sayings drawn from it. The squire himself is scarcely less
    \r\n", - "an individual of mysterious importance; he draws settled facts from
    \r\n", - "his copious volume, and thus saves himself the trouble of analysing
    \r\n", - "them. Open it where he will, the whys and wherefores for every case
    \r\n", - "are never wanting.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our present crossing is a place of much importance, being where the
    \r\n", - "political effervescence of the state often concentrates. It will not
    \r\n", - "do, however, to analyse that concentration, lest the fungi that give
    \r\n", - "it life and power may seem to conflict with the safety of law and
    \r\n", - "order. On other occasions it might be taken for a place of rural
    \r\n", - "quiet, instead of those indescribable gatherings of the rotten
    \r\n", - "membranes of a bad political power.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Here the justice's office is attached to the grocery, a little shop
    \r\n", - "in which all men may drink very deleterious liquor; and, in addition
    \r\n", - "to the tavern, which is the chief building-a quadrangular structure
    \r\n", - "raised a few feet from the ground on piles of the palmetto
    \r\n", - "tree-there is a small church, shingled and clapboarded, and having a
    \r\n", - "belfry with lattice-work sides. An upper and lower veranda surround
    \r\n", - "the tavern, affording gentlemen an opportunity to enjoy the shade.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Several of Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden's friends meet him at the station,
    \r\n", - "and, as he receives his property, assist him in securing it with
    \r\n", - "irons preparatory to lodging it in a place of safe keeping.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Goin' t' make this chap a deacon on my place; can preach like
    \r\n", - "sixty. It'll save the trouble sendin' north for such trash as they
    \r\n", - "send us. Can make this feller truer on southern principles,\" says
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, exultingly, addressing himself to his companions, looking
    \r\n", - "Harry smilingly in the face, and patting him on the shoulder. The
    \r\n", - "gentlemen view Harry with particular admiration, and remark upon his
    \r\n", - "fine points with the usual satisfaction of connoisseurs. Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden will secure his preacher, in iron fellowship, to the left
    \r\n", - "hand of the woman slave.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All right!\" he says, as the irons are locked, and he marches his
    \r\n", - "property up to the tavern, where he meets mine host-a short, fat
    \r\n", - "man, with a very red and good-natured face, who always dresses in
    \r\n", - "brown clothes, smiles, and has an extra laugh for 'lection days-who
    \r\n", - "stands his consequential proportions in the entrance to the lower
    \r\n", - "veranda, and is receiving his customers with the blandest smiles. \"I
    \r\n", - "thinks a right smart heap on ye, or I would'nt a' 'gin ye that gal
    \r\n", - "for a mate,\" continues M'Fadden, walking along, looking at Harry
    \r\n", - "earnestly, and, with an air of self-congratulation, ejecting a
    \r\n", - "quantity of tobacco-juice from his capacious mouth. \"Mr. M'Fadden is
    \r\n", - "very, very welcome;\" so says mine host, who would have him take a
    \r\n", - "social glass with his own dear self.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden must be excused until he has seen the place in which to
    \r\n", - "deposit his preacher and other property.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, ha!\"-mine host cants his ear, enquiringly;--\"want grits for 'em,
    \r\n", - "I s'pose?\" he returns, and his round fat face glows with
    \r\n", - "satisfaction. \"Can suit you to a shavin'.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's right, Colonel; I know'd ye could,\" ejaculates the other.
    \r\n", - "Mine host is much elated at hearing his title appended. Colonel
    \r\n", - "Frank Jones-such is mine host's name--never fought but one duel, and
    \r\n", - "that was the time when, being a delegate to the southern blowing-up
    \r\n", - "convention, lately holden in the secession city of Charleston, he
    \r\n", - "entered his name on the register of the Charleston Hotel--\"Colonel
    \r\n", - "Frank Jones, Esq., of the South Carolina Dragoons;\" beneath which an
    \r\n", - "impertinent wag scrawled-\"Corporal James Henry Williamson M'Donal
    \r\n", - "Cudgo, Esq. of the same regiment.\" Colonel Frank Jones, Esq. took
    \r\n", - "this very gross insult in the highest kind of dudgeon, and forthwith
    \r\n", - "challenged the impertinent wag to settle the matter as became
    \r\n", - "gentlemen. The duel, however, ended quite as harmlessly as the
    \r\n", - "blowing-up convention of which Mr. Colonel Frank Jones was a
    \r\n", - "delegate, the seconds-thoughtless wretches-having forgot to put
    \r\n", - "bullets in the weapons.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our readers must excuse us for digressing a little. Mine host rubs
    \r\n", - "his hands, draws his mouth into a dozen different puckers, and then
    \r\n", - "cries out at the top of his voice, \"Ho, boys, ho!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Three or four half-clad negroes come scampering into the room, ready
    \r\n", - "to answer the summons. \"Take charge o' this property o' my friend's
    \r\n", - "here. Get 'em a good tuck out o' grits.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can grind 'em themselves,\" interrupts M'Fadden, quickly. \"About the
    \r\n", - "price, Colonel?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's all straight,\" spreading his hands with an accompanying nod
    \r\n", - "of satisfaction: \"'commodate ye with a first-rate lock-up and the
    \r\n", - "grits at seven-pence a day.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No objection.\" Mr. M'Fadden is entirely satisfied. The waiters take
    \r\n", - "the gentleman's property in charge, and conduct it to a small
    \r\n", - "building, an appropriate habitation of hens and pigs. It was of
    \r\n", - "logs, rough hewn, without chinking; without floor to keep Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's property from the ground, damp and cold. Unsuited as it
    \r\n", - "is to the reception of human beings, many planters of great opulence
    \r\n", - "have none better for their plantation people. It is about ten feet
    \r\n", - "high, seven broad, and eleven long.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Have a dandy time on't in here to-night,\" says Mr. M'Fadden,
    \r\n", - "addressing himself to Harry, as one of the waiters unlocks the door
    \r\n", - "and ushers the human property into its dreary abode. Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "will step inside, to take a bird's-eye view of the security of the
    \r\n", - "place. He entertains some doubts about the faith of his preacher,
    \r\n", - "however, and has half an inclination to turn round as he is about
    \r\n", - "making his exit. He will. Approaches Harry a second time; he feels
    \r\n", - "his pockets carefully, and suggests that he has some mischievous
    \r\n", - "weapon of liberty stowed away somewhere. He presses and presses his
    \r\n", - "hands to his skirts and bosom. And now he knew he was not mistaken,
    \r\n", - "for he feels something solid in the bosom of his shirt, which is not
    \r\n", - "his heart, although that thing makes a deuce of a fluttering. Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's anxiety increases as he squeezes his hands over its
    \r\n", - "shapes, and watches the changes of Harry's countenance. \"Book,
    \r\n", - "ha'h!\" he exclaims, drawing the osnaburg tight over the square with
    \r\n", - "his left hand, while, with his right, he suddenly grasps Harry
    \r\n", - "firmly by the hair of the head, as if he has discovered an infernal
    \r\n", - "machine. \"Book, ha'h!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Pull it out, old buck. That's the worst o' learned niggers; puts
    \r\n", - "the very seven devils in their black heads, and makes 'em carry
    \r\n", - "their conceit right into nigger stubbornness, so ye have t' bring it
    \r\n", - "out by lashin' and botherin'. Can't stand such nigger nonsense
    \r\n", - "nohow.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry has borne all very peaceably; but there is a time when even
    \r\n", - "the worm will turn. He draws forth the book,--it is the Bible, his
    \r\n", - "hope and comforter; he has treasured it near his heart-that heart
    \r\n", - "that beats loudly against the rocks of oppression. \"What man can he
    \r\n", - "be who feareth the word of God, and says he is of his chosen?
    \r\n", - "Master, that's my Bible: can it do evil against righteousness? It is
    \r\n", - "the light my burdened spirit loves, my guide--\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Your spirit?\" inquires M'Fadden, sullenly, interrupting Harry. \"A
    \r\n", - "black spirit, ye' mean, ye' nigger of a preacher. I didn't buy that,
    \r\n", - "nor don't want it. 'Taint worth seven coppers in picking time. But I
    \r\n", - "tell ye, cuff, wouldn't mind lettin' on ye preach, if a feller can
    \r\n", - "make a spec good profit on't.\" The gentleman concludes, contracting
    \r\n", - "his eyebrows, and scowling at his property forbiddingly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You'll let me have it again when I gets on the plantation, won't
    \r\n", - "ye, master?\" inquires Harry, calmly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Let you have it on the plantation?\"-Mr. M'Fadden gives his preacher
    \r\n", - "a piercingly fierce look-\"that's just where ye won't have 't. Have
    \r\n", - "any kind o' song-book ye' wants; only larn 'em to other niggers, so
    \r\n", - "they can put in the chorus once in a while. Now, old buck (I'm a man
    \r\n", - "o' genius, ye know), when niggers get larnin' the Bible out o' ther'
    \r\n", - "own heads, 't makes 'em sassy'r than ther's any calculatin' on. It
    \r\n", - "just puts the very d-l into property. Why, deacon,\" he addresses
    \r\n", - "himself to Harry with more complacency, \"my old father-he was as
    \r\n", - "good a father as ever came from Dublin-said it was just the spilin'
    \r\n", - "on his children to larn 'em to read. See me, now! what larnin' I'ze
    \r\n", - "got; got it all don't know how: cum as nat'ral as daylight. I've got
    \r\n", - "the allfired'st sense ye ever did see; and it's common sense what
    \r\n", - "makes money. Yer don't think a feller what's got sense like me would
    \r\n", - "bother his head with larnin' in this ar' down south?\" Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "exhibits great confidence in himself, and seems quite playful with
    \r\n", - "his preacher, whom he pats on the shoulder and shakes by the hand.
    \r\n", - "\"I never read three chapters in that ar' book in my whole
    \r\n", - "life-wouldn't neither. Really, deacon, two-thirds of the people of
    \r\n", - "our State can't read a word out o' that book. As for larnin', I just
    \r\n", - "put me mind on the thing, and got the meanin' out on't sudden.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden's soothing consolation, that, as he has become such a
    \r\n", - "wonderful specimen of mankind without learning, Harry must be a very
    \r\n", - "dangerous implement of progress if allowed to go about the
    \r\n", - "plantation with a Bible in his pocket, seems strange in this our
    \r\n", - "Christian land. \"Can fiddle just as much as yer mind t',\" concludes
    \r\n", - "Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden, as he again shakes the hand of his preacher,
    \r\n", - "and proceeds to mingle with the political gathering, the Bible in
    \r\n", - "his pocket.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HOW WE MANUFACTURE POLITICAL FAITH.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "MR. M'FADDEN enters the tavern, which presents one of those
    \r\n", - "grotesque scenes so peculiarly southern, almost impossible for the
    \r\n", - "reader to imagine, and scarcely less for pen to describe. In and
    \r\n", - "around the verandas are numerous armchairs, occupied by the
    \r\n", - "fashionable portion of the political material, who, dressed in
    \r\n", - "extreme profuseness, are displaying their extraordinary distinctions
    \r\n", - "in jewellery of heavy seals and long dangling chains. Some are young
    \r\n", - "men who have enjoyed the advantage of a liberal education, which
    \r\n", - "they now turn into the more genial duty of ornamenting themselves.
    \r\n", - "They have spent much time and many valuable cosmetics on their
    \r\n", - "heads, all of which is very satisfactorily repaid by the smoothness
    \r\n", - "of their hair. Their pleasure never penetrated beyond this; they ask
    \r\n", - "no more.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They ask but little of the world, and are discussing the
    \r\n", - "all-important question, whether Colonel Mophany or General Vandart
    \r\n", - "will get the more votes at the polls. So they smoke and harangue,
    \r\n", - "and drink and swear, and with inimitable provincialisms fill up the
    \r\n", - "clattering music. There is a fascinating piquancy in the strange
    \r\n", - "slang and conversational intermixture. It is a great day at the
    \r\n", - "crossing; the political sediment has reduced all men to one grade,
    \r\n", - "one harmonious whole, niggers excepted. Spirits that cannot flow one
    \r\n", - "way must flow another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In an adjoining room sit the two candidates-gentlemen of high
    \r\n", - "distinction-for the votes of the sovereign people. Through those
    \r\n", - "sovereign rights they will satisfy their yearning desire to reach
    \r\n", - "the very high position of member of the general assembly. Anxiety is
    \r\n", - "pictured on their very countenances; it is the fruit of care when
    \r\n", - "men travel the road to distinction without finding it. They are well
    \r\n", - "dressed, and would be modest, if modesty were worth its having in
    \r\n", - "such an atmosphere. Indeed, they might have been taken for men with
    \r\n", - "other motives than those of gaining office by wallowing in a
    \r\n", - "political quagmire reeking with democratic filth. Courteous to each
    \r\n", - "other, they sit at a large table containing long slips of paper,
    \r\n", - "each candidate's sentiments printed thereon. As each voter--good
    \r\n", - "fellow that he is--enters the room, one or the other candidate
    \r\n", - "reaches out his hand to welcome him, and, as a sequel, hands him his
    \r\n", - "slip, making the politest bow. Much is said about the prospects of
    \r\n", - "the South, and much more that is very acceptable to those about to
    \r\n", - "do the drinking part of the scene.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Both candidates are very ambitious men; both profess to be the
    \r\n", - "people's champion-the sovereign people-the dear people-the
    \r\n", - "noble-hearted people-the iron-handed, unbribable, unterrified
    \r\n", - "democracy-the people from whom all power springs. The
    \r\n", - "never-flinching, unterrified, irresistible democracy are smothered
    \r\n", - "with encomiums of praise, sounding from all parts of the room. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Lawrence M'Fadden is ushered into the room to the great joy of his
    \r\n", - "friends: being a very great man among the loyal voters, his
    \r\n", - "appearance produces great excitement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Several friends of the candidates, working for their favourites, are
    \r\n", - "making themselves very humble in their behalf. Although there is
    \r\n", - "little care for maintaining any fundamental principle of government
    \r\n", - "that does not serve his own pocket, Mr. M'Fadden can and will
    \r\n", - "control a large number of votes, do a deal of knocking down at the
    \r\n", - "polls, and bring up first-rate fighting men to do the keeping away
    \r\n", - "the opposite's constituents. Thus our man, who has lately been
    \r\n", - "bought as preacher, is most useful in this our little democratic
    \r\n", - "world.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Some two or three hundred persons have collected near a clump of
    \r\n", - "trees on the lawn, and are divided into knots intermixed with
    \r\n", - "ruffian-looking desperadoes, dressed most coarsely and
    \r\n", - "fantastically. They are pitting their men, after the fashion of good
    \r\n", - "horses; then they boldly draw forth and expose the minor
    \r\n", - "delinquencies of opposing candidates. Among them are the \"Saw-
    \r\n", - "piters,\" who affect an air of dignity, and scout the planter's offer
    \r\n", - "of work so long as a herring runs the river; the \"piny woods-man,\"
    \r\n", - "of great independence while rabbits are found in the woods, and he
    \r\n", - "can wander over the barren unrestrained; and the \"Wire-Grass-Men;\"
    \r\n", - "and the Crackers,
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Singular species of gypsies, found throughout the State. who live
    \r\n", - "anywhere and everywhere, and whom the government delights to keep
    \r\n", - "in ignorance, while declaring it much better they were enslaved. The
    \r\n", - "State possesses many thousands of these people; but few of them can
    \r\n", - "read, while never having written a stroke in their lives is a boast.
    \r\n", - "Continually armed with double-barrel guns, to hunt the panting buck
    \r\n", - "is one of their sports; to torture a runaway negro is another; to
    \r\n", - "make free with a planter's corn field is the very best. The reader
    \r\n", - "may imagine this picture of lean, craven faces-unshaven and made
    \r\n", - "fiercely repulsive by their small, treacherous eyes, if he can. It
    \r\n", - "can only be seen in these our happy slave states of our happy Union.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The time draws near when the candidates will come forward, address
    \r\n", - "the sovereign constituency, and declare their free and open
    \r\n", - "principles-their love of liberal governments, and their undying
    \r\n", - "affection for the great truths of democracy. The scene, as the time
    \r\n", - "approaches, becomes more and more animated. All are armed to the
    \r\n", - "teeth, with the symbol of honour--something so called--beneath their
    \r\n", - "coarse doublets, or in the waistbands of their pantaloons. The group
    \r\n", - "evinces so much excitement that belligerents are well nigh coming to
    \r\n", - "blows; in fact, peace is only preserved by the timely appearance of
    \r\n", - "the landlord, who proclaims that unless order be preserved until
    \r\n", - "after the candidates have addressed them, the next barrel of whiskey
    \r\n", - "will positively \"not be tapped.\" He could not use a more effectual
    \r\n", - "argument. Mr. M'Fadden, who exercises great authority over the
    \r\n", - "minions under him, at this announcement mounts the top of an empty
    \r\n", - "whiskey barrel, and declares he will whip the \"whole crowd,\" if they
    \r\n", - "do not cease to wage their political arguments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While the above cursory remarks and party sparrings are going on,
    \r\n", - "some forty negroes are seen busily employed preparing the
    \r\n", - "indispensable adjuncts of the occasion-the meats. Here, beneath the
    \r\n", - "clump of trees, a few yards from the grocery and justices' office,
    \r\n", - "the candidates' tables are being spread with cold meats, crackers,
    \r\n", - "bread and cheese, cigars, &c., &c. As soon as the gentlemen
    \r\n", - "candidates have delivered themselves of their sentiments, two
    \r\n", - "barrels of real \"straight-back\" whiskey will be added.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"This is the way we puts our candidate through, down south, ye see,
    \r\n", - "fellers, voters: it's we what's the bone and siners o' the rights o'
    \r\n", - "the south. It's we what's got t' take the slow-coach politics out o'
    \r\n", - "the hands o' them ar' old harristocrats what don't think them ar'
    \r\n", - "northern abolitionists han't goin to do nothin. It's we, fellow
    \r\n", - "citizens, what puts southern-rights principles clean through; it's
    \r\n", - "we what puts them ar' old Union haristocrats, what spiles all the
    \r\n", - "nigger property, into the straight up way o' doing things! Now,
    \r\n", - "feller voters, free and independent citizens-freemen who have fought
    \r\n", - "for freedom,--you, whose old, grey-headed fathers died for freedom!
    \r\n", - "it takes you t' know what sort a thing freedom is; and how to enjoy
    \r\n", - "it so niggers can't take it away from you! I'ze lived north way,
    \r\n", - "know how it is! Yer jist the chaps to put niggers straight,--to vote
    \r\n", - "for my man, Colonel Mohpany,\" Mr. M'Fadden cries out at the very top
    \r\n", - "of his voice, as he comes rushing out of the tavern, edging his way
    \r\n", - "through the crowd, followed by the two candidates. The gentlemen
    \r\n", - "look anxiously good-natured; they walk together to the rostrum,
    \r\n", - "followed by a crowd, measuring their way to the assembly through the
    \r\n", - "darling affections of our free and independent voters. Gossamer
    \r\n", - "citizenship, this!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As they reach the rostrum, a carriage is seen in the distance,
    \r\n", - "approaching in great haste. All attention being directed to it, the
    \r\n", - "first candidate, Colonel Mohpany, mounts the stump, places his right
    \r\n", - "hand in his bosom, and pauses as if to learn who it brings. To the
    \r\n", - "happy consolation of Mr. M'Fadden and his friends, it bears Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton the philosopher. Poor Mr. Scranton looks quite worn out
    \r\n", - "with anxiety; he has come all the way from the city, prepared with
    \r\n", - "the very best kind of a southern-rights speech, to relieve his
    \r\n", - "friend, General Vardant, who is not accustomed to public
    \r\n", - "declamation. The General is a cunning fellow, fears the stump
    \r\n", - "accomplishments of his antagonist, and has secured the valuable
    \r\n", - "services of philosopher Scranton. Mr. S. will tell the constituency,
    \r\n", - "in very logical phraseology,--making the language suit the sentiments
    \r\n", - "of his friends,--what principles must be maintained; how the General
    \r\n", - "depends upon the soundness of their judgment to sustain him; how
    \r\n", - "they are the bone and sinews of the great political power of the
    \r\n", - "South; how their hard, uncontrastable appearance, and their garments
    \r\n", - "of similar primitiveness, are emblematic of the iron firmness of
    \r\n", - "their democracy. Mr. Scranton will further assure them that their
    \r\n", - "democracy is founded on that very accommodating sort of freedom
    \r\n", - "which will be sure to keep all persons of doubtful colour in
    \r\n", - "slavery.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Scranton arrives, receives the congratulations of his friends,
    \r\n", - "gets the negroes to brush him down,--for it is difficult to
    \r\n", - "distinguish him from a pillar of dust, save that we have his modest
    \r\n", - "eyes for assurances-takes a few glasses of moderate mixture, and
    \r\n", - "coolly collects his ideas. The mixture will bring out Mr. Scranton's
    \r\n", - "philosophical facts: and, now that he has got his face and beard
    \r\n", - "cleanly washed, he will proceed to the stand. Here he is received
    \r\n", - "with loud cheering; the gentleman is a great man, all the way from
    \r\n", - "the city. Sitting on a chair he is sorry was made at the north, he
    \r\n", - "exhibits a deal of method in taking from his pocket a long cedar
    \r\n", - "pencil, with which he will make notes of all Colonel Mohpany's loose
    \r\n", - "points.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The reader, we feel assured, will excuse us for not following
    \r\n", - "Colonel Mohpany through his speech, so laudatory of the patriotism
    \r\n", - "of his friends, so much interrupted by applause. The warm manner in
    \r\n", - "which his conclusion is received assures him that he now is the most
    \r\n", - "popular man in the State. Mr. Scranton, armed with his usually
    \r\n", - "melancholy countenance, rises to the stump, makes his modestly
    \r\n", - "political bow, offers many impressive apologies for the unprepared
    \r\n", - "state in which he finds himself, informs his hearers that he appears
    \r\n", - "before them only as a substitute for his very intimate and
    \r\n", - "particular friend, General Vardant. He, too, has a wonderful
    \r\n", - "prolixity of compliments to bestow upon the free, the patriotic, the
    \r\n", - "independent voters of the very independent district. He tries to be
    \r\n", - "facetious; but his temperament will not admit of any
    \r\n", - "inconsistencies, not even in a political contest. No! he must be
    \r\n", - "serious; because the election of a candidate to so high an office is
    \r\n", - "a serious affair. So he will tell the \"Saw-pit men\" a great deal
    \r\n", - "about their noble sires; how they lived and died for liberty; how
    \r\n", - "the tombstones of immortality are emblazoned with the fame of their
    \r\n", - "glorious deeds. And he will tell these glorious squatters what
    \r\n", - "inalienable rights they possess; how they must be maintained; and
    \r\n", - "how they have always been first to maintain the principle of keeping
    \r\n", - "\"niggers\" in their places, and resisting those mischievous
    \r\n", - "propagators of northern villainy-abolitionists. He will tell the
    \r\n", - "deep-thinking saw-pit voters how it has been charged against them
    \r\n", - "that they were only independent once a year, and that was when
    \r\n", - "herrings run up the Santee river. Such a gross slander Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", - "declares to be the most impious. They were always independent; and,
    \r\n", - "if they were poor, and preferred to habit themselves in primitive
    \r\n", - "garbs, it was only because they preferred to be honest! This, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton, the northern philosopher, asserts with great emphasis.
    \r\n", - "Yes! they are honest; and honest patriots are always better than
    \r\n", - "rich traitors. From the san-pit men, Mr. Scranton, his face
    \r\n", - "distended with eloquence, turns to his cracker and \"wire-grass\"
    \r\n", - "friends, upon whom he bestows most piercing compliments. Their lean
    \r\n", - "mules-the speaker laughs at his own wit-and pioneer waggons always
    \r\n", - "remind him of the good old times, when he was a boy, and everybody
    \r\n", - "was so honest it was unnecessary even to have such useless finery as
    \r\n", - "people put on at the present day. A word or two, very derogatory of
    \r\n", - "the anti-slavery people, is received with deafening applause. Of the
    \r\n", - "descendants of the Huguenots he says but little; they are few, rich,
    \r\n", - "and very unpopular in this part of the little sovereign state. And
    \r\n", - "he quite forgot to tell this unlettered mass of a sovereign
    \r\n", - "constituency the true cause of their poverty and degradation. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton, however, in one particular point, which is a vital one to
    \r\n", - "the slave-ocracy, differs with the ungovernable Romescos,--he would
    \r\n", - "not burn all common schools, nor scout all such trash as
    \r\n", - "schoolmasters.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In another part of Mr. Scranton's speech he enjoins them to be
    \r\n", - "staunch supporters of men known to be firm to the south, and who
    \r\n", - "would blow up every yankee who came south, and refused to declare
    \r\n", - "his sentiments to be for concession. \"You!\"-he points round him to
    \r\n", - "the grotesque crowd-\"were first to take a stand and keep niggers
    \r\n", - "down; to keep them where they can't turn round and enslave you!
    \r\n", - "Great Britain, fell ercitizens,\"-Mr. Scranton begins to wax warm; he
    \r\n", - "adjusts his coat sleeves, and draws himself into a tragic attitude
    \r\n", - "as he takes his tobacco from his mouth, seemingly unconscious of his
    \r\n", - "own enthusiasm-I say Great Britain-\" A sudden interruption is
    \r\n", - "caused. Mr. Scranton's muddled quid, thrown with such violence, has
    \r\n", - "bedaubed the cheek of an admiring saw-pitter, whose mind was
    \r\n", - "completely absorbed in his eloquence. He was listening with
    \r\n", - "breathless suspense, and only saved its admission in his capacious
    \r\n", - "mouth by closing it a few seconds before.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sarved him just right; keep on, Colonel!\" exclaims Mr. M'Fadden. He
    \r\n", - "takes the man by the arm, pushes him aside, and makes a slight bow
    \r\n", - "to Mr. Scranton. He would have him go on.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Great Britain-feller citizens, I say-was first to commence the
    \r\n", - "warfare against nigger slavery; and now she is joining the north to
    \r\n", - "seek its permanent overthrow. She is a monster tyrant wherever she
    \r\n", - "sets her foot-I say! (Three cheers for that.) She contributed to
    \r\n", - "fasten the curse upon us; and now she wants to destroy us by taking
    \r\n", - "it away according to the measures of the northern
    \r\n", - "abolitionists-fanaticism! Whatever the old school southerner
    \r\n", - "neglects to do for the preservation of the peculiar institution, we
    \r\n", - "must do for him! And we, who have lived at the north, can, with your
    \r\n", - "independent support, put the whole thing through a course of
    \r\n", - "political crooks.\" Again Mr. Scranton pauses; surveys his assembly
    \r\n", - "of free and independent citizens.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That we can: I knows what fanatics down east be!\" rejoins Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, shaking his head very knowingly. He laughs with an air of
    \r\n", - "great satisfaction, as much as to say that, with such northern
    \r\n", - "philosophers to do the championism of slavery in the south, all the
    \r\n", - "commercial relations for which northern merchants are under so many
    \r\n", - "obligations to slave-labour, will be perfectly safe. But Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton has drawn out his speech to such an uncommon length, that
    \r\n", - "the loquacious M'Fadden is becoming decidedly wearied. His eyes
    \r\n", - "begin to glow languid, and the lids to close,--and now he nods assent
    \r\n", - "to all Mr. Scranton's sayings, which singularly attracts the
    \r\n", - "attention of that orator's hearers. The orator becomes very much
    \r\n", - "annoyed at this, suddenly stops-begs Mr. M'Fadden will postpone his
    \r\n", - "repose. This, from so great a man as Mr. Scranton, is accepted as
    \r\n", - "provokingly witty. Mr. M'Fadden laughs; and they all laugh. The
    \r\n", - "gentleman will continue his speech.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The South must come out; must establish free trade, direct
    \r\n", - "trade,--trade that will free her from her disreputable association
    \r\n", - "with the North. She can do it!\" Mr. Scranton wipes his forehead with
    \r\n", - "his white pocket-handkerchief.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ain't we deeply indebted to the North?\" a voice in the crowd cries
    \r\n", - "out.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! what if we are? Can't we offset the debts on the principles
    \r\n", - "of war? Let it go against the injury of abolition excitements!\" Mr.
    \r\n", - "Scranton makes a theatrical flourish with his right hand, and runs
    \r\n", - "the fingers of his left through his crispy hair, setting it on end
    \r\n", - "like quills on a porcupine's back. Three long and loud cheers
    \r\n", - "follow, and the gentleman is involuntarily compelled to laugh at his
    \r\n", - "own singular sayings. \"The South must hold conventions; she must
    \r\n", - "enforce constitutional guarantees; she must plant herself in the
    \r\n", - "federal capital, and plead her cause at the bar of the world. She
    \r\n", - "will get a hearing there! And she must supplant that dangerous
    \r\n", - "engine of abolition, now waging war against our property, our
    \r\n", - "rights, our social system.\" Thus concluding, Mr. Scranton sits down,
    \r\n", - "very much fatigued from his mental effervescence, yet much lighter
    \r\n", - "from having relieved himself of his speech, amidst a storm of
    \r\n", - "applause. Such a throwing up of hats and slouches, such jostling,
    \r\n", - "abetting, and haranguing upon the merits of the candidates, their
    \r\n", - "speeches and their sentiments, never was heard or seen before.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mine host now mounts the stand to make the welcome announcement,
    \r\n", - "that, the speeches being over, the eating entertainments are ready.
    \r\n", - "He hopes the friends of the candidates will repair to the tables,
    \r\n", - "and help themselves without stint or restraint. As they are on the
    \r\n", - "point of rushing upon the tables, Colonel Mohpany suddenly jumps up,
    \r\n", - "and arrests the progress of the group by intimating that he has one
    \r\n", - "word more to say. That word is, his desire to inform the bone and
    \r\n", - "sinew of the constituency that his opponent belongs to a party which
    \r\n", - "once declared in the Assembly that they-the very men who stand
    \r\n", - "before him now-were a dangerous class unless reduced to slavery! The
    \r\n", - "Colonel has scarcely delivered himself of this very clever charge,
    \r\n", - "when the tables, a few yards distant, are surrounded by promiscuous
    \r\n", - "friends and foes, who help themselves after the fashion most
    \r\n", - "advantageous. All rules of etiquette are unceremoniously dispensed
    \r\n", - "with,--he who can secure most is the best diplomatist. Many find
    \r\n", - "their mouths so inadequate to the temptation of the feast, that they
    \r\n", - "improve on Mr. Scranton's philosophy by making good use of their
    \r\n", - "ample pockets. Believe us, reader, the entertainment is the
    \r\n", - "essential part of the candidate's political virtue, which must be
    \r\n", - "measured according to the extent of his cold meats and very bad
    \r\n", - "whiskey.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "To carry out the strength of General Vardant's principles, several
    \r\n", - "of his opponent's friends are busily employed in circulating a
    \r\n", - "report that his barrel of whiskey has been \"brought on\" only half
    \r\n", - "full. A grosser slander could not have been invented. But the report
    \r\n", - "gains circulation so fast, that his meats and drinks are
    \r\n", - "mischievously absorbed, and the demonstration of his unpopular
    \r\n", - "position begins to be manifest. The candidates, unflinching in their
    \r\n", - "efforts, mix with the medley, have the benefit of the full exercise
    \r\n", - "of free thought and action, hear various opinions upon \"the Squire's
    \r\n", - "chances,\" and listen to the chiming of high-sounding compliments.
    \r\n", - "While this clanging of merry jargon is at its highest, as if by some
    \r\n", - "magic influence Romescos makes his appearance, and immediately
    \r\n", - "commences to pit sides with Mr. M'Fadden. With all Romescos'
    \r\n", - "outlawry, he is tenacious of his southern origin; and he will assert
    \r\n", - "its rights against Mr. M'Fadden, whom he declares to be no better
    \r\n", - "than a northern humbug, taking advantage of southern institutions.
    \r\n", - "To him all northerners are great vagabonds, having neither
    \r\n", - "principles nor humanity in their composition; he makes the assertion
    \r\n", - "emphatically, without fear or trembling; and he calls upon his
    \r\n", - "friends to sustain him, that he may maintain the rights of the
    \r\n", - "South. Those rights Romescos asserts, and re-asserts, can only be
    \r\n", - "preserved by southern men-not by sneaking northerners, who, with
    \r\n", - "their trade, pocket their souls. Northerners are great men for
    \r\n", - "whitewashing their faces with pretence! Romescos is received with
    \r\n", - "considerable �clat. He declares, independently, that Mr. Scranton
    \r\n", - "too is no less a sheer humbug of the same stripe, and whose
    \r\n", - "humbugging propensities make him the humble servant of the south so
    \r\n", - "long as he can make a dollar by the bemeaning operation. His full
    \r\n", - "and unmeasured appreciation of all this northern-southern
    \r\n", - "independence is here given to the world for the world's good. And he
    \r\n", - "wants the world to particularly understand, that the old southerner
    \r\n", - "is the only independent man, the only true protector of humanity!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos' sudden appearance, and the bold stand he takes against Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden and his candidate, produce the utmost confusion; he being
    \r\n", - "unpopular with the saw-pit men, with whom he once exhibited
    \r\n", - "considerable dexterity in carrying off one of their number and
    \r\n", - "putting the seal of slavery on him, they take sides against him. It
    \r\n", - "is the Saw-pitters against Romescos and the Crackers. The spirits
    \r\n", - "have flowed, and now the gods of our political power sway to and fro
    \r\n", - "under most violent shocks. Many, being unable to keep a
    \r\n", - "perpendicular, are accusing each other of all sorts of misdeeds-of
    \r\n", - "the misdeeds of their ancestors-of the specific crimes they
    \r\n", - "committed-the punishments they suffered. From personalities of their
    \r\n", - "own time they descend forth into jeering each other on matters of
    \r\n", - "family frailty, setting what their just deserts would have entitled
    \r\n", - "them to receive. They continue in this strain of jargon for some
    \r\n", - "time, until at length it becomes evident the storm of war is fast
    \r\n", - "approaching a crisis. Mr. M'Fadden is mentally unprepared to meet
    \r\n", - "this crisis, which Romescos will make to suit himself; and to this
    \r\n", - "end the comical and somewhat tragical finale seems pretty well
    \r\n", - "understood by the candidates and a few of the \"swell-ocracy,\" who
    \r\n", - "have assembled more to see the grand representation of physical
    \r\n", - "power on the part of these free and enlightened citizens, than to
    \r\n", - "partake of the feast or listen to the rhetoric of the speeches. In
    \r\n", - "order to get a good view of the scene they have ascended trees,
    \r\n", - "where, perched among their branches like so many jackals, they cheer
    \r\n", - "and urge on the sport, as the nobility of Spain applaud a favourite
    \r\n", - "champion of the ring. At length the opposing parties doff their hats
    \r\n", - "and coats, draw knives, make threatening grimaces, and twirl their
    \r\n", - "steel in the air: their desperation is earnest; they make an onset,
    \r\n", - "charging with the bravado of men determined to sacrifice life. The
    \r\n", - "very air resounds with their shouts of blasphemy; blood flows from
    \r\n", - "deep incisions of bowie-knives, garments are rent into shreds; and
    \r\n", - "men seem to have betaken themselves to personating the demons.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Would that they were rational beings! would that they were men
    \r\n", - "capable of constituting a power to protect the liberty of principle
    \r\n", - "and the justice of law! Shout after shout goes up; tumult is
    \r\n", - "triumphant. Two fatal rencontres are announced, and Mr. Lawrence
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden is dangerously wounded; he has a cut in the abdomen. The
    \r\n", - "poor victims attract but little attention; such little trifling
    \r\n", - "affairs are very common, scarcely worth a word of commiseration. One
    \r\n", - "gentleman insinuates that the affair has been a desperately amusing
    \r\n", - "one; another very coolly adds, that this political feed has had much
    \r\n", - "more interest in it than any preceding one.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The victims are rolled in blankets, and laid away in the corn-shed;
    \r\n", - "they will await the arrival of the coroner, who, the landlord says,
    \r\n", - "it will be no more than right to send for. They are only two dead
    \r\n", - "Crackers, however, and nobody doubts what the verdict will be. In
    \r\n", - "truth-and it must be told once in a while, even in our
    \r\n", - "atmosphere-the only loss is the two votes, which the candidate had
    \r\n", - "already secured with his meat and drink, and which have now, he
    \r\n", - "regrets, been returned to the box of death instead of his ballot.
    \r\n", - "Poor voters, now only fit to serve the vilest purpose! how degraded
    \r\n", - "in the scale of human nature is the being, only worth a suffrance at
    \r\n", - "elections, where votes cast from impulse control the balance of
    \r\n", - "power. Such beings are worth just nothing; they would not sell in
    \r\n", - "the market. The negro waiters say, \"It don't make a bit of matter
    \r\n", - "how much white rubbish like this is killed, it won't fetch a bid in
    \r\n", - "the market; and when you sell it, it won't stay sold.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Lose I dat way, Cato, might jist as well take tousand dollar
    \r\n", - "straight out o' mas'r's pocket; but dese critters b'nt notin'
    \r\n", - "nohow,\" says old Daniel, one of the servants, who knows the value of
    \r\n", - "his own body quite well. Daniel exults as he looks upon the dead
    \r\n", - "bodies he is assisting to deposit in the corn-shed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden is carefully borne into the tavern, where, after much
    \r\n", - "difficulty, he is got up stairs and laid on a very nice bed, spread
    \r\n", - "with snowy white linen. A physician is called, and his wound dressed
    \r\n", - "with all possible skill and attention. He is in great pain, however;
    \r\n", - "begs his friends to bestow all care upon him, and save no expense.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus ends our political day. The process of making power to shape
    \r\n", - "the social and political weal of our State, closes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXIV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "MR. M'FADDEN SEES SHADOWS IN THE FUTURE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "NIGHT has quickly drawn its curtain over the scene. Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "lies on his bed, writhing under the pain of the poisoned wound. He
    \r\n", - "left his preacher locked up for the night in a cold hovel, and he
    \r\n", - "has secured the dangerous Bible, lest it lessen his value. Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, however, feels that now his earthly career is fast closing
    \r\n", - "he must seek redemption. Hie has called in the aid of a physician,
    \r\n", - "who tells him there is great danger, and little hope unless his case
    \r\n", - "takes a favourable turn about midnight. The professional gentleman
    \r\n", - "merely suggests this, but the suggestion conveys an awful warning.
    \r\n", - "All the misdeeds of the past cloud before his eyes; they summon him
    \r\n", - "to make his peace with his Maker. He remembers what has been told
    \r\n", - "him about the quality of mercy,--the duration of hope in
    \r\n", - "redemption,--which he may secure by rendering justice to those he has
    \r\n", - "wronged. But now conscience wars with him; he sees the fierce
    \r\n", - "elements of retribution gathering their poisoned shafts about him;
    \r\n", - "he quails lest their points pierce his heart; and he sees the God of
    \r\n", - "right arraigning him at the bar of justice. There, that Dispenser of
    \r\n", - "all Good sits in his glory and omnipotence, listening while the
    \r\n", - "oppressed recites his sufferings: the oppressed there meets him face
    \r\n", - "to face, robed in that same garb of submission which he has
    \r\n", - "inflicted upon him on earth. His fevered brain gives out strange
    \r\n", - "warnings,--warnings in which he sees the angel of light unfolding the
    \r\n", - "long list of his injustice to his fellow man, and an angry God
    \r\n", - "passing the awful sentence. Writhing, turning, and contorting his
    \r\n", - "face, his very soul burns with the agony of despair. He grasps the
    \r\n", - "hand of his physician, who leans over his wounded body, and with
    \r\n", - "eyes distorted and glassy, stares wildly and frantically round the
    \r\n", - "room. Again, as if suffering inward torture, he springs from his
    \r\n", - "pillow, utters fierce imprecations against the visions that surround
    \r\n", - "him, grasps at them with his out-stretched fingers, motions his
    \r\n", - "hand backward and forward, and breaks out into violent paroxysms of
    \r\n", - "passion, as if struggling in the unyielding grasp of death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "That physical power which has so long borne him up in his daily
    \r\n", - "pursuits yields to the wanderings of his haunted mind. He lays his
    \r\n", - "hand upon the physician's shoulder as his struggles now subside,
    \r\n", - "looks mournfully in his face, and rather mutters than speaks:
    \r\n", - "\"Bring-bring-bring him here: I'll see him,--I must see him! I-I-I
    \r\n", - "took away the book; there's what makes the sting worse! And when I
    \r\n", - "close my eyes I see it burning fiercely-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Who shall I bring?\" interrupts the physician, mildly, endeavouring
    \r\n", - "to soothe his feelings by assuring him there is no danger, if he
    \r\n", - "will but remain calm.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Heaven is casting its thick vengeance round me; heaven is consuming
    \r\n", - "me with the fire of my own heart! How can I be calm, and my past
    \r\n", - "life vaulted with a glow of fire? The finger of Almighty God points
    \r\n", - "to that deed I did today. I deprived a wretch of his only hope: that
    \r\n", - "wretch can forgive me before heaven. Y-e-s, he can,--can speak for
    \r\n", - "me,--can intercede for me; he can sign my repentance, and save me
    \r\n", - "from the just vengeance of heaven. His-his-his-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What?\" the physician whispers, putting his ear to his mouth. \"Be
    \r\n", - "calm.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Calm!\" he mutters in return.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Neither fear death nor be frightened at its shadows-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It's life, life, life I fear--not death!\" he gurgles out. \"Bring him
    \r\n", - "to me; there is the Bible. Oh! how could I have robbed him of it!
    \r\n", - "'Twas our folly--all folly--my folly!\" Mr. M'Fadden had forgotten that
    \r\n", - "the bustle of current life was no excuse for his folly; that it
    \r\n", - "would be summed up against him in the day of trouble. He never for
    \r\n", - "once thought that the Bible and its teachings were as dear to slave
    \r\n", - "as master, and that its truths were equally consoling in the hour of
    \r\n", - "death. In life it strengthens man's hopes; could it have been thus
    \r\n", - "with M'Fadden before death placed its troubled sea before his eyes,
    \r\n", - "how happy he would have died in the Lord!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The emphatic language, uttered in such supplicating tones, and so at
    \r\n", - "variance with his habits of life, naturally excited the feelings of
    \r\n", - "his physician, whose only solicitude had been evinced in his efforts
    \r\n", - "to save life,--to heal the wound. Never had he watched at a patient's
    \r\n", - "bed-side who had exhibited such convulsions of passion,--such fears
    \r\n", - "of death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Now struggling against a storm of convulsions, then subsiding into
    \r\n", - "sluggish writhings, accompanied with low moans, indicating more
    \r\n", - "mental disquietude than bodily pain. Again he is quiet; points to
    \r\n", - "his coat.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The physician brings it forward and lays it upon the bed, where Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden can put his hand upon it. \"It is there--in there!\" he says,
    \r\n", - "turning on his left side, and with a solicitous look pointing to the
    \r\n", - "pockets of his coat. The professional gentleman does not understand
    \r\n", - "him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He half raises himself on his pillow, but sinks back fatigued, and
    \r\n", - "faintly whispers, \"Oh, take it to him--to him! Give him the
    \r\n", - "comforter: bring him, poor fellow, to me, that his spirit may be my
    \r\n", - "comforter!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The physician understands, puts his hand into the pocket; draws
    \r\n", - "forth the little boon companion. It is the Bible, book of books; its
    \r\n", - "great truths have borne Harry through many trials,--he hopes it will
    \r\n", - "be his shield and buckler to carry him through many more. Its
    \r\n", - "associations are as dear to him as its teachings are consoling in
    \r\n", - "the days of tribulation. It is dear to him, because the promptings
    \r\n", - "of a noble-hearted woman secretly entrusted it to his care, in
    \r\n", - "violation of slavery's statutes. Its well-worn pages bear testimony
    \r\n", - "of the good service it has done. It was Franconia's gift-Franconia,
    \r\n", - "whose tender emotions made her the friend of the slave-made in the
    \r\n", - "kindness of woman's generous nature. The good example, when
    \r\n", - "contrasted with the fierce tenor of slavery's fears, is worthy many
    \r\n", - "followers.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "But men seldom profit by small examples, especially when great fears
    \r\n", - "are paramount.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The physician, holding the good book in his hand, enquires if Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden would have him read from it? He has no answer to make,
    \r\n", - "turns his feverish face from it, closes his eyes, and compressing
    \r\n", - "his forehead with his hands, mutely shakes his head. A minute or two
    \r\n", - "passes in silence; he has re-considered the point,--answers, no! He
    \r\n", - "wants Harry brought to him, that he may acknowledge his crimes; that
    \r\n", - "he may quench the fire of unhappiness burning within him. \"How
    \r\n", - "seldom we think of death while in life,--and how painful to see death
    \r\n", - "while gathering together the dross of this worldly chaos! Great,
    \r\n", - "great, great is the reward of the good, and mighty is the hand of
    \r\n", - "Omnipotence that, holding the record of our sins, warns us to
    \r\n", - "prepare.\" As Mr. M'Fadden utters these words, a coloured woman
    \r\n", - "enters the room to enquire if the patient wants nourishment. She
    \r\n", - "will wait at the door.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The physician looks at the patient; the patient shakes his head and
    \r\n", - "whispers, \"Only the boy. The boy I bought to-day.\" The Bible lays at
    \r\n", - "his side on the sheet. He points to it, again whispering, \"The boy I
    \r\n", - "took it from!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The boy, the preacher, Mr. M'Fadden's purchase, can read; she will
    \r\n", - "know him by that; she must bring him from the shed, from his cold
    \r\n", - "bed of earth. That crime of slavery man wastes his energies to make
    \r\n", - "right, is wrong in the sight of heaven; our patient reads the
    \r\n", - "glaring testimony as the demons of his morbid fancy haunt him with
    \r\n", - "their damning terrors, their ghastly visages.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Go, woman, bring him!\" he whispers again.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Almost motionless the woman stands. She has seen the little book-she
    \r\n", - "knows it, and her eyes wander over the inscription on the cover. A
    \r\n", - "deep blush shadows her countenance; she fixes her piercing black
    \r\n", - "eyes upon it until they seem melting into sadness; with a delicacy
    \r\n", - "and reserve at variance with her menial condition, she approaches
    \r\n", - "the bed, lays her hand upon the book, and, while the physician's
    \r\n", - "attention is attracted in another direction, closes its pages, and
    \r\n", - "is about to depart.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can you tell which one he wants, girl?\" enquires the physician, in
    \r\n", - "a stern voice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"His name, I think, is Harry; and they say the poor thing can
    \r\n", - "preach; forgive me what I have done to him, oh Lord! It is the
    \r\n", - "weakness of man grasping the things of this world, to leave behind
    \r\n", - "for the world's nothingness,\" says Mr. M'Fadden, as the woman leaves
    \r\n", - "the room giving an affirmative reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The presence of the Bible surprised the woman; she knew it as the
    \r\n", - "one much used by Harry, on Marston's plantation. It was Franconia's
    \r\n", - "gift! The associations of the name touched the chord upon which hung
    \r\n", - "the happiest incidents of her life. Retracing her steps down the
    \r\n", - "stairs, she seeks mine host of the tavern, makes known the demand,
    \r\n", - "and receives the keys of this man-pen of our land of liberty.
    \r\n", - "Lantern in hand, she soon reaches the door, unlocks it gently, as if
    \r\n", - "she expects the approach of some strange object, and fears a sudden
    \r\n", - "surprise.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There the poor dejected wretches lay; nothing but earth's surface
    \r\n", - "for a bed,--no blanket to cover them. They have eaten their measure
    \r\n", - "of corn, and are sleeping; they sleep while chivalry revels! Harry
    \r\n", - "has drawn his hat partly over his face, and made a pillow of the
    \r\n", - "little bundle he carried under his arm.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Passing from one to the other, the woman approaches him, as if to
    \r\n", - "see if she can recognise any familiar feature. She stoops over him,
    \r\n", - "passes the light along his body, from head to foot, and from foot to
    \r\n", - "head. \"Can it be our Harry?\" she mutters. \"It can't be; master
    \r\n", - "wouldn't sell him.\" Her eyes glare with anxiety as they wander up
    \r\n", - "and down his sleeping figure.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Harry,--Harry,--Harry! which is Harry?\" she demands.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Scarcely has she lisped the words, when the sleeper starts to his
    \r\n", - "feet, and sets his eyes on the woman with a stare of wonderment. His
    \r\n", - "mind wanders-bewildered; is he back on the old plantation? That
    \r\n", - "cannot be; they would not thus provide for him there. \"Back at the
    \r\n", - "old home! Oh, how glad I am: yes, my home is there, with good old
    \r\n", - "master. My poor old woman; I've nothing for her, nothing,\" he says,
    \r\n", - "extending his hand to the woman, and again, as his mind regains
    \r\n", - "itself, their glances become mutual; the sympathy of two old
    \r\n", - "associates gushes forth from the purest of fountains,--the oppressed
    \r\n", - "heart.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Harry-oh, Harry! is it you?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ellen! my good Ellen, my friend, and old master's friend!\" is the
    \r\n", - "simultaneous salutation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sold you, too?\" enquires Harry, embracing her with all the fervour
    \r\n", - "of a father who has regained his long-lost child. She throws her
    \r\n", - "arms about his neck, and clings to him, as he kisses, and kisses,
    \r\n", - "and kisses her olive brow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My sale, Harry, was of little consequence; but why did they sell
    \r\n", - "you? (Her emotions have swollen into tears). You must tell me all,
    \r\n", - "to-night! You must tell me of my child, my Nicholas,--if master
    \r\n", - "cares for him, and how he looks, grows, and acts. Oh, how my heart
    \r\n", - "beats to have him at my side;--when, when will that day come! I would
    \r\n", - "have him with me, even if sold for the purpose.\" Tears gush down her
    \r\n", - "cheeks, as Harry, encircling her with his arm, whispers words of
    \r\n", - "consolation in her ear.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If we were always for this world, Ellen, our lot could not be
    \r\n", - "borne. But heaven has a recompense, which awaits us in the world to
    \r\n", - "come. Ellen!\"-he holds her from him and looks intently in her
    \r\n", - "face-\"masters are not to blame for our sufferings,--the law is the
    \r\n", - "sinner! Hope not, seek not for common justice, rights, privileges,
    \r\n", - "or anything else while we are merchandise among men who, to please
    \r\n", - "themselves, gamble with our souls and bodies. Take away that
    \r\n", - "injustice, Ellen, and men who now plead our unprofitableness would
    \r\n", - "hide their heads with shame. Make us men, and we will plead our own
    \r\n", - "cause; we will show to the world that we are men; black men, who can
    \r\n", - "be made men when they are not made merchandise.\" Ellen must tell him
    \r\n", - "what has brought her here, first! He notices sad changes in her
    \r\n", - "countenance, and feels anxious to listen to the recital of her
    \r\n", - "troubles.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "She cannot tell him now, and begs that he will not ask her, as the
    \r\n", - "recollection of them fills her heart with sorrow. She discloses the
    \r\n", - "object of her mission, will guide him to his new master, who, they
    \r\n", - "say, is going to die, and feels very bad about it. He was a
    \r\n", - "desperate man on his plantation, and has become the more contrite at
    \r\n", - "death's call. \"I hope God will forgive him!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He will!-He will! He is forgiving,\" interrupts Harry, hurriedly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ellen reconnoitres the wearied bodies of the others as they lie
    \r\n", - "around. \"Poor wretches! what can I do for them?\" she says, holding
    \r\n", - "the lamp over them. She can do but little for them, poor girl. The
    \r\n", - "will is good, but the wherewith she hath not. Necessity is a hard
    \r\n", - "master; none know it better than the slave woman. She will take
    \r\n", - "Harry by the hand, and, retracing her steps, usher him into the
    \r\n", - "presence of the wounded man. Pressing his hand as she opens the
    \r\n", - "door, she bids him good night, and retires to her cabin. \"Poor
    \r\n", - "Harry!\" she says, with a sigh.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The kind woman is Ellen Juvarna. She has passed another eventful
    \r\n", - "stage of her eventful life. Mine host, good fellow, bought her of
    \r\n", - "Mr. O'Brodereque, that's all!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HOW THEY STOLE THE PREACHER.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE scenes we have described in the foregoing chapter have not yet
    \r\n", - "been brought to a close. In and about the tavern may be seen groups
    \r\n", - "of men, in the last stage of muddled mellowness, the rank fumes of
    \r\n", - "bad liquor making the very air morbid. Conclaves of grotesque
    \r\n", - "figures are seated in the veranda and drinking-room, breaking the
    \r\n", - "midnight stillness with their stifled songs, their frenzied
    \r\n", - "congratulations, their political jargon; nothing of fatal
    \r\n", - "consequence would seem to have happened.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Did master send for me? You've risen from a rag shop, my man!\"
    \r\n", - "interrupts the physician.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Master there-sorry to see him sick-owns me.\" Harry cast a subdued
    \r\n", - "look on the bed where lay his late purchaser.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry's appearance is not the most prepossessing,--he might have been
    \r\n", - "taken for anything else but a minister of the gospel; though the
    \r\n", - "quick eye of the southerner readily detected those frank and manly
    \r\n", - "features which belong to a class of very dark men who exhibit
    \r\n", - "uncommon natural genius.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At the sound of Harry's voice, M'Fadden makes an effort to raise
    \r\n", - "himself on his elbow. The loss of blood has so reduced his physical
    \r\n", - "power that his effort is unsuccessful. He sinks back,
    \r\n", - "prostrate,--requests the physician to assist him in turning over. He
    \r\n", - "will face his preacher. Putting out his hand, he embraces him
    \r\n", - "cordially,--motions him to be seated.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The black preacher, that article of men merchandise, takes a seat at
    \r\n", - "the bed-side, while the man of medicine withdraws to the table. The
    \r\n", - "summons is as acceptable to Harry as it is strange to the physician,
    \r\n", - "who has never before witnessed so strange a scene of familiarity
    \r\n", - "between slave and master. All is silent for several minutes. Harry
    \r\n", - "looks at his master, as if questioning the motive for which he is
    \r\n", - "summoned into his presence; and still he can read the deep anxiety
    \r\n", - "playing upon M'Fadden's distorted countenance. At length, Harry,
    \r\n", - "feeling that his presence may be intrusive, breaks the silence by
    \r\n", - "enquiring if there is anything he can do for master. Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "whispers something, lays his trembling hand on Harry's, casts a
    \r\n", - "meaning glance at the physician, and seems to swoon. Returning to
    \r\n", - "his bed-side, the physician lays his hand upon the sick man's brow;
    \r\n", - "he will ascertain the state of his system.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Give-him-his-Bible,\" mutters the wounded man, pointing languidly to
    \r\n", - "the table. \"Give it to him that he may ask God's blessing for me-for
    \r\n", - "me-for me,--\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The doctor obeys his commands, and the wretch, heart bounding with
    \r\n", - "joy, receives back his inspiring companion. It is dear to him, and
    \r\n", - "with a smile of gratitude invading his countenance he returns
    \r\n", - "thanks. There is pleasure in that little book. \"And now, Harry, my
    \r\n", - "boy,\" says M'Fadden, raising his hand to Harry's shoulder, and
    \r\n", - "looking imploringly in his face as he regains strength; \"forgive
    \r\n", - "what I have done. I took from you that which was most dear to your
    \r\n", - "feelings; I took it from you when the wounds of your heart were
    \r\n", - "gushing with grief-\" He makes an effort to say more, but his voice
    \r\n", - "fails; he will wait a few moments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The kind words touch Harry's feelings; tears glistening in his eyes
    \r\n", - "tell how he struggles to suppress the emotions of his heart. \"Did
    \r\n", - "you mean my wife and children, master?\" he enquires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, somewhat regaining strength, replies in the affirmative.
    \r\n", - "He acknowledges to have seen that the thing \"warn't just right.\" His
    \r\n", - "imagination has been wandering through the regions of heaven, where,
    \r\n", - "he is fully satisfied, there is no objection to a black face. God
    \r\n", - "has made a great opening in his eyes and heart just now. He sees and
    \r\n", - "believes such things as he neither saw nor believed before; they
    \r\n", - "pass like clouds before his eyes, never, never to be erased from his
    \r\n", - "memory. Never before has he thought much about repentance; but now
    \r\n", - "that he sees heaven on one side and hell on the other, all that once
    \r\n", - "seemed right in bartering and selling the bodies and souls of men,
    \r\n", - "vanishes. There, high above all, is the vengeance of heaven written
    \r\n", - "in letters of blood, execrating such acts, and pointing to the
    \r\n", - "retribution. It is a burning consciousness of all the suffering he
    \r\n", - "has inflicted upon his negroes. Death, awful monitor! stares him in
    \r\n", - "the face; it holds the stern realities of truth and justice before
    \r\n", - "him; it tells him of the wrong,--points him to the right. The
    \r\n", - "unbending mandates of slave law, giving to man power to debase
    \r\n", - "himself with crimes the judicious dare not punish, are being
    \r\n", - "consumed before Omnipotence, the warning voice of which is calling
    \r\n", - "him to his last account.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now the wounded man is all condescension, hoping forgiveness!
    \r\n", - "His spirit has yielded to Almighty power; he no longer craves for
    \r\n", - "property in man; no, his coarse voice is subdued into softest
    \r\n", - "accents. He whispers \"coloured man,\" as if the merchandise changed
    \r\n", - "as his thoughts are brought in contact with revelations of the
    \r\n", - "future.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Take the Bible, my good boy-take it, read it to me, before I die.
    \r\n", - "Read it, that it may convert my soul. If I have neglected myself on
    \r\n", - "earth, forgive me; receive my repentance, and let me be saved from
    \r\n", - "eternal misery. Read, my dear good boy,\"-M'Fadden grasps his hand
    \r\n", - "tighter and tighter-\"and let your voice be a warning to those who
    \r\n", - "never look beyond earth and earth's enjoyments.\" The physician
    \r\n", - "thinks his patient will get along until morning, and giving
    \r\n", - "directions to the attendants, leaves him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry has recovered from the surprise which so sudden a change of
    \r\n", - "circumstances produced, and has drawn from the patient the cause of
    \r\n", - "his suffering. He opens the restored Bible, and reads from it, to
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden's satisfaction. He reads from Job; the words producing
    \r\n", - "a deep effect upon the patient's mind.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The wretched preacher, whose white soul is concealed beneath black
    \r\n", - "skin, has finished his reading. He will now address himself to his
    \r\n", - "master, in the following simple manner.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Master, it is one thing to die, and another to die happy. It is one
    \r\n", - "thing to be prepared to die, another to forget that we have to die,
    \r\n", - "to leave the world and its nothingness behind us. But you are not
    \r\n", - "going to die, not now. Master, the Lord will forgive you if you,
    \r\n", - "make your repentance durable. 'Tis only the fear of death that has
    \r\n", - "produced the change on your mind. Do, master! learn the Lord; be
    \r\n", - "just to we poor creatures, for the Lord now tells you it is not
    \r\n", - "right to buy and sell us.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Buy and sell you!\" interrupts the frightened man, making an effort
    \r\n", - "to rise from his pillow; \"that I never will, man nor woman. If God
    \r\n", - "spares my life, my people shall be liberated; I feel different on
    \r\n", - "that subject, now! The difference between the commerce of this world
    \r\n", - "and the glory of heaven brightens before me. I was an ignorant man
    \r\n", - "on all religious matters; I only wanted to be set right in the way
    \r\n", - "of the Lord,--that's all.\" Again he draws his face under the sheet,
    \r\n", - "writhing with the pain of his wound.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I wish everybody could see us as master does, about this time; for
    \r\n", - "surely God can touch the heart of the most hardened. But master
    \r\n", - "ain't going to die so soon as he thinks,\" mutters Harry, wiping the
    \r\n", - "sweat from his face, as he lays his left hand softly upon master's
    \r\n", - "arm. \"God guide us in all coming time, and make us forget the
    \r\n", - "retribution that awaits our sins!\" he concludes, with a smile
    \r\n", - "glowing on his countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The half spoken words catch upon the patient's ear. He starts
    \r\n", - "suddenly from his pillow, as if eager to receive some favourable
    \r\n", - "intelligence. \"Don't you think my case dangerous, my boy? Do you
    \r\n", - "know how deep is the wound?\" he enquires, his glassy eyes staring
    \r\n", - "intently at Harry.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It is all the same, master!\" is the reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Give me your hand again\"-M'Fadden grasps his hand and seems to
    \r\n", - "revive-\"pray for me now; your prayers will be received into heaven,
    \r\n", - "they will serve me there!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, master,\" says Harry, kindly, interrupting him at this juncture,
    \r\n", - "\"I feel more than ever like a christian. It does my heart good to
    \r\n", - "hear you talk so true, so kind. How different from yesterday! then I
    \r\n", - "was a poor slave, forced from my children, with nobody to speak a
    \r\n", - "kind word for me; everybody to reckon me as a good piece of property
    \r\n", - "only. I forgive you, master-I forgive you; God is a loving God, and
    \r\n", - "will forgive you also.\" The sick man is consoled; and, while his
    \r\n", - "preacher kneels at his bed-side, offering up a prayer imploring
    \r\n", - "forgiveness, he listens to the words as they fall like cooling drops
    \r\n", - "on his burning soul. The earnestness--the fervency and pathos of the
    \r\n", - "words, as they gush forth from the lips of a wretch, produce a still
    \r\n", - "deeper effect upon the wounded man. Nay, there is even a chord
    \r\n", - "loosened in his heart; he sobs audibly. \"Live on earth so as to be
    \r\n", - "prepared for heaven; that when death knocks at the door you may
    \r\n", - "receive him as a welcome guest. But, master! you cannot meet our
    \r\n", - "Father in heaven while the sin of selling men clings to your
    \r\n", - "garments. Let your hair grow grey with justice, and God will reward
    \r\n", - "you,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True, Harry; true!\"--he lays his hand on the black man's shoulder, is
    \r\n", - "about to rise--\"it is the truth plainly told, and nothing more.\" He
    \r\n", - "will have a glass of water to quench his thirst; Harry must bring it
    \r\n", - "to him, for there is consolation in his touch. Seized with another
    \r\n", - "pain, he grasps with his left hand the arm of his consoler, works
    \r\n", - "his fingers through his matted hair, breathes violently, contorts
    \r\n", - "his face haggardly, as if suffering acutely. Harry waits till the
    \r\n", - "spasm has subsided, then calls an attendant to watch the patient
    \r\n", - "while he goes to the well. This done he proceeds into the kitchen to
    \r\n", - "enquire for a vessel. Having entered that department as the clock
    \r\n", - "strikes two, he finds Ellen busily engaged preparing food for Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's property, which is yet fast secured in the pen. Feeling
    \r\n", - "himself a little more at liberty to move about unrestrained, he
    \r\n", - "procures a vessel, fills it at the well, carries it to his master's
    \r\n", - "bed-side, sees him comfortably cared for, and returns to the
    \r\n", - "kitchen, where he will assist Ellen in her mission of goodness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The little pen is situated a few yards from the tavern, on the edge
    \r\n", - "of a clump of tall pines.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ellen has got ready the corn and bacon, and with Harry she proceeds
    \r\n", - "to the pen, where the property are still enjoying that inestimable
    \r\n", - "boon,--a deep sleep.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Always sleeping,\" he says, waking them one by one at the
    \r\n", - "announcement of corn and bacon. \"Start up and get something good my
    \r\n", - "girl has prepared for you.\" He shakes them, while Ellen holds the
    \r\n", - "lantern. There is something piercing in the summons-meats are strong
    \r\n", - "arguments with the slave-they start from their slumbers, seize upon
    \r\n", - "the food, and swallow it with great relish. Harry and Ellen stand
    \r\n", - "smiling over the gusto with which they swallow their coarse meal.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You must be good boys to-night. Old master's sick; flat down on e'
    \r\n", - "back, and 'spects he's going to die, he does.\" Harry shakes his head
    \r\n", - "as he tells it to the astonished merchandise. \"Had a great time at
    \r\n", - "the crossing to-day; killed two or three certain, and almost put
    \r\n", - "master on the plank.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'Twarn't no matter, nohow: nobody lose nofin if old Boss do die:
    \r\n", - "nigger on e' plantation don' put e' hat in mournin',\" mutters the
    \r\n", - "negro woman, with an air of hatred. She has eaten her share of the
    \r\n", - "meal, shrugs her shoulders, and again stretches her valuable body on
    \r\n", - "the ground.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Uncle Sparton know'd old Boss warn't gwine t' be whar de debil
    \r\n", - "couldn't cotch 'em, so long as 'e tink. If dat old mas'r debil, what
    \r\n", - "white man talk 'bout so much, don' gib 'em big roasting win 'e git
    \r\n", - "'e dah, better hab no place wid fireins fo' such folks,\" speaks up
    \r\n", - "old Uncle Sparton, one of the negroes, whose face shines like a
    \r\n", - "black-balled boot.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Neber mind dat, Uncle Sparton; 'taint what ye say 'bout he. Ven
    \r\n", - "mas'r debil cotch old Boss 'e don't cotch no fool. Mas'r debil down
    \r\n", - "yander find old Boss too tuf fo' he business; he jus' like old hoss
    \r\n", - "what neber die,\" rejoins another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In a word, M'Fadden had told his negroes what a great democrat he
    \r\n", - "was-how he loved freedom and a free country-until their ideas of
    \r\n", - "freedom became strangely mystified; and they ventured to assert that
    \r\n", - "he would not find so free a country when the devil became his
    \r\n", - "keeper. \"Mas'r tink 'e carry 'e plantation t' t'oder world wid him,
    \r\n", - "reckon,\" Uncle Sparton grumblingly concludes, joining the motley
    \r\n", - "conclave of property about to resume its repose.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ellen returns to the house. Harry will remain, and have a few words
    \r\n", - "more with the boys. A few minutes pass, and Ellen returns with an
    \r\n", - "armful of blankets, with which she covers the people carefully and
    \r\n", - "kindly. How full of goodness-how touching is the act! She has done
    \r\n", - "her part, and she returns to the house in advance of Harry, who
    \r\n", - "stops to take a parting good-night, and whisper a word of
    \r\n", - "consolation in their ears. He looks upon them as dear brothers in
    \r\n", - "distress, objects for whom he has a fellow sympathy. He leaves them
    \r\n", - "for the night; closes the door after him; locks it. He will return
    \r\n", - "to Ellen, and enjoy a mutual exchange of feeling.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Scarcely has he left the door, when three persons, disguised, rush
    \r\n", - "upon him, muffle his head with a blanket, bind his hands and feet,
    \r\n", - "throw him bodily into a waggon, and drive away at a rapid speed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXVI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "COMPETITION IN HUMAN THINGS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IT is enough to inform the reader that Romescos and Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "were not only rival bidders for this very desirable piece of
    \r\n", - "preaching property, but, being near neighbours, had become
    \r\n", - "inveterate enemies and fierce political opponents. The former, a
    \r\n", - "reckless trader in men, women, and children, was a daring,
    \r\n", - "unprincipled, and revengeful man, whose occupation seldom called him
    \r\n", - "to his plantation; while the latter was notorious as a hard master
    \r\n", - "and a cruel tyrant, who exacted a larger amount of labour from his
    \r\n", - "negroes than his fellow planters, and gave them less to eat. His
    \r\n", - "opinion was, that a peck of corn a week was quite enough for a
    \r\n", - "negro; and this was his systematic allowance;--but he otherwise
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 7/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 7 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "tempted the appetites of his property, by driving them, famished, to
    \r\n", - "the utmost verge of necessity. Thus driven to predatory acts in
    \r\n", - "order to sustain life, the advantages offered by Romescos'
    \r\n", - "swamp-generally well sprinkled with swine-were readily appropriated
    \r\n", - "to a very good use.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Under covert of Romescos' absence, Mr. M'Fadden had no very
    \r\n", - "scrupulous objection to his negroes foraging the amply provided
    \r\n", - "swamp,--provided, however, they did the thing on the sly, were
    \r\n", - "careful whose porker they dispatched, and said nothing to him about
    \r\n", - "the eating. In fact, it was simply a matter of economy with Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden; and as Romescos had a great number of the obstinate
    \r\n", - "brutes, it saved the trouble of raising such undignified stock.
    \r\n", - "Finding, however, that neighbour M'Fadden, or his predatory
    \r\n", - "negroes-such they were called-were laying claim to more than a
    \r\n", - "generous share of their porkships, Romescos thought it high time to
    \r\n", - "put the thing down by a summary process. But what particularly
    \r\n", - "\"riled\" Romescos in this affair of the hogs was, that M'Fadden's
    \r\n", - "negroes were not content with catching them in an honourable way,
    \r\n", - "but would do it through the agency of nasty cur-dogs, which he
    \r\n", - "always had despised, and held as unfit even to hunt niggers with.
    \r\n", - "Several times had he expressed his willingness to permit a small
    \r\n", - "number of his grunters to be captured for the benefit of his
    \r\n", - "neighbour's half-starved negroes, provided, always, they were hunted
    \r\n", - "with honourable hound-dogs. He held such animals in high esteem,
    \r\n", - "while curs he looked upon with utter contempt; he likened the one to
    \r\n", - "the chivalrous old rice-planter, the other to a pettifogging
    \r\n", - "schoolmaster fit for nothing but to be despised and shot. With these
    \r\n", - "feelings he (Romescos) declared his intention to kill the very first
    \r\n", - "negro he caught in his swamp with cur-dogs; and he kept his word.
    \r\n", - "Lying in ambush, he would await their approach, and, when most
    \r\n", - "engaged in appropriating the porkers, rush from his hiding-place,
    \r\n", - "shoot the dogs, and then take a turn at the more exhilarating
    \r\n", - "business of shooting the negroes. He would, with all possible
    \r\n", - "calmness, command the frightened property to approach and partake of
    \r\n", - "his peculiar mixture, administered from his double-barrel gun.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "That the reader may better understand Romescos' process of curing
    \r\n", - "this malady of his neighbour's negroes, we will give it as related
    \r\n", - "by himself. It is a curious mode of dispatching negro property; the
    \r\n", - "reader, however, cannot fail to comprehend it. \"Plantin' didn't suit
    \r\n", - "my notions o' gittin' rich, ye see, so I spec'lates in nigger
    \r\n", - "property, and makes a better thing on't. But there's philosophy
    \r\n", - "about the thing, and a body's got t' know the hang on't afore he can
    \r\n", - "twist it out profitably; so I keeps a sort of a plantation just to
    \r\n", - "make a swell; cos ye got to make a splash to be anybody down south.
    \r\n", - "Can't be a gentleman, ye see, 'cept ye plants cotton and rice; and
    \r\n", - "then a feller what's got a plantation in this kind of a way can be a
    \r\n", - "gentleman, and do so many other bits of trade to advantage. The
    \r\n", - "thing works like the handle of a pump; and then it makes a right
    \r\n", - "good place for raising young niggers, and gettin' old uns trimmed
    \r\n", - "up. With me, the worst thing is that old screwdriver, M'Fadden, what
    \r\n", - "don't care no more for the wear and tear of a nigger than nothin',
    \r\n", - "and drives 'em like as many steam-engines he thinks he can keep
    \r\n", - "going by feeding on saw-dust. He han't no conception o' nigger
    \r\n", - "constitution, and is just the worst sort of a chap that ever cum
    \r\n", - "south to get a fortune. Why, look right at his niggers: they look
    \r\n", - "like crows after corn-shuckin. Don't give 'em no meat, and the
    \r\n", - "critters must steal somethin' t' keep out o' the bone-yard. Well, I
    \r\n", - "argers the case with Mack, tells him how t'll be atween he and me on
    \r\n", - "this thing, and warns him that if he don't chunk more corn and
    \r\n", - "grease into his niggers, there 'll be a ruptous fuss. But he don't
    \r\n", - "stand on honour, as I does, especially when his property makes a
    \r\n", - "haul on my swamp of shoats. I an't home often; so the hogs suffer;
    \r\n", - "and Mack's niggers get the pork. This 'ere kind o'
    \r\n", - "business\"--Romescos maintains the serious dignity of himself the
    \r\n", - "while--\"don't go down nohow with me; so Mack and me just has a bit
    \r\n", - "of a good-natured quarrel; and from that we gets at daggers' points,
    \r\n", - "and I swears how I'll kill the first nigger o' his'n what steals
    \r\n", - "hogs o' mine. Wouldn't a cared a sous, mark ye, but it cum crossways
    \r\n", - "on a feller's feelins to think how the 'tarnal niggers had no more
    \r\n", - "sense than t' hunt hogs o' mine with cur-dogs: bin hounds,
    \r\n", - "honourable dogs, or respectable dogs what 'll do to hunt niggers
    \r\n", - "with, wouldn't a cared a toss about it; but-when-I-hears-a cur-dog
    \r\n", - "yelp, oh! hang me if it don't set my sensations all on pins, just as
    \r\n", - "somethin' was crucifyin' a feller. I warns and talks, and then
    \r\n", - "pleads like a lawyer what's got a bad case; but all to no end o'
    \r\n", - "reformin' Mack's morals,--feller han't got no sense o' reform in him.
    \r\n", - "So I sets my niggers on the scent-it gives 'em some fun-and swears
    \r\n", - "I'll kill a nigger for every hog he steals. This I concludes on; and
    \r\n", - "I never backs out when once I fixes a conclusion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hears the infernal cur-dog's yelp, yelp, yelp, down in the swamp;
    \r\n", - "then I creeps through the jungle so sly, lays low till the fellers
    \r\n", - "cum up, all jumpin'-pig ahead, then dogs, niggers follerin', puffin'
    \r\n", - "and blowin', eyes poppin' out, 'most out o' breath, just as if they
    \r\n", - "tasted the sparerib afore they'd got the critter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, ye see, I know'd all the ins and outs of the law,--keeps
    \r\n", - "mighty shy about all the judicial quibbles on't,--never takes nobody
    \r\n", - "with me whose swearin' would stand muster in a court of law. All
    \r\n", - "right on that score (Romescos exults in his law proficiency). I
    \r\n", - "makes sure o' the dogs fust, ollers keepin' the double-barrel on the
    \r\n", - "right eye for the best nigger in the lot. It would make the
    \r\n", - "longest-faced deacon in the district laugh to see the fire flash out
    \r\n", - "o' the nigger's big black eyes, when he sees the cur drop, knowin'
    \r\n", - "how he'll get the next plugs souced into him. It's only natural, cos
    \r\n", - "it would frighten a feller what warn't used to it just to see what a
    \r\n", - "thunder-cloud of agitation the nigger screws his black face into.
    \r\n", - "And then he starts to run, and puts it like streaks o' cannon-balls
    \r\n", - "chased by express lightnin'.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'Stand still, ye thievin' varmint! hold up,--bring to a mooring:
    \r\n", - "take the mixture according to Gunter!' I shouts. The way the nigger
    \r\n", - "pulls up, begs, pleads, and says things what'll touch a feller's
    \r\n", - "tender feelins, aint no small kind of an institution. 'Twould just
    \r\n", - "make a man what had stretchy conscience think there was somethin'
    \r\n", - "crooked somewhere. 'Well, boys,' says I, feeling a little soft about
    \r\n", - "the stomach, 'seeing how it's yer Boss what don't feed ye, I'll be
    \r\n", - "kind o' good, and give ye a dose of the mixture in an honourable
    \r\n", - "way.' Then I loads t'other barrel, the feller's eyes flashin'
    \r\n", - "streaks of blue lightnin' all the time, lookin' at how I rams it
    \r\n", - "down, chunk! 'Now, boys,' says I, when the plugs
    \r\n", - "shot is all ready, 'there's system 'bout this ere thing a'
    \r\n", - "mine--t'aint killin' ye I wants,--don't care a copper about that
    \r\n", - "(there an't no music in that), but must make it bring the finances
    \r\n", - "out a' yer master's pocket. That's the place where he keeps all his
    \r\n", - "morals. Now, run twenty paces and I'll gin ye a fair chance! The
    \r\n", - "nigger understands me, ye see, and moves off, as if he expected a
    \r\n", - "thunderbolt at his heel, lookin' back and whining like a puppy
    \r\n", - "what's lost his mother. Just when he gets to an honourable
    \r\n", - "distance,--say twenty paces, according to fighting rule,--I draws up,
    \r\n", - "takes aim, and plumps the plugs into him. The way the critter jumps
    \r\n", - "reminds me of a circus rider vaultin' and turnin' sumersets. You'd
    \r\n", - "think he was inginrubber 'lectrified. A'ter all, I finds these
    \r\n", - "playin' doses don't do; they don't settle things on the square. So I
    \r\n", - "tries a little stronger mixture, which ends in killin' three o'
    \r\n", - "Mack's niggers right up smooth. But the best on't is that Mack finds
    \r\n", - "he han't no proof, goes right into it and kills three o' my prime
    \r\n", - "fat niggers: that makes us bad friends on every score. But he got a
    \r\n", - "nigger ahead o' me a'ter awhile, and I ware detarmined to straighten
    \r\n", - "accounts, if it was by stealin' the odds. Them ar's my principles,
    \r\n", - "and that's just the way I settles accounts with folks what don't do
    \r\n", - "the square thing in the way o' nigger property.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus the two gentlemen lived in the terror of internal war; and
    \r\n", - "Romescos, seeing such a fine piece of property pass into the hands
    \r\n", - "of his antagonist, resolved on squaring accounts by stealing the
    \r\n", - "preacher,--an act Mr. M'Fadden least expected.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The candidates' festival offered every facility for carrying this
    \r\n", - "singular coup-d'�tat into effect. Hence, with the skilful assistance
    \r\n", - "of Nath. Nimrod, and Dan Bengal, Harry was very precipitately and
    \r\n", - "dexterously passed over to the chances of a new phase of slave life.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ellen waited patiently for Harry's return until it became evident
    \r\n", - "some ill-luck had befallen him. Lantern in hand, she proceeds to the
    \r\n", - "pen in search. No Harry is to be found there; Mr. M'Fadden's common
    \r\n", - "negroes only are there, and they sleep sweetly and soundly. What can
    \r\n", - "have befallen him? She conjectures many things, none of which are
    \r\n", - "the right. The lock is upon the door; all is still outside; no
    \r\n", - "traces of kidnapping can be found. She knows his faithfulness,--
    \r\n", - "knows he would not desert his master unless some foul means had been
    \r\n", - "used to decoy him into trouble. She returns to the house and
    \r\n", - "acquaints her master.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Straggling members, who had met to enjoy the generous political
    \r\n", - "banquet, and who still remain to see the night \"through\" with
    \r\n", - "appropriate honour, are apprised of the sudden disappearance of this
    \r\n", - "very valuable piece of property. They are ready for any turn of
    \r\n", - "excitement,--anything for \"topping off\" with a little amusement; and
    \r\n", - "to this end they immediately gather round mine host in a party of
    \r\n", - "pursuit. Romescos-he must make his innocence more imposing-has been
    \r\n", - "conspicuous during the night, at times expressing sympathy for Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, and again assuring the company that he has known fifty
    \r\n", - "worse cases cured. In order to make this better understood, he will
    \r\n", - "pay the doctor's bill if M'Fadden dies. Mine host has no sooner
    \r\n", - "given the alarm than Romescos expresses superlative surprise. He was
    \r\n", - "standing in the centre of a conclave of men, whom he harangues on
    \r\n", - "the particular political points necessary for the candidates to
    \r\n", - "support in order to maintain the honour of the State; now he listens
    \r\n", - "to mine host as he recounts the strange absence of the preacher,
    \r\n", - "pauses and combs his long red beard with his fingers, looks
    \r\n", - "distrustfully, and then says, with a quaintness that disarmed
    \r\n", - "suspicion, \"Nigger-like!-preacher or angel, nigger will be nigger!
    \r\n", - "The idea o' makin' the black rascals preachers, thinkin' they won't
    \r\n", - "run away! Now, fellers, that ar' chap's skulkin' about, not far off,
    \r\n", - "out among the pines; and here's my two dogs\"-he points to his dogs,
    \r\n", - "stretched on the floor-\"what'll scent him and bring him out afore
    \r\n", - "ten minutes! Don't say a word to Mack about it; don't let it 'scape
    \r\n", - "yer fly-trap, cos they say he's got a notion o' dying, and suddenly
    \r\n", - "changed his feelins 'bout nigger tradin'. There's no tellin' how it
    \r\n", - "would affect the old democrat if he felt he warnt goin' to slip his
    \r\n", - "breeze. This child\"-Romescos refers to himself-\"felt just as Mack
    \r\n", - "does more nor a dozen times, when Davy Jones looked as if he was
    \r\n", - "making slight advances: a feller soon gets straight again,
    \r\n", - "nevertheless. It's only the difference atween one's feelings about
    \r\n", - "makin' money when he's well, and thinkin' how he made it when he's
    \r\n", - "about to bid his friends good morning and leave town for awhile.
    \r\n", - "Anyhow, there aint no dodging now, fellers! We got to hunt up the
    \r\n", - "nigger afore daylight, so let us take a drop more and be moving.\" He
    \r\n", - "orders the landlord to set on the decanters,--they join in a social
    \r\n", - "glass, touch glasses to the recovery of the nigger, and then rush
    \r\n", - "out to the pursuit. Romescos heads the party. With dogs, horses,
    \r\n", - "guns, and all sorts of negro-hunting apparatus, they scour the
    \r\n", - "pinegrove, the swamp, and the heather. They make the pursuit of man
    \r\n", - "full of interest to those who are fond of the chase; they allow
    \r\n", - "their enthusiasm to bound in unison with the sharp baying of the
    \r\n", - "dogs.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "For more than two hours is this exhilarating sport kept up. It is
    \r\n", - "sweet music to their ears; they have been trained (educated) to the
    \r\n", - "fascination of a man-hunt, and dogs and men become wearied with the
    \r\n", - "useless search.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos declares the nigger is near at hand: he sees the dogs curl
    \r\n", - "down their noses; he must be somewhere in a hole or jungle of the
    \r\n", - "swamp, and, with more daylight and another dog or two, his
    \r\n", - "apprehension is certain. He makes a halt on the brow of a hill, and
    \r\n", - "addresses his fellow-hunters from the saddle. In his wisdom on
    \r\n", - "nigger nature he will advise a return to the tavern-for it is now
    \r\n", - "daylight-where they will spend another hour merrily, and then return
    \r\n", - "brightened to the pursuit. Acting on this advice, friends and
    \r\n", - "foes-both join as good fellows in the chase for a nigger-followed
    \r\n", - "his retreat as they had his advance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No nigger preacher just about this circle, Major!\" exclaims
    \r\n", - "Romescos, addressing mine host, as he puts his head into the
    \r\n", - "bar-room, on his return. \"Feller's burrowed somewhere, like a coon:
    \r\n", - "catch him on the broad end of morning, or I'll hang up my old
    \r\n", - "double-barrel,\" he concludes, shaking his head, and ordering drink
    \r\n", - "for the party at his expense.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The morning advanced, however, and nothing was to be seen of
    \r\n", - "Romescos: he vanished as suddenly from among them as Harry had from
    \r\n", - "the pen. Some little surprise is expressed by the knowing ones; they
    \r\n", - "whisper among themselves, while mine host reaches over the counter,
    \r\n", - "cants his head solicitously, and says:--\"What's that, gentlemen?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In this dilemma they cannot inform mine host; they must continue the
    \r\n", - "useless chase without Romescos' valuable services. And here we must
    \r\n", - "leave mine host preparing further necessaries for capturing the lost
    \r\n", - "property, that he may restore it to its owner so soon as he shall
    \r\n", - "become convalescent, and turn to Harry.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Like a well-stowed bale of merchandise, to be delivered at a stated
    \r\n", - "place within a specified time, he was rolled in bagging, and not
    \r\n", - "permitted to see the direction in which he was being driven. When
    \r\n", - "the pursuing party started from the crossing, Romescos took the lead
    \r\n", - "in order to draw it in an opposite direction, and keep the dogs from
    \r\n", - "the trail. This would allow the stolen clergyman to get beyond their
    \r\n", - "reach. When daylight broke upon the capturers they were nearly
    \r\n", - "twenty miles beyond the reach of the pursuers, approaching an inn by
    \r\n", - "the road side. The waggon suddenly stopped, and Harry found himself
    \r\n", - "being unrolled from his winding sheet by the hands of two strangers.
    \r\n", - "Lifting him to his feet, they took him from the waggon, loosed the
    \r\n", - "chains from his legs, led him into the house, and placed him in a
    \r\n", - "dark back room. Here, his head being uncovered, he looks upon his
    \r\n", - "captors with an air of confusion and distrust. \"Ye know me too, I
    \r\n", - "reckon, old feller, don't ye?\" enquires one of the men, with a
    \r\n", - "sardonic grin, as he lifts his hat with his left hand, and scratches
    \r\n", - "his head with his right.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, mas'r; there's no mistakin on ye!\" returns Harry, shaking his
    \r\n", - "head, as they release the chains from his hands. He at length
    \r\n", - "recognises the familiar faces of Dan Bengal and Nath. Nimrod. Both
    \r\n", - "have figured about Marston's plantation, in the purchase and sale of
    \r\n", - "negroes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ye had a jolly good ride, old feller, had'nt ye?\" says Bengal,
    \r\n", - "exultingly, looking Harry in the face, shrugging his shoulders, and
    \r\n", - "putting out his hand to make his friendship.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry has no reply to make; but rubs his face as if he is not quite
    \r\n", - "satisfied with his new apartment, and wants to know a little more of
    \r\n", - "the motive of the expedition. \"Mas'r! I don't seem to know myself,
    \r\n", - "nor nothin'. Please tell me where I am going to, and who is to be my
    \r\n", - "master? It will relieve my double troubles,\" he says, casting an
    \r\n", - "enquiring look at Nimrod.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Shook up yer parson-thinkin' some, I reckon, did'nt it, old chap?\"
    \r\n", - "returns Nimrod, laughing heartily, but making no further reply. He
    \r\n", - "thinks it was very much like riding in a railroad backwards.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Did my sick mas'r sell me to you?\" again he enquires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No business o' yourn, that ain't; yer nigger-knowin ought to tell
    \r\n", - "you how ye'd got into safe hands. We'll push along down south as
    \r\n", - "soon as ye gets some feed. Put on a straight face, and face the
    \r\n", - "music like a clever deacon, and we'll do the square in selling ye to
    \r\n", - "a Boss what 'll let ye preach now and then. (Nimrod becomes very
    \r\n", - "affectionate). Do the thing up righteous, and when yer sold there
    \r\n", - "'ll be a five-dollar shiner for yerself. (He pats him on the head,
    \r\n", - "and puts his arm over his shoulder.) Best t' have a little shot in a
    \r\n", - "body's own pocket; now, shut up yer black bread-trap, and don't go
    \r\n", - "makin a fuss about where yer goin' to: that's my business!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry pauses as if in contemplation; he is struggling against his
    \r\n", - "indignation excited by such remarks. He knew his old master's
    \r\n", - "weaknesses, enjoyed his indulgences; but he had never been made to
    \r\n", - "feel so acutely how degraded he could be as a mere article of trade.
    \r\n", - "It would have been some consolation to know which way he was
    \r\n", - "proceeding, and why he had been so suddenly snatched from his new
    \r\n", - "owner. Fate had not ordained this for him; oh no! He must resign
    \r\n", - "himself without making any further enquiries; he must be nothing
    \r\n", - "more than a nigger--happy nigger happily subdued! Seating himself
    \r\n", - "upon the floor, in a recumbent position, he drops his face on his
    \r\n", - "knees,--is humbled among the humblest. He is left alone for some
    \r\n", - "time, while his captors, retiring into an adjoining room, hold a
    \r\n", - "consultation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Breakfast is being prepared, and much conversation is kept up in an
    \r\n", - "inaudible tone of voice. Harry has an instinctive knowledge that it
    \r\n", - "is about him, for he hears the words, \"Peter! Peter!\" his name must
    \r\n", - "be transmogrified into \"Peter!\" In another minute he hears dishes
    \r\n", - "rattling on the table, and Bengal distinctly complimenting the
    \r\n", - "adjuncts, as he orders some for the nigger preacher. This excites
    \r\n", - "his anxiety; he feels like placing his ear at the keyhole,--doing a
    \r\n", - "little evesdropping. He is happily disappointed, however, for the
    \r\n", - "door opens, and a black boy bearing a dish of homony enters, and,
    \r\n", - "placing it before him, begs that he will help himself. Harry takes
    \r\n", - "the plate and sets it beside him, as the strange boy watches him
    \r\n", - "with an air of commiseration that enlists his confidence. \"Ain't
    \r\n", - "da'h somefin mo' dat I can bring ye?\" enquires the boy, pausing for
    \r\n", - "an answer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nothing,--nothing more!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry will venture to make some enquiries about the locality. \"Do
    \r\n", - "you belong to master what live here?\" He puts out his hand, takes
    \r\n", - "the other by the arm.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hard tellin who I belongs to. Buckra man own 'em to-day; ain't
    \r\n", - "sartin if he own 'em to-morrow, dough. What country-born nigger is
    \r\n", - "you?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Down country! My poor old master's gone, and now I'm goin'; but God
    \r\n", - "only knows where to. White man sell all old Boss's folks in a
    \r\n", - "string,--my old woman and children among the rest. My heart is with
    \r\n", - "them, God bless them!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Reckon how ya' had a right good old Boss what larn ye somethin.\"
    \r\n", - "The boy listens to Harry with surprise. \"Don't talk like dat down
    \r\n", - "dis a way; no country-born nigger put in larn'd wods so, nohow,\"
    \r\n", - "returns the boy, with a look of curious admiration.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But you harn't told me what place this is?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dis 'ouse! e' ant nowhare when Buckra bring nigger what he want to
    \r\n", - "sell, and don' want nobody to know whar e' bring him from. Dat man
    \r\n", - "what bring ye here be great Buckra. De 'h way he lash nigger whin e'
    \r\n", - "don do jist so!\" The boy shakes his head with a warning air.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How did you get here? There must be roads leading in some
    \r\n", - "directions?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Roads runnin' every which way, yand'r; and trou de woods anyway,
    \r\n", - "but mighty hard tellin whar he going to, he is. Mas'r Boss don lef
    \r\n", - "'e nigger know how 'e bring'um, nor how he takes 'um way. Guess da
    \r\n", - "'h gwine to run ye down country, so God bless you,\" says the boy,
    \r\n", - "shaking him by the hand, and taking leave.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! if I only knew which way I was going I should feel happy;
    \r\n", - "because I could then write to my old master, somewhere or somehow.
    \r\n", - "And I know my good friend Missus Rosebrook will buy me for her
    \r\n", - "plantation,--I know she will. She knows my feelings, and in her heart
    \r\n", - "wouldn't see me abused, she wouldn't! I wish I knew who my master
    \r\n", - "is, where I am, and to whom I'm going to be sold next. I think new
    \r\n", - "master has stolen me, thinking old master was going to die,\" Harry
    \r\n", - "mutters to himself, commencing his breakfast, but still applying his
    \r\n", - "listening faculties to the conversation in the next room. At length,
    \r\n", - "after a long pause, they seem to have finished breakfast and taken
    \r\n", - "up the further consideration of his sale.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I don't fear anything of the kind! Romescos is just the keenest
    \r\n", - "fellow that can be scared up this side of Baltimore. He never takes
    \r\n", - "a thing o' this stamp in hand but what he puts it through,\" says
    \r\n", - "Bengal, in a whispering tone.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True! the trouble's in his infernal preaching; that's the devil of
    \r\n", - "niggers having intelligence. Can do anything in our way with common
    \r\n", - "niggers what don't know nothin'; but when the critters can do
    \r\n", - "clergy, and preach, they'll be sending notes to somebody they know
    \r\n", - "as acquaintances. An intelligent nigger's a bad article when ye want
    \r\n", - "to play off in this way,\" replies the other, curtly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Never mind,\" returns Bengal, \"can't ollers transpose a nigger, as
    \r\n", - "easy as turnin' over a sixpence, specially when he don't have his
    \r\n", - "ideas brightened. Can't steer clar on't. Larnin's mighty dangerous
    \r\n", - "to our business, Nath.-better knock him on the head at once; better
    \r\n", - "end him and save a sight of trouble. It'll put a stopper on his
    \r\n", - "preaching, this pesks exercisin' his ideas.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A third interrupts. \"Thinks such a set of chicken-hearted fellows
    \r\n", - "won't do when it comes to cases of 'mergency like this. He will just
    \r\n", - "make clergyman Peter Somebody the deacon; and with this honorary
    \r\n", - "title he'll put him through to Major Wiley's plantation, when he'll
    \r\n", - "be all right down in old Mississippi. The Colonel and he,
    \r\n", - "understanding the thing, can settle it just as smooth as sunrise.
    \r\n", - "The curate is what we call a right clever fellow, would make the
    \r\n", - "tallest kind of a preacher, and pay first-rate per centage on
    \r\n", - "himself.\" Bengal refers to Harry. His remarks are, indeed, quite
    \r\n", - "applicable. \"I've got the dockerment, ye see, all prepared; and
    \r\n", - "we'll put him through without a wink,\" he concludes, in a measured
    \r\n", - "tone of voice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The door of Harry's room opens, and the three enter together. \"Had a
    \r\n", - "good breakfast, old feller, hain't ye?\" says Nimrod, approaching
    \r\n", - "with hand extended, and patting him on the head with a child's
    \r\n", - "playfulness. \"I kind o' likes the looks on ye\" (a congratulatory
    \r\n", - "smile curls over his countenance), \"old feller; and means to do the
    \r\n", - "square thing in the way o' gettin' on ye a good Boss. Put on the
    \r\n", - "Lazarus, and no nigger tricks on the road. I'm sorry to leave ye on
    \r\n", - "the excursion, but here's the gentleman what'll see ye through,--will
    \r\n", - "put ye through to old Mississip just as safe as if ye were a nugget
    \r\n", - "of gold.\" Nimrod introduces Harry to a short gentleman with a bald
    \r\n", - "head, and very smooth, red face. His dress is of brown homespun, a
    \r\n", - "garb which would seem peculiar to those who do the villainy of the
    \r\n", - "peculiar institution. The gentleman has a pair of handcuffs in his
    \r\n", - "left hand, with which he will make his pious merchandise safe.
    \r\n", - "Stepping forward, he places the forefinger of his right hand on the
    \r\n", - "preacher's forehead, and reads him a lesson which he must get firm
    \r\n", - "into his thinking shell. It is this. \"Now, at this very time, yer
    \r\n", - "any kind of a nigger; but a'ter this ar' ye got to be a Tennessee
    \r\n", - "nigger, raised in a pious Tennessee family. And yer name is
    \r\n", - "Peter-Peter-Peter!-don't forget the Peter: yer a parson, and ought
    \r\n", - "t' keep the old apostle what preached in the marketplace in yer
    \r\n", - "noddle. Peter, ye see, is a pious name, and Harry isn't; so ye must
    \r\n", - "think Peter and sink Harry.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What do I want to change my name for? Old master give me that name
    \r\n", - "long time ago!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"None o' yer business; niggers ain't t' know the philosophy of such
    \r\n", - "things. No nigger tricks, now!\" interrupts Bengal, quickly, drawing
    \r\n", - "his face into savage contortions. At this the gentleman in whose
    \r\n", - "charge he will proceed steps forward and places the manacles on
    \r\n", - "Harry's hands with the coolness and indifference of one executing
    \r\n", - "the commonest branch of his profession. Thus packed and baled for
    \r\n", - "export, he is hurried from the house into a two-horse waggon, and
    \r\n", - "driven off at full speed. Bengal watches the waggon as it rolls down
    \r\n", - "the highway and is lost in the distance. He laughs heartily, thinks
    \r\n", - "how safe he has got the preacher, and how much hard cash he will
    \r\n", - "bring. God speed the slave on his journey downward, we might add.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It will be needless for us to trace them through the many incidents
    \r\n", - "of their journey; our purpose will be served when we state that his
    \r\n", - "new guardian landed him safely at the plantation of Major Wiley, on
    \r\n", - "the Tallahatchee River, Mississippi, on the evening of the fourth
    \r\n", - "day after their departure, having made a portion of their passage on
    \r\n", - "the steamer Ohio. By some process unknown to Harry he finds himself
    \r\n", - "duly ingratiated among the major's field hands, as nothing more than
    \r\n", - "plain Peter. He is far from the high-road, far from his friends,
    \r\n", - "without any prospect of communicating with his old master. The
    \r\n", - "major, in his way, seems a well-disposed sort of man, inclined to
    \r\n", - "\"do right\" by his negroes, and willing to afford them an opportunity
    \r\n", - "of employing their time after task, for their own benefit. And yet
    \r\n", - "it is evident that he must in some way be connected with Graspum and
    \r\n", - "his party, for there is a continual interchange of negroes to and
    \r\n", - "from his plantation. This, however, we must not analyse too closely,
    \r\n", - "but leave to the reader's own conjectures, inasmuch as Major Wiley
    \r\n", - "is a very distinguished gentleman, and confidently expects a very
    \r\n", - "prominent diplomatic appointment under the next administration.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry, in a very quiet way, sets himself about gaining a knowledge
    \r\n", - "of his master's opinions on religion, as well as obtaining his
    \r\n", - "confidence by strict fidelity to his interests. So far does he
    \r\n", - "succeed, that in a short time he finds himself holding the
    \r\n", - "respectable and confidential office of master of stores. Then he
    \r\n", - "succeeds in inducing his master to hear him preach a sermon to his
    \r\n", - "negroes. The major is perfectly willing to allow him the full
    \r\n", - "exercise of his talents, and is moved to admiration at his fervency,
    \r\n", - "his aptitude, his knowledge of the Bible, and the worth there must
    \r\n", - "be in such a piece of clergy property. Master Wiley makes his man
    \r\n", - "the offer of purchasing his time, which Harry, under the alias of
    \r\n", - "Peter, accepts, and commences his mission of preaching on the
    \r\n", - "neighbouring plantations.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Ardently and devoutedly does he pursue his mission of Christianity
    \r\n", - "among his fellow-bondmen; but he has reaped little of the harvest
    \r\n", - "to himself, his master having so increased the demand for his time
    \r\n", - "that he can scarcely save money enough to purchase clothes. At first
    \r\n", - "he was only required to pay six dollars a week; now, nothing less
    \r\n", - "than ten is received. It is a happy premium on profitable human
    \r\n", - "nature; and through it swings the strongest hinge of that cursed
    \r\n", - "institution which blasts alike master and slave. Major Wiley is very
    \r\n", - "chivalrous, very hospitable, and very eminent for his many
    \r\n", - "distinguished qualifications; but his very pious piece of property
    \r\n", - "must pay forty-seven per cent. annual tribute for the very
    \r\n", - "hospitable privilege of administering the Word of God to his brother
    \r\n", - "bondmen. Speak not of robed bishops robbing Christianity in a
    \r\n", - "foreign land, ye men who deal in men, and would rob nature of its
    \r\n", - "tombstone! Ye would rob the angels did their garments give forth
    \r\n", - "gold.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The poor fellow's income, depending, in some measure, upon small
    \r\n", - "presents bestowed by the negroes to whom he preached, was scarcely
    \r\n", - "enough to bring him out at the end of the week, and to be thus
    \r\n", - "deprived of it seemed more than his spirits could bear. Again and
    \r\n", - "again had he appealed to his master for justice; but there was no
    \r\n", - "justice for him,--his appeals proved as fruitless as the wind, on his
    \r\n", - "master's callous sensibilities. Instead of exciting compassion, he
    \r\n", - "only drew upon him his master's prejudices; he was threatened with
    \r\n", - "being sold, if he resisted for a day the payment of wages for his
    \r\n", - "own body. Hence he saw but one alternative left-one hope, one smile
    \r\n", - "from a good woman, who might, and he felt would, deliver him; that
    \r\n", - "was in writing to his good friend, Mrs. Rosebrook, whose generous
    \r\n", - "heart he might touch through his appeals for mercy. And yet there
    \r\n", - "was another obstacle; the post-office might be ten miles off, and
    \r\n", - "his master having compelled him to take the name of Peter Wiley, how
    \r\n", - "was he to get a letter to her without the knowledge of his master?
    \r\n", - "Should his letter be intercepted, his master, a strict
    \r\n", - "disciplinarian, would not only sell him farther south, but inflict
    \r\n", - "the severest punishment. Nevertheless, there was one consolation
    \r\n", - "left; his exertions on behalf of the slaves, and his earnestness in
    \r\n", - "promoting the interests of their masters, had not passed unnoticed
    \r\n", - "with the daughter of a neighbouring planter (this lady has since
    \r\n", - "distinguished herself for sympathy with the slave), who became much
    \r\n", - "interested in his welfare. She had listened to his exhortations with
    \r\n", - "admiration; she had listened to his advice on religion, and become
    \r\n", - "his friend and confidant. She would invite him to her father's
    \r\n", - "house, sit for hours at his side, and listen with breathless
    \r\n", - "attention to his pathos, his display of natural genius. To her he
    \r\n", - "unfolded his deep and painful troubles; to her he looked for
    \r\n", - "consolation; she was the angel of light guiding him on his weary
    \r\n", - "way, cheering his drooping soul on its journey to heaven. To her he
    \r\n", - "disclosed how he had been called to the bedside of his dying master;
    \r\n", - "how, previously, he had been sold from his good old master, Marston,
    \r\n", - "his wife, his children; how he was mysteriously carried off and left
    \r\n", - "in the charge of his present master, who exacts all he can earn.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The simple recital of his story excites the genial feelings of the
    \r\n", - "young lady; she knows some foul transaction is associated with his
    \r\n", - "transition, and at once tenders her services to release him. But she
    \r\n", - "must move cautiously, for even Harry's preaching is in direct
    \r\n", - "violation of the statutes; and were she found aiding in that which
    \r\n", - "would unfavourably affect the interests of his master she would be
    \r\n", - "subjected to serious consequences-perhaps be invited to spend a
    \r\n", - "short season at the sheriff's hotel, commonly called the county
    \r\n", - "gaol. However, there was virtue in the object to be served, and
    \r\n", - "feeling that whatever else she could do to relieve him would be
    \r\n", - "conferring a lasting benefit on a suffering mortal, she will brave
    \r\n", - "the attempt.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Tell me he is not a man, but a slave! tell me a being with such
    \r\n", - "faculties should be thus sunken beneath the amenities of freedom!
    \r\n", - "that man may barter almighty gifts for gold! trample his religion
    \r\n", - "into dust, and turn it into dollars and cents! What a mockery is
    \r\n", - "this against the justice of heaven! When this is done in this our
    \r\n", - "happy land of happy freedom, scoffers may make it their foot-ball,
    \r\n", - "and kings in their tyranny may point the finger of scorn at us, and
    \r\n", - "ask us for our honest men, our cherished freedom!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Woman can do something, if she will; let me see what I can do to
    \r\n", - "relieve this poor oppressed,\" she exclaims one day, after he has
    \r\n", - "consulted her on the best means of relief. \"I will try.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Woman knows the beatings of the heart; she can respond more quickly
    \r\n", - "to its pains and sorrows. Our youthful missionary will sit down and
    \r\n", - "write a letter to Mrs. Rosebrook-she will do something, the
    \r\n", - "atmosphere of slavery will hear of her yet-it will!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXVII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE PRETTY CHILDREN ARE TO BE SOLD.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HOW varied are the sources of human nature-how changing its tints
    \r\n", - "and glows-how immeasurable its uncertainties, and how obdurate the
    \r\n", - "will that can turn its tenderest threads into profitable
    \r\n", - "degradation! But what democrat can know himself a freeman when the
    \r\n", - "whitest blood makes good merchandise in the market? When the only
    \r\n", - "lineal stain on a mother's name for ever binds the chains, let no
    \r\n", - "man boast of liberty. The very voice re-echoes, oh, man, why be a
    \r\n", - "hypocrite! cans't thou not see the scorner looking from above? But
    \r\n", - "the oligarchy asks in tones so modest, so full of chivalrous
    \r\n", - "fascination, what hast thou to do with that? be no longer a fanatic.
    \r\n", - "So we will bear the warning-pass from it for the present.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "More than two years have passed; writs of error have been filed and
    \r\n", - "argued; the children have dragged out time in a prison-house. Is it
    \r\n", - "in freedom's land a prison was made for the innocent to waste in? So
    \r\n", - "it is, and may Heaven one day change the tenour! Excuse, reader,
    \r\n", - "this digression, and let us proceed with our narrative.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The morning is clear and bright; Mrs. Rosebrook sits at the window
    \r\n", - "of her cheerful villa, watching the approach of the post-rider seen
    \r\n", - "in the distance, near a cluster of oaks that surround the entrance
    \r\n", - "of the arbour, at the north side of the garden. The scene spread out
    \r\n", - "before her is full of rural beauty, softened by the dew-decked
    \r\n", - "foliage, clothing the landscape with its clumps. As if some fairy
    \r\n", - "hand had spread a crystal mist about the calm of morning, and angels
    \r\n", - "were bedecking it with the richest tints of a rising sun at morn,
    \r\n", - "the picture sparkles with silvery life. There she sits, her soft
    \r\n", - "glowing eyes scanning the reposing scene, as her graceful form seems
    \r\n", - "infusing spirit into its silent loveliness. And then she speaks, as
    \r\n", - "if whispering a secret to the wafting air: \"our happy union!\" It
    \r\n", - "falls upon the ear like some angel voice speaking of things too
    \r\n", - "pure, too holy for the caprices of earth. She would be a type of
    \r\n", - "that calmness pervading the scene-that sweetness and repose which
    \r\n", - "seem mingling to work out some holy purpose; and yet there is a
    \r\n", - "touching sadness depicted in her face.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Two years have passed; how changed!\" she exclaims, as if rousing
    \r\n", - "from a reverie: \"I would not be surprised if he brought bad
    \r\n", - "tidings.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The postman has reached the gate and delivered a letter, which the
    \r\n", - "servant quickly bears to her hand. She grasps it anxiously, as if
    \r\n", - "recognising the superscription; opens it nervously; reads the
    \r\n", - "contents. It is from Franconia, interceding with her in behalf of
    \r\n", - "her uncle and the two children, in the following manner:--\"My
    \r\n", - "dearest Friend,
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can I appeal to one whose feelings are more ready to be enlisted in
    \r\n", - "a good cause? I think not. I wish now to enlist your feelings in
    \r\n", - "something that concerns myself. It is to save two interesting
    \r\n", - "children-who, though our eyes may at times be blinded to facts, I
    \r\n", - "cannot forget are nearly allied to me by birth and association-from
    \r\n", - "the grasp of slavery. Misfortune never comes alone; nor, in this
    \r\n", - "instance, need I recount ours to you. Of my own I will say but
    \r\n", - "little; the least is best. Into wedlock I have been sold to one it
    \r\n", - "were impossible for me to love; he cannot cherish the respect due to
    \r\n", - "my feelings. His associations are of the coarsest, and his heartless
    \r\n", - "treatment beyond my endurance. He subjects me to the meanest
    \r\n", - "grievances; makes my position more degraded than that of the slave
    \r\n", - "upon whom he gratifies his lusts. Had my parents saved me from such
    \r\n", - "a monster-I cannot call him less-they would have saved me many a
    \r\n", - "painful reflection. As for his riches-I know not whether they really
    \r\n", - "exist-they are destined only to serve his lowest passions. With him
    \r\n", - "misfortune is a crime; and I am made to suffer under his taunts
    \r\n", - "about the disappearance of my brother, the poverty of my parents.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You are well aware of the verdict of the jury, and the affirmation
    \r\n", - "of the Court of Appeal, upon those dear children. The decree orders
    \r\n", - "them to be sold in the market, for the benefit of my uncle's
    \r\n", - "creditors: this is the day, the fatal day, the sale takes place. Let
    \r\n", - "me beseech of you, as you have it in your power, to induce the
    \r\n", - "deacon to purchase them. O, save them from the fate that awaits
    \r\n", - "them! You know my uncle's errors; you know also his goodness of
    \r\n", - "heart; you can sympathise with him in his sudden downfall. Then the
    \r\n", - "affection he has for Annette is unbounded. No father could be more
    \r\n", - "dotingly fond of his legitimate child. But you know what our laws
    \r\n", - "are-what they force us to do against our better inclinations.
    \r\n", - "Annette's mother, poor wretch, has fled, and M'Carstrow charges me
    \r\n", - "with being accessory to her escape: I cannot, nor will I, deny it,
    \r\n", - "while my most ardent prayer invokes her future happiness. That she
    \r\n", - "has saved herself from a life of shame I cannot doubt; and if I have
    \r\n", - "failed to carry out a promise I made her before her departure-that
    \r\n", - "of rescuing her child-the satisfaction of knowing that she at least
    \r\n", - "is enjoying the reward of freedom partially repays my feelings. Let
    \r\n", - "me entreat you to repair to the city, and, at least, rescue Annette
    \r\n", - "from that life of shame and disgrace now pending over her-a shame
    \r\n", - "and disgrace no less black in the sight of heaven because society
    \r\n", - "tolerates it as among the common things of social life.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I am now almost heart-broken, and fear it will soon be my lot to be
    \r\n", - "driven from under the roof of Colonel M'Carstrow, which is no longer
    \r\n", - "a home, but a mere place of durance to me. It would be needless for
    \r\n", - "me here to recount his conduct. Were I differently constituted I
    \r\n", - "might tolerate his abuse, and accept a ruffian's recompense in
    \r\n", - "consideration of his wealth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Go, my dear friend, save that child,
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Is the prayer of your affectionate
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"FRANCONIA.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook reads and re-reads the letter; then heaves a sigh as
    \r\n", - "she lays it upon the table at her side. As if discussing the matter
    \r\n", - "in her mind, her face resumes a contemplative seriousness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And those children are to be sold in the market! Who won't they
    \r\n", - "sell, and sanctify the act? How can I relieve them? how can I be
    \r\n", - "their friend, for Franconia's sake? My husband is away on the
    \r\n", - "plantation, and I cannot brave the coarse slang of a slave mart; I
    \r\n", - "cannot mingle with those who there congregate.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And, too, there are so many such cases-bearing on their front the
    \r\n", - "fallacy of this our democracy-that however much one may have claims
    \r\n", - "over another, it were impossible to take one into consideration
    \r\n", - "without inciting a hundred to press their demands. In this sense,
    \r\n", - "then, the whole accursed system would have to be uprooted before the
    \r\n", - "remedy could be applied effectually. Notwithstanding, I will go; I
    \r\n", - "will go: I'll see what can be done in the city,\" says Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook, bristling with animation. \"Our ladies must have something
    \r\n", - "to arouse their energies; they all have a deep interest to serve,
    \r\n", - "and can do much:\" she will summon resolution and brave all. Rising
    \r\n", - "from her seat, she paces the room several times, and then orders a
    \r\n", - "servant to command Uncle Bradshaw to get the carriage ready, and be
    \r\n", - "prepared for a drive into the city.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Soon Bradshaw has got the carriage ready, and our good lady is on
    \r\n", - "the road, rolling away toward the city. As they approach a curvature
    \r\n", - "that winds round a wooded hill, Bradshaw intimates to \"missus\" that
    \r\n", - "he sees signs of a camp a short distance ahead. He sees smoke
    \r\n", - "curling upwards among the trees, and very soon the notes of a
    \r\n", - "long-metre tune fall softly on the ear, like the tinkling of distant
    \r\n", - "bells in the desert. Louder and louder, as they approach, the sounds
    \r\n", - "become more and more distinct. Then our good lady recognises the
    \r\n", - "familiar voice of Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy. This worthy
    \r\n", - "christian of the Southern Church is straining his musical organ to
    \r\n", - "its utmost capacity, in the hope there will be no doubt left on the
    \r\n", - "minds of those congregated around him as to his very sound piety.
    \r\n", - "The carriage rounds the curvature, and there, encamped in a grove of
    \r\n", - "pines by the road side, is our pious Elder, administering
    \r\n", - "consolation to his infirm property. Such people! they present one of
    \r\n", - "the most grotesque and indiscriminate spectacles ever eyes beheld.
    \r\n", - "The cholera has subsided; the Elder's greatest harvest time is gone;
    \r\n", - "few victims are to be found for the Elder's present purposes. Now he
    \r\n", - "is constrained to resort to the refuse of human property (those
    \r\n", - "afflicted with what are called ordinary diseases), to keep alive the
    \r\n", - "Christian motive of his unctuous business. To speak plainly, he must
    \r\n", - "content himself with the purchase of such infirmity as can be picked
    \r\n", - "up here and there about the country.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A fire of pine knots blazes in the centre of a mound, and over it
    \r\n", - "hangs an iron kettle, on a straddle, filled with corn-grits. Around
    \r\n", - "this, and anxiously watching its boiling, are the lean figures of
    \r\n", - "negroes, with haggard and sickly faces, telling but too forcibly the
    \r\n", - "tale of their troubles. They watch and watch, mutter in grumbling
    \r\n", - "accents, stir the homony, and sit down again. Two large mule carts
    \r\n", - "stand in the shade of a pine tree, a few yards from the fire. A few
    \r\n", - "paces further on are the mules tethered, quietly grazing; while,
    \r\n", - "seated on a whiskey-keg, is the Elder, book in hand, giving out the
    \r\n", - "hymn to some ten or a dozen infirm negroes seated round him on the
    \r\n", - "ground. They have enjoyed much consolation by listening with
    \r\n", - "wondrous astonishment to the Elder's exhortations, and are now ready
    \r\n", - "to join their musical jargon to the words of a Watts's hymn.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "On arriving opposite the spot, our good lady requests Bradshaw to
    \r\n", - "stop; which done, the Elder recognises her, and suddenly adjourning
    \r\n", - "his spiritual exercises, advances to meet her, his emotions
    \r\n", - "expanding with enthusiastic joy. In his eagerness, with outstretched
    \r\n", - "hand, he comes sailing along, trips his toe in a vine, and plunges
    \r\n", - "head foremost into a broad ditch that separates the road from the
    \r\n", - "rising ground.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The accident is very unfortunate at this moment; the Elder's
    \r\n", - "enthusiasm is somewhat cooled, nevertheless; but, as there is seldom
    \r\n", - "a large loss without a small gain, he finds himself strangely
    \r\n", - "bespattered from head to foot with the ingredients of a quagmire.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"U'h! u'h! u'h! my dear madam, pardon me, I pray;--strange moment to
    \r\n", - "meet with a misfortune of this kind. But I was so glad to see you!\"
    \r\n", - "he ejaculates, sensitively, making the best of his way out, brushing
    \r\n", - "his sleeves, and wiping his face with his never-failing India
    \r\n", - "handkerchief. He approaches the carriage, apologising for his
    \r\n", - "appearance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He hopes our lady will excuse him, having so far lost himself in his
    \r\n", - "enthusiasm, which, together with the fervency and devotion of the
    \r\n", - "spiritual exercises he was enjoying with his poor, helpless
    \r\n", - "property, made him quite careless of himself. Begging a thousand
    \r\n", - "pardons for presenting himself in such a predicament (his gallantry
    \r\n", - "is proverbially southern), he forgets that his hat and spectacles
    \r\n", - "have been dislodged by his precipitation into the ditch.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The good lady reaches out her hand, as a smile curls over her face;
    \r\n", - "but Bradshaw must grin; and grin he does, in right good earnest.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bless me, my dear Elder! what trade are you now engaged in?\" she
    \r\n", - "enquires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A little devotional exercises, my dear madam! We were enjoying them
    \r\n", - "with so much christian feeling that I was quite carried away, indeed
    \r\n", - "I was!\" He rubs his fingers through his bristly hair, and then
    \r\n", - "downwards to his nasal organ, feeling for his devoted glasses. He is
    \r\n", - "surprised at their absence-makes another apology. He affirms, adding
    \r\n", - "his sacred honour, as all real southerners do, that he had begun to
    \r\n", - "feel justified in the belief that there never was a religion like
    \r\n", - "that preached by the good apostles, when such rural spots as this
    \r\n", - "(he points to his encampment) were chosen for its administration.
    \r\n", - "Everything round him made him feel so good, so much like the purest
    \r\n", - "christian of the olden time. He tells her, with great seriousness,
    \r\n", - "that we must serve God, and not forget poor human nature, never! To
    \r\n", - "the world he would seem labouring under the influence of those inert
    \r\n", - "convictions by which we strive to conceal our natural inclinations,
    \r\n", - "while drawing the flimsy curtain of \"to do good\" over the real
    \r\n", - "object.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He winks and blinks, rubs his eyes, works his face into all the
    \r\n", - "angles and contortions it is capable of, and commences searching for
    \r\n", - "his hat and spectacles. Both are necessary adjuncts to his pious
    \r\n", - "appearance; without them there is that in the expression of his
    \r\n", - "countenance from which none can fail to draw an unfavourable opinion
    \r\n", - "of his real character. The haggard, care-worn face, browned to the
    \r\n", - "darkest tropical tints; the ceaseless leer of that small, piercing
    \r\n", - "eye, anxiety and agitation pervading the tout ensemble of the man,
    \r\n", - "will not be dissembled. Nay; those acute promontories of the face,
    \r\n", - "narrow and sharp, and that low, reclining forehead, and head covered
    \r\n", - "with bristly iron-grey hair, standing erect in rugged tufts, are too
    \r\n", - "strong an index of character for all the disguises Elder Pemberton
    \r\n", - "Praiseworthy can invent.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One minute, my dear madam,\" he exclaims, in his eagerness for the
    \r\n", - "lost ornaments of his face.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Never mind them, Elder; never mind them! In my eyes you are just as
    \r\n", - "well without them,\" she rejoins, an ironical smile invading her
    \r\n", - "countenance, and a curl of contempt on her lip. \"But,--tell me what
    \r\n", - "are you doing here?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Here! my dear madam? Doing good for mankind and the truth of
    \r\n", - "religion. I claim merit of the parish, for my pursuit is laudable,
    \r\n", - "and saves the parish much trouble,\" says the Elder, beginning to wax
    \r\n", - "warm in the goodness of his pursuit, before anyone has undertaken to
    \r\n", - "dispute him, or question the purity of his purpose.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Still speculating in infirmity; making a resurrection man of
    \r\n", - "yourself! You are death's strongest opponent; you fight the great
    \r\n", - "slayer for small dollars and cents.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, now,\" interrupts the Elder, with a serious smile, \"I'd rather
    \r\n", - "face a Mexican army than a woman's insinuating questions,--in matters
    \r\n", - "of this kind! But it's business, ye see! according to law; and ye
    \r\n", - "can't get over that. There's no getting over the law; and he that
    \r\n", - "serveth the Lord, no matter how, deserveth recompense; my recompense
    \r\n", - "is in the amount of life I saves for the nigger.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That is not what I asked; you evade my questions, Elder! better
    \r\n", - "acknowledge honestly, for the sake of the country, where did you
    \r\n", - "pick up these poor wretches?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I goes round the district, madam, and picks up a cripple here, and
    \r\n", - "a cancer case there, and a dropsy doubtful yonder; and then, some on
    \r\n", - "em's got diseases what don't get out until one comes to apply
    \r\n", - "medical skill. Shan't make much on these sort o' cases,--\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The lady interrupts him, by bidding him good morning, and advising
    \r\n", - "him, whenever he affects to serve the Lord, to serve him honestly,
    \r\n", - "without a selfish motive. She leaves the Elder to his own
    \r\n", - "reflections, to carry his victim property to his charnel-house,
    \r\n", - "where, if he save life for the enjoyment of liberty, he may serve
    \r\n", - "the Lord to a good purpose. She leaves him to the care of the
    \r\n", - "christian church of the South,--the church of christian slavery, the
    \r\n", - "rules of which he so strictly follows.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As our good lady moves quickly away toward the city, the Elder looks
    \r\n", - "up, imploringly, as if invoking the praise of heaven on his good
    \r\n", - "deeds. He is, indeed, astonished, that his dear friend, the lady,
    \r\n", - "should have made such a declaration so closely applied, so
    \r\n", - "insinuating. That such should have escaped her lips when she must
    \r\n", - "know that his very soul and intention are purity! \"I never felt like
    \r\n", - "making a wish before now; and now I wishes I was, or that my father
    \r\n", - "had made me, a lawyer. I would defend my position in a legal sense
    \r\n", - "then! I don't like lawyers generally, I confess; the profession's
    \r\n", - "not as honourable as ours, and its members are a set of sharpers,
    \r\n", - "who would upset gospel and everything else for a small fee, they
    \r\n", - "would!\" He concludes, as his eyes regrettingly wander after the
    \r\n", - "carriage. The words have moved him; there is something he wishes to
    \r\n", - "say, but can't just get the point he would arrive at. He turns away,
    \r\n", - "sad at heart, to his sadder scenes. \"I know that my Redeemer
    \r\n", - "liveth,\" he sings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In the city a different piece is in progress of performance. Papers,
    \r\n", - "and all necessary preparations for procuring the smooth transfer of
    \r\n", - "the youthful property, are completed; customers have begun to gather
    \r\n", - "round the mart. Some are searching among the negroes sent to the
    \r\n", - "warehouse; others are inquiring where this property, advertised in
    \r\n", - "the morning journals, and so strongly commented upon, may be found.
    \r\n", - "They have been incited to examine, in consequence of the many
    \r\n", - "attractions set forth in the conditions of sale.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There the two children sit, on a little seat near the vender's
    \r\n", - "tribune. Old Aunt Dina, at the prison, has dressed Annette so
    \r\n", - "neatly! Her white pinafore shines so brightly, is so neatly
    \r\n", - "arranged, and her silky auburn locks curl so prettily, in tiny
    \r\n", - "ringlets, over her shoulders; and then her round fair face looks so
    \r\n", - "sweetly, glows with such innocent curiosity, as her soft blue eyes,
    \r\n", - "deep with sparkling vivacity, wander over the strange scene. She
    \r\n", - "instinctively feels that she is the special object of some important
    \r\n", - "event. Laying her little hand gently upon the arm of an old slave
    \r\n", - "that sits by her side, she casts shy glances at those admirers who
    \r\n", - "stand round her and view her as a marketable article only.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Auntie, where are they going to take me?\" the child inquires, with
    \r\n", - "a solicitous look, as she straightens the folds of her dress with
    \r\n", - "her little hands.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gwine t' sell 'um,\" mumbles the old slave. \"Lor', child, a'h wishes
    \r\n", - "ye wa'h mine; reckon da'h wouldn't sell ye. T'ant much to sell
    \r\n", - "nigger like I, nohow; but e' hurt my feelins just so 'twarnt right
    \r\n", - "t' sell de likes o' ye.\" The old slave, in return, lays her hand
    \r\n", - "upon Annette's head, and smooths her hair, as if solicitous of her
    \r\n", - "fate. \"Sell ye, child-sell ye?\" she concludes, shaking her head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And what will they do with me and Nicholas when they get us sold?\"
    \r\n", - "continues the child, turning to Nicholas and taking him by the arm.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don' kno': perhaps save ye fo'h sinnin' agin de Lor',\" is the old
    \r\n", - "slave's quick reply. She shakes her head doubtingly, and bursts into
    \r\n", - "tears, as she takes Annette in her arms, presses her to her bosom,
    \r\n", - "kisses and kisses her pure cheek. How heavenly is the affection of
    \r\n", - "that old slave--how it rebukes our Christian mockery!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Will they sell us where we can't see mother, auntie? I do want to
    \r\n", - "see mother so,\" says the child, looking up in the old slave's face.
    \r\n", - "There seemed something too pure, too holy, in the child's
    \r\n", - "simplicity, as it prattled about its mother, for such purposes as it
    \r\n", - "is about to be consigned to. \"They do not sell white folks, auntie,
    \r\n", - "do they? My face is as white as anybody's; and Nicholas's aint
    \r\n", - "black. I do want to see mother so! when will she come back and take
    \r\n", - "care of me, auntie?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Lor', child,\" interrupts the old negro, suppressing her emotions,
    \r\n", - "\"no use to ax dem questions ven ye gwine t' market. Buckra right
    \r\n", - "smart at makin' nigger what bring cash.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The child expresses a wish that auntie would take her back to the
    \r\n", - "old plantation, where master, as mother used to call him, wouldn't
    \r\n", - "let them sell her away off. And she shakes her head with an air of
    \r\n", - "unconscious pertness; tells the old negro not to cry for her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The cryer's bell sounds forth its muddling peals to summon the
    \r\n", - "customers; a grotesque mixture of men close round the stand. The old
    \r\n", - "slave, as if from instinct, again takes Annette in her arms, presses
    \r\n", - "and presses her to her bosom, looks compassionately in her face, and
    \r\n", - "smiles while a tear glistens in her eyes. She is inspired by the
    \r\n", - "beauty of the child; her heart bounds with affection for her tender
    \r\n", - "years; she loves her because she is lovely; and she smiles upon her
    \r\n", - "as a beautiful image of God's creation. But the old slave grieves
    \r\n", - "over her fate; her grief flows from the purity of the heart; she
    \r\n", - "knows not the rules of the slave church.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Annette is born a child of sorrow in this our land of love and
    \r\n", - "liberty; she is a democrat's daughter, cursed by the inconsistencies
    \r\n", - "of that ever-praised democratic goodness. A child! nothing more than
    \r\n", - "an item of common trade. It is even so; but let not happy democracy
    \r\n", - "blush, for the child, being merchandise, has no claims to that law
    \r\n", - "of the soul which looks above the frigidity of slave statutes. What
    \r\n", - "generosity is there in this generous land? what impulses of nature
    \r\n", - "not quenched by force of public opinion, when the associations of a
    \r\n", - "child like this (we are picturing a true story), her birth and
    \r\n", - "blood, her clear complexion, the bright carnatic of her cheek, will
    \r\n", - "not save her from the mercenary grasp of dollars and cents? It was
    \r\n", - "the law; the law had made men demons, craving the bodies and souls
    \r\n", - "of their fellow men. It was the white man's charge to protect the
    \r\n", - "law and the constitution; and any manifestation of sympathy for this
    \r\n", - "child would be in violation of a system which cannot be ameliorated
    \r\n", - "without endangering the whole structure: hence the comments escaping
    \r\n", - "from purchasers are only such as might have been expressed by the
    \r\n", - "sporting man in his admiration of a finely proportioned animal.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What a sweet child!\" says one, as they close round.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Make a woman when she grows up!\" rejoins another, twirling his
    \r\n", - "cane, and giving his hat an extra set on the side of his head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Take too long to keep it afore its valuable is developed; but it's
    \r\n", - "a picture of beauty. Face would do to take drawings from, it's so
    \r\n", - "full of delicate outlines,\" interposes a third.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "An old gentleman, with something of the ministerial in his
    \r\n", - "countenance, and who has been very earnestly watching them for some
    \r\n", - "time, thinks a great deal about the subject of slavery, and the
    \r\n", - "strange laws by which it is governed just at this moment. He says,
    \r\n", - "\"One is inspired with a sort of admiration that unlocks the heart,
    \r\n", - "while gazing at such delicacy and child-like sweetness as is
    \r\n", - "expressed in the face of that child.\" He points his cane coldly at
    \r\n", - "Annette. \"It causes a sort of reaction in one's sense of right,
    \r\n", - "socially and politically, when we see it mixed up with niggers and
    \r\n", - "black ruffians to be sold.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Must abide the laws, though,\" says a gentleman in black, on his
    \r\n", - "left.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" returns our friend, quickly, \"if such property could be saved
    \r\n", - "the hands of speculators\"--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Speculators! speculators!\" rejoins the gentleman in black, knitting
    \r\n", - "his brows.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes; it's always the case in our society. The beauty of such
    \r\n", - "property makes it dangerous about a well-ordained man's house. Our
    \r\n", - "ladies, generally, have no sympathy with, and rather dislike its
    \r\n", - "ill-gotten tendencies. The piety of the south amounts to but little
    \r\n", - "in its influence on the slave population. The slave population
    \r\n", - "generates its own piety. There is black piety and white piety; but
    \r\n", - "the white piety effects little when it can dispose of poor black
    \r\n", - "piety just as it pleases; and there's no use in clipping the
    \r\n", - "branches off the tree while the root is diseased,\" concludes our
    \r\n", - "ministerial-looking gentleman, who might have been persuaded himself
    \r\n", - "to advance a bid, were he not so well versed in the tenour of
    \r\n", - "society that surrounded him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "During the above ad interim at the shambles, our good lady, Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook, is straining every nerve to induce a gentleman of her
    \r\n", - "acquaintance to repair to the mart, and purchase the children on her
    \r\n", - "account.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXVIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "NATURE SHAMES ITSELF.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "MRS. ROSEBROOK sits in Mrs. Pringle's parlour. Mrs. Pringle is
    \r\n", - "thought well of in the city of Charleston, where she resides, and
    \r\n", - "has done something towards establishing a church union for the
    \r\n", - "protection of orphan females. They must, however, be purely white,
    \r\n", - "and without slave or base blood in their veins, to entitle them to
    \r\n", - "admittance into its charitable precincts. This is upon the principle
    \r\n", - "that slave blood is not acceptable in the sight of Heaven; and that
    \r\n", - "allowing its admittance into this charitable earthly union would
    \r\n", - "only be a sad waste of time and Christian love. Mrs. Pringle,
    \r\n", - "however, feels a little softened to the good cause, and does hope
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook may succeed at least in rescuing the little girl. She
    \r\n", - "has counselled Mr. Seabrook, commonly called Colonel Seabrook, a
    \r\n", - "very distinguished gentleman, who has a very distinguished opinion
    \r\n", - "of himself, having studied law to distinguish himself, and now and
    \r\n", - "then merely practises it for his own amusement. Mr. Seabrook never
    \r\n", - "gives an opinion, nor acts for his friends, unless every thing he
    \r\n", - "does be considered distinguished, and gratuitously rendered.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What will you do with such property, madam?\" inquires the
    \r\n", - "gentleman, having listened profoundly to her request.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"To save them from being sold into the hands of such men as Graspum
    \r\n", - "and Romescos; it's the only motive I have\" she speaks, gently: \"I
    \r\n", - "love the child; and her mother still loves her: I am a mother.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Remember, my dear lady, they are adjudged property by law; and all
    \r\n", - "that you can do for them won't save them, nor change the odour of
    \r\n", - "negro with which it has stamped them.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Of that I am already too well aware, Mr. Seabrook; and I know, too,
    \r\n", - "when once enslaved, how hard it is to unslave. Public sentiment is
    \r\n", - "the worst slave we have; unslave that, and the righteousness of
    \r\n", - "heaven will give us hearts to save ourselves from the
    \r\n", - "unrighteousness of our laws.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Go, Mr. Seabrook, purchase the children for me, and you will soon
    \r\n", - "see what ornaments of society I will make them!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ornaments to our society!\" interrupts Mr. Seabrook, pausing for a
    \r\n", - "moment, as he places the fore-finger of his right hand upon his
    \r\n", - "upper lip. \"That would be a pretty consummation-at the south! Make
    \r\n", - "ornaments of our society!\" Mr. Seabrook turns the matter over and
    \r\n", - "over and over in his mind. \"Of such things as have been pronounced
    \r\n", - "property by law! A pretty fix it would get our society into!\" he
    \r\n", - "rejoins, with emphasis. Mr. Seabrook shakes his head doubtingly, and
    \r\n", - "then, taking three or four strides across the room, his hands well
    \r\n", - "down in his nether pockets, relieves himself of his positive
    \r\n", - "opinion. \"Ah! ah! hem! my dear madam,\" he says, \"if you undertake
    \r\n", - "the purchase of all that delicate kind of property-I mean the amount
    \r\n", - "total, as it is mixed up-your head'll grow grey afore you get all
    \r\n", - "the bills of sale paid up,--my word for it! That's my undisguised
    \r\n", - "opinion, backed up by all the pale-faced property about the city.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We will omit the opinion, Mr. Seabrook; such have kept our society
    \r\n", - "where it now is. I am resolved to have those children. If you
    \r\n", - "hesitate to act for me, I'll brave-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't say that, my dear lady. Let me remind you that it ill becomes
    \r\n", - "a lady of the south to be seen at a slave-mart; more especially when
    \r\n", - "such delicate property is for sale. Persons might be present who did
    \r\n", - "not understand your motive, and would not only make rude advances,
    \r\n", - "but question the propriety of your proceedings. You would lose
    \r\n", - "caste, most surely.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook cares little for Mr. Seabrook's very learned opinion,
    \r\n", - "knowing that learned opinions are not always the most sensible ones,
    \r\n", - "and is seen arranging her bonnet hastily in a manner betokening her
    \r\n", - "intention to make a bold front of it at the slave-mart. This is
    \r\n", - "rather too much for Mr. Seabrook, who sets great value on his
    \r\n", - "chivalrous virtues, and fearing they may suffer in the esteem of the
    \r\n", - "softer sex, suddenly proffers his kind interposition, becomes
    \r\n", - "extremely courteous, begs she will remain quiet, assuring her that
    \r\n", - "no stone that can further her wishes shall be left unturned. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Seabrook (frequently called the gallant colonel) makes one of his
    \r\n", - "very best bows, adjusts his hat with exquisite grace, and leaves to
    \r\n", - "exercise the wisest judgment and strictest faith at the man-market.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Such matters are exceedingly annoying to gentlemen of my standing,\"
    \r\n", - "says Mr. Seabrook, as deliberately he proceeds to the fulfilment of
    \r\n", - "his promise. He is a methodical gentleman, and having weighed the
    \r\n", - "matter well over in his legal mind, is deeply indebted to it for the
    \r\n", - "conclusion that Mrs. Rosebrook has got a very unsystematised
    \r\n", - "crotchet into her brain. \"The exhibition of sympathy for
    \r\n", - "'niggers'-they're nothing else\" says Mr. Seabrook-\"much adds to that
    \r\n", - "popular prejudice which is already placing her in an extremely
    \r\n", - "delicate position.\" He will call to his aid some very nice legal
    \r\n", - "tact, and by that never-failing unction satisfy the good lady.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "When Mr. Seabrook enters the mart (our readers will remember that we
    \r\n", - "have already described it) he finds the children undergoing a very
    \r\n", - "minute examination at the hands of several slave-dealers. As Mr.
    \r\n", - "Forshou, the very polite man-seller, is despatching the rougher
    \r\n", - "quality of human merchandise, our hero advances to the children,
    \r\n", - "about whose father he asks them unanswerable questions. How
    \r\n", - "interesting the children look!-how like a picture of beauty
    \r\n", - "Annette's cherub face glows forth! Being seriously concerned about
    \r\n", - "the child, his countenance wears an air of deep thought. \"Colonel,
    \r\n", - "what's your legal opinion of such pretty property?\" enquires
    \r\n", - "Romescos, who advances to Mr. Seabrook, and, after a minute's
    \r\n", - "hesitation, takes the little girl in his arms, rudely kissing her as
    \r\n", - "she presses his face from her with her left hand, and poutingly
    \r\n", - "wipes her mouth with her right.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Pretty as a picture\"-Romescos has set the child down-\"but I
    \r\n", - "wouldn't give seven coppers for both; for, by my faith, such
    \r\n", - "property never does well.\" The gentleman shakes his head in return.
    \r\n", - "\"It's a pity they're made it out nigger, though,--it's so handsome.
    \r\n", - "Sweet little creature, that child, I declare: her beauty would be
    \r\n", - "worth a fortune on the stage, when she grows up.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos touches Mr. Seabrook on the arm; remarks that such things
    \r\n", - "are only good for certain purposes; although one can make them pay
    \r\n", - "if they know how to trade in them. But it wants a man with a capable
    \r\n", - "conscience to do the business up profitably. \"No chance o' your
    \r\n", - "biddin' on 'um, is there, colonel?\" he enquires, with a significant
    \r\n", - "leer, folding his arms with the indifference of a field-marshal.
    \r\n", - "After a few minutes' pause, during which Mr. Seabrook seems
    \r\n", - "manufacturing an answer, he shrugs his shoulders, and takes a few
    \r\n", - "pleasing steps, as if moved to a waltzing humour. \"Don't scare up
    \r\n", - "the like o' that gal-nigger every day,\" he adds. Again, as if moved
    \r\n", - "by some sudden idea, he approaches Annette, and placing his hand on
    \r\n", - "her head, continues: \"If this ain't tumbling down a man's affairs by
    \r\n", - "the run! Why, colonel, 'taint more nor three years since old Hugh
    \r\n", - "Marston war looked on as the tallest planter on the Ashley; and he
    \r\n", - "thought just as much o' these young 'uns as if their mother had
    \r\n", - "belonged to one of the first families. Now-I pity the poor
    \r\n", - "fellow!-because he tried to save 'em from being sold as slaves,
    \r\n", - "they-his creditors-think he has got more property stowed away
    \r\n", - "somewhere. They're going to cell him, just to try his talent at
    \r\n", - "putting away things.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The \"prime fellows\" and wenches of the darker and coarser quality
    \r\n", - "have all been disposed of; and the vender (the same gentlemanly man
    \r\n", - "we have described selling Marston's undisputed property) now orders
    \r\n", - "the children to be brought forward. Romescos, eagerly seizing them
    \r\n", - "by the arms, brings them forward through the crowd, places them upon
    \r\n", - "the stand, before the eager gaze of those assembled. Strangely
    \r\n", - "placed upon the strange block, the spectators close in again,
    \r\n", - "anxious to gain the best position for inspection: but little
    \r\n", - "children cannot stand the gaze of such an assemblage: no; Annette
    \r\n", - "turns toward Nicholas, and with a childish embrace throws her tiny
    \r\n", - "arms about his neck, buries her face on his bosom. The child of
    \r\n", - "misfortune seeks shelter from that shame of her condition, the
    \r\n", - "evidence of which is strengthened by the eager glances of those who
    \r\n", - "stand round the shambles, ready to purchase her fate. Even the
    \r\n", - "vender,--distinguished gentleman that he is, and very respectably
    \r\n", - "allied by marriage to one of the \"first families,\"-is moved with a
    \r\n", - "strange sense of wrong at finding himself in a position somewhat
    \r\n", - "repugnant to his feelings. He cannot suppress a blush that indicates
    \r\n", - "an innate sense of shame.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Here they are, gentlemen! let no man say I have not done my duty.
    \r\n", - "You have, surely, all seen the pedigree of these children set forth
    \r\n", - "in the morning papers; and, now that you have them before you, the
    \r\n", - "living specimen of their beauty will fully authenticate anything
    \r\n", - "therein set forth,\" the vender exclaims, affecting an appearance in
    \r\n", - "keeping with his trade. Notwithstanding this, there is a faltering
    \r\n", - "nervousness in his manner, betraying all his efforts at
    \r\n", - "dissimulation. He reads the invoice of human property to the
    \r\n", - "listening crowd, dilates on its specific qualities with powers of
    \r\n", - "elucidation that would do credit to any member of the learned
    \r\n", - "profession. This opinion is confirmed by Romescos, the associations
    \r\n", - "of whose trade have gained for him a very intimate acquaintance with
    \r\n", - "numerous gentlemen of that very honourable profession.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, gentlemen,\" continues the vender, \"the honourable high sheriff
    \r\n", - "is anxious, and so am I-and it's no more than a feelin' of deserving
    \r\n", - "humanity, which every southern gentleman is proud to exercise-that
    \r\n", - "these children be sold to good, kind, and respectable owners; and
    \r\n", - "that they do not fall into the hands, as is generally the case, of
    \r\n", - "men who raise them up for infamous purposes. Gentlemen, I am
    \r\n", - "decidedly opposed to making licentiousness a means of profit.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That neither means you nor me,\" mutters Romescos, touching Mr.
    \r\n", - "Seabrook on the arm, shaking his head knowingly, and stepping aside
    \r\n", - "to Graspum, in whose ear he whispers a word. The very distinguished
    \r\n", - "Mr. Graspum has been intently listening to the outpouring of the
    \r\n", - "vender's simplicity. What sublime nonsense it seems to him! He
    \r\n", - "suggests that it would be much more effectual if it came from the
    \r\n", - "pulpit,--the southern pulpit!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Better sell 'um to some deacon's family,\" mutters a voice in the
    \r\n", - "crowd.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's precisely what we should like, gentlemen; any bidder of that
    \r\n", - "description would get them on more favourable terms than a trader,
    \r\n", - "he would,\" he returns, quickly. The man of feeling, now wealthy from
    \r\n", - "the sale of human beings, hopes gentlemen will pardon his
    \r\n", - "nervousness on this occasion. He never felt the delicacy of his
    \r\n", - "profession so forcibly-never, until now! His countenance changes
    \r\n", - "with the emotions of his heart; he blushes as he looks upon the
    \r\n", - "human invoice, glances slily over the corner at the children, and
    \r\n", - "again at his customers. The culminating point of his profession has
    \r\n", - "arrived; its unholy character is making war upon his better
    \r\n", - "feelings. \"I am not speaking ironically, gentlemen: any bidder of
    \r\n", - "the description I have named will get these children at a
    \r\n", - "satisfactory figure. Remember that, and that I am only acting in my
    \r\n", - "office for the honourable sheriff and the creditors,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If that be the case,\" Mr. Seabrook thinks to himself, \"it's quite
    \r\n", - "as well. Our good lady friend will be fully satisfied. She only
    \r\n", - "wants to see them in good hands: deacons are just the fellows.\" He
    \r\n", - "very politely steps aside, lights his choice habanero, and sends
    \r\n", - "forth its curling fumes as the bidding goes on.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A person having the appearance of a country gentleman, who has been
    \r\n", - "some time watching the proceedings, is seen to approach Graspum:
    \r\n", - "this dignitary whispers something in his ear, and he leaves the
    \r\n", - "mart.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I say, squire!\" exclaims Romescos, addressing himself to the
    \r\n", - "auctioneer, \"do you assume the responsibility of making special
    \r\n", - "purchasers? perhaps you had better keep an eye to the law and the
    \r\n", - "creditors, you had!\" (Romescos's little red face fires with
    \r\n", - "excitement.) \"No objection t' yer sellin' the gal to deacons and
    \r\n", - "elders,--even to old Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy, who's always
    \r\n", - "singing, 'I know that my Redeemer cometh!' But the statutes give me
    \r\n", - "just as good a right to buy her, as any first-class deacon. I knows
    \r\n", - "law, and got lots o' lawyer friends.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The issue is painful enough, without any interposition from you, my
    \r\n", - "friend,\" rejoins the vender, interrupting Romescos in his
    \r\n", - "conversation. After a few minutes pause, during which time he has
    \r\n", - "been watching the faces of his customers, he adds: \"Perhaps, seeing
    \r\n", - "how well mated they are, gentlemen will not let them be separated.
    \r\n", - "They have been raised together.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Certainly!\" again interrupts Romescos, \"it would be a pity to
    \r\n", - "separate them, 'cos it might touch somebody's heart.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, that comes from Romescos; we may judge of its motive as we
    \r\n", - "please,\" rejoins the man of feeling, taking Annette by the arm and
    \r\n", - "leading her to the extreme edge of the stand. \"Make us a bid,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, for the pair. I can see in the looks of my customers that
    \r\n", - "nobody will be so hard-hearted as to separate them. What do you
    \r\n", - "offer? say it! Start them; don't be bashful, gentlemen!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Rather cool for a hard-faced nigger-seller! Well, squire, say four
    \r\n", - "hundred dollars and the treats,--that is, sposin' ye don't double my
    \r\n", - "bid cos I isn't a deacon. Wants the boy t' make a general on when he
    \r\n", - "grows up; don't want the gal at all. Let the deacon here (he points
    \r\n", - "to the man who was seen whispering to Graspum) have her, if he
    \r\n", - "wants.\" The deacon, as Romescos calls him, edges his way through the
    \r\n", - "crowd up to the stand, and looks first at the vender and then at the
    \r\n", - "children. Turning his head aside, as if it may catch the ears of
    \r\n", - "several bystanders, Romescos whispers, \"That's deacon Staggers, from
    \r\n", - "Pineville.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Like your bid; but I'm frank enough to say I don't want you to have
    \r\n", - "them, Romescos,\" interposes the auctioneer, with a smile.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Four hundred and fifty dollars!\" is sounded by a second bidder. The
    \r\n", - "vender enquires, \"For the two?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes! the pair on 'em,\" is the quick reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Four hundred and fifty dollars!\" re-echoes the man of feeling.
    \r\n", - "\"What good democrats you are! Why, gentlemen, it's not half the
    \r\n", - "value of them. You must look upon this property in a social light;
    \r\n", - "then you will see its immense value. It's intelligent, civil, and
    \r\n", - "promisingly handsome; sold for no fault, and here you are hesitating
    \r\n", - "on a small bid.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Only four hundred and fifty dollars for such property, in this
    \r\n", - "enlightened nineteenth century!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Trade will out, like murder. Squire wouldn't sell 'em to nobody but
    \r\n", - "a deacon a few minutes ago!\" is heard coming from a voice in the
    \r\n", - "crowd. The vender again pauses, blushes, and contorts his face: he
    \r\n", - "cannot suppress the zest of his profession; it is uppermost in his
    \r\n", - "feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos says it is one of the squire's unconscious mistakes. There
    \r\n", - "is no use of humbugging; why not let them run off to the highest
    \r\n", - "bidder?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The deacon has bid upon them; why not continue his advance?\" says
    \r\n", - "Mr. Seabrook, who has been smoking his cigar the while.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh, well! seein' how it's the deacon, I won't stand agin his bid.
    \r\n", - "It's Deacon Staggers of Pineville; nobody doubts his generosity,\"
    \r\n", - "ejaculates Romescos, in a growling tone. The bids quicken,--soon
    \r\n", - "reach six hundred dollars.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Getting up pretty well, gentlemen! You must not estimate this
    \r\n", - "property upon their age: it's the likeliness and the promise.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Six hundred and twenty-five!\" mutters the strange gentleman they
    \r\n", - "call Deacon Staggers from Pineville.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All right,\" rejoins Romescos; \"just the man what ought to have 'em.
    \r\n", - "I motion every other bidder withdraw in deference to the deacon's
    \r\n", - "claim,\" rejoins Romescos, laughing.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The clever vender gets down from the stand, views the young property
    \r\n", - "from every advantageous angle, dwells upon the bid, makes further
    \r\n", - "comments on its choiceness, and after considerable bantering, knocks
    \r\n", - "them down to-\"What name, sir?\" he enquires, staring at the stranger
    \r\n", - "vacantly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Deacon Staggers,\" replies the man, with a broad grin. Romescos
    \r\n", - "motions him aside,--slips a piece of gold into his hand; it is the
    \r\n", - "price of his pretensions.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The clerk enters his name in the sales book: \"Deacon Staggers, of
    \r\n", - "Pineville, bought May 18th, 18-.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Two children, very likely: boy, prime child, darkish hair, round
    \r\n", - "figure, intelligent face, not downcast, and well outlined in limb.
    \r\n", - "Girl, very pretty, bluish eyes, flaxen hair, very fair and very
    \r\n", - "delicate. Price 625 dollars. Property of Hugh Marston, and sold per
    \r\n", - "order of the sheriff of the county, to satisfy two fi fas issued
    \r\n", - "from the Court of Common Pleas, &c. &c. &c.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "An attendant now steps forward, takes the children into his charge,
    \r\n", - "and leads them away. To where? The reader may surmise to the gaol.
    \r\n", - "No, reader, not to the gaol; to Marco Graspum's slave-pen,--to that
    \r\n", - "pent-up hell where the living are tortured unto death, and where
    \r\n", - "yearning souls are sold to sink!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Thus are the beauties of this our democratic system illustrated in
    \r\n", - "two innocent children being consigned to the miseries of slave life
    \r\n", - "because a mother is supposed a slave: a father has acknowledged
    \r\n", - "them, and yet they are sold before his eyes. It is the majesty of
    \r\n", - "slave law, before which good men prostrate their love of
    \r\n", - "independence. Democracy says the majesty of that law must be carried
    \r\n", - "out; creditors must be satisfied, even though all that is generous
    \r\n", - "and noble in man should be crushed out, and the rights of free men
    \r\n", - "consigned to oblivion. A stout arm may yet rise up in a good cause;
    \r\n", - "democrats may stand ashamed of the inhuman traffic, and seek to
    \r\n", - "cover its poisoning head with artifices and pretences; but they
    \r\n", - "write only an obituary for the curse.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A quaint-faced, good-looking country deacon has bought them. Very
    \r\n", - "good; I can now go home, and relieve Mrs. Rosebrook's very generous
    \r\n", - "feelings,\" says the very distinguished Mr. Seabrook, shrugging his
    \r\n", - "shoulders, lighting a fresh cigar, and turning toward home with a
    \r\n", - "deliberate step, full of good tidings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXX.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE VISION OF DEATH HAS PAST.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "MR. SEABROOK returns to the mansion, and consoles the anxious lady
    \r\n", - "by assuring her the children have been saved from the hands of
    \r\n", - "obnoxious traders-sold to a good, country deacon. He was so
    \r\n", - "delighted with their appearance that he could not keep from admiring
    \r\n", - "them, and does not wonder the good lady took so great an interest in
    \r\n", - "their welfare. He knows the ministerial-looking gentleman who bought
    \r\n", - "them is a kind master; he has an acute knowledge of human nature,
    \r\n", - "and judges from his looks. And he will further assure the good lady
    \r\n", - "that the auctioneer proved himself a gentleman-every inch of him! He
    \r\n", - "wouldn't take a single bid from a trader, not even from old Graspum
    \r\n", - "(he dreads to come in contact with such a brute as he is, when he
    \r\n", - "gets his eye on a good piece o' nigger property), with all his
    \r\n", - "money. As soon as he heard the name of a deacon among the bidders,
    \r\n", - "something in his heart forbade his bidding against him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You were not as good as your word, Mr. Seabrook,\" says the good
    \r\n", - "lady, still holding Mr. Seabrook by the hand. \"But, are you sure
    \r\n", - "there was no disguise about the sale?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not the least, madam!\" interrupts Mr. Seabrook, emphatically.
    \r\n", - "\"Bless me, madam, our people are too sensitive not to detect
    \r\n", - "anything of that kind; and too generous to allow it if they did
    \r\n", - "discover it. The children-my heart feels for them-are in the very
    \r\n", - "best hands; will be brought up just as pious and morally. Can't go
    \r\n", - "astray in the hands of a deacon-that's certain!\" Mr. Seabrook rubs
    \r\n", - "his hands, twists his fingers in various ways, and gives utterance
    \r\n", - "to words of consolation, most blandly. The anxious lady seems
    \r\n", - "disappointed, but is forced to accept the assurance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We need scarcely tell the reader how intentionally Mr. Seabrook
    \r\n", - "contented himself with the deception practised at the mart, nor with
    \r\n", - "what freedom he made use of that blandest essence of southern
    \r\n", - "assurance,--extreme politeness, to deceive the lady. She, however,
    \r\n", - "had long been laudably engaged in behalf of a down-trodden race; and
    \r\n", - "her knowledge of the secret workings of an institution which could
    \r\n", - "only cover its monstrosity with sophistry and fraud impressed her
    \r\n", - "with the idea of some deception having been practised. She well knew
    \r\n", - "that Mr. Seabrook was one of those very contented gentlemen who have
    \r\n", - "strong faith in the present, and are willing to sacrifice the
    \r\n", - "future, if peace and plenty be secured to their hands. He had many
    \r\n", - "times been known to listen to the advice of his confidential slaves,
    \r\n", - "and even to yield to their caprices. And, too, he had been known to
    \r\n", - "decry the ill-treatment of slaves by brutal and inconsiderate
    \r\n", - "masters; but he never thinks it worth while to go beyond expressing
    \r\n", - "a sort of rain-water sympathy for the maltreated. With those traits
    \r\n", - "most prominent in his character, Annette and Nicholas were to him
    \r\n", - "mere merchandise; and whatever claims to freedom they might have,
    \r\n", - "through the acknowledgments of a father, he could give them no
    \r\n", - "consideration, inasmuch as the law was paramount, and the great
    \r\n", - "conservator of the south.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our worthy benefactress felt the force of the above, in his
    \r\n", - "reluctance to execute her commands, and the manner in which he
    \r\n", - "faltered when questioned about the purchase. Returning to her home,
    \r\n", - "weighing the circumstances, she resolves to devise some method of
    \r\n", - "ascertaining the true position of the children. \"Women are not to be
    \r\n", - "outdone,\" she says to herself.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We must again beg the reader's indulgence while accompanying us in a
    \r\n", - "retrograde necessary to the connection of our narrative. When we
    \r\n", - "left Mr. M'Fadden at the crossing, more than two years ago, he was
    \r\n", - "labouring under the excitement of a wound he greatly feared would
    \r\n", - "close the account of his mortal speculations.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "On the morning following that great political gathering, and during
    \r\n", - "the night Harry had so singularly disappeared, the tavern was rife
    \r\n", - "with conjectures. On the piazza and about the \"bar-room\" were a few
    \r\n", - "stupefied and half-insensible figures stretched upon benches, or
    \r\n", - "reclining in chairs, their coarse garments rent into tatters, and
    \r\n", - "their besotted faces resembling as many florid masks grouped
    \r\n", - "together to represent some demoniacal scene among the infernals;
    \r\n", - "others were sleeping soundly beside the tables, or on the lawn. With
    \r\n", - "filthy limbs bared, they snored with painful discord, in superlative
    \r\n", - "contempt of everything around. Another party, reeking with the fumes
    \r\n", - "of that poisonous drug upon which candidates for a people's favours
    \r\n", - "had built their high expectations, were leaning carelessly against
    \r\n", - "the rude counter of the \"bar-room,\" casting wistful glances at the
    \r\n", - "fascinating bottles so securely locked within the lattice-work in
    \r\n", - "the corner. Oaths of touching horror are mingling with loud calls
    \r\n", - "for slave attendants, whose presence they wait to quench their
    \r\n", - "burning thirst. Reader! digest the moral. In this human menagerie-in
    \r\n", - "this sink of besotted degradation-lay the nucleus of a power by
    \r\n", - "which the greatest interests of state are controlled.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A bedusted party of mounted men have returned from a second
    \r\n", - "ineffectual attempt to recover the lost preacher: the appearance of
    \r\n", - "responsibility haunts mine host. He assured Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "that his property would be perfectly secure under the lock of the
    \r\n", - "corn-shed. And now his anxiety exhibits itself in the readiness
    \r\n", - "with which he supplies dogs, horses, guns, and such implements as
    \r\n", - "are necessary to hunt down an unfortunate minister of the gospel.
    \r\n", - "What makes the whole thing worse, was the report of M'Fadden having
    \r\n", - "had a good sleep and awaking much more comfortable; that there was
    \r\n", - "little chance of the fortunate issue of his death. In this, mine
    \r\n", - "host saw the liability increasing two-fold.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He stands his important person, (hat off, face red with expectancy,
    \r\n", - "and hands thrust well down into his breeches pocket), on the top
    \r\n", - "step of the stairs leading to the veranda, and hears the
    \r\n", - "unfavourable report with sad discomfiture. \"That's what comes of
    \r\n", - "making a preacher of a slave! Well! I've done all I can. It puts all
    \r\n", - "kinds of deviltry about runnin' away into their heads,\" he ventures
    \r\n", - "to assert, as he turns away, re-enters the \"bar-room,\" and invites
    \r\n", - "all his friends to drink at his expense.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mark what I say, now, Squire Jones. The quickest way to catch that
    \r\n", - "ar' nigger 's just to lay low and keep whist. He's a pious nigger;
    \r\n", - "and a nigger can't keep his pious a'tween his teeth, no more nor a
    \r\n", - "blackbird can his chattering. The feller 'll feel as if he wants to
    \r\n", - "redeem somebody; and seeing how 'tis so, if ye just watch close some
    \r\n", - "Sunday ye'll nab the fellow with his own pious bait. Can catch a
    \r\n", - "pious runaway nigger 'most any time; the brute never knows enough to
    \r\n", - "keep it to himself,\" says a flashily dressed gentleman, as he leaned
    \r\n", - "against the counter, squinted his eye with an air of ponderous
    \r\n", - "satisfaction, and twirled his tumbler round and round on the
    \r\n", - "counter. \"'Pears to me,\" he continues, quizzically, \"Squire, you've
    \r\n", - "got a lot o' mixed cracker material here, what it'll be hard to
    \r\n", - "manufactor to make dependable voters on, 'lection day:\" he casts a
    \r\n", - "look at the medley of sleepers.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I wish the whole pack on 'em was sold into slavery, I do! They form
    \r\n", - "six-tenths of the voters in our state, and are more ignorant, and a
    \r\n", - "great deal worse citizens, than our slaves. Bl-'em, there is'nt one
    \r\n", - "in fifty can read or write, and they're impudenter than the
    \r\n", - "Governor.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hush! hush! squire. 'Twon't do to talk so. There ain't men nowhere
    \r\n", - "stand on dignity like them fellers; they are the very
    \r\n", - "bone-and-siners of the unwashed, hard-fisted democracy. The way
    \r\n", - "they'd pull this old tavern down, if they heard reflections on their
    \r\n", - "honour, would be a caution to storms. But how's old iron-sided
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden this morning? Begins to think of his niggers, I reckon,\"
    \r\n", - "interrupts the gentleman; to which mine host shakes his head,
    \r\n", - "despondingly. Mine host wishes M'Fadden, nigger, candidates and all,
    \r\n", - "a very long distance from his place.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I s'pose he thinks old Death, with his grim visage, ain't going to
    \r\n", - "call for him just now. That's ollers the way with northerners, who
    \r\n", - "lives atween the hope of something above, and the love of makin'
    \r\n", - "money below: they never feel bad about the conscience, until old
    \r\n", - "Davy Jones, Esq., the gentleman with the horns and tail, takes them
    \r\n", - "by the nose, and says-'come!'\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I have struck an idea,\" says our worthy host, suddenly striking his
    \r\n", - "hand on the counter. \"I will put up a poster. I will offer a big
    \r\n", - "reward. T'other property's all safe; there's only the preacher
    \r\n", - "missing.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Just the strike! Give us yer hand, squire!\" The gentleman reaches
    \r\n", - "his hand across the counter, and smiles, while cordially embracing
    \r\n", - "mine host. \"Make the reward about two hundred, so I can make a good
    \r\n", - "week's work for the dogs and me. Got the best pack in the parish;
    \r\n", - "one on 'em knows as much as most clergymen, he does!\" he very
    \r\n", - "deliberately concludes, displaying a wonderful opinion of his own
    \r\n", - "nigger-catching philosophy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And Mr. Jones, such is mine host's name, immediately commenced
    \r\n", - "exercising his skill in composition on a large, poster, which with a
    \r\n", - "good hour's labour he completes, and posts upon the ceiling of the
    \r\n", - "\"bar-room,\" just below an enormously illustrated Circus bill.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There! now's a chance of some enterprise and some sense. There's a
    \r\n", - "deuced nice sum to be made at that!\" says Mr. Jones, emphatically,
    \r\n", - "as he stands a few steps back, and reads aloud the following sublime
    \r\n", - "outline of his genius:--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"GREAT INDUCEMENT FOR SPORTSMEN. Two Hundred Dollars Reward.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The above reward will be given anybody for the apprehension of the
    \r\n", - "nigger-boy, Harry, the property of Mr. M'Fadden. Said Harry
    \r\n", - "suddenly disappeared from these premises last night, while his
    \r\n", - "master was supposed to be dying. The boy's a well-developed nigger,
    \r\n", - "'ant sassy, got fine bold head and round face, and intelligent eye,
    \r\n", - "and 's about five feet eleven inches high, and equally proportionate
    \r\n", - "elsewhere. He's much giv'n to preachin', and most likely is secreted
    \r\n", - "in some of the surrounding swamps, where he will remain until
    \r\n", - "tempted to make his appearance on some plantation for the purpose of
    \r\n", - "exortin his feller niggers. He is well disposed, and is said to have
    \r\n", - "a good disposition, so that no person need fear to approach him for
    \r\n", - "capture. The above reward will be paid upon his delivery at any gaol
    \r\n", - "in the State, and a hundred and fifty dollars if delivered at any
    \r\n", - "gaol out of the State.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"JETHRO JONES.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Just the instrument to bring him, Jethro!\" intimates our
    \r\n", - "fashionable gent, quizzically, as he stands a few feet behind Mr.
    \r\n", - "Jones, making grimaces. Then, gazing intently at the bill for some
    \r\n", - "minutes, he runs his hands deep into his pockets, affects an air of
    \r\n", - "greatest satisfaction, and commences whistling a tune to aid in
    \r\n", - "suppressing a smile that is invading his countenance. \"Wouldn't be
    \r\n", - "in that nigger's skin for a thousand or more dollars, I wouldn't!\"
    \r\n", - "he continues, screeching in the loudest manner, and then shaking,
    \r\n", - "kicking, and rousing the half-animate occupants of the floor and
    \r\n", - "benches. \"Come! get up here! Prize money ahead! Fine fun for a week.
    \r\n", - "Prize money ahead! wake up, ye jolly sleepers, loyal citizens,
    \r\n", - "independent voters-wake up, I say. Here's fun and frolic, plenty of
    \r\n", - "whiskey, and two hundred dollars reward for every mother's son of ye
    \r\n", - "what wants to hunt a nigger; and he's a preachin nigger at that!
    \r\n", - "Come; whose in for the frolic, ye hard-faced democracy that love to
    \r\n", - "vote for your country's good and a good cause?\" After exerting
    \r\n", - "himself for some time, they begin to scramble up like so many
    \r\n", - "bewildered spectres of blackness, troubled to get light through the
    \r\n", - "means of their blurred faculties.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Who's dragging the life out o' me?\" exclaims one, straining his
    \r\n", - "mottled eyes, extending his wearied limbs, gasping as if for breath;
    \r\n", - "then staggering to the counter. Finally, after much struggling,
    \r\n", - "staggering, expressing consternation, obscene jeering, blasphemous
    \r\n", - "oaths and filthy slang, they stand upright, and huddle around the
    \r\n", - "notice. The picture presented by their ragged garments, their
    \r\n", - "woebegone faces, and their drenched faculties, would, indeed, be
    \r\n", - "difficult to transfer to canvas.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, stare! stare! with all yer fire-stained eyes, ye clan of
    \r\n", - "motley vagrants-ye sovereign citizens of a sovereign state. Two
    \r\n", - "hundred dollars! aye, two hundred dollars for ye. Make plenty o'
    \r\n", - "work for yer dogs; knowin brutes they are. And ye'll get whiskey
    \r\n", - "enough to last the whole district more nor a year,\" says our worthy
    \r\n", - "Jones, standing before them, and pointing his finger at the notice.
    \r\n", - "They, as if doubting their own perceptibilities, draw nearer and
    \r\n", - "nearer, straining their eyes, while their bodies oscillate against
    \r\n", - "each other.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mine host tells them to consider the matter, and be prepared for
    \r\n", - "action, while he will proceed to M'Fadden's chamber and learn the
    \r\n", - "state of his health.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He opens the sick man's chamber, and there, to his surprise, is the
    \r\n", - "invalid gentleman, deliberately taking his tea and toast. Mine host
    \r\n", - "congratulates him upon his appearance, extends his hand, takes a
    \r\n", - "seat by his bed-side. \"I had fearful apprehensions about you, my
    \r\n", - "friend,\" he says.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"So had I about myself. I thought I was going to slip it in right
    \r\n", - "earnest. My thoughts and feelins-how they wandered!\" M'Fadden raises
    \r\n", - "his hand to his forehead, and slowly shakes his head. \"I would'nt a'
    \r\n", - "given much for the chances, at one time; but the wound isn't so bad,
    \r\n", - "after all. My nigger property gets along all straight, I suppose?\"
    \r\n", - "he enquires, coolly, rolling his eyes upwards with a look of serious
    \r\n", - "reflection. \"Boy preacher never returned last night. It's all right,
    \r\n", - "though, I suppose?\" again he enquired, looking mine host right in
    \r\n", - "the eye, as if he discovered some misgiving. His seriousness soon
    \r\n", - "begins to give place to anxiety.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That boy was a bad nigger,\" says mine host, in a half-whisper; \"but
    \r\n", - "you must not let your property worry you, my friend.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bad nigger!\" interrupts the invalid. Mine host pauses for a moment,
    \r\n", - "while M'Fadden sets his eyes upon him with a piercing stare.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not been cutting up nigger tricks?\" he ejaculates, enquiringly,
    \r\n", - "about to spring from his couch with his usual nimbleness. Mine host
    \r\n", - "places his left hand upon his shoulder, and assures him there is no
    \r\n", - "cause of alarm.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Tell me if any thing's wrong about my property. Now do,--be candid:\"
    \r\n", - "his eyes roll, anxiously.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"All right-except the preacher; he's run away,\" mine host answers,
    \r\n", - "suggesting how much better it will be to take the matter cool, as he
    \r\n", - "is sure to be captured.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What! who-how? you don't say! My very choicest piece of property.
    \r\n", - "Well-well! who will believe in religion, after that? He came to my
    \r\n", - "sick chamber, the black vagabond did, and prayed as piously as a
    \r\n", - "white man. And it went right to my heart; and I felt that if I died
    \r\n", - "it would a' been the means o' savin my soul from all sorts of things
    \r\n", - "infernal,\" says the recovering M'Fadden. He, the black preacher, is
    \r\n", - "only a nigger after all; and his owner will have him back, or he'll
    \r\n", - "have his black hide-that he will! The sick man makes another effort
    \r\n", - "to rise, but is calmed into resignation through mine host's further
    \r\n", - "assurance that the property will be \"all right\" by the time he gets
    \r\n", - "well.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How cunning it was in the black vagrant! I shouldn't be a bit
    \r\n", - "surprised if he cleared straight for Massachusetts-Massachusetts
    \r\n", - "hates our State. Her abolitionists will ruin us yet, sure as the
    \r\n", - "world. We men of the South must do something on a grand scale to
    \r\n", - "protect our rights and our property. The merchants of the North will
    \r\n", - "help us; they are all interested in slave labour. Cotton is king;
    \r\n", - "and cotton can rule, if it will. Cotton can make friendship strong,
    \r\n", - "and political power great.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's my cousin John, ye see; he lives north, but is married to a
    \r\n", - "woman south. He got her with seventeen mules and twenty-three
    \r\n", - "niggers. And there's brother Jake's daughter was married to a
    \r\n", - "planter out south what owns lots o' niggers. And there's good old
    \r\n", - "uncle Richard; he traded a long time with down south folks, made
    \r\n", - "heaps a money tradin niggers in a sly way, and never heard a word
    \r\n", - "said about slavery not being right, that he did'nt get into a deuce
    \r\n", - "of a fuss, and feel like fightin? Two of Simon Wattler's gals were
    \r\n", - "married down south, and all the family connections became down-south
    \r\n", - "in principle. And here's Judge Brooks out here, the very best
    \r\n", - "down-south Judge on the bench; he come from cousin Ephraim's
    \r\n", - "neighbourhood, down east. It's just this way things is snarled up
    \r\n", - "a'tween us and them ar' fellers down New England way. It keeps up
    \r\n", - "the strength of our peculiar institution, though. And southern
    \r\n", - "Editors! just look at them; why, Lord love yer soul! two thirds on'
    \r\n", - "em are imported from down-north way; and they make the very best
    \r\n", - "southern-principled men. I thought of that last night, when Mr.
    \r\n", - "Jones with the horns looked as if he would go with him. But, I'll
    \r\n", - "have that preachin vagrant, I'll have him!\" says Mr. M'Fadden,
    \r\n", - "emphatically, seeming much more at rest about his departing affairs.
    \r\n", - "As the shadows of death fade from his sight into their proper
    \r\n", - "distance, worldly figures and property justice resume their wonted
    \r\n", - "possession of his thoughts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Again, as if suddenly seized with pain, he contorts his face, and
    \r\n", - "enquires in a half-whisper--\"What if this wound should mortify?
    \r\n", - "would death follow quickly? I'm dubious yet!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mine host approaches nearer his bed-side, takes his hand. M'Fadden,
    \r\n", - "with much apparent meekness, would know what he thought of his case?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He is assured by the kind gentleman that he is entirely out of
    \r\n", - "danger-worth a whole parish of dead men. At the same time, mine host
    \r\n", - "insinuates that he will never do to fight duels until he learns to
    \r\n", - "die fashionably.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden smiles,--remembers how many men have been nearly killed and
    \r\n", - "yet escaped the undertaker,--seems to have regained strength, and
    \r\n", - "calls for a glass of whiskey and water. Not too strong! but,
    \r\n", - "reminding mine host of the excellent quality of his bitters, he
    \r\n", - "suggests that a little may better his case.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I didn't mean the wound,\" resuming his anxiety for the lost
    \r\n", - "preacher: \"I meant the case of the runaway?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh! oh! bless me! he will forget he is a runaway piece of property
    \r\n", - "in his anxiousness to put forth his spiritual inclinations. That's
    \r\n", - "what'll betray the scamp;--nigger will be nigger, you know! They
    \r\n", - "can't play the lawyer, nohow,\" mine host replies, with an assurance
    \r\n", - "of his ability to judge negro character. This is a new idea, coming
    \r\n", - "like the dew-drops of heaven to relieve his anxiety. The consoling
    \r\n", - "intelligence makes him feel more comfortable.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The whiskey-and-bitters-most unpoetic drink-is brought to his
    \r\n", - "bed-side. He tremblingly carries it to his lips, sips and sips;
    \r\n", - "then, with one gulp, empties the glass. At this moment the pedantic
    \r\n", - "physician makes his appearance, scents the whiskey, gives a
    \r\n", - "favourable opinion of its application as a remedy in certain cases.
    \r\n", - "The prescription is not a bad one. Climate, and such a rusty
    \r\n", - "constitution as Mr. M'Fadden is blest with, renders a little
    \r\n", - "stimulant very necessary to keep up the one thing needful-courage!
    \r\n", - "The patient complains bitterly to the man of pills and powders;
    \r\n", - "tells a great many things about pains and fears. What a dreadful
    \r\n", - "thing if the consequence had proved fatal! He further thinks that it
    \r\n", - "was by the merest act of Providence, in such a desperate affray, he
    \r\n", - "had not been killed outright. A great many bad visions have haunted
    \r\n", - "him in his dreams, and he is very desirous of knowing what the man
    \r\n", - "of salts and senna thinks about the true interpretation of such.
    \r\n", - "About the time he was dreaming such dreams he was extremely anxious
    \r\n", - "to know how the spiritual character of slave-holders stood on the
    \r\n", - "records of heaven, and whether the fact of slave-owning would cause
    \r\n", - "the insertion of an item in the mortal warrant forming the exception
    \r\n", - "to a peaceful conclusion with the Father's forgiveness. He felt as
    \r\n", - "if he would surely die during the night past, and his mind became so
    \r\n", - "abstracted about what he had done in his life,--what was to come, how
    \r\n", - "negro property had been treated, how it should be treated,--that,
    \r\n", - "although he had opinions now and then widely-different, it had left
    \r\n", - "a problem which would take him all his life-time to solve,--if he
    \r\n", - "should live ever so long. And, too, there were these poor wretches
    \r\n", - "accidentally shot down at his side; his feelings couldn't withstand
    \r\n", - "the ghostly appearance of their corpses as he was carried past them,
    \r\n", - "perhaps to be buried n the same forlorn grave, the very next day.
    \r\n", - "All these things reflected their results through the morbidity of
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden's mind; but his last observation, showing how slender
    \r\n", - "is the cord between life and death, proved what was uppermost in his
    \r\n", - "mind. \"You'll allow I'm an honest man? I have great faith in your
    \r\n", - "opinion, Doctor! And if I have been rather go-ahead with my niggers,
    \r\n", - "my virtue in business matters can't be sprung,\" he mutters. The
    \r\n", - "physician endeavours to calm his anxiety, by telling him he is a
    \r\n", - "perfect model of goodness,--a just, honest, fearless, and
    \r\n", - "enterprising planter; and that these attributes of our better nature
    \r\n", - "constitute such a balance in the scale as will give any gentleman
    \r\n", - "slaveholder very large claims to that spiritual proficiency
    \r\n", - "necessary for the world to come.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden acquiesces in the correctness of this remark, but
    \r\n", - "desires to inform the practitioner what a sad loss he has met with.
    \r\n", - "He is sure the gentleman will scarcely believe his word when he
    \r\n", - "tells him what it is. \"I saw how ye felt downright affected when
    \r\n", - "that nigger o' mine prayed with so much that seemed like honesty and
    \r\n", - "christianity, last night,\" he says.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" interrupts the man of medicine, \"he was a wonderful nigger
    \r\n", - "that. I never heard such natural eloquence nor such pathos; he is a
    \r\n", - "wonder among niggers, he is! Extraordinary fellow for one raised up
    \r\n", - "on a plantation. Pity, almost, that such a clergyman should be a
    \r\n", - "slave.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You don't say so, Doctor, do you? Well! I've lost him just when I
    \r\n", - "wanted him most.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He is not dead?\" enquires the physician, suddenly interrupting. He
    \r\n", - "had seen Mr. M'Fadden's courage fail at the approach of death, and
    \r\n", - "again recover quickly when the distance widened between that monitor
    \r\n", - "and himself, and could not suppress the smile stealing over his
    \r\n", - "countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dead! no indeed. Worse-he has run away!\" Mr. M'Fadden quickly
    \r\n", - "retorted, clenching his right hand, and scowling. In another minute
    \r\n", - "he turns back the sheets, and, with returned strength, makes a
    \r\n", - "successful attempt to sit up in bed. \"I don't know whether I'm
    \r\n", - "better or worse; but I think it would be all right if I warn't
    \r\n", - "worried so much about the loss of that preacher. I paid a tremendous
    \r\n", - "sum for him. And the worst of it is, my cousin deacon Stoner, of a
    \r\n", - "down-east church, holds a mortgage on my nigger stock, and he may
    \r\n", - "feel streaked when he hears of the loss;\" Mr. M'Fadden concludes,
    \r\n", - "holding his side to the physician, who commences examining the
    \r\n", - "wound, which the enfeebled man says is very sore and must be dressed
    \r\n", - "cautiously, so that he may be enabled to get out and see to his
    \r\n", - "property.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "To the great surprise of all, the wound turns out to be merely a
    \r\n", - "slight cut, with no appearance of inflammation, and every prospect
    \r\n", - "of being cured through a further application of a very small bit of
    \r\n", - "dressing plaster.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The physician smiled, mine host smiled; it was impossible to
    \r\n", - "suppress the risible faculties. The poor invalid is overpowered with
    \r\n", - "disappointment. His imagination had betrayed him into one of those
    \r\n", - "desperate, fearful, and indubitable brinks of death, upon which it
    \r\n", - "seems the first law of nature reminds us what is necessary to die
    \r\n", - "by. They laughed, and laughed, and laughed, till Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "suddenly changed countenance, and said it was no laughing
    \r\n", - "affair,--such things were not to be trifled with; men should be
    \r\n", - "thinking of more important matters. And he looked at the wound, run
    \r\n", - "his fingers over it gently, and rubbed it as if doubting the depth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A little more whiskey would'nt hurt me, Doctor?\" he enquires,
    \r\n", - "complacently, looking round the room distrustfully at those who were
    \r\n", - "enjoying the joke, more at his expense than he held to be in
    \r\n", - "accordance with strict rules of etiquette.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'll admit, my worthy citizen, your case seemed to baffle my skill,
    \r\n", - "last night,\" the physician replies, jocosely. \"Had I taken your
    \r\n", - "political enthusiasm into consideration,--and your readiness to
    \r\n", - "instruct an assemblage in the holy democracy of our south,--and your
    \r\n", - "hopes of making strong draughts do strong political work, I might
    \r\n", - "have saved my opiate, and administered to your case more in
    \r\n", - "accordance with the skilfully administered prescriptions of our
    \r\n", - "politicians. Notwithstanding, I am glad you are all right, and trust
    \r\n", - "that whenever you get your enthusiasm fired with bad brandy, or the
    \r\n", - "candidates' bad whiskey, you will not tax other people's feelings
    \r\n", - "with your own dying affairs; nor send for a 'nigger' preacher to
    \r\n", - "redeem your soul, who will run away when he thinks the job
    \r\n", - "completed.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden seemed not to comprehend the nature of his physician's
    \r\n", - "language, and after a few minutes pause he must needs enquire about
    \r\n", - "the weather? if a coroner's inquest has been held over the dead men?
    \r\n", - "what was its decision? was there any decision at all? and have they
    \r\n", - "been buried? Satisfied on all these points, he gets up, himself
    \r\n", - "again, complaining only of a little muddled giddiness about the
    \r\n", - "head, and a hip so sore that he scarcely could reconcile his mind to
    \r\n", - "place confidence in it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Good by! good by!\" says the physician, shaking him by the hand.
    \r\n", - "\"Measure the stimulant carefully; and take good care of dumplin
    \r\n", - "dep�t No. 1, and you'll be all right very soon. You're a good
    \r\n", - "democrat, and you'll make as good a stump orator as ever took the
    \r\n", - "field.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The man of medicine, laughing heartily within himself, descends the
    \r\n", - "stairs and reaches the bar-room, where are concentrated sundry of
    \r\n", - "the party we have before described. They make anxious enquiries
    \r\n", - "about Mr. M'Fadden,--how he seemed to \"take it;\" did he evince want
    \r\n", - "of pluck? had he courage enough to fight a duel? and could his vote
    \r\n", - "be taken afore he died? These, and many other questions of a like
    \r\n", - "nature, were put to the physician so fast, and with so many
    \r\n", - "invitations to drink \"somethin',\" that he gave a sweeping answer by
    \r\n", - "saying Mac had been more frightened than hurt; that the fear of
    \r\n", - "death having passed from before his eyes his mind had now centered
    \r\n", - "on the loss of his nigger preacher-a valuable piece of property that
    \r\n", - "had cost him no less than fifteen hundred dollars. And the worst of
    \r\n", - "it was, that the nigger had aggravatingly prayed for him when he
    \r\n", - "thought he was going to sink out into the arms of father death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "So pressing were the invitations to drink, that our man of medicine
    \r\n", - "advanced to the counter, like a true gentleman of the south, and
    \r\n", - "with his glass filled with an aristocratic mixture, made one of his
    \r\n", - "politest bows, toasted the health of all free citizens, adding his
    \r\n", - "hope for the success of the favourite candidate.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Drink it with three cheers, standin'!\" shouted a formidably
    \r\n", - "mustached figure, leaning against the counter with his left hand,
    \r\n", - "while his right was grasping the jug from which he was attempting in
    \r\n", - "vain to water his whiskey. To this the physic gentleman bows assent;
    \r\n", - "and they are given to the very echo. Taking his departure for the
    \r\n", - "city, as the sounds of cheering die away, he emerged from the front
    \r\n", - "door, as Mr. M'Fadden, unexpectedly as a ghost rising from the tomb,
    \r\n", - "made his entrance from the old staircase in the back. The
    \r\n", - "citizens-for of such is our assembly composed-are astonished and
    \r\n", - "perplexed. \"Such a set of scapegoats as you are!\" grumbles out the
    \r\n", - "debutant, as he stands before them like a disentombed spectre. With
    \r\n", - "open arms they approach him, congratulate him on his recovery, and
    \r\n", - "shower upon him many good wishes, and long and strong drinks.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A few drinks more, and our hero is quite satisfied with his welcome.
    \r\n", - "His desire being intimated, mine host conducts himself to the
    \r\n", - "corn-shed, where he satisfies himself that his faithful property
    \r\n", - "(the preacher excepted) is all snugly safe. Happy property in the
    \r\n", - "hands of a prodigious democrat! happy republicanism that makes
    \r\n", - "freedom but a privilege! that makes a mockery of itself, and
    \r\n", - "enslaves the noblest blood of noble freemen! They were happy, the
    \r\n", - "victims of ignorance, contented with the freedom their country had
    \r\n", - "given them, bowing beneath the enslaving yoke of justice-boasting
    \r\n", - "democracy, and ready to be sold and shipped, with an invoice of
    \r\n", - "freight, at the beckon of an owner.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden questions the people concerning Harry's departure; but
    \r\n", - "they are as ignorant of his whereabouts as himself. They only
    \r\n", - "remember that he came to the shed at midnight, whispered some words
    \r\n", - "of consolation, and of his plain fare gave them to eat;--nothing
    \r\n", - "more.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Poor recompense for my goodness!\" says Mr. M'Fadden, muttering some
    \r\n", - "indistinct words as he returns to the tavern, followed by a humorous
    \r\n", - "negro, making grimaces in satisfaction of \"mas'r's\" disappointment.
    \r\n", - "Now friends are gathered together, chuckling in great glee over the
    \r\n", - "large reward offered for the lost parson, for the capture of which
    \r\n", - "absconding article they have numerous horses, dogs, confidential
    \r\n", - "negroes, and a large supply of whiskey, with which very necessary
    \r\n", - "liquid they will themselves become dogs of one kine. The game to be
    \r\n", - "played is purely a democratic one; hence the clansmen are ready to
    \r\n", - "loosen their souls' love for the service. M'Fadden never before
    \r\n", - "witnessed such satisfactory proofs of his popularity; his tenderest
    \r\n", - "emotions are excited; he cannot express the fullness of his heart;
    \r\n", - "he bows, puts his hand to his heart, orders the balance of his
    \r\n", - "invoice sent to his plantation, mounts his horse, and rides off at
    \r\n", - "full gallop, followed by his friends.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A FRIEND IS WOMAN.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE reader will again accompany us to the time when we find Annette
    \r\n", - "and Nicholas in the hands of Graspum, who will nurture them for
    \r\n", - "their increasing value.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Merciless creditors have driven Marston from that home of so many
    \r\n", - "happy and hospitable associations, to seek shelter in the obscure
    \r\n", - "and humble chamber of a wretched building in the outskirts of the
    \r\n", - "city. Fortune can afford him but a small cot, two or three broken
    \r\n", - "chairs, an ordinary deal table, a large chest, which stands near the
    \r\n", - "fire-place, and a dressing-stand, for furniture. Here, obscured from
    \r\n", - "the society he had so long mingled with, he spends most of his time,
    \r\n", - "seldom venturing in public lest he may encounter those indomitable
    \r\n", - "gentlemen who would seem to love the following misfortune into its
    \r\n", - "last stage of distress. His worst enemy, however, is that source of
    \r\n", - "his misfortunes he cannot disclose; over it hangs the mystery he
    \r\n", - "must not solve! It enshrines him with guilt before public opinion;
    \r\n", - "by it his integrity lies dead; it is that which gives to mother
    \r\n", - "rumour the weapons with which to wield her keenest slanders.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Having seized Marston's real estate, Graspum had no scruples about
    \r\n", - "swearing to the equity of his claim; nor were any of the creditors
    \r\n", - "willing to challenge an investigation; and thus, through fear of
    \r\n", - "such a formidable abettor, Marston laboured under the strongest, and
    \r\n", - "perhaps the most unjust imputations. But there was no limit to
    \r\n", - "Graspum's mercenary proceedings; for beyond involving Marston
    \r\n", - "through Lorenzo, he had secretly purchased many claims of the
    \r\n", - "creditors, and secured his money by a dexterous movement, with which
    \r\n", - "he reduced the innocent children to slavery.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Reports have spread among the professedly knowing that Marston can
    \r\n", - "never have made away with all his property in so few years. And the
    \r\n", - "manner being so invisible, the charge becomes stronger. Thus,
    \r\n", - "labouring between the pain of misfortune and the want of means to
    \r\n", - "resent suspicion, his cheerless chamber is all he can now call his
    \r\n", - "home. But he has two good friends left-Franconia, and the old negro
    \r\n", - "Bob. Franconia has procured a municipal badge for Daddy; and,
    \r\n", - "through it (disguised) he seeks and obtains work at stowing cotton
    \r\n", - "on the wharfs. His earnings are small, but his soul is large, and
    \r\n", - "embued with attachment for his old master, with whom he will share
    \r\n", - "them. Day by day the old slave seems to share the feelings of his
    \r\n", - "master,--to exhibit a solicitous concern for his comfort. Earning his
    \r\n", - "dollars and twenty-five cents a day, he will return when the week
    \r\n", - "has ended, full of exultation, spread out his earnings with
    \r\n", - "childlike simplicity, take thirty cents a day for himself, and slip
    \r\n", - "the remainder into Marston's pocket. How happy he seems, as he
    \r\n", - "watches the changes of Marston's countenance, and restrains the
    \r\n", - "gushing forth of his feelings!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It was on one of those nights upon which Daddy had received his
    \r\n", - "earnings, that Marston sat in his cheerless chamber, crouched over
    \r\n", - "the faint blaze of a few pieces of wood burning on the bricks of his
    \r\n", - "narrow fire-place, contemplating the eventful scenes of the few
    \r\n", - "years just passed. The more he contemplated the more it seemed like
    \r\n", - "a dream; his very head wearied with the interminable maze of his
    \r\n", - "difficulties. Further and further, as he contemplated, did it open
    \r\n", - "to his thoughts the strange social and political mystery of that
    \r\n", - "more strange institution for reducing mankind to the level of
    \r\n", - "brutes. And yet, democracy, apparently honest, held such inviolable
    \r\n", - "and just to its creed; which creed it would defend with a cordon of
    \r\n", - "steel. The dejected gentleman sighs, rests his head on his left
    \r\n", - "hand, and his elbow on the little table at his side. Without, the
    \r\n", - "weather is cold and damp; an incessant rain had pattered upon the
    \r\n", - "roof throughout the day, wild and murky clouds hang their dreary
    \r\n", - "festoons along the heavens, and swift scudding fleeces, driven by
    \r\n", - "fierce, murmuring winds, bespread the prospect with gloom that finds
    \r\n", - "its way into the recesses of the heart.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Who is worse than a slave!\" sighs the rejected man, getting up and
    \r\n", - "looking out of his window into the dreary recesses of the narrow
    \r\n", - "lane. \"If it be not a ruined planter I mistake the policy by which
    \r\n", - "we govern our institution! As the slave is born a subject being, so
    \r\n", - "is the planter a dependent being. We planters live in
    \r\n", - "disappointment, in fear, in unhappy uncertainty; and yet we make no
    \r\n", - "preparations for the result. Nay, we even content ourselves with
    \r\n", - "pleasantly contemplating what may come through the eventful issue of
    \r\n", - "political discord; and when it comes in earnest, we find ourselves
    \r\n", - "the most hapless of unfortunates. For myself, bereft of all I had
    \r\n", - "once,--even friends, I am but a forlorn object in the scale of weak
    \r\n", - "mankind! No man will trust me with his confidence,--scarce one knows
    \r\n", - "me but to harass me; I can give them no more, and yet I am suspected
    \r\n", - "of having more. It is so, and ever will be so. Such are the phases
    \r\n", - "of man's downfall, that few follow them to the facts, while rumour
    \r\n", - "rules supreme over misfortune. There may be a fountain of human pain
    \r\n", - "concealed beneath it; but few extend the hand to stay its
    \r\n", - "quickening. Nay, when all is gone, mammon cries, more! until body
    \r\n", - "and soul are crushed beneath the \"more\" of relentless self.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Few know the intricacies of our system; perhaps 'twere well, lest
    \r\n", - "our souls should not be safe within us. But, ah! my conscience
    \r\n", - "chides me here. And betwixt those feelings which once saw all things
    \r\n", - "right, but now through necessity beholds their grossest wrongs,
    \r\n", - "comes the pain of self-condemnation. It is a condemnation haunting
    \r\n", - "me unto death. Had I been ignorant of Clotilda's history, the
    \r\n", - "fiendish deed of those who wronged her in her childhood had not now
    \r\n", - "hung like a loathsome pestilence around my very garments. That which
    \r\n", - "the heart rebukes cannot be concealed; but we must be obedient to
    \r\n", - "the will that directs all things;--and if it be that we remain blind
    \r\n", - "in despotism until misfortune opens our eyes, let the cause of the
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    \r\n", - "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 8/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 8 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "calamity be charged to those it belongs to,\" he concludes; and then,
    \r\n", - "after a few minutes' silence, he lights his taper, and sets it upon
    \r\n", - "the table. His care-worn countenance pales with melancholy; his hair
    \r\n", - "has whitened with tribulation; his demeanour denotes a man of tender
    \r\n", - "sensibility fast sinking into a physical wreck. A well-soiled book
    \r\n", - "lies on the table, beside which he takes his seat; he turns its
    \r\n", - "pages over and over carelessly, as if it were an indifferent
    \r\n", - "amusement to wile away the time. \"They cannot enslave affection, nor
    \r\n", - "can they confine it within prison walls,\" he mutters. He has proof
    \r\n", - "in the faithfulness of Daddy, his old slave. And as he contemplates,
    \r\n", - "the words \"she will be more than welcome to-night,\" escape his lips.
    \r\n", - "Simultaneously a gentle tapping is heard at the door. Slowly it
    \r\n", - "opens, and the figure of an old negro, bearing a basket on his arm,
    \r\n", - "enters. He is followed by the slender and graceful form of
    \r\n", - "Franconia, who approaches her uncle, hand extended, salutes him with
    \r\n", - "a kiss, seats herself at his side, says he must not be sad. Then she
    \r\n", - "silently gazes upon him for a few moments, as if touched by his
    \r\n", - "troubles, while the negro, having spread the contents of the basket
    \r\n", - "upon the chest, makes a humble bow, wishes mas'r and missus good
    \r\n", - "night, and withdraws. \"There, uncle,\" she says, laying her hand
    \r\n", - "gently on his arm, \"I didn't forget you, did I?\" She couples the
    \r\n", - "word with a smile-a smile so sweet, so expressive of her soul's
    \r\n", - "goodness. \"You are dear to me, uncle; yes, as dear as a father. How
    \r\n", - "could I forget that you have been a father to me? I have brought
    \r\n", - "these little things to make you comfortable,\"-she points to the
    \r\n", - "edibles on the chest-\"and I wish I were not tied to a slave, uncle,
    \r\n", - "for then I could do more. Twice, since my marriage to M'Carstrow,
    \r\n", - "have I had to protect myself from his ruffianism.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"From his ruffianism!\" interrupts Marston, quickly: \"Can it be, my
    \r\n", - "child, that even a ruffian would dare exhibit his vileness toward
    \r\n", - "you?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Even toward me, uncle. With reluctance I married him, and my only
    \r\n", - "regret is, that a slave's fate had not been mine ere the fruits of
    \r\n", - "that day fell upon me. Women like me make a feeble defence in the
    \r\n", - "world; and bad husbands are the shame of their sex,\" she returns,
    \r\n", - "her eyes brightening with animation, as she endeavours to calm the
    \r\n", - "excitement her remarks have given rise to: \"Don't, pray don't mind
    \r\n", - "it, uncle,\" she concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Such news had been anticipated; but I was cautious not to\"--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Never mind,\" she interrupts, suddenly coiling her delicate arm
    \r\n", - "round his neck, and impressing a kiss on his care-worn cheek. \"Let
    \r\n", - "us forget these things; they are but the fruits of weak nature. It
    \r\n", - "were better to bear up under trouble than yield to trouble's
    \r\n", - "burdens: better far. Who knows but that it is all for the best?\" She
    \r\n", - "rises, and, with seeming cheerfulness, proceeds to spread the little
    \r\n", - "table with the refreshing tokens of her friendship. Yielding to
    \r\n", - "necessity, the table is spread, and they sit down, with an
    \r\n", - "appearance of domestic quietness touchingly humble.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There is some pleasure, after all, in having a quiet spot where we
    \r\n", - "can sit down and forget our cares. Perhaps (all said and done) a man
    \r\n", - "may call himself prince of his own garret, when he can forget all
    \r\n", - "beyond it,\" says Marston affected to tears by Franconia's womanly
    \r\n", - "resignation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" returns Franconia, joyously, \"it's a consolation to know that
    \r\n", - "we have people among us much worse off than we are. I confess,
    \r\n", - "though, I feel uneasy about our old slaves. Slavery's wrong, uncle;
    \r\n", - "and it's when one's reduced to such extremes as are presented in
    \r\n", - "this uninviting garret that we realise it the more forcibly. It
    \r\n", - "gives the poor wretches no chance of bettering their condition; and
    \r\n", - "if one exhibits ever so much talent over the other, there is no
    \r\n", - "chance left him to improve it. It is no recompense to the slave that
    \r\n", - "his talent only increases the price of the article to be sold. Look
    \r\n", - "what Harry would have been had he enjoyed freedom. Uncle, we forget
    \r\n", - "our best interests while pondering over the security of a bad
    \r\n", - "system. Would it not be better to cultivate the slave's affections,
    \r\n", - "rather than oppress his feelings?\" Franconia has their cause at
    \r\n", - "heart-forgets her own. She is far removed from the cold speculations
    \r\n", - "of the south; she is free from mercenary motives; unstained by that
    \r\n", - "principle of logic which recognises only the man merchandise. No
    \r\n", - "will hath she to contrive ingenious apologies for the wrongs
    \r\n", - "inflicted upon a fallen race. Her words spring from the purest
    \r\n", - "sentiment of the soul; they contain a smarting rebuke of Marston's
    \r\n", - "former misdoings: but he cannot resent it, nor can he turn the tide
    \r\n", - "of his troubles against her noble generosity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They had eaten their humble supper of meats and bread, and coffee,
    \r\n", - "when Franconia hears a rap at the lower entrance, leading into the
    \r\n", - "street. Bearing the taper in her hand, she descends the stairs
    \r\n", - "quickly, and, opening the door, recognises the smiling face of Daddy
    \r\n", - "Bob. Daddy greets her as if he were surcharged with the very best
    \r\n", - "news for old mas'r and missus. He laughs in the exuberance of his
    \r\n", - "simplicity, and, with an air of fondness that would better become a
    \r\n", - "child, says, \"Lor', young missus, how glad old Bob is to see ye!
    \r\n", - "Seems like long time since old man see'd Miss Frankone look so spry.
    \r\n", - "Got dat badge.\" The old man shows her his badge, exultingly.
    \r\n", - "\"Missus, nobody know whose nigger I'm's, and old Bob arns a right
    \r\n", - "smart heap o' money to make mas'r comfortable.\" The old slave never
    \r\n", - "for once thinks of his own infirmities; no, his attachment for
    \r\n", - "master soars above every thing else; he thinks only in what way he
    \r\n", - "can relieve his necessities. Honest, faithful, and affectionate, the
    \r\n", - "associations of the past are uppermost in his mind; he forgets his
    \r\n", - "slavery in his love for master and the old plantation. Readily would
    \r\n", - "he lay down his life, could he, by so doing, lighten the troubles he
    \r\n", - "instinctively sees in the changes of master's position. The old
    \r\n", - "plantation and its people have been sold; and he, being among the
    \r\n", - "separated from earth's chosen, must save his infirm body lest some
    \r\n", - "man sell him for the worth thereof. Bob's face is white with beard,
    \r\n", - "and his coarse garments are much worn and ragged; but there is
    \r\n", - "something pleasing in the familiarity with which Franconia accepts
    \r\n", - "his brawny hand. How free from that cold advance, that measured
    \r\n", - "welcome, and that religious indifference, with which the would-be
    \r\n", - "friend of the slave, at the north, too often accepts the black man's
    \r\n", - "hand! There is something in the fervency with which she shakes his
    \r\n", - "wrinkled hand that speaks of the goodness of the heart; something
    \r\n", - "that touches the old slave's childlike nature. He smiles bashfully,
    \r\n", - "and says, \"Glad t' see ye, missus; dat I is: 'spishilly ven ye takes
    \r\n", - "care on old mas'r.\" After receiving her salutation he follows her to
    \r\n", - "the chamber, across which he hastens to receive a welcome from old
    \r\n", - "mas'r. Marston warmly receives his hand, and motions him to be
    \r\n", - "seated on the chest near the fire-place. Bob takes his seat, keeping
    \r\n", - "his eye on mas'r the while. \"Neber mind, mas'r,\" he says, \"Big Mas'r
    \r\n", - "above be better dan Buckra. Da'h is somefin' what Buckra no sell
    \r\n", - "from ye, dat's a good heart. If old mas'r on'y keeps up he spirit,
    \r\n", - "de Lor' 'll carry un throu' 'e triblation,\" he continues; and, after
    \r\n", - "watching his master a few minutes, returns to Franconia, and resumes
    \r\n", - "his jargon.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia is the same fair creature Bob watched over when she
    \r\n", - "visited the plantation: her countenance wears the same air of
    \r\n", - "freshness and frankness; her words are of the same gentleness; she
    \r\n", - "seems as solicitous of his comfort as before. And yet a shadow of
    \r\n", - "sadness shrouds that vivacity which had made her the welcome guest
    \r\n", - "of the old slaves. He cannot resist those expressions which are ever
    \r\n", - "ready to lisp forth from the negro when his feelings are excited.
    \r\n", - "\"Lor, missus, how old Bob's heart feels! Hah, ah! yah, yah! Looks so
    \r\n", - "good, and reminds old Bob how e' look down on dah Astley, yander.
    \r\n", - "But, dah somefin in dat ar face what make old nigger like I know
    \r\n", - "missus don't feel just right,\" he exclaims.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The kind woman reads his thoughts in the glowing simplicity of his
    \r\n", - "wrinkled face. \"It has been said that a dog was our last friend,
    \r\n", - "Bob: I now think a slave should have been added. Don't you think so,
    \r\n", - "uncle?\" she enquires, looking at Marston, and, again taking the old
    \r\n", - "slave by the hand, awaits the reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We rarely appreciate their friendship until it be too late to
    \r\n", - "reward it,\" he replies, with an attempt to smile.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True, true! but the world is full of ingratitude,--very amiable
    \r\n", - "ingratitude. Never mind, Daddy; you must now tell me all about your
    \r\n", - "affairs, and what has happened since the night you surprised me at
    \r\n", - "our house; and you must tell me how you escaped M'Carstrow on the
    \r\n", - "morning of the disturbance,\" she enjoins. And while Bob relates his
    \r\n", - "story Franconia prepares his supper. Some cold ham, bread, and
    \r\n", - "coffee, are soon spread out before him. He will remove them to the
    \r\n", - "chest, near the fire-place. \"Why, Missus Frankone,\" he says, \"ye
    \r\n", - "sees how I'se so old now dat nobody tink I'se werf ownin; and so
    \r\n", - "nobody axes old Bob whose nigger he is. An't prime nigger, now; but
    \r\n", - "den a' good fo' work some, and get cash, so t' help old mas'r yander
    \r\n", - "(Bob points to old master). Likes t' make old master feel not so
    \r\n", - "bad.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" rejoins Marston, \"Bob's good to me. He makes his sleeping
    \r\n", - "apartments, when he comes, at the foot of my bed, and shares his
    \r\n", - "earnings with me every Saturday night. He's like an old clock that
    \r\n", - "can keep time as well as a new one, only wind it up with care.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dat I is!\" says Daddy, with an exulting nod of the head, as he, to
    \r\n", - "his own surprise, lets fall his cup. It was only the negro's
    \r\n", - "forgetfulness in the moment of excitement. Giving a wistful look at
    \r\n", - "Franconia, he commences picking up the pieces, and drawing his
    \r\n", - "week's earnings from a side pocket of his jacket.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Eat your supper, Daddy; never mind your money now\" says Franconia,
    \r\n", - "laughing heartily: at which Bob regains confidence and resumes his
    \r\n", - "supper, keeping a watchful eye upon his old master the while. Every
    \r\n", - "now and then he will pause, cant his ear, and shake his head, as if
    \r\n", - "drinking in the tenour of the conversation between Franconia and her
    \r\n", - "uncle. Having concluded, he pulls out his money and spreads it upon
    \r\n", - "the chest. \"Old Bob work hard fo' dat!\" he says, with emphasis,
    \r\n", - "spreading a five-dollar bill and two dollars and fifty cents in
    \r\n", - "silver into divisions. \"Dah!\" he ejaculates, \"dat old mas'r share,
    \r\n", - "and dis is dis child's.\" The old man looks proudly upon the coin,
    \r\n", - "and feels he is not so worthless, after all. \"Now! who say old Bob
    \r\n", - "aint werf nofin?\" he concludes, getting up, putting his share into
    \r\n", - "his pocket, and then, as if unobserved, slipping the balance into
    \r\n", - "Marston's. This done, he goes to the window, affects to be looking
    \r\n", - "out, and then resuming his seat upon the chest, commences humming a
    \r\n", - "familiar plantation tune, as if his pious feelings had been
    \r\n", - "superseded by the recollection of past scenes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What, Daddy,--singing songs?\" interrupts Franconia, looking at him
    \r\n", - "enquiringly. He stops as suddenly as he commenced, exchanges an
    \r\n", - "expressive look, and fain would question her sincerity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Didn't mean 'um, missus,\" he returns, after a moment's hesitation,
    \r\n", - "\"didn't mean 'um. Was thinkin 'bout somefin back'ards; down old
    \r\n", - "plantation times.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You had better forget them times, Bob.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Buckra won't sell dis old nigger,--will he, Miss Frankone?\" he
    \r\n", - "enquires, resuming his wonted simplicity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sell you, Bob? You're a funny old man. Don't think your old
    \r\n", - "half-worn-out bones are going to save you. Money's the word: they'll
    \r\n", - "sell anything that will produce it,--dried up of age are no
    \r\n", - "exceptions. Keep out of Elder Pemberton Praiseworthy's way: whenever
    \r\n", - "you hear him singing, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
    \r\n", - "shall come,' as he always does,--run! He lives on the sale of
    \r\n", - "infirmity, and your old age would be a capital thing for the
    \r\n", - "exercise of his genius. He will put you through a course of
    \r\n", - "regeneration, take the wrinkles smooth out of your face, dye those
    \r\n", - "old grey whiskers, and get a profit for his magic power of
    \r\n", - "transposing the age of negro property,\" she replied, gravely, while
    \r\n", - "Bob stares at her as if doubting his own security.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Why, missus!\" he interposes, his face glowing with astonishment;
    \r\n", - "\"Buckra don't be so smart dat he make old nigger young, be he?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Traders can do anything with niggers that have got money in them,
    \r\n", - "as they say. Our distinguished people are sensitive of the crime,
    \r\n", - "but excuse themselves with apologies they cannot make cover the
    \r\n", - "shame.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Franke!\" interrupts Marston, \"spare the negro's feelings,--it may
    \r\n", - "have a bad effect.\" He touches her on the arm, and knits his brows
    \r\n", - "in caution.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How strange, to think that bad influence could come of such an
    \r\n", - "inoffensive old man! Truth, I know and feel, is powerfully painful
    \r\n", - "when brought home to the doors of our best people,--it cuts deep when
    \r\n", - "told in broad letters; but they make the matter worse by attempting
    \r\n", - "to enshrine the stains with their chivalry. We are a wondrous
    \r\n", - "people, uncle, and the world is just finding it out, to our shame.
    \r\n", - "We may find it out ourselves, by and by; perhaps pay the penalty
    \r\n", - "with sorrow. We look upon negroes as if they were dropped down from
    \r\n", - "some unaccountable origin,--intended to raise the world's cotton,
    \r\n", - "rice, and sugar, but never to get above the menial sphere we have
    \r\n", - "conditioned for them. Uncle, there is a mistake somewhere,--a mistake
    \r\n", - "sadly at variance with our democratic professions. Democracy needs
    \r\n", - "to reclaim its all-claiming principles of right and justice for the
    \r\n", - "down-trodden. And yet, while the negro generously submits to serve
    \r\n", - "us, we look upon him as an auspicious innovator, who never could
    \r\n", - "have been born to enjoy manhood, and was subjected to bear a black
    \r\n", - "face because God had marked him for servitude. Did God found an
    \r\n", - "aristocracy of colour, or make men to be governed by their
    \r\n", - "distinctive qualifications of colour relationship?\" says Franconia,
    \r\n", - "her face resuming a flush of agitation. Touching Marston on the arm
    \r\n", - "with the fore-finger of her right hand, and giving a glance at Bob,
    \r\n", - "who listens attentively to the theme of conversation, she continues:
    \r\n", - "\"Say no more of bad influence coming of slaves, when the corruptest
    \r\n", - "examples are set by those who hold them as such,--who crash their
    \r\n", - "hopes, blot out their mental faculties, and turn their bodies into
    \r\n", - "licentious merchandise that they may profit by its degradation! Show
    \r\n", - "me the humblest slave on your plantation, and, in comparison with
    \r\n", - "the slave-dealer, I will prove him a nobleman of God's kind,--of
    \r\n", - "God's image: his simple nature will be his clean passport into
    \r\n", - "heaven. The Father of Mercy will receive him there; he will forgive
    \r\n", - "the crimes enforced upon him by man; and that dark body on earth
    \r\n", - "will be recompensed in a world of light,--it will shine with the
    \r\n", - "brighter spirits of that realm of justice and love. Earth may bring
    \r\n", - "the slavetrader bounties; but heaven will reject the foul offering.\"
    \r\n", - "The good woman unfolds the tender emotions of her heart, as only
    \r\n", - "woman can.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Bob listens, as if taking a deep interest in the force and
    \r\n", - "earnestness of young missus's language. He is swayed by her pathos,
    \r\n", - "and at length interposes his word.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nigger ain't so good as white man\" (he shakes his head,
    \r\n", - "philosophically). \"White man sharp; puzzle nigger to find out what
    \r\n", - "'e don, know ven 'e mind t'.\" Thus saying, he takes a small hymn-
    \r\n", - "book from his pocket, and, Franconia setting the light beside him,
    \r\n", - "commences reading to himself by its dim glare.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! now, uncle, it's getting late, and I've a good way to go, and
    \r\n", - "the night's stormy; so I must prepare for home.\" Franconia gets up,
    \r\n", - "and evinces signs of withdrawing. She walks across the little
    \r\n", - "chamber three or four times, looks out of the window, strains her
    \r\n", - "sight into the gloomy prospect, and then, as if reluctant to leave
    \r\n", - "her uncle, again takes a seat by his side. Gently laying her left
    \r\n", - "hand upon his shoulder, she makes an effort at pleasantry, tells him
    \r\n", - "to keep up his resolution-to be of good cheer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Remember, uncle,\" she says, calmly, \"they tell us it is no disgrace
    \r\n", - "to be poor,--no shame to work to live; and yet poor people are
    \r\n", - "treated as criminals. For my own part, I would rather be poor and
    \r\n", - "happy than rich with a base husband; I have lived in New England,
    \r\n", - "know how to appreciate its domestic happiness. It was there
    \r\n", - "Puritanism founded true American liberty.--Puritanism yet lives, and
    \r\n", - "may be driven to action; but we must resign ourselves to the will of
    \r\n", - "an all-wise Providence.\" Thus concluding, she makes another attempt
    \r\n", - "to withdraw.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You must not leave me yet!\" says Marston, grasping her hand firmly
    \r\n", - "in his. \"Franke, I cannot part with you until I have disclosed what
    \r\n", - "I have been summoning resolution to suppress. I know your
    \r\n", - "attachment, Franconia; you have been more than dear to me. You have
    \r\n", - "known my feelings,--what they have already had to undergo.\" He
    \r\n", - "pauses.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Speak it, uncle, speak it! Keep nothing from me, nor make secrets
    \r\n", - "in fear of my feelings. Speak out,--I may relieve you!\" she
    \r\n", - "interrupts, nervously: and again encircling her arm round his neck,
    \r\n", - "waits his reply, in breathless suspense.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He falters for a moment, and then endeavours to regain his usual
    \r\n", - "coolness. \"To-morrow, Franconia,\" he half mutters out, \"to-morrow,
    \r\n", - "you may find me not so well situated,\" (here tears are seen
    \r\n", - "trickling down his cheeks) \"and in a place where it will not become
    \r\n", - "your delicate nature to visit me.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nay, uncle!\" she stops him there; \"I will visit you wherever you
    \r\n", - "may be-in a castle or a prison.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The word prison has touched the tender chord upon which all his
    \r\n", - "troubles are strung. He sobs audibly; but they are only sobs of
    \r\n", - "regret, for which there is no recompense in this late hour. \"And
    \r\n", - "would you follow me to a prison, Franconia?\" he enquires, throwing
    \r\n", - "his arms about her neck, kissing her pure cheek with the fondness of
    \r\n", - "a father.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yea, and share your sorrows within its cold walls. Do not yield to
    \r\n", - "melancholy, uncle,--you have friends left: if not, heaven will
    \r\n", - "prepare a place of rest for you; heaven shields the unfortunate at
    \r\n", - "last,\" rejoins the good woman, the pearly tears brightening in
    \r\n", - "mutual sympathy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"To-morrow, my child, you will find me the unhappy tenant of those
    \r\n", - "walls where man's discomfiture is complete.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nay, uncle, nay! you are only allowing your melancholy forebodings
    \r\n", - "to get the better of you. Such men as Graspum-men who have stripped
    \r\n", - "families of their all-might take away your property, and leave you
    \r\n", - "as they have left my poor parents; but no one would be so heartless
    \r\n", - "as to drive you to the extreme of imprisonment. It is a foolish
    \r\n", - "result at best.\" Franconia's voice falters; she looks more and more
    \r\n", - "intently in her uncle's face, struggles to suppress her rising
    \r\n", - "emotions. She knows his frankness, she feels the pain of his
    \r\n", - "position; but, though the dreadful extreme seems scarcely possible,
    \r\n", - "there is that in his face conveying strong evidence of the truth of
    \r\n", - "his remark.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Do not weep, Franconia; spare your tears for a more worthy object:
    \r\n", - "such trials have been borne by better men than I. I am but the
    \r\n", - "merchandise of my creditors. There is, however, one thing which
    \r\n", - "haunts me to grief; could I have saved my children, the pain of my
    \r\n", - "position had been slight indeed.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Speak not of them, uncle,\" Franconia interrupts, \"you cannot feel
    \r\n", - "the bitterness of their lot more than myself. I have saved a mother,
    \r\n", - "but have failed to execute my plan of saving them; and my heart
    \r\n", - "throbs with pain when I think that now it is beyond my power. Let me
    \r\n", - "not attempt to again excite in your bosom feelings which must ever
    \r\n", - "be harassing, for the evil only can work its destruction. To clip
    \r\n", - "the poisoning branches and not uproot the succouring trunk, is like
    \r\n", - "casting pearls into the waste of time. My heart will ever be with
    \r\n", - "the destinies of those children, my feelings bound in unison with
    \r\n", - "theirs; our hopes are the same, and if fortune should smile on me in
    \r\n", - "times to come I will keep my word-I will snatch them from the
    \r\n", - "devouring element of slavery.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stop, my child!\" speaks Marston, earnestly: \"Remember you can do
    \r\n", - "little against the strong arm of the law, and still stronger arm of
    \r\n", - "public opinion. Lay aside your hopes of rescuing those children,
    \r\n", - "Franconia, and remember that while I am in prison I am the property
    \r\n", - "of my creditors, subject to their falsely conceived notions of my
    \r\n", - "affairs,\" he continues. \"I cannot now make amends to the law of
    \r\n", - "nature,\" he adds, burying his face in his hand, weeping a child's
    \r\n", - "tears.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia looks solicitously upon her uncle, as he sorrows. She
    \r\n", - "would dry her tears to save his throbbing heart. Her noble
    \r\n", - "generosity and disinterestedness have carried her through many
    \r\n", - "trials since her marriage, but it fails to nerve her longer. Her's
    \r\n", - "is a single-hearted sincerity, dispensing its goodness for the
    \r\n", - "benefit of the needy; she suppresses her own troubles that she may
    \r\n", - "administer consolation to others. \"The affection that refuses to
    \r\n", - "follow misfortune to its lowest step is weak indeed. If you go to
    \r\n", - "prison, Franconia will follow you there,\" she says, with touching
    \r\n", - "pathos, her musical voice adding strength to the resolution. Blended
    \r\n", - "with that soft angelic expression her eyes give forth, her calm
    \r\n", - "dignity and inspiring nobleness show how firm is that principle of
    \r\n", - "her nature never to abandon her old friend.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The old negro, who had seemed absorbed in his sympathetic
    \r\n", - "reflections, gazes steadfastly at his old master, until his emotions
    \r\n", - "spring forth in kindest solicitude. Resistance is beyond his power.
    \r\n", - "\"Neber mind, old mas'r,\" (he speaks in a devoted tone) \"dar's better
    \r\n", - "days comin, bof fo' old Bob and mas'r. Tink 'um sees de day when de
    \r\n", - "old plantation jus so 't was wid mas'r and da' old folks.\"
    \r\n", - "Concluding in a subdued voice, he approaches Franconia, and seats
    \r\n", - "himself, book in hand, on the floor at her feet. Moved by his
    \r\n", - "earnestness, she lays her hand playfully upon his head, saying:
    \r\n", - "\"Here is our truest friend, uncle!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My own heart lubs Miss Frankone more den eber,\" he whispers in
    \r\n", - "return. How pure, how holy, is the simple recompense! It is nature's
    \r\n", - "only offering, all the slave can give; and he gives it in the bounty
    \r\n", - "of his soul.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston's grief having subsided, he attempts to soothe Franconia's
    \r\n", - "feelings, by affecting an air of indifference. \"What need I care,
    \r\n", - "after all? my resolution should be above it,\" he says, thrusting his
    \r\n", - "right hand into his breast pocket, and drawing out a folded paper,
    \r\n", - "which he throws upon the little table, and says, \"There, Franconia,
    \r\n", - "my child! that contains the climax of my unlamented misfortunes;
    \r\n", - "read it: it will show you where my next abode will be-I may be at
    \r\n", - "peace there; and there is consolation at being at peace, even in a
    \r\n", - "cell.\" He passes the paper into her hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "With an expression of surprise she opens it, and glances over its
    \r\n", - "contents; then reads it word by word. \"Do they expect to get
    \r\n", - "something from nothing?\" she says, sarcastically. \"It is one of
    \r\n", - "those soothsayers so valuable to men whose feelings are only with
    \r\n", - "money-to men who forget they cannot carry money to the graves; and
    \r\n", - "that no tribute is demanded on either road leading to the last abode
    \r\n", - "of man.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stop there, my child! stop!\" interrupts Marston. \"I have given them
    \r\n", - "all, 'tis true; but suspicion is my persecutor-suspicion, and trying
    \r\n", - "to be a father to my own children!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It is, indeed, a misfortune to be a father under such
    \r\n", - "circumstances, in such an atmosphere!\" the good woman exclaims,
    \r\n", - "clasping her hands and looking upward, as if imploring the
    \r\n", - "forgiveness of Heaven. Tremblingly she held the paper in her hand,
    \r\n", - "until it fell upon the floor, as she, overcome, swooned in her
    \r\n", - "uncle's arms.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "She swooned! yes, she swooned. That friend upon whom her affections
    \r\n", - "had been concentrated was a prisoner. The paper was a bail writ,
    \r\n", - "demanding the body of the accused. The officer serving had been kind
    \r\n", - "enough to allow Marston his parole of honour until the next morning.
    \r\n", - "He granted this in accordance with Marston's request, that by the
    \r\n", - "lenity he might see Daddy Bob and Franconia once more.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Lifting Franconia in his arms, her hair falling loosely down,
    \r\n", - "Marston lays her gently on the cot, and commences bathing her
    \r\n", - "temples. He has nothing but water to bathe them with,--nothing but
    \r\n", - "poverty's liquid. The old negro, frightened at the sudden change
    \r\n", - "that has come over his young missus, falls to rubbing and kissing
    \r\n", - "her hands,--he has no other aid to lend. Marston has drawn his chair
    \r\n", - "beside her, sits down upon it, unbuttons her stomacher, and
    \r\n", - "continues bathing and chafing her temples. How gently heaves that
    \r\n", - "bosom so full of fondness, how marble-like those features, how
    \r\n", - "pallid but touchingly beautiful that face! Love, affection, and
    \r\n", - "tenderness, there repose so calmly! All that once gave out so much
    \r\n", - "hope, so much joy, now withers before the blighting sting of
    \r\n", - "misfortune. \"Poor child, how fondly she loves me!\" says Marston,
    \r\n", - "placing his right arm under her head, and raising it gently. The
    \r\n", - "motion quickens her senses-she speaks; he kisses her pallid
    \r\n", - "cheek-kisses and kisses it. \"Is it you uncle?\" she whispers. She has
    \r\n", - "opened her eyes, stares at Marston, then wildly along the ceiling.
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, I'm in uncle's arms; how good!\" she continues, as if fatigued.
    \r\n", - "Reclining back on the pillow, she again rests her head upon his arm.
    \r\n", - "\"I am at the mansion-how pleasant; let me rest, uncle; let me rest.
    \r\n", - "Send aunt Rachel to me.\" She raises her right hand and lays her arms
    \r\n", - "about Marston's neck, as anxiously he leans over her. How dear are
    \r\n", - "the associations of that old mansion! how sweet the thought of home!
    \r\n", - "how uppermost in her wandering mind the remembrance of those happy
    \r\n", - "days!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "MARSTON IN PRISON.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WHILE Franconia revives, let us beg the reader's indulgence for not
    \r\n", - "recounting the details thereof. The night continues dark and stormy,
    \r\n", - "but she must return to her own home,--she must soothe the excited
    \r\n", - "feelings of a dissolute and disregarding husband, who, no doubt, is
    \r\n", - "enjoying his night orgies, while she is administering consolation to
    \r\n", - "the downcast. \"Ah! uncle,\" she says, about to take leave of him for
    \r\n", - "the night, \"how with spirit the force of hope fortifies us; and yet
    \r\n", - "how seldom are our expectations realised through what we look
    \r\n", - "forward to! You now see the value of virtue; but when seen through
    \r\n", - "necessity, how vain the repentance. Nevertheless, let us profit by
    \r\n", - "the lesson before us; let us hope the issue may yet be favourable!\"
    \r\n", - "Bob will see his young missus safe home-he will be her guide and
    \r\n", - "protector. So, preparing his cap, he buttons his jacket, laughs and
    \r\n", - "grins with joy, goes to the door, then to the fire-place, and to the
    \r\n", - "door again, where, keeping his left hand on the latch, and his right
    \r\n", - "holding the casement, he bows and scrapes, for \"Missus comin.\"
    \r\n", - "Franconia arranges her dress as best she can, adjusts her bonnet,
    \r\n", - "embraces Marston, imprints a fond kiss on his cheek, reluctantly
    \r\n", - "relinquishes his hand, whispers a last word of consolation, and bids
    \r\n", - "him good night,--a gentle good night-in sorrow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "She has gone, and the old slave is her guide, her human watch-dog.
    \r\n", - "Slowly Marston paces the silent chamber alone, giving vent to his
    \r\n", - "pent-up emotions. What may to-morrow bring forth? runs through his
    \r\n", - "wearied mind. It is but the sudden downfall of life, so inseparable
    \r\n", - "from the planter who rests his hopes on the abundance of his human
    \r\n", - "property. But the slave returns, and relieves him of his musings. He
    \r\n", - "has seen his young missus safe to her door; he has received her kind
    \r\n", - "word, and her good, good night! Entering the chamber with a smile,
    \r\n", - "he sets about clearing away the little things, and, when done, draws
    \r\n", - "his seat close to Marston, at the fire-place. As if quite at home
    \r\n", - "beside his old master, he eyes Marston intently for some time,--seems
    \r\n", - "studying his thoughts and fears. At length the old slave commences
    \r\n", - "disclosing his feelings. His well-worn bones are not worth a large
    \r\n", - "sum; nor are the merits of his worthy age saleable;--no! there is
    \r\n", - "nothing left but his feelings, those genuine virtues so happily
    \r\n", - "illustrated. Daddy Bob will stand by mas'r, as he expresses it, in
    \r\n", - "power or in prison. Kindness has excited all that vanity in Bob so
    \r\n", - "peculiar to the negro, and by which he prides himself in the prime
    \r\n", - "value of his person. There he sits-Marston's faithful friend,
    \r\n", - "contemplating his silence with a steady gaze, and then, giving his
    \r\n", - "jet-black face a double degree of seriousness, shrugs his shoulders,
    \r\n", - "significantly nods his head, and intimates that it will soon be time
    \r\n", - "to retire, by commencing to unboot master.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You seem in a hurry to get rid of me, Daddy! Want to get your own
    \r\n", - "cranium into a pine-knot sleep, eh?\" says Marston, with an
    \r\n", - "encouraging smile, pulling the old slave's whiskers in a playful
    \r\n", - "manner.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, Boss; 'tant dat,\" returns Bob, keeping on tugging at Marston's
    \r\n", - "boots until he has got them from his feet, and safely stowed away in
    \r\n", - "a corner. A gentle hint that he is all ready to relieve Marston of
    \r\n", - "his upper garments brings him to his feet, when Bob commences upon
    \r\n", - "him in right good earnest, and soon has him stowed away between the
    \r\n", - "sheets. \"Bob neber likes to hurry old Boss, but den 'e kno' what's
    \r\n", - "on old Mas'r's feelins, an 'e kno' dat sleep make 'um forget 'um!\"
    \r\n", - "rejoins Bob, in a half whisper that caught Marston's ear, as he
    \r\n", - "patted and fussed about his pillow, in order to make him as
    \r\n", - "comfortable as circumstances would admit. After this he extinguishes
    \r\n", - "the light, and, accustomed to a slave's bed, lumbers himself down on
    \r\n", - "the floor beside his master's cot. Thus, watchfully, he spends the
    \r\n", - "night.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "When morning dawned, Bob was in the full enjoyment of what the negro
    \r\n", - "so pertinently calls a long and strong sleep. He cannot resist its
    \r\n", - "soothing powers, nor will master disturb him in its enjoyment.
    \r\n", - "Before breakfast-time arrives, however, he arouses with a loud
    \r\n", - "guffaw, looks round the room vacantly, as if he were doubting the
    \r\n", - "presence of things about him. Rising to his knees, he rubs his eyes
    \r\n", - "languidly, yawns, and stretches his arms, scratches his head, and
    \r\n", - "suddenly gets a glimpse of old master, who is already dressed, and
    \r\n", - "sits by the window, his attention intently set upon some object
    \r\n", - "without. The old slave recognises the same chamber from which he
    \r\n", - "guided Franconia on the night before, and, after saluting mas'r,
    \r\n", - "sets about arranging the domestic affairs of the apartment, and
    \r\n", - "preparing the breakfast table, the breakfast being cooked at Aunt
    \r\n", - "Beckie's cabin, in the yard. Aunt Beckie had the distinguished
    \r\n", - "satisfaction of knowing Marston in his better days, and now esteems
    \r\n", - "it an honour to serve him, even in his poverty. Always happy to
    \r\n", - "inform her friends that she was brought up a first-rate pastry-cook,
    \r\n", - "she now adds, with great satisfaction, that she pays her owner, the
    \r\n", - "very Reverend Mr. Thomas Tippletony, the ever-pious rector of St.
    \r\n", - "Michael's, no end of money for her time, and makes a good profit at
    \r\n", - "her business beside. Notwithstanding she has a large family of
    \r\n", - "bright children to maintain in a respectable way, she hopes for a
    \r\n", - "continuance of their patronage, and will give the best terms her
    \r\n", - "limited means admit. She knows how very necessary it is for a
    \r\n", - "southern gentleman who would be anybody to keep up appearances, and,
    \r\n", - "with little means, to make a great display: hence she is very easy
    \r\n", - "in matters of payment. In Marston's case, she is extremely proud to
    \r\n", - "render him service,--to \"do for him\" as far as she can, and wait a
    \r\n", - "change for the better concerning any balance outstanding.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Bob fetches the breakfast of coffee, fritters, homony, and bacon,--a
    \r\n", - "very good breakfast it is, considering the circumstances,--and
    \r\n", - "spreads the little rustic board with an air of comfort and neatness
    \r\n", - "complimentary to the old slave's taste. And, withal, the old man
    \r\n", - "cannot forego the inherent vanity of his nature, for he is,
    \r\n", - "unconsciously, performing all the ceremonies of attendance he has
    \r\n", - "seen Dandy and his satellites go through at the plantation mansion.
    \r\n", - "He fusses and grins, and praises and laughs, as he sets the dishes
    \r\n", - "down one by one, keeping a watchful eye on mas'r, as if to detect an
    \r\n", - "approval in his countenance. \"Reckon 'ow dis old nigger can fix old
    \r\n", - "Boss up aristocratic breakfast like Dandy. Now, Boss-da'h he is!\" he
    \r\n", - "says, whisking round the table, setting the cups just so, and
    \r\n", - "spreading himself with exultation. \"Want to see master smile-laugh
    \r\n", - "some-like 'e used down on da'h old plantation!\" he ejaculates,
    \r\n", - "emphatically, placing a chair at Marston's plate. This done, he
    \r\n", - "accompanies his best bow with a scrape of his right foot, spreads
    \r\n", - "his hands,--the gesture being the signal of readiness. Marston takes
    \r\n", - "his chair, as Bob affects the compound dignity of the very best
    \r\n", - "trained nigger, doing the distinguished in waiting.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A little less ceremony, my old faithful! the small follies of
    \r\n", - "etiquette ill become such a place as this. We must succumb to
    \r\n", - "circumstances: come, sit down, Bob; draw your bench to the chest,
    \r\n", - "and there eat your share, while I wait on myself,\" says Marston,
    \r\n", - "touching Bob on the arm. The words were no sooner uttered, than
    \r\n", - "Bob's countenance changed from the playful to the serious; he could
    \r\n", - "see nothing but dignity in master, no matter in what sphere he might
    \r\n", - "be placed. His simple nature recoils at the idea of dispensing with
    \r\n", - "the attention due from slave to master. Master's fallen fortunes,
    \r\n", - "and the cheerless character of the chamber, are nothing to Daddy-
    \r\n", - "master must keep up his dignity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You need'nt look so serious, Daddy; it only gives an extra shade to
    \r\n", - "your face, already black enough for any immediate purpose!\" says
    \r\n", - "Marston, turning round and smiling at the old slave's discomfiture.
    \r\n", - "To make amends, master takes a plate from the table, and gives Bob a
    \r\n", - "share of his homony and bacon. This is very pleasing to the old
    \r\n", - "slave, who regains his wonted earnestness, takes the plate politely
    \r\n", - "from his master's hand, retires with it to the chest, and keeps up a
    \r\n", - "regular fire of chit-chat while dispensing its contents. In this
    \r\n", - "humble apartment, master and slave-the former once opulent, and the
    \r\n", - "latter still warm with attachment for his friend-are happily
    \r\n", - "companioned. They finish their breakfast,--a long pause intervenes.
    \r\n", - "\"I would I were beyond the bounds of this our south,\" says Marston,
    \r\n", - "breaking the silence, as he draws his chair and seats himself by the
    \r\n", - "window, where he can look out upon the dingy little houses in the
    \r\n", - "lane.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The unhappy man feels the burden of a misspent life; he cannot
    \r\n", - "recall the past, nor make amends for its errors. But, withal, it is
    \r\n", - "some relief that he can disclose his feelings to the old man, his
    \r\n", - "slave.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mas'r,\" interrupts the old slave, looking complacently in his face,
    \r\n", - "\"Bob 'll fowler ye, and be de same old friend. I will walk behind
    \r\n", - "Miss Frankone.\" His simple nature seems warming into fervency.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! old man,\" returns Marston, \"if there be a wish (you may go
    \r\n", - "before me, though) I have on earth, it is that when I die our graves
    \r\n", - "may be side by side, with an epitaph to denote master, friend, and
    \r\n", - "faithful servant lie here.\" He takes the old man by the hand again,
    \r\n", - "as the tears drop from his cheeks. \"A prison is but a grave to the
    \r\n", - "man of honourable feelings,\" he concludes. Thus disclosing his
    \r\n", - "feelings, a rap at the door announces a messenger. It is nine
    \r\n", - "o'clock, and immediately the sheriff, a gentlemanly-looking man,
    \r\n", - "wearing the insignia of office on his hat, walks in, and politely
    \r\n", - "intimates that, painful as may be the duty, he must request his
    \r\n", - "company to the county gaol, that place so accommodatingly prepared
    \r\n", - "for the reception of unfortunates.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sorry for your misfortunes, sir! but we'll try to make you as
    \r\n", - "comfortable as we can in our place.\" The servitor of the law seems
    \r\n", - "to have some sympathy in him. \"I have my duty to perform, you know,
    \r\n", - "sir; nevertheless, I have my opinion about imprisoning honest men
    \r\n", - "for debt: it's a poor satisfaction, sir. I'm only an officer, you
    \r\n", - "see, sir, not a law-maker-never want to be, sir. I very much dislike
    \r\n", - "to execute these kind of writs,\" says the man of the law, as, with
    \r\n", - "an expression of commiseration, he glances round the room, and then
    \r\n", - "at Daddy, who has made preparations for a sudden dodge, should such
    \r\n", - "an expedient be found necessary.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nay, sheriff, think nothing of it; it's but a thing of common
    \r\n", - "life,--it may befall us all. I can be no exception to the rule, and
    \r\n", - "may console myself with the knowledge of companionship,\" replies
    \r\n", - "Marston, as coolly as if he were preparing for a journey of
    \r\n", - "pleasure.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "How true it is, that, concealed beneath the smallest things, there
    \r\n", - "is a consolation which necessity may bring out: how Providence has
    \r\n", - "suited it to our misfortunes!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There are a few things here-a very few-I should like to take to my
    \r\n", - "cell; perhaps I can send for them,\" he remarks, looking at the
    \r\n", - "officer, enquiringly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My name is Martin-Captain Martin, they call me,\"-returns that
    \r\n", - "functionary, politely. \"If you accept my word of honour, I pledge it
    \r\n", - "they are taken care of, and sent to your apartments.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You mean my new lodging-house, or my new grave, I suppose,\"
    \r\n", - "interrupted Marston, jocosely, pointing out to Daddy the few
    \r\n", - "articles of bedding, chairs, and a window-curtain he desired
    \r\n", - "removed. Daddy has been pensively standing by the fire-place the
    \r\n", - "while, contemplating the scene.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston soon announces his readiness to proceed; and, followed by
    \r\n", - "the old slave, the officer leads the way down the ricketty old
    \r\n", - "stairs to the street. \"I's gwine t'see whar dey takes old mas'r, any
    \r\n", - "how, reckon I is,\" says the old slave, giving his head a significant
    \r\n", - "turn.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, sir,\" interrupts the officer, as they arrive at the bottom of
    \r\n", - "the stairs, \"perhaps you have a delicacy about going through the
    \r\n", - "street with a sheriff; many men have: therefore I shall confide in
    \r\n", - "your honour, sir, and shall give you the privilege of proceeding to
    \r\n", - "the gaol as best suits your feelings. I never allow myself to follow
    \r\n", - "the will of creditors; if I did, my duties would be turned into a
    \r\n", - "system of tyranny, to gratify their feelings only. Now, you may take
    \r\n", - "a carriage, or walk; only meet me at the prison gate.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Thanks, thanks!\" returns Marston, grateful for the officer's
    \r\n", - "kindness, \"my crime is generosity; you need not fear me. My old
    \r\n", - "faithful here will guide me along.\" The officer bows assent, and
    \r\n", - "with a respectful wave of the hand they separate to pursue different
    \r\n", - "routes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston walks slowly along, Bob keeping pace close behind. He passes
    \r\n", - "many of his old acquaintances, who, in better times, would have
    \r\n", - "recognised him with a cordial embrace; at present they have scarcely
    \r\n", - "a nod to spare. Marston, however, is firm in his resolution, looks
    \r\n", - "not on one side nor the other, and reaches the prison-gate in good
    \r\n", - "time. The officer has reached it in advance, and waits him there.
    \r\n", - "They pause a few moments as Marston scans the frowning wall that
    \r\n", - "encloses the gloomy-looking old prison. \"I am ready to go in,\" says
    \r\n", - "Marston; and just as they are about to enter the arched gate, the
    \r\n", - "old slave touches him on the arm, and says, \"Mas'r, dat's no place
    \r\n", - "fo'h Bob. Can't stand seein' on ye locked up wid sich folks as in
    \r\n", - "dah!\" Solicitously he looks in his master's face. The man of trouble
    \r\n", - "grasps firmly the old slave's hand, holds it in silence for some
    \r\n", - "minutes-the officer, moved by the touching scene, turns his head
    \r\n", - "away-as tears course down his cheeks. He has no words to speak the
    \r\n", - "emotions of his heart; he shakes the old man's hand affectionately,
    \r\n", - "attempts to whisper a word in his ear, but is too deeply affected.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Good by, mas'r: may God bless 'um! Ther's a place fo'h old mas'r
    \r\n", - "yet. I'll com t' see mas'r every night,\" says the old man, his words
    \r\n", - "flowing from the bounty of his heart. He turns away reluctantly,
    \r\n", - "draws his hand from Marston's, heaves a sigh, and repairs to his
    \r\n", - "labour. How precious was that labour of love, wherein the old slave
    \r\n", - "toils that he may share the proceeds with his master!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As Marston and the sheriff disappear through the gate, and are about
    \r\n", - "to ascend the large stone steps leading to the portal in which is
    \r\n", - "situated the inner iron gate opening into the debtors' ward, the
    \r\n", - "sheriff made a halt, and, placing his arm in a friendly manner
    \r\n", - "through Marston's, enquires, \"Anything I can do for you? If there
    \r\n", - "is, just name it. Pardon my remark, sir, but you will, in all
    \r\n", - "probability, take the benefit of the act; and, as no person seems
    \r\n", - "willing to sign your bail, I may do something to relieve your wants,
    \r\n", - "in my humble way.\" Marston shakes his head; the kindness impedes an
    \r\n", - "expression of his feelings. \"A word of advice from me, however, may
    \r\n", - "not be without its effect, and I will give it you; it is this:--Your
    \r\n", - "earnestness to save those two children, and the singular manner in
    \r\n", - "which those slave drudges of Graspum produced the documentary
    \r\n", - "testimony showing them property, has created wondrous suspicion
    \r\n", - "about your affairs. I will here say, Graspum's no friend of yours;
    \r\n", - "in fact, he's a friend to nobody but himself; and even now, when
    \r\n", - "questioned on the manner of possessing all your real estate, he
    \r\n", - "gives out insinuations, which, instead of exonerating you, create a
    \r\n", - "still worse impression against you. His conversation on the matter
    \r\n", - "leaves the inference with your creditors that you have still more
    \r\n", - "property secreted. Hence, mark me! it behoves you to keep close
    \r\n", - "lips. Don't let your right hand know what your left does,\" continues
    \r\n", - "the officer, in a tone of friendliness. They ascend to the iron
    \r\n", - "gate, look through the grating. The officer, giving a whistle, rings
    \r\n", - "the bell by touching a spring in the right-hand wall. \"My lot at
    \r\n", - "last!\" exclaims Marston. \"How many poor unfortunates have passed
    \r\n", - "this threshold-how many times the emotions of the heart have burst
    \r\n", - "forth on this spot-how many have here found a gloomy rest from their
    \r\n", - "importuners-how many have here whiled away precious time in a gloomy
    \r\n", - "cell, provided for the punishment of poverty!\" The disowned man, for
    \r\n", - "such he is, struggles to retain his resolution; fain would he,
    \r\n", - "knowing the price of that resolution, repress those sensations
    \r\n", - "threatening to overwhelm him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The brusque gaoler appears at the iron gate; stands his burly figure
    \r\n", - "in the portal; nods recognition to the officer; swings back the iron
    \r\n", - "frame, as a number of motley prisoners gather into a semicircle in
    \r\n", - "the passage. \"Go back, prisoners; don't stare so at every new
    \r\n", - "comer,\" says the gaoler, clearing the way with his hands extended.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "One or two of the locked-up recognise Marston. They lisp strange
    \r\n", - "remarks, drawn forth by his appearance in charge of an officer. \"Big
    \r\n", - "as well as little fish bring up here,\" ejaculates one.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Where are his worshippers and his hospitable friends?\" whispers
    \r\n", - "another.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's not much hospitality for poverty,\" rejoins a third,
    \r\n", - "mutteringly. \"Southern hospitality is unsound, shallow, and flimsy;
    \r\n", - "a little dazzling of observances to cover very bad facts. You are
    \r\n", - "sure to find a people who maintain the grossest errors in their
    \r\n", - "political system laying the greatest claims to benevolence and
    \r\n", - "principle-things to which they never had a right. The phantom of
    \r\n", - "hospitality draws the curtain over many a vice-it is a well-told
    \r\n", - "nothingness ornamenting the beggared system of your slavery; that's
    \r\n", - "my honest opinion,\" says a third, in a gruff voice, which indicates
    \r\n", - "that he has no very choice opinion of such generosity. \"If they want
    \r\n", - "a specimen of true hospitality, they must go to New England; there
    \r\n", - "the poor man's offering stocks the garden of liberty, happiness, and
    \r\n", - "justice; and from them spring the living good of all,\" he concludes;
    \r\n", - "and folding his arms with an air of independence, walks up the long
    \r\n", - "passage running at right angles with the entrance portal, and
    \r\n", - "disappears in a cell on the left.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I knew him when he was great on the turf. He was very distinguished
    \r\n", - "then.\" \"He'll be extinguished here,\" insinuates another, as he
    \r\n", - "protrudes his eager face over the shoulders of those who are again
    \r\n", - "crowding round the office-door, Marston and the officer having
    \r\n", - "entered following the gaoler.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The sheriff passes the committimus to the man of keys; that
    \r\n", - "functionary takes his seat at a small desk, while Marston stands by
    \r\n", - "its side, watching the process of his prison reception, in silence.
    \r\n", - "The gaoler reads the commitment, draws a book deliberately from off
    \r\n", - "a side window, spreads it open on his desk, and commences humming an
    \r\n", - "air. \"Pootty smart sums, eh!\" he says, looking up at the sheriff, as
    \r\n", - "he holds a quill in his left hand, and feels with the fingers of his
    \r\n", - "right for a knife, which, he observes, he always keeps in his right
    \r\n", - "vest pocket. \"We have a poor debtor's calendar for registering these
    \r\n", - "things. I do these things different from other gaolers, and it loses
    \r\n", - "me nothin'. I goes on the true principle, that 'tant right to put
    \r\n", - "criminals and debtors together; and if the state hasn't made
    \r\n", - "provision for keeping them in different cells, I makes a difference
    \r\n", - "on the books, and that's somethin'. Helps the feelins over the
    \r\n", - "smarting point,\" says the benevolent keeper of all such troublesome
    \r\n", - "persons as won't pay their debts;--as if the monstrous concentration
    \r\n", - "of his amiability, in keeping separate books for the criminal and
    \r\n", - "poverty-stricken gentlemen of his establishment, must be duly
    \r\n", - "appreciated. Marston, particularly, is requested to take the
    \r\n", - "initiative, he being the most aristocratic fish the gaoler has
    \r\n", - "caught in a long time. But the man has made his pen, and now he
    \r\n", - "registers Marston's name among the state's forlorn gentlemen,
    \r\n", - "commonly called poor debtors. They always confess themselves in
    \r\n", - "dependent circumstances. Endorsing the commitment, he returns it to
    \r\n", - "the sheriff, who will keep the original carefully filed away in his
    \r\n", - "own well-stocked department. The sheriff will bid his prisoner good
    \r\n", - "morning! having reminded the gaoler what good care it was desirable
    \r\n", - "to take of his guest; and, extending his hand and shaking that of
    \r\n", - "Marston warmly, takes his departure, whilst our gaoler leads Marston
    \r\n", - "into an almost empty cell, where he hopes he will find things
    \r\n", - "comfortable, and leaves him to contemplate upon the fallen fruit of
    \r\n", - "poverty. \"Come to this, at last!\" said Marston, entering the
    \r\n", - "cavern-like place.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "VENDERS OF HUMAN PROPERTY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS MENTAL
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CAPRICES.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "READER! be patient with us, for our task is complex and tedious. We
    \r\n", - "have but one great object in view-that of showing a large number of
    \r\n", - "persons in the south, now held as slaves, who are by the laws of the
    \r\n", - "land, as well as the laws of nature, entitled to their freedom.
    \r\n", - "These people, for whom, in the name of justice and every offspring
    \r\n", - "of human right, we plead, were consigned to the bondage they now
    \r\n", - "endure through the unrighteous act of one whose name (instead of
    \r\n", - "being execrated by a nation jealous of its honour), a singular
    \r\n", - "species of southern historian has attempted to enshrine with fame.
    \r\n", - "Posterity, ignorant of his character, will find his name clothed
    \r\n", - "with a paragon's armour, while respecting the writer who so cleverly
    \r\n", - "with a pen obliterated his crimes. We have only feelings of pity for
    \r\n", - "the historian who discards truth thus to pollute paper with his
    \r\n", - "kindness; such debts due to friendship are badly paid at the shrine
    \r\n", - "of falsehood. No such debts do we owe; we shall perform our duty
    \r\n", - "fearlessly, avoiding dramatic effect, or aught else that may tend to
    \r\n", - "improperly excite the feelings of the benevolent. No one better
    \r\n", - "knows the defects of our social system-no one feels more forcibly
    \r\n", - "that much to be lamented fact of there being no human law extant not
    \r\n", - "liable to be evaded or weakened by the intrigues of designing
    \r\n", - "men;--we know of no power reposed in man the administration of which
    \r\n", - "is not susceptible of abuse, or being turned to means of oppression:
    \r\n", - "how much more exposed, then, must all these functions be where
    \r\n", - "slavery in its popular sway rides triumphant over the common law of
    \r\n", - "the land. Divine laws are with impunity disregarded and abused by
    \r\n", - "anointed teachers of divinity. Peculation, in sumptuous garb, and
    \r\n", - "with modern appliances, finds itself modestly-perhaps
    \r\n", - "unconsciously-gathering dross at the sacred altar. How saint-like in
    \r\n", - "semblance, and how unconscious of wrong, are ye bishops (holy ones,
    \r\n", - "scarce of earth, in holy lawn) in that land of freedom where the
    \r\n", - "slave's chains fall ere his foot pads its soil! how calmly resigned
    \r\n", - "the freemen who yield to the necessity of making strong the altar
    \r\n", - "with the sword of state! How, in the fulness of an expansive soul,
    \r\n", - "these little ones, in lawn so white, spurn the unsanctified
    \r\n", - "spoiler-themselves neck-deep in the very coffers of covetousness the
    \r\n", - "while! How to their christian spirit it seems ordained they should
    \r\n", - "see a people's ekeings serve their rolling in wealth and luxury!
    \r\n", - "and, yet, let no man question their walking in the ways of a meek
    \r\n", - "and lowly Saviour-that Redeemer of mankind whose seamless garb no
    \r\n", - "man purchaseth with the rights of his fellow. Complacently innocent
    \r\n", - "of themselves, they would have us join their flock and follow
    \r\n", - "them,--their pious eyes seeing only heavenly objects to be gained,
    \r\n", - "and their pure hearts beating in heavy throbs for the wicked turmoil
    \r\n", - "of our common world. Pardon us, brother of the flesh, say they, in
    \r\n", - "saintly whispers,--it is all for the Church and Christ. Boldly
    \r\n", - "fortified with sanctimony, they hurl back the shafts of reform, and
    \r\n", - "ask to live on sumptuously, as the only sought recompense for their
    \r\n", - "christian love. Pious infallibility! how blind, to see not the
    \r\n", - "crime!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Reader! excuse the diversion, and accompany us while we retrace our
    \r\n", - "steps to where we left the loquacious Mr. M'Fadden, recovered from
    \r\n", - "the fear of death, which had been produced by whiskey in draughts
    \r\n", - "too strong. In company with a numerous party, he is just returning
    \r\n", - "from an unsuccessful search for his lost preacher. They have scoured
    \r\n", - "the lawns, delved the morasses, penetrated thick jungles of brakes,
    \r\n", - "driven the cypress swamps, and sent the hounds through places
    \r\n", - "seemingly impossible for human being to seclude himself, and where
    \r\n", - "only the veteran rattlesnake would seek to lay his viperous head. No
    \r\n", - "preacher have they found. They utter vile imprecations on his head,
    \r\n", - "pit him \"a common nigger,\" declare he has just learned enough, in
    \r\n", - "his own crooked way, to be dubious property-good, if a man can keep
    \r\n", - "him at minister business.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mine host of the Inn feels assured, if he be hiding among the swamp
    \r\n", - "jungle, the snakes and alligators will certainly drive him out: an
    \r\n", - "indisputable fact this, inasmuch as alligators and snakes hate
    \r\n", - "niggers. M'Fadden affirms solemnly, that the day he bought that
    \r\n", - "clergyman was one of the unlucky days of his life; and he positively
    \r\n", - "regrets ever having been a politician, or troubling his head about
    \r\n", - "the southern-rights question. The party gather round the front
    \r\n", - "stoop, and are what is termed in southern parlance \"tuckered out.\"
    \r\n", - "They are equally well satisfied of having done their duty to the
    \r\n", - "state and a good cause. Dogs, their tails drooping, sneak to their
    \r\n", - "kennels, horses reek with foam, the human dogs will \"liquor\" long
    \r\n", - "and strong.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Tisn't such prime stock, after all!\" says M'Fadden, entering the
    \r\n", - "veranda, reeking with mud and perspiration: \"after a third attempt
    \r\n", - "we had as well give it up.\" He shakes his head, and then strikes his
    \r\n", - "whip on the floor. \"I'll stand shy about buying a preacher, another
    \r\n", - "time,\" he continues; like a man, much against his will, forced to
    \r\n", - "give up a prize.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The crackers and wire-grass men (rude sons of the sand hills), take
    \r\n", - "the matter more philosophically,--probably under the impression that
    \r\n", - "to keep quiet will be to \"bring the nigger out\" where he may be
    \r\n", - "caught and the reward secured. Two hundred dollars is a sum for
    \r\n", - "which they would not scruple to sacrifice life; but they have three
    \r\n", - "gods-whiskey, ignorance, and idleness, any one of which can easily
    \r\n", - "gain a mastery over their faculties.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. M'Fadden requests that his friends will all come into the
    \r\n", - "bar-room-all jolly fellows; which, when done, he orders mine host to
    \r\n", - "supply as much \"good strong stuff\" as will warm up their spirits.
    \r\n", - "He, however, will first take a glass himself, that he may drink all
    \r\n", - "their very good healths. This compliment paid, he finds himself
    \r\n", - "pacing up and down, and across the room, now and then casting
    \r\n", - "suspicious glances at the notice of reward, as if questioning the
    \r\n", - "policy of offering so large an amount. But sundown is close upon
    \r\n", - "them, and as the bar-room begins to fill up again, each new-comer
    \r\n", - "anxiously enquires the result of the last search,--which only serves
    \r\n", - "to increase the disappointed gentleman's excitement. The affair has
    \r\n", - "been unnecessarily expensive, for, in addition to the loss of his
    \r\n", - "preacher, the price of whom is no very inconsiderable sum, he finds
    \r\n", - "a vexatious bill running up against him at the bar. The friendship
    \r\n", - "of those who have sympathised with him, and have joined him in the
    \r\n", - "exhilarating sport of man-hunting, must be repaid with swimming
    \r\n", - "drinks. Somewhat celebrated for economy, his friends are surprised
    \r\n", - "to find him, on this occasion, rather inclined to extend the
    \r\n", - "latitude of his liberality. His keen eye, however, soon detects, to
    \r\n", - "his sudden surprise, that the hunters are not alone enjoying his
    \r\n", - "liberality, but that every new comer, finding the drinks provided at
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's expense, has no objection to join in drinking his health;
    \r\n", - "to which he would have no sort of an objection, but for the cost.
    \r\n", - "Like all men suffering from the effect of sudden loss, he begins to
    \r\n", - "consider the means of economising by which he may repay the loss of
    \r\n", - "the preacher. \"I say, Squire!\" he ejaculates, suddenly stopping
    \r\n", - "short in one of his walks, and beckoning mine host aside, \"That
    \r\n", - "won't do, it won't! It's a coming too tough, I tell you!\" he says,
    \r\n", - "shaking his head, and touching mine host significantly on the arm.
    \r\n", - "\"A fellow what's lost his property in this shape don't feel like
    \r\n", - "drinkin everybody on whiskey what costs as much as your 'bright
    \r\n", - "eye.' You see, every feller what's comin in's 'takin' at my expense,
    \r\n", - "and claiming friendship on the strength on't. It don't pay, Squire!
    \r\n", - "just stop it, won't ye?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mine host immediately directs the bar-keeper, with a sign and a
    \r\n", - "whisper:--\"No more drinks at M'Fadden's score, 'cept to two or three
    \r\n", - "o' the most harristocratic.\" He must not announce the discontinuance
    \r\n", - "openly; it will insult the feelings of the friendly people, many of
    \r\n", - "whom anticipate a feast of drinks commensurate with their services
    \r\n", - "and Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden's distinguished position in political
    \r\n", - "life. Were they, the magnanimous people, informed of this sudden
    \r\n", - "shutting off of their supplies, the man who had just enjoyed their
    \r\n", - "flattering encomiums would suddenly find himself plentifully
    \r\n", - "showered with epithets a tyrant slave-dealer could scarcely endure.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Calling mine host into a little room opening from the bar, he takes
    \r\n", - "him by the arm,--intimates his desire to have a consultation on the
    \r\n", - "state of his affairs, and the probable whereabouts of his
    \r\n", - "divine:--\"You see, this is all the thanks I get for my kindness (he
    \r\n", - "spreads his hands and shrugs his shoulders.) A northern man may do
    \r\n", - "what he pleases for southern rights, and it's just the same; he
    \r\n", - "never gets any thanks for it. These sort o' fellers isn't to be
    \r\n", - "sneered at when a body wants to carry a political end,\" he adds,
    \r\n", - "touching mine host modestly on the shoulder, and giving him a
    \r\n", - "quizzing look, \"but ye can't make 'um behave mannerly towards
    \r\n", - "respectable people, such as you and me is. But 'twould'nt do to give
    \r\n", - "'um edukation, for they'd just spile society-they would! Ain't my
    \r\n", - "ideas logical, now, squire?\" Mr. M'Fadden's mind seems soaring away
    \r\n", - "among the generalities of state.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well!\" returns mine host, prefacing the importance of his opinion
    \r\n", - "with an imprecation, \"I'm fixed a'tween two fires; so I can't say
    \r\n", - "what would be square policy in affairs of state. One has feelins
    \r\n", - "different on these things: I depends a deal on what our big folks
    \r\n", - "say in the way of setting examples. And, too, what can you expect
    \r\n", - "when this sort a ruff-scuff forms the means of raising their
    \r\n", - "political positions; but, they are customers of mine,--have made my
    \r\n", - "success in tavern-keeping!\" he concludes, in an earnest whisper.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, squire!\" M'Fadden places his hand in mine host's arm, and
    \r\n", - "looks at him seriously: \"What 'bout that ar nigger preacher gittin
    \r\n", - "off so? No way t' find it out, eh squire?\" M'Fadden enquires, with
    \r\n", - "great seriousness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can't tell how on earth the critter did the thing; looked like
    \r\n", - "peaceable property when he went to be locked up, did!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I think somebody's responsible for him, squire?\" interrupts
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden, watching the changes of the other's countenance: \"seems
    \r\n", - "how I heard ye say ye'd take the risk-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No,--no,--no!\" rejoins the other, quickly; \"that never will do. I
    \r\n", - "never receipt for nigger property, never hold myself responsible to
    \r\n", - "the customers, and never run any risks about their niggers. You
    \r\n", - "forget, my friend, that whatever shadow of a claim you had on me by
    \r\n", - "law was invalidated by your own act.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My own act?\" interrupts the disappointed man. \"How by my own act?
    \r\n", - "explain yourself!\" suddenly allowing his feelings to become excited.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sending for him to come to your bedside and pray for you. It was
    \r\n", - "when you thought Mr. Jones, the gentleman with the horns, stood over
    \r\n", - "you with a warrant in his hand,\" mine host whispers in his ear,
    \r\n", - "shrugging his shoulders, and giving his face a quizzical expression.
    \r\n", - "\"You appreciated the mental of the property then; but now you view
    \r\n", - "it as a decided defect.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The disappointed gentleman remains silent for a few moments. He is
    \r\n", - "deeply impressed with the anomaly of his case, but has not the
    \r\n", - "slightest objection to fasten the responsibility on somebody, never
    \r\n", - "for a moment supposing the law would interpose against the exercise
    \r\n", - "of his very best inclinations. He hopes God will bless him, says it
    \r\n", - "is always his luck; yet he cannot relinquish the idea of somebody
    \r\n", - "being responsible. He will know more about the preaching rascal's
    \r\n", - "departure. Turning to mine host of the inn: \"But, you must have a
    \r\n", - "clue to him, somewhere?\" he says, enquiringly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's my woman; can see if she knows anything about the nigger!\"
    \r\n", - "returns mine host, complacently. Ellen Juvarna is brought into the
    \r\n", - "presence of the injured man, who interrogates her with great care;
    \r\n", - "but all her disclosures only tend to throw a greater degree of
    \r\n", - "mystery over the whole affair. At this, Mr. M'Fadden declares that
    \r\n", - "the policy he has always maintained with reference to education is
    \r\n", - "proved true with the preacher's running away. Nigger property should
    \r\n", - "never be perverted by learning; though, if you could separate the
    \r\n", - "nigger from the preaching part of the property, it might do some
    \r\n", - "good, for preaching was at times a good article to distribute among
    \r\n", - "certain slaves \"what had keen instincts.\" At times, nevertheless, it
    \r\n", - "would make them run away. Ellen knew Harry as a good slave, a good
    \r\n", - "man, a good Christian, sound in his probity, not at all inclined to
    \r\n", - "be roguish,--as most niggers are--a little given to drink, but never
    \r\n", - "bad-tempered. Her honest opinion is that such a pattern of worthy
    \r\n", - "nature and moral firmness would not disgrace itself by running away,
    \r\n", - "unless induced by white \"Buckra.\" She thinks she heard a lumbering
    \r\n", - "and shuffling somewhere about the pen, shortly after midnight. It
    \r\n", - "might have been wolves, however. To all this Mr. M'Fadden listens
    \r\n", - "with marked attention. Now and then he interposes a word, to gratify
    \r\n", - "some new idea swelling his brain. There is nothing satisfactory yet:
    \r\n", - "he turns the matter over and over in his mind, looks Ellen
    \r\n", - "steadfastly in the face, and watches the movement of every muscle.
    \r\n", - "\"Ah!\" he sighs, \"nothing new developing.\" He dismissed the wench,
    \r\n", - "and turns to mine host of the inn. \"Now, squire, (one minute mine
    \r\n", - "host is squire, and the next Mr. Jones) tell ye what 'tis; thar's
    \r\n", - "roguery goin on somewhere among them ar' fellers--them sharpers in
    \r\n", - "the city, I means! (he shakes his head knowingly, and buttons his
    \r\n", - "light sack-coat round him). That's a good gal, isn't she?\" he
    \r\n", - "enquires, drawing his chair somewhat closer, his hard face assuming
    \r\n", - "great seriousness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mine host gives an affirmative nod, and says, \"Nothin shorter! Can
    \r\n", - "take her word on a turn of life or death. Tip top gal, that! Paid a
    \r\n", - "price for her what u'd make ye wink, I reckon.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's just what I wanted to know,\" he interrupts, suddenly
    \r\n", - "grasping the hand of his friend. \"Ye see how I'se a little of a
    \r\n", - "philosopher, a tall politician, and a major in the brigade down our
    \r\n", - "district,--I didn't get my law akermin for nothin; and now I jist
    \r\n", - "discovers how somebody-I mean some white somebody-has had a hand in
    \r\n", - "helpin that ar' nig' preacher to run off. Cus'd critters! never know
    \r\n", - "nothing till some white nigger fills their heads with roguery.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Say, my worthy M'Fadden,\" interrupts the publican, rising suddenly
    \r\n", - "from his seat, as if some new discovery had just broke forth in his
    \r\n", - "mind, \"war'nt that boy sold under a warrant?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Warranted-warranted-warranted sound in every particular? That he
    \r\n", - "was. Just think of this, squire; you're a knowin one. It takes you!
    \r\n", - "I never thought on't afore, and have had all my nervousness for
    \r\n", - "nothin. Warranted sound in every particular, means-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A moment!\" mine host interposes, suddenly: \"there's a keen point of
    \r\n", - "law there; but it might be twisted to some account, if a body only
    \r\n", - "had the right sort of a lawyer to twist it.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The perplexed man rejoins by hoping he may not be interrupted just
    \r\n", - "at this moment. He is just getting the point of it straight in his
    \r\n", - "mind. \"You see,\" he says, \"the thing begun to dissolve itself in my
    \r\n", - "philosophy, and by that I discovered the pint the whole thing stands
    \r\n", - "on. Its entirely metaphysical, though,\" he says, with a significant
    \r\n", - "shake of the head. He laughs at his discovery; his father, long
    \r\n", - "since, told him he was exceedingly clever. Quite a match for the
    \r\n", - "publican in all matters requiring a comprehensive mind, he declares
    \r\n", - "there are few lawyers his equal at penetrating into points. \"He
    \r\n", - "warranted him in every particular,\" he mutters, as mine host,
    \r\n", - "watching his seriousness, endeavours to suppress a smile. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "makes a most learned motion of the fore finger of the right hand,
    \r\n", - "which he presses firmly into the palm of his left, while contracting
    \r\n", - "his brows. He will soon essay forth the point of logic he wishes to
    \r\n", - "enforce. The property being a certain man endowed with preaching
    \r\n", - "propensities, soundness means the qualities of the man, mental as
    \r\n", - "well as physical; and running away being an unsound quality, the
    \r\n", - "auctioneer is responsible for all such contingencies. \"I have him
    \r\n", - "there,--I have!\" he holds up his hands exultingly, as he exclaims the
    \r\n", - "words; his face brightens with animation. Thrusting his hands into
    \r\n", - "his trowsers pockets he paces the room for several minutes, at a
    \r\n", - "rapid pace, as if his mind had been relieved of some deep study. \"I
    \r\n", - "will go directly into the city, and there see what I can do with the
    \r\n", - "chap I bought that feller of. I think when I put the law points to
    \r\n", - "him, he'll shell out.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Making some preliminary arrangements with Jones of the tavern, he
    \r\n", - "orders a horse to the door immediately, and in a few minutes more is
    \r\n", - "hastening on his way to the city.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Arriving about noon-day, he makes his way through its busy
    \r\n", - "thoroughfares, and is soon in the presence of the auctioneer. There,
    \r\n", - "in wondrous dignity, sits the seller of bodies and souls, his
    \r\n", - "cushioned arm-chair presenting an air of opulence. How coolly that
    \r\n", - "pomp of his profession sits on the hard mask of his iron features,
    \r\n", - "beneath which lurks a contempt of shame! He is an important item in
    \r\n", - "the political hemisphere of the state, has an honourable position in
    \r\n", - "society (for he is high above the minion traders), joined the
    \r\n", - "Episcopal church not many months ago, and cautions Mr. M'Fadden
    \r\n", - "against the immorality of using profane language, which that
    \r\n", - "aggrieved individual allows to escape his lips ere he enters the
    \r\n", - "door.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The office of our man of fame and fortune is thirty feet long by
    \r\n", - "twenty wide, and sixteen high. Its walls are brilliantly papered,
    \r\n", - "and painted with landscape designs; and from the centre of the
    \r\n", - "ceiling hangs a large chandelier, with ground-glass globes, on which
    \r\n", - "eagles of liberty are inscribed. Fine black-walnut desks, in chaste
    \r\n", - "carving, stand along its sides, at which genteelly-dressed clerks
    \r\n", - "are exhibiting great attention to business. An oil-cloth, with large
    \r\n", - "flowers painted on its surface, spreads the floor, while an air of
    \r\n", - "neatness reigns throughout the establishment singularly at variance
    \r\n", - "with the outer mart, where Mr. Forshou sells his men, women, and
    \r\n", - "little children. But its walls are hung with badly-executed
    \r\n", - "engravings, in frames of gilt. Of the distinguished vender's taste a
    \r\n", - "correct estimation may be drawn when we inform the reader that many
    \r\n", - "of these engravings represented nude females and celebrated
    \r\n", - "racehorses.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Excuse me, sir! I didn't mean it,\" Mr. M'Fadden says, in reply to
    \r\n", - "the gentleman's caution, approaching him as he sits in his elegant
    \r\n", - "chair, a few feet from the street door, luxuriantly enjoying a
    \r\n", - "choice regalia. \"It's the little point of a very nasty habit that
    \r\n", - "hangs upon me yet. I does let out the swear once in a while, ye see;
    \r\n", - "but it's only when I gets a crook in my mind what won't come
    \r\n", - "straight.\" Thus M'Fadden introduces himself, surprised to find the
    \r\n", - "few very consistent oaths he has made use of not compatible with the
    \r\n", - "man-seller's pious business habits. He will be cautious the next
    \r\n", - "time; he will not permit such foul breath to escape and wound the
    \r\n", - "gentleman's very tender feelings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden addresses him as squire, and with studious
    \r\n", - "words informs him of the nigger preacher property he sold him having
    \r\n", - "actually run away! \"Ye warranted him, ye know, squire!\" he says,
    \r\n", - "discovering the object of his visit, then drawing a chair, and
    \r\n", - "seating himself in close proximity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can't help that-quality we never warrant!\" coolly returns the
    \r\n", - "other, turning politely in his arm-chair, which works in a socket,
    \r\n", - "and directing a clerk at one of the desks to add six months'
    \r\n", - "interest to the item of three wenches sold at ten o'clock.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't talk that ar way, squire! I trades a deal in your line, and a
    \r\n", - "heap o' times, with you. Now we'll talk over the legal points.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Make them short, if you please!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! ye warranted the nigger in every particular. There's the
    \r\n", - "advertisement; and there's no getting over that! Ye must do the
    \r\n", - "clean thing-no possumin-squire, or there 'll be a long lawsuit what
    \r\n", - "takes the tin. Honour's the word in our trade.\" He watches the
    \r\n", - "changes that are fast coming over the vender's countenance, folds
    \r\n", - "his arms, places his right foot over his left knee, and awaits a
    \r\n", - "reply. Interrupting the vender just as he is about to give his
    \r\n", - "opinion he draws from his pocket a copy of the paper containing
    \r\n", - "the advertisement, and places it in his hand: \"If ye'll be good
    \r\n", - "enough to squint at it, ye'll see the hang o' my ideas,\" he says.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My friend,\" returns the vender, curtly, having glanced over the
    \r\n", - "paper, \"save me and yourself any further annoyance. I could have
    \r\n", - "told you how far the property was warranted, before I read the
    \r\n", - "paper; and I remember making some very particular remarks when
    \r\n", - "selling that item in the invoice. A nigger's intelligence is often a
    \r\n", - "mere item of consideration in the amount he brings under the hammer;
    \r\n", - "but we never warrant the exercise or extension of it. Po'h, man! we
    \r\n", - "might just as well attempt to warrant a nigger's stealing, lying,
    \r\n", - "cunning, and all such 'cheating master' propensities. Some of them
    \r\n", - "are considered qualities of much value-especially by poor planters.
    \r\n", - "Warrant nigger property not to run away, eh! Oh! nothing could be
    \r\n", - "worse in our business.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A minute, squire!\" interrupts the appealing Mr. M'Fadden, just as
    \r\n", - "the other is about to add a suspending clause to his remarks. \"If
    \r\n", - "warrantin nigger proper sound in all partiklers is'nt warrantin it
    \r\n", - "not to run away, I'm no deacon! When a nigger's got run-away in him
    \r\n", - "he ain't sound property, no way ye can fix it. Ye may turn all the
    \r\n", - "law and philosophy yer mind to over in yer head, but it won't cum
    \r\n", - "common sense to me, that ye warrant a nigger's body part, and let
    \r\n", - "the head part go unwarranted. When ye sells a critter like that, ye
    \r\n", - "sells all his deviltry; and when ye warrants one ye warrants
    \r\n", - "t'other; that's the square rule o' my law and philosophy!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The vender puffs his weed very coolly the while; and then, calling a
    \r\n", - "negro servant, orders a chair upon which to comfortably place his
    \r\n", - "feet. \"Are you through, my friend?\" he enquires, laconically; and
    \r\n", - "being answered in the affirmative, proceeds-\"I fear your philosophy
    \r\n", - "is common philosophy-not the philosophy upon which nigger law is
    \r\n", - "founded. You don't comprehend, my valued friend, that when we insert
    \r\n", - "that negro property will be warranted, we don't include the thinking
    \r\n", - "part; and, of course, running away belongs to that!\" he would inform
    \r\n", - "all those curious on such matters. Having given this opinion for the
    \r\n", - "benefit of M'Fadden, and the rest of mankind interested in slavery,
    \r\n", - "he rises from his seat, elongates himself into a consequential posi-
    \r\n", - "tion, and stands biting his lips, and dangling his watch chain with
    \r\n", - "the fingers of his left hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Take ye up, there,\" the other suddenly interrupts, as if he has
    \r\n", - "drawn the point from his antagonist, and is prepared to sustain the
    \r\n", - "principle, having brought to his aid new ideas from the deepest
    \r\n", - "recesses of his logical mind. Grasping the vender firmly by the arm,
    \r\n", - "he looks him in the face, and reminds him that the runaway part of
    \r\n", - "niggers belongs to the heels, and not to the head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The vender exhibits some discomfiture, and, at the same time, a
    \r\n", - "decided unwillingness to become a disciple of such philosophy. Nor
    \r\n", - "is he pleased with the familiarity of his importuning customer,
    \r\n", - "whose arm he rejects with a repulsive air.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "There has evidently become a very nice and serious question, of
    \r\n", - "which Mr. M'Fadden is inclined to take a commonsense view. His
    \r\n", - "opponent, however, will not deviate from the strictest usages of
    \r\n", - "business. Business mentioned the mental qualities of the property,
    \r\n", - "but warranted only the physical,--hence the curious perplexity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While the point stands thus nicely poised between their logic,
    \r\n", - "Romescos rushes into the office, and, as if to surprise M'Fadden,
    \r\n", - "extends his hand, smiling and looking in his face gratefully, as if
    \r\n", - "the very soul of friendship incited him. \"Mighty glad to see ye, old
    \r\n", - "Buck!\" he ejaculates, \"feared ye war going to kick out.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The appalled man stands for a few seconds as unmoved as a statue;
    \r\n", - "and then, turning with a half-subdued smile, takes the hand of the
    \r\n", - "other, coldly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Friends again! ain't we, old boy?\" breaks forth from Romescos, who
    \r\n", - "continues shaking his hand, at the same time turning his head and
    \r\n", - "giving a significant wink to a clerk at one of the desks. \"Politics
    \r\n", - "makes bad friends now and then, but I always thought well of you,
    \r\n", - "Mack! Now, neighbour, I'll make a bargain with you; we'll live as
    \r\n", - "good folks ought to after this,\" Romescos continues, laconically.
    \r\n", - "His advance is so strange that the other is at a loss to comprehend
    \r\n", - "its purport. He casts doubting glances at his wily antagonist, seems
    \r\n", - "considering how to appreciate the quality of such an unexpected
    \r\n", - "expression of friendship, and is half inclined to demand an earnest
    \r\n", - "of its sincerity. At the same time, and as the matter now stands, he
    \r\n", - "would fain give his considerate friend wide space, and remain within
    \r\n", - "a proper range of etiquette until his eyes behold the substantial.
    \r\n", - "He draws aside from Romescos, who says tremblingly: \"Losing that
    \r\n", - "preacher, neighbour, was a hard case-warn't it? You wouldn't a'
    \r\n", - "catched this individual buyin' preachers-know too much about 'em, I
    \r\n", - "reckon! It's no use frettin, though; the two hundred dollars 'll
    \r\n", - "bring him. This child wouldn't want a profitabler day's work for his
    \r\n", - "hound dogs.\" Romescos winks at the vender, and makes grimaces over
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's shoulder, as that gentleman turns and grumbles out,--\"He
    \r\n", - "warranted him in every partikler; and running away is one of a
    \r\n", - "nigger's partiklers?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My pertinacious friend!\" exclaims the vender, turning suddenly
    \r\n", - "towards his dissatisfied customer, \"seeing you are not disposed to
    \r\n", - "comprehend the necessities of my business, nor to respect my
    \r\n", - "position, I will have nothing further to say to you upon the
    \r\n", - "subject-not another word, now!\" The dignified gentleman expresses
    \r\n", - "himself in peremptory tones. It is only the obtuseness of his innate
    \r\n", - "character becoming unnecessarily excited.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos interposes a word or two, by way of keeping up the zest;
    \r\n", - "for so he calls it. Things are getting crooked, according to his
    \r\n", - "notion of the dispute, but fightin' won't bring back the lost.
    \r\n", - "\"'Spose ye leaves the settlin on't to me? There's nothing like
    \r\n", - "friendship in trade; and seeing how I am up in such matters, p'raps
    \r\n", - "I can smooth it down.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's not much friendship about a loss of this kind; and he was
    \r\n", - "warranted sound in every particular!\" returns the invincible man,
    \r\n", - "shaking his head, and affecting great seriousness of countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stop that harpin, I say!\" the vender demands, drawing himself into
    \r\n", - "a pugnacious attitude; \"your insinuations against my honour
    \r\n", - "aggravate me more and more.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well! just as you say about it,\" is the cool rejoinder. \"But you
    \r\n", - "'ll have to settle the case afore lawyer Sprouts, you will!\"
    \r\n", - "Stupidly inclined to dog his opinions, the sensitive gentleman,
    \r\n", - "claiming to be much better versed in the mode of selling human
    \r\n", - "things, becomes fearfully enraged. M'Fadden contends purely upon
    \r\n", - "contingencies which may arise in the mental and physical
    \r\n", - "complications of property in man; and this the gentleman man-seller
    \r\n", - "cannot bear the reiteration of.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Romescos thinks it is at best but a perplexin snarl, requiring
    \r\n", - "gentlemen to keep very cool. To him they are both honourable men,
    \r\n", - "who should not quarrel over the very small item of one preacher.
    \r\n", - "\"This warrantin' niggers' heads never amounts to anything,--it's just
    \r\n", - "like warrantin' their heels; and when one gets bad, isn't t'other
    \r\n", - "sure to be movin? Them's my sentiments, gratis!\" Stepping a few feet
    \r\n", - "behind M'Fadden, Romescos rubs his hands in great anxiety, makes
    \r\n", - "curious signs to the clerks at the desk, and charges his mouth with
    \r\n", - "a fresh cut of tobacco.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nobody bespoke your opinion,\" says the disconsolate M'Fadden,
    \r\n", - "turning quickly, in consequence of a sign he detected one of the
    \r\n", - "clerks making, and catching Romescos bestowing a grimace of no very
    \r\n", - "complimentary character, \"Your presence and your opinion are, in my
    \r\n", - "estimation, things that may easily be dispensed with.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I say!\" interrupts Romescos, his right hand in a threatening
    \r\n", - "attitude, \"not quite so fast\"-he drawls his words-\"a gentleman don't
    \r\n", - "stand an insult o' that sort. Just draw them ar' words back, like a
    \r\n", - "yard of tape, or this individual 'll do a small amount of bruising
    \r\n", - "on that ar' profile, (he draws his hand backward and forward across
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's face). 'Twon't do to go to church on Sundays with a
    \r\n", - "broken phiz?\" His face reddens with anger, as he works his head into
    \r\n", - "a daring attitude, grates his teeth, again draws his fist across
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's face; and at length rubs his nasal organ.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I understand you too well!\" replies M'Fadden, with a curt twist of
    \r\n", - "his head. \"A man of your cloth can't insult a gentleman like me;
    \r\n", - "you're lawless!\" He moves towards the door, stepping sideways,
    \r\n", - "watching Romescos over his left shoulder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I say!-Romescos takes his man by the arm-Come back here, and make a
    \r\n", - "gentleman's apology!\" He lets go M'Fadden's arm and seizes him by
    \r\n", - "the collar violently, his face in a blaze of excitement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nigger killer!\" ejaculates M'Fadden, \"let go there!\" He gives his
    \r\n", - "angry antagonist a determined look, as he, for a moment, looses his
    \r\n", - "hold. He pauses, as if contemplating his next move.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The very amiable and gentlemanly man-vender thinks it time he
    \r\n", - "interposed for the purpose of reconciling matters. \"Gentlemen!
    \r\n", - "gentlemen! respect me, if you do not respect yourselves. My office
    \r\n", - "is no place for such disgraceful broils as these; you must go
    \r\n", - "elsewhere.\" The modest gentleman, whose very distinguished family
    \r\n", - "connexions have done much to promote his interests, would have it
    \r\n", - "particularly understood that his office is an important place, used
    \r\n", - "only for the very distinguished business of selling men, women, and
    \r\n", - "little children. But Romescos is not so easily satisfied. He pushes
    \r\n", - "the amiable gentleman aside, calls Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden a tyrant
    \r\n", - "what kills niggers by the detestably mean process of starving them
    \r\n", - "to death. \"A pretty feller he is to talk about nigger killin! And
    \r\n", - "just think what our state has come to when such fellers as him can
    \r\n", - "make votes for the next election!\" says Romescos, addressing himself
    \r\n", - "to the vender. \"The Irish influence is fast destroying the political
    \r\n", - "morality of the country.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Turning to Mr. M'Fadden, who seems preparing for a display of his
    \r\n", - "combativeness, he adds, \"Ye see, Mack, ye will lie, and lie crooked
    \r\n", - "too! and ye will steal, and steal dishonourably; and I can lick a
    \r\n", - "dozen on ye quicker nor chain lightnin? I can send the hol batch on
    \r\n", - "ye-rubbish as it is-to take supper t'other side of sundown.\" To be
    \r\n", - "equal with his adversary, Romescos is evidently preparing himself
    \r\n", - "for the reception of something more than words. Twice or thrice he
    \r\n", - "is seen to pass his right hand into the left breast pocket of his
    \r\n", - "sack, where commonly his shining steel is secreted. In another
    \r\n", - "moment he turns suddenly towards the vender, pushes him aside with
    \r\n", - "his left hand, and brings his right in close proximity with Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden's left listener. That individual exhibits signs of renewed
    \r\n", - "courage, to which he adds the significant warning: \"Not quite so
    \r\n", - "close, if you please!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"As close as I sees fit!\" returns the other, with a sardonic grin.
    \r\n", - "\"Why don't you resent it?-a gentleman would!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Following the word, Mr. M'Fadden makes a pass at his antagonist,
    \r\n", - "which, he says, is only with the intention of keeping him at a
    \r\n", - "respectful distance. Scarcely has his arm passed when Romescos cries
    \r\n", - "out, \"There! he has struck me! He has struck me again!\" and deals
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden a blow with his clenched fist that fells him lumbering to
    \r\n", - "the floor. Simultaneously Romescos falls upon his prostrate victim,
    \r\n", - "and a desperate struggle ensues.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The vender, whose sacred premises are thus disgraced, runs out to
    \r\n", - "call the police, while the clerks make an ineffectual attempt to
    \r\n", - "separate the combatants. Not a policeman is to be found. At night
    \r\n", - "they may be seen swarming the city, guarding the fears of a white
    \r\n", - "populace ever sensitive of black rebellion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Like an infuriated tiger, Romescos, nimble as a catamount, is fast
    \r\n", - "destroying every vestige of outline in his antagonist's face,
    \r\n", - "drenching it with blood, and adding ghastliness by the strangulation
    \r\n", - "he is endeavouring to effect.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Try-try-trying to-kill-me-eh? You-you mad brute!\" gutters out the
    \r\n", - "struggling man, his eyes starting from the sockets like balls of
    \r\n", - "fire, while gore and saliva foam from his mouth and nostrils as if
    \r\n", - "his struggles are in death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Kill ye-kill ye?\" Romescos rejoins, the shaggy red hair falling in
    \r\n", - "tufts about his face, now burning with desperation: \"it would be
    \r\n", - "killin' only a wretch whose death society calls for.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At this, the struggling man, like one borne to energy by the last
    \r\n", - "throes of despair, gives a desperate spring, succeeds in turning his
    \r\n", - "antagonist, grasps him by the throat with his left hand, and from
    \r\n", - "his pocket fires a pistol with his right. The report alarms; the
    \r\n", - "shrill whistle calls to the rescue; but the ball has only taken
    \r\n", - "effect in the flesh of Romescos's right arm. Quick to the moment,
    \r\n", - "his arm dripping with gore from the wound, he draws his glittering
    \r\n", - "dirk, and plunges it, with unerring aim, into the breast of his
    \r\n", - "antagonist. The wounded man starts convulsively, as the other coolly
    \r\n", - "draws back the weapon, the blood gushing forth in a livid stream.
    \r\n", - "\"Is not that in self-defence?\" exclaims the bloody votary, turning
    \r\n", - "his haggard and enraged face to receive the approval of the
    \r\n", - "bystanders. The dying man, writhing under the grasp of his murderer,
    \r\n", - "utters a piercing shriek. \"Murdered! I'm dying! Oh, heaven! is this
    \r\n", - "my last-last-last? Forgive me, Lord,--forgive me!\" he gurgles; and
    \r\n", - "making another convulsive effort, wrings his body from under the
    \r\n", - "perpetrator of the foul deed. How tenacious of life is the dying
    \r\n", - "man! He grasps the leg of a desk, raises himself to his feet, and,
    \r\n", - "as if goaded with the thoughts of hell, in his last struggles
    \r\n", - "staggers to the door,--discharges a second shot, vaults, as it were,
    \r\n", - "into the street, and falls prostrate upon the pavement, surrounded
    \r\n", - "by a crowd of eager lookers-on. He is dead! The career of Mr.
    \r\n", - "M'Fadden is ended; his spirit is summoned for trial before a just
    \r\n", - "God.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The murderer (perhaps we abuse the word, and should apply the more
    \r\n", - "southern, term of renconterist), sits in a chair, calling for water,
    \r\n", - "as a few among the crowd prepare to carry the dead body into
    \r\n", - "Graspum's slave-pen, a few squares below.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Southern sensibility may call these scenes by whatever name it will;
    \r\n", - "we have no desire to change the appropriateness, nor to lessen the
    \r\n", - "moral tenor of southern society. It nurtures a frail democracy, and
    \r\n", - "from its bastard offspring we have a tyrant dying by the hand of a
    \r\n", - "tyrant, and the spoils of tyranny serving the good growth of the
    \r\n", - "Christian church. Money constructs opinions, pious as well as
    \r\n", - "political, and even changes the feelings of good men, who invoke
    \r\n", - "heaven's aid against the bondage of the souls of men.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos will not flee to escape the terrible award of earthly
    \r\n", - "justice. Nay, that, in our atmosphere of probity, would be
    \r\n", - "dishonourable; nor would it aid the purpose he seeks to gain.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXIV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A COMMON INCIDENT SHORTLY TOLD.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE dead body of Mr. Lawrence M'Fadden, whose heart was strong with
    \r\n", - "love of southern democracy, lies upon two pine-boards, ghastly and
    \r\n", - "unshrouded, in a wretched slave-pen. Romescos, surrounded by
    \r\n", - "admiring friends, has found his way to the gaol, where, as is the
    \r\n", - "custom, he has delivered himself up to its keeper. He has spent a
    \r\n", - "good night in that ancient establishment, and on the following
    \r\n", - "morning finds his friends vastly increased. They have viewed him as
    \r\n", - "rather desperate now and then; but, knowing he is brave withal, have
    \r\n", - "\"come to the rescue\" on the present occasion. These frequent visits
    \r\n", - "he receives with wonderful coolness and deference, their meats and
    \r\n", - "drinks (so amply furnished to make his stay comfortable) being a
    \r\n", - "great Godsend to the gaoler, who, while they last, will spread a
    \r\n", - "princely table.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Brien Moon, Esq.-better known as the good-natured coroner-has placed
    \r\n", - "a negro watchman over the body of the deceased, on which he proposes
    \r\n", - "to hold one of those curious ceremonies called inquests. Brien Moon,
    \r\n", - "Esq. is particularly fond of the ludicrous, is ever ready to
    \r\n", - "appreciate a good joke, and well known for his happy mode of
    \r\n", - "disposing of dead dogs and cats, which, with anonymous letters, are
    \r\n", - "in great numbers entrusted to his care by certain waggish gentlemen,
    \r\n", - "who desire he will \"hold an inquest over the deceased, and not
    \r\n", - "forget the fees.\" It is said-the aristocracy, however, look upon the
    \r\n", - "charge with contempt-that Brien Moon, Esq. makes a small per centage
    \r\n", - "by selling those canine remains to the governor of the workhouse,
    \r\n", - "which very humane gentleman pays from his own pocket the means of
    \r\n", - "transferring them into giblet-pies for the inmates. It may be all
    \r\n", - "scandal about Mr. Moon making so large an amount from his office;
    \r\n", - "but it is nevertheless true that sad disclosures have of late been
    \r\n", - "made concerning the internal affairs of the workhouse.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The hour of twelve has arrived; and since eight in the morning Mr.
    \r\n", - "Moon's time has been consumed in preliminaries necessary to the
    \r\n", - "organisation of a coroner's jury. The reader we know will excuse our
    \r\n", - "not entering into the minuti� of the organisation. Eleven jurors
    \r\n", - "have answered the summons, but a twelfth seems difficult to procure.
    \r\n", - "John, the good Coroner's negro servant, has provided a sufficiency
    \r\n", - "of brandy and cigars, which, since the hour of eleven, have been
    \r\n", - "discussed without stint. The only objection our worthy disposer of
    \r\n", - "the dead has to this is, that some of his jurors, becoming very
    \r\n", - "mellow, may turn the inquest into a farce, with himself playing the
    \r\n", - "low-comedy part. The dead body, which lies covered with a sheet, is
    \r\n", - "fast becoming enveloped in smoke, while no one seems to have a
    \r\n", - "passing thought for it. Colonel Tom Edon,--who, they say, is not
    \r\n", - "colonel of any regiment, but has merely received the title from the
    \r\n", - "known fact of his being a hogdriver, which honourable profession is
    \r\n", - "distinguished by its colonels proceeding to market mounted, while
    \r\n", - "the captains walk,--merely wonders how much bad whiskey the dead 'un
    \r\n", - "consumed while he lived.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"This won't do!\" exclaims Brien Moon, Esq., and proceeds to the door
    \r\n", - "in the hope of catching something to make his mournful number
    \r\n", - "complete. He happens upon Mr. Jonas Academy, an honest cracker, from
    \r\n", - "Christ's parish, who visits the city on a little business. Jonas is
    \r\n", - "a person of great originality, is enclosed in loosely-setting
    \r\n", - "homespun, has a woe-begone countenance, and wears a large-brimmed
    \r\n", - "felt hat. He is just the person to make the number complete, and is
    \r\n", - "led in, unconscious of the object for which he finds himself a
    \r\n", - "captive. Mr. Brien Moon now becomes wondrous grave, mounts a barrel
    \r\n", - "at the head of the corpse, orders the negro to uncover the body, and
    \r\n", - "hopes gentlemen will take seats on the benches he has provided for
    \r\n", - "them, while he proceeds to administer the oath. Three or four yet
    \r\n", - "retain their cigars: he hopes gentlemen will suspend their smoking
    \r\n", - "during the inquest. Suddenly it is found that seven out of the
    \r\n", - "twelve can neither read nor write; and Mr. Jonas Academy makes known
    \r\n", - "the sad fact that he does not comprehend the nature of an oath,
    \r\n", - "never having taken such an article in his life. Five of the
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, who can read and write, are from New England; while Mr.
    \r\n", - "Jonas Academy declares poor folks in Christ's parish are not fools,
    \r\n", - "troubled with reading and writing knowledge. He has been told they
    \r\n", - "have a thing called a college at Columbia; but only haristocrats get
    \r\n", - "any good of it. In answer to a question from Mr. Moon, he is happy
    \r\n", - "to state that their parish is not pestered with a schoolmaster.
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, they killed the one we had more nor two years ago, thank Good!
    \r\n", - "Han't bin trubl'd with one o' the critters since\" he adds, with
    \r\n", - "unmoved nerves. The Coroner suggests that in a matter of expediency
    \r\n", - "like the present it may be well to explain the nature of an oath;
    \r\n", - "and, seeing that a man may not read and write, and yet comprehend
    \r\n", - "its sacredness, perhaps it would be as well to forego the letter of
    \r\n", - "the law. \"Six used to do for this sort of a jury, but now law must
    \r\n", - "have twelve,\" says Mr. Moon. Numerous voices assent to this, and Mr.
    \r\n", - "Moon commences what he calls \"an halucidation of the nature of an
    \r\n", - "oath.\" The jurors receive this with great satisfaction, take the
    \r\n", - "oath according to his directions, and after listening to the
    \r\n", - "statement of two competent witnesses, who know but very little about
    \r\n", - "the affair, are ready to render a verdict,--\"that M'Fadden, the
    \r\n", - "deceased, came to his death by a stab in the left breast, inflicted
    \r\n", - "by a sharp instrument in the hand or hands of Anthony Romescos,
    \r\n", - "during an affray commonly called a rencontre, regarding which there
    \r\n", - "are many extenuating circumstances.\" To this verdict Mr. Moon
    \r\n", - "forthwith bows assent, directs the removal of the body, and invites
    \r\n", - "the gentlemen jurors to join him in another drink, which he does in
    \r\n", - "compliment to their distinguished services. The dead body will be
    \r\n", - "removed to the receiving vault, and Mr. Moon dismisses his jurors
    \r\n", - "with many bows and thanks; and nothing more.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE CHILDREN ARE IMPROVING.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THREE years have rolled round, and wrought great changes in the
    \r\n", - "aspect of affairs. M'Fadden was buried on his plantation, Romescos
    \r\n", - "was bailed by Graspum, and took his trial at the sessions for
    \r\n", - "manslaughter. It was scarcely worth while to trouble a respectable
    \r\n", - "jury with the paltry case-and then, they were so frequent! We need
    \r\n", - "scarcely tell the reader that he was honourably acquitted, and borne
    \r\n", - "from the court amid great rejoicing. His crime was only that of
    \r\n", - "murder in self-defence; and, as two tyrants had met, the successful
    \r\n", - "had the advantage of public opinion, which in the slave world soars
    \r\n", - "high above law. Romescos being again on the world, making his
    \r\n", - "cleverness known, we must beg the reader's indulgence, and request
    \r\n", - "him to accompany us while we return to the children.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Annette and Nicholas are, and have been since the sale, the property
    \r\n", - "of Graspum. They develope in size and beauty-two qualities very
    \r\n", - "essential in the man-market of our democratic world, the South.
    \r\n", - "Those beautiful features, intelligence, and reserve, are much
    \r\n", - "admired as merchandise; for southern souls are not lifted above this
    \r\n", - "grade of estimating coloured worth. Annette's cherub face, soft blue
    \r\n", - "eyes, clear complexion, and light auburn hair, add to the sweetness
    \r\n", - "of a countenance that education and care might make brilliant; and
    \r\n", - "yet, though reared on Marston's plantation, with unrestricted
    \r\n", - "indulgence, her childish heart seems an outpouring of native
    \r\n", - "goodness. She speaks of her mother with the affection of one of
    \r\n", - "maturer years; she grieves for her return, wonders why she is left
    \r\n", - "alone, remembers how kind that mother spoke to her when she said
    \r\n", - "good by, at the cell door. How sweet is the remembrance of a mother!
    \r\n", - "how it lingers, sparkling as a dewdrop, in a child's memory. Annette
    \r\n", - "feels the affliction, but is too young to divine the cause thereof.
    \r\n", - "She recalls the many happy plantation scenes; they are bright to her
    \r\n", - "yet! She prattles about Daddy Bob, Harry, Aunt Rachel, and old Sue,
    \r\n", - "now and then adding a solicitous question about Marston. But she
    \r\n", - "does not realise that he is her father; no, it was not her lot to
    \r\n", - "bestow a daughter's affection upon him, and she is yet too young to
    \r\n", - "comprehend the poison of slave power. Her childlike simplicity
    \r\n", - "affords a touching contrast to that melancholy injustice by which a
    \r\n", - "fair creature with hopes and virtues after God's moulding, pure and
    \r\n", - "holy, is made mere merchandise for the slave-market.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Annette has learned to look upon Nicholas as a brother; but, like
    \r\n", - "herself, he is kept from those of his own colour by some, to him,
    \r\n", - "unintelligible agency. Strange reflections flit through her youthful
    \r\n", - "imagination, as she embraces him with a sister's fondness. How oft
    \r\n", - "she lays her little head upon his shoulder, encircles his neck with
    \r\n", - "her fair arm, and braids his raven hair with her tiny fingers! She
    \r\n", - "little thinks how fatal are those charms she bears bloomingly into
    \r\n", - "womanhood.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "But, if they alike increase in beauty as they increase in age, their
    \r\n", - "dispositions are as unlike as two opposites can be moulded. Nicholas
    \r\n", - "has inherited that petulant will, unbending determination, and
    \r\n", - "lurking love of avenging wrong, so peculiar to the Indian race. To
    \r\n", - "restlessness he adds distrust of those around him; and when
    \r\n", - "displeased, is not easily reconciled. He is, however, tractable, and
    \r\n", - "early evinced an aptitude for mechanical pursuits that would have
    \r\n", - "done credit to maturer years. Both have been at service, and during
    \r\n", - "the period have created no small degree of admiration-Annette for
    \r\n", - "her promising personal appearance, Nicholas for his precocious
    \r\n", - "display of talent. Both have earned their living; and now Nicholas
    \r\n", - "is arrived at an age when his genius attracts purchasers.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Conspicuous among those who have been keeping an eye on the little
    \r\n", - "fellow, is Mr. Jonathan Grabguy, a master-builder, largely engaged
    \r\n", - "in rearing dwellings. His father was a builder, and his mother used
    \r\n", - "to help the workmen to make Venetian blinds. Fortune showered her
    \r\n", - "smiles upon their energies, and brought them negro property in great
    \r\n", - "abundance. Of this property they made much; the father of the
    \r\n", - "present Mr. Grabguy (who became a distinguished mayor of the city)
    \r\n", - "viewing it peculiarly profitable to use up his niggers in five
    \r\n", - "years. To this end he forced them to incessant toil, belabouring
    \r\n", - "them with a weapon of raw hide, to which he gave the singular
    \r\n", - "cognomen of \"hell-fire.\" When extra punishment was-according to his
    \r\n", - "policy-necessary to bring out the \"digs,\" he would lock them up in
    \r\n", - "his cage (a sort of grated sentry-box, large enough to retain the
    \r\n", - "body in an upright position), and when the duration of this
    \r\n", - "punishment was satisfactory to his feelings, he would administer a
    \r\n", - "counter quantity of stings with his \"hell-fire\" wattle. Indeed, the
    \r\n", - "elder Mr. Grabguy, who afterwards became \"His Worship the Mayor,\"
    \r\n", - "was a wonderful disciplinarian, which very valuable traits of
    \r\n", - "character his son retains in all their purity. His acts deserve more
    \r\n", - "specific notice than we are at present able to give them, inasmuch
    \r\n", - "as by them the safety of a state is frequently endangered, as we
    \r\n", - "shall show in the climax.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our present Mr. Grabguy is a small man, somewhat slender of person,
    \r\n", - "about five feet seven inches high, who usually dresses in the
    \r\n", - "habiliments of a working man, and is remarkable for his quickness.
    \r\n", - "His features are dark and undefinable, marked with that
    \r\n", - "thoughtfulness which applies only to the getting of wordly goods.
    \r\n", - "His face is narrow and careworn, with piercing brown eyes, high
    \r\n", - "cheek bones, projecting nose and chin, low forehead, and greyish
    \r\n", - "hair, which he parts in the centre. These form the strongest index
    \r\n", - "to his stubborn character; nevertheless he hopes, ere long, to reach
    \r\n", - "the same distinguished position held by his venerable father, who,
    \r\n", - "peace to his ashes! is dead.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, good neighbour Graspum,\" says our Mr. Grabguy, as he stands in
    \r\n", - "Graspum's warehouse examining a few prime fellows, \"I've got a small
    \r\n", - "amount to invest in stock, but I wants somethin' choice-say two or
    \r\n", - "three prime uns, handy at tools. I wants somethin' what 'll make
    \r\n", - "mechanics. Then I wants to buy,\" he continues, deliberately, \"a few
    \r\n", - "smart young uns, what have heads with somethin' in 'um, that ye can
    \r\n", - "bring up to larn things. White mechanics, you see, are so
    \r\n", - "independent now-a-days, that you can't keep 'um under as you can
    \r\n", - "niggers.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I've bin thinkin' 'bout tryin' an experiment with nigger prentices;
    \r\n", - "and, if it goes, we can dispense with white mechanics entirely. My
    \r\n", - "word for it, they're only a great nuisance at best. When you put 'um
    \r\n", - "to work with niggers they don't feel right, and they have notions
    \r\n", - "that our society don't respect 'um because they must mix with the
    \r\n", - "black rascals in following their trades; and this works its way into
    \r\n", - "their feelings so, that the best on 'um from the north soon give
    \r\n", - "themselves up to the worst dissipation. Ah! our white mechanics are
    \r\n", - "poor wretches; there isn't twenty in the city you can depend on to
    \r\n", - "keep sober two days.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, sir,\" interrupts Graspum, with an air of great importance,
    \r\n", - "as, with serious countenance, he stands watching every change in Mr.
    \r\n", - "Grabguy's face, at intervals taking a cursory survey of his
    \r\n", - "merchandise, \"can suit you to most anything in the line. You
    \r\n", - "understand my mode of trade, perfectly?\" He touches Mr. Grabguy on
    \r\n", - "the arm, significantly, and waits the reply, which that gentleman
    \r\n", - "makes with a bow. \"Well, if you do,\" he continues, \"you know the
    \r\n", - "means and markets I have at my command. Can sell you young uns of
    \r\n", - "any age, prime uns of various qualities-from field hands down to
    \r\n", - "watch-makers, clergymen!\" He always keeps a good supply on hand, and
    \r\n", - "has the very best means of supply. So Mr. Grabguy makes a purchase
    \r\n", - "of three prime men, whom he intends to transform into first-rate
    \r\n", - "mechanics. He declares he will not be troubled hereafter with those
    \r\n", - "very miserable white workmen he is constrained to import from the
    \r\n", - "north. They are foolish enough to think they are just as good as any
    \r\n", - "body, and can be gentlemen in their profession. They, poor fools!
    \r\n", - "mistake the south in their love of happy New England and its
    \r\n", - "society, as they call it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Having completed his bargain, he hesitates, as if there is something
    \r\n", - "more he would like to have. \"Graspum!\" he says, \"What for trade? can
    \r\n", - "we strike for that imp o' yours at Mrs. Tuttlewill's?\" Without
    \r\n", - "waiting for Graspum's reply, he adds-\"That chap 's goin to make a
    \r\n", - "tall bit of property one of these days!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ought to,\" rejoins Graspum, stoically; \"he's got right good stock
    \r\n", - "in him.\" The man of business gives his head a knowing shake, and
    \r\n", - "takes a fresh quid of tobacco. \"Give that 'sprout' a chance in the
    \r\n", - "world, and he'll show his hand!\" he adds.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's what I wants,\" intimates our tradesman. He has had his eye
    \r\n", - "on the fellow, and knows he's got a head what 'll make the very best
    \r\n", - "kind of a workman. But it will be necessary to take the stubborn out
    \r\n", - "without injuring the \"larning\" part. Mr. Grabguy, with great
    \r\n", - "unconcern, merely suggests these trifling matters for the better
    \r\n", - "regulating of Mr. Graspum's price.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Can do that easy enough, if you only study the difference between a
    \r\n", - "nigger's hide and head. Can put welts on pretty strong, if you
    \r\n", - "understand the difference a'tween the too,\" intimates our man of
    \r\n", - "business, as he places his thumbs in his vest, and commences humming
    \r\n", - "a tune. Then he stops suddenly, and working his face into a very
    \r\n", - "learned contortion, continues-\"Ye see, Grabguy, a man has to study
    \r\n", - "the human natur of a nigger just the same as he would a mule or a
    \r\n", - "machine. In truth, Grabguy, niggers are more like mules nor anything
    \r\n", - "else, 'cause the brute 'll do everything but what ye wants him to
    \r\n", - "do, afore he's subdued. You must break them when they are young.
    \r\n", - "About ten or a dozen welts, sir, well laid on when ye first begin,
    \r\n", - "and every time he don't toe the mark, will, in the course of a year,
    \r\n", - "make him as submissive as a spaniel-it will! The virtue of
    \r\n", - "submission is in the lash, it supples like seeds.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"About the stock, Graspum: I don't quite agree with you about
    \r\n", - "that,--I never believed in blood, ye know. As far as this imp goes, I
    \r\n", - "have my doubts about the blood doin on him much good; seein' how it
    \r\n", - "kind o' comes across my mind that there's some Ingin in him. Now, if
    \r\n", - "my philosophy serves me right, Ingin blood makes slave property want
    \r\n", - "to run away (the speaker spreads himself with great nonchalance),
    \r\n", - "the very worst fault.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Poh! poh!-isn't a bit o' that about him. That imp 's from Marston's
    \r\n", - "estate, can't scare up nothin so promisin' in the way of likely
    \r\n", - "colour,\" Graspum interposes, with great assurance of manner. \"You
    \r\n", - "didn't see the gal-did you?\" he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I reckon I've taken a squint at both on 'em! Pretty fine and
    \r\n", - "likely. From the same bankrupt concern, I s'pose?\" Mr. Grabguy looks
    \r\n", - "quite serious, and waits for a reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes-nothing less,\" Graspum replies, measuredly. \"But won't it make
    \r\n", - "your eye water, neighbour Grabguy, one of these days! Bring a tall
    \r\n", - "price among some of our young bucks, eh!\" He gives neighbour Grabguy
    \r\n", - "a significant touch on the arm, and that gentleman turns his head
    \r\n", - "and smiles. How quaintly modest!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"By the by, talking of Marston, what has become of him? His affairs
    \r\n", - "seem to have died out in the general levity which the number of such
    \r\n", - "cases occasion. But I tell you what it is, Graspum,\" (he whispers,
    \r\n", - "accompanying the word with an insinuating look), \"report implicates
    \r\n", - "you in that affair.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Me?-Me?-Me, Sir? God bless you! why, you really startle me. My
    \r\n", - "honour is above the world's scandal. Ah! if you only knew what I've
    \r\n", - "done for that man, Marston;--that cussed nephew of his came within a
    \r\n", - "feather of effecting my ruin. And there he lies, stubborn as a door-
    \r\n", - "plate, sweating out his obstinacy in gaol. Lord bless your soul, I'm
    \r\n", - "not to blame, you know!-I have done a world of things for him; but
    \r\n", - "he won't be advised.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"His creditors think he has more money, and money being the upshot
    \r\n", - "of all his troubles, interposes the point of difficulty in the
    \r\n", - "present instance. I tell them he has no more money, but--I know not
    \r\n", - "why--they doubt the fact the more, and refuse to release him, on the
    \r\n", - "ground of my purchasing their claims at some ulterior period, as I
    \r\n", - "did those two fi fas when the right of freedom was being contested
    \r\n", - "in the children. But, you see, Grabguy, I'm a man of standing; and
    \r\n", - "no money would tempt me to have anything to do with another such
    \r\n", - "case. It was by a mere quirk of law, and the friendship of so many
    \r\n", - "eminent lawyers, that I secured that fifteen hundred dollars from
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow for the gal what disappeared so mysteriously.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Graspum!\" interrupts Mr. Grabguy, suddenly, accompanying his remark
    \r\n", - "with a laugh, \"you're a good bit of a lawyer when it comes to the
    \r\n", - "cross-grained. You tell it all on one side, as lawyers do. I know
    \r\n", - "the risk you run in buying the fi fas on which those children were
    \r\n", - "attached!\" Mr. Grabguy smiles, doubtingly, and shakes his head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There are liabilities in everything,\" Graspum drawls out,
    \r\n", - "measuredly. \"Pardon me, my friend, you never should found opinion on
    \r\n", - "suspicion. More than a dozen times have I solicited Marston to file
    \r\n", - "his schedule, and take the benefit of the act. However, with all my
    \r\n", - "advice and kindness to him, he will not move a finger towards his
    \r\n", - "own release. Like all our high-minded Southerners, he is ready to
    \r\n", - "maintain a sort of compound between dignity and distress, with which
    \r\n", - "he will gratify his feelings. It's all pride, sir-pride!-you may
    \r\n", - "depend upon it.\" (Graspum lays his hands together, and affects
    \r\n", - "wondrous charity). \"I pity such men from the very bottom of my
    \r\n", - "heart, because it always makes me feel bad when I think what they
    \r\n", - "have been. Creditors, sir, are very unrelenting; and seldom think
    \r\n", - "that an honourable man would suffer the miseries of a prison rather
    \r\n", - "than undergo the pain of being arraigned before an open court, for
    \r\n", - "the exposition of his poverty. Sensitiveness often founds the charge
    \r\n", - "of wrong. The thing is much misunderstood; I know it, sir! Yes, sir!
    \r\n", - "My own feelings make me the best judge,\" continues Graspum, with a
    \r\n", - "most serious countenance. He feels he is a man of wonderful parts,
    \r\n", - "much abused by public opinion, and, though always trying to promote
    \r\n", - "public good, never credited for his many kind acts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Turning his head aside to relieve himself of a smile, Mr. Grabguy
    \r\n", - "admits that he is quite an abused man; and, setting aside small
    \r\n", - "matters, thinks it well to be guided by the good motto:--'retire
    \r\n", - "from business with plenty of money.' It may not subdue tongues, but
    \r\n", - "it will soften whispers. \"Money,\" Mr. Grabguy intimates, \"upon the
    \r\n", - "strength of his venerable father's experience, is a curious medium
    \r\n", - "of overcoming the ditchwork of society. In fact,\" he assures Graspum,
    \r\n", - "\"that with plenty of shiners you may be just such a man as you
    \r\n", - "please; everybody will forget that you ever bought or sold a nigger,
    \r\n", - "and ten chances to one if you do not find yourself sloped off into
    \r\n", - "Congress, before you have had time to study the process of getting
    \r\n", - "there. But, enough of this, Graspum;--let us turn to trade matters.
    \r\n", - "What's the lowest shot ye'll take for that mellow mixture of Ingin
    \r\n", - "and aristocracy. Send up and bring him down: let us hear the lowest
    \r\n", - "dodge you'll let him slide at.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy evinces an off-handedness in trade that is quite equal
    \r\n", - "to Graspum's keen tact. But Graspum has the faculty of preserving a
    \r\n", - "disinterested appearance singularly at variance with his object.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A messenger is despatched, receipt in hand, for the boy Nicholas.
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Tuttlewell, a brusque body of some sixty years, and with
    \r\n", - "thirteen in a family, having had three husbands (all gentlemen of
    \r\n", - "the highest standing, and connected with first families), keeps a
    \r\n", - "stylish boarding-house, exclusively for the aristocracy, common
    \r\n", - "people not being competent to her style of living; and as nobody
    \r\n", - "could ever say one word against the Tuttlewell family, the present
    \r\n", - "head of the Tuttlewell house has become very fashionably
    \r\n", - "distinguished. The messenger's arrival is made known to Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Tuttlewell, who must duly consider the nature of the immediate
    \r\n", - "demand. She had reason to expect the services of the children would
    \r\n", - "have been at her command for some years to come. However, she must
    \r\n", - "make the very best of it; they are Graspum's property, and he can do
    \r\n", - "what he pleases with them. She suggests, with great politeness, that
    \r\n", - "the messenger take a seat in the lower veranda. Her house is located
    \r\n", - "in a most fashionable street, and none knew better than good lady
    \r\n", - "Tuttlewell herself the value of living up to a fashionable nicety;
    \r\n", - "for, where slavery exists, it is a trade to live.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Both children have been \"waiting on table,\" and, on hearing the
    \r\n", - "summons, repair to their cabin in the yard. Mrs. Tuttlewell,
    \r\n", - "reconsidering her former decision, thinks the messenger better
    \r\n", - "follow them, seeing that he is a nigger with kindly looks. \"Uncle!\"
    \r\n", - "says Annette, looking up at the old Negro, as he joins them: \"Don't
    \r\n", - "you want me too?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No,\" returns the man, coolly shaking his head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I think they must be going to take us back to the old plantation,
    \r\n", - "where Daddy Bob used to sing so. Then I shall see mother-how I do
    \r\n", - "want to see her!\" she exclaims, her little heart bounding with
    \r\n", - "ecstasy. Three years or more have passed since she prattled on her
    \r\n", - "mother's knee.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The negro recognizes the child's simplicity. \"I on'e wants dat
    \r\n", - "child; but da'h an't gwine t' lef ye out on da plantation, nohow!\"
    \r\n", - "he says.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not going to take us home!\" she says, with a sigh. Nicholas moodily
    \r\n", - "submits himself to be prepared, as Annette, more vivacious, keeps
    \r\n", - "interposing with various enquiries. She would like to know where
    \r\n", - "they are going to take little Nicholas; and when they will let her
    \r\n", - "go and see Daddy Bob and mother? \"Now, you can take me; I know you
    \r\n", - "can!\" she says, looking up at the messenger, and taking his hand
    \r\n", - "pertly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No-can't, little 'un! Mus' lef' 'um fo'h nuder time. You isn't
    \r\n", - "broder and sister-is ye?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No!\" quickly replies the little girl, swinging his hand playfully;
    \r\n", - "\"but I want to go where he goes; I want to see mother when he does.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, den, little 'un (the negro sees he cannot overcome the
    \r\n", - "child's simplicity by any other means), dis child will come fo'h 'um
    \r\n", - "to-morrow-dat I will!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And you'll bring Nicholas back-won't you?\" she enquires, grasping
    \r\n", - "the messenger more firmly by the hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sartin! no mistake 'bout dat, little 'uman.\" At this she takes
    \r\n", - "Nicholas by the hand, and retires to their little room in the cabin.
    \r\n", - "Here, like one of older years, she washes him, and dresses him, and
    \r\n", - "fusses over him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He is merely a child for sale; so she combs his little locks, puts
    \r\n", - "on his new osnaburgs, arranges his nice white collar about his neck,
    \r\n", - "and makes him look so prim. And then she ties a piece of black
    \r\n", - "ribbon about his neck, giving him the bright appearance of a
    \r\n", - "school-boy on examination-day. The little girl's feelings seem as
    \r\n", - "much elated as would be a mother's at the prospect of her child
    \r\n", - "gaining a medal of distinction.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, Nicholas!\" she whispers, with touching simplicity, as she
    \r\n", - "views him from head to foot with a smile of exultation on her face,
    \r\n", - "\"your mother never dressed you so neat. But I like you more and
    \r\n", - "more, Nicholas, because both our mothers are gone; and maybe we
    \r\n", - "shall never see 'um again.\" And she kisses him fondly,--tells him not
    \r\n", - "to stay long,--to tell her all he has seen and heard about mother,
    \r\n", - "when he returns.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I don't know, 'Nette, but 'pears to me we ain't like other
    \r\n", - "children-they don't have to be sold so often; and I don't seem to
    \r\n", - "have any father.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Neither do I; but Mrs. Tuttlewell says I mustn't mind that, because
    \r\n", - "there's thousands just like us. And then she says we ain't the same
    \r\n", - "kind o' white folks that she is; she says we are white, but niggers
    \r\n", - "for all that. I don't know how it is! I'm not like black folks,
    \r\n", - "because I'm just as white as any white folks,\" she rejoins, placing
    \r\n", - "her little arms round his neck and smoothing his hair with her left
    \r\n", - "hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'll grow up, one o' these days.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And so will I,\" she speaks, boldly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And I'm goin' to know where my mother's gone, and why I ain't as
    \r\n", - "good as other folks' white children,\" he rejoins sullenly, shaking
    \r\n", - "his head, and muttering away to himself. It is quite evident that
    \r\n", - "the many singular stages through which he is passing, serve only to
    \r\n", - "increase the stubborness of his nature. The only black
    \r\n", - "distinguishable in his features are his eyes and hair; and, as he
    \r\n", - "looks in the glass to confirm what he has said, Annette takes him by
    \r\n", - "the hand, tells him he must not mind, now; that if he is good he
    \r\n", - "shall see Franconia,--and mother, too, one of these days. He must not
    \r\n", - "be pettish, she remarks, holding him by the hand like a sister whose
    \r\n", - "heart glows with hope for a brother's welfare. She gives him in
    \r\n", - "charge of the messenger, saying, \"Good by!\" as she imprints a kiss
    \r\n", - "on his cheek, its olive hues changing into deep crimson.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The negro answers her adieu with \"Good by, little dear! God bless
    \r\n", - "'um!\" Nay, the native goodness of his heart will not permit him to
    \r\n", - "leave her thus. He turns round, takes her in his arms, kisses and
    \r\n", - "kisses her fair cheek. It is the truth of an honest soul, expressed
    \r\n", - "with tears glistening in his eyes. Again taking Nicholas by the
    \r\n", - "hand, he hastens through the passage of Mrs. Tuttlewell's house
    \r\n", - "where, on emerging into the street, he is accosted by that very
    \r\n", - "fashionable lady, who desires to know if he has got the boy \"all
    \r\n", - "right!\" Being answered in the affirmative, she gives a very
    \r\n", - "dignified-\"Glad of it,\" and desires her compliments to Mr. Graspum,
    \r\n", - "who she hopes will extend the same special regards to his family,
    \r\n", - "and retires to the quietude of her richly-furnished parlour.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The gentleman dealer and his customer are waiting in the man
    \r\n", - "shambles, while the negro messenger with his boy article of trade
    \r\n", - "plod their way along through the busy streets. The negro looks on
    \r\n", - "his charge with a smile of congratulation. \"Mas'r 'll laugh all over
    \r\n", - "'e clothes when he sees ye-dat he will!\" he says, with an air of
    \r\n", - "exultation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'd like to know where I'm goin' to afore I go much further,\"
    \r\n", - "returns the boy, curtly, as he walks along, every few minutes asking
    \r\n", - "unanswerable questions of the negro.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Lor, child!\" returns the negro, with a significant smile, \"take ye
    \r\n", - "down to old massa what own 'um! Fo'h true!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Own me!\" mutters the child, surlily. \"How can they own me without
    \r\n", - "owning my mother?--and I've no father.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"White man great 'losipher; he know so much, dat nigger don't know
    \r\n", - "nofin,\" is the singularly significant answer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But God didn't make me for a nigger,--did he?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don' know how dat is, child. 'Pears like old mas'r tink da' ain't
    \r\n", - "no God; and what he sees in yander good book lef 'um do just as 'e
    \r\n", - "mind to wid nigger. Sometimes Buckra sell nigger by de pound, just
    \r\n", - "like 'e sell pig; and den 'e say 't was wid de Lord's will.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"If mas'r Lord be what Buckra say he be, dis child don' want t'be
    \r\n", - "'quainted wid 'um,\" he coolly dilates, as if he foresees the
    \r\n", - "mournful result of the child's bright endowments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The negro tries to quiet the child's apprehensions by telling him he
    \r\n", - "thinks \"Buckra, what's waiting down in da'h office, gwine t' buy 'um
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "

     


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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 9/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 9 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "of old mas'r. Know dat Buckra he sharp feller. Get e' eye on ye, and
    \r\n", - "make up 'e mind what 'e gwine to give fo'h 'um, quicker!\" says the
    \r\n", - "negro.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum has invited his customer, Mr. Grabguy, into his more
    \r\n", - "comfortable counting-room, where, as Nicholas is led in, they may be
    \r\n", - "found discussing the rights of the south, as guaranteed by the
    \r\n", - "federal constitution. The south claim rights independent of the
    \r\n", - "north; and those rights are to secede from the wrongs of the north
    \r\n", - "whenever she takes into her head the very simple notion of carrying
    \r\n", - "them out. Graspum, a man of great experience, whose keen sense of
    \r\n", - "justice is made keener by his sense of practical injustice,--thinks
    \r\n", - "the democracy of the south was never fully understood, and that the
    \r\n", - "most sure way of developing its great principles is by hanging every
    \r\n", - "northerner, whose abolition mania is fast absorbing the liberties of
    \r\n", - "the country at large.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's the feller!\" says Mr. Grabguy, as the negro leads Nicholas
    \r\n", - "into his presence, and orders him to keep his hands down while the
    \r\n", - "gentleman looks at him. \"Stubborn sticks out some, though, I
    \r\n", - "reckon,\" Mr. Grabguy adds, rather enthusiastically. \"Absalom! Isaac!
    \r\n", - "Joe! eh? what's your name?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He's a trump!\" interposes Graspum, rubbing his hands together, and
    \r\n", - "giving his head a significant shake.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nicholas, they call me, master,\" answers the boy, pettishly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy takes him by the arms, feels his muscle with great care
    \r\n", - "and caution, tries the elasticity of his body by lifting him from
    \r\n", - "the floor by his two ears. This is too much, which the child
    \r\n", - "announces with loud screams. \"Stuff! out and out,\" says Mr. Grabguy,
    \r\n", - "patting him on the back, in a kind sort of way. At the same time he
    \r\n", - "gives a look of satisfaction at Graspum.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Everything a man wants, in that yaller skin,\" returns that
    \r\n", - "methodical tradesman, with a gracious nod.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Black lightnin' eyes-long wiry black hair, a skin full of Ingin
    \r\n", - "devil, and a face full of stubborn,\" Mr. Grabguy discourses, as he
    \r\n", - "contemplates the article before him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, now, about the lowest figure for him?\" he continues, again
    \r\n", - "looking at Graspum, and waiting his reply. That gentleman, drawing
    \r\n", - "his right hand across his mouth, relieves it of the virtueless
    \r\n", - "deposit, and supplies it with a fresh quid.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sit down, neighbour Grabguy,\" he says, placing a chair beside him.
    \r\n", - "They both sit down; the negro attendant stands a few feet behind
    \r\n", - "them: the boy may walk a line backward and forward. \"Say the word!
    \r\n", - "You know I'll have a deal o' trouble afore breaking the feller in,\"
    \r\n", - "Grabguy exclaims, impatiently.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum is invoking his philosophy. He will gauge the point of value
    \r\n", - "according to the coming prospect and Mr. Grabguy's wants. \"Well,
    \r\n", - "now, seeing it's you, and taking the large amount of negro property
    \r\n", - "I have sold to your distinguished father into consideration-I hope
    \r\n", - "to sell forty thousand niggers yet, before I die-he should bring six
    \r\n", - "hundred.\" Graspum lays his left hand modestly on Mr. Grabguy's right
    \r\n", - "arm, as that gentleman rather starts with surprise. \"Take the
    \r\n", - "extraordinary qualities into consideration, my friend; he's got a
    \r\n", - "head what's worth two hundred dollars more nor a common nigger,--that
    \r\n", - "is, if you be going to turn it into knowledge profit. But that
    \r\n", - "wasn't just what I was going to say\" (Graspum becomes profound, as
    \r\n", - "he spreads himself back in his chair). \"I was going to say, I'd let
    \r\n", - "you-you mustn't whisper it, though-have him for five hundred and
    \r\n", - "twenty; and he's as cheap at that as bull-dogs at five dollars.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Grabguy shakes his head: he thinks the price rather beyond his mark.
    \r\n", - "He, however, has no objection to chalking on the figure; and as both
    \r\n", - "are good democrats, they will split the difference.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum, smiling, touches his customer significantly with his elbow.
    \r\n", - "\"I never do business after that model,\" he says. \"Speaking of
    \r\n", - "bull-dogs, why, Lord bless your soul, Sam Beals and me traded
    \r\n", - "t'other day: I gin him a young five-year old nigger for his hound,
    \r\n", - "and two hundred dollars to boot. Can't go five hundred and twenty
    \r\n", - "for that imp, nohow! Could o' got a prime nigger for that, two years
    \r\n", - "ago.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Wouldn't lower a fraction! He's extraordinary prime, and'll
    \r\n", - "increase fifty dollars a year every year for ten years or more.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy can't help that: he is merely in search of an article
    \r\n", - "capable of being turned into a mechanic, or professional
    \r\n", - "man,--anything to suit the exigencies of a free country, in which
    \r\n", - "such things are sold. And as it will require much time to get the
    \r\n", - "article to a point where it'll be sure to turn the pennies back,
    \r\n", - "perhaps he'd as well let it alone: so he turns the matter over in
    \r\n", - "his head. And yet, there is a certain something about the \"young
    \r\n", - "imp\" that really fascinates him; his keen eye, and deep sense of
    \r\n", - "nigger natur' value, detect the wonderful promise the article holds
    \r\n", - "forth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not one cent lower would I take for that chap. In fact, I almost
    \r\n", - "feel like recanting now,\" says Graspum, by way of breaking the
    \r\n", - "monotony.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, I'll bid you good day,\" says the other, in return, affecting
    \r\n", - "preparation to leave. He puts out his hand to Graspum, and with a
    \r\n", - "serious look desires to know if that be the lowest figure.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Fact! Don't care 'bout selling at that. Couldn't have a better
    \r\n", - "investment than to keep him!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy considers and reconsiders the matter over in his mind;
    \r\n", - "paces up and down the floor several times, commences humming a tune,
    \r\n", - "steps to the door, looks up and down the street, and says, \"Well,
    \r\n", - "I'll be moving homeward, I will.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Like yer custom, that I do; but then, knowing what I can do with
    \r\n", - "the fellow, I feels stiff about letting him go,\" interposes Graspum,
    \r\n", - "with great indifference, following to the door, with hands extended.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "This is rather too insinuating for Mr. Grabguy. Never did piece of
    \r\n", - "property loom up so brightly, so physically and intellectually
    \r\n", - "valuable. He will return to the table. Taking his seat again, he
    \r\n", - "draws forth a piece of paper, and with his pencil commences figuring
    \r\n", - "upon it. He wants to get at the cost of free and slave labour, and
    \r\n", - "the relative advantages of the one over the other. After a deal of
    \r\n", - "multiplying and subtracting, he gives it up in despair. The fine
    \r\n", - "proportions of the youth before him distract his very brain with
    \r\n", - "contemplation. He won't bother another minute; figures are only
    \r\n", - "confusions: so far as using them to compute the relative value of
    \r\n", - "free and slave labour, they are enough to make one's head ache.
    \r\n", - "\"Would ye like to go with me, boy? Give ye enough to eat, but make
    \r\n", - "ye toe the mark!\" He looks at Nicholas, and waits a reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't matter!\" is the boy's answer. \"Seems as if nobody cared for
    \r\n", - "me; and so I don't care for nobody.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's enough,\" he interrupts, turning to Graspum: \"there's a
    \r\n", - "showing of grit in that, eh?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Soon take it out,\" rejoins that methodical gentleman. \"Anyhow, I've
    \r\n", - "a mind to try the fellow, Graspum. I feel the risk I run; but I
    \r\n", - "don't mind-it's neck or nothin here in the south! Ye'll take a long
    \r\n", - "note, s'pose? Good, ye know!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Graspum motions his head and works his lips, half affirmatively.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Good as old gold, ye knows that,\" insinuates Mr. Grabguy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, but notes aint cash; and our banks are shut down as tight as
    \r\n", - "steel traps. At all events make it bankable, and add the interest
    \r\n", - "for six months. It's against my rules of business, though,\" returns
    \r\n", - "Graspum, with great financial emphasis.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After considerably more very nice exhibitions of business tact, it
    \r\n", - "is agreed that Mr. Grabguy takes the \"imp\" at five hundred and
    \r\n", - "twenty dollars, for which Graspum accepts his note at six months,
    \r\n", - "with interest. Mr. Grabguy's paper is good, and Graspum considers it
    \r\n", - "equal to cash, less the interest. The \"imp\" is now left in charge of
    \r\n", - "the negro, while the two gentlemen retire to the private
    \r\n", - "counting-room, where they will settle the preliminaries.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A grave-looking gentleman at a large desk is ordered to make the
    \r\n", - "entry of sale; as the initiate of which he takes a ponderous ledger
    \r\n", - "from the case, and, with great coolness, opens its large leaves.
    \r\n", - "\"Nicholas, I think his name is?\" he ejaculates, turning to Graspum,
    \r\n", - "who, unconcernedly, has resumed his seat in the great arm-chair.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes; but I suppose it must be Nicholas Grabguy, now,\" returns
    \r\n", - "Graspum, bowing to his book-keeper, and then turning to Mr. Grabguy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One minute, if you please!\" rejoins that gentlemen, as the sedate
    \r\n", - "book-keeper turns to his page of N's in the index. Mr. Grabguy will
    \r\n", - "consider that very important point for a few seconds.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Better drop the Marston, as things are. A good many high feeling
    \r\n", - "connections of that family remain; and to continue the name might be
    \r\n", - "to give pain.\" This, Graspum says, he only puts out as a suggestion.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Enter him as you say, gentlemen,\" interposes the clerk, who will
    \r\n", - "mend his pen while waiting their pleasure.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy runs his right hand several times across his forehead,
    \r\n", - "and after a breathless pause, thinks it as well not to connect his
    \r\n", - "distinguished name with that of the nigger,--not just at this moment!
    \r\n", - "Being his property, and associating with his business and people,
    \r\n", - "that will naturally follow. \"Just enter him, and make out the bill
    \r\n", - "of sale describing him as the boy Nicholas,\" he adds.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Boy Nicholas!\" reiterates the book-keeper, and straight-way enters
    \r\n", - "his name, amount fetched, to whom sold, and general description, on
    \r\n", - "his files. In a few minutes more-Graspum, in his chair of state, is
    \r\n", - "regretting having sold so quick,--Mr. Grabguy is handed his bill of
    \r\n", - "sale, duly made out. At the same time, that sedate official places
    \r\n", - "the note for the amount into Graspum's hands. Graspum examines it
    \r\n", - "minutely, while Mr. Grabguy surveys the bill of sale. \"Mr. Benson,
    \r\n", - "my clerk here, does these things up according to legal tenour; he,
    \r\n", - "let me inform you, was brought up at the law business, and was
    \r\n", - "rather celebrated once; but the profession won't pay a man of his
    \r\n", - "ability,\" remarks Graspum, with an \"all right!\" as he lays the note
    \r\n", - "of hand down for Mr. Grabguy's signature.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Benson smiles in reply, and adjusts the very stiffly starched
    \r\n", - "corners of his ponderous shirt collar, which he desires to keep well
    \r\n", - "closed around his chin. \"An honourable man, that's true, sir, can't
    \r\n", - "live honestly by the law, now-a-days,\" he concludes, with measured
    \r\n", - "sedateness. He will now get his bill-book, in which to make a record
    \r\n", - "of the piece of paper taken in exchange for the human 'imp.'
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Clap your name across the face!\" demands Graspum; and Grabguy
    \r\n", - "seizes a pen, and quickly consummates the bargain by inscribing his
    \r\n", - "name, passing it to Mr. Benson, and, in return, receiving the bill
    \r\n", - "of sale, which he places in his breast pocket. He will not trouble
    \r\n", - "Mr. Benson any further; but, if he will supply a small piece of
    \r\n", - "paper, Mr. Grabguy will very kindly give the imp an order, and send
    \r\n", - "him to his workshop.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Will the gentleman be kind enough to help himself,\" says Mr.
    \r\n", - "Benson, passing a quire upon the table at which Mr. Grabguy sits.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'll trim that chap into a first-rate mechanic,\" says Mr. Grabguy,
    \r\n", - "as he writes,--\"I have bought the bearer, Nicholas, a promising chap,
    \r\n", - "as you will see. Take him into the shop and set him at something, if
    \r\n", - "it is only turning the grindstone; as I hav'nt made up my mind
    \r\n", - "exactly about what branch to set him at. He's got temper-you'll see
    \r\n", - "that in a minute, and will want some breakin in, if I don't calklate
    \r\n", - "'rong.\" This Mr. Grabguy envelopes, and directs to his master
    \r\n", - "mechanic. When all things are arranged to his satisfaction, Nicholas
    \r\n", - "is again brought into his presence, receives an admonition, is told
    \r\n", - "what he may expect if he displays his bad temper, is presented with
    \r\n", - "the note, and despatched, with sundry directions, to seek his way
    \r\n", - "alone, to his late purchaser's workshop.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Come, boy! ain't you going to say 'good-by' to me 'afore you go? I
    \r\n", - "hav'nt been a bad master to you,\" says Graspum, putting out his
    \r\n", - "hand.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, master,\" mutters the child, turning about ere he reaches the
    \r\n", - "door. He advances towards Graspum, puts out his little hand; and in
    \r\n", - "saying \"good by, master,\" there is so much childish simplicity in
    \r\n", - "his manner that it touches the tender chord embalmed within that
    \r\n", - "iron frame. \"Be a good little fellow!\" he says, his emotions rising.
    \r\n", - "How strong are the workings of nature when brought in contact with
    \r\n", - "unnatural laws! The monster who has made the child wretched--who has
    \r\n", - "for ever blasted its hopes, shakes it by the hand, and says--\"good
    \r\n", - "by, little 'un!\" as it leaves the door to seek the home of a new
    \r\n", - "purchaser. How strange the thoughts invading that child's mind, as,
    \r\n", - "a slave for life, it plods its way through the busy thoroughfares!
    \r\n", - "Forcibly the happy incidents of the past are recalled; they are
    \r\n", - "touching reclections-sweets in the dark void of a slave's life; but
    \r\n", - "to him no way-marks, to measure the happy home embalmed therein, are
    \r\n", - "left.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXVI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WORKINGS OF THE SLAVE SYSTEM.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "DEMOCRACY! thy trumpet voice for liberty is ever ringing in our
    \r\n", - "ears; but thy strange workings defame thee. Thou art rampant in love
    \r\n", - "of the \"popular cause,\" crushing of that which secures liberty to
    \r\n", - "all; and, whilst thou art great at demolishing structures, building
    \r\n", - "firm foundations seems beyond thee, for thereto thou forgetteth to
    \r\n", - "lay the cornerstone well on the solid rock of principle. And, too,
    \r\n", - "we love thee when thou art moved and governed by justice; we hate
    \r\n", - "thee when thou showest thyself a sycophant to make a mad mob serve a
    \r\n", - "pestilential ambition. Like a young giant thou graspest power; but,
    \r\n", - "when in thy hands, it becomes a means of serving the baser ends of
    \r\n", - "factious demagogues. Hypocrite! With breath of poison thou hast sung
    \r\n", - "thy songs to liberty while making it a stepping-stone to injustice;
    \r\n", - "nor hast thou ever ceased to wage a tyrant's war against the rights
    \r\n", - "of man. Thou wearest false robes; thou blasphemest against heaven,
    \r\n", - "that thy strength in wrong may be secure-yea, we fear thy end is
    \r\n", - "fast coming badly, for thou art the bastard offspring of
    \r\n", - "Republicanism so purely planted in our land. Clamour and the lash
    \r\n", - "are thy sceptres, and, like a viper seeking its prey, thou charmest
    \r\n", - "with one and goadeth men's souls with the other. Having worked thy
    \r\n", - "way through our simple narrative, show us what thou hast done. A
    \r\n", - "father hast thou driven within the humid wall of a prison, because
    \r\n", - "he would repent and acknowledge his child. Bolts and bars, in such
    \r\n", - "cases, are democracy's safeguards; but thou hast bound with heavy
    \r\n", - "chains the being who would rise in the world, and go forth healing
    \r\n", - "the sick and preaching God's word. Even hast thou turned the hearts
    \r\n", - "of men into stone, and made them weep at the wrong thou gavest them
    \r\n", - "power to inflict. That bond which God gave to man, and charged him
    \r\n", - "to keep sacred, thou hast sundered for the sake of gold,--thereby
    \r\n", - "levelling man with the brutes of the field. Thou hast sent two
    \r\n", - "beautiful children to linger in the wickedness of slavery,--to die
    \r\n", - "stained with its infamy! Thou hast robbed many a fair one of her
    \r\n", - "virtue, stolen many a charm; but thy foulest crime is, that thou
    \r\n", - "drivest mothers and fathers from the land of their birth to seek
    \r\n", - "shelter on foreign soil. Would to God thou could'st see thyself as
    \r\n", - "thou art,--make thy teachings known in truth and justice,--cease to
    \r\n", - "mock thyself in the eyes of foreign tyrants, nor longer serve
    \r\n", - "despots who would make thee the shield of their ill-gotten power!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Within those malarious prison walls, where fast decays a father who
    \r\n", - "sought to save from slavery's death the offspring he loved, will be
    \r\n", - "found a poor, dejected negro, sitting at the bedside of the
    \r\n", - "oppressed man, administering to his wants. His friendship is true
    \r\n", - "unto death,--the oppressed man is his angel, he will serve him at
    \r\n", - "the sacrifice of life and liberty. He is your true republican, the
    \r\n", - "friend of the oppressed! Your lessons of democracy, so swelling, so
    \r\n", - "boastfully arrayed for a world's good, have no place in his
    \r\n", - "soul,--goodness alone directs his examples of republicanism. But we
    \r\n", - "must not be over venturous in calling democracy to account, lest we
    \r\n", - "offend the gods of power and progress. We will, to save ourselves,
    \r\n", - "return to our narrative.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Marston, yet in gaol, stubbornly refuses to take the benefit of the
    \r\n", - "act,--commonly called the poor debtor's act. He has a faithful friend
    \r\n", - "in Daddy Bob, who has kept his ownership concealed, and, with the
    \r\n", - "assistance of Franconia, still relieves his necessities. Rumour,
    \r\n", - "however, strongly whispers that Colonel M'Carstrow is fast gambling
    \r\n", - "away his property, keeping the worst of company, and leading the
    \r\n", - "life of a debauchee,--which sorely grieves his noble-hearted wife. In
    \r\n", - "fact, Mrs. Templeton, who is chief gossip-monger of the city,
    \r\n", - "declares that he is more than ruined, and that his once beautiful
    \r\n", - "wife must seek support at something.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "An honest jury of twelve free and enlightened citizens, before the
    \r\n", - "honourable court of Sessions, have declared Romescos honourably
    \r\n", - "acquitted of the charge of murder, the fatal blow being given in
    \r\n", - "commendable self-defence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The reader will remember that in a former chapter we left the stolen
    \r\n", - "clergyman (no thanks to his white face and whiter necked brethren of
    \r\n", - "the profession), on the banks of the Mississippi, where, having
    \r\n", - "purchased his time of his owner, he is not only a very profitable
    \r\n", - "investment to that gentleman, but of great service on the
    \r\n", - "neighbouring plantations. Earnest in doing good for his fellow
    \r\n", - "bondmen, his efforts have enlisted for him the sympathy of a
    \r\n", - "generous-hearted young lady, the daughter of a neighbouring planter.
    \r\n", - "Many times had he recounted Mrs. Rosebrook's friendship for him to
    \r\n", - "her, and by its influence succeeded in opening the desired
    \r\n", - "communication. Mrs. Rosebrook had received and promptly answered all
    \r\n", - "his fair friend's letters: the answers contained good news for
    \r\n", - "Harry; she knew him well, and would at once set about inducing her
    \r\n", - "husband to purchase him. But here again his profession interposed a
    \r\n", - "difficulty, inasmuch as its enhancing the value of the property to
    \r\n", - "so great an extent would make his master reluctant to part with him.
    \r\n", - "However, as nothing could be more expressive of domestic attachment
    \r\n", - "than the manner in which the Rosebrooks studied each other's
    \r\n", - "feelings for the purpose of giving a more complete happiness, our
    \r\n", - "good lady had but to make known her wish, and the deacon stood ready
    \r\n", - "to execute it. In the present case he was but too glad of the
    \r\n", - "opportunity of gratifying her feelings, having had the purchase of a
    \r\n", - "clergyman in contemplation for some months back. He sought Harry
    \r\n", - "out, and, after bartering (the planter setting forth what a deal of
    \r\n", - "money he had made by his clergyman) succeeded in purchasing him for
    \r\n", - "fourteen hundred dollars, the gentleman producing legalised papers
    \r\n", - "of his purchase, and giving the same. As for his running away, there
    \r\n", - "is no evidence to prove that; nor will Harry's pious word be taken
    \r\n", - "in law to disclose the kidnapping. M'Fadden is dead,--his estate has
    \r\n", - "long since been administered upon; Romescos murdered the proof, and
    \r\n", - "swept away the dangerous contingency.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Here, then, we find Harry-we must pass over the incidents of his
    \r\n", - "return back in the old district-about to administer the Gospel to
    \r\n", - "the negroes on the Rosebrook estates. He is the same good,
    \r\n", - "generous-hearted black man he was years ago. But he has worked hard,
    \r\n", - "paid his master a deal of money for his time, and laid up but little
    \r\n", - "for himself. His clothes, too, are somewhat shabby, which, in the
    \r\n", - "estimation of the Rosebrook negroes-who are notoriously aristocratic
    \r\n", - "in their notions-is some detriment to his ministerial character. At
    \r\n", - "the same time, they are not quite sure that Harry Marston, as he
    \r\n", - "must now be called, will preach to please their peculiar mode of
    \r\n", - "thinking. Master and missus have given them an interest in their
    \r\n", - "labour; and, having laid by a little money in missus's savings bank,
    \r\n", - "they are all looking forward to the time when they will have gained
    \r\n", - "their freedom, according to the promises held out. With these
    \r\n", - "incitements of renewed energy they work cheerfully, take a deep
    \r\n", - "interest in the amount of crop produced, and have a worthy regard
    \r\n", - "for their own moral condition. And as they will now pay tribute for
    \r\n", - "the support of a minister of the Gospel, his respectability is a
    \r\n", - "particular object of their watchfulness. Thus, Harry's first
    \r\n", - "appearance on the plantation, shabbily dressed, is viewed with
    \r\n", - "distrust. Uncle Bradshaw, and old Bill, the coachman, and Aunt
    \r\n", - "Sophy, and Sophy's two gals, and their husbands, are heard in
    \r\n", - "serious conclave to say that \"It won't do!\" A clergy gentleman, with
    \r\n", - "no better clothes than that newcomer wears, can't preach good and
    \r\n", - "strong, nohow! Dad Daniel is heard to say. Bradshaw shakes his white
    \r\n", - "head, and says he's goin' to have a short talk with master about it.
    \r\n", - "Something must be done to reconcile the matter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia and good Mrs. Rosebrook are not so exacting: the latter
    \r\n", - "has received him with a warm welcome, while the former, her heart
    \r\n", - "bounding with joy on hearing of his return, hastened into his
    \r\n", - "presence, and with the affection of a child shook, and shook, and
    \r\n", - "shook his hand, as he fell on his knees and kissed hers. \"Poor
    \r\n", - "Harry!\" she says, \"how I have longed to see you, and your poor wife
    \r\n", - "and children!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, Franconia, my young missus, it is for them my soul fears.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But we have found out where they are,\" she interrupts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Where they are!\" he reiterates.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Indeed we have!\" Franconia makes a significant motion with her
    \r\n", - "head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It's true, Harry; and we'll see what can be done to get them back,
    \r\n", - "one of these days,\" adds Mrs. Rosebrook, her soul-glowing eyes
    \r\n", - "affirming the truth of her assertion. They have come out to spend
    \r\n", - "the day at the plantation, and a happy day it is for those whose
    \r\n", - "hearts they gladden with their kind words. How happy would be our
    \r\n", - "south-how desolate the mania for abolition--if such a comity of good
    \r\n", - "feeling between master and slaves existed on every plantation! And
    \r\n", - "there is nothing to hinder such happy results of kindness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"When that day comes, missus,--that day my good old woman and me will
    \r\n", - "be together again,--how happy I shall be! Seems as if the regaining
    \r\n", - "that one object would complete my earthly desires. And my
    \r\n", - "children,--how much I have felt for them, and how little I have
    \r\n", - "said!\" returns Harry, as, seated in the veranda of the plantation
    \r\n", - "mansion, the two ladies near him are watching his rising emotions.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Never mind, Harry,\" rejoins Franconia; \"it will all be well, one of
    \r\n", - "these days. You, as well as uncle, must bear with trouble. It is a
    \r\n", - "world of trouble and trial.\" She draws her chair nearer him, and
    \r\n", - "listens to his narrative of being carried off,--his endeavours to
    \r\n", - "please his strange master down in Mississippi,--the curious manner in
    \r\n", - "which his name was changed,--the sum he was compelled to pay for his
    \r\n", - "time, and the good he effected while pursuing the object of his
    \r\n", - "mission on the neighbouring plantations. Hope carried him through
    \r\n", - "every trial,--hope prepared his heart for the time of his
    \r\n", - "delivery,--hope filled his soul with gratitude to his Maker, and
    \r\n", - "hope, which ever held its light of freedom before him, inspired him
    \r\n", - "with that prayer he so thankfully bestowed on the head of his
    \r\n", - "benefactor, whose presence was as the light of love borne to him on
    \r\n", - "angels' wings.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Moved to tears by his recital of past struggles, and the expression
    \r\n", - "of natural goodness exhibited in the resignation with which he bore
    \r\n", - "them, ever praying and trusting to Him who guides our course in
    \r\n", - "life, Franconia in turn commenced relating the misfortunes that had
    \r\n", - "befallen her uncle. She tells him how her uncle has been reduced to
    \r\n", - "poverty through Lorenzo's folly, and Graspum, the negro dealer's
    \r\n", - "undiscoverable mode of ensnaring the unwary. He has been importuned,
    \r\n", - "harassed, subjected to every degradation and shame, scouted by
    \r\n", - "society for attempting to save those beautiful children, Annette and
    \r\n", - "Nicholas, from the snares of slavery. And he now welters in a
    \r\n", - "debtor's prison, with few save his old faithful Daddy Bob for
    \r\n", - "friends.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Master, and my old companion, Daddy Bob!\" exclaims Harry,
    \r\n", - "interrupting her at the moment.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes: Daddy takes care of him in his prison cell.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How often old Bob's expressive face has looked upon me in my
    \r\n", - "dreams! how often he has occupied my thoughts by day!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Goodness belongs to him by nature.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And master is in prison; but Daddy is still his friend and
    \r\n", - "faithful! Well, my heart sorrows for master: I know his proud heart
    \r\n", - "bleeds under the burden,\" he says, shaking his head sorrowfully.
    \r\n", - "There is more sympathy concealed beneath that black exterior than
    \r\n", - "words can express. He will go and see master; he will comfort him
    \r\n", - "within his prison walls; he will rejoin Daddy Bob, and be master's
    \r\n", - "friend once more. Mrs. Rosebrook, he is sure, will grant him any
    \r\n", - "privilege in her power. That good lady is forthwith solicited, and
    \r\n", - "grants Harry permission to go into the city any day it suits his
    \r\n", - "convenience-except Sunday, when his services are required for the
    \r\n", - "good of the people on the plantation. Harry is delighted with this
    \r\n", - "token of her goodness, and appoints a day when he will meet Miss
    \r\n", - "Franconia,--as he yet calls her,--and go see old master and Daddy. How
    \r\n", - "glowing is that honest heart, as it warms with ecstasy at the
    \r\n", - "thought of seeing \"old master,\" even though he be degraded within
    \r\n", - "prison walls!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While this conversation is going on in the veranda, sundry aged
    \r\n", - "members of negro families--aunties and mammies--are passing backwards
    \r\n", - "and forwards in front of the house, casting curious glances at the
    \r\n", - "affection exhibited for the new preacher by \"Miss Franconia.\" The
    \r\n", - "effect is a sort of reconciliation of the highly aristocratic
    \r\n", - "objections they at first interposed against his reception. \"Mus' be
    \r\n", - "somebody bigger dan common nigger preacher; wudn't cotch Miss
    \r\n", - "Frankone spoken wid 'um if 'um warn't,\" says Dad Timothy's Jane, who
    \r\n", - "is Uncle Absalom's wife, and, in addition to having six coal-black
    \r\n", - "children, as fat and sleek as beavers, is the wise woman of the
    \r\n", - "cabins, around whom all the old veteran mammies gather for
    \r\n", - "explanations upon most important subjects. In this instance she is
    \r\n", - "surrounded by six or seven grave worthies, whose comical faces add
    \r\n", - "great piquancy to the conclave. Grandmumma Dorothy, who declares
    \r\n", - "that she is grandmother to she don't know how much little growing-up
    \r\n", - "property, will venture every grey hair in her head-which is as white
    \r\n", - "as the snows of Nova Scotia-that he knows a deal o' things about the
    \r\n", - "gospel, or he wouldn't have missus for such a close acquaintance.
    \r\n", - "\"But his shirt ain't just da'h fashon fo'h a 'spectable minister ob
    \r\n", - "de gospel,\" she concludes, with profound wisdom evinced in her
    \r\n", - "measured nod.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Aunt Betsy, than whose face none is blacker, or more comically
    \r\n", - "moulded, will say her word; but she is very profound withal. \"Reckon
    \r\n", - "how tain't de clo' what make e' de preacher tink good\" (Aunty's lip
    \r\n", - "hangs seriously low the while). \"Lef missus send some calico fum
    \r\n", - "town, and dis old woman son fix 'um into shirt fo'h him,\" she says,
    \r\n", - "with great assurance of her sincerity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry-Mister Harry, as he is to be called by the people-finds
    \r\n", - "himself comfortably at home; the only drawback, if such it may be
    \r\n", - "called, existing in the unwillingness exhibited on the part of one
    \r\n", - "of the overseers to his being provided with apartments in the
    \r\n", - "basement of the house instead of one of the cabins. This, however,
    \r\n", - "is, by a few conciliatory words from Mrs. Rosebrook, settled to the
    \r\n", - "satisfaction of all. Harry has supper provided for him in one of the
    \r\n", - "little rooms downstairs, which he is to make his Study, and into
    \r\n", - "which he retires for the night.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "When daylight has departed, and the very air seems hanging in
    \r\n", - "stillness over the plantation, a great whispering is heard in Dad
    \r\n", - "Daniel's cabin-the head quarters, where grave matters of state, or
    \r\n", - "questions affecting the moral or physical interests of the
    \r\n", - "plantation, are discussed, and Dad Daniel's opinion held as most
    \r\n", - "learned-the importance of which over the other cabins is denoted by
    \r\n", - "three windows, one just above the door being usually filled with
    \r\n", - "moss or an old black hat. Singular enough, on approaching the cabin
    \r\n", - "it is discovered that Daniel has convoked a senate of his sable
    \r\n", - "brethren, to whom he is proposing a measure of great importance.
    \r\n", - "\"Da'h new precher, gemen! is one ob yer own colur-no more Buckra
    \r\n", - "what on'e gib dat one sarmon,--tank God fo'h dat!-and dat colour
    \r\n", - "geman, my children, ye must look up to fo'h de word from de good
    \r\n", - "book. Now, my bredren, 'tis posin' on ye dat ye make dat geman
    \r\n", - "'spectable. I poses den, dat we, bredren, puts in a mite apiece, and
    \r\n", - "gib dat ar' geman new suit ob fus' bes'clof', so 'e preach fresh and
    \r\n", - "clean,\" Dad Daniel is heard to say. And this proposition is carried
    \r\n", - "out on the following morning, when Daddy Daniel-his white wool so
    \r\n", - "cleanly washed, and his face glowing with great
    \r\n", - "good-nature-accompanied by a conclave of his sable companions,
    \r\n", - "presents himself in the front veranda, and demands to see \"missus.\"
    \r\n", - "That all-conciliating personage is ever ready to receive
    \r\n", - "deputations, and on making her appearance, and receiving the usual
    \r\n", - "salutations from her people, receives from the hand of that
    \r\n", - "venerable prime minister, Daddy Daniel, a purse containing twelve
    \r\n", - "dollars and fifty cents. It is the amount of a voluntary
    \r\n", - "contribution-a gift for the new preacher. \"Missus\" is requested,
    \r\n", - "after adding her portion, to expend it in a suit of best black for
    \r\n", - "the newcomer, whom they would like to see, and say \"how de, to.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Missus receives this noble expression of their gratitude with thanks
    \r\n", - "and kind words. Harry is summoned to the veranda, where, on making
    \r\n", - "his appearance, he is introduced to Dad Daniel, who, in return,
    \r\n", - "escorts him down on the plazza where numbers of the people have
    \r\n", - "assembled to receive him. Here, with wondrous ceremony, Dad Daniel
    \r\n", - "doing the polite rather strong, he is introduced to all the
    \r\n", - "important people of the plantation. And such a shaking of hands,
    \r\n", - "earnest congratulations, happy \"how des,\" bows, and joyous laughs,
    \r\n", - "as follow, place the scene so expressive of happiness beyond the
    \r\n", - "power of pen to describe. Then he is led away, followed by a train
    \r\n", - "of curious faces, to see Dad Daniel's neatly-arranged cabin; after
    \r\n", - "which he will see plantation church, and successively the people's
    \r\n", - "cabins. To-morrow evening, at early dusk, it is said, according to
    \r\n", - "invitation and arrangement, he will sup on the green with his sable
    \r\n", - "brethren, old and young, and spice up the evening's entertainment
    \r\n", - "with an exhortation; Dad Daniel, as is his custom, performing the
    \r\n", - "duties of deacon.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Let us pass over this scene, and-Harry having ingratiated himself
    \r\n", - "with the plantation people, who are ready to give him their
    \r\n", - "distinguished consideration-ask the reader to follow us through the
    \r\n", - "description of another, which took place a few days after.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our clergyman has delivered to his sable flock his first sermon,
    \r\n", - "which Dad Daniel and his compatriots pronounce great and good,--just
    \r\n", - "what a sermon should be. Such pathos they never heard before; the
    \r\n", - "enthusiasm and fervency with which it was delivered inspires
    \r\n", - "delight; they want no more earnestness of soul than the fervency
    \r\n", - "with which his gesticulations accompanied the words; and now he has
    \r\n", - "obtained a furlough that he may go into the city and console his old
    \r\n", - "master. A thrill of commiseration seizes him as he contemplates his
    \r\n", - "once joyous master now in prison; but, misgivings being useless,
    \r\n", - "onward he goes. And he will see old Bob, recall the happy incidents
    \r\n", - "of the past, when time went smoothly on.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He reaches the city, having tarried a while at missus's villa, and
    \r\n", - "seeks M'Carstrow's residence, at the door of which he is met by
    \r\n", - "Franconia, who receives him gratefully, and orders a servant to show
    \r\n", - "him into the recess of the hall, where he will wait until such time
    \r\n", - "as she is ready to accompany him to the county prison. M'Carstrow
    \r\n", - "has recently removed into plainer tenements: some whisper that
    \r\n", - "necessity compelled it, and that the \"large shot\" gamblers have
    \r\n", - "shorn him down to the lowest imaginable scale of living. Be this as
    \r\n", - "it may, certain it is that he has not looked within the doors of his
    \r\n", - "own house for more than a week: report says he is enjoying himself
    \r\n", - "in a fashionable house, to the inmates of which he is familiarly
    \r\n", - "known. He certainly leads his beautiful wife anything but a pleasant
    \r\n", - "or happy life. Soon Franconia is ready, and onward wending her way
    \r\n", - "for the gaol, closely followed by Harry. She would have no objection
    \r\n", - "to his walking by her side, but custom (intolerant interposer) will
    \r\n", - "not permit it. They pass through busy thoroughfares and narrow
    \r\n", - "streets into the suburbs, and have reached the prison outer gate, on
    \r\n", - "the right hand of which, and just above a brass knob, are the
    \r\n", - "significant words, \"Ring the bell.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What a place to put master in!\" says Harry, in a half whisper,
    \r\n", - "turning to Franconia, as he pulls the brass handle and listens for
    \r\n", - "the dull tinkling of the bell within. He starts at the muffled
    \r\n", - "summons, and sighs as he hears the heavy tread of the officer,
    \r\n", - "advancing through the corridor to challenge his presence. The man
    \r\n", - "advances, and has reached the inner iron gate, situated in a narrow,
    \r\n", - "vaulted arch in the main building. A clanking and clicking sound is
    \r\n", - "heard, and the iron door swings back: a thick-set man, with features
    \r\n", - "of iron, advances to the stoop, down the steps, and to the gate.
    \r\n", - "\"What's here now?\" he growls, rather than speaks, looking sternly at
    \r\n", - "the coloured man, as he thrusts his left hand deep into his side
    \r\n", - "pocket, while holding the key of the inner door in his right.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Visitor,\" returns Franconia, modestly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Who does the nigger want to see?\" he enquires, with pertinacity in
    \r\n", - "keeping with his profession.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"His old master!\" is the quick reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You both? I guess I know what it is,--you want to see Marston: he
    \r\n", - "used to be a rice-planter, but's now in the debtor's ward for a
    \r\n", - "swimming lot of debts. Well, s'pose I must let you in: got a lot o'
    \r\n", - "things, I s'pose?\" he says, looking wickedly through the bars as he
    \r\n", - "springs the bolts, and swings back the gate. \"I beg yer pardon a
    \r\n", - "dozen times! but I didn't recognise ye on the outer side,\" continues
    \r\n", - "the official, becoming suddenly servile. He makes a low bow as he
    \r\n", - "recognises Franconia-motions his hand for them to walk ahead. They
    \r\n", - "reach the steps leading to the inner gate, and ascending, soon are
    \r\n", - "in the vaulted passage.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "If they will allow him, the polite official will unlock the grated
    \r\n", - "door. Stepping before Franconia, who, as the clanking of the locks
    \r\n", - "grate on her ear, is seized with sensations she cannot describe, he
    \r\n", - "inserts the heavy key. She turns to Harry, her face pallid as
    \r\n", - "marble, and lays her tremulous hand on his arm, as if to relieve the
    \r\n", - "nervousness with which she is seized. Click! click! sounds forth:
    \r\n", - "again the door creaks on its hinges, and they are in the confines of
    \r\n", - "the prison. A narrow vaulted arch, its stone walls moistened with
    \r\n", - "pestilential malaria, leads into a small vestibule, on the right
    \r\n", - "hand of which stretched a narrow aisle lined on both sides with
    \r\n", - "cells. Damp and pestiferous, a hollow gloominess seems to pervade
    \r\n", - "the place, as if it were a pest-house for torturing the living.
    \r\n", - "Even the air breathes of disease,--a stench, as of dead men buried in
    \r\n", - "its vaults, darts its poison deep into the system. It is this,
    \r\n", - "coupled with the mind's discontent, that commits its ravages upon
    \r\n", - "the poor prisoner,--that sends him pale and haggard to a soon-
    \r\n", - "forgotten grave.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Last door on the right,--you know, mum,\" says the official: \"boy
    \r\n", - "will follow, lightly: whist! whist!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I know, to my sorrow,\" is her reply, delivered in a whisper. Ah!
    \r\n", - "her emotions are too tender for prison walls; they are yielding
    \r\n", - "tears from the fountain of her very soul.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He's sick: walk softly, and don't think of the prisoners. Knock at
    \r\n", - "the door afore enterin',\" says a staid-looking warden, emerging
    \r\n", - "from a small door on the left hand of the vestibule.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Zist! zist!\" returns the other, pointing with the forefinger of his
    \r\n", - "right hand down the aisle, and, placing his left, gently, on
    \r\n", - "Franconia's shoulder, motioning her to move on.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Slowly, her handkerchief to her face, she obeys the sign, and is
    \r\n", - "moving down the corridor, now encountering anxious eyes peering
    \r\n", - "through the narrow grating of huge black doors. And then a faint,
    \r\n", - "dolorous sound strikes on their listening ears. They pause for a
    \r\n", - "moment,--listen again! It becomes clearer and clearer; and they
    \r\n", - "advance with anxious curiosity. \"It's Daddy Bob's voice,\" whispers
    \r\n", - "Harry; \"but how distant it sounds!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Even that murmurs in his confinement,\" returns Franconia.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How, like a thing of life, it recalls the past-the past of
    \r\n", - "happiness!\" says Harry, as they reach the cell door, and,
    \r\n", - "tremulously, hesitate for a few moments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Listen again!\" continues Harry. The sound having ceased a moment or
    \r\n", - "two, again commences, and the word \"There's a place for old mas'r
    \r\n", - "yet, And de Lord will see him dar,\" are distinctly audible. \"How the
    \r\n", - "old man battles for his good master!\" returns Harry, as Franconia
    \r\n", - "taps gently on the door. The wooden trap over the grating is closed;
    \r\n", - "bolts hang carelessly from their staples; and yet, though the door
    \r\n", - "is secured with a hook on the inside, disease and death breathe
    \r\n", - "their morbid fumes through the scarce perceptible crevices. A
    \r\n", - "whispering-\"Come in!\" is heard in reply to the tap upon the door,
    \r\n", - "which slowly opens, and the face of old Bob, bathed in grief,
    \r\n", - "protrudes round the frame. \"Oh, missus-missus-missus-God give good
    \r\n", - "missus spirit!\" he exclaims, seizing Franconia fervently by the
    \r\n", - "hand, and looking in her face imploringly. A fotid stench pervaded
    \r\n", - "the atmosphere of the gloomy cell; it is death spreading its humid
    \r\n", - "malaria. \"Good old master is g-g-g-gone!\" mutters the negro, in
    \r\n", - "half-choked accents.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "With a wild shriek, the noble woman rushes to the side of his prison
    \r\n", - "cot, seizes his blanched hand that hangs carelessly over the iron
    \r\n", - "frame, grasps his head frantically, and draws it to her bosom, as
    \r\n", - "the last gurgle of life bids adieu to the prostrate body. He is
    \r\n", - "dead!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The old slave has watched over him, shared his sorrows and his
    \r\n", - "crust, has sung a last song to his departing spirit. How truthful
    \r\n", - "was that picture of the dying master and his slave! The old man,
    \r\n", - "struggling against the infirmities of age, had escaped the hands of
    \r\n", - "the man-seller, served his master with but one object-his soul's
    \r\n", - "love-and relieved his necessities, until death, ending his troubles,
    \r\n", - "left no more to relieve. Now, distracted between joy at meeting
    \r\n", - "Harry, and sorrow for the death of master, the poor old man is lost
    \r\n", - "in the confusion of his feelings. After saluting Franconia, he
    \r\n", - "turned to Harry, threw his arms around his neck, buried his head in
    \r\n", - "his bosom, and wept like a child. \"Home-home again,--my Harry! but
    \r\n", - "too late to see mas'r,\" he says, as the fountains of his soul give
    \r\n", - "out their streams.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We must all go where master has gone,\" returns Harry, as he, more
    \r\n", - "calm, fondles the old man, and endeavours to reconcile his feelings.
    \r\n", - "\"Sit there, my old friend-sit there; and remember that God called
    \r\n", - "master away. I must go to his bed-side,\" whispers Harry, seating the
    \r\n", - "old man on a block of wood near the foot of the cot, where he pours
    \r\n", - "forth the earnest of his grief.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXVII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "AN ITEM IN THE COMMON CALENDAR.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THUS painfully has Marston paid his debtors. Around his lifeless
    \r\n", - "body may spring to life those sympathies which were dead while he
    \r\n", - "lived; but deplorings fall useless on dead men. There is one
    \r\n", - "consideration, however, which must always be taken into account; it
    \r\n", - "is, that while sympathy for the living may cost something, sympathy
    \r\n", - "for the dead is cheap indeed, and always to be had. How simply plain
    \r\n", - "is the dead man's cell! In this humid space, ten by sixteen feet,
    \r\n", - "and arched over-head, is a bucket of water, with a tin cup at the
    \r\n", - "side, a prison tub in one corner, two wooden chairs, a little deal
    \r\n", - "stand, (off which the prisoner ate his meals), and his trunk of
    \r\n", - "clothing. The sheriff, insisting that it was his rule to make no
    \r\n", - "distinction of persons, allowed prison cot and prison matress to
    \r\n", - "which, by the kind permission of the warden, Franconia added sheets
    \r\n", - "and a coverlit. Upon this, in a corner at the right, and opposite a
    \r\n", - "spacious fire-place, in which are two bricks supporting a small iron
    \r\n", - "kettle, lies the once opulent planter,--now with eyes glassy and
    \r\n", - "discoloured, a ghastly corpse. His house once was famous for its
    \r\n", - "princely hospitality,--the prison cot is not now his bequest: but it
    \r\n", - "is all the world has left him on which to yield up his life. \"Oh,
    \r\n", - "uncle! uncle! uncle!\" exclaims Franconia, who has been bathing his
    \r\n", - "contorted face with her tears, \"would that God had taken me
    \r\n", - "too-buried our troubles in one grave! There is no trouble in that
    \r\n", - "world to which he has gone: joy, virtue, and peace, reign triumphant
    \r\n", - "there,\" she speaks, sighing, as she raises her bosom from off the
    \r\n", - "dead man. Harry has touched her on the shoulder with his left hand,
    \r\n", - "and is holding the dead man's with his right: he seems in deep
    \r\n", - "contemplation. His mind is absorbed in the melancholy scene; but,
    \r\n", - "though his affection is deep, he has no tears to shed at this
    \r\n", - "moment. No; he will draw a chair for Franconia, and seat her near
    \r\n", - "the head of the cot, for the fountains of her grief have overflown.
    \r\n", - "Discoloured and contorted, what a ghastly picture the dead man's
    \r\n", - "face presents! Glassy, and with vacant glare, those eyes, strange in
    \r\n", - "death, seem wildly staring upward from earth. How unnatural those
    \r\n", - "sunken cheeks--those lips wet with the excrement of black vomit--that
    \r\n", - "throat reddened with the pestilential poison! \"Call a warden,
    \r\n", - "Daddy!\" says Harry; \"he has died of black vomit, I think.\" And he
    \r\n", - "lays the dead body square upon the cot, turns the sheets from off
    \r\n", - "the shoulders, unbuttons the collar of its shirt. \"How changed! I
    \r\n", - "never would have known master; but I can see something of him left
    \r\n", - "yet.\" Harry remains some minutes looking upon the face of the
    \r\n", - "departed, as if tracing some long lost feature. And then he takes
    \r\n", - "his hands-it's master's hand, he says-and places them gently to his
    \r\n", - "sides, closes his glassy eyes, wipes his mouth and nostrils, puts
    \r\n", - "his ear to the dead man's mouth, as if doubting the all-slayer's
    \r\n", - "possession of the body, and with his right hand parts the matted
    \r\n", - "hair from off the cold brow. What a step between the cares of the
    \r\n", - "world and the peace of death! Harry smooths, and smooths, and
    \r\n", - "smooths his forehead with his hand; until at length his feelings get
    \r\n", - "the better of his resolution; he will wipe the dewy tears from his
    \r\n", - "eyes. \"Don't weep, Miss Franconia,--don't weep! master is happy with
    \r\n", - "Jesus,--happier than all the plantations and slaves of the world
    \r\n", - "could make him\" he says, turning to her as she sits weeping, her
    \r\n", - "elbow resting on the cot, and her face buried in her handkerchief.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bad job this here!\" exclaims the warden, as he comes lumbering into
    \r\n", - "the cell, his face flushed with anxiety. \"This yaller-fever beats
    \r\n", - "everything: but he hasn't been well for some time,\" he continues,
    \r\n", - "advancing to the bed-side, looking on the deceased for a few
    \r\n", - "minutes, and then, as if it were a part of his profession to look on
    \r\n", - "dead men, says: \"How strange to die out so soon!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He was a good master,\" rejoins Harry.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He wasn't your master-Was he?\" enquires the gaoler, in gruff
    \r\n", - "accents.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Once he was.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But, did you see him die, boy?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Thank God, I did not.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And this stupid old nigger hadn't sense to call me!\" (he turns
    \r\n", - "threateningly to Bob): \"Well,--must 'a drop'd off like the snuff of
    \r\n", - "a tallow candle!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daddy knew master was a poor man now;--calling would have availed
    \r\n", - "nothing; gaolers are bad friends of poverty.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Could you not have sent for me, good man?\" enquires Franconia, her
    \r\n", - "weeping eyes turning upon the warden, who says, by way of answering
    \r\n", - "her question, \"We must have him out o' here.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I said mas'r was sicker den ye s'posed, yesterday; nor ye didn't
    \r\n", - "notice 'um!\" interposes Bob, giving a significant look at the
    \r\n", - "warden, and again at Franconia.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"What a shame, in this our land of boasted hospitality! He died
    \r\n", - "neglected in a prison cell!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Truth is, ma'am,\" interrupts the warden, who, suddenly becoming
    \r\n", - "conscious that it is polite to be courteous to ladies wherever they
    \r\n", - "may be met, uncovers, and holds his hat in his hand,--\"we are sorely
    \r\n", - "tried with black-vomit cases; no provision is made for them, and
    \r\n", - "they die on our hands afore we know it, just like sheep with the
    \r\n", - "rot. It gives us a great deal of trouble;--you may depend it does,
    \r\n", - "ma'am; and not a cent extra pay do we get for it. For my own part,
    \r\n", - "I've become quite at home to dead men and prisoners. My name is-you
    \r\n", - "have no doubt heard of me before-John Lafayette Flewellen: my
    \r\n", - "situation was once, madam, that of a distinguished road contractor;
    \r\n", - "and then they run me for the democratic senator from our district,
    \r\n", - "and I lost all my money without getting the office-and here I am
    \r\n", - "now, pestered with sick men and dead prisoners. And the very worst
    \r\n", - "is that ye can't please nobody; but if anything is wanted, ma'am,
    \r\n", - "just call for me: John Lafayette Flewellen's my name, ma'am.\" The
    \r\n", - "man of nerve, with curious indifference, is about to turn away,--to
    \r\n", - "leave the mourning party to themselves, merely remarking, as he
    \r\n", - "takes his hand from that of the corpse, that his limbs are becoming
    \r\n", - "fridgid, fast.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stay-a-moment,--warden,\" says Franconia, sobbing: \"When was he
    \r\n", - "seized with the fever?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Day afore yesterday, ma'am; but he didn't complain until yesterday.
    \r\n", - "That he was in a dangerous way I'm sure I'd no idea.\" The warden
    \r\n", - "shrugs his shoulders, and spreads his hands. \"My eyes, ma'am, but he
    \r\n", - "drank strongly of late! Perhaps that, combined with the fever,
    \r\n", - "helped slide him off?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! yes,--it was something else-it was grief! His troubles were his
    \r\n", - "destroyer.\" She wipes her eyes, and, with a look of commiseration,
    \r\n", - "turns from the man whose business it is to look coldly upon
    \r\n", - "unfortunate dead men.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There was the things you sent him, ma'am; and he got his gaol
    \r\n", - "allowance, and some gruel. The law wouldn't allow us to do more for
    \r\n", - "him,--no, it wouldn't!\" He shakes his head in confirmation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I wanted old mas'r to let 'um bring doctor; but he said no! he
    \r\n", - "would meet de doctor what cured all diseases in another world,\"
    \r\n", - "interrupts old Bob, as he draws his seat close to the foot of the
    \r\n", - "cot, and, with his shining face of grief, gazes on the pale features
    \r\n", - "of his beloved master.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Let him lie as he is, till the coroner comes,\" says the warden,
    \r\n", - "retiring slowly, and drawing the heavy door after him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The humble picture was no less an expression of goodness, than proof
    \r\n", - "of the cruel severity of the law. The news of death soon brought
    \r\n", - "curious debtors into the long aisle, while sorrow and sympathy might
    \r\n", - "be read on every face. But he was gone, and with him his wants and
    \r\n", - "grievances. A physician was called in, but he could not recall life,
    \r\n", - "and, after making a few very learned and unintelligible remarks on
    \r\n", - "the appearance of the body, took his departure, saying that they
    \r\n", - "must not grieve-that it was the way all flesh would go. \"He, no
    \r\n", - "doubt, died of the black vomit, hastened by the want of care,\" he
    \r\n", - "concluded, as he left the cell.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Want of care!\" rejoins Franconia, again giving vent to her
    \r\n", - "feelings. How deeply did the arrow dart into the recesses of her
    \r\n", - "already wounded heart!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Moon, the methodical coroner, was not long repairing to the
    \r\n", - "spot. He felt, and felt, and felt the dead man's limbs, asked a few
    \r\n", - "questions, bared the cold breast, ordered the body to be
    \r\n", - "straightened a little, viewed it from several angles, and said an
    \r\n", - "inquest was unnecessary. It would reveal no new facts, and, as so
    \r\n", - "many were dying of the same disease, could give no more relief to
    \r\n", - "his friends. Concerning his death, no one could doubt the cause
    \r\n", - "being black vomit. With a frigid attempt at consolation for
    \r\n", - "Franconia, he will withdraw. He has not been long gone, when the
    \r\n", - "warden, a sheet over his left arm, again makes his appearance; he
    \r\n", - "passes the sheet to Harry, with a request that he will wind the dead
    \r\n", - "debtor up in it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Franconia, sobbing, rises from her seat, opens a window at the head
    \r\n", - "of the cot (the dead will not escape through the iron grating), and
    \r\n", - "paces the floor, while Harry and Daddy sponge the body, lay it
    \r\n", - "carefully down, and fold it in the winding-sheet. \"Poor master,--God
    \r\n", - "has taken him; but how I shall miss him! I've spent happy days wid
    \r\n", - "'im in dis place, I have!\" says Bob, as they lay his head on the
    \r\n", - "hard pillow. He gazes upon him with affection,--and says \"Mas'r 'll
    \r\n", - "want no more clothes.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now night is fast drawing its dark mantle over the scene,--the
    \r\n", - "refulgent shadows of the setting sun play through the grated window
    \r\n", - "into the gloomy cell: how like a spirit of goodness sent from on
    \r\n", - "high to lighten the sorrows of the downcast, seems the light. A
    \r\n", - "faint ray plays its soft tints on that face now pallid in death; how
    \r\n", - "it inspires our thoughts of heaven! Franconia watches, and watches,
    \r\n", - "as fainter and fainter it fades away, like an angel sent for the
    \r\n", - "spirit taking its departure. \"Farewell!\" she whispers, as darkness
    \r\n", - "shuts out the last mellow glimmer: \"Come sombre night, and spread
    \r\n", - "thy stillness!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The warden, moved by the spark of generosity his soul possesses, has
    \r\n", - "brought some cologne, and silently places it in Franconia's hands.
    \r\n", - "She advances to the cot, seats herself near the head of her dear
    \r\n", - "departed, encircles his head with her left arm, and with her white
    \r\n", - "'kerchief bathes his face with the liquid, Harry holding the vessel
    \r\n", - "in his hand, at her request. A candle sheds its sickly light upon
    \r\n", - "the humid walls; faintly it discloses the face of Daddy Bob,
    \r\n", - "immersed in tears, watching intently over the foot of the cot.
    \r\n", - "\"Missus Frankone is alw's kind to mas'r!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I loved uncle because his heart was good,\" returns Franconia.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'Tis dat, missus. How kindly old mas'r, long time ago, used to say,
    \r\n", - "'Good mornin', Bob! Daddy, mas'r lubs you!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "How firmly the happy recollection of these kind words is sealed in
    \r\n", - "the old man's memory.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXVIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH REGRETS ARE SHOWN OF LITTLE WORTH.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE reader may remember, that we, in the early part of our
    \r\n", - "narrative, made some slight mention of the Rovero family, of which
    \r\n", - "Franconia and Lorenzo were the only surviving children. They, too,
    \r\n", - "had been distinguished as belonging to a class of opulent planters;
    \r\n", - "but, having been reduced to poverty by the same nefarious process
    \r\n", - "through which we have traced Marston's decline, and which we shall
    \r\n", - "more fully disclose in the sequel, had gathered together the
    \r\n", - "remnants of a once extensive property, and with the proceeds
    \r\n", - "migrated to a western province of Mexico, where, for many years,
    \r\n", - "though not with much success, Rovero pursued a mining speculation.
    \r\n", - "They lived in a humble manner; Mrs. Rovero, Marston's sister-and of
    \r\n", - "whom we have a type in the character of her daughter,
    \r\n", - "Franconia-discarded all unnecessary appurtenances of living, and
    \r\n", - "looked forward to the time when they would be enabled to retrieve
    \r\n", - "their fortunes and return to their native district to spend the
    \r\n", - "future of their days on the old homestead. More than four years,
    \r\n", - "however, had passed since any tidings had been received of them by
    \r\n", - "Franconia; and it was strongly surmised that they had fallen victims
    \r\n", - "to the savage incursions of marauding parties, who were at that time
    \r\n", - "devastating the country, and scattering its defenceless inhabitants
    \r\n", - "homeless over the western shores of central America. So strong had
    \r\n", - "this impression found place in Franconia's mind that she had given
    \r\n", - "up all hopes of again meeting them. As for M'Carstrow's friends,
    \r\n", - "they had never taken any interest in her welfare, viewing her
    \r\n", - "marriage with the distinguished colonel as a mere catch on the part
    \r\n", - "of her parents, whose only motive was to secure themselves the
    \r\n", - "protection of a name, and, perhaps, the means of sustaining
    \r\n", - "themselves above the rank disclosure of their real poverty. To keep
    \r\n", - "\"above board\" is everything in the south; and the family not
    \r\n", - "distinguished soon finds itself well nigh extinguished. Hence that
    \r\n", - "ever tenacious clinging to pretensions, sounding of important names,
    \r\n", - "and maintenance of absurd fallacies,--all having for their end the
    \r\n", - "drawing a curtain over that real state of poverty there existing.
    \r\n", - "Indeed, it was no secret that even the M'Carstrow family (counting
    \r\n", - "itself among the very few really distinguished families of the
    \r\n", - "state, and notorious for the contempt in which they affected to hold
    \r\n", - "all common people), had mortgaged their plantation and all its
    \r\n", - "negroes for much more than their worth in ordinary times. As for
    \r\n", - "tradesmen's bills, there were any quantity outstanding, without the
    \r\n", - "shadow of a prospect of their being paid, notwithstanding
    \r\n", - "importuners had frequently intimated that a place called the gaol
    \r\n", - "was not far distant, and that the squire's office was within a
    \r\n", - "stone's throw of \"the corner.\" Colonel M'Carstrow, reports say, had
    \r\n", - "some years ago got a deal of money by an unexplainable hocus pocus,
    \r\n", - "but it was well nigh gone in gambling, and now he was keeping
    \r\n", - "brothel society and rioting away his life faster than the
    \r\n", - "race-horses he had formerly kept on the course could run.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Hospitality hides itself when friends are needy; and it will be seen
    \r\n", - "here that Franconia had few friends-we mean friends in need. The
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook family formed an exception. The good deacon, and his ever
    \r\n", - "generous lady, had remained Franconia's firmest friends; but so
    \r\n", - "large and complicated were the demands against Marston, and so gross
    \r\n", - "the charges of dishonour--suspicion said he fraudulently made over
    \r\n", - "his property to Graspum-that they dared not interpose for his
    \r\n", - "relief; nor would Marston himself have permitted it. The question
    \r\n", - "now was, what was to be done with the dead body?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We left Franconia bathing its face, and smoothing the hair across
    \r\n", - "its temples with her hand. She cannot bury the body from her own
    \r\n", - "home:--no! M'Carstow will not permit that. She cannot consign it to
    \r\n", - "the commissioners for the better regulation of the \"poor house,\"-her
    \r\n", - "feelings repulse the thought. One thought lightens her cares; she
    \r\n", - "will straightway proceed to Mrs. Rosebrook's villa,--she will herself
    \r\n", - "be the bearer of the mournful intelligence; while Harry will watch
    \r\n", - "over the remains of the departed, until Daddy, who must be her guide
    \r\n", - "through the city, shall return. \"I will go to prepare the next
    \r\n", - "resting-place for uncle,\" says Franconia, as if nerving herself to
    \r\n", - "carry out the resolution.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"With your permission, missus,\" returns Harry, touching her on the
    \r\n", - "arm, and pointing through the grated window into the gloomy yard.
    \r\n", - "\"Years since-before I passed through a tribulation worse than
    \r\n", - "death-when we were going to be sold in the market, I called my
    \r\n", - "brothers and sisters of the plantation together, and in that yard
    \r\n", - "invoked heaven to be merciful to its fallen. I was sold on that day;
    \r\n", - "but heaven has been merciful to me; heaven has guided me through
    \r\n", - "many weary pilgrimages, and brought me here to-night; and its
    \r\n", - "protecting hand will yet restore me my wife and little ones. Let us
    \r\n", - "pray to-night; let us be grateful to Him who seeth the fallen in his
    \r\n", - "tribulation, but prepareth a place for him in a better world. Let us
    \r\n", - "pray and hope,\" he continued: and they knelt at the side of the
    \r\n", - "humble cot on which lay the departed, while he devoutly and
    \r\n", - "fervently invoked the Giver of all Good to forgive the oppressor, to
    \r\n", - "guide the oppressed, to make man feel there is a world beyond this,
    \r\n", - "to strengthen the resolution of that fair one who is thus sorely
    \r\n", - "afflicted, to give the old man who weeps at the feet of the departed
    \r\n", - "new hope for the world to come,--and to receive that warm spirit
    \r\n", - "which has just left the cold body into his realms of bliss.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "What of roughness there was in his manner is softened by simplicity
    \r\n", - "and truthfulness. The roughest lips may breathe the purest prayer.
    \r\n", - "At the conclusion, Franconia and Daddy leave for Mrs. Rosebrook's
    \r\n", - "villa, while Harry, remaining to watch over the remains, draws his
    \r\n", - "chair to the stand, and reads by the murky light.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I won't be long; take care of old mas'r,\" says Daddy, as he leaves
    \r\n", - "the cell, solicitously looking back into the cavern-like place.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is past ten when they reach the house of Mrs. Rosebrook, the
    \r\n", - "inmates of which have retired, and are sleeping. Everything is quiet
    \r\n", - "in and about the enclosure; the luxuriant foliage bespreading a lawn
    \r\n", - "extending far away to the westward, seems refreshing itself with dew
    \r\n", - "that sparkles beneath the starlight heavens, now arched like a
    \r\n", - "crystal mist hung with diamond lights. The distant watchdog's bark
    \r\n", - "re-echoes faintly over the broad lagoon, to the east; a cricket's
    \r\n", - "chirrup sounds beneath the woodbine arbour; a moody guardsman,
    \r\n", - "mounted on his lean steed, and armed for danger, paces his slow way
    \r\n", - "along: he it is that breaks the stillness while guarding the fears
    \r\n", - "of a watchful community, who know liberty, but crush with steel the
    \r\n", - "love thereof.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A rap soon brings to the door the trim figure of a mulatto servant.
    \r\n", - "He conveys the name of the visitor to his \"missus,\" who, surprised
    \r\n", - "at the untimely hour Franconia seeks her, loses no time in reaching
    \r\n", - "the ante-room, into which she has been conducted.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daddy has taken his seat in the hall, and recognises \"missus\" as she
    \r\n", - "approaches; but as she puts out her hand to salute him, she
    \r\n", - "recognises trouble seated on his countenance. \"Young missus in
    \r\n", - "da'h,\" he says, pointing to the ante-room while rubbing his eyes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"But you must tell me what trouble has befallen you,\" she returns,
    \r\n", - "as quickly, in her dishabille, she drops his hand and starts back.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Missus know 'um all,--missus da'h.\" Again he points, and she hastens
    \r\n", - "into the ante-room, when, grasping Franconia by the hand, she stares
    \r\n", - "at her with breathless anxiety expressed in her face. A pause ensues
    \r\n", - "in which both seem bewildered. At length Franconia breaks the
    \r\n", - "silence. \"Uncle is gone!\" she exclaims, following the words with a
    \r\n", - "flow of tears.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gone!\" reiterates the generous-hearted woman, encircling
    \r\n", - "Franconia's neck with her left arm, and drawing her fondly to her
    \r\n", - "bosom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,--dead!\" she continues, sobbing audibly. There is something
    \r\n", - "touching in the words,--something which recalls the dearest
    \r\n", - "associations of the past, and touches the fountains of the heart. It
    \r\n", - "is the soft tone in which they are uttered,--it gives new life to old
    \r\n", - "images. So forcibly are they called up, that the good woman has no
    \r\n", - "power to resist her violent emotions: gently she guides Franconia to
    \r\n", - "the sofa, seats her upon its soft cushion, and attempts to console
    \r\n", - "her wrecked spirit.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The men-servants are called up,--told to be prepared for orders. One
    \r\n", - "of them recognises Daddy, and, inviting him into the pantry, would
    \r\n", - "give him food, Trouble has wasted the old man's appetite; he thinks
    \r\n", - "of master, but has no will to eat. No; he will see missus, and
    \r\n", - "proceed back to the prison, there join Harry, and watch over all
    \r\n", - "that is mortal of master. He thanks Abraham for what he gave him,
    \r\n", - "declines the coat he would kindly lend him to keep out the chill,
    \r\n", - "seeks the presence of his mistress (she has become more reconciled),
    \r\n", - "says, \"God bless 'um!\" bids her good night, and sallies forth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook listens to the recital of the melancholy scene with
    \r\n", - "astonishment and awe. \"How death grapples for us!\" she exclaims, her
    \r\n", - "soft, soul-beaming eyes glaring with surprise. \"How it cuts its way
    \r\n", - "with edge unseen. Be calm, be calm, Franconia; you have nobly done
    \r\n", - "your part,--nobly! Whatever the pecuniary misfortunes,--whatever the
    \r\n", - "secret cause of his downfall, you have played the woman to the very
    \r\n", - "end. You have illustrated the purest of true affection; would it had
    \r\n", - "repaid you better. Before daylight-negroes are, in consequence of
    \r\n", - "their superstition, unwilling to remove the dead at midnight-I will
    \r\n", - "have the body removed here,--buried from my house.\" The good woman
    \r\n", - "did not disclose to Franconia that her husband was from home, making
    \r\n", - "an effort to purchase Harry's wife and children from their present
    \r\n", - "owner. But she will do all she can,--the best can do no more.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At the gaol a different scene is presented. Harry, alone with the
    \r\n", - "dead man, waits Daddy's return. Each tap of the bell awakes a new
    \r\n", - "hope, soon to be disappointed. The clock strikes eleven: no Daddy
    \r\n", - "returns. The gates are shut: Harry must wile away the night, in this
    \r\n", - "tomb-like abode, with the dead. What stillness pervades the cell;
    \r\n", - "how mournfully calm in death sleeps the departed! The watcher has
    \r\n", - "read himself to sleep; his taper, like life on its way, has nearly
    \r\n", - "shed out its pale light; the hot breath of summer breathes balmy
    \r\n", - "through the lattice bars; mosquitoes sing their torturous tunes
    \r\n", - "while seeking for the dead man's blood; lizards, with diamond eyes,
    \r\n", - "crawl upon the wall, waiting their ration: but death, less
    \r\n", - "inexorable than creditors, sits pale king over all. The palace and
    \r\n", - "the cell are alike to him; the sharp edge of his unseen sword spares
    \r\n", - "neither the king in his purple robe, nor the starving beggar who
    \r\n", - "seeks a crust at his palace gate,--of all places the worst.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As morning dawns, and soft fleeting clouds tinge the heavens with
    \r\n", - "light, four negroes may be seen sitting at the prison gate, a litter
    \r\n", - "by their side, now and then casting silent glances upward, as if
    \r\n", - "contemplating the sombre wall that frowns above their heads,
    \r\n", - "enclosing the prison. The guard, armed to the teeth, have passed and
    \r\n", - "repassed them, challenged and received their answer, and as often
    \r\n", - "examined their passes. They-the negroes-have come for a dead man.
    \r\n", - "Guardmen get no fees of dead men,--the law has no more demands to
    \r\n", - "serve: they wish the boys much joy with their booty, and pass on.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Six o'clock arrives; the first bell rings; locks, bolts, and bars
    \r\n", - "clank in ungrateful medley; rumbling voices are heard within the
    \r\n", - "hollow-sounding aisles; whispers from above chime ominously with the
    \r\n", - "dull shuffle rumbling from below. \"Seven more cases,--how it rages!\"
    \r\n", - "grumbles a monotonous voice, and the gate opens at the warden's
    \r\n", - "touch. \"Who's here?\" he demands, with stern countenance unchanged,
    \r\n", - "as he shrugs his formidable shoulders. \"I see, (he continues,
    \r\n", - "quickly), you have come for the dead debtor. Glad of it, my good
    \r\n", - "fellow; this is the place to make dead men of debtors. Brought an
    \r\n", - "order, I s'pose?\" Saying \"follow me,\" he turns about, hastens to the
    \r\n", - "vestibule, receives the order from the hand of Duncan, the chief
    \r\n", - "negro, reads it with grave attention, supposes it is all straight,
    \r\n", - "and is about to show him the cell where the body lays, and which he
    \r\n", - "is only too glad to release. \"Hold a moment!\" Mr. Winterflint--such
    \r\n", - "is his name--says. Heaven knows he wants to get rid of the dead
    \r\n", - "debtor; but the laws are so curious, creditors are so obdurate, and
    \r\n", - "sheriffs have such a crooked way of doing straight things, that he
    \r\n", - "is in the very bad position of not knowing what to do. Some document
    \r\n", - "from the sheriff may be necessary; perhaps the creditors must agree
    \r\n", - "to the compromise. He forgets that inexorable Death, as he is
    \r\n", - "vulgarly styled, has forced a compromise: creditors must now credit
    \r\n", - "\"by decease.\" Upon this point, however, he must be satisfied by his
    \r\n", - "superior. He now wishes Mr. Brien Moon would evince more exactness
    \r\n", - "in holding inquests, and less anxiety for the fees. Mr. Winterflint
    \r\n", - "depends not on his own decisions, where the laws relating to debtors
    \r\n", - "are so absurdly mystical. \"Rest here, boy,\" he says; \"I won't be a
    \r\n", - "minute or two,--must do the thing straight.\" He seeks the presence of
    \r\n", - "that extremely high functionary, the gaoler (high indeed wherever
    \r\n", - "slavery rules), who, having weighed the points with great legal
    \r\n", - "impartiality, gives it as his most distinguished opinion that no
    \r\n", - "order of release from the high sheriff is requisite to satisfy the
    \r\n", - "creditors of his death: take care of the order sent, and make a note
    \r\n", - "of the niggers who take him away, concludes that highly important
    \r\n", - "gentleman, as comfortably his head reclines on soft pillow. To this
    \r\n", - "end was Mr. Moon's certificate essential.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Winterflint returns; enquires who owns the boys.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mas'r Rosebrook's niggers,\" Duncan replies, firmly; \"but Missus
    \r\n", - "send da order.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sure of that, now? Good niggers them of Rosebrook's: wouldn't a'
    \r\n", - "gin it to nobody else's niggers. Follow me-zist, zist!\" he says,
    \r\n", - "crooking his finger at the other three, and scowling, as Duncan
    \r\n", - "relieves their timidity by advancing. They move slowly and
    \r\n", - "noiselessly up the aisle, the humid atmosphere of which, pregnant
    \r\n", - "with death, sickens as it steals into the very blood. \"In
    \r\n", - "there-zist! make no noise; the dead debtor lies there,\" whispers the
    \r\n", - "warden, laying his left hand upon Duncan's shoulder, and, the
    \r\n", - "forefinger of his right extended, pointing toward the last cell on
    \r\n", - "the left. \"Door's open; not locked, I meant. Left it unsecured last
    \r\n", - "night. Rap afore ye go in, though.\" At the methodical warden's
    \r\n", - "bidding Duncan proceeds, his foot falling lightly on the floor.
    \r\n", - "Reaching the door, he places his right hand on the swinging bolt,
    \r\n", - "and for a few seconds seems listening. He hears the muffled sound of
    \r\n", - "a footfall pacing the floor, and then a muttering as of voices in
    \r\n", - "secret communion, or dying echoes from the tomb. He has not mistaken
    \r\n", - "the cell; its crevices give forth odours pergnant of proof. Two
    \r\n", - "successive raps bring Harry to the door: they are admitted to the
    \r\n", - "presence of the dead. One by one Harry receives them by the hand,
    \r\n", - "but he must needs be told why Daddy is not with them. They know not.
    \r\n", - "He ate a morsel, and left late last night, says one of the negroes.
    \r\n", - "Harry is astonished at this singular intelligence: Daddy Bob never
    \r\n", - "before was known to commit an act of unfaithfulness; he was true to
    \r\n", - "Marston in life,--strange that he should desert him in death.
    \r\n", - "\"Mas'r's death-bed wasn't much at last,\" says Duncan, as they gather
    \r\n", - "round the cot, and, with curious faces, mingle their more curious
    \r\n", - "remarks. Harry draws back the white handkerchief which Franconia had
    \r\n", - "spread over the face of the corpse, as the negroes start back
    \r\n", - "affrighted. As of nervous contortion, the ghastly face presents an
    \r\n", - "awful picture. Swollen, discoloured, and contracted, no one outline
    \r\n", - "of that once cheerful countenance can be traced. \"Don't look much
    \r\n", - "like Mas'r Marston used to look; times must a' changed mightily
    \r\n", - "since he used to look so happy at home,\" mutters Duncan, shaking his
    \r\n", - "head, and telling the others not to be \"fear'd; dead men can't hurt
    \r\n", - "nobody.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Died penniless;--but e' war good on e' own plantation,\" rejoins
    \r\n", - "another. \"One ting be sartin 'bout nigger-he know how he die wen 'e
    \r\n", - "time cum; Mas'r don know how 'e gwine to die!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Having seen enough of the melancholy finale, they spread the litter
    \r\n", - "in the aisle, as the warden enters the cell to facilitate the dead
    \r\n", - "debtor's exit. Harry again covers the face, and prepares to roll the
    \r\n", - "body in a coverlit brought by Duncan. \"I kind of liked him-he was so
    \r\n", - "gentlemanly-has been with us so long, and did'nt seem like a
    \r\n", - "prisoner. He was very quiet, and always civil when spoken to,\"
    \r\n", - "interposes the warden, as, assisting the second shrouding, he
    \r\n", - "presses the hand of the corpse in his own.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Now he is ready; they place his cold body on the litter; a few
    \r\n", - "listless prisoners stand their sickly figures along the passage,
    \r\n", - "watch him slowly borne to the iron gate in the arched vault.
    \r\n", - "Death-less inexorable than creditors-has signed his release, thrown
    \r\n", - "back prison bolts and bars, wrested him from the grasp of human
    \r\n", - "laws, and now mocks at creditors, annuls fi fas, bids the dead
    \r\n", - "debtor make his exit. Death pays no gaol fees; it makes that bequest
    \r\n", - "to creditors; but it reserves the keys of heaven for another
    \r\n", - "purpose. \"One ration less,\" says the warden, who, closing the grated
    \r\n", - "door, casts a lingering look after the humble procession, bearing
    \r\n", - "away the remains of our departed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "With Harry as the only follower, they proceed along, through
    \r\n", - "suburban streets, and soon reach the house of that generous woman. A
    \r\n", - "minister of the gospel awaits his coming; the good man's words are
    \r\n", - "consoling, but he cannot remodel the past for the advantage of the
    \r\n", - "dead. Soon the body is placed in a \"ready-made coffin,\" and the good
    \r\n", - "man offers up the last funeral rites; he can do no more than invoke
    \r\n", - "the great protector to receive the departed into his bosom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"How the troubles of this world rise up before me! Oh! uncle! uncle!
    \r\n", - "how I could part with the world and bury my troubles in the same
    \r\n", - "grave!\" exclaims Franconia, as, the ceremony having ended, they bear
    \r\n", - "the body away to its last resting-place; and, in a paroxysm of
    \r\n", - "grief, she shrieks and falls swooning to the floor.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In a neatly inclosed plat, a short distance from the Rosebrook
    \r\n", - "Villa, and near the bank of a meandering rivulet, overhung with
    \r\n", - "mourning willows and clustering vines, they lay him to rest. The
    \r\n", - "world gave the fallen man nothing but a prison-cell wherein to
    \r\n", - "stretch his dying body; a woman gives him a sequestered grave, and
    \r\n", - "nature spreads it with her loveliest offering. It is the last
    \r\n", - "resting-place of the Rosebrook family, which their negroes,
    \r\n", - "partaking of that contentment so characteristic of the family, have
    \r\n", - "planted with flowers they nurture with tenderest care. There is
    \r\n", - "something touching in the calm beauty of the spot; something
    \r\n", - "breathing of rural contentment. It is something to be buried in a
    \r\n", - "pretty grave-to be mourned by a slave-to be loved by the untutored.
    \r\n", - "How abject the slave, and yet how true his affection! how dear his
    \r\n", - "requiem over a departed friend! \"God bless master-receive his
    \r\n", - "spirit!\" is heard mingling with the music of the gentle breeze, as
    \r\n", - "Harry, sitting at the head of the grave, looks upward to heaven,
    \r\n", - "while earth covers from sight the mortal relics of a once kind
    \r\n", - "master.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It has been a day of sadness at the villa-a day of mourning and
    \r\n", - "tribulation. How different the scene in the city! There, men whisper
    \r\n", - "strange regrets. Sympathy is let loose, and is expanding itself to
    \r\n", - "an unusual degree. Who was there that did not know Marston's
    \r\n", - "generous, gushing soul! Who was there that would not have stretched
    \r\n", - "forth the helping hand, had they known his truly abject condition!
    \r\n", - "Who that was not, and had not been twenty times, on the very brink
    \r\n", - "of wresting him from the useless tyranny of his obdurate creditors!
    \r\n", - "Who that had not waited from day to day, with purse-strings open,
    \r\n", - "ready to pour forth the unmistakeable tokens of friendship! How many
    \r\n", - "were only restrained from doing good-from giving vent to the
    \r\n", - "fountains of their hospitality-through fear of being contaminated
    \r\n", - "with that scandal rumour had thrown around his decline! Over his
    \r\n", - "death hath sprung to life that curious fabric of living generosity,
    \r\n", - "so ready to bespread a grave with unneeded bounties,--so emblematic
    \r\n", - "of how many false mourners hath the dead. But Graspum would have all
    \r\n", - "such expressions shrink beneath his glowing goodness. With honied
    \r\n", - "words he tells the tale of his own honesty: his business intercourse
    \r\n", - "with the deceased was in character most generous. Many a good turn
    \r\n", - "did Marston receive at his hands; long had he been his faithful and
    \r\n", - "unwearied friend. Fierce are the words with which he would execrate
    \r\n", - "the tyrant creditors; yea, he would heap condign punishment on their
    \r\n", - "obdurate heads. Time after time did he tell them the fallen man was
    \r\n", - "penniless; how strange, then, that they tortured him to death within
    \r\n", - "prison walls. He would sweep away such vengeance, bury it with his
    \r\n", - "curses, and make obsolete such laws as give one man power to gratify
    \r\n", - "his passion on another. His burning, surging anger can find no
    \r\n", - "relief; nor can he tolerate such antiquated debtor laws: to him they
    \r\n", - "are the very essence of barbarism, tainting that enlightened
    \r\n", - "civilisation so long implanted by the State, so well maintained by
    \r\n", - "the people. It is on those ennobling virtues of state, he says, the
    \r\n", - "cherished doctrines of our democracy are founded. Graspum is,
    \r\n", - "indeed, a well-developed type of our modern democracy, the flimsy
    \r\n", - "fabric of which is well represented in the gasconade of the above
    \r\n", - "outpouring philanthropy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now, as again the crimson clouds of evening soften into golden
    \r\n", - "hues-as the sun, like a fiery chariot, sinks beneath the western
    \r\n", - "landscape, and still night spreads her shadowy mantle down the
    \r\n", - "distant hills, and over the broad lagoon to the north-two sable
    \r\n", - "figures may be seen patting, sodding, and bespreading with
    \r\n", - "fresh-plucked flowers the new grave. As the rippling brook gives out
    \r\n", - "its silvery music, and earth seems drinking of the misty dew, that,
    \r\n", - "like a bridal veil, spreads over its verdant hillocks, they whisper
    \r\n", - "their requiem of regret, and mould the grave so carefully. \"It's
    \r\n", - "mas'r's last,\" says one, smoothing the cone with his hands.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We will plant the tree now,\" returns the other, bringing forward a
    \r\n", - "young clustering pine, which he places at the head of the grave, and
    \r\n", - "on which he cuts the significant epitaph-\"Good master lies here!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Duncan and Harry have paid their last tribute. \"He is at peace with
    \r\n", - "this world,\" says the latter, as, at the gate, he turns to take a
    \r\n", - "last look over the paling.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XXXIX.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HOW WE SHOULD ALL BE FORGIVING.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "LET us forget the scenes of the foregoing chapters, and turn to
    \r\n", - "something of pleasanter hue. In the meantime, let us freely
    \r\n", - "acknowledge that we live in a land-our democratic south, we
    \r\n", - "mean-where sumptuous living and abject misery present their boldest
    \r\n", - "outlines,--where the ignorance of the many is excused by the polished
    \r\n", - "education of a very few,--where autocracy sways its lash with
    \r\n", - "bitterest absolutism,--where menial life lies prostrate at the feet
    \r\n", - "of injustice, and despairingly appeals to heaven for succour,--where
    \r\n", - "feasts and funerals rival each other,--and when pestilence, like a
    \r\n", - "glutton, sends its victims to the graveyard most, the ball-room
    \r\n", - "glitters brightest with its galaxy. Even here, where clamour cries
    \r\n", - "aloud for popular government, men's souls are most crushed-not with
    \r\n", - "legal right, but by popular will! And yet, from out all this
    \r\n", - "incongruous substance, there seems a genial spirit working itself
    \r\n", - "upon the surface, and making good its influence; and it is to that
    \r\n", - "influence we should award the credit due. That genial spirit is the
    \r\n", - "good master's protection; we would it were wider exercised for the
    \r\n", - "good of all. But we must return to our narrative.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The Rosebrook Villa has assumed its usual cheerfulness; but while
    \r\n", - "pestilence makes sad havoc among the inhabitants of the city, gaiety
    \r\n", - "is equally rampant. In a word, even the many funeral trains which
    \r\n", - "pass along every day begin to wear a sort of cheerfulness, in
    \r\n", - "consequence of which, it is rumoured, the aristocracy-we mean those
    \r\n", - "who have money to spend-have made up their minds not to depart for
    \r\n", - "the springs yet awhile. As for Franconia, finding she could no
    \r\n", - "longer endure M'Carstrow's dissolute habits, and having been told by
    \r\n", - "that very distinguished gentleman, but unamiable husband, that he
    \r\n", - "despised the whole tribe of her poor relations, she has retired to
    \r\n", - "private boarding, where, with the five dollars a week, he, in the
    \r\n", - "outpouring of his southern generosity, allows her, she subsists
    \r\n", - "plainly but comfortably. It is, indeed, a paltry pittance, which the
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow family will excuse to the public with the greatness of
    \r\n", - "their name.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry has returned to the plantation, where the people have
    \r\n", - "smothered him in a new suit of black. Already has he preached three
    \r\n", - "sermons in it, which said sermons are declared wonderful proofs of
    \r\n", - "his biblical knowledge. Even Daddy Daniel, who expended fourteen
    \r\n", - "picayunes in a new pair of spectacles, with which to hear the new
    \r\n", - "parson more distinctly, pronounces the preaching prodigious. He is
    \r\n", - "vehement in his exultation, lavishes his praise without stint; and
    \r\n", - "as his black face glows with happiness, thanks missus for her great
    \r\n", - "goodness in thus providing for their spiritual welfare. The
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook \"niggers\" were always extremely respectable and well
    \r\n", - "ordered in their moral condition; but now they seem invested with a
    \r\n", - "new impulse for working out their own good; and by the advice of
    \r\n", - "missus, whom every sable son and daughter loves most dearly, Daddy
    \r\n", - "Daniel has arranged a system of evening prayer meetings, which will
    \r\n", - "be held in the little church, twice a week. And, too, there prevails
    \r\n", - "a strong desire for an evening gathering now and then, at which the
    \r\n", - "young shiners may be instructed how to grow. A curiously democratic
    \r\n", - "law, however, offers a fierce impediment to this; and Daddy Daniel
    \r\n", - "shakes his head, and aunt Peggy makes a belligerent muttering when
    \r\n", - "told such gatherings cannot take place without endangering the
    \r\n", - "state's rights. It is, nevertheless, decided that Kate, and Nan, and
    \r\n", - "Dorothy, and Webster, and Clay, and such like young folks, may go to
    \r\n", - "\"settings up\" and funerals, but strictly abstain from all
    \r\n", - "fandangoes. Dad Daniel and his brother deacons cannot countenance
    \r\n", - "such fiddling and dancing, such break-downs, and shoutings, and
    \r\n", - "whirlings, and flouncing and frilling, and gay ribboning, as
    \r\n", - "generally make up the evening's merriment at these fandangoes, so
    \r\n", - "prevalent on neighbouring plantations about Christmas time. \"Da don'
    \r\n", - "mount to no good!\" Daniel says, with a broad guffaw. \"Nigger what
    \r\n", - "spect t' git hi' way up in da world bes lef dem tings.\" And so one
    \r\n", - "or two more screws are to be worked up for the better regulation of
    \r\n", - "the machinery of the plantation. As for Master Rosebrook-why, he
    \r\n", - "wouldn't sell a nigger for a world of money; and he doesn't care how
    \r\n", - "much they learn; the more the better, provided they learn on the
    \r\n", - "sly. They are all to be freed at a certain time, and although
    \r\n", - "freedom is sweet, without learning they might make bad use of it.
    \r\n", - "But master has had a noble object in view for some days past, and
    \r\n", - "which, after encountering many difficulties, he has succeeded in
    \r\n", - "carrying out to the great joy of all parties concerned.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "One day, as the people were all busily engaged on the plantation,
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw's familiar figure presents itself at the house, and demands
    \r\n", - "to see Harry. He has great good news, but don't want to tell him
    \r\n", - "\"nofin\" till he arrives at the Villa. \"Ah, good man\" (Bradshaw's
    \r\n", - "face beams good tidings, as he approaches Harry, and delivers a
    \r\n", - "note) \"mas'r specs ye down da' wid no time loss.\" Bradshaw rubs his
    \r\n", - "hands, and grins, and bows, his face seeming two shades blacker than
    \r\n", - "ever, but no less cheerful.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Master wants me to preach somewhere, next Sunday,--I know he does,\"
    \r\n", - "says Harry, reading the note, which requests him to come immediately
    \r\n", - "into the city. He will prepare to obey the summons, Dan and Sprat
    \r\n", - "meanwhile taking good care of the horse and carriage, while Bradshaw
    \r\n", - "makes a friendly visit to a few of the more distinguished cabins,
    \r\n", - "and says \"how de\" to venerable aunties, who spread their best fare
    \r\n", - "before him, and, with grave ceremony, invite him in to refresh
    \r\n", - "before taking his return journey into the city; and Maum Betsy packs
    \r\n", - "up six of her real smart made sweet cakes for the parson and
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw to eat along the road. Betsy is in a strange state of
    \r\n", - "bewilderment to know why master wants to take the new parson away
    \r\n", - "just now, when he's so happy, and is only satisfied when assured
    \r\n", - "that he will be safely returned to-morrow. A signal is made for Dad
    \r\n", - "Daniel, who hastens to the cabin in time to see everything properly
    \r\n", - "arranged for the parson's departure, and say: \"God bless 'um,--good
    \r\n", - "by!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, what can master want with me?\" enquires Harry, as, on the
    \r\n", - "road, they roll away towards the city.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw cracks his whip, and with a significant smile looks Harry
    \r\n", - "in the face, and returns: \"Don' ax dis child no mo' sich question.
    \r\n", - "Old mas'r and me neber break secret. Tell ye dis, do'h! Old mas'r do
    \r\n", - "good ting, sartin.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You know, but won't tell me, eh?\" rejoins Harry, his manly face
    \r\n", - "wearing a solicitous look. Bradshaw shakes his head, and adds a
    \r\n", - "cunning wink in reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is three o'clock when they arrive at the Villa, where, without
    \r\n", - "reserve, missus extends her hand, and gives him a cordial
    \r\n", - "welcome,--tells him Franconia has been waiting to see him with great
    \r\n", - "patience, and has got a present for him. Franconia comes rushing
    \r\n", - "into the hall, and is so glad to see him; but her countenance wears
    \r\n", - "an air of sadness, which does not escape his notice-she is not the
    \r\n", - "beautiful creature she was years ago, care has sadly worn upon those
    \r\n", - "rounded features. But master is there, and he looks happy and
    \r\n", - "cheerful; and there is something about the house servants, as they
    \r\n", - "gather round him to have their say, which looks of suspiciously good
    \r\n", - "omen. He cannot divine what it is; his first suspicions being
    \r\n", - "aroused by missus saying Franconia had been waiting to see him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We must not call him Harry any longer-it doesn't become his
    \r\n", - "profession: now that he is Elder of my plantation flock, he must,
    \r\n", - "from this time, be called Elder!\" says Rosebrook, touching him on
    \r\n", - "the arm with the right hand. And the two ladies joined in, that it
    \r\n", - "must be so. \"Go into the parlour, ladies; I must say a word or two
    \r\n", - "to the Elder,\" continued Rosebrook, taking Harry by the arm, and
    \r\n", - "pacing through the hall into the conservatory at the back of the
    \r\n", - "house. Here, after ordering Harry to be seated, he recounts his plan
    \r\n", - "of emancipation, which, so far, has worked admirably, and, at the
    \r\n", - "time proposed, will, without doubt or danger, produce the hoped-for
    \r\n", - "result. \"You, my good man,\" he says, \"can be a useful instrument in
    \r\n", - "furthering my ends; I want you to be that instrument!\" His negroes
    \r\n", - "have all an interest in their labour, which interest is preserved
    \r\n", - "for them in missus's savings-bank; and at a given time they are to
    \r\n", - "have their freedom, but to remain on the plantation if they choose,
    \r\n", - "at a stipulated rate of wages. Indeed, so strongly impressed with
    \r\n", - "the good results of his proposed system is Rosebrook, that he long
    \r\n", - "since scouted that contemptible fallacy, which must have had its
    \r\n", - "origin in the very dregs of selfishness, that the two races can only
    \r\n", - "live in proximity by one enslaving the other. Justice to each other,
    \r\n", - "he holds, will solve the problem of their living together; but,
    \r\n", - "between the oppressor and the oppressed, a volcano that may at any
    \r\n", - "day send forth its devouring flame, smoulders. Rosebrook knows
    \r\n", - "goodness always deserves its reward; and Harry assures him he never
    \r\n", - "will violate the trust. Having said thus much, he rises from his
    \r\n", - "chair, takes Harry by the arm, and leading him to the door of the
    \r\n", - "conservatory, points him to a passage leading to the right, and
    \r\n", - "says: \"In there!-proceed into that passage, enter a door, first door
    \r\n", - "on the left, and then you will find something you may consider your
    \r\n", - "own.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry hesitated for a moment, watched master's countenance
    \r\n", - "doubtingly, as if questioning the singular command.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Fear not! nobody will hurt you,\" continues Rosebrook.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Master never had a bad intention,\" thinks Harry; \"I know he would
    \r\n", - "not harm me; and then missus is so good.\" Slowly and nervously he
    \r\n", - "proceeds, and on reaching the door hears a familiar \"come in\"
    \r\n", - "answering his nervous rap. The door opened into a neat little room,
    \r\n", - "with carpet and chairs, a mahogany bureau and prints, all so neatly
    \r\n", - "arranged, and wearing such an air of cleanliness. No sooner has he
    \r\n", - "advanced beyond the threshold than the emaciated figure of a black
    \r\n", - "sister vaults into his arms, crying, \"Oh Harry! Harry! Harry!-my
    \r\n", - "dear husband!\" She throws her arms about his neck, and kisses, and
    \r\n", - "kisses him, and buries her tears of joy in his bosom. How she pours
    \r\n", - "out her soul's love!-how, in rapturous embraces, her black impulses
    \r\n", - "give out the purest affection!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And you!-you!-you!-my own dear Jane! Is it you? Has God commanded
    \r\n", - "us to meet once more, to be happy once more, to live as heaven hath
    \r\n", - "ordained us to live?\" he returns, as fervently and affectionately he
    \r\n", - "holds her in his arms, and returns her token of love. \"Never! never!
    \r\n", - "I forget you, never! By night and by day I have prayed the
    \r\n", - "protecting hand of Providence to guide you through life's trials.
    \r\n", - "How my heart has yearned to meet you in heaven! happy am I we have
    \r\n", - "met once more on earth; yea, my soul leaps with joy. Forgive them,
    \r\n", - "Father, forgive them who separate us on earth, for heaven makes the
    \r\n", - "anointed!\" And while they embrace thus fondly, their tears mingling
    \r\n", - "with joy, children, recognising a returned father as he entered the
    \r\n", - "door, are clinging at his feet beseechingly. He is their father;--how
    \r\n", - "like children they love! \"Sam, Sue, and Beckie, too!\" he says, as
    \r\n", - "one by one he takes them in his arms and kisses them. But there are
    \r\n", - "two more, sombre and strange. He had caught the fourth in his arms,
    \r\n", - "unconsciously. \"Ah, Jane!\" he exclaims, turning toward her, his face
    \r\n", - "filled with grief and chagrin, \"they are not of me, Jane!\" He still
    \r\n", - "holds the little innocent by the hand, as nervously he waits her
    \r\n", - "reply. It is not guilt, but shame, with which she returns an answer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It was not my sin, Harry! It was him that forced me to live with
    \r\n", - "another,--that lashed me when I refused, and, bleeding, made me obey
    \r\n", - "the will,\" she returns, looking at him imploringly. Virtue is weaker
    \r\n", - "than the lash; none feel it more than the slave. She loved Harry,
    \r\n", - "she followed him with her thoughts; but it was the Christian that
    \r\n", - "reduced her to the level of the brute. Laying her coloured hand upon
    \r\n", - "his shoulder, she besought his forgiveness, as God was forgiving.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Why should I not forgive thee, Jane? I would not chide thee, for no
    \r\n", - "sin is on thy garments. Injustice gave master the right to sell
    \r\n", - "thee, to make of thee what he pleased. Heaven made thy soul
    \r\n", - "purest,--man thy body an outcast for the unrighteous to feast upon.
    \r\n", - "How could I withhold forgiveness, Jane? I will be a father to them,
    \r\n", - "a husband to thee; for what thou hast been compelled to do is right,
    \r\n", - "in the land we live in.\" So saying, he again embraces her, wipes the
    \r\n", - "tears from her eyes, and comforts her. How sweet is forgiveness! It
    \r\n", - "freshens like the dew of morning on the drooping plant; it
    \r\n", - "strengthens the weary spirit, it steals into the desponding soul,
    \r\n", - "and wakes to life new hopes of bliss,--to the slave it is sweet
    \r\n", - "indeed!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I will kiss them, too,\" he ejaculates, taking them in his arms with
    \r\n", - "the embrace of a fond father,--which simple expression of love they
    \r\n", - "return with prattling. They know not the trials of their parents;
    \r\n", - "how blessed to know them not!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now they gather the children around them, and seat themselves on
    \r\n", - "a little settee near the window, where Harry, overjoyed at meeting
    \r\n", - "his dear ones once more, fondles them and listens to Jane, as with
    \r\n", - "her left arm round his neck she discloses the sad tale of her
    \r\n", - "tribulation. Let us beg the reader to excuse the recital; there is
    \r\n", - "nothing fascinating in it, nor would we call forth the modest
    \r\n", - "blushes of our generous south. A few words of the woman's story,
    \r\n", - "however, we cannot omit; and we trust the forgiving will pardon
    \r\n", - "their insertion. She tells Harry she was not separated from her
    \r\n", - "children; but that Romescos, having well considered her worth, sold
    \r\n", - "her with her \"young uns\" to the Rev. Peter--, who had a small
    \r\n", - "plantation down in Christ's Parish. The reverend gentleman, being
    \r\n", - "born and educated to the degrading socialities of democratic states,
    \r\n", - "always says he is not to blame for \"using\" the rights the law gives
    \r\n", - "him; nor does he forget to express sundry regrets that he cannot see
    \r\n", - "as preachers at the north see. As for money, he thinks preachers
    \r\n", - "have just as good a right to get it as gentlemen of any other
    \r\n", - "honourable profession. Now and then he preaches to niggers; and for
    \r\n", - "telling them how they must live in the fear of the Lord, be obedient
    \r\n", - "to their master, and pay for redemption by the sweat of their brows,
    \r\n", - "he adds to his pile of coin. But he is strongly of the opinion that
    \r\n", - "niggers are inferior \"brutes\" of the human species, and in
    \r\n", - "furtherance of this opinion (so popular in the whole south) he
    \r\n", - "expects them to live a week on a peck of corn. As for Jane-we must
    \r\n", - "excuse the reverend gentleman, because of his faith in southern
    \r\n", - "principles-he compelled her to live with the man Absalom ere she had
    \r\n", - "been two days on his plantation, and by the same Absalom she had two
    \r\n", - "children, which materially increased the cash value of the Reverend
    \r\n", - "Peter--'s slave property. Indeed, so well is the reverend gentleman
    \r\n", - "known for his foul play, that it has been thrown up to him in open
    \r\n", - "court-by wicked planters who never had the fear of God before their
    \r\n", - "eyes-that he more than half starved his niggers, and charged them
    \r\n", - "toll for grinding their corn in his mill. Though the Reverend Peter
    \r\n", - "--never failed to assure his friends and acquaintances of his
    \r\n", - "generosity (a noble quality which had long been worthily maintained
    \r\n", - "by the ancient family to which he belonged), the light of one
    \r\n", - "generous act had never found its way to the public. In truth, so
    \r\n", - "elastically did his reverend conscientiousness expand when he
    \r\n", - "learned the strange motive which prompted Rosebrook to purchase Jane
    \r\n", - "and her little ones, that he sorely regretted he had not put two
    \r\n", - "hundred dollars more on the price of the lot. Fortunately Jane was
    \r\n", - "much worn down by grief and toil, and was viewed by the reverend
    \r\n", - "gentleman as a piece of property he would rather like to dispose of
    \r\n", - "to the best advantage, lest she should suddenly make a void in his
    \r\n", - "dollars and cents by sliding into some out of the way grave-yard.
    \r\n", - "But Rosebrook, duly appreciating the unchristian qualities of our
    \r\n", - "worthy one's generosity, kept his motive a profound secret until the
    \r\n", - "negociation was completed. Now that it had become known that the
    \r\n", - "Reverend Peter--(who dresses in blackest black, most
    \r\n", - "sanctimoniously cut, whitest neckcloth wedded to his holy neck, and
    \r\n", - "face so simply serious) assures Rosebrook he has got good
    \r\n", - "people,--they are valuably promising-he will pray for them, that the
    \r\n", - "future may prosper their wayfaring. He cannot, however, part with
    \r\n", - "the good man without admonishing him how dangerous it is to give
    \r\n", - "unto \"niggers\" the advantage of a superior position.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Reader, let us hope the clergy of the south will take heed lest by
    \r\n", - "permitting their brethren to be sold and stolen in this manner they
    \r\n", - "bring the profession into contempt. Let us hope the southern church
    \r\n", - "will not much longer continue to bring pure Christianity into
    \r\n", - "disgrace by serving ends so vile that heaven and earth frowns upon
    \r\n", - "them; for false is the voice raised in sanctimony to heaven for
    \r\n", - "power to make a footstool of a fallen race!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XL.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CONTAINING VARIOUS MATTERS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "GREAT regularity prevails on the Rosebrook plantation, and cheering
    \r\n", - "are the prospects held out to those who toil thereon. Mrs. Rosebrook
    \r\n", - "has dressed Jane (Harry's wife) in a nice new calico, which, with
    \r\n", - "her feet encased in shining calf-skin shoes, and her head done up in
    \r\n", - "a bandana, with spots of great brightness, shows her lean figure to
    \r\n", - "good advantage. Like a good wife, happy with her own dear husband,
    \r\n", - "she pours forth the emotions of a grateful heart, and feels that the
    \r\n", - "world-not so bad after all-has something good in store for her. And
    \r\n", - "then Harry looks even better than he did on Master Marston's
    \r\n", - "plantation; and, with their little ones-sable types of their
    \r\n", - "parents-dressed so neatly, they must be happy. And now that they are
    \r\n", - "duly installed at the plantation, where Harry pursues his duties as
    \r\n", - "father of the flock, and Jane lends her cheering voice and helping
    \r\n", - "hand to make comfort in the various cabins complete-and with Dad
    \r\n", - "Daniel's assurance that the people won't go astray-we must leave
    \r\n", - "them for a time, and beg the reader's indulgence while following us
    \r\n", - "through another phase of the children's history.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A slave is but a slave--an article subject to all the fluctuations of
    \r\n", - "trade--a mere item in the scale of traffic, and reduced to serving
    \r\n", - "the ends of avarice or licentiousness. This is a consequence
    \r\n", - "inseparable from his sale. It matters not whether the blood of the
    \r\n", - "noblest patriot course in his veins, his hair be of flaxen
    \r\n", - "brightness, his eyes of azure blue, his skin of Norman whiteness,
    \r\n", - "and his features classic,--he can be no more than a slave, and as
    \r\n", - "such must yield to the debasing influences of an institution that
    \r\n", - "crushes and curses wherever it exists. In proof of this, we find the
    \r\n", - "bright eyes of our little Annette, glowing with kindliest love,
    \r\n", - "failing to thaw the frozen souls of man-dealers. Nay, bright eyes
    \r\n", - "only lend their aid to the law that debases her life. She has become
    \r\n", - "valuable only as a finely and delicately developed woman, whose
    \r\n", - "appearance in the market will produce sharp bidding, and a deal of
    \r\n", - "dollars and cents. Graspum never lost an opportunity of trimming up
    \r\n", - "these nice pieces of female property, making the money invested in
    \r\n", - "them turn the largest premium, and satisfying his customers that, so
    \r\n", - "far as dealing in the brightest kind of fancy stock was concerned,
    \r\n", - "he is not a jot behind the most careful selecter in the Charleston
    \r\n", - "market. Major John Bowling--who is very distinguished, having
    \r\n", - "descended from the very ancient family of that name, and is highly
    \r\n", - "thought of by the aristocracy--has made the selection of such
    \r\n", - "merchandise his particular branch of study for more than fourteen
    \r\n", - "years. In consequence of the major's supposed taste, his pen was
    \r\n", - "hitherto most frequented by gentlemen and connoisseur; but now
    \r\n", - "Graspum assures all respectable people, gentlemen of acknowledged
    \r\n", - "taste, and young men who are cultivating their way up in the world,
    \r\n", - "that his selections are second to none; of this he will produce
    \r\n", - "sufficient proof, provided customers will make him a call and look
    \r\n", - "into the area of his fold. The fold itself is most uninviting (it
    \r\n", - "is, he assures us, owing to his determination to carry out the faith
    \r\n", - "of his plain democracy); nevertheless, it contains the white,
    \r\n", - "beautiful, and voluptuous,--all for sale. In fact--the truth must be
    \r\n", - "told--Mr. Graspum assures the world that he firmly believes there is
    \r\n", - "a sort of human nature extant--he is troubled sometimes to know just
    \r\n", - "where the line breaks off--which never by any possibility could have
    \r\n", - "been intended for any thing but the other to traffic in-to turn into
    \r\n", - "the most dollars and cents. In proof of this principle he kept
    \r\n", - "Annette until she had well nigh merged into womanhood, or until such
    \r\n", - "time as she became a choice marketable article, with eyes worth so
    \r\n", - "much; nose, mouth, so much; pretty auburn hair, worth so much; and
    \r\n", - "fine rounded figure--with all its fascinating appurtenances--worth so
    \r\n", - "much;--the whole amounting to so much; to be sold for so much, the
    \r\n", - "nice little profit being chalked down on the credit side of his
    \r\n", - "formidable ledger, in which stands recorded against his little soul
    \r\n", - "(he knows will get to heaven) the sale of ten thousand black souls,
    \r\n", - "which will shine in brightness when his is refused admittance to the
    \r\n", - "portal above.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Having arrived at the point most marketable, he sells her to Mr.
    \r\n", - "Gurdoin Choicewest, who pays no less a sum than sixteen hundred
    \r\n", - "dollars in hard cash for the unyielding beauty-money advanced to him
    \r\n", - "by his dear papa, who had no objection to his having a pretty
    \r\n", - "coloured girl, provided Madam Choicewest-most indulgent mother she
    \r\n", - "was, too-gave her consent; and she said she was willing, provided-;
    \r\n", - "and now, notwithstanding she was his own, insisted on the
    \r\n", - "preservation of her virtue, or death. Awful dilemma, this! To lash
    \r\n", - "her will be useless; and the few kicks she has already received have
    \r\n", - "not yet begun to thaw her frozen determination. Such an unyielding
    \r\n", - "thing is quite useless for the purpose for which young Choicewest
    \r\n", - "purchased her. What must be done with her? The older Choicewest is
    \r\n", - "consulted, and gives it as his decided opinion that there is one of
    \r\n", - "two things the younger Choicewest must do with this dear piece of
    \r\n", - "property he has so unfortunately got on his hands,--he must sell her,
    \r\n", - "or tie her up every day and pump her with cold water, say fifteen
    \r\n", - "minutes at a time. Pumping niggers, the elder Mr. Choicewest
    \r\n", - "remarks, with the coolness of an Austrian diplomatist, has a
    \r\n", - "wondrous effect upon them; \"it makes 'em give in when nothing else
    \r\n", - "will.\" He once had four prime fellows, who, in stubbornness, seemed
    \r\n", - "a match for Mr. Beelzebub himself. He lashed them, and he burned
    \r\n", - "them, and he clipped their ears; and then he stretched them on
    \r\n", - "planks, thinking they would cry \"give in\" afore the sockets of their
    \r\n", - "joints were drawn out; but it was all to no purpose, they were as
    \r\n", - "unyielding as granite.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "About that time there was a celebrated manager of negroes keeping
    \r\n", - "the prison. This clever functionary had a peculiar way of bringing
    \r\n", - "the stubbornness out of them; so he consigned the four unbending
    \r\n", - "rascals to his skill. And this very valuable and very skilful
    \r\n", - "gaol-keeper had a large window in his establishment, with iron bars
    \r\n", - "running perpendicular; to the inside of which he would strap the
    \r\n", - "four stubborn rascals, with their faces scientifically arranged
    \r\n", - "between the bars, to prevent the moving of a muscle. Thus caged,
    \r\n", - "their black heads bound to the grating, the scientific gaoler, who
    \r\n", - "was something of a humourist withal, would enjoy a nice bit of fun
    \r\n", - "at seeing the more favoured prisoners (with his kind permission)
    \r\n", - "exercise their dexterity in throwing peas at the faces of the
    \r\n", - "bounden. How he would laugh-how the pea-punishing prisoners would
    \r\n", - "enjoy it-how the fast bound niggers, foaming with rage and maddened
    \r\n", - "to desperation, would bellow, as their very eyeballs darted fire and
    \r\n", - "blood! What grand fun it was! bull-baiting sank into a mere shadow
    \r\n", - "beside it. The former was measuredly passive, because the bull only
    \r\n", - "roared, and pitched, and tossed; whereas here the sport was made
    \r\n", - "more exhilarating by expressions of vengeance or implorings. And
    \r\n", - "then, as a change of pastime, the skilful gaoler would demand a
    \r\n", - "cessation of the pea hostilities, and enjoin the commencement of the
    \r\n", - "water war; which said war was carried out by supplying about a dozen
    \r\n", - "prisoners with as many buckets, which they would fill with great
    \r\n", - "alacrity, and, in succession, throw the contents with great force
    \r\n", - "over the unyielding, from the outside. The effect of this on naked
    \r\n", - "men, bound with chains to iron bars, may be imagined; but the older
    \r\n", - "Choicewest declares it was a cure. It brought steel out of the
    \r\n", - "\"rascals,\" and made them as submissive as shoe-strings. Sometimes
    \r\n", - "the jolly prisoners would make the bath so strong, that the niggers
    \r\n", - "would seem completely drowned when released; but then they'd soon
    \r\n", - "come to with a jolly good rolling, a little hartshorn applied to
    \r\n", - "their nostrils, and the like of that. About a dozen times putting
    \r\n", - "through the pea and water process cured them.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "So says the very respectable Mr. Choicewest, with great dignity of
    \r\n", - "manners, as he seriously advises the younger Choicewest to try a
    \r\n", - "little quantity of the same sort on his now useless female purchase.
    \r\n", - "Lady Choicewest must, however, be consulted on this point, as she is
    \r\n", - "very particular about the mode in which all females about her
    \r\n", - "establishment are chastised. Indeed, Lady Choicewest is much
    \r\n", - "concerned about the only male, heir of the family, to whom she looks
    \r\n", - "forward for very distinguished results to the family name. The
    \r\n", - "family (Lady Choicewest always assures those whom she graciously
    \r\n", - "condescends to admit into the fashionable precincts of her small but
    \r\n", - "very select circle), descended from the very ancient and chivalric
    \r\n", - "house of that name, whose celebrated estate was in Warwickshire,
    \r\n", - "England; and, in proof of this, my Lady Choicewest invariably points
    \r\n", - "to a sad daub, illustrative of some incomprehensible object,
    \r\n", - "suspended over the antique mantelpiece. With methodical grace, and
    \r\n", - "dignity which frowns with superlative contempt upon every thing very
    \r\n", - "vulgar--for she says \"she sublimely detests them very low creatures
    \r\n", - "what are never brought up to manners at the north, and are worse
    \r\n", - "than haystacks to larn civility\"--my lady solicits a near inspection
    \r\n", - "of this wonderful hieroglyphic, which she tells us is the family
    \r\n", - "arms,--an ancient and choice bit of art she would not part with for
    \r\n", - "the world. If her friends evince any want of perception in tracing
    \r\n", - "the many deeds of valour it heralds, on behalf of the noble family
    \r\n", - "of which she is an undisputed descendant, my lady will at once enter
    \r\n", - "upon the task of instruction; and with the beautiful fore-finger of
    \r\n", - "her right hand, always jewelled with great brilliancy, will she
    \r\n", - "satisfactorily enlighten the stupid on the fame of the ancient
    \r\n", - "Choicewest family, thereon inscribed. With no ordinary design on the
    \r\n", - "credulity of her friends, Lady Choicewest has several times strongly
    \r\n", - "intimated that she was not quite sure that one or two of her
    \r\n", - "ancestors in the male line of the family were not reigning dukes as
    \r\n", - "far down as the noble reign of the ignoble Oliver Cromwell! The
    \r\n", - "question, nevertheless, is whether the honour of the ancient
    \r\n", - "Choicewest family descended from Mr. or Mrs. Choicewest. The vulgar
    \r\n", - "mass have been known to say (smilingly) that Lady Choicewest's name
    \r\n", - "was Brown, the father of which very ancient family sold herrings and
    \r\n", - "small pigs at a little stand in the market: this, however, was a
    \r\n", - "very long time ago, and, as my lady is known to be troubled with an
    \r\n", - "exceedingly crooked memory, persons better acquainted with her are
    \r\n", - "more ready to accept the oblivious excuse.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Taking all these things into consideration, my Lady Choicewest is
    \r\n", - "exceedingly cautious lest young Gourdoin Choicewest should do aught
    \r\n", - "to dishonour the family name; and on this strange perplexity in
    \r\n", - "which her much indulged son is placed being referred to her, she
    \r\n", - "gives it as her most decided opinion that the wench, if as obstinate
    \r\n", - "as described, had better be sold to the highest bidder-the sooner
    \r\n", - "the better. My lady lays great emphasis on \"the sooner the better.\"
    \r\n", - "That something will be lost she has not the slightest doubt; but
    \r\n", - "then it were better to lose a little in the price of the stubborn
    \r\n", - "wretch, than to have her always creating disturbance about the
    \r\n", - "genteel premises. In furtherance of this-my lady's mandate-Annette
    \r\n", - "is sold to Mr. Blackmore Blackett for the nice round sum of fifteen
    \r\n", - "hundred dollars. Gourdoin Choicewest hates to part with the beauty,
    \r\n", - "grieves and regrets,--she is so charmingly fascinating. \"Must let her
    \r\n", - "slide, though; critter won't do at all as I wants her to,\" he lisps,
    \r\n", - "regretting the serious loss of the dollars. His friend Blackmore
    \r\n", - "Blackett, however, is a gentleman, and therefore he would not
    \r\n", - "deceive him in the wench: hence he makes the reduction, because he
    \r\n", - "finds her decidedly faulty. Had Blackmore Blackett been a regular
    \r\n", - "flesh trader, he would not have scrupled to take him in. As it is,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen must always be gentlemen among themselves. Blackett, a
    \r\n", - "gentleman of fortune, who lives at his ease in the city, and has the
    \r\n", - "very finest taste for female beauty, was left, most unfortunately, a
    \r\n", - "widower with four lovely daughters, any one of which may be
    \r\n", - "considered a belle not to be rung by gentlemen of ordinary rank or
    \r\n", - "vulgar pretension. In fact, the Blackett girls are considered very
    \r\n", - "fine specimens of beauty, are much admired in society, and expect
    \r\n", - "ere long, on the clear merit of polish, to rank equal with the first
    \r\n", - "aristocracy of the place.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Blackmore Blackett esteems himself an extremely lucky fellow in
    \r\n", - "having so advantageously procured such a nice piece of property,--so
    \r\n", - "suited to his taste. Her price, when compared with her singularly
    \r\n", - "valuable charms, is a mere nothing; and, too, all his fashionable
    \r\n", - "friends will congratulate him upon his good fortune. But as
    \r\n", - "disappointments will come, so Mr. Blackmore Blackett finds he has
    \r\n", - "got something not quite so valuable as anticipated; however, being
    \r\n", - "something of a philosopher, he will improve upon the course pursued
    \r\n", - "by the younger Choicewest: he makes his first advances with great
    \r\n", - "caution; whispers words of tenderness in her ear; tells her his
    \r\n", - "happy jewel for life she must be. Remembering her mother, she turns
    \r\n", - "a deaf ear to Mr. Blackett's pleadings. The very cabin which he has
    \r\n", - "provided for her in the yard reminds her of that familiar domicile
    \r\n", - "on Marston's plantation. Neither by soft pleadings, nor threatenings
    \r\n", - "of sale to plantation life, nor terrors of the lash, can he soften
    \r\n", - "the creature's sympathies, so that the flesh may succumb. When he
    \r\n", - "whispered soft words and made fascinating promises, she would shake
    \r\n", - "her head and move from him; when he threatened, she would plead her
    \r\n", - "abject position; when he resorted to force, she would struggle with
    \r\n", - "him, making the issue her virtue or death. Once she paid the penalty
    \r\n", - "of her struggles with a broken wrist, which she shows us more in
    \r\n", - "sorrow than anger. Annette is beautiful but delicate; has soft eyes
    \r\n", - "beaming with the fulness of a great soul; but they were sold,
    \r\n", - "once,--now, sympathy for her is dead. The law gives her no protection
    \r\n", - "for her virtue; the ruffian may violate it, and Heaven only can
    \r\n", - "shelter it with forgiveness. As for Blackett, he has no forgiveness
    \r\n", - "in his temperament,--passion soars highest with him; he would slay
    \r\n", - "with violent hands the minion who dared oppose its triumph.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "About this time, Mr. Blackett, much to his surprise, finds a storm
    \r\n", - "of mischief brewing about his domestic domain. The Miss Blacketts,
    \r\n", - "dashing beauties, have had it come to their ears over and over again
    \r\n", - "that all the young men about the city say Annette Mazatlin (as she
    \r\n", - "is now called) is far more beautiful than any one of the Blacketts.
    \r\n", - "This is quite enough to kindle the elements of a female war. In the
    \r\n", - "south nothing can spread the war of jealousy and vanity with such
    \r\n", - "undying rage as comparing slave beauty with that of the more
    \r\n", - "favoured of the sexes. A firman of the strongest kind is now issued
    \r\n", - "from the portfolio of the Miss Blacketts, forbidding the wretched
    \r\n", - "girl entering the house; and storms of abuse are plentifully and
    \r\n", - "very cheaply lavished on her head, ere she puts it outside the
    \r\n", - "cabin. She was a nasty, impudent hussy; the very worst of all kind
    \r\n", - "of creatures to have about a respectable mansion,--enough to shock
    \r\n", - "respectable people! The worst of it was, that the miserable white
    \r\n", - "nigger thought she was handsome, and a lot of young, silly-headed
    \r\n", - "men flattered her vanity by telling the fool she was prettier than
    \r\n", - "the Blacketts themselves,--so said the very accomplished Miss
    \r\n", - "Blacketts. And if ever domicile was becoming too warm for man to
    \r\n", - "live in, in consequence of female indignation, that one was Mr.
    \r\n", - "Blackmore Blackett's. It was not so much that the father had
    \r\n", - "purchased this beautiful creature to serve fiendish purposes. Oh
    \r\n", - "no!-that was a thing of every-day occurrence,--something excusable in
    \r\n", - "any respectable man's family. It was beauty rivalling, fierce and
    \r\n", - "jealous of its compliments. Again, the wretch-found incorrigible,
    \r\n", - "and useless for the purpose purchased-is sold. Poor, luckless
    \r\n", - "maiden! she might add, as she passed through the hands of so many
    \r\n", - "purchasers. This time, however, she is less valuable from having
    \r\n", - "fractured her left wrist, deformity being always taken into account
    \r\n", - "when such property is up at the flesh shambles. But Mr. Blackmore
    \r\n", - "Blackett has a delicacy about putting her up under the hammer just
    \r\n", - "now, inasmuch as he could not say she was sold for no fault; while
    \r\n", - "the disfigured wrist might lead to suspicious remarks concerning his
    \r\n", - "treatment of her. Another extremely unfortunate circumstance was its
    \r\n", - "getting all about the city that she was a cold, soulless thing, who
    \r\n", - "declared that sooner than yield to be the abject wretch men sought
    \r\n", - "to make her, she would die that only death. She had but one life,
    \r\n", - "and it were better to yield that up virtuously than die degraded.
    \r\n", - "Graspum, then, is the only safe channel in which to dispose of the
    \r\n", - "like. That functionary assures Mr. Blackmore Blackett that the girl
    \r\n", - "is beautiful, delicate, and an exceedingly sweet creature yet! but
    \r\n", - "that during the four months she has depreciated more than fifty per
    \r\n", - "cent in value. His remarks may be considered out of place, but they
    \r\n", - "are none the less true, for it is ascertained, on private
    \r\n", - "examination, that sundry stripes have been laid about her bare
    \r\n", - "loins. Gurdoin Choicewest declared to his mother that he never for
    \r\n", - "once had laid violent hands on the obstinate wench; Mr. Blackmore
    \r\n", - "Blackett stood ready to lay his hand on the Bible, and lift his eyes
    \r\n", - "to heaven for proof of his innocence; but a record of the
    \r\n", - "infliction, indelible of blood, remained there to tell its sad
    \r\n", - "tale,--to shame, if shame had aught in slavery whereon to make itself
    \r\n", - "known. Notwithstanding this bold denial, it is found that Mr.
    \r\n", - "Blackmore Blackett did on two occasions strip her and secure her
    \r\n", - "hands and feet to the bed-post, where he put on \"about six at a
    \r\n", - "time,\" remarkably \"gently.\" He admired her symmetrical form, her
    \r\n", - "fine, white, soft, smooth skin-her voluptuous limbs, so beautifully
    \r\n", - "and delicately developed; and then there was so much gushing
    \r\n", - "sweetness, mingled with grief, in her face, as she cast her soft
    \r\n", - "glances upon him, and implored him to end her existence, or save her
    \r\n", - "such shame! Such, he says, laconically, completely disarmed him, and
    \r\n", - "he only switched her a few times.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"She's not worth a dot more than a thousand dollars. I couldn't give
    \r\n", - "it for her, because I couldn't make it out on her. The fact is,
    \r\n", - "she'll get a bad name by passing through so many hands-a deuced bad
    \r\n", - "name!\" says Graspum, whose commercial language is politically cold.
    \r\n", - "\"And then there's her broken wrist-doubtful! doubtful! doubtful!
    \r\n", - "what I can do with her. For a plantation she isn't worth seven
    \r\n", - "coppers, and sempstresses and housemaids of her kind are looked on
    \r\n", - "suspiciously. It's only with great nicety of skill ye can work such
    \r\n", - "property to advantage,\" he continues, viewing her in one of Mr.
    \r\n", - "Blackmore Blackett's ante-rooms.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The upshot of the matter is, that Mr. Blackmore Blackett accepts the
    \r\n", - "offer, and Graspum, having again taken the damaged property under
    \r\n", - "his charge, sends it back to his pen. As an offset for the broken
    \r\n", - "wrist, she has three new dresses, two of which were presented by the
    \r\n", - "younger Choicewest, and one by the generous Blackmore Blackett.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Poor Annette! she leaves for her home in the slave-pen, sad at
    \r\n", - "heart, and in tears. \"My mother! Oh, that I had a mother to love me,
    \r\n", - "to say Annette so kindly,--to share with me my heart's bitter
    \r\n", - "anguish. How I could love Nicholas, now that there is no mother to
    \r\n", - "love me!\" she mutters as she sobs, wending her way to that place of
    \r\n", - "earthly torment. How different are the feelings of the oppressor. He
    \r\n", - "drinks a social glass of wine with his friend Blackett, lights his
    \r\n", - "cigar most fashionably, bids him a polite good morning, and
    \r\n", - "intimates that a cheque for the amount of the purchase will be ready
    \r\n", - "any time he may be pleased to call. And now he wends his way
    \r\n", - "homeward, little imagining what good fortune awaits him at the pen
    \r\n", - "to which he has despatched his purchase.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Annette has reached the pen, in which she sits, pensively, holding
    \r\n", - "her bonnet by the strings, the heavy folds of her light auburn hair
    \r\n", - "hanging dishevelled over her shoulders. Melancholy indeed she is,
    \r\n", - "for she has passed an ordeal of unholy brutality. Near her sits one
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers, a man of coarse habits, who resides on his
    \r\n", - "rice-plantation, a few miles from the city, into which he frequently
    \r\n", - "comes, much to the annoyance of quietly disposed citizens and
    \r\n", - "guardsmen, who are not unfrequently called upon to preserve the
    \r\n", - "peace he threatens to disturb. Dearly does he love his legitimate
    \r\n", - "brandy, and dearly does it make him pay for the insane frolics it
    \r\n", - "incites him to perpetrate, to the profit of certain saloons, and
    \r\n", - "danger of persons. Madman under the influence of his favourite
    \r\n", - "drink, a strange pride besets his faculties, which is only appeased
    \r\n", - "with the demolition of glass and men's faces. For this strange
    \r\n", - "amusement he has become famous and feared; and as the light of his
    \r\n", - "own besotted countenance makes its appearance, citizens generally
    \r\n", - "are not inclined to interpose any obstacle to the exercise of his
    \r\n", - "belligerent propensities.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Here he sits, viewing Annette with excited scrutiny. Never before
    \r\n", - "has he seen anything so pretty, so bright, so fascinating-all
    \r\n", - "clothed with a halo of modesty-for sale in the market. The nigger is
    \r\n", - "completely absorbed in the beauty, he mutters to himself: and yet
    \r\n", - "she must be a nigger or she would not be here. That she is an
    \r\n", - "article of sale, then, there can be no doubt. \"Van, yer the nicest
    \r\n", - "gal I've seen! Reckon how Grasp. paid a tall shot for ye, eh?\" he
    \r\n", - "says, in the exuberance of his fascinated soul. He will draw nearer
    \r\n", - "to her, toss her undulating hair, playfully, and with seeming
    \r\n", - "unconsciousness draw his brawny hand across her bosom. \"Didn't mean
    \r\n", - "it!\" he exclaims, contorting his broad red face, as she puts out her
    \r\n", - "hand, presses him from her, and disdains his second attempt. \"Pluck,
    \r\n", - "I reckon! needn't put on mouths, though, when a feller's only
    \r\n", - "quizzin.\" He shrugs his great round shoulders, and rolls his wicked
    \r\n", - "eyes.
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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 10/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 10 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\"I am not for you, man!\" she interrupts: \"I would scorn you, were I
    \r\n", - "not enslaved,\" she continues, a curl of contempt on her lip, as her
    \r\n", - "very soul kindles with grief. Rising quickly from his side she
    \r\n", - "walked across the pen, and seated herself on the opposite side. Here
    \r\n", - "she casts a frowning look upon him, as if loathing his very
    \r\n", - "presence. This, Mr. Pringle Blowers don't altogether like: slaves
    \r\n", - "have no right to look loathingly on white people. His flushed face
    \r\n", - "glows red with excitement; he runs his brawny fingers through the
    \r\n", - "tufted mats of short curly hair that stand almost erect on his head,
    \r\n", - "draws his capacious jaws into a singular angle, and makes a hideous
    \r\n", - "grimace.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The terrified girl has no answer to make; she is a forlorn outcast
    \r\n", - "of democracy's rule. He takes the black ribbon from round his neck,
    \r\n", - "bares his bosom more broadly than before, throws the plaid sack in
    \r\n", - "which he is dressed from off him, and leaping as it were across the
    \r\n", - "room, seizes her in his arms. \"Kisses are cheap, I reckon, and a
    \r\n", - "feller what don't have enough on 'em 's a fool,\" he ejaculates, as
    \r\n", - "with a desperate struggle she bounds from his grasp, seizes the
    \r\n", - "knife from a negro's hand as she passes him, and is about to plunge
    \r\n", - "the shining steel into her breast. \"Oh, mother, mother!-what have I
    \r\n", - "done?-is not God my Saviour?-has he forsaken me?-left me a prey to
    \r\n", - "those who seek my life?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I settle those things,\" said a voice in the rear, and immediately a
    \r\n", - "hand grasped her arm, and the knife fell carelessly upon the floor.
    \r\n", - "It was Graspum; the sudden surprise overcame her; she sank back in
    \r\n", - "his arms, and swooned. \"She swoons,--how limber, how lifeless she
    \r\n", - "seems!\" says Graspum, as with great coolness he calls a negro
    \r\n", - "attendant, orders him to remove her to the grass plat, and bathe her
    \r\n", - "well with cold water. \"A good dowsing of water is the cure for
    \r\n", - "fainting niggers,\" he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The black man takes her in his arms, and with great kindness, lays
    \r\n", - "her on the plat, bathes her temples, loosens her dress, and with his
    \r\n", - "rough hand manipulates her arms. How soft and silky they seem to his
    \r\n", - "touch! \"Him hard to slave ye, miss,\" he says, laying his hand upon
    \r\n", - "her temples, gently, as with commiseration he looks intently on her
    \r\n", - "pallid features.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now, Blowers,\" says Graspum, as soon as they are by themselves,
    \r\n", - "\"what in the name of the Gentiles have you been up to?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Wal-can't say its nothin, a'cos that wouldn't do. But, ye see, the
    \r\n", - "critter made my mouth water so; there was no standin on't! And I
    \r\n", - "wanted to be civil, and she wouldn't,--and I went t' fumlin with her
    \r\n", - "hair what looked so inviting, as there was no resistin on't, and she
    \r\n", - "looked just as sassy as sixty; and to stun the whole, when I only
    \r\n", - "wanted to kiss them ar' temptin lips, the fool was going to kill
    \r\n", - "herself. It wasn't how I cared two buttons about it; but then the
    \r\n", - "feelin just came over me at the time,\" he answers, shaking his huge
    \r\n", - "sides, giving Graspum a significant wink, and laughing heartily.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Never at a loss, I see!\" returns the other, nodding his head,
    \r\n", - "pertinently: \"If I didn't know ye, Blowers, that might go down
    \r\n", - "without sticking.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ye don't tell where ye raised that critter, eh?\" he interrupts,
    \r\n", - "inquisitively, pointing his thumb over his right shoulder, and
    \r\n", - "crooking his finger, comically.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Raised her with shiners-lots on 'em!\" he rejoins, pushing Mr.
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers in the stomach, playfully, with his forefinger.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Graspum! yer a wicked 'un.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Suit ye, kind 'a-eh, Blowers?\" he rejoins, enquiringly, maintaining
    \r\n", - "great gravity of manner as he watches each change of Blowers'
    \r\n", - "countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Blowers laughs in reply. His laugh has something sardonic in it,
    \r\n", - "seeming more vicious as he opens his great wicked mouth, and
    \r\n", - "displays an ugly row of coloured teeth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Sit down, Blowers, sit down!\" says Graspum, motioning his hand,
    \r\n", - "with a studied politeness. The two gentlemen take seats side by
    \r\n", - "side, on a wooden bench, stretched across the centre of the pen, for
    \r\n", - "negroes to sit upon. \"As I live, Blowers, thar ain't another
    \r\n", - "individual like you in the county. You can whip a file of common
    \r\n", - "guardsmen, put the Mayor's court through a course of affronts,
    \r\n", - "frighten all the females out of the fashionable houses, treat a
    \r\n", - "regiment of volunteers, drink a bar-room dry-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Compliments thick, long and strong,\" interposes Blowers, winking
    \r\n", - "and wiping his mouth. \"Can elect half the members of the assembly!\"
    \r\n", - "he concludes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"True! nevertheless,\" rejoins Graspum, \"a great man cannot be
    \r\n", - "flattered-compliments are his by merit! And the city knows you're a
    \r\n", - "man of exquisite taste.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Blowers interrupts with a loud laugh, as he suggests the propriety
    \r\n", - "of seeing the \"gal get round again.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not so fast, Blowers; not so fast!\" Graspum ejaculates, as Blowers
    \r\n", - "is about to rise from his seat and follow Annette.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, now!\" returns Blowers, remaining seated, \"Might just as well
    \r\n", - "come square to the mark,--ye want to sell me that wench?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Truth's truth!\" he replies. \"Blowers is the man who's got the gold
    \r\n", - "to do it.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Name yer price; and no rounding the corners!\" exclaims Blowers, his
    \r\n", - "countenance quickening with animation. He takes Graspum by the arm
    \r\n", - "with his left hand, turns him half round, and waits for a reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Seeing it's Blowers, (the keen business man replies, in an off-hand
    \r\n", - "manner), who's a trump in his way, and don't care for a few dollars,
    \r\n", - "he'll take seventeen hundred for her, tin down; not a fraction less!
    \r\n", - "He will have no bantering, inasmuch as his friends all know that he
    \r\n", - "has but one price for niggers, from which it is no use to seek a
    \r\n", - "discount. Mr. Blowers, generally a good judge of such articles,
    \r\n", - "would like one more view at it before fully making up his mind.
    \r\n", - "Graspum calls \"Oh, boy!\" and the negro making his appearance, says:
    \r\n", - "\"Dat gal 'um all right agin; went mos asleep, but am right as
    \r\n", - "parched pen now.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Have her coming,\" he returns, facing Blowers. \"Nothing the matter
    \r\n", - "with that gal,\" he exclaims, touching his elbow. \"It is merely one of
    \r\n", - "her flimsy fits; she hasn't quite come to maturity.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Slowly the negro leads her, weeping (Graspum says they will cry-it's
    \r\n", - "natural!) into the presence of the far-famed and much-feared Mr.
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers. Her hair hangs carelessly about her neck and
    \r\n", - "shoulders, the open incision of her dress discloses a neatly worked
    \r\n", - "stomacher; how sweetly glows the melancholy that broods over her
    \r\n", - "countenance! \"I'll take her-I'll take her!\" exclaims Blowers, in
    \r\n", - "spasmodic ecstasy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I know'd you would; I'll suit you to a charm,\" rejoins the man of
    \r\n", - "trade, laconically, as the negro steps a few feet backward, and
    \r\n", - "watches the process. \"Considers it a trade,\" is the reply of
    \r\n", - "Blowers, as he orders his waggon to be brought to the door.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Oh! master, master! save me-save me! and let me die in peace.
    \r\n", - "Don't, good master, don't sell me again!\" Thus saying she falls on
    \r\n", - "her knees at Graspum's feet, and with hands uplifted beseeches him
    \r\n", - "to save her from the hands of a man whose very sight she loathes.
    \r\n", - "She reads the man's character in his face; she knows too well the
    \r\n", - "hellish purpose for which he buys her. Bitter, bitter, are the tears
    \r\n", - "of anguish she sheds at his feet, deep and piercing are her
    \r\n", - "bemoanings. Again her soft, sorrowing eyes wander in prayer to
    \r\n", - "heaven: as Graspum is a husband, a brother, and a father,--whose
    \r\n", - "children are yet in the world's travel of uncertainty, she beseeches
    \r\n", - "him to save her from that man.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't be mad, girl,\" he says, pushing her hand from him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Frightened, eh? Make ye love me, yet! Why, gal, ye never had such a
    \r\n", - "master in the world as I'll be to ye. I lay I makes a lady on ye,
    \r\n", - "and lets ye have it all yer own way, afore a fortnight,\" he rejoins,
    \r\n", - "spreading his brawny arms over her, as she, in an attitude of
    \r\n", - "fright, vaults from beneath them, and, uttering a faint cry, glides
    \r\n", - "crouching into a corner of the pen. There is no protection for her
    \r\n", - "now; her weepings and implorings fall harmless on the slavedealer's
    \r\n", - "ears; heaven will protect her when earth knows her no more!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's two can play a game like that, gal!\" exclaims Blowers.
    \r\n", - "\"Rough play like that don't do with this ere citizen. Can just take
    \r\n", - "the vixen out on a dozen on ye as what don't know what's good for
    \r\n", - "'em.\" Blowers is evidently allowing his temper to get the better of
    \r\n", - "him. He stands a few feet from her, makes grim his florid face,
    \r\n", - "gesticulates his hands, and daringly advances toward her as the
    \r\n", - "negro announces the arrival of his waggon.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You must go with him, girl; stop working yourself into a fever;
    \r\n", - "stop it, I say,\" interposes Graspum, peremptorily. \"The waggon! the
    \r\n", - "waggon! the waggon! to carry me away, away;--never, never to return
    \r\n", - "and see my mother?\" she exclaims, as well nigh in convulsions she
    \r\n", - "shrieks, when Blowers grasps her in his arms (Graspum saying, be
    \r\n", - "gentle, Blowers), drags her to the door, and by force thrusts her
    \r\n", - "into the waggon, stifling her cries as on the road they drive
    \r\n", - "quickly away. As the last faint wail dies away, and the vehicle
    \r\n", - "bearing its victim disappears in the distance, we think how sweet is
    \r\n", - "liberty, how prone to injustice is man, how crushing of right are
    \r\n", - "democracy's base practices.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Does seem kind of hard; but it's a righteous good sale. Shouldn't
    \r\n", - "wonder if she played the same game on him she did with t'other two
    \r\n", - "fools. Get her back then, and sell her over again. Well! come now;
    \r\n", - "there's no great loss without-some-small-gain!\" says Graspum, as,
    \r\n", - "standing his prominent figure in the door of his man pen, he watches
    \r\n", - "the woman pass out of sight, thrusts his hands deep into his
    \r\n", - "breeches pockets, and commences humming an air for his own special
    \r\n", - "amusement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "NICHOLAS'S SIMPLE STORY.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE reader will remember that we left Nicholas seeking his way to
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy's workshop, situated in the outskirts of the city. And
    \r\n", - "we must here inform him that considerable change in the social
    \r\n", - "position of the younger Grabguy family has taken place since we left
    \r\n", - "them, which is some years ago. The elder Grabguy, who, it will be
    \r\n", - "remembered, was very distinguished as his Worship the Mayor of the
    \r\n", - "City (that also was some years ago), has departed this life, leaving
    \r\n", - "the present principal of the Grabguy family a large portion of his
    \r\n", - "estate, which, being mostly of \"nigger property,\" requires some
    \r\n", - "little transforming before it can be made to suit his more extended
    \r\n", - "business arrangements. This material addition to the already well-
    \r\n", - "reputed estate of Mr. Grabguy warrants his admittance into very
    \r\n", - "respectable, and, some say, rather distinguished society. Indeed, it
    \r\n", - "is more than whispered, that when the question of admitting Mr. and
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Grabguy to the membership of a very select circle, the saintly
    \r\n", - "cognomen of which is as indefinable as its system of selecting
    \r\n", - "members, or the angles presented by the nasal organs of a few ladies
    \r\n", - "when anything short of the very first families are proposed, there
    \r\n", - "were seven very fashionable ladies for, and only three against. The
    \r\n", - "greatest antagonist the Grabguys have to getting into the embrace of
    \r\n", - "this very select circle is Mrs. Chief Justice Pimpkins, a matronly
    \r\n", - "body of some fifty summers, who declares there can be no judge in
    \r\n", - "the world so clever as her own dear Pimpkins, and that society was
    \r\n", - "becoming so vulgar and coarse, and so many low people-whose English
    \r\n", - "was as hopefully bad as could be, and who never spoke when they
    \r\n", - "didn't impugn her risible nerves-were intruding themselves upon its
    \r\n", - "polished sanctity, that she felt more and more every day the
    \r\n", - "necessity of withdrawing entirely from it, and enjoying her own
    \r\n", - "exclusively distinguished self. In the case of Grabguy's admittance
    \r\n", - "to the St. Cecilia, my Lady Pimpkins-she is commonly called Lady
    \r\n", - "Chief Justice Pimpkins-had two most formidable black balls; the
    \r\n", - "first because Mrs. Grabguy's father was a bread-baker, and the
    \r\n", - "second that the present Grabguy could not be considered a gentleman
    \r\n", - "while he continued in mechanical business. Another serious objection
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Pimpkins would merely suggest as a preventive;--such people
    \r\n", - "were ill suited to mix with titled and other distinguished society!
    \r\n", - "But, Grabguy, to make up for the vexatious rejection, has got to be
    \r\n", - "an alderman, which is a step upward in the scale of his father's
    \r\n", - "attained distinction. There is nothing more natural, then, than that
    \r\n", - "Grabguy should seek his way up in the world, with the best means at
    \r\n", - "his hands; it is a worthy trait of human nature, and is as natural
    \r\n", - "to the slave. In this instance-when master and slave are both
    \r\n", - "incited to a noble purpose-Grabguy is a wealthy alderman, and
    \r\n", - "Nicholas-the whiter of the two-his abject slave. The master, a man
    \r\n", - "of meagre mind, and exceedingly avaricious, would make himself
    \r\n", - "distinguished in society; the slave, a mercurial being of
    \r\n", - "impassioned temper, whose mind is quickened by a sense of the
    \r\n", - "injustice that robs him of his rights, seeks only freedom and what
    \r\n", - "may follow in its order.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Let us again introduce the reader to Nicholas, as his manly figure,
    \r\n", - "marked with impressive features, stands before us, in Grabguy's
    \r\n", - "workshop. Tall, and finely formed, he has grown to manhood,
    \r\n", - "retaining all the quick fiery impulses of his race. Those black eyes
    \r\n", - "wandering irresistibly, that curl of contempt that sits upon his
    \r\n", - "lip, that stare of revenge that scowls beneath those heavy eyebrows,
    \r\n", - "and that hate of wrong that ever and anon pervades the whole, tell
    \r\n", - "how burns in his heart the elements of a will that would brave death
    \r\n", - "for its rights-that would bear unmoved the oppressor's lash-that
    \r\n", - "would embrace death rather than yield to perfidy. He tells us-\"I
    \r\n", - "came here, sold-so they said-by God's will. Well. I thought to
    \r\n", - "myself, isn't this strange, that a curious God-they tell me he loves
    \r\n", - "everybody-should sell me? It all seemed like a misty waste to me. I
    \r\n", - "remembered home-I learned to read, myself-I remembered mother, I
    \r\n", - "loved her, but she left me, and I have never seen her since. I loved
    \r\n", - "her, dear mother! I did love her; but they said she was gone far
    \r\n", - "away, and I musn't mind if I never see'd her again. It seemed hard
    \r\n", - "and strange, but I had to put up with it, for they said I never had
    \r\n", - "a father, and my mother had no right to me\" (his piercing black eyes
    \r\n", - "glare, as fervently he says, mother!). \"I thought, at last, it was
    \r\n", - "true, for everybody had a right to call me nigger,--a blasted white
    \r\n", - "nigger, a nigger as wouldn't be worth nothing. And then they used to
    \r\n", - "kick me, and cuff me, and lash me; and if nigger was nigger I was
    \r\n", - "worse than a nigger, because every black nigger was laughing at me,
    \r\n", - "and telling me what a fool of a white nigger I was;--that white
    \r\n", - "niggers was nobody, could be nobody, and was never intended for
    \r\n", - "nobody, as nobody knew where white niggers come from. But I didn't
    \r\n", - "believe all this; it warn't sensible. Something said-Nicholas!
    \r\n", - "you're just as good as anybody: learn to read, write, and cypher,
    \r\n", - "and you'll be something yet. And this something-I couldn't tell what
    \r\n", - "it was, nor could I describe it-seemed irresistible in its power to
    \r\n", - "carry me to be that somebody it prompted in my feelings. I was
    \r\n", - "white, and when I looked at myself I knew I wasn't a nigger; and
    \r\n", - "feeling that everybody could be somebody, I began to look forward to
    \r\n", - "the time when I should rise above the burden of misfortune that
    \r\n", - "seemed bearing me down into the earth. And then, Franconia, like a
    \r\n", - "sister, used to come to me, and say so many kind things to me that I
    \r\n", - "felt relieved, and resolved to go forward. Then I lost sight of
    \r\n", - "Franconia, and saw nobody I knew but Annette; and she seemed so
    \r\n", - "pretty, and loved me so affectionately. How long it seems since I
    \r\n", - "have seen her! She dressed me so nicely, and parted my hair, and
    \r\n", - "kissed me so kindly; and said good-by, when I left her, so in
    \r\n", - "regret, I never can forget it. And it was then they said I was sold.
    \r\n", - "Mr. Graspum said he owned me, and owning me was equal to doing what
    \r\n", - "he pleased with me. Then I went home to Mr. Grabguy's; and they said
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy owned me just as he owned his great big dog they called
    \r\n", - "a democratic bull-dog, the foreman said he paid a democratic
    \r\n", - "ten-dollar gold piece for. They used to say the only difference
    \r\n", - "between me and the dog was, that the dog could go where he pleased
    \r\n", - "without being lashed, and I couldn't. And the dog always got enough
    \r\n", - "to eat, and seemed a great favourite with everybody, whereas I got
    \r\n", - "only more kicks than cucumbers, didn't seem liked by anybody, and if
    \r\n", - "I got enough to eat I had nobody to thank but good old Margery, the
    \r\n", - "cook, who was kind to me now and then, and used to say-\"I like you,
    \r\n", - "Nicholas!\" And that used to make me feel so happy! Old Margery was
    \r\n", - "coal-black; but I didn't care for that,--the knowledge of somebody
    \r\n", - "loving you is enough to light up the happy of life, and make the
    \r\n", - "heart feel contented. In this manner my thoughts went here and there
    \r\n", - "and everywhere; and the truth is, I had so many thoughts, that I got
    \r\n", - "completely bewildered in thinking how I was to better myself, and be
    \r\n", - "like other folks. Mr. Grabguy seemed kind to me at first,--said he
    \r\n", - "would make a great mechanic of me, and give me a chance to buy
    \r\n", - "myself. I didn't know what this \"buy myself\" meant, at first. But I
    \r\n", - "soon found out-he tells us he must speak with caution-that I must
    \r\n", - "pay so many hundred dollars afore I could be like other folks. The
    \r\n", - "kindness Mr. Grabguy at first exhibited for me didn't last long; he
    \r\n", - "soon began to kick me, and cuff me, and swear at me. And it 'pear'd
    \r\n", - "to me as if I never could please anybody, and so my feelings got so
    \r\n", - "embittered I didn't know what to do. I was put into the shop among
    \r\n", - "the men, and one said Nigger, here! and another said, Nigger, get
    \r\n", - "there!-and they all seemed not to be inclined to help me along. And
    \r\n", - "then I would get in a passion: but that never made things better.
    \r\n", - "The foreman now and then said a kind word to me; and whenever he
    \r\n", - "did, it made my heart feel so good that I seemed a new being with
    \r\n", - "brighter hopes. Well, Mr. Grabguy put me to turning the grindstone,
    \r\n", - "first; and from turning the grindstone-the men used to throw water
    \r\n", - "in my face when they ground their chisels, and their plane irons,
    \r\n", - "and axes and adzes-I was learned to saw, and to plain boards, and
    \r\n", - "then to mortice and frame, and make mouldings, and window-sashes,
    \r\n", - "and door-frames. When I could do all these, master used to say I was
    \r\n", - "bound to make a great workman, and, laughingly, would say I was the
    \r\n", - "most valuable property he ever owned. About this time I began to
    \r\n", - "find out how it was that the other white folks owned themselves and
    \r\n", - "master owned me; but then, if I said anything about it, master might
    \r\n", - "tie me up and lash me as he used to do; and so I remained quiet, but
    \r\n", - "kept up a thinking. By and by I got perfect at the carpenter's
    \r\n", - "trade, and I learned engineering; and when I had got engineering
    \r\n", - "perfect, I took a fancy for making stucco work and images. And
    \r\n", - "people said I learned wondrously fast, and was the best workman far
    \r\n", - "or near. Seeing these things, people used to be coming to me, and
    \r\n", - "talking to me about my value, and then end by wanting me to make
    \r\n", - "them specimens of stucco. I seemed liked by everybody who came to
    \r\n", - "see me, and good people had a kind word for me; but Mr. Grabguy was
    \r\n", - "very strict, and wouldn't allow me to do anything without his
    \r\n", - "permission. People said my work was perfect, and master said I was a
    \r\n", - "perfect piece of property; and it used to pain deep into my heart
    \r\n", - "when master spoke so. Well! I got to be a man, and when the foreman
    \r\n", - "got drunk master used to put me in his place. And after a while I
    \r\n", - "got to be foreman altogether: but I was a slave, they said, and men
    \r\n", - "wouldn't follow my directions when master was away; they all
    \r\n", - "acknowledged that I was a good workman, but said a nigger never
    \r\n", - "should be allowed to direct and order white people. That made my
    \r\n", - "very blood boil, as I grew older, because I was whiter than many of
    \r\n", - "them. However, submit was the word; and I bore up and trusted to
    \r\n", - "heaven for deliverance, hoping the day would come soon when its will
    \r\n", - "would be carried out. With my knowledge of mechanics increased a
    \r\n", - "love of learning, which almost amounted to a passion. They said it
    \r\n", - "was against the law for a nigger to read; but I was raised so far
    \r\n", - "above black niggers that I didn't mind what the law said: so I got
    \r\n", - "'Pilgrim's Progress,' and the Bible, and 'Young's Night Thoughts,'
    \r\n", - "and from them I learned great truths: they gave me new hopes,
    \r\n", - "refreshed my weary soul, and made me like a new-clothed being ready
    \r\n", - "to soar above the injustice of this life. Oh, how I read them at
    \r\n", - "night, and re-read them in the morning, and every time found
    \r\n", - "something new in them, something that suited my case! Through the
    \r\n", - "sentiments imbibed from them I saw freedom hanging out its light of
    \r\n", - "love, fascinating me, and inciting me to make a death struggle to
    \r\n", - "gain it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One day, as I was thinking of my hard fate, and how I did all the
    \r\n", - "work and master got all the money for it-and how I had to live and
    \r\n", - "how he lived, master came in-looking good-natured. He approached
    \r\n", - "me, shook hands with me, said I was worth my weight in gold; and
    \r\n", - "then asked me how I would like to be free. I told him I would jump
    \r\n", - "for joy, would sing praises, and be glad all the day long.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'Aint you contented where you are, Nicholas?' he enquired. I told
    \r\n", - "him I didn't dislike him; but freedom was sweetest. 'Give me a
    \r\n", - "chance of my freedom, master, and yet you may know me as a man,'
    \r\n", - "says I, feeling that to be free was to be among the living; to be a
    \r\n", - "slave was to be among the moving dead. To this he said, he always
    \r\n", - "had liked me, was proud of me, had unbounded confidence in my
    \r\n", - "directions over the men, and always felt safe when he went from home
    \r\n", - "leaving things in my charge. 'In this view of the case, Nicholas,'
    \r\n", - "he says, 'I have come to the conclusion,--and it's Mrs. Grabguy's
    \r\n", - "conclusion, too,--to let you work evenings, on overtime, for
    \r\n", - "yourself. You can earn a deal of money that way, if you please; just
    \r\n", - "save it up, and let me keep it for you, and in consideration of your
    \r\n", - "faithfulness I will set you free whenever you get a thousand dollars
    \r\n", - "to put into my hands. Now that's generous-I want to do the straight
    \r\n", - "thing, and so Mrs. Grabguy wants to do the straight thing; and what
    \r\n", - "money you save you can put in Mrs. Grabguy's hands for safe keeping.
    \r\n", - "She's a noble-minded woman, and 'll take good care of it.' This was
    \r\n", - "to me like entering upon a new life of hope and joy. How my heart
    \r\n", - "yearned for the coming day, when I should be free like other folks!
    \r\n", - "I worked and struggled by night and day; and good Mr. Simons
    \r\n", - "befriended me, and procured me many little orders, which I executed,
    \r\n", - "and for which I got good pay. All my own earnings I put into Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Grabguy's hands; and she told me she would keep it for me, safe,
    \r\n", - "till I got enough to buy my freedom. My confidence in these
    \r\n", - "assurances was undivided. I looked upon Mrs. Grabguy as a friend and
    \r\n", - "mother; and good Mr. Simons, who was poor but honest, did many kind
    \r\n", - "things to help me out. When I got one hundred dollars in missus'
    \r\n", - "hands I jumped for joy; with it I seemed to have got over the first
    \r\n", - "difficult step in the great mountain. Then missus said I must take
    \r\n", - "Jerushe for my wife. I didn't like Jerushe at first--she was almost
    \r\n", - "black; but missus said we were both slaves; hence, that could be no
    \r\n", - "objection. As missus's order was equally as positive as master's,
    \r\n", - "there was no alternative but to obey it, and Jerushe became my wife.
    \r\n", - "We were lawfully married, and missus made a nice little party for
    \r\n", - "us, and Jerushe loved me, and was kind to me, and her solicitude for
    \r\n", - "my welfare soon made me repay her love. I pitied her condition, and
    \r\n", - "she seemed to pity mine; and I soon forgot that she was black, and
    \r\n", - "we lived happily together, and had two children, which missus said
    \r\n", - "were hers. It was hard to reconcile this, and yet it was so, by law
    \r\n", - "as well as social right. But then missus was kind to Jerushe, and
    \r\n", - "let her buy her time at four dollars a week, which, having learned
    \r\n", - "to make dresses, she could pay and have a small surplus to lay by
    \r\n", - "every week. Jerushe knew I was struggling for freedom, and she would
    \r\n", - "help me to buy that freedom, knowing that, if I was free, I would
    \r\n", - "return her kindness, and struggle to make her free, and our children
    \r\n", - "free.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Years rolled on,--we had placed nearly five hundred dollars in
    \r\n", - "missus's hands: but how vain were the hopes that had borne us
    \r\n", - "through so many privations for the accumulation of this portion of
    \r\n", - "our price of freedom! Master has sold my children,--yes, sold them!
    \r\n", - "He will not tell me where nor to whom. Missus will neither see nor
    \r\n", - "hear me; and master threatens to sell me to New Orleans if I resent
    \r\n", - "his act. To what tribunal can I appeal for justice? Shut from the
    \r\n", - "laws of my native land, what justice is there for the slave where
    \r\n", - "injustice makes its law oppression? Master may sell me, but he
    \r\n", - "cannot vanquish the spirit God has given me; never, never, will I
    \r\n", - "yield to his nefarious designs. I have but one life to yield up a
    \r\n", - "sacrifice for right-I care not to live for wrong!\" Thus he speaks,
    \r\n", - "as his frenzied soul burns with indignation. His soul's love was
    \r\n", - "freedom; he asked but justice to achieve it. Sick at heart he has
    \r\n", - "thrown up that zeal for his master's welfare which bore him onward,
    \r\n", - "summoned his determination to resist to the last-to die rather than
    \r\n", - "again confront the dreary waste of a slave's life. Grabguy has
    \r\n", - "forfeited the amount deposited by Nicholas as part of the price of
    \r\n", - "his freedom,--betrayed his confidence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He tells us his simple story, as the workmen, with fear on their
    \r\n", - "countenances, move heedlessly about the room. As he concludes,
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, with sullen countenance, enters the great door at the end
    \r\n", - "of the building; he is followed by three men in official garbs, two
    \r\n", - "of whom bear manacles in their hands. Nicholas's dark eye flashes
    \r\n", - "upon them, and with an instinctive knowledge of their errand, he
    \r\n", - "seizes a broad axe, salutes them, and, defiantly, cautions their
    \r\n", - "advance. Grabguy heeds not; and as the aggrieved man slowly retreats
    \r\n", - "backward to protect himself with the wall, still keeping his eye set
    \r\n", - "on Grabguy, two negroes make a sudden spring upon him from behind,
    \r\n", - "fetter his arms as the officers rush forward, bind him hand and
    \r\n", - "foot, and drag him to the door, regardless of his cries for mercy:
    \r\n", - "they bind him to a dray, and drive through the streets to the slave
    \r\n", - "pen of Graspum. We hear his pleading voice, as his ruffian captors,
    \r\n", - "their prey secure, disappear among the busy crowd.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HE WOULD DELIVER HER FROM BONDAGE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ABOUT twelve o'clock of a hazy night, in the month of November, and
    \r\n", - "while Annette, in the hands of Mr. Pringle Blowers, with death-like
    \r\n", - "tenacity refuses to yield to his vile purposes, a little
    \r\n", - "taunt-rigged schooner may be seen stealing her way through the grey
    \r\n", - "mist into Charleston inner harbour. Like a mysterious messenger, she
    \r\n", - "advances noiselessly, gibes her half-dimmed sails, rounds to a short
    \r\n", - "distance from an old fort that stands on a ridge of flats extending
    \r\n", - "into the sea, drops her anchor, and furls her sails. We hear the
    \r\n", - "rumble of the chain, and \"aye, aye!\" sound on the still air, like
    \r\n", - "the murmur of voices in the clouds. A pause is followed by the sharp
    \r\n", - "sound of voices echoing through the hollow mist; then she rides like
    \r\n", - "a thing of life reposing on the polished water, her masts half
    \r\n", - "obscured in mist, looming high above, like a spectre in gauze
    \r\n", - "shroud. The sound dies away, and dimly we see the figure of a man
    \r\n", - "pacing the deck from fore-shroud to taffrail. Now and then he stops
    \r\n", - "at the wheel, casts sundry glances about the horizon, as if to catch
    \r\n", - "a recognition of some point of land near by, and walks again. Now he
    \r\n", - "places his body against the spokes, leans forward, and compares the
    \r\n", - "\"lay\" of the land with points of compass. He will reach his hand
    \r\n", - "into the binnacle, to note the compass with his finger, and wait its
    \r\n", - "traversing motion. Apparently satisfied, he moves his slow way along
    \r\n", - "again; now folding his arms, as if in deep study, then locking his
    \r\n", - "hands behind him, and drooping his head. He paces and paces for an
    \r\n", - "hour, retires below, and all is still.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Early on the following morning, a man of middle stature, genteelly
    \r\n", - "dressed, may be seen leaving the craft in a boat, which, rowed by
    \r\n", - "two seamen, soon reaches a wharf, upon the landing slip of which he
    \r\n", - "disembarks. He looks pale, and his countenance wears a placidness
    \r\n", - "indicating a mind absorbed in reflection. With a carpet-bag in his
    \r\n", - "right hand does he ascend the steps to the crown of the wharf, as
    \r\n", - "the boat returns to the mysterious-looking craft. Standing on the
    \r\n", - "capsill for a few minutes, his blue eyes wander over the scene, as
    \r\n", - "if to detect some familiar object. The warehouses along the wharfs
    \r\n", - "wear a dingy, neglected air; immense piles of cotton bales stand
    \r\n", - "under slender sheds erected here and there along the line of
    \r\n", - "buildings which form a curvature declining to the east and west.
    \r\n", - "Again, open spaces are strewn with bales of cotton waiting its turn
    \r\n", - "through the press (a large building near by, from which steam is
    \r\n", - "issuing in successive puffings and roarings); from which compressed
    \r\n", - "bales emerge out of the lower story, followed by a dozen half-naked
    \r\n", - "negroes, who, half-bent, trundle it onward into piles, or on board
    \r\n", - "ships. Far above these is spread out a semicircle of dwellings,
    \r\n", - "having a gloomy and irregular appearance, devoid of that freshness
    \r\n", - "and brightness which so distinguish every New England city. The
    \r\n", - "bustle of the day is just commencing, and the half-mantled ships,
    \r\n", - "lying unmoved at the wharfs, give out signs of activity. The new
    \r\n", - "comer is about to move on up the wharf, when suddenly he is accosted
    \r\n", - "by a negro, who, in ragged garb, touches his hat politely, and says,
    \r\n", - "with a smile, \"Yer sarvant, mas'r!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Your name, my boy?\" returns the man, in a kind tone of voice. The
    \r\n", - "negro, thrusting his hands deep into the pockets of his old sack
    \r\n", - "coat, seems contemplating an answer. He has had several names, both
    \r\n", - "surname and Christian; names are but of little value to a slave.
    \r\n", - "\"Pompe they once called me, but da' calls me Bill now,\" he answers,
    \r\n", - "eyeing the stranger, suspiciously. \"Pompe, Pompe! I've heard that
    \r\n", - "name: how familiar it sounds!\" the stranger says to himself.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"One mas'r call me Turtle Tom,\" rejoins the negro, scratching his
    \r\n", - "head the while.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Turtle Tom!\" reiterates the stranger. \"Had you no other name
    \r\n", - "coupled with Pompe, when that was the name by which you were
    \r\n", - "recognised?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The negro will not wait his finishing the sentence. He says he had
    \r\n", - "good old mas'r's name; but good old mas'r-\"so dey tells\"-dead and
    \r\n", - "gone long time ago. \"His name was Marston; and dat war dis child's
    \r\n", - "name den, God bless 'um!\" he answers the stranger.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Marston, who lived on the banks of the Ashley?\" again he enquires,
    \r\n", - "as his face crimsons with excitement.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Dat war my mas'r; and dem war good old times when I lived dar,\"
    \r\n", - "returns the negro, significantly nodding his head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Then you are the first man I have met, the first I want to see,\"
    \r\n", - "exclaimed the stranger, grasping the negro by the hand, and, much to
    \r\n", - "his surprise, shaking it heartily.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"'Taint Lorenzo,\" returns the negro, contemplating the stranger with
    \r\n", - "astonishment.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The stranger is not Lorenzo, but he has heard much of him. What
    \r\n", - "happy recollections its familiar sound recalls: how it strengthens
    \r\n", - "his hopes of success in his mission. The negro tells him he is a
    \r\n", - "labourer on the wharf, and cannot leave to conduct him to an hotel;
    \r\n", - "he will, however, direct the stranger to a comfortable abode in
    \r\n", - "Church Street. It is quiet and unostentatious, but will serve his
    \r\n", - "purpose. Placing a piece of money in the negro's hand, he assures
    \r\n", - "him that he is his friend-has much need of his services-will pay him
    \r\n", - "well for their employment. He has equally aroused the negro's
    \r\n", - "curiosity; and, were it nothing more than satisfying that, he would
    \r\n", - "be faithful to his promise to call the same night at seven o'clock.
    \r\n", - "Precisely at that hour the negro will fulfil his engagement. The
    \r\n", - "stranger wends his way to Church Street, and up a narrow alley, on
    \r\n", - "the left hand side, finds comfortable apartments, as directed. Here
    \r\n", - "he makes his toilet, and sallies out to reconnoitre the city.
    \r\n", - "Meanwhile the little craft is entered at the custom-house as a
    \r\n", - "fruiter, bound from New Providence to New York, and put in for a
    \r\n", - "harbour. There is something suspicious about a fruiter putting in
    \r\n", - "for a harbour at this season, and many curious glances are cast upon
    \r\n", - "the little captain as he bows to the truth of his entry before the
    \r\n", - "deputy collector.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The stranger has spent the day in viewing the city, and at
    \r\n", - "nightfall, the negro, true to his engagement, presents his sable
    \r\n", - "figure at his lodgings. A servant having shown him up stairs, he is
    \r\n", - "ushered into his presence, where, seeming bewildered, he looks about
    \r\n", - "inquiringly, as if doubting the object for which he has been
    \r\n", - "summoned. Abjectly he holds his tattered cap in his hand, and
    \r\n", - "tremblingly inquires what master wants with him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Have confidence, my good fellow,\" the stranger speaks, with a
    \r\n", - "smile; \"my mission is love and peace.\" He places a chair beside a
    \r\n", - "small table in the centre of the room; bids the negro sit down,
    \r\n", - "which he does with some hesitation. The room is small; it contains a
    \r\n", - "table, bureau, washstand, bed, and four chairs, which, together with
    \r\n", - "a few small prints hanging from the dingy walls, and a square piece
    \r\n", - "of carpet in the centre of the room, constitute its furniture. \"You
    \r\n", - "know Marston's plantation-know it as it was when Marston resided
    \r\n", - "thereon, do you?\" enquires the stranger, seating himself beside the
    \r\n", - "negro, who evidently is not used to this sort of familiarity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Know 'um well, dat I does,\" answers the negro, quickly, as if the
    \r\n", - "question had recalled scenes of the past.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"And you know the people, too, I suppose?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Da'h people!\" ejaculates the negro, with a rhapsody of enthusiasm;
    \r\n", - "\"reckon I does.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Will you recount them.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The negro, commencing with old master, recounts the names of Miss
    \r\n", - "Franconia, Clotilda, Ellen, Aunt Rachel, old Daddy Bob, and Harry.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It is enough,\" says the stranger, \"they are all familiar names.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Did you know my good old master?\" interrupts the negro, suddenly,
    \r\n", - "as if detecting some familiar feature in the stranger's countenance.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No,\" he replies, measuredly; \"but his name has sounded in my ears a
    \r\n", - "thousand times. Tell me where are the children, Annette and
    \r\n", - "Nicholas? and where may I find Franconia?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The negro shakes his head, and remains silent for a few minutes. At
    \r\n", - "length he raises his hand, and in a half-whisper says, \"Gone, gone,
    \r\n", - "gone; sold and scattered, good mas'r. Habn't see dem child dis many
    \r\n", - "a day: reckon da'h done gone down south.\" He hesitates suddenly, as
    \r\n", - "if calling something to memory; and then, placing his left hand on
    \r\n", - "the stranger's right arm, as he rubs his left across his forehead,
    \r\n", - "stammers out-\"Mas'r, mas'r, I reckon dis child do know somefin 'bout
    \r\n", - "Miss Frankone. Anyhow, mas'r (ye knows I'se nigger do'h, and don't
    \r\n", - "keep up 'quaintance a'ter mas'r sell um), can put ye straight 'bout
    \r\n", - "Missus Rosebrook's house, and reckon how dat lady can put ye
    \r\n", - "straight on Miss Frankone's where'bout.\" It is what the stranger
    \r\n", - "wants. He has heard of Mrs. Rosebrook before; she will give him the
    \r\n", - "information he seeks; so, turning again to the negro, he tells him
    \r\n", - "that, for a few days at least, he shall require his presence at the
    \r\n", - "same hour in the evening: tonight he must conduct him to Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook's sequestered villa.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The watch-tower bell of the guard-house sounds forth nine o'clock.
    \r\n", - "The soldier-like sentinel, pacing with loaded musket, and armed with
    \r\n", - "sharpest steel, cries out in hoarse accents, \"All's well!\" The bell
    \r\n", - "is summoning all negroes to their habitations: our guide, Bill,
    \r\n", - "informs the stranger that he must have a \"pass\" from a white man
    \r\n", - "before he can venture into the street. \"Mas'r may write 'um,\" he
    \r\n", - "says, knowing that it matters but little from whom it comes, so long
    \r\n", - "as the writer be a white man. The pass is written; the negro
    \r\n", - "partakes of refreshment that has been prepared for him at the
    \r\n", - "stranger's request, and they are wending their way through the city.
    \r\n", - "They pass between rows of massive buildings, many of which have an
    \r\n", - "antique appearance, and bear strong signs of neglect; but their
    \r\n", - "unique style of architecture denotes the taste of the time in which
    \r\n", - "they were erected. Some are distinguished by heavy stone colonnades,
    \r\n", - "others by verandas of fret-work, with large gothic windows standing
    \r\n", - "in bold outline. Gloomy-looking guard-houses, from which numerous
    \r\n", - "armed men are issuing forth for the night's duty,--patrolling figures
    \r\n", - "with white cross belts, and armed with batons, standing at corners
    \r\n", - "of streets, or moving along with heavy tread on the uneven
    \r\n", - "side-walk,--give the city an air of military importance. The love of
    \r\n", - "freedom is dangerous in this democratic world; liberty is simply a
    \r\n", - "privilege. Again the stranger and his guide (the negro) emerge into
    \r\n", - "narrow lanes, and pass along between rows of small dwellings
    \r\n", - "inhabited by negroes; but at every turn they encounter mounted
    \r\n", - "soldiery, riding two abreast, heavily armed. \"Democracy, boast not
    \r\n", - "of thy privileges! tell no man thou governest with equal justice!\"
    \r\n", - "said the stranger to himself, as the gas-light shed its flickers
    \r\n", - "upon this military array formed to suppress liberty.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They have reached the outskirts of the city, and are approaching a
    \r\n", - "pretty villa, which the negro, who has been explaining the nature
    \r\n", - "and duties of this formidable display of citizen soldiery, points
    \r\n", - "to, as the peaceful home of the Rosebrook family. Brighter and
    \r\n", - "brighter, as they approach, glares the bright light of a window in
    \r\n", - "the north front. \"I wish Mas'r Rosebrook owned me,\" says the negro,
    \r\n", - "stopping at the garden gate, and viewing the pretty enclosure ere he
    \r\n", - "opens it. \"If ebery mas'r and missus war as kind as da'h is, dar
    \r\n", - "wouldn't be no need o' dem guard-houses and dem guardmen wid dar
    \r\n", - "savage steel,\" he continues, opening the gate gently, and motioning
    \r\n", - "the stranger to walk in. Noiselessly he advances up the brick walk
    \r\n", - "to the hall entrance, and rings the bell. A well-dressed negro man
    \r\n", - "soon makes his appearance, receives him politely, as the guide
    \r\n", - "retires, and ushers him into a sumptuously furnished parlour. The
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook negroes quickly recognise a gentleman, and detecting it in
    \r\n", - "the bearing of the stranger they treat him as such. Mrs. Rosebrook,
    \r\n", - "followed by her husband, soon makes her appearance, saluting the
    \r\n", - "stranger with her usual suavity. \"I have come, madam,\" he says, \"on
    \r\n", - "a strange mission. With you I make no secret of it; should I be
    \r\n", - "successful it will remove the grief and anxiety of one who has for
    \r\n", - "years mourned the fate of her on whom all her affections seem to
    \r\n", - "have centred. If you will but read this it will save the further
    \r\n", - "recital of my mission.\" Thus saying, he drew a letter from his
    \r\n", - "pocket, presented it, and watched her countenance as line by line
    \r\n", - "she read it, and, with tears glistening in her eyes, passed it to
    \r\n", - "her husband.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I am, good sir, heartily glad your mission is thus laudable. Be at
    \r\n", - "home, and while you are in the city let our home be yours. Franconia
    \r\n", - "is here with us to-night; the child you search after is also with
    \r\n", - "us, and it was but to-day we learned the cruelties to which she has
    \r\n", - "been subjected during the last few years. Indeed, her fate had been
    \r\n", - "kept concealed from us until a few weeks ago, and to-day, having
    \r\n", - "escaped the brutal designs of a ruffian, she fled to us for
    \r\n", - "protection, and is now concealed under our roof-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, poor wretch-it is too true!\" rejoins Rosebrook. \"But something
    \r\n", - "must be done as quickly as possible, for if Pringle Blowers regains
    \r\n", - "her she will be subjected to tortures her frame is too delicate to
    \r\n", - "bear up under. There must be no time lost, not a day!\" he says, as
    \r\n", - "Mrs. Rosebrook quickly leaves the room to convey the news to
    \r\n", - "Franconia, who, with Annette, is in an adjoining apartment.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Like a hunted deer, Annette's fears were excited on hearing the
    \r\n", - "stranger enter; Franconia is endeavoring to quiet them. The poor
    \r\n", - "slave fears the ruffian's pursuit, trembles at each foot-fall upon
    \r\n", - "the door-sill, and piteously turns to her old friend for protection.
    \r\n", - "Blowers, maddened with disappointment, would rather sacrifice her to
    \r\n", - "infamy than sell her for money to a good master. The price of a
    \r\n", - "pretty slave is no object with this boasting democrat,--the
    \r\n", - "gratification of his carnal desires soars supreme. Rosebrook knows
    \r\n", - "this, as the abject woman does to her sorrow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As Rosebrook and the stranger sit conversing upon the object of his
    \r\n", - "mission, and the best way to effect it, this good woman returns
    \r\n", - "leading by the arm a delicately-formed girl, whose blonde
    \r\n", - "countenance is shadowed with an air of melancholy which rather adds
    \r\n", - "to her charms than detracts from her beauty. The stranger's eye
    \r\n", - "rests upon her,--quickly he recognises Clotilda's features,
    \r\n", - "Clotilda's form, and gentleness; but she is fairer than Clotilda,
    \r\n", - "has blue eyes, and almost golden hair. She hesitates as her eyes
    \r\n", - "meet the stranger's. \"Do not fear, my child,\" speaks Franconia,
    \r\n", - "whose slender figure follows her into the room. Assured that the
    \r\n", - "stranger is her friend, she is introduced to him, and modestly takes
    \r\n", - "her seat on a chair by the window. The stranger's name is Maxwell,
    \r\n", - "and on hearing it announced Franconia anticipated the pleasure of
    \r\n", - "meeting with her old friend, through whose agency she effected
    \r\n", - "Clotilda's escape. Advancing towards him with extended hand, she
    \r\n", - "looks enquiringly in his face, saying, \"Am I mistaken?\" She shakes
    \r\n", - "her head, doubtingly. \"No! it is not my friend Maxwell,\" she
    \r\n", - "continues.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No!\" rejoins the stranger; \"he is my cousin: by his directions I
    \r\n", - "have come here. I have brought a letter from his wife Clotilda,
    \r\n", - "whose dear deliverer you were; and whose thoughts now daily recur to
    \r\n", - "you, to your love and kindness to her, with undying brightness.\"
    \r\n", - "\"Ah!\" interrupts Franconia, welcoming him with a fervent heart, \"I
    \r\n", - "knew Clotilda would never forget Annette; I knew she would remember
    \r\n", - "me; I knew her ardent soul would give forth its measure of
    \r\n", - "gratitude. Happy am I that you have come-though years have rolled by
    \r\n", - "since I gave up all hopes of the joyous consummation-to relieve this
    \r\n", - "sorrowing child,\" she says, running to Annette, and with tears of
    \r\n", - "joy in her eyes, exclaiming, \"My child! my child! you 'll yet be
    \r\n", - "saved. The ruffian who tortured you to-day will torture you no
    \r\n", - "more-no more!\" And she kisses the sorrowing girl's cheek, as tears
    \r\n", - "of sympathy gush into her eyes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook handed Franconia the letter, which she read as her face
    \r\n", - "brightened with joy. \"Good Clotilda! how happy she must be! How
    \r\n", - "generous, how kind, how true dear Maxwell was to her; and they are
    \r\n", - "living together so comfortably, and have such a nice family growing
    \r\n", - "up; but she wants her slave child! A slave mother never forgets her
    \r\n", - "slave offspring!\" she exclaims, with enthusiastic delight, as she
    \r\n", - "reads and re-reads the letter. Back she paces to Annette, lays her
    \r\n", - "right arm gently over her shoulder, and pats her cheek with her left
    \r\n", - "hand: \"Annette will see her mother, yet. There is an all-protecting
    \r\n", - "hand guiding us through every ill of life. Be of good cheer, my
    \r\n", - "child; never despond while there is a hope left; bury the horrors of
    \r\n", - "the past in the brighter prospect of the future.\" And leading her to
    \r\n", - "the table she seats her by her side and reads the letter aloud, as
    \r\n", - "with joy the forlorn girl's feelings bound forth. We need scarcely
    \r\n", - "tell the reader that Clotilda's letter was read in listening
    \r\n", - "silence, and ran thus:--\"Nassau, New Providence, \"October 24, 18-.
    \r\n", - "\"My Dear Franconia,
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My thoughts have never ceased to recur to you, nor to my dear
    \r\n", - "Annette. You were a mother and a deliverer to me; I know-though I
    \r\n", - "have not received a word in reply to any of my letters-you have been
    \r\n", - "a mother to my child. As you know, I dare not write as much as I
    \r\n", - "would, lest this letter fall into the hands of those whose interest
    \r\n", - "it is to perpetuate our enslavement. I hope you are happy with a
    \r\n", - "good husband, as I am. Years have rolled by since we parted, and
    \r\n", - "many have been the scenes and changes through which I have passed,
    \r\n", - "but they were all pleasant changes, each for brighter and happier
    \r\n", - "prospects. I was married to him who, with you, effected my escape, a
    \r\n", - "few weeks after landing at Harbour Island. Since then we have
    \r\n", - "resided in Nassau, where my husband, who loves me dearly, pursues an
    \r\n", - "extensive and lucrative business, and we both move in the best
    \r\n", - "society of the place. We have a pretty family of three children, the
    \r\n", - "oldest nine years old, and the youngest five. How my heart would
    \r\n", - "leap with joy if I thought you would accept an invitation to come
    \r\n", - "and see me, to spend a few weeks with me, and see yourself how
    \r\n", - "comfortable and happy a slave may be! Perhaps I should not say
    \r\n", - "happy, for I never can be truly happy without my Annette. Something
    \r\n", - "haunts my mind whenever I recur to her,--which is every day. And then
    \r\n", - "I have written so many letters to which no answers have been
    \r\n", - "returned; but, a whispering angel, as if to console me, says,
    \r\n", - "Franconia will be her mother, and you will yet see her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The gentleman who bears this letter is my husband's cousin. He has
    \r\n", - "all my husband's generosity of character, and will seek you for the
    \r\n", - "purpose of finding Annette, and bearing her safely to me. He has
    \r\n", - "proffered his services, and sworn to carry out his object; and being
    \r\n", - "on his way to New York for the purpose of entering into business
    \r\n", - "with his uncle now in that city, will touch at Charleston, for the
    \r\n", - "object herein stated. Further his object, my dear Franconia, and
    \r\n", - "that heaven will reward the hand that in mercy helps the enslaved,
    \r\n", - "\"Is the prayer of your grateful \"CLOTILDA MAXWELL.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I knew mother would never forget me; I knew she would come back to
    \r\n", - "me, would be kind to me, as she used to be, and save me from such
    \r\n", - "cruelty as I have suffered. Several times have I resolved on putting
    \r\n", - "an end to my unhappy existence, but as often did something say to
    \r\n", - "me, 'live hoping-there is a better day coming.' God guides, governs,
    \r\n", - "and raises up the weary soul,\" says Annette, in touching accents, as
    \r\n", - "Franconia finished reading the letter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While this conversation is progressing, and the plan of getting
    \r\n", - "Annette out of the city being devised, a nice supper, at Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook's request, is being prepared in the adjoining room. To
    \r\n", - "this the stranger is invited, and all sit down in a happy circle.
    \r\n", - "Franconia seems invested with new life; Annette forgets for the time
    \r\n", - "her troubles; Mrs. Rosebrook, who does the honours of the table,
    \r\n", - "wishes every ill-used slave could find means of escaping into
    \r\n", - "freedom; and Deacon Rosebrook says he will join heart and hand in
    \r\n", - "getting the forlorn girl free from her base purchaser.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "OTHER PHASES OF THE SUBJECT.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WE must leave to the reader's imagination much that transpired at
    \r\n", - "the Rosebrook Villa during the night above mentioned, and ask him to
    \r\n", - "accompany us on the following morning, when curious placards may be
    \r\n", - "seen posted here and there at corners of streets and other
    \r\n", - "conspicuous places about the city. Mr. Pringle Blowers has lost a
    \r\n", - "beautiful female slave, whose fair hair, beautiful complexion, deep
    \r\n", - "blue eyes, delicate features, and charming promise, is in large type
    \r\n", - "and blackest printer's ink set forth most glowingly. Had Mr. Pringle
    \r\n", - "Blowers been a poet instead of a chivalric rice-planter, he might
    \r\n", - "have emblazoned his loss in sentimental rhyme. But Pringle Blowers
    \r\n", - "says poets always make fools of themselves; and, although the south
    \r\n", - "is a sweet and sunny land, he is happy indeed that it is troubled
    \r\n", - "with none of the miscreants. He owned niggers innumerable; but they
    \r\n", - "were only common stock, all of whom he could have lost without
    \r\n", - "feeling any more than ordinary disappointment at the loss of their
    \r\n", - "worth in money. For this one, however, he had a kind of undefined
    \r\n", - "love, which moved his heart most indescribably. Disappointed in the
    \r\n", - "gratification of his desires, he is mortified and maddened to
    \r\n", - "desperation. Why should a slave he had invested so much money in,
    \r\n", - "and felt so like making a lady of, and never would have thought of
    \r\n", - "setting at field labour, run away? He only wanted her for the most
    \r\n", - "aristocratic purpose the south can provide for a beautiful slave.
    \r\n", - "Hence Mr. Pringle Blowers, through the medium of his knowledge of
    \r\n", - "letters, puts forward his placard-a copy of which he inserts in all
    \r\n", - "the most respectable morning journals-in which the fair outlines of
    \r\n", - "his lost woman are simply set forth. He will give three hundred
    \r\n", - "dollars for her apprehension, fifty dollars more for proof to
    \r\n", - "convict any person of harbouring her, and an additional sum for
    \r\n", - "lodging her in any gaol in the country. This large reward Mr.
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers will pay in hard cash; and he has no doubt the
    \r\n", - "offering will be quite enough to excite the hunting propensities of
    \r\n", - "fashionable young gentlemen, as well as inveterate negro hunters.
    \r\n", - "Beside this, negro hunting being rather a democratic sport than
    \r\n", - "otherwise, Mr. Pringle Blowers reconciles his feelings with the fact
    \r\n", - "of these sports being uncommonly successful.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The reader will naturally conclude that the offer of this large
    \r\n", - "reward produced some sensation in and about the city. People stopped
    \r\n", - "along the streets, read the curious hand-bill, smiled, and made
    \r\n", - "various remarks. Ladies, always curious to know what is prominent
    \r\n", - "among the current events of the day, sent servants to ascertain what
    \r\n", - "so attractive the posters contained. It was, indeed, a regular bit
    \r\n", - "of self-enjoyed fun for them; for the ladies had all heard of
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers, and that a female slave for whose capture he would
    \r\n", - "give three hundred dollars had run away from him they were heartily
    \r\n", - "glad to learn.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The day-police were equally happy to hear of the loss, and anxious
    \r\n", - "to make the capture. In this position it was doubly necessary to be
    \r\n", - "cautious in proceeding to effect the escape of the fair girl. If
    \r\n", - "discovered in the act the stranger might be subjected to a series of
    \r\n", - "inprisonments that would sacrifice his life. Again, he might be
    \r\n", - "assassinated by some disguised hand; or, if an infuriated mob were
    \r\n", - "let loose upon him, no police interference could save his life. As
    \r\n", - "suspicion is ever on the point of giving out its dangerous caprices
    \r\n", - "where a community live fearing one another, so the stranger became
    \r\n", - "sensible of the shafts of suspicion that might at any moment be
    \r\n", - "darted at him. Despatching his schooner on her voyage, he continued
    \r\n", - "for several days walking about the city, as if indifferent to what
    \r\n", - "was passing. He read the curious poster in which was offered the
    \r\n", - "goodly reward for the apprehension of a lost slave, affected great
    \r\n", - "coolness, and even ignorance of the mode by which such articles were
    \r\n", - "recovered.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Fortunate was it for the stranger that he despatched the schooner
    \r\n", - "without the prize he intended to carry off, for no sooner had she
    \r\n", - "got under way and begun to move down the harbour, than she was
    \r\n", - "boarded by four men, who, producing their authority, searched her
    \r\n", - "from stem to stern. Such were their suspicions, that they would not
    \r\n", - "be satisfied until they had opened a few boxes and bales that were
    \r\n", - "stowed away in the hold. This done, the schooner was permitted to
    \r\n", - "continue her voyage, and the stranger, unmolested, continues his
    \r\n", - "walks about the city. A few days pass and the excitement has calmed
    \r\n", - "down. Pringle Blowers, although chagrined at the loss of his
    \r\n", - "valuable piece of woman property, resolves to wait the issue with
    \r\n", - "patience and forbearance. If she, fool like, has made away with
    \r\n", - "herself, he cannot bring her to life; if she be carried off by
    \r\n", - "villainous kidnappers, they must eventually suffer the consequences.
    \r\n", - "Her beauty will expose their plots. He will absorb his usual
    \r\n", - "requirement of spirit, keep the nerve up, and never despond of
    \r\n", - "regaining her while his reward of three hundred dollars stands
    \r\n", - "before a money-loving public. He would rather have lost two dozen
    \r\n", - "common niggers than this one he set so much by, intended to make so
    \r\n", - "much of, and upon whom he had set his very heart, soul, and burning
    \r\n", - "passions. But there is no profit in grief, no use in giving way to
    \r\n", - "disappointment. Philosophers bear disappointments with fortitude; he
    \r\n", - "must be a philosopher, keep a sharp look out and not despair.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "How different is the scene presented at Rosebrook's Villa! There,
    \r\n", - "Annette is seen, prepared to take her departure. Dressed in male
    \r\n", - "attire, with frock coat and trousers setting so neatly, dress boots,
    \r\n", - "white vest, and brightly arranged shirt-bosom, she is the type of
    \r\n", - "perfection of a youthful southron. Franconia has expended her skill
    \r\n", - "in completing the fair girl's toilet, when Mrs. Rosebrook places a
    \r\n", - "pair of green spectacles over her eyes, bids her look in the glass,
    \r\n", - "and tells her she will pass for a planter's son among a million.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nobody will know me, now,\" she answers, viewing herself in the
    \r\n", - "mirror. Her neat setting suit, Panama hat, and green spectacles,
    \r\n", - "give a peculiar air to her lithe figure. And though her emotions are
    \r\n", - "well nigh ready to give forth tears, she cannot suppress a smile at
    \r\n", - "the singular transformation of her person.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"It'll take sharper eyes than policemen's to discover the disguise,\"
    \r\n", - "says Rosebrook, who, having ordered a carriage to the door, enters
    \r\n", - "the room and takes her kindly by the hand. \"Keep up a good heart;
    \r\n", - "don't despond, my child, and the chances are that you'll be
    \r\n", - "safe-you'll be in Wilmington to-morrow morning\" he continues: then,
    \r\n", - "turning to Franconia, who will accompany her to that place, he
    \r\n", - "awaits her pleasure. \"I am ready!\" returns that generous woman, as,
    \r\n", - "arrayed in her travelling dress, she takes Annette by the hand, and
    \r\n", - "is about to proceed to the gate where the carriage waits. Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook must take one more fond parting. Laying her right arm over
    \r\n", - "her shoulder, and pressing her to her bosom, she kisses and kisses
    \r\n", - "her fair cheek, bids her remember that God alone is her protector,
    \r\n", - "her guide to a happy future. In freedom may she live to freedom's
    \r\n", - "God; in slavery, hope ever, and trust in his mercy! With this
    \r\n", - "admonition, the excited girl, trembling, leaves the Villa, leaning
    \r\n", - "on Franconia's arm. Bradshaw has the carriage at the door, piled
    \r\n", - "with sundry boxes and portmanteaus, giving it the appearance of a
    \r\n", - "gentleman's travelling equipage. He has orders to drive to the
    \r\n", - "steam-boat landing, where the young invalid planter will embark for
    \r\n", - "New York via Wilmington and the land route. Soon they have taken
    \r\n", - "their seats, and with Rosebrook's good-natured face shining beside
    \r\n", - "Bradshaw, on the front seat, they say their happy adieu! and bound
    \r\n", - "over the road for the steamer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is now within fifteen minutes of the starting time. The wharf
    \r\n", - "presents a bustling scene: carriages and coaches are arriving with
    \r\n", - "eager-looking passengers, who, fearing they are a little behind
    \r\n", - "time, stare about as if bewildered, scold heedless drivers, point
    \r\n", - "out heir baggage to awkward porters who run to and fro with trunks
    \r\n", - "and boxes on their heads, and then nervously seek the ticket-office,
    \r\n", - "where they procure the piece of paper that insures them through to
    \r\n", - "New York. Albeit, finding they have quite time enough on their
    \r\n", - "hands, they escort their female voyagers on board, and loiter about
    \r\n", - "in the way of every one else, enjoying that excitement in others
    \r\n", - "which they have fortunately passed through. Here and there about the
    \r\n", - "wharf, leaning their head carelessly over black piles, are
    \r\n", - "sly-looking policemen, who scan every voyager with a searching eye.
    \r\n", - "They are incog., but the initiated recognise them at a glance. The
    \r\n", - "restless leer of that lynx eye discovers their object; anything,
    \r\n", - "from a runaway nigger to a houseless debtor, is to them acceptable
    \r\n", - "prey. Atween decks of the steamer, secured at the end of the wharf,
    \r\n", - "another scene of bustle and confusion presents itself. A passenger
    \r\n", - "is not quite sure his baggage is all on board, and must needs waste
    \r\n", - "his breath in oaths at the dumb porter, who works at his utmost
    \r\n", - "strength, under the direction of Mr. Mate, whose important figure is
    \r\n", - "poised on the wharf. Another wants to \"lay over\" at Richmond, and is
    \r\n", - "using most abusive language to a mulatto waiter, who has put his
    \r\n", - "trunk on one side of the boat and carpet bag on the other. A third,
    \r\n", - "a fussy old lady with two rosy-faced daughters she is, against her
    \r\n", - "southern principles, taking to the north to be educated, is making a
    \r\n", - "piteous lamentation over the remains of two bonnets-just from the
    \r\n", - "hands of the milliner-hopelessly smashed in her bandbox. The
    \r\n", - "careless porter set it on a pile of baggage, from where it tottled
    \r\n", - "over under the feet of an astonished gentleman, who endeavours to
    \r\n", - "soothe the good lady's feelings with courteous apologies. On the
    \r\n", - "upper deck, heeding no one, but now and then affecting to read a
    \r\n", - "newspaper, as passengers pace to and fro, is the stranger, seated on
    \r\n", - "one of the side seats. The engineer moves his valve now and then,
    \r\n", - "the cross-head ascends, the steam hisses below, the condenser
    \r\n", - "rumbles, the steam from the funnel roars furiously forth, spreading
    \r\n", - "its scalding vapour through the air. Again, the man, almost
    \r\n", - "imperceptibly touches the iron rod with his finger, the magic
    \r\n", - "monster again moves its piston downward, the wheels make a turn, the
    \r\n", - "massive vessel surges upon her lines, as if eager to press forward
    \r\n", - "on her course. Another gentle touch, and, obeying the summons, the
    \r\n", - "motive power is still; the man subjects the monster with his little
    \r\n", - "finger. He has stopped her near the centre, where, with a slight
    \r\n", - "touch, he can turn back or forward. Again, he lifts a small key, and
    \r\n", - "the steam, with a deafening roar, issues from the escape: he is
    \r\n", - "venting his chest. Simultaneously the second bell sounds forth its
    \r\n", - "clanking medley: two minutes more, and the snake-like craft will be
    \r\n", - "buffeting the waves, on her daily errand. As passengers begin to
    \r\n", - "muster on board, their friends clustering round the capsill of the
    \r\n", - "wharf, obstructing the way, the sturdy figure of Mr. Pringle Blowers
    \r\n", - "may be seen behind a spile near the capsill, his sharp, peering eyes
    \r\n", - "scanning the ship from fore to aft. He is not sure she will get off
    \r\n", - "by this route; common sense tells him that, but there exists a
    \r\n", - "prompting something underneath common sense telling him it's money
    \r\n", - "saved to keep a sharp look-out. And this he does merely to gratify
    \r\n", - "that inert something, knowing at the same time that, having no
    \r\n", - "money, no person will supply her, and she must be concealed in the
    \r\n", - "swamps, where only \"niggers\" will relieve her necessities. At this
    \r\n", - "moment Rosebrook's carriage may be seen driving to the ticket office
    \r\n", - "at the head of the wharf, where Rosebrook, with great coolness, gets
    \r\n", - "out, steps within the railing, and procures the tickets in his own
    \r\n", - "name. Again taking his seat, the mate, who stands on the capsill of
    \r\n", - "the wharf, now and then casting a glance up, cries out, \"Another
    \r\n", - "carriage coming!\" Bradshaw cracks his whip, and the horses dash down
    \r\n", - "the wharf, scatter the people who have gathered to see the boat off,
    \r\n", - "as a dozen black porters, at the mate's command, rush round the
    \r\n", - "carriage, seize the baggage, and hurry it on board. Rosebrook,
    \r\n", - "fearing his friends will lose their passage, begs people to clear
    \r\n", - "the gangway, and almost runs on board, his fugitive charge clinging
    \r\n", - "to his arms. The captain stands at the gangway, and recognising the
    \r\n", - "late comer, makes one of his blandest bows: he will send a steward
    \r\n", - "to show them a good state-room. \"Keep close till the boat leaves,
    \r\n", - "and remember there is a world before you,\" Rosebrook says, shaking
    \r\n", - "Annette by the hand, as she returns, \"God bless good master!\" They
    \r\n", - "are safe in the state-room: he kisses Franconia's cheek, shuts the
    \r\n", - "door, and, hurrying back, regains the wharf just as the last bell
    \r\n", - "strikes, and the gangway is being carried on board.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not going along with us, eh?\" ejaculates the captain, as, from the
    \r\n", - "capsill, Rosebrook looks round to bid him good-by.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not to-day\" (he returns, laconically). \"Take good care of my
    \r\n", - "friends; the young invalid from Lousiana in particular.\" Just then
    \r\n", - "he catches the stranger's eye, and, with a significant motion of his
    \r\n", - "fingers, says, \"All safe!\" With a nod of recognition the stranger
    \r\n", - "makes his adieu; the fastenings are cast away, the faint tinkle of a
    \r\n", - "bell is heard amid the roar of steam; the man at the valves touches
    \r\n", - "the throttle bar; up mounts the piston rod-down it surges again; the
    \r\n", - "revolving wheels rustle the water; the huge craft moves backward
    \r\n", - "easy, and then ahead; a clanking noise denotes the connections are
    \r\n", - "\"hooked on,\" and onward she bounds over the sea. How leaps with joy
    \r\n", - "that heart yearning for freedom, as the words \"She's away!\" gladden
    \r\n", - "Annette's very soul! Her enraptured feelings gush forth in prayer to
    \r\n", - "her deliverers; it is as a new spring of life, infusing its
    \r\n", - "refreshing waters into desert sands. She seems a new being, with
    \r\n", - "hope, joy, and happiness brightening the future for her. But, alas!
    \r\n", - "how vain are hopes,--how uncertain the future!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook watched the steaming craft as she crosses the bar, and
    \r\n", - "dwindles out of sight. \"Thou art safe, poor slave,\" he says to
    \r\n", - "himself, as she passes from view behind the distant peak.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Something touches him on the shoulder as he returns to his carriage.
    \r\n", - "\"Ah! this you, Pringle Blowers?\" he exclaims, turning round
    \r\n", - "suddenly, as the full face of that important personage presented
    \r\n", - "itself. \"Been seeing some friends off to--?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No,\" replies Blowers, with seeming indifference. He is just shying
    \r\n", - "round,--keeping an eye out for a smart kind of \"a gal,\" lost last
    \r\n", - "week.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Quite a misfortune, that, Blowers! God bless me, I'm sorry,\"
    \r\n", - "returns Rosebrook, dryly. Rosebrook invites him to get in and ride a
    \r\n", - "short distance. Blowers has not the slightest objection; seats his
    \r\n", - "square frame on the left side of the carriage. \"Those were clever
    \r\n", - "posters you put out for the apprehension of that girl, Blowers!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Took some genius, I reckon,\" interrupts Blowers, with broad laugh.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"They say she was very handsome, and, if it be true, I hope you may
    \r\n", - "get her, Blowers,\" continues Rosebrook, naively.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The disappointed man shakes his head, touches the other on the arm,
    \r\n", - "and says, \"Nothing is more sure!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLIV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HOW DADDY BOB DEPARTED.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "LET us again beg the indulgence of the reader, while we go back to
    \r\n", - "the night when Marston was found dead in his cell, and when that old
    \r\n", - "negro, whose eventful history we shall here close, sat by his
    \r\n", - "bed-side, unconscious that the spirit of master had winged its way
    \r\n", - "to another world. Bob, faithful unto death, remained his lone
    \r\n", - "watcher. Disguising his ownership, he has toiled from day to day
    \r\n", - "that the fruits thereof might relieve master's necessities; and he
    \r\n", - "had shared them with the flowing goodness of a simple heart. In a
    \r\n", - "malarious cell, how happy was he to make his bed on the cold plank
    \r\n", - "beside his master's cot, where he might watch over his declining
    \r\n", - "spirit. Kindness was his by nature,--no cruel law could rob his heart
    \r\n", - "of its treasure: he would follow master to the grave, and lavish it
    \r\n", - "upon the soil that covered him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Having accompanied Franconia to the Rosebrook Villa, he will return
    \r\n", - "to the prison and join Harry, alone watching over the dead. The city
    \r\n", - "clock strikes the hour of eleven as he leaves the outer gate, and
    \r\n", - "turns into the broad road leading to the city. The scene before him
    \r\n", - "is vamped in still darkness; a murky light now and then sheds its
    \r\n", - "glimmers across the broad road; and as he hurries onward,
    \r\n", - "contemplating the sad spectacle presented in the prison, happy
    \r\n", - "incidents of old plantation life mingle their associations with his
    \r\n", - "thoughts. He muses to himself, and then, as if bewildered, commences
    \r\n", - "humming his favourite tune-\"There's a place for old mas'r yet, when
    \r\n", - "all 'um dead and gone!\" His soul is free from suspicion: he fears
    \r\n", - "not the savage guardsman's coming; the pure kindliness of his heart
    \r\n", - "is his shield. How often has he scanned this same scene,--paced this
    \r\n", - "same road on his master's errands! How death has changed the
    \r\n", - "circumstances of this his nightly errand! Far away to the east, on
    \r\n", - "his left, the broad landscape seems black and ominous; before him,
    \r\n", - "the sleeping city spreads its panorama, broken and sombre, beneath
    \r\n", - "heavy clouds; the fretted towers on the massive prison frown dimly
    \r\n", - "through the mist to the right, from which a low marshy expanse
    \r\n", - "dwindles into the dark horizon. And ever and anon the forked
    \r\n", - "lightning courses its way through the heavens, now tinging the
    \r\n", - "sombre scene with mellow light, then closing it in deeper darkness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Onward the old man wends his way. If he be shut out from the prison,
    \r\n", - "he will find shelter at Jane's cabin near by, from whence he may
    \r\n", - "reach the cell early next morning. Presently the dull tramp of
    \r\n", - "horses breaks upon his ear,--the sound sharpening as they advance.
    \r\n", - "Through the dimming haze he sees two mounted guardsmen advancing:
    \r\n", - "the murmuring sound of their conversation floats onward through the
    \r\n", - "air,--their side arms rattle ominously. Now their white cross belts
    \r\n", - "are disclosed; their stalwart figures loom out. Nearer and nearer
    \r\n", - "they approach: as the old man, trembling with fear, remembers he is
    \r\n", - "without a pass, a gruff voice cries out, \"Stop there!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A prowling nigger!\" rejoins another, in a voice scarcely less
    \r\n", - "hoarse. The old man halts in the light of a lamp, as the right-hand
    \r\n", - "guard rides up, and demands his pass.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Whose nigger are you?\" again demands the first voice. \"Your pass,
    \r\n", - "or come with us!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The old man has no pass; he will go to his master, dead in the
    \r\n", - "county prison!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Guardsmen will hear neither falsehoods nor pleading. He doesn't know
    \r\n", - "\"whose nigger he is! he is a runaway without home or master,\" says
    \r\n", - "the left-hand guardsman, as he draws his baton from beneath his
    \r\n", - "coat, and with savage grimace makes a threatening gesture. Again he
    \r\n", - "poises it over the old man's head, as he, with hand uplifted,
    \r\n", - "supplicates mercy. \"Nobody's nigger, and without a pass!\" he
    \r\n", - "grumbles out, still motioning his baton.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"He says his master is in gaol; that's enough! Stop, now, no more
    \r\n", - "such nonsense!\" rejoins the other, as the old man is about to
    \r\n", - "explain. \"Not another word.\" He is good prey, made and provided by
    \r\n", - "the sovereign law of the state. Placing him between their horses,
    \r\n", - "they conduct him in silence forward to the guard-house. He is a
    \r\n", - "harmless captive, in a world where democracy with babbling tongue
    \r\n", - "boasts of equal justice. \"A prowler!\" exclaims one of the guards-
    \r\n", - "men, as, dismounting in front of the massive building, with frowning
    \r\n", - "facade of stone, they disappear, leading the old man within its
    \r\n", - "great doors, as the glaring gas-light reflects upon his withered
    \r\n", - "features.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Found prowling on the neck, sir!\" says the right-hand guardsman,
    \r\n", - "addressing himself to the captain, a portly-looking man in a
    \r\n", - "military suit, who, with affected importance, casts a look of
    \r\n", - "suspicion at the old man. \"Have seen you before, I think?\" he
    \r\n", - "enquires.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Reckon so, mas'r; but neber in dis place,\" replies Bob, in
    \r\n", - "half-subdued accents.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "You are nobody's nigger, give a false account of yourself, and have
    \r\n", - "no home, I hear,\" interrupts the captain, at the same time ordering
    \r\n", - "a clerkly-looking individual who sits at a desk near an iron railing
    \r\n", - "enclosing a tribune, to make the entry in his book.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Your name?\" demands the clerk.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bob!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Without owner, or home?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My master's cell was my home.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That won't do, my man!\" interrupts the portly-looking captain. \"Mr.
    \r\n", - "Clerk\" (directing himself to that functionary) \"you must enter
    \r\n", - "him-nobody's nigger, without home or master.\" And as such he is
    \r\n", - "entered upon that high record of a sovereign state-the guard-house
    \r\n", - "calendar. If this record were carried before the just tribunal of
    \r\n", - "heaven, how foul of crime, injustice, and wrong, would its pages be
    \r\n", - "found! The faithful old man has laboured under an assumed ownership.
    \r\n", - "His badge, procured for him through the intercession of Franconia,
    \r\n", - "shows him as the property of Mr. Henry Frazer. That gentleman is
    \r\n", - "many hundred miles away: the old man, ignorant of the barbarous
    \r\n", - "intricacy of the law, feels it to his sorrow. The production of the
    \r\n", - "badge, and the statement, though asserting that Miss Franconia is
    \r\n", - "his friend, show a discrepancy. His statement has no truth for
    \r\n", - "guardsmen; his poor frame is yet worth something, but his oath has
    \r\n", - "no value in law: hence he must march into a cold cell, and there
    \r\n", - "remain till morning.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Before that high functionary, the mayor-whose judgments the Russian
    \r\n", - "Czar might blush to acknowledge or affirm,--he is arraigned at ten
    \r\n", - "o'clock on the following morning. He has plenty of accusers,--no one
    \r\n", - "to plead the justice of his case. A plain story he would tell, did
    \r\n", - "the law and his honour grant the boon. The fatal badge shows him the
    \r\n", - "property of Mr. Henry Frazer: Mr. Henry Frazer is nowhere to be
    \r\n", - "found, and the statement that master was in prison tends to increase
    \r\n", - "the suspicions against him. Against this increasing force of proof,
    \r\n", - "the old man begs his honour will send to the prison, where master
    \r\n", - "will be found,--dead! In his love of clemency that functionary yields
    \r\n", - "to the request. There looks something harmless about the old negro,
    \r\n", - "something that warms his honour's legal coldness. An officer is
    \r\n", - "despatched, and soon returns with a description that corresponds
    \r\n", - "with the old man's. \"He waited on Marston, made Marston's cell his
    \r\n", - "home; but, your honour-and I have the assurance of the gaoler-he was
    \r\n", - "not Marston's nigger; all that man's niggers were sold for the
    \r\n", - "benefit of his creditors.\" So says the official, returning to his
    \r\n", - "august master with cringing servility. His honour, in the fulness of
    \r\n", - "his wisdom, and with every regard for legal straightforwardness (his
    \r\n", - "honour searched into the profoundest depths of the \"nigger statutes\"
    \r\n", - "while learning the tailoring trade, which he now pursues with great
    \r\n", - "success), is now doubly satisfied that the negro before him is a
    \r\n", - "vagabond-perhaps, and he is more than half inclined to believe he
    \r\n", - "is, the very marauder who has been committing so many depredations
    \r\n", - "about the city. With a profound admonition, wisdom glowing from his
    \r\n", - "very countenance the while, he orders him twenty-nine paddles on his
    \r\n", - "bare posteriors,--is sorry the law does not give him power to extend
    \r\n", - "the number. And with compliments for the lucky fellows who have thus
    \r\n", - "timely relieved the public of such a dangerous outlaw, his honour
    \r\n", - "orders him to be taken away to that prison-house where even-handed
    \r\n", - "democracy has erected a place for torturing the souls of men who
    \r\n", - "love liberty.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He will get the stripes-large, democratic stripes,--generously laid
    \r\n", - "on. How much more he will get remains for a proud state, in its
    \r\n", - "sovereign littleness, to provide. His honour, feeling his duties
    \r\n", - "toward the state discharged, and his precautionary measures for the
    \r\n", - "protection of the people fully exemplified in this awful judgment,
    \r\n", - "orders one of the officers to summon Mr. Ford Fosdick, a
    \r\n", - "distinguished gentleman of the state's own, who, he is quite sure,
    \r\n", - "will not neglect her more important interests. Bob has no interests
    \r\n", - "in this world, nor doth he murmur that he hath not eaten bread for
    \r\n", - "fourteen hours. Kindliness yet lingers in his withered face as he
    \r\n", - "goes forth, yields submission to a state's lnjustice, and bares his
    \r\n", - "back before he eats.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Return him after administering the dressing,\" says his honour,
    \r\n", - "directing his remarks to the official about to lead his victim away.
    \r\n", - "That functionary, half turning, replies with a polite bow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The reader, we feel assured, will excuse a description of this
    \r\n", - "unsavoury dressing, beautifully administered on behalf of a
    \r\n", - "republican state that makes it a means of crushing out the love of
    \r\n", - "liberty. Bob has received his dressing and returned; but he has no
    \r\n", - "tears to shed for democrats who thus degrade him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Ford Fosdick, a gentleman of the learned profession, very
    \r\n", - "straight of person, and most bland of manners, is what may be called
    \r\n", - "escheator in ordinary to the state. Keeping a sharp eye on her
    \r\n", - "interests, he has anticipated the commands of his august master,
    \r\n", - "presents his polite person very unexpectedly in his honour's
    \r\n", - "court-room. Fosdick, in addition to an excellent reputation for
    \r\n", - "being the very best gentleman \"nigger grabber\" the state ever had,
    \r\n", - "is well thought of in fashionable circles, having fought two duels
    \r\n", - "of the most desperate character. He is of middle stature, with a
    \r\n", - "face finely oval, and to which are added features of much softness,
    \r\n", - "altogether giving him more the appearance of a well-ordained divine,
    \r\n", - "than the medium of those high functions by which the state's
    \r\n", - "\"grab-all\" of homeless negroes distinguishes himself. If the state
    \r\n", - "tolerated an ignominy, Ford Fosdick--between whom there exists a
    \r\n", - "mutual partnership--found in it an apology for the part he played;
    \r\n", - "for--let no man blush when we tell it--the sum total for which
    \r\n", - "friendless, homeless, and ownerless negroes sold for in the market
    \r\n", - "was equally divided between them. Generous as was this
    \r\n", - "copartnership, there were few well-disposed persons independent
    \r\n", - "enough to sanction it; while here and there an outspoken voice said
    \r\n", - "it was paying a premium for edging Fosdick's already sharp appetite
    \r\n", - "for apprehending the wretched, who--God save the state's
    \r\n", - "honour!--having no means of protecting themselves, would be sold for
    \r\n", - "the sovereign interests of his own pocket, instead of the peace of
    \r\n", - "the dear people, of which the state was ever jealous. Mr. Fosdick is
    \r\n", - "present,--thanks his honour the mayor: he thinks he has seen the
    \r\n", - "negro before; that he is a prowler not a doubt can exist. Quite
    \r\n", - "indifferent as to his own interests, he says the city is literally
    \r\n", - "beset with such vermin: in his own mind, however, he has not a doubt
    \r\n", - "but that something handsome will be realised from the sale of the
    \r\n", - "old fellow. There is now a most fearful case in the city,--a negro
    \r\n", - "belonging to Mr. Grabguy has become mad with disobedience: they have
    \r\n", - "chained him to the floor, but he sets everything at defiance,
    \r\n", - "threatens the lives of all who come near him,--says he will die or be
    \r\n", - "free. Against this there is little hope for old Bob; his crooked
    \r\n", - "story will not suit the high considerations of these amiable
    \r\n", - "worthies of state: he must be siezed and dragged to the workhouse,
    \r\n", - "there to await the result. It is a profitable morning's work for Mr.
    \r\n", - "Ford Fosdick, who makes a large note in his ledger, and will soon
    \r\n", - "carry out a very acceptable item on behalf of his dear self. So,
    \r\n", - "while Bob eats his corn-grits in a cell, and his heart beats high
    \r\n", - "with purity, Mr. Ford Fosdick revels in luxury he thinks not
    \r\n", - "ill-gotten.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Due notice, in accordance with the statutes, is given to all persons
    \r\n", - "whomsoever may claim a piece of property answering the description
    \r\n", - "of Daddy Bob, as herein set forth. Weeks pass, but no one comes to
    \r\n", - "claim Bob. In the eyes of an ignoble law he is a cast out, homeless
    \r\n", - "upon the world; and as such must be sold. He is put up at the
    \r\n", - "man-shambles, and, by order of Mr. Ford Fosdick, sold to Mr. Cordes
    \r\n", - "Kemp for the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, one half of which
    \r\n", - "sum is the state's own, the other Mr. Ford Fosdick's. Mr. Cordes
    \r\n", - "Kemp had seen Bob working about the wharf, and learned that the old
    \r\n", - "man was of more value than his outward appearance indicated,
    \r\n", - "inasmuch as he was a good carpenter; which we have not before
    \r\n", - "informed the reader. But Bob had never been accustomed to a cruel
    \r\n", - "master: such Cordes Kemp was to the fullest extent of the term. A
    \r\n", - "few months passed, and Bob became heartily sick of his new master,
    \r\n", - "who gave him little to eat, and had nearly ended his life with
    \r\n", - "labour and the lash. Finding he could no longer stand such
    \r\n", - "treatment, he fled to the swamp; and for two years did he make his
    \r\n", - "home among the morasses and hillocks, now making his bed by the
    \r\n", - "trunk of a fallen tree, then seeking shelter in a temporary camp
    \r\n", - "built with the axe he carried away with him. At times he was forced
    \r\n", - "to make food of roots, nuts, and such wild fruit as the woods
    \r\n", - "afforded; and as the ravens found food, so the outcast man did not
    \r\n", - "suffer while an all-wise Providence watched over him. And then he
    \r\n", - "found a kind friend in old Jerushe-Aunt Jerushe, as she was commonly
    \r\n", - "called, who lived on a plantation a few miles from his hiding-place,
    \r\n", - "and met him at night, and shared her coarse meal with him. Jerushe's
    \r\n", - "heart was full of kindness; she would have given him more, but for
    \r\n", - "the want thereof. Full two years did even-handed democracy drive the
    \r\n", - "old man homeless to seek a shelter among the poisonous reptiles of
    \r\n", - "the morass. Mr. Cordes Kemp must regain his property, and to that
    \r\n", - "generous end he puts forth the following extremely southern
    \r\n", - "proclamation, which may be found in all respectable morning
    \r\n", - "journals, on posters hung at the \"Rough and Ready,\" at \"Your House,\"
    \r\n", - "and at \"Our House\":--
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"SEVENTY-FIVE (75) DOLLARS REWARD is offered for the delivery of my
    \r\n", - "old negro carpenter man named BOB, in gaol in Charleston, within a
    \r\n", - "month from this date. The said BOB is a complete carpenter, about
    \r\n", - "sixty-five years of age, has a fine, full, good-natured face,
    \r\n", - "knock-kneed, bald-headed, and ran away about two years ago: he is
    \r\n", - "thought to be harboured in Charleston or James' Island. He was
    \r\n", - "bought of Mr. Ford Fosdick, on behalf of the state. June 28,--
    \r\n", - "CORDES KEMP.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Cordes Kemp, sorely grieved at the loss of so venerable and
    \r\n", - "valuable a piece of property,--and which he bought of the state, for
    \r\n", - "the rights of which he is a great champion,--will give the above sum
    \r\n", - "in hard cash to the clever fellow who will secure it within a
    \r\n", - "prison, so he may get it. If this cannot be done, he will declare
    \r\n", - "him an outlaw, offer a premium for the old man's head, and, with the
    \r\n", - "bleeding trophy, demand the premium paid by the state. However,
    \r\n", - "seventy-five dollars is no mean offer for so old a negro, and as the
    \r\n", - "said negro cannot be a fast runner, the difficulty of catching him
    \r\n", - "will not be very great, while the sport will be much more exciting.
    \r\n", - "Romescos and Dan Bengal keep a sharp look-out for all such little
    \r\n", - "chances of making money; and as their dogs are considered the very
    \r\n", - "best and savagest in the country, they feel certain they will be
    \r\n", - "able to deliver the article over to Mr. Kemp in a very few days.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A few days after the appearance of Mr. Cordes Kemp's proclamation,
    \r\n", - "these two worthies may be seen riding along the Camden Road, a sandy
    \r\n", - "level, with little to indicate its tortuous course save a beaten and
    \r\n", - "irregular path through a forest of stately pines. Their
    \r\n", - "reddish-coloured home-spun clothes, set loosely, and their large,
    \r\n", - "felt hats, slouching over their bearded faces, give their figures a
    \r\n", - "brigand-like appearance which excites apprehension. They are heavily
    \r\n", - "armed with rifles, revolvers, and bowie-knives; and as their horses
    \r\n", - "move along at a quick walk, the riders may be heard keeping up an
    \r\n", - "animated discussion on matters of state policy. The state and its
    \r\n", - "policy is a matter of deep interest to slave-dealer and
    \r\n", - "slave-hunter; none discuss them with more pertinacity. And as every
    \r\n", - "great measure is supposed to have some bearing, directly or
    \r\n", - "indirectly, on the right of one class to enslave the other, a
    \r\n", - "never-ceasing political jar is kept up by these worthies, and too
    \r\n", - "often finds its way into the public acts of men who should be far
    \r\n", - "removed above their selfishness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The horse on which Romescos rides, a sprightly dark-bay, seeming to
    \r\n", - "have an instinctive knowledge of his master's pursuit, pricks his
    \r\n", - "ears erect, and keeps his head turning from one side to the other,
    \r\n", - "as if watching the approach of some object in the forest. A few
    \r\n", - "paces ahead are seven fierce hounds, now scenting about the ground,
    \r\n", - "then scampering through the trees, and again, quickly obeying the
    \r\n", - "call, return to the horses. Not a bark is heard, not a growl escapes
    \r\n", - "them! Nothing could be under more explicit subjection-not even those
    \r\n", - "northern dogs who pollute their own free soil by making it a forest,
    \r\n", - "where the souls of men are humbled, and where, willing allies of the
    \r\n", - "sport, they desecrate that holy sentence, \"Our Pilgrim Fathers!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Presently the lean figure of a man is seen advancing from a thicket
    \r\n", - "in the distance. Rifle in hand he advances a few paces, leans
    \r\n", - "against the trunk of a pine tree, relieves his shoulders of a
    \r\n", - "well-filled haversack, and supports his arms on the stock of his
    \r\n", - "weapon, the muzzle of which he sets in the ground. He will wait the
    \r\n", - "horsemen's coming. With lightning quickness the hounds start
    \r\n", - "suddenly, prick up their ears, make a bound forward. \"Hold there!\"
    \r\n", - "exclaims Romescos, at the same time directing Bengal's attention to
    \r\n", - "the figure far away to the right. His horse shies, an imprecation
    \r\n", - "quickly follows; the dogs as suddenly obey the word, and crouch back
    \r\n", - "to await another signal.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nothing, I reckon!\" returns Bengal, coolly, as the figure in the
    \r\n", - "distance is seen with smoking fusee lighting a cigar.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Romescos thinks he is a gentleman returning from hunting in the big
    \r\n", - "swamp, to the north. He has a kind of presentiment, nevertheless,
    \r\n", - "that some lucky prize will turn up before sunset.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, strangers, what luck to day?\" enquires the hunter, as they
    \r\n", - "run up their horses. At the same time he gracefully raises a
    \r\n", - "delicate hand, relieves his mouth of the cigar, twists a well-
    \r\n", - "trimmed mustache, and lifts his hunting-cap from off his head,
    \r\n", - "disclosing a finely-chiselled face.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not a shy!\" replies Romescos, taking a cigar from his side pocket,
    \r\n", - "and motioning his hand: the hunter politely extends his habanna,
    \r\n", - "with which he communicates a light to his own. It is well nigh
    \r\n", - "noon-day, and at the hunter's invitation do they dismount, seat
    \r\n", - "themselves at the foot of the tree, and regale with bread, cheese,
    \r\n", - "and brandy, he draws from his haversack.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Thought ye'd got game in that,\" remarks Bengal, measuredly. Ho has
    \r\n", - "scoured the woods, but found little game of the kind he hunts. \"Our
    \r\n", - "game is of a different species: you, I take it, hunt niggers, I'm in
    \r\n", - "search of birds.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Would have no objection to a stray deer or two!\" is the reply, as
    \r\n", - "he passes his horn and flask to Romescos, who helps himself to a
    \r\n", - "dose of the liquid, which, he says, smacking his lips, is not bad to
    \r\n", - "take.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Especially when yer on a hunting excursion!\" rejoins Bengal.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Now,\" says the gentleman hunter, quietly resuming his cigar, \"as
    \r\n", - "you do not hunt my game, nor I yours, I think I can give you a scent
    \r\n", - "that may prove profitable.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Where away?\" interrupts Bengal. Romescos respects the stranger-he
    \r\n", - "has dignity concealed beneath his hunting garb, which the quick eye
    \r\n", - "recognised as it flashed upon him. He gives Bengal a significant
    \r\n", - "wink, the meaning of which he instinctively understands-\"Don't be
    \r\n", - "rude,--he belongs to one of the first families!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The stranger lays his left hand on Romescos' arm, and with the fore
    \r\n", - "finger of his right hand pointing to the south-west, says, \"My
    \r\n", - "plantation is nine miles in that direction. I left it this morning,
    \r\n", - "early. In crossing an inlet of the Pedee, I discovered white smoke,
    \r\n", - "far ahead, curling upward through the trees, and expanding itself in
    \r\n", - "the clear blue atmosphere. Feeling sure it indicated the haunt of
    \r\n", - "runaways, I approached it stealthily, and had almost unconsciously
    \r\n", - "come upon a negro, who, suddenly springing from his hiding-place,
    \r\n", - "ran to the water's edge, plunged in, and swam to a little island a
    \r\n", - "few yards in the stream. It did not become me to pursue him, so I
    \r\n", - "passed on heedlessly, lest he might have companions, who would set
    \r\n", - "upon me, and make me an easy prey to their revengeful feelings.\" As
    \r\n", - "each word fell from the stranger's lips, Romescos and his companion
    \r\n", - "became irresistibly excited.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Again repeating the directions, which the stranger did with great
    \r\n", - "precision, they drank a parting social glass: the mounted huntsmen
    \r\n", - "thanked the pedestrian for his valuable information, gave him a warm
    \r\n", - "shake of the hand, and, as he arranged his haversack, rode off at
    \r\n", - "full gallop in the direction indicated. The dogs, cunning brutes,
    \r\n", - "trained to the state's brutality, mutely kept in advance. \"In luck
    \r\n", - "yet!\" exclaims Bengal, as they rode onward, in high glee,
    \r\n", - "anticipating the valuable game about to fall into their hands.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ho! dogs-and back!\" shrieked Romescos, at the top of his shrill
    \r\n", - "voice, his sandy hair hanging in tufts over his little reddened
    \r\n", - "face, now glowing with excitement. Instantly the dogs started off
    \r\n", - "through the thicket, and after making a circle of about a mile,
    \r\n", - "returned with heads up, and eyes fiercely flashing. Trailing in a
    \r\n", - "semicircle ahead they seemed eager for another command.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Better keep them back,\" mutters Bengal; and as Romescos gives the
    \r\n", - "word,--\"Come back!\" they form a trail behind.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Now white fleecy clouds begin to obscure the sun; then it disappears
    \r\n", - "in a murky haze, and is no longer their guide. After two hours'
    \r\n", - "riding they find a wrong turn has led them far away from their
    \r\n", - "course, and to avoid retracing their steps they make a short cut
    \r\n", - "through the thicket. In another hour they have reached the bank of
    \r\n", - "the stream they sought. Dogs, horses, and men, together drink of its
    \r\n", - "limpid waters, and proceed onward. They have yet several miles of
    \r\n", - "travel before reaching the spot designated by the strange hunter;
    \r\n", - "and seeking their way along the bank is a slow and tedious process.
    \r\n", - "The prize-that human outcast, who has no home where democracy
    \r\n", - "rules,--is the all-absorbing object of their pursuit; money is the
    \r\n", - "god of their hellish purpose.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It is near night-fall, when they, somewhat wearied of the day's
    \r\n", - "ride, halt on a little slope that extends into the river, and from
    \r\n", - "which a long view of its course above opens out. It seems a quiet,
    \r\n", - "inviting spot, and so sequestered that Bengal suggests it be made a
    \r\n", - "resting-place for the night.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Not a whisper,\" says Romescos, who, having dismounted, is nervously
    \r\n", - "watching some object in the distance. It is a pretty spot, clothed
    \r\n", - "in softest verdure. How suddenly the quick eye of Romescos
    \r\n", - "discovered the white smoke curling above the green foliage! \"See!
    \r\n", - "see!\" he whispers again, motioning his hand behind, as Bengal
    \r\n", - "stretches his neck, and looks eagerly in the same direction. \"Close
    \r\n", - "dogs-close!\" he demands, and the dogs crouch back, and coil their
    \r\n", - "sleek bodies at the horses' feet. There, little more than a mile
    \r\n", - "ahead, the treacherous smoke curls lazily upward, spreading a white
    \r\n", - "haze in the blue atmosphere. Daddy Bob has a rude camp there. A few
    \r\n", - "branches serve for a covering, the bare moss is his bed; the fires
    \r\n", - "of his heart would warm it, were nothing more at hand! Near by is
    \r\n", - "the island on which he seeks refuge when the enemy approaches; and
    \r\n", - "from this lone spot-his home for more than two years-has he sent
    \r\n", - "forth many a fervent prayer, beseeching Almighty God to be his
    \r\n", - "shield and his deliverer. It was but yesterday he saw Jerushe, who
    \r\n", - "shared with him her corn-cakes, which, when she does not meet him at
    \r\n", - "his accustomed spot, she places at the foot of a marked tree. Bob
    \r\n", - "had added a few chips to his night fire, (his defence against
    \r\n", - "tormenting mosquitoes), and made his moss bed. Having tamed an owl
    \r\n", - "and a squirrel, they now make his rude camp their home, and share
    \r\n", - "his crumbs. The squirrel nestles above his head, as the owl, moping
    \r\n", - "about the camp entrance, suddenly hoots a warning and flutters its
    \r\n", - "way into the thicket. Starting to his feet with surprise-the
    \r\n", - "squirrel chirping at the sudden commotion-the tramp of horses breaks
    \r\n", - "fearfully upon the old man's ear; bewildered he bounds from the
    \r\n", - "camp. Two water oaks stand a few feet from its entrance, and through
    \r\n", - "them he descries his pursuers bearing down upon him at full speed,
    \r\n", - "the dogs making the very forest echo with their savage yelps. They
    \r\n", - "are close upon him; the island is his only refuge! Suddenly he leaps
    \r\n", - "to the bank, plunges into the stream, and with death-like struggles
    \r\n", - "gains the opposite shore, where he climbs a cedar, as the dogs,
    \r\n", - "eager with savage pursuit, follow in his wake, and are well nigh
    \r\n", - "seizing his extremities ere they cleared their vicious spring. The
    \r\n", - "two horsemen vault to the spot from whence the old man plunged into
    \r\n", - "the water; and while the dogs make hideous ravings beneath the tree,
    \r\n", - "they sit upon their horses, consulting, as the old man, from the
    \r\n", - "tree top, looks piteously over the scene. Life has few charms for
    \r\n", - "him; death would not be unwelcome.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The tedious journey, and disappointment at seeing the old man's
    \r\n", - "resolution, has excited Romescos' ire. \"He's an old rack-not worth
    \r\n", - "much, but he doesn't seem like Kemp's old saw-horse,\" Romescos
    \r\n", - "remarks to Bengal, as his hawk eye scans the old man perched among
    \r\n", - "the cedar branches. They are not more than forty yards apart, and
    \r\n", - "within speaking distance. Bengal, less excited, thinks it better to
    \r\n", - "secure the old \"coon\" without letting the dogs taste of him.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"They'll only hold him with a firm grip, when he dismounts, and swim
    \r\n", - "him safe back,\" grumblingly returns Romescos. \"Now! old
    \r\n", - "nig\"-Romescos shouts at the top of his voice, directing himself to
    \r\n", - "the old man-\"just trot back here-come along!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The old man shakes his head, and raises his hands, as if pleading
    \r\n", - "for mercy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You won't, eh?\" returns the angry man, raising his rifle in an
    \r\n", - "attitude of preparation. Bengal reminds Romescos that his horse is
    \r\n", - "not accustomed to firing from the saddle.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I will larn him, then,\" is the reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Mas'r,\" says Bob, putting out his hand and uncovering his bald
    \r\n", - "head, \"I can harm no white man. Let me live where 'um is, and die
    \r\n", - "where 'um is.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"None o' that ar kind o' nigger talk;--just put it back here, or
    \r\n", - "ye'll get a plug or two out o' this long Bill.\" (He points to his
    \r\n", - "rifle.) \"Ye'll come down out of that-by heavens you will!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Wing him; don't shoot the fool!\" suggests Bengal, as the old man,
    \r\n", - "pleading with his pursuers, winds his body half round the tree.
    \r\n", - "Tick! tick! went the cock of Romescos' rifle; he levelled it to his
    \r\n", - "eye,--a sharp whistling report rung through the air, and the body of
    \r\n", - "the old man, shot through the heart, lumbered to the earth, as a
    \r\n", - "deadly shriek sounds high above the echoes over the distant
    \r\n", - "landscape-\"M'as'r in heaven take 'um and have mercy on 'um!\" gurgles
    \r\n", - "on the air: his body writhes convulsively-the devouring dogs spring
    \r\n", - "savagely upon the ration-all is over with the old slave!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Instantly with the report of the rifle, Romescos' horse darts,
    \r\n", - "vaults toward the oaks, halts suddenly, and, ere he has time to
    \r\n", - "grasp the reins, throws him headlong against one of their trunks. An
    \r\n", - "oath escapes his lips as from the saddle he lifted; not a word more
    \r\n", - "did he lisp, but sank on the ground a corpse. His boon companion,
    \r\n", - "forgetting the dogs in their banquet of flesh, quickly dismounts,
    \r\n", - "seizes the body in his arms, the head hanging carelessly from the
    \r\n", - "shoulders: a few quivering shrugs, and all is over. \"Neck broken,
    \r\n", - "and dead!\" ejaculates the affrighted companion, resting the dead
    \r\n", - "hunter's back against his left knee, and with his right hand across
    \r\n", - "the breast, moving the head to and fro as if to make sure life has
    \r\n", - "left.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Poor Anthony,--it's a bad end; but the state should bury him with
    \r\n", - "honours; he ware the best 'un at this kind o' business the state
    \r\n", - "ever had,\" mutters Bengal, glancing revengefully toward the island,
    \r\n", - "where his democratic dogs are busy in the work of destruction. Then
    \r\n", - "he stretches the lifeless body on the ground, crosses those hands
    \r\n", - "full of blood and treachery, draws a handkerchief from his pocket,
    \r\n", - "spreads it over the ghastly face fast discolouring, as the riderless
    \r\n", - "horse, as if by instinct, bounds back to the spot and suddenly halts
    \r\n", - "over his dead master, where he frets the ground with his hoof, and,
    \r\n", - "with nostrils extended, scents along the body. Having done this, as
    \r\n", - "if in sorrow, he will rest on the ground beside him; slowly he
    \r\n", - "lumbers his body down, his head and neck circled toward that of the
    \r\n", - "lifeless ruffian on the ground.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The disconsolate hunter here leaves his useless companion, swims the
    \r\n", - "stream, recalls the gory-mouthed dogs, looks with satisfaction on
    \r\n", - "the body of the torn slave. \"You're settled for,\" says Bengal, as
    \r\n", - "with his right foot he kicks together the distended and torn limbs.
    \r\n", - "\"Not all loss, yet!\" he adds, a glow of satisfaction infusing his
    \r\n", - "face. With the ghastly head for proof, he will apply for, and
    \r\n", - "perhaps obtain, the state's reward for the despatch of outlaws; and
    \r\n", - "with the gory trophy he returns across the limpid stream to his
    \r\n", - "hapless companion, who, having watched over during the night, he
    \r\n", - "will convey into the city to-morrow morning. Over his body the very
    \r\n", - "humorous Mr. Brien Moon will hold one of those ceremonies called
    \r\n", - "inquests, for which, fourteen dollars and forty cents being paid
    \r\n", - "into his own pocket, he will order the valueless flesh under the
    \r\n", - "sod, handsomely treating with cigars and drinks those who honour him
    \r\n", - "with their presence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In the old man's camp, a hatchet, a few bits of corn-bread, (old
    \r\n", - "Jerushe's gift), and two fresh caught fish, are found; they
    \r\n", - "constituted his earthly store. But he was happy, for his heart's
    \r\n", - "impulses beat high above the conflict of a State's wrongs. That
    \r\n", - "spirit so pure has winged its way to another and better world,
    \r\n", - "where, with that of the monster who wronged nature while making
    \r\n", - "cruelty his pastime, it will appear before a just God, who sits in
    \r\n", - "glory and judgeth justly.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "HOW SLAVEHOLDERS FEAR EACH OTHER.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE reader will please remember that we left Nicholas, maddened to
    \r\n", - "distraction at the perfidy of which Grabguy makes him the victim,
    \r\n", - "chained to an iron ring in the centre of Graspum's slave pen. In
    \r\n", - "addition to this very popular mode of subduing souls that love
    \r\n", - "liberty, his wife and children are sold from him, the ekings of his
    \r\n", - "toil, so carefully laid up as the boon of his freedom, are
    \r\n", - "confiscated, and the wrong-doer now seeks to cover his character by
    \r\n", - "proclaiming to a public without sympathy that no such convention
    \r\n", - "existed, no such object entertained. Grabguy is a man of position,
    \r\n", - "and lady Grabguy moves well in society no way vulgar; but the slave
    \r\n", - "(the more honourable of the two) hath no voice-he is nothing in the
    \r\n", - "democratic world. Of his origin he knows not; and yet the sting
    \r\n", - "pierces deeper into his burning heart, as he feels that, would
    \r\n", - "justice but listen to his tale, freedom had not been a stranger. No
    \r\n", - "voice in law, no common right of commoners, no power to appeal to
    \r\n", - "the judiciary of his own country, hath he. Overpowered, chained, his
    \r\n", - "very soul tortured with the lash, he still proclaims his
    \r\n", - "resolution-\"death or justice!\" He will no longer work for him who
    \r\n", - "has stripped away his rights, and while affecting honesty, would
    \r\n", - "crush him bleeding into the earth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Grabguy will counsel an expedient wherewith further to conceal his
    \r\n", - "perfidy; and to that end, with seeming honesty lady Grabguy would
    \r\n", - "have her fashionable neighbours believe sincere, he will ship the
    \r\n", - "oppressed man to New Orleans, there to be sold.-\"Notwithstanding, he
    \r\n", - "is an extremely valuable nigger,\" he says, affecting superlative
    \r\n", - "indifference.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'd rather sell him for a song than he should disturb the peace of
    \r\n", - "the city thus.\" To New Orleans Mr. Grabguy sends his unsubdued
    \r\n", - "property; but that the threatened sale is only a feint to more
    \r\n", - "effectually dissolve the contract and forfeit the money paid as part
    \r\n", - "of his freedom, he soon becomes fully sensible. Doubly incensed at
    \r\n", - "such conduct the fire of his determination burns more fiercely; if
    \r\n", - "no justice for him be made manifest on earth his spirit is consoled
    \r\n", - "with the knowledge of a reward in heaven. Having tortured for months
    \r\n", - "the unyielding man, Grabguy, with blandest professions of kindness,
    \r\n", - "commands that the lacerated servant be brought back to his domicile.
    \r\n", - "Here, with offers of kindness, and sundry pretexts of his sincerity,
    \r\n", - "the master will pledge his honour to keep faith with his slave. The
    \r\n", - "defrauded wretch knows but too well how little confidence he can
    \r\n", - "place in such promises; to such promises does he turn a deaf ear.
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, if serious, must give him back his wife, his children, and
    \r\n", - "his hard earnings, in which the joyous hope of gaining freedom was
    \r\n", - "centred: that hope had carried him through many trials. Sad is the
    \r\n", - "dilemma in which Mr. Grabguy finds himself placed; simple justice to
    \r\n", - "the man would have long since settled the question.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now Nicholas is a second time sent to Graspum's pen, where
    \r\n", - "living men are chained to rings of fierce iron for loving freedom
    \r\n", - "and their country. For twenty-two days and nights is he chained to
    \r\n", - "that floor where his soul had before been tortured. Threats of being
    \r\n", - "returned to New Orleans again ring their leaden music in his ears;
    \r\n", - "but they have no terrors for him; his indignant spirit has battled
    \r\n", - "with torture and vanquished its smart--he will defend himself unto
    \r\n", - "death rather than be made the object of a sham sale. A vessel for
    \r\n", - "New Orleans waits in the harbour a fair wind for sailing. On board
    \r\n", - "of her Mr. Grabguy will carry out his resolve; and to which end the
    \r\n", - "reader will please accompany us to a small cell in Graspum's pen,
    \r\n", - "about fourteen by sixteen feet, and seven in height--in the centre
    \r\n", - "of which is chained to a ring that man, once so manly of figure,
    \r\n", - "whose features are now worn down by sorrow or distorted by
    \r\n", - "torture,--as three policemen enter to carry out the order of
    \r\n", - "shipment. The heavy chain and shackle with which his left foot is
    \r\n", - "secured yield to him a circuit of some four feet. As the officials
    \r\n", - "advance his face brightens up with animation; his spirit resumes its
    \r\n", - "fiery action, and with a flashing knife, no one knows by whom
    \r\n", - "provided, he bids them advance no further.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You must go to the whipping-post, my good fellow! I know it's kind
    \r\n", - "of hard; but obey orders we must. Ye see, I've gin ye good advice,
    \r\n", - "time and agin; but ye won't take it, and so ye must abide the
    \r\n", - "consequences,\" says one of the officials, who advances before the
    \r\n", - "others, and addresses himself to the chained man.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I'll go to a whipping-post no more!\" exclaims Nicholas, his angry
    \r\n", - "spirit flashing in his face, as in an attitude of defence he presses
    \r\n", - "his right hand into his bosom, and frowns defiantly upon the
    \r\n", - "intruders.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My name is Monsel, an officer! Not a word of disobedience,\" returns
    \r\n", - "the officer, in a peremptory voice.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Another suggests that he had better be throated at once. But the
    \r\n", - "chained victim of democracy's rule warns them against advancing
    \r\n", - "another step. \"Either must die if you advance. I have counselled
    \r\n", - "death, and will lay my prostrate body on the cold floor rather than
    \r\n", - "be taken from this cell to the whipping-post. It is far better to
    \r\n", - "die defending my right, than to yield my life under the lash! I
    \r\n", - "appeal to you, officers of the state, protectors of the peace, men
    \r\n", - "who love their right as life's boons!\" The men hesitate, whisper
    \r\n", - "among themselves, seem at a loss as to what course to pursue. \"You
    \r\n", - "are setting the laws of the state at defiance, my good fellow!\"
    \r\n", - "rejoins Monsel.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I care not for the law of the state! Its laws for me are founded in
    \r\n", - "wrong, exercised with injustice!\" Turning towards the door, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Monsel despatches his fellow-officers for a reinforcement. That
    \r\n", - "there will be a desperate struggle he has no doubt. The man's
    \r\n", - "gestures show him fully armed; and he is stark mad. During the
    \r\n", - "interim, Mr. Monsel will hold a parley with the boy. He finds,
    \r\n", - "however, that a few smooth words will not subdue him. One of the
    \r\n", - "officials has a rope in his hand, with which he would make a lasso,
    \r\n", - "and, throwing it over his head, secure him an easy captive. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Monsel will not hear of such a cowardly process. He is a wiry man,
    \r\n", - "with stunted features, and has become enured to the perils of negro
    \r\n", - "catching. Hand to hand he has had many an encounter with the brutes,
    \r\n", - "and always came off victor; never did he fail to serve the interests
    \r\n", - "of the state, nor to protect the property of his client. With a sort
    \r\n", - "of bravado he makes another advance. The city esteems him for the
    \r\n", - "valuable services he has rendered its safety; why should he shrink
    \r\n", - "in this emergency?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our southern readers, in a certain state, will readily recognise the
    \r\n", - "scene we here describe. The chained man, drawing his shining steel
    \r\n", - "from his bosom, says, \"You take me not from here, alive.\" Mr.
    \r\n", - "Monsel's face becomes pale, while Nicholas's flashes angry scowls;
    \r\n", - "an irresistible nervousness seizes him,--for a moment he hesitates,
    \r\n", - "turns half round to see if his companions stand firm. They are close
    \r\n", - "behind, ready for the spring, like sharp-eyed catamounts; while
    \r\n", - "around the door anxious visitors crowd their curious faces. The
    \r\n", - "officers second in command file off to the right and left, draw
    \r\n", - "their revolvers, and present them in the attitude of firing. \"Use
    \r\n", - "that knife, and you fall!\" exclaims one, with a fearful imprecation.
    \r\n", - "At the next moment he fires, as Monsel rushes upon the chained man,
    \r\n", - "followed by half a dozen officials. An agonising shriek is heard,
    \r\n", - "and Monsel, in guttural accents, mutters, \"I am a murdered man-he
    \r\n", - "has murdered me! Oh, my God,--he has murdered me!\" Nicholas has
    \r\n", - "plunged the knife into the fleshy part of Monsel's right arm; and
    \r\n", - "while the bloody weapon, wrested from his hand, lies on the floor,
    \r\n", - "an official drags the wounded man from his grasp. As some rise,
    \r\n", - "others fall upon him like infuriated animals, and but for the timely
    \r\n", - "presence of Grabguy and Graspum would have despatched him like a
    \r\n", - "bullock chained to a stake. The presence of these important
    \r\n", - "personages produces a cessation of hostilities; but the victim,
    \r\n", - "disarmed, lies prostrate on the ground, a writhing and distorted
    \r\n", - "body, tortured beyond his strength of endurance. A circle where the
    \r\n", - "struggle ensued is wet with blood, in which Nicholas bathes his poor
    \r\n", - "writhing body until it becomes one crimson mass.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "All attention is now directed to the wounded man, who, it is found,
    \r\n", - "although he has bled freely of good red blood, is neither fatally
    \r\n", - "nor seriously wounded. It is merely a flesh wound in the arm, such
    \r\n", - "as young gentlemen of the south frequently inflict upon each other
    \r\n", - "for the purpose of sustaining their character for bravery. But the
    \r\n", - "oppressed slave has raised his hand against a white man,--he must pay
    \r\n", - "the penalty with his life; he no longer can live to keep peaceful
    \r\n", - "citizens in fear and trembling. Prostrate on the floor, the victors
    \r\n", - "gather round him again, as Graspum stoops down and unlocks the
    \r\n", - "shackle from his leg. \"It's the Ingin, you see: the very devil
    \r\n", - "wouldn't subdue it, and when once its revenge breaks out you might
    \r\n", - "just as well try to govern a sweeping tornado,\" Graspum remarks,
    \r\n", - "coolly, as he calls a negro attendant, and orders the body to be
    \r\n", - "drawn from out the puddle of disfiguring gore. Languidly that poor
    \r\n", - "bosom heaves, his eyes half close, and his motionless lips pale as
    \r\n", - "death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Had I know'd it when I bargained for him, he would never have
    \r\n", - "pested me in this way, never! But he looked so likely, and had such
    \r\n", - "a quick insight of things,--Ingin's Ingin, though!\" says Grabguy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The very look might have told you that, my dear fellow; I sold him
    \r\n", - "to you with your eyes open, and, of course, expected you to be the
    \r\n", - "judge,\" interrupts Graspum, his countenance assuming great
    \r\n", - "commercial seriousness.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy politely says, he meant no insinuations. \"Come,
    \r\n", - "Nicholas! I told you this would be the end on't,\" he continues,
    \r\n", - "stooping down and taking him by the shoulders, with an air of
    \r\n", - "commiseration.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The bruised body, as if suddenly inspired with new life, raises
    \r\n", - "itself half up, and with eyes opening, gazes vacantly at those
    \r\n", - "around, at its own hands besmeared with gore; then, with a curl of
    \r\n", - "contempt on his lip, at the shackle just released from his limb-\"Ah,
    \r\n", - "well, it's ended here; this is the last of me, no doubt,\" he
    \r\n", - "murmurs, and makes another attempt to rise.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Don't move from where you are!\" commands an official, setting his
    \r\n", - "hand firmly against his right shoulder, and pressing him back. He
    \r\n", - "has got the infective crimson on his hands, chafes them one against
    \r\n", - "the other, perpendicularly, as Nicholas looks at him doubtingly.
    \r\n", - "\"It's all over--I'll not harm you; take me to a slaughter-house if
    \r\n", - "you will,--I care not,\" he says, still keeping his eye on the
    \r\n", - "official.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, somewhat moved at the sight, would confirm his
    \r\n", - "harmlessness. \"You'll give up now, won't you?\" he enquires, and
    \r\n", - "before Nicholas has time to answer, turns to the official, saying,
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, I know'd he would!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The official bows his head significantly, but begs to inform Mr.
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, that the negro, having violated the most sacred law of the
    \r\n", - "state, is no longer under his care. He is a prisoner, and must, as
    \r\n", - "the law directs, answer for the heinous crime just committed. Mr.
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, if he please, may forward his demand to the state
    \r\n", - "department, and by yielding all claim to his criminal property,
    \r\n", - "receive its award-two hundred round dollars, or thereabouts.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stand back, gentlemen-stand back, I say!\" commands the officer, as
    \r\n", - "the crowd from the outside come pressing in, the news of the
    \r\n", - "struggle having circulated through the city with lightning speed.
    \r\n", - "Rumour, ever ready to spread its fears in a slave state, reported an
    \r\n", - "insurrection, and many were they who armed themselves to the very
    \r\n", - "teeth.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The officer, in answer to a question why he does not take the man
    \r\n", - "away, says he has sent for means to secure him. He had scarcely
    \r\n", - "given out the acceptable information, when an official, followed by
    \r\n", - "a negro man, bearing cords over his right arm, makes his appearance.
    \r\n", - "The oppressed man seems subdued, and as they make the first knot
    \r\n", - "with the cord they wind about his neck, he says, sarcastically,
    \r\n", - "\"'Twouldn't be much to hang a slave! Now round my hands. Now, with a
    \r\n", - "half hitch, take my legs!\" thus mocking, as it were, while they
    \r\n", - "twist the cords about his yielding limbs. Now they draw his head to
    \r\n", - "his knees, and his hands to his feet, forming a curve of his
    \r\n", - "disabled body. \"How I bend to your strong ropes, your strong laws,
    \r\n", - "and your still stronger wills! You make good slip-nooses, and better
    \r\n", - "bows of human bodies,\" he says, mildly, shaking his head
    \r\n", - "contemptuously. The official, with a brutal kick, reminds him that
    \r\n", - "there will be no joking when he swings by the neck, which he
    \r\n", - "certainly will, to the great delight of many.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I welcome the reality,--by heaven I do, for only in heaven is there
    \r\n", - "justice for me!\" With these words falling from his lips, four negro
    \r\n", - "men seize the body, bear it to the door: an excited crowd having
    \r\n", - "assembled, place it upon a common dray, amid shouts and furious
    \r\n", - "imprecations of \"D--him, kill him at once!\" Soon the dray rolls
    \r\n", - "speedily away for the county prison, followed by the crowd, who
    \r\n", - "utter a medley of yells and groans, as it disappears within the
    \r\n", - "great gates, bearing its captive to a cell of torture.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLVI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "SOUTHERN ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IT is just a week since Nicholas committed the heinous offence of
    \r\n", - "wounding officer Monsel in the arm. That distinguished personage,
    \r\n", - "having been well cared for, is-to use a common phrase-about again,
    \r\n", - "as fresh as ever. With Nicholas the case is very different. His
    \r\n", - "bruised and lacerated body, confined in an unhealthy cell, has
    \r\n", - "received little care. Suspicion of treachery has been raised against
    \r\n", - "him; his name has become a terror throughout the city; and all his
    \r\n", - "bad qualities have been magnified five-fold, while not a person can
    \r\n", - "be found to say a word in praise of his good. That he always had
    \r\n", - "some secret villainy in view no one for a moment doubts; that he
    \r\n", - "intended to raise an insurrection among the blacks every one is
    \r\n", - "quite sure; and that confession of all his forelaid evil designs may
    \r\n", - "be extorted from him, the cruellest means have been resorted to.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The day upon which the trial is to take place has arrived. On the
    \r\n", - "south side of Broad Street there stands a small wooden building, the
    \r\n", - "boarding discoloured and decayed, looking as if it had been
    \r\n", - "accidentally dropped between the walls of two brick buildings
    \r\n", - "standing at its sides. In addition, it has the appearance of one
    \r\n", - "side having been set at a higher elevation than the other for some
    \r\n", - "purpose of convenience known only to its occupants. About fifteen
    \r\n", - "feet high, its front possesses a plain door, painted green, two
    \r\n", - "small windows much covered with dust, and a round port-hole over the
    \r\n", - "door. A sheet of tin, tacked above the door, contains, in broad
    \r\n", - "yellow letters, the significant names of \"Fetter and Felsh,
    \r\n", - "Attorneys at Law.\" Again, on a board about the size of a shingle,
    \r\n", - "hanging from a nail at the right side of the door, is \"Jabez Fetter,
    \r\n", - "Magistrate.\" By these unmistakeable signs we feel assured of its
    \r\n", - "being the department where the legal firm of Fetter and Felsh do
    \r\n", - "their customers-that is, where they dispose of an immense amount of
    \r\n", - "legal filth for which the state pays very acceptable fees. Squire
    \r\n", - "Fetter, as he is usually called, is extremely tall and well-formed,
    \r\n", - "and, though straight of person, very crooked in morals. With an oval
    \r\n", - "and ruddy face, nicely trimmed whiskers, soft blue eyes, tolerably
    \r\n", - "good teeth, he is considered rather a handsome man. But (to use a
    \r\n", - "vulgar phrase) he is death on night orgies and nigger trials. He may
    \r\n", - "be seen any day of the week, about twelve o'clock, standing his long
    \r\n", - "figure in the door of his legal domicile, his hat touching the sill,
    \r\n", - "looking up and then down the street, as if waiting the arrival of a
    \r\n", - "victim upon whom to pronounce one of his awful judgments. Felsh is a
    \r\n", - "different species of person, being a short, stunted man, with a
    \r\n", - "flat, inexpressive face. He has very much the appearance of a man
    \r\n", - "who had been clumsily thrown together for any purpose future
    \r\n", - "circumstances might require. Between these worthies and one Hanz Von
    \r\n", - "Vickeinsteighner there has long existed a business connection, which
    \r\n", - "is now being transferred into a fraternity of good fellowship. Hanz
    \r\n", - "Von Vickeinsteighner keeps a small grocery, a few doors below: that
    \r\n", - "is, Von, in a place scarcely large enough to turn his fat sides
    \r\n", - "without coming in contact with the counter, sells onions,
    \r\n", - "lager-beer, and whiskey; the last-named article is sure to be very
    \r\n", - "bad, inasmuch as his customers are principally negroes. Von is
    \r\n", - "considered a very clever fellow, never a very bad citizen, and
    \r\n", - "always on terms of politeness with a great many squires, and other
    \r\n", - "members of the legal profession. A perfect picture of the
    \r\n", - "good-natured Dutchman is Von, as seen standing his square sides in
    \r\n", - "his doorway, stripped to his sleeves, his red cap tipped aside, a
    \r\n", - "crooked grin on his broad fat face, and his hands thrust beneath a
    \r\n", - "white apron into his nether pockets. Von has a great relish for
    \r\n", - "squires and police officers, esteems them the salt of all good, nor
    \r\n", - "ever charges them a cent for his best-brewed lager-beer. There is,
    \r\n", - "however, a small matter of business in the way, which Von, being
    \r\n", - "rather a sharp logician, thinks it quite as well to reconcile with
    \r\n", - "beer. The picture is complete, when of a morning, some exciting
    \r\n", - "negro case being about to be brought forward, Fetter and Von may be
    \r\n", - "seen, as before described, standing importantly easy in their
    \r\n", - "respective doors; while Felsh paces up and down the side-walk,
    \r\n", - "seemingly in deep study. On these occasions it is generally said Von
    \r\n", - "makes the criminal \"niggers,\" Felsh orders them caught and brought
    \r\n", - "before Fletter, and Fetter passes awful judgment upon them. Now and
    \r\n", - "then, Felsh will prosecute on behalf of the state, for which that
    \r\n", - "generous embodiment of bad law is debtor the fees.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The city clock has struck twelve; Fetter stands in his doorway, his
    \r\n", - "countenance wearing an air of great seriousness. Felsh saunters at
    \r\n", - "the outside, now and then making some legal remark on a point of the
    \r\n", - "negro statutes, and at every turn casting his bleared eye up the
    \r\n", - "street. Presently, Nicholas is seen, his hands pinioned, and a heavy
    \r\n", - "chain about his neck, approaching between two officials. A crowd
    \r\n", - "follows; among it are several patriotic persons who evince an
    \r\n", - "inclination to wrest him from the officials, that they may,
    \r\n", - "according to Judge Lynch's much-used privileges, wreak their
    \r\n", - "vengeance in a summary manner. \"The boy Nicholas is to be tried to-
    \r\n", - "day!\" has rung through the city: curious lookers-on begin to
    \r\n", - "assemble round the squire's office, and Hanz Von Vickeinsteighner is
    \r\n", - "in great good humour at the prospect of a profitable day at his
    \r\n", - "counter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Bring the criminal in!\" says Squire Fetter, turning into his office
    \r\n", - "as Nicholas is led in,--still bearing the marks of rough usage. Rows
    \r\n", - "of board seats stretch across the little nook, which is about
    \r\n", - "sixteen feet wide by twenty long, the floor seeming on the verge of
    \r\n", - "giving way under its professional burden. The plaster hangs in
    \r\n", - "broken flakes from the walls, which are exceedingly dingy, and
    \r\n", - "decorated with festoons of melancholy cobwebs. At the farther end is
    \r\n", - "an antique book-case of pine slats, on which are promiscuously
    \r\n", - "thrown sundry venerable-looking works on law, papers, writs,
    \r\n", - "specimens of minerals, branches of coral, aligators' teeth, several
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    Back to Full Books


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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter by F. Colburn Adams - Full Text Free Book (Part 11/12)\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 11 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "ship's blocks, and a bit of damaged fishing-tackle. This is Felsh's
    \r\n", - "repository of antique collections; what many of them have to do with
    \r\n", - "his rough pursuit of the learned profession we leave to the reader's
    \r\n", - "discrimination. It has been intimated by several waggishly-inclined
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, that a valuable record of all the disobedient \"niggers\"
    \r\n", - "Fetter had condemned to be hung might be found among this confused
    \r\n", - "collection of antiquities. A deal table, covered with a varnished
    \r\n", - "cloth, standing on the right side of the room, and beside which a
    \r\n", - "ponderous arm-chair is raised a few inches, forms Fetter's tribune.
    \r\n", - "Hanging from the wall, close behind this, is a powder-horn and
    \r\n", - "flask, several old swords, a military hat somewhat broken, and
    \r\n", - "sundry other indescribable things, enough to make one's head ache to
    \r\n", - "contemplate.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The office is become crowded to excess, the prisoner (his hands
    \r\n", - "unpinioned, but the heavy chain still about his neck!) is placed in
    \r\n", - "a wooden box fronting the squire's table, as a constable is ordered
    \r\n", - "to close the court. It is quite evident that Fetter has been taking
    \r\n", - "a little too much on the previous night; but, being a \"first-rate
    \r\n", - "drinker,\" his friends find an apology in the arduousness of his
    \r\n", - "legal duties. In answer to a question from Felsh, who has been
    \r\n", - "looking at the prisoner somewhat compassionately, the serving
    \r\n", - "constable says two of the jury of \"freeholders\" he has summoned have
    \r\n", - "not yet made their appearance. Fetter, who was about to take his
    \r\n", - "seat in the great chair, and open court, politely draws forth his
    \r\n", - "watch, and after addressing a few words to the persons present, on
    \r\n", - "the necessity of keeping order in a court with such high functions,
    \r\n", - "whispers a few words in Felsh's ear, holding his hand to his mouth
    \r\n", - "the while.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Maintain order in court!\" says Fetter, nodding his head to the
    \r\n", - "official; \"we will return in five minutes.\" Soon they are seen
    \r\n", - "passing into Von's crooked establishment, where, joined by a number
    \r\n", - "of very fashionable friends, they \"take\" of the \"hardware\" he keeps
    \r\n", - "in a sly place under the counter, in a special bottle for his
    \r\n", - "special customers. Having taken several special glasses, Fetter is
    \r\n", - "much annoyed at sundry remarks made by his friends, who press round
    \r\n", - "him, seeming anxious to instruct him on intricate points of the
    \r\n", - "\"nigger statutes.\" One hopes he will not let the nigger off without
    \r\n", - "a jolly good hanging; another will bet his life Felsh takes care of
    \r\n", - "that small item, for then his claim on the state treasury will be
    \r\n", - "doubled. And now, Fetter finding that Felsh, having imbibed rather
    \r\n", - "freely of the liquid, hath somewhat diminished his brilliant
    \r\n", - "faculties, will take him by the arm and return into court. With all
    \r\n", - "the innate dignity of great jurists they enter their sanctum of
    \r\n", - "justice, as the usher exclaims, \"Court! Court!-hats off and cigars
    \r\n", - "out!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Jury are present?\" enquires Fetter, with great gravity, bowing to
    \r\n", - "one side and then to the other, as he resumes his seat on the
    \r\n", - "tribune.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Present, yer 'oner;\" the officer answers in a deep, gruff voice, as
    \r\n", - "he steps forward and places a volume of the revised statutes before
    \r\n", - "that high jurist. Fetter moves the book to his left, where Felsh has
    \r\n", - "taken his seat. With placid countenance and softest accents, Fetter
    \r\n", - "orders the prisoner at the bar to stand up while our constable calls
    \r\n", - "the names of the jurymen.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Our victim of democracy's even-handed justice obeys the summons,
    \r\n", - "rising as his dark eyes flash angrily, and that hatred wrong which
    \r\n", - "lurks in his bosom seems kindling anew. \"James M'Neilty! Terrance
    \r\n", - "M'Quade! Harry Johanna! Baldwin Dobson! Patrick Henessy! Be dad and
    \r\n", - "I have um all now, yer 'oner,\" ejaculates the official, exultingly,
    \r\n", - "as one by one the \"nigger jurymen\" respond to the call and take
    \r\n", - "their seats on a wooden slab at the right of his Honour, squire
    \r\n", - "Fetter. \"You are, I may be sure, gentlemen, freeholders?\" enquires
    \r\n", - "his honour, with a mechanical bow. They answer simultaneously in the
    \r\n", - "affirmative, and then, forming in a half circle, lay their hands on
    \r\n", - "a volume of Byron, which Fetter makes do for a Bible, and subscribe
    \r\n", - "to the sacred oath Felsh administers. By the Giver of all Good will
    \r\n", - "they return a verdict according to the evidence and the facts.
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen will take their seats\" (the officer must preserve order
    \r\n", - "in the court!) \"the prisoner may also sit down,\" says Felsh, the
    \r\n", - "words falling from his lips with great gravity, as, opening the
    \r\n", - "revised statutes, he rises to address the jury.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen of the Jury!\"-suddenly hesitates for a moment-\"the solemn
    \r\n", - "duties which you are now called upon to perform\" (at this moment
    \r\n", - "Terrance M'Quade draws a small bottle from his pocket, and after
    \r\n", - "helping himself to a portion of its contents passes it to his
    \r\n", - "fellows, much to the surprise of the learned Felsh, who hopes such
    \r\n", - "indecorum will cease) \"and they are duties which you owe to the
    \r\n", - "safety of the state as well as to the protection of your own
    \r\n", - "families, are much enhanced by the superior mental condition of the
    \r\n", - "criminal before you.\" Here Mr. Felsh calls for a volume of Prince's
    \r\n", - "Digest, from which he instructs the jury upon several important
    \r\n", - "points of the law made and provided for making the striking a white
    \r\n", - "person by a slave or person of colour a capital offence. \"Your
    \r\n", - "honour, too, will see the case to which I refer-'State and
    \r\n", - "Prudence!'\" The learned gentleman extends the book, that his august
    \r\n", - "eyes may have a near view.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Your word is quite sufficient, Mr. Felsh,\" returns Fetter, his eyes
    \r\n", - "half closed, as he waves his hand, adding that he is perfectly
    \r\n", - "posted on the case cited. \"Page 499, I think you said?\" he
    \r\n", - "continues, placing his thumbs in his waistcoat armlets, with an air
    \r\n", - "of indifference.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, your honour,\" rejoins Felsh, with a polite bow. His honour,
    \r\n", - "ordering a glass of water mixed with a little brandy, Mr. Felsh
    \r\n", - "continues:--\"The case, gentlemen, before you, is that of the 'State
    \r\n", - "v. Nicholas.' This case, gentlemen, and the committal of the heinous
    \r\n", - "crime for which he stands arraigned before you, has excited no small
    \r\n", - "amount of interest in the city. It is one of those peculiar cases
    \r\n", - "where intelligence creeps into the property interest of our noble
    \r\n", - "institution-the institution of slavery-makes the property restless,
    \r\n", - "disobedient to the will and commands of the master, disaffected to
    \r\n", - "the slave population, and dangerous to the peace and the progress of
    \r\n", - "the community. Now, gentlemen\" (his honour has dropped into a
    \r\n", - "moderate nap-Mr. Felsh pauses for a moment, and touches him gently
    \r\n", - "on the shoulder, as he suddenly resumes his wonted attention, much
    \r\n", - "to the amusement of those assembled) \"you will be told by the
    \r\n", - "witnesses we shall here produce, that the culprit is an exceedingly
    \r\n", - "intelligent and valuable piece of property, and as such might, even
    \r\n", - "now, be made extremely valuable to his master\"--Mr. Grabguy is in
    \r\n", - "court, watching his interests!-\"who paid a large sum for him, and
    \r\n", - "was more than anxious to place him at the head of his manufacturing
    \r\n", - "establishment, which office he was fully capable of filling. Now,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen-his honour will please observe this point-much as I may
    \r\n", - "consider the heavy loss the master will suffer by the conviction of
    \r\n", - "the prisoner, and which will doubtless be felt severely by him, I
    \r\n", - "cannot help impressing upon you the necessity of overlooking the
    \r\n", - "individual loss to the master, maintaining the law, and preserving
    \r\n", - "the peace of the community and stability of our noble institution.
    \r\n", - "That the state will only allow the master two hundred dollars for
    \r\n", - "his valuable slave you have nothing to do with-you must sink that
    \r\n", - "from your minds, listen to the testimony, and form your verdict in
    \r\n", - "accordance with that and the law. That he is a dangerous slave, has
    \r\n", - "long maintained a disobedience towards his owner, set the
    \r\n", - "authorities at defiance, attempted to create an insurrection, and
    \r\n", - "made a dangerous assault on a white man-which constitutes a capital
    \r\n", - "offence-we shall now call witnesses to prove.\" The learned gentleman
    \r\n", - "having finished his opening for the prosecution, sits down. After a
    \r\n", - "moment's pause, he orders an attendant to bring something \"to
    \r\n", - "take\"-\"Similar to the squire's!\" he ejaculates, hoarsely.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen!\" says his honour, as if seized with the recollection of
    \r\n", - "some important appointment, the time for which was close at hand,
    \r\n", - "drawing out his watch, \"Call witnesses as fast as possible! The
    \r\n", - "evidence in this case, I reckon, is so direct and positive, that the
    \r\n", - "case can be very summarily despatched.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I think so, too! yer 'oner,\" interrupts Terrance M'Quade, starting
    \r\n", - "from his seat among the five jurors. Terrance has had what in vulgar
    \r\n", - "parlance is termed a \"tough time\" with several of his own stubborn
    \r\n", - "negroes; and having already heard a deal about this very bad case,
    \r\n", - "is prepared to proclaim him fit only to be hanged. His honour
    \r\n", - "reminds Terrance that such remarks from a juror are neither strictly
    \r\n", - "legal nor in place.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The first witness called is Toby, a slave of Terrance M'Quade, who
    \r\n", - "has worked in the same shop with Nicholas. Toby heard him say he got
    \r\n", - "his larnin' when he was young,--that his heart burned for his
    \r\n", - "freedom-that he knew he was no slave by right-that some day would
    \r\n", - "see him a great man; that if all those poor wretches now in slavery
    \r\n", - "knew as much as he did, they would rise up, have their liberties,
    \r\n", - "and proclaim justice without appealing to heaven for it!-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I said all that, and more!\" interrupted the criminal bondman,
    \r\n", - "rising quickly to his feet, and surveying those around him with a
    \r\n", - "frown of contempt.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Silence! sit down!\" resounds from the officer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "He will sit down, but they cannot quench the fires of his soul; they
    \r\n", - "may deny him the commonest right of his manhood, but they cannot
    \r\n", - "take from him the knowledge that God gave him those rights; they may
    \r\n", - "mock with derision the firm mien with which he disputes the power of
    \r\n", - "his oppressors, and their unjust laws, but they cannot make him less
    \r\n", - "than a man in his own feelings!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour, squire Fetter, reminds him that it were better he said
    \r\n", - "nothing, sit down,--or be punished instanter. Turning to Felsh, who
    \r\n", - "is sipping his quencher, he enquires what that gentleman means to
    \r\n", - "prove by the witness Toby?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"His intention to raise an insurrection, yer honour!\" Felsh, setting
    \r\n", - "his glass aside, quickly responds, wiping his lips as he adds, \"It
    \r\n", - "is essentially necessary, yer honour!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour, leaning forward, places the fore-finger of his right
    \r\n", - "hand to his lip, and making a very learned gesture, says, \"Toby has
    \r\n", - "said enough to establish that point.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The next witness is Mr. Brien Calligan, a criminal in the prison,
    \r\n", - "who for his good behaviour has been promoted to the honourable post
    \r\n", - "of under-warden. Mr. Brien Calligan testifies that the prisoner,
    \r\n", - "while in prison, confined in a cell under his supervision, admitted
    \r\n", - "that he intended to kill Mr. Monsel when he inflicted the wound. He
    \r\n", - "must qualify this statement, however, by saying that the prisoner
    \r\n", - "added he was altogether beside himself with rage.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, who has been intently watching the proceedings, suddenly
    \r\n", - "springs to his feet. He would like to know if that admission was not
    \r\n", - "extorted from the culprit by cruelty!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Brien Calligan pauses a moment, looks innocently at the court,
    \r\n", - "as one of the jurors suggests that quite enough evidence has already
    \r\n", - "been put in to warrant a conviction. It's a pity to hang such
    \r\n", - "valuable property; but, being bent on disturbing the peace of the
    \r\n", - "community, what else can be done?
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour listens with great concern to the juror's remarks, but
    \r\n", - "suggests that Mr. Grabguy had better not interrupt the court with
    \r\n", - "questions. That he has an indirect interest in the issue of the
    \r\n", - "suit, not a doubt exists, but if he be not satisfied with the
    \r\n", - "witness's statement, he has his remedy in the court of appeals,
    \r\n", - "where, upon the ground of testimony having been elicited by coercion
    \r\n", - "or cruelty, a new trial will probably be granted.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Grabguy would merely suggest to his honour that although
    \r\n", - "sentencing a negro to be hung may be a matter of small consequence
    \r\n", - "to him, yet his position in society gives him a right to be heard
    \r\n", - "with proper respect. Aware that he does not move in that exclusively
    \r\n", - "aristocratic sphere of society awarded to lawyers in general, he is
    \r\n", - "no less entitled to respect, and being a man of honour, and an
    \r\n", - "alderman as well, he shall always insist on that respect.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Order, order!\" demand a dozen voices. His honour's face flashing
    \r\n", - "with indignation, he seizes the statutes, and rising to his feet, is
    \r\n", - "about to throw them with unerring aim at the unhandsome head of the
    \r\n", - "municipal functionary. A commotion here ensues. Felsh is esteemed
    \r\n", - "not a bad fighting man; and rising almost simultaneously, his face
    \r\n", - "like a full moon peeping through a rain cloud, attempts to pacify
    \r\n", - "his colleague, Fetter. The court is foaming with excitement; Mr.
    \r\n", - "Felsh is excited, the jury are excited to take a little more drink,
    \r\n", - "the constables are excited, the audience are excited to amusement;
    \r\n", - "Messrs. Fetter and Felsh's court rocks with excitement: the only
    \r\n", - "unexcited person present is the criminal, who looks calmly on, as if
    \r\n", - "contemplating with horror the debased condition of those in whose
    \r\n", - "hands an unjust law has placed his life.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As the uproar and confusion die away, and the court resumes its
    \r\n", - "dignity, Mr. Grabguy, again asserting his position of a gentleman,
    \r\n", - "says he is not ashamed to declare his conviction to be, that his
    \r\n", - "honour is not in a fit state to try a \"nigger\" of his: in fact, the
    \r\n", - "truth must be told, he would not have him sit in judgment upon his
    \r\n", - "spaniel.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At this most unwarranted declaration Fetter rises from his judicial
    \r\n", - "chair, his feelings burning with rage, and bounds over the table at
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, prostrating his brother Felsh, tables, benches, chairs, and
    \r\n", - "everything else in his way,--making the confusion complete. Several
    \r\n", - "gentlemen interpose between Fetter; but before he can reach Grabguy,
    \r\n", - "who is no small man in physical strength--which he has developed by
    \r\n", - "fighting his way \"through many a crowd\" on election days-that
    \r\n", - "municipal dignitary is ejected, sans ceremonie, into the street.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Justice to me! My honest rights, for which I laboured when he gave
    \r\n", - "me no bread, would have saved him his compunction of conscience: I
    \r\n", - "wanted nothing more,\" says Nicholas, raising the side of his coarse
    \r\n", - "jacket, and wiping the sweat from his brow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Silence there!\" demands an official, pointing his tipstaff, and
    \r\n", - "punching him on the shoulder.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Grabguy goes to his home, considering and reconsidering his own
    \r\n", - "course. His heart repeats the admonition, \"Thou art the wrong-doer,
    \r\n", - "Grabguy!\" It haunts his very soul; it lays bare the sources from
    \r\n", - "whence the slave's troubles flow; places the seal of aggression on
    \r\n", - "the state. It is a question with him, whether the state, through its
    \r\n", - "laws, or Messrs. Fetter and Felsh, through the justice meted out at
    \r\n", - "their court, play the baser part.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A crowd of anxious persons have gathered about the door, making the
    \r\n", - "very air resound with their shouts of derision. Hans Von
    \r\n", - "Vickeinsteighner, his fat good-natured face shining like a pumpkin
    \r\n", - "on a puncheon, and his red cap dangling above the motley faces of
    \r\n", - "the crowd, moves glibly about, and says they are having a right
    \r\n", - "jolly good time at the law business within.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Fetter, again taking his seat, apologises to the jury, to the
    \r\n", - "persons present, and to his learned brother, Felsh. He is very sorry
    \r\n", - "for this ebullition of passion; but they may be assured it was
    \r\n", - "called forth by the gross insult offered to all present. \"Continue
    \r\n", - "the witnesses as fast as possible,\" he concludes, with a methodical
    \r\n", - "bow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Mr. Monsel steps forward: he relates the fierce attempt made upon
    \r\n", - "his life; has no doubt the prisoner meant to kill him, and raise an
    \r\n", - "insurrection. \"It is quite enough; Mr. Monsel may stand down,\"
    \r\n", - "interposes Felsh, with an air of dignity.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Paul Vampton, an intelligent negro, next bears testimony. The
    \r\n", - "criminal at the bar (Paul does not believe he has a drop of negro
    \r\n", - "blood in his veins) more than once told him his wife and children
    \r\n", - "were sold from him, his rights stripped from him, the hopes of
    \r\n", - "gaining his freedom for ever gone. Having nothing to live for, he
    \r\n", - "coveted death, because it was more honourable to die in defence of
    \r\n", - "justice, than live the crawling slave of a tyrant's rule.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"I feel constrained to stop the case, gentlemen of the jury,\"
    \r\n", - "interposes his honour, rising from his seat. \"The evidence already
    \r\n", - "adduced is more than sufficient to establish the conviction.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A juror at Terrance M'Quade's right, touches that gentleman on the
    \r\n", - "shoulder: he had just cooled away into a nice sleep: \"I think so,
    \r\n", - "too, yer 'oner,\" rejoins Terrance, in half bewilderment, starting
    \r\n", - "nervously and rubbing his eyes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A few mumbled words from his honour serve as a charge to the jury.
    \r\n", - "They know the law, and have the evidence before them. \"I see not,
    \r\n", - "gentlemen, how you can render a verdict other than guilty; but that,
    \r\n", - "let me here say, I shall leave to your more mature deliberation.\"
    \r\n", - "With these concluding remarks his honour sips his mixture, and sits
    \r\n", - "down.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Gentlemen of the jury rise from their seats, and form into a circle;
    \r\n", - "Mr. Felsh coolly turns over the leaves of the statutes; the audience
    \r\n", - "mutter to themselves; the prisoner stares vacantly over the scene,
    \r\n", - "as if heedless of the issue.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Guilty! it's that we've made it; and the divil a thing else we
    \r\n", - "could make out of it,\" exclaims Terrance M'Quade, as they, after the
    \r\n", - "mature length of two minutes' consultation, turn and face his
    \r\n", - "honour. They pause for a reply.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Stand up, prisoner!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hats off during the sentence!\" rejoins a constable.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Guilty.\" His honour rises to his feet with ponderous dignity to
    \r\n", - "pronounce the awful sentence. \"Gentlemen, I must needs compliment
    \r\n", - "your verdict; you could have come to no other.\" His honour bows
    \r\n", - "gracefully to the jury, reminds gentlemen present of the solemn
    \r\n", - "occasion, and will hear what the prisoner has to say for himself.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "An angry frown pervades the prisoner's face. He has nothing to say.
    \r\n", - "Burning tears course down his cheeks; but they are not tears of
    \r\n", - "contrition,--Oh, no! he has no such tears to shed. Firmly and
    \r\n", - "resolutely he says, \"Guilty! guilty! yes, I am guilty-guilty by the
    \r\n", - "guilty laws of a guilty land. You are powerful-I am weak; you have
    \r\n", - "might-I have right. Mine is not a chosen part. Guilty on earth, my
    \r\n", - "soul will be innocent in heaven; and before a just judge will my
    \r\n", - "cause be proclaimed, before a holy tribunal my verdict received, and
    \r\n", - "by angels my soul be enrolled among the righteous. Your earthly law
    \r\n", - "seals my lips; your black judgment-enough to make heaven frown and
    \r\n", - "earth tremble, fearing justice-crushes the man; but you cannot judge
    \r\n", - "the spirit. In fear and trembling your wrongs will travel broken
    \r\n", - "paths-give no man rest. I am guilty with you; I am innocent in
    \r\n", - "heaven. He who judgeth all things right, receives the innocent soul
    \r\n", - "into his bosom; and He will offer repentance to him who takes the
    \r\n", - "innocent life.\" He pauses, as his eye, with intense stare, rests
    \r\n", - "upon his honour.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"You are through?\" enquires his honour, raising his eyebrows.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"In this court of justice,\" firmly replies the prisoner.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Order in the court!\" is echoed from several voices.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Nicholas-Nicholas Grabguy! the offence for which you stand
    \r\n", - "convicted is one for which I might, according to the laws of the
    \r\n", - "land, pronounce a more awful sentence than the one now resolved
    \r\n", - "upon. But the advanced and enlightened spirit of the age calls for a
    \r\n", - "more humane manner of taking life and inflicting punishments. Never
    \r\n", - "before has it been my lot to pass sentence-although I have
    \r\n", - "pronounced the awful benediction on very many-on so valuable and
    \r\n", - "intelligent a slave. I regret your master's loss as much as I
    \r\n", - "sympathise with your condition; and yet I deplore the hardened and
    \r\n", - "defiant spirit you yet evince. And permit me here to say, that while
    \r\n", - "you manifest such an unyielding spirit there is no hope of pardon.
    \r\n", - "Nicholas! you have been tried before a tribunal of the land, by the
    \r\n", - "laws of your state, and found guilty by a tribunal of competent men.
    \r\n", - "Nothing is now left for me but to pass sentence upon you in
    \r\n", - "accordance with the law. The sentence of the court is, that you be
    \r\n", - "taken hence to the prison from whence you came, and on this day
    \r\n", - "week, at twelve o'clock, from thence to the gallows erected in the
    \r\n", - "yard thereof, and there and then be hanged by the neck until you are
    \r\n", - "dead; and may the Lord have mercy on your soul!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His honour, concluding nervously, orders the jury to be dismissed,
    \r\n", - "and the court adjourned.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "How burns the inward hate of the oppressed culprit, as mutely, his
    \r\n", - "hands pinioned, and the heavy chain about his neck, he is led away
    \r\n", - "to his prison-house, followed by a deriding crowd. \"Come that happy
    \r\n", - "day, when men will cease to make their wrong fire my very blood!\" he
    \r\n", - "says, firmly marching to the place of death.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLVII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "PROSPERITY THE RESULT OF JUSTICE.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "TEN years have rolled into the past since the Rosebrook family-moved
    \r\n", - "by a sense of right to enquire into the errors of a bad system of
    \r\n", - "labour-resolved to try the working of a new scheme. There was to be
    \r\n", - "no cutting, nor lashing, nor abusing with overburdening tasks.
    \r\n", - "Education was to regulate the feelings, kindness to expand the
    \r\n", - "sympathies, and justice to bind the affections and stimulate
    \r\n", - "advancement. There were only some fifty negroes on the Rosebrook
    \r\n", - "plantation, but its fame for raising great crops had resounded far
    \r\n", - "and wide. Some planters said it \"astonished everything,\" considering
    \r\n", - "how much the Rosebrooks indulged their slaves. With a third less in
    \r\n", - "number of hands, did they raise more and better cotton than their
    \r\n", - "neighbours; and then everything was so neat and bright about the
    \r\n", - "plantation, and everybody looked so cheerful and sprightly. When
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook's cotton was sent into the market, factors said it was
    \r\n", - "characteristic of his systemised negroes; and when his negroes
    \r\n", - "rolled into the city, as they did on holidays, all brightened up
    \r\n", - "with new clothes, everybody said-There were Rosebrook's dandy, fat,
    \r\n", - "and saucy \"niggers.\" And then the wise prophets, who had all along
    \r\n", - "predicted that Rosebrook's project would never amount to much, said
    \r\n", - "it was all owing to his lady, who was worth her weight in gold at
    \r\n", - "managing negroes. And she did conceive the project, too; and her
    \r\n", - "helping hand was felt like a quickening spring, giving new life to
    \r\n", - "the physical being. That the influence might not be lost upon others
    \r\n", - "of her sex in the same sphere of life, she was ever reasoning upon
    \r\n", - "the result of female sympathy. She felt that, were it exercised
    \r\n", - "properly, it could raise up the menial slave, awaken his inert
    \r\n", - "energies, give him those moral guides which elevate his passive
    \r\n", - "nature, and regenerate that manhood which provides for its own good.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "They had promised their people that all children born at and after a
    \r\n", - "given date should be free; that all those over sixty should be
    \r\n", - "nominally free, the only restriction being the conditions imposed by
    \r\n", - "the state law; that slaves under fifteen years of age, and able to
    \r\n", - "do plantation work, should, during the ten years prescribed, be
    \r\n", - "allowed for their extra labour at a given rate, and expected to have
    \r\n", - "the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars set to their credit; that
    \r\n", - "all prime people should be required to work a given number of hours,
    \r\n", - "as per task, for master, beyond which they would be allotted a
    \r\n", - "\"patch\" for cultivation, the products of which were entrusted to
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook for sale, and the proceeds placed in missus' savings bank
    \r\n", - "to their credit. The people had all fulfilled the required
    \r\n", - "conditions ere the ten years expired; and a good round sum for extra
    \r\n", - "earnings was found in the bank. The Rosebrooks kept faith with their
    \r\n", - "slaves; and the happy result is, that Rosebrook, in addition to the
    \r\n", - "moral security he has founded for the good of his people-and which
    \r\n", - "security is a boon of protection between master and slave-has been
    \r\n", - "doubly repaid by the difference in amount of product, the result of
    \r\n", - "encouragement incited by his enlightened system. The family were
    \r\n", - "bound in affection to their slaves; and the compact has given forth
    \r\n", - "its peaceful products for a good end. Each slave being paid for his
    \r\n", - "or her labour, there is no decline of energy, no disaffection, no
    \r\n", - "clashing of interests, no petulant disobedience. Rosebrook finds his
    \r\n", - "system the much better of the two. It has relieved him of a deal of
    \r\n", - "care; he gets more work for less money; he laughs at his neighbours,
    \r\n", - "who fail to raise as much cotton with double the number of negroes;
    \r\n", - "and he knows that his negroes love instead of fear him. And yet,
    \r\n", - "notwithstanding the proof he has produced, the whole district of
    \r\n", - "planters look upon him with suspicion, consider him rather a
    \r\n", - "dangerous innovator, and say, that while his foolish system cannot
    \r\n", - "be other than precarious to the welfare of the state, time will
    \r\n", - "prove it a monster fallacy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A happy moment was it when the time rolled round, and the morning of
    \r\n", - "the day upon which Rosebrook would proclaim the freedom of his
    \r\n", - "people broke serenely forth. The cabins looked bright and airy, were
    \r\n", - "sanded and whitewashed, and, surrounded by their neatly attired
    \r\n", - "inhabitants, presented a picturesque appearance. It was to be a
    \r\n", - "great gala-day, and the bright morning atmosphere seemed propitious
    \r\n", - "of the event. Daddy Daniel had got a new set of shiny brass buttons
    \r\n", - "put on his long blue coat, and an extremely broad white cravat for
    \r\n", - "his neck. Daniel was a sort of lawgiver for the plantation, and sat
    \r\n", - "in judgment over all cases brought before him, with great gravity of
    \r\n", - "manner. As to his judgments, they were always pronounced with
    \r\n", - "wondrous solemnity, and in accordance with what he conceived to be
    \r\n", - "the most direct process of administering even-handed justice. Daddy
    \r\n", - "was neither a democrat nor an unjust judge. Believing that it were
    \r\n", - "better to forgive than inflict undue punishments, he would rather
    \r\n", - "shame the transgressor, dismiss him with a firm admonition to do
    \r\n", - "better, and bid him go, transgress no more!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Harry had prepared a new sermon for the eventful day; and with it he
    \r\n", - "was to make his happy flock remember the duty which they would
    \r\n", - "henceforth owe to those who had been their kind protectors, as well
    \r\n", - "as the promoters of that system which would result in happier days.
    \r\n", - "How vivid of happiness was that scene presented in the plantation
    \r\n", - "church, where master and missus, surrounded by their faithful old
    \r\n", - "slaves, who, with a patriarchal attachment, seemed to view them with
    \r\n", - "reverence, sat listening to the fervent discourse of that once
    \r\n", - "wretched slave, now, by kindness, made a man! Deep, soul-stirring,
    \r\n", - "and affecting to tears, were the words of prayer with which that
    \r\n", - "devout negro invoked the all-protecting hand of Almighty God, that
    \r\n", - "he would guide master and slave through the troubles of this earthly
    \r\n", - "stage, and receive them into his bosom. How in contrast with that
    \r\n", - "waging of passion, and every element of evil that has its source in
    \r\n", - "injustice, so rife of plantation life, was the picture here
    \r\n", - "presented!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The service ended, Rosebrook addresses a few remarks to his people;
    \r\n", - "after which they gather around him and pour forth their gratitude in
    \r\n", - "genial sentiments. Old and young have a \"Heaven save master!\" for
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook, and a \"God bless missus!\" for his noble-hearted lady, to
    \r\n", - "whom they cling, shaking her hand with warmest affection.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "How enviable to her sex is the position of that woman who labours
    \r\n", - "for the fallen, and whose heart yields its kindred sympathy for the
    \r\n", - "oppressed!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After congratulations and tokens of affection had been exchanged,
    \r\n", - "master, missus, and the people-for such they now were-repaired to
    \r\n", - "the green in front of the plantation mansion, where a sumptuous
    \r\n", - "collation was spread out, to which all sat down in one harmonious
    \r\n", - "circle. Then the festivities of the day-a 4th of July in
    \r\n", - "miniature-ended with a gathering at Dad Daniel's cabin, where he
    \r\n", - "profoundly laid down a system of rules for the future observance of
    \r\n", - "the people.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Six months have passed under the new r�gime; and Rosebrook, feeling
    \r\n", - "that to require labour of his people for a sum much beneath its
    \r\n", - "value must in time become a source from which evil results would
    \r\n", - "flow, awarded them a just and adequate remuneration, and finds it
    \r\n", - "work well. Harry had not been included among those who were enrolled
    \r\n", - "as candidates for the enjoyment offered by the new system; but
    \r\n", - "missus as well as master had confidentially promised him he should
    \r\n", - "be free before many years, and with his family, if he desired, sent
    \r\n", - "to Liberia, to work for the enlightenment of his fellow Africans.
    \r\n", - "Harry was not altogether satisfied that the greater amount of labour
    \r\n", - "to be done by him for the unfortunate of his race was beyond the
    \r\n", - "southern democratic states of America; and, with this doubt
    \r\n", - "instinctively before him, he was not restless for the consummation.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Some three months after the introduction of the new state of
    \r\n", - "affairs, Dad Daniel was observed to have something weighing heavily
    \r\n", - "on his mind. At times he was seen consulting seriously with Harry;
    \r\n", - "but of the purport of these consultations no one, except themselves,
    \r\n", - "was made acquainted. That very many venerable uncles and aunts were
    \r\n", - "curious to know Daddy's secret contemplations was equally evident.
    \r\n", - "At length Daniel called a meeting of his more aged and sagacious
    \r\n", - "brethren, and with sage face made known his cherished project.
    \r\n", - "Absalom and Uncle Cato listened with breathless suspense as the sage
    \r\n", - "sayings fell from his lips. His brethren had all felt the sweet
    \r\n", - "pleasures of justice, right, freedom, and kindness. \"Well, den,
    \r\n", - "broderin, is't 'um right in de sight ob de Lord, dat ye forgets dat
    \r\n", - "broder what done so much fo'h ye body and ye soul too?\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, No! dat tisn't!\" interrupted a dozen voices.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, den!-I know'd, broderin, ye hab got da' bright spirit in ye,
    \r\n", - "and wouldn't say 'twas!\" Daniel continues, making a gesture with his
    \r\n", - "left hand, as he raises the spectacles from his eyes with his right,
    \r\n", - "and in his fervency lets them speed across the room. Daniel is only
    \r\n", - "made conscious of his ecstasy when his broken eyes are returned to
    \r\n", - "him. Turning to his brethren, he makes one of his very best
    \r\n", - "apologies, and continues-\"Dis ar poposition I'se gwine to put! And
    \r\n", - "dat is, dat all ye broderin ere present put up somefin ob he arnin,
    \r\n", - "and wid dat somefin, and what mas'r gib, too, we sarve dat geman
    \r\n", - "what preach the gospel dat do 'em good wid 'e freedom for sef and
    \r\n", - "family. Tain't right in de sight ob de Lor, nohow, to have preacher
    \r\n", - "slave and congration free: I tell ye dat, my broderin, tain't!\" With
    \r\n", - "these sage remarks, Daddy Daniel concluded his proposition, leaned
    \r\n", - "his body forward, spread his hands, and, his wrinkled face filled
    \r\n", - "with comicality, waited the unanimous response which sounded forth
    \r\n", - "in rapturous medley. Each one was to put in his mite, the preacher
    \r\n", - "was to have a fund made up for him, which was to be placed in the
    \r\n", - "hands of missus, and when sufficiently large (master will add his
    \r\n", - "mite) be handed over for the freedom of the clergyman and his
    \r\n", - "family. But missus, ever generous and watchful of their interests,
    \r\n", - "had learned their intentions, and forestalled their kindness by
    \r\n", - "herself setting them free, and leaving it to their own discretion to
    \r\n", - "go where they will. There were many good men at the south-men whose
    \r\n", - "care of their slaves constituted a bond of good faith; but they
    \r\n", - "failed to carry out means for protecting the slave against the
    \r\n", - "mendacity of the tyrant. None more than Harry had felt how
    \r\n", - "implicated was the state for giving great power to tyrant
    \r\n", - "democracy-that democracy giving him no common right under the laws
    \r\n", - "of the land, unless, indeed, he could change his skin. Ardently as
    \r\n", - "he was attached to the plantation and its people-much as he loved
    \r\n", - "good master and missus, he would prefer a home in happy New England,
    \r\n", - "a peaceful life among its liberty-loving people. To this end the
    \r\n", - "Rosebrooks provided him with money, sent him to the land he had
    \r\n", - "longed to live in. In Connecticut he has a neat and comfortable
    \r\n", - "home, far from the cares of slave life; no bloodhounds seek him
    \r\n", - "there, no cruel slave-dealer haunts his dreams. An intelligent
    \r\n", - "family have grown up around him; their smiles make him happy; they
    \r\n", - "welcome him as a father who will no more be torn from them and sold
    \r\n", - "in a democratic slave mart. And, too, Harry is a hearty worker in
    \r\n", - "the cause of freedom, preaches the gospel, and is the inventor of a
    \r\n", - "system of education by which he hopes to elevate the fallen of his
    \r\n", - "race. He has visited foreign lands, been listened to by dukes and
    \r\n", - "nobles, and enlisted the sympathies of the lofty in the cause of the
    \r\n", - "lowly. And while his appeals on behalf of his race are fervent and
    \r\n", - "fiery, his expositions of the wrongs of slavery are equally fierce;
    \r\n", - "but he is not ungrateful to the good master, whom he would elevate
    \r\n", - "high above the cruel laws he is born and educated to observe. With
    \r\n", - "gratitude and affection does he recur to the generous Rosebrooks; he
    \r\n", - "would hold them forth as an example to the slave world, and emblazon
    \r\n", - "their works on the pages of history, as proof of what can be done.
    \r\n", - "Bright in his eventful life, was the day, when, about to take his
    \r\n", - "departure from the slave world, he bid the Rosebrooks a long, long
    \r\n", - "good by. He vividly remembers how hope seemed lighting up the
    \r\n", - "prospect before him-how good missus shook his hand so motherly-how
    \r\n", - "kindly she spoke to Jane, and how fondly she patted his little ones
    \r\n", - "on the head. \"The Rosebrooks,\" says our restored clergyman, \"have
    \r\n", - "nothing to fear save the laws of the state, which may one day make
    \r\n", - "tyrranny crumble beneath its own burden.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLVIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH THE FATE OF FRANCONIA IS SEEN.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE reader may remember that in a former chapter we left Annette and
    \r\n", - "Franconia, in company of the stranger, on board the steamer for
    \r\n", - "Wilmington, swiftly gliding on her course. Four bells struck as the
    \r\n", - "surging craft cleared the headlands and shaped her course. The
    \r\n", - "slender invalid, so neat of figure, and whose dress exhibited so
    \r\n", - "much good taste, has been suddenly transformed into a delicate girl
    \r\n", - "of some seventeen summers. As night spreads its shadows over the
    \r\n", - "briny scene, and the steaming craft surges onward over rolling
    \r\n", - "swells, this delicate girl may be seen emerging from her cabin
    \r\n", - "confines, leaning on Franconia's arm as she approaches the promenade
    \r\n", - "deck. Her fawn-coloured dress, setting as neatly as it is
    \r\n", - "chastefully cut, displays a rounded form nicely compact; and,
    \r\n", - "together with a drawn bonnet of green silk, simply arranged, and
    \r\n", - "adding to her fair oval face an air of peculiar delicacy, present
    \r\n", - "her with personal attractions of no ordinary character. And then her
    \r\n", - "soft blue eyes, and her almost golden hair, hanging in thick wavy
    \r\n", - "folds over her carnatic cheeks, add to the symmetry of her features
    \r\n", - "that sweetness which makes modesty more fascinating. And though she
    \r\n", - "has been but a slave, there is a glow of gentleness pervading her
    \r\n", - "countenance, over which a playful smile now sheds a glow of
    \r\n", - "vivacity, as if awakening within her bosom new hopes of the future.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The suddenness with which they embarked served to confuse and dispel
    \r\n", - "all traces of recognition; and even the stranger, as they advanced
    \r\n", - "toward him, hesitated ere he greeted Annette and extended his hand.
    \r\n", - "But they soon joined in conversation, promenaded and mingled with
    \r\n", - "the passengers. Cautious not to enter the main cabin, they remained,
    \r\n", - "supperless, on the upper deck, until near midnight. That social
    \r\n", - "prejudice which acts like a crushing weight upon the slave's mind
    \r\n", - "was no longer to deaden her faculties; no, she seemed like a new
    \r\n", - "being, as, with childish simplicity, her soul bounded forth in
    \r\n", - "rhapsody of praise and thankfulness. Holding Franconia by the hand,
    \r\n", - "she would kiss her, fondle her head on her bosom, and continue to
    \r\n", - "recount the pleasure she anticipated when meeting her long-lost
    \r\n", - "mother. \"They'll sell me no more, Franconia, will they?\" she would
    \r\n", - "exclaim, looking enquiringly in her face.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"No, my poor child; you won't be worth selling in a land of
    \r\n", - "freedom!\" Franconia would answer, jocosely. After charging Maxwell
    \r\n", - "to be a father and a brother to the fugitive girl,--to remember that
    \r\n", - "a double duty was to be performed in his guardianship over the being
    \r\n", - "who had just escaped from slavery, they retired below, and on the
    \r\n", - "following morning found themselves safely landed at Wilmington,
    \r\n", - "where, after remaining about six hours, Franconia bid Annette and
    \r\n", - "Maxwell adieu! saw them on their way to New York, and returned to
    \r\n", - "Charleston by the same steamer.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "On reaching her home, she was overjoyed at finding a letter from her
    \r\n", - "parents, who, as set forth, had many years resided on the west coast
    \r\n", - "of Mexico, and had amassed a considerable fortune through a
    \r\n", - "connection with some mining operations. Lorenzo, on the first
    \r\n", - "discovery of gold in California, having joined a marauding party who
    \r\n", - "were traversing that country, was amongst the earliest who enriched
    \r\n", - "themselves from its bountiful yield. They gave up their wild
    \r\n", - "pursuits, and with energy and prudence stored-up their diggings, and
    \r\n", - "resolved to lead a new life. With the result of one year's digging,
    \r\n", - "Lorenzo repaired to San Francisco, entered upon a lucrative
    \r\n", - "business, increased his fortune, and soon became a leading man of
    \r\n", - "the place. The hope that at some day he would have means wherewith
    \r\n", - "to return home, wipe away the stain which blotted his character, and
    \r\n", - "relieve his parents from the troubles into which his follies had
    \r\n", - "brought them, seemed like a guiding star ever before him. And then
    \r\n", - "there was his generous-hearted uncle in the hands of Graspum,--that
    \r\n", - "man who never lost an opportunity of enriching himself while
    \r\n", - "distressing others. And now, by one of those singularities of
    \r\n", - "fortune which give persons long separated a key to each other's
    \r\n", - "wayfaring, Lorenzo had found out the residence of his parents on the
    \r\n", - "west coast of Mexico. Yes; he was with them, enjoying the comforts
    \r\n", - "of their domicile, at the date of their letter. How happy they would
    \r\n", - "be to see their Franconia, to have her with them, and once more
    \r\n", - "enjoy their social re-unions so pleasantly given on brother
    \r\n", - "Marston's plantation! Numberless were the letters they had written
    \r\n", - "her, but not an answer to one had been received. This had been to
    \r\n", - "them a source of great misgiving; and as a last resource they had
    \r\n", - "sent this letter enclosed to a friend, through whose kindness it
    \r\n", - "reached her.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The happy intelligence brought by this letter so overjoyed Franconia
    \r\n", - "that she could with difficulty restrain her feelings. Tears of
    \r\n", - "gladness coursed down her cheeks, as she rested her head on Mrs.
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook's bosom, saying, \"Oh, how happy I am! Sweet is the
    \r\n", - "forgiveness which awaits us,--strong is the hope that through
    \r\n", - "darkness carries us into brighter prospects of the future.\" Her
    \r\n", - "parents were yet alive-happy and prosperous; her brother, again an
    \r\n", - "honourable man, and regretting that error which cost him many a
    \r\n", - "tear, was with them. How inscrutable was the will of an all-wise
    \r\n", - "Providence: but how just! To be ever sanguine, and hope for the
    \r\n", - "best, is a passion none should be ashamed of, she thought. Thus
    \r\n", - "elated in spirits she could not resist the temptation of seeking
    \r\n", - "them out, and enjoying the comforts of their parental roof.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "But we must here inform the reader that M'Carstrow no longer acted
    \r\n", - "the part of a husband towards Franconia. His conduct as a debauchee
    \r\n", - "had driven her to seek shelter under the roof of Rosebrook's
    \r\n", - "cottage, while he, a degraded libertine, having wasted his living
    \r\n", - "among cast-out gamblers, mingled only with their despicable society.
    \r\n", - "Stripped of all arts and disguises, and presented in its best form,
    \r\n", - "the result of Franconia's marriage with Colonel M'Carstrow was but
    \r\n", - "one of those very many unhappy connections so characteristic of
    \r\n", - "southern life.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Provided with funds which the generous Rosebrooks kindly furnished
    \r\n", - "her, a fortnight after the receipt of her father's letter found her
    \r\n", - "embarked on board a steamer bound for the Isthmus, from whence she
    \r\n", - "would seek her parents overland. With earnest resolution she had
    \r\n", - "taken a fond leave of the Rosebrooks, and bid adieu to that home and
    \r\n", - "its associations so dear to her childhood; and with God and happy
    \r\n", - "associations her guide and her protector, was bounding over the sea.
    \r\n", - "For three days the gallant ship sped swiftly onward, and the
    \r\n", - "passengers, among whom she made many friends, seemed to enjoy
    \r\n", - "themselves with one accord, mingling together for various
    \r\n", - "amusements, spreading their social influence for the good of all,
    \r\n", - "and, with elated spirits at the bright prospect, anticipating a
    \r\n", - "speedy voyage. All was bright, calm, and cheering-the monster
    \r\n", - "machines working smoothly, pressing the leviathan forward with
    \r\n", - "curling brine at her bows, until the afternoon of the fourth day,
    \r\n", - "when the wind in sharp gusts from the south-west, and the sudden
    \r\n", - "falling of the barometer, admonished the mariner of the approaching
    \r\n", - "heavy weather. At sunset a heavy bank in the west hung its
    \r\n", - "foreboding festoons along the horizon, while light, fleecy clouds
    \r\n", - "gathered over the heavens, and scudded swiftly into the east.
    \r\n", - "Steadily the wind increased, the sea became restless, and the sharp
    \r\n", - "chops thundering at the weather bow, veering the ship from her
    \r\n", - "course, rendering it necessary to keep her head a point nearer the
    \r\n", - "westward, betokened a gale. To leeward were the Bahamas, their
    \r\n", - "dangerous banks spreading awe among the passengers, and exciting the
    \r\n", - "fears of the more timid. On the starboard bow was Key West, with its
    \r\n", - "threatening and deceptive reefs, but far enough ahead to be out of
    \r\n", - "danger. At midnight, the wind, which had increased to a gale, howled
    \r\n", - "in threatening fierceness. Overhead, the leaden clouds hung low
    \r\n", - "their massive folds, and thick spray buried the decks and rigging;
    \r\n", - "beneath, the angry ocean spread out in resistless waves of
    \r\n", - "phosphorous light, and the gallant craft surged to and fro like a
    \r\n", - "thing of life on a plain of rolling fire. Now she yields to the
    \r\n", - "monster wave threatening her bow, over another she rides proudly,
    \r\n", - "and to a third her engines slowly rumble round, as with half-buried
    \r\n", - "deck she careens to its force. The man at the wheel, whose head we
    \r\n", - "see near a glimmering light at the stern, watches anxiously for the
    \r\n", - "word of command, and when received, executes it with quickness. An
    \r\n", - "intruding sea has driven the look-out from the knight-heads to a
    \r\n", - "post at the funnel, where, near the foremast, he clings with
    \r\n", - "tenacious grip. Near him is the first officer, a veteran seaman, who
    \r\n", - "has seen some twenty years' service, receiving orders from the
    \r\n", - "captain, who stands at the weather quarter. Noiselessly the men
    \r\n", - "proceed to execute their duties. There is not that bustle nor
    \r\n", - "display of seamanship, in preparing a steamer for encountering a
    \r\n", - "gale, so necessary in a sailing-ship; and all, save the angry
    \r\n", - "elements, move cautiously on. The engineer, in obedience to the
    \r\n", - "captain's orders, has slowed his engines. The ship can make but
    \r\n", - "little headway against the fierce sea; but still, obedient to her
    \r\n", - "command, it is thought better to maintain power just sufficient to
    \r\n", - "keep her head to the sea. The captain says it is necessary, as well
    \r\n", - "to ease her working as not to strain her machinery. He is supposed
    \r\n", - "the better judge, and to his counsel all give ear. Now and then a
    \r\n", - "more resolute passenger shoots from no one knows where, holds
    \r\n", - "struggling by the jerking shroud, and, wrapt in his storm cloak, his
    \r\n", - "amazed eyes, watching the scudding elements overhead, peer out upon
    \r\n", - "the raging sea: then he mutters, \"What an awful sight! how madly
    \r\n", - "grand with briny light!\" How sublimely terrific are the elements
    \r\n", - "here combined to wage war against the craft he thought safe from
    \r\n", - "their thunders! She is but a pigmy in their devouring sweep, a
    \r\n", - "feeble prey at their mercy. The starboard wheel rumbles as it turns
    \r\n", - "far out of water; the larboard is buried in a deep sea the ship
    \r\n", - "careens into. Through the fierce drear he sees the black funnel
    \r\n", - "vomiting its fiery vapour high aloft; he hears the chain braces
    \r\n", - "strain and creak in its support; he is jerked from his grasp,
    \r\n", - "becomes alarmed for his safety, and suddenly disappears. In the
    \r\n", - "cabin he tells his fellow voyagers how the storm rages fearfully:
    \r\n", - "but it needed not his word to confirm the fact: the sudden lurching,
    \r\n", - "creaking of panel-work, swinging to and fro of lamps, sliding from
    \r\n", - "larboard to starboard of furniture, the thumping of the sea against
    \r\n", - "the ship's sides, prostrate passengers made helpless by sea
    \r\n", - "sickness, uncouched and distributed about the floor, moaning
    \r\n", - "females, making those not ill sick with their wailings, timid
    \r\n", - "passengers in piteous accents making their lamentations in state
    \r\n", - "rooms, the half frightened waiter struggling timidly along, and the
    \r\n", - "wind's mournful music as it plays through the shrouds, tell the tale
    \r\n", - "but too forcibly. Hope, fear, and prayer, mingle in curious discord
    \r\n", - "on board this seemingly forlorn ship on an angry sea. Franconia lies
    \r\n", - "prostrate in her narrow berth, now bracing against the panels, then
    \r\n", - "startled by an angry sea striking at her pillow, like death with his
    \r\n", - "warning mallet announcing, \"but sixteen inches separate us!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daylight dawns forth, much to the relief of mariners and passengers;
    \r\n", - "but neither the wind nor the sea have lessened their fierceness.
    \r\n", - "Slowly and steadily the engines work on; the good ship looks
    \r\n", - "defiantly at each threatening sea, as it sweeps along irresistibly;
    \r\n", - "the yards have been sent down, the topmasts are struck and housed;
    \r\n", - "everything that can render her easy in a sea has been stowed to the
    \r\n", - "snuggest compass; but the broad ocean is spread out a sheet of
    \r\n", - "raging foam. The drenched captain, his whiskers matted with saline,
    \r\n", - "and his face glowing and flushed (he has stood the deck all night),
    \r\n", - "may be seen in the main cabin, cheering and dispelling the fears of
    \r\n", - "his passengers. The storm cannot last-the wind will soon lull-the
    \r\n", - "sea at meridian will be as calm as any mill-pond-he has seen a
    \r\n", - "thousand worse gales; so says the mariner, who will pledge his
    \r\n", - "prophecy on his twenty years' experience. But in this one instance
    \r\n", - "his prophecy failed, for at noon the gale had increased to a
    \r\n", - "hurricane, the ship laboured fearfully, the engines strained and
    \r\n", - "worked unsteadily, while the sea at intervals made a breach of the
    \r\n", - "deck. At two o'clock a more gloomy spectacle presented itself; and
    \r\n", - "despondency seemed to have seized all on board, as a sharp,
    \r\n", - "cone-like sea boarded the ship abaft, carried away the quarter-boats
    \r\n", - "from the starboard davys, and started several stancheons. Scarcely
    \r\n", - "was the work of destruction complete, when the condenser of the
    \r\n", - "larboard engine gave out, rendering the machine useless, and
    \r\n", - "spreading dismay among the passengers. Thus, dragging the wheel in
    \r\n", - "so fearful a sea strained the ship more and more, and rendered her
    \r\n", - "almost unmanageable. Again a heavy, clanking noise was heard, the
    \r\n", - "steam rumbled from the funnel, thick vapour escaped from the
    \r\n", - "hatchways, the starboard engine stopped, and consternation reigned
    \r\n", - "triumphant, as a man in oily fustian approached the captain and
    \r\n", - "announced both engines disabled. The unmanageable monster now rolled
    \r\n", - "and surged at the sweep of each succeeding sea, which threatened to
    \r\n", - "engulph her in its sway. A piece of canvas is set in the main
    \r\n", - "rigging, and her helm put hard down, in the hope of keeping her head
    \r\n", - "to the wind. But she obeys not its direction. Suddenly she yaws off
    \r\n", - "into the trough of the sea, lurches broad on, and ere she regains
    \r\n", - "her way, a fierce sea sweeps the house from the decks, carrying
    \r\n", - "those within it into a watery grave. Shrieks and moans, for a
    \r\n", - "moment, mingle their painful discord with the murmuring wind, and
    \r\n", - "all is buried in the roar of the elements. By bracing the fore-yard
    \r\n", - "hard-a-starboard the unwieldy wreck is got before the wind; but the
    \r\n", - "smoke-funnel has followed the house, and so complete is the work of
    \r\n", - "demolition that it is with difficulty she can be kept afloat. Those
    \r\n", - "who were in the main, or lower cabin, startled at the sudden crash
    \r\n", - "which had removed the house above, and leaving the passages open,
    \r\n", - "exposing them to the rushing water that invaded their state-rooms,
    \r\n", - "seek the deck, where a more dismal sight is presented in the
    \r\n", - "fragments of wreck spread from knight-head to taffrail. The anxious
    \r\n", - "captain, having descended from the upper deck a few minutes before
    \r\n", - "the dire calamity, is saved to his passengers, with whom and his men
    \r\n", - "he labours to make safe what remains of his noble ship. Now more at
    \r\n", - "ease in the sea, with canvas brought from the store-rooms, are the
    \r\n", - "hatches and companions battened down, the splintered stancheons
    \r\n", - "cleared away, and extra pumps prepared for clearing the water fast
    \r\n", - "gaining in the lower hold. Lumbering moves the heavy mass over the
    \r\n", - "mounting surge; but a serious leak having sprung in the bow,
    \r\n", - "consternation and alarm seem on the point of adding to the sources
    \r\n", - "of danger. \"Coolness is our safeguard,\" says the captain. Indeed,
    \r\n", - "the exercise of that all-important virtue when destruction threatens
    \r\n", - "would have saved thousands from watery graves.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "His admonition was heeded,--all worked cheerfully, and for some time
    \r\n", - "the water was kept within bounds of subjection. As night approached
    \r\n", - "the sea became calmer, a bright streak gleamed along the western
    \r\n", - "horizon; hearts that had sorrowed gladdened with joy, as the murky
    \r\n", - "clouds overhead chased quickly into the east and dissolved, and the
    \r\n", - "blue arch of heaven-hung with pearly stars of hope-shed its peaceful
    \r\n", - "glows over the murmuring sea.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Again the night was passed in incessant labour of pumping and
    \r\n", - "clearing up the dismantled hull; but when daylight appeared, the
    \r\n", - "wind having veered and increased, the sea ran in short swells,
    \r\n", - "rocking the unwieldly hull, and fearfully straining every timber in
    \r\n", - "its frame. The leak now increased rapidly, as also did the water in
    \r\n", - "the hold, now beyond their exertions to clear. At ten o'clock all
    \r\n", - "hopes of keeping the wreck afloat had disappeared; and the last
    \r\n", - "alternative of a watery grave, or launching upon the broad ocean,
    \r\n", - "presented its stern terms for their acceptance. A council decided to
    \r\n", - "adopt the latter, when, as the hulk began to settle in the sea, and
    \r\n", - "with no little danger of swamping, boats were launched, supplied
    \r\n", - "with such stores as were at hand, the passengers and crew embarked,
    \r\n", - "and the frail barks sent away with their hapless freight to seek a
    \r\n", - "haven of safety. The leviathan hulk soon disappeared from sight.
    \r\n", - "Franconia, with twenty-five fellow unfortunates, five of whom were
    \r\n", - "females, had embarked in the mate's boat, which now shaped her
    \r\n", - "course for Nassau, the wind having veered into the north-west, and
    \r\n", - "that seeming the nearest and most available point. The clothing they
    \r\n", - "stood in was all they saved; but with that readiness to protect the
    \r\n", - "female, so characteristic and noble of the sailor, the mate and his
    \r\n", - "men lightened the sufferings of the women by giving them a portion
    \r\n", - "of their own: incasing them with their jackets and fearnoughts, they
    \r\n", - "would shield them from the night chill. For five days were
    \r\n", - "sufferings endured without a murmur that can only be appreciated by
    \r\n", - "those who have passed through shipwreck, or, tossed upon the ocean
    \r\n", - "in an open boat, been left to stare in the face grim hunger and
    \r\n", - "death. At noonday they sighted land ahead; and as each eager eye
    \r\n", - "strained for the welcome sight, it seemed rising from the ocean in a
    \r\n", - "dim line of haze. Slowly, as they neared, did it come bolder and
    \r\n", - "bolder to view, until it shone out a long belt of white panoramic
    \r\n", - "banks. Low, and to the unpractised eye deceptive of distance, the
    \r\n", - "mate pronounced it not many miles off, and, the wind freshening
    \r\n", - "fair, kept the little bark steadily on her course, hoping thereby to
    \r\n", - "gain it before night came on: but the sun sank in a heavy cloud when
    \r\n", - "yet some four miles intervened. Distinctly they saw a cluster of
    \r\n", - "houses on a projecting point nearly ahead; but not a sail was off
    \r\n", - "shore, to which the increasing wind was driving them with great
    \r\n", - "violence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now that object which had been sighted with so much welcome in
    \r\n", - "the morning-that had cheered many a drooping heart, and seemed a
    \r\n", - "haven of safety, threatened their destruction. The water shoaled;
    \r\n", - "the sea broke and surged in sharp cones; the little craft tippled
    \r\n", - "and yawed confusedly; the counter eddies twirled and whirled in
    \r\n", - "foaming concaves; and leaden clouds again hung their threatening
    \r\n", - "festoons over the awful sea. To lay her head to the sea was
    \r\n", - "impracticable-an attempt to \"lay-to\" under the little sail would be
    \r\n", - "madness; onward she rode, hurrying to an inevitable fate. Away she
    \r\n", - "swept through the white crests, as the wind murmured and the sea
    \r\n", - "roared, and the anxious countenance of the mate, still guiding the
    \r\n", - "craft with a steady hand, seemed masked in watchfulness. His hand
    \r\n", - "remained firm to the helm, his eyes peered into the black prospect
    \r\n", - "ahead: but not a word did he utter.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "It was near ten o'clock, when a noise as of thunder rolling in the
    \r\n", - "distance, and re-echoing in booming accents, broke fearfully upon
    \r\n", - "their ears. The sea, every moment threatening to engulph the little
    \r\n", - "craft, to sweep its freight of human beings into eternity, and to
    \r\n", - "seal for ever all traces of their fate, was now the lesser enemy.
    \r\n", - "Not a word had escaped the lips of a being on board for several
    \r\n", - "minutes; all seemed resigned to whatever fate Providence awarded.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"The beach roars, Mr. Slade-\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The mate interrupted before the seaman in the sheets had time to
    \r\n", - "finish his sentence: \"I have not been deaf to the breakers; but
    \r\n", - "there is no hope for us but upon the beach; and may heaven save us
    \r\n", - "there! Passengers, be calm! let me enjoin you to remain firm to your
    \r\n", - "places, and, if it be God's will that we strike, the curling surf
    \r\n", - "may be our deliverer. If it carry you to the sand in its sweep,
    \r\n", - "press quickly and resolutely forward, lest it drag you back in its
    \r\n", - "grasp, and bury you beneath its angry surge. Be firm, and hope for
    \r\n", - "the best!\" he said, with great firmness. The man who first spoke sat
    \r\n", - "near Franconia, and during the five days they had been in the boat
    \r\n", - "exhibited great sympathy and kindness of heart. He had served her
    \r\n", - "with food, and, though a common sailor, displayed those traits of
    \r\n", - "tenderness for the suffering which it were well if those in higher
    \r\n", - "spheres of life did but imitate. As the mate ceased speaking, the
    \r\n", - "man took his pilot coat from his shoulder and placed it about
    \r\n", - "Franconia's, saying, \"I will save this lady, or die with her in the
    \r\n", - "very same sea.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"That's well done, Mr. Higgins!\" (for such was the man's name). \"Let
    \r\n", - "the hardiest not forget the females who have shown so much fortitude
    \r\n", - "under trying circumstances; let the strong not forget the weak, but
    \r\n", - "all save who can,\" returned the mate, as he scanned through the
    \r\n", - "stormy elements ahead, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the
    \r\n", - "point.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Drenched with the briny spray that swept over the little bark, never
    \r\n", - "did woman exhibit fortitude more resolute. Franconia thanked the man
    \r\n", - "for his solicitude, laid her hand nervously upon his arm, and,
    \r\n", - "through the dark, watched his countenance as if her fate was in its
    \r\n", - "changes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The din and murmur of the surf now rose high above the wail of the
    \r\n", - "sea. Fearful and gloomy, a fretted shore stood out before them,
    \r\n", - "extending from a bold jut on the starboard hand away into the
    \r\n", - "darkness on the left. Beneath it the angry surf beat and lashed
    \r\n", - "against the beach in a sheet of white foam, roaring in dismal
    \r\n", - "cadences.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Hadn't you better put her broad on, Mr. Slade?\" enquired the young
    \r\n", - "seaman, peering along the line of surf that bordered the shore with
    \r\n", - "its deluging bank.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ask no questions!\" returned the mate, in a firm voice: \"Act to the
    \r\n", - "moment, when she strikes-I will act until then.\" At the moment a
    \r\n", - "terrific rumbling broke forth; the din of elements seemed in battle
    \r\n", - "conflict; the little bark, as if by some unforeseen force, swept
    \r\n", - "through the lashing surge, over a high curling wave, and with a
    \r\n", - "fearful crash lay buried in the boiling sand. Agonising shrieks
    \r\n", - "sounded amid the rage of elements; and then fainter and fainter they
    \r\n", - "died away on the wind's murmurs. Another moment, and the young
    \r\n", - "sailor might have been seen, Franconia's slender form in his arms,
    \r\n", - "struggling against the devouring surf; but how vain against the
    \r\n", - "fierce monster were his noble efforts! The receding surge swept them
    \r\n", - "far from the shore, and buried them in its folds,--a watery grave
    \r\n", - "received the fair form of one whose life of love had been spotless,
    \r\n", - "just, and holy. The white wave was her winding-sheet,--the wind sang
    \r\n", - "a requiem over her watery grave,--and a just God received her spirit,
    \r\n", - "and enthroned it high among the angels.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Of the twenty-seven who embarked in the little craft, but two gained
    \r\n", - "the beach, where they stood drenched and forlorn, as if
    \r\n", - "contemplating the raging surf that had but a minute before swallowed
    \r\n", - "up their fellow voyagers. The boat had driven on a flat sandy beach
    \r\n", - "some two miles from the point on which stood the cluster of
    \r\n", - "dwellings before described; and from which two bright lights
    \r\n", - "glimmered, like beacons to guide the forlorn mariner. For them, the
    \r\n", - "escaped men-one a passenger, the other a seaman-shaped their course,
    \r\n", - "wet, and sad at heart.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER XLIX.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH IS A SAD RECOGNITION.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "THE mate did not mistake his position, for the jut of land we
    \r\n", - "described in the last chapter is but a few hours' ride from Nassau,
    \r\n", - "and the houses are inhabited by wreckers. With desponding hearts did
    \r\n", - "our unfortunates approach one of the rude cabins, from the window of
    \r\n", - "which a faint light glimmered, and hesitate at the door, as if
    \r\n", - "doubting the reception they were about to receive. The roaring of
    \r\n", - "the beach, and the sharp whistling of the wind, as in clouds it
    \r\n", - "scattered the sand through the air, drowned what sound might
    \r\n", - "otherwise be heard from within. \"This cabin seems deserted,\" says
    \r\n", - "one, as he taps on the door a second time. \"No, that cannot be!\"
    \r\n", - "returns the other, peering through a small window into the
    \r\n", - "barrack-like room. It was from this window the light shone, and,
    \r\n", - "being a bleak November night, a wood fire blazed on the great
    \r\n", - "hearth, shedding its lurid glows over everything around. It is the
    \r\n", - "pale, saline light of wreckwood. A large binnacle lamp, of copper,
    \r\n", - "hung from the centre of the ceiling, its murky light mingling in
    \r\n", - "curious contrast to the pale shadows of the wreckwood fire. Rude
    \r\n", - "chains, and chests, and boxes, and ropes, and canvas, and broken
    \r\n", - "bolts of copper, and pieces of valuable wood, and various nautical
    \r\n", - "relics-all indicating the trade of shipwreck, lie or stand
    \r\n", - "promiscuously about the room; while in the centre is a table
    \r\n", - "surrounded by chairs, some of which are turned aside, as if the
    \r\n", - "occupants had just left. Again, there may be seen hanging from the
    \r\n", - "unplastered walls numerous teeth of fish, bones and jaws of sharks,
    \r\n", - "fins and flukes of curious species, heads of the Floridian
    \r\n", - "mamalukes, and preserved dolphins-all is interspersed here and there
    \r\n", - "with coloured prints, illustrative of Jack's leaving or returning to
    \r\n", - "his favourite Mary, with a lingering farewell or fond embrace.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Louder and louder, assured of some living being within they knock at
    \r\n", - "the door, until a hoarse voice rather roars than speaks-\"Aye, aye!
    \r\n", - "hold hard a bit! I'se bearin' a hand!\" The sound came as if from the
    \r\n", - "clouds, for not a living being was visible. A pause followed; then
    \r\n", - "suddenly a pair of dingy legs and feet descended from a small
    \r\n", - "opening above the window, which, until that moment, had escaped
    \r\n", - "their notice. The sight was, indeed, not the most encouraging to
    \r\n", - "weak nerves. Clumsily lowered the legs, the feet making a ladder of
    \r\n", - "cleets of wood nailed to the window, until the burly figure of the
    \r\n", - "wrecker, encased with red shirt and blue trousers, stood out full to
    \r\n", - "view. Over his head stood bristly hair in jagged tufts; and as he
    \r\n", - "drew his brawny hand over the broad disc of his sun-scorched face,
    \r\n", - "winking and twisting his eyes in the glare, there stood boldly
    \r\n", - "outlined on his features the index of his profession. He shrugged
    \r\n", - "his shoulders, gathered his nether garments quickly about him,
    \r\n", - "paused as if half confused and half overjoyed, then ran to the
    \r\n", - "fire-place, threw into a heap the charred wood with a long wooden
    \r\n", - "poker, and sought the door, saying--\"Avast heavin a bit, Tom!\" Having
    \r\n", - "removed a wooden bar, he stands in the opening, braving out the
    \r\n", - "storm. \"A screachin nor'easter this, Tom--what'r ye sighted away,
    \r\n", - "eh!\" he concludes. He is--to use a vulgar term--aghast with surprise.
    \r\n", - "It was Tom Dasher's watch to-night; but no Tom stands before him.
    \r\n", - "\"Hallo!--From whence came you?\" he enquires of the stranger, with an
    \r\n", - "air of anxious surprise. He bids them come in, for the wind carries
    \r\n", - "the sand rushing into his domicile.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We are shipwrecked men in distress,\" says the passenger--the
    \r\n", - "wrecker, with an air of kindness, motioning them to sit down: \"Our
    \r\n", - "party have been swallowed up in the surf a short distance below, and
    \r\n", - "we are the only survivors here seeking shelter.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Zounds you say--God be merciful!\" interrupts the hardy wrecker, ere
    \r\n", - "the stranger had time to finish his sentence. \"It was Tom's look-out
    \r\n", - "to-night. Its ollers the way wi' him--he gits turned in, and sleeps
    \r\n", - "as niver a body see'd, and when time comes to unbunk himself, one
    \r\n", - "disn't know whether 'ts wind or Tom's snoarin cracks hardest. Well,
    \r\n", - "well,--God help us! Think ye now, if wife and I, didn't, in a half
    \r\n", - "sort of dream, fancy folks murmuring and crying on the beach about
    \r\n", - "twelve, say. But the wind and the surf kept up such a piping, and
    \r\n", - "Tom said ther war nought a sight at sundown.\" With a warm expression
    \r\n", - "of good intention did our hardy host set about the preparing
    \r\n", - "something to cheer their drooping spirits. \"Be at home there wi'
    \r\n", - "me,\" says he; \"and if things b'nt as fine as they might be, remember
    \r\n", - "we're poor folks, and have many a hard knock on the reefs for what
    \r\n", - "we drag out. Excuse the bits o' things ye may see about; and wife
    \r\n", - "'ll be down in a fip and do the vary best she can fo'h ye.\" He had a
    \r\n", - "warm heart concealed beneath that rough exterior; he had long
    \r\n", - "followed the daring profession, seen much suffering, lightened many
    \r\n", - "a sorrowing heart. Bustling about among old boxes and bags, he soon
    \r\n", - "drew forth a lot of blankets and quilts, which he spread upon the
    \r\n", - "broad brick hearth, at the same time keeping up a series of
    \r\n", - "questions they found difficult to answer, so rapidly were they put.
    \r\n", - "They had indeed fallen into the hands of a good Samaritan, who would
    \r\n", - "dress their wounds with his best balms.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"An' now I tak it ye must be famished; so my old woman must get up
    \r\n", - "an' help mak ye comfortable,\" says he, bringing forth a black
    \r\n", - "tea-kettle, and filling it from a pail that stood on a shelf near
    \r\n", - "the fire-frame. He will hang it on the fire. He had no need of
    \r\n", - "calling the good dame; for as suddenly as mysteriously does the
    \r\n", - "chubby figure of a motherly-looking female of some forty years shoot
    \r\n", - "from the before described opening, and greeting the strangers with a
    \r\n", - "hearty welcome, set about preparing something to relieve their
    \r\n", - "exhaustion. A gentle smile pervades her little red face, so simply
    \r\n", - "expressive; her peaked cap shines so brightly in contrast with the
    \r\n", - "black ribbon with which she secures it under her mole-bedecked chin;
    \r\n", - "and her short homespun frock sets so comely, showing her thick knit
    \r\n", - "stockings, and her feet well protected in calfskin laces, with heels
    \r\n", - "a trooper might not despise; and then, she spreads her little table
    \r\n", - "with a heartiness that adds its value to simple goodness,--her
    \r\n", - "invitingly clean cups and saucers, and knives and forks, as she
    \r\n", - "spreads them, look so cheerful. The kettle begins to sing, and the
    \r\n", - "steam fumes from the spout, and the hardy wrecker brings his bottle
    \r\n", - "of old Jamaica, and his sugar; and such a bowl of hot punch was
    \r\n", - "never made before. \"Come now,\" he says, \"ye're in my little place;
    \r\n", - "the wrecker as don't make the distressed comfortable aneath his ruf
    \r\n", - "'s a disgrace to the craft.\" And now he hands each a mug of steaming
    \r\n", - "punch, which they welcomely receive, a glow of satisfaction
    \r\n", - "bespreading his face, telling with what sincerity he gives it. Ere
    \r\n", - "they commenced sipping, the good dame brought pilot bread and set it
    \r\n", - "before them; and while she returned to preparing her supper the
    \r\n", - "wrecker draws his wooden seat by their side, and with ears attentive
    \r\n", - "listens to the passenger as he recites the disaster.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Only two out of twenty-seven saved-a sorry place that gulf!\" he
    \r\n", - "exclaims; \"you bear away, wife. Ah, many a good body's bones, too,
    \r\n", - "have whitened the beach beside us; many 's the bold fellow has been
    \r\n", - "dashed upon it to die unknown,\" he continues, with serious face.
    \r\n", - "\"And war ner onny wemen amang ye, good man?\" interposes the good
    \r\n", - "dame.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Seven; they have all passed into eternity!\" rejoins the seaman,
    \r\n", - "who, till then, had been a mute looker-on.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Poor souls! how they mun' 'ave suffered!\" she sighs, shaking her
    \r\n", - "head, and leaning against the great fire frame, as her eyes fill
    \r\n", - "with tears. The wrecker must needs acquaint Tom Dasher, bring him to
    \r\n", - "his aid, and, though the storm yet rages, go search the beating surf
    \r\n", - "where roll the unfortunates. Nay, the good dame will herself execute
    \r\n", - "the errand of mercy, while he supplies the strangers with dry
    \r\n", - "clothes; she will bring Tom hither. She fears not the tempest while
    \r\n", - "her soul warms to do good; she will comfort the distressed who seek
    \r\n", - "shelter under her roof. With the best his rough wardrobe affords
    \r\n", - "does the wrecker clothe them, while his good wife, getting Tom up,
    \r\n", - "relates her story, and hastens back with him to her domicile. Tom is
    \r\n", - "an intrepid seafarer, has spent some seven years wrecking, saved
    \r\n", - "many a life from the grasp of the grand Bahama, and laid up a good
    \r\n", - "bit of money lest some stormy day may overtake him and make the wife
    \r\n", - "a widow.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"This is a hard case, Stores!\" says Tom, addressing himself to our
    \r\n", - "wrecker, as with sharp, hairy face, and keen black eyes, his
    \r\n", - "countenance assumes great seriousness. Giving his sou'-wester a
    \r\n", - "cant back on his head, running his left hand deep into the pocket of
    \r\n", - "his pea-jacket, and supplying his mouth with tobacco from his right,
    \r\n", - "he stands his tall figure carelessly before the fire, and in a
    \r\n", - "contemplative mood remains silent for a few minutes.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Aye, but somethin' mun' be done, Tom,\" says the first wrecker,
    \r\n", - "breaking silence.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes; as my name is Tom Dasher, there must. We must go to the beach,
    \r\n", - "and see what it's turned up,--what there is to be seen, an' the like
    \r\n", - "o' that.\" Then, turning to the strangers, he continued, \"Pity yer
    \r\n", - "skipper hadn't a headed her two points further suthard, rounded the
    \r\n", - "point just above here a bit, and made a lee under the bend. Our
    \r\n", - "craft lies there now,--as snug as Tompkins' wife in her chamber!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes, but, Tom! ye dinna think as the poor folks could know all
    \r\n", - "things,\" speaks up the woman, as Tom was about to add a few items
    \r\n", - "more, merely to give the strangers some evidence of his skill.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Aye, aye,--all right; I didn't get the balance on't just then,\"
    \r\n", - "returned Tom, nodding his head with an air of satisfaction.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A nice supper of broiled fish, and toast, and tea, and hot rum
    \r\n", - "punch-of which Tom helped himself without stint-was set out, the
    \r\n", - "strangers invited to draw up, and all partook of the plain but
    \r\n", - "cheering fare. As daylight was fast approaching, the two wreckers
    \r\n", - "dispatched their meal before the others, and sought the spot on the
    \r\n", - "beach described as where the fatal wreck took place, while the good
    \r\n", - "dame put the shipwrecked to sleep in the attic, and covered them
    \r\n", - "with her warmest rugs and blankets.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Not a vestige of the wreck was to be seen-not a fragment to mark the
    \r\n", - "spot where but a few hours before twenty-five souls were hurried
    \r\n", - "into eternity. They stood and stood, scanning over the angry ocean
    \r\n", - "into the gloom: nothing save the wail of the wind and the sea's roar
    \r\n", - "greeted their ears. Tom Dasher thinks either they have been borne
    \r\n", - "out into the fathomless caves, or the men are knaves with false
    \r\n", - "stories in their mouths.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Stores,--for such is our good man's name-turning from the spot, says
    \r\n", - "daylight will disclose a different scene; with the wind as it is the
    \r\n", - "bodies will be drawn into the eddy on the point, and thrown ashore
    \r\n", - "by the under-current, for burial. \"Poor creatures! there's no help
    \r\n", - "for them now;\" he adds, sighing, as they wend their way back to the
    \r\n", - "cabin, where the good dame waits their coming. Their search was in
    \r\n", - "vain; having no news to bring her, she must be contented until
    \r\n", - "morning. If the bodies wash ashore, the good woman of the Humane
    \r\n", - "Society will come down from the town, and see them decently buried.
    \r\n", - "Stores has several times spoken of this good woman; were she a
    \r\n", - "ministering angel he could not speak of her name with more
    \r\n", - "reverence. For years, he tells us, has she been a harbinger of good,
    \r\n", - "ever relieving the sick and needy, cheering the downcast, protecting
    \r\n", - "the unfortunate. Her name has become a symbol of compassion; she
    \r\n", - "mingles with the richest and the poorest, and none know her but to
    \r\n", - "love and esteem her. \"And she, too, is an American lady!\" Stores
    \r\n", - "says, exultingly. And to judge from his praise, we should say, if
    \r\n", - "her many noble deeds were recorded on fair marble, it would not add
    \r\n", - "one jot to that impression of her goodness made on the hearts of the
    \r\n", - "people among whom she lives.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Ah, man! she's a good woman, and everybody loves and looks up to
    \r\n", - "her. And she's worth loving, too, because she's so kind,\" adds the
    \r\n", - "good dame, significantly canting her head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Daylight was now breaking in the east, and as there seemed no chance
    \r\n", - "of making a search on the bank that day, such was the fierceness of
    \r\n", - "the wind, the two men drank again of the punch, spread their
    \r\n", - "blankets before the fire, lay their hardy figures down, and were
    \r\n", - "soon in a profound sleep. The woman, more watchful, coiled herself
    \r\n", - "in a corner of the room on some sail-cloth, but did not sleep.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "At ten o'clock they were aroused by the neighbours, who, in great
    \r\n", - "anxiety, had come to inform them of an event they were already
    \r\n", - "conscious of,--adding, however, as an evidence of what had taken
    \r\n", - "place, that sixteen male and three female bodies, borne to the rips
    \r\n", - "at the point, had been thrown upon the shore. The denizens of the
    \r\n", - "point were indeed in a state of excitement; a messenger had been
    \r\n", - "sent into the town for the coroner, which said functionary soon
    \r\n", - "spread the news about, creating no little commotion among the
    \r\n", - "inhabitants, many of whom repaired to the scene of the disaster.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "When it became known that two witnesses to the dire misfortune had
    \r\n", - "been spared to tell the tale, and were now at Stores' house, the
    \r\n", - "excitement calmed into sympathy. The wrecker's little village
    \r\n", - "resounded with curious enquiries, and few were they who would be
    \r\n", - "satisfied without a recital of the sad tale by the rescued men.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Carefully they brought the dead bodies from the shore, and laid them
    \r\n", - "in an untenanted house, to await the coroner's order. Among them was
    \r\n", - "the slender form of Franconia, the dark dress in which she was clad
    \r\n", - "but little torn, and the rings yet remaining on her fingers. \"How
    \r\n", - "with fortitude she bore the suffering!\" said the rescued passenger,
    \r\n", - "gazing on her blanched features as they laid her on the floor: the
    \r\n", - "wrecker's wife covered her with a white sheet, and spread a pillow
    \r\n", - "carefully beneath her head.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes!\" returns the unfortunate seaman, who stood by his side, \"she
    \r\n", - "seemed of great goodness and gentleness. She said nothing, bore
    \r\n", - "everything without a murmur; she was Higgins' pet; and I'll lay he
    \r\n", - "died trying to save her, for never a braver fellow than Jack Higgins
    \r\n", - "stood trick at a wheel.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The coroner arrives as the last corpse is brought from the sand: he
    \r\n", - "holds his brief inquest, orders them buried, and retires. Soon,
    \r\n", - "three ladies-Stores' wife tells us they are of the Humane
    \r\n", - "Society-make their appearance in search of the deceased. They enter
    \r\n", - "Stores' house, greet his good dame familiarly, and remain seated
    \r\n", - "while she relates what has happened. One of the three is tall and
    \r\n", - "stately of figure, and dressed with that quiet taste so becoming a
    \r\n", - "lady. And while to the less observing eye no visible superiority
    \r\n", - "over the others is discernible, it is evident they view her in such
    \r\n", - "a light, always yielding to her counsels. Beneath a silk bonnet
    \r\n", - "trimmed with great neatness, is disclosed a finely oval face,
    \r\n", - "glowing with features of much regularity, large dark eyes of great
    \r\n", - "softness, and silky hair, laid in heavy wavy folds across a
    \r\n", - "beautifully arched brow-to which is added a sweet smile that ever
    \r\n", - "and anon plays over her slightly olive countenance. There, boldly
    \r\n", - "outlined, is the unmistakeable guide to a frank and gentle nature.
    \r\n", - "For several minutes does she listen to the honest woman's recital of
    \r\n", - "the sad event, which is suspended by the passenger making his
    \r\n", - "appearance. The wrecker's wife introduces him by motioning her hand,
    \r\n", - "and saying, \"This is the kind lady of whose goodness I spoke so last
    \r\n", - "night.\" Anxiously does she gather from the stranger each and every
    \r\n", - "incident of the voyage: this done, she will go to the house where
    \r\n", - "lay the dead, our good Dame Stores leading the way, talking from the
    \r\n", - "very honesty of her heart the while. In a small dilapidated dwelling
    \r\n", - "on the bleak sands, the dead lay. Children and old men linger about
    \r\n", - "the door,--now they make strange mutterings, and walk away, as if in
    \r\n", - "fear. Our messengers of mercy have entered the abode of the dead.
    \r\n", - "The wrecker's wife says, \"They are to be buried to-morrow, ma'am;\"
    \r\n", - "while the lady, with singular firmness, glances her eye along the
    \r\n", - "row of male bodies, counting them one by one. She has brought
    \r\n", - "shrouds, in which to bury them like Christians.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Them three females is here, ma'am,\" says Dame Stores, touching the
    \r\n", - "lady on the elbow, as she proceeds to uncover the bodies. The
    \r\n", - "passenger did, indeed, tell our Lady of Mercy there was one handsome
    \r\n", - "lady from Carolina. One by one she views their blanched and besanded
    \r\n", - "features.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"A bonny figure that, mum; I lay she's bin a handsome in her day,\"
    \r\n", - "with honest simplicity remarks Dame Stores, as, bent over the
    \r\n", - "lifeless body of Franconia, she turns back the sheet, carefully.
    \r\n", - "\"Yes,\" is the quick reply: the philanthropic woman's keen eye scans
    \r\n", - "along the body from head to foot. Dame Stores will part the silken
    \r\n", - "hair from off that cold brow, and smooth it with her hand. Suddenly
    \r\n", - "our lady's eyes dart forth anxiety; she recognises some familiar
    \r\n", - "feature, and trembles. The rescued seaman had been quietly viewing
    \r\n", - "the bodies, as if to distinguish their different persons, when a
    \r\n", - "wrecker, who had assisted in removing the bodies, entered the room
    \r\n", - "and approached him, \"Ah!\" exclaims the seaman, suddenly, \"yonder's
    \r\n", - "poor Jack Higgins.\" He points to a besanded body at the right, the
    \r\n", - "arms torn and bent partly over the breast, adding, \"Jack had a good
    \r\n", - "heart, he had.\" Turning half round, the wrecker replies, \"That 'un
    \r\n", - "had this 'un fast grappled in his arms; it was a time afore we got
    \r\n", - "'um apart.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Was it this body?\" enquires the lady, looking at the lifeless form
    \r\n", - "before her. He says, \"That same, ma'am; an' it looked as if he had
    \r\n", - "tried to save the slender woman.\" He points to the body which Dame
    \r\n", - "Stores has just uncovered. The good lady kneels over the body: her
    \r\n", - "face suddenly becomes pale; her lips purple and quiver; she seems
    \r\n", - "sinking with nervous excitement, as tremulously she seizes the
    \r\n", - "blanched hand in her own. Cold and frigid, it will not yield to her
    \r\n", - "touch \"That face-those brows, those pearly teeth, those lips so
    \r\n", - "delicate,--those hands,--those deathless emblems! how like Franconia
    \r\n", - "they seem,\" she ejaculates frantically, the bystanders looking on
    \r\n", - "with surprise. \"And are they not my Franconia's-my dear
    \r\n", - "deliverer's?\" she continues. She smooths the cold hands, and chafes
    \r\n", - "them in her own. The rings thereon were a present from Marston.
    \r\n", - "\"Those features like unto chiselled marble are hers; I am not
    \r\n", - "deceived: no! oh no! it cannot be a dream\" (in sorrow she shakes her
    \r\n", - "head as the tears begin to moisten her cheeks), \"she received my
    \r\n", - "letter, and was on her way seeking me.\" Again she smooths and
    \r\n", - "smooths her left hand over those pallid cheeks, her right still
    \r\n", - "pressing the cold hand of the corpse, as her emotions burst forth in
    \r\n", - "agonising sobs.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The wrecker's wife loosens the dress from about deceased's
    \r\n", - "neck-bares that bosom once so fair and beautiful. A small locket,
    \r\n", - "attached to a plain black necklace, lies upon it, like a moat on a
    \r\n", - "snowy surface. Nervously does the good woman grasp it, and opening
    \r\n", - "it behold a miniature of Marston, a facsimile of which is in her own
    \r\n", - "possession. \"Somethin' more 'ere, mum,\" says Dame Stores, drawing
    \r\n", - "from beneath a lace stomacher the lap of her chemise, on which is
    \r\n", - "written in indelible ink-\"Franconia M'Carstrow.\" The doubt no longer
    \r\n", - "lent its aid to hope; the lady's sorrowing heart can no longer
    \r\n", - "withstand the shock. Weeping tears of anguish, she says, \"May the
    \r\n", - "God of all goodness preserve her pure spirit, for it is my
    \r\n", - "Franconia! she who was my saviour; she it was who snatched me from
    \r\n", - "death, and put my feet on the dry land of freedom, and gave me-ah,
    \r\n", - "me!\" she shrieked,--and fell swooning over the lifeless body, ere
    \r\n", - "Dame Stores had time to clasp her in her arms.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "My reader can scarcely have failed to recognise in this messenger of
    \r\n", - "mercy,--this good woman who had so ennobled herself by seeking the
    \r\n", - "sufferer and relieving his wants, and who makes light the cares of
    \r\n", - "the lowly, the person of that slave-mother, Clotilda. Having drank
    \r\n", - "of the bitterness of slavery, she the more earnestly cheers the
    \r\n", - "desponding. That lifeless form, once so bright of beauty, so buoyant
    \r\n", - "of heart and joyous of spirit, is Franconia; she it was who
    \r\n", - "delivered the slave-mother from the yoke of bondage, set her feet on
    \r\n", - "freedom's heights, and on her head invoked its genial blessings. Her
    \r\n", - "soul had yearned for the slave's good; she had been a mother to
    \r\n", - "Annette, and dared snatch her from him who made the slave a
    \r\n", - "wretch,--democracy his boast! It was Franconia who placed the
    \r\n", - "miniature of Marston about Clotilda's neck on the night she effected
    \r\n", - "her escape,--bid her God speed into freedom. All that once so
    \r\n", - "abounded in goodness now lies cold in death. Eternity has closed her
    \r\n", - "lips with its strong seal,--no longer shall her soul be harassed with
    \r\n", - "the wrongs of a slave world: no! her pure spirit has ascended among
    \r\n", - "the angels.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We will not longer pain the reader's feelings with details of this
    \r\n", - "sad recognition, but inform him that the body was removed to
    \r\n", - "Clotilda's peaceful habitation, from whence, with becoming ceremony,
    \r\n", - "it was buried on the following day. A small marble tablet, standing
    \r\n", - "in a sequestered churchyard near the outskirts of Nassau, and on
    \r\n", - "which the traveller may read these simple words:--\"Franconia, my
    \r\n", - "friend, lies here!\" over which, in a circle, is chiseled the figure
    \r\n", - "of an angel descending, and beneath, \"How happy in Heaven are the
    \r\n", - "Good!\" marks the spot where her ashes rest in peace.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER L.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH A DANGEROUS PRINCIPLE IS ILLUSTRATED.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "SHOULD the sagacious reader be disappointed in our hero Nicholas,
    \r\n", - "who, instead of being represented as a model of disinterestedness,
    \r\n", - "perilling his life to save others, sacrificing his own interests for
    \r\n", - "the cause of liberty, and wasting on hardened mankind all those
    \r\n", - "amiable qualities which belong only to angels, but with which heroes
    \r\n", - "are generally invested for the happy purpose of pleasing the lover
    \r\n", - "of romance, has evinced little else than an unbending will, he will
    \r\n", - "find a palliation in that condition of life to which his oppressors
    \r\n", - "have forced him to submit. Had Nicholas enjoyed his liberty, many
    \r\n", - "incidents of a purely disinterested character might have been
    \r\n", - "recorded to his fame, for indeed he had noble traits. That we have
    \r\n", - "not put fiery words into his mouth, with which to execrate the
    \r\n", - "tyrant, while invoking the vengeance of heaven-and, too, that we are
    \r\n", - "guilty of the crime of thus suddenly transferring him from boyhood
    \r\n", - "to manhood, nor have hanged him to please the envious and
    \r\n", - "vicious,--will find excuse with the indulgent reader, who will be
    \r\n", - "kind enough to consider that it is our business to relate facts as
    \r\n", - "they are, to the performance of which-unthankful though it may be-we
    \r\n", - "have drawn from the abundance of material placed in our hand by the
    \r\n", - "southern world. We may misname characters and transpose scenes, but
    \r\n", - "southern manners and customs we have transcribed from nature, to
    \r\n", - "which stern book we have religiously adhered. And, too (if the
    \r\n", - "reader will pardon the digression), though we never have agreed with
    \r\n", - "our very best admirers of the gallows, some of whom hold it a means
    \r\n", - "of correcting morals-nor, are yet ready to yield assent to the
    \r\n", - "opinions of the many, so popularly laid down in favour of what we
    \r\n", - "consider a medium of very unwholesome influence, we readily admit
    \r\n", - "the existence of many persons who have well merited a very good
    \r\n", - "hanging. But, were the same rules of evidence admissible in a court
    \r\n", - "of law when a thief is on trial, applied against the practice of
    \r\n", - "\"publicly hanging,\" there would be little difficulty in convicting
    \r\n", - "it of inciting to crime. Not only does the problem of complex
    \r\n", - "philosophy-the reader may make the philosophy to suit his
    \r\n", - "taste-presented in the contrariety of scenes on and about the
    \r\n", - "gallows offer something irreconcileable to ordinary minds, but gives
    \r\n", - "to the humorous large means with which to feast their love of the
    \r\n", - "ludicrous. On the scaffold of destruction, our good brothers of the
    \r\n", - "clergy would, pointing to the \"awful example,\" assure the motley
    \r\n", - "assembly gathered beneath, that he hath purified that soul, which
    \r\n", - "will surely be accepted in heaven; but, he can in no wise condescend
    \r\n", - "to let it, still directing the flesh, live on the less pure platform
    \r\n", - "of earth. With eager eyes, the mass beneath him, their morbid
    \r\n", - "appetites curiously distended, heed not the good admonition; nay,
    \r\n", - "the curious wait in breathless suspense the launching a human being
    \r\n", - "into eternity; the vicious are busy in crime the while; the heedless
    \r\n", - "make gay the holiday. Sum up the invention and perpetration of crime
    \r\n", - "beneath the gallows on one of those singular gala-days, and the
    \r\n", - "culprit expiating his guilt at the rope's end, as an \"awful
    \r\n", - "warning,\" will indeed have disclosed a shallow mockery. Taking this
    \r\n", - "view of the hanging question, though we would deprive no man of his
    \r\n", - "enjoyment, we deem it highly improper that our hero should die by
    \r\n", - "any other means than that which the chivalrous sons of the south
    \r\n", - "declared \"actually necessary.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "But before proceeding further with Nicholas, it may be proper here
    \r\n", - "to state that Annette and the stranger, in whose hands we left her,
    \r\n", - "have arrived safe at New York. Maxwell-for such is his name-is with
    \r\n", - "his uncle engaged in a lucrative commercial business; while Annette,
    \r\n", - "for reasons we shall hereafter explain, instead of forthwith seeking
    \r\n", - "the arms of an affectionate mother, is being educated at a female
    \r\n", - "seminary in a village situated on the left bank of the Hudson River.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In returning to Nicholas, the reader will remember that Grabguy was
    \r\n", - "something of a philosopher, the all-important functions of which
    \r\n", - "medium he invoked on the occasion of his ejectment from Fetter's
    \r\n", - "court, for an interference which might at that moment have been
    \r\n", - "taken as evidence of repentance. The truth, however, was, that
    \r\n", - "Grabguy, in the exercise of his philosophy, found the cash value of
    \r\n", - "his slave about to be obliterated by the carrying out of Fetter's
    \r\n", - "awful sentence. Here there rose that strange complexity which the
    \r\n", - "physical action and mental force of slave property, acting in
    \r\n", - "contrariety, so often produce. The physical of the slave was very
    \r\n", - "valuable, and could be made to yield; but the mental being all
    \r\n", - "powerful to oppose, completely annulled the monetary worth. But by
    \r\n", - "allowing the lacerations to heal, sending him to New Orleans, and
    \r\n", - "making a positive sale, some thousand or twelve hundred dollars
    \r\n", - "might be saved; whereas, did Fetter's judgment take effect, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Grabguy must content himself with the state's more humble award of
    \r\n", - "two hundred dollars, less the trouble of getting. In this democratic
    \r\n", - "perplexity did our economical alderman find himself placed, when,
    \r\n", - "again invoking his philosophy-not in virtue of any sympathetic
    \r\n", - "admonition, for sympathy was not of Grabguy-he soon found means of
    \r\n", - "protecting his interests. To this end he sought and obtained an
    \r\n", - "order from the Court of Appeals, which grave judiciary, after duly
    \r\n", - "considering the evidence on which the criminal was convicted before
    \r\n", - "Fetter's tribunal, was of opinion that evidence had been improperly
    \r\n", - "extorted by cruelty; and, in accordance with that opinion, ordered a
    \r\n", - "new trial, which said trial would be dististinguished above that at
    \r\n", - "Fetter's court by being presided over by a judicial magistrate. This
    \r\n", - "distinguished functionary, the judicial magistrate, who generally
    \r\n", - "hears the appeals from Fetter's court, is a man of the name of
    \r\n", - "Fairweather Fuddle, a clever wag, whose great good-nature is only
    \r\n", - "equalled by the rotundity of his person, which is not a bad
    \r\n", - "portraiture of our much-abused Sir John Falstaff, as represented by
    \r\n", - "the heavy men of our country theatres. Now, to enter upon an
    \r\n", - "analysis of the vast difference between Fetter's court in ordinary,
    \r\n", - "and Fuddle's court in judiciary, would require the aid of more
    \r\n", - "philosophy than we are capable of summoning; nor would the sagacious
    \r\n", - "reader be enlightened thereby, inasmuch as the learned of our own
    \r\n", - "atmosphere have spent much study on the question without arriving at
    \r\n", - "any favourable result. Very low people, and intelligent negroes--
    \r\n", - "whose simple mode of solving difficult problems frequently produces
    \r\n", - "results nearest the truth--do say without fear or trembling that the
    \r\n", - "distinction between these great courts exists in the fact of Justice
    \r\n", - "Fuddle drinking the more perfect brandy. Now, whether the quality of
    \r\n", - "brandy has anything to do with the purity of ideas, the character of
    \r\n", - "the judiciary, or the tempering of the sentences, we will leave to
    \r\n", - "the reader's discrimination; but true it is, that, while Fetter's
    \r\n", - "judgments are always for the state, Fuddle leans to mercy and the
    \r\n", - "master's interests. Again, were Fuddle to evince that partiality for
    \r\n", - "the gallows which has become a trait of character with his legal
    \r\n", - "brother, it would avail him nothing, inasmuch as by confirming
    \r\n", - "Fetter's judgments the fees would alike remain that gentleman's. If,
    \r\n", - "then, the reader reason on the philosophy of self-interest, he may
    \r\n", - "find the fees, which are in no wise small, founding the great
    \r\n", - "distinction between the courts of Messrs. Fuddle and Fetter; for by
    \r\n", - "reversing Fetter's judgments fees accrue to Fuddle's own court, and
    \r\n", - "belong to his own well-lined pocket; whereas, did he confirm them,
    \r\n", - "not one cent of fees could he claim. The state should without delay
    \r\n", - "remedy this great wrong, and give its judicial gentlemen a fair
    \r\n", - "chance of proving their judgments well founded in contrariety. We
    \r\n", - "should not, forsooth, forget to mention that Fuddle, in his love of
    \r\n", - "decorum--though he scarce ever sat in judgment without absorbing his
    \r\n", - "punch the while--never permitted in his forum the use of those
    \r\n", - "knock-down arguments which were always a prelude to Fetter's
    \r\n", - "judgments.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Before Fuddle's court, then, Grabguy has succeeded in getting a
    \r\n", - "hearing for his convicted property, still mentally obstinate. Not
    \r\n", - "the least doubt has he of procuring a judgment tempered by mercy;
    \r\n", - "for, having well drunk Fuddle on the previous night, and improved
    \r\n", - "the opportunity for completely winning his distinguished
    \r\n", - "consideration, he has not the slightest apprehension of being many
    \r\n", - "months deprived of his property merely to satisfy injured justice.
    \r\n", - "And, too, the evidence upon which Nicholas was convicted in Fetter's
    \r\n", - "court, of an attempt to create an insurrection--the most fatal
    \r\n", - "charge against him--was so imperfect that the means of overthrowing
    \r\n", - "it can be purchased of any of the attendant constables for a mere
    \r\n", - "trifle,--oaths with such fellows being worth about sixty-two and a
    \r\n", - "half cents each.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "If the reader will be pleased to fancy the trial before Fetter's
    \r\n", - "tribunal--before described--with the knock-down arguments omitted, he
    \r\n", - "will have a pretty clear idea of that now proceeding before
    \r\n", - "Fuddle's; and having such will excuse our entering into details.
    \r\n", - "Having heard the case with most, learned patience, the virtue of
    \r\n", - "which has been well sustained by goodly potions of Paul and Brown's
    \r\n", - "perfect \"London Dock,\" Fuddle, with grave deportment, receives from
    \r\n", - "the hands of the clerical-looking clerk-a broken-down gentleman of
    \r\n", - "great legal ability-the charge he is about to make the jury.
    \r\n", - "\"Gentlemen,\" he says, \"I might, without any detriment to perfect
    \r\n", - "impunity, place the very highest encomiums on the capabilities
    \r\n", - "displayed in the seriousness you have given to this all-important
    \r\n", - "case, in which the state has such deep and constitutional interests;
    \r\n", - "but that I need not do here. The state having placed in my
    \r\n", - "possession such responsible functions, no one more than me can feel
    \r\n", - "the importance of the position; and which position has always been
    \r\n", - "made the judicial medium of equity and mercy. I hold moderation to
    \r\n", - "be the essential part of the judiciary, gentlemen! And here I would
    \r\n", - "say\" (Fuddle directs himself to his gentlemanly five) \"and your
    \r\n", - "intelligence will bear me out in the statement, that the trial below
    \r\n", - "seems to have been in error from beginning to end. I say
    \r\n", - "this-understand, gentlemen!--with all deference to my learned
    \r\n", - "brother, Fetter, whose judgments, in the exercise of the powers in
    \r\n", - "me invested, and with that respect for legal equity by which this
    \r\n", - "court is distinguished, it has become me so often to reverse. On the
    \r\n", - "charge of creating an insurrection--rather an absurdity, by the
    \r\n", - "way--you must discharge the prisoner, there being no valid proof;
    \r\n", - "whereas the charge of maiming or raising his hand to a white man,
    \r\n", - "though clearly proved, and according to the statutes a capital
    \r\n", - "offence, could not in the spirit of mercy which now prevails in our
    \r\n", - "judiciary--and, here, let me say, which is emulated by that high
    \r\n", - "state of civilisation for which the people of this state are
    \r\n", - "distinguished--be carried rigidly into effect. There is only this one
    \r\n", - "point, then, of maiming a white gentleman, with intention--Ah! yes (a
    \r\n", - "pause) the intention the court thinks it as well not to mind! open
    \r\n", - "to you for a conviction. Upon this point you will render your
    \r\n", - "verdict, guilty; only adding a recommendation to the mercy of the
    \r\n", - "court.\" With this admonition, our august Mr. Fuddle, his face
    \r\n", - "glowing in importance, sits down to his mixture of Paul and Brown's
    \r\n", - "best. A few moments' pause--during which Fetter enters looking very
    \r\n", - "anxious--and the jury have made up their verdict, which they submit
    \r\n", - "on a slip of paper to the clerk, who in turn presents it to Fuddle.
    \r\n", - "That functionary being busily engaged with his punch, is made
    \r\n", - "conscious of the document waiting his pleasure by the audience
    \r\n", - "bursting into a roar of laughter at the comical picture presented in
    \r\n", - "the earnestness with which he regards his punch-some of which is
    \r\n", - "streaming into his bosom-and disregards the paper held for some
    \r\n", - "minutes in the clerk's hand, which is in close proximity with his
    \r\n", - "nasal organ. Starting suddenly, he lets the goblet fall to the
    \r\n", - "floor, his face flushing like a broad moon in harvest-time, takes
    \r\n", - "the paper in his fingers with a bow, making three of the same nature
    \r\n", - "to his audience, as Fetter looks over the circular railing in front
    \r\n", - "of the dock, his face wearing a facetious smile. \"Nigger boy will
    \r\n", - "clear away the break,--prisoner at the bar will stand up for the
    \r\n", - "sentence, and the attending constable will reduce order!\" speaks
    \r\n", - "Fuddle, relieving his pocket of a red kerchief with which he will
    \r\n", - "wipe his capacious mouth. These requests being complied with, he
    \r\n", - "continues-having adjusted his glasses most learnedly-making a
    \r\n", - "gesture with his right hand--\"I hold in my hand the solemn verdict of
    \r\n", - "an intelligent jury, who, after worthy and most mature deliberation,
    \r\n", - "find the prisoner at the bar, Nicholas Grabguy, guilty of the
    \r\n", - "heinous offence of raising his hand to a white man, whom he severely
    \r\n", - "maimed with a sharp-edged tool; and the jury in their wisdom,
    \r\n", - "recognising the fact of their verdict involving capital punishment,
    \r\n", - "have, in the exercise of that enlightened spirit which is
    \r\n", - "inseparable from our age, recommended him to the mercy of this
    \r\n", - "court, and, in the discretion of that power in me invested, I shall
    \r\n", - "now pronounce sentence. Prepare, then, ye lovers of civilisation,
    \r\n", - "ye friends of humanity, ye who would temper the laws of our land of
    \r\n", - "freedom to the circumstance of offences--prepare, I say, to have your
    \r\n", - "ears and hearts made glad over the swelling sound of this most
    \r\n", - "enlightened sentence of a court, where judgments are tempered with
    \r\n", - "mercy.\" Our hero, a chain hanging loosely from his left arm, stands
    \r\n", - "forward in the dock, his manly deportment evincing a stern
    \r\n", - "resolution to meet his fate unsubdued. Fuddle continues:--\"There is
    \r\n", - "no appeal from this court!\" (he forgot the court of a brighter
    \r\n", - "world) \"and a reversing the decision of the court below, I sentence
    \r\n", - "the prisoner to four years' imprisonment with hard labour, two
    \r\n", - "months' solitary confinement in each year, and thirty blows with the
    \r\n", - "paddle, on the first day of each month until the expiration of the
    \r\n", - "sentence.\" Such, reader, was Fuddle's merciful sentence upon one
    \r\n", - "whose only crime was a love of freedom and justice. Nicholas bowed
    \r\n", - "to the sentence; Mr. Grabguy expressed surprise, but no further
    \r\n", - "appeal on earth was open to him; Squire Fetter laughed immeasurably;
    \r\n", - "and the officer led his victim away to the place of durance vile.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "To this prison, then, must we go with our hero. In this magnificent
    \r\n", - "establishment, its princely exterior seeming like a modern fort with
    \r\n", - "frowning bastions, are some four hundred souls for sale and
    \r\n", - "punishment. Among them Nicholas is initiated, having, for the time
    \r\n", - "being, received his first installment of blows, and takes his first
    \r\n", - "lesson in the act of breaking stone, which profession is exclusively
    \r\n", - "reserved for criminals of his class. Among the notable characters
    \r\n", - "connected with this establishment is Philip Fladge, the wily
    \r\n", - "superintendent, whose power over the criminals is next to absolute.
    \r\n", - "Nicholas has been under Philip's guardianship but a few months, when
    \r\n", - "it is found that he may be turned into an investment which will
    \r\n", - "require only the outlay of kindness and amelioration on his part to
    \r\n", - "become extremely profitable. Forthwith a convention is entered into,
    \r\n", - "the high contracting parties being Nicholas and himself. Mr. Fladge
    \r\n", - "stipulates on his part that the said Nicholas, condemned by
    \r\n", - "Fairweather Fuddle's court to such punishments as are set forth in
    \r\n", - "the calendar, shall be exempt from all such punishments, have the
    \r\n", - "free use of the yard, comfortable apartments to live in, and be
    \r\n", - "invested with a sort of foremanship over his fellow criminals; in
    \r\n", - "consideration of which it is stipulated on the part of Nicholas that
    \r\n", - "he do work at the more desirable profession of stucco-making,
    \r\n", - "together with the execution of orders for sculpture, the proceeds of
    \r\n", - "which were to be considered the property of Fladge, he allowing the
    \r\n", - "generous stipend of one shilling a week to the artist. Here, then,
    \r\n", - "Mr. Fladge becomes sensible of the fact that some good always come
    \r\n", - "of great evils, for indeed his criminal was so far roving a mine of
    \r\n", - "wealth that he only hoped it might be his fortune to receive many
    \r\n", - "more such enemies of the state: he cared not whether they came from
    \r\n", - "Fetter or Fuddle's court. With sense enough to keep his
    \r\n", - "heart-burnings well stored away in his own bosom, Nicholas soon
    \r\n", - "became a sort of privileged character. But if he said little, he
    \r\n", - "felt much; nor did he fail to occupy every leisure moment in
    \r\n", - "inciting his brother bondmen to a love of freedom. So far had he
    \r\n", - "gained complete control over their feelings, that scarce two months
    \r\n", - "of his sentence had expired ere they would have followed his lead to
    \r\n", - "death or freedom.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Among those human souls stored for sale was one Sal Stiles, an olive
    \r\n", - "wench of great beauty, and daughter of one of the very first
    \r\n", - "families. This Sal Stiles, who was indeed one of the most charming
    \r\n", - "creatures to look upon, had cousins whom the little world of
    \r\n", - "Charleston viewed as great belles; but these said belles were never
    \r\n", - "known to ring out a word in favour of poor Sal, who was, forsooth,
    \r\n", - "only what-in our vulgar parlance-is called a well-conditioned and
    \r\n", - "very marketable woman. Considering, then, that Nicholas had been
    \r\n", - "separated by Grabguy from his wife and children, the indulgent
    \r\n", - "reader, we feel assured, will excuse our hero for falling
    \r\n", - "passionately in love with this woman. That it was stipulated in the
    \r\n", - "convention between himself and Fladge, he should take her unto
    \r\n", - "himself, we are not justified in asserting; nevertheless, that that
    \r\n", - "functionary encouraged the passion rather than prevented their
    \r\n", - "meetings is a fact our little world will not pretend to deny.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER LI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A CONTINUATION OF THE LAST CHAPTER.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A YEAR and two months have rolled by, since Nicholas, a convict,
    \r\n", - "took up his abode within the frowning walls of a prison: thus much
    \r\n", - "of Fuddle's merciful sentence has he served out. In the dreary hours
    \r\n", - "of night, fast secured in his granite cell, has he cherished, and
    \r\n", - "even in his dreams contemplated, the means of escaping into that
    \r\n", - "freedom for which his soul yearns. But, dearly does he love Sal
    \r\n", - "Stiles, to whose keeping he confides the secret of his ambition;
    \r\n", - "several times might he, having secured the confidence of Fladge,
    \r\n", - "have effected his own escape; but the admonitions of a faithful
    \r\n", - "heart bid him not leave her behind in slavery. To that admonition of
    \r\n", - "his bosom did he yield, and resolve never to leave her until he
    \r\n", - "secured her freedom. A few days after he had disclosed to her his
    \r\n", - "resolution, the tall figure of Guy Grantham, a broker of slaves by
    \r\n", - "profession, appeared in the prison yard, for the purpose of carrying
    \r\n", - "away the woman, whom he had sold for the Washington market, where
    \r\n", - "her charms would indeed be of much value during the session, when
    \r\n", - "congress-men most do riot. Already were the inseparable chains about
    \r\n", - "her hands, and the miserable woman, about to be led away, bathed in
    \r\n", - "grief. Nicholas, in his studies, had just finished a piece of
    \r\n", - "scroll-work for Mrs. Fladge, as a companion approached him in great
    \r\n", - "haste, and whispered the word of trouble-\"they're taking her
    \r\n", - "away\"-in his ear. Quick as lightning did the anger of his very soul
    \r\n", - "break forth like a tempest: he rushed from his place of labour,
    \r\n", - "vaulted as it were to the guard gate, seized the woman as she
    \r\n", - "stepped on the threshold in her exit, drew her back with great
    \r\n", - "force, and in a defiant attitude, drawing a long stiletto from his
    \r\n", - "belt, placed himself between her and her destroyer. \"Foes of the
    \r\n", - "innocent, your chains were not made for this woman; never shall you
    \r\n", - "bear her from this; not, at least, while I have arm to defend her,
    \r\n", - "and a soul that cares not for your vengeance!\" spake he, with
    \r\n", - "curling contempt on his lip, as his adversaries stood aghast with
    \r\n", - "fear and trembling. \"Nay!-do not advance one step, or by the God of
    \r\n", - "justice I make ye feel the length of this steel!\" he continued, as
    \r\n", - "Grantham nervously motioned an attempt to advance. Holding the woman
    \r\n", - "with his left hand pressed backward, he brandished his stiletto in
    \r\n", - "the faces of his opponents with his right. This was rebellion in its
    \r\n", - "most legal acceptation, and would have justified the summary process
    \r\n", - "Grantham was about adopting for the disposal of the instigator, at
    \r\n", - "whose head he levelled his revolver, and, without effect, snapped
    \r\n", - "two caps, as Nicholas bared his bosom with the taunt--\"Coward,
    \r\n", - "shoot!\" Mr. Fladge, who was now made sensible of the error his
    \r\n", - "indulgence had committed, could not permit Grantham the happy
    \r\n", - "display of his bravery; no, he has called to his aid some ten
    \r\n", - "subguardsmen, and addressing the resolute Grantham, bids him lay
    \r\n", - "aside his weapon. Albeit he confesses his surprise at such strange
    \r\n", - "insolence and interference; but, being responsible for the life,
    \r\n", - "thinks it well to hold a parley before taking it. Forsooth his words
    \r\n", - "fall useless on the ears of Nicholas, as defiantly he encircles the
    \r\n", - "woman's waist with his left arm, bears her away to the block, dashes
    \r\n", - "the chains from her hands, and, spurning the honied words of Fladge,
    \r\n", - "hurls them in the air, crying: \"You have murdered the flesh;--would
    \r\n", - "you chain the soul?\" As he spoke, the guard, having ascended the
    \r\n", - "watch tower, rings out the first alarm peal. \"Dogs of savage might!
    \r\n", - "ring your alarms; I care not,\" he continued, casting a sardonic
    \r\n", - "glance at the tower as the sound died away on his ear. His pursuers
    \r\n", - "now made a rush upon him, but ere they had secured him he seized a
    \r\n", - "heavy bludgeon, and repelling their attack, found some hundred of
    \r\n", - "his companions, armed with stone hammers, rallying in his defence.
    \r\n", - "Seeing this formidable force thus suddenly come to his rescue, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Fladge and his force were compelled to fall back before the advance.
    \r\n", - "Gallantly did Nicholas lead on his sable band, as the woman sought
    \r\n", - "refuge in one of the cells, Mr. Fladge and his posse retreating into
    \r\n", - "the guard-house. Nicholas, now in full possession of the citadel,
    \r\n", - "and with consternation and confusion triumphant within the walls,
    \r\n", - "found it somewhat difficult to restrain his forces from taking
    \r\n", - "possession of the guardhouse, and putting to death those who had
    \r\n", - "sought shelter therein. Calmly but firmly did he appeal to them, and
    \r\n", - "beseech them not to commit an outrage against life. As he had placed
    \r\n", - "himself between the woman and her pursuers, so did he place himself
    \r\n", - "before a file of his sable companions, who, with battle hammers
    \r\n", - "extended, rushed for the great gates, as the second alarm rung out
    \r\n", - "its solemn peal. Counselling his compatriots to stand firm, he
    \r\n", - "gathered them together in the centre of the square, and addressed
    \r\n", - "them in a fervent tone, the purport of which was, that having thus
    \r\n", - "suddenly and unexpectedly become plunged into what would be viewed
    \r\n", - "by the laws of the land as insurrection, they must stand on the
    \r\n", - "defensive, and remember it were better to die in defence of right
    \r\n", - "than live under the ignorance and sorrow of slavery.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "While our hero-whose singular exploit we have divested of that
    \r\n", - "dramatic effect presented in the original-addressed his forlorn band
    \r\n", - "in the area of the prison, strange indeed was the scene of confusion
    \r\n", - "presenting along the streets of the city. The alarm peals had not
    \r\n", - "died ineffectual on the air, for as a messenger was despatched to
    \r\n", - "warn the civil authorities of the sad dilemma at the prison, the
    \r\n", - "great bell of St. Michael's church answered the warning peal with
    \r\n", - "two loud rings; and simultaneously the city re-echoed the report of
    \r\n", - "a bloody insurrection. On the long line of wharfs half circling the
    \r\n", - "city, stood men aghast with fright; to the west all was quiet about
    \r\n", - "the battery; to the south, the long rampart of dark moving pines
    \r\n", - "that bordered on that side the calm surface of a harbour of
    \r\n", - "unsurpassed beauty, seemed sleeping in its wonted peacefulness; to
    \r\n", - "the east, as if rising from the sea to mar the beauty of the scene,
    \r\n", - "stood fort Sumpter's sombre bastions, still and quiet like a monster
    \r\n", - "reposing; while retracing along the north side of the harbour, no
    \r\n", - "sign of trouble flutters from Fort Moultrie or Castle Pinkney-no,
    \r\n", - "their savage embrasures are closed, and peace hangs in mists over
    \r\n", - "their dark walls. The feud is in the city of democrats, wherein
    \r\n", - "there are few who know not the nature of the warning peal; nor,
    \r\n", - "indeed, act on such occasions like a world in fear, waiting but the
    \r\n", - "tap of the watchman's baton ere it rushes to bloodshed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "In the busy portion of the city have men gathered at the corners of
    \r\n", - "the street to hold confused controversy; with anxious countenances
    \r\n", - "and most earnest gesticulations do they discuss the most certain
    \r\n", - "means of safety. Ladies, in fright, speedily seek their homes, now
    \r\n", - "asking questions of a passerby, whose intense excitement has carried
    \r\n", - "off his power of speech, then shunning every luckless negro who
    \r\n", - "chances in their way. The rumour of an insurrection, however falsely
    \r\n", - "founded, turns every negro (of skin there is no distinction) into an
    \r\n", - "enemy; whilst the second sound of the alarm peal makes him a bloody
    \r\n", - "votary, who it needs but the booming of the cannon ere he be put to
    \r\n", - "the sword. Guardsmen, with side-arms and cross-belts, are eager and
    \r\n", - "confused, moving to and fro with heavy tread; merchants and men of
    \r\n", - "more easy professions hasten from their labours, seek their homes,
    \r\n", - "prepare weapons for the conflict, and endeavour to soothe the fears
    \r\n", - "of their excited families, beseeching protection. That a deadly
    \r\n", - "struggle is near at hand no one doubts, for men have gathered on the
    \r\n", - "house-tops to watch the moving mass, bearing on its face the
    \r\n", - "unmistakeable evidence of fear and anxiety, as it sweeps along the
    \r\n", - "streets. Now the grotesque group is bespotted with forms half
    \r\n", - "dressed in military garb; then a dark platoon of savage faces and
    \r\n", - "ragged figures brings up the rear; and quickly catching the sound
    \r\n", - "\"To the Workhouse!\" onward it presses to the scene of tumult.
    \r\n", - "Firemen in curious habiliment, and half-accoutred artillerymen, at
    \r\n", - "the alarm peal's call are rallying to their stations, as if some
    \r\n", - "devouring element, about to break over the city, demanded their
    \r\n", - "strongest arm; while eager and confused heads, protruded from green,
    \r\n", - "masking shutters, and in terror, would know whither lies the scene
    \r\n", - "of the outbreak. Alarm has beset the little world, which now moves a
    \r\n", - "medley of fear and trembling.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The clock in St. Michael's tall spire has just struck two, as, in
    \r\n", - "the arena of the prison, Nicholas is seen, halted in front of his
    \r\n", - "little band, calmly awaiting the advance of his adversaries, who,
    \r\n", - "fearing to open the great gates, have scaled the long line of wall
    \r\n", - "on the north side. Suddenly the sound of an imploring voice breaks
    \r\n", - "upon his ear, and his left hand is firmly grasped, as starting with
    \r\n", - "surprise he turns and beholds the slave woman, her hair hanging
    \r\n", - "loosely over her shoulders, and her face bathed in tears. With
    \r\n", - "simple but earnest words does she admonish him against his fatal
    \r\n", - "resolution. Fast, and in the bitter anguish of her soul, fall her
    \r\n", - "implorings; she would have him yield and save his life, that she may
    \r\n", - "love him still. Her words would melt his resolution, had he not
    \r\n", - "taken the rash step. \"In my soul do I love thee, woman!\" he says,
    \r\n", - "raising her gently to her feet, and imprinting a kiss upon her olive
    \r\n", - "brow; \"but rather would I die a hero than live a crawling slave:
    \r\n", - "nay, I will love thee in heaven!\" The woman has drawn his attention
    \r\n", - "from his adversaries, when, in that which seems a propitious moment,
    \r\n", - "they rush down from the walls, and ere a cry from his band warn him
    \r\n", - "of the danger, have well nigh surprised and secured him. With two
    \r\n", - "shots of a revolver pierced through the fleshy part of his left arm,
    \r\n", - "does he bound from the grasp of his pursuers, rally his men, and
    \r\n", - "charge upon the miscreants with undaunted courage. Short but deadly
    \r\n", - "is the struggle that here ensues; far, indeed, shrieks and horrid
    \r\n", - "groans rend the very air; but the miscreants are driven back from
    \r\n", - "whence they came, leaving on the ground five dead bodies to atone
    \r\n", - "for treble the number dead of our hero's band. In the savage
    \r\n", - "conflict did the woman receive a fatal bullet, and now lies writhing
    \r\n", - "in the agonies of death (a victim of oppression in a land of
    \r\n", - "liberty) at our hero's feet. Not a moment is there to spare, that he
    \r\n", - "may soothe her dying agonies, for a thundering at the great gates is
    \r\n", - "heard, the bristling of fire-arms falls upon his ear, and the drums
    \r\n", - "of the military without beat to the charge. Simultaneously the great
    \r\n", - "gates swing back, a solid body of citizen soldiery, ready to rush
    \r\n", - "in, is disclosed, and our hero, as if by instinct moved to rashness,
    \r\n", - "cries aloud to his forces, who, following his lead, dash recklessly
    \r\n", - "into the soldiery, scatter it in amazement, and sweep triumphantly
    \r\n", - "into the street. The first line of soldiery did not yield to the
    \r\n", - "impetuous charge without effect, for seven dead bodies, strewn
    \r\n", - "between the portals of the gate, account for the sharp report of
    \r\n", - "their rifles. Wild with rage, and not knowing whither to go, or for
    \r\n", - "what object they have rushed from the bounds of their prison house,
    \r\n", - "our forlorn band, still flourishing their battle hammers, have
    \r\n", - "scarcely reached the second line of military, stationed, in war
    \r\n", - "order, a few squares from the prison, when our hero and nine of his
    \r\n", - "forlorn band fall pierced through the hearts with rifle bullets. Our
    \r\n", - "Nicholas has a sudden end; he dies, muttering, \"My cause was only
    \r\n", - "justice!\" as twenty democratic bayonets cut into shreds his
    \r\n", - "quivering body. Oh, Grabguy! thou wilt one day be made to atone for
    \r\n", - "this thy guilt. Justice to thy slave had saved the city its
    \r\n", - "foreboding of horror, and us the recital of a bloody tragedy we
    \r\n", - "would spare the feelings of our readers by ending here.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Having informed the reader that Ellen Juvarna was mother of
    \r\n", - "Nicholas, whom she bore unto Marston, we will now draw aside the
    \r\n", - "veil, that he may know her real origin and be the better prepared to
    \r\n", - "appreciate the fate of her child. This name, then, was a fictitious
    \r\n", - "one, which she had been compelled to take by Romescos, who stole her
    \r\n", - "from her father, Neamathla, a Creek Indian. In 1820, this brave
    \r\n", - "warrior ruled chief of the Mickasookees, a tribe of brave Indians
    \r\n", - "settled on the borders of the lake of that name, in Florida. Old in
    \r\n", - "deeds of valour, Neamathla sank into the grave in the happy belief
    \r\n", - "that his daughter, the long-lost Nasarge, had been carried into
    \r\n", - "captivity by chiefs of a hostile tribe, in whose chivalrous spirit
    \r\n", - "she would find protection, and religious respect for her caste.
    \r\n", - "Could that proud spirit have condescended to suppose her languishing
    \r\n", - "in the hands of mercenary slave-dealers, his tomahawk had been first
    \r\n", - "dipped in the blood of the miscreant, to avenge the foul deed. From
    \r\n", - "Romescos, Nasarge, who had scarce seen her twelve summers, passed
    \r\n", - "into the hands of one Silenus, who sold her to Marston, for that
    \r\n", - "purpose a fair slave seems born to in our democratic world.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now again must we beg the indulgence of the reader, while we
    \r\n", - "turn to the counter-scene of this chapter. The influence of that
    \r\n", - "consternation which had spread throughout the city, was not long in
    \r\n", - "finding its way to the citadel, a massive fort commanding the city
    \r\n", - "from the east. On the plat in front are three brass field-pieces,
    \r\n", - "which a few artillery-men have wheeled out, loaded, and made ready
    \r\n", - "to belch forth that awful signal, which the initiated translate
    \r\n", - "thus:--\"Proceed to the massacre! Dip deep your knives in the heart
    \r\n", - "of every negro!\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Certain alarm bells are rung in case of an insurrection of the
    \r\n", - "negroes, which, if accompanied by the firing of three guns at the
    \r\n", - "citadel, is the signal for an onslaught of the whites. The author,
    \r\n", - "on asking a gentleman why he exhibited so much fear, or why he
    \r\n", - "deemed it necessary to put to the sword his faithful servants,
    \r\n", - "answered,--\"Slaves, no matter of what colour, sympathise with each
    \r\n", - "other in their general condition of slavery. I could not, then,
    \r\n", - "leave my family to the caprice of their feelings, while I sought the
    \r\n", - "scene of action to aid in suppressing the outbreak.\" At the
    \r\n", - "alarm-bell's first tap were the guns made ready-at the second peal
    \r\n", - "were matchlocks lighted-and nervous men waited in breathless
    \r\n", - "suspense the third and last signal peal from the Guard Tower. But,
    \r\n", - "in a moment that had nearly proved fatal to thousands, and as the
    \r\n", - "crash of musketry echoed in the air, a confused gunner applied the
    \r\n", - "match: two vivid flashes issued from the cannon, their peals booming
    \r\n", - "successively over the city. It was at that moment, citizens who had
    \r\n", - "sought in their domiciles the better protection of their families
    \r\n", - "might be seen in the tragic attitude of holding savage pistols and
    \r\n", - "glistening daggers at the breasts of their terrified but faithful
    \r\n", - "servants,--those, perhaps, whose only crime was sincerity, and an
    \r\n", - "earnest attachment to master's interests. The booming of a third
    \r\n", - "cannon, and they had fallen, victims of fear, at the feet of their
    \r\n", - "deluded victors. Happily, an act of heroism (which we would record
    \r\n", - "to the fame of the hero) saved the city that bloody climax we sicken
    \r\n", - "while contemplating. Ere the third gun belched its order of death, a
    \r\n", - "mounted officer, sensible of the result that gun would produce,
    \r\n", - "dashed before its angry mouth, and at the top of his voice cried
    \r\n", - "out-\"In Heaven's name, lay your matchlock down: save the city!\" Then
    \r\n", - "galloping to the trail, the gunner standing motionless at the
    \r\n", - "intrepid sight, he snatched the fiery torch from his hand, and
    \r\n", - "dismounting, quenched it on the ground. Thus did he save the city
    \r\n", - "that awful massacre the misdirected laws of a democratic state would
    \r\n", - "have been accountable for to civilisation and the world.
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "CHAPTER LII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH ARE PLEASURES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "IN a former chapter of this narrative, have we described our fair
    \r\n", - "fugitive, Annette, as possessing charms of no ordinary kind; indeed,
    \r\n", - "she was fair and beautiful, and even in the slave world was by many
    \r\n", - "called the lovely blonde. In a word, to have been deeply enamoured
    \r\n", - "of her would have reflected the highest credit on the taste and
    \r\n", - "sentiment of any gallant gentleman. Seeming strange would it be,
    \r\n", - "then, if the stranger to whose care we confided her (and hereafter
    \r\n", - "to be called Montague, that being his Christian name) should render
    \r\n", - "himself liable to the charge of stupidity did these attractions not
    \r\n", - "make a deep impression on his heart. And here we would not have the
    \r\n", - "reader lay so grave a charge at his door; for, be it known, ye who
    \r\n", - "are not insensible to love's electric force, that scarce had they
    \r\n", - "reached New York, ere Montague began to look upon Annette with that
    \r\n", - "species of compassion which so often, in the workings of nature's
    \r\n", - "mystery, turns the sympathies of the heart into purest love. The
    \r\n", - "misery or happiness of this poor girl he viewed as dependent on
    \r\n", - "himself: this, forsooth, was strengthened by the sad recital of her
    \r\n", - "struggles, which caused his sympathies to flow in mutual fellowship
    \r\n", - "with her sorrows. As he esteemed her gentleness, so was he enamoured
    \r\n", - "of her charms; but her sorrows carried the captive arrow into his
    \r\n", - "bosom, where she fastened it with holding forth that wrist broken in
    \r\n", - "defence of her virtue: nay, more, he could not refrain a caress, as
    \r\n", - "in the simplicity of her heart she looked in his face smilingly, and
    \r\n", - "said she would he were the father of her future in this life. But,
    \r\n", - "when did not slavery interpose its barbarous obstacles?-when did it
    \r\n", - "not claim for itself the interests of federal power, and the
    \r\n", - "nation's indulgence?-when did it not regard with coldest
    \r\n", - "indifference the good or ill of all beyond its own limits? The slave
    \r\n", - "world loves itself; but, though self-love may now and then give out
    \r\n", - "a degree of virtue, slavery has none to lead those beyond its own
    \r\n", - "atmosphere. To avoid, then, the terrors to which, even on the free
    \r\n", - "soil of the north, a fugitive slave is constantly liable, as also
    \r\n", - "that serpent-like prejudice--for into the puritanic regions of New
    \r\n", - "England, forsooth, does slavery spread its more refined objections
    \r\n", - "to colour--which makes the manners of one class cold and icy, while
    \r\n", - "acting like a dagger in the hearts of the other, was it necessary to
    \r\n", - "change her name. How many of my fair readers, then, will recur to
    \r\n", - "and recognise in the lovely Sylvia De Lacy--whose vivacity made them
    \r\n", - "joyous in their school days, and whose charms all envied-the person
    \r\n", - "of Annette Mazatlin. Nothing could be more true than that the pretty
    \r\n", - "blonde, Sylvia De Lacy, who passed at school as the daughter of a
    \r\n", - "rich Bahamian, was but the humble slave of our worthy wag, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers. But we beg the reader to remember that, as Sylvia
    \r\n", - "De Lacy, with her many gallant admirers, she is a far different
    \r\n", - "person from Annette the slave.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Clotilda is made acquainted with the steps Montague has taken in
    \r\n", - "behalf of his charge, as also of a further intention he will carry
    \r\n", - "out at the expiration of two years; which said intention is neither
    \r\n", - "more nor less than the making Sylvia De Lacy his bride ere her
    \r\n", - "school days have ended. In the earnestness of a heart teeming of
    \r\n", - "joy, does Clotilda respond to the disclosures she is pleased to term
    \r\n", - "glad tidings. Oft and fervently has she invoked the All-protecting
    \r\n", - "hand to save her child from the licentious snares of slavery; and
    \r\n", - "now that she is rescued, her soul can rest satisfied. How her heart
    \r\n", - "rejoices to learn that her slave child will hereafter be happy in
    \r\n", - "this life! ever will she pray that peace and prosperity reward their
    \r\n", - "virtues. Her own prospects brighten with the thought that she may,
    \r\n", - "ere long, see them under her own comfortable roof, and bestow a
    \r\n", - "mother's love on the head of her long-lost child.
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    Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter
    by
    F. Colburn Adams

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    Part 12 out of 12

    \r\n", - "
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    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\r\n", - "\r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now my reader will please to suppose these two years of
    \r\n", - "school-days passed-that nuptial ceremony in which so many mingled
    \r\n", - "their congratulations, and showered blandest smiles upon the fair
    \r\n", - "bride, celebrated in a princely mansion not far from the
    \r\n", - "aristocratic Union Square of New York-and our happy couple launched
    \r\n", - "upon that path of matrimony some facetious old gentlemen have been
    \r\n", - "pleased to describe as so crooked that others fear to journey upon
    \r\n", - "it. They were indeed a happy couple, with each future prospect
    \r\n", - "golden of fortune's sunshine. Did we describe in detail the reign of
    \r\n", - "happiness portended on the bright day of that nuptial ceremony, how
    \r\n", - "many would recognise the gay figures of those who enlivened the
    \r\n", - "scene-how deceptive would seem the fair face of events-how obscured
    \r\n", - "would be presented the life of a slave in this our world of
    \r\n", - "freedom-how false that democracy so boastful of its even-handed
    \r\n", - "rule!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Two years have rolled into the past, since Montague led the fair
    \r\n", - "Sylvia to the altar. Pringle Blowers has pocketed the loss of his
    \r\n", - "beauty, the happy couple have lost all thought of slavery, and a
    \r\n", - "little responsibility coming in due time adds to make their
    \r\n", - "happiness complete. Now the house to which Montague was connected in
    \r\n", - "New York had an agent in New Orleans; which agent was his brother.
    \r\n", - "In the course of time, then, and as the avenues of business
    \r\n", - "expanded, was it deemed necessary to establish a branch house at
    \r\n", - "Memphis, the affairs of which it was agreed should be conducted by
    \r\n", - "Montague. To this new scene of life my reader will please suppose
    \r\n", - "our happy couple, having journeyed by railroad to Cincinnatti, and
    \r\n", - "with hearts gladdened of hope for the future, now gliding down that
    \r\n", - "river of gorgeous banks, on board the good steamer bearing its name.
    \r\n", - "As our young mother again enters the atmosphere of slavery,
    \r\n", - "misgivings force themselves irresistibly upon her feelings. The very
    \r\n", - "face of nature wears a sluggish air; the fresh, bright offspring of
    \r\n", - "northern energy, so forcibly illustrated in the many cheerful
    \r\n", - "looking villages here and there dotting its free soil, is nowhere to
    \r\n", - "be seen,--society again puts forth its blighting distinctions: there
    \r\n", - "is the man-owner's iron deportment contrasting with the abjectness
    \r\n", - "of his slave: forcibly does the change recall scenes of the past.
    \r\n", - "But, with the certain satisfaction that no one will recognize the
    \r\n", - "slave in her, do those misgivings give way to the happier
    \r\n", - "contemplation of her new home affording the means of extending a
    \r\n", - "succouring hand to some poor mortal, suffering in that condition of
    \r\n", - "life through which she herself has passed.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "After a pleasant passage, then, do we find them comfortably settled
    \r\n", - "in Memphis, that city of notorious character, where the venerable
    \r\n", - "Lynch presides judge over all state cases, and administers summary
    \r\n", - "justice according to the most independent of bar rules. Montague
    \r\n", - "pursues the ordinary routine of a flourishing business, and moves
    \r\n", - "among the very best society of the little fashionable world; with
    \r\n", - "which his Sylvia, being the fair belle of the place, is not only a
    \r\n", - "great favourite, but much sought after and caressed. Gentle as a
    \r\n", - "slave, so was she an affectionate mother and dutiful wife. Some
    \r\n", - "twelve months passed pleasantly at their new home, when there came
    \r\n", - "to the city a Jew of the name of Salamons Finch. This Finch, who was
    \r\n", - "\"runner\" to a commercial firm in the city of Charleston (he was lank
    \r\n", - "of person, with sallow, craven features), knew Annette when but a
    \r\n", - "child. Indeed, he was a clerk of Graspum when that gentleman sold
    \r\n", - "the fair slave to Gurdoin Choicewest; in addition to which he had
    \r\n", - "apartments at Lady Tuttlewell's most fashionable house, where the
    \r\n", - "little doll-like thing used to be so sprightly in waiting at table.
    \r\n", - "The quick eye of this harpy, as may readily be supposed, was not
    \r\n", - "long in detecting the person of Annette the slave in our fair
    \r\n", - "mother; which grand discovery he as soon communicated to Montague,
    \r\n", - "pluming himself a generous fellow for being first to disclose what
    \r\n", - "he supposed a valuable secret. Indeed, such was the force of
    \r\n", - "association on this fellow, that he could not bring his mind to
    \r\n", - "believe such a match possible, unless the fair fugitive (of the
    \r\n", - "circumstances of whose escape he was well posted) had, by the
    \r\n", - "exercise of strategy, imposed herself on the gentleman. The reader
    \r\n", - "may easily picture to himself the contempt in which Montague held
    \r\n", - "the fellow's generous expos�; but he as readily became sensible of
    \r\n", - "the nature of the recognition, and of its placing him in a dangerous
    \r\n", - "position. At first he thought of sending his wife and child
    \r\n", - "immediately to her mother, in Nassau; but having intimations from
    \r\n", - "the fellow that the matter might be reconciled with golden eagles,
    \r\n", - "he chose rather to adopt that plan of procuring peace and quietness.
    \r\n", - "With a goodly number of these gold eagles, then, did he from time to
    \r\n", - "time purchase the knave's secrecy; but, with that singular
    \r\n", - "propensity so characteristic of the race, was he soon found making
    \r\n", - "improper advances to the wife of the man whose money he received for
    \r\n", - "keeping secret her early history. This so exasperated Montague, that
    \r\n", - "in addition to sealing the fellow's lips with the gold coin, he
    \r\n", - "threatened his back with stripes of the raw hide, in payment of his
    \r\n", - "insolence. Albeit, nothing but the fear of exposure, the
    \r\n", - "consequences of which must prove fatal, caused him to bear with pain
    \r\n", - "the insult while withholding payment of this well-merited debt. With
    \r\n", - "keen instincts, and a somewhat cultivated taste for the beautiful,
    \r\n", - "Finch might with becoming modesty have pleaded them in extenuation
    \r\n", - "of his conduct; but the truth was, he almost unconsciously found
    \r\n", - "himself deeply enamoured of the fair woman, without being able to
    \r\n", - "look upon her as a being elevated above that menial sphere his
    \r\n", - "vulgar mind conditioned for her when in slavery. Here, then, the
    \r\n", - "reader will more readily conceive than we can describe the grievous
    \r\n", - "annoyances our otherwise happy couple were subjected to; nor, if a
    \r\n", - "freeman's blood course in his veins, can he fail to picture the
    \r\n", - "punishment it so dearly merited. However, it came to pass that in
    \r\n", - "the course of a few months this fellow disappeared suddenly, and
    \r\n", - "nearly at the same time was Montague summoned to New Orleans to
    \r\n", - "direct some complicated affairs of his brother, who lay a victim to
    \r\n", - "that fearful scourge which so often devastates that city of balmy
    \r\n", - "breezes. After due preparations for an absence of some two months,
    \r\n", - "Montague set out on his journey; but had not been forty-eight hours
    \r\n", - "gone, when Finch again made his appearance, and taking advantage of
    \r\n", - "a husband's absence, pressed his advances with grossest insult,
    \r\n", - "threatening at the same time to convey information of the discovery
    \r\n", - "to Pringle Blowers. Successively did these importunities fail to
    \r\n", - "effect Mr. Finch's purpose; but he was of an indomitable temper, and
    \r\n", - "had strong faith in that maxim of his race, which may be transcribed
    \r\n", - "thus:--\"If one effort fail you, try another.\" To carry out this
    \r\n", - "principle, then, did Finch draw from the cunning inventive of his
    \r\n", - "brain a plan which he could not doubt for a moment would be
    \r\n", - "successful. The reader may blush while we record the fact, of Finch,
    \r\n", - "deeming a partner necessary to the gaining his purpose, finding a
    \r\n", - "willing accomplice in one of Montague's clerks, to whom he disclosed
    \r\n", - "the secret of the fair woman being nothing more than a fugitive
    \r\n", - "slave, whose shame they would share if the plan proved successful.
    \r\n", - "This ingenious plan, so old that none but a fellow of this stamp
    \r\n", - "would have adopted it, was nothing more than the intercepting by the
    \r\n", - "aid of the clerk all Montague's letters to his wife. By this they
    \r\n", - "came in possession of the nature of his family affairs; and after
    \r\n", - "permitting the receipt of two letters by Sylvia, possessed
    \r\n", - "themselves of her answers that they might be the better able to
    \r\n", - "carry out the evil of their scheme. After sufficient time had
    \r\n", - "passed, did Sylvia receive a letter, duly posted at New Orleans,
    \r\n", - "purporting to have been written by a clerk in the employ of the
    \r\n", - "firm, and informing her, having acknowledged becomingly the receipt
    \r\n", - "of her letter, that Montague had been seized with the epidemic, and
    \r\n", - "now lay in a precarious state. Much concerned was she at the painful
    \r\n", - "intelligence; but she almost as soon found consolation in the
    \r\n", - "assurances of the clerk who brought her the letter, and, to
    \r\n", - "strengthen his own cause, told her he had seen a captain just
    \r\n", - "arrived up, who had met her husband a day after the date of the
    \r\n", - "letter, quite well. Indeed, this was necessary to that functionary's
    \r\n", - "next move, for he was the conspirator of Finch, and the author of
    \r\n", - "the letter which had caused so much sadness to the woman who now
    \r\n", - "sought his advice. In suspense did the anxious woman wait the coming
    \r\n", - "tidings of her affectionate husband: alas! in a few days was the sad
    \r\n", - "news of his death by the fatal scourge brought to her in an envelope
    \r\n", - "with broad black border and appropriate seal. Overwhelmed with
    \r\n", - "grief, the good woman read the letter, describing her Montague to
    \r\n", - "have died happy, as the conspirator looked on with indifference. The
    \r\n", - "confidential clerk of the firm had again performed a painful and
    \r\n", - "unexpected duty. The good man died, said he, invoking a blessing on
    \r\n", - "the head of his child, and asking heaven to protect his wife; to
    \r\n", - "which he would add, that the affairs of the house were in the worst
    \r\n", - "possible condition, there not being assets to pay a fraction of the
    \r\n", - "debts. And here we would beg the reader to use his imagination, and
    \r\n", - "save us the description of much that followed. Not all their threats
    \r\n", - "nor persuasions, however, could induce her to yield to their
    \r\n", - "designs; defiantly did she repulse the advances of the crawling
    \r\n", - "Finch; nobly did she spurn his persuasions; firmly did she, heedless
    \r\n", - "of his threat to acquaint Pringle Blowers of her whereabouts, bid
    \r\n", - "him be gone from her door. The fellow did go, grievously
    \r\n", - "disappointed; and, whether from malice or mercenary motives we will
    \r\n", - "not charge, sought and obtained from Pringle Blowers, in exchange
    \r\n", - "for his valuable discovery, a promise of the original reward.
    \r\n", - "Shudder not, reader, while we tell it! It was not many days ere the
    \r\n", - "notorious Blowers set out for Memphis, recovered his lost property,
    \r\n", - "who, like a lamb panting in the grasp of a pursuing wolf, was, with
    \r\n", - "her young child, dragged back, a wretch, into the melancholy waste
    \r\n", - "of slavery. Long and loudly was the grand discovery resounded
    \r\n", - "through the little world of Memphis; not in sympathy for the slave,
    \r\n", - "for many hearts were made glad with joy over what the fashionable
    \r\n", - "were pleased to term a fortunate disclosure and a happy removal.
    \r\n", - "Many very grave gentlemen said the miscreant who dared impose a
    \r\n", - "slave on society, well merited punishment at the hands of the
    \r\n", - "venerable Lynch,--a judge of that city whose celebrity is almost
    \r\n", - "world wide.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER LIII.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "A FAMILIAR SCENE, IN WHICH PRINGLE BLOWERS HAS BUSINESS.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "OF a bright morning, not many days after Pringle Blowers returned
    \r\n", - "with his fair slave to Charleston (which said slave he would not
    \r\n", - "sell for gold), there sat on a little bench at the entrance gate of
    \r\n", - "the \"upper workhouse,\" the brusque figure of a man, whose coarse and
    \r\n", - "firmly knit frame, to which were added hard and weather-stained
    \r\n", - "features, indicated his having seen some fifty summers. But, if he
    \r\n", - "was brusque of figure and coarse of deportment, he had a good soft
    \r\n", - "heart in the right place; nor did he fail to exercise its virtues
    \r\n", - "while pursuing the duties of a repulsive profession; albeit, he was
    \r\n", - "keeper of the establishment, and superintended all punishments.
    \r\n", - "Leisurely he smoked of a black pipe; and with shirt sleeves rolled
    \r\n", - "up, a grey felt hat almost covering his dark, flashing eyes, and his
    \r\n", - "arms easily folded, did he seem contemplating the calm loveliness of
    \r\n", - "morning. Now he exhaled the curling fume, then scanned away over the
    \r\n", - "bright landscape to the east, and again cast curious glances up and
    \r\n", - "down the broad road stretching in front of his prison to the north
    \r\n", - "and south. It was not long before a carriage and pair appeared on
    \r\n", - "the hill to the south, advancing at a slow pace towards the city.
    \r\n", - "The keeper's keen eye rested upon it intently, as it neared, bearing
    \r\n", - "in a back seat what seemed to be a lady fine of figure and
    \r\n", - "deportment; while on the front drove a figure of great rotundity,
    \r\n", - "the broad, full face shining out like a ripe pumpkin in a sun
    \r\n", - "shower. \"It's Pringle Blowers, I do believe in my soul! but it's
    \r\n", - "seeming strange how he's got a lady to ride with him,\" mused the
    \r\n", - "man, who, still watching the approach, had quite forgotten the
    \r\n", - "escape of the fair slave. The man was not mistaken, for as he
    \r\n", - "touched his hat, on the carriage arriving opposite the gate, it
    \r\n", - "halted, and there, sure enough, was our valiant democrat, who,
    \r\n", - "placing his whip in the socket, crooked his finger and beckoned the
    \r\n", - "keeper. \"Broadman!\" said he, (for that was the man's name) \"I'ze a
    \r\n", - "bit of something in your way of business this morning.\" The honest
    \r\n", - "functionary, with seeming surprise, again touching his hat as he
    \r\n", - "approached the vehicle, replied: \"Your servant, sir!\" Blowers
    \r\n", - "motioned his hand to the woman, whose tears were now, to Broadman's
    \r\n", - "surprise, seen coursing down her pale cheeks. To use a vulgar
    \r\n", - "phrase, Broadman was entirely \"taken aback\" by the singularity of
    \r\n", - "Blowers' manner; for the woman, whose dress and deportment the
    \r\n", - "honest man conceived to be nothing less than that of a lady of one
    \r\n", - "of the \"first families,\" obeying the motion, began to descend from
    \r\n", - "the carriage. \"Now, Broadman,\" continued Blowers, arranging his
    \r\n", - "reins, and with clumsy air making his descent over the fore wheels,
    \r\n", - "\"take that 'ar wench o' mine, and, by the State's custom, give her
    \r\n", - "the extent of the law, well laid on.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "The author here writes the incident as given by the prison-keeper.
    \r\n", - "The man hesitated, as if doubting his senses; rather would he have
    \r\n", - "been courteous to what he still viewed as a lady, than extend his
    \r\n", - "rude hand to lead her away.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Pardon me, Sir! but you cannot mean what you say,\" nervously spoke
    \r\n", - "the man, as in doubt he exchanged glances first with the fair woman
    \r\n", - "and then with Blowers. \"I means just what I says,\" returned that
    \r\n", - "gentleman, peremptorily; \"you'ze hearn o' that 'un afore. She's a
    \r\n", - "nigger o' mine, what runned away more nor six years ago; come, do
    \r\n", - "the job for her, and no fussing over't.\" \"Nigger!\" interrupted the
    \r\n", - "man, in surprise. \"Yes!\" rejoined Blowers, emphasising his assurance
    \r\n", - "with oaths, of which he had a never-failing supply, \"that's the
    \r\n", - "cussed white nigger what's gin me all the bother. The whiter niggers
    \r\n", - "is, the more devil's in em; and that ar' one's got devil enough for
    \r\n", - "a whole plantation; 'tisn't the licks I cares about, but it's the
    \r\n", - "humblin' on her feelings by being punished in the workhouse!\" The
    \r\n", - "man of duty was now brought to his senses, when, seeing Blowers was
    \r\n", - "inclined to relieve his anger on what he was pleased to consider the
    \r\n", - "stupidity of a keeper, he took the weeping but resolute woman by the
    \r\n", - "arm, and called a negro attendant, into whose charge he handed her,
    \r\n", - "with an order to \"put her in the slings.\" Soon she disappeared
    \r\n", - "within the gate, following the mulatto man. And here we will again
    \r\n", - "spare the reader's feelings, by omitting much that followed. Blowers
    \r\n", - "and Broadman follow the hapless woman, as she proceeds through a
    \r\n", - "narrow passage leading to the punishment room, and when about half
    \r\n", - "way to that place of torture, a small, square door opens on the
    \r\n", - "right, into a dingy office, the keeper says is where he keeps his
    \r\n", - "accounts with the State, which derives a large revenue from the
    \r\n", - "punishments. Into this does the worthy man invite his patron, whom
    \r\n", - "he would have be seated while the criminal is got \"all right\" in the
    \r\n", - "slings. Fain would Blowers go and attend the business himself; but
    \r\n", - "Broadman saying \"that cannot be,\" he draws from his pocket a small
    \r\n", - "flask, and, seemingly contented, invites him to join in \"somethin\"
    \r\n", - "he says is the very choicest. Broadman has no objection to
    \r\n", - "encouraging this evidence of good feeling, which he will take
    \r\n", - "advantage of to introduce the dialogue that follows. \"Good sir,\"
    \r\n", - "says he, \"you will pardon what I am about to say, for indeed I feel
    \r\n", - "the weakness of my position when addressing you, fortune having made
    \r\n", - "a wide distinction between us; but judge me not because I am coarse
    \r\n", - "of flesh, nor have polished manners, for I have a heart that feels
    \r\n", - "for the unfortunate.\" Here Blowers interrupted the keeper by saying
    \r\n", - "he would hear no chicken-hearted interpositions. \"Remember, keeper,\"
    \r\n", - "he added, \"you must not presume on the small familiarity I have
    \r\n", - "condescended to admit in drinking with you. I hold no controversies
    \r\n", - "with prison-keepers (again he gulps his brandy) or their subs; being
    \r\n", - "a servant of the state, I order you to give that wench the extent of
    \r\n", - "the law. She shall disclose the secret of her escape, or I'll have
    \r\n", - "her life; I'm a man what won't stand no nonsense, I am!\" The keeper,
    \r\n", - "rejoining, hopes he will pardon the seeming presumption; but,
    \r\n", - "forsooth, notwithstanding necessity has driven him to seek a
    \r\n", - "livelihood in his repulsive occupation, there is a duty of the heart
    \r\n", - "he cannot betray, though the bread of his maintenance be taken from
    \r\n", - "him. Blowers again assumes his dignity, rises from his seat, scowls
    \r\n", - "significantly at the keeper, and says he will go put through the
    \r\n", - "business with his own hands. \"Good friend,\" says Broadman, arresting
    \r\n", - "Blowers' progress, \"by the state's ruling you are my patron;
    \r\n", - "nevertheless, within these walls I am master, and whatever you may
    \r\n", - "bring here for punishment shall have the benefit of my discretion. I
    \r\n", - "loathe the law that forces me to, in such cases, overrule the admo-
    \r\n", - "nitions of my heart. I, sir, am low of this world,--good! but, in
    \r\n", - "regret do I say it, I have by a slave mother two fair daughters, who
    \r\n", - "in the very core of my heart I love; nor would I, imitating the
    \r\n", - "baser examples of our aristocracy, sell them hapless outcasts for
    \r\n", - "life.\" Here Blowers again interrupted by allowing his passion to
    \r\n", - "manifest itself in a few very fashionable oaths; to which he added,
    \r\n", - "that he (pacing the room several times) would no longer give ear to
    \r\n", - "such nonsense from a man of Broadman's position,--which was neither
    \r\n", - "socially nor politically grand. \"No doubt, good sir, my humble and
    \r\n", - "somewhat repulsive calling does not meet your distinguished
    \r\n", - "consideration; but I am, nevertheless, a man. And what I was about
    \r\n", - "to say-I hope you will grant me a hearing-was, that having these two
    \r\n", - "daughters-poverty only prevents my purchasing them-has made me
    \r\n", - "sensible of these slaves having delicate textures. The unhappy
    \r\n", - "possession of these daughters has caused me to reflect-to study
    \r\n", - "constitutions, and their capacity to endure punishments. The woman
    \r\n", - "it has pleased you to bring here for chastisement, I take it, is not
    \r\n", - "coarse of flesh; but is one of those unfortunates whom kindness
    \r\n", - "might reform, while the lash never fails to destroy. Why, then, not
    \r\n", - "consider her in the light of a friendless wretch, whom it were
    \r\n", - "better to save, than sink in shame? One word more and I am done\"
    \r\n", - "(Blowers was about to cut short the conversation); \"the extent of
    \r\n", - "the law being nothing less than twenty blows of the paddle, is most
    \r\n", - "severe punishment for a woman of fine flesh to withstand on her
    \r\n", - "naked loins. Nor, let me say-and here I speak from twelve years'
    \r\n", - "experience-can the lady-I beg pardon, the slave you bring me!-bear
    \r\n", - "these blows: no, my lips never spoke truer when I say she'll quiver
    \r\n", - "and sink in spasms ere the second blow is laid on.\" Here-some twenty
    \r\n", - "minutes having passed since the fair slave was led into the
    \r\n", - "punishment room-Blowers cut short the conversation which had failed
    \r\n", - "to thaw his resolution, by saying Broadman had bored his ears in
    \r\n", - "spinning out his long song, and if he were unwilling to fulfil the
    \r\n", - "duties of his office, such should be reported to the authorities,
    \r\n", - "who would not permit workhouse-keepers so to modify their ordnances
    \r\n", - "that black and white niggers have different punishments. \"Nay, sir!\"
    \r\n", - "says the honest man, with an air of earnestness, as he rises from
    \r\n", - "his seat; \"follow me, and with the reality will I prove the truth of
    \r\n", - "my words.\" Here he proceeds to that place of torments, the
    \r\n", - "punishment-room, followed by Blowers; who says, with singular
    \r\n", - "indifference-\"Can do the job in five minutes; then I'll leave her
    \r\n", - "with you for two, three, or four days or so. Then if she's civilly
    \r\n", - "humbled down, I'll send my nigger fellow, Joe, with an order for
    \r\n", - "her. Joe'll be the fellow's name; now, mind that: but you know my
    \r\n", - "Joe, I reckon?\" The keeper led the way, but made no reply; for
    \r\n", - "indeed he knew nothing of his Joe, there being innumerable niggers
    \r\n", - "of that name. As the men left the little office, and were sauntering
    \r\n", - "up the passage, our worthy friend Rosebrook might be seen entering
    \r\n", - "in search of Broadman; when, discovering Blowers in his company, and
    \r\n", - "hearing the significant words, he shot into a niche, unobserved by
    \r\n", - "them, and calling a negro attendant, learned the nature of his
    \r\n", - "visit. And here it becomes necessary that we discover to the reader
    \r\n", - "the fact of Rosebrook having been apprised of the forlorn woman's
    \r\n", - "return, and her perilous position in the hands of Pringle Blowers;
    \r\n", - "and, further, that the communication was effected by the negro man
    \r\n", - "Pompe, who we have before described in connection with Montague at
    \r\n", - "the time of his landing from the witch-like schooner. This Pompe was
    \r\n", - "sold to Blowers but a few months before Annette's recovery, and
    \r\n", - "acting upon the force of that sympathy which exists among fellow
    \r\n", - "slaves of a plantation, soon renewed old acquaintance, gained her
    \r\n", - "confidence, and, cunningly eluding the owner's watchfulness,
    \r\n", - "conveyed for her a letter to the Rosebrooks. In truth, Pompe had an
    \r\n", - "inveterate hatred of Blowers, and under the incitement would not
    \r\n", - "have hesitated to stake his life in defence of the fair woman. Now,
    \r\n", - "the exacting reader may question Rosebrook's intrepidity in not
    \r\n", - "proceeding at once to the rescue of the victim; but when we say that
    \r\n", - "he was ignorant of the positive order given the keeper, and only
    \r\n", - "caught distinctly the words-\"I'll send my nigger fellow, Joe, with
    \r\n", - "an order for her!\" they may discover an excuse for his hastily
    \r\n", - "withdrawing from the establishment. Indeed, that my reader may
    \r\n", - "withhold his censure, it may be well to add that he did this in
    \r\n", - "order to devise more strategical means of effecting her escape.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now, ye who have nerves-let them not be shaken; let not your
    \r\n", - "emotions rise, ye who have souls, and love the blessings of liberty;
    \r\n", - "let not mothers nor fathers weep over democracy's wrongs; nor let
    \r\n", - "man charge us with picturing the horrors of a black romance when we
    \r\n", - "introduce the spectacle in the room of punishments: such, be it
    \r\n", - "known, is not our business, nor would we trifle unjustly with the
    \r\n", - "errors of society; but, if chivalry have blushes, we do not object
    \r\n", - "to their being used here. The keeper, followed by Blowers, enters a
    \r\n", - "small room at the further end of the passage. It is some sixteen
    \r\n", - "feet long by twelve wide, and proportionately high of ceiling. The
    \r\n", - "pale light of a tallow candle, suspended from the ceiling by a wire,
    \r\n", - "and from which large flakes of the melted grease lay cone-like on
    \r\n", - "the pine floor, discloses the gloom, and discovers hanging from the
    \r\n", - "walls, grim with smoke, sundry curious caps, cords, leathern cats,
    \r\n", - "and the more improved paddles of wood, with flat blades. The very
    \r\n", - "gloom of the place might excite the timid; but the reflection of how
    \r\n", - "many tortures it has been the scene, and the mysterious stillness
    \r\n", - "pervading its singularly decorated walls, add still more to increase
    \r\n", - "apprehension. A plank, some two feet wide, and raised a few inches,
    \r\n", - "stretches across the floor, and is secured at each end with cleets.
    \r\n", - "About midway of this are ropes securing the victim's feet; and
    \r\n", - "through the dim light is disclosed the half nude body of our fair
    \r\n", - "girl, suspended by the wrists, which are clasped in bands of cord,
    \r\n", - "that, being further secured to a pulley block, is hauled taut by a
    \r\n", - "tackle. Suddenly the wretched woman gives vent to her feelings, and
    \r\n", - "in paroxysms of grief sways her poor body to and fro, imploring
    \r\n", - "mercy! \"Nay, master! think that I am a woman-that I have a heart to
    \r\n", - "feel and bleed; that I am a mother and a wife, though a slave. Let
    \r\n", - "your deeds be done quickly, or end me and save me this shame!\" she
    \r\n", - "supplicates, as the bitter, burning anguish of her goaded soul gives
    \r\n", - "out its flood of sorrow. Chivalry, forsooth, lies cold and
    \r\n", - "unmoved-Blowers has no relish for such inconsistency;--such whinings,
    \r\n", - "he says, will not serve southern principles. The mulatto attendant
    \r\n", - "has secured the fall, and stands a few feet behind Blowers and the
    \r\n", - "keeper, as that functionary says, laying his coarse hands on the
    \r\n", - "woman's loins, \"How silky!\" The mulatto man shakes his head,
    \r\n", - "revengefully, making a grimace, as Broadman, having selected the
    \r\n", - "smallest paddle (reminding us of the curious sympathy now budding
    \r\n", - "between the autocratic knout and democratic lash) again addresses
    \r\n", - "Blowers. \"I doubt, sir,\" he says, \"if the woman stand a blow.
    \r\n", - "Necessity 's a hard master, sir; and in this very act is the test
    \r\n", - "more trying than I have ever known it. I dissemble myself when I see
    \r\n", - "a wretch of fine flesh-a woman with tender senses, in distress, and
    \r\n", - "I am made the instrument of adding to her suffering. Indeed, sir,
    \r\n", - "when I contemplate the cause of such wretchedness, and the poverty
    \r\n", - "forcing me to remain in this situation, no imagination can represent
    \r\n", - "the horror of my feelings.\"
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"We have no demand on your feelings, my man! we want your duty-what
    \r\n", - "the state put you here to perform,\" interrupted Blowers, placing his
    \r\n", - "thumbs in his vest, and making a step backward. Another second, and
    \r\n", - "the attendant lighted a hand-lamp,--a sharp, slapping blow was heard,
    \r\n", - "a death-like shriek followed; the flesh quivered and contracted into
    \r\n", - "a discoloured and inflamed pustule; the body writhed a few seconds
    \r\n", - "in convulsive spasms; a low moaning followed, and that fair form
    \r\n", - "hung swooning in the slings, as the keeper, in fright, cried out, at
    \r\n", - "the top of his voice, to the attendant--\"Lower away the fall!\" As if
    \r\n", - "the fiend had not yet gratified his passion, no sooner was the
    \r\n", - "seemingly lifeless body lowered clumsily to the floor, than he
    \r\n", - "grasped the weapon from Broadman's hand, and like a tiger seeking
    \r\n", - "its banquet of flesh, was about to administer a second blow. But
    \r\n", - "Broadman had a good heart, the admonitions of which soared high
    \r\n", - "above the state's mandate: seizing Blowers in his arms, he ejected
    \r\n", - "him from the door, ran back to the prostrate woman, released her
    \r\n", - "bruised limbs from the fastenings, gathered her to his arms; and
    \r\n", - "with nervous hands and anxious face did he draw from his pocket the
    \r\n", - "well-timed hartshorn, by the application of which he sought to
    \r\n", - "restore her, as the mulatto man stood by, bathing her temples with
    \r\n", - "cold water. \"Ah! shame on the thing called a man who could abuse a
    \r\n", - "sweet creature of fine flesh, like thee! it's not many has such a
    \r\n", - "pretty sweet face,\" says Broadman, with an air of compassion,
    \r\n", - "resting her shoulder against his bended knee as he encircles it with
    \r\n", - "his left arm, and looks upon the pale features, tears glistening in
    \r\n", - "his honest eyes. We might say with Broadman--\"It's not the finest,
    \r\n", - "nor the polished of flesh, that hath the softest hearts.\" But,
    \r\n", - "reader, having performed our duty, let us drop the curtain over this
    \r\n", - "sad but true scene; and when you have conjectured the third and
    \r\n", - "fourth acts of the drama, join with us in hoping the chivalry of our
    \r\n", - "State may yet awake to a sense of its position, that, when we again
    \r\n", - "raise it, a pleasanter prospect may be presented.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER LIV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH ARE DISCOVERIES AND PLEASANT SCENES.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "ST. PATRICK'S night closed the day on which the scenes of the
    \r\n", - "foregoing chapter were enacted; and that patron saint being of
    \r\n", - "aristocratic descent, which caused him to be held in high esteem by
    \r\n", - "our \"very first families,\" than among whom better admirers could
    \r\n", - "nowhere be found, his anniversary was sure to be celebrated with
    \r\n", - "much feasting and drinking. But while this homage to the good saint
    \r\n", - "made glad the hearts of thousands-while the city seemed radiant of
    \r\n", - "joy, and reeling men from Hibernia's gorgeous hall found in him an
    \r\n", - "excuse for their revelries--there sat in the box of a caf�, situated
    \r\n", - "on the west side of Meeting Street, two men who seemed to have a
    \r\n", - "deeper interest at heart than that of the Saint's joy on his road to
    \r\n", - "paradise. The one was a shortish man, coarse of figure, and whose
    \r\n", - "browned features and figured hands bespoke him a sailor; the other
    \r\n", - "was delicate of figure, with pale, careworn countenance and nervous
    \r\n", - "demeanour. Upon the marble slab, on which they rested their elbows,
    \r\n", - "sat a bottle of old Madeira, from which they sipped leisurely, now
    \r\n", - "and then modulating their conversation into whispers. Then the man
    \r\n", - "of brown features spoke out more at ease, as if they had concluded
    \r\n", - "the preliminaries of some important business.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Well, well,--now isn't that strange?\" said he, sighing as he spread
    \r\n", - "his brawny hands upon the white marble. \"Natur's a curious mystery,
    \r\n", - "though\" (he looked intently at the other): \"why, more nor twenty
    \r\n", - "years have rolled over since I did that bit of a good turn, and here
    \r\n", - "I is the very same old Jack Hardweather, skipper of the Maggy Bell.
    \r\n", - "But for all that--and I'd have folks know it!--the Maggy's as trim a
    \r\n", - "little craft as ever lay to on a sou'-easter; and she can show as
    \r\n", - "clean a pair of heels as any other--barring her old top timbers
    \r\n", - "complain now and then--to the best cutter as ever shook Uncle Sam's
    \r\n", - "rags.\" His hard features softened, as in the earnest of his heart he
    \r\n", - "spoke. He extended his hand across the table, grasping firmly that
    \r\n", - "of his nervous friend, and continued--\"And it was no other witch
    \r\n", - "than the taunt Maggy Bell that landed that good woman safe on the
    \r\n", - "free sands of old Bahama!\" The Maggy, he tells the other, is now at
    \r\n", - "the wharf, where the good wife, Molly Hardweather, keeps ship while
    \r\n", - "the boys take a turn ashore.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"There's always a wise provision to relieve one's feelings when
    \r\n", - "sorrow comes unexpectedly,\" returns the nervous man, his hand
    \r\n", - "trembling as he draws forth the money to pay the waiter who answered
    \r\n", - "his call.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Yes!\" quickly rejoined the other, \"but keep up a good heart, like a
    \r\n", - "sailor hard upon a lee shore, and all 'll be bright and sunny in a
    \r\n", - "day or two. And now we'll just make a tack down the bay-street-and
    \r\n", - "sight the Maggy. There's a small drop of somethin' in the locker,
    \r\n", - "that'll help to keep up yer spirits, I reckon--a body's spirits has
    \r\n", - "to be tautened now and then, as ye do a bobstay,--and the wife (she's
    \r\n", - "a good sort of a body, though I say it) will do the best she can in
    \r\n", - "her hard way to make ye less troubled at heart. Molly Hardweather
    \r\n", - "has had some hard ups and downs in life, knows well the cares of a
    \r\n", - "mother, and has had twins twice; yes\"-adds the hardy seafarer-\"we
    \r\n", - "arn't polished folks, nor high of blood, but we've got hearts, and
    \r\n", - "as every true heart hates slavery, so do we, though we are forced to
    \r\n", - "dissemble our real feelings for the sake of peace in the trade.\"
    \r\n", - "Here the delicate man took the sailor's arm, and sallied out to seek
    \r\n", - "the little Maggy Bell, the former saying the meeting was as strange
    \r\n", - "as grateful to his very soul. Down Market Street, shaded in
    \r\n", - "darkness, they wended their way, and after reaching the wharf,
    \r\n", - "passed along between long lines of cotton bales, piled eight and ten
    \r\n", - "feet high, to the end, where lay motionless the pretty Maggy Bell,
    \r\n", - "as clipper-like a craft as ever spread canvas. The light from the
    \r\n", - "cabin shed its faint gleams over the quarter-deck, as Hardweather
    \r\n", - "halted on the capsill, and with a sailor's pride run his quick black
    \r\n", - "eye along her pirate-like hull, then aloft along the rigging.
    \r\n", - "Exultingly, he says, \"She is the sauciest witch that ever faced sea
    \r\n", - "or showed a clean pair of heels. The Maggy Bell!\"-he pats his friend
    \r\n", - "on the shoulder-\"why, sir, she has-just between ourselves now-slided
    \r\n", - "many a poor slave off into freedom; but folks here don't think it of
    \r\n", - "me. Now, if I reckon right\"-he bites his tobacco, and extends it to
    \r\n", - "the stranger-\"and I believe I do, it's twenty years since the Maggy,
    \r\n", - "of one dark night, skimmed it by that point, with Fort Pinkney on
    \r\n", - "it, yonder, that good creature on board.\" He points to the murky
    \r\n", - "mass, scarce visible in the distance, to the east. \"And now she's
    \r\n", - "one of the noblest women that ever broke bread to the poor; and
    \r\n", - "she's right comfortable off, now,--alwa's has a smile, and a kind
    \r\n", - "word, and something good for old Jack Hardweather whenever she sees
    \r\n", - "him. Lord bless yer soul!\"-here he shakes his head earnestly, and
    \r\n", - "says he never was a lubber-\"Jack Hardweather didn't care about the
    \r\n", - "soft shot for his locker; it was my heart that felt the kindness.
    \r\n", - "Indeed, it always jumps and jerks like a bobstay in a head sea, when
    \r\n", - "I meets her. And then, when I thinks how 'twas me done the good
    \r\n", - "turn, and no thanks to nobody! You hearn of me 'afore, eh\" (he turns
    \r\n", - "to his companion, who measuredly answers in the affirmative). \"Well,
    \r\n", - "then, my name's Skipper Jack Hardweather, known all along the coast;
    \r\n", - "but, seeing how the world and navigation's got shortened down, they
    \r\n", - "call me old Jack Splitwater. I suppose it's by the way of
    \r\n", - "convenience, and so neither wife nor me have a bit of objection.\"
    \r\n", - "Here the conversation was interrupted by the good wife's round,
    \r\n", - "cheery face shooting suddenly from out the companion-way, and
    \r\n", - "enjoining our friend Jack to come away aboard, her high peaked cap
    \r\n", - "shining like snow on a dark surface. The truth was, that Splitwater,
    \r\n", - "as he was styled, had become so much absorbed in excitement as to
    \r\n", - "forget the length of his yarn. \"Come away, now!\" says the good wife,
    \r\n", - "\"everybody's left the Maggy to-night; and ther's na knowin' what 'd
    \r\n", - "a' become 'un her if a'h hadn't looked right sharp, for ther' wer' a
    \r\n", - "muckle ship a'mast run her dune; an' if she just had, the Maggy wad
    \r\n", - "na mar bene seen!\" The good wife shakes her head; her rich Scotch
    \r\n", - "tongue sounding on the still air, as with apprehension her chubby
    \r\n", - "face shines in the light of the candle she holds before it with her
    \r\n", - "right hand. Skipper Splitwater will see his friend on board, he
    \r\n", - "says, as they follow her down the companion-ladder. \"Wife thinks as
    \r\n", - "much of the Maggy-and would, I believe in my soul, cry her life out
    \r\n", - "if anything happened till her: wife's a good body aboard a ship, and
    \r\n", - "can take a trick at the wheel just as well as Harry Span the mate.\"
    \r\n", - "Skipper Splitwater leads the way into a little dingy cabin, a
    \r\n", - "partition running athwart ships dividing it into two apartments; the
    \r\n", - "former being where Skipper Hardweather \"sleeps his crew\" and cooks
    \r\n", - "his mess, the sternmost where he receives his friends. This latter
    \r\n", - "place, into which he conducts the nervous man, is lumbered with
    \r\n", - "boxes, chests, charts, camp-seats, log lines, and rusty quadrants,
    \r\n", - "and sundry marine relics which only the inveterate coaster could
    \r\n", - "conceive a use for. But the good wife Molly, whose canny face bears
    \r\n", - "the wrinkles of some forty summers, and whose round, short figure is
    \r\n", - "so simply set off with bright plaid frock and apron of gingham
    \r\n", - "check, in taste well adapted to her humble position, is as clean and
    \r\n", - "tidy as ever was picture of mine Vrow Vardenstein. Nevertheless,--we
    \r\n", - "know the reader will join us in the sentiment-that which gave the
    \r\n", - "air of domestic happiness a completeness hitherto unnoticed, was a
    \r\n", - "wee responsibility, as seen sprawling and kicking goodnaturedly on
    \r\n", - "the white pillow of the starboard berth, where its two peering eyes
    \r\n", - "shone forth as bright as new-polished pearls. The little darling is
    \r\n", - "just a year old, Dame Hardweather tells us; it's a twin,--the other
    \r\n", - "died, and, she knows full well, has gone to heaven. Here she takes
    \r\n", - "the little cherub in her lap, and having made her best courtesy as
    \r\n", - "Hardweather introduces her to his nervous friend, seats herself on
    \r\n", - "the locker, and commences suckling it, while he points to the very
    \r\n", - "place on the larboard side where Clotilda-\"Ah! I just caught the
    \r\n", - "name,\" he says,--used to sit and sorrow for her child. \"And then,\"
    \r\n", - "he continues, \"on the quarter-deck she'd go and give such longing
    \r\n", - "looks back, like as if she wanted to see it; and when she couldn't,
    \r\n", - "she'd turn away and sigh so. And this, Molly,\" he continues, \"is the
    \r\n", - "self-same child my friend here, who I am as happy to meet as a body
    \r\n", - "can be, wants me to carry off from these wolves of slavery; and if I
    \r\n", - "don't, then my name's not Jack Splitwater!\" So saying, he bustles
    \r\n", - "about, tells the nervous man he must excuse the want of finery, that
    \r\n", - "he has been a hard coaster for God knows how many years, and the
    \r\n", - "little place is all he can afford; for indeed he is poor, but
    \r\n", - "expects a better place one of these days. Then he draws forth from a
    \r\n", - "little nook in the stern locker a bottle, which he says contains
    \r\n", - "pure stuff, and of which he invites his visitor to partake, that he
    \r\n", - "may keep up a good heart, still hoping for the best. The nervous man
    \r\n", - "declines his kind invitation,--he has too much at heart, and the
    \r\n", - "sight of the child so reminds him of his own now blighted in
    \r\n", - "slavery. The good woman now becoming deeply concerned, Hardweather
    \r\n", - "must needs recount the story, and explain the strange man's
    \r\n", - "troubles, which he does in simple language; but, as the yarn is
    \r\n", - "somewhat long, the reader must excuse our not transcribing it here.
    \r\n", - "With anxious face and listening ears did the woman absorb every
    \r\n", - "word; and when the earnest skipper concluded with grasping firmly
    \r\n", - "the man's hand, and saying-\"Just you scheme the strategy, and if I
    \r\n", - "don't carry it out my name aint Jack Hardweather!\" would she fain
    \r\n", - "have had him go on. \"Lack a day, good man!\" she rejoined, fondling
    \r\n", - "closer to her bosom the little suckling; \"get ye the wee bairn and
    \r\n", - "bring it hither, and I'll mak it t'uther twin-na body'll kno't! and
    \r\n", - "da ye ken hoo ye may mak the bonny wife sik a body that nane but
    \r\n", - "foxes wad ken her. Just mak her a brae young sailor, and the Maggy
    \r\n", - "Bell 'll do the rest on't.\" Hardweather here interrupted Molly's
    \r\n", - "suggestion which was, indeed, most fortunate, and albeit supplied
    \r\n", - "the initiative to the strategy afterwards adopted-for slavery opens
    \r\n", - "wide the field of strategy-by reminding the stranger that she had a
    \r\n", - "long Scotch head. The night had now well advanced; the stranger
    \r\n", - "shook the woman's hand firmly, and bade her good night, as a tear
    \r\n", - "gushed into his eyes. The scene was indeed simple, but touching. The
    \r\n", - "hard mariner will accompany his friend to the wharf; and then as he
    \r\n", - "again turns on the capsill, he cannot bid him good night without
    \r\n", - "adding a few words more in praise of the little Maggy Bell, whose
    \r\n", - "name is inscribed in gilt letters upon the flash-board of her stern.
    \r\n", - "Holding his hand, he says: \"Now, keep the heart up right! and in a
    \r\n", - "day or two we'll have all aboard, and be in the stream waiting for a
    \r\n", - "fair breeze-then the Maggy 'll play her part. Bless yer soul! the
    \r\n", - "little craft and me's coasted down the coast nobody knows how many
    \r\n", - "years; and she knows every nook, creek, reef, and point, just as
    \r\n", - "well as I does. Just give her a double-reefed mainsail, and the lug
    \r\n", - "of a standing jib, and in my soul I believe she'd make the passage
    \r\n", - "without compass, chart, or a hand aboard. By the word of an old
    \r\n", - "sailor, such a craft is the Maggy Bell. And when the Spanish and
    \r\n", - "English and French all got mixed up about who owned Florida, the
    \r\n", - "Maggy and me's coasted along them keys when, blowing a screecher,
    \r\n", - "them Ingins' balls flew so, a body had to hold the hair on his head;
    \r\n", - "but never a bit did the Maggy mind it.\" The stranger's heart was too
    \r\n", - "full of cares to respond to the generous man's simplicity; shaking
    \r\n", - "his hand fervently, he bid him good night, and disappeared up the
    \r\n", - "wharf.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "We apprehend little difficulty to the reader in discovering the
    \r\n", - "person of Montague in our nervous man, who, in the absence of
    \r\n", - "intelligence from his wife, was led to suspect some foul play. Nor
    \r\n", - "were his suspicions unfounded; for, on returning to Memphis, which
    \r\n", - "he did in great haste, he found his home desolate, his wife and
    \r\n", - "child borne back into slavery, and himself threatened with Lynch
    \r\n", - "law. The grief which threatened to overwhelm him at finding those he
    \r\n", - "so dearly loved hurled back into bondage, was not enough to appease
    \r\n", - "a community tenacious of its colour. No! he must leave his business,
    \r\n", - "until the arrival of some one from New York, to the clerk who so
    \r\n", - "perfidiously betrayed him. With sickened heart, then, does he-only
    \r\n", - "too glad to escape the fury of an unreasoning mob-seek that place of
    \r\n", - "bondage into which the captives have been carried; nay, more, he
    \r\n", - "left the excited little world (reporting his destination to be New
    \r\n", - "York) fully resolved to rescue them at the hazard of his life, and
    \r\n", - "for ever leave the country. Scarcely necessary then, will it be for
    \r\n", - "us to inform the reader, that, having sought out the Rosebrooks, he
    \r\n", - "has counselled their advice, and joined them in devising means of
    \r\n", - "relief. Blowers had declared, on his sacred honour, he would not
    \r\n", - "sell the captives for their weight in gold.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Rosebrook had no sooner received Annette's letter from the hand of
    \r\n", - "Pompe than he repaired to Blowers' plantation-as well to sound that
    \r\n", - "gentleman's disposition to sell his captives, as a necessary
    \r\n", - "precaution against the dangers he had incurred through his
    \r\n", - "participation in the fair girl's escape; for albeit the disclosure
    \r\n", - "might be extorted from her by cruelty. But Blowers was too much of a
    \r\n", - "gentleman to condescend to sell his captive; nor would he listen to
    \r\n", - "arguments in her behalf. Nevertheless, we will not underrate
    \r\n", - "Blowers' character, that the reader may suppose him devoid of
    \r\n", - "compassion; for-be it recorded to his fame-he did, on the morning
    \r\n", - "following that on which the punishment we have described in the
    \r\n", - "foregoing chapter took place, send the child, whose long and
    \r\n", - "piercing cries he could no longer endure, to the arms of its poor
    \r\n", - "disconsolate mother, whom he hoped would take good care of it.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "Now, let not the reader restrain his fancy, but imagine, if he can,
    \r\n", - "Pringle Blowers' disappointment and state of perturbation, when,
    \r\n", - "three days after the punishment, he presented himself at Broadman's
    \r\n", - "establishment, and was informed by that functionary that the fair
    \r\n", - "mother was non est. With honest face did Broadman assert his
    \r\n", - "ignorance of wrong. That he had not betrayed his duty he would
    \r\n", - "satisfy the enraged man, by producing the very order on which he
    \r\n", - "delivered them to Joe! \"Yes, Joe was his name!\" continues the honest
    \r\n", - "man; \"and he asserted his ownership, and told a straightforward
    \r\n", - "story, and didn't look roguish.\" He passes the order over to
    \r\n", - "Blowers, who, having examined it very cautiously, says: \"Forgery,
    \r\n", - "forgery!-'tis, by the Eternal!\" Turning his fat sides, he approaches
    \r\n", - "the window, and by the light reads each successive word. It is
    \r\n", - "written in a scrawl precisely like his own; but, forsooth, it cannot
    \r\n", - "be his. However, deeming it little becoming a man of his standing to
    \r\n", - "parley with Broadman, he quickly makes his exit, and, like a
    \r\n", - "locomotive at half speed, exhausting his perturbation the while,
    \r\n", - "does he seek his way into the city, where he discovers his loss to
    \r\n", - "the police. We have in another part of our history described Blowers
    \r\n", - "as something of a wag; indeed, waggery was not the least trait in
    \r\n", - "his curious character, nor was he at all cautious in the exercise of
    \r\n", - "it; and, upon the principle that those who give must take, did he
    \r\n", - "render himself a fit object for those who indulge in that sort of
    \r\n", - "pastime to level their wit upon. On this occasion, Blowers had not
    \r\n", - "spent many hours in the city ere he had all its convenient corners
    \r\n", - "very fantastically decorated with large blue placards, whereon was
    \r\n", - "inscribed the loss of his valuable woman, and the offer of the
    \r\n", - "increased sum of four hundred dollars for her apprehension. The
    \r\n", - "placards were wonderful curiosities, and very characteristic of
    \r\n", - "Blowers, who in this instance excited no small amount of merriment
    \r\n", - "among the city wags, each of whom cracked a joke at his expense. Now
    \r\n", - "it was not that those waggish spirits said of his placard things
    \r\n", - "exceedingly annoying to his sensitive feelings, but that every prig
    \r\n", - "made him the butt of his borrowed wit. One quizzed him with want of
    \r\n", - "gallantry,--another told him what the ladies said of his oss,--a third
    \r\n", - "pitied him, but hoped he might get back his property; and then, Tom
    \r\n", - "Span, the dandy lawyer, laconically told him that to love a fair
    \r\n", - "slave was a business he must learn over again; and Sprout, the
    \r\n", - "cotton-broker, said there was a law against ornamenting the city
    \r\n", - "with blue placards and type of such uncommon size. In this
    \r\n", - "interminable perplexity, and to avoid the last-named difficulty, did
    \r\n", - "he invoke the genius of the \"bill-sticker,\" who obliterated the blue
    \r\n", - "placards by covering them over with brown ones, the performance of
    \r\n", - "which, Blowers himself superintended. This made the matter still
    \r\n", - "worse, for with jocose smile did every wag say he had hung the city
    \r\n", - "in mourning for his loss; which singular proceeding the ladies had
    \r\n", - "one and all solemnly protested against. Now, Blowers regard for the
    \r\n", - "ladies was proverbial; nor will it disparage his character to say
    \r\n", - "that no one was more sensitive of their opinions concerning himself.
    \r\n", - "In this unhappy position, then, which he might have avoided had he
    \r\n", - "exercised more calmly his philosophy, did his perturbation get the
    \r\n", - "better of him;--an object of ridicule for every wag, and in
    \r\n", - "ill-favour with the very first ladies, never was perplexed man's
    \r\n", - "temper so near the exploding point of high pressure. And here,
    \r\n", - "forsooth, disgusted within the whole city, nor at all pleased with
    \r\n", - "the result of his inventive genius, he sought relief in strong
    \r\n", - "drinks and a week of dissipation; in which sad condition we must
    \r\n", - "leave him to the reader's sympathy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "As some of our fair readers may be a little prudish, or exacting of
    \r\n", - "character, and as we are peculiarly sensitive of the reputation some
    \r\n", - "of the characters embodied in this history should bear to the very
    \r\n", - "end, we deem it prudent here not to disclose the nature of the
    \r\n", - "little forgery which was perpetrated at Blowers' expense, nor the
    \r\n", - "means by which it was so cleverly carried out, to the release of the
    \r\n", - "fair captives, who must now be got out of the city. Should we, in
    \r\n", - "the performance of this very desirable duty, fail to please the
    \r\n", - "reader's taste for hair-breadth escapes, unnatural heroism, and
    \r\n", - "sublime disinterestedness, an excuse may be found in our lack of
    \r\n", - "soul to appreciate those virtues of romance. We have no taste for
    \r\n", - "breathless suspenses, no love of terror: we deal not in tragedy, nor
    \r\n", - "traffic in dramatic effects. But as the simplest strategy is often
    \r\n", - "the most successful of results, so did it prove in this particular
    \r\n", - "case; for, be it known, that on the morning of the twenty-fourth of
    \r\n", - "March,--, was Molly Hardweather's suggestion adopted and
    \r\n", - "effectually carried out, to the gratification of sundry interested
    \r\n", - "persons. Calm and bright was that morning; Charleston harbour and
    \r\n", - "its pretty banks seemed radiant of loveliness: the phantom-like
    \r\n", - "Maggy Bell, with mainsail and jib spread motionless in the air,
    \r\n", - "swung gently at anchor midway the stream; and Dame Hardweather sat
    \r\n", - "in the dingy cabin, her little chubby face beaming contentment as
    \r\n", - "she nursed the \"t'other twin.\" The brusque figure of old Jack,
    \r\n", - "immersed in watchfulness, paced to and fro the Maggy's deck; and in
    \r\n", - "the city as trim a young sailor as ever served signal halliards on
    \r\n", - "board man-o'-war, might be seen, his canvas bag slung over his
    \r\n", - "shoulder, carelessly plodding along through the busy street, for the
    \r\n", - "landing at the market slip. Soon the Maggy's flying jib was run up,
    \r\n", - "then the foresail followed and hung loose by the throat. Near the
    \r\n", - "wheel, as if in contemplation, sat Montague, while Hardweather
    \r\n", - "continued his pacing, now glancing aloft, then to seaward, as if
    \r\n", - "invoking Boreas' all-welcome aid, and again watching intently in the
    \r\n", - "direction of the slip. A few minutes more and a boat glided from the
    \r\n", - "wharf, and rowed away for the little craft, which it soon reached,
    \r\n", - "and on board of which the young sailor flung his bag, clambered over
    \r\n", - "the rail, and seemed happy, as old Jack put out his brawny hand,
    \r\n", - "saying: \"Come youngster, bear a hand now, and set about brightening
    \r\n", - "up the coppers!\" We need not here discover the hearts that leaped
    \r\n", - "with joy just then; we need not describe the anxiety that found
    \r\n", - "relief when the young sailor set foot on the Maggy's deck; nor need
    \r\n", - "we describe those eyes on shore that in tears watched the slender
    \r\n", - "form as it disappeared from sight. Just then a breeze wafted from
    \r\n", - "the north, the anchor was hove up, the sails trimmed home, and
    \r\n", - "slowly seaward moved the little bark. As she drifted rather than
    \r\n", - "sailed past Fort Pinkney, two burly officials, as is the custom,
    \r\n", - "boarded to search for hapless fugitives; but, having great
    \r\n", - "confidence in the honesty of Skipper Splitwater, who never failed to
    \r\n", - "give them of his best cheer, they drank a pleasant passage to him,
    \r\n", - "made a cursory search, a note of the names of all on board (Jack
    \r\n", - "saying Tom Bolt was the young sailor's), and left quite satisfied.
    \r\n", - "Indeed, there was nothing to excite their suspicions, for the good
    \r\n", - "dame sat nursing the \"twa twins,\" nor left aught to discover the
    \r\n", - "discrepancy between their ages, if we except a pair of little red
    \r\n", - "feet that dangled out from beneath the fringe of a plaid shawl. And
    \r\n", - "the young sailor, who it is hardly necessary to inform the reader is
    \r\n", - "Annette, was busy with his cooking. And now the little craft, free
    \r\n", - "upon the wave, increased her speed as her topsails spread out, and
    \r\n", - "glided swiftly seaward, heaven tempering the winds to her well-worn
    \r\n", - "sails. God speed the Maggy Bell as she vaults over the sea; and may
    \r\n", - "she never want water under keel, slaves to carry into freedom, or a
    \r\n", - "good Dame Hardweather to make cheerful the little cabin! say we.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "And now, reader, join us in taking a fond farewell of the
    \r\n", - "Rosebrooks, who have so nobly played their part, to the shame of
    \r\n", - "those who stubbornly refuse to profit by their example. They played
    \r\n", - "no inactive part in the final escape; but discretion forbids our
    \r\n", - "disclosing its minuti�. They sought to give unto others that liquid
    \r\n", - "of life to which they owed their own prosperity and happiness; nor
    \r\n", - "did selfish motive incite them to action. No; they sought peace and
    \r\n", - "prosperity for the state; they would bind in lasting fellowship that
    \r\n", - "union so mighty of states, which the world with mingled admiration
    \r\n", - "and distrust watches; which in kindred compact must be mightier,
    \r\n", - "which divided must fall! And while taking leave of them, hoping
    \r\n", - "their future may be brightened with joys-and, too, though it may not
    \r\n", - "comport with the interests of our southern friends, that their
    \r\n", - "inventive genius may never want objects upon which to illustrate
    \r\n", - "itself so happily-let us not forget to shake old Jack Hardweather
    \r\n", - "warmly by the hand, invoking for him many fair winds and profitable
    \r\n", - "voyages. A big heart enamelled of \"coarse flesh\" is his; but with
    \r\n", - "his warm functions he has done much good; may he be rich in heaven's
    \r\n", - "rewards, for he is poor in earth's!
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER LV.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH IS A HAPPY MEETING, SOME CURIOUS FACTS DEVELOPED, AND
    \r\n", - "CLOTILDA'S HISTORY DISCLOSED.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IT was seven days after the sailing of the Maggy Bell, as described
    \r\n", - "in the foregoing chapter, that Montague was seen sitting in the
    \r\n", - "comfortably furnished parlour of a neat cottage in the suburbs of
    \r\n", - "Nassau. The coal fire burned brightly in a polished grate; the
    \r\n", - "carpets and rugs, and lolling mats, indicated of care and comfort;
    \r\n", - "the tabbied furniture and chastely worked ottomans, and sofas, and
    \r\n", - "chairs, and inlaid workstands, seem bright of regularity and taste;
    \r\n", - "and the window curtains of lace and damask, and the scroll cornices
    \r\n", - "from which they flowingly hung, and the little landscape paintings
    \r\n", - "that hung upon the satin-papered walls, and the soft light that
    \r\n", - "issued from two girandoles on the mantel-piece of figured marble,
    \r\n", - "all lent their cheering aid to make complete the radiant picture of
    \r\n", - "a happy home. But Montague sat nervous with anxiety. \"Mother won't
    \r\n", - "be a minute!\" said a pert little fellow of some seven summers, who
    \r\n", - "played with his hands as he sat on the sofa, and asked questions his
    \r\n", - "emotions forbid answering. On an ottoman near the cheerful fire,
    \r\n", - "sat, with happy faces, the prettily dressed figures of a boy and
    \r\n", - "girl, older in age than the first; while by the side of Montague sat
    \r\n", - "Maxwell, whose manly countenance we transcribed in the early part of
    \r\n", - "our narrative, and to whom Montague had in part related the sad
    \r\n", - "events of the four months past, as he heaved a sigh, saying, \"How
    \r\n", - "happy must he die who careth for the slave!\" Ere the words had
    \r\n", - "escaped his lips, the door opened, and the graceful form of a
    \r\n", - "beautiful woman entered, her finely oval but pensive face made more
    \r\n", - "expressive by the olive that shaded it, and those deep soul-like
    \r\n", - "eyes that now sparkled in gentleness, and again flashed with
    \r\n", - "apprehension. Nervously she paused and set her eyes with intense
    \r\n", - "stare on Montague; then vaulted into his arms and embraced him,
    \r\n", - "crying, \"Is not my Annette here?\" as a tear stole down her cheeks.
    \r\n", - "Her quick eye detected trouble in his deportment; she grasped his
    \r\n", - "left hand firmly in her right, and with quivering frame besought him
    \r\n", - "to keep her no longer in the agony of suspense. \"Why thus suddenly
    \r\n", - "have you come? ah!-you disclose a deep-rooted trouble in not
    \r\n", - "forewarning me! tell me all and relieve my feelings!\" she
    \r\n", - "ejaculated, in broken accents. \"I was driven from that country
    \r\n", - "because I loved nature and obeyed its laws. My very soul loved its
    \r\n", - "greatness, and would have done battle for its glories-yea, I loved
    \r\n", - "it for the many blessings it hath for the favoured; but one dark
    \r\n", - "stain on its bright escutcheon so betrayed justice, that no home was
    \r\n", - "there for me-none for the wife I had married in lawful wedlock.\"
    \r\n", - "Here the woman, in agonising throbs, interrupted him by enquiring
    \r\n", - "why he said there was no home for the wife he had married in lawful
    \r\n", - "wedlock-was not the land of the puritans free? \"Nay!\" he answered,
    \r\n", - "in a measured tone, shaking his head, \"it is bestained not with
    \r\n", - "their crimes-for dearly do they love justice and regard the rights
    \r\n", - "of man-but with the dark deeds of the man-seller, who, heedless of
    \r\n", - "their feelings, and despising their moral rectitude, would make
    \r\n", - "solitary those happy homes that brighten in greatness over its
    \r\n", - "soil.\" Again, frantic of anxiety, did the woman interrupt him:
    \r\n", - "\"Heavens!-she is not dragged back into slavery?\" she enquired, her
    \r\n", - "emotions rising beyond her power of restraint, as she drew bitter
    \r\n", - "pangs from painful truths. With countenance bathed in trouble did
    \r\n", - "Montague return her solicitous glance, and speak. \"Into slavery\" he
    \r\n", - "muttered, in half choked accents \"was she hurled back.\" He had not
    \r\n", - "finished the sentence ere anxiety burst its bounds, and the anxious
    \r\n", - "woman shrieked, and fell swooning in his arms. Even yet her olive
    \r\n", - "face was beautefully pale. The cheerful parlour now rung with
    \r\n", - "confusion, servants bustled about in fright, the youthful family
    \r\n", - "shrieked in fear, the father sought to restore the fond mother, as
    \r\n", - "Montague chafed her right hand in his. Let us leave to the reader's
    \r\n", - "conjecture a scene his fancy may depict better than we can describe,
    \r\n", - "and pass to one more pleasant of results. Some half an hour had
    \r\n", - "transpired, when, as if in strange bewilderment, Clotilda opened her
    \r\n", - "eyes and seemed conscious of her position. A deep crimson shaded her
    \r\n", - "olive cheeks, as in luxurious ease she lay upon the couch, her
    \r\n", - "flushed face and her thick wavy hair, so prettily parted over her
    \r\n", - "classic brow, curiously contrasting with the snow-white pillow on
    \r\n", - "which it rested. A pale and emaciated girl sat beside her, smoothing
    \r\n", - "her brow with her left hand, laying the right gently on the almost
    \r\n", - "motionless bosom, kissing the crimsoning cheek, and lisping rather
    \r\n", - "than speaking, \"Mother, mother, oh mother!-it's only me.\" And then
    \r\n", - "the wet courses on her cheeks told how the fountain of her soul had
    \r\n", - "overflown. Calmly and vacantly the woman gazed on the fair girl,
    \r\n", - "with whom she had been left alone. Then she raised her left hand to
    \r\n", - "her brow, sighed, and seemed sinking into a tranquil sleep. \"Mother!
    \r\n", - "mother! I am once more with my mother!\" again ejaculates the fair
    \r\n", - "girl, sobbing audibly; \"do you not know me, mother?\" Clotilda
    \r\n", - "started as if suddenly surprised. \"Do I dream?\" she muttered,
    \r\n", - "raising herself on her elbow, as her great soft eyes wandered about
    \r\n", - "the room. She would know who called her mother. \"'Tis me,\" said the
    \r\n", - "fair girl, returning her glances, \"do you not know your Annette-your
    \r\n", - "slave child?\" Indeed the fair girl was not of that bright
    \r\n", - "countenance she had anticipated meeting, for though the punishment
    \r\n", - "had little soiled her flesh the dagger of disgrace had cut deep into
    \r\n", - "her heart, and spread its poison over her soul. \"This my Annette!\"
    \r\n", - "exclaimed Clotilda, throwing her arms about the fair girl's neck,
    \r\n", - "drawing her frantically to her bosom, and bathing her cheeks with
    \r\n", - "her tears of joy. \"Yes, yes, 'tis my long-lost child; 'tis she for
    \r\n", - "whom my soul has longed-God has been merciful, rescued her from the
    \r\n", - "yawning death of slavery, and given her back to her mother! Oh, no,
    \r\n", - "I do not dream-it is my child,--my Annette!\" she continued. Long and
    \r\n", - "affectionately did they mingle their tears and kisses. And now a
    \r\n", - "fond mother's joy seemed complete, a child's sorrow ended, and a
    \r\n", - "happy family were made happier. Again the family gathered into the
    \r\n", - "room, where, as of one accord, they poured out their affectionate
    \r\n", - "congratulations. One after another were the children enjoined to
    \r\n", - "greet Annette, kiss her, and call her sister. To them the meeting
    \r\n", - "was as strange as to the parents it was radiant of joy. \"Mother!\"
    \r\n", - "said the little boy, as he took Annette by the hand and called her
    \r\n", - "sister, and kissed her as she kissed him, \"was you married before
    \r\n", - "you was married to father?\" The affectionate mother had no answer to
    \r\n", - "make; she might have found one in the ignominy of the slave world.
    \r\n", - "And now, when the measure of joy seemed full-when the bitterness of
    \r\n", - "the past dwindled away like a dream, and when the future like a
    \r\n", - "beacon hung out its light of promise,--Clotilda drew from a small
    \r\n", - "workstand a discoloured paper written over in Greek characters,
    \r\n", - "scarce intelligible. \"Annette!\" said she, \"my mother gave me this
    \r\n", - "when last I saw her. The chains were then about her hands, and she
    \r\n", - "was about to be led away to the far south slave market: by it did I
    \r\n", - "discover my history.\" Here she unfolded its defaced pages, lifted
    \r\n", - "her eyes upwards invokingly, and continued--\"To speak the crimes of
    \r\n", - "great men is to hazard an oblivion for yourself, to bring upon you
    \r\n", - "the indifference of the multitude; but great men are often greatest
    \r\n", - "in crime-for so it proved with those who completed my mother's
    \r\n", - "destruction. Give ear, then, ye grave senators, and if ye have
    \r\n", - "hearts of fathers, lend them! listen, ye queen mothers of my
    \r\n", - "country, whose sons and daughters are yet travelling the world's
    \r\n", - "uncertainties! listen, ye fathers, who have souls above Mammon's
    \r\n", - "golden grasp, and sons in whom ye put your trust! listen, ye
    \r\n", - "brothers, whose pride brightens in a sister's virtue! listen, ye
    \r\n", - "sisters, who enjoy paternal affections, and feel that one day you
    \r\n", - "may grace a country's social life! listen, ye philanthropists, ye
    \r\n", - "men of the world, who love your country, and whose hearts yearn for
    \r\n", - "its liberties-ye men sensitive of our great Republic's honour, nor
    \r\n", - "seek to traffic in the small gains of power when larger ones await
    \r\n", - "you; and, above all, lend your hearts, ye brothers of the clergy in
    \r\n", - "the slave church, and give ear while I tell who I am, and pray ye,
    \r\n", - "as ye love the soul of woman, to seek out those who, like unto what
    \r\n", - "I was, now wither in slavery. My grandfather's name was Iznard
    \r\n", - "Maldonard, a Minorcan, who in the year 1767 (some four years after
    \r\n", - "Florida was by the king of Spain ceded to Great Britain) emigrated
    \r\n", - "with one Dr. Turnbull-whose name has since shone on the pages of
    \r\n", - "history-to that land of sunshine and promise; for, indeed, Florida
    \r\n", - "is the Italy of America. In that year did numerous of the English
    \r\n", - "aristocracy conceive plans as various as inconsistent for the
    \r\n", - "population and improvement of the colony. With a worthy motive did
    \r\n", - "Lord Rolle draw from the purlieus of London [Footnote: See Williams'
    \r\n", - "History of Florida, page 188.] State Papers, three hundred wretched
    \r\n", - "females, whose condition he would better by reforming and making aid
    \r\n", - "in founding settlements. This his lordship found no easy task; but
    \r\n", - "the climate relieved him of the perplexity he had brought upon
    \r\n", - "himself, for to it did they all fall victims in a very short time.
    \r\n", - "But Turnbull, with motive less commendable, obtained a grant of his
    \r\n", - "government, and, for the sum of four hundred pounds, (being then in
    \r\n", - "the Peleponnesus) was the governor of Modon bribed into a permission
    \r\n", - "to convey sundry Greek families to Florida, for colonization.
    \r\n", - "Returning from Modon with a number of families, he touched at the
    \r\n", - "islands of Corsica and Minorca, added another vessel to his fleet,
    \r\n", - "and increased the number of his settlers to fifteen hundred. With
    \r\n", - "exciting promises did he decoy them to his land of Egypt, which
    \r\n", - "proved a bondage to his shame. He would give them lands, free
    \r\n", - "passages, good provisions and clothing; but none of these promises
    \r\n", - "did he keep. A long passage of four months found many victims to its
    \r\n", - "hardships, and those who arrived safe were emaciated by sickness.
    \r\n", - "Into the interior were these taken; and there they founded a
    \r\n", - "settlement called New Smyrna, the land for which-some sixty thousand
    \r\n", - "acres-was granted by the governor of Florida. Faithfully and
    \r\n", - "earnestly did they labour for the promised reward, and in less than
    \r\n", - "five years had more than three thousand acres of land in the highest
    \r\n", - "state of cultivation; but, as Turnbull's prosperity increased, so
    \r\n", - "did the demon avarice; and men, women, and children, were reduced to
    \r\n", - "the most abject slavery. Tasks greater than they could perform were
    \r\n", - "assigned them, and a few Italians and negroes made overseers and
    \r\n", - "drivers. For food the labourers were allotted seven quarts of corn
    \r\n", - "per week. Many who had lived in affluence in their own country were
    \r\n", - "compelled to wear osnaburgs, and go bare-foot through the year. More
    \r\n", - "than nine years were those valuable settlers kept in this state of
    \r\n", - "slavery, the cruelties inflicted upon them surpassing in enormity
    \r\n", - "those which so stigmatised the savage Spaniards of St. Domingo.
    \r\n", - "Drivers were compelled to beat and lacerate those who had not
    \r\n", - "performed their tasks; many were left naked, tied all night to
    \r\n", - "trees, that mosquitoes might suck their blood, and the suffering
    \r\n", - "wretches become swollen from torture. Some, to end their troubles,
    \r\n", - "wandered off, and died of starvation in the forest, and, including
    \r\n", - "the natural increase, less than six hundred souls were left at the
    \r\n", - "end of nine years. But, be it known to those whose hearts and ears I
    \r\n", - "have before invoked, that many children of these unfortunate parents
    \r\n", - "were fair and beautiful, which valuable charms singularly excited
    \r\n", - "the cupidity of the tyrant, who betook himself to selling them for
    \r\n", - "purposes most infamous. A child overhearing the conversation of
    \r\n", - "three English gentlemen who made an excursion to the settlement, and
    \r\n", - "being quick of ear, conveyed the purport of it to his mother, who,
    \r\n", - "in the night, summoned a council of her confidants to concoct the
    \r\n", - "means of gaining more intelligence. The boy heard the visitors, who
    \r\n", - "stood in the great mansion, which was of stone, say, \"Did the
    \r\n", - "wretches know their rights they had not suffered such enormities of
    \r\n", - "slavery.\" It was resolved that three ask for long tasks, under the
    \r\n", - "pretext of gaining time to catch turtle on the coast; but having
    \r\n", - "gained the desired time, they set off for St. Augustine, which they
    \r\n", - "reached, after swimming rivers and delving almost impenetrable
    \r\n", - "morasses. They sought the attorney-general of the province, Mr.
    \r\n", - "Younge,--I speak his name with reverence-and with an earnest zeal
    \r\n", - "did he espouse the cause of this betrayed people. At that time,
    \r\n", - "Governor Grant-since strongly suspected of being concerned with
    \r\n", - "Turnbull in the slavery of the Greeks and Minorcans-had just been
    \r\n", - "superseded by Tonyn, who now had it in his power to rebuke a tyrant,
    \r\n", - "and render justice to a long-injured people. Again, on the return of
    \r\n", - "the envoys, who bore good tidings, did they meet in secret, and
    \r\n", - "choose one Pallicier, a Greek, their leader. This man had been
    \r\n", - "master mechanic of the mansion. With wooden spears were the men
    \r\n", - "armed and formed into two lines, the women, children, and old men in
    \r\n", - "the centre; and thus did they set off from the place of bondage to
    \r\n", - "seek freedom. In vain did the tyrant-whose name democracy has
    \r\n", - "enshrined with its glories-pursue them, and exhaust persuasion to
    \r\n", - "procure their return. For three days did they wander the woods,
    \r\n", - "delve morasses, and swim rivers, ere they reached the haven of St.
    \r\n", - "Augustine, where, being provided with provisions, their case was
    \r\n", - "tried, and, albeit, though Turnbull interposed all the perfidy
    \r\n", - "wealth could purchase, their fredeom established. But alas! not so
    \r\n", - "well was it with those fair daughters whom the tyrant sold slaves to
    \r\n", - "a life of infamy, and for whose offspring, now in the bitterness of
    \r\n", - "bondage, do we plead. Scores of these female children were sold by
    \r\n", - "the tyrant; but either the people were drunk of joy over their own
    \r\n", - "liberty, and forgot to demand the return of their children, or the
    \r\n", - "good Younge felt forcibly his weakness to bring to justice the rich
    \r\n", - "and great-for the law is weak where slavery makes men great-so as to
    \r\n", - "make him disgorge the ill-gotten treasure he might have concealed,
    \r\n", - "but the proof of which nothing was easier than to obliterate.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"Maldonard, then, was my grandfather; and, with my grandmother and
    \r\n", - "three children, was of those who suffered the cruelties I have
    \r\n", - "detailed. Two of his children were girls, fair and beautiful, whom
    \r\n", - "the tyrant, under the pretext of bettering their condition in
    \r\n", - "another colony, sold away into slavery. One was my dear mother.\"
    \r\n", - "Here tears coursed down the woman's cheeks. \"And she, though I blush
    \r\n", - "to tell it, was sold to Rovero, who was indeed my father as well as
    \r\n", - "Franconia's. But I was years older than Franconia-I visit her grave
    \r\n", - "by day, and dream of her by night;--nor was it strange that she
    \r\n", - "should trace the cause of similarity in our features. Forsooth, it
    \r\n", - "was that singular discovery-of which I was long ignorant-coupled
    \r\n", - "with the virtues of a great soul, that incited her to effect my
    \r\n", - "escape. Rovero, ere he married Franconia's mother, sold Sylvia
    \r\n", - "Maldonard, who was my mother; and may angels bring glad tidings of
    \r\n", - "her spirit! Yes, true is it that my poor mother was sold to one
    \r\n", - "Silenus, of whom Marston bought my body while heaven guarded the
    \r\n", - "soul: but here would I drop the curtain over the scene, for
    \r\n", - "Maldonard is dead; and in the grave of his Italian wife, ere he
    \r\n", - "gained his freedom, was he buried.\" Here again the fond mother, as
    \r\n", - "she concluded, lifted her eyes invokingly, fondled her long-lost
    \r\n", - "child to her bosom,--smiled upon her, kissed her, and was happy.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "CHAPTER LVI.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "IN WHICH A PLOT IS DISCLOSED, AND THE MAN-SELLER MADE TO PAY THE
    \r\n", - "PENALTY OF HIS CRIMES.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "WHILE the scenes which we have detailed in the foregoing chapter
    \r\n", - "were being enacted at Nassau, there stood in the portico of a
    \r\n", - "massive dwelling, fronting what in Charleston is called the \"Battery
    \r\n", - "Promenade,\" the tall and stately figure of a man, wrapped in a
    \r\n", - "costly black cloak, the folds of which lay carelessly about his neck
    \r\n", - "and shoulders. For some minutes did he stand, hesitating, and
    \r\n", - "watching up and down the broad walk in front. The gas-light overhead
    \r\n", - "shed its glare upon the freestone walls-for the night was dark-and,
    \r\n", - "as he turned, discovered the fine features of a frank and open
    \r\n", - "countenance, to which the flashing of two great intelligent eyes, a
    \r\n", - "long silvery beard, and a flowing moustache, all shaded by the broad
    \r\n", - "brim of a black felt hat, lent their aid to make impressive. Closer
    \r\n", - "he muffled his face in the folds of his cloak, and spoke. \"Time!\"
    \r\n", - "said he, in a voice musical and clear, \"hath worn little on his
    \r\n", - "great mansion; like his heart, it is of good stone.\" The mansion,
    \r\n", - "indeed, was of princely front, with chiselled fa�ade and great doric
    \r\n", - "windows of deep fluted mouldings, grand in outline. Now a small hand
    \r\n", - "stole from beneath his cloak, rapped gently upon the carved door of
    \r\n", - "black walnut, and rang the bell. Soon the door swung open, and a
    \r\n", - "negro in a black coat, white vest, and handkerchief of great
    \r\n", - "stiffness, and nether garments of flashy stripes, politely bowed him
    \r\n", - "into a hall of great splendour. Rows of statuary stood in alcoves
    \r\n", - "along its sides; the walls dazzled with bright coloured paintings in
    \r\n", - "massive gilt frames; highly coloured and badly blended mythological
    \r\n", - "designs spread along the ceiling: the figure of a female, with
    \r\n", - "pearly tears gushing from her eyes, as on bended knee she besought
    \r\n", - "mercy of the winged angel perched above her, stood beside the broad
    \r\n", - "stairway at the further end of the hall-strangely emblematical of
    \r\n", - "the many thousand souls the man-seller had made weep in the
    \r\n", - "bitterness of slavery; the softest rugs and costly Turkey carpets,
    \r\n", - "with which its floor was spread, yielded lightly to the footfall, as
    \r\n", - "the jetting lights of a great chandelier shed refulgence over the
    \r\n", - "whole: indeed, what there lacked of taste was made up with air of
    \r\n", - "opulence. The negro exhibited some surprise at the stranger's dress
    \r\n", - "and manner, for he affected ease and indifference. \"Is your master
    \r\n", - "at leisure?\" said he. \"Business, or a friend?\" inquired the negro,
    \r\n", - "making one of his best bows, and drawing back his left foot. \"Both,\"
    \r\n", - "was the quick reply. \"I, boy, am a gentleman!\" \"I sees dat, mas'r,\"
    \r\n", - "rejoined the boy, accompanying his answer with another bow, and
    \r\n", - "requesting the stranger's name, as he motioned him into a spacious
    \r\n", - "drawing-room on the right, still more gorgeously furnished.
    \r\n", - "
    \r\n", - "\"My name is Major Blank: your master knows my name: I would see him
    \r\n", - "quickly!\" again spoke the stranger, as the boy promptly disappeared
    \r\n", - "to make the announcement. The heavy satin-damask curtains, of finest
    \r\n", - "texture, that adorned the windows; the fresco-paintings of the
    \r\n", - "walls; the elaborate gilding that here and there in bad taste
    \r\n", - "relieved the cornices; the massive pictures that hung in
    \r\n", - "gauze-covered frames upon the walls; the chastely designed carpets,
    \r\n", - "and lolls, and rugs, with which the floor gave out its brilliancy;
    \r\n", - "the costly tapestry of the curiously carved furniture that stood
    \r\n", - "here and there about the room; and the soft light of a curiously
    \r\n", - "constructed chandelier, suspended from the left hand of an angel in
    \r\n", - "bronze, the said angel having its wings pinioned to the ceiling, its
    \r\n", - "body in the attitude of descending, and its right hand gracefully
    \r\n", - "raised above the globe, spreading its prismatic glows over the
    \r\n", - "whole, did indeed make the scene resplendent of luxury. The man
    \r\n", - "carelessly seated himself at a table that stood in the centre of the
    \r\n", - "room, threw the hat he had declined yielding to the negro on the
    \r\n", - "floor beside him, rested the elbow of his left arm on the table, and
    \r\n", - "his head in his hand, as with the fingers of his right hand did he
    \r\n", - "fret the long silvery beard that bedecked his chin, and contemplate
    \r\n", - "with eager gaze the scene around him. \"Yea, the man-seller hath,
    \r\n", - "with his spoils of greed, gotten him a gorgeous mansion; even he
    \r\n", - "liveth like a prince, his head resteth more in peace, and because he
    \r\n", - "hath great wealth of crime men seek to honour him. The rich criminal
    \r\n", - "hath few to fear; but hard is the fate of him who hath not the
    \r\n", - "wherewith to be aught but a poor one!\" he muttered to himself, as
    \r\n", - "the door opened, and the well-rounded figure of Graspum whisked into
    \r\n", - "the room. The negro bowed politely, and closed the door after him,
    \r\n", - "as the stranger's eye flashed upon his old acquaintance, who,
    \r\n", - "bedecked somewhat extravagantly, and with a forced smile on his
    \r\n", - "subtle countenance, advanced rubbing his hands one over the other,
    \r\n", - "making several methodical bows, to which the stranger rose, as he
    \r\n", - "said, \"Most happy am I to see you, Major! Major Blake, I believe, I
    \r\n", - "have the pleasure of receiving?\" Here the stranger interpolated by
    \r\n", - "saying his name was not Blake, but Blank: the other apologised, said
    \r\n", - "he was just entertaining a small but very select circle of friends;
    \r\n", - "nevertheless, always chose to follow the maxim of \"business before
    \r\n", - "pleasure.\" Again he bustled about, worked his fingers with a
    \r\n", - "mechanical air, frisked them through his hair, with which he covered
    \r\n", - "the bald surface of his head, kept his little keen eyes leering
    \r\n", - "apprehensively on what he deemed a ripe customer, whom he bid keep
    \r\n", - "his seat. To an invitation to lay off his cloak the stranger replied
    \r\n", - "that it was of no consequence. \"A planter just locating, if I may be
    \r\n", - "permitted to suggest?\" enquired Graspum, taking his seat on the
    \r\n", - "opposite side of the table. \"No!\" returned the other, emphatically;
    \r\n", - "\"but I have some special business in your line.\" The man of
    \r\n", - "business, his face reddening of anxiety, rose quickly from his seat,
    \r\n", - "advanced to what seemed a rosewood cabinet elaborately carved, but
    \r\n", - "which was in reality an iron safe encased with ornamental wood, and
    \r\n", - "from it drew forth a tin case, saying, as he returned and set it
    \r\n", - "upon the table, \"Lots from one to five were sold yesterday at almost
    \r\n", - "fabulous prices-never was the demand for prime people better; but we
    \r\n", - "have Lots (here he began to disgorge invoices) six, seven, eight,
    \r\n", - "and nine left; all containing the primest of people! Yes, sir, let
    \r\n", - "me assure you, the very choicest of the market.\" He would have the
    \r\n", - "customer examine the invoices himself, and in the morning the live
    \r\n", - "stock may be seen at his yard. \"You cherish no evil in your breast,
    \r\n", - "in opposition to the command of Him who reproved the wrong of
    \r\n", - "malice; but you still cling to the sale of men, which you conceive
    \r\n", - "no harm, eh, Graspum?\" returned the stranger, knitting his brows, as
    \r\n", - "a curl of fierce hatred set upon his lip. With an air of surprise
    \r\n", - "did Graspum hesitate for a moment, and then, with a measured smile,
    \r\n", - "said, \"Why, Lord bless you! it would be a dishonour for a man of my
    \r\n", - "celebrity in business to let a day escape without a sale; within the
    \r\n", - "last ten days I have sold a thousand people, or more,--provided you
    \r\n", - "throw in the old ones!\" Here he again frisked his fingers, and
    \r\n", - "leaned back in his chair, as his face resumed an air of
    \r\n", - "satisfaction. The stranger interrupted as the man-seller was about
    \r\n", - "to enquire the number and texture of the people he desired.
    \r\n", - "\"Graspum,\" said he, with significant firmness, setting his eyes upon
    \r\n", - "him with intense stare,--\"I want neither your men, nor your women,
    \r\n", - "nor your little children; but, have you a record of souls you have
    \r\n", - "sunk in the bitterness of slavery in that box\"-here the stranger
    \r\n", - "paused, and pointed at the box on the table-\"keep it until you knock
    \r\n", - "for admittance at the gates of eternity.\" It was not until this
    \r\n", - "moment that he could bring his mind, which had been absorbed in the
    \r\n", - "mysteries of man-selling, to regard the stranger in any other light
    \r\n", - "than that of a customer. \"Pardon me, sir!\" said he, somewhat
    \r\n", - "nervously, \"but you speak with great familiarity.\" The stranger
    \r\n", - "would not be considered intrusive. \"Then you have forgotten me,
    \r\n", - "Graspum?\" exclaimed the man, with an ominous laugh. As if deeply
    \r\n", - "offended at such familiarity, the man-seller shook his head
    \r\n", - "rebukingly, and replied by saying he had an advantage of him not
    \r\n", - "comprehensible. \"Then have you sent my dearest relatives to an
    \r\n", - "untimely grave, driven me from the home of my childhood, and made a
    \r\n", - "hundred wretches swim a sea of sorrow; and yet you do not know me?\"
    \r\n", - "Indeed, the charges here recounted would have least served to aid
    \r\n", - "the recognition, for they belonged only to one case among many
    \r\n", - "scores that might have been enumerated. He shook his head in reply.
    \r\n", - "For a minute did they,--the stranger scowling sarcastically upon his
    \r\n", - "adversary (for such he now was),--gaze upon each other, until
    \r\n", - "Graspum's eyes drooped and his face turned pale. \"I have seen you;
    \r\n", - "but at this moment cannot place you,\" he replied, drawing back his
    \r\n", - "chair a pace. \"It were well had you never known me!\" was the
    \r\n", - "stranger's rejoinder, spoken in significant accents, as he
    \r\n", - "deliberately drew from beneath his cloak a revolver, which he laid
    \r\n", - "on the table, warning his adversary that it were well he move
    \r\n", - "cautiously. Graspum affects not to comprehend such importune
    \r\n", - "demeanor, or conjecture what has brought him hither. Trembling in
    \r\n", - "fright, and immersed in the sweat of his cowardice, he would
    \r\n", - "proclaim aloud his apprehension; to which medium of salvation he
    \r\n", - "makes an attempt to reach the door. But the stranger is too quick
    \r\n", - "for him: \"Calm your fears, Graspum,\" he says; \"act not the child,
    \r\n", - "but meet the consequences like a hero: strange is it, that you, who
    \r\n", - "have sold twenty thousand souls, should shrink at the yielding up of
    \r\n", - "one life!\" concludes he, placing his back firmly against the door,
    \r\n", - "and commanding Graspum to resume his seat. Having locked the door
    \r\n", - "and placed the key in his pocket, he paced twice or thrice up and
    \r\n", - "down the floor, seemingly in deep contemplation, and heaved a sigh.
    \r\n", - "\"Graspum!\" he ejaculated, suddenly turning towards that terrified
    \r\n", - "gentleman; \"in that same iron chest have you another box, the same
    \r\n", - "containing papers which are to me of more value than all your
    \r\n", - "invoices of souls. Go! bring it hither!\" Tremblingly did the
    \r\n", - "man-seller obey the command, drew from the chest an antiquated box,
    \r\n", - "and placed it hesitatingly upon the table. \"I will get the key, if
    \r\n", - "you will kindly permit me,\" he said, bowing, as the sweat fell from
    \r\n", - "his chin upon the carpet. The stranger says it wants no key; he
    \r\n", - "breaks it open with his hands. \"You have long stored it with goodly
    \r\n", - "papers; let us see of what they are made,\" said he. Here Graspum
    \r\n", - "commenced drawing forth package after package of papers, the
    \r\n", - "inscriptions on which were eagerly observed by the stranger's keen
    \r\n", - "eye. At length there came out a package of letters, superscribed in
    \r\n", - "the stranger's own hand, and directed to Hugh Marston. \"How came you
    \r\n", - "by these?\" enquired the stranger, grasping them quickly: \"Ah,
    \r\n", - "Graspum, I have heard all! Never mind,--continue!\" he resumed.
    \r\n", - "Presently there came forth a package addressed to \"Franconia
    \r\n", - "M'Carstrow,\" some of which the stranger recognised as superscribed
    \r\n", - "by his mother, others by Clotilda, for she could write when a slave.
    \r\n", - "Graspum would put this last aside; but in an angry tone did the
    \r\n", - "stranger demand it, as his passion had well nigh got the better of
    \r\n", - "his resolution. \"How the deep and damning infamy discovers itself!
    \r\n", - "Ah, Graspum, for the dross of this world hast thou betrayed the
    \r\n", - "innocent. Through thine emissaries has thus intercepted these
    \r\n", - "letters, and felt safe in thy guilt. And still you know not who I
    \r\n", - "am?\" Indeed, the man-seller was too much beside himself with terror
    \r\n", - "to have recognised even a near friend. \"My name is Lorenzo,--he who
    \r\n", - "more than twenty years ago you beguiled into crime. There is
    \r\n", - "concealed beneath those papers a bond that bears on its face the
    \r\n", - "secret of the many sorrows brought upon my family.\" \"Lorenzo!\"
    \r\n", - "interrupted Graspum, as he let fall a package of papers, and sat
    \r\n", - "aghast and trembling. \"Yes,\" replied the other, \"you cannot mistake
    \r\n", - "me, though time hath laid a heavy hand upon my brow. Now is your
    \r\n", - "infamy complete!\" Here the stranger drew forth the identical bond we
    \r\n", - "have described in the early part of our history, as being signed by
    \r\n", - "Marston, at his mansion, on the night previous to Lorenzo's
    \r\n", - "departure. Bidding the man-seller move not an inch, he spread the
    \r\n", - "document before him, and commanded him to read the contents. This he
    \r\n", - "had not resolution to do. \"Graspum!\" spoke Lorenzo, his countenance
    \r\n", - "flushed in passion; \"you can see, if you cannot read; look ye upon
    \r\n", - "the words of that paper (here he traced the lines with the
    \r\n", - "forefinger of his right hand as he stood over the wretched
    \r\n", - "miscreant) and tell me if it be honourable to spare the life of one
    \r\n", - "who would commit so foul a deed. On the night you consummated my
    \r\n", - "shame, forced me to relieve you by procuring my uncle's signature to
    \r\n", - "a document not then filled up, or made complete, how little did I
    \r\n", - "conjecture the germs of villainy so deep in your heart as to betray
    \r\n", - "the confidence I reposed in you. You, in your avarice, changed the
    \r\n", - "tenor of that instrument, made the amount more than double that
    \r\n", - "which I had injudiciously become indebted to you, and transcribed it
    \r\n", - "in the instrument, in legal phraseology, which you made a
    \r\n", - "death-warrant to my nearest and dearest relatives. Read it,
    \r\n", - "miscreant! read it! Read on it sixty-two thousand dollars, the cause
    \r\n", - "of your anxiety to hurry me out of the city into a foreign land. I
    \r\n", - "returned to seek a sister, to relieve my uncle, to live an
    \r\n", - "honourable man on that home so dear in my boyhood, so bright of that
    \r\n", - "which was pleasant in the past, to make glad the hearts of my aged
    \r\n", - "parents, and to receive the sweet forgiveness of those who honoured
    \r\n", - "me when fortune smiled; but you have left me none of these
    \r\n", - "boons-nay, you would have me again wander an outcast upon the
    \r\n", - "world!\" And now, as the miscreant fell tremblingly on his knees, and
    \r\n", - "beseeching that mercy which he had denied so many, Lorenzo's frenzy
    \r\n", - "surmounted all his resolution. With agitated hand he seized his
    \r\n", - "revolver, saying, \"I will go hence stained with a miscreant's
    \r\n", - "blood.\" Another moment, and the loud shriek of the man-seller echoed
    \r\n", - "forth, the sharp report of a pistol rung ominously through the
    \r\n", - "mansion; and quivering to the ground fell dead a wretch who had
    \r\n", - "tortured ten thousand souls, as Lorenzo disappeared and was seen no
    \r\n", - "more.
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