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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:36:17 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11214-0.txt b/11214-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b0752b --- /dev/null +++ b/11214-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13941 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11214 *** + +THE GARIES + +AND + +THEIR FRIENDS + +Frank J. Webb + +1857 + +Preface by Harriet Beecher Stowe + + + + +TO THE + +LADY NOEL BYRON + +THIS BOOK + +IS, BY HER KIND PERMISSION, + +MOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, + +WITH PROFOUND RESPECT, + +BY HER GRATEFUL FRIEND, + +THE AUTHOR. + + + +PREFACE. + + +The book which now appears before the public may be of interest in relation +to a question which the late agitation of the subject of slavery has raised +in many thoughtful minds; viz.--Are the race at present held as slaves +capable of freedom, self-government, and progress? + +The author is a coloured young man, born and reared in the city of +Philadelphia. + +This city, standing as it does on the frontier between free and slave +territory, has accumulated naturally a large population of the mixed and +African race. + +Being one of the nearest free cities of any considerable size to the slave +territory, it has naturally been a resort of escaping fugitives, or of +emancipated slaves. + +In this city they form a large class--have increased in numbers, wealth, +and standing--they constitute a peculiar society of their own, presenting +many social peculiarities worthy of interest and attention. + +The representations of their positions as to wealth and education are +reliable, the incidents related are mostly true ones, woven together by a +slight web of fiction. + +The scenes of the mob describe incidents of a peculiar stage of +excitement, which existed in the city of Philadelphia years ago, when the +first agitation of the slavery question developed an intense form of +opposition to the free coloured people. + +Southern influence at that time stimulated scenes of mob violence in +several Northern cities where the discussion was attempted. By prompt, +undaunted resistance, however, this spirit was subdued, and the right of +free inquiry established; so that discussion of the question, so far from +being dangerous in Free States, is now begun to be allowed in the Slave +States; and there are some subjects the mere discussion of which is a +half-victory. + +The author takes pleasure in recommending this simple and truthfully-told +story to the attention and interest of the friends of progress and humanity +in England. + +(Signed) H.B. Stowe. + +ANDOVER, U.S., + +_August_ 17, 1857. + + + +FROM LORD BROUGHAM. + +I have been requested by one who has long known the deep interest I have +ever taken in the cause of Freedom, and in the elevation of the coloured +race, to supply a few lines of introduction to Mr. Webb's book. + +It was the intention of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe to introduce this work +to the British public, but I am truly sorry to learn that a severe domestic +affliction, since her return to America, has postponed the fulfilment of +her promise. + +I am, however, able to state her opinion of the book, expressed in a letter +to one of her friends. + +She says:--"There are points in the book of which I think very highly. The +style is simple and unambitious--the characters, most of them faithfully +drawn from real life, are quite fresh, and the incident, which is also much +of it fact, is often deeply interesting. + +"I shall do what I can with the preface. I would not do as much unless I +thought the book of worth _in itself_. It shows what I long have wanted to +show; what the _free people of colour do attain_, and what they can do in +spite of all social obstacles." + +I hope and trust that Mr. Webb's book will meet with all the success to +which its own merit, and the great interest of the subject, so well entitle +it. On this, Mrs. Stowe's authority is naturally of the greatest weight; +and I can only lament that this prefatory notice does not come accompanied +with her further remarks and illustrations. + +4, Grafton-street, _July_ 29, 1857. + + * * * * * + +Note.--Since the above was written, the preface by Mrs. Stowe has been +received. It was deemed best, however, to still retain the introduction so +kindly given by Lord Brougham, whose deep interest in the freedom and +welfare of the African race none feel more grateful for than does the +author of the following pages. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +1.--In which the Reader is introduced to a Family of Peculiar +Construction + +2.--A Glance at the Ellis Family + +3.--Charlie's Trials + +4.--In which Mr. Winston finds an Old Friend + +5.--The Garies decide on a Change + +6.--Pleasant News + +7.--Mrs. Thomas has her Troubles + +8.--Trouble in the Ellis Family + +9.--Breaking up + +10.--Another Parting + +11.--The New Home + +12.--Mr. Garie's Neighbour + +13.--Hopes consummated + +14.--Charlie at Warmouth + +15.--Mrs. Stevens gains a Triumph + +16.--Mr. Stevens makes a Discovery + +17.--Plotting + +18.--Mr. Stevens falls into Bad Hands + +19.--The Alarm + +20.--The Attack + +21.--More Horrors + +22.--An Anxious Day + +23.--The Lost One Found + +24.--Charlie distinguishes himself + +25.--The Heir + +26.--Home again + +27.--Sudbury + +28.--Charlie seeks Employment + +29.--Clouds and Sunshine + +30.--Many Years after + +31.--The Thorn rankles + +32.--Dear Old Ess again + +33.--The Fatal Discovery + +34.--"Murder will out" + +35.--The Wedding + +36.--And the Last + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +In which the Reader is introduced to a Family of peculiar Construction. + + +It was at the close of an afternoon in May, that a party might have been +seen gathered around a table covered with all those delicacies that, in the +household of a rich Southern planter, are regarded as almost necessaries of +life. In the centre stood a dish of ripe strawberries, their plump red +sides peeping through the covering of white sugar that had been plentifully +sprinkled over them. Geeche limes, almost drowned in their own rich syrup, +temptingly displayed their bronze-coloured forms just above the rim of the +glass that contained them. Opposite, and as if to divert the gaze from +lingering too long over their luscious beauty, was a dish of peaches +preserved in brandy, a never-failing article in a Southern matron's +catalogues of sweets. A silver basket filled with a variety of cakes was in +close proximity to a plate of corn-flappers, which were piled upon it like +a mountain, and from the brown tops of which trickled tiny rivulets of +butter. All these dainties, mingling their various odours with the aroma of +the tea and fine old java that came steaming forth from the richly chased +silver pots, could not fail to produce a very appetising effect. + +There was nothing about Mr. Garie, the gentleman who sat at the head of the +table, to attract more than ordinary attention. He had the ease of manner +usual with persons whose education and associations have been of a highly +refined character, and his countenance, on the whole, was pleasing, and +indicative of habitual good temper. + +Opposite to him, and presiding at the tea-tray, sat a lady of marked +beauty. The first thing that would have attracted attention on seeing her +were her gloriously dark eyes. They were not entirely black, but of that +seemingly changeful hue so often met with in persons of African extraction, +which deepens and lightens with every varying emotion. Hers wore a subdued +expression that sank into the heart and at once riveted those who saw her. +Her hair, of jetty black, was arranged in braids; and through her +light-brown complexion the faintest tinge of carmine was visible. As she +turned to take her little girl from the arms of the servant, she displayed +a fine profile and perfectly moulded form. No wonder that ten years before, +when she was placed upon the auction-block at Savanah, she had brought so +high a price. Mr. Garie had paid two thousand dollars for her, and was the +envy of all the young bucks in the neighbourhood who had competed with him +at the sale. Captivated by her beauty, he had esteemed himself fortunate in +becoming her purchaser; and as time developed the goodness of her heart, +and her mind enlarged through the instructions he assiduously gave her, he +found the connection that might have been productive of many evils, had +proved a boon to both; for whilst the astonishing progress she made in her +education proved her worthy of the pains he took to instruct her, she +returned threefold the tenderness and affection he lavished upon her. + +The little girl in her arms, and the boy at her side, showed no trace +whatever of African origin. The girl had the chestnut hair and blue eyes of +her father; but the boy had inherited the black hair and dark eyes of his +mother. The critically learned in such matters, knowing his parentage, +might have imagined they could detect the evidence of his mother's race, by +the slightly mezzo-tinto expression of his eyes, and the rather African +fulness of his lips; but the casual observer would have passed him by +without dreaming that a drop of negro blood coursed through his veins. His +face was expressive of much intelligence, and he now seemed to listen with +an earnest interest to the conversation that was going on between his +father and a dark-complexioned gentleman who sat beside him. + +"And so you say, Winston, that they never suspected you were coloured?" + +"I don't think they had the remotest idea of such a thing. At least, if +they did, they must have conquered their prejudices most effectually, for +they treated me with the most distinguished consideration. Old Mr. Priestly +was like a father to me; and as for his daughter Clara and her aunt, they +were politeness embodied. The old gentleman was so much immersed in +business, that he was unable to bestow much attention upon me; so he turned +me over to Miss Clara to be shown the lions. We went to the opera, the +theatre, to museums, concerts, and I can't tell where all. The Sunday +before I left I accompanied her to church, and after service, as we were +coming out, she introduced me to Miss Van Cote and her mamma. Mrs. Van Cote +was kind enough to invite me to her grand ball." + +"And did you go?" interrupted Mr. Garie. + +"Of course, I did--and what is more, as old Mr. Priestly has given up +balls, he begged me to escort Clara and her aunt." + +"Well, Winston, that is too rich," exclaimed Mr. Garie, slapping his hand +on the table, and laughing till he was red in the face; "too good, by Jove! +Oh! I can't keep that. I must write to them, and say I forgot to mention in +my note of introduction that you were a coloured gentleman. The old man +will swear till everything turns blue; and as for Clara, what will become +of her? A Fifth-avenue belle escorted to church and to balls by a coloured +gentleman!" Here Mr. Garie indulged in another burst of laughter so +side-shaking and merry, that the contagion spread even to the little girl +in Mrs. Garie's arms, who almost choked herself with the tea her mother was +giving her, and who had to be hustled and shaken for some time before she +could be brought round again. + +"It will be a great triumph for me," said Mr. Garie. "The old man prides +himself on being able to detect evidences of the least drop of African +blood in any one; and makes long speeches about the natural antipathy of +the Anglo-Saxon to anything with a drop of negro blood in its veins. Oh, I +shall write him a glorious letter expressing my pleasure at his great +change of sentiment, and my admiration of the fearless manner in which he +displays his contempt for public opinion. How he will stare! I fancy I see +him now, with his hair almost on end with disgust. It will do him good: it +will convince him, I hope, that a man can be a gentleman even though he has +African blood in his veins. I have had a series of quarrels with him," +continued Mr. Garie; "I think he had his eye on me for Miss Clara, and that +makes him particularly fierce about my present connection. He rather +presumes on his former great intimacy with my father, and undertakes to +lecture me occasionally when opportunity is afforded. He was greatly +scandalized at my speaking of Emily as my wife; and seemed to think me +cracked because I talked of endeavouring to procure a governess for my +children, or of sending them abroad to be educated. He has a holy horror of +everything approaching to amalgamation; and of all the men I ever met, +cherishes the most unchristian prejudice against coloured people. He says, +the existence of "a gentleman" with African blood in his veins, is a moral +and physical impossibility, and that by no exertion can anything be made of +that description of people. He is connected with a society for the +deportation of free coloured people, and thinks they ought to be all sent +to Africa, unless they are willing to become the property of some good +master." + +"Oh, yes; it is quite a hobby of his," here interposed Mr. Winston. "He +makes lengthy speeches on the subject, and has published two of them in +pamphlet form. Have you seen them?" + +"Yes, he sent them to me. I tried to get through one of them, but it was +too heavy, I had to give it up. Besides, I had no patience with them; they +abounded in mis-statements respecting the free coloured people. Why even +here in the slave states--in the cities of Savanah and Charleston--they are +much better situated than he describes them to be in New York; and since +they can and do prosper here, where they have such tremendous difficulties +to encounter, I know they cannot be in the condition he paints, in a state +where they are relieved from many of the oppressions they labour under +here. And, on questioning him on the subject, I found he was entirely +unacquainted with coloured people; profoundly ignorant as to the real facts +of their case. He had never been within a coloured church or school; did +not even know that they had a literary society amongst them. Positively, I, +living down here in Georgia, knew more about the character and condition of +the coloured people of the Northern States, than he who lived right in the +midst of them. Would you believe that beyond their laundress and a drunken +negro that they occasionally employed to do odd jobs for them, they were +actually unacquainted with any coloured people: and how unjust was it for +him to form his opinion respecting a class numbering over twenty thousand +in his own state, from the two individuals I have mentioned and the negro +loafers he occasionally saw in the streets." + +"It is truly unfortunate," rejoined Mr. Winston, "for he covers his +prejudices with such a pretended regard for the coloured people, that a +person would be the more readily led to believe his statements respecting +them to be correct; and he is really so positive about it, and apparently +go deaf to all argument that I did not discuss the subject with him to any +extent; he was so very kind to me that I did not want to run a tilt against +his favourite opinions." + +"You wrote me he gave you letters to Philadelphia; was there one amongst +them to the Mortons?" + +"Yes. They were very civil and invited me to a grand dinner they gave to +the Belgian Charge d'Affaires. I also met there one or two scions of the +first families of Virginia. The Belgian minister did not seem to be aware +that slavery is a tabooed subject in polite circles, and he was continually +bringing it forward until slaves, slavery, and black people in general +became the principal topic of conversation, relieved by occasional +discussion upon some new book or pictures, and remarks in praise of the +viands before us. A very amusing thing occurred during dinner. A +bright-faced little coloured boy who was assisting at the table, seemed to +take uncommon interest in the conversation. An animated discussion had +arisen as to the antiquity of the use of salad, one party maintaining that +one of the oldest of the English poets had mentioned it in a poem, and the +other as stoutly denying it. At last a reverend gentleman, whose remarks +respecting the intelligence of the children of Ham had been particularly +disparaging, asserted that nowhere in Chaucer, Spencer, nor any of the old +English poets could anything relating to it be found. At this, the little +waiter became so excited that he could no longer contain himself, and, +despite the frowns and nods of our hostess, exclaimed, 'Yes it can, it's in +Chaucer; here,' he continued, taking out a book from the book-case, 'here +is the very volume,'[*] and turning over the leaves he pointed out the +passage, to the great chagrin of the reverend gentleman, and to the +amusement of the guests. The Belgian minister enjoyed it immensely. 'Ah,' +said he, 'the child of Ham know more than the child of Shem, dis time.' +Whereupon Mrs. Morton rejoined that in this case it was not so wonderful, +owing to the frequent and intimate relations into which ham and salad were +brought, and with this joke the subject was dismissed. I can't say I was +particularly sorry when the company broke up." + +[Footnote * See Chaucer, "Flower and the Leaf."] + +"Oh, George, never mind the white people," here interposed Mrs. Garie. +"Never mind them; tell us about the coloured folks; they are the ones I +take the most interest in. We were so delighted with your letters, and so +glad that you found Mrs. Ellis. Tell us all about that." + +"Oh, 'tis a long story, Em, and can't be told in a minute; it would take +the whole evening to relate it all." + +"Look at the children, my dear, they are half asleep," said Mr. Garie. +"Call nurse and see them safe into bed, and when you come back we will have +the whole story." + +"Very well;" replied she, rising and calling the nurse. "Now remember, +George, you are not to begin until I return, for I should be quite vexed to +lose a word." + +"Oh, go on with the children, my dear, I'll guarantee he shall not say a +word on the subject till you come back." + +With this assurance Mrs. Garie left the room, playfully shaking her finger +at them as she went out, exclaiming, "Not a word, remember now, not a +word." + +After she left them Mr. Garie remarked, "I have not seen Em as happy as she +is this afternoon for some time. I don't know what has come over her +lately; she scarcely ever smiles now, and yet she used to be the most +cheerful creature in the world. I wish I knew what is the matter with her; +sometimes I am quite distressed about her. She goes about the house looking +so lost and gloomy, and does not seem to take the least interest in +anything. You saw," continued he, "how silent she has been all tea time, +and yet she has been more interested in what you have been saying than in +anything that has transpired for months. Well, I suppose women will be so +sometimes," he concluded, applying himself to the warm cakes that had just +been set upon the table. + +"Perhaps she is not well," suggested Mr. Winston, "I think she looks a +little pale." + +"Well, possibly you may be right, but I trust it is only a temporary +lowness of spirits or something of that kind. Maybe she will get over it in +a day or two;" and with this remark the conversation dropped, and the +gentlemen proceeded to the demolition of the sweetmeats before them. And +now, my reader, whilst they are finishing their meal, I will relate to you +who Mr. Winston is, and how he came to be so familiarly seated at Mr. +Garie's table. + +Mr. Winston had been a slave. Yes! that fine-looking gentleman seated near +Mr. Garie and losing nothing by the comparison that their proximity would +suggest, had been fifteen years before sold on the auction-block in the +neighbouring town of Savanah--had been made to jump, show his teeth, shout +to test his lungs, and had been handled and examined by professed negro +traders and amateur buyers, with less gentleness and commiseration than +every humane man would feel for a horse or an ox. Now do not doubt me--I +mean that very gentleman, whose polished manners and irreproachable +appearance might have led you to suppose him descended from a long line of +illustrious ancestors. Yes--he was the offspring of a mulatto field-hand by +her master. He who was now clothed in fine linen, had once rejoiced in a +tow shirt that scarcely covered his nakedness, and had sustained life on a +peck of corn a week, receiving the while kicks and curses from a tyrannical +overseer. + +The death of his master had brought him to the auction-block, from which, +both he and his mother were sold to separate owners. There they took their +last embrace of each other--the mother tearless, but heart-broken--the boy +with all the wildest manifestations of grief. + +His purchaser was a cotton broker from New Orleans, a warm-hearted, kind +old man, who took a fancy to the boy's looks, and pitied him for his +unfortunate separation from his mother. After paying for his new purchase, +he drew him aside, and said, in a kind tone, "Come, my little man, stop +crying; my boys never cry. If you behave yourself you shall have fine times +with me. Stop crying now, and come with me; I am going to buy you a new +suit of clothes." + +"I don't want new clothes--I want my mammy," exclaimed the child, with a +fresh burst of grief. + +"Oh dear me!" said the fussy old gentleman, "why can't you stop--I don't +want to hear you cry. Here," continued he, fumbling in his pocket--"here's +a picayune." + +"Will that buy mother back?" said the child brightening up. + +"No, no, my little man, not quite--I wish it would. I'd purchase the old +woman; but I can't--I'm not able to spare the money." + +"Then I don't want it," cried the boy, throwing the money on the ground. +"If it won't buy mammy, I don't want it. I want my mammy, and nothing +else." + +At length, by much kind language, and by the prospect of many fabulous +events to occur hereafter, invented at the moment by the old gentleman, the +boy was coaxed into a more quiescent state, and trudged along in the rear +of Mr. Moyese--that was the name of his purchaser--to be fitted with the +new suit of clothes. + +The next morning they started by the stage for Augusta. George, seated on +the box with the driver, found much to amuse him; and the driver's merry +chat and great admiration of George's new and gaily-bedizened suit, went a +great way towards reconciling that young gentleman to his new situation. + +In a few days they arrived in New Orleans. There, under the kind care of +Mr. Moyese, he began to exhibit great signs of intelligence. The atmosphere +into which he was now thrown, the kindness of which he was hourly the +recipient, called into vigour abilities that would have been stifled for +ever beneath the blighting influences that surrounded him under his former +master. The old gentleman had him taught to read and write, and his aptness +was such as to highly gratify the kind old soul. + +In course of time, the temporary absence of an out-door clerk caused +George's services to be required at the office for a few days, as +errand-boy. Here he made himself so useful as to induce Mr. Moyese to +keep him there permanently. After this he went through all the grades from +errand-boy up to chief-clerk, which post he filled to the full satisfaction +of his employer. His manners and person improved with his circumstances; +and at the time he occupied the chief-clerk's desk, no one would have +suspected him to be a slave, and few who did not know his history would +have dreamed that he had a drop of African blood in his veins. He was +unremitting in his attention to the duties of his station, and gained, by +his assiduity and amiable deportment, the highest regard of his employer. + +A week before a certain New-year's-day, Mr. Moyese sat musing over some +presents that had just been sent home, and which he was on the morrow to +distribute amongst his nephews and nieces. "Why, bless me!" he suddenly +exclaimed, turning them over, "why, I've entirely forgotten George! That +will never do; I must get something for him. What shall it be? He has a +fine watch, and I gave him a pin and ring last year. I really don't know +what will be suitable," and he sat for some time rubbing his chin, +apparently in deep deliberation. "Yes, I'll do it!" he exclaimed, starting +up; "I'll do it! He has been a faithful fellow, and deserves it. I'll make +him a present of himself! Now, how strange it is I never thought of that +before--it's just the thing;--how surprised and delighted he will be!" and +the old gentleman laughed a low, gentle, happy laugh, that had in it so +little of selfish pleasure, that had you only heard him you must have loved +him for it. + +Having made up his mind to surprise George in this agreeable manner, Mr. +Moyese immediately wrote a note, which he despatched to his lawyers, +Messrs. Ketchum and Lee, desiring them to make out a set of free papers for +his boy George, and to have them ready for delivery on the morrow, as it +was his custom to give his presents two or three days in advance of the +coming year. + +The note found Mr. Ketchum deep in a disputed will case, upon the decision +of which depended the freedom of some half-dozen slaves, who had been +emancipated by the will of their late master; by which piece of posthumous +benevolence his heirs had been greatly irritated, and were in consequence +endeavouring to prove him insane. + +"Look at that, Lee," said he, tossing the note to his partner; "if that old +Moyese isn't the most curious specimen of humanity in all New Orleans! He +is going to give away clear fifteen hundred dollars as a New-year's gift!" + +"To whom?" asked Mr. Lee. + +"He has sent me orders," replied Mr. Ketchum, "to make out a set of free +papers for his boy George." + +"Well, I can't say that I see so much in that," said Lee; "how can he +expect to keep him? George is almost as white as you or I, and has the +manners and appearance of a gentleman. He might walk off any day without +the least fear of detection." + +"Very true," rejoined Ketchum, "but I don't think he would do it. He is +very much attached to the old gentleman, and no doubt would remain with him +as long as the old man lives. But I rather think the heirs would have to +whistle for him after Moyese was put under ground. However," concluded Mr. +Ketchum, "they won't have much opportunity to dispute the matter, as he +will be a free man, no doubt, before he is forty-eight hours older." + +A day or two after this, Mr. Moyese entertained all his nephews and nieces +at dinner, and each was gratified with some appropriate gift. The old man +sat happily regarding the group that crowded round him, their faces beaming +with delight. The claim for the seat of honour on Uncle Moyese's knee was +clamorously disputed, and the old gentleman was endeavouring to settle it +to the satisfaction of all parties, when a servant entered, and delivered a +portentous-looking document, tied with red tape. "Oh, the papers--now, my +dears, let uncle go. Gustave, let go your hold of my leg, or I can't get +up. Amy, ring the bell, dear." This operation Mr. Moyese was obliged to +lift her into the chair to effect, where she remained tugging at the +bell-rope until she was lifted out again by the servant, who came running +in great haste to answer a summons of such unusual vigour. + +"Tell George I want him," said Mr. Moyese. + +"He's gone down to the office; I hearn him say suffin bout de nordern mail +as he went out--but I duno what it was"--and as he finished he vanished +from the apartment, and might soon after have been seen with his mouth in +close contact with the drumstick of a turkey. + +Mr. Moyese being now released from the children, took his way to the +office, with the portentous red-tape document that was to so greatly change +the condition of George Winston in his coat pocket. The old man sat down at +his desk, smiling, as he balanced the papers in his hand, at the thought of +the happiness he was about to confer on his favourite. He was thus engaged +when the door opened, and George entered, bearing some newly-arrived orders +from European correspondents, in reference to which he sought Mr. Moyese's +instructions. + +"I think, sir," said he, modestly, "that we had better reply at once to +Ditson, and send him the advance he requires, as he will not otherwise be +able to fill these;" and as he concluded he laid the papers on the table, +and stood waiting orders respecting them. + +Mr. Moyese laid down the packet, and after looking over the papers George +had brought in, replied: "I think we had. Write to him to draw upon us for +the amount he requires.--And, George," he continued, looking at him +benevolently, "what would you like for a New-year's present?" + +"Anything you please, sir," was the respectful reply. + +"Well, George," resumed Mr. Moyese, "I have made up my mind to make you a +present of----" here he paused and looked steadily at him for a few +seconds; and then gravely handing him the papers, concluded, "of yourself, +George! Now mind and don't throw my present away, my boy." George stood +for some moments looking in a bewildered manner, first at his master, then +at the papers. At last the reality of his good fortune broke fully upon +him, and he sank into a chair, and unable to say more than: "God bless you, +Mr. Moyese!" burst into tears. + +"Now you are a pretty fellow," said the old man, sobbing himself, "it's +nothing to cry about--get home as fast as you can, you stupid cry-baby, and +mind you are here early in the morning, sir, for I intend to pay you five +hundred dollars a-year, and I mean you to earn it," and thus speaking he +bustled out of the room, followed by George's repeated "God bless you!" +That "God bless you" played about his ears at night, and soothed him to +sleep; in dreams he saw it written in diamond letters on a golden crown, +held towards him by a hand outstretched from the azure above. He fancied +the birds sang it to him in his morning walk, and that he heard it in the +ripple of the little stream that flowed at the foot of his garden. So he +could afford to smile when his relatives talked about his mistaken +generosity, and could take refuge in that fervent "God bless you!" + +Six years after this event Mr. Moyese died, leaving George a sufficient +legacy to enable him to commence business on his own account. As soon as he +had arranged his affairs, he started for his old home, to endeavour to gain +by personal exertions what he had been unable to learn through the agency +of others--a knowledge of the fate of his mother. He ascertained that she +had been sold and re-sold, and had finally died in New Orleans, not more +than three miles from where he had been living. He had not even the +melancholy satisfaction of finding her grave. During his search for his +mother he had become acquainted with Emily, the wife of Mr. Garie, and +discovered that she was his cousin; and to this was owing the familiar +footing on which we find him in the household where we first introduced him +to our readers. + +Mr. Winston had just returned from a tour through the Northern States, +where he had been in search of a place in which to establish himself in +business. + +The introductions with which Mr. Garie had kindly favoured him, had enabled +him to see enough of Northern society to convince him, that, amongst the +whites, he could not form either social or business connections, should his +identity with, the African race be discovered; and whilst, on the other +hand, he would have found sufficiently refined associations amongst the +people of colour to satisfy his social wants, he felt that he could not +bear the isolation and contumely to which they were subjected. He, +therefore, decided on leaving the United States, and on going to some +country where, if he must struggle for success in life, he might do it +without the additional embarrassments that would be thrown in his way in +his native land, solely because he belonged to an oppressed race. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A Glance at the Ellis Family. + + +"I wish Charlie would come with that tea," exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, who sat +finishing off some work, which had to go home that evening. "I wonder what +can keep him so long away. He has been gone over an hour; it surely cannot +take him that time to go to Watson's." + +"It is a great distance, mother," said Esther Ellis, who was busily plying +her needle; "and I don't think he has been quite so long as you suppose." + +"Yes; he has been gone a good hour," repeated Mrs. Ellis. "It is now six +o'clock, and it wanted three minutes to five when he left. I do hope he +won't forget that I told him half black and half green--he is so +forgetful!" And Mrs. Ellis rubbed her spectacles and looked peevishly out +of the window as she concluded.--"Where can he be?" she resumed, looking in +the direction in which he might be expected. "Oh, here he comes, and Caddy +with him. They have just turned the corner--open the door and let them in." + +Esther arose, and on opening the door was almost knocked down by Charlie's +abrupt entrance into the apartment, he being rather forcibly shoved in by +his sister Caroline, who appeared to be in a high state of indignation. + +"Where do you think he was, mother? Where _do_ you think I found him?" + +"Well, I can't say--I really don't know; in some mischief, I'll be bound." + +"He was on the lot playing marbles--and I've had such a time to get him +home. Just look at his knees; they are worn through. And only think, +mother, the tea was lying on the ground, and might have been carried off, +if I had not happened to come that way. And then he has been fighting and +struggling with me all the way home. See," continued she, baring her arm, +"just look how he has scratched me," and as she spoke she held out the +injured member for her mother's inspection. + +"Mother," said Charlie, in his justification, "she began to beat me before +all the boys, before I had said a word to her, and I wasn't going to stand +that. She is always storming at me. She don't give me any peace of my +life." + +"Oh yes, mother," here interposed Esther; "Cad is too cross to him. I must +say, that he would not be as bad as he is, if she would only let him +alone." + +"Esther, please hush now; you have nothing to do with their quarrels. I'll +settle all their differences. You always take his part whether he be right +or wrong. I shall send him to bed without his tea, and to-morrow I will +take his marbles from him; and if I see his knees showing through his pants +again, I'll put a red patch on them--that's what I'll do. Now, sir, go to +bed, and don't let me hear of you until morning." + +Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were at the head of a highly respectable and industrious +coloured family. They had three children. Esther, the eldest, was a girl of +considerable beauty, and amiable temper. Caroline, the second child, was +plain in person, and of rather shrewish disposition; she was a most +indefatigable housewife, and was never so happy as when in possession of a +dust or scrubbing brush; she would have regarded a place where she could +have lived in a perpetual state of house cleaning, as an earthly paradise. +Between her and Master Charlie continued warfare existed, interrupted only +by brief truces brought about by her necessity for his services as +water-carrier. When a service of this character had been duly rewarded by a +slice of bread and preserves, or some other dainty, hostilities would +most probably be recommenced by Charlie's making an inroad upon the newly +cleaned floor, and leaving the prints of his muddy boots thereon. + +The fact must here be candidly stated, that Charlie was not a tidy boy. He +despised mats, and seldom or never wiped his feet on entering the house; he +was happiest when he could don his most dilapidated unmentionables, as he +could then sit down where he pleased without the fear of his mother before +his eyes, and enter upon a game of marbles with his mind perfectly free +from all harassing cares growing out of any possible accident to the +aforesaid garments, so that he might give that attention to the game that +its importance demanded. + +He was a bright-faced pretty boy, clever at his lessons, and a favourite +both with tutors and scholars. He had withal a thorough boy's fondness for +play, and was also characterised by all the thoughtlessness consequent +thereon. He possessed a lively, affectionate disposition, and was generally +at peace with all the world, his sister Caddy excepted. + +Caroline had recovered her breath, and her mind being soothed by the +judgment that had been pronounced on Master Charlie, she began to bustle +about to prepare tea. + +The shining copper tea-kettle was brought from the stove where it had been +seething and singing for the last half-hour; then the tea-pot of china +received its customary quantity of tea, which was set upon the stove to +brew, and carefully placed behind the stove pipe that no accidental touch +of the elbow might bring it to destruction. Plates, knives, and teacups +came rattling forth from the closet; the butter was brought from the place +where it had been placed to keep it cool, and a corn-cake was soon smoking +on the table, and sending up its seducing odour into the room over-head to +which Charlie had been recently banished, causing to that unfortunate young +gentleman great physical discomfort. + +"Now, mother," said the bustling Caddy, "it's all ready. Come now and sit +down whilst the cake is hot--do put up the sewing, Esther, and come!" + +Neither Esther nor her mother needed much pressing, and they were +accordingly soon seated round the table on which their repast was spread. + +"Put away a slice of this cake for father," said Mrs. Ellis, "for he won't +be home until late; he is obliged to attend a vestry meeting to-night." + +Mrs. Ellis sat for some time sipping the fragrant and refreshing tea. When +the contents of two or three cups one after another had disappeared, and +sundry slices of corn-bread had been deposited where much corn-bread had +been deposited before, she began to think about Charlie, and to imagine +that perhaps she had been rather hasty in sending him to bed without his +supper. + +"What had Charlie to-day in his dinner-basket to take to school with him?" +she inquired of Caddy. + +"Why, mother, I put in enough for a wolf; three or four slices of bread, +with as many more of corn-beef, some cheese, one of those little pies, and +all that bread-pudding which was left at dinner yesterday--he must have had +enough." + +"But, mother, you know he always gives away the best part of his dinner," +interposed Esther. "He supplies two or three boys with food. There is that +dirty Kinch that he is so fond of, who never takes any dinner with him, and +depends entirely upon Charlie. He must be hungry; do let him come down and +get his tea, mother?" + +Notwithstanding the observations of Caroline that Esther was just +persuading her mother to spoil the boy, that he would be worse than ever, +and many other similar predictions. Esther and the tea combined won a +signal triumph, and Charlie was called down from the room above, where he +had been exchanging telegraphic communications with the before-mentioned +Kinch, in hopes of receiving a commutation of sentence. + +Charlie was soon seated at the table with an ample allowance of corn-bread +and tea, and he looked so demure, and conducted himself in such an +exemplary manner, that one would have scarcely thought him given to marbles +and dirty company. Having eaten to his satisfaction he quite ingratiated +himself with Caddy by picking up all the crumbs he had spilled during tea, +and throwing them upon the dust-heap. This last act was quite a stroke of +policy, as even Caddy began to regard him as capable of reformation. + +The tea-things washed up and cleared away, the females busied themselves +with their sewing, and Charlie immersed himself in his lessons for the +morrow with a hearty goodwill and perseverance as if he had abjured marbles +for ever. + +The hearty supper and persevering attention to study soon began to produce +their customary effect upon Charlie. He could not get on with his lessons. +Many of the state capitals positively refused to be found, and he was +beginning to entertain the sage notion that probably some of the +legislatures had come to the conclusion to dispense with them altogether, +or had had them placed in such obscure places that they could not be found. +The variously coloured states began to form a vast kaleidoscope, in which +the lakes and rivers had been entirely swallowed up. Ranges of mountains +disappeared, and gulfs and bays and islands were entirely lost. In fact, he +was sleepy, and had already had two or three narrow escapes from butting +over the candles; finally he fell from his chair, crushing Caddy's +newly-trimmed bonnet, to the intense grief and indignation of that young +lady, who inflicted summary vengeance upon him before he was sufficiently +awake to be aware of what had happened. + +The work being finished, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy prepared to take it home to +Mrs. Thomas, leaving Esther at home to receive her father on his return and +give him his tea. + +Mrs. Ellis and Caddy wended their way towards the fashionable part of the +city, looking in at the various shop-windows as they went. Numberless were +the great bargains they saw there displayed, and divers were the +discussions they held respecting them. "Oh, isn't that a pretty calico, +mother, that with the green ground?" + +"'Tis pretty, but it won't wash, child; those colours always run." + +"Just look at that silk though--now that's cheap, you must +acknowledge--only eighty-seven and a half cents; if I only had a dress of +that I should be fixed." + +"Laws, Caddy!" replied Mrs. Ellis, "that stuff is as slazy as a washed +cotton handkerchief, and coarse enough almost to sift sand through. It +wouldn't last you any time. The silks they make now-a-days ain't worth +anything; they don't wear well at all. Why," continued she, "when I was a +girl they made silks that would stand on end--and one of them would last a +life-time." + +They had now reached Chestnut-street, which was filled with gaily-dressed +people, enjoying the balmy breath of a soft May evening. Mrs. Ellis and +Caddy walked briskly onward, and were soon beyond the line of shops, and +entered upon the aristocratic quarter into which many of its residents had +retired, that they might be out of sight of the houses in which their +fathers or grandfathers had made their fortunes. + +"Mother," said Caddy, "this is Mr. Grant's new house--isn't it a splendid +place? They say it's like a palace inside. They are great people, them +Grants. I saw in the newspaper yesterday that young Mr. Augustus Grant had +been appointed an attache to the American legation at Paris; the newspapers +say he is a rising man." + +"Well, he ought to be," rejoined Mrs. Ellis, "for his old grand-daddy made +yeast enough to raise the whole family. Many a pennyworth has he sold me. +Laws! how the poor old folk do get up! I think I can see the old man now, +with his sleeves rolled up, dealing out his yeast. He wore one coat for +about twenty years, and used to be always bragging about it." + +As they were thus talking, a door of one of the splendid mansions they were +passing opened, and a fashionably-dressed young man came slowly down the +steps, and walked on before them with a very measured step and peculiar +gait. + +"That's young Dr. Whiston, mother," whispered Caddy; "he's courting young +Miss Morton." + +"You don't say so!" replied the astonished Mrs. Ellis. "Why, I declare his +grandfather laid her grandfather out! Old Whiston was an undertaker, and +used to make the handsomest coffins of his time. And he is going to marry +Miss Morton! What next, I'd like to know! He walks exactly like the old +man. I used to mock him when I was a little girl. He had just that +hop-and-go kind of gait, and he was the funniest man that ever lived. I've +seen him at a funeral go into the parlour, and condole with the family, and +talk about the dear departed until the tears rolled down his cheeks; and +then he'd be down in the kitchen, eating and drinking, and laughing, and +telling jokes about the corpses, before the tears were dry on his face. How +he used to make money! He buried almost all the respectable people about +town, and made a large fortune. He owned a burying-ground in Coates-street, +and when the property in that vicinity became valuable, he turned the dead +folks out, and built houses on the ground!" + +"I shouldn't say it was a very pleasant place to live in, if there are such +things as ghosts," said Caddy, laughing; "I for one wouldn't like to live +there--but here we are at Mr. Thomas's--how short the way has seemed!" + +Caroline gave a fierce rap at the door, which was opened by old Aunt +Rachel, the fat cook, who had lived with the Thomases for a fabulous length +of time. She was an old woman when Mrs. Ellis came as a girl into the +family, and had given her many a cuff in days long past; in fact, +notwithstanding Mrs. Ellis had been married many years, and had children +almost as old as she herself was when she left Mr. Thomas, Aunt Rachel +could never be induced to regard her otherwise than as a girl. + +"Oh, it's you, is it?" said she gruffly, as she opened the door; "don't +you think better break de door down at once-rapping as if you was guine to +tear off de knocker--is dat de way, gal, you comes to quality's houses? You +lived here long nuff to larn better dan dat--and dis is twice I've been to +de door in de last half-hour--if any one else comes dere they may stay +outside. Shut de door after you, and come into de kitchen, and don't keep +me standin' here all night," added she, puffing and blowing as she waddled +back into her sanctum. + +Waiting until the irate old cook had recovered her breath, Mrs. Ellis +modestly inquired if Mrs. Thomas was at home. "Go up and see," was the +surly response. "You've been up stars often enuff to know de way--go long +wid you, gal, and don't be botherin' me, 'case I don't feel like bein' +bothered--now, mind I tell yer.--Here, you Cad, set down on dis stool, and +let that cat alone; I don't let any one play with my cat," continued she, +"and you'll jest let him alone, if you please, or I'll make you go sit in +de entry till your mother's ready to go. I don't see what she has you brats +tugging after her for whenever she comes here--she might jest as well leave +yer at home to darn your stockings--I 'spect dey want it." + +Poor Caddy was boiling over with wrath; but deeming prudence the better +part of valour, she did not venture upon any wordy contest with Aunt +Rachel, but sat down upon the stool by the fire-place, in which a bright +fire was blazing. Up the chimney an old smoke-jack was clicking, whirling, +and making the most dismal noise imaginable. This old smoke-jack was Aunt +Rachel's especial _protege_, and she obstinately and successfully defended +it against all comers. She turned up her nose at all modern inventions +designed for the same use as entirely beneath her notice. She had been +accustomed to hearing its rattle for the last forty years, and would as +soon have thought of committing suicide as consenting to its removal. + +She and her cat were admirably matched; he was as snappish and cross as +she, and resented with distended claws and elevated back all attempts on +the part of strangers to cultivate amicable relations with him. In fact, +Tom's pugnacious disposition was clearly evidenced by his appearance; one +side of his face having a very battered aspect, and the fur being torn off +his back in several places. + +Caddy sat for some time surveying the old woman and her cat, in evident awe +of both. She regarded also with great admiration the scrupulously clean and +shining kitchen tins that garnished the walls and reflected the red light +of the blazing fire. The wooden dresser was a miracle of whiteness, and +ranged thereon was a set of old-fashioned blue china, on which was +displayed the usual number of those unearthly figures which none but the +Chinese can create. Tick, tick, went the old Dutch clock in the corner, and +the smoke-jack kept up its whirring noise. Old Tom and Aunt Rachel were +both napping; and so Caddy, having no other resource, went to sleep also. + +Mrs. Ellis found her way without any difficulty to Mrs. Thomas's room. Her +gentle tap upon the door quite flurried that good lady, who (we speak it +softly) was dressing her wig, a task she entrusted to no other mortal +hands. She peeped out, and seeing who it was, immediately opened the door +without hesitation. + +"Oh, it's you, is it? Come in, Ellen," said she; "I don't mind you." + +"I've brought the night-dresses home," said Mrs. Ellis, laying her bundle +upon the table,--"I hope they'll suit." + +"Oh, no doubt they will. Did you bring the bill?" asked Mrs. Thomas. + +The bill was produced, and Mrs. Ellis sat down, whilst Mrs. Thomas counted +out the money. This having been duly effected, and the bill carefully +placed on the file, Mrs. Thomas also sat down, and commenced her usual +lamentation over the state of her nerves, and the extravagance of the +younger members of the family. On the latter subject she spoke very +feelingly. "Such goings on, Ellen, are enough to set me crazy--so many +nurses--and then we have to keep four horses--and it's company, company +from Monday morning until Saturday night; the house is kept upside-down +continually--money, money for everything--all going out, and nothing coming +in!"--and the unfortunate Mrs. Thomas whined and groaned as if she had not +at that moment an income of clear fifteen thousand dollars a year, and a +sister who might die any day and leave her half as much more. + +Mrs. Thomas was the daughter of the respectable old gentleman whom Dr. +Whiston's grandfather had prepared for his final resting-place. Her +daughter had married into a once wealthy, but now decayed, Carolina family. +In consideration of the wealth bequeathed by her grandfather (who was a +maker of leather breeches, and speculator in general), Miss Thomas had +received the offer of the poverty-stricken hand of Mr. Morton, and had +accepted it with evident pleasure, as he was undoubtedly a member of one of +the first families of the South, and could prove a distant connection with +one of the noble families of England. + +They had several children, and their incessant wants had rendered it +necessary that another servant should be kept. Now Mrs. Thomas had long had +her eye on Charlie, with a view of incorporating him with the Thomas +establishment, and thought this would be a favourable time to broach the +subject to his mother: she therefore commenced by inquiring-- + +"How have you got through the winter, Ellen? Everything has been so dear +that even we have felt the effect of the high prices." + +"Oh, tolerably well, I thank you. Husband's business, it is true, has not +been as brisk as usual, but we ought not to complain; now that we have got +the house paid for, and the girls do so much sewing, we get on very +nicely." + +"I should think three children must be something of a burthen--must be hard +to provide for." + +"Oh no, not at all," rejoined Mrs. Ellis, who seemed rather surprised at +Mrs. Thomas's uncommon solicitude respecting them. "We have never found the +children a burthen, thank God--they're rather a comfort and a pleasure than +otherwise." + + +"I'm glad to hear you say so, Ellen--very glad, indeed, for I have been +quite disturbed in mind respecting you during the winter. I really several +times thought of sending to take Charlie off your hands: by-the-way, what +is he doing now?" + +"He goes to school regularly--he hasn't missed a day all winter. You should +just see his writing," continued Mrs. Ellis, warming up with a mother's +pride in her only son--"he won't let the girls make out any of the bills, +but does it all himself--he made out yours." + +Mrs. Thomas took down the file and looked at the bill again. "It's very +neatly written, very neatly written, indeed; isn't it about time that he +left school--don't you think he has education enough?" she inquired. + +"His father don't. He intends sending him to another school, after +vacation, where they teach Latin and Greek, and a number of other +branches." + +"Nonsense, nonsense, Ellen! If I were you, I wouldn't hear of it. There +won't be a particle of good result to the child from any such acquirements. +It isn't as though he was a white child. What use can Latin or Greek be to +a coloured boy? None in the world--he'll have to be a common mechanic, or, +perhaps, a servant, or barber, or something of that kind, and then what use +would all his fine education be to him? Take my advice, Ellen, and don't +have him taught things that will make him feel above the situation he, in +all probability, will have to fill. Now," continued she, "I have a proposal +to make to you: let him come and live with me awhile--I'll pay you well, +and take good care of him; besides, he will be learning something here, +good manners, &c. Not that he is not a well-mannered child; but, you know, +Ellen, there is something every one learns by coming in daily contact with +refined and educated people that cannot but be beneficial--come now, make +up your mind to leave him with me, at least until the winter, when the +schools again commence, and then, if his father is still resolved to send +him back to school, why he can do so. Let me have him for the summer at +least." + +Mrs. Ellis, who had always been accustomed to regard Mrs. Thomas as a +miracle of wisdom, was, of course, greatly impressed with what she had +said. She had lived many years in her family, and had left it to marry Mr. +Ellis, a thrifty mechanic, who came from Savanah, her native city. She had +great reverence for any opinion Mrs. Thomas expressed; and, after some +further conversation on the subject, made up her mind to consent to the +proposal, and left her with the intention of converting her husband to her +way of thinking. + +On descending to the kitchen she awoke Caddy from a delicious dream, in +which she had been presented with the black silk that they had seen in the +shop window marked eighty-seven and a half cents a yard. In the dream she +had determined to make it up with tight sleeves and infant waist, that +being the most approved style at that period. + +"Five breadths are not enough for the skirt, and if I take six I must skimp +the waist and cape," murmured she in her sleep. + +"Wake up, girl! What are you thinking about?" said her mother, giving her +another shake. + +"Oh!" said Caddy, with a wild and disappointed look--"I was dreaming, +wasn't I? I declare I thought I had that silk frock in the window." + +"The girls' heads are always running on finery--wake up, and come along, +I'm going home." + +Caddy followed her mother out, leaving Aunt Rachel and Tom nodding at each +other as they dozed before the fire. + +That night Mr. Ellis and his wife had a long conversation upon the proposal +of Mrs. Thomas; and after divers objections raised by him, and set aside +by her, it was decided that Charlie should be permitted to go there for the +holidays at least; after which, his father resolved he should be sent to +school again. + +Charlie, the next morning, looked very blank on being informed of his +approaching fate. Caddy undertook with great alacrity to break the dismal +tidings to him, and enlarged in a glowing manner upon what times he might +expect from Aunt Rachel. + +"I guess she'll keep you straight;--you'll see sights up there! She is +cross as sin--she'll make you wipe your feet when you go in and out, if no +one else can." + +"Let him alone, Caddy," gently interposed Esther; "it is bad enough to be +compelled to live in a house with that frightful old woman, without being +annoyed about it beforehand. If I could help it, Charlie, you should not +go." + +"I know you'd keep me home if you could--but old Cad, here, she always +rejoices if anything happens to me. I'll be hanged if I stay there," said +he. "I won't live at service--I'd rather be a sweep, or sell apples on the +dock. I'm not going to be stuck up behind their carriage, dressed up like a +monkey in a tail coat--I'll cut off my own head first." And with this +sanguinary threat he left the house, with his school-books under his arm, +intending to lay the case before his friend and adviser, the redoubtable +and sympathising Kinch. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Charlie's Trials. + + +Charlie started for school with a heavy heart. Had it not been for his +impending doom of service in Mr. Thomas's family, he would have been the +happiest boy that ever carried a school-bag. + +It did not require a great deal to render this young gentleman happy. All +that was necessary to make up a day of perfect joyfulness with him, was a +dozen marbles, permission to wear his worst inexpressibles, and to be +thoroughly up in his lessons. To-day he was possessed of all these +requisites, but there was also in the perspective along array of skirmishes +with Aunt Rachel, who, he knew, looked on him with an evil eye, and who had +frequently expressed herself regarding him, in his presence, in terms by no +means complimentary or affectionate; and the manner in which she had +intimated her desire, on one or two occasions, to have an opportunity of +reforming his personal habits, were by no means calculated to produce a +happy frame of mind, now that the opportunity was about to be afforded her. + +Charlie sauntered on until he came to a lumber-yard, where he stopped and +examined a corner of the fence very attentively. "Not gone by yet. I must +wait for him," said he; and forthwith he commenced climbing the highest +pile of boards, the top of which he reached at the imminent risk of his +neck. Here he sat awaiting the advent of his friend Kinch, the absence of +death's head and cross bones from the corner of the fence being a clear +indication that he had not yet passed on his way to school. + +Soon, however, he was espied in the distance, and as he was quite a +character in his way, we must describe him. His most prominent feature was +a capacious hungry-looking mouth, within which glistened a row of perfect +teeth. He had the merriest twinkling black eyes, and a nose so small and +flat that it would have been a prize to any editor living, as it would have +been a physical impossibility to have pulled it, no matter what outrage he +had committed. His complexion was of a ruddy brown, and his hair, entirely +innocent of a comb, was decorated with divers feathery tokens of his last +night's rest. A cap with the front torn off, jauntily set on one side of +his head, gave him a rakish and wide-awake air, his clothes were patched +and torn in several places, and his shoes were already in an advanced stage +of decay. As he approached the fence he took a piece of chalk from his +pocket, and commenced to sketch the accustomed startling illustration which +was to convey to Charlie the intelligence that he had already passed there +on his way to school, when a quantity of sawdust came down in a shower on +his head. As soon as the blinding storm had ceased, Kinch looked up and +intimated to Charlie that it was quite late, and that there was a +probability of their being after time at school. + +This information caused Charlie to make rather a hasty descent, in doing +which his dinner-basket was upset, and its contents displayed at the feet +of the voracious Kinch. + +"Now I'll be even with you for that sawdust," cried he, as he pocketed two +boiled eggs, and bit an immense piece out of an apple-tart, which he would +have demolished completely but for the prompt interposition of its owner. + +"Oh! my golly! Charlie, your mother makes good pies!" he exclaimed with +rapture, as soon as he could get his mouth sufficiently clear to speak. +"Give us another bite,--only a nibble." + +But Charlie knew by experience what Kinch's "nibbles" were, and he very +wisely declined, saying sadly as he did so, "You won't get many more +dinners from me, Kinch. I'm going to leave school." "No! you ain't +though, are you?" asked the astonished Kinch. "You are not going, are you, +really?" + +"Yes, really," replied Charlie, with a doleful look; "mother is going to +put me out at service." + +"And do you intend to go?" asked Kinch, looking at him incredulously. + +"Why of course," was the reply. "How can I help going if father and mother +say I must?" + +"I tell you what I should do," said Kinch, "if it was me. I should act so +bad that the people would be glad to get rid of me. They hired me out to +live once, and I led the people they put me with such a dance, that they +was glad enough to send me home again." + +This observation brought them to the school-house, which was but a trifling +distance from the residence of Mrs. Ellis. + +They entered the school at the last moment of grace, and Mr. Dicker looked +at them severely as they took their seats. "Just saved ourselves," +whispered Kinch; "a minute later and we would have been done for;" and with +this closing remark he applied himself to his grammar, a very judicious +move on his part, for he had not looked at his lesson, and there were but +ten minutes to elapse before the class would be called. + +The lessons were droned through as lessons usually are at school. There was +the average amount of flogging performed; cakes, nuts, and candy, +confiscated; little boys on the back seats punched one another as little +boys on the back seats always will do, and were flogged in consequence. +Then the boy who never knew his lessons was graced with the fool's cap, and +was pointed and stared at until the arrival of the play-hour relieved him +from his disagreeable situation. + +"What kind of folks are these Thomases?" asked Kinch, as he sat beside +Charlie in the playground munching the last of the apple-tart; "what kind +of folks are they? Tell me that, and I can give you some good advice, +may-be." + +"Old Mrs. Thomas is a little dried-up old woman, who wears spectacles and +a wig. She isn't of much account--I don't mind her. She's not the trouble; +it's of old Aunt Rachel, I'm thinking. Why, she has threatened to whip me +when I've been there with mother, and she even talks to her sometimes as if +she was a little girl. Lord only knows what she'll do to me when she has me +there by myself. You should just see her and her cat. I really don't know," +continued Charlie, "which is the worst looking. I hate them both like +poison," and as he concluded, he bit into a piece of bread as fiercely as +if he were already engaged in a desperate battle with aunt Rachel, and was +biting her in self-defence. + +"Well," said Kinch, with the air of a person of vast experience in +difficult cases, "I should drown the cat--I'd do that at once--as soon as I +got there; then, let me ask you, has Aunt Rachel got corns?" + +"Corns! I wish you could see her shoes," replied Charlie. "Why you could +sail down the river in 'em, they are so large. Yes, she has got corns, +bunions, and rheumatism, and everything else." + +"Ah! then," said Kinch, "your way is clear enough if she has got corns. I +should confine myself to operating on them. I should give my whole +attention to her feet. When she attempts to take hold of you, do you jist +come down on her corns, fling your shins about kinder wild, you know, and +let her have it on both feet. You see I've tried that plan, and know by +experience that it works well. Don't you see, you can pass that off as an +accident, and it don't look well to be scratching and biting. As for the +lady of the house, old Mrs. what's-her-name, do you just manage to knock +her wig off before some company, and they'll send you home at once--they'll +hardly give you time to get your hat." + +Charlie laid these directions aside in his mind for future application, and +asked, + +"What did you do, Kinch, to get away from the people you were with?" + +"Don't ask me," said Kinch, laughing; "don't, boy, don't ask me--my +conscience troubles me awful about it sometimes. I fell up stairs with +dishes, and I fell down stairs with dishes. I spilled oil on the carpet, +and broke a looking-glass; but it was all accidental--entirely +accidental--they found I was too ''spensive,' and so they sent me home." + +"Oh, I wouldn't do anything like that--I wouldn't destroy anything--but +I've made up my mind that I won't stay there at any rate. I don't mind +work--I want to do something to assist father and mother; but I don't want +to be any one's servant. I wish I was big enough to work at the shop." + +"How did your mother come to think of putting you there?" asked Kinch. + +"The Lord alone knows," was the reply. "I suppose old Mrs. Thomas told her +it was the best thing that could be done for me, and mother thinks what she +says is law and gospel. I believe old Mrs. Thomas thinks a coloured person +can't get to Heaven, without first living at service a little while." + +The school bell ringing put an end to this important conversation, and the +boys recommenced their lessons. + +When Charlie returned from school, the first person he saw on entering the +house was Robberts, Mrs. Thomas's chief functionary, and the presiding +genius of the wine cellar--when he was trusted with the key. Charlie +learned, to his horror and dismay, that he had been sent by Mrs. Thomas to +inquire into the possibility of obtaining his services immediately, as they +were going to have a series of dinner parties, and it was thought that he +could be rendered quite useful. + +"And must I go, mother?" he asked. + +"Yes, my son; I've told Robberts that you shall come up in the morning," +replied Mrs. Ellis. Then turning to Robberts, she inquired, "How is Aunt +Rachel?" + +At this question, the liveried gentleman from Mrs. Thomas's shook his head +dismally, and answered: "Don't ask me, woman; don't ask me, if you please. +That old sinner gets worse and worse every day she lives. These dinners +we're 'spectin to have has just set her wild--she is mad as fury 'bout +'em--and she snaps me up just as if I was to blame. That is an awful old +woman, now mind I tell you." + +As Mr. Robberts concluded, he took his hat and departed, giving Charlie the +cheering intelligence that he should expect him early next morning. + +Charlie quite lost his appetite for supper in consequence of his +approaching trials, and, laying aside his books with a sigh of regret, sat +listlessly regarding his sisters; enlivened now and then by some cheerful +remark from Caddy, such as:-- + +"You'll have to keep your feet cleaner up there than you do at home, or +you'll have aunt Rach in your wool half a dozen times a day. And you +mustn't throw your cap and coat down where you please, on the chairs or +tables--she'll bring you out of all that in a short time. I expect you'll +have two or three bastings before you have been there a week, for she don't +put up with any nonsense. Ah, boy," she concluded, chuckling, "you'll have +a time of it--I don't envy you!" + +With these and similar enlivening anticipations, Caddy whiled away the time +until it was the hour for Charlie to retire for the night, which he, did +with a heavy heart. + +Early the following morning he was awakened by the indefatigable Caddy, and +he found a small bundle of necessaries prepared, until his trunk of apparel +could be sent to his new home. "Oh, Cad," he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes, +"how I do hate to go up there! I'd rather take a good whipping than go." + +"Well, it is too late now to talk about it; hurry and get your clothes +on--it is quite late--you ought to have been off an hour ago." + +When he came down stairs prepared to go, his mother "hoped that he was +going to behave like a man," which exhortation had the effect of setting +him crying at once; and then he had to be caressed by the tearful Esther, +and, finally, started away with very red eyes, followed to the door by his +mother and the girls, who stood looking after him for some moments. + +So hurried and unexpected had been his departure, that he had been unable +to communicate with his friend Kinch. This weighed very heavily on his +spirits, and he occupied the time on his way to Mrs. Thomas's in devising +various plans to effect that object. + +On arriving, he gave a faint rap, that was responded to by Aunt Rachel, who +saluted him with-- + +"Oh, yer's come, has yer--wipe your feet, child, and come in quick. Shut +the door after yer." + +"What shall I do with this?" timidly asked he, holding up his package of +clothes. + +"Oh, dem's yer rags is dey--fling 'em anywhere, but don't bring 'em in my +kitchen," said she. "Dere is enuff things in dere now--put 'em down here on +this entry table, or dere, long side de knife-Board--any wheres but in de +kitchen." + +Charlie mechanically obeyed, and then followed her into her sanctuary. + +"Have you had your breakfast?" she asked, in a surly tone. "'Cause if you +haven't, you must eat quick, or you won't get any. I can't keep the +breakfast things standing here all day." + +Charlie, to whom the long walk had given a good appetite, immediately sat +down and ate a prodigious quantity of bread and butter, together with +several slices of cold ham, washed down by two cups of tea; after which he +rested his knife and fork, and informed Aunt Rachel that he had done. + +"Well, I think it's high time," responded she. "Why, boy, you'll breed a +famine in de house if you stay here long enough. You'll have to do a heap +of work to earn what you'll eat, if yer breakfast is a sample of yer +dinner. Come, get up, child! and shell dese 'ere pease--time you get 'em +done, old Mrs. Thomas will be down stairs." + +Charlie was thus engaged when Mrs. Thomas entered the kitchen. "Well, +Charles--good morning," said she, in a bland voice. "I'm glad to see you +here so soon. Has he had his breakfast, Aunt Rachel?" + +"Yes; and he eat like a wild animal--I never see'd a child eat more in my +life," was Aunt Rachel's abrupt answer. + +"I'm glad he has a good appetite," said Mrs. Thomas, "it shows he has good +health. Boys will eat; you can't expect them to work if they don't. But it +is time I was at those custards. Charlie, put down those peas and go into +the other room, and bring me a basket of eggs you will find on the table." + +"And be sure to overset the milk that's 'long side of it--yer hear?" added +Aunt Rachel. + +Charlie thought to himself that he would like to accommodate her, but he +denied himself that pleasure; on the ground that it might not be safe to do +it. + +Mrs. Thomas was a housekeeper of the old school, and had a scientific +knowledge of the manner in which all sorts of pies and puddings were +compounded. She was so learned in custards and preserves that even Aunt +Rachel sometimes deferred to her superior judgment in these matters. +Carefully breaking the eggs, she skilfully separated the whites from the +yolks, and gave the latter to Charlie to beat. At first he thought it great +fun, and he hummed some of the popular melodies of the day, and kept time +with his foot and the spatula. But pretty soon he exhausted his stock of +tunes, and then the performances did not go off so well. His arm commenced +aching, and he came to the sage conclusion, before he was relieved from his +task, that those who eat the custards are much better off than those who +prepare them. + +This task finished, he was pressed into service by Aunt Rachel, to pick and +stone some raisins which she gave him, with the injunction either to sing +or whistle all the time he was "at 'em;" and that if he stopped for a +moment she should know he was eating them, and in that case she would +visit him with condign punishment on the spot, for she didn't care a fig +whose child he was. + +Thus, in the performance of first one little job and then another, the day +wore away; and as the hour approached at which the guests were invited, +Charlie, after being taken into the dining-room by Robberts, where he was +greatly amazed at the display of silver, cut glass, and elegant china, was +posted at the door to relieve the guests of their coats and hats, which +duty he performed to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned. + +At dinner, however, he was not so fortunate. He upset a plate of soup into +a gentleman's lap, and damaged beyond repair one of the elegant china +vegetable dishes. He took rather too deep an interest in the conversation +for a person in his station; and, in fact, the bright boy alluded to by Mr. +Winston, as having corrected the reverend gentleman respecting the +quotation from Chaucer, was no other than our friend Charlie Ellis. + +In the evening, when the guests were departing, Charlie handed Mr. Winston +his coat, admiring the texture and cut of it very much as he did so. Mr. +Winston, amused at the boy's manner, asked-- + +"What is your name, my little man?" + +"Charles Ellis," was the prompt reply. "I'm named after my father." + +"And where did your father come from, Charlie?" he asked, looking very much +interested. + +"From Savanah, sir. Now tell me where _you_ came from," replied Charles. + +"I came from New Orleans," said Mr. Winston, with a smile. "Now tell me," +he continued, "where do you live when you are with your parents? I should +like to see your father." Charlie quickly put his interrogator in +possession of the desired information, after which Mr. Winston departed, +soon followed by the other guests. + +Charlie lay for some time that night on his little cot before he could get +to sleep; and amongst the many matters that so agitated his mind, was his +wonder what one of Mrs. Thomas's guests could want with his father. Being +unable however, to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion respecting it, he +turned over and went to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +In which Mr. Winston finds an old Friend. + + +In the early part of Mr. Winston's career, when he worked as a boy on the +plantation of his father, he had frequently received great kindness at the +hands of one Charles Ellis, who was often employed as carpenter about the +premises. + +On one occasion, as a great favour, he had been permitted to accompany +Ellis to his home in Savanah, which was but a few miles distant, where he +remained during the Christmas holidays. This kindness he had never +forgotten; and on his return to Georgia from New Orleans he sought for his +old friend, and found he had removed to the North, but to which particular +city he could not ascertain. + +As he walked homewards, the strong likeness of little Charlie to his old +friend forced itself upon him, and the more he reflected upon it the more +likely it appeared that the boy might be his child; and the identity of +name and occupation between the father of Charlie and his old friend led to +the belief that he was about to make some discovery respecting him. + +On his way to his hotel he passed the old State House, the bell of which +was just striking ten. "It's too late to go to-night," said he, "it shall +be the first thing I attend to in the morning;" and after walking on a +short distance farther, he found himself at the door of his domicile. + +As he passed through the little knot of waiters who were gathered about the +doors, one of them turning to another, asked, "Ain't that man a Southerner, +and ain't he in your rooms, Ben?" + +"I think he's a Southerner," was the reply of Ben. "But why do you ask, +Allen?" he enquired. "Because it's time he had subscribed something," +replied Mr. Allen. "The funds of the Vigilance Committee are very low +indeed; in fact, the four that we helped through last week have completely +drained us. We must make a raise from some quarter, and we might as well +try it on him." + +Mr. Winston was waiting for a light that he might retire to his room, and +was quickly served by the individual who had been so confidentially talking +with Mr. Allen. + +After giving Mr. Winston the light, Ben followed him into his room and +busied himself in doing little nothings about the stove and wash-stand. +"Let me unbutton your straps, sir," said he, stooping down and commencing +on the buttons, which he was rather long in unclosing. "I know, sir, dat +you Southern gentlemen ain't used to doing dese yer things for youself. I +allus makes it a pint to show Southerners more 'tention dan I does to dese +yer Northern folk, 'cause yer see I knows dey'r used to it, and can't get +on widout it." + +"I am not one of that kind," said Winston, as Ben slowly unbuttoned the +last strap. "I have been long accustomed to wait upon myself. I'll only +trouble you to bring me up a glass of fresh water, and then I shall have +done with you for the night." + +"Better let me make you up a little fire, the nights is werry cool," +continued Ben. "I know you must feel 'em; I does myself; I'm from the +South, too." + +"Are you?" replied Mr. Winston, with some interest; "from what part!" + +"From Tuckahoe county, Virginia; nice place dat." + +"Never having been there I can't say," rejoined Mr. Winston, smiling; "and +how do you like the North? I suppose you are a runaway," continued he. + +"Oh, no sir! no sir!" replied Ben, "I was sot free--and I often wish," he +added in a whining tone, "dat I was back agin on the old place--hain't got +no kind marster to look after me here, and I has to work drefful hard +sometimes. Ah," he concluded, drawing a long sigh, "if I was only back on +de old place!" "I heartily wish you were!" said Mr. Winston, indignantly, +"and wish moreover that you were to be tied up and whipped once a day for +the rest of your life. Any man that prefers slavery to freedom deserves to +be a slave--you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Go out of the room, sir, +as quick as possible!" + +"Phew!" said the astonished and chagrined Ben, as he descended the stairs; +"that was certainly a great miss," continued he, talking as correct +English, and with as pure Northern an accent as any one could boast. + +"We have made a great mistake this time; a very queer kind of Southerner +that is. I'm afraid we took the wrong pig by the ear;" and as he concluded, +he betook himself to the group of white-aproned gentlemen before mentioned, +to whom he related the incident that had just occurred. + +"Quite a severe fall that, I should say," remarked Mr. Allen. "Perhaps we +have made a mistake and he is not a Southerner after all. Well he is +registered from New Orleans, and I thought he was a good one to try it on." + +"It's a clear case we've missed it this time," exclaimed one of the party, +"and I hope, Ben, when you found he was on the other side of the fence, you +did not say too much." + +"Laws, no!" rejoined Ben, "do you think I'm a fool? As soon as I heard him +say what he did, I was glad to get off--I felt cheap enough, now mind, I +tell you any one could have bought me for a shilling." + +Now it must be here related that most of the waiters employed in this hotel +were also connected with the Vigilance Committee of the Under-ground +Railroad Company--a society formed for the assistance of fugitive slaves; +by their efforts, and by the timely information it was often in their power +to give, many a poor slave was enabled to escape from the clutches of his +pursuers. + +The house in which they were employed was the great resort of Southerners, +who occasionally brought with them their slippery property; and it +frequently happened that these disappeared from the premises to parts +unknown, aided in their flight by the very waiters who would afterwards +exhibit the most profound ignorance as to their whereabouts. Such of the +Southerners as brought no servants with them were made to contribute, +unconsciously and most amusingly, to the escape of those of their friends. + +When a gentleman presented himself at the bar wearing boots entirely too +small for him, with his hat so far down upon his forehead as almost to +obscure his eyes, and whose mouth was filled with oaths and tobacco, he was +generally looked upon as a favourable specimen to operate upon; and if he +cursed the waiters, addressed any old man amongst them as "boy," and was +continually drinking cock-tails and mint-juleps, they were sure of their +man; and then would tell him the most astonishing and distressing tales of +their destitution, expressing, almost with tears in their eyes, their deep +desire to return to their former masters; whilst perhaps the person from +whose mouth this tale of woe proceeded had been born in a neighbouring +street, and had never been south of Mason and Dixon's[*] line. This +flattering testimony in favour of "the peculiar institution" generally had +the effect of extracting a dollar or two from the purse of the sympathetic +Southerner; which money went immediately into the coffers of the Vigilance +Committee. + +[Footnote *: The line dividing the free from the slave states.] + +It was this course of conduct they were about to pursue with Mr. Winston; +not because he exhibited in person or manners any of the before-mentioned +peculiarities, but from his being registered from New Orleans. + +The following morning, as soon as he had breakfasted, he started in search +of Mr. Ellis. The address was 18, Little Green-street; and, by diligently +inquiring, he at length discovered the required place. + +After climbing up a long flight of stairs on the outside of an old wooden +building, he found himself before a door on which was written, "Charles +Ellis, carpenter and joiner." On opening it, he ushered himself into the +presence of an elderly coloured man, who was busily engaged in planing off +a plank. As soon as Mr. Winston saw his face fully, he recognized him as +his old friend. The hair had grown grey, and the form was also a trifle +bent, but he would have known him amongst a thousand. Springing forward, he +grasped his hand, exclaiming, "My dear old friend, don't you know me?" Mr. +Ellis shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked at him intently for a few +moments, but seemed no wiser from his scrutiny. The tears started to Mr. +Winston's eyes as he said, "Many a kind word I'm indebted to you for--I am +George Winston--don't you remember little George that used to live on the +Carter estate?" + +"Why, bless me! it can't be that you are the little fellow that used to go +home with me sometimes to Savanah, and that was sold to go to New Orleans?" + +"Yes, the same boy; I've been through a variety of changes since then." + +"I should think you had," smilingly replied Mr. Ellis; "and, judging from +appearances, very favourable ones! Why, I took you for a white man--and you +are a white man, as far as complexion is concerned. Laws, child!" he +continued, laying his hand familiarly on Winston's shoulders, "how you have +changed--I should never have known you! The last time I saw you, you were +quite a shaver, running about in a long tow shirt, and regarding a hat and +shoes as articles of luxury far beyond your reach. And now," said Mr. +Ellis, gazing at him with admiring eyes, "just to look at you! Why, you are +as fine a looking man as one would wish to see in a day's travel. I've +often thought of you. It was only the other day I was talking to my wife, +and wondering what had become of you. She, although a great deal older than +your cousin Emily, used to be a sort of playmate of hers. Poor Emily! we +heard she was sold at public sale in Savanah--did you ever learn what +became of her?" "Oh, yes; I saw her about two months since, when on my +way from New Orleans. You remember old Colonel Garie? Well, his son bought +her, and is living with her. They have two children--she is very happy. I +really love him; he is the most kind and affectionate fellow in the world; +there is nothing he would not do to make her happy. Emily will be so +delighted to know that I have seen your wife--but who is Mrs. Ellis?--any +one that I know?" + +"I do not know that you are acquainted with her, but you should remember +her mother, old Nanny Tobert, as she was called; she kept a little +confectionery--almost every one in Savanah knew her." + +"I can't say I do," replied Winston, reflectively. + +"She came here," continued Mr. Ellis, "some years ago, and died soon after +her arrival. Her daughter went to live with the Thomases, an old +Philadelphia family, and it was from their house I married her." + +"Thomases?" repeated Mr. Winston; "that is where I saw your boy--he is the +image of you." + +"And how came you there?" asked Ellis, with a look of surprise. + +"In the most natural manner possible. I was invited there to dinner +yesterday--the bright face of your boy attracted my attention--so I +inquired his name, and that led to the discovery of yourself." + +"And do the Thomases know you are a coloured man?" asked Mr. Ellis, almost +speechless with astonishment. + +"I rather think not," laughingly rejoined Mr. Winston. + +"It is a great risk you run to be passing for white in that way," said Mr. +Ellis, with a grave look. "But how did you manage to get introduced to that +set? They are our very first people." + +"It is a long story," was Winston's reply; and he then, as briefly as he +could, related all that had occurred to himself since they last met. "And +now," continued he, as he finished his recital, "I want to know all about +you and your family; and I also want to see something of the coloured +people. Since I've been in the North I've met none but whites. I'm not +going to return to New Orleans to remain. I'm here in search of a home. I +wish to find some place to settle down in for life, where I shall not +labour under as many disadvantages as I must struggle against in the +South." + +"One thing I must tell you," rejoined Mr. Ellis; "if you should settle down +here, you'll have to be either one thing or other--white or coloured. +Either you must live exclusively amongst coloured people, or go to the +whites and remain with them. But to do the latter, you must bear in mind +that it must never be known that you have a drop of African blood in your +veins, or you would be shunned as if you were a pestilence; no matter how +fair in complexion or how white you may be." + +"I have not as yet decided on trying the experiment, and I hardly think it +probable I shall," rejoined Winston. As he said this he took out his watch, +and was astonished to find how very long his visit had been. He therefore +gave his hand to Mr. Ellis, and promised to return at six o'clock and +accompany him home to visit his family. + +As he was leaving the shop, Mr. Ellis remarked: "George, you have not said +a word respecting your mother." His face flushed, and the tears started in +his eyes, as he replied, in a broken voice, "She's dead! Only think, Ellis, +she died within a stone's throw of me, and I searching for her all the +while. I never speak of it unless compelled; it is too harrowing. It was a +great trial to me; it almost broke my heart to think that she perished +miserably so near me, whilst I was in the enjoyment of every luxury. Oh, if +she could only have lived to see me as I am now!" continued he; "but He +ordered it otherwise, and we must bow. 'Twas God's will it should be so. +Good bye till evening. I shall see you again at six." + +Great was the surprise of Mrs. Ellis and her daughters on learning from Mr. +Ellis, when he came home to dinner, of the events of the morning; and +great was the agitation caused by the announcement of the fact, that his +friend was to be their guest in the evening. + +Mrs. Ellis proposed inviting some of their acquaintances to meet him; but +to this project her husband objected, saying he wanted to have a quiet +evening with him, and to talk over old times; and that persons who were +entire strangers to him would only be a restraint upon them. + +Caddy seemed quite put out by the announcement of the intended visit. She +declared that nothing was fit to be seen, that the house was in a state of +disorder shocking to behold, and that there was scarce a place in it fit to +sit down in; and she forthwith began to prepare for an afternoon's vigorous +scrubbing and cleaning. + +"Just let things remain as they are, will you, Caddy dear," said her +father. "Please be quiet until I get out of the house," he continued, as +she began to make unmistakeable demonstrations towards raising a dust. "In +a few moments you shall have the house to yourself, only give me time to +finish my dinner in peace." + +Esther, her mother, and their sewing were summarily banished to an upstairs +room, whilst Caddy took undivided possession of the little parlour, which +she soon brought into an astonishing state of cleanliness. The ornaments +were arranged at exact distances from the corners of the mantelpiece, the +looking-glass was polished, until it appeared to be without spot or +blemish, and its gilt frame was newly adorned with cut paper to protect it +from the flies. The best china was brought out, carefully dusted, and set +upon the waiter, and all things within doors placed in a state of +forwardness to receive their expected guest. The door-steps were, however, +not as white and clean as they might be, and that circumstance pressed upon +Caddy's mind. She therefore determined to give them a hasty wipe before +retiring to dress for the evening. + +Having done this, and dressed herself to her satisfaction, she came down +stairs to prepare the refreshments for tea. In doing this, she continually +found herself exposing her new silk dress to great risks. She therefore +donned an old petticoat over her skirt, and tied an old silk handkerchief +over her head to protect her hair from flying particles of dust; and thus +arrayed she passed the time in a state of great excitement, frequently +looking out of the window to see if her father and their guest were +approaching. + +In one of these excursions, she, to her intense indignation, found a beggar +boy endeavouring to draw, with a piece of charcoal, an illustration of a +horse-race upon her so recently cleaned door-steps. + +"You young villain," she almost screamed, "go away from there. How dare you +make those marks upon the steps? Go off at once, or I'll give you to a +constable." To these behests the daring young gentleman only returned a +contemptuous laugh, and put his thumb to his nose in the most provoking +manner. "Ain't you going?" continued the irate Caddy, almost choked with +wrath at the sight of the steps, over which she had so recently toiled, +scored in every direction with black marks. + +"Just wait till I come down, I'll give it to you, you audacious villain, +you," she cried, as she closed the window; "I'll see if I can't move you!" +Caddy hastily seized a broom, and descended the stairs with the intention +of inflicting summary vengeance upon the dirty delinquent who had so rashly +made himself liable to her wrath. Stealing softly down the alley beside the +house, she sprang suddenly forward, and brought the broom with all her +energy down upon the head of Mr. Winston, who was standing on the place +just left by the beggar. She struck with such force as to completely crush +his hat down over his eyes, and was about to repeat the blow, when her +father caught her arm, and she became aware of the awful mistake she had +made. + +"Why, my child!" exclaimed her father, "what on earth, is the matter with +you, have you lost your senses?" and as he spoke, he held her at arm's +length from him to get a better look at her. "What are you dressed up in +this style for?" he continued, as he surveyed her from head to foot; and +then bursting into a loud laugh at her comical appearance, he released her, +and she made the quickest possible retreat into the house by the way she +came out. + +Bushing breathless upstairs, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've done +it now! They've come, and I've beat him over the head with a broom!" + +"Beat whom over the head with a broom?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"Oh, mother, I'm so ashamed, I don't know what to do with myself. I struck +Mr. Winston with a broom. Mr. Winston, the gentleman father has brought +home." + +"I really believe the child is crazy," said Mrs. Ellis, surveying the +chagrined girl. "Beat Mr. Winston over the head with a broom! how came you +to do it?" + +"Oh, mother, I made a great mistake; I thought he was a beggar." + +"He must be a very different looking person from what we have been led to +expect," here interrupted Esther. "I understood father to say that he was +very gentlemanlike in appearance." + +"So he is," replied Caddy. + +"But you just said you took him for a beggar?" replied her mother. + +"Oh, don't bother me, don't bother me! my head is all turned upside down. +Do, Esther, go down and let them in--hear how furiously father is knocking! +Oh, go--do go!" + +Esther quickly descended and opened the door for Winston and her father; +and whilst the former was having the dust removed and his hat straightened, +Mrs. Ellis came down and was introduced by her husband. She laughingly +apologized for the ludicrous mistake Caddy had made, which afforded great +amusement to all parties, and divers were the jokes perpetrated at her +expense during the remainder of the evening. Her equanimity having been +restored by Winston's assurances that he rather enjoyed the joke than +otherwise--and an opportunity having been afforded her to obliterate the +obnoxious marks from the door-steps--she exhibited great activity in +forwarding all the arrangements for tea. + +They sat a long while round the table--much time that, under ordinary +circumstances, would have been given to the demolition of the food before +them, being occupied by the elders of the party in inquiries after mutual +friends, and in relating the many incidents that had occurred since they +last met. + +Tea being at length finished, and the things cleared away, Mrs. Ellis gave +the girls permission to go out. "Where are you going?" asked their father. + +"To the library company's room--to-night is their last lecture." + +"I thought," said Winston, "that coloured persons were excluded from such +places. I certainly have been told so several times." + +"It is quite true," replied Mr. Ellis; "at the lectures of the white +library societies a coloured person would no more be permitted to enter +than a donkey or a rattle-snake. This association they speak of is entirely +composed of people of colour. They have a fine library, a debating club, +chemical apparatus, collections of minerals, &c. They have been having a +course of lectures delivered before them this winter, and to-night is the +last of the course." + +"Wouldn't you like to go, Mr. Winston?" asked Mrs. Ellis, who had a +mother's desire to secure so fine an escort for her daughters. + +"No, no--don't, George," quickly interposed Mr. Ellis; "I am selfish enough +to want you entirely to myself to-night. The girls will find beaux enough, +I'll warrant you." At this request the girls did not seem greatly pleased, +and Miss Caddy, who already, in imagination, had excited the envy of all +her female friends by the grand _entree_ she was to make at the Lyceum, +leaning on the arm of Winston, gave her father a by no means affectionate +look, and tying her bonnet-strings with a hasty jerk, started out in +company with her sister. + +"You appear to be very comfortable here, Ellis," said Mr. Winston, looking +round the apartment. "If I am not too inquisitive--what rent do you pay for +this house?" + +"It's mine!" replied Ellis, with an air of satisfaction; "house, ground, +and all, bought and paid for since I settled here." + +"Why, you are getting on well! I suppose," remarked Winston, "that you are +much better off than the majority of your coloured friends. From all I can +learn, the free coloured people in the Northern cities are very badly off. +I've been frequently told that they suffer dreadfully from want and +privations of various kinds." + +"Oh, I see you have been swallowing the usual dose that is poured down +Southern throats by those Northern negro-haters, who seem to think it a +duty they owe the South to tell all manner of infamous lies upon us free +coloured people. I really get so indignant and provoked sometimes, that I +scarcely know what to do with myself. Badly off, and in want, indeed! Why, +my dear sir, we not only support our own poor, but assist the whites to +support theirs, and enemies are continually filling the public ear with the +most distressing tales of our destitution! Only the other day the +Colonization Society had the assurance to present a petition to the +legislature of this State, asking for an appropriation to assist them in +sending us all to Africa, that we might no longer remain a burthen upon the +State--and they came very near getting it, too; had it not been for the +timely assistance of young Denbigh, the son of Judge Denbigh, they would +have succeeded, such was the gross ignorance that prevailed respecting our +real condition, amongst the members of the legislature. He moved a +postponement of the vote until he could have time to bring forward facts to +support the ground that he had assumed in opposition to the appropriation +being made. It was granted; and, in a speech that does him honour, he +brought forward facts that proved us to be in a much superior condition to +that in which our imaginative enemies had described us. Ay! he did more--he +proved us to be in advance of the whites in wealth and general +intelligence: for whilst it was one in fifteen amongst the whites unable to +read and write, it was but one in eighteen amongst the coloured (I won't +pretend to be correct about the figures, but that was about the relative +proportions); and also, that we paid, in the shape of taxes upon our real +estate, more than our proportion for the support of paupers, insane, +convicts, &c." + +"Well," said the astonished Winston, "that is turning the tables +completely. You must take me to visit amongst the coloured people; I want +to see as much of them as possible during my stay." + +"I'll do what I can for you, George. I am unable to spare you much time +just at present, but I'll put you in the hands of one who has abundance of +it at his disposal--I will call with you and introduce you to Walters." + +"Who is Walters?" asked Mr. Winston. + +"A friend of mine--a dealer in real estate." + +"Oh, then he is a white man?" + +"Not by any means," laughingly replied Mr. Ellis. "He is as black as a man +can conveniently be. He is very wealthy; some say that he is worth half a +million of dollars. He owns, to my certain knowledge, one hundred brick +houses. I met him the other day in a towering rage: it appears, that he +owns ten thousand dollars' worth of stock, in a railroad extending from +this to a neighbouring city. Having occasion to travel in it for some +little distance, he got into the first-class cars; the conductor, seeing +him there, ordered him out--he refused to go, and stated that he was a +shareholder. The conductor replied, that he did not care how much stock he +owned, he was a nigger, and that no nigger should ride in those cars; so he +called help, and after a great deal of trouble they succeeded in ejecting +him." "And he a stockholder! It was outrageous," exclaimed Winston. "And +was there no redress?" + +"No, none, practically. He would have been obliged to institute a suit +against the company; and, as public opinion now is, it would be impossible +for him to obtain a verdict in his favour." + +The next day Winston was introduced to Mr. Walters, who expressed great +pleasure in making his acquaintance, and spent a week in showing him +everything of any interest connected with coloured people. + +Winston was greatly delighted with the acquaintances he made; and the +kindness and hospitality with which he was received made a most agreeable +impression upon him. + +It was during this period that he wrote the glowing letters to Mr. and Mrs. +Garie, the effects of which will be discerned in the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The Garies decide on a Change. + + +We must now return to the Garies, whom we left listening to Mr. Winston's +description of what he saw in Philadelphia, and we need not add anything +respecting it to what the reader has already gathered from the last +chapter; our object being now to describe the effect his narrative +produced. + +On the evening succeeding the departure of Winston for New Orleans, Mr. and +Mrs. Garie were seated in a little arbour at a short distance from the +house, and which commanded a magnificent prospect up and down the river. It +was overshadowed by tall trees, from the topmost branches of which depended +large bunches of Georgian moss, swayed to and fro by the soft spring breeze +that came gently sweeping down the long avenue of magnolias, laden with the +sweet breath of the flowers with which the trees were covered. + +A climbing rose and Cape jessamine had almost covered the arbour, and their +intermingled blossoms, contrasting with the rich brown colour of the +branches of which it was constructed, gave it an exceedingly beautiful and +picturesque appearance. + +This arbour was their favourite resort in the afternoons of summer, as they +could see from it the sun go down behind the low hills opposite, casting +his gleams of golden light upon the tops of the trees that crowned their +summits. Northward, where the chain of hills was broken, the waters of the +river would be brilliant with waves of gold long after the other parts of +it were shrouded in the gloom of twilight. Mr. and Mrs. Garie sat looking +at the children, who were scampering about the garden in pursuit of a pet +rabbit which had escaped, and seemed determined not to be caught upon any +pretence whatever. + +"Are they not beautiful?" said Mr. Garie, with pride, as they bounded past +him. "There are not two prettier children in all Georgia. You don't seem +half proud enough of them," he continued, looking down upon his wife +affectionately. + +Mrs. Garie, who was half reclining on the seat, and leaning her head upon +his shoulder, replied, "Oh, yes, I am, Garie; I'm sure I love them +dearly--oh, so dearly!" continued she, fervently--"and I only wish"--here +she paused, as if she felt she had been going to say something that had +better remain unspoken. + +"You only wish what, dear? You were going to say something," rejoined her +husband. "Come, out with it, and let me hear what it was." + +"Oh, Garie, it was nothing of any consequence." + +"Consequence or no consequence, let me hear what it was, dear." + +"Well, as you insist on hearing it, I was about to say that I wish they +were not little slaves." + +"Oh, Em! Em!" exclaimed he, reproachfully, "how can you speak in that +manner? I thought, dear, that you regarded me in any other light than that +of a master. What have I done to revive the recollection that any such +relation existed between us? Am I not always kind and affectionate? Did you +ever have a wish ungratified for a single day, if it was in my power to +compass it? or have I ever been harsh or neglectful?" + +"Oh, no, dear, no--forgive me, Garie--do, pray, forgive me--you are +kindness itself--believe me, I did not think to hurt your feelings by +saying what I did. I know you do not treat me or them as though we were +slaves. But I cannot help feeling that we are such--and it makes me very +sad and unhappy sometimes. If anything should happen that you should be +taken away suddenly, think what would be our fate. Heirs would spring up +from somewhere, and we might be sold and separated for ever. Respecting +myself I might be indifferent, but regarding the children I cannot feel +so." + +"Tut, tut, Em! don't talk so gloomily. Do you know of any one, now, who has +been hired to put me to death?" said he, smiling. + +"Don't talk so, dear; remember, 'In the midst of life we are in death.' It +was only this morning I learned that Celeste--you remember Celeste, don't +you?--I cannot recall her last name." + +"No, dear, I really can't say that I do remember whom you refer to." + +"I can bring her to your recollection, I think," continued she. "One +afternoon last fall we were riding together on the Augusta-road, when you +stopped to admire a very neat cottage, before the door of which two pretty +children were playing." + +"Oh, yes, I remember something about it--I admired the children so +excessively that you became quite jealous." + +"I don't remember that part of it," she continued. "But let me tell you my +story. Last week the father of the children started for Washington; the +cars ran off the track, and were precipitated down a high embankment, and +he and some others were killed. Since his death it has been discovered that +all his property was heavily mortgaged to old MacTurk, the worst man in the +whole of Savannah; and he has taken possession of the place, and thrown her +and the children into the slave-pen, from which they will be sold to the +highest bidder at a sheriff's sale. Who can say that a similar fate may +never be mine? These things press upon my spirit, and make me so gloomy and +melancholy at times, that I wish it were possible to shun even myself. +Lately, more than ever, have I felt disposed to beg you to break up here, +and move off to some foreign country where there is no such thing as +slavery. I have often thought how delightful it would be for us all to be +living in that beautiful Italy you have so often described to me--or in +France either. You said you liked both those places--why not live in one of +them?" + +"No, no, Emily; I love America too much to ever think of living anywhere +else. I am much too thorough a democrat ever to swear allegiance to a king. +No, no--that would never do--give me a free country." + +"That is just what I say," rejoined Mrs. Garie; "that is exactly what I +want; that is why I should like to get away from here, because this is +_not_ a free country--God knows it is not!" + +"Oh, you little traitor! How severely you talk, abusing your native land in +such shocking style, it's really painful to hear you," said Mr. Garie in a +jocular tone. + +"Oh, love," rejoined she, "don't joke, it's not a subject for jesting. It +is heavier upon my heart than you dream of. Wouldn't you like to live in +the free States? There is nothing particular to keep you here, and only +think how much better it would be for the children: and Garie," she +continued in a lower tone, nestling close to him as she spoke, and drawing +his head towards her, "I think I am going to--" and she whispered some +words in his ear, and as she finished she shook her head, and her long +curls fell down in clusters over her face. + +Mr. Garie put the curls aside, and kissing her fondly, asked, "How long +have you known it, dear?" + +"Not long, not very long," she replied. "And I have such a yearning that it +should be born a free child. I do want that the first air it breathes +should be that of freedom. It will kill me to have another child born here! +its infant smiles would only be a reproach to me. Oh," continued she, in a +tone of deep feeling, "it is a fearful thing to give birth to an inheritor +of chains;" and she shuddered as she laid her head on her husband's bosom. + +Mr. Garie's brow grew thoughtful, and a pause in the conversation ensued. +The sun had long since gone down, and here and there the stars were +beginning to show their twinkling light. The moon, which had meanwhile been +creeping higher and higher in the blue expanse above, now began to shed her +pale, misty beams on the river below, the tiny waves of which broke in +little circlets of silver on the shore almost at their feet. + +Mr. Garie was revolving in his mind the conversation he had so recently +held with Mr. Winston respecting the free States. It had been suggested by +him that the children should be sent to the North to be educated, but he +had dismissed the notion, well knowing that the mother would be +heart-broken at the idea of parting with her darlings. Until now, the +thought of going to reside in the North had never been presented for his +consideration. He was a Southerner in almost all his feelings, and had +never had a scruple respecting the ownership of slaves. But now the fact +that he was the master as well as the father of his children, and that +whilst he resided where he did it was out of his power to manumit them; +that in the event of his death they might be seized and sold by his heirs, +whoever they might be, sent a thrill of horror through him. He had known +all this before, but it had never stood out in such bold relief until now. + +"What are you thinking of, Garie?" asked his wife, looking up into his +face. "I hope I have not vexed you by what I've said." + +"Oh, no, dear, not at all. I was only thinking whether you would be any +happier if I acceded to your wishes and removed to the North. Here you live +in good style--you have a luxurious home, troops of servants to wait upon +you, a carriage at your disposal. In fact, everything for which you express +a desire." + +"I know all that, Garie, and what I am about to say may seem ungrateful, +but believe me, dear, I do not mean it to be so. I had much rather live on +crusts and wear the coarsest clothes, and work night and day to earn them, +than live here in luxury, wearing gilded chains. Carriages and fine +clothes cannot create happiness. I have every physical comfort, and yet my +heart is often heavy--oh, so very heavy; I know I am envied by many for my +fine establishment; yet how joyfully would I give it all up and accept the +meanest living for the children's freedom--and your love." + +"But, Emily, granted we should remove to the North, you would find +annoyances there as well as here. There is a great deal of prejudice +existing there against people of colour, which, often exposes them to great +inconveniences." + +"Yes, dear, I know all that; I should expect that. But then on the other +hand, remember what George said respecting the coloured people themselves; +what a pleasant social circle they form, and how intelligent many of them +are! Oh, Garie, how I have longed for friends!--we have visitors now and +then, but none that I can call friends. The gentlemen who come to see you +occasionally are polite to me, but, under existing circumstances, I feel +that they cannot entertain for me the respect I think I deserve. I know +they look down upon and despise me because I'm a coloured woman. Then there +would be another advantage; I should have some female society--here I have +none. The white ladies of the neighbourhood will not associate with me, +although I am better educated, thanks to your care, than many of them, so +it is only on rare occasions, when I can coax some of our more cultivated +coloured acquaintances from Savannah to pay us a short visit, that I have +any female society, and no woman can be happy without it. I have no +parents, nor yet have you. We have nothing we greatly love to leave +behind--no strong ties to break, and in consequence would be subjected to +no great grief at leaving. If I only could persuade you to go!" said she, +imploringly. + +"Well, Emily," replied he, in an undecided manner, "I'll think about it. I +love you so well, that I believe I should be willing to make any sacrifice +for your happiness. But it is getting damp and chilly, and you know," said +he, smiling, "you must be more than usually careful of yourself now." + +The next evening, and many more besides, were spent in discussing the +proposed change. Many objections to it were stated, weighed carefully, and +finally set aside. Winston was written to and consulted, and though he +expressed some surprise at the proposal, gave it his decided approval. He +advised, at the same time, that the estate should not be sold, but be +placed in the hands of some trustworthy person, to be managed in Mr. +Garie's absence. Under the care of a first-rate overseer, it would not only +yield a handsome income, but should they be dissatisfied with their +Northern home, they would have the old place still in reserve; and with the +knowledge that they had this to fall back upon, they could try their +experiment of living in the North with their minds less harassed than they +otherwise would be respecting the result. + +As Mr. Garie reflected more and more on the probable beneficial results of +the project, his original disinclination to it diminished, until he finally +determined on running the risk; and he felt fully rewarded for this +concession to his wife's wishes when he saw her recover all her wonted +serenity and sprightliness. + +They were soon in all the bustle and confusion consequent on preparing for +a long journey. When Mr. Garie's determination to remove became known, +great consternation prevailed on the plantation, and dismal forebodings +were entertained by the slaves as to the result upon themselves. + +Divers were the lamentations heard on all sides, when they were positively +convinced that "massa was gwine away for true;" but they were somewhat +pacified, when they learned that no one was to be sold, and that the place +would not change hands. For Mr. Garie was a very kind master, and his +slaves were as happy as slaves can be under any circumstances. Not much +less was the surprise which the contemplated change excited in the +neighbourhood, and it was commented on pretty freely by his acquaintances. +One of them--to whom he had in conversation partially opened his mind, and +explained that his intended removal grew out of anxiety respecting the +children, and his own desire that they might be where they could enjoy the +advantages of schools, &c.--sneered almost to his face at what he termed +his crack-brained notions; and subsequently, in relating to another person +the conversation he had had with Mr. Garie, spoke of him as "a soft-headed +fool, led by the nose by a yaller wench. Why can't he act," he said, "like +other men who happen to have half-white children--breed them up for the +market, and sell them?" and he might have added, "as I do," for he was well +known to have so acted by two or three of his own tawny offspring. + +Mr. Garie, at the suggestion of Winston, wrote to Mr. Walters, to procure +them a small, but neat and comfortable house, in Philadelphia; which, when +procured, he was to commit to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, who were to +have it furnished and made ready to receive him and his family on their +arrival, as Mr. Garie desired to save his wife as much as possible, from +the care and anxiety attendant upon the arrangement of a new residence. + +One most important matter, and on which depended the comfort and happiness +of his people, was the selection of a proper overseer. On its becoming +known that he required such a functionary, numbers of individuals who +aspired to that dignified and honourable office applied forthwith; and as +it was also known that the master was to be absent, and that, in +consequence, the party having it under his entire control, could cut and +slash without being interfered with, the value of the situation was greatly +enhanced. It had also another irresistible attraction, the absence of the +master would enable the overseer to engage in the customary picking and +stealing operations, with less chance of detection. + +In consequence of all these advantages, there was no want of applicants. +Great bony New England men, traitors to the air they first breathed, came +anxiously forward to secure the prize. Mean, weasen-faced, poor white +Georgians, who were able to show testimonials of their having produced +large crops with a small number of hands, and who could tell to a fraction +how long a slave could be worked on a given quantity of corn, also put in +their claims for consideration. Short, thick-set men, with fierce faces, +who gloried in the fact that they had at various times killed refractory +negroes, also presented themselves to undergo the necessary examination. + +Mr. Garie sickened as he contemplated the motley mass of humanity that +presented itself with such eagerness for the attainment of so degrading an +office; and as he listened to their vulgar boastings and brutal language, +he blushed to think that such men were his countrymen. + +Never until now had he had occasion for an overseer. He was not ambitious +of being known to produce the largest crop to the acre, and his hands had +never been driven to that shocking extent, so common with his neighbours. +He had been his own manager, assisted by an old negro, called Ephraim--most +generally known as Eph, and to him had been entrusted the task of +immediately superintending the hands engaged in the cultivation of the +estate. This old man was a great favourite with the children, and Clarence, +who used to accompany him on his pony over the estate, regarded him as the +most wonderful and accomplished coloured gentleman in existence. + +Eph was in a state of great perturbation at the anticipated change, and he +earnestly sought to be permitted to accompany them to the North. Mr. Garie +was, however, obliged to refuse his request, as he said, that it was +impossible that the place could get on without him. + +An overseer being at last procured, whose appearance and manners betokened +a better heart than that of any who had yet applied for the situation, and +who was also highly-recommended for skill and honesty; nothing now remained +to prevent Mr. Garie's early departure. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Pleasant News. + + +One evening Mr. Ellis was reading the newspaper, and Mrs. Ellis and the +girls were busily engaged in sewing, when who should come in but Mr. +Walters, who had entered without ceremony at the front door, which had been +left open owing to the unusual heat of the weather. + +"Here you all are, hard at work," exclaimed he, in his usual hearty manner, +accepting at the same time the chair offered to him by Esther. + +"Come, now," continued he, "lay aside your work and newspapers, for I have +great news to communicate." + +"Indeed, what is it?--what can it be?" cried the three females, almost in a +breath; "do let us hear it!" + +"Oh," said Mr. Walters, in a provokingly slow tone, "I don't think I'll +tell you to-night; it may injure your rest; it will keep till to-morrow." + +"Now, that is always the way with Mr. Walters," said Caddy, pettishly; "he +always rouses one's curiosity, and then refuses to gratify it;--he is so +tantalizing sometimes!" + +"I'll tell you this much," said he, looking slily at Caddy, "it is +connected with a gentleman who had the misfortune to be taken for a beggar, +and who was beaten over the head in consequence by a young lady of my +acquaintance." + +"Now, father has been telling you that," exclaimed Caddy, looking confused, +"and I don't thank him for it either; I hear of that everywhere I go--even +the Burtons know of it." + +Mr. Walters now looked round the room, as though he missed some one, and +finally exclaimed, "Where is Charlie? I thought I missed somebody--where is +my boy?" + +"We have put him out to live at Mrs. Thomas's," answered Mrs. Ellis, +hesitatingly, for she knew Mr. Walters' feelings respecting the common +practice of sending little coloured boys to service. "It is a very good +place for him," continued she--"a most excellent place." + +"That is too bad," rejoined Mr. Walters--"too bad; it is a shame to make a +servant of a bright clever boy like that. Why, Ellis, man, how came you to +consent to his going? The boy should be at school. It really does seem to +me that you people who have good and smart boys take the very course to +ruin them. The worst thing you can do with a boy of his age is to put him +at service. Once get a boy into the habit of working for a stipend, and, +depend upon it, when he arrives at manhood, he will think that if he can +secure so much a month for the rest of his life he will be perfectly happy. +How would you like him to be a subservient old numskull, like that old +Robberts of theirs?" + +Here Esther interrupted Mr. Walters by saying, "I am very glad to hear you +express yourself in that manner, Mr. Walters--very glad. Charlie is such a +bright, active little fellow; I hate to have him living there as a servant. +And he dislikes it, too, as much as any one can. I do wish mother would +take him away." + +"Hush, Esther," said her mother, sharply; "your mother lived at service, +and no one ever thought the worse of her for it." + +Esther looked abashed, and did not attempt to say anything farther. + +"Now, look here, Ellen," said Mr. Walters. (He called her Ellen, for he had +been long intimate with the family.) "If you can't get on without the boy's +earning something, why don't you do as white women and men do? Do you ever +find them sending their boys out as servants? No; they rather give them a +stock of matches, blacking, newspapers, or apples, and start them out to +sell them. What is the result? The boy that learns to sell matches soon +learns to sell other things; he learns to make bargains; he becomes a small +trader, then a merchant, then a millionaire. Did you ever hear of any one +who had made a fortune at service? Where would I or Ellis have been had we +been hired out all our lives at so much a month? It begets a feeling of +dependence to place a boy in such a situation; and, rely upon it, if he +stays there long, it will spoil him for anything better all his days." + +Mrs. Ellis was here compelled to add, by way of justifying herself, that it +was not their intention to let him remain there permanently; his father +only having given his consent for him to serve during the vacation. + +"Well, don't let him stay there longer, I pray you," continued Walters. "A +great many white people think that we are only fit for servants, and I must +confess we do much to strengthen the opinion by permitting our children to +occupy such situations when we are not in circumstances to compel us to do +so. Mrs. Thomas may tell you that they respect their old servant Robberts +as much as they do your husband; but they don't, nevertheless--I don't +believe a word of it. It is impossible to have the same respect for the man +who cleans your boots, that you have for the man who plans and builds your +house." + +"Oh, well, Walters," here interposed Mr. Ellis, "I don't intend the boy to +remain there, so don't get yourself into an unnecessary state of excitement +about it. Let us hear what this great news is that you have brought." + +"Oh, I had almost forgotten it," laughingly replied Walters, at the same +time fumbling in his pocket for a letter, which he at length produced. +"Here," he continued, opening it, "is a letter I have received from a Mr. +Garie, enclosing another from our friend Winston. This Mr. Garie writes me +that he is coming to the North to settle, and desires me to procure them a +house; and he says also that he has so far presumed upon an early +acquaintance of his wife with Mrs. Ellis as to request that she will attend +to the furnishing of it. You are to purchase all that is necessary to make +them comfortable, and I am to foot the bills." + +"What, you don't mean Emily Winston's husband?" said the astonished Mrs. +Ellis. + +"I can't say whose husband it is, but from Winston's letter," replied Mr. +Walters, "I suppose he is the person alluded to." + +"That is news," continued Mrs. Ellis. "Only think, she was a little mite of +a thing when I first knew her, and now she is a woman and the mother of two +children. How time does fly. I must be getting quite old," concluded she, +with a sigh. + +"Nonsense, Ellen," remarked Mr. Ellis, "you look surprisingly young, you +are quite a girl yet. Why, it was only the other day I was asked if you +were one of my daughters." + +Mrs. Ellis and the girls laughed at this sally of their father's, who asked +Mr. Walters if he had as yet any house in view. + +"There is one of my houses in Winter-street that I think will just suit +them. The former tenants moved out about a week since. If I can call for +you to-morrow," he continued, turning to Mrs. Ellis, "will you accompany me +there to take a look at the premises?" + +"It is a dreadful long walk," replied Mrs. Ellis. "How provoking it is to +think, that because persons are coloured they are not permitted to ride in +the omnibuses or other public conveyances! I do hope I shall live to see +the time when we shall be treated as civilized creatures should be." + +"I suppose we shall be so treated when the Millennium comes," rejoined +Walters, "not before, I am afraid; and as we have no reason to anticipate +that it will arrive before to-morrow, we shall have to walk to +Winter-street, or take a private conveyance. At any rate, I shall call for +you to-morrow at ten. Good night--remember, at ten." "Well, this is a +strange piece of intelligence," exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, as the door closed +upon Mr. Walters. "I wonder what on earth can induce them to move on here. +Their place, I am told, is a perfect paradise. In old Colonel Garie's time +it was said to be the finest in Georgia. I wonder if he really intends to +live here permanently?" + +"I can't say, my dear," replied Mrs. Ellis; "I am as much in the dark as +you are." + +"Perhaps they are getting poor, Ellis, and are coming here because they can +live cheaper." + +"Oh, no, wife; I don't think that can be the occasion of their removal. I +rather imagine he purposes emancipating his children. He cannot do it +legally in Georgia; and, you know, by bringing them here, and letting them +remain six months, they are free--so says the law of some of the Southern +States, and I think of Georgia." + +The next morning Mrs. Ellis, Caddy, and Mr. Walters, started for +Winter-street; it was a very long walk, and when they arrived there, they +were all pretty well exhausted. + +"Oh, dear," exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, after walking upstairs, "I am so tired, +and there is not a chair in the house. I must rest here," said she, seating +herself upon the stairs, and looking out upon the garden. "What a large +yard! if ours were only as large as this, what a delightful place I could +make of it! But there is no room to plant anything at our house, the garden +is so very small." + +After they were all somewhat rested, they walked through the house and +surveyed the rooms, making some favourable commentary upon each. + +"The house don't look as if it would want much cleaning," said Caddy, with +a tone of regret. + +"So much the better, I should say," suggested Mr. Walters. + +"Not as Caddy views the matter," rejoined Mrs. Ellis. "She is so fond of +house-cleaning, that I positively think she regards the cleanly state of +the premises as rather a disadvantage than otherwise." They were all, +however, very well pleased with the place; and on their way home they +settled which should be the best bedroom, and where the children should +sleep. They also calculated how much carpet and oilcloth would be +necessary, and what style of furniture should be put in the parlour. + +"I think the letter said plain, neat furniture, and not too expensive, did +it not?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"I think those were the very words," replied Caddy; "and, oh, mother, isn't +it nice to have the buying of so many pretty things? I do so love to shop!" + +"Particularly with some one else's money," rejoined her mother, with a +smile. + +"Yes, or one's own either, when one has it," continued Caddy; "I like to +spend money under any circumstances." + +Thus in conversation relative to the house and its fixtures, they beguiled +the time until they reached their home. On arriving there, Mrs. Ellis found +Robberts awaiting her return with a very anxious countenance. He informed +her that Mrs. Thomas wished to see her immediately; that Charlie had been +giving that estimable lady a world of trouble; and that her presence was +necessary to set things to rights. + +"What has he been doing?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"Oh, lots of things! He and aunt Rachel don't get on together at all; and +last night he came nigh having the house burned down over our heads." + +"Why, Robberts, you don't tell me so! What a trial boys are," sighed Mrs. +Ellis. + +"He got on first rate for a week or two; but since that he has been raising +Satan. He and aunt Rachel had a regular brush yesterday, and he has +actually lamed the old woman to that extent she won't be able to work for a +week to come." + +"Dear, dear, what am I to do?" said the perplexed Mrs. Ellis; "I can't go +up there immediately, I am too tired. Say to Mrs. Thomas I will come up +this evening. I wonder," concluded she, "what has come over the boy." +"Mother, you know how cross aunt Rachel is; I expect she has been +ill-treating him. He is so good-natured, that he never would behave +improperly to an old person unless goaded to it by some very harsh usage." + +"That's the way--go on, Esther, find some excuse for your angel," said +Caddy, ironically. "Of course that lamb could not do anything wrong, and, +according to your judgment, he never does; but, I tell you, he is as bad as +any other boy--boys are boys. I expect he has been tracking over the floor +after aunt Rachel has scrubbed it, or has been doing something equally +provoking; he has been in mischief, depend upon it." + +Things had gone on very well with Master Charlie for the first two weeks +after his introduction into the house of the fashionable descendant of the +worthy maker of leathern breeches. His intelligence, combined with the +quickness and good-humour with which he performed the duties assigned him, +quite won the regard of the venerable lady who presided over that +establishment. It is true she had detected him in several attempts upon the +peace and well-being of aunt Rachel's Tom; but with Tom she had little +sympathy, he having recently made several felonious descents upon her +stores of cream and custards. In fact, it was not highly probable, if any +of his schemes had resulted seriously to the spiteful _protege_ of aunt +Rachel, that Mrs. Thomas would have been overwhelmed with grief, or +disposed to inflict any severe punishment on the author of the catastrophe. + +Unfortunately for Mrs. Thomas, Charlie, whilst going on an errand, had +fallen in with his ancient friend and adviser--in short, he had met no less +a person than the formerly all-sufficient Kinch. Great was the delight of +both parties at this unexpected meeting, and warm, indeed, was the exchange +of mutual congratulations on this auspicious event. + +Kinch, in the excess of his delight, threw his hat several feet in the air; +nor did his feelings of pleasure undergo the least abatement when that +dilapidated portion of his costume fell into a bed of newly-mixed lime, +from which he rescued it with great difficulty and at no little personal +risk. + +"Hallo! Kinch, old fellow, how are you?" cried Charlie; "I've been dying to +see you--why haven't you been up?" + +"Why, I did come up often, but that old witch in the kitchen wouldn't let +me see you--she abused me scandalous. I wanted to pull her turban off and +throw it in the gutter. Why, she called me a dirty beggar, and threatened +to throw cold water on me if I didn't go away. Phew! ain't she an old +buster!" + +"Why, I never knew you were there." + +"Yes," continued Kinch; "and I saw you another time hung up behind the +carriage. I declare, Charlie, you looked so like a little monkey, dressed +up in that sky-blue coat and silver buttons, that I liked to have died +a-laughing at you;" and Kinch was so overcome by the recollection of the +event in question, that he was obliged to sit down upon a door-step to +recover himself. + +"Oh, I do hate to wear this confounded livery!' said Charlie, dolefully--" +the boys scream 'Johnny Coat-tail' after me in the streets, and call me +'blue jay,' and 'blue nigger,' and lots of other names. I feel that all +that's wanting to make a complete monkey of me, is for some one to carry me +about on an organ." + +"What do you wear it for, then?" asked Kinch. + +"Because I can't help myself, that's the reason. The boys plague me to that +extent sometimes, that I feel like tearing the things into bits--but mother +says I must wear it. Kinch," concluded he, significantly, "something will +have to be done, I can't stand it." + +"You remember what I told you about the wig, don't you?" asked Kinch; and, +on receiving an affirmative reply, he continued, "Just try that on, and see +how it goes--you'll find it'll work like a charm; it's a regular +footman-expatriator--just try it now; you'll see if it isn't the thing to +do the business for you." "I'm determined to be as bad as I can," +rejoined Charlie; "I'm tired enough of staying there: that old aunt Rach is +a devil--I don't believe a saint from heaven could get on with her; I'm +expecting we'll have a pitched battle every day." + +Beguiling the time with this and similar conversation, they reached the +house to which Charlie had been despatched with a note; after which, he +turned his steps homeward, still accompanied by the redoubtable Kinch. + +As ill luck would have it, they passed some boys who were engaged in a game +of marbles, Charlie's favourite pastime, and, on Kinch's offering him the +necessary stock to commence play, he launched into the game, regardless of +the fact that the carriage was ordered for a drive within an hour, and that +he was expected to fill his accustomed place in the rear of that splendid +vehicle. + +Once immersed in the game, time flew rapidly on. Mrs. Thomas awaited his +return until her patience was exhausted, when she started on her drive +without him. As they were going through a quiet street, to her horror and +surprise, prominent amidst a crowd of dirty boys, she discovered her little +footman, with his elegant blue livery covered with dirt and sketches in +white chalk; for, in the excitement of the game, Charlie had not observed +that Kinch was engaged in drawing on the back of his coat his favourite +illustration, to wit, a skull and cross-bones. + +"Isn't that our Charlie?" said she to her daughter, surveying the crowd of +noisy boys through her eye-glass. "I really believe it is--that is +certainly our livery; pull the check-string, and stop the carriage." + +Now Robberts had been pressed into service in consequence of Charlie's +absence, and was in no very good humour at being compelled to air his +rheumatic old shins behind the family-carriage. It can therefore be readily +imagined with what delight he recognized the delinquent footman amidst the +crowd, and with what alacrity he descended and pounced upon him just at the +most critical moment of the game. Clutching fast hold of him by the +collar of his coat, he dragged him to the carriage-window, and held him +before the astonished eyes of his indignant mistress, who lifted up her +hands in horror at the picture he presented. "Oh! you wretched boy," said +she, "just look at your clothes, all covered with chalk-marks and +bespattered with lime! Your livery is totally ruined--and your knees, +too--only look at them--the dirt is completely ground into them." + +"But you haven't seed his back, marm," said Robberts; "he's got the +pirate's flag drawn on it. That boy'll go straight to the devil--I know he +will." + +All this time Charlie, to his great discomfiture, was being shaken and +turned about by Robberts in the most unceremonious manner. Kinch, with his +usual audacity, was meanwhile industriously engaged in tracing on Robbert's +coat a similar picture to that he had so skilfully drawn on Charlie's, to +the great delight of a crowd of boys who stood admiring spectators of his +artistic performances. The coachman, however, observing this operation, +brought it to a rather hasty conclusion by a well directed cut of the whip +across the fingers of the daring young artist. This so enraged Kinch, that +in default of any other missile, he threw his lime-covered cap at the head +of the coachman; but, unfortunately for himself, the only result of his +exertions was the lodgment of his cap in the topmost bough of a +neighbouring tree, from whence it was rescued with great difficulty. + +"What _shall_ we do with him?" asked Mrs. Thomas, in a despairing tone, as +she looked at Charlie. + +"Put him with the coachman," suggested Mrs. Morton. + +"He can't sit there, the horses are so restive, and the seat is only +constructed for one, and he would be in the coachman's way. I suppose he +must find room on behind with Robberts." + +"I won't ride on the old carriage," cried Charlie, nerved by despair; "I +won't stay here nohow. I'm going home to my mother;" and as he spoke he +endeavoured to wrest himself from Robberts' grasp. "Put him in here," +said Mrs. Thomas; "it would never do to let him go, for he will run home +with some distressing tale of ill-treatment; no, we must keep him until I +can send for his mother--put him in here." + +Much to Mrs. Morton's disgust, Charlie was bundled by Robberts into the +bottom of the carriage, where he sat listening to the scolding of Mrs. +Thomas and her daughter until they arrived at home. He remained in disgrace +for several days after this adventure; but as Mrs. Thomas well knew that +she could not readily fill his place with another, she made a virtue of +necessity, and kindly looked over this first offence. + +The situation was, however, growing more and more intolerable. Aunt Rachel +and he had daily skirmishes, in which he was very frequently worsted. He +had held several hurried consultations with Kinch through the grating of +the cellar window, and was greatly cheered and stimulated in the plans he +intended to pursue by the advice and sympathy of his devoted friend. Master +Kinch's efforts to console Charlie were not without great risk to himself, +as he had on two or three occasions narrowly escaped falling into the +clutches of Robberts, who well remembered Kinch's unprecedented attempt +upon the sacredness of his livery; and what the result might have been had +the latter fallen into his hands, we cannot contemplate without a shudder. + +These conferences between Kinch and Charlie produced their natural effect, +and latterly it had been several times affirmed by aunt Rachel that, "Dat +air boy was gittin' 'tirely too high--gittin' bove hissef 'pletely--dat he +was gittin' more and more aggriwatin' every day--dat she itched to git at +him--dat she 'spected nothin' else but what she'd be 'bliged to take hold +o' him;" and she comported herself generally as if she was crazy for the +conflict which she saw must sooner or later occur. + +Charlie, unable on these occasions to reply to her remarks without +precipitating a conflict for which he did not feel prepared, sought to +revenge himself upon the veteran Tom; and such was the state of his +feelings, that he bribed Kinch, with a large lump of sugar and the leg of a +turkey, to bring up his mother's Jerry, a fierce young cat, and they had +the satisfaction of shutting him up in the wood-house with the belligerent +Tom, who suffered a signal defeat at Jerry's claws, and was obliged to beat +a hasty retreat through the window, with a seriously damaged eye, and with +the fur torn off his back in numberless places. After this Charlie had the +pleasure of hearing aunt Rachel frequently bewail the condition of her +favourite, whose deplorable state she was inclined to ascribe to his +influence, though she was unable to bring it home to him in such a manner +as to insure his conviction. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Mrs. Thomas has her Troubles. + + +Mrs. Thomas was affected, as silly women sometimes are, with an intense +desire to be at the head of the _ton_. For this object she gave grand +dinners and large evening parties, to which were invited all who, being two +or three removes from the class whose members occupy the cobbler's bench or +the huckster's stall, felt themselves at liberty to look down upon the rest +of the world from the pinnacle on which they imagined themselves placed. At +these social gatherings the conversation never turned upon pedigree, and if +any of the guests chanced by accident to allude to their ancestors, they +spoke of them as members of the family, who, at an early period of their +lives, were engaged in mercantile pursuits. + +At such dinners Mrs. Thomas would sit for hours, mumbling dishes that +disagreed with her; smiling at conversations carried on in villanous +French, of which language she did not understand a word; and admiring the +manners of addle-headed young men (who got tipsy at her evening parties), +because they had been to Europe, and were therefore considered quite men of +the world. These parties and dinners she could not be induced to forego, +although the late hours and fatigue consequent thereon would place her on +the sick-list for several days afterwards. As soon, however, as she +recovered sufficiently to resume her place at the table, she would console +herself with a dinner of boiled mutton and roasted turnips, as a slight +compensation for the unwholesome French dishes she had compelled herself to +swallow on the occasions before mentioned. Amongst the other modern +fashions she had adopted, was that of setting apart one morning of the week +for the reception of visitors; and she had mortally offended several of her +oldest friends by obstinately refusing to admit them at any other time. Two +or three difficulties had occurred with Robberts, in consequence of this +new arrangement, as he could not be brought to see the propriety of saying +to visitors that Mrs. Thomas was "not at home," when he knew she was at +that very moment upstairs peeping over the banisters. His obstinacy on this +point had induced her to try whether she could not train Charlie so as to +fit him for the important office of uttering the fashionable and truthless +"not at home" with unhesitating gravity and decorum; and, after a series of +mishaps, she at last believed her object was effected, until an unlucky +occurrence convinced her to the contrary. + +Mrs. Thomas, during the days on which she did not receive company, would +have presented, to any one who might have had the honour to see that +venerable lady, an entirely different appearance to that which she assumed +on gala days. A white handkerchief supplied the place of the curling wig, +and the tasty French cap was replaced by a muslin one, decorated with an +immense border of ruffling, that flapped up and down over her silver +spectacles in the most comical manner possible. A short flannel gown and a +dimity petticoat of very antique pattern and scanty dimensions, completed +her costume. Thus attired, and provided with a duster, she would make +unexpected sallies into the various domestic departments, to see that +everything was being properly conducted, and that no mal-practices were +perpetrated at times when it was supposed she was elsewhere. She showed an +intuitive knowledge of all traps set to give intimation of her approach, +and would come upon aunt Rachel so stealthily as to induce her to declare, +"Dat old Mrs. Thomas put her more in mind of a ghost dan of any other libin +animal." + +One morning, whilst attired in the manner described, Mrs. Thomas had been +particularly active in her excursions through the house, and had driven the +servants to their wits' ends by her frequent descents upon them at the most +unexpected times, thereby effectually depriving them of the short breathing +intervals they were anxious to enjoy. Charlie in particular had been +greatly harassed by her, and was sent flying from place to place until his +legs were nearly run off, as he expressed it. And so, when Lord Cutanrun, +who was travelling in America to give his estates in England an opportunity +to recuperate, presented his card, Charlie, in revenge, showed him into the +drawing-room, where he knew that Mrs. Thomas was busily engaged trimming an +oil-lamp. Belying on the explicit order she had given to say that she was +not at home, she did not even look up when his lordship entered, and as he +advanced towards her, she extended to him a basin of dirty water, saying, +"Here, take this." Receiving no response she looked up, and to her +astonishment and horror beheld, not Charlie, but Lord Cutanrun. In the +agitation consequent upon his unexpected appearance, she dropped the basin, +the contents of which, splashing in all directions, sadly discoloured his +lordship's light pants, and greatly damaged the elegant carpet. + +"Oh! my lord," she exclaimed, "I didn't--couldn't--wouldn't--" and, unable +to ejaculate further, she fairly ran out of the apartment into the entry, +where she nearly fell over Charlie, who was enjoying the confusion his +conduct had created. "Oh! you limb!--you little wretch!" said she. "You +knew I was not at home!" + +"Why, where are you now?" he asked, with the most provoking air of +innocence. "If you ain't in the house now, you never was." + +"Never mind, sir," said she, "never mind. I'll settle with you for this. +Don't stand there grinning at me; go upstairs and tell Mrs. Morton to come +down immediately, and then get something to wipe up that water. O dear! my +beautiful carpet! And for a lord to see me in such a plight! Oh! it's +abominable! I'll give it to you, you scamp! You did it on purpose," +continued the indignant Mrs. Thomas. "Don't deny it--I know you did. What +are you standing there for? Why don't you call Mrs. Morton?" she concluded, +as Charlie, chuckling over the result of his trick, walked leisurely +upstairs. "That boy will be the death of me," she afterwards said, on +relating the occurrence to her daughter. "Just to think, after all the +trouble I've had teaching him when to admit people and when not, that he +should serve me such a trick. I'm confident he did it purposely." Alas! for +poor Mrs. Thomas; this was only the first of a series of annoyances that +Charlie had in store, with which to test her patience and effect his own +deliverance. + +A few days after, one of their grand dinners was to take place, and Charlie +had been revolving in his mind the possibility of his finding some +opportunity, on that occasion, to remove the old lady's wig; feeling +confident that, could he accomplish that feat, he would be permitted to +turn his back for ever on the mansion of Mrs. Thomas. + +Never had Mrs. Thomas appeared more radiant than at this dinner. All the +guests whose attendance she had most desired were present, a new set of +china had lately arrived from Paris, and she was in full anticipation of a +grand triumph. Now, to Charlie had been assigned the important duty of +removing the cover from the soup-tureen which was placed before his +mistress, and the little rogue had settled upon that moment as the most +favourable for the execution of his purpose. He therefore secretly affixed +a nicely crooked pin to the elbow of his sleeve, and, as he lifted the +cover, adroitly hooked it into her cap, to which he knew the wig was +fastened, and in a twinkling had it off her head, and before she could +recover from her astonishment and lay down the soup-ladle he had left the +room. The guests stared and tittered at the grotesque figure she +presented,--her head being covered with short white hair, and her face as +red as a peony at the mortifying situation in which she was placed. As she +rose from her chair Charlie presented himself, and handed her the wig, with +an apology for the _accident_. In her haste to put it on, she turned it +wrong side foremost; the laughter of the guests could now no longer be +restrained, and in the midst of it Mrs. Thomas left the room. Encountering +Charlie as she went, she almost demolished him in her wrath; not ceasing to +belabour him till his outcries became so loud as to render her fearful that +he would alarm the guests; and she then retired to her room, where she +remained until the party broke up. + +It was her custom, after these grand entertainments, to make nocturnal +surveys of the kitchen, to assure herself that none of the delicacies had +been secreted by the servants for their personal use and refreshment. +Charlie, aware of this, took his measures for an ample revenge for the +beating he had received at her hands. At night, when all the rest of the +family had retired, he hastily descended to the kitchen, and, by some +process known only to himself, imprisoned the cat in a stone jar that +always stood upon the dresser, and into which he was confident Mrs. Thomas +would peep. He then stationed himself upon the stairs, to watch the result. +He had not long to wait, for as soon as she thought the servants were +asleep, she came softly into the kitchen, and, after peering about in +various places, she at last lifted up the lid of the jar. Tom, tired of his +long confinement, sprang out, and, in so doing, knocked the lamp out of her +hand, the fluid from which ignited and ran over the floor. + +"Murder!--Fire!--Watch!" screamed the thoroughly frightened old woman. "Oh, +help! help! fire!" At this terrible noise nearly every one in the household +was aroused, and hurried to the spot whence it proceeded. They found Mrs. +Thomas standing in the dark, with the lid of the jar in her hand, herself +the personification of terror. The carpet was badly burned in several +places, and the fragments of the lamp were scattered about the floor. + +"What has happened?" exclaimed Mr. Morton, who was the first to enter the +kitchen. "What is all this frightful noise occasioned by?" + +"Oh, there is a man in the house!" answered Mrs. Thomas, her teeth +chattering with fright. "There was a man in here--he has just sprung out," +she continued, pointing to the bread-jar. + +"Pooh, pooh--that's nonsense, madam," replied the son-in-law. "Why an +infant could not get in there, much less a man!" + +"I tell you it was a man then," angrily responded Mrs. Thomas; "and he is +in the house somewhere now." + +"Such absurdity!" muttered Mr. Morton; adding, in a louder tone: "Why, my +dear mamma, you've seen a mouse or something of the kind." + +"Mouse, indeed!" interrupted the old lady. "Do you think I'm in my dotage, +and I don't know a man from a mouse?" + +Just then the cat, whose back had got severely singed in the _melee_, set +up a most lamentable caterwauling; and, on being brought to light from the +depths of a closet into which he had flown, his appearance immediately +discovered the share he had had in the transaction. + +"It must have been the cat," said Robberts. "Only look at his back--why +here the fur is singed off him! I'll bet anything," continued he, "that air +boy has had something to do with this--for it's a clear case that the cat +couldn't git into the jar, and then put the lid on hissef." + +Tom's inability to accomplish this feat being most readily admitted on all +sides, inquiry was immediately made as to the whereabouts of Charlie; his +absence from the scene being rather considered as evidence of +participation, for, it was argued, if he had been unaware of what was to +transpire, the noise would have drawn him to the spot at once, as he was +always the first at hand in the event of any excitement. Robberts was +despatched to see if he was in his bed, and returned with the intelligence +that the bed had not even been opened. Search was immediately instituted, +and he was discovered in the closet at the foot of the stairs. He was +dragged forth, shaken, pummelled, and sent to bed, with the assurance that +his mother should be sent for in the morning, to take him home, and keep +him there. This being exactly the point to which he was desirous of +bringing matters, he went to bed, and passed a most agreeable night. + +Aunt Rachel, being one of those sleepers that nothing short of an +earthquake can rouse until their customary time for awaking, had slept +soundly through the stirring events of the past night. She came down in the +morning in quite a placid state of mind, expecting to enjoy a day of rest, +as she had the night before sat up much beyond her usual time, to set +matters to rights after the confusion consequent on the dinner party. What +was her astonishment, therefore, on finding the kitchen she had left in a +state of perfect order and cleanliness, in a condition that resembled the +preparation for an annual house-cleaning. + +"Lord, bless us!" she exclaimed, looking round; "What on yarth has +happened? I raly b'lieve dere's bin a fire in dis 'ere house, and I never +knowed a word of it. Why I might have bin burnt up in my own bed! Dere's de +lamp broke--carpet burnt--pots and skillets hauled out of the closet--ebery +ting turned upside down; why dere's bin a reg'lar 'sturbance down here," +she continued, as she surveyed the apartment. + +At this juncture, she espied Tom, who sat licking his paws before the fire, +and presenting so altered an appearance, from the events of the night, as +to have rendered him unrecognizable even by his best friend. + +"Strange cat in de house! Making himself quite at home at dat," said aunt +Rachel, indignantly. Her wrath, already much excited, rose to the boiling +point at what she deemed a most daring invasion of her domain. She, +therefore, without ceremony, raised a broom, with which she belaboured the +astonished Tom, who ran frantically from under one chair to another till +he ensconced himself in a small closet, from which he pertinaciously +refused to be dislodged. "Won't come out of dere, won't you?" said she. +"I'll see if I can't make you den;" and poor Tom dodged behind pots and +kettles to avoid the blows which were aimed at him; at last, thoroughly +enraged by a hard knock on the back, he sprang fiercely into the face of +his tormentor, who, completely upset by the suddenness of his attack, fell +sprawling on the floor, screaming loudly for help. She was raised up by +Robberts, who came running to her assistance, and, on being questioned as +to the cause of her outcries, replied:-- + +"Dere's a strange cat in de house--wild cat too, I raly b'lieve;" and +spying Tom at that moment beneath the table, she made another dash at him +for a renewal of hostilities. + +"Why that's Tom," exclaimed Robberts; "don't you know your own cat?" + +"Oh," she replied, "dat ar isn't Tom now, is it? Why, what's the matter wid +him?" + +Robberts then gave her a detailed account of the transactions of the +previous night, in which account the share Charlie had taken was greatly +enlarged and embellished; and the wrathful old woman was listening to the +conclusion when Charlie entered. Hardly had he got into the room, when, +without any preliminary discussion, aunt Rachel--to use her own +words--pitched into him to give him particular fits. Now Charlie, not being +disposed to receive "particular fits," made some efforts to return the hard +compliments that were being showered upon him, and the advice of Kinch +providentially occurring to him--respecting an attack upon the +understanding of his venerable antagonist--he brought his hard shoes down +with great force upon her pet corn, and by this _coup de pied_ completely +demolished her. With a loud scream she let him go; and sitting down upon +the floor, declared herself lamed for life, beyond the possibility of +recovery. At this stage of the proceedings, Robberts came to the rescue of +his aged coadjutor, and seized hold of Charlie, who forthwith commenced +so brisk an attack upon his rheumatic shins, as to cause him to beat a +hurried retreat, leaving Charlie sole master of the field. The noise that +these scuffles occasioned brought Mrs. Thomas into the kitchen, and Charlie +was marched off by her into an upstairs room, where he was kept in "durance +vile" until the arrival of his mother. + +Mrs. Thomas had a strong liking for Charlie--not as a boy, but as a +footman. He was active and intelligent, and until quite recently, extremely +tractable and obedient; more than all, he was a very good-looking boy, and +when dressed in the Thomas livery, presented a highly-respectable +appearance. She therefore determined to be magnanimous--to look over past +events, and to show a Christian and forgiving spirit towards his +delinquencies. She sent for Mrs. Ellis, with the intention of desiring her +to use her maternal influence to induce him to apologize to aunt Rachel for +his assault upon her corns, which apology Mrs. Thomas was willing to +guarantee should be accepted; as for the indignities that had been +inflicted on herself, she thought it most politic to regard them in the +light of accidents, and to say as little about that part of the affair as +possible. + +When Mrs. Ellis made her appearance on the day subsequent to the events +just narrated, Mrs. Thomas enlarged to her upon the serious damage that +aunt Rachel had received, and the urgent necessity that something should be +done to mollify that important individual. When Charlie was brought into +the presence of his mother and Mrs. Thomas, the latter informed him, that, +wicked as had been his conduct towards herself, she was willing, for his +mother's sake, to look over it; but that he must humble himself in dust and +ashes before the reigning sovereign of the culinary kingdom, who, making +the most of the injury inflicted on her toe, had declared herself unfit for +service, and was at that moment ensconced in a large easy-chair, listening +to the music of her favourite smoke-jack, whilst a temporary cook was +getting up the dinner, under her immediate supervision and direction. +"Charlie, I'm quite ashamed of you," said his mother, after listening to +Mrs. Thomas's lengthy statement. "What has come over you, child?"--Charlie +stood biting his nails, and looking very sullen, but vouchsafed them no +answer.--"Mrs. Thomas is so kind as to forgive you, and says she will look +over the whole affair, if you will beg aunt Rachel's pardon. Come, now," +continued Mrs. Ellis, coaxingly, "do, that's a good boy." + +"Yes, do," added Mrs. Thomas, "and I will buy you a handsome new suit of +livery." + +This was too much for Charlie; the promise of another suit of the detested +livery quite overcame him, and he burst into tears. + +"Why, what ails the boy? He's the most incomprehensible child I ever saw! +The idea of crying at the promise of a new suit of clothes!--any other +child would have been delighted," concluded Mrs. Thomas. + +"I don't want your old button-covered uniform," said Charlie, "and I won't +wear it, neither! And as for aunt Rachel, I don't care how much she is +hurt--I'm only sorry I didn't smash her other toe; and I'll see her +skinned, and be skinned myself, before I'll ask her pardon!" + +Both Mrs. Thomas and Charlie's mother stood aghast at this unexpected +declaration; and the result of a long conference, held by the two, was that +Charlie should be taken home, Mrs. Ellis being unable to withstand his +tears and entreaties. + +As he passed through the kitchen on his way out, he made a face at aunt +Rachel, who, in return, threw at him one of the turnips she was peeling. It +missed the object for which it was intended, and came plump into the eye of +Robberts, giving to that respectable individual for some time thereafter +the appearance of a prize-fighter in livery. + +Charlie started for home in the highest spirits, which, however, became +considerably lower on his discovering his mother's view of his late +exploits was very different from his own. Mrs. Ellis's fondness and +admiration of her son, although almost amounting to weakness, were yet +insufficient to prevent her from feeling that his conduct, even after +making due allowance for the provocation he had received, could not be +wholly excused as mere boyish impetuosity and love of mischievous fun. She +knew that his father would feel it his duty, not only to reprimand him, but +to inflict some chastisement; and this thought was the more painful to her +from the consciousness, that but for her own weak compliance with Mrs. +Thomas's request, her boy would not have been placed in circumstances which +his judgment and self-command had proved insufficient to carry him through. +The day, therefore, passed less agreeably than Charlie had anticipated; for +now that he was removed from the scene of his trials, he could not disguise +from himself that his behaviour under them had been very different from +what it ought to have been, and this had the salutary effect of bringing +him into a somewhat humbler frame of mind. When his father returned in the +evening, therefore, Charlie appeared so crest-fallen that even Caddy could +scarcely help commiserating him, especially as his subdued state during the +day had kept him from committing any of those offences against tidiness +which so frequently exasperated her. Mr. Ellis, though very strict on what +he thought points of duty, had much command of temper, and was an +affectionate father. He listened, therefore, with attention to the details +of Charlie's grievances, as well as of his misdemeanours, and some credit +is due to him for the unshaken gravity he preserved throughout. Although he +secretly acquitted his son of any really bad intention, he thought it +incumbent on him to make Charlie feel in some degree the evil consequences +of his unruly behaviour. After giving him a serious lecture, and pointing +out the impropriety of taking such measures to deliver himself from the +bondage in which his parents themselves had thought fit to place him, +without even appealing to them, he insisted on his making the apologies due +both to Mrs. Thomas and aunt Rachel (although he was fully aware that both +had only got their deserts); and, further, intimated that he would not be +reinstated in his parents' good graces until he had proved, by his good +conduct and docility, that he was really sorry for his misbehaviour. It was +a severe trial to Charlie to make these apologies; but he well knew that +what his father had decided upon must be done--so he made a virtue of +necessity, and, accompanied by his mother, on the following day performed +his penance with as good a grace as he was able; and, in consideration of +this submission, his father, when he came home in the evening, greeted him +with all his usual kindness, and the recollection of this unlucky affair +was at once banished from the family circle. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Trouble in the Ellis Family. + + +Since the receipt of Mr. Garie's letter, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy had been +busily engaged in putting the house in a state of preparation for their +reception. Caddy, whilst superintending its decoration, felt herself in +Elysium. For the first time in her life she had the supreme satisfaction of +having two unfortunate house-cleaners entirely at her disposal; +consequently, she drove them about and worried them to an extent +unparalleled in any of their former experience. She sought for and +discovered on the windows (which they had fondly regarded as miracles of +cleanliness) sundry streaks and smears, and detected infinite small spots +of paint and whitewash on the newly-scrubbed floors. She followed them +upstairs and downstairs, and tormented them to that extent, that Charlie +gave it as his private opinion that he should not be in the least +surprised, on going up there, to find that the two old women had made away +with Caddy, and hidden her remains in the coal-bin. Whilst she was thus +engaged, to Charlie was assigned the duty of transporting to Winter-street +her diurnal portion of food, without a hearty share of which she found it +impossible to maintain herself in a state of efficiency; her labours in +chasing the women about the house being of a rather exhausting nature. + +When he made the visits in question, Charlie was generally reconnoitred by +his sister from a window over the door, and was compelled to put his shoes +through a system of purification, devised by her for his especial benefit. +It consisted of three courses of scraper, and two of mat; this being +considered by her as strictly necessary to bring his shoes to such a state +of cleanliness as would entitle him to admission into the premises of which +she was the temporary mistress. + +Charlie, on two or three occasions finding a window open, made stealthy +descents upon the premises without first having duly observed these +quarantine regulations; whereupon he was attacked by Caddy, who, with the +assistance of the minions under her command, so shook and pummelled him as +to cause his precipitate retreat through the same opening by which he had +entered, and that, too, in so short a space of time as to make the whole +manoeuvre appear to him in the light of a well-executed but involuntary +feat of ground and lofty tumbling. One afternoon he started with his +sister's dinner, consisting of a dish of which she was particularly fond, +and its arrival was therefore looked for with unusual anxiety. Charlie, +having gorged himself to an almost alarming extent, did not make the haste +that the case evidently demanded; and as he several times stopped to act as +umpire in disputed games of marbles (in the rules of which he was regarded +as an authority), he necessarily consumed a great deal of time on the way. + +Caddy's patience was severely tried by the long delay, and her temper, at +no time the most amiable, gathered bitterness from the unprecedented length +of her fast. Therefore, when he at length appeared, walking leisurely up +Winter-street, swinging the kettle about in the most reckless manner, and +setting it down on the pavement to play leap-frog over the fire-plugs, her +wrath reached a point that boded no good to the young trifler. + +Now, whilst Charlie had been giving his attention to the difficulties +growing out of the games of marbles, he did not observe that one of the +disputants was possessed of a tin kettle, in appearance very similar to his +own, by the side of which, in the excitement of the moment, he deposited +his own whilst giving a practical illustration of his view of the point +under consideration. Having accomplished this to his entire satisfaction, +he resumed what he supposed was his kettle, and went his way rejoicing. + +Now, if Caddy Ellis had a fondness for one dish more than any other, it was +for haricot, with plenty of carrots; and knowing she was to have this for +her dinner, she, to use her own pointed expression, "had laid herself out +to have a good meal." She had even abstained from her customary lunch that +she might have an appetite worthy of the occasion; and accordingly, long +ere the dinner hour approached, she was hungry as a wolf. Notwithstanding +this fact, when Charlie made his appearance at the door, she insisted on +his going through all the accustomed forms with the mat and scraper before +entering the house; an act of self-sacrifice on her part entirely uncalled +for, as the day was remarkably fine, and Charlie's boots unusually clean. + +He received two or three by no means gentle shoves and pokes as he entered, +which he bore with unusual indifference, making not the slightest effort at +retaliation, as was his usual practice. The fact is, Charlie was, as lions +are supposed to be, quite disinclined for a fight after a hearty meal, so +he followed Caddy upstairs to the second story. Here she had got up an +extempore dining-table, by placing a pasting board across two chairs. +Seating herself upon a stool, she jerked off the lid of the kettle, and, to +her horror and dismay, found not the favourite haricot, but a piece of +cheese-rind, a crust of dry bread, and a cold potatoe. Charlie, who was +amusing himself by examining the flowers in the new carpet, did not observe +the look of surprise and disgust that came over the countenance of his +sister, as she took out, piece by piece, the remains of some schoolboy's +repast. + +"Look here," she at last burst forth, "do you call this _my_ dinner?" + +"Yes," said Charlie, in a deliberate tone, "and a very good one too, I +should say; if you can't eat that dinner, you ought to starve; it's one of +mother's best haricots." "You don't call this cold potatoe and +cheese-rind haricot, do you?" asked Caddy, angrily. + +At this Charlie looked up, and saw before her the refuse scraps, which she +had indignantly emptied upon the table. He could scarcely believe his eyes; +he got up and looked in the kettle, but found no haricot. "Well," said he, +with surprise, "if that don't beat me! I saw mother fill it with haricot +myself; I'm clean beat about it." + +"Tell me what you've done with it, then," almost screamed the angry girl. + +"I really don't know what has become of it," he answered, with a bewildered +air. "I saw--I saw--I--I--" + +"You saw--you saw," replied the indignant Caddy, imitating his tone; and +taking up the kettle, she began to examine it more closely. "Why, this +isn't even our kettle; look at this lid. I'm sure it's not ours. You've +been stopping somewhere to play, and exchanged it with some other boy, +that's just what you've done." + +Just then it occurred to Charlie that at the place where he had adjusted +the dispute about the marbles, he had observed in the hands of one of the +boys a kettle similar to his own; and it flashed across his mind that he +had then and there made the unfortunate exchange. He broke his suspicion to +Caddy in the gentlest manner, at the same time edging his way to the door +to escape the storm that he saw was brewing. The loss of her dinner--and of +such a dinner--so enraged the hungry girl, as to cause her to seize a brush +lying near and begin to belabour him without mercy. In his endeavour to +escape from her his foot was caught in the carpet, and he was violently +precipitated down the long flight of stairs. His screams brought the whole +party to his assistance; even Kinch, who was sitting on the step outside, +threw off his usual dread of Caddy, and rushed into the house. "Oh, take me +up," piteously cried Charlie; "oh, take me up, I'm almost killed." In +raising him, one of the old women took hold of his arm, which caused him to +scream again. "Don't touch my arm, please don't touch my arm; I'm sure it's +broke." + +"No, no, it's not broke, only sprained, or a little twisted," said she; +and, seizing it as she spoke, she gave it a pull and a wrench, for the +purpose of making it all right again; at this Charlie's face turned deathly +pale, and he fainted outright. + +"Run for a doctor," cried the now thoroughly-alarmed Caddy; "run for the +doctor! my brother's dead!" and bursting into tears, she exclaimed, "Oh, +I've killed my brother, I've killed my brother!" + +"Don't make so much fuss, child," soothingly replied one of the old women: +"he's worth half a dozen dead folk yet. Lor bless you, child, he's only +fainted." + +Water was procured and thrown in his face, and before Kinch returned with +the doctor, he was quite restored to consciousness. + +"Don't cry, my little man," said the physician, as he took out his knife +and ripped up the sleeve of Charlie's coat. "Don't cry; let me examine your +arm." Stripping up the shirt-sleeve, he felt it carefully over, and shaking +his head (physicians always shake their heads) pronounced the arm broken, +and that, too, in an extremely bad place. At this information Charlie began +again to cry, and Caddy broke forth into such yells of despair as almost to +drive them distracted. + +The physician kindly procured a carriage, and saw Charlie comfortably +placed therein; and held in the arms of Kinch, with the lamenting and +disheartened Caddy on the opposite seat, he was slowly driven home. The +house was quite thrown into confusion by their arrival under such +circumstances; Mrs. Ellis, for a wonder, did not faint, but proceeded at +once to do what was necessary. Mr. Ellis was sent for, and he immediately +despatched Kinch for Dr. Burdett, their family physician, who came without +a moment's delay. He examined Charlie's arm, and at first thought it would +be necessary to amputate it. At the mere mention of the word amputate, +Caddy set up such a series of lamentable howls as to cause her immediate +ejectment from the apartment. Dr. Burdett called in Dr. Diggs for a +consultation, and between them it was decided that an attempt should be +made to save the injured member. "Now, Charlie," said Dr. Burdett, "I'm +afraid we must hurt you, my boy--but if you have any desire to keep this +arm you must try to bear it." + +"I'll bear anything to save my arm, doctor; I can't spare that," said he, +manfully. "I'll want it by-and-by to help take care of mother and the +girls." + +"You're a brave little fellow," said Dr. Diggs, patting him on the head, +"so then we'll go at it at once." + +"Stop," cried Charlie, "let mother put her arm round my neck so, and Es, +you hold the good hand. Now then, I'm all right--fire away!" and clenching +his lips hard, he waited for the doctor to commence the operation of +setting his arm. Charlie's mother tried to look as stoical as possible, but +the corners of her mouth would twitch, and there was a nervous trembling of +her under-lip; but she commanded herself, and only when Charlie gave a +slight groan of pain, stooped and kissed his forehead; and when she raised +her head again, there was a tear resting on the face of her son that was +not his own. Esther was the picture of despair, and she wept bitterly for +the misfortune which had befallen her pet brother; and when the operation +was over, refused to answer poor Caddy's questions respecting Charlie's +injuries, and scolded her with a warmth and volubility that was quite +surprising to them all. + +"You must not be too hard on Caddy," remarked Mr. Ellis. "She feels bad +enough, I'll warrant you. It is a lesson that will not, I trust, be thrown +away upon her; it will teach her to command her temper in future." + +Caddy was in truth quite crushed by the misfortune she had occasioned, and +fell into such a state of depression and apathy as to be scarcely heard +about the house; indeed, so subdued was she, that Kinch went in and out +without wiping his feet, and tracked the mud all over the stair-carpet, and +yet she uttered no word of remonstrance. + +Poor little Charlie suffered much, and was in a high fever. The knocker was +tied up, the windows darkened, and all walked about the house with sad and +anxious countenances. Day after day the fever increased, until he grew +delirious, and raved in the most distressing manner. The unfortunate +haricot was still on his mind, and he was persecuted by men with +strange-shaped heads and carrot eyes. Sometimes he imagined himself pursued +by Caddy, and would cry in the most piteous manner to have her prevented +from beating him. Then his mind strayed off to the marble-ground, where he +would play imaginary games, and laugh over his success in such a wild and +frightful manner as to draw tears from the eyes of all around him. He was +greatly changed; the bright colour had fled from his cheek; his head had +been shaved, and he was thin and wan, and at times they were obliged to +watch him, and restrain him from tossing about, to the great peril of his +broken arm. + +At last his situation became so critical that Dr. Burdett began to +entertain but slight hopes of his recovery; and one morning, in the +presence of Caddy, hinted as much to Mr. Ellis. + +"Oh, doctor, doctor," exclaimed the distracted girl, "don't say that! oh, +try and save him! How could I live with the thought that I had killed my +brother! oh, I can't live a day if he dies! Will God ever forgive me? Oh, +what a wretch I have been! Oh, do think of something that will help him! He +_mustn't_ die, you _must_ save him!" and crying passionately, she threw +herself on the floor in an agony of grief. They did their best to pacify +her, but all their efforts were in vain, until Mr. Ellis suggested, that +since she could not control her feelings, she must be sent to stay with her +aunt, as her lamentations and outcries agitated her suffering brother and +made his condition worse. The idea of being excluded from the family circle +at such a moment had more effect on Caddy than all previous remonstrances. +She implored to have the sentence suspended for a time at least, that she +might try to exert more self-command; and Mr. Ellis, who really pitied her, +well knowing that her heart was not in fault, however reprehensible she was +in point of temper, consented; and Caddy's behaviour from that moment +proved the sincerity of her promises; and though she could not quite +restrain occasional outbursts of senseless lamentation, still, when she +felt such fits of despair coming on, she wisely retired to some remote +corner of the house, and did not re-appear till she had regained her +composure. + +The crisis was at length over, and Charlie was pronounced out of danger. No +one was more elated by this announcement than our friend Kinch, who had, in +fact, grown quite ashy in his complexion from confinement and grief, and +was now thrown by this intelligence into the highest possible spirits. +Charlie, although faint and weak, was able to recognize his friends, and +derived great satisfaction from the various devices of Kinch to entertain +him. That young gentleman quite distinguished himself by the variety and +extent of his resources. He devised butting matches between himself and a +large gourd, which he suspended from the ceiling, and almost blinded +himself by his attempts to butt it sufficiently hard to cause it to rebound +to the utmost length of the string, and might have made an idiot of himself +for ever by his exertions, but for the timely interference of Mr. Ellis, +who put a final stop to this diversion. Then he dressed himself in a short +gown and nightcap, and made the pillow into a baby, and played the nurse +with it to such perfection, that Charlie felt obliged to applaud by +knocking with the knuckles of his best hand upon the head-board of his +bedstead. On the whole, he was so overjoyed as to be led to commit all +manner of eccentricities, and conducted himself generally in such a +ridiculous manner, that Charlie laughed himself into a state of +prostration, and Kinch was, in consequence, banished from the sick-room, to +be re-admitted only on giving his promise to abstain from being as _funny +as he could_ any more. After the lapse of a short time Charlie was +permitted to sit up, and held regular _levees_ of his schoolmates and +little friends. He declared it was quite a luxury to have a broken arm, as +it was a source of so much amusement. The old ladies brought him jellies +and blanc-mange, and he was petted and caressed to such an unparalleled +extent, as to cause his delighted mother to aver that she lived in great +fear of his being spoiled beyond remedy. At length he was permitted to come +downstairs and sit by the window for a few hours each day. Whilst thus +amusing himself one morning, a handsome carriage stopped before their +house, and from it descended a fat and benevolent-looking old lady, who +knocked at the door and rattled the latch as if she had been in the daily +habit of visiting there, and felt quite sure of a hearty welcome. She was +let in by Esther, and, on sitting down, asked if Mrs. Ellis was at home. +Whilst Esther was gone to summon her mother, the lady looked round the +room, and espying Charlie, said, "Oh, there you are--I'm glad to see you; I +hope you are improving." + +"Yes, ma'am," politely replied Charlie, wondering all the time who their +visitor could be. + +"You don't seem to remember me--you ought to do so; children seldom forget +any one who makes them a pleasant promise." + +As she spoke, a glimmer of recollection shot across Charlie's mind, and he +exclaimed, "You are the lady who came to visit the school." + +"Yes; and I promised you a book for your aptness, and," continued she, +taking from her reticule a splendidly-bound copy of "Robinson Crusoe," +"here it is." + +Mrs. Ellis, as soon as she was informed that a stranger lady was below, +left Caddy to superintend alone the whitewashing of Charlie's sick-room, +and having hastily donned another gown and a more tasty cap, descended to +see who the visitor could be. + +"You must excuse my not rising," said Mrs. Bird, for that was the lady's +name; "it is rather a difficulty for me to get up and down often--so," +continued she, with a smile, "you must excuse my seeming rudeness." + +Mrs. Ellis answered, that any apology was entirely unnecessary, and begged +she would keep her seat. "I've come," said Mrs. Bird, "to pay your little +man a visit. I was so much pleased with the manner in which he recited his +exercises on the day of examination, that I promised him a book, and on +going to the school to present it, I heard of his unfortunate accident. He +looks very much changed--he has had a very severe time, I presume?" + +"Yes, a very severe one. We had almost given him over, but it pleased God +to restore him," replied Mrs. Ellis, in a thankful tone. "He is very weak +yet," she continued, "and it will be a long time before he is entirely +recovered." + +"Who is your physician?" asked Mrs. Bird. + +"Doctor Burdett," was the reply; "he has been our physician for years, and +is a very kind friend of our family." + +"And of mine, too," rejoined Mrs. Bird; "he visits my house every summer. +What does he think of the arm?" she asked. + +"He thinks in time it will be as strong as ever, and recommends sending +Charlie into the country for the summer; but," said Mrs. Ellis, "we are +quite at a loss where to send him." + +"Oh! let me take him," said Mrs. Bird--"I should be delighted to have him. +I've got a beautiful place--he can have a horse to ride, and there are wide +fields to scamper over! Only let me have him, and I'll guarantee to restore +him to health in a short time." + +"You're very kind," replied Mrs. Ellis--"I'm afraid he would only be a +burthen to you--be a great deal of trouble, and be able to do but little +work." + +"Work! Why, dear woman," replied Mrs. Bird, with some astonishment, "I +don't want him to work--I've plenty of servants; I only want him to enjoy +himself, and gather as much strength as possible. Come, make up your mind +to let him go with me, and I'll send him home as stout as I am." + +At the bare idea of Charlie's being brought to such a state of obesity, +Kinch, who, during the interview, had been in the back part of the room, +making all manner of faces, was obliged to leave the apartment, to prevent +a serious explosion of laughter, and after their visitor had departed he +was found rolling about the floor in a tempest of mirth. + +After considerable conversation relative to the project, Mrs. Bird took her +leave, promising to call soon again, and advising Mrs. Ellis to accept her +offer. Mrs. Ellis consulted Dr. Burdett, who pronounced it a most fortunate +circumstance, and said the boy could not be in better hands; and as Charlie +appeared nothing loth, it was decided he should go to Warmouth, to the +great grief of Kinch, who thought it a most unheard-of proceeding, and he +regarded Mrs. Bird thenceforth as his personal enemy, and a wilful +disturber of his peace. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Breaking up. + + +The time for the departure of the Garies having been fixed, all in the +house were soon engaged in the bustle of preparation. Boxes were packed +with books, pictures, and linen; plate and china were wrapped and swaddled, +to prevent breakage and bruises; carpets were taken up, and packed away; +curtains taken down, and looking-glasses covered. Only a small part of the +house was left in a furnished state for the use of the overseer, who was a +young bachelor, and did not require much space. + +In superintending all these arrangements Mrs. Garie displayed great +activity; her former cheerfulness of manner had entirely returned, and Mr. +Garie often listened with delight to the quick pattering of her feet, as +she tripped lightly through the hall, and up and down the long stairs. The +birds that sang about the windows were not more cheerful than herself, and +when Mr. Garie heard her merry voice singing her lively songs, as in days +gone by, he experienced a feeling of satisfaction at the pleasant result of +his acquiescence in her wishes. He had consented to it as an act of justice +due to her and the children; there was no pleasure to himself growing out +of the intended change, beyond that of gratifying Emily, and securing +freedom to her and the children. He knew enough of the North to feel +convinced that he could not expect to live there openly with Emily, without +being exposed to ill-natured comments, and closing upon himself the doors +of many friends who had formerly received him with open arms. The virtuous +dignity of the Northerner would be shocked, not so much at his having +children by a woman of colour, but by his living with her in the midst of +them, and acknowledging her as his wife. In the community where he now +resided, such things were more common; the only point in which he differed +from many other Southern gentlemen in this matter was in his constancy to +Emily and the children, and the more than ordinary kindness and affection +with which he treated them. Mr. Garie had for many years led a very retired +life, receiving an occasional gentleman visitor; but this retirement had +been entirely voluntary, therefore by no means disagreeable; but in the new +home he had accepted, he felt that he might be shunned, and the reflection +was anything but agreeable. Moreover, he was about to leave a place +endeared to him by a thousand associations. Here he had passed the whole of +his life, except about four years spent in travelling through Europe and +America. + +Mr. Garie was seated in a room where there were many things to recall days +long since departed. The desk at which he was writing was once his +father's, and he well remembered the methodical manner in which every +drawer was carefully kept; over it hung a full-length portrait of his +mother, and it seemed, as he gazed at it, that it was only yesterday that +she had taken his little hand in her own, and walked with him down the long +avenue of magnolias that were waving their flower-spangled branches in the +morning breeze, and loading it with fragrance. Near him was the table on +which her work-basket used to stand. He remembered how important he felt +when permitted to hold the skeins of silk for her to wind, and how he would +watch her stitch, stitch, hour after hour, at the screen that now stood +beside the fire-place; the colours were faded, but the recollection of the +pleasant smiles she would cast upon him from time to time, as she looked up +from her work, was as fresh in his memory as if it were but yesterday. Mr. +Garie was assorting and arranging the papers that the desk contained, when +he heard the rattle of wheels along the avenue, and looking out of the +window, he saw a carriage approaching. + +The coachman was guiding his horses with one hand, and with the other he +was endeavouring to keep a large, old-fashioned trunk from falling from the +top. This was by no means an easy matter, as the horses appeared quite +restive, and fully required his undivided attention. The rather unsteady +motion of the carriage caused its inmate to put his head out of the window, +and Mr. Garie recognized his uncle John, who lived in the north-western +part of the state, on the borders of Alabama. He immediately left his desk, +and hastened to the door to receive him. + +"This is an unexpected visit, but none the less pleasant on that account," +said Mr. Garie, his face lighting up with surprise and pleasure as uncle +John alighted. "I had not the least expectation of being honoured by a +visit from you. What has brought you into this part of the country? +Business, of course? I can't conceive it possible that you should have +ventured so far from home, at this early season, for the mere purpose of +paying me a visit." + +"You may take all the honour to yourself this time," smilingly replied +uncle John, "for I have come over for your especial benefit; and if I +accomplish the object of my journey, I shall consider the time anything but +thrown away." + +"Let me take your coat; and, Eph, see you to that trunk," said Mr. Garie. +"You see everything is topsy-turvy with us, uncle John. We look like +moving, don't we?" + +"Like that or an annual house-cleaning," he replied, as he picked his way +through rolls of carpet and matting, and between half-packed boxes; in +doing which, he had several narrow escapes from the nails that protruded +from them on all sides. "It's getting very warm; let me have something to +drink," said he, wiping his face as he took his seat; "a julep--plenty of +brandy and ice, and but little mint." + +Eph, on receiving this order, departed in great haste in search of Mrs. +Garie, as he knew that, whilst concocting one julep, she might be +prevailed upon to mix another, and Eph had himself a warm liking for that +peculiar Southern mixture, which liking he never lost any opportunity to +gratify. + +Emily hurried downstairs, on hearing of the arrival of uncle John, for he +was regarded by her as a friend. She had always received from him marked +kindness and respect, and upon the arrival of Mr. Garie's visitors, there +was none she received with as much pleasure. Quickly mixing the drink, she +carried it into the room where he and her husband were sitting. She was +warmly greeted by the kind-hearted old man, who, in reply to her question +if he had come to make them a farewell visit, said he hoped not: he trusted +to make them many more in the same place. + +"I'm afraid you won't have an opportunity," she replied. "In less than a +week we expect to be on our way to New York.--I must go," continued she, +"and have a room prepared for you, and hunt up the children. You'll +scarcely know them, they have grown so much since you were here. I'll soon +send them," and she hurried off to make uncle John's room comfortable. + +"I was never more surprised in my life," said the old gentleman, depositing +the glass upon the table, after draining it of its contents--"never more +surprised than when I received your letter, in which you stated your +intention of going to the North to live. A more ridiculous whim it is +impossible to conceive--the idea is perfectly absurd! To leave a fine old +place like this, where you have everything around you so nice and +comfortable, to go north, and settle amongst a parcel of strange Yankees! +My dear boy, you must give it up. I'm no longer your guardian--the law +don't provide one for people of thirty years and upwards--so it is out of +my power to say you shall not do it; but I am here to use all my powers of +persuasion to induce you to relinquish the project." + +"Uncle John, you don't seem to understand the matter. It is not a whim, by +any means--it is a determination arising from a strict sense of duty; I +feel that it is an act of justice to Emily and the children. I don't +pretend to be better than most men; but my conscience will not permit me to +be the owner of my own flesh and blood. I'm going north, because I wish to +emancipate and educate my children--you know I can't do it here. At first I +was as disinclined to favour the project as you are; but I am now convinced +it is my duty, and, I must add, that my inclination runs in the same +direction." + +"Look here, Clarence, my boy," here interrupted uncle John; "you can't +expect to live there as you do here; the prejudice against persons of +colour is much stronger in some of the Northern cities than it is amongst +us Southerners. You can't live with Emily there as you do here; you will be +in everybody's mouth. You won't be able to sustain your old connections +with your Northern friends--you'll find that they will cut you dead." + +"I've looked at it well, uncle John. I've counted the cost, and have made +up my mind to meet with many disagreeable things. If my old friends choose +to turn their backs on me because my wife happens to belong to an oppressed +race, that is not my fault. I don't feel that I have committed any sin by +making the choice I have; and so their conduct or opinions won't influence +my happiness much." + +"Listen to me, Clary, for a moment," rejoined the old gentleman. "As long +as you live here in Georgia you can sustain your present connection with +impunity, and if you should ever want to break it off, you could do so by +sending her and the children away; it would be no more than other men have +done, and are doing every day. But go to the North, and it becomes a +different thing. Your connection with Emily will inevitably become a matter +of notoriety, and then you would find it difficult to shake her off there, +as you could here, in case you wanted to marry another woman." + +"Oh, uncle, uncle, how can you speak so indifferently about my doing such +an ungenerous act; to characterize it in the very mildest terms. I feel +that Emily is as much my wife in the eyes of God, as if a thousand +clergymen had united us. It is not my fault that we are not legally +married; it is the fault of the laws. My father did not feel that my mother +was any more his wife, than I do that Emily is mine." + +"Hush, hush; that is all nonsense, boy; and, besides, it is paying a very +poor compliment to your mother to rank her with your mulatto mistress. I +like Emily very much; she has been kind, affectionate, and faithful to you. +Yet I really can't see the propriety of your making a shipwreck of your +whole life on her account. Now," continued uncle John, with great +earnestness, "I hoped for better things from you. You have talents and +wealth; you belong to one of the oldest and best families in the State. +When I am gone, you will be the last of our name; I had hoped that you +would have done something to keep it from sinking into obscurity. There is +no honour in the State to which you might not have aspired with a fair +chance of success; but if you carry out your absurd determination, you will +ruin yourself effectually." + +"Well; I shall be ruined then, for I am determined to go. I feel it my duty +to carry out my design," said Mr. Garie. + +"Well, well, Clary," rejoined his uncle, "I've done my duty to my brother's +son. I own, that although I cannot agree with you in your project, I can +and do honour the unselfish motive that prompts it. You will always find me +your friend under all circumstances, and now," concluded he, "it's off my +mind." + +The children were brought in and duly admired; a box of miniature +carpenter's tools was produced; also, a wonderful man with a string through +his waist--which string, when pulled, caused him to throw his arms and legs +about in a most astonishing manner. The little folks were highly delighted +with these presents, which, uncle John had purchased at Augusta; they +scampered off, and soon had every small specimen of sable humanity on the +place at their heels, in ecstatic admiration of the wonderful articles of +which they had so recently acquired possession. As uncle John had +absolutely refused all other refreshment than the julep before mentioned, +dinner was ordered at a much earlier hour than usual. He ate very heartily, +as was his custom; and, moreover, persisted in stuffing the children (as +old gentlemen will do sometimes) until their mother was compelled to +interfere to prevent their having a bilious attack in consequence. Whilst +the gentlemen were sitting over their desert, Mr. Garie asked his uncle, if +he had not a sister, with whom there was some mystery connected. + +"No mystery," replied uncle John. "Your aunt made a very low marriage, and +father cut her off from the family entirely. It happened when I was very +young; she was the eldest of us all; there were four of us, as you +know--your father, Bernard, I, and this sister of whom we are speaking. She +has been dead for some years; she married a carpenter whom father employed +on the place--a poor white man from New York. I have heard it said, that he +was handsome, but drunken and vicious. They left one child--a boy; I +believe he is alive in the North somewhere, or was, a few years since." + +"And did she never make any overtures for a reconciliation?" + +"She did, some years before father's death, but he was inexorable; he +returned her letter, and died without seeing or forgiving her," replied +uncle John. + +"Poor thing; I suppose they were very poor?" + +"I suppose they were. I have no sympathy for her. She deserved her fate, +for marrying a greasy mechanic, in opposition to her father's commands, +when she might have connected herself with any of the highest families in +the State." + +The gentlemen remained a long while that night, sipping their wine, smoking +cigars, and discussing the probable result of the contemplated change. +Uncle John seemed to have the worst forebodings as to the ultimate +consequences, and gave it as his decided opinion, that they would all +return to the old place in less than a year. + +"You'll soon get tired of it," said he; "everything is so different there. +Here you can get on well in your present relations; but mark me, you'll +find nothing but disappointment and trouble where you are going." + +The next morning he departed for his home; he kissed the children +affectionately, and shook hands warmly with their mother. After getting +into the carriage, he held out his hand again to his nephew, saying:-- + +"I am afraid you are going to be disappointed; but I hope you may not. Good +bye, good bye--God bless you!" and his blue eyes looked very watery, as he +was driven from the door. + +That day, a letter arrived from Savannah, informing them that the ship in +which they had engaged passage would be ready to sail in a few days; and +they, therefore, determined that the first instalment of boxes and trunks +should be sent to the city forthwith; and to Eph was assigned the +melancholy duty of superintending their removal. + +"Let me go with him, pa," begged little Clarence, who heard his father +giving Eph his instructions. + +"Oh, no," replied Mr. Garie; "the cart will be full of goods, there will be +no room for you." + +"But, pa, I can ride my pony; and, besides, you might let me go, for I +shan't have many more chances to ride him--do let me go." + +"Oh, yes, massa, let him go. Why dat ar chile can take care of his pony all +by hissef. You should just seed dem two de oder day. You see de pony felt +kinder big dat day, an' tuck a heap o' airs on hissef, an' tried to trow +him--twarn't no go--Massa Clary conquered him 'pletely. Mighty smart boy, +dat," continued Eph, looking at little Clarence, admiringly, "mighty smart. +I let him shoot off my pistol toder day, and he pat de ball smack through +de bull's eye--dat boy is gwine to be a perfect Ramrod." + +"Oh, pa," laughingly interrupted little Clarence; "I've been telling him of +what you read to me about Nimrod being a great hunter." + +"That's quite a mistake, Eph," said Mr. Garie, joining in the laugh. +"Well, I knowed it was suffin," said Eph, scratching his head; "suffin with +a rod to it; I was all right on that pint--but you'r gwine to let him go, +ain't yer, massa?" + +"I suppose, I must," replied Mr. Garie; "but mind now that no accident +occurs to young Ramrod." + +"I'll take care o' dat," said Eph, who hastened off to prepare the horses, +followed by the delighted Clarence. + +That evening, after his return from Savannah, Clarence kept his little +sister's eyes expanded to an unprecedented extent by his narration of the +wonderful occurrences attendant on his trip to town, and also of what he +had seen in the vessel. He produced an immense orange, also a vast store of +almonds and raisins, which had been given him by the good-natured steward. +"But Em," said he, "we are going to sleep in such funny little places; even +pa and mamma have got to sleep on little shelves stuck up against the wall; +and they've got a thing that swings from the ceiling that they keep the +tumblers and wine-glasses in--every glass has got a little hole for itself. +Oh, it's so nice!" + +"And have they got any nice shady trees on the ship?" asked the wondering +little Em. + +"Oh, no--what nonsense!" answered Clarence, swelling with the importance +conferred by his superior knowledge. "Why, no, Em; who ever heard of such a +thing as trees on a ship? they couldn't have trees on a ship if they +wanted--there's no earth for them to grow in. But I'll tell you what +they've got--they've got masts a great deal higher than any tree, and I'm +going to climb clear up to the top when we go to live on the ship." + +"I wouldn't," said Em; "you might fall down like Ben did from the tree, and +then you'd have to have your head sewed up as he had." + +The probability that an occurrence of this nature might be the result of +his attempt to climb the mast seemed to have considerable weight with +Master Clarence, so he relieved his sister's mind at once by relinquishing +the project. + +The morning for departure at length arrived. Eph brought the carriage to +the door at an early hour, and sat upon the box the picture of despair. He +did not descend from his eminence to assist in any of the little +arrangements for the journey, being very fearful that the seat he occupied +might be resumed by its rightful owner, he having had a lengthy contest +with the sable official who acted as coachman, and who had striven +manfully, on this occasion, to take possession of his usual elevated +station on the family equipage. This, Eph would by no means permit, as he +declared, "He was gwine to let nobody drive Massa dat day but hissef." + +It was a mournful parting. The slaves crowded around the carriage kissing +and embracing the children, and forcing upon them little tokens of +remembrance. Blind Jacob, the patriarch of the place, came and passed his +hands over the face of little Em for the last time, as he had done almost +every week since her birth, that, to use his own language, "he might see +how de piccaninny growed." His bleared and sightless eyes were turned to +heaven to ask a blessing on the little ones and their parents. + +"Why, daddy Jake, you should not take it so hard," said Mr. Garie, with an +attempt at cheerfulness. "You'll see us all again some day." + +"No, no, massa, I'se feared I won't; I'se gettin' mighty old, massa, and +I'se gwine home soon. I hopes I'll meet you all up yonder," said he, +pointing heavenward. "I don't 'spect to see any of you here agin." + +Many of the slaves were in tears, and all deeply lamented the departure of +their master and his family, for Mr. Garie had always been the kindest of +owners, and Mrs. Garie was, if possible, more beloved than himself. She was +first at every sick-bed, and had been comforter-general to all the +afflicted and distressed in the place. + +At last the carriage rolled away, and in a few hours they reached Savannah, +and immediately went on board the vessel. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Another Parting. + + +Mrs. Ellis had been for some time engaged in arranging and replenishing +Charlie's wardrobe, preparatory to his journey to Warmouth with Mrs. Bird. +An entire new suit of grey cloth had been ordered of the tailor, to whom +Mrs. Ellis gave strict injunctions not to make them too small. +Notwithstanding the unfavourable results of several experiments, Mrs. Ellis +adhered with wonderful tenacity to the idea that a boy's clothes could +never be made too large, and, therefore, when Charlie had a new suit, it +always appeared as if it had been made for some portly gentleman, and sent +home to Charlie by mistake. + +This last suit formed no exception to the others, and Charlie surveyed with +dismay its ample dimensions as it hung from the back of the chair. "Oh, +gemini!" said he, "but that jacket is a rouser! I tell you what, mother, +you'll have to get out a search-warrant to find me in that jacket; now, +mind, I tell you!" + +"Nonsense!" replied Mrs. Ellis, "it don't look a bit too large; put it on." + +Charlie took up the coat, and in a twinkling had it on over his other. His +hands were almost completely lost in the excessively long sleeves, which +hung down so far that the tips of his fingers were barely visible. "Oh, +mother!" he exclaimed, "just look at these sleeves--if such a thing were to +happen that any one were to offer me a half dollar, they would change their +mind before I could get my hand out to take it; and it will almost go twice +round me, it is so large in the waist." + +"Oh, you can turn the sleeves up; and as for the waist--you'll soon grow +to it; it will be tight enough for you before long, I'll warrant," said +Mrs. Ellis. + +"But, mother," rejoined Charlie, "that is just what you said about the +other blue suit, and it was entirely worn out before you had let down the +tucks in the trowsers." + +"Never mind the blue suit," persisted Mrs. Ellis, entirely unbiassed by +this statement of facts. "You'll grow faster this time--you're going into +the country, you must remember--boys always grow fast in the country; go +into the other room and try on the trowsers." + +Charlie retired into another room with the trowsers in question. Here he +was joined by Kinch, who went into fits of laughter over Charlie's +pea-jacket, as he offensively called the new coat. + +"Why, Charlie," said he, "it fits you like a shirt on a bean-pole, or +rather it's like a sentry's box--it don't touch you any where. But get into +these pants," said he, almost choking with the laughter that Charlie's +vexed look caused him to suppress--"get into the pants;" at the same time +tying a string round Charlie's neck. + +"What are you doing that for?" exclaimed Charlie, in an irritated tone; "I +shouldn't have thought you would make fun of me!" + +"Oh," said Kinch, assuming a solemn look, "don't they always tie a rope +round a man's body when they are going to lower him into a pit? and how on +earth do you ever expect we shall find you in the legs of them trowsers, +unless something is fastened to you?" Here Charlie was obliged to join in +the laugh that Kinch could no longer restrain. + +"Stop that playing, boys," cried Mrs. Ellis, as their noisy mirth reached +her in the adjoining room; "you forget I am waiting for you." + +Charlie hastily drew on the trousers, and found that their dimensions fully +justified the precaution Kinch was desirous of taking to secure him from +sinking into oblivion. + +"Oh, I can't wear these things," said Charlie, tears of vexation starting +from his eyes. "Why, they are so large I can't even keep them up; and just +look at the legs, will you--they'll have to be turned up a quarter of a +yard at least." + +"Here," said Kinch, seizing a large pillow, "I'll stuff this in. Oh, golly, +how you look! if you ain't a sight to see!" and he shouted with laughter as +he surveyed Charlie, to whom the pillow had imparted the appearance of a +London alderman. "If you don't look like Squire Baker now, I'll give it up. +You are as big as old Daddy Downhill. You are a regular Daniel Lambert!" + +The idea of looking like Squire Baker and Daddy Downhill, who were the "fat +men" of their acquaintance, amused Charlie as much as it did his companion, +and making the house ring with their mirth, they entered the room where Mr. +Ellis and the girls had joined Mrs. Ellis. + +"What on earth is the matter with the child?" exclaimed Mr. Ellis, as he +gazed upon the grotesque figure Charlie presented. "What has the boy been +doing to himself?" Hereupon Kinch explained how matters stood, to the +infinite amusement of all parties. + +"Oh, Ellen," said Mr. Ellis, "you must have them altered; they're a mile +too big for him. I really believe they would fit me." + +"They do look rather large," said Mrs. Ellis, reluctantly; "but it seems +such a waste to take them in, as he grows so fast." + +"He would not grow enough in two years to fill that suit," rejoined Mr. +Ellis; "and he will have worn them out in less than six months;" and so, to +the infinite satisfaction of Charlie, it was concluded that they should be +sent back to the tailor's for the evidently necessary alterations. + +The day for Charlie's departure at last arrived. + +Kinch, who had been up since two o'clock in the morning, was found by Caddy +at the early hour of five waiting upon the door-step to accompany his +friend to the wharf. Beside him lay a bag, in which there appeared to be +some living object. + +"What have you got in here?" asked Caddy, as she gave the bag a punch with +the broom she was using. "It's a present for Charlie," replied Kinch, +opening the bag, and displaying, to the astonished gaze of Caddy, a very +young pig. + +"Why," said she, laughing, "you don't expect he can take that with him, do +you?" + +"Why not?" asked Kinch, taking up the bag and carrying it into the house. +"It's just the thing to take into the country; Charlie can fatten him and +sell him for a lot of money." + +It was as much as Mrs. Ellis could do to convince Charlie and Kinch of the +impracticability of their scheme of carrying off to Warmouth the pig in +question. She suggested, as it was the exclusive property of Kinch, and he +was so exceedingly anxious to make Charlie a parting gift, that she should +purchase it, which she did, on the spot; and Kinch invested all the money +in a large cross-bow, wherewith Charlie was to shoot game sufficient to +supply both Kinch and his own parents. Had Charlie been on his way to the +scaffold, he could not have been followed by a more solemn face than that +presented by Kinch as he trudged on with him in the rear the porter who +carried the trunk. + +"I wish you were not going," said he, as he put his arm affectionately over +Charlie's shoulder, "I shall be so lonesome when you are gone; and what is +more, I know I shall get licked every day in school, for who will help me +with my sums?" + +"Oh, any of the boys will, they all like you, Kinch; and if you only study +a little harder, you can do them yourself," was Charlie's encouraging +reply. + +On arriving at the boat, they found. Mrs. Bird waiting for them; so Charlie +hastily kissed his mother and sisters, and made endless promises not to be +mischievous, and, above all, to be as tidy as possible. Then tearing +himself away from them, and turning to Kinch, he exclaimed, "I'll be back +to see you all again soon, so don't cry old fellow;" and at the same time +thrusting his hand into his pocket, he drew out a number of marbles, which +he gave him, his own lips quivering all the while. At last his attempts to +suppress his tears and look like a man grew entirely futile, and he cried +heartily as Mrs. Bird took his hand and drew him on board the steamer. + +As it slowly moved from the pier and glided up the river, Charlie stood +looking with tearful eyes at his mother and sisters, who, with Kinch, waved +their handkerchiefs as long as they could distinguish him, and then he saw +them move away with the crowd. + +Mrs. Bird, who had been conversing with a lady who accompanied her a short +distance on her journey, came and took her little _protege_ by the hand, +and led him to a seat near her in the after part of the boat, informing +him, as she did so, that they would shortly exchange the steamer for the +cars, and she thought he had better remain near her. + +After some time they approached the little town where the passengers took +the train for New York. Mrs. Bird, who had taken leave of her friend, held +Charlie fast by the hand, and they entered the cars together. He looked a +little pale and weak from the excitement of parting and the novelty of his +situation. Mrs. Bird, observing his pallid look, placed him on a seat, and +propped him up with shawls and cushions, making him as comfortable as +possible. + +The train had not long started, when the conductor came through to inspect +the tickets, and quite started with surprise at seeing Charlie stretched at +full length upon the velvet cushion. "What are you doing here?" exclaimed +he, at the same time shaking him roughly, to arouse him from the slight +slumber into which he had fallen. "Come, get up: you must go out of this." + +"What do you mean by such conduct?" asked Mrs. Bird, very much surprised. +"Don't wake him; I've got his ticket; the child is sick." + +"I don't care whether he's sick or well--he can't ride in here. We don't +allow niggers to ride in this car, no how you can fix it--so come, +youngster," said he, gruffly, to the now aroused boy, "you must travel out +of this." + +"He shall do no such thing," replied Mrs. Bird, in a decided tone; "I've +paid fall price for his ticket, and he shall ride here; you have no legal +right to eject him." + +"I've got no time to jaw about rights, legal or illegal--all I care to know +is, that I've my orders not to let niggers ride in these cars, and I expect +to obey, so you see there is no use to make any fuss about it." + +"Charlie," said Mrs. Bird, "sit here;" and she moved aside, so as to seat +him between herself and the window. "Now," said she, "move him if you think +best." + +"I'll tell you what it is, old woman," doggedly remarked the conductor: +"you can't play that game with me. I've made up my mind that no more +niggers shall ride in this car, and I'll have him out of here, cost what it +may." + +The passengers now began to cluster around the contending parties, and to +take sides in the controversy. In the end, the conductor stopped the train, +and called in one or two of the Irish brake-men to assist him, if +necessary, in enforcing his orders. + +"You had better let the boy go into the negro car, madam," said one of the +gentlemen, respectfully; "it is perfectly useless to contend with these +ruffians. I saw a coloured man ejected from here last week, and severely +injured; and, in the present state of public feeling, if anything happened +to you or the child, you would be entirely without redress. The directors +of this railroad control the State; and there is no such thing as justice +to be obtained in any of the State courts in a matter in which they are +concerned. If you will accept of my arm, I will accompany you to the other +car--if you will not permit the child to go there alone, you had better go +quietly with him." + +"Oh, what is the use of so much talk about it? Why don't you hustle the old +thing out," remarked a bystander, the respectability of whose appearance +contrasted broadly with his manners; "she is some crack-brained +abolitionist. Making so much fuss about a little nigger! Let her go into +the nigger car--she'll be more at home there." + +Mrs. Bird, seeing the uselessness of contention, accepted the proffered +escort of the gentleman before mentioned, and was followed out of the cars +by the conductor and his blackguard assistants, all of them highly elated +by the victory they had won over a defenceless old woman and a feeble +little boy. + +Mrs. Bird shrunk back, as they opened the door of the car that had been set +apart for coloured persons, and such objectionable whites as were not +admitted to the first-class cars. "Oh, what a wretched place!" she +exclaimed, as she surveyed the rough pine timbers and dirty floor; "I would +not force a dog to ride in such a filthy place." + +"Oh, don't stay here, ma'am; never mind me--I shall get on by myself well +enough, I dare say," said Charlie; "it is too nasty a place for you to stay +in." + +"No, my child," she replied; "I'll remain with you. I could not think of +permitting you to be alone in your present state of health. I declare," she +continued, "it's enough to make any one an abolitionist, or anything else +of the kind, to see how inoffensive coloured people are treated!" + +That evening they went on board the steamer that was to convey them to +Warmouth, where they arrived very early the following morning. + +Charlie was charmed with the appearance of the pretty little town, as they +rode through it in Mrs. Bird's carriage, which awaited them at the landing. +At the door of her residence they were met by two cherry-faced maids, who +seemed highly delighted at the arrival of their mistress. + +"Now, Charlie," said Mrs. Bird, as she sat down in her large arm-chair, and +looked round her snug little parlour with an air of great +satisfaction--"now we are at home, and you must try and make yourself as +happy as possible. Betsey," said she, turning to one of the women, "here is +a nice little fellow, whom I have brought with me to remain during the +summer, of whom I want you to take the best care; for," continued she, +looking at him compassionately, "the poor child has had the misfortune to +break his arm recently, and he has not been strong since. The physician +thought the country would be the best place for him, and so I've brought +him here to stay with us. Tell Reuben to carry his trunk into the little +maple chamber, and by-and-by, after I have rested, I will take a walk over +the place with him." + +"Here are two letters for you," said Betsey, taking them from the +mantelpiece, and handing them to her mistress. + +Mrs. Bird opened one, of which she read a part, and then laid it down, as +being apparently of no importance. The other, however, seemed to have a +great effect upon her, as she exclaimed, hurriedly, "Tell Reuben not to +unharness the horses--I must go to Francisville immediately--dear Mrs. +Hinton is very ill, and not expected to recover. You must take good care of +Charlie until I return. If I do not come back to-night, you will know that +she is worse, and that I am compelled to remain there;" and, on the +carriage being brought to the door, she departed in haste to visit her sick +friend. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The New Home. + + +When Mrs. Garie embarked, she entertained the idea so prevalent among +fresh-water sailors, that she was to be an exception to the rule of Father +Neptune, in accordance with which all who intrude for the first time upon +his domain are compelled to pay tribute to his greatness, and humbly bow in +acknowledgment of his power. + +Mrs. Garie had determined not to be sea-sick upon any account whatever, +being fully persuaded she could brave the ocean with impunity, and was, +accordingly, very brisk and blithe-looking, as she walked up and down upon +the deck of the vessel. In the course of a few hours they sailed out of the +harbour, and were soon in the open sea. She began to find out how mistaken +she had been, as unmistakable symptoms convinced her of the vanity of all +human calculations. "Why, you are not going to be ill, Em, after all your +valiant declarations!" exclaimed Mr. Garie, supporting her unsteady steps, +as they paced to and fro. + +"Oh, no, no!" said she, in a firm tone; "I don't intend to give up to any +such nonsense. I believe that people can keep up if they try. I do feel a +little fatigued and nervous; it's caused, no doubt, by the long drive of +this morning--although I think it singular that a drive should affect me in +this manner." Thus speaking, she sat down by the bulwarks of the vessel, +and a despairing look gradually crept over her face. At last she suddenly +rose, to look at the water, as we may imagine. The effect of her scrutiny, +however, was, that she asked feebly to be assisted to her state-room, where +she remained until their arrival in the harbour of New York. The children +suffered only for a short time, and as their father escaped entirely, he +was able to watch that they got into no mischief. They were both great +favourites with the captain and steward, and, between the two, were so +stuffed and crammed with sweets as to place their health in considerable +jeopardy. + +It was a delightful morning when they sailed into the harbour of New York. +The waters were dancing and rippling in the morning sun, and the +gaily-painted ferry-boats were skimming swiftly across its surface in their +trips to and from the city, which was just awaking to its daily life of +bustling toil. + +"What an immense city it is!" said Mrs. Garie--"how full of life and +bustle! Why there are more ships at one pier here than there are in the +whole port of Savanah!" + +"Yes, dear," rejoined her husband; "and what is more, there always will be. +Our folks in Georgia are not waked up yet; and when they do arouse +themselves from their slumber, it will be too late. But we don't see half +the shipping from here--this is only one side of the city--there is much +more on the other. Look over there," continued he, pointing to Jersey +city,--"that is where we take the cars for Philadelphia; and if we get up +to dock in three or four hours, we shall be in time for the mid-day train." + +In less time than they anticipated they were alongside the wharf; the +trunks were brought up, and all things for present use were safely packed +together and despatched, under the steward's care, to the office of the +railroad. + +Mr. and Mrs. Garie, after bidding good-bye to the captain, followed with +the children, who were thrown into a great state of excitement by the noise +and bustle of the crowded thoroughfare. + +"How this whirl and confusion distracts me," said Mrs. Garie, looking out +of the carriage-window. "I hope Philadelphia is not as noisy a place as +this." + +"Oh, no," replied Mr. Garie; "it is one of the most quiet and clean cities +in the world, whilst this is the noisiest and dirtiest. I always hurry out +of New York; it is to me such a disagreeable place, with its extortionate +hackmen and filthy streets." + +On arriving at the little steamer in which they crossed the ferry, they +found it about to start, and therefore had to hurry on board with all +possible speed. + +Under the circumstances, the hackman felt that it would be flying in the +face of Providence if he did not extort a large fare, and he therefore +charged an extravagant price. Mr. Garie paid him, as he had no time to +parley, and barely succeeded in slipping a _douceur_ into the steward's +hand, when the boat pushed off from the pier. + +In a few moments they had crossed the river, and were soon comfortably +seated in the cars whirling over the track to Philadelphia. + +As the conductor came through to examine the tickets, he paused for a +moment before Mrs. Garie and the children. As he passed on, his assistant +inquired, "Isn't that a nigger?" + +"Yes, a half-white one," was the reply. + +"Why don't you order her out, then?--she has no business to ride in here," +continued the first speaker. + +"I guess we had better let her alone," suggested the conductor, +"particularly as no one has complained; and there might be a row if she +turned out to be the nurse to those children. The whole party are +Southerners, that's clear; and these Southerners are mighty touchy about +their niggers sometimes, and kick and cut like the devil about them. I +guess we had better let her alone, unless some one complains about her +being there." + +As they drove through the streets of Philadelphia on the way to their new +home, Mrs. Garie gave rent to many expressions of delight at the appearance +of the city. "Oh, what a sweet place! everything is so bright and +fresh-looking; why the pavement and doorsteps look as if they were cleaned +twice a day. Just look at that house, how spotless it is; I hope ours +resembles that. Ours is a new house, is it not?" she inquired. "Not +entirely; it has been occupied before, but only for a short time, I +believe," was her husband's reply. + +It had grown quite dark by the time they arrived at Winter-street, where +Caddy had been anxiously holding watch and ward in company with the +servants who had been procured for them. A bright light was burning in the +entry as the coachman stopped at the door. + +"This is No. 27," said he, opening the door of the carriage, "shall I +ring?" + +"Yes, do," replied Mr. Garie; but whilst he was endeavouring to open the +gate of the little garden in front, Caddy, who had heard the carriage stop, +bounded out to welcome them. "This is Mr. Garie, I suppose," said she, as +he alighted. + +"Yes, I am; and you, I suppose, are the daughter of Mr. Ellis?" + +"Yes, sir; I'm sorry mother is not here to welcome you; she was here until +very late last night expecting your arrival, and was here again this +morning," said Caddy, taking at the same time one of the little carpet +bags. "Give me the little girl, I can take care of her too," she continued; +and with little Em on one arm and the carpet bag on the other, she led the +way into the house. + +"We did not make up any fire," said she, "the weather is very warm to us. I +don't know how it may feel to you, though." + +"It is a little chilly," replied Mrs. Garie, as she sat down upon the sofa, +and looked round the room with a smile of pleasure, and added, "All this +place wants, to make it the most bewitching of rooms, is a little fire." + +Caddy hurried the new servants from place to place remorselessly, and set +them to prepare the table and get the things ready for tea. She waylaid a +party of labourers, who chanced to be coming that way, and hired them to +carry all the luggage upstairs--had the desired fire made--mixed up some +corn-bread, and had tea on the table in a twinkling. They all ate very +heartily, and Caddy was greatly praised for her activity. + +"You are quite a housekeeper," said Mrs. Garie to Caddy. "Do you like it?" + +"Oh, yes," she replied. "I see to the house at home almost entirely; mother +and Esther are so much engaged in sewing, that they are glad enough to +leave it in my hands, and I'd much rather do that than sew." + +"I hope," said Mrs. Garie, "that your mother will permit you to remain with +us until we get entirely settled." + +"I know she will," confidently replied Caddy. "She will be up here in the +morning. She will know you have arrived by my not having gone home this +evening." + +The children had now fallen asleep with their heads in close proximity to +their plates, and Mrs. Garie declared that she felt very much fatigued and +slightly indisposed, and thought the sooner she retired the better it would +be for her. She accordingly went up to the room, which she had already seen +and greatly admired, and was soon in the land of dreams. + +As is always the case on such occasions, the children's night-dresses could +not be found. Clarence was put to bed in one of his father's shirts, in +which he was almost lost, and little Em was temporarily accommodated with a +calico short gown of Caddy's, and, in default of a nightcap, had her head +tied up in a Madras handkerchief, which gave her, when her back was turned, +very much the air of an old Creole who had been by some mysterious means +deprived of her due growth. + +The next morning Mrs. Garie was so much indisposed at to be unable to rise, +and took her breakfast in bed. Her husband had finished his meal, and was +sitting in the parlour, when he observed a middle-aged coloured lady coming +into the garden. + +"Look, Caddy," cried he, "isn't this your mother?" + +"Oh, yes, that is she," replied Caddy, and ran and opened the door, +exclaiming, "Oh, mother, they're come;" and as she spoke, Mr. Garie came +into the entry and shook hands heartily with her. "I'm so much indebted +to you," said he, "for arranging everything so nicely for us--there is not +a thing we would wish to alter." + +"I am very glad you are pleased; we did our best to make it comfortable," +was her reply. + +"And you succeeded beyond our expectation; but do come up," continued he, +"Emily will be delighted to see you. She is quite unwell this morning; has +not even got up yet;" and leading the way upstairs, he ushered Mrs. Ellis +into the bedroom. + +"Why, can this be you?" said she, surveying Emily with surprise and +pleasure. "If I had met you anywhere, I should never have known you. How +you have altered! You were not so tall as my Caddy when I saw you last; and +here you are with two children--and pretty little things they are too!" +said she, kissing little Em, who was seated on the bed with her brother, +and sharing with him the remains of her mother's chocolate. + +"And you look much younger that I expected to see you," replied Mrs. Garie. +"Draw a chair up to the bed, and let us have a talk about old times. You +must excuse my lying down; I don't intend to get up to-day; I feel quite +indisposed." + +Mrs. Ellis took off her bonnet, and prepared for a long chat; whilst Mr. +Garie, looking at his watch, declared it was getting late, and started for +down town, where he had to transact some business. + +"You can scarcely think, Ellen, how much I feel indebted to you for all you +have done for us; and we are so distressed to hear about Charlie's +accident. You must have had a great deal of trouble." + +"Oh, no, none to speak of--and had it been ever so much, I should have been +just as pleased to have done it; I was so glad you were coming. What did +put it in your heads to come here to live?" continued Mrs. Ellis. + +"Oh, cousin George Winston praised the place so highly, and you know how +disagreeable Georgia is to live in. My mind was never at rest there +respecting these," said she, pointing to the children; "so that I fairly +teased Garie into it. Did you recognize George?" + +"No, I didn't remember much about him. I should never have taken him for a +coloured man; had I met him in the street, I should have supposed him to be +a wealthy white Southerner. What a gentleman he is in his appearance and +manners," said Mrs. Ellis. + +"Yes, he is all that--my husband thinks there is no one like him. But we +won't talk about him now; I want you to tell me all about yourself and +family, and then I'll tell you everything respecting my own fortunes." +Hereupon ensued long narratives from both parties, which occupied the +greater part of the morning. + +Mr. Garie, on leaving the house, slowly wended his way to the residence of +Mr. Walters. As he passed into the lower part of the city, his attention +was arrested by the number of coloured children he saw skipping merrily +along with their bags of books on their arms. + +"This," said he to himself, "don't much resemble Georgia."[*] + +[Footnote *: It is a penal offence in Georgia to teach coloured children to +read.] + +After walking some distance he took out a card, and read, 257, +Easton-street; and on inquiry found himself in the very street. He +proceeded to inspect the numbers, and was quite perplexed by their +confusion and irregularity. + +A coloured boy happening to pass at the time, he asked him: "Which way do +the numbers run, my little man?" + +The boy looked up waggishly, and replied: "They don't run at all; they are +permanently affixed to each door." + +"But," said Mr. Garie, half-provoked, yet compelled to smile at the boy's +pompous wit, "you know what I mean; I cannot find the number I wish; the +street is not correctly numbered." + +"The street is not numbered at all," rejoined the boy, "but the houses +are," and he skipped lightly away. + +Mr. Garie was finally set right about the numbers, and found himself at +length before the door of Mr. Walters's house. "Quite a handsome +residence," said he, as he surveyed the stately house, with its spotless +marble steps and shining silver door-plate. + +On ringing, his summons was quickly answered by a well-dressed servant, who +informed him that Mr. Walters was at home, and ushered him into the +parlour. The elegance of the room took Mr. Garie completely by surprise, as +its furniture indicated not only great wealth, but cultivated taste and +refined habits. The richly-papered walls were adorned by paintings from the +hands of well-known foreign and native artists. Rich vases and +well-executed bronzes were placed in the most favourable situations in the +apartment; the elegantly-carved walnut table was covered with those +charming little bijoux which the French only are capable of conceiving, and +which are only at the command of such purchasers as are possessed of more +money than they otherwise can conveniently spend. + +Mr. Garie threw himself into a luxuriously-cushioned chair, and was soon so +absorbed in contemplating the likeness of a negro officer which hung +opposite, that he did not hear the soft tread of Mr. Walters as he entered +the room. The latter, stepping slowly forward, caught the eye of Mr. Garie, +who started up, astonished at the commanding figure before him. + +"Mr. Garie, I presume?" said Mr. Walters. + +"Yes," he replied, and added, as he extended his hand; "I have the pleasure +of addressing Mr. Walters, I suppose?" + +Mr. Walters bowed low as he accepted the proffered hand, and courteously +requested his visitor to be seated. + +As Mr. Garie resumed his seat, he could not repress a look of surprise, +which Mr. Walters apparently perceived, for a smile slightly curled his lip +as he also took a seat opposite his visitor. + +Mr. Walters was above six feet in height, and exceedingly +well-proportioned; of jet-black complexion, and smooth glossy skin. His +head was covered with a quantity of woolly hair, which was combed back from +a broad but not very high forehead. His eyes were small, black, and +piercing, and set deep in his head. His aquiline nose, thin lips, and broad +chin, were the very reverse of African in their shape, and gave his face a +very singular appearance. In repose, his countenance was severe in its +expression; but when engaged in agreeable conversation, the thin +sarcastic-looking lips would part, displaying a set of dazzlingly white +teeth, and the small black eyes would sparkle with animation. The neatness +and care with which he was dressed added to the attractiveness of his +appearance. His linen was the perfection of whiteness, and his snowy vest +lost nothing by its contact therewith. A long black frock coat, black +pants, and highly-polished boots, completed his attire. + +"I hope," said he, "your house suits you; it is one of my own, and has +never been rented except for a short time to a careful tenant, who was +waiting for his own house to be finished. I think you will find it +comfortable." + +"Oh, perfectly so, I am quite sure. I must thank you for the prompt manner +in which you have arranged everything for us. It seems more like coming to +an old home than to a new residence," replied Mr. Garie. + +"I am delighted to hear you say so," said Mr. Walters. "I shall be most +happy to call and pay my respects to Mrs. Garie when agreeable to her. +Depend upon it, we will do all in our power to make our quiet city pleasant +to you both." + +Mr. Garie thanked him, and after some further conversation, rose to depart. + +As he was leaving the room, he stopped before the picture which had so +engaged his attention, when Mr. Walters entered. + +"So you, too, are attracted by that picture," said Mr. Walters, with a +smile. "All white men look at it with interest. A black man in the uniform +of a general officer is something so unusual that they cannot pass it with +a glance." "It is, indeed, rather a novelty," replied Mr. Garie, +"particularly to a person from my part of the country. Who is it?" + +"That is Toussaint l'Ouverture," replied Mr. Walters; "and I have every +reason to believe it to be a correct likeness. It was presented to an +American merchant by Toussaint himself--a present in return for some +kindness shown him. This merchant's son, not having the regard for the +picture that his father entertained for it, sold it to me. That," continued +Mr. Walters, "looks like a man of intelligence. It is entirely different +from any likeness I ever saw of him. The portraits generally represent him +as a monkey-faced person, with a handkerchief about his head." + +"This," said Mr. Garie, "gives me an idea of the man that accords with his +actions." + +Thus speaking, he continued looking at the picture for a short time, and +then took his departure, after requesting Mr. Walters to call upon him at +an early opportunity. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Mr. Garie's Neighbour. + + +We must now introduce our readers into the back parlour of the house +belonging to Mr. Garie's next-door neighbour, Mr. Thomas Stevens. + +We find this gentleman standing at a window that overlooked his garden, +enjoying a fragrant Havannah. His appearance was not by any means +prepossessing; he was rather above than below the middle height, with round +shoulders, and long, thin arms, finished off by disagreeable-looking hands. +His head was bald on the top, and the thin greyish-red hair, that grew more +thickly about his ears, was coaxed up to that quarter, where an attempt had +been made to effect such a union between the cords of the hair from each +side as should cover the place in question. + +The object, however, remained unaccomplished; as the hair was either very +obstinate and would not be induced to lie as desired, or from extreme +modesty objected to such an elevated position, and, in consequence, stopped +half-way, as if undecided whether to lie flat or remain erect, producing +the effect that would have been presented had he been decorated with a pair +of horns. His baldness might have given an air of benevolence to his face, +but for the shaggy eyebrows that over-shadowed his cunning-looking grey +eyes. His cheekbones were high, and the cadaverous skin was so tightly +drawn across them, as to give it a very parchment-like appearance. Around +his thin compressed lips there was a continual nervous twitching, that +added greatly to the sinister aspect of his face. + +On the whole, he was a person from whom you would instinctively shrink; +and had he been president or director of a bank in which you had money +deposited, his general aspect would not have given you additional +confidence in the stable character or just administration of its affairs. + +Mr. George Stevens was a pettifogging attorney, who derived a tolerable +income from a rather disreputable legal practice picked up among the courts +that held their sessions in the various halls of the State-house. He was +known in the profession as Slippery George, from the easy manner in which +he glided out of scrapes that would have been fatal to the reputation of +any other lawyer. Did a man break into a house, and escape without being +actually caught on the spot with the goods in his possession, Stevens was +always able to prove an alibi by a long array of witnesses. In fact, he was +considered by the swell gentry of the city as their especial friend and +protector, and by the members of the bar generally as anything but an +ornament to the profession. + +He had had rather a fatiguing day's labour, and on the evening of which we +write, was indulging in his usual cigar, and amusing himself at the same +time by observing the gambols of Clarence and little Em, who were enjoying +a romp in their father's garden. + +"Come here, Jule," said he, "and look at our new neighbour's +children--rather pretty, ain't they?" + +He was joined by a diminutive red-faced woman, with hair and eyes very much +like his own, and a face that wore a peevish, pinched expression. + +"Rather good-looking," she replied, after observing them for a few minutes, +and then added, "Have you seen their parents?" + +"No, not yet," was the reply. "I met Walters in the street this morning, +who informed me they are from the South, and very rich; we must try and +cultivate them--ask the children in to play with ours, and strike up an +intimacy in that way, the rest will follow naturally, you know. By the way, +Jule," continued he, "how I hate that nigger Walters, with his grand airs. +I wanted some money of him the other day on rather ticklish securities for +a client of mine, and the black wretch kept me standing in his hall for at +least five minutes, and then refused me, with some not very complimentary +remarks upon my assurance in offering him such securities. It made me so +mad I could have choked him--it is bad enough to be treated with _hauteur_ +by a white man, but contempt from a nigger is almost unendurable." + +"Why didn't you resent it in some way? I never would have submitted to +anything of the kind from him," interrupted Mrs. Stevens. + +"Oh, I don't dare to just now; I have to be as mild as milk with him. You +forget about the mortgage; don't you know he has me in a tight place there, +and I don't see how to get out of it either. If I am called Slippery +George, I tell you what, Jule, there's not a better man of business in the +whole of Philadelphia than that same Walters, nigger as he is; and no one +offends him without paying dear for it in some way or other. I'll tell you +something he did last week. He went up to Trenton on business, and at the +hotel they refused to give him dinner because of his colour, and told him +they did not permit niggers to eat at their tables. What does he do but buy +the house over the landlord's head. The lease had just expired, and the +landlord was anxious to negotiate another; he was also making some +arrangements with his creditors, which could not be effected unless he was +enabled to renew the lease of the premises he occupied. On learning that +the house had been sold, he came down to the city to negotiate with the new +owner, and to his astonishment found him to be the very man he had refused +a meal to the week before. Blunt happened to be in Walters's office at the +time the fellow called. Walters, he says, drew himself up to his full +height, and looked like an ebony statue. + +"Sir," said he, "I came to your house and asked for a meal, for which I was +able to pay; you not only refused it to me, but heaped upon me words such +as fall only from the lips of blackguards. You refuse to have me in your +house--I object to have you in mine: you will, therefore, quit the +premises immediately." The fellow sneaked out quite crestfallen, and his +creditors have broken him up completely. + +"I tell you what, Jule, if I was a black," continued he, "living in a +country like this, I'd sacrifice conscience and everything else to the +acquisition of wealth." + +As he concluded, he turned from the window and sat down by a small table, +upon which a lighted lamp had been placed, and where a few law papers were +awaiting a perusal. + +A little boy and girl were sitting opposite to him. The boy was playing +with a small fly-trap, wherein he had already imprisoned a vast number of +buzzing sufferers. In appearance he bore a close resemblance to his father; +he had the same red hair and sallow complexion, but his grey eyes had a +dull leaden hue. + +"Do let them go, George, do!" said the little girl, in a pleading tone. +"You'll kill them, shut up there." + +"I don't care if I do," replied he, doggedly; "I can catch more--look +here;" and as he spoke he permitted a few of the imprisoned insects to +creep partly out, and then brought the lid down upon them with a force that +completely demolished them. + +The little girl shuddered at this wanton exhibition of cruelty, and offered +him a paper of candy if he would liberate his prisoners, which he did +rather reluctantly, but promising himself to replenish the box at the first +opportunity. + +"Ah!" said he, in a tone of exultation, "father took me with him to the +jail to-day, and I saw all the people locked up. I mean to be a jailer some +of these days. Wouldn't you like to keep a jail, Liz?" continued he, his +leaden eyes receiving a slight accession of brightness at the idea. + +"Oh, no!" replied she; "I would let all the people go, if I kept the jail." + +A more complete contrast than this little girl presented to her parents and +brother, cannot be imagined. She had very dark chestnut hair, and mild blue +eyes, and a round, full face, which, in expression, was sweetness itself. +She was about six years old, and her brother's junior by an equal number +of years. + +Her mother loved her, but thought her tame and spiritless in her +disposition; and her father cherished as much affection for her as he was +capable of feeling for any one but himself. + +Mrs. Stevens, however, doted on their eldest hope, who was as disagreeable +as a thoroughly spoiled and naturally evil-disposed boy could be. + +As the evenings had now become quite warm, Mr. Garie frequently took a +chair and enjoyed his evening cigar upon the door-step of his house; and as +Mr. Stevens thought his steps equally suited to this purpose, it was very +natural he should resort there with the same object. + +Mr. Stevens found no difficulty in frequently bringing about short +neighbourly conversations with Mr. Garie. The little folk, taking their cue +from their parents, soon became intimate, and ran in and out of each +other's houses in the most familiar manner possible. Lizzy Stevens and +little Em joined hearts immediately, and their intimacy had already been +cemented by frequent consultations on the various ailments wherewith they +supposed their dolls afflicted. + +Clarence got on only tolerably with George Stevens; he entertained for him +that deference that one boy always has for another who is his superior in +any boyish pastime; but there was little affection lost between them--they +cared very little for each other's society. + +Mrs. Garie, since her arrival, had been much confined to her room, in +consequence of her protracted indisposition. Mrs. Stevens had several times +intimated to Mr. Garie her intention of paying his wife a visit; but never +having received any very decided encouragement, she had not pressed the +matter, though her curiosity was aroused, and she was desirous of seeing +what kind of person Mrs. Garie could be. + +Her son George in his visits had never been permitted farther than the +front parlour; and all the information that could be drawn from little +Lizzy, who was frequently in Mrs. Garie's bedroom, was that "she was a +pretty lady, with great large eyes." One evening, when Mr. Garie was +occupying his accustomed seat, he was accosted from the other side by Mrs. +Stevens, who, as usual, was very particular in her inquiries after the +state of his wife's health; and on learning that she was so much improved +as to be down-stairs, suggested that, perhaps, she would be willing to +receive her. + +"No doubt she will," rejoined Mr. Garie; and he immediately entered the +house to announce the intended visit. The lamps were not lighted when Mrs. +Stevens was introduced, and faces could not, therefore, be clearly +distinguished. + +"My dear," said Mr. Garie, "this is our neighbour, Mrs. Stevens." + +"Will you excuse me for not rising?" said Mrs. Garie, extending her hand to +her visitor. "I have been quite ill, or I should have been most happy to +have received you before. My little folks are in your house a great deal--I +hope you do not find them troublesome." + +"Oh, by no means! I quite dote on your little Emily, she is such a sweet +child--so very affectionate. It is a great comfort to have such a child +near for my own to associate with--they have got quite intimate, as I hope +we soon shall be." + +Mrs. Garie thanked her for the kindness implied in the wish, and said she +trusted they should be so. + +"And how do you like your house?" asked Mrs. Stevens; "it is on the same +plan as ours, and we find ours very convenient. They both formerly belonged +to Walters; my husband purchased of him. Do you intend to buy?" + +"It is very probable we shall, if we continue to like Philadelphia," +answered Mr. Garie. + +"I'm delighted to hear that," rejoined she--"very glad, indeed. It quite +relieves my mind about one thing: ever since Mr. Stevens purchased our +house we have been tormented with the suspicion that Walters would put a +family of niggers in this; and if there is one thing in this world I detest +more than another, it is coloured people, I think." + +Mr. Garie here interrupted her by making some remark quite foreign to the +subject, with the intention, no doubt, of drawing her off this topic. The +attempt was, however, an utter failure, for she continued--"I think all +those that are not slaves ought to be sent out of the country back to +Africa, where they belong: they are, without exception, the most ignorant, +idle, miserable set I ever saw." + +"I think," said Mr. Garie, "I can show you at least one exception, and that +too without much trouble. Sarah," he cried, "bring me a light." + +"Oh," said Mrs. Stevens, "I suppose you refer to Walters--it is true he is +an exception; but he is the only coloured person I ever saw that could make +the least pretension to anything like refinement or respectability. + +"Let me show you another," said Mr. Garie, as he took the lamp from the +servant and placed it upon the table near his wife. + +As the light fell on her face, their visitor saw that she belonged to the +very class that she had been abusing in such unmeasured terms and so +petrified was she with confusion at the _faux pas_ she had committed, that +she was entirely unable to improvise the slightest apology. + +Mrs. Garie, who had been reclining on the lounge, partially raised herself +and gave Mrs. Stevens a withering look. "I presume, madam," said she, in a +hurried and agitated tone, "that you are very ignorant of the people upon +whom you have just been heaping such unmerited abuse, and therefore I shall +not think so hardly of you as I should, did I deem your language dictated +by pure hatred; but, be its origin what it may, it is quite evident that +our farther acquaintance could be productive of no pleasure to either of +us--you will, therefore, permit me," continued she, rising with great +dignity, "to wish you good evening;" and thus speaking, she left the room. + +Mrs. Stevens was completely demolished by this unexpected _denouement_ of +her long-meditated visit, and could only feebly remark to Mr. Garie that it +was getting late, and she would go; and rising, she suffered herself to be +politely bowed out of the house. In her intense anxiety to relate to her +husband the scene which had just occurred, she could not take time to go +round and through the gate, but leaped lightly over the low fence that +divided the gardens, and rushed precipitately into the presence of her +husband. + +"Good heavens! George, what do you think?" she exclaimed; "I've had such a +surprise!" + +"I should think that you had, judging from appearances," replied he. "Why, +your eyes are almost starting out of your head! What on earth has +happened?" he asked, as he took the shade off the lamp to get a better view +of his amiable partner. + +"You would not guess in a year," she rejoined; "I never would have dreamed +it--I never was so struck in my life!" + +"Struck with what? Do talk sensibly, Jule, and say what all this is about," +interrupted her husband, in an impatient manner. "Come, out with it--what +has happened?" + +"Why, would you have thought it," said she; "Mrs. Garie is a nigger +woman--a real nigger--she would be known as such anywhere?" + +It was now Mr. Stevens's turn to be surprised. "Why, Jule," he exclaimed, +"you astonish me! Come, now, you're joking--you don't mean a real black +nigger?" + +"Oh, no, not jet black--but she's dark enough. She is as dark as that Sarah +we employed as cook some time ago." + +"You don't say so! Wonders will never cease--and he such a gentleman, too!" +resumed her husband. + +"Yes; and it's completely sickening," continued Mrs. Stevens, "to see them +together; he calls her my dear, and is as tender and affectionate to her as +if she was a Circassian--and she nothing but a nigger--faugh! it's +disgusting." + +Little Clarence had been standing near, unnoticed by either of them during +this conversation, and they were therefore greatly surprised when he +exclaimed, with a burst of tears, "My mother is not a nigger any more than +you are! How dare you call her such a bad name? I'll tell my father!" + +Mr. Stevens gave a low whistle, and looking at his wife, pointed to the +door. Mrs. Stevens laid her hand on the shoulder of Clarence, and led him +to the door, saying, as she did so, "Don't come in here any more--I don't +wish you to come into my house;" and then closing it, returned to her +husband. + +"You know, George," said she, "that I went in to pay her a short visit. I +hadn't the remotest idea that she was a coloured woman, and I commenced +giving my opinion respecting niggers very freely, when suddenly her husband +called for a light, and I then saw to whom I had been talking. You may +imagine my astonishment--I was completely dumb--and it would have done you +good to have seen the air with which she left the room, after as good as +telling me to leave the house." + +"Well," said Mr. Stevens, "this is what may be safely termed an unexpected +event. But, Jule," he continued, "you had better pack these young folks off +to bed, and then you can tell me the rest of it." + +Clarence stood for some time on the steps of the house from which he had +been so unkindly ejected, with his little heart swelling with indignation. +He had often heard the term nigger used in its reproachful sense, but never +before had it been applied to him or his, at least in his presence. It was +the first blow the child received from the prejudice whose relentless hand +was destined to crush him in after-years. + +It was his custom, when any little grief pressed upon his childish heart, +to go and pour out his troubles on the breast of his mother; but he +instinctively shrunk from confiding this to her; for, child as he was, he +knew it would make her very unhappy. He therefore gently stole into the +house, crept quietly up to his room, lay down, and sobbed himself to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Hopes consummated. + + +To Emily Winston we have always accorded the title of Mrs. Garie; whilst, +in reality, she had no legal claim to it whatever. + +Previous to their emigration from Georgia, Mr. Garie had, on one or two +occasions, attempted, but without success, to make her legally his wife. + +He ascertained that, even if he could have found a clergyman willing to +expose himself to persecution by marrying them, the ceremony itself would +have no legal weight, as a marriage between a white and a mulatto was not +recognized as valid by the laws of the state; and he had, therefore, been +compelled to dismiss the matter from his mind, until an opportunity should +offer for the accomplishment of their wishes. + +Now, however, that they had removed to the north, where they would have no +legal difficulties to encounter, he determined to put his former intention +into execution. Although Emily had always maintained a studied silence on +the subject, he knew that it was the darling wish of her heart to be +legally united to him; so he unhesitatingly proceeded to arrange matters +for the consummation of what he felt assured would promote the happiness of +both. He therefore wrote to Dr. Blackly, a distinguished clergyman of the +city, requesting him to perform the ceremony, and received from him an +assurance that he would be present at the appointed time. + +Matters having progressed thus far, he thought it time to inform Emily of +what he had done. On the evening succeeding the receipt of an answer from +the Rev. Dr. Blackly--after the children had been sent to bed--he called +her to him, and, taking her hand, sat down beside her on the sofa. + +"Emily," said he, as he drew her closer to him, "my dear, faithful Emily! I +am about to do you an act of justice--one, too, that I feel will increase +the happiness of us both. I am going to marry you, my darling! I am about +to give you a lawful claim to what you have already won by your +faithfulness and devotion. You know I tried, more than once, whilst in the +south, to accomplish this, but, owing to the cruel and unjust laws existing +there, I was unsuccessful. But now, love, no such difficulty exists; and +here," continued he, "is an answer to the note I have written to Dr. +Blackly, asking him to come next Wednesday night, and perform the +ceremony.--You are willing, are you not, Emily?" he asked. + +"Willing!" she exclaimed, in a voice tremulous with emotion--"willing! Oh, +God! if you only knew how I have longed for it! It has been my earnest +desire for years!" and, bursting into tears, she leaned, sobbing, on his +shoulder. + +After a few moments she raised her head, and, looking searchingly in his +face, she asked: "But do you do this after full reflection on the +consequences to ensue? Are you willing to sustain all the odium, to endure +all the contumely, to which your acknowledged union with one of my +unfortunate race will subject you? Clarence! it will be a severe trial--a +greater one than any you have yet endured for me--and one for which I fear +my love will prove but a poor recompense! I have thought more of these +things lately; I am older now in years and experience. There was a time +when I was vain enough to think that my affection was all that was +necessary for your happiness; but men, I know, require more to fill their +cup of content than the undivided affection of a woman, no matter how +fervently beloved. You have talents, and, I have sometimes thought, +ambition. Oh, Clarence! how it would grieve me, in after-years, to know +that you regretted that for me you had sacrificed all those views and +hopes that are cherished by the generality of your sex! Have you weighed +it well?" + +"Yes, Emily--well," replied Mr. Garie; "and you know the conclusion. My +past should be a guarantee for the future. I had the world before me, and +chose you--and with, you I am contented to share my lot; and feel that I +receive, in your affection, a full reward for any of the so-called +sacrifices I may make. So, dry your tears, my dear," concluded he, "and let +us hope for nothing but an increase of happiness as the result." + +After a few moments of silence, he resumed: "It will be necessary, Emily, +to have a couple of witnesses. Now, whom would you prefer? I would suggest +Mrs. Ellis and her husband. They are old friends, and persons on whose +prudence we can rely. It would not do to have the matter talked about, as +it would expose us to disagreeable comments." + +Mrs. Garie agreed perfectly with him as to the selection of Mr. and Mrs. +Ellis; and immediately despatched a note to Mrs. Ellis, asking her to call +at their house on the morrow. + +When she came, Emily informed her, with some confusion of manner, of the +intended marriage, and asked her attendance as witness, at the same time +informing her of the high opinion her husband entertained of their prudence +in any future discussion of the matter. + +"I am really glad he is going to marry you, Emily," replied Mrs. Ellis, +"and depend upon it we will do all in our power to aid it. Only yesterday, +that inquisitive Mrs. Tiddy was at our house, and, in conversation +respecting you, asked if I knew you to be married to Mr. Garie. I turned +the conversation somehow, without giving her a direct answer. Mr. Garie, I +must say, does act nobly towards you. He must love you, Emily, for not one +white man in a thousand would make such a sacrifice for a coloured woman. +You can't tell how we all like him--he is so amiable, so kind in his +manner, and makes everyone so much at ease in his company. It's real good +in him, I declare, and I shall begin to have some faith in white folks, +after all.--Wednesday night," continued she; "very well--we shall be here, +if the Lord spare us;" and, kissing Emily, she hurried off, to impart the +joyful intelligence to her husband. + +The anxiously looked for Wednesday evening at last arrived, and Emily +arrayed herself in a plain white dress for the occasion. Her long black +hair had been arranged in ringlets by Mrs. Ellis, who stood by, gazing +admiringly at her. + +"How sweet you look, Emily--you only want a wreath of orange blossoms to +complete your appearance. Don't you feel a little nervous?" asked her +friend. + +"A little excited," she answered, and her hand shook as she put back one of +the curls that had fallen across her face. Just then a loud ringing at the +door announced the arrival of Dr. Blackly, who was shown into the front +parlour. + +Emily and Mrs. Ellis came down into the room where Mr. Garie was waiting +for them, whilst Mr. Ellis brought in Dr. Blackly. The reverend gentleman +gazed with some surprise at the party assembled. Mr. Garie was so +thoroughly Saxon in appearance, that no one could doubt to what race he +belonged, and it was equally evident that Emily, Mrs. Ellis, and her +husband, were coloured persons. + +Dr. Blackly looked from one to the other with evident embarrassment, and +then said to Mr. Garie, in a low, hesitating tone:-- + +"I think there has been some mistake here--will you do me the favour to +step into another room?" + +Mr. Garie mechanically complied, and stood waiting to learn the cause of +Dr. Blackly's strange conduct. + +"You are a white man, I believe?" at last stammered forth the doctor. + +"Yes, sir; I presume my appearance is a sufficient guarantee of that," +answered Mr. Garie. + +"Oh yes, I do not doubt it, and for that reason you must not be surprised +if I decline to proceed with the ceremony." + +"I do not see how my being a white man can act as a barrier to its +performance," remarked Mr. Garie in reply. "It would not, sir, if all the +parties were of one complexion; but I do not believe in the propriety of +amalgamation, and on no consideration could I be induced to assist in the +union of a white man or woman with a person who has the slightest infusion +of African blood in their veins. I believe the negro race," he continued, +"to be marked out by the hand of God for servitude; and you must pardon me +if I express my surprise that a gentleman of your evident intelligence +should seek such a connection--you must be labouring under some horrible +infatuation." + +"Enough, sir," replied Mr. Garie, proudly; "I only regret that I did not +know it was necessary to relate every circumstance of appearance, +complexion, &c. I wished to obtain a marriage certificate, not a passport. +I mistook you for a _Christian minister_, which mistake you will please to +consider as my apology for having troubled you;" and thus speaking, he +bowed Dr. Blackly out of the house. Mr. Garie stepped back to the door of +the parlour and called out Mr. Ellis. + +"We are placed in a very difficult dilemma," said he, as he was joined by +the latter. "Would you believe it? that prejudiced old sinner has actually +refused to marry us." + +"It is no more than you might have expected of him--he's a thorough +nigger-hater--keeps a pew behind the organ of his church for coloured +people, and will not permit them to receive the sacrament until all the +white members of his congregation are served. Why, I don't see what on +earth induced you to send for him." + +"I knew nothing of his sentiments respecting coloured people. I did not for +a moment have an idea that he would hesitate to marry us. There is no law +here that forbids it. What can we do?" said Mr. Garie, despairingly. + +"I know a minister who will marry you with pleasure, if I can only catch +him at home; he is so much engaged in visiting the sick and other pastoral +duties." + +"Do go--hunt him up, Ellis. It will be a great favour to me, if you can +induce him to come. Poor Emily--what a disappointment this will be to +her," said he, as he entered the room where she was sitting. + +"What is the matter, dear?" she asked, as she observed Garie's anxious +face. "I hope there is no new difficulty." + +Mr. Garie briefly explained what had just occurred, and informed her, in +addition, of Mr. Ellis having gone to see if he could get Father Banks, as +the venerable old minister was called. + +"It seems, dear," said she, despondingly, "as if Providence looked +unfavourably on our design; for every time you have attempted it, we have +been in some way thwarted;" and the tears chased one another down her face, +which had grown pale in the excitement of the moment. + +"Oh, don't grieve about it, dear; it is only a temporary disappointment. I +can't think all the clergymen in the city are like Dr. Blackly. Some one +amongst them will certainly oblige us. We won't despair; at least not until +Ellis comes back." + +They had not very long to wait; for soon after this conversation footsteps +were heard in the garden, and Mr. Ellis entered, followed by the clergyman. + +In a very short space of time they were united by Father Banks, who seemed +much affected as he pronounced his blessing upon them. + +"My children," he said, tremulously, "you are entering upon a path which, +to the most favoured, is full of disappointment, care, and anxieties; but +to you who have come together under such peculiar circumstances, in the +face of so many difficulties, and in direct opposition to the prejudices of +society, it will be fraught with more danger, and open to more annoyances, +than if you were both of one race. But if men revile you, revile not again; +bear it patiently for the sake of Him who has borne so much for you. God +bless you, my children," said he, and after shaking hands with them all, he +departed. + +Mr. and Mrs. Ellis took their leave soon after, and then Mrs. Garie stole +upstairs alone into the room where the children were sleeping. It seemed +to her that night that they were more beautiful than ever, as they lay in +their little beds quietly slumbering. She knelt beside them, and earnestly +prayed their heavenly Father that the union which had just been consummated +in the face of so many difficulties might prove a boon to them all. + +"Where have you been, you runaway?" exclaimed her husband as she re-entered +the parlour. "You stayed away so long, I began to have all sorts of +frightful ideas--I thought of the 'mistletoe hung in the castle hall,' and +of old oak chests, and all kind of terrible things. I've been sitting here +alone ever since the Ellises went: where have you been?" + +"Oh, I've been upstairs looking at the children. Bless their young hearts! +they looked so sweet and happy--and how they grow! Clarence is getting to +be quite a little man; don't you think it time, dear, that he was sent to +school? I have so much more to occupy my mind here than I had in Georgia, +so many household duties to attend to, that I am unable to give that +attention to his lessons which I feel is requisite. Besides, being so much +at home, he has associated with that wretched boy of the Stevens's, and is +growing rude and noisy; don't you think he had better be sent to school?" + +"Oh yes, Emily, if you wish it," was Mr. Garie's reply. "I will search out +a school to-morrow, or next day;" and taking out his watch, he continued, +"it is near twelve o'clock--how the night has flown away--we must be off to +bed. After the excitement of the evening, and your exertions of to-day, I +fear that you will be indisposed to-morrow." + +Clarence, although over nine years old, was so backward in learning, that +they were obliged to send him to a small primary school which had recently +been opened in the neighbourhood; and as it was one for children of both +sexes, it was deemed advisable to send little Em with him. + +"I do so dislike to have her go," said her mother, as her husband proposed +that she should accompany Clarence; "she seems so small to be sent to +school. I'm afraid she won't be happy." + +"Oh! don't give yourself the least uneasiness about her not being happy +there, for a more cheerful set of little folks I never beheld. You would be +astonished to see how exceedingly young some of them are." + +"What kind of a person is the teacher?" asked Mrs. Garie. + +"Oh! she's a charming little creature; the very embodiment of cheerfulness +and good humour. She has sparkling black eyes, a round rosy face, and can't +be more than sixteen, if she is that old. Had I had such a teacher when a +boy, I should have got on charmingly; but mine was a cross old widow, who +wore spectacles and took an amazing quantity of snuff, and used to flog +upon the slightest pretence. I went into her presence with fear and +trembling. I could never learn anything from her, and that must be my +excuse for my present literary short-comings. But you need have no fear +respecting Em getting on with Miss Jordan: I don't believe she could be +unkind to any one, least of all to our little darling." + +"Then you will take them down in the morning," suggested Mrs. Garie; "but +on no account leave Emily unless she wishes to stay." + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Charlie at Warmouth. + + +After the departure of Mrs. Bird to visit her sick friend, Betsey turned to +Charlie and bid him follow her into the kitchen. "I suppose you haven't +been to breakfast," said she, in a patronizing manner; "if you haven't, you +are just in time, as we will be done ours in a little while, and then you +can have yours." + +Charlie silently followed her down into the kitchen, where a man-servant +and the younger maid were already at breakfast; the latter arose, and was +placing another plate upon the table, when Betsey frowned and nodded +disapprovingly to her. "Let him wait," whispered she; "I'm not going to eat +with niggers." + +"Oh! he's such a nice little fellow," replied Eliza, in an undertone; "let +him eat with us." + +Betsey here suggested to Charlie that he had better go up to the maple +chamber, wash his face, and take his things out of his trunk, and that when +his breakfast was ready she would call him. + +"What on earth can induce you to want to eat with a nigger?" asked Betsey, +as soon as Charlie was out of hearing. "I couldn't do it; my victuals would +turn on my stomach. I never ate at the same table with a nigger in my +life." + +"Nor I neither," rejoined Eliza; "but I see no reason why I should not. The +child appears to have good manners, he is neat and good-looking, and +because God has curled his hair more than he has ours, and made his skin a +little darker than yours or mine, that is no reason we should treat him as +if he was not a human being." Alfred, the gardener, had set down his +saucer and appeared very much astonished at this declaration of sentiment +on the part of Eliza, and sneeringly remarked, "You're an Abolitionist, I +suppose." + +"No, I am not," replied she, reddening; "but I've been taught that God made +all alike; one no better than the other. You know the Bible says God is no +respecter of persons." + +"Well, if it does," rejoined Alfred, with a stolid-look, "it don't say that +man isn't to be either, does it? When I see anything in my Bible that tells +me I'm to eat and drink with niggers, I'll do it, and not before. I suppose +you think that all the slaves ought to be free, and all the rest of the +darned stuff these Abolitionists are preaching. Now if you want to eat with +the nigger, you can; nobody wants to hinder you. Perhaps he may marry you +when he grows up--don't you think you had better set your cap at him?" + +Eliza made no reply to this low taunt, but ate her breakfast in silence. + +"I don't see what Mrs. Bird brought him here for; she says he is sick,--had +a broken arm or something; I can't imagine what use she intends to make of +him," remarked Betsey. + +"I don't think she intends him to be a servant here, at any rate," said +Eliza; "or why should she have him put in the maple chamber, when there are +empty rooms enough in the garret?" + +"Well, I guess I know what she brought him for," interposed Alfred. "I +asked her before she went away to get a little boy to help me do odd jobs, +now that Reuben is about to leave; we shall want a boy to clean the boots, +run on errands, drive up the cows, and do other little chores.[*] I'm glad +he's a black boy; I can order him round more, you know, than if he was +white, and he won't get his back up half as often either. You may depend +upon it, that's what Mrs. Bird has brought him here for." The gardener, +having convinced himself that his view of the matter was the correct one, +went into the garden for his day's labour, and two or three things that he +had intended doing he left unfinished, with the benevolent intention of +setting Charlie at them the next morning. + +[Footnote *: A Yankeeism, meaning little jobs about a farm.] + +Charlie, after bathing his face and arranging his hair, looked from the +window at the wide expanse of country spread out before him, all bright and +glowing in the warm summer sunlight. Broad well-cultivated fields stretched +away from the foot of the garden to the river beyond, and the noise of the +waterfall, which was but a short distance off, was distinctly heard, and +the sparkling spray was clearly visible through the openings of the trees. +"What a beautiful place,--what grand fields to run in; an orchard, too, +full of blossoming fruit-trees! Well, this is nice," exclaimed Charlie, as +his eye ran over the prospect; but in the midst of his rapture came rushing +back upon him the remembrance of the cavalier treatment he had met with +below-stairs, and he said with a sigh, as the tears sprang to his eyes, +"But it is not home, after all." Just at this moment he heard his name +called by Betsey, and he hastily descended into the kitchen. At one end of +the partially-cleared table a clean plate and knife and fork had been +placed, and he was speedily helped to the remains of what the servants had +been eating. + +"You mustn't be long," said Betsey, "for to-day is ironing day, and we want +the table as soon as possible." + +The food was plentiful and good, but Charlie could not eat; his heart was +full and heavy,--the child felt his degradation. "Even the servants refuse +to eat with me because I am coloured," thought he. "Oh! I wish I was at +home!" + +"Why don't you eat?" asked Betsey. + +"I don't think I want any breakfast; I'm not hungry," was the reply. + +"I hope you are not sulky," she rejoined; "we don't like sulky boys here; +why don't you eat?" she repeated. + +The sharp, cold tones of her voice struck a chill into the child's heart, +and his lip quivered as he stammered something farther about not being +hungry; and he hurried away into the garden, where he calmed his feelings +and allayed his home-sickness by a hearty burst of tears. After this was +over, he wandered through the garden and fields until dinner; then, by +reading his book and by another walk, he managed to get through the day. + +The following morning, as he was coming down stairs, he was met by Alfred, +who accosted him with, "Oh! you're up, are you; I was just going to call +you." And looking at Charlie from head to foot, he inquired, "Is that your +best suit?" + +"No, it's my worst," replied Charlie. "I have two suits better than this;" +and thinking that Mrs. Bird had arrived, he continued, "I'll put on my best +if Mrs. Bird wants me." + +"No, she ain't home," was the reply; "it's me that wants you; come down +here; I've got a little job for you. Take this," said he, handing him a +dirty tow apron, "and tie it around your neck; it will keep the blacking +off your clothes, you know. Now," continued he, "I want you to clean these +boots; these two pairs are Mr. Tyndall's--them you need not be particular +with; but this pair is mine, and I want 'em polished up high,--now mind, I +tell you. I'm going to wear a new pair of pants to meetin' to-morrow, and I +expect to cut a dash, so you'll do 'em up slick, now won't you?" + +"I'll do my best," said Charlie, who, although he did not dislike work, +could not relish the idea of cleaning the servants' boots. "I'm afraid I +shall find this a queer place," thought he. "I shall not like living here, +I know--wait for my meals until the servants have finished, and clean their +boots into the bargain. This is worse than being with Mrs. Thomas." + +Charlie, however, went at it with a will, and was busily engaged in putting +the finishing touches on Alfred's boots, when he heard his name called, and +on looking up, saw Mrs. Bird upon the piazza above. "Why, bless me! +child, what are you about?--whose boots are those, and why are you cleaning +them?" + +"Oh!" he replied, his face brightening up at the sight of Mrs. Bird, "I'm +so glad you're come; those are Mr. Tyndall's boots, and these," he +continued, holding up the boots on which he was engaged, "are the +gardener's." + +"And who, pray, instructed you to clean them?" + +"The gardener," replied Charlie. + +"He did, did he?" said Mrs. Bird, indignantly. "Very well; now do you take +off that apron and come to me immediately; before you do, however, tell +Alfred I want him." + +Charlie quickly divested himself of the tow apron, and after having +informed the gardener that Mrs. Bird desired his presence in the parlour, +he ran up there himself. Alfred came lumbering up stairs, after giving his +boots an unusual scraping and cleansing preparatory to entering upon that +part of the premises which to him was generally forbidden ground. + +"By whose direction did you set the child at that dirty work?" asked Mrs. +Bird, after he had entered the room. + +"I hadn't anybody's direction to set him to work, but I thought you brought +him here to do odd jobs. You know, ma'am, I asked you some time ago to get +a boy, and I thought this was the one." + +"And if he had been, you would have taken a great liberty in assigning him +any duties without first consulting me. But he is not a servant here, nor +do I intend him to be such; and let me inform you, that instead of his +cleaning your boots, it will be your duty henceforth to clean his. Now," +continued she, "you know his position here, let me see that you remember +yours. You can go." This was said in so peremptory a manner, as to leave no +room for discussion or rejoinder, and Alfred, with a chagrined look, went +muttering down stairs. + +"Things have come to a pretty pass," grumbled he. "I'm to wait on niggers, +black their boots, and drive them out, too, I suppose. I'd leave at once if +it wasn't such a good situation. Drat the old picture--what has come over +her I wonder--she'll be asking old Aunt Charity, the black washerwoman to +dine with her next. She has either gone crazy or turned abolitionist, I +don't know which; something has happened to her, that's certain." + +"Now, Charlie," said Mrs. Bird, as the door closed upon the crest-fallen +gardener, "go to your room and dress yourself nicely. After I've eaten my +breakfast, I am going to visit a friend, and I want you to accompany me; +don't be long." + +"Can't I eat mine first, Mrs. Bird?" he asked, in reply. + +"I thought you had had yours, long ago," rejoined she. + +"The others hadn't finished theirs when you called me, and I don't get mine +until they have done," said Charlie. + +"Until they have done; how happens that?" asked Mrs. Bird. + +"I think they don't like to eat with me, because I'm coloured," was +Charlie's hesitating reply. + +"That is too much," exclaimed Mrs. Bird; "if it were not so very +ridiculous, I should be angry. It remains for me, then," continued she, "to +set them an example. I've not eaten my breakfast yet--come, sit down with +me, and we'll have it together." + +Charlie followed Mrs. Bird into the breakfast-room, and took the seat +pointed out by her. Eliza, when she entered with the tea-urn, opened her +eyes wide with astonishment at the singular spectacle she beheld. Her +mistress sitting down to breakfast _vis-a-vis_ to a little coloured boy! +Depositing the urn upon the table, she hastened back to the kitchen to +report upon the startling events that were occurring in the breakfast-room. + +"Well, I never," said she; "that beats anything I ever did see; why, Mrs. +Bird must have turned abolitionist. Charlie is actually sitting at the same +table with her, eating his breakfast as natural and unconcerned as if he +was as white as snow! Wonders never will cease. You see I'm right though. I +said that child wasn't brought here for a servant--we've done it for +ourselves now--only think how mad she'll be when she finds he was made to +wait for his meals until we have done. I'm glad I wasn't the one who +refused to eat with him." + +"I guess she has been giving Alfred a blowing up," said Betsy, "for setting +him at boot cleaning; for he looked like a thunder-cloud when he came down +stairs, and was muttering something about a consarned pet-nigger--he looked +anything but pleased." + +Whilst the lower powers were discussing what they were pleased to regard as +an evidence of some mental derangement on the part of Mrs. Bird, that lady +was questioning Charlie respecting his studies, and inquired if he would +like to go to school in Warmouth. + +"After a while, I think I should," he replied; "but for a week I'd like to +be free to run about the fields and go fishing, and do lots of things. This +is such a pretty place; and now that you have come I shall have nice +times--I know I shall." + +"You seem to have great confidence in my ability to make you happy. How do +you know that I am as kind as you seem to suppose?" asked Mrs. Bird, with a +smile. + +"I know you are," answered Charlie, confidently; "you speak so pleasantly +to me. And do you know, Mrs. Bird," continued he, "that I liked you from +the first day, when you praised me so kindly when I recited my lessons +before you. Did you ever have any little boys of your own?" + +A change immediately came over the countenance of Mrs. Bird, as she +replied: "Oh, yes, Charlie; a sweet, good boy about your own age:" and the +tears stood in her eyes as she continued. "He accompanied his father to +England years ago--the ship in which they sailed was never heard of--his +name was Charlie too." + +"I didn't know that, or I should not have asked," said Charlie, with some +embarrassment of manner caused by the pain he saw he had inflicted. "I am +very sorry," he continued. + +Mrs. Bird motioned him to finish his breakfast, and left the table without +drinking the tea she had poured out for herself. + +There were but one or two families of coloured people living in the small +town of Warmouth, and they of a very humble description; their faces were +familiar to all the inhabitants, and their appearance was in accordance +with their humble condition. Therefore, when Charlie made his debut, in +company with Mrs. Bird, his dress and manners differed so greatly from what +they were accustomed to associate with persons of his complexion, that he +created quite a sensation in the streets of the usually quiet and obscure +little town. + +He was attired with great neatness; and not having an opportunity of +playing marbles in his new suit, it still maintained its spotless +appearance. The fine grey broadcloth coat and pants fitted him to a nicety, +the jaunty cap was set slightly on one side of his head giving him, a +somewhat saucy look, and the fresh colour now returning to his cheeks +imparted to his face a much healthier appearance than it had worn for +months. + +He and his kind friend walked on together for some time, chatting about the +various things that attracted their attention on the way, until they +reached a cottage in the garden of which a gentleman was busily engaged in +training a rosebush upon a new trellis. + +So completely was he occupied with his pursuit that he did not observe the +entrance of visitors, and quite started when he was gently tapped upon the +shoulder by Mrs. Bird. + +"How busy we are," said she, gaily, at the same time extending her +hand--"so deeply engaged, that we can scarcely notice old friends that we +have not seen for months." + +"Indeed, this is a pleasant surprise," he remarked, when he saw by whom he +had been interrupted. "When did you arrive?" + +"Only this morning; and, as usual, I have already found something with +which to bore you--you know, Mr. Whately, I always have something to +trouble you about." + +"Don't say trouble, my dear Mrs. Bird; if you will say 'give me something +to occupy my time usefully and agreeably,' you will come much nearer the +mark. But who is this you have with you?" + +"Oh, a little _protege_ of mine, poor little fellow--he met with a sad +accident recently--he broke his arm; and I have brought him down here to +recruit. Charlie, walk around and look at the garden--I have a little +matter of business to discuss with Mr. Whately, and when we shall have +finished I will call you." + +Mr. Whately led the way into his library, and placing a seat for Mrs. Bird, +awaited her communication. + +"You have great influence with the teacher of the academy, I believe," said +she. + +"A little," replied Mr. Whately, smiling. + +"Not a little," rejoined Mrs. Bird, "but a great deal; and, my dear Mr. +Whately, I want you to exercise it in my behalf. I wish to enter as a +scholar that little boy I brought with me this morning." + +"Impossible!" said Mr. Whately. "My good friend, the boy is coloured!" + +"I am well aware of that," continued Mrs. Bird; "if he were not there would +not be the least trouble about his admission; nor am I sure there will be +as it is, if you espouse his cause. One who has been such a benefactor to +the academy as yourself, could, I suppose, accomplish anything." + +"Yes; but that is stretching my influence unduly. I would be willing to +oblige you in almost anything else, but I hesitate to attempt this. Why not +send him to the public school?--they have a separate bench for black +children; he can be taught there all that is necessary for him to know." + +"He is far in advance of any of the scholars there. I attended the +examination of the school to which he was attached," said Mrs. Bird, "and I +was very much surprised at the acquirements of the pupils; this lad was +distinguished above all the rest--he answered questions that would have +puzzled older heads, with the greatest facility. I am exceedingly anxious +to get him admitted to the academy, as I am confident he will do honour to +the interest I take in him." + +"And a very warm interest it must be, my dear Mrs. Bird, to induce you to +attempt placing him in such an expensive and exclusive school. I am very +much afraid you will have to give it up: many of the scholars' parents, I +am sure, will object strenuously to the admission of a coloured boy as a +scholar." + +"Only tell me that you will propose him, and I will risk the refusal," +replied Mrs. Bird--"it can be tried at all events; and if you will make the +effort I shall be under deep obligations to you." + +"Well, Mrs. Bird, let us grant him admitted--what benefit can accrue to the +lad from an education beyond his station? He cannot enter into any of the +learned professions: both whilst he is there, and after his education is +finished, he will be like a fish out of water. You must pardon me if I say +I think, in this case, your benevolence misdirected. The boy's parents are +poor, I presume?" + +"They certainly are not rich," rejoined Mrs. Bird; "and it is for that +reason I wish to do all that I can for him. If I can keep him with me, and +give him a good education, it may be greatly for his advantage; there may +be a great change in public sentiment before he is a man--we cannot say +what opening there may be for him in the future." + +"Not unless it changes very much. I never knew prejudice more rampant than +it is at this hour. To get the boy admitted as a right is totally out of +the question: if he is received at all, it will be as a special favour, and +a favour which--I am sure it will require all my influence to obtain. I +will set about it immediately, and, rely upon it, I will do my best for +your _protege_." + +Satisfied with the promise, which was as much as Mrs. Bird had dared to +hope for, she called Charlie, then shook hands with Mr. Whately and +departed. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Mrs. Stevens gains a Triumph. + + +The Garies had now become thoroughly settled in Philadelphia, and, amongst +the people of colour, had obtained a very extensive and agreeable +acquaintance. + +At the South Mr. Garie had never borne the reputation of an active person. +Having an ample fortune and a thoroughly Southern distaste for labour, he +found it by no means inconvenient or unpleasant to have so much time at his +disposal. His newspaper in the morning, a good book, a stroll upon the +fashionable promenade, and a ride at dusk, enabled him to dispose of his +time without being oppressed with _ennui_. + +It was far happier for him that such was his disposition, as his domestic +relations would have been the means of subjecting him to many unpleasant +circumstances, from which his comparative retirement in a great measure +screened him. + +Once or twice since his settlement in the North his feelings had been +ruffled, by the sneering remarks of some of his former friends upon the +singularity of his domestic position; but his irritation had all fled +before the smiles of content and happiness that beamed from the faces of +his wife and children. + +Mrs. Garie had nothing left to wish for; she was surrounded by every +physical comfort and in the enjoyment of frequent intercourse with +intelligent and refined people, and had been greatly attracted toward +Esther Ellis with whom she had become very intimate. + +One morning in November, these two were in the elegant little bed-room of +Mrs. Garie, where a fire had been kindled, as the weather was growing very +chilly and disagreeable. "It begins to look quite like autumn," said Mrs. +Garie, rising and looking out of the window. "The chrysanthemums are +drooping and withered, and the dry leaves are whirling and skimming through +the air. I wonder," she continued, "if the children were well wrapped up +this morning?" + +"Oh, yes; I met them at the corner, on their way to school, looking as warm +and rosy as possible. What beautiful children they are! Little Em has +completely won my heart; it really seems a pity for her to be put on the +shelf, as she must be soon." + +"How--what do you mean?" asked Mrs. Garie. + +"Oh, this will explain," archly rejoined Esther, as she held up to view one +of the tiny lace trimmed frocks that she was making in anticipation of the +event that has been previously hinted. + +Mrs. Garie laughed, and turned to look out of the window again. + +"Do you know I found little Lizzy Stevens, your neighbour's daughter, +shivering upon the steps in a neighbouring street, fairly blue with cold? +She was waiting there for Clarence and Em. I endeavoured to persuade her to +go on without them, but she would not. From what I could understand, she +waits for them there every day." + +"Her mother cannot be aware of it, then; for she has forbidden her children +to associate with mine," rejoined Mrs. Garie. "I wonder she permits her +little girl to go to the same school. I don't think she knows it, or it is +very likely she would take her away." + +"Has she ever spoken to you since the night of her visit?" asked Esther. + +"Never! I have seen her a great many times since; she never speaks, nor do +I. There she goes now. That," continued Mrs. Garie, with a smile, "is +another illustration of the truthfulness of the old adage, 'Talk of--well, +I won't say who,--'and he is sure to appear.'" And, thus speaking, she +turned from the window, and was soon deeply occupied in the important work +of preparing for the expected little stranger. Mrs. Garie was mistaken in +her supposition that Mrs. Stevens was unaware that Clarence and little Em +attended the same school to which her own little girl had been sent; for +the evening before the conversation we have just narrated, she had been +discussing the matter with her husband. + +"Here," said she to him, "is Miss Jordan's bill for the last quarter. I +shall never pay her another; I am going to remove Lizzy from that school." + +"Remove her! what for? I thought I heard you say, Jule, that the child got +on excellently well there,--that she improved very fast?" + +"So she does, as far as learning is concerned; but she is sitting right +next to one of those Garie children, and that is an arrangement I don't at +all fancy. I don't relish the idea of my child attending the same school +that niggers do; so I've come to the determination to take her away." + +"I should do no such thing," coolly remarked Mr. Stevens. "I should compel +the teacher to dismiss the Garies, or I should break up her school. Those +children have no right to be there whatever. I don't care a straw how light +their complexions are, they are niggers nevertheless, and ought to go to a +nigger school; they are no better than any other coloured children. I'll +tell you what you can do, Jule," continued he: "call on Mrs. Kinney, the +Roths, and one or two others, and induce them to say that if Miss Jordan +won't dismiss the Garies that they will withdraw their children; and you +know if they do, it will break up the school entirely. If it was any other +person's children but his, I would wink at it; but I want to give him a +fall for his confounded haughtiness. Just try that plan, Jule, and you will +be sure to succeed." + +"I am not so certain about it, Stevens. Miss Jordan, I learn, is very fond +of their little Em. I must say I cannot wonder at it. She is the most +loveable little creature I ever saw. I will say that, if her mother is a +nigger." + +"Yes, Jule, all that may be; but I know the world well enough to judge +that, when she becomes fully assured that it will conflict with her +interests to keep them, she will give them up. She is too poor to be +philanthropic, and, I believe, has sufficient good sense to know it." + +"Well, I'll try your plan," said Mrs. Stevens; "I will put matters in train +to-morrow morning." + +Early the next morning, Mrs. Stevens might have been seen directing her +steps to the house of Mrs. Kinney, with whom she was very intimate. She +reached it just as that lady was departing to preside at a meeting of a +female missionary society for evangelizing the Patagonians. + +"I suppose you have come to accompany me to the meeting," said she to Mrs. +Stevens, as soon as they had exchanged the usual courtesies. + +"Oh, dear, no; I wish I was," she replied. "I've got a troublesome little +matter on my hands; and last night my husband suggested my coming to ask +your advice respecting it. George has such a high opinion of your judgment, +that he would insist on my troubling you." + +Mrs. Kinney smiled, and looked gratified at this tribute to her importance. + +"And moreover," continued Mrs. Stevens, "it's a matter in which your +interest, as well as our own, is concerned." + +Mrs. Kinney now began to look quite interested, and, untying the strings of +her bonnet, exclaimed, "Dear me, what can it be?" + +"Knowing," said Mrs. Stevens, "that you entertain just the same sentiments +that we do relative to associating with coloured people, I thought I would +call and ask if you were aware that Miss Jordan receives coloured as well +as white children in her school." + +"Why, no! My dear Mrs. Stevens, you astound me. I hadn't the remotest idea +of such a thing. It is very strange my children never mentioned it." + +"Oh, children are so taken up with their play, they forget such things," +rejoined Mrs. Stevens. "Now," continued she, "husband said he was quite +confident you would not permit your children to continue their attendance +after this knowledge came to your ears. We both thought it would be a pity +to break up the poor girl's school by withdrawing our children without +first ascertaining if she would expel the little darkies. I knew, if I +could persuade you to let me use your name as well as ours, and say that +you will not permit your children to continue at her school unless she +consents to our wishes, she, knowing the influence you possess, would, I am +sure, accede to our demands immediately." + +"Oh, you are perfectly at liberty to use my name, Mrs. Stevens, and say all +that you think necessary to effect your object. But do excuse me for +hurrying off," she continued, looking at her watch: "I was to have been at +the meeting at ten o'clock, and it is now half-past. I hope you won't fail +to call, and let me know how you succeed;" and, with her heart overflowing +with tender care for the poor Patagonian, Mrs. Kinney hastily departed. + +"That's settled," soliloquized Mrs. Stevens, with an air of intense +satisfaction, as she descended the steps--"her four children would make a +serious gap in the little school; and now, then," continued she, "for the +Roths." + +Mrs. Stevens found not the slightest difficulty in persuading Mrs. Roth to +allow her name to be used, in connection with Mrs. Kinney's, in the threat +to withdraw their children if the little Garies were not immediately +expelled. Mrs. Roth swore by Mrs. Kinney, and the mere mention of that +lady's name was sufficient to enlist her aid. + +Thus armed, Mrs. Stevens lost no time in paying a visit to Miss Jordan's +school. As she entered, the busy hum of childish voices was somewhat +stilled; and Lizzy Stevens touched little Em, who sat next her, and +whispered, "There is my mother." + +Mrs. Stevens was welcomed very cordially by Miss Jordan, who offered her +the seat of honour beside her. + +"Your school seems quite flourishing," she remarked, after looking around +the room, "and I really regret being obliged to make a gap in your +interesting circle." + +"I hope you don't intend to deprive me of your little girl," inquired Miss +Jordan; "I should regret to part with her--not only because I am very fond +of her, but in consideration of her own interest--she is coming on so +rapidly." + +"Oh, I haven't the slightest fault to find with her progress. _That_," said +she, "is not the reason. I have another, of much more weight. Of course, +every one is at liberty to do as they choose; and we have no right to +dictate to you what description of scholars you should receive; but, if +they are not such, as we think proper companions for our children, you +can't complain if we withdraw them." + +"I really do not understand you, Mrs. Stevens," said the teacher, with an +astonished look: "I have none here but the children of the most respectable +persons--they are all as well behaved as school children generally are." + +"I did not allude to behaviour; that, for all that I know to the contrary, +is irreproachable; it is not character that is in question, but colour. I +don't like my daughter to associate with coloured children." + +"Coloured children!" repeated the now thoroughly bewildered +teacher--"coloured children! My dear madam," continued she, smiling, "some +one has been hoaxing you--I have no coloured pupils--I could not be induced +to receive one on any account." + +"I am very glad to hear you say so," rejoined Mrs. Stevens, "for that +convinces me that my fears were groundless. I was under the impression you +had imbibed some of those pestilent abolition sentiments coming into vogue. +I see you are not aware of it, but you certainly have two coloured +scholars; and there," said she, pointing to Clarence, "is one of them." + +Clarence, who, with his head bent over his book, was sitting so near as to +overhear a part of this conversation, now looked up, and found the cold, +malignant, grey eyes of Mrs. Stevens fastened on him. He looked at her for +a moment--then apparently resumed his studies. + +The poor boy had, when she entered the room, an instinctive knowledge that +her visit boded no good to them. He was beginning to learn the anomalous +situation he was to fill in society. He had detested Mrs. Stevens ever +since the night she had ejected him so rudely from her house, and since +then had learned to some extent what was meant by the term _nigger woman_. + +"You must certainly be misinformed," responded Miss Jordan. "I know their +father--he has frequently been here. He is a Southerner, a thorough +gentleman in his manners; and, if ever a man was white, I am sure he is." + +"Have you seen their mother?" asked Mrs. Stevens, significantly. + +"No, I never have," replied Miss Jordan; "she is in poor health; but she +must unquestionably be a white woman--a glance at the children ought to +convince you of that." + +"It might, if I had not seen her, and did not know her to be a coloured +woman. You see, my dear Miss Jordan," continued she, in her blandest tone, +"I am their next-door neighbour and have seen their mother twenty times and +more; she is a coloured woman beyond all doubt." + +"I never could have dreamed of such a thing!" exclaimed Miss Jordan, as an +anxious look overspread her face; then, after a pause, she continued: "I do +not see what I am to do--it is really too unfortunate--I don't know how to +act. It seems unjust and unchristian to eject two such children from my +school, because their mother has the misfortune to have a few drops of +African blood in her veins. I cannot make up my mind to do it. Why, you +yourself must admit that they are as white as any children in the room." + +"I am willing to acknowledge they are; but they have nigger blood in them, +notwithstanding; and they are, therefore, as much niggers as the blackest, +and have no more right to associate with white children than if they were +black as ink. I have no more liking for white niggers than for black ones." + +The teacher was perplexed, and, turning to Mrs. Stevens, said, imploringly: +"This matter seems only known to you; let me appeal to your generosity--say +nothing more about it. I will try to keep your daughter away from them, if +you wish--but pray do not urge me to the performance of an act that I am +conscious would be unjust." + +Mrs. Stevens's face assumed a severe and disagreeable expression. "I hoped +you would look at this matter in a reasonable light, and not compel those +who would be your friends to appear in the light of enemies. If this matter +was known to me alone, I should remove my daughter and say nothing more +about it; but, unfortunately for you, I find that, by some means or other, +both Mrs. Kinney and Mrs. Roth have become informed of the circumstance, +and are determined to take their children away. I thought I would act a +friend's part by you, and try to prevail on you to dismiss these two +coloured children at once. I so far relied upon your right judgment as to +assure them that you would not hesitate for a moment to comply with their +wishes; and I candidly tell you, that it was only by my so doing that they +were prevented from keeping their children at home to-day." + +Miss Jordan looked aghast at this startling intelligence; if Mrs. Roth and +Mrs. Kinney withdrew their patronage and influence, her little school (the +sole support of her mother and herself) would be well-nigh broken up. + +She buried her face in her hands, and sat in silence for a few seconds; +then looking at Mrs. Stevens, with tearful eyes, exclaimed, "God forgive me +if it must be so; nothing but the utter ruin that stares me in the face if +I refuse induces me to accede to your request." + +"I am sorry that you distress yourself so much about it. You know you are +your own mistress, and can do as you choose," said Mrs. Stevens; "but if +you will be advised by me, you will send them away at once." + +"After school I will," hesitatingly replied Miss Jordan. + +"I hate to appear so pressing," resumed Mrs. Stevens; "but I feel it my +duty to suggest that you had better do it at once, and before the rest of +the scholars. I did not wish, to inform you to what extent this thing had +gone; but it really has been talked of in many quarters, and it is +generally supposed that you are cognisant of the fact that the Garies are +coloured; therefore you see the necessity of doing something at once to +vindicate yourself from the reproach of abolitionism." + +At the pronunciation of this then terrible word in such connection with +herself, Miss Jordan turned quite pale, and for a moment struggled to +acquire sufficient control of her feelings to enable her to do as Mrs. +Stevens suggested; at last, bursting into tears, she said, "Oh, I +cannot--will not--do it. I'll dismiss them, but not in that unfeeling +manner; that I cannot do." + +The children were now entirely neglecting their lessons, and seemed much +affected by Miss Jordan's tears, of which they could not understand the +cause. She observing this, rang the bell, the usual signal for +intermission. + +Mrs. Stevens, satisfied with the triumph she had effected, took leave of +Miss Jordan, after commending her for the sensible conclusion at which she +had arrived, and promising to procure her two more pupils in the room of +those she was about to dismiss. + +Miss Jordan was a long time writing the note that she intended sending to +Mr. Garie; and one of the elder girls returned to the school-room, +wondering at the unusually long time that had been given for recreation. + +"Tell Clarence and his sister to come here," said she to the girl who had +just entered; and whilst they were on their way upstairs, she folded the +note, and was directing it when Clarence entered. + +"Clarence," said she, in a soft voice, "put on your hat; I have a note of +some importance for you to take to your father--your father remember--don't +give it to any one else." Taking out her watch, she continued, "It is now +so late that you would scarcely get back before the time for dismissal, so +you had better take little Emily home with you." + +"I hope, ma'am, I haven't done anything wrong?" asked Clarence. + +"Oh, no!" quickly replied she; "you're a dear, good boy, and have never +given me a moment's pain since you came to the school." And she hurried out +into the hall to avoid farther questioning. + +She could not restrain the tears as she dressed little Em, whose eyes were +large with astonishment at being sent home from school at so early an hour. + +"Teacher, is school out?" asked she. + +"No, dear, not quite; I wanted to send a note to your pa, and so I have let +Clary go home sooner than usual," replied Miss Jordan, kissing her +repeatedly, whilst the tears were trickling down her cheek. + +"Don't cry, teacher, I love you," said the little blue-eyed angel, whose +lip began to quiver in sympathy; "don't cry, I'll come back again +to-morrow." + +This was too much for the poor teacher, who clasped the child in her arms, +and gave way to a burst of uncontrollable sorrow. At last, conquering +herself with an effort, she led the children down stairs, kissed them both +again, and then opening the door she turned them forth into the +street--turned away from her school these two little children, such as God +received into his arms and blessed, because they were the children of a +"_nigger woman_." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Mr. Stevens makes a Discovery. + + +"Well, Jule, old Aunt Tabitha is gone at last, and I am not at all sorry +for it, I assure you; she's been a complete tax upon me for the last eight +years. I suppose you won't lament much, nor yet go into mourning for her," +continued Mr. Stevens, looking at her jocularly. + +"I'm not sorry, that I admit," rejoined Mrs. Stevens; "the poor old soul is +better off, no doubt; but then there's no necessity to speak of the matter +in such an off-hand manner." + +"Now, Jule, I beg you won't attempt to put on the sanctified; that's too +much from you, who have been wishing her dead almost every day for the last +eight years. Why, don't you remember you wished her gone when she had a +little money to leave; and when she lost that, you wished her off our hands +because she had none. Don't pretend to be in the least depressed; that +won't do with me." + +"Well, never mind that," said Mrs. Stevens, a little confused; "what has +become of her things--her clothing, and furniture?" + +"I've ordered the furniture to be sold; and all there is of it will not +realize sufficient to pay her funeral expenses. Brixton wrote me that she +has left a bundle of letters directed to me, and I desired him to send them +on." + +"I wonder what they can be," said Mrs. Stevens. + +"Some trash, I suppose; an early love correspondence, of but little value +to any one but herself. I do not expect that they will prove of any +consequence whatever." + +"Don't you think one or the other of us should go to the funeral?" asked +Mrs. Stevens. "Nonsense. No! I have no money to expend in that way--it is +as much as I can do to provide comfortably for the living, without spending +money to follow the dead," replied he; "and besides, I have a case coming +on in the Criminal Court next week that will absorb all my attention." + +"What kind of a case is it?" she inquired. + +"A murder case. Some Irishmen were engaged in a row, when one of the party +received a knock on his head that proved too much for him, and died in +consequence. My client was one of the contending parties; and has been +suspected, from some imprudent expressions of his, to have been the man who +struck the fatal blow. His preliminary examination comes off to-morrow or +next day, and I must be present as a matter of course." + +At an early hour of the morning succeeding this conversation, Mr. Stevens +might have been seen in his dingy office, seated at a rickety desk which +was covered with various little bundles, carefully tied with red tape. The +room was gloomy and cheerless, and had a mouldy disagreeable atmosphere. A +fire burned in the coal stove, which, however, seemed only to warm, but did +not dry the apartment; and the windows were covered with a thin coating of +vapour. + +Mr. Stevens was busily engaged in writing, when hearing footsteps behind +him, he turned and saw Mr. Egan, a friend of his client, entering the room. + +"Good morning, Mr. Egan," said he, extending his hand; "how is our friend +McCloskey this morning?" + +"Oh, it's far down in the mouth he is, be jabers--the life a'most scared +out of him!" + +"Tell him to keep up a good heart and not to be frightened at trifles," +laughingly remarked Mr. Stevens. + +"Can't your honour come and see him?" asked Egan. + +"I can't do that; but I'll give you a note to Constable Berry, and he will +bring McCloskey in here as he takes him to court;" and Mr. Stevens +immediately wrote the note, which Egan received and departed. + +After the lapse of a few hours, McCloskey was brought by the accommodating +constable to the office of Mr. Stevens. "He'll be safe with you, I +suppose, Stevens;" said the constable, "but then there is no harm in seeing +for one's self that all's secure;" and thus speaking, he raised the window +and looked into the yard below. The height was too great for his prisoner +to escape in that direction; then satisfying himself that the other door +only opened into a closet, he retired, locking Mr. Stevens and his client +in the room. + +Mr. Stevens arose as soon as the door closed behind the constable, and +stuffed a piece of damp sponge into the keyhole; he then returned and took +a seat by his client. + +"Now, McCloskey," said he, in a low tone, as he drew his chair closely in +front of the prisoner, and fixed his keen grey eyes on him--"I've seen +Whitticar. And I tell you what it is--you're in a very tight place. He's +prepared to swear that he saw you with a slung shot in your hand--that he +saw you drop it after the man fell; he picked it up, and whilst the man was +lying dead at his tavern, awaiting the coroner's inquest, he examined the +wound, and saw in the skull two little dents or holes, which were +undoubtedly made by the little prongs that are on the leaden ball of the +weapon, as they correspond in depth and distance apart; and, moreover, the +ball is attached to a twisted brace which proves to be the fellow to the +one found upon a pair of your trousers. What can you say to all this?" + +McCloskey here gave a smothered groan, and his usually red face grew deadly +pale in contemplation of his danger. + +"Now," said Mr. Stevens, after waiting long enough for his revelation to +have its due effect upon him, "there is but one thing to be done. We must +buy Whitticar off. Have you got any money? I don't mean fifty or a hundred +dollars--that would be of no more use than as many pennies. We must have +something of a lump--three or four hundred at the very least." + +The prisoner drew his breath very hard at this, and remained silent. + +"Come, speak out," continued Mr. Stevens, "circumstances won't admit of +our delaying--this man's friends will raise Heaven and earth to secure your +conviction; so you see, my good fellow, it's your money or your life. You +can decide between the two--you know which is of the most importance to +you." + +"God save us, squire! how am I to raise that much money? I haven't more nor +a hunther dollars in the world." + +"You've got a house, and a good horse and dray," replied Mr. Stevens, who +was well posted in the man's pecuniary resources. "If you expect me to get +you out of this scrape, you must sell or mortgage your house, and dispose +of your horse and dray. Somehow or other four hundred dollars must be +raised, or you will be dangling at a rope's end in less than six months." + +"I suppose it will have to go then," said McCloskey, reluctantly. + +"Then give me authority," continued Mr. Stevens, "to arrange for the +disposal of the property, and I will have your affairs all set straight in +less than no time." + +The constable here cut short any further colloquy by rapping impatiently on +the door, then opening it, and exclaiming, "Come, now it is ten +o'clock--time that you were in court;" and the two started out, followed by +Mr. Stevens. + +After having, by some of those mysterious plans with which lawyers are +familiar, been enabled to put off the examination for a few days, Mr. +Stephens returned to his office, and found lying upon his table the packet +of letters he was expecting from New York. + +Upon breaking the seal, and tearing off the outer covering, he discovered a +number of letters, time-worn and yellow with age; they were tied tightly +together with a piece of cord; cutting this, they fell scattered over the +desk. + +Taking one of them up, he examined it attentively, turning it from side to +side to endeavour to decipher the half-effaced post-mark. "What a ninny I +am, to waste time in looking at the cover of this, when the contents will, +no doubt, explain the whole matter?" Thus soliloquising he opened the +letter, and was soon deeply absorbed in its contents. He perused and +re-perused it; then opened, one after another, the remainder that lay +scattered before him. Their contents seemed to agitate him exceedingly; as +he walked up and down the room with hasty strides, muttering angrily to +himself, and occasionally returning to the desk to re-peruse the letters +which had so strangely excited him. + +Whilst thus engaged, the door was opened by no less a personage than Mr. +Morton, who walked in and seated himself in a familiar manner. + +"Oh, how are you, Morton. You entered with such a ghostly tread, that I +scarcely heard you," said Mr. Stevens, with a start; "what has procured me +the honour of a visit from you this morning?" + +"I was strolling by, and thought I would just step in and inquire how that +matter respecting the Tenth-street property has succeeded." + +"Not at all--the old fellow is as obstinate as a mule; he won't sell except +on his own terms, which are entirely out of all reason. I am afraid you +will be compelled to abandon your building speculation in that quarter +until his demise--he is old and feeble, and can't last many years; in the +event of his death you may be able to effect some more favourable +arrangement with his heirs." + +"And perhaps have ten or fifteen years to wait--no, that won't do. I'd +better sell out myself. What would you, advise me to do, Stevens?" + +Mr. Stevens was silent for a few moments; then having opened the door and +looked into the entry, he closed it carefully, placed the piece of sponge +in the key-hole, and returned to his seat at the desk, saying:-- + +"We've transacted enough business together to know one another pretty well. +So I've no hesitation in confiding to you a little scheme I've conceived +for getting into our hands a large proportion of property in one of the +lower districts, at a very low figure; and 'tis probable, that the same +plan, if it answers, will assist you materially in carrying out your +designs. It will require the aid of two or three moneyed men like yourself; +and, if successful, will without doubt be highly remunerative." + +"If successful," rejoined Mr. Morton; "yes, there is the rub. How are you +to guarantee success?" + +"Hear my plan, and then you can decide. In the first place, you know as +well as I that a very strong feeling exists in the community against the +Abolitionists, and very properly too; this feeling requires to be guided +into some proper current, and I think we can give it that necessary +guidance, and at the same time render it subservient to our own purposes. +You are probably aware that a large amount of property in the lower part of +the city is owned by niggers; and if we can create a mob and direct it +against them, they will be glad to leave that quarter, and remove further +up into the city for security and protection. Once get the mob thoroughly +aroused, and have the leaders under our control, and we may direct its +energies against any parties we desire; and we can render the district so +unsafe, that property will be greatly lessened in value--the houses will +rent poorly, and many proprietors will be happy to sell at very reduced +prices. If you can furnish me the means to start with, I have men enough at +my command to effect the rest. We will so control the elections in the +district, through these men, as to place in office only such persons as +will wink at the disturbances. When, through their agency, we have brought +property down sufficiently low, we will purchase all that we can, +re-establish order and quiet, and sell again at an immense advantage." + +"Your scheme is a good one, I must confess, and I am ready to join you at +any time. I will communicate with Carson, who, I think, will be interested, +as he desired to invest with me in those Tenth-street improvements. I will +call in to-morrow, and endeavour to persuade him to accompany me, and then +we can discuss the matter more fully." + +"Well, do; but one word before you go. You appear to know everybody--who +is anybody--south of Mason and Dixon's line; can you give me any +information respecting a family by the name of Garie, who live or formerly +did live in the vicinity of Savannah?" + +"Oh, yes--I know them, root and branch; although there is but little of the +latter left; they are one of the oldest families in Georgia--those of whom +I have heard the most are of the last two generations. There now remain of +the family but two persons--old John or Jack Garie as he is called, a +bachelor--and who I have recently learned is at the point of death; and a +crack-brained nephew of his, living in this city--said to be married to a +nigger woman--actually married to her. Dr. Blackly informed me last week, +that he sent for him to perform the ceremony, which he very properly +refused to do. I have no doubt, however, that he has been successful in +procuring the services of some one else. I am sorry to say, there are some +clergymen in our city who would willingly assist in such a disgraceful +proceeding. What ever could have induced a man with his prospects to throw +himself away in that manner, I am at loss to determine--he has an +independent fortune of about one hundred thousand dollars, besides +expectations from his uncle, who is worth a considerable sum of money. I +suppose these little darkies of his will inherit it," concluded Mr. Morton. + +"Are there no other heirs?" asked Mr. Stevens, in a tone of deep interest. + +"There may be. He had an aunt, who married an exceedingly low fellow from +the North, who treated her shamefully. The mercenary scoundrel no doubt +expected to have acquired a fortune with her, as it was generally +understood that she was sole heiress of her mother's property--but it +turned out to be an entire mistake. The circumstance made considerable stir +at the time. I remember having heard my elders discuss it some years after +its occurrence. But why do you take such an interest in it? You charged me +with coming upon you like a ghost. I could return the compliment. Why, man, +you look like a sheet. What ails you?" "Me!--I--oh, nothing--nothing! I'm +perfectly well--that is to say, I was up rather late last night, and am +rather fatigued to day--nothing more." + +"You looked so strange, that I could not help being frightened--and you +seemed so interested. You must have some personal motive for inquiring." + +"No more than a lawyer often has in the business of his clients. I have +been commissioned to obtain some information respecting these people--a +mere matter of business, nothing more, believe me. Call in again soon, and +endeavour to bring Carson; but pray be discreet--be very careful to whom +you mention the matter." + +"Never fear," said Mr. Morton, as he closed the door behind him, and +sauntered lazily out of the house. + +Mr. Morton speculated in stocks and town-lots in the same spirit that he +had formerly betted at the racecourse and cockpit in his dear Palmetto +State. It was a pleasant sort of excitement to him, and without excitement +of some kind, he would have found it impossible to exist. To have +frequented gaming hells and race courses in the North would have greatly +impaired his social position; and as he set a high value upon that he was +compelled to forego his favourite pursuits, and associate himself with a +set of men who conducted a system of gambling operations upon 'Change, of a +less questionable but equally exciting character. + +Mr. Stevens sat musing at his desk for some time after the departure of his +visitor; then, taking up one of the letters that had so strongly excited +him, he read and re-read it; then crushing it in his hand, arose, stamped +his feet, and exclaimed, "I'll have it! if I--" here he stopped short, and, +looking round, caught a view of his face in the glass; he sank back into +the chair behind him, horrified at the lividness of his countenance. + +"Good God!" he soliloquized, "I look like a murderer already," and he +covered his face with his hands, and turned away from the glass. "But I am +wrong to be excited thus; men who accomplish great things approach them +coolly, so must I. I must plot, watch, and wait;" and thus speaking, he +put on his hat and left the office. + +As Mr. Stevens approached his house, a handsome carriage drove up to the +door of his neighbour, and Mr. Garie and his wife, who had been enjoying a +drive along the bank of the river, alighted and entered their residence. +The rustle of her rich silk dress grated harshly on his ear, and the soft +perfume that wafted toward him as she glided by, was the very reverse of +pleasant to him. + +Mr. Garie bowed stiffly to him as they stood on the steps of their +respective residences, which were only divided by the low iron fence; but, +beyond the slight inclination of the head, took no further notice of him. + +"The cursed haughty brute," muttered Mr. Stevens, as he jerked the bell +with violence; "how I hate him! I hated him before I knew--but now I----;" +as he spoke, the door was opened by a little servant that Mrs. Stevens had +recently obtained from a charity institution. + +"You've kept me standing a pretty time," exclaimed he savagely, as he +seized her ear and gave it a spiteful twist; "can't you manage to open the +door quicker?" + +"I was up in the garret, and didn't hear the bell," she replied, timidly. + +"Then I'll improve your hearing," he continued malignantly, as he pulled +her by the ear; "take that, now, and see if you'll keep me standing at the +door an hour again." + +Striding forward into the back parlour, he found his wife holding a small +rattan elevated over little Lizzy in a threatening attitude. + +"Will you never mind me? I've told you again and again not to go, and still +you persist in disobeying me. I'll cut you to pieces if you don't mind. +Will you ever go again?" she almost screamed in the ears of the terrified +child. + +"Oh, no, mother, never; please don't whip me, I'll mind you;" and as she +spoke, she shrank as far as possible into the corner of the room. "What's +all this--what's the matter, Jule? What on earth are you going to whip Liz +for?" + +"Because she deserves it," was the sharp reply; "she don't mind a word I +say. I've forbid her again and again to go next door to visit those little +niggers, and she will do it in spite of me. She slipped off this afternoon, +and has been in their house over an hour; and it was only this morning I +detected her kissing their Clarence through the fence." + +"Faugh," said Mr. Stevens, with a look of disgust; "you kissed a nigger! +I'm ashamed of you, you nasty little thing; your mother ought to have taken +a scrubbing-brush and cleaned your mouth, never do such a thing again; come +here to me." + +As he spoke, he extended his hand and grasped the delicately rounded arm of +his little girl. + +"What induces you to go amongst those people; hasn't your mother again and +again forbidden you to do so. Why do you go, I say?" he continued, shaking +her roughly by the arm, and frowning savagely. "Why don't you +answer?--speak!" + +The child, with the tears streaming down her lovely face, was only able to +answer in her defence. "Oh, pa, I do love them so." + +"You do, do you?" replied her exasperated father, stamping his foot, and +pushing her from him; "go to bed, and if ever I hear of you going there +again, you shall be well whipped." The tearful face lingered about the door +in hope of a reprieve that did not come, and then disappeared for the +night. + +"The children must not be suffered to go in there, Jule; something I've +learned to-day will----" here Mr. Stevens checked himself; and in answer to +his wife's impatient "What have you learned?" replied, "Oh, nothing of +consequence--nothing that will interest you," and sat with his slipper in +his hand, engaged in deep thought. + +Now for Mr. Stevens to commence a communication to his wife, and then break +off in the middle of it, was as novel as disagreeable, as he was generally +very communicative, and would detail to her in the evening, with pleasing +minuteness, all the rogueries he had accomplished during the day; and his +unwillingness to confide something that evidently occupied his mind caused +his spouse to be greatly irritated. + +Mr. Stevens drank his tea in silence, and during the evening continued +absorbed in reflection; and, notwithstanding the various ill-natured +remarks of his wife upon his strange conduct retired without giving her the +slightest clue to its cause. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Plotting. + + +Mr. Stevens awoke at a very early hour the ensuing morning, and quite +unceremoniously shook his wife to arouse her also. This he accomplished +after considerable labour; for Mrs. Stevens was much more sleepy than +usual, in consequence of her husband's restlessness the previous night. + +"I declare," said she, rubbing her eyes, "I don't get any peace of my life. +You lie awake, kicking about, half the night, muttering and whispering +about no one knows what, and then want me to rise before day. What are you +in such, a hurry for this morning,--no more mysteries, I hope?" + +"Oh, come, Jule, get up!" said her husband, impatiently. "I must be off to +my business very early; I am overburthened with different things this +morning." + +Mrs. Stevens made a very hasty toilette, and descended to the kitchen, +where the little charity-girl was bustling about with her eyes only half +open. With her assistance, the breakfast was soon prepared, and Mr. Stevens +called downstairs. He ate rapidly and silently, and at the conclusion of +his meal, put on his hat, and wished his amiable spouse an abrupt good +morning. + +After leaving his house, he did not take the usual course to his office, +but turned his steps toward the lower part of the city. Hastening onward, +he soon left the improved parts of it in his rear, and entered upon a +shabby district. + +The morning was very chilly, and as it was yet quite early, but few people +were stirring: they were labourers hurrying to their work, milkmen, and +trundlers of breadcarts. + +At length he stopped at the door of a tavern, over which was a large sign, +bearing the name of Whitticar. On entering, he found two or three +forlorn-looking wretches clustering round the stove, endeavouring to +receive some warmth upon their half-clothed bodies,--their red and pimpled +noses being the only parts about them that did not look cold. They stared +wonderingly at Mr. Stevens as he entered; for a person so respectable as +himself in appearance was but seldom seen in that house. + +The boy who attended the bar inquired from behind the counter what he would +take. + +"Mr. Whitticar, if you please," blandly replied Mr. Stevens. + +Hearing this, the boy bolted from the shop, and quite alarmed the family, +by stating that there was a man in the shop, who said he wanted to take Mr. +Whitticar, and he suspected that he was a policeman. + +Whitticar, who was seldom entirely free from some scrape, went through +another door to take a survey of the new comer, and on ascertaining who it +was, entered the room. + +"You've quite upset the family; we all took you for a constable," said he, +approaching Mr. Stevens, who shook hands with him heartily, and then, +laying his arm familiarly on his shoulder, rejoined,-- + +"I say, Whitticar, I want about five minutes' conversation with you. +Haven't you some room where we can be quite private for a little while?" + +"Yes; come this way," replied he. And, leading his visitor through the bar, +they entered a small back room, the door of which they locked behind them. + +"Now, Whitticar," said Mr. Stevens, "I want you to act the part of a friend +by the fellow who got in that awkward scrape at this house. As you did not +give the evidence you informed me you were possessed of, at the coroner's +inquest, it is unnecessary for you to do so before the magistrate at +examination. There is no use in hanging the fellow--it cannot result in any +benefit to yourself; it will only attract disagreeable notice to your +establishment, and possibly may occasion a loss of your licence. We will +be willing to make it worth your while to absent yourself, for a short time +at least, until the trial is over; it will put money in your purse, and +save this poor devil's life besides. What do you say to receiving a hundred +and fifty, and going off for a month or two?" + +"Couldn't think of it, Mr. Stevens, no how. See how my business would +suffer; everything would be at loose ends. I should be obliged to hire a +man to take my place; and, in that case, I must calculate upon his stealing +at least twenty-five per cent. of the receipts: and then there is his +wages. No, no that won't do. Besides, I'm trying to obtain the nomination +for the office of alderman--to secure it, I must be on the spot; nothing +like looking out for oneself. I am afraid I can't accommodate you, squire, +unless you can offer something better than one hundred and fifty." + +"You've got no conscience," rejoined Mr. Stevens, "not a bit." + +"Well, the less of that the better for me; it's a thing of very little use +in the rum-selling business; it interferes with trade--so I can't afford to +keep a conscience. If you really want me to go, make me a better offer; say +two fifty, and I'll begin to think of it. The trial will be over in a month +or six weeks, I suppose, and a spree of that length would be very +pleasant." + +"No, I won't do that, Whitticar,--that's flat; but I'll tell you what I +will do. I'll make it two hundred, and what is more, I'll see to your +nomination. I'm all right down here, you know; I own the boys in this +district; and if you'll say you'll put some little matters through for me +after you are elected, I'll call it a bargain." + +"Then I'm your man," said Whitticar, extending his hand. + +"Well, then," added Stevens, "come to my office this morning, and you shall +have the money; after that I shall expect you to get out of town as quick +as possible. Goodbye." + +"So far all right," muttered Mr. Stevens, with an air of intense +satisfaction, as he left the house; "he'll be of great use to me. When it +becomes necessary to blind the public by a sham investigation, he will be +the man to conduct it; when I want a man released from prison, or a little +job of that kind done, he will do it--this act will put him in my power; +and I am much mistaken if he won't prove of the utmost service in our riot +scheme. Now, then, we will have an examination of McCloskey as soon as they +like." + +A few weeks subsequent to the events we have just written, we find Mr. +Stevens seated in his dingy office in company with the McCloskey, who had +recently been discharged from custody in default of sufficient evidence +being found to warrant his committal for trial. He was sitting with his +feet upon the stove, and was smoking a cigar in the most free-and-easy +manner imaginable. + +"So far, so good," said Mr. Stevens, as he laid down the letter he was +perusing; "that simplifies the matter greatly; and whatever is to be done +towards his removal, must be done quickly--now that the old man is dead +there is but one to deal with." + +During the interval that had elapsed between the interview of Mr. Stevens +with Whitticar and the period to which we now refer, Mr. Stevens had been +actively engaged in promoting his riot scheme; and already several +disturbances had occurred, in which a number of inoffensive coloured people +had been injured in their persons and property. + +But this was only a faint indication of what was to follow; and as he had, +through the agency of Mr. Morton and others, been able to prevent any but +the most garbled statements of these affairs from getting abroad, there was +but little danger of their operations being interfered with. Leading +articles daily appeared in the public journals (particularly those that +circulated amongst the lowest classes), in which the negroes were +denounced, in the strongest terms. It was averred that their insolence, +since the commencement of the abolition agitation, had become unbearable; +and from many quarters was suggested the absolute necessity for inflicting +some general chastisement, to convince them that they were still negroes, +and to teach them to remain in their proper place in the body politic. + +Many of these articles were written by Mr. Stevens, and their insertion as +editorials procured through the instrumentality of Mr. Morton and his +friends. + +Mr. Stevens turned to his visitor, and inquired, "What was done last +night--much of anything?" + +"A great deal, yer honour," replied McCloskey; "a nagur or two half killed, +and one house set on fire and nearly burned up." + +"_Is that all_?" said Mr. Stevens, with a well-assumed look of +disappointment. "Is that all? Why, you are a miserable set: you should have +beaten every darky out of the district by this time." + +"They're not so aisily bate out--they fight like sevin divils. One o' 'em, +night before last, split Mikey Dolan's head clane open, and it's a small +chance of his life he's got to comfort himself wid." + +"Chances of war--chances of war!" rejoined Mr. Stevens,--"mere trifles when +you get used to 'em: you mustn't let that stop you--you have a great deal +yet to do. What you have already accomplished is a very small matter +compared with what is expected, and what I intend you to do: your work has +only just begun, man." + +"Jist begun!" replied the astonished McCloskey; "haven't we bin raising the +very divil every night for the last week--running a near chance of being +kilt all the time--and all for nothing! It's gettin' tiresome; one don't +like to be fighting the nagurs all the time for the mere fun of the +thing--it don't pay, for divil a cent have I got for all my trouble; and ye +said ye would pay well, ye remimber." + +"So I shall," said Mr. Stevens, "when you do something worth paying +for--the quarter is not accomplished yet. I want the place made so hot down +there that the niggers can't stay. Go a-head, don't give them any +rest--I'll protect you from the consequences, whatever they be: I've great +things in store for you," continued he, moving nearer and speaking in a +confidential tone; "how should you like to return to Ireland a moneyed +man?" + +"I should like it well enough, to be sure; but where's the money to come +from, squire?" + +"Oh, there's money enough to be had if you have the courage to earn it." + +"I'm willin' enough to earn an honest penny, but I don't like risking me +neck for it, squire. It's clear ye'll not be afther givin' me a dale of +money widout being sure of havin' the worth of it out o' me; and it's dirty +work enough I've done, widout the doin' of any more: me conscience is a +sore throuble to me about the other job. Be the powers I'm out o' that, and +divil a like scrape will I get in agin wid my own consint." + +"Your conscience has become troublesome very suddenly," rejoined Mr. +Stevens, with a look of angry scorn; "it's strange it don't appear to have +troubled you in the least during the last few weeks, whilst you have been +knocking niggers on the head so freely." + +"Well, I'm tired o' that work," interrupted McCloskey; "and what's more, +I'll soon be lavin' of it off." + +"We'll see about that," said Mr. Stevens. "You're a pretty fellow, now, +ain't you--grateful, too--very! Here I've been successful in getting you +out of a hanging scrape, and require a trifling service in return, and you +retire. You'll find this trifling won't do with me," continued Mr. Stevens, +with great sternness of manner. "You shall do as I wish: you are in my +power! I need your services, and I will have them--make up your mind to +that." + +McCloskey was somewhat staggered at this bold declaration from Mr. Stevens; +but he soon assumed his former assured manner, and replied, "I'd like to +know how I'm in your power: as far as this riot business is concerned, +you're as deep in the mud as I'm in the mire; as for the other, be St. +Patrick, I'm clane out o' that!--they don't try a man twice for the same +thing." "Don't halloo so loud, my fine fellow," sneeringly rejoined Mr. +Stevens, "you are not entirely out of the wood yet; you are by no means as +safe as you imagine--you haven't been _tried_ yet, you have only been +examined before a magistrate! They lacked sufficient evidence to commit you +for trial--that evidence I can produce at any time; so remember, if you +please, you have not been tried yet: when you have been, and acquitted, be +kind enough to let me know, will you?" + +Mr. Stevens stood for a few moments silently regarding the change his +language had brought over the now crestfallen McCloskey; he then +continued--"Don't think you can escape me--I'll have a thousand eyes upon +you; no one ever escapes me that I wish to retain. Do as I require, and +I'll promote your interest in every possible way, and protect you; but +waver, or hold back, and I'll hang you as unhesitatingly as if you were a +dog." + +This threat was given in a tone that left no doubt on the mind of the +hearer but that Mr. Stevens would carry out his expressed intention; and +the reflections thereby engendered by no means added to the comfort or +sense of security that McCloskey had flattered himself he was in future to +enjoy; he, therefore, began to discover the bad policy of offending one who +might prove so formidable an enemy--of incensing one who had it in his +power to retaliate by such terrible measures. + +He therefore turned to Mr. Stevens, with a somewhat humbled manner, and +said: "You needn't get so mad, squire--sure it's but natural that a man +shouldn't want to get any deeper in the mire than he can help; and I've +enough on my hands now to make them too red to look at wid comfort--sure +it's not a shade deeper you'd have 'em?" he asked, looking inquiringly at +Mr. Stevens, who was compelled to turn away his face for a moment to hide +his agitation. + +At last he mastered his countenance, and, in as cool a tone as he could +assume, replied: "Oh, a little more on them will be scarcely a perceptible +addition. You know the old adage, 'In for a penny, in for a pound.' You +need have no fear," said he, lowering his voice almost to a whisper; "it +can be done in a crowd--and at night--no one will notice it." + +"I don't know about that, squire--in a crowd some one will be sure to +notice it. It's, too dangerous--I can't do it." + +"Tut, tut, man; don't talk like a fool. I tell you there is no danger. You, +in company with a mob of others, are to attack this man's house. When he +makes his appearance, as he will be sure to do, shoot him down." + +"Good God! squire," said McCloskey, his face growing pale at the prospect +of what was required of him, "you talk of murder as if it was mere play!" + +"And still, _I never murdered any one_," rejoined Mr. Stevens, +significantly; "come, come--put your scruples in your pocket, and make up +your mind to go through with it like a man. When the thing is done, you +shall have five thousand dollars in hard cash, and you can go with it where +you please. Now, what do you think of that?" + +"Ah, squire, the money's a great timptation! but it's an awful job." + +"No worse than you did for nothing," replied Mr. Stevens. + +"But that was in a fair fight, and in hot blood; it isn't like planning to +kill a man, squire." + +"Do you call it a fair fight when you steal up behind a man, and break his +skull with a slung shot?" asked Mr. Stevens. + +McCloskey was unable to answer this, and sat moodily regarding his tempter. + +"Come, make up your mind to it--you might as well," resumed Mr. Stevens, in +a coaxing tone. + +"Ye seem bent on not giving it up, and I suppose I'll have to do it," +replied McCloskey, reluctantly; "but what has the man done to ye's, squire, +that you're so down upon him?" + +"Oh, he is one of those infernal Abolitionists, and one of the very worst +kind; he lives with a nigger woman--and, what is more, he is married to +her!" + +"Married to a nigger!" exclaimed McCloskey--"it's a quare taste the animal +has--but you're not afther killing him for that; there's something more +behind: it's not for having a black wife instead of a white one you'd be +afther murthering him--ye'll get no stuff like that down me." + +"No, it is not for that alone, I acknowledge," rejoined Mr. Stevens, with +considerable embarrassment. "He insulted me some time ago, and I want to be +revenged upon him." + +"It's a dear job to insult you, at that rate, squire; but where does he +live?" + +"In my neighbourhood--in fact, next door to me," replied Mr. Stevens, with +an averted face. + +"Howly Mother! not away up there--sure it's crazy ye are. What, away up +there in the city limits!--why, they would have the police and the sogers +at our heels in less than no time. Sure, you're out o' your sinses, to have +me go up there with a mob. No, no--there's too much risk--I can't try +that." + +"I tell you there shall be no risk," impatiently replied Mr. Stevens. "It's +not to be done to-night, nor to-morrow night; and, when I say do it, you +_shall_ do it, and as safely there as anywhere. Only come to the conclusion +that a thing _must_ be done, and it is half finished already. You have only +to make up your mind that you will accomplish a design in spite of +obstacles, and what you once thought to be insurmountable difficulties will +prove mere straws in your path. But we are wasting time; I've determined +you shall do it, and I hope you now know me well enough to be convinced +that it is your best policy to be as obliging as possible. You had better +go now, and be prepared to meet me to-night at Whitticar's." + +After the door closed upon the retreating form of McCloskey, the careless +expression that Mr. Stevens's countenance had worn during the conversation, +gave place to one full of anxiety and apprehension, and he shuddered as he +contemplated the fearful length to which he was proceeding. + +"If I fail," said he--"pshaw! I'll not fail--I must not fail--for failure +is worse than ruin; but cool--cool," he continued, sitting down to his +desk--"those who work nervously do nothing right." He sat writing +uninterruptedly until quite late in the afternoon, when the fading sunlight +compelled him to relinquish his pen, and prepare for home. + +Thrusting the papers into his pocket, he hurried toward the newspaper +office from which were to emanate, as editorials, the carefully concocted +appeals to the passions of the rabble which he had been all the afternoon +so busily engaged in preparing. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Mr. Stevens falls into Bad Hands. + + +The amiable partner of Mr. Stevens sat in high dudgeon, at being so long +restrained from her favourite beverage by the unusually deferred absence of +her husband. At length she was rejoiced by hearing his well-known step as +he came through the garden, and the rattle of his latch-key as he opened +the door was quite musical in her ears. + +"I thought you was never coming," said she, querulously, as he entered the +room; "I have been waiting tea until I am almost starved." + +"You needn't have waited a moment, for you will be obliged to eat alone +after all; I'm going out. Pour me out a cup of tea--I'll drink it whilst +I'm dressing; and," continued Mr. Stevens, "I want you to get me that old +brown over-coat and those striped trowsers I used to wear occasionally." + +"Why, you told me," rejoined Mrs. Stevens, "that you did not require them +again, and so I exchanged them for this pair of vases to-day." + +"The devil you did!" said Mr. Stevens, angrily; "you let them lie about the +house for nearly a year--and now, just as they were likely to be of some +service to me, you've sold them. It's just like you--always doing something +at the wrong time." + +"How on earth, Stevens, was I to know you wanted them?" + +"Well, there, Jule, they're gone; don't let's have any more talk about it. +Get me another cup of tea; I must go out immediately." After hastily +swallowing the second cup, Mr. Stevens left his home, and walked to an +omnibus-station, from whence he was quickly transported to a street in the +lower part of the city, in which were a number of second-hand clothing +stores. These places were supported principally by the country people who +attended the market in the same street, and who fancied that the clothing +they purchased at these shops must be cheap, because it was at second-hand. + +Mr. Stevens stopped at the door of one of these establishments, and paused +to take a slight survey of the premises before entering. The doorway was +hung with coats of every fashion of the last twenty years, and all in +various stages of decay. Some of them looked quite respectable, from much +cleaning and patching; and others presented a reckless and forlorn aspect, +as their worn and ragged sleeves swung about in the evening air. Old hats, +some of which were, in all probability, worn at a period anterior to the +Revolution, kept company with the well-blacked shoes that were ranged on +shelves beside the doorway, where they served in the capacity of signs, and +fairly indicated the style of goods to be purchased within. + +Seeing that there were no buyers in the store, Mr. Stevens opened the door, +and entered. The sounds of his footsteps drew from behind the counter no +less a personage than our redoubtable friend Kinch, who, in the absence of +his father, was presiding over the establishment. + +"Well, Snowball," said Mr. Stevens, "do you keep this curiosity-shop?" + +"My name is not Snowball, and this ain't a curiosity-shop," replied Kinch. +"Do you want to buy anything?" + +"I believe I do," answered Mr. Stevens. "Let me look at some coats--one +that I can get on--I won't say fit me, I'm indifferent about that--let me +see some of the worst you've got." + +Kinch looked surprised at this request from a gentleman of Mr. Stevens's +appearance, and handed out, quite mechanically, a coat that was but +slightly worn. "Oh, that won't do--I want something like this," said Mr. +Stevens, taking down from a peg a very dilapidated coat, of drab colour, +and peculiar cut. What do you ask for this?" + +"That's not fit for, a gentleman like you, sir," said Kinch. + +"I'm the best judge of that matter," rejoined Mr. Stevens. "What is the +price of it?" + +"Oh, that coat you can have for a dollar," replied Kinch. + +"Then I'll take it. Now hand out some trowsers." + +The trowsers were brought; and from a large number Mr. Stevens selected a +pair that suited him. Then adding an old hat to his list of purchases, he +declared his fit-out complete. + +"Can't you accommodate me with some place where I can put these on?" he +asked of Kinch; "I'm going to have a little sport with some friends of +mine, and I want to wear them." + +Kinch led the way into a back room, where he assisted Mr. Stevens to array +himself in his newly-purchased garments. By the change in his attire he +seemed completely robbed of all appearance of respectability; the most +disagreeable points of his physique seemed to be brought more prominently +forward by the habiliments he had assumed, they being quite in harmony with +his villanous countenance. + +Kinch, who looked at him with wonder, was forced to remark, "Why, you don't +look a bit like a gentleman now, sir." + +Mr. Stevens stepped forward, and surveyed himself in the looking-glass. The +transformation was complete--surprising even to himself. "I never knew +before," said he, mentally, "how far a suit of clothes goes towards giving +one the appearance of a gentleman." + +He now emptied the pockets of the suit he had on;--in so doing, he dropped +upon the floor, without observing it, one of the papers. + +"Fold these up," said he, handing to Kinch the suit he had just taken off, +"and to-morrow bring them to this address." As he spoke, he laid his card +upon the counter, and, after paying for his new purchases, walked out of +the shop, and bent his steps in the direction of Whitticar's tavern. + +On arriving there, he found the bar-room crowded with half-drunken men, the +majority of whom were Irishmen, armed with bludgeons of all sizes and +shapes. His appearance amongst them excited but little attention, and he +remained there some time before he was recognized by the master of the +establishment. + +"By the howly St. Patherick I didn't know you, squire; what have you been +doing to yourself?" + +"Hist!" cried Mr. Stevens, putting his fingers to his lips; "I thought it +was best to see how matters were progressing, so I've run down for a little +while. How are you getting on?" + +"Fine, fine, squire," replied Whitticar; "the boys are ripe for anything. +They talk of burning down a nigger church." + +"Not to-night--they must not do such a thing to-night--we are not ready for +that yet. I've made out a little list--some of the places on it they might +have a dash at to-night, just to keep their hands in." As Mr. Stevens +spoke, he fumbled in his pocket for the list in question, and was quite +surprised to be unable to discover it. + +"Can't you find it, squire?" asked Whitticar. + +"I must have lost; it on the way," replied Mr. Stevens. "I am sure I put it +in this pocket," and he made another search. "No use--I'll have to give it +up," said he, at length; "but where is McCloskey? I haven't seen him since +I came in." + +"He came here this afternoon, very far gone; he had been crooking his elbow +pretty frequently, and was so very drunk that I advised him to go home and +go to bed; so he took another dram and went away, and I haven't seen him +since." + +"That's bad, very bad--everything goes wrong this evening--I wanted him +to-night particularly." "Wouldn't the boys go out with you?" suggested +Whitticar. + +"No, no; that wouldn't do at all. I mustn't appear in these things. If I'm +hauled up for participation, who is to be your lawyer--eh?" + +"True for you," rejoined Whitticar; "and I'll just disperse the crowd as +soon as I can, and there will be one peaceable night in the district at any +rate." + +Not liking to give directions to the mob personally, and his useful +coadjutor McCloskey not being at hand, Mr. Stevens came to the conclusion +he would return to his home, and on the next evening a descent should be +made upon the places marked on the list. + +Taking out his watch, he found it would be too late to return to the store +where he had purchased his present adornments, so he determined to start +for home. + +The coat that temporarily adorned the person of Mr. Stevens was of peculiar +cut and colour--it was, in fact, rather in the rowdy style, and had, in its +pristine state, bedecked the person of a member of a notorious fire +company. These gentry had for a long time been the terror of the district +in which they roamed, and had rendered themselves highly obnoxious to some +of the rival factions on the borders of their own territory; they had the +unpleasant habit of pitching into and maltreating, without the slightest +provocation, any one whom their practised eyes discovered to be a rival; +and by such outrages they had excited in the bosoms of their victims a +desire for revenge that only awaited the occasion to manifest itself. + +Mr. Stevens, in happy unconsciousness, that, owing to his habiliments, he +represented one of the well-known and hated faction, walked on quite +leisurely; but, unfortunately for him, his way home lay directly through +the camp of their bitterest and most active enemies. + +Standing in front of a tavern-window, through which a bright light shone, +were a group of young men, who bestowed upon Mr. Stevens more than passing +attention. "I'm blest," exclaimed one of them, if there ain't a ranger! +now that it a saucy piece of business, ain't it! That fellow has come up +here to be able to go back and play brag-game." + +"Let's wallop him, then," suggested another, "and teach him better than to +come parading himself in our parts. I owe 'em something for the way they +served me when I was down in their district." + +"Well, come on," said the first speaker, "or he will get away whilst we are +jawing about what we shall do." + +Advancing to Mr. Stevens, he tapped that gentleman on the shoulder, and +said, with mock civility, and in as bland a tone as he could assume, "It's +really very obliging of you, mister, to come up here to be flogged--saves +us the trouble of coming down to you. We would like to settle with you for +that drubbing you gave one of our boys last week." + +"You must be mistaken," replied Mr. Stevens: "I don't know anything of the +affair to which you allude." + +"You don't, eh! Well, take that, then, to freshen your memory," exclaimed +one of the party, at the same time dealing him a heavy blow on the cheek, +which made the lamplights around appear to dance about in the most +fantastic style. + +The first impulse of Mr. Stevens was to cry out for the watchman; but a +moment's reflection suggested the impolicy of that project, as he would +inevitably be arrested with the rest; and to be brought before a magistrate +in his present guise, would have entailed upon him very embarrassing +explanations; he therefore thought it best to beg off--to throw himself, as +it were, upon their sympathies. + +"Stop, gentlemen--stop--for God's sake, stop," he cried, as soon as he +could regain the breath that had been almost knocked out of him by the +tremendous blow he had just received--"don't kill an innocent man; upon my +honour I never saw you before, nor ever assaulted any of you in my life. My +dear friends," he continued, in a dolorous tone, "please let me go--you are +quite mistaken: I assure you I am not the man." "No, we ain't mistaken, +either: you're one of the rangers; I know you by your coat," replied one of +the assaulters. + +It now flashed upon Mr. Stevens that he had brought himself into these +difficulties, by the assumption of the dress he then wore; he therefore +quickly rejoined--"Oh, it is not my coat--I only put it on for a joke!" + +"That's a likely tale," responded one of the party, who looked very +incredulous; "I don't believe a word of it. That's some darned stuff you've +trumped up, thinking to gammon us--it won't go down; we'll just give you a +walloping, if it's only to teach you to wear your own clothes,"--and +suiting the action to the word, he commenced pommelling him unmercifully. + +"Help! help!" screamed Mr. Stevens. "Don't kill me, gentlemen,--don't kill +me!" + +"Oh! we won't kill you--we'll only come as near it as we can, without quite +finishing you," cried one of his relentless tormenters. + +On hearing this, their victim made a frantic effort to break away, and not +succeeding in it, he commenced yelling at the top of his voice. As is usual +in such cases, the watchman was nowhere to be seen; and his cries only +exasperated his persecutors the more. + +"Hit him in the bread-crusher, and stop his noise," suggested one of the +party farthest off from Mr. Stevens. This piece of advice was carried into +immediate effect, and the unfortunate wearer of the obnoxious coat received +a heavy blow in the mouth, which cut his lips and knocked out one of his +front teeth. + +His cries now became so loud as to render it necessary to gag him, which +was done by one of the party in the most thorough and expeditious manner. +They then dragged him into a wheelwright's shop near by, where they +obtained some tar, with which they coated his face completely. + +"Oh! don't he look like a nigger!" said one of the party, when they had +finished embellishing their victim. + +"Rub some on his hands, and then let him go," suggested another. "When he +gets home I guess he'll surprise his mammy: I don't believe his own dog +will know him!" + +A shout of laughter followed this remark, in the midst of which they +ungagged Mr. Stevens and turned him from the door. + +"Now run for it--cut the quickest kind of time," exclaimed one of them, as +he gave him a kick to add impetus to his forward movement. + +This aid was, however, entirely unnecessary, for Mr. Stevens shot away from +the premises like an arrow from a bow; and that, too, without any +observation upon the direction in which he was going. + +As soon as he felt himself out of the reach of his tormentors, he sat down +upon the steps of a mansion, to consider what was best to be done. All the +shops, and even the taverns, were closed--not a place was open where he +could procure the least assistance; he had not even an acquaintance in the +neighbourhood to whom he might apply. + +He was, indeed, a pitiable object to look upon The hat he had so recently +purchased, bad as it was when it came into his possession, was now +infinitely less presentable. In the severe trials it had undergone, in +company with its unfortunate owner, it had lost its tip and half the brim. +The countenance beneath it would, however, have absorbed the gazer's whole +attention. His lips were swelled to a size that would have been regarded as +large even on the face of a Congo negro, and one eye was puffed out to an +alarming extent; whilst the coating of tar he had received rendered him +such an object as the reader can but faintly picture to himself. + +The door of the mansion was suddenly opened, and there issued forth a party +of young men, evidently in an advanced state of intoxication. "Hallo! +here's a darkey!" exclaimed one of them, as the light from the hall fell +upon the upturned face of Mr. Stevens. "Ha, ha! Here's a darkey--now for +some fun!" + +Mr. Stevens was immediately surrounded by half a dozen well-dressed young +men, who had evidently been enjoying an entertainment not conducted upon +temperance principles. "Spirit of--hic--hic--night, whence co-co-comest +thou?" stammered one; "sp-p-peak--art thou a creature of the +mag-mag-na-tion-goblin-damned, or only a nigger?--speak!" Mr. Stevens, who +at once recognized one or two of the parties as slight acquaintances, would +not open his mouth, for fear that his voice might discover him, as to them, +above all persons, he would have shrunk from making himself known, he +therefore began to make signs as though he were dumb. + +"Let him alone," said one of the more sober of the party; "he's a poor dumb +fellow--let him go." His voice was disregarded, however, as the rest seemed +bent on having some sport. + +A half-hogshead, nearly filled with water, which stood upon the edge of the +pavement, for the convenience of the builders who were at work next door, +caught the attention of one of them. + +"Let's make him jump into this," he exclaimed, at the same time motioning +to Mr. Stevens to that effect. By dint of great effort they made him +understand what was required, and they then continued to make him jump in +and out of the hogshead for several minutes; then, joining hands, they +danced around him, whilst he stood knee-deep in the water, shivering, and +making the most imploring motions to be set at liberty. + +Whilst they were thus engaged, the door again opened, and the fashionable +Mr. Morton (who had been one of the guests) descended the steps, and came +to see what had been productive of so much mirth. + +"What have you got here?" he asked, pressing forward, until he saw the +battered form of Mr. Stevens; "oh, let the poor darkey go," he continued, +compassionately, for he had just drunk enough to make him feel humane; "let +the poor fellow go, it's a shame to treat him in this manner." + +As he spoke, he endeavoured to take from the hands of one of the party a +piece of chip, with which he was industriously engaged in streaking the +face of Mr. Stevens with lime, "Let me alone, Morton--let me alone; I'm +making a white man of him, I'm going to make him a glorious fellow-citizen, +and have him run for Congress. Let me alone, I say." + +Mr. Morton was able, however, after some persuasion, to induce the young +men to depart; and as his home lay in a direction opposite to theirs, he +said to Mr. Stevens, "Come on, old fellow, I'll protect you." + +As soon as they were out of hearing of the others, Mr. Stevens exclaimed, +"Don't you know me, Morton?" + +Mr. Morton started back with surprise, and looked at his companion in a +bewildered manner, then exclaimed, "No, I'll be hanged if I do. Who the +devil are you?" + +"I'm Stevens; you know me." + +"Indeed I don't. Who's Stevens?" + +"You don't know me! why, I'm George Stevens, the lawyer." + +Mr. Morton thought that he now recognized the voice, and as they were +passing under the lamp at the time, Mr. Stevens said to him, "Put your +finger on my face, and you will soon see it is only tar." Mr. Morton did as +he was desired, and found his finger smeared with the sticky article. + +"What on earth have you been doing with yourself?" he asked, with great +surprise; "what is all this masquerading for?" + +Mr. Stevens hereupon related his visit at Whitticar's, and detailed the +events that had subsequently occurred. + +Mr. Morton gave vent to shouts of laughter as he listened to the recital of +his friend. "By George!" he exclaimed, "I'll have to tell that; it is too +good to keep." + +"Oh, no, don't," said Mr. Stevens; "that won't do--you forget what I came +out for?" + +"True," rejoined Mr. Morton; "I suppose it will be best to keep mum about +it. I'll go home with you, you might fall into the hands of the Philistines +again." + +"Thank you--thank you," replied Mr. Stevens, who felt greatly relieved to +have some company for his further protection; "and," continued he, "if I +could only get some of this infernal stuff off my face, I should be so +glad; let us try." + +Accordingly they stopped at the nearest pump, and endeavoured to remove +some of the obnoxious tar from his face; but, unfortunately, the only +result obtained by their efforts was to rub it more thoroughly in, so they +were compelled to give up in despair, and hasten onward. + +Mr. Stevens rang so loudly at the door, as to quite startle his wife and +the charity-girl, both of whom had fallen into a sound sleep, as they sat +together awaiting his return. Mr. Morton, who, as we have said before, was +not entirely sober, was singing a popular melody, and keeping time upon the +door with the head of his cane. Now, in all her life, Mrs. Stevens had +never heard her husband utter a note, and being greatly frightened at the +unusual noise upon the door-step, held a hurried consultation with the +charity-girl upon the best mode of proceeding. + +"Call through the key-hole, ma'am," suggested she, which advice Mrs. +Stevens immediately followed, and inquired, "Who's there?" + +"Open the door, Jule, don't keep me out here with your darned nonsense; let +me in quick." + +"Yes, let him in," added Mr. Morton; "he's brought a gentleman from Africa +with him." + +Mrs. Stevens did not exactly catch the purport of the words uttered by Mr. +Morton; and, therefore, when she opened the door, and her husband, with his +well-blacked face, stalked into the entry, she could not repress a scream +of fright at the hideous figure he presented. + +"Hush, hush," he exclaimed, "don't arouse the neighbours--it's me; don't +you know my voice." + +Mrs. Stevens stared at him in a bewildered manner, and after bidding Mr. +Morton "Good night," she closed and locked the door, and followed her +husband into the back room. In a short time he recapitulated the events +of the night to his astonished and indignant spouse, who greatly +commiserated his misfortunes. A bottle of sweet oil was brought into +requisition, and she made a lengthened effort to remove the tar from her +husband's face, in which she only partially succeeded; and it was almost +day when he crawled off to bed, with the skin half scraped off from his +swollen face. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The Alarm. + + +Immediately after the departure of Mr. Stevens, Master Kinch began to +consider the propriety of closing the establishment for the night. Sliding +down from the counter, where he had been seated, reflecting upon the +strange conduct of his recent customer, he said, "I feels rather queer +round about here," laying his hand upon his stomach; "and I'm inclined to +think that some of them 'ere Jersey sausages and buckwheat cakes that the +old man has been stuffing himself with, wouldn't go down slow. Rather +shabby in him not to come back, and let me go home, and have a slap at the +wittles. I expect nothing else, but that he has eat so much, that he's fell +asleep at the supper-table, and won't wake up till bedtime. He's always +serving me that same trick." + +The old man thus alluded to was no other than Master Kinch's father, who +had departed from the shop two or three hours previously, promising to +return immediately after tea. + +This promise appeared to have entirely faded from his recollection, as he +was at that moment, as Kinch had supposed, fast asleep, and totally +oblivious of the fact that such a person as his hungry descendant was in +existence. + +Having fully come to the conclusion to suspend operations for the evening, +Kinch made two or three excursions into the street, returning each time +laden with old hats, coats, and shoes. These he deposited on the counter +without order or arrangement, muttering, as he did so, that the old man +could sort 'em out in the morning to suit himself. The things being all +brought from the street, he had only to close the shutters, which +operation was soon effected, and our hungry friend on his way home. + +The next morning Mr. De Younge (for the father of Kinch rejoiced in that +aristocratic cognomen) was early at his receptacle for old clothes, and it +being market-day, he anticipated doing a good business. The old man +leisurely took down the shutters, assorted and hung out the old clothes, +and was busily engaged in sweeping out the store, when his eye fell upon +the paper dropped by Mr. Stevens the evening previous. + +"What's dis 'ere," said he, stooping to pick it up; "bill or suthin' like +it, I s'pose. What a trial 'tis not to be able to read writin'; don't know +whether 'tis worth keeping or not; best save it though till dat ar boy of +mine comes, _he_ can read it--he's a scholar. Ah, de children now-a-days +has greater 'vantages than deir poor fathers had." + +Whilst he was thus soliloquizing, his attention was arrested by the noise +of footsteps in the other part of the shop, and looking up, he discerned +the tall form of Mr. Walters. + +"Why, bless me," said the old man, "dis is an early visit; where you come +from, honey, dis time o' day?" + +"Oh, I take a walk every morning, to breathe a little of the fresh air; it +gives one an appetite for breakfast, you know. You'll let me take the +liberty of sitting on your counter, won't you?" he continued; "I want to +read a little article in a newspaper I have just purchased." + +Assent being readily given, Mr. Walters was soon perusing the journal with +great attention; at last he tossed it from him in an impatient manner, and +exclaimed, "Of all lying rascals, I think the reporters for this paper are +the greatest. Now, for instance, three or four nights since, a gang of +villains assaulted one of my tenants--a coloured man--upon his own +doorstep, and nearly killed him, and that, too, without the slightest +provocation; they then set fire to the house, which was half consumed +before it could be extinguished; and it is here stated that the coloured +people were the aggressors, and whilst they were engaged in the _melee_, +the house caught fire accidentally." "Yes," rejoined Mr. De Younge; +"things are gitting mighty critical even in dese 'ere parts; and I wouldn't +live furder down town if you was to give me a house rent-free. Why, it's +raly dangerous to go home nights down dere." + +"And there is no knowing how long we may be any better off up here," +continued Mr. Walters; "the authorities don't seem to take the least notice +of them, and the rioters appear to be having it all their own way." + +They continued conversing upon the topic for some time, Mr. De Younge being +meanwhile engaged in sponging and cleaning some coats he had purchased the +day before; in so doing, he was obliged to remove the paper he had picked +up from the floor, and it occurred to him to ask Mr. Walters to read it; he +therefore handed it to him, saying-- + +"Jist read dat, honey, won't you? I want to know if it's worth savin'. I've +burnt up two or three receipts in my life, and had de bills to pay over; +and I'se got rale careful, you know. 'Taint pleasant to pay money twice +over for de same thing." + +Mr. Walters took the paper extended to him, and, after glancing over it, +remarked, "This handwriting is very familiar to me, very; but whose it is, +I can't say; it appears to be a list of addresses, or something of that +kind." And he read over various names of streets, and numbers of houses. +"Why," he exclaimed, with a start of surprise, "here is my own house upon +the list, 257, Easton-street; then here is 22, Christian-street; here also +are numbers in Baker-street, Bedford-street, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth +Streets; in some of which houses I know coloured people live, for one or +two of them are my own. This is a strange affair." + +As he spoke, he turned over the paper, and read on the other side,--"Places +to be attacked." "Why, this looks serious," he continued, with some +excitement of manner. "'Places to be attacked,'--don't that seem to you as +if it might be a list of places for these rioters to set upon? I really +must look into this. Who could have left it here?" + +"I raly don't know," replied the old man. "Kinch told me suthin' last +night about some gemman comin' here and changing his clothes; p'raps 'twas +him. I'd like to know who 'twas myself. Well, wait awhile, my boy will come +in directly; maybe he can explain it." + +He had scarcely finished speaking, when Master Kinch made his appearance, +with his hat, as usual, placed upon nine hairs, and his mouth smeared with +the eggs and bacon with which he had been "staying and comforting" himself. +He took off his hat on perceiving Mr. Walters, and, with great humility, +"hoped that gentleman was well." + +"Yes, very well, Kinch," replied Mr. Walters. "We were waiting for you. Can +you tell where this came from?" he asked, handing him the mysterious paper. + +"Never seen it before, that I know of," replied Kinch, after a short +inspection. + +"Well, who was here last night?" asked his father; "you said you sold +suthin'?" + +"So I did," replied Kinch; "sold a whole suit; and the gentleman who put it +on said he was going out for a lark. He was changing some papers from his +pocket: perhaps he dropped it. I'm to take this suit back to him to-day. +Here is his card." + +"By heavens!" exclaimed Mr. Walters, after looking at the card, "I know the +fellow,--George Stevens, 'Slippery George,'--every one knows him, and can +speak no good of him either. Now I recognize the handwriting of the list; I +begin to suspect something wrong by seeing his name in connection with +this." + +Hereupon Kinch was subjected to a severe cross-examination, which had the +effect of deepening Mr. Walters's impression, that some plot was being +concocted that would result to the detriment of the coloured people; for he +was confident that no good could be indicated by the mysterious conduct of +Mr. Stevens. + +After some deliberation, Kinch received instructions to take home the +clothes as directed, and to have his eyes about him; and if he saw or heard +anything, he was to report it. In accordance with his instructions, +Master Kinch made several journeys to Mr. Stevens's office, but did not +succeed in finding that gentleman within; the last trip he made there +fatigued him to such a degree, that he determined to wait his arrival, as +he judged, from the lateness of the hour, that, if it was his intention to +come at all that day, he would soon be there. + +"I'll sit down here," said Kinch, who espied an old box in the back part of +the entry, "and give myself a little time to blow." + +He had not sat long before he heard footsteps on the stairs, and presently +the sound of voices became quite audible. + +"That's him," ejaculated Kinch, as Mr. Stevens was heard saying, in an +angry tone,--"Yes; and a devil of a scrape I got into by your want of +sobriety. Had you followed my directions, and met me at Whitticar's, +instead of getting drunk as a beast, and being obliged to go home to bed, +it wouldn't have happened." + +"Well, squire," replied McCloskey, for he was the person addressed by Mr. +Stevens, "a man can't be expected always to keep sober." + +"He ought to when he has business before him," rejoined Mr. Stevens, +sharply; "how the devil am I to trust you to do anything of importance, +when I can't depend on your keeping sober a day at a time? Come up to this +top landing," continued he, "and listen to me, if you think you are sober +enough to comprehend what I say to you." + +They now approached, and stood within a few feet of the place where Kinch +was sitting, and Mr. Stevens said, with a great deal of emphasis, "Now, I +want you to pay the strictest attention to what I say. I had a list of +places made out for you last night, but, somehow or other, I lost it. But +that is neither here nor there. This is what I want you to attend to +particularly. Don't attempt anything to-night; you can't get a sufficient +number of the boys together; but, when you do go, you are to take, first, +Christian-street, between Eleventh and Twelfth,--there are several nigger +families living in that block. Smash in their windows, break their +furniture, and, if possible, set one of the houses on fire, and that will +draw attention to that locality whilst you are operating elsewhere. By that +time, the boys will be ripe for anything. Then you had better go to a house +in Easton-street, corner of Shotwell: there is a rich nigger living there +whose plunder is worth something. I owe him an old grudge, and I want you +to pay it off for me." + +"You keep me pretty busy paying your debts. What's the name of this rich +nigger?" + +"Walters," replied Mr. Stevens; "everybody knows him. Now about that other +affair." Here he whispered so low, that Kinch could only learn they were +planning an attack on the house of some one, but failed in discovering the +name. McCloskey departed as soon as he had received full directions from +Mr. Stevens, and his retreating steps might be still heard upon the stairs, +when Mr. Stevens unlocked his office-door and entered. + +After giving him sufficient time to get quietly seated, Kinch followed, and +delivered the clothes left with him the evening previous. He was very much +struck with Mr. Stevens's altered appearance, and, in fact, would not have +recognized him, but for his voice. + +"You don't seem to be well?" remarked Kinch, inquiringly. + +"No, I'm not," he replied, gruffly; "I've caught cold." As Kinch was +leaving the office, he called after him, "Did you find a paper in your shop +this morning?" + +"No, sir," replied Kinch, "_I didn't_;" but mentally he observed, "My daddy +did though;" and, fearful of some other troublesome question, he took leave +immediately. + +Fatigued and out of breath, Kinch arrived at the house of Mr. Walters, +where he considered it best to go and communicate what he had learned. + +Mr. Walters was at dinner when he received from the maid a summons to the +parlour to see a lad, who said his business was a matter "of life or +death." He was obliged to smile at the air of importance with which Kinch +commenced the relation of what he had overheard--but the smile gave place +to a look of anxiety and indignation long ere he had finished, and at the +conclusion of the communication he was highly excited and alarmed. + +"The infernal scoundrel!" exclaimed Mr. Walters. "Are you sure it was my +house?" + +"Yes, sure," was Kinch's reply. "You are the only coloured person living in +the square--and he said plain enough for anybody to understand, +'Easton-street, corner of Shotwell.' I heard every word but what they said +towards the last in a whisper." + +"You couldn't catch anything of it?" asked Mr. Walters. + +"No, I missed that; they talked too low for me to hear." + +After reflecting a few moments, Mr. Walters said: "Not a word of this is to +be lisped anywhere except with my permission, and by my direction. Have you +had your dinner?" + +"No, sir," was the prompt reply. + +"I want to despatch a note to Mr. Ellis, by you, if it won't trouble you +too much. Can you oblige me?" + +"Oh, yes, sir, by all means," replied Kinch, "I'll go there with pleasure." + +"Then whilst I'm writing," continued Mr. Walters, "you can be eating your +dinner, that will economize time, you know." + +Kinch followed the servant who answered the bell into the dining-room which +Mr. Walters had just left. On being supplied with a knife and fork, he +helped himself bountifully to the roast duck, then pouring out a glass of +wine, he drank with great enthusiasm, to "our honoured self," which +proceeding caused infinite amusement to the two servants who were peeping +at him through the dining-room door. "Der-licious," exclaimed Kinch, +depositing his glass upon the table; "guess I'll try another;" and suiting +the action to the word, he refilled his glass, and dispatched its contents +in the wake of the other. Having laboured upon the duck until his appetite +was somewhat appeased, he leant back in his chair and suffered his plate to +be changed for another, which being done, he made an attack upon a peach +pie, and nearly demolished it outright. + +This last performance brought his meal to a conclusion, and with a look of +weariness, he remarked, "I don't see how it is--but as soon as I have eat +for a little while my appetite is sure to leave me--now I can't eat a bit +more. But the worst thing is walking down to Mr. Ellis's. I don't feel a +bit like it, but I suppose I must;" and reluctantly rising from the table, +he returned to the parlour, where he found Mr. Walters folding the note he +had promised to deliver. + +As soon as he had despatched Kinch on his errand, Mr. Walters put on his +hat and walked to the office of the mayor. + +"Is his honour in?" he asked of one of the police, who was lounging in the +anteroom. + +"Yes, he is--what do you want with him?" asked the official, in a rude +tone. + +"That, sir, is none of your business," replied Mr. Walters; "if the mayor +is in, hand him this card, and say I wish to see him." + +Somewhat awed by Mr. Walters's dignified and decided manner, the man went +quickly to deliver his message, and returned with an answer that his honour +would be obliged to Mr. Walters if he would step into his office. + +On following the officer, he was ushered into a small room--the private +office of the chief magistrate of the city. + +"Take a seat, sir," said the mayor, politely, "it is some time since we +have met. I think I had the pleasure of transacting business with you quite +frequently some years back if I am not mistaken." + +"You are quite correct," replied Mr. Walters, "and being so favourably +impressed by your courtesy on the occasions to which you refer, I have +ventured to intrude upon you with a matter of great importance, not only to +myself, but I think I may say to the public generally. Since this morning, +circumstances have come under my notice that leave no doubt on my mind +that a thoroughly-concerted plan is afoot for the destruction of the +property of a large number of our coloured citizens--mine amongst the rest. +You must be aware," he continued, "that many very serious disturbances have +occurred lately in the lower part of the city." + +"Yes, I've heard something respecting it," replied the mayor, "but I +believe they were nothing more than trifling combats between the negroes +and the whites in that vicinity." + +"Oh, no, sir! I assure you," rejoined Mr. Walters, "they were and are +anything but trifling. I regard them, however, as only faint indications of +what we may expect if the thing is not promptly suppressed; there is an +organized gang of villains, who are combined for the sole purpose of +mobbing us coloured citizens; and, as we are inoffensive, we certainly +deserve protection; and here," continued Mr. Walters, "is a copy of the +list of places upon which it is rumoured an attack is to be made." + +"I really don't see how I'm to prevent it, Mr. Walters; with the exception +of your own residence, all that are here enumerated are out of my +jurisdiction. I can send two or three police for your protection if you +think it necessary. But I really can't see my way clear to do anything +further." + +"Two or three police!" said Mr. Walters, with rising indignation at the +apathy and indifference the mayor exhibited; "they would scarcely be of any +more use than as many women. If that is the extent of the aid you can +afford me, I must do what I can to protect myself." + +"I trust your fears lead you to exaggerate the danger," said the mayor, as +Mr. Walters arose to depart; "perhaps it is _only_ rumour after all." + +"I might have flattered myself with the same idea, did I not feel convinced +by what has so recently occurred but a short distance from my own house; at +any rate, if I am attacked, they will find I am not unprepared. Good day," +and bowing courteously to the mayor, Mr. Walters departed. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The Attack. + + +Mr. Walters lost no time in sending messengers to the various parties +threatened by the mob, warning them either to leave their houses or to make +every exertion for a vigorous defence. Few, however, adopted the latter +extremity; the majority fled from their homes, leaving what effects they +could not carry away at the mercy of the mob, and sought an asylum in the +houses of such kindly-disposed whites as would give them shelter. + +Although the authorities of the district had received the most positive +information of the nefarious schemes of the rioters, they had not made the +slightest efforts to protect the poor creatures threatened in their persons +and property, but let the tide of lawlessness flow on unchecked. + +Throughout the day parties of coloured people might have been seen hurrying +to the upper part of the city: women with terror written on their faces, +some with babes in their arms and children at their side, hastening to some +temporary place of refuge, in company with men who were bending beneath the +weight of household goods. + +Mr. Walters had converted his house into a temporary fortress: the shutters +of the upper windows had been loop-holed, double bars had been placed +across the doors and windows on the ground floor, carpets had been taken +up, superfluous furniture removed, and an air of thorough preparation +imparted. A few of Mr. Walters's male friends had volunteered their aid in +defence of his house, and their services had been accepted. + +Mr. Ellis, whose house was quite indefensible (it being situated in a +neighbourhood swarming with the class of which the mob was composed), had +decided on bringing his family to the house of Mr. Walters, and sharing +with him the fortunes of the night, his wife and daughters having declared +they would feel as safe there as elsewhere; and, accordingly, about five in +the afternoon, Mrs. Ellis came up, accompanied by Kinch and the girls. + +Caddy and Kinch, who brought up the rear, seemed very solicitous respecting +the safety of a package that the latter bore in his arms. + +"What have you there?" asked Mr. Walters, with a smile; "it must be powder, +or some other explosive matter, you take such wonderful pains for its +preservation. Come, Caddy, tell us what it is; is it powder?" + +"No, Mr. Walters, it isn't powder," she replied; "it's nothing that will +blow the house up or burn it down." + +"What is it, then? You tell us, Kinch." + +"Just do, if you think best," said Caddy, giving him a threatening glance; +whereupon, Master Kinch looked as much as to say, "If you were to put me on +the rack you couldn't get a word out of me." + +"I suppose I shall have to give you up," said Mr. Walters at last; "but +don't stand here in the entry; come up into the drawing-room." + +Mrs. Ellis and Esther followed him upstairs, and stood at the door of the +drawing-room surveying the preparations for defence that the appearance of +the room so abundantly indicated. Guns were stacked in the corner, a number +of pistols lay upon the mantelpiece, and a pile of cartridges was heaped up +beside a small keg of powder that stood upon the table opposite the +fire-place. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, "this looks dreadful; it almost frightens +me out of my wits to see so many dangerous weapons scattered about." + +"And how does it affect our quiet Esther?" asked Mr. Walters. + +"It makes me wish I were a man," she replied, with considerable vehemence +of manner. All started at this language from one of her usually gentle +demeanour. + +"Why, Esther, how you talk, girl: what's come over you?" + +"Talk!" replied she. "I say nothing that I do not feel. As we came through +the streets to-day, and I saw so many inoffensive creatures, who, like +ourselves, have never done these white wretches the least injury,--to see +them and us driven from our homes by a mob of wretches, who can accuse us +of nothing but being darker than themselves,--it takes all the woman out of +my bosom, and makes me feel like a----" here Esther paused, and bit her lip +to prevent the utterance of a fierce expression that hovered on the tip of +her tongue. + +She then continued: "One poor woman in particular I noticed: she had a babe +in her arms, poor thing, and was weeping bitterly because she knew of no +place to go to seek for shelter or protection. A couple of white men stood +by jeering and taunting her. I felt as though I could have strangled them: +had I been a man, I would have attacked them on the spot, if I had been +sure they would have killed me the next moment." + +"Hush! Esther, hush! my child; you must not talk so, it sounds +unwomanly--unchristian. Why, I never heard you talk so before." Esther made +no reply, but stood resting her forehead upon the mantelpiece. Her face was +flushed with excitement, and her dark eyes glistened like polished jet. + +Mr. Walters stood regarding her for a time with evident admiration, and +then said, "You are a brave one, after my own heart." Esther hung down her +head, confused by the ardent look he cast upon her, as he continued, "You +have taken me by surprise; but it's always the way with you quiet people; +events like these bring you out--seem to change your very natures, as it +were. We must look out," said he, with a smile, turning to one of the young +men, "or Miss Ellis will excel us all in courage. I shall expect great +things from her if we are attacked to-night." + +"Don't make a jest of me, Mr. Walters," said Esther, and as she spoke her +eyes moistened and her lip quivered with vexation. + +"No, no, my dear girl, don't misunderstand me," replied he, quickly; +"nothing was farther from my thoughts. I truly meant all that I said. I +believe you to be a brave girl." + +"If you really think so," rejoined Esther, "prove it by showing me how to +load these." As she spoke she took from the mantel one of the pistols that +were lying there, and turned it over to examine it. + +"Oh! put that down, Esther, put that down immediately," almost screamed +Mrs. Ellis; "what with your speeches and your guns you'll quite set me +crazy; do take it from her, Walters; it will certainly go off." + +"There's not the least danger, Ellen," he replied; "there's nothing in it." + +"Well, I'm afraid of guns, loaded or unloaded; they are dangerous, all of +them, whether they have anything in them or not. Do you hear me, Esther; do +put that down and come out of here." + +"Oh, no, mother," said she, "do let me remain; there, I'll lay the pistols +down and won't touch them again whilst you are in the room." + +"You may safely leave her in my hands," interposed Mr. Walters. "If she +wants to learn, let her; it won't injure her in the least, I'll take care +of that." This assurance somewhat quieted Mrs. Ellis, who left the room and +took up her quarters in another apartment. + +"Now, Mr. Walters," said Esther, taking off her bonnet, I'm quite in +earnest about learning to load these pistols, and I wish you to instruct +me. You may be hard pressed tonight, and unable to load for yourselves, and +in such an emergency I could perhaps be of great use to you." + +"But, my child," replied he, "to be of use in the manner you propose, you +would be compelled to remain in quite an exposed situation." + +"I am aware of that," calmly rejoined Esther. "And still you are not +afraid?" he asked, in surprise. + +"Why should I be; I shall not be any more exposed than you or my father." + +"That's enough--I'll teach you. Look here," said Mr. Walters, "observe how +I load this." Esther gave her undivided attention to the work before her, +and when he had finished, she took up another pistol and loaded it with a +precision and celerity that would have reflected honour on a more practised +hand. + +"Well done!--capital!" exclaimed Mr. Walters, as she laid down the weapon. +"You'll do, my girl; as I said before, you are one after my own heart. Now, +whilst you are loading the rest, I will go downstairs, where I have some +little matters to attend to." On the stair-way he was met by Kinch and +Caddy, who were tugging up a large kettle of water. "Is it possible, +Caddy," asked Mr. Walters, "that your propensity to dabble in soap and +water has overcome you even at this critical time? You certainly can't be +going to scrub?" + +"No, I'm not going to scrub," she replied, "nor do anything like it. We've +got our plans, haven't we, Kinch?" + +"Let's hear what your plans are. I'd like to be enlightened a little, if +convenient," said Mr. Walters. + +"Well, it's _not_ convenient, Mr. Walters, so you need not expect to hear a +word about them. You'd only laugh if we were to tell you, so we're going to +keep it to ourselves, ain't we, Kinch?" + +The latter, thus appealed to, put on an air of profound mystery, and +intimated that if they were permitted to pursue the even tenor of their +way, great results might be expected; but if they were balked in their +designs, he could not answer for the consequences. + +"You and Esther have your plans," resumed Caddy, "and we have ours. We +don't believe in powder and shot, and don't want anything to do with guns; +for my part I'm afraid of them, so please let us go by--do, now, that's a +good soul!" + +"You seem to forget that I'm the commander of this fortress," said Mr. +Walters, "and that I have a right to know everything that transpires within +it; but I see you look obstinate, and as I haven't time to settle the +matter now, you may pass on. I wonder what they can be about," he remarked, +as they hurried on. "I must steal up by-and-by and see for myself." + +One after another the various friends of Mr. Walters came in, each bringing +some vague report of the designs of the mob. They all described the +excitement as growing more intense; that the houses of various prominent +Abolitionists had been threatened; that an attempt had been made to fire +one of the coloured churches; and that, notwithstanding the rioters made +little scruple in declaring their intentions, the authorities were not +using the slightest effort to restrain them, or to protect the parties +threatened. Day was fast waning, and the approaching night brought with it +clouds and cold. + +Whilst they had been engaged in their preparations for defence, none had +time to reflect upon the danger of their situation; but now that all was +prepared, and there was nothing to sustain the excitement of the last few +hours, a chill crept over the circle who were gathered round the fire. +There were no candles burning, and the uncertain glow from the grate gave a +rather weird-like look to the group. The arms stacked in the corner of the +room, and the occasional glitter of the pistol-barrels as the flames rose +and fell, gave the whole a peculiarly strange effect. + +"We look belligerent enough, I should think," remarked Mr. Walters, looking +around him. "I wish we were well out of this: it's terrible to be driven to +these extremities--but we are not the aggressors, thank God! and the +results, be they what they may, are not of our seeking. I have a right to +defend my own: I have asked protection of the law, and it is too weak, or +too indifferent, to give it; so I have no alternative but to protect +myself. But who is here? It has grown so dark in the room that I can +scarcely distinguish any one. Where are all the ladies?" "None are here +except myself," answered Esther; "all the rest are below stairs." + +"And where are you? I hear, but can't see you; give me your hand," said he, +extending his own in the direction from which her voice proceeded. "How +cold your hand is," he continued; "are you frightened?" + +"Frightened!" she replied; "I never felt calmer in my life--put your finger +on my pulse." + +Mr. Walters did as he was desired, and exclaimed, "Steady as a clock. I +trust nothing may occur before morning to cause it to beat more hurriedly." + +"Let us put some wood on these coals," suggested Mr. Ellis; "it will make a +slight blaze, and give us a chance to see each other." As he spoke he took +up a few small fagots and cast them upon the fire. + +The wood snapped and crackled, as the flames mounted the chimney and cast a +cheerful glow upon the surrounding objects: suddenly a thoroughly ignited +piece flew off from the rest and fell on the table in the midst of the +cartridges. "Run for your lives!" shrieked one of the party. "The powder! +the powder!" Simultaneously they nearly all rushed to the door. + +Mr. Walters stood as one petrified. Esther alone, of the whole party, +retained her presence of mind; springing forward, she grasped the blazing +fragment and dashed it back again into the grate. All this passed in a few +seconds, and in the end Esther was so overcome with excitement and terror, +that she fainted outright. Hearing no report, those who had fled cautiously +returned, and by their united efforts she was soon restored to +consciousness. + +"What a narrow escape!" said she, trembling, and covering her face with her +hands; "it makes me shudder to think of it." + +"We owe our lives to you, my brave girl," said Mr. Walters; "your presence +of mind has quite put us all to the blush." + +"Oh! move the powder some distance off, or the same thing may happen +again. Please do move it, Mr. Walters; I shall have no peace whilst it is +there." + +Whilst they were thus engaged, a loud commotion was heard below stairs, and +with one accord all started in the direction from whence the noise +proceeded. + +"Bring a light! bring a light!" cried Mrs. Ellis; "something dreadful has +happened." A light was soon procured, and the cause of this second alarm +fully ascertained. + +Master Kinch, in his anxiety to give himself as warlike an appearance as +possible, had added to his accoutrements an old sword that he had +discovered in an out-of-the-way corner of the garret. Not being accustomed +to weapons of this nature, he had been constantly getting it between his +legs, and had already been precipitated by it down a flight of steps, to +the imminent risk of his neck. Undaunted, however, by this mishap, he had +clung to it with wonderful tenacity, until it had again caused a disaster +the noise of which had brought all parties into the room where it had +occurred. + +The light being brought, Master Kinch crawled out from under a table with +his head and back covered with batter, a pan of which had been overturned +upon him, in consequence of his having been tripped up by his sword and +falling violently against the table on which it stood. + +"I said you had better take that skewer off," exclaimed Caddy: "It's a +wonder it hasn't broke your neck before now; but you are such a goose you +would wear it," said she, surveying her aide-de-camp with derision, as he +vainly endeavoured to scrape the batter from his face. + +"Please give me some water," cried Kinch, looking from one to the other of +the laughing group: "help a feller to get it off, can't you--it's all in my +eyes, and the yeast is blinding me." + +The only answer to this appeal was an additional shout of laughter, without +the slightest effort for his relief. At last Caddy, taking compassion upon +his forlorn condition, procured a basin of water, and assisted him to wash +from his woolly pate what had been intended for the next day's meal. +"This is the farce after what was almost a tragedy," said Mr. Walters, as +they ascended the stairs again; "I wonder what we shall have next!" + +They all returned to their chairs by the drawing-room fire after this +occurrence, and remained in comparative silence for some time, until loud +cries of "Fire! fire!" startled them from their seats. + +"The whole of the lower part of the city appears to be in a blaze," +exclaimed one of the party who had hastened to the window; "look at the +flames--they are ascending from several places. They are at their work; we +may expect them here soon." + +"Well, they'll find us prepared when they do come," rejoined Mr. Walters. + +"What do you propose?" asked Mr. Ellis. "Are we to fire on them at once, or +wait for their attack?" + +"Wait for their attack, by all means," said he, in reply;--"if they throw +stones, you'll find plenty in that room with which to return the +compliment; if they resort to fire-arms, then we will do the same; I want +to be strictly on the defensive--but at the same time we must defend +ourselves fully and energetically." + +In about an hour after this conversation a dull roar was heard in the +distance, which grew louder and nearer every moment. + +"Hist!" said Esther; "do you hear that noise? Listen! isn't that the mob +coming?" + +Mr. Walters opened the shutter, and then the sound became more distinct. On +they came, nearer and nearer, until the noise of their voices became almost +deafening. + +There was something awful in the appearance of the motley crowd that, like +a torrent, foamed and surged through the streets. Some were bearing large +pine torches that filled the air with thick smoke and partially lighted up +the surrounding gloom. Most of them were armed with clubs, and a few with +guns and pistols. + +As they approached the house, there seemed to be a sort of consultation +between the ringleaders, for soon after every light was extinguished, and +the deafening yells of "Kill the niggers!" "Down with the Abolitionists!" +were almost entirely stilled. + +"I wonder what that means," said Mr. Walters, who had closed the shutter, +and was surveying, through an aperture that had been cut, the turbulent +mass below. "Look out for something soon." + +He had scarcely finished speaking, when a voice in the street cried, +"One--two--three!" and immediately there followed a volley of missiles, +crushing in the windows of the chamber above, and rattling upon the +shutters of the room in which the party of defenders were gathered. A yell +then went up from the mob, followed by another shower of stones. + +"It is now our turn," said Mr. Walters, coolly. "Four of you place +yourselves at the windows of the adjoining room; the rest remain here. When +you see a bright light reflected on the crowd below, throw open the +shutters, and hurl down stones as long as the light is shining. Now, take +your places, and as soon as you are prepared stamp upon the floor." + +Each of the men now armed themselves with two or more of the largest stones +they could find, from the heap that had been provided for the occasion; and +in a few seconds a loud stamping upon the floor informed Mr. Walters that +all was ready. He now opened the aperture in the shutter, and placed +therein a powerful reflecting light which brought the shouting crowd below +clearly into view, and in an instant a shower of heavy stones came crashing +down upon their upturned faces. + +Yells of rage and agony ascended from the throng, who, not seeing any +previous signs of life in the house, had no anticipation of so prompt and +severe a response to their attack. For a time they swayed to and fro, +bewildered by the intense light and crushing shower of stones that had so +suddenly fallen upon them. Those in the rear, however, pressing forward, +did not permit the most exposed to retire out of reach of missiles from the +house; on perceiving which, Mr. Walters again turned the light upon them, +and immediately another stony shower came rattling down, which caused a +precipitate retreat. + +"The house is full of niggers!--the house is full of niggers!" cried +several voices--"Shoot them! kill them!" and immediately several shots were +fired at the window by the mob below. + +"Don't fire yet," said Mr. Walters to one of the young men who had his hand +upon a gun. "Stop awhile. When we do fire, let it be to some purpose--let +us make sure that some one is hit." + +Whilst they were talking, two or three bullets pierced the shutters, and +flattened themselves upon the ceiling above. + +"Those are rifle bullets," remarked one of the young men--"do let us fire." + +"It is too great a risk to approach the windows at present; keep quiet for +a little while; and, when the light is shown again, fire. But, hark!" +continued he, "they are trying to burst open the door. We can't reach them +there without exposing ourselves, and if they should get into the entry it +would be hard work to dislodge them." + +"Let us give them a round; probably it will disperse those farthest +off--and those at the door will follow," suggested one of the young men. + +"We'll try it, at any rate," replied Walters. "Take your places, don't fire +until I show the light--then pick your man, and let him have it. There is +no use to fire, you know, unless you hit somebody. Are you ready?" he +asked. + +"Yes," was the prompt reply. + +"Then here goes," said he, turning the light upon the crowd below--who, +having some experience in what would follow, did their best to get out of +reach; but they were too late--for the appearance of the light was followed +by the instantaneous report of several guns which did fearful execution +amidst the throng of ruffians. Two or three fell on the spot, and were +carried off by their comrades with fearful execrations. + +The firing now became frequent on both sides, and Esther's services came +into constant requisition. It was in vain that her father endeavoured to +persuade her to leave the room; notwithstanding the shutters had been +thrown open to facilitate operations from within and the exposure thereby +greatly increased, she resolutely refused to retire, and continued +fearlessly to load the guns and hand them to the men. + +"They've got axes at work upon the door, if they are not dislodged, they'll +cut their way in," exclaimed one of the young men--"the stones are +exhausted, and I don't know what we shall do." + +Just then the splash of water was heard, followed by shrieks of agony. + +"Oh, God! I'm scalded! I'm scalded!" cried one of the men upon the steps. +"Take me away! take me away!" + +In the midst of his cries another volume of scalding water came pouring +down upon the group at the door, which was followed by a rush from the +premises. + +"What is that--who could have done that--where has that water come from?" +asked Mr. Walters, as he saw the seething shower pass the window, and fall +upon the heads below. "I must go and see." + +He ran upstairs, and found Kinch and Caddy busy putting on more water, they +having exhausted one kettle-full--into which they had put two or three +pounds of cayenne pepper--on the heads of the crowd below. + +"We gave 'em a settler, didn't we, Mr. Walters?" asked Caddy, as he entered +the room. "It takes us; we fight with hot water. This," said she, holding +up a dipper, "is my gun. I guess we made 'em squeal." + +"You've done well, Caddy," replied he--"first-rate, my girl. I believe +you've driven them off entirely," he continued, peeping out of the window. +"They are going off, at any rate," said he, drawing in his head; "whether +they will return or not is more than I can say. Keep plenty of hot water, +ready, but don't expose yourselves, children. Weren't you afraid to go to +the window?" he asked. + +"We didn't go near it. Look at this," replied Caddy, fitting a broom handle +into the end of a very large tin dipper. "Kinch cut this to fit; so we have +nothing to do but to stand back here, dip up the water, and let them have +it; the length of the handle keeps us from being seen from the street. That +was Kinch's plan." + +"And a capital one it was too. Your head, Kinch, evidently has no batter +within, if it has without; there is a great deal in that. Keep a bright +look out," continued Mr. Walters; "I'm going downstairs. If they come +again, let them have plenty of your warm pepper-sauce." + +On returning to the drawing-room, Mr. Walters found Mr. Dennis, one of the +company, preparing to go out. "I'm about to avail myself of the advantage +afforded by my fair complexion, and play the spy," said he. "They can't +discern at night what I am, and I may be able to learn some of their +plans." + +"A most excellent idea," said Mr. Walters; "but pray be careful. You may +meet some one who will recognise you." + +"Never fear," replied Mr. Dennis. "I'll keep a bright look out for that." +And, drawing his cap far down over his eyes, to screen his face as much as +possible, he sallied out into the street. + +He had not been absent more than a quarter of an hour, when he returned +limping into the house. "Have they attacked you--are you hurt?" asked the +anxious group by which he was surrounded. + +"I'm hurt-, but not by them. I got on very well, and gleaned a great deal +of information, when I heard a sudden exclamation, and, on looking round, I +found myself recognized by a white man of my acquaintance. I ran +immediately; and whether I was pursued or not, I'm unable to say. I had +almost reached here, when my foot caught in a grating and gave my ancle +such a wrench that I'm unable to stand." As he spoke, his face grew pale +from the suffering the limb was occasioning. "I'm sorry, very sorry," he +continued, limping to the sofa; "I was going out again immediately. They +intend making an attack on Mr. Garie's house: I didn't hear his name +mentioned, but I heard one of the men, who appeared to be a ringleader, +say, 'We're going up to Winter-street, to give a coat of tar and feathers +to a white man, who is married to a nigger woman.' They can allude to none +but him. How annoying that this accident should have happened just now, of +all times. They ought to be warned." + +"Oh, poor Emily!" cried Esther, bursting into tears; "it will kill her, I +know it will; she is so ill. Some one must go and warn them. Let me try; +the mob, even if I met them, surely would not assault a woman." + +"You mustn't think of such a thing, Esther," exclaimed Mr. Walters; "the +idea isn't to be entertained for a moment. You don't know what ruthless +wretches they are. Your colour discovered you would find your sex but a +trifling protection. I'd go, but it would be certain death to me: my black +face would quickly obtain for me a passport to another world if I were +discovered in the street just now." + +"I'll go," calmly spoke Mr. Ellis. "I can't rest here and think of what +they are exposed to. By skulking through bye-streets and keeping under the +shadows of houses I may escape observation--at any rate, I must run the +risk." And he began to button up his coat. "Don't let your mother know I'm +gone; stick by her, my girl," said he, kissing Esther; "trust in +God,--He'll protect me." + +Esther hung sobbing on her father's neck. "Oh, father, father," said she, +"I couldn't bear to see you go for any one but Emily and the children." + +"I know it, dear," he replied; "it's my duty. Garie would do the same for +me, I know, even at greater risk. Good-bye! good-bye!" And, disengaging +himself from the weeping girl, he started on his errand of mercy. + +Walking swiftly forwards, he passed over more than two-thirds of the way +without the slightest interruption, the streets through which he passed +being almost entirely deserted. He had arrived within a couple of squares +of the Garies, when suddenly, on turning a corner, he found himself in the +midst of a gang of ruffians. + +"Here's a nigger! here's a nigger!" shouted two or three of them, almost +simultaneously, making at the same time a rush at Mr. Ellis, who turned and +ran, followed by the whole gang. Fear lent him wings, and he fast +outstripped his pursuers, and would have entirely escaped, had he not +turned into a street which unfortunately was closed at the other end. This +he did not discover until it was too late to retrace his steps, his +pursuers having already entered the street. + +Looking for some retreat, he perceived he was standing near an unfinished +building. Tearing off the boards that were nailed across the window, he +vaulted into the room, knocking off his hat, which fell upon the pavement +behind him. Scarcely had he groped his way to the staircase of the dwelling +when he heard the footsteps of his pursuers. + +"He can't have got through," exclaimed one of them, "the street is closed +up at the end; he must be up here somewhere." + +Lighting one of their torches, they began to look around them, and soon +discovered the hat lying beneath the window. + +"He's in here, boys; we've tree'd the 'coon," laughingly exclaimed one of +the ruffians. "Let's after him." + +Tearing off the remainder of the boards, one or two entered, opened the +door from the inside, and gave admission to the rest. + +Mr. Ellis mounted to the second story, followed by his pursuers; on he +went, until he reached the attic, from which a ladder led to the roof. +Ascending this, he drew it up after him, and found himself on the roof of a +house that was entirely isolated. + +The whole extent of the danger flashed upon him at once. Here he was +completely hemmed in, without the smallest chance for escape. He +approached the edge and looked over, but could discover nothing near enough +to reach by a leap. + +"I must sell my life dearly," he said. "God be my helper now--He is all I +have to rely upon." And as he spoke, the great drops of sweat fell from his +forehead. Espying a sheet of lead upon the roof, he rolled it into a club +of tolerable thickness, and waited the approach of his pursuers. + +"He's gone on the roof," he heard one of them exclaim, "and pulled the +ladder up after him." Just then, a head emerged from the trap-door, the +owner of which, perceiving Mr. Ellis, set up a shout of triumph. + +"We've got him! we've got him!--here he is!" which cries were answered by +the exultant voices of his comrades below. + +An attempt was now made by one of them to gain the roof; but he immediately +received a blow from Mr. Ellis that knocked him senseless into the arms of +his companions. Another attempted the same feat, and met a similar fate. + +This caused a parley as to the best mode of proceeding, which resulted in +the simultaneous appearance of three of the rioters at the opening. Nothing +daunted, Mr. Ellis attacked them with such fierceness and energy that they +were forced to descend, muttering the direst curses. In a few moments +another head appeared, at which Mr. Ellis aimed a blow of great force; and +the club descended upon a hat placed upon a stick. Not meeting the +resistance expected, it flew from his hand, and he was thrown forward, +nearly falling down the doorway. + +With a shout of triumph, they seized his arm, and held him firmly, until +one or two of them mounted the roof. + +"Throw him over! throw him over!" exclaimed some of the fiercest of the +crowd. One or two of the more merciful endeavoured to interfere against +killing him outright; but the frenzy of the majority triumphed, and they +determined to cast him into the street below. + +Mr. Ellis clung to the chimney, shrieking,--"Save me! save me!--Help! help! +Will no one save me!" His cries were unheeded by the ruffians, and the +people at the surrounding windows were unable to afford him any assistance, +even if they were disposed to do so. + +Despite his cries and resistance, they forced him to the edge of the roof; +he clinging to them the while, and shrieking in agonized terror. Forcing +off his hold, they thrust him forward and got him partially over the edge, +where he clung calling frantically for aid. One of the villains, to make +him loose his hold, struck on his fingers with the handle of a hatchet +found on the roof; not succeeding in breaking his hold by these means, +with, an oath he struck with the blade, severing two of the fingers from +one hand and deeply mangling the other. + +With a yell of agony, Mr. Ellis let go his hold, and fell upon a pile of +rubbish below, whilst a cry of triumphant malignity went up from the crowd +on the roof. + +A gentleman and some of his friends kindly carried the insensible man into +his house. "Poor fellow!" said he, "he is killed, I believe. What a gang of +wretches. These things are dreadful; that such a thing can be permitted in +a Christian city is perfectly appalling." The half-dressed family gathered +around the mangled form of Mr. Ellis, and gave vent to loud expressions of +sympathy. A doctor was quickly sent for, who stanched the blood that was +flowing from his hands and head. + +"I don't think he can live," said he, "the fall was too great. As far as I +can judge, his legs and two of his ribs are broken. The best thing we can +do, is to get him conveyed to the hospital; look in his pockets, perhaps we +can find out who he is." + +There was nothing found, however, that afforded the least clue to his name +and residence; and he was, therefore, as soon as persons could be procured +to assist, borne to the hospital, where his wounds were dressed, and the +broken limbs set. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +More Horrors. + + +Unaware of the impending danger, Mr. Garie sat watching by the bedside of +his wife. She had been quite ill; but on the evening of which we write, +although nervous and wakeful, was much better. The bleak winds of the fast +approaching winter dealt unkindly with her delicate frame, accustomed as +she was to the soft breezes of her Southern home. + +Mr. Garie had been sitting up looking at the fires in the lower part of the +city. Not having been out all that day or the one previous, he knew nothing +of the fearful state into which matters had fallen. + +"Those lights are dying away, my dear," said he to his wife; "there must +have been quite an extensive conflagration." Taking out his watch, he +continued, "almost two o'clock; why, how late I've been sitting up. I +really don't know whether it's worth while to go to bed or not, I should be +obliged to get up again at five o'clock; I go to New York to-morrow, or +rather to-day; there are some matters connected with Uncle John's will that +require my personal attention. Dear old man, how suddenly he died." + +"I wish, dear, you could put off your journey until I am better," said Mrs. +Garie, faintly; "I do hate you to go just now." + +"I would if I could, Emily; but it is impossible. I shall be back +to-morrow, or the next day, at farthest. Whilst I'm there, I'll----" + +"Hush!" interrupted Mrs. Garie, "stop a moment. Don't you hear a noise like +the shouting of a great many people." "Oh, it's only the firemen," +replied he; "as I was about to observe--" + +"Hush!" cried she again. "Listen now, that don't sound like the firemen in +the least." Mr. Garie paused as the sound of a number of voices became more +distinct. + +Wrapping his dressing-gown more closely about him, he walked into the front +room, which overlooked the street. Opening the window, he saw a number of +men--some bearing torches--coming rapidly in the direction of his dwelling. +"I wonder what all this is for; what can it mean," he exclaimed. + +They had now approached sufficiently near for him to understand their +cries. "Down with the Abolitionist--down with the Amalgamationist! give +them tar and feathers!" + +"It's a mob--and that word Amalgamationist--can it be pointed at me? It +hardly seems possible; and yet I have a fear that there is something +wrong." + +"What is it, Garie? What is the matter?" asked his wife, who, with a shawl +hastily thrown across her shoulders, was standing pale and trembling by the +window. + +"Go in, Emily, my dear, for Heaven's sake; you'll get your death of cold in +this bleak night air--go in; as soon as I discover the occasion of the +disturbance, I'll come and tell you. Pray go in." Mrs. Garie retired a few +feet from the window, and stood listening to the shouts in the street. + +The rioters, led on evidently by some one who knew what he was about, +pressed forward to Mr. Garie's house; and soon the garden in front was +filled with the shouting crowd. + +"What do you all want--why are you on my premises, creating this +disturbance?" cried Mr. Garie. + +"Come down and you'll soon find out. You white livered Abolitionist, come +out, damn you! we are going to give you a coat of tar and feathers, and +your black wench nine-and-thirty. Yes, come down--come down!" shouted +several, "or we will come up after you." + +"I warn you," replied Mr. Garie, "against any attempt at violence upon my +person, family, or property. I forbid you to advance another foot upon the +premises. If any man of you enters my house, I'll shoot him down as quick +as I would a mad dog." + +"Shut up your gap; none of your cussed speeches," said a voice in the +crowd; "if you don't come down and give yourself up, we'll come in and take +you--that's the talk, ain't it, boys?" A general shout of approval answered +this speech, and several stones were thrown at Mr. Garie, one of which +struck him on the breast. + +Seeing the utter futility of attempting to parley with the infuriated +wretches below, he ran into the room, exclaiming, "Put on some clothes, +Emily! shoes first--quick--quick, wife!--your life depends upon it. I'll +bring down the children and wake the servants. We must escape from the +house--we are attacked by a mob of demons. Hurry, Emily! do, for God sake!" + +Mr. Garie aroused the sleeping children, and threw some clothes upon them, +over which he wrapped shawls or blankets, or whatever came to hand. Rushing +into the next room, he snatched a pair of loaded pistols from the drawer of +his dressing-stand, and then hurried his terrified wife and children down +the stairs. + +"This way, dear--this way!" he cried, leading on toward the back door; "out +that way through the gate with the children, and into some of the +neighbour's houses. I'll stand here to keep the way." + +"No, no, Garie," she replied, frantically; "I won't go without you." + +"You must!" he cried, stamping his foot impatiently; "this is no time to +parley--go, or we shall all be murdered. Listen, they've broken in the +door. Quick--quick! go on;" and as he spoke, he pressed her and the +children out of the door, and closed it behind them. + +Mrs. Garie ran down the garden, followed by the children; to her horror, +she found the gate locked, and the key nowhere to be found. + +"What shall we do?" she cried. "Oh, we shall all be killed!" and her limbs +trembled beneath her with cold and terror. "Let us hide in here, mother," +suggested Clarence, running toward the wood-house; "we'll be safe in +there." Seeing that nothing better could be done, Mrs. Garie availed +herself of the suggestion; and when she was fairly inside the place, fell +fainting upon the ground. + +As she escaped through the back door, the mob broke in at the front, and +were confronting Mr. Garie, as he stood with his pistol pointed at them, +prepared to fire. + +"Come another step forward and I fire!" exclaimed he, resolutely; but those +in the rear urged the advance of those in front, who approached cautiously +nearer and nearer their victim. Fearful of opening the door behind him, +lest he should show the way taken by his retreating wife, he stood +uncertain how to act; a severe blow from a stone, however, made him lose +all reflection, and he immediately fired. A loud shriek followed the report +of his pistol, and a shower of stones was immediately hurled upon him. + +He quickly fired again, and was endeavouring to open the door to effect his +escape, when a pistol was discharged close to his head and he fell forward +on the entry floor lifeless. + +All this transpired in a few moments, and in the semi-darkness of the +entry. Rushing forward over his lifeless form, the villains hastened +upstairs in search of Mrs. Garie. They ran shouting through the house, +stealing everything valuable that they could lay their hands upon, and +wantonly destroying the furniture; they would have fired the house, but +were prevented by McCloskey, who acted as leader of the gang. + +For two long hours they ransacked the house, breaking all they could not +carry off, drinking the wine in Mr. Garie's cellar, and shouting and +screaming like so many fiends. + +Mrs. Garie and the children lay crouching with terror in the wood-house, +listening to the ruffians as they went through the yard cursing her and her +husband and uttering the direst threats of what they would do should she +fall into their hands. Once she almost fainted on hearing one of them +propose opening the wood-house, to see if there was anything of value in +it--but breathed again when they abandoned it as not worth their attention. + +The children crouched down beside her--scarcely daring to whisper, lest +they should attract the attention of their persecutors. Shivering with cold +they drew closer around them the blanket with which they had been +providentially provided. + +"Brother, my feet are _so_ cold," sobbed little Em. "I can't feel my toes. +Oh, I'm so cold!" + +"Put your feet closer to me, sissy," answered her brother, baring himself +to enwrap her more thoroughly; "put my stockings on over yours;" and, as +well as they were able in the dark, he drew his stockings on over her +benumbed feet. "There, sis, that's better," he whispered, with an attempt +at cheerfulness, "now you'll be warmer." + +Just then Clarence heard a groan from his mother, so loud indeed that it +would have been heard without but for the noise and excitement around the +house--and feeling for her in the dark, he asked, "Mother, are you worse? +are you sick?" + +A groan was her only answer. + +"Mother, mother," he whispered, "do speak, please do!" and he endeavoured +to put his arm around her. + +"Don't, dear--don't," said she, faintly, "just take care of your +sister--you can't do me any good--don't speak, dear, the men will hear +you." + +Reluctantly the frightened child turned his attention again to his little +sister; ever and anon suppressed groans from his mother would reach his +ears--at last he heard a groan even fierce in its intensity; and then the +sounds grew fainter and fainter until they entirely ceased. The night to +the poor shivering creatures in their hiding place seemed interminably +long, and the sound of voices in the house had not long ceased when the +faint light of day pierced their cheerless shelter. + +Hearing the voices of some neighbours in the yard, Clarence hastened out, +and seizing one of the ladies by the dress, cried imploringly, "Do come to +my mother, she's sick." + +"Why, where did you come from, chil?" said the lady, with a start of +astonishment. "Where have you been?" + +"In there," he answered, pointing to the wood-house. "Mother and sister are +in there." + +The lady, accompanied by one or two others, hastened to the wood-house. + +"Where is she?" asked the foremost, for in the gloom of the place she could +not perceive anything. + +"Here," replied Clarence, "she's lying here." On opening a small window, +they saw Mrs. Garie lying in a corner stretched upon the boards, her head +supported by some blocks. "She's asleep," said Clarence. "Mother--mother," +but there came no answer. "MOTHER," said he, still louder, but yet there +was no response. + +Stepping forward, one of the females opened the shawl, which was held +firmly in the clenched hands of Mrs. Garie--and there in her lap partially +covered by her scanty nightdress, was discovered a new-born babe, who with +its mother had journeyed in the darkness, cold, and night, to the better +land, that they might pour out their woes upon the bosom of their Creator. + +The women gazed in mournful silence on the touching scene before them. +Clarence was on his knees, regarding with fear and wonder the unnatural +stillness of his mother--the child had never before looked on death, and +could not recognize its presence. Laying his hand on her cold cheek, he +cried, with faltering voice, "Mother, _can't_ you speak?" but there was no +answering light in the fixed stare of those glassy eyes, and the lips of +the dead could not move. "Why don't she speak?" he asked. + +"She can't, my dear; you must come away and leave her. She's better off, my +darling--she's _dead_." + +Then there was a cry of grief sprung up from the heart of that orphan boy, +that rang in those women's ears for long years after; it was the first +outbreak of a loving childish heart pierced with life's bitterest grief--a +mother's loss. + +The two children were kindly taken into the house of some benevolent +neighbour, as the servants had all fled none knew whither. Little Em was in +a profound stupor--the result of cold and terror, and it was found +necessary to place her under the care of a physician. + +After they had all gone, an inquest was held by the coroner, and a very +unsatisfactory and untruthful verdict pronounced--one that did not at all +coincide with the circumstances of the case, but such a one as might have +been expected where there was a great desire to screen the affair from +public scrutiny. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +An Anxious Day. + + +Esther Ellis, devoured with anxiety respecting the safety of her father and +the Garies, paced with impatient step up and down the drawing-room. Opening +the window, she looked to see if she could discover any signs of day. "It's +pitchy dark," she exclaimed, "and yet almost five o'clock. Father has run a +fearful risk. I hope nothing has happened to him." + +"I trust not. I think he's safe enough somewhere," said Mr. Walters. "He's +no doubt been very cautious, and avoided meeting any one--don't worry +yourself, my child, 'tis most likely he remained with them wherever they +went; probably they are at the house of some of their neighbours." + +"I can't help feeling dreadfully oppressed and anxious," continued she. "I +wish he would come." + +Whilst she was speaking, her mother entered the room. "Any news of your +father?" she asked, in a tone of anxiety. + +Esther endeavoured to conceal her own apprehensions, and rejoined, in as +cheerful tone as she could assume--"Not yet, mother--it's too dark for us +to expect him yet--he'll remain most likely until daylight." + +"He shouldn't have gone had I been here--he's no business to expose himself +in this way." + +"But, mother," interrupted Esther, "only think of it--the safety of Emily +and the children were depending on it--we mustn't be selfish." + +"I know we oughtn't to be, my child," rejoined her mother, "but it's +natural to the best of us--sometimes we can't help it." Five--six--seven +o'clock came and passed, and still there were no tidings of Mr. Ellis. + +"I can bear this suspense no longer," exclaimed Esther. "If father don't +come soon, I shall go and look for him. I've tried to flatter myself that +he's safe; but I'm almost convinced now that something has happened to him, +or he'd have come back long before this--he knows how anxious we would all +be about him. I've tried to quiet mother and Caddy by suggesting various +reasons for his delay, but, at the same time, I cannot but cherish the most +dismal forebodings. I must go and look for him." + +"No, no, Esther--stay where you are at present--leave that to me. I'll +order a carriage and go up to Garie's immediately." + +"Well, do, Mr. Walters, and hurry back: won't you?" she rejoined, as he +left the apartment. + +In a few moments he returned, prepared to start, and was speedily driven to +Winter-street. He found a group of people gathered before the gate, gazing +into the house. "The place has been attacked," said he, as he walked +towards the front door--picking his way amidst fragments of furniture, +straw, and broken glass. At the entrance of the house he was met by Mr. +Balch, Mr. Garie's lawyer. + +"This is a shocking affair, Walters," said he, extending his hand--he was +an old friend of Mr. Walters. + +"Very shocking, indeed," he replied, looking around. "But where is Garie? +We sent to warn them of this. I hope they are all safe." + +"Safe!" repeated Mr. Balch, with an air of astonishment. "Why, man, haven't +you heard?" + +"Heard what?" asked Mr. Walters, looking alarmed. + +"That Mr. and Mrs. Garie are dead--both were killed last night." + +The shock of this sudden and totally unexpected disclosure was such that +Mr. Walters leaned against the doorway for support. "It can't be possible," +he exclaimed at last, "not dead!" "Yes, _dead_, I regret to say--he was +shot through the head--and she died in the wood-house, of premature +confinement, brought on by fright and exposure." + +"And the children?" gasped Walters. + +"They are safe, with some neighbours--it's heart-breaking to hear them +weeping for their mother." Here a tear glistened in the eye of Mr. Balch, +and ran down his cheek. Brushing it off, he continued: "The coroner has +just held an inquest, and they gave a most truthless verdict: nothing +whatever is said of the cause of the murder, or of the murderers; they +simply rendered a verdict--death caused by a wound from a pistol-shot, and +hers--death from exposure. There seemed the greatest anxiety on the part of +the coroner to get the matter over as quickly as possible, and few or no +witnesses were examined. But I'm determined to sift the matter to the +bottom; if the perpetrators of the murder can be discovered, I'll leave no +means untried to find them." + +"Do you know any one who sat on the inquest?" asked Walters. + +"Yes, one," was the reply, "Slippery George, the lawyer; you are acquainted +with him--George Stevens. I find he resides next door." + +"Do you know," here interrupted Mr. Walters, "that I've my suspicions that +that villain is at the bottom of these disturbances or at least has a large +share in them. I have a paper in my possession, in his handwriting--it is +in fact a list of the places destroyed by the mob last night--it fell into +the hands of a friend of mine by accident--he gave it to me--it put me on +my guard; and when the villains attacked my house last night they got +rather a warmer reception than they bargained for." + +"You astonish me! Is it possible your place was assaulted also?" asked Mr. +Balch. + +"Indeed, it was--and a hot battle we had of it for a short space of time. +But how did you hear of this affair?" + +"I was sent for by I can't tell whom. When I came and saw what had +happened, I immediately set about searching for a will that I made for Mr. +Garie a few weeks since; it was witnessed and signed at my office, and he +brought it away with him. I can't discover it anywhere. I've ransacked +every cranny. It must have been carried off by some one. You are named in +it conjointly with myself as executor. All the property is left to her, +poor thing, and his children. We must endeavour to find it somewhere--at +any rate the children are secure; they are the only heirs--he had not, to +my knowledge, a single white relative. But let us go in and see the +bodies." + +They walked together into the back room where the bodies were lying. Mrs. +Garie was stretched upon the sofa, covered with a piano cloth; and her +husband was laid upon a long table, with a silk window-curtain thrown +across his face. + +The two gazed in silence on the face of Mr. Garie--the brow was still knit, +the eyes staring vacantly, and the marble whiteness of the face unbroken, +save by a few gouts of blood near a small blue spot over the eye where the +bullet had entered. + +"He was the best-hearted creature in the world," said Walters, as he +re-covered the face. + +"Won't you look at her?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"No, no--I can't," continued Walters; "I've seen horrors enough for one +morning. I've another thing on my mind! A friend who assisted in the +defence of my house started up here last night, to warn them of their +danger, and when I left home he had not returned: it's evident he hasn't +been here, and I greatly fear some misfortune has befallen him. Where are +the children? Poor little orphans, I must see them before I go." + +Accompanied by Mr. Balch, he called at the house where Clarence and Em had +found temporary shelter. The children ran to him as soon as he entered the +room. "Oh! Mr. Walters," sobbed Clarence, "my mother's dead--my mother's +dead!" + +"Hush, dears--hush!" he replied, endeavouring to restrain his own tears, as +he took little Em in his arms. "Don't cry, my darling," said he, as she +gave rent to a fresh outburst of tears. + +"Oh, Mr. Walters!" said she, still sobbing, "she was all the mother I had." + +Mr. Balch here endeavoured to assist in pacifying the two little mourners. + +"Why don't father come?" asked Clarence. "Have you seen him, Mr. Walters?" + +Mr. Walters was quite taken aback by this inquiry, which clearly showed +that the children were still unaware of the extent of their misfortunes. +"I've seen him, my child," said he, evasively; "you'll see him before +long." And fearful of further questioning, he left the house, promising +soon to return. + +Unable longer to endure her anxiety respecting her father, Esther +determined not to await the return of Mr. Walters, which had already been +greatly delayed, but to go herself in search of him. It had occurred to her +that, instead of returning from the Garies direct to them, he had probably +gone to his own home to see if it had been disturbed during the night. + +Encouraged by this idea, without consulting any one, she hastily put on her +cloak and bonnet, and took the direction of her home. Numbers of people +were wending their way to the lower part of the city, to gratify their +curiosity by gazing upon the havoc made by the rioters during the past +night. + +Esther found her home a heap of smoking ruins; some of the neighbours who +recognized her gathered round, expressing their sympathy and regret. But +she seemed comparatively careless respecting the loss of their property; +and in answer to their kind expressions, could only ask, "Have you seen my +father?--do you know where my father is?" + +None, however, had seen him; and after gazing for a short time upon the +ruins of what was once a happy home, she turned mournfully away, and walked +back to Mr. Walters's. + +"Has father come?" she inquired, as soon as the door was opened. "Not +yet!" was the discouraging reply: "and Mr. Walters, he hasn't come back, +either, miss!" + +Esther stood for some moments hesitating whether to go in, or to proceed in +her search. The voice of her mother calling her from the stairway decided +her, and she went in. + +Mrs. Ellis and Caddy wept freely on learning from Esther the destruction of +their home. This cause of grief, added to the anxiety produced by the +prolonged absence of Mr. Ellis, rendered them truly miserable. + +Whilst they were condoling with one another, Mr. Walters returned. He was +unable to conceal his fears that something had happened to Mr. Ellis, and +frankly told them so; he also gave a detailed account of what had befallen +the Garies, to the great horror and grief of all. + +As soon as arrangements could be made, Mr. Walters and Esther set out in +search of her father. All day long they went from place to place, but +gained no tidings of him; and weary and disheartened they returned at +night, bringing with them the distressing intelligence of their utter +failure to procure any information respecting him. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +The Lost One Found. + + +On the day succeeding the events described in our last chapter, Mr. Walters +called upon Mr. Balch, for the purpose of making the necessary preparations +for the interment of Mr. and Mrs. Garie. + +"I think," said Mr. Balch, "we had better bury them in the Ash-grove +cemetery; it's a lovely spot--all my people are buried there." + +"The place is fine enough, I acknowledge," rejoined Mr. Walters; "but I +much doubt if you can procure the necessary ground." + +"Oh, yes, you can!" said Mr. Balch; "there are a number of lots still +unappropriated." + +"That may very likely be so; but are you sure we can get one if we apply?" + +"Of course we can--what is to prevent?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"You forget," replied Mr. Walters, "that Mrs. Garie was a coloured woman." + +"If it wasn't such a solemn subject I really should be obliged to laugh at +you, Walters," rejoined Mr. Balch, with a smile--"you talk ridiculously. +What can her complexion have to do with her being buried there, I should +like to know?" + +"It has everything to do with it! Can it be possible you are not aware that +they won't even permit a coloured person to walk through the ground, much +less to be buried there!" + +"You astonish me, Walters! Are you sure of it?" + +"I give you my word of honour it is so! But why should you be astonished at +such treatment of the dead, when you see how they conduct themselves +towards the living? I have a friend," continued Mr. Walters, "who +purchased a pew for himself and family in a white-church, and the deacons +actually removed the floor from under it, to prevent his sitting there. +They refuse us permission to kneel by the side of the white communicants at +the Lord's Supper, and give us separate pews in obscure corners of their +churches. All this you know--why, then, be surprised that they carry their +prejudices into their graveyards?--the conduct is all of a piece." + +"Well, Walters, I know the way things are conducted in our churches is +exceedingly reprehensible; but I really did not know they stretched their +prejudices to such an extent." + +"I assure you they do, then," resumed Mr. Walters; "and in this very matter +you'll find I'm correct. Ask Stormley, the undertaker, and hear what he'll +tell you. Oh! a case in point.--About six months ago, one of our wealthiest +citizens lost by death an old family servant, a coloured woman, a sort of +half-housekeeper--half-friend. She resembled him so much, that it was +generally believed she was his sister. Well, he tried to have her laid in +their family vault, and it was refused; the directors thought it would be +creating a bad precedent--they said, as they would not sell lots to +coloured persons, they couldn't consistently permit them to be buried in +those of the whites." + +"Then Ash-grove must be abandoned; and in lieu of that what can you +propose?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"I should say we can't do better than lay them in the graveyard of the +coloured Episcopal church." + +"Let it be there, then. You will see to the arrangements, Walters. I shall +have enough on my hands for the present, searching for that will: I have +already offered a large reward for it--I trust it may turn up yet." + +"Perhaps it may," rejoined Mr. Walters; "we must hope so, at least. I've +brought the children to my house, where they are under the care of a young +lady who was a great friend of their mother's; though it seems like putting +too much upon the poor young creature, to throw them upon her for +consolation, when she is almost distracted with her own griefs. I think I +mentioned to you yesterday, that her father is missing; and, to add to +their anxieties, their property has been all destroyed by the rioters. They +have a home with me for the present, and may remain there as long as they +please." + +"Oh! I remember you told me something of them yesterday; and now I come to +think of it, I saw in the Journal this morning, that a coloured man was +lying at the hospital very much injured, whose name they could not +ascertain. Can it be possible that he is the man you are in search of?" + +"Let me see the article," asked Mr. Walters. Mr. Balch handed him the +paper, and pointed out the paragraph in question. + +"I'll go immediately to the hospital," said he, as he finished reading, +"and see if it is my poor friend; I have great fears that it is. You'll +excuse my leaving so abruptly--I must be off immediately." + +On hastening to the hospital, Mr. Walters arrived just in time to be +admitted to the wards; and on being shown the person whose name they had +been unable to discover, he immediately recognized his friend. + +"Ellis, my poor fellow," he exclaimed, springing forward. + +"Stop, stop," cried the attendant, laying his hand upon Mr. Walters's +shoulder; "he is hovering between life and death, the least agitation might +be fatal to him. The doctor says, if he survives the night, he may probably +get better; but he has small chance of life. I hardly think he will last +twelve hours more, he's been dreadfully beaten; there are two or three +gashes on his head, his leg is broken, and his hands have been so much cut, +that the surgeon thinks they'll never be of any use to him, even if he +recovers." + +"What awful intelligence for his family," said Mr. Walters; "they are +already half distracted about him." + +Mr. Ellis lay perfectly unconscious of what was passing around him, and his +moans were deeply affecting to hear, unable to move but one limb--he was +the picture of helplessness and misery. + +"It's time to close; we don't permit visitors to remain after this hour," +said the attendant; "come to-morrow, you can see your friend, and remain +longer with him;" and bidding Mr. Walters good morning, he ushered him from +the ward. + +"How shall I ever find means to break this to the girls and their mother?" +said he, as he left the gates of the hospital; "it will almost kill them; +really I don't know what I shall say to them." + +He walked homeward with hesitating steps, and on arriving at his house, he +paused awhile before the door, mustering up courage to enter; at last he +opened it with the air of a man who had a disagreeable duty to perform, and +had made up his mind to go through with it. "Tell Miss Ellis to come to the +drawing-room," said he to the servant; "merely say she's wanted--don't say +I've returned." + +He waited but a few moments before Esther made her appearance, looking sad +and anxious. "Oh, it's you," she said, with some surprise. "You have news +of father?" + +"Yes, Esther, I have news; but I am sorry to say not of a pleasant +character." + +"Oh, Mr. Walters, nothing serious I hope has happened to him?" she asked, +in an agitated tone. + +"I'm sorry to say there has, Esther; he has met with an accident--a sad and +severe one--he's been badly wounded." Esther turned deadly pale at this +announcement, and leaned upon the table for support. + +"I sent for you, Esther," continued Mr. Walters, "in preference to your +mother, because I knew you to be courageous in danger, and I trusted you +would be equally so in misfortune. Your father's case is a very critical +one--very. It appears that after leaving here, he fell into the hands of +the rioters, by whom he was shockingly beaten. He was taken to the +hospital, where he now remains." + +"Oh, let me go to him at once, do, Mr. Walters! + +"My dear child, it is impossible for you to see him to-day, it is long past +the visiting hour; moreover, I don't think him in a state that would permit +the least agitation. To-morrow you can go with me." Esther did not weep, +her heart was too full for tears. With a pale face, and trembling lips, she +said to Mr. Walters, "God give us strength to bear up under these +misfortunes; we are homeless--almost beggars--our friends have been +murdered, and my father is now trembling on the brink of the grave; such +troubles as these," said she, sinking into a chair, "are enough to crush +any one." + +"I know it, Esther; I know it, my child. I sympathize with you deeply. All +that I have is at your disposal. You may command me in anything. Give +yourself no uneasiness respecting the future of your mother and family, let +the result to your father be what it may: always bear in mind that, next to +God, I am your best friend. I speak thus frankly to you, Esther, because I +would not have you cherish any hopes of your father's recovery; from his +appearance, I should say there is but little, if any. I leave to you, my +good girl, the task of breaking this sad news to your mother and sister; I +would tell them, but I must confess, Esther, I'm not equal to it, the +events of the last day or two have almost overpowered me." + +Esther's lips quivered again, as she repeated the words, "Little hope; did +the doctor say that?" she asked. + +"I did not see the doctor," replied he; "perhaps there may be a favourable +change during the night. I'd have you prepare for the worst, whilst you +hope for the best. Go now and try to break it as gently as possible to your +mother." + +Esther left the room with heavy step, and walked to the chamber where her +mother was sitting. Caddy also was there, rocking backwards and forwards in +a chair, in an earnest endeavour to soothe to sleep little Em, who was +sitting in her lap. + +"Who was it, Esther?" asked, her mother. + +"Mr. Walters," she hesitatingly answered. + +"Was it? Well, has he heard anything of your father?" she asked, anxiously. + +Esther turned away her head, and remained silent. + +"Why don't you answer?" asked her mother, with an alarmed look; "if you +know anything of him, for God's sake tell me. Whatever it may be, it can't +be worse than I expect; is he dead?" she asked. + +"No--no, mother, he's not dead; but he's sick, very sick, mother. Mr. +Walters found him in the hospital." + +"In the hospital! how came he there? Don't deceive me, Esther, there's +something behind all this; are you telling me the truth? is he still +alive?" + +"Mother, believe me, he is still alive, but how long he may remain so, God +only knows." Mrs. Ellis, at this communication, leant her head upon the +table, and wept uncontrollably. Caddy put down her little charge, and stood +beside her mother, endeavouring to soothe her, whilst unable to restrain +her own grief. + +"Let us go to him, Esther," said her mother, rising; "I must see him--let +us go at once." + +"We can't, mother; Mr. Walters says it's impossible for us to see him +to-day; they don't admit visitors after a certain hour in the morning." + +"They _must_ admit me: I'll tell them I'm his wife; when they know that, +they _can't_ refuse me." Quickly dressing themselves, Esther, Caddy, and +their mother were about to start for the hospital, when Mr. Walters +entered. + +"Where are you all going?" he asked. + +"To the hospital," answered Mrs. Ellis; "I must see my husband." + +"I have just sent there, Ellen, to make arrangements to hear of him every +hour. You will only have the grief of being refused admission if you go; +they're exceedingly strict--no one is admitted to visit a patient after a +certain hour; try and compose yourselves; sit down, I want to talk to you +for a little while." + +Mrs. Ellis mechanically obeyed; and on sitting down, little Em crept into +her lap, and nestled in her arms. + +"Ellen," said Mr. Walters, taking a seat by her; "it's useless to disguise +the fact that Ellis is in a precarious situation--how long he may be sick +it is impossible to say; as soon as it is practicable, should he get +better, we will bring him here. You remember, Ellen, that years ago, when I +was young and poor, Ellis often befriended me--now 'tis my turn. You must +all make up your minds to remain with me--for ever, if you like--for the +present, whether you like it or not. I'm going to be dreadfully obstinate, +and have my own way completely about the matter. Here I've a large house, +furnished from top to bottom with every comfort. Often I've wandered +through it, and thought myself a selfish old fellow to be surrounded with +so much luxury, and keep it entirely to myself. God has blessed me with +abundance, and to what better use can it be appropriated than the relief of +my friends? Now, Ellen, you shall superintend the whole of the +establishment, Esther shall nurse her father, Caddy shall stir up the +servants, and I'll look on and find my happiness in seeing you all happy. +Now, what objection can you urge against that arrangement?" concluded he, +triumphantly. + +"Why, we shall put you to great inconvenience, and place ourselves under an +obligation we can never repay," answered Mrs. Ellis. + +"Don't despair of that--never mind the obligation; try and be as cheerful +as you can; to-morrow we shall see Ellis, and perhaps find him better; let +us at least hope for the best." + +Esther looked with grateful admiration at Mr. Walters, as he left the room. +"What a good heart he has, mother," said she, as he closed the door behind +him; "just such a great tender heart as one should expect to find in so +fine a form." + +Mrs. Ellis and her daughters were the first who were found next day, at the +office of the doorkeeper of the hospital waiting an opportunity to see +their sick friends. + +"You're early, ma'am," said a little bald-headed official, who sat at his +desk fronting the door; "take a chair near the fire--it's dreadful cold +this morning." + +"Very cold," replied Esther, taking a seat beside her mother; "how long +will it be before we can go in?" + +"Oh, you've good an hour to wait--the doctor hasn't come yet," replied the +door-keeper. "How is my husband?" tremblingly inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"Who is your husband?--you don't know his number, do you? Never know names +here--go by numbers." + +"We don't know the number," rejoined Esther; "my father's name is Ellis; he +was brought here two or three nights since--he was beaten by the mob." + +"Oh, yes; I know now who you mean--number sixty--bad case that, shocking +bad case--hands chopped--head smashed--leg broke; he'll have to cross over, +I guess--make a die of it, I'm afraid." + +Mrs. Ellis shuddered, and turned pale, as the man coolly discussed her +husband's injuries, and their probable fatal termination. Caddy, observing +her agitation, said, "Please, sir, don't talk of it; mother can't bear it." + +The man looked at them compassionately for a few moments--then continued: +"You mustn't think me hard-hearted--I see so much of these things, that I +can't feel them as others do. This is a dreadful thing to you, no doubt, +but it's an every-day song to me--people are always coming here mangled in +all sorts of ways--so, you see, I've got used to it--in fact, I'd rather +miss 'em now if they didn't come. I've sat in this seat every day for +almost twenty years;" and he looked on the girls and their mother as he +gave them this piece of information as if he thought they ought to regard +him henceforth with great reverence. + +Not finding them disposed to converse, the doorkeeper resumed the newspaper +he was reading when they entered, and was soon deeply engrossed in a +horrible steam-boat accident. + +The sound of wheels in the courtyard attracting his attention, he looked +up, and remarked: "Here's the doctor--as soon as he has walked the wards +you'll be admitted." + +Mrs. Ellis and her daughters turned round as the door opened, and, to their +great joy, recognized Doctor Burdett. + +"How d'ye do?" said he, extending his hand to Mrs. Ellis--"what's the +matter? Crying!" he continued, looking at their tearful faces; "what has +happened?" + +"Oh, doctor," said Esther, "father's lying here, very much injured; and +they think he'll die," said she, giving way to a fresh burst of grief. + +"Very much injured--die--how is this?--I knew nothing of it--I haven't been +here before this week." + +Esther hereupon briefly related the misfortunes that had befallen her +father. + +"Dear me--dear me," repeated the kind old doctor. + +"There, my dear; don't fret--he'll get better, my child--I'll take him in +hand at once. My dear Mrs. Ellis, weeping won't do the least good, and only +make you sick yourself. Stop, do now--I'll go and see him immediately, and +as soon as possible you shall be admitted." + +They had not long to wait before a message came from Doctor Burdett, +informing them that they could now be permitted to see the sufferer. + +"You must control yourselves," said the doctor to the sobbing women, as he +met them at the door; "you mustn't do anything to agitate him--his +situation is extremely critical." + +The girls and their mother followed him to the bedside of Mr. Ellis, who, +ghastly pale, lay before them, apparently unconscious. + +Mrs. Ellis gave but one look at her husband, and, with a faint cry, sank +fainting upon the floor. The noise partially aroused him; he turned his +head, and, after an apparent effort, recognized his daughters standing +beside him: he made a feeble attempt to raise his mutilated hands, and +murmured faintly, "You've come at last!" then closing his eyes, he dropped +his arms, as if exhausted by the effort. + +Esther knelt beside him, and pressed a kiss on his pale face. +"Father!--father!" said she, softly. He opened his eyes again, and a smile +of pleasure broke over his wan face, and lighted up his eyes, as he feebly +said, "God bless you, darlings! I thought you'd never come. Where's mother +and Caddy?" + +"Here," answered Esther, "here, by me; your looks frightened her so, that +she's fainted." Doctor Burdett here interposed, and said: "You must all +go now; he's too weak to bear more at present." + +"Let me stay with him a little longer," pleaded Esther. + +"No, my child, it's impossible," he continued; "besides, your mother will +need your attention;" and, whilst he spoke, he led her into an adjoining +room, where the others had preceded her. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +Charlie Distinguishes Himself. + + +Charlie had now been many weeks under the hospitable roof of Mrs. Bird, +improving in health and appearance. Indeed, it would have been a wonder if +he had not, as the kind mistress of the mansion seemed to do nought else, +from day to day, but study plans for his comfort and pleasure. There was +one sad drawback upon the contentment of the dear old lady, and that was +her inability to procure Charlie's admission to the academy. + +One morning Mr. Whately called upon her, and, throwing himself into a +chair, exclaimed: "It's all to no purpose; their laws are as unalterable as +those of the Medes and Persians--arguments and entreaty are equally thrown +away upon them; I've been closeted at least half a dozen times with each +director; and as all I can say won't make your _protege_ a shade whiter, +I'm afraid his admission to the academy must be given up." + +"It's too bad," rejoined Mrs. Bird. "And who, may I ask, were the principal +opposers?" + +"They all opposed it, except Mr. Weeks and Mr. Bentham." + +"Indeed!--why they are the very ones that I anticipated would go against it +tooth and nail. And Mr. Glentworth--surely he was on our side?" + +"He!--why, my dear madam, he was the most rabid of the lot. With his +sanctified face and canting tongue!" + +"I'm almost ashamed to own it--but it's the truth, and I shouldn't hesitate +to tell it--I found the most pious of the directors the least accessible; +as to old Glentworth, he actually talked to me as if I was recommending the +committal of some horrid sin. I'm afraid I shall be set down by him as a +rabid Abolitionist, I got so warm on the subject. I've cherished as strong +prejudices against coloured people as any one; but I tell you, seeing how +contemptible it makes others appear, has gone a great way towards +eradicating it in me. I found myself obliged to use the same arguments +against it that are used by the Abolitionists, and in endeavouring to +convince others of the absurdity of their prejudices, I convinced myself." + +"I'd set my heart upon it," said Mrs. Bird, in a tone of regret; "but I +suppose I'll have to give it up. Charlie don't know I've made application +for his admission, and has been asking me to let him go. A great many of +the boys who attend there have become acquainted with him, and it was only +yesterday that Mr. Glentworth's sons were teasing me to consent to his +beginning there the next term. The boys," concluded she, "have better +hearts than their parents." + +"Oh, I begin to believe it's all sham, this prejudice; I'm getting quite +disgusted with myself for having had it--or rather thinking I had it. As +for saying it is innate, or that there is any natural antipathy to that +class, it's all perfect folly; children are not born with it, or why +shouldn't they shrink from a black nurse or playmate? It's all bosh," +concluded he, indignantly, as he brought his cane down with a rap. + +"Charlie's been quite a means of grace to you," laughingly rejoined Mrs. +Bird, amused at his vehemence of manner. "Well, I'm going to send him to +Sabbath-school next Sunday; and, if there is a rebellion against his +admission there, I shall be quite in despair." + +It is frequently the case, that we are urged by circumstances to the +advocacy of a measure in which we take but little interest, and of the +propriety of which we are often very sceptical; but so surely as it is just +in itself, in our endeavours to convert others we convince ourselves; and, +from lukewarm apologists, we become earnest advocates. This was just Mr. +Whately's case: he had begun to canvass for the admission of Charlie with +a doubtful sense of its propriety, and in attempting to overcome the +groundless prejudices of others, he was convicted of his own. + +Happily, in his case, conviction was followed by conversion, and as he +walked home from Mrs. Bird's, he made up his mind that, if they attempted +to exclude Charlie from the Sabbath-school, he would give them a piece of +his mind, and then resign his superintendency of it. + +On arriving at home, he found waiting for him a young lady, who was +formerly a member of his class in the Sabbath-school. "I've come," said +she, "to consult you about forming an adult class in our school for +coloured persons. We have a girl living with us, who would be very glad to +attend, and she knows two or three others. I'll willingly take the class +myself. I've consulted the pastor and several others, and no one seems to +anticipate any objections from the scholars, if we keep them on a separate +bench, and do not mix them up with the white children." + +"I'm delighted to hear you propose it," answered Mr. Whately, quite +overjoyed at the opening it presented, "the plan meets my warmest approval. +I decidedly agree with you in the propriety of our making some effort for +the elevation and instruction of this hitherto neglected class--any aid I +can render----" + +"You astonish me," interrupted Miss Cass, "though I must say very +agreeably. You were the last person from whom I thought of obtaining any +countenance. I did not come to you until armed with the consent of almost +all the parties interested, because from you I anticipated considerable +opposition," and in her delight, the young girl grasped Mr. Whately's hand, +and shook it very heartily. + +"Oh, my opinions relative to coloured people have lately undergone +considerable modification; in fact," said he, with some little confusion, +"quite a thorough revolution. I don't, think we have quite done our duty by +these people. Well, well, we must make the future atone for the past." + +Miss Cass had entered upon her project with all the enthusiasm of youth, +and being anxious that her class, "in point of numbers," should make a +presentable appearance, had drafted into it no less a person than Aunt +Comfort. + +Aunt Comfort was a personage of great importance in the little village of +Warmouth, and one whose services were called into requisition on almost +every great domestic occasion. + +At births she frequently officiated, and few young mothers thought +themselves entirely safe if the black good-humoured face of Aunt Comfort +was not to be seen at their bedside. She had a hand in the compounding of +almost every bridecake, and had been known to often leave houses of +feasting, to prepare weary earth-worn travellers for their final place of +rest. Every one knew, and all liked her, and no one was more welcome at the +houses of the good people of Warmouth than Aunt Comfort. + +But whilst rendering her all due praise for her domestic acquirements, +justice compels us to remark that Aunt Comfort was not a literary +character. She could get up a shirt to perfection, and made irreproachable +chowder, but she was not a woman of letters. In fact, she had arrived at +maturity at a time when negroes and books seldom came in familiar contact; +and if the truth must be told, she cared very little about the latter. "But +jist to 'blege Miss Cass," she consented to attend her class, averring as +she did so, "that she didn't 'spect she was gwine to larn nothin' when she +got thar." + +Miss Cass, however, was of the contrary opinion, and anticipated that after +a few Sabbaths, Aunt Comfort would prove to be quite a literary phenomenon. +The first time their class assembled the white children well-nigh +dislocated their necks, in their endeavours to catch glimpses of the +coloured scholars, who were seated on a backless bench, in an obscure +corner of the room. + +Prominent amongst them shone Aunt Comfort, who in honour of this +extraordinary occasion, had retrimmed her cap, which was resplendent with +bows of red ribbon as large as peonies. She had a Sunday-school primer in +her hand, and was repeating the letters with the utmost regularity, as +Miss Cass pronounced them. They got on charmingly until after crossing over +the letter O, as a matter of course they came to P and Q. + +"Look here," said Aunt Comfort, with a look of profound erudition, "here's +anoder O. What's de use of having two of 'em?" + +"No, no, Aunt Comfort--that's Q--the letter Q." + +"Umph," grunted the old woman, incredulously, "what's de use of saying +dat's a Q, when you jest said not a minute ago 'twas O?" + +"This is not the same," rejoined the teacher, "don't you see the little +tail at the bottom of it?" + +Aunt Comfort took off her silver spectacles, and gave the glasses of them a +furious rub, then after essaying another look, exclaimed, "What, you don't +mean dat 'ere little speck down at the bottom of it, does yer?" + +"Yes, Aunt Comfort, that little speck, as you call it, makes all the +difference--it makes O into Q." + +"Oh, go 'way, child," said she, indignantly, "you isn't gwine to fool me +dat ar way. I knows you of old, honey--you's up to dese 'ere things--you +know you allus was mighty 'chevious, and I isn't gwine to b'lieve dat dat +ar little speck makes all the difference--no such thing, case it +don't--deys either both O's or both Q's. I'm clar o' dat--deys either one +or tother." + +Knowing by long experience the utter futility of attempting to convince +Aunt Comfort that she was in the wrong, by anything short of a miracle, the +teacher wisely skipped over the obnoxious letter, then all went smoothly on +to the conclusion of the alphabet. + +The lesson having terminated, Miss Cass looked up and discovered standing +near her a coloured boy, who she correctly surmised was sent as an addition +to her class. "Come here, and sit down," said she, pointing to a seat next +Aunt Comfort. "What is your name?" + +Charlie gave his name and residence, which were entered in due form on the +teacher's book. "Now, Charles," she continued, "do you know your letters?" + +"Yes, ma'am," was the answer. + +"Can you spell?" she inquired. To this also Charlie gave an affirmative, +highly amused at the same time at being asked such a question. + +Miss Cass inquired no further into the extent of his acquirements, it never +having entered her head that he could do more than spell. So handing him +one of the primers, she pointed out a line on which to begin. The spirit of +mischief entered our little friend, and he stumbled through b-l-a +bla--b-l-i bli--b-l-o blo--b-l-u blu, with great gravity and slowness. + +"You spell quite nicely, particularly for a little coloured boy," said Miss +Cass, encouragingly, as he concluded the line; "take this next," she +continued, pointing to another, "and when you have learned it, I will hear +you again." + +It was the custom of the superintendent to question the scholars upon a +portion of Bible history, given out the Sabbath previous for study during +the week. It chanced that upon the day of which we write, the subject for +examination was one with which Charlie was quite familiar. + +Accordingly, when the questions were put to the school, he answered boldly +and quickly to many of them, and with an accuracy that astonished his +fellow scholars. + +"How did you learn the answers to those questions--you can't read?" said +Miss Cass. + +"Yes, but I can read," answered Charlie, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +"Why didn't you tell me so before?" she asked. + +"Because you didn't ask me," he replied, suppressing a grin. + +This was true enough, so Miss Cass, having nothing farther to say, sat and +listened, whilst he answered the numerous and sometimes difficult questions +addressed to the scholars. + +Not so, Aunt Comfort. She could not restrain her admiration of this display +of talent on the part of one of her despised race; she was continually +breaking out with expressions of wonder and applause. "Jis' hear +dat--massy on us--only jis' listen to de chile," said she, "talks jis' de +same as if he was white. Why, boy, where you learn all dat?" + +"Across the Red Sea," cried Charlie, in answer to a question from the desk +of the superintendent. + +"'Cross de Red Sea! Umph, chile, you been dere?" asked Aunt Comfort, with a +face full of wonder. + +"What did you say?" asked Charlie, whose attention had been arrested by the +last question. + +"Why I asked where you learned all dat 'bout de children of Israel." + +"Oh, I learned that at Philadelphia," was his reply; "I learned it at +school with the rest of the boys." + +"You did!" exclaimed she, raising her hands with astonishment. "Is dere +many more of 'em like you?" + +Charlie did not hear this last question of Aunt Comfort's, therefore she +was rather startled by his replying in a loud tone, "_Immense hosts_." + +"Did I ever--jis' hear dat, dere's ''mense hostes' of 'em jest like him! +only think of it. Is dey all dere yet, honey?" + +"They were all drowned." + +"Oh, Lordy, Lordy," rejoined she, aghast with horror; for Charlie's reply +to a question regarding the fate of Pharaoh's army, had been by her +interpreted as an answer to her question respecting his coloured +schoolmates at Philadelphia. + +"And how did you 'scape, honey," continued she, "from drowning 'long wid +the rest of 'em?" + +"Why I wasn't there, it was thousands of years ago." + +"Look here. What do you mean?" she whispered; "didn't you say jest now dat +you went to school wid 'em?" + +This was too much for Charlie, who shook all over with suppressed laughter; +nor was Miss Cass proof against the contagion--she was obliged to almost +suffocate herself with her handkerchief to avoid a serious explosion. + +"Aunt Comfort, you are mistaking him," said she, as soon as she could +recover her composure; "he is answering the questions of the +superintendent--not yours, and very well he has answered them, too," +continued she. "I like to see little boys aspiring: I am glad to see you so +intelligent--you must persevere, Charlie." + +"Yes, you must, honey," chimed in Aunt Comfort. "I'se very much like Miss +Cass; I likes to see children--'specially children of colour--have +_expiring_ minds." + +Charlie went quite off at this, and it was only by repeated hush--hushes, +from Miss Cass, and a pinch in the back from Aunt Comfort, that he was +restored to a proper sense of his position. + +The questioning being now finished, Mr. Whately came to Charlie, praised +him highly for his aptness, and made some inquiries respecting his +knowledge of the catechism; also whether he would be willing to join the +class that was to be catechised in the church during the afternoon. To +this, Charlie readily assented, and, at the close of the school, was placed +at the foot of the class, preparatory to going into the Church. + +The public catechizing of the scholars was always an event in the village; +but now a novelty was given it, by the addition of a black lamb to the +flock, and, as a matter of course, a much greater interest was manifested. +Had a lion entered the doors of St. Stephen's church, he might have created +greater consternation, but he could not have attracted more attention than +did our little friend on passing beneath its sacred portals. The length of +the aisle seemed interminable to him, and on his way to the altar he felt +oppressed by the scrutiny of eyes through which he was compelled to pass. +Mr. Dural, the pastor, looked kindly at him, as he stood in front of the +chancel, and Charlie took heart from his cheering smile. + +Now, to Aunt Comfort (who was the only coloured person who regularly +attended the church) a seat had been assigned beside the organ; which +elevated position had been given her that the congregation might indulge in +their devotions without having their prejudices shocked by a too close +contemplation of her ebony countenance. + +But Aunt Comfort, on this occasion, determined to get near enough to hear +all that passed, and, leaving her accustomed seat, she planted herself in +one of the aisles of the gallery overlooking the altar, where she remained +almost speechless with wonder and astonishment at the unprecedented sight +of a woolly head at the foot of the altar. + +Charlie got on very successfully until called upon to repeat the Lord's +Prayer; and, strange to say, at this critical juncture, his memory forsook +him, and he was unable to utter a word of it: for the life of him he could +not think of anything but "Now I lay me down to sleep"--and confused and +annoyed he stood unable to proceed. At this stage of affairs, Aunt +Comfort's interest in Charlie's success had reached such a pitch that her +customary awe of the place she was in entirely departed, and she exclaimed, +"I'll give yer a start--'Our Farrer,'"--then overwhelmed by the +consciousness that she had spoken out in meeting, she sank down behind a +pew-door, completely extinguished. At this there was an audible titter, +that was immediately suppressed; after which, Charlie recovered his memory, +and, started by the opportune prompting of Aunt Comfort, he recited it +correctly. A few questions more terminated the examination, and the +children sat down in front of the altar until the conclusion of the +service. + +Mrs. Bird, highly delighted with the _debut_ of her _protege_, bestowed no +end of praises upon him, and even made the coachman walk home, that Charlie +might have a seat in the carriage, as she alleged she was sure he must be +much fatigued and overcome with the excitement of the day; then taking the +reins into her own hands, she drove them safely home. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The Heir. + + +We must now return to Philadelphia, and pay a visit to the office of Mr. +Balch. We shall find that gentleman in company with Mr. Walters: both look +anxious, and are poring over a letter which is outspread before them. + +"It was like a thunder-clap to me," said Mr. Balch: "the idea of there +being another heir never entered my brain--I didn't even know he had a +living relative." + +"When did you get the letter?" asked Walters. + +"Only this morning, and I sent for you immediately! Let us read it +again--we'll make another attempt to decipher this incomprehensible name. +Confound the fellow! why couldn't he write so that some one besides himself +could read it! We must stumble through it," said he, as he again began the +letter as follows:-- + +"Dear Sir,--Immediately on receipt of your favour, I called upon Mr. +Thurston, to take the necessary steps for securing the property of your +late client. To my great surprise, I found that another claimant had +started up, and already taken the preliminary measures to entering upon +possession. This gentleman, Mr.---- + +"Now, what would you call that name, Walters?--to me it looks like +Stimmens, or Stunners, or something of the kind!" + +"Never mind the name," exclaimed Walters--"skip that--let me hear the rest +of the letter; we shall find out who he is soon enough, in all conscience." + +"Well, then," resumed Mr. Balch--"This gentleman, Mr.----, is a resident in +your city; and he will, no doubt, take an early opportunity of calling on +you, in reference to the matter. It is my opinion, that without a will in +their favour, these children cannot oppose his claim successfully, if he +can prove his consanguinity to Mr. Garie. His lawyer here showed me a copy +of the letters and papers which are to be used as evidence, and, I must +say, they _are entirely_ without flaw. He proves himself, undoubtedly, to +be the first cousin of Mr. Garie. You are, no doubt, aware that these +children being the offspring of a slave-woman, cannot inherit, in this +State (except under certain circumstances), the property of a white father. +I am, therefore, very much afraid that they are entirely at his mercy." + +"Well, then," said Walters, when Mr. Balch finished reading the letter, "it +is clear there is an heir, and his claim _must_ be well sustained, if such +a man as Beckley, the first lawyer in the State, does not hesitate to +endorse it; and as all the property (with the exception of a few thousands +in my hands) lies in Georgia, I'm afraid the poor children will come off +badly, unless this new heir prove to be a man of generosity--at all events, +it seems we are completely at his mercy." + +"We must hope for the best," rejoined Mr. Balch. "If he has any heart, he +certainly will make some provision for them. The disappearance of that will +is to me most unaccountable! I am confident it was at his house. It seemed +so singular that none of his papers should be missing, except that--there +were a great many others, deeds, mortgages, &c. scattered over the floor, +but no will!" + +The gentlemen were thus conversing, when they heard a tap at the door. +"Come in!" cried Mr. Balch; and, in answer to the request, in walked Mr. +George Stevens. + +Mr. Walters and Mr. Balch bowed very stiffly, and the latter inquired what +had procured him the honour of a visit. + +"I have called upon you in reference to the property of the late Mr. +Garie." "Oh! you are acting in behalf of this new claimant, I suppose?" +rejoined Mr. Balch. + +"Sir!" said Mr. Stevens, looking as though he did not thoroughly understand +him. + +"I said," repeated Mr. Balch, "that I presumed you called in behalf of this +new-found heir to Mr. Garie's property." + +Mr. Stevens looked at him for a moment, then drawing himself up, exclaimed, +"I AM THE HEIR!" + +"You!--_you_ the heir!" cried both the gentlemen, almost simultaneously. + +"Yes, I am the heir!" coolly repeated Mr. Stevens, with an assured look. "I +am the first cousin of Mr. Garie!" + +"You his first cousin?--it is impossible!" said Walters. + +"You'll discover it is not only possible, but true--I am, as I said, Mr. +Garie's first cousin!" + +"If you are that, you are more," said Walters, fiercely--"you're his +murderer!" At this charge Mr. Stevens turned deathly pale. "Yes," continued +Walters; "you either murdered him, or instigated others to do so! It was +you who directed the rioters against both him and me--I have proof of what +I say and can produce it. Now your motive is clear as day--you wanted his +money, and destroyed him to obtain it! His blood is on your hands!" hissed +Walters through his clenched teeth. + +In the excitement consequent upon such a charge, Mr. Stevens, unnoticed by +himself, had overturned a bottle of red ink, and its contents had slightly +stained his hands. When Walters charged him with having Mr. Garie's blood +upon them, he involuntarily looked down and saw his hands stained with red. +An expression of intense horror flitted over his face when he observed it; +but quickly regaining his composure, he replied, "It's only a little ink." + +"Yes, I know _that_ is ink," rejoined Walters, scornfully; "look at him, +Balch," he continued, "he doesn't dare to look either of us in the face." + +"It's false," exclaimed Stevens, with an effort to appear courageous; +"it's as false as hell, and any man that charges me with it is a liar." + +The words had scarcely passed his lips, when Walters sprang upon him with +the ferocity of a tiger, and seizing him by the throat, shook and whirled +him about as though he were a plaything. + +"Stop, stop! Walters," cried Mr. Balch, endeavouring to loose his hold upon +the throat of Mr. Stevens, who was already purple in the face; "let him go, +this violence can benefit neither party. Loose your hold." At this +remonstrance, Walters dashed Stevens from him into the farthest corner of +the room, exclaiming, "Now, go and prosecute me if you dare, and I'll tell +for what I chastised you; prosecute me for an assault, if you think you can +risk the consequences." + +Mr. Balch assisted him from the floor and placed him in a chair, where he +sat holding his side, and panting for breath. When he was able to speak, he +exclaimed, with a look of concentrated malignity, "Remember, we'll be even +some day; I never received a blow and forgot it afterwards, bear that in +mind." + +"This will never do, gentlemen," said Mr. Balch, soothingly: "this conduct +is unworthy of you. You are unreasonable both of you. When you have cooled +down we will discuss the matter as we should." + +"You'll discuss it alone then," said Stevens, rising, and walking to the +door: "and when you have any further communication to make, you must come +to me." + +"Stop, stop, don't go," cried Mr. Balch, following him out at the door, +which they closed behind them; "don't go away in a passion, Mr. Stevens. +You and Walters are both too hasty. Come in here and sit down," said he, +opening the door of a small adjoining room, "wait here one moment, I'll +come back to you." + +"This will never do, Walters," said he, as he re-entered his office; "the +fellow has the upper hand of us, and we must humour him; we should suppress +our own feelings for the children's sake. You are as well aware as I am of +the necessity of some compromise--we are in his power for the present, and +must act as circumstances compel us to." + +"I can't discuss the matter with him," interrupted Walters, "he's an +unmitigated scoundrel. I couldn't command my temper in his presence for +five minutes. If you can arrange anything with him at all advantageous to +the children, I shall be satisfied, it will be more than I expect; only +bear in mind, that what I have in my hands belonging to Garie we must +retain, he knows nothing of that." + +"Very well," rejoined Mr. Balch, "depend upon it I'll do my best;" and +closing the door, he went back to Mr. Stevens. + +"Now, Mr. Stevens," said he, drawing up a chair, "we will talk over this +matter dispassionately, and try and arrive at some amicable arrangement: be +kind enough to inform me what your claims are." + +"Mr. Balch, _you_ are a gentleman," began Mr. Stevens, "and therefore I'm +willing to discuss the matter thoroughly with you. You'll find me disposed +to do a great deal for these children: but I wish it distinctly understood +at the beginning, that whatever I may give them, I bestow as a favour. I +concede nothing to them as a right, legally they have not the slightest +claim upon me; of that you, who are an excellent lawyer, must be well +aware." + +"We won't discuss that point at present, Mr. Stevens. I believe you +intimated you would be kind enough to say upon what evidence you purposed +sustaining your claims?" + +"Well, to come to the point, then," said Stevens; "the deceased Mr. Garie +was, as I before said, my first cousin. His father and my mother were +brother and sister. My mother married in opposition to her parents' +desires; they cut her off from the family, and for years there was no +communication between them. At my father's death, my mother made overtures +for a reconciliation, which were contemptuously rejected, at length she +died. I was brought up in ignorance of who my grandparents were; and only a +few months since, on the death of my father's sister, did I make the +discovery. Here," said he, extending the packet of letters which, the +reader will remember once agitated, him so strangely, "here are the letters +that passed between my mother and her father." + +Mr. Balch took up one and read:-- + + +"_Savannah_, 18-- + +"MADAM,--Permit me to return this letter (wherein you +declare yourself the loving and repentant daughter of Bernard +Garie) and at the same time inform you, that by your own. +acts you have deprived yourself of all claim to that relation. +In opposition to my wishes, and in open defiance of my +express commands, you chose to unite your fortune +with one in every respect your inferior. If that union has +not resulted as happily as you expected, you must sustain +yourself by the reflection that you are the author of your own +misfortunes and alone to blame for your present miserable +condition.--Respectfully yours, + +"BERNARD GARIE." + + +Mr. Balch read, one after another, letters of a similar purport--in fact, a +long correspondence between Bernard Garie and the mother of Mr. Stevens. +When he had finished, the latter remarked, "In addition to those, I can +produce my mother's certificate of baptism, her marriage certificate, and +every necessary proof of my being her son. If that does not suffice to make +a strong case, I am at a loss to imagine what will." + +Mr. Balch pondered a few moments, and then inquired, looking steadily at +Mr. Stevens, "How long have you known of this relationship?" + +"Oh, I've known it these three years." + +"Three years! why, my dear sir, only a few moments ago you said a few +months." + +"Oh, did I?" said Mr. Stevens, very much confused; "I meant, or should have +said, three years." + +"Then, of course you were aware that Mr. Garie was your cousin when he +took the house beside you?" + +"Oh, yes--that is--yes--yes; I _was_ aware of it." + +"And did you make any overtures of a social character?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"Well, yes--that is to say, my wife did." + +"_Where were you the night of the murder?_" + +Mr. Stevens turned pale at this question, and replied, hesitatingly, "Why, +at home, of course." + +"You were at home, and saw the house of your cousins assaulted, and made no +effort to succour them or their children. The next morning you are one of +the coroner's inquest, and hurry through the proceedings, never once saying +a word of your relationship to them, nor yet making any inquiry respecting +the fate of the children. _It is very singular_." + +"I don't see what this cross-questioning is to amount to; it has nothing to +do with my claim as heir." + +"We are coming to that," rejoined Mr. Balch. "This, as I said, is very +singular; and when I couple it with some other circumstances that have come +to my knowledge, it is more than singular--_it is suspicious_. Here are a +number of houses assaulted by a mob. Two or three days before the assault +takes place, a list in your handwriting, and which is headed, '_Places to +be attacked_,' is found, under circumstances that leave no doubt that it +came directly from you. Well, the same mob that attacks these +places--_marked out by you_--traverse a long distance to reach the house of +your next-door neighbour. They break into it, and kill him; and you, who +are aware at the time that he is your own cousin, do not attempt to +interpose to prevent it, although it can be proved that you were +all-powerful with the marauders. No! you allow him to be destroyed without +an effort to save him, and immediately claim his property. Now, Mr. +Stevens, people disposed to be suspicions--seeing how much you were to be +the gainer by his removal, and knowing you had some connection with this +mob--might not scruple to say that _you_ instigated the attack by which he +lost his life; and I put it to you--now don't you think that, if it was any +one else, you would say that the thing looked suspicious?" + +Mr. Stevens winced at this, but made no effort to reply. + +Mr. Balch continued, "What I was going to remark is simply this. As we are +in possession of these facts, and able to prove them by competent +witnesses, we should not be willing to remain perfectly silent respecting +it, unless you made what _we_ regarded as a suitable provision for the +children." + +"I'm willing, as I said before, to do something; but don't flatter yourself +I'll do any more than I originally intended from any fear of disclosures +from you. I'm not to be frightened," said Mr. Stevens. + +"I'm not at all disposed to attempt to frighten you: however, you know how +far a mere statement of these facts would go towards rendering your +position in society more agreeable. A person who has been arrested on +suspicion of murder is apt to be shunned and distrusted. It can't be +helped; people are so very squeamish--they _will_ draw back, you know, +under such circumstances." + +"I don't see how such a suspicion can attach itself to me," rejoined +Stevens, sharply. + +"Oh, well, we won't discuss that any further: let me hear what you will do +for the children." + +Mr. Balch saw, from the nervous and embarrassed manner of Mr. Stevens, that +the indirect threat of exposing him had had considerable effect; and his +downcast looks and agitation rather strengthened in his mind the suspicions +that had been excited by the disclosures of Mr. Walters. + +After a few moments' silence, Mr. Stevens said, "I'll settle three thousand +dollars on each of the children. Now I think that is treating them +liberally." + +"Liberally!" exclaimed Balch, in a tone of contempt--"liberally! You +acquire by the death of their father property worth one hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, and you offer these children, who are the rightful heirs, +three thousand dollars! That, sir, won't suffice." "I think it should, +then," rejoined Stevens. "By the laws of Georgia these children, instead of +being his heirs, are my slaves. Their mother was a slave before them, and +they were born slaves; and if they were in Savannah, I could sell them both +to-morrow. On the whole, I think I've made you a very fair offer, and I'd +advise you to think of it." + +"No, Mr. Stevens; I shall accept no such paltry sum. If you wish a quick +and peaceful possession of what you are pleased to regard as your rights, +you must tender something more advantageous, or I shall feel compelled to +bring this thing into court, even at the risk of loss; and there, you know, +we should be obliged to make a clear statement of _everything_ connected +with this business. It might be advantageous to _us_ to bring the thing +fully before the court and public--but I'm exceedingly doubtful whether it +would advance _your_ interest." + +Stevens winced at this, and asked, "What would you consider a fair offer?" + +"I should consider _all_ a just offer, half a fair one, and a quarter as +little as you could have the conscience to expect us to take." + +"I don't see any use in this chaffering, Mr. Balch," said Stephens; "you +can't expect me to give you any such sums as you propose. Name a sum that +you can reasonably expect to get." + +"Well," said Mr. Balch, rising, "you must give us fifteen thousand dollars, +and you should think yourself well off then. We could commence a suit, and +put you to nearly that expense to defend it; to say nothing of the +notoriety that the circumstance would occasion you. Both Walters and I are +willing to spend both money and time in defence of these children's rights; +I assure you they are not friendless." + +"I'll give twelve thousand, and not a cent more, if I'm hung for it," said +Mr. Stevens, almost involuntarily. + +"Who spoke of hanging?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"Oh!" rejoined Stevens, "that is only my emphatic way of speaking." "Of +course, you meant figuratively," said Mr. Balch, in a tone of irony; +mentally adding, "as I hope you may be one day literally." + +Mr. Stevens looked flushed and angry, but Mr. Balch continued, without +appearing to notice him, and said: "I'll speak to Walters. Should he +acquiesce in your proposal, I am willing to accept it; however, I cannot +definitely decide without consulting him. To-morrow I will inform you of +the result." + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +Home Again. + + +To Charlie the summer had been an exceedingly short one--time had flown so +pleasantly away. Everything that could be done to make the place agreeable +Mrs. Bird had effected. Amongst the number of her acquaintances who had +conceived a regard for her young _protege_ was a promising artist to whom +she had been a friend and patroness. Charlie paid him frequent visits, and +would sit hour after hour in his studio, watching the progress of his work. +Having nothing else at the time to amuse him, he one day asked the artist's +permission to try his hand at a sketch. Being supplied with the necessary +materials, he commenced a copy of a small drawing, and was working +assiduously, when the artist came and looked over his shoulder. + +"Did you ever draw before?" he asked, with a start of surprise. + +"Never," replied Charlie, "except on my slate at school. I sometimes used +to sketch the boys' faces." + +"And you have never received any instructions?" + +"Never--not even a hint," was the answer. + +"And this is the first time you have attempted a sketch upon paper?" + +"Yes; the very first." + +"Then you are a little prodigy," said the artist, slapping him upon the +shoulder. "I must take you in hand. You have nothing else to do; come here +regularly every day, and I'll teach you. Will you come?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it. But now, tell me, do you really think that +drawing good?" "Well, Charlie, if I had done it, it would be pronounced +very bad for me; but, coming from your hands, it's something astonishing." + +"Really, now--you're not joking me?" + +"No, Charlie, I'm in earnest--I assure you I am; it is drawn with great +spirit, and the boy that you have put in by the pump is exceedingly well +done." + +This praise served as a great incentive to our little friend, who, day +after day thenceforth, was found at the studio busily engaged with his +crayons, and making rapid progress in his new art. + +He had been thus occupied some weeks, and one morning was hurrying to the +breakfast-table, to get through his meal, that he might be early at the +studio, when he found Mrs. Bird in her accustomed seat looking very sad. + +"Why, what is the matter?" he asked, on observing the unusually grave face +of his friend. + +"Oh, Charlie, my dear! I've received very distressing intelligence from +Philadelphia. Your father is quite ill." + +"My father ill!" cried he, with a look of alarm. + +"Yes, my dear! quite sick--so says my letter. Here are two for you." + +Charlie hastily broke the seal of one, and read as follows:-- + + +"MY DEAR LITTLE BROTHER,--We are all in deep distress in +consequence of the misfortunes brought upon us by the mob. +Our home has been destroyed; and, worse than all, our poor +father was caught, and so severely beaten by the rioters that +for some days his life was entirely despaired of. Thank God! +he is now improving, and we have every reasonable hope of +his ultimate recovery. Mother, Caddy, and I, as you may +well suppose, are almost prostrated by this accumulation of +misfortunes, and but for the kindness of Mr. Walters, with +whom we are living, I do not know what would have become +of us. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Garie--[Here followed a passage +that was so scored and crossed as to be illegible. After a +short endeavour to decipher it, he continued:] We would +like to see you very much, and mother grows every day more +anxious for your return. I forgot to add, in connection with +the mob, that Mr. Walters's house was also attacked, but +unsuccessfully, the rioters having met a signal repulse. +Mother and Caddy send a world of love to you. So does +Kinch, who comes every day to see us and is, often extremely +useful. Give our united kind regards to Mrs. Bird, and thank +her in our behalf for her great kindness to you.--Ever yours, + +"ESTHER. + +"P.S.--Do try and manage to come home soon." + + +The tears trickled down Charlie's cheek as he perused the letter, which, +when he had finished reading, he handed to Mrs. Bird, and then commenced +the other. This proved to be from Kinch, who had spent all the spare time +at his disposal since the occurrence of the mob in preparing it. + + +"To MR. CHARLES ELLIS, ESQ., at MRS. BIRD'S. + +"_Philadelphia_. + +"DEAR SIR AND HONNORED FRIEND.--I take This chance To +Write To you To tell You that I am Well, And that we are +all well Except Your father, who Is sick; and I hope you are +Enjoying the same Blessin. We had An Awful fight, And I +was There, and I was One of The Captings. I had a sord +on; and the next Mornin we had a grate Brekfast. But +nobody Eat anything but me, And I was obliged to eat, Or +the Wittles would have spoiled. The Mob had Guns as Big as +Cannun; And they Shot them Off, and the holes Are in The +Shutter yet; And when You come Back, I will show them +to You. Your Father is very bad; And I Have gone back +to school, And I am Licked every day because I don't +Know my Lesson. A great big boy, with white woolly hair +and Pinkish Grey eyes, has got Your seat. I Put a Pin +under him one Day, And he told On me; and We Are to +Have a fight tomorrow. The boys Call Him 'Short and +Dirty,' because he ain't tall, and never washes His Face. +We Have got a new Teacher for the 5th Division. He's a +Scorcher, And believes in Rat Tan. I am to Wear My new +Cloths Next Sunday. Excuse This long letter. Your Friend +till death, + +"KINCH SANDERS DE YOUNGE. + +[Illustration: skull and cross bones] + +"P.S. This it the best Skull and Cross-bones That +I can make. Come home soon, Yours &c., + +"K. S. DE YOUNGE, ESQ." + + +Charlie could not but smile through his tears, as he read this curious +epistle, which was not more remarkable for its graceful composition than +its wonderful chirography. Some of the lines were written in blue ink, some +in red, and others in that pale muddy black which is the peculiar colour of +ink after passing through the various experiments of school-boys, who +generally entertain the belief that all foreign substances, from +molasses-candy to bread-crumbs, necessarily improve the colour and quality +of that important liquid. + +"Why every other word almost is commenced with a capital; and I declare +he's even made some in German text," cried Charlie, running his finger +mirthfully along the lines, until he came to "Your father is very bad." +Here the tears came welling up again--the shower had returned almost before +the sun had departed; and, hiding his face in his hands, he leant sobbing +on the table. + +"Cheer up, Charlie!--cheer up, my little man! all may go well yet." + +"Mrs. Bird," he sobbed, "you've been very kind to me; yet I want to go +home. I must see mother and father. You see what Esther writes,--they want +me to come home; do let me go." + +"Of course you shall go, if you wish. Yet I should like you to remain with +me, if you will." + +"No, no, Mrs. Bird, I mustn't stay; it wouldn't be right for me to remain +here, idle and enjoying myself, and they so poor and unhappy at home. I +couldn't stay," said he, rising from the table,--"I must go." + +"Well, my dear, you can't go now. Sit down and finish your breakfast, or +you will have a head-ache." + +"I'm not hungry--I can't eat," he replied; "my appetite has all gone." And +stealing away from the room, he went up into his chamber, threw himself on +the bed, and wept bitterly. + +Mrs. Bird was greatly distressed at the idea of losing her little +favourite. He had been so much with her that she had become strongly +attached to him, and therefore looked forward to his departure with +unfeigned regret. But Charlie could not be persuaded to stay; and +reluctantly Mrs. Bird made arrangements for his journey home. Even the +servants looked a little sorry when they heard of his intended departure; +and Reuben the coachman actually presented him with a jack-knife as a token +of his regard. + +Mrs. Bird accompanied him to the steamer, and placed him under the special +care of the captain; so that he was most comfortably provided for until his +arrival in New York, where he took the cars direct for home. + +Not having written to inform them on what day he might be expected, he +anticipated giving them a joyful surprise, and, with this end in view, +hastened in the direction of Mr. Walters's. As he passed along, his eye was +attracted by a figure before him which he thought he recognized, and on +closer inspection it proved to be his sister Caddy. + +Full of boyish fun, he crept up behind her, and clasped his hands over her +eyes, exclaiming, in an assumed voice, "Now, who am I?" + +"Go away, you impudent, nasty thing!" cried Caddy, plunging violently. +Charlie loosed his hold; she turned, and beheld her brother. + +"Oh! Charlie, Charlie! is it you? Why, bless you, you naughty fellow, how +you frightened me!" said she, throwing her arms round his neck, and kissing +him again and again. "When did you come? Oh, how delighted mother and Ess +will be!" "I only arrived about half an hour ago. How are mother and +father and Esther?" + +"Mother and Ess are well, and father better. But I'm so glad to see you," +she cried, with a fresh burst of tears and additional embraces. + +"Why, Cad," said he, endeavouring to suppress some watery sensations of his +own, "I'm afraid you're not a bit pleased at my return--you're actually +crying about it." + +"Oh, I'm so glad to see you that I can't help it," she replied, as she fell +to crying and kissing him more furiously than before. + +Charlie became much confused at these repeated demonstrations of joyful +affection in the crowded street, and, gently disengaging her, remarked, +"See, Caddy, everybody is looking at us; let us walk on." + +"I had almost forgot I was sent on an errand--however, it's not of much +consequence--I'll go home again with you;" and taking his hand, they +trudged on together. + +"How did you say father was?" he asked again. + +"Oh, he's better bodily; that is, he has some appetite, sits up every day, +and is gradually getting stronger; but he's all wrong here," said she, +tapping her forehead. "Sometimes he don't know any of us--and it makes us +all feel so bad." Here the tears came trickling down again, as she +continued: "Oh, Charlie! what those white devils will have to answer for! +When I think of how much injury they have done us, I _hate_ them! I know +it's wrong to hate anybody--but I can't help it; and I believe God hates +them as much as I do!" + +Charlie looked gloomy; and, as he made no rejoinder, she continued, "We +didn't save a thing, not even a change of clothes; they broke and burnt up +everything; and then the way they beat poor father was horrible--horrible! +Just think--they chopped his fingers nearly all off, so that he has only +the stumps left. Charlie, Charlie!" she cried, wringing her hands, "it's +heart-rending to see him--he can't even feed himself, and he'll never be +able to work again!" + +"Don't grieve, Cad," said Charlie, with an effort to suppress his own +tears; "I'm almost a man now," continued he, drawing himself up--"don't be +afraid, I'll take care of you all!" + +Thus conversing, they reached Mr. Walters's. Caddy wanted Charlie to stop +and look at the damage effected by the mob upon the outside of the house, +but he was anxious to go in, and ran up the steps and gave the bell a very +sharp pull. The servant who opened the door was about to make some +exclamation of surprise, and was only restrained by a warning look from +Charlie. Hurrying past them, Caddy led the way to the room where her mother +and Esther were sitting. With a cry of joy Mrs. Ellis caught him in her +arms, and, before he was aware of their presence, he found himself half +smothered by her and Esther. + +They had never been separated before his trip to Warmouth; and their +reunion, under such circumstances, was particularly affecting. None of them +could speak for a few moments, and Charlie clung round his mother's neck as +though he would never loose his hold. "Mother, mother!" was all he could +utter; yet in that word was comprised a world of joy and affection. + +Esther soon came in for her share of caresses; then Charlie inquired, +"Where's father?" + +"In here," said Mrs. Ellis, leading the way to an adjoining room. "I don't +think he will know you--perhaps he may." + +In one corner of the apartment, propped up in a large easy chair by a +number of pillows, sat poor Mr. Ellis, gazing vacantly about the room and +muttering to himself. His hair had grown quite white, and his form was +emaciated in the extreme; there was a broad scar across his forehead, and +his dull, lustreless eyes were deeply sunken in his head. He took no notice +of them as they approached, but continued muttering and looking at his +hands. + +Charlie was almost petrified at the change wrought in his father. A few +months before he had left him in the prime of healthful manhood; now he was +bent and spectrelike, and old in appearance as if the frosts of eighty +winters had suddenly fallen on him. Mrs. Ellis laid her hand gently upon +his shoulder, and said, "Husband, here's Charlie." He made no reply, but +continued muttering and examining his mutilated hands. "It's Charlie," she +repeated. + +"Oh, ay! nice little boy!" he replied, vacantly; "whose son is he?" + +Mrs. Ellis's voice quivered as she reiterated, "It's Charlie--our +Charlie!--don't you know him?" + +"Oh, yes! nice little boy--nice little boy. Oh!" he continued, in a +suppressed and hurried tone, as a look of alarm crossed his face; "run home +quick, little boy! and tell your mother they're coming, thousands of them; +they've guns, and swords, and clubs. Hush! There they come--there they +come!" And he buried his face in the shawl, and trembled in an agony of +fright. + +"Oh, mother, this is dreadful!" exclaimed Charlie. "Don't he know any of +you?" + +"Yes; sometimes his mind comes back--very seldom, though--only for a very +little while. Come away: talking to him sometimes makes him worse." And +slowly and sorrowfully the two left the apartment. + +That evening, after Mr. Ellis had been safely bestowed in bed, the family +gathered round the fire in the room of Mrs. Ellis, where Charlie +entertained them with a description of Warmouth and of the manner in which +he had passed the time whilst there. He was enthusiastic respecting Mrs. +Bird and her kindness. "Mother, she is such a _dear_ old lady: if I'd been +as white as snow, and her own son, she couldn't have been kinder to me. She +didn't want me to come away, and cried ever so much. Let me show you what +she gave me!" Charlie thrust his hand into his pocket, and drew out a small +wallet, from which he counted out four ten-dollar bills, two fives, and a +two dollar and a half gold piece, "Ain't I rich!" said he, as, with the air +of a millionaire, he tossed the money upon a table. "Now," he continued, +"do you know what I'm about to do?" Not receiving any answer from his +wondering sisters or mother, he added, "Why, just this!--here, mother, +this is yours," said he, placing the four ten-dollar bills before her; "and +here are five apiece for Esther and Cad; the balance is for your humble +servant. Now, then," he concluded, "what do you think of that?" + +Mrs. Ellis looked fondly at him, and, stroking his head, told him that he +was a good son; and Esther and Caddy declared him to be the best brother in +town. + +"Now, girls," said he, with the air of a patriarch, "what do you intend to +do with your money?" + +"Mine will go towards buying me a dress, and Esther will save hers for a +particular purpose," said Caddy. "I'll tell you something about her and Mr. +Walters," continued she, with a mischievous look at her sister. + +"Oh, Caddy--don't! Ain't you ashamed to plague me so?" asked Esther, +blushing to the roots of her hair. "Mother, pray stop her," cried she, +pleadingly. + +"Hush, Caddy!" interposed her mother, authoritatively; "you shall do no +such thing." + +"Well," resumed Caddy, "mother says I mustn't tell; but I can say this +much----" + +Esther here put her hand over her sister's mouth and effectually prevented +any communication she was disposed to make. + +"Never mind her, Ess!" cried Charlie; "you'll tell me all in good time, +especially if it's anything worth knowing." + +Esther made no reply, but, releasing her sister, hurried out of the room, +and went upstairs to Charlie's chamber, where he found her on retiring for +the night. + +"I'm glad you're here, Ess," said he, "you'll indulge me. Here is the +key--open my trunk and get me out a nightcap; I'm too tired, or too lazy, +to get it for myself." Esther stooped down, opened the trunk, and commenced +searching for the article of head-gear in question. "Come, Ess," said +Charles, coaxingly, "tell me what this is about you and Mr. Walters." + +She made no reply at first, but fumbled about in the bottom of the trunk, +professedly in search of the nightcap which she at that moment held in her +hand. "Can't you tell me?" he again asked. + +"Oh, there's nothing to tell, Charlie!" she answered. + +"There must be something, Ess, or you wouldn't have blushed up so when Cad +was about to speak of it. Do," said he, approaching her, and putting his +arm round her neck--"do tell me all about it--I am sure there is some +secret!" + +"Oh, no, Charlie--there is no secret; it's only this----" Here she stopped, +and, blushing, turned her head away. + +"Ess, this is nonsense," said Charlie, impatiently: "if it's anything worth +knowing, why can't you tell a fellow? Come," said he, kissing her, "tell +me, now, like a dear old Ess as you are." + +"Well, Charlie," said she, jerking the words out with an effort, "Mr.--Mr. +Walters has asked me to marry him!" + +"Phew--gemini! that is news!" exclaimed Charlie. "And are you going to +accept him Ess?" + +"I don't know," she answered. + +"Don't know!" repeated Charlie, in a tone of surprise. "Why, Ess, I'm +astonished at you--such a capital fellow as he is! Half the girls of our +acquaintance would give an eye for the chance." + +"But he is so rich!" responded Esther. + +"Well, now, that's a great objection, ain't it! I should say, all the +better on that account," rejoined Charlie. + +"The money is the great stumbling-block," continued she; "everybody would +say I married him for that." + +"Then _everybody_ would lie, _as_ everybody very often does! If I was you, +Ess, and loved him, I shouldn't let his fortune stand in the way. I wish," +continued he, pulling up his shirt-collar, "that some amiable young girl +with a fortune of a hundred thousand dollars, would make me an offer--I'd +like to catch myself refusing her!" + +The idea of a youth of his tender years marrying any one, seemed so +ludicrous to Esther, that she burst into a hearty fit of laughter, to the +great chagrin of our hero, who seemed decidedly of the opinion that his +sister had not a proper appreciation of his years and inches. + +"Don't laugh, Ess; but tell me--do you really intend to refuse him?" + +"I can't decide yet, Charlie," answered she seriously; "if we were situated +as we were before--were not such absolute paupers--I wouldn't hesitate to +accept him; but to bring a family of comparative beggars upon him--I can't +make up my mind to do that." + +Charlie looked grave as Esther made this last objection; boy as he was, he +felt its weight and justice. "Well, Ess," rejoined he, "I don't know what +to say about it--of course I can't advise. What does mother say?" + +"She leaves it entirely to me," she answered. "She says I must act just as +I feel is right." + +"I certainly wouldn't have him at all, Ess, if I didn't love him; and if I +did, I shouldn't let the money stand in the way--so, good night!" + +Charlie slept very late the next morning, and was scarcely dressed when +Esther knocked at his door, with the cheerful tidings that her father had a +lucid interval and was waiting to see him. + +Dressing himself hastily, he followed her into their father's room. When he +entered, the feeble sufferer stretched out his mutilated arms towards him +and clasped him round the neck, "They tell me," said he, "that you came +yesterday, and that I didn't recognize you. I thought, when I awoke this +morning, that I had a dim recollection of having seen some dear face; but +my head aches so, that I often forget--yes, often forget. My boy," he +continued, "you are all your mother and sisters have to depend upon now; +I'm--I'm----" here his voice faltered, as he elevated his stumps of +hands--"I'm helpless; but you must take care of them. I'm an old man now," +said he despondingly. + +"I will, father; I'll try _so_ hard" replied Charlie. + +"It was cruel in them, wasn't it, son," he resumed. "See, they've made me +helpless for ever!" Charlie restrained the tears that were forcing +themselves up, and rejoined, "Never fear, father! I'll do my best; I trust +I shall soon be able to take care of you." + +His father did not understand him--his mind was gone again, and he was +staring vacantly about him. Charlie endeavoured to recall his attention, +but failed, for he began muttering about the mob and his hands; they were +compelled to quit the room, and leave him to himself, as he always became +quiet sooner by being left alone. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +Sudbury. + + +We must now admit our readers to a consultation that is progressing between +Mr. Balch and Mr. Walters, respecting the future of the two Garie children. +They no doubt entered upon the conference with the warmest and most earnest +desire of promoting the children's happiness; but, unfortunately, their +decision failed to produce the wished-for result. + +"I scarcely thought you would have succeeded so well with him," said +Walters, "he is such an inveterate scoundrel; depend upon it nothing but +the fear of the exposure resulting from a legal investigation would ever +have induced that scamp to let twelve thousand dollars escape from his +clutches. I am glad you have secured that much; when we add it to the eight +thousand already in my possession it will place them in very comfortable +circumstances, even if they never get any more." + +"I think we have done very well," rejoined Mr. Balch; "we were as much in +his power as he was in ours--not in the same way, however; a legal +investigation, no matter how damaging it might have been to his reputation, +would not have placed us in possession of the property, or invalidated his +claim as heir. I think, on the whole, we may as well be satisfied, and +trust in Providence for the future. So now, then, we will resume our +discussion of that matter we had under consideration the other day. I +cannot but think that my plan is best adapted to secure the boy's +happiness." + +"I'm sorry I cannot agree with you, Mr. Balch. I have tried to view your +plan in the most favourable light, yet I cannot rid myself of a +presentiment that it will result in the ultimate discovery of his peculiar +position, and that most probably at some time when his happiness is +dependent upon its concealment. An undetected forger, who is in constant +fear of being apprehended, is happy in comparison with that coloured man +who attempts, in this country, to hold a place in the society of whites by +concealing his origin. He must live in constant fear of exposure; this +dread will embitter every enjoyment, and make him the most miserable of +men." + +"You must admit," rejoined Mr. Balch, "that I have their welfare at heart. +I have thought the matter over and over, and cannot, for the life of me, +feel the weight of your objections. The children are peculiarly situated; +everything seems to favour my views. Their mother (the only relative they +had whose African origin was distinguishable) is dead, and both of them are +so exceedingly fair that it would never enter the brain of any one that +they were connected with coloured people by ties of blood. Clarence is old +enough to know the importance of concealing the fact, and Emily might be +kept with us until her prudence also might be relied upon. You must +acknowledge that as white persons they will be better off." + +"I admit," answered Mr. Walters, "that in our land of liberty it is of +incalculable advantage to be white; that is beyond dispute, and no one is +more painfully aware of it than I. Often I have heard men of colour say +they would not be white if they could--had no desire to change their +complexions; I've written some down fools; others, liars. Why," continued +he, with a sneering expression of countenance, "it is everything to be +white; one feels that at every turn in our boasted free country, where all +men are upon an equality. When I look around me, and see what I have made +myself in spite of circumstances, and think what I might have been with the +same heart and brain beneath a fairer skin, I am almost tempted to curse +the destiny that made me what I am. Time after time, when scraping, +toiling, saving, I have asked myself. To what purpose is it all?--perhaps +that in the future white men may point at and call me, sneeringly, 'a +nigger millionaire,' or condescend to borrow money of me. Ah! often, when +some negro-hating white man has been forced to ask a loan at my hands, I've +thought of Shylock and his pound of flesh, and ceased to wonder at him. +There's no doubt, my dear sir, but what I fully appreciate the advantage of +being white. Yet, with all I have endured, and yet endure from day to day, +I esteem myself happy in comparison with that man, who, mingling in the +society of whites, is at the same time aware that he has African blood in +his veins, and is liable at any moment to be ignominiously hurled from his +position by the discovery of his origin. He is never safe. I have known +instances where parties have gone on for years and years undetected; but +some untoward circumstance brings them out at last, and down they fall for +ever." + +"Walters, my dear fellow, you will persist in looking upon his being +discovered as a thing of course: I see no reason for the anticipation of +any such result. I don't see how he is to be detected--it may never occur. +And do you feel justified in consigning them to a position which you know +by painful experience to be one of the most disagreeable that can be +endured. Ought we not to aid their escape from it if we can?" + +Mr. Walters stood reflectively for some moments, and then exclaimed, "I'll +make no farther objection; I would not have the boy say to me hereafter, +'But for your persisting in identifying me with a degraded people, I might +have been better and happier than I am.' However, I cannot but feel that +concealments of this kind are productive of more misery than comfort." + +"We will agree to differ about that, Walters; and now, having your consent, +I shall not hesitate to proceed in the matter, with full reliance that the +future will amply justify my choice." + +"Well, well! as I said before, I will offer no further objection. Now let +me hear the details of your plan." + +"I have written," answered Mr. Balch, "to Mr. Eustis, a friend of mine +living at Sudbury, where there is a large preparatory school for boys. At +his house I purpose placing Clarence. Mr. Eustis is a most discreet man, +and a person of liberal sentiments. I feel that I can confide everything to +him without the least fear of his ever divulging a breath of it. He is a +gentleman in the fullest sense of the term, and at his house the boy will +have the advantage of good society, and will associate with the best people +of the place." + +"Has he a family?" asked Mr. Walters. + +"He is a widower," answered Mr. Balch; "a maiden sister of his wife's +presides over his establishment; she will be kind to Clarence, I am +confident; she has a motherly soft heart, and is remarkably fond of +children. I have not the least doubt but that he will be very happy and +comfortable there. I think it very fortunate, Walters," he continued, "that +he has so few coloured acquaintances--no boyish intimacies to break up; and +it will be as well to send him away before he has an opportunity of forming +them. Besides, being here, where everything will be so constantly reviving +the remembrance of his recent loss, he may grow melancholy and stupid. I +have several times noticed his reserve, so unusual in a child. His dreadful +loss and the horrors that attended it have made, a deep +impression--stupified him, to a certain extent, I think. Well, well! we +will get him off, and once away at school, and surrounded by lively boys, +this dulness will soon wear off." + +The gentlemen having fully determined upon his being sent, it was proposed +to bring him in immediately and talk to him relative to it. He was +accordingly sent for, and came into the room, placing himself beside the +chair of Mr. Walters. + +Clarence had altered very much since the death of his parents. His face had +grown thin and pale, and he was much taller than when he came to +Philadelphia: a shade of melancholy had overspread his face; there was now +in his eyes that expression of intense sadness that characterized his +mother's. "You sent for me?" he remarked, inquiringly, to Mr. Walters. + +"Yes, my boy," he rejoined, "we sent for you to have a little talk about +school. Would you like to go to school again?" + +"Oh, yes!" answered Clarence, his face lighting up with pleasure; "I should +like it of all things; it would be much better than staying at home all +day, doing nothing; the days are so long," concluded he, with a sigh. + +"Ah! we will soon remedy that," rejoined Mr. Balch, "when you go to +Sudbury." + +"Sudbury!" repeated Clarence, with surprise; "where is that? I thought you +meant, to go to school here." + +"Oh, no, my dear," said Mr. Balch, "I don't know of any good school here, +such as you would like; we wish to send you to a place where you will enjoy +yourself finely,--where you will have a number of boys for companions in +your studies and pleasures." + +"And is Em going with me?" he asked. + +"Oh, no, that is not possible; it is a school for boys exclusively; you +can't take your sister there," rejoined Mr. Walters. + +"Then I don't want to go," said Clarence, decidedly; "I don't want to go +where I can't take Em with me." + +Mr. Balch exchanged glances with Mr. Walters, and looked quite perplexed at +this new opposition to his scheme. Nothing daunted, however, by this +difficulty, he, by dint of much talking and persuasion, brought Clarence to +look upon the plan with favour, and to consent reluctantly to go without +his sister. + +But the most delicate part of the whole business was yet to come--they must +impress upon the child the necessity of concealing the fact that he was of +African origin. Neither seemed to know how to approach the subject. +Clarence, however, involuntarily made an opening for them by inquiring if +Emily was to go to Miss Jordan's school again. + +"No, my dear," answered Mr. Balch, "Miss Jordan won't permit her to attend +school there." + +"Why?" asked Clarence. + +"Because she is a coloured child," rejoined Mr. Balch. "Now, Clarence," +he continued, "you are old enough, I presume, to know the difference that +exists between the privileges and advantages enjoyed by the whites, and +those that are at the command of the coloured people. White boys can go to +better schools, and they can enter college and become professional men, +lawyers, doctors, &c, or they may be merchants--in fact, they can be +anything they please. Coloured people can enjoy none of these advantages; +they are shut out from them entirely. Now which of the two would you rather +be--coloured or white?" + +"I should much rather be white, of course," answered Clarence; "but I am +coloured, and can't help myself," said he, innocently. + +"But, my child, we are going to send you where it is not known that you are +coloured; and you must _never, never_ tell it, because if it became known, +you would be expelled from the school, as you were from Miss Jordan's." + +"I didn't know we were expelled," rejoined Clarence. "I know she sent us +home, but I could not understand what it was for. I'm afraid they will send +me from the other school. Won't they know I am coloured?" + +"No, my child, I don't think they will discover it unless you should be +foolish enough to tell it yourself, in which case both Mr. Walters and +myself would be very much grieved." + +"But suppose some one should ask me," suggested Clarence. + +"No one will ever ask you such a question," said Mr. Balch, impatiently; +"all you have to do is to be silent yourself on the subject. Should any of +your schoolmates ever make inquiries respecting your parents, all you have +to answer is, they were from Georgia, and you are an orphan." + +Clarence's eyes began to moisten as Mr. Balch spoke of his parents, and +after a few moments he asked, with some hesitation, "Am I never to speak of +mother? I love to talk of mother." + +"Yes, my dear, of course you can talk of your mother," answered Mr. Balch, +with great embarrassment; "only, you know, my child, you need not enter +into particulars as regards her appearance; that is, you--ah!--need not +say she was a coloured woman. You _must not_ say that; you understand?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Clarence. + +"Very well, then; bear that in mind. You must know, Clarence," continued +he, "that this concealment is necessary for your welfare, or we would not +require it; and you must let me impress it upon you, that it is requisite +that you attend strictly to our directions." + +Mr. Walters remained silent during most of this conversation. He felt a +repugnance to force upon the child a concealment the beneficial results of +which were the reverse of obvious, so he merely gave Clarence some useful +advice respecting his general conduct, and then permitted him to leave the +room. + +The morning fixed upon for their departure for Sudbury turned out to be +cold and cheerless; and Clarence felt very gloomy as he sat beside his +sister at their early breakfast, of which he was not able to eat a morsel. +"Do eat something, Clary," said she, coaxingly; "only look what nice +buckwheat cakes these are; cook got up ever so early on purpose to bake +them for you." + +"No, sis," he replied, "I can't eat. I feel so miserable, everything chokes +me." + +"Well, eat a biscuit, then," she continued, as she buttered it and laid it +on his plate; "do eat it, now." + +More to please her than from a desire to eat, he forced down a few +mouthfuls of it, and drank a little tea; then, laying his arm round her +neck, he said, "Em, you must try hard to learn to write soon, so that I may +hear from you at least once a week." + +"Oh! I shall soon know how, I'm in g's and h's now. Aunt Esther--she says I +may call her Aunt Esther--teaches me every day. Ain't I getting on nicely?" + +"Oh, yes, you learn very fast," said Esther, encouragingly, as she +completed the pile of sandwiches she was preparing for the young traveller; +then, turning to look at the timepiece on the mantel, she exclaimed, +"Quarter to seven--how time flies! Mr. Balch will soon be here. You must +be all ready, Clarence, so as not to keep him waiting a moment." + +Clarence arose from his scarcely tasted meal, began slowly to put on his +overcoat, and make himself ready for the journey. Em tied on the warm +woollen neck-comforter, kissing him on each cheek as she did so, and whilst +they were thus engaged, Mr. Balch drove up to the door. + +Charlie, who had come down to see him off, tried (with his mouth full of +buckwheat cake) to say something consolatory, and gave it as his +experience, "that a fellow soon got over that sort of thing; that +separations must occur sometimes," &c.--and, on the whole, endeavoured to +talk in a very manly and philosophical strain; but his precepts and +practice proved to be at utter variance, for when the moment of separation +really came and he saw the tearful embrace of Em and her brother, he caught +the infection of grief, and cried as heartily as the best of them. There +was but little time, however, to spare for leave-takings, and the young +traveller and his guardian were soon whirling over the road towards New +York. + +By a singular chance, Clarence found himself in the same car in which he +had formerly rode when they were on their way to Philadelphia: he +recognized it by some peculiar paintings on the panel of the door, and the +ornamental border of the ceiling. This brought back a tide of memories, and +he began contrasting that journey with the present. Opposite was the seat +on which his parents had sat, in the bloom of health, and elate with; +joyous anticipations; he remembered--oh! so well--his father's pleasant +smile, his mother's soft and gentle voice. Both now were gone. Death had +made rigid that smiling face--her soft voice was hushed for ever--and the +cold snow was resting on their bosoms in the little churchyard miles away. +Truly the contrast between now and then was extremely saddening, and the +child bowed his head upon the seat, and sobbed in bitter grief. + +"What is the matter?" asked Mr. Balch; "not crying again, I hope. I +thought you were going to be a man, and that we were not to have any more +tears. Come!" continued he, patting him encouragingly on the back, "cheer +up! You are going to a delightful place, where you will find a number of +agreeable playmates, and have a deal of fun, and enjoy yourself amazingly." + +"But it won't be _home_," replied Clarence. + +"True," replied Mr. Balch, a little touched, "it won't seem so at first; +but you'll soon like it, I'll guarantee that." + +Clarence was not permitted to indulge his grief to any great extent, for +Mr. Balch soon succeeded in interesting him in the various objects that +they passed on the way. + +On the evening of the next day they arrived at their destination, and +Clarence alighted from the cars, cold, fatigued, and spiritless. There had +been a heavy fall of snow a few days previous, and the town of Sudbury, +which was built upon the hill-side, shone white and sparkling in the clear +winter moonlight. + +It was the first time that Clarence had ever seen the ground covered with +snow, and he could not restrain his admiration at the novel spectacle it +presented to him. "Oh, look!--oh, do look! Mr. Balch," he exclaimed, "how +beautifully white it looks; it seems as if the town was built of salt." + +It was indeed a pretty sight. Near them stood a clump of fantastic-shaped +trees, their gnarled limbs covered with snow, and brilliant with the +countless icicles that glistened like precious stones in the bright light +that was reflected upon them from the windows of the station. A little +farther on, between them and the town, flowed a small stream, the waters of +which were dimpling and sparkling in the moonlight. Beside its banks arose +stately cotton-mills, and from their many windows hundreds of lights were +shining. Behind them, tier above tier, were the houses of the town; and +crowning the hill was the academy, with its great dome gleaming on its top +like a silver cap upon a mountain of snow. The merry sleigh-bells and the +crisp tramp of the horses upon the frozen ground were all calculated to +make a striking impression on one beholding such a scene for the first +time. + +Clarence followed Mr. Balch into the sleigh, delighted and bewildered with +the surrounding objects. The driver whipped up his horses, they clattered +over the bridge, dashed swiftly through the town, and in a very short +period arrived at the dwelling of Mr. Eustis. + +The horses had scarcely stopped, when the door flew open, and a stream of +light from the hall shone down the pathway to the gate. Mr. Eustis came out +on the step to welcome them. After greeting Mr. Balch warmly, he took +Clarence by the hand, and led him into the room where his sister was +sitting. + +"Here is our little friend," said he to her, as she arose and approached +them; "try and get him warm, Ada--his hands are like ice." + +Miss Ada Bell welcomed Clarence in the most affectionate manner, assisted +him to remove his coat, unfastened his woollen neck-tie, and smoothed down +his glossy black hair; then, warming a napkin, she wrapped it round his +benumbed hands, and held them in her own until the circulation was restored +and they were supple and comfortable again. + +Miss Ada Bell appeared to be about thirty-five. She had good regular +features, hazel eyes, and long chestnut curls: a mouth with the sweetest +expression, and a voice so winning and affectionate in its tone that it +went straight to the hearts of all that listened to its music. + +"Had you a pleasant journey?" she asked. + +"It was rather cold," answered Clarence, "and I am not accustomed to frosty +weather." + +"And did you leave all your friends well?" she continued, as she chafed his +hands. + +"Quite well, I thank you," he replied. + +"I hear you have a little sister; were you not sorry to leave her behind?" + +This question called up the tearful face of little Em and her last embrace. +He could not answer; he only raised his mournful dark eyes to the face of +Miss Ada, and as he looked at her they grew moist, and a tear sparkled on +his long lashes. Miss Ada felt that she had touched a tender chord, so she +stooped down and kissed his forehead, remarking, "You have a good face, +Clarence, and no doubt an equally good heart; we shall get on charmingly +together, I know." Those kind words won the orphan's heart, and from that +day forth. Clarence loved her. Tea was soon brought upon the table, and +they all earnestly engaged in the discussion of the various refreshments +that Miss Ada's well-stocked larder afforded. Everything was so fresh and +nicely flavoured that both the travellers ate very heartily; then, being +much fatigued with their two days' journey, they seized an early +opportunity to retire. + + * * * * * + +Here we leave Clarence for many years; the boy will have become a man ere +we re-introduce him, and, till then, we bid him adieu. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Charlie seeks Employment. + + +Charlie had been at borne some weeks, comparatively idle; at least he so +considered himself, as the little he did in the way of collecting rents and +looking up small accounts for Mr. Walters he regarded as next to nothing, +it not occupying half his time. A part of each day he spent in attendance +on his father, who seemed better satisfied with his ministrations than with +those of his wife and daughters. This proved to be very fortunate for all +parties, as it enabled the girls to concentrate their attention on their +sewing--of which they had a vast deal on hand. + +One day, when Esther and Charlie were walking out together, the latter +remarked: "Ess, I wish I could find some regular and profitable employment, +or was apprenticed to some good trade that would enable me to assist mother +a little; I'd even go to service if I could do no better--anything but +being idle whilst you are all so hard at work. It makes me feel very +uncomfortable." + +"I would be very glad if you could procure some suitable employment. I +don't wish you to go to service again, that is out of the question. Of whom +have you made inquiry respecting a situation." + +"Oh, of lots of people; they can tell me of any number of families who are +in want of a footman, but no one appears to know of a 'person who is +willing to receive a black boy as an apprentice to a respectable calling. +It's too provoking; I really think, Ess, that the majority of white folks +imagine that we are only fit for servants, and incapable of being rendered +useful in any other capacity. If that terrible misfortune had not befallen +father, I should have learned his trade." + +"Ah!" sighed Esther, "but for that we should all have been happier. But, +Charlie," she added, "how do you know that you cannot obtain any other +employment than that of a servant? Have you ever applied personally to any +one?" + +"No, Esther, I haven't; but you know as well as I that white masters won't +receive coloured apprentices." + +"I think a great deal of that is taken for granted," rejoined Esther, "try +some one yourself." + +"I only wish I knew of any one to try," responded Charlie, "I'd hazard the +experiment at any rate." + +"Look over the newspaper in the morning," advised Esther; "there are always +a great many wants advertised--amongst them you may perhaps find something +suitable." + +"Well, I will Ess--now then we won't talk about that any more--pray tell +me, if I'm not too inquisitive, what do you purpose buying with your +money--a wedding-dress, eh?" he asked, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +Esther blushed and sighed, as she answered: "No, Charlie, that is all over +for the present. I told him yesterday I could not think of marrying now, +whilst we are all so unsettled. It grieved me to do it, Charlie, but I felt +that it was my duty. Cad and I are going to add our savings to mother's; +that, combined with what we shall receive for father's tools, good-will, +&c, will be sufficient to furnish another house; and as soon as we can +succeed in that, we will leave Mr. Walters, as it is embarrassing to remain +under present circumstances." + +"And what is to become of little Em?--she surely won't remain alone with +him?" + +"Mr. Walters has proposed that when we procure a house she shall come and +board with us. He wants us to take one of his houses, and offers some +fabulous sum for the child's board, which it would be unreasonable in us to +take. Dear, good man, he is always complaining that we are too proud, and +won't let him assist us when he might. If we find a suitable house I shall +be delighted to have her. I love the child for her mother's sake and her +own." + +"I wonder if they will ever send her away, as they did Clarence?" asked +Charlie. + +"I do not know," she rejoined. "Mr. Balch told me that he should not insist +upon it if the child was unwilling." + +The next day Charlie purchased all the morning papers he could obtain, and +sat down to look over the list of wants. There were hungry people in want +of professed cooks; divers demands for chamber-maids, black or white; +special inquiries for waiters and footmen, in which the same disregard of +colour was observable; advertisements for partners in all sorts of +businesses, and for journeymen in every department of mechanical +operations; then there were milliners wanted, sempstresses, and even +theatrical assistants, but nowhere in the long columns could he discover: +"Wanted, a boy." Charlie searched them over and over, but the stubborn fact +stared him in the face--there evidently were no boys wanted; and he at +length concluded that he either belonged to a very useless class, or that +there was an unaccountable prejudice existing in the city against the +rising generation. + +Charlie folded up the papers with a despairing sigh, and walked to the +post-office to mail a letter to Mrs. Bird that he had written the previous +evening. Having noticed a number of young men examining some written +notices that were posted up, he joined the group, and finding it was a list +of wants he eagerly read them over. + +To his great delight he found there was one individual at least, who +thought boys could be rendered useful to society, and who had written as +follows: "Wanted, a youth of about thirteen years of age who writes a good +hand, and is willing to make himself useful in an office.--Address, Box No. +77, Post-office." + +"I'm their man!" said Charlie to himself, as he finished perusing it--"I'm +just the person. I'll go home and write to them immediately;" and +accordingly he hastened back to the house, sat down, and wrote a reply to +the advertisement. He then privately showed it to Esther, who praised the +writing and composition, and pronounced the whole very neatly done. + +Charlie then walked down to the post-office to deposit his precious reply; +and after dropping it into the brass mouth of the mail-box, he gazed in +after it, and saw it glide slowly down into the abyss below. + +How many more had stopped that day to add their contributions to the mass +which Charlie's letter now joined? Merchants on the brink of ruin had +deposited missives whose answer would make or break them; others had +dropped upon the swelling heap tidings that would make poor men rich--rich +men richer; maidens came with delicately written notes, perfumed and +gilt-edged, eloquent with love--and cast them amidst invoices and bills of +lading. Letters of condolence and notes of congratulation jostled each +other as they slid down the brass throat; widowed mothers' tender epistles +to wandering sons; the letters of fond wives to absent husbands; erring +daughters' last appeals to outraged parents; offers of marriage; +invitations to funerals; hope and despair; joy and sorrow; misfortune and +success--had glided in one almost unbroken stream down that ever-distended +and insatiable brass throat. + +Charlie gave one more look at the opening, then sauntered homeward, +building by the way houses of fabulous dimensions, with the income he +anticipated from the situation if he succeeded in procuring it. Throughout +the next day he was in a state of feverish anxiety and expectation, and +Mrs. Ellis two or three times inquired the meaning of the mysterious +whisperings and glances that were exchanged between him and Esther. The day +wore away, and yet no answer--the next came and passed, still no +communication; and Charlie had given up in despair, when he was agreeably +surprised by the following:---- + +"Messrs. Twining, Western, and Twining will be much obliged to Charles +Ellis, if he will call at their office, 567, Water-street, to-morrow +morning at eleven o'clock, as they would like to communicate further with +him respecting a situation in their establishment." + +Charlie flew up stairs to Esther's room, and rushing in precipitately, +exclaimed, "Oh! Ess--I've got it, I've got it--see here," he shouted, +waving the note over his head; "Hurrah! Hurrah! Just read it, Ess, only +just read it!" + +"How can I, Charlie?" said she, with a smile, "if you hold it in your hand +and dance about in that frantic style--give it me. There now--keep quiet a +moment, and let me read it." After perusing it attentively, Esther added, +"Don't be too sanguine, Charlie. You see by the tenor of the note that the +situation is not promised you; they only wish to see you respecting it. You +may not secure it, after all--some obstacle may arise of which we are not +at present aware." + +"Go on, old raven--croak away!" said Charlie, giving her at the same time a +facetious poke. + +"There's many a slip between the cup and the lip," she added. + +"Oh, Ess!" he rejoined, "don't throw cold water on a fellow in that +style--don't harbour so many doubts. Do you think they would take the +trouble to write if they did not intend to give me the situation? Go away, +old raven," concluded he, kissing her, "and don't let us have any more +croaking." + +Charlie was bounding from the room, when he was stopped by his sister, who +begged him not to say anything to their mother respecting it, but wait +until they knew the issue of the interview; and, if he secured the +situation, it would be a very agreeable surprise to her. + +We will now visit, in company with the reader, the spacious offices of +Messrs. Twining, Western, and Twining, where we shall find Mr. Western +about consigning to the waste-paper basket a large pile of letters. This +gentleman was very fashionably dressed, of dark complexion, with the +languid air and drawling intonation of a Southerner. + +At an adjoining desk sat an elderly sharp-faced gentleman, who was looking +over his spectacles at the movements of his partner. "What a mass of +letters you are about to destroy," he remarked. + +Mr. Western took from his month the cigar he was smoking, and after puffing +from between his lips a thin wreath of smoke, replied: "Some of the most +atwocious scwawls that man ever attempted to pewuse,--weplies to the +advertisement. Out of the whole lot there wasn't more than a dozen amongst +them that were weally pwesentable. Here is one wemawkably well witten: I +have desiwed the witer to call this morning at eleven. I hope he will make +as favouwable an impwession as his witing has done. It is now almost +eleven--I pwesume he will be here soon." + +Scarcely had Mr. Western finished speaking, ere the door opened, and Esther +entered, followed by Charlie. Both the gentlemen rose, and Mr. Twining +offered her a chair. + +Esther accepted the proffered seat, threw up her veil, and said, in a +slightly embarrassed tone, "My brother here, took the liberty of replying +to an advertisement of yours, and you were kind enough to request him to +call at eleven to-day." + +"We sent a note to _your_ brother?" said Mr. Twining, in a tone of +surprise. + +"Yes, sir, and here it is," said she, extending it to him. + +Mr. Twining glanced over it, and remarked, "This is your writing, Western;" +then taking Charlie's letter from the desk of Mr. Western, he asked, in a +doubting tone, "Is this your own writing and composition?" + +"My own writing and composing," answered Charlie. + +"And it is vewy cweditable to you, indeed," said Mr. Western. + +Both the gentlemen looked at the note again, then at Charlie, then at +Esther, and lastly at each other; but neither seemed able to say anything, +and evident embarrassment existed on both sides. + +"And so you thought you would twy for the situation," at last remarked Mr. +Western to Charlie. + +"Yes, sir," he answered. "I was and am very anxious to obtain some +employment." "Have you a father?" asked Mr. Twining. + +"Yes, sir; but he was badly injured by the mob last summer, and will never +be able to work again." + +"That's a pity," said Western, sympathisingly; "and what have you been +doing?" + +"Nothing very recently. I broke my arm last spring, and was obliged to go +into the country for my health. I have not long returned." + +"Do your pawents keep house?" + +"Not at present. We are staying with a friend. Our house was burned down by +the rioters." + +This conversation recalled so vividly their past trials, that Esther's eyes +grew watery, and she dropped her veil to conceal a tear that was trembling +on the lid. + +"How vewy unfortunate!" said Mr. Western, sympathisingly; "vewy twying, +indeed!" then burying his chin in his hand, he sat silently regarding them +for a moment or two. + +"Have you come to any decision about taking him?" Esther at last ventured +to ask of Mr. Twining. + +"Taking him!--oh, dear me, I had almost forgot. Charles, let me see you +write something--here, take this seat." + +Charlie sat down as directed, and dashed off a few lines, which he handed +to Mr. Twining, who looked at it over and over; then rising, he beckoned to +his partner to follow him into an adjoining room. + +"Well, what do you say?" asked Western, after they had closed the door +behind them. "Don't you think we had better engage him?" + +"Engage _him_!" exclaimed Twining--"why, you surprise me, Western--the +thing's absurd; engage a coloured boy as under clerk! I never heard of such +a thing." + +"I have often," drawled Western; "there are the gweatest number of them in +New Orleans." + +"Ah, but New Orleans is a different place; such a thing never occurred in +Philadelphia." + +"Well, let us cweate a pwecedent, then. The boy wites wemarkably well, and +will, no doubt, suit us exactly. It will be a chawity to take him. We need +not care what others say--evewybody knows who we are and what we are?" + +"No, Western; I know the North better than you do; it wouldn't answer at +all here. We cannot take the boy--it is impossible; it would create a +rumpus amongst the clerks, who would all feel dreadfully insulted by our +placing a nigger child on an equality with them. I assure you the thing is +out of the question." + +"Well, I must say you Northern people are perfectly incompwehensible. You +pay taxes to have niggers educated, and made fit for such places--and then +won't let them fill them when they are pwepared to do so. I shall leave +you, then, to tell them we can't take him. I'm doosed sowwy for it--I like +his looks." + +Whilst Mr. Western and his partner were discussing in one room, Charlie and +Esther were awaiting with some anxiety their decision in the other. + +"I think they are going to take me," said Charlie; "you saw how struck they +appeared to be with the writing." + +"They admired it, I know, my dear; but don't be too sanguine." + +"I feel _sure_ they are going to take me," repeated he with a hopeful +countenance. + +Esther made no reply, and they remained in silence until Mr. Twining +returned to the room. + +After two or three preparatory ahems, he said to Esther; "I should like to +take your brother very much; but you see, in consequence of there being so +much excitement just now, relative to Abolitionism and kindred subjects, +that my partner and myself--that is, I and Mr. Western--think--or rather +feel--that just now it would be rather awkward for us to receive him. We +should like to take him; but his _colour_, miss--his complexion is a +_fatal_ objection. It grieves me to be obliged to tell you this; but I +think, under the circumstances, it would be most prudent for us to decline +to receive him. We are _very_ sorry--but our clerks are all young men, and +have a great deal of prejudice, and I am sure he would be neither +comfortable nor happy with them. If I can serve you in any other way--" + +"There is nothing that you can do that I am aware of," said Esther, rising; +"I thank you, and am sorry that we have occupied so much of your time." + +"Oh, don't mention it," said Mr. Twining, evidently happy to get rid of +them; and, opening the door, he bowed them out of the office. + +The two departed sadly, and they walked on for some distance in silence. At +last Esther pressed his hand, and, in a choking voice, exclaimed, "Charlie, +my dear boy, I'd give my life if it would change your complexion--if it +would make you white! Poor fellow! your battle of life will be a hard one +to fight!" + +"I know it, Ess; but I shouldn't care to be white if I knew I would not +have a dear old Ess like you for a sister," he answered, pressing her hand +affectionately. "I don't intend to be conquered," he continued; "I'll fight +it out to the last--this won't discourage me. I'll keep on trying," said +he, determinedly--"if one won't, perhaps another will." + +For two or three days Charlie could hear of nothing that would be at all +suitable for him. At last, one morning he saw an advertisement for a youth +to learn the engraver's business--one who had some knowledge of drawing +preferred; to apply at Thomas Blatchford's, bank-note engraver. "Thomas +Blatchford," repeated Mr. Walters, as Charlie read it over--"why that is +_the_ Mr. Blatchford, the Abolitionist. I think you have some chance there +most decidedly--I would advise you to take those sketches of yours and +apply at once." + +Charlie ran upstairs, and selecting the best-executed of his drawings, put +them in a neat portfolio, and, without saying anything to Esther or his +mother, hastened away to Mr. Blatchford's. He was shown into a room where a +gentleman was sitting at a table examining some engraved plates. "Is this +Mr. Blatchford's?" asked Charlie. + +"That is my name, my little man--do you want to see me," he kindly +inquired. + +"Yes, sir. You advertised for a boy to learn the engraving business, I +believe." + +"Well; and what then?" + +"I have come to apply for the situation." + +"_You--you_ apply?" said he, in a tone of surprise. + +"Yes, sir," faltered Charlie; "Mr. Walters recommended me to do so." + +"Ah, you know Mr. Walters, then," he rejoined. + +"Yes, sir; he is a great friend of my father's--we are living with him at +present." + +"What have you in your portfolio, there?" enquired Mr. Blatchford. Charlie +spread before him the sketches he had made during the summer, and also some +ornamental designs suitable for the title-pages of books. "Why, these are +excellently well done," exclaimed he, after examining them attentively; +"who taught you?" + +Charlie hereupon briefly related his acquaintance with the artist, and his +efforts to obtain employment, and their results, besides many other +circumstances connected with himself and family. Mr. Blatchford became +deeply interested, and, at the end of a long conversation, delighted +Charlie by informing him that if he and his mother could agree as to terms +he should be glad to receive him as an apprentice. + +Charlie could scarcely believe the evidence of his own ears, and leaving +his portfolio on the table was hastening away. + +"Stop! stop!" cried Mr. Blatchford, with a smile; "you have not heard all I +wish to say. I would be much obliged to your mother if she would call at my +house this evening, and then we can settle the matter definitely." + +Charlie seemed to tread on air as he walked home. Flying up to Esther--his +usual confidant--be related to her the whole affair, and gave at great +length his conversation with Mr. Blatchford. + +"That looks something like," said she; "I am delighted with the prospect +that is opening to you. Let us go and tell mother,"--and, accordingly, off +they both started, to carry the agreeable intelligence to Mrs. Ellis. + +That, evening Charlie, his mother, and Mr. Walters went to the house of Mr. +Blatchford. They were most, kindly received, and all the arrangements made +for Charlie's apprenticeship. He was to remain one month on trial; and if, +at the end of that period, all parties were satisfied, he was to be +formally indentured. + +Charlie looked forward impatiently to the following Monday, on which day he +was to commence his apprenticeship. In the intervening time he held daily +conferences with Kinch, as he felt their intimacy would receive a slight +check after he entered upon his new pursuit. + +"Look here, old fellow," said Charlie; "it won't do for you to be lounging +on the door-steps of the office, nor be whistling for me under the windows. +Mr. Blatchford spoke particularly against my having playmates around in +work hours; evenings I shall always be at home, and then you can come and +see me as often as you like." + +Since his visit to Warmouth, Charlie had been much more particular +respecting his personal appearance, dressed neater, and was much more +careful of his clothes. He had also given up marbles, and tried to persuade +Kinch to do the same. + +"I'd cut marbles, Kinch," said he to him one evening, when they were +walking together, "if I were you; it makes one such a fright--covers one +with chalk-marks and dirt from head to foot. And another thing, Kinch; you +have an abundance of good clothes--do wear them, and try and look more like +a gentleman." + +"Dear me!" said Kinch, rolling up the white of his eyes--"just listen how +we are going on! Hadn't I better get an eye-glass and pair of light kid +gloves?" + +"Oh, Kinch!" said Charlie, gravely, "I'm not joking--I mean what I say. You +don't know how far rough looks and an untidy person go against one. I do +wish you would try and keep yourself decent." "Well, there then--I will," +answered Kinch. "But, Charlie, I'm afraid, with your travelling and one +thing or other, you will forget your old playmate by-and-by, and get above +him." + +Charlie's eyes moistened; and, with a boy's impulsiveness, he threw his arm +over Kinch's shoulder, and exclaimed with emphasis, "Never, old fellow, +never--not as long as my name is Charlie Ellis! You mustn't be hurt at what +I said, Kinch--I think more of these things than I used to--I see the +importance of them. I find that any one who wants to get on must be +particular in little things as well great, and I must try and be a man +now--for you know things don't glide on as smoothly with us as they used. I +often think of our fun in the old house--ah, perhaps we'll have good times +in another of our own yet!"--and with this Charlie and his friend separated +for the night. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +Clouds and Sunshine. + + +The important Monday at length arrived, and Charlie hastened to the office +of Mr. Blatchford, which he reached before the hour for commencing labour. +He found some dozen or more journeymen assembled in the work-room; and +noticed that upon his entrance there was an interchange of significant +glances, and once or twice he overheard the whisper of "nigger." + +Mr. Blatchford was engaged in discussing some business matter with a +gentleman, and did not observe the agitation that Charlie's entrance had +occasioned. The conversation having terminated, the gentleman took up the +morning paper, and Mr. Blatchford, noticing Charlie, said, "Ah! you have +come, and in good time, too. Wheeler," he continued, turning to one of the +workmen, "I want you to take this boy under your especial charge: give him +a seat at your window, and overlook his work." + +At this there was a general uprising of the workmen, who commenced throwing +off their caps and aprons. "What is all this for?" asked Mr. Blatchford in +astonishment--"why this commotion?" + +"We won't work with niggers!" cried one; "No nigger apprentices!" cried +another; and "No niggers--no niggers!" was echoed from all parts of the +room. + +"Silence!" cried Mr. Blatchford, stamping violently--"silence, every one of +you!" As soon as partial order was restored, he turned to Wheeler, and +demanded, "What is the occasion of all this tumult--what does it mean?" + +"Why, sir, it means just this: the men and boys discovered that you +intended to take a nigger apprentice, and have made up their minds if you +do they will quit in a body." + +"It cannot be possible," exclaimed the employer, "that any man or boy in my +establishment has room in his heart for such narrow contemptible +prejudices. Can it be that you have entered into a conspiracy to deprive an +inoffensive child of an opportunity of earning his bread in a respectable +manner? Come, let me persuade you--the boy is well-behaved and educated!" + +"Damn his behaviour and education!" responded a burly fellow; "let him be a +barber or shoe-black--that is all niggers are good for. If he comes, we +go--that's so, ain't it, boys?" + +There was a general response of approval to this appeal; and Mr. +Blatchford, seeing the utter uselessness of further parleying, left the +room, followed by Charlie and the gentleman with whom he had been +conversing. + +Mr. Blatchford was placed in a most disagreeable position by this revolt on +the part of his workmen; he had just received large orders from some new +banks which were commencing operations, and a general disruption of his +establishment at that moment would have ruined him. To accede to his +workmen's demands he must do violence to his own conscience; but he dared +not sacrifice his business and bring ruin on himself and family, even +though he was right. + +"What would you do, Burrell?" he asked of the gentleman who had followed +them out. + +"There is no question as to what you must do. You mustn't ruin yourself for +the sake of your principles. You will have to abandon the lad; the other +alternative is not to be thought of for a moment." + +"Well, Charles, you see how it is," said Mr. Blatchford, reluctantly. +Charlie had been standing intently regarding the conversation that +concerned him so deeply. His face was pale and his lips quivering with +agitation. + +"I'd like to keep you, my boy, but you see how I'm situated, I must either +give up you or my business; the latter I cannot afford to do." With a great +effort Charlie repressed his tears, and bidding them good morning in a +choking voice, hastened from the room. + +"It's an infernal shame!" said Mr. Blatchford, indignantly; "and I shall +think meanly of myself for ever for submitting to it; but I can't help +myself, and must make the best of it." + +Charlie walked downstairs with lingering steps, and took the direction of +home. "All because I'm coloured," said he, bitterly, to himself--"all +because I'm coloured! What will mother and Esther say? How it will distress +them--they've so built upon it! I wish," said he, sadly, "that I was dead!" +No longer able to repress the tears that were welling up, he walked towards +the window of a print-store, where he pretended to be deeply interested in +some pictures whilst he stealthily wiped his eyes. Every time he turned to +leave the window, there came a fresh flood of tears; and at last he was +obliged to give way entirely, and sobbed as if his heart would break. + +He was thus standing when he felt a hand laid familiarly on his shoulder, +and, on turning round, he beheld the gentleman he had left in Mr. +Blatchford's office. "Come, my little man," said he, "don't take it so much +to heart. Cheer up--you may find some other person willing to employ you. +Come, walk on with me--where do you live?" Charlie dried his eyes and gave +him his address as they walked on up the street together. + +Mr. Burrell talked encouragingly, and quite succeeded in soothing him ere +they separated. "I shall keep a look out for you," said he, kindly; "and if +I hear of anything likely to suit you, I shall let you know." + +Charlie thanked him and sauntered slowly home. When he arrived, and they +saw his agitated looks, and his eyes swollen from the effect of recent +tears, there was a general inquiry of "What has happened? Why are you home +so early; are you sick?" + +Charlie hereupon related all that had transpired at the office--his great +disappointment and the occasion of it--to the intense indignation and grief +of his mother and sisters. "I wish there were no white folks," said +Caddy, wrathfully; "they are all, I believe, a complete set of villains and +everything else that is bad." + +"Don't be so sweeping in your remarks, pray don't, Caddy," interposed +Esther; "you have just heard what Charlie said of Mr. Blatchford--his heart +is kindly disposed, at any rate; you see he is trammelled by others." + +"Oh! well, I don't like any of them--I hate them all!" she continued +bitterly, driving her needle at the same time into the cloth she was +sewing, as if it was a white person she had in her lap and she was sticking +pins in him. "Don't cry, Charlie," she added; "the old white wretches, they +shouldn't get a tear out of me for fifty trades!" But Charlie could not be +comforted; he buried his head in his mother's lap, and wept over his +disappointment until he made himself sick. + +That day, after Mr. Burrell had finished his dinner, he remarked to his +wife, "I saw something this morning, my dear, that made a deep impression +on me. I haven't been able to get it out of my head for any length of time +since; it touched me deeply, I assure you." + +"Why, what could it have been? Pray tell me what it was." + +Thereupon, he gave his wife a graphic account of the events that had +transpired at Blatchford's in the morning; and in conclusion, said, "Now, +you know, my dear, that no one would call _me_ an _Abolitionist_; and I +suppose I have some little prejudice, as well as others, against coloured +people; but I had no idea that sensible men would have carried it to that +extent, to set themselves up, as they did, in opposition to a little boy +anxious to earn his bread by learning a useful trade." + +Mrs. Burrell was a young woman of about twenty-two, with a round +good-natured face and plump comfortable-looking figure; she had a heart +overflowing with kindness, and was naturally much affected by what he +related. "I declare it's perfectly outrageous," exclaimed she, indignantly; +"and I wonder at Blatchford for submitting to it. I wouldn't allow myself +to be dictated to in that manner--and he such an Abolitionist too! Had I +been him, I should have stuck to my principles at any risk. Poor little +fellow! I so wonder at Blatchford; I really don't think he has acted +manly." + +"Not so fast, my little woman, if you please--that is the way with almost +all of you, you let your hearts run away with your heads. You are unjust to +Blatchford; he could not help himself, he was completely in their power. It +is almost impossible at present to procure workmen in our business, and he +is under contract to finish a large amount of work within a specified time; +and if he should fail to fulfil his agreement it would subject him to +immense loss--in fact, it would entirely ruin him. You are aware, my dear, +that I am thoroughly acquainted with the state of his affairs; he is +greatly in debt from unfortunate speculations, and a false step just now +would overset him completely; he could not have done otherwise than he has, +and do justice to himself and his family. I felt that he could not; and in +fact advised him to act as he did." + +"Now, George Burrell, you didn't," said she, reproachfully. + +"Yes I did, my dear, because I thought of his family; I really believe +though, had I encouraged him, he would have made the sacrifice." + +"And what became of the boy?" + +"Oh; poor lad, he seemed very much cut down by it--I was quite touched by +his grief. When I came out, I found him standing by a shop window crying +bitterly. I tried to pacify him, and told him I would endeavour to obtain a +situation for him somewhere--and I shall." + +"Has he parents?" asked Mrs. Burrell. + +"Yes; and, by the way, don't you remember whilst the mob was raging last +summer, we read an account of a man running to the roof of a house to +escape from the rioters? You remember they chopped his hands off and threw +him over?" + +"Oh, yes, dear, I recollect; don't--don't mention it," said she, with a +shudder of horror. "I remember it perfectly." + +"Well, this little fellow is his son," continued Mr. Burrell. + +"Indeed! and what has become of his father--did he die?" + +"No, he partially recovered, but is helpless, and almost an idiot. I never +saw a child, apparently so anxious to get work; he talked more like a man +with a family dependent upon him for support, than a youth. I tell you +what, I became quite interested in him; he was very communicative, and told +me all their circumstances; their house was destroyed by the mob, and they +are at present residing with a friend." + +Just then the cry of a child was heard in the adjoining room, and Mrs. +Burrell rushed precipitately away, and soon returned with a fat, +healthy-looking boy in her arms, which, after kissing, she placed in her +husband's lap. He was their first-born and only child, and, as a matter of +course, a great pet, and regarded by them as a most wonderful boy; in +consequence, papa sat quite still, and permitted him to pull the studs out +of his shirt, untie his cravat, rumple his hair, and take all those little +liberties to which babies are notoriously addicted. + +Mrs. Burrell sat down on a stool at her husband's feet, and gazed at him +and the child in silence for some time. + +"What's the matter, Jane; what has made you so grave?" + +"I was trying to imagine, Burrell, how I should feel if you, I, and baby +were coloured; I was trying to place myself in such a situation. Now we +know that our boy, if he is honest and upright--is blest with great talent +or genius--may aspire to any station in society that he wishes to obtain. +How different it would be if he were coloured!--there would be nothing +bright in the prospective for him. We could hardly promise him a living at +any respectable calling. I think, George, we treat coloured people with +great injustice, don't you?" + +Mr. Burrell hemmed and ha'd at this direct query, and answered, "Well, we +don't act exactly right toward them, I must confess." + +Mrs. Burrell rose, and took the vacant knee of her husband, and toying with +the baby, said, "Now, George Burrell, I want to ask a favour of you. Why +can't _you_ take this boy ?" "I take him! why, my dear, I don't want an +apprentice." + +"Yes, but you must _make_ a want. You said he was a bright boy, and +sketched well. Why, I should think that he's just what you ought to have. +There is no one at your office that would oppose it. Cummings and Dalton +were with your father before you, they would never object to anything +reasonable that you proposed. Come, dear! do now make the trial--won't +you?" + +Mr. Burrell was a tender-hearted, yielding sort of an individual; and what +was more, his wife was fully aware of it; and like a young witch as she +was, she put on her sweetest looks, and begged so imploringly, that he was +almost conquered. But when she took up the baby, and made him put his +chubby arms round his father's neck, and say "pese pop-pop," he was +completely vanquished, and surrendered at discretion. + +"I'll see what can be done," said he, at last. + +"And will you do it afterwards?" she asked, archly. + +"Yes, I will, dear, I assure you," he rejoined. + +"Then I know it will be done," said she, confidently; "and none of us will +be the worse off for it, I am sure." + +After leaving home, Mr. Burrell went immediately to the office of Mr. +Blatchford; and after having procured Charlie's portfolio, he started in +the direction of his own establishment. He did not by any means carry on so +extensive a business as Mr. Blatchford, and employed only two elderly men +as journeymen. After he had sat down to work, one of them remarked, "Tucker +has been here, and wants some rough cuts executed for a new book. I told +him I did not think you would engage to do them; that you had given up that +description of work." + +"I think we lose a great deal, Cummings, by being obliged to give up those +jobs," rejoined Mr. Burrell. + +"Why don't you take an apprentice then," he suggested; "it's just the kind +of work for them to learn upon." + +"Well I've been thinking of that," replied he, rising and producing the +drawings from Charlie's portfolio. "Look here," said he, "what do you +think of these as the work of a lad of twelve or fourteen, who has never +had more than half a dozen lessons?" + +"I should say they were remarkably well done," responded Cummings. +"Shouldn't you say so, Dalton?" The party addressed took the sketches, and +examined them thoroughly, and gave an approving opinion of their merits. + +"Well," said Mr. Burrell, "the boy that executed those is in want of a +situation, and I should like to take him; but I thought I would consult you +both about it first. I met with him under very singular circumstances, and +I'll tell you all about it." And forthwith he repeated to them the +occurrences of the morning, dwelling upon the most affecting parts, and +concluding by putting the question to them direct, as to whether they had +any objections to his taking him. + +"Why no, none in the world," readily answered Cummings. "Laws me! colour is +nothing after all; and black fingers can handle a graver as well as white +ones, I expect." + +"I thought it best to ask you, to avoid any after difficulty. You have both +been in the establishment so long, that I felt that you ought to be +consulted." + +"You needn't have taken that trouble," said Dalton. "You might have known +that anything done by your father's son, would be satisfactory to us. I +never had anything to do with coloured people, and haven't anything against +them; and as long as you are contented I am." + +"Well, we all have our little prejudices against various things; and as I +did not know how you both would feel, I thought I wouldn't take any decided +steps without consulting you; but now I shall consider it settled, and will +let the lad know that I will take him." + +In the evening, he hastened home at an earlier hour than usual, and +delighted his wife by saying--"I have succeeded to a charm, my dear--there +wasn't the very slightest objection. I'm going to take the boy, if he +wishes to come." "Oh, I'm delighted," cried she, clapping her hands. "Cry +hurrah for papa!" said she to the baby; "cry hurrah for papa!" + +The scion of the house of Burrell gave vent to some scarcely intelligible +sounds, that resembled "Hoo-rogler pop-pop!" which his mother averred was +astonishingly plain, and deserving of a kiss; and, snatching him up, she +gave him two or three hearty ones, and then planted him in his father's lap +again." + +"My dear," said her husband, "I thought, as you proposed my taking this +youth, you might like to have the pleasure of acquainting him with his good +fortune. After tea, if you are disposed, we will go down there; the walk +will do you good." + +"Oh, George Burrell," said she, her face radiant with pleasure, "you are +certainly trying to outdo yourself. I have been languishing all day for a +walk! What a charming husband you are! I really ought to do something for +you. Ah, I know what--I'll indulge you; you may smoke all the way there and +back. I'll even go so far as to light the cigars for you myself." + +"That is a boon," rejoined her husband with a smile; "really 'virtue +rewarded,' I declare." + +Tea over, the baby kissed and put to bed, Mrs. Burrell tied on the most +bewitching of bonnets, and donning her new fur-trimmed cloak, declared +herself ready for the walk; and off they started. Mr. Burrell puffed away +luxuriously as they walked along, stopping now and then at her command, to +look into such shop-windows as contained articles adapted to the use of +infants, from india-rubber rings and ivory rattles, to baby coats and +shoes. + +At length they arrived at the door of Mr. Walters, and on, looking up at +the house, he exclaimed, "This is 257, but it can't be the place; surely +coloured people don't live in as fine an establishment as this." Then, +running up the steps, he examined the plate upon the door. "The name +corresponds with the address given me," said he; "I'll ring. Is there a +lad living here by the name of Charles Ellis?" he asked of the servant who +opened the door. + +"Yes, sir," was the reply. "Will you walk in?" + +When they were ushered into the drawing-room, Mr. Burrell said,--"Be kind +enough to say that a gentleman wishes to see him." + +The girl departed, closing the door behind her, leaving them staring about +the room. "How elegantly it is furnished!" said she. "I hadn't an idea that +there were any coloured people living in such style." + +"Some of them are very rich," remarked her husband. + +"But you said this boy was poor." + +"So he is. I understand they are staying with the owner of this house." + +Whilst they were thus conversing the door opened, and Esther entered. "I am +sorry," said she, "that my brother has retired. He has a very severe +head-ache, and was unable to remain up longer. His mother is out: I am his +sister, and shall be most happy to receive any communication for him." + +"I regret to hear of his indisposition," replied Mr. Burrell; "I hope it is +not consequent upon his disappointment this morning?" + +"I fear it is. Poor fellow! he took it very much to heart. It was a +disappointment to us all. We were congratulating ourselves on having +secured him an eligible situation." + +"I assure you the disappointment is not all on one side; he is a very +promising boy, and the loss of his prospective services annoying. Nothing +but stern necessity caused the result." + +"Oh, we entirely acquit you, Mr. Blatchford, of all blame in the matter. We +are confident that what happened was not occasioned by any indisposition on +your part to fulfil your agreement." + +"My dear," interrupted Mrs. Burrell, "she thinks you are Mr. Blatchford." + +"And are you not?" asked Esther, with some surprise. + +"Oh, no; I'm an intimate friend of his, and was present this morning when +the affair happened." "Oh, indeed," responded Esther. + +"Yes; and he came home and related it all to me,--the whole affair," +interrupted Mrs. Burrell. "I was dreadfully provoked; I assure you, I +sympathized with him very much. I became deeply interested in the whole +affair; I was looking at my little boy,--for I have a little boy," said +she, with matronly dignity,--"and I thought, suppose it was my little boy +being treated so, how should I like it? So bringing the matter home to +myself in that way made me feel all the more strongly about it; and I just +told George Burrell he must take him, as he is an engraver; and I and the +baby gave him no rest until he consented to do so. He will take him on the +same terms offered by Mr. Blatchford; and then we came down to tell you; +and--and," said she, quite out of breath, "that is all about it." + +Esther took the little woman's plump hand in both her own, and, for a +moment, seemed incapable of even thanking her. At last she said, in a husky +voice, "You can't think what a relief this is to us. My brother has taken +his disappointment so much to heart--I can't tell you how much I thank you. +God will reward you for your sympathy and kindness. You must excuse me," +she continued, as her voice faltered; "we have latterly been so +unaccustomed to receive such sympathy and kindness from persons of your +complexion, that this has quite overcome me." + +"Oh, now, don't! I'm sure it's no more than our duty, and I'm as much +pleased as you can possibly be--it has given me heartfelt gratification, I +assure you." + +Esther repeated her thanks, and followed them to the door, where she shook +hands with Mrs. Burrell, who gave her a pressing invitation to come and see +her baby. + +"How easy it is, George Burrell," said the happy little woman, "to make the +hearts of others as light as our own-mine feels like a feather," she added, +as she skipped along, clinging to his arm. "What a nice, lady-like girl his +sister is--is her brother as handsome as she ?" + +"Not quite," he answered; "still, he is very good-looking, I'll bring him +home with me to-morrow at dinner, and then you can see him." + +Chatting merrily, they soon arrived at home. Mrs. Burrell ran straightway +upstairs to look at that "blessed baby;" she found him sleeping soundly, +and looking as comfortable and happy as it is possible for a sleeping baby +to look--so she bestowed upon him a perfect avalanche of kisses, and +retired to her own peaceful pillow. + +And now, having thus satisfactorily arranged for our young friend Charlie, +we will leave him for a few years engaged in his new pursuits. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +Many Years After. + + +Old Father Time is a stealthy worker. In youth we are scarcely able to +appreciate his efforts, and oftentimes think him an exceedingly slow and +limping old fellow. When we ripen into maturity, and are fighting our own +way through the battle of life, we deem him swift enough of foot, and +sometimes rather hurried; but when old age comes on, and death and the +grave are foretold by trembling limbs and snowy locks, we wonder that our +course has been so swiftly run, and chide old Time for a somewhat hasty and +precipitate individual. + +The reader must imagine that many years have passed away since the events +narrated in the preceding chapters transpired, and permit us to +re-introduce the characters formerly presented, without any attempt to +describe how that long period has been occupied. + +First of all, let us resume our acquaintance with Mr. Stevens. To effect +this, we must pay that gentleman a visit at his luxurious mansion in Fifth +Avenue, the most fashionable street of New York--the place where the upper +ten thousand of that vast, bustling city most do congregate. As he is an +old acquaintance (we won't say friend), we will disregard ceremony, and +walk boldly into the library where that gentleman is sitting. + +He is changed--yes, sadly changed. Time has been hard at work with him, +and, dissatisfied with what his unaided agency could produce, has called in +conscience to his aid, and their united efforts have left their marks upon +him. He looks old--aye, very old. The bald spot on his head has extended +its limits until there is only a fringe of thin white hair above the ears. +There are deep wrinkles upon his forehead; and the eyes, half obscured by +the bushy grey eyebrows, are bloodshot and sunken; the jaws hollow and +spectral, and his lower lip drooping and flaccid. He lifts his hand to pour +out another glass of liquor from the decanter at his side, when his +daughter lays her hand upon it, and looks appealingly in his face. + +She has grown to be a tall, elegant woman, slightly thin, and with a +careworn and fatigued expression of countenance. There is, however, the +same sweetness in her clear blue eyes, and as she moves her head, her fair +flaxen curls float about her face as dreamily and deliciously as ever they +did of yore. She is still in black, wearing mourning for her mother, who +not many months before had been laid in a quiet nook on the estate at +Savanah. + +"Pray, papa, don't drink any more," said she, persuasively--"it makes you +nervous, and will bring on one of those frightful attacks again." + +"Let me alone," he remonstrated harshly--"let me alone, and take your hand +off the glass; the doctor has forbidden laudanum, so I will have brandy +instead--take off your hand and let me drink, I say." + +Lizzie still kept her hand upon the decanter, and continued gently: "No, +no, dear pa--you promised me you would only drink two glasses, and you have +already taken three--it is exceedingly injurious. The doctor insisted upon +it that you should decrease the quantity--and you are adding to it +instead." + +"Devil take the doctor!" exclaimed he roughly, endeavouring to disengage +her hold--"give me the liquor, I say." + +His daughter did not appear the least alarmed at this violence of manner, +nor suffer her grasp upon the neck of the decanter to be relaxed; but all +the while spoke soothing words to the angry old man, and endeavoured to +persuade him to relinquish his intention of drinking any more. + +"You don't respect your old father," he cried, in a whining tone--"you +take advantage of my helplessness, all of you--you ill-treat me and deny me +the very comforts of life! I'll tell--I'll tell the doctor," he continued, +as his voice subsided into an almost inaudible tone, and he sank back into +the chair in a state of semi-stupor. + +Removing the liquor from his reach, his daughter rang the bell, and then +walked towards the door of the room. + +"Who procured that liquor for my father?" she asked of the servant who +entered. + +"I did, miss," answered the man, hesitatingly. + +"Let this be the last time you do such a thing," she rejoined, eyeing him +sternly, "unless you wish to be discharged. I thought you all fully +understood that on no consideration was my father to have liquor, unless by +the physician's or my order--it aggravates his disease and neutralizes all +the doctor's efforts--and, unless you wish to be immediately discharged, +never repeat the same offence. Now, procure some assistance--it is time my +father was prepared for bed." + +The man bowed and left the apartment; but soon returned, saying there was a +person in the hall who had forced his way into the house, and who +positively refused to stir until he saw Mr. Stevens. + +"He has been here two or three times," added the man, "and he is very rough +and impudent." + +"This is most singular conduct," exclaimed Miss Stevens. "Did he give his +name?" + +"Yes, miss; he calls himself McCloskey." + +At the utterance of this well-known name, Mr. Stevens raised his head, and +stared at the speaker with a look of stupid fright, and inquired, "Who +here--what name is that?--speak louder--what name?" + +"McCloskey," answered the man, in a louder tone. + +"What! he--_he_!" cried Mr. Stevens, with a terrified look. "Where--where +is he?" he continued, endeavouring to rise--"where is he?" + +"Stop, pa," interposed his daughter, alarmed at his appearance and manner. +"Do stop--let me go," "No--no!" said the old man wildly, seizing her by +the dress to detain her--"_you_ must not go--that would never do! He might +tell her," he muttered to himself--"No, no--I'll go!"--and thus speaking, +he made another ineffectual attempt to reach the door. + +"Dear father! do let me go!" she repeated, imploringly. "You are incapable +of seeing any one--let me inquire what he wants!" she added, endeavouring +to loose his hold upon her dress. + +"No--you shall not!" he replied, clutching her dress still tighter, and +endeavouring to draw her towards him. + +"Oh, father!" she asked distractedly, "what can this mean? Here," said she, +addressing the servant, who stood gazing in silent wonder on this singular +scene, "help my father into his chair again, and then tell this strange man +to wait awhile." + +The exhausted man, having been placed in his chair, motioned to his +daughter to close the door behind the servant, who had just retired. + +"He wants money," said he, in a whisper--"he wants money! He'll make +beggars of us all--and yet I'll have to give him some. Quick! give me my +cheque-book--let me give him something before he has a chance to talk to +any one--quick! quick!" + +The distracted girl wrung her hands with grief at what she imagined was a +return of her father's malady, and exclaimed, "Oh! if George only would +remain at home--it is too much for me to have the care of father whilst he +is in such a state." Then pretending to be in search of the cheque-book, +she turned over the pamphlets and papers upon his desk, that she might gain +time, and think how it was best to proceed. + +Whilst she was thus hesitating, the door of the room was suddenly opened, +and a shabbily dressed man, bearing a strong odour of rum about him, forced +his way into the apartment, saying, "I will see him. D----n it, I don't +care haporth how sick he is--let me go, or by the powers I'll murther some +of yes." The old man's face was almost blanched with terror when he heard +the voice and saw the abrupt entry of the intruder. He sprang from the +chair with a great effort, and then, unable to sustain himself, sunk +fainting on the floor. + +"Oh, you have killed my father--you have killed my father! Who are you, and +what do you want, that you dare thrust yourself upon him in this manner?" +said she, stooping to assist in raising him; "cannot you see he is entirely +unfit for any business?" + +Mr. Stevens was replaced in his chair, and water thrown in his face to +facilitate his recovery. + +Meanwhile, McCloskey had poured himself out a glass of brandy and water, +which he stood sipping as coolly as if everything in the apartment was in a +state of the most perfect composure. The singular terror of her father, and +the boldness and assurance of the intruder, were to Miss Stevens something +inexplicable--she stood looking from one to the other, as though seeking an +explanation, and on observing symptoms of a return to consciousness on the +part of her parent, she turned to McCloskey, and said, appealingly: "You +see how your presence has agitated my father. Pray let me conjure you--go. +Be your errand what it may, I promise you it shall have the earliest +attention. Or," said she, "tell me what it is; perhaps I can see to it--I +attend a great deal to father's business. Pray tell me!" + +"No, no!" exclaimed the old man, who had caught the last few words of his +daughter. "No, no--not a syllable! Here, I'm well--I'm well enough. I'll +attend to you. There, there--that will do," he continued, addressing the +servant; "leave the room. And you," he added, turning to his daughter, "do +you go too. I am much better now, and can talk to him. Go! go!" he cried, +impatiently, as he saw evidences of a disposition to linger, on her part; +"if I want you I'll ring. Go!--this person won't stay long." + +"Not if I get what I came for, miss," said McCloskey, insolently; +"otherwise, there is no knowing how long I may stay." With a look of +apprehension, Lizzie quitted the room, and the murderer and his accomplice +were alone together. + +Mr. Stevens reached across the table, drew the liquor towards him, and +recklessly pouring out a large quantity, drained the glass to the +bottom--this seemed to nerve him up and give him courage, for he turned to +McCloskey and said, with a much bolder air than he had yet shown in +addressing him, "So, you're back again, villain! are you? I thought and +hoped you were dead;" and he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes +as if to shut out some horrid spectre. + +"I've been divilish near it, squire, but Providence has preserved me, ye +see--jist to be a comfort to ye in yer old age. I've been shipwrecked, +blown up in steamboats, and I've had favers and choleray and the divil +alone knows what--but I've been marcifully presarved to ye, and hope ye'll +see a good dale of me this many years to come." + +Mr. Stevens glared at him fiercely for a few seconds, and then rejoined, +"You promised me solemnly, five years ago, that you would never trouble me +again, and I gave you money enough to have kept you in comfort--ay, +luxury--for the remainder of your life. Where is it all now?" + +"That's more than I can tell you, squire. I only know how it comes. I don't +trouble myself how it goes--that's your look out. If ye are anxious on that +score you'd better hire a bookkeeper for me--he shall send yer honour a +quarterly account, and then it won't come on ye so sudden when it's all out +another time." + +"Insolent!" muttered Mr. Stevens. + +McCloskey gave Mr. Stevens an impudent look, but beyond that took no +farther notice of his remark, but proceeded with the utmost coolness to +pour out another glass of brandy--after which he drew his chair closer to +the grate, and placed his dirty feet upon the mantelpiece in close +proximity to an alabaster clock. + +"You make yourself very much at home," said Stevens, indignantly. + +"Why shouldn't I?" answered his tormentor, in a tone of the most perfect +good humour. "Why shouldn't I--in the house of an ould acquaintance and +particular friend--just the place to feel at home, eh, Stevens?" then +folding his arms and tilting back his chair, he asked, coolly: "You haven't +a cigar, have ye?" + +"No," replied Stevens, surlily; "and if I had, you should not have it. Your +insolence is unbearable; you appear," continued he, with some show of +dignity, "to have forgotten who I am, and who you are." + +"Ye're mistaken there, squire. Divil a bit have I. I'm McCloskey, and you +are Slippery George--an animal that's known over the 'varsal world as a +Philadelphia lawyer--a man that's chated his hundreds, and if he lives long +enough, he'll chate as many more, savin' his friend Mr. McCloskey, and him +he'll not be afther chating, because he won't be able to get a chance, +although he'd like to if he could--divil a doubt of that." + +"It's false--I never tried to cheat you," rejoined Stevens, courageously, +for the liquor was beginning to have a very inspiriting effect. "It's a +lie--I paid you all I agreed upon, and more besides; but you are like a +leech--never satisfied. You have had from me altogether nearly twenty +thousand dollars, and you'll not get much more--now, mind I tell you." + +"The divil I won't," rejoined he, angrily; "that is yet to be seen. How +would you like to make yer appearance at court some fine morning, on the +charge of murther, eh?" Mr. Stevens gave a perceptible shudder, and looked +round, whereupon McCloskey said, with a malevolent grin, "Ye see I don't +stick at words, squire; I call things by their names." + +"So I perceive," answered Stevens. "You were not so bold once." + +"Ha, ha!" laughed McCloskey. "I know _that_ as well as you--then _I_ was +under the thumb--that was before we were sailing in the one boat; now ye +see, squire, the boot is on the other leg." Mr. Stevens remained quiet +for a few moments, whilst his ragged visitor continued to leisurely sip his +brandy and contemplate the soles of his boots as they were reflected in the +mirror above--they were a sorry pair of boots, and looked as if there would +soon be a general outbreak of his toes--so thin and dilapidated did the +soles appear. + +"Look at thim boots, and me suit ginerally, and see if your conscience +won't accuse ye of ingratitude to the man who made yer fortune--or rather +lets ye keep it, now ye have it. Isn't it a shame now for me, the best +friend you've got in the world, to be tramping the streets widdout a penny +in his pocket, and ye livin' in clover, with gold pieces as plenty as +blackberries. It don't look right, squire, and mustn't go on any longer." + +"What do you want--whatever will satisfy you?" asked Stevens. "If I give +you ever so much now, what guarantee have I that you'll not return in a +month or so, and want as much more?" + +"I'll pledge ye me honour," said McCloskey, grandly. + +"Your honour!" rejoined Stevens, "that is no security." + +"Security or no security," said McCloskey, impatiently, "you'll have to +give me the money--it's not a bit of use now this disputin, bekase ye see +I'm bound to have it, and ye are wise enough to know ye'd better give it to +me. What if ye have give me thousands upon thousands," continued he, his +former good-humoured expression entirely vanishing; "it's nothing more than +you ought to do for keeping yer secrets for ye--and as long as ye have +money, ye may expect to share it with me: so make me out a good heavy +cheque, and say no more about it." + +"What do you call a heavy cheque?" asked Stevens, in a despairing tone. + +"Five or six thousand," coolly answered his visitor. + +"Five or six thousand!" echoed Mr. Stevens, "it is impossible." + +"It had better not be," said McCloskey, looking angry; "it had better not +be--I'm determined not to be leading a beggar's life, and you to be a +rolling in wealth." + +"I can't give it, and won't give it--if it must come to that," answered +Stevens, desperately. "It is you that have the fortune--I am only your +banker at this rate. I can't give it to you--I haven't got that much +money." + +"You must find it then, and pretty quick at that," said McCloskey. "I'm not +to be fooled with--I came here for money, and I must and will have it." + +"I am willing to do what is reasonable," rejoined Mr. Stevens, in a more +subdued tone. "You talk of thousands as most men do of hundreds. I really +haven't got it." + +"Oh, bother such stuff as that," interrupted McCloskey, incredulously. "I +don't believe a word of it--I've asked them that know, and every one says +you've made a mint of money by speculation--that since ye sold out in the +South and came here to live, there's no end to the money ye've made; so you +see it don't do to be making a poor mouth to me. I've come here for a check +for five thousand dollars, and shan't go away without it," concluded he, in +a loud and threatening tone. + +During this conversation, Lizzie Stevens had been standing at the door, +momentarily expecting a recall to the apartment. She heard the low rumble +of their voices, but could not distinguish words. At length, hearing +McCloskey's raised to a higher key, she could no longer restrain her +impatience, and gently opening the door, looked into the room. Both their +faces were turned in the opposite direction, so that neither noticed the +gentle intrusion of Lizzie, who, fearing to leave her father longer alone, +ventured into the apartment. + +"You need not stand looking at me in that threatening manner. You may do as +you please--go tell what you like; but remember, when I fall, so do you; I +have not forgotten that affair in Philadelphia from which I saved +you--don't place me in a situation that will compel me to recur to it to +your disadvantage." "Ah, don't trouble yerself about that, squire; I +don't--that is entirely off my mind; for now Whitticar is dead, where is +yer witnesses?" + +"Whitticar dead!" repeated Stevens. + +"Yes; and what's more, he's buried--so he's safe enough, squire; and I +shouldn't be at all surprised if you'd be glad to have me gone too." + +"I would to God you had been, before I put myself in your power." + +"'Twas your own hastiness. When it came to the pinch, I wasn't equal to the +job, so ye couldn't wait for another time, but out with yer pistol, and +does it yerself." The wretched man shuddered and covered his face, as +McCloskey coolly recounted his murder of Mr. Garie, every word of which was +too true to be denied. + +"And haven't I suffered," said he, shaking his bald head mournfully; +"haven't I suffered--look at my grey hairs and half-palsied frame, decrepit +before I'm old--sinking into the tomb with a weight of guilt and sin upon +me that will crush me down to the lowest depth of hell. Think you," he +continued, "that because I am surrounded with all that money can buy, that +I am happy, or ever shall be, with this secret gnawing at my heart; every +piece of gold I count out, I see his hands outstretched over it, and hear +him whisper 'Mine!' He gives me no peace night or day; he is always by me; +I have no rest. And you must come, adding to my torture, and striving to +tear from me that for which I bartered conscience, peace, soul, everything +that would make life desirable. If there is mercy in you, leave me with +what I give you, and come back no more. Life has so little to offer, that +rather than bear this continued torment and apprehension I daily suffer, I +will cut my throat, and then _your_ game is over." + +Lizzie Stevens stood rooted to the spot whilst her father made the +confession that was wrung from him by the agony of the moment. + +"Well, well!" said McCloskey, somewhat startled and alarmed at Stevens's +threat of self-destruction--"well, I'll come down a thousand--make it +four." + +"That I'll do," answered the old man, tremblingly; and reaching over, he +drew towards him the cheque-book. After writing the order for the sum, he +was placing it in the hand of McCloskey, when, hearing a faint moan, he +looked towards the door, and saw his daughter fall fainting to the ground. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +The Thorn rankles. + + +We left the quiet town of Sudbury snow-clad and sparkling in all the glory +of a frosty moonlight night; we now return to it, and discover it decked +out in its bravest summer garniture. A short distance above the hill upon +which it is built, the water of the river that glides along its base may be +seen springing over the low dam that obstructs its passage, sparkling, +glistening, dancing in the sunlight, as it falls splashing on the stones +below; and then, as though subdued by the fall and crash, it comes +murmuring on, stopping now and then to whirl and eddy round some rock or +protruding stump, and at last glides gently under the arch of the bridge, +seemingly to pause beneath its shadow and ponder upon its recent tumble +from the heights above. Seated here and there upon the bridge are groups of +boys, rod in hand, endeavouring, with the most delicious-looking and +persuasive of baits, to inveigle finny innocents from the cool depths +below. + +The windows of the mills are all thrown open, and now and then the voices +of some operatives, singing at their work, steal forth in company with the +whir and hum of the spindles, and mingle with the splash of the waterfall; +and the united voices of nature, industry, and man, harmonize their +swelling tones, or go floating upward on the soft July air. The houses upon +the hill-side seem to be endeavouring to extricate themselves from bowers +of full-leafed trees; and with their white fronts, relieved by the light +green blinds, look cool and inviting in the distance. High above them all, +as though looking down in pride upon the rest, stands the Academy, ennobled +in the course of years by the addition of extensive wings and a row of +stately pillars. On the whole, the town looked charmingly peaceful and +attractive, and appeared just the quiet nook that a weary worker in cities +would select as a place of retirement after a busy round of toils or +pleasure. + +There were little knots of idlers gathered about the railroad station, as +there always is in quiet towns--not that they expect any one; but that the +arrival and departure of the train is one of the events of the day, and +those who have nothing else particular to accomplish feel constrained to be +on hand to witness it. Every now and then one of them would look down the +line and wonder why the cars were not in sight. + +Amongst those seemingly the most impatient was Miss Ada Bell, who looked +but little older than when she won the heart of the orphan Clarence, years +before, by that kind kiss upon his childish brow. It was hers still--she +bound it to her by long years of affectionate care, almost equalling in its +sacrificing tenderness that which a mother would have bestowed upon her +only child. Clarence, her adopted son, had written to her, that he was +wretched, heart-sore, and ill, and longed to come to her, his almost +mother, for sympathy, advice, and comfort: so she, with yearning heart, was +there to meet him. + +At last the faint scream of the steam-whistle was heard, and soon the +lumbering locomotive came puffing and snorting on its iron path, dashing on +as though it could never stop, and making the surrounding hills echo with +the unearthly scream of its startling whistle, and arousing to desperation +every dog in the quiet little town. At last it stopped, and stood giving +short and impatient snorts and hisses, whilst the passengers were +alighting. + +Clarence stepped languidly out, and was soon in the embrace of Miss Ada. + +"My dear boy, how thin and pale you look!" she exclaimed; "come, get into +the carriage; never mind your baggage, George will look after that; your +hands are hot--very hot, you must be feverish." + +"Yes, Aunt Ada," for so he had insisted on his calling her "I am ill--sick +in heart, mind, and everything. Cut up the horses," said he, with slight +impatience of manner; "let us get home quickly. When I get in the old +parlour, and let you bathe my head as you used to, I am sure I shall feel +better. I am almost exhausted from fatigue and heat." + +"Very well then, dear, don't talk now," she replied, not in the least +noticing his impatience of manner; "when you are rested, and have had your +tea, will be time enough." + +They were soon in the old house, and Clarence looked round with a smile of +pleasure on the room where he had spent so many happy hours. Good Aunt Ada +would not let him talk, but compelled him to remain quiet until he had +rested himself, and eaten his evening meal. + +He had altered considerably in the lapse of years, there was but little +left to remind one of the slight, melancholy-looking boy, that once stood a +heavy-hearted little stranger in the same room, in days gone by. His face +was without a particle of red to relieve its uniform paleness; his eyes, +large, dark, and languishing, were half hidden by unusually long lashes; +his forehead broad, and surmounted with clustering raven hair; a glossy +moustache covered his lip, and softened down its fulness; on the whole, he +was strikingly handsome, and none would pass him without a second look. + +Tea over, Miss Ada insisted that he should lie down upon the sofa again, +whilst she, sat by and bathed his head. "Have you seen your sister lately?" +she asked. + +"No, Aunt Ada," he answered, hesitatingly, whilst a look of annoyance +darkened his face for a moment; "I have not been to visit her since last +fall--almost a year." + +"Oh! Clarence, how can you remain so long away?" said she, reproachfully. + +"Well, I can't go there with any comfort or pleasure," he answered, +apologetically; "I can't go there; each year as I visit the place, their +ways seem more strange and irksome to me. Whilst enjoying her company, I +must of course come in familiar contact with those by whom she is +surrounded. Sustaining the position that I do--passing as I am for a white +man--I am obliged to be very circumspect, and have often been compelled to +give her pain by avoiding many of her dearest friends when I have +encountered them in public places, because of their complexion. I feel mean +and cowardly whilst I'm doing it; but it is necessary--I can't be white and +coloured at the same time; the two don't mingle, and I must consequently be +one or the other. My education, habits, and ideas, all unfit me for +associating with the latter; and I live in constant dread that something +may occur to bring me out with the former. I don't avoid coloured people, +because I esteem them my inferiors in refinement, education, or +intelligence; but because they are subjected to degradations that I shall +be compelled to share by too freely associating with them." + +"It is a pity," continued he, with a sigh, "that I was not suffered to grow +up with them, then I should have learnt to bear their burthens, and in the +course of time might have walked over my path of life, bearing the load +almost unconsciously. Now it would crush me, I know. It was a great mistake +to place me in my present false position," concluded he, bitterly; "it has +cursed me. Only a day ago I had a letter from Em, reproaching me for my +coldness; yet, God help me! What am I to do!" + +Miss Ada looked at him sorrowfully, and continued smoothing down his hair, +and inundating his temples with Cologne; at last she ventured to inquire, +"How do matters progress with you and Miss Bates? Clary, you have lost your +heart there!" + +"Too true," he replied, hurriedly; "and what is more--little Birdie (I call +her little Birdie) has lost hers too. Aunt Ada, we are engaged!" + +"With her parents' consent?" she asked. + +"Yes, with her parents' consent; we are to be married in the coming +winter." + +"Then they know _all_, of course--they know you are coloured?" observed +she. + +"They know all!" cried he, starting up. "_Who_ said they did--_who_ told +them?--tell me that, I say! Who has _dared_ to tell them I am a coloured +man?" + +"Hush, Clarence, hush!" replied she, attempting to soothe him. "I do not +know that any one has informed them; I only inferred so from your saying +you were engaged. I thought _you_ had informed them yourself. Don't you +remember you wrote that you should?--and I took it for granted that you +had." + +"Oh! yes, yes; so I did! I fully intended to, but found myself too great a +coward. _I dare not_--I cannot risk losing her. I am fearful that if she +knew it she would throw me off for ever." + +"Perhaps not, Clarence--if she loves you as she should; and even if she +did, would it not be better that she should know it now, than have it +discovered afterwards, and you both be rendered miserable for life." + +"No, no, Aunt Ada--I cannot tell her! It must remain a secret until after +our marriage; then, if they find it out, it will be to their interest to +smooth the matter over, and keep quiet about it." + +"Clary, Clary--that is _not_ honourable!" + +"I know it--but how can I help it? Once or twice I thought of telling her, +but my heart always failed me at the critical moment. It would kill me to +lose her. Oh! I love her, Aunt Ada," said he, passionately--"love her with +all the energy and strength of my father's race, and all the doating +tenderness of my mother's. I could have told her long ago, before my love +had grown to its present towering strength, but craft set a seal upon my +lips, and bid me be silent until her heart was fully mine, and then nothing +could part us; yet now even, when sure of her affections, the dread that +her love would not stand the test, compels me to shrink more than ever from +the disclosure." + +"But, Clarence, you are not acting generously; I know your conscience does +not approve your actions." + +"Don't I know that?" he answered, almost fiercely; "yet I dare not tell--I +must shut this secret in my bosom, where it gnaws, gnaws, gnaws, until it +has almost eaten my heart away. Oh, I've thought of that, time and again; +it has kept me awake night after night, it haunts me at all hours; it is +breaking down my health and strength--wearing my very life out of me; no +escaped galley-slave ever felt more than I do, or lived in more constant +fear of detection: and yet I must nourish this tormenting secret, and keep +it growing in my breast until it has crowded out every honourable and manly +feeling; and then, perhaps, after all my sufferings and sacrifice of +candour and truth, out it will come at last, when I least expect or think +of it." + +Aunt Ada could not help weeping, and exclaimed, commiseratingly, "My poor, +poor boy," as he strode up and down the room. + +"The whole family, except her, seem to have the deepest contempt for +coloured people; they are constantly making them a subject of bitter jests; +they appear to have no more feeling or regard for them than if they were +brutes--and I," continued he, "I, miserable, contemptible, false-hearted +knave, as I am, I--I--yes, I join them in their heartless jests, and wonder +all the while my mother does not rise from her grave and _curse_ me as I +speak!" + +"Oh! Clarence, Clarence, my dear child!" cried the terrified Aunt Ada, "you +talk deliriously; you have brooded over this until it has almost made you +crazy. Come here--sit down." And seizing him by the arm, she drew him on +the sofa beside her, and began to bathe his hot head with the Cologne +again. + +"Let me walk, Aunt Ada," said he after a few moments,--"let me walk, I feel +better whilst I am moving; I can't bear to be quiet." And forthwith he +commenced striding up and down the room again with nervous and hurried +steps. After a few moments he burst out again---- + +"It seems as if fresh annoyances and complications beset me every day. Em +writes me that she is engaged. I was in hopes, that, after I had married, I +could persuade her to come and live with me, and so gradually break off her +connection with, coloured people; but that hope is extinguished now: she +is engaged to a coloured man." + +Aunt Ada could see no remedy for this new difficulty, and could only say, +"Indeed!" + +"I thought something of the kind would occur when I was last at home, and +spoke to her on the subject, but she evaded giving me any definite answer; +I think she was afraid to tell me--she has written, asking my consent." + +"And will you give it?" asked Aunt Ada. + +"It will matter but little if I don't; Em has a will of her own, and I have +no means of coercing her; besides, I have no reasonable objection to urge: +it would be folly in me to oppose it, simply because he is a coloured +man--for, what am I myself? The only difference is, that his identity with +coloured people is no secret, and he is not ashamed of it; whilst I conceal +my origin, and live in constant dread that some one may find it out." When +Clarence had finished, he continued to walk up and down the room, looking +very careworn and gloomy. + +Miss Bell remained on the sofa, thoughtfully regarding him. At last, she +rose up and took his hand in hers, as she used to when he was a boy, and +walking beside him, said, "The more I reflect upon it, the more necessary I +regard it that you should tell this girl and her parents your real position +before you marry her. Throw away concealment, make a clean breast of it! +you may not be rejected when they find her heart is so deeply interested. +If you marry her with this secret hanging over you, it will embitter your +life, make you reserved, suspicious, and consequently ill-tempered, and +destroy all your domestic happiness. Let me persuade you, tell them ere it +be too late. Suppose it reached them through some other source, what would +they then think of you?" + +"Who else would tell them? Who else knows it? You, you," said he +suspiciously--"_you_ would not betray me! I thought you loved me, Aunt +Ada." + +"Clarence, my dear boy," she rejoined, apparently hurt by his hasty and +accusing tone, "you _will_ mistake me--I have no such intention. If they +are never to learn it except through _me_, your secret is perfectly safe. +Yet I must tell you that I feel and think that the true way to promote her +happiness and your own, is for you to disclose to them your real position, +and throw yourself upon their generosity for the result." + +Clarence pondered for a long time over Miss Bell's advice, which she again +and again repeated, placing it each time before him in a stronger light, +until, at last, she extracted from him a promise that he would do it. "I +know you are right, Aunt Ada," said he; "I am convinced of that--it is a +question of courage with me. I know it would be more honourable for me to +tell her now. I'll try to do it--I will make an effort, and summon up the +courage necessary--God be my helper!" + +"That's a dear boy!" she exclaimed, kissing him affectionately; "I know you +will feel happier when it is all over; and even if she should break her +engagement, you will be infinitely better off than if it was fulfilled and +your secret subsequently discovered. Come, now," she concluded, "I am going +to exert my old authority, and send you to bed; tomorrow, perhaps, you may +see this in a more hopeful light." + +Two days after this, Clarence was again in New York, amid the heat and dust +of that crowded, bustling city. Soon, after his arrival, he dressed +himself, and started for the mansion of Mr. Bates, trembling as he went, +for the result of the communication he was about to make. + +Once on the way he paused, for the thought had occurred to him that he +would write to them; then reproaching himself for his weakness and +timidity, he started on again with renewed determination. + +"I'll see her myself," he soliloquized. "I'll tell little Birdie all, and +know my fate from her own lips. If I must give her up, I'll know the worst +from her." + +When Clarence was admitted, he would not permit himself to be announced, +but walked tiptoe upstairs and gently opening the drawing-room door, +entered the room. Standing by the piano, turning over the leaves of some +music, and merrily humming an air, was a young girl of extremely _petite_ +and delicate form. Her complexion was strikingly fair; and the rich curls +of dark auburn that fell in clusters on her shoulders, made it still more +dazzling by the contrast presented. Her eyes were grey, inclining to black; +her features small, and not over-remarkable for their symmetry, yet by no +means disproportionate. There was the sweetest of dimples on her small +round chin, and her throat white and clear as the finest marble. The +expression of her face was extremely childlike; she seemed more like a +schoolgirl than a young woman of eighteen on the eve of marriage. There was +something deliriously airy and fairylike in her motions, and as she +slightly moved her feet in time to the music she was humming, her thin blue +dress floated about her, and undulated in harmony with her graceful +motions. + +After gazing at her for a few moments, Clarence called gently, "Little +Birdie." She gave a timid joyous little cry of surprise and pleasure, and +fluttered into his arms. + +"Oh, Clary, love, how you startled me! I did not dream there was any one in +the room. It was so naughty in you," said she, childishly, as he pushed +back the curls from her face and kissed her. "When did you arrive?" + +"Only an hour ago," he answered. + +"And you came here at once? Ah, that was so lover-like and kind," she +rejoined, smiling. + +"You look like a sylph to-night, Anne," said he, as she danced about him. +"Ah," he continued, after regarding her for a few seconds with a look of +intense admiration, "you want to rivet my chains the tighter,--you look +most bewitching. Why are you so much dressed to-night?--jewels, sash, and +satin slippers," he continued; "are you going out?" + +"No, Clary," she answered. "I was to have gone to the theatre; but just at +the last moment I decided not to. A singular desire to stay at home came +over me suddenly. I had an instinctive feeling that I should lose some +greater enjoyment if I went; so I remained at home; and here, love, are +you. But what is the matter? you look sad and weary." + +"I am a little fatigued," said he, seating himself and holding her hand in +his: "a little weary; but that will soon wear off; and as for the sadness," +concluded he, with a forced smile, "that _must_ depart now that I am with +you, Little Birdie." + +"I feel relieved that you have returned safe and well," said she, looking +up into his face from her seat beside him; "for, Clary, love, I had such a +frightful dream, such a singular dream about you. I have endeavoured to +shake it out of my foolish little head; but it won't go, Clary,--I can't +get rid of it. It occurred after you left us at Saratoga. Oh, it was +nothing though," said she, laughing and shaking her curls,--"nothing; and +now you are safely returned, I shall not think of it again. Tell me what +you have seen since you went away; and how is that dear Aunt Ada of yours +you talk so much about?" + +"Oh, she is quite well," answered he; "but tell, Anne, tell me about that +dream. What was it, Birdie?--come tell me." + +"I don't care to," she answered, with a slight shudder,--"I don't want to, +love." + +"Yes, yes,--do, sweet," importuned he; "I want to hear it." + +"Then if I must," said she, "I will. I dreamed that you and I were walking +on a road together, and 'twas such a beautiful road, with flowers and +fruit, and lovely cottages on either side. I thought you held my hand; I +felt it just as plain as I clasp yours now. Presently a rough ugly man +overtook us, and bid you let me go; and that you refused, and held me all +the tighter. Then he gave you a diabolical look, and touched you on the +face, and you broke out in loathsome black spots, and screamed in such +agony and frightened me so, that I awoke all in a shiver of terror, and did +not get over it all the next day." + +Clarence clutched her hand tighter as she finished, so tight indeed, that +she gave a little scream of pain and looked frightened at him. "What is the +matter?" she inquired; "your hand is like ice, and you are paler than ever. +You haven't let that trifling dream affect you so? It is nothing." + +"I am superstitious in regard to dreams," said Clarence, wiping the +perspiration from his forehead. "Go," he asked, faintly, "play me an air, +love,--something quick and lively to dispel this. I wish you had not told +me." + +"But you begged me to," said she, pouting, as she took her seat at the +instrument. + +"How ominous," muttered he,--"became covered with black spots; that is a +foreshadowing. How can I tell her," he thought. "It seems like wilfully +destroying my own happiness." And he sat struggling with himself to obtain +the necessary courage to fulfil the purpose of his visit, and became so +deeply engrossed with his own reflections as to scarcely even hear the +sound of the instrument. + +"It is too bad," she cried, as she ceased playing: "here I have performed +some of your favourite airs, and that too without eliciting a word of +commendation. You are inexpressibly dull to-night; nothing seems to enliven +you. What is the matter?" + +"Oh," rejoined he, abstractedly, "am I? I was not aware of it." + +"Yes, you are," said Little Birdie, pettishly; "nothing seems to engage +your attention." And, skipping off to the table, she took up the newspaper, +and exclaimed,--"Let me read you something very curious." + +"No, no, Anne dear," interrupted he; "sit here by me. I want to say +something serious to you--something of moment to us both." + +"Then it's something very grave and dull, I know," she remarked; "for that +is the way people always begin. Now I don't want to hear anything serious +to-night; I want to be merry. You _look_ serious enough; and if you begin +to talk seriously you'll be perfectly unbearable. So you must hear what I +am going to read to you first." And the little tyrant put her finger on his +lip, and looked so bewitching, that he could not refuse her. And the +important secret hung on his lips, but was not spoken. + +"Listen," said she, spreading out the paper before her and running her tiny +finger down the column. "Ah, I have it," she exclaimed at last, and +began:-- + +"'We learn from unimpeachable authority that the Hon. ---- ----, who +represents a district of our city in the State legislature, was yesterday +united to the Quateroon daughter of the late Gustave Almont. She is said to +be possessed of a large fortune, inherited from her father; and they +purpose going to France to reside,--a sensible determination; as, after +such a _mesalliance_, the honourable gentleman can no longer expect to +retain his former social position in our midst.--_New Orleans Watchman_.'" + +"Isn't it singular," she remarked, "that a man in his position should make +such a choice?" + +"He loved her, no doubt," suggested Clarence; "and she was almost white." + +"How could he love her?" asked she, wonderingly. "Love a coloured woman! I +cannot conceive it possible," said she, with a look of disgust; "there is +something strange and unnatural about it." + +"No, no," he rejoined, hurriedly, "it was love, Anne,--pure love; it is not +impossible. I--I--" "am coloured," he would have said; but he paused and +looked full in her lovely face. He could not tell her,--the words slunk +back into his coward heart unspoken. + +She stared at him in wonder and perplexity, and exclaimed,--"Dear Clarence, +how strangely you act! I am afraid you are not well. Your brow is hot," +said she, laying her hand on his forehead; "you have been travelling too +much for your strength." + +"It is not that," he replied. "I feel a sense of suffocation, as if all the +blood was rushing to my throat. Let me get the air." And he rose and walked +to the window. Anne hastened and brought him a glass of water, of which he +drank a little, and then declared himself better. + +After this, he stood for a long time with her clasped in his arms; then +giving her one or two passionate kisses, he strained her closer to him and +abruptly left the house, leaving Little Birdie startled and alarmed by his +strange behaviour. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +Dear Old Ess again. + + +Let us visit once more the room from which Mr. Walters and his friends made +so brave a defence. There is but little in its present appearance to remind +one of that eventful night,--no reminiscences of that desperate attack, +save the bullet-hole in the ceiling, which Mr. Walters declares shall +remain unfilled as an evidence of the marked attention he has received at +the hands of his fellow-citizens. + +There are several noticeable additions to the furniture of the apartment; +amongst them an elegantly-carved work-stand, upon which some unfinished +articles of children's apparel are lying; a capacious rocking-chair, and +grand piano. + +Then opposite to the portrait of Toussaint is suspended another picture, +which no doubt holds a higher position in the regard of the owner of the +mansion than the African warrior aforesaid. It is a likeness of the lady +who is sitting at the window,--Mrs. Esther Walters, _nee_ Ellis. The brown +baby in the picture is the little girl at her side,--the elder sister of +the other brown baby who is doing its best to pull from its mother's lap +the doll's dress upon which she is sewing. Yes, that is "dear old Ess," as +Charlie calls her yet, though why he will persist in applying the adjective +we are at a loss to determine. + +Esther looks anything but old--a trifle matronly, we admit--but old we +emphatically say she is not; her hair is parted plainly, and the tiniest of +all tiny caps sits at the back of her head, looking as if it felt it had no +business on such raven black hair, and ought to be ignominiously dragged +off without one word of apology. The face and form are much more round and +full, and the old placid expression has been undisturbed in the lapse of +years. + +The complexion of the two children was a sort of compromise between the +complexions of their parents--chubby-faced, chestnut-coloured, +curly-headed, rollicking little pests, who would never be quiet, and whose +little black buttons of eyes were always peering into something, and whose +little plugs of fingers would, in spite of every precaution to prevent, be +diving into mother's work-box, and various other highly inconvenient and +inappropriate places. + +"There!" said Esther, putting the last stitch into a doll she had been +manufacturing; "now, take sister, and go away and play." But little sister, +it appeared, did not wish to be taken, and she made the best of her way +off, holding on by the chairs, and tottering over the great gulfs between +them, until she succeeded in reaching the music-stand, where she paused for +a while before beginning to destroy the music. Just at this critical +juncture a young lady entered the room, and held up her hands in horror, +and baby hastened off as fast as her toddling limbs could carry her, and +buried her face in her mother's lap in great consternation. + +Emily Garie made two or three slight feints of an endeavour to catch her, +and then sat down by the little one's mother, and gave a deep sigh. + +"Have you answered your brother's letter?" asked Esther. + +"Yes, I have," she replied; "here it is,"--and she laid the letter in +Esther's lap. Baby made a desperate effort to obtain it, but suffered a +signal defeat, and her mother opened it, and read-- + + +"DEAR BROTHER,--I read your chilling letter with deep +sorrow. I cannot say that it surprised me; it is what I have +anticipated during the many months that I have been silent +on the subject of my marriage. Yet, when I read it, I could +not but feel a pang to which heretofore I have been a stranger. +Clarence, you know I love you, and should not make the +sacrifice you demand a test of my regard. True, I cannot say +(and most heartily I regret it) that there exists between us the +same extravagant fondness we cherished as children--but +that is no fault of mine. Did you not return to me, each +year, colder and colder--more distant and unbrotherly--until +you drove back to their source the gushing streams of +a sister's love that flowed so strongly towards you? You ask +me to resign Charles Ellis and come to you. What can you +offer me in exchange for his true, manly affection?--to what +purpose drive from my heart a love that has been my only +solace, only consolation, for your waning regard! We have +grown up together--he has been warm and kind, when you +were cold and indifferent--and now that he claims the reward +of long years of tender regard, and my own heart is conscious +that he deserves it, you would step between us, and forbid +me yield the recompense that it will be my pride and delight +to bestow. It grieves me to write it; yet I must, Clary--for +between brother and sister there is no need of concealments; +and particularly at such a time should everything be open, +clear, explicit. Do not think I wish to reproach you. What +you are, Clarence, your false position and unfortunate education +have made you. I write it with pain--your demand +seems extremely selfish. I fear it is not of _me_ but of _yourself_ +you are thinking, when you ask me to sever, at once and for +ever, my connection with a people who, you say, can only +degrade me. Yet how much happier am I, sharing their +degradation, than you appear to be! Is it regard for me +that induces the desire that I should share the life of constant +dread that I cannot but feel you endure--or do you fear that +my present connections will interfere with your own plans for +the future? + +"Even did I grant it was my happiness alone you had in +view, my objections would be equally strong. I could not +forego the claims of early friendship, and estrange myself +from those who have endeared themselves to me by long +years of care--nor pass coldly and unrecognizingly by playmates +and acquaintances, because their complexions were a few +shades darker than my own. This I could never do--to me +it seems ungrateful: yet I would not reproach you because +you can--for the circumstances by which you have been surrounded +have conspired to produce that result--and I presume +you regard such conduct as necessary to sustain you in your +present position. From the tenor of your letter I should +judge that you entertained some fear that I might compromise +you with your future bride, and intimate that _my_ choice may +deprive you of _yours_. Surely that need not be. _She_ need not +even know of my existence. Do not entertain a fear that I, +or my future husband, will ever interfere with your happiness +by thrusting ourselves upon you, or endanger your social +position by proclaiming our relationship. Our paths lie so +widely apart that they need never cross. You walk on the +side of the oppressor--I, thank God, am with the oppressed. + +"I am happy--more happy, I am sure, than you could +make me, even by surrounding me with the glittering lights +that shine upon your path, and which, alas! may one day go +suddenly out, and leave you wearily groping in the darkness. +I trust, dear brother, my words may not prove a prophecy; +yet, should they be, trust me, Clarence, you may come back +again, and a sister's heart will receive you none the less +warmly that you selfishly desired her to sacrifice the happiness +of a lifetime to you. I shall marry Charles Ellis. I ask +you to come and see us united--I shall not reproach you if +you do not; yet I shall feel strange without a single relative +to kiss or bless me in that most eventful hour of a woman's +life. God bless you, Clary! I trust your union may be as +happy as I anticipate my own will be--and, if it is not, it will +not be because it has lacked the earnest prayers of your +neglected but still loving sister." + + +"Esther, I thought I was too cold in that--tell me, do you think so?" + +"No, dear, not at all; I think it a most affectionate reply to a cold, +selfish letter." + +"Oh, I'm glad to hear you say that. I can trust better to your tenderness +of others' feelings than to my own heart. I felt strongly, Esther, and was +fearful that it might be too harsh or reproachful. I was anxious lest my +feelings should be too strikingly displayed; yet it was better to be +explicit--don't you think so?" + +"Undoubtedly," answered Esther; and handing back the letter, she took up +baby, and seated herself in the rocking-chair. + +Now baby had a prejudice against caps, inveterate and unconquerable; and +grandmamma, nurse, and Esther were compelled to bear the brunt of her +antipathies. We have before said that Esther's cap _looked_ as though it +felt itself in an inappropriate position--that it had got on the head of +the wrong individual--and baby, no doubt in deference to the cap's +feelings, tore it off, and threw it in the half-open piano, from whence it +was extricated with great detriment to the delicate lace. + +Emily took a seat near the window, and drawing her work-table towards her, +raised the lid. This presenting another opening for baby, she slid down +from her mother's lap, and hastened towards her. She just arrived in time +to see it safely closed, and toddled back to her mother, as happy as if she +had succeeded in running riot over its contents, and scattering them all +over the floor. + +Emily kept looking down the street, as though in anxious expectation of +somebody; and whilst she stood there, there was an opportunity of observing +how little she had changed in the length of years. She is little Em +magnified, with a trifle less of the child in her face. Her hair has a +slight kink, is a little more wavy than is customary in persons of entire +white blood; but in no other way is her extraction perceptible, only the +initiated, searching for evidences of African blood, would at all notice +this slight peculiarity. + +Her expectation was no doubt about to be gratified, for a smile broke over +her face, as she left the window and skipped downstairs; when she +re-entered, she was accompanied by her intended husband. There was great +commotion amongst the little folk in consequence of this new arrival. Baby +kicked, and screamed out "Unker Char," and went almost frantic because her +dress became entangled in the buckle of her mamma's belt, and her sister +received a kiss before she could be extricated. + +Charlie is greatly altered--he is tall, remarkably athletic, with a large, +handsomely-shaped head, covered with close-cut, woolly hair; high forehead, +heavy eyebrows, large nose, and a mouth of ordinary size, filled with +beautifully white teeth, which he displays at almost every word he speaks; +chin broad, and the whole expression of his face thoughtful and commanding, +yet replete with good humour. No one would call him handsome, yet there was +something decidedly attractive in his general appearance. No one would +recognize him as the Charlie of old, whose escapades had so destroyed the +comfort and harmony of Mrs. Thomas's establishment; and only once, when he +held up the baby, and threatened to let her tear the paper ornaments from +the chandelier, was there a twinkle of the Charlie of old looking out of +his eyes. + +"How are mother and father to-day?" asked Esther. + +"Oh, both well. I left them only a few minutes ago at the dinner table. I +had to hurry off to go to the office." + +"So I perceive," observed Esther, archly, "and of course, coming here, +which is four squares out of your way, will get you there much sooner." + +Emily blushed, and said, smilingly, Esther was "a very impertinent person;" +and in this opinion Charlie fully concurred. They then walked to the +window, where they stood, saying, no doubt, to each other those little +tender things which are so profoundly interesting to lovers, and so +exceedingly stupid to every one else. Baby, in high glee, was seated on +Charlie's shoulder, where she could clutch both hands in his hair and pull +until the tears almost started from his eyes. + +"Emily and you have been talking a long while, and I presume you have fully +decided on what day you are both to be rescued from your misery, and when I +am to have the exquisite satisfaction of having my house completely turned +upside down for your mutual benefit," said Esther. "I trust it will be as +soon as possible, as we cannot rationally expect that either of you will be +bearable until it is all over, and you find yourselves ordinary mortals +again. Come now, out with it. When is it to be?" + +"I say next week," cried Charlie. + +"Next week, indeed," hastily rejoined Emily. "I could not think of such a +thing--so abrupt." + +"So abrupt," repeated Charlie, with a laugh. "Why, haven't I been courting +you ever since I wore roundabouts, and hasn't everybody been expecting us +to be married every week within the last two years. Fie, Em, it's anything +but abrupt." + +Emily blushed still deeper, and looked out of the window, down the street +and up the street, but did not find anything in the prospect at either side +that at all assisted her to come to a decision, so she only became more +confused and stared the harder; at last she ventured to suggest that day +two months. + +"This day two months--outrageous!" said Charlie. "Come here, dear old Ess, +and help me to convince this deluded girl of the preposterous manner in +which she is conducting herself." + +"I must join her side if you _will_ bring me into the discussion. I think +she is right, Charlie--there is so much to be done: the house to procure +and furnish, and numberless other things that you hasty and absurd men know +nothing about." + +By dint of strong persuasion from Charlie, Emily finally consented to abate +two weeks of the time, and they decided that a family council should be +held that evening at Mrs. Ellis's, when the whole arrangements should be +definitely settled. + +A note was accordingly despatched by Esther to her mother--that she, +accompanied by Emily and the children, would come to them early in the +afternoon, and that the gentlemen would join them in the evening at +tea-time. Caddy was, of course, completely upset by the intelligence; for, +notwithstanding that she and the maid-of-all-work lived in an almost +perpetual state of house-cleaning, nothing appeared to her to be in order, +and worse than all, there was nothing to eat. + +"Nothing to eat!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "Why, my dear child, there are all +manner of preserves, plenty of fresh peaches to cut and sugar down, and a +large pound-cake in the house, and any quantity of bread can be purchased +at the baker's." + +"Bread--plain bread!" rejoined Caddy, indignantly, quite astonished at her +mother's modest idea of a tea--and a company-tea at that. "Do you think, +mother, I'd set Mr. Walters down to plain bread, when we always have hot +rolls and short-cake at their house? It is not to be thought of for a +moment: they must have some kind of hot cake, be the consequences what they +may." + +Caddy bustled herself about, and hurried up the maid-of-all-work in an +astonishing manner, and before the company arrived had everything prepared, +and looked as trim and neat herself as if she had never touched a +rolling-pin, and did not know what an oven was used for. + +Behold them all assembled. Mrs. Ellis at the head of the table with a +grandchild on each side of her, and her cap-strings pinned upon the side +next to baby. Esther sits opposite her husband, who is grown a little grey, +but otherwise is not in the least altered; next to her is her father, +almost buried in a large easy-chair, where he sits shaking his head from +time to time, and smiling vacantly at the children; then come Emily and +Charlie at the foot, and at his other hand Caddy and Kinch--Kinch the +invincible--Kinch the dirty--Kinch the mischievous, now metamorphosed into +a full-blown dandy, with faultless linen, elegant vest, and fashionably-cut +coat. Oh, Kinch, what a change--from the most shabby and careless of all +boys to a consummate exquisite, with heavy gold watch and eye-glass, and +who has been known to dress regularly twice a day! + +There was a mighty pouring out of tea at Mrs. Ellis's end of the table, +and baby of course had to be served first with some milk and bread. Between +her and the cat intimate relations seemed to exist, for by their united +efforts the first cap was soon disposed of, and baby was clamouring for the +second before the elder portions of the family had been once served round +with tea. + +Charlie and Emily ate little and whispered a great deal; but Kinch, the +voracity of whose appetite had not at all diminished in the length of +years, makes up for their abstinence by devouring the delicious round +short-cakes with astonishing rapidity. He did not pretend to make more than +two bites to a cake, and they slipped away down his throat as if it was a +railroad tunnel and they were a train of cars behind time. + +Caddy felt constrained to get up every few moments to look after something, +and to assure herself by personal inspection that the reserved supplies in +the kitchen were not likely to be exhausted. Esther occupied herself in +attending upon her helpless father, and fed him as tenderly and carefully +as if he was one of her babies. + +"I left you ladies in council. What was decided?" said Charlie, "don't be +at all bashful as regards speaking before Kinch, for he is in the secret +and has been these two months. Kinch is to be groomsman, and has had three +tailors at work on his suit for a fortnight past. He told me this morning +that if you did not hurry matters up, his wedding coat would be a week out +of fashion before he should get a chance to wear it." + +"How delightful--Kinch to be groomsman," said Esther, "that is very kind in +you, Kinch, to assist us to get Charlie off our hands." + +"And who is to be bridesmaid?" asked Walters. + +"Oh, Caddy of course--I couldn't have any one but Caddy," blushingly +answered Emily. + +"That is capital," cried Charlie, giving Kinch a facetious poke, "just the +thing, isn't it, Kinch--it will get her accustomed to these matters. You +remember what you told me this morning, eh, old boy?" he concluded, archly. + Kinch tried to blush, but being very dark-complexioned, his efforts in +that direction were not at all apparent, so he evidenced his confusion by +cramming a whole short-cake into his mouth, and almost caused a stoppage in +the tunnel; Caddy became excessively red in the face, and was sure they +wanted more cakes. + +But Mr. Walters was equally confident they did not, and put his back +against the door and stood there, whilst Mrs. Ellis gravely informed them +that she soon expected to be her own housekeeper, for that she had detected +Caddy and Kinch in a furniture establishment, pricing a chest of drawers +and a wash-stand; and that Kinch had unblushingly told her they had for +some time been engaged to be married, but somehow or other had forgotten to +mention it to her. + +This caused a general shout of laughter around the table, in which baby +tumultuously joined, and rattled her spoon against the tea-urn until she +almost deafened them. + +This noise frightened Mr. Ellis, who cried, "There they come! there they +come!" and cowered down in his great chair, and looked so exceedingly +terrified, that the noise was hushed instantly, and tears sprang into the +eyes of dear old Ess, who rose and stood by him, and laid his withered face +upon her soft warm bosom, smoothed down the thin grey hair, and held him +close to her throbbing tender heart, until the wild light vanished from his +bleared and sunken eyes, and the vacant childish smile came back on his +thin, wan face again, when she said, "Pray don't laugh so very loud, it +alarms father; he is composed now, pray don't startle him so again." + +This sobered them down a little, and they quietly recommenced discussing +the matrimonial arrangements; but they were all in such capital spirits +that an occasional hearty and good-humoured laugh could not be suppressed. + +Mr. Walters acted in his usual handsome manner, and facetiously collaring +Charlie, took him into a corner and informed him that he had an empty house +that be wished him to occupy, and that if he ever whispered the word rent, +or offered him any money before he was worth twenty thousand dollars, he +should believe that he wanted to pick a quarrel with him, and should refer +him to a friend, and then pistols and coffee would be the inevitable +result. + +Then it came out that Caddy and Kinch had been, courting for some time, if +not with Mrs. Ellis's verbal consent, with at least no objection from that +good lady; for Master Kinch, besides being an exceedingly good-natured +fellow, was very snug in his boots, and had a good many thousand dollars at +his disposal, bequeathed him by his father. + +The fates had conspired to make that old gentleman rich. He owned a number +of lots on the outskirts of the city, on which he had been paying taxes a +number of years, and he awoke one fine morning to find them worth a large +sum of money. The city council having determined to cut a street just +beside them, and the property all around being in the hands of wealthy and +fashionable people, his own proved to be exceedingly valuable. + +It was a sad day for the old man, as Kinch and his mother insisted that he +should give up business, which he did most reluctantly, and Kinch had to be +incessantly on the watch thereafter, to prevent him from hiring cellars, +and sequestering their old clothes to set up in business again. They were +both gone now, and Kinch was his own master, with a well-secured income of +a thousand dollars a-year, with a prospect of a large increase. + +They talked matters over fully, and settled all their arrangements before +the time for parting, and then, finding the baby had scrambled into Mrs. +Ellis's lap and gone fast asleep, and that it was long after ten o'clock, +each departed, taking their several ways for home. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +The Fatal Discovery. + + +There is great bustle and confusion in the house of Mr. Bates. +Mantua-makers and milliners are coming in at unearthly hours, and +consultations of deep importance are being duly held with maiden aunts and +the young ladies who are to officiate as bridesmaids at the approaching +ceremony. There are daily excursions to drapers' establishments, and +jewellers, and, in fact, so much to be done and thought of, that little +Birdie is in constant confusion, and her dear little curly head is almost +turned topsy-turvy. Twenty times in each day is she called upstairs to +where the sempstresses are at work, to have something tried on or fitted. +Poor little Birdie! she declares she never can stand it: she did not dream +that to be married she would have been subjected to such a world of +trouble, or she would never have consented,--_never_! + +And then Clarence, too, comes in every morning, and remains half the day, +teasing her to play, to talk, or sing. Inconsiderate Clarence! when she has +so much on her mind; and when at last he goes, and she begins to felicitate +herself that she is rid of him, back he comes again in the evening, and +repeats the same annoyance. O, naughty, tiresome, Clarence! how can you +plague little Birdie so? Perhaps you think she doesn't dislike it; you may +be right, very likely she doesn't. + +She sometimes wonders why he grows paler and thinner each day, and his +nervous and sometimes distracted manner teases her dreadfully; but she +supposes all lovers act thus, and expects they cannot help it--and then +little Birdie takes a sly peep in the glass, and does not so much wonder +after all. + +Yet if she sometimes deems his manner startling and odd, what would she say +if she knew that, night after night, when he left her side, he wandered for +long hours through the cold and dreary streets, and then went to his hotel, +where he paced his room until almost day? + +Ah, little Birdie, a smile will visit his pale face when you chirp tenderly +to him, and a faint tinge comes upon his cheek when you lay your soft tiny +hand upon it; yet all the while there is that desperate secret lying next +his heart, and, like a vampire, sucking away, drop by drop, happiness and +peace. + +Not so with little Birdie; she is happy--oh, _so_ happy: she rises with a +song upon her lips, and is chirping in the sunshine she herself creates, +the live-long day. Flowers of innocence bloom and flourish in her peaceful +lithesome heart. Poor, poor, little Birdie! those flowers are destined to +wither soon, and the sunlight fade from thy happy face for ever. + +One morning, Clarence, little Birdie, and her intended bridesmaid, Miss +Ellstowe, were chatting together, when a card was handed to the latter, +who, on looking at it, exclaimed, "Oh, dear me! an old beau of mine; show +him up," and scampering off to the mirror, she gave a hasty glance, to see +that every curl was in its effective position. + +"Who is it?" asked little Birdie, all alive with curiosity; "do say who it +is." + +"Hush!" whispered Miss Ellstowe, "here he comes, my dear; he is very +rich--a great catch; are my curls all right?" + +Scarcely had she asked the question, and before an answer could be +returned, the servant announced Mr. George Stevens, and the gentleman +walked into the room. + +Start not, reader, it is not the old man we left bent over the prostrate +form of his unconscious daughter, but George Stevens, junior, the son and +heir of the old man aforesaid. The heart of Clarence almost ceased to beat +at the sound of that well-known name, and had not both the ladies been so +engrossed in observing the new-comer, they must have noticed the deep flush +that suffused his face, and the deathly pallor that succeeded it. + +Mr. Stevens was presented to Miss Bates, and Miss Ellstowe turned to +present him to Clarence. "Mr. Garie--Mr. Stevens," said she. Clarence +bowed. + +"Pardon me, I did not catch the name," said the former, politely. + +"Mr. Clarence Garie," she repeated, more distinctly. + +George Stevens bowed, and then sitting down opposite Clarence, eyed him for +a few moments intently. "I think we have met before," said he at last, in a +cold, contemptuous tone, not unmingled with surprise, "have we not?" + +Clarence endeavoured to answer, but could not; he was, for a moment, +incapable of speech; a slight gurgling noise was heard in his throat, as he +bowed affirmatively. + +"We were neighbours at one time, I think," added George Stevens. + +"We were," faintly ejaculated Clarence. + +"It is a great surprise to me to meet _you_ here," pursued George Stevens. + +"The surprise is mutual, I assure you, sir," rejoined Clarence, coldly, and +with slightly agitated manner. + +Hereupon ensued an embarrassing pause in the conversation, during which the +ladies could not avoid observing the livid hue of Clarence's face. There +was a perfect tumult raging in his breast; he knew that now his +long-treasured secret would be brought out; this was to be the end of his +struggle to preserve it--to be exposed at last, when on the brink of +consummating his happiness. As he sat there, looking at George Stevens, he +became a murderer in his heart; and if an invisible dagger could have been +placed in his hands, he would have driven it to the hilt in his breast, and +stilled for ever the tongue that was destined to betray him. + +But it was too late; one glance at the contemptuous, malignant face of the +son of his father's murderer, told him his fate was sealed--that it was +now too late to avert exposure. He grew faint, dizzy, ill,--and rising, +declared hurriedly he must go, staggered towards the door, and fell upon +the carpet, with a slight stream of blood spirting from his mouth. + +Little Birdie screamed, and ran to raise him; George Stevens and Miss +Ellstowe gave their assistance, and by their united efforts he was placed +upon the sofa. Little Birdie wiped the bloody foam from his mouth with her +tiny lace handkerchief, bathed his head, and held cold water to his lips; +but consciousness was long returning, and they thought he was dying. + +Poor torn heart! pity it was thy beatings were not stilled then for ever. +It was not thy fate; long, long months of grief and despair were yet to +come before the end approached and day again broke upon thee. + +Just at this crisis Mr. Bates came in, and was greatly shocked and alarmed +by Clarence's deathly appearance. As he returned to consciousness he looked +wildly about him, and clasping little Birdie's hand in his, gazed at her +with a tender imploring countenance: yet it was a despairing look--such a +one as a shipwrecked seaman gives when, in sight of land, he slowly relaxes +his hold upon the sustaining spar that he has no longer the strength to +clutch, and sinks for ever beneath the waters. + +A physician was brought in, who declared he had ruptured a minor +blood-vessel, and would not let him utter a whisper, and, assisted by Mr. +Bates, placed him in his carriage, and the three were driven as swiftly as +possible to the hotel where Clarence was staying. Little Birdie retired to +her room in great affliction, followed by Miss Ellstowe, and George Stevens +was left in the room alone. + +"What can the fellow have been doing here?" he soliloquised; "on intimate +terms too, apparently; it is very singular; I will wait Miss Ellstowe's +return, and ask an explanation." + +When Miss Ellstowe re-entered the room, he immediately inquired, "What was +that Mr. Garie doing here? He seems on an exceedingly intimate footing, +and your friend apparently takes a wonderful interest in him." + +"Of course she does; that is her _fiance_." + +"_Impossible_!" rejoined he, with an air of astonishment. + +"Impossible!--why so? I assure you he is. They are to be married in a few +weeks. I am here to officiate as bridesmaid." + +"Phew!" whistled George Stevens; and then, after pausing a moment, he +asked, "Do you know anything about this Mr. Garie--anything, I mean, +respecting his family?" + +"Why, no--that is, nothing very definite, more than that he is an orphan, +and a gentleman of education and independent means." + +"Humph!" ejaculated George Stevens, significantly. + +"Humph!" repeated Miss Ellstowe, "what do you mean? Do you know anything +beyond that? One might suppose you did, from your significant looks and +gestures." + +"Yes, I _do_ know something about this Mr. Garie," he replied, after a +short silence. "But tell me what kind of people are these you are +visiting--Abolitionists, or anything of that sort?" + +"How absurd, Mr. Stevens, to ask such a question; of course they are not," +said she, indignantly; "do you suppose I should be here if they were? But +why do you ask--is this Mr. Garie one?" + +"No, my friend," answered her visitor; "_I wish that was all_." + +"That was all!--how strangely you talk--you alarm me," continued she, with +considerable agitation. "If you know anything that will injure the +happiness of my friend--anything respecting Mr. Garie that she or her +father should know--make no secret of it, but disclose it to me at once. +Anne is my dearest friend, and I, of course, must be interested in anything +that concerns her happiness. Tell me, what is it you know?" + +"It is nothing, I assure you, that it will give me any pleasure to tell," +answered he. "Do speak out, Mr. Stevens. Is there any stain on his +character, or that of his family? Did he ever do anything dishonourable?" + +"_I wish that was all_," coolly repeated George Stevens. "I am afraid he is +a villain, and has been imposing himself upon this family for what he is +not." + +"Good Heavens! Mr. Stevens, how is he a villain or impostor?" + +"You all suppose him to be a white man, do you not?" he asked. + +"Of course we do," she promptly answered. + +"Then you are all grievously mistaken, for he is not. Did you not notice +how he changed colour, how agitated he became, when I was presented? It was +because he knew that his exposure was at hand. I know him well--in fact, he +is the illegitimate son of a deceased relative of mine, by a mulatto +slave." + +"It cannot be possible," exclaimed Miss Ellstowe, with a wild stare of +astonishment. "Are you sure of it?" + +"Sure of it! of course I am. I should indeed be a rash man to make such a +terrible charge unless perfectly able to substantiate it. I have played +with him frequently when a child, and my father made a very liberal +provision for this young man and his sister, after the death of their +father, who lost his life through imprudently living with this woman in +Philadelphia, and consequently getting himself mixed up with these +detestable Abolitionists." + +"Can this be true?" asked Miss Ellstowe, incredulously. + +"I assure you it is. We had quite lost sight of them for a few years back, +and I little supposed we should meet under such circumstances. I fear I +shall be the cause of great discomfort, but I am sure in the end I shall be +thanked. I could not, with any sense of honour or propriety, permit such a +thing as this marriage to be consummated, without at least warning your +friends of the real position of this fellow. I trust, Miss Ellstowe, you +will inform them of what I have told you." "How can I? Oh, Mr. Stevens!" +said she, in a tone of deep distress, "this will be a terrible blow--it +will almost kill Anne. No, no; the task must not devolve on me--I cannot +tell them. Poor little thing! it will break her heart, I am afraid." + +"Oh, but you must, Miss Ellstowe; it would seem very impertinent in me--a +stranger--to meddle in such a matter; and, besides, they may be aware of +it, and not thank me for my interference." + +"No, I assure you they are not; I am confident they have not the most +distant idea of such a thing--they would undoubtedly regard it as an act of +kindness on your part. I shall insist upon your remaining until the return +of Mr. Bates, when I shall beg you to repeat to him what you have already +revealed to me." + +"As you insist upon it, I suppose I must," repeated he, after some +reflection; "but I must say I do not like the office of informer," +concluded he, with assumed reluctance. + +"I am sorry to impose it upon you; yet, rest assured, they will thank you. +Excuse me for a few moments--I will go and see how Anne is." + +Miss Ellstowe returned, after a short interval, with the information that +little Birdie was much more composed, and would, no doubt, soon recover +from her fright. + +"To receive a worse blow," observed George Stevens. "I pity the poor little +thing--only to think of the disgrace of being engaged to a nigger. It is +fortunate for them that they will make the discovery ere it be too late. +Heavens! only think what the consequences might have been had she married +this fellow, and his peculiar position became known to them afterwards! She +would have been completely 'done for.'" + +Thus conversing respecting Clarence, they awaited the return of Mr. Bates. +After the lapse of a couple of hours he entered the drawing-room. Mr. +Stevens was presented to him by Miss Ellstowe, as a particular friend of +herself and family. "I believe you were here when I came in before; I +regret I was obliged to leave so abruptly," courteously spoke Mr. Bates, +whilst bowing to his new acquaintance; "the sudden and alarming illness of +my young friend will, I trust, be a sufficient apology." + +"How is he now?" asked Miss Ellstowe. + +"Better--much better," answered he, cheerfully; "but very wild and +distracted in his manner--alarmingly so, in fact. He clung to my hand, and +wrung it when we parted, and bid me good bye again and again, as if it was +for the last time. Poor fellow! he is frightened at that hemorrhage, and is +afraid it will be fatal; but there is not any danger, he only requires to +be kept quiet--he will soon come round again, no doubt. I shall have to ask +you to excuse me again," said he, in conclusion; "I must go and see my +daughter." + +Mr. Bates was rising to depart, when George Stevens gave Miss Ellstowe a +significant look, who said, in a hesitating tone, "Mr. Bates, one moment +before you go. My friend, Mr. Stevens, has a communication to make to you +respecting Mr. Garie, which will, I fear, cause you, as it already has me, +deep distress." + +"Indeed!" rejoined Mr. Bates, in a tone of surprise; "What is it? Nothing +that reflects upon his character, I hope." + +"I do not know how my information will influence your conduct towards him, +for I do not know what your sentiments may be respecting such persons. I +know society in general do not receive them, and my surprise was very great +to find him here." + +"I do not understand you; what do you mean?" demanded Mr. Bates, in a tone +of perplexity; "has he ever committed any crime?" + +"HE IS A COLOURED MAN," answered George Stevens, briefly. Mr. Bates became +almost purple, and gasped for breath; then, after staring at his informant +for a few seconds incredulously, repeated the words "Coloured man," in a +dreamy manner, as if in doubt whether he had really heard them. + +"Yes, coloured man," said George Stevens, confidently; "it grieves me to +be the medium of such disagreeable intelligence; and I assure you I only +undertook the office upon the representation of Miss Ellstowe, that you +were not aware of the fact, and would regard my communication as an act of +kindness." + +"It--it _can't_ be," exclaimed Mr. Bates, with the air of a man determined +not to be convinced of a disagreeable truth; "it cannot be possible." + +Hereupon George Stevens related to him what he had recently told Miss +Ellstowe respecting the parentage and position of Clarence. During the +narration, the old man became almost frantic with rage and sorrow, bursting +forth once or twice with the most violent exclamations; and when George +Stevens concluded, he rose and said, in a husky voice-- + +"I'll kill him, the infernal hypocrite! Oh! the impostor to come to my +house in this nefarious manner, and steal the affections of my +daughter--the devilish villain! a bastard! a contemptible black-hearted +nigger. Oh, my child--my child! it will break your heart when you know what +deep disgrace has come upon you. I'll go to him," added he, his face +flushed, and his white hair almost erect with rage; "I'll murder +him--there's not a man in the city will blame me for it," and he grasped +his cane as though he would go at once, and inflict summary vengeance upon +the offender. + +"Stop, sir, don't be rash," exclaimed George Stevens; "I would not screen +this fellow from the effects of your just and very natural indignation--he +is abundantly worthy of the severest punishment you can bestow; but if you +go in your present excited state, you might be tempted to do something +which would make this whole affair public, and injure, thereby, your +daughter's future. You'll pardon me, I trust, and not think me presuming +upon my short acquaintance in making the suggestion." + +Mr. Bates looked about him bewilderedly for a short time, and then replied, +"No, no, you need not apologize, you are right--I thank you; I myself +should have known better. But my poor child! what will become of her?" and +in an agony of sorrow he resumed his seat, and buried his face in his +hands. + +George Stevens prepared to take his departure, but Mr. Bates pressed him to +remain. "In a little while," said he, "I shall be more composed, and then I +wish you to go with me to this worthless scoundrel. I must see him at once, +and warn him what the consequences will be should he dare approach my child +again. Don't fear me," he added, as he saw George Stevens hesitated to +remain; "that whirlwind of passion is over now. I promise you I shall do +nothing unworthy of myself or my child." + +It was not long before they departed together for the hotel at which +Clarence was staying. When they entered his room, they found him in his +bed, with the miniature of little Birdie in his hands. When he observed the +dark scowl on the face of Mr. Bates, and saw by whom he was accompanied, he +knew his secret was discovered; he saw it written on their faces. He +trembled like a leaf, and his heart seemed like a lump of ice in his bosom. +Mr. Bates was about to speak, when Clarence held up his hand in the +attitude of one endeavouring to ward off a blow, and whispered hoarsely-- + +"Don't tell me--not yet--a little longer! I see you know all. I see my +sentence written on your face! Let me dream a little longer ere you speak +the words that must for ever part me and little Birdie. I know you have +come to separate us--but don't tell me yet; for when you do," said he, in +an agonized tone, "it will kill me!" + +"I wish to God it would!" rejoined Mr. Bates. "I wish you had died long +ago; then you would have never come beneath my roof to destroy its peace +for ever. You have acted basely, palming yourself upon us--counterfeit as +you were! and taking in exchange her true love and my honest, honourable +regard." + +Clarence attempted to speak, but Mr. Bates glared at him, and +continued--"There are laws to punish thieves and counterfeits--but such as +you may go unchastised, except by the abhorrence of all honourable men. Had +you been unaware of your origin, and had the revelation of this gentleman +been as new to you as to me, you would have deserved sympathy; but you have +been acting a lie, claiming a position in society to which you knew you had +no right, and deserve execration and contempt. Did I treat you as my +feelings dictated, you would understand what is meant by the weight of a +father's anger; but I do not wish the world to know that my daughter has +been wasting her affections upon a worthless nigger; that is all that +protects you! Now, hear me," he added, fiercely,--"if ever you presume to +darken my door again, or attempt to approach my daughter, I will shoot you, +as sure as you sit there before me!" + +"And serve you perfectly right!" observed George Stevens. + +"Silence, sir!" rejoined Clarence, sternly. "How dare you interfere? He may +say what he likes--reproach me as he pleases--_he_ is _her_ father--I have +no other reply; but if you dare again to utter a word, I'll--" and Clarence +paused and looked about him as if in search of something with which to +enforce silence. + +Feeble-looking as he was, there was an air of determination about him which +commanded acquiescence, and George Stevens did not venture upon another +observation during the interview. + +"I want my daughter's letters--every line she ever wrote to you; get them +at once--I want them now," said Mr. Bates, imperatively. + +"I cannot give them to you immediately, they are not accessible at present. +Does she want them?" he asked, feebly--"has she desired to have them back?" + +"Never mind that!" said the old man, sternly; "no evasions. Give me the +letters!" + +"To-morrow I will send them," said Clarence. "I will read them all over +once again," thought he. + +"I cannot believe you," said Mr. Bates. + +"I promise you upon my honour I will send them tomorrow!" + +"_A nigger's honour!_" rejoined Mr. Bates, with a contemptuous sneer. +"Yes, sir--a nigger's honour!" repeated Clarence, the colour mounting to +his pale cheeks. "A few drops of negro blood in a man's reins do not +entirely deprive him of noble sentiments. 'Tis true my past concealment +does not argue in my favour.--I concealed that which was no fault of my +own, but what the injustice of society has made a crime." + +"I am not here for discussion; and I suppose I must trust to your +_honour_," interrupted Mr. Bates, with a sneer. "But remember, if the +letters are not forthcoming to-morrow I shall be here again, and then," +concluded he in a threatening tone, "my visit will not be as harmless as +this has been!" + +After they had gone, Clarence rose and walked feebly to his desk, which, +with great effort and risk, he removed to the bed-side; then taking from it +little Birdie's letters, he began their perusal. + +Ay! read them again--and yet again; pore over their contents--dwell on +those passages replete with tenderness, until every word is stamped upon +thy breaking heart--linger by them as the weary traveller amid Sahara's +sand pauses by some sparkling fountain in a shady oasis, tasting of its +pure waters ere he launches forth again upon the arid waste beyond. This is +the last green spot upon thy way to death; beyond whose grim portals, let +us believe, thou and thy "little Birdie" may meet again. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +"Murder will out." + + +The city clocks had just tolled out the hour of twelve, the last omnibus +had rumbled by, and the silence without was broken only at rare intervals +when some belated citizen passed by with hurried footsteps towards his +home. All was still in the house of Mr. Stevens--so quiet, that the ticking +of the large clock in the hall could be distinctly heard at the top of the +stairway, breaking the solemn stillness of the night with its monotonous +"click, click--click, click!" + +In a richly furnished chamber overlooking the street a dim light was +burning; so dimly, in fact, that the emaciated form of Mr. Stevens was +scarcely discernible amidst the pillows and covering of the bed on which he +was lying. Above him a brass head of curious workmanship held in its +clenched teeth the canopy that overshadowed the bed; and as the light +occasionally flickered and brightened, the curiously carved face seemed to +light up with a sort of sardonic grin; and the grating of the +curtain-rings, as the sick man tossed from side to side in his bed, would +have suggested the idea that the odd supporter of the canopy was gnashing +his brazen teeth at him. + +On the wall, immediately opposite the light, hung a portrait of Mrs. +Stevens; not the sharp, hard face we once introduced to the reader, but a +smoother, softer countenance--yet a worn and melancholy one in its +expression. It looked as if the waves of grief had beaten upon it for a +long succession of years, until they had tempered down its harsher +peculiarities, giving a subdued appearance to the whole countenance. + +"There is twelve o'clock--give me my drops again, Lizzie," he remarked, +faintly. At the sound of his voice Lizzie emerged from behind the curtains, +and essayed to pour into a glass the proper quantity of medicine. She was +twice obliged to pour back into the phial what she had just emptied forth, +as the trembling of her hands caused her each time to drop too much; at +last, having succeeded in getting the exact number of drops, she handed him +the glass, the contents of which he eagerly drank. + +"There!" said he, "thank you; now, perhaps, I may sleep. I have not slept +for two nights--such has been my anxiety about that man; nor you either, my +child--I have kept you awake also. You can sleep, though, without drops. +To-morrow, when you are prepared to start, wake me, if I am asleep, and let +me speak to you before you go. Remember, Lizzie, frighten him if you can! +Tell him, I am ill myself--that I can't survive this continued worriment +and annoyance. Tell him, moreover, I am not made of gold, and will not be +always giving. I don't believe he is sick--dying--do you?" he asked, +looking into her face, as though he did not anticipate an affirmative +answer. + +"No, father, I don't think he is really ill; I imagine it is another +subterfuge to extract money. Don't distress yourself unnecessarily; perhaps +I may have some influence with him--I had before, you know!" + +"Yes, yes, dear, you managed him very well that time--very well," said he, +stroking down her hair affectionately. "I--I--my child, I could never have +told you of that dreadful secret; but when I found that you knew it all, my +heart experienced a sensible relief. It was a selfish pleasure, I know; yet +it eased me to share my secret; the burden is not half so heavy now." + +"Father, would not your mind be easier still, if you could be persuaded to +make restitution to his children? This wealth is valueless to us both. You +can never ask forgiveness for the sin whilst you cling thus tenaciously to +its fruits." + +"Tut, tut--no more of that!" said he, impatiently; "I cannot do it without +betraying myself. If I gave it back to them, what would become of you and +George, and how am I to stop the clamours of that cormorant? No, no! it is +useless to talk of it--I cannot do it!" + +"There would be still enough left for George, after restoring them their +own, and you might give this man my share of what is left. I would rather +work day and night," said she, determinedly, "than ever touch a penny of +the money thus accumulated." + +"I've thought all that over, long ago, but I dare not do it--it might cause +inquiries to be made that might result to my disadvantage. No, I cannot do +that; sit down, and let us be quiet now." + +Mr. Stevens lay back upon his pillow, and for a moment seemed to doze; then +starting up again suddenly, he asked, "Have you told George about it? Have +you ever confided anything to him?" + +"No, papa," answered she soothingly, "not a breath; I've been secret as the +grave." + +"That's right!" rejoined he--"that is right! I love George, but not as I do +you. He only comes to me when he wants money. He is not like you, +darling--you take care of and nurse your poor old father. Has he come in +yet?" + +"Not yet; he never gets home until almost morning, and is then often +fearfully intoxicated." + +The old man shook his head, and muttered, "The sins of the fathers +shall--what is that? Did you hear that noise?--hush!" + +Lizzie stood quietly by him for a short while, and then walked on tiptoe to +the door--"It is George," said she, after peering into the gloom of their +entry; "he has admitted him self with his night-key." + +The shuffling sound of footsteps was now quite audible upon the stairway, +and soon the bloated face of Mr. Stevens's hopeful son was seen at the +chamber door. In society and places where this young gentleman desired to +maintain a respectable character he could be as well behaved, as choice in +his language, and as courteous as anybody; but at home, where he was well +known, and where he did not care to place himself under any restraint, he +was a very different individual. + +"Let me in, Liz," said he, in a thick voice; "I want the old man to fork +over some money--I'm cleaned out." + +"No, no--go to bed, George," she answered, coaxingly, "and talk to him +about it in the morning." + +"I'm coming in _now_," said he, determinedly; "and besides, I want to tell +you something about that nigger Garie." + +"Tell us in the morning," persisted Lizzy. + +"No--I'm going to tell you now," rejoined he, forcing his way into the +room--"it's too good to keep till morning. Pick up that wick, let a fellow +see if you are all alive!" + +Lizzie raised the wick of the lamp in accordance with his desire, and then +sat down with an expression of annoyance and vexation on her countenance. + +George threw himself into an easy chair, and began, "I saw that white +nigger Garie to-night, he was in company with a gentleman, at that--the +assurance of that fellow is perfectly incomprehensible. He was drinking at +the bar of the hotel; and as it is no secret why he and Miss Bates parted, +I enlightened the company on the subject of his antecedents. He threatened +to challenge me! Ho! ho!--fight with a nigger--that is too good a joke!" +And laughing heartily, the young ruffian leant back in his chair. "I want +some money to-morrow, dad," continued he. "I say, old gentleman, wasn't it +a lucky go that darkey's father was put out of the way so nicely, +eh?--We've been living in clover ever since--haven't we?" + +"How dare you address me-in that disrespectful manner? Go out of the room, +sir!" exclaimed Mr. Stevens, with a disturbed countenance. + +"Come, George, go to bed," urged his sister wearily. "Let father sleep--it +is after twelve o'clock. I am going to wake the nurse, and then retire +myself." + +George rose stupidly from his chair, and followed his sister from the room. +On the stairway he grasped her arm rudely, and said, "I don't understand +how it is that you and the old man are so cursed thick all of a sudden. You +are thick as two thieves, always whispering and talking together. Act fair, +Liz--don't persuade him to leave you all the money. If you do, we'll +quarrel--that's flat. Don't try and cozen him out of my share as well as +your own--you hear!" + +"Oh, George!" rejoined she reproachfully--"I never had such an idea." + +"Then what are you so much together for? Why is there so much whispering +and writing, and going off on journeys all alone? What does it all mean, +eh?" + +"It means nothing at all, George. You are not yourself to-night," said she +evasively; "you had better go to bed." + +"It is _you_ that are not yourself," he retorted. "What makes you look so +pale and worried--and why do you and the old man start if the door cracks, +as if the devil was after you? What is the meaning of that?" asked he with +a drunken leer. "You had better look out," concluded he; "I'm watching you +both, and will find out all your secrets by-and-by." + +"Learn all our secrets! Ah, my brother!" thought she, as he disappeared +into his room, "you need not desire to have their fearful weight upon you, +or you will soon grow as anxious, thin, and pale as I am." + +The next day at noon Lizzie started on her journey, after a short +conference with her father. + +Night had settled upon her native city, when she was driven through its +straight and seemingly interminable thoroughfares. The long straight rows +of lamps, the snowy steps, the scrupulously clean streets, the signs over +the stores, were like the faces of old acquaintances, and at any other time +would have caused agreeable recollections; but the object of her visit +pre-occupied her mind, to the exclusion of any other and more pleasant +associations. + +She ordered the coachman to take her to an obscure hotel, and, after having +engaged a room, she left her baggage and started in search of the residence +of McCloskey. + +She drew her veil down over her face very closely, and walked quickly +through the familiar streets, until she arrived at the place indicated in +his letter. It was a small, mean tenement, in a by street, in which there +were but one or two other houses. The shutters were closed from the upper +story to the lowest, and the whole place wore an uninhabited appearance. +After knocking several times, she was about to give up in despair, when she +discovered through the glass above the door the faint glimmer of a light, +and shortly after a female voice demanded from the inside, "Who is there?" + +"Does Mr. McCloskey live here?" asked Lizzie. + +Hearing a voice not more formidable than her own, the person within +partially opened the door; and, whilst shading with one hand the candle she +held in the other, gazed out upon the speaker. + +"Does Mr. McCloskey live here?" repeated Lizzie. + +"Yes, he does," answered the woman, in a weak voice; "but he's got the +typers." + +"Has the what?" inquired Lizzie, who did not exactly understand her. + +"Got the typers--got the fever, you know." + +"The typhus fever!" said Lizzie, with a start; "then he is really sick." + +"Really sick!" repeated the woman--"really sick! Well, I should think he +was! Why, he's been a raving and swearing awful for days; he stormed and +screamed so loud that the neighbours complained. Law! they had to even +shave his head." + +"Is he any better?" asked Lizzie, with a sinking heart. "Can I see him?" + +"'Praps you can, if you go to the hospital to-morrow; but whether you'll +find him living or dead is more than I can say. I couldn't keep him here--I +wasn't able to stand him. I've had the fever myself--he took it from me. +You must come in," continued the woman, "if you want to talk--I'm afraid of +catching cold, and can't stand at the door. Maybe you're afraid of the +fever," she further observed, as she saw Lizzie hesitate on the door-step. + +"Oh, no, I'm not afraid of that," answered Lizzie quickly--"I am not in the +least afraid." + +"Come in, then," reiterated the woman, "and I'll tell you all about it." + +The woman looked harmless enough, and Lizzie hesitated no longer, but +followed her through the entry into a decently furnished room. Setting the +candlestick upon the mantelpiece, she offered her visitor a chair, and then +continued-- + +"He came home this last time in an awful state. Before he left some one +sent him a load of money, and he did nothing but drink and gamble whilst it +lasted. I used to tell him that he ought to take care of his money, and +he'd snap his fingers and laugh. He used to say that he owned the goose +that laid the golden eggs, and could have money whenever he wanted it. +Well, as I was a saying, he went; and when he came back he had an awful +attack of _delirium tremens_, and then he took the typers. Oh, laws mercy!" +continued she, holding up her bony hands, "how that critter raved! He +talked about killing people." + +"He did!" interrupted Lizzie, with a gesture of alarm, and laying her hand +upon her heart, which beat fearfully--"did he mention any name?" + +The woman did not stop to answer this question, but proceeded as if she had +not been interrupted. "He was always going on about two orphans and a will, +and he used to curse and swear awfully about being obliged to keep +something hid. It was dreadful to listen to--it would almost make your hair +stand on end to hear him." + +"And he never mentioned names?" said Lizzie inquiringly. + +"No, that was so strange; he never mentioned no names--_never_. He used to +rave a great deal about two orphans and a will, and he would ransack the +bed, and pull up the sheets, and look under the pillows, as if he thought +it was there. Oh, he acted very strange, but never mentioned no names. I +used to think he had something in his trunk, he was so very special about +it. He was better the day they took him off; and the trunk went with +him--he would have it; but since then he's had a dreadful relapse, and +there's no knowin' whether he is alive or dead." + +"I must go to the hospital," said Lizzie, rising from her seat, and greatly +relieved to learn that nothing of importance had fallen from McCloskey +during his delirium. "I shall go there as quickly as I can," she observed, +walking to the door. + +"You'll not see him to-night if you do," rejoined the woman. "Are you a +relation?" + +"Oh, no," answered Lizzie; "my father is an acquaintance of his. I learned +that he was ill, and came to inquire after him." + +Had the woman not been very indifferent or unobservant, she would have +noticed the striking difference between the manner and appearance of Lizzie +Stevens and the class who generally came to see McCloskey. She did not, +however, appear to observe it, nor did she manifest any curiosity greater +than that evidenced by her inquiring if he was a relative. + +Lizzie walked with a lonely feeling through the quiet streets until she +arrived at the porter's lodge of the hospital. She pulled the bell with +trembling hands, and the door was opened by the little bald-headed man +whose loquacity was once (the reader will remember) so painful to Mrs. +Ellis. There was no perceptible change in his appearance, and he manifestly +took as warm an interest in frightful accidents as ever. "What is it--what +is it?" he asked eagerly, as Lizzie's pale face became visible in the +bright light that shone from the inner office. "Do you want a stretcher?" + +The rapidity with which he asked these questions, and his eager manner, +quite startled her, and she was for a moment unable to tell her errand. + +"Speak up, girl--speak up! Do you want a stretcher--is it burnt or run +over. Can't you speak, eh?" + +It now flashed upon Lizzie that the venerable janitor was labouring under +the impression that she had come to make application for the admission of a +patient, and she quickly answered-- + +"Oh, no; it is nothing of the kind, I am glad to say." + +"Glad to say," muttered the old man, the eager, expectant look disappearing +from his face, giving place to one of disappointment--"glad to say; why +there hasn't been an accident to-day, and here you've gone and rung the +bell, and brought me here to the door for nothing. What do you want then?" + +"I wish to inquire after a person who is here." + +"What's his number?" gruffly inquired he. + +"That I cannot tell," answered she; "his name is McCloskey." + +"I don't know anything about him. Couldn't tell who he is unless I go all +over the books to-night. We don't know people by their names here; come in +the morning--ten o'clock, and don't never ring that bell again," concluded +he, sharply, "unless you want a stretcher: ringing the bell, and no +accident;" and grumbling at being disturbed for nothing, he abruptly closed +the door in Lizzie's face. + +Anxious and discomfited, she wandered back to her hotel; and after drinking +a weak cup of tea, locked her room-door, and retired to bed. There she lay, +tossing from side to side--she could not sleep--her anxiety respecting her +father's safety; her fears, lest in the delirium of fever McCloskey should +discover their secret, kept her awake far into the night, and the city +clocks struck two ere she fell asleep. + +When she awoke in the morning the sun was shining brightly into her room; +for a few moments she could not realize where she was; but the events of +the past night soon came freshly to her; looking at her watch, she +remembered that she was to go to the hospital at ten, and it was already +half-past nine; her wakefulness the previous night having caused her to +sleep much later than her usual hour. + +Dressing herself in haste, she hurried down to breakfast; and after having +eaten a slight meal, ordered a carriage, and drove to the hospital. + +The janitor was in his accustomed seat, and nodded smilingly to her as she +entered. He beckoned her to him, and whispered, "I inquired about him. +McCloskey, fever-ward, No. 21, died this morning at two o'clock and forty +minutes." + +"Dead!" echoed Lizzie, with a start of horror. + +"Yes, dead," repeated he, with a complacent look; "any relation of +yours--want an order for the body?" + +Lizzie was so astounded by this intelligence, that she could not reply; and +the old man continued mysteriously. "Came to before he died--wish he +hadn't--put me to a deal of trouble--sent for a magistrate--then for a +minister--had something on his mind--couldn't die without telling it, you +know; then there was oaths, depositions--so much trouble. Are you his +relation--want an order for the body?" + +"Oaths! magistrate!--a confession no doubt," thought Lizzie; her limbs +trembled; she was so overcome with terror that she could scarcely stand; +clinging to the railing of the desk by which she was standing for support, +she asked, hesitatingly, "He had something to confess then?" + +The janitor looked at her for a few moments attentively, and seemed to +notice for the first time her ladylike appearance and manners; a sort of +reserve crept over him at the conclusion of his scrutiny, for he made no +answer to her question, but simply asked, with more formality than before, +"Are you a relation--do you want an order for the body?" + +Ere Lizzie could answer his question, a man, plainly dressed, with keen +grey eyes that seemed to look restlessly about in every corner of the room, +came and stood beside the janitor. He looked at Lizzie from the bow on the +top of her bonnet to the shoes on her feet; it was not a stare, it was more +a hasty glance--and yet she could not help feeling that he knew every item +of her dress, and could have described her exactly. + +"Are you a relative of this person," he asked, in a clear sharp voice, +whilst his keen eyes seemed to be piercing her through in search of the +truth. + +"No, sir," she answered, faintly. + +"A friend then, I presume," continued he, respectfully. + +"An acquaintance," returned she. The man paused for a few moments, then +taking out his watch, looked at the time, and hastened from the office. + +This man possessed Lizzie with a singular feeling of dread--why she could +not determine; yet, after he was gone, she imagined those cold grey eyes +were resting on her, and bidding the old janitor, who had grown reserved so +suddenly, good morning, she sprang into her carriage as fast as her +trembling limbs could carry her, and ordered the coachman to drive back to +the hotel. + +"Father must fly!" soliloquized she; "the alarm will, no doubt, lend him +energy. I've heard of people who have not been able to leave their rooms +for months becoming suddenly strong under the influence of terror. We must +be off to some place of concealment until we can learn whether he is +compromised by that wretched man's confession." + +Lizzie quickly paid her bill, packed her trunk, and started for the station +in hopes of catching the mid-day train for New York. + +The driver did not spare his horses, but at her request drove them at their +utmost speed--but in vain. She arrived there only time enough to see the +train move away; and there, standing on the platform, looking at her with a +sort of triumphant satisfaction, was the man with the keen grey eyes. +"Stop! stop!" cried she. + +"Too late, miss," said a bystander, sympathizingly; "just too late--no +other train for three hours." + +"Three hours!" said Lizzie, despairingly; "three hours! Yet I must be +patient--there is no remedy," and she endeavoured to banish her fears and +occupy herself in reading the advertisements that were posted up about the +station. It was of no avail, that keen-looking man with his piercing grey +eyes haunted her; and she could not avoid associating him in her thoughts +with her father and McCloskey. What was he doing on the train, and why did +he regard her with that look of triumphant satisfaction. + +Those were to her the three longest hours of her life. Wearily and +impatiently she paced up and down the long saloon, watching the hands of +the clock as they appeared to almost creep over the dial-plate. Twenty +times during those three hours did she compare the clock with her watch, +and found they moved on unvaryingly together. + +At last the hour for the departure of the train arrived; and seated in the +car, she was soon flying at express speed on the way towards her home. "How +much sooner does the other train arrive than we?" she asked of the +conductor. + +"Two hours and a half, miss," replied he, courteously; "we gain a half-hour +upon them." + +"A half-hour--that is something gained," thought she; "I may reach my +father before that man. Can he be what I suspect?" + +On they went--thirty--forty--fifty miles an hour, yet she thought it slow. +Dashing by villages, through meadows, over bridges,--rattling, screaming, +puffing, on their way to the city of New York. In due time they arrived at +the ferry, and after crossing the river were in the city itself. Lizzie +took the first carriage that came to hand, and was soon going briskly +through the streets towards her father's house. The nearer she approached +it, the greater grew her fears; a horrible presentiment that something +awful had occurred, grew stronger and stronger as she drew nearer home. She +tried to brave it off--resist it--crush it--but it came back upon her each +time with redoubled force. + +On she went, nearer and nearer every moment, until at last she was in the +avenue itself. She gazed eagerly from the carriage, and thought she +observed one or two persons run across the street opposite her father's +house. It could not be!--she looked again--yes, there was a group beneath +his window. "Faster! faster!" she cried frantically; "faster if you can." +The door was at last reached; she sprang from the carriage and pressed +through the little knot of people who were gathered on the pavement. Alas! +her presentiments were correct. There, lying on the pavement, was the +mangled form of her father, who had desperately sprung from the balcony +above, to escape arrest from the man with the keen grey eyes, who, with the +warrant in his hand, stood contemplating the lifeless body. + +"Father! father!" cried Lizzie, in an anguished voice; "father, speak +once!" Too late! too late! the spirit had passed away--the murderer had +rushed before a higher tribunal--a mightier Judge--into the presence of One +who tempers justice with mercy. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +The Wedding. + + +The night that Lizzie Stevens arrived in Philadelphia was the one decided +upon for the marriage of Emily Garie and Charles Ellis; and whilst she was +wandering so lonely through the streets of one part of the city, a scene of +mirth and gaiety was transpiring in another, some of the actors in which +would be made more happy by events that would be productive of great sorrow +to her. + +Throughout that day bustle and confusion had reigned supreme in the house +of Mr. Walters. Caddy, who had been there since the break of day, had taken +the domestic reins entirely from the hands of the mistress of the mansion, +and usurped command herself. Quiet Esther was well satisfied to yield her +full control of the domestic arrangements for the festivities, and Caddy +was nothing loath to assume them. + +She entered upon the discharge of her self-imposed duties with such ardour +as to leave no doubt upon the minds of the parties most interested but that +they would be thoroughly performed, and with an alacrity too that +positively appalled quiet Esther's easy-going servants. + +Great doubts had been expressed as to whether Caddy could successfully +sustain the combined characters of _chef de cuisine_ and bridesmaid, and a +failure had been prophesied. She therefore felt it incumbent upon her to +prove these prognostications unfounded, and demonstrate the practicability +of the undertaking. On the whole, she went to work with energy, and seemed +determined to establish the fact that her abilities were greatly +underrated, and that a woman could accomplish more than one thing at a +time when she set about it. + +The feelings of all such persons about the establishment of Mr. Walters as +were "constitutionally tired" received that day divers serious shocks at +the hands of Miss Caddy--who seemed endowed with a singular faculty which +enabled her to discover just what people did not want to do, and of setting +them at it immediately. + +For instance, Jane, the fat girl, hated going upstairs excessively. Caddy +employed her in bringing down glass and china from a third-story pantry; +and, moreover, only permitted her to bring a small quantity at a time, +which rendered a number of trips strictly necessary, to the great +aggravation and serious discomfort of the fat girl in question. + +On the other hand, Julia, the slim chambermaid, who would have been +delighted with such employment, and who would have undoubtedly refreshed +herself on each excursion upstairs with a lengthened gaze from the window, +was condemned to the polishing of silver and dusting of plates and glass in +an obscure back pantry, which contained but one window, and that commanding +a prospect of a dead wall. + +Miss Caddy felt in duty bound to inspect each cake, look over the wine, and +(to the great discomfiture of the waiter) decant it herself, not liking to +expose him to any unnecessary temptation. She felt, too, all the more +inclined to assume the office of butler from the fact that, at a previous +party of her sister's, she had detected this same gentleman with a bottle +of the best sherry at his mouth, whilst he held his head thrown back in a +most surprising manner, with a view, no doubt, of contemplating the ceiling +more effectually from that position. + +Before night such was the increasing demand for help in the kitchen that +Caddy even kidnapped the nurse, and locked the brown baby and her sister in +the bath-room, where there was no window in their reach, nor any other +means at hand from which the slightest injury could result to them. Here +they were supplied with a tub half filled with water, and spent the time +most delightfully in making boats of their shoes, and lading them with +small pieces of soap, which they bit off from the cake for the occasion; +then, coasting along to the small towns on the borders of the tub, they +disposed of their cargoes to imaginary customers to immense advantage. + +Walters had declared the house uninhabitable, and had gone out for the day. +Esther and Emily busied themselves in arranging the flowers in the +drawing-room and hall, and hanging amidst the plants on the balcony little +stained glass lamps; all of which Caddy thought very well in its way, but +which she was quite confident would be noticed much less by the guests than +the supper--in which supposition she was undoubtedly correct. + +Kinch also lounged in two or three times during the day, to seek +consolation at the hands of Esther and Emily. He was in deep distress of +mind--in great perturbation. His tailor had promised to send home a vest +the evening previous and had not fulfilled his agreement. After his first +visit Kinch entered the house in the most stealthy manner, for fear of +being encountered by Caddy; who, having met him in the hall during the +morning, posted him off for twenty pounds of sugar, a ball of twine, and a +stone jar, despite his declaration of pre-engagements, haste, and limited +knowledge of the articles in question. + +Whilst Lizzie Stevens was tremblingly ringing the bell at the lodge of the +hospital, busy hands were also pulling at that of Mr. Walters's dwelling. +Carriage after carriage rolled up, and deposited their loads of gay +company, who skipped nimbly over the carpet that was laid down from the +door to the curbstone. Through the wide hall and up the stairway, flowers +of various kinds mingled their fragrance and loaded the air with their rich +perfume; and expressions of delight burst from the lips of the guests as +they passed up the brilliantly-lighted stairway and thronged the spacious +drawing-rooms. There were but few whites amongst them, and they +particular friends. There was Mrs. Bird, who had travelled from Warmouth to +be present at the ceremony; Mr. Balch, the friend and legal adviser of the +bride's father; Father Banks, who was to tie the happy knot; and there, +too, was Mrs. Burrell, and that baby, now grown to a promising lad, and who +would come to the wedding because Charlie had sent him a regular invitation +written like that sent his parents. + +Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were of course there,--the latter arrayed in a rich new +silk made up expressly for the occasion--and the former almost hidden in +his large easy chair. The poor old gentleman scarcely seemed able to +comprehend the affair, and apparently laboured under the impression that it +was another mob, and looked a little terrified at times when the laughter +or conversation grew louder than usual. + +The hour for the ceremony was fast approaching, and Esther left the +assembled guests and went up into Emily Garie's room to assist the young +ladies in preparing the bride. They all besought her to be calm, not to +agitate herself upon any consideration; and then bustled about her, and +flurried themselves in the most ridiculous manner, with a view, no doubt, +of tranquillizing her feelings more effectually. + +"Little Em," soon to be Mrs. Ellis, was busily engaged in dressing; the +toilet-table was covered with lighted candles, and all the gas-burners in +the room were in full blaze, bringing everything out in bold relief. + +"We are having quite an illumination; the glare almost blinds me," said +Emily. "Put out some of the candles." + +"No, no, my dear," rejoined one of the young ladies engaged in dressing +her; "we cannot sacrifice a candle. We don't need them to discern your +charms, Em; only to enable us to discover how to deck them to the best +advantage. How sweet you look!" + +Emily gazed into the mirror; and from the blush that suffused her face and +the look of complacency that followed, it was quite evident that she shared +her friend's opinion. She did, indeed, look charming. There was a deeper +colour than usual on her cheeks, and her eyes were illumined with a soft, +tender light. Her wavy brown hair was parted smoothly on the front, and +gathered into a cluster of curls at the back. Around her neck glistened a +string of pearls, a present from Mr. Winston, who had just returned from +South America. The pure white silk fitted to a nicety, and the tiny satin +slippers seemed as if they were made upon her feet, and never intended to +come off again. Her costume was complete, with the exception of the veil +and wreath, and Esther opened the box that she supposed contained them, for +the purpose of arranging them on the bride. + +"Where have you put the veil, my dear?" she asked, after raising the lid of +the box, and discovering that they were not there. + +"In the box, are they not?" answered one of the young ladies. + +"No, they are not there," continued Esther, as she turned over the various +articles with which the tables were strewed. All in vain; the veil and +wreath could be nowhere discovered. + +"Are you sure it came home?" asked one. + +"Of course," replied another; "I had it in my hand an hour ago." + +Then a thorough search was commenced, all the drawers ransacked, and +everything turned over again and again; and just when they were about to +abandon the search in despair, one of the party returned from the adjoining +room, dragging along the brown baby, who had the veil wrapped about her +chubby shoulders as a scarf, and the wreath ornamenting her round curly +head. Even good-natured Esther was a little ruffled at this daring act of +baby's, and hastily divested that young lady of her borrowed adornments, +amidst the laughter of the group. + +Poor baby was quite astonished at the precipitate manner in which she was +deprived of her finery, and was for a few moments quite overpowered by her +loss; but, perceiving a drawer open in the toilet-table, she dried her +eyes, and turned her attention in that direction, and in tossing its +contents upon the floor amply solaced herself for the deprivation she had +just undergone. + +"Caddy is a famous chief bridesmaid--hasn't been here to give the least +assistance," observed Esther; "she is not even dressed herself. I will +ring, and ask where she can be--in the kitchen or supper-room I've no +doubt. Where is Miss Ellis?" she asked of the servant who came in answer +her summons. + +"Downstairs, mem--the boy that brought the ice-cream kicked over a candy +ornament, and Miss Ellis was very busy a shaking of him when I came up." + +"Do beg her to stop," rejoined Esther, with a laugh, "and tell her I say +she can shake him in the morning--we are waiting for her to dress now; and +also tell Mr. De Younge to come here to the door--I want him." + +Kinch soon made his appearance, in accordance with Esther's request, and +fairly dazzled her with his costume. His blue coat was brazen with buttons, +and his white cravat tied with choking exactness; spotless vest, black +pants, and such patent leathers as you could have seen your face in with +ease. + +"How fine you look, Kinch," said Esther admiringly. + +"Yes," he answered; "the new vest came home--how do you like it?" + +"Oh, admirable! But, Kinch, can't you go down, and implore Caddy to come up +and dress--time is slipping away very fast?" + +"Oh, I daren't," answered Kinch, with a look of alarm--"I don't dare to go +down now that I'm dressed. She'll want me to carry something up to the +supper-room if I do--a pile of dishes, or something of the kind. I'd like +to oblige you, Mrs. Walters, but it's worth my new suit to do it." + +Under these circumstances, Kinch was excused; and a deputation, headed by +Mr. Walters, was sent into the lower regions to wait upon Caddy, who +prevailed upon her to come up and dress, which she did, being all the +while very red in the face, and highly indignant at being sent for so +often. + +"Good gracious!" she exclaimed, "what a pucker you are all in!" + +"Why, Caddy, it's time to be," replied Esther--"it wants eight minutes of +the hour." + +"And that is just three minutes more than I should want for dressing if I +was going to be married myself," rejoined she; and hastening away, she +returned in an incredibly short time, all prepared for the ceremony. + +Charlie was very handsomely got up for the occasion. Emily, Esther, +Caddy--in fact, all of them--agreed that he never looked better in his +life. "That is owing to me--all my doings," said Kinch exultingly. "He +wanted to order his suit of old Forbes, who hasn't looked at a +fashion-plate for the last ten years, and I wouldn't let him. I took him to +my man, and see what he has made of him--turned him out looking like a +bridegroom, instead of an old man of fifty! It's all owing to me," said the +delighted Kinch, who skipped about the entry until he upset a vase of +flowers that stood on a bracket behind him; whereupon Caddy ran and brought +a towel, and made him take off his white gloves and wipe up the water, in +spite of his protestations that the shape of his pantaloons would not bear +the strain of stooping. + +At last the hour arrived, and the bridal party descended to the +drawing-room in appropriate order, and stood up before Father Banks. The +ceremony was soon over, and Emily was clasped in Mrs. Ellis's arms, who +called her "daughter," and kissed her cheek with such warm affection that +she no longer felt herself an orphan, and paid back with tears and embraces +the endearments that were lavished upon her by her new relatives. + +Father Banks took an early opportunity to give them each some good advice, +and managed to draw them apart for that purpose. He told them how imperfect +and faulty were all mankind--that married life was not all _couleur de +rose_--that the trials and cares incident to matrimony fully equalled its +pleasures; and besought them to bear with each other patiently, to be +charitable to each other's faults--and a reasonable share of earthly +happiness must be the result. + +Then came the supper. Oh! such a supper!--such quantities of nice things as +money and skill alone can bring together. There were turkeys innocent of a +bone, into which you might plunge your knife to the very hilt without +coming in contact with a splinter--turkeys from which cunning cooks had +extracted every bone leaving the meat alone behind, with the skin not +perceptibly broken. How brown and tempting they looked, their capacious +bosoms giving rich promise of high-seasoned dressing within, and looking +larger by comparison with the tiny reed-birds beside them, which lay cosily +on the golden toast, looking as much as to say, "If you want something to +remember for ever, come and give me a bite!" + +Then there were dishes of stewed terrapin, into which the initiated dipped +at once, and to which they for some time gave their undivided attention, +oblivious, apparently, of the fact that there was a dish of chicken-salad +close beside them. + +Then there were oysters in every variety--silver dishes containing them +stewed, their fragrant macey odour wafting itself upward, and causing +watery sensations about the mouth. Waiters were constantly rushing into the +room, bringing dishes of them fried so richly brown, so smoking hot, that +no man with a heart in his bosom could possibly refuse them. Then there +were glass dishes of them pickled, with little black spots of allspice +floating on the pearly liquid that contained them. And lastly, oysters +broiled, whose delicious flavour exceeds my powers of description--these, +with ham and tongue, were the solid comforts. There were other things, +however, to which one could turn when the appetite grew more dainty; there +were jellies, blancmange, chocolate cream, biscuit glace, peach ice, +vanilla ice, orange-water ice, brandy peaches, preserved strawberries and +pines; not to say a word of towers of candy, bonbons, kisses, champagne, +Rhine wine, sparkling Catawba, liquors, and a man in the corner making +sherry cobblers of wondrous flavour, under the especial supervision of +Kinch; on the whole, it was an American supper, got up regardless of +expense--and whoever has been to such an entertainment knows very well what +an American supper is. + +What a merry happy party it was--how they all seemed to enjoy +themselves--and how they all laughed, when the bride essayed to cut the +cake, and could not get the knife through the icing--and how the young +girls put pieces away privately, that they might place them under their +pillows to dream upon! What a happy time they had! + +Father Banks enjoyed himself amazingly; he eat quantities of stewed +terrapin, and declared it the best he ever tasted. He talked gravely to the +old people--cheerfully and amusingly to the young; and was, in fact, having +a most delightful time--when a servant whispered to him that there was a +person in the entry who wished to see him immediately. + +"Oh dear!" he exclaimed to Mr. Balch, "I was just congratulating myself +that I should have one uninterrupted evening, and you see the +result--called off at this late hour." + +Father Banks followed the servant from the room, and inquired of the +messenger what was wanted. + +"You must come to the hospital immediately, sir; the man with the +typhus-fever--you saw him yesterday--he's dying; he says he must see +you--that he has something important to confess. I'm to go for a magistrate +as well." + +"Ah!" said Father Banks, "you need go no further, Alderman Balch is +here--he is quite competent to receive his depositions." + +"I'm heartily glad of it," replied the man, "it will save me another hunt. +I had a hard time finding you. I've been to your house and two or three +other places, and was at last sent here. I'll go back and report that you +are coming and will bring a magistrate with you." + +"Very good," rejoined Father Banks, "do so. I will be there immediately." +Hastening back to the supper room, he discovered Mr. Balch in the act of +helping himself to a brandy peach, and apprised him of the demand for his +services. + +"Now, Banks," said he, good-humouredly, "that is outrageous. Why did you +not let him go for some one else? It is too bad to drag me away just when +the fun is about to commence." There was no alternative, however, and Mr. +Balch prepared to follow the minister to the bedside of McCloskey. + +When they arrived at the hospital, they found him fast sinking--the livid +colour of his face, the sunken glassy eyes, the white lips, and the blue +tint that surrounded the eyes and mouth told at once the fearful story. +Death had come. He was in full possession of his faculties, and told them +all. How Stevens had saved him from the gallows--and how he agreed to +murder Mr. Garie--of his failure when the time of action arrived, and how, +in consequence, Stevens had committed the deed, and how he had paid him +time after time to keep his secret. + +"In my trunk there," said he, in a dying whisper,--"in my trunk is the +will. I found it that night amongst his papers. I kept it to get money out +of his children with when old Stevens was gone. Here," continued he, +handing his key from beneath the pillow, "open my trunk and get it." + +Mr. Balch eagerly unlocked the trunk, and there, sure enough, lay the +long-sought-for and important document. + +"I knew it would be found at last. I always told Walters so; and now," said +he, exultingly, "see my predictions are verified." + +McCloskey seemed anxious to atone for the past by making an ample +confession. He told them all he knew of Mr. Stevens's present +circumstances--how his property was situated, and every detail necessary +for their guidance. Then his confession was sworn to and witnessed; and the +dying man addressed himself to the affairs of the next world, and +endeavoured to banish entirely from his mind all thoughts of this. + +After a life passed in the exercise of every Christian virtue--after a +lengthened journey over its narrow stony pathway, whereon temptations have +been met and triumphed over--where we have struggled with difficulties, and +borne afflictions without murmur or complaint, cheering on the weary we +have found sinking by the wayside, comforting and assisting the fallen, +endeavouring humbly and faithfully to do our duty to God and humanity--even +after a life thus passed, when we at last lie down to die the most faithful +and best may well shrink and tremble when they approach the gloomy portals +of death. At such an hour memory, more active than every other faculty, +drags all the good and evil from the past and sets them in distinct array +before us. Then we discover how greatly the latter exceeds the former in +our lives, and how little of our Father's work we have accomplished after +all our toils and struggles. 'Tis then the most devoted servant of our +common Master feels compelled to cry, "Mercy! O my Father!--for justice I +dare not ask." + +If thus the Christian passes away--what terror must fill the breast of one +whose whole life has been a constant warfare upon the laws of God and man? +How approaches he the bar of that awful Judge, whose commands he has set at +nought, and whose power he has so often contemned? With a fainting heart, +and tongue powerless to crave the mercy his crimes cannot deserve! + +McCloskey struggled long with death--died fearfully hard. The phantoms of +his victims seemed to haunt him in his dying hour, interposing between him +and God; and with distorted face, clenched hands, and gnashing teeth, he +passed away to his long account. + +From the bedside of the corpse Mr. Balch went--late as it was--to the +office of the chief of police. There he learned, to his great satisfaction, +that the governor was in town; and at an early hour the next morning he +procured a requisition for the arrest of Mr. Stevens, which he put into the +hands of the man with the keen grey eyes for the purpose of securing the +criminal; and with the result of his efforts the reader is already +acquainted. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +And the last. + + +With such celerity did Mr. Balch work in behalf of his wards, that he soon +had everything in train for the recovery of the property. + +At first George Stevens was inclined to oppose the execution of the will, +but he was finally prevailed upon by his advisers to make no difficulty +respecting it, and quietly resign what he must inevitably sooner or later +relinquish. Lizzie Stevens, on the contrary, seemed rather glad that an +opportunity was afforded to do justice to her old playmates, and won the +good opinion of all parties by her gentleness and evident anxiety to atone +for the wrong done them by her father. Even after the demands of the +executors of Mr. Garie were fully satisfied, such had been the thrift of +her father that there still remained a comfortable support for her and her +brother. + +To poor Clarence this accession of fortune brought no new pleasure; he +already had sufficient for his modest wants; and now that his greatest hope +in life had been blighted, this addition of wealth became to him rather a +burden than a pleasure. + +He was now completely excluded from the society in which he had so long +been accustomed to move; the secret of his birth had become widely known, +and he was avoided by his former friends and sneered at as a "nigger." His +large fortune kept some two or three whites about him, but he knew they +were leeches seeking to bleed his purse, and he wisely avoided their +society. + +He was very wretched and lonely: he felt ashamed to seek the society of +coloured men now that the whites despised and rejected him, so he lived +apart from both classes of society, and grew moody and misanthropic. + +Mr. Balch endeavoured to persuade him to go abroad--to visit Europe: he +would not. He did not confess it, but the truth was, he could not tear +himself away from the city where little Birdie dwelt, where he now and then +could catch a glimpse of her to solace him in his loneliness. He was +growing paler and more fragile-looking each day, and the doctor at last +frankly told him that, if he desired to live, he must seek some warmer +climate for the winter. + +Reluctantly Clarence obeyed; in the fall he left New York, and during the +cold months wandered through the West India islands. For a while his health +improved, but when the novelty produced by change of scene began to decline +he grew worse again, and brooded more deeply than ever over his bitter +disappointment, and consequently derived but little benefit from the +change; the spirit was too much broken for the body to mend--his heart was +too sore to beat healthily or happily. + +He wrote often now to Emily and her husband, and seemed desirous to atone +for his past neglect. Emily had written to him first; she had learned of +his disappointment, and gave him a sister's sympathy in his loneliness and +sorrow. + +The chilly month of March had scarcely passed away when they received a +letter from him informing them of his intention to return. He wrote, "I am +no better, and my physician says that a longer residence here will not +benefit me in the least--that I came _too late_. I cough, cough, cough, +incessantly, and each day become more feeble. I am coming home, Emmy; +coming home, I fear, to die. I am but a ghost of my former self. I write +you this that you may not be alarmed when you see me. It is too late now to +repine, but, oh! Em, if my lot had only been cast with yours--had we never +been separated--I might have been to-day as happy as you are." + +It was a clear bright morning when Charlie stepped into a boat to be +conveyed to the ship in which Clarence had returned to New York: she had +arrived the evening previous, and had not yet come up to the dock. The air +came up the bay fresh and invigorating from the sea beyond, and the water +sparkled as it dripped from the oars, which, with monotonous regularity, +broke the almost unruffled surface of the bay. Some of the ship's sails +were shaken out to dry in the morning sun, and the cordage hung loosely and +carelessly from the masts and yards. A few sailors lounged idly about the +deck, and leaned over the side to watch the boat as it approached. With +their aid it was soon secured alongside, and Charlie clambered up the +ladder, and stood upon the deck of the vessel. On inquiring for Clarence, +he was shown into the cabin, where he found him extended on a sofa. + +He raised himself as he saw Charlie approach, and, extending his hand, +exclaimed,--"How kind! I did not expect you until we reached the shore." + +For a moment, Charlie could not speak. The shock caused by Clarence's +altered appearance was too great,--the change was terrible. When he had +last seen him, he was vigorous-looking, erect, and healthful; now he was +bent and emaciated to a frightful extent. The veins on his temples were +clearly discernible; the muscles of his throat seemed like great cords; his +cheeks were hollow, his sunken eyes were glassy bright and surrounded with +a dark rim, and his breathing was short and evidently painful. Charlie held +his thin fleshless hand in his own, and gazed in his face with an anguished +expression. + +"I look badly,--don't I Charlie?" said he, with assumed indifference; +"worse than you expected, eh?" + +Charlie hesitated a little, and then answered,--"Rather bad; but it is +owing to your sea-sickness, I suppose; that has probably reduced you +considerably; then this close cabin must be most unfavourable to your +health. Ah, wait until we get you home, we shall soon have you better." + +"Home!" repeated Clarence,--"home! How delightful that word sounds! I feel +it is going _home_ to go to you and Em." And he leant back and repeated the +word "home," and paused afterward, as one touches some favourite note upon +an instrument, and then silently listens to its vibrations. "How is Em?" he +asked at length. + +"Oh, well--very well," replied Charlie. "She has been busy as a bee ever +since she received your last letter; such a charming room as she has +prepared for you!" + +"Ah, Charlie," rejoined Clarence, mournfully, "I shall not live long to +enjoy it, I fear." + +"Nonsense!" interrupted Charlie, hopefully; "don't be so desponding, Clary: +here is spring again,--everything is thriving and bursting into new life. +You, too, will catch the spirit of the season, and grow in health and +strength again. Why, my dear fellow," continued he, cheerfully, "you can't +help getting better when we once get hold of you. Mother's gruels, Doctor +Burdett's prescriptions, and Em's nursing, would lift a man out of his +coffin. Come, now, don't let us hear anything more about dying." + +Clarence pressed his hand and looked at him affectionately, as though he +appreciated his efforts to cheer him and felt thankful for them; but he +only shook his head and smiled mournfully. + +"Let me help your man to get you up. When once you get ashore you'll feel +better, I've no doubt. We are not going to an hotel, but to the house of a +friend who has kindly offered to make you comfortable until you are able to +travel." + +With the assistance of Charlie and the servant, Clarence was gradually +prepared to go ashore. He was exceedingly weak, could scarcely totter +across the deck; and it was with some difficulty that they at last +succeeded in placing him safely in the boat. After they landed, a carriage +was soon procured, and in a short time thereafter Clarence was comfortably +established in the house of Charlie's friend. + +Their hostess, a dear old motherly creature, declared that she knew exactly +what Clarence needed; and concocted such delicious broths, made such +strengthening gruels, that Clarence could not avoid eating, and in a day +or two he declared himself better than he had been for a month, and felt +quite equal to the journey to Philadelphia. + +The last night of their stay in New York was unusually warm; and Clarence +informed Charlie he wished to go out for a walk. "I wish to go a long +distance,--don't think me foolish when I tell you where. I want to look at +the house where little Birdie lives. It may be for the last time. I have a +presentiment that I shall see her if I go,--I am sure I shall," added he, +positively, as though he felt a conviction that his desire would be +accomplished. + +"I would not, Clary," remonstrated Charlie. "Your health won't permit the +exertion; it is a long distance, too, you say; and, moreover, don't you +think, my dear fellow, that it is far more prudent to endeavour, if +possible, to banish her from your mind entirely. Don't permit yourself to +think about her, if you can help it. You know she is unattainable by you, +and you should make an effort to conquer your attachment." + +"It is too late--too late now, Charlie," he replied, mournfully. "I shall +continue to love her as I do now until I draw my last breath. I know it is +hopeless--I know she can never be more to me than she already is; but I +cannot help loving her. Let us go; I may see her once again. Ah, Charlie, +you cannot even dream what inexpressible pleasure the merest glimpse of her +affords me! Come, let us go." + +Charlie would not permit him to attempt to walk; and they procured a +carriage, in which they rode to within a short distance of the house. The +mansion of Mr. Bates appeared quite gloomy as they approached it. The +blinds were down, and no lights visible in any part of the house. + +"I am afraid they are out of town," remarked Charlie, when Clarence pointed +out the house; "everything looks so dull about it. Let us cross over to the +other pavement." And they walked over to the other side of the street, and +gazed upward at the house. + +"Let us sit down here," suggested Clarence,--"here, on this broad stone; +it is quite dark now, and no one will observe us." + +"No, no!" remonstrated Charlie; "the stone is too damp and cold." + +"Is it?" said Clarence vacantly. And taking out his handkerchief, he spread +it out, and, in spite of Charlie's dissuasions, sat down upon it. + +"Charlie," said he, after gazing at the house a long time in silence, "I +have often come here and remained half the night looking at her windows. +People have passed by and stared at me as though they thought me crazy; I +was half crazy then, I think. One night I remember I came and sat here for +hours; far in the night I saw her come to the window, throw up the +casement, and look out. That was in the summer, before I went away, you +know. There she stood in the moonlight, gazing upward at the sky, so pale, +so calm and holy-looking, in her pure white dress, that I should not have +thought it strange if the heavens had opened, and angels descended and +borne her away with them on their wings." And Clarence closed his eyes as +he concluded, to call back upon the mirror of his mind the image of little +Birdie as she appeared that night. + +They waited a long while, during which there was no evidence exhibited that +there was any one in the house. At last, just as they were about to move +away, they descried the glimmer of a light in the room which Clarence +declared to be her room. His frame trembled with expectation, and he walked +to and fro opposite the house with an apparent strength that surprised his +companion. At length the light disappeared again, and with it Clarence's +hopes. + +"Now then we must go," said Charlie, "it is useless for you to expose +yourself in this manner. I insist upon your coming home." + +Reluctantly Clarence permitted himself to be led across the street again. +As they were leaving the pavement, he turned to look back again, and, +uttering a cry of surprise and joy, he startled Charlie by clutching his +arm. "Look! look!" he cried, "there she is--my little Birdie." Charlie +looked up at the window almost immediately above them, and observed a +slight pale girl, who was gazing up the street in an opposite direction. + +"Little Birdie--little Birdie," whispered Clarence, tenderly. She did not +look toward them, but after standing there a few seconds, moved from +between the curtains and disappeared. + +"Thank God for that!" exclaimed Clarence, passionately, "I knew--I knew I +should see her. _I knew it_," repeated he, exultingly; and then, overcome +with joy, he bowed his head upon Charlie's shoulder and wept like a child. +"Don't think me foolish, Charlie," apologized he, "I cannot help it. I will +go home now. Oh, brother, I feel so much happier." And with a step less +faint and trembling, he walked back to the carriage. + +The following evening he was at home, but so enfeebled with the exertions +of the last two days, as to be obliged to take to his bed immediately after +his arrival. His sister greeted him affectionately, threw her arms about +his neck and kissed him tenderly; years of coldness and estrangement were +forgotten in that moment, and they were once more to each other as they +were before they parted. + +Emily tried to appear as though she did not notice the great change in his +appearance, and talked cheerfully and encouragingly in his presence; but +she wept bitterly, when alone, over the final separation which she foresaw +was not far distant. + +The nest day Doctor Burdett called, and his grave manner and apparent +disinclination to encourage any hope, confirmed the hopeless impression +they already entertained. + +Aunt Ada came from Sudbury at Emily's request; she knew her presence would +give pleasure to Clarence, she accordingly wrote her to come, and she and +Emily nursed by turns the failing sufferer. + +Esther and her husband, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy, and even Kinch, were +unremitting in their attentions, and did all in their power to amuse and +comfort him. Day by day he faded perceptibly, grew more and more feeble, +until at last Doctor Burdett began to number days instead of weeks as his +term of life. Clarence anticipated death with calmness--did not repine or +murmur. Father Banks was often with him cheering him with hopes of a +happier future beyond the grave. + +One day he sent for his sister and desired her to write a letter for him. +"Em," said he, "I am failing fast; these fiery spots on my cheek, this +scorching in my palms, these hard-drawn, difficult breaths, warn me that +the time is very near. Don't weep, Em!" continued he, kissing her--"there, +don't weep--I shall be better off--happier--I am sure! Don't weep now--I +want you to write to little Birdie for me. I have tried, but my hand +trembles so that I cannot write legibly--I gave it up. Sit down beside me +here, and write; here is the pen." Emily dried her eyes, and mechanically +sat down to write as he desired. Motioning to him that she was ready, he +dictated-- + +"My Dear Little Birdie,--I once resolved never to write to you again, and +partially promised your father that I would not; then I did not dream that +I should be so soon compelled to break my resolution. Little Birdie, I am +dying! My physician informs me that I have but a few more days to live. I +have been trying to break away from earth's affairs and fix my thoughts on +other and better things. I have given up all but you, and feel that I +cannot relinquish you until I see you once again. Do not refuse me, little +Birdie! Show this to your father--he must consent to a request made by one +on the brink of the grave." + +"There, that will do; let me read it over," said he, extending his hand for +the note. "Yes, I will sign it now--then do you add our address. Send it +now, Emily--send it in time for to-night's mail." + +"Clary, do you think she will come?" inquired his sister. + +"Yes," replied he, confidently; "I am sure she will if the note reaches +her." Emily said no more, but sealed and directed the note, which she +immediately despatched to the post-office; and on the following day it +reached little Birdie. + +From the time when the secret of Clarence's birth had been discovered, +until the day she had received his note, she never mentioned his name. At +the demand of her father she produced his letters, miniature, and even the +little presents he had given her from time to time, and laid them down +before him without a murmur; after this, even when he cursed and denounced +him, she only left the room, never uttering a word in his defence. She +moved about like one who had received a stunning blow--she was dull, cold, +apathetic. She would smile vacantly when her father smoothed her hair or +kissed her cheek; but she never laughed, or sang and played, as in days +gone by; she would recline for hours on the sofa in her room gazing +vacantly in the air, and taking apparently no interest in anything about +her. She bent her head when she walked, complained of coldness about her +temples, and kept her hand constantly upon her heart. + +Doctors were at last consulted; they pronounced her physically well, and +thought that time would restore her wonted animation; but month after month +she grew more dull and silent, until her father feared she would become +idiotic, and grew hopeless and unhappy about her. For a week before the +receipt of the note from Clarence, she had been particularly apathetic and +indifferent, but it seemed to rouse her into life again. She started up +after reading it, and rushed wildly through the hall into her father's +library. + +"See here!" exclaimed she, grasping his arm--"see there--I knew it! I've +felt day after day that it was coming to that! You separated us, and now he +is dying--dying!" cried she. "Read it--read it!" + +Her father took the note, and after perusing it laid it on the table, and +said coldly, "Well--" + +"Well!" repeated she, with agitation--"Oh, father, it is not well! Father!" +said she, hurriedly, "you bid me give him up--told me he was +unworthy--pointed out to me fully and clearly why we could not marry: I +was convinced we could not, for I knew you would never let it be. Yet I +have never ceased to love him. I cannot control my heart, but I could my +voice, and never since that day have I spoken his name. I gave him up--not +that I would not have gladly married, knowing what he was--because you +desired it--because I saw either your heart must break or mine. I let mine +go to please you, and have suffered uncomplainingly, and will so suffer +until the end; but I _must_ see him once again. It will be a pleasure to +him to see me once again in his dying hour, and I _must_ go. If you love +me," continued she, pleadingly, as her father made a gesture of dissent, +"let us go. You see he is dying--begs you from the brink of the grave. Let +me go, only to say good bye to him, and then, perhaps," concluded she, +pressing her hand upon her heart, "I shall be better here." + +Her father had not the heart to make any objection, and the next day they +started for Philadelphia. They despatched a note to Clarence, saying they +had arrived, which Emily received, and after opening it, went to gently +break its contents to her brother. + +"You must prepare yourself for visitors, Clary," said she, "no doubt some +of our friends will call to-day, the weather is so very delightful." + +"Do you know who is coming?" he inquired. + +"Yes, dear," she answered, seating herself beside him, "I have received a +note stating that a particular friend will call to-day--one that you desire +to see." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "it is little Birdie, is it not?" + +"Yes," she replied, "they have arrived in town, and will be here to-day." + +"Did not I tell you so?" said he, triumphantly. "I knew she would come. I +knew it," continued he, joyfully. "Let me get up--I am strong enough--she +is come--O! she has come." + +Clarence insisted on being dressed with extraordinary care. His long +fierce-looking beard was trimmed carefully, and he looked much better than +he had done for weeks; he was wonderfully stronger, walked across the room, +and chatted over his breakfast with unusual animation. + +At noon they came, and were shown into the drawing-room, where Emily +received them. Mr. Bates bowed politely, and expressed a hope that Mr. +Garie was better. Emily held out her hand to little Birdie, who clasped it +in both her own, and said, inquiringly: "You are his sister?" + +"Yes," answered Emily. "You, I should have known from Clarence's +description--you are his little Birdie?" + +She did not reply--her lip quivered, and she pressed Emily's hand and +kissed her. "He is impatient to see you," resumed Emily, "and if you are so +disposed, we will go up immediately." + +"I will remain here," observed Mr. Bates, "unless Mr. Garie particularly +desires to see me. My daughter will accompany you." + +Emily took the hand of little Birdie in her own, and they walked together +up the stairway. "You must not be frightened at his appearance," she +remarked, tearfully, "he is greatly changed." + +Little Birdie only shook her head--her heart seemed too full for +speech--and she stepped on a little faster, keeping her hand pressed on her +breast all the while. + +When they reached the door, Emily was about to open it, but her companion +stopped her, by saying: "Wait a moment--stop! How my heart beats--it almost +suffocates me." They paused for a few moments to permit little Birdie to +recover from her agitation, then throwing open the door they advanced into +the room. + +"Clarence!" said his sister. He did not answer; he was looking down into +the garden. She approached nearer, and gently laying her hand on his +shoulder, said, "Here is your little Birdie, Clarence." He neither moved +nor spoke. + +"Clarence!" cried she, louder. No answer. She touched his face--it was +warm. "He's fainted!" exclaimed she; and, ringing the bell violently, she +screamed for help. Her husband and the nurse rushed into the room; then +came Aunt Ada and Mr. Bates. They bathed his temples, held strong salts to +his nostrils--still he did not revive. Finally, the nurse opened his bosom +and placed her hand upon his heart. _It was still--quite still_: Clarence +was dead! + +At first they could not believe it. "Let me speak to him," exclaimed little +Birdie, distractedly; "he will hear my voice, and answer. Clarence! +Clarence!" she cried. All in vain--all in vain. Clarence was dead! + +They gently bore her away. That dull, cold look came back again upon her +face, and left it never more in life. She walked about mournfully for a few +years, pressing her hand upon her heart; and then passed away to join her +lover, where distinctions in race or colour are unknown, and where the +prejudices of earth cannot mar their happiness. + +Our tale is now soon finished. They buried Clarence beside his parents; +coloured people followed him to his last home, and wept over his grave. Of +all the many whites that he had known, Aunt Ada and Mr. Balch were the only +ones that mingled their tears with those who listened to the solemn words +of Father Banks, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." + +We, too, Clarence, cast a tear upon thy tomb--poor victim of prejudice to +thy colour! and deem thee better off resting upon thy cold pillow of earth, +than battling with that malignant sentiment that persecuted thee, and has +crushed energy, hope, and life from many stronger hearts. + + * * * * * + +Aunt Ada Bell remained for a short time with Emily, and then returned to +Sudbury, where, during the remainder of her life, she never omitted an +opportunity of doing a kindness to a coloured person; and when the +increasing liberality of sentiment opened a way for the admission of +coloured pupils to the famous schools of Sudbury, they could always procure +board at her house, and Aunt Ada was a friend and mother to them. + +Walters and dear old Ess reared a fine family; and the brown baby and her +sister took numberless premiums at school, to the infinite delight of their +parents. They also had a boy, whom they named "Charlie;" he inherited his +uncle's passionate fondness for marbles, which fondness, it has been +ascertained, is fostered by his uncle, who, 'tis said, furnishes the sinews +of war when there is a dearth in the treasury of Master Walters. + +Kinch and Caddy were finally united, after various difficulties raised by +the latter, who found it almost impossible to procure a house in such a +state of order as would warrant her entering upon the blissful state of +matrimony. When it was all over, Kinch professed to his acquaintances +generally to be living in a perfect state of bliss; but he privately +intimated to Charlie that if Caddy would permit him to come in at the front +door, and not condemn him to go through the alley, whenever there happened +to be a shower--and would let him smoke where he liked--he would be much +more contented. When last heard from they had a little Caddy, the very +image of its mother--a wonderful little girl, who, instead of buying candy +and cake with her sixpences, as other children did, gravely invested them +in miniature wash-boards and dust-brushes, and was saving up her money to +purchase a tiny stove with a full set of cooking utensils. Caddy declares +her a child worth having. + +Charles and Emily took a voyage to Europe for the health of the latter, and +returned after a two years' tour to settle permanently in his native city. +They were unremitting in their attention to father and mother Ellis, who +lived to good old age, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Garies and Their Friends, by Frank J. Webb + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11214 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c0b6d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11214 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11214) diff --git a/old/11214.txt b/old/11214.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb62887 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11214.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14359 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Garies and Their Friends, by Frank J. Webb + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Garies and Their Friends + +Author: Frank J. Webb + +Release Date: February 21, 2004 [EBook #11214] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GARIES AND THEIR FRIENDS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beth Scott and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +THE GARIES + +AND + +THEIR FRIENDS + +Frank J. Webb + +1857 + +Preface by Harriet Beecher Stowe + + + + +TO THE + +LADY NOEL BYRON + +THIS BOOK + +IS, BY HER KIND PERMISSION, + +MOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, + +WITH PROFOUND RESPECT, + +BY HER GRATEFUL FRIEND, + +THE AUTHOR. + + + +PREFACE. + + +The book which now appears before the public may be of interest in relation +to a question which the late agitation of the subject of slavery has raised +in many thoughtful minds; viz.--Are the race at present held as slaves +capable of freedom, self-government, and progress? + +The author is a coloured young man, born and reared in the city of +Philadelphia. + +This city, standing as it does on the frontier between free and slave +territory, has accumulated naturally a large population of the mixed and +African race. + +Being one of the nearest free cities of any considerable size to the slave +territory, it has naturally been a resort of escaping fugitives, or of +emancipated slaves. + +In this city they form a large class--have increased in numbers, wealth, +and standing--they constitute a peculiar society of their own, presenting +many social peculiarities worthy of interest and attention. + +The representations of their positions as to wealth and education are +reliable, the incidents related are mostly true ones, woven together by a +slight web of fiction. + +The scenes of the mob describe incidents of a peculiar stage of +excitement, which existed in the city of Philadelphia years ago, when the +first agitation of the slavery question developed an intense form of +opposition to the free coloured people. + +Southern influence at that time stimulated scenes of mob violence in +several Northern cities where the discussion was attempted. By prompt, +undaunted resistance, however, this spirit was subdued, and the right of +free inquiry established; so that discussion of the question, so far from +being dangerous in Free States, is now begun to be allowed in the Slave +States; and there are some subjects the mere discussion of which is a +half-victory. + +The author takes pleasure in recommending this simple and truthfully-told +story to the attention and interest of the friends of progress and humanity +in England. + +(Signed) H.B. Stowe. + +ANDOVER, U.S., + +_August_ 17, 1857. + + + +FROM LORD BROUGHAM. + +I have been requested by one who has long known the deep interest I have +ever taken in the cause of Freedom, and in the elevation of the coloured +race, to supply a few lines of introduction to Mr. Webb's book. + +It was the intention of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe to introduce this work +to the British public, but I am truly sorry to learn that a severe domestic +affliction, since her return to America, has postponed the fulfilment of +her promise. + +I am, however, able to state her opinion of the book, expressed in a letter +to one of her friends. + +She says:--"There are points in the book of which I think very highly. The +style is simple and unambitious--the characters, most of them faithfully +drawn from real life, are quite fresh, and the incident, which is also much +of it fact, is often deeply interesting. + +"I shall do what I can with the preface. I would not do as much unless I +thought the book of worth _in itself_. It shows what I long have wanted to +show; what the _free people of colour do attain_, and what they can do in +spite of all social obstacles." + +I hope and trust that Mr. Webb's book will meet with all the success to +which its own merit, and the great interest of the subject, so well entitle +it. On this, Mrs. Stowe's authority is naturally of the greatest weight; +and I can only lament that this prefatory notice does not come accompanied +with her further remarks and illustrations. + +4, Grafton-street, _July_ 29, 1857. + + * * * * * + +Note.--Since the above was written, the preface by Mrs. Stowe has been +received. It was deemed best, however, to still retain the introduction so +kindly given by Lord Brougham, whose deep interest in the freedom and +welfare of the African race none feel more grateful for than does the +author of the following pages. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +1.--In which the Reader is introduced to a Family of Peculiar +Construction + +2.--A Glance at the Ellis Family + +3.--Charlie's Trials + +4.--In which Mr. Winston finds an Old Friend + +5.--The Garies decide on a Change + +6.--Pleasant News + +7.--Mrs. Thomas has her Troubles + +8.--Trouble in the Ellis Family + +9.--Breaking up + +10.--Another Parting + +11.--The New Home + +12.--Mr. Garie's Neighbour + +13.--Hopes consummated + +14.--Charlie at Warmouth + +15.--Mrs. Stevens gains a Triumph + +16.--Mr. Stevens makes a Discovery + +17.--Plotting + +18.--Mr. Stevens falls into Bad Hands + +19.--The Alarm + +20.--The Attack + +21.--More Horrors + +22.--An Anxious Day + +23.--The Lost One Found + +24.--Charlie distinguishes himself + +25.--The Heir + +26.--Home again + +27.--Sudbury + +28.--Charlie seeks Employment + +29.--Clouds and Sunshine + +30.--Many Years after + +31.--The Thorn rankles + +32.--Dear Old Ess again + +33.--The Fatal Discovery + +34.--"Murder will out" + +35.--The Wedding + +36.--And the Last + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +In which the Reader is introduced to a Family of peculiar Construction. + + +It was at the close of an afternoon in May, that a party might have been +seen gathered around a table covered with all those delicacies that, in the +household of a rich Southern planter, are regarded as almost necessaries of +life. In the centre stood a dish of ripe strawberries, their plump red +sides peeping through the covering of white sugar that had been plentifully +sprinkled over them. Geeche limes, almost drowned in their own rich syrup, +temptingly displayed their bronze-coloured forms just above the rim of the +glass that contained them. Opposite, and as if to divert the gaze from +lingering too long over their luscious beauty, was a dish of peaches +preserved in brandy, a never-failing article in a Southern matron's +catalogues of sweets. A silver basket filled with a variety of cakes was in +close proximity to a plate of corn-flappers, which were piled upon it like +a mountain, and from the brown tops of which trickled tiny rivulets of +butter. All these dainties, mingling their various odours with the aroma of +the tea and fine old java that came steaming forth from the richly chased +silver pots, could not fail to produce a very appetising effect. + +There was nothing about Mr. Garie, the gentleman who sat at the head of the +table, to attract more than ordinary attention. He had the ease of manner +usual with persons whose education and associations have been of a highly +refined character, and his countenance, on the whole, was pleasing, and +indicative of habitual good temper. + +Opposite to him, and presiding at the tea-tray, sat a lady of marked +beauty. The first thing that would have attracted attention on seeing her +were her gloriously dark eyes. They were not entirely black, but of that +seemingly changeful hue so often met with in persons of African extraction, +which deepens and lightens with every varying emotion. Hers wore a subdued +expression that sank into the heart and at once riveted those who saw her. +Her hair, of jetty black, was arranged in braids; and through her +light-brown complexion the faintest tinge of carmine was visible. As she +turned to take her little girl from the arms of the servant, she displayed +a fine profile and perfectly moulded form. No wonder that ten years before, +when she was placed upon the auction-block at Savanah, she had brought so +high a price. Mr. Garie had paid two thousand dollars for her, and was the +envy of all the young bucks in the neighbourhood who had competed with him +at the sale. Captivated by her beauty, he had esteemed himself fortunate in +becoming her purchaser; and as time developed the goodness of her heart, +and her mind enlarged through the instructions he assiduously gave her, he +found the connection that might have been productive of many evils, had +proved a boon to both; for whilst the astonishing progress she made in her +education proved her worthy of the pains he took to instruct her, she +returned threefold the tenderness and affection he lavished upon her. + +The little girl in her arms, and the boy at her side, showed no trace +whatever of African origin. The girl had the chestnut hair and blue eyes of +her father; but the boy had inherited the black hair and dark eyes of his +mother. The critically learned in such matters, knowing his parentage, +might have imagined they could detect the evidence of his mother's race, by +the slightly mezzo-tinto expression of his eyes, and the rather African +fulness of his lips; but the casual observer would have passed him by +without dreaming that a drop of negro blood coursed through his veins. His +face was expressive of much intelligence, and he now seemed to listen with +an earnest interest to the conversation that was going on between his +father and a dark-complexioned gentleman who sat beside him. + +"And so you say, Winston, that they never suspected you were coloured?" + +"I don't think they had the remotest idea of such a thing. At least, if +they did, they must have conquered their prejudices most effectually, for +they treated me with the most distinguished consideration. Old Mr. Priestly +was like a father to me; and as for his daughter Clara and her aunt, they +were politeness embodied. The old gentleman was so much immersed in +business, that he was unable to bestow much attention upon me; so he turned +me over to Miss Clara to be shown the lions. We went to the opera, the +theatre, to museums, concerts, and I can't tell where all. The Sunday +before I left I accompanied her to church, and after service, as we were +coming out, she introduced me to Miss Van Cote and her mamma. Mrs. Van Cote +was kind enough to invite me to her grand ball." + +"And did you go?" interrupted Mr. Garie. + +"Of course, I did--and what is more, as old Mr. Priestly has given up +balls, he begged me to escort Clara and her aunt." + +"Well, Winston, that is too rich," exclaimed Mr. Garie, slapping his hand +on the table, and laughing till he was red in the face; "too good, by Jove! +Oh! I can't keep that. I must write to them, and say I forgot to mention in +my note of introduction that you were a coloured gentleman. The old man +will swear till everything turns blue; and as for Clara, what will become +of her? A Fifth-avenue belle escorted to church and to balls by a coloured +gentleman!" Here Mr. Garie indulged in another burst of laughter so +side-shaking and merry, that the contagion spread even to the little girl +in Mrs. Garie's arms, who almost choked herself with the tea her mother was +giving her, and who had to be hustled and shaken for some time before she +could be brought round again. + +"It will be a great triumph for me," said Mr. Garie. "The old man prides +himself on being able to detect evidences of the least drop of African +blood in any one; and makes long speeches about the natural antipathy of +the Anglo-Saxon to anything with a drop of negro blood in its veins. Oh, I +shall write him a glorious letter expressing my pleasure at his great +change of sentiment, and my admiration of the fearless manner in which he +displays his contempt for public opinion. How he will stare! I fancy I see +him now, with his hair almost on end with disgust. It will do him good: it +will convince him, I hope, that a man can be a gentleman even though he has +African blood in his veins. I have had a series of quarrels with him," +continued Mr. Garie; "I think he had his eye on me for Miss Clara, and that +makes him particularly fierce about my present connection. He rather +presumes on his former great intimacy with my father, and undertakes to +lecture me occasionally when opportunity is afforded. He was greatly +scandalized at my speaking of Emily as my wife; and seemed to think me +cracked because I talked of endeavouring to procure a governess for my +children, or of sending them abroad to be educated. He has a holy horror of +everything approaching to amalgamation; and of all the men I ever met, +cherishes the most unchristian prejudice against coloured people. He says, +the existence of "a gentleman" with African blood in his veins, is a moral +and physical impossibility, and that by no exertion can anything be made of +that description of people. He is connected with a society for the +deportation of free coloured people, and thinks they ought to be all sent +to Africa, unless they are willing to become the property of some good +master." + +"Oh, yes; it is quite a hobby of his," here interposed Mr. Winston. "He +makes lengthy speeches on the subject, and has published two of them in +pamphlet form. Have you seen them?" + +"Yes, he sent them to me. I tried to get through one of them, but it was +too heavy, I had to give it up. Besides, I had no patience with them; they +abounded in mis-statements respecting the free coloured people. Why even +here in the slave states--in the cities of Savanah and Charleston--they are +much better situated than he describes them to be in New York; and since +they can and do prosper here, where they have such tremendous difficulties +to encounter, I know they cannot be in the condition he paints, in a state +where they are relieved from many of the oppressions they labour under +here. And, on questioning him on the subject, I found he was entirely +unacquainted with coloured people; profoundly ignorant as to the real facts +of their case. He had never been within a coloured church or school; did +not even know that they had a literary society amongst them. Positively, I, +living down here in Georgia, knew more about the character and condition of +the coloured people of the Northern States, than he who lived right in the +midst of them. Would you believe that beyond their laundress and a drunken +negro that they occasionally employed to do odd jobs for them, they were +actually unacquainted with any coloured people: and how unjust was it for +him to form his opinion respecting a class numbering over twenty thousand +in his own state, from the two individuals I have mentioned and the negro +loafers he occasionally saw in the streets." + +"It is truly unfortunate," rejoined Mr. Winston, "for he covers his +prejudices with such a pretended regard for the coloured people, that a +person would be the more readily led to believe his statements respecting +them to be correct; and he is really so positive about it, and apparently +go deaf to all argument that I did not discuss the subject with him to any +extent; he was so very kind to me that I did not want to run a tilt against +his favourite opinions." + +"You wrote me he gave you letters to Philadelphia; was there one amongst +them to the Mortons?" + +"Yes. They were very civil and invited me to a grand dinner they gave to +the Belgian Charge d'Affaires. I also met there one or two scions of the +first families of Virginia. The Belgian minister did not seem to be aware +that slavery is a tabooed subject in polite circles, and he was continually +bringing it forward until slaves, slavery, and black people in general +became the principal topic of conversation, relieved by occasional +discussion upon some new book or pictures, and remarks in praise of the +viands before us. A very amusing thing occurred during dinner. A +bright-faced little coloured boy who was assisting at the table, seemed to +take uncommon interest in the conversation. An animated discussion had +arisen as to the antiquity of the use of salad, one party maintaining that +one of the oldest of the English poets had mentioned it in a poem, and the +other as stoutly denying it. At last a reverend gentleman, whose remarks +respecting the intelligence of the children of Ham had been particularly +disparaging, asserted that nowhere in Chaucer, Spencer, nor any of the old +English poets could anything relating to it be found. At this, the little +waiter became so excited that he could no longer contain himself, and, +despite the frowns and nods of our hostess, exclaimed, 'Yes it can, it's in +Chaucer; here,' he continued, taking out a book from the book-case, 'here +is the very volume,'[*] and turning over the leaves he pointed out the +passage, to the great chagrin of the reverend gentleman, and to the +amusement of the guests. The Belgian minister enjoyed it immensely. 'Ah,' +said he, 'the child of Ham know more than the child of Shem, dis time.' +Whereupon Mrs. Morton rejoined that in this case it was not so wonderful, +owing to the frequent and intimate relations into which ham and salad were +brought, and with this joke the subject was dismissed. I can't say I was +particularly sorry when the company broke up." + +[Footnote * See Chaucer, "Flower and the Leaf."] + +"Oh, George, never mind the white people," here interposed Mrs. Garie. +"Never mind them; tell us about the coloured folks; they are the ones I +take the most interest in. We were so delighted with your letters, and so +glad that you found Mrs. Ellis. Tell us all about that." + +"Oh, 'tis a long story, Em, and can't be told in a minute; it would take +the whole evening to relate it all." + +"Look at the children, my dear, they are half asleep," said Mr. Garie. +"Call nurse and see them safe into bed, and when you come back we will have +the whole story." + +"Very well;" replied she, rising and calling the nurse. "Now remember, +George, you are not to begin until I return, for I should be quite vexed to +lose a word." + +"Oh, go on with the children, my dear, I'll guarantee he shall not say a +word on the subject till you come back." + +With this assurance Mrs. Garie left the room, playfully shaking her finger +at them as she went out, exclaiming, "Not a word, remember now, not a +word." + +After she left them Mr. Garie remarked, "I have not seen Em as happy as she +is this afternoon for some time. I don't know what has come over her +lately; she scarcely ever smiles now, and yet she used to be the most +cheerful creature in the world. I wish I knew what is the matter with her; +sometimes I am quite distressed about her. She goes about the house looking +so lost and gloomy, and does not seem to take the least interest in +anything. You saw," continued he, "how silent she has been all tea time, +and yet she has been more interested in what you have been saying than in +anything that has transpired for months. Well, I suppose women will be so +sometimes," he concluded, applying himself to the warm cakes that had just +been set upon the table. + +"Perhaps she is not well," suggested Mr. Winston, "I think she looks a +little pale." + +"Well, possibly you may be right, but I trust it is only a temporary +lowness of spirits or something of that kind. Maybe she will get over it in +a day or two;" and with this remark the conversation dropped, and the +gentlemen proceeded to the demolition of the sweetmeats before them. And +now, my reader, whilst they are finishing their meal, I will relate to you +who Mr. Winston is, and how he came to be so familiarly seated at Mr. +Garie's table. + +Mr. Winston had been a slave. Yes! that fine-looking gentleman seated near +Mr. Garie and losing nothing by the comparison that their proximity would +suggest, had been fifteen years before sold on the auction-block in the +neighbouring town of Savanah--had been made to jump, show his teeth, shout +to test his lungs, and had been handled and examined by professed negro +traders and amateur buyers, with less gentleness and commiseration than +every humane man would feel for a horse or an ox. Now do not doubt me--I +mean that very gentleman, whose polished manners and irreproachable +appearance might have led you to suppose him descended from a long line of +illustrious ancestors. Yes--he was the offspring of a mulatto field-hand by +her master. He who was now clothed in fine linen, had once rejoiced in a +tow shirt that scarcely covered his nakedness, and had sustained life on a +peck of corn a week, receiving the while kicks and curses from a tyrannical +overseer. + +The death of his master had brought him to the auction-block, from which, +both he and his mother were sold to separate owners. There they took their +last embrace of each other--the mother tearless, but heart-broken--the boy +with all the wildest manifestations of grief. + +His purchaser was a cotton broker from New Orleans, a warm-hearted, kind +old man, who took a fancy to the boy's looks, and pitied him for his +unfortunate separation from his mother. After paying for his new purchase, +he drew him aside, and said, in a kind tone, "Come, my little man, stop +crying; my boys never cry. If you behave yourself you shall have fine times +with me. Stop crying now, and come with me; I am going to buy you a new +suit of clothes." + +"I don't want new clothes--I want my mammy," exclaimed the child, with a +fresh burst of grief. + +"Oh dear me!" said the fussy old gentleman, "why can't you stop--I don't +want to hear you cry. Here," continued he, fumbling in his pocket--"here's +a picayune." + +"Will that buy mother back?" said the child brightening up. + +"No, no, my little man, not quite--I wish it would. I'd purchase the old +woman; but I can't--I'm not able to spare the money." + +"Then I don't want it," cried the boy, throwing the money on the ground. +"If it won't buy mammy, I don't want it. I want my mammy, and nothing +else." + +At length, by much kind language, and by the prospect of many fabulous +events to occur hereafter, invented at the moment by the old gentleman, the +boy was coaxed into a more quiescent state, and trudged along in the rear +of Mr. Moyese--that was the name of his purchaser--to be fitted with the +new suit of clothes. + +The next morning they started by the stage for Augusta. George, seated on +the box with the driver, found much to amuse him; and the driver's merry +chat and great admiration of George's new and gaily-bedizened suit, went a +great way towards reconciling that young gentleman to his new situation. + +In a few days they arrived in New Orleans. There, under the kind care of +Mr. Moyese, he began to exhibit great signs of intelligence. The atmosphere +into which he was now thrown, the kindness of which he was hourly the +recipient, called into vigour abilities that would have been stifled for +ever beneath the blighting influences that surrounded him under his former +master. The old gentleman had him taught to read and write, and his aptness +was such as to highly gratify the kind old soul. + +In course of time, the temporary absence of an out-door clerk caused +George's services to be required at the office for a few days, as +errand-boy. Here he made himself so useful as to induce Mr. Moyese to +keep him there permanently. After this he went through all the grades from +errand-boy up to chief-clerk, which post he filled to the full satisfaction +of his employer. His manners and person improved with his circumstances; +and at the time he occupied the chief-clerk's desk, no one would have +suspected him to be a slave, and few who did not know his history would +have dreamed that he had a drop of African blood in his veins. He was +unremitting in his attention to the duties of his station, and gained, by +his assiduity and amiable deportment, the highest regard of his employer. + +A week before a certain New-year's-day, Mr. Moyese sat musing over some +presents that had just been sent home, and which he was on the morrow to +distribute amongst his nephews and nieces. "Why, bless me!" he suddenly +exclaimed, turning them over, "why, I've entirely forgotten George! That +will never do; I must get something for him. What shall it be? He has a +fine watch, and I gave him a pin and ring last year. I really don't know +what will be suitable," and he sat for some time rubbing his chin, +apparently in deep deliberation. "Yes, I'll do it!" he exclaimed, starting +up; "I'll do it! He has been a faithful fellow, and deserves it. I'll make +him a present of himself! Now, how strange it is I never thought of that +before--it's just the thing;--how surprised and delighted he will be!" and +the old gentleman laughed a low, gentle, happy laugh, that had in it so +little of selfish pleasure, that had you only heard him you must have loved +him for it. + +Having made up his mind to surprise George in this agreeable manner, Mr. +Moyese immediately wrote a note, which he despatched to his lawyers, +Messrs. Ketchum and Lee, desiring them to make out a set of free papers for +his boy George, and to have them ready for delivery on the morrow, as it +was his custom to give his presents two or three days in advance of the +coming year. + +The note found Mr. Ketchum deep in a disputed will case, upon the decision +of which depended the freedom of some half-dozen slaves, who had been +emancipated by the will of their late master; by which piece of posthumous +benevolence his heirs had been greatly irritated, and were in consequence +endeavouring to prove him insane. + +"Look at that, Lee," said he, tossing the note to his partner; "if that old +Moyese isn't the most curious specimen of humanity in all New Orleans! He +is going to give away clear fifteen hundred dollars as a New-year's gift!" + +"To whom?" asked Mr. Lee. + +"He has sent me orders," replied Mr. Ketchum, "to make out a set of free +papers for his boy George." + +"Well, I can't say that I see so much in that," said Lee; "how can he +expect to keep him? George is almost as white as you or I, and has the +manners and appearance of a gentleman. He might walk off any day without +the least fear of detection." + +"Very true," rejoined Ketchum, "but I don't think he would do it. He is +very much attached to the old gentleman, and no doubt would remain with him +as long as the old man lives. But I rather think the heirs would have to +whistle for him after Moyese was put under ground. However," concluded Mr. +Ketchum, "they won't have much opportunity to dispute the matter, as he +will be a free man, no doubt, before he is forty-eight hours older." + +A day or two after this, Mr. Moyese entertained all his nephews and nieces +at dinner, and each was gratified with some appropriate gift. The old man +sat happily regarding the group that crowded round him, their faces beaming +with delight. The claim for the seat of honour on Uncle Moyese's knee was +clamorously disputed, and the old gentleman was endeavouring to settle it +to the satisfaction of all parties, when a servant entered, and delivered a +portentous-looking document, tied with red tape. "Oh, the papers--now, my +dears, let uncle go. Gustave, let go your hold of my leg, or I can't get +up. Amy, ring the bell, dear." This operation Mr. Moyese was obliged to +lift her into the chair to effect, where she remained tugging at the +bell-rope until she was lifted out again by the servant, who came running +in great haste to answer a summons of such unusual vigour. + +"Tell George I want him," said Mr. Moyese. + +"He's gone down to the office; I hearn him say suffin bout de nordern mail +as he went out--but I duno what it was"--and as he finished he vanished +from the apartment, and might soon after have been seen with his mouth in +close contact with the drumstick of a turkey. + +Mr. Moyese being now released from the children, took his way to the +office, with the portentous red-tape document that was to so greatly change +the condition of George Winston in his coat pocket. The old man sat down at +his desk, smiling, as he balanced the papers in his hand, at the thought of +the happiness he was about to confer on his favourite. He was thus engaged +when the door opened, and George entered, bearing some newly-arrived orders +from European correspondents, in reference to which he sought Mr. Moyese's +instructions. + +"I think, sir," said he, modestly, "that we had better reply at once to +Ditson, and send him the advance he requires, as he will not otherwise be +able to fill these;" and as he concluded he laid the papers on the table, +and stood waiting orders respecting them. + +Mr. Moyese laid down the packet, and after looking over the papers George +had brought in, replied: "I think we had. Write to him to draw upon us for +the amount he requires.--And, George," he continued, looking at him +benevolently, "what would you like for a New-year's present?" + +"Anything you please, sir," was the respectful reply. + +"Well, George," resumed Mr. Moyese, "I have made up my mind to make you a +present of----" here he paused and looked steadily at him for a few +seconds; and then gravely handing him the papers, concluded, "of yourself, +George! Now mind and don't throw my present away, my boy." George stood +for some moments looking in a bewildered manner, first at his master, then +at the papers. At last the reality of his good fortune broke fully upon +him, and he sank into a chair, and unable to say more than: "God bless you, +Mr. Moyese!" burst into tears. + +"Now you are a pretty fellow," said the old man, sobbing himself, "it's +nothing to cry about--get home as fast as you can, you stupid cry-baby, and +mind you are here early in the morning, sir, for I intend to pay you five +hundred dollars a-year, and I mean you to earn it," and thus speaking he +bustled out of the room, followed by George's repeated "God bless you!" +That "God bless you" played about his ears at night, and soothed him to +sleep; in dreams he saw it written in diamond letters on a golden crown, +held towards him by a hand outstretched from the azure above. He fancied +the birds sang it to him in his morning walk, and that he heard it in the +ripple of the little stream that flowed at the foot of his garden. So he +could afford to smile when his relatives talked about his mistaken +generosity, and could take refuge in that fervent "God bless you!" + +Six years after this event Mr. Moyese died, leaving George a sufficient +legacy to enable him to commence business on his own account. As soon as he +had arranged his affairs, he started for his old home, to endeavour to gain +by personal exertions what he had been unable to learn through the agency +of others--a knowledge of the fate of his mother. He ascertained that she +had been sold and re-sold, and had finally died in New Orleans, not more +than three miles from where he had been living. He had not even the +melancholy satisfaction of finding her grave. During his search for his +mother he had become acquainted with Emily, the wife of Mr. Garie, and +discovered that she was his cousin; and to this was owing the familiar +footing on which we find him in the household where we first introduced him +to our readers. + +Mr. Winston had just returned from a tour through the Northern States, +where he had been in search of a place in which to establish himself in +business. + +The introductions with which Mr. Garie had kindly favoured him, had enabled +him to see enough of Northern society to convince him, that, amongst the +whites, he could not form either social or business connections, should his +identity with, the African race be discovered; and whilst, on the other +hand, he would have found sufficiently refined associations amongst the +people of colour to satisfy his social wants, he felt that he could not +bear the isolation and contumely to which they were subjected. He, +therefore, decided on leaving the United States, and on going to some +country where, if he must struggle for success in life, he might do it +without the additional embarrassments that would be thrown in his way in +his native land, solely because he belonged to an oppressed race. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A Glance at the Ellis Family. + + +"I wish Charlie would come with that tea," exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, who sat +finishing off some work, which had to go home that evening. "I wonder what +can keep him so long away. He has been gone over an hour; it surely cannot +take him that time to go to Watson's." + +"It is a great distance, mother," said Esther Ellis, who was busily plying +her needle; "and I don't think he has been quite so long as you suppose." + +"Yes; he has been gone a good hour," repeated Mrs. Ellis. "It is now six +o'clock, and it wanted three minutes to five when he left. I do hope he +won't forget that I told him half black and half green--he is so +forgetful!" And Mrs. Ellis rubbed her spectacles and looked peevishly out +of the window as she concluded.--"Where can he be?" she resumed, looking in +the direction in which he might be expected. "Oh, here he comes, and Caddy +with him. They have just turned the corner--open the door and let them in." + +Esther arose, and on opening the door was almost knocked down by Charlie's +abrupt entrance into the apartment, he being rather forcibly shoved in by +his sister Caroline, who appeared to be in a high state of indignation. + +"Where do you think he was, mother? Where _do_ you think I found him?" + +"Well, I can't say--I really don't know; in some mischief, I'll be bound." + +"He was on the lot playing marbles--and I've had such a time to get him +home. Just look at his knees; they are worn through. And only think, +mother, the tea was lying on the ground, and might have been carried off, +if I had not happened to come that way. And then he has been fighting and +struggling with me all the way home. See," continued she, baring her arm, +"just look how he has scratched me," and as she spoke she held out the +injured member for her mother's inspection. + +"Mother," said Charlie, in his justification, "she began to beat me before +all the boys, before I had said a word to her, and I wasn't going to stand +that. She is always storming at me. She don't give me any peace of my +life." + +"Oh yes, mother," here interposed Esther; "Cad is too cross to him. I must +say, that he would not be as bad as he is, if she would only let him +alone." + +"Esther, please hush now; you have nothing to do with their quarrels. I'll +settle all their differences. You always take his part whether he be right +or wrong. I shall send him to bed without his tea, and to-morrow I will +take his marbles from him; and if I see his knees showing through his pants +again, I'll put a red patch on them--that's what I'll do. Now, sir, go to +bed, and don't let me hear of you until morning." + +Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were at the head of a highly respectable and industrious +coloured family. They had three children. Esther, the eldest, was a girl of +considerable beauty, and amiable temper. Caroline, the second child, was +plain in person, and of rather shrewish disposition; she was a most +indefatigable housewife, and was never so happy as when in possession of a +dust or scrubbing brush; she would have regarded a place where she could +have lived in a perpetual state of house cleaning, as an earthly paradise. +Between her and Master Charlie continued warfare existed, interrupted only +by brief truces brought about by her necessity for his services as +water-carrier. When a service of this character had been duly rewarded by a +slice of bread and preserves, or some other dainty, hostilities would +most probably be recommenced by Charlie's making an inroad upon the newly +cleaned floor, and leaving the prints of his muddy boots thereon. + +The fact must here be candidly stated, that Charlie was not a tidy boy. He +despised mats, and seldom or never wiped his feet on entering the house; he +was happiest when he could don his most dilapidated unmentionables, as he +could then sit down where he pleased without the fear of his mother before +his eyes, and enter upon a game of marbles with his mind perfectly free +from all harassing cares growing out of any possible accident to the +aforesaid garments, so that he might give that attention to the game that +its importance demanded. + +He was a bright-faced pretty boy, clever at his lessons, and a favourite +both with tutors and scholars. He had withal a thorough boy's fondness for +play, and was also characterised by all the thoughtlessness consequent +thereon. He possessed a lively, affectionate disposition, and was generally +at peace with all the world, his sister Caddy excepted. + +Caroline had recovered her breath, and her mind being soothed by the +judgment that had been pronounced on Master Charlie, she began to bustle +about to prepare tea. + +The shining copper tea-kettle was brought from the stove where it had been +seething and singing for the last half-hour; then the tea-pot of china +received its customary quantity of tea, which was set upon the stove to +brew, and carefully placed behind the stove pipe that no accidental touch +of the elbow might bring it to destruction. Plates, knives, and teacups +came rattling forth from the closet; the butter was brought from the place +where it had been placed to keep it cool, and a corn-cake was soon smoking +on the table, and sending up its seducing odour into the room over-head to +which Charlie had been recently banished, causing to that unfortunate young +gentleman great physical discomfort. + +"Now, mother," said the bustling Caddy, "it's all ready. Come now and sit +down whilst the cake is hot--do put up the sewing, Esther, and come!" + +Neither Esther nor her mother needed much pressing, and they were +accordingly soon seated round the table on which their repast was spread. + +"Put away a slice of this cake for father," said Mrs. Ellis, "for he won't +be home until late; he is obliged to attend a vestry meeting to-night." + +Mrs. Ellis sat for some time sipping the fragrant and refreshing tea. When +the contents of two or three cups one after another had disappeared, and +sundry slices of corn-bread had been deposited where much corn-bread had +been deposited before, she began to think about Charlie, and to imagine +that perhaps she had been rather hasty in sending him to bed without his +supper. + +"What had Charlie to-day in his dinner-basket to take to school with him?" +she inquired of Caddy. + +"Why, mother, I put in enough for a wolf; three or four slices of bread, +with as many more of corn-beef, some cheese, one of those little pies, and +all that bread-pudding which was left at dinner yesterday--he must have had +enough." + +"But, mother, you know he always gives away the best part of his dinner," +interposed Esther. "He supplies two or three boys with food. There is that +dirty Kinch that he is so fond of, who never takes any dinner with him, and +depends entirely upon Charlie. He must be hungry; do let him come down and +get his tea, mother?" + +Notwithstanding the observations of Caroline that Esther was just +persuading her mother to spoil the boy, that he would be worse than ever, +and many other similar predictions. Esther and the tea combined won a +signal triumph, and Charlie was called down from the room above, where he +had been exchanging telegraphic communications with the before-mentioned +Kinch, in hopes of receiving a commutation of sentence. + +Charlie was soon seated at the table with an ample allowance of corn-bread +and tea, and he looked so demure, and conducted himself in such an +exemplary manner, that one would have scarcely thought him given to marbles +and dirty company. Having eaten to his satisfaction he quite ingratiated +himself with Caddy by picking up all the crumbs he had spilled during tea, +and throwing them upon the dust-heap. This last act was quite a stroke of +policy, as even Caddy began to regard him as capable of reformation. + +The tea-things washed up and cleared away, the females busied themselves +with their sewing, and Charlie immersed himself in his lessons for the +morrow with a hearty goodwill and perseverance as if he had abjured marbles +for ever. + +The hearty supper and persevering attention to study soon began to produce +their customary effect upon Charlie. He could not get on with his lessons. +Many of the state capitals positively refused to be found, and he was +beginning to entertain the sage notion that probably some of the +legislatures had come to the conclusion to dispense with them altogether, +or had had them placed in such obscure places that they could not be found. +The variously coloured states began to form a vast kaleidoscope, in which +the lakes and rivers had been entirely swallowed up. Ranges of mountains +disappeared, and gulfs and bays and islands were entirely lost. In fact, he +was sleepy, and had already had two or three narrow escapes from butting +over the candles; finally he fell from his chair, crushing Caddy's +newly-trimmed bonnet, to the intense grief and indignation of that young +lady, who inflicted summary vengeance upon him before he was sufficiently +awake to be aware of what had happened. + +The work being finished, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy prepared to take it home to +Mrs. Thomas, leaving Esther at home to receive her father on his return and +give him his tea. + +Mrs. Ellis and Caddy wended their way towards the fashionable part of the +city, looking in at the various shop-windows as they went. Numberless were +the great bargains they saw there displayed, and divers were the +discussions they held respecting them. "Oh, isn't that a pretty calico, +mother, that with the green ground?" + +"'Tis pretty, but it won't wash, child; those colours always run." + +"Just look at that silk though--now that's cheap, you must +acknowledge--only eighty-seven and a half cents; if I only had a dress of +that I should be fixed." + +"Laws, Caddy!" replied Mrs. Ellis, "that stuff is as slazy as a washed +cotton handkerchief, and coarse enough almost to sift sand through. It +wouldn't last you any time. The silks they make now-a-days ain't worth +anything; they don't wear well at all. Why," continued she, "when I was a +girl they made silks that would stand on end--and one of them would last a +life-time." + +They had now reached Chestnut-street, which was filled with gaily-dressed +people, enjoying the balmy breath of a soft May evening. Mrs. Ellis and +Caddy walked briskly onward, and were soon beyond the line of shops, and +entered upon the aristocratic quarter into which many of its residents had +retired, that they might be out of sight of the houses in which their +fathers or grandfathers had made their fortunes. + +"Mother," said Caddy, "this is Mr. Grant's new house--isn't it a splendid +place? They say it's like a palace inside. They are great people, them +Grants. I saw in the newspaper yesterday that young Mr. Augustus Grant had +been appointed an attache to the American legation at Paris; the newspapers +say he is a rising man." + +"Well, he ought to be," rejoined Mrs. Ellis, "for his old grand-daddy made +yeast enough to raise the whole family. Many a pennyworth has he sold me. +Laws! how the poor old folk do get up! I think I can see the old man now, +with his sleeves rolled up, dealing out his yeast. He wore one coat for +about twenty years, and used to be always bragging about it." + +As they were thus talking, a door of one of the splendid mansions they were +passing opened, and a fashionably-dressed young man came slowly down the +steps, and walked on before them with a very measured step and peculiar +gait. + +"That's young Dr. Whiston, mother," whispered Caddy; "he's courting young +Miss Morton." + +"You don't say so!" replied the astonished Mrs. Ellis. "Why, I declare his +grandfather laid her grandfather out! Old Whiston was an undertaker, and +used to make the handsomest coffins of his time. And he is going to marry +Miss Morton! What next, I'd like to know! He walks exactly like the old +man. I used to mock him when I was a little girl. He had just that +hop-and-go kind of gait, and he was the funniest man that ever lived. I've +seen him at a funeral go into the parlour, and condole with the family, and +talk about the dear departed until the tears rolled down his cheeks; and +then he'd be down in the kitchen, eating and drinking, and laughing, and +telling jokes about the corpses, before the tears were dry on his face. How +he used to make money! He buried almost all the respectable people about +town, and made a large fortune. He owned a burying-ground in Coates-street, +and when the property in that vicinity became valuable, he turned the dead +folks out, and built houses on the ground!" + +"I shouldn't say it was a very pleasant place to live in, if there are such +things as ghosts," said Caddy, laughing; "I for one wouldn't like to live +there--but here we are at Mr. Thomas's--how short the way has seemed!" + +Caroline gave a fierce rap at the door, which was opened by old Aunt +Rachel, the fat cook, who had lived with the Thomases for a fabulous length +of time. She was an old woman when Mrs. Ellis came as a girl into the +family, and had given her many a cuff in days long past; in fact, +notwithstanding Mrs. Ellis had been married many years, and had children +almost as old as she herself was when she left Mr. Thomas, Aunt Rachel +could never be induced to regard her otherwise than as a girl. + +"Oh, it's you, is it?" said she gruffly, as she opened the door; "don't +you think better break de door down at once-rapping as if you was guine to +tear off de knocker--is dat de way, gal, you comes to quality's houses? You +lived here long nuff to larn better dan dat--and dis is twice I've been to +de door in de last half-hour--if any one else comes dere they may stay +outside. Shut de door after you, and come into de kitchen, and don't keep +me standin' here all night," added she, puffing and blowing as she waddled +back into her sanctum. + +Waiting until the irate old cook had recovered her breath, Mrs. Ellis +modestly inquired if Mrs. Thomas was at home. "Go up and see," was the +surly response. "You've been up stars often enuff to know de way--go long +wid you, gal, and don't be botherin' me, 'case I don't feel like bein' +bothered--now, mind I tell yer.--Here, you Cad, set down on dis stool, and +let that cat alone; I don't let any one play with my cat," continued she, +"and you'll jest let him alone, if you please, or I'll make you go sit in +de entry till your mother's ready to go. I don't see what she has you brats +tugging after her for whenever she comes here--she might jest as well leave +yer at home to darn your stockings--I 'spect dey want it." + +Poor Caddy was boiling over with wrath; but deeming prudence the better +part of valour, she did not venture upon any wordy contest with Aunt +Rachel, but sat down upon the stool by the fire-place, in which a bright +fire was blazing. Up the chimney an old smoke-jack was clicking, whirling, +and making the most dismal noise imaginable. This old smoke-jack was Aunt +Rachel's especial _protege_, and she obstinately and successfully defended +it against all comers. She turned up her nose at all modern inventions +designed for the same use as entirely beneath her notice. She had been +accustomed to hearing its rattle for the last forty years, and would as +soon have thought of committing suicide as consenting to its removal. + +She and her cat were admirably matched; he was as snappish and cross as +she, and resented with distended claws and elevated back all attempts on +the part of strangers to cultivate amicable relations with him. In fact, +Tom's pugnacious disposition was clearly evidenced by his appearance; one +side of his face having a very battered aspect, and the fur being torn off +his back in several places. + +Caddy sat for some time surveying the old woman and her cat, in evident awe +of both. She regarded also with great admiration the scrupulously clean and +shining kitchen tins that garnished the walls and reflected the red light +of the blazing fire. The wooden dresser was a miracle of whiteness, and +ranged thereon was a set of old-fashioned blue china, on which was +displayed the usual number of those unearthly figures which none but the +Chinese can create. Tick, tick, went the old Dutch clock in the corner, and +the smoke-jack kept up its whirring noise. Old Tom and Aunt Rachel were +both napping; and so Caddy, having no other resource, went to sleep also. + +Mrs. Ellis found her way without any difficulty to Mrs. Thomas's room. Her +gentle tap upon the door quite flurried that good lady, who (we speak it +softly) was dressing her wig, a task she entrusted to no other mortal +hands. She peeped out, and seeing who it was, immediately opened the door +without hesitation. + +"Oh, it's you, is it? Come in, Ellen," said she; "I don't mind you." + +"I've brought the night-dresses home," said Mrs. Ellis, laying her bundle +upon the table,--"I hope they'll suit." + +"Oh, no doubt they will. Did you bring the bill?" asked Mrs. Thomas. + +The bill was produced, and Mrs. Ellis sat down, whilst Mrs. Thomas counted +out the money. This having been duly effected, and the bill carefully +placed on the file, Mrs. Thomas also sat down, and commenced her usual +lamentation over the state of her nerves, and the extravagance of the +younger members of the family. On the latter subject she spoke very +feelingly. "Such goings on, Ellen, are enough to set me crazy--so many +nurses--and then we have to keep four horses--and it's company, company +from Monday morning until Saturday night; the house is kept upside-down +continually--money, money for everything--all going out, and nothing coming +in!"--and the unfortunate Mrs. Thomas whined and groaned as if she had not +at that moment an income of clear fifteen thousand dollars a year, and a +sister who might die any day and leave her half as much more. + +Mrs. Thomas was the daughter of the respectable old gentleman whom Dr. +Whiston's grandfather had prepared for his final resting-place. Her +daughter had married into a once wealthy, but now decayed, Carolina family. +In consideration of the wealth bequeathed by her grandfather (who was a +maker of leather breeches, and speculator in general), Miss Thomas had +received the offer of the poverty-stricken hand of Mr. Morton, and had +accepted it with evident pleasure, as he was undoubtedly a member of one of +the first families of the South, and could prove a distant connection with +one of the noble families of England. + +They had several children, and their incessant wants had rendered it +necessary that another servant should be kept. Now Mrs. Thomas had long had +her eye on Charlie, with a view of incorporating him with the Thomas +establishment, and thought this would be a favourable time to broach the +subject to his mother: she therefore commenced by inquiring-- + +"How have you got through the winter, Ellen? Everything has been so dear +that even we have felt the effect of the high prices." + +"Oh, tolerably well, I thank you. Husband's business, it is true, has not +been as brisk as usual, but we ought not to complain; now that we have got +the house paid for, and the girls do so much sewing, we get on very +nicely." + +"I should think three children must be something of a burthen--must be hard +to provide for." + +"Oh no, not at all," rejoined Mrs. Ellis, who seemed rather surprised at +Mrs. Thomas's uncommon solicitude respecting them. "We have never found the +children a burthen, thank God--they're rather a comfort and a pleasure than +otherwise." + + +"I'm glad to hear you say so, Ellen--very glad, indeed, for I have been +quite disturbed in mind respecting you during the winter. I really several +times thought of sending to take Charlie off your hands: by-the-way, what +is he doing now?" + +"He goes to school regularly--he hasn't missed a day all winter. You should +just see his writing," continued Mrs. Ellis, warming up with a mother's +pride in her only son--"he won't let the girls make out any of the bills, +but does it all himself--he made out yours." + +Mrs. Thomas took down the file and looked at the bill again. "It's very +neatly written, very neatly written, indeed; isn't it about time that he +left school--don't you think he has education enough?" she inquired. + +"His father don't. He intends sending him to another school, after +vacation, where they teach Latin and Greek, and a number of other +branches." + +"Nonsense, nonsense, Ellen! If I were you, I wouldn't hear of it. There +won't be a particle of good result to the child from any such acquirements. +It isn't as though he was a white child. What use can Latin or Greek be to +a coloured boy? None in the world--he'll have to be a common mechanic, or, +perhaps, a servant, or barber, or something of that kind, and then what use +would all his fine education be to him? Take my advice, Ellen, and don't +have him taught things that will make him feel above the situation he, in +all probability, will have to fill. Now," continued she, "I have a proposal +to make to you: let him come and live with me awhile--I'll pay you well, +and take good care of him; besides, he will be learning something here, +good manners, &c. Not that he is not a well-mannered child; but, you know, +Ellen, there is something every one learns by coming in daily contact with +refined and educated people that cannot but be beneficial--come now, make +up your mind to leave him with me, at least until the winter, when the +schools again commence, and then, if his father is still resolved to send +him back to school, why he can do so. Let me have him for the summer at +least." + +Mrs. Ellis, who had always been accustomed to regard Mrs. Thomas as a +miracle of wisdom, was, of course, greatly impressed with what she had +said. She had lived many years in her family, and had left it to marry Mr. +Ellis, a thrifty mechanic, who came from Savanah, her native city. She had +great reverence for any opinion Mrs. Thomas expressed; and, after some +further conversation on the subject, made up her mind to consent to the +proposal, and left her with the intention of converting her husband to her +way of thinking. + +On descending to the kitchen she awoke Caddy from a delicious dream, in +which she had been presented with the black silk that they had seen in the +shop window marked eighty-seven and a half cents a yard. In the dream she +had determined to make it up with tight sleeves and infant waist, that +being the most approved style at that period. + +"Five breadths are not enough for the skirt, and if I take six I must skimp +the waist and cape," murmured she in her sleep. + +"Wake up, girl! What are you thinking about?" said her mother, giving her +another shake. + +"Oh!" said Caddy, with a wild and disappointed look--"I was dreaming, +wasn't I? I declare I thought I had that silk frock in the window." + +"The girls' heads are always running on finery--wake up, and come along, +I'm going home." + +Caddy followed her mother out, leaving Aunt Rachel and Tom nodding at each +other as they dozed before the fire. + +That night Mr. Ellis and his wife had a long conversation upon the proposal +of Mrs. Thomas; and after divers objections raised by him, and set aside +by her, it was decided that Charlie should be permitted to go there for the +holidays at least; after which, his father resolved he should be sent to +school again. + +Charlie, the next morning, looked very blank on being informed of his +approaching fate. Caddy undertook with great alacrity to break the dismal +tidings to him, and enlarged in a glowing manner upon what times he might +expect from Aunt Rachel. + +"I guess she'll keep you straight;--you'll see sights up there! She is +cross as sin--she'll make you wipe your feet when you go in and out, if no +one else can." + +"Let him alone, Caddy," gently interposed Esther; "it is bad enough to be +compelled to live in a house with that frightful old woman, without being +annoyed about it beforehand. If I could help it, Charlie, you should not +go." + +"I know you'd keep me home if you could--but old Cad, here, she always +rejoices if anything happens to me. I'll be hanged if I stay there," said +he. "I won't live at service--I'd rather be a sweep, or sell apples on the +dock. I'm not going to be stuck up behind their carriage, dressed up like a +monkey in a tail coat--I'll cut off my own head first." And with this +sanguinary threat he left the house, with his school-books under his arm, +intending to lay the case before his friend and adviser, the redoubtable +and sympathising Kinch. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Charlie's Trials. + + +Charlie started for school with a heavy heart. Had it not been for his +impending doom of service in Mr. Thomas's family, he would have been the +happiest boy that ever carried a school-bag. + +It did not require a great deal to render this young gentleman happy. All +that was necessary to make up a day of perfect joyfulness with him, was a +dozen marbles, permission to wear his worst inexpressibles, and to be +thoroughly up in his lessons. To-day he was possessed of all these +requisites, but there was also in the perspective along array of skirmishes +with Aunt Rachel, who, he knew, looked on him with an evil eye, and who had +frequently expressed herself regarding him, in his presence, in terms by no +means complimentary or affectionate; and the manner in which she had +intimated her desire, on one or two occasions, to have an opportunity of +reforming his personal habits, were by no means calculated to produce a +happy frame of mind, now that the opportunity was about to be afforded her. + +Charlie sauntered on until he came to a lumber-yard, where he stopped and +examined a corner of the fence very attentively. "Not gone by yet. I must +wait for him," said he; and forthwith he commenced climbing the highest +pile of boards, the top of which he reached at the imminent risk of his +neck. Here he sat awaiting the advent of his friend Kinch, the absence of +death's head and cross bones from the corner of the fence being a clear +indication that he had not yet passed on his way to school. + +Soon, however, he was espied in the distance, and as he was quite a +character in his way, we must describe him. His most prominent feature was +a capacious hungry-looking mouth, within which glistened a row of perfect +teeth. He had the merriest twinkling black eyes, and a nose so small and +flat that it would have been a prize to any editor living, as it would have +been a physical impossibility to have pulled it, no matter what outrage he +had committed. His complexion was of a ruddy brown, and his hair, entirely +innocent of a comb, was decorated with divers feathery tokens of his last +night's rest. A cap with the front torn off, jauntily set on one side of +his head, gave him a rakish and wide-awake air, his clothes were patched +and torn in several places, and his shoes were already in an advanced stage +of decay. As he approached the fence he took a piece of chalk from his +pocket, and commenced to sketch the accustomed startling illustration which +was to convey to Charlie the intelligence that he had already passed there +on his way to school, when a quantity of sawdust came down in a shower on +his head. As soon as the blinding storm had ceased, Kinch looked up and +intimated to Charlie that it was quite late, and that there was a +probability of their being after time at school. + +This information caused Charlie to make rather a hasty descent, in doing +which his dinner-basket was upset, and its contents displayed at the feet +of the voracious Kinch. + +"Now I'll be even with you for that sawdust," cried he, as he pocketed two +boiled eggs, and bit an immense piece out of an apple-tart, which he would +have demolished completely but for the prompt interposition of its owner. + +"Oh! my golly! Charlie, your mother makes good pies!" he exclaimed with +rapture, as soon as he could get his mouth sufficiently clear to speak. +"Give us another bite,--only a nibble." + +But Charlie knew by experience what Kinch's "nibbles" were, and he very +wisely declined, saying sadly as he did so, "You won't get many more +dinners from me, Kinch. I'm going to leave school." "No! you ain't +though, are you?" asked the astonished Kinch. "You are not going, are you, +really?" + +"Yes, really," replied Charlie, with a doleful look; "mother is going to +put me out at service." + +"And do you intend to go?" asked Kinch, looking at him incredulously. + +"Why of course," was the reply. "How can I help going if father and mother +say I must?" + +"I tell you what I should do," said Kinch, "if it was me. I should act so +bad that the people would be glad to get rid of me. They hired me out to +live once, and I led the people they put me with such a dance, that they +was glad enough to send me home again." + +This observation brought them to the school-house, which was but a trifling +distance from the residence of Mrs. Ellis. + +They entered the school at the last moment of grace, and Mr. Dicker looked +at them severely as they took their seats. "Just saved ourselves," +whispered Kinch; "a minute later and we would have been done for;" and with +this closing remark he applied himself to his grammar, a very judicious +move on his part, for he had not looked at his lesson, and there were but +ten minutes to elapse before the class would be called. + +The lessons were droned through as lessons usually are at school. There was +the average amount of flogging performed; cakes, nuts, and candy, +confiscated; little boys on the back seats punched one another as little +boys on the back seats always will do, and were flogged in consequence. +Then the boy who never knew his lessons was graced with the fool's cap, and +was pointed and stared at until the arrival of the play-hour relieved him +from his disagreeable situation. + +"What kind of folks are these Thomases?" asked Kinch, as he sat beside +Charlie in the playground munching the last of the apple-tart; "what kind +of folks are they? Tell me that, and I can give you some good advice, +may-be." + +"Old Mrs. Thomas is a little dried-up old woman, who wears spectacles and +a wig. She isn't of much account--I don't mind her. She's not the trouble; +it's of old Aunt Rachel, I'm thinking. Why, she has threatened to whip me +when I've been there with mother, and she even talks to her sometimes as if +she was a little girl. Lord only knows what she'll do to me when she has me +there by myself. You should just see her and her cat. I really don't know," +continued Charlie, "which is the worst looking. I hate them both like +poison," and as he concluded, he bit into a piece of bread as fiercely as +if he were already engaged in a desperate battle with aunt Rachel, and was +biting her in self-defence. + +"Well," said Kinch, with the air of a person of vast experience in +difficult cases, "I should drown the cat--I'd do that at once--as soon as I +got there; then, let me ask you, has Aunt Rachel got corns?" + +"Corns! I wish you could see her shoes," replied Charlie. "Why you could +sail down the river in 'em, they are so large. Yes, she has got corns, +bunions, and rheumatism, and everything else." + +"Ah! then," said Kinch, "your way is clear enough if she has got corns. I +should confine myself to operating on them. I should give my whole +attention to her feet. When she attempts to take hold of you, do you jist +come down on her corns, fling your shins about kinder wild, you know, and +let her have it on both feet. You see I've tried that plan, and know by +experience that it works well. Don't you see, you can pass that off as an +accident, and it don't look well to be scratching and biting. As for the +lady of the house, old Mrs. what's-her-name, do you just manage to knock +her wig off before some company, and they'll send you home at once--they'll +hardly give you time to get your hat." + +Charlie laid these directions aside in his mind for future application, and +asked, + +"What did you do, Kinch, to get away from the people you were with?" + +"Don't ask me," said Kinch, laughing; "don't, boy, don't ask me--my +conscience troubles me awful about it sometimes. I fell up stairs with +dishes, and I fell down stairs with dishes. I spilled oil on the carpet, +and broke a looking-glass; but it was all accidental--entirely +accidental--they found I was too ''spensive,' and so they sent me home." + +"Oh, I wouldn't do anything like that--I wouldn't destroy anything--but +I've made up my mind that I won't stay there at any rate. I don't mind +work--I want to do something to assist father and mother; but I don't want +to be any one's servant. I wish I was big enough to work at the shop." + +"How did your mother come to think of putting you there?" asked Kinch. + +"The Lord alone knows," was the reply. "I suppose old Mrs. Thomas told her +it was the best thing that could be done for me, and mother thinks what she +says is law and gospel. I believe old Mrs. Thomas thinks a coloured person +can't get to Heaven, without first living at service a little while." + +The school bell ringing put an end to this important conversation, and the +boys recommenced their lessons. + +When Charlie returned from school, the first person he saw on entering the +house was Robberts, Mrs. Thomas's chief functionary, and the presiding +genius of the wine cellar--when he was trusted with the key. Charlie +learned, to his horror and dismay, that he had been sent by Mrs. Thomas to +inquire into the possibility of obtaining his services immediately, as they +were going to have a series of dinner parties, and it was thought that he +could be rendered quite useful. + +"And must I go, mother?" he asked. + +"Yes, my son; I've told Robberts that you shall come up in the morning," +replied Mrs. Ellis. Then turning to Robberts, she inquired, "How is Aunt +Rachel?" + +At this question, the liveried gentleman from Mrs. Thomas's shook his head +dismally, and answered: "Don't ask me, woman; don't ask me, if you please. +That old sinner gets worse and worse every day she lives. These dinners +we're 'spectin to have has just set her wild--she is mad as fury 'bout +'em--and she snaps me up just as if I was to blame. That is an awful old +woman, now mind I tell you." + +As Mr. Robberts concluded, he took his hat and departed, giving Charlie the +cheering intelligence that he should expect him early next morning. + +Charlie quite lost his appetite for supper in consequence of his +approaching trials, and, laying aside his books with a sigh of regret, sat +listlessly regarding his sisters; enlivened now and then by some cheerful +remark from Caddy, such as:-- + +"You'll have to keep your feet cleaner up there than you do at home, or +you'll have aunt Rach in your wool half a dozen times a day. And you +mustn't throw your cap and coat down where you please, on the chairs or +tables--she'll bring you out of all that in a short time. I expect you'll +have two or three bastings before you have been there a week, for she don't +put up with any nonsense. Ah, boy," she concluded, chuckling, "you'll have +a time of it--I don't envy you!" + +With these and similar enlivening anticipations, Caddy whiled away the time +until it was the hour for Charlie to retire for the night, which he, did +with a heavy heart. + +Early the following morning he was awakened by the indefatigable Caddy, and +he found a small bundle of necessaries prepared, until his trunk of apparel +could be sent to his new home. "Oh, Cad," he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes, +"how I do hate to go up there! I'd rather take a good whipping than go." + +"Well, it is too late now to talk about it; hurry and get your clothes +on--it is quite late--you ought to have been off an hour ago." + +When he came down stairs prepared to go, his mother "hoped that he was +going to behave like a man," which exhortation had the effect of setting +him crying at once; and then he had to be caressed by the tearful Esther, +and, finally, started away with very red eyes, followed to the door by his +mother and the girls, who stood looking after him for some moments. + +So hurried and unexpected had been his departure, that he had been unable +to communicate with his friend Kinch. This weighed very heavily on his +spirits, and he occupied the time on his way to Mrs. Thomas's in devising +various plans to effect that object. + +On arriving, he gave a faint rap, that was responded to by Aunt Rachel, who +saluted him with-- + +"Oh, yer's come, has yer--wipe your feet, child, and come in quick. Shut +the door after yer." + +"What shall I do with this?" timidly asked he, holding up his package of +clothes. + +"Oh, dem's yer rags is dey--fling 'em anywhere, but don't bring 'em in my +kitchen," said she. "Dere is enuff things in dere now--put 'em down here on +this entry table, or dere, long side de knife-Board--any wheres but in de +kitchen." + +Charlie mechanically obeyed, and then followed her into her sanctuary. + +"Have you had your breakfast?" she asked, in a surly tone. "'Cause if you +haven't, you must eat quick, or you won't get any. I can't keep the +breakfast things standing here all day." + +Charlie, to whom the long walk had given a good appetite, immediately sat +down and ate a prodigious quantity of bread and butter, together with +several slices of cold ham, washed down by two cups of tea; after which he +rested his knife and fork, and informed Aunt Rachel that he had done. + +"Well, I think it's high time," responded she. "Why, boy, you'll breed a +famine in de house if you stay here long enough. You'll have to do a heap +of work to earn what you'll eat, if yer breakfast is a sample of yer +dinner. Come, get up, child! and shell dese 'ere pease--time you get 'em +done, old Mrs. Thomas will be down stairs." + +Charlie was thus engaged when Mrs. Thomas entered the kitchen. "Well, +Charles--good morning," said she, in a bland voice. "I'm glad to see you +here so soon. Has he had his breakfast, Aunt Rachel?" + +"Yes; and he eat like a wild animal--I never see'd a child eat more in my +life," was Aunt Rachel's abrupt answer. + +"I'm glad he has a good appetite," said Mrs. Thomas, "it shows he has good +health. Boys will eat; you can't expect them to work if they don't. But it +is time I was at those custards. Charlie, put down those peas and go into +the other room, and bring me a basket of eggs you will find on the table." + +"And be sure to overset the milk that's 'long side of it--yer hear?" added +Aunt Rachel. + +Charlie thought to himself that he would like to accommodate her, but he +denied himself that pleasure; on the ground that it might not be safe to do +it. + +Mrs. Thomas was a housekeeper of the old school, and had a scientific +knowledge of the manner in which all sorts of pies and puddings were +compounded. She was so learned in custards and preserves that even Aunt +Rachel sometimes deferred to her superior judgment in these matters. +Carefully breaking the eggs, she skilfully separated the whites from the +yolks, and gave the latter to Charlie to beat. At first he thought it great +fun, and he hummed some of the popular melodies of the day, and kept time +with his foot and the spatula. But pretty soon he exhausted his stock of +tunes, and then the performances did not go off so well. His arm commenced +aching, and he came to the sage conclusion, before he was relieved from his +task, that those who eat the custards are much better off than those who +prepare them. + +This task finished, he was pressed into service by Aunt Rachel, to pick and +stone some raisins which she gave him, with the injunction either to sing +or whistle all the time he was "at 'em;" and that if he stopped for a +moment she should know he was eating them, and in that case she would +visit him with condign punishment on the spot, for she didn't care a fig +whose child he was. + +Thus, in the performance of first one little job and then another, the day +wore away; and as the hour approached at which the guests were invited, +Charlie, after being taken into the dining-room by Robberts, where he was +greatly amazed at the display of silver, cut glass, and elegant china, was +posted at the door to relieve the guests of their coats and hats, which +duty he performed to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned. + +At dinner, however, he was not so fortunate. He upset a plate of soup into +a gentleman's lap, and damaged beyond repair one of the elegant china +vegetable dishes. He took rather too deep an interest in the conversation +for a person in his station; and, in fact, the bright boy alluded to by Mr. +Winston, as having corrected the reverend gentleman respecting the +quotation from Chaucer, was no other than our friend Charlie Ellis. + +In the evening, when the guests were departing, Charlie handed Mr. Winston +his coat, admiring the texture and cut of it very much as he did so. Mr. +Winston, amused at the boy's manner, asked-- + +"What is your name, my little man?" + +"Charles Ellis," was the prompt reply. "I'm named after my father." + +"And where did your father come from, Charlie?" he asked, looking very much +interested. + +"From Savanah, sir. Now tell me where _you_ came from," replied Charles. + +"I came from New Orleans," said Mr. Winston, with a smile. "Now tell me," +he continued, "where do you live when you are with your parents? I should +like to see your father." Charlie quickly put his interrogator in +possession of the desired information, after which Mr. Winston departed, +soon followed by the other guests. + +Charlie lay for some time that night on his little cot before he could get +to sleep; and amongst the many matters that so agitated his mind, was his +wonder what one of Mrs. Thomas's guests could want with his father. Being +unable however, to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion respecting it, he +turned over and went to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +In which Mr. Winston finds an old Friend. + + +In the early part of Mr. Winston's career, when he worked as a boy on the +plantation of his father, he had frequently received great kindness at the +hands of one Charles Ellis, who was often employed as carpenter about the +premises. + +On one occasion, as a great favour, he had been permitted to accompany +Ellis to his home in Savanah, which was but a few miles distant, where he +remained during the Christmas holidays. This kindness he had never +forgotten; and on his return to Georgia from New Orleans he sought for his +old friend, and found he had removed to the North, but to which particular +city he could not ascertain. + +As he walked homewards, the strong likeness of little Charlie to his old +friend forced itself upon him, and the more he reflected upon it the more +likely it appeared that the boy might be his child; and the identity of +name and occupation between the father of Charlie and his old friend led to +the belief that he was about to make some discovery respecting him. + +On his way to his hotel he passed the old State House, the bell of which +was just striking ten. "It's too late to go to-night," said he, "it shall +be the first thing I attend to in the morning;" and after walking on a +short distance farther, he found himself at the door of his domicile. + +As he passed through the little knot of waiters who were gathered about the +doors, one of them turning to another, asked, "Ain't that man a Southerner, +and ain't he in your rooms, Ben?" + +"I think he's a Southerner," was the reply of Ben. "But why do you ask, +Allen?" he enquired. "Because it's time he had subscribed something," +replied Mr. Allen. "The funds of the Vigilance Committee are very low +indeed; in fact, the four that we helped through last week have completely +drained us. We must make a raise from some quarter, and we might as well +try it on him." + +Mr. Winston was waiting for a light that he might retire to his room, and +was quickly served by the individual who had been so confidentially talking +with Mr. Allen. + +After giving Mr. Winston the light, Ben followed him into his room and +busied himself in doing little nothings about the stove and wash-stand. +"Let me unbutton your straps, sir," said he, stooping down and commencing +on the buttons, which he was rather long in unclosing. "I know, sir, dat +you Southern gentlemen ain't used to doing dese yer things for youself. I +allus makes it a pint to show Southerners more 'tention dan I does to dese +yer Northern folk, 'cause yer see I knows dey'r used to it, and can't get +on widout it." + +"I am not one of that kind," said Winston, as Ben slowly unbuttoned the +last strap. "I have been long accustomed to wait upon myself. I'll only +trouble you to bring me up a glass of fresh water, and then I shall have +done with you for the night." + +"Better let me make you up a little fire, the nights is werry cool," +continued Ben. "I know you must feel 'em; I does myself; I'm from the +South, too." + +"Are you?" replied Mr. Winston, with some interest; "from what part!" + +"From Tuckahoe county, Virginia; nice place dat." + +"Never having been there I can't say," rejoined Mr. Winston, smiling; "and +how do you like the North? I suppose you are a runaway," continued he. + +"Oh, no sir! no sir!" replied Ben, "I was sot free--and I often wish," he +added in a whining tone, "dat I was back agin on the old place--hain't got +no kind marster to look after me here, and I has to work drefful hard +sometimes. Ah," he concluded, drawing a long sigh, "if I was only back on +de old place!" "I heartily wish you were!" said Mr. Winston, indignantly, +"and wish moreover that you were to be tied up and whipped once a day for +the rest of your life. Any man that prefers slavery to freedom deserves to +be a slave--you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Go out of the room, sir, +as quick as possible!" + +"Phew!" said the astonished and chagrined Ben, as he descended the stairs; +"that was certainly a great miss," continued he, talking as correct +English, and with as pure Northern an accent as any one could boast. + +"We have made a great mistake this time; a very queer kind of Southerner +that is. I'm afraid we took the wrong pig by the ear;" and as he concluded, +he betook himself to the group of white-aproned gentlemen before mentioned, +to whom he related the incident that had just occurred. + +"Quite a severe fall that, I should say," remarked Mr. Allen. "Perhaps we +have made a mistake and he is not a Southerner after all. Well he is +registered from New Orleans, and I thought he was a good one to try it on." + +"It's a clear case we've missed it this time," exclaimed one of the party, +"and I hope, Ben, when you found he was on the other side of the fence, you +did not say too much." + +"Laws, no!" rejoined Ben, "do you think I'm a fool? As soon as I heard him +say what he did, I was glad to get off--I felt cheap enough, now mind, I +tell you any one could have bought me for a shilling." + +Now it must be here related that most of the waiters employed in this hotel +were also connected with the Vigilance Committee of the Under-ground +Railroad Company--a society formed for the assistance of fugitive slaves; +by their efforts, and by the timely information it was often in their power +to give, many a poor slave was enabled to escape from the clutches of his +pursuers. + +The house in which they were employed was the great resort of Southerners, +who occasionally brought with them their slippery property; and it +frequently happened that these disappeared from the premises to parts +unknown, aided in their flight by the very waiters who would afterwards +exhibit the most profound ignorance as to their whereabouts. Such of the +Southerners as brought no servants with them were made to contribute, +unconsciously and most amusingly, to the escape of those of their friends. + +When a gentleman presented himself at the bar wearing boots entirely too +small for him, with his hat so far down upon his forehead as almost to +obscure his eyes, and whose mouth was filled with oaths and tobacco, he was +generally looked upon as a favourable specimen to operate upon; and if he +cursed the waiters, addressed any old man amongst them as "boy," and was +continually drinking cock-tails and mint-juleps, they were sure of their +man; and then would tell him the most astonishing and distressing tales of +their destitution, expressing, almost with tears in their eyes, their deep +desire to return to their former masters; whilst perhaps the person from +whose mouth this tale of woe proceeded had been born in a neighbouring +street, and had never been south of Mason and Dixon's[*] line. This +flattering testimony in favour of "the peculiar institution" generally had +the effect of extracting a dollar or two from the purse of the sympathetic +Southerner; which money went immediately into the coffers of the Vigilance +Committee. + +[Footnote *: The line dividing the free from the slave states.] + +It was this course of conduct they were about to pursue with Mr. Winston; +not because he exhibited in person or manners any of the before-mentioned +peculiarities, but from his being registered from New Orleans. + +The following morning, as soon as he had breakfasted, he started in search +of Mr. Ellis. The address was 18, Little Green-street; and, by diligently +inquiring, he at length discovered the required place. + +After climbing up a long flight of stairs on the outside of an old wooden +building, he found himself before a door on which was written, "Charles +Ellis, carpenter and joiner." On opening it, he ushered himself into the +presence of an elderly coloured man, who was busily engaged in planing off +a plank. As soon as Mr. Winston saw his face fully, he recognized him as +his old friend. The hair had grown grey, and the form was also a trifle +bent, but he would have known him amongst a thousand. Springing forward, he +grasped his hand, exclaiming, "My dear old friend, don't you know me?" Mr. +Ellis shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked at him intently for a few +moments, but seemed no wiser from his scrutiny. The tears started to Mr. +Winston's eyes as he said, "Many a kind word I'm indebted to you for--I am +George Winston--don't you remember little George that used to live on the +Carter estate?" + +"Why, bless me! it can't be that you are the little fellow that used to go +home with me sometimes to Savanah, and that was sold to go to New Orleans?" + +"Yes, the same boy; I've been through a variety of changes since then." + +"I should think you had," smilingly replied Mr. Ellis; "and, judging from +appearances, very favourable ones! Why, I took you for a white man--and you +are a white man, as far as complexion is concerned. Laws, child!" he +continued, laying his hand familiarly on Winston's shoulders, "how you have +changed--I should never have known you! The last time I saw you, you were +quite a shaver, running about in a long tow shirt, and regarding a hat and +shoes as articles of luxury far beyond your reach. And now," said Mr. +Ellis, gazing at him with admiring eyes, "just to look at you! Why, you are +as fine a looking man as one would wish to see in a day's travel. I've +often thought of you. It was only the other day I was talking to my wife, +and wondering what had become of you. She, although a great deal older than +your cousin Emily, used to be a sort of playmate of hers. Poor Emily! we +heard she was sold at public sale in Savanah--did you ever learn what +became of her?" "Oh, yes; I saw her about two months since, when on my +way from New Orleans. You remember old Colonel Garie? Well, his son bought +her, and is living with her. They have two children--she is very happy. I +really love him; he is the most kind and affectionate fellow in the world; +there is nothing he would not do to make her happy. Emily will be so +delighted to know that I have seen your wife--but who is Mrs. Ellis?--any +one that I know?" + +"I do not know that you are acquainted with her, but you should remember +her mother, old Nanny Tobert, as she was called; she kept a little +confectionery--almost every one in Savanah knew her." + +"I can't say I do," replied Winston, reflectively. + +"She came here," continued Mr. Ellis, "some years ago, and died soon after +her arrival. Her daughter went to live with the Thomases, an old +Philadelphia family, and it was from their house I married her." + +"Thomases?" repeated Mr. Winston; "that is where I saw your boy--he is the +image of you." + +"And how came you there?" asked Ellis, with a look of surprise. + +"In the most natural manner possible. I was invited there to dinner +yesterday--the bright face of your boy attracted my attention--so I +inquired his name, and that led to the discovery of yourself." + +"And do the Thomases know you are a coloured man?" asked Mr. Ellis, almost +speechless with astonishment. + +"I rather think not," laughingly rejoined Mr. Winston. + +"It is a great risk you run to be passing for white in that way," said Mr. +Ellis, with a grave look. "But how did you manage to get introduced to that +set? They are our very first people." + +"It is a long story," was Winston's reply; and he then, as briefly as he +could, related all that had occurred to himself since they last met. "And +now," continued he, as he finished his recital, "I want to know all about +you and your family; and I also want to see something of the coloured +people. Since I've been in the North I've met none but whites. I'm not +going to return to New Orleans to remain. I'm here in search of a home. I +wish to find some place to settle down in for life, where I shall not +labour under as many disadvantages as I must struggle against in the +South." + +"One thing I must tell you," rejoined Mr. Ellis; "if you should settle down +here, you'll have to be either one thing or other--white or coloured. +Either you must live exclusively amongst coloured people, or go to the +whites and remain with them. But to do the latter, you must bear in mind +that it must never be known that you have a drop of African blood in your +veins, or you would be shunned as if you were a pestilence; no matter how +fair in complexion or how white you may be." + +"I have not as yet decided on trying the experiment, and I hardly think it +probable I shall," rejoined Winston. As he said this he took out his watch, +and was astonished to find how very long his visit had been. He therefore +gave his hand to Mr. Ellis, and promised to return at six o'clock and +accompany him home to visit his family. + +As he was leaving the shop, Mr. Ellis remarked: "George, you have not said +a word respecting your mother." His face flushed, and the tears started in +his eyes, as he replied, in a broken voice, "She's dead! Only think, Ellis, +she died within a stone's throw of me, and I searching for her all the +while. I never speak of it unless compelled; it is too harrowing. It was a +great trial to me; it almost broke my heart to think that she perished +miserably so near me, whilst I was in the enjoyment of every luxury. Oh, if +she could only have lived to see me as I am now!" continued he; "but He +ordered it otherwise, and we must bow. 'Twas God's will it should be so. +Good bye till evening. I shall see you again at six." + +Great was the surprise of Mrs. Ellis and her daughters on learning from Mr. +Ellis, when he came home to dinner, of the events of the morning; and +great was the agitation caused by the announcement of the fact, that his +friend was to be their guest in the evening. + +Mrs. Ellis proposed inviting some of their acquaintances to meet him; but +to this project her husband objected, saying he wanted to have a quiet +evening with him, and to talk over old times; and that persons who were +entire strangers to him would only be a restraint upon them. + +Caddy seemed quite put out by the announcement of the intended visit. She +declared that nothing was fit to be seen, that the house was in a state of +disorder shocking to behold, and that there was scarce a place in it fit to +sit down in; and she forthwith began to prepare for an afternoon's vigorous +scrubbing and cleaning. + +"Just let things remain as they are, will you, Caddy dear," said her +father. "Please be quiet until I get out of the house," he continued, as +she began to make unmistakeable demonstrations towards raising a dust. "In +a few moments you shall have the house to yourself, only give me time to +finish my dinner in peace." + +Esther, her mother, and their sewing were summarily banished to an upstairs +room, whilst Caddy took undivided possession of the little parlour, which +she soon brought into an astonishing state of cleanliness. The ornaments +were arranged at exact distances from the corners of the mantelpiece, the +looking-glass was polished, until it appeared to be without spot or +blemish, and its gilt frame was newly adorned with cut paper to protect it +from the flies. The best china was brought out, carefully dusted, and set +upon the waiter, and all things within doors placed in a state of +forwardness to receive their expected guest. The door-steps were, however, +not as white and clean as they might be, and that circumstance pressed upon +Caddy's mind. She therefore determined to give them a hasty wipe before +retiring to dress for the evening. + +Having done this, and dressed herself to her satisfaction, she came down +stairs to prepare the refreshments for tea. In doing this, she continually +found herself exposing her new silk dress to great risks. She therefore +donned an old petticoat over her skirt, and tied an old silk handkerchief +over her head to protect her hair from flying particles of dust; and thus +arrayed she passed the time in a state of great excitement, frequently +looking out of the window to see if her father and their guest were +approaching. + +In one of these excursions, she, to her intense indignation, found a beggar +boy endeavouring to draw, with a piece of charcoal, an illustration of a +horse-race upon her so recently cleaned door-steps. + +"You young villain," she almost screamed, "go away from there. How dare you +make those marks upon the steps? Go off at once, or I'll give you to a +constable." To these behests the daring young gentleman only returned a +contemptuous laugh, and put his thumb to his nose in the most provoking +manner. "Ain't you going?" continued the irate Caddy, almost choked with +wrath at the sight of the steps, over which she had so recently toiled, +scored in every direction with black marks. + +"Just wait till I come down, I'll give it to you, you audacious villain, +you," she cried, as she closed the window; "I'll see if I can't move you!" +Caddy hastily seized a broom, and descended the stairs with the intention +of inflicting summary vengeance upon the dirty delinquent who had so rashly +made himself liable to her wrath. Stealing softly down the alley beside the +house, she sprang suddenly forward, and brought the broom with all her +energy down upon the head of Mr. Winston, who was standing on the place +just left by the beggar. She struck with such force as to completely crush +his hat down over his eyes, and was about to repeat the blow, when her +father caught her arm, and she became aware of the awful mistake she had +made. + +"Why, my child!" exclaimed her father, "what on earth, is the matter with +you, have you lost your senses?" and as he spoke, he held her at arm's +length from him to get a better look at her. "What are you dressed up in +this style for?" he continued, as he surveyed her from head to foot; and +then bursting into a loud laugh at her comical appearance, he released her, +and she made the quickest possible retreat into the house by the way she +came out. + +Bushing breathless upstairs, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've done +it now! They've come, and I've beat him over the head with a broom!" + +"Beat whom over the head with a broom?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"Oh, mother, I'm so ashamed, I don't know what to do with myself. I struck +Mr. Winston with a broom. Mr. Winston, the gentleman father has brought +home." + +"I really believe the child is crazy," said Mrs. Ellis, surveying the +chagrined girl. "Beat Mr. Winston over the head with a broom! how came you +to do it?" + +"Oh, mother, I made a great mistake; I thought he was a beggar." + +"He must be a very different looking person from what we have been led to +expect," here interrupted Esther. "I understood father to say that he was +very gentlemanlike in appearance." + +"So he is," replied Caddy. + +"But you just said you took him for a beggar?" replied her mother. + +"Oh, don't bother me, don't bother me! my head is all turned upside down. +Do, Esther, go down and let them in--hear how furiously father is knocking! +Oh, go--do go!" + +Esther quickly descended and opened the door for Winston and her father; +and whilst the former was having the dust removed and his hat straightened, +Mrs. Ellis came down and was introduced by her husband. She laughingly +apologized for the ludicrous mistake Caddy had made, which afforded great +amusement to all parties, and divers were the jokes perpetrated at her +expense during the remainder of the evening. Her equanimity having been +restored by Winston's assurances that he rather enjoyed the joke than +otherwise--and an opportunity having been afforded her to obliterate the +obnoxious marks from the door-steps--she exhibited great activity in +forwarding all the arrangements for tea. + +They sat a long while round the table--much time that, under ordinary +circumstances, would have been given to the demolition of the food before +them, being occupied by the elders of the party in inquiries after mutual +friends, and in relating the many incidents that had occurred since they +last met. + +Tea being at length finished, and the things cleared away, Mrs. Ellis gave +the girls permission to go out. "Where are you going?" asked their father. + +"To the library company's room--to-night is their last lecture." + +"I thought," said Winston, "that coloured persons were excluded from such +places. I certainly have been told so several times." + +"It is quite true," replied Mr. Ellis; "at the lectures of the white +library societies a coloured person would no more be permitted to enter +than a donkey or a rattle-snake. This association they speak of is entirely +composed of people of colour. They have a fine library, a debating club, +chemical apparatus, collections of minerals, &c. They have been having a +course of lectures delivered before them this winter, and to-night is the +last of the course." + +"Wouldn't you like to go, Mr. Winston?" asked Mrs. Ellis, who had a +mother's desire to secure so fine an escort for her daughters. + +"No, no--don't, George," quickly interposed Mr. Ellis; "I am selfish enough +to want you entirely to myself to-night. The girls will find beaux enough, +I'll warrant you." At this request the girls did not seem greatly pleased, +and Miss Caddy, who already, in imagination, had excited the envy of all +her female friends by the grand _entree_ she was to make at the Lyceum, +leaning on the arm of Winston, gave her father a by no means affectionate +look, and tying her bonnet-strings with a hasty jerk, started out in +company with her sister. + +"You appear to be very comfortable here, Ellis," said Mr. Winston, looking +round the apartment. "If I am not too inquisitive--what rent do you pay for +this house?" + +"It's mine!" replied Ellis, with an air of satisfaction; "house, ground, +and all, bought and paid for since I settled here." + +"Why, you are getting on well! I suppose," remarked Winston, "that you are +much better off than the majority of your coloured friends. From all I can +learn, the free coloured people in the Northern cities are very badly off. +I've been frequently told that they suffer dreadfully from want and +privations of various kinds." + +"Oh, I see you have been swallowing the usual dose that is poured down +Southern throats by those Northern negro-haters, who seem to think it a +duty they owe the South to tell all manner of infamous lies upon us free +coloured people. I really get so indignant and provoked sometimes, that I +scarcely know what to do with myself. Badly off, and in want, indeed! Why, +my dear sir, we not only support our own poor, but assist the whites to +support theirs, and enemies are continually filling the public ear with the +most distressing tales of our destitution! Only the other day the +Colonization Society had the assurance to present a petition to the +legislature of this State, asking for an appropriation to assist them in +sending us all to Africa, that we might no longer remain a burthen upon the +State--and they came very near getting it, too; had it not been for the +timely assistance of young Denbigh, the son of Judge Denbigh, they would +have succeeded, such was the gross ignorance that prevailed respecting our +real condition, amongst the members of the legislature. He moved a +postponement of the vote until he could have time to bring forward facts to +support the ground that he had assumed in opposition to the appropriation +being made. It was granted; and, in a speech that does him honour, he +brought forward facts that proved us to be in a much superior condition to +that in which our imaginative enemies had described us. Ay! he did more--he +proved us to be in advance of the whites in wealth and general +intelligence: for whilst it was one in fifteen amongst the whites unable to +read and write, it was but one in eighteen amongst the coloured (I won't +pretend to be correct about the figures, but that was about the relative +proportions); and also, that we paid, in the shape of taxes upon our real +estate, more than our proportion for the support of paupers, insane, +convicts, &c." + +"Well," said the astonished Winston, "that is turning the tables +completely. You must take me to visit amongst the coloured people; I want +to see as much of them as possible during my stay." + +"I'll do what I can for you, George. I am unable to spare you much time +just at present, but I'll put you in the hands of one who has abundance of +it at his disposal--I will call with you and introduce you to Walters." + +"Who is Walters?" asked Mr. Winston. + +"A friend of mine--a dealer in real estate." + +"Oh, then he is a white man?" + +"Not by any means," laughingly replied Mr. Ellis. "He is as black as a man +can conveniently be. He is very wealthy; some say that he is worth half a +million of dollars. He owns, to my certain knowledge, one hundred brick +houses. I met him the other day in a towering rage: it appears, that he +owns ten thousand dollars' worth of stock, in a railroad extending from +this to a neighbouring city. Having occasion to travel in it for some +little distance, he got into the first-class cars; the conductor, seeing +him there, ordered him out--he refused to go, and stated that he was a +shareholder. The conductor replied, that he did not care how much stock he +owned, he was a nigger, and that no nigger should ride in those cars; so he +called help, and after a great deal of trouble they succeeded in ejecting +him." "And he a stockholder! It was outrageous," exclaimed Winston. "And +was there no redress?" + +"No, none, practically. He would have been obliged to institute a suit +against the company; and, as public opinion now is, it would be impossible +for him to obtain a verdict in his favour." + +The next day Winston was introduced to Mr. Walters, who expressed great +pleasure in making his acquaintance, and spent a week in showing him +everything of any interest connected with coloured people. + +Winston was greatly delighted with the acquaintances he made; and the +kindness and hospitality with which he was received made a most agreeable +impression upon him. + +It was during this period that he wrote the glowing letters to Mr. and Mrs. +Garie, the effects of which will be discerned in the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The Garies decide on a Change. + + +We must now return to the Garies, whom we left listening to Mr. Winston's +description of what he saw in Philadelphia, and we need not add anything +respecting it to what the reader has already gathered from the last +chapter; our object being now to describe the effect his narrative +produced. + +On the evening succeeding the departure of Winston for New Orleans, Mr. and +Mrs. Garie were seated in a little arbour at a short distance from the +house, and which commanded a magnificent prospect up and down the river. It +was overshadowed by tall trees, from the topmost branches of which depended +large bunches of Georgian moss, swayed to and fro by the soft spring breeze +that came gently sweeping down the long avenue of magnolias, laden with the +sweet breath of the flowers with which the trees were covered. + +A climbing rose and Cape jessamine had almost covered the arbour, and their +intermingled blossoms, contrasting with the rich brown colour of the +branches of which it was constructed, gave it an exceedingly beautiful and +picturesque appearance. + +This arbour was their favourite resort in the afternoons of summer, as they +could see from it the sun go down behind the low hills opposite, casting +his gleams of golden light upon the tops of the trees that crowned their +summits. Northward, where the chain of hills was broken, the waters of the +river would be brilliant with waves of gold long after the other parts of +it were shrouded in the gloom of twilight. Mr. and Mrs. Garie sat looking +at the children, who were scampering about the garden in pursuit of a pet +rabbit which had escaped, and seemed determined not to be caught upon any +pretence whatever. + +"Are they not beautiful?" said Mr. Garie, with pride, as they bounded past +him. "There are not two prettier children in all Georgia. You don't seem +half proud enough of them," he continued, looking down upon his wife +affectionately. + +Mrs. Garie, who was half reclining on the seat, and leaning her head upon +his shoulder, replied, "Oh, yes, I am, Garie; I'm sure I love them +dearly--oh, so dearly!" continued she, fervently--"and I only wish"--here +she paused, as if she felt she had been going to say something that had +better remain unspoken. + +"You only wish what, dear? You were going to say something," rejoined her +husband. "Come, out with it, and let me hear what it was." + +"Oh, Garie, it was nothing of any consequence." + +"Consequence or no consequence, let me hear what it was, dear." + +"Well, as you insist on hearing it, I was about to say that I wish they +were not little slaves." + +"Oh, Em! Em!" exclaimed he, reproachfully, "how can you speak in that +manner? I thought, dear, that you regarded me in any other light than that +of a master. What have I done to revive the recollection that any such +relation existed between us? Am I not always kind and affectionate? Did you +ever have a wish ungratified for a single day, if it was in my power to +compass it? or have I ever been harsh or neglectful?" + +"Oh, no, dear, no--forgive me, Garie--do, pray, forgive me--you are +kindness itself--believe me, I did not think to hurt your feelings by +saying what I did. I know you do not treat me or them as though we were +slaves. But I cannot help feeling that we are such--and it makes me very +sad and unhappy sometimes. If anything should happen that you should be +taken away suddenly, think what would be our fate. Heirs would spring up +from somewhere, and we might be sold and separated for ever. Respecting +myself I might be indifferent, but regarding the children I cannot feel +so." + +"Tut, tut, Em! don't talk so gloomily. Do you know of any one, now, who has +been hired to put me to death?" said he, smiling. + +"Don't talk so, dear; remember, 'In the midst of life we are in death.' It +was only this morning I learned that Celeste--you remember Celeste, don't +you?--I cannot recall her last name." + +"No, dear, I really can't say that I do remember whom you refer to." + +"I can bring her to your recollection, I think," continued she. "One +afternoon last fall we were riding together on the Augusta-road, when you +stopped to admire a very neat cottage, before the door of which two pretty +children were playing." + +"Oh, yes, I remember something about it--I admired the children so +excessively that you became quite jealous." + +"I don't remember that part of it," she continued. "But let me tell you my +story. Last week the father of the children started for Washington; the +cars ran off the track, and were precipitated down a high embankment, and +he and some others were killed. Since his death it has been discovered that +all his property was heavily mortgaged to old MacTurk, the worst man in the +whole of Savannah; and he has taken possession of the place, and thrown her +and the children into the slave-pen, from which they will be sold to the +highest bidder at a sheriff's sale. Who can say that a similar fate may +never be mine? These things press upon my spirit, and make me so gloomy and +melancholy at times, that I wish it were possible to shun even myself. +Lately, more than ever, have I felt disposed to beg you to break up here, +and move off to some foreign country where there is no such thing as +slavery. I have often thought how delightful it would be for us all to be +living in that beautiful Italy you have so often described to me--or in +France either. You said you liked both those places--why not live in one of +them?" + +"No, no, Emily; I love America too much to ever think of living anywhere +else. I am much too thorough a democrat ever to swear allegiance to a king. +No, no--that would never do--give me a free country." + +"That is just what I say," rejoined Mrs. Garie; "that is exactly what I +want; that is why I should like to get away from here, because this is +_not_ a free country--God knows it is not!" + +"Oh, you little traitor! How severely you talk, abusing your native land in +such shocking style, it's really painful to hear you," said Mr. Garie in a +jocular tone. + +"Oh, love," rejoined she, "don't joke, it's not a subject for jesting. It +is heavier upon my heart than you dream of. Wouldn't you like to live in +the free States? There is nothing particular to keep you here, and only +think how much better it would be for the children: and Garie," she +continued in a lower tone, nestling close to him as she spoke, and drawing +his head towards her, "I think I am going to--" and she whispered some +words in his ear, and as she finished she shook her head, and her long +curls fell down in clusters over her face. + +Mr. Garie put the curls aside, and kissing her fondly, asked, "How long +have you known it, dear?" + +"Not long, not very long," she replied. "And I have such a yearning that it +should be born a free child. I do want that the first air it breathes +should be that of freedom. It will kill me to have another child born here! +its infant smiles would only be a reproach to me. Oh," continued she, in a +tone of deep feeling, "it is a fearful thing to give birth to an inheritor +of chains;" and she shuddered as she laid her head on her husband's bosom. + +Mr. Garie's brow grew thoughtful, and a pause in the conversation ensued. +The sun had long since gone down, and here and there the stars were +beginning to show their twinkling light. The moon, which had meanwhile been +creeping higher and higher in the blue expanse above, now began to shed her +pale, misty beams on the river below, the tiny waves of which broke in +little circlets of silver on the shore almost at their feet. + +Mr. Garie was revolving in his mind the conversation he had so recently +held with Mr. Winston respecting the free States. It had been suggested by +him that the children should be sent to the North to be educated, but he +had dismissed the notion, well knowing that the mother would be +heart-broken at the idea of parting with her darlings. Until now, the +thought of going to reside in the North had never been presented for his +consideration. He was a Southerner in almost all his feelings, and had +never had a scruple respecting the ownership of slaves. But now the fact +that he was the master as well as the father of his children, and that +whilst he resided where he did it was out of his power to manumit them; +that in the event of his death they might be seized and sold by his heirs, +whoever they might be, sent a thrill of horror through him. He had known +all this before, but it had never stood out in such bold relief until now. + +"What are you thinking of, Garie?" asked his wife, looking up into his +face. "I hope I have not vexed you by what I've said." + +"Oh, no, dear, not at all. I was only thinking whether you would be any +happier if I acceded to your wishes and removed to the North. Here you live +in good style--you have a luxurious home, troops of servants to wait upon +you, a carriage at your disposal. In fact, everything for which you express +a desire." + +"I know all that, Garie, and what I am about to say may seem ungrateful, +but believe me, dear, I do not mean it to be so. I had much rather live on +crusts and wear the coarsest clothes, and work night and day to earn them, +than live here in luxury, wearing gilded chains. Carriages and fine +clothes cannot create happiness. I have every physical comfort, and yet my +heart is often heavy--oh, so very heavy; I know I am envied by many for my +fine establishment; yet how joyfully would I give it all up and accept the +meanest living for the children's freedom--and your love." + +"But, Emily, granted we should remove to the North, you would find +annoyances there as well as here. There is a great deal of prejudice +existing there against people of colour, which, often exposes them to great +inconveniences." + +"Yes, dear, I know all that; I should expect that. But then on the other +hand, remember what George said respecting the coloured people themselves; +what a pleasant social circle they form, and how intelligent many of them +are! Oh, Garie, how I have longed for friends!--we have visitors now and +then, but none that I can call friends. The gentlemen who come to see you +occasionally are polite to me, but, under existing circumstances, I feel +that they cannot entertain for me the respect I think I deserve. I know +they look down upon and despise me because I'm a coloured woman. Then there +would be another advantage; I should have some female society--here I have +none. The white ladies of the neighbourhood will not associate with me, +although I am better educated, thanks to your care, than many of them, so +it is only on rare occasions, when I can coax some of our more cultivated +coloured acquaintances from Savannah to pay us a short visit, that I have +any female society, and no woman can be happy without it. I have no +parents, nor yet have you. We have nothing we greatly love to leave +behind--no strong ties to break, and in consequence would be subjected to +no great grief at leaving. If I only could persuade you to go!" said she, +imploringly. + +"Well, Emily," replied he, in an undecided manner, "I'll think about it. I +love you so well, that I believe I should be willing to make any sacrifice +for your happiness. But it is getting damp and chilly, and you know," said +he, smiling, "you must be more than usually careful of yourself now." + +The next evening, and many more besides, were spent in discussing the +proposed change. Many objections to it were stated, weighed carefully, and +finally set aside. Winston was written to and consulted, and though he +expressed some surprise at the proposal, gave it his decided approval. He +advised, at the same time, that the estate should not be sold, but be +placed in the hands of some trustworthy person, to be managed in Mr. +Garie's absence. Under the care of a first-rate overseer, it would not only +yield a handsome income, but should they be dissatisfied with their +Northern home, they would have the old place still in reserve; and with the +knowledge that they had this to fall back upon, they could try their +experiment of living in the North with their minds less harassed than they +otherwise would be respecting the result. + +As Mr. Garie reflected more and more on the probable beneficial results of +the project, his original disinclination to it diminished, until he finally +determined on running the risk; and he felt fully rewarded for this +concession to his wife's wishes when he saw her recover all her wonted +serenity and sprightliness. + +They were soon in all the bustle and confusion consequent on preparing for +a long journey. When Mr. Garie's determination to remove became known, +great consternation prevailed on the plantation, and dismal forebodings +were entertained by the slaves as to the result upon themselves. + +Divers were the lamentations heard on all sides, when they were positively +convinced that "massa was gwine away for true;" but they were somewhat +pacified, when they learned that no one was to be sold, and that the place +would not change hands. For Mr. Garie was a very kind master, and his +slaves were as happy as slaves can be under any circumstances. Not much +less was the surprise which the contemplated change excited in the +neighbourhood, and it was commented on pretty freely by his acquaintances. +One of them--to whom he had in conversation partially opened his mind, and +explained that his intended removal grew out of anxiety respecting the +children, and his own desire that they might be where they could enjoy the +advantages of schools, &c.--sneered almost to his face at what he termed +his crack-brained notions; and subsequently, in relating to another person +the conversation he had had with Mr. Garie, spoke of him as "a soft-headed +fool, led by the nose by a yaller wench. Why can't he act," he said, "like +other men who happen to have half-white children--breed them up for the +market, and sell them?" and he might have added, "as I do," for he was well +known to have so acted by two or three of his own tawny offspring. + +Mr. Garie, at the suggestion of Winston, wrote to Mr. Walters, to procure +them a small, but neat and comfortable house, in Philadelphia; which, when +procured, he was to commit to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, who were to +have it furnished and made ready to receive him and his family on their +arrival, as Mr. Garie desired to save his wife as much as possible, from +the care and anxiety attendant upon the arrangement of a new residence. + +One most important matter, and on which depended the comfort and happiness +of his people, was the selection of a proper overseer. On its becoming +known that he required such a functionary, numbers of individuals who +aspired to that dignified and honourable office applied forthwith; and as +it was also known that the master was to be absent, and that, in +consequence, the party having it under his entire control, could cut and +slash without being interfered with, the value of the situation was greatly +enhanced. It had also another irresistible attraction, the absence of the +master would enable the overseer to engage in the customary picking and +stealing operations, with less chance of detection. + +In consequence of all these advantages, there was no want of applicants. +Great bony New England men, traitors to the air they first breathed, came +anxiously forward to secure the prize. Mean, weasen-faced, poor white +Georgians, who were able to show testimonials of their having produced +large crops with a small number of hands, and who could tell to a fraction +how long a slave could be worked on a given quantity of corn, also put in +their claims for consideration. Short, thick-set men, with fierce faces, +who gloried in the fact that they had at various times killed refractory +negroes, also presented themselves to undergo the necessary examination. + +Mr. Garie sickened as he contemplated the motley mass of humanity that +presented itself with such eagerness for the attainment of so degrading an +office; and as he listened to their vulgar boastings and brutal language, +he blushed to think that such men were his countrymen. + +Never until now had he had occasion for an overseer. He was not ambitious +of being known to produce the largest crop to the acre, and his hands had +never been driven to that shocking extent, so common with his neighbours. +He had been his own manager, assisted by an old negro, called Ephraim--most +generally known as Eph, and to him had been entrusted the task of +immediately superintending the hands engaged in the cultivation of the +estate. This old man was a great favourite with the children, and Clarence, +who used to accompany him on his pony over the estate, regarded him as the +most wonderful and accomplished coloured gentleman in existence. + +Eph was in a state of great perturbation at the anticipated change, and he +earnestly sought to be permitted to accompany them to the North. Mr. Garie +was, however, obliged to refuse his request, as he said, that it was +impossible that the place could get on without him. + +An overseer being at last procured, whose appearance and manners betokened +a better heart than that of any who had yet applied for the situation, and +who was also highly-recommended for skill and honesty; nothing now remained +to prevent Mr. Garie's early departure. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Pleasant News. + + +One evening Mr. Ellis was reading the newspaper, and Mrs. Ellis and the +girls were busily engaged in sewing, when who should come in but Mr. +Walters, who had entered without ceremony at the front door, which had been +left open owing to the unusual heat of the weather. + +"Here you all are, hard at work," exclaimed he, in his usual hearty manner, +accepting at the same time the chair offered to him by Esther. + +"Come, now," continued he, "lay aside your work and newspapers, for I have +great news to communicate." + +"Indeed, what is it?--what can it be?" cried the three females, almost in a +breath; "do let us hear it!" + +"Oh," said Mr. Walters, in a provokingly slow tone, "I don't think I'll +tell you to-night; it may injure your rest; it will keep till to-morrow." + +"Now, that is always the way with Mr. Walters," said Caddy, pettishly; "he +always rouses one's curiosity, and then refuses to gratify it;--he is so +tantalizing sometimes!" + +"I'll tell you this much," said he, looking slily at Caddy, "it is +connected with a gentleman who had the misfortune to be taken for a beggar, +and who was beaten over the head in consequence by a young lady of my +acquaintance." + +"Now, father has been telling you that," exclaimed Caddy, looking confused, +"and I don't thank him for it either; I hear of that everywhere I go--even +the Burtons know of it." + +Mr. Walters now looked round the room, as though he missed some one, and +finally exclaimed, "Where is Charlie? I thought I missed somebody--where is +my boy?" + +"We have put him out to live at Mrs. Thomas's," answered Mrs. Ellis, +hesitatingly, for she knew Mr. Walters' feelings respecting the common +practice of sending little coloured boys to service. "It is a very good +place for him," continued she--"a most excellent place." + +"That is too bad," rejoined Mr. Walters--"too bad; it is a shame to make a +servant of a bright clever boy like that. Why, Ellis, man, how came you to +consent to his going? The boy should be at school. It really does seem to +me that you people who have good and smart boys take the very course to +ruin them. The worst thing you can do with a boy of his age is to put him +at service. Once get a boy into the habit of working for a stipend, and, +depend upon it, when he arrives at manhood, he will think that if he can +secure so much a month for the rest of his life he will be perfectly happy. +How would you like him to be a subservient old numskull, like that old +Robberts of theirs?" + +Here Esther interrupted Mr. Walters by saying, "I am very glad to hear you +express yourself in that manner, Mr. Walters--very glad. Charlie is such a +bright, active little fellow; I hate to have him living there as a servant. +And he dislikes it, too, as much as any one can. I do wish mother would +take him away." + +"Hush, Esther," said her mother, sharply; "your mother lived at service, +and no one ever thought the worse of her for it." + +Esther looked abashed, and did not attempt to say anything farther. + +"Now, look here, Ellen," said Mr. Walters. (He called her Ellen, for he had +been long intimate with the family.) "If you can't get on without the boy's +earning something, why don't you do as white women and men do? Do you ever +find them sending their boys out as servants? No; they rather give them a +stock of matches, blacking, newspapers, or apples, and start them out to +sell them. What is the result? The boy that learns to sell matches soon +learns to sell other things; he learns to make bargains; he becomes a small +trader, then a merchant, then a millionaire. Did you ever hear of any one +who had made a fortune at service? Where would I or Ellis have been had we +been hired out all our lives at so much a month? It begets a feeling of +dependence to place a boy in such a situation; and, rely upon it, if he +stays there long, it will spoil him for anything better all his days." + +Mrs. Ellis was here compelled to add, by way of justifying herself, that it +was not their intention to let him remain there permanently; his father +only having given his consent for him to serve during the vacation. + +"Well, don't let him stay there longer, I pray you," continued Walters. "A +great many white people think that we are only fit for servants, and I must +confess we do much to strengthen the opinion by permitting our children to +occupy such situations when we are not in circumstances to compel us to do +so. Mrs. Thomas may tell you that they respect their old servant Robberts +as much as they do your husband; but they don't, nevertheless--I don't +believe a word of it. It is impossible to have the same respect for the man +who cleans your boots, that you have for the man who plans and builds your +house." + +"Oh, well, Walters," here interposed Mr. Ellis, "I don't intend the boy to +remain there, so don't get yourself into an unnecessary state of excitement +about it. Let us hear what this great news is that you have brought." + +"Oh, I had almost forgotten it," laughingly replied Walters, at the same +time fumbling in his pocket for a letter, which he at length produced. +"Here," he continued, opening it, "is a letter I have received from a Mr. +Garie, enclosing another from our friend Winston. This Mr. Garie writes me +that he is coming to the North to settle, and desires me to procure them a +house; and he says also that he has so far presumed upon an early +acquaintance of his wife with Mrs. Ellis as to request that she will attend +to the furnishing of it. You are to purchase all that is necessary to make +them comfortable, and I am to foot the bills." + +"What, you don't mean Emily Winston's husband?" said the astonished Mrs. +Ellis. + +"I can't say whose husband it is, but from Winston's letter," replied Mr. +Walters, "I suppose he is the person alluded to." + +"That is news," continued Mrs. Ellis. "Only think, she was a little mite of +a thing when I first knew her, and now she is a woman and the mother of two +children. How time does fly. I must be getting quite old," concluded she, +with a sigh. + +"Nonsense, Ellen," remarked Mr. Ellis, "you look surprisingly young, you +are quite a girl yet. Why, it was only the other day I was asked if you +were one of my daughters." + +Mrs. Ellis and the girls laughed at this sally of their father's, who asked +Mr. Walters if he had as yet any house in view. + +"There is one of my houses in Winter-street that I think will just suit +them. The former tenants moved out about a week since. If I can call for +you to-morrow," he continued, turning to Mrs. Ellis, "will you accompany me +there to take a look at the premises?" + +"It is a dreadful long walk," replied Mrs. Ellis. "How provoking it is to +think, that because persons are coloured they are not permitted to ride in +the omnibuses or other public conveyances! I do hope I shall live to see +the time when we shall be treated as civilized creatures should be." + +"I suppose we shall be so treated when the Millennium comes," rejoined +Walters, "not before, I am afraid; and as we have no reason to anticipate +that it will arrive before to-morrow, we shall have to walk to +Winter-street, or take a private conveyance. At any rate, I shall call for +you to-morrow at ten. Good night--remember, at ten." "Well, this is a +strange piece of intelligence," exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, as the door closed +upon Mr. Walters. "I wonder what on earth can induce them to move on here. +Their place, I am told, is a perfect paradise. In old Colonel Garie's time +it was said to be the finest in Georgia. I wonder if he really intends to +live here permanently?" + +"I can't say, my dear," replied Mrs. Ellis; "I am as much in the dark as +you are." + +"Perhaps they are getting poor, Ellis, and are coming here because they can +live cheaper." + +"Oh, no, wife; I don't think that can be the occasion of their removal. I +rather imagine he purposes emancipating his children. He cannot do it +legally in Georgia; and, you know, by bringing them here, and letting them +remain six months, they are free--so says the law of some of the Southern +States, and I think of Georgia." + +The next morning Mrs. Ellis, Caddy, and Mr. Walters, started for +Winter-street; it was a very long walk, and when they arrived there, they +were all pretty well exhausted. + +"Oh, dear," exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, after walking upstairs, "I am so tired, +and there is not a chair in the house. I must rest here," said she, seating +herself upon the stairs, and looking out upon the garden. "What a large +yard! if ours were only as large as this, what a delightful place I could +make of it! But there is no room to plant anything at our house, the garden +is so very small." + +After they were all somewhat rested, they walked through the house and +surveyed the rooms, making some favourable commentary upon each. + +"The house don't look as if it would want much cleaning," said Caddy, with +a tone of regret. + +"So much the better, I should say," suggested Mr. Walters. + +"Not as Caddy views the matter," rejoined Mrs. Ellis. "She is so fond of +house-cleaning, that I positively think she regards the cleanly state of +the premises as rather a disadvantage than otherwise." They were all, +however, very well pleased with the place; and on their way home they +settled which should be the best bedroom, and where the children should +sleep. They also calculated how much carpet and oilcloth would be +necessary, and what style of furniture should be put in the parlour. + +"I think the letter said plain, neat furniture, and not too expensive, did +it not?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"I think those were the very words," replied Caddy; "and, oh, mother, isn't +it nice to have the buying of so many pretty things? I do so love to shop!" + +"Particularly with some one else's money," rejoined her mother, with a +smile. + +"Yes, or one's own either, when one has it," continued Caddy; "I like to +spend money under any circumstances." + +Thus in conversation relative to the house and its fixtures, they beguiled +the time until they reached their home. On arriving there, Mrs. Ellis found +Robberts awaiting her return with a very anxious countenance. He informed +her that Mrs. Thomas wished to see her immediately; that Charlie had been +giving that estimable lady a world of trouble; and that her presence was +necessary to set things to rights. + +"What has he been doing?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"Oh, lots of things! He and aunt Rachel don't get on together at all; and +last night he came nigh having the house burned down over our heads." + +"Why, Robberts, you don't tell me so! What a trial boys are," sighed Mrs. +Ellis. + +"He got on first rate for a week or two; but since that he has been raising +Satan. He and aunt Rachel had a regular brush yesterday, and he has +actually lamed the old woman to that extent she won't be able to work for a +week to come." + +"Dear, dear, what am I to do?" said the perplexed Mrs. Ellis; "I can't go +up there immediately, I am too tired. Say to Mrs. Thomas I will come up +this evening. I wonder," concluded she, "what has come over the boy." +"Mother, you know how cross aunt Rachel is; I expect she has been +ill-treating him. He is so good-natured, that he never would behave +improperly to an old person unless goaded to it by some very harsh usage." + +"That's the way--go on, Esther, find some excuse for your angel," said +Caddy, ironically. "Of course that lamb could not do anything wrong, and, +according to your judgment, he never does; but, I tell you, he is as bad as +any other boy--boys are boys. I expect he has been tracking over the floor +after aunt Rachel has scrubbed it, or has been doing something equally +provoking; he has been in mischief, depend upon it." + +Things had gone on very well with Master Charlie for the first two weeks +after his introduction into the house of the fashionable descendant of the +worthy maker of leathern breeches. His intelligence, combined with the +quickness and good-humour with which he performed the duties assigned him, +quite won the regard of the venerable lady who presided over that +establishment. It is true she had detected him in several attempts upon the +peace and well-being of aunt Rachel's Tom; but with Tom she had little +sympathy, he having recently made several felonious descents upon her +stores of cream and custards. In fact, it was not highly probable, if any +of his schemes had resulted seriously to the spiteful _protege_ of aunt +Rachel, that Mrs. Thomas would have been overwhelmed with grief, or +disposed to inflict any severe punishment on the author of the catastrophe. + +Unfortunately for Mrs. Thomas, Charlie, whilst going on an errand, had +fallen in with his ancient friend and adviser--in short, he had met no less +a person than the formerly all-sufficient Kinch. Great was the delight of +both parties at this unexpected meeting, and warm, indeed, was the exchange +of mutual congratulations on this auspicious event. + +Kinch, in the excess of his delight, threw his hat several feet in the air; +nor did his feelings of pleasure undergo the least abatement when that +dilapidated portion of his costume fell into a bed of newly-mixed lime, +from which he rescued it with great difficulty and at no little personal +risk. + +"Hallo! Kinch, old fellow, how are you?" cried Charlie; "I've been dying to +see you--why haven't you been up?" + +"Why, I did come up often, but that old witch in the kitchen wouldn't let +me see you--she abused me scandalous. I wanted to pull her turban off and +throw it in the gutter. Why, she called me a dirty beggar, and threatened +to throw cold water on me if I didn't go away. Phew! ain't she an old +buster!" + +"Why, I never knew you were there." + +"Yes," continued Kinch; "and I saw you another time hung up behind the +carriage. I declare, Charlie, you looked so like a little monkey, dressed +up in that sky-blue coat and silver buttons, that I liked to have died +a-laughing at you;" and Kinch was so overcome by the recollection of the +event in question, that he was obliged to sit down upon a door-step to +recover himself. + +"Oh, I do hate to wear this confounded livery!' said Charlie, dolefully--" +the boys scream 'Johnny Coat-tail' after me in the streets, and call me +'blue jay,' and 'blue nigger,' and lots of other names. I feel that all +that's wanting to make a complete monkey of me, is for some one to carry me +about on an organ." + +"What do you wear it for, then?" asked Kinch. + +"Because I can't help myself, that's the reason. The boys plague me to that +extent sometimes, that I feel like tearing the things into bits--but mother +says I must wear it. Kinch," concluded he, significantly, "something will +have to be done, I can't stand it." + +"You remember what I told you about the wig, don't you?" asked Kinch; and, +on receiving an affirmative reply, he continued, "Just try that on, and see +how it goes--you'll find it'll work like a charm; it's a regular +footman-expatriator--just try it now; you'll see if it isn't the thing to +do the business for you." "I'm determined to be as bad as I can," +rejoined Charlie; "I'm tired enough of staying there: that old aunt Rach is +a devil--I don't believe a saint from heaven could get on with her; I'm +expecting we'll have a pitched battle every day." + +Beguiling the time with this and similar conversation, they reached the +house to which Charlie had been despatched with a note; after which, he +turned his steps homeward, still accompanied by the redoubtable Kinch. + +As ill luck would have it, they passed some boys who were engaged in a game +of marbles, Charlie's favourite pastime, and, on Kinch's offering him the +necessary stock to commence play, he launched into the game, regardless of +the fact that the carriage was ordered for a drive within an hour, and that +he was expected to fill his accustomed place in the rear of that splendid +vehicle. + +Once immersed in the game, time flew rapidly on. Mrs. Thomas awaited his +return until her patience was exhausted, when she started on her drive +without him. As they were going through a quiet street, to her horror and +surprise, prominent amidst a crowd of dirty boys, she discovered her little +footman, with his elegant blue livery covered with dirt and sketches in +white chalk; for, in the excitement of the game, Charlie had not observed +that Kinch was engaged in drawing on the back of his coat his favourite +illustration, to wit, a skull and cross-bones. + +"Isn't that our Charlie?" said she to her daughter, surveying the crowd of +noisy boys through her eye-glass. "I really believe it is--that is +certainly our livery; pull the check-string, and stop the carriage." + +Now Robberts had been pressed into service in consequence of Charlie's +absence, and was in no very good humour at being compelled to air his +rheumatic old shins behind the family-carriage. It can therefore be readily +imagined with what delight he recognized the delinquent footman amidst the +crowd, and with what alacrity he descended and pounced upon him just at the +most critical moment of the game. Clutching fast hold of him by the +collar of his coat, he dragged him to the carriage-window, and held him +before the astonished eyes of his indignant mistress, who lifted up her +hands in horror at the picture he presented. "Oh! you wretched boy," said +she, "just look at your clothes, all covered with chalk-marks and +bespattered with lime! Your livery is totally ruined--and your knees, +too--only look at them--the dirt is completely ground into them." + +"But you haven't seed his back, marm," said Robberts; "he's got the +pirate's flag drawn on it. That boy'll go straight to the devil--I know he +will." + +All this time Charlie, to his great discomfiture, was being shaken and +turned about by Robberts in the most unceremonious manner. Kinch, with his +usual audacity, was meanwhile industriously engaged in tracing on Robbert's +coat a similar picture to that he had so skilfully drawn on Charlie's, to +the great delight of a crowd of boys who stood admiring spectators of his +artistic performances. The coachman, however, observing this operation, +brought it to a rather hasty conclusion by a well directed cut of the whip +across the fingers of the daring young artist. This so enraged Kinch, that +in default of any other missile, he threw his lime-covered cap at the head +of the coachman; but, unfortunately for himself, the only result of his +exertions was the lodgment of his cap in the topmost bough of a +neighbouring tree, from whence it was rescued with great difficulty. + +"What _shall_ we do with him?" asked Mrs. Thomas, in a despairing tone, as +she looked at Charlie. + +"Put him with the coachman," suggested Mrs. Morton. + +"He can't sit there, the horses are so restive, and the seat is only +constructed for one, and he would be in the coachman's way. I suppose he +must find room on behind with Robberts." + +"I won't ride on the old carriage," cried Charlie, nerved by despair; "I +won't stay here nohow. I'm going home to my mother;" and as he spoke he +endeavoured to wrest himself from Robberts' grasp. "Put him in here," +said Mrs. Thomas; "it would never do to let him go, for he will run home +with some distressing tale of ill-treatment; no, we must keep him until I +can send for his mother--put him in here." + +Much to Mrs. Morton's disgust, Charlie was bundled by Robberts into the +bottom of the carriage, where he sat listening to the scolding of Mrs. +Thomas and her daughter until they arrived at home. He remained in disgrace +for several days after this adventure; but as Mrs. Thomas well knew that +she could not readily fill his place with another, she made a virtue of +necessity, and kindly looked over this first offence. + +The situation was, however, growing more and more intolerable. Aunt Rachel +and he had daily skirmishes, in which he was very frequently worsted. He +had held several hurried consultations with Kinch through the grating of +the cellar window, and was greatly cheered and stimulated in the plans he +intended to pursue by the advice and sympathy of his devoted friend. Master +Kinch's efforts to console Charlie were not without great risk to himself, +as he had on two or three occasions narrowly escaped falling into the +clutches of Robberts, who well remembered Kinch's unprecedented attempt +upon the sacredness of his livery; and what the result might have been had +the latter fallen into his hands, we cannot contemplate without a shudder. + +These conferences between Kinch and Charlie produced their natural effect, +and latterly it had been several times affirmed by aunt Rachel that, "Dat +air boy was gittin' 'tirely too high--gittin' bove hissef 'pletely--dat he +was gittin' more and more aggriwatin' every day--dat she itched to git at +him--dat she 'spected nothin' else but what she'd be 'bliged to take hold +o' him;" and she comported herself generally as if she was crazy for the +conflict which she saw must sooner or later occur. + +Charlie, unable on these occasions to reply to her remarks without +precipitating a conflict for which he did not feel prepared, sought to +revenge himself upon the veteran Tom; and such was the state of his +feelings, that he bribed Kinch, with a large lump of sugar and the leg of a +turkey, to bring up his mother's Jerry, a fierce young cat, and they had +the satisfaction of shutting him up in the wood-house with the belligerent +Tom, who suffered a signal defeat at Jerry's claws, and was obliged to beat +a hasty retreat through the window, with a seriously damaged eye, and with +the fur torn off his back in numberless places. After this Charlie had the +pleasure of hearing aunt Rachel frequently bewail the condition of her +favourite, whose deplorable state she was inclined to ascribe to his +influence, though she was unable to bring it home to him in such a manner +as to insure his conviction. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Mrs. Thomas has her Troubles. + + +Mrs. Thomas was affected, as silly women sometimes are, with an intense +desire to be at the head of the _ton_. For this object she gave grand +dinners and large evening parties, to which were invited all who, being two +or three removes from the class whose members occupy the cobbler's bench or +the huckster's stall, felt themselves at liberty to look down upon the rest +of the world from the pinnacle on which they imagined themselves placed. At +these social gatherings the conversation never turned upon pedigree, and if +any of the guests chanced by accident to allude to their ancestors, they +spoke of them as members of the family, who, at an early period of their +lives, were engaged in mercantile pursuits. + +At such dinners Mrs. Thomas would sit for hours, mumbling dishes that +disagreed with her; smiling at conversations carried on in villanous +French, of which language she did not understand a word; and admiring the +manners of addle-headed young men (who got tipsy at her evening parties), +because they had been to Europe, and were therefore considered quite men of +the world. These parties and dinners she could not be induced to forego, +although the late hours and fatigue consequent thereon would place her on +the sick-list for several days afterwards. As soon, however, as she +recovered sufficiently to resume her place at the table, she would console +herself with a dinner of boiled mutton and roasted turnips, as a slight +compensation for the unwholesome French dishes she had compelled herself to +swallow on the occasions before mentioned. Amongst the other modern +fashions she had adopted, was that of setting apart one morning of the week +for the reception of visitors; and she had mortally offended several of her +oldest friends by obstinately refusing to admit them at any other time. Two +or three difficulties had occurred with Robberts, in consequence of this +new arrangement, as he could not be brought to see the propriety of saying +to visitors that Mrs. Thomas was "not at home," when he knew she was at +that very moment upstairs peeping over the banisters. His obstinacy on this +point had induced her to try whether she could not train Charlie so as to +fit him for the important office of uttering the fashionable and truthless +"not at home" with unhesitating gravity and decorum; and, after a series of +mishaps, she at last believed her object was effected, until an unlucky +occurrence convinced her to the contrary. + +Mrs. Thomas, during the days on which she did not receive company, would +have presented, to any one who might have had the honour to see that +venerable lady, an entirely different appearance to that which she assumed +on gala days. A white handkerchief supplied the place of the curling wig, +and the tasty French cap was replaced by a muslin one, decorated with an +immense border of ruffling, that flapped up and down over her silver +spectacles in the most comical manner possible. A short flannel gown and a +dimity petticoat of very antique pattern and scanty dimensions, completed +her costume. Thus attired, and provided with a duster, she would make +unexpected sallies into the various domestic departments, to see that +everything was being properly conducted, and that no mal-practices were +perpetrated at times when it was supposed she was elsewhere. She showed an +intuitive knowledge of all traps set to give intimation of her approach, +and would come upon aunt Rachel so stealthily as to induce her to declare, +"Dat old Mrs. Thomas put her more in mind of a ghost dan of any other libin +animal." + +One morning, whilst attired in the manner described, Mrs. Thomas had been +particularly active in her excursions through the house, and had driven the +servants to their wits' ends by her frequent descents upon them at the most +unexpected times, thereby effectually depriving them of the short breathing +intervals they were anxious to enjoy. Charlie in particular had been +greatly harassed by her, and was sent flying from place to place until his +legs were nearly run off, as he expressed it. And so, when Lord Cutanrun, +who was travelling in America to give his estates in England an opportunity +to recuperate, presented his card, Charlie, in revenge, showed him into the +drawing-room, where he knew that Mrs. Thomas was busily engaged trimming an +oil-lamp. Belying on the explicit order she had given to say that she was +not at home, she did not even look up when his lordship entered, and as he +advanced towards her, she extended to him a basin of dirty water, saying, +"Here, take this." Receiving no response she looked up, and to her +astonishment and horror beheld, not Charlie, but Lord Cutanrun. In the +agitation consequent upon his unexpected appearance, she dropped the basin, +the contents of which, splashing in all directions, sadly discoloured his +lordship's light pants, and greatly damaged the elegant carpet. + +"Oh! my lord," she exclaimed, "I didn't--couldn't--wouldn't--" and, unable +to ejaculate further, she fairly ran out of the apartment into the entry, +where she nearly fell over Charlie, who was enjoying the confusion his +conduct had created. "Oh! you limb!--you little wretch!" said she. "You +knew I was not at home!" + +"Why, where are you now?" he asked, with the most provoking air of +innocence. "If you ain't in the house now, you never was." + +"Never mind, sir," said she, "never mind. I'll settle with you for this. +Don't stand there grinning at me; go upstairs and tell Mrs. Morton to come +down immediately, and then get something to wipe up that water. O dear! my +beautiful carpet! And for a lord to see me in such a plight! Oh! it's +abominable! I'll give it to you, you scamp! You did it on purpose," +continued the indignant Mrs. Thomas. "Don't deny it--I know you did. What +are you standing there for? Why don't you call Mrs. Morton?" she concluded, +as Charlie, chuckling over the result of his trick, walked leisurely +upstairs. "That boy will be the death of me," she afterwards said, on +relating the occurrence to her daughter. "Just to think, after all the +trouble I've had teaching him when to admit people and when not, that he +should serve me such a trick. I'm confident he did it purposely." Alas! for +poor Mrs. Thomas; this was only the first of a series of annoyances that +Charlie had in store, with which to test her patience and effect his own +deliverance. + +A few days after, one of their grand dinners was to take place, and Charlie +had been revolving in his mind the possibility of his finding some +opportunity, on that occasion, to remove the old lady's wig; feeling +confident that, could he accomplish that feat, he would be permitted to +turn his back for ever on the mansion of Mrs. Thomas. + +Never had Mrs. Thomas appeared more radiant than at this dinner. All the +guests whose attendance she had most desired were present, a new set of +china had lately arrived from Paris, and she was in full anticipation of a +grand triumph. Now, to Charlie had been assigned the important duty of +removing the cover from the soup-tureen which was placed before his +mistress, and the little rogue had settled upon that moment as the most +favourable for the execution of his purpose. He therefore secretly affixed +a nicely crooked pin to the elbow of his sleeve, and, as he lifted the +cover, adroitly hooked it into her cap, to which he knew the wig was +fastened, and in a twinkling had it off her head, and before she could +recover from her astonishment and lay down the soup-ladle he had left the +room. The guests stared and tittered at the grotesque figure she +presented,--her head being covered with short white hair, and her face as +red as a peony at the mortifying situation in which she was placed. As she +rose from her chair Charlie presented himself, and handed her the wig, with +an apology for the _accident_. In her haste to put it on, she turned it +wrong side foremost; the laughter of the guests could now no longer be +restrained, and in the midst of it Mrs. Thomas left the room. Encountering +Charlie as she went, she almost demolished him in her wrath; not ceasing to +belabour him till his outcries became so loud as to render her fearful that +he would alarm the guests; and she then retired to her room, where she +remained until the party broke up. + +It was her custom, after these grand entertainments, to make nocturnal +surveys of the kitchen, to assure herself that none of the delicacies had +been secreted by the servants for their personal use and refreshment. +Charlie, aware of this, took his measures for an ample revenge for the +beating he had received at her hands. At night, when all the rest of the +family had retired, he hastily descended to the kitchen, and, by some +process known only to himself, imprisoned the cat in a stone jar that +always stood upon the dresser, and into which he was confident Mrs. Thomas +would peep. He then stationed himself upon the stairs, to watch the result. +He had not long to wait, for as soon as she thought the servants were +asleep, she came softly into the kitchen, and, after peering about in +various places, she at last lifted up the lid of the jar. Tom, tired of his +long confinement, sprang out, and, in so doing, knocked the lamp out of her +hand, the fluid from which ignited and ran over the floor. + +"Murder!--Fire!--Watch!" screamed the thoroughly frightened old woman. "Oh, +help! help! fire!" At this terrible noise nearly every one in the household +was aroused, and hurried to the spot whence it proceeded. They found Mrs. +Thomas standing in the dark, with the lid of the jar in her hand, herself +the personification of terror. The carpet was badly burned in several +places, and the fragments of the lamp were scattered about the floor. + +"What has happened?" exclaimed Mr. Morton, who was the first to enter the +kitchen. "What is all this frightful noise occasioned by?" + +"Oh, there is a man in the house!" answered Mrs. Thomas, her teeth +chattering with fright. "There was a man in here--he has just sprung out," +she continued, pointing to the bread-jar. + +"Pooh, pooh--that's nonsense, madam," replied the son-in-law. "Why an +infant could not get in there, much less a man!" + +"I tell you it was a man then," angrily responded Mrs. Thomas; "and he is +in the house somewhere now." + +"Such absurdity!" muttered Mr. Morton; adding, in a louder tone: "Why, my +dear mamma, you've seen a mouse or something of the kind." + +"Mouse, indeed!" interrupted the old lady. "Do you think I'm in my dotage, +and I don't know a man from a mouse?" + +Just then the cat, whose back had got severely singed in the _melee_, set +up a most lamentable caterwauling; and, on being brought to light from the +depths of a closet into which he had flown, his appearance immediately +discovered the share he had had in the transaction. + +"It must have been the cat," said Robberts. "Only look at his back--why +here the fur is singed off him! I'll bet anything," continued he, "that air +boy has had something to do with this--for it's a clear case that the cat +couldn't git into the jar, and then put the lid on hissef." + +Tom's inability to accomplish this feat being most readily admitted on all +sides, inquiry was immediately made as to the whereabouts of Charlie; his +absence from the scene being rather considered as evidence of +participation, for, it was argued, if he had been unaware of what was to +transpire, the noise would have drawn him to the spot at once, as he was +always the first at hand in the event of any excitement. Robberts was +despatched to see if he was in his bed, and returned with the intelligence +that the bed had not even been opened. Search was immediately instituted, +and he was discovered in the closet at the foot of the stairs. He was +dragged forth, shaken, pummelled, and sent to bed, with the assurance that +his mother should be sent for in the morning, to take him home, and keep +him there. This being exactly the point to which he was desirous of +bringing matters, he went to bed, and passed a most agreeable night. + +Aunt Rachel, being one of those sleepers that nothing short of an +earthquake can rouse until their customary time for awaking, had slept +soundly through the stirring events of the past night. She came down in the +morning in quite a placid state of mind, expecting to enjoy a day of rest, +as she had the night before sat up much beyond her usual time, to set +matters to rights after the confusion consequent on the dinner party. What +was her astonishment, therefore, on finding the kitchen she had left in a +state of perfect order and cleanliness, in a condition that resembled the +preparation for an annual house-cleaning. + +"Lord, bless us!" she exclaimed, looking round; "What on yarth has +happened? I raly b'lieve dere's bin a fire in dis 'ere house, and I never +knowed a word of it. Why I might have bin burnt up in my own bed! Dere's de +lamp broke--carpet burnt--pots and skillets hauled out of the closet--ebery +ting turned upside down; why dere's bin a reg'lar 'sturbance down here," +she continued, as she surveyed the apartment. + +At this juncture, she espied Tom, who sat licking his paws before the fire, +and presenting so altered an appearance, from the events of the night, as +to have rendered him unrecognizable even by his best friend. + +"Strange cat in de house! Making himself quite at home at dat," said aunt +Rachel, indignantly. Her wrath, already much excited, rose to the boiling +point at what she deemed a most daring invasion of her domain. She, +therefore, without ceremony, raised a broom, with which she belaboured the +astonished Tom, who ran frantically from under one chair to another till +he ensconced himself in a small closet, from which he pertinaciously +refused to be dislodged. "Won't come out of dere, won't you?" said she. +"I'll see if I can't make you den;" and poor Tom dodged behind pots and +kettles to avoid the blows which were aimed at him; at last, thoroughly +enraged by a hard knock on the back, he sprang fiercely into the face of +his tormentor, who, completely upset by the suddenness of his attack, fell +sprawling on the floor, screaming loudly for help. She was raised up by +Robberts, who came running to her assistance, and, on being questioned as +to the cause of her outcries, replied:-- + +"Dere's a strange cat in de house--wild cat too, I raly b'lieve;" and +spying Tom at that moment beneath the table, she made another dash at him +for a renewal of hostilities. + +"Why that's Tom," exclaimed Robberts; "don't you know your own cat?" + +"Oh," she replied, "dat ar isn't Tom now, is it? Why, what's the matter wid +him?" + +Robberts then gave her a detailed account of the transactions of the +previous night, in which account the share Charlie had taken was greatly +enlarged and embellished; and the wrathful old woman was listening to the +conclusion when Charlie entered. Hardly had he got into the room, when, +without any preliminary discussion, aunt Rachel--to use her own +words--pitched into him to give him particular fits. Now Charlie, not being +disposed to receive "particular fits," made some efforts to return the hard +compliments that were being showered upon him, and the advice of Kinch +providentially occurring to him--respecting an attack upon the +understanding of his venerable antagonist--he brought his hard shoes down +with great force upon her pet corn, and by this _coup de pied_ completely +demolished her. With a loud scream she let him go; and sitting down upon +the floor, declared herself lamed for life, beyond the possibility of +recovery. At this stage of the proceedings, Robberts came to the rescue of +his aged coadjutor, and seized hold of Charlie, who forthwith commenced +so brisk an attack upon his rheumatic shins, as to cause him to beat a +hurried retreat, leaving Charlie sole master of the field. The noise that +these scuffles occasioned brought Mrs. Thomas into the kitchen, and Charlie +was marched off by her into an upstairs room, where he was kept in "durance +vile" until the arrival of his mother. + +Mrs. Thomas had a strong liking for Charlie--not as a boy, but as a +footman. He was active and intelligent, and until quite recently, extremely +tractable and obedient; more than all, he was a very good-looking boy, and +when dressed in the Thomas livery, presented a highly-respectable +appearance. She therefore determined to be magnanimous--to look over past +events, and to show a Christian and forgiving spirit towards his +delinquencies. She sent for Mrs. Ellis, with the intention of desiring her +to use her maternal influence to induce him to apologize to aunt Rachel for +his assault upon her corns, which apology Mrs. Thomas was willing to +guarantee should be accepted; as for the indignities that had been +inflicted on herself, she thought it most politic to regard them in the +light of accidents, and to say as little about that part of the affair as +possible. + +When Mrs. Ellis made her appearance on the day subsequent to the events +just narrated, Mrs. Thomas enlarged to her upon the serious damage that +aunt Rachel had received, and the urgent necessity that something should be +done to mollify that important individual. When Charlie was brought into +the presence of his mother and Mrs. Thomas, the latter informed him, that, +wicked as had been his conduct towards herself, she was willing, for his +mother's sake, to look over it; but that he must humble himself in dust and +ashes before the reigning sovereign of the culinary kingdom, who, making +the most of the injury inflicted on her toe, had declared herself unfit for +service, and was at that moment ensconced in a large easy-chair, listening +to the music of her favourite smoke-jack, whilst a temporary cook was +getting up the dinner, under her immediate supervision and direction. +"Charlie, I'm quite ashamed of you," said his mother, after listening to +Mrs. Thomas's lengthy statement. "What has come over you, child?"--Charlie +stood biting his nails, and looking very sullen, but vouchsafed them no +answer.--"Mrs. Thomas is so kind as to forgive you, and says she will look +over the whole affair, if you will beg aunt Rachel's pardon. Come, now," +continued Mrs. Ellis, coaxingly, "do, that's a good boy." + +"Yes, do," added Mrs. Thomas, "and I will buy you a handsome new suit of +livery." + +This was too much for Charlie; the promise of another suit of the detested +livery quite overcame him, and he burst into tears. + +"Why, what ails the boy? He's the most incomprehensible child I ever saw! +The idea of crying at the promise of a new suit of clothes!--any other +child would have been delighted," concluded Mrs. Thomas. + +"I don't want your old button-covered uniform," said Charlie, "and I won't +wear it, neither! And as for aunt Rachel, I don't care how much she is +hurt--I'm only sorry I didn't smash her other toe; and I'll see her +skinned, and be skinned myself, before I'll ask her pardon!" + +Both Mrs. Thomas and Charlie's mother stood aghast at this unexpected +declaration; and the result of a long conference, held by the two, was that +Charlie should be taken home, Mrs. Ellis being unable to withstand his +tears and entreaties. + +As he passed through the kitchen on his way out, he made a face at aunt +Rachel, who, in return, threw at him one of the turnips she was peeling. It +missed the object for which it was intended, and came plump into the eye of +Robberts, giving to that respectable individual for some time thereafter +the appearance of a prize-fighter in livery. + +Charlie started for home in the highest spirits, which, however, became +considerably lower on his discovering his mother's view of his late +exploits was very different from his own. Mrs. Ellis's fondness and +admiration of her son, although almost amounting to weakness, were yet +insufficient to prevent her from feeling that his conduct, even after +making due allowance for the provocation he had received, could not be +wholly excused as mere boyish impetuosity and love of mischievous fun. She +knew that his father would feel it his duty, not only to reprimand him, but +to inflict some chastisement; and this thought was the more painful to her +from the consciousness, that but for her own weak compliance with Mrs. +Thomas's request, her boy would not have been placed in circumstances which +his judgment and self-command had proved insufficient to carry him through. +The day, therefore, passed less agreeably than Charlie had anticipated; for +now that he was removed from the scene of his trials, he could not disguise +from himself that his behaviour under them had been very different from +what it ought to have been, and this had the salutary effect of bringing +him into a somewhat humbler frame of mind. When his father returned in the +evening, therefore, Charlie appeared so crest-fallen that even Caddy could +scarcely help commiserating him, especially as his subdued state during the +day had kept him from committing any of those offences against tidiness +which so frequently exasperated her. Mr. Ellis, though very strict on what +he thought points of duty, had much command of temper, and was an +affectionate father. He listened, therefore, with attention to the details +of Charlie's grievances, as well as of his misdemeanours, and some credit +is due to him for the unshaken gravity he preserved throughout. Although he +secretly acquitted his son of any really bad intention, he thought it +incumbent on him to make Charlie feel in some degree the evil consequences +of his unruly behaviour. After giving him a serious lecture, and pointing +out the impropriety of taking such measures to deliver himself from the +bondage in which his parents themselves had thought fit to place him, +without even appealing to them, he insisted on his making the apologies due +both to Mrs. Thomas and aunt Rachel (although he was fully aware that both +had only got their deserts); and, further, intimated that he would not be +reinstated in his parents' good graces until he had proved, by his good +conduct and docility, that he was really sorry for his misbehaviour. It was +a severe trial to Charlie to make these apologies; but he well knew that +what his father had decided upon must be done--so he made a virtue of +necessity, and, accompanied by his mother, on the following day performed +his penance with as good a grace as he was able; and, in consideration of +this submission, his father, when he came home in the evening, greeted him +with all his usual kindness, and the recollection of this unlucky affair +was at once banished from the family circle. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Trouble in the Ellis Family. + + +Since the receipt of Mr. Garie's letter, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy had been +busily engaged in putting the house in a state of preparation for their +reception. Caddy, whilst superintending its decoration, felt herself in +Elysium. For the first time in her life she had the supreme satisfaction of +having two unfortunate house-cleaners entirely at her disposal; +consequently, she drove them about and worried them to an extent +unparalleled in any of their former experience. She sought for and +discovered on the windows (which they had fondly regarded as miracles of +cleanliness) sundry streaks and smears, and detected infinite small spots +of paint and whitewash on the newly-scrubbed floors. She followed them +upstairs and downstairs, and tormented them to that extent, that Charlie +gave it as his private opinion that he should not be in the least +surprised, on going up there, to find that the two old women had made away +with Caddy, and hidden her remains in the coal-bin. Whilst she was thus +engaged, to Charlie was assigned the duty of transporting to Winter-street +her diurnal portion of food, without a hearty share of which she found it +impossible to maintain herself in a state of efficiency; her labours in +chasing the women about the house being of a rather exhausting nature. + +When he made the visits in question, Charlie was generally reconnoitred by +his sister from a window over the door, and was compelled to put his shoes +through a system of purification, devised by her for his especial benefit. +It consisted of three courses of scraper, and two of mat; this being +considered by her as strictly necessary to bring his shoes to such a state +of cleanliness as would entitle him to admission into the premises of which +she was the temporary mistress. + +Charlie, on two or three occasions finding a window open, made stealthy +descents upon the premises without first having duly observed these +quarantine regulations; whereupon he was attacked by Caddy, who, with the +assistance of the minions under her command, so shook and pummelled him as +to cause his precipitate retreat through the same opening by which he had +entered, and that, too, in so short a space of time as to make the whole +manoeuvre appear to him in the light of a well-executed but involuntary +feat of ground and lofty tumbling. One afternoon he started with his +sister's dinner, consisting of a dish of which she was particularly fond, +and its arrival was therefore looked for with unusual anxiety. Charlie, +having gorged himself to an almost alarming extent, did not make the haste +that the case evidently demanded; and as he several times stopped to act as +umpire in disputed games of marbles (in the rules of which he was regarded +as an authority), he necessarily consumed a great deal of time on the way. + +Caddy's patience was severely tried by the long delay, and her temper, at +no time the most amiable, gathered bitterness from the unprecedented length +of her fast. Therefore, when he at length appeared, walking leisurely up +Winter-street, swinging the kettle about in the most reckless manner, and +setting it down on the pavement to play leap-frog over the fire-plugs, her +wrath reached a point that boded no good to the young trifler. + +Now, whilst Charlie had been giving his attention to the difficulties +growing out of the games of marbles, he did not observe that one of the +disputants was possessed of a tin kettle, in appearance very similar to his +own, by the side of which, in the excitement of the moment, he deposited +his own whilst giving a practical illustration of his view of the point +under consideration. Having accomplished this to his entire satisfaction, +he resumed what he supposed was his kettle, and went his way rejoicing. + +Now, if Caddy Ellis had a fondness for one dish more than any other, it was +for haricot, with plenty of carrots; and knowing she was to have this for +her dinner, she, to use her own pointed expression, "had laid herself out +to have a good meal." She had even abstained from her customary lunch that +she might have an appetite worthy of the occasion; and accordingly, long +ere the dinner hour approached, she was hungry as a wolf. Notwithstanding +this fact, when Charlie made his appearance at the door, she insisted on +his going through all the accustomed forms with the mat and scraper before +entering the house; an act of self-sacrifice on her part entirely uncalled +for, as the day was remarkably fine, and Charlie's boots unusually clean. + +He received two or three by no means gentle shoves and pokes as he entered, +which he bore with unusual indifference, making not the slightest effort at +retaliation, as was his usual practice. The fact is, Charlie was, as lions +are supposed to be, quite disinclined for a fight after a hearty meal, so +he followed Caddy upstairs to the second story. Here she had got up an +extempore dining-table, by placing a pasting board across two chairs. +Seating herself upon a stool, she jerked off the lid of the kettle, and, to +her horror and dismay, found not the favourite haricot, but a piece of +cheese-rind, a crust of dry bread, and a cold potatoe. Charlie, who was +amusing himself by examining the flowers in the new carpet, did not observe +the look of surprise and disgust that came over the countenance of his +sister, as she took out, piece by piece, the remains of some schoolboy's +repast. + +"Look here," she at last burst forth, "do you call this _my_ dinner?" + +"Yes," said Charlie, in a deliberate tone, "and a very good one too, I +should say; if you can't eat that dinner, you ought to starve; it's one of +mother's best haricots." "You don't call this cold potatoe and +cheese-rind haricot, do you?" asked Caddy, angrily. + +At this Charlie looked up, and saw before her the refuse scraps, which she +had indignantly emptied upon the table. He could scarcely believe his eyes; +he got up and looked in the kettle, but found no haricot. "Well," said he, +with surprise, "if that don't beat me! I saw mother fill it with haricot +myself; I'm clean beat about it." + +"Tell me what you've done with it, then," almost screamed the angry girl. + +"I really don't know what has become of it," he answered, with a bewildered +air. "I saw--I saw--I--I--" + +"You saw--you saw," replied the indignant Caddy, imitating his tone; and +taking up the kettle, she began to examine it more closely. "Why, this +isn't even our kettle; look at this lid. I'm sure it's not ours. You've +been stopping somewhere to play, and exchanged it with some other boy, +that's just what you've done." + +Just then it occurred to Charlie that at the place where he had adjusted +the dispute about the marbles, he had observed in the hands of one of the +boys a kettle similar to his own; and it flashed across his mind that he +had then and there made the unfortunate exchange. He broke his suspicion to +Caddy in the gentlest manner, at the same time edging his way to the door +to escape the storm that he saw was brewing. The loss of her dinner--and of +such a dinner--so enraged the hungry girl, as to cause her to seize a brush +lying near and begin to belabour him without mercy. In his endeavour to +escape from her his foot was caught in the carpet, and he was violently +precipitated down the long flight of stairs. His screams brought the whole +party to his assistance; even Kinch, who was sitting on the step outside, +threw off his usual dread of Caddy, and rushed into the house. "Oh, take me +up," piteously cried Charlie; "oh, take me up, I'm almost killed." In +raising him, one of the old women took hold of his arm, which caused him to +scream again. "Don't touch my arm, please don't touch my arm; I'm sure it's +broke." + +"No, no, it's not broke, only sprained, or a little twisted," said she; +and, seizing it as she spoke, she gave it a pull and a wrench, for the +purpose of making it all right again; at this Charlie's face turned deathly +pale, and he fainted outright. + +"Run for a doctor," cried the now thoroughly-alarmed Caddy; "run for the +doctor! my brother's dead!" and bursting into tears, she exclaimed, "Oh, +I've killed my brother, I've killed my brother!" + +"Don't make so much fuss, child," soothingly replied one of the old women: +"he's worth half a dozen dead folk yet. Lor bless you, child, he's only +fainted." + +Water was procured and thrown in his face, and before Kinch returned with +the doctor, he was quite restored to consciousness. + +"Don't cry, my little man," said the physician, as he took out his knife +and ripped up the sleeve of Charlie's coat. "Don't cry; let me examine your +arm." Stripping up the shirt-sleeve, he felt it carefully over, and shaking +his head (physicians always shake their heads) pronounced the arm broken, +and that, too, in an extremely bad place. At this information Charlie began +again to cry, and Caddy broke forth into such yells of despair as almost to +drive them distracted. + +The physician kindly procured a carriage, and saw Charlie comfortably +placed therein; and held in the arms of Kinch, with the lamenting and +disheartened Caddy on the opposite seat, he was slowly driven home. The +house was quite thrown into confusion by their arrival under such +circumstances; Mrs. Ellis, for a wonder, did not faint, but proceeded at +once to do what was necessary. Mr. Ellis was sent for, and he immediately +despatched Kinch for Dr. Burdett, their family physician, who came without +a moment's delay. He examined Charlie's arm, and at first thought it would +be necessary to amputate it. At the mere mention of the word amputate, +Caddy set up such a series of lamentable howls as to cause her immediate +ejectment from the apartment. Dr. Burdett called in Dr. Diggs for a +consultation, and between them it was decided that an attempt should be +made to save the injured member. "Now, Charlie," said Dr. Burdett, "I'm +afraid we must hurt you, my boy--but if you have any desire to keep this +arm you must try to bear it." + +"I'll bear anything to save my arm, doctor; I can't spare that," said he, +manfully. "I'll want it by-and-by to help take care of mother and the +girls." + +"You're a brave little fellow," said Dr. Diggs, patting him on the head, +"so then we'll go at it at once." + +"Stop," cried Charlie, "let mother put her arm round my neck so, and Es, +you hold the good hand. Now then, I'm all right--fire away!" and clenching +his lips hard, he waited for the doctor to commence the operation of +setting his arm. Charlie's mother tried to look as stoical as possible, but +the corners of her mouth would twitch, and there was a nervous trembling of +her under-lip; but she commanded herself, and only when Charlie gave a +slight groan of pain, stooped and kissed his forehead; and when she raised +her head again, there was a tear resting on the face of her son that was +not his own. Esther was the picture of despair, and she wept bitterly for +the misfortune which had befallen her pet brother; and when the operation +was over, refused to answer poor Caddy's questions respecting Charlie's +injuries, and scolded her with a warmth and volubility that was quite +surprising to them all. + +"You must not be too hard on Caddy," remarked Mr. Ellis. "She feels bad +enough, I'll warrant you. It is a lesson that will not, I trust, be thrown +away upon her; it will teach her to command her temper in future." + +Caddy was in truth quite crushed by the misfortune she had occasioned, and +fell into such a state of depression and apathy as to be scarcely heard +about the house; indeed, so subdued was she, that Kinch went in and out +without wiping his feet, and tracked the mud all over the stair-carpet, and +yet she uttered no word of remonstrance. + +Poor little Charlie suffered much, and was in a high fever. The knocker was +tied up, the windows darkened, and all walked about the house with sad and +anxious countenances. Day after day the fever increased, until he grew +delirious, and raved in the most distressing manner. The unfortunate +haricot was still on his mind, and he was persecuted by men with +strange-shaped heads and carrot eyes. Sometimes he imagined himself pursued +by Caddy, and would cry in the most piteous manner to have her prevented +from beating him. Then his mind strayed off to the marble-ground, where he +would play imaginary games, and laugh over his success in such a wild and +frightful manner as to draw tears from the eyes of all around him. He was +greatly changed; the bright colour had fled from his cheek; his head had +been shaved, and he was thin and wan, and at times they were obliged to +watch him, and restrain him from tossing about, to the great peril of his +broken arm. + +At last his situation became so critical that Dr. Burdett began to +entertain but slight hopes of his recovery; and one morning, in the +presence of Caddy, hinted as much to Mr. Ellis. + +"Oh, doctor, doctor," exclaimed the distracted girl, "don't say that! oh, +try and save him! How could I live with the thought that I had killed my +brother! oh, I can't live a day if he dies! Will God ever forgive me? Oh, +what a wretch I have been! Oh, do think of something that will help him! He +_mustn't_ die, you _must_ save him!" and crying passionately, she threw +herself on the floor in an agony of grief. They did their best to pacify +her, but all their efforts were in vain, until Mr. Ellis suggested, that +since she could not control her feelings, she must be sent to stay with her +aunt, as her lamentations and outcries agitated her suffering brother and +made his condition worse. The idea of being excluded from the family circle +at such a moment had more effect on Caddy than all previous remonstrances. +She implored to have the sentence suspended for a time at least, that she +might try to exert more self-command; and Mr. Ellis, who really pitied her, +well knowing that her heart was not in fault, however reprehensible she was +in point of temper, consented; and Caddy's behaviour from that moment +proved the sincerity of her promises; and though she could not quite +restrain occasional outbursts of senseless lamentation, still, when she +felt such fits of despair coming on, she wisely retired to some remote +corner of the house, and did not re-appear till she had regained her +composure. + +The crisis was at length over, and Charlie was pronounced out of danger. No +one was more elated by this announcement than our friend Kinch, who had, in +fact, grown quite ashy in his complexion from confinement and grief, and +was now thrown by this intelligence into the highest possible spirits. +Charlie, although faint and weak, was able to recognize his friends, and +derived great satisfaction from the various devices of Kinch to entertain +him. That young gentleman quite distinguished himself by the variety and +extent of his resources. He devised butting matches between himself and a +large gourd, which he suspended from the ceiling, and almost blinded +himself by his attempts to butt it sufficiently hard to cause it to rebound +to the utmost length of the string, and might have made an idiot of himself +for ever by his exertions, but for the timely interference of Mr. Ellis, +who put a final stop to this diversion. Then he dressed himself in a short +gown and nightcap, and made the pillow into a baby, and played the nurse +with it to such perfection, that Charlie felt obliged to applaud by +knocking with the knuckles of his best hand upon the head-board of his +bedstead. On the whole, he was so overjoyed as to be led to commit all +manner of eccentricities, and conducted himself generally in such a +ridiculous manner, that Charlie laughed himself into a state of +prostration, and Kinch was, in consequence, banished from the sick-room, to +be re-admitted only on giving his promise to abstain from being as _funny +as he could_ any more. After the lapse of a short time Charlie was +permitted to sit up, and held regular _levees_ of his schoolmates and +little friends. He declared it was quite a luxury to have a broken arm, as +it was a source of so much amusement. The old ladies brought him jellies +and blanc-mange, and he was petted and caressed to such an unparalleled +extent, as to cause his delighted mother to aver that she lived in great +fear of his being spoiled beyond remedy. At length he was permitted to come +downstairs and sit by the window for a few hours each day. Whilst thus +amusing himself one morning, a handsome carriage stopped before their +house, and from it descended a fat and benevolent-looking old lady, who +knocked at the door and rattled the latch as if she had been in the daily +habit of visiting there, and felt quite sure of a hearty welcome. She was +let in by Esther, and, on sitting down, asked if Mrs. Ellis was at home. +Whilst Esther was gone to summon her mother, the lady looked round the +room, and espying Charlie, said, "Oh, there you are--I'm glad to see you; I +hope you are improving." + +"Yes, ma'am," politely replied Charlie, wondering all the time who their +visitor could be. + +"You don't seem to remember me--you ought to do so; children seldom forget +any one who makes them a pleasant promise." + +As she spoke, a glimmer of recollection shot across Charlie's mind, and he +exclaimed, "You are the lady who came to visit the school." + +"Yes; and I promised you a book for your aptness, and," continued she, +taking from her reticule a splendidly-bound copy of "Robinson Crusoe," +"here it is." + +Mrs. Ellis, as soon as she was informed that a stranger lady was below, +left Caddy to superintend alone the whitewashing of Charlie's sick-room, +and having hastily donned another gown and a more tasty cap, descended to +see who the visitor could be. + +"You must excuse my not rising," said Mrs. Bird, for that was the lady's +name; "it is rather a difficulty for me to get up and down often--so," +continued she, with a smile, "you must excuse my seeming rudeness." + +Mrs. Ellis answered, that any apology was entirely unnecessary, and begged +she would keep her seat. "I've come," said Mrs. Bird, "to pay your little +man a visit. I was so much pleased with the manner in which he recited his +exercises on the day of examination, that I promised him a book, and on +going to the school to present it, I heard of his unfortunate accident. He +looks very much changed--he has had a very severe time, I presume?" + +"Yes, a very severe one. We had almost given him over, but it pleased God +to restore him," replied Mrs. Ellis, in a thankful tone. "He is very weak +yet," she continued, "and it will be a long time before he is entirely +recovered." + +"Who is your physician?" asked Mrs. Bird. + +"Doctor Burdett," was the reply; "he has been our physician for years, and +is a very kind friend of our family." + +"And of mine, too," rejoined Mrs. Bird; "he visits my house every summer. +What does he think of the arm?" she asked. + +"He thinks in time it will be as strong as ever, and recommends sending +Charlie into the country for the summer; but," said Mrs. Ellis, "we are +quite at a loss where to send him." + +"Oh! let me take him," said Mrs. Bird--"I should be delighted to have him. +I've got a beautiful place--he can have a horse to ride, and there are wide +fields to scamper over! Only let me have him, and I'll guarantee to restore +him to health in a short time." + +"You're very kind," replied Mrs. Ellis--"I'm afraid he would only be a +burthen to you--be a great deal of trouble, and be able to do but little +work." + +"Work! Why, dear woman," replied Mrs. Bird, with some astonishment, "I +don't want him to work--I've plenty of servants; I only want him to enjoy +himself, and gather as much strength as possible. Come, make up your mind +to let him go with me, and I'll send him home as stout as I am." + +At the bare idea of Charlie's being brought to such a state of obesity, +Kinch, who, during the interview, had been in the back part of the room, +making all manner of faces, was obliged to leave the apartment, to prevent +a serious explosion of laughter, and after their visitor had departed he +was found rolling about the floor in a tempest of mirth. + +After considerable conversation relative to the project, Mrs. Bird took her +leave, promising to call soon again, and advising Mrs. Ellis to accept her +offer. Mrs. Ellis consulted Dr. Burdett, who pronounced it a most fortunate +circumstance, and said the boy could not be in better hands; and as Charlie +appeared nothing loth, it was decided he should go to Warmouth, to the +great grief of Kinch, who thought it a most unheard-of proceeding, and he +regarded Mrs. Bird thenceforth as his personal enemy, and a wilful +disturber of his peace. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Breaking up. + + +The time for the departure of the Garies having been fixed, all in the +house were soon engaged in the bustle of preparation. Boxes were packed +with books, pictures, and linen; plate and china were wrapped and swaddled, +to prevent breakage and bruises; carpets were taken up, and packed away; +curtains taken down, and looking-glasses covered. Only a small part of the +house was left in a furnished state for the use of the overseer, who was a +young bachelor, and did not require much space. + +In superintending all these arrangements Mrs. Garie displayed great +activity; her former cheerfulness of manner had entirely returned, and Mr. +Garie often listened with delight to the quick pattering of her feet, as +she tripped lightly through the hall, and up and down the long stairs. The +birds that sang about the windows were not more cheerful than herself, and +when Mr. Garie heard her merry voice singing her lively songs, as in days +gone by, he experienced a feeling of satisfaction at the pleasant result of +his acquiescence in her wishes. He had consented to it as an act of justice +due to her and the children; there was no pleasure to himself growing out +of the intended change, beyond that of gratifying Emily, and securing +freedom to her and the children. He knew enough of the North to feel +convinced that he could not expect to live there openly with Emily, without +being exposed to ill-natured comments, and closing upon himself the doors +of many friends who had formerly received him with open arms. The virtuous +dignity of the Northerner would be shocked, not so much at his having +children by a woman of colour, but by his living with her in the midst of +them, and acknowledging her as his wife. In the community where he now +resided, such things were more common; the only point in which he differed +from many other Southern gentlemen in this matter was in his constancy to +Emily and the children, and the more than ordinary kindness and affection +with which he treated them. Mr. Garie had for many years led a very retired +life, receiving an occasional gentleman visitor; but this retirement had +been entirely voluntary, therefore by no means disagreeable; but in the new +home he had accepted, he felt that he might be shunned, and the reflection +was anything but agreeable. Moreover, he was about to leave a place +endeared to him by a thousand associations. Here he had passed the whole of +his life, except about four years spent in travelling through Europe and +America. + +Mr. Garie was seated in a room where there were many things to recall days +long since departed. The desk at which he was writing was once his +father's, and he well remembered the methodical manner in which every +drawer was carefully kept; over it hung a full-length portrait of his +mother, and it seemed, as he gazed at it, that it was only yesterday that +she had taken his little hand in her own, and walked with him down the long +avenue of magnolias that were waving their flower-spangled branches in the +morning breeze, and loading it with fragrance. Near him was the table on +which her work-basket used to stand. He remembered how important he felt +when permitted to hold the skeins of silk for her to wind, and how he would +watch her stitch, stitch, hour after hour, at the screen that now stood +beside the fire-place; the colours were faded, but the recollection of the +pleasant smiles she would cast upon him from time to time, as she looked up +from her work, was as fresh in his memory as if it were but yesterday. Mr. +Garie was assorting and arranging the papers that the desk contained, when +he heard the rattle of wheels along the avenue, and looking out of the +window, he saw a carriage approaching. + +The coachman was guiding his horses with one hand, and with the other he +was endeavouring to keep a large, old-fashioned trunk from falling from the +top. This was by no means an easy matter, as the horses appeared quite +restive, and fully required his undivided attention. The rather unsteady +motion of the carriage caused its inmate to put his head out of the window, +and Mr. Garie recognized his uncle John, who lived in the north-western +part of the state, on the borders of Alabama. He immediately left his desk, +and hastened to the door to receive him. + +"This is an unexpected visit, but none the less pleasant on that account," +said Mr. Garie, his face lighting up with surprise and pleasure as uncle +John alighted. "I had not the least expectation of being honoured by a +visit from you. What has brought you into this part of the country? +Business, of course? I can't conceive it possible that you should have +ventured so far from home, at this early season, for the mere purpose of +paying me a visit." + +"You may take all the honour to yourself this time," smilingly replied +uncle John, "for I have come over for your especial benefit; and if I +accomplish the object of my journey, I shall consider the time anything but +thrown away." + +"Let me take your coat; and, Eph, see you to that trunk," said Mr. Garie. +"You see everything is topsy-turvy with us, uncle John. We look like +moving, don't we?" + +"Like that or an annual house-cleaning," he replied, as he picked his way +through rolls of carpet and matting, and between half-packed boxes; in +doing which, he had several narrow escapes from the nails that protruded +from them on all sides. "It's getting very warm; let me have something to +drink," said he, wiping his face as he took his seat; "a julep--plenty of +brandy and ice, and but little mint." + +Eph, on receiving this order, departed in great haste in search of Mrs. +Garie, as he knew that, whilst concocting one julep, she might be +prevailed upon to mix another, and Eph had himself a warm liking for that +peculiar Southern mixture, which liking he never lost any opportunity to +gratify. + +Emily hurried downstairs, on hearing of the arrival of uncle John, for he +was regarded by her as a friend. She had always received from him marked +kindness and respect, and upon the arrival of Mr. Garie's visitors, there +was none she received with as much pleasure. Quickly mixing the drink, she +carried it into the room where he and her husband were sitting. She was +warmly greeted by the kind-hearted old man, who, in reply to her question +if he had come to make them a farewell visit, said he hoped not: he trusted +to make them many more in the same place. + +"I'm afraid you won't have an opportunity," she replied. "In less than a +week we expect to be on our way to New York.--I must go," continued she, +"and have a room prepared for you, and hunt up the children. You'll +scarcely know them, they have grown so much since you were here. I'll soon +send them," and she hurried off to make uncle John's room comfortable. + +"I was never more surprised in my life," said the old gentleman, depositing +the glass upon the table, after draining it of its contents--"never more +surprised than when I received your letter, in which you stated your +intention of going to the North to live. A more ridiculous whim it is +impossible to conceive--the idea is perfectly absurd! To leave a fine old +place like this, where you have everything around you so nice and +comfortable, to go north, and settle amongst a parcel of strange Yankees! +My dear boy, you must give it up. I'm no longer your guardian--the law +don't provide one for people of thirty years and upwards--so it is out of +my power to say you shall not do it; but I am here to use all my powers of +persuasion to induce you to relinquish the project." + +"Uncle John, you don't seem to understand the matter. It is not a whim, by +any means--it is a determination arising from a strict sense of duty; I +feel that it is an act of justice to Emily and the children. I don't +pretend to be better than most men; but my conscience will not permit me to +be the owner of my own flesh and blood. I'm going north, because I wish to +emancipate and educate my children--you know I can't do it here. At first I +was as disinclined to favour the project as you are; but I am now convinced +it is my duty, and, I must add, that my inclination runs in the same +direction." + +"Look here, Clarence, my boy," here interrupted uncle John; "you can't +expect to live there as you do here; the prejudice against persons of +colour is much stronger in some of the Northern cities than it is amongst +us Southerners. You can't live with Emily there as you do here; you will be +in everybody's mouth. You won't be able to sustain your old connections +with your Northern friends--you'll find that they will cut you dead." + +"I've looked at it well, uncle John. I've counted the cost, and have made +up my mind to meet with many disagreeable things. If my old friends choose +to turn their backs on me because my wife happens to belong to an oppressed +race, that is not my fault. I don't feel that I have committed any sin by +making the choice I have; and so their conduct or opinions won't influence +my happiness much." + +"Listen to me, Clary, for a moment," rejoined the old gentleman. "As long +as you live here in Georgia you can sustain your present connection with +impunity, and if you should ever want to break it off, you could do so by +sending her and the children away; it would be no more than other men have +done, and are doing every day. But go to the North, and it becomes a +different thing. Your connection with Emily will inevitably become a matter +of notoriety, and then you would find it difficult to shake her off there, +as you could here, in case you wanted to marry another woman." + +"Oh, uncle, uncle, how can you speak so indifferently about my doing such +an ungenerous act; to characterize it in the very mildest terms. I feel +that Emily is as much my wife in the eyes of God, as if a thousand +clergymen had united us. It is not my fault that we are not legally +married; it is the fault of the laws. My father did not feel that my mother +was any more his wife, than I do that Emily is mine." + +"Hush, hush; that is all nonsense, boy; and, besides, it is paying a very +poor compliment to your mother to rank her with your mulatto mistress. I +like Emily very much; she has been kind, affectionate, and faithful to you. +Yet I really can't see the propriety of your making a shipwreck of your +whole life on her account. Now," continued uncle John, with great +earnestness, "I hoped for better things from you. You have talents and +wealth; you belong to one of the oldest and best families in the State. +When I am gone, you will be the last of our name; I had hoped that you +would have done something to keep it from sinking into obscurity. There is +no honour in the State to which you might not have aspired with a fair +chance of success; but if you carry out your absurd determination, you will +ruin yourself effectually." + +"Well; I shall be ruined then, for I am determined to go. I feel it my duty +to carry out my design," said Mr. Garie. + +"Well, well, Clary," rejoined his uncle, "I've done my duty to my brother's +son. I own, that although I cannot agree with you in your project, I can +and do honour the unselfish motive that prompts it. You will always find me +your friend under all circumstances, and now," concluded he, "it's off my +mind." + +The children were brought in and duly admired; a box of miniature +carpenter's tools was produced; also, a wonderful man with a string through +his waist--which string, when pulled, caused him to throw his arms and legs +about in a most astonishing manner. The little folks were highly delighted +with these presents, which, uncle John had purchased at Augusta; they +scampered off, and soon had every small specimen of sable humanity on the +place at their heels, in ecstatic admiration of the wonderful articles of +which they had so recently acquired possession. As uncle John had +absolutely refused all other refreshment than the julep before mentioned, +dinner was ordered at a much earlier hour than usual. He ate very heartily, +as was his custom; and, moreover, persisted in stuffing the children (as +old gentlemen will do sometimes) until their mother was compelled to +interfere to prevent their having a bilious attack in consequence. Whilst +the gentlemen were sitting over their desert, Mr. Garie asked his uncle, if +he had not a sister, with whom there was some mystery connected. + +"No mystery," replied uncle John. "Your aunt made a very low marriage, and +father cut her off from the family entirely. It happened when I was very +young; she was the eldest of us all; there were four of us, as you +know--your father, Bernard, I, and this sister of whom we are speaking. She +has been dead for some years; she married a carpenter whom father employed +on the place--a poor white man from New York. I have heard it said, that he +was handsome, but drunken and vicious. They left one child--a boy; I +believe he is alive in the North somewhere, or was, a few years since." + +"And did she never make any overtures for a reconciliation?" + +"She did, some years before father's death, but he was inexorable; he +returned her letter, and died without seeing or forgiving her," replied +uncle John. + +"Poor thing; I suppose they were very poor?" + +"I suppose they were. I have no sympathy for her. She deserved her fate, +for marrying a greasy mechanic, in opposition to her father's commands, +when she might have connected herself with any of the highest families in +the State." + +The gentlemen remained a long while that night, sipping their wine, smoking +cigars, and discussing the probable result of the contemplated change. +Uncle John seemed to have the worst forebodings as to the ultimate +consequences, and gave it as his decided opinion, that they would all +return to the old place in less than a year. + +"You'll soon get tired of it," said he; "everything is so different there. +Here you can get on well in your present relations; but mark me, you'll +find nothing but disappointment and trouble where you are going." + +The next morning he departed for his home; he kissed the children +affectionately, and shook hands warmly with their mother. After getting +into the carriage, he held out his hand again to his nephew, saying:-- + +"I am afraid you are going to be disappointed; but I hope you may not. Good +bye, good bye--God bless you!" and his blue eyes looked very watery, as he +was driven from the door. + +That day, a letter arrived from Savannah, informing them that the ship in +which they had engaged passage would be ready to sail in a few days; and +they, therefore, determined that the first instalment of boxes and trunks +should be sent to the city forthwith; and to Eph was assigned the +melancholy duty of superintending their removal. + +"Let me go with him, pa," begged little Clarence, who heard his father +giving Eph his instructions. + +"Oh, no," replied Mr. Garie; "the cart will be full of goods, there will be +no room for you." + +"But, pa, I can ride my pony; and, besides, you might let me go, for I +shan't have many more chances to ride him--do let me go." + +"Oh, yes, massa, let him go. Why dat ar chile can take care of his pony all +by hissef. You should just seed dem two de oder day. You see de pony felt +kinder big dat day, an' tuck a heap o' airs on hissef, an' tried to trow +him--twarn't no go--Massa Clary conquered him 'pletely. Mighty smart boy, +dat," continued Eph, looking at little Clarence, admiringly, "mighty smart. +I let him shoot off my pistol toder day, and he pat de ball smack through +de bull's eye--dat boy is gwine to be a perfect Ramrod." + +"Oh, pa," laughingly interrupted little Clarence; "I've been telling him of +what you read to me about Nimrod being a great hunter." + +"That's quite a mistake, Eph," said Mr. Garie, joining in the laugh. +"Well, I knowed it was suffin," said Eph, scratching his head; "suffin with +a rod to it; I was all right on that pint--but you'r gwine to let him go, +ain't yer, massa?" + +"I suppose, I must," replied Mr. Garie; "but mind now that no accident +occurs to young Ramrod." + +"I'll take care o' dat," said Eph, who hastened off to prepare the horses, +followed by the delighted Clarence. + +That evening, after his return from Savannah, Clarence kept his little +sister's eyes expanded to an unprecedented extent by his narration of the +wonderful occurrences attendant on his trip to town, and also of what he +had seen in the vessel. He produced an immense orange, also a vast store of +almonds and raisins, which had been given him by the good-natured steward. +"But Em," said he, "we are going to sleep in such funny little places; even +pa and mamma have got to sleep on little shelves stuck up against the wall; +and they've got a thing that swings from the ceiling that they keep the +tumblers and wine-glasses in--every glass has got a little hole for itself. +Oh, it's so nice!" + +"And have they got any nice shady trees on the ship?" asked the wondering +little Em. + +"Oh, no--what nonsense!" answered Clarence, swelling with the importance +conferred by his superior knowledge. "Why, no, Em; who ever heard of such a +thing as trees on a ship? they couldn't have trees on a ship if they +wanted--there's no earth for them to grow in. But I'll tell you what +they've got--they've got masts a great deal higher than any tree, and I'm +going to climb clear up to the top when we go to live on the ship." + +"I wouldn't," said Em; "you might fall down like Ben did from the tree, and +then you'd have to have your head sewed up as he had." + +The probability that an occurrence of this nature might be the result of +his attempt to climb the mast seemed to have considerable weight with +Master Clarence, so he relieved his sister's mind at once by relinquishing +the project. + +The morning for departure at length arrived. Eph brought the carriage to +the door at an early hour, and sat upon the box the picture of despair. He +did not descend from his eminence to assist in any of the little +arrangements for the journey, being very fearful that the seat he occupied +might be resumed by its rightful owner, he having had a lengthy contest +with the sable official who acted as coachman, and who had striven +manfully, on this occasion, to take possession of his usual elevated +station on the family equipage. This, Eph would by no means permit, as he +declared, "He was gwine to let nobody drive Massa dat day but hissef." + +It was a mournful parting. The slaves crowded around the carriage kissing +and embracing the children, and forcing upon them little tokens of +remembrance. Blind Jacob, the patriarch of the place, came and passed his +hands over the face of little Em for the last time, as he had done almost +every week since her birth, that, to use his own language, "he might see +how de piccaninny growed." His bleared and sightless eyes were turned to +heaven to ask a blessing on the little ones and their parents. + +"Why, daddy Jake, you should not take it so hard," said Mr. Garie, with an +attempt at cheerfulness. "You'll see us all again some day." + +"No, no, massa, I'se feared I won't; I'se gettin' mighty old, massa, and +I'se gwine home soon. I hopes I'll meet you all up yonder," said he, +pointing heavenward. "I don't 'spect to see any of you here agin." + +Many of the slaves were in tears, and all deeply lamented the departure of +their master and his family, for Mr. Garie had always been the kindest of +owners, and Mrs. Garie was, if possible, more beloved than himself. She was +first at every sick-bed, and had been comforter-general to all the +afflicted and distressed in the place. + +At last the carriage rolled away, and in a few hours they reached Savannah, +and immediately went on board the vessel. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Another Parting. + + +Mrs. Ellis had been for some time engaged in arranging and replenishing +Charlie's wardrobe, preparatory to his journey to Warmouth with Mrs. Bird. +An entire new suit of grey cloth had been ordered of the tailor, to whom +Mrs. Ellis gave strict injunctions not to make them too small. +Notwithstanding the unfavourable results of several experiments, Mrs. Ellis +adhered with wonderful tenacity to the idea that a boy's clothes could +never be made too large, and, therefore, when Charlie had a new suit, it +always appeared as if it had been made for some portly gentleman, and sent +home to Charlie by mistake. + +This last suit formed no exception to the others, and Charlie surveyed with +dismay its ample dimensions as it hung from the back of the chair. "Oh, +gemini!" said he, "but that jacket is a rouser! I tell you what, mother, +you'll have to get out a search-warrant to find me in that jacket; now, +mind, I tell you!" + +"Nonsense!" replied Mrs. Ellis, "it don't look a bit too large; put it on." + +Charlie took up the coat, and in a twinkling had it on over his other. His +hands were almost completely lost in the excessively long sleeves, which +hung down so far that the tips of his fingers were barely visible. "Oh, +mother!" he exclaimed, "just look at these sleeves--if such a thing were to +happen that any one were to offer me a half dollar, they would change their +mind before I could get my hand out to take it; and it will almost go twice +round me, it is so large in the waist." + +"Oh, you can turn the sleeves up; and as for the waist--you'll soon grow +to it; it will be tight enough for you before long, I'll warrant," said +Mrs. Ellis. + +"But, mother," rejoined Charlie, "that is just what you said about the +other blue suit, and it was entirely worn out before you had let down the +tucks in the trowsers." + +"Never mind the blue suit," persisted Mrs. Ellis, entirely unbiassed by +this statement of facts. "You'll grow faster this time--you're going into +the country, you must remember--boys always grow fast in the country; go +into the other room and try on the trowsers." + +Charlie retired into another room with the trowsers in question. Here he +was joined by Kinch, who went into fits of laughter over Charlie's +pea-jacket, as he offensively called the new coat. + +"Why, Charlie," said he, "it fits you like a shirt on a bean-pole, or +rather it's like a sentry's box--it don't touch you any where. But get into +these pants," said he, almost choking with the laughter that Charlie's +vexed look caused him to suppress--"get into the pants;" at the same time +tying a string round Charlie's neck. + +"What are you doing that for?" exclaimed Charlie, in an irritated tone; "I +shouldn't have thought you would make fun of me!" + +"Oh," said Kinch, assuming a solemn look, "don't they always tie a rope +round a man's body when they are going to lower him into a pit? and how on +earth do you ever expect we shall find you in the legs of them trowsers, +unless something is fastened to you?" Here Charlie was obliged to join in +the laugh that Kinch could no longer restrain. + +"Stop that playing, boys," cried Mrs. Ellis, as their noisy mirth reached +her in the adjoining room; "you forget I am waiting for you." + +Charlie hastily drew on the trousers, and found that their dimensions fully +justified the precaution Kinch was desirous of taking to secure him from +sinking into oblivion. + +"Oh, I can't wear these things," said Charlie, tears of vexation starting +from his eyes. "Why, they are so large I can't even keep them up; and just +look at the legs, will you--they'll have to be turned up a quarter of a +yard at least." + +"Here," said Kinch, seizing a large pillow, "I'll stuff this in. Oh, golly, +how you look! if you ain't a sight to see!" and he shouted with laughter as +he surveyed Charlie, to whom the pillow had imparted the appearance of a +London alderman. "If you don't look like Squire Baker now, I'll give it up. +You are as big as old Daddy Downhill. You are a regular Daniel Lambert!" + +The idea of looking like Squire Baker and Daddy Downhill, who were the "fat +men" of their acquaintance, amused Charlie as much as it did his companion, +and making the house ring with their mirth, they entered the room where Mr. +Ellis and the girls had joined Mrs. Ellis. + +"What on earth is the matter with the child?" exclaimed Mr. Ellis, as he +gazed upon the grotesque figure Charlie presented. "What has the boy been +doing to himself?" Hereupon Kinch explained how matters stood, to the +infinite amusement of all parties. + +"Oh, Ellen," said Mr. Ellis, "you must have them altered; they're a mile +too big for him. I really believe they would fit me." + +"They do look rather large," said Mrs. Ellis, reluctantly; "but it seems +such a waste to take them in, as he grows so fast." + +"He would not grow enough in two years to fill that suit," rejoined Mr. +Ellis; "and he will have worn them out in less than six months;" and so, to +the infinite satisfaction of Charlie, it was concluded that they should be +sent back to the tailor's for the evidently necessary alterations. + +The day for Charlie's departure at last arrived. + +Kinch, who had been up since two o'clock in the morning, was found by Caddy +at the early hour of five waiting upon the door-step to accompany his +friend to the wharf. Beside him lay a bag, in which there appeared to be +some living object. + +"What have you got in here?" asked Caddy, as she gave the bag a punch with +the broom she was using. "It's a present for Charlie," replied Kinch, +opening the bag, and displaying, to the astonished gaze of Caddy, a very +young pig. + +"Why," said she, laughing, "you don't expect he can take that with him, do +you?" + +"Why not?" asked Kinch, taking up the bag and carrying it into the house. +"It's just the thing to take into the country; Charlie can fatten him and +sell him for a lot of money." + +It was as much as Mrs. Ellis could do to convince Charlie and Kinch of the +impracticability of their scheme of carrying off to Warmouth the pig in +question. She suggested, as it was the exclusive property of Kinch, and he +was so exceedingly anxious to make Charlie a parting gift, that she should +purchase it, which she did, on the spot; and Kinch invested all the money +in a large cross-bow, wherewith Charlie was to shoot game sufficient to +supply both Kinch and his own parents. Had Charlie been on his way to the +scaffold, he could not have been followed by a more solemn face than that +presented by Kinch as he trudged on with him in the rear the porter who +carried the trunk. + +"I wish you were not going," said he, as he put his arm affectionately over +Charlie's shoulder, "I shall be so lonesome when you are gone; and what is +more, I know I shall get licked every day in school, for who will help me +with my sums?" + +"Oh, any of the boys will, they all like you, Kinch; and if you only study +a little harder, you can do them yourself," was Charlie's encouraging +reply. + +On arriving at the boat, they found. Mrs. Bird waiting for them; so Charlie +hastily kissed his mother and sisters, and made endless promises not to be +mischievous, and, above all, to be as tidy as possible. Then tearing +himself away from them, and turning to Kinch, he exclaimed, "I'll be back +to see you all again soon, so don't cry old fellow;" and at the same time +thrusting his hand into his pocket, he drew out a number of marbles, which +he gave him, his own lips quivering all the while. At last his attempts to +suppress his tears and look like a man grew entirely futile, and he cried +heartily as Mrs. Bird took his hand and drew him on board the steamer. + +As it slowly moved from the pier and glided up the river, Charlie stood +looking with tearful eyes at his mother and sisters, who, with Kinch, waved +their handkerchiefs as long as they could distinguish him, and then he saw +them move away with the crowd. + +Mrs. Bird, who had been conversing with a lady who accompanied her a short +distance on her journey, came and took her little _protege_ by the hand, +and led him to a seat near her in the after part of the boat, informing +him, as she did so, that they would shortly exchange the steamer for the +cars, and she thought he had better remain near her. + +After some time they approached the little town where the passengers took +the train for New York. Mrs. Bird, who had taken leave of her friend, held +Charlie fast by the hand, and they entered the cars together. He looked a +little pale and weak from the excitement of parting and the novelty of his +situation. Mrs. Bird, observing his pallid look, placed him on a seat, and +propped him up with shawls and cushions, making him as comfortable as +possible. + +The train had not long started, when the conductor came through to inspect +the tickets, and quite started with surprise at seeing Charlie stretched at +full length upon the velvet cushion. "What are you doing here?" exclaimed +he, at the same time shaking him roughly, to arouse him from the slight +slumber into which he had fallen. "Come, get up: you must go out of this." + +"What do you mean by such conduct?" asked Mrs. Bird, very much surprised. +"Don't wake him; I've got his ticket; the child is sick." + +"I don't care whether he's sick or well--he can't ride in here. We don't +allow niggers to ride in this car, no how you can fix it--so come, +youngster," said he, gruffly, to the now aroused boy, "you must travel out +of this." + +"He shall do no such thing," replied Mrs. Bird, in a decided tone; "I've +paid fall price for his ticket, and he shall ride here; you have no legal +right to eject him." + +"I've got no time to jaw about rights, legal or illegal--all I care to know +is, that I've my orders not to let niggers ride in these cars, and I expect +to obey, so you see there is no use to make any fuss about it." + +"Charlie," said Mrs. Bird, "sit here;" and she moved aside, so as to seat +him between herself and the window. "Now," said she, "move him if you think +best." + +"I'll tell you what it is, old woman," doggedly remarked the conductor: +"you can't play that game with me. I've made up my mind that no more +niggers shall ride in this car, and I'll have him out of here, cost what it +may." + +The passengers now began to cluster around the contending parties, and to +take sides in the controversy. In the end, the conductor stopped the train, +and called in one or two of the Irish brake-men to assist him, if +necessary, in enforcing his orders. + +"You had better let the boy go into the negro car, madam," said one of the +gentlemen, respectfully; "it is perfectly useless to contend with these +ruffians. I saw a coloured man ejected from here last week, and severely +injured; and, in the present state of public feeling, if anything happened +to you or the child, you would be entirely without redress. The directors +of this railroad control the State; and there is no such thing as justice +to be obtained in any of the State courts in a matter in which they are +concerned. If you will accept of my arm, I will accompany you to the other +car--if you will not permit the child to go there alone, you had better go +quietly with him." + +"Oh, what is the use of so much talk about it? Why don't you hustle the old +thing out," remarked a bystander, the respectability of whose appearance +contrasted broadly with his manners; "she is some crack-brained +abolitionist. Making so much fuss about a little nigger! Let her go into +the nigger car--she'll be more at home there." + +Mrs. Bird, seeing the uselessness of contention, accepted the proffered +escort of the gentleman before mentioned, and was followed out of the cars +by the conductor and his blackguard assistants, all of them highly elated +by the victory they had won over a defenceless old woman and a feeble +little boy. + +Mrs. Bird shrunk back, as they opened the door of the car that had been set +apart for coloured persons, and such objectionable whites as were not +admitted to the first-class cars. "Oh, what a wretched place!" she +exclaimed, as she surveyed the rough pine timbers and dirty floor; "I would +not force a dog to ride in such a filthy place." + +"Oh, don't stay here, ma'am; never mind me--I shall get on by myself well +enough, I dare say," said Charlie; "it is too nasty a place for you to stay +in." + +"No, my child," she replied; "I'll remain with you. I could not think of +permitting you to be alone in your present state of health. I declare," she +continued, "it's enough to make any one an abolitionist, or anything else +of the kind, to see how inoffensive coloured people are treated!" + +That evening they went on board the steamer that was to convey them to +Warmouth, where they arrived very early the following morning. + +Charlie was charmed with the appearance of the pretty little town, as they +rode through it in Mrs. Bird's carriage, which awaited them at the landing. +At the door of her residence they were met by two cherry-faced maids, who +seemed highly delighted at the arrival of their mistress. + +"Now, Charlie," said Mrs. Bird, as she sat down in her large arm-chair, and +looked round her snug little parlour with an air of great +satisfaction--"now we are at home, and you must try and make yourself as +happy as possible. Betsey," said she, turning to one of the women, "here is +a nice little fellow, whom I have brought with me to remain during the +summer, of whom I want you to take the best care; for," continued she, +looking at him compassionately, "the poor child has had the misfortune to +break his arm recently, and he has not been strong since. The physician +thought the country would be the best place for him, and so I've brought +him here to stay with us. Tell Reuben to carry his trunk into the little +maple chamber, and by-and-by, after I have rested, I will take a walk over +the place with him." + +"Here are two letters for you," said Betsey, taking them from the +mantelpiece, and handing them to her mistress. + +Mrs. Bird opened one, of which she read a part, and then laid it down, as +being apparently of no importance. The other, however, seemed to have a +great effect upon her, as she exclaimed, hurriedly, "Tell Reuben not to +unharness the horses--I must go to Francisville immediately--dear Mrs. +Hinton is very ill, and not expected to recover. You must take good care of +Charlie until I return. If I do not come back to-night, you will know that +she is worse, and that I am compelled to remain there;" and, on the +carriage being brought to the door, she departed in haste to visit her sick +friend. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The New Home. + + +When Mrs. Garie embarked, she entertained the idea so prevalent among +fresh-water sailors, that she was to be an exception to the rule of Father +Neptune, in accordance with which all who intrude for the first time upon +his domain are compelled to pay tribute to his greatness, and humbly bow in +acknowledgment of his power. + +Mrs. Garie had determined not to be sea-sick upon any account whatever, +being fully persuaded she could brave the ocean with impunity, and was, +accordingly, very brisk and blithe-looking, as she walked up and down upon +the deck of the vessel. In the course of a few hours they sailed out of the +harbour, and were soon in the open sea. She began to find out how mistaken +she had been, as unmistakable symptoms convinced her of the vanity of all +human calculations. "Why, you are not going to be ill, Em, after all your +valiant declarations!" exclaimed Mr. Garie, supporting her unsteady steps, +as they paced to and fro. + +"Oh, no, no!" said she, in a firm tone; "I don't intend to give up to any +such nonsense. I believe that people can keep up if they try. I do feel a +little fatigued and nervous; it's caused, no doubt, by the long drive of +this morning--although I think it singular that a drive should affect me in +this manner." Thus speaking, she sat down by the bulwarks of the vessel, +and a despairing look gradually crept over her face. At last she suddenly +rose, to look at the water, as we may imagine. The effect of her scrutiny, +however, was, that she asked feebly to be assisted to her state-room, where +she remained until their arrival in the harbour of New York. The children +suffered only for a short time, and as their father escaped entirely, he +was able to watch that they got into no mischief. They were both great +favourites with the captain and steward, and, between the two, were so +stuffed and crammed with sweets as to place their health in considerable +jeopardy. + +It was a delightful morning when they sailed into the harbour of New York. +The waters were dancing and rippling in the morning sun, and the +gaily-painted ferry-boats were skimming swiftly across its surface in their +trips to and from the city, which was just awaking to its daily life of +bustling toil. + +"What an immense city it is!" said Mrs. Garie--"how full of life and +bustle! Why there are more ships at one pier here than there are in the +whole port of Savanah!" + +"Yes, dear," rejoined her husband; "and what is more, there always will be. +Our folks in Georgia are not waked up yet; and when they do arouse +themselves from their slumber, it will be too late. But we don't see half +the shipping from here--this is only one side of the city--there is much +more on the other. Look over there," continued he, pointing to Jersey +city,--"that is where we take the cars for Philadelphia; and if we get up +to dock in three or four hours, we shall be in time for the mid-day train." + +In less time than they anticipated they were alongside the wharf; the +trunks were brought up, and all things for present use were safely packed +together and despatched, under the steward's care, to the office of the +railroad. + +Mr. and Mrs. Garie, after bidding good-bye to the captain, followed with +the children, who were thrown into a great state of excitement by the noise +and bustle of the crowded thoroughfare. + +"How this whirl and confusion distracts me," said Mrs. Garie, looking out +of the carriage-window. "I hope Philadelphia is not as noisy a place as +this." + +"Oh, no," replied Mr. Garie; "it is one of the most quiet and clean cities +in the world, whilst this is the noisiest and dirtiest. I always hurry out +of New York; it is to me such a disagreeable place, with its extortionate +hackmen and filthy streets." + +On arriving at the little steamer in which they crossed the ferry, they +found it about to start, and therefore had to hurry on board with all +possible speed. + +Under the circumstances, the hackman felt that it would be flying in the +face of Providence if he did not extort a large fare, and he therefore +charged an extravagant price. Mr. Garie paid him, as he had no time to +parley, and barely succeeded in slipping a _douceur_ into the steward's +hand, when the boat pushed off from the pier. + +In a few moments they had crossed the river, and were soon comfortably +seated in the cars whirling over the track to Philadelphia. + +As the conductor came through to examine the tickets, he paused for a +moment before Mrs. Garie and the children. As he passed on, his assistant +inquired, "Isn't that a nigger?" + +"Yes, a half-white one," was the reply. + +"Why don't you order her out, then?--she has no business to ride in here," +continued the first speaker. + +"I guess we had better let her alone," suggested the conductor, +"particularly as no one has complained; and there might be a row if she +turned out to be the nurse to those children. The whole party are +Southerners, that's clear; and these Southerners are mighty touchy about +their niggers sometimes, and kick and cut like the devil about them. I +guess we had better let her alone, unless some one complains about her +being there." + +As they drove through the streets of Philadelphia on the way to their new +home, Mrs. Garie gave rent to many expressions of delight at the appearance +of the city. "Oh, what a sweet place! everything is so bright and +fresh-looking; why the pavement and doorsteps look as if they were cleaned +twice a day. Just look at that house, how spotless it is; I hope ours +resembles that. Ours is a new house, is it not?" she inquired. "Not +entirely; it has been occupied before, but only for a short time, I +believe," was her husband's reply. + +It had grown quite dark by the time they arrived at Winter-street, where +Caddy had been anxiously holding watch and ward in company with the +servants who had been procured for them. A bright light was burning in the +entry as the coachman stopped at the door. + +"This is No. 27," said he, opening the door of the carriage, "shall I +ring?" + +"Yes, do," replied Mr. Garie; but whilst he was endeavouring to open the +gate of the little garden in front, Caddy, who had heard the carriage stop, +bounded out to welcome them. "This is Mr. Garie, I suppose," said she, as +he alighted. + +"Yes, I am; and you, I suppose, are the daughter of Mr. Ellis?" + +"Yes, sir; I'm sorry mother is not here to welcome you; she was here until +very late last night expecting your arrival, and was here again this +morning," said Caddy, taking at the same time one of the little carpet +bags. "Give me the little girl, I can take care of her too," she continued; +and with little Em on one arm and the carpet bag on the other, she led the +way into the house. + +"We did not make up any fire," said she, "the weather is very warm to us. I +don't know how it may feel to you, though." + +"It is a little chilly," replied Mrs. Garie, as she sat down upon the sofa, +and looked round the room with a smile of pleasure, and added, "All this +place wants, to make it the most bewitching of rooms, is a little fire." + +Caddy hurried the new servants from place to place remorselessly, and set +them to prepare the table and get the things ready for tea. She waylaid a +party of labourers, who chanced to be coming that way, and hired them to +carry all the luggage upstairs--had the desired fire made--mixed up some +corn-bread, and had tea on the table in a twinkling. They all ate very +heartily, and Caddy was greatly praised for her activity. + +"You are quite a housekeeper," said Mrs. Garie to Caddy. "Do you like it?" + +"Oh, yes," she replied. "I see to the house at home almost entirely; mother +and Esther are so much engaged in sewing, that they are glad enough to +leave it in my hands, and I'd much rather do that than sew." + +"I hope," said Mrs. Garie, "that your mother will permit you to remain with +us until we get entirely settled." + +"I know she will," confidently replied Caddy. "She will be up here in the +morning. She will know you have arrived by my not having gone home this +evening." + +The children had now fallen asleep with their heads in close proximity to +their plates, and Mrs. Garie declared that she felt very much fatigued and +slightly indisposed, and thought the sooner she retired the better it would +be for her. She accordingly went up to the room, which she had already seen +and greatly admired, and was soon in the land of dreams. + +As is always the case on such occasions, the children's night-dresses could +not be found. Clarence was put to bed in one of his father's shirts, in +which he was almost lost, and little Em was temporarily accommodated with a +calico short gown of Caddy's, and, in default of a nightcap, had her head +tied up in a Madras handkerchief, which gave her, when her back was turned, +very much the air of an old Creole who had been by some mysterious means +deprived of her due growth. + +The next morning Mrs. Garie was so much indisposed at to be unable to rise, +and took her breakfast in bed. Her husband had finished his meal, and was +sitting in the parlour, when he observed a middle-aged coloured lady coming +into the garden. + +"Look, Caddy," cried he, "isn't this your mother?" + +"Oh, yes, that is she," replied Caddy, and ran and opened the door, +exclaiming, "Oh, mother, they're come;" and as she spoke, Mr. Garie came +into the entry and shook hands heartily with her. "I'm so much indebted +to you," said he, "for arranging everything so nicely for us--there is not +a thing we would wish to alter." + +"I am very glad you are pleased; we did our best to make it comfortable," +was her reply. + +"And you succeeded beyond our expectation; but do come up," continued he, +"Emily will be delighted to see you. She is quite unwell this morning; has +not even got up yet;" and leading the way upstairs, he ushered Mrs. Ellis +into the bedroom. + +"Why, can this be you?" said she, surveying Emily with surprise and +pleasure. "If I had met you anywhere, I should never have known you. How +you have altered! You were not so tall as my Caddy when I saw you last; and +here you are with two children--and pretty little things they are too!" +said she, kissing little Em, who was seated on the bed with her brother, +and sharing with him the remains of her mother's chocolate. + +"And you look much younger that I expected to see you," replied Mrs. Garie. +"Draw a chair up to the bed, and let us have a talk about old times. You +must excuse my lying down; I don't intend to get up to-day; I feel quite +indisposed." + +Mrs. Ellis took off her bonnet, and prepared for a long chat; whilst Mr. +Garie, looking at his watch, declared it was getting late, and started for +down town, where he had to transact some business. + +"You can scarcely think, Ellen, how much I feel indebted to you for all you +have done for us; and we are so distressed to hear about Charlie's +accident. You must have had a great deal of trouble." + +"Oh, no, none to speak of--and had it been ever so much, I should have been +just as pleased to have done it; I was so glad you were coming. What did +put it in your heads to come here to live?" continued Mrs. Ellis. + +"Oh, cousin George Winston praised the place so highly, and you know how +disagreeable Georgia is to live in. My mind was never at rest there +respecting these," said she, pointing to the children; "so that I fairly +teased Garie into it. Did you recognize George?" + +"No, I didn't remember much about him. I should never have taken him for a +coloured man; had I met him in the street, I should have supposed him to be +a wealthy white Southerner. What a gentleman he is in his appearance and +manners," said Mrs. Ellis. + +"Yes, he is all that--my husband thinks there is no one like him. But we +won't talk about him now; I want you to tell me all about yourself and +family, and then I'll tell you everything respecting my own fortunes." +Hereupon ensued long narratives from both parties, which occupied the +greater part of the morning. + +Mr. Garie, on leaving the house, slowly wended his way to the residence of +Mr. Walters. As he passed into the lower part of the city, his attention +was arrested by the number of coloured children he saw skipping merrily +along with their bags of books on their arms. + +"This," said he to himself, "don't much resemble Georgia."[*] + +[Footnote *: It is a penal offence in Georgia to teach coloured children to +read.] + +After walking some distance he took out a card, and read, 257, +Easton-street; and on inquiry found himself in the very street. He +proceeded to inspect the numbers, and was quite perplexed by their +confusion and irregularity. + +A coloured boy happening to pass at the time, he asked him: "Which way do +the numbers run, my little man?" + +The boy looked up waggishly, and replied: "They don't run at all; they are +permanently affixed to each door." + +"But," said Mr. Garie, half-provoked, yet compelled to smile at the boy's +pompous wit, "you know what I mean; I cannot find the number I wish; the +street is not correctly numbered." + +"The street is not numbered at all," rejoined the boy, "but the houses +are," and he skipped lightly away. + +Mr. Garie was finally set right about the numbers, and found himself at +length before the door of Mr. Walters's house. "Quite a handsome +residence," said he, as he surveyed the stately house, with its spotless +marble steps and shining silver door-plate. + +On ringing, his summons was quickly answered by a well-dressed servant, who +informed him that Mr. Walters was at home, and ushered him into the +parlour. The elegance of the room took Mr. Garie completely by surprise, as +its furniture indicated not only great wealth, but cultivated taste and +refined habits. The richly-papered walls were adorned by paintings from the +hands of well-known foreign and native artists. Rich vases and +well-executed bronzes were placed in the most favourable situations in the +apartment; the elegantly-carved walnut table was covered with those +charming little bijoux which the French only are capable of conceiving, and +which are only at the command of such purchasers as are possessed of more +money than they otherwise can conveniently spend. + +Mr. Garie threw himself into a luxuriously-cushioned chair, and was soon so +absorbed in contemplating the likeness of a negro officer which hung +opposite, that he did not hear the soft tread of Mr. Walters as he entered +the room. The latter, stepping slowly forward, caught the eye of Mr. Garie, +who started up, astonished at the commanding figure before him. + +"Mr. Garie, I presume?" said Mr. Walters. + +"Yes," he replied, and added, as he extended his hand; "I have the pleasure +of addressing Mr. Walters, I suppose?" + +Mr. Walters bowed low as he accepted the proffered hand, and courteously +requested his visitor to be seated. + +As Mr. Garie resumed his seat, he could not repress a look of surprise, +which Mr. Walters apparently perceived, for a smile slightly curled his lip +as he also took a seat opposite his visitor. + +Mr. Walters was above six feet in height, and exceedingly +well-proportioned; of jet-black complexion, and smooth glossy skin. His +head was covered with a quantity of woolly hair, which was combed back from +a broad but not very high forehead. His eyes were small, black, and +piercing, and set deep in his head. His aquiline nose, thin lips, and broad +chin, were the very reverse of African in their shape, and gave his face a +very singular appearance. In repose, his countenance was severe in its +expression; but when engaged in agreeable conversation, the thin +sarcastic-looking lips would part, displaying a set of dazzlingly white +teeth, and the small black eyes would sparkle with animation. The neatness +and care with which he was dressed added to the attractiveness of his +appearance. His linen was the perfection of whiteness, and his snowy vest +lost nothing by its contact therewith. A long black frock coat, black +pants, and highly-polished boots, completed his attire. + +"I hope," said he, "your house suits you; it is one of my own, and has +never been rented except for a short time to a careful tenant, who was +waiting for his own house to be finished. I think you will find it +comfortable." + +"Oh, perfectly so, I am quite sure. I must thank you for the prompt manner +in which you have arranged everything for us. It seems more like coming to +an old home than to a new residence," replied Mr. Garie. + +"I am delighted to hear you say so," said Mr. Walters. "I shall be most +happy to call and pay my respects to Mrs. Garie when agreeable to her. +Depend upon it, we will do all in our power to make our quiet city pleasant +to you both." + +Mr. Garie thanked him, and after some further conversation, rose to depart. + +As he was leaving the room, he stopped before the picture which had so +engaged his attention, when Mr. Walters entered. + +"So you, too, are attracted by that picture," said Mr. Walters, with a +smile. "All white men look at it with interest. A black man in the uniform +of a general officer is something so unusual that they cannot pass it with +a glance." "It is, indeed, rather a novelty," replied Mr. Garie, +"particularly to a person from my part of the country. Who is it?" + +"That is Toussaint l'Ouverture," replied Mr. Walters; "and I have every +reason to believe it to be a correct likeness. It was presented to an +American merchant by Toussaint himself--a present in return for some +kindness shown him. This merchant's son, not having the regard for the +picture that his father entertained for it, sold it to me. That," continued +Mr. Walters, "looks like a man of intelligence. It is entirely different +from any likeness I ever saw of him. The portraits generally represent him +as a monkey-faced person, with a handkerchief about his head." + +"This," said Mr. Garie, "gives me an idea of the man that accords with his +actions." + +Thus speaking, he continued looking at the picture for a short time, and +then took his departure, after requesting Mr. Walters to call upon him at +an early opportunity. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Mr. Garie's Neighbour. + + +We must now introduce our readers into the back parlour of the house +belonging to Mr. Garie's next-door neighbour, Mr. Thomas Stevens. + +We find this gentleman standing at a window that overlooked his garden, +enjoying a fragrant Havannah. His appearance was not by any means +prepossessing; he was rather above than below the middle height, with round +shoulders, and long, thin arms, finished off by disagreeable-looking hands. +His head was bald on the top, and the thin greyish-red hair, that grew more +thickly about his ears, was coaxed up to that quarter, where an attempt had +been made to effect such a union between the cords of the hair from each +side as should cover the place in question. + +The object, however, remained unaccomplished; as the hair was either very +obstinate and would not be induced to lie as desired, or from extreme +modesty objected to such an elevated position, and, in consequence, stopped +half-way, as if undecided whether to lie flat or remain erect, producing +the effect that would have been presented had he been decorated with a pair +of horns. His baldness might have given an air of benevolence to his face, +but for the shaggy eyebrows that over-shadowed his cunning-looking grey +eyes. His cheekbones were high, and the cadaverous skin was so tightly +drawn across them, as to give it a very parchment-like appearance. Around +his thin compressed lips there was a continual nervous twitching, that +added greatly to the sinister aspect of his face. + +On the whole, he was a person from whom you would instinctively shrink; +and had he been president or director of a bank in which you had money +deposited, his general aspect would not have given you additional +confidence in the stable character or just administration of its affairs. + +Mr. George Stevens was a pettifogging attorney, who derived a tolerable +income from a rather disreputable legal practice picked up among the courts +that held their sessions in the various halls of the State-house. He was +known in the profession as Slippery George, from the easy manner in which +he glided out of scrapes that would have been fatal to the reputation of +any other lawyer. Did a man break into a house, and escape without being +actually caught on the spot with the goods in his possession, Stevens was +always able to prove an alibi by a long array of witnesses. In fact, he was +considered by the swell gentry of the city as their especial friend and +protector, and by the members of the bar generally as anything but an +ornament to the profession. + +He had had rather a fatiguing day's labour, and on the evening of which we +write, was indulging in his usual cigar, and amusing himself at the same +time by observing the gambols of Clarence and little Em, who were enjoying +a romp in their father's garden. + +"Come here, Jule," said he, "and look at our new neighbour's +children--rather pretty, ain't they?" + +He was joined by a diminutive red-faced woman, with hair and eyes very much +like his own, and a face that wore a peevish, pinched expression. + +"Rather good-looking," she replied, after observing them for a few minutes, +and then added, "Have you seen their parents?" + +"No, not yet," was the reply. "I met Walters in the street this morning, +who informed me they are from the South, and very rich; we must try and +cultivate them--ask the children in to play with ours, and strike up an +intimacy in that way, the rest will follow naturally, you know. By the way, +Jule," continued he, "how I hate that nigger Walters, with his grand airs. +I wanted some money of him the other day on rather ticklish securities for +a client of mine, and the black wretch kept me standing in his hall for at +least five minutes, and then refused me, with some not very complimentary +remarks upon my assurance in offering him such securities. It made me so +mad I could have choked him--it is bad enough to be treated with _hauteur_ +by a white man, but contempt from a nigger is almost unendurable." + +"Why didn't you resent it in some way? I never would have submitted to +anything of the kind from him," interrupted Mrs. Stevens. + +"Oh, I don't dare to just now; I have to be as mild as milk with him. You +forget about the mortgage; don't you know he has me in a tight place there, +and I don't see how to get out of it either. If I am called Slippery +George, I tell you what, Jule, there's not a better man of business in the +whole of Philadelphia than that same Walters, nigger as he is; and no one +offends him without paying dear for it in some way or other. I'll tell you +something he did last week. He went up to Trenton on business, and at the +hotel they refused to give him dinner because of his colour, and told him +they did not permit niggers to eat at their tables. What does he do but buy +the house over the landlord's head. The lease had just expired, and the +landlord was anxious to negotiate another; he was also making some +arrangements with his creditors, which could not be effected unless he was +enabled to renew the lease of the premises he occupied. On learning that +the house had been sold, he came down to the city to negotiate with the new +owner, and to his astonishment found him to be the very man he had refused +a meal to the week before. Blunt happened to be in Walters's office at the +time the fellow called. Walters, he says, drew himself up to his full +height, and looked like an ebony statue. + +"Sir," said he, "I came to your house and asked for a meal, for which I was +able to pay; you not only refused it to me, but heaped upon me words such +as fall only from the lips of blackguards. You refuse to have me in your +house--I object to have you in mine: you will, therefore, quit the +premises immediately." The fellow sneaked out quite crestfallen, and his +creditors have broken him up completely. + +"I tell you what, Jule, if I was a black," continued he, "living in a +country like this, I'd sacrifice conscience and everything else to the +acquisition of wealth." + +As he concluded, he turned from the window and sat down by a small table, +upon which a lighted lamp had been placed, and where a few law papers were +awaiting a perusal. + +A little boy and girl were sitting opposite to him. The boy was playing +with a small fly-trap, wherein he had already imprisoned a vast number of +buzzing sufferers. In appearance he bore a close resemblance to his father; +he had the same red hair and sallow complexion, but his grey eyes had a +dull leaden hue. + +"Do let them go, George, do!" said the little girl, in a pleading tone. +"You'll kill them, shut up there." + +"I don't care if I do," replied he, doggedly; "I can catch more--look +here;" and as he spoke he permitted a few of the imprisoned insects to +creep partly out, and then brought the lid down upon them with a force that +completely demolished them. + +The little girl shuddered at this wanton exhibition of cruelty, and offered +him a paper of candy if he would liberate his prisoners, which he did +rather reluctantly, but promising himself to replenish the box at the first +opportunity. + +"Ah!" said he, in a tone of exultation, "father took me with him to the +jail to-day, and I saw all the people locked up. I mean to be a jailer some +of these days. Wouldn't you like to keep a jail, Liz?" continued he, his +leaden eyes receiving a slight accession of brightness at the idea. + +"Oh, no!" replied she; "I would let all the people go, if I kept the jail." + +A more complete contrast than this little girl presented to her parents and +brother, cannot be imagined. She had very dark chestnut hair, and mild blue +eyes, and a round, full face, which, in expression, was sweetness itself. +She was about six years old, and her brother's junior by an equal number +of years. + +Her mother loved her, but thought her tame and spiritless in her +disposition; and her father cherished as much affection for her as he was +capable of feeling for any one but himself. + +Mrs. Stevens, however, doted on their eldest hope, who was as disagreeable +as a thoroughly spoiled and naturally evil-disposed boy could be. + +As the evenings had now become quite warm, Mr. Garie frequently took a +chair and enjoyed his evening cigar upon the door-step of his house; and as +Mr. Stevens thought his steps equally suited to this purpose, it was very +natural he should resort there with the same object. + +Mr. Stevens found no difficulty in frequently bringing about short +neighbourly conversations with Mr. Garie. The little folk, taking their cue +from their parents, soon became intimate, and ran in and out of each +other's houses in the most familiar manner possible. Lizzy Stevens and +little Em joined hearts immediately, and their intimacy had already been +cemented by frequent consultations on the various ailments wherewith they +supposed their dolls afflicted. + +Clarence got on only tolerably with George Stevens; he entertained for him +that deference that one boy always has for another who is his superior in +any boyish pastime; but there was little affection lost between them--they +cared very little for each other's society. + +Mrs. Garie, since her arrival, had been much confined to her room, in +consequence of her protracted indisposition. Mrs. Stevens had several times +intimated to Mr. Garie her intention of paying his wife a visit; but never +having received any very decided encouragement, she had not pressed the +matter, though her curiosity was aroused, and she was desirous of seeing +what kind of person Mrs. Garie could be. + +Her son George in his visits had never been permitted farther than the +front parlour; and all the information that could be drawn from little +Lizzy, who was frequently in Mrs. Garie's bedroom, was that "she was a +pretty lady, with great large eyes." One evening, when Mr. Garie was +occupying his accustomed seat, he was accosted from the other side by Mrs. +Stevens, who, as usual, was very particular in her inquiries after the +state of his wife's health; and on learning that she was so much improved +as to be down-stairs, suggested that, perhaps, she would be willing to +receive her. + +"No doubt she will," rejoined Mr. Garie; and he immediately entered the +house to announce the intended visit. The lamps were not lighted when Mrs. +Stevens was introduced, and faces could not, therefore, be clearly +distinguished. + +"My dear," said Mr. Garie, "this is our neighbour, Mrs. Stevens." + +"Will you excuse me for not rising?" said Mrs. Garie, extending her hand to +her visitor. "I have been quite ill, or I should have been most happy to +have received you before. My little folks are in your house a great deal--I +hope you do not find them troublesome." + +"Oh, by no means! I quite dote on your little Emily, she is such a sweet +child--so very affectionate. It is a great comfort to have such a child +near for my own to associate with--they have got quite intimate, as I hope +we soon shall be." + +Mrs. Garie thanked her for the kindness implied in the wish, and said she +trusted they should be so. + +"And how do you like your house?" asked Mrs. Stevens; "it is on the same +plan as ours, and we find ours very convenient. They both formerly belonged +to Walters; my husband purchased of him. Do you intend to buy?" + +"It is very probable we shall, if we continue to like Philadelphia," +answered Mr. Garie. + +"I'm delighted to hear that," rejoined she--"very glad, indeed. It quite +relieves my mind about one thing: ever since Mr. Stevens purchased our +house we have been tormented with the suspicion that Walters would put a +family of niggers in this; and if there is one thing in this world I detest +more than another, it is coloured people, I think." + +Mr. Garie here interrupted her by making some remark quite foreign to the +subject, with the intention, no doubt, of drawing her off this topic. The +attempt was, however, an utter failure, for she continued--"I think all +those that are not slaves ought to be sent out of the country back to +Africa, where they belong: they are, without exception, the most ignorant, +idle, miserable set I ever saw." + +"I think," said Mr. Garie, "I can show you at least one exception, and that +too without much trouble. Sarah," he cried, "bring me a light." + +"Oh," said Mrs. Stevens, "I suppose you refer to Walters--it is true he is +an exception; but he is the only coloured person I ever saw that could make +the least pretension to anything like refinement or respectability. + +"Let me show you another," said Mr. Garie, as he took the lamp from the +servant and placed it upon the table near his wife. + +As the light fell on her face, their visitor saw that she belonged to the +very class that she had been abusing in such unmeasured terms and so +petrified was she with confusion at the _faux pas_ she had committed, that +she was entirely unable to improvise the slightest apology. + +Mrs. Garie, who had been reclining on the lounge, partially raised herself +and gave Mrs. Stevens a withering look. "I presume, madam," said she, in a +hurried and agitated tone, "that you are very ignorant of the people upon +whom you have just been heaping such unmerited abuse, and therefore I shall +not think so hardly of you as I should, did I deem your language dictated +by pure hatred; but, be its origin what it may, it is quite evident that +our farther acquaintance could be productive of no pleasure to either of +us--you will, therefore, permit me," continued she, rising with great +dignity, "to wish you good evening;" and thus speaking, she left the room. + +Mrs. Stevens was completely demolished by this unexpected _denouement_ of +her long-meditated visit, and could only feebly remark to Mr. Garie that it +was getting late, and she would go; and rising, she suffered herself to be +politely bowed out of the house. In her intense anxiety to relate to her +husband the scene which had just occurred, she could not take time to go +round and through the gate, but leaped lightly over the low fence that +divided the gardens, and rushed precipitately into the presence of her +husband. + +"Good heavens! George, what do you think?" she exclaimed; "I've had such a +surprise!" + +"I should think that you had, judging from appearances," replied he. "Why, +your eyes are almost starting out of your head! What on earth has +happened?" he asked, as he took the shade off the lamp to get a better view +of his amiable partner. + +"You would not guess in a year," she rejoined; "I never would have dreamed +it--I never was so struck in my life!" + +"Struck with what? Do talk sensibly, Jule, and say what all this is about," +interrupted her husband, in an impatient manner. "Come, out with it--what +has happened?" + +"Why, would you have thought it," said she; "Mrs. Garie is a nigger +woman--a real nigger--she would be known as such anywhere?" + +It was now Mr. Stevens's turn to be surprised. "Why, Jule," he exclaimed, +"you astonish me! Come, now, you're joking--you don't mean a real black +nigger?" + +"Oh, no, not jet black--but she's dark enough. She is as dark as that Sarah +we employed as cook some time ago." + +"You don't say so! Wonders will never cease--and he such a gentleman, too!" +resumed her husband. + +"Yes; and it's completely sickening," continued Mrs. Stevens, "to see them +together; he calls her my dear, and is as tender and affectionate to her as +if she was a Circassian--and she nothing but a nigger--faugh! it's +disgusting." + +Little Clarence had been standing near, unnoticed by either of them during +this conversation, and they were therefore greatly surprised when he +exclaimed, with a burst of tears, "My mother is not a nigger any more than +you are! How dare you call her such a bad name? I'll tell my father!" + +Mr. Stevens gave a low whistle, and looking at his wife, pointed to the +door. Mrs. Stevens laid her hand on the shoulder of Clarence, and led him +to the door, saying, as she did so, "Don't come in here any more--I don't +wish you to come into my house;" and then closing it, returned to her +husband. + +"You know, George," said she, "that I went in to pay her a short visit. I +hadn't the remotest idea that she was a coloured woman, and I commenced +giving my opinion respecting niggers very freely, when suddenly her husband +called for a light, and I then saw to whom I had been talking. You may +imagine my astonishment--I was completely dumb--and it would have done you +good to have seen the air with which she left the room, after as good as +telling me to leave the house." + +"Well," said Mr. Stevens, "this is what may be safely termed an unexpected +event. But, Jule," he continued, "you had better pack these young folks off +to bed, and then you can tell me the rest of it." + +Clarence stood for some time on the steps of the house from which he had +been so unkindly ejected, with his little heart swelling with indignation. +He had often heard the term nigger used in its reproachful sense, but never +before had it been applied to him or his, at least in his presence. It was +the first blow the child received from the prejudice whose relentless hand +was destined to crush him in after-years. + +It was his custom, when any little grief pressed upon his childish heart, +to go and pour out his troubles on the breast of his mother; but he +instinctively shrunk from confiding this to her; for, child as he was, he +knew it would make her very unhappy. He therefore gently stole into the +house, crept quietly up to his room, lay down, and sobbed himself to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Hopes consummated. + + +To Emily Winston we have always accorded the title of Mrs. Garie; whilst, +in reality, she had no legal claim to it whatever. + +Previous to their emigration from Georgia, Mr. Garie had, on one or two +occasions, attempted, but without success, to make her legally his wife. + +He ascertained that, even if he could have found a clergyman willing to +expose himself to persecution by marrying them, the ceremony itself would +have no legal weight, as a marriage between a white and a mulatto was not +recognized as valid by the laws of the state; and he had, therefore, been +compelled to dismiss the matter from his mind, until an opportunity should +offer for the accomplishment of their wishes. + +Now, however, that they had removed to the north, where they would have no +legal difficulties to encounter, he determined to put his former intention +into execution. Although Emily had always maintained a studied silence on +the subject, he knew that it was the darling wish of her heart to be +legally united to him; so he unhesitatingly proceeded to arrange matters +for the consummation of what he felt assured would promote the happiness of +both. He therefore wrote to Dr. Blackly, a distinguished clergyman of the +city, requesting him to perform the ceremony, and received from him an +assurance that he would be present at the appointed time. + +Matters having progressed thus far, he thought it time to inform Emily of +what he had done. On the evening succeeding the receipt of an answer from +the Rev. Dr. Blackly--after the children had been sent to bed--he called +her to him, and, taking her hand, sat down beside her on the sofa. + +"Emily," said he, as he drew her closer to him, "my dear, faithful Emily! I +am about to do you an act of justice--one, too, that I feel will increase +the happiness of us both. I am going to marry you, my darling! I am about +to give you a lawful claim to what you have already won by your +faithfulness and devotion. You know I tried, more than once, whilst in the +south, to accomplish this, but, owing to the cruel and unjust laws existing +there, I was unsuccessful. But now, love, no such difficulty exists; and +here," continued he, "is an answer to the note I have written to Dr. +Blackly, asking him to come next Wednesday night, and perform the +ceremony.--You are willing, are you not, Emily?" he asked. + +"Willing!" she exclaimed, in a voice tremulous with emotion--"willing! Oh, +God! if you only knew how I have longed for it! It has been my earnest +desire for years!" and, bursting into tears, she leaned, sobbing, on his +shoulder. + +After a few moments she raised her head, and, looking searchingly in his +face, she asked: "But do you do this after full reflection on the +consequences to ensue? Are you willing to sustain all the odium, to endure +all the contumely, to which your acknowledged union with one of my +unfortunate race will subject you? Clarence! it will be a severe trial--a +greater one than any you have yet endured for me--and one for which I fear +my love will prove but a poor recompense! I have thought more of these +things lately; I am older now in years and experience. There was a time +when I was vain enough to think that my affection was all that was +necessary for your happiness; but men, I know, require more to fill their +cup of content than the undivided affection of a woman, no matter how +fervently beloved. You have talents, and, I have sometimes thought, +ambition. Oh, Clarence! how it would grieve me, in after-years, to know +that you regretted that for me you had sacrificed all those views and +hopes that are cherished by the generality of your sex! Have you weighed +it well?" + +"Yes, Emily--well," replied Mr. Garie; "and you know the conclusion. My +past should be a guarantee for the future. I had the world before me, and +chose you--and with, you I am contented to share my lot; and feel that I +receive, in your affection, a full reward for any of the so-called +sacrifices I may make. So, dry your tears, my dear," concluded he, "and let +us hope for nothing but an increase of happiness as the result." + +After a few moments of silence, he resumed: "It will be necessary, Emily, +to have a couple of witnesses. Now, whom would you prefer? I would suggest +Mrs. Ellis and her husband. They are old friends, and persons on whose +prudence we can rely. It would not do to have the matter talked about, as +it would expose us to disagreeable comments." + +Mrs. Garie agreed perfectly with him as to the selection of Mr. and Mrs. +Ellis; and immediately despatched a note to Mrs. Ellis, asking her to call +at their house on the morrow. + +When she came, Emily informed her, with some confusion of manner, of the +intended marriage, and asked her attendance as witness, at the same time +informing her of the high opinion her husband entertained of their prudence +in any future discussion of the matter. + +"I am really glad he is going to marry you, Emily," replied Mrs. Ellis, +"and depend upon it we will do all in our power to aid it. Only yesterday, +that inquisitive Mrs. Tiddy was at our house, and, in conversation +respecting you, asked if I knew you to be married to Mr. Garie. I turned +the conversation somehow, without giving her a direct answer. Mr. Garie, I +must say, does act nobly towards you. He must love you, Emily, for not one +white man in a thousand would make such a sacrifice for a coloured woman. +You can't tell how we all like him--he is so amiable, so kind in his +manner, and makes everyone so much at ease in his company. It's real good +in him, I declare, and I shall begin to have some faith in white folks, +after all.--Wednesday night," continued she; "very well--we shall be here, +if the Lord spare us;" and, kissing Emily, she hurried off, to impart the +joyful intelligence to her husband. + +The anxiously looked for Wednesday evening at last arrived, and Emily +arrayed herself in a plain white dress for the occasion. Her long black +hair had been arranged in ringlets by Mrs. Ellis, who stood by, gazing +admiringly at her. + +"How sweet you look, Emily--you only want a wreath of orange blossoms to +complete your appearance. Don't you feel a little nervous?" asked her +friend. + +"A little excited," she answered, and her hand shook as she put back one of +the curls that had fallen across her face. Just then a loud ringing at the +door announced the arrival of Dr. Blackly, who was shown into the front +parlour. + +Emily and Mrs. Ellis came down into the room where Mr. Garie was waiting +for them, whilst Mr. Ellis brought in Dr. Blackly. The reverend gentleman +gazed with some surprise at the party assembled. Mr. Garie was so +thoroughly Saxon in appearance, that no one could doubt to what race he +belonged, and it was equally evident that Emily, Mrs. Ellis, and her +husband, were coloured persons. + +Dr. Blackly looked from one to the other with evident embarrassment, and +then said to Mr. Garie, in a low, hesitating tone:-- + +"I think there has been some mistake here--will you do me the favour to +step into another room?" + +Mr. Garie mechanically complied, and stood waiting to learn the cause of +Dr. Blackly's strange conduct. + +"You are a white man, I believe?" at last stammered forth the doctor. + +"Yes, sir; I presume my appearance is a sufficient guarantee of that," +answered Mr. Garie. + +"Oh yes, I do not doubt it, and for that reason you must not be surprised +if I decline to proceed with the ceremony." + +"I do not see how my being a white man can act as a barrier to its +performance," remarked Mr. Garie in reply. "It would not, sir, if all the +parties were of one complexion; but I do not believe in the propriety of +amalgamation, and on no consideration could I be induced to assist in the +union of a white man or woman with a person who has the slightest infusion +of African blood in their veins. I believe the negro race," he continued, +"to be marked out by the hand of God for servitude; and you must pardon me +if I express my surprise that a gentleman of your evident intelligence +should seek such a connection--you must be labouring under some horrible +infatuation." + +"Enough, sir," replied Mr. Garie, proudly; "I only regret that I did not +know it was necessary to relate every circumstance of appearance, +complexion, &c. I wished to obtain a marriage certificate, not a passport. +I mistook you for a _Christian minister_, which mistake you will please to +consider as my apology for having troubled you;" and thus speaking, he +bowed Dr. Blackly out of the house. Mr. Garie stepped back to the door of +the parlour and called out Mr. Ellis. + +"We are placed in a very difficult dilemma," said he, as he was joined by +the latter. "Would you believe it? that prejudiced old sinner has actually +refused to marry us." + +"It is no more than you might have expected of him--he's a thorough +nigger-hater--keeps a pew behind the organ of his church for coloured +people, and will not permit them to receive the sacrament until all the +white members of his congregation are served. Why, I don't see what on +earth induced you to send for him." + +"I knew nothing of his sentiments respecting coloured people. I did not for +a moment have an idea that he would hesitate to marry us. There is no law +here that forbids it. What can we do?" said Mr. Garie, despairingly. + +"I know a minister who will marry you with pleasure, if I can only catch +him at home; he is so much engaged in visiting the sick and other pastoral +duties." + +"Do go--hunt him up, Ellis. It will be a great favour to me, if you can +induce him to come. Poor Emily--what a disappointment this will be to +her," said he, as he entered the room where she was sitting. + +"What is the matter, dear?" she asked, as she observed Garie's anxious +face. "I hope there is no new difficulty." + +Mr. Garie briefly explained what had just occurred, and informed her, in +addition, of Mr. Ellis having gone to see if he could get Father Banks, as +the venerable old minister was called. + +"It seems, dear," said she, despondingly, "as if Providence looked +unfavourably on our design; for every time you have attempted it, we have +been in some way thwarted;" and the tears chased one another down her face, +which had grown pale in the excitement of the moment. + +"Oh, don't grieve about it, dear; it is only a temporary disappointment. I +can't think all the clergymen in the city are like Dr. Blackly. Some one +amongst them will certainly oblige us. We won't despair; at least not until +Ellis comes back." + +They had not very long to wait; for soon after this conversation footsteps +were heard in the garden, and Mr. Ellis entered, followed by the clergyman. + +In a very short space of time they were united by Father Banks, who seemed +much affected as he pronounced his blessing upon them. + +"My children," he said, tremulously, "you are entering upon a path which, +to the most favoured, is full of disappointment, care, and anxieties; but +to you who have come together under such peculiar circumstances, in the +face of so many difficulties, and in direct opposition to the prejudices of +society, it will be fraught with more danger, and open to more annoyances, +than if you were both of one race. But if men revile you, revile not again; +bear it patiently for the sake of Him who has borne so much for you. God +bless you, my children," said he, and after shaking hands with them all, he +departed. + +Mr. and Mrs. Ellis took their leave soon after, and then Mrs. Garie stole +upstairs alone into the room where the children were sleeping. It seemed +to her that night that they were more beautiful than ever, as they lay in +their little beds quietly slumbering. She knelt beside them, and earnestly +prayed their heavenly Father that the union which had just been consummated +in the face of so many difficulties might prove a boon to them all. + +"Where have you been, you runaway?" exclaimed her husband as she re-entered +the parlour. "You stayed away so long, I began to have all sorts of +frightful ideas--I thought of the 'mistletoe hung in the castle hall,' and +of old oak chests, and all kind of terrible things. I've been sitting here +alone ever since the Ellises went: where have you been?" + +"Oh, I've been upstairs looking at the children. Bless their young hearts! +they looked so sweet and happy--and how they grow! Clarence is getting to +be quite a little man; don't you think it time, dear, that he was sent to +school? I have so much more to occupy my mind here than I had in Georgia, +so many household duties to attend to, that I am unable to give that +attention to his lessons which I feel is requisite. Besides, being so much +at home, he has associated with that wretched boy of the Stevens's, and is +growing rude and noisy; don't you think he had better be sent to school?" + +"Oh yes, Emily, if you wish it," was Mr. Garie's reply. "I will search out +a school to-morrow, or next day;" and taking out his watch, he continued, +"it is near twelve o'clock--how the night has flown away--we must be off to +bed. After the excitement of the evening, and your exertions of to-day, I +fear that you will be indisposed to-morrow." + +Clarence, although over nine years old, was so backward in learning, that +they were obliged to send him to a small primary school which had recently +been opened in the neighbourhood; and as it was one for children of both +sexes, it was deemed advisable to send little Em with him. + +"I do so dislike to have her go," said her mother, as her husband proposed +that she should accompany Clarence; "she seems so small to be sent to +school. I'm afraid she won't be happy." + +"Oh! don't give yourself the least uneasiness about her not being happy +there, for a more cheerful set of little folks I never beheld. You would be +astonished to see how exceedingly young some of them are." + +"What kind of a person is the teacher?" asked Mrs. Garie. + +"Oh! she's a charming little creature; the very embodiment of cheerfulness +and good humour. She has sparkling black eyes, a round rosy face, and can't +be more than sixteen, if she is that old. Had I had such a teacher when a +boy, I should have got on charmingly; but mine was a cross old widow, who +wore spectacles and took an amazing quantity of snuff, and used to flog +upon the slightest pretence. I went into her presence with fear and +trembling. I could never learn anything from her, and that must be my +excuse for my present literary short-comings. But you need have no fear +respecting Em getting on with Miss Jordan: I don't believe she could be +unkind to any one, least of all to our little darling." + +"Then you will take them down in the morning," suggested Mrs. Garie; "but +on no account leave Emily unless she wishes to stay." + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Charlie at Warmouth. + + +After the departure of Mrs. Bird to visit her sick friend, Betsey turned to +Charlie and bid him follow her into the kitchen. "I suppose you haven't +been to breakfast," said she, in a patronizing manner; "if you haven't, you +are just in time, as we will be done ours in a little while, and then you +can have yours." + +Charlie silently followed her down into the kitchen, where a man-servant +and the younger maid were already at breakfast; the latter arose, and was +placing another plate upon the table, when Betsey frowned and nodded +disapprovingly to her. "Let him wait," whispered she; "I'm not going to eat +with niggers." + +"Oh! he's such a nice little fellow," replied Eliza, in an undertone; "let +him eat with us." + +Betsey here suggested to Charlie that he had better go up to the maple +chamber, wash his face, and take his things out of his trunk, and that when +his breakfast was ready she would call him. + +"What on earth can induce you to want to eat with a nigger?" asked Betsey, +as soon as Charlie was out of hearing. "I couldn't do it; my victuals would +turn on my stomach. I never ate at the same table with a nigger in my +life." + +"Nor I neither," rejoined Eliza; "but I see no reason why I should not. The +child appears to have good manners, he is neat and good-looking, and +because God has curled his hair more than he has ours, and made his skin a +little darker than yours or mine, that is no reason we should treat him as +if he was not a human being." Alfred, the gardener, had set down his +saucer and appeared very much astonished at this declaration of sentiment +on the part of Eliza, and sneeringly remarked, "You're an Abolitionist, I +suppose." + +"No, I am not," replied she, reddening; "but I've been taught that God made +all alike; one no better than the other. You know the Bible says God is no +respecter of persons." + +"Well, if it does," rejoined Alfred, with a stolid-look, "it don't say that +man isn't to be either, does it? When I see anything in my Bible that tells +me I'm to eat and drink with niggers, I'll do it, and not before. I suppose +you think that all the slaves ought to be free, and all the rest of the +darned stuff these Abolitionists are preaching. Now if you want to eat with +the nigger, you can; nobody wants to hinder you. Perhaps he may marry you +when he grows up--don't you think you had better set your cap at him?" + +Eliza made no reply to this low taunt, but ate her breakfast in silence. + +"I don't see what Mrs. Bird brought him here for; she says he is sick,--had +a broken arm or something; I can't imagine what use she intends to make of +him," remarked Betsey. + +"I don't think she intends him to be a servant here, at any rate," said +Eliza; "or why should she have him put in the maple chamber, when there are +empty rooms enough in the garret?" + +"Well, I guess I know what she brought him for," interposed Alfred. "I +asked her before she went away to get a little boy to help me do odd jobs, +now that Reuben is about to leave; we shall want a boy to clean the boots, +run on errands, drive up the cows, and do other little chores.[*] I'm glad +he's a black boy; I can order him round more, you know, than if he was +white, and he won't get his back up half as often either. You may depend +upon it, that's what Mrs. Bird has brought him here for." The gardener, +having convinced himself that his view of the matter was the correct one, +went into the garden for his day's labour, and two or three things that he +had intended doing he left unfinished, with the benevolent intention of +setting Charlie at them the next morning. + +[Footnote *: A Yankeeism, meaning little jobs about a farm.] + +Charlie, after bathing his face and arranging his hair, looked from the +window at the wide expanse of country spread out before him, all bright and +glowing in the warm summer sunlight. Broad well-cultivated fields stretched +away from the foot of the garden to the river beyond, and the noise of the +waterfall, which was but a short distance off, was distinctly heard, and +the sparkling spray was clearly visible through the openings of the trees. +"What a beautiful place,--what grand fields to run in; an orchard, too, +full of blossoming fruit-trees! Well, this is nice," exclaimed Charlie, as +his eye ran over the prospect; but in the midst of his rapture came rushing +back upon him the remembrance of the cavalier treatment he had met with +below-stairs, and he said with a sigh, as the tears sprang to his eyes, +"But it is not home, after all." Just at this moment he heard his name +called by Betsey, and he hastily descended into the kitchen. At one end of +the partially-cleared table a clean plate and knife and fork had been +placed, and he was speedily helped to the remains of what the servants had +been eating. + +"You mustn't be long," said Betsey, "for to-day is ironing day, and we want +the table as soon as possible." + +The food was plentiful and good, but Charlie could not eat; his heart was +full and heavy,--the child felt his degradation. "Even the servants refuse +to eat with me because I am coloured," thought he. "Oh! I wish I was at +home!" + +"Why don't you eat?" asked Betsey. + +"I don't think I want any breakfast; I'm not hungry," was the reply. + +"I hope you are not sulky," she rejoined; "we don't like sulky boys here; +why don't you eat?" she repeated. + +The sharp, cold tones of her voice struck a chill into the child's heart, +and his lip quivered as he stammered something farther about not being +hungry; and he hurried away into the garden, where he calmed his feelings +and allayed his home-sickness by a hearty burst of tears. After this was +over, he wandered through the garden and fields until dinner; then, by +reading his book and by another walk, he managed to get through the day. + +The following morning, as he was coming down stairs, he was met by Alfred, +who accosted him with, "Oh! you're up, are you; I was just going to call +you." And looking at Charlie from head to foot, he inquired, "Is that your +best suit?" + +"No, it's my worst," replied Charlie. "I have two suits better than this;" +and thinking that Mrs. Bird had arrived, he continued, "I'll put on my best +if Mrs. Bird wants me." + +"No, she ain't home," was the reply; "it's me that wants you; come down +here; I've got a little job for you. Take this," said he, handing him a +dirty tow apron, "and tie it around your neck; it will keep the blacking +off your clothes, you know. Now," continued he, "I want you to clean these +boots; these two pairs are Mr. Tyndall's--them you need not be particular +with; but this pair is mine, and I want 'em polished up high,--now mind, I +tell you. I'm going to wear a new pair of pants to meetin' to-morrow, and I +expect to cut a dash, so you'll do 'em up slick, now won't you?" + +"I'll do my best," said Charlie, who, although he did not dislike work, +could not relish the idea of cleaning the servants' boots. "I'm afraid I +shall find this a queer place," thought he. "I shall not like living here, +I know--wait for my meals until the servants have finished, and clean their +boots into the bargain. This is worse than being with Mrs. Thomas." + +Charlie, however, went at it with a will, and was busily engaged in putting +the finishing touches on Alfred's boots, when he heard his name called, and +on looking up, saw Mrs. Bird upon the piazza above. "Why, bless me! +child, what are you about?--whose boots are those, and why are you cleaning +them?" + +"Oh!" he replied, his face brightening up at the sight of Mrs. Bird, "I'm +so glad you're come; those are Mr. Tyndall's boots, and these," he +continued, holding up the boots on which he was engaged, "are the +gardener's." + +"And who, pray, instructed you to clean them?" + +"The gardener," replied Charlie. + +"He did, did he?" said Mrs. Bird, indignantly. "Very well; now do you take +off that apron and come to me immediately; before you do, however, tell +Alfred I want him." + +Charlie quickly divested himself of the tow apron, and after having +informed the gardener that Mrs. Bird desired his presence in the parlour, +he ran up there himself. Alfred came lumbering up stairs, after giving his +boots an unusual scraping and cleansing preparatory to entering upon that +part of the premises which to him was generally forbidden ground. + +"By whose direction did you set the child at that dirty work?" asked Mrs. +Bird, after he had entered the room. + +"I hadn't anybody's direction to set him to work, but I thought you brought +him here to do odd jobs. You know, ma'am, I asked you some time ago to get +a boy, and I thought this was the one." + +"And if he had been, you would have taken a great liberty in assigning him +any duties without first consulting me. But he is not a servant here, nor +do I intend him to be such; and let me inform you, that instead of his +cleaning your boots, it will be your duty henceforth to clean his. Now," +continued she, "you know his position here, let me see that you remember +yours. You can go." This was said in so peremptory a manner, as to leave no +room for discussion or rejoinder, and Alfred, with a chagrined look, went +muttering down stairs. + +"Things have come to a pretty pass," grumbled he. "I'm to wait on niggers, +black their boots, and drive them out, too, I suppose. I'd leave at once if +it wasn't such a good situation. Drat the old picture--what has come over +her I wonder--she'll be asking old Aunt Charity, the black washerwoman to +dine with her next. She has either gone crazy or turned abolitionist, I +don't know which; something has happened to her, that's certain." + +"Now, Charlie," said Mrs. Bird, as the door closed upon the crest-fallen +gardener, "go to your room and dress yourself nicely. After I've eaten my +breakfast, I am going to visit a friend, and I want you to accompany me; +don't be long." + +"Can't I eat mine first, Mrs. Bird?" he asked, in reply. + +"I thought you had had yours, long ago," rejoined she. + +"The others hadn't finished theirs when you called me, and I don't get mine +until they have done," said Charlie. + +"Until they have done; how happens that?" asked Mrs. Bird. + +"I think they don't like to eat with me, because I'm coloured," was +Charlie's hesitating reply. + +"That is too much," exclaimed Mrs. Bird; "if it were not so very +ridiculous, I should be angry. It remains for me, then," continued she, "to +set them an example. I've not eaten my breakfast yet--come, sit down with +me, and we'll have it together." + +Charlie followed Mrs. Bird into the breakfast-room, and took the seat +pointed out by her. Eliza, when she entered with the tea-urn, opened her +eyes wide with astonishment at the singular spectacle she beheld. Her +mistress sitting down to breakfast _vis-a-vis_ to a little coloured boy! +Depositing the urn upon the table, she hastened back to the kitchen to +report upon the startling events that were occurring in the breakfast-room. + +"Well, I never," said she; "that beats anything I ever did see; why, Mrs. +Bird must have turned abolitionist. Charlie is actually sitting at the same +table with her, eating his breakfast as natural and unconcerned as if he +was as white as snow! Wonders never will cease. You see I'm right though. I +said that child wasn't brought here for a servant--we've done it for +ourselves now--only think how mad she'll be when she finds he was made to +wait for his meals until we have done. I'm glad I wasn't the one who +refused to eat with him." + +"I guess she has been giving Alfred a blowing up," said Betsy, "for setting +him at boot cleaning; for he looked like a thunder-cloud when he came down +stairs, and was muttering something about a consarned pet-nigger--he looked +anything but pleased." + +Whilst the lower powers were discussing what they were pleased to regard as +an evidence of some mental derangement on the part of Mrs. Bird, that lady +was questioning Charlie respecting his studies, and inquired if he would +like to go to school in Warmouth. + +"After a while, I think I should," he replied; "but for a week I'd like to +be free to run about the fields and go fishing, and do lots of things. This +is such a pretty place; and now that you have come I shall have nice +times--I know I shall." + +"You seem to have great confidence in my ability to make you happy. How do +you know that I am as kind as you seem to suppose?" asked Mrs. Bird, with a +smile. + +"I know you are," answered Charlie, confidently; "you speak so pleasantly +to me. And do you know, Mrs. Bird," continued he, "that I liked you from +the first day, when you praised me so kindly when I recited my lessons +before you. Did you ever have any little boys of your own?" + +A change immediately came over the countenance of Mrs. Bird, as she +replied: "Oh, yes, Charlie; a sweet, good boy about your own age:" and the +tears stood in her eyes as she continued. "He accompanied his father to +England years ago--the ship in which they sailed was never heard of--his +name was Charlie too." + +"I didn't know that, or I should not have asked," said Charlie, with some +embarrassment of manner caused by the pain he saw he had inflicted. "I am +very sorry," he continued. + +Mrs. Bird motioned him to finish his breakfast, and left the table without +drinking the tea she had poured out for herself. + +There were but one or two families of coloured people living in the small +town of Warmouth, and they of a very humble description; their faces were +familiar to all the inhabitants, and their appearance was in accordance +with their humble condition. Therefore, when Charlie made his debut, in +company with Mrs. Bird, his dress and manners differed so greatly from what +they were accustomed to associate with persons of his complexion, that he +created quite a sensation in the streets of the usually quiet and obscure +little town. + +He was attired with great neatness; and not having an opportunity of +playing marbles in his new suit, it still maintained its spotless +appearance. The fine grey broadcloth coat and pants fitted him to a nicety, +the jaunty cap was set slightly on one side of his head giving him, a +somewhat saucy look, and the fresh colour now returning to his cheeks +imparted to his face a much healthier appearance than it had worn for +months. + +He and his kind friend walked on together for some time, chatting about the +various things that attracted their attention on the way, until they +reached a cottage in the garden of which a gentleman was busily engaged in +training a rosebush upon a new trellis. + +So completely was he occupied with his pursuit that he did not observe the +entrance of visitors, and quite started when he was gently tapped upon the +shoulder by Mrs. Bird. + +"How busy we are," said she, gaily, at the same time extending her +hand--"so deeply engaged, that we can scarcely notice old friends that we +have not seen for months." + +"Indeed, this is a pleasant surprise," he remarked, when he saw by whom he +had been interrupted. "When did you arrive?" + +"Only this morning; and, as usual, I have already found something with +which to bore you--you know, Mr. Whately, I always have something to +trouble you about." + +"Don't say trouble, my dear Mrs. Bird; if you will say 'give me something +to occupy my time usefully and agreeably,' you will come much nearer the +mark. But who is this you have with you?" + +"Oh, a little _protege_ of mine, poor little fellow--he met with a sad +accident recently--he broke his arm; and I have brought him down here to +recruit. Charlie, walk around and look at the garden--I have a little +matter of business to discuss with Mr. Whately, and when we shall have +finished I will call you." + +Mr. Whately led the way into his library, and placing a seat for Mrs. Bird, +awaited her communication. + +"You have great influence with the teacher of the academy, I believe," said +she. + +"A little," replied Mr. Whately, smiling. + +"Not a little," rejoined Mrs. Bird, "but a great deal; and, my dear Mr. +Whately, I want you to exercise it in my behalf. I wish to enter as a +scholar that little boy I brought with me this morning." + +"Impossible!" said Mr. Whately. "My good friend, the boy is coloured!" + +"I am well aware of that," continued Mrs. Bird; "if he were not there would +not be the least trouble about his admission; nor am I sure there will be +as it is, if you espouse his cause. One who has been such a benefactor to +the academy as yourself, could, I suppose, accomplish anything." + +"Yes; but that is stretching my influence unduly. I would be willing to +oblige you in almost anything else, but I hesitate to attempt this. Why not +send him to the public school?--they have a separate bench for black +children; he can be taught there all that is necessary for him to know." + +"He is far in advance of any of the scholars there. I attended the +examination of the school to which he was attached," said Mrs. Bird, "and I +was very much surprised at the acquirements of the pupils; this lad was +distinguished above all the rest--he answered questions that would have +puzzled older heads, with the greatest facility. I am exceedingly anxious +to get him admitted to the academy, as I am confident he will do honour to +the interest I take in him." + +"And a very warm interest it must be, my dear Mrs. Bird, to induce you to +attempt placing him in such an expensive and exclusive school. I am very +much afraid you will have to give it up: many of the scholars' parents, I +am sure, will object strenuously to the admission of a coloured boy as a +scholar." + +"Only tell me that you will propose him, and I will risk the refusal," +replied Mrs. Bird--"it can be tried at all events; and if you will make the +effort I shall be under deep obligations to you." + +"Well, Mrs. Bird, let us grant him admitted--what benefit can accrue to the +lad from an education beyond his station? He cannot enter into any of the +learned professions: both whilst he is there, and after his education is +finished, he will be like a fish out of water. You must pardon me if I say +I think, in this case, your benevolence misdirected. The boy's parents are +poor, I presume?" + +"They certainly are not rich," rejoined Mrs. Bird; "and it is for that +reason I wish to do all that I can for him. If I can keep him with me, and +give him a good education, it may be greatly for his advantage; there may +be a great change in public sentiment before he is a man--we cannot say +what opening there may be for him in the future." + +"Not unless it changes very much. I never knew prejudice more rampant than +it is at this hour. To get the boy admitted as a right is totally out of +the question: if he is received at all, it will be as a special favour, and +a favour which--I am sure it will require all my influence to obtain. I +will set about it immediately, and, rely upon it, I will do my best for +your _protege_." + +Satisfied with the promise, which was as much as Mrs. Bird had dared to +hope for, she called Charlie, then shook hands with Mr. Whately and +departed. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Mrs. Stevens gains a Triumph. + + +The Garies had now become thoroughly settled in Philadelphia, and, amongst +the people of colour, had obtained a very extensive and agreeable +acquaintance. + +At the South Mr. Garie had never borne the reputation of an active person. +Having an ample fortune and a thoroughly Southern distaste for labour, he +found it by no means inconvenient or unpleasant to have so much time at his +disposal. His newspaper in the morning, a good book, a stroll upon the +fashionable promenade, and a ride at dusk, enabled him to dispose of his +time without being oppressed with _ennui_. + +It was far happier for him that such was his disposition, as his domestic +relations would have been the means of subjecting him to many unpleasant +circumstances, from which his comparative retirement in a great measure +screened him. + +Once or twice since his settlement in the North his feelings had been +ruffled, by the sneering remarks of some of his former friends upon the +singularity of his domestic position; but his irritation had all fled +before the smiles of content and happiness that beamed from the faces of +his wife and children. + +Mrs. Garie had nothing left to wish for; she was surrounded by every +physical comfort and in the enjoyment of frequent intercourse with +intelligent and refined people, and had been greatly attracted toward +Esther Ellis with whom she had become very intimate. + +One morning in November, these two were in the elegant little bed-room of +Mrs. Garie, where a fire had been kindled, as the weather was growing very +chilly and disagreeable. "It begins to look quite like autumn," said Mrs. +Garie, rising and looking out of the window. "The chrysanthemums are +drooping and withered, and the dry leaves are whirling and skimming through +the air. I wonder," she continued, "if the children were well wrapped up +this morning?" + +"Oh, yes; I met them at the corner, on their way to school, looking as warm +and rosy as possible. What beautiful children they are! Little Em has +completely won my heart; it really seems a pity for her to be put on the +shelf, as she must be soon." + +"How--what do you mean?" asked Mrs. Garie. + +"Oh, this will explain," archly rejoined Esther, as she held up to view one +of the tiny lace trimmed frocks that she was making in anticipation of the +event that has been previously hinted. + +Mrs. Garie laughed, and turned to look out of the window again. + +"Do you know I found little Lizzy Stevens, your neighbour's daughter, +shivering upon the steps in a neighbouring street, fairly blue with cold? +She was waiting there for Clarence and Em. I endeavoured to persuade her to +go on without them, but she would not. From what I could understand, she +waits for them there every day." + +"Her mother cannot be aware of it, then; for she has forbidden her children +to associate with mine," rejoined Mrs. Garie. "I wonder she permits her +little girl to go to the same school. I don't think she knows it, or it is +very likely she would take her away." + +"Has she ever spoken to you since the night of her visit?" asked Esther. + +"Never! I have seen her a great many times since; she never speaks, nor do +I. There she goes now. That," continued Mrs. Garie, with a smile, "is +another illustration of the truthfulness of the old adage, 'Talk of--well, +I won't say who,--'and he is sure to appear.'" And, thus speaking, she +turned from the window, and was soon deeply occupied in the important work +of preparing for the expected little stranger. Mrs. Garie was mistaken in +her supposition that Mrs. Stevens was unaware that Clarence and little Em +attended the same school to which her own little girl had been sent; for +the evening before the conversation we have just narrated, she had been +discussing the matter with her husband. + +"Here," said she to him, "is Miss Jordan's bill for the last quarter. I +shall never pay her another; I am going to remove Lizzy from that school." + +"Remove her! what for? I thought I heard you say, Jule, that the child got +on excellently well there,--that she improved very fast?" + +"So she does, as far as learning is concerned; but she is sitting right +next to one of those Garie children, and that is an arrangement I don't at +all fancy. I don't relish the idea of my child attending the same school +that niggers do; so I've come to the determination to take her away." + +"I should do no such thing," coolly remarked Mr. Stevens. "I should compel +the teacher to dismiss the Garies, or I should break up her school. Those +children have no right to be there whatever. I don't care a straw how light +their complexions are, they are niggers nevertheless, and ought to go to a +nigger school; they are no better than any other coloured children. I'll +tell you what you can do, Jule," continued he: "call on Mrs. Kinney, the +Roths, and one or two others, and induce them to say that if Miss Jordan +won't dismiss the Garies that they will withdraw their children; and you +know if they do, it will break up the school entirely. If it was any other +person's children but his, I would wink at it; but I want to give him a +fall for his confounded haughtiness. Just try that plan, Jule, and you will +be sure to succeed." + +"I am not so certain about it, Stevens. Miss Jordan, I learn, is very fond +of their little Em. I must say I cannot wonder at it. She is the most +loveable little creature I ever saw. I will say that, if her mother is a +nigger." + +"Yes, Jule, all that may be; but I know the world well enough to judge +that, when she becomes fully assured that it will conflict with her +interests to keep them, she will give them up. She is too poor to be +philanthropic, and, I believe, has sufficient good sense to know it." + +"Well, I'll try your plan," said Mrs. Stevens; "I will put matters in train +to-morrow morning." + +Early the next morning, Mrs. Stevens might have been seen directing her +steps to the house of Mrs. Kinney, with whom she was very intimate. She +reached it just as that lady was departing to preside at a meeting of a +female missionary society for evangelizing the Patagonians. + +"I suppose you have come to accompany me to the meeting," said she to Mrs. +Stevens, as soon as they had exchanged the usual courtesies. + +"Oh, dear, no; I wish I was," she replied. "I've got a troublesome little +matter on my hands; and last night my husband suggested my coming to ask +your advice respecting it. George has such a high opinion of your judgment, +that he would insist on my troubling you." + +Mrs. Kinney smiled, and looked gratified at this tribute to her importance. + +"And moreover," continued Mrs. Stevens, "it's a matter in which your +interest, as well as our own, is concerned." + +Mrs. Kinney now began to look quite interested, and, untying the strings of +her bonnet, exclaimed, "Dear me, what can it be?" + +"Knowing," said Mrs. Stevens, "that you entertain just the same sentiments +that we do relative to associating with coloured people, I thought I would +call and ask if you were aware that Miss Jordan receives coloured as well +as white children in her school." + +"Why, no! My dear Mrs. Stevens, you astound me. I hadn't the remotest idea +of such a thing. It is very strange my children never mentioned it." + +"Oh, children are so taken up with their play, they forget such things," +rejoined Mrs. Stevens. "Now," continued she, "husband said he was quite +confident you would not permit your children to continue their attendance +after this knowledge came to your ears. We both thought it would be a pity +to break up the poor girl's school by withdrawing our children without +first ascertaining if she would expel the little darkies. I knew, if I +could persuade you to let me use your name as well as ours, and say that +you will not permit your children to continue at her school unless she +consents to our wishes, she, knowing the influence you possess, would, I am +sure, accede to our demands immediately." + +"Oh, you are perfectly at liberty to use my name, Mrs. Stevens, and say all +that you think necessary to effect your object. But do excuse me for +hurrying off," she continued, looking at her watch: "I was to have been at +the meeting at ten o'clock, and it is now half-past. I hope you won't fail +to call, and let me know how you succeed;" and, with her heart overflowing +with tender care for the poor Patagonian, Mrs. Kinney hastily departed. + +"That's settled," soliloquized Mrs. Stevens, with an air of intense +satisfaction, as she descended the steps--"her four children would make a +serious gap in the little school; and now, then," continued she, "for the +Roths." + +Mrs. Stevens found not the slightest difficulty in persuading Mrs. Roth to +allow her name to be used, in connection with Mrs. Kinney's, in the threat +to withdraw their children if the little Garies were not immediately +expelled. Mrs. Roth swore by Mrs. Kinney, and the mere mention of that +lady's name was sufficient to enlist her aid. + +Thus armed, Mrs. Stevens lost no time in paying a visit to Miss Jordan's +school. As she entered, the busy hum of childish voices was somewhat +stilled; and Lizzy Stevens touched little Em, who sat next her, and +whispered, "There is my mother." + +Mrs. Stevens was welcomed very cordially by Miss Jordan, who offered her +the seat of honour beside her. + +"Your school seems quite flourishing," she remarked, after looking around +the room, "and I really regret being obliged to make a gap in your +interesting circle." + +"I hope you don't intend to deprive me of your little girl," inquired Miss +Jordan; "I should regret to part with her--not only because I am very fond +of her, but in consideration of her own interest--she is coming on so +rapidly." + +"Oh, I haven't the slightest fault to find with her progress. _That_," said +she, "is not the reason. I have another, of much more weight. Of course, +every one is at liberty to do as they choose; and we have no right to +dictate to you what description of scholars you should receive; but, if +they are not such, as we think proper companions for our children, you +can't complain if we withdraw them." + +"I really do not understand you, Mrs. Stevens," said the teacher, with an +astonished look: "I have none here but the children of the most respectable +persons--they are all as well behaved as school children generally are." + +"I did not allude to behaviour; that, for all that I know to the contrary, +is irreproachable; it is not character that is in question, but colour. I +don't like my daughter to associate with coloured children." + +"Coloured children!" repeated the now thoroughly bewildered +teacher--"coloured children! My dear madam," continued she, smiling, "some +one has been hoaxing you--I have no coloured pupils--I could not be induced +to receive one on any account." + +"I am very glad to hear you say so," rejoined Mrs. Stevens, "for that +convinces me that my fears were groundless. I was under the impression you +had imbibed some of those pestilent abolition sentiments coming into vogue. +I see you are not aware of it, but you certainly have two coloured +scholars; and there," said she, pointing to Clarence, "is one of them." + +Clarence, who, with his head bent over his book, was sitting so near as to +overhear a part of this conversation, now looked up, and found the cold, +malignant, grey eyes of Mrs. Stevens fastened on him. He looked at her for +a moment--then apparently resumed his studies. + +The poor boy had, when she entered the room, an instinctive knowledge that +her visit boded no good to them. He was beginning to learn the anomalous +situation he was to fill in society. He had detested Mrs. Stevens ever +since the night she had ejected him so rudely from her house, and since +then had learned to some extent what was meant by the term _nigger woman_. + +"You must certainly be misinformed," responded Miss Jordan. "I know their +father--he has frequently been here. He is a Southerner, a thorough +gentleman in his manners; and, if ever a man was white, I am sure he is." + +"Have you seen their mother?" asked Mrs. Stevens, significantly. + +"No, I never have," replied Miss Jordan; "she is in poor health; but she +must unquestionably be a white woman--a glance at the children ought to +convince you of that." + +"It might, if I had not seen her, and did not know her to be a coloured +woman. You see, my dear Miss Jordan," continued she, in her blandest tone, +"I am their next-door neighbour and have seen their mother twenty times and +more; she is a coloured woman beyond all doubt." + +"I never could have dreamed of such a thing!" exclaimed Miss Jordan, as an +anxious look overspread her face; then, after a pause, she continued: "I do +not see what I am to do--it is really too unfortunate--I don't know how to +act. It seems unjust and unchristian to eject two such children from my +school, because their mother has the misfortune to have a few drops of +African blood in her veins. I cannot make up my mind to do it. Why, you +yourself must admit that they are as white as any children in the room." + +"I am willing to acknowledge they are; but they have nigger blood in them, +notwithstanding; and they are, therefore, as much niggers as the blackest, +and have no more right to associate with white children than if they were +black as ink. I have no more liking for white niggers than for black ones." + +The teacher was perplexed, and, turning to Mrs. Stevens, said, imploringly: +"This matter seems only known to you; let me appeal to your generosity--say +nothing more about it. I will try to keep your daughter away from them, if +you wish--but pray do not urge me to the performance of an act that I am +conscious would be unjust." + +Mrs. Stevens's face assumed a severe and disagreeable expression. "I hoped +you would look at this matter in a reasonable light, and not compel those +who would be your friends to appear in the light of enemies. If this matter +was known to me alone, I should remove my daughter and say nothing more +about it; but, unfortunately for you, I find that, by some means or other, +both Mrs. Kinney and Mrs. Roth have become informed of the circumstance, +and are determined to take their children away. I thought I would act a +friend's part by you, and try to prevail on you to dismiss these two +coloured children at once. I so far relied upon your right judgment as to +assure them that you would not hesitate for a moment to comply with their +wishes; and I candidly tell you, that it was only by my so doing that they +were prevented from keeping their children at home to-day." + +Miss Jordan looked aghast at this startling intelligence; if Mrs. Roth and +Mrs. Kinney withdrew their patronage and influence, her little school (the +sole support of her mother and herself) would be well-nigh broken up. + +She buried her face in her hands, and sat in silence for a few seconds; +then looking at Mrs. Stevens, with tearful eyes, exclaimed, "God forgive me +if it must be so; nothing but the utter ruin that stares me in the face if +I refuse induces me to accede to your request." + +"I am sorry that you distress yourself so much about it. You know you are +your own mistress, and can do as you choose," said Mrs. Stevens; "but if +you will be advised by me, you will send them away at once." + +"After school I will," hesitatingly replied Miss Jordan. + +"I hate to appear so pressing," resumed Mrs. Stevens; "but I feel it my +duty to suggest that you had better do it at once, and before the rest of +the scholars. I did not wish, to inform you to what extent this thing had +gone; but it really has been talked of in many quarters, and it is +generally supposed that you are cognisant of the fact that the Garies are +coloured; therefore you see the necessity of doing something at once to +vindicate yourself from the reproach of abolitionism." + +At the pronunciation of this then terrible word in such connection with +herself, Miss Jordan turned quite pale, and for a moment struggled to +acquire sufficient control of her feelings to enable her to do as Mrs. +Stevens suggested; at last, bursting into tears, she said, "Oh, I +cannot--will not--do it. I'll dismiss them, but not in that unfeeling +manner; that I cannot do." + +The children were now entirely neglecting their lessons, and seemed much +affected by Miss Jordan's tears, of which they could not understand the +cause. She observing this, rang the bell, the usual signal for +intermission. + +Mrs. Stevens, satisfied with the triumph she had effected, took leave of +Miss Jordan, after commending her for the sensible conclusion at which she +had arrived, and promising to procure her two more pupils in the room of +those she was about to dismiss. + +Miss Jordan was a long time writing the note that she intended sending to +Mr. Garie; and one of the elder girls returned to the school-room, +wondering at the unusually long time that had been given for recreation. + +"Tell Clarence and his sister to come here," said she to the girl who had +just entered; and whilst they were on their way upstairs, she folded the +note, and was directing it when Clarence entered. + +"Clarence," said she, in a soft voice, "put on your hat; I have a note of +some importance for you to take to your father--your father remember--don't +give it to any one else." Taking out her watch, she continued, "It is now +so late that you would scarcely get back before the time for dismissal, so +you had better take little Emily home with you." + +"I hope, ma'am, I haven't done anything wrong?" asked Clarence. + +"Oh, no!" quickly replied she; "you're a dear, good boy, and have never +given me a moment's pain since you came to the school." And she hurried out +into the hall to avoid farther questioning. + +She could not restrain the tears as she dressed little Em, whose eyes were +large with astonishment at being sent home from school at so early an hour. + +"Teacher, is school out?" asked she. + +"No, dear, not quite; I wanted to send a note to your pa, and so I have let +Clary go home sooner than usual," replied Miss Jordan, kissing her +repeatedly, whilst the tears were trickling down her cheek. + +"Don't cry, teacher, I love you," said the little blue-eyed angel, whose +lip began to quiver in sympathy; "don't cry, I'll come back again +to-morrow." + +This was too much for the poor teacher, who clasped the child in her arms, +and gave way to a burst of uncontrollable sorrow. At last, conquering +herself with an effort, she led the children down stairs, kissed them both +again, and then opening the door she turned them forth into the +street--turned away from her school these two little children, such as God +received into his arms and blessed, because they were the children of a +"_nigger woman_." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Mr. Stevens makes a Discovery. + + +"Well, Jule, old Aunt Tabitha is gone at last, and I am not at all sorry +for it, I assure you; she's been a complete tax upon me for the last eight +years. I suppose you won't lament much, nor yet go into mourning for her," +continued Mr. Stevens, looking at her jocularly. + +"I'm not sorry, that I admit," rejoined Mrs. Stevens; "the poor old soul is +better off, no doubt; but then there's no necessity to speak of the matter +in such an off-hand manner." + +"Now, Jule, I beg you won't attempt to put on the sanctified; that's too +much from you, who have been wishing her dead almost every day for the last +eight years. Why, don't you remember you wished her gone when she had a +little money to leave; and when she lost that, you wished her off our hands +because she had none. Don't pretend to be in the least depressed; that +won't do with me." + +"Well, never mind that," said Mrs. Stevens, a little confused; "what has +become of her things--her clothing, and furniture?" + +"I've ordered the furniture to be sold; and all there is of it will not +realize sufficient to pay her funeral expenses. Brixton wrote me that she +has left a bundle of letters directed to me, and I desired him to send them +on." + +"I wonder what they can be," said Mrs. Stevens. + +"Some trash, I suppose; an early love correspondence, of but little value +to any one but herself. I do not expect that they will prove of any +consequence whatever." + +"Don't you think one or the other of us should go to the funeral?" asked +Mrs. Stevens. "Nonsense. No! I have no money to expend in that way--it is +as much as I can do to provide comfortably for the living, without spending +money to follow the dead," replied he; "and besides, I have a case coming +on in the Criminal Court next week that will absorb all my attention." + +"What kind of a case is it?" she inquired. + +"A murder case. Some Irishmen were engaged in a row, when one of the party +received a knock on his head that proved too much for him, and died in +consequence. My client was one of the contending parties; and has been +suspected, from some imprudent expressions of his, to have been the man who +struck the fatal blow. His preliminary examination comes off to-morrow or +next day, and I must be present as a matter of course." + +At an early hour of the morning succeeding this conversation, Mr. Stevens +might have been seen in his dingy office, seated at a rickety desk which +was covered with various little bundles, carefully tied with red tape. The +room was gloomy and cheerless, and had a mouldy disagreeable atmosphere. A +fire burned in the coal stove, which, however, seemed only to warm, but did +not dry the apartment; and the windows were covered with a thin coating of +vapour. + +Mr. Stevens was busily engaged in writing, when hearing footsteps behind +him, he turned and saw Mr. Egan, a friend of his client, entering the room. + +"Good morning, Mr. Egan," said he, extending his hand; "how is our friend +McCloskey this morning?" + +"Oh, it's far down in the mouth he is, be jabers--the life a'most scared +out of him!" + +"Tell him to keep up a good heart and not to be frightened at trifles," +laughingly remarked Mr. Stevens. + +"Can't your honour come and see him?" asked Egan. + +"I can't do that; but I'll give you a note to Constable Berry, and he will +bring McCloskey in here as he takes him to court;" and Mr. Stevens +immediately wrote the note, which Egan received and departed. + +After the lapse of a few hours, McCloskey was brought by the accommodating +constable to the office of Mr. Stevens. "He'll be safe with you, I +suppose, Stevens;" said the constable, "but then there is no harm in seeing +for one's self that all's secure;" and thus speaking, he raised the window +and looked into the yard below. The height was too great for his prisoner +to escape in that direction; then satisfying himself that the other door +only opened into a closet, he retired, locking Mr. Stevens and his client +in the room. + +Mr. Stevens arose as soon as the door closed behind the constable, and +stuffed a piece of damp sponge into the keyhole; he then returned and took +a seat by his client. + +"Now, McCloskey," said he, in a low tone, as he drew his chair closely in +front of the prisoner, and fixed his keen grey eyes on him--"I've seen +Whitticar. And I tell you what it is--you're in a very tight place. He's +prepared to swear that he saw you with a slung shot in your hand--that he +saw you drop it after the man fell; he picked it up, and whilst the man was +lying dead at his tavern, awaiting the coroner's inquest, he examined the +wound, and saw in the skull two little dents or holes, which were +undoubtedly made by the little prongs that are on the leaden ball of the +weapon, as they correspond in depth and distance apart; and, moreover, the +ball is attached to a twisted brace which proves to be the fellow to the +one found upon a pair of your trousers. What can you say to all this?" + +McCloskey here gave a smothered groan, and his usually red face grew deadly +pale in contemplation of his danger. + +"Now," said Mr. Stevens, after waiting long enough for his revelation to +have its due effect upon him, "there is but one thing to be done. We must +buy Whitticar off. Have you got any money? I don't mean fifty or a hundred +dollars--that would be of no more use than as many pennies. We must have +something of a lump--three or four hundred at the very least." + +The prisoner drew his breath very hard at this, and remained silent. + +"Come, speak out," continued Mr. Stevens, "circumstances won't admit of +our delaying--this man's friends will raise Heaven and earth to secure your +conviction; so you see, my good fellow, it's your money or your life. You +can decide between the two--you know which is of the most importance to +you." + +"God save us, squire! how am I to raise that much money? I haven't more nor +a hunther dollars in the world." + +"You've got a house, and a good horse and dray," replied Mr. Stevens, who +was well posted in the man's pecuniary resources. "If you expect me to get +you out of this scrape, you must sell or mortgage your house, and dispose +of your horse and dray. Somehow or other four hundred dollars must be +raised, or you will be dangling at a rope's end in less than six months." + +"I suppose it will have to go then," said McCloskey, reluctantly. + +"Then give me authority," continued Mr. Stevens, "to arrange for the +disposal of the property, and I will have your affairs all set straight in +less than no time." + +The constable here cut short any further colloquy by rapping impatiently on +the door, then opening it, and exclaiming, "Come, now it is ten +o'clock--time that you were in court;" and the two started out, followed by +Mr. Stevens. + +After having, by some of those mysterious plans with which lawyers are +familiar, been enabled to put off the examination for a few days, Mr. +Stephens returned to his office, and found lying upon his table the packet +of letters he was expecting from New York. + +Upon breaking the seal, and tearing off the outer covering, he discovered a +number of letters, time-worn and yellow with age; they were tied tightly +together with a piece of cord; cutting this, they fell scattered over the +desk. + +Taking one of them up, he examined it attentively, turning it from side to +side to endeavour to decipher the half-effaced post-mark. "What a ninny I +am, to waste time in looking at the cover of this, when the contents will, +no doubt, explain the whole matter?" Thus soliloquising he opened the +letter, and was soon deeply absorbed in its contents. He perused and +re-perused it; then opened, one after another, the remainder that lay +scattered before him. Their contents seemed to agitate him exceedingly; as +he walked up and down the room with hasty strides, muttering angrily to +himself, and occasionally returning to the desk to re-peruse the letters +which had so strangely excited him. + +Whilst thus engaged, the door was opened by no less a personage than Mr. +Morton, who walked in and seated himself in a familiar manner. + +"Oh, how are you, Morton. You entered with such a ghostly tread, that I +scarcely heard you," said Mr. Stevens, with a start; "what has procured me +the honour of a visit from you this morning?" + +"I was strolling by, and thought I would just step in and inquire how that +matter respecting the Tenth-street property has succeeded." + +"Not at all--the old fellow is as obstinate as a mule; he won't sell except +on his own terms, which are entirely out of all reason. I am afraid you +will be compelled to abandon your building speculation in that quarter +until his demise--he is old and feeble, and can't last many years; in the +event of his death you may be able to effect some more favourable +arrangement with his heirs." + +"And perhaps have ten or fifteen years to wait--no, that won't do. I'd +better sell out myself. What would you, advise me to do, Stevens?" + +Mr. Stevens was silent for a few moments; then having opened the door and +looked into the entry, he closed it carefully, placed the piece of sponge +in the key-hole, and returned to his seat at the desk, saying:-- + +"We've transacted enough business together to know one another pretty well. +So I've no hesitation in confiding to you a little scheme I've conceived +for getting into our hands a large proportion of property in one of the +lower districts, at a very low figure; and 'tis probable, that the same +plan, if it answers, will assist you materially in carrying out your +designs. It will require the aid of two or three moneyed men like yourself; +and, if successful, will without doubt be highly remunerative." + +"If successful," rejoined Mr. Morton; "yes, there is the rub. How are you +to guarantee success?" + +"Hear my plan, and then you can decide. In the first place, you know as +well as I that a very strong feeling exists in the community against the +Abolitionists, and very properly too; this feeling requires to be guided +into some proper current, and I think we can give it that necessary +guidance, and at the same time render it subservient to our own purposes. +You are probably aware that a large amount of property in the lower part of +the city is owned by niggers; and if we can create a mob and direct it +against them, they will be glad to leave that quarter, and remove further +up into the city for security and protection. Once get the mob thoroughly +aroused, and have the leaders under our control, and we may direct its +energies against any parties we desire; and we can render the district so +unsafe, that property will be greatly lessened in value--the houses will +rent poorly, and many proprietors will be happy to sell at very reduced +prices. If you can furnish me the means to start with, I have men enough at +my command to effect the rest. We will so control the elections in the +district, through these men, as to place in office only such persons as +will wink at the disturbances. When, through their agency, we have brought +property down sufficiently low, we will purchase all that we can, +re-establish order and quiet, and sell again at an immense advantage." + +"Your scheme is a good one, I must confess, and I am ready to join you at +any time. I will communicate with Carson, who, I think, will be interested, +as he desired to invest with me in those Tenth-street improvements. I will +call in to-morrow, and endeavour to persuade him to accompany me, and then +we can discuss the matter more fully." + +"Well, do; but one word before you go. You appear to know everybody--who +is anybody--south of Mason and Dixon's line; can you give me any +information respecting a family by the name of Garie, who live or formerly +did live in the vicinity of Savannah?" + +"Oh, yes--I know them, root and branch; although there is but little of the +latter left; they are one of the oldest families in Georgia--those of whom +I have heard the most are of the last two generations. There now remain of +the family but two persons--old John or Jack Garie as he is called, a +bachelor--and who I have recently learned is at the point of death; and a +crack-brained nephew of his, living in this city--said to be married to a +nigger woman--actually married to her. Dr. Blackly informed me last week, +that he sent for him to perform the ceremony, which he very properly +refused to do. I have no doubt, however, that he has been successful in +procuring the services of some one else. I am sorry to say, there are some +clergymen in our city who would willingly assist in such a disgraceful +proceeding. What ever could have induced a man with his prospects to throw +himself away in that manner, I am at loss to determine--he has an +independent fortune of about one hundred thousand dollars, besides +expectations from his uncle, who is worth a considerable sum of money. I +suppose these little darkies of his will inherit it," concluded Mr. Morton. + +"Are there no other heirs?" asked Mr. Stevens, in a tone of deep interest. + +"There may be. He had an aunt, who married an exceedingly low fellow from +the North, who treated her shamefully. The mercenary scoundrel no doubt +expected to have acquired a fortune with her, as it was generally +understood that she was sole heiress of her mother's property--but it +turned out to be an entire mistake. The circumstance made considerable stir +at the time. I remember having heard my elders discuss it some years after +its occurrence. But why do you take such an interest in it? You charged me +with coming upon you like a ghost. I could return the compliment. Why, man, +you look like a sheet. What ails you?" "Me!--I--oh, nothing--nothing! I'm +perfectly well--that is to say, I was up rather late last night, and am +rather fatigued to day--nothing more." + +"You looked so strange, that I could not help being frightened--and you +seemed so interested. You must have some personal motive for inquiring." + +"No more than a lawyer often has in the business of his clients. I have +been commissioned to obtain some information respecting these people--a +mere matter of business, nothing more, believe me. Call in again soon, and +endeavour to bring Carson; but pray be discreet--be very careful to whom +you mention the matter." + +"Never fear," said Mr. Morton, as he closed the door behind him, and +sauntered lazily out of the house. + +Mr. Morton speculated in stocks and town-lots in the same spirit that he +had formerly betted at the racecourse and cockpit in his dear Palmetto +State. It was a pleasant sort of excitement to him, and without excitement +of some kind, he would have found it impossible to exist. To have +frequented gaming hells and race courses in the North would have greatly +impaired his social position; and as he set a high value upon that he was +compelled to forego his favourite pursuits, and associate himself with a +set of men who conducted a system of gambling operations upon 'Change, of a +less questionable but equally exciting character. + +Mr. Stevens sat musing at his desk for some time after the departure of his +visitor; then, taking up one of the letters that had so strongly excited +him, he read and re-read it; then crushing it in his hand, arose, stamped +his feet, and exclaimed, "I'll have it! if I--" here he stopped short, and, +looking round, caught a view of his face in the glass; he sank back into +the chair behind him, horrified at the lividness of his countenance. + +"Good God!" he soliloquized, "I look like a murderer already," and he +covered his face with his hands, and turned away from the glass. "But I am +wrong to be excited thus; men who accomplish great things approach them +coolly, so must I. I must plot, watch, and wait;" and thus speaking, he +put on his hat and left the office. + +As Mr. Stevens approached his house, a handsome carriage drove up to the +door of his neighbour, and Mr. Garie and his wife, who had been enjoying a +drive along the bank of the river, alighted and entered their residence. +The rustle of her rich silk dress grated harshly on his ear, and the soft +perfume that wafted toward him as she glided by, was the very reverse of +pleasant to him. + +Mr. Garie bowed stiffly to him as they stood on the steps of their +respective residences, which were only divided by the low iron fence; but, +beyond the slight inclination of the head, took no further notice of him. + +"The cursed haughty brute," muttered Mr. Stevens, as he jerked the bell +with violence; "how I hate him! I hated him before I knew--but now I----;" +as he spoke, the door was opened by a little servant that Mrs. Stevens had +recently obtained from a charity institution. + +"You've kept me standing a pretty time," exclaimed he savagely, as he +seized her ear and gave it a spiteful twist; "can't you manage to open the +door quicker?" + +"I was up in the garret, and didn't hear the bell," she replied, timidly. + +"Then I'll improve your hearing," he continued malignantly, as he pulled +her by the ear; "take that, now, and see if you'll keep me standing at the +door an hour again." + +Striding forward into the back parlour, he found his wife holding a small +rattan elevated over little Lizzy in a threatening attitude. + +"Will you never mind me? I've told you again and again not to go, and still +you persist in disobeying me. I'll cut you to pieces if you don't mind. +Will you ever go again?" she almost screamed in the ears of the terrified +child. + +"Oh, no, mother, never; please don't whip me, I'll mind you;" and as she +spoke, she shrank as far as possible into the corner of the room. "What's +all this--what's the matter, Jule? What on earth are you going to whip Liz +for?" + +"Because she deserves it," was the sharp reply; "she don't mind a word I +say. I've forbid her again and again to go next door to visit those little +niggers, and she will do it in spite of me. She slipped off this afternoon, +and has been in their house over an hour; and it was only this morning I +detected her kissing their Clarence through the fence." + +"Faugh," said Mr. Stevens, with a look of disgust; "you kissed a nigger! +I'm ashamed of you, you nasty little thing; your mother ought to have taken +a scrubbing-brush and cleaned your mouth, never do such a thing again; come +here to me." + +As he spoke, he extended his hand and grasped the delicately rounded arm of +his little girl. + +"What induces you to go amongst those people; hasn't your mother again and +again forbidden you to do so. Why do you go, I say?" he continued, shaking +her roughly by the arm, and frowning savagely. "Why don't you +answer?--speak!" + +The child, with the tears streaming down her lovely face, was only able to +answer in her defence. "Oh, pa, I do love them so." + +"You do, do you?" replied her exasperated father, stamping his foot, and +pushing her from him; "go to bed, and if ever I hear of you going there +again, you shall be well whipped." The tearful face lingered about the door +in hope of a reprieve that did not come, and then disappeared for the +night. + +"The children must not be suffered to go in there, Jule; something I've +learned to-day will----" here Mr. Stevens checked himself; and in answer to +his wife's impatient "What have you learned?" replied, "Oh, nothing of +consequence--nothing that will interest you," and sat with his slipper in +his hand, engaged in deep thought. + +Now for Mr. Stevens to commence a communication to his wife, and then break +off in the middle of it, was as novel as disagreeable, as he was generally +very communicative, and would detail to her in the evening, with pleasing +minuteness, all the rogueries he had accomplished during the day; and his +unwillingness to confide something that evidently occupied his mind caused +his spouse to be greatly irritated. + +Mr. Stevens drank his tea in silence, and during the evening continued +absorbed in reflection; and, notwithstanding the various ill-natured +remarks of his wife upon his strange conduct retired without giving her the +slightest clue to its cause. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Plotting. + + +Mr. Stevens awoke at a very early hour the ensuing morning, and quite +unceremoniously shook his wife to arouse her also. This he accomplished +after considerable labour; for Mrs. Stevens was much more sleepy than +usual, in consequence of her husband's restlessness the previous night. + +"I declare," said she, rubbing her eyes, "I don't get any peace of my life. +You lie awake, kicking about, half the night, muttering and whispering +about no one knows what, and then want me to rise before day. What are you +in such, a hurry for this morning,--no more mysteries, I hope?" + +"Oh, come, Jule, get up!" said her husband, impatiently. "I must be off to +my business very early; I am overburthened with different things this +morning." + +Mrs. Stevens made a very hasty toilette, and descended to the kitchen, +where the little charity-girl was bustling about with her eyes only half +open. With her assistance, the breakfast was soon prepared, and Mr. Stevens +called downstairs. He ate rapidly and silently, and at the conclusion of +his meal, put on his hat, and wished his amiable spouse an abrupt good +morning. + +After leaving his house, he did not take the usual course to his office, +but turned his steps toward the lower part of the city. Hastening onward, +he soon left the improved parts of it in his rear, and entered upon a +shabby district. + +The morning was very chilly, and as it was yet quite early, but few people +were stirring: they were labourers hurrying to their work, milkmen, and +trundlers of breadcarts. + +At length he stopped at the door of a tavern, over which was a large sign, +bearing the name of Whitticar. On entering, he found two or three +forlorn-looking wretches clustering round the stove, endeavouring to +receive some warmth upon their half-clothed bodies,--their red and pimpled +noses being the only parts about them that did not look cold. They stared +wonderingly at Mr. Stevens as he entered; for a person so respectable as +himself in appearance was but seldom seen in that house. + +The boy who attended the bar inquired from behind the counter what he would +take. + +"Mr. Whitticar, if you please," blandly replied Mr. Stevens. + +Hearing this, the boy bolted from the shop, and quite alarmed the family, +by stating that there was a man in the shop, who said he wanted to take Mr. +Whitticar, and he suspected that he was a policeman. + +Whitticar, who was seldom entirely free from some scrape, went through +another door to take a survey of the new comer, and on ascertaining who it +was, entered the room. + +"You've quite upset the family; we all took you for a constable," said he, +approaching Mr. Stevens, who shook hands with him heartily, and then, +laying his arm familiarly on his shoulder, rejoined,-- + +"I say, Whitticar, I want about five minutes' conversation with you. +Haven't you some room where we can be quite private for a little while?" + +"Yes; come this way," replied he. And, leading his visitor through the bar, +they entered a small back room, the door of which they locked behind them. + +"Now, Whitticar," said Mr. Stevens, "I want you to act the part of a friend +by the fellow who got in that awkward scrape at this house. As you did not +give the evidence you informed me you were possessed of, at the coroner's +inquest, it is unnecessary for you to do so before the magistrate at +examination. There is no use in hanging the fellow--it cannot result in any +benefit to yourself; it will only attract disagreeable notice to your +establishment, and possibly may occasion a loss of your licence. We will +be willing to make it worth your while to absent yourself, for a short time +at least, until the trial is over; it will put money in your purse, and +save this poor devil's life besides. What do you say to receiving a hundred +and fifty, and going off for a month or two?" + +"Couldn't think of it, Mr. Stevens, no how. See how my business would +suffer; everything would be at loose ends. I should be obliged to hire a +man to take my place; and, in that case, I must calculate upon his stealing +at least twenty-five per cent. of the receipts: and then there is his +wages. No, no that won't do. Besides, I'm trying to obtain the nomination +for the office of alderman--to secure it, I must be on the spot; nothing +like looking out for oneself. I am afraid I can't accommodate you, squire, +unless you can offer something better than one hundred and fifty." + +"You've got no conscience," rejoined Mr. Stevens, "not a bit." + +"Well, the less of that the better for me; it's a thing of very little use +in the rum-selling business; it interferes with trade--so I can't afford to +keep a conscience. If you really want me to go, make me a better offer; say +two fifty, and I'll begin to think of it. The trial will be over in a month +or six weeks, I suppose, and a spree of that length would be very +pleasant." + +"No, I won't do that, Whitticar,--that's flat; but I'll tell you what I +will do. I'll make it two hundred, and what is more, I'll see to your +nomination. I'm all right down here, you know; I own the boys in this +district; and if you'll say you'll put some little matters through for me +after you are elected, I'll call it a bargain." + +"Then I'm your man," said Whitticar, extending his hand. + +"Well, then," added Stevens, "come to my office this morning, and you shall +have the money; after that I shall expect you to get out of town as quick +as possible. Goodbye." + +"So far all right," muttered Mr. Stevens, with an air of intense +satisfaction, as he left the house; "he'll be of great use to me. When it +becomes necessary to blind the public by a sham investigation, he will be +the man to conduct it; when I want a man released from prison, or a little +job of that kind done, he will do it--this act will put him in my power; +and I am much mistaken if he won't prove of the utmost service in our riot +scheme. Now, then, we will have an examination of McCloskey as soon as they +like." + +A few weeks subsequent to the events we have just written, we find Mr. +Stevens seated in his dingy office in company with the McCloskey, who had +recently been discharged from custody in default of sufficient evidence +being found to warrant his committal for trial. He was sitting with his +feet upon the stove, and was smoking a cigar in the most free-and-easy +manner imaginable. + +"So far, so good," said Mr. Stevens, as he laid down the letter he was +perusing; "that simplifies the matter greatly; and whatever is to be done +towards his removal, must be done quickly--now that the old man is dead +there is but one to deal with." + +During the interval that had elapsed between the interview of Mr. Stevens +with Whitticar and the period to which we now refer, Mr. Stevens had been +actively engaged in promoting his riot scheme; and already several +disturbances had occurred, in which a number of inoffensive coloured people +had been injured in their persons and property. + +But this was only a faint indication of what was to follow; and as he had, +through the agency of Mr. Morton and others, been able to prevent any but +the most garbled statements of these affairs from getting abroad, there was +but little danger of their operations being interfered with. Leading +articles daily appeared in the public journals (particularly those that +circulated amongst the lowest classes), in which the negroes were +denounced, in the strongest terms. It was averred that their insolence, +since the commencement of the abolition agitation, had become unbearable; +and from many quarters was suggested the absolute necessity for inflicting +some general chastisement, to convince them that they were still negroes, +and to teach them to remain in their proper place in the body politic. + +Many of these articles were written by Mr. Stevens, and their insertion as +editorials procured through the instrumentality of Mr. Morton and his +friends. + +Mr. Stevens turned to his visitor, and inquired, "What was done last +night--much of anything?" + +"A great deal, yer honour," replied McCloskey; "a nagur or two half killed, +and one house set on fire and nearly burned up." + +"_Is that all_?" said Mr. Stevens, with a well-assumed look of +disappointment. "Is that all? Why, you are a miserable set: you should have +beaten every darky out of the district by this time." + +"They're not so aisily bate out--they fight like sevin divils. One o' 'em, +night before last, split Mikey Dolan's head clane open, and it's a small +chance of his life he's got to comfort himself wid." + +"Chances of war--chances of war!" rejoined Mr. Stevens,--"mere trifles when +you get used to 'em: you mustn't let that stop you--you have a great deal +yet to do. What you have already accomplished is a very small matter +compared with what is expected, and what I intend you to do: your work has +only just begun, man." + +"Jist begun!" replied the astonished McCloskey; "haven't we bin raising the +very divil every night for the last week--running a near chance of being +kilt all the time--and all for nothing! It's gettin' tiresome; one don't +like to be fighting the nagurs all the time for the mere fun of the +thing--it don't pay, for divil a cent have I got for all my trouble; and ye +said ye would pay well, ye remimber." + +"So I shall," said Mr. Stevens, "when you do something worth paying +for--the quarter is not accomplished yet. I want the place made so hot down +there that the niggers can't stay. Go a-head, don't give them any +rest--I'll protect you from the consequences, whatever they be: I've great +things in store for you," continued he, moving nearer and speaking in a +confidential tone; "how should you like to return to Ireland a moneyed +man?" + +"I should like it well enough, to be sure; but where's the money to come +from, squire?" + +"Oh, there's money enough to be had if you have the courage to earn it." + +"I'm willin' enough to earn an honest penny, but I don't like risking me +neck for it, squire. It's clear ye'll not be afther givin' me a dale of +money widout being sure of havin' the worth of it out o' me; and it's dirty +work enough I've done, widout the doin' of any more: me conscience is a +sore throuble to me about the other job. Be the powers I'm out o' that, and +divil a like scrape will I get in agin wid my own consint." + +"Your conscience has become troublesome very suddenly," rejoined Mr. +Stevens, with a look of angry scorn; "it's strange it don't appear to have +troubled you in the least during the last few weeks, whilst you have been +knocking niggers on the head so freely." + +"Well, I'm tired o' that work," interrupted McCloskey; "and what's more, +I'll soon be lavin' of it off." + +"We'll see about that," said Mr. Stevens. "You're a pretty fellow, now, +ain't you--grateful, too--very! Here I've been successful in getting you +out of a hanging scrape, and require a trifling service in return, and you +retire. You'll find this trifling won't do with me," continued Mr. Stevens, +with great sternness of manner. "You shall do as I wish: you are in my +power! I need your services, and I will have them--make up your mind to +that." + +McCloskey was somewhat staggered at this bold declaration from Mr. Stevens; +but he soon assumed his former assured manner, and replied, "I'd like to +know how I'm in your power: as far as this riot business is concerned, +you're as deep in the mud as I'm in the mire; as for the other, be St. +Patrick, I'm clane out o' that!--they don't try a man twice for the same +thing." "Don't halloo so loud, my fine fellow," sneeringly rejoined Mr. +Stevens, "you are not entirely out of the wood yet; you are by no means as +safe as you imagine--you haven't been _tried_ yet, you have only been +examined before a magistrate! They lacked sufficient evidence to commit you +for trial--that evidence I can produce at any time; so remember, if you +please, you have not been tried yet: when you have been, and acquitted, be +kind enough to let me know, will you?" + +Mr. Stevens stood for a few moments silently regarding the change his +language had brought over the now crestfallen McCloskey; he then +continued--"Don't think you can escape me--I'll have a thousand eyes upon +you; no one ever escapes me that I wish to retain. Do as I require, and +I'll promote your interest in every possible way, and protect you; but +waver, or hold back, and I'll hang you as unhesitatingly as if you were a +dog." + +This threat was given in a tone that left no doubt on the mind of the +hearer but that Mr. Stevens would carry out his expressed intention; and +the reflections thereby engendered by no means added to the comfort or +sense of security that McCloskey had flattered himself he was in future to +enjoy; he, therefore, began to discover the bad policy of offending one who +might prove so formidable an enemy--of incensing one who had it in his +power to retaliate by such terrible measures. + +He therefore turned to Mr. Stevens, with a somewhat humbled manner, and +said: "You needn't get so mad, squire--sure it's but natural that a man +shouldn't want to get any deeper in the mire than he can help; and I've +enough on my hands now to make them too red to look at wid comfort--sure +it's not a shade deeper you'd have 'em?" he asked, looking inquiringly at +Mr. Stevens, who was compelled to turn away his face for a moment to hide +his agitation. + +At last he mastered his countenance, and, in as cool a tone as he could +assume, replied: "Oh, a little more on them will be scarcely a perceptible +addition. You know the old adage, 'In for a penny, in for a pound.' You +need have no fear," said he, lowering his voice almost to a whisper; "it +can be done in a crowd--and at night--no one will notice it." + +"I don't know about that, squire--in a crowd some one will be sure to +notice it. It's, too dangerous--I can't do it." + +"Tut, tut, man; don't talk like a fool. I tell you there is no danger. You, +in company with a mob of others, are to attack this man's house. When he +makes his appearance, as he will be sure to do, shoot him down." + +"Good God! squire," said McCloskey, his face growing pale at the prospect +of what was required of him, "you talk of murder as if it was mere play!" + +"And still, _I never murdered any one_," rejoined Mr. Stevens, +significantly; "come, come--put your scruples in your pocket, and make up +your mind to go through with it like a man. When the thing is done, you +shall have five thousand dollars in hard cash, and you can go with it where +you please. Now, what do you think of that?" + +"Ah, squire, the money's a great timptation! but it's an awful job." + +"No worse than you did for nothing," replied Mr. Stevens. + +"But that was in a fair fight, and in hot blood; it isn't like planning to +kill a man, squire." + +"Do you call it a fair fight when you steal up behind a man, and break his +skull with a slung shot?" asked Mr. Stevens. + +McCloskey was unable to answer this, and sat moodily regarding his tempter. + +"Come, make up your mind to it--you might as well," resumed Mr. Stevens, in +a coaxing tone. + +"Ye seem bent on not giving it up, and I suppose I'll have to do it," +replied McCloskey, reluctantly; "but what has the man done to ye's, squire, +that you're so down upon him?" + +"Oh, he is one of those infernal Abolitionists, and one of the very worst +kind; he lives with a nigger woman--and, what is more, he is married to +her!" + +"Married to a nigger!" exclaimed McCloskey--"it's a quare taste the animal +has--but you're not afther killing him for that; there's something more +behind: it's not for having a black wife instead of a white one you'd be +afther murthering him--ye'll get no stuff like that down me." + +"No, it is not for that alone, I acknowledge," rejoined Mr. Stevens, with +considerable embarrassment. "He insulted me some time ago, and I want to be +revenged upon him." + +"It's a dear job to insult you, at that rate, squire; but where does he +live?" + +"In my neighbourhood--in fact, next door to me," replied Mr. Stevens, with +an averted face. + +"Howly Mother! not away up there--sure it's crazy ye are. What, away up +there in the city limits!--why, they would have the police and the sogers +at our heels in less than no time. Sure, you're out o' your sinses, to have +me go up there with a mob. No, no--there's too much risk--I can't try +that." + +"I tell you there shall be no risk," impatiently replied Mr. Stevens. "It's +not to be done to-night, nor to-morrow night; and, when I say do it, you +_shall_ do it, and as safely there as anywhere. Only come to the conclusion +that a thing _must_ be done, and it is half finished already. You have only +to make up your mind that you will accomplish a design in spite of +obstacles, and what you once thought to be insurmountable difficulties will +prove mere straws in your path. But we are wasting time; I've determined +you shall do it, and I hope you now know me well enough to be convinced +that it is your best policy to be as obliging as possible. You had better +go now, and be prepared to meet me to-night at Whitticar's." + +After the door closed upon the retreating form of McCloskey, the careless +expression that Mr. Stevens's countenance had worn during the conversation, +gave place to one full of anxiety and apprehension, and he shuddered as he +contemplated the fearful length to which he was proceeding. + +"If I fail," said he--"pshaw! I'll not fail--I must not fail--for failure +is worse than ruin; but cool--cool," he continued, sitting down to his +desk--"those who work nervously do nothing right." He sat writing +uninterruptedly until quite late in the afternoon, when the fading sunlight +compelled him to relinquish his pen, and prepare for home. + +Thrusting the papers into his pocket, he hurried toward the newspaper +office from which were to emanate, as editorials, the carefully concocted +appeals to the passions of the rabble which he had been all the afternoon +so busily engaged in preparing. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Mr. Stevens falls into Bad Hands. + + +The amiable partner of Mr. Stevens sat in high dudgeon, at being so long +restrained from her favourite beverage by the unusually deferred absence of +her husband. At length she was rejoiced by hearing his well-known step as +he came through the garden, and the rattle of his latch-key as he opened +the door was quite musical in her ears. + +"I thought you was never coming," said she, querulously, as he entered the +room; "I have been waiting tea until I am almost starved." + +"You needn't have waited a moment, for you will be obliged to eat alone +after all; I'm going out. Pour me out a cup of tea--I'll drink it whilst +I'm dressing; and," continued Mr. Stevens, "I want you to get me that old +brown over-coat and those striped trowsers I used to wear occasionally." + +"Why, you told me," rejoined Mrs. Stevens, "that you did not require them +again, and so I exchanged them for this pair of vases to-day." + +"The devil you did!" said Mr. Stevens, angrily; "you let them lie about the +house for nearly a year--and now, just as they were likely to be of some +service to me, you've sold them. It's just like you--always doing something +at the wrong time." + +"How on earth, Stevens, was I to know you wanted them?" + +"Well, there, Jule, they're gone; don't let's have any more talk about it. +Get me another cup of tea; I must go out immediately." After hastily +swallowing the second cup, Mr. Stevens left his home, and walked to an +omnibus-station, from whence he was quickly transported to a street in the +lower part of the city, in which were a number of second-hand clothing +stores. These places were supported principally by the country people who +attended the market in the same street, and who fancied that the clothing +they purchased at these shops must be cheap, because it was at second-hand. + +Mr. Stevens stopped at the door of one of these establishments, and paused +to take a slight survey of the premises before entering. The doorway was +hung with coats of every fashion of the last twenty years, and all in +various stages of decay. Some of them looked quite respectable, from much +cleaning and patching; and others presented a reckless and forlorn aspect, +as their worn and ragged sleeves swung about in the evening air. Old hats, +some of which were, in all probability, worn at a period anterior to the +Revolution, kept company with the well-blacked shoes that were ranged on +shelves beside the doorway, where they served in the capacity of signs, and +fairly indicated the style of goods to be purchased within. + +Seeing that there were no buyers in the store, Mr. Stevens opened the door, +and entered. The sounds of his footsteps drew from behind the counter no +less a personage than our redoubtable friend Kinch, who, in the absence of +his father, was presiding over the establishment. + +"Well, Snowball," said Mr. Stevens, "do you keep this curiosity-shop?" + +"My name is not Snowball, and this ain't a curiosity-shop," replied Kinch. +"Do you want to buy anything?" + +"I believe I do," answered Mr. Stevens. "Let me look at some coats--one +that I can get on--I won't say fit me, I'm indifferent about that--let me +see some of the worst you've got." + +Kinch looked surprised at this request from a gentleman of Mr. Stevens's +appearance, and handed out, quite mechanically, a coat that was but +slightly worn. "Oh, that won't do--I want something like this," said Mr. +Stevens, taking down from a peg a very dilapidated coat, of drab colour, +and peculiar cut. What do you ask for this?" + +"That's not fit for, a gentleman like you, sir," said Kinch. + +"I'm the best judge of that matter," rejoined Mr. Stevens. "What is the +price of it?" + +"Oh, that coat you can have for a dollar," replied Kinch. + +"Then I'll take it. Now hand out some trowsers." + +The trowsers were brought; and from a large number Mr. Stevens selected a +pair that suited him. Then adding an old hat to his list of purchases, he +declared his fit-out complete. + +"Can't you accommodate me with some place where I can put these on?" he +asked of Kinch; "I'm going to have a little sport with some friends of +mine, and I want to wear them." + +Kinch led the way into a back room, where he assisted Mr. Stevens to array +himself in his newly-purchased garments. By the change in his attire he +seemed completely robbed of all appearance of respectability; the most +disagreeable points of his physique seemed to be brought more prominently +forward by the habiliments he had assumed, they being quite in harmony with +his villanous countenance. + +Kinch, who looked at him with wonder, was forced to remark, "Why, you don't +look a bit like a gentleman now, sir." + +Mr. Stevens stepped forward, and surveyed himself in the looking-glass. The +transformation was complete--surprising even to himself. "I never knew +before," said he, mentally, "how far a suit of clothes goes towards giving +one the appearance of a gentleman." + +He now emptied the pockets of the suit he had on;--in so doing, he dropped +upon the floor, without observing it, one of the papers. + +"Fold these up," said he, handing to Kinch the suit he had just taken off, +"and to-morrow bring them to this address." As he spoke, he laid his card +upon the counter, and, after paying for his new purchases, walked out of +the shop, and bent his steps in the direction of Whitticar's tavern. + +On arriving there, he found the bar-room crowded with half-drunken men, the +majority of whom were Irishmen, armed with bludgeons of all sizes and +shapes. His appearance amongst them excited but little attention, and he +remained there some time before he was recognized by the master of the +establishment. + +"By the howly St. Patherick I didn't know you, squire; what have you been +doing to yourself?" + +"Hist!" cried Mr. Stevens, putting his fingers to his lips; "I thought it +was best to see how matters were progressing, so I've run down for a little +while. How are you getting on?" + +"Fine, fine, squire," replied Whitticar; "the boys are ripe for anything. +They talk of burning down a nigger church." + +"Not to-night--they must not do such a thing to-night--we are not ready for +that yet. I've made out a little list--some of the places on it they might +have a dash at to-night, just to keep their hands in." As Mr. Stevens +spoke, he fumbled in his pocket for the list in question, and was quite +surprised to be unable to discover it. + +"Can't you find it, squire?" asked Whitticar. + +"I must have lost; it on the way," replied Mr. Stevens. "I am sure I put it +in this pocket," and he made another search. "No use--I'll have to give it +up," said he, at length; "but where is McCloskey? I haven't seen him since +I came in." + +"He came here this afternoon, very far gone; he had been crooking his elbow +pretty frequently, and was so very drunk that I advised him to go home and +go to bed; so he took another dram and went away, and I haven't seen him +since." + +"That's bad, very bad--everything goes wrong this evening--I wanted him +to-night particularly." "Wouldn't the boys go out with you?" suggested +Whitticar. + +"No, no; that wouldn't do at all. I mustn't appear in these things. If I'm +hauled up for participation, who is to be your lawyer--eh?" + +"True for you," rejoined Whitticar; "and I'll just disperse the crowd as +soon as I can, and there will be one peaceable night in the district at any +rate." + +Not liking to give directions to the mob personally, and his useful +coadjutor McCloskey not being at hand, Mr. Stevens came to the conclusion +he would return to his home, and on the next evening a descent should be +made upon the places marked on the list. + +Taking out his watch, he found it would be too late to return to the store +where he had purchased his present adornments, so he determined to start +for home. + +The coat that temporarily adorned the person of Mr. Stevens was of peculiar +cut and colour--it was, in fact, rather in the rowdy style, and had, in its +pristine state, bedecked the person of a member of a notorious fire +company. These gentry had for a long time been the terror of the district +in which they roamed, and had rendered themselves highly obnoxious to some +of the rival factions on the borders of their own territory; they had the +unpleasant habit of pitching into and maltreating, without the slightest +provocation, any one whom their practised eyes discovered to be a rival; +and by such outrages they had excited in the bosoms of their victims a +desire for revenge that only awaited the occasion to manifest itself. + +Mr. Stevens, in happy unconsciousness, that, owing to his habiliments, he +represented one of the well-known and hated faction, walked on quite +leisurely; but, unfortunately for him, his way home lay directly through +the camp of their bitterest and most active enemies. + +Standing in front of a tavern-window, through which a bright light shone, +were a group of young men, who bestowed upon Mr. Stevens more than passing +attention. "I'm blest," exclaimed one of them, if there ain't a ranger! +now that it a saucy piece of business, ain't it! That fellow has come up +here to be able to go back and play brag-game." + +"Let's wallop him, then," suggested another, "and teach him better than to +come parading himself in our parts. I owe 'em something for the way they +served me when I was down in their district." + +"Well, come on," said the first speaker, "or he will get away whilst we are +jawing about what we shall do." + +Advancing to Mr. Stevens, he tapped that gentleman on the shoulder, and +said, with mock civility, and in as bland a tone as he could assume, "It's +really very obliging of you, mister, to come up here to be flogged--saves +us the trouble of coming down to you. We would like to settle with you for +that drubbing you gave one of our boys last week." + +"You must be mistaken," replied Mr. Stevens: "I don't know anything of the +affair to which you allude." + +"You don't, eh! Well, take that, then, to freshen your memory," exclaimed +one of the party, at the same time dealing him a heavy blow on the cheek, +which made the lamplights around appear to dance about in the most +fantastic style. + +The first impulse of Mr. Stevens was to cry out for the watchman; but a +moment's reflection suggested the impolicy of that project, as he would +inevitably be arrested with the rest; and to be brought before a magistrate +in his present guise, would have entailed upon him very embarrassing +explanations; he therefore thought it best to beg off--to throw himself, as +it were, upon their sympathies. + +"Stop, gentlemen--stop--for God's sake, stop," he cried, as soon as he +could regain the breath that had been almost knocked out of him by the +tremendous blow he had just received--"don't kill an innocent man; upon my +honour I never saw you before, nor ever assaulted any of you in my life. My +dear friends," he continued, in a dolorous tone, "please let me go--you are +quite mistaken: I assure you I am not the man." "No, we ain't mistaken, +either: you're one of the rangers; I know you by your coat," replied one of +the assaulters. + +It now flashed upon Mr. Stevens that he had brought himself into these +difficulties, by the assumption of the dress he then wore; he therefore +quickly rejoined--"Oh, it is not my coat--I only put it on for a joke!" + +"That's a likely tale," responded one of the party, who looked very +incredulous; "I don't believe a word of it. That's some darned stuff you've +trumped up, thinking to gammon us--it won't go down; we'll just give you a +walloping, if it's only to teach you to wear your own clothes,"--and +suiting the action to the word, he commenced pommelling him unmercifully. + +"Help! help!" screamed Mr. Stevens. "Don't kill me, gentlemen,--don't kill +me!" + +"Oh! we won't kill you--we'll only come as near it as we can, without quite +finishing you," cried one of his relentless tormenters. + +On hearing this, their victim made a frantic effort to break away, and not +succeeding in it, he commenced yelling at the top of his voice. As is usual +in such cases, the watchman was nowhere to be seen; and his cries only +exasperated his persecutors the more. + +"Hit him in the bread-crusher, and stop his noise," suggested one of the +party farthest off from Mr. Stevens. This piece of advice was carried into +immediate effect, and the unfortunate wearer of the obnoxious coat received +a heavy blow in the mouth, which cut his lips and knocked out one of his +front teeth. + +His cries now became so loud as to render it necessary to gag him, which +was done by one of the party in the most thorough and expeditious manner. +They then dragged him into a wheelwright's shop near by, where they +obtained some tar, with which they coated his face completely. + +"Oh! don't he look like a nigger!" said one of the party, when they had +finished embellishing their victim. + +"Rub some on his hands, and then let him go," suggested another. "When he +gets home I guess he'll surprise his mammy: I don't believe his own dog +will know him!" + +A shout of laughter followed this remark, in the midst of which they +ungagged Mr. Stevens and turned him from the door. + +"Now run for it--cut the quickest kind of time," exclaimed one of them, as +he gave him a kick to add impetus to his forward movement. + +This aid was, however, entirely unnecessary, for Mr. Stevens shot away from +the premises like an arrow from a bow; and that, too, without any +observation upon the direction in which he was going. + +As soon as he felt himself out of the reach of his tormentors, he sat down +upon the steps of a mansion, to consider what was best to be done. All the +shops, and even the taverns, were closed--not a place was open where he +could procure the least assistance; he had not even an acquaintance in the +neighbourhood to whom he might apply. + +He was, indeed, a pitiable object to look upon The hat he had so recently +purchased, bad as it was when it came into his possession, was now +infinitely less presentable. In the severe trials it had undergone, in +company with its unfortunate owner, it had lost its tip and half the brim. +The countenance beneath it would, however, have absorbed the gazer's whole +attention. His lips were swelled to a size that would have been regarded as +large even on the face of a Congo negro, and one eye was puffed out to an +alarming extent; whilst the coating of tar he had received rendered him +such an object as the reader can but faintly picture to himself. + +The door of the mansion was suddenly opened, and there issued forth a party +of young men, evidently in an advanced state of intoxication. "Hallo! +here's a darkey!" exclaimed one of them, as the light from the hall fell +upon the upturned face of Mr. Stevens. "Ha, ha! Here's a darkey--now for +some fun!" + +Mr. Stevens was immediately surrounded by half a dozen well-dressed young +men, who had evidently been enjoying an entertainment not conducted upon +temperance principles. "Spirit of--hic--hic--night, whence co-co-comest +thou?" stammered one; "sp-p-peak--art thou a creature of the +mag-mag-na-tion-goblin-damned, or only a nigger?--speak!" Mr. Stevens, who +at once recognized one or two of the parties as slight acquaintances, would +not open his mouth, for fear that his voice might discover him, as to them, +above all persons, he would have shrunk from making himself known, he +therefore began to make signs as though he were dumb. + +"Let him alone," said one of the more sober of the party; "he's a poor dumb +fellow--let him go." His voice was disregarded, however, as the rest seemed +bent on having some sport. + +A half-hogshead, nearly filled with water, which stood upon the edge of the +pavement, for the convenience of the builders who were at work next door, +caught the attention of one of them. + +"Let's make him jump into this," he exclaimed, at the same time motioning +to Mr. Stevens to that effect. By dint of great effort they made him +understand what was required, and they then continued to make him jump in +and out of the hogshead for several minutes; then, joining hands, they +danced around him, whilst he stood knee-deep in the water, shivering, and +making the most imploring motions to be set at liberty. + +Whilst they were thus engaged, the door again opened, and the fashionable +Mr. Morton (who had been one of the guests) descended the steps, and came +to see what had been productive of so much mirth. + +"What have you got here?" he asked, pressing forward, until he saw the +battered form of Mr. Stevens; "oh, let the poor darkey go," he continued, +compassionately, for he had just drunk enough to make him feel humane; "let +the poor fellow go, it's a shame to treat him in this manner." + +As he spoke, he endeavoured to take from the hands of one of the party a +piece of chip, with which he was industriously engaged in streaking the +face of Mr. Stevens with lime, "Let me alone, Morton--let me alone; I'm +making a white man of him, I'm going to make him a glorious fellow-citizen, +and have him run for Congress. Let me alone, I say." + +Mr. Morton was able, however, after some persuasion, to induce the young +men to depart; and as his home lay in a direction opposite to theirs, he +said to Mr. Stevens, "Come on, old fellow, I'll protect you." + +As soon as they were out of hearing of the others, Mr. Stevens exclaimed, +"Don't you know me, Morton?" + +Mr. Morton started back with surprise, and looked at his companion in a +bewildered manner, then exclaimed, "No, I'll be hanged if I do. Who the +devil are you?" + +"I'm Stevens; you know me." + +"Indeed I don't. Who's Stevens?" + +"You don't know me! why, I'm George Stevens, the lawyer." + +Mr. Morton thought that he now recognized the voice, and as they were +passing under the lamp at the time, Mr. Stevens said to him, "Put your +finger on my face, and you will soon see it is only tar." Mr. Morton did as +he was desired, and found his finger smeared with the sticky article. + +"What on earth have you been doing with yourself?" he asked, with great +surprise; "what is all this masquerading for?" + +Mr. Stevens hereupon related his visit at Whitticar's, and detailed the +events that had subsequently occurred. + +Mr. Morton gave vent to shouts of laughter as he listened to the recital of +his friend. "By George!" he exclaimed, "I'll have to tell that; it is too +good to keep." + +"Oh, no, don't," said Mr. Stevens; "that won't do--you forget what I came +out for?" + +"True," rejoined Mr. Morton; "I suppose it will be best to keep mum about +it. I'll go home with you, you might fall into the hands of the Philistines +again." + +"Thank you--thank you," replied Mr. Stevens, who felt greatly relieved to +have some company for his further protection; "and," continued he, "if I +could only get some of this infernal stuff off my face, I should be so +glad; let us try." + +Accordingly they stopped at the nearest pump, and endeavoured to remove +some of the obnoxious tar from his face; but, unfortunately, the only +result obtained by their efforts was to rub it more thoroughly in, so they +were compelled to give up in despair, and hasten onward. + +Mr. Stevens rang so loudly at the door, as to quite startle his wife and +the charity-girl, both of whom had fallen into a sound sleep, as they sat +together awaiting his return. Mr. Morton, who, as we have said before, was +not entirely sober, was singing a popular melody, and keeping time upon the +door with the head of his cane. Now, in all her life, Mrs. Stevens had +never heard her husband utter a note, and being greatly frightened at the +unusual noise upon the door-step, held a hurried consultation with the +charity-girl upon the best mode of proceeding. + +"Call through the key-hole, ma'am," suggested she, which advice Mrs. +Stevens immediately followed, and inquired, "Who's there?" + +"Open the door, Jule, don't keep me out here with your darned nonsense; let +me in quick." + +"Yes, let him in," added Mr. Morton; "he's brought a gentleman from Africa +with him." + +Mrs. Stevens did not exactly catch the purport of the words uttered by Mr. +Morton; and, therefore, when she opened the door, and her husband, with his +well-blacked face, stalked into the entry, she could not repress a scream +of fright at the hideous figure he presented. + +"Hush, hush," he exclaimed, "don't arouse the neighbours--it's me; don't +you know my voice." + +Mrs. Stevens stared at him in a bewildered manner, and after bidding Mr. +Morton "Good night," she closed and locked the door, and followed her +husband into the back room. In a short time he recapitulated the events +of the night to his astonished and indignant spouse, who greatly +commiserated his misfortunes. A bottle of sweet oil was brought into +requisition, and she made a lengthened effort to remove the tar from her +husband's face, in which she only partially succeeded; and it was almost +day when he crawled off to bed, with the skin half scraped off from his +swollen face. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The Alarm. + + +Immediately after the departure of Mr. Stevens, Master Kinch began to +consider the propriety of closing the establishment for the night. Sliding +down from the counter, where he had been seated, reflecting upon the +strange conduct of his recent customer, he said, "I feels rather queer +round about here," laying his hand upon his stomach; "and I'm inclined to +think that some of them 'ere Jersey sausages and buckwheat cakes that the +old man has been stuffing himself with, wouldn't go down slow. Rather +shabby in him not to come back, and let me go home, and have a slap at the +wittles. I expect nothing else, but that he has eat so much, that he's fell +asleep at the supper-table, and won't wake up till bedtime. He's always +serving me that same trick." + +The old man thus alluded to was no other than Master Kinch's father, who +had departed from the shop two or three hours previously, promising to +return immediately after tea. + +This promise appeared to have entirely faded from his recollection, as he +was at that moment, as Kinch had supposed, fast asleep, and totally +oblivious of the fact that such a person as his hungry descendant was in +existence. + +Having fully come to the conclusion to suspend operations for the evening, +Kinch made two or three excursions into the street, returning each time +laden with old hats, coats, and shoes. These he deposited on the counter +without order or arrangement, muttering, as he did so, that the old man +could sort 'em out in the morning to suit himself. The things being all +brought from the street, he had only to close the shutters, which +operation was soon effected, and our hungry friend on his way home. + +The next morning Mr. De Younge (for the father of Kinch rejoiced in that +aristocratic cognomen) was early at his receptacle for old clothes, and it +being market-day, he anticipated doing a good business. The old man +leisurely took down the shutters, assorted and hung out the old clothes, +and was busily engaged in sweeping out the store, when his eye fell upon +the paper dropped by Mr. Stevens the evening previous. + +"What's dis 'ere," said he, stooping to pick it up; "bill or suthin' like +it, I s'pose. What a trial 'tis not to be able to read writin'; don't know +whether 'tis worth keeping or not; best save it though till dat ar boy of +mine comes, _he_ can read it--he's a scholar. Ah, de children now-a-days +has greater 'vantages than deir poor fathers had." + +Whilst he was thus soliloquizing, his attention was arrested by the noise +of footsteps in the other part of the shop, and looking up, he discerned +the tall form of Mr. Walters. + +"Why, bless me," said the old man, "dis is an early visit; where you come +from, honey, dis time o' day?" + +"Oh, I take a walk every morning, to breathe a little of the fresh air; it +gives one an appetite for breakfast, you know. You'll let me take the +liberty of sitting on your counter, won't you?" he continued; "I want to +read a little article in a newspaper I have just purchased." + +Assent being readily given, Mr. Walters was soon perusing the journal with +great attention; at last he tossed it from him in an impatient manner, and +exclaimed, "Of all lying rascals, I think the reporters for this paper are +the greatest. Now, for instance, three or four nights since, a gang of +villains assaulted one of my tenants--a coloured man--upon his own +doorstep, and nearly killed him, and that, too, without the slightest +provocation; they then set fire to the house, which was half consumed +before it could be extinguished; and it is here stated that the coloured +people were the aggressors, and whilst they were engaged in the _melee_, +the house caught fire accidentally." "Yes," rejoined Mr. De Younge; +"things are gitting mighty critical even in dese 'ere parts; and I wouldn't +live furder down town if you was to give me a house rent-free. Why, it's +raly dangerous to go home nights down dere." + +"And there is no knowing how long we may be any better off up here," +continued Mr. Walters; "the authorities don't seem to take the least notice +of them, and the rioters appear to be having it all their own way." + +They continued conversing upon the topic for some time, Mr. De Younge being +meanwhile engaged in sponging and cleaning some coats he had purchased the +day before; in so doing, he was obliged to remove the paper he had picked +up from the floor, and it occurred to him to ask Mr. Walters to read it; he +therefore handed it to him, saying-- + +"Jist read dat, honey, won't you? I want to know if it's worth savin'. I've +burnt up two or three receipts in my life, and had de bills to pay over; +and I'se got rale careful, you know. 'Taint pleasant to pay money twice +over for de same thing." + +Mr. Walters took the paper extended to him, and, after glancing over it, +remarked, "This handwriting is very familiar to me, very; but whose it is, +I can't say; it appears to be a list of addresses, or something of that +kind." And he read over various names of streets, and numbers of houses. +"Why," he exclaimed, with a start of surprise, "here is my own house upon +the list, 257, Easton-street; then here is 22, Christian-street; here also +are numbers in Baker-street, Bedford-street, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth +Streets; in some of which houses I know coloured people live, for one or +two of them are my own. This is a strange affair." + +As he spoke, he turned over the paper, and read on the other side,--"Places +to be attacked." "Why, this looks serious," he continued, with some +excitement of manner. "'Places to be attacked,'--don't that seem to you as +if it might be a list of places for these rioters to set upon? I really +must look into this. Who could have left it here?" + +"I raly don't know," replied the old man. "Kinch told me suthin' last +night about some gemman comin' here and changing his clothes; p'raps 'twas +him. I'd like to know who 'twas myself. Well, wait awhile, my boy will come +in directly; maybe he can explain it." + +He had scarcely finished speaking, when Master Kinch made his appearance, +with his hat, as usual, placed upon nine hairs, and his mouth smeared with +the eggs and bacon with which he had been "staying and comforting" himself. +He took off his hat on perceiving Mr. Walters, and, with great humility, +"hoped that gentleman was well." + +"Yes, very well, Kinch," replied Mr. Walters. "We were waiting for you. Can +you tell where this came from?" he asked, handing him the mysterious paper. + +"Never seen it before, that I know of," replied Kinch, after a short +inspection. + +"Well, who was here last night?" asked his father; "you said you sold +suthin'?" + +"So I did," replied Kinch; "sold a whole suit; and the gentleman who put it +on said he was going out for a lark. He was changing some papers from his +pocket: perhaps he dropped it. I'm to take this suit back to him to-day. +Here is his card." + +"By heavens!" exclaimed Mr. Walters, after looking at the card, "I know the +fellow,--George Stevens, 'Slippery George,'--every one knows him, and can +speak no good of him either. Now I recognize the handwriting of the list; I +begin to suspect something wrong by seeing his name in connection with +this." + +Hereupon Kinch was subjected to a severe cross-examination, which had the +effect of deepening Mr. Walters's impression, that some plot was being +concocted that would result to the detriment of the coloured people; for he +was confident that no good could be indicated by the mysterious conduct of +Mr. Stevens. + +After some deliberation, Kinch received instructions to take home the +clothes as directed, and to have his eyes about him; and if he saw or heard +anything, he was to report it. In accordance with his instructions, +Master Kinch made several journeys to Mr. Stevens's office, but did not +succeed in finding that gentleman within; the last trip he made there +fatigued him to such a degree, that he determined to wait his arrival, as +he judged, from the lateness of the hour, that, if it was his intention to +come at all that day, he would soon be there. + +"I'll sit down here," said Kinch, who espied an old box in the back part of +the entry, "and give myself a little time to blow." + +He had not sat long before he heard footsteps on the stairs, and presently +the sound of voices became quite audible. + +"That's him," ejaculated Kinch, as Mr. Stevens was heard saying, in an +angry tone,--"Yes; and a devil of a scrape I got into by your want of +sobriety. Had you followed my directions, and met me at Whitticar's, +instead of getting drunk as a beast, and being obliged to go home to bed, +it wouldn't have happened." + +"Well, squire," replied McCloskey, for he was the person addressed by Mr. +Stevens, "a man can't be expected always to keep sober." + +"He ought to when he has business before him," rejoined Mr. Stevens, +sharply; "how the devil am I to trust you to do anything of importance, +when I can't depend on your keeping sober a day at a time? Come up to this +top landing," continued he, "and listen to me, if you think you are sober +enough to comprehend what I say to you." + +They now approached, and stood within a few feet of the place where Kinch +was sitting, and Mr. Stevens said, with a great deal of emphasis, "Now, I +want you to pay the strictest attention to what I say. I had a list of +places made out for you last night, but, somehow or other, I lost it. But +that is neither here nor there. This is what I want you to attend to +particularly. Don't attempt anything to-night; you can't get a sufficient +number of the boys together; but, when you do go, you are to take, first, +Christian-street, between Eleventh and Twelfth,--there are several nigger +families living in that block. Smash in their windows, break their +furniture, and, if possible, set one of the houses on fire, and that will +draw attention to that locality whilst you are operating elsewhere. By that +time, the boys will be ripe for anything. Then you had better go to a house +in Easton-street, corner of Shotwell: there is a rich nigger living there +whose plunder is worth something. I owe him an old grudge, and I want you +to pay it off for me." + +"You keep me pretty busy paying your debts. What's the name of this rich +nigger?" + +"Walters," replied Mr. Stevens; "everybody knows him. Now about that other +affair." Here he whispered so low, that Kinch could only learn they were +planning an attack on the house of some one, but failed in discovering the +name. McCloskey departed as soon as he had received full directions from +Mr. Stevens, and his retreating steps might be still heard upon the stairs, +when Mr. Stevens unlocked his office-door and entered. + +After giving him sufficient time to get quietly seated, Kinch followed, and +delivered the clothes left with him the evening previous. He was very much +struck with Mr. Stevens's altered appearance, and, in fact, would not have +recognized him, but for his voice. + +"You don't seem to be well?" remarked Kinch, inquiringly. + +"No, I'm not," he replied, gruffly; "I've caught cold." As Kinch was +leaving the office, he called after him, "Did you find a paper in your shop +this morning?" + +"No, sir," replied Kinch, "_I didn't_;" but mentally he observed, "My daddy +did though;" and, fearful of some other troublesome question, he took leave +immediately. + +Fatigued and out of breath, Kinch arrived at the house of Mr. Walters, +where he considered it best to go and communicate what he had learned. + +Mr. Walters was at dinner when he received from the maid a summons to the +parlour to see a lad, who said his business was a matter "of life or +death." He was obliged to smile at the air of importance with which Kinch +commenced the relation of what he had overheard--but the smile gave place +to a look of anxiety and indignation long ere he had finished, and at the +conclusion of the communication he was highly excited and alarmed. + +"The infernal scoundrel!" exclaimed Mr. Walters. "Are you sure it was my +house?" + +"Yes, sure," was Kinch's reply. "You are the only coloured person living in +the square--and he said plain enough for anybody to understand, +'Easton-street, corner of Shotwell.' I heard every word but what they said +towards the last in a whisper." + +"You couldn't catch anything of it?" asked Mr. Walters. + +"No, I missed that; they talked too low for me to hear." + +After reflecting a few moments, Mr. Walters said: "Not a word of this is to +be lisped anywhere except with my permission, and by my direction. Have you +had your dinner?" + +"No, sir," was the prompt reply. + +"I want to despatch a note to Mr. Ellis, by you, if it won't trouble you +too much. Can you oblige me?" + +"Oh, yes, sir, by all means," replied Kinch, "I'll go there with pleasure." + +"Then whilst I'm writing," continued Mr. Walters, "you can be eating your +dinner, that will economize time, you know." + +Kinch followed the servant who answered the bell into the dining-room which +Mr. Walters had just left. On being supplied with a knife and fork, he +helped himself bountifully to the roast duck, then pouring out a glass of +wine, he drank with great enthusiasm, to "our honoured self," which +proceeding caused infinite amusement to the two servants who were peeping +at him through the dining-room door. "Der-licious," exclaimed Kinch, +depositing his glass upon the table; "guess I'll try another;" and suiting +the action to the word, he refilled his glass, and dispatched its contents +in the wake of the other. Having laboured upon the duck until his appetite +was somewhat appeased, he leant back in his chair and suffered his plate to +be changed for another, which being done, he made an attack upon a peach +pie, and nearly demolished it outright. + +This last performance brought his meal to a conclusion, and with a look of +weariness, he remarked, "I don't see how it is--but as soon as I have eat +for a little while my appetite is sure to leave me--now I can't eat a bit +more. But the worst thing is walking down to Mr. Ellis's. I don't feel a +bit like it, but I suppose I must;" and reluctantly rising from the table, +he returned to the parlour, where he found Mr. Walters folding the note he +had promised to deliver. + +As soon as he had despatched Kinch on his errand, Mr. Walters put on his +hat and walked to the office of the mayor. + +"Is his honour in?" he asked of one of the police, who was lounging in the +anteroom. + +"Yes, he is--what do you want with him?" asked the official, in a rude +tone. + +"That, sir, is none of your business," replied Mr. Walters; "if the mayor +is in, hand him this card, and say I wish to see him." + +Somewhat awed by Mr. Walters's dignified and decided manner, the man went +quickly to deliver his message, and returned with an answer that his honour +would be obliged to Mr. Walters if he would step into his office. + +On following the officer, he was ushered into a small room--the private +office of the chief magistrate of the city. + +"Take a seat, sir," said the mayor, politely, "it is some time since we +have met. I think I had the pleasure of transacting business with you quite +frequently some years back if I am not mistaken." + +"You are quite correct," replied Mr. Walters, "and being so favourably +impressed by your courtesy on the occasions to which you refer, I have +ventured to intrude upon you with a matter of great importance, not only to +myself, but I think I may say to the public generally. Since this morning, +circumstances have come under my notice that leave no doubt on my mind +that a thoroughly-concerted plan is afoot for the destruction of the +property of a large number of our coloured citizens--mine amongst the rest. +You must be aware," he continued, "that many very serious disturbances have +occurred lately in the lower part of the city." + +"Yes, I've heard something respecting it," replied the mayor, "but I +believe they were nothing more than trifling combats between the negroes +and the whites in that vicinity." + +"Oh, no, sir! I assure you," rejoined Mr. Walters, "they were and are +anything but trifling. I regard them, however, as only faint indications of +what we may expect if the thing is not promptly suppressed; there is an +organized gang of villains, who are combined for the sole purpose of +mobbing us coloured citizens; and, as we are inoffensive, we certainly +deserve protection; and here," continued Mr. Walters, "is a copy of the +list of places upon which it is rumoured an attack is to be made." + +"I really don't see how I'm to prevent it, Mr. Walters; with the exception +of your own residence, all that are here enumerated are out of my +jurisdiction. I can send two or three police for your protection if you +think it necessary. But I really can't see my way clear to do anything +further." + +"Two or three police!" said Mr. Walters, with rising indignation at the +apathy and indifference the mayor exhibited; "they would scarcely be of any +more use than as many women. If that is the extent of the aid you can +afford me, I must do what I can to protect myself." + +"I trust your fears lead you to exaggerate the danger," said the mayor, as +Mr. Walters arose to depart; "perhaps it is _only_ rumour after all." + +"I might have flattered myself with the same idea, did I not feel convinced +by what has so recently occurred but a short distance from my own house; at +any rate, if I am attacked, they will find I am not unprepared. Good day," +and bowing courteously to the mayor, Mr. Walters departed. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The Attack. + + +Mr. Walters lost no time in sending messengers to the various parties +threatened by the mob, warning them either to leave their houses or to make +every exertion for a vigorous defence. Few, however, adopted the latter +extremity; the majority fled from their homes, leaving what effects they +could not carry away at the mercy of the mob, and sought an asylum in the +houses of such kindly-disposed whites as would give them shelter. + +Although the authorities of the district had received the most positive +information of the nefarious schemes of the rioters, they had not made the +slightest efforts to protect the poor creatures threatened in their persons +and property, but let the tide of lawlessness flow on unchecked. + +Throughout the day parties of coloured people might have been seen hurrying +to the upper part of the city: women with terror written on their faces, +some with babes in their arms and children at their side, hastening to some +temporary place of refuge, in company with men who were bending beneath the +weight of household goods. + +Mr. Walters had converted his house into a temporary fortress: the shutters +of the upper windows had been loop-holed, double bars had been placed +across the doors and windows on the ground floor, carpets had been taken +up, superfluous furniture removed, and an air of thorough preparation +imparted. A few of Mr. Walters's male friends had volunteered their aid in +defence of his house, and their services had been accepted. + +Mr. Ellis, whose house was quite indefensible (it being situated in a +neighbourhood swarming with the class of which the mob was composed), had +decided on bringing his family to the house of Mr. Walters, and sharing +with him the fortunes of the night, his wife and daughters having declared +they would feel as safe there as elsewhere; and, accordingly, about five in +the afternoon, Mrs. Ellis came up, accompanied by Kinch and the girls. + +Caddy and Kinch, who brought up the rear, seemed very solicitous respecting +the safety of a package that the latter bore in his arms. + +"What have you there?" asked Mr. Walters, with a smile; "it must be powder, +or some other explosive matter, you take such wonderful pains for its +preservation. Come, Caddy, tell us what it is; is it powder?" + +"No, Mr. Walters, it isn't powder," she replied; "it's nothing that will +blow the house up or burn it down." + +"What is it, then? You tell us, Kinch." + +"Just do, if you think best," said Caddy, giving him a threatening glance; +whereupon, Master Kinch looked as much as to say, "If you were to put me on +the rack you couldn't get a word out of me." + +"I suppose I shall have to give you up," said Mr. Walters at last; "but +don't stand here in the entry; come up into the drawing-room." + +Mrs. Ellis and Esther followed him upstairs, and stood at the door of the +drawing-room surveying the preparations for defence that the appearance of +the room so abundantly indicated. Guns were stacked in the corner, a number +of pistols lay upon the mantelpiece, and a pile of cartridges was heaped up +beside a small keg of powder that stood upon the table opposite the +fire-place. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, "this looks dreadful; it almost frightens +me out of my wits to see so many dangerous weapons scattered about." + +"And how does it affect our quiet Esther?" asked Mr. Walters. + +"It makes me wish I were a man," she replied, with considerable vehemence +of manner. All started at this language from one of her usually gentle +demeanour. + +"Why, Esther, how you talk, girl: what's come over you?" + +"Talk!" replied she. "I say nothing that I do not feel. As we came through +the streets to-day, and I saw so many inoffensive creatures, who, like +ourselves, have never done these white wretches the least injury,--to see +them and us driven from our homes by a mob of wretches, who can accuse us +of nothing but being darker than themselves,--it takes all the woman out of +my bosom, and makes me feel like a----" here Esther paused, and bit her lip +to prevent the utterance of a fierce expression that hovered on the tip of +her tongue. + +She then continued: "One poor woman in particular I noticed: she had a babe +in her arms, poor thing, and was weeping bitterly because she knew of no +place to go to seek for shelter or protection. A couple of white men stood +by jeering and taunting her. I felt as though I could have strangled them: +had I been a man, I would have attacked them on the spot, if I had been +sure they would have killed me the next moment." + +"Hush! Esther, hush! my child; you must not talk so, it sounds +unwomanly--unchristian. Why, I never heard you talk so before." Esther made +no reply, but stood resting her forehead upon the mantelpiece. Her face was +flushed with excitement, and her dark eyes glistened like polished jet. + +Mr. Walters stood regarding her for a time with evident admiration, and +then said, "You are a brave one, after my own heart." Esther hung down her +head, confused by the ardent look he cast upon her, as he continued, "You +have taken me by surprise; but it's always the way with you quiet people; +events like these bring you out--seem to change your very natures, as it +were. We must look out," said he, with a smile, turning to one of the young +men, "or Miss Ellis will excel us all in courage. I shall expect great +things from her if we are attacked to-night." + +"Don't make a jest of me, Mr. Walters," said Esther, and as she spoke her +eyes moistened and her lip quivered with vexation. + +"No, no, my dear girl, don't misunderstand me," replied he, quickly; +"nothing was farther from my thoughts. I truly meant all that I said. I +believe you to be a brave girl." + +"If you really think so," rejoined Esther, "prove it by showing me how to +load these." As she spoke she took from the mantel one of the pistols that +were lying there, and turned it over to examine it. + +"Oh! put that down, Esther, put that down immediately," almost screamed +Mrs. Ellis; "what with your speeches and your guns you'll quite set me +crazy; do take it from her, Walters; it will certainly go off." + +"There's not the least danger, Ellen," he replied; "there's nothing in it." + +"Well, I'm afraid of guns, loaded or unloaded; they are dangerous, all of +them, whether they have anything in them or not. Do you hear me, Esther; do +put that down and come out of here." + +"Oh, no, mother," said she, "do let me remain; there, I'll lay the pistols +down and won't touch them again whilst you are in the room." + +"You may safely leave her in my hands," interposed Mr. Walters. "If she +wants to learn, let her; it won't injure her in the least, I'll take care +of that." This assurance somewhat quieted Mrs. Ellis, who left the room and +took up her quarters in another apartment. + +"Now, Mr. Walters," said Esther, taking off her bonnet, I'm quite in +earnest about learning to load these pistols, and I wish you to instruct +me. You may be hard pressed tonight, and unable to load for yourselves, and +in such an emergency I could perhaps be of great use to you." + +"But, my child," replied he, "to be of use in the manner you propose, you +would be compelled to remain in quite an exposed situation." + +"I am aware of that," calmly rejoined Esther. "And still you are not +afraid?" he asked, in surprise. + +"Why should I be; I shall not be any more exposed than you or my father." + +"That's enough--I'll teach you. Look here," said Mr. Walters, "observe how +I load this." Esther gave her undivided attention to the work before her, +and when he had finished, she took up another pistol and loaded it with a +precision and celerity that would have reflected honour on a more practised +hand. + +"Well done!--capital!" exclaimed Mr. Walters, as she laid down the weapon. +"You'll do, my girl; as I said before, you are one after my own heart. Now, +whilst you are loading the rest, I will go downstairs, where I have some +little matters to attend to." On the stair-way he was met by Kinch and +Caddy, who were tugging up a large kettle of water. "Is it possible, +Caddy," asked Mr. Walters, "that your propensity to dabble in soap and +water has overcome you even at this critical time? You certainly can't be +going to scrub?" + +"No, I'm not going to scrub," she replied, "nor do anything like it. We've +got our plans, haven't we, Kinch?" + +"Let's hear what your plans are. I'd like to be enlightened a little, if +convenient," said Mr. Walters. + +"Well, it's _not_ convenient, Mr. Walters, so you need not expect to hear a +word about them. You'd only laugh if we were to tell you, so we're going to +keep it to ourselves, ain't we, Kinch?" + +The latter, thus appealed to, put on an air of profound mystery, and +intimated that if they were permitted to pursue the even tenor of their +way, great results might be expected; but if they were balked in their +designs, he could not answer for the consequences. + +"You and Esther have your plans," resumed Caddy, "and we have ours. We +don't believe in powder and shot, and don't want anything to do with guns; +for my part I'm afraid of them, so please let us go by--do, now, that's a +good soul!" + +"You seem to forget that I'm the commander of this fortress," said Mr. +Walters, "and that I have a right to know everything that transpires within +it; but I see you look obstinate, and as I haven't time to settle the +matter now, you may pass on. I wonder what they can be about," he remarked, +as they hurried on. "I must steal up by-and-by and see for myself." + +One after another the various friends of Mr. Walters came in, each bringing +some vague report of the designs of the mob. They all described the +excitement as growing more intense; that the houses of various prominent +Abolitionists had been threatened; that an attempt had been made to fire +one of the coloured churches; and that, notwithstanding the rioters made +little scruple in declaring their intentions, the authorities were not +using the slightest effort to restrain them, or to protect the parties +threatened. Day was fast waning, and the approaching night brought with it +clouds and cold. + +Whilst they had been engaged in their preparations for defence, none had +time to reflect upon the danger of their situation; but now that all was +prepared, and there was nothing to sustain the excitement of the last few +hours, a chill crept over the circle who were gathered round the fire. +There were no candles burning, and the uncertain glow from the grate gave a +rather weird-like look to the group. The arms stacked in the corner of the +room, and the occasional glitter of the pistol-barrels as the flames rose +and fell, gave the whole a peculiarly strange effect. + +"We look belligerent enough, I should think," remarked Mr. Walters, looking +around him. "I wish we were well out of this: it's terrible to be driven to +these extremities--but we are not the aggressors, thank God! and the +results, be they what they may, are not of our seeking. I have a right to +defend my own: I have asked protection of the law, and it is too weak, or +too indifferent, to give it; so I have no alternative but to protect +myself. But who is here? It has grown so dark in the room that I can +scarcely distinguish any one. Where are all the ladies?" "None are here +except myself," answered Esther; "all the rest are below stairs." + +"And where are you? I hear, but can't see you; give me your hand," said he, +extending his own in the direction from which her voice proceeded. "How +cold your hand is," he continued; "are you frightened?" + +"Frightened!" she replied; "I never felt calmer in my life--put your finger +on my pulse." + +Mr. Walters did as he was desired, and exclaimed, "Steady as a clock. I +trust nothing may occur before morning to cause it to beat more hurriedly." + +"Let us put some wood on these coals," suggested Mr. Ellis; "it will make a +slight blaze, and give us a chance to see each other." As he spoke he took +up a few small fagots and cast them upon the fire. + +The wood snapped and crackled, as the flames mounted the chimney and cast a +cheerful glow upon the surrounding objects: suddenly a thoroughly ignited +piece flew off from the rest and fell on the table in the midst of the +cartridges. "Run for your lives!" shrieked one of the party. "The powder! +the powder!" Simultaneously they nearly all rushed to the door. + +Mr. Walters stood as one petrified. Esther alone, of the whole party, +retained her presence of mind; springing forward, she grasped the blazing +fragment and dashed it back again into the grate. All this passed in a few +seconds, and in the end Esther was so overcome with excitement and terror, +that she fainted outright. Hearing no report, those who had fled cautiously +returned, and by their united efforts she was soon restored to +consciousness. + +"What a narrow escape!" said she, trembling, and covering her face with her +hands; "it makes me shudder to think of it." + +"We owe our lives to you, my brave girl," said Mr. Walters; "your presence +of mind has quite put us all to the blush." + +"Oh! move the powder some distance off, or the same thing may happen +again. Please do move it, Mr. Walters; I shall have no peace whilst it is +there." + +Whilst they were thus engaged, a loud commotion was heard below stairs, and +with one accord all started in the direction from whence the noise +proceeded. + +"Bring a light! bring a light!" cried Mrs. Ellis; "something dreadful has +happened." A light was soon procured, and the cause of this second alarm +fully ascertained. + +Master Kinch, in his anxiety to give himself as warlike an appearance as +possible, had added to his accoutrements an old sword that he had +discovered in an out-of-the-way corner of the garret. Not being accustomed +to weapons of this nature, he had been constantly getting it between his +legs, and had already been precipitated by it down a flight of steps, to +the imminent risk of his neck. Undaunted, however, by this mishap, he had +clung to it with wonderful tenacity, until it had again caused a disaster +the noise of which had brought all parties into the room where it had +occurred. + +The light being brought, Master Kinch crawled out from under a table with +his head and back covered with batter, a pan of which had been overturned +upon him, in consequence of his having been tripped up by his sword and +falling violently against the table on which it stood. + +"I said you had better take that skewer off," exclaimed Caddy: "It's a +wonder it hasn't broke your neck before now; but you are such a goose you +would wear it," said she, surveying her aide-de-camp with derision, as he +vainly endeavoured to scrape the batter from his face. + +"Please give me some water," cried Kinch, looking from one to the other of +the laughing group: "help a feller to get it off, can't you--it's all in my +eyes, and the yeast is blinding me." + +The only answer to this appeal was an additional shout of laughter, without +the slightest effort for his relief. At last Caddy, taking compassion upon +his forlorn condition, procured a basin of water, and assisted him to wash +from his woolly pate what had been intended for the next day's meal. +"This is the farce after what was almost a tragedy," said Mr. Walters, as +they ascended the stairs again; "I wonder what we shall have next!" + +They all returned to their chairs by the drawing-room fire after this +occurrence, and remained in comparative silence for some time, until loud +cries of "Fire! fire!" startled them from their seats. + +"The whole of the lower part of the city appears to be in a blaze," +exclaimed one of the party who had hastened to the window; "look at the +flames--they are ascending from several places. They are at their work; we +may expect them here soon." + +"Well, they'll find us prepared when they do come," rejoined Mr. Walters. + +"What do you propose?" asked Mr. Ellis. "Are we to fire on them at once, or +wait for their attack?" + +"Wait for their attack, by all means," said he, in reply;--"if they throw +stones, you'll find plenty in that room with which to return the +compliment; if they resort to fire-arms, then we will do the same; I want +to be strictly on the defensive--but at the same time we must defend +ourselves fully and energetically." + +In about an hour after this conversation a dull roar was heard in the +distance, which grew louder and nearer every moment. + +"Hist!" said Esther; "do you hear that noise? Listen! isn't that the mob +coming?" + +Mr. Walters opened the shutter, and then the sound became more distinct. On +they came, nearer and nearer, until the noise of their voices became almost +deafening. + +There was something awful in the appearance of the motley crowd that, like +a torrent, foamed and surged through the streets. Some were bearing large +pine torches that filled the air with thick smoke and partially lighted up +the surrounding gloom. Most of them were armed with clubs, and a few with +guns and pistols. + +As they approached the house, there seemed to be a sort of consultation +between the ringleaders, for soon after every light was extinguished, and +the deafening yells of "Kill the niggers!" "Down with the Abolitionists!" +were almost entirely stilled. + +"I wonder what that means," said Mr. Walters, who had closed the shutter, +and was surveying, through an aperture that had been cut, the turbulent +mass below. "Look out for something soon." + +He had scarcely finished speaking, when a voice in the street cried, +"One--two--three!" and immediately there followed a volley of missiles, +crushing in the windows of the chamber above, and rattling upon the +shutters of the room in which the party of defenders were gathered. A yell +then went up from the mob, followed by another shower of stones. + +"It is now our turn," said Mr. Walters, coolly. "Four of you place +yourselves at the windows of the adjoining room; the rest remain here. When +you see a bright light reflected on the crowd below, throw open the +shutters, and hurl down stones as long as the light is shining. Now, take +your places, and as soon as you are prepared stamp upon the floor." + +Each of the men now armed themselves with two or more of the largest stones +they could find, from the heap that had been provided for the occasion; and +in a few seconds a loud stamping upon the floor informed Mr. Walters that +all was ready. He now opened the aperture in the shutter, and placed +therein a powerful reflecting light which brought the shouting crowd below +clearly into view, and in an instant a shower of heavy stones came crashing +down upon their upturned faces. + +Yells of rage and agony ascended from the throng, who, not seeing any +previous signs of life in the house, had no anticipation of so prompt and +severe a response to their attack. For a time they swayed to and fro, +bewildered by the intense light and crushing shower of stones that had so +suddenly fallen upon them. Those in the rear, however, pressing forward, +did not permit the most exposed to retire out of reach of missiles from the +house; on perceiving which, Mr. Walters again turned the light upon them, +and immediately another stony shower came rattling down, which caused a +precipitate retreat. + +"The house is full of niggers!--the house is full of niggers!" cried +several voices--"Shoot them! kill them!" and immediately several shots were +fired at the window by the mob below. + +"Don't fire yet," said Mr. Walters to one of the young men who had his hand +upon a gun. "Stop awhile. When we do fire, let it be to some purpose--let +us make sure that some one is hit." + +Whilst they were talking, two or three bullets pierced the shutters, and +flattened themselves upon the ceiling above. + +"Those are rifle bullets," remarked one of the young men--"do let us fire." + +"It is too great a risk to approach the windows at present; keep quiet for +a little while; and, when the light is shown again, fire. But, hark!" +continued he, "they are trying to burst open the door. We can't reach them +there without exposing ourselves, and if they should get into the entry it +would be hard work to dislodge them." + +"Let us give them a round; probably it will disperse those farthest +off--and those at the door will follow," suggested one of the young men. + +"We'll try it, at any rate," replied Walters. "Take your places, don't fire +until I show the light--then pick your man, and let him have it. There is +no use to fire, you know, unless you hit somebody. Are you ready?" he +asked. + +"Yes," was the prompt reply. + +"Then here goes," said he, turning the light upon the crowd below--who, +having some experience in what would follow, did their best to get out of +reach; but they were too late--for the appearance of the light was followed +by the instantaneous report of several guns which did fearful execution +amidst the throng of ruffians. Two or three fell on the spot, and were +carried off by their comrades with fearful execrations. + +The firing now became frequent on both sides, and Esther's services came +into constant requisition. It was in vain that her father endeavoured to +persuade her to leave the room; notwithstanding the shutters had been +thrown open to facilitate operations from within and the exposure thereby +greatly increased, she resolutely refused to retire, and continued +fearlessly to load the guns and hand them to the men. + +"They've got axes at work upon the door, if they are not dislodged, they'll +cut their way in," exclaimed one of the young men--"the stones are +exhausted, and I don't know what we shall do." + +Just then the splash of water was heard, followed by shrieks of agony. + +"Oh, God! I'm scalded! I'm scalded!" cried one of the men upon the steps. +"Take me away! take me away!" + +In the midst of his cries another volume of scalding water came pouring +down upon the group at the door, which was followed by a rush from the +premises. + +"What is that--who could have done that--where has that water come from?" +asked Mr. Walters, as he saw the seething shower pass the window, and fall +upon the heads below. "I must go and see." + +He ran upstairs, and found Kinch and Caddy busy putting on more water, they +having exhausted one kettle-full--into which they had put two or three +pounds of cayenne pepper--on the heads of the crowd below. + +"We gave 'em a settler, didn't we, Mr. Walters?" asked Caddy, as he entered +the room. "It takes us; we fight with hot water. This," said she, holding +up a dipper, "is my gun. I guess we made 'em squeal." + +"You've done well, Caddy," replied he--"first-rate, my girl. I believe +you've driven them off entirely," he continued, peeping out of the window. +"They are going off, at any rate," said he, drawing in his head; "whether +they will return or not is more than I can say. Keep plenty of hot water, +ready, but don't expose yourselves, children. Weren't you afraid to go to +the window?" he asked. + +"We didn't go near it. Look at this," replied Caddy, fitting a broom handle +into the end of a very large tin dipper. "Kinch cut this to fit; so we have +nothing to do but to stand back here, dip up the water, and let them have +it; the length of the handle keeps us from being seen from the street. That +was Kinch's plan." + +"And a capital one it was too. Your head, Kinch, evidently has no batter +within, if it has without; there is a great deal in that. Keep a bright +look out," continued Mr. Walters; "I'm going downstairs. If they come +again, let them have plenty of your warm pepper-sauce." + +On returning to the drawing-room, Mr. Walters found Mr. Dennis, one of the +company, preparing to go out. "I'm about to avail myself of the advantage +afforded by my fair complexion, and play the spy," said he. "They can't +discern at night what I am, and I may be able to learn some of their +plans." + +"A most excellent idea," said Mr. Walters; "but pray be careful. You may +meet some one who will recognise you." + +"Never fear," replied Mr. Dennis. "I'll keep a bright look out for that." +And, drawing his cap far down over his eyes, to screen his face as much as +possible, he sallied out into the street. + +He had not been absent more than a quarter of an hour, when he returned +limping into the house. "Have they attacked you--are you hurt?" asked the +anxious group by which he was surrounded. + +"I'm hurt-, but not by them. I got on very well, and gleaned a great deal +of information, when I heard a sudden exclamation, and, on looking round, I +found myself recognized by a white man of my acquaintance. I ran +immediately; and whether I was pursued or not, I'm unable to say. I had +almost reached here, when my foot caught in a grating and gave my ancle +such a wrench that I'm unable to stand." As he spoke, his face grew pale +from the suffering the limb was occasioning. "I'm sorry, very sorry," he +continued, limping to the sofa; "I was going out again immediately. They +intend making an attack on Mr. Garie's house: I didn't hear his name +mentioned, but I heard one of the men, who appeared to be a ringleader, +say, 'We're going up to Winter-street, to give a coat of tar and feathers +to a white man, who is married to a nigger woman.' They can allude to none +but him. How annoying that this accident should have happened just now, of +all times. They ought to be warned." + +"Oh, poor Emily!" cried Esther, bursting into tears; "it will kill her, I +know it will; she is so ill. Some one must go and warn them. Let me try; +the mob, even if I met them, surely would not assault a woman." + +"You mustn't think of such a thing, Esther," exclaimed Mr. Walters; "the +idea isn't to be entertained for a moment. You don't know what ruthless +wretches they are. Your colour discovered you would find your sex but a +trifling protection. I'd go, but it would be certain death to me: my black +face would quickly obtain for me a passport to another world if I were +discovered in the street just now." + +"I'll go," calmly spoke Mr. Ellis. "I can't rest here and think of what +they are exposed to. By skulking through bye-streets and keeping under the +shadows of houses I may escape observation--at any rate, I must run the +risk." And he began to button up his coat. "Don't let your mother know I'm +gone; stick by her, my girl," said he, kissing Esther; "trust in +God,--He'll protect me." + +Esther hung sobbing on her father's neck. "Oh, father, father," said she, +"I couldn't bear to see you go for any one but Emily and the children." + +"I know it, dear," he replied; "it's my duty. Garie would do the same for +me, I know, even at greater risk. Good-bye! good-bye!" And, disengaging +himself from the weeping girl, he started on his errand of mercy. + +Walking swiftly forwards, he passed over more than two-thirds of the way +without the slightest interruption, the streets through which he passed +being almost entirely deserted. He had arrived within a couple of squares +of the Garies, when suddenly, on turning a corner, he found himself in the +midst of a gang of ruffians. + +"Here's a nigger! here's a nigger!" shouted two or three of them, almost +simultaneously, making at the same time a rush at Mr. Ellis, who turned and +ran, followed by the whole gang. Fear lent him wings, and he fast +outstripped his pursuers, and would have entirely escaped, had he not +turned into a street which unfortunately was closed at the other end. This +he did not discover until it was too late to retrace his steps, his +pursuers having already entered the street. + +Looking for some retreat, he perceived he was standing near an unfinished +building. Tearing off the boards that were nailed across the window, he +vaulted into the room, knocking off his hat, which fell upon the pavement +behind him. Scarcely had he groped his way to the staircase of the dwelling +when he heard the footsteps of his pursuers. + +"He can't have got through," exclaimed one of them, "the street is closed +up at the end; he must be up here somewhere." + +Lighting one of their torches, they began to look around them, and soon +discovered the hat lying beneath the window. + +"He's in here, boys; we've tree'd the 'coon," laughingly exclaimed one of +the ruffians. "Let's after him." + +Tearing off the remainder of the boards, one or two entered, opened the +door from the inside, and gave admission to the rest. + +Mr. Ellis mounted to the second story, followed by his pursuers; on he +went, until he reached the attic, from which a ladder led to the roof. +Ascending this, he drew it up after him, and found himself on the roof of a +house that was entirely isolated. + +The whole extent of the danger flashed upon him at once. Here he was +completely hemmed in, without the smallest chance for escape. He +approached the edge and looked over, but could discover nothing near enough +to reach by a leap. + +"I must sell my life dearly," he said. "God be my helper now--He is all I +have to rely upon." And as he spoke, the great drops of sweat fell from his +forehead. Espying a sheet of lead upon the roof, he rolled it into a club +of tolerable thickness, and waited the approach of his pursuers. + +"He's gone on the roof," he heard one of them exclaim, "and pulled the +ladder up after him." Just then, a head emerged from the trap-door, the +owner of which, perceiving Mr. Ellis, set up a shout of triumph. + +"We've got him! we've got him!--here he is!" which cries were answered by +the exultant voices of his comrades below. + +An attempt was now made by one of them to gain the roof; but he immediately +received a blow from Mr. Ellis that knocked him senseless into the arms of +his companions. Another attempted the same feat, and met a similar fate. + +This caused a parley as to the best mode of proceeding, which resulted in +the simultaneous appearance of three of the rioters at the opening. Nothing +daunted, Mr. Ellis attacked them with such fierceness and energy that they +were forced to descend, muttering the direst curses. In a few moments +another head appeared, at which Mr. Ellis aimed a blow of great force; and +the club descended upon a hat placed upon a stick. Not meeting the +resistance expected, it flew from his hand, and he was thrown forward, +nearly falling down the doorway. + +With a shout of triumph, they seized his arm, and held him firmly, until +one or two of them mounted the roof. + +"Throw him over! throw him over!" exclaimed some of the fiercest of the +crowd. One or two of the more merciful endeavoured to interfere against +killing him outright; but the frenzy of the majority triumphed, and they +determined to cast him into the street below. + +Mr. Ellis clung to the chimney, shrieking,--"Save me! save me!--Help! help! +Will no one save me!" His cries were unheeded by the ruffians, and the +people at the surrounding windows were unable to afford him any assistance, +even if they were disposed to do so. + +Despite his cries and resistance, they forced him to the edge of the roof; +he clinging to them the while, and shrieking in agonized terror. Forcing +off his hold, they thrust him forward and got him partially over the edge, +where he clung calling frantically for aid. One of the villains, to make +him loose his hold, struck on his fingers with the handle of a hatchet +found on the roof; not succeeding in breaking his hold by these means, +with, an oath he struck with the blade, severing two of the fingers from +one hand and deeply mangling the other. + +With a yell of agony, Mr. Ellis let go his hold, and fell upon a pile of +rubbish below, whilst a cry of triumphant malignity went up from the crowd +on the roof. + +A gentleman and some of his friends kindly carried the insensible man into +his house. "Poor fellow!" said he, "he is killed, I believe. What a gang of +wretches. These things are dreadful; that such a thing can be permitted in +a Christian city is perfectly appalling." The half-dressed family gathered +around the mangled form of Mr. Ellis, and gave vent to loud expressions of +sympathy. A doctor was quickly sent for, who stanched the blood that was +flowing from his hands and head. + +"I don't think he can live," said he, "the fall was too great. As far as I +can judge, his legs and two of his ribs are broken. The best thing we can +do, is to get him conveyed to the hospital; look in his pockets, perhaps we +can find out who he is." + +There was nothing found, however, that afforded the least clue to his name +and residence; and he was, therefore, as soon as persons could be procured +to assist, borne to the hospital, where his wounds were dressed, and the +broken limbs set. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +More Horrors. + + +Unaware of the impending danger, Mr. Garie sat watching by the bedside of +his wife. She had been quite ill; but on the evening of which we write, +although nervous and wakeful, was much better. The bleak winds of the fast +approaching winter dealt unkindly with her delicate frame, accustomed as +she was to the soft breezes of her Southern home. + +Mr. Garie had been sitting up looking at the fires in the lower part of the +city. Not having been out all that day or the one previous, he knew nothing +of the fearful state into which matters had fallen. + +"Those lights are dying away, my dear," said he to his wife; "there must +have been quite an extensive conflagration." Taking out his watch, he +continued, "almost two o'clock; why, how late I've been sitting up. I +really don't know whether it's worth while to go to bed or not, I should be +obliged to get up again at five o'clock; I go to New York to-morrow, or +rather to-day; there are some matters connected with Uncle John's will that +require my personal attention. Dear old man, how suddenly he died." + +"I wish, dear, you could put off your journey until I am better," said Mrs. +Garie, faintly; "I do hate you to go just now." + +"I would if I could, Emily; but it is impossible. I shall be back +to-morrow, or the next day, at farthest. Whilst I'm there, I'll----" + +"Hush!" interrupted Mrs. Garie, "stop a moment. Don't you hear a noise like +the shouting of a great many people." "Oh, it's only the firemen," +replied he; "as I was about to observe--" + +"Hush!" cried she again. "Listen now, that don't sound like the firemen in +the least." Mr. Garie paused as the sound of a number of voices became more +distinct. + +Wrapping his dressing-gown more closely about him, he walked into the front +room, which overlooked the street. Opening the window, he saw a number of +men--some bearing torches--coming rapidly in the direction of his dwelling. +"I wonder what all this is for; what can it mean," he exclaimed. + +They had now approached sufficiently near for him to understand their +cries. "Down with the Abolitionist--down with the Amalgamationist! give +them tar and feathers!" + +"It's a mob--and that word Amalgamationist--can it be pointed at me? It +hardly seems possible; and yet I have a fear that there is something +wrong." + +"What is it, Garie? What is the matter?" asked his wife, who, with a shawl +hastily thrown across her shoulders, was standing pale and trembling by the +window. + +"Go in, Emily, my dear, for Heaven's sake; you'll get your death of cold in +this bleak night air--go in; as soon as I discover the occasion of the +disturbance, I'll come and tell you. Pray go in." Mrs. Garie retired a few +feet from the window, and stood listening to the shouts in the street. + +The rioters, led on evidently by some one who knew what he was about, +pressed forward to Mr. Garie's house; and soon the garden in front was +filled with the shouting crowd. + +"What do you all want--why are you on my premises, creating this +disturbance?" cried Mr. Garie. + +"Come down and you'll soon find out. You white livered Abolitionist, come +out, damn you! we are going to give you a coat of tar and feathers, and +your black wench nine-and-thirty. Yes, come down--come down!" shouted +several, "or we will come up after you." + +"I warn you," replied Mr. Garie, "against any attempt at violence upon my +person, family, or property. I forbid you to advance another foot upon the +premises. If any man of you enters my house, I'll shoot him down as quick +as I would a mad dog." + +"Shut up your gap; none of your cussed speeches," said a voice in the +crowd; "if you don't come down and give yourself up, we'll come in and take +you--that's the talk, ain't it, boys?" A general shout of approval answered +this speech, and several stones were thrown at Mr. Garie, one of which +struck him on the breast. + +Seeing the utter futility of attempting to parley with the infuriated +wretches below, he ran into the room, exclaiming, "Put on some clothes, +Emily! shoes first--quick--quick, wife!--your life depends upon it. I'll +bring down the children and wake the servants. We must escape from the +house--we are attacked by a mob of demons. Hurry, Emily! do, for God sake!" + +Mr. Garie aroused the sleeping children, and threw some clothes upon them, +over which he wrapped shawls or blankets, or whatever came to hand. Rushing +into the next room, he snatched a pair of loaded pistols from the drawer of +his dressing-stand, and then hurried his terrified wife and children down +the stairs. + +"This way, dear--this way!" he cried, leading on toward the back door; "out +that way through the gate with the children, and into some of the +neighbour's houses. I'll stand here to keep the way." + +"No, no, Garie," she replied, frantically; "I won't go without you." + +"You must!" he cried, stamping his foot impatiently; "this is no time to +parley--go, or we shall all be murdered. Listen, they've broken in the +door. Quick--quick! go on;" and as he spoke, he pressed her and the +children out of the door, and closed it behind them. + +Mrs. Garie ran down the garden, followed by the children; to her horror, +she found the gate locked, and the key nowhere to be found. + +"What shall we do?" she cried. "Oh, we shall all be killed!" and her limbs +trembled beneath her with cold and terror. "Let us hide in here, mother," +suggested Clarence, running toward the wood-house; "we'll be safe in +there." Seeing that nothing better could be done, Mrs. Garie availed +herself of the suggestion; and when she was fairly inside the place, fell +fainting upon the ground. + +As she escaped through the back door, the mob broke in at the front, and +were confronting Mr. Garie, as he stood with his pistol pointed at them, +prepared to fire. + +"Come another step forward and I fire!" exclaimed he, resolutely; but those +in the rear urged the advance of those in front, who approached cautiously +nearer and nearer their victim. Fearful of opening the door behind him, +lest he should show the way taken by his retreating wife, he stood +uncertain how to act; a severe blow from a stone, however, made him lose +all reflection, and he immediately fired. A loud shriek followed the report +of his pistol, and a shower of stones was immediately hurled upon him. + +He quickly fired again, and was endeavouring to open the door to effect his +escape, when a pistol was discharged close to his head and he fell forward +on the entry floor lifeless. + +All this transpired in a few moments, and in the semi-darkness of the +entry. Rushing forward over his lifeless form, the villains hastened +upstairs in search of Mrs. Garie. They ran shouting through the house, +stealing everything valuable that they could lay their hands upon, and +wantonly destroying the furniture; they would have fired the house, but +were prevented by McCloskey, who acted as leader of the gang. + +For two long hours they ransacked the house, breaking all they could not +carry off, drinking the wine in Mr. Garie's cellar, and shouting and +screaming like so many fiends. + +Mrs. Garie and the children lay crouching with terror in the wood-house, +listening to the ruffians as they went through the yard cursing her and her +husband and uttering the direst threats of what they would do should she +fall into their hands. Once she almost fainted on hearing one of them +propose opening the wood-house, to see if there was anything of value in +it--but breathed again when they abandoned it as not worth their attention. + +The children crouched down beside her--scarcely daring to whisper, lest +they should attract the attention of their persecutors. Shivering with cold +they drew closer around them the blanket with which they had been +providentially provided. + +"Brother, my feet are _so_ cold," sobbed little Em. "I can't feel my toes. +Oh, I'm so cold!" + +"Put your feet closer to me, sissy," answered her brother, baring himself +to enwrap her more thoroughly; "put my stockings on over yours;" and, as +well as they were able in the dark, he drew his stockings on over her +benumbed feet. "There, sis, that's better," he whispered, with an attempt +at cheerfulness, "now you'll be warmer." + +Just then Clarence heard a groan from his mother, so loud indeed that it +would have been heard without but for the noise and excitement around the +house--and feeling for her in the dark, he asked, "Mother, are you worse? +are you sick?" + +A groan was her only answer. + +"Mother, mother," he whispered, "do speak, please do!" and he endeavoured +to put his arm around her. + +"Don't, dear--don't," said she, faintly, "just take care of your +sister--you can't do me any good--don't speak, dear, the men will hear +you." + +Reluctantly the frightened child turned his attention again to his little +sister; ever and anon suppressed groans from his mother would reach his +ears--at last he heard a groan even fierce in its intensity; and then the +sounds grew fainter and fainter until they entirely ceased. The night to +the poor shivering creatures in their hiding place seemed interminably +long, and the sound of voices in the house had not long ceased when the +faint light of day pierced their cheerless shelter. + +Hearing the voices of some neighbours in the yard, Clarence hastened out, +and seizing one of the ladies by the dress, cried imploringly, "Do come to +my mother, she's sick." + +"Why, where did you come from, chil?" said the lady, with a start of +astonishment. "Where have you been?" + +"In there," he answered, pointing to the wood-house. "Mother and sister are +in there." + +The lady, accompanied by one or two others, hastened to the wood-house. + +"Where is she?" asked the foremost, for in the gloom of the place she could +not perceive anything. + +"Here," replied Clarence, "she's lying here." On opening a small window, +they saw Mrs. Garie lying in a corner stretched upon the boards, her head +supported by some blocks. "She's asleep," said Clarence. "Mother--mother," +but there came no answer. "MOTHER," said he, still louder, but yet there +was no response. + +Stepping forward, one of the females opened the shawl, which was held +firmly in the clenched hands of Mrs. Garie--and there in her lap partially +covered by her scanty nightdress, was discovered a new-born babe, who with +its mother had journeyed in the darkness, cold, and night, to the better +land, that they might pour out their woes upon the bosom of their Creator. + +The women gazed in mournful silence on the touching scene before them. +Clarence was on his knees, regarding with fear and wonder the unnatural +stillness of his mother--the child had never before looked on death, and +could not recognize its presence. Laying his hand on her cold cheek, he +cried, with faltering voice, "Mother, _can't_ you speak?" but there was no +answering light in the fixed stare of those glassy eyes, and the lips of +the dead could not move. "Why don't she speak?" he asked. + +"She can't, my dear; you must come away and leave her. She's better off, my +darling--she's _dead_." + +Then there was a cry of grief sprung up from the heart of that orphan boy, +that rang in those women's ears for long years after; it was the first +outbreak of a loving childish heart pierced with life's bitterest grief--a +mother's loss. + +The two children were kindly taken into the house of some benevolent +neighbour, as the servants had all fled none knew whither. Little Em was in +a profound stupor--the result of cold and terror, and it was found +necessary to place her under the care of a physician. + +After they had all gone, an inquest was held by the coroner, and a very +unsatisfactory and untruthful verdict pronounced--one that did not at all +coincide with the circumstances of the case, but such a one as might have +been expected where there was a great desire to screen the affair from +public scrutiny. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +An Anxious Day. + + +Esther Ellis, devoured with anxiety respecting the safety of her father and +the Garies, paced with impatient step up and down the drawing-room. Opening +the window, she looked to see if she could discover any signs of day. "It's +pitchy dark," she exclaimed, "and yet almost five o'clock. Father has run a +fearful risk. I hope nothing has happened to him." + +"I trust not. I think he's safe enough somewhere," said Mr. Walters. "He's +no doubt been very cautious, and avoided meeting any one--don't worry +yourself, my child, 'tis most likely he remained with them wherever they +went; probably they are at the house of some of their neighbours." + +"I can't help feeling dreadfully oppressed and anxious," continued she. "I +wish he would come." + +Whilst she was speaking, her mother entered the room. "Any news of your +father?" she asked, in a tone of anxiety. + +Esther endeavoured to conceal her own apprehensions, and rejoined, in as +cheerful tone as she could assume--"Not yet, mother--it's too dark for us +to expect him yet--he'll remain most likely until daylight." + +"He shouldn't have gone had I been here--he's no business to expose himself +in this way." + +"But, mother," interrupted Esther, "only think of it--the safety of Emily +and the children were depending on it--we mustn't be selfish." + +"I know we oughtn't to be, my child," rejoined her mother, "but it's +natural to the best of us--sometimes we can't help it." Five--six--seven +o'clock came and passed, and still there were no tidings of Mr. Ellis. + +"I can bear this suspense no longer," exclaimed Esther. "If father don't +come soon, I shall go and look for him. I've tried to flatter myself that +he's safe; but I'm almost convinced now that something has happened to him, +or he'd have come back long before this--he knows how anxious we would all +be about him. I've tried to quiet mother and Caddy by suggesting various +reasons for his delay, but, at the same time, I cannot but cherish the most +dismal forebodings. I must go and look for him." + +"No, no, Esther--stay where you are at present--leave that to me. I'll +order a carriage and go up to Garie's immediately." + +"Well, do, Mr. Walters, and hurry back: won't you?" she rejoined, as he +left the apartment. + +In a few moments he returned, prepared to start, and was speedily driven to +Winter-street. He found a group of people gathered before the gate, gazing +into the house. "The place has been attacked," said he, as he walked +towards the front door--picking his way amidst fragments of furniture, +straw, and broken glass. At the entrance of the house he was met by Mr. +Balch, Mr. Garie's lawyer. + +"This is a shocking affair, Walters," said he, extending his hand--he was +an old friend of Mr. Walters. + +"Very shocking, indeed," he replied, looking around. "But where is Garie? +We sent to warn them of this. I hope they are all safe." + +"Safe!" repeated Mr. Balch, with an air of astonishment. "Why, man, haven't +you heard?" + +"Heard what?" asked Mr. Walters, looking alarmed. + +"That Mr. and Mrs. Garie are dead--both were killed last night." + +The shock of this sudden and totally unexpected disclosure was such that +Mr. Walters leaned against the doorway for support. "It can't be possible," +he exclaimed at last, "not dead!" "Yes, _dead_, I regret to say--he was +shot through the head--and she died in the wood-house, of premature +confinement, brought on by fright and exposure." + +"And the children?" gasped Walters. + +"They are safe, with some neighbours--it's heart-breaking to hear them +weeping for their mother." Here a tear glistened in the eye of Mr. Balch, +and ran down his cheek. Brushing it off, he continued: "The coroner has +just held an inquest, and they gave a most truthless verdict: nothing +whatever is said of the cause of the murder, or of the murderers; they +simply rendered a verdict--death caused by a wound from a pistol-shot, and +hers--death from exposure. There seemed the greatest anxiety on the part of +the coroner to get the matter over as quickly as possible, and few or no +witnesses were examined. But I'm determined to sift the matter to the +bottom; if the perpetrators of the murder can be discovered, I'll leave no +means untried to find them." + +"Do you know any one who sat on the inquest?" asked Walters. + +"Yes, one," was the reply, "Slippery George, the lawyer; you are acquainted +with him--George Stevens. I find he resides next door." + +"Do you know," here interrupted Mr. Walters, "that I've my suspicions that +that villain is at the bottom of these disturbances or at least has a large +share in them. I have a paper in my possession, in his handwriting--it is +in fact a list of the places destroyed by the mob last night--it fell into +the hands of a friend of mine by accident--he gave it to me--it put me on +my guard; and when the villains attacked my house last night they got +rather a warmer reception than they bargained for." + +"You astonish me! Is it possible your place was assaulted also?" asked Mr. +Balch. + +"Indeed, it was--and a hot battle we had of it for a short space of time. +But how did you hear of this affair?" + +"I was sent for by I can't tell whom. When I came and saw what had +happened, I immediately set about searching for a will that I made for Mr. +Garie a few weeks since; it was witnessed and signed at my office, and he +brought it away with him. I can't discover it anywhere. I've ransacked +every cranny. It must have been carried off by some one. You are named in +it conjointly with myself as executor. All the property is left to her, +poor thing, and his children. We must endeavour to find it somewhere--at +any rate the children are secure; they are the only heirs--he had not, to +my knowledge, a single white relative. But let us go in and see the +bodies." + +They walked together into the back room where the bodies were lying. Mrs. +Garie was stretched upon the sofa, covered with a piano cloth; and her +husband was laid upon a long table, with a silk window-curtain thrown +across his face. + +The two gazed in silence on the face of Mr. Garie--the brow was still knit, +the eyes staring vacantly, and the marble whiteness of the face unbroken, +save by a few gouts of blood near a small blue spot over the eye where the +bullet had entered. + +"He was the best-hearted creature in the world," said Walters, as he +re-covered the face. + +"Won't you look at her?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"No, no--I can't," continued Walters; "I've seen horrors enough for one +morning. I've another thing on my mind! A friend who assisted in the +defence of my house started up here last night, to warn them of their +danger, and when I left home he had not returned: it's evident he hasn't +been here, and I greatly fear some misfortune has befallen him. Where are +the children? Poor little orphans, I must see them before I go." + +Accompanied by Mr. Balch, he called at the house where Clarence and Em had +found temporary shelter. The children ran to him as soon as he entered the +room. "Oh! Mr. Walters," sobbed Clarence, "my mother's dead--my mother's +dead!" + +"Hush, dears--hush!" he replied, endeavouring to restrain his own tears, as +he took little Em in his arms. "Don't cry, my darling," said he, as she +gave rent to a fresh outburst of tears. + +"Oh, Mr. Walters!" said she, still sobbing, "she was all the mother I had." + +Mr. Balch here endeavoured to assist in pacifying the two little mourners. + +"Why don't father come?" asked Clarence. "Have you seen him, Mr. Walters?" + +Mr. Walters was quite taken aback by this inquiry, which clearly showed +that the children were still unaware of the extent of their misfortunes. +"I've seen him, my child," said he, evasively; "you'll see him before +long." And fearful of further questioning, he left the house, promising +soon to return. + +Unable longer to endure her anxiety respecting her father, Esther +determined not to await the return of Mr. Walters, which had already been +greatly delayed, but to go herself in search of him. It had occurred to her +that, instead of returning from the Garies direct to them, he had probably +gone to his own home to see if it had been disturbed during the night. + +Encouraged by this idea, without consulting any one, she hastily put on her +cloak and bonnet, and took the direction of her home. Numbers of people +were wending their way to the lower part of the city, to gratify their +curiosity by gazing upon the havoc made by the rioters during the past +night. + +Esther found her home a heap of smoking ruins; some of the neighbours who +recognized her gathered round, expressing their sympathy and regret. But +she seemed comparatively careless respecting the loss of their property; +and in answer to their kind expressions, could only ask, "Have you seen my +father?--do you know where my father is?" + +None, however, had seen him; and after gazing for a short time upon the +ruins of what was once a happy home, she turned mournfully away, and walked +back to Mr. Walters's. + +"Has father come?" she inquired, as soon as the door was opened. "Not +yet!" was the discouraging reply: "and Mr. Walters, he hasn't come back, +either, miss!" + +Esther stood for some moments hesitating whether to go in, or to proceed in +her search. The voice of her mother calling her from the stairway decided +her, and she went in. + +Mrs. Ellis and Caddy wept freely on learning from Esther the destruction of +their home. This cause of grief, added to the anxiety produced by the +prolonged absence of Mr. Ellis, rendered them truly miserable. + +Whilst they were condoling with one another, Mr. Walters returned. He was +unable to conceal his fears that something had happened to Mr. Ellis, and +frankly told them so; he also gave a detailed account of what had befallen +the Garies, to the great horror and grief of all. + +As soon as arrangements could be made, Mr. Walters and Esther set out in +search of her father. All day long they went from place to place, but +gained no tidings of him; and weary and disheartened they returned at +night, bringing with them the distressing intelligence of their utter +failure to procure any information respecting him. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +The Lost One Found. + + +On the day succeeding the events described in our last chapter, Mr. Walters +called upon Mr. Balch, for the purpose of making the necessary preparations +for the interment of Mr. and Mrs. Garie. + +"I think," said Mr. Balch, "we had better bury them in the Ash-grove +cemetery; it's a lovely spot--all my people are buried there." + +"The place is fine enough, I acknowledge," rejoined Mr. Walters; "but I +much doubt if you can procure the necessary ground." + +"Oh, yes, you can!" said Mr. Balch; "there are a number of lots still +unappropriated." + +"That may very likely be so; but are you sure we can get one if we apply?" + +"Of course we can--what is to prevent?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"You forget," replied Mr. Walters, "that Mrs. Garie was a coloured woman." + +"If it wasn't such a solemn subject I really should be obliged to laugh at +you, Walters," rejoined Mr. Balch, with a smile--"you talk ridiculously. +What can her complexion have to do with her being buried there, I should +like to know?" + +"It has everything to do with it! Can it be possible you are not aware that +they won't even permit a coloured person to walk through the ground, much +less to be buried there!" + +"You astonish me, Walters! Are you sure of it?" + +"I give you my word of honour it is so! But why should you be astonished at +such treatment of the dead, when you see how they conduct themselves +towards the living? I have a friend," continued Mr. Walters, "who +purchased a pew for himself and family in a white-church, and the deacons +actually removed the floor from under it, to prevent his sitting there. +They refuse us permission to kneel by the side of the white communicants at +the Lord's Supper, and give us separate pews in obscure corners of their +churches. All this you know--why, then, be surprised that they carry their +prejudices into their graveyards?--the conduct is all of a piece." + +"Well, Walters, I know the way things are conducted in our churches is +exceedingly reprehensible; but I really did not know they stretched their +prejudices to such an extent." + +"I assure you they do, then," resumed Mr. Walters; "and in this very matter +you'll find I'm correct. Ask Stormley, the undertaker, and hear what he'll +tell you. Oh! a case in point.--About six months ago, one of our wealthiest +citizens lost by death an old family servant, a coloured woman, a sort of +half-housekeeper--half-friend. She resembled him so much, that it was +generally believed she was his sister. Well, he tried to have her laid in +their family vault, and it was refused; the directors thought it would be +creating a bad precedent--they said, as they would not sell lots to +coloured persons, they couldn't consistently permit them to be buried in +those of the whites." + +"Then Ash-grove must be abandoned; and in lieu of that what can you +propose?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"I should say we can't do better than lay them in the graveyard of the +coloured Episcopal church." + +"Let it be there, then. You will see to the arrangements, Walters. I shall +have enough on my hands for the present, searching for that will: I have +already offered a large reward for it--I trust it may turn up yet." + +"Perhaps it may," rejoined Mr. Walters; "we must hope so, at least. I've +brought the children to my house, where they are under the care of a young +lady who was a great friend of their mother's; though it seems like putting +too much upon the poor young creature, to throw them upon her for +consolation, when she is almost distracted with her own griefs. I think I +mentioned to you yesterday, that her father is missing; and, to add to +their anxieties, their property has been all destroyed by the rioters. They +have a home with me for the present, and may remain there as long as they +please." + +"Oh! I remember you told me something of them yesterday; and now I come to +think of it, I saw in the Journal this morning, that a coloured man was +lying at the hospital very much injured, whose name they could not +ascertain. Can it be possible that he is the man you are in search of?" + +"Let me see the article," asked Mr. Walters. Mr. Balch handed him the +paper, and pointed out the paragraph in question. + +"I'll go immediately to the hospital," said he, as he finished reading, +"and see if it is my poor friend; I have great fears that it is. You'll +excuse my leaving so abruptly--I must be off immediately." + +On hastening to the hospital, Mr. Walters arrived just in time to be +admitted to the wards; and on being shown the person whose name they had +been unable to discover, he immediately recognized his friend. + +"Ellis, my poor fellow," he exclaimed, springing forward. + +"Stop, stop," cried the attendant, laying his hand upon Mr. Walters's +shoulder; "he is hovering between life and death, the least agitation might +be fatal to him. The doctor says, if he survives the night, he may probably +get better; but he has small chance of life. I hardly think he will last +twelve hours more, he's been dreadfully beaten; there are two or three +gashes on his head, his leg is broken, and his hands have been so much cut, +that the surgeon thinks they'll never be of any use to him, even if he +recovers." + +"What awful intelligence for his family," said Mr. Walters; "they are +already half distracted about him." + +Mr. Ellis lay perfectly unconscious of what was passing around him, and his +moans were deeply affecting to hear, unable to move but one limb--he was +the picture of helplessness and misery. + +"It's time to close; we don't permit visitors to remain after this hour," +said the attendant; "come to-morrow, you can see your friend, and remain +longer with him;" and bidding Mr. Walters good morning, he ushered him from +the ward. + +"How shall I ever find means to break this to the girls and their mother?" +said he, as he left the gates of the hospital; "it will almost kill them; +really I don't know what I shall say to them." + +He walked homeward with hesitating steps, and on arriving at his house, he +paused awhile before the door, mustering up courage to enter; at last he +opened it with the air of a man who had a disagreeable duty to perform, and +had made up his mind to go through with it. "Tell Miss Ellis to come to the +drawing-room," said he to the servant; "merely say she's wanted--don't say +I've returned." + +He waited but a few moments before Esther made her appearance, looking sad +and anxious. "Oh, it's you," she said, with some surprise. "You have news +of father?" + +"Yes, Esther, I have news; but I am sorry to say not of a pleasant +character." + +"Oh, Mr. Walters, nothing serious I hope has happened to him?" she asked, +in an agitated tone. + +"I'm sorry to say there has, Esther; he has met with an accident--a sad and +severe one--he's been badly wounded." Esther turned deadly pale at this +announcement, and leaned upon the table for support. + +"I sent for you, Esther," continued Mr. Walters, "in preference to your +mother, because I knew you to be courageous in danger, and I trusted you +would be equally so in misfortune. Your father's case is a very critical +one--very. It appears that after leaving here, he fell into the hands of +the rioters, by whom he was shockingly beaten. He was taken to the +hospital, where he now remains." + +"Oh, let me go to him at once, do, Mr. Walters! + +"My dear child, it is impossible for you to see him to-day, it is long past +the visiting hour; moreover, I don't think him in a state that would permit +the least agitation. To-morrow you can go with me." Esther did not weep, +her heart was too full for tears. With a pale face, and trembling lips, she +said to Mr. Walters, "God give us strength to bear up under these +misfortunes; we are homeless--almost beggars--our friends have been +murdered, and my father is now trembling on the brink of the grave; such +troubles as these," said she, sinking into a chair, "are enough to crush +any one." + +"I know it, Esther; I know it, my child. I sympathize with you deeply. All +that I have is at your disposal. You may command me in anything. Give +yourself no uneasiness respecting the future of your mother and family, let +the result to your father be what it may: always bear in mind that, next to +God, I am your best friend. I speak thus frankly to you, Esther, because I +would not have you cherish any hopes of your father's recovery; from his +appearance, I should say there is but little, if any. I leave to you, my +good girl, the task of breaking this sad news to your mother and sister; I +would tell them, but I must confess, Esther, I'm not equal to it, the +events of the last day or two have almost overpowered me." + +Esther's lips quivered again, as she repeated the words, "Little hope; did +the doctor say that?" she asked. + +"I did not see the doctor," replied he; "perhaps there may be a favourable +change during the night. I'd have you prepare for the worst, whilst you +hope for the best. Go now and try to break it as gently as possible to your +mother." + +Esther left the room with heavy step, and walked to the chamber where her +mother was sitting. Caddy also was there, rocking backwards and forwards in +a chair, in an earnest endeavour to soothe to sleep little Em, who was +sitting in her lap. + +"Who was it, Esther?" asked, her mother. + +"Mr. Walters," she hesitatingly answered. + +"Was it? Well, has he heard anything of your father?" she asked, anxiously. + +Esther turned away her head, and remained silent. + +"Why don't you answer?" asked her mother, with an alarmed look; "if you +know anything of him, for God's sake tell me. Whatever it may be, it can't +be worse than I expect; is he dead?" she asked. + +"No--no, mother, he's not dead; but he's sick, very sick, mother. Mr. +Walters found him in the hospital." + +"In the hospital! how came he there? Don't deceive me, Esther, there's +something behind all this; are you telling me the truth? is he still +alive?" + +"Mother, believe me, he is still alive, but how long he may remain so, God +only knows." Mrs. Ellis, at this communication, leant her head upon the +table, and wept uncontrollably. Caddy put down her little charge, and stood +beside her mother, endeavouring to soothe her, whilst unable to restrain +her own grief. + +"Let us go to him, Esther," said her mother, rising; "I must see him--let +us go at once." + +"We can't, mother; Mr. Walters says it's impossible for us to see him +to-day; they don't admit visitors after a certain hour in the morning." + +"They _must_ admit me: I'll tell them I'm his wife; when they know that, +they _can't_ refuse me." Quickly dressing themselves, Esther, Caddy, and +their mother were about to start for the hospital, when Mr. Walters +entered. + +"Where are you all going?" he asked. + +"To the hospital," answered Mrs. Ellis; "I must see my husband." + +"I have just sent there, Ellen, to make arrangements to hear of him every +hour. You will only have the grief of being refused admission if you go; +they're exceedingly strict--no one is admitted to visit a patient after a +certain hour; try and compose yourselves; sit down, I want to talk to you +for a little while." + +Mrs. Ellis mechanically obeyed; and on sitting down, little Em crept into +her lap, and nestled in her arms. + +"Ellen," said Mr. Walters, taking a seat by her; "it's useless to disguise +the fact that Ellis is in a precarious situation--how long he may be sick +it is impossible to say; as soon as it is practicable, should he get +better, we will bring him here. You remember, Ellen, that years ago, when I +was young and poor, Ellis often befriended me--now 'tis my turn. You must +all make up your minds to remain with me--for ever, if you like--for the +present, whether you like it or not. I'm going to be dreadfully obstinate, +and have my own way completely about the matter. Here I've a large house, +furnished from top to bottom with every comfort. Often I've wandered +through it, and thought myself a selfish old fellow to be surrounded with +so much luxury, and keep it entirely to myself. God has blessed me with +abundance, and to what better use can it be appropriated than the relief of +my friends? Now, Ellen, you shall superintend the whole of the +establishment, Esther shall nurse her father, Caddy shall stir up the +servants, and I'll look on and find my happiness in seeing you all happy. +Now, what objection can you urge against that arrangement?" concluded he, +triumphantly. + +"Why, we shall put you to great inconvenience, and place ourselves under an +obligation we can never repay," answered Mrs. Ellis. + +"Don't despair of that--never mind the obligation; try and be as cheerful +as you can; to-morrow we shall see Ellis, and perhaps find him better; let +us at least hope for the best." + +Esther looked with grateful admiration at Mr. Walters, as he left the room. +"What a good heart he has, mother," said she, as he closed the door behind +him; "just such a great tender heart as one should expect to find in so +fine a form." + +Mrs. Ellis and her daughters were the first who were found next day, at the +office of the doorkeeper of the hospital waiting an opportunity to see +their sick friends. + +"You're early, ma'am," said a little bald-headed official, who sat at his +desk fronting the door; "take a chair near the fire--it's dreadful cold +this morning." + +"Very cold," replied Esther, taking a seat beside her mother; "how long +will it be before we can go in?" + +"Oh, you've good an hour to wait--the doctor hasn't come yet," replied the +door-keeper. "How is my husband?" tremblingly inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"Who is your husband?--you don't know his number, do you? Never know names +here--go by numbers." + +"We don't know the number," rejoined Esther; "my father's name is Ellis; he +was brought here two or three nights since--he was beaten by the mob." + +"Oh, yes; I know now who you mean--number sixty--bad case that, shocking +bad case--hands chopped--head smashed--leg broke; he'll have to cross over, +I guess--make a die of it, I'm afraid." + +Mrs. Ellis shuddered, and turned pale, as the man coolly discussed her +husband's injuries, and their probable fatal termination. Caddy, observing +her agitation, said, "Please, sir, don't talk of it; mother can't bear it." + +The man looked at them compassionately for a few moments--then continued: +"You mustn't think me hard-hearted--I see so much of these things, that I +can't feel them as others do. This is a dreadful thing to you, no doubt, +but it's an every-day song to me--people are always coming here mangled in +all sorts of ways--so, you see, I've got used to it--in fact, I'd rather +miss 'em now if they didn't come. I've sat in this seat every day for +almost twenty years;" and he looked on the girls and their mother as he +gave them this piece of information as if he thought they ought to regard +him henceforth with great reverence. + +Not finding them disposed to converse, the doorkeeper resumed the newspaper +he was reading when they entered, and was soon deeply engrossed in a +horrible steam-boat accident. + +The sound of wheels in the courtyard attracting his attention, he looked +up, and remarked: "Here's the doctor--as soon as he has walked the wards +you'll be admitted." + +Mrs. Ellis and her daughters turned round as the door opened, and, to their +great joy, recognized Doctor Burdett. + +"How d'ye do?" said he, extending his hand to Mrs. Ellis--"what's the +matter? Crying!" he continued, looking at their tearful faces; "what has +happened?" + +"Oh, doctor," said Esther, "father's lying here, very much injured; and +they think he'll die," said she, giving way to a fresh burst of grief. + +"Very much injured--die--how is this?--I knew nothing of it--I haven't been +here before this week." + +Esther hereupon briefly related the misfortunes that had befallen her +father. + +"Dear me--dear me," repeated the kind old doctor. + +"There, my dear; don't fret--he'll get better, my child--I'll take him in +hand at once. My dear Mrs. Ellis, weeping won't do the least good, and only +make you sick yourself. Stop, do now--I'll go and see him immediately, and +as soon as possible you shall be admitted." + +They had not long to wait before a message came from Doctor Burdett, +informing them that they could now be permitted to see the sufferer. + +"You must control yourselves," said the doctor to the sobbing women, as he +met them at the door; "you mustn't do anything to agitate him--his +situation is extremely critical." + +The girls and their mother followed him to the bedside of Mr. Ellis, who, +ghastly pale, lay before them, apparently unconscious. + +Mrs. Ellis gave but one look at her husband, and, with a faint cry, sank +fainting upon the floor. The noise partially aroused him; he turned his +head, and, after an apparent effort, recognized his daughters standing +beside him: he made a feeble attempt to raise his mutilated hands, and +murmured faintly, "You've come at last!" then closing his eyes, he dropped +his arms, as if exhausted by the effort. + +Esther knelt beside him, and pressed a kiss on his pale face. +"Father!--father!" said she, softly. He opened his eyes again, and a smile +of pleasure broke over his wan face, and lighted up his eyes, as he feebly +said, "God bless you, darlings! I thought you'd never come. Where's mother +and Caddy?" + +"Here," answered Esther, "here, by me; your looks frightened her so, that +she's fainted." Doctor Burdett here interposed, and said: "You must all +go now; he's too weak to bear more at present." + +"Let me stay with him a little longer," pleaded Esther. + +"No, my child, it's impossible," he continued; "besides, your mother will +need your attention;" and, whilst he spoke, he led her into an adjoining +room, where the others had preceded her. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +Charlie Distinguishes Himself. + + +Charlie had now been many weeks under the hospitable roof of Mrs. Bird, +improving in health and appearance. Indeed, it would have been a wonder if +he had not, as the kind mistress of the mansion seemed to do nought else, +from day to day, but study plans for his comfort and pleasure. There was +one sad drawback upon the contentment of the dear old lady, and that was +her inability to procure Charlie's admission to the academy. + +One morning Mr. Whately called upon her, and, throwing himself into a +chair, exclaimed: "It's all to no purpose; their laws are as unalterable as +those of the Medes and Persians--arguments and entreaty are equally thrown +away upon them; I've been closeted at least half a dozen times with each +director; and as all I can say won't make your _protege_ a shade whiter, +I'm afraid his admission to the academy must be given up." + +"It's too bad," rejoined Mrs. Bird. "And who, may I ask, were the principal +opposers?" + +"They all opposed it, except Mr. Weeks and Mr. Bentham." + +"Indeed!--why they are the very ones that I anticipated would go against it +tooth and nail. And Mr. Glentworth--surely he was on our side?" + +"He!--why, my dear madam, he was the most rabid of the lot. With his +sanctified face and canting tongue!" + +"I'm almost ashamed to own it--but it's the truth, and I shouldn't hesitate +to tell it--I found the most pious of the directors the least accessible; +as to old Glentworth, he actually talked to me as if I was recommending the +committal of some horrid sin. I'm afraid I shall be set down by him as a +rabid Abolitionist, I got so warm on the subject. I've cherished as strong +prejudices against coloured people as any one; but I tell you, seeing how +contemptible it makes others appear, has gone a great way towards +eradicating it in me. I found myself obliged to use the same arguments +against it that are used by the Abolitionists, and in endeavouring to +convince others of the absurdity of their prejudices, I convinced myself." + +"I'd set my heart upon it," said Mrs. Bird, in a tone of regret; "but I +suppose I'll have to give it up. Charlie don't know I've made application +for his admission, and has been asking me to let him go. A great many of +the boys who attend there have become acquainted with him, and it was only +yesterday that Mr. Glentworth's sons were teasing me to consent to his +beginning there the next term. The boys," concluded she, "have better +hearts than their parents." + +"Oh, I begin to believe it's all sham, this prejudice; I'm getting quite +disgusted with myself for having had it--or rather thinking I had it. As +for saying it is innate, or that there is any natural antipathy to that +class, it's all perfect folly; children are not born with it, or why +shouldn't they shrink from a black nurse or playmate? It's all bosh," +concluded he, indignantly, as he brought his cane down with a rap. + +"Charlie's been quite a means of grace to you," laughingly rejoined Mrs. +Bird, amused at his vehemence of manner. "Well, I'm going to send him to +Sabbath-school next Sunday; and, if there is a rebellion against his +admission there, I shall be quite in despair." + +It is frequently the case, that we are urged by circumstances to the +advocacy of a measure in which we take but little interest, and of the +propriety of which we are often very sceptical; but so surely as it is just +in itself, in our endeavours to convert others we convince ourselves; and, +from lukewarm apologists, we become earnest advocates. This was just Mr. +Whately's case: he had begun to canvass for the admission of Charlie with +a doubtful sense of its propriety, and in attempting to overcome the +groundless prejudices of others, he was convicted of his own. + +Happily, in his case, conviction was followed by conversion, and as he +walked home from Mrs. Bird's, he made up his mind that, if they attempted +to exclude Charlie from the Sabbath-school, he would give them a piece of +his mind, and then resign his superintendency of it. + +On arriving at home, he found waiting for him a young lady, who was +formerly a member of his class in the Sabbath-school. "I've come," said +she, "to consult you about forming an adult class in our school for +coloured persons. We have a girl living with us, who would be very glad to +attend, and she knows two or three others. I'll willingly take the class +myself. I've consulted the pastor and several others, and no one seems to +anticipate any objections from the scholars, if we keep them on a separate +bench, and do not mix them up with the white children." + +"I'm delighted to hear you propose it," answered Mr. Whately, quite +overjoyed at the opening it presented, "the plan meets my warmest approval. +I decidedly agree with you in the propriety of our making some effort for +the elevation and instruction of this hitherto neglected class--any aid I +can render----" + +"You astonish me," interrupted Miss Cass, "though I must say very +agreeably. You were the last person from whom I thought of obtaining any +countenance. I did not come to you until armed with the consent of almost +all the parties interested, because from you I anticipated considerable +opposition," and in her delight, the young girl grasped Mr. Whately's hand, +and shook it very heartily. + +"Oh, my opinions relative to coloured people have lately undergone +considerable modification; in fact," said he, with some little confusion, +"quite a thorough revolution. I don't, think we have quite done our duty by +these people. Well, well, we must make the future atone for the past." + +Miss Cass had entered upon her project with all the enthusiasm of youth, +and being anxious that her class, "in point of numbers," should make a +presentable appearance, had drafted into it no less a person than Aunt +Comfort. + +Aunt Comfort was a personage of great importance in the little village of +Warmouth, and one whose services were called into requisition on almost +every great domestic occasion. + +At births she frequently officiated, and few young mothers thought +themselves entirely safe if the black good-humoured face of Aunt Comfort +was not to be seen at their bedside. She had a hand in the compounding of +almost every bridecake, and had been known to often leave houses of +feasting, to prepare weary earth-worn travellers for their final place of +rest. Every one knew, and all liked her, and no one was more welcome at the +houses of the good people of Warmouth than Aunt Comfort. + +But whilst rendering her all due praise for her domestic acquirements, +justice compels us to remark that Aunt Comfort was not a literary +character. She could get up a shirt to perfection, and made irreproachable +chowder, but she was not a woman of letters. In fact, she had arrived at +maturity at a time when negroes and books seldom came in familiar contact; +and if the truth must be told, she cared very little about the latter. "But +jist to 'blege Miss Cass," she consented to attend her class, averring as +she did so, "that she didn't 'spect she was gwine to larn nothin' when she +got thar." + +Miss Cass, however, was of the contrary opinion, and anticipated that after +a few Sabbaths, Aunt Comfort would prove to be quite a literary phenomenon. +The first time their class assembled the white children well-nigh +dislocated their necks, in their endeavours to catch glimpses of the +coloured scholars, who were seated on a backless bench, in an obscure +corner of the room. + +Prominent amongst them shone Aunt Comfort, who in honour of this +extraordinary occasion, had retrimmed her cap, which was resplendent with +bows of red ribbon as large as peonies. She had a Sunday-school primer in +her hand, and was repeating the letters with the utmost regularity, as +Miss Cass pronounced them. They got on charmingly until after crossing over +the letter O, as a matter of course they came to P and Q. + +"Look here," said Aunt Comfort, with a look of profound erudition, "here's +anoder O. What's de use of having two of 'em?" + +"No, no, Aunt Comfort--that's Q--the letter Q." + +"Umph," grunted the old woman, incredulously, "what's de use of saying +dat's a Q, when you jest said not a minute ago 'twas O?" + +"This is not the same," rejoined the teacher, "don't you see the little +tail at the bottom of it?" + +Aunt Comfort took off her silver spectacles, and gave the glasses of them a +furious rub, then after essaying another look, exclaimed, "What, you don't +mean dat 'ere little speck down at the bottom of it, does yer?" + +"Yes, Aunt Comfort, that little speck, as you call it, makes all the +difference--it makes O into Q." + +"Oh, go 'way, child," said she, indignantly, "you isn't gwine to fool me +dat ar way. I knows you of old, honey--you's up to dese 'ere things--you +know you allus was mighty 'chevious, and I isn't gwine to b'lieve dat dat +ar little speck makes all the difference--no such thing, case it +don't--deys either both O's or both Q's. I'm clar o' dat--deys either one +or tother." + +Knowing by long experience the utter futility of attempting to convince +Aunt Comfort that she was in the wrong, by anything short of a miracle, the +teacher wisely skipped over the obnoxious letter, then all went smoothly on +to the conclusion of the alphabet. + +The lesson having terminated, Miss Cass looked up and discovered standing +near her a coloured boy, who she correctly surmised was sent as an addition +to her class. "Come here, and sit down," said she, pointing to a seat next +Aunt Comfort. "What is your name?" + +Charlie gave his name and residence, which were entered in due form on the +teacher's book. "Now, Charles," she continued, "do you know your letters?" + +"Yes, ma'am," was the answer. + +"Can you spell?" she inquired. To this also Charlie gave an affirmative, +highly amused at the same time at being asked such a question. + +Miss Cass inquired no further into the extent of his acquirements, it never +having entered her head that he could do more than spell. So handing him +one of the primers, she pointed out a line on which to begin. The spirit of +mischief entered our little friend, and he stumbled through b-l-a +bla--b-l-i bli--b-l-o blo--b-l-u blu, with great gravity and slowness. + +"You spell quite nicely, particularly for a little coloured boy," said Miss +Cass, encouragingly, as he concluded the line; "take this next," she +continued, pointing to another, "and when you have learned it, I will hear +you again." + +It was the custom of the superintendent to question the scholars upon a +portion of Bible history, given out the Sabbath previous for study during +the week. It chanced that upon the day of which we write, the subject for +examination was one with which Charlie was quite familiar. + +Accordingly, when the questions were put to the school, he answered boldly +and quickly to many of them, and with an accuracy that astonished his +fellow scholars. + +"How did you learn the answers to those questions--you can't read?" said +Miss Cass. + +"Yes, but I can read," answered Charlie, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +"Why didn't you tell me so before?" she asked. + +"Because you didn't ask me," he replied, suppressing a grin. + +This was true enough, so Miss Cass, having nothing farther to say, sat and +listened, whilst he answered the numerous and sometimes difficult questions +addressed to the scholars. + +Not so, Aunt Comfort. She could not restrain her admiration of this display +of talent on the part of one of her despised race; she was continually +breaking out with expressions of wonder and applause. "Jis' hear +dat--massy on us--only jis' listen to de chile," said she, "talks jis' de +same as if he was white. Why, boy, where you learn all dat?" + +"Across the Red Sea," cried Charlie, in answer to a question from the desk +of the superintendent. + +"'Cross de Red Sea! Umph, chile, you been dere?" asked Aunt Comfort, with a +face full of wonder. + +"What did you say?" asked Charlie, whose attention had been arrested by the +last question. + +"Why I asked where you learned all dat 'bout de children of Israel." + +"Oh, I learned that at Philadelphia," was his reply; "I learned it at +school with the rest of the boys." + +"You did!" exclaimed she, raising her hands with astonishment. "Is dere +many more of 'em like you?" + +Charlie did not hear this last question of Aunt Comfort's, therefore she +was rather startled by his replying in a loud tone, "_Immense hosts_." + +"Did I ever--jis' hear dat, dere's ''mense hostes' of 'em jest like him! +only think of it. Is dey all dere yet, honey?" + +"They were all drowned." + +"Oh, Lordy, Lordy," rejoined she, aghast with horror; for Charlie's reply +to a question regarding the fate of Pharaoh's army, had been by her +interpreted as an answer to her question respecting his coloured +schoolmates at Philadelphia. + +"And how did you 'scape, honey," continued she, "from drowning 'long wid +the rest of 'em?" + +"Why I wasn't there, it was thousands of years ago." + +"Look here. What do you mean?" she whispered; "didn't you say jest now dat +you went to school wid 'em?" + +This was too much for Charlie, who shook all over with suppressed laughter; +nor was Miss Cass proof against the contagion--she was obliged to almost +suffocate herself with her handkerchief to avoid a serious explosion. + +"Aunt Comfort, you are mistaking him," said she, as soon as she could +recover her composure; "he is answering the questions of the +superintendent--not yours, and very well he has answered them, too," +continued she. "I like to see little boys aspiring: I am glad to see you so +intelligent--you must persevere, Charlie." + +"Yes, you must, honey," chimed in Aunt Comfort. "I'se very much like Miss +Cass; I likes to see children--'specially children of colour--have +_expiring_ minds." + +Charlie went quite off at this, and it was only by repeated hush--hushes, +from Miss Cass, and a pinch in the back from Aunt Comfort, that he was +restored to a proper sense of his position. + +The questioning being now finished, Mr. Whately came to Charlie, praised +him highly for his aptness, and made some inquiries respecting his +knowledge of the catechism; also whether he would be willing to join the +class that was to be catechised in the church during the afternoon. To +this, Charlie readily assented, and, at the close of the school, was placed +at the foot of the class, preparatory to going into the Church. + +The public catechizing of the scholars was always an event in the village; +but now a novelty was given it, by the addition of a black lamb to the +flock, and, as a matter of course, a much greater interest was manifested. +Had a lion entered the doors of St. Stephen's church, he might have created +greater consternation, but he could not have attracted more attention than +did our little friend on passing beneath its sacred portals. The length of +the aisle seemed interminable to him, and on his way to the altar he felt +oppressed by the scrutiny of eyes through which he was compelled to pass. +Mr. Dural, the pastor, looked kindly at him, as he stood in front of the +chancel, and Charlie took heart from his cheering smile. + +Now, to Aunt Comfort (who was the only coloured person who regularly +attended the church) a seat had been assigned beside the organ; which +elevated position had been given her that the congregation might indulge in +their devotions without having their prejudices shocked by a too close +contemplation of her ebony countenance. + +But Aunt Comfort, on this occasion, determined to get near enough to hear +all that passed, and, leaving her accustomed seat, she planted herself in +one of the aisles of the gallery overlooking the altar, where she remained +almost speechless with wonder and astonishment at the unprecedented sight +of a woolly head at the foot of the altar. + +Charlie got on very successfully until called upon to repeat the Lord's +Prayer; and, strange to say, at this critical juncture, his memory forsook +him, and he was unable to utter a word of it: for the life of him he could +not think of anything but "Now I lay me down to sleep"--and confused and +annoyed he stood unable to proceed. At this stage of affairs, Aunt +Comfort's interest in Charlie's success had reached such a pitch that her +customary awe of the place she was in entirely departed, and she exclaimed, +"I'll give yer a start--'Our Farrer,'"--then overwhelmed by the +consciousness that she had spoken out in meeting, she sank down behind a +pew-door, completely extinguished. At this there was an audible titter, +that was immediately suppressed; after which, Charlie recovered his memory, +and, started by the opportune prompting of Aunt Comfort, he recited it +correctly. A few questions more terminated the examination, and the +children sat down in front of the altar until the conclusion of the +service. + +Mrs. Bird, highly delighted with the _debut_ of her _protege_, bestowed no +end of praises upon him, and even made the coachman walk home, that Charlie +might have a seat in the carriage, as she alleged she was sure he must be +much fatigued and overcome with the excitement of the day; then taking the +reins into her own hands, she drove them safely home. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The Heir. + + +We must now return to Philadelphia, and pay a visit to the office of Mr. +Balch. We shall find that gentleman in company with Mr. Walters: both look +anxious, and are poring over a letter which is outspread before them. + +"It was like a thunder-clap to me," said Mr. Balch: "the idea of there +being another heir never entered my brain--I didn't even know he had a +living relative." + +"When did you get the letter?" asked Walters. + +"Only this morning, and I sent for you immediately! Let us read it +again--we'll make another attempt to decipher this incomprehensible name. +Confound the fellow! why couldn't he write so that some one besides himself +could read it! We must stumble through it," said he, as he again began the +letter as follows:-- + +"Dear Sir,--Immediately on receipt of your favour, I called upon Mr. +Thurston, to take the necessary steps for securing the property of your +late client. To my great surprise, I found that another claimant had +started up, and already taken the preliminary measures to entering upon +possession. This gentleman, Mr.---- + +"Now, what would you call that name, Walters?--to me it looks like +Stimmens, or Stunners, or something of the kind!" + +"Never mind the name," exclaimed Walters--"skip that--let me hear the rest +of the letter; we shall find out who he is soon enough, in all conscience." + +"Well, then," resumed Mr. Balch--"This gentleman, Mr.----, is a resident in +your city; and he will, no doubt, take an early opportunity of calling on +you, in reference to the matter. It is my opinion, that without a will in +their favour, these children cannot oppose his claim successfully, if he +can prove his consanguinity to Mr. Garie. His lawyer here showed me a copy +of the letters and papers which are to be used as evidence, and, I must +say, they _are entirely_ without flaw. He proves himself, undoubtedly, to +be the first cousin of Mr. Garie. You are, no doubt, aware that these +children being the offspring of a slave-woman, cannot inherit, in this +State (except under certain circumstances), the property of a white father. +I am, therefore, very much afraid that they are entirely at his mercy." + +"Well, then," said Walters, when Mr. Balch finished reading the letter, "it +is clear there is an heir, and his claim _must_ be well sustained, if such +a man as Beckley, the first lawyer in the State, does not hesitate to +endorse it; and as all the property (with the exception of a few thousands +in my hands) lies in Georgia, I'm afraid the poor children will come off +badly, unless this new heir prove to be a man of generosity--at all events, +it seems we are completely at his mercy." + +"We must hope for the best," rejoined Mr. Balch. "If he has any heart, he +certainly will make some provision for them. The disappearance of that will +is to me most unaccountable! I am confident it was at his house. It seemed +so singular that none of his papers should be missing, except that--there +were a great many others, deeds, mortgages, &c. scattered over the floor, +but no will!" + +The gentlemen were thus conversing, when they heard a tap at the door. +"Come in!" cried Mr. Balch; and, in answer to the request, in walked Mr. +George Stevens. + +Mr. Walters and Mr. Balch bowed very stiffly, and the latter inquired what +had procured him the honour of a visit. + +"I have called upon you in reference to the property of the late Mr. +Garie." "Oh! you are acting in behalf of this new claimant, I suppose?" +rejoined Mr. Balch. + +"Sir!" said Mr. Stevens, looking as though he did not thoroughly understand +him. + +"I said," repeated Mr. Balch, "that I presumed you called in behalf of this +new-found heir to Mr. Garie's property." + +Mr. Stevens looked at him for a moment, then drawing himself up, exclaimed, +"I AM THE HEIR!" + +"You!--_you_ the heir!" cried both the gentlemen, almost simultaneously. + +"Yes, I am the heir!" coolly repeated Mr. Stevens, with an assured look. "I +am the first cousin of Mr. Garie!" + +"You his first cousin?--it is impossible!" said Walters. + +"You'll discover it is not only possible, but true--I am, as I said, Mr. +Garie's first cousin!" + +"If you are that, you are more," said Walters, fiercely--"you're his +murderer!" At this charge Mr. Stevens turned deathly pale. "Yes," continued +Walters; "you either murdered him, or instigated others to do so! It was +you who directed the rioters against both him and me--I have proof of what +I say and can produce it. Now your motive is clear as day--you wanted his +money, and destroyed him to obtain it! His blood is on your hands!" hissed +Walters through his clenched teeth. + +In the excitement consequent upon such a charge, Mr. Stevens, unnoticed by +himself, had overturned a bottle of red ink, and its contents had slightly +stained his hands. When Walters charged him with having Mr. Garie's blood +upon them, he involuntarily looked down and saw his hands stained with red. +An expression of intense horror flitted over his face when he observed it; +but quickly regaining his composure, he replied, "It's only a little ink." + +"Yes, I know _that_ is ink," rejoined Walters, scornfully; "look at him, +Balch," he continued, "he doesn't dare to look either of us in the face." + +"It's false," exclaimed Stevens, with an effort to appear courageous; +"it's as false as hell, and any man that charges me with it is a liar." + +The words had scarcely passed his lips, when Walters sprang upon him with +the ferocity of a tiger, and seizing him by the throat, shook and whirled +him about as though he were a plaything. + +"Stop, stop! Walters," cried Mr. Balch, endeavouring to loose his hold upon +the throat of Mr. Stevens, who was already purple in the face; "let him go, +this violence can benefit neither party. Loose your hold." At this +remonstrance, Walters dashed Stevens from him into the farthest corner of +the room, exclaiming, "Now, go and prosecute me if you dare, and I'll tell +for what I chastised you; prosecute me for an assault, if you think you can +risk the consequences." + +Mr. Balch assisted him from the floor and placed him in a chair, where he +sat holding his side, and panting for breath. When he was able to speak, he +exclaimed, with a look of concentrated malignity, "Remember, we'll be even +some day; I never received a blow and forgot it afterwards, bear that in +mind." + +"This will never do, gentlemen," said Mr. Balch, soothingly: "this conduct +is unworthy of you. You are unreasonable both of you. When you have cooled +down we will discuss the matter as we should." + +"You'll discuss it alone then," said Stevens, rising, and walking to the +door: "and when you have any further communication to make, you must come +to me." + +"Stop, stop, don't go," cried Mr. Balch, following him out at the door, +which they closed behind them; "don't go away in a passion, Mr. Stevens. +You and Walters are both too hasty. Come in here and sit down," said he, +opening the door of a small adjoining room, "wait here one moment, I'll +come back to you." + +"This will never do, Walters," said he, as he re-entered his office; "the +fellow has the upper hand of us, and we must humour him; we should suppress +our own feelings for the children's sake. You are as well aware as I am of +the necessity of some compromise--we are in his power for the present, and +must act as circumstances compel us to." + +"I can't discuss the matter with him," interrupted Walters, "he's an +unmitigated scoundrel. I couldn't command my temper in his presence for +five minutes. If you can arrange anything with him at all advantageous to +the children, I shall be satisfied, it will be more than I expect; only +bear in mind, that what I have in my hands belonging to Garie we must +retain, he knows nothing of that." + +"Very well," rejoined Mr. Balch, "depend upon it I'll do my best;" and +closing the door, he went back to Mr. Stevens. + +"Now, Mr. Stevens," said he, drawing up a chair, "we will talk over this +matter dispassionately, and try and arrive at some amicable arrangement: be +kind enough to inform me what your claims are." + +"Mr. Balch, _you_ are a gentleman," began Mr. Stevens, "and therefore I'm +willing to discuss the matter thoroughly with you. You'll find me disposed +to do a great deal for these children: but I wish it distinctly understood +at the beginning, that whatever I may give them, I bestow as a favour. I +concede nothing to them as a right, legally they have not the slightest +claim upon me; of that you, who are an excellent lawyer, must be well +aware." + +"We won't discuss that point at present, Mr. Stevens. I believe you +intimated you would be kind enough to say upon what evidence you purposed +sustaining your claims?" + +"Well, to come to the point, then," said Stevens; "the deceased Mr. Garie +was, as I before said, my first cousin. His father and my mother were +brother and sister. My mother married in opposition to her parents' +desires; they cut her off from the family, and for years there was no +communication between them. At my father's death, my mother made overtures +for a reconciliation, which were contemptuously rejected, at length she +died. I was brought up in ignorance of who my grandparents were; and only a +few months since, on the death of my father's sister, did I make the +discovery. Here," said he, extending the packet of letters which, the +reader will remember once agitated, him so strangely, "here are the letters +that passed between my mother and her father." + +Mr. Balch took up one and read:-- + + +"_Savannah_, 18-- + +"MADAM,--Permit me to return this letter (wherein you +declare yourself the loving and repentant daughter of Bernard +Garie) and at the same time inform you, that by your own. +acts you have deprived yourself of all claim to that relation. +In opposition to my wishes, and in open defiance of my +express commands, you chose to unite your fortune +with one in every respect your inferior. If that union has +not resulted as happily as you expected, you must sustain +yourself by the reflection that you are the author of your own +misfortunes and alone to blame for your present miserable +condition.--Respectfully yours, + +"BERNARD GARIE." + + +Mr. Balch read, one after another, letters of a similar purport--in fact, a +long correspondence between Bernard Garie and the mother of Mr. Stevens. +When he had finished, the latter remarked, "In addition to those, I can +produce my mother's certificate of baptism, her marriage certificate, and +every necessary proof of my being her son. If that does not suffice to make +a strong case, I am at a loss to imagine what will." + +Mr. Balch pondered a few moments, and then inquired, looking steadily at +Mr. Stevens, "How long have you known of this relationship?" + +"Oh, I've known it these three years." + +"Three years! why, my dear sir, only a few moments ago you said a few +months." + +"Oh, did I?" said Mr. Stevens, very much confused; "I meant, or should have +said, three years." + +"Then, of course you were aware that Mr. Garie was your cousin when he +took the house beside you?" + +"Oh, yes--that is--yes--yes; I _was_ aware of it." + +"And did you make any overtures of a social character?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"Well, yes--that is to say, my wife did." + +"_Where were you the night of the murder?_" + +Mr. Stevens turned pale at this question, and replied, hesitatingly, "Why, +at home, of course." + +"You were at home, and saw the house of your cousins assaulted, and made no +effort to succour them or their children. The next morning you are one of +the coroner's inquest, and hurry through the proceedings, never once saying +a word of your relationship to them, nor yet making any inquiry respecting +the fate of the children. _It is very singular_." + +"I don't see what this cross-questioning is to amount to; it has nothing to +do with my claim as heir." + +"We are coming to that," rejoined Mr. Balch. "This, as I said, is very +singular; and when I couple it with some other circumstances that have come +to my knowledge, it is more than singular--_it is suspicious_. Here are a +number of houses assaulted by a mob. Two or three days before the assault +takes place, a list in your handwriting, and which is headed, '_Places to +be attacked_,' is found, under circumstances that leave no doubt that it +came directly from you. Well, the same mob that attacks these +places--_marked out by you_--traverse a long distance to reach the house of +your next-door neighbour. They break into it, and kill him; and you, who +are aware at the time that he is your own cousin, do not attempt to +interpose to prevent it, although it can be proved that you were +all-powerful with the marauders. No! you allow him to be destroyed without +an effort to save him, and immediately claim his property. Now, Mr. +Stevens, people disposed to be suspicions--seeing how much you were to be +the gainer by his removal, and knowing you had some connection with this +mob--might not scruple to say that _you_ instigated the attack by which he +lost his life; and I put it to you--now don't you think that, if it was any +one else, you would say that the thing looked suspicious?" + +Mr. Stevens winced at this, but made no effort to reply. + +Mr. Balch continued, "What I was going to remark is simply this. As we are +in possession of these facts, and able to prove them by competent +witnesses, we should not be willing to remain perfectly silent respecting +it, unless you made what _we_ regarded as a suitable provision for the +children." + +"I'm willing, as I said before, to do something; but don't flatter yourself +I'll do any more than I originally intended from any fear of disclosures +from you. I'm not to be frightened," said Mr. Stevens. + +"I'm not at all disposed to attempt to frighten you: however, you know how +far a mere statement of these facts would go towards rendering your +position in society more agreeable. A person who has been arrested on +suspicion of murder is apt to be shunned and distrusted. It can't be +helped; people are so very squeamish--they _will_ draw back, you know, +under such circumstances." + +"I don't see how such a suspicion can attach itself to me," rejoined +Stevens, sharply. + +"Oh, well, we won't discuss that any further: let me hear what you will do +for the children." + +Mr. Balch saw, from the nervous and embarrassed manner of Mr. Stevens, that +the indirect threat of exposing him had had considerable effect; and his +downcast looks and agitation rather strengthened in his mind the suspicions +that had been excited by the disclosures of Mr. Walters. + +After a few moments' silence, Mr. Stevens said, "I'll settle three thousand +dollars on each of the children. Now I think that is treating them +liberally." + +"Liberally!" exclaimed Balch, in a tone of contempt--"liberally! You +acquire by the death of their father property worth one hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, and you offer these children, who are the rightful heirs, +three thousand dollars! That, sir, won't suffice." "I think it should, +then," rejoined Stevens. "By the laws of Georgia these children, instead of +being his heirs, are my slaves. Their mother was a slave before them, and +they were born slaves; and if they were in Savannah, I could sell them both +to-morrow. On the whole, I think I've made you a very fair offer, and I'd +advise you to think of it." + +"No, Mr. Stevens; I shall accept no such paltry sum. If you wish a quick +and peaceful possession of what you are pleased to regard as your rights, +you must tender something more advantageous, or I shall feel compelled to +bring this thing into court, even at the risk of loss; and there, you know, +we should be obliged to make a clear statement of _everything_ connected +with this business. It might be advantageous to _us_ to bring the thing +fully before the court and public--but I'm exceedingly doubtful whether it +would advance _your_ interest." + +Stevens winced at this, and asked, "What would you consider a fair offer?" + +"I should consider _all_ a just offer, half a fair one, and a quarter as +little as you could have the conscience to expect us to take." + +"I don't see any use in this chaffering, Mr. Balch," said Stephens; "you +can't expect me to give you any such sums as you propose. Name a sum that +you can reasonably expect to get." + +"Well," said Mr. Balch, rising, "you must give us fifteen thousand dollars, +and you should think yourself well off then. We could commence a suit, and +put you to nearly that expense to defend it; to say nothing of the +notoriety that the circumstance would occasion you. Both Walters and I are +willing to spend both money and time in defence of these children's rights; +I assure you they are not friendless." + +"I'll give twelve thousand, and not a cent more, if I'm hung for it," said +Mr. Stevens, almost involuntarily. + +"Who spoke of hanging?" asked Mr. Balch. + +"Oh!" rejoined Stevens, "that is only my emphatic way of speaking." "Of +course, you meant figuratively," said Mr. Balch, in a tone of irony; +mentally adding, "as I hope you may be one day literally." + +Mr. Stevens looked flushed and angry, but Mr. Balch continued, without +appearing to notice him, and said: "I'll speak to Walters. Should he +acquiesce in your proposal, I am willing to accept it; however, I cannot +definitely decide without consulting him. To-morrow I will inform you of +the result." + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +Home Again. + + +To Charlie the summer had been an exceedingly short one--time had flown so +pleasantly away. Everything that could be done to make the place agreeable +Mrs. Bird had effected. Amongst the number of her acquaintances who had +conceived a regard for her young _protege_ was a promising artist to whom +she had been a friend and patroness. Charlie paid him frequent visits, and +would sit hour after hour in his studio, watching the progress of his work. +Having nothing else at the time to amuse him, he one day asked the artist's +permission to try his hand at a sketch. Being supplied with the necessary +materials, he commenced a copy of a small drawing, and was working +assiduously, when the artist came and looked over his shoulder. + +"Did you ever draw before?" he asked, with a start of surprise. + +"Never," replied Charlie, "except on my slate at school. I sometimes used +to sketch the boys' faces." + +"And you have never received any instructions?" + +"Never--not even a hint," was the answer. + +"And this is the first time you have attempted a sketch upon paper?" + +"Yes; the very first." + +"Then you are a little prodigy," said the artist, slapping him upon the +shoulder. "I must take you in hand. You have nothing else to do; come here +regularly every day, and I'll teach you. Will you come?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it. But now, tell me, do you really think that +drawing good?" "Well, Charlie, if I had done it, it would be pronounced +very bad for me; but, coming from your hands, it's something astonishing." + +"Really, now--you're not joking me?" + +"No, Charlie, I'm in earnest--I assure you I am; it is drawn with great +spirit, and the boy that you have put in by the pump is exceedingly well +done." + +This praise served as a great incentive to our little friend, who, day +after day thenceforth, was found at the studio busily engaged with his +crayons, and making rapid progress in his new art. + +He had been thus occupied some weeks, and one morning was hurrying to the +breakfast-table, to get through his meal, that he might be early at the +studio, when he found Mrs. Bird in her accustomed seat looking very sad. + +"Why, what is the matter?" he asked, on observing the unusually grave face +of his friend. + +"Oh, Charlie, my dear! I've received very distressing intelligence from +Philadelphia. Your father is quite ill." + +"My father ill!" cried he, with a look of alarm. + +"Yes, my dear! quite sick--so says my letter. Here are two for you." + +Charlie hastily broke the seal of one, and read as follows:-- + + +"MY DEAR LITTLE BROTHER,--We are all in deep distress in +consequence of the misfortunes brought upon us by the mob. +Our home has been destroyed; and, worse than all, our poor +father was caught, and so severely beaten by the rioters that +for some days his life was entirely despaired of. Thank God! +he is now improving, and we have every reasonable hope of +his ultimate recovery. Mother, Caddy, and I, as you may +well suppose, are almost prostrated by this accumulation of +misfortunes, and but for the kindness of Mr. Walters, with +whom we are living, I do not know what would have become +of us. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Garie--[Here followed a passage +that was so scored and crossed as to be illegible. After a +short endeavour to decipher it, he continued:] We would +like to see you very much, and mother grows every day more +anxious for your return. I forgot to add, in connection with +the mob, that Mr. Walters's house was also attacked, but +unsuccessfully, the rioters having met a signal repulse. +Mother and Caddy send a world of love to you. So does +Kinch, who comes every day to see us and is, often extremely +useful. Give our united kind regards to Mrs. Bird, and thank +her in our behalf for her great kindness to you.--Ever yours, + +"ESTHER. + +"P.S.--Do try and manage to come home soon." + + +The tears trickled down Charlie's cheek as he perused the letter, which, +when he had finished reading, he handed to Mrs. Bird, and then commenced +the other. This proved to be from Kinch, who had spent all the spare time +at his disposal since the occurrence of the mob in preparing it. + + +"To MR. CHARLES ELLIS, ESQ., at MRS. BIRD'S. + +"_Philadelphia_. + +"DEAR SIR AND HONNORED FRIEND.--I take This chance To +Write To you To tell You that I am Well, And that we are +all well Except Your father, who Is sick; and I hope you are +Enjoying the same Blessin. We had An Awful fight, And I +was There, and I was One of The Captings. I had a sord +on; and the next Mornin we had a grate Brekfast. But +nobody Eat anything but me, And I was obliged to eat, Or +the Wittles would have spoiled. The Mob had Guns as Big as +Cannun; And they Shot them Off, and the holes Are in The +Shutter yet; And when You come Back, I will show them +to You. Your Father is very bad; And I Have gone back +to school, And I am Licked every day because I don't +Know my Lesson. A great big boy, with white woolly hair +and Pinkish Grey eyes, has got Your seat. I Put a Pin +under him one Day, And he told On me; and We Are to +Have a fight tomorrow. The boys Call Him 'Short and +Dirty,' because he ain't tall, and never washes His Face. +We Have got a new Teacher for the 5th Division. He's a +Scorcher, And believes in Rat Tan. I am to Wear My new +Cloths Next Sunday. Excuse This long letter. Your Friend +till death, + +"KINCH SANDERS DE YOUNGE. + +[Illustration: skull and cross bones] + +"P.S. This it the best Skull and Cross-bones That +I can make. Come home soon, Yours &c., + +"K. S. DE YOUNGE, ESQ." + + +Charlie could not but smile through his tears, as he read this curious +epistle, which was not more remarkable for its graceful composition than +its wonderful chirography. Some of the lines were written in blue ink, some +in red, and others in that pale muddy black which is the peculiar colour of +ink after passing through the various experiments of school-boys, who +generally entertain the belief that all foreign substances, from +molasses-candy to bread-crumbs, necessarily improve the colour and quality +of that important liquid. + +"Why every other word almost is commenced with a capital; and I declare +he's even made some in German text," cried Charlie, running his finger +mirthfully along the lines, until he came to "Your father is very bad." +Here the tears came welling up again--the shower had returned almost before +the sun had departed; and, hiding his face in his hands, he leant sobbing +on the table. + +"Cheer up, Charlie!--cheer up, my little man! all may go well yet." + +"Mrs. Bird," he sobbed, "you've been very kind to me; yet I want to go +home. I must see mother and father. You see what Esther writes,--they want +me to come home; do let me go." + +"Of course you shall go, if you wish. Yet I should like you to remain with +me, if you will." + +"No, no, Mrs. Bird, I mustn't stay; it wouldn't be right for me to remain +here, idle and enjoying myself, and they so poor and unhappy at home. I +couldn't stay," said he, rising from the table,--"I must go." + +"Well, my dear, you can't go now. Sit down and finish your breakfast, or +you will have a head-ache." + +"I'm not hungry--I can't eat," he replied; "my appetite has all gone." And +stealing away from the room, he went up into his chamber, threw himself on +the bed, and wept bitterly. + +Mrs. Bird was greatly distressed at the idea of losing her little +favourite. He had been so much with her that she had become strongly +attached to him, and therefore looked forward to his departure with +unfeigned regret. But Charlie could not be persuaded to stay; and +reluctantly Mrs. Bird made arrangements for his journey home. Even the +servants looked a little sorry when they heard of his intended departure; +and Reuben the coachman actually presented him with a jack-knife as a token +of his regard. + +Mrs. Bird accompanied him to the steamer, and placed him under the special +care of the captain; so that he was most comfortably provided for until his +arrival in New York, where he took the cars direct for home. + +Not having written to inform them on what day he might be expected, he +anticipated giving them a joyful surprise, and, with this end in view, +hastened in the direction of Mr. Walters's. As he passed along, his eye was +attracted by a figure before him which he thought he recognized, and on +closer inspection it proved to be his sister Caddy. + +Full of boyish fun, he crept up behind her, and clasped his hands over her +eyes, exclaiming, in an assumed voice, "Now, who am I?" + +"Go away, you impudent, nasty thing!" cried Caddy, plunging violently. +Charlie loosed his hold; she turned, and beheld her brother. + +"Oh! Charlie, Charlie! is it you? Why, bless you, you naughty fellow, how +you frightened me!" said she, throwing her arms round his neck, and kissing +him again and again. "When did you come? Oh, how delighted mother and Ess +will be!" "I only arrived about half an hour ago. How are mother and +father and Esther?" + +"Mother and Ess are well, and father better. But I'm so glad to see you," +she cried, with a fresh burst of tears and additional embraces. + +"Why, Cad," said he, endeavouring to suppress some watery sensations of his +own, "I'm afraid you're not a bit pleased at my return--you're actually +crying about it." + +"Oh, I'm so glad to see you that I can't help it," she replied, as she fell +to crying and kissing him more furiously than before. + +Charlie became much confused at these repeated demonstrations of joyful +affection in the crowded street, and, gently disengaging her, remarked, +"See, Caddy, everybody is looking at us; let us walk on." + +"I had almost forgot I was sent on an errand--however, it's not of much +consequence--I'll go home again with you;" and taking his hand, they +trudged on together. + +"How did you say father was?" he asked again. + +"Oh, he's better bodily; that is, he has some appetite, sits up every day, +and is gradually getting stronger; but he's all wrong here," said she, +tapping her forehead. "Sometimes he don't know any of us--and it makes us +all feel so bad." Here the tears came trickling down again, as she +continued: "Oh, Charlie! what those white devils will have to answer for! +When I think of how much injury they have done us, I _hate_ them! I know +it's wrong to hate anybody--but I can't help it; and I believe God hates +them as much as I do!" + +Charlie looked gloomy; and, as he made no rejoinder, she continued, "We +didn't save a thing, not even a change of clothes; they broke and burnt up +everything; and then the way they beat poor father was horrible--horrible! +Just think--they chopped his fingers nearly all off, so that he has only +the stumps left. Charlie, Charlie!" she cried, wringing her hands, "it's +heart-rending to see him--he can't even feed himself, and he'll never be +able to work again!" + +"Don't grieve, Cad," said Charlie, with an effort to suppress his own +tears; "I'm almost a man now," continued he, drawing himself up--"don't be +afraid, I'll take care of you all!" + +Thus conversing, they reached Mr. Walters's. Caddy wanted Charlie to stop +and look at the damage effected by the mob upon the outside of the house, +but he was anxious to go in, and ran up the steps and gave the bell a very +sharp pull. The servant who opened the door was about to make some +exclamation of surprise, and was only restrained by a warning look from +Charlie. Hurrying past them, Caddy led the way to the room where her mother +and Esther were sitting. With a cry of joy Mrs. Ellis caught him in her +arms, and, before he was aware of their presence, he found himself half +smothered by her and Esther. + +They had never been separated before his trip to Warmouth; and their +reunion, under such circumstances, was particularly affecting. None of them +could speak for a few moments, and Charlie clung round his mother's neck as +though he would never loose his hold. "Mother, mother!" was all he could +utter; yet in that word was comprised a world of joy and affection. + +Esther soon came in for her share of caresses; then Charlie inquired, +"Where's father?" + +"In here," said Mrs. Ellis, leading the way to an adjoining room. "I don't +think he will know you--perhaps he may." + +In one corner of the apartment, propped up in a large easy chair by a +number of pillows, sat poor Mr. Ellis, gazing vacantly about the room and +muttering to himself. His hair had grown quite white, and his form was +emaciated in the extreme; there was a broad scar across his forehead, and +his dull, lustreless eyes were deeply sunken in his head. He took no notice +of them as they approached, but continued muttering and looking at his +hands. + +Charlie was almost petrified at the change wrought in his father. A few +months before he had left him in the prime of healthful manhood; now he was +bent and spectrelike, and old in appearance as if the frosts of eighty +winters had suddenly fallen on him. Mrs. Ellis laid her hand gently upon +his shoulder, and said, "Husband, here's Charlie." He made no reply, but +continued muttering and examining his mutilated hands. "It's Charlie," she +repeated. + +"Oh, ay! nice little boy!" he replied, vacantly; "whose son is he?" + +Mrs. Ellis's voice quivered as she reiterated, "It's Charlie--our +Charlie!--don't you know him?" + +"Oh, yes! nice little boy--nice little boy. Oh!" he continued, in a +suppressed and hurried tone, as a look of alarm crossed his face; "run home +quick, little boy! and tell your mother they're coming, thousands of them; +they've guns, and swords, and clubs. Hush! There they come--there they +come!" And he buried his face in the shawl, and trembled in an agony of +fright. + +"Oh, mother, this is dreadful!" exclaimed Charlie. "Don't he know any of +you?" + +"Yes; sometimes his mind comes back--very seldom, though--only for a very +little while. Come away: talking to him sometimes makes him worse." And +slowly and sorrowfully the two left the apartment. + +That evening, after Mr. Ellis had been safely bestowed in bed, the family +gathered round the fire in the room of Mrs. Ellis, where Charlie +entertained them with a description of Warmouth and of the manner in which +he had passed the time whilst there. He was enthusiastic respecting Mrs. +Bird and her kindness. "Mother, she is such a _dear_ old lady: if I'd been +as white as snow, and her own son, she couldn't have been kinder to me. She +didn't want me to come away, and cried ever so much. Let me show you what +she gave me!" Charlie thrust his hand into his pocket, and drew out a small +wallet, from which he counted out four ten-dollar bills, two fives, and a +two dollar and a half gold piece, "Ain't I rich!" said he, as, with the air +of a millionaire, he tossed the money upon a table. "Now," he continued, +"do you know what I'm about to do?" Not receiving any answer from his +wondering sisters or mother, he added, "Why, just this!--here, mother, +this is yours," said he, placing the four ten-dollar bills before her; "and +here are five apiece for Esther and Cad; the balance is for your humble +servant. Now, then," he concluded, "what do you think of that?" + +Mrs. Ellis looked fondly at him, and, stroking his head, told him that he +was a good son; and Esther and Caddy declared him to be the best brother in +town. + +"Now, girls," said he, with the air of a patriarch, "what do you intend to +do with your money?" + +"Mine will go towards buying me a dress, and Esther will save hers for a +particular purpose," said Caddy. "I'll tell you something about her and Mr. +Walters," continued she, with a mischievous look at her sister. + +"Oh, Caddy--don't! Ain't you ashamed to plague me so?" asked Esther, +blushing to the roots of her hair. "Mother, pray stop her," cried she, +pleadingly. + +"Hush, Caddy!" interposed her mother, authoritatively; "you shall do no +such thing." + +"Well," resumed Caddy, "mother says I mustn't tell; but I can say this +much----" + +Esther here put her hand over her sister's mouth and effectually prevented +any communication she was disposed to make. + +"Never mind her, Ess!" cried Charlie; "you'll tell me all in good time, +especially if it's anything worth knowing." + +Esther made no reply, but, releasing her sister, hurried out of the room, +and went upstairs to Charlie's chamber, where he found her on retiring for +the night. + +"I'm glad you're here, Ess," said he, "you'll indulge me. Here is the +key--open my trunk and get me out a nightcap; I'm too tired, or too lazy, +to get it for myself." Esther stooped down, opened the trunk, and commenced +searching for the article of head-gear in question. "Come, Ess," said +Charles, coaxingly, "tell me what this is about you and Mr. Walters." + +She made no reply at first, but fumbled about in the bottom of the trunk, +professedly in search of the nightcap which she at that moment held in her +hand. "Can't you tell me?" he again asked. + +"Oh, there's nothing to tell, Charlie!" she answered. + +"There must be something, Ess, or you wouldn't have blushed up so when Cad +was about to speak of it. Do," said he, approaching her, and putting his +arm round her neck--"do tell me all about it--I am sure there is some +secret!" + +"Oh, no, Charlie--there is no secret; it's only this----" Here she stopped, +and, blushing, turned her head away. + +"Ess, this is nonsense," said Charlie, impatiently: "if it's anything worth +knowing, why can't you tell a fellow? Come," said he, kissing her, "tell +me, now, like a dear old Ess as you are." + +"Well, Charlie," said she, jerking the words out with an effort, "Mr.--Mr. +Walters has asked me to marry him!" + +"Phew--gemini! that is news!" exclaimed Charlie. "And are you going to +accept him Ess?" + +"I don't know," she answered. + +"Don't know!" repeated Charlie, in a tone of surprise. "Why, Ess, I'm +astonished at you--such a capital fellow as he is! Half the girls of our +acquaintance would give an eye for the chance." + +"But he is so rich!" responded Esther. + +"Well, now, that's a great objection, ain't it! I should say, all the +better on that account," rejoined Charlie. + +"The money is the great stumbling-block," continued she; "everybody would +say I married him for that." + +"Then _everybody_ would lie, _as_ everybody very often does! If I was you, +Ess, and loved him, I shouldn't let his fortune stand in the way. I wish," +continued he, pulling up his shirt-collar, "that some amiable young girl +with a fortune of a hundred thousand dollars, would make me an offer--I'd +like to catch myself refusing her!" + +The idea of a youth of his tender years marrying any one, seemed so +ludicrous to Esther, that she burst into a hearty fit of laughter, to the +great chagrin of our hero, who seemed decidedly of the opinion that his +sister had not a proper appreciation of his years and inches. + +"Don't laugh, Ess; but tell me--do you really intend to refuse him?" + +"I can't decide yet, Charlie," answered she seriously; "if we were situated +as we were before--were not such absolute paupers--I wouldn't hesitate to +accept him; but to bring a family of comparative beggars upon him--I can't +make up my mind to do that." + +Charlie looked grave as Esther made this last objection; boy as he was, he +felt its weight and justice. "Well, Ess," rejoined he, "I don't know what +to say about it--of course I can't advise. What does mother say?" + +"She leaves it entirely to me," she answered. "She says I must act just as +I feel is right." + +"I certainly wouldn't have him at all, Ess, if I didn't love him; and if I +did, I shouldn't let the money stand in the way--so, good night!" + +Charlie slept very late the next morning, and was scarcely dressed when +Esther knocked at his door, with the cheerful tidings that her father had a +lucid interval and was waiting to see him. + +Dressing himself hastily, he followed her into their father's room. When he +entered, the feeble sufferer stretched out his mutilated arms towards him +and clasped him round the neck, "They tell me," said he, "that you came +yesterday, and that I didn't recognize you. I thought, when I awoke this +morning, that I had a dim recollection of having seen some dear face; but +my head aches so, that I often forget--yes, often forget. My boy," he +continued, "you are all your mother and sisters have to depend upon now; +I'm--I'm----" here his voice faltered, as he elevated his stumps of +hands--"I'm helpless; but you must take care of them. I'm an old man now," +said he despondingly. + +"I will, father; I'll try _so_ hard" replied Charlie. + +"It was cruel in them, wasn't it, son," he resumed. "See, they've made me +helpless for ever!" Charlie restrained the tears that were forcing +themselves up, and rejoined, "Never fear, father! I'll do my best; I trust +I shall soon be able to take care of you." + +His father did not understand him--his mind was gone again, and he was +staring vacantly about him. Charlie endeavoured to recall his attention, +but failed, for he began muttering about the mob and his hands; they were +compelled to quit the room, and leave him to himself, as he always became +quiet sooner by being left alone. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +Sudbury. + + +We must now admit our readers to a consultation that is progressing between +Mr. Balch and Mr. Walters, respecting the future of the two Garie children. +They no doubt entered upon the conference with the warmest and most earnest +desire of promoting the children's happiness; but, unfortunately, their +decision failed to produce the wished-for result. + +"I scarcely thought you would have succeeded so well with him," said +Walters, "he is such an inveterate scoundrel; depend upon it nothing but +the fear of the exposure resulting from a legal investigation would ever +have induced that scamp to let twelve thousand dollars escape from his +clutches. I am glad you have secured that much; when we add it to the eight +thousand already in my possession it will place them in very comfortable +circumstances, even if they never get any more." + +"I think we have done very well," rejoined Mr. Balch; "we were as much in +his power as he was in ours--not in the same way, however; a legal +investigation, no matter how damaging it might have been to his reputation, +would not have placed us in possession of the property, or invalidated his +claim as heir. I think, on the whole, we may as well be satisfied, and +trust in Providence for the future. So now, then, we will resume our +discussion of that matter we had under consideration the other day. I +cannot but think that my plan is best adapted to secure the boy's +happiness." + +"I'm sorry I cannot agree with you, Mr. Balch. I have tried to view your +plan in the most favourable light, yet I cannot rid myself of a +presentiment that it will result in the ultimate discovery of his peculiar +position, and that most probably at some time when his happiness is +dependent upon its concealment. An undetected forger, who is in constant +fear of being apprehended, is happy in comparison with that coloured man +who attempts, in this country, to hold a place in the society of whites by +concealing his origin. He must live in constant fear of exposure; this +dread will embitter every enjoyment, and make him the most miserable of +men." + +"You must admit," rejoined Mr. Balch, "that I have their welfare at heart. +I have thought the matter over and over, and cannot, for the life of me, +feel the weight of your objections. The children are peculiarly situated; +everything seems to favour my views. Their mother (the only relative they +had whose African origin was distinguishable) is dead, and both of them are +so exceedingly fair that it would never enter the brain of any one that +they were connected with coloured people by ties of blood. Clarence is old +enough to know the importance of concealing the fact, and Emily might be +kept with us until her prudence also might be relied upon. You must +acknowledge that as white persons they will be better off." + +"I admit," answered Mr. Walters, "that in our land of liberty it is of +incalculable advantage to be white; that is beyond dispute, and no one is +more painfully aware of it than I. Often I have heard men of colour say +they would not be white if they could--had no desire to change their +complexions; I've written some down fools; others, liars. Why," continued +he, with a sneering expression of countenance, "it is everything to be +white; one feels that at every turn in our boasted free country, where all +men are upon an equality. When I look around me, and see what I have made +myself in spite of circumstances, and think what I might have been with the +same heart and brain beneath a fairer skin, I am almost tempted to curse +the destiny that made me what I am. Time after time, when scraping, +toiling, saving, I have asked myself. To what purpose is it all?--perhaps +that in the future white men may point at and call me, sneeringly, 'a +nigger millionaire,' or condescend to borrow money of me. Ah! often, when +some negro-hating white man has been forced to ask a loan at my hands, I've +thought of Shylock and his pound of flesh, and ceased to wonder at him. +There's no doubt, my dear sir, but what I fully appreciate the advantage of +being white. Yet, with all I have endured, and yet endure from day to day, +I esteem myself happy in comparison with that man, who, mingling in the +society of whites, is at the same time aware that he has African blood in +his veins, and is liable at any moment to be ignominiously hurled from his +position by the discovery of his origin. He is never safe. I have known +instances where parties have gone on for years and years undetected; but +some untoward circumstance brings them out at last, and down they fall for +ever." + +"Walters, my dear fellow, you will persist in looking upon his being +discovered as a thing of course: I see no reason for the anticipation of +any such result. I don't see how he is to be detected--it may never occur. +And do you feel justified in consigning them to a position which you know +by painful experience to be one of the most disagreeable that can be +endured. Ought we not to aid their escape from it if we can?" + +Mr. Walters stood reflectively for some moments, and then exclaimed, "I'll +make no farther objection; I would not have the boy say to me hereafter, +'But for your persisting in identifying me with a degraded people, I might +have been better and happier than I am.' However, I cannot but feel that +concealments of this kind are productive of more misery than comfort." + +"We will agree to differ about that, Walters; and now, having your consent, +I shall not hesitate to proceed in the matter, with full reliance that the +future will amply justify my choice." + +"Well, well! as I said before, I will offer no further objection. Now let +me hear the details of your plan." + +"I have written," answered Mr. Balch, "to Mr. Eustis, a friend of mine +living at Sudbury, where there is a large preparatory school for boys. At +his house I purpose placing Clarence. Mr. Eustis is a most discreet man, +and a person of liberal sentiments. I feel that I can confide everything to +him without the least fear of his ever divulging a breath of it. He is a +gentleman in the fullest sense of the term, and at his house the boy will +have the advantage of good society, and will associate with the best people +of the place." + +"Has he a family?" asked Mr. Walters. + +"He is a widower," answered Mr. Balch; "a maiden sister of his wife's +presides over his establishment; she will be kind to Clarence, I am +confident; she has a motherly soft heart, and is remarkably fond of +children. I have not the least doubt but that he will be very happy and +comfortable there. I think it very fortunate, Walters," he continued, "that +he has so few coloured acquaintances--no boyish intimacies to break up; and +it will be as well to send him away before he has an opportunity of forming +them. Besides, being here, where everything will be so constantly reviving +the remembrance of his recent loss, he may grow melancholy and stupid. I +have several times noticed his reserve, so unusual in a child. His dreadful +loss and the horrors that attended it have made, a deep +impression--stupified him, to a certain extent, I think. Well, well! we +will get him off, and once away at school, and surrounded by lively boys, +this dulness will soon wear off." + +The gentlemen having fully determined upon his being sent, it was proposed +to bring him in immediately and talk to him relative to it. He was +accordingly sent for, and came into the room, placing himself beside the +chair of Mr. Walters. + +Clarence had altered very much since the death of his parents. His face had +grown thin and pale, and he was much taller than when he came to +Philadelphia: a shade of melancholy had overspread his face; there was now +in his eyes that expression of intense sadness that characterized his +mother's. "You sent for me?" he remarked, inquiringly, to Mr. Walters. + +"Yes, my boy," he rejoined, "we sent for you to have a little talk about +school. Would you like to go to school again?" + +"Oh, yes!" answered Clarence, his face lighting up with pleasure; "I should +like it of all things; it would be much better than staying at home all +day, doing nothing; the days are so long," concluded he, with a sigh. + +"Ah! we will soon remedy that," rejoined Mr. Balch, "when you go to +Sudbury." + +"Sudbury!" repeated Clarence, with surprise; "where is that? I thought you +meant, to go to school here." + +"Oh, no, my dear," said Mr. Balch, "I don't know of any good school here, +such as you would like; we wish to send you to a place where you will enjoy +yourself finely,--where you will have a number of boys for companions in +your studies and pleasures." + +"And is Em going with me?" he asked. + +"Oh, no, that is not possible; it is a school for boys exclusively; you +can't take your sister there," rejoined Mr. Walters. + +"Then I don't want to go," said Clarence, decidedly; "I don't want to go +where I can't take Em with me." + +Mr. Balch exchanged glances with Mr. Walters, and looked quite perplexed at +this new opposition to his scheme. Nothing daunted, however, by this +difficulty, he, by dint of much talking and persuasion, brought Clarence to +look upon the plan with favour, and to consent reluctantly to go without +his sister. + +But the most delicate part of the whole business was yet to come--they must +impress upon the child the necessity of concealing the fact that he was of +African origin. Neither seemed to know how to approach the subject. +Clarence, however, involuntarily made an opening for them by inquiring if +Emily was to go to Miss Jordan's school again. + +"No, my dear," answered Mr. Balch, "Miss Jordan won't permit her to attend +school there." + +"Why?" asked Clarence. + +"Because she is a coloured child," rejoined Mr. Balch. "Now, Clarence," +he continued, "you are old enough, I presume, to know the difference that +exists between the privileges and advantages enjoyed by the whites, and +those that are at the command of the coloured people. White boys can go to +better schools, and they can enter college and become professional men, +lawyers, doctors, &c, or they may be merchants--in fact, they can be +anything they please. Coloured people can enjoy none of these advantages; +they are shut out from them entirely. Now which of the two would you rather +be--coloured or white?" + +"I should much rather be white, of course," answered Clarence; "but I am +coloured, and can't help myself," said he, innocently. + +"But, my child, we are going to send you where it is not known that you are +coloured; and you must _never, never_ tell it, because if it became known, +you would be expelled from the school, as you were from Miss Jordan's." + +"I didn't know we were expelled," rejoined Clarence. "I know she sent us +home, but I could not understand what it was for. I'm afraid they will send +me from the other school. Won't they know I am coloured?" + +"No, my child, I don't think they will discover it unless you should be +foolish enough to tell it yourself, in which case both Mr. Walters and +myself would be very much grieved." + +"But suppose some one should ask me," suggested Clarence. + +"No one will ever ask you such a question," said Mr. Balch, impatiently; +"all you have to do is to be silent yourself on the subject. Should any of +your schoolmates ever make inquiries respecting your parents, all you have +to answer is, they were from Georgia, and you are an orphan." + +Clarence's eyes began to moisten as Mr. Balch spoke of his parents, and +after a few moments he asked, with some hesitation, "Am I never to speak of +mother? I love to talk of mother." + +"Yes, my dear, of course you can talk of your mother," answered Mr. Balch, +with great embarrassment; "only, you know, my child, you need not enter +into particulars as regards her appearance; that is, you--ah!--need not +say she was a coloured woman. You _must not_ say that; you understand?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Clarence. + +"Very well, then; bear that in mind. You must know, Clarence," continued +he, "that this concealment is necessary for your welfare, or we would not +require it; and you must let me impress it upon you, that it is requisite +that you attend strictly to our directions." + +Mr. Walters remained silent during most of this conversation. He felt a +repugnance to force upon the child a concealment the beneficial results of +which were the reverse of obvious, so he merely gave Clarence some useful +advice respecting his general conduct, and then permitted him to leave the +room. + +The morning fixed upon for their departure for Sudbury turned out to be +cold and cheerless; and Clarence felt very gloomy as he sat beside his +sister at their early breakfast, of which he was not able to eat a morsel. +"Do eat something, Clary," said she, coaxingly; "only look what nice +buckwheat cakes these are; cook got up ever so early on purpose to bake +them for you." + +"No, sis," he replied, "I can't eat. I feel so miserable, everything chokes +me." + +"Well, eat a biscuit, then," she continued, as she buttered it and laid it +on his plate; "do eat it, now." + +More to please her than from a desire to eat, he forced down a few +mouthfuls of it, and drank a little tea; then, laying his arm round her +neck, he said, "Em, you must try hard to learn to write soon, so that I may +hear from you at least once a week." + +"Oh! I shall soon know how, I'm in g's and h's now. Aunt Esther--she says I +may call her Aunt Esther--teaches me every day. Ain't I getting on nicely?" + +"Oh, yes, you learn very fast," said Esther, encouragingly, as she +completed the pile of sandwiches she was preparing for the young traveller; +then, turning to look at the timepiece on the mantel, she exclaimed, +"Quarter to seven--how time flies! Mr. Balch will soon be here. You must +be all ready, Clarence, so as not to keep him waiting a moment." + +Clarence arose from his scarcely tasted meal, began slowly to put on his +overcoat, and make himself ready for the journey. Em tied on the warm +woollen neck-comforter, kissing him on each cheek as she did so, and whilst +they were thus engaged, Mr. Balch drove up to the door. + +Charlie, who had come down to see him off, tried (with his mouth full of +buckwheat cake) to say something consolatory, and gave it as his +experience, "that a fellow soon got over that sort of thing; that +separations must occur sometimes," &c.--and, on the whole, endeavoured to +talk in a very manly and philosophical strain; but his precepts and +practice proved to be at utter variance, for when the moment of separation +really came and he saw the tearful embrace of Em and her brother, he caught +the infection of grief, and cried as heartily as the best of them. There +was but little time, however, to spare for leave-takings, and the young +traveller and his guardian were soon whirling over the road towards New +York. + +By a singular chance, Clarence found himself in the same car in which he +had formerly rode when they were on their way to Philadelphia: he +recognized it by some peculiar paintings on the panel of the door, and the +ornamental border of the ceiling. This brought back a tide of memories, and +he began contrasting that journey with the present. Opposite was the seat +on which his parents had sat, in the bloom of health, and elate with; +joyous anticipations; he remembered--oh! so well--his father's pleasant +smile, his mother's soft and gentle voice. Both now were gone. Death had +made rigid that smiling face--her soft voice was hushed for ever--and the +cold snow was resting on their bosoms in the little churchyard miles away. +Truly the contrast between now and then was extremely saddening, and the +child bowed his head upon the seat, and sobbed in bitter grief. + +"What is the matter?" asked Mr. Balch; "not crying again, I hope. I +thought you were going to be a man, and that we were not to have any more +tears. Come!" continued he, patting him encouragingly on the back, "cheer +up! You are going to a delightful place, where you will find a number of +agreeable playmates, and have a deal of fun, and enjoy yourself amazingly." + +"But it won't be _home_," replied Clarence. + +"True," replied Mr. Balch, a little touched, "it won't seem so at first; +but you'll soon like it, I'll guarantee that." + +Clarence was not permitted to indulge his grief to any great extent, for +Mr. Balch soon succeeded in interesting him in the various objects that +they passed on the way. + +On the evening of the next day they arrived at their destination, and +Clarence alighted from the cars, cold, fatigued, and spiritless. There had +been a heavy fall of snow a few days previous, and the town of Sudbury, +which was built upon the hill-side, shone white and sparkling in the clear +winter moonlight. + +It was the first time that Clarence had ever seen the ground covered with +snow, and he could not restrain his admiration at the novel spectacle it +presented to him. "Oh, look!--oh, do look! Mr. Balch," he exclaimed, "how +beautifully white it looks; it seems as if the town was built of salt." + +It was indeed a pretty sight. Near them stood a clump of fantastic-shaped +trees, their gnarled limbs covered with snow, and brilliant with the +countless icicles that glistened like precious stones in the bright light +that was reflected upon them from the windows of the station. A little +farther on, between them and the town, flowed a small stream, the waters of +which were dimpling and sparkling in the moonlight. Beside its banks arose +stately cotton-mills, and from their many windows hundreds of lights were +shining. Behind them, tier above tier, were the houses of the town; and +crowning the hill was the academy, with its great dome gleaming on its top +like a silver cap upon a mountain of snow. The merry sleigh-bells and the +crisp tramp of the horses upon the frozen ground were all calculated to +make a striking impression on one beholding such a scene for the first +time. + +Clarence followed Mr. Balch into the sleigh, delighted and bewildered with +the surrounding objects. The driver whipped up his horses, they clattered +over the bridge, dashed swiftly through the town, and in a very short +period arrived at the dwelling of Mr. Eustis. + +The horses had scarcely stopped, when the door flew open, and a stream of +light from the hall shone down the pathway to the gate. Mr. Eustis came out +on the step to welcome them. After greeting Mr. Balch warmly, he took +Clarence by the hand, and led him into the room where his sister was +sitting. + +"Here is our little friend," said he to her, as she arose and approached +them; "try and get him warm, Ada--his hands are like ice." + +Miss Ada Bell welcomed Clarence in the most affectionate manner, assisted +him to remove his coat, unfastened his woollen neck-tie, and smoothed down +his glossy black hair; then, warming a napkin, she wrapped it round his +benumbed hands, and held them in her own until the circulation was restored +and they were supple and comfortable again. + +Miss Ada Bell appeared to be about thirty-five. She had good regular +features, hazel eyes, and long chestnut curls: a mouth with the sweetest +expression, and a voice so winning and affectionate in its tone that it +went straight to the hearts of all that listened to its music. + +"Had you a pleasant journey?" she asked. + +"It was rather cold," answered Clarence, "and I am not accustomed to frosty +weather." + +"And did you leave all your friends well?" she continued, as she chafed his +hands. + +"Quite well, I thank you," he replied. + +"I hear you have a little sister; were you not sorry to leave her behind?" + +This question called up the tearful face of little Em and her last embrace. +He could not answer; he only raised his mournful dark eyes to the face of +Miss Ada, and as he looked at her they grew moist, and a tear sparkled on +his long lashes. Miss Ada felt that she had touched a tender chord, so she +stooped down and kissed his forehead, remarking, "You have a good face, +Clarence, and no doubt an equally good heart; we shall get on charmingly +together, I know." Those kind words won the orphan's heart, and from that +day forth. Clarence loved her. Tea was soon brought upon the table, and +they all earnestly engaged in the discussion of the various refreshments +that Miss Ada's well-stocked larder afforded. Everything was so fresh and +nicely flavoured that both the travellers ate very heartily; then, being +much fatigued with their two days' journey, they seized an early +opportunity to retire. + + * * * * * + +Here we leave Clarence for many years; the boy will have become a man ere +we re-introduce him, and, till then, we bid him adieu. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Charlie seeks Employment. + + +Charlie had been at borne some weeks, comparatively idle; at least he so +considered himself, as the little he did in the way of collecting rents and +looking up small accounts for Mr. Walters he regarded as next to nothing, +it not occupying half his time. A part of each day he spent in attendance +on his father, who seemed better satisfied with his ministrations than with +those of his wife and daughters. This proved to be very fortunate for all +parties, as it enabled the girls to concentrate their attention on their +sewing--of which they had a vast deal on hand. + +One day, when Esther and Charlie were walking out together, the latter +remarked: "Ess, I wish I could find some regular and profitable employment, +or was apprenticed to some good trade that would enable me to assist mother +a little; I'd even go to service if I could do no better--anything but +being idle whilst you are all so hard at work. It makes me feel very +uncomfortable." + +"I would be very glad if you could procure some suitable employment. I +don't wish you to go to service again, that is out of the question. Of whom +have you made inquiry respecting a situation." + +"Oh, of lots of people; they can tell me of any number of families who are +in want of a footman, but no one appears to know of a 'person who is +willing to receive a black boy as an apprentice to a respectable calling. +It's too provoking; I really think, Ess, that the majority of white folks +imagine that we are only fit for servants, and incapable of being rendered +useful in any other capacity. If that terrible misfortune had not befallen +father, I should have learned his trade." + +"Ah!" sighed Esther, "but for that we should all have been happier. But, +Charlie," she added, "how do you know that you cannot obtain any other +employment than that of a servant? Have you ever applied personally to any +one?" + +"No, Esther, I haven't; but you know as well as I that white masters won't +receive coloured apprentices." + +"I think a great deal of that is taken for granted," rejoined Esther, "try +some one yourself." + +"I only wish I knew of any one to try," responded Charlie, "I'd hazard the +experiment at any rate." + +"Look over the newspaper in the morning," advised Esther; "there are always +a great many wants advertised--amongst them you may perhaps find something +suitable." + +"Well, I will Ess--now then we won't talk about that any more--pray tell +me, if I'm not too inquisitive, what do you purpose buying with your +money--a wedding-dress, eh?" he asked, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +Esther blushed and sighed, as she answered: "No, Charlie, that is all over +for the present. I told him yesterday I could not think of marrying now, +whilst we are all so unsettled. It grieved me to do it, Charlie, but I felt +that it was my duty. Cad and I are going to add our savings to mother's; +that, combined with what we shall receive for father's tools, good-will, +&c, will be sufficient to furnish another house; and as soon as we can +succeed in that, we will leave Mr. Walters, as it is embarrassing to remain +under present circumstances." + +"And what is to become of little Em?--she surely won't remain alone with +him?" + +"Mr. Walters has proposed that when we procure a house she shall come and +board with us. He wants us to take one of his houses, and offers some +fabulous sum for the child's board, which it would be unreasonable in us to +take. Dear, good man, he is always complaining that we are too proud, and +won't let him assist us when he might. If we find a suitable house I shall +be delighted to have her. I love the child for her mother's sake and her +own." + +"I wonder if they will ever send her away, as they did Clarence?" asked +Charlie. + +"I do not know," she rejoined. "Mr. Balch told me that he should not insist +upon it if the child was unwilling." + +The next day Charlie purchased all the morning papers he could obtain, and +sat down to look over the list of wants. There were hungry people in want +of professed cooks; divers demands for chamber-maids, black or white; +special inquiries for waiters and footmen, in which the same disregard of +colour was observable; advertisements for partners in all sorts of +businesses, and for journeymen in every department of mechanical +operations; then there were milliners wanted, sempstresses, and even +theatrical assistants, but nowhere in the long columns could he discover: +"Wanted, a boy." Charlie searched them over and over, but the stubborn fact +stared him in the face--there evidently were no boys wanted; and he at +length concluded that he either belonged to a very useless class, or that +there was an unaccountable prejudice existing in the city against the +rising generation. + +Charlie folded up the papers with a despairing sigh, and walked to the +post-office to mail a letter to Mrs. Bird that he had written the previous +evening. Having noticed a number of young men examining some written +notices that were posted up, he joined the group, and finding it was a list +of wants he eagerly read them over. + +To his great delight he found there was one individual at least, who +thought boys could be rendered useful to society, and who had written as +follows: "Wanted, a youth of about thirteen years of age who writes a good +hand, and is willing to make himself useful in an office.--Address, Box No. +77, Post-office." + +"I'm their man!" said Charlie to himself, as he finished perusing it--"I'm +just the person. I'll go home and write to them immediately;" and +accordingly he hastened back to the house, sat down, and wrote a reply to +the advertisement. He then privately showed it to Esther, who praised the +writing and composition, and pronounced the whole very neatly done. + +Charlie then walked down to the post-office to deposit his precious reply; +and after dropping it into the brass mouth of the mail-box, he gazed in +after it, and saw it glide slowly down into the abyss below. + +How many more had stopped that day to add their contributions to the mass +which Charlie's letter now joined? Merchants on the brink of ruin had +deposited missives whose answer would make or break them; others had +dropped upon the swelling heap tidings that would make poor men rich--rich +men richer; maidens came with delicately written notes, perfumed and +gilt-edged, eloquent with love--and cast them amidst invoices and bills of +lading. Letters of condolence and notes of congratulation jostled each +other as they slid down the brass throat; widowed mothers' tender epistles +to wandering sons; the letters of fond wives to absent husbands; erring +daughters' last appeals to outraged parents; offers of marriage; +invitations to funerals; hope and despair; joy and sorrow; misfortune and +success--had glided in one almost unbroken stream down that ever-distended +and insatiable brass throat. + +Charlie gave one more look at the opening, then sauntered homeward, +building by the way houses of fabulous dimensions, with the income he +anticipated from the situation if he succeeded in procuring it. Throughout +the next day he was in a state of feverish anxiety and expectation, and +Mrs. Ellis two or three times inquired the meaning of the mysterious +whisperings and glances that were exchanged between him and Esther. The day +wore away, and yet no answer--the next came and passed, still no +communication; and Charlie had given up in despair, when he was agreeably +surprised by the following:---- + +"Messrs. Twining, Western, and Twining will be much obliged to Charles +Ellis, if he will call at their office, 567, Water-street, to-morrow +morning at eleven o'clock, as they would like to communicate further with +him respecting a situation in their establishment." + +Charlie flew up stairs to Esther's room, and rushing in precipitately, +exclaimed, "Oh! Ess--I've got it, I've got it--see here," he shouted, +waving the note over his head; "Hurrah! Hurrah! Just read it, Ess, only +just read it!" + +"How can I, Charlie?" said she, with a smile, "if you hold it in your hand +and dance about in that frantic style--give it me. There now--keep quiet a +moment, and let me read it." After perusing it attentively, Esther added, +"Don't be too sanguine, Charlie. You see by the tenor of the note that the +situation is not promised you; they only wish to see you respecting it. You +may not secure it, after all--some obstacle may arise of which we are not +at present aware." + +"Go on, old raven--croak away!" said Charlie, giving her at the same time a +facetious poke. + +"There's many a slip between the cup and the lip," she added. + +"Oh, Ess!" he rejoined, "don't throw cold water on a fellow in that +style--don't harbour so many doubts. Do you think they would take the +trouble to write if they did not intend to give me the situation? Go away, +old raven," concluded he, kissing her, "and don't let us have any more +croaking." + +Charlie was bounding from the room, when he was stopped by his sister, who +begged him not to say anything to their mother respecting it, but wait +until they knew the issue of the interview; and, if he secured the +situation, it would be a very agreeable surprise to her. + +We will now visit, in company with the reader, the spacious offices of +Messrs. Twining, Western, and Twining, where we shall find Mr. Western +about consigning to the waste-paper basket a large pile of letters. This +gentleman was very fashionably dressed, of dark complexion, with the +languid air and drawling intonation of a Southerner. + +At an adjoining desk sat an elderly sharp-faced gentleman, who was looking +over his spectacles at the movements of his partner. "What a mass of +letters you are about to destroy," he remarked. + +Mr. Western took from his month the cigar he was smoking, and after puffing +from between his lips a thin wreath of smoke, replied: "Some of the most +atwocious scwawls that man ever attempted to pewuse,--weplies to the +advertisement. Out of the whole lot there wasn't more than a dozen amongst +them that were weally pwesentable. Here is one wemawkably well witten: I +have desiwed the witer to call this morning at eleven. I hope he will make +as favouwable an impwession as his witing has done. It is now almost +eleven--I pwesume he will be here soon." + +Scarcely had Mr. Western finished speaking, ere the door opened, and Esther +entered, followed by Charlie. Both the gentlemen rose, and Mr. Twining +offered her a chair. + +Esther accepted the proffered seat, threw up her veil, and said, in a +slightly embarrassed tone, "My brother here, took the liberty of replying +to an advertisement of yours, and you were kind enough to request him to +call at eleven to-day." + +"We sent a note to _your_ brother?" said Mr. Twining, in a tone of +surprise. + +"Yes, sir, and here it is," said she, extending it to him. + +Mr. Twining glanced over it, and remarked, "This is your writing, Western;" +then taking Charlie's letter from the desk of Mr. Western, he asked, in a +doubting tone, "Is this your own writing and composition?" + +"My own writing and composing," answered Charlie. + +"And it is vewy cweditable to you, indeed," said Mr. Western. + +Both the gentlemen looked at the note again, then at Charlie, then at +Esther, and lastly at each other; but neither seemed able to say anything, +and evident embarrassment existed on both sides. + +"And so you thought you would twy for the situation," at last remarked Mr. +Western to Charlie. + +"Yes, sir," he answered. "I was and am very anxious to obtain some +employment." "Have you a father?" asked Mr. Twining. + +"Yes, sir; but he was badly injured by the mob last summer, and will never +be able to work again." + +"That's a pity," said Western, sympathisingly; "and what have you been +doing?" + +"Nothing very recently. I broke my arm last spring, and was obliged to go +into the country for my health. I have not long returned." + +"Do your pawents keep house?" + +"Not at present. We are staying with a friend. Our house was burned down by +the rioters." + +This conversation recalled so vividly their past trials, that Esther's eyes +grew watery, and she dropped her veil to conceal a tear that was trembling +on the lid. + +"How vewy unfortunate!" said Mr. Western, sympathisingly; "vewy twying, +indeed!" then burying his chin in his hand, he sat silently regarding them +for a moment or two. + +"Have you come to any decision about taking him?" Esther at last ventured +to ask of Mr. Twining. + +"Taking him!--oh, dear me, I had almost forgot. Charles, let me see you +write something--here, take this seat." + +Charlie sat down as directed, and dashed off a few lines, which he handed +to Mr. Twining, who looked at it over and over; then rising, he beckoned to +his partner to follow him into an adjoining room. + +"Well, what do you say?" asked Western, after they had closed the door +behind them. "Don't you think we had better engage him?" + +"Engage _him_!" exclaimed Twining--"why, you surprise me, Western--the +thing's absurd; engage a coloured boy as under clerk! I never heard of such +a thing." + +"I have often," drawled Western; "there are the gweatest number of them in +New Orleans." + +"Ah, but New Orleans is a different place; such a thing never occurred in +Philadelphia." + +"Well, let us cweate a pwecedent, then. The boy wites wemarkably well, and +will, no doubt, suit us exactly. It will be a chawity to take him. We need +not care what others say--evewybody knows who we are and what we are?" + +"No, Western; I know the North better than you do; it wouldn't answer at +all here. We cannot take the boy--it is impossible; it would create a +rumpus amongst the clerks, who would all feel dreadfully insulted by our +placing a nigger child on an equality with them. I assure you the thing is +out of the question." + +"Well, I must say you Northern people are perfectly incompwehensible. You +pay taxes to have niggers educated, and made fit for such places--and then +won't let them fill them when they are pwepared to do so. I shall leave +you, then, to tell them we can't take him. I'm doosed sowwy for it--I like +his looks." + +Whilst Mr. Western and his partner were discussing in one room, Charlie and +Esther were awaiting with some anxiety their decision in the other. + +"I think they are going to take me," said Charlie; "you saw how struck they +appeared to be with the writing." + +"They admired it, I know, my dear; but don't be too sanguine." + +"I feel _sure_ they are going to take me," repeated he with a hopeful +countenance. + +Esther made no reply, and they remained in silence until Mr. Twining +returned to the room. + +After two or three preparatory ahems, he said to Esther; "I should like to +take your brother very much; but you see, in consequence of there being so +much excitement just now, relative to Abolitionism and kindred subjects, +that my partner and myself--that is, I and Mr. Western--think--or rather +feel--that just now it would be rather awkward for us to receive him. We +should like to take him; but his _colour_, miss--his complexion is a +_fatal_ objection. It grieves me to be obliged to tell you this; but I +think, under the circumstances, it would be most prudent for us to decline +to receive him. We are _very_ sorry--but our clerks are all young men, and +have a great deal of prejudice, and I am sure he would be neither +comfortable nor happy with them. If I can serve you in any other way--" + +"There is nothing that you can do that I am aware of," said Esther, rising; +"I thank you, and am sorry that we have occupied so much of your time." + +"Oh, don't mention it," said Mr. Twining, evidently happy to get rid of +them; and, opening the door, he bowed them out of the office. + +The two departed sadly, and they walked on for some distance in silence. At +last Esther pressed his hand, and, in a choking voice, exclaimed, "Charlie, +my dear boy, I'd give my life if it would change your complexion--if it +would make you white! Poor fellow! your battle of life will be a hard one +to fight!" + +"I know it, Ess; but I shouldn't care to be white if I knew I would not +have a dear old Ess like you for a sister," he answered, pressing her hand +affectionately. "I don't intend to be conquered," he continued; "I'll fight +it out to the last--this won't discourage me. I'll keep on trying," said +he, determinedly--"if one won't, perhaps another will." + +For two or three days Charlie could hear of nothing that would be at all +suitable for him. At last, one morning he saw an advertisement for a youth +to learn the engraver's business--one who had some knowledge of drawing +preferred; to apply at Thomas Blatchford's, bank-note engraver. "Thomas +Blatchford," repeated Mr. Walters, as Charlie read it over--"why that is +_the_ Mr. Blatchford, the Abolitionist. I think you have some chance there +most decidedly--I would advise you to take those sketches of yours and +apply at once." + +Charlie ran upstairs, and selecting the best-executed of his drawings, put +them in a neat portfolio, and, without saying anything to Esther or his +mother, hastened away to Mr. Blatchford's. He was shown into a room where a +gentleman was sitting at a table examining some engraved plates. "Is this +Mr. Blatchford's?" asked Charlie. + +"That is my name, my little man--do you want to see me," he kindly +inquired. + +"Yes, sir. You advertised for a boy to learn the engraving business, I +believe." + +"Well; and what then?" + +"I have come to apply for the situation." + +"_You--you_ apply?" said he, in a tone of surprise. + +"Yes, sir," faltered Charlie; "Mr. Walters recommended me to do so." + +"Ah, you know Mr. Walters, then," he rejoined. + +"Yes, sir; he is a great friend of my father's--we are living with him at +present." + +"What have you in your portfolio, there?" enquired Mr. Blatchford. Charlie +spread before him the sketches he had made during the summer, and also some +ornamental designs suitable for the title-pages of books. "Why, these are +excellently well done," exclaimed he, after examining them attentively; +"who taught you?" + +Charlie hereupon briefly related his acquaintance with the artist, and his +efforts to obtain employment, and their results, besides many other +circumstances connected with himself and family. Mr. Blatchford became +deeply interested, and, at the end of a long conversation, delighted +Charlie by informing him that if he and his mother could agree as to terms +he should be glad to receive him as an apprentice. + +Charlie could scarcely believe the evidence of his own ears, and leaving +his portfolio on the table was hastening away. + +"Stop! stop!" cried Mr. Blatchford, with a smile; "you have not heard all I +wish to say. I would be much obliged to your mother if she would call at my +house this evening, and then we can settle the matter definitely." + +Charlie seemed to tread on air as he walked home. Flying up to Esther--his +usual confidant--be related to her the whole affair, and gave at great +length his conversation with Mr. Blatchford. + +"That looks something like," said she; "I am delighted with the prospect +that is opening to you. Let us go and tell mother,"--and, accordingly, off +they both started, to carry the agreeable intelligence to Mrs. Ellis. + +That, evening Charlie, his mother, and Mr. Walters went to the house of Mr. +Blatchford. They were most, kindly received, and all the arrangements made +for Charlie's apprenticeship. He was to remain one month on trial; and if, +at the end of that period, all parties were satisfied, he was to be +formally indentured. + +Charlie looked forward impatiently to the following Monday, on which day he +was to commence his apprenticeship. In the intervening time he held daily +conferences with Kinch, as he felt their intimacy would receive a slight +check after he entered upon his new pursuit. + +"Look here, old fellow," said Charlie; "it won't do for you to be lounging +on the door-steps of the office, nor be whistling for me under the windows. +Mr. Blatchford spoke particularly against my having playmates around in +work hours; evenings I shall always be at home, and then you can come and +see me as often as you like." + +Since his visit to Warmouth, Charlie had been much more particular +respecting his personal appearance, dressed neater, and was much more +careful of his clothes. He had also given up marbles, and tried to persuade +Kinch to do the same. + +"I'd cut marbles, Kinch," said he to him one evening, when they were +walking together, "if I were you; it makes one such a fright--covers one +with chalk-marks and dirt from head to foot. And another thing, Kinch; you +have an abundance of good clothes--do wear them, and try and look more like +a gentleman." + +"Dear me!" said Kinch, rolling up the white of his eyes--"just listen how +we are going on! Hadn't I better get an eye-glass and pair of light kid +gloves?" + +"Oh, Kinch!" said Charlie, gravely, "I'm not joking--I mean what I say. You +don't know how far rough looks and an untidy person go against one. I do +wish you would try and keep yourself decent." "Well, there then--I will," +answered Kinch. "But, Charlie, I'm afraid, with your travelling and one +thing or other, you will forget your old playmate by-and-by, and get above +him." + +Charlie's eyes moistened; and, with a boy's impulsiveness, he threw his arm +over Kinch's shoulder, and exclaimed with emphasis, "Never, old fellow, +never--not as long as my name is Charlie Ellis! You mustn't be hurt at what +I said, Kinch--I think more of these things than I used to--I see the +importance of them. I find that any one who wants to get on must be +particular in little things as well great, and I must try and be a man +now--for you know things don't glide on as smoothly with us as they used. I +often think of our fun in the old house--ah, perhaps we'll have good times +in another of our own yet!"--and with this Charlie and his friend separated +for the night. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +Clouds and Sunshine. + + +The important Monday at length arrived, and Charlie hastened to the office +of Mr. Blatchford, which he reached before the hour for commencing labour. +He found some dozen or more journeymen assembled in the work-room; and +noticed that upon his entrance there was an interchange of significant +glances, and once or twice he overheard the whisper of "nigger." + +Mr. Blatchford was engaged in discussing some business matter with a +gentleman, and did not observe the agitation that Charlie's entrance had +occasioned. The conversation having terminated, the gentleman took up the +morning paper, and Mr. Blatchford, noticing Charlie, said, "Ah! you have +come, and in good time, too. Wheeler," he continued, turning to one of the +workmen, "I want you to take this boy under your especial charge: give him +a seat at your window, and overlook his work." + +At this there was a general uprising of the workmen, who commenced throwing +off their caps and aprons. "What is all this for?" asked Mr. Blatchford in +astonishment--"why this commotion?" + +"We won't work with niggers!" cried one; "No nigger apprentices!" cried +another; and "No niggers--no niggers!" was echoed from all parts of the +room. + +"Silence!" cried Mr. Blatchford, stamping violently--"silence, every one of +you!" As soon as partial order was restored, he turned to Wheeler, and +demanded, "What is the occasion of all this tumult--what does it mean?" + +"Why, sir, it means just this: the men and boys discovered that you +intended to take a nigger apprentice, and have made up their minds if you +do they will quit in a body." + +"It cannot be possible," exclaimed the employer, "that any man or boy in my +establishment has room in his heart for such narrow contemptible +prejudices. Can it be that you have entered into a conspiracy to deprive an +inoffensive child of an opportunity of earning his bread in a respectable +manner? Come, let me persuade you--the boy is well-behaved and educated!" + +"Damn his behaviour and education!" responded a burly fellow; "let him be a +barber or shoe-black--that is all niggers are good for. If he comes, we +go--that's so, ain't it, boys?" + +There was a general response of approval to this appeal; and Mr. +Blatchford, seeing the utter uselessness of further parleying, left the +room, followed by Charlie and the gentleman with whom he had been +conversing. + +Mr. Blatchford was placed in a most disagreeable position by this revolt on +the part of his workmen; he had just received large orders from some new +banks which were commencing operations, and a general disruption of his +establishment at that moment would have ruined him. To accede to his +workmen's demands he must do violence to his own conscience; but he dared +not sacrifice his business and bring ruin on himself and family, even +though he was right. + +"What would you do, Burrell?" he asked of the gentleman who had followed +them out. + +"There is no question as to what you must do. You mustn't ruin yourself for +the sake of your principles. You will have to abandon the lad; the other +alternative is not to be thought of for a moment." + +"Well, Charles, you see how it is," said Mr. Blatchford, reluctantly. +Charlie had been standing intently regarding the conversation that +concerned him so deeply. His face was pale and his lips quivering with +agitation. + +"I'd like to keep you, my boy, but you see how I'm situated, I must either +give up you or my business; the latter I cannot afford to do." With a great +effort Charlie repressed his tears, and bidding them good morning in a +choking voice, hastened from the room. + +"It's an infernal shame!" said Mr. Blatchford, indignantly; "and I shall +think meanly of myself for ever for submitting to it; but I can't help +myself, and must make the best of it." + +Charlie walked downstairs with lingering steps, and took the direction of +home. "All because I'm coloured," said he, bitterly, to himself--"all +because I'm coloured! What will mother and Esther say? How it will distress +them--they've so built upon it! I wish," said he, sadly, "that I was dead!" +No longer able to repress the tears that were welling up, he walked towards +the window of a print-store, where he pretended to be deeply interested in +some pictures whilst he stealthily wiped his eyes. Every time he turned to +leave the window, there came a fresh flood of tears; and at last he was +obliged to give way entirely, and sobbed as if his heart would break. + +He was thus standing when he felt a hand laid familiarly on his shoulder, +and, on turning round, he beheld the gentleman he had left in Mr. +Blatchford's office. "Come, my little man," said he, "don't take it so much +to heart. Cheer up--you may find some other person willing to employ you. +Come, walk on with me--where do you live?" Charlie dried his eyes and gave +him his address as they walked on up the street together. + +Mr. Burrell talked encouragingly, and quite succeeded in soothing him ere +they separated. "I shall keep a look out for you," said he, kindly; "and if +I hear of anything likely to suit you, I shall let you know." + +Charlie thanked him and sauntered slowly home. When he arrived, and they +saw his agitated looks, and his eyes swollen from the effect of recent +tears, there was a general inquiry of "What has happened? Why are you home +so early; are you sick?" + +Charlie hereupon related all that had transpired at the office--his great +disappointment and the occasion of it--to the intense indignation and grief +of his mother and sisters. "I wish there were no white folks," said +Caddy, wrathfully; "they are all, I believe, a complete set of villains and +everything else that is bad." + +"Don't be so sweeping in your remarks, pray don't, Caddy," interposed +Esther; "you have just heard what Charlie said of Mr. Blatchford--his heart +is kindly disposed, at any rate; you see he is trammelled by others." + +"Oh! well, I don't like any of them--I hate them all!" she continued +bitterly, driving her needle at the same time into the cloth she was +sewing, as if it was a white person she had in her lap and she was sticking +pins in him. "Don't cry, Charlie," she added; "the old white wretches, they +shouldn't get a tear out of me for fifty trades!" But Charlie could not be +comforted; he buried his head in his mother's lap, and wept over his +disappointment until he made himself sick. + +That day, after Mr. Burrell had finished his dinner, he remarked to his +wife, "I saw something this morning, my dear, that made a deep impression +on me. I haven't been able to get it out of my head for any length of time +since; it touched me deeply, I assure you." + +"Why, what could it have been? Pray tell me what it was." + +Thereupon, he gave his wife a graphic account of the events that had +transpired at Blatchford's in the morning; and in conclusion, said, "Now, +you know, my dear, that no one would call _me_ an _Abolitionist_; and I +suppose I have some little prejudice, as well as others, against coloured +people; but I had no idea that sensible men would have carried it to that +extent, to set themselves up, as they did, in opposition to a little boy +anxious to earn his bread by learning a useful trade." + +Mrs. Burrell was a young woman of about twenty-two, with a round +good-natured face and plump comfortable-looking figure; she had a heart +overflowing with kindness, and was naturally much affected by what he +related. "I declare it's perfectly outrageous," exclaimed she, indignantly; +"and I wonder at Blatchford for submitting to it. I wouldn't allow myself +to be dictated to in that manner--and he such an Abolitionist too! Had I +been him, I should have stuck to my principles at any risk. Poor little +fellow! I so wonder at Blatchford; I really don't think he has acted +manly." + +"Not so fast, my little woman, if you please--that is the way with almost +all of you, you let your hearts run away with your heads. You are unjust to +Blatchford; he could not help himself, he was completely in their power. It +is almost impossible at present to procure workmen in our business, and he +is under contract to finish a large amount of work within a specified time; +and if he should fail to fulfil his agreement it would subject him to +immense loss--in fact, it would entirely ruin him. You are aware, my dear, +that I am thoroughly acquainted with the state of his affairs; he is +greatly in debt from unfortunate speculations, and a false step just now +would overset him completely; he could not have done otherwise than he has, +and do justice to himself and his family. I felt that he could not; and in +fact advised him to act as he did." + +"Now, George Burrell, you didn't," said she, reproachfully. + +"Yes I did, my dear, because I thought of his family; I really believe +though, had I encouraged him, he would have made the sacrifice." + +"And what became of the boy?" + +"Oh; poor lad, he seemed very much cut down by it--I was quite touched by +his grief. When I came out, I found him standing by a shop window crying +bitterly. I tried to pacify him, and told him I would endeavour to obtain a +situation for him somewhere--and I shall." + +"Has he parents?" asked Mrs. Burrell. + +"Yes; and, by the way, don't you remember whilst the mob was raging last +summer, we read an account of a man running to the roof of a house to +escape from the rioters? You remember they chopped his hands off and threw +him over?" + +"Oh, yes, dear, I recollect; don't--don't mention it," said she, with a +shudder of horror. "I remember it perfectly." + +"Well, this little fellow is his son," continued Mr. Burrell. + +"Indeed! and what has become of his father--did he die?" + +"No, he partially recovered, but is helpless, and almost an idiot. I never +saw a child, apparently so anxious to get work; he talked more like a man +with a family dependent upon him for support, than a youth. I tell you +what, I became quite interested in him; he was very communicative, and told +me all their circumstances; their house was destroyed by the mob, and they +are at present residing with a friend." + +Just then the cry of a child was heard in the adjoining room, and Mrs. +Burrell rushed precipitately away, and soon returned with a fat, +healthy-looking boy in her arms, which, after kissing, she placed in her +husband's lap. He was their first-born and only child, and, as a matter of +course, a great pet, and regarded by them as a most wonderful boy; in +consequence, papa sat quite still, and permitted him to pull the studs out +of his shirt, untie his cravat, rumple his hair, and take all those little +liberties to which babies are notoriously addicted. + +Mrs. Burrell sat down on a stool at her husband's feet, and gazed at him +and the child in silence for some time. + +"What's the matter, Jane; what has made you so grave?" + +"I was trying to imagine, Burrell, how I should feel if you, I, and baby +were coloured; I was trying to place myself in such a situation. Now we +know that our boy, if he is honest and upright--is blest with great talent +or genius--may aspire to any station in society that he wishes to obtain. +How different it would be if he were coloured!--there would be nothing +bright in the prospective for him. We could hardly promise him a living at +any respectable calling. I think, George, we treat coloured people with +great injustice, don't you?" + +Mr. Burrell hemmed and ha'd at this direct query, and answered, "Well, we +don't act exactly right toward them, I must confess." + +Mrs. Burrell rose, and took the vacant knee of her husband, and toying with +the baby, said, "Now, George Burrell, I want to ask a favour of you. Why +can't _you_ take this boy ?" "I take him! why, my dear, I don't want an +apprentice." + +"Yes, but you must _make_ a want. You said he was a bright boy, and +sketched well. Why, I should think that he's just what you ought to have. +There is no one at your office that would oppose it. Cummings and Dalton +were with your father before you, they would never object to anything +reasonable that you proposed. Come, dear! do now make the trial--won't +you?" + +Mr. Burrell was a tender-hearted, yielding sort of an individual; and what +was more, his wife was fully aware of it; and like a young witch as she +was, she put on her sweetest looks, and begged so imploringly, that he was +almost conquered. But when she took up the baby, and made him put his +chubby arms round his father's neck, and say "pese pop-pop," he was +completely vanquished, and surrendered at discretion. + +"I'll see what can be done," said he, at last. + +"And will you do it afterwards?" she asked, archly. + +"Yes, I will, dear, I assure you," he rejoined. + +"Then I know it will be done," said she, confidently; "and none of us will +be the worse off for it, I am sure." + +After leaving home, Mr. Burrell went immediately to the office of Mr. +Blatchford; and after having procured Charlie's portfolio, he started in +the direction of his own establishment. He did not by any means carry on so +extensive a business as Mr. Blatchford, and employed only two elderly men +as journeymen. After he had sat down to work, one of them remarked, "Tucker +has been here, and wants some rough cuts executed for a new book. I told +him I did not think you would engage to do them; that you had given up that +description of work." + +"I think we lose a great deal, Cummings, by being obliged to give up those +jobs," rejoined Mr. Burrell. + +"Why don't you take an apprentice then," he suggested; "it's just the kind +of work for them to learn upon." + +"Well I've been thinking of that," replied he, rising and producing the +drawings from Charlie's portfolio. "Look here," said he, "what do you +think of these as the work of a lad of twelve or fourteen, who has never +had more than half a dozen lessons?" + +"I should say they were remarkably well done," responded Cummings. +"Shouldn't you say so, Dalton?" The party addressed took the sketches, and +examined them thoroughly, and gave an approving opinion of their merits. + +"Well," said Mr. Burrell, "the boy that executed those is in want of a +situation, and I should like to take him; but I thought I would consult you +both about it first. I met with him under very singular circumstances, and +I'll tell you all about it." And forthwith he repeated to them the +occurrences of the morning, dwelling upon the most affecting parts, and +concluding by putting the question to them direct, as to whether they had +any objections to his taking him. + +"Why no, none in the world," readily answered Cummings. "Laws me! colour is +nothing after all; and black fingers can handle a graver as well as white +ones, I expect." + +"I thought it best to ask you, to avoid any after difficulty. You have both +been in the establishment so long, that I felt that you ought to be +consulted." + +"You needn't have taken that trouble," said Dalton. "You might have known +that anything done by your father's son, would be satisfactory to us. I +never had anything to do with coloured people, and haven't anything against +them; and as long as you are contented I am." + +"Well, we all have our little prejudices against various things; and as I +did not know how you both would feel, I thought I wouldn't take any decided +steps without consulting you; but now I shall consider it settled, and will +let the lad know that I will take him." + +In the evening, he hastened home at an earlier hour than usual, and +delighted his wife by saying--"I have succeeded to a charm, my dear--there +wasn't the very slightest objection. I'm going to take the boy, if he +wishes to come." "Oh, I'm delighted," cried she, clapping her hands. "Cry +hurrah for papa!" said she to the baby; "cry hurrah for papa!" + +The scion of the house of Burrell gave vent to some scarcely intelligible +sounds, that resembled "Hoo-rogler pop-pop!" which his mother averred was +astonishingly plain, and deserving of a kiss; and, snatching him up, she +gave him two or three hearty ones, and then planted him in his father's lap +again." + +"My dear," said her husband, "I thought, as you proposed my taking this +youth, you might like to have the pleasure of acquainting him with his good +fortune. After tea, if you are disposed, we will go down there; the walk +will do you good." + +"Oh, George Burrell," said she, her face radiant with pleasure, "you are +certainly trying to outdo yourself. I have been languishing all day for a +walk! What a charming husband you are! I really ought to do something for +you. Ah, I know what--I'll indulge you; you may smoke all the way there and +back. I'll even go so far as to light the cigars for you myself." + +"That is a boon," rejoined her husband with a smile; "really 'virtue +rewarded,' I declare." + +Tea over, the baby kissed and put to bed, Mrs. Burrell tied on the most +bewitching of bonnets, and donning her new fur-trimmed cloak, declared +herself ready for the walk; and off they started. Mr. Burrell puffed away +luxuriously as they walked along, stopping now and then at her command, to +look into such shop-windows as contained articles adapted to the use of +infants, from india-rubber rings and ivory rattles, to baby coats and +shoes. + +At length they arrived at the door of Mr. Walters, and on, looking up at +the house, he exclaimed, "This is 257, but it can't be the place; surely +coloured people don't live in as fine an establishment as this." Then, +running up the steps, he examined the plate upon the door. "The name +corresponds with the address given me," said he; "I'll ring. Is there a +lad living here by the name of Charles Ellis?" he asked of the servant who +opened the door. + +"Yes, sir," was the reply. "Will you walk in?" + +When they were ushered into the drawing-room, Mr. Burrell said,--"Be kind +enough to say that a gentleman wishes to see him." + +The girl departed, closing the door behind her, leaving them staring about +the room. "How elegantly it is furnished!" said she. "I hadn't an idea that +there were any coloured people living in such style." + +"Some of them are very rich," remarked her husband. + +"But you said this boy was poor." + +"So he is. I understand they are staying with the owner of this house." + +Whilst they were thus conversing the door opened, and Esther entered. "I am +sorry," said she, "that my brother has retired. He has a very severe +head-ache, and was unable to remain up longer. His mother is out: I am his +sister, and shall be most happy to receive any communication for him." + +"I regret to hear of his indisposition," replied Mr. Burrell; "I hope it is +not consequent upon his disappointment this morning?" + +"I fear it is. Poor fellow! he took it very much to heart. It was a +disappointment to us all. We were congratulating ourselves on having +secured him an eligible situation." + +"I assure you the disappointment is not all on one side; he is a very +promising boy, and the loss of his prospective services annoying. Nothing +but stern necessity caused the result." + +"Oh, we entirely acquit you, Mr. Blatchford, of all blame in the matter. We +are confident that what happened was not occasioned by any indisposition on +your part to fulfil your agreement." + +"My dear," interrupted Mrs. Burrell, "she thinks you are Mr. Blatchford." + +"And are you not?" asked Esther, with some surprise. + +"Oh, no; I'm an intimate friend of his, and was present this morning when +the affair happened." "Oh, indeed," responded Esther. + +"Yes; and he came home and related it all to me,--the whole affair," +interrupted Mrs. Burrell. "I was dreadfully provoked; I assure you, I +sympathized with him very much. I became deeply interested in the whole +affair; I was looking at my little boy,--for I have a little boy," said +she, with matronly dignity,--"and I thought, suppose it was my little boy +being treated so, how should I like it? So bringing the matter home to +myself in that way made me feel all the more strongly about it; and I just +told George Burrell he must take him, as he is an engraver; and I and the +baby gave him no rest until he consented to do so. He will take him on the +same terms offered by Mr. Blatchford; and then we came down to tell you; +and--and," said she, quite out of breath, "that is all about it." + +Esther took the little woman's plump hand in both her own, and, for a +moment, seemed incapable of even thanking her. At last she said, in a husky +voice, "You can't think what a relief this is to us. My brother has taken +his disappointment so much to heart--I can't tell you how much I thank you. +God will reward you for your sympathy and kindness. You must excuse me," +she continued, as her voice faltered; "we have latterly been so +unaccustomed to receive such sympathy and kindness from persons of your +complexion, that this has quite overcome me." + +"Oh, now, don't! I'm sure it's no more than our duty, and I'm as much +pleased as you can possibly be--it has given me heartfelt gratification, I +assure you." + +Esther repeated her thanks, and followed them to the door, where she shook +hands with Mrs. Burrell, who gave her a pressing invitation to come and see +her baby. + +"How easy it is, George Burrell," said the happy little woman, "to make the +hearts of others as light as our own-mine feels like a feather," she added, +as she skipped along, clinging to his arm. "What a nice, lady-like girl his +sister is--is her brother as handsome as she ?" + +"Not quite," he answered; "still, he is very good-looking, I'll bring him +home with me to-morrow at dinner, and then you can see him." + +Chatting merrily, they soon arrived at home. Mrs. Burrell ran straightway +upstairs to look at that "blessed baby;" she found him sleeping soundly, +and looking as comfortable and happy as it is possible for a sleeping baby +to look--so she bestowed upon him a perfect avalanche of kisses, and +retired to her own peaceful pillow. + +And now, having thus satisfactorily arranged for our young friend Charlie, +we will leave him for a few years engaged in his new pursuits. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +Many Years After. + + +Old Father Time is a stealthy worker. In youth we are scarcely able to +appreciate his efforts, and oftentimes think him an exceedingly slow and +limping old fellow. When we ripen into maturity, and are fighting our own +way through the battle of life, we deem him swift enough of foot, and +sometimes rather hurried; but when old age comes on, and death and the +grave are foretold by trembling limbs and snowy locks, we wonder that our +course has been so swiftly run, and chide old Time for a somewhat hasty and +precipitate individual. + +The reader must imagine that many years have passed away since the events +narrated in the preceding chapters transpired, and permit us to +re-introduce the characters formerly presented, without any attempt to +describe how that long period has been occupied. + +First of all, let us resume our acquaintance with Mr. Stevens. To effect +this, we must pay that gentleman a visit at his luxurious mansion in Fifth +Avenue, the most fashionable street of New York--the place where the upper +ten thousand of that vast, bustling city most do congregate. As he is an +old acquaintance (we won't say friend), we will disregard ceremony, and +walk boldly into the library where that gentleman is sitting. + +He is changed--yes, sadly changed. Time has been hard at work with him, +and, dissatisfied with what his unaided agency could produce, has called in +conscience to his aid, and their united efforts have left their marks upon +him. He looks old--aye, very old. The bald spot on his head has extended +its limits until there is only a fringe of thin white hair above the ears. +There are deep wrinkles upon his forehead; and the eyes, half obscured by +the bushy grey eyebrows, are bloodshot and sunken; the jaws hollow and +spectral, and his lower lip drooping and flaccid. He lifts his hand to pour +out another glass of liquor from the decanter at his side, when his +daughter lays her hand upon it, and looks appealingly in his face. + +She has grown to be a tall, elegant woman, slightly thin, and with a +careworn and fatigued expression of countenance. There is, however, the +same sweetness in her clear blue eyes, and as she moves her head, her fair +flaxen curls float about her face as dreamily and deliciously as ever they +did of yore. She is still in black, wearing mourning for her mother, who +not many months before had been laid in a quiet nook on the estate at +Savanah. + +"Pray, papa, don't drink any more," said she, persuasively--"it makes you +nervous, and will bring on one of those frightful attacks again." + +"Let me alone," he remonstrated harshly--"let me alone, and take your hand +off the glass; the doctor has forbidden laudanum, so I will have brandy +instead--take off your hand and let me drink, I say." + +Lizzie still kept her hand upon the decanter, and continued gently: "No, +no, dear pa--you promised me you would only drink two glasses, and you have +already taken three--it is exceedingly injurious. The doctor insisted upon +it that you should decrease the quantity--and you are adding to it +instead." + +"Devil take the doctor!" exclaimed he roughly, endeavouring to disengage +her hold--"give me the liquor, I say." + +His daughter did not appear the least alarmed at this violence of manner, +nor suffer her grasp upon the neck of the decanter to be relaxed; but all +the while spoke soothing words to the angry old man, and endeavoured to +persuade him to relinquish his intention of drinking any more. + +"You don't respect your old father," he cried, in a whining tone--"you +take advantage of my helplessness, all of you--you ill-treat me and deny me +the very comforts of life! I'll tell--I'll tell the doctor," he continued, +as his voice subsided into an almost inaudible tone, and he sank back into +the chair in a state of semi-stupor. + +Removing the liquor from his reach, his daughter rang the bell, and then +walked towards the door of the room. + +"Who procured that liquor for my father?" she asked of the servant who +entered. + +"I did, miss," answered the man, hesitatingly. + +"Let this be the last time you do such a thing," she rejoined, eyeing him +sternly, "unless you wish to be discharged. I thought you all fully +understood that on no consideration was my father to have liquor, unless by +the physician's or my order--it aggravates his disease and neutralizes all +the doctor's efforts--and, unless you wish to be immediately discharged, +never repeat the same offence. Now, procure some assistance--it is time my +father was prepared for bed." + +The man bowed and left the apartment; but soon returned, saying there was a +person in the hall who had forced his way into the house, and who +positively refused to stir until he saw Mr. Stevens. + +"He has been here two or three times," added the man, "and he is very rough +and impudent." + +"This is most singular conduct," exclaimed Miss Stevens. "Did he give his +name?" + +"Yes, miss; he calls himself McCloskey." + +At the utterance of this well-known name, Mr. Stevens raised his head, and +stared at the speaker with a look of stupid fright, and inquired, "Who +here--what name is that?--speak louder--what name?" + +"McCloskey," answered the man, in a louder tone. + +"What! he--_he_!" cried Mr. Stevens, with a terrified look. "Where--where +is he?" he continued, endeavouring to rise--"where is he?" + +"Stop, pa," interposed his daughter, alarmed at his appearance and manner. +"Do stop--let me go," "No--no!" said the old man wildly, seizing her by +the dress to detain her--"_you_ must not go--that would never do! He might +tell her," he muttered to himself--"No, no--I'll go!"--and thus speaking, +he made another ineffectual attempt to reach the door. + +"Dear father! do let me go!" she repeated, imploringly. "You are incapable +of seeing any one--let me inquire what he wants!" she added, endeavouring +to loose his hold upon her dress. + +"No--you shall not!" he replied, clutching her dress still tighter, and +endeavouring to draw her towards him. + +"Oh, father!" she asked distractedly, "what can this mean? Here," said she, +addressing the servant, who stood gazing in silent wonder on this singular +scene, "help my father into his chair again, and then tell this strange man +to wait awhile." + +The exhausted man, having been placed in his chair, motioned to his +daughter to close the door behind the servant, who had just retired. + +"He wants money," said he, in a whisper--"he wants money! He'll make +beggars of us all--and yet I'll have to give him some. Quick! give me my +cheque-book--let me give him something before he has a chance to talk to +any one--quick! quick!" + +The distracted girl wrung her hands with grief at what she imagined was a +return of her father's malady, and exclaimed, "Oh! if George only would +remain at home--it is too much for me to have the care of father whilst he +is in such a state." Then pretending to be in search of the cheque-book, +she turned over the pamphlets and papers upon his desk, that she might gain +time, and think how it was best to proceed. + +Whilst she was thus hesitating, the door of the room was suddenly opened, +and a shabbily dressed man, bearing a strong odour of rum about him, forced +his way into the apartment, saying, "I will see him. D----n it, I don't +care haporth how sick he is--let me go, or by the powers I'll murther some +of yes." The old man's face was almost blanched with terror when he heard +the voice and saw the abrupt entry of the intruder. He sprang from the +chair with a great effort, and then, unable to sustain himself, sunk +fainting on the floor. + +"Oh, you have killed my father--you have killed my father! Who are you, and +what do you want, that you dare thrust yourself upon him in this manner?" +said she, stooping to assist in raising him; "cannot you see he is entirely +unfit for any business?" + +Mr. Stevens was replaced in his chair, and water thrown in his face to +facilitate his recovery. + +Meanwhile, McCloskey had poured himself out a glass of brandy and water, +which he stood sipping as coolly as if everything in the apartment was in a +state of the most perfect composure. The singular terror of her father, and +the boldness and assurance of the intruder, were to Miss Stevens something +inexplicable--she stood looking from one to the other, as though seeking an +explanation, and on observing symptoms of a return to consciousness on the +part of her parent, she turned to McCloskey, and said, appealingly: "You +see how your presence has agitated my father. Pray let me conjure you--go. +Be your errand what it may, I promise you it shall have the earliest +attention. Or," said she, "tell me what it is; perhaps I can see to it--I +attend a great deal to father's business. Pray tell me!" + +"No, no!" exclaimed the old man, who had caught the last few words of his +daughter. "No, no--not a syllable! Here, I'm well--I'm well enough. I'll +attend to you. There, there--that will do," he continued, addressing the +servant; "leave the room. And you," he added, turning to his daughter, "do +you go too. I am much better now, and can talk to him. Go! go!" he cried, +impatiently, as he saw evidences of a disposition to linger, on her part; +"if I want you I'll ring. Go!--this person won't stay long." + +"Not if I get what I came for, miss," said McCloskey, insolently; +"otherwise, there is no knowing how long I may stay." With a look of +apprehension, Lizzie quitted the room, and the murderer and his accomplice +were alone together. + +Mr. Stevens reached across the table, drew the liquor towards him, and +recklessly pouring out a large quantity, drained the glass to the +bottom--this seemed to nerve him up and give him courage, for he turned to +McCloskey and said, with a much bolder air than he had yet shown in +addressing him, "So, you're back again, villain! are you? I thought and +hoped you were dead;" and he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes +as if to shut out some horrid spectre. + +"I've been divilish near it, squire, but Providence has preserved me, ye +see--jist to be a comfort to ye in yer old age. I've been shipwrecked, +blown up in steamboats, and I've had favers and choleray and the divil +alone knows what--but I've been marcifully presarved to ye, and hope ye'll +see a good dale of me this many years to come." + +Mr. Stevens glared at him fiercely for a few seconds, and then rejoined, +"You promised me solemnly, five years ago, that you would never trouble me +again, and I gave you money enough to have kept you in comfort--ay, +luxury--for the remainder of your life. Where is it all now?" + +"That's more than I can tell you, squire. I only know how it comes. I don't +trouble myself how it goes--that's your look out. If ye are anxious on that +score you'd better hire a bookkeeper for me--he shall send yer honour a +quarterly account, and then it won't come on ye so sudden when it's all out +another time." + +"Insolent!" muttered Mr. Stevens. + +McCloskey gave Mr. Stevens an impudent look, but beyond that took no +farther notice of his remark, but proceeded with the utmost coolness to +pour out another glass of brandy--after which he drew his chair closer to +the grate, and placed his dirty feet upon the mantelpiece in close +proximity to an alabaster clock. + +"You make yourself very much at home," said Stevens, indignantly. + +"Why shouldn't I?" answered his tormentor, in a tone of the most perfect +good humour. "Why shouldn't I--in the house of an ould acquaintance and +particular friend--just the place to feel at home, eh, Stevens?" then +folding his arms and tilting back his chair, he asked, coolly: "You haven't +a cigar, have ye?" + +"No," replied Stevens, surlily; "and if I had, you should not have it. Your +insolence is unbearable; you appear," continued he, with some show of +dignity, "to have forgotten who I am, and who you are." + +"Ye're mistaken there, squire. Divil a bit have I. I'm McCloskey, and you +are Slippery George--an animal that's known over the 'varsal world as a +Philadelphia lawyer--a man that's chated his hundreds, and if he lives long +enough, he'll chate as many more, savin' his friend Mr. McCloskey, and him +he'll not be afther chating, because he won't be able to get a chance, +although he'd like to if he could--divil a doubt of that." + +"It's false--I never tried to cheat you," rejoined Stevens, courageously, +for the liquor was beginning to have a very inspiriting effect. "It's a +lie--I paid you all I agreed upon, and more besides; but you are like a +leech--never satisfied. You have had from me altogether nearly twenty +thousand dollars, and you'll not get much more--now, mind I tell you." + +"The divil I won't," rejoined he, angrily; "that is yet to be seen. How +would you like to make yer appearance at court some fine morning, on the +charge of murther, eh?" Mr. Stevens gave a perceptible shudder, and looked +round, whereupon McCloskey said, with a malevolent grin, "Ye see I don't +stick at words, squire; I call things by their names." + +"So I perceive," answered Stevens. "You were not so bold once." + +"Ha, ha!" laughed McCloskey. "I know _that_ as well as you--then _I_ was +under the thumb--that was before we were sailing in the one boat; now ye +see, squire, the boot is on the other leg." Mr. Stevens remained quiet +for a few moments, whilst his ragged visitor continued to leisurely sip his +brandy and contemplate the soles of his boots as they were reflected in the +mirror above--they were a sorry pair of boots, and looked as if there would +soon be a general outbreak of his toes--so thin and dilapidated did the +soles appear. + +"Look at thim boots, and me suit ginerally, and see if your conscience +won't accuse ye of ingratitude to the man who made yer fortune--or rather +lets ye keep it, now ye have it. Isn't it a shame now for me, the best +friend you've got in the world, to be tramping the streets widdout a penny +in his pocket, and ye livin' in clover, with gold pieces as plenty as +blackberries. It don't look right, squire, and mustn't go on any longer." + +"What do you want--whatever will satisfy you?" asked Stevens. "If I give +you ever so much now, what guarantee have I that you'll not return in a +month or so, and want as much more?" + +"I'll pledge ye me honour," said McCloskey, grandly. + +"Your honour!" rejoined Stevens, "that is no security." + +"Security or no security," said McCloskey, impatiently, "you'll have to +give me the money--it's not a bit of use now this disputin, bekase ye see +I'm bound to have it, and ye are wise enough to know ye'd better give it to +me. What if ye have give me thousands upon thousands," continued he, his +former good-humoured expression entirely vanishing; "it's nothing more than +you ought to do for keeping yer secrets for ye--and as long as ye have +money, ye may expect to share it with me: so make me out a good heavy +cheque, and say no more about it." + +"What do you call a heavy cheque?" asked Stevens, in a despairing tone. + +"Five or six thousand," coolly answered his visitor. + +"Five or six thousand!" echoed Mr. Stevens, "it is impossible." + +"It had better not be," said McCloskey, looking angry; "it had better not +be--I'm determined not to be leading a beggar's life, and you to be a +rolling in wealth." + +"I can't give it, and won't give it--if it must come to that," answered +Stevens, desperately. "It is you that have the fortune--I am only your +banker at this rate. I can't give it to you--I haven't got that much +money." + +"You must find it then, and pretty quick at that," said McCloskey. "I'm not +to be fooled with--I came here for money, and I must and will have it." + +"I am willing to do what is reasonable," rejoined Mr. Stevens, in a more +subdued tone. "You talk of thousands as most men do of hundreds. I really +haven't got it." + +"Oh, bother such stuff as that," interrupted McCloskey, incredulously. "I +don't believe a word of it--I've asked them that know, and every one says +you've made a mint of money by speculation--that since ye sold out in the +South and came here to live, there's no end to the money ye've made; so you +see it don't do to be making a poor mouth to me. I've come here for a check +for five thousand dollars, and shan't go away without it," concluded he, in +a loud and threatening tone. + +During this conversation, Lizzie Stevens had been standing at the door, +momentarily expecting a recall to the apartment. She heard the low rumble +of their voices, but could not distinguish words. At length, hearing +McCloskey's raised to a higher key, she could no longer restrain her +impatience, and gently opening the door, looked into the room. Both their +faces were turned in the opposite direction, so that neither noticed the +gentle intrusion of Lizzie, who, fearing to leave her father longer alone, +ventured into the apartment. + +"You need not stand looking at me in that threatening manner. You may do as +you please--go tell what you like; but remember, when I fall, so do you; I +have not forgotten that affair in Philadelphia from which I saved +you--don't place me in a situation that will compel me to recur to it to +your disadvantage." "Ah, don't trouble yerself about that, squire; I +don't--that is entirely off my mind; for now Whitticar is dead, where is +yer witnesses?" + +"Whitticar dead!" repeated Stevens. + +"Yes; and what's more, he's buried--so he's safe enough, squire; and I +shouldn't be at all surprised if you'd be glad to have me gone too." + +"I would to God you had been, before I put myself in your power." + +"'Twas your own hastiness. When it came to the pinch, I wasn't equal to the +job, so ye couldn't wait for another time, but out with yer pistol, and +does it yerself." The wretched man shuddered and covered his face, as +McCloskey coolly recounted his murder of Mr. Garie, every word of which was +too true to be denied. + +"And haven't I suffered," said he, shaking his bald head mournfully; +"haven't I suffered--look at my grey hairs and half-palsied frame, decrepit +before I'm old--sinking into the tomb with a weight of guilt and sin upon +me that will crush me down to the lowest depth of hell. Think you," he +continued, "that because I am surrounded with all that money can buy, that +I am happy, or ever shall be, with this secret gnawing at my heart; every +piece of gold I count out, I see his hands outstretched over it, and hear +him whisper 'Mine!' He gives me no peace night or day; he is always by me; +I have no rest. And you must come, adding to my torture, and striving to +tear from me that for which I bartered conscience, peace, soul, everything +that would make life desirable. If there is mercy in you, leave me with +what I give you, and come back no more. Life has so little to offer, that +rather than bear this continued torment and apprehension I daily suffer, I +will cut my throat, and then _your_ game is over." + +Lizzie Stevens stood rooted to the spot whilst her father made the +confession that was wrung from him by the agony of the moment. + +"Well, well!" said McCloskey, somewhat startled and alarmed at Stevens's +threat of self-destruction--"well, I'll come down a thousand--make it +four." + +"That I'll do," answered the old man, tremblingly; and reaching over, he +drew towards him the cheque-book. After writing the order for the sum, he +was placing it in the hand of McCloskey, when, hearing a faint moan, he +looked towards the door, and saw his daughter fall fainting to the ground. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +The Thorn rankles. + + +We left the quiet town of Sudbury snow-clad and sparkling in all the glory +of a frosty moonlight night; we now return to it, and discover it decked +out in its bravest summer garniture. A short distance above the hill upon +which it is built, the water of the river that glides along its base may be +seen springing over the low dam that obstructs its passage, sparkling, +glistening, dancing in the sunlight, as it falls splashing on the stones +below; and then, as though subdued by the fall and crash, it comes +murmuring on, stopping now and then to whirl and eddy round some rock or +protruding stump, and at last glides gently under the arch of the bridge, +seemingly to pause beneath its shadow and ponder upon its recent tumble +from the heights above. Seated here and there upon the bridge are groups of +boys, rod in hand, endeavouring, with the most delicious-looking and +persuasive of baits, to inveigle finny innocents from the cool depths +below. + +The windows of the mills are all thrown open, and now and then the voices +of some operatives, singing at their work, steal forth in company with the +whir and hum of the spindles, and mingle with the splash of the waterfall; +and the united voices of nature, industry, and man, harmonize their +swelling tones, or go floating upward on the soft July air. The houses upon +the hill-side seem to be endeavouring to extricate themselves from bowers +of full-leafed trees; and with their white fronts, relieved by the light +green blinds, look cool and inviting in the distance. High above them all, +as though looking down in pride upon the rest, stands the Academy, ennobled +in the course of years by the addition of extensive wings and a row of +stately pillars. On the whole, the town looked charmingly peaceful and +attractive, and appeared just the quiet nook that a weary worker in cities +would select as a place of retirement after a busy round of toils or +pleasure. + +There were little knots of idlers gathered about the railroad station, as +there always is in quiet towns--not that they expect any one; but that the +arrival and departure of the train is one of the events of the day, and +those who have nothing else particular to accomplish feel constrained to be +on hand to witness it. Every now and then one of them would look down the +line and wonder why the cars were not in sight. + +Amongst those seemingly the most impatient was Miss Ada Bell, who looked +but little older than when she won the heart of the orphan Clarence, years +before, by that kind kiss upon his childish brow. It was hers still--she +bound it to her by long years of affectionate care, almost equalling in its +sacrificing tenderness that which a mother would have bestowed upon her +only child. Clarence, her adopted son, had written to her, that he was +wretched, heart-sore, and ill, and longed to come to her, his almost +mother, for sympathy, advice, and comfort: so she, with yearning heart, was +there to meet him. + +At last the faint scream of the steam-whistle was heard, and soon the +lumbering locomotive came puffing and snorting on its iron path, dashing on +as though it could never stop, and making the surrounding hills echo with +the unearthly scream of its startling whistle, and arousing to desperation +every dog in the quiet little town. At last it stopped, and stood giving +short and impatient snorts and hisses, whilst the passengers were +alighting. + +Clarence stepped languidly out, and was soon in the embrace of Miss Ada. + +"My dear boy, how thin and pale you look!" she exclaimed; "come, get into +the carriage; never mind your baggage, George will look after that; your +hands are hot--very hot, you must be feverish." + +"Yes, Aunt Ada," for so he had insisted on his calling her "I am ill--sick +in heart, mind, and everything. Cut up the horses," said he, with slight +impatience of manner; "let us get home quickly. When I get in the old +parlour, and let you bathe my head as you used to, I am sure I shall feel +better. I am almost exhausted from fatigue and heat." + +"Very well then, dear, don't talk now," she replied, not in the least +noticing his impatience of manner; "when you are rested, and have had your +tea, will be time enough." + +They were soon in the old house, and Clarence looked round with a smile of +pleasure on the room where he had spent so many happy hours. Good Aunt Ada +would not let him talk, but compelled him to remain quiet until he had +rested himself, and eaten his evening meal. + +He had altered considerably in the lapse of years, there was but little +left to remind one of the slight, melancholy-looking boy, that once stood a +heavy-hearted little stranger in the same room, in days gone by. His face +was without a particle of red to relieve its uniform paleness; his eyes, +large, dark, and languishing, were half hidden by unusually long lashes; +his forehead broad, and surmounted with clustering raven hair; a glossy +moustache covered his lip, and softened down its fulness; on the whole, he +was strikingly handsome, and none would pass him without a second look. + +Tea over, Miss Ada insisted that he should lie down upon the sofa again, +whilst she, sat by and bathed his head. "Have you seen your sister lately?" +she asked. + +"No, Aunt Ada," he answered, hesitatingly, whilst a look of annoyance +darkened his face for a moment; "I have not been to visit her since last +fall--almost a year." + +"Oh! Clarence, how can you remain so long away?" said she, reproachfully. + +"Well, I can't go there with any comfort or pleasure," he answered, +apologetically; "I can't go there; each year as I visit the place, their +ways seem more strange and irksome to me. Whilst enjoying her company, I +must of course come in familiar contact with those by whom she is +surrounded. Sustaining the position that I do--passing as I am for a white +man--I am obliged to be very circumspect, and have often been compelled to +give her pain by avoiding many of her dearest friends when I have +encountered them in public places, because of their complexion. I feel mean +and cowardly whilst I'm doing it; but it is necessary--I can't be white and +coloured at the same time; the two don't mingle, and I must consequently be +one or the other. My education, habits, and ideas, all unfit me for +associating with the latter; and I live in constant dread that something +may occur to bring me out with the former. I don't avoid coloured people, +because I esteem them my inferiors in refinement, education, or +intelligence; but because they are subjected to degradations that I shall +be compelled to share by too freely associating with them." + +"It is a pity," continued he, with a sigh, "that I was not suffered to grow +up with them, then I should have learnt to bear their burthens, and in the +course of time might have walked over my path of life, bearing the load +almost unconsciously. Now it would crush me, I know. It was a great mistake +to place me in my present false position," concluded he, bitterly; "it has +cursed me. Only a day ago I had a letter from Em, reproaching me for my +coldness; yet, God help me! What am I to do!" + +Miss Ada looked at him sorrowfully, and continued smoothing down his hair, +and inundating his temples with Cologne; at last she ventured to inquire, +"How do matters progress with you and Miss Bates? Clary, you have lost your +heart there!" + +"Too true," he replied, hurriedly; "and what is more--little Birdie (I call +her little Birdie) has lost hers too. Aunt Ada, we are engaged!" + +"With her parents' consent?" she asked. + +"Yes, with her parents' consent; we are to be married in the coming +winter." + +"Then they know _all_, of course--they know you are coloured?" observed +she. + +"They know all!" cried he, starting up. "_Who_ said they did--_who_ told +them?--tell me that, I say! Who has _dared_ to tell them I am a coloured +man?" + +"Hush, Clarence, hush!" replied she, attempting to soothe him. "I do not +know that any one has informed them; I only inferred so from your saying +you were engaged. I thought _you_ had informed them yourself. Don't you +remember you wrote that you should?--and I took it for granted that you +had." + +"Oh! yes, yes; so I did! I fully intended to, but found myself too great a +coward. _I dare not_--I cannot risk losing her. I am fearful that if she +knew it she would throw me off for ever." + +"Perhaps not, Clarence--if she loves you as she should; and even if she +did, would it not be better that she should know it now, than have it +discovered afterwards, and you both be rendered miserable for life." + +"No, no, Aunt Ada--I cannot tell her! It must remain a secret until after +our marriage; then, if they find it out, it will be to their interest to +smooth the matter over, and keep quiet about it." + +"Clary, Clary--that is _not_ honourable!" + +"I know it--but how can I help it? Once or twice I thought of telling her, +but my heart always failed me at the critical moment. It would kill me to +lose her. Oh! I love her, Aunt Ada," said he, passionately--"love her with +all the energy and strength of my father's race, and all the doating +tenderness of my mother's. I could have told her long ago, before my love +had grown to its present towering strength, but craft set a seal upon my +lips, and bid me be silent until her heart was fully mine, and then nothing +could part us; yet now even, when sure of her affections, the dread that +her love would not stand the test, compels me to shrink more than ever from +the disclosure." + +"But, Clarence, you are not acting generously; I know your conscience does +not approve your actions." + +"Don't I know that?" he answered, almost fiercely; "yet I dare not tell--I +must shut this secret in my bosom, where it gnaws, gnaws, gnaws, until it +has almost eaten my heart away. Oh, I've thought of that, time and again; +it has kept me awake night after night, it haunts me at all hours; it is +breaking down my health and strength--wearing my very life out of me; no +escaped galley-slave ever felt more than I do, or lived in more constant +fear of detection: and yet I must nourish this tormenting secret, and keep +it growing in my breast until it has crowded out every honourable and manly +feeling; and then, perhaps, after all my sufferings and sacrifice of +candour and truth, out it will come at last, when I least expect or think +of it." + +Aunt Ada could not help weeping, and exclaimed, commiseratingly, "My poor, +poor boy," as he strode up and down the room. + +"The whole family, except her, seem to have the deepest contempt for +coloured people; they are constantly making them a subject of bitter jests; +they appear to have no more feeling or regard for them than if they were +brutes--and I," continued he, "I, miserable, contemptible, false-hearted +knave, as I am, I--I--yes, I join them in their heartless jests, and wonder +all the while my mother does not rise from her grave and _curse_ me as I +speak!" + +"Oh! Clarence, Clarence, my dear child!" cried the terrified Aunt Ada, "you +talk deliriously; you have brooded over this until it has almost made you +crazy. Come here--sit down." And seizing him by the arm, she drew him on +the sofa beside her, and began to bathe his hot head with the Cologne +again. + +"Let me walk, Aunt Ada," said he after a few moments,--"let me walk, I feel +better whilst I am moving; I can't bear to be quiet." And forthwith he +commenced striding up and down the room again with nervous and hurried +steps. After a few moments he burst out again---- + +"It seems as if fresh annoyances and complications beset me every day. Em +writes me that she is engaged. I was in hopes, that, after I had married, I +could persuade her to come and live with me, and so gradually break off her +connection with, coloured people; but that hope is extinguished now: she +is engaged to a coloured man." + +Aunt Ada could see no remedy for this new difficulty, and could only say, +"Indeed!" + +"I thought something of the kind would occur when I was last at home, and +spoke to her on the subject, but she evaded giving me any definite answer; +I think she was afraid to tell me--she has written, asking my consent." + +"And will you give it?" asked Aunt Ada. + +"It will matter but little if I don't; Em has a will of her own, and I have +no means of coercing her; besides, I have no reasonable objection to urge: +it would be folly in me to oppose it, simply because he is a coloured +man--for, what am I myself? The only difference is, that his identity with +coloured people is no secret, and he is not ashamed of it; whilst I conceal +my origin, and live in constant dread that some one may find it out." When +Clarence had finished, he continued to walk up and down the room, looking +very careworn and gloomy. + +Miss Bell remained on the sofa, thoughtfully regarding him. At last, she +rose up and took his hand in hers, as she used to when he was a boy, and +walking beside him, said, "The more I reflect upon it, the more necessary I +regard it that you should tell this girl and her parents your real position +before you marry her. Throw away concealment, make a clean breast of it! +you may not be rejected when they find her heart is so deeply interested. +If you marry her with this secret hanging over you, it will embitter your +life, make you reserved, suspicious, and consequently ill-tempered, and +destroy all your domestic happiness. Let me persuade you, tell them ere it +be too late. Suppose it reached them through some other source, what would +they then think of you?" + +"Who else would tell them? Who else knows it? You, you," said he +suspiciously--"_you_ would not betray me! I thought you loved me, Aunt +Ada." + +"Clarence, my dear boy," she rejoined, apparently hurt by his hasty and +accusing tone, "you _will_ mistake me--I have no such intention. If they +are never to learn it except through _me_, your secret is perfectly safe. +Yet I must tell you that I feel and think that the true way to promote her +happiness and your own, is for you to disclose to them your real position, +and throw yourself upon their generosity for the result." + +Clarence pondered for a long time over Miss Bell's advice, which she again +and again repeated, placing it each time before him in a stronger light, +until, at last, she extracted from him a promise that he would do it. "I +know you are right, Aunt Ada," said he; "I am convinced of that--it is a +question of courage with me. I know it would be more honourable for me to +tell her now. I'll try to do it--I will make an effort, and summon up the +courage necessary--God be my helper!" + +"That's a dear boy!" she exclaimed, kissing him affectionately; "I know you +will feel happier when it is all over; and even if she should break her +engagement, you will be infinitely better off than if it was fulfilled and +your secret subsequently discovered. Come, now," she concluded, "I am going +to exert my old authority, and send you to bed; tomorrow, perhaps, you may +see this in a more hopeful light." + +Two days after this, Clarence was again in New York, amid the heat and dust +of that crowded, bustling city. Soon, after his arrival, he dressed +himself, and started for the mansion of Mr. Bates, trembling as he went, +for the result of the communication he was about to make. + +Once on the way he paused, for the thought had occurred to him that he +would write to them; then reproaching himself for his weakness and +timidity, he started on again with renewed determination. + +"I'll see her myself," he soliloquized. "I'll tell little Birdie all, and +know my fate from her own lips. If I must give her up, I'll know the worst +from her." + +When Clarence was admitted, he would not permit himself to be announced, +but walked tiptoe upstairs and gently opening the drawing-room door, +entered the room. Standing by the piano, turning over the leaves of some +music, and merrily humming an air, was a young girl of extremely _petite_ +and delicate form. Her complexion was strikingly fair; and the rich curls +of dark auburn that fell in clusters on her shoulders, made it still more +dazzling by the contrast presented. Her eyes were grey, inclining to black; +her features small, and not over-remarkable for their symmetry, yet by no +means disproportionate. There was the sweetest of dimples on her small +round chin, and her throat white and clear as the finest marble. The +expression of her face was extremely childlike; she seemed more like a +schoolgirl than a young woman of eighteen on the eve of marriage. There was +something deliriously airy and fairylike in her motions, and as she +slightly moved her feet in time to the music she was humming, her thin blue +dress floated about her, and undulated in harmony with her graceful +motions. + +After gazing at her for a few moments, Clarence called gently, "Little +Birdie." She gave a timid joyous little cry of surprise and pleasure, and +fluttered into his arms. + +"Oh, Clary, love, how you startled me! I did not dream there was any one in +the room. It was so naughty in you," said she, childishly, as he pushed +back the curls from her face and kissed her. "When did you arrive?" + +"Only an hour ago," he answered. + +"And you came here at once? Ah, that was so lover-like and kind," she +rejoined, smiling. + +"You look like a sylph to-night, Anne," said he, as she danced about him. +"Ah," he continued, after regarding her for a few seconds with a look of +intense admiration, "you want to rivet my chains the tighter,--you look +most bewitching. Why are you so much dressed to-night?--jewels, sash, and +satin slippers," he continued; "are you going out?" + +"No, Clary," she answered. "I was to have gone to the theatre; but just at +the last moment I decided not to. A singular desire to stay at home came +over me suddenly. I had an instinctive feeling that I should lose some +greater enjoyment if I went; so I remained at home; and here, love, are +you. But what is the matter? you look sad and weary." + +"I am a little fatigued," said he, seating himself and holding her hand in +his: "a little weary; but that will soon wear off; and as for the sadness," +concluded he, with a forced smile, "that _must_ depart now that I am with +you, Little Birdie." + +"I feel relieved that you have returned safe and well," said she, looking +up into his face from her seat beside him; "for, Clary, love, I had such a +frightful dream, such a singular dream about you. I have endeavoured to +shake it out of my foolish little head; but it won't go, Clary,--I can't +get rid of it. It occurred after you left us at Saratoga. Oh, it was +nothing though," said she, laughing and shaking her curls,--"nothing; and +now you are safely returned, I shall not think of it again. Tell me what +you have seen since you went away; and how is that dear Aunt Ada of yours +you talk so much about?" + +"Oh, she is quite well," answered he; "but tell, Anne, tell me about that +dream. What was it, Birdie?--come tell me." + +"I don't care to," she answered, with a slight shudder,--"I don't want to, +love." + +"Yes, yes,--do, sweet," importuned he; "I want to hear it." + +"Then if I must," said she, "I will. I dreamed that you and I were walking +on a road together, and 'twas such a beautiful road, with flowers and +fruit, and lovely cottages on either side. I thought you held my hand; I +felt it just as plain as I clasp yours now. Presently a rough ugly man +overtook us, and bid you let me go; and that you refused, and held me all +the tighter. Then he gave you a diabolical look, and touched you on the +face, and you broke out in loathsome black spots, and screamed in such +agony and frightened me so, that I awoke all in a shiver of terror, and did +not get over it all the next day." + +Clarence clutched her hand tighter as she finished, so tight indeed, that +she gave a little scream of pain and looked frightened at him. "What is the +matter?" she inquired; "your hand is like ice, and you are paler than ever. +You haven't let that trifling dream affect you so? It is nothing." + +"I am superstitious in regard to dreams," said Clarence, wiping the +perspiration from his forehead. "Go," he asked, faintly, "play me an air, +love,--something quick and lively to dispel this. I wish you had not told +me." + +"But you begged me to," said she, pouting, as she took her seat at the +instrument. + +"How ominous," muttered he,--"became covered with black spots; that is a +foreshadowing. How can I tell her," he thought. "It seems like wilfully +destroying my own happiness." And he sat struggling with himself to obtain +the necessary courage to fulfil the purpose of his visit, and became so +deeply engrossed with his own reflections as to scarcely even hear the +sound of the instrument. + +"It is too bad," she cried, as she ceased playing: "here I have performed +some of your favourite airs, and that too without eliciting a word of +commendation. You are inexpressibly dull to-night; nothing seems to enliven +you. What is the matter?" + +"Oh," rejoined he, abstractedly, "am I? I was not aware of it." + +"Yes, you are," said Little Birdie, pettishly; "nothing seems to engage +your attention." And, skipping off to the table, she took up the newspaper, +and exclaimed,--"Let me read you something very curious." + +"No, no, Anne dear," interrupted he; "sit here by me. I want to say +something serious to you--something of moment to us both." + +"Then it's something very grave and dull, I know," she remarked; "for that +is the way people always begin. Now I don't want to hear anything serious +to-night; I want to be merry. You _look_ serious enough; and if you begin +to talk seriously you'll be perfectly unbearable. So you must hear what I +am going to read to you first." And the little tyrant put her finger on his +lip, and looked so bewitching, that he could not refuse her. And the +important secret hung on his lips, but was not spoken. + +"Listen," said she, spreading out the paper before her and running her tiny +finger down the column. "Ah, I have it," she exclaimed at last, and +began:-- + +"'We learn from unimpeachable authority that the Hon. ---- ----, who +represents a district of our city in the State legislature, was yesterday +united to the Quateroon daughter of the late Gustave Almont. She is said to +be possessed of a large fortune, inherited from her father; and they +purpose going to France to reside,--a sensible determination; as, after +such a _mesalliance_, the honourable gentleman can no longer expect to +retain his former social position in our midst.--_New Orleans Watchman_.'" + +"Isn't it singular," she remarked, "that a man in his position should make +such a choice?" + +"He loved her, no doubt," suggested Clarence; "and she was almost white." + +"How could he love her?" asked she, wonderingly. "Love a coloured woman! I +cannot conceive it possible," said she, with a look of disgust; "there is +something strange and unnatural about it." + +"No, no," he rejoined, hurriedly, "it was love, Anne,--pure love; it is not +impossible. I--I--" "am coloured," he would have said; but he paused and +looked full in her lovely face. He could not tell her,--the words slunk +back into his coward heart unspoken. + +She stared at him in wonder and perplexity, and exclaimed,--"Dear Clarence, +how strangely you act! I am afraid you are not well. Your brow is hot," +said she, laying her hand on his forehead; "you have been travelling too +much for your strength." + +"It is not that," he replied. "I feel a sense of suffocation, as if all the +blood was rushing to my throat. Let me get the air." And he rose and walked +to the window. Anne hastened and brought him a glass of water, of which he +drank a little, and then declared himself better. + +After this, he stood for a long time with her clasped in his arms; then +giving her one or two passionate kisses, he strained her closer to him and +abruptly left the house, leaving Little Birdie startled and alarmed by his +strange behaviour. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +Dear Old Ess again. + + +Let us visit once more the room from which Mr. Walters and his friends made +so brave a defence. There is but little in its present appearance to remind +one of that eventful night,--no reminiscences of that desperate attack, +save the bullet-hole in the ceiling, which Mr. Walters declares shall +remain unfilled as an evidence of the marked attention he has received at +the hands of his fellow-citizens. + +There are several noticeable additions to the furniture of the apartment; +amongst them an elegantly-carved work-stand, upon which some unfinished +articles of children's apparel are lying; a capacious rocking-chair, and +grand piano. + +Then opposite to the portrait of Toussaint is suspended another picture, +which no doubt holds a higher position in the regard of the owner of the +mansion than the African warrior aforesaid. It is a likeness of the lady +who is sitting at the window,--Mrs. Esther Walters, _nee_ Ellis. The brown +baby in the picture is the little girl at her side,--the elder sister of +the other brown baby who is doing its best to pull from its mother's lap +the doll's dress upon which she is sewing. Yes, that is "dear old Ess," as +Charlie calls her yet, though why he will persist in applying the adjective +we are at a loss to determine. + +Esther looks anything but old--a trifle matronly, we admit--but old we +emphatically say she is not; her hair is parted plainly, and the tiniest of +all tiny caps sits at the back of her head, looking as if it felt it had no +business on such raven black hair, and ought to be ignominiously dragged +off without one word of apology. The face and form are much more round and +full, and the old placid expression has been undisturbed in the lapse of +years. + +The complexion of the two children was a sort of compromise between the +complexions of their parents--chubby-faced, chestnut-coloured, +curly-headed, rollicking little pests, who would never be quiet, and whose +little black buttons of eyes were always peering into something, and whose +little plugs of fingers would, in spite of every precaution to prevent, be +diving into mother's work-box, and various other highly inconvenient and +inappropriate places. + +"There!" said Esther, putting the last stitch into a doll she had been +manufacturing; "now, take sister, and go away and play." But little sister, +it appeared, did not wish to be taken, and she made the best of her way +off, holding on by the chairs, and tottering over the great gulfs between +them, until she succeeded in reaching the music-stand, where she paused for +a while before beginning to destroy the music. Just at this critical +juncture a young lady entered the room, and held up her hands in horror, +and baby hastened off as fast as her toddling limbs could carry her, and +buried her face in her mother's lap in great consternation. + +Emily Garie made two or three slight feints of an endeavour to catch her, +and then sat down by the little one's mother, and gave a deep sigh. + +"Have you answered your brother's letter?" asked Esther. + +"Yes, I have," she replied; "here it is,"--and she laid the letter in +Esther's lap. Baby made a desperate effort to obtain it, but suffered a +signal defeat, and her mother opened it, and read-- + + +"DEAR BROTHER,--I read your chilling letter with deep +sorrow. I cannot say that it surprised me; it is what I have +anticipated during the many months that I have been silent +on the subject of my marriage. Yet, when I read it, I could +not but feel a pang to which heretofore I have been a stranger. +Clarence, you know I love you, and should not make the +sacrifice you demand a test of my regard. True, I cannot say +(and most heartily I regret it) that there exists between us the +same extravagant fondness we cherished as children--but +that is no fault of mine. Did you not return to me, each +year, colder and colder--more distant and unbrotherly--until +you drove back to their source the gushing streams of +a sister's love that flowed so strongly towards you? You ask +me to resign Charles Ellis and come to you. What can you +offer me in exchange for his true, manly affection?--to what +purpose drive from my heart a love that has been my only +solace, only consolation, for your waning regard! We have +grown up together--he has been warm and kind, when you +were cold and indifferent--and now that he claims the reward +of long years of tender regard, and my own heart is conscious +that he deserves it, you would step between us, and forbid +me yield the recompense that it will be my pride and delight +to bestow. It grieves me to write it; yet I must, Clary--for +between brother and sister there is no need of concealments; +and particularly at such a time should everything be open, +clear, explicit. Do not think I wish to reproach you. What +you are, Clarence, your false position and unfortunate education +have made you. I write it with pain--your demand +seems extremely selfish. I fear it is not of _me_ but of _yourself_ +you are thinking, when you ask me to sever, at once and for +ever, my connection with a people who, you say, can only +degrade me. Yet how much happier am I, sharing their +degradation, than you appear to be! Is it regard for me +that induces the desire that I should share the life of constant +dread that I cannot but feel you endure--or do you fear that +my present connections will interfere with your own plans for +the future? + +"Even did I grant it was my happiness alone you had in +view, my objections would be equally strong. I could not +forego the claims of early friendship, and estrange myself +from those who have endeared themselves to me by long +years of care--nor pass coldly and unrecognizingly by playmates +and acquaintances, because their complexions were a few +shades darker than my own. This I could never do--to me +it seems ungrateful: yet I would not reproach you because +you can--for the circumstances by which you have been surrounded +have conspired to produce that result--and I presume +you regard such conduct as necessary to sustain you in your +present position. From the tenor of your letter I should +judge that you entertained some fear that I might compromise +you with your future bride, and intimate that _my_ choice may +deprive you of _yours_. Surely that need not be. _She_ need not +even know of my existence. Do not entertain a fear that I, +or my future husband, will ever interfere with your happiness +by thrusting ourselves upon you, or endanger your social +position by proclaiming our relationship. Our paths lie so +widely apart that they need never cross. You walk on the +side of the oppressor--I, thank God, am with the oppressed. + +"I am happy--more happy, I am sure, than you could +make me, even by surrounding me with the glittering lights +that shine upon your path, and which, alas! may one day go +suddenly out, and leave you wearily groping in the darkness. +I trust, dear brother, my words may not prove a prophecy; +yet, should they be, trust me, Clarence, you may come back +again, and a sister's heart will receive you none the less +warmly that you selfishly desired her to sacrifice the happiness +of a lifetime to you. I shall marry Charles Ellis. I ask +you to come and see us united--I shall not reproach you if +you do not; yet I shall feel strange without a single relative +to kiss or bless me in that most eventful hour of a woman's +life. God bless you, Clary! I trust your union may be as +happy as I anticipate my own will be--and, if it is not, it will +not be because it has lacked the earnest prayers of your +neglected but still loving sister." + + +"Esther, I thought I was too cold in that--tell me, do you think so?" + +"No, dear, not at all; I think it a most affectionate reply to a cold, +selfish letter." + +"Oh, I'm glad to hear you say that. I can trust better to your tenderness +of others' feelings than to my own heart. I felt strongly, Esther, and was +fearful that it might be too harsh or reproachful. I was anxious lest my +feelings should be too strikingly displayed; yet it was better to be +explicit--don't you think so?" + +"Undoubtedly," answered Esther; and handing back the letter, she took up +baby, and seated herself in the rocking-chair. + +Now baby had a prejudice against caps, inveterate and unconquerable; and +grandmamma, nurse, and Esther were compelled to bear the brunt of her +antipathies. We have before said that Esther's cap _looked_ as though it +felt itself in an inappropriate position--that it had got on the head of +the wrong individual--and baby, no doubt in deference to the cap's +feelings, tore it off, and threw it in the half-open piano, from whence it +was extricated with great detriment to the delicate lace. + +Emily took a seat near the window, and drawing her work-table towards her, +raised the lid. This presenting another opening for baby, she slid down +from her mother's lap, and hastened towards her. She just arrived in time +to see it safely closed, and toddled back to her mother, as happy as if she +had succeeded in running riot over its contents, and scattering them all +over the floor. + +Emily kept looking down the street, as though in anxious expectation of +somebody; and whilst she stood there, there was an opportunity of observing +how little she had changed in the length of years. She is little Em +magnified, with a trifle less of the child in her face. Her hair has a +slight kink, is a little more wavy than is customary in persons of entire +white blood; but in no other way is her extraction perceptible, only the +initiated, searching for evidences of African blood, would at all notice +this slight peculiarity. + +Her expectation was no doubt about to be gratified, for a smile broke over +her face, as she left the window and skipped downstairs; when she +re-entered, she was accompanied by her intended husband. There was great +commotion amongst the little folk in consequence of this new arrival. Baby +kicked, and screamed out "Unker Char," and went almost frantic because her +dress became entangled in the buckle of her mamma's belt, and her sister +received a kiss before she could be extricated. + +Charlie is greatly altered--he is tall, remarkably athletic, with a large, +handsomely-shaped head, covered with close-cut, woolly hair; high forehead, +heavy eyebrows, large nose, and a mouth of ordinary size, filled with +beautifully white teeth, which he displays at almost every word he speaks; +chin broad, and the whole expression of his face thoughtful and commanding, +yet replete with good humour. No one would call him handsome, yet there was +something decidedly attractive in his general appearance. No one would +recognize him as the Charlie of old, whose escapades had so destroyed the +comfort and harmony of Mrs. Thomas's establishment; and only once, when he +held up the baby, and threatened to let her tear the paper ornaments from +the chandelier, was there a twinkle of the Charlie of old looking out of +his eyes. + +"How are mother and father to-day?" asked Esther. + +"Oh, both well. I left them only a few minutes ago at the dinner table. I +had to hurry off to go to the office." + +"So I perceive," observed Esther, archly, "and of course, coming here, +which is four squares out of your way, will get you there much sooner." + +Emily blushed, and said, smilingly, Esther was "a very impertinent person;" +and in this opinion Charlie fully concurred. They then walked to the +window, where they stood, saying, no doubt, to each other those little +tender things which are so profoundly interesting to lovers, and so +exceedingly stupid to every one else. Baby, in high glee, was seated on +Charlie's shoulder, where she could clutch both hands in his hair and pull +until the tears almost started from his eyes. + +"Emily and you have been talking a long while, and I presume you have fully +decided on what day you are both to be rescued from your misery, and when I +am to have the exquisite satisfaction of having my house completely turned +upside down for your mutual benefit," said Esther. "I trust it will be as +soon as possible, as we cannot rationally expect that either of you will be +bearable until it is all over, and you find yourselves ordinary mortals +again. Come now, out with it. When is it to be?" + +"I say next week," cried Charlie. + +"Next week, indeed," hastily rejoined Emily. "I could not think of such a +thing--so abrupt." + +"So abrupt," repeated Charlie, with a laugh. "Why, haven't I been courting +you ever since I wore roundabouts, and hasn't everybody been expecting us +to be married every week within the last two years. Fie, Em, it's anything +but abrupt." + +Emily blushed still deeper, and looked out of the window, down the street +and up the street, but did not find anything in the prospect at either side +that at all assisted her to come to a decision, so she only became more +confused and stared the harder; at last she ventured to suggest that day +two months. + +"This day two months--outrageous!" said Charlie. "Come here, dear old Ess, +and help me to convince this deluded girl of the preposterous manner in +which she is conducting herself." + +"I must join her side if you _will_ bring me into the discussion. I think +she is right, Charlie--there is so much to be done: the house to procure +and furnish, and numberless other things that you hasty and absurd men know +nothing about." + +By dint of strong persuasion from Charlie, Emily finally consented to abate +two weeks of the time, and they decided that a family council should be +held that evening at Mrs. Ellis's, when the whole arrangements should be +definitely settled. + +A note was accordingly despatched by Esther to her mother--that she, +accompanied by Emily and the children, would come to them early in the +afternoon, and that the gentlemen would join them in the evening at +tea-time. Caddy was, of course, completely upset by the intelligence; for, +notwithstanding that she and the maid-of-all-work lived in an almost +perpetual state of house-cleaning, nothing appeared to her to be in order, +and worse than all, there was nothing to eat. + +"Nothing to eat!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "Why, my dear child, there are all +manner of preserves, plenty of fresh peaches to cut and sugar down, and a +large pound-cake in the house, and any quantity of bread can be purchased +at the baker's." + +"Bread--plain bread!" rejoined Caddy, indignantly, quite astonished at her +mother's modest idea of a tea--and a company-tea at that. "Do you think, +mother, I'd set Mr. Walters down to plain bread, when we always have hot +rolls and short-cake at their house? It is not to be thought of for a +moment: they must have some kind of hot cake, be the consequences what they +may." + +Caddy bustled herself about, and hurried up the maid-of-all-work in an +astonishing manner, and before the company arrived had everything prepared, +and looked as trim and neat herself as if she had never touched a +rolling-pin, and did not know what an oven was used for. + +Behold them all assembled. Mrs. Ellis at the head of the table with a +grandchild on each side of her, and her cap-strings pinned upon the side +next to baby. Esther sits opposite her husband, who is grown a little grey, +but otherwise is not in the least altered; next to her is her father, +almost buried in a large easy-chair, where he sits shaking his head from +time to time, and smiling vacantly at the children; then come Emily and +Charlie at the foot, and at his other hand Caddy and Kinch--Kinch the +invincible--Kinch the dirty--Kinch the mischievous, now metamorphosed into +a full-blown dandy, with faultless linen, elegant vest, and fashionably-cut +coat. Oh, Kinch, what a change--from the most shabby and careless of all +boys to a consummate exquisite, with heavy gold watch and eye-glass, and +who has been known to dress regularly twice a day! + +There was a mighty pouring out of tea at Mrs. Ellis's end of the table, +and baby of course had to be served first with some milk and bread. Between +her and the cat intimate relations seemed to exist, for by their united +efforts the first cap was soon disposed of, and baby was clamouring for the +second before the elder portions of the family had been once served round +with tea. + +Charlie and Emily ate little and whispered a great deal; but Kinch, the +voracity of whose appetite had not at all diminished in the length of +years, makes up for their abstinence by devouring the delicious round +short-cakes with astonishing rapidity. He did not pretend to make more than +two bites to a cake, and they slipped away down his throat as if it was a +railroad tunnel and they were a train of cars behind time. + +Caddy felt constrained to get up every few moments to look after something, +and to assure herself by personal inspection that the reserved supplies in +the kitchen were not likely to be exhausted. Esther occupied herself in +attending upon her helpless father, and fed him as tenderly and carefully +as if he was one of her babies. + +"I left you ladies in council. What was decided?" said Charlie, "don't be +at all bashful as regards speaking before Kinch, for he is in the secret +and has been these two months. Kinch is to be groomsman, and has had three +tailors at work on his suit for a fortnight past. He told me this morning +that if you did not hurry matters up, his wedding coat would be a week out +of fashion before he should get a chance to wear it." + +"How delightful--Kinch to be groomsman," said Esther, "that is very kind in +you, Kinch, to assist us to get Charlie off our hands." + +"And who is to be bridesmaid?" asked Walters. + +"Oh, Caddy of course--I couldn't have any one but Caddy," blushingly +answered Emily. + +"That is capital," cried Charlie, giving Kinch a facetious poke, "just the +thing, isn't it, Kinch--it will get her accustomed to these matters. You +remember what you told me this morning, eh, old boy?" he concluded, archly. + Kinch tried to blush, but being very dark-complexioned, his efforts in +that direction were not at all apparent, so he evidenced his confusion by +cramming a whole short-cake into his mouth, and almost caused a stoppage in +the tunnel; Caddy became excessively red in the face, and was sure they +wanted more cakes. + +But Mr. Walters was equally confident they did not, and put his back +against the door and stood there, whilst Mrs. Ellis gravely informed them +that she soon expected to be her own housekeeper, for that she had detected +Caddy and Kinch in a furniture establishment, pricing a chest of drawers +and a wash-stand; and that Kinch had unblushingly told her they had for +some time been engaged to be married, but somehow or other had forgotten to +mention it to her. + +This caused a general shout of laughter around the table, in which baby +tumultuously joined, and rattled her spoon against the tea-urn until she +almost deafened them. + +This noise frightened Mr. Ellis, who cried, "There they come! there they +come!" and cowered down in his great chair, and looked so exceedingly +terrified, that the noise was hushed instantly, and tears sprang into the +eyes of dear old Ess, who rose and stood by him, and laid his withered face +upon her soft warm bosom, smoothed down the thin grey hair, and held him +close to her throbbing tender heart, until the wild light vanished from his +bleared and sunken eyes, and the vacant childish smile came back on his +thin, wan face again, when she said, "Pray don't laugh so very loud, it +alarms father; he is composed now, pray don't startle him so again." + +This sobered them down a little, and they quietly recommenced discussing +the matrimonial arrangements; but they were all in such capital spirits +that an occasional hearty and good-humoured laugh could not be suppressed. + +Mr. Walters acted in his usual handsome manner, and facetiously collaring +Charlie, took him into a corner and informed him that he had an empty house +that be wished him to occupy, and that if he ever whispered the word rent, +or offered him any money before he was worth twenty thousand dollars, he +should believe that he wanted to pick a quarrel with him, and should refer +him to a friend, and then pistols and coffee would be the inevitable +result. + +Then it came out that Caddy and Kinch had been, courting for some time, if +not with Mrs. Ellis's verbal consent, with at least no objection from that +good lady; for Master Kinch, besides being an exceedingly good-natured +fellow, was very snug in his boots, and had a good many thousand dollars at +his disposal, bequeathed him by his father. + +The fates had conspired to make that old gentleman rich. He owned a number +of lots on the outskirts of the city, on which he had been paying taxes a +number of years, and he awoke one fine morning to find them worth a large +sum of money. The city council having determined to cut a street just +beside them, and the property all around being in the hands of wealthy and +fashionable people, his own proved to be exceedingly valuable. + +It was a sad day for the old man, as Kinch and his mother insisted that he +should give up business, which he did most reluctantly, and Kinch had to be +incessantly on the watch thereafter, to prevent him from hiring cellars, +and sequestering their old clothes to set up in business again. They were +both gone now, and Kinch was his own master, with a well-secured income of +a thousand dollars a-year, with a prospect of a large increase. + +They talked matters over fully, and settled all their arrangements before +the time for parting, and then, finding the baby had scrambled into Mrs. +Ellis's lap and gone fast asleep, and that it was long after ten o'clock, +each departed, taking their several ways for home. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +The Fatal Discovery. + + +There is great bustle and confusion in the house of Mr. Bates. +Mantua-makers and milliners are coming in at unearthly hours, and +consultations of deep importance are being duly held with maiden aunts and +the young ladies who are to officiate as bridesmaids at the approaching +ceremony. There are daily excursions to drapers' establishments, and +jewellers, and, in fact, so much to be done and thought of, that little +Birdie is in constant confusion, and her dear little curly head is almost +turned topsy-turvy. Twenty times in each day is she called upstairs to +where the sempstresses are at work, to have something tried on or fitted. +Poor little Birdie! she declares she never can stand it: she did not dream +that to be married she would have been subjected to such a world of +trouble, or she would never have consented,--_never_! + +And then Clarence, too, comes in every morning, and remains half the day, +teasing her to play, to talk, or sing. Inconsiderate Clarence! when she has +so much on her mind; and when at last he goes, and she begins to felicitate +herself that she is rid of him, back he comes again in the evening, and +repeats the same annoyance. O, naughty, tiresome, Clarence! how can you +plague little Birdie so? Perhaps you think she doesn't dislike it; you may +be right, very likely she doesn't. + +She sometimes wonders why he grows paler and thinner each day, and his +nervous and sometimes distracted manner teases her dreadfully; but she +supposes all lovers act thus, and expects they cannot help it--and then +little Birdie takes a sly peep in the glass, and does not so much wonder +after all. + +Yet if she sometimes deems his manner startling and odd, what would she say +if she knew that, night after night, when he left her side, he wandered for +long hours through the cold and dreary streets, and then went to his hotel, +where he paced his room until almost day? + +Ah, little Birdie, a smile will visit his pale face when you chirp tenderly +to him, and a faint tinge comes upon his cheek when you lay your soft tiny +hand upon it; yet all the while there is that desperate secret lying next +his heart, and, like a vampire, sucking away, drop by drop, happiness and +peace. + +Not so with little Birdie; she is happy--oh, _so_ happy: she rises with a +song upon her lips, and is chirping in the sunshine she herself creates, +the live-long day. Flowers of innocence bloom and flourish in her peaceful +lithesome heart. Poor, poor, little Birdie! those flowers are destined to +wither soon, and the sunlight fade from thy happy face for ever. + +One morning, Clarence, little Birdie, and her intended bridesmaid, Miss +Ellstowe, were chatting together, when a card was handed to the latter, +who, on looking at it, exclaimed, "Oh, dear me! an old beau of mine; show +him up," and scampering off to the mirror, she gave a hasty glance, to see +that every curl was in its effective position. + +"Who is it?" asked little Birdie, all alive with curiosity; "do say who it +is." + +"Hush!" whispered Miss Ellstowe, "here he comes, my dear; he is very +rich--a great catch; are my curls all right?" + +Scarcely had she asked the question, and before an answer could be +returned, the servant announced Mr. George Stevens, and the gentleman +walked into the room. + +Start not, reader, it is not the old man we left bent over the prostrate +form of his unconscious daughter, but George Stevens, junior, the son and +heir of the old man aforesaid. The heart of Clarence almost ceased to beat +at the sound of that well-known name, and had not both the ladies been so +engrossed in observing the new-comer, they must have noticed the deep flush +that suffused his face, and the deathly pallor that succeeded it. + +Mr. Stevens was presented to Miss Bates, and Miss Ellstowe turned to +present him to Clarence. "Mr. Garie--Mr. Stevens," said she. Clarence +bowed. + +"Pardon me, I did not catch the name," said the former, politely. + +"Mr. Clarence Garie," she repeated, more distinctly. + +George Stevens bowed, and then sitting down opposite Clarence, eyed him for +a few moments intently. "I think we have met before," said he at last, in a +cold, contemptuous tone, not unmingled with surprise, "have we not?" + +Clarence endeavoured to answer, but could not; he was, for a moment, +incapable of speech; a slight gurgling noise was heard in his throat, as he +bowed affirmatively. + +"We were neighbours at one time, I think," added George Stevens. + +"We were," faintly ejaculated Clarence. + +"It is a great surprise to me to meet _you_ here," pursued George Stevens. + +"The surprise is mutual, I assure you, sir," rejoined Clarence, coldly, and +with slightly agitated manner. + +Hereupon ensued an embarrassing pause in the conversation, during which the +ladies could not avoid observing the livid hue of Clarence's face. There +was a perfect tumult raging in his breast; he knew that now his +long-treasured secret would be brought out; this was to be the end of his +struggle to preserve it--to be exposed at last, when on the brink of +consummating his happiness. As he sat there, looking at George Stevens, he +became a murderer in his heart; and if an invisible dagger could have been +placed in his hands, he would have driven it to the hilt in his breast, and +stilled for ever the tongue that was destined to betray him. + +But it was too late; one glance at the contemptuous, malignant face of the +son of his father's murderer, told him his fate was sealed--that it was +now too late to avert exposure. He grew faint, dizzy, ill,--and rising, +declared hurriedly he must go, staggered towards the door, and fell upon +the carpet, with a slight stream of blood spirting from his mouth. + +Little Birdie screamed, and ran to raise him; George Stevens and Miss +Ellstowe gave their assistance, and by their united efforts he was placed +upon the sofa. Little Birdie wiped the bloody foam from his mouth with her +tiny lace handkerchief, bathed his head, and held cold water to his lips; +but consciousness was long returning, and they thought he was dying. + +Poor torn heart! pity it was thy beatings were not stilled then for ever. +It was not thy fate; long, long months of grief and despair were yet to +come before the end approached and day again broke upon thee. + +Just at this crisis Mr. Bates came in, and was greatly shocked and alarmed +by Clarence's deathly appearance. As he returned to consciousness he looked +wildly about him, and clasping little Birdie's hand in his, gazed at her +with a tender imploring countenance: yet it was a despairing look--such a +one as a shipwrecked seaman gives when, in sight of land, he slowly relaxes +his hold upon the sustaining spar that he has no longer the strength to +clutch, and sinks for ever beneath the waters. + +A physician was brought in, who declared he had ruptured a minor +blood-vessel, and would not let him utter a whisper, and, assisted by Mr. +Bates, placed him in his carriage, and the three were driven as swiftly as +possible to the hotel where Clarence was staying. Little Birdie retired to +her room in great affliction, followed by Miss Ellstowe, and George Stevens +was left in the room alone. + +"What can the fellow have been doing here?" he soliloquised; "on intimate +terms too, apparently; it is very singular; I will wait Miss Ellstowe's +return, and ask an explanation." + +When Miss Ellstowe re-entered the room, he immediately inquired, "What was +that Mr. Garie doing here? He seems on an exceedingly intimate footing, +and your friend apparently takes a wonderful interest in him." + +"Of course she does; that is her _fiance_." + +"_Impossible_!" rejoined he, with an air of astonishment. + +"Impossible!--why so? I assure you he is. They are to be married in a few +weeks. I am here to officiate as bridesmaid." + +"Phew!" whistled George Stevens; and then, after pausing a moment, he +asked, "Do you know anything about this Mr. Garie--anything, I mean, +respecting his family?" + +"Why, no--that is, nothing very definite, more than that he is an orphan, +and a gentleman of education and independent means." + +"Humph!" ejaculated George Stevens, significantly. + +"Humph!" repeated Miss Ellstowe, "what do you mean? Do you know anything +beyond that? One might suppose you did, from your significant looks and +gestures." + +"Yes, I _do_ know something about this Mr. Garie," he replied, after a +short silence. "But tell me what kind of people are these you are +visiting--Abolitionists, or anything of that sort?" + +"How absurd, Mr. Stevens, to ask such a question; of course they are not," +said she, indignantly; "do you suppose I should be here if they were? But +why do you ask--is this Mr. Garie one?" + +"No, my friend," answered her visitor; "_I wish that was all_." + +"That was all!--how strangely you talk--you alarm me," continued she, with +considerable agitation. "If you know anything that will injure the +happiness of my friend--anything respecting Mr. Garie that she or her +father should know--make no secret of it, but disclose it to me at once. +Anne is my dearest friend, and I, of course, must be interested in anything +that concerns her happiness. Tell me, what is it you know?" + +"It is nothing, I assure you, that it will give me any pleasure to tell," +answered he. "Do speak out, Mr. Stevens. Is there any stain on his +character, or that of his family? Did he ever do anything dishonourable?" + +"_I wish that was all_," coolly repeated George Stevens. "I am afraid he is +a villain, and has been imposing himself upon this family for what he is +not." + +"Good Heavens! Mr. Stevens, how is he a villain or impostor?" + +"You all suppose him to be a white man, do you not?" he asked. + +"Of course we do," she promptly answered. + +"Then you are all grievously mistaken, for he is not. Did you not notice +how he changed colour, how agitated he became, when I was presented? It was +because he knew that his exposure was at hand. I know him well--in fact, he +is the illegitimate son of a deceased relative of mine, by a mulatto +slave." + +"It cannot be possible," exclaimed Miss Ellstowe, with a wild stare of +astonishment. "Are you sure of it?" + +"Sure of it! of course I am. I should indeed be a rash man to make such a +terrible charge unless perfectly able to substantiate it. I have played +with him frequently when a child, and my father made a very liberal +provision for this young man and his sister, after the death of their +father, who lost his life through imprudently living with this woman in +Philadelphia, and consequently getting himself mixed up with these +detestable Abolitionists." + +"Can this be true?" asked Miss Ellstowe, incredulously. + +"I assure you it is. We had quite lost sight of them for a few years back, +and I little supposed we should meet under such circumstances. I fear I +shall be the cause of great discomfort, but I am sure in the end I shall be +thanked. I could not, with any sense of honour or propriety, permit such a +thing as this marriage to be consummated, without at least warning your +friends of the real position of this fellow. I trust, Miss Ellstowe, you +will inform them of what I have told you." "How can I? Oh, Mr. Stevens!" +said she, in a tone of deep distress, "this will be a terrible blow--it +will almost kill Anne. No, no; the task must not devolve on me--I cannot +tell them. Poor little thing! it will break her heart, I am afraid." + +"Oh, but you must, Miss Ellstowe; it would seem very impertinent in me--a +stranger--to meddle in such a matter; and, besides, they may be aware of +it, and not thank me for my interference." + +"No, I assure you they are not; I am confident they have not the most +distant idea of such a thing--they would undoubtedly regard it as an act of +kindness on your part. I shall insist upon your remaining until the return +of Mr. Bates, when I shall beg you to repeat to him what you have already +revealed to me." + +"As you insist upon it, I suppose I must," repeated he, after some +reflection; "but I must say I do not like the office of informer," +concluded he, with assumed reluctance. + +"I am sorry to impose it upon you; yet, rest assured, they will thank you. +Excuse me for a few moments--I will go and see how Anne is." + +Miss Ellstowe returned, after a short interval, with the information that +little Birdie was much more composed, and would, no doubt, soon recover +from her fright. + +"To receive a worse blow," observed George Stevens. "I pity the poor little +thing--only to think of the disgrace of being engaged to a nigger. It is +fortunate for them that they will make the discovery ere it be too late. +Heavens! only think what the consequences might have been had she married +this fellow, and his peculiar position became known to them afterwards! She +would have been completely 'done for.'" + +Thus conversing respecting Clarence, they awaited the return of Mr. Bates. +After the lapse of a couple of hours he entered the drawing-room. Mr. +Stevens was presented to him by Miss Ellstowe, as a particular friend of +herself and family. "I believe you were here when I came in before; I +regret I was obliged to leave so abruptly," courteously spoke Mr. Bates, +whilst bowing to his new acquaintance; "the sudden and alarming illness of +my young friend will, I trust, be a sufficient apology." + +"How is he now?" asked Miss Ellstowe. + +"Better--much better," answered he, cheerfully; "but very wild and +distracted in his manner--alarmingly so, in fact. He clung to my hand, and +wrung it when we parted, and bid me good bye again and again, as if it was +for the last time. Poor fellow! he is frightened at that hemorrhage, and is +afraid it will be fatal; but there is not any danger, he only requires to +be kept quiet--he will soon come round again, no doubt. I shall have to ask +you to excuse me again," said he, in conclusion; "I must go and see my +daughter." + +Mr. Bates was rising to depart, when George Stevens gave Miss Ellstowe a +significant look, who said, in a hesitating tone, "Mr. Bates, one moment +before you go. My friend, Mr. Stevens, has a communication to make to you +respecting Mr. Garie, which will, I fear, cause you, as it already has me, +deep distress." + +"Indeed!" rejoined Mr. Bates, in a tone of surprise; "What is it? Nothing +that reflects upon his character, I hope." + +"I do not know how my information will influence your conduct towards him, +for I do not know what your sentiments may be respecting such persons. I +know society in general do not receive them, and my surprise was very great +to find him here." + +"I do not understand you; what do you mean?" demanded Mr. Bates, in a tone +of perplexity; "has he ever committed any crime?" + +"HE IS A COLOURED MAN," answered George Stevens, briefly. Mr. Bates became +almost purple, and gasped for breath; then, after staring at his informant +for a few seconds incredulously, repeated the words "Coloured man," in a +dreamy manner, as if in doubt whether he had really heard them. + +"Yes, coloured man," said George Stevens, confidently; "it grieves me to +be the medium of such disagreeable intelligence; and I assure you I only +undertook the office upon the representation of Miss Ellstowe, that you +were not aware of the fact, and would regard my communication as an act of +kindness." + +"It--it _can't_ be," exclaimed Mr. Bates, with the air of a man determined +not to be convinced of a disagreeable truth; "it cannot be possible." + +Hereupon George Stevens related to him what he had recently told Miss +Ellstowe respecting the parentage and position of Clarence. During the +narration, the old man became almost frantic with rage and sorrow, bursting +forth once or twice with the most violent exclamations; and when George +Stevens concluded, he rose and said, in a husky voice-- + +"I'll kill him, the infernal hypocrite! Oh! the impostor to come to my +house in this nefarious manner, and steal the affections of my +daughter--the devilish villain! a bastard! a contemptible black-hearted +nigger. Oh, my child--my child! it will break your heart when you know what +deep disgrace has come upon you. I'll go to him," added he, his face +flushed, and his white hair almost erect with rage; "I'll murder +him--there's not a man in the city will blame me for it," and he grasped +his cane as though he would go at once, and inflict summary vengeance upon +the offender. + +"Stop, sir, don't be rash," exclaimed George Stevens; "I would not screen +this fellow from the effects of your just and very natural indignation--he +is abundantly worthy of the severest punishment you can bestow; but if you +go in your present excited state, you might be tempted to do something +which would make this whole affair public, and injure, thereby, your +daughter's future. You'll pardon me, I trust, and not think me presuming +upon my short acquaintance in making the suggestion." + +Mr. Bates looked about him bewilderedly for a short time, and then replied, +"No, no, you need not apologize, you are right--I thank you; I myself +should have known better. But my poor child! what will become of her?" and +in an agony of sorrow he resumed his seat, and buried his face in his +hands. + +George Stevens prepared to take his departure, but Mr. Bates pressed him to +remain. "In a little while," said he, "I shall be more composed, and then I +wish you to go with me to this worthless scoundrel. I must see him at once, +and warn him what the consequences will be should he dare approach my child +again. Don't fear me," he added, as he saw George Stevens hesitated to +remain; "that whirlwind of passion is over now. I promise you I shall do +nothing unworthy of myself or my child." + +It was not long before they departed together for the hotel at which +Clarence was staying. When they entered his room, they found him in his +bed, with the miniature of little Birdie in his hands. When he observed the +dark scowl on the face of Mr. Bates, and saw by whom he was accompanied, he +knew his secret was discovered; he saw it written on their faces. He +trembled like a leaf, and his heart seemed like a lump of ice in his bosom. +Mr. Bates was about to speak, when Clarence held up his hand in the +attitude of one endeavouring to ward off a blow, and whispered hoarsely-- + +"Don't tell me--not yet--a little longer! I see you know all. I see my +sentence written on your face! Let me dream a little longer ere you speak +the words that must for ever part me and little Birdie. I know you have +come to separate us--but don't tell me yet; for when you do," said he, in +an agonized tone, "it will kill me!" + +"I wish to God it would!" rejoined Mr. Bates. "I wish you had died long +ago; then you would have never come beneath my roof to destroy its peace +for ever. You have acted basely, palming yourself upon us--counterfeit as +you were! and taking in exchange her true love and my honest, honourable +regard." + +Clarence attempted to speak, but Mr. Bates glared at him, and +continued--"There are laws to punish thieves and counterfeits--but such as +you may go unchastised, except by the abhorrence of all honourable men. Had +you been unaware of your origin, and had the revelation of this gentleman +been as new to you as to me, you would have deserved sympathy; but you have +been acting a lie, claiming a position in society to which you knew you had +no right, and deserve execration and contempt. Did I treat you as my +feelings dictated, you would understand what is meant by the weight of a +father's anger; but I do not wish the world to know that my daughter has +been wasting her affections upon a worthless nigger; that is all that +protects you! Now, hear me," he added, fiercely,--"if ever you presume to +darken my door again, or attempt to approach my daughter, I will shoot you, +as sure as you sit there before me!" + +"And serve you perfectly right!" observed George Stevens. + +"Silence, sir!" rejoined Clarence, sternly. "How dare you interfere? He may +say what he likes--reproach me as he pleases--_he_ is _her_ father--I have +no other reply; but if you dare again to utter a word, I'll--" and Clarence +paused and looked about him as if in search of something with which to +enforce silence. + +Feeble-looking as he was, there was an air of determination about him which +commanded acquiescence, and George Stevens did not venture upon another +observation during the interview. + +"I want my daughter's letters--every line she ever wrote to you; get them +at once--I want them now," said Mr. Bates, imperatively. + +"I cannot give them to you immediately, they are not accessible at present. +Does she want them?" he asked, feebly--"has she desired to have them back?" + +"Never mind that!" said the old man, sternly; "no evasions. Give me the +letters!" + +"To-morrow I will send them," said Clarence. "I will read them all over +once again," thought he. + +"I cannot believe you," said Mr. Bates. + +"I promise you upon my honour I will send them tomorrow!" + +"_A nigger's honour!_" rejoined Mr. Bates, with a contemptuous sneer. +"Yes, sir--a nigger's honour!" repeated Clarence, the colour mounting to +his pale cheeks. "A few drops of negro blood in a man's reins do not +entirely deprive him of noble sentiments. 'Tis true my past concealment +does not argue in my favour.--I concealed that which was no fault of my +own, but what the injustice of society has made a crime." + +"I am not here for discussion; and I suppose I must trust to your +_honour_," interrupted Mr. Bates, with a sneer. "But remember, if the +letters are not forthcoming to-morrow I shall be here again, and then," +concluded he in a threatening tone, "my visit will not be as harmless as +this has been!" + +After they had gone, Clarence rose and walked feebly to his desk, which, +with great effort and risk, he removed to the bed-side; then taking from it +little Birdie's letters, he began their perusal. + +Ay! read them again--and yet again; pore over their contents--dwell on +those passages replete with tenderness, until every word is stamped upon +thy breaking heart--linger by them as the weary traveller amid Sahara's +sand pauses by some sparkling fountain in a shady oasis, tasting of its +pure waters ere he launches forth again upon the arid waste beyond. This is +the last green spot upon thy way to death; beyond whose grim portals, let +us believe, thou and thy "little Birdie" may meet again. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +"Murder will out." + + +The city clocks had just tolled out the hour of twelve, the last omnibus +had rumbled by, and the silence without was broken only at rare intervals +when some belated citizen passed by with hurried footsteps towards his +home. All was still in the house of Mr. Stevens--so quiet, that the ticking +of the large clock in the hall could be distinctly heard at the top of the +stairway, breaking the solemn stillness of the night with its monotonous +"click, click--click, click!" + +In a richly furnished chamber overlooking the street a dim light was +burning; so dimly, in fact, that the emaciated form of Mr. Stevens was +scarcely discernible amidst the pillows and covering of the bed on which he +was lying. Above him a brass head of curious workmanship held in its +clenched teeth the canopy that overshadowed the bed; and as the light +occasionally flickered and brightened, the curiously carved face seemed to +light up with a sort of sardonic grin; and the grating of the +curtain-rings, as the sick man tossed from side to side in his bed, would +have suggested the idea that the odd supporter of the canopy was gnashing +his brazen teeth at him. + +On the wall, immediately opposite the light, hung a portrait of Mrs. +Stevens; not the sharp, hard face we once introduced to the reader, but a +smoother, softer countenance--yet a worn and melancholy one in its +expression. It looked as if the waves of grief had beaten upon it for a +long succession of years, until they had tempered down its harsher +peculiarities, giving a subdued appearance to the whole countenance. + +"There is twelve o'clock--give me my drops again, Lizzie," he remarked, +faintly. At the sound of his voice Lizzie emerged from behind the curtains, +and essayed to pour into a glass the proper quantity of medicine. She was +twice obliged to pour back into the phial what she had just emptied forth, +as the trembling of her hands caused her each time to drop too much; at +last, having succeeded in getting the exact number of drops, she handed him +the glass, the contents of which he eagerly drank. + +"There!" said he, "thank you; now, perhaps, I may sleep. I have not slept +for two nights--such has been my anxiety about that man; nor you either, my +child--I have kept you awake also. You can sleep, though, without drops. +To-morrow, when you are prepared to start, wake me, if I am asleep, and let +me speak to you before you go. Remember, Lizzie, frighten him if you can! +Tell him, I am ill myself--that I can't survive this continued worriment +and annoyance. Tell him, moreover, I am not made of gold, and will not be +always giving. I don't believe he is sick--dying--do you?" he asked, +looking into her face, as though he did not anticipate an affirmative +answer. + +"No, father, I don't think he is really ill; I imagine it is another +subterfuge to extract money. Don't distress yourself unnecessarily; perhaps +I may have some influence with him--I had before, you know!" + +"Yes, yes, dear, you managed him very well that time--very well," said he, +stroking down her hair affectionately. "I--I--my child, I could never have +told you of that dreadful secret; but when I found that you knew it all, my +heart experienced a sensible relief. It was a selfish pleasure, I know; yet +it eased me to share my secret; the burden is not half so heavy now." + +"Father, would not your mind be easier still, if you could be persuaded to +make restitution to his children? This wealth is valueless to us both. You +can never ask forgiveness for the sin whilst you cling thus tenaciously to +its fruits." + +"Tut, tut--no more of that!" said he, impatiently; "I cannot do it without +betraying myself. If I gave it back to them, what would become of you and +George, and how am I to stop the clamours of that cormorant? No, no! it is +useless to talk of it--I cannot do it!" + +"There would be still enough left for George, after restoring them their +own, and you might give this man my share of what is left. I would rather +work day and night," said she, determinedly, "than ever touch a penny of +the money thus accumulated." + +"I've thought all that over, long ago, but I dare not do it--it might cause +inquiries to be made that might result to my disadvantage. No, I cannot do +that; sit down, and let us be quiet now." + +Mr. Stevens lay back upon his pillow, and for a moment seemed to doze; then +starting up again suddenly, he asked, "Have you told George about it? Have +you ever confided anything to him?" + +"No, papa," answered she soothingly, "not a breath; I've been secret as the +grave." + +"That's right!" rejoined he--"that is right! I love George, but not as I do +you. He only comes to me when he wants money. He is not like you, +darling--you take care of and nurse your poor old father. Has he come in +yet?" + +"Not yet; he never gets home until almost morning, and is then often +fearfully intoxicated." + +The old man shook his head, and muttered, "The sins of the fathers +shall--what is that? Did you hear that noise?--hush!" + +Lizzie stood quietly by him for a short while, and then walked on tiptoe to +the door--"It is George," said she, after peering into the gloom of their +entry; "he has admitted him self with his night-key." + +The shuffling sound of footsteps was now quite audible upon the stairway, +and soon the bloated face of Mr. Stevens's hopeful son was seen at the +chamber door. In society and places where this young gentleman desired to +maintain a respectable character he could be as well behaved, as choice in +his language, and as courteous as anybody; but at home, where he was well +known, and where he did not care to place himself under any restraint, he +was a very different individual. + +"Let me in, Liz," said he, in a thick voice; "I want the old man to fork +over some money--I'm cleaned out." + +"No, no--go to bed, George," she answered, coaxingly, "and talk to him +about it in the morning." + +"I'm coming in _now_," said he, determinedly; "and besides, I want to tell +you something about that nigger Garie." + +"Tell us in the morning," persisted Lizzy. + +"No--I'm going to tell you now," rejoined he, forcing his way into the +room--"it's too good to keep till morning. Pick up that wick, let a fellow +see if you are all alive!" + +Lizzie raised the wick of the lamp in accordance with his desire, and then +sat down with an expression of annoyance and vexation on her countenance. + +George threw himself into an easy chair, and began, "I saw that white +nigger Garie to-night, he was in company with a gentleman, at that--the +assurance of that fellow is perfectly incomprehensible. He was drinking at +the bar of the hotel; and as it is no secret why he and Miss Bates parted, +I enlightened the company on the subject of his antecedents. He threatened +to challenge me! Ho! ho!--fight with a nigger--that is too good a joke!" +And laughing heartily, the young ruffian leant back in his chair. "I want +some money to-morrow, dad," continued he. "I say, old gentleman, wasn't it +a lucky go that darkey's father was put out of the way so nicely, +eh?--We've been living in clover ever since--haven't we?" + +"How dare you address me-in that disrespectful manner? Go out of the room, +sir!" exclaimed Mr. Stevens, with a disturbed countenance. + +"Come, George, go to bed," urged his sister wearily. "Let father sleep--it +is after twelve o'clock. I am going to wake the nurse, and then retire +myself." + +George rose stupidly from his chair, and followed his sister from the room. +On the stairway he grasped her arm rudely, and said, "I don't understand +how it is that you and the old man are so cursed thick all of a sudden. You +are thick as two thieves, always whispering and talking together. Act fair, +Liz--don't persuade him to leave you all the money. If you do, we'll +quarrel--that's flat. Don't try and cozen him out of my share as well as +your own--you hear!" + +"Oh, George!" rejoined she reproachfully--"I never had such an idea." + +"Then what are you so much together for? Why is there so much whispering +and writing, and going off on journeys all alone? What does it all mean, +eh?" + +"It means nothing at all, George. You are not yourself to-night," said she +evasively; "you had better go to bed." + +"It is _you_ that are not yourself," he retorted. "What makes you look so +pale and worried--and why do you and the old man start if the door cracks, +as if the devil was after you? What is the meaning of that?" asked he with +a drunken leer. "You had better look out," concluded he; "I'm watching you +both, and will find out all your secrets by-and-by." + +"Learn all our secrets! Ah, my brother!" thought she, as he disappeared +into his room, "you need not desire to have their fearful weight upon you, +or you will soon grow as anxious, thin, and pale as I am." + +The next day at noon Lizzie started on her journey, after a short +conference with her father. + +Night had settled upon her native city, when she was driven through its +straight and seemingly interminable thoroughfares. The long straight rows +of lamps, the snowy steps, the scrupulously clean streets, the signs over +the stores, were like the faces of old acquaintances, and at any other time +would have caused agreeable recollections; but the object of her visit +pre-occupied her mind, to the exclusion of any other and more pleasant +associations. + +She ordered the coachman to take her to an obscure hotel, and, after having +engaged a room, she left her baggage and started in search of the residence +of McCloskey. + +She drew her veil down over her face very closely, and walked quickly +through the familiar streets, until she arrived at the place indicated in +his letter. It was a small, mean tenement, in a by street, in which there +were but one or two other houses. The shutters were closed from the upper +story to the lowest, and the whole place wore an uninhabited appearance. +After knocking several times, she was about to give up in despair, when she +discovered through the glass above the door the faint glimmer of a light, +and shortly after a female voice demanded from the inside, "Who is there?" + +"Does Mr. McCloskey live here?" asked Lizzie. + +Hearing a voice not more formidable than her own, the person within +partially opened the door; and, whilst shading with one hand the candle she +held in the other, gazed out upon the speaker. + +"Does Mr. McCloskey live here?" repeated Lizzie. + +"Yes, he does," answered the woman, in a weak voice; "but he's got the +typers." + +"Has the what?" inquired Lizzie, who did not exactly understand her. + +"Got the typers--got the fever, you know." + +"The typhus fever!" said Lizzie, with a start; "then he is really sick." + +"Really sick!" repeated the woman--"really sick! Well, I should think he +was! Why, he's been a raving and swearing awful for days; he stormed and +screamed so loud that the neighbours complained. Law! they had to even +shave his head." + +"Is he any better?" asked Lizzie, with a sinking heart. "Can I see him?" + +"'Praps you can, if you go to the hospital to-morrow; but whether you'll +find him living or dead is more than I can say. I couldn't keep him here--I +wasn't able to stand him. I've had the fever myself--he took it from me. +You must come in," continued the woman, "if you want to talk--I'm afraid of +catching cold, and can't stand at the door. Maybe you're afraid of the +fever," she further observed, as she saw Lizzie hesitate on the door-step. + +"Oh, no, I'm not afraid of that," answered Lizzie quickly--"I am not in the +least afraid." + +"Come in, then," reiterated the woman, "and I'll tell you all about it." + +The woman looked harmless enough, and Lizzie hesitated no longer, but +followed her through the entry into a decently furnished room. Setting the +candlestick upon the mantelpiece, she offered her visitor a chair, and then +continued-- + +"He came home this last time in an awful state. Before he left some one +sent him a load of money, and he did nothing but drink and gamble whilst it +lasted. I used to tell him that he ought to take care of his money, and +he'd snap his fingers and laugh. He used to say that he owned the goose +that laid the golden eggs, and could have money whenever he wanted it. +Well, as I was a saying, he went; and when he came back he had an awful +attack of _delirium tremens_, and then he took the typers. Oh, laws mercy!" +continued she, holding up her bony hands, "how that critter raved! He +talked about killing people." + +"He did!" interrupted Lizzie, with a gesture of alarm, and laying her hand +upon her heart, which beat fearfully--"did he mention any name?" + +The woman did not stop to answer this question, but proceeded as if she had +not been interrupted. "He was always going on about two orphans and a will, +and he used to curse and swear awfully about being obliged to keep +something hid. It was dreadful to listen to--it would almost make your hair +stand on end to hear him." + +"And he never mentioned names?" said Lizzie inquiringly. + +"No, that was so strange; he never mentioned no names--_never_. He used to +rave a great deal about two orphans and a will, and he would ransack the +bed, and pull up the sheets, and look under the pillows, as if he thought +it was there. Oh, he acted very strange, but never mentioned no names. I +used to think he had something in his trunk, he was so very special about +it. He was better the day they took him off; and the trunk went with +him--he would have it; but since then he's had a dreadful relapse, and +there's no knowin' whether he is alive or dead." + +"I must go to the hospital," said Lizzie, rising from her seat, and greatly +relieved to learn that nothing of importance had fallen from McCloskey +during his delirium. "I shall go there as quickly as I can," she observed, +walking to the door. + +"You'll not see him to-night if you do," rejoined the woman. "Are you a +relation?" + +"Oh, no," answered Lizzie; "my father is an acquaintance of his. I learned +that he was ill, and came to inquire after him." + +Had the woman not been very indifferent or unobservant, she would have +noticed the striking difference between the manner and appearance of Lizzie +Stevens and the class who generally came to see McCloskey. She did not, +however, appear to observe it, nor did she manifest any curiosity greater +than that evidenced by her inquiring if he was a relative. + +Lizzie walked with a lonely feeling through the quiet streets until she +arrived at the porter's lodge of the hospital. She pulled the bell with +trembling hands, and the door was opened by the little bald-headed man +whose loquacity was once (the reader will remember) so painful to Mrs. +Ellis. There was no perceptible change in his appearance, and he manifestly +took as warm an interest in frightful accidents as ever. "What is it--what +is it?" he asked eagerly, as Lizzie's pale face became visible in the +bright light that shone from the inner office. "Do you want a stretcher?" + +The rapidity with which he asked these questions, and his eager manner, +quite startled her, and she was for a moment unable to tell her errand. + +"Speak up, girl--speak up! Do you want a stretcher--is it burnt or run +over. Can't you speak, eh?" + +It now flashed upon Lizzie that the venerable janitor was labouring under +the impression that she had come to make application for the admission of a +patient, and she quickly answered-- + +"Oh, no; it is nothing of the kind, I am glad to say." + +"Glad to say," muttered the old man, the eager, expectant look disappearing +from his face, giving place to one of disappointment--"glad to say; why +there hasn't been an accident to-day, and here you've gone and rung the +bell, and brought me here to the door for nothing. What do you want then?" + +"I wish to inquire after a person who is here." + +"What's his number?" gruffly inquired he. + +"That I cannot tell," answered she; "his name is McCloskey." + +"I don't know anything about him. Couldn't tell who he is unless I go all +over the books to-night. We don't know people by their names here; come in +the morning--ten o'clock, and don't never ring that bell again," concluded +he, sharply, "unless you want a stretcher: ringing the bell, and no +accident;" and grumbling at being disturbed for nothing, he abruptly closed +the door in Lizzie's face. + +Anxious and discomfited, she wandered back to her hotel; and after drinking +a weak cup of tea, locked her room-door, and retired to bed. There she lay, +tossing from side to side--she could not sleep--her anxiety respecting her +father's safety; her fears, lest in the delirium of fever McCloskey should +discover their secret, kept her awake far into the night, and the city +clocks struck two ere she fell asleep. + +When she awoke in the morning the sun was shining brightly into her room; +for a few moments she could not realize where she was; but the events of +the past night soon came freshly to her; looking at her watch, she +remembered that she was to go to the hospital at ten, and it was already +half-past nine; her wakefulness the previous night having caused her to +sleep much later than her usual hour. + +Dressing herself in haste, she hurried down to breakfast; and after having +eaten a slight meal, ordered a carriage, and drove to the hospital. + +The janitor was in his accustomed seat, and nodded smilingly to her as she +entered. He beckoned her to him, and whispered, "I inquired about him. +McCloskey, fever-ward, No. 21, died this morning at two o'clock and forty +minutes." + +"Dead!" echoed Lizzie, with a start of horror. + +"Yes, dead," repeated he, with a complacent look; "any relation of +yours--want an order for the body?" + +Lizzie was so astounded by this intelligence, that she could not reply; and +the old man continued mysteriously. "Came to before he died--wish he +hadn't--put me to a deal of trouble--sent for a magistrate--then for a +minister--had something on his mind--couldn't die without telling it, you +know; then there was oaths, depositions--so much trouble. Are you his +relation--want an order for the body?" + +"Oaths! magistrate!--a confession no doubt," thought Lizzie; her limbs +trembled; she was so overcome with terror that she could scarcely stand; +clinging to the railing of the desk by which she was standing for support, +she asked, hesitatingly, "He had something to confess then?" + +The janitor looked at her for a few moments attentively, and seemed to +notice for the first time her ladylike appearance and manners; a sort of +reserve crept over him at the conclusion of his scrutiny, for he made no +answer to her question, but simply asked, with more formality than before, +"Are you a relation--do you want an order for the body?" + +Ere Lizzie could answer his question, a man, plainly dressed, with keen +grey eyes that seemed to look restlessly about in every corner of the room, +came and stood beside the janitor. He looked at Lizzie from the bow on the +top of her bonnet to the shoes on her feet; it was not a stare, it was more +a hasty glance--and yet she could not help feeling that he knew every item +of her dress, and could have described her exactly. + +"Are you a relative of this person," he asked, in a clear sharp voice, +whilst his keen eyes seemed to be piercing her through in search of the +truth. + +"No, sir," she answered, faintly. + +"A friend then, I presume," continued he, respectfully. + +"An acquaintance," returned she. The man paused for a few moments, then +taking out his watch, looked at the time, and hastened from the office. + +This man possessed Lizzie with a singular feeling of dread--why she could +not determine; yet, after he was gone, she imagined those cold grey eyes +were resting on her, and bidding the old janitor, who had grown reserved so +suddenly, good morning, she sprang into her carriage as fast as her +trembling limbs could carry her, and ordered the coachman to drive back to +the hotel. + +"Father must fly!" soliloquized she; "the alarm will, no doubt, lend him +energy. I've heard of people who have not been able to leave their rooms +for months becoming suddenly strong under the influence of terror. We must +be off to some place of concealment until we can learn whether he is +compromised by that wretched man's confession." + +Lizzie quickly paid her bill, packed her trunk, and started for the station +in hopes of catching the mid-day train for New York. + +The driver did not spare his horses, but at her request drove them at their +utmost speed--but in vain. She arrived there only time enough to see the +train move away; and there, standing on the platform, looking at her with a +sort of triumphant satisfaction, was the man with the keen grey eyes. +"Stop! stop!" cried she. + +"Too late, miss," said a bystander, sympathizingly; "just too late--no +other train for three hours." + +"Three hours!" said Lizzie, despairingly; "three hours! Yet I must be +patient--there is no remedy," and she endeavoured to banish her fears and +occupy herself in reading the advertisements that were posted up about the +station. It was of no avail, that keen-looking man with his piercing grey +eyes haunted her; and she could not avoid associating him in her thoughts +with her father and McCloskey. What was he doing on the train, and why did +he regard her with that look of triumphant satisfaction. + +Those were to her the three longest hours of her life. Wearily and +impatiently she paced up and down the long saloon, watching the hands of +the clock as they appeared to almost creep over the dial-plate. Twenty +times during those three hours did she compare the clock with her watch, +and found they moved on unvaryingly together. + +At last the hour for the departure of the train arrived; and seated in the +car, she was soon flying at express speed on the way towards her home. "How +much sooner does the other train arrive than we?" she asked of the +conductor. + +"Two hours and a half, miss," replied he, courteously; "we gain a half-hour +upon them." + +"A half-hour--that is something gained," thought she; "I may reach my +father before that man. Can he be what I suspect?" + +On they went--thirty--forty--fifty miles an hour, yet she thought it slow. +Dashing by villages, through meadows, over bridges,--rattling, screaming, +puffing, on their way to the city of New York. In due time they arrived at +the ferry, and after crossing the river were in the city itself. Lizzie +took the first carriage that came to hand, and was soon going briskly +through the streets towards her father's house. The nearer she approached +it, the greater grew her fears; a horrible presentiment that something +awful had occurred, grew stronger and stronger as she drew nearer home. She +tried to brave it off--resist it--crush it--but it came back upon her each +time with redoubled force. + +On she went, nearer and nearer every moment, until at last she was in the +avenue itself. She gazed eagerly from the carriage, and thought she +observed one or two persons run across the street opposite her father's +house. It could not be!--she looked again--yes, there was a group beneath +his window. "Faster! faster!" she cried frantically; "faster if you can." +The door was at last reached; she sprang from the carriage and pressed +through the little knot of people who were gathered on the pavement. Alas! +her presentiments were correct. There, lying on the pavement, was the +mangled form of her father, who had desperately sprung from the balcony +above, to escape arrest from the man with the keen grey eyes, who, with the +warrant in his hand, stood contemplating the lifeless body. + +"Father! father!" cried Lizzie, in an anguished voice; "father, speak +once!" Too late! too late! the spirit had passed away--the murderer had +rushed before a higher tribunal--a mightier Judge--into the presence of One +who tempers justice with mercy. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +The Wedding. + + +The night that Lizzie Stevens arrived in Philadelphia was the one decided +upon for the marriage of Emily Garie and Charles Ellis; and whilst she was +wandering so lonely through the streets of one part of the city, a scene of +mirth and gaiety was transpiring in another, some of the actors in which +would be made more happy by events that would be productive of great sorrow +to her. + +Throughout that day bustle and confusion had reigned supreme in the house +of Mr. Walters. Caddy, who had been there since the break of day, had taken +the domestic reins entirely from the hands of the mistress of the mansion, +and usurped command herself. Quiet Esther was well satisfied to yield her +full control of the domestic arrangements for the festivities, and Caddy +was nothing loath to assume them. + +She entered upon the discharge of her self-imposed duties with such ardour +as to leave no doubt upon the minds of the parties most interested but that +they would be thoroughly performed, and with an alacrity too that +positively appalled quiet Esther's easy-going servants. + +Great doubts had been expressed as to whether Caddy could successfully +sustain the combined characters of _chef de cuisine_ and bridesmaid, and a +failure had been prophesied. She therefore felt it incumbent upon her to +prove these prognostications unfounded, and demonstrate the practicability +of the undertaking. On the whole, she went to work with energy, and seemed +determined to establish the fact that her abilities were greatly +underrated, and that a woman could accomplish more than one thing at a +time when she set about it. + +The feelings of all such persons about the establishment of Mr. Walters as +were "constitutionally tired" received that day divers serious shocks at +the hands of Miss Caddy--who seemed endowed with a singular faculty which +enabled her to discover just what people did not want to do, and of setting +them at it immediately. + +For instance, Jane, the fat girl, hated going upstairs excessively. Caddy +employed her in bringing down glass and china from a third-story pantry; +and, moreover, only permitted her to bring a small quantity at a time, +which rendered a number of trips strictly necessary, to the great +aggravation and serious discomfort of the fat girl in question. + +On the other hand, Julia, the slim chambermaid, who would have been +delighted with such employment, and who would have undoubtedly refreshed +herself on each excursion upstairs with a lengthened gaze from the window, +was condemned to the polishing of silver and dusting of plates and glass in +an obscure back pantry, which contained but one window, and that commanding +a prospect of a dead wall. + +Miss Caddy felt in duty bound to inspect each cake, look over the wine, and +(to the great discomfiture of the waiter) decant it herself, not liking to +expose him to any unnecessary temptation. She felt, too, all the more +inclined to assume the office of butler from the fact that, at a previous +party of her sister's, she had detected this same gentleman with a bottle +of the best sherry at his mouth, whilst he held his head thrown back in a +most surprising manner, with a view, no doubt, of contemplating the ceiling +more effectually from that position. + +Before night such was the increasing demand for help in the kitchen that +Caddy even kidnapped the nurse, and locked the brown baby and her sister in +the bath-room, where there was no window in their reach, nor any other +means at hand from which the slightest injury could result to them. Here +they were supplied with a tub half filled with water, and spent the time +most delightfully in making boats of their shoes, and lading them with +small pieces of soap, which they bit off from the cake for the occasion; +then, coasting along to the small towns on the borders of the tub, they +disposed of their cargoes to imaginary customers to immense advantage. + +Walters had declared the house uninhabitable, and had gone out for the day. +Esther and Emily busied themselves in arranging the flowers in the +drawing-room and hall, and hanging amidst the plants on the balcony little +stained glass lamps; all of which Caddy thought very well in its way, but +which she was quite confident would be noticed much less by the guests than +the supper--in which supposition she was undoubtedly correct. + +Kinch also lounged in two or three times during the day, to seek +consolation at the hands of Esther and Emily. He was in deep distress of +mind--in great perturbation. His tailor had promised to send home a vest +the evening previous and had not fulfilled his agreement. After his first +visit Kinch entered the house in the most stealthy manner, for fear of +being encountered by Caddy; who, having met him in the hall during the +morning, posted him off for twenty pounds of sugar, a ball of twine, and a +stone jar, despite his declaration of pre-engagements, haste, and limited +knowledge of the articles in question. + +Whilst Lizzie Stevens was tremblingly ringing the bell at the lodge of the +hospital, busy hands were also pulling at that of Mr. Walters's dwelling. +Carriage after carriage rolled up, and deposited their loads of gay +company, who skipped nimbly over the carpet that was laid down from the +door to the curbstone. Through the wide hall and up the stairway, flowers +of various kinds mingled their fragrance and loaded the air with their rich +perfume; and expressions of delight burst from the lips of the guests as +they passed up the brilliantly-lighted stairway and thronged the spacious +drawing-rooms. There were but few whites amongst them, and they +particular friends. There was Mrs. Bird, who had travelled from Warmouth to +be present at the ceremony; Mr. Balch, the friend and legal adviser of the +bride's father; Father Banks, who was to tie the happy knot; and there, +too, was Mrs. Burrell, and that baby, now grown to a promising lad, and who +would come to the wedding because Charlie had sent him a regular invitation +written like that sent his parents. + +Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were of course there,--the latter arrayed in a rich new +silk made up expressly for the occasion--and the former almost hidden in +his large easy chair. The poor old gentleman scarcely seemed able to +comprehend the affair, and apparently laboured under the impression that it +was another mob, and looked a little terrified at times when the laughter +or conversation grew louder than usual. + +The hour for the ceremony was fast approaching, and Esther left the +assembled guests and went up into Emily Garie's room to assist the young +ladies in preparing the bride. They all besought her to be calm, not to +agitate herself upon any consideration; and then bustled about her, and +flurried themselves in the most ridiculous manner, with a view, no doubt, +of tranquillizing her feelings more effectually. + +"Little Em," soon to be Mrs. Ellis, was busily engaged in dressing; the +toilet-table was covered with lighted candles, and all the gas-burners in +the room were in full blaze, bringing everything out in bold relief. + +"We are having quite an illumination; the glare almost blinds me," said +Emily. "Put out some of the candles." + +"No, no, my dear," rejoined one of the young ladies engaged in dressing +her; "we cannot sacrifice a candle. We don't need them to discern your +charms, Em; only to enable us to discover how to deck them to the best +advantage. How sweet you look!" + +Emily gazed into the mirror; and from the blush that suffused her face and +the look of complacency that followed, it was quite evident that she shared +her friend's opinion. She did, indeed, look charming. There was a deeper +colour than usual on her cheeks, and her eyes were illumined with a soft, +tender light. Her wavy brown hair was parted smoothly on the front, and +gathered into a cluster of curls at the back. Around her neck glistened a +string of pearls, a present from Mr. Winston, who had just returned from +South America. The pure white silk fitted to a nicety, and the tiny satin +slippers seemed as if they were made upon her feet, and never intended to +come off again. Her costume was complete, with the exception of the veil +and wreath, and Esther opened the box that she supposed contained them, for +the purpose of arranging them on the bride. + +"Where have you put the veil, my dear?" she asked, after raising the lid of +the box, and discovering that they were not there. + +"In the box, are they not?" answered one of the young ladies. + +"No, they are not there," continued Esther, as she turned over the various +articles with which the tables were strewed. All in vain; the veil and +wreath could be nowhere discovered. + +"Are you sure it came home?" asked one. + +"Of course," replied another; "I had it in my hand an hour ago." + +Then a thorough search was commenced, all the drawers ransacked, and +everything turned over again and again; and just when they were about to +abandon the search in despair, one of the party returned from the adjoining +room, dragging along the brown baby, who had the veil wrapped about her +chubby shoulders as a scarf, and the wreath ornamenting her round curly +head. Even good-natured Esther was a little ruffled at this daring act of +baby's, and hastily divested that young lady of her borrowed adornments, +amidst the laughter of the group. + +Poor baby was quite astonished at the precipitate manner in which she was +deprived of her finery, and was for a few moments quite overpowered by her +loss; but, perceiving a drawer open in the toilet-table, she dried her +eyes, and turned her attention in that direction, and in tossing its +contents upon the floor amply solaced herself for the deprivation she had +just undergone. + +"Caddy is a famous chief bridesmaid--hasn't been here to give the least +assistance," observed Esther; "she is not even dressed herself. I will +ring, and ask where she can be--in the kitchen or supper-room I've no +doubt. Where is Miss Ellis?" she asked of the servant who came in answer +her summons. + +"Downstairs, mem--the boy that brought the ice-cream kicked over a candy +ornament, and Miss Ellis was very busy a shaking of him when I came up." + +"Do beg her to stop," rejoined Esther, with a laugh, "and tell her I say +she can shake him in the morning--we are waiting for her to dress now; and +also tell Mr. De Younge to come here to the door--I want him." + +Kinch soon made his appearance, in accordance with Esther's request, and +fairly dazzled her with his costume. His blue coat was brazen with buttons, +and his white cravat tied with choking exactness; spotless vest, black +pants, and such patent leathers as you could have seen your face in with +ease. + +"How fine you look, Kinch," said Esther admiringly. + +"Yes," he answered; "the new vest came home--how do you like it?" + +"Oh, admirable! But, Kinch, can't you go down, and implore Caddy to come up +and dress--time is slipping away very fast?" + +"Oh, I daren't," answered Kinch, with a look of alarm--"I don't dare to go +down now that I'm dressed. She'll want me to carry something up to the +supper-room if I do--a pile of dishes, or something of the kind. I'd like +to oblige you, Mrs. Walters, but it's worth my new suit to do it." + +Under these circumstances, Kinch was excused; and a deputation, headed by +Mr. Walters, was sent into the lower regions to wait upon Caddy, who +prevailed upon her to come up and dress, which she did, being all the +while very red in the face, and highly indignant at being sent for so +often. + +"Good gracious!" she exclaimed, "what a pucker you are all in!" + +"Why, Caddy, it's time to be," replied Esther--"it wants eight minutes of +the hour." + +"And that is just three minutes more than I should want for dressing if I +was going to be married myself," rejoined she; and hastening away, she +returned in an incredibly short time, all prepared for the ceremony. + +Charlie was very handsomely got up for the occasion. Emily, Esther, +Caddy--in fact, all of them--agreed that he never looked better in his +life. "That is owing to me--all my doings," said Kinch exultingly. "He +wanted to order his suit of old Forbes, who hasn't looked at a +fashion-plate for the last ten years, and I wouldn't let him. I took him to +my man, and see what he has made of him--turned him out looking like a +bridegroom, instead of an old man of fifty! It's all owing to me," said the +delighted Kinch, who skipped about the entry until he upset a vase of +flowers that stood on a bracket behind him; whereupon Caddy ran and brought +a towel, and made him take off his white gloves and wipe up the water, in +spite of his protestations that the shape of his pantaloons would not bear +the strain of stooping. + +At last the hour arrived, and the bridal party descended to the +drawing-room in appropriate order, and stood up before Father Banks. The +ceremony was soon over, and Emily was clasped in Mrs. Ellis's arms, who +called her "daughter," and kissed her cheek with such warm affection that +she no longer felt herself an orphan, and paid back with tears and embraces +the endearments that were lavished upon her by her new relatives. + +Father Banks took an early opportunity to give them each some good advice, +and managed to draw them apart for that purpose. He told them how imperfect +and faulty were all mankind--that married life was not all _couleur de +rose_--that the trials and cares incident to matrimony fully equalled its +pleasures; and besought them to bear with each other patiently, to be +charitable to each other's faults--and a reasonable share of earthly +happiness must be the result. + +Then came the supper. Oh! such a supper!--such quantities of nice things as +money and skill alone can bring together. There were turkeys innocent of a +bone, into which you might plunge your knife to the very hilt without +coming in contact with a splinter--turkeys from which cunning cooks had +extracted every bone leaving the meat alone behind, with the skin not +perceptibly broken. How brown and tempting they looked, their capacious +bosoms giving rich promise of high-seasoned dressing within, and looking +larger by comparison with the tiny reed-birds beside them, which lay cosily +on the golden toast, looking as much as to say, "If you want something to +remember for ever, come and give me a bite!" + +Then there were dishes of stewed terrapin, into which the initiated dipped +at once, and to which they for some time gave their undivided attention, +oblivious, apparently, of the fact that there was a dish of chicken-salad +close beside them. + +Then there were oysters in every variety--silver dishes containing them +stewed, their fragrant macey odour wafting itself upward, and causing +watery sensations about the mouth. Waiters were constantly rushing into the +room, bringing dishes of them fried so richly brown, so smoking hot, that +no man with a heart in his bosom could possibly refuse them. Then there +were glass dishes of them pickled, with little black spots of allspice +floating on the pearly liquid that contained them. And lastly, oysters +broiled, whose delicious flavour exceeds my powers of description--these, +with ham and tongue, were the solid comforts. There were other things, +however, to which one could turn when the appetite grew more dainty; there +were jellies, blancmange, chocolate cream, biscuit glace, peach ice, +vanilla ice, orange-water ice, brandy peaches, preserved strawberries and +pines; not to say a word of towers of candy, bonbons, kisses, champagne, +Rhine wine, sparkling Catawba, liquors, and a man in the corner making +sherry cobblers of wondrous flavour, under the especial supervision of +Kinch; on the whole, it was an American supper, got up regardless of +expense--and whoever has been to such an entertainment knows very well what +an American supper is. + +What a merry happy party it was--how they all seemed to enjoy +themselves--and how they all laughed, when the bride essayed to cut the +cake, and could not get the knife through the icing--and how the young +girls put pieces away privately, that they might place them under their +pillows to dream upon! What a happy time they had! + +Father Banks enjoyed himself amazingly; he eat quantities of stewed +terrapin, and declared it the best he ever tasted. He talked gravely to the +old people--cheerfully and amusingly to the young; and was, in fact, having +a most delightful time--when a servant whispered to him that there was a +person in the entry who wished to see him immediately. + +"Oh dear!" he exclaimed to Mr. Balch, "I was just congratulating myself +that I should have one uninterrupted evening, and you see the +result--called off at this late hour." + +Father Banks followed the servant from the room, and inquired of the +messenger what was wanted. + +"You must come to the hospital immediately, sir; the man with the +typhus-fever--you saw him yesterday--he's dying; he says he must see +you--that he has something important to confess. I'm to go for a magistrate +as well." + +"Ah!" said Father Banks, "you need go no further, Alderman Balch is +here--he is quite competent to receive his depositions." + +"I'm heartily glad of it," replied the man, "it will save me another hunt. +I had a hard time finding you. I've been to your house and two or three +other places, and was at last sent here. I'll go back and report that you +are coming and will bring a magistrate with you." + +"Very good," rejoined Father Banks, "do so. I will be there immediately." +Hastening back to the supper room, he discovered Mr. Balch in the act of +helping himself to a brandy peach, and apprised him of the demand for his +services. + +"Now, Banks," said he, good-humouredly, "that is outrageous. Why did you +not let him go for some one else? It is too bad to drag me away just when +the fun is about to commence." There was no alternative, however, and Mr. +Balch prepared to follow the minister to the bedside of McCloskey. + +When they arrived at the hospital, they found him fast sinking--the livid +colour of his face, the sunken glassy eyes, the white lips, and the blue +tint that surrounded the eyes and mouth told at once the fearful story. +Death had come. He was in full possession of his faculties, and told them +all. How Stevens had saved him from the gallows--and how he agreed to +murder Mr. Garie--of his failure when the time of action arrived, and how, +in consequence, Stevens had committed the deed, and how he had paid him +time after time to keep his secret. + +"In my trunk there," said he, in a dying whisper,--"in my trunk is the +will. I found it that night amongst his papers. I kept it to get money out +of his children with when old Stevens was gone. Here," continued he, +handing his key from beneath the pillow, "open my trunk and get it." + +Mr. Balch eagerly unlocked the trunk, and there, sure enough, lay the +long-sought-for and important document. + +"I knew it would be found at last. I always told Walters so; and now," said +he, exultingly, "see my predictions are verified." + +McCloskey seemed anxious to atone for the past by making an ample +confession. He told them all he knew of Mr. Stevens's present +circumstances--how his property was situated, and every detail necessary +for their guidance. Then his confession was sworn to and witnessed; and the +dying man addressed himself to the affairs of the next world, and +endeavoured to banish entirely from his mind all thoughts of this. + +After a life passed in the exercise of every Christian virtue--after a +lengthened journey over its narrow stony pathway, whereon temptations have +been met and triumphed over--where we have struggled with difficulties, and +borne afflictions without murmur or complaint, cheering on the weary we +have found sinking by the wayside, comforting and assisting the fallen, +endeavouring humbly and faithfully to do our duty to God and humanity--even +after a life thus passed, when we at last lie down to die the most faithful +and best may well shrink and tremble when they approach the gloomy portals +of death. At such an hour memory, more active than every other faculty, +drags all the good and evil from the past and sets them in distinct array +before us. Then we discover how greatly the latter exceeds the former in +our lives, and how little of our Father's work we have accomplished after +all our toils and struggles. 'Tis then the most devoted servant of our +common Master feels compelled to cry, "Mercy! O my Father!--for justice I +dare not ask." + +If thus the Christian passes away--what terror must fill the breast of one +whose whole life has been a constant warfare upon the laws of God and man? +How approaches he the bar of that awful Judge, whose commands he has set at +nought, and whose power he has so often contemned? With a fainting heart, +and tongue powerless to crave the mercy his crimes cannot deserve! + +McCloskey struggled long with death--died fearfully hard. The phantoms of +his victims seemed to haunt him in his dying hour, interposing between him +and God; and with distorted face, clenched hands, and gnashing teeth, he +passed away to his long account. + +From the bedside of the corpse Mr. Balch went--late as it was--to the +office of the chief of police. There he learned, to his great satisfaction, +that the governor was in town; and at an early hour the next morning he +procured a requisition for the arrest of Mr. Stevens, which he put into the +hands of the man with the keen grey eyes for the purpose of securing the +criminal; and with the result of his efforts the reader is already +acquainted. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +And the last. + + +With such celerity did Mr. Balch work in behalf of his wards, that he soon +had everything in train for the recovery of the property. + +At first George Stevens was inclined to oppose the execution of the will, +but he was finally prevailed upon by his advisers to make no difficulty +respecting it, and quietly resign what he must inevitably sooner or later +relinquish. Lizzie Stevens, on the contrary, seemed rather glad that an +opportunity was afforded to do justice to her old playmates, and won the +good opinion of all parties by her gentleness and evident anxiety to atone +for the wrong done them by her father. Even after the demands of the +executors of Mr. Garie were fully satisfied, such had been the thrift of +her father that there still remained a comfortable support for her and her +brother. + +To poor Clarence this accession of fortune brought no new pleasure; he +already had sufficient for his modest wants; and now that his greatest hope +in life had been blighted, this addition of wealth became to him rather a +burden than a pleasure. + +He was now completely excluded from the society in which he had so long +been accustomed to move; the secret of his birth had become widely known, +and he was avoided by his former friends and sneered at as a "nigger." His +large fortune kept some two or three whites about him, but he knew they +were leeches seeking to bleed his purse, and he wisely avoided their +society. + +He was very wretched and lonely: he felt ashamed to seek the society of +coloured men now that the whites despised and rejected him, so he lived +apart from both classes of society, and grew moody and misanthropic. + +Mr. Balch endeavoured to persuade him to go abroad--to visit Europe: he +would not. He did not confess it, but the truth was, he could not tear +himself away from the city where little Birdie dwelt, where he now and then +could catch a glimpse of her to solace him in his loneliness. He was +growing paler and more fragile-looking each day, and the doctor at last +frankly told him that, if he desired to live, he must seek some warmer +climate for the winter. + +Reluctantly Clarence obeyed; in the fall he left New York, and during the +cold months wandered through the West India islands. For a while his health +improved, but when the novelty produced by change of scene began to decline +he grew worse again, and brooded more deeply than ever over his bitter +disappointment, and consequently derived but little benefit from the +change; the spirit was too much broken for the body to mend--his heart was +too sore to beat healthily or happily. + +He wrote often now to Emily and her husband, and seemed desirous to atone +for his past neglect. Emily had written to him first; she had learned of +his disappointment, and gave him a sister's sympathy in his loneliness and +sorrow. + +The chilly month of March had scarcely passed away when they received a +letter from him informing them of his intention to return. He wrote, "I am +no better, and my physician says that a longer residence here will not +benefit me in the least--that I came _too late_. I cough, cough, cough, +incessantly, and each day become more feeble. I am coming home, Emmy; +coming home, I fear, to die. I am but a ghost of my former self. I write +you this that you may not be alarmed when you see me. It is too late now to +repine, but, oh! Em, if my lot had only been cast with yours--had we never +been separated--I might have been to-day as happy as you are." + +It was a clear bright morning when Charlie stepped into a boat to be +conveyed to the ship in which Clarence had returned to New York: she had +arrived the evening previous, and had not yet come up to the dock. The air +came up the bay fresh and invigorating from the sea beyond, and the water +sparkled as it dripped from the oars, which, with monotonous regularity, +broke the almost unruffled surface of the bay. Some of the ship's sails +were shaken out to dry in the morning sun, and the cordage hung loosely and +carelessly from the masts and yards. A few sailors lounged idly about the +deck, and leaned over the side to watch the boat as it approached. With +their aid it was soon secured alongside, and Charlie clambered up the +ladder, and stood upon the deck of the vessel. On inquiring for Clarence, +he was shown into the cabin, where he found him extended on a sofa. + +He raised himself as he saw Charlie approach, and, extending his hand, +exclaimed,--"How kind! I did not expect you until we reached the shore." + +For a moment, Charlie could not speak. The shock caused by Clarence's +altered appearance was too great,--the change was terrible. When he had +last seen him, he was vigorous-looking, erect, and healthful; now he was +bent and emaciated to a frightful extent. The veins on his temples were +clearly discernible; the muscles of his throat seemed like great cords; his +cheeks were hollow, his sunken eyes were glassy bright and surrounded with +a dark rim, and his breathing was short and evidently painful. Charlie held +his thin fleshless hand in his own, and gazed in his face with an anguished +expression. + +"I look badly,--don't I Charlie?" said he, with assumed indifference; +"worse than you expected, eh?" + +Charlie hesitated a little, and then answered,--"Rather bad; but it is +owing to your sea-sickness, I suppose; that has probably reduced you +considerably; then this close cabin must be most unfavourable to your +health. Ah, wait until we get you home, we shall soon have you better." + +"Home!" repeated Clarence,--"home! How delightful that word sounds! I feel +it is going _home_ to go to you and Em." And he leant back and repeated the +word "home," and paused afterward, as one touches some favourite note upon +an instrument, and then silently listens to its vibrations. "How is Em?" he +asked at length. + +"Oh, well--very well," replied Charlie. "She has been busy as a bee ever +since she received your last letter; such a charming room as she has +prepared for you!" + +"Ah, Charlie," rejoined Clarence, mournfully, "I shall not live long to +enjoy it, I fear." + +"Nonsense!" interrupted Charlie, hopefully; "don't be so desponding, Clary: +here is spring again,--everything is thriving and bursting into new life. +You, too, will catch the spirit of the season, and grow in health and +strength again. Why, my dear fellow," continued he, cheerfully, "you can't +help getting better when we once get hold of you. Mother's gruels, Doctor +Burdett's prescriptions, and Em's nursing, would lift a man out of his +coffin. Come, now, don't let us hear anything more about dying." + +Clarence pressed his hand and looked at him affectionately, as though he +appreciated his efforts to cheer him and felt thankful for them; but he +only shook his head and smiled mournfully. + +"Let me help your man to get you up. When once you get ashore you'll feel +better, I've no doubt. We are not going to an hotel, but to the house of a +friend who has kindly offered to make you comfortable until you are able to +travel." + +With the assistance of Charlie and the servant, Clarence was gradually +prepared to go ashore. He was exceedingly weak, could scarcely totter +across the deck; and it was with some difficulty that they at last +succeeded in placing him safely in the boat. After they landed, a carriage +was soon procured, and in a short time thereafter Clarence was comfortably +established in the house of Charlie's friend. + +Their hostess, a dear old motherly creature, declared that she knew exactly +what Clarence needed; and concocted such delicious broths, made such +strengthening gruels, that Clarence could not avoid eating, and in a day +or two he declared himself better than he had been for a month, and felt +quite equal to the journey to Philadelphia. + +The last night of their stay in New York was unusually warm; and Clarence +informed Charlie he wished to go out for a walk. "I wish to go a long +distance,--don't think me foolish when I tell you where. I want to look at +the house where little Birdie lives. It may be for the last time. I have a +presentiment that I shall see her if I go,--I am sure I shall," added he, +positively, as though he felt a conviction that his desire would be +accomplished. + +"I would not, Clary," remonstrated Charlie. "Your health won't permit the +exertion; it is a long distance, too, you say; and, moreover, don't you +think, my dear fellow, that it is far more prudent to endeavour, if +possible, to banish her from your mind entirely. Don't permit yourself to +think about her, if you can help it. You know she is unattainable by you, +and you should make an effort to conquer your attachment." + +"It is too late--too late now, Charlie," he replied, mournfully. "I shall +continue to love her as I do now until I draw my last breath. I know it is +hopeless--I know she can never be more to me than she already is; but I +cannot help loving her. Let us go; I may see her once again. Ah, Charlie, +you cannot even dream what inexpressible pleasure the merest glimpse of her +affords me! Come, let us go." + +Charlie would not permit him to attempt to walk; and they procured a +carriage, in which they rode to within a short distance of the house. The +mansion of Mr. Bates appeared quite gloomy as they approached it. The +blinds were down, and no lights visible in any part of the house. + +"I am afraid they are out of town," remarked Charlie, when Clarence pointed +out the house; "everything looks so dull about it. Let us cross over to the +other pavement." And they walked over to the other side of the street, and +gazed upward at the house. + +"Let us sit down here," suggested Clarence,--"here, on this broad stone; +it is quite dark now, and no one will observe us." + +"No, no!" remonstrated Charlie; "the stone is too damp and cold." + +"Is it?" said Clarence vacantly. And taking out his handkerchief, he spread +it out, and, in spite of Charlie's dissuasions, sat down upon it. + +"Charlie," said he, after gazing at the house a long time in silence, "I +have often come here and remained half the night looking at her windows. +People have passed by and stared at me as though they thought me crazy; I +was half crazy then, I think. One night I remember I came and sat here for +hours; far in the night I saw her come to the window, throw up the +casement, and look out. That was in the summer, before I went away, you +know. There she stood in the moonlight, gazing upward at the sky, so pale, +so calm and holy-looking, in her pure white dress, that I should not have +thought it strange if the heavens had opened, and angels descended and +borne her away with them on their wings." And Clarence closed his eyes as +he concluded, to call back upon the mirror of his mind the image of little +Birdie as she appeared that night. + +They waited a long while, during which there was no evidence exhibited that +there was any one in the house. At last, just as they were about to move +away, they descried the glimmer of a light in the room which Clarence +declared to be her room. His frame trembled with expectation, and he walked +to and fro opposite the house with an apparent strength that surprised his +companion. At length the light disappeared again, and with it Clarence's +hopes. + +"Now then we must go," said Charlie, "it is useless for you to expose +yourself in this manner. I insist upon your coming home." + +Reluctantly Clarence permitted himself to be led across the street again. +As they were leaving the pavement, he turned to look back again, and, +uttering a cry of surprise and joy, he startled Charlie by clutching his +arm. "Look! look!" he cried, "there she is--my little Birdie." Charlie +looked up at the window almost immediately above them, and observed a +slight pale girl, who was gazing up the street in an opposite direction. + +"Little Birdie--little Birdie," whispered Clarence, tenderly. She did not +look toward them, but after standing there a few seconds, moved from +between the curtains and disappeared. + +"Thank God for that!" exclaimed Clarence, passionately, "I knew--I knew I +should see her. _I knew it_," repeated he, exultingly; and then, overcome +with joy, he bowed his head upon Charlie's shoulder and wept like a child. +"Don't think me foolish, Charlie," apologized he, "I cannot help it. I will +go home now. Oh, brother, I feel so much happier." And with a step less +faint and trembling, he walked back to the carriage. + +The following evening he was at home, but so enfeebled with the exertions +of the last two days, as to be obliged to take to his bed immediately after +his arrival. His sister greeted him affectionately, threw her arms about +his neck and kissed him tenderly; years of coldness and estrangement were +forgotten in that moment, and they were once more to each other as they +were before they parted. + +Emily tried to appear as though she did not notice the great change in his +appearance, and talked cheerfully and encouragingly in his presence; but +she wept bitterly, when alone, over the final separation which she foresaw +was not far distant. + +The nest day Doctor Burdett called, and his grave manner and apparent +disinclination to encourage any hope, confirmed the hopeless impression +they already entertained. + +Aunt Ada came from Sudbury at Emily's request; she knew her presence would +give pleasure to Clarence, she accordingly wrote her to come, and she and +Emily nursed by turns the failing sufferer. + +Esther and her husband, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy, and even Kinch, were +unremitting in their attentions, and did all in their power to amuse and +comfort him. Day by day he faded perceptibly, grew more and more feeble, +until at last Doctor Burdett began to number days instead of weeks as his +term of life. Clarence anticipated death with calmness--did not repine or +murmur. Father Banks was often with him cheering him with hopes of a +happier future beyond the grave. + +One day he sent for his sister and desired her to write a letter for him. +"Em," said he, "I am failing fast; these fiery spots on my cheek, this +scorching in my palms, these hard-drawn, difficult breaths, warn me that +the time is very near. Don't weep, Em!" continued he, kissing her--"there, +don't weep--I shall be better off--happier--I am sure! Don't weep now--I +want you to write to little Birdie for me. I have tried, but my hand +trembles so that I cannot write legibly--I gave it up. Sit down beside me +here, and write; here is the pen." Emily dried her eyes, and mechanically +sat down to write as he desired. Motioning to him that she was ready, he +dictated-- + +"My Dear Little Birdie,--I once resolved never to write to you again, and +partially promised your father that I would not; then I did not dream that +I should be so soon compelled to break my resolution. Little Birdie, I am +dying! My physician informs me that I have but a few more days to live. I +have been trying to break away from earth's affairs and fix my thoughts on +other and better things. I have given up all but you, and feel that I +cannot relinquish you until I see you once again. Do not refuse me, little +Birdie! Show this to your father--he must consent to a request made by one +on the brink of the grave." + +"There, that will do; let me read it over," said he, extending his hand for +the note. "Yes, I will sign it now--then do you add our address. Send it +now, Emily--send it in time for to-night's mail." + +"Clary, do you think she will come?" inquired his sister. + +"Yes," replied he, confidently; "I am sure she will if the note reaches +her." Emily said no more, but sealed and directed the note, which she +immediately despatched to the post-office; and on the following day it +reached little Birdie. + +From the time when the secret of Clarence's birth had been discovered, +until the day she had received his note, she never mentioned his name. At +the demand of her father she produced his letters, miniature, and even the +little presents he had given her from time to time, and laid them down +before him without a murmur; after this, even when he cursed and denounced +him, she only left the room, never uttering a word in his defence. She +moved about like one who had received a stunning blow--she was dull, cold, +apathetic. She would smile vacantly when her father smoothed her hair or +kissed her cheek; but she never laughed, or sang and played, as in days +gone by; she would recline for hours on the sofa in her room gazing +vacantly in the air, and taking apparently no interest in anything about +her. She bent her head when she walked, complained of coldness about her +temples, and kept her hand constantly upon her heart. + +Doctors were at last consulted; they pronounced her physically well, and +thought that time would restore her wonted animation; but month after month +she grew more dull and silent, until her father feared she would become +idiotic, and grew hopeless and unhappy about her. For a week before the +receipt of the note from Clarence, she had been particularly apathetic and +indifferent, but it seemed to rouse her into life again. She started up +after reading it, and rushed wildly through the hall into her father's +library. + +"See here!" exclaimed she, grasping his arm--"see there--I knew it! I've +felt day after day that it was coming to that! You separated us, and now he +is dying--dying!" cried she. "Read it--read it!" + +Her father took the note, and after perusing it laid it on the table, and +said coldly, "Well--" + +"Well!" repeated she, with agitation--"Oh, father, it is not well! Father!" +said she, hurriedly, "you bid me give him up--told me he was +unworthy--pointed out to me fully and clearly why we could not marry: I +was convinced we could not, for I knew you would never let it be. Yet I +have never ceased to love him. I cannot control my heart, but I could my +voice, and never since that day have I spoken his name. I gave him up--not +that I would not have gladly married, knowing what he was--because you +desired it--because I saw either your heart must break or mine. I let mine +go to please you, and have suffered uncomplainingly, and will so suffer +until the end; but I _must_ see him once again. It will be a pleasure to +him to see me once again in his dying hour, and I _must_ go. If you love +me," continued she, pleadingly, as her father made a gesture of dissent, +"let us go. You see he is dying--begs you from the brink of the grave. Let +me go, only to say good bye to him, and then, perhaps," concluded she, +pressing her hand upon her heart, "I shall be better here." + +Her father had not the heart to make any objection, and the next day they +started for Philadelphia. They despatched a note to Clarence, saying they +had arrived, which Emily received, and after opening it, went to gently +break its contents to her brother. + +"You must prepare yourself for visitors, Clary," said she, "no doubt some +of our friends will call to-day, the weather is so very delightful." + +"Do you know who is coming?" he inquired. + +"Yes, dear," she answered, seating herself beside him, "I have received a +note stating that a particular friend will call to-day--one that you desire +to see." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "it is little Birdie, is it not?" + +"Yes," she replied, "they have arrived in town, and will be here to-day." + +"Did not I tell you so?" said he, triumphantly. "I knew she would come. I +knew it," continued he, joyfully. "Let me get up--I am strong enough--she +is come--O! she has come." + +Clarence insisted on being dressed with extraordinary care. His long +fierce-looking beard was trimmed carefully, and he looked much better than +he had done for weeks; he was wonderfully stronger, walked across the room, +and chatted over his breakfast with unusual animation. + +At noon they came, and were shown into the drawing-room, where Emily +received them. Mr. Bates bowed politely, and expressed a hope that Mr. +Garie was better. Emily held out her hand to little Birdie, who clasped it +in both her own, and said, inquiringly: "You are his sister?" + +"Yes," answered Emily. "You, I should have known from Clarence's +description--you are his little Birdie?" + +She did not reply--her lip quivered, and she pressed Emily's hand and +kissed her. "He is impatient to see you," resumed Emily, "and if you are so +disposed, we will go up immediately." + +"I will remain here," observed Mr. Bates, "unless Mr. Garie particularly +desires to see me. My daughter will accompany you." + +Emily took the hand of little Birdie in her own, and they walked together +up the stairway. "You must not be frightened at his appearance," she +remarked, tearfully, "he is greatly changed." + +Little Birdie only shook her head--her heart seemed too full for +speech--and she stepped on a little faster, keeping her hand pressed on her +breast all the while. + +When they reached the door, Emily was about to open it, but her companion +stopped her, by saying: "Wait a moment--stop! How my heart beats--it almost +suffocates me." They paused for a few moments to permit little Birdie to +recover from her agitation, then throwing open the door they advanced into +the room. + +"Clarence!" said his sister. He did not answer; he was looking down into +the garden. She approached nearer, and gently laying her hand on his +shoulder, said, "Here is your little Birdie, Clarence." He neither moved +nor spoke. + +"Clarence!" cried she, louder. No answer. She touched his face--it was +warm. "He's fainted!" exclaimed she; and, ringing the bell violently, she +screamed for help. Her husband and the nurse rushed into the room; then +came Aunt Ada and Mr. Bates. They bathed his temples, held strong salts to +his nostrils--still he did not revive. Finally, the nurse opened his bosom +and placed her hand upon his heart. _It was still--quite still_: Clarence +was dead! + +At first they could not believe it. "Let me speak to him," exclaimed little +Birdie, distractedly; "he will hear my voice, and answer. Clarence! +Clarence!" she cried. All in vain--all in vain. Clarence was dead! + +They gently bore her away. That dull, cold look came back again upon her +face, and left it never more in life. She walked about mournfully for a few +years, pressing her hand upon her heart; and then passed away to join her +lover, where distinctions in race or colour are unknown, and where the +prejudices of earth cannot mar their happiness. + +Our tale is now soon finished. They buried Clarence beside his parents; +coloured people followed him to his last home, and wept over his grave. Of +all the many whites that he had known, Aunt Ada and Mr. Balch were the only +ones that mingled their tears with those who listened to the solemn words +of Father Banks, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." + +We, too, Clarence, cast a tear upon thy tomb--poor victim of prejudice to +thy colour! and deem thee better off resting upon thy cold pillow of earth, +than battling with that malignant sentiment that persecuted thee, and has +crushed energy, hope, and life from many stronger hearts. + + * * * * * + +Aunt Ada Bell remained for a short time with Emily, and then returned to +Sudbury, where, during the remainder of her life, she never omitted an +opportunity of doing a kindness to a coloured person; and when the +increasing liberality of sentiment opened a way for the admission of +coloured pupils to the famous schools of Sudbury, they could always procure +board at her house, and Aunt Ada was a friend and mother to them. + +Walters and dear old Ess reared a fine family; and the brown baby and her +sister took numberless premiums at school, to the infinite delight of their +parents. They also had a boy, whom they named "Charlie;" he inherited his +uncle's passionate fondness for marbles, which fondness, it has been +ascertained, is fostered by his uncle, who, 'tis said, furnishes the sinews +of war when there is a dearth in the treasury of Master Walters. + +Kinch and Caddy were finally united, after various difficulties raised by +the latter, who found it almost impossible to procure a house in such a +state of order as would warrant her entering upon the blissful state of +matrimony. When it was all over, Kinch professed to his acquaintances +generally to be living in a perfect state of bliss; but he privately +intimated to Charlie that if Caddy would permit him to come in at the front +door, and not condemn him to go through the alley, whenever there happened +to be a shower--and would let him smoke where he liked--he would be much +more contented. When last heard from they had a little Caddy, the very +image of its mother--a wonderful little girl, who, instead of buying candy +and cake with her sixpences, as other children did, gravely invested them +in miniature wash-boards and dust-brushes, and was saving up her money to +purchase a tiny stove with a full set of cooking utensils. Caddy declares +her a child worth having. + +Charles and Emily took a voyage to Europe for the health of the latter, and +returned after a two years' tour to settle permanently in his native city. +They were unremitting in their attention to father and mother Ellis, who +lived to good old age, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Garies and Their Friends, by Frank J. 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