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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf 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..320c18f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55012 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55012) diff --git a/old/55012-8.txt b/old/55012-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2bd441c..0000000 --- a/old/55012-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,25650 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dred, by Harriet beecher Stowe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Dred - A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp - -Author: Harriet beecher Stowe - -Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55012] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DRED *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -+-------------------------------------------------+ -|Transcriber's note: | -| | -|Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | -| | -+-------------------------------------------------+ - - -DRED - -A - -TALE OF THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP - - -BY - -HARRIET BEECHER STOWE - -AUTHOR OF "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" - - - "Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds: - His path was rugged and sore,-- - Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds, - Through many a fen, where the serpent feeds, - And man never trod before. - - And when on earth he sunk to sleep, - If slumber his eyelids knew, - He lay where the deadly vine doth weep - Its venomous tears, that nightly steep - The flesh with blistering dew." - - -[Illustration: Logo] - - -BOSTON AND NEW YORK -HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY -The Riverside Press, Cambridge -1892 - - -Copyright, 1856 and 1884, -BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE - - -_All rights reserved._ - - -_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ -Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The writer of this book has chosen, once more, a subject from the scenes -and incidents of the slave-holding states. - -The reason for such a choice is two-fold. First, in a merely artistic -point of view, there is no ground, ancient or modern, whose vivid -lights, gloomy shadows, and grotesque groupings, afford to the novelist -so wide a scope for the exercise of his powers. In the near vicinity of -modern civilization of the most matter-of-fact kind exist institutions -which carry us back to the twilight of the feudal ages, with all their -exciting possibilities of incident. Two nations, the types of two -exactly opposite styles of existence, are here struggling; and from the -intermingling of these two a third race has arisen, and the three are -interlocked in wild and singular relations, that evolve every possible -combination of romance. - -Hence, if the writer's only object had been the production of a work of -art, she would have felt justified in not turning aside from that mine -whose inexhaustible stores have but begun to be developed. - -But this object, however legitimate, was not the only nor the highest -one. It is the moral bearings of the subject involved which have had the -chief influence in its selection. - -The issues presented by the great conflict between liberty and slavery -do not grow less important from year to year. On the contrary, their -interest increases with every step in the development of the national -career. Never has there been a crisis in the history of this nation so -momentous as the present. If ever a nation was raised up by Divine -Providence, and led forth upon a conspicuous stage, as if for the -express purpose of solving a great moral problem in the sight of all -mankind, it is this nation. God in his providence is now asking the -American people, Is the system of slavery, as set forth in the American -slave code, _right_? Is it so desirable, that you will directly -establish it over broad regions, where, till now, you have solemnly -forbidden it to enter? And this question the American people are about -to answer. Under such circumstances the writer felt that no apology was -needed for once more endeavoring to do something towards revealing to -the people the true character of that system. If the people are to -establish such a system, let them do it with their eyes open, with all -the dreadful realities before them. - -One liberty has been taken which demands acknowledgment in the outset. -The writer has placed in the mouth of one of her leading characters a -judicial decision of Judge Ruffin, of North Carolina, the boldness, -clearness, and solemn eloquence of which have excited admiration both in -the Old World and the New. The author having no personal acquaintance -with that gentleman, the character to whom she attributes it is to be -considered as created merely on a principle of artistic fitness. - -To maintain the unity of the story, some anachronisms with regard to the -time of the session of courts have been allowed; for works of fiction -must sometimes use some liberties in the grouping of incidents. - -But as mere cold art, unquickened by sympathy with the spirit of the -age, is nothing, the author hopes that those who now are called to -struggle for all that is noble in our laws and institutions may find in -this book the response of a sympathizing heart. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -CHAPTER I. - PAGE -THE MISTRESS OF CANEMA 1 - -CHAPTER II. - -CLAYTON 11 - -CHAPTER III. - -THE CLAYTON FAMILY AND SISTER ANNE 22 - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE GORDON FAMILY 31 - -CHAPTER V. - -HARRY AND HIS WIFE 50 - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE DILEMMA 66 - -CHAPTER VII. - -CONSULTATION 77 - -CHAPTER VIII. - -OLD TIFF 82 - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE DEATH 101 - -CHAPTER X. - -THE PREPARATION 106 - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE LOVERS 116 - -CHAPTER XII. - -EXPLANATIONS 129 - -CHAPTER XIII. - -TOM GORDON 145 - -CHAPTER XIV. - -AUNT NESBIT'S LOSS 162 - -CHAPTER XV. - -MR. JEKYL'S OPINIONS 172 - -CHAPTER XVI. - -MILLY'S STORY 178 - -CHAPTER XVII. - -UNCLE JOHN 193 - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -DRED 205 - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE CONSPIRATORS 213 - -CHAPTER XX. - -SUMMER TALK AT CANEMA 224 - -CHAPTER XXI. - -TIFF'S PREPARATIONS 235 - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE WORSHIPPERS 242 - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -THE CAMP-MEETING 255 - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -LIFE IN THE SWAMPS 285 - -CHAPTER XXV. - -MORE SUMMER TALK 293 - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -MILLY'S RETURN 307 - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE TRIAL 313 - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -MAGNOLIA GROVE 321 - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -THE TROUBADOUR 336 - -CHAPTER XXX. - -TIFF'S GARDEN 348 - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE WARNING 357 - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE MORNING STAR 362 - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -THE LEGAL DECISION 368 - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -THE CLOUD BURSTS 379 - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS 391 - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -THE EVENING STAR 395 - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -THE TIE BREAKS 403 - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -THE PURPOSE 410 - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -THE NEW MOTHER 418 - -CHAPTER XL. - -THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT 424 - -CHAPTER XLI. - -THE CLERICAL CONFERENCE 436 - -CHAPTER XLII. - -THE RESULT 448 - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -THE SLAVE'S ARGUMENT 457 - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -THE DESERT 468 - -CHAPTER XLV. - -JEGAR SAHADUTHA 477 - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -FRANK RUSSEL'S OPINIONS 488 - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -TOM GORDON'S PLANS 497 - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - -LYNCH LAW 502 - -CHAPTER XLIX. - -MORE VIOLENCE 515 - -CHAPTER L. - -ENGEDI 521 - -CHAPTER LI. - -THE SLAVE HUNT 530 - -CHAPTER LII. - -"ALL OVER" 535 - -CHAPTER LIII. - -THE BURIAL 542 - -CHAPTER LIV. - -THE ESCAPE 547 - -CHAPTER LV. - -LYNCH LAW AGAIN 556 - -CHAPTER LVI. - -FLIGHT 569 - -CHAPTER LVII. - -CLEAR SHINING AFTER RAIN 576 - -APPENDIX I. 580 - - II. 587 - - III. 596 - - - - -DRED. - -A TALE OF THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE MISTRESS OF CANEMA. - - -"Bills, Harry?--Yes.--Dear me, where are they?--There!--No. Here?--Oh, -look!--What do you think of this scarf? Isn't it lovely?" - -"Yes, Miss Nina, beautiful--but"-- - -"Oh, those bills!--Yes--well, here goes--here--perhaps in this box. -No--that's my opera-hat. By the bye, what do you think of that? Isn't -that bunch of silver wheat lovely? Stop a bit--you shall see it on me." - -And, with these words, the slight little figure sprang up as if it had -wings, and, humming a waltzing-tune, skimmed across the room to a -looking-glass, and placed the jaunty little cap on the gay little head, -and then, turning a pirouette on one toe, said, "There, now!" - -"There, now!" Ah, Harry! ah, mankind generally! the wisest of you have -been made fools of by just such dancing, glittering, fluttering little -assortments of curls, pendants, streamers, eyes, cheeks, and dimples! - -The little figure, scarce the height of the Venus, rounded as that of an -infant, was shown to advantage by a coquettish morning-dress of buff -muslin, which fluttered open in front to display the embroidered skirt, -and trim little mouse of a slipper. The face was one of those provoking -ones which set criticism at defiance. The hair, waving, curling, dancing -hither and thither, seemed to have a wild, laughing grace of its own; -the brown eyes twinkled like the pendants of a chandelier; the little, -wicked nose, which bore the forbidden upward curve, seemed to assert its -right to do so with a saucy freedom; and the pendants of multiplied -brilliants that twinkled in her ears, and the nodding wreath of silver -wheat that set off her opera-hat, seemed alive with mischief and motion. - -"Well, what do you think?" said a lively, imperative voice,--just the -kind of voice that you might have expected from the figure. - -The young man to whom this question was addressed was a well-dressed, -gentlemanly person of about thirty-five, with dark complexion and hair, -and deep, full blue eyes. There was something marked and peculiar in the -square, high forehead, and the finely-formed features, which indicated -talent and ability; and the blue eyes had a depth and strength of color -that might cause them at first glance to appear black. The face, with -its strongly-marked expression of honesty and sense, had about it many -careworn and thoughtful lines. He looked at the little, defiant fay for -a moment with an air of the most entire deference and admiration; then a -heavy shadow crossed his face, and he answered, abstractedly, "Yes, Miss -Nina, everything you wear becomes pretty--and that is perfectly -charming." - -"Isn't it, now, Harry? I thought you would think so. You see, it's my -own idea. You ought to have seen what a thing it was when I first saw it -in Mme. Le Blanche's window. There was a great hot-looking feather on -it, and two or three horrid bows. I had them out in a twinkling, and got -this wheat in--which shakes so, you know. It's perfectly lovely!--Well, -do you believe, the very night I wore it to the opera, I got engaged?" - -"Engaged, Miss Nina?" - -"Engaged!--Yes, to be sure! Why not?" - -"It seems to me that's a very serious thing, Miss Nina." - -"Serious!--ha! ha! ha!" said the little beauty, seating herself on one -arm of the sofa, and shaking the glittering hat back from her eyes. -"Well, I fancy it was--to him, at least. I made him serious, I can tell -you!" - -"But is this true, Miss Nina? _Are_ you really engaged?" - -"Yes, to be sure I am--to three gentlemen; and going to stay so till I -find which I like best. May be, you know, I shan't like any of them." - -"Engaged to three gentlemen, Miss Nina?" - -"To be sure!--Can't you understand English, Harry? I _am_ now--fact." - -"Miss Nina, is that right?" - -"Right?--why not? I don't know which to take--I positively don't; so I -took them all on trial, you know." - -"Pray, Miss Nina, tell us who they are." - -"Well, there's Mr. Carson;--he's a rich old bachelor--horridly -polite--one of those little, bobbing men, that always have such shiny -dickies and collars, and such bright boots, and such tight straps. And -he's rich--and perfectly wild about me. He wouldn't take no for an -answer, you know; so I just said yes, to have a little quiet. Besides, -he is very convenient about the opera and concerts, and such things." - -"Well, and the next?" - -"Well, the next is George Emmons. He's one of your pink-and-white men, -you know, who look like cream-candy, as if they were good to eat. He's a -lawyer, of a good family,--thought a good deal of, and all that. Well, -really, they say he has talents--I'm no judge. I know he always bores me -to death; asking me if I have read this or that--marking places in books -that I never read. He's your sentimental sort--writes the most romantic -notes on pink paper, and all that sort of thing." - -"And the third?" - -"Well, you see, I don't like _him_ a bit--I'm sure I don't. He's a -hateful creature! He isn't handsome; he's proud as Lucifer; and I'm sure -I don't know how he got me to be engaged. It was a kind of an accident. -He's real good, though--too good for me, that's a fact. But, then, I'm -afraid of him a little." - -"And his name?" - -"Well, his name is Clayton--Mr. Edward Clayton, at your service. He's -one of your high-and-mighty people--with such deep-set eyes--eyes that -look as if they were in a cave--and such black hair! And his eyes have a -desperate sort of sad look, sometimes--quite Byronic. He's tall, and -rather loose-jointed--has beautiful teeth; his mouth, too, is--well, -when he smiles, sometimes it really is quite fascinating; and then he's -so different from other gentlemen! He's kind--but he don't care how he -dresses; and wears the most horrid shoes. And, then, he isn't polite--he -won't jump, you know, to pick up your thread or scissors; and sometimes -he'll get into a brown study, and let you stand ten minutes before he -thinks to give you a chair, and all such provoking things. He isn't a -bit of a lady's man. Well, consequence is, as my lord won't court the -girls, the girls all court my lord--that's the way, you know; and they -seem to think it's such a feather in their cap to get attention from -him--because, you know, he's horrid sensible. So, you see, that just set -me out to see what I could do with him. Well, you see, I wouldn't court -him;--and I plagued him, and laughed at him, and spited him, and got him -gloriously wroth; and he said some spiteful things about me, and then I -said some more about him, and we had a real up-and-down quarrel;--and -then I took a penitent turn, you know, and just went gracefully down -into the valley of humiliation--as we witches can; and it took -wonderfully--brought my lord on to his knees before he knew what he was -doing. Well, really, I don't know what was the matter, just then, but he -spoke so earnest and strong that actually he got me to crying--hateful -creature!--and I promised all sorts of things, you know--said altogether -more than will bear thinking of." - -"And are you corresponding with all these lovers, Miss Nina?" - -"Yes--isn't it fun? Their letters, you know, can't speak. If they could, -when they come rustling together in the bag, wouldn't there be a muss?" - -"Miss Nina, I think you have given your heart to this last one." - -"Oh, nonsense, Harry! Haven't got any heart!--don't care two pins for -any of them! All I want is to have a good time. As to love, and all -that, I don't believe I could love any of them; I should be tired to -death of any of them in six weeks. I never liked anything that long." - -"Miss Nina, you must excuse me, but I want to ask again, is it right to -trifle with the feelings of gentlemen in this way?" - -"Why not?--Isn't all fair in war? Don't they trifle with us girls, -every chance they get--and sit up so pompous in their rooms, and smoke -cigars, and talk us over, as if they only had to put out their finger -and say, 'Come here,' to get any of us? I tell you, it's fun to bring -them down!--Now, there's that horrid George Emmons--I tell you, if he -didn't flirt all winter with Mary Stephens, and got everybody to -laughing about her!--it was so evident, you see, that she liked him--she -couldn't help showing it, poor little thing!--and then my lord would -settle his collar, and say he hadn't quite made up his mind to take her, -and all that. Well, I haven't made up my mind to take him, either--and -so poor Emma is avenged. As to the old bach--that smooth-dicky man--you -see, he can't be hurt; for his heart is rubbed as smooth and hard as his -dicky, with falling in love and out again. He's been turned off by three -girls, now; and his shoes squeak as brisk as ever, and he's just as -jolly. You see, he didn't use to be so rich. Lately, he's come into a -splendid property; so, if I don't take him, poor man, there are enough -that would be glad of him." - -"Well, then, but as to that other one?" - -"What! my lord Lofty? Oh, he wants humbling!--it wouldn't hurt him, in -the least, to be put down a little. He's good, too, and afflictions -always improve good people. I believe I was made for a means of grace to -'em all." - -"Miss Nina, what if all three of them should come at once--or even two -of them?" - -"What a droll idea! Wouldn't it be funny? Just to think of it! What a -commotion! What a scene! It would really be vastly entertaining." - -"Now, Miss Nina, I want to speak as a friend." - -"No, you shan't! it is just what people say when they are going to say -something disagreeable. I told Clayton, once for all, that I wouldn't -have him speak as a friend to me." - -"Pray, how does he take all this?" - -"Take it! Why, just as he must. He cares a great deal more for me than I -do for him." Here a slight little sigh escaped the fair speaker. "And I -think it fun to shock him. You know he is one of the fatherly sort, who -is always advising young girls. Let it be understood that his standard -of female character is wonderfully high, and all that. And then, to -think of his being tripped up before me!--it's _too_ funny!" The little -sprite here took off her opera-hat, and commenced waltzing a few steps, -and, stopping midwhirl, exclaimed: "Oh, do you know we girls have been -trying to learn the cachucha, and I've got some castanets? Let me -see--where are they?" And with this she proceeded to upset the trunk, -from which flew a meteoric shower of bracelets, billets-doux, French -Grammars, drawing-pencils, interspersed with confectionery of various -descriptions, and all the et ceteras of a school-girl's depository. -"There, upon my word, there are the bills you were asking for. There, -take them!" throwing a package of papers at the young man. "Take them! -Can you catch?" - -"Miss Nina, these do not appear to be bills." - -"Oh, bless me! those are love-letters, then. The bills are somewhere." -And the little hands went pawing among the heap making the fanciful -collection fly in every direction over the carpet. "Ah! I believe now in -this bonbon-box I did put them. Take care of your head, Harry!" And, -with the word, the gilded missile flew from the little hand, and opening -on the way, showered Harry with a profusion of crumpled papers. "Now you -have got them all, except one, that I used for curl-papers the other -night. Oh, don't look so sober about it! Indeed, I kept the pieces--here -they are. And now don't you say, Harry, don't you tell me that I never -save my bills. You don't know how particular I have been, and what -trouble I have taken. But, there--there's a letter Clayton wrote to me, -one time when we had a quarrel. Just a specimen of that creature!" - -"Pray tell us about it, Miss Nina," said the young man, with his eyes -fixed admiringly on the little person, while he was smoothing and -arranging the crumpled documents. - -"Why, you see, it was just this way. You know, these men--how provoking -they are! They'll go and read all sorts of books--no matter what _they_ -read!--and then they are so dreadfully particular about us girls. Do you -know, Harry, this always made me angry?" - -"Well, so, you see, one evening Sophy Elliot quoted some poetry from Don -Juan,--I never read it, but it seems folks call it a bad book,--and my -lord Clayton immediately fixed his eyes upon her in such an appalling -way, and says, 'Have you read Don Juan, Miss Elliot?' Then, you know, -as girls always do in such cases, she blushed and stammered, and said -her brother had read some extracts from it to her. I was vexed, and -said, 'And, pray, what's the harm if she did read it? _I_ mean to read -it, the very first chance I get!' - -"Oh! everybody looked so shocked. Why, dear me! if I had said I was -going to commit murder, Clayton could not have looked more concerned. So -he put on that very edifying air of his, and said, 'Miss Nina, I -_trust_, as your friend, that you will not read that book. I should lose -all respect for a lady friend who had read that.' - -"'Have you read it, Mr. Clayton?' said I. - -"'Yes, Miss Nina,' said he, quite piously. - -"'What makes you read such bad books?' said I, very innocently. - -"Then there followed a general fuss and talk; and the gentlemen, you -know, would not have their wives or their sisters read anything naughty, -for the world. They wanted us all to be like snow-flakes, and all that. -And they were quite high, telling they wouldn't marry this, and they -wouldn't marry that, till at last I made them a curtsey, and said, -'Gentlemen, we ladies are infinitely obliged to you, but _we_ don't -intend to marry people that read naughty books, either. Of course you -know snow-flakes don't like smut!' - -"Now, I really didn't mean anything by it, except to put down these men, -and stand up for my sex. But Clayton took it in real earnest. He grew -red and grew pale, and was just as angry as he could be. Well, the -quarrel raged about three days. Then, do you know, I made him give up, -and own that he was in the wrong. There, I think he was, too,--don't -you? Don't you think men ought to be _as_ good as we are, any way?" - -"Miss Nina, I should think you would be afraid to express yourself so -positively." - -"Oh, if I cared a sou for any of them, perhaps I should. But there isn't -one of the train that I would give _that_ for!" said she, flirting a -shower of peanut-shells into the air. - -"Yes, but, Miss Nina, some time or other you must marry somebody. You -need somebody to take care of the property and place." - -"Oh, that's it, is it? You are tired of keeping accounts, are you, with -me to spend the money? Well, I don't wonder. How I pity anybody that -keeps accounts! Isn't it horrid, Harry? Those awful books! Do you know -that Mme. Ardaine set out that 'we girls' should keep account of our -expenses? I just tried it two weeks. I had a headache and weak eyes, and -actually it nearly ruined my constitution. Somehow or other, they gave -it up, it gave them so much trouble. And what's the use? When money's -spent, it's _spent_; and keeping accounts ever so strict won't get it -back. I am very careful about my expenses. I never get anything that I -can do without." - -"For instance," said Harry, rather roguishly, "this bill of one hundred -dollars for confectionery." - -"Well, you know just how it is, Harry. It's so horrid to have to study! -Girls must have something. And you know I didn't get it all for myself; -I gave it round to all the girls. Then they used to ask me for it, and I -couldn't refuse--and so it went." - -"I didn't presume to comment, Miss Nina. What have we here?--Mme. Les -Cartes, $450?" - -"Oh, Harry, that horrid Mme. Les Cartes! You never saw anything like -her! Positively it is not my fault. She puts down things I never got: I -know she does. Nothing in the world but because she is from Paris. -Everybody is complaining of her. But, then, nobody gets anything -anywhere else. So what can one do, you know? I assure you, Harry, I am -economical." - -The young man, who had been summing up the accounts, now burst out into -such a hearty laugh as somewhat disconcerted the fair rhetorician. - -She colored to her temples. - -"Harry, now, for shame! Positively, you aren't respectful!" - -"Oh, Miss Nina, on my knees I beg pardon!" still continuing to laugh; -"but, indeed, you must excuse me. I am positively delighted to hear of -your economy, Miss Nina." - -"Well, now, Harry, you may look at the bills and see. Haven't I ripped -up all my silk dresses and had them colored over, just to economize? You -can see the dyer's bill, there; and Mme. Carteau told me she always -expected to turn my dresses twice, at least. Oh, yes, I have been very -economical." - -"I have heard of old dresses turned costing more than new ones, Miss -Nina." - -"Oh, nonsense, Harry! What should you know of girls' things? But I'll -tell you one thing I've got, Harry, and that is a gold watch for you. -There it is," throwing a case carelessly towards him; "and there's a -silk dress for your wife," throwing him a little parcel. "I have sense -enough to know what a good fellow you are, at any rate. I couldn't go on -as I do, if you didn't rack your poor head fifty ways to keep things -going straight here at home for me." - -A host of conflicting emotions seemed to cross the young man's face, -like a shadow of clouds over a field, as he silently undid the packages. -His hands trembled, his lips quivered, but he said nothing. - -"Come, Harry, don't this suit you? I thought it would." - -"Miss Nina, you are too kind." - -"No, I'm not, Harry; I am a selfish little concern, that's a fact," said -she, turning away, and pretending not to see the feeling which agitated -him. - -"But, Harry, wasn't it droll, this morning, when all our people came up -to get their presents! There was Aunt Sue, and Aunt Tike, and Aunt Kate, -each one got a new sack pattern, in which they are going to make up the -prints I brought them. In about two days our place will be flaming with -aprons and sacks. And _did_ you see Aunt Rose in that pink bonnet, with -the flowers? You could see every tooth in her head! Of course, now -they'll be taken with a very pious streak, to go to some camp-meeting or -other, to show their finery. Why don't you laugh, Harry?" - -"I do, don't I, Miss Nina?" - -"You only laugh on your face. You don't laugh deep down. What's the -matter? I don't believe it's good for you to read and study so much. -Papa used to say that he didn't think it was good for"-- - -She stopped, checked by the expression on the face of her listener. - -"For _servants_, Miss Nina, your papa said, I suppose." - -With the quick tact of her sex, Nina perceived that she had struck some -disagreeable chord in the mind of her faithful attendant, and she -hastened to change the subject, in her careless, rattling way. - -"Why, yes, Harry, study is horrid for you, or me either, or anybody -else, except musty old people, who don't know how to do anything else. -Did ever anybody look out of doors, such a pleasant day as this, and -want to study? Think of a bird's studying, now, or a bee! They don't -study--they live. Now, I don't want to study--I want to live. So now, -Harry, if you'll just get the ponies and go in the woods, I want to get -some jessamines, and spring beauties, and wild honeysuckles, and all the -rest of the flowers that I used to get before I went to school." - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -CLAYTON. - - -The curtain rises on our next scene, and discovers a tranquil library, -illuminated by the slant rays of the afternoon's sun. On one side the -room opened by long glass windows on to a garden, from whence the air -came in perfumed with the breath of roses and honeysuckles. The floor -covered with white matting, the couches and sofas robed in smooth glazed -linen, gave an air of freshness and coolness to the apartment. The walls -were hung with prints of the great masterpieces of European art, while -bronzes and plaster-casts, distributed with taste and skill, gave -evidence of artistic culture in the general arrangement. Two young men -were sitting together near the opened window at a small table, which -displayed an antique coffee-set of silver, and a silver tray of ices and -fruits. One of these has already been introduced to the notice of our -readers, in the description of our heroine in the last chapter. - -Edward Clayton, the only son of Judge Clayton, and representative of one -of the oldest and most distinguished families of North Carolina, was in -personal appearance much what our lively young friend had -sketched--tall, slender, with a sort of loose-jointedness and -carelessness of dress, which might have produced an impression of -clownishness, had it not been relieved by a refined and intellectual -expression on the head and face. The upper part of the face gave the -impression of thoughtfulness and strength, with a shadowing of -melancholy earnestness, and there was about the eye, in conversation, -that occasional gleam of troubled wildness which betrays the -hypochondriac temperament. The mouth was even feminine in the delicacy -and beauty of its lines, and the smile which sometimes played around it -had a peculiar fascination. It seemed to be a smile of but half the -man's nature; for it never rose as high as the eyes, or seemed to -disturb the dark stillness of their thoughtfulness. - -The other speaker was in many respects a contrast; and we will -introduce him to our readers by the name of Frank Russel. Furthermore, -for their benefit, we will premise that he was the only son of a once -distinguished and wealthy, but now almost decayed, family of Virginia. - -It is supposed by many that friendship is best founded upon similarity -of nature; but observation teaches that it is more common by a union of -opposites, in which each party is attracted by something wanting in -itself. In Clayton, the great preponderance of those faculties which -draw a man inward, and impair the efficiency of the outward life, -inclined him to overvalue the active and practical faculties, because he -saw them constantly attended with a kind of success which he fully -appreciated, but was unable to attain. Perfect ease of manner, ready -presence of mind under all social exigencies, adroitness in making the -most of passing occurrences, are qualities which are seldom the gift of -sensitive and deeply-thoughtful natures, and which for this very reason -they are often disposed to overvalue. Russel was one of those men who -have just enough of all the higher faculties to appreciate their -existence in others, and not enough of any one to disturb the perfect -availability of his own mind. Everything in his mental furnishing was -always completely under his own control, and on hand for use at a -moment's notice. From infancy he was noted for quick tact and ready -reply. At school he was the universal factotum, the "good fellow" of the -ring, heading all the mischief among the boys, and yet walking with -exemplary gravity on the blind side of the master. Many a scrape had he -rescued Clayton from, into which he had fallen from a more fastidious -moral sense, a more scrupulous honor, than is for worldly profit either -in the boy's or man's sphere; and Clayton, superior as he was, could not -help loving and depending on him. - -The diviner part of man is often shamefaced and self-distrustful, ill at -home in this world, and standing in awe of nothing so much as what is -called common sense; and yet common sense very often, by its own -keenness, is able to see that these unavailable currencies of another's -mind are of more worth, if the world only knew it, than the ready coin -of its own; and so the practical and the ideal nature are drawn -together. - -So Clayton and Russel had been friends from boyhood; had roomed -together their four years in college; and, though instruments of a -vastly different quality, had hitherto played the concerts of life with -scarce a discord. - -In person, Russel was of about the medium size, with a well-knit, -elastic frame, all whose movements were characterized by sprightliness -and energy. He had a frank, open countenance, clear blue eyes, a high -forehead shaded by clusters of curling brown hair; his flexible lips -wore a good-natured yet half-sarcastic smile. His feelings, though not -inconveniently deep, were easily touched; he could be moved to tears or -to smiles, with the varying humor of a friend; but never so far as to -lose his equipoise--or, as he phrased it, forget what he was about. - -But we linger too long in description. We had better let the reader hear -the _dramatis personæ_, and judge for himself. - -"Well, now, Clayton," said Russel, as he leaned back in a stuffed -leather chair, with a cigar between his fingers, "how considerate of -them to go off on that marooning party, and leave us to ourselves, here! -I say, old boy, how goes the world now?--Reading law, hey?--booked to be -Judge Clayton the second! Now, my dear fellow, if _I_ had the -opportunities that you have--only to step into my father's shoes--I -should be a lucky fellow." - -"Well, you are welcome to all my chances," said Clayton, throwing -himself on one of the lounges; "for I begin to see that I shall make -very little of them." - -"Why, what's the matter?--Don't you like the study?" - -"The study, perhaps, well enough--but not the practice. Reading the -theory is always magnificent and grand. 'Law hath her seat in the bosom -of God; her voice is the harmony of the world.' You remember we used to -declaim that. But, then, come to the practice of it, and what do you -find? Are legal examinations anything like searching after truth? Does -not an advocate commit himself to one-sided views of his subject, and -habitually ignore all the truth on the other side? Why, if I practised -law according to my conscience, I should be chased out of court in a -week." - -"There you are, again, Clayton, with your everlasting conscience, which -has been my plague ever since you were a boy, and I have never been -able to convince you what a humbug it is! It's what I call a _crotchety_ -conscience--always in the way of your doing anything like anybody else. -I suppose, then, of course, you won't go into political life.--Great -pity, too. You'd make a very imposing figure as senator. You have -exactly the cut for a conscript father--one of the old Viri Romæ." - -"And what do you think the old Viri Romæ would do in Washington? What -sort of a figure do you think Regulus, or Quintus Curtius, or Mucius -Scævola, would make there?" - -"Well, to be sure, the style of political action has altered somewhat -since those days. If political duties were what they were then,--if a -gulf would open in Washington, for example,--you would be the fellow to -plunge in, horse and all, for the good of the republic; or, if anything -was to be done by putting your right hand in the fire and burning it -off--or, if there were any Carthaginians who would cut off your eyelids, -or roll you down hill in a barrel of nails, for truth and your country's -sake,--you would be on hand for any such matter. That's the sort of -foreign embassy that you would be after. All these old-fashioned goings -on would suit you to a T; but as to figuring in purple and fine linen, -in Paris or London, as American minister, you would make a dismal -business of it. But still, I thought you might practise law in a -wholesome, sensible way,--take fees, make pleas with abundance of -classical allusions, show off your scholarship, marry a rich wife, and -make your children princes in the gates--all without treading on the -toes of your too sensitive moral what-d'-ye-call-ems. But you've done -one thing like other folks, at least, if all 's true that I've heard." - -"And what is that, pray?" - -"What's that? Hear the fellow, now! How innocent we are! I suppose you -think I haven't heard of your campaign in New York--carrying off that -princess of little flirts, Miss Gordon." - -Clayton responded to the charge only with a slight shrug and a smile, in -which not only his lips but his eyes took part, while the color mounted -to his forehead. - -"Now, do you know, Clayton," continued Russel, "I _like_ that. Do you -know I always thought I should detest the woman that you should fall in -love with? It seemed to me that such a portentous combination of all the -virtues as you were planning for would be something like a comet--an -alarming spectacle. Do you remember (I should like to know, if you do) -just what that woman was to be?--was to have all the learning of a man, -all the graces of a woman (I think I have it by heart); she was to be -practical, poetical, pious, and everything else that begins with a _p_; -she was to be elegant and earnest; take deep and extensive views of -life; and there was to be a certain air about her, half Madonna, half -Venus, made of every creature's best. Ah, bless us! what poor creatures -we are! Here comes along our little coquette, flirting, tossing her fan; -picks you up like a great solid chip, as you are, and throws you into -her chip-basket of beaux, and goes on dancing and flirting as before. -Aren't you ashamed of it, now?" - -"No. I am really much like the minister in our town, where we fitted for -college, who married a pretty Polly Peters in his sixtieth year, and, -when the elders came to inquire if she had the requisite qualifications -for a pastor's lady, he told them that he didn't think she had. 'But the -fact is, brethren,' said he, 'though I don't pretend she is a saint, she -is a very pretty little sinner, _and I love her_.' That's just my case." - -"Very sensibly said; and, do you know, as I told you before, I'm -perfectly delighted with it, because it is acting like other folks. But -then, my dear fellow, do you think you have come to anything really -solid with this little Venus of the sea-foam? Isn't it much the same as -being engaged to a cloud, or a butterfly? One wants a little _streak_ of -reality about a person that one must take for better or for worse. You -have a deep nature, Clayton. You really want a wife who will have some -glimmering perception of the difference between you and the other things -that walk and wear coats, and are called men." - -"Well, then, really," said Clayton, rousing himself, and speaking with -energy, "I'll tell you just what it is: Nina Gordon is a flirt and a -coquette--a spoiled child, if you will. She is not at all the person I -ever expected would obtain any power over me. She has no culture, no -reading, no habits of reflection; but she has, after all, a certain tone -and quality to her, a certain '_timbre_,' as the French say of voices, -which suits me. There is about her a mixture of energy, individuality, -and shrewdness, which makes her, all uninformed as she is, more piquant -and attractive than any woman I ever fell in with. She never reads; it -is almost impossible to get her to read; but, if you can catch her ear -for five minutes, her literary judgments have a peculiar freshness and -truth. And so with her judgment on all other subjects, if you can stop -her long enough to give you an opinion. As to heart, I think she has yet -a wholly unawakened nature. She has lived only in the world of -sensation, and that is so abundant and so buoyant in her that the deeper -part still sleeps. It is only two or three times that I have seen a -flash of this under nature look from her eyes, and color her voice and -intonation. And I believe--I'm quite sure--that I am the only person in -the world that ever touched it at all. I'm not at all sure that she -loves me _now_; but I'm almost equally sure that she will." - -"They say," said Russel, carelessly, "that she is generally engaged to -two or three at a time." - -"That may be also," said Clayton, indolently. "I rather suspect it to be -the case now, but it gives me no concern. I've seen all the men by whom -she is surrounded, and I know perfectly well there's not one of them -that she cares a rush for." - -"Well, but, my dear fellow, how can your extra fastidious moral notions -stand the idea of her practising this system of deception?" - -"Why, of course, it isn't a thing to my taste; but then, like the old -parson, if I love the 'little sinner,' what am I to do? I suppose you -think it a lover's paradox; yet I assure you, though she deceives, she -is not deceitful; though she acts selfishly, she is not selfish. The -fact is, the child has grown up, _motherless_ and an heiress, among -servants. She has, I believe, a sort of an aunt, or some such relative, -who nominally represents the head of the family to the eye of the world. -But I fancy little madam has had full sway. Then she has been to a -fashionable New York boarding-school, and that has developed the talent -of shirking lessons, and evading rules, with a taste for sidewalk -flirtation. These are all the attainments that I ever heard of being got -at a fashionable boarding-school, unless it be a hatred of books, and a -general dread of literary culture." - -"And her estates are"-- - -"Nothing very considerable. Managed nominally by an old uncle of hers; -really by a very clever quadroon servant, who was left her by her -father, and who has received an education, and has talents very superior -to what are common to those in his class. He is, in fact, the overseer -of her plantation, and I believe the most loyal, devoted creature -breathing." - -"Clayton," said his companion, "this affair might not be much to one who -takes the world as I do, but for you it may be a little too serious. -Don't get in beyond your depth." - -"You are too late, Russel, for that--I _am_ in." - -"Well, then, good luck to you, my dear fellow! And now, as we are about -it, I may as well tell you that I'm _in_ for it, too. I suppose you have -heard of Miss Benoir, of Baltimore. Well, she is my fate." - -"And are you really engaged?" - -"All signed and sealed, and to be delivered next Christmas." - -"Let's hear about her." - -"Well, she is of a good height (I always said I shouldn't marry a short -woman),--not handsome, but reasonably well-looking--very fine -manners--knows the world--plays and sings handsomely--has a snug little -fortune. Now, you know I never held to marrying for money and nothing -else; but then, as I'm situated, I could not have fallen in love without -that requisite. Some people call this heartless. I don't think it is. If -I had met Mary Benoir, and had known that she hadn't anything, why, I -should have known that it wouldn't do for me at all to cultivate any -particular intimacy; but, knowing she had fortune, I looked a little -further, and found she had other things too. Now, if that's marrying for -money, so be it. Yours, Clayton, is a genuine case of falling in love. -But, as for me, I walked in with my eyes wide open." - -"And what are _you_ going to do with yourself in the world, Russel?" - -"I must get into practice, and get some foothold there, you know; and -then, hey for Washington!--I'm to be president, like every other -adventurer in these United States. Why not I, as well as another man?" - -"I don't know, certainly," said Clayton, "if you want it, and are -willing to work hard enough and long enough, and pay all the price. I -would as soon spend my life walking the drawn sword which they say is -the bridge to Mahomet's paradise." - -"Ah! ah! I fancy I see you doing it! What a figure you'd make, my dear -fellow, balancing and posturing on the sword-blade, and making horrid -wry faces! Yet I know you'd be as comfortable there as you would in -political life. And yet, after all, you are greatly superior to me in -every respect. It would be a thousand pities if such a man as you -couldn't have the management of things. But our national ship has to be -navigated by second-rate fellows, Jerry-go-nimbles, like me, simply -because we are good in dodging and turning. But that's the way. Sharp's -the word, and the sharpest wins." - -"For my part," said Clayton, "I shall never be what the _world_ calls a -_successful_ man. There seems to be one inscription written over every -passage of success in life, as far as I've seen,--'What shall it profit -a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?'" - -"I don't understand you, Clayton." - -"Why, it seems to me just this. As matters are going on now in our -country, I must either lower my standard of right and honor, and sear my -soul in all its nobler sensibilities, or I must be what the world calls -an unsuccessful man. There is no path in life, that I know of, where -humbuggery and fraud and deceit are not essential to success,--none -where a man can make the purity of his moral nature the first object. I -see Satan standing in every avenue, saying, 'All these things will I -give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.'" - -"Why don't you take to the ministry, then, Clayton, at once, and put up -a pulpit-cushion and big Bible between you and the fiery darts of the -devil?" - -"I'm afraid I should meet him there, too. I could not gain a right to -speak in any pulpit without some profession or pledge to speak this or -that, that would be a snare to my conscience by and by. At the door of -every pulpit I must swear always to find truth in a certain formula; and -living, prosperity, success, reputation, will all be pledged on my -finding it there. I tell you I should, if I followed my own conscience, -preach myself out of pulpits quicker than I should plead out at the -bar." - -"Lord help you, Clayton! What _will_ you do? Will you settle down on -your plantation, and raise cotton and sell niggers? I'm expecting to -hear, every minute, that you've subscribed for the 'Liberator,' and are -going to turn Abolitionist." - -"I do mean to settle down on my plantation, but not to _raise_ cotton or -negroes as a chief end of man. I do take the 'Liberator,' because I'm a -free man, and have a right to take what I have a mind to. I don't agree -with Garrison, because I think I know more about the matter, where I -stand, than he does, or can, where he stands. But it's his _right_, as -an honest man, to say what he thinks; and I should use it in his place. -If I saw things as he does, I _should_ be an Abolitionist. But I don't." - -"That's a mercy, at least," said Russel, "to a man with your taste for -martyrdom. But what are you going to do?" - -"What any Christian man should do who finds four hundred odd of his -fellow men and women placed in a state of absolute dependence on him. -I'm going to educate and fit them for freedom. There isn't a sublimer -power on earth than God has given to us, masters. The law gives us -absolute and unlimited control. A plantation such as a plantation might -be would be 'a light to lighten the Gentiles.' There is a wonderful and -beautiful development locked up in this Ethiopian race, and it is worth -being a life-object to unlock it. The raising of cotton is to be the -least of the thing. I regard my plantation as a sphere for raising _men -and women_, and demonstrating the capabilities of a race." - -"Selah!" said Russel. - -Clayton looked angry. - -"I beg your pardon, Clayton. This is all superb, sublime! There is just -one objection to it--it is wholly impossible." - -"Every good and great thing has been called impossible before it is -done." - -"Well, let me tell you, Clayton, just how it will be. You will be a mark -for arrows, both sides. You will offend all your neighbors by doing -better than they do. You will bring your negroes up to a point in which -they will meet the current of the whole community against them, and -meanwhile you will get no credit with the Abolitionists. They will call -you a cutthroat, pirate, sheep-stealer, and all the rest of their -elegant little list of embellishments, all the same. You'll get a state -of things that nobody can manage but yourself, and you by the hardest; -and then you'll die, and it'll all run to the devil faster than you run -it up. Now, if you would do the thing by halves, it wouldn't be so bad; -but I know you of old. You won't be satisfied with teaching a catechism -and a few hymns, parrot-wise, which I think is a respectable religious -amusement for our women. You'll teach 'em all to read, and write, and -think, and speak. I shouldn't wonder to hear of an importation of -black-boards and spelling-books. You'll want a lyceum and debating -society. Pray, what does sister Anne say to all this? Anne is a sensible -girl now, but I'll warrant you've got her to go in for it." - -"Anne is as much interested as I, but her practical tact is greater than -mine, and she is of use in detecting difficulties that I do not see. I -have an excellent man, who enters fully into my views, who takes charge -of the business interests of the plantation, instead of one of these -scoundrel overseers. There is to be a graduated system of work and wages -introduced--a system that shall teach the nature and rights of property -and train to habits of industry and frugality, by making every man's -acquirements equal to his industry and good conduct." - -"And what sort of a support do _you_ expect to make out of all this? Are -you going to live for them, or they for you?" - -"I shall set them the example of living for _them_, and trust to awaken -the good that is in them, in return. The strong ought to live for the -weak--the cultivated for the ignorant." - -"Well, Clayton, the Lord help you! I'm in earnest now--fact! Though I -know you won't do it, yet I wish you could. It's a pity, Clayton, you -were born in this world. It isn't you, but our planet and planetary -ways, that are in fault. Your mind is a splendid storehouse--gold and -gems of Ophir--but they are all up in the fifth story, and no staircase -to get 'em down into common life. Now I've just enough appreciation of -the sort of thing that 's in you, not to laugh at you. Nine out of ten -would. To tell you the truth, if I were already set up in life, and had -as definite a position as you have,--family, friends, influence, and -means,--why, perhaps I might afford to cultivate this style of thing. -But I tell you what it is, Clayton, such a conscience as yours is -cursedly expensive to keep. It's like a carriage--a fellow mustn't set -it up unless he can afford it. It's one of the luxuries." - -"It's a _necessary_ of life, with me," said Clayton, dryly. - -"Well, that's your nature. I can't afford it. I've got my way to make. -_I must succeed_, and with your ultra notions I couldn't succeed. So -there it is. After all, I can be as religious as dozens of your most -respectable men, who have taken their seats in the night-train for -Paradise, and keep the daylight for their own business." - -"I dare say you can." - -"Yes, and I shall get all I aim at; and you, Clayton, will be always an -unhappy, dissatisfied aspirant after something too high for mortality. -There's just the difference between us." - -The conversation was here interrupted by the return of the family party. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE CLAYTON FAMILY AND SISTER ANNE. - - -The family party, which was now ushered in, consisted of Clayton's -father, mother, and sister. Judge Clayton was a tall, dignified, elderly -personage, in whom one recognized, at a glance, the gentleman of the old -school. His hair, snowy white, formed a singular contrast with the -brightness of his blue eyes, whose peculiar acuteness of glance might -remind one of a falcon. There was something stately in the position of -the head and the carriage of the figure, and a punctilious exactness in -the whole air and manner, that gave one a slight impression of -sternness. The clear, sharp blue of his eye seemed to be that of a calm -and decided intellect, of a logical severity of thought; and contrasted -with the silvery hair with that same expression of cold beauty that is -given by the contrast of snow mountains cutting into the keen, metallic -blue of an Alpine sky. One should apprehend much to fear from such a -man's reason--little to hope from any outburst of his emotional nature. -Yet, as a man, perhaps injustice was done to Judge Clayton by this first -impression; for there was, deep beneath this external coldness, a -severely-repressed nature, of the most fiery and passionate vehemence. -His family affections were strong and tender, seldom manifested in -words, but always by the most exact appreciation and consideration for -all who came within his sphere. He was strictly and impartially just in -all the little minutiæ of social and domestic life, never hesitating to -speak a truth or acknowledge an error. - -Mrs. Clayton was a high-bred, elderly lady, whose well-preserved -delicacy of complexion, brilliant dark eyes, and fine figure, spoke of a -youth of beauty. Of a nature imaginative, impulsive, and ardent, -inclining constantly to generous extremes, she had thrown herself with -passionate devotion round her clear-judging husband, as the Alpine rose -girdles with beauty the breast of the bright, pure glacier. - -Between Clayton and his father there existed an affection deep and -entire; yet, as the son developed to manhood, it became increasingly -evident that they could never move harmoniously in the same practical -orbit. The nature of the son was so veined and crossed with that of the -mother, that the father, in attempting the age-long and often-tried -experiment of making his child an exact copy of himself, found himself -extremely puzzled and confused in the operation. Clayton was ideal to an -excess; ideality colored every faculty of his mind, and swayed all his -reasonings, as an unseen magnet will swerve the needle. Ideality -pervaded his conscientiousness, urging him always to rise above the -commonly-received and so-called practical in morals. Hence, while he -worshipped the theory of law, the practice filled him with disgust; and -his father was obliged constantly to point out deficiencies in -reasonings, founded more on a keen appreciation of what things ought to -be, than on a practical regard to what they are. Nevertheless, Clayton -partook enough of his father's strong and steady nature to be his -mother's idol, who, perhaps, loved this second rendering of the parental -nature with even more doting tenderness than the first. - -Anne Clayton was the eldest of three sisters, and the special companion -and confidant of the brother; and, as she stands there untying her -bonnet-strings, we must also present her to the reader. She is a little -above the medium height, with that breadth and full development of chest -which one admires in English women. She carries her well-formed head on -her graceful shoulders with a positive, decided air, only a little on -this side of haughtiness. Her clear brown complexion reddens into a fine -glow in the cheek, giving one the impression of sound, perfect health. -The positive outline of the small aquiline nose; the large, frank, -well-formed mouth, with its clear rows of shining teeth; the brown eyes, -which have caught something of the falcon keenness of the father, are -points in the picture by no means to be overlooked. Taking her air -altogether, there was an honest frankness about her which encouraged -conversation, and put one instantly at ease. Yet no man in his senses -could ever venture to take the slightest liberty with Anne Clayton. -With all her frankness, there was ever in her manner a perfectly-defined -"thus far shalt thou come, and no further." Beaux, suitors, lovers in -abundance, had stood, knelt, and sighed protesting, at her shrine. Yet -Anne Clayton was twenty-seven, and unmarried. Everybody wondered why; -and as to that, we can only wonder with the rest. Her own account of the -matter was simple and positive. She did not wish to marry--was happy -enough without. - -The intimacy between the brother and sister had been more than usually -strong, notwithstanding marked differences of character; for Anne had -not a particle of ideality. Sense she had, shrewdness, and a pleasant -dash of humor withal; but she was eminently what people call a practical -girl. She admired highly the contrary of all this in her brother; she -delighted in the poetic-heroic element in him, for much the same reason -that young ladies used to admire Thaddeus of Warsaw and William -Wallace--because it was something quite out of her line. In the whole -world of ideas she had an almost idolatrous veneration for her brother; -in the sphere of practical operations she felt free to assert, with a -certain good-natured positiveness, her own superiority. There was no one -in the world, perhaps, of whose judgment in this respect Clayton stood -more in awe. - -At the present juncture of affairs Clayton felt himself rather awkwardly -embarrassed in communicating to her an event which she would immediately -feel she had a right to know before. A sister of Anne Clayton's positive -character does not usually live twenty-seven years in constant intimacy -with a brother like Clayton, without such an attachment as renders the -first announcement of a contemplated marriage somewhat painful. Why, -then, had Clayton, who always unreservedly corresponded with his sister, -not kept her apprised of his gradual attachment to Nina? The secret of -the matter was, that he had had an instinctive consciousness that he -could not present Nina to the practical, clear-judging mind of his -sister, as she appeared through the mist and spray of his imaginative -nature. The hard facts of her case would be sure to tell against her in -any communication he might make; and sensitive people never like the -fatigue of justifying their instincts. Nothing, in fact, is less capable -of being justified by technical reasons than those fine insights into -character whereupon affection is built. We have all had experience of -preferences which would not follow the most exactly ascertained -catalogue of virtues, and would be made captive where there was very -little to be said in justification of the captivity. - -But, meanwhile, rumor, always busy, had not failed to convey to Anne -Clayton some suspicions of what was passing; and, though her delicacy -and pride forbade any allusion to it, she keenly felt the want of -confidence, and of course was not any more charitably disposed towards -the little rival for this reason. But now the matter had attained such a -shape in Clayton's mind that he felt the necessity of apprising his -family and friends. With his mother the task was made easier by the -abundant hopefulness of her nature, which enabled her in a moment to -throw herself into the sympathies of those she loved. To her had been -deputed the office of first breaking the tidings to Anne, and she had -accomplished it during the pleasure-party of the morning. - -The first glance that passed between Clayton and his sister, as she -entered the room, on her return from the party, showed him that she was -discomposed and unhappy. She did not remain long in the apartment, or -seem disposed to join in conversation; and, after a few abstracted -moments, she passed through the open door into the garden, and began to -busy herself apparently among her plants. Clayton followed her. He came -and stood silently beside her for some time, watching her as she picked -the dead leaves off her geranium. - -"Mother has told you," he said, at length. - -"Yes," said Anne. - -There was a long pause, and Anne picked off dry leaves and green -promiscuously, threatening to demolish the bush. - -"Anne," said Clayton, "how I wish you could see her!" - -"I've _heard_ of her," replied Anne, dryly, "through the Livingstons." - -"And what have you heard?" said Clayton, eagerly. - -"Not such things as I could wish, Edward; not such as I expected to hear -of the lady that you would choose." - -"And, pray, what _have_ you heard? Out with it," said Clayton,--"let's -know what the world says of her." - -"Well, the world says," said Anne, "that she is a coquette, a flirt, a -jilt. From all I've heard, I should think she must be an unprincipled -girl." - -"That is hard language, Anne." - -"Truth is generally hard," replied Anne. - -"My dear sister," said Clayton, taking her hand, and seating her on the -seat in the garden, "have you lost all faith in me?" - -"I think it would be nearer truth," replied Anne, "to say that _you_ had -lost all faith in _me_. Why am I the last one to know all this? Why am I -to hear it first from reports, and every way but from you? Would I have -treated you so? Did I ever have anything that I did not tell you? Down -to my very soul I've always told you everything!" - -"This is true, I own, dear Anne; but what if you had loved some man that -you felt sure I should not like? Now, you are a positive person, Anne, -and this might happen. Would you want to tell me at once? Would you not, -perhaps, wait, and hesitate, and put off, for one reason or another, -from day to day, and find it grow more and more difficult, the longer -you waited?" - -"I can't tell," said Anne, bitterly. "I never did love any one better -than you,--that's the trouble." - -"Neither do I love anybody _better_ than you, Anne. The love I have for -you is a whole, perfect thing, just as it was. See if you do not find me -every way as devoted. My heart was only opened to take in another love, -another wholly different; and which, because it is so wholly different, -never can infringe on the love I bear to you. And, Anne, my dear sister, -if you could love her as a part of me"-- - -"I wish I could," said Anne, somewhat softened; "but what I've heard has -been so unfavorable! She is not, in the least, the person I should have -expected you to fancy, Edward. Of all things I despise a woman who -trifles with the affections of gentlemen." - -"Well, but, my dear, Nina isn't a woman; she is a _child_--a gay, -beautiful, unformed child; and I'm sure you may apply to her what Pope -says:-- - - - 'If to her share some female errors fall, - Look in her face, and you forget them all.'" - - -"Yes, indeed," said Anne, "I believe all you men are alike--a pretty -face bewitches any of you. I thought you were an exception, Edward; but -there you are." - -"But, Anne, is this the way to encourage my confidence? Suppose I am -bewitched and enchanted, you cannot disentangle me without indulgence. -Say what you will about it, the _fact_ is just this--it is my fate to -love this child. I've tried to love many women before. I have seen many -whom I knew no sort of reason why I shouldn't love,--handsomer far, more -cultivated, more accomplished,--and yet I've seen them without a -movement or a flutter of the pulse. But this girl has awakened all there -is to me. I do not see in her what the world sees. I see the ideal image -of what she can be, what I'm sure she _will_ be, when her nature is -fully awakened and developed." - -"Just there, Edward--just that," said Anne. "You never see anything; -that is, you see a glorified image--a something that might, could, -would, or should be--that is your difficulty. You glorify an ordinary -boarding-school coquette into something symbolic, sublime; you clothe -her with all your own ideas, and then fall down to worship her." - -"Well, my dear Anne, suppose it were so, what then? I am, as you say, -ideal,--you, real. Well, be it so; I must act according to what is in -me. I have a right to my nature, you to yours. But it is not every -person whom I _can_ idealize: and I suspect this is the great reason why -I never could love some very fine women, with whom I have associated on -intimate terms; they had no capacity of being idealized; they could -receive no color from my fancy; they wanted, in short, just what Nina -has. She is just like one of those little whisking, chattering cascades -in the White Mountains, and the atmosphere round her is favorable to -rainbows." - -"And you always see her through them." - -"Even so, sister; but some people I cannot. Why should you find fault -with me? It's a pleasant thing to look through a rainbow. Why should you -seek to disenchant, if I _can_ be enchanted?" - -"Why," replied Anne, "you remember the man who took his pay of the -fairies in gold and diamonds, and, after he had passed a certain brook, -found it all turned to slate-stones. Now, marriage is like that brook: -many a poor fellow finds his diamonds turned to slate on the other side; -and this is why I put in my plain, hard common sense, against your -visions. I see the plain facts about this young girl; that she is an -acknowledged flirt, a noted coquette and jilt; and a woman who is so is -necessarily heartless; and you are too good, Edward, too noble, I have -loved you too long, to be willing to give you up to _such_ a woman." - -"There, my dear Anne, there are at least a dozen points in that sentence -to which I don't agree. In the first place, as to coquetry, it isn't the -unpardonable sin in my eyes--that is, under some circumstances." - -"That is, you mean, when Nina Gordon is the coquette?" - -"No, I don't mean that. But the fact is, Anne, there is so little of -true sincerity, so little real benevolence and charity, in the common -intercourse of young gentlemen and ladies in society, and our sex, who -ought to set the example, are so selfish and unprincipled in their ways -of treating women, that I do not wonder that, now and then, a lively -girl, who has the power, avenges her sex by playing off _our_ weak -points. Now, I don't think Nina capable of trifling with a real, deep, -unselfish attachment--a love which sought her good, and was willing to -sacrifice itself for her; but I don't believe any such has ever been put -at her disposal. There's a great difference between a man's wanting a -woman to _love him_, and loving her. Wanting to appropriate a woman as a -wife does not, of course, imply that a man loves her, or that he is -capable of loving anything. All these things girls _feel_, because their -instincts are quick; and they are often accused of trifling with a man's -heart, when they only see through him, and know he hasn't any. Besides, -love of power has always been considered a respectable sin in us men; -and why should we denounce a woman for loving her kind of power?" - -"Oh, well, Edward, there isn't anything in the world that you cannot -theorize into beauty. But I don't like coquettes, for all that; and, -then, I'm told Nina Gordon is so very odd, and says and does such very -extraordinary things, sometimes." - -"Well, perhaps that charms me the more. In this conventional world, -where women are all rubbed into one uniform surface, like coins in -one's pocket, it's a pleasure now and then to find one who can't be made -to do and think like all the rest. You have a little dash of this merit, -yourself, Anne; but you must consider that you have been brought up with -mamma, under her influence, trained and guided every hour, even more -than you knew. Nina has grown up an heiress among servants, a -boarding-school girl in New York; and, furthermore, you are twenty-seven -and she is eighteen, and a great deal may be learned between eighteen -and twenty-seven." - -"But, brother, you remember Miss Hannah More says,--or some of those -good women, I forget who: at any rate it's a sensible saying,--'that a -man who chooses his wife as he would a picture in a public -exhibition-room should remember that there is this difference, that the -picture cannot go back to the exhibition, but the woman may.' You have -chosen her from seeing her brilliancy in society; but, after all, can -you make her happy in the dull routine of a commonplace life? Is she not -one of the sort that must have a constant round of company and -excitement to keep her in spirits?" - -"I think not," said Clayton. "I think she is one of those whose vitality -is in herself, and one whose freshness and originality will keep life -anywhere from being commonplace; and that, living with us, she will -sympathize, naturally, in all our pursuits." - -"Well, now, don't flatter yourself, brother, that you can make this girl -over, and bring her to any of your standards." - -"Who--I? Did you think I meditated such an impertinence? The last thing -I should try, to marry a wife to educate her! It's generally one of the -most selfish tricks of our sex. Besides, I don't want a wife who will be -a mere mirror of my opinions and sentiments. I don't want an innocent -sheet of blotting-paper, meekly sucking up all I say, and giving a -little fainter impression of my ideas. I want a wife for an alternative; -all the vivacities of life lie in differences." - -"Why, surely," said Anne, "one wants one's friends to be congenial, I -should think." - -"So we do; and there is nothing in the world so congenial as -differences. To be sure, the differences must be harmonious. In music, -now, for instance, one doesn't want a repetition of the same notes, but -differing notes that chord. Nay, even discords are indispensable to -complete harmony. Now, Nina has just that difference from me which -chords with me; and all our little quarrels--for we have had a good -many, and I dare say shall have more--are only a sort of chromatic -passages,--discords of the seventh, leading into harmony. My life is -inward, theorizing, self-absorbed. I am hypochondriac--often morbid. The -vivacity and acuteness of her outer life makes her just what I need. She -wakens, she rouses, and keeps me in play; and her quick instincts are -often more than a match for my reason. I reverence the child, then, in -spite of her faults. She has taught me many things." - -"Well," said Anne, laughing, "I give you up, if it comes to that. If you -come to talk about reverencing Nina Gordon, I see it's all over with -you, Edward, and I'll be good-natured, and make the best of it. I hope -it may all be true that you think, and a great deal more. At all events, -no effort of mine shall be wanting to make you as happy in your new -relation as you ought to be." - -"There, now, that's Anne Clayton! It's just like _you_, sister, and I -couldn't say anything better than that. You have unburdened your -conscience, you have done all you can for me, and now very properly -yield to the inevitation. Nina, I know, will love you; and, if you never -_try_ to advise her and influence her, you will influence her very much. -Good people are a long while learning _that_, Anne. They think to do -good to others, by interfering and advising. They don't know that all -they have to do is to live. When I first knew Nina, I was silly enough -to try my hand that way, myself; but I've learned better. Now, when Nina -comes to us, all that you and mamma have got to do is just to be kind to -her, and _live_ as you always have lived; and whatever needs to be -altered in her, she will alter herself." - -"Well," said Anne, "I wish, as it is so, that I could see her." - -"Suppose you write a few lines to her in this letter that I am going to -write; and then that will lead in due time to a visit." - -"Anything in the world, Edward, that you say." - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE GORDON FAMILY. - - -A week or two had passed over the head of Nina Gordon since she was -first introduced to our readers, and during this time she had become -familiar with the details of her home life. Nominally, she stood at the -head of her plantation, as mistress and queen in her own right of all, -both in doors and out; but, really, she found herself, by her own youth -and inexperience, her ignorance of practical details, very much in the -hands of those she professed to govern. - -The duties of a southern housekeeper, on a plantation, are onerous -beyond any amount of northern conception. Every article wanted for daily -consumption must be kept under lock and key, and doled out as need -arises. For the most part, the servants are only grown-up children, -without consideration, forethought, or self-control, quarrelling with -each other, and divided into parties and factions, hopeless of any -reasonable control. Every article of wear, for some hundreds of people, -must be thought of, purchased, cut and made, under the direction of the -mistress; and add to this the care of young children, whose childish -mothers are totally unfit to govern or care for them, and we have some -slight idea of what devolves on southern housekeepers. - -Our reader has seen what Nina was on her return from New York, and can -easily imagine that she had no idea of embracing, in good earnest, the -hard duties of such a life. - -In fact, since the death of Nina's mother, the situation of the mistress -of the family had been only nominally filled by her aunt, Mrs. Nesbit. -The real housekeeper, in fact, was an old mulatto woman, named Katy, who -had been trained by Nina's mother. Notwithstanding the general -inefficiency and childishness of negro servants, there often are to be -found among them those of great practical ability. Whenever owners, -through necessity or from tact, select such servants, and subject them -to the kind of training and responsibility which belongs to a state of -freedom, the same qualities are developed which exist in free society. -Nina's mother, being always in delicate health, had, from necessity, -been obliged to commit much responsibility to "Aunt Katy," as she was -called; and she had grown up under the discipline into a very efficient -housekeeper. With her tall red turban, her jingling bunch of keys, and -an abundant sense of the importance of her office, she was a dignitary -not lightly to be disregarded. - -It is true that she professed the utmost deference for her young -mistress, and very generally passed the compliment of inquiring what she -would have done; but it was pretty generally understood that her assent -to Aunt Katy's propositions was considered as much a matter of course as -the queen's to a ministerial recommendation. Indeed, had Nina chosen to -demur, her prime minister had the power, without departing in the -slightest degree from a respectful bearing, to involve her in labyrinths -of perplexity without end. And as Nina hated trouble, and wanted, above -all things, to have her time to herself for her own amusement, she -wisely concluded not to interfere with Aunt Katy's reign, and to get by -persuasion and coaxing, what the old body would have been far too -consequential and opinionated to give to authority. - -In like manner, at the head of all out-door affairs was the young -quadroon, Harry, whom we introduced in the first chapter. In order to -come fully at the relation in which he stood to the estate, we must, -after the fashion of historians generally, go back a hundred years or -so, in order to give our readers a fair start. Behold us, therefore, -assuming historic dignity, as follows. - -Among the first emigrants to Virginia, in its colonial days, was one -Thomas Gordon, Knight, a distant offshoot of the noble Gordon family, -renowned in Scottish history. Being a gentleman of some considerable -energy, and impatient of the narrow limits of the Old World, where he -found little opportunity to obtain that wealth which was necessary to -meet the demands of his family pride, he struck off for himself into -Virginia. Naturally of an adventurous turn, he was one of the first to -propose the enterprise which afterwards resulted in a settlement on the -banks of the Chowan River, in North Carolina. Here he took up for -himself a large tract of the finest alluvial land, and set himself to -the business of planting, with the energy and skill characteristic of -his nation; and, as the soil was new and fertile, he soon received a -very munificent return for his enterprise. Inspired with remembrances of -old ancestral renown, the Gordon family transmitted in their descent all -the traditions, feelings, and habits, which were the growth of the -aristocratic caste from which they sprung. The name of Canema, given to -the estate, came from an Indian guide and interpreter, who accompanied -the first Colonel Gordon as confidential servant. - -The estate, being entailed, passed down through the colonial times -unbroken in the family, whose wealth, for some years, seemed to increase -with every generation. - -The family mansion was one of those fond reproductions of the -architectural style of the landed gentry in England, in which, as far as -their means could compass it, the planters were fond of indulging. - -Carpenters and carvers had been brought over, at great expense, from the -old country, to give the fruits of their skill in its erection; and it -was a fancy of the ancestor who built it, to display, in its wood-work, -that exuberance of new and rare woods with which the American continent -was supposed to abound. He had made an adventurous voyage into South -America, and brought from thence specimens of those materials more -brilliant than rose-wood, and hard as ebony, which grow so profusely on -the banks of the Amazon that the natives use them for timber. The floor -of the central hall of the house was a curiously-inlaid parquet of these -brilliant materials, arranged in fine block-work, highly polished. - -The outside of the house was built in the old Virginian fashion, with -two tiers of balconies running completely round, as being much better -suited to the American climate than any of European mode. The inside, -however, was decorated with sculpture and carvings, copied, many of -them, from ancestral residences in Scotland, giving to the mansion an -air of premature antiquity. - -Here, for two or three generations, the Gordon family had lived in -opulence. During the time, however, of Nina's father, and still more -after his death, there appeared evidently on the place signs of that -gradual decay which has conducted many an old Virginian family to -poverty and ruin. Slave labor, of all others the most worthless and -profitless, had exhausted the first vigor of the soil, and the -proprietors gradually degenerated from those habits of energy which were -called forth by the necessities of the first settlers, and everything -proceeded with that free-and-easy abandon, in which both master and -slave appeared to have one common object,--that of proving who should -waste with most freedom. - -At Colonel Gordon's death, he had bequeathed, as we have already shown, -the whole family estate to his daughter, under the care of a servant, of -whose uncommon intelligence and thorough devotion of heart he had the -most ample proof. When it is reflected that the overseers are generally -taken from a class of whites who are often lower in ignorance and -barbarism than even the slaves, and that their wastefulness and rapacity -are a by-word among the planters, it is no wonder that Colonel Gordon -thought that, in leaving his plantation under the care of one so -energetic, competent, and faithful, as Harry, he had made the best -possible provision for his daughter. - -Harry was the son of his master, and inherited much of the temper and -constitution of his father, tempered by the soft and genial temperament -of the beautiful Eboe mulattress, who was his mother. From this -circumstance Harry had received advantages of education very superior to -what commonly fell to the lot of his class. He had also accompanied his -master as valet during the tour of Europe, and thus his opportunities of -general observation had been still further enlarged, and that tact, by -which those of the mixed blood seem so peculiarly fitted to appreciate -all the finer aspects of conventional life had been called out and -exercised; so that it would be difficult in any circle to meet with a -more agreeable and gentlemanly person. In leaving a man of this -character, and his own son, still in the bonds of slavery, Colonel -Gordon was influenced by that passionate devotion to his daughter which -with him overpowered every consideration. A man so cultivated, he argued -to himself, might find many avenues opened to him in freedom; might be -tempted to leave the estate to other hands, and seek his own fortune. He -therefore resolved to leave him bound by an indissoluble tie for a term -of years, trusting to his attachment to Nina to make this service -tolerable. - -Possessed of very uncommon judgment, firmness, and knowledge of human -nature, Harry had found means to acquire great ascendency over the hands -of the plantation, and, either through fear or through friendship, there -was a universal subordination to him. The executors of the estate -scarcely made even a feint of overseeing him; and he proceeded, to all -intents and purposes, with the perfect ease of a free man. Everybody, -for miles around, knew and respected him; and, had he not been possessed -of a good share of the thoughtful, forecasting temperament derived from -his Scottish parentage, he might have been completely happy, and -forgotten even the existence of the chains whose weight he never felt. - -It was only in the presence of Tom Gordon--Colonel Gordon's lawful -son--that he ever realized that he was a slave. From childhood, there -had been a rooted enmity between the brothers, which deepened as years -passed on; and, as he found himself, on every return of the young man to -the place, subjected to taunts and ill-usage, to which his defenceless -position left him no power to reply, he had resolved never to marry, and -lay the foundation for a family, until such time as he should be able to -have the command of his own destiny, and that of his household. But the -charms of a pretty French quadroon overcame the dictates of prudence. - -The history of Tom Gordon is the history of many a young man grown up -under the institutions and in the state of society which formed him. -Nature had endowed him with no mean share of talent, and with that -perilous quickness of nervous organization, which, like fire, is a good -servant, but a bad master. Out of those elements, with due training, -might have been formed an efficient and eloquent public man; but, -brought up from childhood among servants to whom his infant will was -law, indulged during the period of infantile beauty and grace in the -full expression of every whim, growing into boyhood among slaves with -but the average amount of plantation morality, his passions developed at -a fearfully early time of life; and, before his father thought of -seizing the reins of authority, they had gone out of his hands forever. -Tutor after tutor was employed on the plantation to instruct him, and -left, terrified by his temper. The secluded nature of the plantation -left him without that healthful stimulus of society which is often a -help in enabling a boy to come to the knowledge and control of himself. -His associates were either the slaves, or the overseers, who are -generally unprincipled and artful, or the surrounding whites, who lay in -a yet lower deep of degradation. For one reason or another, it was for -the interest of all these to flatter his vices and covertly to assist -him in opposing and deceiving his parents. Thus an early age saw him an -adept in every low form of vice. In despair, he was at length sent to an -academy at the North, where he commenced his career on the first day by -striking the teacher in the face, and was consequently expelled. Thence -he went to another, where, learning caution from experience, he was -enabled to maintain his foothold. There he was a successful colporteur -and missionary in the way of introducing a knowledge of bowie-knives, -revolvers, and vicious literature. Artful, bold, and daring, his -residence for a year at a school was sufficient to initiate in the way -of ruin perhaps one fourth of the boys. He was handsome, and, when not -provoked, good-natured, and had that off-hand way of spending money -which passes among boys for generosity. The simple sons of hard-working -farmers, bred in habits of industry and frugality, were dazzled and -astonished by the freedom with which he talked, and drank, and spit, and -swore. He was a hero in their eye, and they began to wonder at the -number of things, to them unknown before, which went to make up the -necessaries of life. From school he was transferred to college, and -there placed under the care of a professor, who was paid an exorbitant -sum for overlooking his affairs. The consequence was, that while many a -northern boy, whose father could not afford to pay for similar -patronage, was disciplined, rusticated, or expelled, as the case might -be, Tom Gordon exploited gloriously through college, getting drunk every -week or two, breaking windows, smoking freshmen, heading various sprees -in different parts of the country, and at last graduating nobody knew -how, except the patron professor, who received an extra sum for the -extra difficulties of the case. Returned home, he went into a lawyer's -office in Raleigh, where, by a pleasant fiction, he was said to be -reading law, because he was occasionally seen at the office during the -intervals of his more serious avocations of gambling, and horse-racing, -and drinking. His father, an affectionate but passionate man, was wholly -unable to control him, and the conflicts between them often shook the -whole domestic fabric. Nevertheless, to the last Colonel Gordon indulged -the old hope for such cases made and provided, that Tom would get -through sowing his wild oats, some time, and settle down and be a -respectable man; in which hope he left him the half of his property. -Since that time, Tom seemed to have studied on no subject except how to -accelerate the growth of those wings which riches are said to be -inclined to take, under the most favorable circumstances. - -As often happens in such cases of utter ruin, Tom Gordon was a much -worse character for all the elements of good which he possessed. He had -sufficient perception of right, and sufficient conscience remaining, to -make him bitter and uncomfortable. In proportion as he knew himself -unworthy of his father's affection and trust, he became jealous and -angry at any indications of the want of it. He had contracted a settled -ill-will to his sister, for no other apparent reason except that the -father took a comfort in her which he did not in him. From childhood, it -was his habit to vex and annoy her in every possible way; and it was for -this reason, among many others, that Harry had persuaded Mr. John -Gordon, Nina's uncle and guardian, to place her at the New York -boarding-school, where she acquired what is termed an education. After -finishing her school career, she had been spending a few months in a -family of a cousin of her mother's, and running with loose rein the -career of fashionable gayety. - -Luckily, she brought home with her unspoiled a genuine love of nature, -which made the rural habits of plantation life agreeable to her. -Neighbors there were few. Her uncle's plantation, five miles distant, -was the nearest. Other families with whom the Gordons were in the habit -of exchanging occasional visits were some ten or fifteen miles distant. -It was Nina's delight, however, in her muslin wrapper and straw hat, to -patter about over the plantation, to chat with the negroes among their -cabins, amusing herself with the various drolleries and peculiarities to -which long absence had given the zest of novelty. Then she would call -for her pony, and, attended by Harry, or some of her servants, would -career through the woods, gathering the wild-flowers with which they -abound; perhaps stop for a day at her uncle's, have a chat and a romp -with him, and return the next morning. - -In the comparative solitude of her present life her mind began to clear -itself of some former follies, as water when at rest deposits the -sediment which clouded it. Apart from the crowd, and the world of -gayeties which had dizzied her, she could not help admitting to herself -the folly of much she had been doing. Something, doubtless, was added to -this by the letters of Clayton. The tone of them, so manly and sincere, -so respectful and kind, so removed either from adulation or -sentimentalism, had an effect upon her greater than she was herself -aware of. So Nina, in her positive and off-hand way, sat down, one day, -and wrote farewell letters to both her other lovers, and felt herself -quite relieved by the process. - -A young person could scarce stand more entirely alone, as to sympathetic -intercourse with relations, than Nina. It is true that the presence of -her mother's sister in the family caused it to be said that she was -residing under the care of an aunt. - -Mrs. Nesbit, however, was simply one of those well-bred, well-dressed -lay-figures, whose only office in life seems to be to occupy a certain -room in a house, to sit in certain chairs at proper hours, to make -certain remarks at suitable intervals of conversation. In her youth this -lady had run quite a career as a belle and beauty. Nature had endowed -her with a handsome face and figure, and youth and the pleasure of -admiration for some years supplied a sufficient flow of animal spirits -to make the beauty effective. Early married, she became the mother of -several children, who were one by one swept into the grave. The death of -her husband, last of all, left her with a very small fortune alone in -the world; and, like many in similar circumstances, she was content to -sink into an appendage to another's family. - -Mrs. Nesbit considered herself very religious; and, as there is a great -deal that passes for religion, ordinarily, of which she may be fairly -considered a representative, we will present our readers with a -philosophical analysis of the article. When young, she had thought only -of self in the form of admiration, and the indulgence of her animal -spirits. When married, she had thought of self only in her husband and -children, whom she loved because they were _hers_, and for no other -reason. - -When death swept away her domestic circle, and time stole the beauty and -freshness of animal spirits, her self-love took another form; and, -perceiving that this world was becoming to her somewhat _passé_, she -determined to make the best of her chance for another. - -Religion she looked upon in the light of a ticket, which, being once -purchased, and snugly laid away in a pocket-book, is to be produced at -the celestial gate, and thus secure admission to heaven. - -At a certain period of her life, while she deemed this ticket -unpurchased, she was extremely low-spirited and gloomy, and went through -a quantity of theological reading enough to have astonished herself, had -she foreseen it in the days of her belleship. As the result of all, she -at last presented herself as a candidate for admission to a Presbyterian -church in the vicinity, there professing her determination to run the -Christian race. By the Christian race, she understood going at certain -stated times to religious meetings, reading the Bible and hymn-book at -certain hours in the day, giving at regular intervals stipulated sums to -religious charities, and preserving a general state of leaden -indifference to everybody and everything in the world. - -She thus fondly imagined that she had renounced the world, because she -looked back with disgust on gayeties for which she had no longer -strength or spirits. Nor did she dream that the intensity with which her -mind travelled the narrow world of self, dwelling on the plaits of her -caps, the cut of her stone-colored satin gowns, the making of her tea -and her bed, and the saving of her narrow income, was exactly the same -in kind, though far less agreeable in development, as that which once -expended itself in dressing and dancing. Like many other apparently -negative characters, she had a pertinacious intensity of an extremely -narrow and aimless self-will. Her plans of life, small as they were, -had a thousand crimps and plaits, to every one of which she adhered with -invincible pertinacity. The poor lady little imagined, when she sat, -with such punctilious satisfaction, while the Rev. Mr. Orthodoxy -demonstrated that selfishness is the essence of all moral evil, that the -sentiment had the slightest application to her; nor dreamed that the -little, quiet, muddy current of self-will, which ran without noise or -indecorum under the whole structure of her being, might be found, in a -future day, to have undermined all her hopes of heaven. Of course, Mrs. -Nesbit regarded Nina, and all other lively young people, with a kind of -melancholy endurance--as shocking spectacles of worldliness. There was -but little sympathy, to be sure, between the dashing, and out-spoken, -and almost defiant little Nina, and the sombre silver-gray apparition -which glided quietly about the wide halls of her paternal mansion. In -fact, it seemed to afford the latter a mischievous pleasure to shock her -respectable relative on all convenient occasions. Mrs. Nesbit felt it -occasionally her duty, as she remarked, to call her lively niece into -her apartment, and endeavor to persuade her to read some such volume as -Law's Serious Call, or Owen on the One Hundred and Nineteenth Psalm; and -to give her a general and solemn warning against all the vanities of the -world, in which were generally included dressing in any color but black -and drab, dancing, flirting, writing love-letters, and all other -enormities, down to the eating of pea-nut candy. One of these scenes is -just now enacting in this good lady's apartment, upon which we will -raise the curtain. - -Mrs. Nesbit, a diminutive, blue-eyed, fair-complexioned little woman, of -some five feet high, sat gently swaying in that respectable asylum for -American old age, commonly called a rocking-chair. Every rustle of her -silvery silk gown, every fold of the snowy kerchief on her neck, every -plait of her immaculate cap, spoke a soul long retired from this world -and its cares. The bed, arranged with extremest precision, however, was -covered with a _mélange_ of French finery, flounces, laces, among which -Nina kept up a continual agitation like that produced by a breeze in a -flower-bed, as she unfolded, turned, and fluttered them, before the eyes -of her relative. - -"I have been through all this, Nina," said the latter, with a melancholy -shake of her head, "and I know the vanity of it." - -"Well, aunty, I _haven't_ been through it, so _I_ don't know." - -"Yes, my dear, when I was of your age, I used to go to balls and -parties, and could think of nothing but of dress and admiration. I have -been through it all, and seen the vanity of it." - -"Well, aunt, I want to go through it, and see the vanity of it too. -That's just what I'm after. I'm on the way to be as sombre and solemn as -you are, but I'm bound to have a good time first. Now, look at this pink -brocade!" - -Had the brocade been a pall, it could scarcely have been regarded with a -more lugubrious aspect. - -"Ah, child! such a dying world as this! To spend so much time and -thought on dress!" - -"Why, Aunt Nesbit, yesterday you spent just two whole hours in thinking -whether you should turn the breadths of your black silk dress upside -down, or down side up; and this was a dying world all the time. Now, I -don't see that it is any better to think of black silk than it is of -pink." - -This was a view of the subject which seemed never to have occurred to -the good lady. - -"But now, aunt, do cheer up, and look at this box of artificial flowers. -You know I thought I'd bring a stock on from New York. Now, aren't these -perfectly lovely? I like flowers that _mean_ something. Now, these are -all imitations of natural flowers, so perfect that you'd scarcely know -them from the real. See--there, that's a moss-rose; and now look at -these sweet peas, you'd think they had just been picked; and, -there--that heliotrope, and these jessamines, and those orange-blossoms, -and that wax camelia"-- - -"Turn off my eyes from beholding vanity!" said Mrs. Nesbit, shutting her -eyes, and shaking her head:-- - - - "'What if we wear the richest vest,-- - Peacocks and flies are better drest; - This flesh, with all its glorious forms, - Must drop to earth, and feed the worms.'" - - -"Aunt, I do think you have the most horrid, disgusting set of hymns, all -about worms, and dust, and such things!" - -"It's my duty, child, when I see you so much taken up with such sinful -finery." - -"Why, aunt, do you think artificial flowers are sinful?" - -"Yes, dear; they are a sinful waste of time and money, and take off our -mind from more important things." - -"Well, aunt, then what did the Lord make sweet peas, and roses, and -orange-blossoms for? I'm sure it's only doing as he does, to make -flowers. He don't make everything gray, or stone-color. Now, if you only -would come out in the garden, this morning, and see the oleanders, and -the crape myrtle, and the pinks, the roses, and the tulips, and the -hyacinths, I'm sure it would do you good." - -"Oh, I should certainly catch cold, child, if I went out doors. Milly -left a crack opened in the window, last night, and I've sneezed three or -four times since. It will never do for me to go out in the garden; the -feeling of the ground striking up through my shoes is very unhealthy." - -"Well, at any rate, aunt, I should think, if the Lord didn't wish us to -wear roses and jessamines, he would not have made them. And it is the -most natural thing in the world to want to wear flowers." - -"It only feeds vanity and a love of display, my dear." - -"I don't think it's vanity, or a love of display. I should want to dress -prettily, if I were the only person in the world. I love pretty things -because they _are_ pretty. I like to wear them because they make me look -pretty." - -"There it is, child; you want to dress up your poor perishing body to -look pretty--that's the thing!" - -"To be sure I do. Why shouldn't I? I mean to look as pretty as I can, as -long as I live." - -"You seem to have quite a conceit of your beauty!" said Aunt Nesbit. - -"Well, I know I am pretty. I'm not going to pretend I don't. I like my -own looks, now, that's a fact. I'm not like one of your Greek statues, I -know. I'm not wonderfully handsome, nor likely to set the world on fire -with my beauty. I'm just a pretty little thing; and I like flowers and -laces, and all of those things; and I mean to like them, and I don't -think there'll be a bit of religion in my not liking them; and as for -all that disagreeable stuff about the worms, that you are always telling -me, I don't think it does me a particle of good. And, if religion is -going to make me so _poky_, I shall put it off as long I can." - -"I used to feel just as you do, dear, but I've seen the folly of it!" - -"If I've got to lose my love for everything that is bright, everything -that is lively, and everything that is pretty, and like to read such -horrid stupid books, why, I'd rather be buried, and done with it!" - -"That's the opposition of the natural heart, my dear." - -The conversation was here interrupted by the entrance of a bright, -curly-headed mulatto boy, bearing Mrs. Nesbit's daily luncheon. - -"Oh, here comes Tomtit," said Nina; "now for a scene. Let's see what he -has forgotten, now." - -Tomtit was, in his way, a great character in the mansion. He and his -grandmother were the property of Mrs. Nesbit. His true name was no less -respectable and methodical than that of Thomas; but, as he was one of -those restless and effervescent sprites, who seem to be born for the -confusion of quiet people, Nina had rechristened him Tomtit, which -sobriquet was immediately recognized by the whole household as being -eminently descriptive and appropriate. A constant ripple and eddy of -drollery seemed to pervade his whole being; his large, saucy black eyes -had always a laughing fire in them, that it was impossible to meet -without a smile in return. Slave and property though he was, yet the -first sentiment of reverence for any created thing seemed yet wholly -unawakened in his curly pate. Breezy, idle, careless, flighty, as his -woodland namesake, life to him seemed only a repressed and pent-up -ebullition of animal enjoyment; and almost the only excitement of Mrs. -Nesbit's quiet life was her chronic controversy with Tomtit. Forty or -fifty times a day did the old body assure him "that she was astonished -at his conduct;" and as many times would he reply by showing the whole -set of his handsome teeth, on the broad grin, wholly inconsiderate of -the state of despair into which he thus reduced her. - -On the present occasion, as he entered the room, his eye was caught by -the great display of finery on the bed; and, hastily dumping the waiter -on the first chair that occurred, with a flirt and a spring as lithe as -that of a squirrel, he was seated in a moment astride the foot-board, -indulging in a burst of merriment. - -"Good law, Miss Nina, whar on earth dese yer come from? Good law, some -on 'em for me, isn't 'er?" - -"You see that child!" now said Mrs. Nesbit, rocking back in her chair -with the air of a martyr. "After all my talkings to him! Nina, you ought -not to allow that; it just encourages him!" - -"Tom, get down, you naughty creature you, and get the stand and put the -waiter on it. Mind yourself, now!" said Nina, laughing. - -Tomtit cut a somerset from the foot-board to the floor, and, striking -up, on a very high key, "I'll bet my money on a bobtail nag," he danced -out a small table, as if it had been a partner, and deposited it, with a -jerk, at the side of Mrs. Nesbit, who aimed a cuff at his ears; but, as -he adroitly ducked his head, the intended blow came down upon the table -with more force than was comfortable to the inflictor. - -"I believe that child is made of air!--I never can hit him!" said the -good lady, waxing red in the face. "He is enough to provoke a saint!" - -"So he is, aunt; enough to provoke two saints like you and me. Tomtit, -you rogue," said she, giving a gentle pull to a handful of his curly -hair, "be good, now, and I'll show you the pretty things, by and by. -Come, put the waiter on the table, now; see if you can't walk, for -once!" - -Casting down his eyes with an irresistible look of mock solemnity, -Tomtit marched with the waiter, and placed it by his mistress. - -The good lady, after drawing off her gloves and making sundry little -decorous preparations, said a short grace over her meal, during which -time Tomtit seemed to be holding his sides with repressed merriment; -then, gravely laying hold of the handle of the teapot she stopped short, -gave an exclamation, and flirted her fingers, as she felt it almost -scalding hot. - -"Tomtit, I do believe you intend to burn me to death, some day!" - -"Laws, missus, dat are hot? Oh, sure I was tickler to set the nose round -to the fire." - -"No, you didn't! You stuck the handle right into the fire as you're -always doing!" - -"Laws, now, wonder if I did," said Tomtit, assuming an abstracted -appearance. "'Pears as if never can 'member which dem dare is nose, and -which handle. Now, I's a studdin on dat dare most all de morning--was -so," said he, gathering confidence, as he saw, by Nina's dancing eyes, -how greatly she was amused. - -"You need a sound whipping, sir--that's what you need!" said Mrs. -Nesbit, kindling up in sudden wrath. - -"Oh, I knows it," said Tomtit. "We's unprofitable servants, all on us. -Lord's marcy that we an't 'sumed, all on us!" - -Nina was so completely overcome by this novel application of the text -which she had heard her aunt laboriously drumming into Tomtit, the -Sabbath before, that she laughed aloud, with rather uproarious -merriment. - -"Oh, aunt, there's no use! He don't know anything! He's nothing but an -incarnate joke, a walking hoax!" - -"No, I doesn't know nothing, Miss Nina," said Tomtit, at the same time -looking out from under his long eyelashes. "Don't know nothing at -all--never can." - -"Well, now, Tomtit," said Mrs. Nesbit, drawing out a little blue cowhide -from under her chair, and looking at him resolutely, "you see, if this -teapot handle is hot again, I'll give it to you! Do you hear?" - -"Yes, missis," said Tomtit, with that indescribable sing-song of -indifference, which is so common and so provoking in his class. - -"And, now, Tomtit, you go down stairs and clean the knives for dinner." - -"Yes, missis," said he, pirouetting towards the door. And once in the -passage, he struck up a vigorous "Oh, I'm going to glory, won't you go -along with me;" accompanying himself, by slapping his own sides, as he -went down two stairs at a time. - -"Going to glory!" said Mrs. Nesbit, rather shortly; "he looks like it, I -think! It's the third or fourth time that that child has blistered my -fingers with this teapot, and I know he does it on purpose! So -ungrateful, when I spend my time, teaching him, hour after hour, -laboring with him so! I declare, I don't believe these children have got -any souls!" - -"Well, aunt, I declare, I should think you'd get out of all patience -with him; yet he's so funny, I cannot, for the life of me, help -laughing." - -Here a distant whoop on the staircase, and a tempestuous chorus to a -Methodist hymn, with the words, "Oh come, my loving brethren," announced -that Tomtit was on the return; and very soon, throwing open the door, he -marched in, with an air of the greatest importance. - -"Tomtit, didn't I tell you to go and clean the knives?" - -"Law, missis, come up here to bring Miss Nina's love-letters," said he, -producing two or three letters. "Good law, though," said he, checking -himself, "forgot to put them on a waity!" and, before a word could be -said, he was out of the room and down stairs, and at the height of -furious contest with the girl who was cleaning the silver, for a waiter -to put Miss Nina's letters on. - -"Dar, Miss Nina," appealing to her when she appeared, "Rosa won't let me -have no waity!" - -"I could pull your hair for you, you little image!" said Nina, seizing -the letters from his hands, and laughing while she cuffed his ears. - -"Well," said Tomtit, looking after her with great solemnity, "missis in -de right on't. An't no kind of order in this here house, 'pite of all I -can do. One says put letters on waity. Another one won't let you have -waity to put letters on. And, finally, Miss Nina, she pull them all -away. Just the way things going on in dis yer house, all the time! I -can't help it; done all I can. Just the way missus says!" - -There was one member of Nina's establishment of a character so marked -that we cannot refrain from giving her a separate place in our picture -of her surroundings,--and this was Milly, the waiting-woman of Aunt -Nesbit. - -Aunt Milly, as she was commonly called, was a tall, broad-shouldered, -deep-chested African woman, with a fulness of figure approaching to -corpulence. Her habit of standing and of motion was peculiar and -majestic, reminding one of the Scripture expression "upright as the -palm-tree." Her skin was of a peculiar blackness and softness, not -unlike black velvet. Her eyes were large, full, and dark, and had about -them that expression of wishfulness and longing which one may sometimes -have remarked in dark eyes. Her mouth was large, and the lips, though -partaking of the African fulness, had, nevertheless, something decided -and energetic in their outline, which was still further seconded by the -heavy moulding of the chin. A frank smile, which was common with her, -disclosed a row of most splendid and perfect teeth. Her hair, without -approaching to the character of the Anglo-Saxon, was still different -from the ordinary woolly coat of the negro, and seemed more like an -infinite number of close-knotted curls, of brilliant, glossy blackness. - -The parents of Milly were prisoners taken in African wars; and she was a -fine specimen of one of those warlike and splendid races, of whom, as -they have seldom been reduced to slavery, there are but few and rare -specimens among the slaves of the South. - -Her usual head-dress was a high turban, of those brilliant colored -Madras handkerchiefs in which the instinctive taste of the dark races -leads them to delight. Milly's was always put on and worn with a regal -air, as if it were the coronet of the queen. For the rest, her dress -consisted of a well-fitted gown of dark stuff, of a quality somewhat -finer than the usual household apparel. A neatly-starched white muslin -handkerchief folded across her bosom, and a clean white apron, completed -her usual costume. - -No one could regard her, as a whole, and not feel their prejudice in -favor of the exclusive comeliness of white races somewhat shaken. Placed -among the gorgeous surroundings of African landscape and scenery, it -might be doubted whether any one's taste could have desired, as a -completion to her appearance, to have blanched the glossy skin whose -depth of coloring harmonizes so well with the intense and fiery glories -of a tropical landscape. - -In character, Milly was worthy of her remarkable external appearance. -Heaven had endowed her with a soul as broad and generous as her ample -frame. Her passions rolled and burned in her bosom with a tropical -fervor; a shrewd and abundant mother wit, united with a vein of -occasional drollery, gave to her habits of speech a quaint vivacity. - -A native adroitness gave an unwonted command over all the functions of -her fine body, so that she was endowed with that much-coveted property -which the New Englander denominates "faculty," which means the intuitive -ability to seize at once on the right and best way of doing everything -which is to be done. At the same time, she was possessed of that high -degree of self-respect which led her to be incorruptibly faithful and -thorough in all she undertook; less, as it often seemed, from any fealty -or deference to those whom she served, than from a kind of native pride -in well-doing, which led her to deem it beneath herself to slight or -pass over the least thing which she had undertaken. Her promises were -inviolable. Her owners always knew that what she once said would be -done, if it were within the bounds of possibility. - -The value of an individual thus endowed in person and character may be -easily conceived by those who understand how rare, either among slaves -or freemen, is such a combination. Milly was, therefore, always -considered in the family as a most valuable piece of property, and -treated with more than common consideration. - -As a mind, even when uncultivated, will ever find its level, it often -happened that Milly's amount of being and force of character gave her -ascendency even over those who were nominally her superiors. As her ways -were commonly found to be the best ways, she was left, in most cases, to -pursue them without opposition or control. But, favorite as she was, her -life had been one of deep sorrows. She had been suffered, it is true, to -contract a marriage with a very finely-endowed mulatto man, on a -plantation adjoining her owner's, by whom she had a numerous family of -children, who inherited all her fine physical and mental endowments. -With more than usual sensibility and power of reflection, the idea that -the children so dear to her were from their birth not her own--that they -were, from the first hour of their existence, merchantable articles, -having a fixed market value in proportion to every excellence, and -liable to all the reverses of merchantable goods--sank with deep weight -into her mind. Unfortunately, the family to which she belonged being -reduced to poverty, there remained, often, no other means of making up -the deficiency of income than the annual sale of one or two negroes. -Milly's children, from their fine developments, were much-coveted -articles. Their owner was often tempted by extravagant offers for them; -and therefore, to meet one crisis or another of family difficulties, -they had been successively sold from her. At first, she had met this -doom with almost the ferocity of a lioness; but the blow, oftentimes -repeated, had brought with it a dull endurance, and Christianity had -entered, as it often does with the slave, through the rents and fissures -of a broken heart. Those instances of piety which are sometimes, though -rarely, found among slaves, and which transcend the ordinary development -of the best-instructed, are generally the results of calamities and -afflictions so utterly desolating as to force the soul to depend on God -alone. But, where one soul is thus raised to higher piety, thousands are -crushed in hopeless imbecility. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -HARRY AND HIS WIFE. - - -Several miles from the Gordon estate, on an old and somewhat decayed -plantation, stood a neat log-cabin, whose external aspect showed both -taste and care. It was almost enveloped in luxuriant wreaths of yellow -jessamine, and garlanded with a magnificent lamarque rose, whose -cream-colored buds and flowers contrasted beautifully with the dark, -polished green of the finely-cut leaves. - -The house stood in an enclosure formed by a high hedge of the American -holly, whose evergreen foliage and scarlet berries made it, at all times -of the year, a beautiful object. Within the enclosure was a garden, -carefully tended, and devoted to the finest fruits and flowers. - -This little dwelling, so different in its air of fanciful neatness from -ordinary southern cabins, was the abode of Harry's little wife. -_Lisette_, which was her name, was the slave of a French creole woman, -to whom a plantation had recently fallen by inheritance. - -She was a delicate, airy little creature, formed by a mixture of the -African and French blood, producing one of those fanciful, exotic -combinations, that give one the same impression of brilliancy and -richness that one receives from tropical insects and flowers. From both -parent races she was endowed with a sensuous being exquisitely quick and -fine,--a nature of everlasting childhood, with all its freshness of -present life, all its thoughtless, unreasoning fearlessness of the -future. - -She stands there at her ironing-table, just outside her cottage door, -singing gayly at her work. Her round, plump, childish form is shown to -advantage by the trim blue basque, laced in front, over a chemisette of -white linen. Her head is wreathed with a gay turban, from which escapes, -now and then, a wandering curl of her silky black hair. Her eyes, as -she raises them, have the hazy, dreamy languor, which is so -characteristic of the mixed races. Her little, childish hands are busy, -with nimble fingers adroitly plaiting and arranging various articles of -feminine toilet, too delicate and expensive to have belonged to those in -humble circumstances. She ironed, plaited, and sung, with busy care. -Occasionally, however, she would suspend her work, and, running between -the flower-borders to the hedge, look wistfully along the road, shading -her eyes with her hand. At last, as she saw a man on horseback -approaching, she flew lightly out, and ran to meet him. - -"Harry, Harry! You've come, at last. I'm so glad! And what have you got -in that paper? Is it anything for me?" - -He held it up, and shook it at her, while she leaped after it. - -"No, no, little curiosity!" he said, gayly. - -"I know it's something for me," said she, with a pretty, half-pouting -air. - -"And why do you know it's for you? Is everything to be for you in the -world, you little good-for-nothing?" - -"Good-for-nothing!" with a toss of the gayly-turbaned little head. "You -may well say that, sir! Just look at the two dozen shirts I've ironed, -since morning! Come, now, take me up; I want to ride." - -Harry put out the toe of his boot and his hand, and, with an adroit -spring, she was in a moment before him, on his horse's neck, and, with a -quick turn, snatched the paper parcel from his hand. - -"Woman's curiosity!" said he. - -"Well, I want to see what it is. Dear me, what a tight string! Oh, I -can't break it! Well, here it goes; I'll tear a hole in it, anyhow. Oh, -silk, as I live! Aha! tell me now this isn't for me, you bad thing, -you!" - -"Why, how do you know it isn't to make me a summer coat?" - -"Summer coat!--likely story! Aha! I've found you out, mister! But, come, -do make the horse canter! I want to go fast. Make him canter, do!" - -Harry gave a sudden jerk to the reins, and in a minute the two were -flying off as if on the wings of the wind. On and on they went, through -a small coppice of pines, while the light-hearted laugh rang on the -breeze behind them. Now they are lost to view. In a few minutes, -emerging from the pine woods in another direction, they come sweeping, -gay and laughing, up to the gate. To fasten the horse, to snatch the -little wife on his shoulder, and run into the cottage with her, seemed -the work only of a moment; and, as he set her down, still laughing, he -exclaimed,-- - -"There, go, now, for a pretty little picture, as you are! I have helped -them get up _les tableaux vivans_, at their great houses; but you are my -tableau. You aren't good for much. You are nothing but a humming-bird, -made to live on honey!" - -"That's what I am!" said the little one. "It takes a great deal of honey -to keep me. I want to be praised, flattered, and loved, all the time. It -isn't enough to have you love me. I want to hear you tell me so every -day, and hour, and minute. And I want you always to admire me, and -praise everything that I do. Now"-- - -"Particularly when you tear holes in packages!" said Harry. - -"Oh, my silk--my new silk dress!" said Lisette, thus reminded of the -package which she held in her hand. "This hateful string! How it cuts my -fingers! I _will_ break it! I'll bite it in two. Harry, Harry, don't you -see how it hurts my fingers? Why don't you cut it?" - -And the little sprite danced about the cottage floor, tearing the paper, -and tugging at the string, like an enraged humming-bird. Harry came -laughing behind her, and, taking hold of her two hands, held them quite -still, while he cut the string of the parcel, and unfolded a gorgeous -plaid silk, crimson, green, and orange. - -"There, now, what do you think of that? Miss Nina brought it, when she -came home, last week." - -"Oh, how lovely! Isn't she a beauty? Isn't she good? How beautiful it -is! Dear me, dear me! how happy I am! How happy _we_ are!--an't we, -Harry?" - -A shadow came over Harry's forehead as he answered, with a half-sigh,-- - -"Yes." - -"I was up at three o'clock this morning, on purpose to get all my -ironing done to-day, because I thought you were to come home to-night. -Ah! ah! you don't know what a supper I've got ready! You'll see, by and -by. I'm going to do something uncommon. You mustn't look in that other -room, Harry--you mustn't!" - -"Mustn't I?" said Harry, getting up, and going to the door. - -"There, now! who's curiosity now, I wonder!" said she, springing nimbly -between him and the door. "No, you shan't go in, though. There, now; -don't, don't! _Be_ good now, Harry!" - -"Well, I may as well give up first as last. This is your house, not -mine, I suppose," said Harry. - -"Mr. Submission, how meek we are, all of a sudden. Well, while the fit -lasts, you go to the spring and get me some water to fill this -tea-kettle. Off with you now, this minute! Mind you don't stop to play -by the way!" - -And, while Harry is gone to the spring, we will follow the wife into the -forbidden room. Very cool and pleasant it is, with its white -window-curtains, its matted floor, and displaying in the corner that -draped feather-bed, with its ruffled pillows and fringed curtains, which -it is the great ambition of the southern cabin to attain and maintain. - -The door, which opened on to a show of most brilliant flowers, was -overlaid completely by the lamarque rose we have before referred to; and -large clusters of its creamy blossoms, and wreaths of its dark-green -leaves, had been enticed in and tied to sundry nails and pegs by the -small hands of the little mistress, to form an arch of flowers and -roses. A little table stood in the door, draped with a spotless damasked -table-cloth, fine enough for the use of a princess, and only produced by -the little mistress on festive occasions. On it were arranged dishes -curiously trimmed with moss and vine-leaves, which displayed -strawberries and peaches, with a pitcher of cream and one of whey, small -dishes of curd, delicate cakes and biscuit, and fresh golden butter. - -After patting and arranging the table-cloth, Lisette tripped gayly -around, and altered here and there the arrangement of a dish, -occasionally stepping back, and cocking her little head on one side, -much like a bird, singing gayly as she did so; then she would pick a -bit of moss from this, and a flower from that, and retreat again, and -watch the effect. - -"How surprised he will be!" she said to herself. Still humming a tune in -a low, gurgling undertone, she danced hither and thither, round the -apartment. First she gave the curtains a little shake, and, unlooping -one of them, looped it up again, so as to throw the beams of the evening -sun on the table. - -"There, there, there! how pretty the light falls through those -nasturtions! I wonder if the room smells of the mignonette. I gathered -it when the dew was on it, and they say that will make it smell all day. -Now, here's Harry's book-case. Dear me! these flies! How they do get on -to everything! Shoo, shoo! now, now!" and, catching a gay bandana -handkerchief from the drawer, she perfectly exhausted herself in flying -about the room in pursuit of the buzzing intruders, who soared, and -dived, and careered, after the manner of flies in general, seeming -determined to go anywhere but out of the door, and finally were seen -brushing their wings and licking their feet, with great alertness, on -the very topmost height of the sacred bed-curtains; and as just this -moment a glimpse was caught of Harry returning from the spring, Lisette -was obliged to abandon the chase, and rush into the other room, to -prevent a premature development of her little tea-tableau. Then a small, -pug-nosed, black tea-kettle came on to the stage of action, from some -unknown cupboard; and Harry had to fill it with water, and of course -spilt the water on to the ironing-table, which made another little -breezy, chattering commotion; and then the flat-irons were cleared away, -and the pug-nosed kettle reigned in their stead on the charcoal brazier. - -"Now, Harry, was ever such a smart wife as I am? Only think, besides all -the rest that I've done, I've ironed your white linen suit, complete! -Now, go put it on. Not in there! not in there!" she said, pushing him -away from the door. "You can't go there, yet. You'll do well enough out -here." - -And away she went, singing through the garden walks; and the song, -floating back behind her, seemed like an odor brushed from the flowers. -The refrain came rippling in at the door-- - - - "Me think not what to-morrow bring; - Me happy, so me sing!" - - -"Poor little thing!" said Harry to himself; "why should I try to teach -her anything?" - -In a few minutes she was back again, her white apron thrown over her -arm, and blossoms of yellow jessamine, spikes of blue lavender, and buds -of moss-roses, peeping out from it. She skipped gayly along, and -deposited her treasure on the ironing-table; then, with a zealous, -bustling earnestness, which characterized everything she did, she began -sorting them into two bouquets, alternately talking and singing, as she -did so,-- - - - "Come on, ye rosy hours, - All joy and gladness bring!" - - -"You see, Harry, you're going to have a bouquet to put into the -button-hole of that coat. It will make you look so handsome! There, -now--there, now,-- - - - 'We'll strew the way with flowers, - And merrily, merrily sing.'" - - -Suddenly stopping, she looked at him archly, and said, "You can't tell, -now, what I'm doing all this for!" - -"There's never any telling what you women do anything for." - -"Do hear him talk--so pompous! Well, sir, it's for your birthday, now. -Aha! you thought, because I can't keep the day of the month, that I -didn't know anything about it; but I did. And I have put down now a -chalk-mark every day, for four weeks, right under where I keep my -ironing-account, so as to be sure of it. And I've been busy about it -ever since two o'clock this morning. And now--there, the tea-kettle is -boiling!"--and away she flew to the door. - -"Oh, dear me!--dear me, now!--I've killed myself, now, I have!" she -cried, holding up one of her hands, and flirting it up in the air. "Dear -me! who knew it was so hot?" - -"I should think a little woman that is so used to the holder _might_ -have known it," said Harry, as he caressed the little burnt hand. - -"Come, now, let me carry it for you," said Harry, "and I'll make the -tea, if you'll let me go into that mysterious room." - -"Indeed, no, Harry--I'm going to do everything myself;" and, forgetting -the burnt finger, Lisette was off in a moment, and back in a moment -with a shining teapot in her hand, and the tea was made. And at last the -mysterious door opened, and Lisette stood with her eyes fixed upon -Harry, to watch the effect. - -"Superb!--magnificent!--splendid! Why, this is good enough for a king! -And where _did_ you get all these things?" said Harry. - -"Oh, out of our garden--all but the peaches. Those old Mist gave -me--they come from Florida. There, now, you laughed at me, last summer, -when I set those strawberry-vines, and made all sorts of fun of me. And -what do you think now?" - -"Think! I think you're a wonderful little thing--a perfect witch." - -"Come, now, let's sit down, then--you there, and I here." And, opening -the door of the bird-cage, which hung in the lamarque rose-bush, "Little -Button shall come, too." - -Button, a bright yellow canary, with a smart black tuft upon his head, -seemed to understand his part in the little domestic scene perfectly; -for he stepped obediently upon the finger which was extended to him, and -was soon sitting quite at his ease on the mossy edge of one of the -dishes, pecking at the strawberries. - -"And now, do tell me," said Lisette, "all about Miss Nina. How does she -look?" - -"Pretty and smart as ever," said Harry. "Just the same witchy, wilful -ways with her." - -"And did she show you her dresses?" - -"Oh, yes; the whole." - -"Oh, do tell me about them, Harry--do!" - -"Well, there's a lovely pink gauze, covered with spangles, to be worn -over white satin." - -"With flounces?" said Lisette, earnestly. - -"With flounces." - -"How many?" - -"Really, I don't remember." - -"Don't remember how many flounces? Why, Harry, how stupid! Say, Harry, -don't you suppose she will let me come and look at her things?" - -"Oh, yes, dear, I don't doubt she will; and that will save my making a -gazette of myself." - -"Oh, when will you take me there, Harry?" - -"Perhaps to-morrow, dear. And now," said Harry, "that you have -accomplished your surprise upon me, I have a surprise, in return, for -you. You can't guess, now, what Miss Nina brought for me." - -"No, indeed! What?" said Lisette, springing up; "do tell me--quick." - -"Patience--patience!" said Harry, deliberately fumbling in his pocket, -amusing himself with her excited air. But who should speak the -astonishment and rapture which widened Lisette's dark eyes, when the -watch was produced? She clapped her hands, and danced for joy, to the -imminent risk of upsetting the table, and all the things on it. - -"I do think we are the most fortunate people--you and I, Harry! -Everything goes just as we want it to--doesn't it, now?" - -Harry's assent to this comprehensive proposition was much less fervent -than suited his little wife. - -"Now, what's the matter with you? What goes wrong? Why don't you rejoice -as I do?" said she, coming and seating herself down upon his knee. -"Come, now, you've been working too hard, I know. I'm going to sing to -you, now; you want something to cheer you up." And Lisette took down her -banjo, and sat down in the doorway under the arch of lamarque roses, and -began thrumming gayly. - -"This is the nicest little thing, this banjo!" she said; "I wouldn't -change it for all the guitars in the world. Now, Harry, I'm going to -sing something specially for you." And Lisette sung:-- - - - "What are the joys of white man, here, - What are his pleasures, say? - He great, he proud, he haughty fine - While I my banjo play: - He sleep all day, he wake all night; - He full of care, his heart no light; - He great deal want, he little get; - He sorry, so he fret. - - "Me envy not the white man here, - Though he so proud and gay; - He great, he proud, he haughty fine, - While I my banjo play: - Me work all day, me sleep all night; - Me have no care, me heart is light; - Me think not what to-morrow bring; - Me happy, so me sing." - - -Lisette rattled the strings of the banjo, and sang with such a hearty -abandon of enjoyment that it was a comfort to look at her. One would -have thought that a bird's soul put into a woman's body would have sung -just so. - -"There," she said, throwing down her banjo, and seating herself on her -husband's knee, "do you know I think you are like white man in the song? -I should like to know what is the matter with you. I can see plain -enough when you are not happy; but I don't see why." - -"Oh, Lisette, I have very perplexing business to manage," said Harry. -"Miss Nina is a dear, good little mistress, but she doesn't know -anything about accounts, or money; and here she has brought me home a -set of bills to settle, and I'm sure I don't know where the money is to -be got from. It's hard work to make the old place profitable in our -days. The ground is pretty much worked up; it doesn't bear the crops it -used to. And, then, our people are so childish, they don't, a soul of -them, care how much they spend, or how carelessly they work. It's very -expensive keeping up such an establishment. You know the Gordons must be -Gordons. Things can't be done now as some other families would do them; -and, then, those bills which Miss Nina brings from New York are -perfectly frightful." - -"Well, Harry, what are you going to do?" said Lisette, nestling down -close on his shoulder. "You always know how to do something." - -"Why, Lisette, I shall have to do what I've done two or three times -before--take the money that I have saved, to pay these bills--our -freedom-money, Lisette." - -"Oh, well, then, don't worry. We can get it again, you know. Why, you -know, Harry, you can make a good deal with your trade, and one thing and -another that you do; and, then, as for me, why, you know, my ironing, -and my muslins, how celebrated they are. Come, don't worry one bit; we -shall get on nicely." - -"Ah! But, Lisette, all this pretty house of ours, garden, and -everything, is only built on air, after all, till we are free. Any -accident can take it from us. Now, there's Miss Nina; she is engaged, -she tells me, to two or three lovers, as usual." - -"Engaged, is she?" said Lisette, eagerly, female curiosity getting the -better of every other consideration; "she always did have lovers, just, -you know, as I used to." - -"Yes; but, Lisette, she will marry, some time, and what a thing that -would be for you and me! On her husband will depend all my happiness for -all my life. He may set her against me; he may not like me. Oh, Lisette! -I've seen trouble enough coming of marriages; and I was hoping, you see, -that before that time came the money for my freedom would all be paid -in, and I should be my own man. But, now, here it is. Just as the sum is -almost made up, I must pay out five hundred dollars of it, and that -throws us back two or three years longer. And what makes me feel the -most anxious is, that I'm pretty sure Miss Nina will marry one of these -lovers before long." - -"Why, what makes you think so, Harry?" - -"Oh, I've seen girls before now, Lisette, and I know the signs." - -"What does she do? What does she say? Tell me, now, Harry." - -"Oh, well, she runs on abusing the man, after her sort; and she's so -very earnest and positive in telling me she don't like him." - -"Just the way I used to do about you, Harry, isn't it?" - -"Besides," said Harry, "I know, by the kind of character she gives of -him, that she thinks of him very differently from what she ever did of -any man before. Miss Nina little knows, when she is rattling about her -beaux, what I'm thinking of. I'm saying, all the while, to myself, 'Is -that man going to be my master?' and this Clayton, I'm very sure, is -going to be my master." - -"Well, isn't he a good man?" - -"She _says_ he is; but there's never any saying what good men will do, -never. Good men think it right sometimes to do the strangest things. -This man may alter the whole agreement between us,--he will have a right -to do it, if he is her husband; he may refuse to let me buy myself; -and, then, all the money that I've paid will go for nothing." - -"But, certainly, Harry, Miss Nina will never consent to such a thing." - -"Lisette, Miss Nina is one thing, but Mrs. Clayton may be quite another -thing. I've seen all _that_, over and over again. I tell you, Lisette, -that we who live on other people's looks and words, we watch and think a -great deal! Ah! we come to be very sharp, I can tell you. The more Miss -Nina has liked me, the less her husband may like me; don't you know -that?" - -"No; Harry, you don't dislike people I like." - -"Child, child, that's quite another thing." - -"Well, then, Harry, if you feel so bad about it, what makes you pay this -money for Miss Nina? She don't know anything about it; she don't ask you -to. I don't believe she would want you to, if she did know it. Just go -and pay it in, and have your freedom-papers made out. Why don't you tell -her all about it?" - -"No, I can't, Lisette. I've had the care of her all her life, and I've -made it as smooth as I could for her, and I won't begin to trouble her -now. Do you know, too, that I'm afraid that, perhaps, if she knew all -about it, she wouldn't do the right thing. There's never any knowing, -Lisette. _Now_, you see, I say to myself, 'Poor little thing! she -doesn't know anything about accounts, and she don't know how I feel.' -But, if I should _tell_ her, and she shouldn't care, and act as I've -seen women act, why, then, you know I couldn't think so any more. I -don't _believe_ she would mind you; but, then, I don't like to try." - -"Harry, what does make you love her so much?" - -"Don't you know, Lisette, that Master Tom was a dreadful bad boy, always -wilful and wayward, almost broke his father's heart; and he was always -ugly and contrary to her? I'm sure I don't know why; for she was a sweet -little thing, and she loves him now, ugly as he is, and he is the most -selfish creature I ever saw. And, as for Miss Nina, she isn't -selfish--she is only inconsiderate. But I've known her do for him, over -and over, just what I do for her, giving him her money and her jewels to -help him out of a scrape. But, then, to be sure, it all comes upon me, -at last, which makes it all the more aggravating. Now, Lisette, I'm -going to tell you something, but you mustn't tell anybody. Nina Gordon -is my sister!" - -"Harry!" - -"Yes, Lisette, you may well open your eyes," said Harry, rising -involuntarily; "I'm Colonel Gordon's oldest son! Let me have the comfort -of saying it once, if I never do again." - -"Harry, who told you?" - -"_He_ told me, Lisette--he, himself, told me, when he was dying, and -charged me always to watch over her; and I have done it! I never told -Miss Nina; I wouldn't have her told for the world. It wouldn't make her -love me; more likely it would turn her against me. I've seen many a man -sold for nothing else but looking too much like his father, or his -brothers and sisters. I was given to her, and my sister and my mother -went out to Mississippi with Miss Nina's aunt." - -"I never heard you speak of this sister, Harry. Was she pretty?" - -"Lisette, she was beautiful, she was graceful, and she had real genius. -I've heard many singers on the stage that could not sing, with all their -learning, as she did by nature." - -"Well, what became of her?" - -"Oh, what becomes of such women always, among us! Nursed, and petted, -and caressed; taught everything elegant, nothing solid. Why, the woman -meant well enough that had the care of her,--Mrs. Stewart, Colonel -Gordon's sister,--but she couldn't prevent her son's wanting her, and -taking her, for his mistress; and when she died there she was." - -"Well." - -"When George Stewart had lived with her two or three years, he was taken -with small-pox. You know what perfect horror that always creates. None -of his white acquaintances and friends would come near his plantation; -the negroes were all frightened to death, as usual; overseer ran off. -Well, then Cora Gordon's blood came up; she nursed him all through that -sickness. What's more, she had influence to keep order on the place; got -the people to getting the cotton crops themselves, so that when the -overseer came sneaking back, things hadn't all gone to ruin, as they -might have done. Well, the young fellow had more in him than some of -them do; for when he got well he left his plantation, took her up to -Ohio, and married her, and lived with her there." - -"Why didn't he live with her on his plantation?" said Lisette. - -"He couldn't have freed her there; it's against the laws. But, lately, -I've got a letter from her saying that he had died and left to her and -her son all his property on the Mississippi." - -"Why, she will be rich, won't she?" - -"Yes, if she gets it. But there's no knowing how that will be; there are -fifty ways of cheating her out of it, I suppose. But, now, as to Miss -Nina's estate, you don't know how I feel about it. I was trusted with -it, and trusted with her. She never has known, more than a child, where -the money came from, or went to; and it shan't be said that I've brought -the estate in debt, for the sake of getting my own liberty. If I have -one pride in life, it is to give it up to Miss Nina's husband in good -order. But, then, the _trouble_ of it, Lisette! The trouble of getting -anything like decent work from these creatures; the ways that I have to -turn and twist to get round them, and manage them, to get anything done. -They hate me; they are jealous of me. Lisette, I'm just like the bat in -the fable; I'm neither bird nor beast. How often I've wished that I was -a good, honest, black nigger, like Uncle Pomp! Then I should know what I -was; but, now, I'm neither one thing nor another. I come just near -enough to the condition of the white to look into it, to enjoy it, and -want everything that I see. Then, the way I've been educated makes it -worse. The fact is, that when the fathers of such as we feel any love -for us, it isn't like the love they have for their white children. They -are half-ashamed of us; they are ashamed to show their love, if they -have it; and, then, there's a kind of remorse and pity about it, which -they make up to themselves by petting us. They load us with presents and -indulgences. They amuse themselves with us while we are children, and -play off all our passions as if we were instruments to be played on. If -we show talent and smartness, we hear some one say, aside, 'It's rather -a pity, isn't it?' or, 'He is too smart for his place.' Then, we have -all the family blood and the family pride; and what to do with it? I -feel that I am a Gordon. I feel in my very heart that I'm like Colonel -Gordon--I know I am, and, sometimes, I know I look like him, and that's -one reason why Tom Gordon always hated me; and, then, there's another -thing, the hardest of all, to have a sister like Miss Nina, to feel she -_is_ my sister, and never dare to say a word of it! She little thinks, -when she plays and jokes with me, sometimes, how I feel. I have eyes and -senses; I can compare myself with Tom Gordon. I know he _never would_ -learn anything at any of the schools he was put to; and I know that when -his tutors used to teach me, how much faster I got along than he did. -And yet he must have all the position, and all the respect; and, then, -Miss Nina so often says to me, by way of apology, when she puts up with -his ugliness, 'Ah! well, you know, Harry, he is the only brother I have -got in the world!' Isn't it too bad? Colonel Gordon gave me every -advantage of education, because I think he meant me for just this place -which I fill. Miss Nina was his pet. He was wholly absorbed in her, and -he was frightened at Tom's wickedness; and so he left me bound to the -estate in this way, only stipulating that I should buy myself on -favorable terms before Miss Nina's marriage. She has always been willing -enough. I might have taken any and every advantage of her -inconsiderateness. And Mr. John Gordon has been willing, too, and has -been very kind about it, and has signed an agreement as guardian, and -Miss Nina has signed it too, that, in case of her death, or whatever -happened, I'm to have my freedom on paying a certain sum, and I have got -his receipts for what I have paid. So that's tolerably safe. Lisette, I -had meant never to have been married till I was a free man; but, -somehow, you bewitched me into it. I did very wrong." - -"Oh, pshaw! pshaw!" interrupted Lisette. "I an't going to hear another -word of this talk! What's the use? We shall do well enough. Everything -will come out right,--you see if it don't, now. I was always lucky, and -I always shall be." - -The conversation was here interrupted by a loud whooping, and a clatter -of horse's heels. - -"What's that?" said Harry, starting to the window. "As I live, now, if -there isn't that wretch of a Tomtit, going off with that horse! How came -he here? He will ruin him! Stop there! hallo!" he exclaimed, running out -of doors after Tomtit. - -Tomtit, however, only gave a triumphant whoop, and disappeared among -the pine-trees. - -"Well, I should like to know what sent him here!" said Harry, walking up -and down, much disturbed. - -"Oh, he's only going round through the grove; he will be back again," -said Lisette; "never fear. Isn't he a handsome little rogue?" - -"Lisette, you never can see trouble anywhere!" said Harry, almost -angrily. - -"Ah! yes I do," said Lisette, "when you speak in that tone! Please -don't, Harry! What should you want me to see trouble for?" - -"I don't know, you little thing," said Harry, stroking her head fondly. - -"Ah, there comes the little rascal, just as I knew he would!" said -Lisette. "He only wanted to take a little race; he hasn't hurt the -horse;" and, tripping lightly out, she caught the reins, just as Tomtit -drove up to the gate; and it seemed but a moment before he was over in -the garden, with his hands full of flowers. - -"Stop, there, you young rascal, and tell me what sent you here!" said -Harry, seizing him, and shaking him by the shoulder. - -"Laws, Massa Harry, I wants to get peaches, like other folks," said the -boy, peeping roguishly in at the window, at the tea-table. - -"And he shall have a peach, too," said Lisette, "and some flowers, if -he'll be a good boy, and not tread on my borders." - -Tomtit seized greedily at the peach she gave him, and, sitting flat down -where he stood, and throwing the flowers on the ground beside him, began -eating it with an earnestness of devotion as if his whole being were -concentrated in the act. The color was heightened in his brown cheek by -the exercise, and, with his long, drooping curls and eyelashes, he -looked a very pretty centre to the flower-piece which he had so promptly -improvised. - -"Ah, how pretty he is!" said Lisette, touching Harry's elbow. "I wish he -was mine!" - -"You'd have your hands full, if he was," said Harry eying the intruder -discontentedly, while Lisette stood picking the hulls from a fine bunch -of strawberries which she was ready to give him when he had finished the -peach. - -"Beauty makes fools of all you girls," said Harry, cynically. - -"Is that the reason I married you?" said Lisette, archly. "Well, I know -I could make him good, if I had the care of him. Nothing like coaxing; -is there, Tom?" - -"I'll boun' there an't!" said Tom, opening his mouth for the -strawberries with much the air of a handsome, saucy robin. - -"Well," said Harry, "I should like to know what brought him over here. -Speak, now, Tom! Weren't you sent with some message?" - -"Oh laws, yes!" said Tom, getting up, and scratching his curly head. -"Miss Nina sent me. She wants you to get on dat ar horse, and make -tracks for home like split foot. She done got letters from two or three -of her beaux, and she is dancing and tearing round there real awful. She -done got scared, spects; feard they'd all come together." - -"And she sent you on a message, and you haven't told me, all this time!" -said Harry, making a motion as though he was going to box the child's -ears; but the boy glided out of his hands as if he had been water, and -was gone, vanishing among the shrubbery of the garden; and while Harry -was mounting his horse, he reappeared on the roof of the little cabin, -caricoling and dancing, shouting at the topmost of his voice,-- - - - "Away down old Virginny, - Dere I bought a yellow girl for a guinea." - - -"I'll give it to you, some time!" said Harry, shaking his fist at him. - -"No, he won't, either," cried Lisette, laughing. "Come down here, -Tomtit, and I'll make a good boy of you." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE DILEMMA. - - -In order to understand the occasion which hurried Harry home, we must go -back to Canema. Nina, after taking her letters from the hands of Tomtit, -as we have related, ran back with them into Mrs. Nesbit's room, and sat -herself down to read them. As she read, she evidently became quite -excited and discomposed, crumpling a paper with her little hand, and -tapping her foot impatiently on the carpet. - -"There, now, I'm sure I don't know what I shall do, Aunt Nesbit!" -addressing her aunt, because it was her outspoken habit to talk to any -body or thing which happened to be sitting next to her. "I've got myself -into a pretty scrape now!" - -"I told you you'd get into trouble, one of these days!" - -"Oh, you _told_ me so! If there's anything I hate, it is to have anybody -tell me 'I told you so!' But now aunt, really, I know I've been foolish, -but I don't know what to do. Here are two gentlemen coming together, -that I wouldn't have meet each other here for the world; and I don't -know really what I had better do." - -"You'd better do just as you please, as you always do, and always would, -ever since I knew you," said Aunt Nesbit, in a calm, indifferent tone. - -"But, really, aunt, I don't know what's proper to do in such a case." - -"Your and my notions of propriety, Nina, are so different, that I don't -know how to advise you. You see the consequences, now, of not attending -to the advice of your friends. I always knew these flirtations of yours -would bring you into trouble." And Aunt Nesbit said this with that -quiet, satisfied air with which precise elderly people so often edify -their thoughtless young friends under difficulties. - -"Well, I didn't want a sermon, now, Aunt Nesbit; but, as you've seen a -great deal more of the world than I have, I thought you might help me a -little, just to tell me whether it wouldn't be proper for me to write -and put one of these gentlemen off; or make some excuse for me, or -something. I'm sure _I_ never kept house before. I don't want to do -anything that don't seem hospitable; and yet I don't want them to come -together. Now, there, that's flat!" - -There was a long pause, in which Nina sat vexed and coloring, biting her -lips, and nestling uneasily in her seat. - -Mrs. Nesbit looked calm and considerate, and Nina began to hope that she -was taking the case a little to heart. - -At last the good old lady looked up, and said, very quietly, "I wonder -what time it is." - -Nina thought she was debating the expediency of sending some message; -and therefore she crossed the room with great alacrity, to look at the -old clock in the entry. - -"It's half-past two, aunt!" and she stood, with her lips apart, looking -at Mrs. Nesbit for some suggestion. - -"I was going to tell Rosa," said she, abstractedly, "that that onion in -the stuffing does not agree with me. It rose on my stomach all yesterday -morning; but it's too late now." - -Nina actually stamped with anger. - -"Aunt Nesbit, you are the most selfish person I ever saw in my life!" - -"Nina, child, you astonish me!" said Aunt Nesbit, with her wonted -placidity. "What's the matter?" - -"I don't care!" said Nina; "I don't care a bit! I don't see how people -can be so! If a dog should come to me and tell me he was in trouble, I -think I should listen to him, and show some kind of interest to help -him! I don't care how foolish anybody has been; if they are in trouble, -I'd help them, if I could; and I think you might think enough of it to -give me some little advice!" - -"Oh, you are talking about that affair, yet?" said her aunt. "Why, I -believe I told you I didn't know what to advise, didn't I? Shouldn't -give way to this temper, Nina; it's very unladylike, besides being -sinful. But, then, I don't suppose it's any use for me to talk!" And -Aunt Nesbit, with an abused air, got up, walked quietly to the -looking-glass, took off her morning cap, unlocked her drawer, and laid -it in; took out another, which Nina could not see differed a particle -from the last, held it up thoughtfully on her hand, and appeared -absorbed in the contemplation of it,--while Nina, swelling with a -mixture of anger and mortification, stood regarding her as she leisurely -picked out each bow, and finally, with a decorous air of solemnity, -arranged it upon her head, patting it tenderly down. - -"Aunt Nesbit," she said, suddenly, as if the words hurt her, "I think I -spoke improperly, and I'm very sorry for it. I beg your pardon." - -"Oh, it's no matter, child; I didn't care about it. I'm pretty well used -to your temper." - -Bang went the door, and in a moment Nina stood in the entry, shaking her -fist at it with impotent wrath. - -"You stony, stiff, disagreeable old creature! how came you ever to be my -mother's sister?" And, with the word mother, she burst into a tempest of -tears, and rushed violently to her own chamber. The first object that -she saw was Milly, arranging some clothes in her drawer; and, to her -astonishment, Nina rushed up to her, and, throwing her arms round her -neck, sobbed and wept in such tumultuous excitement that the good -creature was alarmed. - -"Laws bless my soul, my dear little lamb! what's the matter? Why, don't! -Don't, honey! Why, bless the dear little soul! bless the dear precious -lamb! who's been a hurting of it?" And, at each word of endearment, -Nina's distress broke out afresh, and she sobbed so bitterly that the -faithful creature really began to be frightened. - -"Laws, Miss Nina, I hope there an't nothing happened to you now!" - -"No, no, nothing, Milly, only I am lonesome, and I want my mother! I -haven't got any mother! Dear me!" she said, with a fresh burst. - -"Ah, the poor thing!" said Milly, compassionately, sitting down, and -fondling Nina in her arms, as if she had been a babe. "Poor chile! Laws, -yes; I 'member your ma was a beautiful woman!" - -"Yes," said Nina, speaking between her sobs, "the girls at school had -mothers. And there was Mary Brooks, she used to read to me her mother's -letters, and I used to feel so, all the while, to think nobody wrote -such letters to me! And there's Aunt Nesbit--I don't care what they say -about her being religious, she is the most selfish, hateful creature I -ever did see! I do believe, if I was lying dead and laid out in the next -room to her, she would be thinking what she'd get next for dinner!" - -"Oh, don't, my poor lamb, don't!" said Milly, compassionately. - -"Yes, I will, too! She's always taking it for granted that I'm the -greatest sinner on the face of the earth! She don't scold me--she don't -care enough about me to scold! She only takes it for granted, in her -hateful, quiet way, that I'm going to destruction, and that she can't -help it, and don't care! Supposing I'm not good!--what's to make me -good? Is it going to make me good for people to sit up so stiff, and -tell me they always knew I was a fool, and a flirt, and all that? Milly, -I've had dreadful turns of wanting to be good, and I've laid awake -nights and cried because I wasn't good. And what makes it worse is, that -I think if Ma was alive she could help me. She wasn't like Aunt Nesbit, -was she, Milly?" - -"No, honey, she wasn't. I'll tell you about your ma some time, honey." - -"The worst of it is," said Nina, "when Aunt Nesbit speaks to me in her -hateful way, I get angry; then I speak in a way that isn't proper, I -know. Oh, if she only would get angry with me back again! or if she'd do -anything in the world but stand still, in her still way, telling me she -is astonished at me! That's a lie, too; for she never was astonished at -anything in her life! She hasn't life enough to be!" - -"Ah, Miss Nina, we mustn't spect more of folks than there is in them." - -"Expect? I don't expect!" - -"Well, bless you, honey, when you knows what folks _is_, don't let's -worry. Ye can't fill a quart-cup out of a thimble, honey, no way you can -fix it. There's just whar 'tis. I knowed your ma, and I's knowed Miss -Loo, ever since she was a girl. 'Pears like they wan't no more alike -than snow is like sugar. Miss Loo, when she was a girl, she was that -pretty that everybody was wondering after her; but to de love, dat ar -went after your ma. Couldn't tell why it was, honey. 'Peared like Miss -Loo wan't techy, nor she wan't one of your bursting-out sort, scolding -round. 'Peared like she'd never hurt nobody; and yet our people, they -couldn't none of dem bar her. 'Peared like nobody did nothing for her -with a will." - -"Well, good reason!" said Nina; "she never did anything for anybody else -with a will! She never cared for anybody! Now, I'm selfish; I always -knew it. I do a great many selfish things; but it's a different kind -from hers. Do you know, Milly, she don't seem to know she is selfish? -There she sits, rocking in her old chair, so sure she's going straight -to heaven, and don't care whether anybody else gets there or not!" - -"Oh laws, now, Miss Nina, you's too hard on her. Why, look how patient -she sits with Tomtit, teaching him his hymns and varses." - -"And you think that's because she cares anything about him? Do you know -she thinks he isn't fit to go to heaven, and that if he dies he'll go to -the bad place. And yet, if he was to die to-morrow, she'd talk to you -about clear-starching her caps! No wonder the child don't love her! She -talks to him just as she does to me; tells him she don't expect anything -of him--she knows he'll never come to any good; and the little wretch -has got it by heart, now. Do you know that, though I get in a passion -with Tom, sometimes, and though I'm sure I should perish sitting boring -with him over those old books, yet I really believe I care more for him -than she does? And he knows it, too. He sees through her as plain as I -do. You'll never make me believe that Aunt Nesbit has got religion. I -know there is such a thing as religion; but she hasn't got it. It isn't -all being sober, and crackling old stiff religious newspapers, and -boring with texts and hymns, that makes people religious. She is just as -worldly-minded as I am, only it's in another way. There, now, I wanted -her to advise me about something, to-day. Why, Milly, all girls want -somebody to talk with; and if she'd only showed the least interest in -what I said, she might scold me and lecture me as much as she'd a mind -to. But, to have her not even hear me! And when she must have seen that -I was troubled and perplexed, and wanted somebody to advise me, she -turned round so cool, and began to talk about the onions and the -stuffing! Got me so angry! I suppose she is in her room, now, rocking, -and thinking what a sinner I am!" - -"Well, now, Miss Nina, 'pears though you've talked enough about dat ar; -'pears like it won't make you feel no better." - -"Yes it _does_ make me feel better! I had to speak to somebody, Milly, -or else I should have burst; and now I wonder where Harry is. He always -could find a way for me out of anything." - -"He is gone over to see his wife, I think, Miss Nina." - -"Oh, too bad! Do sent Tomtit after him, right away. Tell him that I want -him to come right home, this very minute--something very particular. -And, Milly, you just go and tell Old Hundred to get out the carriage and -horses, and I'll go over and drop a note in the post-office, myself. I -won't trust it to Tomtit; for I know he'll lose it." - -"Miss Nina," said Milly, looking hesitatingly, "I 'spect you don't know -how things go about round here; but the fact is, Old Hundred has got so -kind of cur'ous, lately, there can't nobody do nothing with him, except -Harry. Don't 'tend to do nothing Miss Loo tells him to. I's feared he'll -make up some story or other about the horses; but he won't get 'em -out--now, mind, I tell you, chile!" - -"He won't! I should like to know if he won't, when I tell him to! A -pretty story that would be! I'll soon teach him that he has a live -mistress--somebody quite different from Aunt Loo!" - -"Well, well, chile, perhaps you'd better go. He wouldn't mind me, I -know. Maybe he'll do it for you." - -"Oh, yes; I'll just run down to his house, and hurry him up." And Nina, -quite restored to her usual good-humor, tripped gayly across to the -cabin of Old Hundred, that stood the other side of the house. - -Old Hundred's true name was, in fact, John. But he had derived the -appellation, by which he was always known, from the extreme moderation -of all his movements. Old Hundred had a double share of that profound -sense of the dignity of his office which is an attribute of the tribe of -coachmen in general. He seemed to consider the horses and carriage as a -sort of family ark, of which he was the high priest, and which it was -his business to save from desecration. According to his own showing, -all the people on the plantation, and indeed the whole world in general, -were in a state of habitual conspiracy against the family carriage and -horses, and he was standing for them, single-handed, at the risk of his -life. It was as much part of his duty, in virtue of his office, to show -cause, on every occasion, why the carriage should _not_ be used, as it -is for state attorneys to undertake prosecutions. And it was also a part -of the accomplishment of his situation to conduct his refusal in the -most decorous manner; always showing that it was only the utter -impossibility of the case which prevented. The available grounds of -refusal Old Hundred had made a life-study, and had always a store of -them cut and dried for use, all ready at a moment's notice. In the first -place, there were always a number of impossibilities with regard to the -carriage. Either "it was muddy, and he was laying out to wash it;" or -else "he had washed it, and couldn't have it splashed;" or "he had taken -out the back curtain, and had laid out to put a stitch in it, one of -dese yer days;" or there was something the matter with the irons. "He -reckoned they was a little bit sprung." He "'lowed he'd ask the -blacksmith about it, some of dese yer times." And then as to the horses -the possibilities were rich and abundant. What with strains, and loose -shoes, and stones getting in at the hoofs, dangers of all sorts of -complaints, for which he had his own vocabulary of names, it was next to -an impossibility, according to any ordinary rule of computing chances, -that the two should be in complete order together. - -Utterly ignorant, however, of the magnitude of the undertaking which she -was attempting, and buoyant with the consciousness of authority, Nina -tripped singing along, and found Old Hundred tranquilly reclining in his -tent-door, watching through his half-shut eyes, while the afternoon -sunbeam irradiated the smoke which rose from the old pipe between his -teeth. A large, black, one-eyed crow sat perching, with a quizzical air, -upon his knee; and when he heard Nina's footsteps approaching, cocked -his remaining eye towards her, with a smart, observing attitude, as if -he had been deputed to look out for applications while his master dozed. -Between this crow, who had received the sobriquet of Uncle Jeff, and his -master, there existed a most particular bond of friendship and amity. -This was further strengthened by the fact that they were both equally -disliked by all the inhabitants of the place. Like many people who are -called to stand in responsible positions, Old Hundred had rather failed -in the humble virtues, and become dogmatical and dictatorial to that -degree that nobody but his own wife could do anything with him. And as -to Jeff, if the principle of thievery could be incarnate, he might have -won a temple among the Lacedemonians. In various skirmishes and battles -consequent on his misdeeds, Jeff had lost an eye, and had a considerable -portion of the feathers scalded off on one side of his head; while the -remaining ones, discomposed by the incident, ever after stood up in a -protesting attitude, imparting something still more sinister to his -goblin appearance. In another rencounter he had received a permanent -twist in the neck, which gave him always the appearance of looking over -his shoulder, and added not a little to the oddity of the general -effect. Uncle Jeff thieved with an assiduity and skill which were worthy -of a better cause; and, when not upon any serious enterprise of this -kind, employed his time in pulling up corn, scratching up newly-planted -flower-seeds, tangling yarn, pulling out knitting-needles, pecking the -eyes of sleeping people, scratching and biting children, and any other -little miscellaneous mischief which occurred to him. He was invaluable -to Old Hundred, because he was a standing apology for any and all -discoveries made on his premises of things which ought not to have been -there. No matter what was brought to light,--whether spoons from the -great house, or a pair of sleeve-buttons, or a handkerchief, or a pipe -from a neighboring cabin,--Jeff was always called up to answer. Old -Hundred regularly scolded, on these occasions, and declared he was -enough to "spile the character of any man's house." And Jeff would look -at him comically over the shoulder, and wink his remaining eye, as much -as to say that the scolding was a settled thing between them, and that -he wasn't going to take it at all in ill part. - -"Uncle John," said Nina, "I want you to get the carriage out for me, -right away. I want to take a ride over the cross run." - -"Laws bless you sweet face, honey, chile, I's dreadful sorry; but you -can't do it dis yer day." - -"Can't do it! Why not?" - -"Why, bless you, chile, it an't possible, no way. Can't have the -carriage and hosses dis yer arternoon." - -"But I _must_ go over to cross run to the post-office. I must go this -minute!" - -"Law, chile, you can't do it! fur you can't walk, and it's sartain you -can't ride, because dese yer hosses, nor dis yer carriage, can't stir -out dis yer arternoon, no way you can fix it. Mout go, perhaps, -to-morrow, or next week." - -"Oh, Uncle John, I don't believe a word of it! I want them this -afternoon, and I say I _must_ have them!" - -"No, you can't, chile," said Old Hundred, in a tender, condescending -tone, as if he was speaking to a baby. "I tell you dat ar is impossible. -Why, bless your soul, Miss Nina, de curtains is all off de carriage!" - -"Well, put them on again, then!" - -"Ah, Miss Nina, dat ar an't all. Pete was desperate sick, last night; -took with de thumps, powerful bad. Why, Miss Nina, he was dat sick I had -to be up with him most all night!" And, while Old Hundred thus adroitly -issued this little work of fiction, the raven nodded waggishly at Nina, -as much as to say, "You hear that fellow, now!" - -Nina stood quite perplexed, biting her lips, and Old Hundred seemed to -go into a profound slumber. - -"I don't believe but what the horses can go to-day! I mean to go and -look." - -"Laws, honey, chile, ye can't, now; de do's is all locked, and I've got -de key in my pocket. Every one of dem critturs would have been killed -forty times over 'fore now. I think everybody in dis yer world is arter -dem dar critturs. Miss Loo, she's wanting 'em to go one way, and Harry's -allers usin' de critturs. Got one out, dis yer arternoon, riding over to -see his wife. Don't see no use in his riding round so grand, noway! -Laws, Miss Nina, your pa used to say to me, says he, 'Uncle John, you -knows more about dem critturs dan I do; and, now I tell you what it is, -Uncle John--you take care of dem critturs; don't you let nobody kill 'em -for nothing.' Now, Miss Nina, I's always a walking in the steps of the -colonel's 'rections. Now, good, clar, bright weather, over good roads, -I likes to trot the critturs out. Dat ar is reasonable. But, den, what -roads is over the cross run, I want to know? Dem dere roads is de most -mis'ablest things you ever did see. Mud! Hi! Ought for to see de mud -down dar by de creek! Why, de bridge all tared off! Man drowned in dat -dar creek once! Was so! It an't no sort of road for young ladies to go -over. Tell you, Miss Nina; why don' you let Harry carry your letter -over? If he must be ridin' round de country, don't see why he couldn't -do some good wid his ridin'. Why, de carriage wouldn't get over before -ten o'clock, dis yer night! Now, mine, I tell you. Besides, it's gwine -fur to rain. I's been feeling dat ar in my corns, all dis yer morning; -and Jeff, he's been acting like the berry debil hisself--de way he -always does 'fore it rains. Never knowed dat ar sign to fail." - -"The short of the matter is, Uncle John, you are determined not to go," -said Nina. "But I tell you you _shall_ go!--there, now! Now, do you get -up immediately, and get out those horses!" - -Old Hundred still sat quiet, smoking; and Nina, after reiterating her -orders till she got thoroughly angry, began, at last, to ask herself the -question, how she was going to carry them into execution. Old Hundred -appeared to have descended into himself in a profound reverie, and -betrayed not the smallest sign of hearing anything she said. - -"I wish Harry would come back quick," she said to herself as she -pensively retraced her steps through the garden; but Tomtit had taken -the commission to go for him in his usual leisurely way spending the -greater part of the afternoon on the road. - -"Now, an't you ashamed of yourself, you mean old nigger!" said Aunt -Rose, the wife of Old Hundred, who had been listening to the -conversation; "talking 'bout de creek, and de mud, and de critturs, and -Lor knows what all, when we all knows it's nothing but your laziness!" - -"Well," said Old Hundred, "and what would come o' the critturs if I -wasn't lazy, I want to know? Laziness! it's the berry best thing for the -critturs can be. Where'd dem horses a been now, if I had been one of -your highfelutin sort, always driving round? Where'd dey a been, and -what would dey a been, hey? Who wants to see hosses all skin and bone? -Lord! if I had been like some o' de coachmen, de buzzards would have had -the picking of dem critturs, long ago!" - -"I rally believe that you've told dem dar lies till you begin to believe -them yourself!" said Rose. "Telling our dear, sweet young lady about -your being up with Pete all night, when de Lord knows you laid here -snoring fit to tar de roof off!" - -"Well, must say something! Folks must be 'spectful to de ladies. Course -I couldn't tell her I _wouldn't_ take de critturs out; so I just trots -out scuse. Ah! lots of dem scuses I keeps! I tell you, now, scuses is -excellent things. Why, scuses is like dis yer grease that keeps de -wheels from screaking. Lord bless you, de whole world turns round on -scuses. Whar de world be if everybody was such fools to tell the raal -reason for everything they are gwine for to do, or an't gwine fur to!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -CONSULTATION. - - -"Oh, Harry, I'm so glad to see you back! In such trouble as I've been -to-day! Don't you think, this very morning, as I was sitting in Aunt -Nesbit's room, Tomtit brought up these two letters; and one of them is -from Clayton, and the other from Mr. Carson; and, now, see here what -Clayton says: 'I shall have business that will take me in your vicinity -next week; and it is quite possible, unless I hear from you to the -contrary, that you may see me at Canema next Friday or Saturday.' Well, -then, see here; there's another from Mr. Carson,--that hateful Carson! -Now, you see, he hasn't got my letter; says he is coming. What -impudence! I'm tired to death of that creature, and he'll be here just -as certain! Disagreeable people always do keep their promises! He'll -certainly be here!" - -"Well, Miss Nina, you recollect you said you thought it would be good -fun." - -"Oh, Harry, don't bring that up, I beg of you! The fact is, Harry, I've -altered my mind about that. You know I've put a stop to all those -foolish things at once, and am done with them. You know I wrote to -Carson and Emmons, both, that my sentiments had changed, and all that -sort of thing, that the girls always say. I'm going to dismiss all of -'em at once, and have no more fooling." - -"What, all? Mr. Clayton and all?" - -"Well, I don't know, exactly,--no. Do you know, Harry, I think his -letters are rather improving?--at least, they are different letters from -any I've got before; and, though I don't think I shall break my heart -after him, yet I like to get them. But the other two I'm sick to death -of; and, as for having that creature boring round here, I won't! At any -rate, I don't want him and Clayton here together. I wouldn't have them -together for the world; and I wrote a letter to keep Carson off, this -morning, and I've been in trouble all day. Everybody has plagued me. -Aunt Nesbit only gave me one of her mopy lectures about flirting, and -wouldn't help me in the least. And, then, Old Hundred: I wanted him to -get out the carriage and horses for me to go over and put this letter in -the office, and I never saw such a creature in my life! I can't make him -do anything! I should like to know what the use is of having servants, -if you can't get anything done!" - -"Oh, as to Old Hundred, I understand him, and he understands me," said -Harry. "I never find any trouble with him; but he is a provoking old -creature. He stands very much on the dignity of his office. But, if you -want your letter carried to-night, I can contrive a safer way than that, -if you'll trust it to me." - -"Ah! well, do take it!" - -"Yes," said Harry, "I'll send a messenger across on horseback, and I -have means to make him faithful." - -"Well, Harry, Harry!" said Nina, catching at his sleeve as he was going -out, "come back again, won't you? I want to talk to you." - -During Harry's absence, our heroine drew a letter from her bosom, and -read it over. - -"How well he writes!" she said to herself. "So different from the rest -of them! I wish he'd keep away from here,--that's what I do! It's a -pretty thing to get his letters, but I don't think I want to see _him_. -Oh, dear! I wish I had somebody to talk to about it--Aunt Nesbit is _so_ -cross! I can't--no, I won't care about him! Harry is a kind soul." - -"Ah, Harry, have you sent the letter?" said she eagerly as he entered. - -"I have, Miss Nina; but I can't flatter you too much. I'm afraid it's -too late for the mail--though there's never any saying when the mail -goes out, within two or three hours." - -"Well, I hope it will stay for me, once. If that stupid creature comes, -why, I don't know what I shall do! He's so presuming! and he'll squeak -about with those horrid shoes of his; and then, I suppose, it will all -come out, one way or another; and I don't know what Clayton will think." - -"But I thought you didn't care _what_ he thought." - -"Well, you know, he's been writing to me all about his family. There's -his father, is a very distinguished man, of a very old family; and he's -been writing to me about his sister, the most dreadfully sensible -sister, he has got--good, lovely, accomplished, and pious! Oh, dear me! -I don't know what in the world he ever thought of _me_ for! And, do you -think, there's a postscript from his sister, written elegantly as can -be!" - -"As to family, Miss Nina," said Harry, "I think the Gordons can hold up -their heads with anybody; and, then, I rather think you'll like Miss -Clayton." - -"Ah! but, then, Harry, this talking about fathers and sisters, it's -bringing the thing awfully _near!_ It looks so much, you know, as if I -really were caught. Do you know, Harry, I think I'm just like my pony? -You know, she likes to have you come and offer her corn, and stroke her -neck; and she likes to _make you believe_ she's going to let you catch -her; but when it comes to putting a bridle on her, she's off in a -minute. Now, that's the way with me. It's rather exciting, you know, -these beaux, and love-letters, and talking sentiment, going to the -opera, and taking rides on horseback, and all that. But, when men get to -talking about their fathers, and their sisters, and to act as if they -were sure of me, I'm just like Sylfine--I want to be off. You know, -Harry, I think it's a very serious thing, this being married. It's -dreadful! I don't want to be a woman grown. I wish _I_ could always be a -girl, and live just as I have lived, and have plenty more girls come and -see me, and have fun. I haven't been a bit happy lately, not a bit; and -I never was unhappy before in my life." - -"Well, why don't you write to Mr. Clayton, and break it all off, if you -feel so about it?" - -"Well, why don't I? I don't know. I've had a great mind to do it; but -I'm afraid I should feel worse than I do now. He's coming just like a -great dark shadow over my life, and everything is beginning to feel so -real to me! I don't want to take up life in earnest. I read a story, -once, about Undine; and, do you know, Harry, I think I feel just as -Undine did, when she felt her soul coming in her?" - -"And is Clayton Knight Heldebound?" said Harry, smiling. - -"I don't know. What if he should be? Now, Harry, you see the fact is -that sensible men get their heads turned by such kind of girls as I am; -and they pet us, and humor us. But, then, I'm afraid they're thinking, -all the while, that their turn to rule is coming, by and by. They marry -us because they think they are going to make us over; and what I'm -afraid of is, I never _can_ be made over. Don't think I was cut out -right in the first place; and there never will be much more of me than -there is now. And he'll be comparing me with his pattern sister; and I -shan't be any the more amiable for that. Now, his sister is what folks -call highly-educated, you know, Harry. She understands all about -literature, and everything. As for me, I've just cultivation enough to -appreciate a fine horse--that's the extent. And yet I'm proud. I -wouldn't wish to stand second, in his opinion, even to his sister. So, -there it is. That's the way with us girls! We are always wanting what we -know we ought not to have, and are not willing to take the trouble to -get." - -"Miss Nina, if you'll let me speak my mind out frankly, now, I want to -offer one piece of advice. Just be perfectly true and open with Mr. -Clayton; and if he and Mr. Carson should come together, just tell him -frankly how the matter stands. You are a Gordon, and they say truth -always runs in the Gordon blood; and now, Miss Nina, you are no longer a -school-girl, but a young lady at the head of the estate." - -He stopped, and hesitated. - -"Well, Harry, you needn't stop. I understand you--got a few grains of -sense left, I hope, and haven't got so many friends that I can afford to -get angry with you for nothing." - -"I suppose," said Harry, thoughtfully, "that your aunt will be well -enough to be down to the table. Have you told her how matters stand?" - -"Who? Aunt Loo? Catch me telling her anything! No, Harry, I've got to -stand all alone. I haven't any mother, and I haven't any sister; and -Aunt Loo is worse than nobody, because it's provoking to have somebody -round that you feel might take an interest, and ought to, and don't care -a red cent for you. Well, I declare, if I'm not much,--if I'm not such -a model as Miss Clayton, there,--how could any one expect it, when I -have just come up by myself, first at the plantation, here, and then at -that French boarding-school? I tell you what, Harry, boarding-schools -are not what they're cried up to be. It's good fun, no doubt, but we -never learnt anything there. That is to say, we never learnt it -internally, but had it just rubbed on to us outside. A girl can't help, -of course, learning something; and I've learnt just what I happened to -like and couldn't help, and a deal that isn't of the most edifying -nature besides." - -Well! we shall see what will come! - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -OLD TIFF. - - -"I say, Tiff, _do_ you think he will come, to-night?" - -"Laws, laws, Missis, how can Tiff tell? I's been a gazin' out de do'. -Don't see nor hear nothin'." - -"It's so lonesome!--_so_ lonesome!--and the nights so long!" - -And the speaker, an emaciated, feeble little woman, turned herself -uneasily on the ragged pallet where she was lying, and, twirling her -slender fingers nervously, gazed up at the rough, unplastered beams -above. - -The room was of the coarsest and rudest cast. The hut was framed of -rough pine logs, filled between the crevices with mud and straw; the -floor made of rough-split planks, unevenly jointed together; the window -was formed by some single panes arranged in a row where a gap had been -made in one of the logs. At one end was a rude chimney of sticks, where -smouldered a fire of pine-cones and brushwood, covered over with a light -coat of white ashes. On the mantel over it was a shelf, which displayed -sundry vials, a cracked teapot and tumbler, some medicinal-looking -packages, a turkey's wing, much abridged and defaced by frequent usage, -some bundles of dry herbs, and lastly a gayly-painted mug of coarse -crockery-ware, containing a bunch of wild-flowers. On pegs, driven into -the logs, were arranged different articles of female attire, and divers -little coats and dresses, which belonged to smaller wearers, with now -and then soiled and coarse articles of man's apparel. - -The woman, who lay upon a coarse chaff pallet in the corner, was one who -once might have been pretty. Her skin was fair, her hair soft and -curling, her eyes of a beautiful blue, her hands thin and transparent as -pearl. But the deep, dark circles under the eyes, the thin, white lips, -the attenuated limbs, the hurried breathing, and the burning spots in -the cheek, told that, whatever she might have been, she was now not long -for this world. - -Beside her bed was sitting an old negro, in whose close-curling wool age -had began to sprinkle flecks of white. His countenance presented, -physically, one of the most uncomely specimens of negro features; and -would have been positively frightful, had it not been redeemed by an -expression of cheerful kindliness which beamed from it. His face was of -ebony blackness, with a wide, upturned nose, a mouth of portentous size, -guarded by clumsy lips, revealing teeth which a shark might have envied. -The only fine feature was his large, black eyes, which, at the present, -were concealed by a huge pair of plated spectacles, placed very low upon -his nose, and through which he was directing his sight upon a child's -stocking, that he was busily darning. At his foot was a rude cradle, -made of a gum-tree log, hollowed out into a trough, and wadded by -various old fragments of flannel, in which slept a very young infant. -Another child, of about three years of age, was sitting on the negro's -knee, busily playing with some pine-cones and mosses. - -The figure of the old negro was low and stooping; and he wore, pinned -round his shoulders, a half-handkerchief or shawl of red flannel, -arranged much as an old woman would have arranged it. One or two -needles, with coarse, black thread dangling to them, were stuck in on -his shoulder; and as he busily darned on the little stocking, he kept up -a kind of droning intermixture of chanting and talking to the child on -his knee. - -"So, ho, Teddy!--bub dar!--my man!--sit still!--cause yer ma's sick, and -sister's gone for medicine. Dar, Tiff'll sing to his little man. - - - 'Christ was born in Bethlehem, - Christ was born in Bethlehem, - And in a manger laid.' - - -Take car, dar!--dat ar needle scratch yer little fingers!--poor little -fingers! Ah, be still, now!--play wid yer pretty tings, and see what yer -pa'll bring ye!" - -"Oh, dear me!--well!" said the woman on the bed, "I shall give up!" - -"Bress de Lord, no, missis!" said Tiff, laying down the stocking, and -holding the child to him with one hand, while the other was busy in -patting and arranging the bedclothes. "No use in givin' up! Why, Lord -bress you, missis, we'll be all up right agin in a few days. Work has -been kinder pressin', lately, and chil'ns clothes an't quite so -'speckable; but den I's doin' heaps o' mendin'. See dat ar!" said he, -holding up a slip of red flannel, resplendent with a black patch, "dat -ar hole won't go no furder--and it does well enough for Teddy to wear -rollin' round de do', and such like times, to save his bettermost. And -de way I's put de yarn in dese yer stockings an't slow. Den I's laid out -to take a stitch in Teddy's shoes; and dat ar hole in de kiverlet, dat -ar'll be stopped 'fore morning. Oh, let me alone!--he! he! he!--Ye -didn't keep Tiff for nothing, missis--ho, ho, ho!" And the black face -seemed really to become unctuous with the oil of gladness, as Tiff -proceeded in his work of consolation. - -"Oh, Tiff, Tiff! you're a good creature! But you don't know. Here I've -been lying alone day after day, and he off, nobody knows where! And when -he comes, it'll be only a day, and he's off; and all he does don't -amount to anything--all miserable rubbish brought home and traded off -for other rubbish. Oh, what a fool I was for being married! Oh, dear! -girls little know what marriage is! I thought it was so dreadful to be -an old maid, and a pretty thing to get married! But, oh, the pain, and -worry, and sickness, and suffering, I've gone through!--always wandering -from place to place, never settled; one thing going after another, -worrying, watching, weary,--and all for nothing, for I am worn out, and -I shall die!" - -"Oh, Lord, no!" said Tiff, earnestly. "Lor, Tiff'll make ye some tea, -and give it to ye, ye poor lamb! It's drefful hard, so 'tis; but -times'll mend, and massa'll come round and be more settled, like, and -Teddy will grow up and help his ma; and I'm sure dere isn't a pearter -young un dan dis yer puppet!" said he, turning fondly to the trough -where the little fat, red mass of incipient humanity was beginning to -throw up two small fists, and to utter sundry small squeaks, to intimate -his desire to come into notice. - -"Lor, now," said he, adroitly depositing Teddy on the floor, and taking -up the baby, whom he regarded fondly through his great spectacles; -"stretch away, my pretty! stretch away! ho-e-ho! Lor, if he hasn't got -his mammy's eye, for all dis worl! Ah, brave! See him, missis!" said he, -laying the little bundle on the bed by her. "Did ye ever see a peartier -young un? He, he, he! Dar, now, his mammy should take him, so she -should! and Tiff'll make mammy some tea, so he will!" And Tiff, in a -moment, was on his knees, carefully laying together the ends of the -burned sticks, and blowing a cloud of white ashes, which powdered his -woolly head and red shawl like snow-flakes, while Teddy was busy in -pulling the needles out of some knitting-work which hung in a bag by the -fire. - -Tiff, having started the fire by blowing, proceeded very carefully to -adjust upon it a small, black porringer of water, singing, as he did -so,-- - - - "My way is dark and cloudy, - So it is, so it is; - My way is dark and cloudy, - All de day." - - -Then, rising from his work, he saw that the poor, weak mother had -clasped the baby to her bosom, and was sobbing very quietly. Tiff, as he -stood there, with his short, square, ungainly figure, his long arms -hanging out from his side like bows, his back covered by the red shawl, -looked much like a compassionate tortoise standing on its hind legs. He -looked pitifully at the sight, took off his glasses and wiped his eyes, -and lifted up his voice in another stave:-- - - - "But we'll join de forty tousand, by and by, - So we will, so we will. - We'll join de forty tousand, upon de golden shore, - And our sorrows will be gone forevermore, more, more." - - -"Bress my soul, Mas'r Teddy! now us been haulin' out de needles from -Miss Fanny's work! dat ar an't purty, now! Tiff'll be 'shamed of ye, and -ye do like dat when yer ma's sick! Don't ye know ye must be good, else -Tiff won't tell ye no stories! Dar, now, sit down on dis yere log; dat -ar's just the nicest log! plenty o' moss on it yer can be a pickin' out! -Now, yer sit still dar, and don't be interruptin' yer ma." - -The urchin opened a wide, round pair of blue eyes upon Tiff, looking as -if he were mesmerized, and sat, with a quiet, subdued air, upon his -log, while Tiff went fumbling about in a box in the corner. After some -rattling, he produced a pine-knot, as the daylight was fading fast in -the room, and, driving it into a crack in another log which stood by the -chimney corner, he proceeded busily to light it, muttering, as he did -so,-- - -"Want to make it more cheerful like." - -Then he knelt down and blew the coals under the little porringer, which, -like pine-coals in general, always sulked and looked black when somebody -was not blowing them. He blew vigorously, regardless of the clouds of -ashes which encircled him, and which settled even on the tips of his -eyelashes, and balanced themselves on the end of his nose. - -"Bress de Lord, I's dreadful strong in my breff! Lord, dey might have -used me in blacksmissin! I's kep dis yer chimney a gwine dis many a day. -I wonder, now, what keeps Miss Fanny out so long." - -And Tiff rose up with the greatest precaution, and glancing every moment -towards the bed, and almost tipping himself over in his anxiety to walk -softly, advanced to the rude door, which opened with a wooden latch and -string, opened it carefully, and looked out. Looking out with him, we -perceive that the little hut stands alone, in the heart of a dense pine -forest, which shuts it in on every side. - -Tiff held the door open a few moments to listen. No sound was heard but -the shivering wind, swaying and surging in melancholy cadences through -the long pine-leaves,--a lonesome, wailing, uncertain sound. - -"Ah! dese yer pine-trees! dey always a talkin'!" said Tiff to himself, -in a sort of soliloquy. "Whisper, whisper, whisper! De Lord knows what -it's all about! dey never tells folks what dey wants to know. Hark! da -is Foxy, as sure as I'm a livin' sinner! Ah! dar she is!" as a quick, -loud bark reverberated. "Ah, ha! Foxy! you'll bring her along!" -caressing a wolfish-looking, lean cur, who came bounding through the -trees. - -"Ah, yer good-for-nothing! what makes yer run so fast, and leave yer -missus behind ye? Hark! what's dat!" - -The clear voice came carolling gayly from out the pine-trees, - - - "If you get there before I do-- - I'm bound for the land of Canaan." - - -Whereupon Tiff, kindling with enthusiasm, responded,-- - - - "Look out for me--I'm coming too-- - I'm bound for the land of Canaan." - - -The response was followed by a gay laugh, as a childish voice shouted, -from the woods,-- - -"Ha! Tiff, you there?" - -And immediately a bold, bright, blue-eyed girl, of about eight years -old, came rushing forward. - -"Lors, Miss Fannie, so grad you's come! Yer ma's powerful weak dis yer -arternoon!" And then, sinking his voice to a whisper, "Why, now, yer'd -better b'leve her sperits isn't the best! Why, she's that bad, Miss -Fannie, she actually been a cryin' when I put the baby in her arms. -Railly, I'm consarned, and I wish yer pa 'ud come home. Did yer bring de -medicine?" - -"Ah, yes; here 'tis." - -"Ah! so good! I was a makin' of her some tea, to set her up, like, and -I'll put a little drop of dis yer in't. You gwin, now, and speak to yer -ma, and I'll pick up a little light wood round here, and make up de -fire. Massa Teddy'll be powerful glad to see yer. Hope you's got him -something, too!" - -The girl glided softly into the room, and stood over the bed where her -mother was lying. - -"Mother, I've come home," said she, gently. - -The poor, frail creature in the bed seemed to be in one of those -helpless hours of life's voyage, when all its waves and billows are -breaking over the soul; and while the little new-comer was blindly -rooting and striving at her breast, she had gathered the worn -counterpane over her face, and the bed was shaken by her sobbings. - -"Mother! mother! mother!" said the child, softly touching her. - -"Go away! go away, child! Oh, I wish I had never been born! I wish you -had never been born, nor Teddy, nor the baby! It's all nothing but -trouble and sorrow! Fanny, don't you ever marry! Mind what I tell you!" - -The child stood frightened by the bedside, while Tiff had softly -deposited a handful of pine-wood near the fireplace, had taken off the -porringer, and was busily stirring and concocting something in an old -cracked china mug. As he stirred, a strain of indignation seemed to -cross his generally tranquil mind, for he often gave short sniffs and -grunts, indicative of extreme disgust, and muttered to himself,-- - -"Dis yer comes of quality marrying these yer poor white folks! Never had -no 'pinion on it, no way! Ah! do hear the poor lamb now! 'nough to break -one's heart!" - -By this time, the stirring and flavoring being finished to his taste, he -came to the side of the bed, and began, in a coaxing tone,-- - -"Come, now, Miss Sue, come! You's all worn out! No wonder! dat ar great -fellow tugging at you! Bless his dear little soul, he's gaining half a -pound a week! Nough to pull down his ma entirely! Come, now; take a -little sup of this--just a little sup! Warm you up, and put a bit of -life in you; and den I 'spects to fry you a morsel of der chicken, -'cause a boy like dis yer can't be nursed on slops, dat I knows! Dere, -dere, honey!" said he, gently removing the babe, and passing his arm -under the pillow. "I's drefful strong in the back. My arm is long and -strong, and I'll raise you up just as easy! Take a good sup on it, now, -and wash dese troubles down. I reckon the good man above is looking down -on us all, and bring us all round right, some time." - -The invalid, who seemed exhausted by the burst of feeling to which she -had been giving way, mechanically obeyed a voice to which she had always -been accustomed, and drank eagerly, as if with feverish thirst; and when -she had done, she suddenly threw her arms around the neck of her strange -attendant. - -"Oh, Tiff, Tiff! poor old black, faithful Tiff! What should I have done -without you? So sick as I've been, and so weak, and so lonesome! But, -Tiff, it's coming to an end pretty soon. I've seen, to-night, that I -an't going to live long, and I've been crying to think the children have -got to live. If I could only take them all into my arms, and all lie -down in the grave together, I should be so glad! I never knew what God -made me for! I've never been fit for anything, nor done anything!" - -Tiff seemed so utterly overcome by this appeal, his great spectacles -were fairly washed down in a flood of tears, and his broad, awkward -frame shook with sobs. - -"Law bless you, Miss Sue, don't be talking dat ar way! Why, if de Lord -_should_ call you, Miss Sue, I can take care of the children. I can -bring them up powerful, I tell ye! But you _won't_ be a-going; you'll -get better! It's just the sperits is low; and, laws, why shouldn't dey -be?" - -Just at this moment a loud barking was heard outside the house, together -with the rattle of wheels and the tramp of horses' feet. - -"Dar's massa, sure as I'm alive!" said he, hastily laying down the -invalid, and arranging her pillows. - -A rough voice called, "Hallo, Tiff! here with a light!" - -Tiff caught the pine-knot, and ran to open the door. A strange-looking -vehicle, of a most unexampled composite order, was standing before the -door, drawn by a lean, one-eyed horse. - -"Here, Tiff, help me out. I've got a lot of goods here. How's Sue?" - -"Missis is powerful bad; been wanting to see you dis long time." - -"Well, away, Tiff! take this out," indicating a long, rusty piece of -stove-pipe. - -"Lay this in the house; and here!" handing a cast-iron stove-door, with -the latch broken. - -"Law, Massa, what on earth is the use of dis yer?" - -"Don't ask questions, Tiff; work away. Help me out with these boxes." - -"What on arth now?" said Tiff to himself, as one rough case after -another was disgorged from the vehicle, and landed in the small cabin. -This being done, and orders being given to Tiff to look after the horse -and equipage, the man walked into the house, with a jolly, slashing air. - -"Hallo, bub!" said he, lifting the two-year-old above his head. "Hallo, -Fan!" imprinting a kiss on the cheek of his girl. "Hallo, Sis!" coming -up to the bed where the invalid lay, and stooping down over her. Her -weak, wasted arms were thrown around his neck, and she said, with sudden -animation, - -"Oh, you've come at last! I thought I should die without seeing you!" - -"Oh, you an't a-going to die, Sis! Why, what talk!" said he, chucking -her under the chin. "Why, your cheeks are as red as roses!" - -"Pa, see the baby!" said little Teddy, who, having climbed over the -bed, opened the flannel bundle. - -"Ah! Sis, I call that ar a tolerable fair stroke of business! Well, I -tell _you_ what, I've done up a trade now that will set us up and no -mistake. Besides which, I've got something now in my coat-pocket that -would raise a dead cat to life, if she was lying at the bottom of a -pond, with a stone round her neck! See here! 'Dr. Puffer's Elixir of the -Water of Life!' warranted to cure janders, toothache, earache, scrofula, -speptia, 'sumption, and everything else that ever I hearn of! A -teaspoonful of that ar, morn and night, and in a week you'll be round -agin, as pert as a cricket!" - -It was astonishing to see the change which the entrance of this man had -wrought on the invalid. All her apprehensions seemed to have vanished. -She sat up on the bed, following his every movement with her eyes, and -apparently placing full confidence in the new medicine, as if it were -the first time that ever a universal remedy had been proposed to her. It -must be noticed, however, that Tiff, who had returned, and was building -the fire, indulged himself, now and then, when the back of the speaker -was turned, by snuffing at him in a particularly contemptuous manner. -The man was a thick-set and not ill-looking personage, who might have -been forty or forty-five years of age. His eyes, of a clear, lively -brown, his close-curling hair, his high forehead, and a certain -devil-may-care frankness of expression, were traits not disagreeable, -and which went some way to account for the partial eagerness with which -the eye of the wife followed him. - -The history of the pair is briefly told. He was the son of a small -farmer of North Carolina. His father, having been so unfortunate as to -obtain possession of a few negroes, the whole family became ever after -inspired with an intense disgust for all kinds of labor; and John, the -oldest son, adopted for himself the ancient and honorable profession of -a loafer. To lie idle in the sun in front of some small grog-shop, to -attend horse-races, cock-fights, and gander-pullings, to flout out -occasionally in a new waistcoat, bought with money which came nobody -knew how, were pleasures to him all-satisfactory. He was as guiltless of -all knowledge of common-school learning as Governor Berkley could -desire, and far more clear of religious training than a Mahometan or a -Hindoo. - -In one of his rambling excursions through the country, he stopped a -night at a worn-out and broken-down old plantation, where everything had -run down, through many years of mismanagement and waste. There he stayed -certain days, playing cards with the equally hopeful son of the place, -and ended his performances by running away one night with the -soft-hearted daughter, only fifteen years of age, and who was full as -idle, careless, and untaught, as he. - -The family, whom poverty could not teach to forget their pride, were -greatly scandalized at the marriage; and, had there been anything left -in the worn-out estate wherewith to portion her, the bride, -nevertheless, would have been portionless. The sole piece of property -that went out with her from the paternal mansion was one, who, having a -mind and will of his own, could not be kept from following her. The -girl's mother had come from a distant branch of one of the most -celebrated families in Virginia, and Tiff had been her servant; and, -with a heart forever swelling with the remembrances of the ancestral -greatness of the Peytons, he followed his young mistress in her -mésalliance with long-suffering devotion. He even bowed his neck so far -as to acknowledge for his master a man whom he considered by position -infinitely his inferior; for Tiff, though crooked and black, never -seemed to cherish the slightest doubt that the whole force of the Peyton -blood coursed through his veins, and that the Peyton honor was intrusted -to his keeping. His mistress was a Peyton, her children were Peyton -children, and even the little bundle of flannel in the gum-tree cradle -was a Peyton; and as for him, he was Tiff Peyton, and this thought -warmed and consoled him as he followed his poor mistress during all the -steps of her downward course in the world. On her husband he looked with -patronizing, civil contempt. He wished him well; he thought it proper to -put the best face on all his actions; but, in a confidential hour, Tiff -would sometimes raise his spectacles emphatically, and give it out, as -his own private opinion, "dat dere could not be much 'spected from dat -ar 'scription of people!" - -In fact, the roving and unsettled nature of John Cripps's avocations -and locations might have justified the old fellow's contempt. His -industrial career might be defined as comprising a little of everything, -and a great deal of nothing. He had begun, successively, to learn two or -three trades; had half made a horse-shoe, and spoiled one or two -carpenter's planes; had tried his hand at stage-driving; had raised -fighting-cocks, and kept dogs for hunting negroes. But he invariably -retreated from every one of his avocations, in his own opinion a -much-abused man. The last device that had entered his head was suggested -by the success of a shrewd Yankee peddler, who, having a lot of damaged -and unsalable material to dispose of, talked him into the belief that he -possessed yet an undeveloped talent for trade; and poor John Cripps, -guiltless of multiplication or addition table, and who kept his -cock-fighting accounts on his fingers and by making chalk-marks behind -the doors, actually was made to believe that he had at last received his -true vocation. - -In fact, there was something in the constant restlessness of this mode -of life that suited his roving turn; and, though he was constantly -buying what he could not sell, and losing on all that he did sell, yet -somehow he kept up an illusion that he was doing something, because -stray coins now and then passed through his pockets, and because the -circle of small taverns in which he could drink and loaf was -considerably larger. There was one resource which never failed him when -all other streams went dry; and that was the unceasing ingenuity and -fidelity of the bondman Tiff. - -Tiff, in fact, appeared to be one of those comfortable old creatures, -who retain such a good understanding with all created nature that food -never is denied them. Fish would always bite on Tiff's hook when they -wouldn't on anybody's else; so that he was wont confidently to call the -nearest stream "Tiff's pork-barrel." Hens always laid eggs for Tiff, and -cackled to him confidentially where they were deposited. Turkeys gobbled -and strutted for him, and led forth for him broods of downy little ones. -All sorts of wild game, squirrels, rabbits, coons, and possums, appeared -to come with pleasure and put themselves into his traps and springes; so -that, where another man might starve, Tiff would look round him with -unctuous satisfaction, contemplating all nature as his larder, where -his provisions were wearing fur coats, and walking about on four legs, -only for safe keeping till he got ready to eat them. So that Cripps -never came home without anticipation of something savory, even although -he had drank up his last quarter of a dollar at the tavern. This suited -Cripps. He thought Tiff was doing his duty, and occasionally brought him -home some unsalable bit of rubbish, by way of testimonial of the sense -he entertained of his worth. The spectacles in which Tiff gloried came -to him in this manner; and, although it might have been made to appear -that the glasses were only plain window-glass, Tiff was happily ignorant -that they were not the best of convex lenses, and still happier in the -fact that his strong, unimpaired eyesight made any glasses at all -entirely unnecessary. It was only an aristocratic weakness in Tiff. -Spectacles he somehow considered the mark of a gentleman, and an -appropriate symbol for one who had "been fetched up in the very fustest -families of Old Virginny." - -He deemed them more particularly appropriate, as, in addition to his -manifold outward duties, he likewise assumed, as the reader has seen, -some feminine accomplishments. Tiff could darn a stocking with anybody -in the country; he could cut out children's dresses and aprons; he could -patch, and he could seam; all which he did with infinite -self-satisfaction. - -Notwithstanding the many crooks and crosses in his lot, Tiff was, on the -whole, a cheery fellow. He had an oily, rollicking fulness of nature, an -exuberance of physical satisfaction in existence, that the greatest -weight of adversity could only tone down to becoming sobriety. He was on -the happiest terms of fellowship with himself; he _liked_ himself, he -believed in himself; and, when nobody else would do it, he would pat -himself on his own shoulder, and say, "Tiff, you're a jolly dog, a fine -fellow, and I like you!" He was seldom without a running strain of -soliloquy with himself, intermingled with joyous bursts of song, and -quiet intervals of laughter. On pleasant days Tiff laughed a great deal. -He laughed when his beans came up, he laughed when the sun came out -after a storm, he laughed for fifty things that you never think of -laughing at; and it agreed with him--he throve upon it. In times of -trouble and perplexity, Tiff talked to himself, and found a counsellor -who always kept secrets. On the present occasion it was not without some -inward discontent that he took a survey of the remains of one of his -best-fatted chickens, which he had been intending to serve up, -piecemeal, for his mistress. So he relieved his mind by a little -confidential colloquy with himself. - -"Dis yer," he said to himself, with a contemptuous inclination toward -the newly-arrived, "will be for eating like a judgment, I 'pose. Wish, -now, I had killed de old gobbler! Good enough for him--raal tough, he -is. Dis yer, now, was my primest chicken, and dar she'll jist sit and -see him eat it! Laws, dese yer women! Why, dey does get so sot on -husbands! Pity they couldn't have something like to be sot on! It jist -riles me to see him gobbling down everything, and she a-looking on! -Well, here goes," said he, depositing the frying-pan over the coals, in -which the chicken was soon fizzling. Drawing out the table, Tiff -prepared it for supper. Soon coffee was steaming over the fire, and -corn-dodgers baking in the ashes. Meanwhile, John Cripps was busy -explaining to his wife the celebrated wares that had so much raised his -spirits. - -"Well, now, you see, Sue, this yer time I've been up to Raleigh; and I -met a fellow there, coming from New York, or New Orleans, or some of -them northern states." - -"New Orleans isn't a northern state," humbly interposed his wife, "is -it?" - -"Well, New something! Who the devil cares? Don't you be interrupting me, -you Suse!" - -Could Cripps have seen the vengeful look which Tiff gave him over the -spectacles at this moment, he might have trembled for his supper. But, -innocent of this, he proceeded with his story. - -"You see, this yer fellow had a case of bonnets just the height of the -fashion. They come from Paris, the capital of Europe; and he sold them -to me for a mere song. Ah, you ought to see 'em! I'm going to get 'em -out. Tiff, hold the candle, here." And Tiff held the burning torch with -an air of grim scepticism and disgust, while Cripps hammered and -wrenched the top boards off, and displayed to view a portentous array of -bonnets, apparently of every obsolete style and fashion of the last -fifty years. - -"Dem's fust rate for scare-crows, anyhow!" muttered Tiff. - -"Now, what," said Cripps,--"Sue, what do you think I gave for these?" - -"I don't know," said she, faintly. - -"Well, I gave fifteen dollars for the whole box! And there an't one of -these," said he, displaying the most singular specimen on his hand, -"that isn't worth from two to five dollars. I shall clear, at least, -fifty dollars on that box." - -Tiff, at this moment, turned to his frying-pan, and bent over it, -soliloquizing as he did so,-- - -"Any way, I's found out one ting,--where de women gets dem roosts of -bonnets dey wars at camp-meetings. Laws, dey's enough to spile a work of -grace, dem ar! If I was to meet one of dem ar of a dark night in a -grave-yard, I should tink I was sent for--not the pleasantest way of -sending, neither. Poor missis!--looking mighty faint!--Don't -wonder!--'Nough to scarr a weakly woman into fits!" - -"Here, Tiff, help me to open this box. Hold the light, here. Darned if -it don't come off hard! Here's a lot of shoes and boots I got of the -same man. Some on 'em's mates, and some an't; but, then, I took the lot -cheap. Folks don't always warr both shoes alike. Might like to warr an -odd one, sometimes, ef it's cheap. Now, this yer parr of boots is lady's -gaiters, all complete, 'cept there's a hole in the lining down by the -toe; body ought to be careful about putting it on, else the foot will -slip between the outside and the lining. Anybody that bears that in -mind--just as nice a pair of gaiters as they'd want! Bargain, there, for -somebody--complete one, too. Then I've got two or three old -bureau-drawers that I got cheap at auction; and I reckon some on 'em -will fit the old frame that I got last year. Got 'em for a mere song." - -"Bless you, massa, dat ar old bureau I took for de chicken-coop! -Turkeys' chickens hops in lively." - -"Oh, well, scrub it up--'twill answer just as well. Fit the drawers in. -And now, old woman, we will sit down to supper," said he, planting -himself at the table, and beginning a vigorous onslaught on the fried -chicken, without invitation to any other person present to assist him. - -"Missis can't sit up at the table," said Tiff. "She's done been sick -ever since de baby was born." And Tiff approached the bed with a nice -morsel of chicken which he had providently preserved on a plate, and -which he now reverently presented on a board, as a waiter, covered with -newspaper. - -"Now, do eat, missis; you can't live on looking, no ways you can fix it. -Do eat while Tiff gets on de baby's nightgown." - -To please her old friend, the woman made a feint of eating, but, while -Tiff's back was turned to the fire, busied herself with distributing it -to the children, who had stood hungrily regarding her, as children will -regard what is put on to a sick mother's plate. - -"It does me good to see them eat," she said, apologetically once, when -Tiff, turning round, detected her in the act. - -"Ah, missis, may be! but _you've_ got to eat for _two_, now. What dey -eat an't going to dis yer little man, here. Mind dat ar." - -Cripps apparently bestowed very small attention on anything except the -important business before him, which he prosecuted with such devotion -that very soon coffee, chicken, and dodgers, had all disappeared. Even -the bones were sucked dry, and the gravy wiped from the dish. - -"Ah, that's what I call comfortable!" said he, lying back in his chair. -"Tiff, pull my boots off! and hand out that ar demijohn. Sue, I hope -you've made a comfortable meal," he said, incidentally, standing with -his back to her, compounding his potation of whiskey and water; which -having drank, he called up Teddy, and offered him the sugar at the -bottom of the glass. But Teddy, being forewarned by a meaning glance -through Tiff's spectacles, responded, very politely,-- - -"No, I thank you, pa. I don't love it." - -"Come here, then, and take it off like a man. It's good for you," said -John Cripps. - -The mother's eyes followed the child wishfully; and she said, faintly, -"Don't John!--don't!" And Tiff ended the controversy by taking the glass -unceremoniously out of his master's hand. - -"Laws bless you, massa, can't be bodered with dese yer young ones dis -yer time of night! Time dey's all in bed, and dishes washed up. Here, -Tedd," seizing the child, and loosening the buttons of his slip behind, -and drawing out a rough trundle-bed, "you crawl in dere, and curl up in -your nest; and don't you forget your prars, honey, else maybe you'll -never wake up again." - -Cripps had now filled a pipe with tobacco of the most villainous -character, with which incense he was perfuming the little apartment. - -"Laws, massa, dat ar smoke an't good for missis," said Tiff. "She done -been sick to her stomach all day." - -"Oh, let him smoke! I like to have him enjoy himself," said the -indulgent wife. "But, Fanny, you had better go to bed, dear. Come here -and kiss me, child; good-night,--good-night!" - -The mother held on to her long, and looked at her wishfully; and when -she had turned to go, she drew her back, and kissed her again, and said, -"Good-night, dear child, good-night!" - -Fanny climbed up a ladder in one corner of the room, through a square -hole, to the loft above. - -"I say," said Cripps, taking his pipe out of his mouth, and looking at -Tiff, who was busy washing the dishes, "I say it's kind of peculiar that -gal keeps sick so. Seemed to have good constitution when I married her. -I'm thinking," said he, without noticing the gathering wrath in Tiff's -face, "I'm a-thinking whether steamin' wouldn't do her good. Now, I got -a most dreadful cold when I was up at Raleigh--thought I should have -given up; and there was a steam-doctor there. Had a little kind of -machine, with kettle and pipes, and he put me in a bed, put in the -pipes, and set it a-going. I thought, my soul, I should have been -floated off; but it carried off the cold, complete. I'm thinking if -something of that kind wouldn't be good for Miss Cripps." - -"Laws, massa, don't go for to trying it on her! She is never no better -for dese yer things you do for her." - -"Now," said Cripps, not appearing to notice the interruption, "these yer -stove-pipes, and the tea-kettle,--I shouldn't wonder if we could get up -a steam with them!" - -"It's my private 'pinion, if you do, she'll be sailing out of the -world," said Tiff. "What's one man's meat is another one's pisin, my -old mis's used to say. Very best thing you can do for her is to let her -alone. Dat ar is my 'pinion." - -"John," said the little woman, after a few minutes, "I wish you'd come -here, and sit on the bed." - -There was something positive, and almost authoritative, in the manner in -which this was said, which struck John as so unusual, that he came with -a bewildered air, sat down, and gazed at her with his mouth wide open. - -"I'm so glad you've come home, because I have had things that I've -wanted to say to you! I've been lying here thinking about it, and I have -been turning it over in my mind. I'm going to die soon, I know." - -"Ah! bah! Don't be bothering a fellow with any of your hysterics!" - -"John, John! it isn't hysterics! Look at me! Look at my hand! look at my -face! I'm so weak, and sometimes I have such coughing spells, and every -time it seems to me as if I should die. But it an't to trouble you that -I talk. I don't care about myself, but I don't want the children to grow -up and be like what we've been. You have a great many contrivances; do, -pray, contrive to have them taught to read, and make something of them -in the world." - -"Bah! what's the use? I never learnt to read, and I'm as good a fellow -as I want. Why, there's plenty of men round here making their money, -every year, that can't read or write a word. Old Hubell, there, up on -the Shad plantation, has hauled in money, hand over hand, and he always -signs his mark. Got nine sons--can't a soul of them read or write, more -than I. I tell you there's nothing ever comes of this yer larning. It's -all a sell--a regular Yankee hoax! I've always got cheated by them damn -reading, writing Yankees, whenever I've traded with 'em. What's the -good, I want to know! You was teached how to read when you was -young--much good it's ever done you!" - -"Sure enough! Sick day and night, moving about from place to place, sick -baby crying, and not knowing what to do for it no more than a child! Oh, -I hope Fanny will learn something! It seems to me, if there was some -school for my children to go to, or some church, or something--now, _if -there is_ any such place as heaven, I should like to have them get to -it." - -"Ah! bah! Don't bother about that! When we get keeled up, that will be -the last of us! Come, come, don't plague a fellow any more with such -talk! I'm tired, and I'm going to sleep." And the man, divesting himself -of his overcoat, threw himself on the bed, and was soon snoring heavily -in profound slumber. - -Tiff, who had been trotting the baby by the fire, now came softly to the -bedside, and sat down. - -"Miss Sue," he said, "it's no 'count talking to him! I don't mean -nothing dis'pectful, Miss Sue, but de fac is, dem dat isn't _born_ -gentlemen can't be 'spected fur to see through dese yer things like us -of de old families. Law, missis, don't you worry! Now, jest leave dis -yer matter to old Tiff! Dere never wasn't anything Tiff couldn't do, if -he tried. He! he! he! Miss Fanny, she done got de letters right smart; -and I know I'll come it round mas'r, and make him buy de books for her. -I'll tell you what's come into my head, to-day. There's a young lady -come to de big plantation, up dere, who's been to New York getting -edicated, and I's going for to ask her about dese yer things. And, about -de chil'en's going to church, and dese yer things, why, preaching, you -know, is mazin' unsartain round here; but I'll keep on de lookout, and -do de best I can. Why, Lord, Miss Sue, I's bound for the land of Canaan, -myself, the best way I ken; and I'm sartain I shan't go without taking -the chil'en along with me. Ho! ho! ho! Dat's what I shan't! De chil'en -will have to be with Tiff, and Tiff will have to be with the chil'en, -wherever dey is! Dat's it! He! he! he!" - -"Tiff," said the young woman, her large blue eyes looking at him, "I -have heard of the Bible. Have you ever seen one, Tiff?" - -"Oh, yes, honey, dar was a big Bible that your ma brought in the family -when she married; but dat ar was tore up to make wadding for de guns, -one thing or another, and dey never got no more. But I's been very -'serving, and kept my ears open in a camp-meeting, and such places, and -I's learnt right smart of de things that's in it." - -"Now, Tiff, can you say anything?" said she, fixing her large, troubled -eyes on him. - -"Well, honey, dere's one thing the man said at de last camp-meeting. He -preached 'bout it, and I couldn't make out a word he said, 'cause I an't -smart about preaching like I be about most things. But he said dis yer -so often that I couldn't help 'member it. Says he, it was dish yer way: -'Come unto me, all ye labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you -rest.'" - -"Rest, rest, rest!" said the woman, thoughtfully, and drawing a long -sigh. "Oh, how much I want it! Did he say _that_ was in the Bible?" - -"Yes, he said so; and I spects, by all he said, it's de good man above -dat says it. It always makes me feel better to think on it. It 'peared -like it was jist what I was wanting to hear." - -"And I, too!" she said, turning her head wearily, and closing her eyes. -"Tiff," she said, opening them, "where I'm going, may be I shall meet -the one who said that, and I'll ask him about it. Don't talk to me more, -now. I'm getting sleepy. I thought I was better a little while after he -came home, but I'm more tired yet. Put the baby in my arms--I like the -feeling of it. There, there; now give me rest--_please_ do!" and she -sank into a deep and quiet slumber. - -Tiff softly covered the fire, and sat down by the bed, watching the -flickering shadows as they danced upward on the wall, listening to the -heavy sighs of the pine-trees, and the hard breathing of the sleeping -man. Sometimes he nodded sleepily, and then, recovering, rose, and took -a turn to awaken himself. A shadowy sense of fear fell upon him; not -that he apprehended anything, for he regarded the words of his mistress -only as the forebodings of a wearied invalid. The idea that she could -actually die, and go anywhere, without him to take care of her, seemed -never to have occurred to him. About midnight, as if a spirit had laid -its hand upon him, his eyes flew wide open with a sudden start. Her -thin, cold hand was lying on his; her eyes, large and blue, shone with a -singular and spiritual radiance. - -"Tiff," she gasped, speaking with difficulty, "I've seen the one that -said _that_, and it's all true, too! and I've seen all why I've suffered -so much. He--He--He is going to take me! Tell the children about Him!" -There was a fluttering sigh, a slight shiver, and the lids fell over the -eyes forever. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE DEATH. - - -Death is always sudden. However gradual may be its approaches, it is, in -its effects upon the survivor, always sudden at last. Tiff thought, at -first, that his mistress was in a fainting-fit, and tried every means to -restore her. It was affecting to see him chafing the thin, white, pearly -hands, in his large, rough, black paws; raising the head upon his arm, -and calling in a thousand tones of fond endearment, pouring out a -perfect torrent of loving devotion on the cold, unheeding ear. But, -then, spite of all he could do, the face settled itself, and the hands -would not be warmed; the thought of death struck him suddenly, and, -throwing himself on the floor by the bed, he wept with an exceeding loud -and bitter cry. Something in his heart revolted against awakening that -man who lay heavily breathing by her side. He would not admit to -himself, at this moment, that this man had any right in her, or that the -sorrow was any part of his sorrow. But the cry awoke Cripps, who sat up -bewildered in bed, clearing the hair from his eyes with the back of his -hand. - -"Tiff, what the durned are you howling about?" - -Tiff got up in a moment, and, swallowing down his grief and his tears, -pointed indignantly to the still figure on the bed. - -"Dar! dar! Wouldn't b'lieve her last night! Now what you think of dat -ar? See how you look now! Good Shepherd hearn you abusing de poor lamb, -and he's done took her whar you'll never see her again!" - -Cripps had, like coarse, animal men generally, a stupid and senseless -horror of death;--he recoiled from the lifeless form, and sprang from -the bed with an expression of horror. - -"Well, now, who would have thought it?" he said. "That I should be in -bed with a corpse! I hadn't the least idea!" - -"No, dat's plain enough, you didn't! You'll believe it now, won't you? -Poor little lamb, lying here suffering all alone! I tell you, when folks -have been sick so long, dey _has_ to die to make folks believe anything -ails 'em!" - -"Well, really," said Cripps, "this is really--why, it an't comfortable! -darned if it is! Why, I'm sorry about the gal! I meant to steam her up, -or done something with her. What's we to do now?" - -"Pretty likely you don't know! Folks like you, dat never tends to -nothing good, is always flustered when de Master knocks at de do'! _I_ -knows what to do, though. I's boun' to get up de crittur, and go up to -de old plantation, and bring down a woman and do something for her, kind -of decent. You mind the chil'en till I come back." - -Tiff took down and drew on over his outer garment a coarse, light, -woollen coat, with very long skirts and large buttons, in which he -always arrayed himself in cases of special solemnity. Stopping at the -door before he went out, he looked over Cripps from head to foot, with -an air of patronizing and half-pitiful contempt, and delivered himself -as follows: - -"Now, mas'r, I's gwine up, and will be back quick as possible; and now -do pray be decent, and let dat ar whiskey alone for one day in your -life, and 'member death, judgment, and 'ternity. Just act, now, as if -you'd got a _streak_ of something in you, such as a man ought for to -have who is married to one of de very fustest families in old Virginny. -'Flect, now, on your latter end; may be will do your poor old soul some -good; and don't you go for to waking up the chil'en before I gets back. -They'll learn de trouble soon enough." - -Cripps listened to this oration with a stupid, bewildered stare, gazing -first at the bed, and then at the old man, who was soon making all the -speed he could towards Canema. - -Nina was not habitually an early riser, but on this morning she had -awaked with the first peep of dawn, and, finding herself unable to go to -sleep again, she had dressed herself, and gone down to the garden. - -She was walking up and down in one of the alleys, thinking over the -perplexities of her own affairs, when her ear was caught by the wild and -singular notes of one of those tunes commonly used among the slaves as -dirges. The words "She ar dead and gone to heaven" seemed to come -floating down upon her; and, though the voice was cracked and strained, -there was a sort of wildness and pathos in it, which made a singular -impression in the perfect stillness of everything around her. She soon -observed a singular-looking vehicle appearing in the avenue. - -This wagon, which was no other than the establishment of Cripps, drew -Nina's attention, and she went to the hedge to look at it. Tiff's -watchful eye immediately fell upon her, and, driving up to where she was -standing, he climbed out upon the ground, and, lifting his hat, made her -a profound obeisance, and "hoped de young lady was bery well, dis -morning." - -"Yes, quite well, thank you, Uncle," said Nina, regarding him curiously. - -"We's in 'fliction to our house!" said Tiff, solemnly. "Dere's been a -midnight cry dere, and poor Miss Sue (dat's my young missis), she's done -gone home." - -"Who is your mistress?" - -"Well, her name _was_ Seymour 'fore she married, and her ma come from de -Virginny Peytons,--great family, dem Peytons! She was so misfortunate as -to get married, as gals will, sometimes," said Tiff, speaking in a -confidential tone. "The man wan't no 'count, and she's had a drefful -hard way to travel, poor thing! and dere she's a lying at last stretched -out dead, and not a woman nor nobody to do de least thing; and please, -missis, Tiff comed for to see if de young lady wouldn't send a woman for -to do for her--getting her ready for a funeral." - -"And who are you, pray?" - -"Please, missis, I's Tiff Peyton, I is. I's raised in Virginny, on de -great Peyton place, and I's gin to Miss Sue's mother; and when Miss Sue -married dis yer man, dey was all 'fended, and wouldn't speak to her; but -I tuck up for her, 'cause what's de use of makin' a bad thing worse? I's -a 'pinion, and telled 'em, dat he oughter be 'couraged to behave -hisself, seein' the thing was done, and couldn't be helped. But no, dey -wouldn't; so I jest tells 'em, says I, 'You may do jis you please, but -old Tiff's a gwine with her,' says I. 'I'll follow Miss Sue to de -grave's mouth,' says I; and ye see I has done it." - -"Well done of you! I like you better for it," said Nina. "You just -drive up to the kitchen, there, and tell Rose to give you some -breakfast, while I go up to Aunt Nesbit." - -"No, thank you, Miss Nina, I's noways hungry. 'Pears like, when a body's -like as I be, swallerin' down, and all de old times risin' in der throat -all de time, dey can't eat; dey gets filled all up to der eyes with -feelin's. Lord, Miss Nina, I hope ye won't never know what 'tis to stand -outside de gate, when de best friend you've got's gone in; it's hard, -dat ar is!" And Tiff pulled out a decayed-looking handkerchief, and -applied it under his spectacles. - -"Well, wait a minute, Tiff." And Nina ran into the house, while Tiff -gazed mournfully after her. - -"Well, Lor; just de way Miss Sue used to run--trip, trip, trip!--little -feet like mice! Lord's will be done!" - -"Oh, Milly!" said Nina, meeting Milly in the entry, "here you are. -Here's a poor fellow waiting out by the hedge, his mistress dead all -alone in the house, with children,--no woman to do for them. Can't you -go down? you could do so well! You know how better than any one else in -the house." - -"Why, that must be poor old Tiff!" said Milly; "faithful old creature! -So that poor woman's gone, at last? the better for her, poor soul! Well, -I'll ask Miss Loo if I may go--or you ask her, Miss Nina." - -A quick, imperative tap on her door startled Aunt Nesbit, who was -standing at her toilet, finishing her morning's dressing operations. - -Mrs. Nesbit was a particularly systematic early riser. Nobody knew why; -only folks who have nothing to do are often the most particular to have -the longest possible time to do it in. - -"Aunt," said Nina, "there's a poor fellow, out here, whose mistress is -just dead, all alone in the house, and wants to get some woman to go -there to help. Can't you spare Milly?" - -"Milly was going to clear-starch my caps, this morning," said Aunt -Nesbit. "I have arranged everything with reference to it, for a week -past." - -"Well, aunt, can't she do it to-morrow, or next day, just as well?" - -"To-morrow she is going to rip up that black dress, and wash it. I am -always systematic, and have everything arranged beforehand. Should like -very much to do anything I could, if it wasn't for that. Why can't you -send Aunt Katy?" - -"Why, aunt, you know we are to have company to dinner, and Aunt Katy is -the only one who knows where anything is, or how to serve things out to -the cook. Besides, she's so hard and cross to poor people, I don't think -she would go. I don't see, I'm sure, in such a case as this, why you -couldn't put your starching off. Milly is such a kind, motherly, -experienced person, and they are in affliction." - -"Oh, these low families don't mind such things much," said Aunt Nesbit, -fitting on her cap, quietly; "they never have much feeling. There's no -use doing for them--they are miserable poor creatures." - -"Aunt Nesbit, do, now, as a favor to me! I don't often ask favors," said -Nina. "_Do_ let Milly go! she's just the one wanted. Do, now, say yes!" -And Nina pressed nearer, and actually seemed to overpower her -slow-feeling, torpid relative, with the vehemence that sparkled in her -eyes. - -"Well, I don't care, if"-- - -"There, Milly, she says yes!" said she, springing out the door. "She -says you may. Now, hurry; get things ready. I'll run and have Aunt Katy -put up biscuits and things for the children; and you get all that you -know you will want, and be off quick, and I'll have the pony got up, and -come on behind you." - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE PREPARATION. - - -The excitement produced by the arrival of Tiff, and the fitting out of -Milly to the cottage, had produced a most favorable diversion in Nina's -mind from her own especial perplexities. - -Active and buoyant, she threw herself at once into whatever happened to -come uppermost on the tide of events. So, having seen the wagon -dispatched, she sat down to breakfast in high spirits. - -"Aunt Nesbit, I declare I was so interested in that old man! I intend to -have the pony, after breakfast, and ride over there." - -"I thought you were expecting company." - -"Well, that's one reason, now, why I'd like to be off. Do I want to sit -all primmed up, smiling and smirking, and running to the window to see -if my gracious lord is coming? No, I won't do that, to please any of -them. If I happen to fancy to be out riding, I _will_ be out riding." - -"I think," said Aunt Nesbit, "that the hovels of these miserable -creatures are no proper place for a young lady of your position in -life." - -"My position in life! I don't see what that has to do with it. My -position in life enables me to do anything I please--a liberty which I -take pretty generally. And, then, really, I couldn't help feeling rather -sadly about it, because that Old Tiff, there (I believe that's his -name), told me that the woman had been of a good Virginia family. Very -likely she may have been just such another wild girl as I am, and -thought as little about bad times, and of dying, as I do. So I couldn't -help feeling sad for her. It really came over me when I was walking in -the garden. Such a beautiful morning as it was--the birds all singing, -and the dew all glittering and shining on the flowers! Why, aunt, the -flowers really seemed alive; it seemed as though I could hear them -breathing, and hear their hearts beating like mine. And, all of a -sudden, I heard the most wild, mournful singing, over in the woods. It -wasn't anything very beautiful, you know, but it was so wild, and -strange! 'She is dead and gone to heaven!--she is dead and gone to -heaven!' And pretty soon I saw the funniest old wagon--I don't know what -to call it--and this queer old black man in it, with an old white hat -and surtout on, and a pair of great, funny-looking spectacles on his -nose. I went to the fence to see who he was; and he came up and spoke to -me, made the most respectful bow--you ought to have seen it! And then, -poor fellow, he told me how his mistress was lying dead, with the -children around her, and nobody in the house! The poor old creature, he -actually cried, and I felt so for him! He seemed to be proud of his dead -mistress, in spite of her poverty." - -"Where do they live?" said Mrs. Nesbit. - -"Why, he told me over in the pine woods, near the swamp." - -"Oh," said Mrs. Nesbit, "I dare say it's that Cripps family, that's -squatted in the pine woods. A most miserable set--all of them liars and -thieves! If I had known who it was, I'm sure I shouldn't have let Milly -go over. Such families oughtn't to be encouraged; there oughtn't a thing -to be done for them; we shouldn't encourage them to stay in the -neighborhood. They always will steal from off the plantations, and -corrupt the negroes, and get drunk, and everything else that's bad. -There's never a woman of decent character among them, that ever I heard -of; and, if you were my daughter, I shouldn't let you go near them." - -"Well, I'm not your daughter, thank fortune!" said Nina, whose graces -always rapidly declined in controversies with her aunt, "and so I shall -do as I please. And I don't know what you pious people talk so for; for -Christ went with publicans and sinners, I'm sure." - -"Well," said Aunt Nesbit, "the Bible says we mustn't cast pearls before -swine; and, when you've lived to be as old as I am, you'll know more -than you do now. Everybody knows that you can't do anything with these -people. You can't give them Bibles nor tracts; for they can't read. I've -tried it, sometimes, visiting them, and talking to them; but it didn't -do them any good. I always thought there ought to be a law passed to -make 'em all slaves, and then there would be somebody to take care of -them." - -"Well, I can't see," said Nina, "how it's their fault. There isn't any -school where they could send their children, if they wanted to learn; -and, then, if they want to work, there's nobody who wants to hire them. -So, what can they do?" - -"I'm sure I don't know," said Aunt Nesbit, in that tone which generally -means I don't care. "All I know is, that I want them to get away from -the neighborhood. Giving to them is just like putting into a bag with -holes. I'm sure I put myself to a great inconvenience on their account -to-day; for, if there's anything I do hate, it is having things -irregular. And to-day is the day for clear-starching the caps--and such -a good, bright, sunny day!--and to-morrow, or any other day of the week, -it may rain. Always puts me all out to have things that I've laid out to -do put out of their regular order. I'd been willing enough to have sent -over some old things; but why they must needs take Milly's time, just as -if the funeral couldn't have got ready without her! These funerals are -always miserable drunken times with them! And, then, who knows, she may -catch the small-pox, or something or other. There's never any knowing -what these people die of." - -"They die of just such things as we do," said Nina. "They have that in -common with us, at any rate." - -"Yes; but there's no reason for risking our lives, as I know -of--especially for such people--when it don't do any good." - -"Why, aunt, what do you know against these folks? Have you ever known of -their doing anything wicked?" - -"Oh, I don't know that I know anything against this family in -particular; but I know the whole race. These squatters--I've know them -ever since I was a girl in Virginia. Everybody that knows anything knows -exactly what they are. There isn't any help for them, unless, as I said -before, they were made slaves; and then they could be kept decent. You -may go to see them, if you like, but _I_ don't want _my_ arrangements to -be interfered with on their account." - -Mrs. Nesbit was one of those quietly-persisting people, whose yielding -is like the stretching of an India-rubber band, giving way only to a -violent pull, and going back to the same place when the force is -withdrawn. She seldom refused favors that were urged with any degree of -importunity; not because her heart was touched, but simply because she -seemed not to have force enough to refuse; and whatever she granted was -always followed by a series of subdued lamentations over the necessity -which had wrung them from her. - -Nina's nature was so vehement and imperious, when excited, that it was a -disagreeable fatigue to cross her. Mrs. Nesbit, therefore, made amends -by bemoaning herself as we have seen. Nina started up, hastily, on -seeing her pony brought round to the door; and, soon arrayed in her -riding-dress, she was cantering through the pine woods in high spirits. -The day was clear and beautiful. The floor of the woodland path was -paved with a thick and cleanly carpet of the fallen pine-leaves. And -Harry was in attendance with her, mounted on another horse, and riding -but a very little behind; not so much so but what his mistress could, if -she would, keep up a conversation with him. - -"You know this Old Tiff, Harry?" - -"Oh, yes, very well. A very good, excellent creature, and very much the -superior of his master, in most respects." - -"Well, he says his mistress came of a good family." - -"I shouldn't wonder," said Harry. "She always had a delicate appearance, -very different from people in their circumstances generally. The -children, too, are remarkably pretty, well-behaved children; and it's a -pity they couldn't be taught something, and not grow up and go on these -miserable ways of these poor whites!" - -"Why don't anybody ever teach them?" said Nina. - -"Well, Miss Nina, you know how it is: everybody has his own work and -business to attend to--there are no schools for them to go to--there's -no work for them to do. In fact, there don't seem to be any place for -them in society. Boys generally grow up to drink and swear. And, as for -girls, they are of not much account. So it goes on from generation to -generation." - -"This is so strange, and so different from what it is in the northern -states! Why, all the children go to school there--the very poorest -people's children! Why, a great many of the first men, there, were poor -children! Why can't there be some such thing here?" - -"Oh, because people are settled in such a scattering way they can't -have schools. All the land that's good for any thing is taken up for -large estates. And, then, these poor folks that are scattered up and -down in between, it's nobody's business to attend to them, and they -can't attend to themselves; and so they grow up, and nobody knows how -they live, and everybody seems to think it a pity they are in the world. -I've seen those sometimes that would be glad to do something, if they -could find anything to do. Planters don't want them on their -places--they'd rather have their own servants. If one of them wants to -be a blacksmith, or a carpenter, there's no encouragement. Most of the -large estates have their own carpenters and blacksmiths. And there's -nothing for them to do, unless it is keeping dogs to hunt negroes; or -these little low stores where they sell whiskey, and take what's stolen -from the plantations. Sometimes a smart one gets a place as overseer on -a plantation. Why, I've heard of their coming so low as actually to sell -their children to traders, to get a bit of bread." - -"What miserable creatures! But do you suppose it can be possible that a -woman of any respectable family can have married a man of this sort?" - -"Well, I don't know, Miss Nina; that might be. You see, good families -sometimes degenerate; and when they get too poor to send their children -off to school, or keep any teachers for them, they run down very fast. -This man is not bad-looking, and he really is a person who, if he had -had any way opened to him, might have been a smart man, and made -something of himself and family; and when he was young and -better-looking, I shouldn't wonder if an uneducated girl, who had never -been off a plantation, might have liked him; he was fully equal, I dare -say, to her brothers. You see, Miss Nina, when _money_ goes, in this -part of the country, everything goes with it; and when a family is not -rich enough to have everything in itself, it goes down very soon." - -"At any rate, I pity the poor things," said Nina. "I don't despise them, -as Aunt Nesbit does." - -Here Nina, observing the path clear and uninterrupted for some distance -under the arching pines, struck her horse into a canter, and they rode -on for some distance without speaking. Soon the horse's feet splashed -and pattered on the cool, pebbly bottom of a small, shallow stream, -which flowed through the woods. This stream went meandering among the -pines like a spangled ribbon, sometimes tying itself into loops, leaving -open spots--almost islands of green--graced by its waters. Such a little -spot now opened to the view of the two travellers. It was something less -than a quarter of an acre in extent, entirely surrounded by the stream, -save only a small neck of about four feet, which connected it to the -main-land. - -Here a place had been cleared and laid off into a garden, which, it was -evident, was carefully tended. The log-cabin which stood in the middle -was far from having the appearance of wretchedness which Nina had -expected. It was almost entirely a dense mass of foliage, being covered -with the intermingled drapery of the Virginia creeper and the yellow -jessamine. Two little borders, each side of the house, were blooming -with flowers. Around the little island the pine-trees closed in unbroken -semicircle, and the brook meandered away through them, to lose itself -eventually in that vast forest of swampy land which girdles the whole -Carolina shore. The whole air of the place was so unexpectedly inviting, -in its sylvan stillness and beauty, that Nina could not help checking -her horse, and exclaiming,-- - -"I'm sure, it's a pretty place. They can't be such very forsaken people, -after all." - -"Oh, that's all Tiff's work," said Harry. "He takes care of everything -outside and in, while the man is off after nobody knows what. You'd be -perfectly astonished to see how that old creature manages. He sews, and -he knits, and works the garden, does the house-work, and teaches the -children. It's a fact! You'll notice that they haven't the pronunciation -or the manners of these wild white children; and I take it to be all -Tiff's watchfulness, for that creature hasn't one particle of -selfishness in him. He just identifies himself with his mistress and her -children." - -By this time Tiff had perceived their approach, and came out to assist -them in dismounting. - -"De Lord above bless you, Miss Gordon, for coming to see my poor missis! -Ah! she is lying dere just as beautiful, just as she was the very day -she was married! All her young looks come back to her; and Milly, she -done laid her out beautiful! Lord, I's wanting somebody to come and look -at her, because she has got good blood, if she be poor. She is none of -your common sort of poor whites, Miss Nina. Just come in; come in, and -look at her." - -Nina stepped into the open door of the hut. The bed was covered with a -clean white sheet, and the body, arrayed in a long white night-dress -brought by Milly, lay there so very still, quiet, and life-like, that -one could scarcely realize the presence of death. The expression of -exhaustion, fatigue, and anxiety, which the face had latterly worn, had -given place to one of tender rest, shaded by a sort of mysterious awe, -as if the closed eyes were looking on unutterable things. The soul, -though sunk below the horizon of existence, had thrown back a twilight -upon the face radiant as that of the evening heavens. - -By the head of the bed the little girl was sitting, dressed carefully, -and her curling hair parted in front, apparently fresh from the brush; -and the little boy was sitting beside her, his round blue eyes bearing -an expression of subdued wonder. - -Cripps was sitting at the foot of the bed, evidently much the worse for -liquor; for, spite of the exhortation of Tiff, he had applied to the -whiskey-jug immediately on his departure. Why not? He was -uncomfortable--gloomy; and every one, under such circumstances, -naturally inclines towards _some_ source of consolation. He who is -intellectual reads and studies; he who is industrious flies to business; -he who is affectionate seeks friends; he who is pious, religion; but he -who is none of these--what has he but his whiskey? Cripps made a stupid, -staring inclination toward Nina and Harry, as they entered, and sat -still, twirling his thumbs and muttering to himself. - -The sunshine fell through the panes on the floor, and there came -floating in from without the odor of flowers and the song of birds. All -the Father's gentle messengers spoke of comfort; but he as a deaf man -heard not--as a blind man did not regard. For the rest, an air of -neatness had been imparted to the extreme poverty of the room by the -joint efforts of Milly and Tiff. - -Tiff entered softly, and stood by Nina, as she gazed. He had in his hand -several sprays of white jessamine, and he laid one on the bosom of the -dead. - -"She had a hard walk of it," he said, "but she's got home! Don't she -look peaceful?--poor lamb!" - -The little, thoughtless, gay coquette had never looked on a sight like -this before. She stood with a fixed, tender thoughtfulness, unlike her -usual gayety, her riding-hat hanging carelessly by its strings from her -hands, her loose hair drooping over her face. - -She heard some one entering the cottage, but she did not look up. She -was conscious of some one looking over her shoulder, and thought it was -Harry. - -"Poor thing! how young she looks," she said, "to have had so much -trouble!" Her voice trembled, and a tear stood in her eye. There was a -sudden movement; she looked up, and Clayton was standing by her. - -She looked surprised, and the color deepened in her cheek, but was too -ingenuously and really in sympathy with the scene before her even to -smile. She retained his hand a moment, and turned to the dead, saying, -in an under-tone, "See here!" - -"I see," he said. "Can I be of service?" - -"The poor thing died last night," said Nina. "I suppose some one might -help about a funeral. Harry," she said, walking softly towards the door, -and speaking low, "you provide a coffin; have it made neatly." - -"Uncle," she said, motioning Tiff towards her, "where would they have -her buried?" - -"Buried?" said Tiff. "O Lord! buried!" And he covered his face with his -hard hands, and the tears ran through his fingers. - -"Lord, Lord! Well, it must come, I know, but 'pears like I couldn't! -Laws, she's so beautiful! Don't, to-day! don't!" - -"Indeed, Uncle," said Nina, tenderly, "I'm sorry I grieved you; but you -know, poor fellow, that must come." - -"I's known her ever since she's dat high!" said Tiff. "Her har was -curly, and she used to war such pretty red shoes, and come running after -me in de garden. 'Tiff, Tiff,' she used to say--and dar she is now, and -troubles brought her dar! Lord, what a pretty gal she was! Pretty as you -be, Miss Nina. But since she married _dat ar_," pointing with his thumb -over his shoulder, and speaking confidentially, "everything went wrong. -I's held her up--did all I could; and now here she is!" - -"Perhaps," said Nina, laying her hand on his, "perhaps she's in a better -place than this." - -"Oh, Lord, dat she is! She told me dat when she died. She saw de Lord at -last,--she did so! Dem's her last words. 'Tiff,' she says, 'I see Him, -and He will give me rest. Tiff,' she says,--I'd been asleep, you know, -and I kinder felt something cold on my hand, and I woke up right sudden, -and dar she was, her eyes so bright, looking at me and breathing so -hard; and all she says was, 'Tiff, I've seen Him, and I know now why -I've suffered so; He's gwine to take me, and give me rest!'" - -"Then, my poor fellow, you ought to rejoice that she is safe." - -"'Deed I does," said Tiff; "yet I's selfish. I wants to be dere too, I -does--only I has de chil'en to care for." - -"Well, my good fellow," said Nina, "we must leave you now. Harry will -see about a coffin for your poor mistress; and whenever the funeral is -to be, our carriage will come over, and we will all attend." - -"Lord bless you, Miss Gordon! Dat ar _too_ good on ye! My heart's been -most broke, tinking nobody cared for my poor young mistress! you's too -good, dat you is!" - -Then, drawing near to her, and sinking his voice, he said: "'Bout de -mourning, Miss Nina. _He_ an't no 'count, you know--body can see how -'tis with him very plain. But missis was a Peyton, you know; and I's a -Peyton, too. I naturally feels a 'sponsibility he couldn't be 'spected -fur to. I's took de ribbons off of Miss Fanny's bonnet, and done de best -I could trimming it up with black crape what Milly gave me; and I's got -a band of black crape on Master Teddy's hat; and I 'lowed to put one on -mine, but there wasn't quite enough. You know, missis, old family -servants always wars mourning. If missis just be pleased to look over my -work! Now, dis yer is Miss Fanny's bonnet. You know I can't be 'spected -for to make it like a milliner." - -"They are very well indeed, Uncle Tiff." - -"Perhaps, Miss Nina, you can kind of touch it over." - -"Oh, if you like, Uncle Tiff, I'll take them all home, and do them for -you." - -"The Lord bless _you_, Miss Gordon! Dat ar was just what I wanted, but -was most 'fraid to ask you. Some gay young ladies doesn't like to handle -black." - -"Ah! Uncle Tiff, I've no fears of that sort; so put it in the wagon, and -let Milly take it home." - -So saying, she turned and passed out of the door where Harry was -standing holding the horses. A third party might have seen, by the keen, -rapid glance with which his eye rested upon Clayton, that he was -measuring the future probability which might make him the arbiter of his -own destiny--the disposer of all that was dear to him in life. As for -Nina, although the day before a thousand fancies and coquetries would -have colored the manner of her meeting Clayton, yet now she was so -impressed by what she had witnessed, that she scarcely appeared to know -that she had met him. She placed her pretty foot on his hand, and let -him lift her on to the saddle, scarcely noticing the act, except by a -serious, graceful inclination of her head. - -One great reason of the ascendency which Clayton had thus far gained -over her, was that his nature, so quiet, speculative, and -undemonstrative, always left her such perfect liberty to follow the more -varying moods of her own. A man of a different mould would have sought -to awake her out of the trance--would have remarked on her abstracted -manner, or rallied her on her silence. Clayton merely mounted his horse -and rode quietly by her side, while Harry, passing on before them, was -soon out of sight. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE LOVERS. - - -They rode on in silence, till their horses' feet again clattered in the -clear, pebbly water of the stream. Here Nina checked her horse; and, -pointing round the circle of pine forests, and up the stream, overhung -with bending trees and branches, said: - -"Hush!--listen!" Both stopped, and heard the swaying of the pine-trees, -the babble of the waters, the cawing of distant crows, and the tapping -of the woodpecker. - -"How beautiful everything is!" she said. "It seems to me so sad that -people must die! I never saw anybody dead before, and you don't know how -it makes me feel! To think that that poor woman was just such a girl as -I am, and used to be just so full of life, and never thought any more -than I do that she should lie there all cold and dead! Why is it things -are made so beautiful, if we must die?" - -"Remember what you said to the old man, Miss Nina. Perhaps she sees more -beautiful things, now." - -"In heaven? Yes; I wish we knew more about heaven, so that it would seem -natural and home-like to us, as this world does. As for me, I can't feel -that I ever want to leave this world--I enjoy living so much! I can't -forget how cold her hand was! I never felt anything like that cold!" - -In all the varying moods of Nina, Clayton had never seen anything that -resembled this. But he understood the peculiar singleness and -earnestness of nature which made any one idea, or impression, for a time -absolute in her mind. They turned their horses into the wood-path, and -rode on in silence. - -"Do you know," said she, "it's such a change coming from New York to -live here? Everything is so unformed, so wild, and so lonely! I never -saw anything so lonesome as these woods are. Here you can ride miles -and miles, hours and hours, and hear nothing but the swaying of the -pine-trees, just as you hear it now. Our place (you never were there, -were you?) stands all by itself, miles from any other; and I've been for -so many years used to a thickly-settled country, that it seems very -strange to me. I can't help thinking things look rather deserted and -desolate, here. It makes me rather sober and sad. I don't know as you'll -like the appearance of our place. A great many things are going to decay -about it; and yet there are some things that can't decay; for papa was -very fond of trees and shrubbery, and we have a good deal more of them -than usual. Are you fond of trees?" - -"Yes; I'm almost a tree-worshipper. I have no respect for a man who -can't appreciate a tree. The only good thing I ever heard of Xerxes was, -that he was so transported with the beauty of a plane-tree, that he hung -it with chains of gold. This is a little poetical island in the -barbarism of those days." - -"Xerxes!" said Nina. "I believe I studied something about him in that -dismal, tedious history at Madame Ardaine's; but nothing so interesting -as that, I'm sure. But what should he hang gold chains on a tree for?" - -"'Twas the best way he knew of expressing his good opinion." - -"Do you know," said Nina, half checking her horse, suddenly, "that I -never had the least idea that these men were alive that we read about in -these histories, or that they had any feelings like ours? We always -studied the lessons, and learnt the hard names, and how forty thousand -were killed on one side, and fifty thousand on the other; and we don't -know any more about it than if we never had. That's the way we girls -studied at school, except a few '_poky_' ones, who wanted to be learned, -or meant to be teachers." - -"An interesting _résumé_, certainly," said Clayton, laughing. - -"But how strange it is," said Nina, "to think that all those folks we -read about are alive _now_, doing something somewhere; and I get to -wondering where they are--Xerxes, and Alexander, and the rest of them. -Why, they were so full of life they kept everything in commotion while -in this world; and I wonder if they have been keeping a going ever -since. Perhaps Xerxes has been looking round at _our_ trees--nobody -knows. But here we are coming now to the beginning of our grounds. -There, you see that holly-hedge! Mamma had that set out. She travelled -in England, and liked the hedges there so much that she thought she -would see what could be done with our American holly. So she had these -brought from the woods, and planted. You see it all grows wild, now, -because it hasn't been cut for many years. And this live-oak avenue my -grandfather set out. It's my pride and delight." - -As she spoke, a pair of broad gates swung open, and they cantered in -beneath the twilight arches of the oaks. Long wreaths of pearly moss -hung swinging from the branches, and, although the sun now was at high -noon, a dewy, dreamy coolness seemed to rustle through all the leaves. -As Clayton passed in, he took off his hat, as he had often done in -foreign countries in cathedrals. - -"Welcome to Canema!" said she, riding up to him, and looking up frankly -into his face. - -The air, half queenly, half childish, with which this was said, was -acknowledged by Clayton with a grave smile, as he replied, bowing,-- - -"Thank you, madam." - -"Perhaps," she added, in a grave tone, "you'll be sorry that you ever -came here." - -"What do you mean by that?" he replied. - -"I don't know; it just came into my head to say it. We none of us ever -know what's going to come of what we do." - -At this instant, a violent clamor, like the cawing of a crow, rose on -one side of the avenue; and the moment after Tomtit appeared, -caricoling, and cutting a somerset; his curls flying, his cheeks -glowing. - -"Why, Tomtit, what upon earth is this for?" said Nina. - -"Laws, missis, deres been a gen'elman waiting for you at the house these -two hours. And missis, she's done got on her best cap, and gone down in -the parlor for him." - -Nina felt herself blush to the roots of her hair, and was vexed and -provoked to think she did so. Involuntarily her eyes met Clayton's. But -he expressed neither curiosity nor concern. - -"What a pretty drapery this light moss makes!" said he. "I wasn't aware -that it grew so high up in the state." - -"Yes; it is very pretty," said Nina, abstractedly. - -Clayton, however, had noticed both the message and the blush, and was -not so ill-informed as Nina supposed as to the whole affair, having -heard from a New York correspondent of the probability that an arrival -might appear upon the field about this time. He was rather curious to -watch the development produced by this event. They paced up the avenue, -conversing in disconnected intervals, till they came out on the lawn -which fronted the mansion--a large, gray, three-story building, -surrounded on the four sides by wide balconies of wood. Access was had -to the lower of these by a broad flight of steps. And there Nina saw, -plain enough, her Aunt Nesbit in all the proprieties of cap and silk -gown, sitting, making the agreeable to Mr. Carson. - -Mr. Frederic Augustus Carson was one of those nice little epitomes of -conventional society, which appear to such advantage in factitious life, -and are so out of place in the undress, sincere surroundings of country -life. Nina had liked his society extremely well in the drawing-rooms and -opera-houses of New York. But, in the train of thought inspired by the -lonely and secluded life she was now leading, it seemed to her an -absolute impossibility that she could, even in coquetry and in sport, -have allowed such an one to set up pretensions to her hand and heart. -She was vexed with herself that she had done so, and therefore not in -the most amiable mood for a meeting. Therefore, when, on ascending the -steps, he rushed precipitately forward, and, offering his hand, called -her Nina, she was ready to die with vexation. She observed, too, a -peculiar swelling and rustling of Aunt Nesbit's plumage,--an -indescribable air of tender satisfaction, peculiar to elderly ladies who -are taking an interest in an affair of the heart, which led her to -apprehend that the bachelor had commenced operations by declaring his -position to her. 'Twas with some embarrassment that Nina introduced Mr. -Clayton, whom Aunt Nesbit received with a most stately curtsey, and Mr. -Carson with a patronizing bow. - -"Mr. Carson has been waiting for you these two hours," said Aunt Nesbit. - -"Very warm riding, Nina," said Mr. Carson, observing her red cheeks. -"You've been riding too fast, I fear. You must be careful of yourself. -I've known people bring on very grave illnesses by over-heating the -blood!" - -Clayton seated himself near the door, and seemed to be intent on the -scene without. And Carson, drawing his chair close to Nina, asked, in a -confidential under-tone,-- - -"Who is that gentleman?" - -"Mr. Clayton, of Claytonville," said Nina, with as much _hauteur_ as she -could assume. - -"Ah, yes!--Hem!--hem! I've heard of the family--a very nice family--a -very worthy young man--extremely, I'm told. Shall be happy to make his -acquaintance." - -"I beg," said Nina, rising, "the gentlemen will excuse me a moment or -two." - -Clayton replied by a grave bow, while Mr. Carson, with great -_empressement_, handed Nina to the door. The moment it was closed, she -stamped, with anger, in the entry. - -"The provoking fool! to take these airs with me! And I, too--I deserve -it! What on earth could make me think I could tolerate that man?" - -As if Nina's cup were not yet full, Aunt Nesbit followed her to her -chamber with an air of unusual graciousness. - -"Nina, my dear, he has told me all about it! and I assure you I'm very -much pleased with him!" - -"Told you all about _what_?" said Nina. - -"Why, your engagement, to be sure! I'm delighted to think you've done so -well! I think your Aunt Maria, and all of them, will be delighted! Takes -a weight of care off my mind!" - -"I wish you wouldn't trouble yourself about me, or my affairs, Aunt -Nesbit!" said Nina. "And, as for this old pussy-cat, with his squeaking -boots, I won't have him purring round _me_, that's certain! _So_ -provoking, to take that way towards me! Call me Nina, and talk as though -he were lord paramount of me, and everything here! I'll let him know!" - -"Why, Nina! Seems to me this is very strange conduct! I am very much -astonished at you!" - -"I dare say you are, aunt! I never knew the time I didn't astonish you! -But this man I detest!" - -"Well, then, my dear, what were you engaged to him for?" - -"_Engaged!_ Aunt, for pity's sake, do hush! Engaged! I should like to -know what a New York engagement amounts to! Engaged at the -opera!--Engaged for a joke! Why, he was my bouquet-holder! The man is -just an opera libretto! He was very useful in his time. But who wants -him afterwards?" - -"But, my dear Nina, this trifling with gentlemen's hearts!" - -"I'll warrant his heart! It's neither sugar nor salt, I'll assure you. -I'll tell you what, aunt, he loves good eating, good drinking, nice -clothes, nice houses, and good times generally! and he wants a pretty -wife as a part of a whole; and he thinks he'll take me. But he is -mistaken. Calling me 'Nina,' indeed! Just let me have a chance of seeing -him alone! I'll teach him to call me 'Nina'! I'll let him know how -things stand!" - -"But, Nina, you must confess you've given him occasion for all this." - -"Well, supposing I have? I'll give him occasion for something else, -then!" - -"Why, my dear," said Aunt Nesbit, "he came on to know when you'll fix -the day to be married!" - -"Married! Oh, my gracious! Just think of the creature's talking about -it! Well, it _is_ my fault, as you say; but I'll do the best I can to -mend it." - -"Well, I'm really sorry for him," said Aunt Nesbit. - -"You are, aunt? Why don't you _take_ him yourself, then? You are as -young and good-looking as he is." - -"Nina, how you talk!" said Aunt Nesbit, coloring and bridling. "There -_was_ a time when I wasn't bad-looking, to be sure; but that's long -since past." - -"Oh, that's because you always dress in stone-color and drab," said -Nina, as she stood brushing and arranging her curls. "Come, now, and go -down, aunt, and do the best you can till I make my appearance. After -all, as you say, I'm the most to blame. There's no use in being vexed -with the old soul. So, aunt, do be as fascinating as you can; see if you -can't console him. Only remember how _you_ used to turn off lovers, when -you were of my age." - -"And who is this other gentleman, Nina?" - -"Oh, nothing, only he is a friend of mine. A very good man--good enough -for a minister, any day, aunt, and not so stupid as good people -generally are, either." - -"Well, perhaps you are engaged to _him_?" - -"No, I am not; that is to say, I won't be to anybody. This is an -insufferable business! I _like_ Mr. Clayton, because he can let me -alone, don't look at me in that abominably delighted way all the time, -and dance about, calling me _Nina_! He and I are very good friends, -that's all. I'm not going to have any engagements _anywhere_." - -"Well, Nina, I'll go down, and you make haste." - -While the gentlemen and Aunt Nesbit were waiting in the saloon, Carson -made himself extremely happy and at home. It was a large, cool -apartment, passing, like a hall, completely through the centre of the -house. Long French windows, at either end, opened on to balconies. The -pillars of the balconies were draped and garlanded with wreaths of roses -now in full bloom. The floor of the room was the polished mosaic of -different colors to which we have formerly alluded. Over the -mantel-piece was sculptured in oak the Gordon arms. The room was -wainscoted with dark wood, and hung with several fine paintings, by -Copley and Stuart, of different members of the family. A grand piano, -lately arrived from New York, was the most modern-looking article in the -room. Most of the furniture was of heavy dark mahogany, of an antique -pattern. Clayton sat by the door, still admiring the avenue of oaks -which were to be seen across the waving green of the lawn. - -In about half an hour Nina reappeared in a flossy cloud of muslin, lace, -and gauzy ribbons. Dress was one of those accomplishments for which the -little gypsy had a natural instinct; and, without any apparent thought, -she always fell into that kind of color and material which harmonized -with her style of appearance and character. There was always something -floating and buoyant about the arrangement of her garments and drapery; -so that to see her move across the floor gave one an airy kind of -sensation, like the gambols of thistle-down. Her brown eyes had a -peculiar resemblance to a bird's; and this effect was increased by a -twinkling motion of the head, and a fluttering habit of movement -peculiar to herself; so that when she swept by in rosy gauzes, and laid -one ungloved hand lightly on the piano, she seemed to Clayton much like -some saucy bird--very good indeed if let alone, but ready to fly on the -slightest approach. - -Clayton had the rare faculty of taking in every available point of -observation, without appearing to stare. - -"'Pon my word, Nina," said Mr. Carson, coming towards her with a most -delighted air, "you look as if you had fallen out of a rainbow!" - -Nina turned away very coolly, and began arranging her music. - -"Oh, that's right!" said Carson; "give us one of your songs. Sing -something from the Favorita. You know it's my favorite opera," said he, -assuming a most sentimental expression. - -"Oh, I'm entirely out of practice--I don't sing at all. I'm sick of all -those opera-songs!" And Nina skimmed across the floor, and out of the -open door by which Clayton was lounging, and began busying herself amid -the flowers that wreathed the porch. In a moment Carson was at her -heels; for he was one of those persons who seem to think it a duty never -to allow any one to be quiet, if they can possibly prevent it. - -"Have you ever studied the language of flowers, Nina?" said he. - -"No, I don't like to study languages." - -"You know the signification of a full-blown rose?" said he, tenderly -presenting her with one. - -Nina took the rose, coloring with vexation, and then, plucking from the -bush a rose of two or three days' bloom, whose leaves were falling out, -she handed it to him, and said,-- - -"Do you understand the signification of this?" - -"Oh, you have made an unfortunate selection! This rose is all falling to -pieces!" said Mr. Carson, innocently. - -"So I observed," said Nina, turning away quickly; then, making one of -her darting movements, she was in the middle of the saloon again, just -as the waiter announced dinner. - -Clayton rose gravely, and offered his arm to Aunt Nesbit; and Nina found -herself obliged to accept the delighted escort of Mr. Carson, who, -entirely unperceiving, was in the briskest possible spirits, and -established himself comfortably between Aunt Nesbit and Nina. - -"You must find it very dull here--very barren country, shockingly so! -What do you find to interest yourself in?" said he. - -"Will you take some of this gumbo?" replied Nina. - -"I always thought," said Aunt Nesbit, "it was a good plan for girls to -have a course of reading marked out to them when they left school." - -"Oh, certainly," said Carson. "I shall be happy to mark out one for her. -I've done it for several young ladies." - -At this moment Nina accidentally happened to catch Clayton's eye, which -was fixed upon Mr. Carson with an air of quiet amusement greatly -disconcerting to her. - -"Now," said Mr. Carson, "I have no opinion of making _blues_ of young -ladies; but still, I think, Mrs. Nesbit, that a little useful -information adds greatly to their charms. Don't you?" - -"Yes," said Mrs. Nesbit. "I've been reading 'Gibbon's Decline and Fall -of the Roman Empire,' lately." - -"Yes," said Nina, "aunt's been busy about that ever since I can -remember." - -"That's a very nice book," said Mr. Carson, looking solemnly at Nina; -"only, Mrs. Nesbit, an't you afraid of the infidel principle? I think, -in forming the minds of the young, you know, one cannot be too careful." - -"Why, he struck me as a very pious writer!" said Aunt Nesbit, -innocently. "I'm sure, he makes the most religious reflections, all -along. I liked him particularly on that account." - -It seemed to Nina that, without looking at Clayton, she was forced to -meet his eye. No matter whether she directed her attention to the -asparagus or the potatoes, it was her fatality always to end by a -rencounter with his eye; and she saw, for some reason or other, the -conversation was extremely amusing to him. - -"For my part," said Nina, "I don't know what sort of principles Aunt -Nesbit's history, there, has; but one thing I'm pretty certain of,--that -_I_'m not in any danger from any such thick, close-printed, old, -stupid-looking books as that. I hate reading, and I don't intend to have -my mind formed; so that nobody need trouble themselves to mark out -courses for me! What is it to me what all these old empires have been, a -hundred years ago? It is as much as I can do to attend to what is going -on now." - -"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I've always regretted that I -neglected the cultivation of my mind when I was young. I was like Nina, -here, immersed in vanity and folly." - -"People always talk," said Nina, reddening, "as if there was but one -kind of vanity and folly in the world. I think there can be as much -learned vanity and folly as we girls have!" And she looked at Clayton -indignantly, as she saw him laughing. - -"I agree with Miss Gordon, entirely. There is a great deal of very -stupid respectable trifling, which people pursue under the head of -courses of reading," he said. "And I don't wonder that most compends of -history which are studied in schools should inspire any lively young -lady with a life-long horror, not only of history, but of reading." - -"Do you think so?" said Nina, with a look of inexpressible relief. - -"I do, indeed," said Clayton. "And it would have been a very good thing -for many of our historians, if they had been obliged to have shaped -their histories so that they would interest a lively school-girl. We -literary men, then, would have found less sleepy reading. There is no -reason why a young lady, who would sit up all night reading a novel, -should not be made to sit up all night with a history. I'll venture to -say there's no romance can come up to the gorgeousness and splendor, and -the dramatic power, of things that really have happened. All that's -wanting is to have it set before us with an air of reality." - -"But, then," said Nina, "you'd have to make the history into a romance." - -"Well, a good historical romance is generally truer than a dull history; -because it gives some sort of conception of the truth; whereas, the dull -history gives none." - -"Well, then," said Nina, "I'll confess, now, that about all the history -I do know has been got from Walter Scott's novels. _I_ always told our -history-teacher so; but she insisted upon it that it was very dangerous -reading." - -"For my part," said Mrs. Nesbit, "I've a great horror of novel-reading, -particularly for young ladies. It did me a great deal of harm when I was -young. It dissipates the mind; it gives false views of life." - -"Oh, law!" said Nina. "We used to write compositions about that, and -I've got it all by heart--how it raises false expectations, and leads -people to pursue phantoms, rainbows, and meteors, and all that sort of -thing!" - -"And yet," said Clayton, "all these objections would lie against -_perfectly_ true history, and the more so just in proportion to its -truth. If the history of Napoleon Bonaparte were graphically and -minutely given, it would lie open to the very same objections. It would -produce the very same cravings for something out of the commonplace -course of life. There would be the same dazzling mixture of bad and good -qualities in the hero, and the same lassitude and exhaustion after the -story was finished. And common history does not do this, simply because -it is not true--does not produce a vivid impression of the reality as it -happened." - -Aunt Nesbit only got an indefinite impression, from this harangue, that -Clayton was defending novel-reading, and felt herself called to employ -her own peculiar line of reasoning to meet it, which consisted in saying -the same thing over and over, at regular intervals, without appearing to -hear or notice anything said in reply. Accordingly, she now drew herself -up, with a slightly virtuous air, and said to Mr. Clayton,-- - -"I must say, after all, that I don't approve of novel-reading. It gives -false views of life, and disgusts young people with their duties." - -"I was only showing, madam, that the same objection would apply to the -best-written history," said Clayton. - -"I think novel-reading does a great deal of harm," rejoined Aunt Nesbit. -"I never allow myself to read any work of fiction. I'm principled -against it." - -"For my part," said Nina, "I wish I could find that kind of history you -are speaking of; I believe I could read that." - -"'Twould be very interesting history, certainly," said Mr. Carson. "I -should think it would prove a very charming mode of writing. I wonder -somebody don't produce one." - -"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I confine myself entirely to what is -practically useful. Useful information is all I desire." - -"Well, I suppose, then, I'm very wicked," said Nina; "but I don't like -anything useful. Why, I've sometimes thought, when I've been in the -garden, that the summer-savory, sage, and sweet-marjoram, were just as -pretty as many other flowers; and I couldn't see any reason why I -shouldn't like a sprig of one of them for a bouquet, except that I've -seen them used for stuffing turkeys. Well, now, that seems very bad of -me, don't it?" - -"That reminds me," said Aunt Nesbit, "that Rose has been putting sage -into this turkey again, after all that I said to her. I believe she does -it on purpose." - -At this moment Harry appeared at the door, and requested to speak to -Nina. - -After a few moments' whispered conversation, she came back to the table, -apparently disconcerted. - -"I'm so sorry--so very sorry!" she said. "Harry has been riding all -round the country to find a minister to attend the funeral, this -evening. It will be such a disappointment to that poor fellow! You know -the negroes think so much of having prayers at the grave!" - -"If no one else can be found to read prayers, I will," said Clayton. - -"Oh, thank you! will you, indeed?" said Nina. "I'm glad of it, now, for -poor Tiff's sake. The coach will be out at five o'clock, and we'll ride -over together, and make as much of a party as we can." - - --------- - -"Why, child," said Aunt Nesbit to Nina, after they returned to the -parlor, "I did not know that Mr. Clayton was an Episcopalian." - -"He isn't," said Nina. "He and his family all attend the Presbyterian -church." - -"How strange that he should offer to read prayers!" said Aunt Nesbit. "I -don't approve of such things, for my part." - -"Such things as what?" - -"Countenancing Episcopal errors. If we are right, they are wrong, and we -ought not to countenance them." - -"But, aunt, the burial-service is beautiful." - -"Don't approve of it!" said Aunt Nesbit. - -"Why, you know, as Clayton isn't a minister, he would not feel like -making an extempore prayer." - -"Shows great looseness of religious principle," said Aunt Nesbit. "Don't -approve of it!" - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -EXPLANATIONS. - - -The golden arrows of the setting sun were shooting hither and thither -through the pine woods, glorifying whatever they touched with a life not -its own. A chorus of birds were pouring out an evening melody, when a -little company stood around an open grave. With instinctive care for the -feeling of the scene, Nina had arrayed herself in a black silk dress, -and plain straw bonnet with black ribbon--a mark of respect to the -deceased remembered and narrated by Tiff for many a year after. - -Cripps stood by the head of the grave, with that hopeless, imbecile -expression with which a nature wholly gross and animal often -contemplates the symbols of the close of mortal existence. Tiff stood by -the side of the grave, his white hat conspicuously draped with black -crape, and a deep weed of black upon his arm. The baby, wrapped in an -old black shawl, was closely fondled in his bosom, while the two -children stood weeping bitterly at his side. The other side of the grave -stood Mr. Carson and Mr. Clayton, while Milly, Harry, and several -plantation slaves, were in a group behind. - -The coffin had been opened, that all might take that last look, so -coveted, yet so hopeless, which the human heart will claim on the very -verge of the grave. It was but a moment since the coffin had been -closed; and the burst of grief which shook the children was caused by -that last farewell. As Clayton, in a musical voice, pronounced the -words, "I am the resurrection and the life," Nina wept and sobbed as if -the grief had been her own; nor did she cease to weep during the whole -touching service. It was the same impulsive nature which made her so gay -in other scenes that made her so sympathetic here. When the whole was -over, she kissed the children, and, shaking hands with old Tiff, -promised to come and see them on the morrow. After which, Clayton led -her to the carriage, into which he and Carson followed her. - -"Upon my word," said Carson, briskly, "this has been quite solemn! -Really, a very interesting funeral, indeed! I was delighted with the -effect of our church service; in such a romantic place, too! 'Twas -really very interesting. It pleases me, also, to see young ladies in -your station, Nina, interest themselves in the humble concerns of the -poor. If young ladies knew how much more attractive it made them to show -a charitable spirit, they would cultivate it more. Singular-looking -person, that old negro! Seems to be a good creature. Interesting -children, too! I should think the woman must have been pretty when she -was young. Seen a great deal of trouble, no doubt, poor thing! It's a -comfort to hope she is better off now." - -Nina was filled with indignation at this monologue; not considering that -the man was giving the very best he had in him, and laboring assiduously -at what he considered his vocation, the prevention of half an hour of -silence in any spot of earth where he could possibly make himself heard. -The same excitement which made Nina cry made him talk. But he was not -content with talking, but insisted upon asking Nina, every moment, if -she didn't think it an interesting occasion, and if she had not been -much impressed. - -"I don't feel like talking, Mr. Carson," said Nina. - -"Oh--ah--yes, indeed! You've been so deeply affected--yes. Naturally -_does_ incline one to silence. Understand your feelings perfectly. Very -gratifying to me to see you take such a deep interest in your -fellow-creatures." - -Nina could have pushed him out of the carriage. - -"For my part," continued Carson, "I think we don't reflect enough about -this kind of thing--I positively don't. It really is useful sometimes to -have one's thoughts turned in this direction. It does us good." - -Thus glibly did Carson proceed to talk away the impression of the whole -scene they had witnessed. Long before the carriage reached home, Nina -had forgotten all her sympathy in a tumult of vexation. She discovered -an increasing difficulty in making Carson understand, by any degree of -coolness, that he was not acceptable; and saw nothing before her but -explanations in the very plainest terms, mortifying and humiliating as -that might be. His perfect self-complacent ease, and the air with which -he constantly seemed to appropriate her as something which of right -belonged to himself, filled her with vexation. But yet her conscience -told her that she had brought it upon herself. - -"I won't bear this another hour!" she said to herself, as she ascended -the steps toward the parlor. "All this before Clayton too! What must he -think of me?" But they found tea upon the table and Aunt Nesbit waiting. - -"It's a pity, madam, you were not with us. Such an interesting time!" -said Mr. Carson, launching, with great volubility, into the tide of -discourse. - -"It wouldn't have done for me at all," said Mrs. Nesbit. "Being out when -the dew falls, always brings on hoarseness. I have been troubled in that -way these two or three years. Now I have to be very careful. Then I'm -timid about riding in a carriage with John's driving." - -"I was amused enough," said Nina, "with Old Hundred's indignation at -having to get out the carriage and horses to go over to what he called a -'cracker funeral.' I really believe, if he could have upset us without -hurting himself, he would have done it." - -"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I hope that family will move off -before long. It's very disagreeable having such people round." - -"The children look very pretty and bright," said Nina. - -"Oh, there's no hope for them! They'll grow up and be just like their -parents. I've seen that sort of people all through and through. I don't -wish them any evil; only I don't want to have anything to do with them!" - -"For my part," said Nina, "I'm sorry for them. I wonder why the -legislature, or somebody, don't have schools, as they do up in New York -State? There isn't anywhere there where children can't go to school, if -they wish to. Besides, aunt, these children really came from an old -family in Virginia. Their old servant-man says that their mother was a -Peyton." - -"I don't believe a word of it! They'll lie--all of them. They always -do." - -"Well," said Nina, "I shall do something for these children, at any -rate." - -"I quite agree with you, Nina. It shows a very excellent spirit in you," -said Mr. Carson. "You'll always find me ready to encourage everything of -that sort." - -Nina frowned, and looked indignant. But to no purpose. Mr. Carson went -on remorselessly with his really good-hearted rattle, till Nina, at -last, could bear it no longer. - -"How dreadfully warm this room is!" said she, springing up. "Come, let's -go back into the parlor." - -Nina was as much annoyed at Clayton's silence, and his quiet, observant -reserve, as with Carson's forth-putting. Rising from table, she passed -on before the company, with a half-flying trip, into the hall, which lay -now cool, calm, and breezy, in the twilight, with the odor of the -pillar-roses floating in at the window. The pale white moon, set in the -rosy belt of the evening sky, looked in at the open door. Nina would -have given all the world to be still; but, well aware that stillness was -out of the question, she determined to select her own noise; and, -sitting down at the piano, began playing very fast, in a rapid, -restless, disconnected manner. Clayton threw himself on a lounge by the -open door; while Carson busied himself fluttering the music, opening and -shutting music-books, and interspersing running commentaries and notes -of admiration on the playing. - -At last, as if she could bear it no longer, she rose, with a very -decided air, from the piano, and, facing about towards Mr. Carson, -said:-- - -"It looks very beautifully out doors. Don't you want to come out? -There's a point of view at the end of one of the paths, where the moon -looks on the water, that I should like to show you." - -"Won't you catch cold, Nina?" said Aunt Nesbit. - -"No, indeed! I never catch cold," said Nina, springing into the porch, -and taking the delighted Mr. Carson's arm. And away she went with him, -with almost a skip and a jump, leaving Clayton _tête-à-tête_ with Aunt -Nesbit. - -Nina went so fast that her attendant was almost out of breath. They -reached a little knoll, and there Nina stopped suddenly, and said, "Look -here, Mr. Carson; I have something to say to you." - -"I should be delighted, my dear Nina! I'm perfectly charmed!" - -"No--no--if you please--_don't!_" said Nina, putting up her hand to stop -him. "Just wait till you hear what I have to say. I believe you did not -get a letter which I wrote you a few days ago, did you?" - -"A letter! no, indeed. How unfortunate!" - -"Very unfortunate for me!" said Nina; "and for you, too. Because, if you -had, it would have saved you and me the trouble of this interview. I -wrote that letter to tell you, Mr. Carson, that I cannot _think_ of such -a thing as an engagement with you! That I've acted very wrong and very -foolishly; but that I cannot do it. In New York, where everybody and -everything seemed to be trifling, and where the girls all trifled with -these things, I was engaged--just for frolic--nothing more. I had no -idea what it would amount to; no idea what I was saying, nor how I -should feel afterwards. But every hour since I've been home, here, since -I've been so much alone, has made me feel how wrong it is. Now, I'm very -sorry, I'm sure. But I must speak the truth, this time. But it is--I -can't tell you how--disagreeable to me to have you treat me as you have -since you've been here!" - -"Miss Gordon!" said Mr. Carson, "I am positively astonished! I--I don't -know what to think!" - -"Well, I only want you to think that I am in earnest; and that, though I -can _like_ you very well as an acquaintance, and shall always wish you -well, yet anything else is just as far out of the question as that moon -there is from us. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I've made you all -this trouble. I really am," said she, good-naturedly; "but please now to -understand how we stand." She turned, and tripped away. - -"There!" said she, to herself, "at any rate, I've done _one_ thing!" - -Mr. Carson stood still, gradually recovering from the stupor into which -this communication had thrown him. He stretched himself, rubbed his -eyes, took out his watch and looked at it, and then began walking off -with a very sober pace in the opposite direction from Nina. -Happily-constituted mortal that he was, nothing ever could be subtracted -from his sum of complacence that could not be easily balanced by about -a quarter of an hour's consideration. The walk through the shrubbery in -which he was engaged was an extremely pretty one, and wound along on the -banks of the river through many picturesque points of view, and finally -led again to the house by another approach. During the course of this -walk Mr. Carson had settled the whole question for himself. In the first -place, he repeated the comfortable old proverb, that there were as good -fish in the sea as ever were caught. In the second place, as Mr. Carson -was a shrewd business-man, it occurred to him, in this connection, that -the plantation was rather run down, and not a profitable acquisition. -And, in the third place, contemplating Nina as the fox of old did his -bunch of sour grapes, he began to remember that, after all, she was -dressy, expensive, and extravagant. Then, as he did not want that -imperturbable good-nature which belongs to a very shallow capability of -feeling, he said to himself that he shouldn't like the girl a bit the -less. In fact, when he thought of his own fine fortune, his house in New -York, and all the accessories which went to make up himself, he -considered her, on the whole, as an object of pity; and, by the time -that he ascended the balcony steps again, he was in as charitable and -Christian a frame as any rejected suitor could desire. - -He entered the drawing-room. Aunt Nesbit had ordered candles, and was -sitting up with her gloves on, alone. What had transpired during his -walk, he did not know; but we will take our readers into confidence. - -Nina returned to the house with the same decided air with which she went -out, and awakened Mr. Clayton from a reverie with a brisk little tap of -her fan on his shoulder. - -"Come up here with me," she said, "and look out of the library window, -and see this moonlight." - -And up she went, over the old oaken staircase, stopping on each landing; -and, beckoning to Clayton, with a whimsically authoritative gesture, -threw open the door of a large, black-wainscoted room, and ushered him -in. The room lay just above the one where they had been sitting, and, -like that, opened on to the veranda by long-sashed windows, through -which, at the present moment, a flood of moonlight was pouring. A large, -mahogany writing-table, covered with papers, stood in the middle of the -room, and the moon shone in so brightly that the pattern of the bronze -inkstand, and the color of the wafers and sealing-wax, were plainly -revealed. The window commanded a splendid view of the river over the -distant tree-tops, as it lay shimmering and glittering in the moonlight. - -"Isn't that a beautiful sight?" said Nina, in a hurried voice. - -"Very beautiful!" said Clayton, sitting down in the large lounging-chair -before the window, and looking out with the abstracted air which was -habitual with him. - -After a moment's thought, Nina added, with a sudden effort,-- - -"But, after all, that was not what I wanted to speak to you about. I -wanted to see you somewhere, and say a few words which it seems to me it -is due to you that I should say. I got your last letter, and I'm sure I -am very much obliged to your sister for all the kind things she says; -but I think you must have been astonished at what you have seen since -you have been here." - -"Astonished at what?" said Clayton, quietly. - -"At Mr. Carson's manners towards me." - -"I have not been astonished at all," replied Clayton, quietly. - -"I think, at all events," said Nina, "I think it is no more than -honorable that I should tell you exactly how things have stood. Mr. -Carson has thought that he had a right to me and mine; and I was so -foolish as to give him reason to think so. The fact is, that I have been -making a game of life, and saying and doing anything and everything that -came into my head, just for frolic. It don't seem to me that there has -been anything serious or real about me, until very lately. Somehow, my -acquaintance with you has made things seem more real to me than they -ever did before; and it seems to me now perfectly incredible, the way we -girls used to play and trifle with everything in the world. Just for -sport, I was engaged to that man; just for sport, too, I have been -engaged to another one." - -"And," said Clayton, breaking the silence, "just for sport, have you -been engaged to me?" - -"No," said Nina, after a few moments' silence, "not in sport, certainly; -but, yet, not enough in earnest. I think I am about half waked up. I -don't know myself. I don't know where or what I am, and I want to go -back into that thoughtless dream. I do really think it's too hard to -take up the responsibility of living in good earnest. Now, it seems to -me just this,--that I cannot be bound to anybody. I want to be free. I -have positively broken all connection with Mr. Carson; I have broken -with another one, and I wish"-- - -"To break with me?" said Clayton. - -"I don't really know as I can say what I do wish. It is a very different -thing from any of the others, but there's a feeling of dread, and -responsibility, and constraint, about it; and, though I think I should -feel very lonesome now without you, and though I like to get your -letters, yet it seems to me that I cannot be engaged,--that is a most -dreadful feeling to me." - -"My dear friend," said Clayton, "if that is all, make yourself easy. -There's no occasion for our being engaged. If you can enjoy being with -me and writing to me, why, do it in the freest way, and to-morrow shall -take care for the things of itself. You shall say what you please, do -what you please, write when you please, and not write when you please, -and have as many or as few letters as you like. There can be no true -love without liberty." - -"Oh, I'm sure I'm much obliged to you!" said Nina, with a sigh of -relief. "And, now, do you know, I like your sister's postscript very -much; but I can't tell what it is in it, for the language is as kind as -can be, that would give me the impression that she is one of those very -proper kind of people, that would be dreadfully shocked if she knew of -all my goings on in New York." - -Clayton could hardly help laughing at the instinctive sagacity of this -remark. - -"I'm sure I don't know," said he, "where you could have seen that,--in -so short a postscript, too." - -"Do you know, I never take anybody's handwriting into my hand, that I -don't feel an idea of them come over me, just as you have when you see -people? And that idea came over me when I read your sister's letter." - -"Well, Nina, to tell you the truth, sister Anne is a little bit -conventional--a little set in her ways; but, after all, a large-hearted, -warm-hearted woman. You would like each other, I know." - -"I don't know about that," said Nina. "I am very apt to shock proper -people. Somehow or other, they have a faculty of making me contrary." - -"Well, but, you see, Anne isn't merely a conventional person; there's -only the slightest crust of conventionality, and a real warm heart under -it." - -"Whereas," said Nina, "most conventional people are like a shallow -river, frozen to the bottom. But, now, really, I should like very much -to have your sister come and visit us, if I could think that she would -come as any other friend; but, you know, it isn't very agreeable to have -anybody come to look one over to see if one will do." - -Clayton laughed at the naïve, undisguised frankness of this speech. - -"You see," said Nina, "though I'm nothing but an ignorant school-girl, -I'm as proud as if I had everything to be proud of. Now, do you know, I -don't much like writing to your sister, because I don't think I write -very good letters! I never could sit still long enough to write." - -"Write exactly as you talk," said Clayton. "Say just what comes into -your head, just as you would talk it. I hope you will do that much, for -it will be very dull writing all on one side." - -"Well," said Nina, rising, with animation, "now, Mr. Edward Clayton, if -we have settled about this moonlight, we may as well go down into the -parlor, where Aunt Nesbit and Mr. Carson are _tête-à-tête_." - -"Poor Carson!" said Clayton. - -"Oh, don't pity him! Good soul! he's a man that one night's rest would -bring round from anything in creation. He's so thoroughly good-natured! -Besides, I shall like him better, now. He did not use to seem to me so -intrusive and disagreeable. We girls used to like him very well, he was -such a comfortable, easy-tempered, agreeable creature, always brisk and -in spirits, and knowing everything that went on. But he is one of those -men that I think would be really insufferable, if anything serious were -the matter with me. Now, you heard how he talked coming from that -funeral! Do you know, that if he had been coming from _my_ funeral, it -would have been just so?" - -"Oh, no, not quite so bad," said Clayton. - -"Indeed he is," said Nina. "That man! why, he just puts me in mind of -one of these brisk blue-flies, whirring and whisking about, marching -over pages of books, and alighting on all sorts of things. When he puts -on that grave look, and begins to talk about serious things, he actually -looks to me just as a fly does when he stands brushing his wings on a -Bible! But, come, let's go down to the good soul." - -Down they went, and Nina seemed like a person enfranchised. Never had -she seemed more universally gracious. She was chatty and conversable -with Carson, and sang over for him all her old opera-songs, with the -better grace that she saw that Clayton was listening intently. - -As they were sitting and conversing together, the sound of a horse's -heels was heard coming up the avenue. - -"Who can that be, this time of night?" said Nina, springing to the door, -and looking out. - -She saw Harry hastening in advance to meet her, and ran down the veranda -steps to speak to him. - -"Harry, who is coming?" - -"Miss Nina, it's Master Tom," said Harry, in a low voice. - -"Tom! Oh, mercy!" said Nina, in a voice of apprehension. "What sent him -here, now?" - -"What sends him anywhere?" said Harry. - -Nina reascended the steps, and stood looking apprehensively towards the -horseman, who approached every moment nearer. Harry came up on the -veranda, and stood a little behind her. In a few moments the horse was -up before the steps. - -"Hallo, there!" said the rider. "Come, take my horse, you rascal!" - -Harry remained perfectly still, put his arms by his side, and stood with -a frowning expression on his forehead. - -"Don't you hear?" said the horseman, throwing himself off, with an oath. -"Come here, boy, and take my horse!" - -"For pity's sake," said Nina, turning and looking in Harry's face, -"don't have a scene here! Do take his horse, quick! _Anything_ to keep -him quiet!" - -With a sudden start, Harry went down the steps, and took the bridle from -the hand of the newly-arrived in silence. - -The horseman sprang up the steps. - -"Hallo, Nin, is this you?" And Nina felt herself roughly seized in the -arms of a shaggy great-coat, and kissed by lips smelling of brandy and -tobacco. She faintly said, as she disengaged herself,-- - -"Tom, is it you?" - -"Yes, to be sure! Who did you think it was? Devilish glad to see me, -an't you? Suppose you was in hopes I wouldn't come!" - -"Hush, Tom, do! I _am_ glad to see you. There are gentlemen in there; -don't speak so loud!" - -"Some of your beaux, hey? Well, I am as good a fellow as any of 'em! -Free country, I hope! No, I an't going to whisper, for any of them. So -now, Nin-- If there isn't old Starchy, to be sure!" said he, as Aunt -Nesbit came to the door. "Hallo, old girl, how are you?" - -"Thomas!" said Mrs. Nesbit, softly, "Thomas!" - -"None of your Thomasing me, you old pussy-cat! Don't you be telling me, -neither, to hush! I won't hush, neither! I know what I am about, I -guess! It's my house, as much as it is Nin's, and I'm going to do as I -have a mind to here! I an't going to have my mouth shut on account of -her beaux! So, clear out, I tell you, and let me come in!" and Aunt -Nesbit gave back. He pushed his way into the apartment. - -He was a young man, about twenty-five years old, who evidently had once -possessed advantages of face and figure; but every outline in the face -was bloated and rendered unmeaning by habits of constant intemperance. -His dark eyes had that muddy and troubled expression which in a young -man too surely indicates the habitual consciousness of inward impurity. -His broad, high forehead was flushed and pimpled, his lips swollen and -tumid, and his whole air and manner gave painful evidence that he was at -present too far under the influence of stimulus justly to apprehend what -he was about. - -Nina followed him, and Clayton was absolutely shocked at the ghastly -paleness of her face. She made an uncertain motion towards him, as if -she would have gone to him for protection. Clayton rose; Carson, also; -and all stood for a moment in silent embarrassment. - -"Well, this is a pretty business, to be sure! Nina," said he, turning -to her, with a tremendous oath, "why don't you introduce me? Pretty way -to meet a brother you haven't seen for three or four years! You act as -if you were ashamed of me! Confound it all! introduce me, I say!" - -"Tom, don't speak so!" said Nina, laying her hand on his arm, in a -soothing tone. "This gentleman is Mr. Clayton; and, Mr. Clayton," she -said, lifting her eyes to him, and speaking in a trembling voice, "this -is my brother." - -Mr. Clayton offered his hand, with the ordinary expressions of civility. - -"Mr. Carson," said Nina, "my brother." - -There was something inexpressibly touching and affecting in the manner -in which this was said. One other person noticed it. Harry, who had -given the horse to a servant, stood leaning against the doorway, looking -on. A fiery gleam, like that of a steel blade, seemed to shoot from his -blue eyes; and each time that Nina said "my brother," he drew in his -breath, as one who seeks to restrain himself in some violent inward -emotion. - -"I suppose you don't any of you want to see me much," said the -new-comer, taking a chair, and sitting down doggedly in the centre of -the group, with his hat on his head. - -"Well, I have as good a right as anybody to be here!" he continued, -spitting a quid of tobacco at Aunt Nesbit's feet. - -"For my part, I think relations ought to have natural affection, and be -glad to see one another. Well, now, you can see, gentlemen, with your -own eyes, just how it is here! There's my sister, there. You better -believe me, she hasn't seen me for three years! Instead of appearing -glad, or anything, there she sits, all curled up in a corner! Won't come -near me, more than if I had the plague! Come here, now, you little kit, -and sit in my lap!" - -He made a movement to pull Nina towards him, which she resisted with an -air of terror, looking at her aunt, who, more terrified still, sat with -her feet drawn up on the sofa, as if he had been a mad dog. There was -reason enough for the terror which seemed to possess them both. Both had -too vivid recollections of furious domestic hurricanes that had swept -over the family when Tom Gordon came home. Nina remembered the storms -of oaths and curses that had terrified her when a child; the times that -she had seen her father looking like death, leaning his head on his -hand, and sighing as only those sigh who have an only son worse than -dead. - -It is no wonder, therefore, that Nina, generally courageous and fearless -as she was, should have become fearful and embarrassed at his sudden -return. - -"Tom," she said, softly, coming up to him, "you haven't been to supper. -Hadn't you better come out?" - -"No you don't!" said he, catching her round the waist, and drawing her -on his knee. "You won't get me out of the room, now! I know what I am -about! Tell me," continued he, still holding her on his knee, "which of -them is it, Nin?--which is the favored one?" - -Clayton rose and went out on the veranda, and Mr. Carson asked Harry to -show him into his room. - -"Hallo! shelling out there, are they? Well, Nin, to tell the truth, I am -deuced hungry. For my part, I don't see what the thunder keeps my Jim -out so long. I sent him across to the post-office. He ought to have been -back certainly as soon as I was. Oh, here he comes! Hallo! you dog, -there!" said he, going to the door, where a very black negro was -dismounting. "Any letters?" - -"No, mas'r. I spect de mails have gin up. Der an't been no letters dere, -for no one, for a month. It is some 'quatic disorganization of dese yer -creeks, I s'pose. So de letter-bags goes anywhere 'cept der right -place." - -"Confound it all! I say, you Nin," turning round, "why don't you offer a -fellow some supper? Coming home, here, in my own father's house, -everybody acts as if they were scared to death! No supper!" - -"Why, Tom, I've been asking you, these three or four times." - -"Bless us!" said Jim, whispering to Harry. "De mischief is, he an't more -than half-primed! Tell her to give him a little more brandy, and after a -little we will get him into bed as easy as can be!" - -And the event proved so; for, on sitting down to supper, Tom Gordon -passed regularly through all the stages of drunkenness; became as -outrageously affectionate as he had been before surly, kissed Nina and -Aunt Nesbit, cried over his sins and confessed his iniquities, laughed -and cried feebly, till at last he sank in his chair asleep. - -"Dar, he is done for, now!" said Jim, who had been watching the gradual -process. "Now, just you and I, let's tote him off," said he to Harry. - -Nina, on her part, retired to a troubled pillow. She foresaw nothing -before her but mortification and embarrassment, and realized more than -ever the peculiar loneliness of her situation. - -For all purposes of consultation and aid, Aunt Nesbit was nobody in her -esteem, and Nina was always excited and vexed by every new attempt that -she made to confide in her. - -"Now, to-morrow," she said to herself, as she lay down, "no one knows -what will turn up. He will go round as usual, interfering with -everything--threatening and frightening my servants, and getting up some -difficulty with Harry. Dear me! it seems to me life is coming over me -hard enough, and all at once, too!" - -As Nina said this, she saw some one standing by her bed. It was Milly, -who stooped tenderly over her, smoothing and arranging the bed-clothes -in a motherly way. - -"Is that you, Milly? Oh, sit down here a minute! I am so troubled! It -seems to me I've had so much trouble to-day! Do you know Tom came home -to-night _so_ drunk! Oh, dear Milly, it was horrid! Do you know he took -me in his arms and kissed me; and, though he is my only brother, it's -perfectly dreadful to me! And I feel so worried, and so anxious!" - -"Yes, lamb, I knows all about dese yer things," said Milly. "I's seen -him many and many times." - -"The worst of it is," said Nina, "that I don't know what he will do -to-morrow--and before Mr. Clayton, too! It makes me feel so helpless, -ashamed, and mortifies me so!" - -"Yes, yes, chile," said Milly, gently stroking her head. - -"I stand so much alone!" said Nina. "Other girls have some friend or -relation to lean on; but I have nobody!" - -"Why don't you ask your _Father_ to help you?" said Milly to Nina, in a -gentle tone. - -"Ask _who_?" said Nina, lifting up her head from the pillow. - -"Your Father!" said Milly, with a voice of solemnity. "Don't you know -'Our Father who art in Heaven'? You haven't forgot your prayers, I hope, -honey." - -Nina looked at her with surprise. And Milly continued, "Now, if I was -you, lamb, I would tell my Father all about it. Why, chile, He loves -you! He wouldn't like nothing better, now, than to have you just come to -Him and tell Him all about your troubles, and He'll make 'em all -straight. That's the way I does, and I's found it come out right, many -and many a time." - -"Why, Milly, you wouldn't have me go to God about _my_ little foolish -affairs?" - -"Laws, chile, what should you go to Him 'bout, den? Sure dese are all de -'fairs you's got." - -"Well, but, Milly," said Nina, apprehensively, "you know I've been a -very bad girl about religion. It's years and years since I've said any -prayers. At school, the girls used to laugh at anybody who said prayers; -and so I never did. And, since I've neglected my heavenly Father when -things went well with me, it wouldn't be fair to call on Him now, just -because I've got into trouble. I don't think it would be honorable." - -"De Lord bless dis yer chile! Do hear her talk! Just as if de heavenly -Father didn't know all about you, and hadn't been a loving and watching -you de whole time! Why, chile, He knows what poor foolish creatures we -be; and He an't noways surprised, nor put out. Why, laws, don't you know -He's de good shepherd? And what you suppose dey has shepherds fur, 'cept -de sheeps are all de time running away, and getting into trouble? Why, -honey, _dat's what dey's fur_." - -"Well, but it is so long since I prayed, that I don't know anything how -to pray, Milly." - -"Bless you, chile, who wanted you to pray? I never prays myself. Used to -try, but I made such drefful poor work on it that I gin it up. Now, I -just goes and _talks_ to de Father, and tells Him anything and -everything; and I think He likes it a great deal better. Why, He is just -as willing to hear me now, as if I was the greatest lady in the land. -And he takes such an interest in all my poor 'fairs! Why, sometimes I go -to Him when my heart is _so_ heavy; and, when I tells Him all about it, -I comes away as light as a feather!" - -"Well, but, after I've forgotten Him so many years!" - -"Why, honey, now just look yere! I 'member once, when you was a little -weety thing, that you toddles down dem steps dere, and you slips away -from dem dat was watching you, and you toddles away off into de grove, -yonder, and dere you got picking flowers, and one thing and another, -mighty tickled and peart. You was down dere 'joying yourself, till, by -and by, your pa missed you; and den such another hunt as dere was! Dere -was a hurrying here, and a looking dere; and finally your pa run down in -de woods, and dere you'd got stuck fast in de mud! both your shoes off, -and well scratched with briers; and dere you stood a crying, and calling -your pa. I tell you he said dat ar was de sweetest music he ever heard -in his life. I 'member he picked you up, and came up to de house kissing -you. Now, dere 'twas, honey! You didn't call on your pa till you got -into trouble. And laws, laws, chile, dat's de way with us all. We never -does call on de Father till we gets into trouble; and it takes heaps and -heaps of trouble, sometimes, to bring us round. Some time, chile, I'll -tell you my sperence. I's got a sperence on this point. But, now, honey, -don't trouble yourself no more; but just ask your Father to take care of -your 'fairs, and turn over and go to sleep. And He'll do it. Now you -mind." - -So saying, Milly smoothed the pillow with anxious care, and, kissing -Nina on the forehead, departed. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -TOM GORDON. - - -"I say, Nina," said her brother, coming in, a day or two after, from a -survey he had been taking round the premises, "you want _me_ here to -manage this place. Everything going at sixes and sevens; and that nigger -of a Harry riding round with his boots shining. That fellow cheats you, -and feathers his own nest well. I know! These white niggers are all -deceitful." - -"Come, Tom, you know the estate is managed just as father left word to -have it; and Uncle John says that Harry is an excellent manager. I'm -sure nobody could have been more faithful to me; and I am very well -satisfied." - -"Yes, I dare say. All left to you and the executors, as you call them; -as if _I_ were not the natural guardian of my sister! Then I come here -to put up with that fellow's impudence!" - -"Whose?--Harry's? He is never impudent. He is always gentlemanly. -Everybody remarks it." - -"Gentlemanly! There it is, Nin! What a fool you are to encourage the use -of that word in connection with any of your niggers! Gentleman, -forsooth! And while he plays gentleman, who takes care? I tell you what, -you'll find one of these days how things are going on. But that's just -the way! You never would listen to me, or pay the least attention to my -advice." - -"Oh, Tom, don't talk about that--don't! I never interfere about your -affairs. Please leave me the right to manage mine in my own way." - -"And who is this Clayton that's hanging about here? Are you going to -have him, or he you--hey?" - -"I don't know," said Nina. - -"Because _I_, for one, don't like him; and I shan't give my consent to -let him have you. That other one is worth twice as much. He has one of -the largest properties in New York. Joe Snider has told me about him. -You shall have him." - -"I shall _not_ have him, say what you please; and I _shall_ have Mr. -Clayton, if I choose!" said Nina, with a heightened color. "You have no -right to dictate to me of my own affairs; and I shan't submit to it, I -tell you frankly." - -"Highty-tighty! We are coming up, to be sure!" said Tom. - -"Moreover," said Nina, "I wish you to let everything on this place -entirely alone; and remember that my servants are not your servants, and -that you have no control over them whatever." - -"Well, we will see how you'll help yourself! I am not going to go -skulking about on my father's own place as if I had no right or title -there; and if your niggers don't look sharp, they'll find out whether I -am the master here or not, especially that Harry. If the dog dare so -much as to lift his fingers to countermand any one of my orders, I'd put -a bullet through his head as soon as I would through a buck's. I give -you warning!" - -"Oh, Tom, pray don't talk so!" said Nina, who really began to be -alarmed. "What do you want to make me such trouble for?" - -The conversation was here suspended by the entrance of Milly. - -"If you please, Miss Nina, come and show me which of your muslins you -wish to be done up, as I's starching for Miss Loo." - -Glad of an opportunity to turn the conversation, Nina ran up to her -room, whither she was followed by Milly, who shut the door, and spoke to -her in mysterious tones. - -"Miss Nina, can't you make some errand to get Harry off the place for -two or three days, while Mas'r Tom's round?" - -"But what right," said Nina, with heightened color, "has he to dictate -to my servants, or me? or to interfere with any of our arrangements -here?" - -"Oh, dere's no use talking about _rights_, honey. We must all do jest -what we _ken_. Don't make much odds whether our rights is one way or -t'other. You see, chile, it's just here. Harry's your right hand. But -you see he an't learnt to _bend_ 'fore the wind, like the rest of us. He -is spirity; he is just as full now as a powder-box; and Mas'r Tom is -bent on aggravating him. And, laws, chile, dere may be bloody work--dere -may so!" - -"Why, do you think he'd _dare_"-- - -"Chile, don't talk to me! Dare!--yes; sure 'nough he will dare! Besides, -dere's fifty ways young gentlemen may take to aggravate and provoke. -And, when flesh and blood can't bear it no longer, if Harry raises his -hand, why, den shoot him down! Nothing said--nothing done. You can't -help yourself. You won't want to have a lawsuit with your own brother; -and, if you did, 'twouldn't bring Harry to life! Laws, chile, ef I could -tell you what I've seen--you don't know nothing 'bout it. Now, I tell -you, get up some message to your uncle's plantation; send him off for -anything or nothing; only have him gone! And then speak your brother -fair, and then may be he will go off. But don't you quarrel! don't you -cross him, come what may! Dere an't a soul on the place that can bar de -sight on him. But, then, you see the rest dey _all bends_! But, chile, -you must be quick about it! Let me go right off and find him. Just you -come in the little back room, and I'll call him in." - -Pale and trembling, Nina descended into the room; and, in a few moments -after, Milly appeared, followed by Harry. - -"Harry!" said Nina, in a trembling voice, "I want you to take your horse -and go over to Uncle John's plantation, and carry a note for me." - -Harry stood with his arms folded, and his eyes fixed upon the ground, -and Nina continued,-- - -"And, Harry, I think you had better make some business or errand to keep -you away two or three days, or a week." - -"Miss Nina," said Harry, "the affairs of the place are very pressing -now, and need overlooking. A few days' neglect now may produce a great -loss, and then it will be said that I neglected my business to idle and -ride round the country." - -"Well, but if I send you, I take the responsibility, and I'll bear the -loss. The fact is, Harry, I'm afraid that you won't have patience to be -here, now Tom is at home. In fact, Harry, I'm afraid for your life! And -now, if you have any regard for me, make the best arrangement with the -work you can, and be off. I'll tell him that I sent you on business of -my own, and I am going to write a letter for you to carry. It's the -only safe way. He has so many ways in which he can provoke and insult -you, that, at last, you may say or do something that will give him -occasion against you; and I think he is determined to drive you to -this." - -"Isn't this provoking, now? isn't this outrageous!" said Harry, between -his teeth, looking down, "that everything must be left, and all because -I haven't the right to stand up like a man, and protect you and yours!" - -"It is a pity! it is a shame!" said Nina. "But, Harry, don't stop to -think upon it; do go!" She laid her hand softly on his. "For my sake, -now, be good--be good!" - -The room where they were standing had long windows, which opened, like -those of the parlor, on the veranda, and commanded a view of a -gravel-walk bordered with shrubbery. As Harry stood, hesitating, he -started at seeing Lisette come tripping up the walk, balancing on her -head a basket of newly-ironed muslins and linens. Her trim little figure -was displayed in a close-fitting gown of blue, a snowy handkerchief -crossed upon her bust, and one rounded arm raised to steady the basket -upon her head. She came tripping forward, with her usual airy motion, -humming a portion of a song; and attracted, at the same moment, the -attention of Tom Gordon and of her husband. - -"'Pon my word, if that isn't the prettiest concern!" said Tom, as he -started up and ran down the walk to meet her. - -"Good-morning, my pretty girl!" he said. - -"Good-morning, sir," returned Lisette, in her usual tone of gay -cheerfulness. - -"Pray, who do you belong to, my pretty little puss! I think I've never -seen you on this place." - -"Please, sir, I'm Harry's wife." - -"Indeed! you are, hey? Devilish good taste he has!" said he, laying his -hand familiarly on her shoulder. - -The shoulder was pulled away, and Lisette moved rapidly on to the other -side of the path, with an air of vexation which made her look rather -prettier. - -"What, my dear, don't you know that I am your husband's young master? -Come, come!" he said, following her, and endeavoring to take hold of her -arm. - -"Please let me alone!" said Lisette, coloring, and in a petted, vexed -tone. - -"Let you alone? No, that I shan't, not while you ask it in such a pretty -way as that!" And again the hand was laid upon her shoulder. - -It must be understood that Harry had witnessed so far, in pantomime, -this scene. He had stood with compressed lips, and eyes slowly dilating, -looking at it. Nina, who was standing with her back to the window, -wondered at the expression of his countenance. - -"Look there, Miss Nina!" he said. "Do you see my wife and your brother?" - -Nina turned, and in an instant the color mounted to her cheeks; her -little form seemed to dilate, and her eyes flashed fire; and before -Harry could see what she was doing, she was down in the gravel-walk, and -had taken Lisette's hand. - -"Tom Gordon," she said, "I'm ashamed of you! Hush! hush!" she continued, -fixing her eyes on him, and stamping her foot. "_Dare_ to come to my -place, and take such liberties here! You shall not be allowed to while -_I_ am mistress; and I _am_ mistress! _Dare_ to lay a finger on this -girl while she is here under my protection! Come, Lisette!" And she -seized the trembling girl by the hand, and drew her along towards the -house. - -Tom Gordon was so utterly confused at this sudden burst of passion in -his sister, that he let them go off without opposition. In a few moments -he looked after her, and gave a long, low whistle. - -"Ah! Pretty well up for her! But she'll find it's easier said than done, -I fancy!" And he sauntered up to the veranda, where Harry stood with his -arms folded, and the veins in his forehead swelling with repressed -emotion. - -"Go in, Lisette," said Nina; "take the things into my room, and I'll -come to you." - -"'Pon my word, Harry," said Tom, coming up, and addressing Harry in the -most insulting tone, "we are all under the greatest obligations to you -for bringing such a pretty little fancy article here!" - -"My wife does not belong to this place," said Harry, forcing himself to -speak calmly. "She belongs to a Mrs. Le Clere, who has come into -Belleville plantation." - -"Ah! thank you for the information! I may take a fancy to buy her, and -I'd like to know who she belongs to. I've been wanting a pretty little -concern of that sort. She's a good housekeeper, isn't she, Harry? Does -up shirts well? What do you suppose she could be got for? I must go and -see her mistress." - -During this cruel harangue Harry's hands twitched and quivered, and he -started every now and then, looking first at Nina, and then at his -tormentor. He turned deadly pale; even his lips were of ashy whiteness; -and, with his arms still folded, and making no reply, he fixed his large -blue eyes upon Tom, and, as it sometimes happened in moments of -excitement and elevation, there appeared on the rigid lines of his face, -at that moment, so strong a resemblance to Colonel Gordon, that Nina -noticed and was startled by it. Tom Gordon noticed it also. It added -fuel to the bitterness of his wrath; and there glared from his eyes a -malignancy of hatred that was perfectly appalling. The two brothers -seemed like thunder-clouds opposing each other, and ready to dart -lightning. Nina hastened to interfere. - -"Hurry, hurry, Harry! I want that message carried. Do, pray, go -directly!" - -"Let me see," said Tom, "I must call Jim, and have my horse. Which is -the way to that Belleville plantation? I think I'll ride over." And he -turned and walked indolently down the steps. - -"For shame, Tom! you won't! you can't! How can you want to trouble me -so?" said Nina. - -He turned and looked upon her with an evil smile, turned again, and was -gone. - -"Harry, Harry, go quick! Don't you worry; there's no danger!" she added, -in a lower voice. "Madam Le Clere never would consent." - -"There's no knowing!" said Harry, "never any knowing! People act about -money as they do about nothing else." - -"Then--then I'll send and buy her myself!" said Nina. - -"You don't know how our affairs stand, Miss Nina," said Harry hurriedly. -"The money couldn't be raised now for it, especially if I have to go off -this week. It will make a great difference, my being here or not being -here; and very likely Master Tom may have a thousand dollars to pay -down on the spot. I never knew him to want money when his will was up. -Great God! haven't I borne this yoke long enough?" - -"Well, Harry," said Nina, "I'll sell everything I've got--my -jewels--everything. I'll mortgage the plantation, before Tom Gordon -shall do this thing! I'm not _quite_ so selfish as I've always seemed to -be. I know you've made the sacrifice of body and soul to my interest; -and I've always taken it because I loved my ease, and was a spoiled -child. But, after all, I know I've as much energy as Tom has, when I am -roused, and I'll go over this very morning and make an offer for her. -Only you be off. You can't stand such provocation as you get here; and -if you yield, as any man will do, at last, then everything and everybody -will go against you, and I can't protect you. Trust to _me_. I'm not so -much of a child as I have seemed to be! You'll find I can act for -myself, and you too! There comes Mr. Clayton through the -shrubbery--that's right! Order two horses round to the door immediately, -and we'll go over there this morning." - -Nina gave her orders with a dignity as if she had been a princess, and -in all his agitation Harry could not help marvelling at the sudden air -of womanliness which had come over her. - -"I could serve _you_," he said, in a low voice, "to the last drop of my -blood! But," he added, in a tone which made Nina tremble, "I hate -everybody else! I hate your country! I hate your laws!" - -"Harry," said Nina, "you do wrong--you forget yourself!" - -"Oh, I do wrong, do I? We are the people that are _never_ to do wrong! -People may stick pins in us, and stick knives in us, wipe their shoes on -us, spit in our face--_we_ must be amiable! we must be models of -Christian patience! I tell you, your father should rather have put me -into quarters and made me work like a field-negro, than to have given me -the education he did, and leave me under the foot of every white man -that dares tread on me!" - -Nina remembered to have seen her father in transports of passion, and -was again shocked and startled to see the resemblance between his face -and the convulsed face before her. - -"Harry," she said, in a pitying, half-admonitory tone, "do think what -you are saying! If you love me, be quiet!" - -"Love you? You have always held my heart in your hand. That has been -the clasp upon my chain. If it hadn't been for you, I should have fought -my way to the north before now, or I would have found a grave on the -road!" - -"Well, Harry," said Nina, after a moment's thought, "my love shall not -be a clasp upon _any_ chain; for, as there is a God in heaven, I will -set you free! I'll have a bill introduced at the very next legislature, -and I know what friend will see to it. So go, now, Harry, go!" - -Harry stood a moment, then suddenly raised the hand of his little -mistress to his lips, turned, and was gone. - -Clayton, who had been passing through the shrubbery, and who had -remarked that Nina was engaged in a very exciting conversation, had -drawn off, and stood waiting for her at the foot of the veranda steps. -As soon as Nina saw him, she reached out her hand frankly, saying,-- - -"Oh, there, Mr. Clayton, you are just the person! Wouldn't you like to -take a ride with me?" - -"Of course I should," said he. - -"Wait here a moment," said she, "till I get ready. The horses will be -here immediately." And, running up the steps, she passed quickly by him, -and went into the house. - -Clayton had felt himself in circumstances of considerable embarrassment -ever since the arrival of Tom Gordon, the evening before. He had -perceived that the young man had conceived an instinctive dislike of -himself, which he was at no particular pains to conceal; and he had -found it difficult to preserve the appearance of one who does not -notice. He did not wish to intrude upon Nina any embarrassing -recognition of her situation, even under the guise of sympathy and -assistance; and waited, therefore, till some word from her should -authorize him to speak. He held himself, therefore, ready to meet any -confidence which she might feel disposed to place in him; not doubting, -from the frankness of her nature, that she would soon find it impossible -not to speak of what was so deeply interesting to her. - -Nina soon reappeared, and, mounting their horses, they found themselves -riding through the same forest-road that led to the cottage of Tiff, -from which a divergent path went to the Belleville plantation. - -"I'm glad to see you alone this morning, for many reasons," said Nina; -"for I think I never needed a friend's help more. I'm mortified that you -should have seen what you did last night; but, since you have, I may as -well speak of it. The fact is, that my brother, though he is the only -one I have, never did treat me as if he loved me. I can't tell what the -reason is: whether he was jealous of my poor father's love for me, or -whether it was because I was a wilful, spoiled girl, and so gave him -reason to be set against me, or whatever the reason might be,--he never -has been kind to me long at a time. Perhaps he would be, if I would -always do exactly as he says; but I am made as positive and wilful as he -is. I never have been controlled, and I can't recognize the right which -he seems to assume to control me, and to dictate as to my own private -affairs. He was not left my guardian; and, though I do love him, I -shan't certainly take him as one. Now, you see, he has a bitter hatred, -and a most unreasonable one, towards my Harry; and I had no idea, when I -came home, in how many ways he had the power to annoy me. It does seem -as if an evil spirit possessed them both when they get together; they -seem as full of electricity as they can be, and I am every instant -afraid of an explosion. Unfortunately for Harry, he has had a much -superior education to the generality of his class and station, and the -situation of trust in which he has been placed has given him more the -feelings of a free man and a gentleman than is usual; for, except Tom, -there isn't one of our family circle that hasn't always treated him with -kindness, and even with deference; and I think this very thing angers -Tom the more, and makes him take every possible occasion of provoking -and vexing. I believe it is his intention to push Harry up to some -desperate action; and, when I see how frightfully they look at each -other, I tremble for the consequences. Harry has lately married a very -pretty wife, with whom he lives in a little cottage on the extremity of -the Belleville estate; and this morning Tom happened to spy her, and it -seemed to inspire him with a most ingenious plan to trouble Harry. He -threatened to come over and buy her of Madam Le Clere; and so, to quiet -Harry, I promised to come over here before him, and make an offer for -her." - -"Why," said Clayton, "do you think her mistress would sell her?" - -"I can't say," said Nina. "She is a person I am acquainted with only by -report. She is a New Orleans creole who has lately bought the place. -Lisette, I believe, hired her time of her. Lisette is an ingenious, -active creature, and contrives, by many little arts and accomplishments, -to pay a handsome sum, monthly, to her mistress. Whether the offer of a -large sum at once would tempt her to sell her, is more than I know until -it's tried. I should like to have Lisette, for Harry's sake." - -"And do you suppose your brother was really serious?" - -"I shouldn't be at all surprised if he were. But, serious or not -serious, I intend to make the matter sure." - -"If it be necessary to make an immediate payment," said Clayton, "I have -a sum of money which is lying idle in the bank, and it's but drawing a -check which will be honored at sight. I mention this, because the -ability to make an immediate payment may make the negotiation easier. -You ought to allow me the pleasure of joining you in a good work." - -"Thank you," said Nina, frankly. "It may not be necessary; but, if it -should be, I will take it in the same spirit in which it is offered." - -After a ride of about an hour, they arrived in the boundaries of -Belleville plantation. - -In former days, Nina had known this as the residence of an ancient rich -family, with whom her father was on visiting terms. She was therefore -uncomfortably struck with the air of poverty, waste, and decay, -everywhere conspicuous through the grounds. - -Nothing is more depressing and disheartening than the sight of a gradual -decay of what has been arranged and constructed with great care; and -when Nina saw the dilapidated gateway, the crushed and broken shrubbery, -the gaps in the fine avenue where the trees had been improvidently cut -down for fire-wood, she could not help a feeling of depression. - -"How different this place used to be when I came here as a child!" said -she. "This madam, whatever her name is, can't be much of a manager." - -As she said this, their horses came up the front of the house, in which -the same marks of slovenly neglect were apparent. Blinds were hanging -by one hinge; the door had sunk down into the rotten sill; the wooden -pillars that supported it were decayed at the bottom; and the twining -roses which once climbed upon them laid trailing, dishonored, upon the -ground. The veranda was littered with all kinds of rubbish,--rough -boxes, saddles, bridles, overcoats; and various nondescript articles -formed convenient hiding-places and retreats, in which a troop of negro -children and three or four dogs were playing at hide-and-go-seek with -great relish and noise. On the alighting of Nina and Clayton at the -door, they all left their sports, and arranged themselves in a grinning -row, to see the new-comers descend. Nothing seemed to be further from -the minds of the little troop than affording the slightest assistance in -the way of holding horses or answering questions. All they did was -alternately to look at each other and the travellers, and grin. - -A tattered servant-man, with half a straw hat on his head, was at length -raised by a call of Clayton, who took their horses--having first -distributed a salutation of kicks and cuffs among the children, asking -where their manners were that they didn't show the gentleman and lady -in. And Nina and Clayton were now marshalled by the whole seven of them -into an apartment on the right of the great hall. Everything in the room -appeared in an unfinished state. The curtains were half put up at the -windows, and part lying in a confused heap on the chairs. The damp, -mouldy paper, which hung loosely from the wall, had been torn away in -some places, as if to prepare for repapering; and certain half-opened -rolls of costly wall-paper lay on the table, on which appeared the -fragment of some ancient luncheon; to wit, plates, and pieces of bread -and cheese, dirty tumblers, and an empty bottle. It was difficult to -find a chair sufficiently free from dust to sit down on. Nina sent up -her card by one of the small fry, who, having got half-way up the -staircase, was suddenly taken with the desire to slide down the -banisters with it in his hand. Of course he dropped the card in the -operation; and the whole group precipitated themselves briskly on to it, -all in a heap, and fought, tooth and nail, for the honor of carrying it -up stairs. They were aroused, however, by the entrance of the man with -half a hat; who, on Nina's earnest suggestion, plunged into the troop, -which ran, chattering and screaming like so many crows, to different -parts of the hall, while he picked up the card, and, with infinite -good-will beaming on his shining black face, went up with it, leaving -Nina and Clayton waiting below. In a few moments he returned. - -"Missis will see de young lady up stairs." - -Nina tripped promptly after him, and left Clayton the sole tenant of the -parlor for an hour. At length she returned, skipping down the stairs, -and opening the door with great animation. - -"The thing is done!" she said. "The bill of sale will be signed as soon -as we can send it over." - -"I had better bring it over myself," said Clayton, "and make the -arrangement." - -"So be it!" said Nina. "But pray let us be delivered from this place! -Did you ever see such a desolate-looking house? I remember when I've -seen it a perfect paradise--full of the most agreeable people." - -"And pray what sort of a person did you find?" said Clayton, as they -were riding homeward. - -"Well," said Nina, "she's one of the tow-string order of women. Very -slack-twisted, too, I fancy--tall, snuffy, and sallow. Clothes looked -rough-dry, as if they had been pulled out of a bag. She had a -bright-colored Madras handkerchief tied round her head, and spoke French -a little more through her nose than French people usually do. Flourished -a yellow silk pocket-handkerchief. Poor soul! She said she had been sick -for a week with toothache, and kept awake all night! So, one mustn't be -critical! One comfort about these French people is, that they are always -'_ravis de vous voir_,' let what will turn up. The good soul was really -polite, and insisted on clearing all the things off from a dusty old -chair for me to sit down in. The room was as much at sixes and sevens as -the rest of the house. She apologized for the whole state of things by -saying that they could not get workmen out there to do anything for her; -and so everything is left in the second future tense; and the darkeys, I -imagine, have a general glorification in the chaos. She is one of the -indulgent sort, and I suspect she'll be eaten up by them like the -locusts. Poor thing! she is shockingly home-sick, and longing for -Louisiana, again. For, notwithstanding her snuffy appearance, and -yellow pocket-handkerchief, she really has a genuine taste for beauty; -and spoke most feelingly of the oleanders, crape myrtles, and cape -jessamines, of her native state." - -"Well, how did you introduce your business?" said Clayton, laughing at -this description. - -"Me?--Why, I flourished out the little French I have at command, and she -flourished her little English; and I think I rather prepossessed the -good soul, to begin with. Then I made a sentimental story about Lisette -and Harry's amours; because I know French people always have a taste for -the sentimental. The old thing was really quite affected, wiped her -little black eyes, pulled her hooked nose as a tribute to my eloquence, -called Lisette her '_enfant mignon_,' and gave me a little lecture on -the tender passion, which I am going to lay up for future use." - -"Indeed!" said Clayton. "I should be charmed to have you repeat it. -Can't you give us a synopsis?" - -"I don't know what synopsis means. But, if you want me to tell you what -she said, I shan't do it. Well, now, do you know I am in the best -spirits in the world, now that I've got this thing off my mind, and out -of that desolate house? Did you ever see such a direful place? What is -the reason, when we get down south, here, everything seems to be going -to destruction, so? I noticed it all the way down through Virginia. It -seems as if everything had stopped growing, and was going backwards. -Well, now, it's so different at the north! I went up, one vacation, into -New Hampshire. It's a dreadfully poor, barren country; nothing but stony -hills, and poor soil. And yet the people there seem to be so well off! -They live in such nice, tight, clean-looking white houses! Everything -around them looks so careful and comfortable; and yet their land isn't -half so good as ours, down here. Why, actually, some of those places -seem as if there were nothing but rock! And, then, they have winter -about nine months in the year, I do believe! But these Yankees turn -everything to account. If a man's field is covered with rock, he'll find -some way to sell it, and make money out of it; and if they freeze up all -winter, they sell the ice, and make money out of that. They just live by -selling their disadvantages!" - -"And we grow poor by wasting our advantages," said Clayton. - -"Do you know," said Nina, "people think it's a dreadful thing to be an -abolitionist? But, for my part, I've a great inclination to be one. -Perhaps because I have a contrary turn, and always have a little spite -against what everybody else believes. But, if you won't tell anybody, -I'll tell you--I don't believe in slavery!" - -"Nor I, either!" said Clayton. - -"You don't! Well, really, I thought I was saying something original. -Now, the other day, Aunt Nesbit's minister was at our house, and they -sat crooning together, as they always do; and, among other things, they -said, 'What a blessed institution it was to bring these poor Africans -over here to get them Christianized!' So, by way of saying something to -give them a start, I told them I thought they came nearer to making -heathen of us than we to making Christians of them." - -"That's very true," said Clayton. "There's no doubt that the kind of -society which is built up in this way constantly tends to run back -towards barbarism. It prevents general education of the whites, and -keeps the poorer classes down to the lowest point, while it enriches a -few." - -"Well, what do we have it for?" said Nina. "Why don't we blow it up, -right off?" - -"That's a question easier asked than answered. The laws against -emancipation are very stringent. But I think it is every owner's -business to contemplate this as a future resort, and to educate his -servants in reference to it. That is what I am trying to do on my -plantation." - -"Indeed!" said Nina, looking at him with a good deal of interest. "Well, -now, that reminds me of what I was going to say to you. Generally -speaking, my conscience don't trouble me much about my servants, because -I think they are doing about as well with me as they would be likely to -do anywhere else. But, now, there's Harry! He is well-educated, and I -know that he could do for himself, anywhere, better than he does here. I -have always had a kind of sense of this; but I've thought of it more -lately, and I'm going to try to have him set free at the next -legislature. And I shall want you to help me about all the -what-do-you-call-'ems." - -"Of course, I shall be quite at your service," said Clayton. - -"There used to be some people, when I was up at the north, who talked -as if all of us were no better than a pack of robbers and thieves. And, -of course, when I was there I was strong for our institutions, and would -not give them an inch of ground. It set me to thinking, though; and the -result of my thinking is, that we have no right to hold those to work -for us who clearly can do better. Now, there's Aunt Nesbit's -Milly--there's Harry and Lisette. Why, it's clear enough, if they can -support themselves and us too, they certainly can support themselves -alone. Lisette has paid eight dollars a month to her mistress, and -supported herself besides. I'm sure it's _we_ that are the helpless -ones!" - -"Well, do you think your Aunt Nesbit is going to follow your example?" - -"No! catch her at it! Aunt Nesbit is doubly fortified in her religion. -She is so satisfied with something or other about 'cursed be Canaan,' -that she'd let Milly earn ten dollars a month for her, all the year -round, and never trouble her head about taking every bit of it. Some -folks, you know, have a way of calling everything they want to do a -dispensation of providence! Now, Aunt Nesbit is one of 'em. She always -calls it a dispensation that the negroes were brought over here, and a -dispensation that we are the mistresses. Ah! Milly will not get free -while Aunt Nesbit is alive! And do you know, though it does not seem -very generous in me, yet I'm resigned to it, because Milly is such a -good soul, and such a comfort to me?--do you know she seems a great deal -more like a mother to me than Aunt Nesbit? Why, I really think, if Milly -had been educated as we are, she would have made a most splendid -woman--been a perfect Candace queen of Ethiopia. There's a vast deal -that is curious and interesting in some of these old Africans. I always -did love to be with them; some of them are so shrewd and original! But I -wonder, now, what Tom will think of my cutting him out so neatly? 'Twill -make him angry, I suppose." - -"Oh, perhaps, after all, he had no real intention of doing anything of -the kind," said Clayton. "He may have said it merely for bravado." - -"I should have thought so, if I hadn't known that he always had a grudge -against Harry." - -At this moment the galloping of a horse was heard in the woodland path -before them; and very soon Tom Gordon appeared in sight accompanied by -another man, on horseback, with whom he was in earnest conversation. -There was something about the face of this man which, at the first -glance, Nina felt to be very repulsive. He was low, thickset, and yet -lean; his features were thin and sharp; his hair and eyebrows bushy and -black, and a pair of glassy, pale-blue eyes formed a peculiar contrast -to their darkness. There was something in the expression of the eye -which struck Nina as hard and cold. Though the man was habited -externally as a gentleman, there was still about him an under-bred -appearance, which could be detected at the first glance, as the -coarseness of some woods will reveal themselves through every varnish. - -"Good-morrow, Nina," said her brother, drawing his horse up to meet -hers, and signing to his companion to arrest his, also. "Allow me to -present to you my friend, Mr. Jekyl. We are going out to visit the -Belleville plantation." - -"I wish you a pleasant ride!" said Nina. And, touching her horse, she -passed them in a moment. Looking back almost fiercely, a moment, she -turned and said to Clayton: - -"I hate that man!" - -"Who is it?" said Clayton. - -"I don't know!" said Nina. "I never saw him before. But I hate him! He -is a bad man! I'd as soon have a serpent come near me as that man!" - -"Well, the poor fellow's face isn't prepossessing," said Clayton. "But I -should not be prepared for such an anathema." - -"Tom's badness," continued Nina, speaking as if she were following out a -train of thought, without regarding her companion's remark, "is good -turned to bad. It's wine turned to vinegar. But this man don't even know -what good is!" - -"How can you be so positive about a person that you've only seen once!" -said Clayton. - -"Oh," said Nina, resuming her usual gay tones, "don't you know that -girls and dogs, and other inferior creatures, have the gift of seeing -what's in people? It doesn't belong to highly-cultivated folks like you, -but to us poor creatures, who have to trust to our instincts. So, -beware!" And, as she spoke, she turned to him with a fascinating air of -half-saucy defiance. - -"Well," said Clayton, "have you seen, then, what is in me?" - -"Yes, to be sure!" said Nina, with energy; "I knew what you were the -very first time I saw you. And that's the reason why"-- - -Clayton made an eager gesture, and his eye met hers with a sudden flash -of earnestness. She stopped, and blushed, and then laughed. - -"What, Nina?" - -"Oh, well, I always thought you were a grandfatherly body, and that you -wouldn't take advantage of 'us girls,' as some of the men do. And so -I've treated you with confidence, as you know. I had just the same -feeling that you could be trusted, as I have that that other fellow -cannot!" - -"Well," said Clayton, "that deduction suits me so well that I should be -sorry to undermine your faith. Nevertheless, I must say such a way of -judging isn't always safe. Instinct may be a greater matter than we -think; yet it isn't infallible, any more than our senses. We try the -testimony even of our eyesight by reason. It will deceive us, if we -don't. Much more we ought to try this more subtle kind of sight." - -"May be so," said Nina; "yet I don't think I shall like that man, after -all. But I'll give him a chance to alter my feeling, by treating him -civilly if Tom brings him back to dinner. That's the best I can do." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -AUNT NESBIT'S LOSS. - - -On entering the house, Nina was met at the door by Milly, with a -countenance of some anxiety. - -"Miss Nina," she said, "your aunt has heard bad news this morning." - -"Bad news!" said Nina, quickly,--"what?" - -"Well, honey, ye see dere has been a lawyer here," said Milly, following -Nina as she was going up stairs; "and she has been shut up with him all -de mornin'; and when he come out I found her taking on quite dreadful! -And she says she has lost all her property." - -"Oh! is that all?" said Nina. "I didn't know what dreadful thing might -have happened. Why, Milly, this isn't so very bad. She hadn't much to -lose." - -"Oh, bless you, chile! nobody wants to lose all they got, much or -little!" - -"Yes; but," said Nina, "you know she can always live here with us; and -what little money she wants to fuss with, to buy new caps, and paregoric -for her cough, and all such little matters, we can give her, easily -enough." - -"Ah, Miss Nina, your heart is free enough; you'd give away both ends of -the rainbow, if you had 'em to give. But the trouble is, chile, you -_haven't got 'em_. Why, chile, dis yer great place, and so many mouths -opened to eat and eat, chile, I tell you it takes heaps to keep it a -going. And Harry, I tell you, finds it hard work to bring it even all -the year round, though he never says nothing to you about his -troubles,--wants you always to walk on flowers, with both hands full, -and never think where they come from. I tell you what, chile, we's boun' -to think for you a little; and I tell you what, I's jist a going to hire -out." - -"Why, Milly, how ridiculous!" - -"It an't ridiculous, now. Why, just look on it, Miss Nina. Here's Miss -Loo, dat's one; here's me, dat's two; here's Polly,--great grown -girl,--three; dere's Tomtit, four; all on us eating your bread, and not -bringing in a cent to you, 'cause all on us together an't done much more -than wait on Miss Loo. Why, you's got servants enough of your own to do -every turn that wants doing in dis yer house. I know, Miss Nina, young -ladies don't like to hear about dese things; but the fac' is, victuals -cost something, and dere must be some on us to bring in something. Now, -dat ar gentleman what talked with your aunt, he said he could find me a -right good place up dar to the town, and I was jest a going. Sally, she -is big enough now to do everything that I have been used to doing for -Miss Loo, and I am jest a going; besides, to tell you the truth, I think -Miss Loo has kind o' set her heart upon it. You know she is a weakly -kind of thing,--don't know how to do much 'cept sit in her chair and -groan. She has always been so used to having me make a way for her; and -when I told her about dis yer, she kind o' brightened up." - -"But, Milly, what shall I do? I can't spare you at all," said Nina. - -"Law bless _you_, chile! don't you suppose I's got eyes? I tell you, -Miss Nina, I looked that gen'leman over pretty well for you, and my -opinion is _he'll do_." - -"Oh, come, you hush!" said Nina. - -"You see, chile, it wouldn't be everybody that our people would be -willing to have come on to de place, here, but there an't one of 'em -that wouldn't go in for dis yar, now I tell you. Dere's Old Hundred, as -you calls him, told me 'twas just as good as a meeting to hear him -reading de prayers dat ar day at de funeral. Now, you see, I's seen -gen'lemen handsome, and rich, and right pleasant, too, dat de people -wouldn't want at all; 'cause why? dey has dere frolics and drinks, and -de money flies one way for dis ting and one way for dat, till by and by -it's all gone. Den comes de sheriff, and de people is all sold, some one -way and some another way. Now, Mr. Clayton, he an't none of dem." - -"But, Milly, all this may be very well; but if I couldn't love him?" - -"Law sakes, Miss Nina! You look me in the face and tell me dat ar? Why, -chile, it's plain enough to see through _you_. 'Tis so! The people's all -pretty sure, by this time. Sakes alive, we's used to looking out for the -weather; and we knows pretty well what's coming. And now, Miss Nina, you -go right along and give him a good word, 'cause you see, dear lamb, you -_need_ a good, husband to take care of you,--dat's what you want, chile. -Girls like you has a hard life being at the head of a place, especially -your brother being just what he is. Now, if you had a husband here, -Mas'r Tom 'ud be quiet, 'cause he knows he couldn't do nothing. But just -as long as you's alone he'll plague you. But, now, chile, it's time for -you to be getting ready for dinner." - -"Oh, but, do you know, Milly," said Nina, "I've something to tell you, -which I had liked to have forgotten! I have been out to the Belleville -plantation, and bought Harry's wife." - -"You has, Miss Nina! Why, de Lord bless _you_! Why, Harry was dreadful -worked, dis yer morning, 'bout what Mas'r Tom said. 'Peared like he was -most crazy." - -"Well," said Nina, "I've done it. I've got the receipt here." - -"Why, but, chile, where alive did you get all the money to pay right -sudden so?" - -"Mr. Clayton lent it to me," said Nina. - -"Mr. Clayton! Now, chile, didn't I tell you so? Do you suppose, now, -you'd a let him lend you dat ar money if you hadn't liked him? But, -come, chile, hurry! Dere's Mas'r Tom and dat other gen'leman coming -back, and you must be down to dinner." - -The company assembled at the dinner-table was not particularly -enlivening. Tom Gordon, who, in the course of his morning ride, had -discovered the march which his sister had stolen upon him, was more -sulky and irritable than usual, though too proud to make any allusion to -the subject. Nina was annoyed by the presence of Mr. Jekyl, whom her -brother insisted should remain to dinner. Aunt Nesbit was uncommonly -doleful, of course. Clayton, who, in mixed society, generally took the -part of a listener rather than a talker, said very little; and had it -not been for Carson, there's no saying whether any of the company could -have spoken. Every kind of creature has its uses, and there are times -when a lively, unthinking chatterbox is a perfect godsend. Those -unperceiving people, who never notice the embarrassment of others, and -who walk with the greatest facility into the gaps of conversation, -simply because they have no perception of any difficulty there, have -their hour; and Nina felt positively grateful to Mr. Carson for the -continuous and cheerful rattle which had so annoyed her the day before. -Carson drove a brisk talk with the lawyer about the value of property, -percentage, etc.; he sympathized with Aunt Nesbit on her last-caught -cold; rallied Tom on his preoccupation; complimented Nina on her -improved color from her ride; and seemed on such excellent terms both -with himself and everybody else, that the thing was really infectious. - -"What do you call your best investments, down here,--land, eh?" he said -to Mr. Jekyl. - -Mr. Jekyl shook his head. - -"Land deteriorates too fast. Besides, there's all the trouble and risk -of overseers, and all that. I've looked this thing over pretty well, and -I always invest in niggers." - -"Ah!" said Mr. Carson, "you do?" - -"Yes, sir, I invest in niggers; that's what I do; and I hire them out, -sir,--hire them out. Why, sir, if a man has a knowledge of human nature, -knows where to buy and when to buy, and watches his opportunity, he gets -a better percentage on his money that way than any other. Now, that was -what I was telling Mrs. Nesbit, this morning. Say, now, that you give -one thousand dollars for a man,--and I always buy the best sort, that's -economy,--well, and he gets--put it at the lowest figure--ten dollars a -month wages, and his living. Well, you see there, that gives you a -pretty handsome sum for your money. I have a good talent of buying. I -generally prefer mechanics. I have got now working for me three -bricklayers. I own two first-rate carpenters, and last month I bought a -perfect jewel of a blacksmith. He is an uncommonly ingenious man; a -fellow that will make, easy, his fifteen dollars a month; and he is the -more valuable because he has been religiously brought up. Why, some of -them, now, will cheat you if they can; but this fellow has been brought -up in a district where they have a missionary, and a great deal of -pains has been taken to form his religious principles. Now, this fellow -would no more think of touching a cent of his earnings than he would of -stealing right out of my pocket. I tell people about him, sometimes, -when I find them opposed to religious instruction. I tell them, 'See -there, now--you see how godliness is profitable to the life that now -is.' You know the Scriptures, Mrs. Nesbit?" - -"Yes," said Aunt Nesbit, "I always believed in religious education." - -"Confound it all!" said Tom, "I _don't_! I don't see the use of making a -set of hypocritical sneaks of them! I'd make niggers bring me my money; -but, hang it all, if he came snuffling to me, pretending 'twas his duty, -I'd choke him! They never think so,--they don't and they can't--and it's -all hypocrisy, this religious instruction, as you call it!" - -"No, it isn't," said the undiscouraged Mr. Jekyl, "not when you found it -on right principles. Take them early enough, and work them right, you'll -get it ground into them. Now, when they begun religious instruction, -there was a great prejudice against it in our part of the country. You -see they were afraid that the niggers would get _uppish_. Ah, but you -see the missionaries are pretty careful; they put it in strong in the -catechisms about the rights of the master. You see the instruction is -just grounded on this, that the master stands in God's place to them." - -"D--d bosh!" said Tom Gordon. - -Aunt Nesbit looked across the table as if she were going to faint. But -Mr. Jekyl's composure was not in the slightest degree interrupted. - -"I can tell you," he said, "that, in a business, practical view,--for I -am used to investments,--that, since the publishing of those catechisms, -and the missionaries' work among the niggers, the value of that kind of -property has risen ten per cent. They are better contented. They don't -run away, as they used to. Just that simple idea that their master -stands in God's place to them. Why, you see, it cuts its way." - -"I have a radical objection to all that kind of instruction," said -Clayton. - -Aunt Nesbit opened her eyes, as if she could hardly believe her hearing. - -"And pray what is your objection?" said Mr. Jekyl, with an unmoved -countenance. - -"My objection is that it is all a lie," said Clayton, in such a positive -tone that everybody looked at him with a start. - -Clayton was one of those silent men who are seldom roused to talk, but -who go with a rush when they are. Not seeming to notice the startled -looks of the company, he went on: "It's a worse lie, because it's told -to bewilder a simple, ignorant, confiding creature. I never could -conceive how a decent man could ever look another man in the face and -say such things. I remember reading, in one of the missionary reports, -that when this doctrine was first propounded in an assembly of negroes -somewhere, all the most intelligent of them got up and walked -deliberately out of the house; and I honor them for it." - -"Good for them!" said Tom Gordon. "I can keep my niggers down without -any such stuff as that!" - -"I have no doubt," said Clayton, "that these missionaries are -well-intending, good men, and that they actually think the only way to -get access to the negroes at all is to be very positive in what will -please the masters. But I think they fall into the same error that the -Jesuits did when they adulterated Christianity with idolatry in order to -get admission in Japan. A lie never works well in religion, nor in -morals." - -"That's what I believe," said Nina, warmly. - -"But, then, if you can't teach them this, what can you teach them?" said -Mr. Jekyl. - -"Confound it all!" said Tom Gordon, "teach them that you've _got the -power_!--teach them the weight of your fist! That's enough for them. I -am bad enough, I know; but I can't bear hypocrisy. I show a fellow my -pistol. I say to him, You see that, sir! I tell him, You do so and so, -and you shall have a good time with me. But, you do that, and I'll -thrash you within an inch of your life! That's my short method with -niggers, and poor whites, too. When one of these canting fellows comes -round to my plantation, let him see what he'll get, that's all!" - -Mr. Jekyl appeared properly shocked at this declaration. Aunt Nesbit -looked as if it was just what she had expected, and went on eating her -potato with a mournful air, as if nothing could surprise her. Nina -looked excessively annoyed, and turned a sort of appealing glance upon -Clayton. - -"For my part," said Clayton, "I base my religious instruction to my -people on the ground that every man and every woman must give an account -of themselves _to God alone_; and that God is to be obeyed first, and -before me." - -"Why," said Mr. Jekyl, "that would be destructive of all discipline. If -you are going to allow every fellow to judge for himself, among a parcel -of ignorant, selfish wretches, what the will of God is, one will think -it's one thing, another will think it's another; and there will be an -end of all order. It would be absolutely impossible to govern a place in -that way." - -"They must not be left an ignorant set," said Clayton. "They must be -taught to read the Scriptures for themselves, and be able to see that my -authority accords with it. If I command anything contrary to it, they -ought to oppose it!" - -"Ah! I should like to see a plantation managed in that way!" said Tom -Gordon, scornfully. - -"Please God, you shall see such an one, if you'll come to mine," said -Clayton, "where I should be very happy to see you, sir." - -The tone in which this was said was so frank and sincere, that Tom was -silenced, and could not help a rather sullen acknowledgment. - -"I think," said Mr. Jekyl, "that you'll find such a course, however well -it may work at first, will fail at last. You begin to let people think, -and they won't stop where you want them to; they'll go too far; it's -human nature. The more you give, the more you may give. You once get -your fellows to thinking, and asking all sorts of questions, and they -get discontented at once. I've seen that thing tried in one or two -instances, and it didn't turn out well. Fellows got restless and -discontented. The more was given to them, the more dissatisfied they -grew, till finally they put for the free states." - -"Very well," said Clayton; "if that's to be the result, they may all -'put' as soon as they can get ready. If my title to them won't bear an -intelligent investigation, I don't wish to keep them. But I never will -consent to keep them by making false statements to them in the name of -religion, and presuming to put myself as an object of obedience before -my Maker." - -"I think," said Mr. Carson, "Mr. Clayton shows an excellent -spirit--excellent spirit! On my word, I think so. I wish some of our -northern agitators, who make such a fuss on the the subject, could hear -him. I'm always disgusted with these abolitionists producing such an -unpleasantness between the north and the south, interrupting trade, and -friendship, and all that sort of thing." - -"He shows an excellent spirit," said Mr. Jekyl; "but I must think he is -mistaken if he thinks that he can bring up people in that way, under our -institutions, and not do them more harm than good. It's a notorious fact -that the worst insurrections have arisen from the reading of the Bible -by these ignorant fellows. That was the case with Nat Turner, in -Virginia. That was the case with Denmark Vesey, and his crew, in South -Carolina. I tell you, sir, it will never do, this turning out a set of -ignorant people to pasture in the Bible! That blessed book is a savor of -life unto life when it's used right; but it's a savor of death unto -death when ignorant people take hold of it. The proper way is this: -administer such portions only as these creatures are capable of -understanding. This admirable system of religious instruction keeps the -matter in our own hands, by allowing us to select for them such portions -of the word as are best fitted to keep them quiet, dutiful, and -obedient; and I venture to predict that whoever undertakes to manage a -plantation on any other system will soon find it getting out of his -hands." - -"So you are afraid to trust the Lord's word without holding the bridle!" -said Tom, with a sneer. "That's pretty well for you!" - -"_I_ am not!" said Clayton. "I'm willing to resign any rights to any one -that I am not able to defend in God's word--any that I cannot make -apparent to any man's cultivated reason. I scorn the idea that I must -dwarf a man's mind, and keep him ignorant and childish, in order to make -him believe any lie I choose to tell him about my rights over him! I -intend to have an educated, intelligent people, who shall submit to me -because they think it clearly for their best interests to do so; -because they shall feel that what I command is right in the sight of -God." - -"It's my opinion," said Tom, "that both these ways of managing are -humbugs. One way makes hypocrites, and the other makes rebels. The best -way of educating is, to show folks that they can't help themselves. All -the fussing and arguing in the world isn't worth one dose of certainty -on that point. Just let them know that there are no two ways about it, -and you'll have all still enough." - -From this point the conversation was pursued with considerable warmth, -till Nina and Aunt Nesbit rose and retired to the drawing-room. Perhaps -it did not materially discourage Clayton, in the position he had taken, -that Nina, with the frankness usual to her, expressed the most eager and -undisguised admiration of all that he said. - -"Didn't he talk beautifully? Wasn't it noble?" she said to Aunt Nesbit, -as she came in the drawing-room. "And that hateful Jekyl! isn't he -mean?" - -"Child!" said Aunt Nesbit, "I'm surprised to hear you speak so! Mr. -Jekyl is a very respectable lawyer, an elder in the church, and a very -pious man. He has given me some most excellent advice about my affairs; -and he is going to take Milly with him, and find her a good place. He's -been making some investigations, Nina, and he's going to talk to you -about them, after dinner. He's discovered that there's an estate in -Mississippi worth a hundred thousand dollars, that ought properly to -come to you!" - -"I don't believe a word of it!" said Nina. "Don't like the man!--think -he is hateful!--don't want to hear anything he has to say!--don't -believe in him!" - -"Nina, how often have I warned you against such sudden -prejudices--against such a good man, too!" - -"You won't make me believe he is good, not if he were elder in twenty -churches!" - -"Well, but, child, at any rate you must listen to what he has got to -say. Your brother will be very angry if you don't, and it's really very -important. At any rate, you ought not to offend Tom, when you can help -it." - -"That's true enough," said Nina; "and I'll hear, and try and behave as -well as I can. I hope the man will go, some time or other! I don't know -why, but his talk makes me feel worse than Tom's swearing! That's -certain." - -Aunt Nesbit looked at Nina as if she considered her in a most hopeless -condition. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -MR. JEKYL'S OPINIONS. - - -After the return of the gentlemen to the drawing-room, Nina, at the -request of Tom, followed him and Mr. Jekyl into the library. - -"Mr. Jekyl is going to make some statements to us, Nina, about our -property in Mississippi, which, if they turn out as he expects, will set -us up in the world," said Tom. - -Nina threw herself carelessly into the leather arm-chair by the window, -and looked out of it. - -"You see," said Mr. Jekyl, also seating himself, and pulling out the -stiff points of his collar, "having done law business for your father, -and known, in that way, a good deal about the family property, I have -naturally always felt a good deal of interest in it; and you remember -your father's sister, Mrs. Stewart, inherited, on the death of her -husband, a fine estate in Mississippi." - -"I remember," said Tom,--"well, go on." - -"Well, she died, and left it all to her son. Well, he, it seems, like -some other young men, lived in a very reprehensible union with a -handsome quadroon girl, who was his mother's maid; and she, being an -artful creature, I suppose, as a great many of them are, got such an -ascendency over him, that he took her up to Ohio, and married her, and -lived there with her some years, and had two children by her. Well, you -see, he had a deed of emancipation recorded for her in Mississippi, and -just taking her into Ohio, set her free by the laws of that state. Well, -you see, he thought he'd fixed it so that the thing couldn't be undone, -and she thought so too; and I understand she's a pretty shrewd -woman--has a considerable share of character, or else she wouldn't have -done just what she has; for, you see, he died about six months ago, and -left the plantation and all the property to her and her children, and -she has been so secure that she has actually gone and taken possession. -You see, she is so near white, you must know that there isn't one in -twenty would think what she was,--and the people round there, actually, -some of them, had forgotten all about it, and didn't know but what she -was a white woman from Ohio; and so, you see, the thing never would have -been looked into at all, if I hadn't happened to have been down there. -But, you see, she turned off an overseer that had managed the place, -because the people complained of him; and I happened to fall in with the -man, and he began telling me his story, and, after a little inquiry, I -found who these people were. Well, sir, I just went to one of the first -lawyers, for I suspected there was false play; and we looked over the -emancipation laws together, and we found out that, as the law stood, the -deed of emancipation was no more than so much waste paper. And so, you -see, she and her children are just as much slaves as any on her -plantation; and the whole property, which is worth a hundred thousand -dollars, belongs to your family. I rode out with him, and looked over -the place, and got introduced to her and her children, and looked them -over. Considered as property, I should call them a valuable lot. She is -past forty, but she don't look older than twenty-seven or twenty-eight, -I should say. She is a very good-looking woman, and then, I'm told, a -very capable woman. Well, her price in the market might range between -one thousand and fifteen hundred dollars. Smalley said he had seen no -better article sold for two thousand dollars; but, then, he said, they -had to give a false certificate as to the age,--and that I couldn't hear -of, for I never countenance anything like untruth. Then, the woman's -children: she has got two fine-looking children as I have ever -seen--almost white. The boy is about ten years old; the little girl, -about four. You may be sure I was pretty careful not to let on, because -I consider the woman and children are an important part of the property, -and, of course, nothing had better be said about it, lest she should be -off before we are ready to come down on them. Now, you see, you Gordons -are the proper owners of this whole property; there isn't the slightest -doubt in my mind that you ought to put in your claim immediately. The -act of emancipation was contrary to law, and, though the man meant well, -yet it amounted to a robbery of the heirs. I declare, it rather raised -my indignation to see that creature so easy in the possession of -property which of right belongs to you. Now, if I have only the consent -of the heirs, I can go on and commence operations immediately." - -Nina had been sitting regarding Mr. Jekyl with a fixed and determined -expression of countenance. When he had finished, she said to him,-- - -"Mr. Jekyl, I understand you are an elder in the church; is that true?" - -"Yes, Miss Gordon, I have that privilege," said Mr. Jekyl, his sharp, -business tone subsiding into a sigh. - -"Because," said Nina, "I am a wild young girl, and don't profess to know -much about religion; but I want you to tell me, as a Christian, if you -think it would be _right_ to take this woman and children, and her -property." - -"Why, certainly, my dear Miss Gordon; isn't it right that every one -should have his own property? I view things simply with the eye of the -law; and, in the eye of the law, that woman and her children are as much -your property as the shoe on your foot; there is no manner of doubt of -it." - -"I should think," said Nina, "that you might see with the eye of the -Gospel, sometimes! Do you think, Mr. Jekyl, that doing this is doing as -I should wish to be done by, if I were in the place of this woman?" - -"My dear Miss Gordon, young ladies of fine feeling, at your time of -life, are often confused on this subject by a wrong application of the -Scripture language. Suppose I were a robber, and had possession of your -property? Of course, I shouldn't wish to be made to give it up. But -would it follow that the golden rule obliged the lawful possessor not to -take it from me? This woman is your property; this estate is your -property, and she is holding it as unlawfully as a robber. Of course, -she won't want to give it up; but right is right, notwithstanding." - -Like many other young persons, Nina could _feel_ her way out of -sophistry much sooner than she could think it out; and she answered to -all this reasoning,-- - -"After all, I can't think it would be right." - -"Oh, confound the humbug!" said Tom; "who cares whether it is right or -not? The fact is, Nin, to speak plain sense to you, you and I both are -deuced hard up for money, and want all we can get; and what's the use of -being more religious than the very saints themselves at our time of day? -Mr. Jekyl is a pious man--one of the tallest kind! He thinks this is all -right, and why need we set ourselves all up? He has talked with Uncle -John, and he goes in for it. As for my part, I am free to own I don't -care whether it's right or not! I'll do it if I can. Might makes -right,--that's my doctrine!" - -"Why," said Mr. Jekyl, "I have examined the subject, and I haven't the -slightest doubt that slavery is a divinely-appointed institution, and -that the rights of the masters are sanctioned by God; so, however much I -may naturally feel for this woman, whose position is, I must say, an -unfortunate one, still it is my duty to see that the law is properly -administered in the case." - -"All I have to say, Mr. Jekyl," said Nina, "is just this: that I won't -have anything to do with this matter; for, if I can't prove it's wrong, -I shall always feel it is." - -"Nina, how ridiculous!" said Tom. - -"I have said my say," said Nina, as she rose and left the room. - -"Very natural,--fine feelings, but uninstructed," said Mr. Jekyl. - -"Certainly, we pious folks know a trick worth two of that, don't we?" -said Tom. "I say, Jekyl, this sister of mine is a pretty rapid little -case, I can tell you, as you saw by the way she circumvented us, this -morning. She is quite capable of upsetting the whole dish, unless we go -about it immediately. You see, her pet nigger, this Harry, is this -woman's brother; and if she gave him the word, he'd write at once, and -put her on the alarm. You and I had better start off to-morrow, before -this Harry comes back. I believe he is to be gone a few days. It's no -matter whether she consents to the suit or not. She don't need to know -anything about it." - -"Well," said Jekyl, "I advise you to go right on, and have the woman and -children secured. It's a perfectly fair, legal proceeding. There has -been an evident evasion of the law of the state, by means of which your -family are defrauded of an immense sum. At all events, it will be tried -in an open court of justice, and she will be allowed to appear by her -counsel. It's a perfectly plain, above-board proceeding; and, as the -young lady has shown such fine feelings, there's the best reason to -suppose that the fate of this woman would be as good in her hands as in -her own." - -Mr. Jekyl was not now talking to convince Tom Gordon, but himself; for, -spite of himself, Nina's questions had awakened in his mind a sufficient -degree of misgiving to make it necessary for him to pass in review the -arguments by which he generally satisfied himself. Mr. Jekyl was a -theologian, and a man of principle. His metaphysical talent, indeed, -made him a point of reference among his Christian brethren; and he spent -much of his leisure time in reading theological treatises. His favorite -subject of all was the nature of true virtue; and this, he had fixed in -his mind, consisted in a love of the greatest good. According to his -theology, right consisted in creating the greatest amount of happiness; -and every creature had rights to be happy in proportion to his capacity -of enjoyment or being. He whose capacity was ten pounds had a right to -place his own happiness before that of him who had five, because, in -that way, five pounds more of happiness would exist in the general -whole. He considered the right of the Creator to consist in the fact -that he had a greater amount of capacity than all creatures put -together, and, therefore, was bound to promote his own happiness before -all of them put together. He believed that the Creator made himself his -first object in all that He did; and, descending from Him, all creatures -were to follow the same rule, in proportion to their amount of being; -the greater capacity of happiness always taking precedence of the less. -Thus, Mr. Jekyl considered that the Creator brought into the world -yearly myriads of human beings with no other intention than to make them -everlastingly miserable; and that this was right, because his capacity -of enjoyment being greater than all theirs put together, He had a right -to gratify himself in this way. - -Mr. Jekyl's belief in slavery was founded on his theology. He assumed -that the white race had the largest amount of being; therefore, it had a -right to take precedence of the black. On this point he held long and -severe arguments with his partner, Mr. Israel McFogg, who, belonging to -a different school of theology, referred the whole matter to no natural -fitness, but to a divine decree, by which it pleased the Creator in the -time of Noah to pronounce a curse upon Canaan. The fact that the African -race did _not_ descend from Canaan was, it is true, a slight difficulty -in the chain of the argument; but theologians are daily in the habit of -surmounting much greater ones. Either way, whether by metaphysical -fitness or Divine decree, the two partners attained the same practical -result. - -Mr. Jekyl, though a coarse-grained man, had started from the hands of -nature no more hard-hearted or unfeeling than many others; but his mind, -having for years been immersed in the waters of law and theology, had -slowly petrified into such a steady consideration of the greatest -general good, that he was wholly inaccessible to any emotion of -particular humanity. The trembling, eager tone of pity, in which Nina -had spoken of the woman and children who were about to be made victims -of a legal process, had excited but a moment's pause. What -considerations of temporal loss and misery can shake the constancy of -the theologian who has accustomed himself to contemplate and discuss, as -a cool intellectual exercise, the eternal misery of generations?--who -worships a God that creates myriads only to glorify himself in their -eternal torments? - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -MILLY'S STORY. - - -Nina spent the evening in the drawing-room; and her brother, in the -animation of a new pursuit, forgetful of the difference of the morning, -exerted himself to be agreeable, and treated her with more consideration -and kindness than he had done any time since his arrival. He even made -some off-hand advances towards Clayton, which the latter received with -good-humor, and which went further than she supposed to raise the -spirits of Nina; and so, on the whole, she passed a more than usually -agreeable evening. On retiring to her room, she found Milly, who had -been for some time patiently waiting for her, having dispatched her -mistress to bed some time since. - -"Well, Miss Nina, I am going on my travels in de morning. Thought I must -have a little time to see you, lamb, 'fore I goes." - -"I can't bear to have you go, Milly! I don't like that man you are going -with." - -"I 'spects he's a nice man," said Milly. "Of course he'll look me out a -nice place, because he has always took good care of Miss Loo's affairs. -So you never trouble yourself 'bout me! I tell you, chile, I never gets -where I can't find de Lord; and when I finds Him, I gets along. 'De Lord -is my shepherd, I shall not want.'" - -"But you have never been used to living except in our family," said -Nina, "and, somehow, I feel afraid. If they don't treat you well, come -back Milly; will you?" - -"Laws, chile, I isn't much feared but what I'll get along well enough. -When people keep about dere business, doing de best dey ken, folks -doesn't often trouble dem. I never yet seed de folks I couldn't suit," -she added, with a glow of honest pride. "No, chile, it isn't for myself -I's fearing; it's just for you, chile. Chile, you don't know what it is -to live in dis yer world, and I wants you to get de Best Friend to go -with you. Why, dear lamb, you wants somebody to go to and open your -heart; somebody dat'll love you, and always stand by you; somebody -dat'll always lead you right, you know. You has more cares than such a -young thing ought for to have; great many looking to you, and 'pending -on you. Now, if your ma was alive, it would be different; but, just now, -I see how 'tis; dere'll be a hundred things you'll be thinking and -feeling, and nobody to say 'em to. And now, chile, you must learn to go -to de Lord. Why, chile, He loves you! Chile, He loves you _just as you -be_; if you only saw how much, it would melt your heart right down. I -told you I was going some time fur to tell you my sperience--how I first -found Jesus. Oh Lord, Lord! but it is along story." - -Nina, whose quick sympathies were touched by the earnestness of her old -friend, and still more aroused by the allusion to her mother, -answered,-- - -"Oh, yes, come, tell me about it!" And, drawing a low ottoman, she sat -down, and laid her head on the lap of her humble friend. - -"Well, well, you see, chile," said Milly, her large, dark eyes fixing -themselves on vacancy, and speaking in a slow and dreamy voice, "a -body's life, in dis yer world, is a mighty strange thing! You see, -chile, my mother--well, dey brought her from Africa; my father, too. -Heaps and heaps my mother has told me about dat ar. Dat ar was a mighty -fine country, where dey had gold in the rivers, and such great, big, -tall trees, with de strangest beautiful flowers on them you ever did -see! Laws, laws! well, dey brought my mother and my father into -Charleston, and dere Mr. Campbell,--dat was your ma's father, honey,--he -bought dem right out of de ship; but dey had five children, and dey was -all sold, and dey never knowed where dey went to. Father and mother -couldn't speak a word of English when dey come ashore; and she told me -often how she couldn't speak a word to nobody, to tell 'em how it hurt -her. - -"Laws, when I was a chile, I 'member how often, when de day's work was -done, she used to come out and sit and look up at de stars, and groan, -groan, and groan! I was a little thing, playing round; and I used to -come up to her, dancing, and saying,-- - -"'Mammy, what makes you groan so? what's de matter of you?' - -"'Matter enough, chile!' she used to say. 'I's a thinking of my poor -children. I likes to look at de stars, because dey sees de same stars -dat I do. 'Pears like we was in one room; but I don't know where dey is! -Dey don't know where I be!' - -"Den she'd say to me,-- - -"'Now, chile, you may be sold away from your mammy. Der's no knowing -what may happen to you, chile; but, if you gets into any trouble, as I -does, you mind, chile, you ask God to help you.' - -"'Who is God, mammy,' says I, 'anyhow?' - -"'Why, chile,' says she, 'He made dese yer stars.' - -"And den I wanted mammy to tell me more about it; only she says,-- - -"'He can do anything he likes; and, if ye are in any kind of trouble, He -can help you.' - -"Well, to be sure, I didn't mind much about it--all dancing round, -because pretty well don't need much help. But she said dat ar to me so -many times, I couldn't help 'member it. 'Chile, troubles will come; and, -when dey does come, you ask God, and He will help you.' - -"Well, sure enough, I wasn't sold from her, but she was took from me, -because Mr. Campbell's brother went off to live in Orleans, and parted -de hands. My father and mother was took to Orleans, and I was took to -Virginny. Well, you see, I growed up along with de young ladies,--your -ma, Miss Harrit, Miss Loo, and de rest on 'em,--and I had heaps of fun. -Dey all like Milly. Dey couldn't nobody run, nor jump, nor ride a horse, -nor row a boat, like Milly; and so it was Milly here, and Milly dere, -and whatever de young ladies wanted, it was Milly made de way for it. - -"Well, dere was a great difference among dem young ladies. Dere was Miss -Loo--she was de prettiest, and she had a great many beaux; but, den, -dere was your ma--everybody loved her; and den dere was Miss Harrit--she -had right smart of life in her, and was always for _doing_ -something--always right busy 'tending to something or other, and she -liked me because I'd always go in with her. Well, well! dem dar was -pleasant times enough; but when I got to be about fourteen or fifteen, -I began to feel kind o' bad--sort of strange and heavy. I really didn't -know why, but 'peared like's when I got older, I felt I was in bondage. - -"'Member one day your ma came in, and seed me looking out of window, and -she says to me,-- - -"'Milly, what makes you so dull lately?' - -"'Oh,' says I, 'I, somehow, I don't have good times.' - -"'Why?' says she; 'why not? Don't everybody make much of you, and don't -you have everything that you want?' - -"'Oh, well,' says I, 'missis, I's a poor slave-girl, for all dat.' - -"Chile, your ma was a weety thing, like you. I 'member just how she -looked dat minute. I felt sorry, 'cause I thought I'd hurt her feelings. -But says she,-- - -"'Milly, I don't wonder you feel so. I know I should feel so myself, if -I was in your place.' - -"Afterwards, she told Miss Loo and Miss Harrit; but dey laughed, and -said dey guessed der wasn't many girls who were as well off as Milly. -Well, den, Miss Harrit, she was married de first. She married Mr. -Charles Blair; and when she was married, nothing was to do but she must -have me to go with her. I liked Miss Harrit; but, den, honey, I'd liked -it much better if it had been your ma. I'd always counted that I wanted -to belong to your ma, and I think your ma wanted me; but, den, she was -still, and Miss Harrit she was one of de sort dat never lost nothing by -not asking for it. She was one of de sort dat always _got things_ by -hook or by crook. She always had more clothes, and more money, and more -everything, dan de rest of them, 'cause she was always wide awake, and -looking out for herself. - -"Well, Mr. Blair's place was away off in another part of Virginny, and I -went dere with her. Well, she wan't very happy, no ways, she wan't; -because Mr. Blair, he was a high fellow. Laws, Miss Nina, when I tells -you dis yere one you've got here is a good one, and I 'vise you to take -him, it's because I knows what comes o' girls marrying high fellows. -Don't care how good-looking dey is, nor what dere manners is,--it's just -de ruin of girls that has them. Law, when he was a courting Miss Harrit, -it was all nobody but her. She was going to be his angel, and he was -going to give up all sorts of bad ways, and live _such_ a good life! -Ah! she married him; it all went to smoke! 'Fore de month was well over, -he got a going in his old ways; and den it was go, go, all de time, -carousing and drinking,--parties at home, parties abroad,--money flying -like de water. - -"Well, dis made a great change in Miss Harrit. She didn't laugh no more; -she got sharp and cross, and she wan't good to me like what she used to -be. She took to be jealous of me and her husband. She might have saved -herself de trouble. I shouldn't have touched him with a pair of tongs. -But he was always running after everything that came in his way; so no -wonder. But, 'tween them both, I led a bad life of it. - -"Well, things dragged kind along in this way. She had three children, -and, at last, he was killed, one day, falling off his horse when he was -too drunk to hold the bridle. Good riddance, too, I thought. And den, -after he's dead, Miss Harrit, she seemed to grow more quiet like, and -setting herself picking up what pieces and crumbs was left for her and -de children. And I 'member she had one of her uncles dere a good many -days helping her in counting up de debts. Well, dey was talking one day -in missis' room, and dere was a little light closet on one side, where I -got set down to do some fine stitching; but dey was too busy in their -'counts to think anything 'bout me. It seemed dat de place and de people -was all to be sold off to pay de debts,--all 'cept a few of us, who were -to go off with missis, and begin again on a small place,--and I heard -him telling her about it. - -"'While your children are small,' he says, 'you can live small, and keep -things close, and raise enough on the place for ye all; and den you can -be making the most of your property. Niggers is rising in de market. -Since Missouri came in, they's worth double; and so you can just sell de -increase of 'em for a good sum. Now, there's that black girl Milly, of -yourn.'--You may be sure, now, I pricked up my ears, Miss Nina.--'You -don't often see a girl of finer breed than she is,' says he, just as if -I'd been a cow, you know. 'Have you got her a husband?' - -"'No,' said Miss Harrit; and then says she, 'I believe Milly is -something of a coquette among the young men. She's never settled on -anybody yet,' says she. - -"'Well,' says he, 'that must be attended to, 'cause that girl's -children will be an estate of themselves. Why, I've known women to have -twenty! and her children wouldn't any of 'em be worth less than eight -hundred dollars. There's a fortune at once. If dey's like her, dey'll be -as good as cash in the market, any day. You can send out and sell one, -if you happen to be in any straits, just as soon as you can draw a note -on the bank.' - -"Oh, laws, Miss Nina, I tell you dis yer fell on me like so much lead. -'Cause, you see, I'd been keeping company with a very nice young man, -and I was going to ask Miss Harrit about it dat very day; but, dere--I -laid down my work dat minute, and thinks, says I, 'True as de Lord's in -heaven I won't never be married in dis world!' And I cried 'bout it, off -and on, all day, and at night I told Paul 'bout it. He was de one, you -know. But Paul, he tried to make it all smooth. He guessed it wouldn't -happen; he guessed missis would think better on't. At any rate, we loved -each other, and why shouldn't we take as much comfort as we could? Well, -I went to Miss Harrit, and told her just what I thought 'bout it. Allers -had spoke my mind to Miss Harrit 'bout everything, and I wan't going to -stop den. And she laughed at me, and told me not to cry 'fore I's hurt. -Well, things went on so two or three weeks, and finally Paul he -persuaded me. And so we was married. When our first child was born, Paul -was so pleased, he thought strange that I wan't. - -"'Paul,' said I, 'dis yer child an't ourn; it may be took from us, and -sold, any day.' - -"'Well, well,' says he, 'Milly, it may be God's child, any way, even if -it an't ourn.' - -"'Cause, you see, Miss Nina, Paul, he was a Christian. Ah, well, honey, -I can't tell you; after dat I had a great many chil'en, girls and boys, -growing up round me. Well, I's had fourteen chil'en, dear, and dey's all -been sold from me, every single one of 'em. Lord, it's a heavy cross! -heavy, heavy! None knows but dem dat bears it!" - -"What a shame!" said Nina. "How could Aunt Harriet be such a wicked -woman?--an aunt of mine do so!" - -"Chile, chile," said Milly, "we doesn't none of us know what's in us. -When Miss Harrit and I was gals together, hunting hens' eggs and rowing -de boat in de river,--well, I wouldn't have thought it would have been -so, and she wouldn't have thought so, neither. But, den, what little's -bad in girls when dey's young and handsome, and all de world smiling on -'em--Oh, honey, it gets drefful strong when dey gets grown women, and de -wrinkles comes in der faces! Always, when she was a girl,--whether it -was eggs, or berries, or chincapins, or what,--it was Miss Harrit's -nature to _get_ and to _keep_; and when she got old, dat all turned to -money." - -"Oh! but," said Nina, "it does seem impossible that a woman--a lady -born, too, and my aunt--could do such a thing!" - -"Ah, ah, honey! ladies born have some bad stuff in dem, sometimes, like -de rest of us. But, den, honey, it was de most natural thing in de -world, come to look on't; for now, see here, honey, dere was your -aunt--she was poor, and she was pestered for money. Dere was Mas'r -George's bills and Peter's bills to pay, and Miss Susy's; and every one -of 'em must have everything, and dey was all calling for money, money; -and dere has been times she didn't know which way to turn. Now, you see, -when a woman is pestered to pay two hundred here and tree hundred dere, -and when she has got more niggers on her place dan she can keep, and den -a man calls in and lays down eight hundred dollars in gold and bills -before her, and says, 'I want dat ar Lucy or George of yourn,' why, -don't you see? Dese yer soul-drivers is always round, tempting folks dey -know is poor; and dey always have der money as handy as de devil has -his. But, den, I oughtn't fur to be hard upon dem poor soul-drivers, -neither, 'cause dey an't taught no better. It's dese yer Christians, dat -profess Christ, dat makes great talks 'bout religion, dat has der -Bibles, and turns der backs upon swearing soul-drivers, and tinks dey -an't fit to speak to--it's _dem_, honey, dat's de root of de whole -business. Now, dere was dat uncle of hern,--mighty great Christian he -was, with his prayer-meetings, and all dat!--he was always a putting her -up to it. Oh, dere's been times--dere was times 'long first, Miss Nina, -when my first chil'en was sold--dat, I tell you. I poured out my soul to -Miss Harrit, and I've seen dat ar woman cry so dat I was sorry for her. -And she said to me, 'Milly, I'll never do it again.' But, Lord! I -didn't trust her,--not a word on't,--'cause I knowed she would. I knowed -dere was dat in her heart dat de devil wouldn't let go of. I knowed he'd -no kind of objection to her 'musing herself with meetin's, and prayers, -and all dat; but he'd no notion to let go his grip on her heart. - -"But, Lord! she wasn't _quite_ a bad woman,--poor Miss Harrit -wasn't,--and she wouldn't have done so bad, if it hadn't been for _him_. -But he'd come and have prayers, and exhort, and den come prowling round -my place like a wolf, looking at my chil'en. - -"'And, Milly,' he'd say, 'how do you do now? Lucy is getting to be a -right smart girl, Milly. How old is she? Dere's a lady in Washington has -advertised for a maid,--a nice woman, a pious lady. I suppose you -wouldn't object, Milly? Your poor mistress is in great trouble for -money.' - -"I never said nothing to that man. Only once, when he asked me what I -thought my Lucy would be worth, when she was fifteen years old, says I -to him:-- - -"'Sir, she is worth to me just what your daughter is worth to you.' - -"Den I went in and shut de door. I didn't stay to see how he took it. -Den he'd go up to de house, and talk to Miss Harrit. 'Twas her duty, -he'd tell her, to take proper care of her goods. And dat ar meant -selling my chil'en. I 'member, when Miss Susy came home from -boarding-school, she was a pretty girl: but I didn't look on her very -kind, I tell you, 'cause three of my chil'en had been sold to keep her -at school. My Lucy,--ah, honey!--she went for a lady's maid. I knowed -what dat ar meant, well enough. De lady had a son grown, and he took -Lucy with him to Orleans, and dere was an end of dat. Dere don't no -letters go 'tween us. Once gone, we can't write, and it is good as being -dead. Ah, no, chile, not so good! Paul used to teach Lucy little hymns, -nights, 'fore she went to sleep. And if she'd a died right off after one -of dem, it would have been better for her. Oh, honey, 'long dem times I -used to rave and toss like a bull in a net--I did so! - -"Well, honey, I wasn't what I was. I got cross and ugly. Miss Harrit, -she grew a great Christian, and joined de church, and used to have heaps -of ministers and elders at her house; and some on 'em used to try and -talk to me. I told 'em I'd seen enough of der old religion, and I didn't -want to hear no more. But Paul, he was a Christian; and when he talked -to me, I was quiet, like, though I couldn't be like what he was. Well, -last, my missis promised me one. She'd give me my youngest child, sure -and certain. His name was Alfred. Well, dat boy!--I loved dat child -better dan any of de rest of 'em. He was all I'd got left to love; for, -when he was a year old, Paul's master moved away down to Louisiana, and -took him off, and I never heard no more of him. So it 'peared as if dis -yer child was all I had left. Well, he _was_ a bright boy. Oh, he was -most uncommon! He was so handy to anything, and saved me so many steps! -Oh, honey, he had such ways with him--dat boy!--would always make me -laugh. He took after larnin' mighty, and he larned himself to read; and -he'd read de Bible to me, sometimes. I just brought him up and teached -him de best way I could. All dat made me 'fraid for him was, dat he was -so spirity. I's 'fraid 'twould get him into trouble. - -"He wan't no more spirity dan white folks would like der chil'en fur to -be. When white chil'en holds up der heads, and answers back, den de -parents laugh, and say, 'He's got it in him! He's a bright one!' But, if -one of ourn does so, it's a drefful thing. I was allers talking to -Alfred 'bout it, and telled him to keep humble. It 'peared like there -was so much in him, you couldn't keep it down. Laws, Miss Nina, folks -may say what dey like about de black folks, dey'll never beat it out of -my head;--dere's some on 'em can be as smart as any white folks, if dey -could have de same chance. How many white boys did you ever see would -take de trouble for to teach theirselves to read? And dat's what my -Alfred did. Laws, I had a mighty heap of comfort in him, 'cause I was -thinkin' to get my missis to let me hire my time; den I was going to -work over hours, and get money, and buy him; because, you see, chile, I -knowed he was too spirity for a slave. You see he couldn't _learn to -stoop_; he wouldn't let nobody impose on him; and he always had a word -back again to give anybody as good as dey sent. Yet, for all dat, he was -a dear, good boy to me; and when I used to talk to him, and tell him -dese things was dangerous, he'd always promise fur to be kerful. Well, -things went on pretty well while he was little, and I kept him with me -till he got to be about twelve or thirteen years old. He used to wipe de -dishes, and scour de knives, and black de shoes, and such-like work. -But, by and by, dey said it was time dat he should go to de reg'lar -work; and dat ar was de time I felt feared. Missis had an overseer, and -he was real aggravating, and I felt feared dere'd be trouble; and sure -enough dere was, too. Dere was always somethin' brewing 'tween him and -Alfred; and he was always running to missis with tales, and I was -talking to Alfred. But 'peared like he aggravated de boy so, dat he -couldn't do right. Well, one day, when I had been up to town for an -errand, I come home at night, and I wondered Alfred didn't come home to -his supper. I thought something was wrong; and I went to de house, and -dere sat Miss Harrit by a table covered with rolls of money, and dere -she was a counting it. - -"'Miss Harrit,' says I, 'I can't find Alfred. An't you seen him?' says -I. - -"At first she didn't answer, but went on counting--fifty-one, fifty-two, -fifty-three. Finally I spoke again. - -"'I hope there an't nothing happened to Alfred, Miss Harrit?' - -"She looked up, and says she to me,-- - -"'Milly,' says she, 'de fact is, Alfred has got too much for me to -manage, and I had a great deal of money offered for him; and I sold -him.' - -"I felt something strong coming up in my throat, and I just went up and -took hold of her shoulders, and said I,-- - -"'Miss Harrit, you took de money for thirteen of my chil'en, and you -promised me, sure enough, I should have dis yer one. You call dat being -a Christian?' says I. - -"'Why,' says she, 'Milly, he an't a great way off; you can see him about -as much. It's only over to Mr. Jones's plantation. You can go and see -him, and he can come and see you. And you know you didn't like the man -who had the care of him here, and thought he was always getting him into -trouble.' - -"'Miss Harrit,' says I, 'you may cheat yourself saying dem things; but -you don't cheat me, nor de Lord neither. You folks have de say all on -your side, with your ministers preaching us down out of de Bible; you -won't teach us to read. But I'm going straight to de Lord with dis yer -case. I tell you, if de Lord is to be found, I'll find him; and I'll ask -him to look on't,--de way you've been treating me,--selling _my_ -chil'en, all de way 'long, to pay for _your_ chil'en, and now breaking -your word to me, and taking dis yer boy, de last drop of blood in my -heart! I'll pray de Lord to curse every cent of dat ar money to you and -your chil'en!' - -"Dat ar was de way I spoke to her, child. I was poor, ignorant cretur, -and didn't know God, and my heart was like a red-hot coal. I turned and -walked right straight out from her. I didn't speak no more to her, and -she didn't speak no more to me. And when I went to bed at night, dar, -sure 'nough, was Alfred's bed in de corner, and his Sunday coat hanging -up over it, and his Sunday shoes I had bought for him with my own money; -'cause he was a handsome boy, and I wanted him always to look nice. -Well, so, come Sunday morning, I took his coat and his shoes, and made a -bundle of 'em, and I took my stick, and says I, 'I'll just go ever to -Jones's place and see what has 'come of Alfred.' All de time, I hadn't -said a word to missis, nor she to me. Well, I got about half-way over to -de place, and dere I stopped under a big hickory-tree to rest me a bit, -and I looked along and seed some one a coming; and pretty soon I knowed -it was Huldah. She was one that married Paul's cousin, and she lived on -Jones's place. And so I got up and went to meet her, and told her I was -going over to see 'bout Alfred. - -"'Lord!' says she, 'Milly, haven't you heard dat Alfred's dead?' - -"Well, Miss Nina, it seemed as if my heart and everything in it stopped -still. And said I, 'Huldah, has dey killed him?' - -"And said she, 'Yes.' And she told me it was dis yer way: Dat Stiles--he -dat was Jones's overseer--had heard dat Alfred was dreadful spirity; and -when boys is so, sometimes dey aggravates 'em to get 'em riled, and den -dey whips 'em to break 'em in. So Stiles, when he was laying off -Alfred's task, was real aggravating to him; and dat boy--well, he -answered back, just as he allers would be doing, 'cause he was smart, -and it 'peared like he couldn't keep it in. And den dey all laughed -round dere, and den Stiles was mad, and swore he'd whip him; and den -Alfred, he cut and run. And den Stiles he swore awful at him, and he -told him to 'come here, and he'd give him hell, and pay him de cash.' -Dem is de very words he said to my boy. And Alfred said he wouldn't come -back; he wasn't going to be whipped. And just den young Master Bill come -along, and wanted to know what was de matter. So Stiles told him, and he -took out his pistol, and said, 'Here, young dog, if you don't come back -before I count five, I'll fire!' - -"'Fire ahead!' says Alfred; 'cause, you see, dat boy never knowed what -fear was. And so he fired. And Huldah said he just jumped up and give -one scream, and fell flat. And dey run up to him, and he was dead; -'cause you see, de bullet went right through his heart. Well, dey took -off his jacket and looked, but it wan't of no use; his face settled down -still. And Huldah said dat dey just dug a hole and put him in. Nothing -on him--nothing round him--no coffin; like he'd been a dog. Huldah -showed me de jacket. Dere was de hole, cut right round in it, like it -was stamped, and his blood running out on it. I didn't say a word. I -took up de jacket, and wrapped it up with his Sunday clothes, and I -walked straight--straight home. I walked up into missis' room, and she -was dressed for church, sure enough, and sat dere reading her Bible. I -laid it right down under her face, dat jacket. 'You see dat _hole_!' -said I; 'you see dat blood! Alfred's killed! _You_ killed him; his blood -be on you and your chil'en! O Lord God in heaven, hear me, and _render -unto her double_!'" - -Nina drew in her breath hard, with an instinctive shudder. Milly had -drawn herself up, in the vehemence of her narration, and sat leaning -forward, her black eyes dilated, her strong arms clenched before her, -and her powerful frame expanding and working with the violence of her -emotion. She might have looked, to one with mythological associations, -like the figure of a black marble Nemesis in a trance of wrath. She sat -so for a few minutes, and then her muscles relaxed, her eyes gradually -softened; she looked tenderly, but solemnly, down on Nina. "Dem was -awful words, chile; but I was in Egypt den. I was wandering in de -wilderness of Sinai. I had heard de sound of de trumpet, and de voice of -words; but, chile, I hadn't seen de Lord. Well--I went out, and I -didn't speak no more to Miss Harrit. Dere was a great gulf fixed 'tween -us; and dere didn't no words pass over it. I did my work--I scorned not -to do it; but I didn't speak to her. Den it was, chile, dat I thought of -what my mother told me, years ago; it came to me, all fresh--'Chile, -when trouble comes, you ask de Lord to help you;' and I saw dat I hadn't -asked de Lord to help me; and now, says I to myself, de Lord can't help -me; 'cause he couldn't bring back Alfred, no way you could fix it; and -yet I wanted to find de Lord, 'cause I was so tossed up and down. I -wanted just to go and say, 'Lord, you see what dis woman has done.' I -wanted to put it to him, if he'd stand up for such a thing as that. -Lord, how de world, and everything, looked to me in dem times! -Everything goin' on in de way it did; and dese yer Christians, dat said -dat dey was going into de kingdom, doing as dey did! I tell you, I -sought de Lord early and late. Many nights I have been out in de woods -and laid on de ground till morning, calling and crying, and 'peared like -nobody heerd me. Oh, how strange it used to look, when I looked up to de -stars! winking at me, so kind of still and solemn, but never saying a -word! Sometimes I got dat wild, it seemed as if I could tear a hole -through de sky, 'cause I must find God; I had an errand to him, and I -must find him. - -"Den I heard 'em read out de Bible, 'bout how de Lord met a man on a -threshing-floor, and I thought maybe if I had a threshing-floor he would -come to me. So I threshed down a place just as hard as I could under de -trees; and den I prayed dere--but he didn't come. Den dere was coming a -great camp-meeting; and I thought I'd go and see if I could find de Lord -dere; because, you see, missis, she let her people go Sunday to de -camp-meeting. Well, I went into de tents and heerd dem sing; and I went -afore de altar, and I heerd preaching; but it 'peared like it was no -good. It didn't touch me nowhere; and I couldn't see nothing to it. I -heerd 'em read out of de Bible, 'Oh, dat I knew where I might find him. -I would come even to his seat. I would order my cause before him. I -would fill my mouth with arguments;' and I thought, sure enough, dat -ar's just what I want. Well, came on dark night, and dey had all de -camp-fires lighted up, and dey was singing de hymns round and round, -and I went for to hear de preaching. And dere was a man--pale, lean man -he was, with black eyes and black hair. Well, dat ar man, he preached a -sermon, to be sure, I never shall forget. His text was, 'He that spared -not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he -not with him freely give us all things?' Well, you see, the first sound -of dis took me, because I'd lost my son. And the man, he told us who de -son of God was,--Jesus,--Oh, how sweet and beautiful he was! How he went -round doing for folks. O Lord, what a story dat ar was! And, den, how -dey took him, and put de crown of thorns on his head, and hung him up -bleeding, bleeding, and bleeding! God so loved us dat he let his own -dear Son suffer all dat for us. Chile, I got up, and I went to de altar, -and I kneeled down with de mourners; and I fell flat on my face, and dey -said I was in a trance. Maybe I was. Where I was, I don't know; but I -saw de Lord! Chile, it seemed as if my very heart was still. I saw him, -suffering, bearing with us, year in and year -out--bearing--bearing--bearing so patient! 'Peared like, it wan't just -on de cross; but, bearing always, everywhar! Oh, chile, I saw how he -loved us!--us _all_--all--every one on us!--we dat hated each other so! -'Peared like he was using his heart up for us, all de time--bleedin' for -us like he did on Calvary, and willin' to bleed! Oh, chile, I saw what -it was for me to be hatin', like I'd hated. 'O Lord,' says I, 'I give -up? O Lord, never see you afore; I didn't know. Lord, I's a poor sinner! -I won't hate no more!' And oh, chile, den dere come such a rush of love -in my soul! Says I, 'Lord, I ken love even de white folks!' And den came -another rush; and says I, 'Yes, Lord, I love poor Miss Harrit, dat's -sole all my chil'en, and been de death of my poor Alfred! I loves her.' -Chile, I overcome--I did so--I overcome by de blood of de _Lamb_--de -Lamb!--Yes, de Lamb, chile!--'cause if he'd been a lion I could a kept -in; 'twas de _Lamb_ dat overcome. - -"When I come to, I felt like a chile. I went home to Miss Harrit; and I -hadn't spoke peaceable to her since Alfred died. I went in to her. She'd -been sick, and she was in her room, looking kinder pale and yaller, poor -thing; 'cause her son, honey, he got drunk and 'bused her awful. I went -in, and says I, 'Oh, Miss Harrit, I's seen de Lord! Miss Harrit, I an't -got no more hard feelin's; I forgive ye, and loves ye with all my heart, -just as de Lord does.' Honey, ye ought to see how dat woman cried! Says -she, 'Milly, I's a great sinner.' Says I, 'Miss Harrit, we's sinners, -both on us, but de Lord gives hisself for us both; and if he loves us -poor sinners, we mustn't be hard on each other. Ye was tempted, honey,' -says I (for you see I felt like makin' scuses for her); 'but de Lord -Jesus has got a pardon for both on us.' - -"After dat, I didn't have no more trouble with Miss Harrit. Chile, we -was sisters in Jesus. I bore her burdens, and she bore mine. And, dear, -de burdens was heavy; for her son he was brought home a corpse; he shot -hisself right through de heart trying to load a gun when he was drunk. -Oh, chile, I thought den how I'd prayed de Lord to render unto her -double; but I had a better mind den. Ef I could have brought poor Mas'r -George to life, I'd a done it; and I held de poor woman's head on my arm -all dat ar night, and she a screamin' every hour. Well, dat ar took her -down to de grave. She didn't live much longer; but she was ready to die. -She sent and bought my daughter Lucy's son, dis here Tom, and gin him to -me. Poor thing! she did all she could. - -"I watched with her de night she died. Oh, Miss Nina, if ever ye're -tempted to hate anybody, think how 't'll be with 'em when dey comes to -die. - -"She died hard, poor thing! and she was cast down, 'bout her sins. 'Oh, -Milly,' says she, 'the Lord and you may forgive me, but I _can't_ -forgive myself.' - -"'And,' says I to her, 'Oh, missis, don't think of it no more! _de -Lord's hid it in his own heart!_' Oh, but she struggled long, honey; she -was all night dyin', and 'twas 'Milly! Milly!' all de time; 'Oh, Milly, -stay with me!' - -"And, chile, I felt I loved her like my own soul; and when de day broke -de Lord set her free, and I laid her down like she'd been one o' my -babies. I took up her poor hand. It was warm, but the strength was all -gone out on't; and, 'Oh,' I thought, 'ye poor thing, how could I ever -have hated ye so?' Ah, chile, we mustn't hate nobody; we's all poor -creaturs, and de dear Lord he loves us all." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -UNCLE JOHN. - - -About four miles east of Canema lay the plantation of Nina's uncle, -whither Harry had been sent on the morning which we have mentioned. The -young man went upon his errand in no very enviable mood of mind. Uncle -Jack, as Nina always called him, was the nominal guardian of the estate, -and a more friendly and indulgent one Harry could not have desired. He -was one of those joyous, easy souls, whose leading desire seemed to be -that everybody in the world should make himself as happy as possible, -without fatiguing him with consultations as to particulars. His -confidence in Harry was unbounded; and he esteemed it a good fortune -that it was so, as he was wont to say, laughingly, that his own place -was more than he could manage. Like all gentlemen who make the study of -their own ease a primary consideration, Uncle Jack found the whole -course of nature dead-set against him. For, as all creation is evidently -organized with a view to making people work, it follows that no one has -so much care as the man who resolves not to take any. Uncle Jack was -systematically, and as a matter of course, cheated and fleeced, by his -overseers, by his negroes, and the poor whites of his vicinity; and, -worst of all, continually hectored and lectured by his wife therefor. -Nature, or destiny, or whoever the lady may be that deals the -matrimonial cards, with her usual thoughtfulness in balancing opposites, -had arranged that jovial, easy, care-hating Uncle John should have been -united to a most undaunted and ever-active spirit of enterprise and -resolution, who never left anything quiet in his vicinity. She it was -who continually disturbed his repose, by constantly ferreting out, and -bringing before his view, all the plots, treasons, and conspiracies, -with which plantation-life is ever abounding; bringing down on his -devoted head the necessity of discriminations, decisions, and -settlements, most abhorrent to an easy man. - -The fact was, that responsibility, aggravated by her husband's -negligence, had transformed the worthy woman into a sort of domestic -dragon of the Hesperides; and her good helpmeet declared that he -believed she never slept, nor meant anybody else should. It was all very -well, he would observe. He wouldn't quarrel with her for walking the -whole night long, or sleeping with her head out of the window, watching -the smoke-house; for stealing out after one o'clock to convict Pompey, -or circumvent Cuff, if she only wouldn't bother him with it. Suppose the -half of the hams were carried off, between two and three, and sold to -Abijah Skinflint for rum?--He must have his sleep; and, if he had to pay -for it in ham, why, he'd pay for it in ham; but sleep he must, and -would. And, supposing he really believed, in his own soul, that Cuffy, -who came in the morning, with a long face, to announce the theft, and to -propose measures of discovery, was in fact the main conspirator--what -then? He couldn't prove it on him. Cuff had gone astray from the womb, -speaking lies ever since he was born; and what would be the use of his -fretting and sweating himself to death to get truth out of Cuff? No, no! -Mrs. G., as he commonly called his helpmeet, might do that sort of -thing, but she mustn't bother him about it. Not that Uncle Jack was -invariable in his temper; human nature has its limits, and a personage -who finds "mischief still for idle hands to do" often seems to take a -malicious pleasure in upsetting the temper of idle gentlemen. So, Uncle -Jack, though confessedly the best fellow in the world, was occasionally -subject to a tropical whirlwind of passion, in which he would stamp, -tear, and swear, with most astounding energy; and in those ignited -moments all the pent-up sorrows of his soul would fly about him, like -red-hot shot, in every direction. And then he would curse the negroes, -curse the overseers, curse the plantation, curse Cuff and Pomp and -Dinah, curse the poor white folks round, curse Mr. Abijah Skinflint, and -declare that he would send them and the niggers all severally to a -department which politeness forbids us to mention. He would pour out -awful threats of cutting up, skinning alive, and selling to Georgia. To -all which commotion and bluster the negroes would listen, rolling the -whites of their eyes, and sticking their tongues in their cheeks, with -an air of great satisfaction and amusement; because experience had -sufficiently proved to them that nobody had ever been cut up, skinned -alive, or sent to Georgia, as the result of any of these outpourings. -So, when Uncle Jack had one of these fits, they treated it as hens do an -approaching thunderstorm,--ran under cover, and waited for it to blow -over. - -As to Madam Gordon, her wrath was another affair. And her threats they -had learned to know generally meant something; though it very often -happened that, in the dispensation of most needed justice, Uncle Jack, -if in an extra good humor, would rush between the culprit and his -mistress, and bear him off in triumph, at the risk of most serious -consequences to himself afterwards. Our readers are not to infer from -this that Madam Gordon was really and naturally an ill-natured woman. -She was only one of that denomination of vehement housekeepers who are -to be found the world over--women to whom is appointed the hard mission -of combating, single-handed, for the principles of order and exactness, -against a whole world in arms. Had she had the good fortune to have been -born in Vermont or Massachusetts, she would have been known through the -whole village as a woman who couldn't be cheated half a cent on a pound -in meat, and had an instinctive knowledge whether a cord of wood was too -short, or a pound of butter too light. Put such a woman at the head of -the disorderly rabble of a plantation, with a cheating overseer, -surrounded by thieving poor whites, to whom the very organization of -society leaves no resource but thieving, with a never-mind husband, with -land that has seen its best days, and is fast running to barrenness, and -you must not too severely question her temper, if it should not be at -all times in perfect subjection. In fact, Madam Gordon's cap habitually -bristled with horror, and she was rarely known to sit down. -Occasionally, it is true, she alighted upon a chair; but was in a moment -up again, to pursue some of her household train, or shout, at the top of -her lungs, some caution toward the kitchen. - -When Harry reined up his horse before the plantation, the gate was -thrown open for him by old Pomp, a superannuated negro, who reserved -this function as his peculiar sinecure. - -"Lord bress you, Harry, dat you? Bress you, you ought fur to see mas'r! -Such a gale up to de house!" - -"What's the matter, Pomp?" - -"Why, mas'r, he done got one of he fits! Tarin' round dar, fit to -split!--stompin' up and down de 'randy, swarin' like mad! Lord, if he -an't! He done got Jake tied up, dar!--swars he's goin' to cut him to -pieces! He! he! he! Has so! Got Jake tied up dar! Ho! ho! ho! Real -curus! And he's blowin' hisself out dere mighty hard, I tell you! So, if -you want to get word wid him, you can't do it till he done got through -wid dis yer!" And the old man ducked his pepper-and-salt-colored head, -and chuckled with a lively satisfaction. - -As Harry rode slowly up the avenue to the house, he caught sight of the -portly figure of its master, stamping up and down the veranda, -vociferating and gesticulating in the most violent manner. He was a -corpulent man, of middle age, with a round, high forehead, set off with -grizzled hair. His blue eyes, fair, rosy, fat face, his mouth adorned -with brilliant teeth, gave him, when in good-humor, the air of a -handsome and agreeable man. At present his countenance was flushed -almost to purple, as he stood storming, from his rostrum, at a saucy, -ragged negro, who, tied to the horse-post, stood the picture of -unconcern; while a crowd of negro men, women, and children, were looking -on. - -"I'll teach you!" he vociferated, shaking his fist. "I won't--won't bear -it of you, you dog, you! You won't take my orders, won't you? I'll -_kill_ you--that I will! I'll cut you up into inch-pieces!" - -"No, you won't, and you know you won't!" interposed Mrs. Gordon, who sat -at the window behind him. "You won't, and you know you won't! and _they_ -know you won't, too! It will all end in smoke, as it always does. I only -wish you wouldn't talk and threaten, because it makes you ridiculous!" - -"Hold your tongue, too! I'll be master in my own house, I say! Infernal -dog!--I say, Cuff, cut him up!--Why don't you go at him?--Give it to -him!--What you waiting for?" - -"If mas'r pleases!" said Cuff, rolling up his eyes, and making a -deprecating gesture. - -"If I please! Well, blast you, I _do_ please! Go at him!--thrash away! -Stay, I'll come myself." And, seizing a cow-hide, which lay near him, -he turned up his cuffs, and ran down the steps; but, missing his footing -in his zeal, came head-first against the very post where the criminal -was tied. - -"There! I hope, now, you are satisfied! You have killed me!--you have -broke my head, you have! I shall be laid up a month, all for you, you -ungrateful dog!" - -Cuffy and Sambo came to the rescue, raised him up carefully, and began -brushing the dust off his clothes, smothering the laughter with which -they seemed ready to explode, while the culprit at the post seemed to -consider this an excellent opportunity to put in his submission. - -"Please, mas'r, do forgive me! I tole 'em to go out, and dey said dey -wouldn't. I didn't mean no harm when I said 'Mas'r had better go -hisself;' 'cause I thinks so now. Mas'r _had_ better go! Dem folks is -curus, and dey won't go for none of us. Dey just acts ridiculous, dey -does! And I didn't mean fur to be sarcy, nor nothin.' I say 'gin, if -mas'r'll take his horse and go over dar, mas'r drive dose folks out; and -nobody else can't do it! We done can't do it--dey jest sarce us. Now, -for my Heavenly Master, all dis yere is de truth I've been telling. De -Lord, de Master, knows it is; and, if mas'r'll take his horse, and ride -down dere, he'd see so; so dere, just as I've been telling mas'r. I -didn't mean no harm at all, I didn't!" - -The quarrel, it must be told, related to the ejecting of a poor white -family which had _squatted_, as the phrase is, in a deserted cabin, on a -distant part of the Gordon plantation. Mrs. Gordon's untiring assiduity -having discovered this fact, she had left her husband no peace till -something was undertaken in the way of ejectment. He accordingly -commissioned Jake, a stout negro, on the morning of the present day, to -go over and turn them off. Now, Jake, who inherited to the full the -lofty contempt with which the plantation negro regards the poor white -folks, started upon his errand, nothing loth, and whistled his way in -high feather, with two large dogs at his heels. But, when he found a -miserable, poor, sick woman, surrounded by four starving children, -Jake's mother's milk came back to him; and, instead of turning them out, -he actually pitched a dish of cold potatoes in among them, which he -picked up in a neighboring cabin, with about the same air of -contemptuous pity with which one throws scraps to a dog. And then, -meandering his way back to the house, informed his master that "He -couldn't turn de white trash out; and, if he wanted them turned out, he -would have to go hisself." - -Now, we all know that a fit of temper has very often nothing to do with -the thing which appears to give rise to it. When a cloud is full charged -with electricity, it makes no difference which bit of wire is put in. -The flash and the thunder come one way as well as another. Mr. Gordon -had received troublesome letters on business, a troublesome lecture from -his wife, his corn-cake had been over-done at breakfast, and his coffee -burned bitter; besides which, he had a cold in his head coming on, and -there was a settlement brewing with the overseer. In consequence of all -which things, though Jake's mode of delivering himself wasn't a whit -more saucy than ordinary, the storm broke upon him then and there, and -raged as we have described. The heaviest part of it, however, being now -spent, Mr. Gordon consented to pardon the culprit on condition that he -would bring him up his horse immediately, when he would ride over and -see if he couldn't turn out the offending party. He pressed Harry, who -was rather a favorite of his, into the service; and, in the course of a -quarter of an hour, they were riding off in the direction of the -squatter's cabin. - -"It's perfectly insufferable, what we proprietors have to bear from this -tribe of creatures!" he said. "There ought to be hunting-parties got up -to chase them down, and exterminate 'em, just as we do rats. It would be -a kindness to them; the only thing you can do for them is to kill them. -As for charity, or that kind of thing, you might as well throw victuals -into the hollow logs as to try to feed 'em. The government ought to pass -laws,--we will have laws, somehow or other,--and get them out of the -state." - -And, so discoursing, the good man at length arrived before the door of a -miserable, decaying log-cabin, out of whose glassless windows dark -emptiness looked, as out of the eye-holes of a skull. Two scared, -cowering children disappeared round the corner as he approached. He -kicked open the door, and entered. Crouched on a pile of dirty straw, -sat a miserable, haggard woman, with large, wild eyes, sunken cheeks, -dishevelled, matted hair, and long, lean hands, like bird's-claws. At -her skinny breast an emaciated infant was hanging, pushing, with its -little skeleton hands, as if to force the nourishment which nature no -longer gave; and two scared-looking children, with features wasted and -pinched blue with famine, were clinging to her gown. The whole group -huddled together, drawing as far as possible away from the new-comer, -looked up with large, frightened eyes, like hunted wild animals. - -"What you here for?" was the first question of Mr. Gordon, put in no -very decided tone; for, if the truth must be told, his combativeness was -oozing out. - -The woman did not answer, and, after a pause, the youngest child piped -up, in a shrill voice,-- - -"An't got nowhere else to be!" - -"Yes," said the woman, "we camped on Mr. Durant's place, and -Bobfield--him is the overseer--pulled down the cabin right over our -head. 'Pears like we couldn't get nowhere." - -"Where is your husband?" - -"Gone looking for work. 'Pears like he couldn't get none nowhere. 'Pears -like nobody wants us. But we have got to be somewhere, though!" said the -woman, in a melancholy, apologetic tone. "We can't die, as I see!--wish -we could!" - -Mr. Gordon's eye fell upon two or three cold potatoes in a piece of -broken crock, over which the woman appeared keeping jealous guard. - -"What you doing with those potatoes?" - -"Saving them for the children's dinner." - -"And is that all you've got to eat, I want to know?" said Mr. Gordon, in -a high, sharp tone, as if he were getting angry very fast. - -"Yes," said the woman. - -"What did you have to eat yesterday?" - -"Nothing!" said the woman. - -"And what did you eat the day before?" - -"Found some old bones round the nigger houses; and some on 'em give us -some corn-cake." - -"Why the devil didn't you send up to _my_ house, and get some bacon? -Picking up bones, slop, and swill, round the nigger huts? Why didn't you -send up for some ham, and some meal? Lord bless you, you don't think -Madam Gordon is a dog to bite you, do you? Wait here till I send you -down something fit to eat. Just end in my having to take care of you, I -see! And, if you are going to stay here, there will be something to be -done to keep the rain out!" - -"There, now," he said to Harry, as he was mounting his horse, "just see -what 'tis to be made with hooks in one's back, like me! Everybody hangs -on to me, of course! Now, there's Durant turns off these folks; there's -Peters turns them off! Well, what's the consequence? They come and -litter down on me, just because I am an easy, soft-hearted old fool! -It's too devilish bad! They breed like rabbits! What God Almighty makes -such people for, I don't know! I suppose He does. But there's these -poor, miserable trash have children like sixty; and there's folks living -in splendid houses, dying for children, and can't have any. If they -manage one or two, the scarlet-fever or whooping-cough makes off with -'em. Lord bless me, things go on in a terrible mixed-up way in this -world! And, then, what upon earth I'm to say to Mrs. G.! I know what -she'll say to me. She'll tell me she told me so--that's what she always -says. I wish she'd go and see them herself--I do so! Mrs. G. is the -nicest kind of a woman--no mistake about that; but she has an awful deal -of energy, that woman! It's dreadful fatiguing to a quiet man, like -me--dreadful! But I'm sure I don't know what I should do without her. -She'll be down upon me about this woman; but the woman must have some -ham, that's flat! Cold potatoes and old bones! Pretty story! Such people -have no business to live at all; but, if they will live, they ought to -eat Christian things! There goes Jake. Why couldn't he turn 'em off -before I saw 'em? It would have saved me all this plague! Dog knew what -he was about, when he got me down here! Jake! Oh, Jake, Jake! come -here!" - -Jake came shambling along up to his master, with an external appearance -of the deepest humility, under which was too plainly seen to lurk a -facetious air of waggish satisfaction. - -"Here, you, Jake; you get a basket"-- - -"Yes, mas'r!" said Jake, with an air of provoking intelligence. - -"Be still saying 'Yes, mas'r,' and hear what I've got to say! Mind -yourself!" - -Jake gave a side glance of inexpressible drollery at Harry, and then -stood like an ebony statue of submission. - -"You go to your missis, and ask her for the key of the smoke-house, and -bring it to me." - -"Yes, sir." - -"And you tell your missis to send me a peck of meal. Stay--a loaf of -bread, or some biscuit, or corn-cake, or anything else which may happen -to be baked up. Tell her I want them sent out right away." - -Jake bowed and disappeared. - -"Now we may as well ride down this path, while he is gone for the -things. Mrs. G. will blow off on him first, so that rather less of it -will come upon me. I wish I could get her to see them herself. Lord -bless her, she is a kind-hearted woman enough! but she thinks there's no -use doing,--and there an't. She is right enough about it. But, then, as -the woman says, there must be some place for them to _be_ in the world. -The world is wide enough, I'm sure! Plague take it! why can't we pass a -law to take them all in with our niggers, and then they'd have some one -to take care of them! Then we'd do something for them, and there'd be -some hope of keeping 'em comfortable." - -Harry felt in no wise inclined to reply to any of this conversation, -because he knew that, though nominally addressed to him, the good -gentleman was talking merely for the sake of easing his mind, and that -he would have opened his heart just as freely to the next hickory-bush, -if he had not happened to be present. So he let him expend himself, -waiting for an opportunity to introduce subjects which lay nearer his -heart. - -In a convenient pause, he found opportunity to say,-- - -"Miss Nina sent me over here, this morning." - -"Ah, Nin! my pretty little Nin! Bless the child! She did? Why couldn't -she come over herself, and comfort an old fellow's heart? Nin is the -prettiest girl in the county! I tell you that, Harry!" - -"Miss Nina is in a good deal of trouble. Master Tom came home last night -drunk, and to-day he is so cross and contrary she can't do anything with -him." - -"Drunk? Oh, what a sad dog! Tom gets drunk too often! Carries that too -far, altogether! Told him that, the last time I talked to him. Says I, -'Tom, it does very well for a young man to have a spree once in one or -two months. I did it myself, when I was young. But,' says I, 'Tom, to -spree _all_ the time, won't do, Tom!' says I. 'Nobody minds a fellow -being drunk _occasionally_; but he ought to be moderate about it, and -know where to stop,' says I; 'because, when it comes to that, that he is -drunk every day, or every other day, why, it's my opinion that he may -consider the devil's got him!' I talked to Tom just so, right out -square; because, you see, I'm in a father's place to him. But, Lord, it -don't seem to have done him a bit of good! Good Lord! they tell me he is -drunk one half his time, and acts like a crazy creature! Goes too far, -Tom does, altogether. Mrs. G. an't got any patience with him. She blasts -at him every time he comes here, and he blasts at her; so it an't very -comfortable having him here. Good woman at heart, Mrs. Gordon, but a -little strong in her ways, you know; and Tom is strong, too. So it's -fire fight fire when they get together. It's no ways comfortable to a -man wanting to have everybody happy around him. Lord bless me! I wish -Nin were my daughter! Why can't she come over here, and live with me? -She hasn't got any more spirit in her than just what I like. Just enough -fizz in her to keep one from flatting out. What about those beaux of -hers? Is she going to be married? Hey?" - -"There's two gentlemen there, attending upon Miss Nina. One is Mr. -Carson, of New York"-- - -"Hang it all! she isn't going to marry a d----d Yankee! Why, brother -would turn over in his grave!" - -"I don't think it will be necessary to put himself to that trouble," -said Harry, "for I rather think it's Mr. Clayton who is to be the -favored one." - -"Clayton! good blood!--like that! Seems to be a gentlemanly good fellow, -doesn't he?" - -"Yes, sir. He owns a plantation, I'm told, in South Carolina." - -"Ah! ah! that's well! But I hate to spare Nin! I never half liked -sending her off to New York. Don't believe in boarding-schools. I've -seen as fine girls grown on plantations as any man need want. What do we -want to send our girls there, to get fipenny-bit ideas? I thank the -Lord, I never was in New York, and I never mean to be! Carolina born and -raised, I am; and my wife is Virginia--pure breed! No boarding-school -about her! And, when I stood up to be married to her, there wasn't a -girl in Virginia could stand up with her. Her cheeks were like damask -roses! A tall, straight, lively girl, she was! Knew her own mind, and -had a good notion of speaking it, too. And there isn't a woman, now, -that can get through the business she can, and have her eyes always on -everything. If it does make me uncomfortable, every now and then, I -ought to take it, and thank the Lord for it. For, if it wan't for her, -what with the overseer, and the niggers, and the poor white trash, we -should all go to the devil in a heap!" - -"Miss Nina sent me over here to be out of Master Tom's way," said Harry, -after a pause. "He is bent upon hectoring me, as usual. You know, sir, -that he always had a spite against me, and it seems to grow more and -more bitter. He quarrels with her about the management of everything on -the place; and you know, sir, that I try to do my very best, and you and -Mrs. Gordon have always been pleased to say that I did well." - -"So we did, Harry, my boy! So we did! Stay here as long as you like. -Just suit yourself about that. Maybe you'd like to go out shooting with -me." - -"I'm worried," said Harry, "to be obliged to be away just at the time of -putting in the seed. Everything depends upon my overseeing." - -"Why don't you go back, then? Tom's ugliness is nothing but because he -is drunk. There's where it is! I see through it! You see, when a fellow -has had a drunken spree, why, the day after it he is all at loose ends -and cross--nerves all ravelled out, like an old stocking. Then fellows -are sulky and surly like. I've heard of their having temperance -societies up in those northern states, and I think something of that -sort would be good for our young men. They get drunk too often. Full a -third of them, I should reckon, get the delirium tremens before they are -fifty. If we could have a society like them, and that sort of thing, and -agree to be moderate! Nobody expects young men to be old before their -time; but, if they'd agree not to blow out more than once a month, or -something in that way!" - -"I'm afraid," said Harry, "Master Tom's too far gone for that." - -"Oh, ay! yes! Pity, pity! Suppose it is so. Why, when a fellow gets so -far, he's like a nigger's old patched coat--you can't tell where the -real cloth is. Now, Tom; I suppose he never is himself--always up on a -wave, or down in the trough! Heigho! I'm sorry!" - -"It's very hard on Miss Nina," said Harry. "He interferes, and I have no -power to stand for her. And, yesterday, he began talking to my wife in a -way I can't bear, nor won't! He _must_ let her alone!" - -"Sho! sho!" said Mr. Gordon. "See what a boy that is, now! That an't in -the least worth while--that an't! I shall tell Tom so. And, Harry, mind -your temper! Remember, young men will be young; and, if a fellow will -treat himself to a pretty wife, he must expect trials. But Tom ought not -to do so. I shall tell him. High! there comes Jake, with the basket and -the smoke-house key. Now for something to send down to those poor -hobgoblins. If people are going to starve, they mustn't come on to my -place to do it. I don't mind what I don't see--I wouldn't mind if the -whole litter of 'em was drowned to-morrow; but, hang it, I can't stand -it if I know it! So, here, Jake, take this ham and bread, and look 'em -up an old skillet, and see if you can't tinker up the house a bit. I'd -set the fellow to work, when he comes back; only we have two hands to -every turn, now, and the niggers always plague 'em. Harry, you go home, -and tell Nin Mrs. G. and I will be over to dinner." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -DRED. - - -Harry spent the night at the place of Mr. John Gordon, and arose the -next morning in a very discontented mood of mind. Nothing is more -vexatious to an active and enterprising person than to be thrown into a -state of entire idleness; and Harry, after lounging about for a short -time in the morning, found his indignation increased by every moment of -enforced absence from the scene of his daily labors and interest. Having -always enjoyed substantially the privileges of a freeman in the ability -to regulate his time according to his own ideas, to come and go, to buy -and sell, and transact business unfettered by any felt control, he was -the more keenly alive to the degradation implied in his present -position. - -"Here I must skulk around," said he to himself, "like a partridge in the -bushes, allowing everything to run at loose ends, preparing the way for -my being found fault with for a lazy fellow by and by; and all for what? -Because my younger brother chooses to come, without right or reason, to -domineer over me, to insult my wife; and because the laws will protect -him in it, if he does it! Ah! ah! that's it. They are all leagued -together! No matter how right I am--no matter how bad he is! Everybody -will stand up for him, and put me down; all because my grandmother was -born in Africa, and his grandmother was born in America. Confound it -all, I won't stand it! Who knows what he'll be saying and doing to -Lisette while I am gone? I'll go back and face him, like a man! I'll -keep straight about my business, and, if he crosses me, let him take -care! He hasn't got but one life, any more than I have. Let him look -out!" - -And Harry jumped upon his horse, and turned his head homeward. He struck -into a circuitous path, which led along that immense belt of swampy -land to which the name of Dismal has been given. As he was riding along, -immersed in thought, the clatter of horses' feet was heard in front of -him. A sudden turn of the road brought him directly facing to Tom Gordon -and Mr. Jekyl, who had risen early and started off on horseback, in -order to reach a certain stage depot before the heat of the day. There -was a momentary pause on both sides; when Tom Gordon, like one who knows -his power, and is determined to use it to the utmost, broke out, -scornfully:-- - -"Stop, you d----d nigger, and tell your master where you are going!" - -"You are not my master!" said Harry, in words whose concentrated -calmness conveyed more bitterness and wrath than could have been given -by the most violent outburst. - -"You d----d whelp!" said Tom Gordon, striking him across the face twice -with his whip, "take _that_, and _that_! We'll see if I'm not your -master! There, now, help yourself, won't you? Isn't that a master's -mark?" - -It had been the life-long habit of Harry's position to repress every -emotion of anger within himself. But, at this moment, his face wore a -deadly and frightful expression. Still, there was something majestic and -almost commanding in the attitude with which he reined back his horse, -and slowly lifted his hand to Heaven. He tried to speak, but his voice -was choked with repressed passion. At last he said:-- - -"You may be sure, Mr. Gordon, this mark will _never_ be forgotten!" - -There are moments of high excitement, when all that is in a human being -seems to be roused, and to concentrate itself in the eye and the voice. -And, in such moments, _any_ man, apparently by virtue of his mere -humanity, by the mere awfulness of the human soul that is in him, gains -power to overawe those who in other hours scorn him. There was a -minute's pause, in which neither spoke; and Mr. Jekyl, who was a man of -peace, took occasion to touch Tom's elbow, and say:-- - -"It seems to me this isn't worth while--we shall miss the stage." And, -as Harry had already turned his horse and was riding away, Tom Gordon -turned his, shouting after him, with a scornful laugh:-- - -"I called on your wife before I came away this morning, and I liked her -rather better the second time than I did the first!" - -This last taunt flew like a Parthian arrow backward, and struck into the -soul of the bondman with even a keener power than the degrading blow. -The sting of it seemed to rankle more bitterly as he rode along, till at -last he dropped the reins on his horse's neck, and burst into a -transport of bitter cursing. - -"Aha! aha! it has come nigh _thee_, has it? It toucheth _thee_, and thou -faintest!" said a deep voice from the swampy thicket beside him. - -Harry stopped his horse and his imprecations. There was a crackling in -the swamp, and a movement among the copse of briers; and at last the -speaker emerged, and stood before Harry. He was a tall black man, of -magnificent stature and proportions. His skin was intensely black, and -polished like marble. A loose shirt of red flannel, which opened very -wide at the breast, gave a display of a neck and chest of herculean -strength. The sleeves of the shirt, rolled up nearly to the shoulders, -showed the muscles of a gladiator. The head, which rose with an imperial -air from the broad shoulders, was large and massive, and developed with -equal force both in the reflective and perceptive department. The -perceptive organs jutted like dark ridges over the eyes, while that part -of the head which phrenologists attribute to the moral and intellectual -sentiments, rose like an ample dome above them. The large eyes had that -peculiar and solemn effect of unfathomable blackness and darkness which -is often a striking characteristic of the African eye. But there burned -in them, like tongues of flame in a black pool of naphtha, a subtle and -restless fire that betokened habitual excitement to the verge of -insanity. If any organs were predominant in the head, they were those of -ideality, wonder, veneration, and firmness; and the whole combination -was such as might have formed one of the wild old warrior prophets of -the heroic ages. He wore a fantastic sort of turban, apparently of an -old scarlet shawl, which added to the outlandish effect of his -appearance. His nether garments, of coarse negro-cloth, were girded -round the waist by a strip of scarlet flannel, in which was thrust a -bowie-knife and hatchet. Over one shoulder he carried a rifle, and a -shot-pouch was suspended to his belt. A rude game-bag hung upon his -arm. Wild and startling as the apparition might have been, it appeared -to be no stranger to Harry; for, after the first movement of surprise, -he said, in a tone of familiar recognition, in which there was blended -somewhat of awe and respect:-- - -"Oh, it is you, then, Dred! I didn't know that you were hearing me!" - -"Have I not heard?" said the speaker, raising his arm, and his eyes -gleaming with wild excitement. "How long wilt thou halt between two -opinions? Did not Moses refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's -daughter? How long wilt thou cast in thy lot with the oppressors of -Israel, who say unto thee, 'Bow down that we may walk over thee'? Shall -not the Red Sea be divided? 'Yea,' saith the Lord, 'it shall.'" - -"Dred! I know what you mean!" said Harry, trembling with excitement. - -"Yea, thou dost!" said the figure. "Yea, thou dost! Hast thou not eaten -the fat and drunk the sweet with the oppressor, and hid thine eyes from -the oppression of thy people? Have not _our_ wives been for a prey, and -thou hast not regarded? Hath not our cheek been given to the smiter? -Have we not been counted as sheep for the slaughter? But thou saidst, -'Lo! I knew it not,' and didst hide thine eyes! Therefore, the curse of -Meroz is upon thee, saith the Lord. And _thou_ shalt bow down to the -oppressor, and his rod shall be upon thee; and _thy_ wife shall be for a -prey!" - -"Don't talk in that way!--don't!" said Harry, striking out his hands -with a frantic gesture, as if to push back the words. "You are raising -the very devil in me!" - -"Look here, Harry," said the other, dropping from the high tone he at -first used to that of common conversation, and speaking in bitter irony, -"did your master strike you? It's sweet to kiss the rod, isn't it? Bend -your neck and ask to be struck again!--won't you? Be meek and lowly! -that's the religion for you! You are a _slave_, and you wear broadcloth, -and sleep soft. By and by he will give you a fip to buy salve for those -cuts! Don't fret about your wife! Women always like the master better -than the slave! Why shouldn't they? When a man licks his master's foot, -his wife scorns him,--serves him right. Take it meekly, my boy! -'Servants, obey your masters.' Take your master's old coats--take your -wife when he's done with her--and bless God that brought you under the -light of the Gospel! Go! _you_ are a slave! But as for me," he said, -drawing up his head, and throwing back his shoulders with a deep -inspiration, "_I_ am a free man! Free by this," holding out his rifle. -"Free by the Lord of hosts, that numbereth the stars, and calleth them -forth by their names. Go home--that's all I have to say to you! You -sleep in a curtained bed.--I sleep on the ground, in the swamps! You eat -the fat of the land. I have what the ravens bring me! But no man whips -me!--no man touches _my_ wife!--no man says to me, 'Why do ye so?' Go! -_you_ are a slave!--I am free!" And, with one athletic bound, he sprang -into the thicket, and was gone. - -The effect of this address on the already excited mind of the bondman -may be better conceived than described. He ground his teeth, and -clenched his hands. - -"Stop!" he cried; "Dred, I will--I will--I'll do as you tell me--I will -not be a slave!" - -A scornful laugh was the only reply, and the sound of crackling -footsteps retreated rapidly. He who retreated struck up, in a clear, -loud voice, one of those peculiar melodies in which vigor and spirit are -blended with a wild inexpressible mournfulness. The voice was one of a -singular and indescribable quality of tone; it was heavy as the sub-bass -of an organ, and of a velvety softness, and yet it seemed to pierce the -air with a keen dividing force which is generally characteristic of -voices of much less volume. The words were the commencement of a wild -camp-meeting hymn, much in vogue in those parts:-- - - - "Brethren, don't you hear the sound? - The martial trumpet now is blowing; - Men in order listing round, - And soldiers to the standard flowing." - - -There was a wild, exultant fulness of liberty that rolled in the note; -and, to Harry's excited ear, there seemed in it a fierce challenge of -contempt to his imbecility, and his soul at that moment seemed to be -rent asunder with a pang such as only those can know who have felt what -it is to be a slave. There was an uprising within him, vague, -tumultuous, overpowering; dim instincts, heroic aspirations; the will -to do, the soul to dare; and then, in a moment, there followed the -picture of all society leagued against him, the hopeless impossibility -of any outlet to what was burning within him. The waters of a nature -naturally rally noble, pent up, and without outlet, rolled back upon his -heart with a suffocating force: and, in his hasty anguish, he cursed the -day of his birth. The spasm of his emotion was interrupted by the sudden -appearance of Milly coming along the path. - -"Why, bless you, Milly," said Harry in sudden surprise, "where are you -going?" - -"Oh, bless you, honey, chile. I's gwine on to take de stage. Dey wanted -to get up de wagon for me; but, bless you, says I, what you s'pose de -Lord gin us legs for? I never wants no critturs to tug me round, when I -can walk myself. And, den, honey, it's so pleasant like, to be a walking -along in de bush here, in de morning; 'pears like de voice of de Lord is -walking among de trees. But, bless you, chile, honey, what's de matter -o' yer face?" - -"It's Tom Gordon, d--n him!" said Harry. - -'Don't talk dat ar way, chile!' said Milly; using the freedom with Harry -which her years and weight of character had gradually secured for her -among the members of the plantation. - -"I _will_ talk that way! Why shouldn't I? I am not going to be good any -longer." - -"Why, 'twon't help de matter to be _bad_, will it, Harry? 'Cause you -hate Tom Gordon, does you want to act just like him?" - -"No!" said Harry, "I won't be like him, but I'll have my revenge! Old -Dred has been talking to me again, this morning. He always did stir me -up so that I could hardly live; and I won't stand it any longer!" - -"Chile," said Milly, "you take care! Keep clear on him! He's in de -wilderness of Sinai; he is with de blackness, and darkness, and tempest. -He han't come to de heavenly Jerusalem. Oh! Oh! honey! dere's a blood of -sprinkling dat speaketh better things dan dat of Abel. Jerusalem above -is _free_--is _free_, honey; so, don't you mind, now, what happens in -_dis_ yer time." - -"Ah, ah, Aunt Milly! this may do well enough for old women like you; -but, stand opposite to a young fellow like me, with good strong arms, -and a pair of doubled fists, and a body and soul just as full of light -as they can be; it don't answer to go to telling about a heavenly -Jerusalem! We want something here. We'll have it too! How do you know -there is any heaven, anyhow?" - -"Know it?" said Milly, her eye kindling, and striking her staff on the -ground. "Know it? I knows it by de _hankering arter it_ I got in here;" -giving her broad chest a blow which made it resound like a barrel. "De -Lord knowed what he was 'bout when he made us. When he made babies -rooting round, with der poor little mouths open, he made milk, and de -mammies for 'em too. Chile, we's nothing but great babies, but an't got -our eyes opened--rooting round and round; but de Father'll feed us -yet--he will so." - -"He's a long time about it," said Harry, sullenly. - -"Well, chile, an't it a long time 'fore your corn sprouts--a long time -'fore it gets into de ears?--but you plants for all dat. What's dat to -me what I is here?--Shan't I reign with de Lord Jesus?" - -"I don't know," said Harry. - -"Well, honey, _I does_! Jest so sure as I's standing on dis yer ground. -I knows in a few years I shall be reigning with de Lord Jesus, and a -casting my crown at his feet. Dat's what I knows. Flesh and blood didn't -reveal it unto me, but de Spirit of de Father. It's no odds to me what I -does here; every road leads straight to glory, and de glory an't got no -end to it!" And Milly uplifted her voice in a favorite stave-- - - - "When we've been dere ten thousand years, - Bright shining like de sun, - We've no less days to sing God's praise - Than when we first begun." - - -"Chile," said she to him, solemnly, "I an't a fool. Does ye s'pose dat I -thinks folks has any business to be sitting on der cheers all der life -long, and working me, and living on my money? Why, I knows dey han't! -An't it all wrong, from fust to last, de way dey makes merchandise o' -us! Why, I know it is; but I's still about it, for de Lord's sake. I -don't work for Miss Loo; I works for de Lord Jesus; and he is good -pay--no mistake, now I tell you." - -"Well," said Harry, a little shaken, but not convinced, "after all, -there isn't much use in trying to do any other way. But you're lucky in -feeling so, Aunt Milly; but I can't." - -"Well, chile, any way, don't you do nothing rash, and don't you hear -_him_. Dat ar way out is through seas of blood. Why, chile, would you -turn against Miss Nina? Chile, if they get a going, they won't spare -nobody. Don't you start up dat ar tiger; 'cause, I tell ye, ye can't -chain him, if ye do!" - -"Yes," said Harry, "I see it's all madness, perfect madness; there's no -use thinking, no use talking. Well, good-morning, Aunt Milly. Peace go -with you!" And the young man started his horse, and was soon out of -sight. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE CONSPIRATORS. - - -We owe our readers now some words of explanation respecting the new -personage who has been introduced into our history; therefore we must go -back somewhat, and allude to certain historical events of painful -significance. - -It has been a problem to many, how the system of slavery in America -should unite the two apparent inconsistencies of a code of slave-laws -more severe than that of any other civilized nation, with an average -practice at least as indulgent as any other; for, bad as slavery is at -the best, it may yet be admitted that the practice, as a whole, has been -less cruel in this country than in many. An examination into history -will show us that the cruelty of the laws resulted from the effects of -indulgent practice. During the first years of importation of slaves into -South Carolina, they enjoyed many privileges. Those who lived in -intelligent families, and had any desire to learn, were instructed in -reading and writing. Liberty was given them to meet in assemblies of -worship, in class-meetings, and otherwise, without the presence of white -witnesses; and many were raised to situations of trust and consequence. -The result of this was the development of a good degree of intelligence -and manliness among the slaves. There arose among them grave, -thoughtful, energetic men, with their ears and eyes open, and their -minds constantly awake to compare and reason. - -When minds come into this state, in a government professing to be -founded on principles of universal equality, it follows that almost -every public speech, document, or newspaper, becomes an incendiary -publication. - -Of this fact the southern slave states have ever exhibited the most -singular unconsciousness. Documents containing sentiments most dangerous -for slaves to hear have been publicly read and applauded among them. -The slave has heard, amid shouts, on the Fourth of July, that his -masters held the truth to be self-evident that all men were born equal, -and had an _inalienable right_ to life, liberty, and the pursuit of -happiness; and that all governments derive their just power from the -consent of the governed. Even the mottoes of newspapers have embodied -sentiments of the most insurrectionary character. - -Such inscriptions as "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God" stand, -to this day, in large letters, at the head of southern newspapers; while -speeches of senators and public men, in which the principles of -universal democracy are asserted, are constant matters of discussion. -Under such circumstances, it is difficult to induce the servant, who -feels that he is a man, to draw those lines which seem so obvious to -masters, by whom this fact has been forgotten. Accordingly we find that -when the discussions for the admission of Missouri as a slave state -produced a wave whose waters undulated in every part of the Union, there -were found among the slaves men of unusual thought and vigor, who were -no inattentive witnesses and listeners. The discussions were printed in -the newspapers; and what was printed in the newspapers was further -discussed at the post-office door, in the tavern, in the bar-room, at -the dinner-party, where black servants were listening behind the chairs. -A free colored man in the city of Charleston, named Denmark Vesey, was -the one who had the hardihood to seek to use the electric fluid in the -cloud thus accumulated. He conceived the hopeless project of imitating -the example set by the American race, and achieving independence for the -blacks. - -Our knowledge of this man is derived entirely from the printed reports -of the magistrates who gave an account of the insurrection, of which he -was the instigator, and who will not, of course, be supposed to be -unduly prejudiced in his favor. They state that he was first brought to -the country by one Captain Vesey, a young lad, distinguished for -personal beauty and great intelligence, and that he proved, for twenty -years, a most faithful slave; but, on drawing a prize of fifteen hundred -dollars in the lottery, he purchased his freedom of his master, and -worked as a carpenter in the city of Charleston. He was distinguished -for strength and activity, and, as the accounts state, maintained such -an irreproachable character, and enjoyed so much the confidence of the -whites, that when he was accused, the charge was not only discredited, -but he was not even arrested for several days after, and not till the -proof of his guilt had become too strong to be doubted. His historians -go on, with considerable _naïveté_, to remark:-- - -"It is difficult to conceive _what motive he had to enter into such a -plot_, unless it was the one mentioned by one of the witnesses, who said -that Vesey had _several children who were slaves_, and that he said, on -one occasion, _he wished he could see them free_, as he himself artfully -remarked in his defence on his trial." - -It appears that the project of rousing and animating the blacks to this -enterprise occupied the mind of Vesey for more than four years, during -which time he was continually taking opportunities to animate and -inspire the spirits of his countrymen. The account states that the -speeches in Congress of those opposed to the admission of Missouri into -the Union, perhaps garbled and misrepresented, furnished him with ample -means for inflaming the minds of the colored population. - -"Even while walking in the street," the account goes on to say, "he was -not idle; for, if his companion bowed to a white person, as slaves -universally do, he would rebuke him, and observe, 'that all men were -born equal, and that he was surprised that any one would degrade himself -by such conduct; that he would never cringe to the whites nor ought any -one to, who had the feelings of a man.'[1] When answered, 'We are -slaves,' he would say, sarcastically and indignantly, 'You deserve to -remain slaves!' And, if he were further asked, 'What can we do?' he -would remark, 'Go and buy a spelling-book, and read the fable of -"Hercules and the Wagoner."' He also sought every opportunity of -entering into conversation with white persons, during which conversation -he would artfully introduce some bold remark on slavery; and sometimes, -when, from the character he was conversing with, he found he might be -still bolder, he would go so far that, had not his declarations been -clearly proved, they would scarcely have been credited." - -But his great instrument of influence was a book that has always been -prolific of insurrectionary movements, under all systems of despotism. - -"He rendered himself perfectly familiar with all those parts of -Scripture which he thought he could pervert to his purpose, and would -readily quote them to prove that slavery was contrary to the laws of -God, and that slaves were bound to attempt their emancipation, however -shocking and bloody might be the consequences; that such efforts would -not only be pleasing to the Almighty, but were absolutely enjoined." - -Vesey, in the course of time, associated with himself five slavemen of -marked character--Rolla, Ned, Peter, Monday, and Gullah Jack. Of these, -the account goes on to say:-- - -"In the selection of his leaders, Vesey showed great penetration and -sound judgment. Rolla was plausible, and possessed uncommon -self-possession; bold and ardent, he was not to be deterred from his -purpose by danger. Ned's appearance indicated that he was a man of firm -nerves and desperate courage. Peter was intrepid and resolute, true to -his engagements, and cautious in observing secrecy where it was -necessary; he was not to be daunted nor impeded by difficulties, and, -though confident of success, was careful in providing against any -obstacles or casualties which might arise, and intent upon discovering -every means which might be in their power, if thought of beforehand. -Gullah Jack was regarded as a sorcerer, and, as such, feared by the -natives of Africa, who believed in witchcraft. He was not only -considered invulnerable, but that he could make others so by his charms, -and that he could, and certainly would, provide all his followers with -arms. He was artful, cruel, bloody; his disposition, in short, was -diabolical. His influence among the Africans was inconceivable. Monday -was firm, resolute, discreet, and intelligent." - -"It is a melancholy truth that the general good conduct of all the -leaders, except Gullah Jack, was such as rendered them objects least -liable to suspicion. Their conduct had secured them, not only the -unlimited confidence of their owners, but they had been indulged in -every comfort, and allowed every privilege compatible with their -situation in the community; and, though Gullah Jack was not remarkable -for the correctness of his deportment, he by no means sustained a bad -character. But," adds the report, "not only were the leaders of good -character, and very much indulged by their owners, but this was very -generally the case with all who were convicted, many of them possessing -the highest confidence of their owners, _and not one a bad character_." - -"The conduct and behavior of Vesey and his five leaders during their -trial and imprisonment may be interesting to many. When Vesey was tried, -he folded his arms, and seemed to pay great attention to the testimony -given against him, but with his eyes fixed on the floor. In this -situation he remained immovable until the witnesses had been examined by -the court, and cross-examined by his counsel, when he requested to be -allowed to examine the witnesses himself, which he did. The evidence -being closed, he addressed the court at considerable length. When he -received his sentence, tears trickled down his cheeks. - -"Rolla, when arraigned, affected not to understand the charge against -him; and when, at his request, it was explained to him, assumed, with -wonderful adroitness, astonishment and surprise. He was remarkable -throughout his trial for composure and great presence of mind. When he -was informed that he was convicted, and was advised to prepare for -death, he appeared perfectly confounded, but exhibited no signs of fear. - -"In Ned's behavior there was nothing remarkable. His countenance was -stern and immovable, even while he was receiving sentence of death. From -his looks it was impossible to discover or conjecture what were his -feelings. Not so with Peter Poyes. In his countenance were strongly -marked disappointed ambition, revenge, indignation, and an anxiety to -know how far the discoveries had extended. He did not appear to fear -personal consequences, for his whole behavior indicated the reverse, but -exhibited an evident anxiety for the success of their plan, in which his -whole soul was embarked. His countenance and behavior were the same when -he received his sentence, and his only words were, on retiring, 'I -suppose you'll let me see my wife and family before I die,' and that in -no supplicating tone. When he was asked, a day or two after, 'If it was -possible that he could see his master and family murdered, who had -treated him so kindly?' he replied to the question only by a smile. In -their prison, the convicts resolutely refused to make any confessions or -communications which might implicate others; and Peter Poyes sternly -enjoined it upon them to maintain this silence,--'_Do not open your -lips; die silent, as you will see me do!_' and in this resolute silence -they met their fate. Twenty-two of the conspirators were executed upon -one gallows." - -The account says, "That Peter Poyes was one of the most active of the -recruiting agents. All the principal conspirators kept a list of those -who had consented to join them, and Peter was said, by one of the -witnesses, to have had six hundred names on his list; but, so resolutely -to the last did he observe his pledge of secrecy to his associates, -that, of the whole number arrested and tried, not one of them belonged -to his company. In fact, in an insurrection in which thousands of -persons were supposed to have been implicated, only thirty-six were -convicted." - -Among the children of Denmark Vesey was a boy by a Mandingo slave-woman, -who was his father's particular favorite. The Mandingos are one of the -finest of African tribes, distinguished for intelligence, beauty of -form, and an indomitable pride and energy of nature. As slaves, they are -considered particularly valuable by those who have tact enough to govern -them, because of their great capability and their proud faithfulness; -but they resent a government of brute force, and under such are always -fractious and dangerous. - -This boy received from his mother the name of Dred; a name not unusual -among the slaves, and generally given to those of great physical force. - -The development of this child's mind was so uncommon as to excite -astonishment among the negroes. He early acquired the power of reading, -by an apparent instinctive faculty, and would often astonish those -around him with things which he had discovered in books. Like other -children of a deep and fervent nature, he developed great religious -ardor, and often surprised the older negroes by his questions and -replies on this subject. A son so endowed could not but be an object of -great pride and interest to a father like Denmark Vesey. The impression -seemed to prevail universally among the negroes that this child was born -for extraordinary things; and perhaps it was the yearning to acquire -liberty for the development of such a mind which first led Denmark Vesey -to reflect on the nature of slavery, and the terrible weights which it -lays on the human intellect, and to conceive the project of liberating a -race. - -The Bible, of which Vesey was an incessant reader, stimulated this -desire. He likened his own position of comparative education, -competence, and general esteem among the whites, to that of Moses among -the Egyptians; and nourished the idea that, like Moses, he was sent as a -deliverer. During the process of the conspiracy, this son, though but -ten years of age, was his father's confidant; and he often charged him, -though he should fail in the attempt, never to be discouraged. He -impressed it upon his mind that he should never submit tamely to the -yoke of slavery; and nourished the idea already impressed, that some -more than ordinary destiny was reserved for him. After the discovery of -the plot, and the execution of its leaders, those more immediately -connected with them were sold from the state, even though not proved to -have participated. With the most guarded caution, Vesey had exempted -this son from suspicion. It had been an agreed policy with them both, -that in the presence of others they should counterfeit alienation and -dislike. Their confidential meetings with each other had been stolen and -secret. At the time of his father's execution, Dred was a lad of -fourteen. He could not be admitted to his father's prison, but he was a -witness of the undaunted aspect with which he and the other conspirators -met their doom. The memory dropped into the depths of his soul, as a -stone drops into the desolate depths of a dark mountain lake. - -Sold to a distant plantation, he became noted for his desperate, -unsubduable disposition. He joined in none of the social recreations and -amusements of the slaves, labored with proud and silent assiduity, but, -on the slightest rebuke or threat, flashed up with a savage fierceness, -which, supported by his immense bodily strength, made him an object of -dread among overseers. He was one of those of whom they gladly rid -themselves; and, like a fractious horse, was sold from master to master. -Finally, an overseer, hardier than the rest, determined on the task of -subduing him. In the scuffle that ensued Dred struck him to the earth, a -dead man, made his escape to the swamps, and was never afterwards heard -of in civilized life. - -The reader who consults the map will discover that the whole eastern -shore of the southern states, with slight interruptions, is belted by an -immense chain of swamps, regions of hopeless disorder, where the -abundant growth and vegetation of nature, sucking up its forces from the -humid soil, seems to rejoice in a savage exuberance, and bid defiance to -all human efforts either to penetrate or subdue. These wild regions are -the homes of the alligator, the moccasin, and the rattle-snake. -Evergreen trees, mingling freely with the deciduous children of the -forest, form here dense jungles, verdant all the year round, and which -afford shelter to numberless birds, with whose warbling the leafy -desolation perpetually resounds. Climbing vines, and parasitic plants, -of untold splendor and boundless exuberance of growth, twine and -interlace, and hang from the heights of the highest trees pennons of -gold and purple,--triumphant banners, which attest the solitary majesty -of nature. A species of parasitic moss wreaths its abundant draperies -from tree to tree, and hangs in pearly festoons, through which shine the -scarlet berry and green leaves of the American holly. - -What the mountains of Switzerland were to the persecuted Vaudois, this -swampy belt has been to the American slave. The constant effort to -recover from thence fugitives has led to the adoption, in these states, -of a separate profession, unknown at this time in any other Christian -land--hunters, who train and keep dogs for the hunting of men, women, -and children. And yet, with all the convenience of this profession, the -reclaiming of the fugitives from these fastnesses of nature has been a -work of such expense and difficulty, that the near proximity of the -swamp has always been a considerable check on the otherwise absolute -power of the overseer. Dred carried with him to the swamp but one -solitary companion--the Bible of his father. To him it was not the -messenger of peace and good-will, but the herald of woe and wrath! - -As the mind, looking on the great volume of nature, sees there a -reflection of its own internal passions, and seizes on that in it which -sympathizes with itself,--as the fierce and savage soul delights in the -roar of torrents, the thunder of avalanches, and the whirl of -ocean-storms,--so is it in the great answering volume of revelation. -There is something there for every phase of man's nature; and hence its -endless vitality and stimulating force. Dred had heard read in the -secret meetings of conspirators the wrathful denunciations of ancient -prophets against oppression and injustice. He had read of kingdoms -convulsed by plagues; of tempest, and pestilence, and locusts; of the -sea cleft in twain, that an army of slaves might pass through, and of -their pursuers whelmed in the returning waters. He had heard of prophets -and deliverers, armed with supernatural powers, raised up for oppressed -people; had pondered on the nail of Jael, the goad of Shamgar, the -pitcher and lamp of Gideon; and thrilled with fierce joy as he read how -Samson, with his two strong arms, pulled down the pillars of the festive -temple, and whelmed his triumphant persecutors in one grave with -himself. - -In the vast solitudes which he daily traversed, these things entered -deep into his soul. Cut off from all human companionship, often going -weeks without seeing a human face, there was no recurrence of every-day -and prosaic ideas to check the current of the enthusiasm thus kindled. -Even in the soil of the cool Saxon heart the Bible has thrown out its -roots with an all-pervading energy, so that the whole frame-work of -society may be said to rest on soil held together by its fibres. Even in -cold and misty England, armies have been made defiant and invincible by -the incomparable force and deliberate valor which it breathes into men. -But, when this oriental seed, an exotic among us, is planted back in the -fiery soil of a tropical heart, it bursts forth with an incalculable -ardor of growth. - -A stranger cannot fail to remark the fact that, though the slaves of the -south are unable to read the Bible for themselves, yet most completely -have its language and sentiment penetrated among them, giving a -Hebraistic coloring to their habitual mode of expression. How much -greater, then, must have been the force of the solitary perusal of this -volume on so impassioned a nature!--a nature, too, kindled by memories -of the self-sacrificing ardor with which a father and his associates had -met death at the call of freedom; for, none of us may deny that, wild -and hopeless as this scheme was, it was still the same in kind with the -more successful one which purchased for our fathers a national -existence. - -A mind of the most passionate energy and vehemence, thus awakened, for -years made the wild solitudes of the swamp its home. That book, so full -of startling symbols and vague images, had for him no interpreter but -the silent courses of nature. His life passed in a kind of dream. -Sometimes, traversing for weeks these desolate regions, he would compare -himself to Elijah traversing for forty days and nights the solitudes of -Horeb; or to John the Baptist in the wilderness, girding himself with -camel's hair, and eating locusts and wild honey. Sometimes he would fast -and pray for days; and then voices would seem to speak to him, and -strange hieroglyphics would be written upon the leaves. In less elevated -moods of mind, he would pursue, with great judgment and vigor, those -enterprises necessary to preserve existence. The negroes lying out in -the swamps are not so wholly cut off from society as might at first be -imagined. The slaves of all the adjoining plantations, whatever they may -pretend, to secure the good-will of their owners, are at heart secretly -disposed, from motives both of compassion and policy, to favor the -fugitives. They very readily perceive that, in the event of any -difficulty occurring to themselves, it might be quite necessary to have -a friend and protector in the swamp; and therefore they do not hesitate -to supply these fugitives, so far as they are able, with anything which -they may desire. The poor whites, also, who keep small shops in the -neighborhood of plantations, are never particularly scrupulous, provided -they can turn a penny to their own advantage; and willingly supply -necessary wares in exchange for game, with which the swamp abounds. - -Dred, therefore, came in possession of an excellent rifle, and never -wanted for ammunition, which supplied him with an abundance of food. -Besides this, there are here and there elevated spots in the swampy -land, which, by judicious culture, are capable of great productiveness. -And many such spots Dred had brought under cultivation, either with his -own hands, or from those of other fugitives, whom he had received and -protected. From the restlessness of his nature, he had not confined -himself to any particular region, but had traversed the whole swampy -belt of both the Carolinas, as well as that of Southern Virginia; -residing a few months in one place, and a few months in another. -Wherever he stopped, he formed a sort of retreat, where he received and -harbored fugitives. On one occasion, he rescued a trembling and bleeding -mulatto woman from the dogs of the hunters, who had pursued her into the -swamp. This woman he made his wife, and appeared to entertain a very -deep affection for her. He made a retreat for her, with more than common -ingenuity, in the swamp adjoining the Gordon plantation; and, after -that, he was more especially known in that locality. He had fixed his -eye upon Harry, as a person whose ability, address, and strength of -character, might make him at some day a leader in a conspiracy against -the whites. Harry, in common with many of the slaves on the Gordon -plantation, knew perfectly well of the presence of Dred in the -neighborhood, and had often seen and conversed with him. But neither he -nor any of the rest of them ever betrayed before any white person the -slightest knowledge of the fact. - -This ability of profound secrecy is one of the invariable attendants of -a life of slavery. Harry was acute enough to know that his position was -by no means so secure that he could afford to dispense with anything -which might prove an assistance in some future emergency. The low white -traders in the neighborhood also knew Dred well; but, as long as they -could drive an advantageous trade with him, he was secure from their -intervention. So secure had he been, that he had been even known to -mingle in the motley throng of a camp-meeting unmolested. Thus much with -regard to one who is to appear often on the stage before our history is -done. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] These extracts are taken from the official report. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -SUMMER TALK AT CANEMA. - - -In the course of a few days the family circle at Canema was enlarged by -the arrival of Clayton's sister; and Carson, in excellent spirits, had -started for a Northern watering-place. In answer to Nina's letter of -invitation, Anne had come with her father, who was called to that -vicinity by the duties of his profession. Nina received her with her -usual gay frankness of manner; and Anne, like many others, soon found -herself liking her future sister much better than she had expected. -Perhaps, had Nina been in any other situation than that of hostess, her -pride might have led her to decline making the agreeable to Anne, whom, -notwithstanding, she very much wished to please. But she was mistress of -the mansion, and had an Arab's idea of the privileges of a guest; and so -she chatted, sang, and played for her; she took her about, showed her -the walks, the arbors, the flower-garden; waited on her in her own -apartment, with a thousand little attentions, all the more fascinating -from the kind of careless independence with which they were rendered. -Besides, Nina had vowed a wicked little vow in her heart that she would -ride rough-shod over Anne's dignity; that she wouldn't let her be grave -or sensible, but that she should laugh and frolic with her. And Clayton -could scarce help smiling at the success that soon crowned her -exertions. Nina's gayety, when in full tide, had a breezy infectiousness -in it, that seemed to stir up every one about her and carry them on the -tide of her own spirits; and Anne, in her company, soon found herself -laughing at everything and nothing, simply because she felt gay. - -To crown all, Uncle John Gordon arrived, with his cheery, jovial face; -and he was one of those fearless, hit-or-miss talkers, that are -invaluable in social dilemmas, because they keep something or other all -the while in motion. - -With him came Madam Gordon, or, as Nina commonly called her, Aunt -Maria. She was a portly, finely-formed, middle-aged woman, who might -have been handsome, had not the lines of care and nervous anxiety -ploughed themselves so deeply in her face. Her bright, keen, hazel eyes, -fine teeth, and the breadth of her ample form, attested the vitality of -the old Virginia stock from whence she sprung. - -"There," said Nina, to Anne Clayton, as they sat in the shady side of -the veranda, "I've marshalled Aunt Maria up into Aunt Nesbit's room, and -there they will have a comfortable dish of lamentation over me." - -"Over you?" said Anne. - -"Yes--over me, to be sure!--that's the usual order of exercises. Such a -setting down as I shall get! They'll count up on their fingers all the -things I ought to know and don't, and ought to do and can't. I believe -that's the way relatives always show their affection--aunts in -particular--by mourning over you." - -"And what sort of a list will they make out?" said Anne. - -"Oh, bless me, that's easy enough. Why, there's Aunt Maria is a -perfectly virulent housekeeper--really insane, I believe, on that -subject. Why, she chases up every rat and mouse and cockroach, every -particle of dust, every scrap of litter. She divides her hours, and is -as punctual as a clock. She rules her household with a rod of iron, and -makes everybody stand round; and tells each one how many times a day -they may wink. She keeps accounts like a very dragon, and always is sure -to pounce on anybody that is in the least out of the way. She cuts out -clothes by the bale; she sews, and she knits, and she jingles keys. And -all this kind of bustle she calls housekeeping! Now, what do you suppose -she must think of me, who just put on my hat in the morning, and go -sailing down the walks, looking at the flowers, till Aunt Katy calls me -back, to know what my orders are for the day?" - -"Pray, who is Aunt Katy?" said Anne. - -"Oh, she is my female prime minister; and she is very much like some -prime ministers I have studied about in history, who always contrive to -have their own way, let what will come. Now, when Aunt Katy comes and -wants to know, so respectfully, 'What Miss Nina is going to have for -dinner,' do you suppose she has the least expectation of getting -anything that I order? She always has fifty objections to anything that -I propose. For sometimes the fit comes over me to try to be -_house-keepy_, like Aunt Maria; but it's no go, I can tell you. So, when -she has proved that everything that I propose is the height of -absurdity, and shown conclusively that there's nothing fit to be eaten -in the neighborhood, by that time I am reduced to a proper state of -mind. And, when I humbly say, 'Aunt Katy, what _shall_ we do?' then she -gives a little cough, and out comes the whole programme, just as she had -arranged it the night before. And so it goes. As to accounts, why Harry -has to look after them. I detest everything about money, except the -spending of it--I have rather a talent for that. Now, just think how -awfully all this must impress poor Aunt Maria! What sighings, and -rollings up of eyes, and shakings of heads, there are over me! And, -then, Aunt Nesbit is always dinging at me about improving my mind! And -improving my mind means reading some horrid, stupid, boring old book, -just as she does! Now, I like the idea of improving my mind. I am sure -it wants improving, bad enough; but, then, I can't help thinking that -racing through the garden, and cantering through the woods, improves it -faster than getting asleep over books. It seems to me that books are -just like dry hay--very good when there isn't any fresh grass to be had. -But I'd rather be out and eat what's growing. Now, what people call -nature never bores me; but almost every book I ever saw does. Don't you -think people are made differently? Some like books, and some like -things; don't you think so?" - -"I can give you a good fact on your side of the argument," said Clayton, -who had come up behind them during the conversation. - -"I didn't know I was arguing; but I shall be glad to have anything on my -side," said Nina, "of course." - -"Well, then," said Clayton, "I'll say that the books that have -influenced the world the longest, the widest, and deepest, have been -written by men who attended to _things_ more than to books; who, as you -say, eat what was growing, instead of dry hay. Homer couldn't have had -much to read in his time, nor the poets of the Bible; and they have -been fountains for all ages. I don't believe Shakespeare was much of a -reader." - -"Well, but," said Anne, "don't you think that, for us common folks, who -are not going to be either Homers or Shakespeares, that it's best to -have two strings to our bow, and to gain instruction both from books and -things?" - -"To be sure," said Clayton, "if we only use books aright. With many -people, reading is only a form of mental indolence, by which they escape -the labor of thinking for themselves. Some persons are like Pharaoh's -lean kine; they swallow book upon book, but remain as lean as ever." - -"My grandfather used to say," said Anne, "that the Bible and Shakespeare -were enough for a woman's library." - -"Well," said Nina, "I don't like Shakespeare, there! I'm coming out flat -with it. In the first place, I don't understand half he says; and, then, -they talk about his being so very natural! I'm sure I never heard people -talk as he makes them. Now, did you ever hear people talk in blank -verse, with every now and then one or two lines of rhyme, as his -characters do when they go off in long speeches? Now, did you?" - -"As to that," said Clayton, "it's about half and half. His conversations -have just about the same resemblance to real life that acting at the -opera has. It is not natural for Norma to burst into a song when she -discovers the treachery of her husband. You make that concession to the -nature of the opera, in the first place; and then, with that reserve, -all the rest strikes you as natural, and the music gives an added charm -to it. So in Shakespeare, you concede that the plays are to be poems, -and that the people are to talk in rhythm, and with all the exaltation -of poetic sentiment; and, that being admitted, their conversations may -seem natural." - -"But I can't _understand_ a great deal that Shakespeare says," said -Nina. - -"Because so many words and usages are altered since he wrote," said -Clayton. "Because there are so many allusions to incidents that have -passed, and customs that have perished, that you have, as it were, to -acquire his language before you can understand him. Suppose a poem were -written in a foreign tongue; you couldn't say whether you liked it or -disliked it till you could read the language. Now, my opinion is, that -there is a liking for Shakespeare hidden in your nature, like a seed -that has not sprouted." - -"What makes you think so?" - -"Oh, I see it in you, just as a sculptor sees a statue in a block of -marble." - -"And are you going to chisel it out?" said Nina. - -"With your leave," said Clayton. "After all, I like your sincerity in -saying what you do think. I have often heard ladies profess an -admiration for Shakespeare that I knew couldn't be real. I knew that -they had neither the experience of life, nor the insight into human -nature, really to appreciate what is in him; and that their liking for -him was all a worked-up affair, because they felt it would be very -shocking not to like him." - -"Well," said Nina, "I'm much obliged to you for all the sense you find -in my nonsense. I believe I shall keep you to translate my fooleries -into good English." - -"You know I'm quite at your disposal," said Clayton, "for that or -anything else." - -At this moment the attention of Nina was attracted by loud exclamations -from that side of the house where the negro cottages were situated. - -"Get along off! don't want none o' yo old trash here! No, no, Miss Nina -don't want none o' yo old fish! She's got plenty of niggers to ketch her -own fish." - -"Somebody taking my name in vain in those regions," said Nina, running -to the other end of the veranda. "Tomtit," she said to that young -worthy, who lay flat on his back, kicking up his heels in the sun, -waiting for his knives to clean themselves, "pray tell me what's going -on there!" - -"Laws, missis," said Tom, "it's just one of dese yer poor white trash, -coming round here trying to sell one thing o' nother. Miss Loo says it -won't do 'courage 'em, and I's de same 'pinion." - -"Send him round here to me," said Nina, who, partly from humanity, and -partly from a spirit of contradiction, had determined to take up for the -poor white folks, on all occasions. Tomtit ran accordingly, and soon -brought to the veranda a man whose wretchedly tattered clothing scarcely -formed a decent covering. His cheeks were sunken and hollow, and he -stood before Nina with a cringing, half-ashamed attitude; and yet one -might see that, with better dress and better keeping, he might be made -to assume the appearance of a handsome, intelligent man. "What do you -ask for your fish?" she said to him. - -"Anything ye pleases!" - -"Where do you live?" said Nina, drawing out her purse. - -"My folks's staying on Mr. Gordon's place." - -"Why don't you get a place of your own to stay on?" said Nina. - -There was an impatient glance flashed from the man's eye, but it gave -place immediately to his habitual cowed expression, as he said,-- - -"Can't get work--can't get money--can't get nothing." - -"Dear me," said her Uncle John, who had been standing for a moment -listening to the conversation. "This must be husband of that poor -hobgoblin that has lighted down on my place lately. Well, you may as -well pay him a good price for his fish. Keep them from starving one day -longer, may be." And Nina paid the man a liberal sum, and dismissed him. - -"I suppose, now, all my eloquence wouldn't make Rose cook those fish for -dinner," said Nina. - -"Why not, if you told her to?" said Aunt Maria, who had also descended -to the veranda. - -"Why not?--Just because, as she would say, she hadn't _laid out_ to do -it." - -"That's not the way _my_ servants are taught to do!" said Aunt Maria. - -"I'll warrant not," said Nina. "But yours and mine are quite different -affairs, aunt. They all do as they have a mind to, in my '_diggings_.' -All I stipulated for is a little of the same privilege." - -"That man's wife and children have come and '_squatted_' down on my -place," said Mr. Gordon, laughing; "and so, Nin, all you paid for his -fish is just so much saving to me." - -"Yes, to be sure! Mr. Gordon is just one of those men that will have a -tribe of shiftless hangers on at his heels!" said Mrs. Gordon. - -"Well, bless my soul! what's a fellow to do? Can't see the poor heathen -starve, can we? If society could only be organized over, now, there -would be hope for them. The brain ought to control the hands; but among -us the hands try to set up for themselves;--and see what comes of it!" - -"Who do you mean by brain?" said Nina. - -"Who?--Why, _we_ upper crust, to be sure! We educated people! We ought -to have an absolute sway over the working classes, just as the brain -rules the hand. It must come to that, at last--no other arrangement is -possible. The white working classes can't take care of themselves, and -must be put into a condition for us to take care of them. What is -liberty to them?--Only a name--liberty to be hungry and naked, that's -all. It's the strangest thing in the world, how people stick to names! I -suppose that fellow, up there, would flare up terribly at being put in -with my niggers; and yet he and his children are glad of the crumbs that -fall from their table! It's astonishing to me how, with such examples -before them, any decent man can be so stone blind as to run a tilt -against slavery. Just compare the free working classes with our slaves! -Dear me! the blindness of people in this world! It's too much for my -patience, particularly in hot weather!" said Mr. John, wiping his face -with a white pocket-handkerchief. - -"Well, but, Uncle John," said Nina, "my dear old gentleman, you haven't -travelled, as I have." - -"No, child! I thank the Lord I never stepped my foot out of a slave -state, and I never mean to," said Uncle John. - -"But you ought to see the _northern_ working people," said Nina. "Why, -the Governors of the States are farmers, sometimes, and work with their -own men. The brain and the hand go together, in each one--not one great -brain to fifty pair of hands. And, I tell you, work is _done_ up there -very differently from what's done here! Just look at our ploughs and our -hoes!--the most ridiculous things that I ever saw. I should think one of -them would weigh ten pounds!" - -"Well, if you don't have 'em heavy enough to go into the ground by their -own weight, these cussed lazy nigs won't do anything with them. They'd -break a dozen Yankee hoes in a forenoon," said Uncle John. - -"Now," said Nina, "Uncle John, you dear old heathen, you! do let me -tell you a little how it is there. I went up into New Hampshire, once, -with Livy Ray, to spend a vacation. Livy's father is a farmer; works -part of every day with his own men; hoes, digs, plants; but he is -Governor of the State. He has a splendid farm--all in first-rate order; -and his sons, with two or three hired men, keep it in better condition -than our places ever saw. Mr. Ray is a man who reads a great deal; has a -fine library, and he's as much of a gentleman as you'll often see. There -are no high and low _classes_ there. Everybody works; and everybody -seems to have a good time. Livy's mother has a beautiful dairy, spring -house, and two strong women to help her; and everything in the house -looks beautifully; and, for the greater part of the day, the house seems -so neat and still, you wouldn't know anything had been done in it. Seems -to me this is better than making slaves of all the working classes, or -having any working classes at all." - -"How wise young ladies always are!" said Uncle John. "Undoubtedly the -millennium is begun in New Hampshire! But, pray, my dear, what part do -_young_ ladies take in all this? Seems to me, Nin, _you_ haven't picked -up much of this improvement in person." - -"Oh, as to that, I labor in my vocation," said Nina; "that is, of -enlightening dull, sleepy old gentlemen, who never travelled out of the -state they were born in, and don't know what can be done. I come as a -missionary to them; I'm sure that's work enough for one." - -"Well," said Aunt Maria, "I know I am as great a slave as any of the -poor whites, or negroes either. There isn't a soul in my whole troop -that pretends to take any care, except me, either about themselves or -their children, or anything else." - -"I hope that isn't a slant at me!" said Uncle John, shrugging his -shoulders. - -"I must say you are as bad as any of them," said Aunt Maria. - -"There it goes!--now, I'm getting it!" said Uncle John. "I declare, the -next time we get a preacher out here, I'm going to make him hold forth -on the duties of wives!" - -"And husbands, too!" said Aunt Maria. - -"Do," said Nina; "I should like a little prospective information." - -Nina, as often, spoke before she thought. Uncle John gave a malicious -look at Clayton. Nina could not recall the words. She colored deeply, -and went on hastily to change the subject. - -"At any rate, I know that aunt, here, has a much harder time than -housekeepers do in the free states. Just the shoes she wears out chasing -up her negroes would hire help enough to do all her work. They used to -have an idea up there, that all the southern ladies did was to lie on -the sofa. I used to tell them it was as much as they knew about it." - -"_Your_ cares don't seem to have worn you much!" said Uncle John. - -"Well, they will, Uncle John, if you don't behave better. It's enough to -break anybody down to keep you in order." - -"I wish," said Uncle John, shrugging up his shoulders, and looking -quizzically at Clayton, "somebody would take warning!" - -"For my part," said Aunt Maria, "I know one thing: I'd be glad to get -rid of my negroes. Sometimes I think life is such a burden that I don't -think it's worth having." - -"Oh, no, you don't, mother!" said Uncle John; "not with such a charming -husband as you've got, who relieves you from all care so perfectly!" - -"I declare," said Nina, looking along the avenue, "what's that? Why, if -there isn't old Tiff, coming along with his children!" - -"Who is he?" said Aunt Maria. - -"Oh, he belongs to one of these miserable families," said Aunt Nesbit, -"that have squatted in the pine-woods somewhere about here--a poor, -worthless set! but Nina has a great idea of patronizing them." - -"Clear Gordon, every inch of her!" said Aunt Maria, as Nina ran down to -meet Tiff. "Just like her uncle!" - -"Come, now, old lady, I'll tell of _you_, if you don't take care!" said -Mr. Gordon. "Didn't I find you putting up a basket of provisions for -those folks you scolded me so for taking in?" - -"Scold, Mr. Gordon? I never scold!" - -"I beg pardon--that you reproved me for!" - -Ladies generally are not displeased for being reproached for their -charities; and Aunt Maria, whose bark, to use a vulgar proverb, was -infinitely worse than her bite, sat fanning herself, with an air of -self-complacency. Meanwhile, Nina had run down the avenue, and was busy -in a confidential communication with Tiff. On her return, she came -skipping up the steps, apparently in high glee. - -"Oh, Uncle John! there's the greatest fun getting up! You must all go, -certainly! What do you think? Tiff says there's to be a camp-meeting in -the neighborhood, only about five miles off from his place. Let's make -up a party, and all go!" - -"That's the time of day!" said Uncle John. "I enrol myself under your -banner, at once. I am open to improvement! Anybody wants to convert me, -here I am!" - -"The trouble with you, Uncle John," said Nina, "is that you don't _stay_ -converted. You are just like one of these heavy fishes--you bite very -sharp, but, before anybody can get you fairly on to the bank, you are -flapping and floundering back into the water, and down you go into your -sins again. I know at least three ministers who thought they had hooked -you out; but they were mistaken." - -"For my part," said Aunt Maria, "I think these camp-meetings do more -harm than good. They collect all the scum and the riff-raff of the -community, and I believe there's more drinking done at camp-meetings in -one week than is done in six anywhere else. Then, of course, all the -hands will want to be off; and Mr. Gordon has brought them up so that -they feel dreadfully abused if they are not in with everything that's -going on. I shall set down _my_ foot, this year, that they shan't go any -day except Sunday." - -"My wife knows that she was always celebrated for having the handsomest -foot in the country, and so she is always setting it down at _me_!" said -Mr. Gordon; "for she knows that a pretty foot is irresistible with me." - -"Mr. Gordon, how can you talk so? I should think that you'd got old -enough not to make such silly speeches!" said Aunt Maria. - -"Silly speeches! It's a solemn fact, and you won't hear anything truer -at the camp-meeting!" said Uncle John. "But come, Clayton, will you go? -My dear fellow, your grave face will be an appropriate ornament to the -scene, I can assure you; and, as to Miss Anne, it won't do for an old -fellow like me, in this presence, to say what a happiness it would be." - -"I suspect," said Anne, "Edward is afraid he may be called on for some -of the services. People are always taking him for a clergyman, and -asking him to say grace at meals, and to conduct family prayers, when he -is travelling among strangers." - -"It's a comment on our religion, that these should be thought peculiar -offices of clergymen," said Clayton. "Every Christian man ought to be -ready and willing to take them." - -"I honor that sentiment!" said Uncle John. "A man ought not so be -ashamed of his religion anywhere, no more than a soldier of his colors. -I believe there's more religion hid in the hearts of honest laymen, now, -than is plastered up behind the white cravats of clergymen; and they -ought to come out with it. Not that I have any disrespect for the -clergy, either," said Uncle John. "Fine men--a little stiffish, and -don't call things by good English names. Always talking about -dispensation, and sanctification, and edification, and so forth; but I -like them. They are sincere. I suppose they wouldn't any of them give me -a chance for heaven, because I rip out with an oath, every now and then. -But, the fact is, what with niggers, and overseers, and white trash, my -chances of salvation are dreadfully limited. I can't help swearing, now -and then, if I was to die for it. They say it's dreadfully wicked; but I -feel more Christian when I let out than when I keep in!" - -"Mr. Gordon," said Aunt Maria, reprovingly, "do consider what you're -saying!" - -"My dear, I _am_ considering. I am considering all the time! I never do -anything else but consider--except, as I said before, every now and -then, when what-'s-his-name gets the advantage over me. And, hark you, -Mrs. G., let 's have things ready at our house, if any of the clergy -would like to spend a week or so with us; and we could get them up some -meetings, or any little thing in their line. I always like to show -respect for them." - -"Our beds are _always_ prepared for company, Mr. Gordon," said Aunt -Maria, with a stately air. - -"Oh, yes, yes, I don't doubt that! I only meant some special -preparation--some little fatted-calf killing, and so on." - -"Now," said Nina, "shall we set off to-morrow morning?" - -"Agreed!" said Uncle John. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -TIFF'S PREPARATIONS. - - -The announcement of the expected camp-meeting produced a vast sensation -at Canema, in other circles beside the hall. In the servants' -department, everybody was full of the matter, from Aunt Katy down to -Tomtit. The women were thinking over their available finery; for these -gatherings furnish the negroes with the same opportunity of display that -Grace Church does to the Broadway belles. And so, before Old Tiff, who -had brought the first intelligence to the plantation, had time to -depart, Tomtit had trumpeted the news through all the cluster of -negro-houses that skirted the right side of the mansion, proclaiming -that "dere was gwine to be a camp-meeting, and tip-top work of grace, -and Miss Nina was going to let all de niggers go." Old Tiff, therefore, -found himself in a prominent position in a group of negro-women, among -whom Rose, the cook, was conspicuous. - -"Law, Tiff, ye gwine? and gwine to take your chil'en? ha! ha! ha!" said -she. "Why, Miss Fanny, dey'll tink Tiff's yer mammy! Ho! ho! ho!" - -"Yah! yah! Ho! ho! ho!" roared in a chorus of laughter on all sides, -doing honor to Aunt Rosy's wit; and Tomtit, who hung upon the skirts of -the crowd, threw up the fragment of a hat in the air, and kicked it in -an abandon of joy, regardless of the neglected dinner-knives. Old Tiff, -mindful of dignities, never failed to propitiate Rose, on his advents to -the plantation, with the gift which the "wise man saith maketh friends;" -and, on the present occasion he had enriched her own peculiar stock of -domestic fowl by the present of a pair of young partridge-chicks, a nest -of which he had just captured, intending to bring them up by hand, as he -did his children. By this discreet course, Tiff stood high where it was -of most vital consequence that he should so stand; and many a choice -morsel did Rose cook for him in secret, besides imparting to him most -invaluable recipes on the culture and raising of sucking babies. Old -Hundred, like many other persons, felt that general attention lavished -on any other celebrity was so much taken from his own merits, and, -therefore, on the present occasion, sat regarding Tiff's evident -popularity with a cynical eye. At last, coming up, like a wicked fellow -as he was, he launched his javelin at Old Tiff, by observing to his -wife,-- - -"I's 'stonished at you, Rose! _You_, cook to de Gordons, and making -youself so cheap--so familiar with de poor white folks' niggers!" - -Had the slant fallen upon himself, personally, Old Tiff would probably -have given a jolly crow, and laughed as heartily as he generally did if -he happened to be caught out in a rain-storm; but the reflection on his -family connection fired him up like a torch, and his eyes flashed -through his big spectacles like firelight through windows. - -"You go 'long, talking 'bout what you don' know nothing 'bout! I like to -know what you knows 'bout de old Virginny fam'lies? _Dem's_ de real old -stock! You Car'lina folks come from _dem_, stick and stock, every blest -one of you! De Gordons is a nice family--an't nothing to say agin de -Gordons--but whar was you raised, dat ye didn't hear 'bout de Peytons? -Why, old Gen'al Peyton, didn't he use to ride with six black horses -afore him, as if he'd been a king? Dere wan't one of dem horses dat -hadn't a tail as long as my arm. _You_ never see no such critters in -_your_ life!" - -"I han't, han't I?" said Old Hundred, now, in his turn, touched in a -vital point. "Bless me, if I han't seen de Gordons riding out with der -eight horses, any time o' day!" - -"Come, come, now, dere wasn't so many!" said Rose, who had her own -reasons for staying on Tiff's side. "Nobody never rode with eight -horses!" - -"Did too! You say much more, I'll make sixteen on 'em! 'Fore my blessed -master, how dese yer old niggers will lie! Dey's always zaggerating der -families. Makes de very har rise on my head, to hear dese yer old -niggers talk, dey lie so!" said Old Hundred. - -"You tink folks dat take to lying is using up your business, don't ye?" -said Tiff. "But, I tell you, any one dat says a word agin de Peytons got -me to set in with!" - -"Laws, dem chil'en an't Peytons!" said Old Hundred; "dey's Crippses; and -I like to know who ever hearn of de Crippses? Go way! don't tell me -nothing about dem Crippses! Dey's poor white folks! A body may see _dat_ -sticking out all over 'em!" - -"You shut up!" said Tiff. "I don't b'lieve you was born on de Gordon -place, 'cause you an't got no manners. I spects you some old, -second-hand nigger, Colonel Gordon must a took for debt, some time, from -some of dese yer mean Tennessee families, dat don' know how to keep der -money when dey gets it. Der niggers is allers de meanest kind. 'Cause -all de real Gordon niggers is ladies and gen'lemen--every one of 'em!" -said Old Tiff, like a true orator, bent on carrying his audience along -with him. - -A general shout chorused this compliment; and Tiff, under cover of the -applause, shook up his reins, and rode off in triumph. - -"Dar, now, you aggravating old nigger," said Rose, turning to her bosom -lord, "I hope yer got it now! De plaguest old nigger dat ever I see! And -you, Tom, go 'long and clean your knives, if yer don't mean to be -cracked over!" - -Meanwhile Tiff, restored to his usual tranquillity, ambled along -homeward behind his one-eyed horse, singing "I'm bound for the land of -Canaan," with some surprising variations. - -At last Miss Fanny, as he constantly called her, interposed with a very -pregnant question. - -"Uncle Tiff, where is the land of Canaan?" - -"De Lord-a-mercy, chile, dat ar's what I'd like to know myself." - -"Is it heaven?" said Fanny. - -"Well, I reckon so," said Tiff, dubiously. - -"Is it where ma is gone?" said Fanny. - -"Chile, I reckon it is," said Tiff. - -"Is it down under ground?" said Fanny. - -"Why, no! ho! ho! honey!" said Tiff, laughing heartily. "What put dat ar -in your head, Miss Fanny?" - -"Didn't ma go that way?" said Fanny, "down through the ground?" - -"Lordy, no, chile! Heaven's up!" said Tiff, pointing up to the intense -blue sky which appeared through the fringy hollows of the pine-trees -above them. - -"Is there any stairs anywhere? or any ladder to get up by?" said Fanny. -"Or do they walk to where the sky touches the ground, and get up? -Perhaps they climb up on the rainbow." - -"I don' know, chile, how dey works it," said Uncle Tiff. "Dey gets dar -somehow. I's studdin' upon dat ar. I's gwine to camp-meeting to find -out. I's been to plenty of dem ar, and I never could quite see clar. -'Pears like dey talks about everything else more'n dey does about dat. -Dere's de Methodists, dey cuts up de Presbyter'ans; and de Presbyter'ans -pitches into de Methodists; and den both on 'em's down on de 'Piscopals. -My ole mist' was 'Piscopal, and I never seed no harm in't. And de -Baptists think dey an't none on 'em right; and, while dey's all a -blowing out at each other, dat ar way, I's a wondering whar's de way to -Canaan. It takes a mighty heap o' larning to know about dese yer things, -and I an't got no larning. I don' know nothing, only de Lord, he 'peared -to your ma, and he knows de way, and he took her. But, now, chile, I's -gwine to fix you up right smart, and take you, Teddy, and de baby, to -dis yer camp-meeting, so you can seek de Lord in yer youth." - -"Tiff, if you please, I'd rather not go!" said Fanny, in an apprehensive -tone. - -"Oh, bress de Lord, Miss Fanny, why not? Fust-rate times dere." - -"There'll be too many people. I don't want them to see us." - -The fact was, that Rose's slant speech about Tiff's maternal -relationship, united with the sneers of Old Hundred, had their effect -upon Fanny's mind. Naturally proud, and fearful of ridicule, she shrank -from the public display which would thus be made of their family -condition; yet she would not for the world have betrayed to her kind old -friend the real reason of her hesitation. But Old Tiff's keen eye had -noticed the expression of the child's countenance at the time. If -anybody supposes that the faithful old creature's heart was at all -wounded by the perception, they are greatly mistaken. - -To Tiff it appeared a joke of the very richest quality; and, as he rode -along in silence for some time, he indulged himself in one of his -quiet, long laughs, actually shaking his old sides till the tears -streamed down his cheeks. - -"What's the matter with you, Tiff?" said Fanny. - -"Oh, Miss Fanny, Tiff knows!--Tiff knows de reason ye don't want to go -to camp-meeting. Tiff's seen it in yer face--ye ho! ho! ho! Miss Fanny, -is you 'fraid dey'll take Old Tiff for yer mammy?--ye ho! ho! ho!--for -yer mammy?--and Teddy's, and de baby's?--bless his little soul!" And the -amphibious old creature rollicked over the idea with infinite merriment. -"Don't I look like it, Miss Fanny? Lord, ye por dear lamb, can't folks -see ye's a born lady, with yer white, little hands? Don't ye be 'feared, -Miss Fanny!" - -"I know it's silly," said Fanny; "but, beside, I don't like to be called -_poor white folksy_!" - -"Oh, chile, it's only dem mean niggers! Miss Nina's allers good to ye, -an't she? Speaks to ye so handsome. Ye must memorize dat ar, Miss Fanny, -and talk like Miss Nina. I's feared, now yer ma's dead, ye'll fall into -some o' my nigger ways of talking. 'Member you mustn't talk like Old -Tiff, 'cause young ladies and gen'lemen mustn't talk like niggers. Now, -I says 'dis and dat, dis yer and dat ar.' Dat ar is nigger talk, and por -white folksy, too. Only de por white folks, dey's mis'able, 'cause -niggers _knows_ what's good talk, but dey doesn't. Lord, chile, Old Tiff -_knows_ what good talk is. An't he heard de greatest ladies and -gen'lemen in de land talk? But he don't want de trouble to talk dat ar -way, 'cause he's a nigger! Tiff likes his own talk--it's good enough for -Tiff. Tiff's talk sarves him mighty well, I tell yer. But, den, white -children mustn't talk so. Now, you see, Miss Nina has got de prettiest -way of saying her words. Dey drops out one after another, one after -another, so pretty! Now, you mind, 'cause she's coming to see us off and -on--she promised so. And den you keep a good lookout how she walks, and -how she holds her pocket-handkerchief. And when she sits down she kind -o' gives a little flirt to her clothes, so dey all set out round her -like ruffles. Dese yer little ways ladies have! Why, dese yer por white -folks, did yer ever mind der settin' down? Why, dey jist slaps down into -a chair like a spoonful o' mush, and der clothes all stick tight about -'em. I don't want nothing _poor white folksy_ 'bout you. Den, if you -don't understand what people's a saying to you, any time, you mustn't -star, like por white chil'en, and say, 'what?' but you must say 'I beg -pardon, sir,' or, 'I beg pardon, ma'am.' Dat ar's de way. And, Miss -Fanny, you and Teddy, you must study yer book; 'cause, if you can't -read, den dey'll be sure to say yer por white folks. And, den, Miss -Fanny, you see dat ladies don't demean demselves with sweeping and -scrubbing, and dem tings; and yet _dey does work_, honey! Dey sews, and -dey knits; and it would be good for you to larn how to sew and knit; -'cause, you know, I can't allers make up all de clothes; 'cause, you -see, young ladies haves ways wid 'em dat niggers can't get. Now, you -see, Miss Fanny, all dese yer tings I was telling you, you must 'bserve. -Now, you see, if you was one of dese yer por white folks, dere be no use -of your trying; 'cause dat ar 'scription o' people couldn't never be -ladies, if dey was waring themselves out a trying. But, you see, you's -got it in you; you was born to it, honey. It's in de blood; and what's -in de blood must come out--ho! ho! ho!" And with this final laugh, Tiff -drew up to his dwelling. - -A busy day was before Old Tiff; for he was to set his house in order for -a week's campaign. There was his corn to be hoed, his parsley to be -weeded, there was his orphan family of young partridges to be cared for. -And Tiff, after some considerable consideration, resolved to take them -along with him in a basket; thinking, in the intervals of devotion, he -should have an abundant opportunity to minister to their wants, and -superintend their education. Then he went to one of his favorite -springes, and brought from thence, not a fatted calf, to be sure, but a -fatted coon, which he intended to take with him, to serve as the basis -of a savory stew on the camp-ground. Tiff had a thriving company of -pot-herbs, and a flourishing young colony of onions; so that, whatever -might be true of the sermons, it was evident that the stew would lack no -savor. Teddy's clothes, also, were to be passed in review; washing and -ironing to be done; the baby fitted up to do honor to his name, or -rather to the name of his grandfather. With all these cares upon his -mind, the old creature was even more than usually alert. The day was -warm, and he resolved, therefore, to perform his washing operations in -the magnificent kitchen of nature. He accordingly kindled a splendid -bonfire, which was soon crackling at a short distance from the house, -slung over it his kettle, and proceeded to some other necessary -avocations. The pine-wood, which had been imperfectly seasoned, served -him the ungracious trick that pine-wood is apt to do; it crackled and -roared merrily while he was present, but while he was down examining his -traps in the woods went entirely out, leaving only the blackened sticks. - -"Uncle Tiff," said Teddy, "the fire is all gone out!" - -"Ho! ho! ho!--Has it?" said Tiff, coming up. "Curus enough! Well, bress -de Lord, got all de wood left, any way; had a real bright fire, beside," -said Tiff, intent on upholding the sunniest side of things. "Lord, it's -de sun dat puts de fire out o' countenance. Did you ever see fire dat -wouldn't go out when de sun's shining right in it's face? Dat ar is a -curus fact. I's minded it heaps o' times. Well, I'll jist have to come -out wid my light-wood kindlings, dat's all. Bress de Lord, ho! ho! ho!" -said Tiff, laughing to himself, "if dese yer an't the very sp'rit of de -camp-meeting professors! Dey blazes away at de camp-meeting, and den -dey's black all de year round! See 'em at de camp-meetings, you'd say -dey war gwine right into de kingdom, sure enough! Well, Lord have marcy -on us all! Our 'ligion's drefful poor stuff! We don' know but a despert -leetle, and what we does know we don' do. De good Mas'r above must have -his hands full, with us!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE WORSHIPPERS. - - -The camp-meeting is one leading feature in the American development of -religion, peculiarly suited to the wide extent of country, and to the -primitive habits which generally accompany a sparse population. -Undoubtedly its general effects have been salutary. Its evils have been -only those incident to any large gatherings, in which the whole -population of a country are brought promiscuously together. As in many -other large assemblies of worship, there are those who go for all sorts -of reasons; some from curiosity, some from love of excitement, some to -turn a penny in a small way of trade, some to scoff, and a few to pray. -And, so long as the heavenly way remains straight and narrow, so long -the sincere and humble worshippers will ever be the minority in all -assemblies. We can give no better idea of the difference of motive which -impelled the various worshippers, than by taking our readers from scene -to scene, on the morning when different attendants of the meeting were -making preparations to start. - -Between the grounds of Mr. John Gordon and the plantation of Canema -stood a log cabin, which was the trading establishment of Abijah -Skinflint. The establishment was a nuisance in the eyes of the -neighboring planters, from the general apprehension entertained that -Abijah drove a brisk underhand trade with the negroes, and that the -various articles which he disposed for sale were many of them -surreptitiously conveyed to him in nightly instalments from off their -own plantations. But of this nothing could be proved. - -Abijah was a shrewd fellow, long, dry, lean, leathery, with a sharp -nose, sharp, little, gray eyes, a sharp chin, and fingers as long as -bird's-claws. His skin was so dry that one would have expected that his -cheeks would crackle whenever he smiled, or spoke; and he rolled in them -a never-failing quid of tobacco. - -Abijah was one of those over-shrewd Yankees, who leave their country -for their country's good, and who exhibit, wherever they settle, such a -caricature of the thrifty virtue of their native land as to justify the -aversion which the native-born Southerner entertains for the Yankee. -Abijah drank his own whiskey,--_prudently_, however,--or, as he said, -"never so as not to know what he was about." - -He had taken a wife from the daughters of the land; who also drank -whiskey, but less prudently than her husband, so that sometimes she did -_not_ know what she was about. Sons and daughters were born unto this -promising couple, white-headed, forward, dirty, and ill-mannered. But, -amid all domestic and social trials, Abijah maintained a constant and -steady devotion to the main chance--the acquisition of money. For money -he would do anything; for money he would have sold his wife, his -children, even his own soul, if he had happened to have one. But that -article, had it ever existed, was now so small and dry, that one might -have fancied it to rattle in his lean frame like a shrivelled pea in a -last year's peascod. Abijah was going to the camp-meeting for two -reasons. One, of course, was to make money; and the other was to know -whether his favorite preacher, Elder Stringfellow, handled the doctrine -of election according to his views; for Abijah had a turn for theology, -and could number off the five points of Calvinism on his five long -fingers with unfailing accuracy. - -It is stated in the Scriptures that the devils believe and tremble. The -principal difference between their belief and Abijah's was, that he -believed and did _not_ tremble. Truths awful enough to have shaken the -earth, and veiled the sun, he could finger over with as much unconcern -as a practised anatomist the dry bones of a skeleton. - -"You, Sam!" said Abijah to his only negro helot, "you mind, you steady -that ar bar'l, so that it don't roll out, and pour a pailful of water in -at the bung. It won't do to give it to 'em too strong. Miss Skinflint, -you make haste! If you don't, I shan't wait for you; 'cause, whatever -the rest may do, it's important I should be on the ground early. Many a -dollar lost for not being in time, in this world. Hurry, woman!" - -"I am ready, but Polly an't'," said Mrs. Skinflint. "She's busy a -plastering down her hair." - -"Can't wait for her!" said Abijah, as he sallied out of the house to -get into the wagon, which stood before the door, into which he had -packed a copious supply of hams, eggs, dressed chickens, corn-meal, and -green summer vegetables, to say nothing of the barrel of whiskey -aforesaid. - -"I say, Dad, you stop!" called Polly, from the window. "If you don't, -I'll make work for you 'fore you come home; you see if I don't! Durned -if I won't!" - -"Come along, then, can't you? Next time we go anywhere, I'll shut you up -over night to begin to dress!" - -Polly hastily squeezed her fat form into a red calico dress, and, -seizing a gay summer shawl, with her bonnet in her hand, rushed to the -wagon and mounted, the hooks of her dress successively exploding, and -flying off, as she stooped to get in. - -"Durned if I knows what to do!" said she; "this yer old durned gear -coat's all off my back!" - -"Gals is always fools!" said Abijah, consolingly. - -"Stick in a pin, Polly," said her mother, in an easy, sing-song drawl. - -"Durn you, old woman, every hook is off!" said the promising young lady. - -"Stick in more pins, then," said the mamma; and the vehicle of Abijah -passed onward. - -On the verge of the swamp, a little beyond Tiff's cabin, lived Ben -Dakin. - -Ben was a mighty hunter; he had the best pack of dogs within thirty -miles round; and his advertisements, still to be seen standing in the -papers of his native state, detailed with great accuracy the precise -terms on which he would hunt down and capture any man, woman, or child, -escaping from service and labor in that country. Our readers must not -necessarily suppose Ben to have been a monster for all this, when they -recollect that, within a few years, both the great political parties of -our Union solemnly pledged themselves, as far as in them lay, to accept -a similar vocation; and, as many of them were in good and regular -standing in churches, and had ministers to preach sermons to the same -effect, we trust they'll entertain no unreasonable prejudice against Ben -on this account. - -In fact, Ben was a tall, broad-shouldered, bluff, hearty-looking -fellow, who would do a kind turn for a neighbor with as much good-will -as anybody; and, except that he now and then took a little too much -whiskey, as he himself admitted, he considered himself quite as -promising a candidate for the kingdom as any of the company who were -going up to camp-meeting. Had any one ventured to remonstrate with Ben -against the nature of his profession, he would probably have defended it -by pretty much the same arguments by which modern theologians defend the -institution of which it is a branch. - -Ben was just one of those jovial fellows who never could bear to be left -behind in anything that was going on in the community, and was always -one of the foremost in a camp-meeting. He had a big, loud voice, and -could roll out the chorus of hymns with astonishing effect. He was -generally converted at every gathering of this kind; though, through the -melancholy proclivity to whiskey, before alluded to, he usually fell -from grace before the year was out. Like many other big and hearty men, -he had a little, pale, withered moonshiny wisp of a wife, who hung on -his elbow much like an empty work-bag; and Ben, to do him justice, was -kind to the wilted little mortal, as if he almost suspected that he had -absorbed her vitality into his own exuberant growth. She was greatly -given to eating clay, cleaning her teeth with snuff, and singing -Methodist hymns, and had a very sincere concern for Ben's salvation. The -little woman sat resignedly on the morning we speak of, while a -long-limbed, broad-shouldered child, of two years, with bristly white -hair, was pulling her by her ears and hair, and otherwise maltreating -her, to make her get up to give him a piece of bread and molasses; and -she, without seeming to attend to the child, was giving earnest heed to -her husband. - -"There's a despit press of business now!" said Ben. "There's James's -niggers, and Smith's Polly, and we ought to be on the trail, right -away!" - -"Oh, Ben, you ought to 'tend to your salvation afore anything else!" -said his wife. - -"That's true enough!" said Ben; "meetings don't come every day. But what -are we to do with dis yer'un?" pointing to the door of an inner room. - -"Dis yer'un" was no other than a negro-woman, named Nance, who had been -brought in by the dogs, the day before. - -"Laws!" said his wife, "we can set her something to eat, and leave the -dogs in front of the door. She can't get out." - -Ben threw open the door, and displayed to view a low kind of hutch, -without any other light than that between the crevices of the logs. On -the floor, which was of hard-trodden earth, sat a sinewy, lean -negro-woman, drawing up her knees with her long arms, and resting her -chin upon them. - -"Hollo, Nance, how are you?" said Ben, rather cheerily. - -"Por'ly, mas'r," said the other, in a sullen tone. - -"Nance, you think your old man will whale you, when he gets you?" said -Ben. - -"I reckons he will," said Nance; "he allers does." - -"Well, Nance, the old woman and I want to go to a camp-meeting; and I'll -just tell you what it is,--you stay here quiet, while we are gone, and -I'll make the old fellow promise not to wallop you. I wouldn't mind -taking off something of the price--that's fair, an't it?" - -"Yes, mas'r!" said the woman, in the same subdued tone. - -"Does your foot hurt you much?" said Ben. - -"Yes, mas'r!" said the woman. - -"Let me look at it," said Ben. - -The woman put out one foot, which had been loosely bound up in old rags, -now saturated in blood. - -"I declar, if that ar dog an't a pealer!" said Ben. "Nance, you ought -ter have stood still; then he wouldn't have hurt you so." - -"Lord, he hurt me so I couldn't stand still!" said the woman. "It an't -natur to stand still with a critter's teeth in yer foot." - -"Well, I don't know as it is," said Ben, good-naturedly. "Here, Miss -Dakin, you bind up this here gal's foot. Stop your noise, sir-ee!" he -added, to the young aspirant for bread and molasses, who, having -despatched one piece, was clamoring vigorously for another. - -"I'll tell you what!" said Ben to his wife, "I am going to talk to that -ar old Elder Settle. I runs more niggers for him than any man in the -county, and I know there's some reason for it. Niggers don't run into -swamps when they's treated well. Folks that professes religion, I think, -oughtn't to starve their niggers, no way!" - -Soon the vehicle of Ben was also on the road. He gathered up the reins -vigorously, threw back his head to get the full benefit of his lungs, -and commenced a vehement camp-meeting melody, to the tune of - - - "Am I a soldier of the cross, - A follower of the Lamb?" - - -A hymn, by the by, which was one of Ben's particular favorites. - -We come next to Tiff's cottage, of which the inmates were astir, in the -coolness of the morning, bright and early. Tiff's wagon was a singular -composite article, principally of his own construction. The body of it -consisted of a long packing-box. The wheels were all odd ones, that had -been brought home at different times by Cripps. The shafts were -hickory-poles, thinned at one end, and fastened to the wagon by nails. -Some barrel-hoops bent over the top, covered by coarse white cotton -cloth, formed the curtains, and a quantity of loose straw dispersed -inside was the only seat. The lean, one-eyed horse was secured to this -vehicle by a harness made of old ropes; but no millionaire, however, -ever enjoyed his luxuriantly-cushioned coach with half the relish with -which Tiff enjoyed his equipage. It was the work of his hands, the -darling of his heart, the delight of his eyes. To be sure, like other -mortal darlings, it was to be admitted that it had its weak points and -failings. The wheels would now and then come off, the shafts get loose, -or the harness break; but Tiff was always prepared, and, on occasion of -any such mishaps, would jump out and attend to them with such cheerful -alacrity, that, if anything, he rather seemed to love it better for the -accident. There it stands now, before the inclosure of the little cabin; -and Tiff, and Fanny, and Teddy, with bustling assiduity, are packing and -arranging it. The gum-tree cradle-trough took precedence of all other -articles. Tiff, by the private advice of Aunt Rose, had just added to -this an improvement, which placed it, in his view, tip-top among -cradles. He had nailed to one end of it a long splint of elastic -hickory, which drooped just over the baby's face. From this was -suspended a morsel of salt pork, which this young scion of a noble race -sucked with a considerate relish, while his large, round eyes opened and -shut with sleepy satisfaction. This arrangement Rose had recommended, in -mysterious tones, as all powerful in making sucking babies forget their -mammies, whom otherwise they might pine for in a manner prejudicial to -their health. - -Although the day was sultry, Tiff was arrayed in his long-skirted white -great-coat, as his nether garments were in too dilapidated a state to -consist with the honor of the family. His white felt hat still bore the -band of black crape. - -"It's a 'mazin' good day, bless de Lord!" said Tiff. "'Pears like dese -yer birds would split der troats, praising de Lord! It's a mighty good -zample to us, any way. You see, Miss Fanny, you never see birds put out, -nor snarly like, rain or shine. Dey's allers a praising de Lord. Lord, -it seems as if critters is better dan we be!" And, as Tiff spoke, he -shouldered into the wagon a mighty bag of corn; but, failing in what he -meant to do, the bag slid over the side, and tumbled back into the road. -Being somewhat of the oldest, the fall burst it asunder, and the corn -rolled into the sand, with that provoking alacrity which things always -have when they go the wrong way. Fanny and Teddy both uttered an -exclamation of lamentation; but Tiff held on to his sides and laughed -till the tears rolled down his cheeks. - -"He! he! he! ho! ho! ho! Why, dat ar is de last bag we's got, and dar's -all de corn a running out in de sand! Ho! ho! ho! Lord, it's so curus!" - -"Why, what are you going to do?" said Fanny. - -"Oh, bress you, Miss Fanny," said Tiff, "I's bound to do something, -anyhow. 'Clare for it, now, if I han't got a box!" And Tiff soon -returned with the article in question, which proved too large for the -wagon. The corn, however, was emptied into it _pro tem._, and Tiff, -producing his darning-needle and thimble, sat down seriously to the task -of stitching up the hole. - -"De Lord's things an't never in a hurry," said Tiff. "Corn and 'tatoes -will have der time, and why shouldn't I? Dar," he said, after having -mended the bag and replaced the corn, "dat ar's better now nor 'twas -before." - -Besides his own store of provisions, Tiff prudently laid into his wagon -enough of garden stuff to turn a penny for Miss Fanny and the children, -on the camp-ground. His commissariat department, in fact, might have -provoked appetite, even among the fastidious. There were dressed -chickens and rabbits, the coon aforesaid, bundles of savory herbs, -crisp, dewy lettuce, bunches of onions, radishes, and green peas. - -"Tell ye what, chil'en," said Tiff, "we'll live like princes! And you -mind, order me round _well_. Let folks har ye; 'cause what's de use of -having a nigger, and nobody knowing it?" - -And, everything being arranged, Tiff got in, and jogged comfortably -along. At the turn of the cross-road, Tiff, looking a little behind, -saw, on the other road, the Gordon carriage coming, driven by Old -Hundred, arrayed in his very best ruffled shirt, white gloves, and gold -hat-band. - -If ever Tiff came near having a pang in his heart, it was at that -moment; but he retreated stoutly upon the idea that, however appearances -might be against them, his family was no less ancient and honorable for -that; and, therefore, putting on all his dignity, he gave his beast an -extra cut, as who should say, "I don't care." - -But, as ill-luck would have it, the horse, at this instant, giving a -jerk, wrenched out the nails that fastened the shaft on one side, and it -fell, trailing dishonored on the ground. The rope harness pulled all -awry, and just at this moment the Gordon carriage swept up. - -"'Fore I'd drive sich old trash!" said Old Hundred, scornfully; "pulls -all to pieces every step! If dat ar an't a poor white folksy -'stablishment, I never seed one!" - -"What's the matter?" said Nina, putting her head out. "Oh, Tiff! -good-morning, my good fellow. Can we help you, there? John, get down and -help him." - -"Please, Miss Nina, de hosses is so full o' tickle, dis yer mornin', I -couldn't let go, no ways!" said Old Hundred. - -"Oh, laws bless you, Miss Nina," said Tiff, restored to his usual -spirits, "'tan't nothin'. Broke in a strordinary good place dis yer -time. I ken hammer it up in a minute." - -And Tiff was as good as his word; for a round stone and big nail made -all straight. - -"Pray," said Nina, "how are little Miss Fanny, and the children?" - -Miss Fanny! If Nina had heaped Tiff with presents, she could not have -conferred the inexpressible obligation conveyed in these words. He bowed -low to the ground, with the weight of satisfaction, and answered that -"Miss Fanny and the chil'en were well." - -"There," said Nina, "John, you may drive on. Do you know, friends, I've -set Tiff up for six weeks, by one word? Just saying _Miss_ Fanny has -done more for him than if I'd sent him six bushels of potatoes."... - -We have yet to take our readers to one more scene before we finish the -review of those who were going to the camp-meeting. The reader must -follow us far beyond the abodes of man, into the recesses of that wild -desolation known as the "Dismal Swamp." We pass over vast tracts where -the forest seems growing out of the water. Cypress, red cedar, sweet -gum, tulip, poplar, beech, and holly, form a goodly fellowship, waving -their rustling boughs above. The trees shoot up in vast columns, fifty, -seventy-five, and a hundred feet in height; and below are clusters of -evergreen gall-bushes, with their thick and glossy foliage, mingled in -with swamp honeysuckles, grape-vines, twining brier, and laurels, and -other shrubs, forming an impenetrable thicket. The creeping plants -sometimes climb seventy or eighty feet up the largest tree, and hang in -heavy festoons from their branches. It would seem impossible that human -feet could penetrate the wild, impervious jungle; but we must take our -readers through it, to a cleared spot, where trunks of fallen trees, -long decayed, have formed an island of vegetable mould, which the art of -some human hand has extended and improved. The clearing is some sixty -yards long by thirty broad, and is surrounded with a natural rampart, -which might well bid defiance to man or beast. Huge trees have been -felled, with all their branches lying thickly one over another, in a -circuit around; and nature, seconding the efforts of the fugitives who -sought refuge here, has interlaced the frame-work thus made with thorny -cat-briers, cables of grape-vine, and thickets of Virginia creeper, -which, running wild in their exuberance, climb on to the neighboring -trees, and, swinging down, again lose themselves in the mazes from which -they spring, so as often to form a verdurous wall fifty feet in height. -In some places the laurel, with its glossy green leaves, and its masses -of pink-tipped snowy blossoms, presents to the eye, rank above rank, a -wilderness of beauty. The pendants of the yellow jessamine swing to and -fro in the air like censers, casting forth clouds of perfume. A thousand -twining vines, with flowers of untold name, perhaps unknown as yet to -the botanist, help to fill up the mosaic. The leafy ramparts sweep round -on all the sides of the clearing, for the utmost care has been taken to -make it impenetrable; and, in that region of heat and moisture, nature, -in the course of a few weeks, admirably seconds every human effort. The -only egress from it is a winding path cut through with a hatchet, which -can be entered by only one person at a time; and the water which -surrounds this island entirely cuts off the trail from the scent of -dogs. It is to be remarked that the climate, in the interior of the -swamp, is far from being unhealthy. Lumber-men, who spend great portions -of the year in it, cutting shingles and staves, testify to the general -salubrity of the air and water. The opinion prevails among them that the -quantity of pine and other resinous trees that grow there impart a -balsamic property to the water, and impregnate the air with a healthy -resinous fragrance, which causes it to be an exception to the usual rule -of the unhealthiness of swampy land. The soil also, when drained -sufficiently for purposes of culture, is profusely fertile. Two small -cabins stood around the border of the clearing, but the centre was -occupied with patches of corn and sweet potatoes, planted there to -secure as much as possible the advantage of sun and air. - -At the time we take our readers there, the afternoon sun of a sultry -June day is casting its long shadows over the place, and a whole choir -of birds is echoing in the branches. On the ground, in front of one of -the cabins, lies a negro-man, covered with blood; two women, with some -little children, are grouped beside him; and a wild figure, whom we at -once recognize as Dred, is kneeling by him, busy in efforts to stanch a -desperate wound in the neck. In vain! The red blood spurts out at every -pulsation of the heart, with a fearful regularity, telling too plainly -that it is a great life-artery which has been laid open. The -negro-woman, kneeling on the other side, is anxiously holding some -bandages, which she has stripped from a portion of her raiment. - -"Oh, put these on, quick--do!" - -"It's no use," said Dred; "he is going!" - -"Oh, do!--don't, don't let him go! _Can't_ you save him?" said the -woman, in tones of agony. - -The wounded man's eyes opened, and first fixed themselves, with a -vacant stare, on the blue sky above; then, turning on the woman, he -seemed to try to speak. He had had a strong arm; he tries to raise it, -but the blood wells up with the effort, the eye glazes, the large frame -shivers for a few moments, and then all is still. The blood stops -flowing now, for the heart has stopped beating, and an immortal soul has -gone back to Him who gave it. - -The man was a fugitive from a neighboring plantation--a simple-hearted, -honest fellow, who had fled, with his wife and children, to save her -from the licentious persecution of the overseer. Dred had received and -sheltered him; had built him a cabin, and protected him for months. - -A provision of the Revised Statutes of North Carolina enacts that slaves -thus secreted in the swamps, not returning within a given time, shall be -considered outlawed; and that "it shall be lawful for any person or -persons whatsoever to kill and destroy such slaves, by such ways and -means as they shall think fit, without any accusation or impeachment of -crime for the same." It also provides that, when any slave shall be -killed in consequence of such outlawry, the value of such slave shall be -ascertained by a jury, and the owner entitled to receive two thirds of -the valuation from the sheriff of the county wherein the slave was -killed. - -In olden times, the statute provided that the proclamation of outlawry -should be published on a Sabbath day, at the door of any church or -chapel, or place where divine service should be performed, immediately -after divine service, by the parish clerk or reader. - -In the spirit of this permission, a party of negro-hunters, with dogs -and guns, had chased this man, who, on this day, had unfortunately -ventured out of his concealment. - -He succeeded in outrunning all but one dog, which sprang up, and, -fastening his fangs in his throat, laid him prostrate within a few paces -of his retreat. Dred came up in time to kill the dog, but the wound, as -appeared, had proved a mortal one. - -As soon as the wife perceived that her husband was really dead, she -broke into a loud wail. - -"Oh, dear, he's gone! and 'twas all for me he did it! Oh, he was so -good, such a good man! Oh, do tell me, _is_ he dead, is he?" - -Dred lifted the yet warm hand in his a moment, and then dropped it -heavily. - -"Dead!" he said, in a deep undertone of suppressed emotion. Suddenly -kneeling down beside him, he lifted his hands, and broke forth with wild -vehemence:-- - -"O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself! Lift up thyself, -thou Judge of the earth, render a reward to the proud! Doubtless thou -art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge -us not. Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy ways are -everlasting--where is thy zeal and thy strength, and the sounding of thy -bowels towards us? Are they restrained?" Then, tossing his hands to -heaven, with a yet wilder gesture, he almost screamed: "O Lord! O Lord! -how long? Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down! Oh, let -the sighings of the prisoner come before thee! Our bones are scattered -at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood! We are -given as sheep to the slaughter! We are killed all the day long! O Lord, -avenge us of our adversaries!" - -These words were spoken with a vehement earnestness of gesture and -voice, that hushed the lamentation of the mourners. Rising up from his -knees, he stood a moment looking down at the lifeless form before him. -"See here," he said, "what harm had this man done? Was he not peaceable? -Did he not live here in quietness, tilling the ground in the sweat of -his brow? Why have they sent the hunters upon him? Because he wanted to -raise his corn for himself, and not for another. Because he wanted his -wife for himself, and not for another. Was not the world wide enough? -Isn't there room enough under the sky? Because this man wished to eat -the fruit of his own labor, the decree went forth against him, even the -curse of Cain, so that whosoever findeth him shall kill him. Will not -the Lord be avenged on such a people as this? To-night they will hold -their solemn assembly, and blow the trumpet in their new moon, and the -prophets will prophesy falsely, and the priests will speak wickedly -concerning oppression. The word of the Lord saith unto me, 'Go unto this -people, and break before them the staff beauty and the staff bands, and -be a sign unto this people of the terror of the Lord. Behold, saith the -Lord, therefore have I raised thee up and led thee through the -wilderness, through the desolate places of the land not sown.'" - -As Dred spoke, his great black eye seemed to enlarge itself and roll -with a glassy fulness, like that of a sleep-walker in a somnambulic -dream. His wife, seeing him prepare to depart, threw herself upon him. - -"Oh, don't, don't leave us! You'll be killed, some of these times, just -as they killed him!" - -"Woman! the burden of the Lord is upon me. The word of the Lord is as a -fire shut up in my bones. The Lord saith unto me, 'Go show unto this -people their iniquity, and be a sign unto this evil nation!'" - -Breaking away from his wife, he precipitated himself through an opening -into the thicket, and was gone. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -THE CAMP-MEETING. - - -The place selected for the camp-meeting was in one of the most -picturesque portions of the neighborhood. It was a small, -partially-cleared spot, in the midst of a dense forest, which stretched -away in every direction, in cool, green aisles of checkered light and -shade. - -In the central clearing, a sort of rude amphitheatre of seats was formed -of rough-pine slabs. Around on the edges of the forest the tents of the -various worshippers were pitched; for the spending of three or four days -and nights upon the ground is deemed an essential part of the service. -The same clear stream which wound round the dwelling of Tiff prattled -its way, with a modest gurgle, through this forest, and furnished the -assembly with water. - -The Gordons, having come merely for the purposes of curiosity, and -having a residence in the neighborhood, did not provide themselves with -a tent. The servants, however, were less easily satisfied. Aunt Rose -shook her head, and declared, oracularly, that "De blessing was sure to -come down in de night, and dem dat wanted to get a part of it would have -to be dar!" - -Consequently, Nina was beset to allow her people to have a tent, in -which they were to take turns in staying all night, as candidates for -the blessing. In compliance with that law of good-humored indulgence -which had been the traditionary usage of her family, Nina acceded; and -the Gordon tent spread its snowy sails, to the rejoicing of their -hearts. Aunt Rose predominated about the door, alternately slapping the -children and joining the chorus of hymns which she heard from every part -of the camp-ground. On the outskirts were various rude booths, in which -whiskey and water, and sundry articles of provision, and fodder for -horses, were dispensed for a consideration. Abijah Skinflint here -figured among the money-changers, while his wife and daughter were -gossiping through the tents of the women. In front of the seats, under a -dense cluster of pines, was the preachers' stand: a rude stage of rough -boards, with a railing around it, and a desk of small slabs, supporting -a Bible and a hymn-book. - -The preachers were already assembling; and no small curiosity was -expressed with regard to them by the people, who were walking up and -down among the tents. Nina, leaning on the arm of Clayton, walked about -the area with the rest. Anne Clayton leaned on the arm of Uncle John. -Aunt Nesbit and Aunt Maria came behind. To Nina the scene was quite new, -for a long residence in the Northern States had placed her out of the -way of such things; and her shrewd insight into character, and her love -of drollery, found an abundant satisfaction in the various little points -and oddities of the scene. They walked to the Gordon tent, in which a -preliminary meeting was already in full course. A circle of men and -women, interspersed with children, were sitting, with their eyes shut, -and their heads thrown back, singing at the top of their voices. -Occasionally, one or other would vary the exercises by clapping of -hands, jumping up straight into the air, falling flat on the ground, -screaming, dancing, and laughing. - -"Oh, set me up on a rock!" screamed one. - -"I's sot up!" screamed another. - -"Glory!" cried the third, and a tempest of "amens" poured in between. - -"I's got a sperience!" cried one, and forthwith began piping it out in a -high key, while others kept on singing. - -"I's got a sperience!" shouted Tomtit, whom Aunt Rose, with maternal -care, had taken with her. - -"No, you an't neither! Sit down!" said Aunt Rose, kneading him down as -if he had been a batch of biscuits, and going on at the same time with -her hymn. - -"I's on the Rock of Ages!" screamed a neighbor. - -"I want to get on a rock edgeways!" screamed Tomtit, struggling -desperately with Aunt Rose's great fat hands. - -"Mind yourself!--I'll crack you over!" said Aunt Rose. And Tomtit, still -continuing rebellious, _was_ cracked over accordingly, with such force -as to send him head-foremost on the straw at the bottom of the tent; an -indignity which he resented with loud howls of impotent wrath, which, -however, made no impression in the general whirlwind of screaming, -shouting, and praying. - -Nina and Uncle John stood at the tent-door laughing heartily. Clayton -looked on with his usual thoughtful gravity of aspect. Anne turned her -head away with an air of disgust. - -"Why don't you laugh?" said Nina, looking round at her. - -"It doesn't make me feel like it," said Anne. "It makes me feel -melancholy." - -"Why so?" - -"Because religion is a sacred thing with me, and I don't like to see it -travestied," said she. - -"Oh," said Nina, "I don't respect religion any the less for a good laugh -at its oddities. I believe I was born without any organ of reverence, -and so don't feel the incongruity of the thing as you do. The distance -between laughing and praying isn't so very wide in my mind as it is in -some people's." - -"We must have charity," said Clayton, "for every religious -manifestation. Barbarous and half-civilized people always find the -necessity for outward and bodily demonstration in worship; I suppose -because the nervous excitement wakes up and animates their spiritual -natures, and gets them into a receptive state, just as you have to shake -up sleeping persons and shout in their ears to put them in a condition -to understand you. I have known real conversions to take place under -just these excitements." - -"But," said Anne, "I think we might teach them to be decent. These -things ought not to be allowed!" - -"I believe," said Clayton, "intolerance is a rooted vice in our nature. -The world is as full of different minds and bodies as the woods are of -leaves, and each one has its own habit of growth. And yet our first -impulse is to forbid everything that would not be proper for us. No, let -the African scream, dance, and shout, and fall in trances. It suits his -tropical lineage and blood as much as our thoughtful inward ways do us." - -"I wonder who that is!" said Nina, as a general movement on the ground -proclaimed the arrival of some one who appeared to be exciting general -interest. The stranger was an unusually tall, portly man, apparently -somewhat past the middle of life, whose erect carriage, full figure, and -red cheeks, and a certain dashing frankness of manner, might have -indicated him as belonging rather to the military than the clerical -profession. He carried a rifle on his shoulder, which he set down -carefully against the corner of the preacher's stand, and went around -shaking hands among the company with a free and jovial air that might -almost be described by the term rollicking. - -"Why," said Uncle John, "that's father Bonnie! How are you, my fine -fellow?" - -"What! _you_, Mr. Gordon?--How do you do?" said father Bonnie, grasping -his hand in his, and shaking it heartily. "Why, they tell me," he said, -looking at him with a jovial smile, "that you have fallen from grace!" - -"Even so!" said Uncle John. "I am a sad dog, I dare say." - -"Oh, I tell _you_ what," said father Bonnie, "but it takes a strong hook -and a long line to pull in you _rich_ sinners! Your money-bags and your -niggers hang round you like mill-stones! You are too tough for the -Gospel! Ah!" said he, shaking his fist at him, playfully, "but I'm going -to come down upon you, to-day, with the law, I can tell you! You want -the thunders of Sinai! You must have a dose of the law!" - -"Well," said Uncle John, "thunder away! I suppose we need it, all of us. -But, now, father Bonnie, you ministers are always preaching to us poor -dogs on the evils of riches; but, somehow, I don't see any of you that -are much afraid of owning horses, or niggers, or any other good thing -that you can get your hands on. Now, I hear that you've got a pretty -snug little place, and a likely drove to work it. You'll have to look -out for your own soul, father Bonnie!" - -A general laugh echoed this retort; for father Bonnie had the reputation -of being a shrewder hand at a bargain, and of having more expertness in -swapping a horse or trading a negro, than any other man for six counties -round. - -"He's into you, now, old man!" said several of the by-standers, -laughingly. - -"Oh, as to that," said father Bonnie, laughing, also, "I go in with -Paul,--they that preach the Gospel must live of the Gospel. Now, Paul -was a man that stood up for his rights to live as other folks do. 'Isn't -it right,' says he, 'that those that plant a vineyard should first eat -of the fruit? Haven't we power to lead about a sister, a wife?' says he. -And if Paul had lived in our time he would have said a drove of niggers, -too! No danger about us ministers being hurt by riches, while you laymen -are so slow about supporting the Gospel!" - -At the elbow of father Bonnie stood a brother minister, who was in many -respects his contrast. He was tall, thin, and stooping, with earnest -black eyes, and a serene sweetness of expression. A threadbare suit of -rusty black, evidently carefully worn, showed the poverty of his worldly -estate. He carried in his hand a small portmanteau, probably containing -a change of linen, his Bible, and a few sermons. Father Dickson was a -man extensively known through all that region. He was one of those men -among the ministers of America, who keep alive our faith in -Christianity, and renew on earth the portrait of the old apostle: "In -journeyings often, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in -hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides -those things that are without, that which cometh upon them daily, the -care of all the churches. Who is weak, and they are not weak? who is -offended, and they burn not?" - -Every one in the state knew and respected father Dickson; and, like the -generality of the world, people were very well pleased, and thought it -extremely proper and meritorious for him to bear weariness and -painfulness, hunger and cold, in their spiritual service, leaving to -them the right of attending or not attending to him, according to their -own convenience. Father Dickson was one of those who had never yielded -to the common customs and habits of the country in regard to the holding -of slaves. A few, who had been left him by a relation, he had at great -trouble and expense transported to a free state, and settled there -comfortably. The world need not trouble itself with seeking to know or -reward such men; for the world cannot know and has no power to reward -them. Their citizenship is in heaven, and all that can be given them in -this life is like a morsel which a peasant gives in his cottage to him -who to-morrow will reign over a kingdom. - -He had stood listening to the conversation thus far with the grave yet -indulgent air with which he generally listened to the sallies of his -ministerial brothers. Father Bonnie, though not as much respected or -confided in as father Dickson, had, from the frankness of his manners, -and a certain rude but effective style of eloquence, a more general and -apparent popularity. He produced more sensation on the camp-ground; -could sing louder and longer, and would often rise into flights of -eloquence both original and impressive. Many were offended by the -freedom of his manner out of the pulpit; and the stricter sort were -known to have said of him, "that when out he never ought to be in, and -when in never out." As the laugh that rose at his last sally died away, -he turned to father Dickson, and said:-- - -"What do you think?" - -"I don't think," said father Dickson, mildly, "that you would ever have -found Paul leading a drove of negroes." - -"Why not, as well as Abraham, the father of the faithful? Didn't he have -three hundred trained servants?" - -"Servants, perhaps; but not slaves!" said father Dickson, "for they all -bore arms. For my part, I think that the buying, selling, and trading, -of human beings, for purposes of gain, is a sin in the sight of God." - -"Well, now, father Dickson, I wouldn't have thought you had read your -Bible to so little purpose as that! I wouldn't believe it! What do you -say to Moses?" - -"He led out a whole army of fugitive slaves through the Red Sea," said -father Dickson. - -"Well, I tell you, now," said father Bonnie, "if the buying, selling, or -holding, of a slave for the sake of gain, is, as you say, a sin, then -three fourths of all the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, and -Presbyterians, in the slave states of the Union, are of the devil!" - -"I think it is a sin, notwithstanding," said father Dickson, quietly. - -"Well, but doesn't Moses say expressly, 'Ye shall buy of the heathen -round about you'?" - -"There's into him!" said a Georgia trader, who, having camped with a -coffle of negroes in the neighborhood, had come up to camp-meeting. - -"All those things," said father Dickson, "belong to the old covenant, -which Paul says was annulled for the weakness and unprofitableness -thereof, and have nothing to do with us, who have risen with Christ. We -have got past Mount Sinai and the wilderness, and have come unto Mount -Zion; and ought to seek the things that are above, where Christ -sitteth." - -"I say, brother," said another of the ministers, tapping him on the -shoulder, "it's time for the preaching to begin. You can finish your -discussion some other time. Come, father Bonnie, come forward, here, and -strike up the hymn." - -Father Bonnie accordingly stepped to the front of the stand, and with -him another minister, of equal height and breadth of frame, and, -standing with their hats on, they uplifted, in stentorian voices, the -following hymn:-- - - - "Brethren don't you hear the sound? - The martial trumpet now is blowing; - Men in order listing round, - And soldiers to the standard flowing." - - -As the sound of the hymn rolled through the aisles and arches of the -wood, the heads of different groups, who had been engaged in -conversation, were observed turning toward the stand, and voices from -every part of the camp-ground took up the air, as, suiting the action to -the words, they began flowing to the place of preaching. The hymn went -on, keeping up the same martial images:-- - - - "Bounty offered, life and peace; - To every soldier this is given, - When the toils of life shall cease, - A mansion bright, prepared in heaven." - - -As the throng pressed up, and came crowding from the distant aisles of -the wood, the singers seemed to exert themselves to throw a wilder -vehemence into the song, stretching out their arms and beckoning -eagerly. They went on singing:-- - - - "You need not fear; the cause is good, - Let who will to the crown aspire: - In this cause the martyrs bled, - And shouted victory in the fire. - - "In this cause let's follow on, - And soon we'll tell the pleasing story, - How by faith we won the crown, - And fought our way to life and glory. - - "Oh, ye rebels, come and 'list! - The officers are now recruiting: - Why will you in sin persist, - Or waste your time in vain disputing? - - "All excuses now are vain; - For, if you do not sue for favor, - Down you'll sink to endless pain, - And bear the wrath of God forever." - - -There is always something awful in the voice of the multitude. It would -seem as if the breath that a crowd breathed out together, in moments of -enthusiasm, carried with it a portion of the dread and mystery of their -own immortal natures. The whole area before the pulpit, and in the -distant aisles of the forest, became one vast, surging sea of sound, as -negroes and whites, slaves and freemen, saints and sinners, -slave-holders, slave-hunters, slave-traders, ministers, elders, and -laymen, alike joined in the pulses of that mighty song. A flood of -electrical excitement seemed to rise with it, as, with a voice of many -waters, the rude chant went on:-- - - - "Hark! the victors singing loud! - Emanuel's chariot wheels are rumbling; - Mourners weeping through the crowd, - And Satan's kingdom down is tumbling!" - - -Our friend, Ben Dakin, pressed to the stand, and, with tears streaming -down his cheeks, exceeded all others in the energy of his vociferations. -Ben had just come from almost a fight with another slave-hunter, who had -boasted a better-trained pack of dogs than his own; and had broken away -to hurry to the camp-ground, with the assurance that he'd "give him fits -when the preachin' was over;" and now he stood there, tears rolling down -his cheeks, singing with the heartiest earnestness and devotion. What -shall we make of it? Poor heathen Ben! is it any more out of the way for -him to think of being a Christian in this manner, than for some of his -more decent brethren, who take Sunday passage for eternity in the -cushioned New York or Boston pews, and solemnly drowse through very -sleepy tunes, under a dim, hazy impression that they are going to -heaven? Of the two, we think Ben's chance is the best; for, in some -blind way, he does think himself a sinner, and in need of something he -calls salvation; and, doubtless, while the tears stream down his face, -the poor fellow makes a new resolve against the whiskey-bottle, while -his more respectable sleepy brethren never think of making one against -the cotton-bale. - -Then there was his rival, also, Jim Stokes,--a surly, foul-mouthed, -swearing fellow,--he joins in the chorus of the hymn, and feels a -troublous, vague yearning, deep down within him, which makes him for the -moment doubt whether he had better knock down Ben at the end of the -meeting. - -As to Harry, who stood also among the crowd, the words and tune recalled -but too vividly the incidents of his morning's interview with Dred, and -with it the tumultuous boiling of his bitter controversy with the laws -of the society in which he found himself. In hours of such high -excitement, a man seems to have an intuitive perception of the whole -extent and strength of what is within himself; and, if there be anything -unnatural or false in his position, he realizes it with double -intensity. - -Mr. John Gordon, likewise, gave himself up, without resistance, to be -swayed by the feeling of the hour. He sung with enthusiasm, and wished -he was a soldier of somebody, going somewhere, or a martyr shouting -victory in the fire; and if the conflict described had been with any -other foe than his own laziness and self-indulgence--had there been any -outward, tangible enemy, at the moment--he would doubtless have -enlisted, without loss of time. - -When the hymn was finished, however, there was a general wiping of eyes, -and they all sat down to listen to the sermon. Father Bonnie led off in -an animated strain. His discourse was like the tropical swamp, bursting -out with a lush abundance of every kind of growth--grave, gay, -grotesque, solemn, fanciful, and even coarse caricature, provoking the -broadest laughter. The audience were swayed by him like trees before the -wind. There were not wanting touches of rude pathos, as well as earnest -appeals. The meeting was a union one of Presbyterians and Methodists, in -which the ministers of both denominations took equal part; and it was an -understood agreement among them, of course, that they were not to -venture upon polemic ground, or attack each other's peculiarities of -doctrine. But Abijah's favorite preacher could not get through a sermon -without some quite pointed exposition of Scripture bearing on his -favorite doctrine of election, which caused the next minister to run a -vehement tilt on the correlative doctrines of free grace, with a eulogy -on John Wesley. The auditors, meanwhile, according to their respective -sentiments, encouraged each preacher with a cry of "Amen!" "Glory be to -God!" "Go on, brother!" and other similar exclamations. - -About noon the services terminated, _pro tem._, and the audience -dispersed themselves to their respective tents through the grove, where -there was an abundance of chatting, visiting, eating, and drinking, as -if the vehement denunciations and passionate appeals of the morning had -been things of another state of existence. Uncle John, in the most -cheery possible frame of mind, escorted his party into the woods, and -assisted them in unpacking a hamper containing wine, cold fowls, cakes, -pies, and other delicacies which Aunt Katy had packed for the occasion. - -Old Tiff had set up his tent in a snug little nook on the banks of the -stream, where he informed passers-by that it was his young mas'r and -missis's establishment, and that he, Tiff, had come to wait on them. -With a good-natured view of doing him a pleasure, Nina selected a spot -for their nooning at no great distance, and spoke in the most gracious -and encouraging manner to them, from time to time. - -"See, now, can't you, how real quality behaves demselves!" he said, -grimly, to Old Hundred, who came up bringing the carriage-cushions for -the party to sit down upon. "Real quality sees into things! I tell ye -what, blood sees into blood. Miss Nina sees dese yer chil'en an't de -common sort--dat's what she does!" - -"Umph!" said Old Hundred, "such a muss as ye keep up about yer chil'en! -Tell you what, dey an't no better dan oder white trash!" - -"Now, you talk dat ar way, I'll knock you down!" said Old Tiff, who, -though a peaceable and law-abiding creature, in general, was driven, in -desperation, to the last resort of force. - -"John, what are you saying to Tiff?" said Nina, who had overheard some -of the last words. "Go back to your own tent, and don't you trouble him! -I have taken him under my protection." - -The party enjoyed their dinner with infinite relish, and Nina amused -herself in watching Tiff's cooking preparations. Before departing to the -preaching-ground, he had arranged a slow fire, on which a savory stew -had been all the morning simmering, and which, on the taking off of the -pot-lid, diffused an agreeable odor through the place. - -"I say, Tiff, how delightfully that smells!" said Nina, getting up, and -looking into the pot. "Wouldn't Miss Fanny be so kind as to favor us -with a taste of it?" - -Fanny, to whom Tiff punctiliously referred the question, gave a bashful -consent. But who shall describe the pride and glory that swelled the -heart of Tiff as he saw a bowl of his stew smoking among the Gordon -viands, praised and patronized by the party? And, when Nina placed on -their simple board--literally a board, and nothing more--a small loaf of -frosted cake, in exchange, it certainly required all the grace of the -morning exercises to keep Tiff within due bounds of humility. He really -seemed to dilate with satisfaction. - -"Tiff, how did you like the sermon?" said Nina. - -"Dey's pretty far, Miss Nina. Der's a good deal o' quality preaching." - -"What do you mean by quality preaching, Tiff?" - -"Why, dat ar kind dat's good for quality--full of long words, you know. -I spects it's very good; but poor nigger like me can't see his way -through it. You see, Miss Nina, what I's studdin' on, lately, is, how to -get dese yer chil'en to Canaan; and I hars fus with one ear, and den -with t'oder, but 'pears like an't clar 'bout it, yet. Dere's a heap -about mose everything else, and it's all very good; but 'pears like I -an't clar, arter all, about dat ar. Dey says, 'Come to Christ;' and I -says, 'Whar is he, any how?' Bress you, I _want_ to come! Dey talks -'bout going in de gate, and knocking at de do', and 'bout marching on de -road, and 'bout fighting and being soldiers of de cross; and de Lord -knows, now, I'd be glad to get de chil'en through any gate; and I could -take 'em on my back and travel all day, if dere was any road; and if -dere was a do', bless me, if dey wouldn't hear Old Tiff a rapping! I -spects de Lord would have fur to open it--would so. But, arter all, when -de preaching is done, dere don't 'pear to be nothing to it. Dere an't no -gate, dere an't no do', nor no way; and dere an't no fighting, 'cept -when Ben Dakin and Jim Stokes get jawing about der dogs; and everybody -comes back eating der dinner quite comf'table, and 'pears like dere -wan't no such ting dey's been preaching 'bout. Dat ar troubles me--does -so--'cause I wants fur to get dese yer chil'en in de kingdom, some way -or oder. I didn't know but some of de quality would know more 'bout it." - -"Hang me, if I haven't felt just so!" said Uncle John. "When they were -singing that hymn about enlisting and being a soldier, if there had been -any fighting doing anywhere, I should have certainly gone right into it; -and the preaching always stirs me up terribly. But, then, as Tiff says, -after it's all over, why, there's dinner to be eaten, and I can't see -anything better than to eat it; and then, by the time I have drank two -or three glasses of wine, it's all gone. Now, that's just the way with -me!" - -"Dey says," said Tiff, "dat we must wait for de blessing to come down -upon us, and Aunt Rose says it's dem dat shouts dat gets de blessing; -and I's been shouting till I's most beat out, but I hasn't got it. Den, -one of dem said none of dem could get it but de 'lect; but, den, t'oder -one, he seemed to tink different; and in de meeting dey tells about de -scales falling from der eyes,--and I wished dey fall from mine--I do so! -Perhaps, Miss Nina, now, you could tell me something." - -"Oh, don't ask me!" said Nina; "I don't know anything about these -things. I think I feel a little like Uncle John," she said, turning to -Clayton. "There are two kinds of sermons and hymns; one gets me to -sleep, and the other excites and stirs me up in a general kind of way; -but they don't either seem to do me real good." - -"For my part, I am such an enemy to stagnation," said Clayton, "that I -think there is advantage in everything that stirs up the soul, even -though we see no immediate results. I listen to music, see pictures, as -far as I can, uncritically. I say, 'Here I am; see what you can do with -me.' So I present myself to almost all religious exercises. It is the -most mysterious part of our nature. I do not pretend to understand it, -therefore never criticise." - -"For _my_ part," said Anne, "there is so much in the wild freedom of -these meetings that shocks my taste and sense of propriety, that I am -annoyed more than I am benefited." - -"There spoke the true, well-trained conventionalist," said Clayton. "But -look around you. See, in this wood, among these flowers, and festoons of -vine, and arches of green, how many shocking, unsightly growths! _You_ -would not have had all this underbrush, these dead limbs, these briers -running riot over trees, and sometimes choking and killing them. You -would have well-trimmed trees and velvet turf. But I love briers, dead -limbs, and all, for their very savage freedom. Every once in a while you -see in a wood a jessamine, or a sweet-brier, or a grape-vine, that -throws itself into a gracefulness of growth which a landscape gardener -would go down on his knees for, but cannot get. Nature resolutely denies -it to him. She says, 'No! I keep this for _my own_. You won't have my -wildness--my freedom; very well, then you shall not have the graces that -spring from it.' Just so it is with men. Unite any assembly of common -men in a great enthusiasm,--work them up into an abandon, and let every -one 'let go,' and speak as nature prompts,--and you will have brush, -underwood, briers, and all grotesque growths; but, now and then, some -thought or sentiment will be struck out with a freedom or power such as -you cannot get in any other way. You cultivated people are much mistaken -when you despise the enthusiasms of the masses. There is more truth than -you think in the old '_Vox populi, vox Dei_.'" - -"What's that?" said Nina. - -"'The voice of the people is the voice of God.' There is truth in it. I -never repent my share in a popular excitement, provided it be of the -higher sentiments; and I do not ask too strictly whether it has produced -any tangible result. I reverence the people, as I do the woods, for the -wild, grand freedom with which their humanity develops itself." - -"I'm afraid, Nina," said Aunt Nesbit, in a low tone, to the latter, "I'm -afraid he isn't orthodox." - -"What makes you think so, aunt?" - -"Oh, I don't know; his talk hasn't the real sound." - -"You want something that ends in 'ation,' don't you, -aunt?--justification, sanctification, or something of that kind." - - * * * * * * * * * - -Meanwhile, the department of Abijah Skinflint exhibited a decided -activity. This was a long, low booth, made of poles, and roofed with -newly-cut green boughs. Here the whiskey-barrel was continually pouring -forth its supplies to customers who crowded around it. Abijah sat on the -middle of a sort of rude counter, dangling his legs, and chewing a -straw, while his negro was busy in helping his various customers. -Abijah, as we said, being a particularly high Calvinist, was recreating -himself by carrying on a discussion with a fat, little, turnipy brother -of the Methodist persuasion. - -"I say," he said, "Stringfellow put it into you, Methodists, this -morning! Hit the nail on the head, I thought!" - -"Not a bit of it!" said the other, contemptuously. "Why, elder Baskum -chawed him up completely! There wan't nothin' left of him!" - -"Well," said Abijah, "strange how folks will see things! Why, it's just -as clar to me that all things is decreed! Why, that ar nails everything -up tight and handsome. It gives a fellow a kind of comfort to think on -it. Things is just as they have got to be. All this free-grace stuff is -drefful loose talk. If things is been decreed 'fore the world was made, -well, there seems to be some sense in their coming to pass. But, if -everything kind of turns up whenever folks think on't, it's a kind of -shaky business." - -"I don't like this tying up things so tight," said the other, who -evidently was one of the free, jovial order. "I go in for the freedom of -the will. Free Gospel, and free grace." - -"For my part," said Abijah, rather grimly, "if things was managed my -way, I shouldn't commune with nobody that didn't believe in election, up -to the hub." - -"You strong electioners think you's among the elect!" said one of the -by-standers. "You wouldn't be so crank about it, if you didn't! Now, see -here: if everything is decreed, how am I going to help myself?" - -"That ar is none of _my_ look-out," said Abijah. "But there's a pint my -mind rests upon--everything is fixed as it can be, and it makes a man -mighty easy." - - * * * * * * * * * - -In another part of the camp-ground, Ben Dakin was sitting in his tent -door, caressing one of his favorite dogs, and partaking his noontide -repast with his wife and child. - -"I declar'," said Ben, wiping his mouth, "wife, I intend to go into it, -and sarve the Lord, now, full chisel! If I catch the next lot of -niggers, I intend to give half the money towards keeping up preaching -somewhere round here. I'm going to enlist, now, and be a soldier." - -"And," said his wife, "Ben, just keep clear of Abijah Skinflint's -counter, won't you?" - -"Well, I will, durned if I won't!" said Ben. "I'll be moderate. A fellow -wants a glass or two, to strike up the hymn on, you know; but I'll be -moderate." - -The Georgia trader, who had encamped in the neighborhood, now came up. - -"Do you believe, stranger," said he, "one of them durned niggers of mine -broke loose and got in the swamps, while I was at meeting this morning! -Couldn't you take your dog, here, and give 'em a run? I just gave nine -hundred dollars for that fellow, cash down." - -"Ho! what you going to _him_ for?" said Jim Stokes, a short, pursy, -vulgar-looking individual, dressed in a hunting-shirt of blue Kentucky -jean, who just then came up. "Why, durn ye, his dogs an't no breed 't -all! Mine's the true grit, I can tell you; they's the true Florida -blood-hounds! I's seen one of them ar dogs shake a nigger in his mouth -like he'd been a sponge." - -Poor Ben's new-found religion could not withstand this sudden attack of -his spiritual enemy; and, rousing himself, notwithstanding the appealing -glances of his wife, he stripped up his sleeves, and, squaring off, -challenged his rival to a fight. - -A crowd gathered round, laughing and betting, and cheering on the -combatants with slang oaths and expressions, such as we will not repeat, -when the concourse was routed by the approach of father Bonnie on the -outside of the ring. - -"Look here, boys, what works of the devil have you got round here? None -of this on the camp-ground! This is the Lord's ground, here; so shut up -your swearing, and don't fight." - -A confused murmur of voices now began to explain to father Bonnie the -cause of the trouble. - -"Ho, ho!" said he, "let the nigger run; you can catch him fast enough -when the meetings are over. You come here to 'tend to your salvation. -Ah, don't you be swearing and blustering round! Come, boys, join in a -hymn with me." So saying, he struck up a well-known air:-- - - - "When Israel went to Jericho, - O good Lord, in my soul!" - - -in which one after another joined, and the rising tumult was soon -assuaged. - -"I say," said father Bonnie to the trader, in an undertone, as he was -walking away, "you got a good cook in your lot, hey?" - -"Got a prime one," said the trader; "an A number one cook, and no -mistake! Picked her up real cheap, and I'll let you have her for eight -hundred dollars, being as you are a minister." - -"You must think the Gospel a better trade than it is," said father -Bonnie, "if you think a minister can afford to pay at that figure!" - -"Why," said the trader, "you haven't seen her; it's dirt cheap for her, -I can tell you! A sound, strong, hearty woman; a prudent, careful -housekeeper; a real pious Methodist, a member of a class-meeting! Why, -eight hundred dollars an't anything! I ought to get a thousand for her; -but I don't hear preaching for nothing,--always think right to make a -discount to ministers!" - -"Why couldn't you bring her in?" said father Bonnie. "Maybe I'll give -you seven hundred and fifty for her." - -"Couldn't do that, no way!" said the trader. "Couldn't, indeed!" - -"Well, after the meetings are over I'll talk about it." - -"She's got a child, four years old," said the trader, with a little -cough; "healthy, likely child; I suppose I shall want a hundred dollars -for him!" - -"Oh, that won't do!" said father Bonnie. "I don't want any more children -round my place than I've got now!" - -"But, I tell you," said the trader, "it's a likely boy. Why, the -keeping of him won't cost you anything, and before you think of it -you'll have a thousand-dollar hand grown on your own place." - -"Well," said father Bonnie, "I'll think of it!" - -In the evening the scene on the camp-ground was still more picturesque -and impressive. Those who conduct camp-meetings are generally men who, -without much reasoning upon the subject, fall into a sort of tact, in -influencing masses of mind, and pressing into the service all the great -life forces and influences of nature. A kind of rude poetry pervades -their minds, colors their dialect, and influences their arrangements. -The solemn and harmonious grandeur of night, with all its mysterious -power of exalting the passions and intensifying the emotions, has ever -been appreciated, and used by them with even poetic skill. The day had -been a glorious one in June; the sky of that firm, clear blue, the -atmosphere of that crystalline clearness, which often gives to the -American landscape such a sharply-defined outline, and to the human -system such an intense consciousness of life. The evening sun went down -in a broad sea of light, and even after it had sunk below the purple -horizon, flashed back a flood of tremulous rose-colored radiance, which, -taken up by a thousand filmy clouds, made the whole sky above like a -glowing tent of the most ethereal brightness. The shadows of the forest -aisles were pierced by the rose-colored rays; and, as they gradually -faded, star after star twinkled out, and a broad moon, ample and round, -rose in the purple zone of the sky. When she had risen above the horizon -but a short space, her light was so resplendent and so profuse, that it -was decided to conduct the evening service by that alone; and when, at -the sound of the hymn, the assembly poured in and arranged themselves -before the preaching-stand, it is probable that the rudest heart present -was somewhat impressed with the silent magnificence by which God was -speaking to them through his works. As the hymn closed, father Bonnie, -advancing to the front of the stage, lifted his hands, and pointing to -the purple sky, and in a deep and not unmelodious voice, repeated the -words of the Psalmist:-- - -"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his -handy-work; day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth -knowledge." - -"Oh, ye sinners!" he exclaimed, "look up at the moon, there, walking in -her brightness, and think over your oaths, and your cursings, and your -drinkings! Think over your backbitings, and your cheatings! think over -your quarrellings and your fightings! How do they look to you now, with -that blessed moon shining down upon you? Don't you see the beauty of our -Lord God upon her? Don't you see how the saints walk in white with the -Lord, like her? I dare say some of you, now, have had a pious mother, or -a pious wife, or a pious sister, that's gone to glory; and there they -are walking with the Lord!--walking with the Lord, through the sky, and -looking down on you, sinners, just as that moon looks down! And what -does she see you doing, your wife, or your mother, or sister, that's in -glory? Does she see all your swearings, and your drinkings, and your -fightings, and your hankerings after money, and your horse-racings, and -your cock-fightings? Oh, sinners, but you are a bad set! I tell you the -Lord is looking now down on you, out of that moon! He is looking down in -mercy! But, I tell you, he'll look down quite another way, one of these -days! Oh, there'll be a time of wrath, by and by, if you don't repent! -Oh, what a time there was at Sinai, years ago, when the voice of the -trumpet waxed louder and louder, and the mountain was all of a smoke, -and there were thunderings and lightnings, and the Lord descended on -Sinai! That's nothing to what you'll see, by and by! No more moon -looking down on you! No more stars, but the heavens shall pass away with -a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat! Ah! did -you ever see a fire in the woods? I have; and I've seen the fire on the -prairies, and it rolled like a tempest, and men and horses and -everything, had to run before it. I have seen it roaring and crackling -through the woods, and great trees shrivelled in a minute like tinder! I -have seen it flash over trees seventy-five and a hundred feet high, and -in a minute they'd be standing pillars of fire, and the heavens were all -a blaze, and the crackling and roaring was like the sea in a storm. -There's a judgment-day for you! Oh, sinner, what will become of you in -that day? Never cry, Lord, Lord! Too late--too late, man! You wouldn't -take mercy when it was offered, and now you shall have wrath! No place -to hide! The heavens and earth are passing away, and there shall be no -more sea! There's no place for you now in God's universe." - -By this time there were tumultuous responses from the audience of -groans, cries, clapping of hands, and mingled shouts of glory and amen! - -The electric shout of the multitude acted on the preacher again, as he -went on, with a yet fiercer energy. "Now is your time, sinners! Now is -your time! Come unto the altar, and God's people will pray for you! Now -is the day of grace! Come up! Come up, you that have got pious fathers -and mothers in glory! Come up, father! come up mother! come up, brother! -Come, young man! we want you to come! Ah, there's a hardened sinner, off -there! I see his lofty looks! Come up, come up! Come up, you rich -sinners! You'll be poor enough in the day of the Lord, I can tell you! -Come up, you young women! You daughters of Jerusalem, with your tinkling -ornaments! Come, saints of the Lord, and labor with me in prayer. Strike -up a hymn, brethren, strike up the hymn!" And a thousand voices -commenced the hymn,-- - - - "Stop, poor sinner, stop and think, - Before you further go!" - - -And, meanwhile, ministers and elders moved around the throng, entreating -and urging one and another to come and kneel before the stand. -Multitudes rushed forward, groans and sobs were heard, as the speaker -continued, with redoubled vehemence. - -"I don't care," said Mr. John Gordon, "who sees me; I'm going up! I am a -poor old sinner, and I ought to be prayed for, if anybody." - -Nina shrank back, and clung to Clayton's arm. So vehement was the -surging feeling of the throng around her that she wept with a wild, -tremulous excitement. - -"Do take me out,--it's dreadful!" she said. - -Clayton passed his arm round her, and, opening a way through the crowd, -carried her out beyond the limits, where they stood together alone, -under the tree. - -"I know I am not good as I ought to be," she said, "but I don't know how -to be any better. Do you think it would do me any good to go up there? -Do you believe in these things?" - -"I sympathize with every effort that man makes to approach his Maker," -said Clayton; "these ways do not suit me, but I dare not judge them. I -cannot despise them. I must not make myself a rule for others." - -"But, don't you think," said Nina, "that these things do harm -sometimes?" - -"Alas, child, what form of religion does not? It is our fatality that -everything that does good must do harm. It's the condition of our poor, -imperfect life here." - -"I do not like these terrible threats," said Nina. "Can fear of fire -make me love? Besides, I have a kind of courage in me that always rises -up against a threat. It isn't my nature to fear." - -"If we may judge our Father by his voice in nature," said Clayton, "he -deems severity a necessary part of our training. How inflexibly and -terribly regular are all his laws! Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy -wind, fulfilling his word--all these have a crushing regularity in their -movements, which show that he is to be feared as well as loved." - -"But I want to be religious," said Nina, "entirely apart from such -considerations. Not driven by fear, but drawn by love. You can guide me -about these things, for you are religious." - -"I fear I should not be accepted as such in any church," said Clayton. -"It is my misfortune that I cannot receive any common form of faith, -though I respect and sympathize with all. Generally speaking, preaching -only weakens my faith; and I have to forget the sermon in order to -recover my faith. I do not _believe_--I _know_ that our moral nature -needs a thorough regeneration; and I believe this must come through -Christ. This is all I am certain of." - -"I wish I were like Milly," said Nina. "She is a Christian, I know; but -she has come to it by dreadful sorrows. Sometimes I'm afraid to ask my -heavenly Father to make me good, because I think it will come by -dreadful trials, if he does." - -"And I," said Clayton, speaking with great earnestness, "would be -willing to suffer anything conceivable, if I could only overcome all -evil, and come up to my highest ideas of good." And, as he spoke, he -turned his face up to the moonlight with an earnest fervor of -expression, that struck Nina deeply. - -"I almost shudder to hear you say so! You don't know what it may bring -on you!" - -He looked at her with a beautiful smile, which was a peculiar expression -of his face in moments of high excitement. - -"I say it again!" he said. "Whatever it involves, let it come!" - - * * * * * * * * * - -The exercises of the evening went on with a succession of addresses, -varied by singing of hymns and prayers. In the latter part of the time -many declared themselves converts, and were shouting loudly. Father -Bonnie came forward. - -"Brethren," he shouted, "we are seeing a day from the Lord! We've got a -glorious time! Oh, brethren, let us sing glory to the Lord! The Lord is -coming among us!" - -The excitement now became general. There was a confused sound of -exhortation, prayers, and hymns, all mixed together, from different -parts of the ground. But, all of a sudden, every one was startled by a -sound which seemed to come pealing down directly from the thick canopy -of pines over the heads of the ministers. - -"Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end shall it be -for _you_? The day of the Lord shall be darkness, and not light! Blow ye -the trumpet in Zion! Sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the -inhabitants of the land tremble! for the day of the Lord cometh!" - -There was deep, sonorous power in the voice that spoke, and the words -fell pealing down through the air like the vibrations of some mighty -bell. Men looked confusedly on each other; but, in the universal license -of the hour, the obscurity of the night, and the multitude of the -speakers, no one knew exactly whence it came. After a moment's pause, -the singers were recommencing, when again the same deep voice was heard. - -"Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and the melody of thy viols; -for I will not hear them, saith the Lord. I hate and despise your -feast-days! I will not smell in your solemn assemblies; for your hands -are defiled with blood, and your fingers are greedy for violence! Will -ye kill, and steal, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and come -and stand before _me_, saith the Lord? Ye oppress the poor and needy, -and hunt the stranger; also in thy skirts is found the blood of poor -innocents! and yet ye say, Because I am clean shall his anger pass from -me! Hear this, ye that swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the -land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell -corn? that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of -shoes? The Lord hath sworn, saying, I will never forget their works. I -will surely visit you!" - -The audience, thus taken, in the obscurity of the evening, by an unknown -speaker, whose words seemed to fall apparently from the clouds, in a -voice of such strange and singular quality, began to feel a creeping awe -stealing over them. The high state of electrical excitement under which -they had been going on, predisposed them to a sort of revulsion of -terror; and a vague, mysterious panic crept upon them, as the boding, -mournful voice continued to peal from the trees. - -"Hear, oh ye rebellious people! The Lord is against this nation! The -Lord shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of -emptiness? For thou saidst, I will ascend into the stars; I will be as -God! But thou shalt be cast out as an abominable branch, and the wild -beasts shall tread thee down! Howl, fir-tree, for thou art spoiled! Open -thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars! for the Lord -cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the land! The Lord -shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great! -Multitudes! multitudes! in the valley of decision! For the day of the -Lord is near in the valley of decision! The sun and the moon shall be -dark, and the stars withdraw their shining; for the Lord shall utter his -voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and earth shall shake! In that day -I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and darken the whole earth! And -I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs into lamentation! -Woe to the bloody city! It is full of lies and robbery! The noise of a -whip!--the noise of the rattling of wheels!--of the prancing horses, and -the jumping chariot! The horseman lifteth up the sword and glittering -spear! and there is a multitude of slain! There is no end of their -corpses!--They are stumbling upon the corpses! For, Behold, I am -against thee, saith the Lord, and I will make thee utterly desolate!" - -There was a fierce, wailing earnestness in the sound of these dreadful -words, as if they were uttered in a paroxysm of affright and horror, by -one who stood face to face with some tremendous form. And, when the -sound ceased, men drew in their breath, and looked on each other, and -the crowd began slowly to disperse, whispering in low voices to each -other. - -So extremely piercing and so wildly earnest had the voice been, that it -actually seemed, in the expressive words of Scripture, to make every ear -to tingle. And, as people of rude and primitive habits are always -predisposed to superstition, there crept through the different groups -wild legends of prophets strangely commissioned to announce coming -misfortunes. Some spoke of the predictions of the judgment-day; some -talked of comets, and strange signs that had preceded wars and -pestilences. The ministers wondered, and searched around the stand in -vain. One auditor alone could, had he desired it, make an explanation. -Harry, who stood near the stand, had recognized the voice. But, though -he searched, also, around, he could find no one. - -He who spoke was one whose savage familiarity with nature gave him the -agility and stealthy adroitness of a wild animal. And, during the stir -and commotion of the dispersing audience, he had silently made his way -from tree to tree, over the very heads of those who were yet wondering -at his strange, boding words, till at last he descended in a distant -part of the forest. - -After the service, as father Dickson was preparing to retire to his -tent, a man pulled him by the sleeve. It was the Georgia trader. - -"We have had an awful time, to-night!" said he, looking actually pale -with terror. "Do you think the judgment-day really is coming?" - -"My friend," said father Dickson, "it surely is! Every step we take in -life is leading us directly to the judgment-seat of Christ!" - -"Well," said the trader, "but do you think that was from the Lord, the -last one that spoke? Durned if he didn't say awful things!--'nough to -make the hair rise! I tell you what, I've often had doubts about my -trade. The ministers may prove it's all right out of the Old Testament; -but I'm durned if I think they know all the things that we do! But, -then, I an't so bad as some of 'em. But, now, I've got a gal out in my -gang that's dreadful sick, and I partly promised her I'd bring a -minister to see her." - -"I'll go with you, friend," said father Dickson; and forthwith he began -following the trader to the racks where their horses were tied. -Selecting, out of some hundred who were tied there, their own beasts, -the two midnight travellers soon found themselves trotting along under -the shadow of the forest's boughs. - -"My friend," said father Dickson, "I feel bound in conscience to tell -you that I think your trade a ruinous one to your soul. I hope you'll -lay to heart the solemn warning you've heard to-night. Why, your own -sense can show you that a trade can't be right that you'd be afraid to -be found in if the great judgment-day were at hand." - -"Well, I rather spect you speak the truth; but, then, what makes father -Bonnie stand up for 't?" - -"My friend, I must say that I think father Bonnie upholds a -soul-destroying error. I must say that, as conscience-bound. I pray the -Lord for him and you both. I put it right to your conscience, my friend, -whether you think you could keep to your trade, and live a Christian -life." - -"No; the fact is, it's a d----d bad business, that's just where 't is. -We an't fit to be trusted with such things that come to us--gals and -women. Well, I feel pretty bad, I tell you, to-night; 'cause I know I -haven't done right by this yer gal. I ought fur to have let her alone; -but, then, the devil or something possessed me. And now she has got a -fever, and screeches awfully. I declar, some things she says go right -through me!" - -Father Dickson groaned in spirit over this account, and felt himself -almost guilty for belonging ostensibly and outwardly to a church which -tolerated such evils. He rode along by the side of his companion, -breaking forth into occasional ejaculations and snatches of hymns. After -a ride of about an hour, they arrived at the encampment. A large fire -had been made in a cleared spot, and smouldering fragments and brands -were lying among the white ashes. One or two horses were tied to a -neighboring tree, and wagons were drawn up by them. Around the fire, in -different groups, lay about fifteen men and women, with heavy iron -shackles on their feet, asleep in the moonlight. At a little distance -from the group, and near to one of the wagons, a blanket was spread down -on the ground under a tree, on which lay a young girl of seventeen, -tossing and moaning in a disturbed stupor. A respectable-looking -mulatto-woman was sitting beside her, with a gourd full of water, with -which from time to time she moistened her forehead. The woman rose as -the trader came up. - -"Well, Nance, how does she do now?" said the trader. - -"Mis'able enough!" said Nance. "She done been tossing, a throwing round, -and crying for her mammy, ever since you went away!" - -"Well, I've brought the minister," said he. "Try, Nance, to wake her up; -she'll be glad to see him." - -The woman knelt down, and took the hand of the sleeper. - -"Emily! Emily!" she said, "wake up!" - -The girl threw herself over with a sudden, restless toss. "Oh, how my -head burns!--Oh, dear!--Oh, my mother! Mother!--mother!--mother!--why -don't you come to me?" - -Father Dickson approached and knelt the other side of her. The -mulatto-woman made another effort to bring her to consciousness. - -"Emily here's the minister you was wanting so much! Emily, wake up!" - -The girl slowly opened her eyes--large, tremulous, dark eyes. She drew -her hand across them, as if to clear her sight, and looked wistfully at -the woman. - -"Minister!--minister!" she said. - -"Yes, minister! You said you wanted to see one." - -"Oh, yes, I did!" she said, heavily. - -"My daughter!" said father Dickson, "you are very sick!" - -"Yes!" she said, "very! And I'm glad of it! I'm going to die!--I'm glad -of that, too! That's all I've got left to be glad of! But I wanted to -ask you to write to my mother. She is a free woman; she lives in New -York. I want you to give my love to her, and tell her not to worry any -more. Tell her I tried all I could to get to her: but they took us, and -mistress was so angry she sold me! I forgive her, too. I don't bear her -any malice, 'cause it's all over, now! She used to say I was a wild -girl, and laughed too loud. I shan't trouble any one that way any more! -So that's no matter!" - -The girl spoke these sentences at long intervals, occasionally opening -her eyes and closing them again in a languid manner. Father Dickson, -however, who had some knowledge of medicine, placed his finger on her -pulse, which was rapidly sinking. It is the usual instinct, in all such -cases, to think of means of prolonging life. Father Dickson rose, and -said to the trader:-- - -"Unless some stimulus be given her, she will be gone very soon!" - -The trader produced from his pocket a flask of brandy, which he mixed -with a little water in a cup, and placed it in father Dickson's hand. He -kneeled down again, and, calling her by name, tried to make her take -some. - -"What is it?" said she, opening her wild, glittering eyes. - -"It's something to make you feel better." - -"I don't want to feel better! I want to die!" she said, throwing herself -over. "What should I want to live for?" - -What should she? The words struck father Dickson so much that he sat for -a while in silence. He meditated in his mind how he could reach, with -any words, that dying ear, or enter with her into that land of trance -and mist, into whose cloudy circle the soul seemed already to have -passed. Guided by a subtle instinct, he seated himself by the dying -girl, and began singing, in a subdued plaintive air, the following -well-known hymn:-- - - - "Hark, my soul! it is the Lord, - 'Tis thy Saviour, hear his word; - Jesus speaks--he speaks to thee! - Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?" - - -The melody is one often sung among the negroes; and one which, from its -tenderness and pathos, is a favorite among them. As oil will find its -way into crevices where water cannot penetrate, so song will find its -way where speech can no longer enter. The moon shone full on the face of -the dying girl, only interrupted by flickering shadows of leaves; and, -as father Dickson sung, he fancied he saw a slight, tremulous movement -of the face, as if the soul, so worn and weary, were upborne on the -tender pinions of the song. He went on singing:-- - - - "Can a mother's tender care - Cease toward the child she bare? - Yes, she may forgetful be: - Still will I remember thee." - - -By the light of the moon, he saw a tear steal from under the long -lashes, and course slowly down her cheek. He continued his song:-- - - - "Mine is an eternal love, - Higher than the heights above, - Deeper than the depths beneath, - True and faithful--strong as death. - - "Thou shalt see my glory soon, - When the work of faith is done; - Partner of my throne shalt be! - Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?" - - -Oh, love of Christ! which no sin can weary, which no lapse of time can -change; from which tribulation, persecution, and distress cannot -separate--all-redeeming, all-glorifying, changing even death and despair -to the gate of heaven! Thou hast one more triumph here in the -wilderness, in the slave-coffle, and thou comest to bind up the -broken-hearted. - -As the song ceased, she opened her eyes. - -"Mother used to sing that!" she said. - -"And can you believe in it, daughter?" - -"Yes," she said, "I see Him now! _He_ loves me! Let me go!" - -There followed a few moments of those strugglings and shiverings which -are the birth-pangs of another life, and Emily lay at rest. - -Father Dickson, kneeling by her side, poured out the fulness of his -heart in an earnest prayer. Rising, he went up to the trader, and, -taking his hand, said to him,-- - -"My friend, this may be the turning-point with your soul for eternity. -It has pleased the Lord to show you the evil of your ways; and now my -advice to you is, break off your sins at once, and do works meet for -repentance. Take off the shackles of these poor creatures, and tell them -they are at liberty to go." - -"Why, bless your soul, sir, this yer lot's worth ten thousand dollars!" -said the trader, who was not prepared for so close a practical -application. - -Do not be too sure, friend, that the trader is peculiar in this. The -very same argument, though less frankly stated, holds in the bonds of -Satan many extremely well-bred, refined, respectable men, who would -gladly save their souls if they could afford the luxury. - -"My friend," said father Dickson, using the words of a very close and -uncompromising preacher of old, "what shall it profit a man if he should -gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" - -"I know that," said the trader, doubtfully; "but it's a very hard case, -this. I'll think about it, though. But there's father Bonnie wants to -buy Nance. It would be a pity to disappoint him. But I'll think it -over." - -Father Dickson returned to the camp-ground between one and two o'clock -at night, and, putting away his horse, took his way to the ministers' -tent. Here he found father Bonnie standing out in the moonlight. He had -been asleep within the tent; but it is to be confessed that the interior -of a crowded tent on a camp-ground is anything but favorable to repose. -He therefore came out into the fresh air, and was there when father -Dickson came back to enter the tent. - -"Well, brother, where have you been so late?" said father Bonnie. - -"I have been looking for a few sheep in the wilderness, whom everybody -neglects," said father Dickson. And then, in a tone tremulous from -agitation, he related to him the scene he had just witnessed. - -"Do you see," he said, "brother, what iniquities you are countenancing? -Now, here, right next to our camp, a slave-coffle encamped! Men and -women, guilty of no crime, driven in fetters through our land, shaming -us in the sight of every Christian nation! What horrible, abominable -iniquities are these poor traders tempted to commit! What perfect hells -are the great trading-houses, where men, women, and children are made -merchandise of, and where no light of the Gospel ever enters! And when -this poor trader is convicted of sin, and wants to enter into the -kingdom, you stand there to apologize for his sins! Brother Bonnie, I -much fear you are the stumbling block over which souls will stumble into -hell. I don't think you believe your argument from the Old Testament, -yourself. You must see that it has no kind of relation to such kind of -slavery as we have in this country. There's an awful Scripture which -saith: 'He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, so -that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right -hand?'" - -The earnestness with which father Dickson spoke, combined with the -reverence commonly entertained for his piety, gave great force to his -words. The reader will not therefore wonder to hear that father Bonnie, -impulsive and easily moved as he was, wept at the account, and was moved -by the exhortation. Nor will he be surprised to learn that, two weeks -after, father Bonnie drove a brisk bargain with the same trader for -three new hands. - -The trader had discovered that the judgment-day was not coming yet a -while; and father Bonnie satisfied himself that Noah, when he awoke from -his wine, said, "Cursed be Canaan." - - * * * * * * * * * - -We have one scene more to draw before we dismiss the auditors of the -camp-meeting. - -At a late hour the Gordon carriage was winding its way under the silent, -checkered, woodland path. Harry, who came slowly on a horse behind, felt -a hand laid on his bridle. With a sudden start, he stopped. - -"Oh, Dred, is it you? How dared you--how _could_ you be so imprudent? -How dared you come here, when you know you risk your life?" - -"Life!" said the other, "what is life? He that loveth his life shall -lose it. Besides, the Lord said unto me, Go! The Lord is with me as a -mighty and terrible one! Harry, did you mark those men? Hunters of men, -their hands red with the blood of the poor, all seeking unto the Lord! -Ministers who buy and sell us! Is this a people prepared for the Lord? I -left a man dead in the swamps, whom their dogs have torn! His wife is a -widow--his children, orphans! They eat and wipe their mouth, and say, -'What have I done?' The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are -we!" - -"I know it," said Harry, gloomily. - -"And you join yourself unto them?" - -"Don't speak to me any more about that! I won't betray you, but I won't -consent to have blood shed. My mistress is my sister." - -"Oh, yes, to be sure! They read Scripture, don't they? Cast out the -children of the bond-woman! That's Scripture for them!" - -"Dred," said Harry, "I love her better than I love myself. I will fight -for her to the last, but never against her, nor hers!" - -"And you will serve Tom Gordon?" said Dred. - -"Never!" said Harry. - -Dred stood still a moment. Through an opening among the branches the -moonbeams streamed down on his wild, dark figure. Harry remarked his eye -fixed before him on vacancy, the pupil swelling out in glassy fulness, -with a fixed, somnambulic stare. After a moment, he spoke, in a hollow, -altered voice, like that of a sleep-walker:-- - -"Then shall the silver cord be loosed, and the golden bowl be broken. -Yes, cover up the grave--cover it up! Now, hurry! come to me, or he will -take thy wife for a prey!" - -"Dred, what do you mean?" said Harry. "What's the matter?" He shook him -by the shoulder. - -Dred rubbed his eyes, and stared on Harry. - -"I must go back," he said, "to my den. 'Foxes have holes, the birds of -the air have nests,' and in the habitation of dragons the Lord hath -opened a way for his outcasts!" - -He plunged into the thickets, and was gone. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -LIFE IN THE SWAMPS. - - -Our readers will perhaps feel an interest to turn back with us, and -follow the singular wanderings of the mysterious personage, whose wild -denunciations had so disturbed the minds of the worshippers at the -camp-meeting. - -There is a twilight-ground between the boundaries of the sane and -insane, which the old Greeks and Romans regarded with a peculiar -veneration. They held a person whose faculties were thus darkened as -walking under the awful shadow of a supernatural presence; and, as the -mysterious secrets of the stars only become visible in the night, so in -these eclipses of the more material faculties they held there was often -an awakening of supernatural perceptions. - -The hot and positive light of our modern materialism, which exhales from -the growth of our existence every dewdrop, which searches out and dries -every rivulet of romance, which sends an unsparing beam into every cool -grotto of poetic possibility, withering the moss, and turning the -dropping cave to a dusty den--this spirit, so remorseless, allows us no -such indefinite land. There are but two words in the whole department of -modern anthropology--the sane and the insane; the latter dismissed from -human reckoning almost with contempt. We should find it difficult to -give a suitable name to the strange and abnormal condition in which this -singular being, of whom we are speaking, passed the most of his time. - -It was a state of exaltation and trance, which yet appeared not at all -to impede the exercise of his outward and physical faculties, but rather -to give them a preternatural keenness and intensity, such as sometimes -attends the more completely-developed phenomena of somnambulism. - -In regard to his physical system there was also much that was peculiar. -Our readers may imagine a human body of the largest and keenest vitality -to grow up so completely under the nursing influences of nature, that it -may seem to be as perfectly _en rapport_ with them as a tree; so that -the rain, the wind, and the thunder, all those forces from which human -beings generally seek shelter, seem to hold with it a kind of -fellowship, and to be familiar companions of existence. - -Such was the case with Dred. So completely had he come into sympathy and -communion with nature, and with those forms of it which more -particularly surrounded him in the swamps, that he moved about among -them with as much ease as a lady treads her Turkey carpet. What would -seem to us in recital to be incredible hardship, was to him but an -ordinary condition of existence. To walk knee-deep in the spongy soil of -the swamp, to force his way through thickets, to lie all night sinking -in the porous soil, or to crouch, like the alligator, among reeds and -rushes, were to him situations of as much comfort as well-curtained beds -and pillows are to us. - -It is not to be denied, that there is in this savage perfection of the -natural organs a keen and almost fierce delight, which must excel the -softest seductions of luxury. Anybody who has ever watched the eager -zest with which the hunting-dog plunges through the woods, darts through -the thicket, or dives into water, in an ecstasy of enjoyment, sees -something of what such vital force must be. - -Dred was under the inspiring belief that he was the subject of visions -and supernatural communications. The African race are said by mesmerists -to possess, in the fullest degree, that peculiar temperament which fits -them for the evolution of mesmeric phenomena; and hence the existence -among them, to this day, of men and women who are supposed to have -peculiar magical powers. The grandfather of Dred, on his mother's side, -had been one of these reputed African sorcerers, and he had early -discovered in the boy this peculiar species of temperament. He had -taught him the secret of snake-charming, and had possessed his mind from -childhood with expectations of prophetic and supernatural impulses. That -mysterious and singular gift, whatever it may be, which Highland seers -denominate second sight, is a very common tradition among the negroes; -and there are not wanting thousands of reputed instances among them to -confirm belief in it. What this faculty may be, we shall not pretend to -say. Whether there be in the soul a yet undeveloped attribute, which is -to be to the future what memory is to the past, or whether in some -individuals an extremely high and perfect condition of the sensuous -organization endows them with something of that certainty of instinctive -discrimination which belongs to animals, are things which we shall not -venture to decide upon. - -It was, however, an absolute fact with regard to Dred, that he had often -escaped danger by means of a peculiarity of this kind. He had been -warned from particular places where the hunters had lain in wait for -him; had foreseen in times of want where game might be ensnared, and -received intimations where persons were to be found in whom he might -safely confide; and his predictions with regard to persons and things -had often chanced to be so strikingly true, as to invest his sayings -with a singular awe and importance among his associates. - -It was a remarkable fact, but one not peculiar to this case alone, that -the mysterious exaltation of mind in this individual seemed to run -parallel with the current of shrewd, practical sense; and, like a man -who converses alternately in two languages, he would speak now the -language of exaltation, and now that of common life, interchangeably. -This peculiarity imparted a singular and grotesque effect to his whole -personality. - -On the night of the camp-meeting, he was as we have already seen, in a -state of the highest ecstasy. The wanton murder of his associate seemed -to flood his soul with an awful tide of emotion, as a thunder-cloud is -filled and shaken by slow-gathering electricity. And, although the -distance from his retreat to the camp-ground was nearly fifteen miles, -most of it through what seemed to be impassable swamps, yet he performed -it with as little consciousness of fatigue as if he had been a spirit. -Even had he been perceived at that time, it is probable that he could no -more have been taken, or bound, than the demoniac of Gadara. - -After he parted from Harry he pursued his way to the interior of the -swamp, as was his usual habit, repeating to himself, in a chanting -voice, such words of prophetic writ as were familiar to him. - -The day had been sultry, and it was now an hour or two past midnight, -when a thunder-storm, which had long been gathering and muttering in the -distant sky, began to develop its forces. - -A low, shivering sigh crept through the woods, and swayed in weird -whistlings the tops of the pines; and sharp arrows of lightning came -glittering down among the darkness of the branches, as if sent from the -bow of some warlike angel. An army of heavy clouds swept in a moment -across the moon; then came a broad, dazzling, blinding sheet of flame, -concentrating itself on the top of a tall pine near where Dred was -standing, and in a moment shivered all its branches to the ground, as a -child strips the leaves from a twig. Dred clapped his hands with a -fierce delight; and, while the rain and wind were howling and hissing -around him, he shouted aloud:-- - -"Wake, O arm of the Lord! Awake, put on thy strength! The voice of the -Lord breaketh the cedars--yea, the cedars of Lebanon! The voice of the -Lord divideth the flames of fire! The voice of the Lord shaketh the -wilderness of Kadesh! Hailstones and coals of fire!" - -The storm, which howled around him, bent the forest like a reed, and -large trees, uprooted from the spongy and tremulous soil, fell crashing -with a tremendous noise; but, as if he had been a dark spirit of the -tempest, he shouted and exulted. - -The perception of such awful power seemed to animate him, and yet to -excite in his soul an impatience that He whose power was so infinite did -not awake to judgment. - -"Rend the heavens," he cried, "and come down! Avenge the innocent blood! -Cast forth thine arrows, and slay them! Shoot out thy lightnings, and -destroy them!" - -His soul seemed to kindle with almost a fierce impatience, at the -toleration of that Almighty Being, who, having the power to blast and to -burn, so silently endures. Could Dred have possessed himself of those -lightnings, what would have stood before him? But his cry, like the cry -of thousands, only went up to stand in waiting till an awful coming day! - -Gradually the storm passed by; the big drops dashed less and less -frequently; a softer breeze passed through the forest, with a patter -like the clapping of a thousand little wings; and the moon occasionally -looked over the silvery battlements of the great clouds. - -As Dred was starting to go forward, one of these clear revealings showed -him the cowering form of a man, crouched at the root of a tree, a few -paces in front of him. He was evidently a fugitive, and, in fact, was -the one of whose escape to the swamps the Georgia trader had complained -of the day of of the meeting. - -"Who is here, at this time of night?" said Dred, coming up to him. - -"I have lost my way," said the other. "I don't know where I am!" - -"A runaway?" inquired Dred. - -"Don't betray me!" said the other, apprehensively. - -"Betray you! Would _I_ do that?" said Dred. "How did you get into the -swamp?" - -"I got away from a soul-driver's camp, that was taking us on through the -states." - -"Oh, oh!" said Dred. "Camp-meeting and driver's camp right alongside of -each other! Shepherds that sell the flock, and pick the bones! Well, -come, old man; I'll take you home with me." - -"I'm pretty much beat out," said the man. "It's been up over my knees -every step; and I didn't know but they'd set the dogs after me. If they -do, I'll let 'em kill me, and done with it, for I'm 'bout ready to have -it over with. I got free once, and got clear up to New York, and got me -a little bit of a house, and a wife and two children, with a little -money beforehand; and then they nabbed me, and sent me back again, and -mas'r sold me to the drivers,--and I believe I's 'bout as good 's die. -There's no use in trying to live--everything going agin a body so!" - -"Die! No, indeed, you won't," said Dred; "not if I've got hold of you! -Take heart, man, take heart! Before morning I'll put you where the dogs -can't find you, nor anything else. Come, up with you!" - -The man rose up, and made an effort to follow; but, wearied, and unused -as he was to the choked and perplexed way, he stumbled and fell almost -every minute. - -"How now, brother?" said Dred. "This won't do! I must put you over my -shoulder as I have many a buck before now!" And, suiting the action to -the word, he put the man on his back, and, bidding him hold fast to him, -went on, picking his way as if he scarcely perceived his weight. - -It was now between two and three o'clock, and the clouds, gradually -dispersing, allowed the full light of the moon to slide down here and -there through the wet and shivering foliage. No sound was heard, save -the humming of insects and the crackling plunges by which Dred made his -way forward. - -"You must be pretty strong!" said his companion. "Have you been in the -swamps long?" - -"Yes," said the other, "I have been a wild man--every man's hand against -me--a companion of the dragons and the owls, this many a year. I have -made my bed with the leviathan, among the reeds and the rushes. I have -found the alligators and the snakes better neighbors than Christians. -They let those alone that let them alone; but Christians will hunt for -the precious life." - -After about an hour of steady travelling, Dred arrived at the outskirts -of the island which we have described. For about twenty paces before he -reached it, he waded waist-deep in water. Creeping out, at last, and -telling the other one to follow him, he began carefully coursing along -on his hands and knees, giving, at the same time, a long, shrill, -peculiar whistle. It was responded to by a similar sound, which seemed -to proceed through the bushes. After a while, a crackling noise was -heard, as of some animal, which gradually seemed to come nearer and -nearer to them, till finally a large water-dog emerged from the -underbrush, and began testifying his joy at the arrival of the -new-comer, by most extravagant gambols. - -"So, ho! Buck! quiet, my boy!" said Dred. "Show us the way in!" - -The dog, as if understanding the words, immediately turned into the -thicket, and Dred and his companion followed him, on their hands and -knees. The path wound up and down the brushwood, through many sharp -turnings, till at last it ceased altogether, at the roots of a tree; -and, while the dog disappeared among the brushwood, Dred climbed the -tree, and directed his companion to follow him, and, proceeding out on -to one of the longest limbs, he sprang nimbly on to the ground in the -cleared space which we have before described. - -His wife was standing waiting for him, and threw herself upon him with a -cry of joy. - -"Oh, you've come back! I thought, sure enough, dey'd got you dis time!" - -"Not yet! I must continue till the opening of the seals--till the vision -cometh! Have ye buried him?" - -"No; there's a grave dug down yonder, and he's been carried there." - -"Come, then!" said Dred. - -At a distant part of the clearing was a blasted cedar-tree, all whose -natural foliage had perished. But it was veiled from head to foot in -long wreaths of the tillandsia, the parasitic moss of these regions, -and, in the dim light of the approaching dawn, might have formed no -unapt resemblance to a gigantic spectre dressed in mourning weeds. - -Beneath this tree Dred had interred, from time to time, the bodies of -fugitives which he had found dead in the swamps, attaching to this -disposition of them some peculiar superstitious idea. - -The widow of the dead, the wife of Dred, and the new-comer, were now -gathered around the shallow grave; for the soil was such as scarcely -gave room to make a place deep enough for a grave without its becoming -filled with water. - -The dawn was just commencing a dim foreshadowing in the sky. The moon -and stars were still shining. - -Dred stood and looked up, and spoke, in a solemn voice. - -"Seek him that maketh Arcturus and Orion--that turneth the shadow of -death into morning! Behold those lights in the sky--the lights in his -hands pierced for the sins of the world, and spread forth as on a cross! -But the day shall come that he shall lay down the yoke, and he will bear -the sin of the world no longer. Then shall come the great judgment. He -will lay righteousness to the line and judgment to the plummet, and the -hail shall sweep away the refuges of lies." - -He stooped, and, lifting the body, laid him in the grave, and at this -moment the wife broke into a loud lament. - -"Hush, woman!" said Dred, raising his hand. "Weep ye not for the dead, -neither bewail him; but weep ye sore for the living! He must rest till -the rest of his brethren be killed; for the vision is sealed up for an -appointed time. If it tarry, wait for it. It shall surely come, and -shall not tarry!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -MORE SUMMER TALK. - - -A glorious morning, washed by the tears of last night's shower, rose -like a bride upon Canema. The rain-drops sparkled and winked from leaf -to leaf, or fell in showery diamonds in the breeze. The breath of -numberless roses, now in full bloom, rose in clouds to the windows. - -The breakfast-table, with its clean damask, glittering silver, and -fragrant coffee, received the last evening's participants of the -camp-meeting in fresh morning spirits, ready to discuss, as an every-day -affair, what, the evening before, they had felt too deeply, perhaps, to -discuss. - -On the way home, they had spoken of the scenes of the day, and wondered -and speculated on the singular incident which closed it. But, of all the -dark circle of woe and crime,--of all that valley of vision which was -present to the mind of him who spoke,--they were as practically ignorant -as the dwellers of the curtained boudoirs of New York are of the fearful -mysteries of the Five Points. - -The aristocratic nature of society at the south so completely segregates -people of a certain position in life from any acquaintance with the -movements of human nature in circles below them, that the most fearful -things may be transacting in their vicinity unknown or unnoticed. The -horrors and sorrows of the slave-coffle were a sealed book to Nina and -Anne Clayton. They had scarcely dreamed of them; and Uncle John, if he -knew their existence, took very good care to keep out of their way, as -he would turn from any other painful and disagreeable scene. - -All of them had heard something of negro-hunters, and regarded them as -low, vulgar people, but troubled their heads little further on the -subject; so that they would have been quite at a loss for the discovery -of any national sins that could have appropriately drawn down the -denunciations of Heaven. - -The serious thoughts and aspirations which might have risen in any of -the company, the evening before, assumed, with everything else, quite -another light under the rays of morning. - -All of us must have had experience, in our own histories, of the great -difference between the night and the morning view of the same subject. - -What we have thought and said in the august presence of witnessing -stars, or beneath the holy shadows of moonlight, seems with the hot, dry -light of next day's sun to take wings, and rise to heaven with the -night's clear drops. If all the prayers and good resolutions which are -laid down on sleeping pillows could be found there on awaking, the world -would be better than it is. - -Of this Uncle John Gordon had experience, as he sat himself down at the -breakfast-table. The night before, he realized, in some dim wise, that -he, Mr. John Gordon, was not merely a fat, elderly gentleman, in blue -coat and white vest, whose great object in existence was to eat well, -drink well, sleep well, wear clean linen, and keep out of the way of -trouble. He had within him a tumult of yearnings and -aspirings,--uprisings of that great, life-long sleeper, which we call -_soul_, and which, when it wakes, is an awfully clamorous, craving, -exacting, troublesome inmate, and which is therefore generally put -asleep again in the shortest time, by whatever opiates may come to hand. -Last night, urged on by this troublesome guest, stimulated by the vague -power of such awful words as judgment and eternity, he had gone out and -knelt down as a mourner for sin and a seeker for salvation, both words -standing for very real and awful facts; and, this morning, although it -was probably a more sensible and appropriate thing than most of the -things he was in the habit of doing, he was almost ashamed of it. The -question arose, at table, whether another excursion should be made to -the camp-ground. - -"For my part," said Aunt Maria, "I hope you'll not go again, Mr. Gordon. -I think you had better keep out of the way of such things. I really was -vexed to see you in that rabble of such very common people!" - -"You'll observe," said Uncle John, "that, when Mrs. G. goes to heaven, -she'll notify the Lord, forthwith, that she has only been accustomed to -the most select circles, and requests to be admitted at the front door." - -"It isn't because I object to being with common people," said Anne -Clayton, "that I dislike this custom of going to the altar; but it seems -to me an invasion of that privacy and reserve which belong to our most -sacred feelings. Besides, there are in a crowd coarse, rude, -disagreeable people, with whom it isn't pleasant to come in contact." - -"For my part," said Mrs. John Gordon, "I don't believe in it at all! -It's a mere temporary excitement. People go and get wonderfully wrought -up, come away, and are just what they were before." - -"Well," said Clayton, "isn't it better to be wrought up once in a while, -than _never_ to have any religious feelings? Isn't it better to have a -vivid impression of the vastness and worth of the soul,--of the power of -an endless life,--for a few hours once a year, than never to feel it at -all? The multitudes of those people, there, never hear or think a word -of these things at any other time in their lives. For my part," he -added, "I don't see why it's a thing to be ashamed of, if Mr. Gordon or -I should have knelt at the altar last night, even if we do not feel like -it this morning. We are too often ashamed of our better moments;--I -believe Protestant Christians are the only people on earth who are -ashamed of the outward recognition of their religion. The Mahometan will -prostrate himself in the street, or wherever he happens to be, when his -hour for prayer comes. The Roman Catholic sailor or soldier kneels down -at the sound of the vesper bell. But we rather take pride in having it -understood that we take our religion moderately and coolly, and that we -are not going to put ourselves much out about it." - -"Well, but, brother," said Anne, "I will maintain, still, that there is -a reserve about these things which belongs to the best Christians. And -did not our Saviour tell us that our prayers and alms should be in -secret?" - -"I do not deny at all what you say, Anne," said Clayton; "but I think -what I said is true, notwithstanding; and, both being true, of course, -in some way they must be consistent with each other." - -"I think," said Nina, "the sound of the singing at these camp-meetings -is really quite spirit-stirring and exciting." - -"Yes," said Clayton, "these wild tunes, and the hymns with which they -are associated, form a kind of forest liturgy, in which the feelings of -thousands of hearts have been embodied. Some of the tunes seem to me to -have been caught from the song of birds, or from the rushing of wind -among the branches. They possess a peculiar rhythmical energy, well -suited to express the vehement emotions of the masses. Did camp-meetings -do no other good than to scatter among the people these hymns and tunes, -I should consider them to be of inestimable value." - -"I must say," said Anne, "I always had a prejudice against that class -both of hymns and tunes." - -"You misjudge them," said Clayton, "as you refined, cultivated women -always do, who are brought up in the kid-slipper and carpet view of -human life. But just imagine only the old Greek or Roman peasantry -elevated to the level of one of these hymns. Take, for example, a verse -of one I heard them sing last night:-- - - - 'The earth shall be dissolved like snow, - The sun shall cease to shine, - But God, who called me here below, - Shall be forever mine.' - - -What faith is there! What confidence in immortality! How could a man -feel it, and not be ennobled? Then, what a rough hearty heroism was in -that first hymn! It was right manly!" - -"Ah, but," said Anne, "half the time they sing them without the -slightest perception of their meaning, or the least idea of being -influenced by them." - -"And so do the worshippers in the sleepiest and most aristocratic -churches," said Clayton. "That's nothing peculiar to the camp-ground. -But, if it is true, what a certain statesman once said, 'Let me make the -ballads of the people, and I care not who makes their laws,' it is -certainly a great gain to have such noble sentiments as many of these -hymns contain circulating freely among the people." - -"What upon earth," said Uncle John, "do you suppose that last fellow was -about, up in the clouds, there? Nobody seemed to know where he was, or -_who_ he was; and I thought his discourse seemed to be rather an -unexpected addition. He put it into us pretty strong, I thought! -Declare, such a bundle of woes and curses I never heard distributed! -Seemed to have done up all the old prophets into one bundle, and -tumbled it down upon our heads! Some of them were quite superstitious -about it, and began talking about warnings, and all that." - -"Pooh!" said Aunt Maria, "the likelihood is that some itinerant poor -preacher has fallen upon this trick for producing a sensation. There is -no end to the trickeries and the got-up scenes in these camp-meetings, -just to produce effect. If I had had a pistol, I should like to have -fired into the tree, and see whether I couldn't have changed his tune." - -"It seemed to me," said Clayton, "from the little that I did hear, that -there was some method in his madness. It was one of the most singular -and impressive voices I ever heard; and, really, the enunciation of some -of those latter things was tremendous. But, then, in the universal -license and general confusion of the scene, the thing was not so much to -be wondered at. It would be the most natural thing in the world that -some crazy fanatic should be heated almost to the point of insanity by -the scene, and take this way of unburdening himself. Such excitements -most generally assume the form of denunciation." - -"Well, now," said Nina, "to tell the truth, I should like to go out -again to-day. It's a lovely ride, and I like to be in the woods. And, -then, I like to walk around among the tents, and hear the people talk, -and see all the different specimens of human nature that are there. I -never saw such a gathering together in my life." - -"Agreed!" said Uncle John. "I'll go with you. After all, Clayton, here, -has got the right of it, when he says a fellow oughtn't to be ashamed of -his religion, such as it is." - -"Such as it is, to be sure!" said Aunt Maria, sarcastically. - -"Yes, I say again, such as it is!" said Uncle John, bracing himself. "I -don't pretend it's much. We'll all of us bear to be a good deal better, -without danger of being translated. Now, as to this being converted, -hang me if I know how to get at it! I suppose that it is something like -an electric shock,--if a fellow is going to get it, he must go up to the -machine!" - -"Well," said Nina, "you do hear some queer things there. Don't you -remember that jolly, slashing-looking fellow, whom they called Bill -Dakin, that came up there with his two dogs? In the afternoon, after the -regular services, we went to one of the tents where there was a very -noisy prayer-meeting going on, and there was Bill Dakin, on his knees, -with his hands clasped, and the tears rolling down his cheeks; and -father Bonnie was praying over him with all his might. And what do you -think he said? He said, 'O Lord, here's Bill Dakin; he is converted; now -take him right to heaven, now he is ready, or he'll be drunk again in -two weeks!'" - -"Well," said Anne Clayton, tossing her head, indignantly, "that's -blasphemy, in my opinion." - -"Oh, perhaps not," said Clayton, "any more than the clownish talk of any -of our servants is intentional rudeness." - -"Well," said Anne, "don't you think it shows a great want of -perception?" - -"Certainly, it does," said Clayton. "It shows great rudeness and -coarseness of fibre, and is not at all to be commended. But still we are -not to judge of it by the rules of cultivated society. In well-trained -minds every faculty keeps its due boundaries; but, in this kind of -wild-forest growth, mirthfulness will sometimes overgrow reverence, just -as the yellow jessamine will completely smother a tree. A great many of -the ordinances of the old Mosaic dispensation were intended to -counteract this very tendency." - -"Well," said Nina, "did you notice poor old Tiff, so intent upon getting -his children converted? He didn't seem to have the least thought or -reference to getting into heaven himself. The only thing with him was to -get those children in. Tiff seems to me just like those mistletoes that -we see on the trees in the swamps. He don't seem to have any root of his -own; he seems to grow out of something else." - -"Those children are very pretty-looking, genteel children," said Anne; -"and how well they were dressed!" - -"My dear," said Nina, "Tiff prostrates himself at my shrine, every time -he meets me, to implore my favorable supervision as to that point; and -it really is diverting to hear him talk. The old Caliban has an eye for -color, and a sense of what is suitable, equal to any French milliner. I -assure you, my dear, I always was reputed for having a talent for dress; -and Tiff _appreciates_ me. Isn't it charming of him? I declare, when I -see the old creature lugging about those children, I always think of an -ugly old cactus with its blossoms. I believe he verily thinks they -belong to him just as much. Their father is entirely dismissed from -Tiff's calculations. Evidently all he wants of him is to keep out of the -way, and let him work. The whole burden of their education lies on his -shoulders." - -"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I'm glad you've faith to believe in -those children. I haven't; they'll be sure to turn out badly--you see if -they don't." - -"And I think," said Aunt Maria, "we have enough to do with our own -servants, without taking all these miserable whites on our hands, too." - -"I'm not going to take all the whites," said Nina. "I'm going to take -these children." - -"I wish you joy!" said Aunt Maria. - -"I wonder," said Aunt Nesbit, "if Harry is under concern of mind. He -seems to be dreadfully down, this morning." - -"Is he?" said Nina. "I hadn't noticed it." - -"Well," said Uncle John, "perhaps he'll get set up, to-day--who knows? -In fact, I hope I shall myself. I tell you what it is, parson," said he, -laying his hand on Clayton's shoulder, "you should take the gig, to-day, -and drive this little sinner, and let me go with the ladies. Of course -you know Mrs. G. engrosses my whole soul; but, then, there 's a kind of -insensible improvement that comes from such celestial bodies as Miss -Anne, here, that oughtn't to be denied to me. The clergy ought to -enumerate female influence among the means of grace. I'm sure there's -nothing builds me up like it." - -Clayton, of course, assented very readily to this arrangement; and the -party was adjusted on this basis. - -"Look ye here, now, Clayton," said Uncle John, tipping him a sly wink, -after he had handed Nina in, "you must confess that little penitent! She -wants a spiritual director, my boy! I tell you what, Clayton, there -isn't a girl like that in North Carolina. There's blood, sir, there. You -must humor her on the bit, and give her her head a while. Ah, but she'll -draw well at last! I always like a creature that kicks to pieces -harness, wagon, and all, to begin with. They do the best when they are -broken in." - -With which profound remarks Uncle John turned to hand Anne Clayton to -the carriage. - -Clayton understood too well what he was about to make any such use of -the interview as Uncle John had suggested. He knew perfectly that his -best chance, with a nature so restless as Nina's, was to keep up a sense -of perfect freedom in all their intercourse; and, therefore, no -grandfather could have been more collected and easy in a _tête-à-tête_ -drive than he. The last conversation at the camp-meeting he knew had -brought them much nearer to each other than they had ever stood before, -because both had spoken in deep earnestness of feeling of what lay -deepest in their heart; and one such moment, he well knew, was of more -binding force than a hundred nominal betrothals. - -The morning was one of those perfect ones which succeed a thunder-shower -in the night; when the air, cleared of every gross vapor, and -impregnated with moist exhalations from the woods, is both balmy and -stimulating. The steaming air developed to the full the balsamic -properties of the pine-groves through which they rode; and, where the -road skirted the swampy land, the light fell slanting on the leaves of -the deciduous trees, rustling and dripping with the last night's shower. -The heavens were full of those brilliant, island-like clouds, which are -said to be a peculiarity of American skies, in their distinct relief -above the intense blue. At a long distance they caught the sound of -camp-meeting hymns. But, before they reached the ground, they saw, in -more than one riotous group, the result of too frequent an application -to Abijah Skinflint's department, and others of a similar character. -They visited the quarters of Old Tiff, whom they found busy ironing some -clothes for the baby, which he had washed and hung out the night before. -The preaching had not yet commenced, and the party walked about among -the tents. Women were busy cooking and washing dishes under the trees; -and there was a great deal of good-natured gossiping. - -One of the most remarkable features of the day was a sermon from father -Dickson, on the sins of the church. It concluded with a most forcible -and solemn appeal to all on the subject of slavery. He reminded both the -Methodists and Presbyterians that their books of discipline had most -pointedly and unequivocally condemned it; that John Wesley had denounced -it as the sum of all villanies, and that the general assemblies of the -Presbyterian Church had condemned it as wholly inconsistent with the -religion of Christ, with the great law which requires us to love others -as ourselves. He related the scene which he had lately witnessed in the -slave-coffle. He spoke of the horrors of the inter-state slave-trade, -and drew a touching picture of the separation of families, and the -rending of all domestic and social ties, which resulted from it; and, -alluding to the unknown speaker of the evening before, told his audience -that he had discerned a deep significance in his words, and that he -feared, if there was not immediate repentance and reformation, the land -would yet be given up to the visitations of divine wrath. As he spoke -with feeling, he awakened feeling in return. Many were affected even to -tears; but, when the sermon was over, it seemed to melt away, as a wave -flows back again into the sea. It was far easier to join in a temporary -whirlwind of excitement, than to take into consideration troublesome, -difficult, and expensive reforms. - -Yet, still, it is due to the degenerate Christianity of the slave states -to say, that, during the long period in which the church there has been -corrupting itself, and lowering its standard of right to meet a depraved -institution, there have not been wanting, from time to time, noble -confessors, who have spoken for God and humanity. For many years they -were listened to with that kind of pensive tolerance which men give when -they acknowledge their fault without any intention of mending. Of late -years, however, the lines have been drawn more sharply, and such -witnesses have spoken in peril of their lives; so that now seldom a -voice arises except in approbation of oppression. - -The sermon was fruitful of much discussion in different parts of the -camp-ground; and none, perhaps, was louder in the approbation of it than -the Georgia trader, who, seated on Abijah Skinflint's counter, declared: -"That was a _parson_ as _was_ a parson, and that he liked his _pluck_; -and, for his part, when ministers and church-members would give over -buying, he should take up some other trade." - -"That was a very good sermon," said Nina, "and I believe every word of -it. But, then, what do you suppose _we_ ought to do?" - -"Why," said Clayton, "we ought to contemplate emancipation as a future -certainty, and prepare our people in the shortest possible time." - -This conversation took place as the party were seated at their nooning -under the trees, around an unpacked hamper of cold provisions, which -they were leisurely discussing. - -"Why, bless my soul, Clayton," said Uncle John, "I don't see the sense -of such an anathema maranatha as we got to-day. Good Lord, what earthly -harm are we doing? As to our niggers, they are better off than we are! I -say it coolly--that is, as coolly as a man can say anything between one -and two o'clock in such weather as this. Why, look at my niggers! Do _I_ -ever have any chickens, or eggs, or cucumbers? No, to be sure. All _my_ -chickens die, and the cut-worm plays the devil with _my_ cucumbers; but -the niggers have enough. _Theirs_ flourish like a green bay-tree; and of -course I have to buy of _them_. _They_ raise chickens. _I_ buy 'em, and -cook 'em and then _they_ eat 'em! That's the way it goes. As to the -slave-coffles, and slave-prisons, and the trade, why, that's abominable, -to be sure. But, Lord bless you, _I_ don't want it done! I'd kick a -trader off my doorsteps forthwith, though I'm all eaten up with -woolly-heads, like locusts. I don't like such sermons, for my part." - -"Well," said Aunt Nesbit, "our Mr. Titmarsh preached quite another way -when I attended church in E----. He proved that slavery was a scriptural -institution, and established by God." - -"I should think anybody's common sense would show that a thing which -works so poorly for both sides couldn't be from God," said Nina. - -"Who is Mr. Titmarsh?" said Clayton to her, aside. - -"Oh, one of Aunt Nesbit's favorites, and one of my aversions! He isn't a -_man_--he's nothing but a theological dictionary with a cravat on! I -can't bear him!" - -"Now, people may talk as much as they please of the educated democracy -of the north," said Uncle John. "_I_ don't like 'em. What do working-men -want of education?--Ruins 'em! I've heard of their learned blacksmiths -bothering around, neglecting their work, to make speeches. I don't like -such things. It raises them above their sphere. And there's nothing -going on up in those northern states but a constant confusion and -hubbub. All sorts of heresies come from the north, and infidelity, and -the Lord knows what! We have peace, down here. To be sure, our poor -whites are in a devil of a fix; but we haven't got 'em under yet. We -shall get 'em in, one of these days, with our niggers, and then all will -be contentment." - -"Yes," said Nina, "there's Uncle John's view of the millennium!" - -"To be sure," said Uncle John, "the lower classes want _governing_--they -want care; that's what they want. And all they need to know is, what the -Episcopal Church catechism says, 'to learn and labor truly to get their -own living in the state wherein it has pleased God to call them.' That -makes a well-behaved lower class, and a handsome, gentlemanly, orderly -state of society. The upper classes ought to be instructed in their -duties. They ought to be considerate and condescending, and all that. -That's my view of society." - -"Then you are no republican," said Clayton. - -"Bless you, yes I am! I believe in the equality of _gentlemen_, and the -equal rights of well-bred people. That's my idea of a republic." - -Clayton, Nina, and Anne, laughed. - -"Now," said Nina, "to see uncle so jovial and free, and 'Hail fellow -well met,' with everybody, you'd think he was the greatest democrat that -ever walked. But, you see, it's only because he's so immeasurably -certain of his superior position--that's all. He isn't afraid to kneel -at the altar with Bill Dakin, or Jim Sykes, because he's so sure that -his position can't be compromised." - -"Besides that, chick," said Uncle John, "I _have_ the sense to know -that, in my Maker's presence, all human differences are child's play." -And Uncle John spoke with a momentary solemnity which was heartfelt. - -It was agreed by the party that they would not stay to attend the -evening exercises. The novelty of the effect was over, and Aunt Nesbit -spoke of the bad effects of falling dew and night air. Accordingly, as -soon as the air was sufficiently cooled to make riding practicable, the -party were again on their way home. - -The woodland path was streaked with green and golden bands of light -thrown between the tree-trunks across the way, and the trees -reverberated with the evening song of birds. Nina and Clayton naturally -fell into a quiet and subdued train of conversation. - -"It is strange," said Nina, "these talkings and searchings about -religion. Now, there are people who have something they call religion, -which I don't think does them any good. It isn't of any use--it doesn't -make them better--and it makes them very disagreeable. I would rather be -as I am, than to have what they call religion. But, then, there are -others that have something which I know _is_ religion; something that I -know I have not; something that I'd give all the world to have, and -don't know how to get. Now, there was Livy Ray--you ought to have seen -Livy Ray--there was something so superior about her; and, what was -extraordinary is, that she was _good_ without being _stupid_. What do -you suppose the reason is that good people are generally so stupid?" - -"A great deal," said Clayton, "is called goodness, which is nothing but -want of force. A person is said to have self-government simply because -he has nothing to govern. They talk about self-denial, when their -desires are so weak that one course is about as easy to them as another. -Such people easily fall into a religious routine, get by heart a set of -phrases, and make, as you say, very stupid, good people." - -"Now, Livy," said Nina, "was remarkable. She had that kind of education -that they give girls in New England, stronger and more like a man's than -ours. She could read Greek and Latin as easily as she could French and -Italian. She was keen, shrewd, and witty, and had a kind of wild grace -about her, like these grape-vines; yet she was so _strong_! Well, do you -know, I almost worship Livy? And I think, the little while she was in -our school, she did me more good than all the teachers and studying put -together. Why, it does one good to know that such people are possible. -Don't you think it does?" - -"Yes," said Clayton; "all the good in the world is done by the -personality of people. Now, in books, it isn't so much what you learn -from them, as the contact it gives you with the personality of the -writer, that improves you. A real book always makes you feel that there -is more in the writer than anything that he has said." - -"That," said Nina, eagerly, "is just the way I feel toward Livy. She -seems to me like a mine. When I was with her the longest, I always felt -as if I hadn't half seen her. She always made me hungry to know her -more. I mean to read you some of her letters, some time. She writes -beautiful letters; and I appreciate that very much, because I can't do -it. I can talk better than I can write. Somehow my ideas will not take a -course down through my arms; they always will run up to my mouth. But -you ought to see Livy; such people always make me very discontented with -myself. I don't know what the reason is that I like to see superior -people, and things, when they always make me realize what a poor concern -I am. Now, the first time I heard Jenny Lind sing, it spoiled all my -music and all my songs for me,--turned them all to trash at one -stroke,--and yet I liked it. But I don't seem to have got any further in -goodness than just dissatisfaction with myself." - -"Well," said Clayton, "there's where the foundation-stone of all -excellence is laid. The very first blessing that Christ pronounced was -on those who were poor in spirit. The indispensable condition to all -progress in art, science, or religion, is to feel that we have nothing." - -"Do you know," said Nina, after something of a pause, "that I can't help -wondering what you took up with me for? I have thought very often that -you ought to have Livy Ray." - -"Well, I'm much obliged to you," said Clayton, "for your consideration -in providing for me. But, supposing I should prefer my own choice, after -all? We men are a little wilful, sometimes, like you of the gentler -sex." - -"Well," said Nina, "if you _will_ have the bad taste, then, to insist on -liking me, let me warn you that you don't know what you are about. I'm a -very unformed, unpractical person. I don't keep accounts. I'm nothing at -all of a housekeeper. I shall leave open drawers, and scatter papers, -and forget the day of the month, and tear the newspaper, and do -everything else that is wicked; and then, one of these days, it will be, -'Nina, why haven't you done this? and why haven't you done that? and why -don't you do the other? and why _do_ you do something else?' Ah, I've -heard you men talk before! And, then, you see, I shan't like it, and I -shan't behave well. Haven't the least hope of it; won't ever engage -to!--So, now, won't you take warning?" - -"No," said Clayton, looking at her with a curious kind of smile, "I -don't think I shall." - -"How dreadfully positive and self-willed men are!" said Nina, drawing a -long breath, and pretending to laugh. - -"There's so little of that in you ladies," said Clayton, "we have to do -it for both." - -"So, then," said Nina, looking round with a half-laugh and half-blush, -"you _will_ persist?" - -"Yes, you wicked little witch!" said Clayton, "since you challenge me, I -_will_." And, as he spoke, he passed his arm round Nina, firmly, and -fixed his eyes on hers. "Come, now, my little Baltimore oriole, have I -caught you?" And-- - -But we are making our chapter too long. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -MILLY'S RETURN. - - -The visit of Clayton and his sister, like all other pleasant things, had -its end. Clayton was called back to his law-office and books, and Anne -went to make some summer visits previous to her going to Clayton's -plantation of Magnolia Grove, where she was to superintend his various -schemes for the improvement of his negroes. - -Although it was gravely insisted to the last that there was no -_engagement_ between Nina and Clayton, it became evident enough to all -parties that only the name was wanting. The warmest possible friendship -existed between Nina and Anne; and, notwithstanding that Nina almost -every day said something which crossed Anne's nicely-adjusted views, and -notwithstanding Anne had a gentle infusion of that disposition to -sermonize which often exists in very excellent young ladies, still the -two got on excellently well together. - -It is to be confessed that, the week after they left, Nina was rather -restless and lonesome, and troubled to pass her time. An incident, which -we shall relate, however, gave her something to think of, and opens a -new page in our story. - -While sitting on the veranda, after breakfast, her attention was called -by various exclamations from the negro department, on the right side of -the mansion; and, looking out, to her great surprise, she saw Milly -standing amid a group, who were surrounding her with eager -demonstrations. Immediately she ran down the steps to inquire what it -might mean. Approaching nearer, she was somewhat startled to see that -her old friend had her head bound up and her arm in a sling: and, as she -came towards her, she observed that she seemed to walk with difficulty, -with a gait quite different from her usual firm, hilarious tread. - -"Why, Milly!" she said, running towards her with eagerness, "what is the -matter?" - -"Not much, chile, I reckon, now I's got home!" said Milly. - -"Well, but what's the matter with your arm?" - -"No great! Dat ar man shot me; but, praise de Lord, he didn't kill me! I -don't owe him no grudge; but I thought it wasn't right and fit that I -should be treated so; and so I just _put_!" - -"Why, come in the house this minute!" said Nina, laying hold of her -friend, and drawing her towards the steps. "It's a shame! Come in, -Milly, come in! That man! I _knew_ he wasn't to be trusted. So, this is -the good place he found for you, is it?" - -"Jes so," said Tomtit, who, at the head of a dark stream of young -juveniles, came after, with a towel hanging over one arm, and a knife -half cleaned in his hand, while Rose and Old Hundred, and several -others, followed to the veranda. - -"Laws-a-me!" said Aunt Rose, "just to think on't! Dat's what 'tis for -old fam'lies to hire der niggers out to common people!" - -"Well," said Old Hundred, "Milly was allers too high feelin'; held her -head up too much. An't no ways surprised at it!" - -"Oh, go 'long, you old hominy-beetle!" said Aunt Rose. "Don't know -nobody dat holds up der head higher nor you does!" - -Nina, after having dismissed the special train of the juveniles and -servants, began to examine into the condition of her friend. The arm had -evidently been grazed by a bullet, producing somewhat of a deep -flesh-wound, which had been aggravated by the heat of the weather and -the fatigue which she had undergone. On removing the bandage round her -head, a number of deep and severe flesh-cuts were perceived. - -"What's all this?" said Nina. - -"It's whar he hit me over de head! He was in drink, chile; he didn't -well know what he was 'bout!" - -"What an abominable shame!" said Nina. "Look here," turning round to -Aunt Nesbit, "see what comes of hiring Milly out!" - -"I am sure I don't know what's to be done!" said Aunt Nesbit, pitifully. - -"Done! why, of course, these are to be bandaged and put up, in the -first place," said Nina, bustling about with great promptness, tearing -off bandages, and ringing for warm water. "Aunt Milly, I'll do them up -for you myself. I'm a pretty good nurse, when I set about it." - -"Bless _you_, chile, but it seems good to get home 'mong friends!" - -"Yes; and you won't go away again in a hurry!" said Nina, as she -proceeded rapidly with her undertaking, washing and bandaging the wound. -"There, now," she said, "you look something like; and now you shall lie -down in my room, and take a little rest!" - -"Thank ye, honey, chile, but I'll go to my own room; 'pears like it's -more home like," said Milly. And Nina, with her usual energy, waited on -her there, closed the blinds, and spread a shawl over her after she had -lain down, and, after charging her two or three times to go to sleep and -be quiet, she left her. She could hardly wait to have her get through -her nap, so full was she of the matter, and so interested to learn the -particulars of her story. - -"A pretty business, indeed!" she said to Aunt Nesbit. "We'll prosecute -those people, and make them pay dear for it." - -"That will be a great expense," said Aunt Nesbit, apprehensively, -"besides the loss of her time." - -"Well," said Nina, "I shall write to Clayton about it directly. I know -he'll feel just as I do. He understands the law, and all about those -things, and he'll know how to manage it." - -"Everything will make expense!" said Aunt Nesbit, in a deplorable voice. -"I'm sure misfortunes never come single! Now, if she don't go back, I -shall lose her wages! And here's all the expenses of a lawsuit, besides! -I think she ought to have been more careful." - -"Why, aunt, for pity's sake, you don't pretend that you wish Milly to go -back?" - -"Oh, no, of course I don't; but, then, it's a pity. It will be a great -loss, every way." - -"Why, aunt, you really talk as if you didn't think of anything but your -loss. You don't seem to think anything about what _Milly_ has had to -suffer!" - -"Why, of course, I feel sorry for that," said Aunt Nesbit. "I wonder if -she is going to be laid up long. I wish, on the whole, I had hired out -one that wasn't quite so useful to me." - -"Now, if that isn't just like her!" said Nina, in an indignant tone, as -she flung out of the room, and went to look softly in at Milly's door. -"Never can see, hear, or think of anything but herself, no matter what -happens! I wonder why Milly couldn't have belonged to me!" - -After two or three hours' sleep, Milly came out of her room, seeming -much better. A perfectly vigorous physical system, and vital powers all -moving in the finest order, enabled her to endure much more than -ordinary; and Nina soon became satisfied that no material injury had -been sustained, and that in a few days she would be quite recovered. - -"And now, Milly, do pray tell me where you have been," said Nina, "and -what this is all about." - -"Why, you see, honey, I was hired to Mr. Barker, and dey said 'he was a -mighty nice man;' and so he was, honey, most times; but, den, you see, -honey, dere's some folks dere's _two_ men in 'em,--one is a good one and -t'oder is very bad. Well, dis yer was just dat sort. You see, honey, I -wouldn't go for to say dat he got drunk; but he was dat sort dat if he -took ever so little, it made him kind o' ugly and cross, and so dere -wan't no suiting him. Well, his wife, she was pretty far; and so he was, -too, 'cept in spots. He was one of dese yer streaked men, dat has -drefful ugly streaks; and, some of dem times, de Lord only knows what he -won't do! Well, you see, honey, I thought I was getting along right -well, at first, and I was mighty pleased. But dere was one day he came -home, and 'peared like dere couldn't nobody suit him. Well, you see, dey -had a gal dere, and she had a chile, and dis yer chile was a little -thing. It got playing with a little burnt stick, and it blacked one of -his clean shirts, I had just hung up,--for I'd been ironing, you see. -Just den he came along, and you never heerd a man go on so! I's heerd -bad talk afore, but I never heerd no sich! He swore he'd kill de chile; -and I thought my soul he would! De por little thing run behind me, and I -just kep him off on it, 'cause I knowed he wan't fit to touch it; and -den he turned on me, and he got a cow-hide, and he beat me over de head. -I thought my soul he'd kill me! But I got to de door, and shut de chile -out, and Hannah, she took it and run with it. But, bless you, it 'peared -like he was a tiger,--screeching, and foaming, and beating me! I broke -away from him, and run. He just caught de rifle,--he always kep one -loaded,--and shot at me, and de ball just struck my arm, and glanced off -again. Bless de Lord, it didn't break it. Dat ar was a mighty close run, -I can tell you! But I did run, 'cause, thinks I, dere an't no safety for -me in dat ar house; and, you see, I run till I got to de bush, and den I -got to whar dere was some free colored folks, and dey did it up, and kep -me a day or two. Den I started and came home, just as you told me to." - -"Well," said Nina, "you did well to come home; and I tell you what, I'm -going to have that man prosecuted!" - -"Oh, laws, no, Miss Nina! don't you goes doing nothing to him! His wife -is a mighty nice woman, and 'peared like he didn't rightly know what he -was 'bout." - -"Yes, but, Milly, you ought to be willing, because it may make him more -careful with other people." - -"Laws, Miss Nina, why, dere is some sense in dat; but I wouldn't do it -as bearing malice." - -"Not at all," said Nina. "I shall write to Mr. Clayton, and take his -advice about it." - -"He's a good man," said Milly. "He won't say nothing dat an't right. I -spect dat will do very well, dat ar way." - -"Yes," said Nina, "such people must be taught that the law will take -hold of them. That will bring them to their bearings!" - -Nina went immediately to her room, and dispatched a long letter to -Clayton, full of all the particulars, and begging his immediate -assistance. - -Our readers, those who have been in similar circumstances, will not -wonder that Clayton saw in this letter an immediate call of duty to go -to Canema. In fact, as soon as the letter could go to him, and he could -perform a rapid horseback journey, he was once more a member of the -domestic circle. - -He entered upon the case with great confidence and enthusiasm. - -"It is a debt which we owe," he said, "to the character of our state, -and to the purity of our institutions, to prove the efficiency of the -law in behalf of that class of our population whose helplessness places -them more particularly under our protection. They are to us in the -condition of children under age; and any violation of their rights -should be more particularly attended to." - -He went immediately to the neighboring town, where Milly had been -employed, and found, fortunately, that the principal facts had been -subject to the inspection of white witnesses. - -A woman, who had been hired to do some sewing, had been in the next room -during the whole time; and Milly's flight from the house, and the man's -firing after her, had been observed by some workmen in the neighborhood. -Everything, therefore, promised well, and the suit was entered -forthwith. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE TRIAL. - - -"Well, now," said Frank Russel, to one or two lawyers with whom he was -sitting, in a side-room of the court-house at E., "look out for -breakers! Clayton has mounted his war-horse, and is coming upon us, now, -like leviathan from the rushes." - -"Clayton is a good fellow," said one of them. "I like him, though he -doesn't talk much." - -"Good?" said Russel, taking his cigar from his mouth; "why, as the -backwoodsmen say, he an't nothing else! He is a great seventy-four -pounder, charged to the muzzle with goodness! But, if he should be once -fired off, I'm afraid he'll carry everything out of the world with him. -Because, you see, abstract goodness doesn't suit our present mortal -condition. But it is a perfect godsend that he has such a case as this -to manage for his maiden plea, because it just falls in with his heroic -turn. Why, when I heard of it, I assure you I bestirred myself. I went -about, and got Smithers, and Jones, and Peters, to put off suits, so as -to give him fair field and full play. For, if he succeeds in this, it -may give him so good a conceit of the law, that he will keep on with -it." - -"Why," said the other, "don't he like the law? What's the matter with -the law?" - -"Oh, nothing, only Clayton has got one of those ethereal stomachs that -rise against almost everything in this world. Now, there isn't more than -one case in a dozen that he'll undertake. He sticks and catches just -like an old bureau drawer. Some conscientious crick in his back is -always taking him at a critical moment, and so he is knocked up for -actual work. But this defending a slave-woman will suit him to a T." - -"She is a nice creature, isn't she?" said one of them. - -"And belongs to a good old family," said another. - -"Yes," said the third, "and I understand his lady-love has something to -do with the case." - -"Yes," said Russel, "to be sure she has. The woman belongs to a family -connection of hers, I'm told. Miss Gordon is a spicy little puss--one -that would be apt to resent anything of that sort; and the Gordons are a -very influential family. He is sure to get the case, though I'm not -clear that the law is on his side, by any means." - -"Not?" said the other barrister, who went by the name of Will Jones. - -"No," said Russel. "In fact, I'm pretty clear it isn't. But that will -make no odds. When Clayton is thoroughly waked up, he is a whole team, I -can tell you. He'll take jury and judge along with him, fast enough." - -"I wonder," said one, "that Barker didn't compound the matter." - -"Oh, Barker is one of the stubbed sort. You know these middling kind of -people always have a spite against old families. He makes fight because -it is the Gordons, that's all. And there comes in his republicanism. He -isn't going to be whipped in by the Gordons. Barker has got Scotch blood -in him, and he'll hang on to the case like death." - -"Clayton will make a good speech," said Jones. - -"Speech? that he will!" said Russel. "Bless me, I could lay off a good -speech on it, myself. Because, you see, it really was quite an outrage; -and the woman is a presentable creature. And, then, there's the humane -dodge; that can be taken, beside all the chivalry part of defending the -helpless, and all that sort of thing. I wouldn't ask for a better thing -to work up into a speech. But Clayton will do it better yet, because he -is actually sincere in it. And, after all's said and done, there's a -good deal in that. When a fellow speaks in solemn earnest, he gives a -kind of weight that you can't easily get at any other way." - -"Well, but," said one, "I don't understand you, Russel, why you think -the law isn't on Clayton's side. I'm sure it's a very clear case of -terrible abuse." - -"Oh, certainly it is," said Russel, "and the man is a dolt, and a brute -beast, and ought to be shot, and so forth; but, then, he hasn't really -exceeded his legal limits, because, you see, the law gives to the hirer -all the rights of the master. There's no getting away from that, in my -opinion. Now, any _master_ might have done all that, and nobody could -have done anything about it. They _do_ do it, for that matter, if -they're bad enough, and nobody thinks of touching them." - -"Well, I say," said Jones, "Russel, don't you think that's too bad?" - -"Laws, yes, man; but the world is full of things that are too bad. It's -a bad kind of a place," said Russel, as he lit another cigar. - -"Well, how do you think Clayton is going to succeed," said Jones, "if -the law is so clearly against him?" - -"Oh, bless you, you don't know Clayton. He is a glorious mystifier. In -the first place, he mystifies himself. And, now, you mark me. When a -powerful fellow mystifies _himself_, so that he really gets himself -thoroughly on to his own side, there's nobody he _can't_ mystify. I -speak it in sober sadness, Jones, that the want of this faculty is a -great hindrance to me in a certain class of cases. You see I can put on -the pathetic and heroic, after a sort; but I don't take myself along -with me--I don't really believe myself. There's the trouble. It's this -power of self-mystification that makes what you call earnest men. If men -saw the real bread and butter and green cheese of life, as I see -it,--the hard, dry, primitive facts,--they couldn't raise such -commotions as they do." - -"Russel, it always makes me uncomfortable to hear you talk. It seems as -if you didn't believe in anything!" - -"Oh, yes, I do," said Russel; "I believe in the multiplication table, -and several other things of that nature at the beginning of the -arithmetic; and, also, that the wicked will do wickedly. But, as to -Clayton's splendid abstractions, I only wish him joy of them. But, then, -I shall believe him while I hear him talk; so will you; so will all the -rest of us. That's the fun of it. But the thing will be just where it -was before, and I shall find it so when I wake up to-morrow morning. -It's a pity such fellows as Clayton couldn't be used as we use big guns. -He is death on anything he fires at; and if he only would let me load -and point him, he and I together would make a firm that would sweep the -land. But here he comes, upon my word." - -"Hallo, Clayton, all ready?" - -"Yes," said Clayton, "I believe so. When will the case be called?" - -"To-day, I'm pretty sure," said Russel. - -Clayton was destined to have something of an audience in his first plea; -for, the Gordons being an influential and a largely-connected family, -there was quite an interest excited among them in the affair. Clayton -also had many warm personal friends, and his father, mother, and sister -were to be present; for, though residing in a different part of the -state, they were at this time on a visit in the vicinity of the town of -E. - -There is something in the first essay of a young man, in any profession, -like the first launching of a ship, which has a never-ceasing hold on -human sympathies. Clayton's father, mother, and sister, with Nina, at -the time of the dialogue we have given, were sitting together in the -parlor of a friend's house in E., discussing the same event. - -"I am sure that he will get the case," said Anne Clayton, with the -confidence of a generous woman and warm-hearted sister. "He has been -showing me the course of his argument, and it is perfectly irresistible. -Has he said anything to you about it, father?" - -Judge Clayton had been walking up and down the room, with his hands -behind him, with his usual air of considerate gravity. Stopping short at -Anne's question, he said,-- - -"Edward's mind and mine work so differently, that I have not thought -best to embarrass him by any conference on the subject. I consider the -case an unfortunate one, and would rather he could have had some other." - -"Why," said Anne, eagerly, "don't you think he'll gain it?" - -"Not if the case goes according to law," said Judge Clayton. "But, then, -Edward has a great deal of power of eloquence, and a good deal of skill -in making a diversion from the main point; so that, perhaps, he may get -the case." - -"Why," said Nina, "I thought cases were always decided according to law! -What else do they make laws for?" - -"You are very innocent, my child," said Judge Clayton. - -"But, father, the proof of the outrage is most abundant. Nobody could -pretend to justify it." - -"Nobody will, child. But that's nothing to the case. The simple point -is, _did_ the man exceed his legal power? It's my impression he did -not." - -"Father, what a horrible doctrine!" said Anne. - -"I simply speak of what is," said Judge Clayton. "I don't pretend to -justify it. But Edward has great power of exciting the feelings, and -under the influence of his eloquence the case may go the other way, and -humanity triumph at the expense of law." - -Clayton's plea came on in the afternoon, and justified the expectations -of his friends. His personal presence was good, his voice melodious, and -his elocution fine. But what impressed his auditors, perhaps, more than -these, was a certain elevation and clearness in the moral atmosphere -around him,--a gravity and earnestness of conviction which gave a secret -power to all he said. He took up the doctrine of the dependent relations -of life, and of those rules by which they should be guided and -restrained; and showed that while absolute power seems to be a necessary -condition of many relations of life, both reason and common sense -dictate certain limits to it. "The law guarantees to the parent, the -guardian, and the master, the right of enforcing obedience by -chastisement; and the reason for it is, that the subject being supposed -to be imperfectly developed, his good will, on the whole, be better -consulted by allowing to his lawful guardian this power." - -"_The good of the subject_," he said, "is understood to be the -foundation of the right; but, when chastisement is inflicted without -just cause, and in a manner so inconsiderate and brutal as to endanger -the safety and well-being of the subject, the great foundation principle -of the law is violated. The act becomes perfectly lawless, and as -incapable of legal defence as it is abhorrent to every sentiment of -humanity and justice." - -"He should endeavor to show," he said, "by full testimony, that the case -in question was one of this sort." - -In examining witnesses Clayton showed great dignity and acuteness, and -as the feeling of the court was already prepossessed in his favor, the -cause evidently gathered strength as it went on. The testimony showed, -in the most conclusive manner, the general excellence of Milly's -character, and the utter brutality of the outrage which had been -committed upon her. In his concluding remarks, Clayton addressed the -jury in a tone of great elevation and solemnity, on the duty of those to -whom is intrusted the guardianship of the helpless. - -"No obligation," he said, "can be stronger to an honorable mind, than -the obligation of _entire dependence_. The fact that a human being has -no refuge from our power, no appeal from our decisions, so far from -leading to careless security, is one of the strongest possible motives -to caution and to most exact care. The African race," he said, "had been -bitter sufferers. Their history had been one of wrong and cruelty, -painful to every honorable mind. We of the present day, who sustain the -relation of slave-holder," he said, "receive from the hands of our -fathers an awful trust. Irresponsible power is the greatest trial of -humanity, and if we do not strictly guard our own moral purity in the -use of it, we shall degenerate into despots and tyrants. No -consideration can justify us in holding this people in slavery an hour, -unless we make this slavery a guardian relation, in which our superior -strength and intelligence is made the protector and educator of their -simplicity and weakness." - -"The eyes of the world are fastened upon us," he said. "Our continuing -in this position at all is, in many quarters, matter of severe -animadversion. Let us therefore show, by the spirit in which we -administer our laws, by the impartiality with which we protect their -rights, that the master of the helpless African is his best and truest -friend." - -It was evident, as Clayton spoke, that he carried the whole of his -audience with him. The counsel on the other side felt himself much -straitened. There is very little possibility of eloquence in defending a -manifest act of tyranny and cruelty; and a man speaks, also, at great -disadvantage, who not only is faint-hearted in his own cause, but feels -the force of the whole surrounding atmosphere against him. - -In fact, the result was, that the judge charged the jury, if they found -the chastisement to have been disproportionate and cruel, to give -verdict for the plaintiff. The jury, with little discussion, gave it -unanimously, accordingly, and so Clayton's first cause was won. - -If ever a woman feels proud of her lover, it is when she sees him as a -successful public speaker; and Nina, when the case was over, stood -half-laughing, half-blushing, in a circle of ladies, who alternately -congratulated and rallied her on Clayton's triumph. - -"Ah," said Frank Russel, "we understand the magic. The knight always -fights well when his lady-love looks down! Miss Gordon must have the -credit of this. She took all the strength out of the other side,--like -the mountain of loadstone, that used to draw all the nails out of the -ship." - -"I am glad," said Judge Clayton, as he walked home with his wife, "I am -very glad that Edward has met with such success. His nature is so -fastidious that I have had my fears that he would not adhere to the law. -There are many things in it, I grant, which would naturally offend a -fastidious mind, and one which, like his, is always idealizing life." - -"He has established a noble principle," said Mrs. Clayton. - -"I wish he had," said the judge. "It would be a very ungrateful task, -but I could have shattered his argument all to pieces." - -"Don't tell him so!" said Mrs. Clayton, apprehensively; "let him have -the comfort of it." - -"Certainly I shall. Edward is a good fellow, and I hope, after a while, -he'll draw well in the harness." - -Meanwhile, Frank Russel and Will Jones were walking along in another -direction. - -"Didn't I tell you so?" said Russel. "You see, Clayton run Bedford down, -horse and foot, and made us all as solemn as a preparatory lecture." - -"But he had a good argument," said Jones. - -"To be sure he had--I never knew him to want that. He builds up splendid -arguments, always, and the only thing to be said of him, after it's all -over, is, it isn't so; it's no such thing. Barker is terrible wroth, I -can assure you. He swears he'll appeal the case. But that's no matter. -Clayton has had his day all the same. He is evidently waked up. Oh, he -has no more objection to a little popularity than you and I have, now; -and if we could humor him along, as we would a trout, we should have him -a first-rate lawyer, one of these days. Did you see Miss Gordon while he -was pleading? By George! she looked so handsome, I was sorry I hadn't -taken her myself!" - -"Is she that dashing little flirting Miss Gordon that I heard of in New -York?" - -"The very same." - -"How came she to take a fancy to him?" - -"She? How do I know? She's as full of streaks as a tulip; and her liking -for him is one of them. Did you notice her, Will?--scarf flying one way, -and little curls, and pennants, and streamers, and veil, the other! And, -then, those eyes! She's alive, every inch of her! She puts me in mind of -a sweet-brier bush, winking and blinking, full of dew-drops, full of -roses, and brisk little thorns, beside! Ah, she'll keep him awake!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -MAGNOLIA GROVE. - - -Judge Clayton was not mistaken in supposing that his son would -contemplate the issue of the case he had defended with satisfaction. As -we have already intimated, Clayton was somewhat averse to the practice -of the law. Regard for the feelings of his father had led him to resolve -that he would at least give it a fair trial. His own turn of mind would -have led him to some work of more immediate and practical philanthropy. -He would have much preferred to retire to his own estate, and devote -himself, with his sister, to the education of his servants. But he felt -that he could not, with due regard to his father's feelings, do this -until he had given professional life a fair trial. - -After the scene of the trial which we have described, he returned to his -business, and Anne solicited Nina to accompany her for a few weeks to -their plantation at Magnolia Grove, whither, as in duty bound, we may -follow her. - -Our readers will therefore be pleased to find themselves transported to -the shady side of a veranda belonging to Clayton's establishment at -Magnolia Grove. - -The place derived its name from a group of these beautiful trees, in the -centre of which the house was situated. It was a long, low cottage, -surrounded by deep verandas, festooned with an exuberance of those -climbing plants which are so splendid in the southern latitude. - -The range of apartments which opened on the veranda where Anne and Nina -were sitting were darkened to exclude the flies; but the doors, standing -open, gave picture-like gleams of the interior. The white, matted -floors, light bamboo furniture, couches covered with glazed white linen, -and the large vases of roses disposed here and there, where the light -would fall upon them, presented a background of inviting coolness. - -It was early in the morning, and the two ladies were enjoying the -luxury of a _tête-à-tête_ breakfast before the sun had yet dried the -heavy dews which give such freshness to the morning air. A small table -which stood between them was spread with choice fruits, arranged on -dishes in green leaves; a pitcher of iced milk, and a delicate little -_tête-à-tête_ coffee-service, dispensing the perfume of the most -fragrant coffee. Nor were they wanting those small, delicate biscuits, -and some of those curious forms of cornbread, of the manufacture of -which every southern cook is so justly proud. Nor should we omit the -central vase of monthly roses, of every shade of color, the daily -arrangement of which was the special delight of Anne's brown little -waiting-maid Lettice. - -Anne Clayton, in a fresh white morning-wrapper, with her pure, healthy -complexion, fine teeth, and frank, beaming smile, looked like a queenly -damask rose. A queen she really was on her own plantation, reigning by -the strongest of all powers, that of love. - -The African race have large ideality and veneration; and in no -drawing-room could Anne's beauty and grace, her fine manners and -carriage, secure a more appreciating and unlimited admiration and -devotion. The negro race, with many of the faults of children, unite -many of their most amiable qualities, in the simplicity and -confidingness with which they yield themselves up in admiration of a -superior friend. - -Nina had been there but a day, yet could not fail to read in the eyes of -all how absolute was the reign which Anne held over their affections. - -"How delightful the smell of this magnolia blossom!" said Nina. "Oh, I'm -glad that you waked me so early, Anne!" - -"Yes," said Anne, "in this climate early rising becomes a necessary of -life to those who mean to have any real, positive pleasure in it, and -I'm one of the sort that must have _positive_ pleasures. Merely negative -rest, lassitude, and dreaming, are not enough for me. I want to feel -that I'm alive, and that I accomplish something." - -"Yes, I see," said Nina, "you are not nominally like me, but really -housekeeper. What wonderful skill you seem to have! Is it possible that -you keep nothing locked up here?" - -"No," said Anne, "nothing. I am released from the power of the keys, -thank fortune! When I first came here, everybody told me it was sheer -madness to try such a thing. But I told them that I was determined to do -it, and Edward upheld me in it: and you can see how well I've -succeeded." - -"Indeed," said Nina, "you must have magic power, for I never saw a -household move on so harmoniously. All your servants seem to think, and -contrive, and take an interest in what they are doing. How did you -begin? What did you do?" - -"Well," said Anne, "I'll tell you the history of the plantation. In the -first place, it belonged to mamma's uncle; and, not to spoil a story for -relation's sake, I must say he was a dissipated, unprincipled man. He -lived a perfectly heathen life here, in the most shocking way you can -imagine; and so the poor creatures who were under him were worse heathen -than he. He lived with a quadroon woman, who was violent tempered, and -when angry ferociously cruel; and so the servants were constantly -passing from the extreme of indulgence to the extreme of cruelty. You -can scarce have an idea of the state we found them in. My heart almost -failed me; but Edward said, 'Don't give it up, Anne; try the good that -is in them.' Well, I confess, it seemed very much as it seemed to me -when I was once at a water-cure establishment,--patients would be -brought in languid, pale, cold, half dead, and it appeared as if it -would kill them to apply cold water; but, somehow or other, there was a -vital power in them that reacted under it. Well, just so it was with my -servants. I called them all together, and I said to them, 'Now, people -have always said that you are the greatest thieves in the world; that -there is no managing you except by locking up everything from you. But, -I think differently. I have an idea that you can be trusted. I have been -telling people that they don't know how much good there is in you; and -now, just to show them what you can do, I'm going to begin and leave the -closets and doors, and everything, unlocked, and I shall not watch you. -You can take my things, if you choose; and if, after a time, I find that -you can't be trusted, I shall go back to the old way.' Well, my dear, I -wouldn't have believed myself that the thing would have answered so -well. In the first place, approbativeness is a stronger principle with -the African race than almost any other; they like to be thought well of. -Immediately there was the greatest spirit in the house, for the poor -creatures, having suddenly made the discovery that somebody thought they -were to be trusted, were very anxious to keep up the reputation. The -elder ones watched the younger; and, in fact, my dear, I had very little -trouble. The children at first troubled me going into my store-closet -and getting the cake, notwithstanding very spirited government on the -part of the mammies. So, I called my family in session again, and said -that their conduct had confirmed my good opinion; that I always knew -they could be trusted, and that my friends were astonished to hear how -well they did; but that I had observed that some of the children -probably had taken my cake. 'Now, you know,' said I, 'that I have no -objection to your having some. If any of you would enjoy a piece of -cake, I shall be happy to give it to them, but it is not agreeable to -have things in my closet fingered over--I shall therefore set a plate of -cake out every day, and anybody that wishes to take some I hope will -take that.' Well, my dear, my plate of cake stood there and dried. You -won't believe me, but in fact it wasn't touched." - -"Well," said Nina, "I shouldn't think you could have had our Tomtit -here! Why, really this goes beyond the virtue of white children." - -"My dear, it isn't such a luxury to white children to be thought well -of, and have a character. You must take that into account. It was a -taste of a new kind of pleasure, made attractive by its novelty." - -"Yes," said Nina, "I have something in me which makes me feel this would -be the right way. I know it would be with me. There's nothing like -confidence. If a person trusts me, I'm bound." - -"Yet," said Anne, "I can't get the ladies of my acquaintance to believe -in it. They see how I get along, but they insist upon it that it's some -secret magic, or art, of mine." - -"Well, it is so," said Nina. "Such things are just like the -divining-rod; they won't work in every hand; it takes a real, generous, -warm-hearted woman, like you, Anne. But, could you carry your system -through your plantation, as well as your house?" - -"The field-hands were more difficult to manage, on some accounts," said -Anne, "but the same principle prevailed with them. Edward tried all he -could to awaken self-respect. Now, I counselled that we should endeavor -to form some decent habits before we built the cabins over. I told him -they could not appreciate cleanliness and order. 'Very likely they -cannot,' he said, 'but we are not to suppose it;' and he gave orders -immediately for that pretty row of cottages you saw down at the -quarters. He put up a large bathing establishment. Yet he did not -enforce at first personal cleanliness by strict rules. Those who began -to improve first were encouraged and noticed; and, as they found this a -passport to favor, the thing took rapidly. It required a great while to -teach them how to be consistently orderly and cleanly even after the -first desire had been awakened, because it isn't every one that likes -neatness and order, who has the forethought and skill to secure it. But -there has been a steady progress in these respects. One curious -peculiarity of Edward's management gives rise to a good many droll -scenes. He has instituted a sort of jury trial among them. There are -certain rules for the order and well-being of the plantation, which all -agree to abide by; and, in all offences, the man is tried by a jury of -his peers. Mr. Smith, our agent, says that these scenes are sometimes -very diverting, but on the whole there's a good deal of shrewdness and -sense manifested; but he says that, in general, they incline much more -to severity than he would. You see the poor creatures have been so -barbarized by the way they have been treated in past times, that it has -made them hard and harsh. I assure you, Nina, I never appreciated the -wisdom of God, in the laws which he made for the Jews in the wilderness, -as I have since I've tried the experiment myself of trying to bring a -set of slaves out of barbarism. Now, this that I'm telling you is the -fairest side of the story. I can't begin to tell you the thousand -difficulties and trials which we have encountered in it. Sometimes I've -been almost worn out and discouraged. But, then, I think, if there is a -missionary work in this world, it is this." - -"And what do your neighbors think about it?" said Nina. - -"Well," said Anne, "they are all very polite, well-bred people, the -families with whom we associate; and such people, of course, would -never think of interfering, or expressing a difference of opinion, in -any very open way; but I have the impression that they regard it with -suspicion. They sometimes let fall words which make me think they do. -It's a way of proceeding which very few would adopt, because it is not a -money-making operation, by any means. The plantation barely pays for -itself, because Edward makes that quite a secondary consideration. The -thing which excites the most murmuring is our teaching them to read. I -teach the children myself two hours every day, because I think this -would be less likely to be an offence than if I should hire a teacher. -Mr. Smith teaches any of the grown men who are willing to take the -trouble to learn. Any man who performs a certain amount of labor can -secure to himself two or three hours a day to spend as he chooses; and -many do choose to learn. Some of the men and the women have become quite -good readers, and Clayton is constantly sending books for them. This, -I'm afraid, gives great offence. It is against the law to do it; but, as -unjust laws are sometimes lived down, we thought we would test the -practicability of doing this. There was some complaint made of our -servants, because they have not the servile, subdued air which commonly -marks the slave, but look, speak, and act, as if they respected -themselves. I'm sometimes afraid that we shall have trouble; but, then, -I hope for the best." - -"What does Mr. Clayton expect to be the end of all this?" said Nina. - -"Why," said Anne, "I think Edward has an idea that one of these days -they may be emancipated on the soil, just as the serfs were in England. -It looks to me rather hopeless, I must say; but he says the best way is -for some one to begin and set an example of what ought to be done, and -he hopes that in time it will be generally followed. It would, if all -men were like him; but there lies my doubt. The number of those who -would pursue such a disinterested course is very small. But who comes -there? Upon my word, if there isn't my particular admirer, Mr. -Bradshaw!" - -As Anne said this, a very gentlemanly middle-aged man came up on -horseback, on the carriage-drive which passed in front of the veranda. -He bore in his hand a large bunch of different colored roses; and, -alighting, and delivering his horse to his servant, came up the steps -and presented it to Anne. - -"There," said he, "are the first fruits of my roses, in the garden that -I started in Rosedale." - -"Beautiful," said Anne, taking them. "Allow me to present to you Miss -Gordon." - -"Miss Gordon, your most obedient," said Mr. Bradshaw, bowing -obsequiously. - -"You are just in season, Mr. Bradshaw," said Anne, "for I'm sure you -couldn't have had your breakfast before you started; so sit down and -help us with ours." - -"Thank you, Miss Anne," said Mr. Bradshaw, "the offer is too tempting to -be refused." And he soon established himself as a third at the little -table, and made himself very sociable. - -"Well, Miss Anne, how do all your plans proceed--all your benevolences -and cares? I hope your angel ministrations don't exhaust you." - -"Not at all, Mr. Bradshaw; do I look like it?" - -"No, indeed! but such energy is perfectly astonishing to us all." - -Nina's practised eye observed that Mr. Bradshaw had that particular -nervous, restless air, which belongs to a man who is charged with a -particular message, and finds himself unexpectedly blockaded by the -presence of a third person. So, after breakfast, exclaiming that she had -left her crochet-needle in her apartment, and resisting Anne's offer to -send a servant for it, by declaring that nobody could find it but -herself, she left the veranda. Mr. Bradshaw had been an old family -friend for many years, and stood with Anne almost on the easy footing of -a relation, which gave him the liberty of speaking with freedom. The -moment the door of the parlor was closed after Nina, he drew a chair -near to Anne, and sat down, with the unmistakable air of a man who is -going into a confidential communication. - -"The fact is, my dear Miss Clayton," he said, "I have something on my -mind that I want to tell you; and I hope you will think my long -friendship for the family a sufficient warrant for my speaking on -matters which really belong chiefly to yourself. The fact is, my dear -Miss Clayton, I was at a small dinner-party of gentlemen, the other -day, at Colonel Grandon's. There was a little select set there, you -know,--the Howards, and the Elliotts, and the Howlands, and so on,--and -the conversation happened to turn upon your brother. Now, there was the -very greatest respect for him; they seemed to have the highest possible -regard for his motives; but still they felt that he was going on a very -dangerous course." - -"Dangerous?" said Anne, a little startled. - -"Yes, really dangerous; and I think so myself, though I, perhaps, don't -feel as strongly as some do." - -"Really," said Anne, "I'm quite at a loss!" - -"My dear Miss Anne, it's these improvements, you know, which you are -making.--Don't misapprehend me! Admirable, very admirable, in -themselves,--done from the most charming of motives, Miss Anne,--but -dangerous, dangerous!" - -The solemn, mysterious manner in which these last words were pronounced -made Anne laugh; but when she saw the expression of real concern on the -face of her good friend, she checked herself, and said,-- - -"Pray, explain yourself. I don't understand you." - -"Why, Miss Anne, it's just here. We appreciate your humanity, and your -self-denial, and your indulgence to your servants. Everybody is of -opinion that it's admirable. You are really quite a model for us all. -But, when it comes to teaching them to read and write, Miss Anne," he -said, lowering his voice, "I think you don't consider what a dangerous -weapon you are putting into their hands. The knowledge will spread on to -the other plantations; bright niggers will pick it up; for the very -fellows who are most dangerous are the very ones who will be sure to -learn." - -"What if they should?" said Anne. - -"Why, my dear Miss Anne," said he, lowering his voice, "the facilities -that it will afford them for combinations, for insurrections! You see, -Miss Anne, I read a story once of a man who made a cork leg with such -wonderful accuracy that it would walk of itself, and when he got it on -he couldn't stop its walking--it walked him to death--actually did! -Walked him up hill and down dale, till the poor man fell down exhausted; -and then it ran off with his body. And it's running with its skeleton to -this day, I believe." - -And good-natured Mr. Bradshaw conceived such a ridiculous idea, at this -stage of his narrative, that he leaned back in his chair and laughed -heartily, wiping his perspiring face with a cambric pocket-handkerchief. - -"Really, Mr. Bradshaw, it's a very amusing idea, but I don't see the -analogy," said Anne. - -"Why, don't you see? You begin teaching niggers, and having reading and -writing, and all these things, going on, and they begin to open their -eyes, and look round and think; and they are having opinions of their -own, they won't take yours; and they want to rise directly. And if they -can't rise, why, they are all discontented; and there's the -what-'s-his-name to pay with them! Then come conspiracies and -insurrections, no matter how well you treat them; and, now, we South -Carolinians have had experience in this matter. You must excuse us, but -it is a terrible subject with us. Why, the leaders of that conspiracy, -all of them, were fellows who could read and write, and who had nothing -in the world to wish for, in the way of comfort, treated with every -consideration by their masters. It is a most melancholy chapter in human -nature. It shows that there is no trust to be placed in them. And, now, -the best way to get along with negroes, in my opinion, is to make them -happy; give them plenty to eat and drink and wear, and keep them amused -and excited, and don't work them too hard. I think it's a great deal -better than this kind of exciting instruction. Mind," he said, seeing -that Anne was going to interrupt him, "mind, now, I'd have religious -instruction, of course. Now, this system of oral instruction, teaching -them hymns and passages of Scripture suited to their peculiar condition, -it's just the thing; it isn't so liable to these dangers. I hope you'll -excuse me, Miss Anne, but the gentlemen really feel very serious about -these things; they find it's affecting their own negroes. You know, -somehow everything goes round from one plantation to another; and one of -them said that he had a very smart man who is married to one of your -women, and he actually found him with a spelling-book, sitting out under -a tree. He said if the man had had a rifle he couldn't have been more -alarmed; because the man was just one of those sharp, resolute fellows, -that, if he knew how to read and write, there's no knowing what he would -do. Well, now, you see how it is. He takes the spelling-book away, and -he tells him he will give him nine-and-thirty if he ever finds him with -it again. What's the consequence? Why, the consequence is, the man sulks -and gets ugly, and he has to sell him. That's the way it's operating." - -"Well, then," said Anne, looking somewhat puzzled, "I will strictly -forbid our people to allow spelling-books to go out of their hands, or -to communicate any of these things off of the plantation." - -"Oh, I tell you, Miss Anne, you can't do it. You don't know the passion -in human nature for anything that is forbidden. Now, I believe it's more -that than love of reading. You can't shut up such an experiment as you -are making here. It's just like a fire. It will blaze; it will catch on -all the plantations round; and I assure you it's matter of life and -death with us. You smile, Miss Anne, but it's so." - -"Really, my dear Mr. Bradshaw, you could not have addressed me on a more -unpleasant subject. I am sorry to excite the apprehension of our -neighbors; but"-- - -"Give me leave to remind you, also, Miss Anne, that the teaching of -slaves to read and write is an offence to which a severe penalty is -attached by the laws." - -"I thought," said Anne, "that such barbarous laws were a dead letter in -a Christian community, and that the best tribute I could pay to its -Christianity was practically to disregard them." - -"By no means, Miss Anne, by no means! Why, look at us here in South -Carolina. The negroes are three to one over the whites now. Will it do -to give them the further advantages of education and facilities of -communication? You see, at once, it will not. Now, well-bred people, of -course, are extremely averse to mingling in the affairs of other -families; and had you merely taught a few favorites, in a private way, -as I believe people now and then do, it wouldn't have seemed so bad; but -to have regular provision for teaching school, and school-hours,--I -think, Miss Anne, you'll find it will result in unpleasant -consequences." - -"Yes, I fancy," said Anne, raising herself up, and slightly coloring, -"that I see myself in the penitentiary for the sin and crime of teaching -children to read! I think, Mr. Bradshaw, it is time such laws were -disregarded. Is not that the only way in which many laws are repealed? -Society outgrows them, people disregard them, and so they fall away, -like the calyx from some of my flowers. Come, now, Mr. Bradshaw, come -with me to my school. I'm going to call it together," said Anne, rising, -and beginning to go down the veranda steps. "Certainly, my dear friend, -you ought not to judge without seeing. Wait a moment, till I call Miss -Gordon." - -And Anne stepped across the shady parlor, and in a few moments -reappeared with Nina, both arrayed in white cape-bonnets. They crossed -to the right of the house, to a small cluster of neat cottages, each one -of which had its little vegetable garden, and its plot in front, -carefully tended, with flowers. They passed onward into a grove of -magnolias which skirted the back of the house, till they came to a -little building, with the external appearance of a small Grecian temple -the pillars of which were festooned with jessamine. - -"Pray what pretty little place is this?" said Mr. Bradshaw. - -"This is my school-room," said Anne. - -Mr. Bradshaw repressed a whistle of astonishment; but the emotion was -plainly legible in his face, and Anne said, laughing,-- - -"A lady's school-room, you know, should be lady-like. Besides, I wish to -inspire ideas of taste, refinement, and self-respect, in these children. -I wish learning to be associated with the idea of elegance and beauty." - -They ascended the steps, and entered a large room, surrounded on three -sides by blackboards. The floor was covered with white matting, and the -walls hung with very pretty pictures of French lithographs, tastefully -colored. In some places cards were hung up, bearing quotations of -Scripture. There were rows of neat desks, before each of which there was -a little chair. - -Anne stepped to the door and rang a bell, and in about ten minutes the -patter of innumerable little feet was heard ascending the steps, and -presently they came streaming in--all ages, from four or five to -fifteen, and from the ebony complexion of the negro, with its -closely-curling wool, to the rich brown cheek of the quadroon, with -melancholy, lustrous eyes, and waving hair. All were dressed alike, in a -neat uniform of some kind of blue stuff, with white capes and aprons. - -They filed in to the tune of one of those marked rhythmical melodies -which characterize the negro music, and, moving in exact time to the -singing, assumed their seats, which were arranged with regard to their -age and size. As soon as they were seated, Anne, after a moment's pause, -clapped her hands, and the whole school commenced a morning hymn, in -four parts, which was sung so beautifully that Mr. Bradshaw, quite -overpowered, stood with tears in his eyes. Anne nodded at Nina, and cast -on him a satisfied glance. - -After that, there was a rapid review of the classes. There was reading, -spelling, writing on the blackboard, and the smaller ones were formed in -groups in two adjoining apartments, under the care of some of the older -girls. Anne walked about superintending the whole; and Nina, who saw the -scene for the first time, could not repress her exclamation of delight. -The scholars were evidently animated by the presence of company, and -anxious to do credit to the school and teacher, and the two hours passed -rapidly away. Anne exhibited to Mr. Bradshaw specimens of the -proficiency of her scholars in handwriting, and the drawing of maps, and -even the copying of small lithograph cards, which contained a series of -simple drawing-patterns. Mr. Bradshaw seemed filled with astonishment. - -"'Pon my word," said he, "these are surprising! Miss Anne, you are a -veritable magician--a worker of miracles! You must have found Aaron's -rod, again! My dear madam, you run the risk of being burned for a -witch!" - -"Very few, Mr. Bradshaw, know how much of beauty lies sealed up in this -neglected race," said Anne, with enthusiasm. - -As they were walking back to the house, Mr. Bradshaw fell a little -behind, and his face wore a thoughtful and almost sad expression. - -"Well," said Anne, looking round, "a penny for your thoughts!" - -"Oh, I see, Miss Anne, you are for pursuing your advantage. I see -triumph in your eyes. But yet," he added, "after all this display, the -capability of your children makes me feel sad. To what end is it? What -purpose will it serve, except to unfit them for their inevitable -condition--to make them discontented and unhappy?" - -"Well," replied Anne, "there ought to be no inevitable condition that -makes it necessary to dwarf a human mind. Any condition which makes a -full development of the powers that God has given us a misfortune, -cannot, certainly, be a healthy one--cannot be right. If a mind will -grow and rise, make way and let it. Make room for it, and cut down -everything that stands in the way!" - -"That's terribly levelling doctrine, Miss Anne." - -"Let it level, then!" said Anne. "I don't care! I come from the old -Virginia cavalier blood, and am not afraid of anything." - -"But, Miss Anne, how do you account for it that the best-educated and -best-treated slaves--in fact, as you say, the most perfectly-developed -human beings--were those who got up the insurrection in Charleston?" - -"How do you account for it," said Anne, "that the best-developed and -finest specimens of men have been those that have got up insurrections -in Italy, Austria, and Hungary?" - -"Well, you admit, then," said Mr. Bradshaw, "that if you say A in this -matter, you've got to say B." - -"Certainly," said Anne, "and when the time comes to say B, I'm ready to -say it. I admit, Mr. Bradshaw, it's a very dangerous thing to get up -steam, if you don't intend to let the boat go. But when the steam is -high enough, let her go, say I." - -"Yes, but, Miss Anne, other people don't want to say so. The fact is, we -are not all of us ready to let the boat go. It's got all our property in -it--all we have to live on. If you are willing yourself, so far as your -people are concerned, they'll inevitably want liberty, and you say -you'll be ready to give it to them; but your fires will raise a steam on -our plantations, and we must shut down these escape-valves. Don't you -see? Now, for my part, I've been perfectly charmed with this school of -yours; but, after all, I can't help inquiring whereto it will grow." - -"Well, Mr. Bradshaw," said Anne, "I'm obliged to you for the frankness -of this conversation. It's very friendly and sincere. I think, however, -I shall continue to compliment the good sense and gallantry of this -state, by ignoring its unworthy and unchristian laws. I will endeavor, -nevertheless, to be more careful and guarded as to the manner of what I -do; but, if I should be put into the penitentiary, Mr. Bradshaw, I hope -you'll call on me." - -"Miss Anne, I beg ten thousand pardons for that unfortunate allusion." - -"I think," said Anne, "I shall impose it as a penance upon you to stay -and spend the day with us, and then I'll show you my rose-garden. I have -great counsel to hold with you on the training of a certain pillar-rose. -You see, my design is to get you involved in my treason. You've already -come into complicity with it, by visiting my school." - -"Thank you, Miss Anne; I should be only too much honored to be your -abettor in any treason you might meditate. But, really, I'm a most -unlucky dog! Think of my having four bachelor friends engaged to dine -with me, and so being obliged to decline your tempting offer! In fact, I -must take horse before the sun gets any hotter." - -"There he goes, for a good-hearted creature as he is!" said Anne. - -"Do you know," said Nina, laughing, "that I thought that he was some -poor, desperate mortal, who was on the verge of a proposal, this -morning, and I ran away like a good girl to give him a fair field?" - -"Child," said Anne, "you are altogether too late in the day. Mr. -Bradshaw and I walked that little figure some time ago, and now he is -one of the most convenient and agreeable of friends." - -"Anne, why in the world don't you get in love with somebody?" said Nina. - -"My dear, I think there was something or other left out when I was made -up," said Anne, laughing, "but I never had much of a fancy for the lords -of creation. They do tolerably well till they come to be lovers; but -then they are perfectly unbearable. Lions in love, my dear, don't appear -to advantage, you know. I can't marry papa or Edward, and they have -spoiled me for everybody else. Besides, I'm happy, and what do I want of -any of them? Can't there be now and then a woman sufficient to herself? -But, Nina, dear, I'm sorry that our affairs here are giving offence and -making uneasiness." - -"For my part," said Nina, "I should go right on. I have noticed that -people try all they can to stop a person who is taking an unusual -course; and when they are perfectly certain that they can't stop them, -then they turn round and fall in with them; and I think that will be the -case with you." - -"They certainly will have an opportunity of trying," said Anne. "But -there is Dulcimer coming up the avenue with the letter-bag. Now, child, -I don't believe you appreciate half my excellence, when you consider -that I used to have all these letters that fall to you every mail." - -At this moment Dulcimer rode up to the veranda steps, and deposited the -letter-bag in Anne's hands. - -"What an odd name you have given him!" said Nina, "and what a -comical-looking fellow he is! He has a sort of waggish air that reminds -me of a crow." - -"Oh, Dulcimer don't belong to our _régime_," said Anne. "He was the -prime minister and favorite under the former reign,--a sort of licensed -court jester,--and to this day he hardly knows how to do anything but -sing and dance; and so brother, who is for allowing the largest liberty -to everybody, imposes on him only such general and light tasks as suit -his roving nature. But there!" she said throwing a letter on Nina's lap, -and at the same time breaking the seal of one directed to herself. "Ah, -I thought so! You see, puss, Edward has some law business that takes him -to this part of the state forthwith. Was ever such convenient law -business? We may look for him to-night. Now there will be rejoicings! -How now, Dulcimer? I thought you had gone," she said, looking up, and -observing that personage still lingering in the shade of a tulip-tree -near the veranda. - -"Please, Miss Anne, is Master Clayton coming home to-night?" - -"Yes, Dulcimer; so now go and spread the news; for that's what you want, -I know." - -And Dulcimer, needing no second suggestion, was out of sight in the -shrubbery in a few moments. - -"Now, I'll wager," said Anne, "that creature will get up something or -other extraordinary for this evening." - -"Such as what?" said Nina. - -"Well, he is something of a troubadour, and I shouldn't wonder if he -should be cudgelling his brain at this moment for a song. We shall have -some kind of operatic performance, you may be sure." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -THE TROUBADOUR. - - -About five o'clock in the evening, Nina and Anne amused themselves with -setting a fancy tea-table on the veranda. Nina had gathered a quantity -of the leaves of the live-oak, which she possessed a particular faculty -of plaiting in long, flat wreaths, and with these she garlanded the -social round table, after it had been draped in its snowy damask, while -Anne was busy arranging fruit in dishes with vine-leaves. - -"Lettice will be in despair, to-night," said Anne, looking up, and -smiling at a neatly-dressed brown mulatto girl, who stood looking on -with large, lustrous eyes; "her occupation's gone!" - -"Oh, Lettice must allow me to show my accomplishments," said Nina. -"There are some household arts that I have quite a talent for. If I had -lived in what-'s-its-name, there, that they used to tell about in old -times--Arcadia--I should have made a good housekeeper; for nothing suits -me better than making wreaths, and arranging bouquets. My nature is -dressy. I want to dress everything. I want to dress tables, and dress -vases, and adorn dishes, and dress handsome women, Anne! So look out for -yourself, for when I have done crowning the table, I shall crown you!" - -As Nina talked, she was flitting hither and thither, taking up and -laying down flowers and leaves, shaking out long sprays, and fluttering -from place to place, like a bird. - -"It's a pity," said Anne, "that life can't be all Arcadia!" - -"Oh, yes!" said Nina. "When I was a child, I remember there was an old -torn translation of a book called Gesner's Idyls, that used to lie about -the house; and I used to read in it most charming little stories about -handsome shepherds, dressed in white, playing on silver and ivory -flutes; and shepherdesses, with azure mantles and floating hair; and -people living on such delightful things as cool curds and milk, and -grapes, and strawberries, and peaches; and there was no labor, and no -trouble, and no dirt, and no care. Everybody lived like the flowers and -the birds,--growing and singing, and being beautiful. Ah, dear, I have -never got over wanting it since! Why couldn't it be so?" - -"It's a thousand pities!" said Anne. "But what constant fight we have to -maintain for order and beauty!" - -"Yes," said Nina; "and, what seems worse, beauty itself becomes dirt in -a day. Now, these roses that we are arranging, to-morrow or next day we -shall call them _litter_, and wish somebody would sweep them out of the -way. But I never want to to be the one to do that. I want some one to -carry away the withered flowers, and wash the soiled vases; but I want -to be the one to cut the fresh roses every day. If I were in an -association, I should take that for my part. I'd arrange all their -flowers through the establishment, but I should stipulate expressly that -I should do no clearing up." - -"Well," said Anne, "it's really a mystery to me what a constant downward -tendency there is to everything--how everything is gravitating back, as -you may say, into disorder. Now, I think a cleanly, sweet, tasteful -house--and, above all, table--are among the highest works of art. And -yet, how everything attacks you when you set out to attain it--flies, -cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes! And, then, it seems to be the fate of all -human beings, that they are constantly wearing out and disarranging and -destroying all that is about them." - -"Yes," said Nina, "I couldn't help thinking of that when we were at the -camp-meeting. The first day, I was perfectly charmed. Everything was so -fresh, so cool, so dewy and sweet; but, by the end of the second day, -they had thrown egg-shells, and pea-pods, and melon-rinds, and all sorts -of abominations, around among the tents, and it was really shocking to -contemplate." - -"How disgusting!" said Anne. - -"Now, I'm one of that sort," said Nina, "that love order dearly, but -don't want the trouble of it myself. My prime minister, Aunt Katy, -thanks to mamma, is an excellent hand to keep it, and I encourage her in -it with all my heart; so that any part of the house where _I_ don't go -much is in beautiful order. But, bless me, I should have to be made over -again before I could do like Aunt Nesbit! Did you ever see her take a -pair of gloves or a collar out of a drawer? She gets up, and walks _so_ -moderately across the room, takes the key from under the napkin on the -right-hand side of the bureau, and unlocks the drawer, as gravely as -though she was going to offer a sacrifice. Then, if her gloves are at -the back side, underneath something else, she takes out one thing after -another, so moderately; and then, when the gloves or collar are found, -lays everything back exactly where it was before, locks the drawer, and -puts the key back under the towel. And all this she'd do if anybody was -dying, and she had to go for the doctor! The consequence is, that her -room, her drawers, and everything, are a standing sermon to me. But I -think I've got to be a much calmer person than I am, before this will -come to pass in my case. I'm always in such a breeze and flutter! I fly -to my drawer, and scatter things into little whirlwinds; ribbons, scarf, -flowers--everything flies out in a perfect rainbow. It seems as if I -_should die_ if I didn't get the thing I wanted that minute; and, after -two or three such attacks on a drawer, then comes repentance, and a long -time of rolling up and arranging, and talking to little naughty Nina, -who always promises herself to keep better order in future. But, my -dear, she doesn't do it, I'm sorry to say, as yet, though perhaps there -are hopes of her in future. Tell me, Anne,--you are not stiff and -'_poky_,' and yet you seem to be endowed with the gift of order. How did -it come about?" - -"It was not natural to me, I assure you," said Anne. "It was a second -nature, drilled into me by mamma." - -"Mamma! ah, indeed!" said Nina, giving a sigh. "Then you are very happy! -But, come, now, Lettice, I've done with all these; take them away. My -tea-table has risen out of them like the world out of chaos," she said, -as she swept together a heap of rejected vines, leaves, and flowers. -"Ah! I always have a repenting turn, when I've done arranging vases, to -think I've picked so many more than were necessary! The poor flowers -droop their leaves, and look at me reproachfully, as if they said, 'You -didn't want us--why couldn't you have left us alone?'" - -"Oh," said Anne, "Lettice will relieve you of that. She has great -talents in the floral line, and out of these she will arrange quantities -of bouquets," she said, as Lettice, blushing perceptibly through her -brown skin, stooped and swept up the rejected flowers into her apron. - -"What have we here?" said Anne, as Dulcimer, attired with most unusual -care, came bowing up the steps, presenting a note on a waiter. "Dear me, -how stylish! gilt-edged paper, smelling of myrrh and ambergris!" she -continued, as she broke the seal. "What's this? - - - "'The Magnolia Grove troubadours request the presence of Mr. and - Miss Clayton and Miss Gordon at an operatic performance, which will - be given this evening, at eight o'clock, in the grove.' - - -"Very well done! I fancy some of my scholars have been busy with the -writing. Dulcimer, we shall be happy to come." - -"Where upon earth did he pick up those phrases?" said Nina, when he had -departed. - -"Oh," said Anne, "I told you that he was prime favorite of the former -proprietor, who used to take him with him wherever he travelled, as -people sometimes will a pet monkey; and, I dare say, he has lounged -round the lobbies of many an opera-house. I told you that he was going -to get up something." - -"What a delightful creature he must be!" said Nina. - -"Perhaps so, to you," said Anne; "but he is a troublesome person to -manage. He is as wholly destitute of any moral organs as a jackdaw. One -sometimes questions whether these creatures have any more than a -reflected mimicry of a human soul--such as the German stories imagine in -Cobolds and water spirits. All I can see in Dulcimer is a kind of -fun-loving animal. He don't seem to have any moral nature." - -"Perhaps," said Nina, "his moral nature is something like the -cypress-vine seeds which I planted three months ago, and which have just -come up." - -"Well, I believe Edward expects to see it along, one of these days," -said Anne. "His faith in human nature is unbounded. I think it one of -his foibles, for my part; but yet I try to have hopes of Dulcimer, that -some day or other he will have some glimmering perceptions of the -difference between a lie and the truth, and between his own things and -other people's. At present, he is the most lawless marauder on the -place. He has been so used to having his wit to cover a multitude of -sins, that it's difficult for a scolding to make any impression on him. -But, hark! isn't that a horse? Somebody is coming up the avenue." - -Both listened. - -"There are two," said Nina. - -Just at this instant Clayton emerged to view, accompanied by another -rider, who, on nearer view, turned out to be Frank Russel. At the same -instant, the sound of violins and banjos was heard, and, to Anne's -surprise, a gayly-dressed procession of servants and children began to -file out from the grove, headed by Dulcimer and several of his -associates, playing and singing. - -"There," said Anne, "didn't I tell you so. There's the beginning of -Dulcimer's operations." - -The air was one of those inexpressibly odd ones whose sharp, metallic -accuracy of rhythm seems to mark the delight which the negro race feel -in that particular element of music. The words, as usual, amounted to -very little. Nina and Anne could hear,-- - - - "Oh, I see de mas'r a comin' up de track, - His horse's heels do clatter, with a clack, clack, clack!" - - -The idea conveyed in these lines being still further carried out by the -regular clapping of hands at every accented note, while every voice -joined in the chorus:-- - - - "Sing, boys, sing; de mas'r is come! - Give three cheers for de good man at home! - Ho! he! ho! Hurra! hurra!" - - -Clayton acknowledged the compliment, as he came up, by bowing from his -horse; and the procession arranged itself in a kind of lane, through -which he and his companion rode up to the veranda. - -"'Pon my word," said Frank Russel, "I wasn't prepared for such a -demonstration. Quite a presidential reception!" - -When Clayton came to the steps and dismounted, a dozen sprang eagerly -forward to take his horse, and in the crowding round for a word of -recognition the order of the procession was entirely broken. After many -kind words, and inquiries in every direction for a few moments, the -people quietly retired, leaving their master to his own enjoyments. - -"You really have made quite a triumphal entry," said Nina. - -"Dulcimer always exhausts himself on all such occasions," said Anne, "so -that he isn't capable of any further virtue for two or three weeks." - -"Well, take him while he is in flower, then!" said Russel. "But how -perfectly cool and inviting you look. Really, quite idyllic! We must -certainly have got into a fairy queen's castle!" - -"But you must show us somewhere to shake the dust off of our feet," said -Clayton. - -"Yes," said Anne, "there's Aunt Praw waiting to show you your room. Go -and make yourselves as fascinating as you can." - -In a little while the gentlemen returned, in fresh white linen suits, -and the business of the tea-table proceeded with alacrity. - -"Well, now," said Anne, after tea, looking at her watch, "I must inform -the company that we are all engaged to the opera this evening." - -"Yes," said Nina, "the Magnolia Grove Opera House is to be opened, and -the Magnolia Troubadour Troupe to appear for the first time." - -At this moment they were surprised by the appearance, below the veranda, -of Dulcimer, with three of his colored associates, all wearing white -ribbons in their button-holes, and carrying white wands tied with satin -ribbon, and gravely arranging themselves two and two on each side of the -steps. - -"Why, Dulcimer, what's this?" said Clayton. - -Dulcimer bowed with the gravity of a raven, and announced that the -committee had come to wait on the gentlemen and ladies to their seats. - -"Oh," said Anne, "we were not prepared for our part of the play!" - -"What a pity I didn't bring my opera-hat!" said Nina. "Never mind," she -said, snatching a spray of multiflora rose, "this will do." And she gave -it one twist round her head, and her toilet was complete. - -"'Pon my word, that's soon done!" said Frank Russel, as he watched the -coronet of half-opened buds and roses. - -"Yes," said Nina. "Sit down, Anne; I forgot your crown. There, wait a -moment; let me turn this leaf a little, and weave these buds in -here--so. Now you are a Baltimore belle, to be sure! Now for the -procession." - -The opera-house for the evening was an open space in the grove behind -the house. Lamps had been hung up in the trees, twinkling on the glossy -foliage. A sort of booth or arbor was built of flowers and leaves at one -end, to which the party were marshalled in great state. Between two -magnolia-trees a white curtain was hung up; and the moment the family -party made their appearance, a chorus of voices from behind the scenes -began an animated song of welcome. - -As soon as the party was seated, the curtain rose, and the chorus, -consisting of about thirty of the best singers, males and females, came -forward, dressed in their best holiday costume, singing, and keeping -step as they sung, and bearing in their hands bouquets, which, as they -marched round the circle, they threw at the feet of the company. A -wreath of orange-blossoms was significantly directed at Nina, and fell -right into her lap. - -"These people seem to have had their eyes open. Coming events cast their -shadows before!" said Russel. - -After walking around, the chorus seated themselves at the side of the -area, and the space behind was filled up with a dense sea of heads--all -the servants and plantation hands. - -"I declare," said Russel, looking round on the crowd of dark faces, -"this sable cloud is turning a silver lining with a witness! How neat -and pretty that row of children look!" And, as they spoke, a procession -of the children of Anne's school came filing round in the same manner -that the other had done, singing their school-songs, and casting flowers -before the company. After this, they seated themselves on low seats in -front of all the others. - -Dulcimer and four of his companions now came into the centre. - -"There," said Anne, "Dulcimer is going to be the centrepiece. He is the -troubadour." - -Dulcimer, in fact, commenced a kind of recitative, to the tune "Mas'r's -in the cold, cold ground." After singing a few lines, the quartet took -up the chorus, and their voices were really magnificent. - -"Why," said Nina, "it seems to me they are beginning in a very doleful -way." - -"Oh," said Anne, "wait a minute. This is the old mas'r, I fancy. We -shall soon hear the tune changed." - -And accordingly, Dulcimer, striking into a new tune, began to rehearse -the coming in of a new master. - -"There," said Anne, "now for a catalogue of Edward's virtues! They must -all be got in, rhyme or no rhyme." - -Dulcimer kept on rehearsing. Every four lines, the quartet struck in -with the chorus, which was then repeated by the whole company, clapping -their hands and stamping their feet to the time, with great vivacity. - -"Now, Anne, is coming your turn," said Nina, as Dulcimer launched out, -in most high-flown strains, on the beauty of Miss Anne. - -"Yes," said Clayton, "the catalogue of your virtues will be something -extensive." - -"I shall escape, at any rate," said Nina. - -"Don't you be too sure," said Anne. "Dulcimer has had his eye on you -ever since you've been here." - -And true enough, after the next stanza, Dulcimer assumed a peculiarly -meaning expression. - -"There," said Anne, "do see the wretch flirting himself out like a saucy -crow! It's coming! Now look out, Nina!" - -With a waggish expression from the corner of his downcast eyes, he -sung,-- - - - "Oh, mas'r is often absent--do you know where he goes? - He goes to North Carolina, for de North Carolina rose." - - -"There you are!" said Frank Russel. "Do you see the grin going round? -What a lot of ivory! They are coming in this chorus, strong!" - -And the whole assembly, with great animation, poured out on the -chorus:-- - - - "Oh, de North Carolina rose! - Oh, de North Carolina rose! - We wish good luck to mas'r, - With de North Carolina rose!" - - -This chorus was repeated with enthusiasm, clapping of hands, and -laughing. - -"I think the North Carolina rose ought to rise!" said Russel. - -"Oh, hush!" said Anne; "Dulcimer hasn't done yet." - -Assuming an attitude, Dulcimer turned and sang to one of his associates -in the quartet,-- - - - "Oh, I see two stars arising, - Up in de shady skies!" - - -To which the other responded, with animation:-- - - - "No, boy, you are mistaken; - 'Tis de light of her fair eyes!" - - -"That's _thorough_, at any rate!" said Russel. While Dulcimer went on:-- - - - "Oh, I see two roses blowing, - Togeder on one bed!" - - -And the other responded:-- - - - "No, boy, you are mistaken; - Dem are her cheeks so red!" - - -"And they are getting redder!" said Anne, tapping Nina with her fan. -"Dulcimer is evidently laying out his strength upon you, Nina!" - -Dulcimer went on singing:-- - - - "Oh, I see a grape-vine running, - With its curly rings, up dere!" - - -And the response,-- - - - "No, boy, you are mistaken: - 'Tis her rings of curly hair!" - - -And the quartet here struck up:-- - - - "Oh, she walks on de veranda, - And she laughs out of de door, - And she dances like de sunshine - Across de parlor floor. - Her little feet, dey patter, - Like de rain upon de flowers; - And her laugh is like sweet waters, - Through all de summer hours!" - - -"Dulcimer has had help from some of the muses along there!" said -Clayton, looking at Anne. - -"Hush!" said Anne; "hear the chorus." - - - "Oh, de North Carolina rose! - Oh, de North Carolina rose! - Oh, plant by our veranda - De North Carolina rose!" - - -This chorus was repeated with three times three, and the whole assembly -broke into a general laugh, when the performers bowed and retired, and -the white sheet, which was fastened by a pulley to the limb of a tree, -was let down again. - -"Come, now, Anne, confess that wasn't all Dulcimer's work!" said -Clayton. - -"Well, to tell the truth," said Anne, "'twas got up between him and -Lettice, who has a natural turn for versifying, quite extraordinary. If -I chose to encourage and push her on, she might turn out a second -Phillis Wheatly." - -Dulcimer and his coadjutors now came round, bearing trays with lemonade, -cake, sliced pine-apples, and some other fruits. - -"Well, on my word," said Russel, "this is quite prettily got up!" - -"Oh, I think," said Clayton, "the African race evidently are made to -excel in that department which lies between the sensuous and the -intellectual--what we call the elegant arts. These require rich and -abundant animal nature, such as they possess; and, if ever they become -highly civilized, they will excel in music, dancing, and elocution." - -"I have often noticed," said Anne, "in my scholars, how readily they -seize upon anything which pertains to the department of music and -language. The negroes are sometimes laughed at for mispronouncing words, -which they will do in a very droll manner; but it's only because they -are so taken with the sounds of words that they will try to pronounce -beyond the sphere of their understanding, like bright children." - -"Some of these voices here are perfectly splendid," said Russel. - -"Yes," said Anne, "we have one or two girls on the place who have that -rich contralto voice which, I think, is oftener to be found among them -than among whites." - -"The Ethiopian race is a slow-growing plant, like the aloe," said -Clayton; "but I hope, some of these days, they'll come into flower; and -I think, if they ever do, the blossoming will be gorgeous." - -"That will do for a poet's expectation," said Russel. - -The performance now gave place to a regular dancing-party, which went on -with great animation, yet decorum. - -"Religious people," said Clayton, "who have instructed the negroes, I -think have wasted a great deal of their energy in persuading them to -give up dancing and singing songs. I try to regulate the propensity. -There is no use in trying to make the negroes into Anglo-Saxons any more -than making a grape-vine into a pear-tree. I train the grape-vine." - -"Behold," said Russel, "the successful champion of negro rights!" - -"Not so very successful," said Clayton. "I suppose you've heard my case -has been appealed; so that my victory isn't so certain, after all." - -"Oh," said Nina, "yes, it must be! I'm sure no person of common sense -would decide any other way; and your own father is one of the judges, -too." - -"That will only make him the more careful not to be influenced in my -favor," said Clayton. - -The dancing now broke up, and the servants dispersed in an orderly -manner, and the company returned to the veranda, which lay pleasantly -checkered with the light of the moon falling through trailing vines. The -air was full of those occasional pulsations of fragrance which rise in -the evening from flowers. - -"Oh, how delightful," said Nina, "this fragrance of the honeysuckles! I -have a perfect passion for perfumes! They seem to me like spirits in the -air." - -"Yes," said Clayton, "Lord Bacon says, 'that the breath of flowers comes -and goes in the air, like the warbling of music.'" - -"Did Lord Bacon say that?" said Nina, in a tone of surprise. - -"Yes; why not?" said Clayton. - -"Oh, I thought he was one of those musty old philosophers who never -thought of anything pretty!" - -"Well," said Clayton, "then to-morrow let me read you his essay on -gardens, and you'll find musty old philosophers often do think of pretty -things." - -"It was Lord Bacon," said Anne, "who always wanted musicians playing in -the next room while he was composing." - -"He did?" said Nina. "Why, how delightful of him! I think I should like -to hear some of his essays." - -"There are some minds," said Clayton, "large enough to take in -everything. Such men can talk as prettily of a ring on a lady's finger, -as they can wisely on the courses of the planets. Nothing escapes them." - -"That's the kind of man _you_ ought to have for a lover, Anne," said -Nina, laughing; "you have weight enough to risk it. I'm such a little -whisk of thistle-down that it would annihilate me. Such a ponderous -weight of wisdom attached to me would drag me under water, and drown me. -I should let go my line, I think, if I felt such a fish bite." - -"You are tolerably safe in our times," said Clayton. "Nature only sends -such men once in a century or two. They are the road-makers for the rest -of the world. They are quarry-masters, that quarry out marble enough for -a generation to work up." - -"Well," said Nina, "I shouldn't want to be a quarry-master's wife. I -should be afraid that some of his blocks would fall on me." - -"Why, wouldn't you like it, if he were wholly your slave?" said Frank -Russel. "It would be like having the genius of the lamp at your feet." - -"Ah," said Nina, "if _I_ could keep him my slave; but I'm afraid he'd -outwit me at last. Such a man would soon put _me_ up on a shelf for a -book read through. I've seen some great men,--I mean great for our -times,--and they didn't seem to care half as much for their wives as -they did for a newspaper." - -"Oh," said Anne, "that's past praying for, with any husband. The -newspaper is the standing rival of the American lady. It must be a warm -lover that can be attracted from _that_, even before he is secure of his -prize." - -"You are severe, Miss Anne," said Russel. - -"She only speaks the truth. You men are a bad set," said Nina. "You are -a kind of necessary evil, half civilized at best. But if ever _I_ set up -an establishment, I shall insist upon taking precedence of the -newspaper." - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -TIFF'S GARDEN. - - -Would the limits of our story admit of it, we should gladly linger many -days in the shady precincts of Magnolia Grove, where Clayton and Nina -remained some days longer, and where the hours flew by on flowery feet; -but the inevitable time and tide, which wait for no man, wait not for -the narrator. We must therefore say, in brief, that when the visit was -concluded, Clayton accompanied Nina once more to Canema, and returned to -the circle of his own duties. - -Nina returned to her own estate, with views somewhat chastened and -modified by her acquaintance with Anne. As Clayton supposed, the -influence of a real noble purpose in life had proved of more weight than -exhortations, and she began to feel within herself positive aspirations -for some more noble and worthy life than she had heretofore led. That -great, absorbing feeling which determines the whole destiny of woman's -existence, is in its own nature an elevating and purifying one. It is -such even when placed on an unworthy object, and much more so when the -object is a worthy one. Since the first of their friendship, Clayton had -never officiously sought to interfere with the growth and development of -Nina's moral nature. He had sufficient sagacity to perceive that, -unconsciously to herself, a deeper power of feeling, and a wider range -of thought, was opening within her; and he left the development of it to -the same quiet forces which swell the rosebud and guide the climbing -path of the vine. Simply and absolutely he lived his own life before -her, and let hers alone; and the power of his life therefore became -absolute. - -A few mornings after her return, she thought that she would go out and -inquire after the welfare of our old friend Tiff. It was a hazy, warm, -bright summer morning, and all things lay in that dreamy stillness, -that trance of voluptuous rest, which precedes the approach of the -fiercer heats of the day. Since her absence there had been evident -improvement in Tiff's affairs. The baby, a hearty, handsome little -fellow, by dint of good nursing, pork-sucking, and lying out doors in -the tending of breezes and zephyrs, had grown to be a creeping creature, -and followed Tiff around, in his garden ministrations, with -unintelligible chatterings of delight. - -At the moment when Nina rode up, Tiff was busy with his morning work in -the garden. - -His appearance, it is to be confessed, was somewhat peculiar. He usually -wore, in compliment to his nursing duties, an apron in front; but, as -his various avocations pressed hard upon his time, and as his own -personal outfit was ever the last to be attended to, Tiff's nether -garments had shown traces of that frailty which is incident to all human -things. - -"Bress me," he said to himself, that morning, as he with difficulty -engineered his way into them, "holes here, and holes dar! Don't want but -two holes in my breeches, and I's got two dozen! Got my foot through de -wrong place! Por old Tiff! Laws a massy! wish I could get hold of some -of dem dar clothes dey were telling 'bout at de camp-meeting, dey wore -forty years in de wilderness! 'Mazing handy dem ar times was! Well, any -how, I'll tie an apron behind, and anoder in front. Bress de Lord, I's -got aprons, any how! I must make up a par of breeches, some of dese yer -days, when de baby's teeth is all through, and Teddy's clothes don't -want no mending, and de washing is done, and dese yer weeds stops a -growing in de garden. Bress if I know what de Lord want of so many -weeds. 'Pears like dey comes just to plague us; but, den, we doesn't -know. May be dere's some good in 'em. We doesn't know but a leetle, no -way." - -Tiff was sitting on the ground weeding one of his garden-beds, when he -was surprised by the apparition of Nina on horse-back coming up to the -gate. Here was a dilemma, to be sure! No cavalier had a more absolute -conception of the nature of politeness, and the claims of beauty, rank, -and fashion, than Tiff. Then, to be caught sitting on the ground, with a -blue apron on in front, and a red one on behind, was an appalling -dilemma! However, as our readers may have discovered, Tiff had that -essential requisite of good breeding, the moral courage to face an -exigency; and, wisely considering that a want of cordiality is a greater -deficiency than the want of costume, he rose up, without delay, and -hastened to the gate to acknowledge the honor. - -"Lord bress yer sweet face, Miss Nina!" he said, while the breezes -flapped and fluttered his red and blue sails, "Old Tiff's 'mazin' happy -to see you. Miss Fanny's well, thank ye; and Mas'r Teddy and the baby -all doing nicely. Bress de Lord, Miss Nina, be so good as to get down -and come in. I's got some nice berries dat I picked in de swamp, and -Miss Fanny'll be proud to have you take some. You see," he said, -laughing heartily, and regarding his peculiar costume, "I wasn't looking -for any quality long dis yer time o' day, so I just got on my old -clothes." - -"Why, Uncle Tiff, I think they become you immensely!" said Nina. "Your -outfit is really original and picturesque. You're not one of the people -that are ashamed of their work, are you, Uncle Tiff? So, if you just -lead my horse to that stump, I'll get down." - -"Laws, no, Miss Nina!" said Tiff, as with alacrity he obeyed her orders. -"Spects, if Old Tiff was 'shamed of work, he'd have a heap to be 'shamed -of; 'cause it's pretty much all work with him. 'Tis so!" - -"Tomtit pretended to come with me," said Nina, as she looked round; "but -he lagged behind by the brook to get some of those green grapes, and I -suspect it's the last I shall see of him. So, Tiff, if you please to tie -Sylphine in the shade, I'll go in to see Miss Fanny." - -And Nina tripped lightly up the walk, now bordered on either side by -china asters and marigolds, to where Fanny was standing bashfully in the -door waiting for her. In her own native woods this child was one of the -boldest, freest, and happiest of romps. There was scarce an eligible -tree which she could not climb, or a thicket she had not explored. She -was familiar with every flower, every bird, every butterfly, of the -vicinity. She knew precisely when every kind of fruit would ripen, and -flower would blossom; and was so _au fait_ in the language of birds and -squirrels, that she might almost have been considered one of the -fraternity. Her only companion and attendant, Old Tiff, had that quaint, -fanciful, grotesque nature which is the furthest possible removed from -vulgarity; and his frequent lectures on proprieties and -conventionalities, his long and prolix narrations of her ancestral -glories and distinctions, had succeeded in infusing into her a sort of -childish consciousness of dignity, while at the same time it inspired -her with a bashful awe of those whom she saw surrounded with the actual -insignia and circumstances of position and fortune. After all, Tiff's -method of education, instinctive as it was, was highly philosophical, -since a certain degree of self-respect is the nurse of many virtues, and -a shield from many temptations. There is also something, perhaps, in the -influence of descent. Fanny certainly inherited from her mother a more -delicate organization than generally attends her apparent station in -life. She had, also, what perhaps belongs to the sex, a capability of -receiving the mysteries and proprieties of dress; and Nina, as she stood -on the threshold of the single low room, could not but be struck with -the general air of refinement which characterized both it and its little -mistress. There were flowers from the swamps and hedges arranged with -care and taste; feathers of birds, strings of eggs of different color, -dried grasses, and various little woodland curiosities, which showed a -taste refined by daily intercourse with nature. Fanny herself was -arrayed in a very pretty print dress, which her father had brought home -in a recent visit, with a cape of white muslin. Her brown hair was -brushed smoothly from her forehead, and her clear blue eyes, and fair, -rosy complexion, gave her a pleasing air of intelligence and refinement. - -"Thank you," said Nina, as Fanny offered her the only chair the -establishment afforded; "but I'm going with Tiff out in the garden. I -never can bear to be in the house such days as this. You didn't expect -me over so early, Uncle Tiff; but I took a notable turn, this morning, -and routed them up to an early breakfast, on purpose that I might have -time to get over here before the heat came on. It's pleasant out here, -now the shadow of the woods falls across the garden so. How beautifully -those trees wave! Tiff, go on with your work--never mind me." - -"Yes, Miss Nina, it's mighty pleasant. Why, I was out in dis yer garden -at four o'clock dis morning, and 'peared like dese yer trees was waving -like a psalm, so sort o' still, you know! Kind o' spreading out der -hands like dey'd have prayers; and dere was a mighty handsome star a -looking down. _I_ spects dat ar star is one of de very oldest families -up dar." - -"Most likely," said Nina, cheerily. "They call it Venus, the star of -love, Uncle Tiff; and I believe that is a very old family." - -"Love is a mighty good ting, any how," said Tiff. "Lord bress you, Miss -Nina, it makes everyting go kind o' easy. Sometimes, when I'm studding -upon dese yer tings, I says to myself, 'pears like de trees in de wood, -dey loves each oder. Dey stands kind o' locking arms so, and dey kind o' -nod der heads, and whispers so! 'Pears like de grape-vines, and de -birds, and all dem ar tings, dey lives comfortable togeder, like dey was -peaceable, and liked each oder. Now, folks is apt to get a stewin' and a -frettin' round, and turning up der noses at dis yer ting, and dat ar; -but 'pears like de Lord's works takes everyting mighty easy. Dey just -kind o' lives along peaceable. I tink it's mighty 'structive!" - -"Certainly it is," said Nina. "Old Mother Nature is an excellent -manager, and always goes on making the best of everything." - -"Dere's heaps done dat ar way, and no noise," said Tiff. "Why, Miss -Nina, I studies upon dat ar out here in my garden. Why, look at dat ar -corn, way up over your head, now! All dat ar growed dis yer summer. No -noise 'bout it--'pears like nobody couldn't see when 'twas done. Dey -were telling us in camp-meeting how de Lord created de heaven and de -earth. Now, Miss Nina, Tiff has his own thoughts, you know; and Tiff -says, 'pears like de Lord is creating de heaven and de earth all de -time. 'Pears like you can see Him a doing of it right afore your face; -and dem growing tings are so curus! Miss Nina, 'pears for all de world -like as if dey was critters! 'Pears like each of 'em has der own way, -and won't go no oder! Dese yer beans, dey will come up so curus right -top o' de stalks; dey will turn round de pole one way, and, if you was -to tie 'em, you couldn't make 'em go round t'oder! Dey's set in der own -way--dey is, for all dey's so still 'bout it! Laws, Miss Nina dese yer -tings makes Tiff laugh--does so!" he said, sitting down, and indulging -in one of his fits of merriment. - -"You are quite a philosopher, Tiff," said Nina. - -"Laws, Miss Nina, I hopes not!" said Tiff, solemnly; "'cause one of de -preachers at de camp-meeting used up dem folk terrible, I tell you! Dat -ar pretty much all I could make out of de sermon, dat people mustn't be -'losophers! Laws, Miss Nina, I hope I an't no sich!" - -"Oh, I mean the good kind, Uncle Tiff. But how were you pleased, upon -the whole, at the camp-meeting?" said Nina. - -"Well," said Tiff, "Miss Nina, I hope I got something--I don't know -fa'rly how much 'tis. But, Miss Nina, it 'pears like as if you had come -out here to instruct us 'bout dese yer tings. Miss Fanny, she don't read -very well yet, and 'pears like if you could read us some out of de -Bible, and teach us how to be Christians"-- - -"Why, Tiff, I scarcely know how myself!" said Nina. "I'll send Milly to -talk to you. She is a real good Christian." - -"Milly is a very nice woman," said Tiff, somewhat doubtfully; "but, Miss -Nina, 'pears like I would rather have white teaching; 'pears like I -would rather have you, if it wouldn't be too much trouble." - -"Oh, no, Uncle Tiff! If you want to hear me read, I'll read to you now," -said Nina. "Have you got a Bible, here? Stay; I'll sit down. I'll take -the chair and sit down in the shade, and then you needn't stop your -work." - -Tiff hurried into the house to call Fanny; produced a copy of a -Testament, which, with much coaxing, he had persuaded Cripps to bring on -his last visit; and, while Fanny sat at her feet making larkspur rings, -she turned over the pages, to think what to read. When she saw Tiff's -earnest and eager attention, her heart smote her to think that the book, -so valuable in his eyes, was to her almost an unread volume. - -"What shall I read to you, Tiff? What do you want to hear?" - -"Well, I wants to find out de shortest way I ken, how dese yer chil'en's -to be got to heaven!" said Tiff. "Dis yer world is mighty well long as -it holds out; but, den, yer see, it don't last forever! Tings is passing -away!" - -Nina thought a moment. The great question of questions, so earnestly -proposed to her! The simple, childlike old soul hanging confidingly on -her answer! At last she said, with a seriousness quite unusual with -her:-- - -"Tiff, I think the best thing I can do is to read to you about our -Saviour. He came down into this world to show us the way to heaven. And -I'll read you, when I come here days, all that there is about Him--all -he said and did; and then, perhaps, you'll see the way yourself. -Perhaps," she added, with a sigh, "I shall, too!" - -As she spoke, a sudden breeze of air shook the clusters of a -prairie-rose, which was climbing into the tree under which she was -sitting, and a shower of rose-leaves fell around her. - -"Yes," she said to herself, as the rose-leaves fell on her book, "it's -quite true, what he says. Everything is passing!" - -And now, amid the murmur of the pine-trees, and the rustling of the -garden-vines, came on the ear of the listeners the first words of that -sweet and ancient story:-- - -"Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod -the King, behold there came wise men from the East, saying, 'Where is -_He_ that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the -East, and are come to worship Him.'" - -Probably more cultivated minds would have checked the progress of the -legend by a thousand questions, statistical and geographical, as to -where Jerusalem was, and who the wise men were, and how far the East was -from Jerusalem, and whether it was probable they would travel so far. -But Nina was reading to children, and to an old child-man, in whose -grotesque and fanciful nature there was yet treasured a believing -sweetness, like the amulets supposed to belong to the good genii of the -fairy tales. The quick fancy of her auditors made reality of the story -as it went along. A cloudy Jerusalem built itself up immediately in -their souls, and became as well known to them as the neighboring town of -E----. Herod, the king, became a real walking personage in their minds, -with a crown on his head. And Tiff immediately discerned a resemblance -between him and a certain domineering old General Eaton, who used -greatly to withstand the cause of virtue, and the Peytons, in the -neighborhood where he was brought up. Tiff's indignation, when the -slaughter of the innocents was narrated, was perfectly outrageous. He -declared "He wouldn't have believed that of King Herod, bad as he was!" -and, good-hearted and inoffensive as Tiff was in general, it really -seemed to afford him comfort, "dat de debil had got dat ar man 'fore -now." - -"Sarves him right, too!" said Tiff, striking fiercely at a weed with his -hoe. "Killing all dem por little chil'en! Why, what harm had dey done -him, any way? Wonder what he thought of hisself!" - -Nina found it necessary to tranquillize the good creature, to get a -hearing for the rest of the story. She went on reading of the wild -night-journey of the wise men, and how the star went before them till it -stood over the place where the child was. How they went in, and saw the -young child, and Mary his mother, and fell down before him, offering -gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. - -"Lord bless you! I wish I'd a been dar!" said Tiff. "And dat ar chile -was de Lord of glory, sure 'nough, Miss Nina! I hearn 'em sing dis yer -hymn at de camp-meeting--you know, 'bout cold on his cradle. You know it -goes dis yer way." And Tiff sung, to a kind of rocking lullaby, words -whose poetic imagery had hit his fancy before he knew their meaning. - - - "Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining, - Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall; - Angels adore, in slumber reclining, - Maker, and Saviour, and Monarch of all." - - -Nina had never realized, till she felt it in the undoubting faith of her -listeners, the wild, exquisite poetry of that legend, which, like an -immortal lily, blooms in the heart of Christianity as spotless and as -tender now as eighteen hundred years ago. - -That child of Bethlehem, when afterwards he taught in Galilee, spoke of -seed which fell into a good and honest heart; and words could not have -been more descriptive of the nature which was now receiving this seed of -Paradise. - -When Nina had finished her reading, she found her own heart touched by -the effect which she had produced. The nursing, child-loving Old Tiff -was ready, in a moment, to bow before his Redeemer, enshrined in the -form of an infant; and it seemed as if the air around him had been made -sacred by the sweetness of the story. - -As Nina was mounting her horse to return, Tiff brought out a little -basket full of wild raspberries. - -"Tiff wants to give you something," he said. - -"Thank you, Uncle Tiff. How delightful! Now, if you'll only give me a -cluster of your Michigan rose!" - -Proud and happy was Tiff, and, pulling down the very topmost cluster of -his rose, he presented it to her. Alas! before Nina reached home, it -hung drooping from the heat. - -"The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth; but the word of our God -shall stand forever." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE WARNING. - - -In life organized as it is at the South, there are two currents:--one, -the current of the master's fortunes, feelings, and hopes; the other, -that of the slave's. It is a melancholy fact in the history of the human -race, as yet, that there have been multitudes who follow the triumphal -march of life only as captives, to whom the voice of the trumpet, the -waving of the banners, the shouts of the people, only add to the -bitterness of enthralment. - -While life to Nina was daily unfolding in brighter colors, the -slave-brother at her side was destined to feel an additional burden on -his already unhappy lot. - -It was toward evening, after having completed his daily cares, that he -went to the post-office for the family letters. Among these, one was -directed to himself, and he slowly perused it as he rode home through -the woods. It was as follows: - - - MY DEAR BROTHER,--I told you how comfortably we were living on our - place--I and my children. Since then, everything has been changed. - Mr. Tom Gordon came here and put in a suit for the estate, and - attached me and my children as slaves. He is a dreadful man. The - case has been tried and gone against us. The judge said that both - deeds of emancipation--both the one executed in Ohio, and the one - here--were of no effect; that my boy was a slave, and could no more - hold property than a mule before a plough. I had some good friends - here, and people pitied me very much; but nobody could help me. Tom - Gordon is a bad man--a _very_ bad man. I cannot tell you all that - he said to me. I only tell you that I will kill myself and my - children before we will be his slaves. Harry, I have been _free_, - and I know what liberty is. My children have been brought up - _free_, and if I can help it they never shall know what slavery - is. I have got away, and am hiding with a colored family here in - Natchez. I hope to get to Cincinnati, where I have friends. - - My dear brother, I did hope to do something for you. Now I cannot. - Nor can you do anything for me. The law is on the side of our - oppressors; but I hope God will help us. Farewell! Your - affectionate - - SISTER. - - -It is difficult to fathom the feelings of a person brought up in a -position so wholly unnatural as that of Harry. The feelings which had -been cultivated in him by education, and the indulgence of his nominal -possessors, were those of an honorable and gentlemanly man. His position -was absolutely that of the common slave, without one legal claim to -anything on earth, one legal right of protection in any relation of -life. What any man of strong nature would feel on hearing such tidings -from a sister, Harry felt. - -In a moment there rose up before his mind the picture of Nina in all her -happiness and buoyancy--in all the fortunate accessories in her lot. Had -the vague thoughts which crowded on his mind been expressed in words, -they might have been something like these:-- - -"I have two sisters, daughters of one father, both beautiful, both -amiable and good; but one has rank, and position, and wealth, and ease, -and pleasure; the other is an outcast, unprotected, given up to the -brutal violence of a vile and wicked man. She has been a good wife, and -a good mother. Her husband has done all he could to save her; but the -cruel hand of the law grasps her and her children, and hurls them back -into the abyss from which it was his life-study to raise them. And I can -do nothing! I am not even a man! And this curse is on me, and on my -wife, and on my children and children's children, forever! Yes, what -does the judge say, in this letter? 'He can no more own anything than -the mule before his plough!' That's to be the fate of every child of -mine! And yet people say, 'You have all you want; why are you not -happy?' I wish they could try it! Do they think broadcloth coats and -gold watches can comfort a man for all this?" - -Harry rode along, with his hands clenched upon the letter, the reins -drooping from the horse's neck, in the same unfrequented path where he -had twice before met Dred. Looking up, he saw him the third time, -standing silently, as if he had risen from the ground. - -"Where did you come from?" said he. "Seems to me you are always at hand -when anything is going against me!" - -"Went not my spirit with thee?" said Dred. "Have I not seen it all? It -is because we _will_ bear this, that we have it to bear, Harry." - -"But," said Harry, "what can we do?" - -"Do? What does the wild horse do? Launch out our hoofs! rear up, and -come down on them! What does the rattlesnake do? Lie in their path, and -bite! Why did they make slaves of us? They tried the wild Indians first. -Why didn't they keep to them? _They_ wouldn't be slaves, and we _will_! -They that _will_ bear the yoke, _may_ bear it!" - -"But," said Harry, "Dred, this is all utterly hopeless. Without any -means, or combination, or leaders, we should only rush on to our own -destruction." - -"Let us die, then!" said Dred. "What if we do die? What great matter is -that? If they bruise our head, we can sting their heels? Nat -Turner--they killed him; but the fear of him almost drove them to set -free their slaves! Yes, it was argued among them. They came within two -or three votes of it in their assembly. A little more fear, and they -would have done it. If my father had succeeded, the slaves in Carolina -would be free to-day. Die?--Why not die? Christ was crucified! Has -everything dropped out of you, that you can't die--that you'll crawl -like worms, for the sake of living?" - -"I'm not afraid of death myself," said Harry. "God knows I wouldn't care -if I did die; but"-- - -"Yes, I know," said Dred. "She that letteth will let, till she be taken -out of the way. I tell you, Harry, there's a seal been loosed--there's a -vial poured out on the air; and the destroying angel standeth over -Jerusalem, with his sword drawn!" - -"What do you mean by that?" said Harry. - -Dred stood silent for a moment; his frame assumed the rigid tension of a -cataleptic state, and his voice sounded like that of a person speaking -from a distance, yet there was a strange distinctness in it. - -"The words of the prophet, and the vision that he hath from the Lord, -when he saw the vision, falling into a trance, and having his eyes open, -and behold he saw a roll flying through the heavens, and it was written, -within and without, with mourning and lamentation and woe! Behold, it -cometh! Behold, the slain of the Lord shall be many! They shall fall in -the house and by the way! The bride shall fall in her chamber, and the -child shall die in its cradle! There shall be a cry in the land of -Egypt, for there shall not be a house where there is not one dead!" - -"Dred! Dred! Dred!" said Harry, pushing him by the shoulder; "come out -of this--come out! It's frightful!" - -Dred stood looking before him, with his head inclined forward, his hand -upraised, and his eyes strained, with the air of one who is trying to -make out something through a thick fog. - -"I see her!" he said. "Who is that by her? His back is turned. Ah! I -see--it is he! And there's Harry and Milly! Try hard--try! You won't do -it. No, no use sending for the doctor. There's not one to be had. They -are all too busy. Rub her hands! Yes. But--it's no good. 'Whom the Lord -loveth, he taketh away from the evil to come.' Lay her down. Yes, it is -Death! Death! Death!" - -Harry had often seen the strange moods of Dred, and he shuddered now, -because he partook somewhat in the common superstitions, which prevailed -among the slaves, of his prophetic power. He shook and called him; but -he turned slowly away, and, with eyes that seemed to see nothing, yet -guiding himself with his usual dextrous agility, he plunged again into -the thickness of the swamp, and was soon lost to view. - -After his return home it was with the sensation of chill at his heart -that he heard Aunt Nesbit reading to Nina portions of a letter, -describing the march through some northern cities of the cholera, which -was then making fearful havoc on our American shore. - -"Nobody seems to know how to manage it," the letter said; "physicians -are all at a loss. It seems to spurn all laws. It bursts upon cities -like a thunderbolt, scatters desolation and death, and is gone with -equal rapidity. People rise in the morning well, and are buried before -evening. In one day houses are swept of a whole family." - -"Ah," said Harry, to himself, "I see the meaning now, but what does it -portend to us?" - -How the strange foreshadowing had risen to the mind of Dred, we shall -not say. Whether there be mysterious electric sympathies which, floating -through the air, bear dim presentiments on their wings, or whether some -stray piece of intelligence had dropped on his ear, and been interpreted -by the burning fervor of his soul, we know not. The news, however, left -very little immediate impression on the daily circle at Canema. It was a -dread reality in the far distance. Harry only pondered it with anxious -fear. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE MORNING STAR. - - -Nina continued her visits to Tiff's garden on almost every pleasant -morning or evening. Tiff had always some little offering, either berries -or flowers, to present, or a nice little luncheon of fish or birds, -cooked in some mode of peculiar delicacy; and which, served up in sylvan -style, seemed to have something of the wild relish of the woods. In -return, she continued to read the story so interesting to him; and it -was astonishing how little explanation it needed--how plain honesty of -heart, and lovingness of nature, interpreted passages over which -theologians have wrangled in vain. It was not long before Tiff had -impersonated to himself each of the disciples, particularly Peter; so -that, when anything was said by him, Tiff would nod his head -significantly, and say, "Ah, ah! dat ar's just like him! He's allers a -puttin' in; but he's a good man, arter all!" - -What impression was made on the sensitive young nature, through whom, as -a medium, Tiff received this fresh revelation, we may, perhaps, imagine. -There are times in life when the soul, like a half-grown climbing vine, -hangs wavering tremulously, stretching out its tendrils for something to -ascend by. Such are generally the great transition periods of life, when -we are passing from the ideas and conditions of one stage of existence -to those of another. Such times are most favorable for the presentation -of the higher truths of religion. In the hazy, slumberous stillness of -that midsummer atmosphere, in the long, silent rides through the pines. -Nina half awakened from the thoughtless dreams of childhood, yearning -for something nobler than she yet had lived for, thought over, and -revolved in her mind, this beautiful and spotless image of God, revealed -in man, which her daily readings presented; and the world that he -created seemed to whisper to her in every pulsation of its air, in -every breath of its flowers, in the fanning of its winds, "He still -liveth, and he loveth thee." The voice of the Good Shepherd fell on the -ear of the wandering lamb, calling her to his arms; and Nina found -herself one day unconsciously repeating, as she returned through the -woods, words which she had often heard read at church:-- - -"When thou saidst unto me, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy -face, Lord, will I seek." - -Nina had often dreaded the idea of becoming a Christian, as one shrinks -from the idea of a cold, dreary passage which must be passed to gain a -quiet home. But suddenly, as if by some gentle invisible hand, the veil -seemed to be drawn which hid the face of Almighty Love from her view. -She beheld the earth and the heavens transfigured in the light of his -smile. A strange and unspeakable joy arose within her, as if some loving -presence were always near her. It was with her when she laid down at -night, and when she awoke in the morning the strange happiness had not -departed. Her feelings may be best expressed by an extract from a letter -which she wrote at this time to Clayton:-- - - - "It seems to me that I have felt a greater change in me within the - last two months than in my whole life before. When I look back at - what I was in New York, three months ago, actually I hardly know - myself. It seems to me in those old days that life was only a - frolic to me, as it is to the kitten. I don't really think that - there was much harm in me, only the want of good. In those days, - sometimes I used to have a sort of dim longing to be better, - particularly when Livy Ray was at school. It seemed as if she woke - up something that had been asleep in me; but she went away, and I - fell asleep again, and life went on like a dream. Then I became - acquainted with you, and you began to rouse me again, and for some - time I thought I didn't like to wake; it was just as it is when one - lies asleep in the morning--it's so pleasant to sleep and dream, - that one resists any one who tries to bring them back to life. I - used to feel quite pettish when I first knew you, and sometimes - wished you'd let me alone, because I saw that you belonged to a - different kind of sphere from what I'd been living in. And I had a - presentiment that, if I let you go on, life would have to be - something more than a joke with me. But _you would_, like a very - indiscreet man as you are, you would insist on being in sober - earnest. - - "I used to think that I had no heart; I begin to think I have a - good deal now. Every day it seems as if I could love more and more; - and a great many things are growing clear to me that I didn't use - to understand, and I'm growing happier every day. - - "You know my queer old _protégé_, Uncle Tiff, who lives in the - woods here. For some time past I have been to his house every day, - reading to him in the Testament, and it has had a very great effect - on me. It affected me very much, in the first place, that he seemed - so very earnest about religion, when I, who ought to know so much - more, was so indifferent to it; and when the old creature, with - tears in his eyes, actually insisted upon it that I should show his - children the road to heaven, then I began to read to him the - Testament, the life of Jesus. I didn't know myself how beautiful it - was--how suited to all our wants. It seemed to me I never saw so - much beauty in anything before; and it seems as if it had waked a - new life in me. Everything is changed; and it is the beauty of - Christ that has changed it. You know I always loved beauty above - all things, in music, in nature, and in flowers; but it seems to me - that I see something now in Jesus more beautiful than all. It seems - as if all these had been shadows of beauty, but _he_ is the - substance. It is strange, but I have a sense of him, his living and - presence, that sometimes almost overpowers me. It seems as if he - had been following me always, but I had not seen him. He has been a - good shepherd, seeking the thoughtless lamb. He has, all my life, - been calling me child; but till lately my heart has never answered, - Father! Is this religion? Is this what people mean by conversion? I - tried to tell Aunt Nesbit how I felt, because now I feel kinder to - everybody; and really my heart smote me to think how much fun I had - made of her, and now I begin to love her very much. She was so - anxious I should talk with Mr. Titmarsh, because he is a minister. - Well, you know I didn't want to do it, but I thought I ought to, - because poor aunty really seemed to feel anxious I should. I - suppose, if I were as perfect as I ought to be, a good man's stiff - ways wouldn't trouble me so. But stiff people, you know, are my - particular temptation. - - "He came and made a pastoral call, the other day, and talked to me. - I don't think he understood me very well, and I'm sure I didn't - understand him. He told me how many kinds of faith there were, and - how many kinds of love. I believe there were three kinds of faith, - and two kinds of love; and he thought it was important to know - whether I had got the right kind. He said we ought not to love God - because he loves us, but because he is holy. He wanted to know - whether I had any just views of sin, as an infinite evil; and I - told him I hadn't the least idea of what infinite was; and that I - hadn't any views of anything, but the beauty of Christ; that I - didn't understand anything about the different sorts of faith, but - that I felt perfectly sure that Jesus is so good that he would make - me feel right, and give me right views, and do everything for me - that I need. - - "He wanted to know if I loved him because he magnified the law, and - made it honorable; and I told him I didn't understand what that - meant. - - "I don't think, on the whole, that the talk did me much good. It - only confused me, and made me very uncomfortable. But I went out to - Old Tiff's in the evening, and read how Jesus received the little - children. You never saw anybody so delighted as Old Tiff was. He - got me to read it to him three or four times over; and now he gets - me to read it every time I go there, and he says he likes it better - than any other part of the Testament. Tiff and I get along very - well together. He doesn't know any more about faith than I do, and - hasn't any better views than I have. Aunt Nesbit is troubled about - me, because I'm so happy. She says she's afraid I haven't any sense - of sin. Don't you remember my telling you how happy I felt the - first time I heard _real_ music? I thought, before that, that I - could sing pretty well; but in one hour all _my_ music became trash - in my eyes. And yet, I would not have missed it for the world. So - it is now. That beautiful life of Jesus--so sweet, so calm, so - pure, so unselfish, so perfectly _natural_, and yet so far beyond - nature--has shown me what a poor, sinful, low creature I am; and - yet I rejoice. I feel, sometimes, as I did when I first heard a - full orchestra play some of Mozart's divine harmonies. I forgot - that I was alive; I lost all thought of myself entirely; and I was - perfectly happy. So it is now. This loveliness and beauty that I - see makes me happy without any thought of myself. It seems to me, - sometimes, that while I see it I never can suffer. - - "There is another thing that is strange to me; and that is, that - the Bible has grown so beautiful to me. It seems to me that it has - been all my life like the transparent picture, without any light - behind it; and now it is all illuminated, and its words are full of - meaning to me. I am light-hearted and happy--happier than ever I - was. Do you remember, the first day you came to Canema, that I told - you it seemed so sad that we must die? That feeling is all gone, - now. I feel that Jesus is everywhere, and that there is no such - thing as dying; it is only going out of one room into another. - - "Everybody wonders to see how light-hearted I am; and poor aunty - says, 'she trembles for me.' I couldn't help thinking of that, the - other morning I was reading to Tiff; what Jesus said when they - asked him why his disciples did not fast: 'Can the children of the - bride-chamber mourn while the bridegroom is with them?' - - "Now, my dear friend, you must tell me what you think of all this, - because, you know, I always tell you everything. I have written to - Livy about it, because I know it will make her so happy. Milly - seems to understand it all, and what she says to me really helps me - very much. I always used to think that Milly had some strange, - beautiful kind of inward life, that I knew nothing of, because she - would speak with so much certainty of God's love, and _act_ as if - it was so real to her; and she would tell me so earnestly, 'Chile, - he loves you!' Now I see into it--that mystery of his love to us, - and how he overcomes and subdues all things by love; and I - understand how 'perfect love casteth out fear.'" - - -To this letter Nina soon received an answer, from which also we give an -extract:-- - - - "If I was so happy, my dearest one, as to be able to awaken that - deeper and higher nature which I always knew was in you, I thank - God. But, if I ever was in any respect your teacher, you have - passed beyond my teachings now. Your childlike simplicity of nature - makes you a better scholar than I in that school where the first - step is to forget all our worldly wisdom and become a little child. - We men have much more to contend with, in the pride of our nature, - in our habits of worldly reasoning. It takes us long to learn the - lesson that faith is the highest wisdom. Don't trouble your head, - dear Nina, with Aunt Nesbit or Mr. Titmarsh. _What you feel is - faith._ They _define_ it, and you _feel_ it. And there's all the - difference between the definition and the feeling, that there is - between the husk and the corn. - - "As for me, I am less happy than you. Religion seems to me to have - two parts to it. One part is the aspiration of man's nature, and - the other is God's answer to those aspirations. I have, as yet, - only the first; perhaps, because I am less simple and less true; - perhaps, because I am not yet become a little child. So _you_ must - be my guide, instead of I _yours_; for I believe it is written of - the faithful, that a little child shall lead them. - - "I am a good deal tried now, my dear, because I am coming to a - crisis in my life. I am going to take a step that will deprive me - of many friends, of popularity, and that will, perhaps, alter all - my course for the future. But, if I should lose friends and - popularity, _you_ would love me still, would you not? It is - wronging you to ask such a question; but yet I should like to have - you answer it. It will make me stronger for what I have to do. On - Thursday of this week, my case will come on again. I am very busy - just now; but the thought of you mingles with every thought." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -THE LEGAL DECISION. - - -The time for the session of the Supreme Court had now arrived, and -Clayton's cause was to be reconsidered. Judge Clayton felt exceedingly -chagrined, as the time drew near. Being himself the leading judge of the -Supreme Court, the declaration of the bench would necessarily be made -known through him. - -"It is extremely painful to me," he said, to Mrs. Clayton, "to have this -case referred to me; for I shall be obliged to reverse the decision." - -"Well," said Mrs. Clayton, "Edward must have fortitude to encounter the -usual reverses of his profession. He made a gallant defence, and -received a great deal of admiration, which will not be at all lessened -by this." - -"You do not understand me," said Judge Clayton. "It is not the coming -out in opposition to Edward which principally annoys me. It is the -nature of the decision that I am obliged to make--the doctrine that I -feel myself forced to announce." - -"And must you, then?" said Mrs. Clayton. - -"Yes, I must," said Judge Clayton. "A judge can only perceive and -declare. What I see, I must speak, though it go against all my feelings -and all my sense of right." - -"I don't see, for my part," said Mrs. Clayton, "how that decision can -possibly be reversed, without allowing the most monstrous injustice." - -"Such is the case," said Judge Clayton; "but I sit in my seat, not to -make laws, nor to alter them, but simply to declare what they are. -However bad the principle declared, it is not so bad as the proclamation -of a falsehood would be. I have sworn truly to declare the laws, and I -must keep my oath." - -"And have you talked with Edward about it?" - -"Not particularly. He understands, in general, the manner in which the -thing lies in my mind." - -This conversation took place just before it was time for Judge Clayton -to go to his official duties. - -The court-room, on this occasion, was somewhat crowded. Barker, being an -active, resolute, and popular man, with a certain class, had talked up a -considerable excitement with regard to his case. Clayton's friends were -interested in it on his account; lawyers were, for the sake of the -principle; so that, upon the whole, there was a good deal of attention -drawn towards this decision. - -Among the spectators on the morning of the court, Clayton remarked -Harry. For reasons which our readers may appreciate, his presence there -was a matter of interest to Clayton. He made his way towards him. - -"Harry," he said, "how came you here?" - -"The ladies," said Harry, "thought they would like to know how the thing -went, and so I got on to my horse and came over." - -As he spoke, he placed in Clayton's hand a note, and, as the paper -touched his hand, a close spectator might have seen the color rise in -his cheek. He made his way back to his place, and opened a law-book, -which he held up before his face. Inside the law-book, however, was a -little sheet of gilt-edged paper, on which were written a few words in -pencil, more interesting than all the law in the world. Shall we commit -the treason of reading over his shoulder? It was as follows:-- - - - "You say you may to-day be called to do something which you think - right, but which will lose you many friends; which will destroy - your popularity, which may alter all your prospects in life; and - you ask if I can love you yet. I say, in answer, that it was not - your friends that I loved, nor your popularity, nor your prospects, - but _you_. I _can_ love and honor a man who is not afraid nor - ashamed to do what he thinks to be right; and therefore I hope ever - to remain yours, - - NINA. - - "P. S. I only got your letter this morning, and have but just time - to scribble this and send by Harry. We are all well, and shall be - glad to see you as soon as the case is over." - - -"Clayton, my boy, you are very busy with your authorities," said Frank -Russel, behind him. Clayton hastily hid the paper in his hand. - -"It's charming!" said Russel, "to have little manuscript annotations on -law. It lights it up, like the illuminations in old missals. But say, -Clayton, you live at the fountain-head;--how is the case going?" - -"Against me!" said Clayton. - -"Well, it's no great odds, after all. You have had your triumph. These -after-thoughts cannot take away that.... But hush! There's your father -going to speak!" - -Every eye in the court-room was turned upon Judge Clayton, who was -standing with his usual self-poised composure of manner. In a clear, -deliberate voice, he spoke as follows:-- - -"A judge cannot but lament, when such cases as the present are brought -into judgment. It is impossible that the reasons on which they go can be -appreciated, but where institutions similar to our own exist, and are -_thoroughly understood_. The struggle, too, in the judge's own breast, -between the feelings of the man and the duty of the magistrate, is a -severe one, presenting strong temptation to put aside such questions, if -it be possible. It is useless, however, to complain of things inherent -in our political state. And it is criminal in a court to avoid any -responsibility which the laws impose. With whatever reluctance, -therefore, it is done, the court is compelled to express an opinion upon -the extent of the dominion of the master over the slave in North -Carolina. The indictment charges a battery on Milly, a slave of Louisa -Nesbit.... - -"The inquiry here is, whether a cruel and unreasonable battery on a -slave by the hirer is indictable. The judge below instructed the jury -that it is. He seems to have put it on the ground, that the defendant -had but a special property. Our laws uniformly treat the master, or -other person having the possession and command of the slave, as entitled -to the same extent of authority. _The object is the same, the service of -the slave_; and the same powers must be confided. In a criminal -proceeding, and, indeed, in reference to all other persons but the -general owner, the hirer and possessor of the slave, in relation to both -rights and duties, is, for the time being, the owner.... But, upon the -general question, whether the owner is answerable _criminaliter_, for a -battery upon his own slave, or other exercise of authority or force, not -forbidden by statute, the court entertains but little doubt. That he is -so liable, has never been decided; nor, as far as is known, been -hitherto contended. There has been no prosecution of the sort. The -established habits and uniform practice of the country, in this respect, -is the best evidence of the portion of power deemed by the whole -community requisite to the preservation of the master's dominion. If we -thought differently, we could not set our notions in array against the -judgment of everybody else, and say that this or that authority may be -safely lopped off. - -"This has indeed been assimilated at the bar to the other domestic -relations: and arguments drawn from the well-established principles, -which _confer_ and _restrain_ the authority of the parent over the -child, the tutor over the pupil, the master over the apprentice, have -been pressed on us. - -"The court does not recognize their application. There is no likeness -between the cases. They are in opposition to each other, and there is an -impassable gulf between them. The difference is that which exists -between freedom and slavery; and a greater cannot be imagined. In the -one, the end in view is the happiness of the youth born to equal rights -with that governor on whom the duty devolves of training the young to -usefulness, in a station which he is afterwards to assume among freemen. -To such an end, and with such a subject, moral and intellectual -instruction seem the natural means; and, for the most part, they are -found to suffice. Moderate force is superadded only to make the others -effectual. If that fail, it is better to leave the party to his own -headstrong passions, and the ultimate correction of the law, than to -allow it to be immoderately inflicted by a private person. With slavery -it is far otherwise. The end is the profit of the master, his security, -and the public safety; the subject, one doomed, in his own person and -his posterity, to live without knowledge, and without the capacity to -make anything his own, and to toil that another may reap the fruits. -What moral considerations shall be addressed to such a being, to -convince him what it is impossible but that the most stupid must feel -and know can never be true,--that he is thus to labor upon a principle -of natural duty, or for the sake of his own personal happiness? Such -services can only be expected from one who has no will of his own; who -surrenders his will in implicit obedience to that of another. Such -obedience is the consequence only of uncontrolled authority over the -body. There is nothing else which can operate to produce the effect. THE -POWER OF THE MASTER MUST BE ABSOLUTE, TO RENDER THE SUBMISSION OF THE -SLAVE PERFECT. I most freely confess my sense of the harshness of this -proposition. I feel it as deeply as any man can. And, as a principle of -moral right, every person in his retirement must repudiate it. But, in -the actual condition of things, it must be so. There is no remedy. This -discipline belongs to the state of slavery. They cannot be disunited -without abrogating at once the rights of the master, and absolving the -slave from his subjection. It constitutes the curse of slavery to both -the bond and the free portions of our population. But it is _inherent in -the relation_ of master and slave. That there may be particular -instances of cruelty and deliberate barbarity, where in conscience the -law might properly interfere, is most probable. The difficulty is to -determine where a _court_ may properly begin. Merely in the abstract, it -may well be asked which power of the master accords with right. The -answer will probably sweep away all of them. But we cannot look at the -matter in that light. The truth is that we are forbidden to enter upon a -train of general reasoning on the subject. We cannot allow the right of -the master to be brought into discussion in the courts of justice. The -slave, to remain a slave, must be made sensible that there is no appeal -from his master; that his power is, in no instance, usurped, but is -conferred by the laws of man, at least, if not by the law of God. The -danger would be great, indeed, if the tribunals of justice should be -called on to graduate the punishment appropriate to every temper, and -every dereliction of menial duty. - -"No man can anticipate the many and aggravated provocations of the -master which the slave would be constantly stimulated by his own -passions, or the instigation of others, to give; or the consequent wrath -of the master, prompting him to bloody vengeance upon the turbulent -traitor; a vengeance _generally practised with impunity, by reason of -its privacy_. The court, therefore, disclaims the power of changing the -relation in which these parts of our people stand to each other. - - * * * * * * * * * - -"I repeat, that I would gladly have avoided this ungrateful question. -But, being brought to it, the court is compelled to declare that while -slavery exists amongst us in its present state, or until it shall seem -fit to the legislature to interpose express enactments to the contrary, -it will be the imperative _duty_ of the judges _to recognize the full -dominion of the owner over the slave_, except where the exercise of it -is forbidden by statute. - -"And this we do upon the ground that _this dominion is essential to the -value of slaves as property, to the security of the master and the -public tranquillity, greatly dependent upon their subordination_; and, -in fine, as most effectually securing the general protection and comfort -of the slaves themselves. Judgment below reversed; and judgment entered -for the defendant." - -During the delivery of the decision Clayton's eyes, by accident, became -fixed upon Harry, who was standing opposite to him, and who listened -through the whole with breathless attention. He observed, as it went on, -that his face became pale, his brow clouded, and that a fierce and -peculiar expression flashed from his dark-blue eye. Never had Clayton so -forcibly realized the horrors of slavery as when he heard them thus so -calmly defined in the presence of one into whose soul the iron had -entered. The tones of Judge Clayton's voice, so passionless, clear, and -deliberate; the solemn, calm, unflinching earnestness of his words, were -more than a thousand passionate appeals. In the dead silence that -followed, Clayton rose, and requested permission of the court to be -allowed to say a few words in view of the decision. His father looked -slightly surprised, and there was a little movement among the judges. -But curiosity, perhaps, among other reasons, led the court to give -consent. Clayton spoke:-- - -"I hope it will not be considered a disrespect or impertinence for me to -say that the law of slavery, and the nature of that institution, have -for the first time been made known to me to-day in their true character. -I had before flattered myself with the hope that it might be considered -a guardian institution, by which a stronger race might assume the care -and instruction of the weaker one; and I had hoped that its laws were -capable of being so administered as to protect the defenceless. This -illusion is destroyed. I see but too clearly now the purpose and object -of the law. I cannot, therefore, as a Christian man, remain in the -practice of law in a slave state. I therefore relinquish the profession, -into which I have just been inducted, and retire forever from the bar of -my native state." - -"There!--there!--there he goes!" said Frank Russel. "The sticking-point -has come at last. His conscience is up, and start him now who can!" - -There was a slight motion of surprise in the court and audience. But -Judge Clayton sat with unmoved serenity. The words had struck to the -depth of his soul. They had struck at the root of one of his strongest -hopes in life. But he had listened to them with the same calm and -punctilious attention which it was his habit to give to every speaker; -and, with unaltered composure, he proceeded to the next business of the -court. - -A step so unusual occasioned no little excitement. But Clayton was not -one of the class of people to whom his associates generally felt at -liberty to express their opinions of his conduct. The quiet reserve of -his manners discouraged any such freedom. As usual, in cases where a -person takes an uncommon course from conscientious motives, Clayton was -severely criticised. The more trifling among the audience contented -themselves with using the good set phrases, quixotic, absurd, -ridiculous. The elder lawyers, and those friendly to Clayton, shook -their heads, and said, rash, precipitate, unadvised. "There's a want of -ballast about him, somewhere!" said one. "He is unsound!" said another. -"Radical and impracticable!" added a third. - -"Yes," said Frank Russel, who had just come up, "Clayton _is_ as radical -and impracticable as the Sermon on the Mount, and that's the most -impracticable thing I know of in literature. We all _can_ serve God and -Mammon. We have discovered that happy medium in our day. Clayton is -behind the times. He is _Jewish_ in his notions. Don't you think so, Mr. -Titmarsh?" addressing the Rev. Mr. Titmarsh. - -"It strikes me that our young friend is extremely _ultra_," said Mr. -Titmarsh. "I might feel disposed to sympathize with him in the feelings -he expressed, _to some extent_; but it having pleased the Divine -Providence to establish the institution of slavery, I humbly presume it -is not competent for human reason to judge of it." - -"And if it had pleased the Divine Providence to have established the -institution of piracy, you'd say the same thing, I suppose!" said Frank -Russel. - -"Certainly, my young friend," said Mr. Titmarsh. "Whatever is divinely -ordered, becomes right by that fact." - -"I should think," said Frank Russel, "that things were divinely ordered -because they were right." - -"No, my friend," replied Mr. Titmarsh, moderately; "they are right -because they are ordered, however contrary they may appear to any of our -poor notions of justice and humanity." And Mr. Titmarsh walked off. - -"Did you hear that?" said Russel. "And they expect really to come it -over us with stuff like that! Now, if a fellow don't go to church -Sundays, there's a dreadful outcry against him for not being religious! -And, if they get us there, that's the kind of thing they put down our -throats! As if they were going to make practical men give in to such -humbugs!" - -And the Rev. Mr. Titmarsh went off in another direction, lamenting to a -friend as follows:-- - -"How mournfully infidelity is increasing among the young men of our day! -They quote Scripture with the same freedom that they would a book of -plays, and seem to treat it with no more reverence! I believe it's the -want of catechetical instruction while they are children. There's been a -great falling back in the teaching of the Assembly's Catechism to -children when they are young! I shall get that point up at the General -Assembly. If that were thoroughly committed when they are children, I -think they would never doubt afterwards." - -Clayton went home and told his mother what he had done, and why. His -father had not spoken to him on this subject; and there was that about -Judge Clayton which made it difficult to introduce a topic, unless he -signified an inclination to enter upon it. He was, as usual, calm, -grave, and considerate, attending to every duty with unwearying -regularity. - -At the end of the second day, in the evening, Judge Clayton requested -his son to walk in to his study. The interview was painful on both -sides. - -"You are aware, my son," he said, "that the step you have taken is a -very painful one to me. I hope that it was not taken precipitately, from -any sudden impulse." - -"You may rest assured it was not," said Clayton. "I followed the deepest -and most deliberate convictions of my conscience." - -"In that case, you could not do otherwise," replied Judge Clayton. "I -have no criticisms to make. But will your conscience allow you to retain -the position of a slave-holder?" - -"I have already relinquished it," replied Clayton, "so far as my own -intentions are concerned. I retain the legal relation of owner simply as -a means of protecting my servants from the cruelties of the law, and of -securing the opportunity to educate and elevate them." - -"And suppose this course brings you into conflict with the law of the -state?" said Judge Clayton. - -"If there is any reasonable prospect of having the law altered, I must -endeavor to do that," said Clayton. - -"But," said Judge Clayton, "suppose the law is so rooted in the nature -of the institution, that it cannot be repealed without uprooting the -institution? What then?" - -"I say repeal the law, if it do uproot the institution," said Clayton. -"_Fiat justitia ruat coelum._" - -"I supposed that would be your answer," said Judge Clayton, patiently. -"That is undoubtedly the logical line of life. But you are aware that -communities do not follow such lines; your course, therefore, will place -you in opposition to the community in which you live. Your conscientious -convictions will cross self-interest, and the community will not allow -you to carry them out." - -"Then," said Clayton, "I must, with myself and my servants, remove to -some region where I can do this." - -"That I supposed would be the result," said Judge Clayton. "And have you -looked at the thing in all its relations and consequences?" - -"I have," said Clayton. - -"You are about to form a connection with Miss Gordon," said Judge -Clayton. "Have you considered how this will affect her?" - -"Yes," said Clayton. "Miss Gordon fully sustains me in the course I -have taken." - -"I have no more to say," said Judge Clayton. "Every man must act up to -his sense of duty." - -There was a pause of a few moments, and Judge Clayton added:-- - -"You, perhaps, have seen the implication which your course throws upon -us who still continue to practise the system and uphold the institution -which you repudiate." - -"I meant no implications," said Clayton. - -"I presume not. But they result, logically, from your course," said his -father. "I assure you, I have often myself pondered the question with -reference to my own duties. My course is a sufficient evidence that I -have not come to the same result. Human law is, at best, but an -approximation, a reflection of many of the ills of our nature. Imperfect -as it is, it is, on the whole, a blessing. The worst system is better -than anarchy." - -"But, my father, why could you not have been a reformer of the system?" - -"My son, no reform is possible, unless we are prepared to give up the -institution of slavery. That will be the immediate result; and this is -so realized by the instinct of self-preservation, which is unfailing in -its accuracy, that every such proposition will be ignored, till there is -a settled conviction in the community that the institution itself is a -moral evil, and a sincere determination felt to be free from it. I see -no tendency of things in that direction. That body of religious men of -different denominations, called, _par excellence_, the church, exhibit a -degree of moral apathy on this subject which is to me very surprising. -It is with them that the training of the community, on which any such -reform could be built, must commence; and I see no symptoms of their -undertaking it. The decisions and testimonies of the great religious -assemblies in the land, in my youth, were frequent. They have grown -every year less and less decided; and now the morality of the thing is -openly defended in our pulpits, to my great disgust. I see no way but -that the institution will be left to work itself out to its final -result, which will, in the end, be ruinous to our country. I am not -myself gifted with the talents of a reformer. My turn of mind fits me -for the situation I hold. I cannot hope that I have done no harm in it; -but the good, I hope, will outweigh the evil. If you feel a call to -enter on this course, fully understanding the difficulties and -sacrifices it would probably involve, I would be the last one to throw -the influence of my private wishes and feelings into the scale. We live -here but a few years. It is of more consequence that we should do right, -than that we should enjoy ourselves." - -Judge Clayton spoke this with more emotion than he usually exhibited, -and Clayton was much touched. - -"My dear father," he said, putting Nina's note into his hand, "you made -allusion to Miss Gordon. This note, which I received from her on the -morning of your decision, will show you what her spirit is." - -Judge Clayton put on his spectacles, and read over the note -deliberately, twice. He then handed it formally to his son, and -remarked, with his usual brevity,-- - -"She will do!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -THE CLOUD BURSTS. - - -The shadow of that awful cloud which had desolated other places now -began to darken the boundaries of the plantation of Canema. No disease -has ever more fully filled out the meaning of those awful words of -Scripture, "The pestilence that walketh in darkness." None has been more -irregular, and apparently more perfectly capricious, in its movements. -During the successive seasons that it has been epidemic in this country, -it has seemed to have set at defiance the skill of the physicians. The -system of medical tactics which has been wrought out by the painful -experience of one season seems to be laughed to scorn by the varying -type of the disease in the next. Certain sanitary laws and conditions -would seem to be indispensable; yet those who are familiar with it have -had fearful experience how like a wolf it will sometimes leap the -boundaries of the best and most carefully-guarded fold, and, spite of -every caution and protection, sweep all before it. - -Its course through towns and villages has been equally singular. -Sometimes descending like a cloud on a neighborhood, it will leave a -single village or town untouched amidst the surrounding desolations, and -long after, when health is restored to the whole neighborhood, come down -suddenly on the omitted towns, as a ravaging army sends back a party for -prey to some place which has been overlooked or forgotten. Sometimes, -entering a house, in twenty-four hours it will take all who are in it. -Sometimes it will ravage all the city except some one street or -locality, and then come upon that, while all else is spared. Its course, -upon southern plantations, was marked by similar capriciousness, and was -made still more fatal by that peculiar nature of plantation life which -withdraws the inmates so far from medical aid. - -When the first letters were received describing the progress of it in -northern cities, Aunt Nesbit felt much uneasiness and alarm. It is -remarkable with what tenacity people often will cling to life, whose -enjoyments in it are so dull and low that a bystander would scarcely -think them worth the struggle of preservation. When at length the -dreaded news began to be heard from one point and another in their -vicinity, Aunt Nesbit said, one day, to Nina,-- - -"Your cousins, the Gordons, in E., have written to us to leave the -plantation, and come and spend some time with them, till the danger is -over." - -"Why," said Nina, "do they think the cholera can't come there?" - -"Well," said Aunt Nesbit, "they have their family under most excellent -regulations; and, living in a town so, they are within call of a doctor, -if anything happens." - -"Aunt," said Nina, "perhaps you had better go; but I will stay with my -people." - -"Why, don't you feel afraid, Nina?" - -"No, aunt, I don't. Besides, I think it would be very selfish for me to -live on the services of my people all my life, and then run away and -leave them alone when a time of danger comes. The least I can do is to -stay and take care of them." - -This conversation was overheard by Harry, who was standing with his back -to them, on the veranda, near the parlor door where they were sitting. - -"Child," said Aunt Nesbit, "what do you suppose you can do? You haven't -any experience. Harry and Milly can do a great deal better than you can. -I'll leave Milly here. It's our first duty to take care of our health." - -"No, aunt, I think there are some duties before that," said Nina. "It's -true I haven't a great deal of strength, but I have courage; and I know -my going away would discourage our people, and fill them with fear; and -that, they say, predisposes to the disease. I shall get the carriage up, -and go directly over to see the doctor, and get directions and -medicines. I shall talk to our people, and teach them what to do, and -see that it is done. And, when they see that I am calm, and not afraid, -they will have courage. But, aunt, if you are afraid, I think you had -better go. You are feeble; you can't make much exertion; and if you feel -any safer or more comfortable, I think it would be best. I should like -to have Milly stay, and she, Harry, and I, will be a board of health to -the plantation." - -"Harry," she said, "if you'll get up the carriage, we'll go -immediately." - -Again Harry felt the bitterness of his soul sweetened and tranquillized -by the noble nature of her to whose hands the law had given the chain -which bound him. Galling and intolerable as it would have been -otherwise, he felt, when with her, that her service was perfect freedom. -He had not said anything to Nina about the contents of the letter which -he had received from his sister. He saw that it was an evil which she -had no power over, and he shrank from annoying her with it. Nina -supposed that his clouded and troubled aspect was caused wholly by the -solicitude of responsibility. - -In the same carriage which conveyed her to the town sat Aunt Nesbit -also, and her cap-boxes, whose importance even the fear of the cholera -could not lessen in her eyes. Nina found the physician quite _au fait_ -on the subject. He had been reading about miasma and animalculæ, and he -entertained Nina nearly half an hour with different theories as to the -cause of the disease, and with the experiments which had been made in -foreign hospitals. - -Among the various theories, there was one which appeared to be his -particular pet; and Nina couldn't help thinking, as he stepped about so -alertly, that he almost enjoyed the prospect of putting his discoveries -to the test. By dint, however, of very practical and positive questions, -Nina drew from him all the valuable information which he had to give -her; and he wrote her a very full system of directions, and put up a -case of medicines for her, assuring her that he should be happy to -attend in person if he had time. - -On the way home, Nina stopped at Uncle John Gordon's plantation, and -there had the first experience of the difference between written -directions for a supposed case, and the actual, awful realities of the -disease. Her Uncle John had been seized only half an hour before, in the -most awful manner. The household was all in terror and confusion, and -the shrieks and groans of agony which proceeded from his room were -appalling. His wife, busy with the sufferer, did not perceive that the -messengers who had been sent in haste for the doctor were wringing their -hands in fruitless terror, running up and down the veranda, and doing -nothing. - -"Harry," said Nina, "take out one of the carriage-horses, and ride quick -for your life, and bring the doctor over here in a minute!" - -In a few moments the thing was done, and Harry was out of sight. She -then walked up to the distracted servants, and commanded them, in a tone -of authority, to cease their lamentations. Her resolute manner, and the -quiet tone of voice which she preserved, acted as a sedative on their -excited nerves. She banished all but two or three of the most reasonable -from the house, and then went to the assistance of her aunt. - -Before long the doctor arrived. When he had been in the sick room a few -moments, he came out to make some inquiries of Nina, and she could not -help contrasting the appalled and confounded expression of his -countenance with the dapper, consequential air, with which, only two -hours before, he had been holding forth to her on animalculæ and miasma. - -"The disease," he said, "presented itself in an entirely different -aspect from what he had expected. The remedies," he said, "did not work -as he anticipated; the case was a peculiar one." - -Alas! before the three months were over, poor doctor, you found many -peculiar cases! - -"Do you think you can save his life?" said Nina. - -"Child, only God can save him!" said the physician; "nothing works -right." - -But why prolong the torture of that scene, or rehearse the struggles, -groans, and convulsions? Nina, poor flowery child of seventeen summers, -stood with the rest in mute despair. All was tried that could be done or -thought of; but the disease, like some blind, deaf destroyer, marched -on, turning neither to right nor left, till the cries and groans grew -fainter, the convulsed muscles relaxed, and the strong, florid man lay -in the last stages of that fearful collapse which in one hour shrivels -the most healthy countenance and the firmest muscles to the shrunken -and withered image of decrepit old age. When the breath had passed, and -all was over, Nina could scarcely believe that that altered face and -form, so withered and so worn, could have been her healthy and joyous -uncle, and who never had appeared healthier and more joyous than on that -morning. But, as a person passing under the foam and spray of Niagara -clings with blind confidence to a guide whom he feels, but cannot see, -Nina, in this awful hour, felt that she was not alone. The Redeemer, -all-powerful over death and the grave, of whom she had been thinking so -much of late, seemed to her sensibly near. And it seemed to her as if a -voice said to her, continually, "Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not -dismayed, for I am thy God." - -"How calm you are, my child!" said Aunt Maria to her. "I wouldn't have -thought it was in you. I don't know what we should do without you." - -But now a frightful wail was heard. - -"Oh, we are all dying! we are all going! Oh, missis, come quick! Peter -has got it! Oh, daddy has got it! Oh, my child! my child!" - -And the doctor, exhausted as he was by the surprise and excitement of -this case, began flying from one to another of the cabins, in the -greatest haste. Two or three of the house-servants also seemed to be -struck in the same moment, and only the calmness and courage which Nina -and her aunt maintained prevented a general abandonment to panic. Nina -possessed that fine, elastic temperament which, with the appearance of -extreme delicacy, possesses great powers of endurance. The perfect -calmness which she felt enabled her to bring all her faculties to bear -on the emergency. - -"My good aunty, you mustn't be afraid! Bring out your religion; trust in -God," she said, to the cook, who was wringing her hands in terror. -"Remember your religion; sing some of your hymns, and do your duty to -the sick." - -There is a magic power in the cheerful tone of courage, and Nina -succeeded in rallying the well ones to take care of the sick; but now -came a messenger, in hot haste, to say that the cholera had broken out -on the plantation at home. - -"Well, Harry," said Nina, with a face pale, yet unmoved, "our duty calls -us away." - -And, accompanied by the weary physician, they prepared to go back to -Canema. Before they had proceeded far, a man met them on horseback. - -"Is Dr. Butler with you?" - -"Yes," said Nina, putting her head out of the carriage. - -"Oh, doctor, I've been riding all over the country after you. You must -come back to town this minute! Judge Peters is dying! I'm afraid he is -dead before this time, and there's a dozen more cases right in that -street. Here, get on to my horse, and ride for your life." - -The doctor hastily sprang from the carriage, and mounted the horse; -then, stopping a moment, he cast a look of good-natured pity on the -sweet, pale face that was leaning out of the carriage window. - -"My poor child," he said, "I can't bear to leave you. Who will help -you?" - -"God," said Nina; "I am not afraid!" - -"Come, come," said the man, "do hurry!" And, with one hasty glance more, -he was gone. - -"Now, Harry," said Nina, "everything depends upon our keeping up our -courage and our strength. We shall have no physician. We must just do -the best we can. After all, it is our Lord Jesus that has the keys of -death, and _he_ loved us and died for us. He will certainly be with us." - -"Oh, Miss Nina, you are an angel!" said Harry, who felt at that moment -as if he could have worshipped her. - -Arrived at home, Nina found a scene of terror and confusion similar to -that she had already witnessed. Old Hundred lay dead in his cabin, and -the lamenting crowd, gathering round, were yielding to the full tide of -fear and excitement, which predisposed them to the same fate. Nina rode -up immediately to the group. She spoke to them calmly; she silenced -their outcries, and bade them obey her. - -"If you wish, all of you, to die," she said, "this is the way towards -it; but, if you'll keep quiet and calm, and do what ought to be done, -your lives may be saved. Harry and I have got medicines--we understand -what to do. You must follow our directions exactly." - -Nina immediately went to the house, and instructed Milly, Aunt Rose, -and two or three of the elderly women, in the duties to be done. Milly -rose up, in this hour of terror, with all the fortitude inspired by her -strong nature. - -"Bress de Lord," she said, "for his grace to you, chile! De Lord is a -shield. He's been wid us in six troubles, and he'll be wid us in seven. -We can sing in de swellings of Jordan." - -Harry, meanwhile, was associating to himself a band of the most reliable -men on the place, and endeavoring in the same manner to organize them -for action. A messenger was dispatched immediately to the neighboring -town for unlimited quantities of the most necessary medicines and -stimulants. The plantation was districted off, and placed under the care -of leaders, who held communication with Harry. In the course of two or -three hours, the appalling scene of distress and confusion was reduced -to the resolute and orderly condition of a well-managed hospital. - -Milly walked the rounds in every direction, appealing to the religious -sensibilities of the people, and singing hymns of trust and confidence. -She possessed a peculiar voice, suited to her large development of -physical frame, almost as deep as a man's bass, with the rich softness -of a feminine tone; and Nina could now and then distinguish, as she was -moving about the house or grounds, that triumphant tone, singing,-- - - - "God is my sun, - And he my shade, - To guard my head, - By night or noon. - Hast thou not given thy word - To save my soul from death? - And I can trust my Lord, - To keep my mortal breath. - I'll go and come, - Nor fear to die, - Till from on high - Thou call me home." - - -The house that night presented the aspect of a beleaguered garrison. -Nina and Milly had thrown open all the chambers; and such as were -peculiarly exposed to the disease, by delicacy of organization or -tremulousness of nervous system, were allowed to take shelter there. - -"Now, chile," said Milly, when all the arrangements had been made, "you -jes lie down and go to sleep in yer own room. I see how 'tis with you; -de spirit is willing, but de flesh is weak. Chile, dere isn't much of -you, but dere won't nothing go widout you. So, you take care of yerself -first. Never you be 'fraid! De people's quiet now, and de sick ones is -ben took care of, and de folks is all doing de best dey can. So, now, -you try and get some sleep; 'cause if _you_ goes we shall _all_ go." - -Accordingly Nina retired to her room, but before she lay down she wrote -to Clayton:-- - - - "We are all in affliction here, my dear friend. Poor Uncle John - died this morning of the cholera. I had been to E---- to see a - doctor and provide medicines. When I came back I thought I would - call a few moments at the house, and I found a perfect scene of - horror. Poor uncle died, and there are a great many sick on the - place now; and while I was thinking that I would stay and help - aunt, a messenger came in all haste, saying that the disease had - broken out on our place at home. - - "We were bringing the doctor with us in our carriage, when we met a - man riding full speed from E----, who told us that Judge Peters was - dying, and a great many others were sick on the same street. When - we came home we found the poor old coachman dead, and the people in - the greatest consternation. It took us some time to tranquillize - them and to produce order, but that is now done. Our house is full - of the sick and the fearful ones. Milly and Harry are firm and - active, and inspire the rest with courage. About twenty are taken - with the disease, but not as yet in a violent way. In this awful - hour I feel a strange peace, which the Bible truly says 'passeth - all understanding.' I see, now, that though the world and all that - is in it should perish, 'Christ can give us a beautiful immortal - life.' I write to you because, perhaps, this may be the only - opportunity. If I die, do not mourn for me, but thank God, who - giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. But, then, I - trust, I shall not die. I hope to live in this world, which is more - than ever beautiful to me. Life has never been so valuable and dear - as since I have known you. Yet I have such trust in the love of my - Redeemer, that, if _he_ were to ask me to lay it down, I could do - it almost without a sigh. I would follow the Lamb whithersoever he - goeth. Perhaps the same dreadful evil is around you,--perhaps at - Magnolia Grove. I will not be selfish in calling you here, if Anne - needs you more. Perhaps she has not such reliable help as Harry and - Milly are to me. So do not fear, and do not leave any duty for me. - Our Father loves us, and will do nothing amiss. Milly walks about - the entries singing. I love to hear her sing, she sings in such a - grand triumphant tone. Hark, I hear her now! - - - 'I'll go and come, - Nor fear to die, - Till from on high - Thou call me home.' - - - "I shall write you every mail, now, till we are better. - - "Living or dying, ever your own - - "NINA." - - -After writing this, Nina lay down and slept--slept all night as quietly -as if death and disease were not hanging over her head. In the morning -she rose and dressed herself, and Milly, with anxious care, brought to -her room some warm coffee and crackers, which she insisted on her taking -before she left her apartment. - -"How are they all, Milly?" said Nina. - -"Well, chile," said Milly, "de midnight cry has been heard among us. -Aunt Rose is gone; and Big Sam, and Jack, and Sally, dey's all gone; but -de people is all more quiet, love, and dey's determined to stand it -out!" - -"How is Harry?" said Nina, in a tremulous voice. - -"He isn't sick; he has been up all night working over de sick, but he -keeps up good heart. De older ones is going to have a little -prayer-meeting after breakfast, as a sort of funeral to dem dat's dead; -and, perhaps, Miss Nina, you'd read us a chapter." - -"Certainly I will," said Nina. - -It was yet an early hour, when a large circle of family and plantation -hands gathered together in the pleasant, open saloon, which we have so -often described. The day was a beautiful one; the leaves and shrubbery -round the veranda moist and tremulous with the glittering freshness of -morning dew. There was a murmur of tenderness and admiration as Nina, in -a white morning-wrapper, and a cheek as white, came into the room. - -"Sit down, all my friends," she said, "sit down," looking at some of the -plantation men, who seemed to be diffident about taking the sofa, which -was behind them; "it's no time for ceremony now. We are standing on the -brink of the grave, where all are equal. I'm glad to see you so calm and -so brave. I hope your trust is in the Saviour, who gives us the victory -over death. Sing," she said. Milly began the well-known hymn: - - - "And must this feeble body fail, - And must it faint and die? - My soul shall quit this gloomy vale, - And soar to realms on high; - - "Shall join the disembodied saints, - And find its long-sought rest; - That only rest for which it pants, - On the Redeemer's breast." - - -Every voice joined, and the words rose triumphant from the very gates of -the grave. When the singing was over, Nina, in a tremulous voice, which -grew clearer as she went on, read the undaunted words of the ancient -psalm:-- - -"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under -the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and -my fortress. My God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee -from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall -cover thee with his feathers. Under his wings shalt thou trust. Thou -shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that -flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for -the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall by thy -side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh -thee. He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy -ways." - -"It is possible," said Nina, "that we may, some of us, be called away. -But, to those that love Christ, there is no fear in death. It is only -going home to our Father. Keep up courage, then!" - -In all cases like this, the first shock brings with it more terror than -any which succeeds. The mind can become familiar with anything, even -with the prospect of danger and death, so that it can appear to be an -ordinary condition of existence. Everything proceeded calmly on the -plantation; and all, stimulated by the example of their young mistress, -seemed determined to meet the exigency firmly and faithfully. In the -afternoon of the second day, as Nina was sitting in the door, she -observed the wagon of Uncle Tiff making its way up the avenue; and, with -her usual impulsiveness, ran down to meet her humble friend. - -"Oh, Tiff, how do you do, in these dreadful times!" - -"Oh, Miss Nina," said the faithful creature, removing his hat, with -habitual politeness, "ef yer please, I's brought de baby here, 'cause -it's drefful sick, and I's been doing all I could for him, and he don't -get no better. And I's brought Miss Fanny and Teddy, 'cause I's 'fraid -to leave 'em, 'cause I see a man yesterday, and he tell me dey was dying -eberywhar on all de places round." - -"Well," said Nina, "you have come to a sorrowful place, for they are -dying here, too! But, if you feel any safer here, you and the children -may stay, and we'll do for you just as we do for each other. Give me the -baby, while you get out. It's asleep, isn't it?" - -"Yes, Miss Nina, it's 'sleep pretty much all de time, now." - -Nina carried it up the steps, and put it into the arms of Milly. - -"It's sleeping nicely," she said. - -"Ah, honey!" said Milly, "it'll neber wake up out of dat ar! Dat ar -sleep an't de good kind!" - -"Well," said Nina, "we'll help him take care of it, and we'll make room -for him and the children, Milly; because we have medicines and -directions, and they have nothing out there." - -So Tiff and his family took shelter in the general fortress. Towards -evening, the baby died. Tiff held it in his arms to the very last; and -it was with difficulty that Nina and Milly could persuade him that the -little flickering breath was gone forever. When forced to admit it, he -seemed for a few moments perfectly inconsolable. Nina quietly opened her -Testament, and read to him:-- - -"And they brought little children unto him, that he should touch them; -and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But Jesus said, -Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such -is the kingdom of heaven." - -"Bressed Lord!" said Tiff, "I'll gib him up, I will! I won't hold out no -longer! I won't forbid him to go, if it does break my old heart! Laws, -we's drefful selfish! But de por little ting, he was getting so pretty!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. - - -Clayton was quietly sitting in his law-office, looking over and -arranging some papers necessary to closing his business. A colored boy -brought in letters from the mail. He looked them over rapidly; and, -selecting one, read it with great agitation and impatience. Immediately -he started, with the open letter crushed in his hand, seized his hat, -and rushed to the nearest livery-stable. - -"Give me the fastest horse you have--one that can travel night and day!" -he said. "I must ride for life or death!" - -And half an hour more saw Clayton in full speed on the road. By the -slow, uncertain, and ill-managed mail-route, it would have taken three -days to reach Canema. Clayton hoped, by straining every nerve, to reach -there in twenty-four hours. He pushed forward, keeping the animal at the -top of his speed; and, at the first stage-stand, changed him for a fresh -one. And thus proceeding along, he found himself, at three o'clock of -the next morning, in the woods about fifteen miles from Canema. The -strong tension of the nervous system, which had upheld him insensible to -fatigue until this point, was beginning slightly to subside. All night -he had ridden through the loneliness of pine-forests, with no eye -looking down on him save the twinkling mysterious stars. At the last -place where he had sought to obtain horses, everything had been horror -and confusion. Three were lying dead in the house, and another was -dying. - -All along upon the route, at every stopping-place, the air had seemed to -be filled with flying rumors and exaggerated reports of fear and death. -As soon as he began to perceive that he was approaching the plantation, -he became sensible of that shuddering dread which all of us may remember -to have had, in slight degrees, in returning home after a long absence, -under a vague expectation of misfortune, to which the mind can set no -definite limits. When it was yet scarcely light enough to see, he passed -by the cottage of Old Tiff. A strange impulse prompted him to stop and -make some inquiries there, before he pushed on to the plantation. But, -as he rode up, he saw the gate standing ajar, the door of the house left -open; and, after repeated callings, receiving no answer, he alighted, -and, leading his horse behind him, looked into the door. The gloaming -starlight was just sufficient to show him that all was desolate. Somehow -this seemed to him like an evil omen. As he was mounting his horse, -preparing to ride away, a grand and powerful voice rose from the -obscurity of the woods before him, singing, in a majestic, minor-keyed -tune, these words:-- - - - "Throned on a cloud our God shall come, - Bright flames prepare his way; - Thunder and darkness, fire and storm, - Lead on the dreadful day!" - - -Wearied with his night ride, his nervous system strained to the last -point of tension by the fearful images which filled his mind, it is not -surprising that these sounds should have thrilled through the hearer -with even a superstitious power. And Clayton felt a singular excitement, -as, under the dim arcade of the pine-trees, he saw a dark figure -approaching. He seemed to be marching with a regular tread, keeping time -to the mournful music which he sung. - -"Who are you?" called Clayton, making an effort to recall his manhood. - -"I?" replied the figure, "I am the voice of one crying in the -wilderness! I am a sign unto this people of the judgment of the Lord!" - -Our readers must remember the strange dimness of the hour, the wildness -of the place and circumstances, and the singular quality of the tone in -which the figure spoke. Clayton hesitated a moment, and the speaker went -on:-- - -"I saw the Lord coming with ten thousand of his saints! Before him went -the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet! Thy bow is -made quite naked, O God, according to the oaths of the tribes! I saw the -tents of Cushan in affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian -did tremble!" - -Pondering in his mind what this wild style of address might mean, -Clayton rode slowly onward. And the man, for such he appeared to be, -came out of the shadows of the wood and stood directly in his path, -raising his hand with a commanding gesture. - -"I know whom you seek," he said; "but it shall not be given you; for the -star, which is called wormwood, hath fallen, and the time of the dead is -come, that they shall be judged! Behold, there sitteth on the white -cloud _one_ like the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and -in his hand a sharp sickle!" - -Then, waving his hand above his head, with a gesture of wild excitement, -he shouted:-- - -"Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the -earth, for her grapes are fully ripe! Behold, the wine-press shall be -trodden without the city, and there shall be blood even to the horses' -bridles! Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the -trumpets of the other angels, which are yet to sound!" - -The fearful words pealed through the dim aisles of the forest like the -curse of some destroying angel. After a pause, the speaker resumed, in a -lower and more plaintive tone:-- - -"Weep ye not for the dead! neither bewail her! Behold, the Lamb standeth -on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, -having his Father's name written on their foreheads. These are they -which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; and in their mouth is -found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God. -Behold the angel having the seal of God is gone forth, and she shall be -sealed in her forehead unto the Lamb." - -The figure turned away slowly, singing, as he made his way through the -forest, in the same weird and funereal accents; but this time the song -was a wild, plaintive sound, like the tolling of a heavy bell:-- - - - "Ding dong! dead and gone! - Farewell, father! - Bury me in Egypt's land, - By my dear mother! - Ding, dong! ding, dong! - Dead and gone!" - - -Clayton, as he slowly wound his way along the unfrequented path, felt a -dim, brooding sense of mystery and terror creeping over him. The tones -of the voice, and the wild style of the speaker, recalled the strange -incident of the camp-meeting; and, though he endeavored strenuously to -reason with himself that probably some wild and excited fanatic, made -still more frantic by the presence of death and destruction all around, -was the author of these fearful denunciations, still he could not help a -certain weight of fearful foreboding. - -This life may be truly called a haunted house, built as it is on the -very confines of the land of darkness and the shadow of death. A -thousand living fibres connect us with the unknown and unseen state; and -the strongest hearts, which never stand still for any mortal terror, -have sometimes hushed their very beating at a breath of a whisper from -within the veil. Perhaps the most resolute unbeliever in spiritual -things has hours of which he would be ashamed to tell, when he, too, -yields to the powers of those awful affinities which bind us to that -unknown realm. - -It is not surprising that Clayton, in spite of himself, should have felt -like one mysteriously warned. It was a relief to him when the dusky -dimness of the solemn dawn was pierced by long shafts of light from the -rising sun, and the day broke gladsome and jubilant, as if sorrow, -sighing, and death, were a dream of the night. During the whole -prevalence of this fearful curse, it was strange to witness the -unaltered regularity, splendor, and beauty, with which the movements of -the natural world went on. Amid fears, and dying groans, and wailings, -and sobs, and broken hearts, the sun rose and set in splendor, the dews -twinkled, and twilight folded her purple veil heavy with stars; birds -sung, waters danced and warbled, flowers bloomed, and everything in -nature was abundant, and festive, and joyous. - -When Clayton entered the boundaries of the plantation, he inquired -eagerly of the first person he met for the health of its mistress. - -"Thank God, she is yet alive!" said he. "It was but a dream, after all!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -THE EVENING STAR. - - -The mails in the State of North Carolina, like the prudential -arrangements of the slave states generally, were very little to be -depended upon; and therefore a week had elapsed after the mailing of -Nina's first letter, describing the danger of her condition, before it -was received by Clayton. During that time the fury of the shock which -had struck the plantation appeared to have abated; and, while on some -estates in the vicinity it was yet on the increase, the inhabitants of -Canema began to hope that the awful cloud was departing from them. It -was true that many were still ailing; but there were no new cases, and -the disease in the case of those who were ill appeared to be yielding to -nursing and remedies. - -Nina had risen in the morning early, as her custom had been since the -sickness, and gone the rounds, to inquire for the health of her people. -Returned, a little fatigued, she was sitting in the veranda, under the -shadow of one of the pillar-roses, enjoying the cool freshness of the -morning. Suddenly the tramp of horse's feet was heard, and, looking, she -saw Clayton coming up the avenue. There seemed but a dizzy, confused -moment, before his horse's bridle was thrown to the winds, and he was up -the steps, holding her in his arms. - -"Oh, you are here yet, my rose, my bride, my lamb! God is merciful! This -is too much! Oh, I thought you were gone!" - -"No, dear, not yet," said Nina. "God has been with us. We have lost a -great many; but God has spared me to you." - -"Are you really well?" said Clayton, holding her off, and looking at -her. "You look pale, my little rose!" - -"That's not wonderful," said Nina; "I've had a great deal to make me -look pale; but I am very well. I have been well through it all--never -in better health--and, it seems strange to say it, but never happier. I -have felt so peaceful, so sure of God's love!" - -"Do you know," said Clayton, "that that peace alarms me--that strange, -unearthly happiness? It seems so like what is given to dying people." - -"No," said Nina, "I think that when we have no one but our Father to -lean on, he comes nearer than he does any other time; and that is the -secret of this happiness. But, come,--you look wofully tired; have you -been riding all night?" - -"Yes, ever since yesterday morning at nine o'clock. I have ridden down -four horses to get to you. Only think, I didn't get your letter till a -week after it was dated!" - -"Well, perhaps that was the best," said Nina; "because I have heard them -say that anybody coming suddenly and unprepared in the epidemic, when it -is in full force, is almost sure to be taken by it immediately. But you -must let me take care of you. Don't you know that I'm mistress of the -fortress here--commander-in-chief and head-physician? I shall order you -to your room immediately, and Milly shall bring you up some coffee, and -then you must have some sleep. You can see with your eyes, now, that we -are all safe, and there's nothing to hinder your resting. Come, let me -lead you off, like a captive." - -Released from the pressure of overwhelming fear, Clayton began now to -feel the reaction of the bodily and mental straining which he had been -enduring for the last twenty-four hours, and therefore he willingly -yielded himself to the directions of his little sovereign. Retired to -his room, after taking his coffee, which was served by Milly, he fell -into a deep and tranquil sleep, which lasted till some time in the -afternoon. At first, overcome by fatigue, he slept without dreaming; -but, when the first weariness was past, the excitement of the nervous -system, under which he had been laboring, began to color his dreams with -vague and tumultuous images. He thought that he was again with Nina at -Magnolia Grove, and that the servants were passing around in procession, -throwing flowers at their feet; but the wreath of orange-blossoms which -fell in Nina's lap was tied with black crape. But she took it up, -laughing, threw the crape away, and put the wreath on her head, and he -heard the chorus singing,-- - - - "Oh, de North Carolina rose! - Oh, de North Carolina rose!" - - -And then the sound seemed to change to one of lamentation, and the -floral procession seemed to be a funeral, and a deep, melancholy voice, -like the one he had heard in the woods in the morning, sang,-- - - - "Weep, for the rose is withered! - The North Carolina rose!" - - -He struggled heavily in his sleep, and, at last waking, sat up and -looked about him. The rays of the evening sun were shining on the -tree-tops of the distant avenue, and Nina was singing on the veranda -below. He listened, and the sound floated up like a rose-leaf carried on -a breeze:-- - - - "The summer hath its heavy cloud, - The rose-leaf must fall, - But in our land joy wears no shroud-- - Never doth it pall! - Each new morning ray - Leaves no sigh for yesterday-- - No smile passed away - Would we recall!" - - -The time was a favorite melody, which has found much favor with the -popular ear, and bore the title of "The Hindoo Dancing-Girl's Song;" and -is, perhaps, a fragment of one of those mystical songs in which oriental -literature abounds, in which the joy and reunion of earthly love are -told in shadowy, symbolic resemblance to the everlasting union of the -blessed above. It had a wild, dreamy, soothing power, as verse after -verse came floating in, like white doves from paradise, as if they had -borne healing on their wings:-- - - - "Then haste to the happy land, - Where sorrow is unknown; - But first in a joyous band, - I'll make thee my own. - Haste, haste, fly with me - Where love's banquet waits for thee; - Thine all its sweets shall be,-- - Thine, thine, alone!" - - -A low tap at his door at last aroused him. The door was partly opened, -and a little hand threw in a half-opened spray of monthly-rosebuds. - -"There's something to remind you that you are yet in the body!" said a -voice in the entry. "If you are rested, I'll let you come down, now." - -And Clayton heard the light footsteps tripping down the stairs. He -roused himself, and, after some little attention to his toilet, appeared -on the veranda. - -"Tea has been waiting for some time," said Nina. "I thought I'd give you -a hint." - -"I was lying very happy, hearing you sing," said Clayton. "You may sing -me that song again." - -"Was I singing?" said Nina; "why I didn't know it! I believe that's my -way of thinking, sometimes. I'll sing to you again, after tea. I like to -sing." - -After tea they were sitting again in the veranda, and the whole heavens -were one rosy flush of filmy clouds. - -"How beautiful!" said Nina. "It seems to me I've enjoyed these things, -this summer, as I never have before. It seemed as if I felt an influence -from them going through me, and filling me, as the light does those -clouds." - -And, as she stood looking up into the sky, she began singing again the -words that Clayton had heard before:-- - - - "I am come from the happy land, - Where sorrow is unknown; - I have parted a joyous band, - To make thee mine own! - Haste, haste, fly with me, - Where love's banquet waits for thee; - Thine all its sweets shall be,-- - Thine, thine, alone! - - "The summer has its heavy cloud, - The rose-leaf must fall,"-- - - -She stopped her singing suddenly, left the veranda, and went into the -house. - -"Do you want anything?" said Clayton. - -"Nothing," said she, hurriedly. "I'll be back in a moment." - -Clayton watched, and saw her go to a closet in which the medicines and -cordials were kept, and take something from a glass. He gave a start of -alarm. - -"You are not ill, are you?" he said, fearfully, as she returned. - -"Oh, no; only a little faint. We have become so prudent, you know, that -if we feel the least beginning of any disagreeable sensation, we take -something at once. I have felt this faintness quite often. It isn't -much." - -Clayton put his arm around her, and looked at her with a vague yearning -of fear and admiration. - -"You look so like a spirit," he said, "that I must hold you." - -"Do you think I've got a pair of hidden wings?" she said, smiling, and -looking gayly in his face. - -"I am afraid so!" he said. "Do you feel quite well, now?" - -"Yes, I believe so. Only, perhaps, we had better sit down. I think, -perhaps, it is the reaction of so much excitement makes me feel rather -tired." - -Clayton seated her on the settee by the door, still keeping his arm -anxiously around her. In a few moments she drooped her head wearily on -his shoulder. - -"_You are ill!_" he said, in tones of alarm. - -"No, no! I feel very well--only a little faint and tired. It seems to me -it is getting a little cold here, isn't it?" she said, with a slight -shiver. - -Clayton took her up in his arms, without speaking, carried her in and -laid her on the sofa, then rang for Harry and Milly. - -"Get a horse, instantly," he said to Harry, as soon as he appeared, "and -go for a doctor!" - -"There's no use in sending," said Nina; "he is driven to death, and -can't come. Besides, there's nothing the matter with me, only I am a -little tired and cold. Shut the doors and windows, and cover me up. No, -no, don't take me up stairs! I like to lie here; just put a shawl over -me, that's all. I am thirsty,--give me some water!" - -The fearful and mysterious disease, which was then in the ascendant, has -many forms of approach and development. One, and the most deadly, is -that which takes place when a person has so long and gradually imbibed -the fatal poison of an infected atmosphere, that the resisting powers of -nature have been insidiously and quietly subdued, so that the subject -sinks under it, without any violent outward symptom, by a quiet and -certain yielding of the vital powers, such as has been likened to the -bleeding to death by an internal wound. In this case, before an hour -had passed, though none of the violent and distressing symptoms of the -disease appeared, it became evident that the seal of death was set on -that fair young brow. A messenger had been dispatched, riding with the -desperate speed which love and fear can give, but Harry remained in -attendance. - -"Nothing is the matter with me--nothing is the matter," she said, -"except fatigue, and this change in the weather. If I only had more over -me! and, perhaps, you had better give me a little brandy, or some such -thing. This is water, isn't it, that you have been giving me?" - -Alas! it was the strongest brandy; but there was no taste, and the -hartshorn that they were holding had no smell. And there was no change -in the weather; it was only the creeping deadness, affecting the whole -outer and inner membrane of the system. Yet still her voice remained -clear, though her mind occasionally wandered. - -There is a strange impulse, which sometimes comes in the restlessness -and distress of dissolving nature, _to sing;_ and, as she lay with her -eyes closed, apparently in a sort of trance, she would sing, over and -over again, the verse of the song which she was singing when the blow of -the unseen destroyer first struck her. - - - "The summer hath its heavy cloud, - The rose-leaf must fall; - But in our land joy wears no shroud, - Never doth it pall." - - -At last she opened her eyes, and, seeing the agony of all around, the -truth seemed to come to her. - -"I think I'm called!" she said. "Oh, I'm so sorry for you all! Don't -grieve so; my Father loves me so well,--he cannot spare me any longer. -He wants me to come to him. That's all--don't grieve so. It's _home_ I'm -going to--_home_! 'Twill be only a little while, and you'll come too, -all of you. You are satisfied, are you not, Edward?" - -And again she relapsed into the dreamy trance, and sang, in that -strange, sweet voice, so low, so weak,-- - - - "In our land joy wears no shroud, - Never doth it pall." - - -Clayton,--what did he? What could he do? What have any of us done, who -have sat holding in our arms a dear form, from which the soul was -passing--the soul for which gladly we would have given our own in -exchange! When we have felt it going with inconceivable rapidity from -us; and we, ignorant and blind, vainly striving, with this and that, to -arrest the inevitable doom, feeling every moment that some _other_ thing -might be done to save, which is not done, and that that which we are -doing may be only hastening the course of the destroyer! Oh, those -awful, agonized moments, when we watch the clock, and no physician -comes, and every stroke of the pendulum is like the approaching step of -death! Oh, is there anything in heaven or earth for the despair of such -hours? - -Not a moment was lost by the three around that dying bed, chafing those -cold limbs, administering the stimulants which the dead, exhausted -system no longer felt. - -"She doesn't suffer! Thank God, at any rate, for that!" said Clayton, as -he knelt over her in anguish. - -A beautiful smile passed over her face, as she opened her eyes and -looked on them all, and said,-- - -"No, my poor friends, I don't suffer. I'm come to the land where they -never suffer. I'm only _so_ sorry for you! Edward," she said to him, "do -you remember what you said to me once?--It has come now. You must bear -it like a man. God calls you to some work--don't shrink from it. You are -baptized with fire. It all lasts only a little while. It will be over -soon, very soon! Edward, take care of my poor people. Tell Tom to be -kind to them. My poor, faithful, good Harry! Oh! I'm going so fast!" - -The voice sunk into a whispering sigh. Life now seemed to have retreated -to the citadel of the brain. She lay apparently in the last sleep, when -the footsteps of the doctor were heard on the veranda. There was a -general spring to the door, and Dr. Butler entered, pale, haggard, and -worn, from constant exertion and loss of rest. - -He did not say in words that there was no hope, but his first dejected -look said it but too plainly. - -She moved her head a little, like one who is asleep uneasily upon her -pillow, opened her eyes once more, and said,-- - -"Good by! I will arise and go to my Father!" - -The gentle breath gradually became fainter and fainter,--all hope was -over! The night walked on with silent and solemn footsteps--soft showers -fell without, murmuring upon the leaves--within, all was still as death! - - - "They watched her breathing through the night, - Her breathing soft and low, - As in her breast the wave of life - Kept heaving to and fro. - - "So silently they seemed to speak, - So slowly moved about, - As they had lent her half their powers - To eke her living out. - - "Their very hopes belied their fears, - Their fears their hopes belied-- - They thought her dying when she slept, - And sleeping when she died. - - "For when the morn came dim and sad, - And chill with early showers, - Her quiet eyelids closed--she had - Another morn than ours." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -THE TIE BREAKS. - - -Clayton remained at Canema several days after the funeral. He had been -much affected by the last charge given him by Nina, that he should care -for her people; and the scene of distress which he witnessed among them, -at her death, added to the strength of his desire to be of service to -them. - -He spent some time in looking over and arranging Nina's papers. He -sealed up the letters of her different friends, and directed them in -order to be returned to the writers, causing Harry to add to each a -memorandum of the time of her death. His heart sunk heavily when he -reflected how little it was possible for any one to do for servants left -in the uncontrolled power of a man like Tom Gordon. The awful words of -his father's decision, with regard to the power of the master, never -seemed so dreadful as now, when he was to see this unlimited authority -passed into the hands of one whose passions were his only law. He -recalled, too, what Nina had said of the special bitterness existing -between Tom and Harry; and his heart almost failed him when he -recollected that the very step which Nina, in her generosity, had taken -to save Lisette from his lawlessness, had been the means of placing her, -without remedy, under his power. Under the circumstances, he could not -but admire the calmness and firmness with which Harry still continued to -discharge his duties to the estate; visiting those who were still -ailing, and doing his best to prevent their sinking into a panic which -might predispose to another attack of disease. Recollecting that Nina -had said something of some kind of a contract, by which Harry's freedom -was to be secured in case of her death, he resolved to speak with him on -the subject. As they were together in the library, looking over the -papers, Clayton said to him:-- - -"Harry, is there not some kind of contract, or understanding, with the -guardians of the estate, by which your liberty was secured in case of -the death of your mistress?" - -"Yes," said Harry, "there is such a paper. I was to have my freedom on -paying a certain sum which is all paid in to five hundred dollars." - -"I will advance you that money," said Clayton, unhesitatingly, "if that -is all that is necessary. Let me see the paper." - -Harry produced it, and Clayton looked it over. It was a regular -contract, drawn in proper form, and with no circumstance wanting to give -it validity. Clayton, however, knew enough of the law which regulates -the condition in which Harry stood, to know that it was of no more avail -in his case than so much blank paper. He did not like to speak of it, -but sat reading it over, weighing every word, and dreading the moment -when he should be called upon to make some remark concerning it; -knowing, as he did, that what he had to say must dash all Harry's -hopes,--the hopes of his whole life. While he was hesitating a servant -entered and announced Mr. Jekyl; and that gentleman, with a -business-like directness which usually characterized his movements, -entered the library immediately after. - -"Good-morning, Mr. Clayton," he said, and then, nodding patronizingly to -Harry, he helped himself to a chair and stated his business, without -further preamble. - -"I have received orders from Mr. Gordon to come and take possession of -the estate and chattels of his deceased sister without delay." - -As Clayton sat perfectly silent, it seemed to occur to Mr. Jekyl that a -few moral reflections of a general nature would be in etiquette on the -present occasion. He therefore added, in the tone of voice which he -reserved particularly for that style of remark:-- - -"We have been called upon to pass through most solemn and afflicting -dispensations of Divine Providence, lately. Mr. Clayton these things -remind us of the shortness of life, and of the necessity of preparation -for death!" - -Mr. Jekyl paused, and, as Clayton still sat silent, he went on: - -"There was no will, I presume?" - -"No," said Clayton, "there was not." - -"Ah, so I supposed," said Mr. Jekyl, who had now recovered his worldly -tone. "In that case, of course the whole property reverts to the -heir-at-law, just as I had imagined." - -"Perhaps Mr. Jekyl would look at this paper," said Harry, taking his -contract from the hand of Mr. Clayton, and passing it to Mr. Jekyl; who -took out his spectacles, placed them deliberately on his sharp nose, and -read the paper through. - -"Were you under the impression," said he to Harry, "that this is a legal -document?" - -"Certainly," said Harry. "I can bring witnesses to prove Mr. John -Gordon's signature, and Miss Nina's also." - -"Oh, that's all evident enough," said Mr. Jekyl. "I know Mr. John -Gordon's signature. But all the signatures in the world couldn't make it -a valid contract. You see, my boy," he said, turning to Harry, "a slave, -not being a person in the eye of the law, cannot have a contract made -with him. The law, which is based on the old Roman code, holds him, _pro -nullis, pro mortuis_; which means, Harry, that he's held as nothing--as -dead, inert substance. That's his position in law." - -"I believe," said Harry in a strong and bitter tone, "that is what -religious people call a Christian institution!" - -"Hey?" said Mr. Jekyl, elevating his eyebrows, "what's that?" - -Harry repeated his remark, and Mr. Jekyl replied in the most literal -manner:-- - -"Of course it is. It is a divine ordering, and ought to be met in a -proper spirit. There's no use, my boy, in rebellion. Hath not the potter -power over the clay, to make one lump to honor, and the other to -dishonor?" - -"Mr. Jekyl, I think it would be expedient to confine the conversation -simply to legal matters," said Clayton. - -"Oh, certainly," said Mr. Jekyl. "And this brings me to say that I have -orders from Mr. Gordon to stay till he comes, and keep order on the -place. Also that none of the hands shall, at any time, leave the -plantation until he arrives. I brought two or three officers with me, in -case there should be any necessity for enforcing order." - -"When will Mr. Gordon be here?" said Clayton. - -"To-morrow, I believe," said Mr. Jekyl. "Young man," he added, turning -to Harry, "you can produce the papers and books, and I can be attending -to the accounts." - -Clayton rose and left the room, leaving Harry with the imperturbable -Mr. Jekyl, who plunged briskly into the business of the accounts, -talking to Harry with as much freedom and composure as if he had not -just been destroying the hopes of his whole lifetime. - -If, by any kind of inward clairvoyance, or sudden clearing of his mental -vision, Mr. Jekyl could have been made to appreciate the anguish which -at that moment overwhelmed the soul of the man with whom he was dealing, -we deem it quite possible that he might have been moved to a transient -emotion of pity. Even a thorough-paced political economist may sometimes -be surprised in this way, by the near view of a case of actual -irremediable distress; but he would soon have consoled himself by a -species of mental algebra, that the greatest good of the greatest number -was nevertheless secure; therefore there was no occasion to be troubled -about infinitesimal amounts of suffering. In this way people can reason -away every kind of distress but their own; for it is very remarkable -that even so slight an ailment as a moderate toothache will put this -kind of philosophy entirely to rout. - -"It appears to me," said Mr. Jekyl, looking at Harry, after a while, -with more attention than he had yet given him, "that something is the -matter with you, this morning. Aren't you well?" - -"In body," said Harry, "I am well." - -"Well, what is the matter, then?" said Mr. Jekyl. - -"The matter is," said Harry, "that I have all my life been toiling for -my liberty, and thought I was coming nearer to it every year; and now, -at thirty-five years of age, I find myself still a slave, with no hope -of getting free!" - -Mr. Jekyl perceived from the outside that there was something the matter -inside of his human brother; some unknown quantity in the way of -suffering, such as his algebra gave no rule for ascertaining. He had a -confused notion that this was an affliction, and that when people were -in affliction they must be talked to; and he proceeded accordingly to -talk. - -"My boy, this is a dispensation of Divine Providence!" - -"I call it a dispensation of human tyranny!" said Harry. - -"It pleased the Lord," continued Mr. Jekyl, "to foredoom the race of -Ham"-- - -"Mr. Jekyl, that humbug don't go down with me! I'm no more of the race -of Ham than you are! I'm Colonel Gordon's oldest son--as white as my -brother, who you say owns me! Look at my eyes, and my hair, and say if -any of the rules about Ham pertain to me!" - -"Well," said Mr. Jekyl, "my boy, you mustn't get excited. Everything -must go, you know, by general rules. We must take that course which -secures the greatest general amount of good on the whole; and all such -rules will work hard in particular cases. Slavery is a great missionary -enterprise for civilizing and christianizing the degraded African." - -"Wait till you see Tom Gordon's management on this plantation," said -Harry, "and you'll see what sort of a christianizing institution it is! -Mr. Jekyl, you _know_ better! You throw such talk as that in the face of -your northern visitors, and you know all the while that Sodom and -Gomorrah don't equal some of these plantations, where nobody isn't -anybody's husband or wife in particular! You know all these things, and -you dare talk to me about a missionary institution! What sort of -missionary institutions are the great trading-marts, where they sell men -and women? What are the means of grace they use there? And the dogs and -the negro-hunters!--those are for the greatest good, too! If your soul -were in our souls' stead, you'd see things differently." - -Mr. Jekyl was astonished, and said so. But he found a difficulty in -presenting his favorite view of the case, under the circumstances; and -we believe those ministers of the Gospel, and elders, who entertain -similar doctrines, would gain some new views by the effort to present -them to a live man in Harry's circumstances. Mr. Jekyl never had a more -realizing sense of the difference between the abstract and concrete. - -Harry was now thoroughly roused. He had inherited the violent and fiery -passions of his father. His usual appearance of studied calmness, and -his habits of deferential address, were superinduced; they resembled the -thin crust which coats over a flood of boiling lava, and which a burst -of the seething mass beneath can shiver in a moment. He was now wholly -desperate and reckless. He saw himself already delivered, bound hand and -foot, into the hands of a master from whom he could expect neither -mercy nor justice. He was like one who had hung suspended over an abyss, -by grasping a wild rose; the frail and beautiful thing was broken, and -he felt himself _going_, with only despair beneath him. He rose and -stood the other side of the table, his hands trembling with excitement. - -"Mr. Jekyl," he said, "it is all over with me! Twenty years of faithful -service have gone for nothing. Myself and wife, and unborn child, are -the slaves of a vile wretch! Hush, now! I will have my say for once! -I've borne, and borne, and borne, and it shall come out! You men who -call yourselves religious, and stand up for such tyranny,--you serpents, -you generation of vipers,--how can you escape the damnation of hell? You -keep the clothes of them who stone Stephen! You encourage theft, and -robbery, and adultery, and you know it! You are worse than the villains -themselves, who don't pretend to justify what they do. Now, go, tell Tom -Gordon--go! I shall fight it out to the last! I've nothing to hope, and -nothing to lose. Let him look out! They made sport of Samson,--they put -out his eyes,--but he pulled down the temple over their heads, after -all. Look out!" - -There is something awful in an outburst of violent passion. The veins in -Harry's forehead were swollen, his lips were livid, his eyes glittered -like lightning; and Mr. Jekyl cowered before him. - -"There will come a day," said Harry, "when all this shall be visited -upon you! The measure you have filled to us shall be filled to you -_double_--mark my words!" - -Harry spoke so loudly, in his vehemence, that Clayton overheard him, and -came behind him silently into the room. He was pained, shocked, and -astonished; and, obeying the first instinct, he came forward and laid -his hand entreatingly on Harry's shoulder. - -"My good fellow, you don't know what you are saying," he said. - -"Yes, I do," said Harry, "and my words will be true!" - -Another witness had come behind Clayton--Tom Gordon, in his -travelling-dress, with pistols at his belt. He had ridden over after -Jekyl, and had arrived in time to hear part of Harry's frantic ravings. - -"Stop!" he said, stepping into the middle of the room; "leave that -fellow to me! Now, boy," he said, fixing his dark and evil eye upon -Harry, "you didn't know that your master was hearing you, did you? The -last time we met, you told me I wasn't your master! _Now_, we'll see if -you'll say that again! You went whimpering to your mistress, and got her -to buy Lisette, so as to keep her out of _my_ way! Now who owns -her?--say! Do you see this?" he said, holding up a long, lithe -gutta-percha cane. "This is what I whip dogs with, when they don't know -their place! Now, sir, down on your knees, and ask pardon for your -impudence, or I'll thrash you within an inch of your life!" - -"I won't kneel to my younger brother!" said Harry. - -With a tremendous oath, Tom struck him; and, as if a rebound from the -stroke, Harry struck back a blow so violent as to send him stumbling -across the room, against the opposite wall; then turned, quick as -thought, sprang through the open window, climbed down the veranda, -vaulted on to Tom's horse, which stood tied at the post, and fled as -rapidly as lightning to his cottage door, where Lisette stood at the -ironing-table. He reached out his hand, and said, "Up, quick, Lisette! -Tom Gordon's here!" And before Tom Gordon had fairly recovered from the -dizziness into which the blow had thrown him, the fleet blood-horse was -whirling Harry and Lisette past bush and tree, till they arrived at the -place where he had twice before met Dred. - -Dred was standing there. "Even so," he said, as the horse stopped, and -Harry and Lisette descended; "the vision is fulfilled! Behold, the Lord -shall make thee a witness and commander to the people!" - -"There's no time to be lost," said Harry. - -"Well I know that," said Dred. "Come, follow me!" - -And before sunset of that evening Harry and Lisette were tenants of the -wild fastness in the centre of the swamp. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -THE PURPOSE. - - -It would be scarcely possible to describe the scene which Harry left in -the library. Tom Gordon was for a few moments stunned by the violence of -his fall, and Clayton and Mr. Jekyl at first did not know but he had -sustained some serious injury; and the latter, in his confusion, came -very near attempting his recovery, by pouring in his face the contents -of the large inkstand. Certainly, quite as appropriate a method, under -the circumstances, as the exhortations with which he had deluged Harry. -But Clayton, with more presence of mind, held his hand, and rang for -water. In a few moments, however, Tom recovered himself, and started up -furiously. - -"Where is he?" he shouted, with a volley of oaths, which made Mr. Jekyl -pull up his shirt-collar, as became a good elderly gentleman, -preparatory to a little admonition. - -"My young friend"--he began. - -"Blast you! None of your _young friends_ to me! Where is he?" - -"He has escaped," said Clayton, quietly. - -"He got right out of the window," said Mr. Jekyl. - -"Confound you, why didn't you stop him?" said Tom, violently. - -"If that question is addressed to me," said Clayton, "I do not interfere -in your family affairs." - -"You _have_ interfered, more than you ever shall again!" said Tom -roughly. "But, there's no use talking now; that fellow must be chased! -He thinks he's got away from me--we'll see! I'll make such an example of -him as shall be remembered!" He rang the bell violently. "Jim," he said, -"did you see Harry go off on my horse?" - -"Yes, sah!" - -"Then, why in thunder didn't you stop him?" - -"I tought Mas'r Tom sent him--did so!" - -"You knew better, you dog! And now, I tell you, order out the best -horses, and be on after him! And, if you don't catch him, it shall be -the worse for you!--Stay! Get _me_ a horse! I'll go myself." - -Clayton saw that it was useless to remain any longer at Canema. He -therefore ordered his horse, and departed. Tom Gordon cast an evil eye -after him, as he rode away. - -"I hate that fellow!" he said. "I'll make him mischief, one of these -days, if I can!" - -As to Clayton, he rode away in bitterness of spirit. There are some men -so constituted that the sight of injustice, which they have no power to -remedy, is perfectly maddening to them. This is a very painful and -unprofitable constitution, so far as this world is concerned; but they -can no more help it than they can the toothache. Others may say to them, -"Why, what is it to you? You can't help it, and it's none of your -concern;" but still the fever burns on. Besides, Clayton had just passed -through one of the great crises of life. All there is in that strange -mystery of what man can feel for woman had risen like a wave within him; -and, gathering into itself, for a time, the whole force of his being, -had broken, with one dash, on the shore of death, and the waters had -flowed helplessly backward. In the great void which follows such a -crisis, the soul sets up a craving and cry for something to come in to -fill the emptiness; and while the heart says no _person_ can come into -that desolate and sacred enclosure, it sometimes embraces a _purpose_, -as in some sort a substitute. - -In this manner, with solemnity and earnestness, Clayton resolved to -receive as a life-purpose a struggle with this great system of -injustice, which, like a parasitic weed, had struck its roots through -the whole growth of society, and was sucking thence its moisture and -nourishment. - -As he rode through the lonely pine-woods, he felt his veins throbbing -and swelling with indignation and desire. And there arose within him -that sense of power which sometimes seems to come over man like an -inspiration, and leads him to say, "_This_ shall not be, and _this_ -shall be;" as if he possessed the ability to control the crooked course -of human events. He was thankful in his heart that he had taken the -first step, by entering his public protest against this injustice, in -quitting the bar of his native state. What was next to be done, how the -evil was to be attacked, how the vague purpose fulfilled, he could not -say. Clayton was not aware, any more than others in his situation have -been, of what he was undertaking. He had belonged to an old and -respected family, and always, as a matter of course, been received in -all circles with attention, and listened to with respect. He who glides -dreamily down the glassy surface of a mighty river floats securely, -making his calculations to row upward. He knows nothing what the force -of that seemingly glassy current will be when his one feeble oar is set -against the whole volume of its waters. Clayton did not know that he was -already a marked man; that he had touched a spot, in the society where -he lived, which was vital, and which that society would never suffer to -be touched with impunity. It was the fault of Clayton, and is the fault -of all such men, that he judged mankind by himself. He could not believe -that anything, except ignorance and inattention, could make men -upholders of deliberate injustice. He thought all that was necessary was -the enlightening of the public mind, the direction of general attention -to the subject. In his way homeward he revolved in his mind immediate -measures of action. This evil should no longer be tampered with. He -would take on himself the task of combining and concentrating those -vague impulses towards good which he supposed were existing in the -community. He would take counsel of leading minds. He would give his -time to journeyings through the state; he would deliver addresses, write -in the newspapers, and do what otherwise lies in the power of a free man -who wishes to reach an utterly unjust law. Full of these determinations, -Clayton entered again his father's house, after two days of solitary -riding. He had written in advance to his parents of the death of Nina, -and had begged them to spare him any conversation on that subject; and, -therefore, on his first meeting with his mother and father, there was -that painful blank, that heavy dulness of suffering, which comes when -people meet together, feeling deeply on one absorbing subject, which -must not be named. It was a greater self-denial to his impulsive, -warm-hearted mother than to Clayton. She yearned to express sympathy; to -throw herself upon his neck; to draw forth his feelings, and mingle them -with her own. But there are some people with whom this is impossible; it -seems to be their fate that they cannot speak of what they suffer. It is -not pride nor coldness, but a kind of fatal necessity, as if the body -were a marble prison, in which the soul were condemned to bleed and -suffer alone. It is the last triumph of affection and magnanimity, when -a loving heart can respect that suffering silence of its beloved, and -allow that lonely liberty in which only some natures can find comfort. - -Clayton's sorrow could only be measured by the eagerness and energy with -which, in conversation, he pursued the object with which he endeavored -to fill his mind. - -"I am far from looking forward with hope to any success from your -efforts," said Judge Clayton, "the evil is so radical." - -"I sometimes think," said Mrs. Clayton, "that I regret that Edward began -as he did. It was such a shock to the prejudices of people!" - -"People have got to be shocked," said Clayton, "in order to wake them up -out of old absurd routine. Use paralyzes us to almost every injustice; -when people are shocked, they begin to think and to inquire." - -"But would it not have been better," said Mrs. Clayton, "to have -preserved your personal influence, and thus have insinuated your -opinions more gradually? There is such a prejudice against -abolitionists; and, when a man makes any sudden demonstration on this -subject, people are apt to call him an abolitionist, and then his -influence is all gone, and he can do nothing." - -"I suspect," said Clayton, "there are multitudes now in every part of -our state who are kept from expressing what they really think, and doing -what they ought to do, by this fear. Somebody must brave this mad-dog -cry; somebody must be willing to be odious; and I shall answer the -purpose as well as anybody." - -"Have you any definite plan of what is to be attempted?" said his -father. - -"Of course," said Clayton, "a man's first notions on such a subject must -be crude; but it occurred to me, first, to endeavor to excite the -public mind on the injustice of the present slave-law, with a view to -altering it." - -"And what points would you alter?" said Judge Clayton. - -"I would give to the slave the right to bring suit for injury, and to be -a legal witness in court. I would repeal the law forbidding their -education, and I would forbid the separation of families." - -Judge Clayton sat pondering. At length he said, "And how will you -endeavor to excite the public mind?" - -"I shall appeal first," said Clayton, "to the church and the ministry." - -"You can try it," said his father. - -"Why," said Mrs. Clayton, "these reforms are so evidently called for, by -justice and humanity, and the spirit of the age, that I can have no -doubt that there will be a general movement among all good people in -their favor." - -Judge Clayton made no reply. There are some cases where silence is the -most disagreeable kind of dissent, because it admits of no argument in -reply. - -"In my view," said Clayton, "the course of legal reform, in the first -place, should remove all those circumstances in the condition of the -slaves which tend to keep them in ignorance and immorality, and make the -cultivation of self-respect impossible; such as the want of education, -protection in the family state, and the legal power of obtaining redress -for injuries. After that, the next step would be to allow those masters -who are so disposed to emancipate, giving proper security for the good -behavior of their servants. They might then retain them as tenants. -Under this system, emancipation would go on gradually; only the best -masters would at first emancipate, and the example would be gradually -followed. The experiment would soon demonstrate the superior cheapness -and efficiency of the system of free labor; and self-interest would then -come in, to complete what principle began. It is only the first step -that costs. But it seems to me that in the course of my life I have met -with multitudes of good people, groaning in secret under the evils and -injustice of slavery, who would gladly give their influence to any -reasonable effort which promises in time to ameliorate and remove them." - -"The trouble is," said Judge Clayton, "that the system, though ruinous -in the long run to communities, is immediately profitable to -individuals. Besides this, it is a source of political influence and -importance. The holders of slaves are an aristocracy supported by -special constitutional privileges. They are united against the spirit of -the age by a common interest and danger, and the instinct of -self-preservation is infallible. No logic is so accurate. - -"As a matter of personal feeling, many slave-holders would rejoice in -some of the humane changes which you propose; but they see at once that -any change endangers the perpetuity of the system on which their -political importance depends. Therefore, they'll resist you at the very -outset, not because they would not, many of them, be glad to have -justice done, but because they think they cannot afford it. - -"They will have great patience with you--they will even have sympathy -with you--so long as you confine yourself merely to the expression of -feeling; but the moment your efforts produce the slightest movement in -the community, then, my son, you will see human nature in a new aspect, -and know more about mankind than you know now." - -"Very well," said Clayton, "the sooner the better." - -"Well, Edward," said Mrs. Clayton, "if you are going to begin with the -ministry, why don't you go and talk to your Uncle Cushing? He is one of -the most influential among the Presbyterians in the whole state; and I -have often heard him lament, in the strongest manner, the evils of -slavery. He has told me some facts about its effect on the character of -his church-members, both bond and free, that are terrible!" - -"Yes," said Judge Clayton, "your brother will do all that. He will -lament the evils of slavery in private circles, and he will furnish you -any number of facts, if you will not give his authority for them." - -"And don't you think that he will be willing to do something?" - -"No," said Judge Clayton, "not if the cause is unpopular." - -"Why," said Mrs. Clayton, "do you suppose that my brother will be -deterred from doing his duty for fear of personal unpopularity?" - -"No," said Judge Clayton; "but your brother has the interest of Zion on -his shoulders,--by which he means the Presbyterian organization,--and he -will say that he can't afford to risk his influence. And the same will -be true of every leading minister of every denomination. The -Episcopalians are keeping watch over Episcopacy, the Methodists over -Methodism, the Baptists over Baptism. None of them dare espouse an -unpopular cause, lest the others, taking advantage of it, should go -beyond them in public favor. None of them will want the odium of such a -reform as this." - -"But I don't see any odium in it," said Mrs. Clayton. "It's one of the -noblest and one of the most necessary of all possible changes." - -"Nevertheless," said Judge Clayton, "it will be made to appear extremely -odious. The catch-words of abolition, incendiarism, fanaticism, will fly -thick as hail. And the storm will be just in proportion to the real -power of the movement. It will probably end in Edward's expulsion from -the state." - -"My father, I should be unwilling to think," said Clayton, "that the -world is quite so bad as you represent it,--particularly the religious -world." - -"I was not aware that I was representing it as very bad," said Judge -Clayton. "I only mentioned such facts as everybody can see about them. -There are undoubtedly excellent men in the church." - -"But," said Clayton, "did not the church, in the primitive ages, stand -against the whole world in arms? If religion be anything, must it not -take the lead of society, and be its sovereign and teacher, and not its -slave?" - -"I don't know as to that," said Judge Clayton. "I think you'll find the -facts much as I have represented them. What the church was in the -primitive ages, or what it ought to be now, is not at all to our -purpose, in making practical calculations. Without any disrespect, I -wish to speak of things just as they are. Nothing is ever gained by -false expectations." - -"Oh," said Mrs. Clayton, "you lawyers get so uncharitable! I'm quite -sure that Edward will find brother ready to go heart and hand with him." - -"I'm sure I shall be glad of it, if he does," said Judge Clayton. - -"I shall write to him about it, immediately," said Mrs. Clayton, "and -Edward shall go and talk with him. Courage, Edward! Our woman's -instincts, after all, have some prophetic power in them. At all events, -we women will stand by you to the last." - -Clayton sighed. He remembered the note Nina had written him on the day -of the decision, and thought what a brave-hearted little creature she -was; and, like the faint breath of a withered rose, the shadowy -remembrance of her seemed to say to him, "Go on!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -THE NEW MOTHER. - - -The cholera at length disappeared, and the establishment of our old -friend Tiff proceeded as of yore. His chickens and turkeys grew to -maturity, and cackled and strutted joyously. His corn waved its ripening -flags in the September breezes. The grave of the baby had grown green -with its first coat of grass, and Tiff was comforted for his loss, -because, as he said, "he knowed he's better off." Miss Fanny grew -healthy and strong, and spent many long sunny hours wandering in the -woods with Teddy; or, sitting out on the bench where Nina had been wont -to read to them, would spell out with difficulty, for her old friend's -comfort and enlightenment, the half-familiar words of the wondrous story -that Nina had brought to their knowledge. - -The interior of the poor cottage bore its wonted air of quaint, sylvan -refinement; and Tiff went on with his old dream of imagining it an -ancestral residence, of which his young master and mistress were the -head, and himself their whole retinue. He was sitting in his tent door, -in the cool of the day, while Teddy and Fanny had gone for wild grapes, -cheerfully examining and mending his old pantaloons, meanwhile -recreating his soul with a cheerful conversation with himself. - -"Now, Old Tiff," said he, "one more patch on dese yer, 'cause it an't -much matter what you wars. Mas'r is allers a promising to bring some -cloth fur to make a more 'specable pair; but, laws, he never does -nothing he says he will. An't no trusting in dat 'scription o' -people--jiggeting up and down de country, drinking at all de taverns, -fetching disgrace on de fam'ly, spite o' all I can do! Mighty long time -since he been home, any how! Shouldn't wonder if de cholera'd cotched -him! Well, de Lord's will be done! Pity to kill such critturs! Wouldn't -much mind if he should die. Laws, he an't much profit to de family, -coming home here wid lots o' old trash, drinking up all my chicken-money -down to 'Bijah Skinflint's! For my part, I believe dem devils, when dey -went out o' de swine, went into de whiskey-bar'l. Dis yer liquor makes -folks so ugly! Teddy shan't never touch none as long as dere's a drop o' -Peyton blood in _my_ veins! Lord, but dis yer world is full o' -'spensations! Por, dear Miss Nina, dat was a doin for de chil'en! she's -gone up among de angels! Well, bress de Lord, we must do de best we can, -and we'll all land on de Canaan shore at last." - -And Tiff uplifted a quavering stave of a favorite melody:-- - - - "My brother, I have found - The land that doth abound - With food as sweet as manna. - The more I eat, I find - The more I am inclined - To shout and sing hosanna!" - - -"Shoo! shoo! shoo!" he said, observing certain long-legged, half-grown -chickens, who were surreptitiously taking advantage of his devotional -engrossments to rush past him into the kitchen. - -"'Pears like dese yer chickens never will larn nothing!" said Tiff, -finding that his vigorous "shooing" only scared the whole flock in, -instead of admonishing them out. So Tiff had to lay down his work; and -his thimble rolled one way, and his cake of wax another, hiding -themselves under the leaves; while the hens, seeing Tiff at the door, -instead of accepting his polite invitation to walk out, acted in that -provoking and inconsiderate way that hens generally will, running -promiscuously up and down, flapping their wings, cackling, upsetting -pots, kettles, and pans, in promiscuous ruin, Tiff each moment becoming -more and more wrathful at their entire want of consideration. - -"Bress me, if I ever did see any kind o' crittur so shaller as hens!" -said Tiff, as, having finally ejected them, he was busy repairing the -ruin they had wrought in Miss Fanny's fanciful floral arrangements, -which were all lying in wild confusion. "I tought de Lord made room in -every beast's head for some sense, but 'pears like hens an't got the -leastest grain! Puts me out, seeing dem crawking and crawing on one leg, -'cause dey han't got sense 'nough to know whar to set down t'oder. Dey -never has no idees what dey's going to do, from morning to night, I -b'lieve! But, den, dere's folks dat's just like 'em, dat de Lord has gin -brains to, and dey won't use 'em. Dey's always settin round, but dey -never lays no eggs. So hens an't de wust critters, arter all. And I -rally don' know what we'd do widout 'em!" said Old Tiff, relentingly, -as, appeased from his wrath, he took up at once his needle and his -psalm, singing lustily, and with good courage,-- - - - "Perhaps you'll tink me wild, - And simple as a child, - But I'm a child of glory!" - - -"Laws, now," said Tiff, pursuing his reflections to himself, "maybe he's -dead now, sure 'nough! And if he is, why, I can do for de chil'en raal -powerful. I sold right smart of eggs dis yer summer, and de sweet -'tatoes allers fetches a good price. If I could only get de chil'en -along wid der reading, and keep der manners handsome! Why, Miss Fanny, -now, she's growing up to be raal perty. She got de raal Peyton look to -her; and dere's dis yer 'bout gals and women, dat if dey's perty, why, -somebody wants to be marrying of 'em; and so dey gets took care of. I -tell you, dere shan't any of dem fellers dat he brings home wid him have -anyting to say to her! Peyton blood an't for der money, I can tell 'em! -Dem fellers allers find 'emselves mighty onlucky as long as I's 'round! -One ting or 'nother happens to 'em, so dat dey don't want to come no -more. Drefful poor times dey has!" And Tiff shook with a secret chuckle. - -"But, now, yer see, dere's never any knowing! Dere may be some Peyton -property coming to dese yer chil'en. I's known sich things happen, 'fore -now. Lawyers calling after de heirs; and den here dey be a'ready fetched -up. I's minding dat I'd better speak to Miss Nina's man 'bout dese yer -chil'en; 'cause he's a nice, perty man, and nat'rally he'd take an -interest; and dat ar handsome sister of his, dat was so thick wid Miss -Nina, maybe she'd be doing something for her. Any way, dese yer chil'en -shall neber come to want 'long as I's above ground!" - -Alas for the transitory nature of human expectations! Even our poor -little Arcadia in the wilderness, where we have had so many hours of -quaint delight, was destined to feel the mutability of all earthly joys -and prospects. Even while Tiff spoke and sung, in the exuberance of joy -and security of his soul, a disastrous phantom was looming up from a -distance--the phantom of Cripps' old wagon. Cripps was not dead, as was -to have been hoped, but returning for a more permanent residence, -bringing with him a bride of his own heart's choosing. - -Tiff's dismay--his utter, speechless astonishment--may be imagined, when -the ill-favored machine rumbled up to the door, and Cripps produced from -it what seemed to be, at first glance, a bundle of tawdry, dirty finery; -but at last it turned out to be a woman, so far gone in intoxication as -scarcely to be sensible of what she was doing. Evidently, she was one of -the lowest of that class of poor whites whose wretched condition is not -among the least of the evils of slavery. Whatever she might have been -naturally,--whatever of beauty or of good there might have been in the -womanly nature within her,--lay wholly withered and eclipsed under the -force of an education churchless, schoolless, with all the vices of -civilization without its refinements, and all the vices of barbarism -without the occasional nobility by which they are sometimes redeemed. A -low and vicious connection with this woman had at last terminated in -marriage--such marriages as one shudders to think of, where gross animal -natures come together, without even a glimmering idea of the higher -purposes of that holy relation. - -"Tiff, this yer is your new mistress," said Cripps, with an idiotic -laugh. "Plaguy nice girl, too! I thought I'd bring the children a mother -to take care of them. Come along, girl!" - -Looking closer, we recognize in the woman our old acquaintance, Polly -Skinflint. - -He pulled her forward; and she, coming in, seated herself on Fanny's -bed. Tiff looked as if he could have struck her dead. An avalanche had -fallen upon him. He stood in the door with the slack hand of utter -despair; while she, swinging her heels, began leisurely spitting about -her, in every direction, the juice of a quid of tobacco, which she -cherished in one cheek. - -"Durned if this yer an't pretty well!" she said. "Only I want the nigger -to heave out that ar trash!" pointing to Fanny's flowers. "I don't want -children sticking no herbs round my house! Hey, you nigger, heave out -that trash!" - -As Tiff stood still, not obeying this call, the woman appeared angry; -and, coming up to him, struck him on the side of the head. - -"Oh, come, come, Poll!" said Cripps, "you be still! He an't used to no -such ways." - -"Still!" said the amiable lady, turning round to him. "You go 'long! -Didn't you tell me, if I married you, I should have a nigger to order -round, just as I pleased?" - -"Well, well," said Cripps, who was not by any means a cruelly-disposed -man, "I didn't think you'd want to go walloping him, the first thing." - -"I will, if he don't shin round," said the virago, "and you, too!" - -And this vigorous profession was further carried out by a vigorous -shove, which reacted in Cripps in the form of a cuff, and in a few -moments the disgraceful scuffle was at its full height. And Tiff turned -in disgust and horror from the house. - -"Oh, good Lord!" he said to himself, "we doesn't know what's 'fore us! -And I's feeling so bad when de Lord took my poor little man, and now I's -ready to go down on my knees to thank de Lord dat he's took him away -from de evil to come! To think of my por sweet lamb, Miss Fanny, as I's -been bringing up so carful! Lord, dis yer's a heap worse dan de -cholera!" - -It was with great affliction and dismay that he saw the children coming -forward in high spirits, bearing between them a basket of wild-grapes, -which they had been gathering. He ran out to meet them. - -"Laws, yer por lambs," he said, "yer doesn't know what's a coming on -you! Yer pa's gone and married a drefful low white woman, sich as an't -fit for no Christian children to speak to. And now dey's quar'ling and -fighting in dere, like two heathens! And Miss Nina's dead, and dere an't -no place for you to go!" - -And the old man sat down and actually wept aloud, while the children, -frightened, got into his arms, and nestled close to him for protection, -crying too. - -"What shall we do? what shall we do?" said Fanny. And Teddy, who always -repeated, reverentially, all his sister's words, said, after her, in a -deplorable whimper, "What shall we do?" - -"I's a good mind to go off wid you in de wilderness, like de chil'en of -Israel," said Tiff, "though dere an't no manna falling nowadays." - -"Tiff, does marrying father make her our ma?" said Fanny. - -"No 'deed, Miss Fanny, it doesn't! Yer ma was one o' de fustest old -Virginny families. It was jist throwing herself 'way, marrying him! I -neber said dat ar 'fore, 'cause it wan't 'spectful. But I don't care -now!" - -At this moment Cripps' voice was heard shouting:-- - -"Hallo, you Tiff! Where is the durned nigger? I say, come back! Poll and -I's made it up, now! Bring 'long them children, and let them get -acquainted with their mammy," he said, laying hold of Fanny's hand, and -drawing her, frightened and crying, towards the house. - -"Don't you be afraid, child," said Cripps; "I've brought you a new ma." - -"We didn't want any new ma!" said Teddy, in a dolorous voice. - -"Oh, yes, you do," said Cripps, coaxing him. "Come along, my little man! -There's your mammy," he said, pushing him into the fat embrace of Polly. - -"Fanny, go kiss your ma." - -Fanny hung back and cried, and Teddy followed her example. - -"Confound the durn young uns!" said the new-married lady. "I told you, -Cripps, I didn't want no brats of t'other woman's! Be plague enough when -I get some of my own!" - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. - - -The once neat and happy cottage, of which Old Tiff was the guardian -genius, soon experienced sad reverses. Polly Skinflint's violent and -domineering temper made her absence from her father's establishment -rather a matter of congratulation to Abijah. Her mother, one of those -listless and inefficient women, whose lives flow in a calm, muddy -current of stupidity and laziness, talked very little about it; but, on -the whole, was perhaps better contented to be out of the range of -Polly's sharp voice and long arms. It was something of a consideration, -in Abijah's shrewd view of things, that Cripps owned a nigger--the first -point to which the aspiration of the poor white of the South generally -tends. Polly, whose love of power was a predominant element in her -nature, resolutely declared, in advance, she'd make him shin round, or -she'd know the reason why. As to the children, she regarded them as the -incumbrances of the estate, to be got over with in the best way -possible; for, as she graphically remarked, "Every durned young un had -to look out when she was 'bout!" - -The bride had been endowed with a marriage-portion, by her father, of -half a barrel of whiskey; and it was announced that Cripps was tired of -trading round the country, and meant to set up trading at home. In -short, the little cabin became a low grog-shop, a resort of the most -miserable and vicious portion of the community. The violent temper of -Polly soon drove Cripps upon his travels again, and his children were -left unprotected to the fury of their step-mother's temper. Every -vestige of whatever was decent about the house and garden was soon swept -away; for the customers of the shop, in a grand Sunday drinking-bout, -amused themselves with tearing down even the prairie-rose and -climbing-vine that once gave a sylvan charm to the rude dwelling. -Polly's course, in the absence of her husband, was one of gross, -unblushing licentiousness; and the ears and eyes of the children were -shocked with language and scenes too bad for repetition. - -Old Tiff was almost heart-broken. He could have borne the beatings and -starvings which came on himself; but the abuse which came on the -children he could not bear. One night, when the drunken orgy was raging -within the house, Tiff gathered courage from despair. - -"Miss Fanny," he said, "jist go in de garret, and make a bundle o' sich -tings as dere is, and throw 'em out o' de winder. I's been a praying -night and day; and de Lord says _He_'ll open some way or oder for us! -I'll keep Teddy out here under de trees, while you jist bundles up what -por clothes is left, and throws 'em out o' de winder." - -Silently as a ray of moonlight, the fair, delicate-looking child glided -through the room where her step-mother and two or three drunken men were -revelling in a loathsome debauch. - -"Halloa, sis!" cried one of the men, after her, "where are you going to? -Stop here, and give me a kiss!" - -The unutterable look of mingled pride, and fear, and angry distress, -which the child cast, as, quick as thought, she turned from them and ran -up the ladder into the loft, occasioned roars of laughter. - -"I say, Bill, why didn't you catch her?" said one. - -"Oh, no matter for that," said another; "she'll come of her own accord, -one of these days." - -Fanny's heart beat like a frightened bird, as she made up her little -bundle. Then, throwing it to Tiff, who was below in the dark, she called -out, in a low, earnest whisper,-- - -"Tiff, put up that board, and I'll climb down on it. I won't go back -among those dreadful men!" - -Carefully and noiselessly as possible, Tiff lifted a long, rough slab, -and placed it against the side of the house. Carefully Fanny set her -feet on the top of it, and, spreading her arms, came down, like a little -puff of vapor, into the arms of her faithful attendant. - -"Bress de Lord! Here we is, all right," said Tiff. - -"Oh, Tiff, I'm so glad!" said Teddy, holding fast to the skirt of Tiff's -apron, and jumping for joy. - -"Yes," said Tiff, "all right. Now de angel of de Lord'll go with us -into de wilderness!" - -"Ther's plenty of angels there, an't there?" said Teddy, victoriously, -as he lifted the little bundle, with undoubting faith. - -"Laws, yes!" said Tiff. "I don' know why dere shouldn't be in our days. -Any rate, de Lord 'peared to me in a dream, and says he, 'Tiff, rise and -take de chil'en and go in de land of Egypt, and be dere till de time I -tell dee.' Dem is de bery words. And 'twas 'tween de cock-crow and -daylight dey come to me, when I'd been lying dar praying, like a -hail-storm, all night, not gibing de Lord no rest! Says I to him, says -I, 'Lord, I don' know nothing what to do; and now, ef you was por as I -be, and I was great king, like you, I'd help you! And now, Lord,' says I -'you _must_ help us, 'cause we an't got no place else to go; 'cause, you -know, Miss Nina she's dead, and Mr. John Gordon, too! And dis yer woman -will ruin dese yer chil'en, ef you don't help us! And now I hope you -won't be angry! But I has to be very bold, 'cause tings have got so dat -we can't bar 'em no longer!' Den, yer see, I dropped 'sleep; and I -hadn't no more'n got to sleep, jist after cock-crow, when de voice -come!" - -"And is this the land of Egypt," said Teddy, "that we're going to?" - -"I spect so," said Tiff. "Don't you know de story Miss Nina read to you, -once, how de angel of de Lord 'peared to Hagar in de wilderness, when -she was sitting down under de bush. Den dere was anoder one come to -'Lijah, when he was under de juniper-tree, when he was wandering up and -down, and got hungry, and woke up; and dere, sure 'nough, was a -corn-cake baking for him on de coals! Don't you mind Miss Nina was -reading dat ar de bery last Sunday she come to our place? Bress de Lord -for sending her to us! I's got heaps o' good through dem readings." - -"Do you think we really shall see any?" said Fanny, with a little shade -of apprehension in her voice. "I don't know as I shall know how to speak -to them." - -"Oh, angels is pleasant-spoken, well-meaning folks, allers," said Tiff, -"and don't take no 'fence at us. Of course, dey knows we an't fetched -up in der ways, and dey don't spect it of us. It's my 'pinion," said -Tiff, "dat when folks is honest, and does de bery best dey can, dey -don't need to be 'fraid to speak to angels, nor nobody else; 'cause, you -see, we speaks to de Lord hisself when we prays, and, bress de Lord, he -don't take it ill of us, no ways. And now it's borne in strong on my -mind, dat de Lord is going to lead us through the wilderness, and bring -us to good luck. Now, you see, I's going to follow de star, like de wise -men did." - -While they were talking, they were making their way through dense woods -in the direction of the swamp, every moment taking them deeper and -deeper into the tangled brush and underwood. The children were -accustomed to wander for hours through the wood; and, animated by the -idea of having escaped their persecutors, followed Tiff with alacrity, -as he went before them, clearing away the brambles and vines with his -long arms, every once in a while wading with them across a bit of -morass, or climbing his way through the branches of some uprooted tree. -It was after ten o'clock at night when they started. It was now after -midnight. Tiff had held on his course in the direction of the swamp, -where he knew many fugitives were concealed; and he was not without -hopes of coming upon some camp or settlement of them. - -About one o'clock they emerged from the more tangled brushwood, and -stood on a slight little clearing, where a grape-vine, depending in -natural festoons from a sweet gum-tree, made a kind of arbor. The moon -was shining very full and calm, and the little breeze fluttered the -grape-leaves, casting the shadow of some on the transparent greenness of -others. The dew had fallen so heavily in that moist region, that every -once in a while, as a slight wind agitated the leaves, it might be heard -pattering from one to another, like rain-drops. Teddy had long been -complaining bitterly of fatigue. Tiff now sat down under this arbor, and -took him fondly into his arms. - -"Sit down, Miss Fanny. And is Tiff's brave little man got tired? Well, -he shall go to sleep, dat he shall! We's got out a good bit now. I -reckon dey won't find us. We's out here wid de good Lord's works, and -dey won't none on 'em tell on us. So, now, hush, my por little man; shut -up your eyes!" And Tiff quavered the immortal cradle-hymn,-- - - - "Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber! - Holy angels guard thy bed; - Heavenly blessings, without number, - Gently falling on thy head." - - -In a few moments Teddy was sound asleep, and Tiff, wrapping him in his -white great-coat, laid him down at the root of a tree. - -"Bress de Lord, dere an't no whiskey here!" he said, "nor no drunken -critturs to wake him up. And now, Miss Fanny, por chile, your eyes is a -falling. Here's dis yer old shawl I put up in de pocket of my coat. Wrap -it round you, whilst I scrape up a heap of dem pine-leaves, yonder. Dem -is reckoned mighty good for sleeping on, 'cause dey's so healthy, -kinder. Dar, you see, I's got a desput big heap of 'em." - -"I'm tired, but I'm not sleepy," said Fanny. "But, Tiff, what are _you_ -going to do?" - -"Do!" said Tiff, laughing, with somewhat of his old, joyous laugh. "Ho! -ho! ho! I's going to sit up for to meditate--a 'sidering on de fowls of -de air, and de lilies in de field, and all dem dar Miss Nina used to -read 'bout." - -For many weeks, Fanny's bed-chamber had been the hot, dusty loft of the -cabin, with the heated roof just above her head, and the noise of -bacchanalian revels below. Now she lay sunk down among the soft and -fragrant pine-foliage, and looked up, watching the checkered roof of -vine-leaves above her head, listening to the still patter of falling -dew-drops, and the tremulous whirr and flutter of leaves. Sometimes the -soft night-winds swayed the tops of the pines with a long swell of -dashing murmurs, like the breaking of a tide on a distant beach. The -moonlight, as it came sliding down through the checkered, leafy roof, -threw fragments and gleams of light, which moved capriciously here and -there over the ground, revealing now a great silvery fern-leaf, and then -a tuft of white flowers, gilding spots on the branches and trunks of the -trees; while every moment the deeper shadows were lighted up by the -gleaming of fire-flies. The child would raise her head a while, and look -on the still scene around, and then sink on her fragrant pillow in -dreamy delight. Everything was so still, so calm, so pure, no wonder she -was prepared to believe that the angels of the Lord were to be found in -the wilderness. They who have walked in closest communion with nature -have ever found that they have not departed thence. The wilderness and -solitary places are still glad for them, and their presence makes the -desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. - -When Fanny and Teddy were both asleep, Old Tiff knelt down and addressed -himself to his prayers; and, though he had neither prayer-book, nor -cushion, nor formula, his words went right to the mark, in the best -English he could command for any occasion; and, so near as we could -collect from the sound of his words, Tiff's prayer ran as follows:-- - -"Oh, good Lord, now please do look down on dese yer chil'en. I started -'em out, as you telled me; and now whar we is to go, and whar we is to -get any breakfast, I's sure I don' know. But, oh good Lord, you has got -everyting in de world in yer hands, and it's mighty easy for you to be -helping on us; and I has faith to believe dat you will. Oh, bressed Lord -Jesus, dat was carried off into Egypt for fear of de King Herod, do, -pray, look down on dese yer por chil'en, for I's sure dat ar woman is as -bad as Herod, any day. Good Lord, you's seen how she's been treating on -'em; and now do pray open a way for us through de wilderness to de -promised land. Everlasting--Amen." - -The last two words Tiff always added to his prayers, from a sort of -sense of propriety, feeling as if they rounded off the prayer, and made -it, as he would have phrased it, more like a white prayer. We have only -to say, to those who question concerning this manner of prayer, that, if -they will examine the supplications of patriarchs of ancient times, they -will find that, with the exception of the broken English and bad -grammar, they were in substance very much like this of Tiff. - -The Bible divides men into two classes: those who trust in themselves, -and those who trust in God. The one class walk by their own light, trust -in their own strength, fight their own battles, and have no confidence -otherwise. The other, not neglecting to use the wisdom and strength -which God has given them, still trust in his wisdom and his strength to -carry out the weakness of theirs. The one class go through life as -orphans; the other have a Father. - -Tiff's prayer had at least this recommendation, that he felt perfectly -sure that something was to come of it. Had he not told the Lord all -about it? Certainly he had; and of course he would be helped. And this -confidence Tiff took, as Jacob did a stone, for his pillow, as he lay -down between his children and slept soundly. - -How innocent, soft, and kind, are all God's works! From the silent -shadows of the forest the tender and loving presence which our sin -exiled from the haunts of men hath not yet departed. Sweet fall the -moonbeams through the dewy leaves; peaceful is the breeze that waves the -branches of the pines; merciful and tender the little wind that shakes -the small flowers and tremulous wood-grasses fluttering over the heads -of the motherless children. Oh thou who bearest in thee a heart hot and -weary, sick and faint with the vain tumults and confusions of the haunts -of men, go to the wilderness, and thou shalt find _Him_ there who saith, -"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. I will be as -the dew to Israel. He shall grow as a lily, and cast forth his roots as -Lebanon." - -Well, they slept there quietly, all night long. Between three and four -o'clock, an oriole, who had his habitation in the vine above their -heads, began a gentle twittering conversation with some of his -neighbors; not a loud song, I would give you to understand, but a -little, low inquiry as to what o'clock it was. And then, if you had been -in a still room at that time, you might have heard, through all the -trees of pine, beech, holly, sweet-gum, and larch, a little, tremulous -stir and flutter of birds awaking and stretching their wings. Little -eyes were opening in a thousand climbing vines, where soft, feathery -habitants had hung, swinging breezily, all night. Low twitterings and -chirpings were heard; then a loud, clear, echoing chorus of harmony -answering from tree to tree, jubilant and joyous as if there never had -been a morning before. The morning star had not yet gone down, nor were -the purple curtains of the east undrawn; and the moon, which had been -shining full all night, still stood like a patient, late-burning light -in a quiet chamber. It is not everybody that wakes to hear this first -chorus of the birds. They who sleep till sunrise have lost it, and with -it a thousand mysterious pleasures--strange, sweet communings,--which, -like morning dew, begin to evaporate when the sun rises. - -But, though Tiff and the children slept all night we are under no -obligations to keep our eyes shut to the fact that between three and -four o'clock there came crackling through the swamps the dark figure of -one whose journeyings were more often by night than by day. Dred had -been out on one of his nightly excursions, carrying game, which he -disposed of for powder and shot at one of the low stores we have alluded -to. He came unexpectedly on the sleepers, while making his way back. His -first movement, on seeing them, was that of surprise; then, stooping and -examining the group more closely, he appeared to recognize them. Dred -had known Old Tiff before; and had occasion to go to him more than once -to beg supplies for fugitives in the swamps, or to get some errand -performed which he could not himself venture abroad to attend to. Like -others of his race, Tiff, on all such subjects, was so habitually and -unfathomably secret, that the children, who knew him most intimately, -had never received even a suggestion from him of the existence of any -such person. - -Dred, whose eyes, sharpened by habitual caution, never lost sight of any -change in his vicinity, had been observant of that which had taken place -in Old Tiff's affairs. When, therefore, he saw him sleeping as we have -described, he understood the whole matter at once. He looked at the -children, as they lay nestled at the roots of the tree, with something -of a softened expression, muttering to himself, "They embrace the Rock -for shelter." - -He opened a pouch which he wore on his side, and took from thence one or -two corn-dodgers and half a broiled rabbit, which his wife had put up -for hunting provision, the day before; and, laying them down on the -leaves, hastened on to a place where he had intended to surprise some -game in the morning. - -The chorus of birds we have before described awakened Old Tiff, -accustomed to habits of early rising. He sat up, and began rubbing his -eyes and stretching himself. He had slept well, for his habits of life -had not been such as to make him at all fastidious with regard to his -couch. - -"Well," he said to himself, "any way, dat ar woman won't get dese yer -chil'en, dis yer day!" And he gave one of his old hearty laughs, to -think how nicely he had outwitted her. - -"Laws," he said to himself, "don't I hear her now! 'Tiff! Tiff! Tiff!' -she says. Holla away, old mist'! Tiff don't hear yer! no, nor de chil'en -eider, por blessed lambs!" - -Here, in turning to the children, his eye fell on the provisions. At -first he stood petrified, with his hands lifted in astonishment. Had the -angel been there? Sure enough, he thought. - -"Well, now, bress de Lord, sure 'nough, here's de bery breakfast I's -asking for last night! Well, I knowed de Lord would do something for us; -but I really didn't know as 't would come so quick! May be ravens -brought it, as dey did to 'Lijah--bread and flesh in de morning, and -bread and flesh at night. Well, dis yer 's 'couraging--'tis so. I won't -wake up de por little lambs. Let 'em sleep. Dey'll be mighty tickled -when dey comes fur to see de breakfast; and, den, out here it's so sweet -and clean! None yer nasty 'bacca spittins of folks dat doesn't know how -to be decent. Bress me, I's rather tired, myself. I spects I'd better -camp down again, till de chil'en wakes. Dat ar crittur 's kep me gwine -till I's got pretty stiff, wid her contrary ways. Spect she'll be as -troubled as King Herod was, and all 'Rusalem wid her!" - -And Tiff rolled and laughed quietly, in the security of his heart. - -"I say, Tiff, where are we?" said a little voice at his side. - -"Whar is we, puppit?" said Tiff, turning over; "why, bress yer sweet -eyes, how does yer do, dis morning? Stretch away, my man! Neber be -'fraid; we's in de Lord's diggins now, all safe. And de angel's got a -breakfast ready for us, too!" said Tiff, displaying the provision which -he had arranged on some vine-leaves. - -"Oh, Uncle Tiff, did the angels bring that?" said Teddy. "Why didn't you -wake me up? I wanted to see them. I never saw any angel, in all my -life!" - -"Nor I neider, honey. Dey comes mostly when we's 'sleep. But, stay, -dere's Miss Fanny, a waking up. How is ye, lamb? Is ye 'freshed?" - -"Oh, Uncle Tiff, I've slept so sound," said Fanny; "and I dreamed such a -beautiful dream!" - -"Well, den, tell it right off, 'fore breakfast," said Tiff, "to make it -come true." - -"Well," said Fanny, "I dreamed I was in a desolate place, where I -couldn't get out, all full of rocks and brambles, and Teddy was with me; -and while we were trying and trying, our ma came to us. She looked like -our ma, only a great deal more beautiful; and she had a strange white -dress on, that shone, and hung clear to her feet; and she took hold of -our hands, and the rocks opened, and we walked through a path into a -beautiful green meadow, full of lilies and wild strawberries; and then -she was gone." - -"Well," said Teddy, "maybe 'twas she who brought some breakfast to us. -See here, what we've got!" - -Fanny look surprised and pleased, but, after some consideration, said,-- - -"I don't believe mamma brought that. I don't believe they have corn-cake -and roast meat in heaven. If it had been manna, now, it would have been -more likely." - -"Neber mind whar it comes from," said Tiff. "It's right good and we -bress de Lord for it." - -And they sat down accordingly, and ate their breakfast with a good -heart. - -"Now," said Tiff, "somewhar roun' in dis yer swamp dere's a camp o' de -colored people; but I don' know rightly whar 'tis. If we could get dar, -we could stay dar a while, till something or nuder should turn up. Hark! -what's dat ar?" - -'Twas the crack of a rifle reverberating through the dewy, leafy -stillness of the forest. - -"Dat ar an't fur off," said Tiff. - -The children looked a little terrified. - -"Don't you be 'fraid," he said. "I wouldn't wonder but I knowed who dat -ar was. Hark, now! 'tis somebody coming dis yer way." - -A clear, exultant voice sung, through the leafy distance,-- - - - "Oh, had I the wings of the morning, - I'd fly away to Canaan's shore." - - -"Yes," said Tiff, to himself, "dat ar's his voice. Now, chil'en," he -said, "dar's somebody coming; and you mustn't be 'fraid on him, 'cause I -spects he'll get us to dat ar camp I's telling 'bout." - -And Tiff, in a cracked and strained voice, which contrasted oddly -enough with the bell-like notes of the distant singer, commenced singing -part of an old song, which might, perhaps, have been used as a signal:-- - - - "Hailing so stormily, - Cold, stormy weder; - I want my true love all de day. - Whar shall I find him? Whar shall I find him?" - - -The distant singer stopped his song, apparently to listen, and, while -Tiff kept on singing, they could hear the crackling of approaching -footsteps. At last Dred emerged to view. - -"So you've fled to the wilderness?" he said. - -"Yes, yes," said Tiff with a kind of giggle, "we had to come to it, dat -ar woman was so aggravating on de chil'en. Of all de pizin critturs dat -I knows on, dese yer mean white women is de pizinest! Dey an't got no -manners, and no bringing up. Dey doesn't begin to know how tings ought -to be done 'mong 'spectable people. So we just tuck to de bush." - -"You might have taken to a worse place," said Dred. "The Lord God giveth -grace and glory to the trees of the wood. And the time will come when -the Lord will make a covenant of peace, and cause the evil beast to -cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, -and shall sleep in the woods; and the tree of the field shall yield her -fruit, and they shall be safe in the land, when the Lord hath broken the -bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hands of those that -serve themselves of them." - -"And you tink dem good times coming, sure 'nough?" said Tiff. - -"The Lord hath said it," said the other. "But first the day of vengeance -must come." - -"I don't want no sich," said Tiff. "I want to live peaceable." - -Dred looked upon Tiff with an air of acquiescent pity, which had in it a -slight shade of contempt, and said, as if in soliloquy,-- - -"Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens; and he saw -that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his -shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute." - -"As to rest," said Tiff, "de Lord knows I an't had much of dat ar, if I -be an ass. If I had a good, strong pack-saddle, I'd like to trot dese -yer chil'en out in some good cleared place." - -"Well," said Dred, "you have served him that was ready to perish, and -not betrayed him who wandered; therefore the Lord will open for you a -fenced city in the wilderness." - -"Jest so," said Tiff; "dat ar camp o'yourn is jest what I's arter. I's -willing to lend a hand to most anyting dat's good." - -"Well," said Dred, "the children are too tender to walk where we must -go. We must bear them as an eagle beareth her young. Come, my little -man!" - -And, as Dred spoke, he stooped down and stretched out his hands to -Teddy. His severe and gloomy countenance relaxed into a smile, and, to -Tiff's surprise, the child went immediately to him, and allowed him to -lift him in his arms. - -"Now I'd thought he'd been skeered o' you!" said Tiff. - -"Not he! I never saw a child or dog that I couldn't make come to me. -Hold fast, now, my little man!" he said, seating the boy on his -shoulder. "Trees have long arms; don't let them rake you off. Now, -Tiff," he said, "you take the girl and come after, and when we come into -the thick of the swamp, mind you step right in my tracks. Mind you don't -set your foot on a tussock if I haven't set mine there before you; -because the moccasons lie on the tussocks." - -And thus saying, Dred and his companion began making their way towards -the fugitive camp. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -THE CLERICAL CONFERENCE. - - -A few days found Clayton in the city of ----, guest of the Rev. Dr. -Cushing. He was a man in middle life; of fine personal presence, urbane, -courtly, gentlemanly. Dr. Cushing was a popular and much-admired -clergyman, standing high among his brethren in the ministry, and almost -the idol of a large and flourishing church, a man of warm feelings, -humane impulses, and fine social qualities, his sermons, beautifully -written, and delivered with great fervor, often drew tears from the eyes -of the hearers. His pastoral ministrations, whether at wedding or -funeral, had a peculiar tenderness and unction. None was more capable -than he of celebrating the holy fervor and self-denying sufferings of -apostles and martyrs; none more easily kindled by those devout hymns -which describe the patience of the saints; but, with all this, for any -practical emergency, Dr. Cushing was nothing of a soldier. There was a -species of moral effeminacy about him, and the very luxuriant softness -and richness of his nature unfitted him to endure hardness. He was -known, in all his intercourse with his brethren, as a peace-maker, a -modifier, and harmonizer. Nor did he scrupulously examine how much of -the credit of this was due to a fastidious softness of nature which made -controversy disagreeable and wearisome. Nevertheless, Clayton was at -first charmed with the sympathetic warmth with which he and his plans -were received by his relative. He seemed perfectly to agree with Clayton -in all his views of the terrible evils of the slave system and was -prompt with anecdotes and instances to enforce everything that he said. -"Clayton was just in time," he said; "a number of his ministerial -brethren were coming to-morrow, some of them from the northern states. -Clayton should present his views to them." - -Dr. Cushing's establishment was conducted on the footing of the most -liberal hospitality; and that very evening the domestic circle was made -larger by the addition of four or five ministerial brethren. Among these -Clayton was glad to meet, once more, father Dickson. The serene, good -man, seemed to bring the blessing of the gospel of peace with him -wherever he went. - -Among others, was one whom we will more particularly introduce, as the -Rev. Shubael Packthread. Dr. Shubael Packthread was a minister of a -leading church, in one of the northern cities. Constitutionally, he was -an amiable and kindly man, with very fair natural abilities, fairly -improved by culture. Long habits, however, of theological and -ecclesiastical controversy had cultivated a certain species of acuteness -of mind into such disproportioned activity, that other parts of his -intellectual and moral nature had been dwarfed and dwindled beside it. -What might, under other circumstances, have been agreeable and useful -tact, became in him a constant and life-long _habit_ of stratagem. While -other people look upon words as vehicles for conveying ideas, Dr. -Packthread regarded them only as mediums for concealment. His constant -study, on every controverted topic, was so to adjust language that, with -the appearance of the utmost precision, it should always be capable of a -double interpretation. He was a cunning master of all forms of -indirection; of all phrases by which people _appear_ to say what they do -not say, and _not_ to say what they _do_ say. - -He was an adept also in all the mechanism of ecclesiastical debate, of -the intricate labyrinths of heresy-hunting, of every scheme by which -more simple and less advised brethren, speaking with ignorant sincerity, -could be entrapped and deceived. He was _au fait_ also in all compromise -measures, in which two parties unite in one form of words, meaning by -them exactly opposite ideas, and call the agreement a _union_. He was -also expert in all those parliamentary modes, in synod or general -assembly, by which troublesome discussions could be avoided or disposed -of, and credulous brethren made to believe they had gained points which -they had not gained; by which discussions could be at will blinded with -dusty clouds of misrepresentation, or trailed on through interminable -marshes of weariness, to accomplish some manoeuvre of ecclesiastical -tactics. - -Dr. Packthread also was master of every means by which the influence of -opposing parties might be broken. He could spread a convenient report on -necessary occasions, by any of those forms which do not assert, but -which disseminate a slander quite as certainly as if they did. If it was -necessary to create a suspicion of the orthodoxy, or of the piety, or -even of the morality, of an opposing brother, Dr. Packthread understood -how to do it in the neatest and most tasteful manner. He was an -infallible judge whether it should be accomplished by innocent -interrogations, as to whether you had heard "so and so of Mr. ----;" or, -by "charitably expressed hopes that you had not heard so and so;" or, by -gentle suggestions, whether it would not be as well to inquire; or, by -shakes of the head, and lifts of the eyes, at proper intervals in -conversation; or, lastly, by _silence_ when silence became the strongest -as well as safest form of assertion. - -In person, he was rather tall, thin, and the lines of his face appeared, -every one of them, to be engraved by caution and care. In his boyhood -and youth, the man had had a trick of smiling and laughing without -considering why; the grace of prudence, however, had corrected all this. -He never did either, in these days, without understanding precisely what -he was about. His face was a part of his stock in trade, and he -understood the management of it remarkably well. He knew precisely all -the gradations of smile which were useful for accomplishing different -purposes. The solemn smile, the smile of inquiry, the smile affirmative, -the smile suggestive, the smile of incredulity, and the smile of -innocent credulity, which encouraged the simple-hearted narrator to go -on unfolding himself to the brother, who sat quietly behind his face, as -a spider does behind his web, waiting till his unsuspecting friend had -tangled himself in incautious, impulsive, and, of course, contradictory -meshes of statement, which were, in some future hour, in the most gentle -and Christian spirit, to be tightened around the incautious captive, -while as much blood was sucked as the good of the cause demanded. - -It is not to be supposed that the Rev. Dr. Packthread, so skilful and -adroit as we have represented him, failed in the necessary climax of -such skill--that of deceiving himself. Far from it. Truly and honestly -Dr. Packthread thought himself one of the hundred and forty and four -thousand, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, in whose mouth is -found no guile. _Prudence_ he considered the chief of Christian graces. -He worshipped Christian prudence, and the whole category of -accomplishments which we have described he considered as the fruits of -it. His prudence, in fact, served him all the purposes that the stock of -the tree did to the ancient idolater. "With part thereof he eateth -flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and -saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: and the residue thereof he -maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it, and -worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art -my god." - -No doubt, Dr. Packthread expected to enter heaven by the same judicious -arrangement by which he had lived on earth; and so he went on, from year -to year, doing deeds which even a political candidate would blush at; -violating the most ordinary principles of morality and honor; while he -sung hymns, made prayers, and administered sacraments, expecting, no -doubt, at last to enter heaven by some neat arrangement of words used in -two senses. - -Dr. Packthread's cautious agreeableness of manner formed a striking -contrast to the innocent and almost child-like simplicity with which -father Dickson, in his threadbare coat, appeared at his side. Almost as -poor in this world's goods as his Master, father Dickson's dwelling had -been a simple one-story cottage, in all, save thrift and neatness, very -little better than those of the poorest; and it was a rare year when a -hundred dollars passed through his hands. He had seen the time when he -had not even wherewithal to take from the office a necessary letter. He -had seen his wife suffer for medicine and comforts, in sickness. He had -himself ridden without overcoat through the chill months of winter; but -all those things he had borne as the traveller bears a storm on the way -to his home; and it was beautiful to see the unenvying, frank, simple -pleasure which he seemed to feel in the elegant and abundant home of his -brother, and in the thousand appliances of hospitable comfort by which -he was surrounded. The spirit within us that lusteth to envy had been -chased from his bosom by the expulsive force of a higher love; and his -simple and unstudied acts of constant good-will showed that simple -Christianity can make the gentleman. Father Dickson was regarded by his -ministerial brethren with great affection and veneration, though wholly -devoid of any ecclesiastical wisdom. They were fond of using him much as -they did their hymn-books and testaments, for their better hours of -devotion; and equally apt to let slip his admonitions, when they came to -the hard, matter-of-fact business of ecclesiastical discussion and -management; yet they loved well to have him with them, as they felt -that, like a psalm or a text, his presence in some sort gave sanction to -what they did. - -In due time there was added to the number of the circle our joyous, -out-spoken friend, father Bonnie, fresh from a recent series of -camp-meetings in a distant part of the state, and ready at a minute's -notice for either a laugh or a prayer. Very little of the stereotype -print of his profession had he; the sort of wild woodland freedom of his -life giving to his manners and conversation a tone of sylvan roughness, -of which Dr. Packthread evidently stood in considerable doubt. Father -Bonnie's early training had been that of what is called, in common -parlance, a "self-made man." He was unsophisticated by Greek or Latin, -and had rather a contempt for the forms of the schools, and a joyous -determination to say what he pleased on all occasions. There were also -present one or two of the leading Presbyterian ministers of the north. -They had, in fact, come for a private and confidential conversation with -Dr. Cushing concerning the reunion of the New School Presbyterian Church -with the Old. - -It may be necessary to apprise some of our readers, not conversant with -American ecclesiastical history, that the Presbyterian Church of America -is divided into two parties in relation to certain theological points, -and that the adherents on either side call themselves _old_ or _new_ -school. Some years since, these two parties divided, and each of them -organized its own general assembly. - -It so happened that all the slaveholding interest, with some very -inconsiderable exceptions, went into the old school body. The great -majority of the new school body were avowedly anti-slavery men, -according to a solemn declaration, which committed the whole -Presbyterian Church to those sentiments in the year eighteen hundred and -eighteen. And the breach between the two sections was caused quite as -much by the difference of feeling between the northern and southern -branches on the subject of slavery, as by any differences of doctrine. - -After the first jar of separation was over, thoughts of reunion began to -arise on both sides, and to be quietly discussed among leading minds. - -There is a power in men of a certain class of making an organization of -any kind, whether it be political or ecclesiastical, an object of -absorbing and individual devotion. Most men feel empty and insufficient -of themselves, and find a need to ballast their own insufficiency by -attaching themselves to something of more weight than they are. They put -their stock of being out at interest, and invest themselves somewhere -and in something; and the love of wife or child is not more absorbing -than the love of the bank where the man has invested himself. It is -true, this power is a noble one; because thus a man may pass out of -self, and choose God, the great good of all, for his portion. But human -weakness falls below this; and, as the idolater worships the infinite -and unseen under a visible symbol till it effaces the memory of what is -signified, so men begin by loving institutions for God's sake, which -come at last to stand with them in the place of God. - -Such was the Rev. Dr. Calker. He was a man of powerful though narrow -mind, of great energy and efficiency, and of that capability of abstract -devotion which makes the soldier or the statesman. He was earnestly and -sincerely devout, as he understood devotion. He began with loving the -church for God's sake, and ended with loving her better than God. And, -by the church, he meant the organization of the Presbyterian Church in -the United States of America. Her cause, in his eyes, was God's cause; -her glory, God's glory; her success, the indispensable condition of the -millennium; her defeat, the defeat of all that was good for the human -race. His devotion to her was honest and unselfish. - -Of course Dr. Calker estimated all interests by their influence on the -Presbyterian Church. He weighed every cause in the balance of her -sanctuary. What promised extension and power to her, _that_ he -supported. What threatened defeat or impediment, _that_ he was ready to -sacrifice. He would, at any day, sacrifice himself and all his interests -to that cause, and he felt equally willing to sacrifice others and -their interests. The anti-slavery cause he regarded with a simple eye to -this question. It was a disturbing force, weakening the harmony among -brethren, threatening disruption and disunion. He regarded it, -therefore, with distrust and aversion. He would read no facts on that -side of the question. And when the discussions of zealous brethren would -bring frightful and appalling statements into the general assembly, he -was too busy in seeking what could be said to ward off their force, to -allow them to have much influence on his own mind. Gradually he came to -view the whole subject with dislike, as a pertinacious intruder in the -path of the Presbyterian Church. That the whole train of cars, laden -with the interests of the world for all time, should be stopped by a -ragged, manacled slave across the track, was to him an impertinence and -absurdity. What was he, that the Presbyterian Church should be divided -and hindered for him? So thought the exultant thousands who followed -Christ, once, when the blind beggar raised his importunate clamor, and -they bade him hold his peace. So thought not HE, who stopped the tide of -triumphant success, that he might call the neglected one to himself, and -lay his hands upon him. - -Dr. Calker had from year to year opposed the agitation of the slavery -question in the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church, knowing -well that it threatened disunion. When, in spite of all his efforts, -disunion came, he bent his energies to the task of reuniting; and he was -the most important character in the present caucus. - -Of course a layman, and a young man also, would feel some natural -hesitancy in joining at once in the conversation of those older than -himself. Clayton, therefore, sat at the hospitable breakfast-table of -Dr. Cushing rather as an auditor than as a speaker. - -"Now, brother Cushing," said Dr. Calker, "the fact is, there never was -any need of this disruption. It has crippled the power of the church, -and given the enemy occasion to speak reproachfully. Our divisions are -playing right into the hands of the Methodists and Baptists; and ground -that we might hold, united, is going into their hands every year." - -"I know it," said Dr. Cushing, "and we southern brethren mourn over it, -I assure you. The fact is, brother Calker, there's no such doctrinal -division, after all. Why, there are brethren among us that are as new -school as Dr. Draper, and we don't meddle with them." - -"Just so," replied Dr. Calker; "and we have true-blue old school men -among us." - -"I think," said Dr. Packthread, "that, with suitable care, a document -might be drawn up which will meet the views on both sides. You see, we -must get the extreme men on both sides to agree to hold still. Why, now, -I am called new school; but I wrote a set of definitions once, which I -showed to Dr. Pyke, who is as sharp as any body on the other side, and -he said, 'He agreed with them entirely.' Those N---- H---- men are -incautious." - -"Yes," said Dr. Calker, "and it's just dividing the resources and the -influence of the church for nothing. Now, those discussions as to the -time when moral agency begins are, after all, of no great account in -practical workings." - -"Well," said Dr. Cushing, "it's, after all, nothing but the tone of your -abolition fanatics that stands in the way. These slavery discussions in -general assembly have been very disagreeable and painful to our people, -particularly those of the western brethren. They don't understand us, -nor the delicacy of our position. They don't know that we need to be let -alone in order to effect anything. Now, I am for trusting to the -softening, meliorating influences of the Gospel. The kingdom of God -cometh not with observation. I trust that, in his mysterious providence, -the Lord will see fit, in his own good time, to remove this evil of -slavery. Meanwhile, brethren ought to possess their souls in patience." - -"Brother Cushing," said father Dickson, "since the assembly of eighteen -hundred and eighteen, the number of slaves has increased in this country -four-fold. New slave states have been added, and a great, regular system -of breeding and trading organized, which is filling all our large cities -with trading-houses. The ships of our ports go out as slavers, carrying -loads of miserable creatures down to New Orleans; and there is a -constant increase of this traffic through the country. This very summer -I was at the death-bed of a poor girl, only seventeen or eighteen, who -had been torn from all her friends and sent off with a coffle; and she -died there in the wilderness. It does seem to me, brother Cushing, that -this silent plan does not answer. We are not half as near to -emancipation, apparently, as we were in eighteen hundred and eighteen." - -"Has there ever been any attempt," said Clayton, "among the Christians -of your denominations, to put a stop to this internal slave-trade?" - -"Well," said Dr. Cushing, "I don't know that there has, any further than -general preaching against injustice." - -"Have you ever made any movement in the church to prevent the separation -of families?" said Clayton. - -"No, not exactly. We leave that thing to the conscience of individuals. -The synods have always enjoined it on professors of religion to treat -their servants according to the spirit of the Gospel." - -"Has the church ever endeavored to influence the legislature to allow -general education?" said Clayton. - -"No; that subject is fraught with difficulties," said Dr. Cushing. "The -fact is, if these rabid northern abolitionists would let us alone, we -might, perhaps, make a movement on some of these subjects. But they -excite the minds of our people, and get them into such a state of -inflammation, that we cannot do anything." - -During all the time that father Dickson and Clayton had been speaking, -Dr. Calker had been making minutes with a pencil on a small piece of -paper, for future use. It was always disagreeable to him to hear of -slave-coffles and the internal slave-trade; and, therefore, when -anything was ever said on these topics, he would generally employ -himself in some other way than listening. Father Dickson he had known of -old as being remarkably pertinacious on those subjects; and therefore, -when he began to speak, he took the opportunity of jotting down a few -ideas for a future exigency. He now looked up from his paper and -spoke:-- - -"Oh, those fellows are without any reason--perfectly wild and crazy! -They are monomaniacs! They cannot see but one subject anywhere. Now, -there's father Ruskin, of Ohio--there's nothing can be done with that -man! I have had him at my house hours and hours, talking to him, and -laying it all down before him, and showing him what great interests he -was compromising. But it didn't do a bit of good. He just harps on one -eternal string. Now, it's all the pushing and driving of these fellows -in the general assembly that made the division, in my opinion." - -"We kept it off a good many years," said Dr. Packthread; "and it took -all our ingenuity to do it, I assure you. Now, ever since eighteen -hundred and thirty-five, these fellows have been pushing and crowding in -every assembly; and we have stood faithfully in our lot, to keep the -assembly from doing anything which could give offence to our southern -brethren. We have always been particular to put them forward in our -public services, and to show them every imaginable deference. I think -our brethren ought to consider how hard we have worked. We had to be -instant in season and out of season, I can tell you. I think I may claim -some little merit," continued the doctor, with a cautious smile -spreading over his face; "if I have any talent, it is a capacity in the -judicious use of language. Now, sometimes brethren will wrangle a whole -day, till they all get tired and sick of a subject; and then just let a -man who understands the use of terms step in, and sometimes, by omitting -a single word, he will alter the whole face of an affair. I remember one -year those fellows were driving us up to make some sort of declaration -about slavery. And we really had to do it, because it wouldn't do to -have the whole west split off; and there was a three days' fight, till -finally we got the thing pared down to the lowest terms. We thought we -would pass a resolution that slavery was a _moral evil_, if the southern -brethren liked that better than the old way of calling it a sin, and we -really were getting on quite harmoniously, when some of the southern -ultras took it up; and they said that moral evil meant the same as sin, -and that would imply a censure on the brethren. Well, it got late, and -some of the hottest ones were tired and had gone off; and I just quietly -drew my pen across the word _moral_, and read the resolution, and it -went unanimously. Most ministers, you see, are willing to call slavery -an _evil_--the trouble lay in that word _moral_. Well, that capped the -crater for that year. But, then, they were at it again the very next -time they came together, for those fellows never sleep. Well, then we -took a new turn. I told the brethren we had better get it on to the -ground of the reserved rights of presbyteries and synods, and decline -interfering. Well, then, that was going very well, but some of the -brethren very injudiciously got up a resolution in the assembly -recommending disciplinary measures for dancing. That was passed without -much thought, because, you know, there's no great interest involved in -dancing, and, of course, there's nobody to oppose such a resolution; -but, then, it was very injudicious, under the circumstances; for the -abolitionists made a handle of it immediately, and wanted to know why we -couldn't as well recommend a discipline for slavery; because, you see, -dancing isn't a sin, _per se_, any more than slavery is; and they -haven't done blowing their trumpets over us to this day." - -Here the company rose from breakfast, and, according to the good old -devout custom, seated themselves for family worship. Two decent, -well-dressed black women were called in, and also a negro man. At father -Dickson's request, all united in singing the following hymn:-- - - - "Am I a soldier of the cross, - A follower of the Lamb; - And shall I fear to own his cause, - Or blush to speak his name? - Must I be carried to the skies - On flowery beds of ease, - While others fought to win the prize, - And sailed through bloody seas? - Sure I must fight if I would reign; - Increase my courage, Lord! - I'll bear the cross, endure the shame, - Supported by thy word - The saints, in all this glorious war, - Shall conquer, though they die; - They see the victory from afar, - With faith's discerning eye. - When that illustrious day shall rise, - And all thine armies shine - In robes of victory through the skies, - The glory shall be thine." - - -Anybody who had seen the fervor with which these brethren now united in -singing these stanzas, might have supposed them a company of the -primitive martyrs and confessors, who, having drawn the sword and -thrown away the scabbard, were now ready for a millennial charge on the -devil and all his works. None sung with more heartiness than Dr. -Packthread, for his natural feelings were quick and easily excited; nor -did he dream he was not a soldier of the cross, and that the species of -skirmishes he had been describing were not all in accordance with the -spirit of the hymn. Had you interrogated him, he would have shown you a -syllogistic connection between the glory of God and the best good of the -universe, and the course he had been pursuing. So that, if father -Dickson had supposed the hymn would act as a gentle suggestion, he was -very much mistaken. As to Dr. Calker, he joined, with enthusiasm, -applying it all the while to the enemies of the Presbyterian Church, in -the same manner as Ignatius Loyola might have sung it, applying it to -Protestantism. Dr. Cushing considered the conflict described as wholly -an internal one, and thus all joined alike in swelling the chorus:-- - - - "A soldier for Jesus, hallelujah! - Love and serve the Lord." - - -Father Dickson read from the Bible as follows:-- - -"Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our consciences, that in -simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the -grace of God, we have our conversation in the world." - -Father Dickson had many gentle and quiet ways, peculiar to himself, of -suggesting his own views to his brethren. Therefore, having read these -verses, he paused, and asked Dr. Packthread "if he did not think there -was danger of departing from this spirit, and losing the simplicity of -Christ, when we conduct Christian business on worldly principles." - -Dr. Packthread cordially assented, and continued to the same purpose in -a strain so edifying as entirely to exhaust the subject; and Dr. Calker, -who was thinking of the business that was before them, giving an uneasy -motion here, they immediately united in the devotional exercises, which -were led with great fervor by Dr. Cushing. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -THE RESULT. - - -After the devotional services were over, Dr. Calker proceeded -immediately with the business that he had in his mind. "Now, brother -Cushing," he said, "there never was any instrumentality raised up by -Providence to bring in the latter day equal to the Presbyterian Church -in the United States of America. It is the great hope of the world; for -here, in this country, we are trying the great experiment for all ages; -and, undoubtedly, the Presbyterian Church comes the nearest perfection -of any form of organization possible to our frail humanity. It is the -ark of the covenant for this nation, and for all nations. Missionary -enterprises to foreign countries, tract societies, home missionary, -seamen's friend societies, Bible societies, Sunday-school unions, all -are embraced in its bosom; and it grows in a free country, planted by -God's own right hand, with such laws and institutions as never were -given to mortal man before. It is carrying us right on to the -millennium; and all we want is _union_. United, we stand the most -glorious, the most powerful institution in the world. Now, there was no -need for you southern brethren to be so restive as you were. We were -doing all we could to keep down the fire, and keep things quiet, and you -ought not to have bolted so. Since you have separated from us, what have -we done? I suppose you thought we were going to blaze out in a regular -abolition fury; but you see we haven't done it. We haven't done any more -than when we were united. Just look at our minutes, and you'll see it. -We have strong and determined abolitionists among us, and they are -constantly urging and pushing. There have been great public excitements -on the subject of slavery, and we have been plagued and teased to -declare ourselves, but we haven't done it in a single instance--not one. -You see that Ruskin and his clique have gone off from us, because we -would hold still. It is true that now and then we had to let some -anti-slavery man preach an opening sermon, or something of that sort; -but, then, opening sermons are nothing; they don't commit anybody; they -don't show the opinion of anybody but the speaker. In fact, they don't -express any more than that declaration of eighteen hundred and eighteen, -which stands unrepealed on _your_ records, as well as on ours. Of -course, we are all willing to say that slavery is an evil, 'entirely -inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel,' and all that, because -that's on your own books; we only agree to say nothing about it, -nowadays, in our public capacity, because what was said in eighteen -hundred and eighteen is all-sufficient, and prevents the odium and -scandal of public controversy now. Now, for proof that what I have just -said is true, look at the facts. We had three presbyteries in -slave-holding states when we started, and now we have over twenty, with -from fifteen to twenty thousand members. That must show you what our -hearts are on this subject. And have we not always been making overtures -for reunion--really humbling ourselves to you, brethren? Now, I say you -ought to take these facts into account; our slave-holding members and -churches are left as perfectly undisturbed, to manage in their own way, -as yours. To be sure, some of those western men will fire off a -remonstrance once a year, or something of that sort. Just let them do -that; it keeps them easy and contented. And, so long as there is really -no interfering in the way of discipline or control, what harm is done? -You ought to bear some with the northern brethren, unreasonable as they -are; and we may well have a discussion every year, to let off the -steam." - -"For my part," said father Bonnie, "I want union, I'm sure. I'd tar and -feather those northern abolitionists, if I could get at them!" - -"_Figuratively_, I suppose," said Dr. Packthread, with a gentle smile. - -"Yes, figuratively and literally too," said father Bonnie, laughing. -"Let them come down here, and see what they'll get! If they will set the -country in a blaze, they ought to be the first ones to be warmed at the -fire. For my part, brethren, I must say that you lose time and strength -by your admissions, all of you. You don't hit the buck in the eye. I -thank the Lord that I am delivered from the bondage of thinking slavery -a sin, or an evil, in any sense. Our abolitionist brethren have done one -good thing; they have driven us up to examine the Scriptures, and there -we find that slavery is not only permitted but appointed, enjoined. It -is a divine institution. If a northern abolitionist comes at me now, I -shake the Bible at him, and say, 'Nay, but, oh man, who art thou that -repliest against God?' Hath not the potter power over the clay, to make -one lump to honor, and another to dishonor? I tell you, brethren, it -blazes from every page of the Scriptures. You'll never do anything till -you get on to that ground. A man's conscience is always hanging on to -his skirts; he goes on just like a bear with a trap on his legs--can't -make any progress that way. You have got to get your feet on the rock of -ages, I can tell you, and get the trap off your leg. There's nothing -like the study of the Scriptures to clear a fellow's mind." - -"Well, then," said Clayton, "would it not be well to repeal the laws -which forbid the slaves to learn to read, and put the Scriptures into -their hands? These laws are the cause of a great deal of misery and -immorality among the slaves, and they furnish abolitionists with some of -their strongest arguments." - -"Oh," said father Bonnie, "that will never do, in the world! It will -expose them to whole floods of abolition and incendiary documents, -corrupt their minds, and make them discontented." - -"Well," said Dr. Cushing, "I have read Dr. Carnes' book, and I must say -that the scriptural argument lies, in my mind, on the other side." - -"Hang Dr. Carnes' book!" said father Bonnie. - -"Figuratively, I suppose," said Dr. Packthread. - -"Why, Dr. Carnes' much learning has made him mad!" said father Bonnie. -"I don't believe anything that can't be got out of a plain English -Bible. When a fellow goes shuffling off in a Hebrew fog, in a Latin fog, -in a Greek fog, I say, 'Ah, my boy, you are treed! you had better come -down!' Why, is it not plain enough to any reader of the Bible, how the -apostles talked to the slaves? They didn't fill their heads with stuff -about the rights of man. Now, see here, just at a venture," he said, -making a dive at a pocket-Bible that lay on the table,--"now, just let -me read you, '_Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and -equal_.' Sho! sho! that isn't the place I was thinking of. It's here, -'_Servants, obey your masters!_' There's into them, you see! 'Obey your -masters that are in the flesh.' Now, these abolitionists won't even -allow that we are masters!" - -"Perhaps," said Clayton, quietly, "if the slaves could read, they'd pay -more attention to the first passage that you favored us with." - -"Oh, likely," said father Bonnie, "because, you see, their interests -naturally would lead them to pervert Scripture. If it wasn't for that -perverting influence of self-love, I, for my part, would be willing -enough to put the Scriptures into their hands." - -"I suppose," said Clayton, "there's no such danger in the case of us -masters, is there?" - -"I say," said father Bonnie, not noticing the interruption, "Cushing, -you ought to read Fletcher's book. That book, sir, is a sweater, I can -tell you; I sweat over it, I know; but it does up this Greek and Hebrew -work thoroughly, I promise you. Though I can't read Greek or Hebrew, I -see there's heaps of it there. Why, he takes you clear back to the -creation of the world, and drags you through all the history and -literature of the old botherers of all ages, and he comes down on the -fathers like forty. There's Chrysostom and Tertullian, and all the rest -of those old cocks, and the old Greek philosophers, besides,--Plato and -Aristotle, and all the rest of them. If a fellow wants learning, there -he'll get it. I declare, I'd rather cut my way through the Dismal Swamp -in dog-days! But I was determined to be thorough; so I off coat, and -went at it. And, there's no mistake about it, Cushing, you must get the -book. You'll feel so much better, if you'll settle your mind on that -point. I never allow myself to go trailing along with anything hanging -by the gills. I am an out-and-outer. Walk up to the captain's office and -settle! That's what I say." - -"We shall all have to do that, one of these days," said father Dickson, -"and maybe we shall find it one thing to settle with the clerk, and -another to settle with the captain!" - -"Well, brother Dickson, you needn't look at me with any of your solemn -faces! I'm settled, now." - -"For my part," said Dr. Packthread, "I think, instead of condemning -slavery in the abstract, we ought to direct our attention to its -abuses." - -"And what do you consider its abuses?" said Clayton. - -"Why, the separation of families, for instance," said Dr. Packthread, -"and the forbidding of education." - -"You think, then," said Clayton, "that the slave ought to have a legal -right to his family?" - -"Yes." - -"Of course, he ought to have the legal means of maintaining it?" - -"Yes." - -"Then, of course, he ought to be able to enter suit when this right is -violated, and to bear testimony in a court of justice?" - -"Yes." - -"And do you think that the master ought to give him what is just and -equal, in the way of wages?" - -"Certainly, in one shape or another," said Dr. Packthread. - -"And ought the slave to have the means of enforcing this right?" - -"Certainly." - -"Then the slave ought to be able to hold property?" - -"Yes." - -"And he should have the legal right to secure education, if he desires -it?" - -"Yes." - -"Well," said Clayton, "when the slave has a legal existence and legal -rights, can hold property and defend it, acquire education and protect -his family relations, he ceases to be a slave; for slavery consists in -the fact of legal incapacity for any of these things. It consists in -making a man a dead, inert substance in the hands of another, holding -men _pro nullis, pro mortuis_. What you call reforming abuses is -abolishing slavery. It is in this very way that I wish to seek its -abolition, and I desire the aid of the church and ministry in doing it. -Now, Dr. Packthread, what efforts has the church as yet made to reform -these abuses of slavery?" - -There was a silence of some minutes. At last Dr. Cushing replied,-- - -"There has been a good deal of effort made in oral religious -instruction." - -"Oh, yes," said father Bonnie, "our people have been at it with great -zeal in our part of the country. I have a class, myself, that I have -been instructing in the Assembly's Catechism, in the oral way; and the -synods have taken it up, and they are preaching the Gospel to them, and -writing catechisms for them." - -"But," said Clayton, "would it not be best to give them a legal ability -to obey the Gospel? Is there any use in teaching the sanctity of -marriage, unless you obtain for husbands and wives the legal right to -live faithful to each other? It seems to me only cruelty to awaken -conscience on that subject, without giving the protection and assistance -of law." - -"What he says is very true," said Dr. Cushing, with emphasis. "We -ministers are called to feel the necessity of that with regard to our -slave church-members. You see, we are obliged to preach unlimited -obedience to masters; and yet,--why, it was only last week, a very -excellent pious mulatto woman in my church came to me to know what she -should do. Her master was determined she should live with him as a -mistress; yet she has a husband on the place. How am I to advise her? -The man is a very influential man, and capable of making a good deal of -commotion; besides which, she will gain nothing by resistance, but to be -sold away to some other master who will do worse. Now, this is a very -trying case to a minister. I'm sure, if anything could be done, I'd be -glad; but the fact is, the moment a person begins to move in the least -to reform these abuses, he is called an abolitionist, and the whole -community is down on him at once. That's the state these northern -fanatics have got us into." - -"Oh, yes," said Dr. Baskum, a leading minister, who had recently come -in. "Besides, a man can't do everything! We've got as much as we can -stagger under on our shoulders, now. We've got the building up of the -church to attend to. That's the great instrumentality which at last will -set everything straight. We must do as the apostles did,--confine -ourselves to preaching the Gospel, and the Gospel will bring everything -else in its train. The world can't be made over in a day. We must do one -thing at a time. We can't afford, just at present, to tackle in with all -our other difficulties the odium and misrepresentation of such a -movement. The minute we begin to do anything which looks like -restraining the rights of masters, the cry of church and state and -abolition will be raised, and we shall be swamped!" - -"But," said father Dickson, "isn't it the right way first to find out -our duty and do it, and then leave the result with God? Ought we to take -counsel of flesh and blood in matters like these?" - -"Of course not," said Dr. Packthread. "But there is a wise way and an -unwise way of doing things. We are to consider the times, and only -undertake such works as the movements of Divine Providence seem to -indicate. I don't wish to judge for brethren. A time may come when it -will be their duty to show themselves openly on this subject; but, in -order to obtain a foothold for the influences of the Gospel to work on, -it may be necessary to bear and forbear with many evils. Under the -present state of things, I hope many of the slaves are becoming -hopefully pious. Brethren seem to feel that education will be attended -with dangers. Probably it might. It would seem desirable to secure the -family relations of the slaves, if it could be done without too much -sacrifice of more important things. After all, the kingdom of our Lord -Jesus Christ is not of this world. The apostles entered no public -protest against the abuses of slavery, that we read of." - -"It strikes me," said Clayton, "that there is a difference between our -position under a republican government,--in which we vote for our -legislators, and, in fact, make the laws ourselves, and have the -admitted right to seek their repeal,--and that of the apostles, who were -themselves slaves, and could do nothing about the laws. We make our own -laws, and every one of us is responsible for any unjust law which we do -not do our best to alter. We have the right to agitate, write, print, -and speak, and bring up the public mind to the point of reform; and, -therefore, we are responsible if unjust laws are not repealed." - -"Well," said father Dickson, "God forgive me that I have been so remiss -in times past! Henceforth, whatever others may do, I will not confer -with flesh and blood; but I will go forth and declare the word of the -Lord plainly to this people, and show unto the house of Judah their -transgressions. And now I have one thing to say to our dear northern -brethren. I mourn over the undecided course which they take. Brethren in -slave states are beset with many temptations. The whole course of public -opinion is against them. They need that their northern brethren should -stand firm, and hold up their hands. Alas! how different has been their -course! Their apologies for this mighty sin have weakened us more than -all things put together. Public opinion is going back. The church is -becoming corrupted. Ministers are drawn into connivance with deadly sin. -Children and youth are being ruined by habits of early tyranny. Our land -is full of slave-prisons; and the poor trader--no man careth for his -soul! Our poor whites are given up to ignorance and licentiousness; and -our ministers, like our brother Bonnie, here, begin to defend this evil -from the Bible. Brother Calker, here, talks of the Presbyterian Church. -Alas! in her skirts is found the blood of poor innocents, and she is -willing, for the sake of union, to destroy them for whom Christ died. -Brethren, you know not what you do. You enjoy the blessings of living in -a land uncursed by any such evils. Your churches, your schools, and all -your industrial institutions, are going forward, while ours are going -backward; and you do not feel it, because you do not live among us. But -take care! One part of the country cannot become demoralized without, at -last, affecting the other. The sin you cherish and strengthen by your -indifference may at last come back in judgments that may visit even you. -I pray God to avert it! But, as God is just, I tremble for you and for -us! Well, good-by, brethren; I must be on my way. You will not listen to -me, and my soul cannot come into your counsels." - -And father Dickson rose to depart. - -"Oh, come, come, now, brother, don't take it so seriously!" said Dr. -Cushing. "Stay, at least, and spend the day with us, and let us have a -little Christian talk." - -"I must go," said father Dickson. "I have an appointment to preach, -which I must keep, for this evening, and so I must bid you farewell. I -hoped to do something by coming here; but I see that it is all in vain. -Farewell, brethren; I shall pray for you." - -"Well, father Dickson, I should like to talk more with you on this -subject," said Dr. Cushing. "Do come again. It is very difficult to see -the path of duty in these matters." - -Poor Dr. Cushing was one of those who are destined, like stationary -ships, forever to float up and down in one spot, only useful in marking -the ebb and flood of the tide. Affection, generosity, devotion, he -had--everything but the power to move on. - -Clayton, who had seen at once that nothing was to be done or gained, -rose, and said that his business was also pressing, and that he would -accompany father Dickson on his way. - -"What a good fellow Dickson is!" said Cushing, after he returned to the -room. - -"He exhibits a very excellent spirit," said Dr. Packthread. - -"Oh, Dickson would do well enough," said Dr. Calker, "if he wasn't a -monomaniac. That's what's the matter with him! But when he gets to going -on this subject, I never hear what he says. I know it's no use to reason -with him--entirely time lost. I have heard all these things over and -over again." - -"But I wish," said Dr. Cushing, "something could be done." - -"Well, who doesn't?" said Dr. Calker. "We all wish something could be -done; but, if it can't, it can't; there's the end of it. So now let us -proceed, and look into business a little more particularly." - -"After all," said Dr. Packthread, "you old school brethren have greatly -the advantage of us. Although you have a few poor good souls, like this -Dickson, they are in so insignificant a minority that they can do -nothing--can't even get into the general assembly, or send in a -remonstrance, or petition, or anything else; so that you are never -plagued as we are. We cannot even choose a moderator from the -slave-holding states, for fear of an explosion; but you can have -slave-holding moderators, or anything else that will promote harmony and -union." - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -THE SLAVE'S ARGUMENT. - - -On his return home, Clayton took from the post-office a letter, which we -will give to our readers:-- - - - "MR. CLAYTON: I am now an outcast. I cannot show my face in the - world, I cannot go abroad by daylight; for no crime, as I can see, - except resisting oppression. Mr. Clayton, if it were proper for - your fathers to fight and shed blood for the oppression that came - upon them, why isn't it right for us? They had not half the - provocation that we have. Their wives and families were never - touched. They were not bought, and sold, and traded, like cattle in - the market, as we are. In fact, when I was reading that history, I - could hardly understand what provocation they did have. They had - everything easy and comfortable about them. They were able to - support their families, even in luxury. And yet they were willing - to plunge into war, and shed blood. I have studied the Declaration - of Independence. The things mentioned there were bad and - uncomfortable, to be sure; but, after all, look at the laws which - are put over _us_! Now, if they had forbidden them to teach their - children to read,--if they had divided them all out among masters, - and declared them as incapable of holding property as the mule - before the plough,--there would have been some sense in that - revolution. - - "Well, how was it with our people in South Carolina? Denmark Vesey - was a _man_! His history is just what George Washington's would - have been, if you had failed. What set him on in his course? The - Bible and your Declaration of Independence. What does your - Declaration say? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that - _all men are created equal_; that they are endowed by their Creator - with certain _inalienable_ rights: that among these are life, - liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That _to secure these - rights_ governments are instituted among men. That _whenever any - form of government becomes destructive of any of these ends, it is - the right of the people to alter or to abolish it_. Now, what do - you make of that? This is read to us every Fourth of July. It was - read to Denmark Vesey and Peter Poyas, and all those other brave, - good men, who dared to follow your example and your precepts. Well, - they failed, and your people hung them. And they said they couldn't - conceive what motive could have induced them to make the effort. - They had food enough, and clothes enough, and were kept very - comfortable. Well, had not your people clothes enough, and food - enough? and wouldn't you still have had enough, even if you had - remained a province of England to this day,--much better living, - much better clothes, and much better laws, than we have to-day? I - heard your father's interpretation of the law; I heard Mr. Jekyl's; - and yet, when men rise up against such laws, you wonder what in the - world could have induced them! That's perfectly astonishing! - - "But, of all the injuries and insults that are heaped upon us, - there is nothing to me so perfectly maddening as the assumption of - your religious men, who maintain and defend this enormous injustice - by the Bible. We have all the right to rise against them that they - had to rise against England. They tell us the Bible says, - 'Servants, obey your masters.' Well, the Bible says, also, 'The - powers that be are ordained of God, and whoso resisteth the power, - resisteth the ordinance of God.' If it was right for them to resist - the ordinance of God, it is right for us. If the Bible does justify - slavery, why don't they teach the slave to read it? And what's the - reason that two of the greatest insurrections came from men who - read scarcely anything else but the Bible? No, the fact is, they - don't believe this themselves. If they did, they would try the - experiment fairly of giving the Bible to their slaves. I can assure - you the Bible looks as different to a slave from what it does to a - master, as everything else in the world does. - - "Now, Mr. Clayton, you understand that when I say _you_, along - here, I do not mean you personally, but the generality of the - community of which you are one. I want you to think these things - over, and, whatever my future course may be, remember my excuse for - it is the same as that on which your government is built. - - "I am very grateful to you for all your kindness. Perhaps the time - may come when I shall be able to show my gratitude. Meanwhile, I - must ask one favor of you, which I think you will grant for the - sake of that angel who is gone. I have a sister, who, as well as - myself, is the child of Tom Gordon's father. She was beautiful and - good, and her owner, who had a large estate in Mississippi, took - her to Ohio, emancipated and married her. She has two children by - him, a son and a daughter. He died, and left his estate to her and - her children. Tom Gordon is the heir-at-law. He has sued for the - property, and obtained it. The act of emancipation has been - declared null and void, and my sister and her children are in the - hands of that man, with all that absolute power; and they have no - appeal from him for any evil whatever. She has escaped his hands, - so she wrote me once; but I have heard a report that he has taken - her again. The pious Mr. Jekyl will know all about it. Now, may I - ask you to go to him, and make inquiries, and let me know? A letter - sent to Mr. James Twitchel, at the post-office near Canema, where - our letters used to be taken, will get to me. By doing this favor, - you will secure my eternal gratitude. - - "HARRY GORDON." - - -Clayton read this letter with some surprise, and a good deal of -attention. It was written on very coarse paper, such as is commonly sold -at the low shops. Where Harry was, and how concealed, was to him only a -matter of conjecture. But the call to render him any assistance was a -sacred one, and he determined on a horseback excursion to E., the town -where Mr. Jekyl resided. - -He found that gentleman very busy in looking over and arranging papers -in relation to that large property which had just come into Tom Gordon's -hands. He began by stating that the former owner of the servants at -Canema had requested him, on her death-bed, to take an interest in her -servants. He had therefore called to ascertain if anything had been -heard from Harry. - -"Not yet," said Mr. Jekyl, pulling up his shirt-collar. "Our -plantations in this vicinity are very unfortunate in their proximity to -the swamp. It's a great expense of time and money. Why, sir, it's -inconceivable the amount of property that's lost in that swamp! I have -heard it estimated at something like three millions of dollars! We -follow them up with laws, you see. They are outlawed regularly, after a -certain time, and then the hunters go in and chase them down; sometimes -kill two or three a day, or something like that. But on the whole, they -don't effect much." - -"Well," said Clayton, who felt no disposition to enter into any -discussion with Mr. Jekyl, "so you think he is there?" - -"Yes, I have no doubt of it. The fact is, there's a fellow that's been -seen lurking about this swamp, off and on, for years and years. -Sometimes he isn't to be seen for months; and then again he is seen or -heard of, but never so that anybody can get hold of him. I have no doubt -the niggers on the plantation know him; but, then, you can never get -anything out of them. Oh, they are deep! They are a dreadfully corrupt -set!" - -"Mr. Gordon has, I think, a sister of Harry's, who came in with this new -estate," said Mr. Clayton. - -"Yes, yes," said Mr. Jekyl. "She has given us a good deal of trouble, -too. She got away, and went off to Cincinnati, and I had to go up and -hunt her out. It was really a great deal of trouble and expense. If I -hadn't been assisted by the politeness and kindness of the marshal and -brother officers, it would have been very bad. There is a good deal of -religious society, too, in Cincinnati; and so, while I was waiting, I -attended anniversary meetings." - -"Then you did succeed," said Clayton. "I came to see whether Mr. Gordon -would listen to a proposition for selling her." - -"Oh, he has sold her!" said Mr. Jekyl. "She is at Alexandria, now, in -Beaton & Burns' establishment." - -"And her children, too?" - -"Yes, the lot. I claim some little merit for that, myself. Tom is a -fellow of rather strong passions, and he was terribly angry for the -trouble she had made. I don't know what he would have done to her, if I -hadn't talked to him. But I showed him some debts that couldn't be put -off any longer without too much of a sacrifice; and, on the whole, I -persuaded him to let her be sold. I have tried to exert a good influence -over him, in a quiet way," said Mr. Jekyl. "Now, if you want to get the -woman, like enough she may not be sold, as yet." - -Clayton, having thus ascertained the points which he wished to know, -proceeded immediately to Alexandria. When he was there, he found a -considerable excitement. - -"A slave-woman," it was said, "who was to have been sent off in a coffle -the next day, had murdered her two children." - -The moment that Clayton heard the news, he felt an instinctive certainty -that this woman was Cora Gordon. He went to the magistrate's court, -where the investigation was being held, and found it surrounded by a -crowd so dense that it was with difficulty he forced his way in. At the -bar he saw seated a woman dressed in black, whose face, haggard and wan, -showed yet traces of former beauty. The splendid dark eyes had a -peculiar and fierce expression. The thin lines of the face were settled -into an immovable fixedness of calm determination. There was even an air -of grave, solemn triumph on her countenance. She appeared to regard the -formalities of the court with the utmost indifference. At last she -spoke, in a clear, thrilling, distinct voice,-- - -"If gentlemen will allow me to speak, I'll save them the trouble of that -examination of witnesses. It's going a long way round to find out a very -little thing." - -There was an immediate movement of curiosity in the whole throng, and -the officer said.-- - -"You are permitted to speak." - -She rose deliberately, untied her bonnet-strings, looked round the whole -court, with a peculiar but calm expression of mingled triumph and power. - -"You want to know," she said, "who killed those children! Well, I will -tell you;" and again her eyes travelled round the house, with that same -strong, defiant expression; "I killed them!" - -There was a pause, and a general movement through the house. - -"Yes," she said, again, "I killed them! And, oh, how glad I am that I -have done it! Do you want to know what I killed them for? Because I -loved them!--loved them so well that I was willing to give up my soul to -save theirs! I have heard some persons say that I was in a frenzy, -excited, and didn't know what I was doing. They are mistaken. I was not -in a frenzy; I was not excited; and I did know what I was doing! and I -bless God that it is done! I was born the slave of my own father. Your -old proud Virginia blood is in my veins, as it is in half of those you -whip and sell. I was the lawful wife of a man of honor, who did what he -could to evade your cruel laws, and set me free. My children were born -to liberty; they were brought up to liberty, till my father's son -entered a suit for us, and made us _slaves_. Judge and jury helped -him--all your laws and your officers helped him--to take away the rights -of the widow and the fatherless! The judge said that my son, being a -slave, could no more hold property than the mule before his plough; and -we were delivered into Tom Gordon's hands. I shall not say what he is. -It is not fit to be said. God will show at the judgment-day. But I -escaped, with my children, to Cincinnati. He followed me there, and the -laws of your country gave me back to him. To-morrow I was to have gone -in a coffle and leave these children--my son a slave for life--my -daughter"-- She looked round the court-room with an expression which -said more than words could have spoken. "So I heard them say their -prayers and sing their hymns, and then, while they were asleep and -didn't know it, I sent them to lie down in green pastures with the Lord. -They say this is a dreadful sin. It may be so. I am willing to lose my -soul to have _theirs saved_. I have no more to hope or fear. It's all -nothing, now, where I go or what becomes of me. But, at any rate, they -are safe. And, now, if any of you mothers, in my place, wouldn't have -done the same, you either don't know what slavery is, or you don't love -your children as I have loved mine. This is all." - -She sat down, folded her arms, fixed her eyes on the floor, and seemed -like a person entirely indifferent to the further opinions and -proceedings of the court. - -She was remanded to jail for trial. Clayton determined, in his own -mind, to do what he could for her. Her own declaration seemed to make -the form of a trial unnecessary. He resolved, however, to do what he -could to enlist for her the sympathy of some friends of his in the city. - -The next day he called with a clergyman, and requested permission to see -her. When they entered her cell, she rose to receive them with the most -perfect composure, as if they had called upon her in a drawing-room. -Clayton introduced his companion as the Rev. Mr. Denton. There was an -excited flash in her eyes, but she said, calmly,-- - -"Have the gentlemen business with me?" - -"We called," said the clergyman, "to see if we could render you any -assistance." - -"No, sir, you cannot!" was the prompt reply. - -"My dear friend," said the clergyman, in a very kind tone, "I wish it -were in my power to administer to you the consolations of the Gospel." - -"I have nothing to do," she answered, firmly, "with ministers who -pretend to preach the Gospel, and support oppression and robbery! Your -hands are defiled with blood!--so don't come to me! I am a prisoner, -here, and cannot resist. But, when I tell you that I prefer to be left -alone, perhaps it may have some effect, even if I am a slave!" - -Clayton took out Harry's letter, handed it to her, and said:-- - -"After you have read this, you will, perhaps, receive me, if I should -call again to-morrow, at this hour." - -The next day when Clayton called, he was conducted by the jailer to the -door of the cell. - -"There is a lady with her now, reading to her." - -"Then I ought not to interrupt her," said Clayton, hesitating. - -"Oh, I suspect it would make no odds," said the jailer. - -Clayton laid his hand on his to stop him. The sound that came -indistinctly through the door was the voice of prayer. Some woman was -interceding, in the presence of eternal pity, for an oppressed and -broken-hearted sister. After a few moments the door was partly opened, -and he heard a sweet voice, saying:-- - -"Let me come to you every day, may I? I know what it is to suffer." - -A smothered sob was the only answer; and then followed words, -imperfectly distinguished, which seemed to be those of consolation. In a -moment the door was opened, and Clayton found himself suddenly face to -face with a lady in deep mourning. She was tall, and largely -proportioned; the outlines of her face strong, yet beautiful, and now -wearing the expression which comes from communion with the highest and -serenest nature. Both were embarrassed, and made a momentary pause. In -the start she dropped one of her gloves. Clayton picked it up, handed it -to her, bowed, and she passed on. By some singular association, this -stranger, with a serious, radiant face, suggested to him the sparkling, -glittering beauty of Nina; and it seemed for a moment, as if Nina was -fluttering by him in the air, and passing away after her. When he -examined the emotion more minutely afterwards, he thought, perhaps, it -might have been suggested by the perception, as he lifted the glove, of -a peculiar and delicate perfume, which Nina was fond of using. So -strange and shadowy are the influences which touch the dark, electric -chain of our existence. - -When Clayton went into the cell, he found its inmate in a softened mood. -There were traces of tears on her cheek, and an open Bible on the bed; -but her appearance was calm and self-possessed, as usual. She said:-- - -"Excuse my rudeness, Mr. Clayton, at your last visit. We cannot always -command ourselves to do exactly what we should. I thank you very much -for your kindness to us. There are many who are kindly disposed towards -us; but it's very little that they can do." - -"Can I be of any assistance in securing counsel for you?" said Clayton. - -"I don't need any counsel. I don't wish any," said she. "I shall make no -effort. Let the law take its course. If you ever should see Harry, give -my love to him--that's all! And, if you can help him, pray do! If you -have time, influence, or money to spare, and can get him to any country -where he will have the common rights of a human being, pray do, and the -blessing of the poor will come on you! That's all I have to ask." - -Clayton rose to depart. He had fulfilled the object of his mission. He -had gained all the information, and more than all, that he wished. He -queried with himself whether it were best to write to Harry at all. The -facts that he had to relate were such as were calculated to kindle to a -fiercer flame the excitement which was now consuming him. He trembled, -when he thought of it, lest that excitement should blaze out in forms -which should array against him, with still more force, that society with -which he was already at war. Thinking, however, that Harry, perhaps, -might obtain the information in some less guarded form, he sat down and -wrote him the following letter: - - - "I have received your letter. I need not say that I am sorry for - all that has taken place--sorry for your sake, and for the sake of - one very dear both to me and to you. Harry, I freely admit that you - live in a state of society which exercises a great injustice. I - admit your right, and that of all men, to life, liberty, and the - pursuit of happiness. I admit the right of an oppressed people to - change their form of government, _if they can_. I admit that your - people suffer under greater oppression than ever our fathers - suffered. And, if I believed that they were capable of obtaining - and supporting a government, I should believe in their right to - take the same means to gain it. But I do not, at present; and I - think, if you reflect on the subject, you will agree with me. I do - not think that, should they make an effort, they would succeed. - They would only embitter the white race against them, and destroy - that sympathy which many are beginning to feel for their oppressed - condition. I know it seems a very unfeeling thing for a man who is - at ease to tell one, who is oppressed and suffering, to be patient; - and yet I must even say it. It is my place, and your place, to seek - repeal of the unjust laws which oppress you. I see no reason why - the relation of master and servants may not be continued through - our states, and the servants yet be free men. I am satisfied that - it would be for the best interests of master as well as slave. If - this is the truth, time will make it apparent, and the change will - come. With regard to you, the best counsel I can give is, that you - try to escape to some of the northern states; and I will furnish - you with means to begin life there under better auspices. I am very - sorry that I have to tell you something very painful about your - sister. She was sold to a trading-house in Alexandria, and, in - desperation, has killed both her children! For this she is now in - prison, awaiting her trial! I have been to see her, and offered - every assistance in my power. She declines all. She does not wish - to live, and has already avowed the fact; making no defence, and - wishing none to be made for her. Another of the bitter fruits of - this most unrighteous system! She desired her love and kind wishes - to you. Whatever more is to be known, I will tell you at some - future time. - - "After all that I have said to you in this letter, I cannot help - feeling, for myself, how hard, and cold, and insufficient it must - seem to you! If I had such a sister as yours, and her life had been - so wrecked, I feel that I might not have patience to consider any - of these things; and I am afraid you will not. Yet I feel this - injustice to my heart. I feel it like a personal affliction; and, - God helping me, I will make it the object of my life to remedy it! - Your sister's trial will not take place for some time; and she has - friends who do all that can be done for her." - - -Clayton returned to his father's house, and related the result of his -first experiment with the clergy. - -"Well, now," said Mrs. Clayton, "I must confess I was not prepared for -this." - -"I was," said Judge Clayton. "It's precisely what I expected. You have -tried the Presbyterians, with whom our family are connected; and now you -may go successively to the Episcopalians, the Methodists, the Baptists, -and you will hear the same story from them all. About half of them -defend the thing from the Bible, in the most unblushing, disgusting -manner. The other half acknowledge and lament it as an evil; but they -are cowed and timid, and can do nothing." - -"Well," said Clayton, "the greatest evidence to my mind of the -inspiration of the Scriptures is, that they are yet afloat, when every -new absurdity has been successively tacked to them." - -"But," said Mrs. Clayton, "are there no people that are faithful?" - -"None in this matter that I know of," said Judge Clayton, "except the -Covenanters and the Quakers among us, and the Free-will Baptists and a -few others at the north. And their number and influence is so small, -that there can be no great calculation made on them for assistance. Of -individuals, there are not a few who earnestly desire to do something; -but they are mostly without faith or hope, like me. And from the -communities--from the great organizations in society--no help whatever -is to be expected." - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -THE DESERT. - - -There's no study in human nature more interesting than the aspects of -the same subject seen in the points of view of different characters. One -might almost imagine that there were no such thing as absolute truth, -since a change of situation or temperament is capable of changing the -whole force of an argument. We have been accustomed, even those of us -who feel most, to look on the arguments for and against the system of -slavery with the eyes of those who are at ease. We do not even know how -fair is freedom, for we were always free. We shall never have all the -materials for absolute truth on this subject, till we take into account, -with our own views and reasonings, the views and reasonings of those who -have bowed down to the yoke, and felt the iron enter into their souls. -We all console ourselves too easily for the sorrows of others. We talk -and reason coolly of that which, did we feel it ourselves, would take -away all power of composure and self-control. We have seen how the -masters feel and reason; how good men feel and reason, whose public -opinion and Christian fellowship support the master, and give him -confidence in his position. We must add, also, to our estimate, the -feelings and reasonings of the slave; and, therefore, the reader must -follow us again to the fastness in the Dismal Swamp. - -It is a calm, still, Indian-summer afternoon. The whole air is flooded -with a golden haze, in which the tree-tops move dreamily to and fro, as -if in a whispering reverie. The wild climbing grape-vines, which hang in -thousand-fold festoons round the inclosure, are purpling with grapes. -The little settlement now has among its inmates Old Tiff and his -children, and Harry and his wife. The children and Tiff had been -received in the house of the widow whose husband had fallen a victim to -the hunters, as we mentioned in one of our former chapters. All had -united in building for Harry and Lisette a cabin contiguous to the -other. - -Old Tiff, with his habitual industry, might now be seen hoeing in the -sweet-potato patch, which belonged to the common settlement. The -children were roaming up and down, looking after autumn flowers and -grapes. - -Dred, who had been out all the night before, was now lying on the ground -on the shady side of the clearing, with an old, much-worn, much-thumbed -copy of the Bible by his side. It was the Bible of Denmark Vesey, and in -many a secret meeting its wild, inspiring poetry had sounded like a -trumpet in his youthful ear. - -He lay with his elbow resting on the ground, his hands supporting his -massive head, and his large, gloomy, dark eyes fixed in reverie on the -moving tree-tops as they waved in the golden blue. Now his eye followed -sailing islands of white cloud, drifting to and fro above them. There -were elements in him which might, under other circumstances, have made -him a poet. - -His frame, capacious and energetic as it was, had yet that keenness of -excitability which places the soul _en rapport_ with all the great -forces of nature. The only book which he had been much in the habit of -reading--the book, in fact, which had been the nurse and forming power -of his soul--was the Bible, distinguished above all other literature for -its intense sympathy with nature. Dred, indeed, resembled in -organization and tone of mind some of those men of old who were dwellers -in the wilderness, and drew their inspirations from the desert. - -It is remarkable that, in all ages, communities and individuals who have -suffered under oppression have always fled for refuge to the Old -Testament, and to the book of Revelation in the New. Even if not -definitely understood, these magnificent compositions have a wild, -inspiring power, like a wordless yet impassioned symphony played by a -sublime orchestra, in which deep and awful sub-bass instruments mingle -with those of ethereal softness, and wild minors twine and interlace -with marches of battles and bursts of victorious harmony. - -They are much mistaken who say that nothing is efficient as a motive -that is not definitely understood. Who ever thought of understanding the -mingled wail and roar of the Marseillaise? Just this kind of indefinite -stimulating power has the Bible to the souls of the oppressed. There is -also a disposition, which has manifested itself since the primitive -times, by which the human soul, bowed down beneath the weight of mighty -oppressions, and despairing, in its own weakness, seizes with avidity -the intimations of a coming judgment, in which the Son of Man, appearing -in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, shall right earth's -mighty wrongs. - -In Dred's mind this thought had acquired an absolute ascendency. All -things in nature and in revelation he interpreted by this key. - -During the prevalence of the cholera, he had been pervaded by a wild and -solemn excitement. To him it was the opening of a seal--the sounding of -the trumpet of the first angel. And other woes were yet to come. - -He was not a man of personal malignity to any human being. When he -contemplated schemes of insurrection and bloodshed, he contemplated them -with the calm, immovable firmness of one who felt himself an instrument -of doom in a mightier hand. In fact, although seldom called into -exercise by the incidents of his wild and solitary life, there was in -him a vein of that gentleness which softens the heart towards children -and the inferior animals. The amusement of his vacant hours was -sometimes to exercise his peculiar gifts over the animal creation, by -drawing towards him the birds and squirrels from the coverts of the -forest, and giving them food. Indeed, he commonly carried corn in the -hunting-dress which he wore, to use for this purpose. Just at this -moment, as he lay absorbed in reverie, he heard Teddy, who was near him, -calling to his sister,-- - -"Oh, Fanny, do come and see this squirrel, he is so pretty!" - -Fanny came running, eagerly. "Where is he?" she said. - -"Oh, he is gone; he just went behind that tree." - -The children, in their eagerness, had not perceived how near they were -to Dred. He had turned his face towards them, and was looking at them -with a pleased expression, approaching to a smile. - -"Do you want to see him?" he said. "Stop a few minutes." - -He rose and scattered a train of corn between him and the thicket, and, -sitting down on the ground, began making a low sound, resembling the -call of the squirrel to its young. In a few moments Teddy and Fanny were -in a tremor of eager excitement, as a pair of little bright eyes -appeared among the leaves, and gradually their owner, a brisk little -squirrel, came out and began rapidly filling its chops with the corn. -Dred still continued, with his eyes fixed on the animal, to make the -same noise. Very soon two others were seen following their comrade. The -children laughed when they saw the headmost squirrel walk into Dred's -hand, which he had laid upon the ground, the others soon following his -example. Dred took them up, and, softly stroking them, they seemed to -become entirely amenable to his will; and, to amuse the children, he let -them go into his hunting-pouch to eat the corn that was there. After -this, they seemed to make a rambling expedition over his whole person, -investigating his pockets, hiding themselves in the bosom of his shirt, -and seeming apparently perfectly fearless, and at home. - -Fanny reached out her hand, timidly. "Won't they come to me?" she said. - -"No, daughter," said Dred, with a smile, "they don't know you. In the -new earth the enmity will be taken away, and then they'll come." - -"I wonder what he means by the new earth!" said Fanny. - -Dred seemed to feel a kind of pleasure in the admiration of the -children, to which, perhaps, no one is wholly insensible. He proceeded, -therefore, to show them some other of his accomplishments. The wood was -resounding with the afternoon song of birds, and Dred suddenly began -answering one of the songsters with an exact imitation of his note. The -bird evidently heard it, and answered back with still more spirit; and -thus an animated conversation was kept up for some time. - -"You see," he said, "that I understand the speech of birds. After the -great judgment, the elect shall talk with the birds and the beasts in -the new earth. Every kind of bird has a different language, in which -they show why men should magnify the Lord, and turn from their -wickedness. But the sinners cannot hear it, because their ear is waxed -gross." - -"I didn't know," said Fanny, hesitating, "as that was so. How did you -find it out?" - -"The Spirit of the Lord revealed it unto me, child." - -"What is the Spirit?" said Fanny, who felt more encouraged, as she saw -Dred stroking a squirrel. - -"It's the Spirit that spoke in the old prophets," he said. - -"Did it tell you what the birds say?" - -"I am not perfected in holiness yet, and cannot receive it. But the -birds fly up near the heavens, wherefore they learn droppings of the -speech of angels. I never kill the birds, because the Lord hath set them -between us and the angels for a sign." - -"What else did the Spirit tell you?" said Teddy. - -"He showed me that there was a language in the leaves," said Dred. "For -I rose and looked, and, behold, there were signs drawn on the leaves, -and forms of every living thing, with strange words, which the wicked -understand not, but the elect shall read them. And, behold, the signs -are in blood, which is the blood of the Lamb, that descendeth like dew -from heaven." - -Fanny looked puzzled. "Who are the elect?" she said. - -"They?" said Dred. "They are the hundred and forty and four thousand, -that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. And the angels have charge, -saying, 'Hurt not the earth till these are sealed in their forehead.'" - -Fanny instinctively put her hand to her forehead. "Do you think they'll -seal me?" she said. - -"Yes," said Dred; "such as you are of the kingdom." - -"Did the Spirit tell you that?" said Fanny, who felt some considerable -anxiety. - -"Yea, the Spirit hath shown me many such things," said Dred. "It hath -also revealed to me the knowledge of the elements, the revolutions of -the planets, the operations of the tide, and changes of the seasons." - -Fanny looked doubtfully, and, taking up her basket of wild grapes, -slowly moved off, thinking that she would ask Tiff about it. - -At this moment there was a rustling in the branches of the oak-tree -which overhung a part of the clearing near where Dred was lying, and -Harry soon dropped from the branches on to the ground. Dred started up -to receive him. - -"How is it?" said he. "Will they come?" - -"Yes; by midnight to-night they will be here. See here," he added, -taking a letter from his pocket, "what I have received." - -It was the letter which Clayton had written to Harry. It was remarkable, -as Dred received it, how the wandering mystical expression of his face -immediately gave place to one of shrewd and practical earnestness. He -sat down on the ground, laid it on his knee, and followed the lines with -his finger. Some passages he seemed to read over two or three times with -the greatest attention, and he would pause after reading them, and sat -with his eyes fixed gloomily on the ground. The last part seemed to -agitate him strongly. He gave a sort of suppressed groan. - -"Harry," he said, turning to him, at last, "behold the day shall come -when the Lord shall take out of our hand the cup of trembling, and put -it into the hand of those that oppress us. Our soul is exceedingly -filled now with the scorning of them that are at ease, and with the -contempt of the proud. The prophets prophesy falsely, the rulers bear -rule by their means, and the people love to have it so. But what will it -be in the end thereof? Their own wickedness shall reprove them, and -their backsliding shall correct them. Listen to me, Harry," he said, -taking up his Bible, "and see what the Lord saith unto thee. 'Thus saith -the Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter; whose possessors slay -them, and hold themselves not guilty, and they that sell them say, -blessed be the Lord for I am rich. And their own shepherds pity them -not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the -Lord. But, lo, I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbor's -hand, and into the hand of his king. And they shall smite the land, and -out of their hand I will not deliver them. And I will feed the flock of -slaughter, even you, O ye poor of the flock. And I took unto me two -staves: the one I called beauty, and the other I called bands. And I fed -the flock. And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder, that I -might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was -broken in that day, so the poor of the flock that waited on me knew it -was the word of the Lord. Then I cut asunder mine other stave, even -bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. The -burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which -stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, -and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem -a cup of trembling to all the people round about. Also in that day I -will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden -themselves with it shall be cut to pieces. In that day, saith the Lord, -I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every rider with -madness. And I will open mine eyes on the house of Judah, and will smite -every horse of the people with blindness. In that day I will make the -governors of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a -torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people on the -right and the left.' - -"Harry," said he, "these things are written for our learning. We will go -up and take away her battlements, for they are not the Lord's!" - -The gloomy fervor with which Dred read these words of Scripture, -selecting, as his eye glanced down the prophetic pages, passages whose -images most affected his own mind, carried with it an overpowering -mesmeric force. - -Who shall say that, in this world, where all things are symbolic, bound -together by mystical resemblances, and where one event is the archetype -of thousands, that there is not an eternal significance in these old -prophecies? Do they not bring with them "_springing_ and _germinant_ -fulfilments" wherever there is a haughty and oppressive nation, and a -"flock of the slaughter?" - -"Harry," said Dred, "I have fasted and prayed before the Lord, lying all -night on my face, yet the token cometh not! Behold, there are prayers -that resist me! The Lamb yet beareth, and the opening of the second seal -delayeth! Yet the Lord had shown unto me that we should be up and doing, -to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord! The Lord hath said unto -me. 'Speak to the elders, and to the prudent men, and prepare their -hearts.'" - -"One thing," said Harry, "fills me with apprehension. Hark, that brought -me this letter, was delayed in getting back; and I'm afraid that he'll -get into trouble. Tom Gordon is raging like a fury over the people of -our plantation. They have always been held under a very mild rule, and -every one knows that a plantation so managed is not so immediately -profitable as it can be made for a short time by forcing everything up -to the highest notch. He has got a man there for overseer--Old -Hokum--that has been famous for his hardness and meanness; and he has -delivered the people, unreservedly, into his hands. He drinks, and -frolics, and has his oyster-suppers, and swears he'll shoot any one that -brings him a complaint. Hokum is to pay him so much yearly, and have to -himself all that he makes over. Tom Gordon keeps two girls, there, that -he bought for himself and his fellows, just as he wanted to keep my -wife!" - -"Be patient, Harry! This is a great christianizing institution!" said -Dred, with a tone of grave irony. - -"I am afraid for Hark," said Harry. "He is the bravest of brave fellows. -He is ready to do anything for us. But if he is taken, there will be no -mercy." - -Dred looked on the ground, gloomily. "Hark was to be here to-night," he -said. - -"Yes," said Harry, "I wish we may see him." - -"Harry," said Dred, "when they come, to-night, read them the Declaration -of Independence of these United States, and then let each one judge of -our afflictions, and the afflictions of their fathers, and the Lord -shall be judge between us. I must go and seek counsel of the Lord." - -Dred rose, and, giving a leap from the ground, caught on the branch of -the oak, which overhung their head, and, swinging himself on the limb, -climbed in the thickness of the branches, and disappeared from view. -Harry walked to the other side of the clearing, where his lodge had been -erected. He found Lisette busy within. She ran to meet him, and threw -her arms around his neck. - -"I am so glad you've come back, Harry! It is so dreadful to think what -may happen to you while you are gone! Harry, I think we could be very -happy here. See what a nice bed I have made in this corner, out of -leaves and moss! The women are both very kind, and I am glad we have got -Old Tiff and the children here. It makes it seem more natural. See, I -went out with them, this afternoon, and how many grapes I have got! -What have you been talking to that dreadful man about? Do you know, -Harry, he makes me afraid? They say he is a prophet. Do you think he -is?" - -"I don't know, child," said Harry, abstractedly. - -"Don't stay with him too much!" said Lisette. "He'll make you as gloomy -as he is." - -"Do I need any one to make me gloomy?" said Harry. "Am I not gloomy -enough? Am I not an outcast? And you, too, Lisette?" - -"It isn't so very dreadful to be an outcast," said Lisette. "God makes -wild grapes for us, if we are outcasts." - -"Yes, child," said Harry, "you are right." - -"And the sun shines so pleasant, this afternoon!" said Lisette. - -"Yes," said Harry; "but by and by cold storms and rain will come, and -frosty weather!" - -"Well," said Lisette, "then we will think what to do next. But don't let -us lose this afternoon, and these grapes, at any rate." - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - -JEGAR SAHADUTHA. - - -At twelve o'clock, that night, Harry rose from the side of his sleeping -wife, and looked out into the darkness. The belt of forest which -surrounded them seemed a girdle of impenetrable blackness. But above, -where the tree-tops fringed out against the sky, the heavens were seen -of a deep, transparent violet, blazing with stars. He opened the door, -and came out. All was so intensely still that even the rustle of a leaf -could be heard. He stood listening. A low whistle seemed to come from a -distant part of the underwood. He answered it. Soon a crackling was -heard, and a sound of cautious, suppressed conversation. In a few -moments a rustling was heard in the boughs overhead. Harry stepped -under. - -"Who is there?" he said. - -"The camp of the Lord's judgment!" was the answer, and a dark form -dropped on the ground. - -"Hannibal?" said Harry. - -"Yes, Hannibal!" said the voice. - -"Thank God!" said Harry. - -But now the boughs of the tree were continually rustling, and one after -another sprang down to the ground, each one of whom pronounced his name, -as he came. - -"Where is the prophet?" said one. - -"He is not here," said Harry. "Fear not, he will be with us." - -The party now proceeded to walk, talking in a low voices. - -"There's nobody from the Gordon place, yet," said Harry, uneasily. - -"They'll be along," said one of them. "Perhaps Hokum was wakeful, -to-night. They'll give him the slip, though." - -The company had now arrived at the lower portion of the clearing, where -stood the blasted tree, which we formerly described, with its -funeral-wreaths of moss. Over the grave which had recently been formed -there Dred had piled a rude and ragged monument of stumps of trees, and -tufts of moss, and leaves. In the top of one of the highest stumps was -stuck a pine-knot, to which Harry now applied a light. It kindled, and -rose with a broad, red, fuliginous glare, casting a sombre light on the -circle of dark faces around. There were a dozen men, mulatto, quadroon, -and negro. Their countenances all wore an expression of stern gravity -and considerate solemnity. - -Their first act was to clasp their hands in a circle, and join in a -solemn oath never to betray each other. The moment this was done, Dred -emerged mysteriously from the darkness, and stood among them. - -"Brethren," he said, "this is the grave of your brother, whose wife they -would take for a prey! Therefore he fled to the wilderness. But the -assembly of the wicked compassed him about, and the dogs tore him, and -licked up his blood, and here I buried him! Wherefore, this heap is -called JEGAR SAHADUTHA! For the God of Abraham and Nahor, the God of -their fathers, shall judge betwixt us. He that regardeth not the oath of -brethren, and betrayeth counsel, let his arm fall from his -shoulder-blade! Let his arm be broken from the bone! Behold, this heap -shall be a witness unto you; for it hath heard all the words that ye -have spoken!" - -A deep-murmured "Amen" rose solemnly among them. - -"Brethren," said Dred, laying his hand upon Harry, "the Lord caused -Moses to become the son of Pharaoh's daughter, that he might become -learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, to lead forth his people from -the house of bondage. And, when he slew an Egyptian, he fled into the -wilderness, where he abode certain days, till the time of the Lord was -come. In like manner hath the Lord dealt with our brother. He shall -expound unto you the laws of the Egyptians; and for me, I will show you -what I have received from the Lord." - -The circle now sat down on the graves which were scattered around, and -Harry thus spoke:-- - -"Brothers, how many of you have been at Fourth of July celebrations?" - -"I have! I have! All of us!" was the deep response, uttered not -eagerly, but in low and earnest tones. - -"Brethren, I wish to explain to you to-night the story that they -celebrate. It was years ago that this people was small, and poor, and -despised, and governed by men sent by the King of England, who, they -say, oppressed them. Then they resolved that they would be free, and -govern themselves in their own way and make their own laws. For this -they were called rebels and conspirators; and, if they had failed, every -one of their leaders would have been hung, and nothing more said about -it. When they were agreeing to do this, they met together and signed a -paper, which was to show to all the world the reason why. You have heard -this read by them when the drums were beating and the banners flying. -Now hear it here, while you sit on the graves of men they have -murdered!" - -And, standing by the light of the flaring torch, Harry read that -document which has been fraught with so much seed for all time. What -words were those to fall on the ears of thoughtful bondmen! - -"Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed." -"When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the -same object, evinces a determination to reduce them under absolute -despotism, it is their _right_ and their _duty_ to throw off such -government." - -"Brothers," said Harry, "you have heard the grievances which our masters -thought sufficient to make it right for them to shed blood. They rose up -against their king, and when he sent his armies into the country, they -fired at them from the windows of the houses, and from behind the barns, -and from out of the trees, and wherever they passed, till they were -strong enough to get together an army, and fight them openly." - -"Yes," said Hannibal, "I heard my master's father tell of it. He was one -of them." - -"Now," said Harry, "the Lord judge between us and them, if the laws that -they put upon us be not worse than any that lay upon them. They -complained that they could not get justice done to them in the courts. -But how stands it with us, who cannot even come into a court to plead?" - -Harry then, in earnest and vehement language, narrated the abuse which -had been inflicted upon Milly; and then recited, in a clear and solemn -voice, that judicial decision which had burned itself into his memory, -and which had confirmed and given full license to that despotic power. -He related the fate of his own contract--of his services for years to -the family for which he had labored, all ending in worse than nothing. -And then he told his sister's history, till his voice was broken by -sobs. The audience who sat around were profoundly solemn; only -occasionally a deep, smothered groan seemed to rise from them -involuntarily. - -Hannibal rose. "I had a master in Virginny. He was a Methodist preacher. -He sold my wife and two children to Orleans, and then sold me. My next -wife was took for debt, and she's gone." - -A quadroon young man rose. "My mother was held by a minister in -Kentucky. My father was a good, hard-working man. There was a man set -his eye on her, and wanted her; but she wouldn't have anything to do -with him. Then she told her master, and begged him to protect her; but -he sold her. Her hair turned all white in that year, and she went crazy. -She was crazy till she died!" - -"I's got a story to tell, on that," said a middle-aged negro man, of low -stature, broad shoulders, and a countenance indicative of great -resolution, who now rose. "I's got a story to tell." - -"Go on, Monday," said Harry. - -"You spoke 'bout de laws. I's seen 'bout dem ar. Now, my brother Sam, he -worked with me on de great Morton place, in Virginny. And dere was going -to be a wedding dere, and dey wanted money, and so some of de colored -people was sold to Tom Parker, 'cause Tom Parker he was a buying up -round, dat ar fall; and he sold him to Souther, and he was one o' yer -drefful mean white trash, dat lived down to de bush. Well, Sam was nigh -'bout starved, and so he had to help hisself de best way he could; and -he used fur to trade off one ting and 'nother fur meal to Stone's store, -and Souther he told him 'dat he'd give him hell if he caught him.' So, -one day, when he missed something off de place, he come home and he -brought Stone with him, and a man named Hearvy. He told him dat he was -going to cotch it. I reckon dey was all three drunk. Any how, dey tied -him up, and Souther he never stopped to cut him, and to slash him, and -to hack him; and dey burned him with chunks from de fire, and dey -scalded him with boiling water. He was strong man, but dey worked on him -dat way all day, and at last he died. Dey hearn his screeches on all de -places round. Now, brethren, you jest see what was done 'bout it. Why, -mas'r and some of de gen'lemen round said dat Souther 'wasn't fit to -live,' and it should be brought in de courts; and sure 'nough it was; -and, 'cause he is my own brother, I listened for what dey would say. -Well, fust dey begun with saying dat it wan't no murder at all, 'cause -slaves, dey said, wan't people, and dey couldn't be murdered. But den de -man on t'oder side he read heaps o' tings to show dat dey _was_ -people--dat dey _was_ human critturs. Den de lawyer said dat dere wan't -no evidence dat Souther meant fur to kill him, any how. Dat it was de -right of de master to punish his slave any way he thought fit. And how -was he going to know dat it would kill him? Well, so dey had it back and -forth, and finally de jury said 'it was murder in de second degree.' -Lor! if dat ar's being murdered in de second degree, I like to know what -de fust is! You see, dey said he must go to de penitentiary for five -years. But, laws, he didn't, 'cause dere's ways enough o' getting out of -dese yer tings; 'cause he took it up to de upper court, and dey said -'dat it had been settled dat dere couldn't be noting done agin a mas'r -fur no kind of beating or 'busing of der own slaves. Dat de master must -be protected, even if 'twas ever so cruel.'[2] - -"So, now, brethren, what do you think of dat ar?" - -At this moment another person entered the circle. There was a general -start of surprise and apprehension, which immediately gave place to a -movement of satisfaction and congratulation. - -"You have come, have you, Henry?" said Harry. - -But at this moment the other turned his face full to the torch-light, -and Harry was struck with its ghastly expression. - -"For God's sake, what's the matter, Henry? Where's Hark?" - -"Dead!" said the other. - -As one struck with a pistol-shot leaps in the air, Harry bounded, with a -cry, from the ground. - -"Dead?" he echoed. - -"Yes, dead, at last! Dey's all last night a killing of him." - -"I thought so! Oh, I was afraid of it!" said Harry. "Oh, Hark! Hark! -Hark! God do so to me, and more also, if I forget this!" - -The thrill of a present interest drew every one around the narrator, who -proceeded to tell how "Hark having been too late on his return to the -plantation, had incurred the suspicion of being in communication with -Harry. How Hokum, Tom Gordon, and two of his drunken associates, had -gathered together to examine him by scourging. How his shrieks the night -before had chased sleep from every hut of the plantation. How he died, -and gave no sign." When he was through, there was dead and awful -silence. - -Dred, who had been sitting, during most of these narrations, bowed, with -his head between his knees, groaning within himself, like one who is -wrestling with repressed feeling, now rose, and, solemnly laying his -hand on the mound, said:-- - -"_Jegar Sahadutha!_ The God of their fathers judge between us! If they -had a right to rise up for their oppressions, shall they condemn us? For -judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off! Truth -is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter! Yea, truth faileth, -and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey! They are not -ashamed, neither can they blush! They declare their sin as Sodom, and -hide it not! The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth -himself! Therefore, forgive them not, saith the Lord!" - -Dred paused a moment, and stood with his hands uplifted. As a -thunder-cloud trembles and rolls, shaking with gathering electric fire, -so his dark figure seemed to dilate and quiver with the force of mighty -emotions. He seemed, at the moment, some awful form, framed to symbolize -to human eye the energy of that avenging justice which all nature -shudderingly declares. - -He trembled, his hands quivered, drops of perspiration rolled down his -face, his gloomy eyes dilated with an unutterable volume of emotion. At -last the words heaved themselves up in deep chest-tones; resembling the -wild, hollow wail of a wounded lion, finding vent in language to him so -familiar, that it rolled from his tongue in a spontaneous torrent, as if -he had received their first inspiration. - -"Hear ye the word of the Lord against this people! The harvest groweth -ripe! The press is full! The vats overflow! Behold, saith the -Lord--behold, saith the Lord, I will gather all nations, and bring them -down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them for my -people, whom they have scattered among the nations! Woe unto them, for -they have cast lots for my people, and given a boy for a harlot, and -sold a girl for wine, that they may drink! For three transgressions of -Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, saith -the Lord! Because they sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for -a pair of shoes! They pant after the dust on the head of the poor, and -turn aside the way of the meek! And a man and his father will go in unto -the same maid, to profane my holy name! Behold, saith the Lord, I am -pressed under you, as a cart is pressed full of sheaves! - -"The burden of the beasts of the South! The land of trouble and anguish, -from whence cometh the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery, flying -serpent! Go write it upon a table, and note it in a book, that it may be -for time to come, for ever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, -lying children--children that will not hear the law of the Lord! Which -say to the seers, See not! Prophesy not unto us right things! Speak unto -us smooth things! Prophesy deceits! Wherefore, thus saith the Holy one -of Israel, Because ye despise his word, and trust in oppression, and -perverseness, and stay thereon; therefore, this iniquity shall be to you -as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall whose breaking -cometh suddenly in an instant! And he shall break it as the breaking of -a potter's vessel!" - -Pausing for a moment, he stood with his hands tightly clasped before -him, leaning forward, looking into the distance. At last, with the -action and energy of one who beholds a triumphant reality, he broke -forth:-- - -"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments, from Bozrah? -This, that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of -his strength?" - -He seemed to listen, and, as if he had caught an answer, he repeated:-- - -"I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save!" - -"Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that -treadeth in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of -the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in my anger, -and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled on my -garments, and I will stain all my raiment! For the day of vengeance is -in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come! And I looked, and -there was none to help! And I wondered that there was none to uphold! -Therefore mine own arm brought salvation, and my fury it upheld me! For -I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my -fury!" - -Gradually the light faded from his face. His arms fell. He stood a few -moments with his head bowed down on his breast. Yet the spell of his -emotion held every one silent. At last, stretching out his hand, he -broke forth in passionate prayer: - -"How long, O Lord, how long? Awake! Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Why -withdrawest thou thy hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom! We see not the -sign! There is no more any prophet, neither any among us, that knoweth -how long! Wilt thou hold thy peace forever? Behold the blood of the poor -crieth unto thee! Behold how they hunt for our lives! Behold how they -pervert justice, and take away the key of knowledge! They enter not in -themselves, and those that are entering in they hinder! Behold our wives -taken for a prey! Behold our daughters sold to be harlots! Art thou a -God that judgest on the earth? Wilt thou not avenge thine own elect, -that cry unto thee day and night? Behold the scorning of them that are -at ease, and the contempt of the proud! Behold how they speak wickedly -concerning oppression! They set their mouth against the heavens, and -their tongue walketh through the earth! Wilt thou hold thy peace for all -these things, and afflict us very sore?" - -The energy of the emotion which had sustained him appeared gradually to -have exhausted itself. And, after standing silent for a few moments, he -seemed to gather himself together as a man waking out of a trance, and, -turning to the excited circle around him, he motioned them to sit down. -When he spoke to them in his ordinary tone:-- - -"Brethren," he said, "the vision is sealed up, and the token is not yet -come! The Lamb still beareth the yoke of their iniquities; there be -prayers in the golden censers which go up like a cloud! And there is -silence in heaven for the space of half an hour! But hold yourselves in -waiting, for the day cometh! And what shall be the end thereof?" - -A deep voice answered Dred. It was that of Hannibal. - -"We will reward them as they have rewarded us! In the cup that they have -filled to us we will measure to them again!" - -"God forbid," said Dred, "that the elect of the Lord should do that! -When the Lord saith unto us, Smite, then will we smite! We will not -torment them with the scourge and fire, nor defile their women, as they -have done with ours! But we will slay them utterly, and consume them -from off the face of the earth!" - -At this moment the whole circle were startled by the sound of a voice -which seemed to proceed deep in from among the trees, singing, in a wild -and mournful tone, the familiar words of a hymn:-- - - - "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, - And did my Sovereign die? - Would he devote that sacred head - For such a wretch as I?" - - -There was a dead silence as the voice approached still nearer, and the -chorus was borne upon the night air:-- - - - "Oh, the Lamb, the loving Lamb, - The Lamb of Calvary! - The Lamb that was slain, but liveth again, - To intercede for me!" - - -And as the last two lines were sung, Milly emerged and stood in the -centre of the group. When Dred saw her, he gave a kind of groan, and -said, putting his hand out before his face:-- - -"Woman, thy prayers withstand me!" - -"Oh, brethren," said Milly, "I mistrusted of yer councils, and I's been -praying de Lord for you. Oh, brethren, behold de Lamb of God! If dere -must come a day of vengeance, pray not to be in it! It's de Lord's -strange work. Oh, brethren, is we de fust dat's been took to de -judgment-seat? dat's been scourged, and died in torments? Oh, brethren, -who did it afore us? Didn't He hang bleeding three hours, when dey -mocked Him, and gave Him vinegar? Didn't He sweat great drops o' blood -in de garden?" - -And Milly sang again, words so familiar to many of them, that, -involuntarily, several voices joined her:-- - - - "Agonizing in the garden, - On the ground your Maker lies; - On the bloody tree behold Him, - Hear Him cry, before He dies, - It is finished! Sinners, will not this suffice?" - - -"Oh, won't it suffice, brethren!" she said. "If de Lord could bear all -dat, and love us yet, shan't we? Oh, brethren, dere's a better way. I's -been whar you be. I's been in de wilderness! Yes, I's heard de sound of -dat ar trumpet! Oh, brethren! brethren! dere was blackness and darkness -dere! But I's come to Jesus, de Mediator of de new covenant, and de -blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better tings than dat of Abel. -Hasn't _I_ suffered? My heart has been broke over and over for every -child de Lord give me! And, when dey sold my poor Alfred, and shot him, -and buried him like a dog, oh, but didn't my heart burn? Oh, how I hated -her dat sold him! I felt like I'd kill her! I felt like I'd be glad to -see mischief come on her children! But, brethren, de Lord turned and -looked upon me like he done on Peter. I saw him with de crown o' thorns -on his head, bleeding, bleeding, and I broke down and forgave her. And -de Lord turned her heart, and he was our peace. He broke down de middle -wall 'tween us, and we come together, two poor sinners, to de foot of de -cross. De Lord he judged her poor soul! She wan't let off from her sins. -Her chil'en growed up to be a plague and a curse to her! Dey broke her -heart! Oh, she was saved by fire--but, bress de Lord, she _was_ saved! -She died with her poor head on my arm--she dat had broke my heart! Wan't -dat better dan if I'd killed her? Oh, brethren, pray de Lord to give 'em -repentance! Leave de vengeance to him. Vengeance is mine--I will repay, -saith de Lord. Like he loved us when we was enemies, love yer enemies!" - -A dead silence followed this appeal. The key-note of another harmony had -been struck. At last Dred rose up solemnly:-- - -"Woman, thy prayers have prevailed for this time!" he said. "The hour is -not yet come!" - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] Lest any of our readers should think the dark witness who is -speaking mistaken in his hearing, we will quote here the words which -stand on the Virginia law records, in reference to this very case. - -"It has been decided by this court, in Turner's case, that the owner of -a slave, for the _malicious, cruel, and excessive beating of his own -slave, cannot be indicted_.... It is the policy of the law in respect to -the relation of the master and slave and for the sake of securing proper -subordination and obedience on the part of the slave, to _protect the -master from prosecution even if the whipping and punishment be -malicious, cruel, and excessive_."--7 _Grattan_, 673, 1851, _Souther vs. -Commonwealth_. - -Any one who has sufficiently strong nerves to peruse the records of this -trial will see the effect of the slave system on the moral sensibilities -of educated men. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -FRANK RUSSEL'S OPINIONS. - - -Clayton was still pursuing the object which he had undertaken. He -determined to petition the legislature to grant to the slave the right -of seeking legal redress in cases of injury; and, as a necessary to -this, the right of bearing testimony in legal action. As Frank Russel -was candidate for the next state legislature, he visited him for the -purpose of getting him to present such a petition. - -Our readers will look in on the scene, in a small retired back room of -Frank's office, where his bachelor establishment as yet was kept. -Clayton had been giving him an earnest account of his plans and designs. - -"The only safe way of gradual emancipation," said Clayton, "is the -reforming of law; and the beginning of all legal reform must of course -be giving the slave legal personality. It's of no use to enact laws for -his protection in his family state, or in any other condition, till we -open to him an avenue through which, if they are violated, his -grievances can be heard, and can be proved. A thousand laws for his -comfort, without this, are only a dead letter." - -"I know it," said Frank Russel; "there never was anything under heaven -so atrocious as our slave-code. It's a bottomless pit of oppression. -Nobody knows it so well as we lawyers. But, then, Clayton, it's quite -another thing what's to be done about it." - -"Why, I think it's very plain what's to be done," said Clayton. "Go -right forward and enlighten the community. Get the law reformed. That's -what I have taken for my work; and, Frank, you must help me." - -"Hum!" said Frank. "Now, the fact is, Clayton, if I wore a stiff white -neckcloth, and had a _D. D._ to my name, I should tell you that the -interests of Zion stood in the way, and that it was my duty to preserve -my influence, for the sake of being able to take care of the Lord's -affairs. But, as I am not so fortunate, I must just say, without further -preface, that it won't do for me to compromise Frank Russel's interests. -Clayton, I can't afford it--that's just it. It won't do. You see, our -party can't take up that kind of thing. It would be just setting up a -fort from which our enemies could fire on us at their leisure. If I go -in to the legislature, I have to go in by my party. I have to represent -my party, and, of course, I can't afford to do anything that will -compromise them." - -"Well, now, Frank," said Clayton, seriously and soberly, "are you going -to put your neck into such a noose as this, to be led about all your -life long--the bond-slave of a party?" - -"Not I, by a good deal!" said Russel. "The noose will change ends, one -of these days, and I'll drag the party. But we must all stoop to -conquer, at first." - -"And do you really propose nothing more to yourself than how to rise in -the world?" said Clayton. "Isn't there any great and good work that has -beauty for you! Isn't there anything in heroism and self-sacrifice?" - -"Well," said Russel, after a short pause, "may be there is; but, after -all, Clayton, _is_ there? The world looks to me like a confounded -humbug, a great hoax, and everybody is going in for grub; and, I say, -hang it all, why shouldn't I have some of the grub, as well as the -rest?" - -"Man shall not live by bread alone!" said Clayton. - -"Bread's a pretty good thing, though, after all," said Frank shrugging -his shoulders. - -"But," said Clayton, "Frank, I am in earnest, and you've got to be. I -want you to go with me down to the depths of your soul, where the water -is still, and talk to me on honor. This kind of half-joking way that you -have isn't a good sign, Frank; it's too old for you. A man that makes a -joke of everything at your age, what will he do before he is fifty? Now, -Frank, you do know that this system of slavery, if we don't reform it, -will eat out this country like a cancer." - -"I know it," said Frank. "For that matter, it has eaten into us pretty -well." - -"Now," said Clayton, "if for nothing else, if we had no feeling of -humanity for the slave, we must do something for the sake of the whites, -for this is carrying us back into barbarism, as fast as we can go. -Virginia has been ruined by it--run all down. North Carolina, I believe, -has the unenviable notoriety of being the most ignorant and poorest -state in the Union. I don't believe there's any country in old, despotic -Europe where the poor are more miserable, vicious, and degraded, than -they are in our slave states. And it's depopulating us; our men of -ability, in the lower classes, who want to be respectable, won't stand -it. They will go off to some state where things _move on_. Hundreds and -hundreds move out of North Carolina, every year, to the Western States. -And it's all this unnatural organization of society that does it. We -have got to contemplate some mode of abolishing this evil. We have got -to take the first step towards progress, some time, or we ourselves are -all undone." - -"Clayton," said Frank, in a tone now quite as serious as his own, "I -tell you, as a solemn fact, that we can't do it. Those among us who have -got the power in their hands are determined to keep it, and they are -wide awake. They don't mean to let the _first_ step be taken, because -they don't mean to lay down their power. The three fifths vote that they -get by it is a thing they won't part with. They'll die first. Why, just -look at it! There is at least twenty-four millions of property held in -this way. What do you suppose these men care about the poor whites, and -the ruin of the state, and all that? The poor whites may go to the -devil, for all them; and as for the ruin of the state, it won't come in -_their_ day; and 'after us the deluge,' you know. That's the talk! These -men are our masters; they are yours; they are mine; they are masters of -everybody in these United States. They can crack their whips over the -head of any statesman or clergyman, from Maine to New Orleans, that -disputes their will. They govern the country. Army, navy, treasury, -church, state, everything is theirs, and whoever is going to get up must -go up on their ladder. There isn't any other ladder. There isn't an -interest, not a body of men, in these whole United States, that they -can't control; and I tell you, Clayton, you might as well throw ashes -into the teeth of the north wind, as undertake to fight their influence. -Now, if there was any hope of doing any good by this, if there was the -least prospect of succeeding, why, I'd join in with you; but there -isn't. The thing is a fixed fact, and why shouldn't I climb up on it, as -well as everybody else?" - -"Nothing is fixed," said Clayton, "that isn't fixed in right. God and -nature fight against evil." - -"They do, I suppose; but it's a long campaign," said Frank, "and I must -be on the side that will win while I'm alive. Now, Clayton, to you I -always speak the truth; I won't humbug you. I worship _success_. I am of -Frederick the Great's creed, 'that Providence goes with the strongest -battalions.' - -"I wasn't made for defeat. I must have power. The preservation of this -system, whole and entire, is to be the policy of the leaders of this -generation. The fact is, they stand where it _must_ be their policy. -They _must_ spread it over the whole territory. They _must_ get the -balance of power in the country, to build themselves up against the -public opinion of mankind. - -"Why, Clayton, moral sentiment, as you call it, is a humbug! The whole -world acquiesces in _what goes_--they always have. There is a great -outcry about slavery now, but let it _succeed_, and there won't be. When -they can outvote the Northern States, they'll put _them_ down. They have -kept them subservient by intrigue so far, and by and by they'll have the -strength to put them down by force. England makes a fuss now; but let -them only succeed, and she'll be civil as a sheep. Of course, men always -make a fuss about injustice, when they have nothing to gain by holding -their tongues; but England's mouth will be stopped with cotton--you'll -see it. They love trade, and hate war. And so the fuss of anti-slavery -will die out in the world. Now, when you see what a poor hoax human -nature is, what's the use of bothering? The whole race together aren't -worth a button, Clayton, and self-sacrifice for such fools is a humbug. -That's my programme!" - -"Well, Frank, you have made a clean breast; so will I. The human race, -as you say, may be a humbug, but it's every man's duty to know for -himself that _he_ isn't one. _I_ am not. I do _not_ worship success, and -_will_ not. And if a cause is a right and honorable one, I will labor in -it till I die, whether there is any chance of succeeding or not." - -"Well, now," said Frank Russel, "I dare say it's so. I respect your -sort of folks; you form an agreeable heroic poem, with which one can -amuse the tediousness of life. I suppose it won't do you any good to -tell you that you are getting immensely unpopular, with what you are -doing." - -"No," said Clayton, "it won't." - -"I am really afraid," said Russel, "that they'll mob you, some of these -bright days." - -"Very well," said Clayton. - -"Oh, of course. I knew it would be very well; but say, Clayton, what do -you want to get up a petition on _that_ point for? Why don't you get up -one to prevent the separation of families? There 's been such a muss -made about that in Europe, and all round the world, that it's rather the -fashion to move about that a little. Politicians like to appear to -intend to begin to do something about it. It has a pleasing effect, and -gives the northern editors and ministers something to say, as an apology -for our sins. Besides, there are a good many simple-hearted folks, who -don't see very deep into things, that really think it possible to do -something effective on this subject. If you get up a petition for that, -you might take the tide with you; and I'd do something about it, -myself." - -"You know very well, Frank, for I told you, that it's no use to pass -laws for that, without giving the slaves power to sue or give evidence, -in case of violation. The improvement I propose touches the root of the -matter." - -"That's the fact--it surely does!" said Russel. "And, for that very -reason, you'll never carry it. Now, Clayton, I just want to ask you one -question. Can you fight? _Will_ you fight? Will you wear a bowie-knife -and pistol, and shoot every fellow down that comes at you?" - -"Why, no, of course, Frank. You know that I never was a fighting man. -Such brute ways are not to my taste." - -"Then, my dear sir, you shouldn't set up for a reformer in Southern -States. Now, I'll tell you one thing, Clayton, that I've heard. You made -some remarks at a public meeting, up at E., that have staked a mad-dog -cry, which I suppose came from Tom Gordon. See here; have you noticed -this article in the _Trumpet of Liberty_?" said he, looking over a -confused stack of papers on his table. "Where's the article? Oh, here -it is." - -At the same time he handed Clayton a sheet bearing the motto "Liberty -and union, now and forever, one and inseparable," and pointed to an -article headed - - - "COVERT ABOLITIONISM! CITIZENS, BEWARE! - - "We were present, a few evenings ago, at the closing speech - delivered before the Washington Agricultural Society, in the course - of which the speaker, Mr. Edward Clayton, gratuitously wandered - away from his subject to make inflammatory and seditious comments - on the state of the laws which regulate our negro population. It is - time for the friends of our institutions to be awake. Such remarks - dropped in the ear of a restless and ignorant population will be a - fruitful source of sedition and insurrection. This young man is - supposed to be infected with the virus of northern abolitionists. - We cannot too narrowly watch the course of such individuals; for - the only price at which we can maintain liberty is eternal - vigilance. Mr. Clayton belongs to one of our oldest and most - respected families, which makes his conduct the more inexcusable." - - -Clayton perused this with a quiet smile, which was usual with him. - -"The hand of Joab is in that thing," said Frank Russel. - -"I'm sure I said very little," said Clayton. "I was only showing the -advantage to our agriculture of a higher tone of moral feeling among our -laborers, which, of course, led me to speak of the state of the law -regulating them. I said nothing but what everybody knows." - -"But, don't you know, Clayton," said Russel, "that if a fellow has an -enemy--anybody bearing him the least ill-will--that he puts a tremendous -power in his hands by making such remarks? Why, our common people are so -ignorant that they are in the hands of anybody who wants to use them. -They are just like a swarm of bees; you can manage them by beating on a -tin pan. And Tom Gordon has got the tin pan now, I fancy. Tom intends to -be a swell. He is a born bully, and he'll lead a rabble. And so you must -take care. Your family is considerable for you; but, after all, it -won't stand you in stead for everything. Who have you got to back you? -Who have you talked with?" - -"Well," said Clayton, "I have talked with some of the ministry"-- - -"And, of course," said Frank, "you found that the leadings of Providence -didn't indicate that _they_ are to be martyrs! You have their prayers -_in secret_, I presume; and if you ever get the cause on the upper -hill-side, they'll come out and preach a sermon for you. Now, Clayton, -I'll tell you what I'll do. If Tom Gordon attacks you, I'll pick a -quarrel with him, and shoot him right off the reel. My stomach isn't -nice about those matters, and that sort of thing won't compromise me -with my party." - -"Thank you," said Clayton, "I shall not trouble you." - -"My dear fellow," said Russel, "you philosophers are very much mistaken -about the use of carnal weapons. As long as you wrestle with flesh and -blood, you had better use fleshly means. At any rate, a gentlemanly -brace of pistols won't hurt you; and, in fact, Clayton, I am serious. -You _must_ wear pistols,--there are no two ways about it. Because, if -these fellows know that a man wears pistols and will use them, it keeps -them off. They have an objection to being shot, as this is all the world -they are likely to have. And I think, Clayton, you can fire off a pistol -in as edifying and dignified a manner, as you can say a grace on proper -occasions. The fact is, before long, there will be a row kicked up. I'm -pretty sure of it. Tom Gordon is a deeper fellow than you'd think, and -he has booked himself for Congress; and he means to go in on the -thunder-and-blazes principle, which will give him the vote of all the -rabble. He'll go into Congress to do the fighting and slashing. There -always must be a bully or two there, you know, to knock down fellows -that you can't settle any other way. And nothing would suit him better, -to get his name up, than heading a crusade against an abolitionist." - -"Well," said Clayton, "if it's come to that, that we can't speak and -discuss freely in our own state, where are we?" - -"Where are we, my dear fellow? Why, I know where we are; and if you -don't, it's time you did. Discuss freely? Certainly we can, on _one_ -side of the question; or on both sides of any other question than this. -But this you can't discuss freely, and they can't afford to let you, as -long as they mean to keep their power. Do you suppose they are going to -let these poor devils, whites, get their bandages off their eyes, that -make them so easy to lead now? There would be a pretty bill to pay, if -they did! Just now, these fellows are in as safe and comfortable a -condition for use as a party could desire; because they have got votes, -and we have the guiding of them. And they rage, and swear, and tear, for -our institutions, because they are fools, and don't know what hurts -them. Then, there's the niggers. Those fellows are deep. They have as -long ears as little pitchers, and they are such a sort of fussy set, -that whatever is going on in the community is always in their mouths, -and so comes up that old fear of insurrection. That's the awful word, -Clayton! _That_ lies at the bottom of a good many things in our state, -more than we choose to let on. These negroes are a black well; you never -know what's at the bottom." - -"Well," said Clayton, "the only way, the only safeguard to prevent this -is reform. They are a patient set, and will bear a great while; and if -they only see that anything is being done, it will be an effectual -prevention. If you want insurrection, the only way is to shut down the -escape-valve; for, will ye nill ye, the steam must rise. You see, in -this day, minds _will grow_. They _are_ growing. There's no help for it, -and there's no force like the force of growth. I have seen a rock split -in two by the growing of an elm-tree that wanted light and air, and -would make its way up through it. Look at all the aristocracies of -Europe. They have gone down under this force. Only one has stood--that -of England. And how came that to stand? Because it knew when to _yield_; -because it never confined discussion: because it gave way gracefully -before the growing force of the people. That's the reason it stands -to-day, while the aristocracy of France has been blown to atoms." - -"My dear fellow," said Russel, "this is all very true and convincing, no -doubt; but you won't make _our_ aristocracy believe it. They have -mounted the lightning, and they are going to ride it whip and spur. They -are going to annex Cuba and the Sandwich Islands, and the Lord knows -what, and have a great and splendid slave-holding empire. And the north -is going to be what Greece was to Rome. We shall govern it, and it will -attend to the arts of life for us. The south understands governing. We -are trained to rule from the cradle. We have leisure to rule. We have -nothing else to do. The free states have their factories, and their -warehouses, and their schools, and their internal improvements, to take -up their minds; and, if we are careful, and don't tell them too plain -where we are taking them, they'll never know it till they get there." - -"Well," said Clayton, "there's one element of force that you've left out -in your calculation." - -"And what's that?" said Russel. - -"God," said Clayton. - -"I don't know anything about him," said Russel. - -"You may have occasion to learn, one of these days," said Clayton. "I -believe he is alive yet." - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -TOM GORDON'S PLANS. - - -Tom Gordon, in the mean while, had commenced ruling his paternal -plantation in a manner very different from the former indulgent system. -His habits of reckless and boundless extravagance, and utter -heedlessness, caused his cravings for money to be absolutely insatiable; -and, within legal limits, he had as little care how it was come by as a -highway robber. It is to be remarked that Tom Gordon was a worse -slave-holder and master from the very facts of certain desirable -qualities in his mental constitution; for, as good wine makes the -strongest vinegar, so fine natures perverted make the worse vice. Tom -had naturally a perfectly clear, perceptive mind, and an energetic, -prompt temperament. It was impossible for him, as many do, to -sophisticate and delude himself with false views. He marched up to evil -boldly, and with his eyes open. He had very little regard for public -opinion, particularly the opinion of conscientious and scrupulous -people. So he carried his purposes, it was very little matter to him -what any one thought of them or him; they might complain till they were -tired. - -After Clayton had left the place, he often pondered the dying words of -Nina, "that he should care for her people; that he should tell Tom to be -kind to them." There was such an impassable gulf between the two -characters, that it seemed impossible that any peaceable communication -should pass between them. Clayton thought within himself that it was -utterly hopeless to expect any good arising from the sending of Nina's -last message. But the subject haunted him. Had he any right to withhold -it? Was it not his duty to try every measure, however apparently -hopeless? - -Under the impulse of this feeling, he one day sat down and wrote to Tom -Gordon an account, worded with the utmost simplicity, of the last hours -of his sister's life, hoping that he might read it, and thus, if nothing -more, his own conscience be absolved. - -Death and the grave, it is true, have sacred prerogatives, and it is -often in their power to awaken a love which did not appear in life. -There are few so hard as not to be touched by the record of the last -hours of those with whom they have stood in intimate relations. A great -moralist says, "There are few things not purely evil of which we can -say, without emotion, this is the last." - -The letter was brought to Tom Gordon one evening when, for a wonder, he -was by himself; his associates being off on an excursion, while he was -detained at home by a temporary illness. He read it over, therefore, -with some attention. He was of too positive a character, however, too -keenly percipient, not to feel immediate pain in view of it. A man of -another nature might have melted in tears over it, indulged in the -luxury of sentimental grief, and derived some comfort, from the -exercise, to go on in ways of sin. Not so with Tom Gordon. He could not -afford to indulge in anything that roused his moral nature. He was doing -wrong of set purpose, with defiant energy; and his only way of keeping -his conscience quiet was to maintain about him such a constant tumult of -excitement as should drown reflection. He could not afford a -_tête-à-tête_ conversation with his conscience;--having resolved, once -for all, to go on in his own wicked way, serving the flesh and the -devil, he had to watch against anything that might occasion -uncomfortable conflict in his mind. He knew very well, lost man as he -was, that there was something sweet and pure, high and noble, against -which he was contending; and the letter was only like a torch, which a -fair angel might hold up, shining into the filthy lair of a demon. He -could not bear the light; and he had no sooner read the note than he -cast it into the fire, and rang violently for a hot brandy-toddy, and a -fresh case of cigars. The devil's last, best artifice to rivet the -fetters of his captives is the opportunity which these stimulants give -them to command insanity at will. - -Tom Gordon was taken to bed drunk; and, if a sorrowful guardian spirit -hovered over him as he read the letter, he did not hear the dejected -rustle of its retreating wings. The next day nothing was left, only a -more decided antipathy to Clayton, for having occasioned him so -disagreeable a sensation. - -Tom Gordon, on the whole, was not unpopular in his vicinity. He -determined to rule them all, and he did. All that uncertain, -uninstructed, vagrant population, which abound in slave states, were at -his nod and beck. They were his tools--prompt to aid him in any of his -purposes, and convenient to execute vengeance on his adversaries. Tom -was a determined slave-holder. He had ability enough to see the whole -bearings of that subject, from the beginning to the end; and he was -determined that, while he lived, the first stone should never be pulled -from the edifice in his state. He was a formidable adversary, because -what he wanted in cultivation he made up in unscrupulous energy; and, -where he might have failed in argument, he could conquer by the cudgel -and the bludgeon. He was, as Frank Russel had supposed, the author of -the paragraph which had appeared in the _Trumpet of Freedom_, which had -already had its effect in awakening public suspicion. - -But what stung him to frenzy, when he thought of it, was, that every -effort which he had hitherto made to recover possession of Harry had -failed. In vain he had sent out hunters and dogs. The swamp had been -tracked in vain. He boiled and burned with fierce tides of passion, as -he thought of him in his security defying his power. - -Some vague rumors had fallen upon his ear of the existence, in the -swamp, of a negro conspirator, of great energy and power, whose lair had -never yet been discovered; and he determined that he would raise heaven -and earth to find him. He began to suspect that there was, somehow, -understanding and communication between Harry and those who were left on -the plantation, and he determined to detect it. This led to the scene of -cruelty and tyranny to which we made allusion in a former chapter. The -mangled body was buried, and Tom felt neither remorse nor shame. Why -should he, protected by the express words of legal decision? He had only -met with an accident in the exercise of his lawful power on a slave in -the act of rebellion. - -"The fact is, Kite," he said, to his boon-companion, Theophilus Kite, as -they were one day sitting together, "I'm bound to have that fellow. I'm -going to publish a proclamation of outlawry, and offer a reward for his -head. That will bring it in, I'm thinking. I'll put it up to a handsome -figure, for that will be better than nothing." - -"Pity you couldn't catch him alive," said Kite, "and make an example of -him!" - -"I know it," said Tom. "I'd take him the long way round, that I would! -That fellow has been an eye-sore to me ever since I was a boy. I believe -all the devils that are in me are up about him." - -"Tom," said Kite, "you've got the devil in you--no mistake!" - -"To be sure I have," said Tom. "I only want a chance to express him. I -wish I could get hold of the fellow's wife! I could make him wince -there, I guess. I'll get her, too, one of these days! But, now, Kite, -I'll tell you, the fact is, somebody round here is in league with him. -They know about him, I know they do. There's that squeaky, leathery, -long-nosed Skinflint, trades with the niggers in the swamp--I know he -does! But he is a double and twisted liar, and you can't get anything -out of him. One of these days I'll burn up that old den of his, and -shoot him, if he don't look out! Jim Stokes told me that he slept down -there, one night, when he was tracking, and that he heard Skinflint -talking with somebody between twelve and one o'clock; and he looked out, -and saw him selling powder to a nigger." - -"Oh, that couldn't be Harry," said Kite. - -"No, but it's one of the gang that he is in with. And, then, there's -that Hark. Jim says that he saw him talking,--giving a letter, that he -got out of the post-office, to a man that rode off towards the woods. I -thought we'd have the truth out of his old hide! But he didn't hold out -as I thought he would." - -"Hokum don't understand his business," said Kite. "He shouldn't have -used him up so fast." - -"Hokum is a bother," said Tom, "like all the rest of those fellows! Hark -was a desperately-resolute fellow, and it's well enough he is dead, -because he was getting sullen, and making the others rebellious. Hokum, -you see, had taken a fancy to his wife, and Hark was jealous." - -"Quite a romance!" said Kite, laughing. - -"And now I'll tell you another thing," said Tom, "that I'm bound to -reform. There's a canting, sneaking, dribbling, whining old priest, -that's ravaging these parts and getting up a muss among people about the -abuses of the slaves; and I'm not going to have it. I'm going to shut up -his mouth. I shall inform him, pretty succinctly, that, if he does much -more in this region, he'll be illustrated with a coat of -tar-and-feathers." - -"Good for you!" said Kite. - -"Now," said Tom, "I understand that to-night he is going to have a -general snivelling season in the old log church, out on the cross run, -and they are going to form a church on anti-slavery principles. -Contemptible whelps! Not a copper to bless themselves with! Dirty, -sweaty, greasy mechanics, with their spawn of children! Think of the -impudence of their getting together and passing anti-slavery -resolutions, and resolving they won't admit slave-holders to the -communion! I have a great mind to let them try the dodge, once! By -George, if I wouldn't walk up and take their bread and wine, and pitch -it to thunder!" - -"Are they really going to form such a church?" - -"That's the talk," said Tom. "But they'll find they have reckoned -without their host, I fancy! You see, I just tipped Jim Stokes the wink. -Says I, 'Jim, don't you think they'll want you to help the music there, -to-night?' Jim took at once; and he said he would be on the ground with -a dog or two, and some old tin pans. Oh, we shall get them up an -orchestra, I promise you! And some of our set are going over to see the -fun. There's Bill Akers, and Bob Story, and Sim Dexter, will be over -here to dinner, and towards evening we'll ride over." - - - - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - -LYNCH LAW. - - -The rays of the afternoon sun were shining through the fringy needles of -the pines. The sound of the woodpecker reverberated through the -stillness of the forest, answering to thousand woodland notes. Suddenly, -along the distant path, a voice is heard singing, and the sound comes -strangely on the ear through the dreamy stillness:-- - - - "Jesus Christ has lived and died-- - What is all the world beside? - This to know is all I need, - This to know is life indeed. - Other wisdom seek I none-- - Teach me this, and this alone: - Christ for me has lived and died, - Christ for me was crucified." - - -And, as the last lines fall upon the ear, a figure, riding slowly on -horseback, comes round the bend of the forest path. It is father -Dickson. It was the habit of this good man, much of whose life was spent -in solitary journeyings, to use the forest arches for that purpose for -which they seemed so well designed, as a great cathedral of prayer and -praise. He was riding with the reins loose over the horse's neck, and a -pocket-Bible in his hand. Occasionally he broke out into snatches of -song, like the one which we heard him singing a few moments ago. As he -rides along now, he seems absorbed in mental prayer. Father Dickson, in -truth, had cause to pray. The plainness of speech which he felt bound to -use had drawn down upon him opposition and opprobrium, and alienated -some of his best friends. The support which many had been willing to -contribute to his poverty was entirely withdrawn. His wife, in feeble -health, was toiling daily beyond her strength; and hunger had looked in -at the door, but each day prayer had driven it away. The petition, -"Give us THIS DAY our daily bread," had not yet failed to bring an -answer, but there was no bread for to-morrow. Many friendly advisers had -told him that, if he would relinquish a futile and useless undertaking, -he should have enough and to spare. He had been conferred with by the -elders in a vacant church, in the town of E., who said to him, "We enjoy -your preaching when you let alone controverted topics; and if you'll -agree to confine yourself solely to the Gospel, and say nothing on any -of the delicate and exciting subjects of the day, we shall rejoice in -your ministrations." They pleaded with him his poverty, and the poor -health of his wife, and the necessities of his children; but he -answered, "'Man shall not live by bread alone.' God is able to feed me, -and he will do it." They went away, saying that he was a fool, that he -was crazy. He was not the first whose brethren had said, "He is beside -himself." - -As he rode along through the forest paths, he talked of his wants to his -Master. "Thou knowest," he said, "how I suffer. Thou knowest how feeble -my poor wife is, and how it distresses us both to have our children grow -up without education. We cast ourselves on thee. Let us not deny thee; -let us not betray thee. Thou hadst not where to lay thy head; let us not -murmur. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his -lord." And then he sang:-- - - - "Jesus, I my cross have taken, - All to leave and follow thee; - Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, - Thou my all henceforth shalt be! - Let the world despise and leave me-- - They have left my Saviour too; - Human looks and words deceive me-- - Thou art not, like them, untrue! - And, while thou shalt smile upon me, - God of wisdom, power, and might, - Foes may hate and friends disown me, - Show thy face and all is bright!" - - -And, as he sang and prayed, that strange joy arose within him which, -like the sweetness of night flowers, is born of darkness and -tribulation. The soul hath in it somewhat of the divine, in that it can -have joy in endurance beyond the joy of indulgence. - -They mistake who suppose that the highest happiness lies in wishes -accomplished--in prosperity, wealth, favor, and success. There has been -a joy in dungeons and on racks passing the joy of harvest. A joy strange -and solemn, mysterious even to its possessor. A white stone dropped from -that signet-ring, peace, which a dying Saviour took from his own bosom, -and bequeathed to those who endure the cross, despising the shame. - -As father Dickson rode on, he lifted his voice, in solemn exultation:-- - - - "Soul, then know thy full salvation; - Rise o'er fear, doubt, and care; - Joy to find, in every station, - Something still to do or bear. - Think what spirit dwells within thee; - Think what Father's smiles are thine; - Think that Jesus died to win thee; - Child of heaven, wilt thou repine?" - - -At this moment Dr. Cushing in the abundant comforts of his home, might -have envied father Dickson in his desertion and poverty. For that peace -seldom visited him. He struggled wearily along the ways of duty, never -fulfilling his highest ideal; wearied by confusing accusations of -conscience, and deeming himself happy only because, having never lived -in any other state, he knew not what happiness was like. He alternately -condemned his brother's rashness, and sighed as he thought of his -uncompromising spirituality; and once or twice he had written him a -friendly letter of caution, inclosing him a five-dollar bill, wishing -that he might succeed, begging that he would be careful, and ending with -the pious wish that we might all be guided aright; which supplication, -in many cases, answers the purpose, in a man's inner legislation, of -laying troublesome propositions on the table. Meanwhile the shades of -evening drew on, and father Dickson approached the rude church which -stood deep in the shadow of the woods. In external appearance it had not -the pretensions even of a New England barn, but still it had echoed -prayers and praises from humble, sincere worshippers. As father Dickson -rode up to the door, he was surprised to find quite a throng of men, -armed with bludgeons and pistols, waiting before it. One of these now -stepped forward and, handing him a letter, said,-- - -"Here, I have a letter for you to read!" - -Father Dickson put it calmly in his pocket. "I will read it after -service," said he. - -The man then laid hold of his bridle. "Come out here!" he said; "I want -to talk to you." - -"Thank you, friend, I will talk with you after meeting," said he. "It's -time for me to begin service." - -"The fact is," said a surly, wolfish-looking fellow who came behind the -first speaker, "the fact is, we an't going to have any of your d----d -abolition meetings here! If he can't get it out, I can!" - -"Friends," said father Dickson, mildly, "by what right do you presume to -stop me?" - -"We think," said the first man, "that you are doing harm, violating the -laws"-- - -"Have you any warrant from the civil authorities to stop me?" - -"No, sir," said the first speaker; but the second one, ejecting a large -quid of tobacco from his mouth, took up the explanation in a style and -taste peculiarly his own. - -"Now, old cock, you may as well know fust as last, that we don't care a -cuss for the civil authorities, as you call them, 'cause we's going to -do what we darn please; and we don't please have you yowping -abolishionism round here, and putting deviltry in the heads of our -niggers! Now, that ar's plain talk!" - -This speech was chorused by a group of men on the steps, who now began -to gather round and shout,-- - -"Give it to him! That's into him! Make the wool fly!" - -Father Dickson, who was perfectly calm, now remarked in the shadow of -the wood, at no great distance, three or four young men mounted on -horses, who laughed brutally and called out to the speaker,-- - -"Give him some more!" - -"My friends," said father Dickson, "I came here to perform a duty, at -the call of my heavenly Master, and you have no right to stop me." - -"Well, how will you help yourself, old bird? Supposing we haven't?" - -"Remember, my friends, that we shall all stand side by side at the -judgment seat to give an account for this night's transactions. How will -you answer for it to God?" - -A loud, sneering laugh came from the group under the trees, and a -voice, which we recognize as Tom Gordon's, calls out, - -"He is coming the solemn dodge on you, boys! Get on your long faces!" - -"Come," said the roughest of the speakers, "this here don't go down with -us! We don't know nothing about no judgments; and as to God, we an't -none of us seen him, lately. We 'spect he don't travel round these -parts." - -"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the -good," said father Dickson. - -Here one of the mob mewed like a cat, another barked like a dog, and the -spectators under the tree laughed more loudly than ever. - -"I say," said the first speaker, "you shan't go to getting up rat-traps -and calling 'em meetings! This yer preaching o' yourn is a cussed sell, -and we won't stand it no longer! We shall have an insurrection among our -niggers. Pretty business, getting up churches where you won't have -slave-holders commune! I's got niggers myself, and I know I's bigger -slave than they be, and I wished I was shet of them! But I an't going to -have no d----d old parson dictating to me about my affairs! And we -won't, none of the rest of us, will we? 'Cause them that an't got any -niggers now means to have. Don't we, boys?" - -"Ay, ay, that we do! Give it to him!" was shouted from the party. - -"It's our right to have niggers, and we will have them, if we can get -them," continued the speaker. - -"Who gave you the right?" said father Dickson. - -"Who gave it? Why, the Constitution of the United States, to be sure, -man! Who did you suppose? An't we got the freest government in the -world? Is we going to be shut out of communion, 'cause we holds niggers? -Don't care a cuss for your old communion, but it's the _principle_ I's -going for! Now, I tell you what, old fellow, we've got you; and you have -got to promise, right off the reel, that you won't say another word on -this yer subject." - -"Friend, I shall make no such promise," said father Dickson, in a tone -so mild and steadfast that there was a momentary pause. - -"You'd better," said a man in the crowd, "if you know what 's good for -you!" - -A voice now spoke from the circle of the young men,-- - -"Never cave in, boys!" - -"No fear of us!" responded the man who had taken the most prominent part -in the dialogue hitherto. "We'll serve it out to him! Now, ye see, old -feller, ye're treed, and may as well come down, as the coon said to -Davy. You can't help yourself, 'cause we are ten to one; and if you -don't promise peaceable, we'll make you!" - -"My friends," said father Dickson, "I want you to think what you are -doing. Your good sense must teach you the impropriety of your course. -You know that you are doing wrong. You know that it isn't right to -trample on all law, both human and divine, out of professed love to it. -You must see that your course will lead to perfect anarchy and -confusion. The time may come when your opinions will be as unpopular as -mine." - -"Well, what then?" - -"Why, if your course prevails, you must be lynched, stoned, tarred, and -feathered. This is a two-edged sword you are using, and some day you may -find the edge turned towards you. You may be seized, just as you are -seizing me. You know the men that threw Daniel into the den got thrown -in themselves." - -"Daniel who?" shouted one of the company; and the young men under the -tree laughed insultingly. - -"Why are you afraid to let me preach, this evening?" said father -Dickson. "Why can't you hear me, and, if I say anything false, why can't -you show me the falsehood of it? It seems to me it's a weak cause that -can only get along by stopping men's mouths." - -"No, no--we an't going to have it!" said the man who had taken the most -active part. "And now you've got to sign a solemn promise, this night, -that you won't ever open your mouth again about this yer subject, or -we'll make it worse for you!" - -"I shall never make such a promise. You need not think to terrify me -into it, for I am not afraid. You must kill me before you can stop me." - -"D--n you, then, old man," said one of the young men, riding up by the -side of him, "I'll tell you what you shall do! You shall sign a pledge -to leave North Carolina in three days, and never come back again, and -take your whole spawn and litter with you, or you shall be chastised for -your impudence! Now, look out, sir, for you are speaking to your -betters! Your insolence is intolerable! What business have you passing -strictures reflecting on the conduct of gentlemen of family? Think -yourself happy that we let you go out of the state without the -punishment that your impudence deserves!" - -"Mr. Gordon, I am sorry to hear you speaking in that way," said Father -Dickson, composedly. "By right of your family, you certainly ought to -know how to speak as a gentleman. You are holding language to me that -you have no right to hold, and uttering threats that you have no means -of enforcing." - -"You'll see if I haven't!" replied the other, with an oath. "Here, -boys!" - -He beckoned one or two of the leaders to his side, and spoke with them -in a low voice. One of them seemed inclined to remonstrate. - -"No, no--it's too bad!" he said. - -But the others said,-- - -"Yes, it serves him right! We'll do it! Hurra, boys! We'll help on the -parson home, and help him kindle his fire!" - -There was a general shout, as the whole party, striking up a ribald -song, seized father Dickson's horse, turned him round, and began -marching in the direction of his cabin in the woods. - -Tom Gordon and his companions, who rode foremost, filled the air with -blasphemous and obscene songs, which entirely drowned the voice of -father Dickson whenever he attempted to make himself heard. Before they -started, Tom Gordon had distributed freely of whiskey among them, so -that what little manliness there might have been within seemed to be -"set on fire of hell." It was one of those moments that try men's souls. - -Father Dickson, as he was hurried along, thought of that other _one_, -who was led by an infuriate mob through the streets of Jerusalem, and he -lifted his heart in prayer to the Apostle and High Priest of his -profession, the God in Jesus. When they arrived before his little cabin, -he made one more effort to arrest their attention. - -"My brethren," he said. - -"None of your brethren! Stop that cant!" said Tom Gordon. - -"Hear me one word," said father Dickson. "My wife is quite feeble. I'm -sure you wouldn't wish to hurt a sick woman, who never did harm to any -mortal creature." - -"Well, then," said Tom Gordon, facing round to him, "if you care so very -much about your wife, you can very easily save her any further trouble. -Just give us the promise we want, and we'll go away peaceably, and leave -you. But, if you won't, as true as there is a God in heaven, we'll pull -down every stick of timber in your old kennel! I'll tell you what, old -man, you've got a master to deal with, now!" - -"I cannot promise not to preach upon this subject." - -"Well, then, you must promise to take yourself out of the state. You can -go among your northern brethren, and howl and mawl round there; but we -are not going to have you here. I have as much respect for respectable -ministers of the Gospel as any one, when they confine themselves to the -duties of their calling; but, when they come down to be intriguing in -our worldly affairs, they must expect to be treated as we treat other -folks that do that. Their black coats shan't protect them! We are not -going to be priest-ridden, are we, boys?" - -A loud whoop of inflamed and drunken merriment chorused this question. -Just at this moment the door of the cottage was opened, and a pale, -sickly-looking woman came gliding out to the gate. - -"My dear," she said, and her voice was perfectly calm, "don't yield a -hair's breadth, on my account. I can bear as well as you. I am not -afraid. I am ready to die for conscience' sake. Gentlemen," she said, -"there is not much in this house of any value, except two sick children. -If it is agreeable to you to pull it down, you can do it. Our goods are -hardly worth spoiling, but you can spoil them. My husband, be firm; -don't yield an inch!" - -It is one of the worst curses of slavery that it effaces from the breast -all manly feeling with regard to woman. Every one remembers the story -how the frail and delicate wife of Lovejoy placed her weakness as a -shield before the chamber door where her husband was secreted, and was -fought with brutal oaths and abuse by the drunken gang, who were -determined to pass over her body, if necessary, to his heart! They who -are trained to whip women in a servile position, of course can have none -of the respect which a free man feels for woman as woman. They respect -the sex when they see it enshrined by fashion, wealth, and power; but -they tread it in the dust when, in poverty and helplessness, it stands -in the path of their purposes. - -"Woman," said Tom Gordon, "you are a fool! You needn't think to come it -round us with any of that talk! You needn't think we are going to stop -on your account, for we shan't. We know what we are about." - -"So does God!" said the woman, fixing her eye on him with one of those -sudden looks of power with which a noble sentiment sometimes lights up -for a moment the weakest form. - -There was a momentary pause, and then Tom broke out into oaths and -curses. - -"I'll tell you what, boys," he said, "we had better bring matters to a -point! Here, tie him up to this tree, and give him six-and-thirty! He is -so dreadful fond of the niggers, let him fare with them! We know how to -get a promise out of him!" - -The tiger was now fully awake in the crowd. Wild oaths and cries of -"Give it to him! Give it to him, G--d d--n him!" arose. - -Father Dickson stood calm; and, beholding him, they saw his face as if -it had been that of an angel, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. -A few moments more, and he was divested of his outer garments, and bound -to a tree. - -"Now will you promise?" said Tom Gordon, taking out his watch. "I give -you five minutes." - -The children, now aroused, were looking out, crying, from the door. His -wife walked out and took her place before him. - -"Stand out of the way, old woman!" said Tom Gordon. - -"I will not stand out of the way!" she said, throwing her arms round her -husband. "You shall not get to him but over my body!" - -"Ben Hyatt, take her away!" said Tom Gordon. "Treat her decently, as -long as she behaves herself." - -A man forced her away. She fell fainting on his shoulder. - -"Lay her down," said Tom Gordon. "Now, sir, your five minutes are up. -What have you got to say?" - -"I have to say that I shall not comply with your demands." - -"Very well," said Tom, "it's best to be explicit." - -He drew his horse a little back, and said to a man who was holding a -slave-whip behind,-- - -"Give it to him!" - -The blows descended. He uttered no sound. The mob, meanwhile, tauntingly -insulted him. - -"How do you like it? What do you think of it? Preach us a sermon, now, -can't you? Come, where's your text?" - -"He is getting stars and stripes, now!" said one. - -"I reckon he'll see stars!" said another. - -"Stop," said Tom Gordon. "Well, my friend," he said, "you see we are in -earnest, and we shall carry this through to the bitter end, you may rely -on it. You won't get any sympathy; you won't get any support. There an't -a minister in the state that will stand by you. They all have sense -enough to let our affairs alone. They'd any of them hold a candle here, -as the good elder did when they thrashed Dresser, down at Nashville. -Come, now, will you cave in?" - -But at this moment the conversation was interrupted by the riding up of -four or five gentlemen on horseback, the headmost of whom was Clayton. - -"What's this?" he exclaimed, hurriedly. "What, Mr. Gordon--father -Dickson! What--what am I to understand by this?" - -"Who the devil cares what you understand? It's no business of yours," -said Tom Gordon; "so stand out of my way!" - -"I shall make it some of my business," said Clayton, turning round to -one of his companions. "Mr. Brown, you are a magistrate?" - -Mr. Brown, a florid, puffy-looking old gentleman, now rode forward. - -"Bless my soul, but this is shocking! Mr. Gordon, don't! how can you? My -boys, you ought to consider!" - -Clayton, meanwhile, had thrown himself off his horse, and cut the cords -which bound Father Dickson to the tree. The sudden reaction of feeling -overcame him. He fell, fainting. - -"Are you not ashamed of yourselves?" said Clayton, indignantly glancing -round. "Isn't this pretty business for great, strong men like you, -abusing ministers that you know won't fight, and women and children that -you know can't!" - -"Do you mean to apply that language to me?" said Tom Gordon. - -"Yes, sir, I do mean just that!" said Clayton, looking at him, while he -stretched his tall figure to its utmost height. - -"Sir, that remark demands satisfaction." - -"You are welcome to all the satisfaction you can get," said Clayton, -coolly. - -"You shall meet me," said Tom Gordon, "where you shall answer for that -remark!" - -"I am not a fighting man," said Clayton; "but, if I were, I should never -consent to meet any one but my equals. When a man stoops to do the work -of a rowdy and a bully, he falls out of the sphere of gentlemen. As for -you," said Clayton, turning to the rest of the company, "there's more -apology for you. You have not been brought up to know better. Take my -advice; disperse yourselves now, or I shall take means to have this -outrage brought to justice." - -There is often a magnetic force in the appearance, amid an excited mob, -of a man of commanding presence, who seems perfectly calm and decided. -The mob stood irresolute. - -"Come, Tom," said Kite, pulling him by the sleeve, "we've given him -enough, at any rate." - -"Yes, yes," said Mr. Brown, "Mr. Gordon, I advise you to go home. We -must all keep the peace, you know. Come, boys, you've done enough for -one night, I should hope! Go home, now, and let the old man be; and -there's something to buy you a treat, down at Skinflint's. Come, do the -handsome, now!" - -Tom Gordon sullenly rode away, with his two associates each side; but, -before he went, he said to Clayton,-- - -"You shall hear of me again, one of these days!" - -"As you please," said Clayton. - -The party now set themselves about recovering and comforting the -frightened family. The wife was carried in and laid down on the bed. -Father Dickson was soon restored so as to be able to sit up, and, being -generally known and respected by the company, received many expressions -of sympathy and condolence. One of the men was an elder in the church -which had desired his ministerial services. He thought this a good -opportunity of enforcing some of his formerly expressed opinions. - -"Now, father Dickson," he said, "this just shows you the truth of what I -was telling you. This course of yours won't do; you see it won't, now. -Now, if you'd agree not to say anything of these troublesome matters, -and just confine yourself to the preaching of the Gospel, you see you -wouldn't get into any more trouble; and, after all, it's the Gospel -that's the root of the matter. The Gospel will gradually correct all -these evils, if you don't say anything about them. You see, the state of -the community is peculiar. They won't bear it. We feel the evils of -slavery just as much as you do. Our souls are burdened under it," he -said, complacently wiping his face with his handkerchief. "But -Providence doesn't appear to open any door here for us to do anything. I -think we ought to abide on the patient waiting on the Lord, who, in his -own good time, will bring light out of darkness, and order out of -confusion." - -This last phrase being a part of a stereotyped exhortation with which -the good elder was wont to indulge his brethren in church -prayer-meetings, he delivered it in the sleepy drawl which he reserved -for such occasions. - -"Well," said father Dickson, "I must say that I don't see that the -preaching of the Gospel, in the way we have preached it hitherto, has -done anything to rectify the evil. It's a bad sign if our preaching -doesn't make a conflict. When the apostles came to a place, they said, -'These men that turn the world upside down are come hither.'" - -"But," said Mr. Brown, "you must consider our institutions are peculiar; -our negroes are ignorant and inflammable, easily wrought upon, and the -most frightful consequences may result. That's the reason why there is -so much sensation when any discussion is begun which relates to them. -Now, I was in Nashville when that Dresser affair took place. He hadn't -said a word--he hadn't opened his mouth, even--but he was known to be an -abolitionist; and so they searched his trunks and papers, and there they -found documents expressing abolition sentiments, sure enough. Well, -everybody, ministers and elders, joined in that affair, and stood by to -see him whipped. I thought, myself, they went too far. But there is -just where it is. People are not reasonable, and they won't be -reasonable, in such cases. It's too much to ask of them; and so -everybody ought to be cautious. Now, I wish, for my part, that ministers -would confine themselves to their appropriate duties. 'Christ's kingdom -is not of this world.' And, then, you don't know Tom Gordon. He is a -terrible fellow! I never want to come in conflict with him. I thought -I'd put the best face on it, and persuade him away. I didn't want to -make Tom Gordon my enemy. And I think Mr. Dickson, if you must preach -these doctrines I think it would be best for you to leave the state. Of -course, we don't want to restrict any man's conscience; but when any -kind of preaching excites brawls and confusion, and inflames the public -mind, it seems to be a duty to give it up." - -"Yes," said Mr. Cornet, the elder, "we ought to follow the things which -make for peace--such things whereby one may edify another." - -"Don't you see, gentlemen," said Mr. Clayton, "that such a course is -surrendering our liberty of free speech into the hands of a mob? If Tom -Gordon may dictate what is to be said on one subject, he may on another; -and the rod which has been held over our friend's head to-night may be -held over ours. Independent of the right or wrong of father Dickson's -principles, he ought to maintain his position, for the sake of -maintaining the right of free opinion in the state." - -"Why," said Mr. Cornet, "the Scripture saith, 'If they persecute you in -this city, flee ye into another.'" - -"That was said," said Clayton, "to a people that lived under despotism, -and had no rights of liberty given them to maintain. But, if we give way -before mob law, we make ourselves slaves of the worst despotism on -earth." - -But Clayton spoke to men whose ears were stopped by the cotton of -slothfulness and love of ease. They rose up, and said, - -"It was time for them to be going." - -Clayton expressed his intention of remaining over the night, to afford -encouragement and assistance to his friends, in case of any further -emergency. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIX. - -MORE VIOLENCE. - - -Clayton rose the next morning, and found his friends much better than he -had expected after the agitation and abuse of the night before. They -seemed composed and cheerful. - -"I am surprised," he said, "to see that your wife is able to be up this -morning." - -"They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength," said father -Dickson. "How often I have found it so! We have seen times when I and my -wife have both been so ill that we scarcely thought we had strength to -help ourselves; and a child has been taken ill, or some other emergency -has occurred that called for immediate exertion, and we have been to the -Lord and found strength. Our way has been hedged up many a time--the sea -before us and the Egyptians behind us; but the sea has always opened -when we have stretched our hands to the Lord. I have never sought the -Lord in vain. He has allowed great troubles to come upon us; but he -always delivers us." - -Clayton recalled the sneering, faithless, brilliant Frank Russel, and -compared him, in his own mind, with the simple, honest man before him. - -"No," he said to himself, "human nature is not a humbug, after all. -There are some real men--some who will not acquiesce in what is -successful, if it be wrong." - -Clayton was in need of such living examples; for, in regard to religion, -he was in that position which is occupied by too many young men of high -moral sentiment in this country. What he had seen of the worldly policy -and time-serving spirit of most of the organized bodies professing to -represent the Christian faith and life, had deepened the shadow of doubt -and distrust which persons of strong individuality and discriminating -minds are apt to feel in certain stages of their spiritual development. -Great afflictions--those which tear up the roots of the soul--are often -succeeded, in the course of the man's history, by a period of -scepticism. The fact is, such afflictions are disenchanting powers; they -give to the soul an earnestness and a power of discrimination which no -illusion can withstand. They teach us what we need, what we must have to -rest upon; and, in consequence, thousands of little formalities, and -empty shows, and dry religious conventionalities, are scattered by it -like chaff. The soul rejects them, in her indignant anguish; and, -finding so much that is insincere, and untrue, and unreliable, she has -sometimes hours of doubting all things. - -Clayton saw again in the minister what he had seen in Nina--a soul -swayed by an attachment to an invisible person, whose power over it was -the power of a personal attachment, and who swayed it, not by dogmas or -commands, merely, but by the force of a sympathetic emotion. Beholding, -as in a glass, the divine image of his heavenly friend, insensibly to -himself the minister was changing into the same image. The good and the -beautiful to him was an embodied person,--even Jesus his Lord. - -"What may be your future course?" said Clayton, with anxiety. "Will you -discontinue your labors is this state?" - -"I may do so, if I find positively that there is no gaining a hearing," -said father Dickson. "I think we owe it to our state not to give up the -point without a trial. There are those who are willing to hear -me--willing to make a beginning with me. It is true they are poor and -unfashionable; but still it is my duty not to desert them till I have -tried, at least, whether the laws can't protect me in the exercise of my -duty. The hearts of all men are in the hands of the Lord. He turneth -them as the rivers of water are turned. This evil is a great and a -trying one. It is gradually lowering the standard of morals in our -churches, till men know not what spirit they are of. I held it my duty -not to yield to the violence of the tyrant, and bind myself to a promise -to leave, till I had considered what the will of my Master would be." - -"I should be sorry," said Clayton, "to think that North Carolina -couldn't protect you. I am sure, when the particulars of this are known, -there will be a general reprobation from all parts of the country. You -might remove to some other part of the state, not cursed by the -residence of a man like Tom Gordon. I will confer with my uncle, your -friend Dr. Cushing, and see if some more eligible situation cannot be -found, where you can prosecute your labors. He is at this very time -visiting his wife's father, in E., and I will ride over and talk with -him to-day. Meanwhile," said Clayton, as he rose to depart, "allow me to -leave with you a little contribution to help the cause of religious -freedom in which you are engaged." - -And Clayton, as he shook hands with his friend and his wife, left an -amount of money with them such as had not crossed their palms for many a -day. Bidding them adieu, a ride of a few hours carried him to E., where -he communicated to Dr. Cushing the incidents of the night before. - -"Why, it's perfectly shocking--abominable!" said Dr. Cushing. "Why, what -are we coming to? My dear young friend, this shows the necessity of -prayer. 'When the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord -must lift up a standard against him.'" - -"My dear uncle," said Clayton, rather impatiently, "it seems to me the -Lord has lifted up a standard in the person of this very man, and people -are too cowardly to rally around it." - -"Well, my dear nephew, it strikes me you are rather excited," said Dr. -Cushing, good-naturedly. - -"Excited?" said Clayton. "I ought to be excited! You ought to be -excited, too! Here's a good man beginning what you think a necessary -reform, and who does it in a way perfectly peaceable and lawful, who is -cloven down under the hoof of a mob, and all you can think of doing is -to pray to _the Lord_ to raise up a standard! What would you think, if a -man's house were on fire, and he should sit praying the Lord that in his -mysterious providence he would put it out?" - -"Oh, the cases are not parallel," said Dr. Cushing. - -"I think they are," said Clayton. "Our house is the state, and our house -is on fire by mob law; and, instead of praying the Lord to put it out, -you ought to go to work and put it out yourself. If all your ministers -would make a stand against this, uncle, and do all you can to influence -those to whom you are preaching, it wouldn't be done again." - -"I am sure I should be glad to do something. Poor father Dickson! such -a good man as he is! But, then, I think, Clayton, he was rather -imprudent. It don't do, this unadvised way of proceeding. We ought to -watch against rashness, I think. We are too apt to be precipitate, and -not await the leadings of Providence. Poor Dickson! I tried to caution -him, the last time I wrote to him. To be sure, it's no excuse for them; -but, then, I'll write to brother Barker on the subject, and we'll see if -we can't get an article in the _Christian Witness_. I don't think it -would be best to allude to these particular circumstances, or to mention -any names; but there might be a general article on the importance of -maintaining the right of free speech, and of course people can apply it -for themselves." - -"You remind me," said Clayton, "of a man who proposed commencing an -attack on a shark by throwing a sponge at him. But, now, really, uncle, -I am concerned for the safety of this good man. Isn't there any church -near you to which he can be called? I heard him at the camp-meeting, and -I think he is an excellent preacher." - -"There are a good many churches," said Dr. Cushing, "which would be glad -of him, if it were not for the course he pursues on that subject; and I -really can't feel that he does right to throw away his influence so. He -might be the means of converting souls, if he would only be quiet about -this." - -"Be quiet about fashionable sins," said Clayton, "in order to get a -chance to convert souls! What sort of converts are those who are not -willing to hear the truth on every subject? I should doubt conversions -that can only be accomplished by silence on great practical -immoralities." - -"But," said Dr. Cushing, "Christ and the apostles didn't preach on the -abuses of slavery, and they alluded to it as an existing institution." - -"Nor did they preach on the gladiatorial shows," said Clayton; "and Paul -draws many illustrations from them. Will you take the principle that -everything is to be let alone now about which the apostles didn't preach -directly?" - -"I don't want to enter into that discussion now," said Dr. Cushing. "I -believe I'll ride over and see brother Dickson. After all, he is a dear, -good man, and I love him. I'd like to do something for him, if I were -not afraid it might be misunderstood." - -Toward evening, however, Clayton, becoming uneasy at the lonely -situation of his clerical friend, resolved to ride over and pass the -night with him, for the sake of protecting him; and, arming himself with -a brace of pistols, he proceeded on his ride. As the day had been warm, -he put off his purpose rather late, and darkness overtook him before he -had quite accomplished his journey. - -Riding deliberately through the woodland path in the vicinity of the -swamp, he was startled by hearing the tramp of horses' hoofs behind him. -Three men, mounted on horseback, were coming up, the headmost of whom, -riding up quickly behind, struck him so heavy a blow with a gutta percha -cane, as to fell him to the earth. In an instant, however, he was on his -feet again, and had seized the bridle of his horse. - -"Who are you?" said he; for, by the dim light that remained of the -twilight, he could perceive that they all wore masks. - -"We are men," said one of them, whose voice Clayton did not recognize, -"that know how to deal with fellows who insult gentlemen, and then -refuse to give them honorable satisfaction." - -"And," said the second speaker, "we know how to deal with renegade -abolitionists, who are covertly undermining our institutions." - -"And," said Clayton, coolly, "you understand how to be cowards; for none -but cowards would come three to one, and strike a man from behind! Shame -on you! Well, gentlemen, act your pleasure. Your first blow has disabled -my right arm. If you wish my watch and my purse, you may help -yourselves, as cut-throats generally do!" - -The stinging contempt which was expressed in these last words seemed to -enrage the third man, who had not spoken. With a brutal oath, he raised -his cane again, and struck at him. - -"Strike a wounded man, who cannot help himself--do!" said Clayton. "Show -yourself the coward you are! You are brave in attacking defenceless -women and children, and ministers of the Gospel!" - -This time the blow felled Clayton to the earth, and Tom Gordon, -precipitating himself from the saddle, proved his eligibility for -Congress by beating his defenceless acquaintance on the head, after the -fashion of the chivalry of South Carolina. But, at this moment, a -violent blow from an unseen hand struck his right arm, and it fell, -broken, at his side. Mad with pain, he poured forth volumes of oaths, -such as our readers have never heard, and the paper refuses to receive. -And a deep voice said from the woods,-- - -"Woe to the bloody and deceitful man!" - -"Look for the fellow! where is he?" said Tom Gordon. - -The crack of a rifle, and a bullet which passed right over his head, -answered from the swamp, and the voice, which he knew was Harry's, -called from within the thicket,-- - -"Tom Gordon, beware! Remember Hark!" At the same time another rifle-shot -came over their heads. - -"Come, come," said the other two, "there's a gang of them. We had better -be off. You can't do anything with that broken arm, there." And, helping -Tom into the saddle, the three rode away precipitately. - -As soon as they were gone, Harry and Dred emerged from the thicket. The -latter was reported among his people to have some medical or surgical -skill. He raised Clayton up, and examined him carefully. - -"He is not dead," he said. - -"What shall we do for him?" Said Harry. "Shall we take him along to the -minister's cabin?" - -"No, no," said Dred; "that would only bring the Philistines upon him!" - -"It's full three miles to E.," said Harry. "It wouldn't do to risk going -there." - -"No, indeed," said Dred. "We must take him to our stronghold of Engedi, -even as Samson bore the gates of Gaza. Our women shall attend him, and -when he is recovered we will set him on his journey." - - - - -CHAPTER L. - -ENGEDI. - - -The question may occur to our readers, why a retreat which appeared so -easily accessible to the negroes of the vicinity in which our story is -laid should escape the vigilance of hunters. - -In all despotic countries, however, it will be found that the oppressed -party become expert in the means of secrecy. It is also a fact that the -portion of the community who are trained to labor enjoy all that -advantage over the more indolent portion of it which can be given by a -vigorous physical system, and great capabilities of endurance. Without a -doubt, the balance of the physical strength of the south now lies in the -subject race. Usage familiarizes the dwellers of the swamp with the -peculiarities of their location, and gives them the advantage in it that -a mountaineer has in his own mountains. Besides, they who take their -life in their hand exercise their faculties with more vigor and -clearness than they who have only money at stake; and this advantage the -negroes had over the hunters. - -Dred's "stronghold of Engedi," as we have said, was isolated from the -rest of the swamp by some twenty yards of deep morass, in which it was -necessary to wade almost to the waist. The shore presented to the eye -only the appearance of an impervious jungle of cat-brier and grapevine -rising out of the water. There was but one spot on which there was a -clear space to set foot on, and that was the place where Dred crept up -on the night when we first introduced the locality to our readers' -attention. - -The hunters generally satisfied themselves with exploring more -apparently accessible portions; and, unless betrayed by those to whom -Dred had communicated the clue, there was very little chance that any -accident would ever disclose the retreat. - -Dred himself appeared to be gifted with that peculiar faculty of -discernment of spirits which belonged to his father Denmark Vesey, -sharpened into a preternatural intensity by the habits of his wild and -dangerous life. The men he selected for trust were men as impenetrable -as himself, the most vigorous in mind and body on all the plantations. - -The perfectness of his own religious enthusiasm, his absolute certainty -that he was inspired of God, as a leader and deliverer, gave him an -ascendency over the minds of those who followed him, which nothing but -religious enthusiasm ever can give. And this was further confirmed by -the rigid austerity of his life. For all animal comforts he appeared to -entertain a profound contempt. He never tasted strong liquors in any -form, and was extremely sparing in his eating; often fasting for days in -succession, particularly when he had any movement of importance in -contemplation. - -It is difficult to fathom the dark recesses of a mind so powerful and -active as his, placed under a pressure of ignorance and social -disability so tremendous. In those desolate regions which he made his -habitation, it is said that trees often, from the singularly unnatural -and wildly stimulating properties of the slimy depths from which they -spring, assume a goblin growth, entirely different from their normal -habit. All sorts of vegetable monsters stretch their weird, fantastic -forms among its shadows. There is no principle so awful through all -nature as the principle of _growth_. It is a mysterious and dread -condition of existence, which, place it under what impediment or -disadvantage you will, is constantly forcing on; and when unnatural -pressure hinders it, develops in forms portentous and astonishing. The -wild, dreary belt of swamp-land which girds in those states scathed by -the fires of despotism is an apt emblem, in its rampant and we might say -delirious exuberance of vegetation, of that darkly struggling, wildly -vegetating swamp of human souls, cut off, like it, from the usages and -improvements of cultivated life. - -Beneath that fearful pressure, souls whose energy, well-directed, might -have blessed mankind, start out in preternatural and fearful -developments, whose strength is only a portent of dread. - -The night after the meeting which we have described was one, to this -singular being, of agonizing conflict. His psychological condition, as -near as we can define it, seemed to be that of a human being who had -been seized and possessed, after the manner related in ancient fables, -by the wrath of an avenging God. That part of the moral constitution, -which exists in some degree in us all, which leads us to feel pain at -the sight of injustice, and to desire retribution for cruelty and crime, -seemed in him to have become an absorbing sentiment, as if he had been -chosen by some higher power as the instrument of doom. At some moments -the idea of the crimes and oppressions which had overwhelmed his race -rolled in upon him with a burning pain, which caused him to cry out, -like the fated and enslaved Cassandra, at the threshold of the dark -house of tyranny and blood. - -This sentiment of justice, this agony in view of cruelty and crime, is -in men a strong attribute of the highest natures; for he who is -destitute of the element of moral indignation is effeminate and tame. -But there is in nature and in the human heart a pleading, interceding -element, which comes in constantly to temper and soften this spirit and -this element in the divine mind, which the Scriptures represent by the -sublime image of an eternally interceding high priest, who, having -experienced every temptation of humanity, constantly urges all that can -be thought in mitigation of justice. As a spotless and high-toned mother -bears in her bosom the anguish of the impurity and vileness of her -child, so the eternally suffering, eternally interceding love of Christ -bears the sins of our race. But the Scriptures tell us that the -mysterious _person_, who thus stands before all worlds as the image and -impersonation of divine tenderness, has yet in reserve this awful energy -of wrath. The oppressors, in the last dread day, are represented as -calling to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and hide them from -the wrath of the LAMB. This idea had dimly loomed up before the mind of -Dred, as he read and pondered the mysteries of the sacred oracles; and -was expressed by him in the form of language so frequent in his mouth, -that "the Lamb was bearing the yoke of the sins of men." He had been -deeply affected by the presentation which Milly had made in their night -meeting of the eternal principle of intercession and atonement. The -sense of it was blindly struggling with the habitual and overmastering -sense of oppression and wrong. - -When his associates had all dispersed to their dwellings, he threw -himself on his face, and prayed: "O Lamb of God, that bearest the yoke, -why hast thou filled me with wrath? Behold these graves! Behold the -graves of my brothers, slain without mercy, and, Lord, they do not -repent! Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look -on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, -and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more -righteous than he? They make men as fishes in the sea, as creeping -things that have no ruler over them. They take them up with the angle. -They catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag. Therefore -they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and -burn incense unto their drag, because by them their portion is fat, and -their meat plenteous. Shall they, therefore, empty their net, and not -spare continually to slay the nations? Did not he that made them in the -womb make us? Did not the same God fashion us in the womb? Doubtless -thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel -acknowledgeth us not. Thou, O God, art our Father, our Redeemer. -Wherefore forgettest thou us for ever, and forsakest us so long a time? -Wilt thou not judge between us and our enemies? Behold, there is none -among them that stirreth himself up to call upon thee, and he that -departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. They lie in wait, they set -traps, they catch men, they are waxen fat, they shine, they overpass the -deeds of the wicked, they judge not the cause of the fatherless; yet -they prosper, and the right of the needy do they not judge. Wilt thou -not visit for these things, O Lord? Shall not thy soul be avenged on -such a nation as this? How long wilt thou endure? Behold under the altar -the souls of those they have slain! They cry unto thee continually. How -long, O Lord, dost thou not judge and avenge? Is there any that stirreth -himself up for justice? Is there any that regardeth our blood? We are -sold for silver; the price of our blood is in thy treasury; the price of -our blood is on thine altars! Behold, they build their churches with the -price of our hire! Behold, the stone doth cry out of the wall, and the -timber doth answer it. Because they build their towns with blood, and -establish their cities by iniquity. They have all gone one way. There is -none that careth for the spoilings of the poor. Art thou a just God? -When wilt thou arise to shake terribly the earth, that the desire of all -nations may come? Overturn, overturn, and overturn, till _he_ whose -right it is shall come!" - -Such were the words, not uttered continuously, but poured forth at -intervals, with sobbings, groanings, and moanings, from the recesses of -that wild fortress. It was but a part of that incessant prayer with -which oppressed humanity has besieged the throne of justice in all ages. -We who live in ceiled houses would do well to give heed to that sound, -lest it be to us that inarticulate moaning which goes before the -earthquake. If we would estimate the force of almighty justice, let us -ask ourselves what a mother might feel for the abuse of her helpless -child, and multiply that by infinity. - -But the night wore on, and the stars looked down serene and solemn, as -if no prayer had gone through the calm, eternal gloom; and the morning -broke in the east resplendent. - -Harry, too, had passed a sleepless night. The death of Hark weighed like -a mountain upon his heart. He had known him for a whole-souled, -true-hearted fellow. He had been his counsellor and friend for many -years, and he had died in silent torture for him. How stinging is it at -such a moment to view the whole respectability of civilized society -upholding and glorifying the murderer; calling his sin by soft names, -and using for his defence every artifice of legal injustice! Some in our -own nation have had bitter occasion to know this, for we have begun to -drink the cup of trembling which for so many ages has been drank alone -by the slave. Let the associates of Brown ask themselves if they cannot -understand the midnight anguish of Harry! - -His own impulses would have urged to an immediate insurrection, in which -he was careless about his own life, so the fearful craving of his soul -for justice was assuaged. To him the morning seemed to break red with -the blood of his friend. He would have urged to immediate and -precipitate action. But Dred, true to the enthusiastic impulses which -guided him, persisted in waiting for that sign from Heaven which was to -indicate when the day of grace was closed, and the day of judgment to -begin. This expectation he founded on his own version of certain -passages in the prophets, such as these:-- - -"I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; -blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke! The sun shall be turned into -darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of -the Lord shall come!" - -Meanwhile, his associates were to be preparing the minds of the people, -and he was traversing the swamps in different directions, holding -nightly meetings, in which he read and expounded the prophecies to -excited ears. The laborious arguments, by which northern and southern -doctors of divinity have deduced from the Old Testament the divine -institution of slavery, were too subtle and fine-spun to reach his ear -amid the denunciations of prophecies, all turning on the sin of -oppression. His instinctive understanding of the spirit of the Bible -justified the sagacity which makes the supporter of slavery, to this -day, careful not to allow the slave the power of judging it for himself; -and we leave it to any modern pro-slavery divine whether, in Dred's -circumstances, his own judgment might not have been the same. - -After daylight, Harry saw Dred standing, with a dejected countenance, -outside of his hut. - -"I have wrestled," he said, "for thee; but the time is not yet! Let us -abide certain days, for the thing is secret unto me; and I cannot do -less nor more till the Lord giveth commandment. When the Lord delivereth -them into our hands, one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten -thousand to flight!" - -"After all," said Harry, "our case is utterly hopeless! A few poor, -outcast wretches, without a place to lay our heads, and they all -revelling in their splendor and their power! Who is there in this great -nation that is not pledged against us? Who would not cry _Amen_, if we -were dragged out and hung like dogs? The north is as bad as the south! -They kill us, and the north consents and justifies! And all their -wealth, power, and religion, are used against us. We are the ones that -all sides are willing to give up. Any party in church or of state will -throw in our blood and bones as a make-weight, and think nothing of it. -And, when I see them riding out in their splendid equipages, their -houses full of everything that is elegant, they so cultivated and -refined, and our people so miserable, poor, and down-trodden, I haven't -any faith that there is a God!" - -"Stop!" said Dred, laying his hand on his arm. "Hear what the prophet -saith. 'Their land, also, is full of silver and gold; neither is there -any end of their treasures. Their land, also, is full of horses; neither -is there any end of their chariots. Their land also is full of idols. -They worship the work of their own hands. Enter into the rock, and hide -thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his -majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of -man shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that -day. For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be on every one that is -proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be -brought low! And upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted -up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, -and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, -and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon -all pleasant pictures! And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, the -haughtiness of man shall be made low! And they shall go in the holes of -the rocks, and in the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for -his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth!'" - -The tall pines, and whispering oaks, as they stood waving in purple -freshness at the dawn, seemed like broad-winged attesting angels, -bearing witness, in their serene and solemn majesty, to the sublime -words, "Heaven and earth shall not pass away till these words have been -fulfilled!" - -After a few moments a troubled expression came over the face of Dred. - -"Harry," he said, "verily, he is a God that hideth himself! He giveth -none account to any of these matters. It may be that I shall not lead -the tribes over this Jordan; but that I shall lay my bones in the -wilderness! But the day shall surely come, and the sign of the Son of -Man shall appear in the air, and all tribes of the earth shall wail, -because of him! Behold, I saw white spirits and black spirits, that -contended in the air; and the thunder rolled, and the blood flowed, and -the voice said, 'Come rough, come smooth! Such is the decree. Ye must -surely bear it!' But, as yet, the prayers of the saints have power; for -there be angels, having golden censers, which be the prayers of saints. -And the Lord, by reason thereof, delayeth. Behold I have borne the -burden of the Lord even for many years. He hath covered me with a cloud -in the day of his anger, and filled me with his wrath; and his word has -been like a consuming fire shut in my bones! He hath held mine eyes -waking, and my bones have waxed old with my roarings all the day long! -Then I have said, 'Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in the dust! That thou -wouldst keep me secret till thy wrath be past!'" - -At this moment, soaring upward through the blue sky, rose the fair form -of a wood-pigeon, wheeling and curving in the morning sunlight, cutting -the ether with airy flight, so smooth, even, and clear, as if it had -learnt motion from the music of angels. - -Dred's eye, faded and haggard with his long night-watchings, followed it -for a moment with an air of softened pleasure, in which was blent -somewhat of weariness and longing. - -"Oh, that I had wings like a dove!" he said. "Then would I flee away and -be at rest! I would hasten from the windy storm and tempest! Lo, then I -would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness!" - -There was something peculiar in the power and energy which this man's -nature had of drawing others into the tide of its own sympathies, as a -strong ship, walking through the water, draws all the smaller craft into -its current. - -Harry, melancholy and disheartened as he was, felt himself borne out -with him in that impassioned prayer. - -"I know," said Dred, "that the new heavens and the new earth shall come, -and the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in it. But, as for me, I am a -man of unclean lips, and the Lord hath laid on me the oppressions of the -people! But, though the violent man prevail against me, it shall surely -come to pass!" - -Harry turned away, and walked slowly to the other side of the clearing, -where Old Tiff, with Fanny, Teddy, and Lisette, having kindled a fire on -the ground, was busy in preparing their breakfast. Dred, instead of -going into his house, disappeared in the thicket. Milly had gone home -with the man who came from Canema. The next day, as Harry and Dred made -a hunting excursion through the swamp, returning home in the edge of the -evening, they happened to be passing near the scene of lawless violence -which we have already described. - - - - -CHAPTER LI. - -THE SLAVE HUNT. - - -Tom Gordon, for the next two or three days after his injury, was about -as comfortable to manage as a wounded hyena. He had a thousand varying -caprices every hour and moment; and now one and now another prevailed. -The miserable girls who were held by him as his particular attendants -were tormented by every species of annoyance which a restless and -passionate man, in his impatience, could devise. - -The recent death of Milly's mistress by the cholera had reduced her -under Tom's authority; and she was summoned now from her work every hour -to give directions and advice, which, the minute they were given, were -repudiated with curses. - -"I declare," said Aunt Katy, the housekeeper, "if Mas'r Tom isn't 'nough -to use a body off o' der feet. It's jist four times I's got gruel ready -for him dis last two hours--doing all I could to suit him; and he swars -at it, and flings it round real undecent. Why, he's got fever, and does -he spect to make things taste good to him, when he's got fever! Why, -course I can't, and no need of him calling me a devil, and all that! -That ar's very unnecessary, I think. I don't believe in no such! The -Gordons allers used to have some sense to 'em, even if they was cross; -but he an't got a grain. I should think he was 'sessed wid Old Sam, for -my part. Bringing 'sgrace on us all, the way he cuts up! We really don' -know how to hold up our head, none of us. The Gordons have allers been -sich a genteel family! Laws, we didn't know what privileges we had when -we had Miss Nina! Them new girls, dressed up in all their flounces and -ferbuloes! Guess they has to take it!" - -In time, however, even in spite of his chafing, and fretfulness, and -contempt of physicians' prescriptions, Tom seemed to recover, by the -same kind of fatality which makes ill-weeds thrive apace. Meanwhile he -employed his leisure hours in laying plans of revenge, to be executed as -soon as he should be able to take to his horse again. Among other -things, he vowed deep vengeance on Abijah Skinflint, who, he said, he -knew _must_ have sold the powder and ammunition to the negroes in the -swamp. This may have been true, or may not; but, in cases of lynch law, -such questions are indifferent matter. A man is accused, condemned, and -judged, at the will of his more powerful neighbor. It was sufficient to -Tom that _he thought so_; and, being sick and cross, thought so just now -with more particular intensity. - -Jim Stokes, he knew, cherished an animosity of long standing towards -Abijah, which he could make use of in enlisting him in the cause. One of -the first uses, therefore, which Tom made of his recovered liberty, -after he was able to ride out, was to head a raid on Abijah's shop. The -shop was without ceremony dismantled and plundered; and the mob, having -helped themselves to his whiskey, next amused themselves by tarring and -feathering him; and, having insulted and abused him to their -satisfaction, and exacted a promise from him to leave the state within -three days, they returned home glorious in their own eyes. And the next -week a brilliant account of the affair appeared in the _Trumpet of -Liberty_, headed,-- - - - "SUMMARY JUSTICE." - - Nobody pitied Abijah, of course; and, as he would probably have - been quite willing to join in the same sort of treatment for any - one else, we know not that we are particularly concerned for his - doom. The respectable people in the neighborhood first remarked - that they didn't approve of mobs in general, and then dilated, with - visible satisfaction, on this in particular, after a fashion of - that stupid class that are called respectable people, generally. - The foolish mob gloried and exulted, not considering that any day - the same weapons might be turned against them. The mob being now - somewhat drilled and animated, Tom proposed, while their spirit was - up, to get up a hunting in the swamp, which should more fully - satisfy his own private vengeance. There is a sleeping tiger in the - human breast that delights in violence and blood; and this tiger - Tom resolved to unchain. - - -The act of outlawry had already publicly set up Harry as a mark for -whatever cruelty drunken ingenuity might choose to perpetrate. As our -readers may have a curiosity in this kind of literature, we will indulge -them with a copy of this:-- - - - "_State of North Carolina, Chowan County._ - - "Whereas, complaint upon oath hath this day been made to us, two of - the Justices of the Peace for the said county and state aforesaid, - by Thomas Gordon, that a certain male slave belonging to him, named - Harry, a carpenter by trade, about thirty-five years old, five feet - four inches high or thereabouts; dark complexion, stout built, blue - eyes, deep sunk in his head, forehead very square, tolerable loud - voice; hath absented himself from his master's service, and is - supposed to be lurking about in the swamp, committing acts of - felony or other misdeeds. These are, therefore, in the name of the - state aforesaid, to command said slave forthwith to surrender - himself, and return home to his said master. And we do hereby, by - virtue of the act of assembly, in such case made and provided, - intimate and declare that if the said slave Harry doth not - surrender himself, and return home immediately after the - publication of these presents, that any person or persons may kill - and destroy the said slave by such means as he or they may think - fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime or offence for - so doing, and without incurring any penalty or forfeiture thereby. - - "Given under our hands and seal, - - "JAMES T. MULLER, { SEAL. } - "T. BUTTERCOURT."[3] { SEAL. } - - -One can scarcely contemplate without pity the condition of a population -which grows up under the influence of such laws and customs as these. -That the lowest brutality and the most fiendish cruelty should be -remorselessly practised by those whose ferocity thus receives the -sanction of the law, cannot be wondered at. Tom Gordon convened at his -house an assemblage of those whom he used as the tools and ministers of -his vengeance. Harry had been secretly hated by them all in his -prosperous days, because, though a slave, he was better dressed, better -educated, and, on the whole, treated with more consideration by the -Gordon family and their guests, than they were; and, at times, he had -had occasion to rebuke some of them for receiving from the slaves goods -taken from the plantation. To be sure, while he was prosperous they were -outwardly subservient to him, as the great man of a great family; but -now he was _down_, as the amiable fashion of the world generally is, -they resolved to make up for their former subservience by redoubled -insolence. - -Jim Stokes, in particular, bore Harry a grudge, for having once -expressed himself with indignation concerning the meanness and brutality -of his calling; and he was therefore the more willing to be made use of -on the present occasion. Accordingly, on the morning we speak of, there -was gathered before the door of the mansion at Canema a confused -_mélange_ of men, of that general style of appearance which, in our -times, we call "Border Ruffians,"--half drunken, profane, obscene as the -harpies which descended on the feast of Æneas. Tom Gordon had only this -advantage among them, that superior education and position had given him -the power, when he chose, of assuming the appearance and using the -language of a gentleman. But he had enough of grossness within, to -enable him at will to become as one of them. Tom's arm was still worn in -a sling, but, as lack of energy never was one of his faults, he was -about to take the saddle with his troop. At present they were drawn up -before the door, laughing, swearing, and drinking whiskey, which flowed -in abundance. The dogs--the better-mannered brutes of the two, by all -odds--were struggling in their leashes with impatience and excitement. -Tom Gordon stood forth on the veranda, after the fashion of great -generals of old, who harangued their troops on the eve of battle. Any -one who has read the speeches of the leaders who presided over the -sacking of Lawrence will get an idea of some features in this style of -eloquence, which our pen cannot represent. - -"Now, boys," said Tom, "you are getting your names up. You've done some -good work already. You've given that old, snivelling priest a taste of -true orthodox doctrine, that will enlighten him for the future. You've -given that long-nosed Skinflint light enough to see the error of _his_ -ways." - -A general laugh here arose, and voices repeated,-- - -"Ah, ah, that we did! Didn't we, though?" - -"I reckon you did!" said Tom Gordon. "I reckon he didn't need candles to -see his sins by, that night! Didn't we make a candle of his old -dog-kennel? Didn't he have light to see his way out of the state by? and -didn't we give him a suit to keep him warm on the road? Ah, boys, that -was a warm suit--no mistake! It was a suit that will stick to him, too! -He won't trade that off for rum, in a hurry, I'm thinking! Will he, -boys?" - -Bursts of crazy, half-drunken applause here interrupted the orator. - -"Pity we hadn't put a match to it!" shouted one. - -"Ah, well, boys, you did enough for that time! Wait till you catch these -sneaking varmins in the swamp; you shall do what you like with them. -Nobody shall hinder you, that's law and order. These foxes have troubled -us long enough, stealing at our hen-roosts while we were asleep. We -shall make it hot for them, if we catch them; and we are going to catch -them. There are no two ways about it. This old swamp is like Davy's -coon--it's got _to come down_! And it will come down, boys, when it sees -_us_ coming. No mistake about that! Now, boys, mind, catch him alive, if -you can; but shoot him, if you can't. Remember, I'll give a hundred and -fifty dollars for his head!" - -A loud shout chorused this last announcement, and Tom descended in glory -to take his place in his saddle. - -Once, we suppose, this history would not have been believed, had it been -told; but of late our own sons and brothers have been hounded and hunted -by just such men, with such means. - -The fire which began in the dry tree has spread to the green! - -Long live the _great Christianizing Institution_!!! - -FOOTNOTE: - -[3] The original document from which this is taken can be seen in the -Appendix. It appeared in the _Wilmington Journal_, December 18, 1850. - - - - -CHAPTER LII. - -"ALL OVER." - - -Clayton, at the time of the violent assault which we have described, -received an injury upon the head which rendered him insensible. - -When he came to himself, he was conscious at first only of a fanning of -summer breezes. He opened his eyes, and looked listlessly up into the -blue sky, that appeared through the thousand leafy hollows of waving -boughs. Voices of birds warbling and calling, like answering echoes, to -each other, fell dreamily on his ear. Some gentle hand was placing -bandages around his head; and figures of women, he did not recognize, -moved whisperingly around him, tending and watching. - -He dropped asleep again, and thus for many hours lay in a kind of heavy -trance. - -Harry and Lisette had vacated, for his use, their hut; but, as it was -now the splendid weather of October, when earth and sky become a temple -of beauty and serenity, they tended him during the hours of the day in -the open air, and it would seem as if there were no art of healing like -to this. As air and heat and water all have a benevolent tendency to -enter and fill up a vacuum, so we might fancy the failing vitality of -the human system to receive accessions of vigor by being placed in the -vicinity of the healthful growths of nature. All the trees which John -saw around the river of life and heaven bore healing leaves; and there -may be a sense in which the trees of our world bear leaves that are -healing both to body and soul. He who hath gone out of the city, sick, -disgusted, and wearied, and lain himself down in the forest, under the -fatherly shadow of an oak, may have heard this whispered to him in the -leafy rustlings of a thousand tongues. - - * * * * * * * * * - -"See," said Dred to Harry, as they were watching over the yet -insensible form of Clayton, "how the word of the Lord is fulfilled on -this people. He shall deliver them, every man into the hand of his -neighbor; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey!" - -"Yes," said Harry; "but this is a good man; he stands up for our rights. -If he had his way, we should soon have justice done us." - -"Yes," said Dred, "but it is even as it was of old; 'behold I send unto -you prophets and wise men, and some of them shall ye slay. For this -people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears have they closed. -Therefore, the Lord shall bring upon this generation the blood of all -the slain, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, -the son of Barachias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar.'" - - * * * * * * * * * - -After a day or two spent in a kind of listless dreaming, Clayton was so -far recovered as to be able to sit up and look about him. The serene -tranquillity of the lovely October skies seemed to fall like a spell -upon his soul. - -Amidst the wild and desolate swamp, here was an island of security, -where nature took men to her sheltering bosom. A thousand birds, -speaking with thousand airy voices, were calling from breezy tree-tops, -and from swinging cradles of vine-leaves; white clouds sailed, in -changing and varying islands, over the heavy green battlements of the -woods. The wavering, slumberous sound of thousand leaves, through which -the autumn air walked to and fro, consoled him. Life began to look to -him like a troubled dream, forever past. His own sufferings, the hours -of agony and death which he had never dared to remember, seemed now to -wear a new and glorified form. Such is the divine power in which God -still reveals himself through the lovely and incorruptible forms of -nature. - -Clayton became interested in Dred, as a psychological study. At first he -was silent and reserved, but attended to the wants of his guest with -evident respect and kindness. Gradually, however, the love of -expression, which lies hidden in almost every soul, began to unfold -itself in him, and he seemed to find pleasure in a sympathetic listener. -His wild jargon of hebraistic phrases, names, and allusions, had for -Clayton, in his enfeebled state, a quaint and poetic interest. He -compared him, in his own mind, to one of those old rude Gothic doorways, -so frequent in European cathedrals, where scriptural images, carved in -rough granite, mingle themselves with a thousand wayward, fantastic -freaks of architecture; and sometimes he thought, with a sigh, how much -might have been accomplished by a soul so ardent and a frame so -energetic, had they been enlightened and guided. - -Dred would sometimes come, in the shady part of the afternoon, and lie -on the grass beside him, and talk for hours in a quaint, rambling, -dreamy style, through which there were occasional flashes of practical -ability and shrewdness. - -He had been a great traveller--a traveller through regions generally -held inaccessible to human foot and eye. He had explored not only the -vast swamp-girdle of the Atlantic, but the everglades of Florida, with -all their strange and tropical luxuriance of growth; he had wandered -along the dreary and perilous belt of sand which skirts the southern -Atlantic shores, full of quicksands and of dangers, and there he had -mused of the eternal secret of the tides, with whose restless, -never-ceasing rise and fall the soul of man has a mysterious sympathy. -Destitute of the light of philosophy and science, he had revolved in the -twilight of his ardent and struggling thoughts the causes of natural -phenomena, and settled these questions for himself by theories of his -own. Sometimes his residence for weeks had been a stranded hulk, cast on -one of these inhospitable shores, where he fasted and prayed, and -fancied that answering voices came to him in the moaning of the wind and -the sullen swell of the sea. - -Our readers behold him now, stretched on the grass beside the hut of -Harry and Lisette, in one of his calmest and most communicative moods. - -The children, with Lisette and the women, were searching for grapes in a -distant part of the inclosure; and Harry, with the other fugitive man, -had gone to bring in certain provisions which were to have been -deposited for them in a distant part of the swamp by some of their -confederates on one of the plantations. Old Tiff was hoeing potatoes -diligently in a spot not very far distant, and evidently listening to -the conversation with an ear of shrewd attention. - -"Yes," said Dred, with that misty light in his eye which one may often -have remarked in the eye of enthusiasts, "the glory holds off, but it is -coming! Now is the groaning time! _That_ was revealed to me when I was -down at Okerecoke, when I slept three weeks in the hulk of a ship out of -which all souls had perished." - -"Rather a dismal abode, my friend," said Clayton, by way of drawing him -on to conversation. - -"The Spirit drove me there," said Dred, "for I had besought the Lord to -show unto me the knowledge of things to come; and the Lord bade me to go -from the habitations of men, and to seek out the desolate places of the -sea, and dwell in the wreck of a ship that was forsaken, for a sign of -desolation unto this people. So I went and dwelt there. And the Lord -called me Amraphal, because hidden things of judgment were made known -unto me. And the Lord showed unto me that even as a ship which is -forsaken of the waters, wherein all flesh have died, so shall it be with -the nation of the oppressor." - -"How did the Lord show you this?" said Clayton, bent upon pursuing his -inquiry. - -"Mine ear received it in the night season," said Dred, "and I heard how -the whole creation groaneth and travaileth, waiting for the adoption; -and because of this he hath appointed the tide." - -"I don't see the connection," said Clayton. "Why because of this?" - -"Because," said Dred, "every day is full of labor, but the labor goeth -back again into the seas. So that travail of all generations hath gone -back, till the desire of all nations shall come, and He shall come with -burning and with judgment, and with great shakings; but in the end -thereof shall be peace. Wherefore, it is written that in the new heavens -and the new earth there shall be no more sea." - -These words were uttered with an air of solemn, assured confidence, that -impressed Clayton strangely. Something in his inner nature seemed to -recognize in them a shadow of things hoped for. He was in that mood into -which the mind of him who strives with the evils of this world must -often fall--a mood of weariness and longing; and heard within him the -cry of the human soul, tempest-tossed and not comforted, for rest and -assurance of the state where there shall be no more sea. - -"So, then," he said unto Dred, "so, then, you believe that these heavens -and earth shall be made new." - -"Assuredly," said Dred. "And the King shall reign in righteousness. He -shall deliver the needy when he crieth,--the poor and him that hath no -helper. He shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence. He shall -sit upon a white cloud, and the rainbow shall be round about his head. -And the elect of the Lord shall be kings and priests on the earth." - -"And do you think you shall be one of them?" said Clayton. - -Dred gave a kind of inward groan. - -"Not every one that prophesieth in his name shall be found worthy!" he -said. "I have prayed the Lord, but He hath not granted me the assurance. -I am the rod of his wrath, to execute vengeance on his enemies. Shall -the axe magnify itself against him that lifteth it?" - -The conversation was here interrupted by Harry, who, suddenly springing -from the tree, came up, in a hurried and agitated manner. - -"The devil is broke loose!" he said. "Tom Gordon is out, with his whole -crew at his heels, beating the swamp! A more drunken, swearing, -ferocious set I never saw! They have got on to the trail of poor Jim, -and are tracking him without mercy!" - -A dark light flashed from Dred's eye, as he sprang upon his feet. - -"The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; yea, the wilderness of -Kadesh. I will go forth and deliver him!" - -He seized his rifle and shot-bag, and in a few moments was gone. It was -Harry's instinct to have followed him; but Lisette threw herself, -weeping, on his neck. - -"Don't go--don't!" she said. "What shall we all do without you? Stay -with us! You'll certainly be killed, and you can do no good!" - -"Consider," said Clayton, "that you have not the familiarity with these -swamps, nor the wonderful physical power of this man. It would only be -throwing away your life." - -The hours of that day passed gloomily. Sometimes the brutal sound of -the hunt seemed to sweep near them,--the crack of rifles, the baying of -dogs, the sound of oaths,--and then again all went off into silence, and -nothing was heard but the innocent patter of leaf upon leaf, and the -warbling of the birds, singing cheerily, ignorant of the abyss of -cruelty and crime over which they sang. - -Towards sunset a rustling was heard in the branches of the oak, and Dred -dropped down into the inclosure, wet, and soiled, and wearied. All -gathered round him, in a moment. - -"Where is Jim?" asked Harry. - -"Slain!" said Dred. "The archers pressed him sore and he hath fallen in -the wilderness!" - -There was a general exclamation of horror. Dred made a movement to sit -down on the earth. He lost his balance, and fell; and they all saw now, -what at first they had not noticed, a wound in his breast, from which -the blood was welling. His wife fell by his side, with wild moans of -sorrow. He lifted his hand, and motioned her from him. - -"Peace," he said, "peace! It is enough! Behold, I go unto the witnesses -who cry day and night!" - -The circle stood around him in mute horror and surprise. Clayton was the -first who had presence of mind to kneel and stanch the blood. Dred -looked at him; his calm, large eyes filled with supernatural light. - -"All over!" he said. - -He put his hand calmly to his side, and felt the gushing blood. He took -some in his hand and threw it upward, crying out, with wild energy, in -the words of an ancient prophet,-- - -"Oh, earth, earth, earth! Cover thou not my blood!" - -Behind the dark barrier of the woods the sun was setting gloriously. -Piles of loose, floating clouds, which all day long had been moving -through the sky in white and silvery stillness, now one after another -took up the rosy flush, and became each one a light-bearer, filled with -ethereal radiance. And the birds sang on as they ever sing, unterrified -by the great wail of human sorrow. - -It was evident to the little circle that He who is mightier than the -kings of the earth was there, and that that splendid frame, which had -so long rejoiced in the exuberance of health and strength, was now to be -resolved again into the eternal elements. - -"Harry," he said, "lay me beneath the heap of witness. Let the God of -their fathers judge between us!" - - - - -CHAPTER LIII. - -THE BURIAL. - - -The death of Dred fell like a night of despair on the hearts of the -little fugitive circle in the swamps--on the hearts of multitudes in the -surrounding plantations, who had regarded him as a prophet and a -deliverer. He in whom they trusted was dead! The splendid, athletic -form, so full of wild vitality, the powerful arm, the trained and -keen-seeing eye, all struck down at once! The grand and solemn voice -hushed, and all the splendid poetry of olden time, the inspiring symbols -and prophetic dreams, which had so wrought upon his own soul, and with -which he had wrought upon the souls of others, seemed to pass away with -him, and to recede into the distance and become unsubstantial, like the -remembered sounds of mighty winds, or solemn visions of evening clouds, -in times long departed. - -On that night, when the woods had ceased to reverberate the brutal -sounds of baying dogs, and the more brutal profanity of drunken men; -when the leaves stood still on the trees, and the forest lay piled up in -the darkness like black clouds, and the morning star was standing like a -calm angelic presence above them, there might have been heard in the -little clearing a muffled sound of footsteps, treading heavily, and -voices of those that wept with a repressed and quiet weeping, as they -bore the wild chieftain to his grave beneath the blasted tree. Of the -undaunted circle who had met there at the same hour many evenings -before, some had dared to be present to-night; for, hearing the report -of the hunt, they had left their huts on the plantations by stealth when -all were asleep, and, eluding the vigilance of the patrols, the night -watch which commonly guards plantations, had come to the forest to learn -the fate of their friends; and bitter was the dismay and anguish which -filled their souls when they learned the result. It is melancholy to -reflect, that among the children of one Father an event which excites -in one class bitterness and lamentation should in another be cause of -exultation and triumph. But the world has been thousands of years and -not yet learned the first two words of the Lord's Prayer; and not until -all tribes and nations have learned these will his kingdom come, and his -will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. - -Among those who stood around the grave, none seemed more bowed down and -despairing than one whom we have before introduced to the reader, under -the name of Hannibal. He was a tall and splendidly formed negro, whose -large head, high forehead, and marked features, indicated resolution and -intellectual ability. He had been all his life held as the property of -an uneducated man, of very mean and parsimonious character, who was -singularly divided in his treatment of him, by a desire to make the most -of his energies and capabilities as a slave, and a fear lest they should -develop so fast as to render him unfit for the condition of slavery. - -Hannibal had taught himself to read and write, but the secret of the -acquisition was guarded in his own bosom, as vigilantly as the traveller -among thieves would conceal in his breast an inestimable diamond; for he -well knew that, were these acquisitions discovered, his master's fears -would be so excited as to lead him to realize at once a present sum upon -him, by selling him to the more hopeless prison-house of the far south, -thus separating him from his wife and family. - -Hannibal was generally employed as the keeper of a ferryboat by his -master, and during the hours when he was waiting for passengers found -many opportunities for gratifying, in an imperfect manner, his thirst -for knowledge. - -Those who have always had books about them more than they could or would -read know nothing of the passionate eagerness with which a repressed and -starved intellect devours in secret its stolen food. - -In a little chink between the logs of his ferry-house there was secreted -a Bible, a copy of Robinson Crusoe, and an odd number of a northern -newspaper which had been dropped from the pocket of a passenger; and -when the door was shut and barred at night, and his bit of pine knot -lighted, he would take these out and read them hour by hour. There he -yearned after the wild freedom of the desolate island. He placed his -wife and children, in imagination, in the little barricaded abode of -Robinson. He hunted and made coats of skin, and gathered strange fruits -from trees with unknown names, and felt himself a free man. - -Over a soul so strong and so repressed it is not to be wondered at that -Dred should have acquired a peculiar power. The study of the Bible had -awakened in his mind that vague tumult of aspirations and hopes which it -ever excites in the human breast; and he was prompt to believe that the -Lord who visited Israel in Egypt had listened to the sighings of their -captivity, and sent a prophet and a deliverer to his people. - -Like a torch carried in a stormy night, this hope had blazed up within -him; but the cold blast of death had whistled by, and it was -extinguished forever. - -Among the small band that stood around the dead, on the edge of the -grave, he stood, looking fixedly on the face of the departed. In the -quaint and shaggy mound to which Dred had attached that strange, rugged, -oriental appellation, _Jegar Sahadutha_, or the "heap of witness," there -was wildly flaring a huge pine-knot torch, whose light fell with a red, -distinct glare on the prostrate form that lay there like a kingly cedar -uprooted, no more to wave its branches in air, yet mighty in its fall, -with all the shaggy majesty of its branches around. Whatever might have -been the strife and struggle of the soul once imprisoned in that form, -there was stamped upon the sombre face an expression of majestic and -mournful tranquillity, as if that long-suffering and gracious God, to -whose judgment he had made his last appeal, had rendered that judgment -in mercy. When the statesmen and mighty men of _our_ race die, though -they had the weaknesses and sins of humanity, they want not orators in -the church to draw the veil gently, to speak softly of their errors and -loudly of their good, and to predict for them, if not an abundant -entrance, yet at least a safe asylum among the blessed; and something -not to be rebuked in our common nature inclines to join in a hopeful -amen. It is not easy for us to believe that a great and powerful soul -can be lost to God and itself forever. - -But he who lies here so still and mournfully in this flickering -torch-light had struggling within him the energies which make the -patriot and the prophet. Crushed beneath a mountain of ignorance, they -rose blind and distorted; yet had knowledge enlightened and success -crowned them, his name might have been, with that of Toussaint, -celebrated in mournful sonnet by the deepest thinking poet of the age:-- - - - "Thou hast left behind - Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies; - There's not a breathing of the common wind - That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; - Thy friends are exaltations, agonies, - And love, and man's unconquerable mind." - - -The weight of so great an affliction seemed to have repressed the usual -vivacity with which the negro is wont to indulge the expression of -grief. When the body was laid down by the side of the grave, there was -for a time a silence so deep that the rustling of the leaves, and the -wild, doleful clamor of the frogs and turtles in the swamps, and the -surge of the winds in the pine-tree tops, were all that met the ear. -Even the wife of the dead stood with her shawl wrapped tightly about -her, rocking to and fro, as if in the extremity of grief. - -An old man in the company, who had officiated sometimes as preacher -among the negroes, began to sing a well-known hymn very commonly used at -negro funerals, possibly because its wild and gloomy imagery has -something exciting to their quick imaginations. The words rose on the -night air:-- - - - "Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound, - My ears attend the cry; - Ye living men, come view the ground - Where you must shortly lie." - - -During the singing of this verse Hannibal stood silent, with his arms -gloomily folded, his eyes fixed on the lifeless face. Gradually the -sentiment seemed to inspire his soul with a kind of serene triumph; he -lifted his head, and joined his deep bass voice in the singing of the -second verse:-- - - - "Princes, this clay must be your bed, - In spite of all your towers; - The tall, the wise, the reverend head, - Must lie as low as ours." - - -"Yes," he said, "brethren, that will be the way of it. They triumph and -lord it over us now, but their pomp will be brought down to the grave, -and the noise of their viols. The worm shall be spread under them, and -the worm shall cover them; and when we come to stand together at the -judgment seat, our testimony will be took there if it never was afore; -and the Lord will judge atween us and our oppressors,--that's one -comfort. Now, brethren, let's jest lay him in the grave, and he that's a -better man, or would have done better in his place, let him judge him if -he dares." - -They lifted him up and laid him into the grave; and in a few moments all -the mortal signs by which that soul had been known on earth had -vanished, to appear no more till the great day of judgment and decision. - - - - -CHAPTER LIV. - -THE ESCAPE. - - -Clayton had not been an unsympathizing or inattentive witness of these -scenes. - -It is true that he knew not the whole depth of the affair; but Harry's -letter and his own observations had led him, without explanation, to -feel that there was a perilous degree of excitement in some of the -actors in the scene before him, which, unless some escape-valve were -opened, might lead to most fatal results. - -The day after the funeral, he talked with Harry, wisely and kindly, -assuming nothing to himself on the ground either of birth or position; -showing to him the undesirableness and hopelessness, under present -circumstances, of any attempt to right by force the wrongs under which -his class were suffering, and opening to him and his associates a -prospect of a safer way by flight to the Free States. - -One can scarcely appreciate the moral resolution and force of character -which could make a person in Clayton's position in society--himself -sustaining, in the eye of the law, the legal relation of a -slave-holder--give advice of this kind. No crime is visited with more -unsparing rigor by the _régime_ of southern society than the aiding or -abetting the escape of a slave. He who does it is tried as a -negro-stealer; and in some states death, in others a long and -disgraceful imprisonment in the penitentiary, is the award. - -For granting the slightest assistance and succor, in cases like -these,--for harboring the fugitive for even a night,--for giving him the -meanest shelter and food,--persons have been stripped of their whole -property, and turned out destitute upon the world. Others for no other -crime, have languished years in unhealthy dungeons, and coming out at -last with broken health and wasted energies; nor has the most saintly -patience and purity of character in the victim been able to lessen or -mitigate the penalty. - -It was therefore only by the discerning power of a mind sufficiently -clear and strong to see its way through the mists of educational -association, that Clayton could feel himself to be doing right in thus -violating the laws and customs of the social state under which he was -born. But, in addition to his belief in the inalienable right of every -man to liberty, he had at this time a firm conviction that nothing but -the removal of some of these minds from the oppressions which were -goading them could prevent a development of bloody insurrection. - -It is probable that nothing has awakened more bitterly the animosity of -the slave-holding community than the existence in the Northern States of -an indefinite yet very energetic institution, known as _the underground -railroad_; and yet, would they but reflect wisely on the things that -belong to their peace, they would know that this has removed many a -danger from their dwellings. One has only to become well acquainted with -some of those fearless and energetic men who have found their way to -freedom by its means, to feel certain that such minds and hearts would -have proved, in time, an incendiary magazine under the scorching reign -of slavery. But by means of this, men of that class who cannot be kept -in slavery have found a road to liberty which endangered the shedding of -no blood but their own; and the record of the strange and perilous means -by which these escapes have been accomplished sufficiently shows the -resolute nature of the men by whom they were undertaken. - -It was soon agreed that a large party of fugitives should in concert -effect their escape. Harry, being so white as easily to escape detection -out of the immediate vicinity where he was known, assumed the task of -making arrangements, for which he was amply supplied with money by -Clayton. - -It is well known that there are, during the greater part of the year, -lumberers engaged in the cutting and making of shingles, who have -extensive camps in the swamp, and live there for months at a time. These -camps are made by laying foundations of logs on the spongy soil, thus -forming platforms on which rude cabins are erected. In the same manner -roads are constructed into distant parts of the swamp, by means of -which transportation is carried on. There is also a canal cut through -the middle of the swamp, on which small sailing craft pass backwards and -forwards with shingles and produce. - -In the employ of these lumberers are multitudes of slaves hired from -surrounding proprietors. They live here in a situation of comparative -freedom, being obliged to make a certain number of staves or shingles -within a stipulated time, and being furnished with very comfortable -provision. Living thus somewhat in the condition of freemen, they are -said to be more intelligent, energetic, and self-respecting, than the -generality of slaves. The camp of the fugitives had not been without -intercourse with the camp of lumberers, some five miles distant. In -cases of straits they had received secret supplies from them, and one or -two of the more daring and intelligent of the slave lumberers had -attended some of Dred's midnight meetings. It was determined, therefore, -to negotiate with one of the slaves who commanded a lighter, or small -vessel, in which lumber was conveyed to Norfolk, to assist their escape. - -On some consultation, however, it was found that the numbers wanting to -escape were so large as not to be able, without exciting suspicion, to -travel together, and it was therefore decided to make two detachments. -Milly had determined to cast in her lot with the fugitives, out of -regard to her grandchild, poor little Tomtit, whose utter and merry -thoughtlessness formed a touching contrast to the gravity and -earnestness of her affections and desires for him. He was to her the -only remaining memorial of a large family, which had been torn from her -by the ordinary reverses and chances of slavery; and she clung to him, -therefore, with the undivided energy of her great heart. As far as her -own rights were concerned, she would have made a willing surrender of -them, remaining patiently in the condition wherein she was called, and -bearing injustice and oppression as a means of spiritual improvement, -and seeking to do what good lay in her power. - -Every individual has an undoubted right, if he chooses, thus to resign -the rights and privileges of his earthly birthright; but the question is -a very different one when it involves the improvement and the immortal -interests of those for whom the ties of blood oblige him to have care. - -Milly, who viewed everything with the eye of a Christian, was far less -impressed by the rigor and severity of Tom Gordon's administration than -by the dreadful demoralization of character which he brought upon the -plantation. - -Tomtit being a bright, handsome child, his master had taken a particular -fancy to him. He would have him always about his person, and treated him -with the same mixture of indulgence and caprice which one would bestow -upon a spaniel. He took particular pleasure in teaching him to drink and -to swear, apparently for nothing else than the idle amusement it -afforded him to witness the exhibition of such accomplishments in so -young a child. - -In vain Milly, who dared use more freedom with him than any other -servant, expostulated. He laughed or swore at her, according to the -state in which he happened to be. Milly, therefore, determined at once -to join the flying party, and take her darling with her. Perhaps she -would not have been able to accomplish this, had not what she considered -a rather fortunate reverse, about this time, brought Tomtit into -disgrace with his master. Owing to some piece of careless mischief which -he had committed, he had been beaten with a severity as thoughtless as -the indulgence he at other times received, and, while bruised and -trembling from this infliction, he was fully ready to fly anywhere. - -Quite unexpectedly to all parties, it was discovered that Tom Gordon's -confidential servant and valet, Jim, was one of the most forward to -escape. This man, from that peculiar mixture of boldness, adroitness, -cunning, and drollery, which often exists among negroes, had stood for -years as prime and undisputed favorite with his master; he had never -wanted for money, or for anything that money could purchase; and he had -had an almost unreproved liberty of saying, in an odd fashion, what he -pleased, with the licensed audacity of a court buffoon. - -One of the slaves expressed astonishment that he, in his favored -position, should think of such a thing. Jim gave a knowing inclination -of his head to one side, and said:-- - -"Fac' is, bredren, dis chile is jest tired of dese yer partnership -concerns. I and mas'r, we has all tings in common, sure 'nough; but den -I'd rather have less of 'em, and have something dat's _mine_; 'sides -which, I never's going to have a wife till I can get one dat'll belong -to myself; dat ar's a ting I's 'ticular 'bout." - -The conspirators were wont to hold their meetings nightly in the woods, -near the swamp, for purposes of concert and arrangement. - -Jim had been trusted so much to come and go at his own pleasure, that he -felt little fear of detection, always having some plausible excuse on -hand, if inquiries were made. - -It is to be confessed that he had been a very profane and irreverent -fellow, often attending prayer-meetings, and other religious exercises -of the negroes, for no other apparent purpose than to be able to give -burlesque imitations of all the proceedings for the amusement of his -master and his master's vile associates. Whenever, therefore, he was -missed, he would, upon inquiry, assert, with a knowing wink, that "he -had been out to de prayer-meetin'." - -"Seems to me, Jim," says Tom, one morning, when he felt peculiarly -ill-natured, "seems to me you are doing nothing but go to meeting, -lately. I don't like it, and I'm not going to have it. Some deviltry or -other you are up to, and I'm going to put a stop to it. Now, mind -yourself; don't you go any more, or I'll give you----" - -We shall not mention particularly what Tom was in the habit of -threatening to give. - -Here was a dilemma. One attendance more in the woods this very night was -necessary,--was, indeed, indispensable. Jim put all his powers of -pleasing into requisition. Never had he made such desperate efforts to -be entertaining. He sang, he danced, he mimicked sermons, carried on -mock meetings, and seemed to whip all things sacred and profane -together, in one great syllabub of uproarious merriment; and this to an -idle man, with a whole day upon his hands, and an urgent necessity for -never having time to think, was no small affair. - -Tom mentally reflected in the evening, as he lay stretched out in the -veranda, smoking his cigar, what in the world he should do without Jim, -to keep him in spirits; and Jim, under cover of the day's glory, had -ventured to request of his master the liberty of an hour, which he -employed in going to his tryst in the woods. This was a bold step, -considering how positively he had been forbidden to do it in the -morning; but Jim heartily prayed to his own wits, the only god he had -been taught to worship, to help him out once more. He was returning -home, hastening, in order to be in season for his master's bed-time, -hoping to escape unquestioned as to where he had been. - -The appointments had all been made, and, between two and three o'clock -that night, the whole party were to strike out upon their course, and -ere morning to have travelled the first stage of their pilgrimage -towards freedom. - -Already the sense of a new nature was beginning to dawn on Jim's mind--a -sense of something graver, steadier, and more manly, than the wild, -frolicsome life he had been leading; and his bosom throbbed with a -strange, new, unknown hope. - -Suddenly, on the very boundary of the spot where the wood joins the -plantation, whom should he meet but Tom Gordon, sent there as if he had -been warned by his evil stars. - -"Now, Lord help me! if dere is any Lord," said Jim. "Well, I's got to -blaze it out now de best way I ken." - -He walked directly up to his master, with his usual air of saucy -assurance. - -"Why, Jim," said Tom, "where have you been? I've been looking for you." - -"Why, bless you, mas'r, honey, I's been out to de meetin'." - -"Didn't I tell you, you dog," said Tom, with an oath, "that you were not -to go to any more of those meetings?" - -"Why, laws, mas'r, honey, chile, 'fore my heavenly mas'r, I done forgot -every word you said!" said Jim. "I's so kind o' tumbled up and down this -day, and things has been so cur'us!" - -The ludicrous grimace and tone, and attitude of affected contrition, -with which all this was said, rather amused Tom; and, though he still -maintained an air of sternness, the subtle negro saw at once his -advantage, and added, "'Clare if I isn't most dead! Ole Pomp, he -preached, and he gets me so full o' grace I's fit to bust. Has to do -something wicked, else I'll get translated one dese yer days, like -'Lijah, and den who'd mas'r have fur to wait on him?" - -"I don't believe you've been to meeting," said Tom, eyeing him with -affected suspicion. "You've been out on some spree." - -"Why, laws, mas'r, honey, you hurts my feelings! Why, now, I's in hopes -you'd say you see de grace a shining out all over me. Why, I's been in a -clar state of glorrufication all dis evening. Dat ar ole Pomp, dar's no -mistake, he does lift a body up powerful!" - -"You don't remember a word he said, now, I'll bet," said Tom. "Where was -the text?" - -"Text!" said Jim, with assurance; "'twas in de twenty-fourth chapter of -Jerusalem, sixteenth verse." - -"Well," said Tom, "what was it? I should like to know." - -"Laws, mas'r, I b'lieve I can 'peat it," said Jim, with an indescribable -air of waggish satisfaction. "'Twas dis yer: 'Ye shall sarch fur me in -de mornin' and ye won't find me.' Dat ar's a mighty solemn text, mas'r, -and ye ought to be 'flecting on't." - -And Tom had occasion to reflect upon it, the next morning, when, having -stormed, and sworn, and pulled until he broke the bell-wire, no Jim -appeared. It was some time before he could actually realize or believe -he was gone. - -The ungrateful dog! The impudent puppy, who had had all his life -everything he wanted, to run away from him! - -Tom aroused the whole country in pursuit; and, as servants were found -missing in many other plantations, there was a general excitement -through the community. The _Trumpet of Liberty_ began to blow dolorous -notes, and articles headed, "The results of Abolitionist teaching, and -covert incendiarism," began to appear. It was recommended that a general -search should be made through the country for all persons tinctured with -abolitionist sentiments, and immediate measures pursued to oblige them -to leave the state forthwith. - -One or two respectable gentlemen, who were in the habit of taking the -_National Era_, were visited by members of a vigilance committee, and -informed that they must immediately drop the paper or leave the state; -and when one of them talked of his rights as a free citizen, and -inquired how they would enforce their requisitions, supposing he -determined to stand for his liberty, the party informed him succinctly -to the following purport: "If you do not comply, your corn, grain, and -fodder, will be burned; your cattle driven off; and, if you still -persist, your house will be set on fire and consumed, and you will never -know who does it." - -When the good gentleman inquired if this was freedom, his instructors -informed him that freedom consisted in their right and power to make -their neighbors submit to their own will and dictation; and he would -find himself in a free country so far as this, that every one would feel -at liberty to annoy and maltreat him so long as he opposed the popular -will. - -This modern doctrine of liberty has of late been strikingly and -edifyingly enforced on the minds of some of our brethren and sisters in -the new states, to whom the offer of relinquishing their principles or -their property and lives has been tendered with the same admirable -explicitness. - -It is scarcely necessary to remark that both these worthy gentlemen, to -use the language of their conquerors, "caved in," and thus escaped with -no other disadvantage than a general plundering of their smoke-houses, -the hams in which were thought a desirable addition to a triumphal -entertainment proposed to be given in honor of law and order by THE -ASSOCIATE BANDS of the GLORIOUS IMMORTAL COONS, the body-guard which was -Tom Gordon's instrument in all these exploits. - -In fact, this association, although wanting the advantage of an -ordaining prayer and a distribution of Bibles, as has been the case with -some more recently sent from Southern States, to beat the missionary -drum of state rights and the principles of law and order on our -frontiers, yet conducted themselves in a manner which might have won -them approbation even in Col. Buford's regiment, giving such exhibitions -of liberty as were sufficient to justify all despots for putting it down -by force for centuries to come. - -Tom Gordon was the great organizer and leader of all these operations; -his suspicions had connected Clayton with the disappearance of his -slaves, and he followed upon his track with the sagacity of a -bloodhound. - -The outrage which he had perpetrated upon him in the forest, so far from -being a matter of shame or concealment, was paraded as a cause for open -boast and triumph. Tom rode about with his arm in a sling as a wounded -hero, and received touching testimonials and demonstrations from sundry -ladies of his acquaintance for his gallantry and spirit. When on the -present occasion he found the pursuit of his slaves hopeless, his wrath -and malice knew no bounds, and he determined to stir up and enkindle -against Clayton to the utmost degree the animosities of the planters -around his estate of Magnolia Grove. - -This it was not difficult to do. We have already shown how much latent -discontent and heart-burning had been excited by the course which -Clayton and his sister had pursued on their estate. - -Tom Gordon had a college acquaintance with the eldest son of one of the -neighboring families, a young man of as reckless and dissipated habits -as his own. - -Hearing, therefore, that Clayton had retired to Magnolia Grove, he -accepted an invitation of this young man to make him a visit, -principally, as it would appear, for the purpose of instigating some -mischief. - - - - -CHAPTER LV. - -LYNCH LAW AGAIN. - - -The reader next beholds Clayton at Magnolia Grove, whither he had fled -to recruit his exhausted health and spirits. He had been accompanied -there by Frank Russel. - -Our readers may often have observed how long habits of intimacy may -survive between two persons who have embarked in moral courses, which, -if pursued, must eventually separate them forever. - -For such is the force of moral elements, that the ambitious and -self-seeking cannot _always_ walk with those who love good for its own -sake. In this world, however, where all these things are imperfectly -developed, habits of intimacy often subsist a long time between the most -opposing affinities. - -The fact was that Russel would not give up the society of Clayton. He -admired the very thing in him which he wanted himself; and he comforted -himself for not listening to his admonitions by the tolerance and -good-nature with which he had always heard them. When he heard that he -was ill, he came to him and insisted upon travelling with him, attending -him with the utmost fidelity and kindness. - -Clayton had not seen Anne before since his affliction--both because his -time had been very much engaged, and because they who cannot speak of -their sorrows often shrink from the society of those whose habits of -intimacy and affection might lead them to desire such confidence. But he -was not destined in his new retreat to find the peace he desired. Our -readers may remember that there were intimations conveyed through his -sister some time since of discontent arising in the neighborhood. - -The presence of Tom Gordon soon began to make itself felt. As a -conductor introduced into an electric atmosphere will draw to itself -the fluid, so he became an organizing point for the prevailing -dissatisfaction. - -He went to dinner-parties and talked; he wrote in the nearest paper; he -excited the inflammable and inconsiderate; and, before he had been there -many weeks, a vigilance association was formed among the younger and -more hot-headed of his associates, to search out and extirpate covert -abolitionism. Anne and her brother first became sensible of an entire -cessation of all those neighborly acts of kindness and hospitality, in -which southern people, when in a good humor, are so abundant. - -At last, one day Clayton was informed that three or four gentlemen of -his acquaintance were wishing to see him in the parlor below. - -On descending, he was received first by his nearest neighbor, Judge -Oliver, a fine-looking elderly gentleman, of influential family -connection. - -He was attended by Mr. Bradshaw, whom we have already introduced to our -readers, and by a Mr. Knapp, who was a very wealthy planter, a man of -great energy and ability, who had for some years figured as the -representative of his native state in Congress. - -It was evident, by the embarrassed air of the party, that they had come -on business of no pleasing character. - -It is not easy for persons, however much excited they may be, to enter -at once upon offensive communications to persons who receive them with -calm and gentlemanly civility; therefore, after being seated, and having -discussed the ordinary topics of the weather and the crops, the party -looked one upon another, in a little uncertainty which should begin the -real business of the interview. - -"Mr. Clayton," at length said Judge Oliver, "we are really sorry to be -obliged to make disagreeable communications to you. We have all of us -had the sincerest respect for your family and for yourself. I have known -and honored your father many years, Mr. Clayton; and, for my own part, I -must say I anticipated much pleasure from your residence in our -neighborhood. I am really concerned to be obliged to say anything -unpleasant; but I am under the necessity of telling you that the course -you have been pursuing with regard to your servants, being contrary to -the laws and usages of our social institutions, can no longer be -permitted among us. You are aware that the teaching of slaves to read -and write is forbidden by the law, under severe penalties. We have -always been liberal in the interpretation of this law. Exceptional -violations, conducted with privacy and discretion, in the case of -favored servants, whose general good conduct seems to merit such -confidence, have from time to time existed, and passed among us without -notice or opposition; but the institution of a regular system of -instruction, to the extent and degree which exists upon your plantation, -is a thing so directly in the face of the law, that we can no longer -tolerate it; and we have determined, unless this course is dropped, to -take measures to put the law into execution." - -"I had paid my adopted state the compliment," said Clayton, "to suppose -such laws to be a mere relic of barbarous ages, which the practical -Christianity of our times would treat as a dead letter. I began my -arrangements in all good faith, not dreaming that there could be found -those who would oppose a course so evidently called for by the spirit of -the Gospel, and the spirit of the age." - -"You are entirely mistaken, sir," said Mr. Knapp, in a tone of great -decision, "if you suppose these laws are, or can ever be, a matter of -indifference to us, or can be suffered to become a dead letter. Sir, -they are founded in the very nature of our institutions. They are -indispensable to the preservation of our property, and the safety of our -families. Once educate the negro population, and the whole system of our -domestic institutions is at an end. Our negroes have acquired already, -by living among us, a degree of sagacity and intelligence which makes it -difficult to hold an even rein over them; and, once open the flood-gates -of education, and there is no saying where they and we might be carried. -I, for my part, do not approve of these exceptional instances Judge -Oliver mentioned. Generally speaking, those negroes whose intelligence -and good conduct would make them the natural recipients of such favors -are precisely the ones who ought not to be trusted with them. It ruins -them. Why, just look at the history of the insurrection that very nearly -cut off the whole city of Charleston: what sort of men were those who -got it up? They were just your steady, thoughtful, well-conducted -men,--just the kind of men that people are teaching to read, because -they think they are so good it can do no harm. Sir, my father was one of -the magistrates on the trial of those men, and I have heard him say -often there was not one man of bad character among them. They had all -been _remarkable_ for their good character. Why, there was that Denmark -Vesey, who was the head of it: for twenty years he served his master, -and was the most faithful creature that ever breathed; and after he got -his liberty, everybody respected him, and liked him. Why, at first, my -father said the magistrates could not be brought to arrest him, they -were so sure that he could not have been engaged in such an affair. Now, -all the leaders in that affair could read and write. They kept their -lists of names; and nobody knows, or ever will know, how many were down -on them, for those fellows were deep as the grave, and you could not get -a word out of them. Sir, they died and made no sign; but all this is a -warning to us." - -"And do you think," said Clayton, "that if men of that degree of energy -and intelligence are refused instruction, they will not find means to -get knowledge for themselves? And if they do get it themselves, in spite -of your precautions, they will assuredly use it against you. - -"The fact is, gentlemen, it is inevitable that a certain degree of -culture must come from their intercourse with us, and minds of a certain -class _will_ be stimulated to desire more; and all the barriers we put -up will only serve to inflame curiosity, and will make them feel a -perfect liberty to use the knowledge they conquer from us against us. In -my opinion, the only sure defence against insurrection is systematic -education, by which we shall acquire that influence over their minds -which our superior cultivation will enable us to hold. Then, as fast as -they become fitted to enjoy rights, we must grant them." - -"Not we, indeed!" said Mr. Knapp, striking his cane upon the floor. "We -are not going to lay down our power in that way. We will not allow any -such beginning. We must hold them down firmly and consistently. For my -part, I dislike even the system of oral religious instruction. It starts -their minds, and leads them to want something more. It's indiscreet, -and I always said so. As for teaching them out of the Bible,--why, the -Bible is the most exciting book that ever was put together! It always -starts up the mind, and it's unsafe." - -"Don't you see," said Clayton, "what an admission you are making? What -sort of a system must this be, that requires such a course to sustain -it?" - -"I can't help that," said Mr. Knapp. "There's millions and millions -invested in it, and we can't afford to risk such an amount of property -for mere abstract speculation. The system is as good as forty other -systems that have prevailed, and will prevail. We can't take the -frame-work of society to pieces. We must proceed with things as they -are. And now, Mr. Clayton, another thing I have to say to you," said he, -looking excited, and getting up and walking the floor. "It has been -discovered that you receive incendiary documents through the -post-office; and this cannot be permitted, sir." - -The color flushed into Clayton's face, and his eye kindled as he braced -himself in his chair. "By what right," he said, "does any one pry into -what I receive through the post-office? Am I not a free man?" - -"No, sir, you are not," said Mr. Knapp,--"not free to receive that which -may imperil a whole neighborhood. You are not free to store barrels of -gunpowder on your premises, when they may blow up ours. Sir, we are -obliged to hold the mail under supervision in this state; and suspected -persons will not be allowed to receive communications without oversight. -Don't you remember that the general post-office was broken open in -Charleston, and all the abolition documents taken out of the mail-bags -and consumed, and a general meeting of all the most respectable -citizens, headed by the clergy in their robes of office, solemnly -confirmed the deed?" - -"I think, Mr. Knapp," said Judge Oliver, interposing in a milder tone, -"that your excitement is carrying you further than you are aware. I -should rather hope that Mr. Clayton would perceive the reasonableness of -our demand, and of himself forego the taking of these incendiary -documents." - -"I take no incendiary documents," said Clayton, warmly. "It is true I -take an anti-slavery paper, edited at Washington, in which the subject -is fairly and coolly discussed. I hold it no more than every man's duty -to see both sides of a question." - -"Well, there, now," said Mr. Knapp, "you see the disadvantage of having -your slaves taught to read. If they could not read your papers, it would -be no matter what you took; but to have them get to reasoning on these -subjects, and spread their reasonings through our plantations,--why, -there'll be the devil to pay, at once." - -"You must be sensible," said Judge Oliver, "that there must be some -individual rights which we resign for the public good. I have looked -over the paper you speak of, and I acknowledge it seems to me very fair; -but, then, in our peculiar and critical position, it might prove -dangerous to have such reading about my house, and I never have it." - -"In that case," said Clayton, "I wonder you don't suppress your own -newspapers; for as long as there is a congressional discussion, or a -Fourth of July oration, or senatorial speech in them, so long they are -full of incendiary excitement. Our history is full of it, our state -bills of rights are full of it, the lives of our fathers are full of it; -we must suppress our whole literature, if we would avoid it." - -"Now, don't you see," said Mr. Knapp, "you have stated just so many -reasons why slaves must not learn to read?" - -"To be sure I do," said Clayton, "if they are always to remain slaves, -if we are never to have any views of emancipation for them." - -"Well, they _are_ to remain slaves," said Mr. Knapp, speaking with -excitement. "Their condition is a finality; we will not allow the -subject of emancipation to be discussed, even." - -"Then, God have mercy on you!" said Clayton, solemnly; "for it is my -firm belief that, in resisting the progress of human freedom, you will -be found fighting against God." - -"It isn't the cause of human freedom," said Mr. Knapp, hastily. "They -are not human; they are an inferior race, made expressly for subjection -and servitude. The Bible teaches this plainly." - -"Why don't you teach them to read it, then?" said Clayton, coolly. - -"The long and the short of the matter is, Mr. Clayton," said Mr. Knapp, -walking nervously up and down the room, "you'll find this is not a -matter to be trifled with. We come, as your friends, to warn you; and, -if you don't listen to our warnings, we shall not hold ourselves -responsible for what may follow. You ought to have some consideration -for your sister, if not for yourself." - -"I confess," said Clayton, "I had done the chivalry of South Carolina -the honor to think that a lady could have nothing to fear." - -"It is so generally," said Judge Oliver, "but on this subject there is -such a dreadful excitability in the public mind, that we cannot control -it. You remember, when the commissioner was sent by the Legislature of -Massachusetts to Charleston, he came with his daughter, a very -cultivated and elegant young lady; but the mob was rising, and we could -not control it, and we had to go and beg them to leave the city. I, for -one, wouldn't have been at all answerable for the consequences, if they -had remained." - -"I must confess, Judge Oliver," said Clayton, "that I have been -surprised, this morning, to hear South Carolinians palliating two such -events in your history, resulting from mob violence, as the breaking -open of the post-office, and the insult to the representative of a -sister state, who came in the most peaceable and friendly spirit, and to -womanhood in the person of an accomplished lady. Is this hydra-headed -monster, the mob, to be our governor?" - -"Oh, it is only upon this subject," said all three of the gentlemen, at -once; "this subject is exceptional." - -"And do you think," said Clayton, "that - - - 'you can set the land on fire, - To burn just so high, and no higher?' - - -"You may depend upon it you will find that you cannot. The mob that you -smile on and encourage when it does work that suits you, will one day -prove itself your master in a manner that you will not like." - -"Well, now, Mr. Clayton," said Mr. Bradshaw, who had not hitherto -spoken, "you see this is a very disagreeable subject; but the fact is, -we came in a friendly way to you. We all appreciate, personally, the -merits of your character, and the excellence of your motives; but, -really sir, there is an excitement rising, there is a state of the -public mind which is getting every day more and more inflammable. I -talked with Miss Anne on this subject, some months ago, and expressed my -feelings very fully; and now, if you will only give us a pledge that you -will pursue a different course, we shall have something to take hold of -to quiet the popular mind. If you will just write and stop your paper -for the present, and let it be understood that your plantation system is -to be stopped, the thing will gradually cool itself off." - -"Gentlemen," said Clayton, "you are asking a very serious thing from me, -and one which requires reflection. If I am violating the direct laws of -the state, and these laws are to be considered as still in vital force, -there is certainly some question with regard to my course; but still I -have responsibilities for the moral and religious improvement of those -under my care, which are equally binding. I see no course but removal -from the state." - -"Of course, we should be sorry," said Judge Oliver, "you should be -obliged to do that; still we trust you will see the necessity, and our -motives." - -"Necessity is the tyrant's plea, I believe," said Clayton, smiling. - -"At all events, it is a strong one," replied Judge Oliver, smiling also. -"But I am glad we have had this conversation; I think it will enable me -to pacify the minds of some of our hot-headed young neighbors, and -prevent threatened mischief." - -After a little general conversation, the party separated on apparently -friendly terms, and Clayton went to seek counsel with his sister and -Frank Russel. - -Anne was indignant with that straight-out and generous indignation which -belongs to women, who, generally speaking, are ready to follow their -principles to any result with more inconsiderate fearlessness than men. -She had none of the anxieties for herself which Clayton had for her. -Having once been witness of the brutalities of a slave-mob, Clayton -could not, without a shudder, connect any such possibilities with his -sister. - -"I think," said Anne, "we had better give up this miserable sham of a -free government, of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and all -that, if things must go on in this way." - -"Oh," said Frank Russel, "the fact is that our republic, in these -states, is, like that of Venice; it's not a democracy, but an oligarchy, -and the mob is its standing army. We are, all of us, under the 'Council -of Ten', which has its eyes everywhere. We are free enough as long as -our actions please them; when they don't, we shall find their noose -around our necks. It's very edifying, certainly, to have these gentlemen -call on you to tell you that they will not be answerable for -consequences of excitement which they are all the time stirring up; for, -after all, who cares what you do, if they don't? The large proprietors -are the ones interested. The rabble are their hands, and this warning -about popular excitement just means, 'Sir, if you don't take care, I -shall let out my dogs, and then I won't be answerable for -consequences.'" - -"And you call this liberty!" said Anne, indignantly. - -"Oh, well," said Russel, "this is a world of humbugs. We call it liberty -because it's an agreeable name. After all, what is liberty, that people -make such a breeze about? We are all slaves to one thing or another. -Nobody is absolutely free except Robinson Crusoe, in the desolate -island; and he tears all his shirts to pieces and hangs them up as -signals of distress, that he may get back into slavery again." - -"For all that," said Anne, warming, "I know there is such a thing as -liberty. All that nobleness and enthusiasm which has animated people in -all ages for liberty cannot be in vain. Who does not thrill at those -words of the Marsellaise:-- - - - 'O Liberty, can men resign thee, - Once having felt thy generous flame? - Can dungeons, bolts, or bars, confine thee, - Or whips thy noble spirit tame?'" - - -"These are certainly agreeable myths," said Russel, "but these things -will not bear any close looking into. Liberty has generally meant the -liberty of me and my nation and my class to do what we please; which is -a very pleasant thing, certainly, to those who are on the upper side of -the wheel, and probably involving much that's disagreeable to those who -are under." - -"That is a heartless, unbelieving way of talking," said Anne, with -tears in her eyes. "I know there have been some right true, noble souls, -in whom the love of liberty has meant the love of right, and the desire -that every human brother should have what rightly belongs to him. It is -not _my_ liberty, nor _our_ liberty, but the _principle_ of liberty -itself, that they strove for." - -"Such a principle, carried out logically, would make smashing work in -this world," said Russell. "In this sense, where is there a free -government on earth? What nation ever does or ever did respect the right -of the weaker, or ever will, till the millennium comes?--and that's too -far off to be of much use in practical calculations; so don't let's -break our hearts about a name. For my part, I am more concerned about -these implied threats. As I said before, 'the hand of Joab is in this -thing.' Tom Gordon is visiting in this neighborhood, and you may depend -upon it that this, in some way, comes from him. He is a perfectly -reckless fellow, and I am afraid of some act of violence. If he should -bring up a mob, whatever they do, there will be no redress for you. -These respectable gentlemen, your best friends, will fold their hands, -and say, 'Ah, poor fellow! we told him so!' while others will put their -hands complacently in their pockets, and say, 'Served him right!'" - -"I think," said Clayton, "there will be no immediate violence. I -understood that they pledged as much when they departed." - -"If Tom Gordon is in the camp," said Russel, "they may find that they -have reckoned without their host in promising that. There are two or -three young fellows in this vicinity, who, with his energy to direct -them, are reckless enough for anything; and there is always an abundance -of excitable rabble to be got for a drink of whiskey." - -The event proved that Russel was right. Anne's bedroom was in the back -part of the cottage, opposite the little grove where stood her -school-room. - -She was awakened, about one o'clock that night, by a broad, ruddy glare -of light, which caused her at first to start from her bed, with the -impression that the house was on fire. - -At the same instant she perceived that the air was full of barbarous and -dissonant sounds, such as the beating of tin pans, the braying of -horns, and shouts of savage merriment, intermingled with slang oaths and -curses. - -In a moment, recovering herself, she perceived that it was her -school-house which was in a blaze, crisping and shrivelling the foliage -of the beautiful trees by which it was surrounded, and filling the air -with a lurid light. - -She hastily dressed, and in a few moments Clayton and Russel knocked at -the door. Both were looking very pale. - -"Don't be alarmed," said Clayton, putting his arm around her with that -manner which shows that there is everything to fear; "I am going out to -speak to them." - -"Indeed you are going to do no such thing," said Frank Russel, -decidedly. "This is no time for any extra displays of heroism. These men -are insane with whiskey and excitement. They have probably been -especially inflamed against you, and your presence would irritate them -still more. Let me go out: I understand the _ignobile vulgus_ better -than you do; besides which, providentially, I haven't any conscience to -prevent my saying and doing what is necessary for an emergency. You -shall see me lead off this whole yelling pack at my heels in triumph. -And now, Clayton, you take care of Anne, like a good fellow, till I come -back, which may be about four or five o'clock to-morrow morning. I shall -toll all these fellows down to Muggins', and leave them so drunk they -cannot stand for one three hours." - -So saying, Frank proceeded hastily to disguise himself in a shaggy old -great-coat, and to tie around his throat a red bandanna silk -handkerchief, with a very fiery and dashing tie, and surmounting these -equipments by an old hat which had belonged to one of the servants, he -stole out of the front door, and, passing around through the shrubbery, -was very soon lost in the throng who surrounded the burning building. He -soon satisfied himself that Tom Gordon was not personally among -them,--that they consisted entirely of the lower class of whites. - -"So far, so good," he said to himself, and, springing on to the stump of -a tree, he commenced a speech in that peculiar slang dialect which was -vernacular with them, and of which he perfectly well understood the use. - -With his quick and ready talent for drollery, he soon had them around -him in paroxysms of laughter; and, complimenting their bravery, -flattering and cajoling their vanity, he soon got them completely in his -power, and they assented, with a triumphant shout, to the proposition -that they should go down and celebrate their victory at Muggins' -grocery, a low haunt about a mile distant, whither, as he predicted, -they all followed him. And he was as good as his word in not leaving -them till all were so completely under the power of liquor as to be -incapable of mischief for the time being. - -About nine o'clock the next day he returned, finding Clayton and Anne -seated together at breakfast. - -"Now, Clayton," he said, seating himself, "I am going to talk to you in -good, solemn earnest, for once. The fact is, you are checkmated. Your -plans for gradual emancipation, or reform, or anything tending in that -direction, are utterly hopeless; and, if you want to pursue them with -your own people, you must either send them to Liberia, or to the -Northern States. There was a time, fifty years ago, when such things -were contemplated with some degree of sincerity by all the leading minds -at the south. That time is over. From the very day that they began to -open new territories to slavery, the value of this kind of property -mounted up, so as to make emancipation a moral impossibility. It _is_, -as they told you, a _finality_; and don't you see how they make -everything in the Union bend to it? Why these men are only about three -tenths of the population of our Southern States, and yet the other seven -tenths virtually have no existence. All they do is to vote as they are -told--as they know they must, being too ignorant to know any better. - -"The mouth of the north is stuffed with cotton, and will be kept full as -long as it suits us. Good, easy gentlemen, they are so satisfied with -their pillows, and other accommodations inside of the car, that they -don't trouble themselves to reflect that we are the engineers, nor to -ask where we are going. And, when any one does wake up and pipe out in -melancholy inquiry, we slam the door in his face, and tell him 'Mind -your own business, sir,' and he leans back on his cotton pillow, and -goes to sleep again, only whimpering a little, that 'we might be more -polite.' - -"They have their fanatics up there. We don't trouble ourselves to put -them down; we make them do it. They get up mobs on our account, to hoot -troublesome ministers and editors out of their cities; and their men -that they send to Congress invariably do all our dirty work. There's now -and then an exception, it is true; but they only prove the rule. - -"If there was any public sentiment at the north for you reformers to -fall back upon, you might, in spite of your difficulties, do something; -but there is not. They are all implicated with us, except the class of -born fanatics, like you, who are walking in that very unfashionable -narrow way we've heard of." - -"Well," said Anne, "let us go out of the state, then. I will go -anywhere; but I will not stop the work that I have begun." - - - - -CHAPTER LVI. - -FLIGHT. - - -The party of fugitives, which started for the north, was divided into -two bands. Harry, Lisette, Tiff, and his two children, assumed the -character of a family, of whom Harry took the part of father, Lisette -the nurse, and Tiff the man-servant. - -The money which Clayton had given them enabling them to furnish a -respectable outfit, they found no difficulty in taking passage under -this character, at Norfolk, on board a small coasting-vessel bound to -New York. - -Never had Harry known a moment so full of joyous security as that which -found him out at sea in a white-winged vessel, flying with all speed -toward the distant port of safety. - -Before they neared the coast of New York, however, there was a change in -their prospects. The blue sky became darkened, and the sea, before -treacherously smooth, began to rise in furious waves. The little vessel -was tossed baffling about by contrary and tumultuous winds. - -When she began to pitch and roll, in all the violence of a decided -storm, Lisette and the children cried for fear. Old Tiff exerted himself -for their comfort to the best of his ability. Seated on the cabin-floor, -with his feet firmly braced, he would hold the children in his arms, and -remind them of what Miss Nina had read to them of the storm that came -down on the Lake of Gennesareth, and how Jesus was in the hinder part of -the boat, asleep on a pillow. "And he's dar yet," Tiff would say. - -"I wish they'd wake him up, then," said Teddy, disconsolately; "I don't -like this dreadful noise! What does he let it be so for?" - -Before the close of that day the fury of the storm increased; the -horrors of the night can only be told by those who have felt the like. -The plunging of the vessel, the creaking and straining of the timbers, -the hollow and sepulchral sound of waves striking against the hull, and -the shiver with which, like a living creature, she seemed to tremble at -every shock, were things frightful even to the experienced sailor; much -more so to our trembling refugees. - -The morning dawned only to show the sailors their bark drifting -helplessly toward a fatal shore, whose name is a sound of evil omen to -seamen. - -It was not long before the final crash came, and the ship was wedged -among rugged rocks, washed over every moment by the fury of the waves. - -All hands came now on deck for the last chance of life. One boat after -another was attempted to be launched, but was swamped by the furious -waters. When the last boat was essayed, there was a general rush of all -on board. It was the last chance for life. In such hours the instinctive -fear of death often overbears every other consideration; and the boat -was rapidly filled by the hands of the ship, who, being strongest and -most accustomed to such situations, were more able to effect this than -the passengers. The captain alone remained standing on the wreck, and -with him Harry, Lisette, Tiff, and the children. - -"Pass along," said the captain, hastily pressing Lisette on board, -simply because she was the first that came to hand. - -"For de good Lord's sake," said Tiff, "put de chil'en on board; dere -won't be no room for me, and 'tan't no matter! You go 'board and take -care of 'em," he said, pushing Harry along. - -Harry mechanically sprang into the boat, and the captain after him. The -boat was full. - -"Oh, do take poor Tiff--do!" said the children, stretching their hands -after their old friend. - -"Clear away, boys,--the boat's full!" shouted a dozen voices; and the -boat parted from the wreck, and sunk in eddies and whirls of boiling -waves, foam, and spray, and went, rising and sinking, onward driven -toward the shore. - -A few, looking backwards, saw a mighty green wave come roaring and -shaking its crested head, lift the hull as if it had been an egg-shell, -then dash it in fragments upon the rocks. This was all they knew, till -they were themselves cast, wet and dripping, but still living, upon the -sands. - -A crowd of people were gathered upon the shore, who, with the natural -kindness of humanity on such occasions, gathered the drenched and -sea-beaten wanderers into neighboring cottages, where food and fire, and -changes of dry clothing, awaited them. - -The children excited universal sympathy and attention, and so many -mothers of the neighborhood came bringing offerings of clothing, that -their lost wardrobe was soon very tolerably replaced. But nothing could -comfort them for the loss of their old friend. In vain the "little -dears" were tempted with offers of cake and custard, and every -imaginable eatable. They sat with their arms around each other, quietly -weeping. - -No matter how unsightly the casket may be which holds all the love there -is on earth for us, be that love lodged in the heart of the poorest and -most uneducated, the whole world can offer no exchange for the loss of -it. - -Tiff's devotion to these children had been so constant, so provident, so -absolute, that it did not seem to them possible they could live a day -without him; and the desolation of their lot seemed to grow upon them -every hour. Nothing would restrain them. They would go out and look up -and down, if, perhaps, they might meet him; but they searched in vain. -And Harry, who had attended them, led them back again, disconsolate. - -"I say, Fanny," said Teddy, after they had said their prayers, and lain -down in their little bed, "has Tiff gone to heaven?" - -"Certainly he has," said Fanny, "if ever anybody went there." - -"Won't he come and bring us pretty soon?" said Teddy. "He won't want to -be there without us, will he?" - -"Oh, I don't know," said Fanny. "I wish we could go; the world is so -lonesome!" - -And, thus talking, the children fell asleep. But it is written in an -ancient record, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the -morning;" and, verily, the next morning Teddy started up in bed, and -awakened his sister with a cry of joy. - -"Oh, Fanny! Fanny! Tiff isn't dead! I heard him laughing." - -Fanny started up, and, sure enough, there came through the partition -which separated their little sleeping-room from the kitchen a sound very -much like Tiff's old, unctuous laugh. - -One would have thought no other pair of lungs could have rolled out the -jolly Ho, ho, ho, with such a joyous fulness of intonation. - -The children hastily put on their clothes, and opened the door. - -"Why, bress de Lord! poppets, here dey is, sure 'nough! Ho! ho! ho!" -said Tiff, stretching out his arms, while both the children ran and hung -upon him. - -"Oh, Tiff, we are so glad! Oh, we thought you was drowned; we've been -thinking so all night." - -"No, no, no, bress de Lord! You don't get shet of Ole Tiff dat ar way! -Won't get shet of him till ye's fetched up and able to do for -yerselves." - -"Oh, Tiff, how did you get away?" - -"Laws! why, chil'ens, 'twas a very strait way. I told de Lord 'bout it. -Says I, 'Good Lord, you knows I don't care nothing 'bout it on my own -'count; but 'pears like dese chil'en is so young and tender, I couldn't -leave dem, no way;' and so I axed him if he wouldn't jest please to help -me, 'cause I knowed he had de power of de winds and de sea. Well, sure -'nough, dat ar big wave toted me clar up right on de sho'; but it tuk my -breff and my senses so I didn't farly know whar I was. And de peoples -dat foun' me took me a good bit 'way to a house down here, and dey was -'mazing good to me, and rubbed me wid de hot flannels, and giv me one -ting and anoder, so't I woke up quite peart dis mornin', and came out to -look up my poppets; 'cause, yer see, it was kinder borne in on my mind -dat I should find you. And now yer see, chil'en, you mark my words, de -Lord been wid us in six troubles, and in seven, and he'll bring us to -good luck yet. Tell ye, de sea han't washed dat ar out o' me, for all -its banging and bruising." And Tiff chuckled in the fulness of his -heart, and made a joyful noise. - -His words were so far accomplished that, before many days, the little -party, rested and refreshed, and with the losses of their wardrobe made -up by friendly contributions, found themselves under the roof of some -benevolent friends in New York. - -Thither, in due time, the other detachment of their party arrived, -which had come forward under the guidance of Hannibal, by ways and means -which, as they may be wanted for others in like circumstances, we shall -not further particularize. - -Harry, by the kind patronage of friends, soon obtained employment, which -placed him and his wife in a situation of comfort. - -Milly and her grandson, and Old Tiff and his children, were enabled to -hire a humble tenement together; and she, finding employment as a -pastry-cook in a confectioner's establishment, was able to provide a -very comfortable support, while Tiff presided in the housekeeping -department. - -After a year or two an event occurred of so romantic a nature, that, had -we not ascertained it as a positive fact, we should hesitate to insert -it in our veracious narrative. - -Fanny's mother had an aunt in the Peyton family, a maiden lady of very -singular character, who, by habits of great penuriousness, had amassed a -large fortune, apparently for no other purpose than that it should, some -day, fall into the hands of somebody who would know how to enjoy it. - -Having quarrelled, shortly before her death, with all her other -relatives, she cast about in her mind for ways and means to revenge -herself on them, by placing her property out of their disposal. - -She accordingly made a will, bequeathing it to the heirs of her niece -Susan, if any such heirs existed; and if not, the property was to go to -an orphan asylum. - -By chance, the lawyer's letter of inquiry was addressed to Clayton, who -immediately took the necessary measures to identify the children, and -put them in possession of the property. - -Tiff now was glorious. "He always knowed it," he said, "dat Miss Sue's -chil'en would come to luck, and dat de Lord would open a door for them, -and he had." - -Fanny, who was now a well-grown girl of twelve years, chose Clayton as -her guardian; and, by his care, she was placed at one of the best New -England schools, where her mind and her person developed rapidly. - -Her brother was placed at school in the same town. - -As for Clayton, after some inquiry and consideration, he bought a large -and valuable tract of land in that portion of Canada where the climate -is least severe, and the land the most valuable for culture. - -To this place he removed his slaves, and formed there a township, which -is now one of the richest and finest in the region. - -Here he built for himself a beautiful residence, where he and his sister -live happily together, finding their enjoyment in the improvement of -those by whom they are surrounded. - -It is a striking comment on the success of Clayton's enterprise, that -the neighboring white settlers, who at first looked coldly upon him, -fearing he would be the means of introducing a thriftless population -among them, have been entirely won over, and that the value of the -improvements which Clayton and his tenants have made has nearly doubled -the price of real estate in the vicinity. - -So high a character have his schools borne, that the white settlers in -the vicinity have discontinued their own, preferring to have their -children enjoy the advantages of those under his and his sister's -patronage and care.[4] - -Harry is one of the head men of the settlement, and is rapidly acquiring -property and consideration in the community. - -A large farm, waving with some acres of fine wheat, with its fences and -out-houses in excellent condition, marks the energy and thrift of -Hannibal, who, instead of slaying men, is great in felling trees and -clearing forests. - -He finds time, winter evenings, to read, with "none to molest or make -afraid." His oldest son is construing Cæsar's _Commentaries_ at school, -and often reads his lesson of an evening to his delighted father, who -willingly resigns the palm of scholarship into his hands. - -As to our merry friend Jim, he is the life of the settlement. Liberty, -it is true, has made him a little more sober; and a very energetic and -capable wife, soberer still; but yet Jim has enough and to spare of -drollery, which makes him an indispensable requisite in all social -gatherings. - -He works on his farm with energy, and repels with indignation any -suggestion that he was happier in the old times, when he had abundance -of money, and very little to do. - -One suggestion more we almost hesitate to make, lest it should give -rise to unfounded reports; but we are obliged to speak the truth. - -Anne Clayton, on a visit to a friend's family in New Hampshire, met with -Livy Ray, of whom she had heard Nina speak so much, and very naturally -the two ladies fell into a most intimate friendship; visits were -exchanged between them, and Clayton, on first introduction, discovered -the lady he had met in the prison in Alexandria. - -The most intimate friendship exists between the three, and, of course, -in such cases reports will arise; but we assure our readers we have -never heard of any authentic foundation for them; so that, in this -matter, we can clearly leave every one to predict a result according to -their own fancies. - -We have now two sketches, with which the scenery of our book must close. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[4] These statements are all true of the Elgin settlement, founded by -Mr. King, a gentleman who removed and settled his slaves in the south of -Canada. - - - - -CHAPTER LVII. - -CLEAR SHINING AFTER RAIN. - - -Clayton had occasion to visit New York on business. - -He never went without carrying some token of remembrance from the -friends in his settlement to Milly, now indeed far advanced in years, -while yet, in the expressive words of Scripture, "her eye was not dim, -nor her natural force abated." - -He found her in a neat little tenement in one of the outer streets of -New York, surrounded by about a dozen children, among whom were blacks, -whites, and foreigners. These she had rescued from utter destitution in -the streets, and was giving to them all the attention and affection of a -mother. - -"Why, bless you, sir," she said to him, pleasantly, as he opened the -door, "it's good to see you once more! How is Miss Anne?" - -"Very well, Milly. She sent you this little packet; and you will find -something from Harry and Lisette, and all the rest of your friends in -our settlement.--Ah! are these all your children, Milly?" - -"Yes, honey; mine and de Lord's. Dis yer's my second dozen. De fust is -all in good places, and doing well. I keeps my eye on 'em, and goes -round to see after 'em a little, now and then." - -"And how is Tomtit?" - -"Oh, Tomtit's doing beautiful, thank 'e, sir. He's 'come a Christian, -and jined the church; and they has him to wait and tend at the -anti-slavery office, and he does _well_." - -"I see you have black and white here," said Clayton, glancing around the -circle. - -"Laws, yes," said Milly, looking complacently around; "I don't make no -distinctions of color,--I don't believe in them. White chil'en, when -they 'haves themselves, is jest as good as black, and I loves 'em jest -as well." - -"Don't you sometimes think it a little hard you should have to work so -in your old age?" - -"Why, bress you, honey, no! I takes comfort of my money as I goes along. -Dere's a heap in me yet," she said, laughing. "I's hoping to get dis yer -batch put out and take in anoder afore I die. You see," she said, "dis -yer's de way I took to get my heart whole. I found it was getting so -sore for my chil'en I'd had took from me, 'pears like the older I grow'd -the more I thought about 'em; but long's I keeps doing for chil'en it -kinder eases it. I calls 'em all mine; so I's got good many chil'en -now." - -We will inform our reader, in passing, that Milly, in the course of her -life, on the humble wages of a laboring woman, took from the streets, -brought up, and placed in reputable situations, no less than _forty_ -destitute children.[5] - -When Clayton returned to Boston, he received a note written in a -graceful female hand, from Fanny, expressing her gratitude for his -kindness to her and her brother, and begging that he would come and -spend a day with them at their cottage in the vicinity of the city. -Accordingly, eight o'clock the next morning found him whirling in the -cars through green fields and pleasant meadows, garlanded with flowers -and draped with bending elms, to one of those peaceful villages which -lie like pearls on the bosom of our fair old mother, Massachusetts. - -Stopping at ---- station, he inquired his way up to a little eminence -which commanded a view of one of those charming lakes which open their -blue eyes everywhere through the New England landscape. Here, embowered -in blossoming trees, stood a little Gothic cottage, a perfect gem of -rural irregularity and fanciful beauty. A porch in the front of it was -supported on pillars of cedar, with the rough bark still on, around -which were trained multitudes of climbing roses, now in full flower. -From the porch a rustic bridge led across a little ravine into a -summer-house, which was built like a nest into the branches of a great -oak which grew up from the hollow below the knoll on which the house -stood. - -A light form, dressed in a pretty white wrapper, came fluttering across -the bridge, as Clayton ascended the steps of the porch. Perhaps our -readers may recognize in the smoothly-parted brown hair, the large blue -eyes, and the bashful earnestness of the face, our sometime little -friend Fanny; if they do not, we think they'll be familiar with the -cheery "ho, ho, ho," which comes from the porch, as our old friend Tiff, -dressed in a respectable suit of black, comes bowing forward. "Bress de -Lord, Mas'r Clayton,--it's good for de eyes to look at you! So, you's -come to see Miss Fanny, now she's come to her property, and has got de -place she ought for to have. Ah, ah!--Old Tiff allers know'd it! He seed -it--he know'd de Lord would bring her out right, and he did. Ho! ho! -ho!" - -"Yes," said Fanny, "and I sometimes think I don't enjoy it half as well -as Uncle Tiff. I'm sure he ought to have some comfort of us, for he -worked hard enough for us--didn't you, Uncle Tiff?" - -"Work! bress your soul, didn't I?" said Tiff, giggling all over in -cheerful undulations. "Reckon I has worked, though I doesn't have much -of it to do now; but I sees good of my work now'days,--does so. Mas'r -Teddy, he's grow'd up tall, han'some young gen'leman, and he's in -college,--only tink of dat! Laws! he can make de Latin fly! Dis yer's -pretty good country, too. Dere's families round here dat's e'enamost up -to old Virginny; and she goes with de best on 'em--dat she does." - -Fanny now led Clayton into the house, and, while she tripped up stairs -to change her morning dress, Tiff busied himself in arranging cake and -fruit on a silver salver, as an apology for remaining in the room. - -He seemed to consider the interval as an appropriate one for making some -confidential communications on a subject that lay very near his heart. -So, after looking out of the door with an air of great mystery, to -ascertain that Miss Fanny was really gone, he returned to Clayton, and -touched him on the elbow with an air of infinite secrecy and precaution. - -"Dis yer an't to be spoken of out loud," he said. "I's ben mighty -anxious; but, bress de Lord, I's come safely through; 'cause, yer see, -I's found out he's a right likely man, beside being one of de very -fustest old families in de state; and dese yer old families here 'bout -as good as dey was in Virginny; and, when all's said and done, it's de -men dat's de ting, after all; 'cause a gal can't marry all de -generations back, if dey's ever so nice. But he's one of your likeliest -men." - -"What's his name?" - -"Russel," said Tiff, lifting up his hand apprehensively to his mouth, -and shouting out the name in a loud whisper. "I reckon he'll be here -to-day, 'cause Mas'r Teddy's coming home, and going to bring him wid -him; so please, Mas'r Clayton, you won't notice nothing; 'cause Miss -Fanny she's jest like her ma,--she'll turn red clar up to her har, if a -body only looks at her. See here," said Tiff, fumbling in his pocket, -and producing a spectacle-case, out of which he extracted a portentous -pair of gold-mounted spectacles; "see what he give me, de last time he's -here. I puts dese yer on of a Sundays, when I sets down to read my -Bible." - -"Indeed," said Clayton; "have you learned, then, to read?" - -"Why, no, honey, I don'no as I can rightly say dat I's larn'd to read, -'cause I's 'mazing slow at dat ar; but, den, I's larn'd all de best -words, like Christ, Lord, and God, and dem ar; and whar dey's pretty -thick, I makes out quite comfortable." - -We shall not detain our readers with minute descriptions of how the day -was spent: how Teddy came home from college a tall, handsome fellow, and -rattled over Latin and Greek sentences in Tiff's delighted ears, who -considered his learning as, without doubt, the eighth wonder of the -world; nor how George Russel came with him, a handsome senior, just -graduated; nor how Fanny blushed and trembled when she told her guardian -her little secret, and, like other ladies, asked advice after she had -made up her mind. - -Nor shall we dilate on the yet brighter glories of the cottage three -months after, when Clayton, and Anne, and Livy Ray, were all at the -wedding, and Tiff became three and four times blessed in this brilliant -consummation of his hopes. The last time we saw him he was walking forth -in magnificence, his gold spectacles set conspicuously astride of his -nose, trundling a little wicker wagon, which cradled a fair, pearly -little Miss Fanny, whom he informed all beholders was "de very sperit of -de Peytons." - -FOOTNOTE: - -[5] These circumstances are true of an old colored woman in New York, -known by the name of Aunt Katy, who in her youth was a slave, and who is -said to have established among these destitute children the first -Sunday-school in the city of New York. - - - - -APPENDIX I. - -NAT TURNER'S CONFESSIONS. - - -As an illustration of the character and views ascribed to Dred, we make -a few extracts from the Confessions of Nat Turner, as published by T. R. -Gray, Esq., of Southampton, Virginia, in November, 1831. One of the -principal conspirators in this affair was named Dred. - -We will first give the certificate of the court, and a few sentences -from Mr. Gray's introductory remarks, and then proceed with Turner's own -narrative. - - - "We, the undersigned, members of the court convened at Jerusalem, - on Saturday, the fifth day of November, 1831, for the trial of Nat, - _alias_ Nat Turner, a negro slave, late the property of Putnam - Moore, deceased, do hereby certify, that the confession of Nat to - Thomas R. Gray was read to him in our presence, and that Nat - acknowledged the same to be full, free, and voluntary; and that - furthermore, when called upon by the presiding magistrate of the - court to state if he had anything to say why sentence of death - should not be passed upon him, replied he had nothing further than - he had communicated to Mr. Gray. Given under our hands and seals at - Jerusalem, this fifth day of November, 1831. - - - JEREMIAH COBB, (_Seal._) - JAMES W. PARKER, (_Seal._) - SAMUEL B. HINES, (_Seal._) - THOMAS PRETLOW, (_Seal._) - CARR BOWERS, (_Seal._) - ORRIS A. BROWNE, (_Seal._)" - - - "_State of Virginia, Southampton County_, to wit: - - "I, James Rochelle, Clerk of the County Court of Southampton in the - State of Virginia, do hereby certify, that Jeremiah Cobb, Thomas - Pretlow, James W. Parker, Carr Bowers, Samuel B. Hines, and Orris - A. Browne, Esqrs., are acting justices of the peace in and for the - county aforesaid; and were members of the court which convened at - Jerusalem, on Saturday, the fifth day of November, 1831, for the - trial of Nat, _alias_ Nat Turner, a negro slave, late the property - of Putnam Moore, deceased, who was tried and convicted, as an - insurgent in the late insurrection in the County of Southampton - aforesaid, and that full faith and credit are due and ought to be - given to their acts as justices of the peace aforesaid. - - (_Seal._) - - In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, - and caused the seal of the court aforesaid to be - affixed, this fifth day of November, 1831. - - JAMES ROCHELLE, C. S. C. C." - - -"Everything connected with this sad affair was wrapt in mystery, until -NAT TURNER, the leader of this ferocious band, whose name has resounded -throughout our widely-extended empire, was captured. - -"Since his confinement, by permission of the jailer, I have had ready -access to him; and, finding that he was willing to make a full and free -confession of the origin, progress, and consummation of the insurrectory -movements of the slaves, of which he was the contriver and head, I -determined, for the gratification of public curiosity, to commit his -statements to writing, and publish them, with little or no variation, -from his own words. - -"He was not only the contriver of the conspiracy, but gave the first -blow towards its execution. - -"It will thus appear, that whilst everything upon the surface of society -wore a calm and peaceful aspect, whilst not one note of preparation was -heard to warn the devoted inhabitants of woe and death, a gloomy fanatic -was revolving in the recesses of his own dark, bewildered, and -overwrought mind, schemes of indiscriminate massacre to the whites. -Schemes too fearfully executed, as far as his fiendish band proceeded in -their desolating march. No cry for mercy penetrated their flinty bosoms. -No acts of remembered kindness made the least impression upon these -remorseless murderers. Men, women, and children, from hoary age to -helpless infancy, were involved in the same cruel fate. Never did a band -of savages do their work of death more unsparingly. - -"Nat has survived all his followers, and the gallows will speedily close -his career. His own account of the conspiracy is submitted to the -public, without comment. It reads an awful, and, it is hoped, a useful -lesson, as to the operations of a mind like his, endeavoring to grapple -with things beyond its reach. How it first became bewildered and -confounded, and finally corrupted and led to the conception and -perpetration of the most atrocious and heartrending deeds. - -"If Nat's statements can be relied on, the insurrection in this county -was entirely local, and his designs confided but to a few, and these in -his immediate vicinity. It was not instigated by motives of revenge or -sudden anger; but the result of long deliberation, and a settled purpose -of mind--the offspring of gloomy fanaticism acting upon materials but -too well prepared for such impressions." - - * * * * * * * * * - -"I was thirty-one years of age the second of October last, and born the -property of Benjamin Turner, of this county. In my childhood a -circumstance occurred which made an indelible impression on my mind, and -laid the groundwork of that enthusiasm which has terminated so fatally -to many, both white and black, and for which I am about to atone at the -gallows. It is here necessary to relate this circumstance. Trifling as -it may seem, it was the commencement of that belief which has grown with -time; and even now, sir, in this dungeon, helpless and forsaken as I am, -I cannot divest myself of. Being at play with other children, when three -or four years old, I was telling them something, which my mother, -overhearing, said it had happened before I was born. I stuck to my -story, however, and related some things which went, in her opinion, to -confirm it. Others being called on, were greatly astonished, knowing -that these things had happened, and caused them to say, in my hearing, I -surely would be a prophet, as the Lord had shown me things that had -happened before my birth. And my father and mother strengthened me in -this my first impression, saying, in my presence, I was intended for -some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on -my head and breast. (A parcel of excrescences, which, I believe, are not -at all uncommon, particularly among negroes, as I have seen several -with the same. In this case he has either cut them off, or they have -nearly disappeared.) - -"My grandmother, who was very religious, and to whom I was much -attached--my master, who belonged to the church, and other religious -persons who visited the house, and whom I often saw at prayers, noticing -the singularity of my manners, I suppose, and my uncommon intelligence -for a child, remarked I had too much sense to be raised, and, if I was, -I would never be of any service to any one as a slave. To a mind like -mine, restless, inquisitive, and observant of everything that was -passing, it is easy to suppose that religion was the subject to which it -would be directed; and, although this subject principally occupied my -thoughts, there was nothing that I saw or heard of to which my attention -was not directed. The manner in which I learned to read and write, not -only had great influence on my own mind, as I acquired it with the most -perfect ease--so much so, that I have no recollection whatever of -learning the alphabet; but, to the astonishment of the family, one day, -when a book was shown me, to keep me from crying, I began spelling the -names of different objects. This was a source of wonder to all in the -neighborhood, particularly the blacks--and this learning was constantly -improved at all opportunities. When I got large enough to go to work, -while employed I was reflecting on many things that would present -themselves to my imagination; and whenever an opportunity occurred of -looking at a book, when the school-children were getting their lessons, -I would find many things that the fertility of my own imagination had -depicted to me before. All my time, not devoted to my master's service, -was spent either in prayer, or in making experiments in casting -different things in moulds made of earth, in attempting to make paper, -gunpowder, and many other experiments, that, although I could not -perfect, yet convinced me of its practicability if I had the means.[6] - -"I was not addicted to stealing in my youth, nor have ever been; yet -such was the confidence of the negroes in the neighborhood, even at this -early period of my life, in my superior judgment, that they would often -carry me with them when they were going on any roguery, to plan for -them. Growing up among them with this confidence in my superior -judgment, and when this, in their opinions, was perfected by Divine -inspiration, from the circumstances already alluded to in my infancy, -and which belief was ever afterwards zealously inculcated by the -austerity of my life and manners, which became the subject of remark by -white and black; having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, -and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself -in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer. - -"By this time, having arrived to man's estate, and hearing the -Scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular -passage which says, 'Seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all things shall -be added unto you.' I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily -for light on this subject. As I was praying one day at my plough, the -Spirit spoke to me, saying, 'Seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all -things shall be added unto you.' _Question._ 'What do you mean by the -Spirit?' _Answer._ 'The Spirit that spoke to the prophets in former -days,'--and I was greatly astonished, and for two years prayed -continually, whenever my duty would permit; and then again I had the -same revelation, which fully confirmed me in the impression that I was -ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty. Several -years rolled round, in which many events occurred to strengthen me in -this my belief. At this time I reverted in my mind to the remarks made -of me in my childhood, and the things that had been shown me; and as it -had been said of me in my childhood, by those by whom I had been taught -to pray, both white and black, and in whom I had the greatest -confidence, that I had too much sense to be raised, and if I was I would -never be of any use to any one as a slave; now, finding I had arrived to -man's estate, and was a slave, and these revelations being made known to -me, I began to direct my attention to this great object, to fulfil the -purpose for which, by this time, I felt assured I was intended. Knowing -the influence I had obtained over the minds of my fellow-servants--(not -by the means of conjuring and such-like tricks--for to them I always -spoke of such things with contempt), but by the communion of the Spirit, -whose revelations I often communicated to them, and they believed and -said my wisdom came from God,--I now began to prepare them for my -purpose, by telling them something was about to happen that would -terminate in fulfilling the great promise that had been made to me. - -"About this time I was placed under an overseer, from whom I ran away -and, after remaining in the woods thirty days, I returned, to the -astonishment of the negroes on the plantation, who thought I had made my -escape to some other part of the country, as my father had done before. -But the reason of my return was, that the Spirit appeared to me and said -I had my wishes directed to the things of this world, and not to the -kingdom of heaven, and that I should return to the service of my earthly -master--'For he who knoweth his Master's will, and doeth it not, shall -be beaten with many stripes, and thus have I chastened you.' And the -negroes found fault, and murmured against me, saying that if they had my -sense they would not serve any master in the world. And about this time -I had a vision--and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in -battle, and the sun was darkened--the thunder rolled in the heavens, and -blood flowed in streams--and I heard a voice saying, 'Such is your luck, -such you are called to see; and let it come rough or smooth, you must -surely bear it.' - -"I now withdrew myself as much as my situation would permit from the -intercourse of my fellow-servants, for the avowed purpose of serving the -Spirit more fully; and it appeared to me, and reminded me of the things -it had already shown me, and that it would then reveal to me the -knowledge of the elements, the revolution of the planets, the operation -of tides, and changes of the seasons. After this revelation in the year -1825, and the knowledge of the elements being made known to me, I sought -more than ever to obtain true holiness before the great day of judgment -should appear, and then I began to receive the true knowledge of faith. -And from the first steps of righteousness until the last, was I made -perfect; and the Holy Ghost was with me, and said, 'Behold me as I stand -in the heavens.' And I looked and saw the forms of men in different -attitudes; and there were lights in the sky, to which the children of -darkness gave other names than what they really were; for they were the -lights of the Saviour's hands, stretched forth from east to west, even -as they were extended on the cross on Calvary for the redemption of -sinners. And I wondered greatly at these miracles, and prayed to be -informed of a certainty of the meaning thereof; and shortly afterwards, -while laboring in the field, I discovered drops of blood on the corn, as -though it were dew from heaven; and I communicated it to many, both -white and black, in the neighborhood--and I then found on the leaves in -the woods hieroglyphic characters and numbers, with the forms of men in -different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures I -had seen before in the heavens. And now the Holy Ghost had revealed -itself to me, and made plain the miracles it had shown me, for as the -blood of Christ had been shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven -for the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to earth again in -the form of dew,--and as the leaves on the trees bore the impression of -the figures I had seen in the heavens,--it was plain to me that the -Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, -and the great day of judgment was at hand. - -"About this time I told these things to a white man (Etheldred T. -Brantley), on whom it had a wonderful effect; and he ceased from his -wickedness, and was attacked immediately with a cutaneous eruption, and -blood oozed from the pores of his skin, and after praying and fasting -nine days he was healed. And the Spirit appeared to me again, and said, -as the Saviour had been baptized, so should we be also; and when the -white people would not let us be baptized by the church, we went down -into the water together, in the sight of many who reviled us, and were -baptized by the Spirit. After this I rejoiced greatly, and gave thanks -to God. And on the 12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the -heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent -was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the -sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, -for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the -last should be first. _Ques._ 'Do you not find yourself mistaken -now?'--_Ans._ 'Was not Christ crucified?' And by signs in the heavens -that it would make known to me when I should commence the great work, -and until the first sign appeared I should conceal it from the knowledge -of men; and on the appearance of the sign (the eclipse of the sun, last -February), I should arise and prepare myself, and slay my enemies with -their own weapons. And immediately on the sign appearing in the heavens, -the seal was removed from my lips, and I communicated the great work -laid out for me to do to four in whom I had the greatest confidence -(Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam). It was intended by us to have begun the -work of death on the 4th of July last. Many were the plans formed and -rejected by us, and it affected my mind to such a degree that I fell -sick, and the time passed without our coming to any determination how to -commence--still forming new schemes and rejecting them, when the sign -appeared again, which determined me not to wait longer. - -"Since the commencement of 1830 I had been living with Mr. Joseph -Travis, who was to me a kind master, and placed the greatest confidence -in me; in fact, I had no cause to complain of his treatment to me. On -Saturday evening, the 20th of August, it was agreed between Henry, Hark, -and myself, to prepare a dinner the next day for the men we expected, -and then to concert a plan, as we had not yet determined on any. Hark, -on the following morning brought a pig, and Henry brandy; and being -joined by Sam, Nelson, Will, and Jack, they prepared in the woods a -dinner, where, about three o'clock, I joined them." - -"_Q._ Why were you so backward in joining them?" - -"_A._ The same reason that had caused me not to mix with them for years -before. - -"I saluted them on coming up, and asked Will how came he there. He -answered, his life was worth no more than others, and his liberty as -dear to him. I asked him if he thought to obtain it. He said he would, -or lose his life. This was enough to put him in full confidence. Jack, I -knew, was only a tool in the hands of Hark. It was quickly agreed we -should commence a home (Mr. J. Travis') on that night; and until we had -armed and equipped ourselves, and gathered sufficient force, neither -age nor sex was to be spared--which was invariably adhered to. We -remained at the feast until about two hours in the night, when we went -to the house and found Austin." - -We will not go into the horrible details of the various massacres, but -only make one or two extracts, to show the spirit and feelings of -Turner:-- - -"I then went to Mr. John T. Harrow's; they had been here and murdered -him. I pursued on their track to Capt. Newit Harris', where I found the -greater part mounted and ready to start. The men, now amounting to about -forty, shouted and hurraed as I rode up. Some were in the yard, loading -their guns; others drinking. They said Captain Harris and his family had -escaped; the property in the house they destroyed, robbing him of money -and other valuables. I ordered them to mount and march instantly; this -was about nine or ten o'clock, Monday morning. I proceeded to Mr. Levi -Waller's, two or three miles distant. I took my station in the rear, -and, as it was my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we -went, I placed fifteen or twenty of the best armed and most to be relied -on in front, who generally approached the houses as fast as their horses -could run. This was for two purposes--to prevent their escape, and -strike terror to the inhabitants; on this account I never got to the -houses, after leaving Mrs. Whitehead's, until the murders were -committed, except in one case. I sometimes got in sight in time to see -the work of death completed; viewed the mangled bodies as they lay, in -silent satisfaction, and immediately started in quest of other victims. -Having murdered Mrs. Waller and ten children, we started for Mr. Wm. -Williams',--having killed him and two little boys that were there; while -engaged in this, Mrs. Williams fled and got some distance from the -house, but she was pursued, overtaken, and compelled to get up behind -one of the company, who brought her back, and, after showing her the -mangled body of her lifeless husband, she was told to get down and lay -by his side, where she was shot dead. - -"The white men pursued and fired on us several times. Hark had his horse -shot under him, and I caught another for him as it was running by me; -five or six of my men were wounded, but none left on the field. Finding -myself defeated here, I instantly determined to go through a private -way, and cross the Nottoway River at the Cypress Bridge, three miles -below Jerusalem, and attack that place in the rear, as I expected they -would look for me on the other road, and I had a great desire to get -there to procure arms and ammunition. After going a short distance in -this private way, accompanied by about twenty men, I overtook two or -three, who told me the others were dispersed in every direction. - -"On this, I gave up all hope for the present; and on Thursday night, -after having supplied myself with provisions from Mr. Travis', I -scratched a hole under a pile of fence-rails in a field, where I -concealed myself for six weeks, never leaving my hiding-place but for a -few minutes in the dead of the night to get water, which was very near. -Thinking by this time I could venture out, I began to go about in the -night, and eavesdrop the houses in the neighborhood; pursuing this -course for about a fortnight, and gathering little or no intelligence, -afraid of speaking to any human being, and returning every morning to my -cave before the dawn of day. I know not how long I might have led this -life, if accident had not betrayed me. A dog in the neighborhood passing -by my hiding-place one night while I was out, was attracted by some meat -I had in my cave, and crawled in and stole it, and was coming out just -as I returned. A few nights after, two negroes having started to go -hunting with the same dog, and passed that way, the dog came again to -the place, and having just gone out to walk about, discovered me and -barked; on which, thinking myself discovered, I spoke to them to beg -concealment. On making myself known, they fled from me. Knowing then -they would betray me, I immediately left my hiding-place and was pursued -almost incessantly, until I was taken, a fortnight afterwards, by Mr. -Benjamin Phipps, in a little hole I had dug out with my sword, for the -purpose of concealment, under the top of a fallen tree. - -"During the time I was pursued, I had many hair-breadth escapes, which -your time will not permit you to relate. I am here loaded with chains, -and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me." - -Mr. Gray asked him if he knew of any extensive or concerted plan. His -answer was, I do not. When I questioned him as to the insurrection in -North Carolina happening about the same time, he denied any knowledge of -it; and when I looked him in the face, as though I would search his -inmost thoughts, he replied, "I see, sir, you doubt my word, but can you -not think the same ideas, and strange appearances about this time in the -heavens, might prompt others, as well as myself, to this undertaking?" I -now had much conversation with and asked him many questions, having -forborne to do so previously, except in the cases noted in parenthesis; -but during his statement had, unnoticed by him, taken notes as to some -particular circumstances, and, having the advantage of his statement -before me in writing, on the evening of the third day that I had been -with him, I began a cross-examination, and found his statement -corroborated by every circumstance coming within my own knowledge, or -the confessions of others who had been either killed or executed, and -whom he had not seen or had any knowledge of since the 22d of August -last. He expressed himself fully satisfied as to the impracticability of -his attempt. It has been said he was ignorant and cowardly, and that his -object was to murder and rob for the purpose of obtaining money to make -his escape. It is notorious that he was never known to have a dollar in -his life, to swear an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. As to his -ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education, but he -can read and write (it was taught him by his parents), and for natural -intelligence and quickness of apprehension is surpassed by few men I -have ever seen. As to his being a coward, his reason as given for not -resisting Mr. Phipps shows the decision of his character. When he saw -Mr. Phipps present his gun, he said he knew it was impossible for him to -escape, as the woods were full of men: he therefore thought it was -better to surrender, and trust to fortune for his escape. He is a -complete fanatic, or plays his part most admirably. On other subjects he -possesses an uncommon share of intelligence, with a mind capable of -attaining anything, but warped and perverted by the influence of early -impressions. He is below the ordinary stature, though strong and active, -having the true negro face, every feature of which is strongly marked. I -shall not attempt to describe the effect of his narrative, as told and -commented on by himself, in the condemned hole of the prison. The calm, -deliberate composure with which he spoke of his late deeds and -intentions; the expression of his fiend-like face when excited by -enthusiasm, still bearing the stains of the blood of helpless innocence -about him; clothed with rags and covered with chains, yet daring to -raise his manacled hands to Heaven, with a spirit soaring above the -attributes of man. I looked on him, and my blood curdled in my veins. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[6] When questioned as to the manner of manufacturing those different -articles, he was found well informed. - - - - -APPENDIX II. - - -The chapter headed _Jegar Sahadutha_ contains some terrible stories. It -is to be said, they are all facts on judicial record, of the most -fiend-like cruelty, terminating in the death of the victim, where the -affair has been judicially examined, and the perpetrator escaped death, -and in most cases _any_ punishment for his crime. - - -1. Case of Souther. - -"_Souther v. The Commonwealth_, 7 _Grattan_, 673, 1851. - - - "The killing of a slave by his master and owner, by wilful and - excessive whipping, is murder in the first degree: though it may - not have been the purpose and intention of the master and owner to - kill the slave. - - -"Simon Souther was indicted at the October term, 1850, of the Circuit -Court for the County of Hanover, for the murder of his own slave. The -indictment contained fifteen counts, in which the various modes of -punishment and torture by which the homicide was charged to have been -committed were stated singly, and in various combinations. The fifteenth -count unites them all: and, as the court certifies that the _indictment -was sustained by the evidence_, the giving the facts stated in that -count will show what was the charge against the prisoner, and what was -the proof to sustain it. - -"The count charged that on the 1st day of September, 1849, the prisoner -tied his negro slave, Sam, with ropes about his wrists, neck, body, -legs, and ankles, to a tree. That whilst so tied, the prisoner first -whipped the slave with switches. That he next beat and cobbed the slave -with a shingle, and compelled two of his slaves, a man and a woman, also -to cob the deceased with the shingle. That whilst the deceased was so -tied to the tree, the prisoner did strike, knock, kick, stamp, and beat -him upon various parts of his head, face, and body; that he applied fire -to his body; ... that he then washed his body with warm water, in which -pods of red pepper had been put and steeped; and he compelled his two -slaves aforesaid also to wash him with this same preparation of warm -water and red pepper. That after the tying, whipping, cobbing, striking, -beating, knocking, kicking, stamping, wounding, bruising, lacerating, -burning, washing, and torturing, as aforesaid, the prisoner untied the -deceased from the tree in such a way as to throw him with violence to -the ground; and he then and there did knock, kick, stamp, and beat the -deceased upon his head, temples, and various parts of his body. That the -prisoner then had the deceased carried into a shed-room of his house, -and there he compelled one of his slaves, in his presence, to confine -the deceased's feet in stocks, by making his legs fast to a piece of -timber, and to tie a rope about the neck of the deceased, and fasten it -to a bedpost in the room, thereby strangling, choking, and suffocating, -the deceased. And that whilst the deceased was thus made fast in stocks, -as aforesaid, the prisoner did kick, knock, stamp, and beat him upon his -head, face, breast, belly, sides, back, and body; and he again compelled -his two slaves to apply fire to the body of the deceased, whilst he was -so made fast as aforesaid. And the count charged that from these various -modes of punishment and torture, the slave Sam then and there died. It -appeared that the prisoner commenced the punishment of the deceased in -the morning, and that it was continued throughout the day; and that the -deceased died in the presence of the prisoner, and one of his slaves, -and one of the witnesses, whilst the punishment was still progressing. - -"Field, J., delivered the opinion of the court. - -"The prisoner was indicted and convicted of _murder in the second -degree_, in the Circuit Court of Hanover, at its April term last past, -and was sentenced to the _penitentiary for five years_, the period of -time ascertained by the jury. The murder consisted in the killing of a -negro man-slave by the name of Sam, the property of the prisoner, by -cruel and excessive whipping and torture, inflicted by Souther, aided by -two of his other slaves, on the 1st day of September, 1849. The prisoner -moved for a new trial, upon the ground that the offence, _if any_, -amounted only to manslaughter. The motion for a new trial was overruled, -and a bill of exceptions taken to the opinion of the court, setting -forth the facts proved, or as many of them as were deemed material for -the consideration of the application for a new trial. The bill of -exception states: That the slave Sam, in the indictment mentioned, was -the slave and property of the prisoner. That for the purpose of -chastising the slave for the offence of getting drunk, and dealing, as -the slave confessed and alleged, with Henry and Stone, two of the -witnesses for the Commonwealth, he caused him to be tied and punished in -the presence of the said witnesses, with the exception of slight -whipping with peach or apple-tree switches, before the said witnesses -arrived at the scene after they were sent for by the prisoner (who were -present by request from the defendant), and of several slaves of the -prisoner, in the manner and by the means charged in the indictment; and -the said slave died under and from the infliction of the said -punishment, in the presence of the prisoner, one of his slaves, and one -of the witnesses for the Commonwealth. But it did not appear that it was -the design of the prisoner to kill the said slave, unless such design be -properly inferable from the manner, means, and duration, of the -punishment. And, on the contrary, it did appear that the prisoner -frequently declared, while the said slave was undergoing the punishment, -that he believed the said slave was feigning, and pretending to be -suffering and injured when he was not. The judge certifies that the -slave was punished in the _manner and by the means charged in the -indictment_. The indictment contains fifteen counts, and sets forth a -case of the most cruel and excessive whipping and torture.... - -"It is believed that the records of criminal jurisprudence do not -contain a case of more atrocious and wicked cruelty than was presented -upon the trial of Souther; and yet it has been gravely and earnestly -contended here by his counsel that his offence amounts to manslaughter -only. - -"It has been contended by the counsel of the prisoner that a man cannot -be indicted and prosecuted for the cruel and excessive whipping of his -own slave. That it is lawful for the master to chastise his slave, and -that if death ensues from such chastisement, unless it was intended to -produce death, it is like the case of homicide which is committed by a -man in the performance of a lawful act, which is manslaughter only. It -has been decided by this court in Turner's Case, 5 Rand. that the owner -of a slave, for the malicious, cruel, and excessive beating of his own -slave, cannot be indicted; yet it by no means follows, when such -malicious, cruel, and excessive beating results in death, though not -intended and premeditated, that the beating is to be regarded as lawful -for the purpose of reducing the crime to manslaughter, when the whipping -is inflicted for the sole purpose of chastisement. _It is the policy of -the law, in respect to the relation of master and slave, and for the -sake of securing proper subordination and obedience on the part of the -slave, to protect the master from prosecution in all such cases, even if -the whipping and punishment be malicious, cruel, and excessive._ But in -so inflicting punishment for the sake of punishment, the owner of the -slave acts at his peril; and if death ensues in consequence of such -punishment, the relation of master and slave affords no ground of excuse -or palliation. The principles of the common law, in relation to -homicide, apply to his case without qualification or exception; and, -according to those principles, the act of the prisoner, in the case -under consideration, amounted to murder.... The crime of the prisoner is -not manslaughter, but murder in the first degree." - - -2. Death of Hark. - - - _The master is, as we have asserted, protected from prosecution by - express enactment, if the victim dies in the act of resistance to - his will, or under moderate correction._ - - - "Whereas by another Act of the Assembly, passed in 1774, the - killing of a slave, however wanton, cruel, and deliberate, is only - punishable in the first instance by imprisonment and paying the - value thereof to the owner, which _distinction of criminality - between the murder of a white person and one who is equally a human - creature, but merely of a different complexion, is_ DISGRACEFUL TO - HUMANITY, AND DEGRADING IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE TO THE LAWS AND - PRINCIPLES OF A FREE, CHRISTIAN, AND ENLIGHTENED COUNTRY, Be it - enacted, &c., That if any person shall hereafter be guilty of - wilfully and maliciously killing a slave, such offender shall, upon - the first conviction thereof, be adjudged guilty of murder, and - shall suffer the same punishment as if he had killed a free man: - _Provided always, this act shall not extend to the person killing a - slave_ OUTLAWED BY VIRTUE OF ANY ACT OF ASSEMBLY OF THIS STATE, _or - to any slave in the act of resistance to his lawful owner or - master, or to any slave dying under moderate correction_." - - -Instance in point;-- - -"_From the 'National Era,' Washington, November 6, 1851._ - - - "HOMICIDE CASE IN CLARKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. - - "Some time since, the newspapers of Virginia contained an account - of a horrible tragedy, enacted in Clarke County, of that state. A - slave of Colonel James Castleman, it was stated, had been chained - by the neck, and whipped to death by his master, on the charge of - stealing. The whole neighborhood in which the transaction occurred - was incensed; the Virginia papers abounded in denunciations of the - cruel act; and the people of the North were called upon to bear - witness to the justice which would surely be meted out in a slave - state to the master of a slave. We did not publish the account. - The case was horrible; it was, we were confident, exceptional. It - should not be taken as evidence of the general treatment of slaves. - We chose to delay any notice of it till the courts should pronounce - their judgment, and we could announce at once the crime and its - punishment, so that the state might stand acquitted of the foul - deed. - - "Those who were so shocked at the transaction will be surprised and - mortified to hear that the actors in it have been tried and - _acquitted_! and when they read the following account of the trial - and verdict, published at the instance of the friends of the - accused, their mortification will deepen into bitter indignation." - - -"_From the 'Spirit of Jefferson.'_ - - - "'COLONEL JAMES CASTLEMAN.--The following statement, understood to - have been drawn up by counsel, since the trial, has been placed by - the friends of this gentleman in our hands for publication:-- - - "'At the Circuit Superior Court of Clarke County, commencing on the - 13th of October, Judge Samuels presiding, James Castleman and his - son Stephen D. Castleman were indicted jointly for the murder of - negro Lewis, property of the latter. By advice of their counsel, - the parties elected to be tried separately, and the attorney for - the Commonwealth directed that James Castleman should be tried - first. - - "'It was proved, on this trial, that for many months previous to - the occurrence the money-drawer of the tavern kept by Stephen D. - Castleman, and the liquors kept in large quantities in his cellar, - had been pillaged from time to time, until the thefts had attained - to a considerable amount. Suspicion had, from various causes, been - directed to Lewis, and another negro, named Reuben (a blacksmith), - the property of James Castleman; but, by the aid of two of the - house-servants, they had eluded the most vigilant watch. - - "'On the 20th of August last, in the afternoon, S. D. Castleman - accidentally discovered a clue, by means of which, and through one - of the house-servants implicated, he was enabled fully to detect - the depredators, and to ascertain the manner in which the theft had - been committed. He immediately sent for his father, living near - him, and, after communicating what he had discovered, it was - determined that the offenders should be punished at once, and - before they should know of the discovery that had been made. - - "'Lewis was punished first; and in a manner, as was fully shown, to - preclude all risk of injury to his person, by stripes with a broad - leathern strap. He was punished severely, but to an extent by no - means disproportionate to his offence: nor was it pretended, in any - quarter, that this punishment implicated either his life or health. - He confessed the offence, and admitted that it had been effected by - false keys, furnished by the blacksmith, Reuben. - - "'The latter servant was punished immediately afterwards. It was - believed that he was the principal offender, and he was found to be - more obdurate and contumacious than Lewis had been in reference to - the offence. Thus it was proved, both by the prosecution and the - defence, that he was punished with greater severity than his - accomplice. It resulted in a like confession on his part, and he - produced the false key, one fashioned by himself, by which the - theft had been effected. - - "'It was further shown, on the trial, that Lewis was whipped in the - upper room of a warehouse, connected with Stephen Castleman's - store, and near the public road, where he was at work at the time; - that after he had been flogged, to secure his person, whilst they - went after Reuben, he was confined by a chain around his neck, - which was attached to a joist above his head. The length of this - chain, the breadth and thickness of the joist, its height from the - floor, and the circlet of chain on the neck, were accurately - measured; and it was thus shown that the chain unoccupied by the - circlet and the joist was a foot and a half longer than the space - between the shoulders of the man and the joist above, or to that - extent the chain hung loose above him; that the circlet (which was - fastened so as to prevent its contraction) rested on the shoulders - and breast, the chain being sufficiently drawn only to prevent - being slipped over his head, and that there was no other place in - the room to which he could be fastened except to one of the joists - above. His hands were tied in front; a white man, who had been at - work with Lewis during the day, was left with him by the Messrs. - Castleman, the better to insure his detention, whilst they were - absent after Reuben. It was proved by this man (who was a witness - for the prosecution) that Lewis asked for a box to stand on, or for - something that he could jump off from; that after the Castlemans - had left him he expressed a fear that when they came back he would - be whipped again; and said, if he had a knife, and could get one - hand loose, he would cut his throat. The witness stated that the - negro "stood firm on his feet," that he could turn freely in - whatever direction he wished, and that he made no complaint of the - mode of his confinement. This man stated that he remained with - Lewis about half an hour, and then left there to go home. - - "'After punishing Reuben, the Castlemans returned to the warehouse, - bringing him with them; their object being to confront the two men, - in the hope that by further examination of them jointly all their - accomplices might be detected. - - "'They were not absent more than half an hour. When they entered - the room above, Lewis was found hanging by the neck, his feet - thrown behind him, his knees a few inches from the floor, and his - head thrown forward,--the body warm and supple (or relaxed), but - life was extinct. - - "'It was proved by the surgeons who made a post-mortem examination - before the coroner's inquest that the death was caused by - strangulation by hanging; and other eminent surgeons were examined - to show, from the appearance of the brain and its blood-vessels - after death (as exhibited at the post-mortem examination), that the - subject could not have fainted before strangulation. - - "'After the evidence was finished on both sides, the jury, from - their box, and of their own motion, without a word from counsel on - either side, informed the court that they had agreed upon their - verdict. The counsel assented to its being thus received, and a - verdict of "_Not guilty_" was immediately rendered. The attorney - for the commonwealth then informed the court that all the evidence - for the prosecution had been laid before the jury; and, as no new - evidence could be offered on the trial of Stephen D. Castleman, he - submitted to the court the propriety of entering a _nolle - prosequi_. The judge replied that the case had been fully and - fairly laid before the jury upon the evidence; that the court was - not only satisfied with the verdict, but, if any other had been - rendered, it must have been set aside; and that, if no further - evidence was to be adduced on the trial of Stephen, the attorney - for the commonwealth would exercise a proper discretion in entering - a _nolle prosequi_ as to him, and the court would approve its being - done. A _nolle prosequi_ was entered accordingly, and both - gentlemen discharged. - - "'It may be added that two days were consumed in exhibiting the - evidence, and that the trial was by a jury of Clarke County. Both - the parties had been on bail from the time of their arrest, and - were continued on bail whilst the trial was depending.' - - "Let us admit that the evidence does not prove the legal crime of - homicide; what candid man can doubt, after reading this _ex parte_, - version of it, that the slave died in consequence of the punishment - inflicted upon him? - - "In criminal prosecutions the federal constitution guarantees to - the accused the right to a public trial by an impartial jury; the - right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to - be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory - process for obtaining witness in his favor; and to have the - assistance of counsel; guarantees necessary to secure innocence - against hasty or vindictive judgment,--absolutely necessary to - prevent injustice. Grant that they were not intended for slaves; - every master of a slave must feel that they are still morally - binding upon him. He is the sole judge; he alone determines the - offence, the proof requisite to establish it, and the amount of the - punishment. The slave, then, has a peculiar claim upon him for - justice. When charged with a crime, common humanity requires that - he should be informed of it, that he should be confronted with the - witnesses against him, that he should be permitted to show evidence - in favor of his innocence. - - "But how was poor Lewis treated? The son of Castleman said he had - discovered who stole the money; and it was forthwith 'determined - that the offenders should be punished at once, and _before they - should know of the discovery that had been made_.' Punished without - a hearing! Punished on the testimony of a house-servant, the nature - of which does not appear to have been inquired into by the court! - Not a word is said which authorizes the belief that any careful - examination was made, as it respects their guilt. Lewis and Reuben - were assumed, on loose evidence, without deliberate investigation, - to be guilty; and then, without allowing them to attempt to show - their evidence, they were whipped until a confession of guilt was - extorted by bodily pain. - - "Is this Virginia justice?" - - - "'_To the Editor of the Era_: - - "'I see that Castleman, who lately had a trial for whipping a slave - to death in Virginia, was "_triumphantly acquitted_,"--as many - expected. There are three persons in this city, with whom I am - acquainted, who stayed at Castleman's the same night in which this - awful tragedy was enacted. They heard the dreadful lashing, and the - heartrending screams and entreaties of the sufferer. They implored - the only white man they could find on the premises, not engaged in - the bloody work, to interpose, but for a long time he refused, on - the ground that he was a dependant, and was afraid to give offence; - and that, moreover, they had been drinking, and he was in fear of - his own life, should he say a word that would be displeasing to - them. He did, however, venture, and returned and reported the cruel - manner in which the slaves were chained, and lashed, and secured in - a blacksmith's vise. In the morning, when they ascertained that one - of the slaves was dead, they were so shocked and indignant that - they refused to eat in the house, and reproached Castleman with his - cruelty. He expressed his regret that the slave had died, and - especially as he had ascertained that he _was innocent_ of the - accusation for which he had suffered. The idea was that he had - fainted from exhaustion; and, the chain being round his neck, he - was strangled. The persons I refer to are themselves slaveholders; - but their feelings were so harrowed and lacerated that they could - not sleep (two of them are ladies), and for many nights afterwards - their rest was disturbed, and their dreams made frightful, by the - appalling recollection. - - "'These persons would have been material witnesses, and would have - willingly attended on the part of the prosecution. The knowledge - they had of the case was communicated to the proper authorities, - yet their attendance was not required. The only witness was that - dependant who considered his own life in danger. - - Yours, &c., J. F." - - -_The Law of Outlawry._ - - - _Revised_ Statutes of North Carolina, chap. cxi., sect. 22: - - "'Whereas, MANY TIMES _slaves run away and lie out, hid and lurking - in swamps, woods, and other obscure places_, killing cattle and - hogs, and committing other injuries to the inhabitants of this - state; in all such cases, upon intelligence of any slave or slaves - lying out as aforesaid, any two justices of the peace for the - county wherein such slave or slaves is or are supposed to lurk or - do mischief, shall, and they are hereby empowered and required to - issue proclamation against such slave or slaves (reciting his or - their names, and the name or names of the owner or owners, if - known), thereby requiring him or them, and every of them, forthwith - to surrender him or themselves; and also to empower and require the - sheriff of the said county to take such power with him as he shall - think fit and necessary for going in search and pursuit of, and - effectually apprehending, such outlying slave or slaves; which - proclamation shall be published at the door of the court-house, and - at such other places as said justices shall direct. And if any - slave or slaves, against whom proclamation hath been thus issued, - stay out, and do not immediately return home, it shall be lawful - for any person or persons whatsoever to kill and destroy such slave - or slaves by _such ways and means as he shall think fit_, without - accusation or impeachment of any crime for the same.' - - "'STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, LENOIR COUNTY.--Whereas complaint hath - been this day made to us, two of the justices of the peace for the - said county, by William D. Cobb, of Jones County, that two negro - slaves belonging to him, named Ben (commonly known by the name of - Ben Fox) and Rigdon, have absented themselves from their said - master's service, and are lurking about in the Counties of Lenoir - and Jones, committing acts of felony; these are, in the name of the - state, to command the said slaves forthwith to surrender - themselves, and turn home to their said master. And we do hereby - also require the sheriff of said County of Lenoir to make diligent - search and pursuit after the above-mentioned slaves.... And we do - hereby, by virtue of an act of assembly of this state concerning - servants and slaves, intimate and declare, if the said slaves do - not surrender themselves and return home to their master - immediately after the publication of these presents, that any - person may kill or destroy said slaves by such means as he or they - think fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime or - offence for so doing, or without incurring any penalty of - forfeiture thereby. - - "'Given under our hands and seals, this 12th of November, 1836. - - "'B. COLEMAN, J. P. [_Seal._] - - "'JAS. JONES, J. P.' [_Seal._] - - ----- - - "'$200 REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, about three years - ago, a certain negro man, named Ben, commonly known by the name of - Ben Fox; also one other negro, by the name of Rigdon, who ran away - on the eighth of this month. - - "'I will give the reward of one hundred dollars for each of the - above negroes, to be delivered to me, or confined in the jail of - Lenoir or Jones County, _or for the killing of them, so that I can - see them_. - - "'_November 12, 1836._ - - W. D. COBB.' - - - "That this act was _not_ a dead letter, also, was plainly implied - in the protective act first quoted. If slaves were not, as a matter - of fact, ever outlawed, why does the act formally recognize such a - class?--'provided that this act shall not extend to the killing of - any slave _outlawed_ by any act of the assembly.' This language - sufficiently indicates the existence of the custom. - - "Further than this, the statute-book of 1821 contained two acts: - the first of which provides that all masters, in certain counties, - who have had slaves killed in consequence of outlawry, shall have a - claim on the treasury of the state for their value, unless cruel - treatment of the slaves be proved on the part of the master; the - second act extends the benefits of the latter provision to all the - counties in the state. - - "Finally there is evidence that this act of outlawry was executed - so recently as the year 1850,--the year in which 'Uncle Tom's - Cabin' was written. See the following from the _Wilmington Journal_ - of December 13, 1850. - - - "'STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, NEW HANOVER COUNTY.--Whereas complaint, - upon oath, hath this day been made to us, two of the justices of - the peace for the said state and county aforesaid, by Guilford - Horn, of Edgecombe County, that a certain male slave belonging to - him, named Harry, a carpenter by trade, about forty years old, five - feet five inches high, or thereabouts, yellow complexion, stout - built; with a scar on his left leg (from the cut of an axe); has - very thick lips, eyes deep sunk in his head; forehead very square; - tolerably loud voice; has lost one or two of his upper teeth; and - has a very dark spot on his jaw, supposed to be a mark,--hath - absented himself from his master's service, and is supposed to be - lurking about in this county, committing acts of felony or other - misdeeds; these are, therefore, in the name of state aforesaid, to - command the said slave forthwith to surrender himself and return - home to his said master; and we do hereby, by virtue of the act of - assembly in such cases made and provided, intimate and declare that - if the said slave Harry doth not surrender himself and return home - immediately after the publication of these presents, that any - person or persons may KILL and DESTROY the said slave by such means - as he or they may think fit, without accusation or impeachment of - any crime or offence in so doing, and without incurring any penalty - or forfeiture thereby. - - "'Given under our hands and seals, this 29th day of June, 1850. - - "'JAMES T. MILLER, J. P. [_Seal._] - - "'W. C. BETTENCOURT, J. P.' [_Seal._] - - ----- - - '"ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS REWARD will be paid for the - delivery of the said Harry to me at Tosnott Depot, Edgecombe - County, or for his confinement in any jail in the state, so that I - can get him; or _One Hundred and Fifty Dollars will be given for - his head_. - - '"He was lately heard from in Newbern, where he called himself - Henry Barnes (or Burns), and will be likely to continue the same - name, or assume that of Copage or Farmer. He has a free mulatto - woman for a wife, by the name of Sally Bozeman, who has lately - removed to Wilmington, and lives in that part of the town called - Texas, where he will likely be lurking. - - "'Masters of vessels are particularly cautioned against harboring - or concealing the said negro on board their vessels, as the full - penalty of the law will be rigorously enforced. - - - GUILFORD HORN. - - "'_June 29th, 1850._'" - - -This last advertisement was cut by the author from the _Wilmington -Journal_, December 13th, 1850, a paper published in Wilmington, North -Carolina. - - - - -APPENDIX III. - -CHURCH ACTION ON SLAVERY. - - -In reference to this important subject, we present a few extracts from -the first and second chapters of the fourth part of the "Key to Uncle -Tom's Cabin": - -Let us review the declarations that have been made in the Southern -church, and see what principles have been established by them. - -1. That slavery is an innocent and lawful relation, as much as that of -parent and child, husband and wife, or any other lawful relation of -society. (Harmony Pres., S. C.) - -2. That it is consistent with the most fraternal regard for the good of -the slave. (Charleston Union Pres., S. C.) - -3. That masters ought not to be disciplined for selling slaves without -their consent. (New School Pres. Church, Petersburg, Va.) - -4. That the right to buy, sell, and hold men for purposes of gain, was -given by express permission of God. (James Smylie and his Presbyteries.) - -5. That the laws which forbid the education of the slave are right, and -meet the approbation of the reflecting part of the Christian community. -(Ibid.) - -6. That the fact of slavery is not a question of morals at all, but is -purely one of political economy. (Charleston Baptist Association.) - -7. The right of masters to dispose of the time of their slaves has been -distinctly recognized by the Creator of all things. (Ibid.) - -8. That slavery, as it exists in these United States, is not a moral -evil. (Georgia Conference, Methodist.) - -9. That, without a new revelation from heaven, no man is entitled to -pronounce slavery wrong. - -10. That the separation of slaves by sale should be regarded as -separation by death, and the parties allowed to marry again. (Shiloh -Baptist Ass., and Savannah River Ass.) - -11. That the testimony of colored members of the churches shall not be -taken against a white person. (Methodist Church.) - -In addition, it has been plainly avowed, by the expressed principles and -practice of Christians of various denominations, that they regard it -right and proper to put down all inquiry upon this subject by Lynch law. - -The Old School Presbyterian Church, in whose communion the greater part -of the slaveholding Presbyterians of the South are found, has never felt -called upon to discipline its members for upholding a system which -denies legal marriage to all slaves. Yet this church was agitated to its -very foundation by the discussion of a question of morals which an -impartial observer would probably consider of far less magnitude, -namely, whether a man might lawfully marry his deceased wife's sister. -For the time, all the strength and attention of the church seemed -concentrated upon this important subject. The trial went from Presbytery -to Synod, and from Synod to General Assembly; and ended with deposing a -very respectable minister for this crime. - -Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, D. D., a member of the Old School Assembly, -has thus described the state of the slave population as to their -marriage relations: - -"The system of slavery denies to a whole class of human beings the -sacredness of marriage and of home, compelling them to live in a state -of concubinage; for, in the eye of the law, no colored slave-man is the -husband of any wife in particular, nor any slave-woman the wife of any -husband in particular; no slave-man is the father of any child in -particular, and no slave-child is the child of any parent in -particular." - -Now, had this church considered the fact that three millions of men and -women were, by the laws of the land, obliged to live in this manner, as -of equally serious consequence, it is evident, from the ingenuity, -argument, vehemence, biblical research, and untiring zeal, which they -bestowed on Mr. McQueen's trial, that they could have made a very strong -case with regard to this also. - -The history of the united action of denominations which included -churches both in the slave and free states is a melancholy -exemplification, to a reflecting mind, of that gradual deterioration of -the moral sense which results from admitting any compromise, however -slight, with an acknowledged sin. The best minds in the world cannot -bear such a familiarity without injury to the moral sense. The facts of -the slave system and of the slave laws, when presented to disinterested -judges in Europe, have excited a universal outburst of horror, yet, in -assemblies composed of the wisest and best clergymen of America, these -things have been discussed from year to year, and yet brought no results -that have, in the slightest degree, lessened the evil. The reason is -this. A portion of the members of these bodies had pledged themselves to -sustain the system, and peremptorily to refuse and put down all -discussion of it; and the other part of the body did not consider this -stand so taken as being of sufficiently vital consequence to authorize -separation. - -Nobody will doubt that, had the Southern members taken such a stand -against the divinity of our Lord, the division would have been immediate -and unanimous; but yet the Southern members do maintain the right to buy -and sell, lease, hire, and mortgage, multitudes of men and women, whom, -with the same breath, they declare to be members of their churches, and -true Christians. The Bible declares of all such that they are the -temples of the Holy Ghost; that they are the members of Christ's body, -of his flesh and bones. Is not the doctrine that men may lawfully sell -the members of Christ, his body, his flesh and bones, for purposes of -gain, as really a heresy as the denial of the divinity of Christ? and is -it not a dishonor to Him who is over all, God blessed forever, to -tolerate this dreadful opinion, with its more dreadful consequences, -while the smallest heresies concerning the imputation of Adam's sin are -pursued with eager vehemence? If the history of the action of all the -bodies thus united can be traced downwards, we shall find that, by -reason of this tolerance of an admitted sin, the anti-slavery testimony -has every year grown weaker and weaker. If we look over the history of -all denominations, we shall see that at first they used very stringent -language with relation to slavery. This is particularly the case with -the Methodist and Presbyterian bodies, and for that reason we select -these two as examples. The Methodist Society especially, as organized by -John Wesley, was an anti-slavery society, and the Book of Discipline -contained the most positive statutes against slaveholding. The history -of the successive resolutions of the Conference of this church is very -striking. In 1780, before the church was regularly organized in the -United States, they resolved as follows: - -"The conference acknowledges that slavery is contrary to the laws of -God, man, and nature, and hurtful to society; contrary to the dictates -of conscience and true religion; and doing what we would not others -should do unto us." - -In 1784, when the church was fully organized, rules were adopted -prescribing the times at which members who were already slaveholders -should emancipate their slaves. These rules were succeeded by the -following: - -"Every person concerned, who will not comply with these rules, shall -have liberty quietly to withdraw from our Society within the twelve -months following the notice being given him, as aforesaid; otherwise the -assistants shall exclude him from the Society. - -"No person holding slaves shall in future be admitted into the Society, -or to the Lord's Supper, till he previously comply with these rules -concerning slavery. - -"Those who buy, sell, or give slaves away, unless on purpose to free -them, shall be expelled immediately." - -In 1801: - -"We declare that we are more than ever convinced of the great evil of -African slavery, which still exists in these United States. - -"Every member of the Society who sells a slave shall immediately, after -full proof, be excluded from the Society, etc. - -"The Annual Conferences are directed to draw up addresses for the -gradual emancipation of the slaves, to the Legislature. Proper -committees shall be appointed by the Annual Conference, out of the most -respectable of our friends, for the conducting of the business; and the -presiding elders, deacons, and travelling preachers, shall procure as -many proper signatures as possible to the addresses, and give all the -assistance in their power, in every respect, to aid the committees, and -to further the blessed undertaking. Let this be continued from year to -year, till the desired end be accomplished." - -In 1836, let us notice the change. The General Conference held its -annual session in Cincinnati, and resolved as follows: - -"Resolved, by the delegates of the Annual Conferences in General -Conference assembled, that they are decidedly opposed to modern -abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish, or intention to -interfere in the civil and political relation between master and slave, -as it exists in the slaveholding States of this Union." - -These resolutions were passed by a very large majority. An address was -received from the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in England, -affectionately remonstrating on the subject of slavery. The Conference -refused to publish it. In the pastoral address to the churches are these -passages: - -"It cannot be unknown to you that the question of slavery in the United -States, by the constitutional compact which binds us together as a -nation, is left to be regulated by the several State Legislatures -themselves; and thereby is put beyond the control of the general -government, as well as that of all ecclesiastical bodied, it being -manifest that in the slaveholding States themselves the entire -responsibility of its existence, or non-existence, rests with those -State Legislatures.... These facts, which are only mentioned here as a -reason for the friendly admonition which we wish to give you, constrain -us, as your pastors, who are called to watch over your souls, as they -must give account, to exhort you to abstain from all abolition movements -and associations, and to refrain from patronizing any of their -publications," etc.... - -The subordinate conferences showed the same spirit. - -In 1836, the New York Annual Conference resolved that no one should be -elected a deacon or elder in the church unless he would give a pledge to -the church he would refrain from discussing this subject.[7] - -In 1838, the Conference resolved-- - -"As the sense of this Conference, that any of its members, or -probationers, who shall patronize _Zion's Watchman_, either by writing -in commendation of its character, by circulating it, recommending it to -our people, or procuring subscribers, or by collecting or remitting -moneys, shall be deemed guilty of indiscretion, and dealt with -accordingly." - -It will be recollected that _Zion's Watchman_ was edited by La Roy -Sunderland, for whose abduction the State of Alabama had offered fifty -thousand dollars. - -In 1840, the General Conference at Baltimore passed the resolution that -we have already quoted, forbidding preachers to allow colored persons to -give testimony in their churches. It has been computed that about eighty -thousand people were deprived of the right of testimony by this act. -This Methodist Church subsequently broke into a Northern and Southern -Conference. The Southern Conference is avowedly all pro-slavery, and the -Northern Conference has still in its communion slaveholding conferences -and members. - -Of the Northern Conferences, one of the largest, the Baltimore, passed -the following: - -"_Resolved_, That this Conference disclaims having any fellowship with -abolitionism. On the contrary, while it is determined to maintain its -well-known and long-established position, by keeping the travelling -preachers composing its own body free from slavery, it is also -determined not to hold connection with any ecclesiastical body that -shall make non-slaveholding a condition of membership in the church, but -to stand by and maintain the discipline as it is." - -The following extract is made from an address of the Philadelphia Annual -Conference to the Societies under its care, dated Wilmington, Delaware, -April 7, 1847: - -"If the plan of separation gives us the pastoral care of you, it remains -to inquire whether we have done anything, as a conference, or as men, to -forfeit your confidence and affection. We are not advised that even in -the great excitement which has distressed you for some months past, any -one has impeached our moral conduct, or charged us with unsoundness in -doctrine, or corruption, or tyranny in the administration of discipline. -But we learn that the simple cause of the unhappy excitement among you -is, that some suspect us, or affect to suspect us, of being -abolitionists. Yet no particular act of the Conference, or any -particular member thereof, is adduced as the ground of the erroneous and -injurious suspicion. We would ask you, brethren, whether the conduct of -our ministry among you for sixty years past ought not to be sufficient -to protect us from this charge. Whether the question we have been -accustomed, for a few years past, to put to candidates for admission -among us, namely, Are you an abolitionist? and, without each one -answered in the negative, he was not received, ought not to protect us -from the charge. Whether the action of the last Conference on this -particular matter ought not to satisfy any fair and candid mind that we -are not, and do not desire to be, abolitionists.... We cannot see how we -can be regarded as abolitionists, without the ministers of the Methodist -Episcopal Church South being considered in the same light.... - -"Wishing you all heavenly benedictions, we are, dear brethren, yours, in -Christ Jesus, - - J. P. DURBIN, } - J. KENNADAY, } - IGNATIUS T. COOPER, } _Committee_." - WILLIAM H. GILDER, } - JOSEPH CASTLE, } - - -These facts sufficiently define the position of the Methodist church. -The history is melancholy, but instructive. The history of the -Presbyterian church is also of interest. - -In 1793, the following note to the eighth commandment was inserted in -the Book of Discipline, as expressing the doctrine of the church upon -slaveholding: - -"1 Tim. 1:10.--The law is made for MAN-STEALERS. This crime among the -Jews exposed the perpetrators of it to capital punishment (Exodus -21:15); and the apostle here classes them with sinners of the first -rank. The word he uses, in its original import, comprehends all who are -concerned in bringing any of the human race into slavery, or in -retaining them in it. _Hominum fures, qui servos vel liberos, abducunt, -retinent, vendunt, vel emunt._ Stealers of men are all those who bring -off slaves or freemen, and KEEP, SELL, or BUY THEM. To steal a free man, -says Grotius, is the highest kind of theft. In other instances, we only -steal human property; but when we steal or retain men in slavery, we -seize those who, in common with ourselves, are constituted by the -original grant lords of the earth." - -No rules of church discipline were enforced, and members whom this -passage declared guilty of this crime remained undisturbed in its -communion, as ministers and elders. This inconsistency was obviated in -1816 by expunging the passage from the Book of Discipline. In 1818 it -adopted an expression of its views on slavery. This document is a long -one, conceived and written in a very Christian spirit. The Assembly's -Digest says, page 341, that it was _unanimously_ adopted. The following -is its testimony as to the nature of slavery: - -"We consider the voluntary enslaving of one part of the human race by -another as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights of -human nature, as utterly inconsistent with the law of God which requires -us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and as totally irreconcilable with -the spirit and principles of the Gospel of Christ, which enjoin that -'all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so -to them.' Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system. It exhibits -rational, accountable, and immortal beings in such circumstances as -scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. It exhibits them as -dependent on the will of others whether they shall receive religious -instruction; whether they shall know and worship the true God; whether -they shall enjoy the ordinances of the Gospel; whether they shall -perform the duties and cherish the endearments of husbands and wives, -parents and children, neighbors and friends; whether they shall preserve -their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates of justice and -humanity. Such are some of the consequences of slavery,--consequences -not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very existence. The -evils to which the slave is always exposed often take place in fact, and -in their very worst degree and form; and where all of them do not take -place,--as we rejoice to say that in many instances, through the -influence of the principles of humanity and religion on the minds of -masters, they do not,--still the slave is deprived of his natural right, -degraded as a human being, and exposed to the danger of passing into the -hands of a master who may inflict upon him all the hardships and -injuries which inhumanity and avarice may suggest." - -This language was surely decided, and it was _unanimously_ adopted by -slaveholders and non-slaveholders. Certainly one might think the time of -redemption was drawing nigh. The declaration goes on to say: - -"It is manifestly the duty of all Christians who enjoy the light of the -present day, when the inconsistency of slavery both with the dictates of -humanity and religion has been demonstrated, and is generally seen and -acknowledged, to use honest, earnest, unwearied endeavors to correct the -errors of former times, and as speedily as possible to efface this blot -on our holy religion, and to OBTAIN THE COMPLETE ABOLITION of slavery -throughout Christendom and throughout the world." - -Here we have the Presbyterian Church, slaveholding and non-slaveholding, -virtually formed into one great _abolition society_, as we have seen the -Methodist was. - -The Assembly then goes on to state that the slaves are not _at present_ -prepared to be free,--that they tenderly sympathize with the portion of -the church and country that has had this evil entailed upon them, where, -as they say, "a great and the most virtuous part of the community ABHOR -SLAVERY, and wish ITS EXTERMINATION." But they exhort them to commence -immediately the work of instructing slaves, with a view to preparing -them for freedom, and to let no greater delay take place than "a regard -to public welfare _indispensably_ demands;" "to be governed by no other -considerations than an _honest and impartial regard to the happiness of -the injured party, uninfluenced by the expense and inconvenience_ which -such regard may involve." It warns against "_unduly extending this plea -of necessity_,"--against making it a cover for the _love and practice of -slavery_. It ends by recommending that any one who shall sell a -fellow-Christian without his consent be immediately disciplined and -suspended. - -If we consider that this was _unanimously_ adopted by slaveholders and -all, and grant, as we certainly do, that it was adopted in all honesty -and good faith, we shall surely expect something from it. We should -expect forthwith the organizing of a set of common schools for the slave -children; for an efficient religious ministration; for an entire -discontinuance of trading in Christian slaves; for laws which make the -family relations sacred. Was any such thing done or attempted? Alas! Two -years after this came the ADMISSION OF MISSOURI, and the increase of -demand in the Southern slave-market, and the internal slave-trade. -Instead of school-teachers, they had slave-traders; instead of gathering -_schools_, they gathered _slave-coffles_. Instead of building -schoolhouses, they built slave-pens and slave-prisons, jails, -barracoons, factories, or whatever the trade pleases to term them; and -so went the plan of gradual emancipation. - -In 1834, sixteen years after, a committee of the Synod of Kentucky, in -which state slavery is generally said to exist in its mildest form, -appointed to make a report on the condition of the slaves, gave the -following picture of their condition. First, as to their spiritual -condition, they say: - -"After making all reasonable allowances, our colored population can be -considered, at the most, but semi-heathen. - -"Brutal stripes, and all the various kinds of personal indignities, are -not the only species of cruelty which slavery licenses. The law does -not recognize the family relations of the slave, and extends to him no -protection in the enjoyment of domestic endearments. The members of a -slave-family may be forcibly separated, so that they shall never more -meet until the final judgment. And cupidity often induces the masters to -practise what the law allows. Brothers and sisters, parents and -children, husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and permitted to see -each other no more. These acts are daily occurring in the midst of us. -The shrieks and the agony often witnessed on such occasions proclaim -with a trumpet-tongue the iniquity and cruelty of our system. The cries -of these sufferers go up to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. There is -not a neighborhood where these heartrending scenes are not displayed. -There is not a village or road that does not behold the sad procession -of manacled outcasts, whose chains and mournful countenances tell that -they are exiled by force from all that their hearts hold dear. Our -church, years ago, raised its voice of solemn warning against this -flagrant violation of every principle of mercy, justice, and humanity. -Yet we blush to announce to you and to the world, that this warning has -been often disregarded, even by those who hold to our communion. Cases -have occurred, in our own denomination, where professors of the religion -of mercy have torn the mother from her children, and sent her into a -merciless and returnless exile. Yet acts of discipline have rarely -followed such conduct." - -Hon. James G. Birney, for years a resident of Kentucky, in his pamphlet, -amends the word _rarely_ by substituting _never_. What could show more -plainly the utter inefficiency of the past act of the Assembly, and the -necessity of adopting some measures more efficient? In 1835, therefore, -the subject was urged upon the General Assembly, entreating them to -carry out the principles and designs they had avowed in 1818. - -Mr. Stuart, of Illinois, in a speech he made upon the subject, said: - -"I hope this Assembly are prepared to come out fully and declare their -sentiments, that slaveholding is a most flagrant and heinous SIN. Let us -not pass it by in this indirect way, while so many thousands and tens of -thousands of our fellow-creatures are writhing under the lash, often -inflicted, too, by ministers and elders of the Presbyterian church. - - * * * * * * * * * - -"In this church a man may take a free-born child, force it away from its -parents, to whom God gave it in charge, saying, 'Bring it up for me,' -and sell it as a beast, or hold it in perpetual bondage, and not only -escape corporal punishment, but really be esteemed an excellent -Christian. Nay, even ministers of the Gospel and doctors of divinity may -engage in this unholy traffic, and yet sustain their high and holy -calling. - - * * * * * * * * * - -"Elders, ministers, and doctors of divinity are, with both hands, -engaged in the practice." - -One would have thought facts like these, stated in a body of Christians, -were enough to wake the dead; but, alas! we can become accustomed to -very awful things. No action was taken upon these remonstrances, except -to refer them to a committee, to be reported on at the next session, in -1836. - -The moderator of the Assembly in 1836 was a slaveholder, Dr. T. S. -Witherspoon, the same who said to the editor of the _Emancipator_, "I -draw my warrant from the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to hold -my slaves in bondage. The principle of holding the heathen in bondage is -recognized by God. When the tardy process of the law is too long in -redressing our grievances, we at the South have adopted the summary -process of Judge Lynch." - -The majority of the committee appointed made a report as follows: - -"Whereas the subject of slavery is inseparably connected with the laws -of many of the states in this Union, with which it is by no means proper -for an ecclesiastical judicature to interfere, and involves many -considerations in regard to which great diversity of opinion and -intensity of feeling are known to exist in the churches represented in -this Assembly; and whereas there is great reason to believe that any -action on the part of this Assembly, in reference to this subject, would -tend to distract and divide our churches, and would probably in no wise -promote the benefit of those whose welfare is immediately contemplated -in the memorials in question: - -"Therefore, Resolved, - -"1. That it is not expedient for the Assembly to take any further order -in relation to this subject. - -"2. That as the notes which have been expunged from our public -formularies, and which some of the memorials referred to the committee -request to have restored, were introduced irregularly, never had the -sanction of the church, and, therefore, never possessed any authority, -the General Assembly has no power, nor would they think it expedient, to -assign them a place in the authorized standards of the church." - -The minority of the committee, the Rev. Messrs. Dickey and Beman, -reported as follows: - -"_Resolved_, 1. That the buying, selling, or holding a human being as -property, is in the sight of God a heinous sin, and ought to subject the -doer of it to the censures of the church. - -"2. That it is the duty of every one, and especially of every Christian, -who may be involved in this sin, to free himself from its entanglement -without delay. - -"3. That it is the duty of every one, especially of every Christian, in -the meekness and firmness of the Gospel, to plead the cause of the poor -and needy, by testifying against the principle and practice of -slaveholding, and to use his best endeavors to deliver the church of God -from the evil, and to bring about the emancipation of the slaves in -these United States, and throughout the world." - -The slaveholding delegates, to the number of forty-eight, met _apart_, -and _Resolved_, - -"That if the General Assembly shall undertake to exercise authority on -the subject of slavery, so as to make it an immorality, or shall in any -way declare that Christians are criminal in holding slaves, that a -declaration shall be presented by the Southern delegation declining -their jurisdiction in the case, and our determination not to submit to -such decision." - -In view of these conflicting reports, the Assembly resolved as follows: - -"Inasmuch as the constitution of the Presbyterian church, in its -preliminary and fundamental principles, declares that no church -judicatories ought to pretend to make laws to bind the conscience in -virtue of their own authority; and as the urgency of the business of the -Assembly, and the shortness of the time during which they can continue -in session, render it impossible to deliberate and decide judiciously on -the subject of slavery in its relation to the church, therefore, -Resolved, that this whole subject be indefinitely postponed." - -The amount of the slave-trade at the time when the General Assembly -refused to act upon the subject of slavery at all may be inferred from -the following items. The _Virginia Times_, in an article published in -this very year of 1836, estimated the number of slaves exported for -sale from that state alone, during the twelve months preceding, at forty -thousand. The _Natchez_ (Miss.) _Courier_ says that in the same year the -States of Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas imported two hundred and fifty -thousand slaves from the more northern states. If we deduct from these -all who may be supposed to have emigrated with their masters, still what -an immense trade is here indicated! - -Two years after, the General Assembly, by a sudden and very unexpected -movement, passed a vote exscinding, without trial, from the communion of -the church, four synods, comprising the most active and decided -anti-slavery portions of the church, The reasons alleged were, doctrinal -differences and ecclesiastical practices inconsistent with -Presbyterianism. By this act about five hundred ministers and sixty -thousand members were cut off from the Presbyterian church. - -That portion of the Presbyterian church called New School, considering -this act unjust, refused to assent to it, joined the exscinded synods, -and formed themselves into the New School General Assembly. In this -communion only three slaveholding presbyteries remained; in the old -there were between thirty and forty. - -The course of the Old School Assembly, after the separation, in relation -to the subject of slavery, may be best expressed by quoting one of their -resolutions, passed in 1845. Having some decided anti-slavery members in -its body, and being, moreover, addressed on the subject of slavery by -associated bodies, they presented, in this year, the following -deliberate statement of their policy. (Minutes for 1845, p. 18.) - -"_Resolved_, 1. That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in -the United States was originally organized, and has since continued the -bond of union in the church, upon the conceded principle that the -existence of domestic slavery, under the circumstances in which it is -found in the Southern portion of the country, is no bar to Christian -communion. - -"2. That the petitions that ask the Assembly to make the holding of -slaves in itself a matter of discipline do virtually require this -judicatory to dissolve itself, and abandon the organization under which, -by the Divine blessing, it has so long prospered. The tendency is -evidently to separate the Northern from the Southern portion of the -church--a result which every good Christian must deplore, as tending to -the dissolution of the Union of our beloved country, and which every -enlightened Christian will oppose, as bringing about a ruinous and -unnecessary schism between brethren who maintain a common faith. - - - "Yeas, Ministers and Elders, 168. - "Nays, " " " 13." - - -It is scarcely necessary to add a comment to this very explicit -declaration. It is the plainest possible disclaimer of any protest -against slavery; the plainest possible statement that the existence of -the ecclesiastical organization is of more importance than all the moral -and social considerations which are involved in a full defence and -practice of American slavery. - -The next year a large number of petitions and remonstrances were -presented, requesting the Assembly to utter additional testimony against -slavery. - -In reply to the petitions, the General Assembly reaffirmed all their -former testimonies on the subject of slavery for sixty years back, and -also affirmed that the previous year's declaration must not be -understood as a retraction of that testimony; in other words, they -expressed it as their opinion, in the words of 1818, that slavery is -"_wholly opposed to the law of God_," and "_totally irreconcilable with -the precepts of the Gospel of Christ_;" and yet that they "had formed -their church organization upon the conceded principle that the existence -of it, under the circumstances in which it is found in the Southern -States of the Union, is no bar to Christian communion." - -Some members protested against this action. (Minutes, 1846. Overture, -No. 17.) - -Great hopes were at first entertained of the New School body. As a body, -it was composed mostly of anti-slavery men. It had in it three synods -whose anti-slavery opinions and actions had been, to say the least, one -very efficient cause for their excision from the Church. It had only -three slaveholding Presbyteries. The power was all in its own hands. -Now, if ever, was their time to cut this loathsome encumbrance wholly -adrift, and stand up, in this age of concession and conformity to the -world, a purely protesting church, free from all complicity with this -most dreadful national immorality. - -On the first session of the General Assembly this course was most -vehemently urged, by many petitions and memorials. These memorials were -referred to a committee of decided anti-slavery men. The argument on one -side was, that the time was now come to take decided measures to cut -free wholly from all pro-slavery complicity, and avow their principles -with decision, even though it should repel all such churches from their -communion as were not prepared for immediate emancipation. - -On the other hand, the majority of the committee were urged by opposing -considerations. The brethren from slave states made to them -representations somewhat alike to these: "Brethren, our hearts are with -you. We are with you in faith, in charity, in prayer. We sympathized in -the injury that had been done you by excision. We stood by you then, and -are ready to stand by you still. We have no sympathy with the party that -have expelled you, and we do not wish to go back to them. As to this -matter of slavery, we do not differ from you. We consider it an evil. We -mourn and lament over it. We are trying, by gradual and peaceable means, -to exclude it from our churches. We are going as far in advance of the -sentiment of our churches as we consistently can. We cannot come up to -more decided action without losing our hold over them, and, as we think, -throwing back the cause of emancipation. If you begin in this decided -manner, we cannot hold our churches in the union; they will divide, and -go to the Old School." - -Here was a very strong plea, made by good and sincere men. It was an -appeal, too, to the most generous feelings of the heart. It was, in -effect, saying, "Brothers, we stood by you, and fought your battles, -when everything was going against you; and, now that you have the power -in your hands, are you going to use it so as to cast us out?" - -These men, strong anti-slavery men as they were, were affected. One -member of the committee foresaw and feared the result. He felt and -suggested that the course proposed conceded the whole question. The -majority thought, on the whole, that it was best to postpone the -subject. The committee reported that the applicants, for reasons -satisfactory to themselves, had withdrawn their papers. - -The next year, in 1839, the subject was resumed; and it was again urged -that the Assembly should take high, and decided, and unmistakable -ground; and certainly, if we consider that all this time not a single -church had emancipated its slaves, and that the power of the institution -was everywhere stretching and growing and increasing, it would -certainly seem that something more efficient was necessary than a -general understanding that the church agreed with the testimony -delivered in 1818. It was strongly represented that it was time -something was done. This year the Assembly decided to refer the subject -to Presbyteries, to do what they deemed advisable. The words employed -were these: "Solemnly referring the whole to the lower judicatories, to -take such action as in their judgment is most judicious, and adapted to -remove the evil." The Rev. George Beecher moved to insert the word moral -before evil; they declined.[8] - -This brought, in 1840, a much larger number of memorials and petitions; -and very strong attempts were made by the abolitionists to obtain some -decided action. - -The committee this year referred to what had been done last year, and -declared it inexpedient to do anything further. The subject was -indefinitely postponed. At this time it was resolved that the Assembly -should meet only once in three years. Accordingly, it did not meet till -1843. In 1843, several memorials were again presented, and some -resolutions offered to the Assembly, of which this was one (Minutes of -the General Assembly for 1843, p. 15): - -"Resolved, That we affectionately and earnestly urge upon the Ministers, -Sessions, Presbyteries, and Synods, connected with this Assembly, that -they treat this as all other sins of great magnitude; and by a diligent, -kind, and faithful application of the means which God has given them, by -instruction, remonstrance, reproof, and effective discipline, seek to -purify the church of this great iniquity." - -This resolution they declined. They passed the following: - -"Whereas there is in this Assembly great diversity of opinion as to the -proper and best mode of action on the subject of slavery; and whereas, -in such circumstances, any expression of sentiment would carry with it -but little weight, as it would be passed by a small majority, and must -operate to produce alienation and division; and whereas the Assembly of -1839, with great unanimity, referred this whole subject to the lower -judicatories, to take such order as in their judgment might be adapted -to remove the evil;--Resolved, That the Assembly do not think it for the -edification of the church for this body to take any action on the -subject." - -They, however, passed the following: - -"Resolved, That the fashionable amusement of promiscuous dancing is so -entirely unscriptural, and eminently and exclusively that of 'the world -which lieth in wickedness,' and so wholly inconsistent with the spirit -of Christ, and with that propriety of Christian deportment and that -purity of heart which his followers are bound to maintain, as to render -it not only improper and injurious for professing Christians either to -partake in it, or to qualify their children for it, by teaching them the -'art,' but also to call for the faithful and judicious exercise of -discipline on the part of Church Sessions, when any of the members of -their churches have been guilty." - -Thus has the matter gone on from year to year, ever since. - -In 1856 we are sorry to say that we can report no improvement in the -action of the great ecclesiastical bodies on the subject of slavery, but -rather deterioration. Notwithstanding all the aggressions of slavery, -and notwithstanding the constant developments of its horrible influence -in corrupting and degrading the character of the nation, as seen in the -mean, vulgar, assassin-like outrages in our national Congress, and the -brutal, bloodthirsty, fiend-like proceedings in Kansas, connived at and -protected, if not directly sanctioned and in part instigated, by our -national government;--notwithstanding all this, the great ecclesiastical -organizations seem less disposed than ever before to take any efficient -action on the subject. This was manifest in the General Conference of -the Methodist Episcopal Church North, held at Indianapolis during the -spring of the present year, and in the General Assemblies of the -Presbyterian Church held at New York at about the same time. - -True, a very large minority in the Methodist Conference resisted with -great energy the action, or rather no action, of the majority, and gave -fearless utterance to the most noble sentiments; but in the final result -the numbers were against them. - -The same thing was true to some extent in the New School Presbyterian -General Assembly, though here the anti-slavery utterances were, on the -whole, inferior to those in the Methodist Conference. In both bodies the -Packthreads, and Cushings, and Calkers, and Bonnies, are numerous and -have the predominant influence, while the Dicksons and the Ruskins are -fewer, and have far less power. The representations, therefore, in the -body of the work, though very painful, are strictly just. Individuals, -everywhere in the free states, and in same of the slave states, are most -earnestly struggling against the prevailing corruption; but the -churches, as such, are, for the most part, still on the wrong side. -There are churches free from this stain, but they are neither numerous -nor popular. - -For an illustration of the lynching of Father Dickson, see "Key to Uncle -Tom's Cabin," Part III., Chapter VIII. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[7] This resolution is given in Birney's pamphlet. - -[8] _Goodell's History of the Great Struggle between Freedom and -Slavery._ - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dred, by Harriet beecher Stowe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DRED *** - -***** This file should be named 55012-8.txt or 55012-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/0/1/55012/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Dred - A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp - -Author: Harriet beecher Stowe - -Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55012] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DRED *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class = "mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:<br /><br /> -Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.<br /></p></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> - -<h1>DRED</h1> - -<p class="bold">A</p> - -<p class="bold">TALE OF THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">HARRIET BEECHER STOWE</p> - -<p class="bold">AUTHOR OF "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN"</p> - -<div class="center"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds:</div> -<div class="i1">His path was rugged and sore,—</div> -<div>Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds,</div> -<div>Through many a fen, where the serpent feeds,</div> -<div class="i1">And man never trod before.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>And when on earth he sunk to sleep,</div> -<div class="i1">If slumber his eyelids knew,</div> -<div>He lay where the deadly vine doth weep</div> -<div>Its venomous tears, that nightly steep</div> -<div class="i1">The flesh with blistering dew."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="center space-above"><img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above">BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br />HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY<br />The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br />1892</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">Copyright, 1856 and 1884,<br /><span class="smcap">By</span> HARRIET BEECHER STOWE</p> - -<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> - -<p class="center space-above"><i>The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i><br /> -Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p>The writer of this book has chosen, once more, a subject from the scenes -and incidents of the slave-holding states.</p> - -<p>The reason for such a choice is two-fold. First, in a merely artistic -point of view, there is no ground, ancient or modern, whose vivid -lights, gloomy shadows, and grotesque groupings, afford to the novelist -so wide a scope for the exercise of his powers. In the near vicinity of -modern civilization of the most matter-of-fact kind exist institutions -which carry us back to the twilight of the feudal ages, with all their -exciting possibilities of incident. Two nations, the types of two -exactly opposite styles of existence, are here struggling; and from the -intermingling of these two a third race has arisen, and the three are -interlocked in wild and singular relations, that evolve every possible -combination of romance.</p> - -<p>Hence, if the writer's only object had been the production of a work of -art, she would have felt justified in not turning aside from that mine -whose inexhaustible stores have but begun to be developed.</p> - -<p>But this object, however legitimate, was not the only nor the highest -one. It is the moral bearings of the subject involved which have had the -chief influence in its selection.</p> - -<p>The issues presented by the great conflict between liberty and slavery -do not grow less important from year to year. On the contrary, their -interest increases with every step in the development of the national -career. Never has there been a crisis in the history of this nation so -momentous as the present. If ever a nation was raised up by Divine -Providence, and led forth upon a conspicuous stage, as if for the -express purpose of solving a great moral problem in the sight of all -mankind, it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> this nation. God in his providence is now asking the -American people, Is the system of slavery, as set forth in the American -slave code, <i>right</i>? Is it so desirable, that you will directly -establish it over broad regions, where, till now, you have solemnly -forbidden it to enter? And this question the American people are about -to answer. Under such circumstances the writer felt that no apology was -needed for once more endeavoring to do something towards revealing to -the people the true character of that system. If the people are to -establish such a system, let them do it with their eyes open, with all -the dreadful realities before them.</p> - -<p>One liberty has been taken which demands acknowledgment in the outset. -The writer has placed in the mouth of one of her leading characters a -judicial decision of Judge Ruffin, of North Carolina, the boldness, -clearness, and solemn eloquence of which have excited admiration both in -the Old World and the New. The author having no personal acquaintance -with that gentleman, the character to whom she attributes it is to be -considered as created merely on a principle of artistic fitness.</p> - -<p>To maintain the unity of the story, some anachronisms with regard to the -time of the session of courts have been allowed; for works of fiction -must sometimes use some liberties in the grouping of incidents.</p> - -<p>But as mere cold art, unquickened by sympathy with the spirit of the -age, is nothing, the author hopes that those who now are called to -struggle for all that is noble in our laws and institutions may find in -this book the response of a sympathizing heart.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER I.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Mistress of Canema</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER II.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Clayton</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER III.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Clayton Family and Sister Anne</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER IV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Gordon Family</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER V.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Harry and his Wife</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER VI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Dilemma</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER VII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Consultation</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER VIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Old Tiff</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER IX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Death</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER X.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Preparation</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Lovers</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>CHAPTER XII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Explanations</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Tom Gordon</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XIV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Aunt Nesbit's Loss</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Mr. Jekyl's Opinions</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XVI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Milly's Story</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XVII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Uncle John</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XVIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Dred</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XIX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Conspirators</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Summer Talk at Canema</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Tiff's Preparations</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Worshippers</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Camp-Meeting</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXIV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Life in the Swamps</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">More Summer Talk</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>CHAPTER XXVI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Milly's Return</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXVII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Trial</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXVIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Magnolia Grove</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXIX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Troubadour</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_336">336</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Tiff's Garden</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_348">348</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Warning</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Morning Star</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_362">362</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Legal Decision</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_368">368</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXIV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Cloud Bursts</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_379">379</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Voice in the Wilderness</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_391">391</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXVI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Evening Star</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_395">395</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXVII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Tie Breaks</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_403">403</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Purpose</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_410">410</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XXXIX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The New Mother</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_418">418</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>CHAPTER XL.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Flight into Egypt</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_424">424</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Clerical Conference</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_436">436</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Result</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_448">448</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Slave's Argument</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_457">457</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLIV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Desert</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_468">468</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jegar Sahadutha</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_477">477</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLVI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Frank Russel's Opinions</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_488">488</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLVII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Tom Gordon's Plans</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_497">497</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLVIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Lynch Law</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_502">502</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER XLIX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">More Violence</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_515">515</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER L.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Engedi</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_521">521</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER LI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Slave Hunt</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_530">530</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER LII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">"<span class="smcap">All Over</span>"</td> - <td><a href="#Page_535">535</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER LIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Burial</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_542">542</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>CHAPTER LIV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Escape</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_547">547</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER LV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Lynch Law again</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_556">556</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER LVI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Flight</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_569">569</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER LVII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Clear Shining after Rain</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_576">576</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">APPENDIX I.</td> - <td><a href="#Page_580">580</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">APPENDIX II.</td> - <td><a href="#Page_587">587</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">APPENDIX III.</td> - <td><a href="#Page_596">596</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">DRED.</p> - -<p class="bold">A TALE OF THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP.</p> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER I.</span> <span class="smaller">THE MISTRESS OF CANEMA.</span></h2> - -<p>"Bills, Harry?—Yes.—Dear me, where are they?—There!—No. Here?—Oh, -look!—What do you think of this scarf? Isn't it lovely?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Nina, beautiful—but"—</p> - -<p>"Oh, those bills!—Yes—well, here goes—here—perhaps in this box. -No—that's my opera-hat. By the bye, what do you think of that? Isn't -that bunch of silver wheat lovely? Stop a bit—you shall see it on me."</p> - -<p>And, with these words, the slight little figure sprang up as if it had -wings, and, humming a waltzing-tune, skimmed across the room to a -looking-glass, and placed the jaunty little cap on the gay little head, -and then, turning a pirouette on one toe, said, "There, now!"</p> - -<p>"There, now!" Ah, Harry! ah, mankind generally! the wisest of you have -been made fools of by just such dancing, glittering, fluttering little -assortments of curls, pendants, streamers, eyes, cheeks, and dimples!</p> - -<p>The little figure, scarce the height of the Venus, rounded as that of an -infant, was shown to advantage by a coquettish morning-dress of buff -muslin, which fluttered open in front to display the embroidered skirt, -and trim little mouse of a slipper. The face was one of those provoking -ones which set criticism at defiance. The hair, waving, curling, dancing -hither and thither, seemed to have a wild, laughing grace of its own; -the brown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> eyes twinkled like the pendants of a chandelier; the little, -wicked nose, which bore the forbidden upward curve, seemed to assert its -right to do so with a saucy freedom; and the pendants of multiplied -brilliants that twinkled in her ears, and the nodding wreath of silver -wheat that set off her opera-hat, seemed alive with mischief and motion.</p> - -<p>"Well, what do you think?" said a lively, imperative voice,—just the -kind of voice that you might have expected from the figure.</p> - -<p>The young man to whom this question was addressed was a well-dressed, -gentlemanly person of about thirty-five, with dark complexion and hair, -and deep, full blue eyes. There was something marked and peculiar in the -square, high forehead, and the finely-formed features, which indicated -talent and ability; and the blue eyes had a depth and strength of color -that might cause them at first glance to appear black. The face, with -its strongly-marked expression of honesty and sense, had about it many -careworn and thoughtful lines. He looked at the little, defiant fay for -a moment with an air of the most entire deference and admiration; then a -heavy shadow crossed his face, and he answered, abstractedly, "Yes, Miss -Nina, everything you wear becomes pretty—and that is perfectly -charming."</p> - -<p>"Isn't it, now, Harry? I thought you would think so. You see, it's my -own idea. You ought to have seen what a thing it was when I first saw it -in Mme. Le Blanche's window. There was a great hot-looking feather on -it, and two or three horrid bows. I had them out in a twinkling, and got -this wheat in—which shakes so, you know. It's perfectly lovely!—Well, -do you believe, the very night I wore it to the opera, I got engaged?"</p> - -<p>"Engaged, Miss Nina?"</p> - -<p>"Engaged!—Yes, to be sure! Why not?"</p> - -<p>"It seems to me that's a very serious thing, Miss Nina."</p> - -<p>"Serious!—ha! ha! ha!" said the little beauty, seating herself on one -arm of the sofa, and shaking the glittering hat back from her eyes. -"Well, I fancy it was—to him, at least. I made him serious, I can tell -you!"</p> - -<p>"But is this true, Miss Nina? <i>Are</i> you really engaged?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, to be sure I am—to three gentlemen; and going to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> stay so till I -find which I like best. May be, you know, I shan't like any of them."</p> - -<p>"Engaged to three gentlemen, Miss Nina?"</p> - -<p>"To be sure!—Can't you understand English, Harry? I <i>am</i> now—fact."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, is that right?"</p> - -<p>"Right?—why not? I don't know which to take—I positively don't; so I -took them all on trial, you know."</p> - -<p>"Pray, Miss Nina, tell us who they are."</p> - -<p>"Well, there's Mr. Carson;—he's a rich old bachelor—horridly -polite—one of those little, bobbing men, that always have such shiny -dickies and collars, and such bright boots, and such tight straps. And -he's rich—and perfectly wild about me. He wouldn't take no for an -answer, you know; so I just said yes, to have a little quiet. Besides, -he is very convenient about the opera and concerts, and such things."</p> - -<p>"Well, and the next?"</p> - -<p>"Well, the next is George Emmons. He's one of your pink-and-white men, -you know, who look like cream-candy, as if they were good to eat. He's a -lawyer, of a good family,—thought a good deal of, and all that. Well, -really, they say he has talents—I'm no judge. I know he always bores me -to death; asking me if I have read this or that—marking places in books -that I never read. He's your sentimental sort—writes the most romantic -notes on pink paper, and all that sort of thing."</p> - -<p>"And the third?"</p> - -<p>"Well, you see, I don't like <i>him</i> a bit—I'm sure I don't. He's a -hateful creature! He isn't handsome; he's proud as Lucifer; and I'm sure -I don't know how he got me to be engaged. It was a kind of an accident. -He's real good, though—too good for me, that's a fact. But, then, I'm -afraid of him a little."</p> - -<p>"And his name?"</p> - -<p>"Well, his name is Clayton—Mr. Edward Clayton, at your service. He's -one of your high-and-mighty people—with such deep-set eyes—eyes that -look as if they were in a cave—and such black hair! And his eyes have a -desperate sort of sad look, sometimes—quite Byronic. He's tall, and -rather loose-jointed—has beautiful teeth; his mouth, too, is—well, -when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> he smiles, sometimes it really is quite fascinating; and then he's -so different from other gentlemen! He's kind—but he don't care how he -dresses; and wears the most horrid shoes. And, then, he isn't polite—he -won't jump, you know, to pick up your thread or scissors; and sometimes -he'll get into a brown study, and let you stand ten minutes before he -thinks to give you a chair, and all such provoking things. He isn't a -bit of a lady's man. Well, consequence is, as my lord won't court the -girls, the girls all court my lord—that's the way, you know; and they -seem to think it's such a feather in their cap to get attention from -him—because, you know, he's horrid sensible. So, you see, that just set -me out to see what I could do with him. Well, you see, I wouldn't court -him;—and I plagued him, and laughed at him, and spited him, and got him -gloriously wroth; and he said some spiteful things about me, and then I -said some more about him, and we had a real up-and-down quarrel;—and -then I took a penitent turn, you know, and just went gracefully down -into the valley of humiliation—as we witches can; and it took -wonderfully—brought my lord on to his knees before he knew what he was -doing. Well, really, I don't know what was the matter, just then, but he -spoke so earnest and strong that actually he got me to crying—hateful -creature!—and I promised all sorts of things, you know—said altogether -more than will bear thinking of."</p> - -<p>"And are you corresponding with all these lovers, Miss Nina?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—isn't it fun? Their letters, you know, can't speak. If they could, -when they come rustling together in the bag, wouldn't there be a muss?"</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, I think you have given your heart to this last one."</p> - -<p>"Oh, nonsense, Harry! Haven't got any heart!—don't care two pins for -any of them! All I want is to have a good time. As to love, and all -that, I don't believe I could love any of them; I should be tired to -death of any of them in six weeks. I never liked anything that long."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, you must excuse me, but I want to ask again, is it right to -trifle with the feelings of gentlemen in this way?"</p> - -<p>"Why not?—Isn't all fair in war? Don't they trifle with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> us girls, -every chance they get—and sit up so pompous in their rooms, and smoke -cigars, and talk us over, as if they only had to put out their finger -and say, 'Come here,' to get any of us? I tell you, it's fun to bring -them down!—Now, there's that horrid George Emmons—I tell you, if he -didn't flirt all winter with Mary Stephens, and got everybody to -laughing about her!—it was so evident, you see, that she liked him—she -couldn't help showing it, poor little thing!—and then my lord would -settle his collar, and say he hadn't quite made up his mind to take her, -and all that. Well, I haven't made up my mind to take him, either—and -so poor Emma is avenged. As to the old bach—that smooth-dicky man—you -see, he can't be hurt; for his heart is rubbed as smooth and hard as his -dicky, with falling in love and out again. He's been turned off by three -girls, now; and his shoes squeak as brisk as ever, and he's just as -jolly. You see, he didn't use to be so rich. Lately, he's come into a -splendid property; so, if I don't take him, poor man, there are enough -that would be glad of him."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, but as to that other one?"</p> - -<p>"What! my lord Lofty? Oh, he wants humbling!—it wouldn't hurt him, in -the least, to be put down a little. He's good, too, and afflictions -always improve good people. I believe I was made for a means of grace to -'em all."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, what if all three of them should come at once—or even two -of them?"</p> - -<p>"What a droll idea! Wouldn't it be funny? Just to think of it! What a -commotion! What a scene! It would really be vastly entertaining."</p> - -<p>"Now, Miss Nina, I want to speak as a friend."</p> - -<p>"No, you shan't! it is just what people say when they are going to say -something disagreeable. I told Clayton, once for all, that I wouldn't -have him speak as a friend to me."</p> - -<p>"Pray, how does he take all this?"</p> - -<p>"Take it! Why, just as he must. He cares a great deal more for me than I -do for him." Here a slight little sigh escaped the fair speaker. "And I -think it fun to shock him. You know he is one of the fatherly sort, who -is always advising young girls. Let it be understood that his standard -of female character is wonderfully high, and all that. And then, to -think of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> being tripped up before me!—it's <i>too</i> funny!" The little -sprite here took off her opera-hat, and commenced waltzing a few steps, -and, stopping midwhirl, exclaimed: "Oh, do you know we girls have been -trying to learn the cachucha, and I've got some castanets? Let me -see—where are they?" And with this she proceeded to upset the trunk, -from which flew a meteoric shower of bracelets, billets-doux, French -Grammars, drawing-pencils, interspersed with confectionery of various -descriptions, and all the et ceteras of a school-girl's depository. -"There, upon my word, there are the bills you were asking for. There, -take them!" throwing a package of papers at the young man. "Take them! -Can you catch?"</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, these do not appear to be bills."</p> - -<p>"Oh, bless me! those are love-letters, then. The bills are somewhere." -And the little hands went pawing among the heap making the fanciful -collection fly in every direction over the carpet. "Ah! I believe now in -this bonbon-box I did put them. Take care of your head, Harry!" And, -with the word, the gilded missile flew from the little hand, and opening -on the way, showered Harry with a profusion of crumpled papers. "Now you -have got them all, except one, that I used for curl-papers the other -night. Oh, don't look so sober about it! Indeed, I kept the pieces—here -they are. And now don't you say, Harry, don't you tell me that I never -save my bills. You don't know how particular I have been, and what -trouble I have taken. But, there—there's a letter Clayton wrote to me, -one time when we had a quarrel. Just a specimen of that creature!"</p> - -<p>"Pray tell us about it, Miss Nina," said the young man, with his eyes -fixed admiringly on the little person, while he was smoothing and -arranging the crumpled documents.</p> - -<p>"Why, you see, it was just this way. You know, these men—how provoking -they are! They'll go and read all sorts of books—no matter what <i>they</i> -read!—and then they are so dreadfully particular about us girls. Do you -know, Harry, this always made me angry?"</p> - -<p>"Well, so, you see, one evening Sophy Elliot quoted some poetry from Don -Juan,—I never read it, but it seems folks call it a bad book,—and my -lord Clayton immediately fixed his eyes upon her in such an appalling -way, and says, 'Have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> you read Don Juan, Miss Elliot?' Then, you know, -as girls always do in such cases, she blushed and stammered, and said -her brother had read some extracts from it to her. I was vexed, and -said, 'And, pray, what's the harm if she did read it? <i>I</i> mean to read -it, the very first chance I get!'</p> - -<p>"Oh! everybody looked so shocked. Why, dear me! if I had said I was -going to commit murder, Clayton could not have looked more concerned. So -he put on that very edifying air of his, and said, 'Miss Nina, I -<i>trust</i>, as your friend, that you will not read that book. I should lose -all respect for a lady friend who had read that.'</p> - -<p>"'Have you read it, Mr. Clayton?' said I.</p> - -<p>"'Yes, Miss Nina,' said he, quite piously.</p> - -<p>"'What makes you read such bad books?' said I, very innocently.</p> - -<p>"Then there followed a general fuss and talk; and the gentlemen, you -know, would not have their wives or their sisters read anything naughty, -for the world. They wanted us all to be like snow-flakes, and all that. -And they were quite high, telling they wouldn't marry this, and they -wouldn't marry that, till at last I made them a curtsey, and said, -'Gentlemen, we ladies are infinitely obliged to you, but <i>we</i> don't -intend to marry people that read naughty books, either. Of course you -know snow-flakes don't like smut!'</p> - -<p>"Now, I really didn't mean anything by it, except to put down these men, -and stand up for my sex. But Clayton took it in real earnest. He grew -red and grew pale, and was just as angry as he could be. Well, the -quarrel raged about three days. Then, do you know, I made him give up, -and own that he was in the wrong. There, I think he was, too,—don't -you? Don't you think men ought to be <i>as</i> good as we are, any way?"</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, I should think you would be afraid to express yourself so -positively."</p> - -<p>"Oh, if I cared a sou for any of them, perhaps I should. But there isn't -one of the train that I would give <i>that</i> for!" said she, flirting a -shower of peanut-shells into the air.</p> - -<p>"Yes, but, Miss Nina, some time or other you must marry somebody. You -need somebody to take care of the property and place."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, that's it, is it? You are tired of keeping accounts, are you, with -me to spend the money? Well, I don't wonder. How I pity anybody that -keeps accounts! Isn't it horrid, Harry? Those awful books! Do you know -that Mme. Ardaine set out that 'we girls' should keep account of our -expenses? I just tried it two weeks. I had a headache and weak eyes, and -actually it nearly ruined my constitution. Somehow or other, they gave -it up, it gave them so much trouble. And what's the use? When money's -spent, it's <i>spent</i>; and keeping accounts ever so strict won't get it -back. I am very careful about my expenses. I never get anything that I -can do without."</p> - -<p>"For instance," said Harry, rather roguishly, "this bill of one hundred -dollars for confectionery."</p> - -<p>"Well, you know just how it is, Harry. It's so horrid to have to study! -Girls must have something. And you know I didn't get it all for myself; -I gave it round to all the girls. Then they used to ask me for it, and I -couldn't refuse—and so it went."</p> - -<p>"I didn't presume to comment, Miss Nina. What have we here?—Mme. Les -Cartes, $450?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Harry, that horrid Mme. Les Cartes! You never saw anything like -her! Positively it is not my fault. She puts down things I never got: I -know she does. Nothing in the world but because she is from Paris. -Everybody is complaining of her. But, then, nobody gets anything -anywhere else. So what can one do, you know? I assure you, Harry, I am -economical."</p> - -<p>The young man, who had been summing up the accounts, now burst out into -such a hearty laugh as somewhat disconcerted the fair rhetorician.</p> - -<p>She colored to her temples.</p> - -<p>"Harry, now, for shame! Positively, you aren't respectful!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Miss Nina, on my knees I beg pardon!" still continuing to laugh; -"but, indeed, you must excuse me. I am positively delighted to hear of -your economy, Miss Nina."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Harry, you may look at the bills and see. Haven't I ripped -up all my silk dresses and had them colored over, just to economize? You -can see the dyer's bill, there; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Mme. Carteau told me she always -expected to turn my dresses twice, at least. Oh, yes, I have been very -economical."</p> - -<p>"I have heard of old dresses turned costing more than new ones, Miss -Nina."</p> - -<p>"Oh, nonsense, Harry! What should you know of girls' things? But I'll -tell you one thing I've got, Harry, and that is a gold watch for you. -There it is," throwing a case carelessly towards him; "and there's a -silk dress for your wife," throwing him a little parcel. "I have sense -enough to know what a good fellow you are, at any rate. I couldn't go on -as I do, if you didn't rack your poor head fifty ways to keep things -going straight here at home for me."</p> - -<p>A host of conflicting emotions seemed to cross the young man's face, -like a shadow of clouds over a field, as he silently undid the packages. -His hands trembled, his lips quivered, but he said nothing.</p> - -<p>"Come, Harry, don't this suit you? I thought it would."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, you are too kind."</p> - -<p>"No, I'm not, Harry; I am a selfish little concern, that's a fact," said -she, turning away, and pretending not to see the feeling which agitated -him.</p> - -<p>"But, Harry, wasn't it droll, this morning, when all our people came up -to get their presents! There was Aunt Sue, and Aunt Tike, and Aunt Kate, -each one got a new sack pattern, in which they are going to make up the -prints I brought them. In about two days our place will be flaming with -aprons and sacks. And <i>did</i> you see Aunt Rose in that pink bonnet, with -the flowers? You could see every tooth in her head! Of course, now -they'll be taken with a very pious streak, to go to some camp-meeting or -other, to show their finery. Why don't you laugh, Harry?"</p> - -<p>"I do, don't I, Miss Nina?"</p> - -<p>"You only laugh on your face. You don't laugh deep down. What's the -matter? I don't believe it's good for you to read and study so much. -Papa used to say that he didn't think it was good for"—</p> - - -<p>She stopped, checked by the expression on the face of her listener.</p> - -<p>"For <i>servants</i>, Miss Nina, your papa said, I suppose."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p><p>With the quick tact of her sex, Nina perceived that she had struck some -disagreeable chord in the mind of her faithful attendant, and she -hastened to change the subject, in her careless, rattling way.</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, Harry, study is horrid for you, or me either, or anybody -else, except musty old people, who don't know how to do anything else. -Did ever anybody look out of doors, such a pleasant day as this, and -want to study? Think of a bird's studying, now, or a bee! They don't -study—they live. Now, I don't want to study—I want to live. So now, -Harry, if you'll just get the ponies and go in the woods, I want to get -some jessamines, and spring beauties, and wild honeysuckles, and all the -rest of the flowers that I used to get before I went to school."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER II.</span> <span class="smaller">CLAYTON.</span></h2> - -<p>The curtain rises on our next scene, and discovers a tranquil library, -illuminated by the slant rays of the afternoon's sun. On one side the -room opened by long glass windows on to a garden, from whence the air -came in perfumed with the breath of roses and honeysuckles. The floor -covered with white matting, the couches and sofas robed in smooth glazed -linen, gave an air of freshness and coolness to the apartment. The walls -were hung with prints of the great masterpieces of European art, while -bronzes and plaster-casts, distributed with taste and skill, gave -evidence of artistic culture in the general arrangement. Two young men -were sitting together near the opened window at a small table, which -displayed an antique coffee-set of silver, and a silver tray of ices and -fruits. One of these has already been introduced to the notice of our -readers, in the description of our heroine in the last chapter.</p> - -<p>Edward Clayton, the only son of Judge Clayton, and representative of one -of the oldest and most distinguished families of North Carolina, was in -personal appearance much what our lively young friend had -sketched—tall, slender, with a sort of loose-jointedness and -carelessness of dress, which might have produced an impression of -clownishness, had it not been relieved by a refined and intellectual -expression on the head and face. The upper part of the face gave the -impression of thoughtfulness and strength, with a shadowing of -melancholy earnestness, and there was about the eye, in conversation, -that occasional gleam of troubled wildness which betrays the -hypochondriac temperament. The mouth was even feminine in the delicacy -and beauty of its lines, and the smile which sometimes played around it -had a peculiar fascination. It seemed to be a smile of but half the -man's nature; for it never rose as high as the eyes, or seemed to -disturb the dark stillness of their thoughtfulness.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p><p>The other speaker was in many respects a contrast; and we will -introduce him to our readers by the name of Frank Russel. Furthermore, -for their benefit, we will premise that he was the only son of a once -distinguished and wealthy, but now almost decayed, family of Virginia.</p> - -<p>It is supposed by many that friendship is best founded upon similarity -of nature; but observation teaches that it is more common by a union of -opposites, in which each party is attracted by something wanting in -itself. In Clayton, the great preponderance of those faculties which -draw a man inward, and impair the efficiency of the outward life, -inclined him to overvalue the active and practical faculties, because he -saw them constantly attended with a kind of success which he fully -appreciated, but was unable to attain. Perfect ease of manner, ready -presence of mind under all social exigencies, adroitness in making the -most of passing occurrences, are qualities which are seldom the gift of -sensitive and deeply-thoughtful natures, and which for this very reason -they are often disposed to overvalue. Russel was one of those men who -have just enough of all the higher faculties to appreciate their -existence in others, and not enough of any one to disturb the perfect -availability of his own mind. Everything in his mental furnishing was -always completely under his own control, and on hand for use at a -moment's notice. From infancy he was noted for quick tact and ready -reply. At school he was the universal factotum, the "good fellow" of the -ring, heading all the mischief among the boys, and yet walking with -exemplary gravity on the blind side of the master. Many a scrape had he -rescued Clayton from, into which he had fallen from a more fastidious -moral sense, a more scrupulous honor, than is for worldly profit either -in the boy's or man's sphere; and Clayton, superior as he was, could not -help loving and depending on him.</p> - -<p>The diviner part of man is often shamefaced and self-distrustful, ill at -home in this world, and standing in awe of nothing so much as what is -called common sense; and yet common sense very often, by its own -keenness, is able to see that these unavailable currencies of another's -mind are of more worth, if the world only knew it, than the ready coin -of its own; and so the practical and the ideal nature are drawn -together.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p><p>So Clayton and Russel had been friends from boyhood; had roomed -together their four years in college; and, though instruments of a -vastly different quality, had hitherto played the concerts of life with -scarce a discord.</p> - -<p>In person, Russel was of about the medium size, with a well-knit, -elastic frame, all whose movements were characterized by sprightliness -and energy. He had a frank, open countenance, clear blue eyes, a high -forehead shaded by clusters of curling brown hair; his flexible lips -wore a good-natured yet half-sarcastic smile. His feelings, though not -inconveniently deep, were easily touched; he could be moved to tears or -to smiles, with the varying humor of a friend; but never so far as to -lose his equipoise—or, as he phrased it, forget what he was about.</p> - -<p>But we linger too long in description. We had better let the reader hear -the <i>dramatis personæ</i>, and judge for himself.</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Clayton," said Russel, as he leaned back in a stuffed -leather chair, with a cigar between his fingers, "how considerate of -them to go off on that marooning party, and leave us to ourselves, here! -I say, old boy, how goes the world now?—Reading law, hey?—booked to be -Judge Clayton the second! Now, my dear fellow, if <i>I</i> had the -opportunities that you have—only to step into my father's shoes—I -should be a lucky fellow."</p> - -<p>"Well, you are welcome to all my chances," said Clayton, throwing -himself on one of the lounges; "for I begin to see that I shall make -very little of them."</p> - -<p>"Why, what's the matter?—Don't you like the study?"</p> - -<p>"The study, perhaps, well enough—but not the practice. Reading the -theory is always magnificent and grand. 'Law hath her seat in the bosom -of God; her voice is the harmony of the world.' You remember we used to -declaim that. But, then, come to the practice of it, and what do you -find? Are legal examinations anything like searching after truth? Does -not an advocate commit himself to one-sided views of his subject, and -habitually ignore all the truth on the other side? Why, if I practised -law according to my conscience, I should be chased out of court in a -week."</p> - -<p>"There you are, again, Clayton, with your everlasting conscience, which -has been my plague ever since you were a boy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> and I have never been -able to convince you what a humbug it is! It's what I call a <i>crotchety</i> -conscience—always in the way of your doing anything like anybody else. -I suppose, then, of course, you won't go into political life.—Great -pity, too. You'd make a very imposing figure as senator. You have -exactly the cut for a conscript father—one of the old Viri Romæ."</p> - -<p>"And what do you think the old Viri Romæ would do in Washington? What -sort of a figure do you think Regulus, or Quintus Curtius, or Mucius -Scævola, would make there?"</p> - -<p>"Well, to be sure, the style of political action has altered somewhat -since those days. If political duties were what they were then,—if a -gulf would open in Washington, for example,—you would be the fellow to -plunge in, horse and all, for the good of the republic; or, if anything -was to be done by putting your right hand in the fire and burning it -off—or, if there were any Carthaginians who would cut off your eyelids, -or roll you down hill in a barrel of nails, for truth and your country's -sake,—you would be on hand for any such matter. That's the sort of -foreign embassy that you would be after. All these old-fashioned goings -on would suit you to a T; but as to figuring in purple and fine linen, -in Paris or London, as American minister, you would make a dismal -business of it. But still, I thought you might practise law in a -wholesome, sensible way,—take fees, make pleas with abundance of -classical allusions, show off your scholarship, marry a rich wife, and -make your children princes in the gates—all without treading on the -toes of your too sensitive moral what-d'-ye-call-ems. But you've done -one thing like other folks, at least, if all 's true that I've heard."</p> - -<p>"And what is that, pray?"</p> - -<p>"What's that? Hear the fellow, now! How innocent we are! I suppose you -think I haven't heard of your campaign in New York—carrying off that -princess of little flirts, Miss Gordon."</p> - -<p>Clayton responded to the charge only with a slight shrug and a smile, in -which not only his lips but his eyes took part, while the color mounted -to his forehead.</p> - -<p>"Now, do you know, Clayton," continued Russel, "I <i>like</i> that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> Do you -know I always thought I should detest the woman that you should fall in -love with? It seemed to me that such a portentous combination of all the -virtues as you were planning for would be something like a comet—an -alarming spectacle. Do you remember (I should like to know, if you do) -just what that woman was to be?—was to have all the learning of a man, -all the graces of a woman (I think I have it by heart); she was to be -practical, poetical, pious, and everything else that begins with a <i>p</i>; -she was to be elegant and earnest; take deep and extensive views of -life; and there was to be a certain air about her, half Madonna, half -Venus, made of every creature's best. Ah, bless us! what poor creatures -we are! Here comes along our little coquette, flirting, tossing her fan; -picks you up like a great solid chip, as you are, and throws you into -her chip-basket of beaux, and goes on dancing and flirting as before. -Aren't you ashamed of it, now?"</p> - -<p>"No. I am really much like the minister in our town, where we fitted for -college, who married a pretty Polly Peters in his sixtieth year, and, -when the elders came to inquire if she had the requisite qualifications -for a pastor's lady, he told them that he didn't think she had. 'But the -fact is, brethren,' said he, 'though I don't pretend she is a saint, she -is a very pretty little sinner, <i>and I love her</i>.' That's just my case."</p> - -<p>"Very sensibly said; and, do you know, as I told you before, I'm -perfectly delighted with it, because it is acting like other folks. But -then, my dear fellow, do you think you have come to anything really -solid with this little Venus of the sea-foam? Isn't it much the same as -being engaged to a cloud, or a butterfly? One wants a little <i>streak</i> of -reality about a person that one must take for better or for worse. You -have a deep nature, Clayton. You really want a wife who will have some -glimmering perception of the difference between you and the other things -that walk and wear coats, and are called men."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, really," said Clayton, rousing himself, and speaking with -energy, "I'll tell you just what it is: Nina Gordon is a flirt and a -coquette—a spoiled child, if you will. She is not at all the person I -ever expected would obtain any power over me. She has no culture, no -reading, no habits of reflection; but she has, after all, a certain tone -and quality to her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> a certain '<i>timbre</i>,' as the French say of voices, -which suits me. There is about her a mixture of energy, individuality, -and shrewdness, which makes her, all uninformed as she is, more piquant -and attractive than any woman I ever fell in with. She never reads; it -is almost impossible to get her to read; but, if you can catch her ear -for five minutes, her literary judgments have a peculiar freshness and -truth. And so with her judgment on all other subjects, if you can stop -her long enough to give you an opinion. As to heart, I think she has yet -a wholly unawakened nature. She has lived only in the world of -sensation, and that is so abundant and so buoyant in her that the deeper -part still sleeps. It is only two or three times that I have seen a -flash of this under nature look from her eyes, and color her voice and -intonation. And I believe—I'm quite sure—that I am the only person in -the world that ever touched it at all. I'm not at all sure that she -loves me <i>now</i>; but I'm almost equally sure that she will."</p> - -<p>"They say," said Russel, carelessly, "that she is generally engaged to -two or three at a time."</p> - -<p>"That may be also," said Clayton, indolently. "I rather suspect it to be -the case now, but it gives me no concern. I've seen all the men by whom -she is surrounded, and I know perfectly well there's not one of them -that she cares a rush for."</p> - -<p>"Well, but, my dear fellow, how can your extra fastidious moral notions -stand the idea of her practising this system of deception?"</p> - -<p>"Why, of course, it isn't a thing to my taste; but then, like the old -parson, if I love the 'little sinner,' what am I to do? I suppose you -think it a lover's paradox; yet I assure you, though she deceives, she -is not deceitful; though she acts selfishly, she is not selfish. The -fact is, the child has grown up, <i>motherless</i> and an heiress, among -servants. She has, I believe, a sort of an aunt, or some such relative, -who nominally represents the head of the family to the eye of the world. -But I fancy little madam has had full sway. Then she has been to a -fashionable New York boarding-school, and that has developed the talent -of shirking lessons, and evading rules, with a taste for sidewalk -flirtation. These are all the attainments that I ever heard of being got -at a fashionable boarding-school, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>unless it be a hatred of books, and a -general dread of literary culture."</p> - -<p>"And her estates are"—</p> - -<p>"Nothing very considerable. Managed nominally by an old uncle of hers; -really by a very clever quadroon servant, who was left her by her -father, and who has received an education, and has talents very superior -to what are common to those in his class. He is, in fact, the overseer -of her plantation, and I believe the most loyal, devoted creature -breathing."</p> - -<p>"Clayton," said his companion, "this affair might not be much to one who -takes the world as I do, but for you it may be a little too serious. -Don't get in beyond your depth."</p> - -<p>"You are too late, Russel, for that—I <i>am</i> in."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, good luck to you, my dear fellow! And now, as we are about -it, I may as well tell you that I'm <i>in</i> for it, too. I suppose you have -heard of Miss Benoir, of Baltimore. Well, she is my fate."</p> - -<p>"And are you really engaged?"</p> - -<p>"All signed and sealed, and to be delivered next Christmas."</p> - -<p>"Let's hear about her."</p> - -<p>"Well, she is of a good height (I always said I shouldn't marry a short -woman),—not handsome, but reasonably well-looking—very fine -manners—knows the world—plays and sings handsomely—has a snug little -fortune. Now, you know I never held to marrying for money and nothing -else; but then, as I'm situated, I could not have fallen in love without -that requisite. Some people call this heartless. I don't think it is. If -I had met Mary Benoir, and had known that she hadn't anything, why, I -should have known that it wouldn't do for me at all to cultivate any -particular intimacy; but, knowing she had fortune, I looked a little -further, and found she had other things too. Now, if that's marrying for -money, so be it. Yours, Clayton, is a genuine case of falling in love. -But, as for me, I walked in with my eyes wide open."</p> - -<p>"And what are <i>you</i> going to do with yourself in the world, Russel?"</p> - -<p>"I must get into practice, and get some foothold there, you know; and -then, hey for Washington!—I'm to be president,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> like every other -adventurer in these United States. Why not I, as well as another man?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know, certainly," said Clayton, "if you want it, and are -willing to work hard enough and long enough, and pay all the price. I -would as soon spend my life walking the drawn sword which they say is -the bridge to Mahomet's paradise."</p> - -<p>"Ah! ah! I fancy I see you doing it! What a figure you'd make, my dear -fellow, balancing and posturing on the sword-blade, and making horrid -wry faces! Yet I know you'd be as comfortable there as you would in -political life. And yet, after all, you are greatly superior to me in -every respect. It would be a thousand pities if such a man as you -couldn't have the management of things. But our national ship has to be -navigated by second-rate fellows, Jerry-go-nimbles, like me, simply -because we are good in dodging and turning. But that's the way. Sharp's -the word, and the sharpest wins."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Clayton, "I shall never be what the <i>world</i> calls a -<i>successful</i> man. There seems to be one inscription written over every -passage of success in life, as far as I've seen,—'What shall it profit -a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?'"</p> - -<p>"I don't understand you, Clayton."</p> - -<p>"Why, it seems to me just this. As matters are going on now in our -country, I must either lower my standard of right and honor, and sear my -soul in all its nobler sensibilities, or I must be what the world calls -an unsuccessful man. There is no path in life, that I know of, where -humbuggery and fraud and deceit are not essential to success,—none -where a man can make the purity of his moral nature the first object. I -see Satan standing in every avenue, saying, 'All these things will I -give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.'"</p> - -<p>"Why don't you take to the ministry, then, Clayton, at once, and put up -a pulpit-cushion and big Bible between you and the fiery darts of the -devil?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I should meet him there, too. I could not gain a right to -speak in any pulpit without some profession or pledge to speak this or -that, that would be a snare to my conscience by and by. At the door of -every pulpit I must swear always to find truth in a certain formula; and -living, prosperity, success,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> reputation, will all be pledged on my -finding it there. I tell you I should, if I followed my own conscience, -preach myself out of pulpits quicker than I should plead out at the -bar."</p> - -<p>"Lord help you, Clayton! What <i>will</i> you do? Will you settle down on -your plantation, and raise cotton and sell niggers? I'm expecting to -hear, every minute, that you've subscribed for the 'Liberator,' and are -going to turn Abolitionist."</p> - -<p>"I do mean to settle down on my plantation, but not to <i>raise</i> cotton or -negroes as a chief end of man. I do take the 'Liberator,' because I'm a -free man, and have a right to take what I have a mind to. I don't agree -with Garrison, because I think I know more about the matter, where I -stand, than he does, or can, where he stands. But it's his <i>right</i>, as -an honest man, to say what he thinks; and I should use it in his place. -If I saw things as he does, I <i>should</i> be an Abolitionist. But I don't."</p> - -<p>"That's a mercy, at least," said Russel, "to a man with your taste for -martyrdom. But what are you going to do?"</p> - -<p>"What any Christian man should do who finds four hundred odd of his -fellow men and women placed in a state of absolute dependence on him. -I'm going to educate and fit them for freedom. There isn't a sublimer -power on earth than God has given to us, masters. The law gives us -absolute and unlimited control. A plantation such as a plantation might -be would be 'a light to lighten the Gentiles.' There is a wonderful and -beautiful development locked up in this Ethiopian race, and it is worth -being a life-object to unlock it. The raising of cotton is to be the -least of the thing. I regard my plantation as a sphere for raising <i>men -and women</i>, and demonstrating the capabilities of a race."</p> - -<p>"Selah!" said Russel.</p> - -<p>Clayton looked angry.</p> - -<p>"I beg your pardon, Clayton. This is all superb, sublime! There is just -one objection to it—it is wholly impossible."</p> - -<p>"Every good and great thing has been called impossible before it is -done."</p> - -<p>"Well, let me tell you, Clayton, just how it will be. You will be a mark -for arrows, both sides. You will offend all your neighbors by doing -better than they do. You will bring your negroes up to a point in which -they will meet the current of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> the whole community against them, and -meanwhile you will get no credit with the Abolitionists. They will call -you a cutthroat, pirate, sheep-stealer, and all the rest of their -elegant little list of embellishments, all the same. You'll get a state -of things that nobody can manage but yourself, and you by the hardest; -and then you'll die, and it'll all run to the devil faster than you run -it up. Now, if you would do the thing by halves, it wouldn't be so bad; -but I know you of old. You won't be satisfied with teaching a catechism -and a few hymns, parrot-wise, which I think is a respectable religious -amusement for our women. You'll teach 'em all to read, and write, and -think, and speak. I shouldn't wonder to hear of an importation of -black-boards and spelling-books. You'll want a lyceum and debating -society. Pray, what does sister Anne say to all this? Anne is a sensible -girl now, but I'll warrant you've got her to go in for it."</p> - -<p>"Anne is as much interested as I, but her practical tact is greater than -mine, and she is of use in detecting difficulties that I do not see. I -have an excellent man, who enters fully into my views, who takes charge -of the business interests of the plantation, instead of one of these -scoundrel overseers. There is to be a graduated system of work and wages -introduced—a system that shall teach the nature and rights of property -and train to habits of industry and frugality, by making every man's -acquirements equal to his industry and good conduct."</p> - -<p>"And what sort of a support do <i>you</i> expect to make out of all this? Are -you going to live for them, or they for you?"</p> - -<p>"I shall set them the example of living for <i>them</i>, and trust to awaken -the good that is in them, in return. The strong ought to live for the -weak—the cultivated for the ignorant."</p> - -<p>"Well, Clayton, the Lord help you! I'm in earnest now—fact! Though I -know you won't do it, yet I wish you could. It's a pity, Clayton, you -were born in this world. It isn't you, but our planet and planetary -ways, that are in fault. Your mind is a splendid storehouse—gold and -gems of Ophir—but they are all up in the fifth story, and no staircase -to get 'em down into common life. Now I've just enough appreciation of -the sort of thing that's in you, not to laugh at you. Nine out of ten -would. To tell you the truth, if I were already set up in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> life, and had -as definite a position as you have,—family, friends, influence, and -means,—why, perhaps I might afford to cultivate this style of thing. -But I tell you what it is, Clayton, such a conscience as yours is -cursedly expensive to keep. It's like a carriage—a fellow mustn't set -it up unless he can afford it. It's one of the luxuries."</p> - -<p>"It's a <i>necessary</i> of life, with me," said Clayton, dryly.</p> - -<p>"Well, that's your nature. I can't afford it. I've got my way to make. -<i>I must succeed</i>, and with your ultra notions I couldn't succeed. So -there it is. After all, I can be as religious as dozens of your most -respectable men, who have taken their seats in the night-train for -Paradise, and keep the daylight for their own business."</p> - -<p>"I dare say you can."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and I shall get all I aim at; and you, Clayton, will be always an -unhappy, dissatisfied aspirant after something too high for mortality. -There's just the difference between us."</p> - -<p>The conversation was here interrupted by the return of the family party.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER III.</span> <span class="smaller">THE CLAYTON FAMILY AND SISTER ANNE.</span></h2> - -<p>The family party, which was now ushered in, consisted of Clayton's -father, mother, and sister. Judge Clayton was a tall, dignified, elderly -personage, in whom one recognized, at a glance, the gentleman of the old -school. His hair, snowy white, formed a singular contrast with the -brightness of his blue eyes, whose peculiar acuteness of glance might -remind one of a falcon. There was something stately in the position of -the head and the carriage of the figure, and a punctilious exactness in -the whole air and manner, that gave one a slight impression of -sternness. The clear, sharp blue of his eye seemed to be that of a calm -and decided intellect, of a logical severity of thought; and contrasted -with the silvery hair with that same expression of cold beauty that is -given by the contrast of snow mountains cutting into the keen, metallic -blue of an Alpine sky. One should apprehend much to fear from such a -man's reason—little to hope from any outburst of his emotional nature. -Yet, as a man, perhaps injustice was done to Judge Clayton by this first -impression; for there was, deep beneath this external coldness, a -severely-repressed nature, of the most fiery and passionate vehemence. -His family affections were strong and tender, seldom manifested in -words, but always by the most exact appreciation and consideration for -all who came within his sphere. He was strictly and impartially just in -all the little minutiæ of social and domestic life, never hesitating to -speak a truth or acknowledge an error.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Clayton was a high-bred, elderly lady, whose well-preserved -delicacy of complexion, brilliant dark eyes, and fine figure, spoke of a -youth of beauty. Of a nature imaginative, impulsive, and ardent, -inclining constantly to generous extremes, she had thrown herself with -passionate devotion round her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>clear-judging husband, as the Alpine rose -girdles with beauty the breast of the bright, pure glacier.</p> - -<p>Between Clayton and his father there existed an affection deep and -entire; yet, as the son developed to manhood, it became increasingly -evident that they could never move harmoniously in the same practical -orbit. The nature of the son was so veined and crossed with that of the -mother, that the father, in attempting the age-long and often-tried -experiment of making his child an exact copy of himself, found himself -extremely puzzled and confused in the operation. Clayton was ideal to an -excess; ideality colored every faculty of his mind, and swayed all his -reasonings, as an unseen magnet will swerve the needle. Ideality -pervaded his conscientiousness, urging him always to rise above the -commonly-received and so-called practical in morals. Hence, while he -worshipped the theory of law, the practice filled him with disgust; and -his father was obliged constantly to point out deficiencies in -reasonings, founded more on a keen appreciation of what things ought to -be, than on a practical regard to what they are. Nevertheless, Clayton -partook enough of his father's strong and steady nature to be his -mother's idol, who, perhaps, loved this second rendering of the parental -nature with even more doting tenderness than the first.</p> - -<p>Anne Clayton was the eldest of three sisters, and the special companion -and confidant of the brother; and, as she stands there untying her -bonnet-strings, we must also present her to the reader. She is a little -above the medium height, with that breadth and full development of chest -which one admires in English women. She carries her well-formed head on -her graceful shoulders with a positive, decided air, only a little on -this side of haughtiness. Her clear brown complexion reddens into a fine -glow in the cheek, giving one the impression of sound, perfect health. -The positive outline of the small aquiline nose; the large, frank, -well-formed mouth, with its clear rows of shining teeth; the brown eyes, -which have caught something of the falcon keenness of the father, are -points in the picture by no means to be overlooked. Taking her air -altogether, there was an honest frankness about her which encouraged -conversation, and put one instantly at ease. Yet no man in his senses -could ever venture to take the slightest liberty with Anne<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> Clayton. -With all her frankness, there was ever in her manner a perfectly-defined -"thus far shalt thou come, and no further." Beaux, suitors, lovers in -abundance, had stood, knelt, and sighed protesting, at her shrine. Yet -Anne Clayton was twenty-seven, and unmarried. Everybody wondered why; -and as to that, we can only wonder with the rest. Her own account of the -matter was simple and positive. She did not wish to marry—was happy -enough without.</p> - -<p>The intimacy between the brother and sister had been more than usually -strong, notwithstanding marked differences of character; for Anne had -not a particle of ideality. Sense she had, shrewdness, and a pleasant -dash of humor withal; but she was eminently what people call a practical -girl. She admired highly the contrary of all this in her brother; she -delighted in the poetic-heroic element in him, for much the same reason -that young ladies used to admire Thaddeus of Warsaw and William -Wallace—because it was something quite out of her line. In the whole -world of ideas she had an almost idolatrous veneration for her brother; -in the sphere of practical operations she felt free to assert, with a -certain good-natured positiveness, her own superiority. There was no one -in the world, perhaps, of whose judgment in this respect Clayton stood -more in awe.</p> - -<p>At the present juncture of affairs Clayton felt himself rather awkwardly -embarrassed in communicating to her an event which she would immediately -feel she had a right to know before. A sister of Anne Clayton's positive -character does not usually live twenty-seven years in constant intimacy -with a brother like Clayton, without such an attachment as renders the -first announcement of a contemplated marriage somewhat painful. Why, -then, had Clayton, who always unreservedly corresponded with his sister, -not kept her apprised of his gradual attachment to Nina? The secret of -the matter was, that he had had an instinctive consciousness that he -could not present Nina to the practical, clear-judging mind of his -sister, as she appeared through the mist and spray of his imaginative -nature. The hard facts of her case would be sure to tell against her in -any communication he might make; and sensitive people never like the -fatigue of justifying their instincts. Nothing, in fact, is less capable -of being justified by technical reasons than those fine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>insights into -character whereupon affection is built. We have all had experience of -preferences which would not follow the most exactly ascertained -catalogue of virtues, and would be made captive where there was very -little to be said in justification of the captivity.</p> - -<p>But, meanwhile, rumor, always busy, had not failed to convey to Anne -Clayton some suspicions of what was passing; and, though her delicacy -and pride forbade any allusion to it, she keenly felt the want of -confidence, and of course was not any more charitably disposed towards -the little rival for this reason. But now the matter had attained such a -shape in Clayton's mind that he felt the necessity of apprising his -family and friends. With his mother the task was made easier by the -abundant hopefulness of her nature, which enabled her in a moment to -throw herself into the sympathies of those she loved. To her had been -deputed the office of first breaking the tidings to Anne, and she had -accomplished it during the pleasure-party of the morning.</p> - -<p>The first glance that passed between Clayton and his sister, as she -entered the room, on her return from the party, showed him that she was -discomposed and unhappy. She did not remain long in the apartment, or -seem disposed to join in conversation; and, after a few abstracted -moments, she passed through the open door into the garden, and began to -busy herself apparently among her plants. Clayton followed her. He came -and stood silently beside her for some time, watching her as she picked -the dead leaves off her geranium.</p> - -<p>"Mother has told you," he said, at length.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Anne.</p> - -<p>There was a long pause, and Anne picked off dry leaves and green -promiscuously, threatening to demolish the bush.</p> - -<p>"Anne," said Clayton, "how I wish you could see her!"</p> - -<p>"I've <i>heard</i> of her," replied Anne, dryly, "through the Livingstons."</p> - -<p>"And what have you heard?" said Clayton, eagerly.</p> - -<p>"Not such things as I could wish, Edward; not such as I expected to hear -of the lady that you would choose."</p> - -<p>"And, pray, what <i>have</i> you heard? Out with it," said Clayton,—"let's -know what the world says of her."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>"Well, the world says," said Anne, "that she is a coquette, a flirt, a -jilt. From all I've heard, I should think she must be an unprincipled -girl."</p> - -<p>"That is hard language, Anne."</p> - -<p>"Truth is generally hard," replied Anne.</p> - -<p>"My dear sister," said Clayton, taking her hand, and seating her on the -seat in the garden, "have you lost all faith in me?"</p> - -<p>"I think it would be nearer truth," replied Anne, "to say that <i>you</i> had -lost all faith in <i>me</i>. Why am I the last one to know all this? Why am I -to hear it first from reports, and every way but from you? Would I have -treated you so? Did I ever have anything that I did not tell you? Down -to my very soul I've always told you everything!"</p> - -<p>"This is true, I own, dear Anne; but what if you had loved some man that -you felt sure I should not like? Now, you are a positive person, Anne, -and this might happen. Would you want to tell me at once? Would you not, -perhaps, wait, and hesitate, and put off, for one reason or another, -from day to day, and find it grow more and more difficult, the longer -you waited?"</p> - -<p>"I can't tell," said Anne, bitterly. "I never did love any one better -than you,—that's the trouble."</p> - -<p>"Neither do I love anybody <i>better</i> than you, Anne. The love I have for -you is a whole, perfect thing, just as it was. See if you do not find me -every way as devoted. My heart was only opened to take in another love, -another wholly different; and which, because it is so wholly different, -never can infringe on the love I bear to you. And, Anne, my dear sister, -if you could love her as a part of me"—</p> - -<p>"I wish I could," said Anne, somewhat softened; "but what I've heard has -been so unfavorable! She is not, in the least, the person I should have -expected you to fancy, Edward. Of all things I despise a woman who -trifles with the affections of gentlemen."</p> - -<p>"Well, but, my dear, Nina isn't a woman; she is a <i>child</i>—a gay, -beautiful, unformed child; and I'm sure you may apply to her what Pope -says:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'If to her share some female errors fall,</div> -<div>Look in her face, and you forget them all.'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, indeed," said Anne, "I believe all you men are alike—a pretty -face bewitches any of you. I thought you were an exception, Edward; but -there you are."</p> - -<p>"But, Anne, is this the way to encourage my confidence? Suppose I am -bewitched and enchanted, you cannot disentangle me without indulgence. -Say what you will about it, the <i>fact</i> is just this—it is my fate to -love this child. I've tried to love many women before. I have seen many -whom I knew no sort of reason why I shouldn't love,—handsomer far, more -cultivated, more accomplished,—and yet I've seen them without a -movement or a flutter of the pulse. But this girl has awakened all there -is to me. I do not see in her what the world sees. I see the ideal image -of what she can be, what I'm sure she <i>will</i> be, when her nature is -fully awakened and developed."</p> - -<p>"Just there, Edward—just that," said Anne. "You never see anything; -that is, you see a glorified image—a something that might, could, -would, or should be—that is your difficulty. You glorify an ordinary -boarding-school coquette into something symbolic, sublime; you clothe -her with all your own ideas, and then fall down to worship her."</p> - -<p>"Well, my dear Anne, suppose it were so, what then? I am, as you say, -ideal,—you, real. Well, be it so; I must act according to what is in -me. I have a right to my nature, you to yours. But it is not every -person whom I <i>can</i> idealize: and I suspect this is the great reason why -I never could love some very fine women, with whom I have associated on -intimate terms; they had no capacity of being idealized; they could -receive no color from my fancy; they wanted, in short, just what Nina -has. She is just like one of those little whisking, chattering cascades -in the White Mountains, and the atmosphere round her is favorable to -rainbows."</p> - -<p>"And you always see her through them."</p> - -<p>"Even so, sister; but some people I cannot. Why should you find fault -with me? It's a pleasant thing to look through a rainbow. Why should you -seek to disenchant, if I <i>can</i> be enchanted?"</p> - -<p>"Why," replied Anne, "you remember the man who took his pay of the -fairies in gold and diamonds, and, after he had passed a certain brook, -found it all turned to slate-stones. Now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> marriage is like that brook: -many a poor fellow finds his diamonds turned to slate on the other side; -and this is why I put in my plain, hard common sense, against your -visions. I see the plain facts about this young girl; that she is an -acknowledged flirt, a noted coquette and jilt; and a woman who is so is -necessarily heartless; and you are too good, Edward, too noble, I have -loved you too long, to be willing to give you up to <i>such</i> a woman."</p> - -<p>"There, my dear Anne, there are at least a dozen points in that sentence -to which I don't agree. In the first place, as to coquetry, it isn't the -unpardonable sin in my eyes—that is, under some circumstances."</p> - -<p>"That is, you mean, when Nina Gordon is the coquette?"</p> - -<p>"No, I don't mean that. But the fact is, Anne, there is so little of -true sincerity, so little real benevolence and charity, in the common -intercourse of young gentlemen and ladies in society, and our sex, who -ought to set the example, are so selfish and unprincipled in their ways -of treating women, that I do not wonder that, now and then, a lively -girl, who has the power, avenges her sex by playing off <i>our</i> weak -points. Now, I don't think Nina capable of trifling with a real, deep, -unselfish attachment—a love which sought her good, and was willing to -sacrifice itself for her; but I don't believe any such has ever been put -at her disposal. There's a great difference between a man's wanting a -woman to <i>love him</i>, and loving her. Wanting to appropriate a woman as a -wife does not, of course, imply that a man loves her, or that he is -capable of loving anything. All these things girls <i>feel</i>, because their -instincts are quick; and they are often accused of trifling with a man's -heart, when they only see through him, and know he hasn't any. Besides, -love of power has always been considered a respectable sin in us men; -and why should we denounce a woman for loving her kind of power?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, Edward, there isn't anything in the world that you cannot -theorize into beauty. But I don't like coquettes, for all that; and, -then, I'm told Nina Gordon is so very odd, and says and does such very -extraordinary things, sometimes."</p> - -<p>"Well, perhaps that charms me the more. In this conventional world, -where women are all rubbed into one uniform <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>surface, like coins in -one's pocket, it's a pleasure now and then to find one who can't be made -to do and think like all the rest. You have a little dash of this merit, -yourself, Anne; but you must consider that you have been brought up with -mamma, under her influence, trained and guided every hour, even more -than you knew. Nina has grown up an heiress among servants, a -boarding-school girl in New York; and, furthermore, you are twenty-seven -and she is eighteen, and a great deal may be learned between eighteen -and twenty-seven."</p> - -<p>"But, brother, you remember Miss Hannah More says,—or some of those -good women, I forget who: at any rate it's a sensible saying,—'that a -man who chooses his wife as he would a picture in a public -exhibition-room should remember that there is this difference, that the -picture cannot go back to the exhibition, but the woman may.' You have -chosen her from seeing her brilliancy in society; but, after all, can -you make her happy in the dull routine of a commonplace life? Is she not -one of the sort that must have a constant round of company and -excitement to keep her in spirits?"</p> - -<p>"I think not," said Clayton. "I think she is one of those whose vitality -is in herself, and one whose freshness and originality will keep life -anywhere from being commonplace; and that, living with us, she will -sympathize, naturally, in all our pursuits."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, don't flatter yourself, brother, that you can make this girl -over, and bring her to any of your standards."</p> - -<p>"Who—I? Did you think I meditated such an impertinence? The last thing -I should try, to marry a wife to educate her! It's generally one of the -most selfish tricks of our sex. Besides, I don't want a wife who will be -a mere mirror of my opinions and sentiments. I don't want an innocent -sheet of blotting-paper, meekly sucking up all I say, and giving a -little fainter impression of my ideas. I want a wife for an alternative; -all the vivacities of life lie in differences."</p> - -<p>"Why, surely," said Anne, "one wants one's friends to be congenial, I -should think."</p> - -<p>"So we do; and there is nothing in the world so congenial as -differences. To be sure, the differences must be harmonious. In music, -now, for instance, one doesn't want a repetition of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> same notes, but -differing notes that chord. Nay, even discords are indispensable to -complete harmony. Now, Nina has just that difference from me which -chords with me; and all our little quarrels—for we have had a good -many, and I dare say shall have more—are only a sort of chromatic -passages,—discords of the seventh, leading into harmony. My life is -inward, theorizing, self-absorbed. I am hypochondriac—often morbid. The -vivacity and acuteness of her outer life makes her just what I need. She -wakens, she rouses, and keeps me in play; and her quick instincts are -often more than a match for my reason. I reverence the child, then, in -spite of her faults. She has taught me many things."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, laughing, "I give you up, if it comes to that. If you -come to talk about reverencing Nina Gordon, I see it's all over with -you, Edward, and I'll be good-natured, and make the best of it. I hope -it may all be true that you think, and a great deal more. At all events, -no effort of mine shall be wanting to make you as happy in your new -relation as you ought to be."</p> - -<p>"There, now, that's Anne Clayton! It's just like <i>you</i>, sister, and I -couldn't say anything better than that. You have unburdened your -conscience, you have done all you can for me, and now very properly -yield to the inevitation. Nina, I know, will love you; and, if you never -<i>try</i> to advise her and influence her, you will influence her very much. -Good people are a long while learning <i>that</i>, Anne. They think to do -good to others, by interfering and advising. They don't know that all -they have to do is to live. When I first knew Nina, I was silly enough -to try my hand that way, myself; but I've learned better. Now, when Nina -comes to us, all that you and mamma have got to do is just to be kind to -her, and <i>live</i> as you always have lived; and whatever needs to be -altered in her, she will alter herself."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, "I wish, as it is so, that I could see her."</p> - -<p>"Suppose you write a few lines to her in this letter that I am going to -write; and then that will lead in due time to a visit."</p> - -<p>"Anything in the world, Edward, that you say."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER IV.</span> <span class="smaller">THE GORDON FAMILY.</span></h2> - -<p>A week or two had passed over the head of Nina Gordon since she was -first introduced to our readers, and during this time she had become -familiar with the details of her home life. Nominally, she stood at the -head of her plantation, as mistress and queen in her own right of all, -both in doors and out; but, really, she found herself, by her own youth -and inexperience, her ignorance of practical details, very much in the -hands of those she professed to govern.</p> - -<p>The duties of a southern housekeeper, on a plantation, are onerous -beyond any amount of northern conception. Every article wanted for daily -consumption must be kept under lock and key, and doled out as need -arises. For the most part, the servants are only grown-up children, -without consideration, forethought, or self-control, quarrelling with -each other, and divided into parties and factions, hopeless of any -reasonable control. Every article of wear, for some hundreds of people, -must be thought of, purchased, cut and made, under the direction of the -mistress; and add to this the care of young children, whose childish -mothers are totally unfit to govern or care for them, and we have some -slight idea of what devolves on southern housekeepers.</p> - -<p>Our reader has seen what Nina was on her return from New York, and can -easily imagine that she had no idea of embracing, in good earnest, the -hard duties of such a life.</p> - -<p>In fact, since the death of Nina's mother, the situation of the mistress -of the family had been only nominally filled by her aunt, Mrs. Nesbit. -The real housekeeper, in fact, was an old mulatto woman, named Katy, who -had been trained by Nina's mother. Notwithstanding the general -inefficiency and childishness of negro servants, there often are to be -found among them those of great practical ability. Whenever owners, -through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>necessity or from tact, select such servants, and subject them -to the kind of training and responsibility which belongs to a state of -freedom, the same qualities are developed which exist in free society. -Nina's mother, being always in delicate health, had, from necessity, -been obliged to commit much responsibility to "Aunt Katy," as she was -called; and she had grown up under the discipline into a very efficient -housekeeper. With her tall red turban, her jingling bunch of keys, and -an abundant sense of the importance of her office, she was a dignitary -not lightly to be disregarded.</p> - -<p>It is true that she professed the utmost deference for her young -mistress, and very generally passed the compliment of inquiring what she -would have done; but it was pretty generally understood that her assent -to Aunt Katy's propositions was considered as much a matter of course as -the queen's to a ministerial recommendation. Indeed, had Nina chosen to -demur, her prime minister had the power, without departing in the -slightest degree from a respectful bearing, to involve her in labyrinths -of perplexity without end. And as Nina hated trouble, and wanted, above -all things, to have her time to herself for her own amusement, she -wisely concluded not to interfere with Aunt Katy's reign, and to get by -persuasion and coaxing, what the old body would have been far too -consequential and opinionated to give to authority.</p> - -<p>In like manner, at the head of all out-door affairs was the young -quadroon, Harry, whom we introduced in the first chapter. In order to -come fully at the relation in which he stood to the estate, we must, -after the fashion of historians generally, go back a hundred years or -so, in order to give our readers a fair start. Behold us, therefore, -assuming historic dignity, as follows.</p> - -<p>Among the first emigrants to Virginia, in its colonial days, was one -Thomas Gordon, Knight, a distant offshoot of the noble Gordon family, -renowned in Scottish history. Being a gentleman of some considerable -energy, and impatient of the narrow limits of the Old World, where he -found little opportunity to obtain that wealth which was necessary to -meet the demands of his family pride, he struck off for himself into -Virginia. Naturally of an adventurous turn, he was one of the first to -propose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> the enterprise which afterwards resulted in a settlement on the -banks of the Chowan River, in North Carolina. Here he took up for -himself a large tract of the finest alluvial land, and set himself to -the business of planting, with the energy and skill characteristic of -his nation; and, as the soil was new and fertile, he soon received a -very munificent return for his enterprise. Inspired with remembrances of -old ancestral renown, the Gordon family transmitted in their descent all -the traditions, feelings, and habits, which were the growth of the -aristocratic caste from which they sprung. The name of Canema, given to -the estate, came from an Indian guide and interpreter, who accompanied -the first Colonel Gordon as confidential servant.</p> - -<p>The estate, being entailed, passed down through the colonial times -unbroken in the family, whose wealth, for some years, seemed to increase -with every generation.</p> - -<p>The family mansion was one of those fond reproductions of the -architectural style of the landed gentry in England, in which, as far as -their means could compass it, the planters were fond of indulging.</p> - -<p>Carpenters and carvers had been brought over, at great expense, from the -old country, to give the fruits of their skill in its erection; and it -was a fancy of the ancestor who built it, to display, in its wood-work, -that exuberance of new and rare woods with which the American continent -was supposed to abound. He had made an adventurous voyage into South -America, and brought from thence specimens of those materials more -brilliant than rose-wood, and hard as ebony, which grow so profusely on -the banks of the Amazon that the natives use them for timber. The floor -of the central hall of the house was a curiously-inlaid parquet of these -brilliant materials, arranged in fine block-work, highly polished.</p> - -<p>The outside of the house was built in the old Virginian fashion, with -two tiers of balconies running completely round, as being much better -suited to the American climate than any of European mode. The inside, -however, was decorated with sculpture and carvings, copied, many of -them, from ancestral residences in Scotland, giving to the mansion an -air of premature antiquity.</p> - -<p>Here, for two or three generations, the Gordon family had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> lived in -opulence. During the time, however, of Nina's father, and still more -after his death, there appeared evidently on the place signs of that -gradual decay which has conducted many an old Virginian family to -poverty and ruin. Slave labor, of all others the most worthless and -profitless, had exhausted the first vigor of the soil, and the -proprietors gradually degenerated from those habits of energy which were -called forth by the necessities of the first settlers, and everything -proceeded with that free-and-easy abandon, in which both master and -slave appeared to have one common object,—that of proving who should -waste with most freedom.</p> - -<p>At Colonel Gordon's death, he had bequeathed, as we have already shown, -the whole family estate to his daughter, under the care of a servant, of -whose uncommon intelligence and thorough devotion of heart he had the -most ample proof. When it is reflected that the overseers are generally -taken from a class of whites who are often lower in ignorance and -barbarism than even the slaves, and that their wastefulness and rapacity -are a by-word among the planters, it is no wonder that Colonel Gordon -thought that, in leaving his plantation under the care of one so -energetic, competent, and faithful, as Harry, he had made the best -possible provision for his daughter.</p> - -<p>Harry was the son of his master, and inherited much of the temper and -constitution of his father, tempered by the soft and genial temperament -of the beautiful Eboe mulattress, who was his mother. From this -circumstance Harry had received advantages of education very superior to -what commonly fell to the lot of his class. He had also accompanied his -master as valet during the tour of Europe, and thus his opportunities of -general observation had been still further enlarged, and that tact, by -which those of the mixed blood seem so peculiarly fitted to appreciate -all the finer aspects of conventional life had been called out and -exercised; so that it would be difficult in any circle to meet with a -more agreeable and gentlemanly person. In leaving a man of this -character, and his own son, still in the bonds of slavery, Colonel -Gordon was influenced by that passionate devotion to his daughter which -with him overpowered every consideration. A man so cultivated, he argued -to himself, might find many avenues opened to him in freedom; might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> be -tempted to leave the estate to other hands, and seek his own fortune. He -therefore resolved to leave him bound by an indissoluble tie for a term -of years, trusting to his attachment to Nina to make this service -tolerable.</p> - -<p>Possessed of very uncommon judgment, firmness, and knowledge of human -nature, Harry had found means to acquire great ascendency over the hands -of the plantation, and, either through fear or through friendship, there -was a universal subordination to him. The executors of the estate -scarcely made even a feint of overseeing him; and he proceeded, to all -intents and purposes, with the perfect ease of a free man. Everybody, -for miles around, knew and respected him; and, had he not been possessed -of a good share of the thoughtful, forecasting temperament derived from -his Scottish parentage, he might have been completely happy, and -forgotten even the existence of the chains whose weight he never felt.</p> - -<p>It was only in the presence of Tom Gordon—Colonel Gordon's lawful -son—that he ever realized that he was a slave. From childhood, there -had been a rooted enmity between the brothers, which deepened as years -passed on; and, as he found himself, on every return of the young man to -the place, subjected to taunts and ill-usage, to which his defenceless -position left him no power to reply, he had resolved never to marry, and -lay the foundation for a family, until such time as he should be able to -have the command of his own destiny, and that of his household. But the -charms of a pretty French quadroon overcame the dictates of prudence.</p> - -<p>The history of Tom Gordon is the history of many a young man grown up -under the institutions and in the state of society which formed him. -Nature had endowed him with no mean share of talent, and with that -perilous quickness of nervous organization, which, like fire, is a good -servant, but a bad master. Out of those elements, with due training, -might have been formed an efficient and eloquent public man; but, -brought up from childhood among servants to whom his infant will was -law, indulged during the period of infantile beauty and grace in the -full expression of every whim, growing into boyhood among slaves with -but the average amount of plantation morality, his passions developed at -a fearfully early time of life; and, before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> his father thought of -seizing the reins of authority, they had gone out of his hands forever. -Tutor after tutor was employed on the plantation to instruct him, and -left, terrified by his temper. The secluded nature of the plantation -left him without that healthful stimulus of society which is often a -help in enabling a boy to come to the knowledge and control of himself. -His associates were either the slaves, or the overseers, who are -generally unprincipled and artful, or the surrounding whites, who lay in -a yet lower deep of degradation. For one reason or another, it was for -the interest of all these to flatter his vices and covertly to assist -him in opposing and deceiving his parents. Thus an early age saw him an -adept in every low form of vice. In despair, he was at length sent to an -academy at the North, where he commenced his career on the first day by -striking the teacher in the face, and was consequently expelled. Thence -he went to another, where, learning caution from experience, he was -enabled to maintain his foothold. There he was a successful colporteur -and missionary in the way of introducing a knowledge of bowie-knives, -revolvers, and vicious literature. Artful, bold, and daring, his -residence for a year at a school was sufficient to initiate in the way -of ruin perhaps one fourth of the boys. He was handsome, and, when not -provoked, good-natured, and had that off-hand way of spending money -which passes among boys for generosity. The simple sons of hard-working -farmers, bred in habits of industry and frugality, were dazzled and -astonished by the freedom with which he talked, and drank, and spit, and -swore. He was a hero in their eye, and they began to wonder at the -number of things, to them unknown before, which went to make up the -necessaries of life. From school he was transferred to college, and -there placed under the care of a professor, who was paid an exorbitant -sum for overlooking his affairs. The consequence was, that while many a -northern boy, whose father could not afford to pay for similar -patronage, was disciplined, rusticated, or expelled, as the case might -be, Tom Gordon exploited gloriously through college, getting drunk every -week or two, breaking windows, smoking freshmen, heading various sprees -in different parts of the country, and at last graduating nobody knew -how, except the patron professor, who received an extra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> sum for the -extra difficulties of the case. Returned home, he went into a lawyer's -office in Raleigh, where, by a pleasant fiction, he was said to be -reading law, because he was occasionally seen at the office during the -intervals of his more serious avocations of gambling, and horse-racing, -and drinking. His father, an affectionate but passionate man, was wholly -unable to control him, and the conflicts between them often shook the -whole domestic fabric. Nevertheless, to the last Colonel Gordon indulged -the old hope for such cases made and provided, that Tom would get -through sowing his wild oats, some time, and settle down and be a -respectable man; in which hope he left him the half of his property. -Since that time, Tom seemed to have studied on no subject except how to -accelerate the growth of those wings which riches are said to be -inclined to take, under the most favorable circumstances.</p> - -<p>As often happens in such cases of utter ruin, Tom Gordon was a much -worse character for all the elements of good which he possessed. He had -sufficient perception of right, and sufficient conscience remaining, to -make him bitter and uncomfortable. In proportion as he knew himself -unworthy of his father's affection and trust, he became jealous and -angry at any indications of the want of it. He had contracted a settled -ill-will to his sister, for no other apparent reason except that the -father took a comfort in her which he did not in him. From childhood, it -was his habit to vex and annoy her in every possible way; and it was for -this reason, among many others, that Harry had persuaded Mr. John -Gordon, Nina's uncle and guardian, to place her at the New York -boarding-school, where she acquired what is termed an education. After -finishing her school career, she had been spending a few months in a -family of a cousin of her mother's, and running with loose rein the -career of fashionable gayety.</p> - -<p>Luckily, she brought home with her unspoiled a genuine love of nature, -which made the rural habits of plantation life agreeable to her. -Neighbors there were few. Her uncle's plantation, five miles distant, -was the nearest. Other families with whom the Gordons were in the habit -of exchanging occasional visits were some ten or fifteen miles distant. -It was Nina's delight, however, in her muslin wrapper and straw hat, to -patter about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> over the plantation, to chat with the negroes among their -cabins, amusing herself with the various drolleries and peculiarities to -which long absence had given the zest of novelty. Then she would call -for her pony, and, attended by Harry, or some of her servants, would -career through the woods, gathering the wild-flowers with which they -abound; perhaps stop for a day at her uncle's, have a chat and a romp -with him, and return the next morning.</p> - -<p>In the comparative solitude of her present life her mind began to clear -itself of some former follies, as water when at rest deposits the -sediment which clouded it. Apart from the crowd, and the world of -gayeties which had dizzied her, she could not help admitting to herself -the folly of much she had been doing. Something, doubtless, was added to -this by the letters of Clayton. The tone of them, so manly and sincere, -so respectful and kind, so removed either from adulation or -sentimentalism, had an effect upon her greater than she was herself -aware of. So Nina, in her positive and off-hand way, sat down, one day, -and wrote farewell letters to both her other lovers, and felt herself -quite relieved by the process.</p> - -<p>A young person could scarce stand more entirely alone, as to sympathetic -intercourse with relations, than Nina. It is true that the presence of -her mother's sister in the family caused it to be said that she was -residing under the care of an aunt.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nesbit, however, was simply one of those well-bred, well-dressed -lay-figures, whose only office in life seems to be to occupy a certain -room in a house, to sit in certain chairs at proper hours, to make -certain remarks at suitable intervals of conversation. In her youth this -lady had run quite a career as a belle and beauty. Nature had endowed -her with a handsome face and figure, and youth and the pleasure of -admiration for some years supplied a sufficient flow of animal spirits -to make the beauty effective. Early married, she became the mother of -several children, who were one by one swept into the grave. The death of -her husband, last of all, left her with a very small fortune alone in -the world; and, like many in similar circumstances, she was content to -sink into an appendage to another's family.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nesbit considered herself very religious; and, as there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> is a great -deal that passes for religion, ordinarily, of which she may be fairly -considered a representative, we will present our readers with a -philosophical analysis of the article. When young, she had thought only -of self in the form of admiration, and the indulgence of her animal -spirits. When married, she had thought of self only in her husband and -children, whom she loved because they were <i>hers</i>, and for no other -reason.</p> - -<p>When death swept away her domestic circle, and time stole the beauty and -freshness of animal spirits, her self-love took another form; and, -perceiving that this world was becoming to her somewhat <i>passé</i>, she -determined to make the best of her chance for another.</p> - -<p>Religion she looked upon in the light of a ticket, which, being once -purchased, and snugly laid away in a pocket-book, is to be produced at -the celestial gate, and thus secure admission to heaven.</p> - -<p>At a certain period of her life, while she deemed this ticket -unpurchased, she was extremely low-spirited and gloomy, and went through -a quantity of theological reading enough to have astonished herself, had -she foreseen it in the days of her belleship. As the result of all, she -at last presented herself as a candidate for admission to a Presbyterian -church in the vicinity, there professing her determination to run the -Christian race. By the Christian race, she understood going at certain -stated times to religious meetings, reading the Bible and hymn-book at -certain hours in the day, giving at regular intervals stipulated sums to -religious charities, and preserving a general state of leaden -indifference to everybody and everything in the world.</p> - -<p>She thus fondly imagined that she had renounced the world, because she -looked back with disgust on gayeties for which she had no longer -strength or spirits. Nor did she dream that the intensity with which her -mind travelled the narrow world of self, dwelling on the plaits of her -caps, the cut of her stone-colored satin gowns, the making of her tea -and her bed, and the saving of her narrow income, was exactly the same -in kind, though far less agreeable in development, as that which once -expended itself in dressing and dancing. Like many other apparently -negative characters, she had a pertinacious intensity of an extremely -narrow and aimless self-will. Her plans of life, small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> as they were, -had a thousand crimps and plaits, to every one of which she adhered with -invincible pertinacity. The poor lady little imagined, when she sat, -with such punctilious satisfaction, while the Rev. Mr. Orthodoxy -demonstrated that selfishness is the essence of all moral evil, that the -sentiment had the slightest application to her; nor dreamed that the -little, quiet, muddy current of self-will, which ran without noise or -indecorum under the whole structure of her being, might be found, in a -future day, to have undermined all her hopes of heaven. Of course, Mrs. -Nesbit regarded Nina, and all other lively young people, with a kind of -melancholy endurance—as shocking spectacles of worldliness. There was -but little sympathy, to be sure, between the dashing, and out-spoken, -and almost defiant little Nina, and the sombre silver-gray apparition -which glided quietly about the wide halls of her paternal mansion. In -fact, it seemed to afford the latter a mischievous pleasure to shock her -respectable relative on all convenient occasions. Mrs. Nesbit felt it -occasionally her duty, as she remarked, to call her lively niece into -her apartment, and endeavor to persuade her to read some such volume as -Law's Serious Call, or Owen on the One Hundred and Nineteenth Psalm; and -to give her a general and solemn warning against all the vanities of the -world, in which were generally included dressing in any color but black -and drab, dancing, flirting, writing love-letters, and all other -enormities, down to the eating of pea-nut candy. One of these scenes is -just now enacting in this good lady's apartment, upon which we will -raise the curtain.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nesbit, a diminutive, blue-eyed, fair-complexioned little woman, of -some five feet high, sat gently swaying in that respectable asylum for -American old age, commonly called a rocking-chair. Every rustle of her -silvery silk gown, every fold of the snowy kerchief on her neck, every -plait of her immaculate cap, spoke a soul long retired from this world -and its cares. The bed, arranged with extremest precision, however, was -covered with a <i>mélange</i> of French finery, flounces, laces, among which -Nina kept up a continual agitation like that produced by a breeze in a -flower-bed, as she unfolded, turned, and fluttered them, before the eyes -of her relative.</p> - -<p>"I have been through all this, Nina," said the latter, with a melancholy -shake of her head, "and I know the vanity of it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p><p>"Well, aunty, I <i>haven't</i> been through it, so <i>I</i> don't know."</p> - -<p>"Yes, my dear, when I was of your age, I used to go to balls and -parties, and could think of nothing but of dress and admiration. I have -been through it all, and seen the vanity of it."</p> - -<p>"Well, aunt, I want to go through it, and see the vanity of it too. -That's just what I'm after. I'm on the way to be as sombre and solemn as -you are, but I'm bound to have a good time first. Now, look at this pink -brocade!"</p> - -<p>Had the brocade been a pall, it could scarcely have been regarded with a -more lugubrious aspect.</p> - -<p>"Ah, child! such a dying world as this! To spend so much time and -thought on dress!"</p> - -<p>"Why, Aunt Nesbit, yesterday you spent just two whole hours in thinking -whether you should turn the breadths of your black silk dress upside -down, or down side up; and this was a dying world all the time. Now, I -don't see that it is any better to think of black silk than it is of -pink."</p> - -<p>This was a view of the subject which seemed never to have occurred to -the good lady.</p> - -<p>"But now, aunt, do cheer up, and look at this box of artificial flowers. -You know I thought I'd bring a stock on from New York. Now, aren't these -perfectly lovely? I like flowers that <i>mean</i> something. Now, these are -all imitations of natural flowers, so perfect that you'd scarcely know -them from the real. See—there, that's a moss-rose; and now look at -these sweet peas, you'd think they had just been picked; and, -there—that heliotrope, and these jessamines, and those orange-blossoms, -and that wax camelia"—</p> - -<p>"Turn off my eyes from beholding vanity!" said Mrs. Nesbit, shutting her -eyes, and shaking her head:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"'What if we wear the richest vest,—</div> -<div>Peacocks and flies are better drest;</div> -<div>This flesh, with all its glorious forms,</div> -<div>Must drop to earth, and feed the worms.'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Aunt, I do think you have the most horrid, disgusting set of hymns, all -about worms, and dust, and such things!"</p> - -<p>"It's my duty, child, when I see you so much taken up with such sinful -finery."</p> - -<p>"Why, aunt, do you think artificial flowers are sinful?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, dear; they are a sinful waste of time and money, and take off our -mind from more important things."</p> - -<p>"Well, aunt, then what did the Lord make sweet peas, and roses, and -orange-blossoms for? I'm sure it's only doing as he does, to make -flowers. He don't make everything gray, or stone-color. Now, if you only -would come out in the garden, this morning, and see the oleanders, and -the crape myrtle, and the pinks, the roses, and the tulips, and the -hyacinths, I'm sure it would do you good."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I should certainly catch cold, child, if I went out doors. Milly -left a crack opened in the window, last night, and I've sneezed three or -four times since. It will never do for me to go out in the garden; the -feeling of the ground striking up through my shoes is very unhealthy."</p> - -<p>"Well, at any rate, aunt, I should think, if the Lord didn't wish us to -wear roses and jessamines, he would not have made them. And it is the -most natural thing in the world to want to wear flowers."</p> - -<p>"It only feeds vanity and a love of display, my dear."</p> - -<p>"I don't think it's vanity, or a love of display. I should want to dress -prettily, if I were the only person in the world. I love pretty things -because they <i>are</i> pretty. I like to wear them because they make me look -pretty."</p> - -<p>"There it is, child; you want to dress up your poor perishing body to -look pretty—that's the thing!"</p> - -<p>"To be sure I do. Why shouldn't I? I mean to look as pretty as I can, as -long as I live."</p> - -<p>"You seem to have quite a conceit of your beauty!" said Aunt Nesbit.</p> - -<p>"Well, I know I am pretty. I'm not going to pretend I don't. I like my -own looks, now, that's a fact. I'm not like one of your Greek statues, I -know. I'm not wonderfully handsome, nor likely to set the world on fire -with my beauty. I'm just a pretty little thing; and I like flowers and -laces, and all of those things; and I mean to like them, and I don't -think there'll be a bit of religion in my not liking them; and as for -all that disagreeable stuff about the worms, that you are always telling -me, I don't think it does me a particle of good. And, if religion is -going to make me so <i>poky</i>, I shall put it off as long I can."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p><p>"I used to feel just as you do, dear, but I've seen the folly of it!"</p> - -<p>"If I've got to lose my love for everything that is bright, everything -that is lively, and everything that is pretty, and like to read such -horrid stupid books, why, I'd rather be buried, and done with it!"</p> - -<p>"That's the opposition of the natural heart, my dear."</p> - -<p>The conversation was here interrupted by the entrance of a bright, -curly-headed mulatto boy, bearing Mrs. Nesbit's daily luncheon.</p> - -<p>"Oh, here comes Tomtit," said Nina; "now for a scene. Let's see what he -has forgotten, now."</p> - -<p>Tomtit was, in his way, a great character in the mansion. He and his -grandmother were the property of Mrs. Nesbit. His true name was no less -respectable and methodical than that of Thomas; but, as he was one of -those restless and effervescent sprites, who seem to be born for the -confusion of quiet people, Nina had rechristened him Tomtit, which -sobriquet was immediately recognized by the whole household as being -eminently descriptive and appropriate. A constant ripple and eddy of -drollery seemed to pervade his whole being; his large, saucy black eyes -had always a laughing fire in them, that it was impossible to meet -without a smile in return. Slave and property though he was, yet the -first sentiment of reverence for any created thing seemed yet wholly -unawakened in his curly pate. Breezy, idle, careless, flighty, as his -woodland namesake, life to him seemed only a repressed and pent-up -ebullition of animal enjoyment; and almost the only excitement of Mrs. -Nesbit's quiet life was her chronic controversy with Tomtit. Forty or -fifty times a day did the old body assure him "that she was astonished -at his conduct;" and as many times would he reply by showing the whole -set of his handsome teeth, on the broad grin, wholly inconsiderate of -the state of despair into which he thus reduced her.</p> - -<p>On the present occasion, as he entered the room, his eye was caught by -the great display of finery on the bed; and, hastily dumping the waiter -on the first chair that occurred, with a flirt and a spring as lithe as -that of a squirrel, he was seated in a moment astride the foot-board, -indulging in a burst of merriment.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>"Good law, Miss Nina, whar on earth dese yer come from? Good law, some -on 'em for me, isn't 'er?"</p> - -<p>"You see that child!" now said Mrs. Nesbit, rocking back in her chair -with the air of a martyr. "After all my talkings to him! Nina, you ought -not to allow that; it just encourages him!"</p> - -<p>"Tom, get down, you naughty creature you, and get the stand and put the -waiter on it. Mind yourself, now!" said Nina, laughing.</p> - -<p>Tomtit cut a somerset from the foot-board to the floor, and, striking -up, on a very high key, "I'll bet my money on a bobtail nag," he danced -out a small table, as if it had been a partner, and deposited it, with a -jerk, at the side of Mrs. Nesbit, who aimed a cuff at his ears; but, as -he adroitly ducked his head, the intended blow came down upon the table -with more force than was comfortable to the inflictor.</p> - -<p>"I believe that child is made of air!—I never can hit him!" said the -good lady, waxing red in the face. "He is enough to provoke a saint!"</p> - -<p>"So he is, aunt; enough to provoke two saints like you and me. Tomtit, -you rogue," said she, giving a gentle pull to a handful of his curly -hair, "be good, now, and I'll show you the pretty things, by and by. -Come, put the waiter on the table, now; see if you can't walk, for -once!"</p> - -<p>Casting down his eyes with an irresistible look of mock solemnity, -Tomtit marched with the waiter, and placed it by his mistress.</p> - -<p>The good lady, after drawing off her gloves and making sundry little -decorous preparations, said a short grace over her meal, during which -time Tomtit seemed to be holding his sides with repressed merriment; -then, gravely laying hold of the handle of the teapot she stopped short, -gave an exclamation, and flirted her fingers, as she felt it almost -scalding hot.</p> - -<p>"Tomtit, I do believe you intend to burn me to death, some day!"</p> - -<p>"Laws, missus, dat are hot? Oh, sure I was tickler to set the nose round -to the fire."</p> - -<p>"No, you didn't! You stuck the handle right into the fire as you're -always doing!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p><p>"Laws, now, wonder if I did," said Tomtit, assuming an abstracted -appearance. "'Pears as if never can 'member which dem dare is nose, and -which handle. Now, I's a studdin on dat dare most all de morning—was -so," said he, gathering confidence, as he saw, by Nina's dancing eyes, -how greatly she was amused.</p> - -<p>"You need a sound whipping, sir—that's what you need!" said Mrs. -Nesbit, kindling up in sudden wrath.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I knows it," said Tomtit. "We's unprofitable servants, all on us. -Lord's marcy that we an't 'sumed, all on us!"</p> - -<p>Nina was so completely overcome by this novel application of the text -which she had heard her aunt laboriously drumming into Tomtit, the -Sabbath before, that she laughed aloud, with rather uproarious -merriment.</p> - -<p>"Oh, aunt, there's no use! He don't know anything! He's nothing but an -incarnate joke, a walking hoax!"</p> - -<p>"No, I doesn't know nothing, Miss Nina," said Tomtit, at the same time -looking out from under his long eyelashes. "Don't know nothing at -all—never can."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Tomtit," said Mrs. Nesbit, drawing out a little blue cowhide -from under her chair, and looking at him resolutely, "you see, if this -teapot handle is hot again, I'll give it to you! Do you hear?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, missis," said Tomtit, with that indescribable sing-song of -indifference, which is so common and so provoking in his class.</p> - -<p>"And, now, Tomtit, you go down stairs and clean the knives for dinner."</p> - -<p>"Yes, missis," said he, pirouetting towards the door. And once in the -passage, he struck up a vigorous "Oh, I'm going to glory, won't you go -along with me;" accompanying himself, by slapping his own sides, as he -went down two stairs at a time.</p> - -<p>"Going to glory!" said Mrs. Nesbit, rather shortly; "he looks like it, I -think! It's the third or fourth time that that child has blistered my -fingers with this teapot, and I know he does it on purpose! So -ungrateful, when I spend my time, teaching him, hour after hour, -laboring with him so! I declare, I don't believe these children have got -any souls!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p><p>"Well, aunt, I declare, I should think you'd get out of all patience -with him; yet he's so funny, I cannot, for the life of me, help -laughing."</p> - -<p>Here a distant whoop on the staircase, and a tempestuous chorus to a -Methodist hymn, with the words, "Oh come, my loving brethren," announced -that Tomtit was on the return; and very soon, throwing open the door, he -marched in, with an air of the greatest importance.</p> - -<p>"Tomtit, didn't I tell you to go and clean the knives?"</p> - -<p>"Law, missis, come up here to bring Miss Nina's love-letters," said he, -producing two or three letters. "Good law, though," said he, checking -himself, "forgot to put them on a waity!" and, before a word could be -said, he was out of the room and down stairs, and at the height of -furious contest with the girl who was cleaning the silver, for a waiter -to put Miss Nina's letters on.</p> - -<p>"Dar, Miss Nina," appealing to her when she appeared, "Rosa won't let me -have no waity!"</p> - -<p>"I could pull your hair for you, you little image!" said Nina, seizing -the letters from his hands, and laughing while she cuffed his ears.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Tomtit, looking after her with great solemnity, "missis in -de right on't. An't no kind of order in this here house, 'pite of all I -can do. One says put letters on waity. Another one won't let you have -waity to put letters on. And, finally, Miss Nina, she pull them all -away. Just the way things going on in dis yer house, all the time! I -can't help it; done all I can. Just the way missus says!"</p> - -<p>There was one member of Nina's establishment of a character so marked -that we cannot refrain from giving her a separate place in our picture -of her surroundings,—and this was Milly, the waiting-woman of Aunt -Nesbit.</p> - -<p>Aunt Milly, as she was commonly called, was a tall, broad-shouldered, -deep-chested African woman, with a fulness of figure approaching to -corpulence. Her habit of standing and of motion was peculiar and -majestic, reminding one of the Scripture expression "upright as the -palm-tree." Her skin was of a peculiar blackness and softness, not -unlike black velvet. Her eyes were large, full, and dark, and had about -them that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>expression of wishfulness and longing which one may sometimes -have remarked in dark eyes. Her mouth was large, and the lips, though -partaking of the African fulness, had, nevertheless, something decided -and energetic in their outline, which was still further seconded by the -heavy moulding of the chin. A frank smile, which was common with her, -disclosed a row of most splendid and perfect teeth. Her hair, without -approaching to the character of the Anglo-Saxon, was still different -from the ordinary woolly coat of the negro, and seemed more like an -infinite number of close-knotted curls, of brilliant, glossy blackness.</p> - -<p>The parents of Milly were prisoners taken in African wars; and she was a -fine specimen of one of those warlike and splendid races, of whom, as -they have seldom been reduced to slavery, there are but few and rare -specimens among the slaves of the South.</p> - -<p>Her usual head-dress was a high turban, of those brilliant colored -Madras handkerchiefs in which the instinctive taste of the dark races -leads them to delight. Milly's was always put on and worn with a regal -air, as if it were the coronet of the queen. For the rest, her dress -consisted of a well-fitted gown of dark stuff, of a quality somewhat -finer than the usual household apparel. A neatly-starched white muslin -handkerchief folded across her bosom, and a clean white apron, completed -her usual costume.</p> - -<p>No one could regard her, as a whole, and not feel their prejudice in -favor of the exclusive comeliness of white races somewhat shaken. Placed -among the gorgeous surroundings of African landscape and scenery, it -might be doubted whether any one's taste could have desired, as a -completion to her appearance, to have blanched the glossy skin whose -depth of coloring harmonizes so well with the intense and fiery glories -of a tropical landscape.</p> - -<p>In character, Milly was worthy of her remarkable external appearance. -Heaven had endowed her with a soul as broad and generous as her ample -frame. Her passions rolled and burned in her bosom with a tropical -fervor; a shrewd and abundant mother wit, united with a vein of -occasional drollery, gave to her habits of speech a quaint vivacity.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p><p>A native adroitness gave an unwonted command over all the functions of -her fine body, so that she was endowed with that much-coveted property -which the New Englander denominates "faculty," which means the intuitive -ability to seize at once on the right and best way of doing everything -which is to be done. At the same time, she was possessed of that high -degree of self-respect which led her to be incorruptibly faithful and -thorough in all she undertook; less, as it often seemed, from any fealty -or deference to those whom she served, than from a kind of native pride -in well-doing, which led her to deem it beneath herself to slight or -pass over the least thing which she had undertaken. Her promises were -inviolable. Her owners always knew that what she once said would be -done, if it were within the bounds of possibility.</p> - -<p>The value of an individual thus endowed in person and character may be -easily conceived by those who understand how rare, either among slaves -or freemen, is such a combination. Milly was, therefore, always -considered in the family as a most valuable piece of property, and -treated with more than common consideration.</p> - -<p>As a mind, even when uncultivated, will ever find its level, it often -happened that Milly's amount of being and force of character gave her -ascendency even over those who were nominally her superiors. As her ways -were commonly found to be the best ways, she was left, in most cases, to -pursue them without opposition or control. But, favorite as she was, her -life had been one of deep sorrows. She had been suffered, it is true, to -contract a marriage with a very finely-endowed mulatto man, on a -plantation adjoining her owner's, by whom she had a numerous family of -children, who inherited all her fine physical and mental endowments. -With more than usual sensibility and power of reflection, the idea that -the children so dear to her were from their birth not her own—that they -were, from the first hour of their existence, merchantable articles, -having a fixed market value in proportion to every excellence, and -liable to all the reverses of merchantable goods—sank with deep weight -into her mind. Unfortunately, the family to which she belonged being -reduced to poverty, there remained, often, no other means of making up -the deficiency of income than the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>annual sale of one or two negroes. -Milly's children, from their fine developments, were much-coveted -articles. Their owner was often tempted by extravagant offers for them; -and therefore, to meet one crisis or another of family difficulties, -they had been successively sold from her. At first, she had met this -doom with almost the ferocity of a lioness; but the blow, oftentimes -repeated, had brought with it a dull endurance, and Christianity had -entered, as it often does with the slave, through the rents and fissures -of a broken heart. Those instances of piety which are sometimes, though -rarely, found among slaves, and which transcend the ordinary development -of the best-instructed, are generally the results of calamities and -afflictions so utterly desolating as to force the soul to depend on God -alone. But, where one soul is thus raised to higher piety, thousands are -crushed in hopeless imbecility.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER V.</span> <span class="smaller">HARRY AND HIS WIFE.</span></h2> - -<p>Several miles from the Gordon estate, on an old and somewhat decayed -plantation, stood a neat log-cabin, whose external aspect showed both -taste and care. It was almost enveloped in luxuriant wreaths of yellow -jessamine, and garlanded with a magnificent lamarque rose, whose -cream-colored buds and flowers contrasted beautifully with the dark, -polished green of the finely-cut leaves.</p> - -<p>The house stood in an enclosure formed by a high hedge of the American -holly, whose evergreen foliage and scarlet berries made it, at all times -of the year, a beautiful object. Within the enclosure was a garden, -carefully tended, and devoted to the finest fruits and flowers.</p> - -<p>This little dwelling, so different in its air of fanciful neatness from -ordinary southern cabins, was the abode of Harry's little wife. -<i>Lisette</i>, which was her name, was the slave of a French creole woman, -to whom a plantation had recently fallen by inheritance.</p> - -<p>She was a delicate, airy little creature, formed by a mixture of the -African and French blood, producing one of those fanciful, exotic -combinations, that give one the same impression of brilliancy and -richness that one receives from tropical insects and flowers. From both -parent races she was endowed with a sensuous being exquisitely quick and -fine,—a nature of everlasting childhood, with all its freshness of -present life, all its thoughtless, unreasoning fearlessness of the -future.</p> - -<p>She stands there at her ironing-table, just outside her cottage door, -singing gayly at her work. Her round, plump, childish form is shown to -advantage by the trim blue basque, laced in front, over a chemisette of -white linen. Her head is wreathed with a gay turban, from which escapes, -now and then, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>wandering curl of her silky black hair. Her eyes, as -she raises them, have the hazy, dreamy languor, which is so -characteristic of the mixed races. Her little, childish hands are busy, -with nimble fingers adroitly plaiting and arranging various articles of -feminine toilet, too delicate and expensive to have belonged to those in -humble circumstances. She ironed, plaited, and sung, with busy care. -Occasionally, however, she would suspend her work, and, running between -the flower-borders to the hedge, look wistfully along the road, shading -her eyes with her hand. At last, as she saw a man on horseback -approaching, she flew lightly out, and ran to meet him.</p> - -<p>"Harry, Harry! You've come, at last. I'm so glad! And what have you got -in that paper? Is it anything for me?"</p> - -<p>He held it up, and shook it at her, while she leaped after it.</p> - -<p>"No, no, little curiosity!" he said, gayly.</p> - -<p>"I know it's something for me," said she, with a pretty, half-pouting -air.</p> - -<p>"And why do you know it's for you? Is everything to be for you in the -world, you little good-for-nothing?"</p> - -<p>"Good-for-nothing!" with a toss of the gayly-turbaned little head. "You -may well say that, sir! Just look at the two dozen shirts I've ironed, -since morning! Come, now, take me up; I want to ride."</p> - -<p>Harry put out the toe of his boot and his hand, and, with an adroit -spring, she was in a moment before him, on his horse's neck, and, with a -quick turn, snatched the paper parcel from his hand.</p> - -<p>"Woman's curiosity!" said he.</p> - -<p>"Well, I want to see what it is. Dear me, what a tight string! Oh, I -can't break it! Well, here it goes; I'll tear a hole in it, anyhow. Oh, -silk, as I live! Aha! tell me now this isn't for me, you bad thing, -you!"</p> - -<p>"Why, how do you know it isn't to make me a summer coat?"</p> - -<p>"Summer coat!—likely story! Aha! I've found you out, mister! But, come, -do make the horse canter! I want to go fast. Make him canter, do!"</p> - -<p>Harry gave a sudden jerk to the reins, and in a minute the two were -flying off as if on the wings of the wind. On and on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> they went, through -a small coppice of pines, while the light-hearted laugh rang on the -breeze behind them. Now they are lost to view. In a few minutes, -emerging from the pine woods in another direction, they come sweeping, -gay and laughing, up to the gate. To fasten the horse, to snatch the -little wife on his shoulder, and run into the cottage with her, seemed -the work only of a moment; and, as he set her down, still laughing, he -exclaimed,—</p> - -<p>"There, go, now, for a pretty little picture, as you are! I have helped -them get up <i>les tableaux vivans</i>, at their great houses; but you are my -tableau. You aren't good for much. You are nothing but a humming-bird, -made to live on honey!"</p> - -<p>"That's what I am!" said the little one. "It takes a great deal of honey -to keep me. I want to be praised, flattered, and loved, all the time. It -isn't enough to have you love me. I want to hear you tell me so every -day, and hour, and minute. And I want you always to admire me, and -praise everything that I do. Now"—</p> - -<p>"Particularly when you tear holes in packages!" said Harry.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my silk—my new silk dress!" said Lisette, thus reminded of the -package which she held in her hand. "This hateful string! How it cuts my -fingers! I <i>will</i> break it! I'll bite it in two. Harry, Harry, don't you -see how it hurts my fingers? Why don't you cut it?"</p> - -<p>And the little sprite danced about the cottage floor, tearing the paper, -and tugging at the string, like an enraged humming-bird. Harry came -laughing behind her, and, taking hold of her two hands, held them quite -still, while he cut the string of the parcel, and unfolded a gorgeous -plaid silk, crimson, green, and orange.</p> - -<p>"There, now, what do you think of that? Miss Nina brought it, when she -came home, last week."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how lovely! Isn't she a beauty? Isn't she good? How beautiful it -is! Dear me, dear me! how happy I am! How happy <i>we</i> are!—an't we, -Harry?"</p> - -<p>A shadow came over Harry's forehead as he answered, with a half-sigh,—</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"I was up at three o'clock this morning, on purpose to get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> all my -ironing done to-day, because I thought you were to come home to-night. -Ah! ah! you don't know what a supper I've got ready! You'll see, by and -by. I'm going to do something uncommon. You mustn't look in that other -room, Harry—you mustn't!"</p> - -<p>"Mustn't I?" said Harry, getting up, and going to the door.</p> - -<p>"There, now! who's curiosity now, I wonder!" said she, springing nimbly -between him and the door. "No, you shan't go in, though. There, now; -don't, don't! <i>Be</i> good now, Harry!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I may as well give up first as last. This is your house, not -mine, I suppose," said Harry.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Submission, how meek we are, all of a sudden. Well, while the fit -lasts, you go to the spring and get me some water to fill this -tea-kettle. Off with you now, this minute! Mind you don't stop to play -by the way!"</p> - -<p>And, while Harry is gone to the spring, we will follow the wife into the -forbidden room. Very cool and pleasant it is, with its white -window-curtains, its matted floor, and displaying in the corner that -draped feather-bed, with its ruffled pillows and fringed curtains, which -it is the great ambition of the southern cabin to attain and maintain.</p> - -<p>The door, which opened on to a show of most brilliant flowers, was -overlaid completely by the lamarque rose we have before referred to; and -large clusters of its creamy blossoms, and wreaths of its dark-green -leaves, had been enticed in and tied to sundry nails and pegs by the -small hands of the little mistress, to form an arch of flowers and -roses. A little table stood in the door, draped with a spotless damasked -table-cloth, fine enough for the use of a princess, and only produced by -the little mistress on festive occasions. On it were arranged dishes -curiously trimmed with moss and vine-leaves, which displayed -strawberries and peaches, with a pitcher of cream and one of whey, small -dishes of curd, delicate cakes and biscuit, and fresh golden butter.</p> - -<p>After patting and arranging the table-cloth, Lisette tripped gayly -around, and altered here and there the arrangement of a dish, -occasionally stepping back, and cocking her little head on one side, -much like a bird, singing gayly as she did so; then she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> would pick a -bit of moss from this, and a flower from that, and retreat again, and -watch the effect.</p> - -<p>"How surprised he will be!" she said to herself. Still humming a tune in -a low, gurgling undertone, she danced hither and thither, round the -apartment. First she gave the curtains a little shake, and, unlooping -one of them, looped it up again, so as to throw the beams of the evening -sun on the table.</p> - -<p>"There, there, there! how pretty the light falls through those -nasturtions! I wonder if the room smells of the mignonette. I gathered -it when the dew was on it, and they say that will make it smell all day. -Now, here's Harry's book-case. Dear me! these flies! How they do get on -to everything! Shoo, shoo! now, now!" and, catching a gay bandana -handkerchief from the drawer, she perfectly exhausted herself in flying -about the room in pursuit of the buzzing intruders, who soared, and -dived, and careered, after the manner of flies in general, seeming -determined to go anywhere but out of the door, and finally were seen -brushing their wings and licking their feet, with great alertness, on -the very topmost height of the sacred bed-curtains; and as just this -moment a glimpse was caught of Harry returning from the spring, Lisette -was obliged to abandon the chase, and rush into the other room, to -prevent a premature development of her little tea-tableau. Then a small, -pug-nosed, black tea-kettle came on to the stage of action, from some -unknown cupboard; and Harry had to fill it with water, and of course -spilt the water on to the ironing-table, which made another little -breezy, chattering commotion; and then the flat-irons were cleared away, -and the pug-nosed kettle reigned in their stead on the charcoal brazier.</p> - -<p>"Now, Harry, was ever such a smart wife as I am? Only think, besides all -the rest that I've done, I've ironed your white linen suit, complete! -Now, go put it on. Not in there! not in there!" she said, pushing him -away from the door. "You can't go there, yet. You'll do well enough out -here."</p> - -<p>And away she went, singing through the garden walks; and the song, -floating back behind her, seemed like an odor brushed from the flowers. -The refrain came rippling in at the door—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Me think not what to-morrow bring;</div> -<div>Me happy, so me sing!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p><p>"Poor little thing!" said Harry to himself; "why should I try to teach -her anything?"</p> - -<p>In a few minutes she was back again, her white apron thrown over her -arm, and blossoms of yellow jessamine, spikes of blue lavender, and buds -of moss-roses, peeping out from it. She skipped gayly along, and -deposited her treasure on the ironing-table; then, with a zealous, -bustling earnestness, which characterized everything she did, she began -sorting them into two bouquets, alternately talking and singing, as she -did so,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Come on, ye rosy hours,</div> -<div>All joy and gladness bring!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"You see, Harry, you're going to have a bouquet to put into the -button-hole of that coat. It will make you look so handsome! There, -now—there, now,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'We'll strew the way with flowers,</div> -<div>And merrily, merrily sing.'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Suddenly stopping, she looked at him archly, and said, "You can't tell, -now, what I'm doing all this for!"</p> - -<p>"There's never any telling what you women do anything for."</p> - -<p>"Do hear him talk—so pompous! Well, sir, it's for your birthday, now. -Aha! you thought, because I can't keep the day of the month, that I -didn't know anything about it; but I did. And I have put down now a -chalk-mark every day, for four weeks, right under where I keep my -ironing-account, so as to be sure of it. And I've been busy about it -ever since two o'clock this morning. And now—there, the tea-kettle is -boiling!"—and away she flew to the door.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear me!—dear me, now!—I've killed myself, now, I have!" she -cried, holding up one of her hands, and flirting it up in the air. "Dear -me! who knew it was so hot?"</p> - -<p>"I should think a little woman that is so used to the holder <i>might</i> -have known it," said Harry, as he caressed the little burnt hand.</p> - -<p>"Come, now, let me carry it for you," said Harry, "and I'll make the -tea, if you'll let me go into that mysterious room."</p> - -<p>"Indeed, no, Harry—I'm going to do everything myself;" and, forgetting -the burnt finger, Lisette was off in a moment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> and back in a moment -with a shining teapot in her hand, and the tea was made. And at last the -mysterious door opened, and Lisette stood with her eyes fixed upon -Harry, to watch the effect.</p> - -<p>"Superb!—magnificent!—splendid! Why, this is good enough for a king! -And where <i>did</i> you get all these things?" said Harry.</p> - -<p>"Oh, out of our garden—all but the peaches. Those old Mist gave -me—they come from Florida. There, now, you laughed at me, last summer, -when I set those strawberry-vines, and made all sorts of fun of me. And -what do you think now?"</p> - -<p>"Think! I think you're a wonderful little thing—a perfect witch."</p> - -<p>"Come, now, let's sit down, then—you there, and I here." And, opening -the door of the bird-cage, which hung in the lamarque rose-bush, "Little -Button shall come, too."</p> - -<p>Button, a bright yellow canary, with a smart black tuft upon his head, -seemed to understand his part in the little domestic scene perfectly; -for he stepped obediently upon the finger which was extended to him, and -was soon sitting quite at his ease on the mossy edge of one of the -dishes, pecking at the strawberries.</p> - -<p>"And now, do tell me," said Lisette, "all about Miss Nina. How does she -look?"</p> - -<p>"Pretty and smart as ever," said Harry. "Just the same witchy, wilful -ways with her."</p> - -<p>"And did she show you her dresses?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes; the whole."</p> - -<p>"Oh, do tell me about them, Harry—do!"</p> - -<p>"Well, there's a lovely pink gauze, covered with spangles, to be worn -over white satin."</p> - -<p>"With flounces?" said Lisette, earnestly.</p> - -<p>"With flounces."</p> - -<p>"How many?"</p> - -<p>"Really, I don't remember."</p> - -<p>"Don't remember how many flounces? Why, Harry, how stupid! Say, Harry, -don't you suppose she will let me come and look at her things?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, yes, dear, I don't doubt she will; and that will save my making a -gazette of myself."</p> - -<p>"Oh, when will you take me there, Harry?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps to-morrow, dear. And now," said Harry, "that you have -accomplished your surprise upon me, I have a surprise, in return, for -you. You can't guess, now, what Miss Nina brought for me."</p> - -<p>"No, indeed! What?" said Lisette, springing up; "do tell me—quick."</p> - -<p>"Patience—patience!" said Harry, deliberately fumbling in his pocket, -amusing himself with her excited air. But who should speak the -astonishment and rapture which widened Lisette's dark eyes, when the -watch was produced? She clapped her hands, and danced for joy, to the -imminent risk of upsetting the table, and all the things on it.</p> - -<p>"I do think we are the most fortunate people—you and I, Harry! -Everything goes just as we want it to—doesn't it, now?"</p> - -<p>Harry's assent to this comprehensive proposition was much less fervent -than suited his little wife.</p> - -<p>"Now, what's the matter with you? What goes wrong? Why don't you rejoice -as I do?" said she, coming and seating herself down upon his knee. -"Come, now, you've been working too hard, I know. I'm going to sing to -you, now; you want something to cheer you up." And Lisette took down her -banjo, and sat down in the doorway under the arch of lamarque roses, and -began thrumming gayly.</p> - -<p>"This is the nicest little thing, this banjo!" she said; "I wouldn't -change it for all the guitars in the world. Now, Harry, I'm going to -sing something specially for you." And Lisette sung:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"What are the joys of white man, here,</div> -<div class="i1">What are his pleasures, say?</div> -<div>He great, he proud, he haughty fine</div> -<div class="i1">While I my banjo play:</div> -<div class="i3">He sleep all day, he wake all night;</div> -<div class="i3">He full of care, his heart no light;</div> -<div class="i3">He great deal want, he little get;</div> -<div class="i3">He sorry, so he fret.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Me envy not the white man here,</div> -<div class="i1">Though he so proud and gay;</div> -<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>He great, he proud, he haughty fine,</div> -<div class="i1">While I my banjo play:</div> -<div class="i3">Me work all day, me sleep all night;</div> -<div class="i3">Me have no care, me heart is light;</div> -<div class="i3">Me think not what to-morrow bring;</div> -<div class="i3">Me happy, so me sing."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Lisette rattled the strings of the banjo, and sang with such a hearty -abandon of enjoyment that it was a comfort to look at her. One would -have thought that a bird's soul put into a woman's body would have sung -just so.</p> - -<p>"There," she said, throwing down her banjo, and seating herself on her -husband's knee, "do you know I think you are like white man in the song? -I should like to know what is the matter with you. I can see plain -enough when you are not happy; but I don't see why."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lisette, I have very perplexing business to manage," said Harry. -"Miss Nina is a dear, good little mistress, but she doesn't know -anything about accounts, or money; and here she has brought me home a -set of bills to settle, and I'm sure I don't know where the money is to -be got from. It's hard work to make the old place profitable in our -days. The ground is pretty much worked up; it doesn't bear the crops it -used to. And, then, our people are so childish, they don't, a soul of -them, care how much they spend, or how carelessly they work. It's very -expensive keeping up such an establishment. You know the Gordons must be -Gordons. Things can't be done now as some other families would do them; -and, then, those bills which Miss Nina brings from New York are -perfectly frightful."</p> - -<p>"Well, Harry, what are you going to do?" said Lisette, nestling down -close on his shoulder. "You always know how to do something."</p> - -<p>"Why, Lisette, I shall have to do what I've done two or three times -before—take the money that I have saved, to pay these bills—our -freedom-money, Lisette."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, then, don't worry. We can get it again, you know. Why, you -know, Harry, you can make a good deal with your trade, and one thing and -another that you do; and, then, as for me, why, you know, my ironing, -and my muslins, how celebrated they are. Come, don't worry one bit; we -shall get on nicely."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p><p>"Ah! But, Lisette, all this pretty house of ours, garden, and -everything, is only built on air, after all, till we are free. Any -accident can take it from us. Now, there's Miss Nina; she is engaged, -she tells me, to two or three lovers, as usual."</p> - -<p>"Engaged, is she?" said Lisette, eagerly, female curiosity getting the -better of every other consideration; "she always did have lovers, just, -you know, as I used to."</p> - -<p>"Yes; but, Lisette, she will marry, some time, and what a thing that -would be for you and me! On her husband will depend all my happiness for -all my life. He may set her against me; he may not like me. Oh, Lisette! -I've seen trouble enough coming of marriages; and I was hoping, you see, -that before that time came the money for my freedom would all be paid -in, and I should be my own man. But, now, here it is. Just as the sum is -almost made up, I must pay out five hundred dollars of it, and that -throws us back two or three years longer. And what makes me feel the -most anxious is, that I'm pretty sure Miss Nina will marry one of these -lovers before long."</p> - -<p>"Why, what makes you think so, Harry?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I've seen girls before now, Lisette, and I know the signs."</p> - -<p>"What does she do? What does she say? Tell me, now, Harry."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, she runs on abusing the man, after her sort; and she's so -very earnest and positive in telling me she don't like him."</p> - -<p>"Just the way I used to do about you, Harry, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Besides," said Harry, "I know, by the kind of character she gives of -him, that she thinks of him very differently from what she ever did of -any man before. Miss Nina little knows, when she is rattling about her -beaux, what I'm thinking of. I'm saying, all the while, to myself, 'Is -that man going to be my master?' and this Clayton, I'm very sure, is -going to be my master."</p> - -<p>"Well, isn't he a good man?"</p> - -<p>"She <i>says</i> he is; but there's never any saying what good men will do, -never. Good men think it right sometimes to do the strangest things. -This man may alter the whole agreement between us,—he will have a right -to do it, if he is her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>husband; he may refuse to let me buy myself; -and, then, all the money that I've paid will go for nothing."</p> - -<p>"But, certainly, Harry, Miss Nina will never consent to such a thing."</p> - -<p>"Lisette, Miss Nina is one thing, but Mrs. Clayton may be quite another -thing. I've seen all <i>that</i>, over and over again. I tell you, Lisette, -that we who live on other people's looks and words, we watch and think a -great deal! Ah! we come to be very sharp, I can tell you. The more Miss -Nina has liked me, the less her husband may like me; don't you know -that?"</p> - -<p>"No; Harry, you don't dislike people I like."</p> - -<p>"Child, child, that's quite another thing."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, Harry, if you feel so bad about it, what makes you pay this -money for Miss Nina? She don't know anything about it; she don't ask you -to. I don't believe she would want you to, if she did know it. Just go -and pay it in, and have your freedom-papers made out. Why don't you tell -her all about it?"</p> - -<p>"No, I can't, Lisette. I've had the care of her all her life, and I've -made it as smooth as I could for her, and I won't begin to trouble her -now. Do you know, too, that I'm afraid that, perhaps, if she knew all -about it, she wouldn't do the right thing. There's never any knowing, -Lisette. <i>Now</i>, you see, I say to myself, 'Poor little thing! she -doesn't know anything about accounts, and she don't know how I feel.' -But, if I should <i>tell</i> her, and she shouldn't care, and act as I've -seen women act, why, then, you know I couldn't think so any more. I -don't <i>believe</i> she would mind you; but, then, I don't like to try."</p> - -<p>"Harry, what does make you love her so much?"</p> - -<p>"Don't you know, Lisette, that Master Tom was a dreadful bad boy, always -wilful and wayward, almost broke his father's heart; and he was always -ugly and contrary to her? I'm sure I don't know why; for she was a sweet -little thing, and she loves him now, ugly as he is, and he is the most -selfish creature I ever saw. And, as for Miss Nina, she isn't -selfish—she is only inconsiderate. But I've known her do for him, over -and over, just what I do for her, giving him her money and her jewels to -help him out of a scrape. But, then, to be sure, it all comes upon me, -at last, which makes it all the more aggravating. Now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> Lisette, I'm -going to tell you something, but you mustn't tell anybody. Nina Gordon -is my sister!"</p> - -<p>"Harry!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Lisette, you may well open your eyes," said Harry, rising -involuntarily; "I'm Colonel Gordon's oldest son! Let me have the comfort -of saying it once, if I never do again."</p> - -<p>"Harry, who told you?"</p> - -<p>"<i>He</i> told me, Lisette—he, himself, told me, when he was dying, and -charged me always to watch over her; and I have done it! I never told -Miss Nina; I wouldn't have her told for the world. It wouldn't make her -love me; more likely it would turn her against me. I've seen many a man -sold for nothing else but looking too much like his father, or his -brothers and sisters. I was given to her, and my sister and my mother -went out to Mississippi with Miss Nina's aunt."</p> - -<p>"I never heard you speak of this sister, Harry. Was she pretty?"</p> - -<p>"Lisette, she was beautiful, she was graceful, and she had real genius. -I've heard many singers on the stage that could not sing, with all their -learning, as she did by nature."</p> - -<p>"Well, what became of her?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, what becomes of such women always, among us! Nursed, and petted, -and caressed; taught everything elegant, nothing solid. Why, the woman -meant well enough that had the care of her,—Mrs. Stewart, Colonel -Gordon's sister,—but she couldn't prevent her son's wanting her, and -taking her, for his mistress; and when she died there she was."</p> - -<p>"Well."</p> - -<p>"When George Stewart had lived with her two or three years, he was taken -with small-pox. You know what perfect horror that always creates. None -of his white acquaintances and friends would come near his plantation; -the negroes were all frightened to death, as usual; overseer ran off. -Well, then Cora Gordon's blood came up; she nursed him all through that -sickness. What's more, she had influence to keep order on the place; got -the people to getting the cotton crops themselves, so that when the -overseer came sneaking back, things hadn't all gone to ruin, as they -might have done. Well, the young fellow had more in him than some of -them do; for when he got well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> he left his plantation, took her up to -Ohio, and married her, and lived with her there."</p> - -<p>"Why didn't he live with her on his plantation?" said Lisette.</p> - -<p>"He couldn't have freed her there; it's against the laws. But, lately, -I've got a letter from her saying that he had died and left to her and -her son all his property on the Mississippi."</p> - -<p>"Why, she will be rich, won't she?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, if she gets it. But there's no knowing how that will be; there are -fifty ways of cheating her out of it, I suppose. But, now, as to Miss -Nina's estate, you don't know how I feel about it. I was trusted with -it, and trusted with her. She never has known, more than a child, where -the money came from, or went to; and it shan't be said that I've brought -the estate in debt, for the sake of getting my own liberty. If I have -one pride in life, it is to give it up to Miss Nina's husband in good -order. But, then, the <i>trouble</i> of it, Lisette! The trouble of getting -anything like decent work from these creatures; the ways that I have to -turn and twist to get round them, and manage them, to get anything done. -They hate me; they are jealous of me. Lisette, I'm just like the bat in -the fable; I'm neither bird nor beast. How often I've wished that I was -a good, honest, black nigger, like Uncle Pomp! Then I should know what I -was; but, now, I'm neither one thing nor another. I come just near -enough to the condition of the white to look into it, to enjoy it, and -want everything that I see. Then, the way I've been educated makes it -worse. The fact is, that when the fathers of such as we feel any love -for us, it isn't like the love they have for their white children. They -are half-ashamed of us; they are ashamed to show their love, if they -have it; and, then, there's a kind of remorse and pity about it, which -they make up to themselves by petting us. They load us with presents and -indulgences. They amuse themselves with us while we are children, and -play off all our passions as if we were instruments to be played on. If -we show talent and smartness, we hear some one say, aside, 'It's rather -a pity, isn't it?' or, 'He is too smart for his place.' Then, we have -all the family blood and the family pride; and what to do with it? I -feel that I am a Gordon. I feel in my very heart that I'm like Colonel -Gordon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>—I know I am, and, sometimes, I know I look like him, and that's -one reason why Tom Gordon always hated me; and, then, there's another -thing, the hardest of all, to have a sister like Miss Nina, to feel she -<i>is</i> my sister, and never dare to say a word of it! She little thinks, -when she plays and jokes with me, sometimes, how I feel. I have eyes and -senses; I can compare myself with Tom Gordon. I know he <i>never would</i> -learn anything at any of the schools he was put to; and I know that when -his tutors used to teach me, how much faster I got along than he did. -And yet he must have all the position, and all the respect; and, then, -Miss Nina so often says to me, by way of apology, when she puts up with -his ugliness, 'Ah! well, you know, Harry, he is the only brother I have -got in the world!' Isn't it too bad? Colonel Gordon gave me every -advantage of education, because I think he meant me for just this place -which I fill. Miss Nina was his pet. He was wholly absorbed in her, and -he was frightened at Tom's wickedness; and so he left me bound to the -estate in this way, only stipulating that I should buy myself on -favorable terms before Miss Nina's marriage. She has always been willing -enough. I might have taken any and every advantage of her -inconsiderateness. And Mr. John Gordon has been willing, too, and has -been very kind about it, and has signed an agreement as guardian, and -Miss Nina has signed it too, that, in case of her death, or whatever -happened, I'm to have my freedom on paying a certain sum, and I have got -his receipts for what I have paid. So that's tolerably safe. Lisette, I -had meant never to have been married till I was a free man; but, -somehow, you bewitched me into it. I did very wrong."</p> - -<p>"Oh, pshaw! pshaw!" interrupted Lisette. "I an't going to hear another -word of this talk! What's the use? We shall do well enough. Everything -will come out right,—you see if it don't, now. I was always lucky, and -I always shall be."</p> - -<p>The conversation was here interrupted by a loud whooping, and a clatter -of horse's heels.</p> - -<p>"What's that?" said Harry, starting to the window. "As I live, now, if -there isn't that wretch of a Tomtit, going off with that horse! How came -he here? He will ruin him! Stop there! hallo!" he exclaimed, running out -of doors after Tomtit.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p><p>Tomtit, however, only gave a triumphant whoop, and disappeared among -the pine-trees.</p> - -<p>"Well, I should like to know what sent him here!" said Harry, walking up -and down, much disturbed.</p> - -<p>"Oh, he's only going round through the grove; he will be back again," -said Lisette; "never fear. Isn't he a handsome little rogue?"</p> - -<p>"Lisette, you never can see trouble anywhere!" said Harry, almost -angrily.</p> - -<p>"Ah! yes I do," said Lisette, "when you speak in that tone! Please -don't, Harry! What should you want me to see trouble for?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know, you little thing," said Harry, stroking her head fondly.</p> - -<p>"Ah, there comes the little rascal, just as I knew he would!" said -Lisette. "He only wanted to take a little race; he hasn't hurt the -horse;" and, tripping lightly out, she caught the reins, just as Tomtit -drove up to the gate; and it seemed but a moment before he was over in -the garden, with his hands full of flowers.</p> - -<p>"Stop, there, you young rascal, and tell me what sent you here!" said -Harry, seizing him, and shaking him by the shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Laws, Massa Harry, I wants to get peaches, like other folks," said the -boy, peeping roguishly in at the window, at the tea-table.</p> - -<p>"And he shall have a peach, too," said Lisette, "and some flowers, if -he'll be a good boy, and not tread on my borders."</p> - -<p>Tomtit seized greedily at the peach she gave him, and, sitting flat down -where he stood, and throwing the flowers on the ground beside him, began -eating it with an earnestness of devotion as if his whole being were -concentrated in the act. The color was heightened in his brown cheek by -the exercise, and, with his long, drooping curls and eyelashes, he -looked a very pretty centre to the flower-piece which he had so promptly -improvised.</p> - -<p>"Ah, how pretty he is!" said Lisette, touching Harry's elbow. "I wish he -was mine!"</p> - -<p>"You'd have your hands full, if he was," said Harry eying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the intruder -discontentedly, while Lisette stood picking the hulls from a fine bunch -of strawberries which she was ready to give him when he had finished the -peach.</p> - -<p>"Beauty makes fools of all you girls," said Harry, cynically.</p> - -<p>"Is that the reason I married you?" said Lisette, archly. "Well, I know -I could make him good, if I had the care of him. Nothing like coaxing; -is there, Tom?"</p> - -<p>"I'll boun' there an't!" said Tom, opening his mouth for the -strawberries with much the air of a handsome, saucy robin.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Harry, "I should like to know what brought him over here. -Speak, now, Tom! Weren't you sent with some message?"</p> - -<p>"Oh laws, yes!" said Tom, getting up, and scratching his curly head. -"Miss Nina sent me. She wants you to get on dat ar horse, and make -tracks for home like split foot. She done got letters from two or three -of her beaux, and she is dancing and tearing round there real awful. She -done got scared, spects; feard they'd all come together."</p> - -<p>"And she sent you on a message, and you haven't told me, all this time!" -said Harry, making a motion as though he was going to box the child's -ears; but the boy glided out of his hands as if he had been water, and -was gone, vanishing among the shrubbery of the garden; and while Harry -was mounting his horse, he reappeared on the roof of the little cabin, -caricoling and dancing, shouting at the topmost of his voice,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Away down old Virginny,</div> -<div>Dere I bought a yellow girl for a guinea."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"I'll give it to you, some time!" said Harry, shaking his fist at him.</p> - -<p>"No, he won't, either," cried Lisette, laughing. "Come down here, -Tomtit, and I'll make a good boy of you."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VI.</span> <span class="smaller">THE DILEMMA.</span></h2> - -<p>In order to understand the occasion which hurried Harry home, we must go -back to Canema. Nina, after taking her letters from the hands of Tomtit, -as we have related, ran back with them into Mrs. Nesbit's room, and sat -herself down to read them. As she read, she evidently became quite -excited and discomposed, crumpling a paper with her little hand, and -tapping her foot impatiently on the carpet.</p> - -<p>"There, now, I'm sure I don't know what I shall do, Aunt Nesbit!" -addressing her aunt, because it was her outspoken habit to talk to any -body or thing which happened to be sitting next to her. "I've got myself -into a pretty scrape now!"</p> - -<p>"I told you you'd get into trouble, one of these days!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, you <i>told</i> me so! If there's anything I hate, it is to have anybody -tell me 'I told you so!' But now aunt, really, I know I've been foolish, -but I don't know what to do. Here are two gentlemen coming together, -that I wouldn't have meet each other here for the world; and I don't -know really what I had better do."</p> - -<p>"You'd better do just as you please, as you always do, and always would, -ever since I knew you," said Aunt Nesbit, in a calm, indifferent tone.</p> - -<p>"But, really, aunt, I don't know what's proper to do in such a case."</p> - -<p>"Your and my notions of propriety, Nina, are so different, that I don't -know how to advise you. You see the consequences, now, of not attending -to the advice of your friends. I always knew these flirtations of yours -would bring you into trouble." And Aunt Nesbit said this with that -quiet, satisfied air with which precise elderly people so often edify -their thoughtless young friends under difficulties.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p><p>"Well, I didn't want a sermon, now, Aunt Nesbit; but, as you've seen a -great deal more of the world than I have, I thought you might help me a -little, just to tell me whether it wouldn't be proper for me to write -and put one of these gentlemen off; or make some excuse for me, or -something. I'm sure <i>I</i> never kept house before. I don't want to do -anything that don't seem hospitable; and yet I don't want them to come -together. Now, there, that's flat!"</p> - -<p>There was a long pause, in which Nina sat vexed and coloring, biting her -lips, and nestling uneasily in her seat.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nesbit looked calm and considerate, and Nina began to hope that she -was taking the case a little to heart.</p> - -<p>At last the good old lady looked up, and said, very quietly, "I wonder -what time it is."</p> - -<p>Nina thought she was debating the expediency of sending some message; -and therefore she crossed the room with great alacrity, to look at the -old clock in the entry.</p> - -<p>"It's half-past two, aunt!" and she stood, with her lips apart, looking -at Mrs. Nesbit for some suggestion.</p> - -<p>"I was going to tell Rosa," said she, abstractedly, "that that onion in -the stuffing does not agree with me. It rose on my stomach all yesterday -morning; but it's too late now."</p> - -<p>Nina actually stamped with anger.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Nesbit, you are the most selfish person I ever saw in my life!"</p> - -<p>"Nina, child, you astonish me!" said Aunt Nesbit, with her wonted -placidity. "What's the matter?"</p> - -<p>"I don't care!" said Nina; "I don't care a bit! I don't see how people -can be so! If a dog should come to me and tell me he was in trouble, I -think I should listen to him, and show some kind of interest to help -him! I don't care how foolish anybody has been; if they are in trouble, -I'd help them, if I could; and I think you might think enough of it to -give me some little advice!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, you are talking about that affair, yet?" said her aunt. "Why, I -believe I told you I didn't know what to advise, didn't I? Shouldn't -give way to this temper, Nina; it's very unladylike, besides being -sinful. But, then, I don't suppose it's any use for me to talk!" And -Aunt Nesbit, with an abused air,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> got up, walked quietly to the -looking-glass, took off her morning cap, unlocked her drawer, and laid -it in; took out another, which Nina could not see differed a particle -from the last, held it up thoughtfully on her hand, and appeared -absorbed in the contemplation of it,—while Nina, swelling with a -mixture of anger and mortification, stood regarding her as she leisurely -picked out each bow, and finally, with a decorous air of solemnity, -arranged it upon her head, patting it tenderly down.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Nesbit," she said, suddenly, as if the words hurt her, "I think I -spoke improperly, and I'm very sorry for it. I beg your pardon."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's no matter, child; I didn't care about it. I'm pretty well used -to your temper."</p> - -<p>Bang went the door, and in a moment Nina stood in the entry, shaking her -fist at it with impotent wrath.</p> - -<p>"You stony, stiff, disagreeable old creature! how came you ever to be my -mother's sister?" And, with the word mother, she burst into a tempest of -tears, and rushed violently to her own chamber. The first object that -she saw was Milly, arranging some clothes in her drawer; and, to her -astonishment, Nina rushed up to her, and, throwing her arms round her -neck, sobbed and wept in such tumultuous excitement that the good -creature was alarmed.</p> - -<p>"Laws bless my soul, my dear little lamb! what's the matter? Why, don't! -Don't, honey! Why, bless the dear little soul! bless the dear precious -lamb! who's been a hurting of it?" And, at each word of endearment, -Nina's distress broke out afresh, and she sobbed so bitterly that the -faithful creature really began to be frightened.</p> - -<p>"Laws, Miss Nina, I hope there an't nothing happened to you now!"</p> - -<p>"No, no, nothing, Milly, only I am lonesome, and I want my mother! I -haven't got any mother! Dear me!" she said, with a fresh burst.</p> - -<p>"Ah, the poor thing!" said Milly, compassionately, sitting down, and -fondling Nina in her arms, as if she had been a babe. "Poor chile! Laws, -yes; I 'member your ma was a beautiful woman!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, speaking between her sobs, "the girls at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> school had -mothers. And there was Mary Brooks, she used to read to me her mother's -letters, and I used to feel so, all the while, to think nobody wrote -such letters to me! And there's Aunt Nesbit—I don't care what they say -about her being religious, she is the most selfish, hateful creature I -ever did see! I do believe, if I was lying dead and laid out in the next -room to her, she would be thinking what she'd get next for dinner!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't, my poor lamb, don't!" said Milly, compassionately.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I will, too! She's always taking it for granted that I'm the -greatest sinner on the face of the earth! She don't scold me—she don't -care enough about me to scold! She only takes it for granted, in her -hateful, quiet way, that I'm going to destruction, and that she can't -help it, and don't care! Supposing I'm not good!—what's to make me -good? Is it going to make me good for people to sit up so stiff, and -tell me they always knew I was a fool, and a flirt, and all that? Milly, -I've had dreadful turns of wanting to be good, and I've laid awake -nights and cried because I wasn't good. And what makes it worse is, that -I think if Ma was alive she could help me. She wasn't like Aunt Nesbit, -was she, Milly?"</p> - -<p>"No, honey, she wasn't. I'll tell you about your ma some time, honey."</p> - -<p>"The worst of it is," said Nina, "when Aunt Nesbit speaks to me in her -hateful way, I get angry; then I speak in a way that isn't proper, I -know. Oh, if she only would get angry with me back again! or if she'd do -anything in the world but stand still, in her still way, telling me she -is astonished at me! That's a lie, too; for she never was astonished at -anything in her life! She hasn't life enough to be!"</p> - -<p>"Ah, Miss Nina, we mustn't spect more of folks than there is in them."</p> - -<p>"Expect? I don't expect!"</p> - -<p>"Well, bless you, honey, when you knows what folks <i>is</i>, don't let's -worry. Ye can't fill a quart-cup out of a thimble, honey, no way you can -fix it. There's just whar 'tis. I knowed your ma, and I's knowed Miss -Loo, ever since she was a girl. 'Pears like they wan't no more alike -than snow is like sugar. Miss Loo, when she was a girl, she was that -pretty that everybody was wondering after her; but to de love, dat ar -went after your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> ma. Couldn't tell why it was, honey. 'Peared like Miss -Loo wan't techy, nor she wan't one of your bursting-out sort, scolding -round. 'Peared like she'd never hurt nobody; and yet our people, they -couldn't none of dem bar her. 'Peared like nobody did nothing for her -with a will."</p> - -<p>"Well, good reason!" said Nina; "she never did anything for anybody else -with a will! She never cared for anybody! Now, I'm selfish; I always -knew it. I do a great many selfish things; but it's a different kind -from hers. Do you know, Milly, she don't seem to know she is selfish? -There she sits, rocking in her old chair, so sure she's going straight -to heaven, and don't care whether anybody else gets there or not!"</p> - -<p>"Oh laws, now, Miss Nina, you's too hard on her. Why, look how patient -she sits with Tomtit, teaching him his hymns and varses."</p> - -<p>"And you think that's because she cares anything about him? Do you know -she thinks he isn't fit to go to heaven, and that if he dies he'll go to -the bad place. And yet, if he was to die to-morrow, she'd talk to you -about clear-starching her caps! No wonder the child don't love her! She -talks to him just as she does to me; tells him she don't expect anything -of him—she knows he'll never come to any good; and the little wretch -has got it by heart, now. Do you know that, though I get in a passion -with Tom, sometimes, and though I'm sure I should perish sitting boring -with him over those old books, yet I really believe I care more for him -than she does? And he knows it, too. He sees through her as plain as I -do. You'll never make me believe that Aunt Nesbit has got religion. I -know there is such a thing as religion; but she hasn't got it. It isn't -all being sober, and crackling old stiff religious newspapers, and -boring with texts and hymns, that makes people religious. She is just as -worldly-minded as I am, only it's in another way. There, now, I wanted -her to advise me about something, to-day. Why, Milly, all girls want -somebody to talk with; and if she'd only showed the least interest in -what I said, she might scold me and lecture me as much as she'd a mind -to. But, to have her not even hear me! And when she must have seen that -I was troubled and perplexed, and wanted somebody to advise me, she -turned round so cool, and began to talk about the onions and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> the -stuffing! Got me so angry! I suppose she is in her room, now, rocking, -and thinking what a sinner I am!"</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Miss Nina, 'pears though you've talked enough about dat ar; -'pears like it won't make you feel no better."</p> - -<p>"Yes it <i>does</i> make me feel better! I had to speak to somebody, Milly, -or else I should have burst; and now I wonder where Harry is. He always -could find a way for me out of anything."</p> - -<p>"He is gone over to see his wife, I think, Miss Nina."</p> - -<p>"Oh, too bad! Do sent Tomtit after him, right away. Tell him that I want -him to come right home, this very minute—something very particular. -And, Milly, you just go and tell Old Hundred to get out the carriage and -horses, and I'll go over and drop a note in the post-office, myself. I -won't trust it to Tomtit; for I know he'll lose it."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina," said Milly, looking hesitatingly, "I 'spect you don't know -how things go about round here; but the fact is, Old Hundred has got so -kind of cur'ous, lately, there can't nobody do nothing with him, except -Harry. Don't 'tend to do nothing Miss Loo tells him to. I's feared he'll -make up some story or other about the horses; but he won't get 'em -out—now, mind, I tell you, chile!"</p> - -<p>"He won't! I should like to know if he won't, when I tell him to! A -pretty story that would be! I'll soon teach him that he has a live -mistress—somebody quite different from Aunt Loo!"</p> - -<p>"Well, well, chile, perhaps you'd better go. He wouldn't mind me, I -know. Maybe he'll do it for you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes; I'll just run down to his house, and hurry him up." And Nina, -quite restored to her usual good-humor, tripped gayly across to the -cabin of Old Hundred, that stood the other side of the house.</p> - -<p>Old Hundred's true name was, in fact, John. But he had derived the -appellation, by which he was always known, from the extreme moderation -of all his movements. Old Hundred had a double share of that profound -sense of the dignity of his office which is an attribute of the tribe of -coachmen in general. He seemed to consider the horses and carriage as a -sort of family ark, of which he was the high priest, and which it was -his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> business to save from desecration. According to his own showing, -all the people on the plantation, and indeed the whole world in general, -were in a state of habitual conspiracy against the family carriage and -horses, and he was standing for them, single-handed, at the risk of his -life. It was as much part of his duty, in virtue of his office, to show -cause, on every occasion, why the carriage should <i>not</i> be used, as it -is for state attorneys to undertake prosecutions. And it was also a part -of the accomplishment of his situation to conduct his refusal in the -most decorous manner; always showing that it was only the utter -impossibility of the case which prevented. The available grounds of -refusal Old Hundred had made a life-study, and had always a store of -them cut and dried for use, all ready at a moment's notice. In the first -place, there were always a number of impossibilities with regard to the -carriage. Either "it was muddy, and he was laying out to wash it;" or -else "he had washed it, and couldn't have it splashed;" or "he had taken -out the back curtain, and had laid out to put a stitch in it, one of -dese yer days;" or there was something the matter with the irons. "He -reckoned they was a little bit sprung." He "'lowed he'd ask the -blacksmith about it, some of dese yer times." And then as to the horses -the possibilities were rich and abundant. What with strains, and loose -shoes, and stones getting in at the hoofs, dangers of all sorts of -complaints, for which he had his own vocabulary of names, it was next to -an impossibility, according to any ordinary rule of computing chances, -that the two should be in complete order together.</p> - -<p>Utterly ignorant, however, of the magnitude of the undertaking which she -was attempting, and buoyant with the consciousness of authority, Nina -tripped singing along, and found Old Hundred tranquilly reclining in his -tent-door, watching through his half-shut eyes, while the afternoon -sunbeam irradiated the smoke which rose from the old pipe between his -teeth. A large, black, one-eyed crow sat perching, with a quizzical air, -upon his knee; and when he heard Nina's footsteps approaching, cocked -his remaining eye towards her, with a smart, observing attitude, as if -he had been deputed to look out for applications while his master dozed. -Between this crow, who had received the sobriquet of Uncle Jeff, and his -master, there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>existed a most particular bond of friendship and amity. -This was further strengthened by the fact that they were both equally -disliked by all the inhabitants of the place. Like many people who are -called to stand in responsible positions, Old Hundred had rather failed -in the humble virtues, and become dogmatical and dictatorial to that -degree that nobody but his own wife could do anything with him. And as -to Jeff, if the principle of thievery could be incarnate, he might have -won a temple among the Lacedemonians. In various skirmishes and battles -consequent on his misdeeds, Jeff had lost an eye, and had a considerable -portion of the feathers scalded off on one side of his head; while the -remaining ones, discomposed by the incident, ever after stood up in a -protesting attitude, imparting something still more sinister to his -goblin appearance. In another rencounter he had received a permanent -twist in the neck, which gave him always the appearance of looking over -his shoulder, and added not a little to the oddity of the general -effect. Uncle Jeff thieved with an assiduity and skill which were worthy -of a better cause; and, when not upon any serious enterprise of this -kind, employed his time in pulling up corn, scratching up newly-planted -flower-seeds, tangling yarn, pulling out knitting-needles, pecking the -eyes of sleeping people, scratching and biting children, and any other -little miscellaneous mischief which occurred to him. He was invaluable -to Old Hundred, because he was a standing apology for any and all -discoveries made on his premises of things which ought not to have been -there. No matter what was brought to light,—whether spoons from the -great house, or a pair of sleeve-buttons, or a handkerchief, or a pipe -from a neighboring cabin,—Jeff was always called up to answer. Old -Hundred regularly scolded, on these occasions, and declared he was -enough to "spile the character of any man's house." And Jeff would look -at him comically over the shoulder, and wink his remaining eye, as much -as to say that the scolding was a settled thing between them, and that -he wasn't going to take it at all in ill part.</p> - -<p>"Uncle John," said Nina, "I want you to get the carriage out for me, -right away. I want to take a ride over the cross run."</p> - -<p>"Laws bless you sweet face, honey, chile, I's dreadful sorry; but you -can't do it dis yer day."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p><p>"Can't do it! Why not?"</p> - -<p>"Why, bless you, chile, it an't possible, no way. Can't have the -carriage and hosses dis yer arternoon."</p> - -<p>"But I <i>must</i> go over to cross run to the post-office. I must go this -minute!"</p> - -<p>"Law, chile, you can't do it! fur you can't walk, and it's sartain you -can't ride, because dese yer hosses, nor dis yer carriage, can't stir -out dis yer arternoon, no way you can fix it. Mout go, perhaps, -to-morrow, or next week."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle John, I don't believe a word of it! I want them this -afternoon, and I say I <i>must</i> have them!"</p> - -<p>"No, you can't, chile," said Old Hundred, in a tender, condescending -tone, as if he was speaking to a baby. "I tell you dat ar is impossible. -Why, bless your soul, Miss Nina, de curtains is all off de carriage!"</p> - -<p>"Well, put them on again, then!"</p> - -<p>"Ah, Miss Nina, dat ar an't all. Pete was desperate sick, last night; -took with de thumps, powerful bad. Why, Miss Nina, he was dat sick I had -to be up with him most all night!" And, while Old Hundred thus adroitly -issued this little work of fiction, the raven nodded waggishly at Nina, -as much as to say, "You hear that fellow, now!"</p> - -<p>Nina stood quite perplexed, biting her lips, and Old Hundred seemed to -go into a profound slumber.</p> - -<p>"I don't believe but what the horses can go to-day! I mean to go and -look."</p> - -<p>"Laws, honey, chile, ye can't, now; de do's is all locked, and I've got -de key in my pocket. Every one of dem critturs would have been killed -forty times over 'fore now. I think everybody in dis yer world is arter -dem dar critturs. Miss Loo, she's wanting 'em to go one way, and Harry's -allers usin' de critturs. Got one out, dis yer arternoon, riding over to -see his wife. Don't see no use in his riding round so grand, noway! -Laws, Miss Nina, your pa used to say to me, says he, 'Uncle John, you -knows more about dem critturs dan I do; and, now I tell you what it is, -Uncle John—you take care of dem critturs; don't you let nobody kill 'em -for nothing.' Now, Miss Nina, I's always a walking in the steps of the -colonel's 'rections. Now, good, clar, bright weather, over good roads, -I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> likes to trot the critturs out. Dat ar is reasonable. But, den, what -roads is over the cross run, I want to know? Dem dere roads is de most -mis'ablest things you ever did see. Mud! Hi! Ought for to see de mud -down dar by de creek! Why, de bridge all tared off! Man drowned in dat -dar creek once! Was so! It an't no sort of road for young ladies to go -over. Tell you, Miss Nina; why don' you let Harry carry your letter -over? If he must be ridin' round de country, don't see why he couldn't -do some good wid his ridin'. Why, de carriage wouldn't get over before -ten o'clock, dis yer night! Now, mine, I tell you. Besides, it's gwine -fur to rain. I's been feeling dat ar in my corns, all dis yer morning; -and Jeff, he's been acting like the berry debil hisself—de way he -always does 'fore it rains. Never knowed dat ar sign to fail."</p> - -<p>"The short of the matter is, Uncle John, you are determined not to go," -said Nina. "But I tell you you <i>shall</i> go!—there, now! Now, do you get -up immediately, and get out those horses!"</p> - -<p>Old Hundred still sat quiet, smoking; and Nina, after reiterating her -orders till she got thoroughly angry, began, at last, to ask herself the -question, how she was going to carry them into execution. Old Hundred -appeared to have descended into himself in a profound reverie, and -betrayed not the smallest sign of hearing anything she said.</p> - -<p>"I wish Harry would come back quick," she said to herself as she -pensively retraced her steps through the garden; but Tomtit had taken -the commission to go for him in his usual leisurely way spending the -greater part of the afternoon on the road.</p> - -<p>"Now, an't you ashamed of yourself, you mean old nigger!" said Aunt -Rose, the wife of Old Hundred, who had been listening to the -conversation; "talking 'bout de creek, and de mud, and de critturs, and -Lor knows what all, when we all knows it's nothing but your laziness!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Old Hundred, "and what would come o' the critturs if I -wasn't lazy, I want to know? Laziness! it's the berry best thing for the -critturs can be. Where'd dem horses a been now, if I had been one of -your highfelutin sort, always driving round? Where'd dey a been, and -what would dey a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> been, hey? Who wants to see hosses all skin and bone? -Lord! if I had been like some o' de coachmen, de buzzards would have had -the picking of dem critturs, long ago!"</p> - -<p>"I rally believe that you've told dem dar lies till you begin to believe -them yourself!" said Rose. "Telling our dear, sweet young lady about -your being up with Pete all night, when de Lord knows you laid here -snoring fit to tar de roof off!"</p> - -<p>"Well, must say something! Folks must be 'spectful to de ladies. Course -I couldn't tell her I <i>wouldn't</i> take de critturs out; so I just trots -out scuse. Ah! lots of dem scuses I keeps! I tell you, now, scuses is -excellent things. Why, scuses is like dis yer grease that keeps de -wheels from screaking. Lord bless you, de whole world turns round on -scuses. Whar de world be if everybody was such fools to tell the raal -reason for everything they are gwine for to do, or an't gwine fur to!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VII.</span> <span class="smaller">CONSULTATION.</span></h2> - -<p>"Oh, Harry, I'm so glad to see you back! In such trouble as I've been -to-day! Don't you think, this very morning, as I was sitting in Aunt -Nesbit's room, Tomtit brought up these two letters; and one of them is -from Clayton, and the other from Mr. Carson; and, now, see here what -Clayton says: 'I shall have business that will take me in your vicinity -next week; and it is quite possible, unless I hear from you to the -contrary, that you may see me at Canema next Friday or Saturday.' Well, -then, see here; there's another from Mr. Carson,—that hateful Carson! -Now, you see, he hasn't got my letter; says he is coming. What -impudence! I'm tired to death of that creature, and he'll be here just -as certain! Disagreeable people always do keep their promises! He'll -certainly be here!"</p> - -<p>"Well, Miss Nina, you recollect you said you thought it would be good -fun."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Harry, don't bring that up, I beg of you! The fact is, Harry, I've -altered my mind about that. You know I've put a stop to all those -foolish things at once, and am done with them. You know I wrote to -Carson and Emmons, both, that my sentiments had changed, and all that -sort of thing, that the girls always say. I'm going to dismiss all of -'em at once, and have no more fooling."</p> - -<p>"What, all? Mr. Clayton and all?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't know, exactly,—no. Do you know, Harry, I think his -letters are rather improving?—at least, they are different letters from -any I've got before; and, though I don't think I shall break my heart -after him, yet I like to get them. But the other two I'm sick to death -of; and, as for having that creature boring round here, I won't! At any -rate, I don't want him and Clayton here together. I wouldn't have them -together<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> for the world; and I wrote a letter to keep Carson off, this -morning, and I've been in trouble all day. Everybody has plagued me. -Aunt Nesbit only gave me one of her mopy lectures about flirting, and -wouldn't help me in the least. And, then, Old Hundred: I wanted him to -get out the carriage and horses for me to go over and put this letter in -the office, and I never saw such a creature in my life! I can't make him -do anything! I should like to know what the use is of having servants, -if you can't get anything done!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, as to Old Hundred, I understand him, and he understands me," said -Harry. "I never find any trouble with him; but he is a provoking old -creature. He stands very much on the dignity of his office. But, if you -want your letter carried to-night, I can contrive a safer way than that, -if you'll trust it to me."</p> - -<p>"Ah! well, do take it!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Harry, "I'll send a messenger across on horseback, and I -have means to make him faithful."</p> - -<p>"Well, Harry, Harry!" said Nina, catching at his sleeve as he was going -out, "come back again, won't you? I want to talk to you."</p> - -<p>During Harry's absence, our heroine drew a letter from her bosom, and -read it over.</p> - -<p>"How well he writes!" she said to herself. "So different from the rest -of them! I wish he'd keep away from here,—that's what I do! It's a -pretty thing to get his letters, but I don't think I want to see <i>him</i>. -Oh, dear! I wish I had somebody to talk to about it—Aunt Nesbit is <i>so</i> -cross! I can't—no, I won't care about him! Harry is a kind soul."</p> - -<p>"Ah, Harry, have you sent the letter?" said she eagerly as he entered.</p> - -<p>"I have, Miss Nina; but I can't flatter you too much. I'm afraid it's -too late for the mail—though there's never any saying when the mail -goes out, within two or three hours."</p> - -<p>"Well, I hope it will stay for me, once. If that stupid creature comes, -why, I don't know what I shall do! He's so presuming! and he'll squeak -about with those horrid shoes of his; and then, I suppose, it will all -come out, one way or another; and I don't know what Clayton will think."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>"But I thought you didn't care <i>what</i> he thought."</p> - -<p>"Well, you know, he's been writing to me all about his family. There's -his father, is a very distinguished man, of a very old family; and he's -been writing to me about his sister, the most dreadfully sensible -sister, he has got—good, lovely, accomplished, and pious! Oh, dear me! -I don't know what in the world he ever thought of <i>me</i> for! And, do you -think, there's a postscript from his sister, written elegantly as can -be!"</p> - -<p>"As to family, Miss Nina," said Harry, "I think the Gordons can hold up -their heads with anybody; and, then, I rather think you'll like Miss -Clayton."</p> - -<p>"Ah! but, then, Harry, this talking about fathers and sisters, it's -bringing the thing awfully <i>near!</i> It looks so much, you know, as if I -really were caught. Do you know, Harry, I think I'm just like my pony? -You know, she likes to have you come and offer her corn, and stroke her -neck; and she likes to <i>make you believe</i> she's going to let you catch -her; but when it comes to putting a bridle on her, she's off in a -minute. Now, that's the way with me. It's rather exciting, you know, -these beaux, and love-letters, and talking sentiment, going to the -opera, and taking rides on horseback, and all that. But, when men get to -talking about their fathers, and their sisters, and to act as if they -were sure of me, I'm just like Sylfine—I want to be off. You know, -Harry, I think it's a very serious thing, this being married. It's -dreadful! I don't want to be a woman grown. I wish <i>I</i> could always be a -girl, and live just as I have lived, and have plenty more girls come and -see me, and have fun. I haven't been a bit happy lately, not a bit; and -I never was unhappy before in my life."</p> - -<p>"Well, why don't you write to Mr. Clayton, and break it all off, if you -feel so about it?"</p> - -<p>"Well, why don't I? I don't know. I've had a great mind to do it; but -I'm afraid I should feel worse than I do now. He's coming just like a -great dark shadow over my life, and everything is beginning to feel so -real to me! I don't want to take up life in earnest. I read a story, -once, about Undine; and, do you know, Harry, I think I feel just as -Undine did, when she felt her soul coming in her?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p><p>"And is Clayton Knight Heldebound?" said Harry, smiling.</p> - -<p>"I don't know. What if he should be? Now, Harry, you see the fact is -that sensible men get their heads turned by such kind of girls as I am; -and they pet us, and humor us. But, then, I'm afraid they're thinking, -all the while, that their turn to rule is coming, by and by. They marry -us because they think they are going to make us over; and what I'm -afraid of is, I never <i>can</i> be made over. Don't think I was cut out -right in the first place; and there never will be much more of me than -there is now. And he'll be comparing me with his pattern sister; and I -shan't be any the more amiable for that. Now, his sister is what folks -call highly-educated, you know, Harry. She understands all about -literature, and everything. As for me, I've just cultivation enough to -appreciate a fine horse—that's the extent. And yet I'm proud. I -wouldn't wish to stand second, in his opinion, even to his sister. So, -there it is. That's the way with us girls! We are always wanting what we -know we ought not to have, and are not willing to take the trouble to -get."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, if you'll let me speak my mind out frankly, now, I want to -offer one piece of advice. Just be perfectly true and open with Mr. -Clayton; and if he and Mr. Carson should come together, just tell him -frankly how the matter stands. You are a Gordon, and they say truth -always runs in the Gordon blood; and now, Miss Nina, you are no longer a -school-girl, but a young lady at the head of the estate."</p> - -<p>He stopped, and hesitated.</p> - -<p>"Well, Harry, you needn't stop. I understand you—got a few grains of -sense left, I hope, and haven't got so many friends that I can afford to -get angry with you for nothing."</p> - -<p>"I suppose," said Harry, thoughtfully, "that your aunt will be well -enough to be down to the table. Have you told her how matters stand?"</p> - -<p>"Who? Aunt Loo? Catch me telling her anything! No, Harry, I've got to -stand all alone. I haven't any mother, and I haven't any sister; and -Aunt Loo is worse than nobody, because it's provoking to have somebody -round that you feel might take an interest, and ought to, and don't care -a red cent for you. Well, I declare, if I'm not much,—if I'm not such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -a model as Miss Clayton, there,—how could any one expect it, when I -have just come up by myself, first at the plantation, here, and then at -that French boarding-school? I tell you what, Harry, boarding-schools -are not what they're cried up to be. It's good fun, no doubt, but we -never learnt anything there. That is to say, we never learnt it -internally, but had it just rubbed on to us outside. A girl can't help, -of course, learning something; and I've learnt just what I happened to -like and couldn't help, and a deal that isn't of the most edifying -nature besides."</p> - -<p>Well! we shall see what will come!</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VIII.</span> <span class="smaller">OLD TIFF.</span></h2> - -<p>"I say, Tiff, <i>do</i> you think he will come, to-night?"</p> - -<p>"Laws, laws, Missis, how can Tiff tell? I's been a gazin' out de do'. -Don't see nor hear nothin'."</p> - -<p>"It's so lonesome!—<i>so</i> lonesome!—and the nights so long!"</p> - -<p>And the speaker, an emaciated, feeble little woman, turned herself -uneasily on the ragged pallet where she was lying, and, twirling her -slender fingers nervously, gazed up at the rough, unplastered beams -above.</p> - -<p>The room was of the coarsest and rudest cast. The hut was framed of -rough pine logs, filled between the crevices with mud and straw; the -floor made of rough-split planks, unevenly jointed together; the window -was formed by some single panes arranged in a row where a gap had been -made in one of the logs. At one end was a rude chimney of sticks, where -smouldered a fire of pine-cones and brushwood, covered over with a light -coat of white ashes. On the mantel over it was a shelf, which displayed -sundry vials, a cracked teapot and tumbler, some medicinal-looking -packages, a turkey's wing, much abridged and defaced by frequent usage, -some bundles of dry herbs, and lastly a gayly-painted mug of coarse -crockery-ware, containing a bunch of wild-flowers. On pegs, driven into -the logs, were arranged different articles of female attire, and divers -little coats and dresses, which belonged to smaller wearers, with now -and then soiled and coarse articles of man's apparel.</p> - -<p>The woman, who lay upon a coarse chaff pallet in the corner, was one who -once might have been pretty. Her skin was fair, her hair soft and -curling, her eyes of a beautiful blue, her hands thin and transparent as -pearl. But the deep, dark circles under the eyes, the thin, white lips, -the attenuated limbs, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>hurried breathing, and the burning spots in -the cheek, told that, whatever she might have been, she was now not long -for this world.</p> - -<p>Beside her bed was sitting an old negro, in whose close-curling wool age -had began to sprinkle flecks of white. His countenance presented, -physically, one of the most uncomely specimens of negro features; and -would have been positively frightful, had it not been redeemed by an -expression of cheerful kindliness which beamed from it. His face was of -ebony blackness, with a wide, upturned nose, a mouth of portentous size, -guarded by clumsy lips, revealing teeth which a shark might have envied. -The only fine feature was his large, black eyes, which, at the present, -were concealed by a huge pair of plated spectacles, placed very low upon -his nose, and through which he was directing his sight upon a child's -stocking, that he was busily darning. At his foot was a rude cradle, -made of a gum-tree log, hollowed out into a trough, and wadded by -various old fragments of flannel, in which slept a very young infant. -Another child, of about three years of age, was sitting on the negro's -knee, busily playing with some pine-cones and mosses.</p> - -<p>The figure of the old negro was low and stooping; and he wore, pinned -round his shoulders, a half-handkerchief or shawl of red flannel, -arranged much as an old woman would have arranged it. One or two -needles, with coarse, black thread dangling to them, were stuck in on -his shoulder; and as he busily darned on the little stocking, he kept up -a kind of droning intermixture of chanting and talking to the child on -his knee.</p> - -<p>"So, ho, Teddy!—bub dar!—my man!—sit still!—cause yer ma's sick, and -sister's gone for medicine. Dar, Tiff'll sing to his little man.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'Christ was born in Bethlehem,</div> -<div>Christ was born in Bethlehem,</div> -<div class="i3">And in a manger laid.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Take car, dar!—dat ar needle scratch yer little fingers!—poor little -fingers! Ah, be still, now!—play wid yer pretty tings, and see what yer -pa'll bring ye!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear me!—well!" said the woman on the bed, "I shall give up!"</p> - -<p>"Bress de Lord, no, missis!" said Tiff, laying down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> stocking, and -holding the child to him with one hand, while the other was busy in -patting and arranging the bedclothes. "No use in givin' up! Why, Lord -bress you, missis, we'll be all up right agin in a few days. Work has -been kinder pressin', lately, and chil'ns clothes an't quite so -'speckable; but den I's doin' heaps o' mendin'. See dat ar!" said he, -holding up a slip of red flannel, resplendent with a black patch, "dat -ar hole won't go no furder—and it does well enough for Teddy to wear -rollin' round de do', and such like times, to save his bettermost. And -de way I's put de yarn in dese yer stockings an't slow. Den I's laid out -to take a stitch in Teddy's shoes; and dat ar hole in de kiverlet, dat -ar'll be stopped 'fore morning. Oh, let me alone!—he! he! he!—Ye -didn't keep Tiff for nothing, missis—ho, ho, ho!" And the black face -seemed really to become unctuous with the oil of gladness, as Tiff -proceeded in his work of consolation.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tiff, Tiff! you're a good creature! But you don't know. Here I've -been lying alone day after day, and he off, nobody knows where! And when -he comes, it'll be only a day, and he's off; and all he does don't -amount to anything—all miserable rubbish brought home and traded off -for other rubbish. Oh, what a fool I was for being married! Oh, dear! -girls little know what marriage is! I thought it was so dreadful to be -an old maid, and a pretty thing to get married! But, oh, the pain, and -worry, and sickness, and suffering, I've gone through!—always wandering -from place to place, never settled; one thing going after another, -worrying, watching, weary,—and all for nothing, for I am worn out, and -I shall die!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lord, no!" said Tiff, earnestly. "Lor, Tiff'll make ye some tea, -and give it to ye, ye poor lamb! It's drefful hard, so 'tis; but -times'll mend, and massa'll come round and be more settled, like, and -Teddy will grow up and help his ma; and I'm sure dere isn't a pearter -young un dan dis yer puppet!" said he, turning fondly to the trough -where the little fat, red mass of incipient humanity was beginning to -throw up two small fists, and to utter sundry small squeaks, to intimate -his desire to come into notice.</p> - -<p>"Lor, now," said he, adroitly depositing Teddy on the floor, and taking -up the baby, whom he regarded fondly through his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> great spectacles; -"stretch away, my pretty! stretch away! ho-e-ho! Lor, if he hasn't got -his mammy's eye, for all dis worl! Ah, brave! See him, missis!" said he, -laying the little bundle on the bed by her. "Did ye ever see a peartier -young un? He, he, he! Dar, now, his mammy should take him, so she -should! and Tiff'll make mammy some tea, so he will!" And Tiff, in a -moment, was on his knees, carefully laying together the ends of the -burned sticks, and blowing a cloud of white ashes, which powdered his -woolly head and red shawl like snow-flakes, while Teddy was busy in -pulling the needles out of some knitting-work which hung in a bag by the -fire.</p> - -<p>Tiff, having started the fire by blowing, proceeded very carefully to -adjust upon it a small, black porringer of water, singing, as he did -so,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"My way is dark and cloudy,</div> -<div class="i7">So it is, so it is;</div> -<div>My way is dark and cloudy,</div> -<div class="i8">All de day."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Then, rising from his work, he saw that the poor, weak mother had -clasped the baby to her bosom, and was sobbing very quietly. Tiff, as he -stood there, with his short, square, ungainly figure, his long arms -hanging out from his side like bows, his back covered by the red shawl, -looked much like a compassionate tortoise standing on its hind legs. He -looked pitifully at the sight, took off his glasses and wiped his eyes, -and lifted up his voice in another stave:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"But we'll join de forty tousand, by and by,</div> -<div class="i12">So we will, so we will.</div> -<div>We'll join de forty tousand, upon de golden shore,</div> -<div>And our sorrows will be gone forevermore, more, more."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Bress my soul, Mas'r Teddy! now us been haulin' out de needles from -Miss Fanny's work! dat ar an't purty, now! Tiff'll be 'shamed of ye, and -ye do like dat when yer ma's sick! Don't ye know ye must be good, else -Tiff won't tell ye no stories! Dar, now, sit down on dis yere log; dat -ar's just the nicest log! plenty o' moss on it yer can be a pickin' out! -Now, yer sit still dar, and don't be interruptin' yer ma."</p> - -<p>The urchin opened a wide, round pair of blue eyes upon Tiff, looking as -if he were mesmerized, and sat, with a quiet, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>subdued air, upon his -log, while Tiff went fumbling about in a box in the corner. After some -rattling, he produced a pine-knot, as the daylight was fading fast in -the room, and, driving it into a crack in another log which stood by the -chimney corner, he proceeded busily to light it, muttering, as he did -so,—</p> - -<p>"Want to make it more cheerful like."</p> - -<p>Then he knelt down and blew the coals under the little porringer, which, -like pine-coals in general, always sulked and looked black when somebody -was not blowing them. He blew vigorously, regardless of the clouds of -ashes which encircled him, and which settled even on the tips of his -eyelashes, and balanced themselves on the end of his nose.</p> - -<p>"Bress de Lord, I's dreadful strong in my breff! Lord, dey might have -used me in blacksmissin! I's kep dis yer chimney a gwine dis many a day. -I wonder, now, what keeps Miss Fanny out so long."</p> - -<p>And Tiff rose up with the greatest precaution, and glancing every moment -towards the bed, and almost tipping himself over in his anxiety to walk -softly, advanced to the rude door, which opened with a wooden latch and -string, opened it carefully, and looked out. Looking out with him, we -perceive that the little hut stands alone, in the heart of a dense pine -forest, which shuts it in on every side.</p> - -<p>Tiff held the door open a few moments to listen. No sound was heard but -the shivering wind, swaying and surging in melancholy cadences through -the long pine-leaves,—a lonesome, wailing, uncertain sound.</p> - -<p>"Ah! dese yer pine-trees! dey always a talkin'!" said Tiff to himself, -in a sort of soliloquy. "Whisper, whisper, whisper! De Lord knows what -it's all about! dey never tells folks what dey wants to know. Hark! da -is Foxy, as sure as I'm a livin' sinner! Ah! dar she is!" as a quick, -loud bark reverberated. "Ah, ha! Foxy! you'll bring her along!" -caressing a wolfish-looking, lean cur, who came bounding through the -trees.</p> - -<p>"Ah, yer good-for-nothing! what makes yer run so fast, and leave yer -missus behind ye? Hark! what's dat!"</p> - -<p>The clear voice came carolling gayly from out the pine-trees,</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"If you get there before I do—</div> -<div>I'm bound for the land of Canaan."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p><p>Whereupon Tiff, kindling with enthusiasm, responded,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Look out for me—I'm coming too—</div> -<div>I'm bound for the land of Canaan."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The response was followed by a gay laugh, as a childish voice shouted, -from the woods,—</p> - -<p>"Ha! Tiff, you there?"</p> - -<p>And immediately a bold, bright, blue-eyed girl, of about eight years -old, came rushing forward.</p> - -<p>"Lors, Miss Fannie, so grad you's come! Yer ma's powerful weak dis yer -arternoon!" And then, sinking his voice to a whisper, "Why, now, yer'd -better b'leve her sperits isn't the best! Why, she's that bad, Miss -Fannie, she actually been a cryin' when I put the baby in her arms. -Railly, I'm consarned, and I wish yer pa 'ud come home. Did yer bring de -medicine?"</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes; here 'tis."</p> - -<p>"Ah! so good! I was a makin' of her some tea, to set her up, like, and -I'll put a little drop of dis yer in't. You gwin, now, and speak to yer -ma, and I'll pick up a little light wood round here, and make up de -fire. Massa Teddy'll be powerful glad to see yer. Hope you's got him -something, too!"</p> - -<p>The girl glided softly into the room, and stood over the bed where her -mother was lying.</p> - -<p>"Mother, I've come home," said she, gently.</p> - -<p>The poor, frail creature in the bed seemed to be in one of those -helpless hours of life's voyage, when all its waves and billows are -breaking over the soul; and while the little new-comer was blindly -rooting and striving at her breast, she had gathered the worn -counterpane over her face, and the bed was shaken by her sobbings.</p> - -<p>"Mother! mother! mother!" said the child, softly touching her.</p> - -<p>"Go away! go away, child! Oh, I wish I had never been born! I wish you -had never been born, nor Teddy, nor the baby! It's all nothing but -trouble and sorrow! Fanny, don't you ever marry! Mind what I tell you!"</p> - -<p>The child stood frightened by the bedside, while Tiff had softly -deposited a handful of pine-wood near the fireplace, had taken off the -porringer, and was busily stirring and concocting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> something in an old -cracked china mug. As he stirred, a strain of indignation seemed to -cross his generally tranquil mind, for he often gave short sniffs and -grunts, indicative of extreme disgust, and muttered to himself,—</p> - -<p>"Dis yer comes of quality marrying these yer poor white folks! Never had -no 'pinion on it, no way! Ah! do hear the poor lamb now! 'nough to break -one's heart!"</p> - -<p>By this time, the stirring and flavoring being finished to his taste, he -came to the side of the bed, and began, in a coaxing tone,—</p> - -<p>"Come, now, Miss Sue, come! You's all worn out! No wonder! dat ar great -fellow tugging at you! Bless his dear little soul, he's gaining half a -pound a week! Nough to pull down his ma entirely! Come, now; take a -little sup of this—just a little sup! Warm you up, and put a bit of -life in you; and den I 'spects to fry you a morsel of der chicken, -'cause a boy like dis yer can't be nursed on slops, dat I knows! Dere, -dere, honey!" said he, gently removing the babe, and passing his arm -under the pillow. "I's drefful strong in the back. My arm is long and -strong, and I'll raise you up just as easy! Take a good sup on it, now, -and wash dese troubles down. I reckon the good man above is looking down -on us all, and bring us all round right, some time."</p> - -<p>The invalid, who seemed exhausted by the burst of feeling to which she -had been giving way, mechanically obeyed a voice to which she had always -been accustomed, and drank eagerly, as if with feverish thirst; and when -she had done, she suddenly threw her arms around the neck of her strange -attendant.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tiff, Tiff! poor old black, faithful Tiff! What should I have done -without you? So sick as I've been, and so weak, and so lonesome! But, -Tiff, it's coming to an end pretty soon. I've seen, to-night, that I -an't going to live long, and I've been crying to think the children have -got to live. If I could only take them all into my arms, and all lie -down in the grave together, I should be so glad! I never knew what God -made me for! I've never been fit for anything, nor done anything!"</p> - -<p>Tiff seemed so utterly overcome by this appeal, his great spectacles -were fairly washed down in a flood of tears, and his broad, awkward -frame shook with sobs.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p><p>"Law bless you, Miss Sue, don't be talking dat ar way! Why, if de Lord -<i>should</i> call you, Miss Sue, I can take care of the children. I can -bring them up powerful, I tell ye! But you <i>won't</i> be a-going; you'll -get better! It's just the sperits is low; and, laws, why shouldn't dey -be?"</p> - -<p>Just at this moment a loud barking was heard outside the house, together -with the rattle of wheels and the tramp of horses' feet.</p> - -<p>"Dar's massa, sure as I'm alive!" said he, hastily laying down the -invalid, and arranging her pillows.</p> - -<p>A rough voice called, "Hallo, Tiff! here with a light!"</p> - -<p>Tiff caught the pine-knot, and ran to open the door. A strange-looking -vehicle, of a most unexampled composite order, was standing before the -door, drawn by a lean, one-eyed horse.</p> - -<p>"Here, Tiff, help me out. I've got a lot of goods here. How's Sue?"</p> - -<p>"Missis is powerful bad; been wanting to see you dis long time."</p> - -<p>"Well, away, Tiff! take this out," indicating a long, rusty piece of -stove-pipe.</p> - -<p>"Lay this in the house; and here!" handing a cast-iron stove-door, with -the latch broken.</p> - -<p>"Law, Massa, what on earth is the use of dis yer?"</p> - -<p>"Don't ask questions, Tiff; work away. Help me out with these boxes."</p> - -<p>"What on arth now?" said Tiff to himself, as one rough case after -another was disgorged from the vehicle, and landed in the small cabin. -This being done, and orders being given to Tiff to look after the horse -and equipage, the man walked into the house, with a jolly, slashing air.</p> - -<p>"Hallo, bub!" said he, lifting the two-year-old above his head. "Hallo, -Fan!" imprinting a kiss on the cheek of his girl. "Hallo, Sis!" coming -up to the bed where the invalid lay, and stooping down over her. Her -weak, wasted arms were thrown around his neck, and she said, with sudden -animation,</p> - -<p>"Oh, you've come at last! I thought I should die without seeing you!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, you an't a-going to die, Sis! Why, what talk!" said he, chucking -her under the chin. "Why, your cheeks are as red as roses!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p><p>"Pa, see the baby!" said little Teddy, who, having climbed over the -bed, opened the flannel bundle.</p> - -<p>"Ah! Sis, I call that ar a tolerable fair stroke of business! Well, I -tell <i>you</i> what, I've done up a trade now that will set us up and no -mistake. Besides which, I've got something now in my coat-pocket that -would raise a dead cat to life, if she was lying at the bottom of a -pond, with a stone round her neck! See here! 'Dr. Puffer's Elixir of the -Water of Life!' warranted to cure janders, toothache, earache, scrofula, -speptia, 'sumption, and everything else that ever I hearn of! A -teaspoonful of that ar, morn and night, and in a week you'll be round -agin, as pert as a cricket!"</p> - -<p>It was astonishing to see the change which the entrance of this man had -wrought on the invalid. All her apprehensions seemed to have vanished. -She sat up on the bed, following his every movement with her eyes, and -apparently placing full confidence in the new medicine, as if it were -the first time that ever a universal remedy had been proposed to her. It -must be noticed, however, that Tiff, who had returned, and was building -the fire, indulged himself, now and then, when the back of the speaker -was turned, by snuffing at him in a particularly contemptuous manner. -The man was a thick-set and not ill-looking personage, who might have -been forty or forty-five years of age. His eyes, of a clear, lively -brown, his close-curling hair, his high forehead, and a certain -devil-may-care frankness of expression, were traits not disagreeable, -and which went some way to account for the partial eagerness with which -the eye of the wife followed him.</p> - -<p>The history of the pair is briefly told. He was the son of a small -farmer of North Carolina. His father, having been so unfortunate as to -obtain possession of a few negroes, the whole family became ever after -inspired with an intense disgust for all kinds of labor; and John, the -oldest son, adopted for himself the ancient and honorable profession of -a loafer. To lie idle in the sun in front of some small grog-shop, to -attend horse-races, cock-fights, and gander-pullings, to flout out -occasionally in a new waistcoat, bought with money which came nobody -knew how, were pleasures to him all-satisfactory. He was as guiltless of -all knowledge of common-school learning as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>Governor Berkley could -desire, and far more clear of religious training than a Mahometan or a -Hindoo.</p> - -<p>In one of his rambling excursions through the country, he stopped a -night at a worn-out and broken-down old plantation, where everything had -run down, through many years of mismanagement and waste. There he stayed -certain days, playing cards with the equally hopeful son of the place, -and ended his performances by running away one night with the -soft-hearted daughter, only fifteen years of age, and who was full as -idle, careless, and untaught, as he.</p> - -<p>The family, whom poverty could not teach to forget their pride, were -greatly scandalized at the marriage; and, had there been anything left -in the worn-out estate wherewith to portion her, the bride, -nevertheless, would have been portionless. The sole piece of property -that went out with her from the paternal mansion was one, who, having a -mind and will of his own, could not be kept from following her. The -girl's mother had come from a distant branch of one of the most -celebrated families in Virginia, and Tiff had been her servant; and, -with a heart forever swelling with the remembrances of the ancestral -greatness of the Peytons, he followed his young mistress in her -mésalliance with long-suffering devotion. He even bowed his neck so far -as to acknowledge for his master a man whom he considered by position -infinitely his inferior; for Tiff, though crooked and black, never -seemed to cherish the slightest doubt that the whole force of the Peyton -blood coursed through his veins, and that the Peyton honor was intrusted -to his keeping. His mistress was a Peyton, her children were Peyton -children, and even the little bundle of flannel in the gum-tree cradle -was a Peyton; and as for him, he was Tiff Peyton, and this thought -warmed and consoled him as he followed his poor mistress during all the -steps of her downward course in the world. On her husband he looked with -patronizing, civil contempt. He wished him well; he thought it proper to -put the best face on all his actions; but, in a confidential hour, Tiff -would sometimes raise his spectacles emphatically, and give it out, as -his own private opinion, "dat dere could not be much 'spected from dat -ar 'scription of people!"</p> - -<p>In fact, the roving and unsettled nature of John Cripps's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>avocations -and locations might have justified the old fellow's contempt. His -industrial career might be defined as comprising a little of everything, -and a great deal of nothing. He had begun, successively, to learn two or -three trades; had half made a horse-shoe, and spoiled one or two -carpenter's planes; had tried his hand at stage-driving; had raised -fighting-cocks, and kept dogs for hunting negroes. But he invariably -retreated from every one of his avocations, in his own opinion a -much-abused man. The last device that had entered his head was suggested -by the success of a shrewd Yankee peddler, who, having a lot of damaged -and unsalable material to dispose of, talked him into the belief that he -possessed yet an undeveloped talent for trade; and poor John Cripps, -guiltless of multiplication or addition table, and who kept his -cock-fighting accounts on his fingers and by making chalk-marks behind -the doors, actually was made to believe that he had at last received his -true vocation.</p> - -<p>In fact, there was something in the constant restlessness of this mode -of life that suited his roving turn; and, though he was constantly -buying what he could not sell, and losing on all that he did sell, yet -somehow he kept up an illusion that he was doing something, because -stray coins now and then passed through his pockets, and because the -circle of small taverns in which he could drink and loaf was -considerably larger. There was one resource which never failed him when -all other streams went dry; and that was the unceasing ingenuity and -fidelity of the bondman Tiff.</p> - -<p>Tiff, in fact, appeared to be one of those comfortable old creatures, -who retain such a good understanding with all created nature that food -never is denied them. Fish would always bite on Tiff's hook when they -wouldn't on anybody's else; so that he was wont confidently to call the -nearest stream "Tiff's pork-barrel." Hens always laid eggs for Tiff, and -cackled to him confidentially where they were deposited. Turkeys gobbled -and strutted for him, and led forth for him broods of downy little ones. -All sorts of wild game, squirrels, rabbits, coons, and possums, appeared -to come with pleasure and put themselves into his traps and springes; so -that, where another man might starve, Tiff would look round him with -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>unctuous satisfaction, contemplating all nature as his larder, where -his provisions were wearing fur coats, and walking about on four legs, -only for safe keeping till he got ready to eat them. So that Cripps -never came home without anticipation of something savory, even although -he had drank up his last quarter of a dollar at the tavern. This suited -Cripps. He thought Tiff was doing his duty, and occasionally brought him -home some unsalable bit of rubbish, by way of testimonial of the sense -he entertained of his worth. The spectacles in which Tiff gloried came -to him in this manner; and, although it might have been made to appear -that the glasses were only plain window-glass, Tiff was happily ignorant -that they were not the best of convex lenses, and still happier in the -fact that his strong, unimpaired eyesight made any glasses at all -entirely unnecessary. It was only an aristocratic weakness in Tiff. -Spectacles he somehow considered the mark of a gentleman, and an -appropriate symbol for one who had "been fetched up in the very fustest -families of Old Virginny."</p> - -<p>He deemed them more particularly appropriate, as, in addition to his -manifold outward duties, he likewise assumed, as the reader has seen, -some feminine accomplishments. Tiff could darn a stocking with anybody -in the country; he could cut out children's dresses and aprons; he could -patch, and he could seam; all which he did with infinite -self-satisfaction.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding the many crooks and crosses in his lot, Tiff was, on the -whole, a cheery fellow. He had an oily, rollicking fulness of nature, an -exuberance of physical satisfaction in existence, that the greatest -weight of adversity could only tone down to becoming sobriety. He was on -the happiest terms of fellowship with himself; he <i>liked</i> himself, he -believed in himself; and, when nobody else would do it, he would pat -himself on his own shoulder, and say, "Tiff, you're a jolly dog, a fine -fellow, and I like you!" He was seldom without a running strain of -soliloquy with himself, intermingled with joyous bursts of song, and -quiet intervals of laughter. On pleasant days Tiff laughed a great deal. -He laughed when his beans came up, he laughed when the sun came out -after a storm, he laughed for fifty things that you never think of -laughing at; and it agreed with him—he throve upon it. In times of -trouble and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>perplexity, Tiff talked to himself, and found a counsellor -who always kept secrets. On the present occasion it was not without some -inward discontent that he took a survey of the remains of one of his -best-fatted chickens, which he had been intending to serve up, -piecemeal, for his mistress. So he relieved his mind by a little -confidential colloquy with himself.</p> - -<p>"Dis yer," he said to himself, with a contemptuous inclination toward -the newly-arrived, "will be for eating like a judgment, I 'pose. Wish, -now, I had killed de old gobbler! Good enough for him—raal tough, he -is. Dis yer, now, was my primest chicken, and dar she'll jist sit and -see him eat it! Laws, dese yer women! Why, dey does get so sot on -husbands! Pity they couldn't have something like to be sot on! It jist -riles me to see him gobbling down everything, and she a-looking on! -Well, here goes," said he, depositing the frying-pan over the coals, in -which the chicken was soon fizzling. Drawing out the table, Tiff -prepared it for supper. Soon coffee was steaming over the fire, and -corn-dodgers baking in the ashes. Meanwhile, John Cripps was busy -explaining to his wife the celebrated wares that had so much raised his -spirits.</p> - -<p>"Well, now, you see, Sue, this yer time I've been up to Raleigh; and I -met a fellow there, coming from New York, or New Orleans, or some of -them northern states."</p> - -<p>"New Orleans isn't a northern state," humbly interposed his wife, "is -it?"</p> - -<p>"Well, New something! Who the devil cares? Don't you be interrupting me, -you Suse!"</p> - -<p>Could Cripps have seen the vengeful look which Tiff gave him over the -spectacles at this moment, he might have trembled for his supper. But, -innocent of this, he proceeded with his story.</p> - -<p>"You see, this yer fellow had a case of bonnets just the height of the -fashion. They come from Paris, the capital of Europe; and he sold them -to me for a mere song. Ah, you ought to see 'em! I'm going to get 'em -out. Tiff, hold the candle, here." And Tiff held the burning torch with -an air of grim scepticism and disgust, while Cripps hammered and -wrenched the top boards off, and displayed to view a portentous array of -bonnets, apparently of every obsolete style and fashion of the last -fifty years.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>"Dem's fust rate for scare-crows, anyhow!" muttered Tiff.</p> - -<p>"Now, what," said Cripps,—"Sue, what do you think I gave for these?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," said she, faintly.</p> - -<p>"Well, I gave fifteen dollars for the whole box! And there an't one of -these," said he, displaying the most singular specimen on his hand, -"that isn't worth from two to five dollars. I shall clear, at least, -fifty dollars on that box."</p> - -<p>Tiff, at this moment, turned to his frying-pan, and bent over it, -soliloquizing as he did so,—</p> - -<p>"Any way, I's found out one ting,—where de women gets dem roosts of -bonnets dey wars at camp-meetings. Laws, dey's enough to spile a work of -grace, dem ar! If I was to meet one of dem ar of a dark night in a -grave-yard, I should tink I was sent for—not the pleasantest way of -sending, neither. Poor missis!—looking mighty faint!—Don't -wonder!—'Nough to scarr a weakly woman into fits!"</p> - -<p>"Here, Tiff, help me to open this box. Hold the light, here. Darned if -it don't come off hard! Here's a lot of shoes and boots I got of the -same man. Some on 'em's mates, and some an't; but, then, I took the lot -cheap. Folks don't always warr both shoes alike. Might like to warr an -odd one, sometimes, ef it's cheap. Now, this yer parr of boots is lady's -gaiters, all complete, 'cept there's a hole in the lining down by the -toe; body ought to be careful about putting it on, else the foot will -slip between the outside and the lining. Anybody that bears that in -mind—just as nice a pair of gaiters as they'd want! Bargain, there, for -somebody—complete one, too. Then I've got two or three old -bureau-drawers that I got cheap at auction; and I reckon some on 'em -will fit the old frame that I got last year. Got 'em for a mere song."</p> - -<p>"Bless you, massa, dat ar old bureau I took for de chicken-coop! -Turkeys' chickens hops in lively."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, scrub it up—'twill answer just as well. Fit the drawers in. -And now, old woman, we will sit down to supper," said he, planting -himself at the table, and beginning a vigorous onslaught on the fried -chicken, without invitation to any other person present to assist him.</p> - -<p>"Missis can't sit up at the table," said Tiff. "She's done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> been sick -ever since de baby was born." And Tiff approached the bed with a nice -morsel of chicken which he had providently preserved on a plate, and -which he now reverently presented on a board, as a waiter, covered with -newspaper.</p> - -<p>"Now, do eat, missis; you can't live on looking, no ways you can fix it. -Do eat while Tiff gets on de baby's nightgown."</p> - -<p>To please her old friend, the woman made a feint of eating, but, while -Tiff's back was turned to the fire, busied herself with distributing it -to the children, who had stood hungrily regarding her, as children will -regard what is put on to a sick mother's plate.</p> - -<p>"It does me good to see them eat," she said, apologetically once, when -Tiff, turning round, detected her in the act.</p> - -<p>"Ah, missis, may be! but <i>you've</i> got to eat for <i>two</i>, now. What dey -eat an't going to dis yer little man, here. Mind dat ar."</p> - -<p>Cripps apparently bestowed very small attention on anything except the -important business before him, which he prosecuted with such devotion -that very soon coffee, chicken, and dodgers, had all disappeared. Even -the bones were sucked dry, and the gravy wiped from the dish.</p> - -<p>"Ah, that's what I call comfortable!" said he, lying back in his chair. -"Tiff, pull my boots off! and hand out that ar demijohn. Sue, I hope -you've made a comfortable meal," he said, incidentally, standing with -his back to her, compounding his potation of whiskey and water; which -having drank, he called up Teddy, and offered him the sugar at the -bottom of the glass. But Teddy, being forewarned by a meaning glance -through Tiff's spectacles, responded, very politely,—</p> - -<p>"No, I thank you, pa. I don't love it."</p> - -<p>"Come here, then, and take it off like a man. It's good for you," said -John Cripps.</p> - -<p>The mother's eyes followed the child wishfully; and she said, faintly, -"Don't John!—don't!" And Tiff ended the controversy by taking the glass -unceremoniously out of his master's hand.</p> - -<p>"Laws bless you, massa, can't be bodered with dese yer young ones dis -yer time of night! Time dey's all in bed, and dishes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> washed up. Here, -Tedd," seizing the child, and loosening the buttons of his slip behind, -and drawing out a rough trundle-bed, "you crawl in dere, and curl up in -your nest; and don't you forget your prars, honey, else maybe you'll -never wake up again."</p> - -<p>Cripps had now filled a pipe with tobacco of the most villainous -character, with which incense he was perfuming the little apartment.</p> - -<p>"Laws, massa, dat ar smoke an't good for missis," said Tiff. "She done -been sick to her stomach all day."</p> - -<p>"Oh, let him smoke! I like to have him enjoy himself," said the -indulgent wife. "But, Fanny, you had better go to bed, dear. Come here -and kiss me, child; good-night,—good-night!"</p> - -<p>The mother held on to her long, and looked at her wishfully; and when -she had turned to go, she drew her back, and kissed her again, and said, -"Good-night, dear child, good-night!"</p> - -<p>Fanny climbed up a ladder in one corner of the room, through a square -hole, to the loft above.</p> - -<p>"I say," said Cripps, taking his pipe out of his mouth, and looking at -Tiff, who was busy washing the dishes, "I say it's kind of peculiar that -gal keeps sick so. Seemed to have good constitution when I married her. -I'm thinking," said he, without noticing the gathering wrath in Tiff's -face, "I'm a-thinking whether steamin' wouldn't do her good. Now, I got -a most dreadful cold when I was up at Raleigh—thought I should have -given up; and there was a steam-doctor there. Had a little kind of -machine, with kettle and pipes, and he put me in a bed, put in the -pipes, and set it a-going. I thought, my soul, I should have been -floated off; but it carried off the cold, complete. I'm thinking if -something of that kind wouldn't be good for Miss Cripps."</p> - -<p>"Laws, massa, don't go for to trying it on her! She is never no better -for dese yer things you do for her."</p> - -<p>"Now," said Cripps, not appearing to notice the interruption, "these yer -stove-pipes, and the tea-kettle,—I shouldn't wonder if we could get up -a steam with them!"</p> - -<p>"It's my private 'pinion, if you do, she'll be sailing out of the -world," said Tiff. "What's one man's meat is another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> one's pisin, my -old mis's used to say. Very best thing you can do for her is to let her -alone. Dat ar is my 'pinion."</p> - -<p>"John," said the little woman, after a few minutes, "I wish you'd come -here, and sit on the bed."</p> - -<p>There was something positive, and almost authoritative, in the manner in -which this was said, which struck John as so unusual, that he came with -a bewildered air, sat down, and gazed at her with his mouth wide open.</p> - -<p>"I'm so glad you've come home, because I have had things that I've -wanted to say to you! I've been lying here thinking about it, and I have -been turning it over in my mind. I'm going to die soon, I know."</p> - -<p>"Ah! bah! Don't be bothering a fellow with any of your hysterics!"</p> - -<p>"John, John! it isn't hysterics! Look at me! Look at my hand! look at my -face! I'm so weak, and sometimes I have such coughing spells, and every -time it seems to me as if I should die. But it an't to trouble you that -I talk. I don't care about myself, but I don't want the children to grow -up and be like what we've been. You have a great many contrivances; do, -pray, contrive to have them taught to read, and make something of them -in the world."</p> - -<p>"Bah! what's the use? I never learnt to read, and I'm as good a fellow -as I want. Why, there's plenty of men round here making their money, -every year, that can't read or write a word. Old Hubell, there, up on -the Shad plantation, has hauled in money, hand over hand, and he always -signs his mark. Got nine sons—can't a soul of them read or write, more -than I. I tell you there's nothing ever comes of this yer larning. It's -all a sell—a regular Yankee hoax! I've always got cheated by them damn -reading, writing Yankees, whenever I've traded with 'em. What's the -good, I want to know! You was teached how to read when you was -young—much good it's ever done you!"</p> - -<p>"Sure enough! Sick day and night, moving about from place to place, sick -baby crying, and not knowing what to do for it no more than a child! Oh, -I hope Fanny will learn something! It seems to me, if there was some -school for my children to go to, or some church, or something—now, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span><i>if -there is</i> any such place as heaven, I should like to have them get to -it."</p> - -<p>"Ah! bah! Don't bother about that! When we get keeled up, that will be -the last of us! Come, come, don't plague a fellow any more with such -talk! I'm tired, and I'm going to sleep." And the man, divesting himself -of his overcoat, threw himself on the bed, and was soon snoring heavily -in profound slumber.</p> - -<p>Tiff, who had been trotting the baby by the fire, now came softly to the -bedside, and sat down.</p> - -<p>"Miss Sue," he said, "it's no 'count talking to him! I don't mean -nothing dis'pectful, Miss Sue, but de fac is, dem dat isn't <i>born</i> -gentlemen can't be 'spected fur to see through dese yer things like us -of de old families. Law, missis, don't you worry! Now, jest leave dis -yer matter to old Tiff! Dere never wasn't anything Tiff couldn't do, if -he tried. He! he! he! Miss Fanny, she done got de letters right smart; -and I know I'll come it round mas'r, and make him buy de books for her. -I'll tell you what's come into my head, to-day. There's a young lady -come to de big plantation, up dere, who's been to New York getting -edicated, and I's going for to ask her about dese yer things. And, about -de chil'en's going to church, and dese yer things, why, preaching, you -know, is mazin' unsartain round here; but I'll keep on de lookout, and -do de best I can. Why, Lord, Miss Sue, I's bound for the land of Canaan, -myself, the best way I ken; and I'm sartain I shan't go without taking -the chil'en along with me. Ho! ho! ho! Dat's what I shan't! De chil'en -will have to be with Tiff, and Tiff will have to be with the chil'en, -wherever dey is! Dat's it! He! he! he!"</p> - -<p>"Tiff," said the young woman, her large blue eyes looking at him, "I -have heard of the Bible. Have you ever seen one, Tiff?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, honey, dar was a big Bible that your ma brought in the family -when she married; but dat ar was tore up to make wadding for de guns, -one thing or another, and dey never got no more. But I's been very -'serving, and kept my ears open in a camp-meeting, and such places, and -I's learnt right smart of de things that's in it."</p> - -<p>"Now, Tiff, can you say anything?" said she, fixing her large, troubled -eyes on him.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p><p>"Well, honey, dere's one thing the man said at de last camp-meeting. He -preached 'bout it, and I couldn't make out a word he said, 'cause I an't -smart about preaching like I be about most things. But he said dis yer -so often that I couldn't help 'member it. Says he, it was dish yer way: -'Come unto me, all ye labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you -rest.'"</p> - -<p>"Rest, rest, rest!" said the woman, thoughtfully, and drawing a long -sigh. "Oh, how much I want it! Did he say <i>that</i> was in the Bible?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, he said so; and I spects, by all he said, it's de good man above -dat says it. It always makes me feel better to think on it. It 'peared -like it was jist what I was wanting to hear."</p> - -<p>"And I, too!" she said, turning her head wearily, and closing her eyes. -"Tiff," she said, opening them, "where I'm going, may be I shall meet -the one who said that, and I'll ask him about it. Don't talk to me more, -now. I'm getting sleepy. I thought I was better a little while after he -came home, but I'm more tired yet. Put the baby in my arms—I like the -feeling of it. There, there; now give me rest—<i>please</i> do!" and she -sank into a deep and quiet slumber.</p> - -<p>Tiff softly covered the fire, and sat down by the bed, watching the -flickering shadows as they danced upward on the wall, listening to the -heavy sighs of the pine-trees, and the hard breathing of the sleeping -man. Sometimes he nodded sleepily, and then, recovering, rose, and took -a turn to awaken himself. A shadowy sense of fear fell upon him; not -that he apprehended anything, for he regarded the words of his mistress -only as the forebodings of a wearied invalid. The idea that she could -actually die, and go anywhere, without him to take care of her, seemed -never to have occurred to him. About midnight, as if a spirit had laid -its hand upon him, his eyes flew wide open with a sudden start. Her -thin, cold hand was lying on his; her eyes, large and blue, shone with a -singular and spiritual radiance.</p> - -<p>"Tiff," she gasped, speaking with difficulty, "I've seen the one that -said <i>that</i>, and it's all true, too! and I've seen all why I've suffered -so much. He—He—He is going to take me! Tell the children about Him!" -There was a fluttering sigh, a slight shiver, and the lids fell over the -eyes forever.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER IX.</span> <span class="smaller">THE DEATH.</span></h2> - -<p>Death is always sudden. However gradual may be its approaches, it is, in -its effects upon the survivor, always sudden at last. Tiff thought, at -first, that his mistress was in a fainting-fit, and tried every means to -restore her. It was affecting to see him chafing the thin, white, pearly -hands, in his large, rough, black paws; raising the head upon his arm, -and calling in a thousand tones of fond endearment, pouring out a -perfect torrent of loving devotion on the cold, unheeding ear. But, -then, spite of all he could do, the face settled itself, and the hands -would not be warmed; the thought of death struck him suddenly, and, -throwing himself on the floor by the bed, he wept with an exceeding loud -and bitter cry. Something in his heart revolted against awakening that -man who lay heavily breathing by her side. He would not admit to -himself, at this moment, that this man had any right in her, or that the -sorrow was any part of his sorrow. But the cry awoke Cripps, who sat up -bewildered in bed, clearing the hair from his eyes with the back of his -hand.</p> - -<p>"Tiff, what the durned are you howling about?"</p> - -<p>Tiff got up in a moment, and, swallowing down his grief and his tears, -pointed indignantly to the still figure on the bed.</p> - -<p>"Dar! dar! Wouldn't b'lieve her last night! Now what you think of dat -ar? See how you look now! Good Shepherd hearn you abusing de poor lamb, -and he's done took her whar you'll never see her again!"</p> - -<p>Cripps had, like coarse, animal men generally, a stupid and senseless -horror of death;—he recoiled from the lifeless form, and sprang from -the bed with an expression of horror.</p> - -<p>"Well, now, who would have thought it?" he said. "That I should be in -bed with a corpse! I hadn't the least idea!"</p> - -<p>"No, dat's plain enough, you didn't! You'll believe it now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> won't you? -Poor little lamb, lying here suffering all alone! I tell you, when folks -have been sick so long, dey <i>has</i> to die to make folks believe anything -ails 'em!"</p> - -<p>"Well, really," said Cripps, "this is really—why, it an't comfortable! -darned if it is! Why, I'm sorry about the gal! I meant to steam her up, -or done something with her. What's we to do now?"</p> - -<p>"Pretty likely you don't know! Folks like you, dat never tends to -nothing good, is always flustered when de Master knocks at de do'! <i>I</i> -knows what to do, though. I's boun' to get up de crittur, and go up to -de old plantation, and bring down a woman and do something for her, kind -of decent. You mind the chil'en till I come back."</p> - -<p>Tiff took down and drew on over his outer garment a coarse, light, -woollen coat, with very long skirts and large buttons, in which he -always arrayed himself in cases of special solemnity. Stopping at the -door before he went out, he looked over Cripps from head to foot, with -an air of patronizing and half-pitiful contempt, and delivered himself -as follows:</p> - -<p>"Now, mas'r, I's gwine up, and will be back quick as possible; and now -do pray be decent, and let dat ar whiskey alone for one day in your -life, and 'member death, judgment, and 'ternity. Just act, now, as if -you'd got a <i>streak</i> of something in you, such as a man ought for to -have who is married to one of de very fustest families in old Virginny. -'Flect, now, on your latter end; may be will do your poor old soul some -good; and don't you go for to waking up the chil'en before I gets back. -They'll learn de trouble soon enough."</p> - -<p>Cripps listened to this oration with a stupid, bewildered stare, gazing -first at the bed, and then at the old man, who was soon making all the -speed he could towards Canema.</p> - -<p>Nina was not habitually an early riser, but on this morning she had -awaked with the first peep of dawn, and, finding herself unable to go to -sleep again, she had dressed herself, and gone down to the garden.</p> - -<p>She was walking up and down in one of the alleys, thinking over the -perplexities of her own affairs, when her ear was caught by the wild and -singular notes of one of those tunes commonly used among the slaves as -dirges. The words "She ar dead and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> gone to heaven" seemed to come -floating down upon her; and, though the voice was cracked and strained, -there was a sort of wildness and pathos in it, which made a singular -impression in the perfect stillness of everything around her. She soon -observed a singular-looking vehicle appearing in the avenue.</p> - -<p>This wagon, which was no other than the establishment of Cripps, drew -Nina's attention, and she went to the hedge to look at it. Tiff's -watchful eye immediately fell upon her, and, driving up to where she was -standing, he climbed out upon the ground, and, lifting his hat, made her -a profound obeisance, and "hoped de young lady was bery well, dis -morning."</p> - -<p>"Yes, quite well, thank you, Uncle," said Nina, regarding him curiously.</p> - -<p>"We's in 'fliction to our house!" said Tiff, solemnly. "Dere's been a -midnight cry dere, and poor Miss Sue (dat's my young missis), she's done -gone home."</p> - -<p>"Who is your mistress?"</p> - -<p>"Well, her name <i>was</i> Seymour 'fore she married, and her ma come from de -Virginny Peytons,—great family, dem Peytons! She was so misfortunate as -to get married, as gals will, sometimes," said Tiff, speaking in a -confidential tone. "The man wan't no 'count, and she's had a drefful -hard way to travel, poor thing! and dere she's a lying at last stretched -out dead, and not a woman nor nobody to do de least thing; and please, -missis, Tiff comed for to see if de young lady wouldn't send a woman for -to do for her—getting her ready for a funeral."</p> - -<p>"And who are you, pray?"</p> - -<p>"Please, missis, I's Tiff Peyton, I is. I's raised in Virginny, on de -great Peyton place, and I's gin to Miss Sue's mother; and when Miss Sue -married dis yer man, dey was all 'fended, and wouldn't speak to her; but -I tuck up for her, 'cause what's de use of makin' a bad thing worse? I's -a 'pinion, and telled 'em, dat he oughter be 'couraged to behave -hisself, seein' the thing was done, and couldn't be helped. But no, dey -wouldn't; so I jest tells 'em, says I, 'You may do jis you please, but -old Tiff's a gwine with her,' says I. 'I'll follow Miss Sue to de -grave's mouth,' says I; and ye see I has done it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p><p>"Well done of you! I like you better for it," said Nina. "You just -drive up to the kitchen, there, and tell Rose to give you some -breakfast, while I go up to Aunt Nesbit."</p> - -<p>"No, thank you, Miss Nina, I's noways hungry. 'Pears like, when a body's -like as I be, swallerin' down, and all de old times risin' in der throat -all de time, dey can't eat; dey gets filled all up to der eyes with -feelin's. Lord, Miss Nina, I hope ye won't never know what 'tis to stand -outside de gate, when de best friend you've got's gone in; it's hard, -dat ar is!" And Tiff pulled out a decayed-looking handkerchief, and -applied it under his spectacles.</p> - -<p>"Well, wait a minute, Tiff." And Nina ran into the house, while Tiff -gazed mournfully after her.</p> - -<p>"Well, Lor; just de way Miss Sue used to run—trip, trip, trip!—little -feet like mice! Lord's will be done!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Milly!" said Nina, meeting Milly in the entry, "here you are. -Here's a poor fellow waiting out by the hedge, his mistress dead all -alone in the house, with children,—no woman to do for them. Can't you -go down? you could do so well! You know how better than any one else in -the house."</p> - -<p>"Why, that must be poor old Tiff!" said Milly; "faithful old creature! -So that poor woman's gone, at last? the better for her, poor soul! Well, -I'll ask Miss Loo if I may go—or you ask her, Miss Nina."</p> - -<p>A quick, imperative tap on her door startled Aunt Nesbit, who was -standing at her toilet, finishing her morning's dressing operations.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nesbit was a particularly systematic early riser. Nobody knew why; -only folks who have nothing to do are often the most particular to have -the longest possible time to do it in.</p> - -<p>"Aunt," said Nina, "there's a poor fellow, out here, whose mistress is -just dead, all alone in the house, and wants to get some woman to go -there to help. Can't you spare Milly?"</p> - -<p>"Milly was going to clear-starch my caps, this morning," said Aunt -Nesbit. "I have arranged everything with reference to it, for a week -past."</p> - -<p>"Well, aunt, can't she do it to-morrow, or next day, just as well?"</p> - -<p>"To-morrow she is going to rip up that black dress, and wash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> it. I am -always systematic, and have everything arranged beforehand. Should like -very much to do anything I could, if it wasn't for that. Why can't you -send Aunt Katy?"</p> - -<p>"Why, aunt, you know we are to have company to dinner, and Aunt Katy is -the only one who knows where anything is, or how to serve things out to -the cook. Besides, she's so hard and cross to poor people, I don't think -she would go. I don't see, I'm sure, in such a case as this, why you -couldn't put your starching off. Milly is such a kind, motherly, -experienced person, and they are in affliction."</p> - -<p>"Oh, these low families don't mind such things much," said Aunt Nesbit, -fitting on her cap, quietly; "they never have much feeling. There's no -use doing for them—they are miserable poor creatures."</p> - -<p>"Aunt Nesbit, do, now, as a favor to me! I don't often ask favors," said -Nina. "<i>Do</i> let Milly go! she's just the one wanted. Do, now, say yes!" -And Nina pressed nearer, and actually seemed to overpower her -slow-feeling, torpid relative, with the vehemence that sparkled in her -eyes.</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't care, if"—</p> - -<p>"There, Milly, she says yes!" said she, springing out the door. "She -says you may. Now, hurry; get things ready. I'll run and have Aunt Katy -put up biscuits and things for the children; and you get all that you -know you will want, and be off quick, and I'll have the pony got up, and -come on behind you."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER X.</span> <span class="smaller">THE PREPARATION.</span></h2> - -<p>The excitement produced by the arrival of Tiff, and the fitting out of -Milly to the cottage, had produced a most favorable diversion in Nina's -mind from her own especial perplexities.</p> - -<p>Active and buoyant, she threw herself at once into whatever happened to -come uppermost on the tide of events. So, having seen the wagon -dispatched, she sat down to breakfast in high spirits.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Nesbit, I declare I was so interested in that old man! I intend to -have the pony, after breakfast, and ride over there."</p> - -<p>"I thought you were expecting company."</p> - -<p>"Well, that's one reason, now, why I'd like to be off. Do I want to sit -all primmed up, smiling and smirking, and running to the window to see -if my gracious lord is coming? No, I won't do that, to please any of -them. If I happen to fancy to be out riding, I <i>will</i> be out riding."</p> - -<p>"I think," said Aunt Nesbit, "that the hovels of these miserable -creatures are no proper place for a young lady of your position in -life."</p> - -<p>"My position in life! I don't see what that has to do with it. My -position in life enables me to do anything I please—a liberty which I -take pretty generally. And, then, really, I couldn't help feeling rather -sadly about it, because that Old Tiff, there (I believe that's his -name), told me that the woman had been of a good Virginia family. Very -likely she may have been just such another wild girl as I am, and -thought as little about bad times, and of dying, as I do. So I couldn't -help feeling sad for her. It really came over me when I was walking in -the garden. Such a beautiful morning as it was—the birds all singing, -and the dew all glittering and shining on the flowers! Why, aunt, the -flowers really seemed alive; it seemed as though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> I could hear them -breathing, and hear their hearts beating like mine. And, all of a -sudden, I heard the most wild, mournful singing, over in the woods. It -wasn't anything very beautiful, you know, but it was so wild, and -strange! 'She is dead and gone to heaven!—she is dead and gone to -heaven!' And pretty soon I saw the funniest old wagon—I don't know what -to call it—and this queer old black man in it, with an old white hat -and surtout on, and a pair of great, funny-looking spectacles on his -nose. I went to the fence to see who he was; and he came up and spoke to -me, made the most respectful bow—you ought to have seen it! And then, -poor fellow, he told me how his mistress was lying dead, with the -children around her, and nobody in the house! The poor old creature, he -actually cried, and I felt so for him! He seemed to be proud of his dead -mistress, in spite of her poverty."</p> - -<p>"Where do they live?" said Mrs. Nesbit.</p> - -<p>"Why, he told me over in the pine woods, near the swamp."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Mrs. Nesbit, "I dare say it's that Cripps family, that's -squatted in the pine woods. A most miserable set—all of them liars and -thieves! If I had known who it was, I'm sure I shouldn't have let Milly -go over. Such families oughtn't to be encouraged; there oughtn't a thing -to be done for them; we shouldn't encourage them to stay in the -neighborhood. They always will steal from off the plantations, and -corrupt the negroes, and get drunk, and everything else that's bad. -There's never a woman of decent character among them, that ever I heard -of; and, if you were my daughter, I shouldn't let you go near them."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm not your daughter, thank fortune!" said Nina, whose graces -always rapidly declined in controversies with her aunt, "and so I shall -do as I please. And I don't know what you pious people talk so for; for -Christ went with publicans and sinners, I'm sure."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Aunt Nesbit, "the Bible says we mustn't cast pearls before -swine; and, when you've lived to be as old as I am, you'll know more -than you do now. Everybody knows that you can't do anything with these -people. You can't give them Bibles nor tracts; for they can't read. I've -tried it, sometimes, visiting them, and talking to them; but it didn't -do them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> any good. I always thought there ought to be a law passed to -make 'em all slaves, and then there would be somebody to take care of -them."</p> - -<p>"Well, I can't see," said Nina, "how it's their fault. There isn't any -school where they could send their children, if they wanted to learn; -and, then, if they want to work, there's nobody who wants to hire them. -So, what can they do?"</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I don't know," said Aunt Nesbit, in that tone which generally -means I don't care. "All I know is, that I want them to get away from -the neighborhood. Giving to them is just like putting into a bag with -holes. I'm sure I put myself to a great inconvenience on their account -to-day; for, if there's anything I do hate, it is having things -irregular. And to-day is the day for clear-starching the caps—and such -a good, bright, sunny day!—and to-morrow, or any other day of the week, -it may rain. Always puts me all out to have things that I've laid out to -do put out of their regular order. I'd been willing enough to have sent -over some old things; but why they must needs take Milly's time, just as -if the funeral couldn't have got ready without her! These funerals are -always miserable drunken times with them! And, then, who knows, she may -catch the small-pox, or something or other. There's never any knowing -what these people die of."</p> - -<p>"They die of just such things as we do," said Nina. "They have that in -common with us, at any rate."</p> - -<p>"Yes; but there's no reason for risking our lives, as I know -of—especially for such people—when it don't do any good."</p> - -<p>"Why, aunt, what do you know against these folks? Have you ever known of -their doing anything wicked?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't know that I know anything against this family in -particular; but I know the whole race. These squatters—I've know them -ever since I was a girl in Virginia. Everybody that knows anything knows -exactly what they are. There isn't any help for them, unless, as I said -before, they were made slaves; and then they could be kept decent. You -may go to see them, if you like, but <i>I</i> don't want <i>my</i> arrangements to -be interfered with on their account."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nesbit was one of those quietly-persisting people, whose yielding -is like the stretching of an India-rubber band, giving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> way only to a -violent pull, and going back to the same place when the force is -withdrawn. She seldom refused favors that were urged with any degree of -importunity; not because her heart was touched, but simply because she -seemed not to have force enough to refuse; and whatever she granted was -always followed by a series of subdued lamentations over the necessity -which had wrung them from her.</p> - -<p>Nina's nature was so vehement and imperious, when excited, that it was a -disagreeable fatigue to cross her. Mrs. Nesbit, therefore, made amends -by bemoaning herself as we have seen. Nina started up, hastily, on -seeing her pony brought round to the door; and, soon arrayed in her -riding-dress, she was cantering through the pine woods in high spirits. -The day was clear and beautiful. The floor of the woodland path was -paved with a thick and cleanly carpet of the fallen pine-leaves. And -Harry was in attendance with her, mounted on another horse, and riding -but a very little behind; not so much so but what his mistress could, if -she would, keep up a conversation with him.</p> - -<p>"You know this Old Tiff, Harry?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, very well. A very good, excellent creature, and very much the -superior of his master, in most respects."</p> - -<p>"Well, he says his mistress came of a good family."</p> - -<p>"I shouldn't wonder," said Harry. "She always had a delicate appearance, -very different from people in their circumstances generally. The -children, too, are remarkably pretty, well-behaved children; and it's a -pity they couldn't be taught something, and not grow up and go on these -miserable ways of these poor whites!"</p> - -<p>"Why don't anybody ever teach them?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Well, Miss Nina, you know how it is: everybody has his own work and -business to attend to—there are no schools for them to go to—there's -no work for them to do. In fact, there don't seem to be any place for -them in society. Boys generally grow up to drink and swear. And, as for -girls, they are of not much account. So it goes on from generation to -generation."</p> - -<p>"This is so strange, and so different from what it is in the northern -states! Why, all the children go to school there—the very poorest -people's children! Why, a great many of the first men, there, were poor -children! Why can't there be some such thing here?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, because people are settled in such a scattering way they can't -have schools. All the land that's good for any thing is taken up for -large estates. And, then, these poor folks that are scattered up and -down in between, it's nobody's business to attend to them, and they -can't attend to themselves; and so they grow up, and nobody knows how -they live, and everybody seems to think it a pity they are in the world. -I've seen those sometimes that would be glad to do something, if they -could find anything to do. Planters don't want them on their -places—they'd rather have their own servants. If one of them wants to -be a blacksmith, or a carpenter, there's no encouragement. Most of the -large estates have their own carpenters and blacksmiths. And there's -nothing for them to do, unless it is keeping dogs to hunt negroes; or -these little low stores where they sell whiskey, and take what's stolen -from the plantations. Sometimes a smart one gets a place as overseer on -a plantation. Why, I've heard of their coming so low as actually to sell -their children to traders, to get a bit of bread."</p> - -<p>"What miserable creatures! But do you suppose it can be possible that a -woman of any respectable family can have married a man of this sort?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't know, Miss Nina; that might be. You see, good families -sometimes degenerate; and when they get too poor to send their children -off to school, or keep any teachers for them, they run down very fast. -This man is not bad-looking, and he really is a person who, if he had -had any way opened to him, might have been a smart man, and made -something of himself and family; and when he was young and -better-looking, I shouldn't wonder if an uneducated girl, who had never -been off a plantation, might have liked him; he was fully equal, I dare -say, to her brothers. You see, Miss Nina, when <i>money</i> goes, in this -part of the country, everything goes with it; and when a family is not -rich enough to have everything in itself, it goes down very soon."</p> - -<p>"At any rate, I pity the poor things," said Nina. "I don't despise them, -as Aunt Nesbit does."</p> - -<p>Here Nina, observing the path clear and uninterrupted for some distance -under the arching pines, struck her horse into a canter, and they rode -on for some distance without speaking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> Soon the horse's feet splashed -and pattered on the cool, pebbly bottom of a small, shallow stream, -which flowed through the woods. This stream went meandering among the -pines like a spangled ribbon, sometimes tying itself into loops, leaving -open spots—almost islands of green—graced by its waters. Such a little -spot now opened to the view of the two travellers. It was something less -than a quarter of an acre in extent, entirely surrounded by the stream, -save only a small neck of about four feet, which connected it to the -main-land.</p> - -<p>Here a place had been cleared and laid off into a garden, which, it was -evident, was carefully tended. The log-cabin which stood in the middle -was far from having the appearance of wretchedness which Nina had -expected. It was almost entirely a dense mass of foliage, being covered -with the intermingled drapery of the Virginia creeper and the yellow -jessamine. Two little borders, each side of the house, were blooming -with flowers. Around the little island the pine-trees closed in unbroken -semicircle, and the brook meandered away through them, to lose itself -eventually in that vast forest of swampy land which girdles the whole -Carolina shore. The whole air of the place was so unexpectedly inviting, -in its sylvan stillness and beauty, that Nina could not help checking -her horse, and exclaiming,—</p> - -<p>"I'm sure, it's a pretty place. They can't be such very forsaken people, -after all."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's all Tiff's work," said Harry. "He takes care of everything -outside and in, while the man is off after nobody knows what. You'd be -perfectly astonished to see how that old creature manages. He sews, and -he knits, and works the garden, does the house-work, and teaches the -children. It's a fact! You'll notice that they haven't the pronunciation -or the manners of these wild white children; and I take it to be all -Tiff's watchfulness, for that creature hasn't one particle of -selfishness in him. He just identifies himself with his mistress and her -children."</p> - -<p>By this time Tiff had perceived their approach, and came out to assist -them in dismounting.</p> - -<p>"De Lord above bless you, Miss Gordon, for coming to see my poor missis! -Ah! she is lying dere just as beautiful, just as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> she was the very day -she was married! All her young looks come back to her; and Milly, she -done laid her out beautiful! Lord, I's wanting somebody to come and look -at her, because she has got good blood, if she be poor. She is none of -your common sort of poor whites, Miss Nina. Just come in; come in, and -look at her."</p> - -<p>Nina stepped into the open door of the hut. The bed was covered with a -clean white sheet, and the body, arrayed in a long white night-dress -brought by Milly, lay there so very still, quiet, and life-like, that -one could scarcely realize the presence of death. The expression of -exhaustion, fatigue, and anxiety, which the face had latterly worn, had -given place to one of tender rest, shaded by a sort of mysterious awe, -as if the closed eyes were looking on unutterable things. The soul, -though sunk below the horizon of existence, had thrown back a twilight -upon the face radiant as that of the evening heavens.</p> - -<p>By the head of the bed the little girl was sitting, dressed carefully, -and her curling hair parted in front, apparently fresh from the brush; -and the little boy was sitting beside her, his round blue eyes bearing -an expression of subdued wonder.</p> - -<p>Cripps was sitting at the foot of the bed, evidently much the worse for -liquor; for, spite of the exhortation of Tiff, he had applied to the -whiskey-jug immediately on his departure. Why not? He was -uncomfortable—gloomy; and every one, under such circumstances, -naturally inclines towards <i>some</i> source of consolation. He who is -intellectual reads and studies; he who is industrious flies to business; -he who is affectionate seeks friends; he who is pious, religion; but he -who is none of these—what has he but his whiskey? Cripps made a stupid, -staring inclination toward Nina and Harry, as they entered, and sat -still, twirling his thumbs and muttering to himself.</p> - -<p>The sunshine fell through the panes on the floor, and there came -floating in from without the odor of flowers and the song of birds. All -the Father's gentle messengers spoke of comfort; but he as a deaf man -heard not—as a blind man did not regard. For the rest, an air of -neatness had been imparted to the extreme poverty of the room by the -joint efforts of Milly and Tiff.</p> - -<p>Tiff entered softly, and stood by Nina, as she gazed. He had in his hand -several sprays of white jessamine, and he laid one on the bosom of the -dead.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p><p>"She had a hard walk of it," he said, "but she's got home! Don't she -look peaceful?—poor lamb!"</p> - -<p>The little, thoughtless, gay coquette had never looked on a sight like -this before. She stood with a fixed, tender thoughtfulness, unlike her -usual gayety, her riding-hat hanging carelessly by its strings from her -hands, her loose hair drooping over her face.</p> - -<p>She heard some one entering the cottage, but she did not look up. She -was conscious of some one looking over her shoulder, and thought it was -Harry.</p> - -<p>"Poor thing! how young she looks," she said, "to have had so much -trouble!" Her voice trembled, and a tear stood in her eye. There was a -sudden movement; she looked up, and Clayton was standing by her.</p> - -<p>She looked surprised, and the color deepened in her cheek, but was too -ingenuously and really in sympathy with the scene before her even to -smile. She retained his hand a moment, and turned to the dead, saying, -in an under-tone, "See here!"</p> - -<p>"I see," he said. "Can I be of service?"</p> - -<p>"The poor thing died last night," said Nina. "I suppose some one might -help about a funeral. Harry," she said, walking softly towards the door, -and speaking low, "you provide a coffin; have it made neatly."</p> - -<p>"Uncle," she said, motioning Tiff towards her, "where would they have -her buried?"</p> - -<p>"Buried?" said Tiff. "O Lord! buried!" And he covered his face with his -hard hands, and the tears ran through his fingers.</p> - -<p>"Lord, Lord! Well, it must come, I know, but 'pears like I couldn't! -Laws, she's so beautiful! Don't, to-day! don't!"</p> - -<p>"Indeed, Uncle," said Nina, tenderly, "I'm sorry I grieved you; but you -know, poor fellow, that must come."</p> - -<p>"I's known her ever since she's dat high!" said Tiff. "Her har was -curly, and she used to war such pretty red shoes, and come running after -me in de garden. 'Tiff, Tiff,' she used to say—and dar she is now, and -troubles brought her dar! Lord, what a pretty gal she was! Pretty as you -be, Miss Nina. But since she married <i>dat ar</i>," pointing with his thumb -over his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> shoulder, and speaking confidentially, "everything went wrong. -I's held her up—did all I could; and now here she is!"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Nina, laying her hand on his, "perhaps she's in a better -place than this."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lord, dat she is! She told me dat when she died. She saw de Lord at -last,—she did so! Dem's her last words. 'Tiff,' she says, 'I see Him, -and He will give me rest. Tiff,' she says,—I'd been asleep, you know, -and I kinder felt something cold on my hand, and I woke up right sudden, -and dar she was, her eyes so bright, looking at me and breathing so -hard; and all she says was, 'Tiff, I've seen Him, and I know now why -I've suffered so; He's gwine to take me, and give me rest!'"</p> - -<p>"Then, my poor fellow, you ought to rejoice that she is safe."</p> - -<p>"'Deed I does," said Tiff; "yet I's selfish. I wants to be dere too, I -does—only I has de chil'en to care for."</p> - -<p>"Well, my good fellow," said Nina, "we must leave you now. Harry will -see about a coffin for your poor mistress; and whenever the funeral is -to be, our carriage will come over, and we will all attend."</p> - -<p>"Lord bless you, Miss Gordon! Dat ar <i>too</i> good on ye! My heart's been -most broke, tinking nobody cared for my poor young mistress! you's too -good, dat you is!"</p> - -<p>Then, drawing near to her, and sinking his voice, he said: "'Bout de -mourning, Miss Nina. <i>He</i> an't no 'count, you know—body can see how -'tis with him very plain. But missis was a Peyton, you know; and I's a -Peyton, too. I naturally feels a 'sponsibility he couldn't be 'spected -fur to. I's took de ribbons off of Miss Fanny's bonnet, and done de best -I could trimming it up with black crape what Milly gave me; and I's got -a band of black crape on Master Teddy's hat; and I 'lowed to put one on -mine, but there wasn't quite enough. You know, missis, old family -servants always wars mourning. If missis just be pleased to look over my -work! Now, dis yer is Miss Fanny's bonnet. You know I can't be 'spected -for to make it like a milliner."</p> - -<p>"They are very well indeed, Uncle Tiff."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps, Miss Nina, you can kind of touch it over."</p> - -<p>"Oh, if you like, Uncle Tiff, I'll take them all home, and do them for -you."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p><p>"The Lord bless <i>you</i>, Miss Gordon! Dat ar was just what I wanted, but -was most 'fraid to ask you. Some gay young ladies doesn't like to handle -black."</p> - -<p>"Ah! Uncle Tiff, I've no fears of that sort; so put it in the wagon, and -let Milly take it home."</p> - -<p>So saying, she turned and passed out of the door where Harry was -standing holding the horses. A third party might have seen, by the keen, -rapid glance with which his eye rested upon Clayton, that he was -measuring the future probability which might make him the arbiter of his -own destiny—the disposer of all that was dear to him in life. As for -Nina, although the day before a thousand fancies and coquetries would -have colored the manner of her meeting Clayton, yet now she was so -impressed by what she had witnessed, that she scarcely appeared to know -that she had met him. She placed her pretty foot on his hand, and let -him lift her on to the saddle, scarcely noticing the act, except by a -serious, graceful inclination of her head.</p> - -<p>One great reason of the ascendency which Clayton had thus far gained -over her, was that his nature, so quiet, speculative, and -undemonstrative, always left her such perfect liberty to follow the more -varying moods of her own. A man of a different mould would have sought -to awake her out of the trance—would have remarked on her abstracted -manner, or rallied her on her silence. Clayton merely mounted his horse -and rode quietly by her side, while Harry, passing on before them, was -soon out of sight.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XI.</span> <span class="smaller">THE LOVERS.</span></h2> - -<p>They rode on in silence, till their horses' feet again clattered in the -clear, pebbly water of the stream. Here Nina checked her horse; and, -pointing round the circle of pine forests, and up the stream, overhung -with bending trees and branches, said:</p> - -<p>"Hush!—listen!" Both stopped, and heard the swaying of the pine-trees, -the babble of the waters, the cawing of distant crows, and the tapping -of the woodpecker.</p> - -<p>"How beautiful everything is!" she said. "It seems to me so sad that -people must die! I never saw anybody dead before, and you don't know how -it makes me feel! To think that that poor woman was just such a girl as -I am, and used to be just so full of life, and never thought any more -than I do that she should lie there all cold and dead! Why is it things -are made so beautiful, if we must die?"</p> - -<p>"Remember what you said to the old man, Miss Nina. Perhaps she sees more -beautiful things, now."</p> - -<p>"In heaven? Yes; I wish we knew more about heaven, so that it would seem -natural and home-like to us, as this world does. As for me, I can't feel -that I ever want to leave this world—I enjoy living so much! I can't -forget how cold her hand was! I never felt anything like that cold!"</p> - -<p>In all the varying moods of Nina, Clayton had never seen anything that -resembled this. But he understood the peculiar singleness and -earnestness of nature which made any one idea, or impression, for a time -absolute in her mind. They turned their horses into the wood-path, and -rode on in silence.</p> - -<p>"Do you know," said she, "it's such a change coming from New York to -live here? Everything is so unformed, so wild, and so lonely! I never -saw anything so lonesome as these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> woods are. Here you can ride miles -and miles, hours and hours, and hear nothing but the swaying of the -pine-trees, just as you hear it now. Our place (you never were there, -were you?) stands all by itself, miles from any other; and I've been for -so many years used to a thickly-settled country, that it seems very -strange to me. I can't help thinking things look rather deserted and -desolate, here. It makes me rather sober and sad. I don't know as you'll -like the appearance of our place. A great many things are going to decay -about it; and yet there are some things that can't decay; for papa was -very fond of trees and shrubbery, and we have a good deal more of them -than usual. Are you fond of trees?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; I'm almost a tree-worshipper. I have no respect for a man who -can't appreciate a tree. The only good thing I ever heard of Xerxes was, -that he was so transported with the beauty of a plane-tree, that he hung -it with chains of gold. This is a little poetical island in the -barbarism of those days."</p> - -<p>"Xerxes!" said Nina. "I believe I studied something about him in that -dismal, tedious history at Madame Ardaine's; but nothing so interesting -as that, I'm sure. But what should he hang gold chains on a tree for?"</p> - -<p>"'Twas the best way he knew of expressing his good opinion."</p> - -<p>"Do you know," said Nina, half checking her horse, suddenly, "that I -never had the least idea that these men were alive that we read about in -these histories, or that they had any feelings like ours? We always -studied the lessons, and learnt the hard names, and how forty thousand -were killed on one side, and fifty thousand on the other; and we don't -know any more about it than if we never had. That's the way we girls -studied at school, except a few '<i>poky</i>' ones, who wanted to be learned, -or meant to be teachers."</p> - -<p>"An interesting <i>résumé</i>, certainly," said Clayton, laughing.</p> - -<p>"But how strange it is," said Nina, "to think that all those folks we -read about are alive <i>now</i>, doing something somewhere; and I get to -wondering where they are—Xerxes, and Alexander, and the rest of them. -Why, they were so full of life they kept everything in commotion while -in this world; and I wonder if they have been keeping a going ever -since. Perhaps Xerxes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> has been looking round at <i>our</i> trees—nobody -knows. But here we are coming now to the beginning of our grounds. -There, you see that holly-hedge! Mamma had that set out. She travelled -in England, and liked the hedges there so much that she thought she -would see what could be done with our American holly. So she had these -brought from the woods, and planted. You see it all grows wild, now, -because it hasn't been cut for many years. And this live-oak avenue my -grandfather set out. It's my pride and delight."</p> - -<p>As she spoke, a pair of broad gates swung open, and they cantered in -beneath the twilight arches of the oaks. Long wreaths of pearly moss -hung swinging from the branches, and, although the sun now was at high -noon, a dewy, dreamy coolness seemed to rustle through all the leaves. -As Clayton passed in, he took off his hat, as he had often done in -foreign countries in cathedrals.</p> - -<p>"Welcome to Canema!" said she, riding up to him, and looking up frankly -into his face.</p> - -<p>The air, half queenly, half childish, with which this was said, was -acknowledged by Clayton with a grave smile, as he replied, bowing,—</p> - -<p>"Thank you, madam."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," she added, in a grave tone, "you'll be sorry that you ever -came here."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by that?" he replied.</p> - -<p>"I don't know; it just came into my head to say it. We none of us ever -know what's going to come of what we do."</p> - -<p>At this instant, a violent clamor, like the cawing of a crow, rose on -one side of the avenue; and the moment after Tomtit appeared, -caricoling, and cutting a somerset; his curls flying, his cheeks -glowing.</p> - -<p>"Why, Tomtit, what upon earth is this for?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Laws, missis, deres been a gen'elman waiting for you at the house these -two hours. And missis, she's done got on her best cap, and gone down in -the parlor for him."</p> - -<p>Nina felt herself blush to the roots of her hair, and was vexed and -provoked to think she did so. Involuntarily her eyes met Clayton's. But -he expressed neither curiosity nor concern.</p> - -<p>"What a pretty drapery this light moss makes!" said he. "I wasn't aware -that it grew so high up in the state."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p><p>"Yes; it is very pretty," said Nina, abstractedly.</p> - -<p>Clayton, however, had noticed both the message and the blush, and was -not so ill-informed as Nina supposed as to the whole affair, having -heard from a New York correspondent of the probability that an arrival -might appear upon the field about this time. He was rather curious to -watch the development produced by this event. They paced up the avenue, -conversing in disconnected intervals, till they came out on the lawn -which fronted the mansion—a large, gray, three-story building, -surrounded on the four sides by wide balconies of wood. Access was had -to the lower of these by a broad flight of steps. And there Nina saw, -plain enough, her Aunt Nesbit in all the proprieties of cap and silk -gown, sitting, making the agreeable to Mr. Carson.</p> - -<p>Mr. Frederic Augustus Carson was one of those nice little epitomes of -conventional society, which appear to such advantage in factitious life, -and are so out of place in the undress, sincere surroundings of country -life. Nina had liked his society extremely well in the drawing-rooms and -opera-houses of New York. But, in the train of thought inspired by the -lonely and secluded life she was now leading, it seemed to her an -absolute impossibility that she could, even in coquetry and in sport, -have allowed such an one to set up pretensions to her hand and heart. -She was vexed with herself that she had done so, and therefore not in -the most amiable mood for a meeting. Therefore, when, on ascending the -steps, he rushed precipitately forward, and, offering his hand, called -her Nina, she was ready to die with vexation. She observed, too, a -peculiar swelling and rustling of Aunt Nesbit's plumage,—an -indescribable air of tender satisfaction, peculiar to elderly ladies who -are taking an interest in an affair of the heart, which led her to -apprehend that the bachelor had commenced operations by declaring his -position to her. 'Twas with some embarrassment that Nina introduced Mr. -Clayton, whom Aunt Nesbit received with a most stately curtsey, and Mr. -Carson with a patronizing bow.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Carson has been waiting for you these two hours," said Aunt Nesbit.</p> - -<p>"Very warm riding, Nina," said Mr. Carson, observing her red cheeks. -"You've been riding too fast, I fear. You must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> be careful of yourself. -I've known people bring on very grave illnesses by over-heating the -blood!"</p> - -<p>Clayton seated himself near the door, and seemed to be intent on the -scene without. And Carson, drawing his chair close to Nina, asked, in a -confidential under-tone,—</p> - -<p>"Who is that gentleman?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Clayton, of Claytonville," said Nina, with as much <i>hauteur</i> as she -could assume.</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes!—Hem!—hem! I've heard of the family—a very nice family—a -very worthy young man—extremely, I'm told. Shall be happy to make his -acquaintance."</p> - -<p>"I beg," said Nina, rising, "the gentlemen will excuse me a moment or -two."</p> - -<p>Clayton replied by a grave bow, while Mr. Carson, with great -<i>empressement</i>, handed Nina to the door. The moment it was closed, she -stamped, with anger, in the entry.</p> - -<p>"The provoking fool! to take these airs with me! And I, too—I deserve -it! What on earth could make me think I could tolerate that man?"</p> - -<p>As if Nina's cup were not yet full, Aunt Nesbit followed her to her -chamber with an air of unusual graciousness.</p> - -<p>"Nina, my dear, he has told me all about it! and I assure you I'm very -much pleased with him!"</p> - -<p>"Told you all about <i>what</i>?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Why, your engagement, to be sure! I'm delighted to think you've done so -well! I think your Aunt Maria, and all of them, will be delighted! Takes -a weight of care off my mind!"</p> - -<p>"I wish you wouldn't trouble yourself about me, or my affairs, Aunt -Nesbit!" said Nina. "And, as for this old pussy-cat, with his squeaking -boots, I won't have him purring round <i>me</i>, that's certain! <i>So</i> -provoking, to take that way towards me! Call me Nina, and talk as though -he were lord paramount of me, and everything here! I'll let him know!"</p> - -<p>"Why, Nina! Seems to me this is very strange conduct! I am very much -astonished at you!"</p> - -<p>"I dare say you are, aunt! I never knew the time I didn't astonish you! -But this man I detest!"</p> - -<p>"Well, then, my dear, what were you engaged to him for?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Engaged!</i> Aunt, for pity's sake, do hush! Engaged! I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> should like to -know what a New York engagement amounts to! Engaged at the -opera!—Engaged for a joke! Why, he was my bouquet-holder! The man is -just an opera libretto! He was very useful in his time. But who wants -him afterwards?"</p> - -<p>"But, my dear Nina, this trifling with gentlemen's hearts!"</p> - -<p>"I'll warrant his heart! It's neither sugar nor salt, I'll assure you. -I'll tell you what, aunt, he loves good eating, good drinking, nice -clothes, nice houses, and good times generally! and he wants a pretty -wife as a part of a whole; and he thinks he'll take me. But he is -mistaken. Calling me 'Nina,' indeed! Just let me have a chance of seeing -him alone! I'll teach him to call me 'Nina'! I'll let him know how -things stand!"</p> - -<p>"But, Nina, you must confess you've given him occasion for all this."</p> - -<p>"Well, supposing I have? I'll give him occasion for something else, -then!"</p> - -<p>"Why, my dear," said Aunt Nesbit, "he came on to know when you'll fix -the day to be married!"</p> - -<p>"Married! Oh, my gracious! Just think of the creature's talking about -it! Well, it <i>is</i> my fault, as you say; but I'll do the best I can to -mend it."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm really sorry for him," said Aunt Nesbit.</p> - -<p>"You are, aunt? Why don't you <i>take</i> him yourself, then? You are as -young and good-looking as he is."</p> - -<p>"Nina, how you talk!" said Aunt Nesbit, coloring and bridling. "There -<i>was</i> a time when I wasn't bad-looking, to be sure; but that's long -since past."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's because you always dress in stone-color and drab," said -Nina, as she stood brushing and arranging her curls. "Come, now, and go -down, aunt, and do the best you can till I make my appearance. After -all, as you say, I'm the most to blame. There's no use in being vexed -with the old soul. So, aunt, do be as fascinating as you can; see if you -can't console him. Only remember how <i>you</i> used to turn off lovers, when -you were of my age."</p> - -<p>"And who is this other gentleman, Nina?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, nothing, only he is a friend of mine. A very good man—good enough -for a minister, any day, aunt, and not so stupid as good people -generally are, either."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p><p>"Well, perhaps you are engaged to <i>him</i>?"</p> - -<p>"No, I am not; that is to say, I won't be to anybody. This is an -insufferable business! I <i>like</i> Mr. Clayton, because he can let me -alone, don't look at me in that abominably delighted way all the time, -and dance about, calling me <i>Nina</i>! He and I are very good friends, -that's all. I'm not going to have any engagements <i>anywhere</i>."</p> - -<p>"Well, Nina, I'll go down, and you make haste."</p> - -<p>While the gentlemen and Aunt Nesbit were waiting in the saloon, Carson -made himself extremely happy and at home. It was a large, cool -apartment, passing, like a hall, completely through the centre of the -house. Long French windows, at either end, opened on to balconies. The -pillars of the balconies were draped and garlanded with wreaths of roses -now in full bloom. The floor of the room was the polished mosaic of -different colors to which we have formerly alluded. Over the -mantel-piece was sculptured in oak the Gordon arms. The room was -wainscoted with dark wood, and hung with several fine paintings, by -Copley and Stuart, of different members of the family. A grand piano, -lately arrived from New York, was the most modern-looking article in the -room. Most of the furniture was of heavy dark mahogany, of an antique -pattern. Clayton sat by the door, still admiring the avenue of oaks -which were to be seen across the waving green of the lawn.</p> - -<p>In about half an hour Nina reappeared in a flossy cloud of muslin, lace, -and gauzy ribbons. Dress was one of those accomplishments for which the -little gypsy had a natural instinct; and, without any apparent thought, -she always fell into that kind of color and material which harmonized -with her style of appearance and character. There was always something -floating and buoyant about the arrangement of her garments and drapery; -so that to see her move across the floor gave one an airy kind of -sensation, like the gambols of thistle-down. Her brown eyes had a -peculiar resemblance to a bird's; and this effect was increased by a -twinkling motion of the head, and a fluttering habit of movement -peculiar to herself; so that when she swept by in rosy gauzes, and laid -one ungloved hand lightly on the piano, she seemed to Clayton much like -some saucy bird—very good indeed if let alone, but ready to fly on the -slightest approach.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p><p>Clayton had the rare faculty of taking in every available point of -observation, without appearing to stare.</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word, Nina," said Mr. Carson, coming towards her with a most -delighted air, "you look as if you had fallen out of a rainbow!"</p> - -<p>Nina turned away very coolly, and began arranging her music.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's right!" said Carson; "give us one of your songs. Sing -something from the Favorita. You know it's my favorite opera," said he, -assuming a most sentimental expression.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm entirely out of practice—I don't sing at all. I'm sick of all -those opera-songs!" And Nina skimmed across the floor, and out of the -open door by which Clayton was lounging, and began busying herself amid -the flowers that wreathed the porch. In a moment Carson was at her -heels; for he was one of those persons who seem to think it a duty never -to allow any one to be quiet, if they can possibly prevent it.</p> - -<p>"Have you ever studied the language of flowers, Nina?" said he.</p> - -<p>"No, I don't like to study languages."</p> - -<p>"You know the signification of a full-blown rose?" said he, tenderly -presenting her with one.</p> - -<p>Nina took the rose, coloring with vexation, and then, plucking from the -bush a rose of two or three days' bloom, whose leaves were falling out, -she handed it to him, and said,—</p> - -<p>"Do you understand the signification of this?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, you have made an unfortunate selection! This rose is all falling to -pieces!" said Mr. Carson, innocently.</p> - -<p>"So I observed," said Nina, turning away quickly; then, making one of -her darting movements, she was in the middle of the saloon again, just -as the waiter announced dinner.</p> - -<p>Clayton rose gravely, and offered his arm to Aunt Nesbit; and Nina found -herself obliged to accept the delighted escort of Mr. Carson, who, -entirely unperceiving, was in the briskest possible spirits, and -established himself comfortably between Aunt Nesbit and Nina.</p> - -<p>"You must find it very dull here—very barren country, shockingly so! -What do you find to interest yourself in?" said he.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p><p>"Will you take some of this gumbo?" replied Nina.</p> - -<p>"I always thought," said Aunt Nesbit, "it was a good plan for girls to -have a course of reading marked out to them when they left school."</p> - -<p>"Oh, certainly," said Carson. "I shall be happy to mark out one for her. -I've done it for several young ladies."</p> - -<p>At this moment Nina accidentally happened to catch Clayton's eye, which -was fixed upon Mr. Carson with an air of quiet amusement greatly -disconcerting to her.</p> - -<p>"Now," said Mr. Carson, "I have no opinion of making <i>blues</i> of young -ladies; but still, I think, Mrs. Nesbit, that a little useful -information adds greatly to their charms. Don't you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Nesbit. "I've been reading 'Gibbon's Decline and Fall -of the Roman Empire,' lately."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, "aunt's been busy about that ever since I can -remember."</p> - -<p>"That's a very nice book," said Mr. Carson, looking solemnly at Nina; -"only, Mrs. Nesbit, an't you afraid of the infidel principle? I think, -in forming the minds of the young, you know, one cannot be too careful."</p> - -<p>"Why, he struck me as a very pious writer!" said Aunt Nesbit, -innocently. "I'm sure, he makes the most religious reflections, all -along. I liked him particularly on that account."</p> - -<p>It seemed to Nina that, without looking at Clayton, she was forced to -meet his eye. No matter whether she directed her attention to the -asparagus or the potatoes, it was her fatality always to end by a -rencounter with his eye; and she saw, for some reason or other, the -conversation was extremely amusing to him.</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Nina, "I don't know what sort of principles Aunt -Nesbit's history, there, has; but one thing I'm pretty certain of,—that -<i>I</i>'m not in any danger from any such thick, close-printed, old, -stupid-looking books as that. I hate reading, and I don't intend to have -my mind formed; so that nobody need trouble themselves to mark out -courses for me! What is it to me what all these old empires have been, a -hundred years ago? It is as much as I can do to attend to what is going -on now."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p><p>"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I've always regretted that I -neglected the cultivation of my mind when I was young. I was like Nina, -here, immersed in vanity and folly."</p> - -<p>"People always talk," said Nina, reddening, "as if there was but one -kind of vanity and folly in the world. I think there can be as much -learned vanity and folly as we girls have!" And she looked at Clayton -indignantly, as she saw him laughing.</p> - -<p>"I agree with Miss Gordon, entirely. There is a great deal of very -stupid respectable trifling, which people pursue under the head of -courses of reading," he said. "And I don't wonder that most compends of -history which are studied in schools should inspire any lively young -lady with a life-long horror, not only of history, but of reading."</p> - -<p>"Do you think so?" said Nina, with a look of inexpressible relief.</p> - -<p>"I do, indeed," said Clayton. "And it would have been a very good thing -for many of our historians, if they had been obliged to have shaped -their histories so that they would interest a lively school-girl. We -literary men, then, would have found less sleepy reading. There is no -reason why a young lady, who would sit up all night reading a novel, -should not be made to sit up all night with a history. I'll venture to -say there's no romance can come up to the gorgeousness and splendor, and -the dramatic power, of things that really have happened. All that's -wanting is to have it set before us with an air of reality."</p> - -<p>"But, then," said Nina, "you'd have to make the history into a romance."</p> - -<p>"Well, a good historical romance is generally truer than a dull history; -because it gives some sort of conception of the truth; whereas, the dull -history gives none."</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said Nina, "I'll confess, now, that about all the history -I do know has been got from Walter Scott's novels. <i>I</i> always told our -history-teacher so; but she insisted upon it that it was very dangerous -reading."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Mrs. Nesbit, "I've a great horror of novel-reading, -particularly for young ladies. It did me a great deal of harm when I was -young. It dissipates the mind; it gives false views of life."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, law!" said Nina. "We used to write compositions about that, and -I've got it all by heart—how it raises false expectations, and leads -people to pursue phantoms, rainbows, and meteors, and all that sort of -thing!"</p> - -<p>"And yet," said Clayton, "all these objections would lie against -<i>perfectly</i> true history, and the more so just in proportion to its -truth. If the history of Napoleon Bonaparte were graphically and -minutely given, it would lie open to the very same objections. It would -produce the very same cravings for something out of the commonplace -course of life. There would be the same dazzling mixture of bad and good -qualities in the hero, and the same lassitude and exhaustion after the -story was finished. And common history does not do this, simply because -it is not true—does not produce a vivid impression of the reality as it -happened."</p> - -<p>Aunt Nesbit only got an indefinite impression, from this harangue, that -Clayton was defending novel-reading, and felt herself called to employ -her own peculiar line of reasoning to meet it, which consisted in saying -the same thing over and over, at regular intervals, without appearing to -hear or notice anything said in reply. Accordingly, she now drew herself -up, with a slightly virtuous air, and said to Mr. Clayton,—</p> - -<p>"I must say, after all, that I don't approve of novel-reading. It gives -false views of life, and disgusts young people with their duties."</p> - -<p>"I was only showing, madam, that the same objection would apply to the -best-written history," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I think novel-reading does a great deal of harm," rejoined Aunt Nesbit. -"I never allow myself to read any work of fiction. I'm principled -against it."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Nina, "I wish I could find that kind of history you -are speaking of; I believe I could read that."</p> - -<p>"'Twould be very interesting history, certainly," said Mr. Carson. "I -should think it would prove a very charming mode of writing. I wonder -somebody don't produce one."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I confine myself entirely to what is -practically useful. Useful information is all I desire."</p> - -<p>"Well, I suppose, then, I'm very wicked," said Nina; "but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> I don't like -anything useful. Why, I've sometimes thought, when I've been in the -garden, that the summer-savory, sage, and sweet-marjoram, were just as -pretty as many other flowers; and I couldn't see any reason why I -shouldn't like a sprig of one of them for a bouquet, except that I've -seen them used for stuffing turkeys. Well, now, that seems very bad of -me, don't it?"</p> - -<p>"That reminds me," said Aunt Nesbit, "that Rose has been putting sage -into this turkey again, after all that I said to her. I believe she does -it on purpose."</p> - -<p>At this moment Harry appeared at the door, and requested to speak to -Nina.</p> - -<p>After a few moments' whispered conversation, she came back to the table, -apparently disconcerted.</p> - -<p>"I'm so sorry—so very sorry!" she said. "Harry has been riding all -round the country to find a minister to attend the funeral, this -evening. It will be such a disappointment to that poor fellow! You know -the negroes think so much of having prayers at the grave!"</p> - -<p>"If no one else can be found to read prayers, I will," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Oh, thank you! will you, indeed?" said Nina. "I'm glad of it, now, for -poor Tiff's sake. The coach will be out at five o'clock, and we'll ride -over together, and make as much of a party as we can."</p> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p>"Why, child," said Aunt Nesbit to Nina, after they returned to the -parlor, "I did not know that Mr. Clayton was an Episcopalian."</p> - -<p>"He isn't," said Nina. "He and his family all attend the Presbyterian -church."</p> - -<p>"How strange that he should offer to read prayers!" said Aunt Nesbit. "I -don't approve of such things, for my part."</p> - -<p>"Such things as what?"</p> - -<p>"Countenancing Episcopal errors. If we are right, they are wrong, and we -ought not to countenance them."</p> - -<p>"But, aunt, the burial-service is beautiful."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p><p>"Don't approve of it!" said Aunt Nesbit.</p> - -<p>"Why, you know, as Clayton isn't a minister, he would not feel like -making an extempore prayer."</p> - -<p>"Shows great looseness of religious principle," said Aunt Nesbit. "Don't -approve of it!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XII.</span> <span class="smaller">EXPLANATIONS.</span></h2> - -<p>The golden arrows of the setting sun were shooting hither and thither -through the pine woods, glorifying whatever they touched with a life not -its own. A chorus of birds were pouring out an evening melody, when a -little company stood around an open grave. With instinctive care for the -feeling of the scene, Nina had arrayed herself in a black silk dress, -and plain straw bonnet with black ribbon—a mark of respect to the -deceased remembered and narrated by Tiff for many a year after.</p> - -<p>Cripps stood by the head of the grave, with that hopeless, imbecile -expression with which a nature wholly gross and animal often -contemplates the symbols of the close of mortal existence. Tiff stood by -the side of the grave, his white hat conspicuously draped with black -crape, and a deep weed of black upon his arm. The baby, wrapped in an -old black shawl, was closely fondled in his bosom, while the two -children stood weeping bitterly at his side. The other side of the grave -stood Mr. Carson and Mr. Clayton, while Milly, Harry, and several -plantation slaves, were in a group behind.</p> - -<p>The coffin had been opened, that all might take that last look, so -coveted, yet so hopeless, which the human heart will claim on the very -verge of the grave. It was but a moment since the coffin had been -closed; and the burst of grief which shook the children was caused by -that last farewell. As Clayton, in a musical voice, pronounced the -words, "I am the resurrection and the life," Nina wept and sobbed as if -the grief had been her own; nor did she cease to weep during the whole -touching service. It was the same impulsive nature which made her so gay -in other scenes that made her so sympathetic here. When the whole was -over, she kissed the children, and, shaking hands with old Tiff, -promised to come and see them on the morrow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> After which, Clayton led -her to the carriage, into which he and Carson followed her.</p> - -<p>"Upon my word," said Carson, briskly, "this has been quite solemn! -Really, a very interesting funeral, indeed! I was delighted with the -effect of our church service; in such a romantic place, too! 'Twas -really very interesting. It pleases me, also, to see young ladies in -your station, Nina, interest themselves in the humble concerns of the -poor. If young ladies knew how much more attractive it made them to show -a charitable spirit, they would cultivate it more. Singular-looking -person, that old negro! Seems to be a good creature. Interesting -children, too! I should think the woman must have been pretty when she -was young. Seen a great deal of trouble, no doubt, poor thing! It's a -comfort to hope she is better off now."</p> - -<p>Nina was filled with indignation at this monologue; not considering that -the man was giving the very best he had in him, and laboring assiduously -at what he considered his vocation, the prevention of half an hour of -silence in any spot of earth where he could possibly make himself heard. -The same excitement which made Nina cry made him talk. But he was not -content with talking, but insisted upon asking Nina, every moment, if -she didn't think it an interesting occasion, and if she had not been -much impressed.</p> - -<p>"I don't feel like talking, Mr. Carson," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Oh—ah—yes, indeed! You've been so deeply affected—yes. Naturally -<i>does</i> incline one to silence. Understand your feelings perfectly. Very -gratifying to me to see you take such a deep interest in your -fellow-creatures."</p> - -<p>Nina could have pushed him out of the carriage.</p> - -<p>"For my part," continued Carson, "I think we don't reflect enough about -this kind of thing—I positively don't. It really is useful sometimes to -have one's thoughts turned in this direction. It does us good."</p> - -<p>Thus glibly did Carson proceed to talk away the impression of the whole -scene they had witnessed. Long before the carriage reached home, Nina -had forgotten all her sympathy in a tumult of vexation. She discovered -an increasing difficulty in making Carson understand, by any degree of -coolness, that he was not acceptable; and saw nothing before her but -explanations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> in the very plainest terms, mortifying and humiliating as -that might be. His perfect self-complacent ease, and the air with which -he constantly seemed to appropriate her as something which of right -belonged to himself, filled her with vexation. But yet her conscience -told her that she had brought it upon herself.</p> - -<p>"I won't bear this another hour!" she said to herself, as she ascended -the steps toward the parlor. "All this before Clayton too! What must he -think of me?" But they found tea upon the table and Aunt Nesbit waiting.</p> - -<p>"It's a pity, madam, you were not with us. Such an interesting time!" -said Mr. Carson, launching, with great volubility, into the tide of -discourse.</p> - -<p>"It wouldn't have done for me at all," said Mrs. Nesbit. "Being out when -the dew falls, always brings on hoarseness. I have been troubled in that -way these two or three years. Now I have to be very careful. Then I'm -timid about riding in a carriage with John's driving."</p> - -<p>"I was amused enough," said Nina, "with Old Hundred's indignation at -having to get out the carriage and horses to go over to what he called a -'cracker funeral.' I really believe, if he could have upset us without -hurting himself, he would have done it."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I hope that family will move off -before long. It's very disagreeable having such people round."</p> - -<p>"The children look very pretty and bright," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Oh, there's no hope for them! They'll grow up and be just like their -parents. I've seen that sort of people all through and through. I don't -wish them any evil; only I don't want to have anything to do with them!"</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Nina, "I'm sorry for them. I wonder why the -legislature, or somebody, don't have schools, as they do up in New York -State? There isn't anywhere there where children can't go to school, if -they wish to. Besides, aunt, these children really came from an old -family in Virginia. Their old servant-man says that their mother was a -Peyton."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe a word of it! They'll lie—all of them. They always -do."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p><p>"Well," said Nina, "I shall do something for these children, at any -rate."</p> - -<p>"I quite agree with you, Nina. It shows a very excellent spirit in you," -said Mr. Carson. "You'll always find me ready to encourage everything of -that sort."</p> - -<p>Nina frowned, and looked indignant. But to no purpose. Mr. Carson went -on remorselessly with his really good-hearted rattle, till Nina, at -last, could bear it no longer.</p> - -<p>"How dreadfully warm this room is!" said she, springing up. "Come, let's -go back into the parlor."</p> - -<p>Nina was as much annoyed at Clayton's silence, and his quiet, observant -reserve, as with Carson's forth-putting. Rising from table, she passed -on before the company, with a half-flying trip, into the hall, which lay -now cool, calm, and breezy, in the twilight, with the odor of the -pillar-roses floating in at the window. The pale white moon, set in the -rosy belt of the evening sky, looked in at the open door. Nina would -have given all the world to be still; but, well aware that stillness was -out of the question, she determined to select her own noise; and, -sitting down at the piano, began playing very fast, in a rapid, -restless, disconnected manner. Clayton threw himself on a lounge by the -open door; while Carson busied himself fluttering the music, opening and -shutting music-books, and interspersing running commentaries and notes -of admiration on the playing.</p> - -<p>At last, as if she could bear it no longer, she rose, with a very -decided air, from the piano, and, facing about towards Mr. Carson, -said:—</p> - -<p>"It looks very beautifully out doors. Don't you want to come out? -There's a point of view at the end of one of the paths, where the moon -looks on the water, that I should like to show you."</p> - -<p>"Won't you catch cold, Nina?" said Aunt Nesbit.</p> - -<p>"No, indeed! I never catch cold," said Nina, springing into the porch, -and taking the delighted Mr. Carson's arm. And away she went with him, -with almost a skip and a jump, leaving Clayton <i>tête-à-tête</i> with Aunt -Nesbit.</p> - -<p>Nina went so fast that her attendant was almost out of breath. They -reached a little knoll, and there Nina stopped suddenly, and said, "Look -here, Mr. Carson; I have something to say to you."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p><p>"I should be delighted, my dear Nina! I'm perfectly charmed!"</p> - -<p>"No—no—if you please—<i>don't!</i>" said Nina, putting up her hand to stop -him. "Just wait till you hear what I have to say. I believe you did not -get a letter which I wrote you a few days ago, did you?"</p> - -<p>"A letter! no, indeed. How unfortunate!"</p> - -<p>"Very unfortunate for me!" said Nina; "and for you, too. Because, if you -had, it would have saved you and me the trouble of this interview. I -wrote that letter to tell you, Mr. Carson, that I cannot <i>think</i> of such -a thing as an engagement with you! That I've acted very wrong and very -foolishly; but that I cannot do it. In New York, where everybody and -everything seemed to be trifling, and where the girls all trifled with -these things, I was engaged—just for frolic—nothing more. I had no -idea what it would amount to; no idea what I was saying, nor how I -should feel afterwards. But every hour since I've been home, here, since -I've been so much alone, has made me feel how wrong it is. Now, I'm very -sorry, I'm sure. But I must speak the truth, this time. But it is—I -can't tell you how—disagreeable to me to have you treat me as you have -since you've been here!"</p> - -<p>"Miss Gordon!" said Mr. Carson, "I am positively astonished! I—I don't -know what to think!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I only want you to think that I am in earnest; and that, though I -can <i>like</i> you very well as an acquaintance, and shall always wish you -well, yet anything else is just as far out of the question as that moon -there is from us. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I've made you all -this trouble. I really am," said she, good-naturedly; "but please now to -understand how we stand." She turned, and tripped away.</p> - -<p>"There!" said she, to herself, "at any rate, I've done <i>one</i> thing!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Carson stood still, gradually recovering from the stupor into which -this communication had thrown him. He stretched himself, rubbed his -eyes, took out his watch and looked at it, and then began walking off -with a very sober pace in the opposite direction from Nina. -Happily-constituted mortal that he was, nothing ever could be subtracted -from his sum of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>complacence that could not be easily balanced by about -a quarter of an hour's consideration. The walk through the shrubbery in -which he was engaged was an extremely pretty one, and wound along on the -banks of the river through many picturesque points of view, and finally -led again to the house by another approach. During the course of this -walk Mr. Carson had settled the whole question for himself. In the first -place, he repeated the comfortable old proverb, that there were as good -fish in the sea as ever were caught. In the second place, as Mr. Carson -was a shrewd business-man, it occurred to him, in this connection, that -the plantation was rather run down, and not a profitable acquisition. -And, in the third place, contemplating Nina as the fox of old did his -bunch of sour grapes, he began to remember that, after all, she was -dressy, expensive, and extravagant. Then, as he did not want that -imperturbable good-nature which belongs to a very shallow capability of -feeling, he said to himself that he shouldn't like the girl a bit the -less. In fact, when he thought of his own fine fortune, his house in New -York, and all the accessories which went to make up himself, he -considered her, on the whole, as an object of pity; and, by the time -that he ascended the balcony steps again, he was in as charitable and -Christian a frame as any rejected suitor could desire.</p> - -<p>He entered the drawing-room. Aunt Nesbit had ordered candles, and was -sitting up with her gloves on, alone. What had transpired during his -walk, he did not know; but we will take our readers into confidence.</p> - -<p>Nina returned to the house with the same decided air with which she went -out, and awakened Mr. Clayton from a reverie with a brisk little tap of -her fan on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Come up here with me," she said, "and look out of the library window, -and see this moonlight."</p> - -<p>And up she went, over the old oaken staircase, stopping on each landing; -and, beckoning to Clayton, with a whimsically authoritative gesture, -threw open the door of a large, black-wainscoted room, and ushered him -in. The room lay just above the one where they had been sitting, and, -like that, opened on to the veranda by long-sashed windows, through -which, at the present moment, a flood of moonlight was pouring. A large, -mahogany writing-table, covered with papers, stood in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>middle of the -room, and the moon shone in so brightly that the pattern of the bronze -inkstand, and the color of the wafers and sealing-wax, were plainly -revealed. The window commanded a splendid view of the river over the -distant tree-tops, as it lay shimmering and glittering in the moonlight.</p> - -<p>"Isn't that a beautiful sight?" said Nina, in a hurried voice.</p> - -<p>"Very beautiful!" said Clayton, sitting down in the large lounging-chair -before the window, and looking out with the abstracted air which was -habitual with him.</p> - -<p>After a moment's thought, Nina added, with a sudden effort,—</p> - -<p>"But, after all, that was not what I wanted to speak to you about. I -wanted to see you somewhere, and say a few words which it seems to me it -is due to you that I should say. I got your last letter, and I'm sure I -am very much obliged to your sister for all the kind things she says; -but I think you must have been astonished at what you have seen since -you have been here."</p> - -<p>"Astonished at what?" said Clayton, quietly.</p> - -<p>"At Mr. Carson's manners towards me."</p> - -<p>"I have not been astonished at all," replied Clayton, quietly.</p> - -<p>"I think, at all events," said Nina, "I think it is no more than -honorable that I should tell you exactly how things have stood. Mr. -Carson has thought that he had a right to me and mine; and I was so -foolish as to give him reason to think so. The fact is, that I have been -making a game of life, and saying and doing anything and everything that -came into my head, just for frolic. It don't seem to me that there has -been anything serious or real about me, until very lately. Somehow, my -acquaintance with you has made things seem more real to me than they -ever did before; and it seems to me now perfectly incredible, the way we -girls used to play and trifle with everything in the world. Just for -sport, I was engaged to that man; just for sport, too, I have been -engaged to another one."</p> - -<p>"And," said Clayton, breaking the silence, "just for sport, have you -been engaged to me?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Nina, after a few moments' silence, "not in sport, certainly; -but, yet, not enough in earnest. I think I am about half waked up. I -don't know myself. I don't know where or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> what I am, and I want to go -back into that thoughtless dream. I do really think it's too hard to -take up the responsibility of living in good earnest. Now, it seems to -me just this,—that I cannot be bound to anybody. I want to be free. I -have positively broken all connection with Mr. Carson; I have broken -with another one, and I wish"—</p> - -<p>"To break with me?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I don't really know as I can say what I do wish. It is a very different -thing from any of the others, but there's a feeling of dread, and -responsibility, and constraint, about it; and, though I think I should -feel very lonesome now without you, and though I like to get your -letters, yet it seems to me that I cannot be engaged,—that is a most -dreadful feeling to me."</p> - -<p>"My dear friend," said Clayton, "if that is all, make yourself easy. -There's no occasion for our being engaged. If you can enjoy being with -me and writing to me, why, do it in the freest way, and to-morrow shall -take care for the things of itself. You shall say what you please, do -what you please, write when you please, and not write when you please, -and have as many or as few letters as you like. There can be no true -love without liberty."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm sure I'm much obliged to you!" said Nina, with a sigh of -relief. "And, now, do you know, I like your sister's postscript very -much; but I can't tell what it is in it, for the language is as kind as -can be, that would give me the impression that she is one of those very -proper kind of people, that would be dreadfully shocked if she knew of -all my goings on in New York."</p> - -<p>Clayton could hardly help laughing at the instinctive sagacity of this -remark.</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I don't know," said he, "where you could have seen that,—in -so short a postscript, too."</p> - -<p>"Do you know, I never take anybody's handwriting into my hand, that I -don't feel an idea of them come over me, just as you have when you see -people? And that idea came over me when I read your sister's letter."</p> - -<p>"Well, Nina, to tell you the truth, sister Anne is a little bit -conventional—a little set in her ways; but, after all, a large-hearted, -warm-hearted woman. You would like each other, I know."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><p>"I don't know about that," said Nina. "I am very apt to shock proper -people. Somehow or other, they have a faculty of making me contrary."</p> - -<p>"Well, but, you see, Anne isn't merely a conventional person; there's -only the slightest crust of conventionality, and a real warm heart under -it."</p> - -<p>"Whereas," said Nina, "most conventional people are like a shallow -river, frozen to the bottom. But, now, really, I should like very much -to have your sister come and visit us, if I could think that she would -come as any other friend; but, you know, it isn't very agreeable to have -anybody come to look one over to see if one will do."</p> - -<p>Clayton laughed at the naïve, undisguised frankness of this speech.</p> - -<p>"You see," said Nina, "though I'm nothing but an ignorant school-girl, -I'm as proud as if I had everything to be proud of. Now, do you know, I -don't much like writing to your sister, because I don't think I write -very good letters! I never could sit still long enough to write."</p> - -<p>"Write exactly as you talk," said Clayton. "Say just what comes into -your head, just as you would talk it. I hope you will do that much, for -it will be very dull writing all on one side."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, rising, with animation, "now, Mr. Edward Clayton, if -we have settled about this moonlight, we may as well go down into the -parlor, where Aunt Nesbit and Mr. Carson are <i>tête-à-tête</i>."</p> - -<p>"Poor Carson!" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't pity him! Good soul! he's a man that one night's rest would -bring round from anything in creation. He's so thoroughly good-natured! -Besides, I shall like him better, now. He did not use to seem to me so -intrusive and disagreeable. We girls used to like him very well, he was -such a comfortable, easy-tempered, agreeable creature, always brisk and -in spirits, and knowing everything that went on. But he is one of those -men that I think would be really insufferable, if anything serious were -the matter with me. Now, you heard how he talked coming from that -funeral! Do you know, that if he had been coming from <i>my</i> funeral, it -would have been just so?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, no, not quite so bad," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Indeed he is," said Nina. "That man! why, he just puts me in mind of -one of these brisk blue-flies, whirring and whisking about, marching -over pages of books, and alighting on all sorts of things. When he puts -on that grave look, and begins to talk about serious things, he actually -looks to me just as a fly does when he stands brushing his wings on a -Bible! But, come, let's go down to the good soul."</p> - -<p>Down they went, and Nina seemed like a person enfranchised. Never had -she seemed more universally gracious. She was chatty and conversable -with Carson, and sang over for him all her old opera-songs, with the -better grace that she saw that Clayton was listening intently.</p> - -<p>As they were sitting and conversing together, the sound of a horse's -heels was heard coming up the avenue.</p> - -<p>"Who can that be, this time of night?" said Nina, springing to the door, -and looking out.</p> - -<p>She saw Harry hastening in advance to meet her, and ran down the veranda -steps to speak to him.</p> - -<p>"Harry, who is coming?"</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, it's Master Tom," said Harry, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"Tom! Oh, mercy!" said Nina, in a voice of apprehension. "What sent him -here, now?"</p> - -<p>"What sends him anywhere?" said Harry.</p> - -<p>Nina reascended the steps, and stood looking apprehensively towards the -horseman, who approached every moment nearer. Harry came up on the -veranda, and stood a little behind her. In a few moments the horse was -up before the steps.</p> - -<p>"Hallo, there!" said the rider. "Come, take my horse, you rascal!"</p> - -<p>Harry remained perfectly still, put his arms by his side, and stood with -a frowning expression on his forehead.</p> - -<p>"Don't you hear?" said the horseman, throwing himself off, with an oath. -"Come here, boy, and take my horse!"</p> - -<p>"For pity's sake," said Nina, turning and looking in Harry's face, -"don't have a scene here! Do take his horse, quick! <i>Anything</i> to keep -him quiet!"</p> - -<p>With a sudden start, Harry went down the steps, and took the bridle from -the hand of the newly-arrived in silence.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p><p>The horseman sprang up the steps.</p> - -<p>"Hallo, Nin, is this you?" And Nina felt herself roughly seized in the -arms of a shaggy great-coat, and kissed by lips smelling of brandy and -tobacco. She faintly said, as she disengaged herself,—</p> - -<p>"Tom, is it you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, to be sure! Who did you think it was? Devilish glad to see me, -an't you? Suppose you was in hopes I wouldn't come!"</p> - -<p>"Hush, Tom, do! I <i>am</i> glad to see you. There are gentlemen in there; -don't speak so loud!"</p> - -<p>"Some of your beaux, hey? Well, I am as good a fellow as any of 'em! -Free country, I hope! No, I an't going to whisper, for any of them. So -now, Nin— If there isn't old Starchy, to be sure!" said he, as Aunt -Nesbit came to the door. "Hallo, old girl, how are you?"</p> - -<p>"Thomas!" said Mrs. Nesbit, softly, "Thomas!"</p> - -<p>"None of your Thomasing me, you old pussy-cat! Don't you be telling me, -neither, to hush! I won't hush, neither! I know what I am about, I -guess! It's my house, as much as it is Nin's, and I'm going to do as I -have a mind to here! I an't going to have my mouth shut on account of -her beaux! So, clear out, I tell you, and let me come in!" and Aunt -Nesbit gave back. He pushed his way into the apartment.</p> - -<p>He was a young man, about twenty-five years old, who evidently had once -possessed advantages of face and figure; but every outline in the face -was bloated and rendered unmeaning by habits of constant intemperance. -His dark eyes had that muddy and troubled expression which in a young -man too surely indicates the habitual consciousness of inward impurity. -His broad, high forehead was flushed and pimpled, his lips swollen and -tumid, and his whole air and manner gave painful evidence that he was at -present too far under the influence of stimulus justly to apprehend what -he was about.</p> - -<p>Nina followed him, and Clayton was absolutely shocked at the ghastly -paleness of her face. She made an uncertain motion towards him, as if -she would have gone to him for protection. Clayton rose; Carson, also; -and all stood for a moment in silent embarrassment.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><p>"Well, this is a pretty business, to be sure! Nina," said he, turning -to her, with a tremendous oath, "why don't you introduce me? Pretty way -to meet a brother you haven't seen for three or four years! You act as -if you were ashamed of me! Confound it all! introduce me, I say!"</p> - -<p>"Tom, don't speak so!" said Nina, laying her hand on his arm, in a -soothing tone. "This gentleman is Mr. Clayton; and, Mr. Clayton," she -said, lifting her eyes to him, and speaking in a trembling voice, "this -is my brother."</p> - -<p>Mr. Clayton offered his hand, with the ordinary expressions of civility.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Carson," said Nina, "my brother."</p> - -<p>There was something inexpressibly touching and affecting in the manner -in which this was said. One other person noticed it. Harry, who had -given the horse to a servant, stood leaning against the doorway, looking -on. A fiery gleam, like that of a steel blade, seemed to shoot from his -blue eyes; and each time that Nina said "my brother," he drew in his -breath, as one who seeks to restrain himself in some violent inward -emotion.</p> - -<p>"I suppose you don't any of you want to see me much," said the -new-comer, taking a chair, and sitting down doggedly in the centre of -the group, with his hat on his head.</p> - -<p>"Well, I have as good a right as anybody to be here!" he continued, -spitting a quid of tobacco at Aunt Nesbit's feet.</p> - -<p>"For my part, I think relations ought to have natural affection, and be -glad to see one another. Well, now, you can see, gentlemen, with your -own eyes, just how it is here! There's my sister, there. You better -believe me, she hasn't seen me for three years! Instead of appearing -glad, or anything, there she sits, all curled up in a corner! Won't come -near me, more than if I had the plague! Come here, now, you little kit, -and sit in my lap!"</p> - -<p>He made a movement to pull Nina towards him, which she resisted with an -air of terror, looking at her aunt, who, more terrified still, sat with -her feet drawn up on the sofa, as if he had been a mad dog. There was -reason enough for the terror which seemed to possess them both. Both had -too vivid recollections of furious domestic hurricanes that had swept -over the family when Tom Gordon came home. Nina remembered the storms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -of oaths and curses that had terrified her when a child; the times that -she had seen her father looking like death, leaning his head on his -hand, and sighing as only those sigh who have an only son worse than -dead.</p> - -<p>It is no wonder, therefore, that Nina, generally courageous and fearless -as she was, should have become fearful and embarrassed at his sudden -return.</p> - -<p>"Tom," she said, softly, coming up to him, "you haven't been to supper. -Hadn't you better come out?"</p> - -<p>"No you don't!" said he, catching her round the waist, and drawing her -on his knee. "You won't get me out of the room, now! I know what I am -about! Tell me," continued he, still holding her on his knee, "which of -them is it, Nin?—which is the favored one?"</p> - -<p>Clayton rose and went out on the veranda, and Mr. Carson asked Harry to -show him into his room.</p> - -<p>"Hallo! shelling out there, are they? Well, Nin, to tell the truth, I am -deuced hungry. For my part, I don't see what the thunder keeps my Jim -out so long. I sent him across to the post-office. He ought to have been -back certainly as soon as I was. Oh, here he comes! Hallo! you dog, -there!" said he, going to the door, where a very black negro was -dismounting. "Any letters?"</p> - -<p>"No, mas'r. I spect de mails have gin up. Der an't been no letters dere, -for no one, for a month. It is some 'quatic disorganization of dese yer -creeks, I s'pose. So de letter-bags goes anywhere 'cept der right -place."</p> - -<p>"Confound it all! I say, you Nin," turning round, "why don't you offer a -fellow some supper? Coming home, here, in my own father's house, -everybody acts as if they were scared to death! No supper!"</p> - -<p>"Why, Tom, I've been asking you, these three or four times."</p> - -<p>"Bless us!" said Jim, whispering to Harry. "De mischief is, he an't more -than half-primed! Tell her to give him a little more brandy, and after a -little we will get him into bed as easy as can be!"</p> - -<p>And the event proved so; for, on sitting down to supper, Tom Gordon -passed regularly through all the stages of drunkenness; became as -outrageously affectionate as he had been before surly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> kissed Nina and -Aunt Nesbit, cried over his sins and confessed his iniquities, laughed -and cried feebly, till at last he sank in his chair asleep.</p> - -<p>"Dar, he is done for, now!" said Jim, who had been watching the gradual -process. "Now, just you and I, let's tote him off," said he to Harry.</p> - -<p>Nina, on her part, retired to a troubled pillow. She foresaw nothing -before her but mortification and embarrassment, and realized more than -ever the peculiar loneliness of her situation.</p> - -<p>For all purposes of consultation and aid, Aunt Nesbit was nobody in her -esteem, and Nina was always excited and vexed by every new attempt that -she made to confide in her.</p> - -<p>"Now, to-morrow," she said to herself, as she lay down, "no one knows -what will turn up. He will go round as usual, interfering with -everything—threatening and frightening my servants, and getting up some -difficulty with Harry. Dear me! it seems to me life is coming over me -hard enough, and all at once, too!"</p> - -<p>As Nina said this, she saw some one standing by her bed. It was Milly, -who stooped tenderly over her, smoothing and arranging the bed-clothes -in a motherly way.</p> - -<p>"Is that you, Milly? Oh, sit down here a minute! I am so troubled! It -seems to me I've had so much trouble to-day! Do you know Tom came home -to-night <i>so</i> drunk! Oh, dear Milly, it was horrid! Do you know he took -me in his arms and kissed me; and, though he is my only brother, it's -perfectly dreadful to me! And I feel so worried, and so anxious!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, lamb, I knows all about dese yer things," said Milly. "I's seen -him many and many times."</p> - -<p>"The worst of it is," said Nina, "that I don't know what he will do -to-morrow—and before Mr. Clayton, too! It makes me feel so helpless, -ashamed, and mortifies me so!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes, chile," said Milly, gently stroking her head.</p> - -<p>"I stand so much alone!" said Nina. "Other girls have some friend or -relation to lean on; but I have nobody!"</p> - -<p>"Why don't you ask your <i>Father</i> to help you?" said Milly to Nina, in a -gentle tone.</p> - -<p>"Ask <i>who</i>?" said Nina, lifting up her head from the pillow.</p> - -<p>"Your Father!" said Milly, with a voice of solemnity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> "Don't you know -'Our Father who art in Heaven'? You haven't forgot your prayers, I hope, -honey."</p> - -<p>Nina looked at her with surprise. And Milly continued, "Now, if I was -you, lamb, I would tell my Father all about it. Why, chile, He loves -you! He wouldn't like nothing better, now, than to have you just come to -Him and tell Him all about your troubles, and He'll make 'em all -straight. That's the way I does, and I's found it come out right, many -and many a time."</p> - -<p>"Why, Milly, you wouldn't have me go to God about <i>my</i> little foolish -affairs?"</p> - -<p>"Laws, chile, what should you go to Him 'bout, den? Sure dese are all de -'fairs you's got."</p> - -<p>"Well, but, Milly," said Nina, apprehensively, "you know I've been a -very bad girl about religion. It's years and years since I've said any -prayers. At school, the girls used to laugh at anybody who said prayers; -and so I never did. And, since I've neglected my heavenly Father when -things went well with me, it wouldn't be fair to call on Him now, just -because I've got into trouble. I don't think it would be honorable."</p> - -<p>"De Lord bless dis yer chile! Do hear her talk! Just as if de heavenly -Father didn't know all about you, and hadn't been a loving and watching -you de whole time! Why, chile, He knows what poor foolish creatures we -be; and He an't noways surprised, nor put out. Why, laws, don't you know -He's de good shepherd? And what you suppose dey has shepherds fur, 'cept -de sheeps are all de time running away, and getting into trouble? Why, -honey, <i>dat's what dey's fur</i>."</p> - -<p>"Well, but it is so long since I prayed, that I don't know anything how -to pray, Milly."</p> - -<p>"Bless you, chile, who wanted you to pray? I never prays myself. Used to -try, but I made such drefful poor work on it that I gin it up. Now, I -just goes and <i>talks</i> to de Father, and tells Him anything and -everything; and I think He likes it a great deal better. Why, He is just -as willing to hear me now, as if I was the greatest lady in the land. -And he takes such an interest in all my poor 'fairs! Why, sometimes I go -to Him when my heart is <i>so</i> heavy; and, when I tells Him all about it, -I comes away as light as a feather!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p><p>"Well, but, after I've forgotten Him so many years!"</p> - -<p>"Why, honey, now just look yere! I 'member once, when you was a little -weety thing, that you toddles down dem steps dere, and you slips away -from dem dat was watching you, and you toddles away off into de grove, -yonder, and dere you got picking flowers, and one thing and another, -mighty tickled and peart. You was down dere 'joying yourself, till, by -and by, your pa missed you; and den such another hunt as dere was! Dere -was a hurrying here, and a looking dere; and finally your pa run down in -de woods, and dere you'd got stuck fast in de mud! both your shoes off, -and well scratched with briers; and dere you stood a crying, and calling -your pa. I tell you he said dat ar was de sweetest music he ever heard -in his life. I 'member he picked you up, and came up to de house kissing -you. Now, dere 'twas, honey! You didn't call on your pa till you got -into trouble. And laws, laws, chile, dat's de way with us all. We never -does call on de Father till we gets into trouble; and it takes heaps and -heaps of trouble, sometimes, to bring us round. Some time, chile, I'll -tell you my sperence. I's got a sperence on this point. But, now, honey, -don't trouble yourself no more; but just ask your Father to take care of -your 'fairs, and turn over and go to sleep. And He'll do it. Now you -mind."</p> - -<p>So saying, Milly smoothed the pillow with anxious care, and, kissing -Nina on the forehead, departed.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIII.</span> <span class="smaller">TOM GORDON.</span></h2> - -<p>"I say, Nina," said her brother, coming in, a day or two after, from a -survey he had been taking round the premises, "you want <i>me</i> here to -manage this place. Everything going at sixes and sevens; and that nigger -of a Harry riding round with his boots shining. That fellow cheats you, -and feathers his own nest well. I know! These white niggers are all -deceitful."</p> - -<p>"Come, Tom, you know the estate is managed just as father left word to -have it; and Uncle John says that Harry is an excellent manager. I'm -sure nobody could have been more faithful to me; and I am very well -satisfied."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I dare say. All left to you and the executors, as you call them; -as if <i>I</i> were not the natural guardian of my sister! Then I come here -to put up with that fellow's impudence!"</p> - -<p>"Whose?—Harry's? He is never impudent. He is always gentlemanly. -Everybody remarks it."</p> - -<p>"Gentlemanly! There it is, Nin! What a fool you are to encourage the use -of that word in connection with any of your niggers! Gentleman, -forsooth! And while he plays gentleman, who takes care? I tell you what, -you'll find one of these days how things are going on. But that's just -the way! You never would listen to me, or pay the least attention to my -advice."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tom, don't talk about that—don't! I never interfere about your -affairs. Please leave me the right to manage mine in my own way."</p> - -<p>"And who is this Clayton that's hanging about here? Are you going to -have him, or he you—hey?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Because <i>I</i>, for one, don't like him; and I shan't give my consent to -let him have you. That other one is worth twice as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> much. He has one of -the largest properties in New York. Joe Snider has told me about him. -You shall have him."</p> - -<p>"I shall <i>not</i> have him, say what you please; and I <i>shall</i> have Mr. -Clayton, if I choose!" said Nina, with a heightened color. "You have no -right to dictate to me of my own affairs; and I shan't submit to it, I -tell you frankly."</p> - -<p>"Highty-tighty! We are coming up, to be sure!" said Tom.</p> - -<p>"Moreover," said Nina, "I wish you to let everything on this place -entirely alone; and remember that my servants are not your servants, and -that you have no control over them whatever."</p> - -<p>"Well, we will see how you'll help yourself! I am not going to go -skulking about on my father's own place as if I had no right or title -there; and if your niggers don't look sharp, they'll find out whether I -am the master here or not, especially that Harry. If the dog dare so -much as to lift his fingers to countermand any one of my orders, I'd put -a bullet through his head as soon as I would through a buck's. I give -you warning!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tom, pray don't talk so!" said Nina, who really began to be -alarmed. "What do you want to make me such trouble for?"</p> - -<p>The conversation was here suspended by the entrance of Milly.</p> - -<p>"If you please, Miss Nina, come and show me which of your muslins you -wish to be done up, as I's starching for Miss Loo."</p> - -<p>Glad of an opportunity to turn the conversation, Nina ran up to her -room, whither she was followed by Milly, who shut the door, and spoke to -her in mysterious tones.</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina, can't you make some errand to get Harry off the place for -two or three days, while Mas'r Tom's round?"</p> - -<p>"But what right," said Nina, with heightened color, "has he to dictate -to my servants, or me? or to interfere with any of our arrangements -here?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, dere's no use talking about <i>rights</i>, honey. We must all do jest -what we <i>ken</i>. Don't make much odds whether our rights is one way or -t'other. You see, chile, it's just here. Harry's your right hand. But -you see he an't learnt to <i>bend</i> 'fore the wind, like the rest of us. He -is spirity; he is just as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> full now as a powder-box; and Mas'r Tom is -bent on aggravating him. And, laws, chile, dere may be bloody work—dere -may so!"</p> - -<p>"Why, do you think he'd <i>dare</i>"—</p> - -<p>"Chile, don't talk to me! Dare!—yes; sure 'nough he will dare! Besides, -dere's fifty ways young gentlemen may take to aggravate and provoke. -And, when flesh and blood can't bear it no longer, if Harry raises his -hand, why, den shoot him down! Nothing said—nothing done. You can't -help yourself. You won't want to have a lawsuit with your own brother; -and, if you did, 'twouldn't bring Harry to life! Laws, chile, ef I could -tell you what I've seen—you don't know nothing 'bout it. Now, I tell -you, get up some message to your uncle's plantation; send him off for -anything or nothing; only have him gone! And then speak your brother -fair, and then may be he will go off. But don't you quarrel! don't you -cross him, come what may! Dere an't a soul on the place that can bar de -sight on him. But, then, you see the rest dey <i>all bends</i>! But, chile, -you must be quick about it! Let me go right off and find him. Just you -come in the little back room, and I'll call him in."</p> - -<p>Pale and trembling, Nina descended into the room; and, in a few moments -after, Milly appeared, followed by Harry.</p> - -<p>"Harry!" said Nina, in a trembling voice, "I want you to take your horse -and go over to Uncle John's plantation, and carry a note for me."</p> - -<p>Harry stood with his arms folded, and his eyes fixed upon the ground, -and Nina continued,—</p> - -<p>"And, Harry, I think you had better make some business or errand to keep -you away two or three days, or a week."</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina," said Harry, "the affairs of the place are very pressing -now, and need overlooking. A few days' neglect now may produce a great -loss, and then it will be said that I neglected my business to idle and -ride round the country."</p> - -<p>"Well, but if I send you, I take the responsibility, and I'll bear the -loss. The fact is, Harry, I'm afraid that you won't have patience to be -here, now Tom is at home. In fact, Harry, I'm afraid for your life! And -now, if you have any regard for me, make the best arrangement with the -work you can, and be off. I'll tell him that I sent you on business of -my own, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> I am going to write a letter for you to carry. It's the -only safe way. He has so many ways in which he can provoke and insult -you, that, at last, you may say or do something that will give him -occasion against you; and I think he is determined to drive you to -this."</p> - -<p>"Isn't this provoking, now? isn't this outrageous!" said Harry, between -his teeth, looking down, "that everything must be left, and all because -I haven't the right to stand up like a man, and protect you and yours!"</p> - -<p>"It is a pity! it is a shame!" said Nina. "But, Harry, don't stop to -think upon it; do go!" She laid her hand softly on his. "For my sake, -now, be good—be good!"</p> - -<p>The room where they were standing had long windows, which opened, like -those of the parlor, on the veranda, and commanded a view of a -gravel-walk bordered with shrubbery. As Harry stood, hesitating, he -started at seeing Lisette come tripping up the walk, balancing on her -head a basket of newly-ironed muslins and linens. Her trim little figure -was displayed in a close-fitting gown of blue, a snowy handkerchief -crossed upon her bust, and one rounded arm raised to steady the basket -upon her head. She came tripping forward, with her usual airy motion, -humming a portion of a song; and attracted, at the same moment, the -attention of Tom Gordon and of her husband.</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word, if that isn't the prettiest concern!" said Tom, as he -started up and ran down the walk to meet her.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning, my pretty girl!" he said.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning, sir," returned Lisette, in her usual tone of gay -cheerfulness.</p> - -<p>"Pray, who do you belong to, my pretty little puss! I think I've never -seen you on this place."</p> - -<p>"Please, sir, I'm Harry's wife."</p> - -<p>"Indeed! you are, hey? Devilish good taste he has!" said he, laying his -hand familiarly on her shoulder.</p> - -<p>The shoulder was pulled away, and Lisette moved rapidly on to the other -side of the path, with an air of vexation which made her look rather -prettier.</p> - -<p>"What, my dear, don't you know that I am your husband's young master? -Come, come!" he said, following her, and endeavoring to take hold of her -arm.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p><p>"Please let me alone!" said Lisette, coloring, and in a petted, vexed -tone.</p> - -<p>"Let you alone? No, that I shan't, not while you ask it in such a pretty -way as that!" And again the hand was laid upon her shoulder.</p> - -<p>It must be understood that Harry had witnessed so far, in pantomime, -this scene. He had stood with compressed lips, and eyes slowly dilating, -looking at it. Nina, who was standing with her back to the window, -wondered at the expression of his countenance.</p> - -<p>"Look there, Miss Nina!" he said. "Do you see my wife and your brother?"</p> - -<p>Nina turned, and in an instant the color mounted to her cheeks; her -little form seemed to dilate, and her eyes flashed fire; and before -Harry could see what she was doing, she was down in the gravel-walk, and -had taken Lisette's hand.</p> - -<p>"Tom Gordon," she said, "I'm ashamed of you! Hush! hush!" she continued, -fixing her eyes on him, and stamping her foot. "<i>Dare</i> to come to my -place, and take such liberties here! You shall not be allowed to while -<i>I</i> am mistress; and I <i>am</i> mistress! <i>Dare</i> to lay a finger on this -girl while she is here under my protection! Come, Lisette!" And she -seized the trembling girl by the hand, and drew her along towards the -house.</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon was so utterly confused at this sudden burst of passion in -his sister, that he let them go off without opposition. In a few moments -he looked after her, and gave a long, low whistle.</p> - -<p>"Ah! Pretty well up for her! But she'll find it's easier said than done, -I fancy!" And he sauntered up to the veranda, where Harry stood with his -arms folded, and the veins in his forehead swelling with repressed -emotion.</p> - -<p>"Go in, Lisette," said Nina; "take the things into my room, and I'll -come to you."</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word, Harry," said Tom, coming up, and addressing Harry in the -most insulting tone, "we are all under the greatest obligations to you -for bringing such a pretty little fancy article here!"</p> - -<p>"My wife does not belong to this place," said Harry, forcing himself to -speak calmly. "She belongs to a Mrs. Le Clere, who has come into -Belleville plantation."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p>"Ah! thank you for the information! I may take a fancy to buy her, and -I'd like to know who she belongs to. I've been wanting a pretty little -concern of that sort. She's a good housekeeper, isn't she, Harry? Does -up shirts well? What do you suppose she could be got for? I must go and -see her mistress."</p> - -<p>During this cruel harangue Harry's hands twitched and quivered, and he -started every now and then, looking first at Nina, and then at his -tormentor. He turned deadly pale; even his lips were of ashy whiteness; -and, with his arms still folded, and making no reply, he fixed his large -blue eyes upon Tom, and, as it sometimes happened in moments of -excitement and elevation, there appeared on the rigid lines of his face, -at that moment, so strong a resemblance to Colonel Gordon, that Nina -noticed and was startled by it. Tom Gordon noticed it also. It added -fuel to the bitterness of his wrath; and there glared from his eyes a -malignancy of hatred that was perfectly appalling. The two brothers -seemed like thunder-clouds opposing each other, and ready to dart -lightning. Nina hastened to interfere.</p> - -<p>"Hurry, hurry, Harry! I want that message carried. Do, pray, go -directly!"</p> - -<p>"Let me see," said Tom, "I must call Jim, and have my horse. Which is -the way to that Belleville plantation? I think I'll ride over." And he -turned and walked indolently down the steps.</p> - -<p>"For shame, Tom! you won't! you can't! How can you want to trouble me -so?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>He turned and looked upon her with an evil smile, turned again, and was -gone.</p> - -<p>"Harry, Harry, go quick! Don't you worry; there's no danger!" she added, -in a lower voice. "Madam Le Clere never would consent."</p> - -<p>"There's no knowing!" said Harry, "never any knowing! People act about -money as they do about nothing else."</p> - -<p>"Then—then I'll send and buy her myself!" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"You don't know how our affairs stand, Miss Nina," said Harry hurriedly. -"The money couldn't be raised now for it, especially if I have to go off -this week. It will make a great difference, my being here or not being -here; and very likely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> Master Tom may have a thousand dollars to pay -down on the spot. I never knew him to want money when his will was up. -Great God! haven't I borne this yoke long enough?"</p> - -<p>"Well, Harry," said Nina, "I'll sell everything I've got—my -jewels—everything. I'll mortgage the plantation, before Tom Gordon -shall do this thing! I'm not <i>quite</i> so selfish as I've always seemed to -be. I know you've made the sacrifice of body and soul to my interest; -and I've always taken it because I loved my ease, and was a spoiled -child. But, after all, I know I've as much energy as Tom has, when I am -roused, and I'll go over this very morning and make an offer for her. -Only you be off. You can't stand such provocation as you get here; and -if you yield, as any man will do, at last, then everything and everybody -will go against you, and I can't protect you. Trust to <i>me</i>. I'm not so -much of a child as I have seemed to be! You'll find I can act for -myself, and you too! There comes Mr. Clayton through the -shrubbery—that's right! Order two horses round to the door immediately, -and we'll go over there this morning."</p> - -<p>Nina gave her orders with a dignity as if she had been a princess, and -in all his agitation Harry could not help marvelling at the sudden air -of womanliness which had come over her.</p> - -<p>"I could serve <i>you</i>," he said, in a low voice, "to the last drop of my -blood! But," he added, in a tone which made Nina tremble, "I hate -everybody else! I hate your country! I hate your laws!"</p> - -<p>"Harry," said Nina, "you do wrong—you forget yourself!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I do wrong, do I? We are the people that are <i>never</i> to do wrong! -People may stick pins in us, and stick knives in us, wipe their shoes on -us, spit in our face—<i>we</i> must be amiable! we must be models of -Christian patience! I tell you, your father should rather have put me -into quarters and made me work like a field-negro, than to have given me -the education he did, and leave me under the foot of every white man -that dares tread on me!"</p> - -<p>Nina remembered to have seen her father in transports of passion, and -was again shocked and startled to see the resemblance between his face -and the convulsed face before her.</p> - -<p>"Harry," she said, in a pitying, half-admonitory tone, "do think what -you are saying! If you love me, be quiet!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p><p>"Love you? You have always held my heart in your hand. That has been -the clasp upon my chain. If it hadn't been for you, I should have fought -my way to the north before now, or I would have found a grave on the -road!"</p> - -<p>"Well, Harry," said Nina, after a moment's thought, "my love shall not -be a clasp upon <i>any</i> chain; for, as there is a God in heaven, I will -set you free! I'll have a bill introduced at the very next legislature, -and I know what friend will see to it. So go, now, Harry, go!"</p> - -<p>Harry stood a moment, then suddenly raised the hand of his little -mistress to his lips, turned, and was gone.</p> - -<p>Clayton, who had been passing through the shrubbery, and who had -remarked that Nina was engaged in a very exciting conversation, had -drawn off, and stood waiting for her at the foot of the veranda steps. -As soon as Nina saw him, she reached out her hand frankly, saying,—</p> - -<p>"Oh, there, Mr. Clayton, you are just the person! Wouldn't you like to -take a ride with me?"</p> - -<p>"Of course I should," said he.</p> - -<p>"Wait here a moment," said she, "till I get ready. The horses will be -here immediately." And, running up the steps, she passed quickly by him, -and went into the house.</p> - -<p>Clayton had felt himself in circumstances of considerable embarrassment -ever since the arrival of Tom Gordon, the evening before. He had -perceived that the young man had conceived an instinctive dislike of -himself, which he was at no particular pains to conceal; and he had -found it difficult to preserve the appearance of one who does not -notice. He did not wish to intrude upon Nina any embarrassing -recognition of her situation, even under the guise of sympathy and -assistance; and waited, therefore, till some word from her should -authorize him to speak. He held himself, therefore, ready to meet any -confidence which she might feel disposed to place in him; not doubting, -from the frankness of her nature, that she would soon find it impossible -not to speak of what was so deeply interesting to her.</p> - -<p>Nina soon reappeared, and, mounting their horses, they found themselves -riding through the same forest-road that led to the cottage of Tiff, -from which a divergent path went to the Belleville plantation.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p><p>"I'm glad to see you alone this morning, for many reasons," said Nina; -"for I think I never needed a friend's help more. I'm mortified that you -should have seen what you did last night; but, since you have, I may as -well speak of it. The fact is, that my brother, though he is the only -one I have, never did treat me as if he loved me. I can't tell what the -reason is: whether he was jealous of my poor father's love for me, or -whether it was because I was a wilful, spoiled girl, and so gave him -reason to be set against me, or whatever the reason might be,—he never -has been kind to me long at a time. Perhaps he would be, if I would -always do exactly as he says; but I am made as positive and wilful as he -is. I never have been controlled, and I can't recognize the right which -he seems to assume to control me, and to dictate as to my own private -affairs. He was not left my guardian; and, though I do love him, I -shan't certainly take him as one. Now, you see, he has a bitter hatred, -and a most unreasonable one, towards my Harry; and I had no idea, when I -came home, in how many ways he had the power to annoy me. It does seem -as if an evil spirit possessed them both when they get together; they -seem as full of electricity as they can be, and I am every instant -afraid of an explosion. Unfortunately for Harry, he has had a much -superior education to the generality of his class and station, and the -situation of trust in which he has been placed has given him more the -feelings of a free man and a gentleman than is usual; for, except Tom, -there isn't one of our family circle that hasn't always treated him with -kindness, and even with deference; and I think this very thing angers -Tom the more, and makes him take every possible occasion of provoking -and vexing. I believe it is his intention to push Harry up to some -desperate action; and, when I see how frightfully they look at each -other, I tremble for the consequences. Harry has lately married a very -pretty wife, with whom he lives in a little cottage on the extremity of -the Belleville estate; and this morning Tom happened to spy her, and it -seemed to inspire him with a most ingenious plan to trouble Harry. He -threatened to come over and buy her of Madam Le Clere; and so, to quiet -Harry, I promised to come over here before him, and make an offer for -her."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p><p>"Why," said Clayton, "do you think her mistress would sell her?"</p> - -<p>"I can't say," said Nina. "She is a person I am acquainted with only by -report. She is a New Orleans creole who has lately bought the place. -Lisette, I believe, hired her time of her. Lisette is an ingenious, -active creature, and contrives, by many little arts and accomplishments, -to pay a handsome sum, monthly, to her mistress. Whether the offer of a -large sum at once would tempt her to sell her, is more than I know until -it's tried. I should like to have Lisette, for Harry's sake."</p> - -<p>"And do you suppose your brother was really serious?"</p> - -<p>"I shouldn't be at all surprised if he were. But, serious or not -serious, I intend to make the matter sure."</p> - -<p>"If it be necessary to make an immediate payment," said Clayton, "I have -a sum of money which is lying idle in the bank, and it's but drawing a -check which will be honored at sight. I mention this, because the -ability to make an immediate payment may make the negotiation easier. -You ought to allow me the pleasure of joining you in a good work."</p> - -<p>"Thank you," said Nina, frankly. "It may not be necessary; but, if it -should be, I will take it in the same spirit in which it is offered."</p> - -<p>After a ride of about an hour, they arrived in the boundaries of -Belleville plantation.</p> - -<p>In former days, Nina had known this as the residence of an ancient rich -family, with whom her father was on visiting terms. She was therefore -uncomfortably struck with the air of poverty, waste, and decay, -everywhere conspicuous through the grounds.</p> - -<p>Nothing is more depressing and disheartening than the sight of a gradual -decay of what has been arranged and constructed with great care; and -when Nina saw the dilapidated gateway, the crushed and broken shrubbery, -the gaps in the fine avenue where the trees had been improvidently cut -down for fire-wood, she could not help a feeling of depression.</p> - -<p>"How different this place used to be when I came here as a child!" said -she. "This madam, whatever her name is, can't be much of a manager."</p> - -<p>As she said this, their horses came up the front of the house, in which -the same marks of slovenly neglect were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>apparent. Blinds were hanging -by one hinge; the door had sunk down into the rotten sill; the wooden -pillars that supported it were decayed at the bottom; and the twining -roses which once climbed upon them laid trailing, dishonored, upon the -ground. The veranda was littered with all kinds of rubbish,—rough -boxes, saddles, bridles, overcoats; and various nondescript articles -formed convenient hiding-places and retreats, in which a troop of negro -children and three or four dogs were playing at hide-and-go-seek with -great relish and noise. On the alighting of Nina and Clayton at the -door, they all left their sports, and arranged themselves in a grinning -row, to see the new-comers descend. Nothing seemed to be further from -the minds of the little troop than affording the slightest assistance in -the way of holding horses or answering questions. All they did was -alternately to look at each other and the travellers, and grin.</p> - -<p>A tattered servant-man, with half a straw hat on his head, was at length -raised by a call of Clayton, who took their horses—having first -distributed a salutation of kicks and cuffs among the children, asking -where their manners were that they didn't show the gentleman and lady -in. And Nina and Clayton were now marshalled by the whole seven of them -into an apartment on the right of the great hall. Everything in the room -appeared in an unfinished state. The curtains were half put up at the -windows, and part lying in a confused heap on the chairs. The damp, -mouldy paper, which hung loosely from the wall, had been torn away in -some places, as if to prepare for repapering; and certain half-opened -rolls of costly wall-paper lay on the table, on which appeared the -fragment of some ancient luncheon; to wit, plates, and pieces of bread -and cheese, dirty tumblers, and an empty bottle. It was difficult to -find a chair sufficiently free from dust to sit down on. Nina sent up -her card by one of the small fry, who, having got half-way up the -staircase, was suddenly taken with the desire to slide down the -banisters with it in his hand. Of course he dropped the card in the -operation; and the whole group precipitated themselves briskly on to it, -all in a heap, and fought, tooth and nail, for the honor of carrying it -up stairs. They were aroused, however, by the entrance of the man with -half a hat; who, on Nina's earnest suggestion, plunged into the troop, -which ran, chattering and screaming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> like so many crows, to different -parts of the hall, while he picked up the card, and, with infinite -good-will beaming on his shining black face, went up with it, leaving -Nina and Clayton waiting below. In a few moments he returned.</p> - -<p>"Missis will see de young lady up stairs."</p> - -<p>Nina tripped promptly after him, and left Clayton the sole tenant of the -parlor for an hour. At length she returned, skipping down the stairs, -and opening the door with great animation.</p> - -<p>"The thing is done!" she said. "The bill of sale will be signed as soon -as we can send it over."</p> - -<p>"I had better bring it over myself," said Clayton, "and make the -arrangement."</p> - -<p>"So be it!" said Nina. "But pray let us be delivered from this place! -Did you ever see such a desolate-looking house? I remember when I've -seen it a perfect paradise—full of the most agreeable people."</p> - -<p>"And pray what sort of a person did you find?" said Clayton, as they -were riding homeward.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "she's one of the tow-string order of women. Very -slack-twisted, too, I fancy—tall, snuffy, and sallow. Clothes looked -rough-dry, as if they had been pulled out of a bag. She had a -bright-colored Madras handkerchief tied round her head, and spoke French -a little more through her nose than French people usually do. Flourished -a yellow silk pocket-handkerchief. Poor soul! She said she had been sick -for a week with toothache, and kept awake all night! So, one mustn't be -critical! One comfort about these French people is, that they are always -'<i>ravis de vous voir</i>,' let what will turn up. The good soul was really -polite, and insisted on clearing all the things off from a dusty old -chair for me to sit down in. The room was as much at sixes and sevens as -the rest of the house. She apologized for the whole state of things by -saying that they could not get workmen out there to do anything for her; -and so everything is left in the second future tense; and the darkeys, I -imagine, have a general glorification in the chaos. She is one of the -indulgent sort, and I suspect she'll be eaten up by them like the -locusts. Poor thing! she is shockingly home-sick, and longing for -Louisiana, again. For, notwithstanding her snuffy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> appearance, and -yellow pocket-handkerchief, she really has a genuine taste for beauty; -and spoke most feelingly of the oleanders, crape myrtles, and cape -jessamines, of her native state."</p> - -<p>"Well, how did you introduce your business?" said Clayton, laughing at -this description.</p> - -<p>"Me?—Why, I flourished out the little French I have at command, and she -flourished her little English; and I think I rather prepossessed the -good soul, to begin with. Then I made a sentimental story about Lisette -and Harry's amours; because I know French people always have a taste for -the sentimental. The old thing was really quite affected, wiped her -little black eyes, pulled her hooked nose as a tribute to my eloquence, -called Lisette her '<i>enfant mignon</i>,' and gave me a little lecture on -the tender passion, which I am going to lay up for future use."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" said Clayton. "I should be charmed to have you repeat it. -Can't you give us a synopsis?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know what synopsis means. But, if you want me to tell you what -she said, I shan't do it. Well, now, do you know I am in the best -spirits in the world, now that I've got this thing off my mind, and out -of that desolate house? Did you ever see such a direful place? What is -the reason, when we get down south, here, everything seems to be going -to destruction, so? I noticed it all the way down through Virginia. It -seems as if everything had stopped growing, and was going backwards. -Well, now, it's so different at the north! I went up, one vacation, into -New Hampshire. It's a dreadfully poor, barren country; nothing but stony -hills, and poor soil. And yet the people there seem to be so well off! -They live in such nice, tight, clean-looking white houses! Everything -around them looks so careful and comfortable; and yet their land isn't -half so good as ours, down here. Why, actually, some of those places -seem as if there were nothing but rock! And, then, they have winter -about nine months in the year, I do believe! But these Yankees turn -everything to account. If a man's field is covered with rock, he'll find -some way to sell it, and make money out of it; and if they freeze up all -winter, they sell the ice, and make money out of that. They just live by -selling their disadvantages!"</p> - -<p>"And we grow poor by wasting our advantages," said Clayton.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p><p>"Do you know," said Nina, "people think it's a dreadful thing to be an -abolitionist? But, for my part, I've a great inclination to be one. -Perhaps because I have a contrary turn, and always have a little spite -against what everybody else believes. But, if you won't tell anybody, -I'll tell you—I don't believe in slavery!"</p> - -<p>"Nor I, either!" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"You don't! Well, really, I thought I was saying something original. -Now, the other day, Aunt Nesbit's minister was at our house, and they -sat crooning together, as they always do; and, among other things, they -said, 'What a blessed institution it was to bring these poor Africans -over here to get them Christianized!' So, by way of saying something to -give them a start, I told them I thought they came nearer to making -heathen of us than we to making Christians of them."</p> - -<p>"That's very true," said Clayton. "There's no doubt that the kind of -society which is built up in this way constantly tends to run back -towards barbarism. It prevents general education of the whites, and -keeps the poorer classes down to the lowest point, while it enriches a -few."</p> - -<p>"Well, what do we have it for?" said Nina. "Why don't we blow it up, -right off?"</p> - -<p>"That's a question easier asked than answered. The laws against -emancipation are very stringent. But I think it is every owner's -business to contemplate this as a future resort, and to educate his -servants in reference to it. That is what I am trying to do on my -plantation."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" said Nina, looking at him with a good deal of interest. "Well, -now, that reminds me of what I was going to say to you. Generally -speaking, my conscience don't trouble me much about my servants, because -I think they are doing about as well with me as they would be likely to -do anywhere else. But, now, there's Harry! He is well-educated, and I -know that he could do for himself, anywhere, better than he does here. I -have always had a kind of sense of this; but I've thought of it more -lately, and I'm going to try to have him set free at the next -legislature. And I shall want you to help me about all the -what-do-you-call-'ems."</p> - -<p>"Of course, I shall be quite at your service," said Clayton.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p><p>"There used to be some people, when I was up at the north, who talked -as if all of us were no better than a pack of robbers and thieves. And, -of course, when I was there I was strong for our institutions, and would -not give them an inch of ground. It set me to thinking, though; and the -result of my thinking is, that we have no right to hold those to work -for us who clearly can do better. Now, there's Aunt Nesbit's -Milly—there's Harry and Lisette. Why, it's clear enough, if they can -support themselves and us too, they certainly can support themselves -alone. Lisette has paid eight dollars a month to her mistress, and -supported herself besides. I'm sure it's <i>we</i> that are the helpless -ones!"</p> - -<p>"Well, do you think your Aunt Nesbit is going to follow your example?"</p> - -<p>"No! catch her at it! Aunt Nesbit is doubly fortified in her religion. -She is so satisfied with something or other about 'cursed be Canaan,' -that she'd let Milly earn ten dollars a month for her, all the year -round, and never trouble her head about taking every bit of it. Some -folks, you know, have a way of calling everything they want to do a -dispensation of providence! Now, Aunt Nesbit is one of 'em. She always -calls it a dispensation that the negroes were brought over here, and a -dispensation that we are the mistresses. Ah! Milly will not get free -while Aunt Nesbit is alive! And do you know, though it does not seem -very generous in me, yet I'm resigned to it, because Milly is such a -good soul, and such a comfort to me?—do you know she seems a great deal -more like a mother to me than Aunt Nesbit? Why, I really think, if Milly -had been educated as we are, she would have made a most splendid -woman—been a perfect Candace queen of Ethiopia. There's a vast deal -that is curious and interesting in some of these old Africans. I always -did love to be with them; some of them are so shrewd and original! But I -wonder, now, what Tom will think of my cutting him out so neatly? 'Twill -make him angry, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"Oh, perhaps, after all, he had no real intention of doing anything of -the kind," said Clayton. "He may have said it merely for bravado."</p> - -<p>"I should have thought so, if I hadn't known that he always had a grudge -against Harry."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p><p>At this moment the galloping of a horse was heard in the woodland path -before them; and very soon Tom Gordon appeared in sight accompanied by -another man, on horseback, with whom he was in earnest conversation. -There was something about the face of this man which, at the first -glance, Nina felt to be very repulsive. He was low, thickset, and yet -lean; his features were thin and sharp; his hair and eyebrows bushy and -black, and a pair of glassy, pale-blue eyes formed a peculiar contrast -to their darkness. There was something in the expression of the eye -which struck Nina as hard and cold. Though the man was habited -externally as a gentleman, there was still about him an under-bred -appearance, which could be detected at the first glance, as the -coarseness of some woods will reveal themselves through every varnish.</p> - -<p>"Good-morrow, Nina," said her brother, drawing his horse up to meet -hers, and signing to his companion to arrest his, also. "Allow me to -present to you my friend, Mr. Jekyl. We are going out to visit the -Belleville plantation."</p> - -<p>"I wish you a pleasant ride!" said Nina. And, touching her horse, she -passed them in a moment. Looking back almost fiercely, a moment, she -turned and said to Clayton:</p> - -<p>"I hate that man!"</p> - -<p>"Who is it?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I don't know!" said Nina. "I never saw him before. But I hate him! He -is a bad man! I'd as soon have a serpent come near me as that man!"</p> - -<p>"Well, the poor fellow's face isn't prepossessing," said Clayton. "But I -should not be prepared for such an anathema."</p> - -<p>"Tom's badness," continued Nina, speaking as if she were following out a -train of thought, without regarding her companion's remark, "is good -turned to bad. It's wine turned to vinegar. But this man don't even know -what good is!"</p> - -<p>"How can you be so positive about a person that you've only seen once!" -said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Nina, resuming her usual gay tones, "don't you know that -girls and dogs, and other inferior creatures, have the gift of seeing -what's in people? It doesn't belong to highly-cultivated folks like you, -but to us poor creatures, who have to trust to our instincts. So, -beware!" And, as she spoke, she turned to him with a fascinating air of -half-saucy defiance.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p><p>"Well," said Clayton, "have you seen, then, what is in me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, to be sure!" said Nina, with energy; "I knew what you were the -very first time I saw you. And that's the reason why"—</p> - -<p>Clayton made an eager gesture, and his eye met hers with a sudden flash -of earnestness. She stopped, and blushed, and then laughed.</p> - -<p>"What, Nina?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, I always thought you were a grandfatherly body, and that you -wouldn't take advantage of 'us girls,' as some of the men do. And so -I've treated you with confidence, as you know. I had just the same -feeling that you could be trusted, as I have that that other fellow -cannot!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "that deduction suits me so well that I should be -sorry to undermine your faith. Nevertheless, I must say such a way of -judging isn't always safe. Instinct may be a greater matter than we -think; yet it isn't infallible, any more than our senses. We try the -testimony even of our eyesight by reason. It will deceive us, if we -don't. Much more we ought to try this more subtle kind of sight."</p> - -<p>"May be so," said Nina; "yet I don't think I shall like that man, after -all. But I'll give him a chance to alter my feeling, by treating him -civilly if Tom brings him back to dinner. That's the best I can do."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIV.</span> <span class="smaller">AUNT NESBIT'S LOSS.</span></h2> - -<p>On entering the house, Nina was met at the door by Milly, with a -countenance of some anxiety.</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina," she said, "your aunt has heard bad news this morning."</p> - -<p>"Bad news!" said Nina, quickly,—"what?"</p> - -<p>"Well, honey, ye see dere has been a lawyer here," said Milly, following -Nina as she was going up stairs; "and she has been shut up with him all -de mornin'; and when he come out I found her taking on quite dreadful! -And she says she has lost all her property."</p> - -<p>"Oh! is that all?" said Nina. "I didn't know what dreadful thing might -have happened. Why, Milly, this isn't so very bad. She hadn't much to -lose."</p> - -<p>"Oh, bless you, chile! nobody wants to lose all they got, much or -little!"</p> - -<p>"Yes; but," said Nina, "you know she can always live here with us; and -what little money she wants to fuss with, to buy new caps, and paregoric -for her cough, and all such little matters, we can give her, easily -enough."</p> - -<p>"Ah, Miss Nina, your heart is free enough; you'd give away both ends of -the rainbow, if you had 'em to give. But the trouble is, chile, you -<i>haven't got 'em</i>. Why, chile, dis yer great place, and so many mouths -opened to eat and eat, chile, I tell you it takes heaps to keep it a -going. And Harry, I tell you, finds it hard work to bring it even all -the year round, though he never says nothing to you about his -troubles,—wants you always to walk on flowers, with both hands full, -and never think where they come from. I tell you what, chile, we's boun' -to think for you a little; and I tell you what, I's jist a going to hire -out."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p><p>"Why, Milly, how ridiculous!"</p> - -<p>"It an't ridiculous, now. Why, just look on it, Miss Nina. Here's Miss -Loo, dat's one; here's me, dat's two; here's Polly,—great grown -girl,—three; dere's Tomtit, four; all on us eating your bread, and not -bringing in a cent to you, 'cause all on us together an't done much more -than wait on Miss Loo. Why, you's got servants enough of your own to do -every turn that wants doing in dis yer house. I know, Miss Nina, young -ladies don't like to hear about dese things; but the fac' is, victuals -cost something, and dere must be some on us to bring in something. Now, -dat ar gentleman what talked with your aunt, he said he could find me a -right good place up dar to the town, and I was jest a going. Sally, she -is big enough now to do everything that I have been used to doing for -Miss Loo, and I am jest a going; besides, to tell you the truth, I think -Miss Loo has kind o' set her heart upon it. You know she is a weakly -kind of thing,—don't know how to do much 'cept sit in her chair and -groan. She has always been so used to having me make a way for her; and -when I told her about dis yer, she kind o' brightened up."</p> - -<p>"But, Milly, what shall I do? I can't spare you at all," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Law bless <i>you</i>, chile! don't you suppose I's got eyes? I tell you, -Miss Nina, I looked that gen'leman over pretty well for you, and my -opinion is <i>he'll do</i>."</p> - -<p>"Oh, come, you hush!" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"You see, chile, it wouldn't be everybody that our people would be -willing to have come on to de place, here, but there an't one of 'em -that wouldn't go in for dis yar, now I tell you. Dere's Old Hundred, as -you calls him, told me 'twas just as good as a meeting to hear him -reading de prayers dat ar day at de funeral. Now, you see, I's seen -gen'lemen handsome, and rich, and right pleasant, too, dat de people -wouldn't want at all; 'cause why? dey has dere frolics and drinks, and -de money flies one way for dis ting and one way for dat, till by and by -it's all gone. Den comes de sheriff, and de people is all sold, some one -way and some another way. Now, Mr. Clayton, he an't none of dem."</p> - -<p>"But, Milly, all this may be very well; but if I couldn't love him?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p><p>"Law sakes, Miss Nina! You look me in the face and tell me dat ar? Why, -chile, it's plain enough to see through <i>you</i>. 'Tis so! The people's all -pretty sure, by this time. Sakes alive, we's used to looking out for the -weather; and we knows pretty well what's coming. And now, Miss Nina, you -go right along and give him a good word, 'cause you see, dear lamb, you -<i>need</i> a good, husband to take care of you,—dat's what you want, chile. -Girls like you has a hard life being at the head of a place, especially -your brother being just what he is. Now, if you had a husband here, -Mas'r Tom 'ud be quiet, 'cause he knows he couldn't do nothing. But just -as long as you's alone he'll plague you. But, now, chile, it's time for -you to be getting ready for dinner."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but, do you know, Milly," said Nina, "I've something to tell you, -which I had liked to have forgotten! I have been out to the Belleville -plantation, and bought Harry's wife."</p> - -<p>"You has, Miss Nina! Why, de Lord bless <i>you</i>! Why, Harry was dreadful -worked, dis yer morning, 'bout what Mas'r Tom said. 'Peared like he was -most crazy."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "I've done it. I've got the receipt here."</p> - -<p>"Why, but, chile, where alive did you get all the money to pay right -sudden so?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Clayton lent it to me," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Clayton! Now, chile, didn't I tell you so? Do you suppose, now, -you'd a let him lend you dat ar money if you hadn't liked him? But, -come, chile, hurry! Dere's Mas'r Tom and dat other gen'leman coming -back, and you must be down to dinner."</p> - -<p>The company assembled at the dinner-table was not particularly -enlivening. Tom Gordon, who, in the course of his morning ride, had -discovered the march which his sister had stolen upon him, was more -sulky and irritable than usual, though too proud to make any allusion to -the subject. Nina was annoyed by the presence of Mr. Jekyl, whom her -brother insisted should remain to dinner. Aunt Nesbit was uncommonly -doleful, of course. Clayton, who, in mixed society, generally took the -part of a listener rather than a talker, said very little; and had it -not been for Carson, there's no saying whether any of the company<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> could -have spoken. Every kind of creature has its uses, and there are times -when a lively, unthinking chatterbox is a perfect godsend. Those -unperceiving people, who never notice the embarrassment of others, and -who walk with the greatest facility into the gaps of conversation, -simply because they have no perception of any difficulty there, have -their hour; and Nina felt positively grateful to Mr. Carson for the -continuous and cheerful rattle which had so annoyed her the day before. -Carson drove a brisk talk with the lawyer about the value of property, -percentage, etc.; he sympathized with Aunt Nesbit on her last-caught -cold; rallied Tom on his preoccupation; complimented Nina on her -improved color from her ride; and seemed on such excellent terms both -with himself and everybody else, that the thing was really infectious.</p> - -<p>"What do you call your best investments, down here,—land, eh?" he said -to Mr. Jekyl.</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Land deteriorates too fast. Besides, there's all the trouble and risk -of overseers, and all that. I've looked this thing over pretty well, and -I always invest in niggers."</p> - -<p>"Ah!" said Mr. Carson, "you do?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, I invest in niggers; that's what I do; and I hire them out, -sir,—hire them out. Why, sir, if a man has a knowledge of human nature, -knows where to buy and when to buy, and watches his opportunity, he gets -a better percentage on his money that way than any other. Now, that was -what I was telling Mrs. Nesbit, this morning. Say, now, that you give -one thousand dollars for a man,—and I always buy the best sort, that's -economy,—well, and he gets—put it at the lowest figure—ten dollars a -month wages, and his living. Well, you see there, that gives you a -pretty handsome sum for your money. I have a good talent of buying. I -generally prefer mechanics. I have got now working for me three -bricklayers. I own two first-rate carpenters, and last month I bought a -perfect jewel of a blacksmith. He is an uncommonly ingenious man; a -fellow that will make, easy, his fifteen dollars a month; and he is the -more valuable because he has been religiously brought up. Why, some of -them, now, will cheat you if they can; but this fellow has been brought -up in a district where they have a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>missionary, and a great deal of -pains has been taken to form his religious principles. Now, this fellow -would no more think of touching a cent of his earnings than he would of -stealing right out of my pocket. I tell people about him, sometimes, -when I find them opposed to religious instruction. I tell them, 'See -there, now—you see how godliness is profitable to the life that now -is.' You know the Scriptures, Mrs. Nesbit?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Aunt Nesbit, "I always believed in religious education."</p> - -<p>"Confound it all!" said Tom, "I <i>don't</i>! I don't see the use of making a -set of hypocritical sneaks of them! I'd make niggers bring me my money; -but, hang it all, if he came snuffling to me, pretending 'twas his duty, -I'd choke him! They never think so,—they don't and they can't—and it's -all hypocrisy, this religious instruction, as you call it!"</p> - -<p>"No, it isn't," said the undiscouraged Mr. Jekyl, "not when you found it -on right principles. Take them early enough, and work them right, you'll -get it ground into them. Now, when they begun religious instruction, -there was a great prejudice against it in our part of the country. You -see they were afraid that the niggers would get <i>uppish</i>. Ah, but you -see the missionaries are pretty careful; they put it in strong in the -catechisms about the rights of the master. You see the instruction is -just grounded on this, that the master stands in God's place to them."</p> - -<p>"D—d bosh!" said Tom Gordon.</p> - -<p>Aunt Nesbit looked across the table as if she were going to faint. But -Mr. Jekyl's composure was not in the slightest degree interrupted.</p> - -<p>"I can tell you," he said, "that, in a business, practical view,—for I -am used to investments,—that, since the publishing of those catechisms, -and the missionaries' work among the niggers, the value of that kind of -property has risen ten per cent. They are better contented. They don't -run away, as they used to. Just that simple idea that their master -stands in God's place to them. Why, you see, it cuts its way."</p> - -<p>"I have a radical objection to all that kind of instruction," said -Clayton.</p> - -<p>Aunt Nesbit opened her eyes, as if she could hardly believe her hearing.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p><p>"And pray what is your objection?" said Mr. Jekyl, with an unmoved -countenance.</p> - -<p>"My objection is that it is all a lie," said Clayton, in such a positive -tone that everybody looked at him with a start.</p> - -<p>Clayton was one of those silent men who are seldom roused to talk, but -who go with a rush when they are. Not seeming to notice the startled -looks of the company, he went on: "It's a worse lie, because it's told -to bewilder a simple, ignorant, confiding creature. I never could -conceive how a decent man could ever look another man in the face and -say such things. I remember reading, in one of the missionary reports, -that when this doctrine was first propounded in an assembly of negroes -somewhere, all the most intelligent of them got up and walked -deliberately out of the house; and I honor them for it."</p> - -<p>"Good for them!" said Tom Gordon. "I can keep my niggers down without -any such stuff as that!"</p> - -<p>"I have no doubt," said Clayton, "that these missionaries are -well-intending, good men, and that they actually think the only way to -get access to the negroes at all is to be very positive in what will -please the masters. But I think they fall into the same error that the -Jesuits did when they adulterated Christianity with idolatry in order to -get admission in Japan. A lie never works well in religion, nor in -morals."</p> - -<p>"That's what I believe," said Nina, warmly.</p> - -<p>"But, then, if you can't teach them this, what can you teach them?" said -Mr. Jekyl.</p> - -<p>"Confound it all!" said Tom Gordon, "teach them that you've <i>got the -power</i>!—teach them the weight of your fist! That's enough for them. I -am bad enough, I know; but I can't bear hypocrisy. I show a fellow my -pistol. I say to him, You see that, sir! I tell him, You do so and so, -and you shall have a good time with me. But, you do that, and I'll -thrash you within an inch of your life! That's my short method with -niggers, and poor whites, too. When one of these canting fellows comes -round to my plantation, let him see what he'll get, that's all!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl appeared properly shocked at this declaration. Aunt Nesbit -looked as if it was just what she had expected, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> went on eating her -potato with a mournful air, as if nothing could surprise her. Nina -looked excessively annoyed, and turned a sort of appealing glance upon -Clayton.</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Clayton, "I base my religious instruction to my -people on the ground that every man and every woman must give an account -of themselves <i>to God alone</i>; and that God is to be obeyed first, and -before me."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Mr. Jekyl, "that would be destructive of all discipline. If -you are going to allow every fellow to judge for himself, among a parcel -of ignorant, selfish wretches, what the will of God is, one will think -it's one thing, another will think it's another; and there will be an -end of all order. It would be absolutely impossible to govern a place in -that way."</p> - -<p>"They must not be left an ignorant set," said Clayton. "They must be -taught to read the Scriptures for themselves, and be able to see that my -authority accords with it. If I command anything contrary to it, they -ought to oppose it!"</p> - -<p>"Ah! I should like to see a plantation managed in that way!" said Tom -Gordon, scornfully.</p> - -<p>"Please God, you shall see such an one, if you'll come to mine," said -Clayton, "where I should be very happy to see you, sir."</p> - -<p>The tone in which this was said was so frank and sincere, that Tom was -silenced, and could not help a rather sullen acknowledgment.</p> - -<p>"I think," said Mr. Jekyl, "that you'll find such a course, however well -it may work at first, will fail at last. You begin to let people think, -and they won't stop where you want them to; they'll go too far; it's -human nature. The more you give, the more you may give. You once get -your fellows to thinking, and asking all sorts of questions, and they -get discontented at once. I've seen that thing tried in one or two -instances, and it didn't turn out well. Fellows got restless and -discontented. The more was given to them, the more dissatisfied they -grew, till finally they put for the free states."</p> - -<p>"Very well," said Clayton; "if that's to be the result, they may all -'put' as soon as they can get ready. If my title to them won't bear an -intelligent investigation, I don't wish to keep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> them. But I never will -consent to keep them by making false statements to them in the name of -religion, and presuming to put myself as an object of obedience before -my Maker."</p> - -<p>"I think," said Mr. Carson, "Mr. Clayton shows an excellent -spirit—excellent spirit! On my word, I think so. I wish some of our -northern agitators, who make such a fuss on the the subject, could hear -him. I'm always disgusted with these abolitionists producing such an -unpleasantness between the north and the south, interrupting trade, and -friendship, and all that sort of thing."</p> - -<p>"He shows an excellent spirit," said Mr. Jekyl; "but I must think he is -mistaken if he thinks that he can bring up people in that way, under our -institutions, and not do them more harm than good. It's a notorious fact -that the worst insurrections have arisen from the reading of the Bible -by these ignorant fellows. That was the case with Nat Turner, in -Virginia. That was the case with Denmark Vesey, and his crew, in South -Carolina. I tell you, sir, it will never do, this turning out a set of -ignorant people to pasture in the Bible! That blessed book is a savor of -life unto life when it's used right; but it's a savor of death unto -death when ignorant people take hold of it. The proper way is this: -administer such portions only as these creatures are capable of -understanding. This admirable system of religious instruction keeps the -matter in our own hands, by allowing us to select for them such portions -of the word as are best fitted to keep them quiet, dutiful, and -obedient; and I venture to predict that whoever undertakes to manage a -plantation on any other system will soon find it getting out of his -hands."</p> - -<p>"So you are afraid to trust the Lord's word without holding the bridle!" -said Tom, with a sneer. "That's pretty well for you!"</p> - -<p>"<i>I</i> am not!" said Clayton. "I'm willing to resign any rights to any one -that I am not able to defend in God's word—any that I cannot make -apparent to any man's cultivated reason. I scorn the idea that I must -dwarf a man's mind, and keep him ignorant and childish, in order to make -him believe any lie I choose to tell him about my rights over him! I -intend to have an educated, intelligent people, who shall submit to me -because they think it clearly for their best interests to do so; -because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> they shall feel that what I command is right in the sight of -God."</p> - -<p>"It's my opinion," said Tom, "that both these ways of managing are -humbugs. One way makes hypocrites, and the other makes rebels. The best -way of educating is, to show folks that they can't help themselves. All -the fussing and arguing in the world isn't worth one dose of certainty -on that point. Just let them know that there are no two ways about it, -and you'll have all still enough."</p> - -<p>From this point the conversation was pursued with considerable warmth, -till Nina and Aunt Nesbit rose and retired to the drawing-room. Perhaps -it did not materially discourage Clayton, in the position he had taken, -that Nina, with the frankness usual to her, expressed the most eager and -undisguised admiration of all that he said.</p> - -<p>"Didn't he talk beautifully? Wasn't it noble?" she said to Aunt Nesbit, -as she came in the drawing-room. "And that hateful Jekyl! isn't he -mean?"</p> - -<p>"Child!" said Aunt Nesbit, "I'm surprised to hear you speak so! Mr. -Jekyl is a very respectable lawyer, an elder in the church, and a very -pious man. He has given me some most excellent advice about my affairs; -and he is going to take Milly with him, and find her a good place. He's -been making some investigations, Nina, and he's going to talk to you -about them, after dinner. He's discovered that there's an estate in -Mississippi worth a hundred thousand dollars, that ought properly to -come to you!"</p> - -<p>"I don't believe a word of it!" said Nina. "Don't like the man!—think -he is hateful!—don't want to hear anything he has to say!—don't -believe in him!"</p> - -<p>"Nina, how often have I warned you against such sudden -prejudices—against such a good man, too!"</p> - -<p>"You won't make me believe he is good, not if he were elder in twenty -churches!"</p> - -<p>"Well, but, child, at any rate you must listen to what he has got to -say. Your brother will be very angry if you don't, and it's really very -important. At any rate, you ought not to offend Tom, when you can help -it."</p> - -<p>"That's true enough," said Nina; "and I'll hear, and try<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> and behave as -well as I can. I hope the man will go, some time or other! I don't know -why, but his talk makes me feel worse than Tom's swearing! That's -certain."</p> - -<p>Aunt Nesbit looked at Nina as if she considered her in a most hopeless condition.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XV.</span> <span class="smaller">MR. JEKYL'S OPINIONS.</span></h2> - -<p>After the return of the gentlemen to the drawing-room, Nina, at the -request of Tom, followed him and Mr. Jekyl into the library.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Jekyl is going to make some statements to us, Nina, about our -property in Mississippi, which, if they turn out as he expects, will set -us up in the world," said Tom.</p> - -<p>Nina threw herself carelessly into the leather arm-chair by the window, -and looked out of it.</p> - -<p>"You see," said Mr. Jekyl, also seating himself, and pulling out the -stiff points of his collar, "having done law business for your father, -and known, in that way, a good deal about the family property, I have -naturally always felt a good deal of interest in it; and you remember -your father's sister, Mrs. Stewart, inherited, on the death of her -husband, a fine estate in Mississippi."</p> - -<p>"I remember," said Tom,—"well, go on."</p> - -<p>"Well, she died, and left it all to her son. Well, he, it seems, like -some other young men, lived in a very reprehensible union with a -handsome quadroon girl, who was his mother's maid; and she, being an -artful creature, I suppose, as a great many of them are, got such an -ascendency over him, that he took her up to Ohio, and married her, and -lived there with her some years, and had two children by her. Well, you -see, he had a deed of emancipation recorded for her in Mississippi, and -just taking her into Ohio, set her free by the laws of that state. Well, -you see, he thought he'd fixed it so that the thing couldn't be undone, -and she thought so too; and I understand she's a pretty shrewd -woman—has a considerable share of character, or else she wouldn't have -done just what she has; for, you see, he died about six months ago, and -left the plantation and all the property to her and her children, and -she has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> been so secure that she has actually gone and taken possession. -You see, she is so near white, you must know that there isn't one in -twenty would think what she was,—and the people round there, actually, -some of them, had forgotten all about it, and didn't know but what she -was a white woman from Ohio; and so, you see, the thing never would have -been looked into at all, if I hadn't happened to have been down there. -But, you see, she turned off an overseer that had managed the place, -because the people complained of him; and I happened to fall in with the -man, and he began telling me his story, and, after a little inquiry, I -found who these people were. Well, sir, I just went to one of the first -lawyers, for I suspected there was false play; and we looked over the -emancipation laws together, and we found out that, as the law stood, the -deed of emancipation was no more than so much waste paper. And so, you -see, she and her children are just as much slaves as any on her -plantation; and the whole property, which is worth a hundred thousand -dollars, belongs to your family. I rode out with him, and looked over -the place, and got introduced to her and her children, and looked them -over. Considered as property, I should call them a valuable lot. She is -past forty, but she don't look older than twenty-seven or twenty-eight, -I should say. She is a very good-looking woman, and then, I'm told, a -very capable woman. Well, her price in the market might range between -one thousand and fifteen hundred dollars. Smalley said he had seen no -better article sold for two thousand dollars; but, then, he said, they -had to give a false certificate as to the age,—and that I couldn't hear -of, for I never countenance anything like untruth. Then, the woman's -children: she has got two fine-looking children as I have ever -seen—almost white. The boy is about ten years old; the little girl, -about four. You may be sure I was pretty careful not to let on, because -I consider the woman and children are an important part of the property, -and, of course, nothing had better be said about it, lest she should be -off before we are ready to come down on them. Now, you see, you Gordons -are the proper owners of this whole property; there isn't the slightest -doubt in my mind that you ought to put in your claim immediately. The -act of emancipation was contrary to law, and, though the man meant well, -yet it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> amounted to a robbery of the heirs. I declare, it rather raised -my indignation to see that creature so easy in the possession of -property which of right belongs to you. Now, if I have only the consent -of the heirs, I can go on and commence operations immediately."</p> - -<p>Nina had been sitting regarding Mr. Jekyl with a fixed and determined -expression of countenance. When he had finished, she said to him,—</p> - -<p>"Mr. Jekyl, I understand you are an elder in the church; is that true?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Gordon, I have that privilege," said Mr. Jekyl, his sharp, -business tone subsiding into a sigh.</p> - -<p>"Because," said Nina, "I am a wild young girl, and don't profess to know -much about religion; but I want you to tell me, as a Christian, if you -think it would be <i>right</i> to take this woman and children, and her -property."</p> - -<p>"Why, certainly, my dear Miss Gordon; isn't it right that every one -should have his own property? I view things simply with the eye of the -law; and, in the eye of the law, that woman and her children are as much -your property as the shoe on your foot; there is no manner of doubt of -it."</p> - -<p>"I should think," said Nina, "that you might see with the eye of the -Gospel, sometimes! Do you think, Mr. Jekyl, that doing this is doing as -I should wish to be done by, if I were in the place of this woman?"</p> - -<p>"My dear Miss Gordon, young ladies of fine feeling, at your time of -life, are often confused on this subject by a wrong application of the -Scripture language. Suppose I were a robber, and had possession of your -property? Of course, I shouldn't wish to be made to give it up. But -would it follow that the golden rule obliged the lawful possessor not to -take it from me? This woman is your property; this estate is your -property, and she is holding it as unlawfully as a robber. Of course, -she won't want to give it up; but right is right, notwithstanding."</p> - -<p>Like many other young persons, Nina could <i>feel</i> her way out of -sophistry much sooner than she could think it out; and she answered to -all this reasoning,—</p> - -<p>"After all, I can't think it would be right."</p> - -<p>"Oh, confound the humbug!" said Tom; "who cares whether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> it is right or -not? The fact is, Nin, to speak plain sense to you, you and I both are -deuced hard up for money, and want all we can get; and what's the use of -being more religious than the very saints themselves at our time of day? -Mr. Jekyl is a pious man—one of the tallest kind! He thinks this is all -right, and why need we set ourselves all up? He has talked with Uncle -John, and he goes in for it. As for my part, I am free to own I don't -care whether it's right or not! I'll do it if I can. Might makes -right,—that's my doctrine!"</p> - -<p>"Why," said Mr. Jekyl, "I have examined the subject, and I haven't the -slightest doubt that slavery is a divinely-appointed institution, and -that the rights of the masters are sanctioned by God; so, however much I -may naturally feel for this woman, whose position is, I must say, an -unfortunate one, still it is my duty to see that the law is properly -administered in the case."</p> - -<p>"All I have to say, Mr. Jekyl," said Nina, "is just this: that I won't -have anything to do with this matter; for, if I can't prove it's wrong, -I shall always feel it is."</p> - -<p>"Nina, how ridiculous!" said Tom.</p> - -<p>"I have said my say," said Nina, as she rose and left the room.</p> - -<p>"Very natural,—fine feelings, but uninstructed," said Mr. Jekyl.</p> - -<p>"Certainly, we pious folks know a trick worth two of that, don't we?" -said Tom. "I say, Jekyl, this sister of mine is a pretty rapid little -case, I can tell you, as you saw by the way she circumvented us, this -morning. She is quite capable of upsetting the whole dish, unless we go -about it immediately. You see, her pet nigger, this Harry, is this -woman's brother; and if she gave him the word, he'd write at once, and -put her on the alarm. You and I had better start off to-morrow, before -this Harry comes back. I believe he is to be gone a few days. It's no -matter whether she consents to the suit or not. She don't need to know -anything about it."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Jekyl, "I advise you to go right on, and have the woman and -children secured. It's a perfectly fair, legal proceeding. There has -been an evident evasion of the law of the state, by means of which your -family are defrauded of an immense sum. At all events, it will be tried -in an open court<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> of justice, and she will be allowed to appear by her -counsel. It's a perfectly plain, above-board proceeding; and, as the -young lady has shown such fine feelings, there's the best reason to -suppose that the fate of this woman would be as good in her hands as in -her own."</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl was not now talking to convince Tom Gordon, but himself; for, -spite of himself, Nina's questions had awakened in his mind a sufficient -degree of misgiving to make it necessary for him to pass in review the -arguments by which he generally satisfied himself. Mr. Jekyl was a -theologian, and a man of principle. His metaphysical talent, indeed, -made him a point of reference among his Christian brethren; and he spent -much of his leisure time in reading theological treatises. His favorite -subject of all was the nature of true virtue; and this, he had fixed in -his mind, consisted in a love of the greatest good. According to his -theology, right consisted in creating the greatest amount of happiness; -and every creature had rights to be happy in proportion to his capacity -of enjoyment or being. He whose capacity was ten pounds had a right to -place his own happiness before that of him who had five, because, in -that way, five pounds more of happiness would exist in the general -whole. He considered the right of the Creator to consist in the fact -that he had a greater amount of capacity than all creatures put -together, and, therefore, was bound to promote his own happiness before -all of them put together. He believed that the Creator made himself his -first object in all that He did; and, descending from Him, all creatures -were to follow the same rule, in proportion to their amount of being; -the greater capacity of happiness always taking precedence of the less. -Thus, Mr. Jekyl considered that the Creator brought into the world -yearly myriads of human beings with no other intention than to make them -everlastingly miserable; and that this was right, because his capacity -of enjoyment being greater than all theirs put together, He had a right -to gratify himself in this way.</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl's belief in slavery was founded on his theology. He assumed -that the white race had the largest amount of being; therefore, it had a -right to take precedence of the black. On this point he held long and -severe arguments with his partner, Mr. Israel McFogg, who, belonging to -a different school of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>theology, referred the whole matter to no natural -fitness, but to a divine decree, by which it pleased the Creator in the -time of Noah to pronounce a curse upon Canaan. The fact that the African -race did <i>not</i> descend from Canaan was, it is true, a slight difficulty -in the chain of the argument; but theologians are daily in the habit of -surmounting much greater ones. Either way, whether by metaphysical -fitness or Divine decree, the two partners attained the same practical -result.</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl, though a coarse-grained man, had started from the hands of -nature no more hard-hearted or unfeeling than many others; but his mind, -having for years been immersed in the waters of law and theology, had -slowly petrified into such a steady consideration of the greatest -general good, that he was wholly inaccessible to any emotion of -particular humanity. The trembling, eager tone of pity, in which Nina -had spoken of the woman and children who were about to be made victims -of a legal process, had excited but a moment's pause. What -considerations of temporal loss and misery can shake the constancy of -the theologian who has accustomed himself to contemplate and discuss, as -a cool intellectual exercise, the eternal misery of generations?—who -worships a God that creates myriads only to glorify himself in their -eternal torments?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XVI.</span> <span class="smaller">MILLY'S STORY.</span></h2> - -<p>Nina spent the evening in the drawing-room; and her brother, in the -animation of a new pursuit, forgetful of the difference of the morning, -exerted himself to be agreeable, and treated her with more consideration -and kindness than he had done any time since his arrival. He even made -some off-hand advances towards Clayton, which the latter received with -good-humor, and which went further than she supposed to raise the -spirits of Nina; and so, on the whole, she passed a more than usually -agreeable evening. On retiring to her room, she found Milly, who had -been for some time patiently waiting for her, having dispatched her -mistress to bed some time since.</p> - -<p>"Well, Miss Nina, I am going on my travels in de morning. Thought I must -have a little time to see you, lamb, 'fore I goes."</p> - -<p>"I can't bear to have you go, Milly! I don't like that man you are going -with."</p> - -<p>"I 'spects he's a nice man," said Milly. "Of course he'll look me out a -nice place, because he has always took good care of Miss Loo's affairs. -So you never trouble yourself 'bout me! I tell you, chile, I never gets -where I can't find de Lord; and when I finds Him, I gets along. 'De Lord -is my shepherd, I shall not want.'"</p> - -<p>"But you have never been used to living except in our family," said -Nina, "and, somehow, I feel afraid. If they don't treat you well, come -back Milly; will you?"</p> - -<p>"Laws, chile, I isn't much feared but what I'll get along well enough. -When people keep about dere business, doing de best dey ken, folks -doesn't often trouble dem. I never yet seed de folks I couldn't suit," -she added, with a glow of honest pride. "No, chile, it isn't for myself -I's fearing; it's just for you, chile. Chile, you don't know what it is -to live in dis yer world,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> and I wants you to get de Best Friend to go -with you. Why, dear lamb, you wants somebody to go to and open your -heart; somebody dat'll love you, and always stand by you; somebody -dat'll always lead you right, you know. You has more cares than such a -young thing ought for to have; great many looking to you, and 'pending -on you. Now, if your ma was alive, it would be different; but, just now, -I see how 'tis; dere'll be a hundred things you'll be thinking and -feeling, and nobody to say 'em to. And now, chile, you must learn to go -to de Lord. Why, chile, He loves you! Chile, He loves you <i>just as you -be</i>; if you only saw how much, it would melt your heart right down. I -told you I was going some time fur to tell you my sperience—how I first -found Jesus. Oh Lord, Lord! but it is along story."</p> - -<p>Nina, whose quick sympathies were touched by the earnestness of her old -friend, and still more aroused by the allusion to her mother, -answered,—</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, come, tell me about it!" And, drawing a low ottoman, she sat -down, and laid her head on the lap of her humble friend.</p> - -<p>"Well, well, you see, chile," said Milly, her large, dark eyes fixing -themselves on vacancy, and speaking in a slow and dreamy voice, "a -body's life, in dis yer world, is a mighty strange thing! You see, -chile, my mother—well, dey brought her from Africa; my father, too. -Heaps and heaps my mother has told me about dat ar. Dat ar was a mighty -fine country, where dey had gold in the rivers, and such great, big, -tall trees, with de strangest beautiful flowers on them you ever did -see! Laws, laws! well, dey brought my mother and my father into -Charleston, and dere Mr. Campbell,—dat was your ma's father, honey,—he -bought dem right out of de ship; but dey had five children, and dey was -all sold, and dey never knowed where dey went to. Father and mother -couldn't speak a word of English when dey come ashore; and she told me -often how she couldn't speak a word to nobody, to tell 'em how it hurt -her.</p> - -<p>"Laws, when I was a chile, I 'member how often, when de day's work was -done, she used to come out and sit and look up at de stars, and groan, -groan, and groan! I was a little thing, playing round; and I used to -come up to her, dancing, and saying,—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p><p>"'Mammy, what makes you groan so? what's de matter of you?'</p> - -<p>"'Matter enough, chile!' she used to say. 'I's a thinking of my poor -children. I likes to look at de stars, because dey sees de same stars -dat I do. 'Pears like we was in one room; but I don't know where dey is! -Dey don't know where I be!'</p> - -<p>"Den she'd say to me,—</p> - -<p>"'Now, chile, you may be sold away from your mammy. Der's no knowing -what may happen to you, chile; but, if you gets into any trouble, as I -does, you mind, chile, you ask God to help you.'</p> - -<p>"'Who is God, mammy,' says I, 'anyhow?'</p> - -<p>"'Why, chile,' says she, 'He made dese yer stars.'</p> - -<p>"And den I wanted mammy to tell me more about it; only she says,—</p> - -<p>"'He can do anything he likes; and, if ye are in any kind of trouble, He -can help you.'</p> - -<p>"Well, to be sure, I didn't mind much about it—all dancing round, -because pretty well don't need much help. But she said dat ar to me so -many times, I couldn't help 'member it. 'Chile, troubles will come; and, -when dey does come, you ask God, and He will help you.'</p> - -<p>"Well, sure enough, I wasn't sold from her, but she was took from me, -because Mr. Campbell's brother went off to live in Orleans, and parted -de hands. My father and mother was took to Orleans, and I was took to -Virginny. Well, you see, I growed up along with de young ladies,—your -ma, Miss Harrit, Miss Loo, and de rest on 'em,—and I had heaps of fun. -Dey all like Milly. Dey couldn't nobody run, nor jump, nor ride a horse, -nor row a boat, like Milly; and so it was Milly here, and Milly dere, -and whatever de young ladies wanted, it was Milly made de way for it.</p> - -<p>"Well, dere was a great difference among dem young ladies. Dere was Miss -Loo—she was de prettiest, and she had a great many beaux; but, den, -dere was your ma—everybody loved her; and den dere was Miss Harrit—she -had right smart of life in her, and was always for <i>doing</i> -something—always right busy 'tending to something or other, and she -liked me because I'd always go in with her. Well, well! dem dar was -pleasant times<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> enough; but when I got to be about fourteen or fifteen, -I began to feel kind o' bad—sort of strange and heavy. I really didn't -know why, but 'peared like's when I got older, I felt I was in bondage.</p> - -<p>"'Member one day your ma came in, and seed me looking out of window, and -she says to me,—</p> - -<p>"'Milly, what makes you so dull lately?'</p> - -<p>"'Oh,' says I, 'I, somehow, I don't have good times.'</p> - -<p>"'Why?' says she; 'why not? Don't everybody make much of you, and don't -you have everything that you want?'</p> - -<p>"'Oh, well,' says I, 'missis, I's a poor slave-girl, for all dat.'</p> - -<p>"Chile, your ma was a weety thing, like you. I 'member just how she -looked dat minute. I felt sorry, 'cause I thought I'd hurt her feelings. -But says she,—</p> - -<p>"'Milly, I don't wonder you feel so. I know I should feel so myself, if -I was in your place.'</p> - -<p>"Afterwards, she told Miss Loo and Miss Harrit; but dey laughed, and -said dey guessed der wasn't many girls who were as well off as Milly. -Well, den, Miss Harrit, she was married de first. She married Mr. -Charles Blair; and when she was married, nothing was to do but she must -have me to go with her. I liked Miss Harrit; but, den, honey, I'd liked -it much better if it had been your ma. I'd always counted that I wanted -to belong to your ma, and I think your ma wanted me; but, den, she was -still, and Miss Harrit she was one of de sort dat never lost nothing by -not asking for it. She was one of de sort dat always <i>got things</i> by -hook or by crook. She always had more clothes, and more money, and more -everything, dan de rest of them, 'cause she was always wide awake, and -looking out for herself.</p> - -<p>"Well, Mr. Blair's place was away off in another part of Virginny, and I -went dere with her. Well, she wan't very happy, no ways, she wan't; -because Mr. Blair, he was a high fellow. Laws, Miss Nina, when I tells -you dis yere one you've got here is a good one, and I 'vise you to take -him, it's because I knows what comes o' girls marrying high fellows. -Don't care how good-looking dey is, nor what dere manners is,—it's just -de ruin of girls that has them. Law, when he was a courting Miss Harrit, -it was all nobody but her. She was going to be his angel, and he was -going to give up all sorts of bad ways, and live<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> <i>such</i> a good life! -Ah! she married him; it all went to smoke! 'Fore de month was well over, -he got a going in his old ways; and den it was go, go, all de time, -carousing and drinking,—parties at home, parties abroad,—money flying -like de water.</p> - -<p>"Well, dis made a great change in Miss Harrit. She didn't laugh no more; -she got sharp and cross, and she wan't good to me like what she used to -be. She took to be jealous of me and her husband. She might have saved -herself de trouble. I shouldn't have touched him with a pair of tongs. -But he was always running after everything that came in his way; so no -wonder. But, 'tween them both, I led a bad life of it.</p> - -<p>"Well, things dragged kind along in this way. She had three children, -and, at last, he was killed, one day, falling off his horse when he was -too drunk to hold the bridle. Good riddance, too, I thought. And den, -after he's dead, Miss Harrit, she seemed to grow more quiet like, and -setting herself picking up what pieces and crumbs was left for her and -de children. And I 'member she had one of her uncles dere a good many -days helping her in counting up de debts. Well, dey was talking one day -in missis' room, and dere was a little light closet on one side, where I -got set down to do some fine stitching; but dey was too busy in their -'counts to think anything 'bout me. It seemed dat de place and de people -was all to be sold off to pay de debts,—all 'cept a few of us, who were -to go off with missis, and begin again on a small place,—and I heard -him telling her about it.</p> - -<p>"'While your children are small,' he says, 'you can live small, and keep -things close, and raise enough on the place for ye all; and den you can -be making the most of your property. Niggers is rising in de market. -Since Missouri came in, they's worth double; and so you can just sell de -increase of 'em for a good sum. Now, there's that black girl Milly, of -yourn.'—You may be sure, now, I pricked up my ears, Miss Nina.—'You -don't often see a girl of finer breed than she is,' says he, just as if -I'd been a cow, you know. 'Have you got her a husband?'</p> - -<p>"'No,' said Miss Harrit; and then says she, 'I believe Milly is -something of a coquette among the young men. She's never settled on -anybody yet,' says she.</p> - -<p>"'Well,' says he, 'that must be attended to, 'cause that girl's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> -children will be an estate of themselves. Why, I've known women to have -twenty! and her children wouldn't any of 'em be worth less than eight -hundred dollars. There's a fortune at once. If dey's like her, dey'll be -as good as cash in the market, any day. You can send out and sell one, -if you happen to be in any straits, just as soon as you can draw a note -on the bank.'</p> - -<p>"Oh, laws, Miss Nina, I tell you dis yer fell on me like so much lead. -'Cause, you see, I'd been keeping company with a very nice young man, -and I was going to ask Miss Harrit about it dat very day; but, dere—I -laid down my work dat minute, and thinks, says I, 'True as de Lord's in -heaven I won't never be married in dis world!' And I cried 'bout it, off -and on, all day, and at night I told Paul 'bout it. He was de one, you -know. But Paul, he tried to make it all smooth. He guessed it wouldn't -happen; he guessed missis would think better on't. At any rate, we loved -each other, and why shouldn't we take as much comfort as we could? Well, -I went to Miss Harrit, and told her just what I thought 'bout it. Allers -had spoke my mind to Miss Harrit 'bout everything, and I wan't going to -stop den. And she laughed at me, and told me not to cry 'fore I's hurt. -Well, things went on so two or three weeks, and finally Paul he -persuaded me. And so we was married. When our first child was born, Paul -was so pleased, he thought strange that I wan't.</p> - -<p>"'Paul,' said I, 'dis yer child an't ourn; it may be took from us, and -sold, any day.'</p> - -<p>"'Well, well,' says he, 'Milly, it may be God's child, any way, even if -it an't ourn.'</p> - -<p>"'Cause, you see, Miss Nina, Paul, he was a Christian. Ah, well, honey, -I can't tell you; after dat I had a great many chil'en, girls and boys, -growing up round me. Well, I's had fourteen chil'en, dear, and dey's all -been sold from me, every single one of 'em. Lord, it's a heavy cross! -heavy, heavy! None knows but dem dat bears it!"</p> - -<p>"What a shame!" said Nina. "How could Aunt Harriet be such a wicked -woman?—an aunt of mine do so!"</p> - -<p>"Chile, chile," said Milly, "we doesn't none of us know what's in us. -When Miss Harrit and I was gals together,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> hunting hens' eggs and rowing -de boat in de river,—well, I wouldn't have thought it would have been -so, and she wouldn't have thought so, neither. But, den, what little's -bad in girls when dey's young and handsome, and all de world smiling on -'em—Oh, honey, it gets drefful strong when dey gets grown women, and de -wrinkles comes in der faces! Always, when she was a girl,—whether it -was eggs, or berries, or chincapins, or what,—it was Miss Harrit's -nature to <i>get</i> and to <i>keep</i>; and when she got old, dat all turned to -money."</p> - -<p>"Oh! but," said Nina, "it does seem impossible that a woman—a lady -born, too, and my aunt—could do such a thing!"</p> - -<p>"Ah, ah, honey! ladies born have some bad stuff in dem, sometimes, like -de rest of us. But, den, honey, it was de most natural thing in de -world, come to look on't; for now, see here, honey, dere was your -aunt—she was poor, and she was pestered for money. Dere was Mas'r -George's bills and Peter's bills to pay, and Miss Susy's; and every one -of 'em must have everything, and dey was all calling for money, money; -and dere has been times she didn't know which way to turn. Now, you see, -when a woman is pestered to pay two hundred here and tree hundred dere, -and when she has got more niggers on her place dan she can keep, and den -a man calls in and lays down eight hundred dollars in gold and bills -before her, and says, 'I want dat ar Lucy or George of yourn,' why, -don't you see? Dese yer soul-drivers is always round, tempting folks dey -know is poor; and dey always have der money as handy as de devil has -his. But, den, I oughtn't fur to be hard upon dem poor soul-drivers, -neither, 'cause dey an't taught no better. It's dese yer Christians, dat -profess Christ, dat makes great talks 'bout religion, dat has der -Bibles, and turns der backs upon swearing soul-drivers, and tinks dey -an't fit to speak to—it's <i>dem</i>, honey, dat's de root of de whole -business. Now, dere was dat uncle of hern,—mighty great Christian he -was, with his prayer-meetings, and all dat!—he was always a putting her -up to it. Oh, dere's been times—dere was times 'long first, Miss Nina, -when my first chil'en was sold—dat, I tell you. I poured out my soul to -Miss Harrit, and I've seen dat ar woman cry so dat I was sorry for her. -And she said to me, 'Milly, I'll never do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> it again.' But, Lord! I -didn't trust her,—not a word on't,—'cause I knowed she would. I knowed -dere was dat in her heart dat de devil wouldn't let go of. I knowed he'd -no kind of objection to her 'musing herself with meetin's, and prayers, -and all dat; but he'd no notion to let go his grip on her heart.</p> - -<p>"But, Lord! she wasn't <i>quite</i> a bad woman,—poor Miss Harrit -wasn't,—and she wouldn't have done so bad, if it hadn't been for <i>him</i>. -But he'd come and have prayers, and exhort, and den come prowling round -my place like a wolf, looking at my chil'en.</p> - -<p>"'And, Milly,' he'd say, 'how do you do now? Lucy is getting to be a -right smart girl, Milly. How old is she? Dere's a lady in Washington has -advertised for a maid,—a nice woman, a pious lady. I suppose you -wouldn't object, Milly? Your poor mistress is in great trouble for -money.'</p> - -<p>"I never said nothing to that man. Only once, when he asked me what I -thought my Lucy would be worth, when she was fifteen years old, says I -to him:—</p> - -<p>"'Sir, she is worth to me just what your daughter is worth to you.'</p> - -<p>"Den I went in and shut de door. I didn't stay to see how he took it. -Den he'd go up to de house, and talk to Miss Harrit. 'Twas her duty, -he'd tell her, to take proper care of her goods. And dat ar meant -selling my chil'en. I 'member, when Miss Susy came home from -boarding-school, she was a pretty girl: but I didn't look on her very -kind, I tell you, 'cause three of my chil'en had been sold to keep her -at school. My Lucy,—ah, honey!—she went for a lady's maid. I knowed -what dat ar meant, well enough. De lady had a son grown, and he took -Lucy with him to Orleans, and dere was an end of dat. Dere don't no -letters go 'tween us. Once gone, we can't write, and it is good as being -dead. Ah, no, chile, not so good! Paul used to teach Lucy little hymns, -nights, 'fore she went to sleep. And if she'd a died right off after one -of dem, it would have been better for her. Oh, honey, 'long dem times I -used to rave and toss like a bull in a net—I did so!</p> - -<p>"Well, honey, I wasn't what I was. I got cross and ugly. Miss Harrit, -she grew a great Christian, and joined de church, and used to have heaps -of ministers and elders at her house;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> and some on 'em used to try and -talk to me. I told 'em I'd seen enough of der old religion, and I didn't -want to hear no more. But Paul, he was a Christian; and when he talked -to me, I was quiet, like, though I couldn't be like what he was. Well, -last, my missis promised me one. She'd give me my youngest child, sure -and certain. His name was Alfred. Well, dat boy!—I loved dat child -better dan any of de rest of 'em. He was all I'd got left to love; for, -when he was a year old, Paul's master moved away down to Louisiana, and -took him off, and I never heard no more of him. So it 'peared as if dis -yer child was all I had left. Well, he <i>was</i> a bright boy. Oh, he was -most uncommon! He was so handy to anything, and saved me so many steps! -Oh, honey, he had such ways with him—dat boy!—would always make me -laugh. He took after larnin' mighty, and he larned himself to read; and -he'd read de Bible to me, sometimes. I just brought him up and teached -him de best way I could. All dat made me 'fraid for him was, dat he was -so spirity. I's 'fraid 'twould get him into trouble.</p> - -<p>"He wan't no more spirity dan white folks would like der chil'en fur to -be. When white chil'en holds up der heads, and answers back, den de -parents laugh, and say, 'He's got it in him! He's a bright one!' But, if -one of ourn does so, it's a drefful thing. I was allers talking to -Alfred 'bout it, and telled him to keep humble. It 'peared like there -was so much in him, you couldn't keep it down. Laws, Miss Nina, folks -may say what dey like about de black folks, dey'll never beat it out of -my head;—dere's some on 'em can be as smart as any white folks, if dey -could have de same chance. How many white boys did you ever see would -take de trouble for to teach theirselves to read? And dat's what my -Alfred did. Laws, I had a mighty heap of comfort in him, 'cause I was -thinkin' to get my missis to let me hire my time; den I was going to -work over hours, and get money, and buy him; because, you see, chile, I -knowed he was too spirity for a slave. You see he couldn't <i>learn to -stoop</i>; he wouldn't let nobody impose on him; and he always had a word -back again to give anybody as good as dey sent. Yet, for all dat, he was -a dear, good boy to me; and when I used to talk to him, and tell him -dese things was dangerous, he'd always promise fur to be kerful. Well,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> -things went on pretty well while he was little, and I kept him with me -till he got to be about twelve or thirteen years old. He used to wipe de -dishes, and scour de knives, and black de shoes, and such-like work. -But, by and by, dey said it was time dat he should go to de reg'lar -work; and dat ar was de time I felt feared. Missis had an overseer, and -he was real aggravating, and I felt feared dere'd be trouble; and sure -enough dere was, too. Dere was always somethin' brewing 'tween him and -Alfred; and he was always running to missis with tales, and I was -talking to Alfred. But 'peared like he aggravated de boy so, dat he -couldn't do right. Well, one day, when I had been up to town for an -errand, I come home at night, and I wondered Alfred didn't come home to -his supper. I thought something was wrong; and I went to de house, and -dere sat Miss Harrit by a table covered with rolls of money, and dere -she was a counting it.</p> - -<p>"'Miss Harrit,' says I, 'I can't find Alfred. An't you seen him?' says -I.</p> - -<p>"At first she didn't answer, but went on counting—fifty-one, fifty-two, -fifty-three. Finally I spoke again.</p> - -<p>"'I hope there an't nothing happened to Alfred, Miss Harrit?'</p> - -<p>"She looked up, and says she to me,—</p> - -<p>"'Milly,' says she, 'de fact is, Alfred has got too much for me to -manage, and I had a great deal of money offered for him; and I sold -him.'</p> - -<p>"I felt something strong coming up in my throat, and I just went up and -took hold of her shoulders, and said I,—</p> - -<p>"'Miss Harrit, you took de money for thirteen of my chil'en, and you -promised me, sure enough, I should have dis yer one. You call dat being -a Christian?' says I.</p> - -<p>"'Why,' says she, 'Milly, he an't a great way off; you can see him about -as much. It's only over to Mr. Jones's plantation. You can go and see -him, and he can come and see you. And you know you didn't like the man -who had the care of him here, and thought he was always getting him into -trouble.'</p> - -<p>"'Miss Harrit,' says I, 'you may cheat yourself saying dem things; but -you don't cheat me, nor de Lord neither. You folks have de say all on -your side, with your ministers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>preaching us down out of de Bible; you -won't teach us to read. But I'm going straight to de Lord with dis yer -case. I tell you, if de Lord is to be found, I'll find him; and I'll ask -him to look on't,—de way you've been treating me,—selling <i>my</i> -chil'en, all de way 'long, to pay for <i>your</i> chil'en, and now breaking -your word to me, and taking dis yer boy, de last drop of blood in my -heart! I'll pray de Lord to curse every cent of dat ar money to you and -your chil'en!'</p> - -<p>"Dat ar was de way I spoke to her, child. I was poor, ignorant cretur, -and didn't know God, and my heart was like a red-hot coal. I turned and -walked right straight out from her. I didn't speak no more to her, and -she didn't speak no more to me. And when I went to bed at night, dar, -sure 'nough, was Alfred's bed in de corner, and his Sunday coat hanging -up over it, and his Sunday shoes I had bought for him with my own money; -'cause he was a handsome boy, and I wanted him always to look nice. -Well, so, come Sunday morning, I took his coat and his shoes, and made a -bundle of 'em, and I took my stick, and says I, 'I'll just go ever to -Jones's place and see what has 'come of Alfred.' All de time, I hadn't -said a word to missis, nor she to me. Well, I got about half-way over to -de place, and dere I stopped under a big hickory-tree to rest me a bit, -and I looked along and seed some one a coming; and pretty soon I knowed -it was Huldah. She was one that married Paul's cousin, and she lived on -Jones's place. And so I got up and went to meet her, and told her I was -going over to see 'bout Alfred.</p> - -<p>"'Lord!' says she, 'Milly, haven't you heard dat Alfred's dead?'</p> - -<p>"Well, Miss Nina, it seemed as if my heart and everything in it stopped -still. And said I, 'Huldah, has dey killed him?'</p> - -<p>"And said she, 'Yes.' And she told me it was dis yer way: Dat Stiles—he -dat was Jones's overseer—had heard dat Alfred was dreadful spirity; and -when boys is so, sometimes dey aggravates 'em to get 'em riled, and den -dey whips 'em to break 'em in. So Stiles, when he was laying off -Alfred's task, was real aggravating to him; and dat boy—well, he -answered back, just as he allers would be doing, 'cause he was smart, -and it 'peared like he couldn't keep it in. And den dey all laughed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -round dere, and den Stiles was mad, and swore he'd whip him; and den -Alfred, he cut and run. And den Stiles he swore awful at him, and he -told him to 'come here, and he'd give him hell, and pay him de cash.' -Dem is de very words he said to my boy. And Alfred said he wouldn't come -back; he wasn't going to be whipped. And just den young Master Bill come -along, and wanted to know what was de matter. So Stiles told him, and he -took out his pistol, and said, 'Here, young dog, if you don't come back -before I count five, I'll fire!'</p> - -<p>"'Fire ahead!' says Alfred; 'cause, you see, dat boy never knowed what -fear was. And so he fired. And Huldah said he just jumped up and give -one scream, and fell flat. And dey run up to him, and he was dead; -'cause you see, de bullet went right through his heart. Well, dey took -off his jacket and looked, but it wan't of no use; his face settled down -still. And Huldah said dat dey just dug a hole and put him in. Nothing -on him—nothing round him—no coffin; like he'd been a dog. Huldah -showed me de jacket. Dere was de hole, cut right round in it, like it -was stamped, and his blood running out on it. I didn't say a word. I -took up de jacket, and wrapped it up with his Sunday clothes, and I -walked straight—straight home. I walked up into missis' room, and she -was dressed for church, sure enough, and sat dere reading her Bible. I -laid it right down under her face, dat jacket. 'You see dat <i>hole</i>!' -said I; 'you see dat blood! Alfred's killed! <i>You</i> killed him; his blood -be on you and your chil'en! O Lord God in heaven, hear me, and <i>render -unto her double</i>!'"</p> - -<p>Nina drew in her breath hard, with an instinctive shudder. Milly had -drawn herself up, in the vehemence of her narration, and sat leaning -forward, her black eyes dilated, her strong arms clenched before her, -and her powerful frame expanding and working with the violence of her -emotion. She might have looked, to one with mythological associations, -like the figure of a black marble Nemesis in a trance of wrath. She sat -so for a few minutes, and then her muscles relaxed, her eyes gradually -softened; she looked tenderly, but solemnly, down on Nina. "Dem was -awful words, chile; but I was in Egypt den. I was wandering in de -wilderness of Sinai. I had heard de sound of de trumpet, and de voice of -words; but, chile, I hadn't seen de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> Lord. Well—I went out, and I -didn't speak no more to Miss Harrit. Dere was a great gulf fixed 'tween -us; and dere didn't no words pass over it. I did my work—I scorned not -to do it; but I didn't speak to her. Den it was, chile, dat I thought of -what my mother told me, years ago; it came to me, all fresh—'Chile, -when trouble comes, you ask de Lord to help you;' and I saw dat I hadn't -asked de Lord to help me; and now, says I to myself, de Lord can't help -me; 'cause he couldn't bring back Alfred, no way you could fix it; and -yet I wanted to find de Lord, 'cause I was so tossed up and down. I -wanted just to go and say, 'Lord, you see what dis woman has done.' I -wanted to put it to him, if he'd stand up for such a thing as that. -Lord, how de world, and everything, looked to me in dem times! -Everything goin' on in de way it did; and dese yer Christians, dat said -dat dey was going into de kingdom, doing as dey did! I tell you, I -sought de Lord early and late. Many nights I have been out in de woods -and laid on de ground till morning, calling and crying, and 'peared like -nobody heerd me. Oh, how strange it used to look, when I looked up to de -stars! winking at me, so kind of still and solemn, but never saying a -word! Sometimes I got dat wild, it seemed as if I could tear a hole -through de sky, 'cause I must find God; I had an errand to him, and I -must find him.</p> - -<p>"Den I heard 'em read out de Bible, 'bout how de Lord met a man on a -threshing-floor, and I thought maybe if I had a threshing-floor he would -come to me. So I threshed down a place just as hard as I could under de -trees; and den I prayed dere—but he didn't come. Den dere was coming a -great camp-meeting; and I thought I'd go and see if I could find de Lord -dere; because, you see, missis, she let her people go Sunday to de -camp-meeting. Well, I went into de tents and heerd dem sing; and I went -afore de altar, and I heerd preaching; but it 'peared like it was no -good. It didn't touch me nowhere; and I couldn't see nothing to it. I -heerd 'em read out of de Bible, 'Oh, dat I knew where I might find him. -I would come even to his seat. I would order my cause before him. I -would fill my mouth with arguments;' and I thought, sure enough, dat -ar's just what I want. Well, came on dark night, and dey had all de -camp-fires lighted up, and dey was singing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> de hymns round and round, -and I went for to hear de preaching. And dere was a man—pale, lean man -he was, with black eyes and black hair. Well, dat ar man, he preached a -sermon, to be sure, I never shall forget. His text was, 'He that spared -not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he -not with him freely give us all things?' Well, you see, the first sound -of dis took me, because I'd lost my son. And the man, he told us who de -son of God was,—Jesus,—Oh, how sweet and beautiful he was! How he went -round doing for folks. O Lord, what a story dat ar was! And, den, how -dey took him, and put de crown of thorns on his head, and hung him up -bleeding, bleeding, and bleeding! God so loved us dat he let his own -dear Son suffer all dat for us. Chile, I got up, and I went to de altar, -and I kneeled down with de mourners; and I fell flat on my face, and dey -said I was in a trance. Maybe I was. Where I was, I don't know; but I -saw de Lord! Chile, it seemed as if my very heart was still. I saw him, -suffering, bearing with us, year in and year -out—bearing—bearing—bearing so patient! 'Peared like, it wan't just -on de cross; but, bearing always, everywhar! Oh, chile, I saw how he -loved us!—us <i>all</i>—all—every one on us!—we dat hated each other so! -'Peared like he was using his heart up for us, all de time—bleedin' for -us like he did on Calvary, and willin' to bleed! Oh, chile, I saw what -it was for me to be hatin', like I'd hated. 'O Lord,' says I, 'I give -up? O Lord, never see you afore; I didn't know. Lord, I's a poor sinner! -I won't hate no more!' And oh, chile, den dere come such a rush of love -in my soul! Says I, 'Lord, I ken love even de white folks!' And den came -another rush; and says I, 'Yes, Lord, I love poor Miss Harrit, dat's -sole all my chil'en, and been de death of my poor Alfred! I loves her.' -Chile, I overcome—I did so—I overcome by de blood of de <i>Lamb</i>—de -Lamb!—Yes, de Lamb, chile!—'cause if he'd been a lion I could a kept -in; 'twas de <i>Lamb</i> dat overcome.</p> - -<p>"When I come to, I felt like a chile. I went home to Miss Harrit; and I -hadn't spoke peaceable to her since Alfred died. I went in to her. She'd -been sick, and she was in her room, looking kinder pale and yaller, poor -thing; 'cause her son, honey, he got drunk and 'bused her awful. I went -in, and says<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> I, 'Oh, Miss Harrit, I's seen de Lord! Miss Harrit, I an't -got no more hard feelin's; I forgive ye, and loves ye with all my heart, -just as de Lord does.' Honey, ye ought to see how dat woman cried! Says -she, 'Milly, I's a great sinner.' Says I, 'Miss Harrit, we's sinners, -both on us, but de Lord gives hisself for us both; and if he loves us -poor sinners, we mustn't be hard on each other. Ye was tempted, honey,' -says I (for you see I felt like makin' scuses for her); 'but de Lord -Jesus has got a pardon for both on us.'</p> - -<p>"After dat, I didn't have no more trouble with Miss Harrit. Chile, we -was sisters in Jesus. I bore her burdens, and she bore mine. And, dear, -de burdens was heavy; for her son he was brought home a corpse; he shot -hisself right through de heart trying to load a gun when he was drunk. -Oh, chile, I thought den how I'd prayed de Lord to render unto her -double; but I had a better mind den. Ef I could have brought poor Mas'r -George to life, I'd a done it; and I held de poor woman's head on my arm -all dat ar night, and she a screamin' every hour. Well, dat ar took her -down to de grave. She didn't live much longer; but she was ready to die. -She sent and bought my daughter Lucy's son, dis here Tom, and gin him to -me. Poor thing! she did all she could.</p> - -<p>"I watched with her de night she died. Oh, Miss Nina, if ever ye're -tempted to hate anybody, think how 't'll be with 'em when dey comes to -die.</p> - -<p>"She died hard, poor thing! and she was cast down, 'bout her sins. 'Oh, -Milly,' says she, 'the Lord and you may forgive me, but I <i>can't</i> -forgive myself.'</p> - -<p>"'And,' says I to her, 'Oh, missis, don't think of it no more! <i>de -Lord's hid it in his own heart!</i>' Oh, but she struggled long, honey; she -was all night dyin', and 'twas 'Milly! Milly!' all de time; 'Oh, Milly, -stay with me!'</p> - -<p>"And, chile, I felt I loved her like my own soul; and when de day broke -de Lord set her free, and I laid her down like she'd been one o' my -babies. I took up her poor hand. It was warm, but the strength was all -gone out on't; and, 'Oh,' I thought, 'ye poor thing, how could I ever -have hated ye so?' Ah, chile, we mustn't hate nobody; we's all poor -creaturs, and de dear Lord he loves us all."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XVII.</span> <span class="smaller">UNCLE JOHN.</span></h2> - -<p>About four miles east of Canema lay the plantation of Nina's uncle, -whither Harry had been sent on the morning which we have mentioned. The -young man went upon his errand in no very enviable mood of mind. Uncle -Jack, as Nina always called him, was the nominal guardian of the estate, -and a more friendly and indulgent one Harry could not have desired. He -was one of those joyous, easy souls, whose leading desire seemed to be -that everybody in the world should make himself as happy as possible, -without fatiguing him with consultations as to particulars. His -confidence in Harry was unbounded; and he esteemed it a good fortune -that it was so, as he was wont to say, laughingly, that his own place -was more than he could manage. Like all gentlemen who make the study of -their own ease a primary consideration, Uncle Jack found the whole -course of nature dead-set against him. For, as all creation is evidently -organized with a view to making people work, it follows that no one has -so much care as the man who resolves not to take any. Uncle Jack was -systematically, and as a matter of course, cheated and fleeced, by his -overseers, by his negroes, and the poor whites of his vicinity; and, -worst of all, continually hectored and lectured by his wife therefor. -Nature, or destiny, or whoever the lady may be that deals the -matrimonial cards, with her usual thoughtfulness in balancing opposites, -had arranged that jovial, easy, care-hating Uncle John should have been -united to a most undaunted and ever-active spirit of enterprise and -resolution, who never left anything quiet in his vicinity. She it was -who continually disturbed his repose, by constantly ferreting out, and -bringing before his view, all the plots, treasons, and conspiracies, -with which plantation-life is ever abounding; bringing down on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> his -devoted head the necessity of discriminations, decisions, and -settlements, most abhorrent to an easy man.</p> - -<p>The fact was, that responsibility, aggravated by her husband's -negligence, had transformed the worthy woman into a sort of domestic -dragon of the Hesperides; and her good helpmeet declared that he -believed she never slept, nor meant anybody else should. It was all very -well, he would observe. He wouldn't quarrel with her for walking the -whole night long, or sleeping with her head out of the window, watching -the smoke-house; for stealing out after one o'clock to convict Pompey, -or circumvent Cuff, if she only wouldn't bother him with it. Suppose the -half of the hams were carried off, between two and three, and sold to -Abijah Skinflint for rum?—He must have his sleep; and, if he had to pay -for it in ham, why, he'd pay for it in ham; but sleep he must, and -would. And, supposing he really believed, in his own soul, that Cuffy, -who came in the morning, with a long face, to announce the theft, and to -propose measures of discovery, was in fact the main conspirator—what -then? He couldn't prove it on him. Cuff had gone astray from the womb, -speaking lies ever since he was born; and what would be the use of his -fretting and sweating himself to death to get truth out of Cuff? No, no! -Mrs. G., as he commonly called his helpmeet, might do that sort of -thing, but she mustn't bother him about it. Not that Uncle Jack was -invariable in his temper; human nature has its limits, and a personage -who finds "mischief still for idle hands to do" often seems to take a -malicious pleasure in upsetting the temper of idle gentlemen. So, Uncle -Jack, though confessedly the best fellow in the world, was occasionally -subject to a tropical whirlwind of passion, in which he would stamp, -tear, and swear, with most astounding energy; and in those ignited -moments all the pent-up sorrows of his soul would fly about him, like -red-hot shot, in every direction. And then he would curse the negroes, -curse the overseers, curse the plantation, curse Cuff and Pomp and -Dinah, curse the poor white folks round, curse Mr. Abijah Skinflint, and -declare that he would send them and the niggers all severally to a -department which politeness forbids us to mention. He would pour out -awful threats of cutting up, skinning alive, and selling to Georgia. To -all which commotion and bluster the negroes would listen,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> rolling the -whites of their eyes, and sticking their tongues in their cheeks, with -an air of great satisfaction and amusement; because experience had -sufficiently proved to them that nobody had ever been cut up, skinned -alive, or sent to Georgia, as the result of any of these outpourings. -So, when Uncle Jack had one of these fits, they treated it as hens do an -approaching thunderstorm,—ran under cover, and waited for it to blow -over.</p> - -<p>As to Madam Gordon, her wrath was another affair. And her threats they -had learned to know generally meant something; though it very often -happened that, in the dispensation of most needed justice, Uncle Jack, -if in an extra good humor, would rush between the culprit and his -mistress, and bear him off in triumph, at the risk of most serious -consequences to himself afterwards. Our readers are not to infer from -this that Madam Gordon was really and naturally an ill-natured woman. -She was only one of that denomination of vehement housekeepers who are -to be found the world over—women to whom is appointed the hard mission -of combating, single-handed, for the principles of order and exactness, -against a whole world in arms. Had she had the good fortune to have been -born in Vermont or Massachusetts, she would have been known through the -whole village as a woman who couldn't be cheated half a cent on a pound -in meat, and had an instinctive knowledge whether a cord of wood was too -short, or a pound of butter too light. Put such a woman at the head of -the disorderly rabble of a plantation, with a cheating overseer, -surrounded by thieving poor whites, to whom the very organization of -society leaves no resource but thieving, with a never-mind husband, with -land that has seen its best days, and is fast running to barrenness, and -you must not too severely question her temper, if it should not be at -all times in perfect subjection. In fact, Madam Gordon's cap habitually -bristled with horror, and she was rarely known to sit down. -Occasionally, it is true, she alighted upon a chair; but was in a moment -up again, to pursue some of her household train, or shout, at the top of -her lungs, some caution toward the kitchen.</p> - -<p>When Harry reined up his horse before the plantation, the gate was -thrown open for him by old Pomp, a superannuated negro, who reserved -this function as his peculiar sinecure.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p><p>"Lord bress you, Harry, dat you? Bress you, you ought fur to see mas'r! -Such a gale up to de house!"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter, Pomp?"</p> - -<p>"Why, mas'r, he done got one of he fits! Tarin' round dar, fit to -split!—stompin' up and down de 'randy, swarin' like mad! Lord, if he -an't! He done got Jake tied up, dar!—swars he's goin' to cut him to -pieces! He! he! he! Has so! Got Jake tied up dar! Ho! ho! ho! Real -curus! And he's blowin' hisself out dere mighty hard, I tell you! So, if -you want to get word wid him, you can't do it till he done got through -wid dis yer!" And the old man ducked his pepper-and-salt-colored head, -and chuckled with a lively satisfaction.</p> - -<p>As Harry rode slowly up the avenue to the house, he caught sight of the -portly figure of its master, stamping up and down the veranda, -vociferating and gesticulating in the most violent manner. He was a -corpulent man, of middle age, with a round, high forehead, set off with -grizzled hair. His blue eyes, fair, rosy, fat face, his mouth adorned -with brilliant teeth, gave him, when in good-humor, the air of a -handsome and agreeable man. At present his countenance was flushed -almost to purple, as he stood storming, from his rostrum, at a saucy, -ragged negro, who, tied to the horse-post, stood the picture of -unconcern; while a crowd of negro men, women, and children, were looking -on.</p> - -<p>"I'll teach you!" he vociferated, shaking his fist. "I won't—won't bear -it of you, you dog, you! You won't take my orders, won't you? I'll -<i>kill</i> you—that I will! I'll cut you up into inch-pieces!"</p> - -<p>"No, you won't, and you know you won't!" interposed Mrs. Gordon, who sat -at the window behind him. "You won't, and you know you won't! and <i>they</i> -know you won't, too! It will all end in smoke, as it always does. I only -wish you wouldn't talk and threaten, because it makes you ridiculous!"</p> - -<p>"Hold your tongue, too! I'll be master in my own house, I say! Infernal -dog!—I say, Cuff, cut him up!—Why don't you go at him?—Give it to -him!—What you waiting for?"</p> - -<p>"If mas'r pleases!" said Cuff, rolling up his eyes, and making a -deprecating gesture.</p> - -<p>"If I please! Well, blast you, I <i>do</i> please! Go at him!—thrash away! -Stay, I'll come myself." And, seizing a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>cow-hide, which lay near him, -he turned up his cuffs, and ran down the steps; but, missing his footing -in his zeal, came head-first against the very post where the criminal -was tied.</p> - -<p>"There! I hope, now, you are satisfied! You have killed me!—you have -broke my head, you have! I shall be laid up a month, all for you, you -ungrateful dog!"</p> - -<p>Cuffy and Sambo came to the rescue, raised him up carefully, and began -brushing the dust off his clothes, smothering the laughter with which -they seemed ready to explode, while the culprit at the post seemed to -consider this an excellent opportunity to put in his submission.</p> - -<p>"Please, mas'r, do forgive me! I tole 'em to go out, and dey said dey -wouldn't. I didn't mean no harm when I said 'Mas'r had better go -hisself;' 'cause I thinks so now. Mas'r <i>had</i> better go! Dem folks is -curus, and dey won't go for none of us. Dey just acts ridiculous, dey -does! And I didn't mean fur to be sarcy, nor nothin.' I say 'gin, if -mas'r'll take his horse and go over dar, mas'r drive dose folks out; and -nobody else can't do it! We done can't do it—dey jest sarce us. Now, -for my Heavenly Master, all dis yere is de truth I've been telling. De -Lord, de Master, knows it is; and, if mas'r'll take his horse, and ride -down dere, he'd see so; so dere, just as I've been telling mas'r. I -didn't mean no harm at all, I didn't!"</p> - -<p>The quarrel, it must be told, related to the ejecting of a poor white -family which had <i>squatted</i>, as the phrase is, in a deserted cabin, on a -distant part of the Gordon plantation. Mrs. Gordon's untiring assiduity -having discovered this fact, she had left her husband no peace till -something was undertaken in the way of ejectment. He accordingly -commissioned Jake, a stout negro, on the morning of the present day, to -go over and turn them off. Now, Jake, who inherited to the full the -lofty contempt with which the plantation negro regards the poor white -folks, started upon his errand, nothing loth, and whistled his way in -high feather, with two large dogs at his heels. But, when he found a -miserable, poor, sick woman, surrounded by four starving children, -Jake's mother's milk came back to him; and, instead of turning them out, -he actually pitched a dish of cold potatoes in among them, which he -picked up in a neighboring cabin, with about the same air of -contemptuous pity with which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> one throws scraps to a dog. And then, -meandering his way back to the house, informed his master that "He -couldn't turn de white trash out; and, if he wanted them turned out, he -would have to go hisself."</p> - -<p>Now, we all know that a fit of temper has very often nothing to do with -the thing which appears to give rise to it. When a cloud is full charged -with electricity, it makes no difference which bit of wire is put in. -The flash and the thunder come one way as well as another. Mr. Gordon -had received troublesome letters on business, a troublesome lecture from -his wife, his corn-cake had been over-done at breakfast, and his coffee -burned bitter; besides which, he had a cold in his head coming on, and -there was a settlement brewing with the overseer. In consequence of all -which things, though Jake's mode of delivering himself wasn't a whit -more saucy than ordinary, the storm broke upon him then and there, and -raged as we have described. The heaviest part of it, however, being now -spent, Mr. Gordon consented to pardon the culprit on condition that he -would bring him up his horse immediately, when he would ride over and -see if he couldn't turn out the offending party. He pressed Harry, who -was rather a favorite of his, into the service; and, in the course of a -quarter of an hour, they were riding off in the direction of the -squatter's cabin.</p> - -<p>"It's perfectly insufferable, what we proprietors have to bear from this -tribe of creatures!" he said. "There ought to be hunting-parties got up -to chase them down, and exterminate 'em, just as we do rats. It would be -a kindness to them; the only thing you can do for them is to kill them. -As for charity, or that kind of thing, you might as well throw victuals -into the hollow logs as to try to feed 'em. The government ought to pass -laws,—we will have laws, somehow or other,—and get them out of the -state."</p> - -<p>And, so discoursing, the good man at length arrived before the door of a -miserable, decaying log-cabin, out of whose glassless windows dark -emptiness looked, as out of the eye-holes of a skull. Two scared, -cowering children disappeared round the corner as he approached. He -kicked open the door, and entered. Crouched on a pile of dirty straw, -sat a miserable, haggard woman, with large, wild eyes, sunken cheeks, -dishevelled, matted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> hair, and long, lean hands, like bird's-claws. At -her skinny breast an emaciated infant was hanging, pushing, with its -little skeleton hands, as if to force the nourishment which nature no -longer gave; and two scared-looking children, with features wasted and -pinched blue with famine, were clinging to her gown. The whole group -huddled together, drawing as far as possible away from the new-comer, -looked up with large, frightened eyes, like hunted wild animals.</p> - -<p>"What you here for?" was the first question of Mr. Gordon, put in no -very decided tone; for, if the truth must be told, his combativeness was -oozing out.</p> - -<p>The woman did not answer, and, after a pause, the youngest child piped -up, in a shrill voice,—</p> - -<p>"An't got nowhere else to be!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the woman, "we camped on Mr. Durant's place, and -Bobfield—him is the overseer—pulled down the cabin right over our -head. 'Pears like we couldn't get nowhere."</p> - -<p>"Where is your husband?"</p> - -<p>"Gone looking for work. 'Pears like he couldn't get none nowhere. 'Pears -like nobody wants us. But we have got to be somewhere, though!" said the -woman, in a melancholy, apologetic tone. "We can't die, as I see!—wish -we could!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Gordon's eye fell upon two or three cold potatoes in a piece of -broken crock, over which the woman appeared keeping jealous guard.</p> - -<p>"What you doing with those potatoes?"</p> - -<p>"Saving them for the children's dinner."</p> - -<p>"And is that all you've got to eat, I want to know?" said Mr. Gordon, in -a high, sharp tone, as if he were getting angry very fast.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the woman.</p> - -<p>"What did you have to eat yesterday?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing!" said the woman.</p> - -<p>"And what did you eat the day before?"</p> - -<p>"Found some old bones round the nigger houses; and some on 'em give us -some corn-cake."</p> - -<p>"Why the devil didn't you send up to <i>my</i> house, and get some bacon? -Picking up bones, slop, and swill, round the nigger huts? Why didn't you -send up for some ham, and some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> meal? Lord bless you, you don't think -Madam Gordon is a dog to bite you, do you? Wait here till I send you -down something fit to eat. Just end in my having to take care of you, I -see! And, if you are going to stay here, there will be something to be -done to keep the rain out!"</p> - -<p>"There, now," he said to Harry, as he was mounting his horse, "just see -what 'tis to be made with hooks in one's back, like me! Everybody hangs -on to me, of course! Now, there's Durant turns off these folks; there's -Peters turns them off! Well, what's the consequence? They come and -litter down on me, just because I am an easy, soft-hearted old fool! -It's too devilish bad! They breed like rabbits! What God Almighty makes -such people for, I don't know! I suppose He does. But there's these -poor, miserable trash have children like sixty; and there's folks living -in splendid houses, dying for children, and can't have any. If they -manage one or two, the scarlet-fever or whooping-cough makes off with -'em. Lord bless me, things go on in a terrible mixed-up way in this -world! And, then, what upon earth I'm to say to Mrs. G.! I know what -she'll say to me. She'll tell me she told me so—that's what she always -says. I wish she'd go and see them herself—I do so! Mrs. G. is the -nicest kind of a woman—no mistake about that; but she has an awful deal -of energy, that woman! It's dreadful fatiguing to a quiet man, like -me—dreadful! But I'm sure I don't know what I should do without her. -She'll be down upon me about this woman; but the woman must have some -ham, that's flat! Cold potatoes and old bones! Pretty story! Such people -have no business to live at all; but, if they will live, they ought to -eat Christian things! There goes Jake. Why couldn't he turn 'em off -before I saw 'em? It would have saved me all this plague! Dog knew what -he was about, when he got me down here! Jake! Oh, Jake, Jake! come -here!"</p> - -<p>Jake came shambling along up to his master, with an external appearance -of the deepest humility, under which was too plainly seen to lurk a -facetious air of waggish satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"Here, you, Jake; you get a basket"—</p> - -<p>"Yes, mas'r!" said Jake, with an air of provoking intelligence.</p> - -<p>"Be still saying 'Yes, mas'r,' and hear what I've got to say! Mind -yourself!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p><p>Jake gave a side glance of inexpressible drollery at Harry, and then -stood like an ebony statue of submission.</p> - -<p>"You go to your missis, and ask her for the key of the smoke-house, and -bring it to me."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p>"And you tell your missis to send me a peck of meal. Stay—a loaf of -bread, or some biscuit, or corn-cake, or anything else which may happen -to be baked up. Tell her I want them sent out right away."</p> - -<p>Jake bowed and disappeared.</p> - -<p>"Now we may as well ride down this path, while he is gone for the -things. Mrs. G. will blow off on him first, so that rather less of it -will come upon me. I wish I could get her to see them herself. Lord -bless her, she is a kind-hearted woman enough! but she thinks there's no -use doing,—and there an't. She is right enough about it. But, then, as -the woman says, there must be some place for them to <i>be</i> in the world. -The world is wide enough, I'm sure! Plague take it! why can't we pass a -law to take them all in with our niggers, and then they'd have some one -to take care of them! Then we'd do something for them, and there'd be -some hope of keeping 'em comfortable."</p> - -<p>Harry felt in no wise inclined to reply to any of this conversation, -because he knew that, though nominally addressed to him, the good -gentleman was talking merely for the sake of easing his mind, and that -he would have opened his heart just as freely to the next hickory-bush, -if he had not happened to be present. So he let him expend himself, -waiting for an opportunity to introduce subjects which lay nearer his -heart.</p> - -<p>In a convenient pause, he found opportunity to say,—</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina sent me over here, this morning."</p> - -<p>"Ah, Nin! my pretty little Nin! Bless the child! She did? Why couldn't -she come over herself, and comfort an old fellow's heart? Nin is the -prettiest girl in the county! I tell you that, Harry!"</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina is in a good deal of trouble. Master Tom came home last night -drunk, and to-day he is so cross and contrary she can't do anything with -him."</p> - -<p>"Drunk? Oh, what a sad dog! Tom gets drunk too often! Carries that too -far, altogether! Told him that, the last time I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> talked to him. Says I, -'Tom, it does very well for a young man to have a spree once in one or -two months. I did it myself, when I was young. But,' says I, 'Tom, to -spree <i>all</i> the time, won't do, Tom!' says I. 'Nobody minds a fellow -being drunk <i>occasionally</i>; but he ought to be moderate about it, and -know where to stop,' says I; 'because, when it comes to that, that he is -drunk every day, or every other day, why, it's my opinion that he may -consider the devil's got him!' I talked to Tom just so, right out -square; because, you see, I'm in a father's place to him. But, Lord, it -don't seem to have done him a bit of good! Good Lord! they tell me he is -drunk one half his time, and acts like a crazy creature! Goes too far, -Tom does, altogether. Mrs. G. an't got any patience with him. She blasts -at him every time he comes here, and he blasts at her; so it an't very -comfortable having him here. Good woman at heart, Mrs. Gordon, but a -little strong in her ways, you know; and Tom is strong, too. So it's -fire fight fire when they get together. It's no ways comfortable to a -man wanting to have everybody happy around him. Lord bless me! I wish -Nin were my daughter! Why can't she come over here, and live with me? -She hasn't got any more spirit in her than just what I like. Just enough -fizz in her to keep one from flatting out. What about those beaux of -hers? Is she going to be married? Hey?"</p> - -<p>"There's two gentlemen there, attending upon Miss Nina. One is Mr. -Carson, of New York"—</p> - -<p>"Hang it all! she isn't going to marry a d——d Yankee! Why, brother -would turn over in his grave!"</p> - -<p>"I don't think it will be necessary to put himself to that trouble," -said Harry, "for I rather think it's Mr. Clayton who is to be the -favored one."</p> - -<p>"Clayton! good blood!—like that! Seems to be a gentlemanly good fellow, -doesn't he?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. He owns a plantation, I'm told, in South Carolina."</p> - -<p>"Ah! ah! that's well! But I hate to spare Nin! I never half liked -sending her off to New York. Don't believe in boarding-schools. I've -seen as fine girls grown on plantations as any man need want. What do we -want to send our girls there, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> get fipenny-bit ideas? I thank the -Lord, I never was in New York, and I never mean to be! Carolina born and -raised, I am; and my wife is Virginia—pure breed! No boarding-school -about her! And, when I stood up to be married to her, there wasn't a -girl in Virginia could stand up with her. Her cheeks were like damask -roses! A tall, straight, lively girl, she was! Knew her own mind, and -had a good notion of speaking it, too. And there isn't a woman, now, -that can get through the business she can, and have her eyes always on -everything. If it does make me uncomfortable, every now and then, I -ought to take it, and thank the Lord for it. For, if it wan't for her, -what with the overseer, and the niggers, and the poor white trash, we -should all go to the devil in a heap!"</p> - -<p>"Miss Nina sent me over here to be out of Master Tom's way," said Harry, -after a pause. "He is bent upon hectoring me, as usual. You know, sir, -that he always had a spite against me, and it seems to grow more and -more bitter. He quarrels with her about the management of everything on -the place; and you know, sir, that I try to do my very best, and you and -Mrs. Gordon have always been pleased to say that I did well."</p> - -<p>"So we did, Harry, my boy! So we did! Stay here as long as you like. -Just suit yourself about that. Maybe you'd like to go out shooting with -me."</p> - -<p>"I'm worried," said Harry, "to be obliged to be away just at the time of -putting in the seed. Everything depends upon my overseeing."</p> - -<p>"Why don't you go back, then? Tom's ugliness is nothing but because he -is drunk. There's where it is! I see through it! You see, when a fellow -has had a drunken spree, why, the day after it he is all at loose ends -and cross—nerves all ravelled out, like an old stocking. Then fellows -are sulky and surly like. I've heard of their having temperance -societies up in those northern states, and I think something of that -sort would be good for our young men. They get drunk too often. Full a -third of them, I should reckon, get the delirium tremens before they are -fifty. If we could have a society like them, and that sort of thing, and -agree to be moderate! Nobody expects young men to be old before their -time; but, if they'd agree not to blow out more than once a month, or -something in that way!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p><p>"I'm afraid," said Harry, "Master Tom's too far gone for that."</p> - -<p>"Oh, ay! yes! Pity, pity! Suppose it is so. Why, when a fellow gets so -far, he's like a nigger's old patched coat—you can't tell where the -real cloth is. Now, Tom; I suppose he never is himself—always up on a -wave, or down in the trough! Heigho! I'm sorry!"</p> - -<p>"It's very hard on Miss Nina," said Harry. "He interferes, and I have no -power to stand for her. And, yesterday, he began talking to my wife in a -way I can't bear, nor won't! He <i>must</i> let her alone!"</p> - -<p>"Sho! sho!" said Mr. Gordon. "See what a boy that is, now! That an't in -the least worth while—that an't! I shall tell Tom so. And, Harry, mind -your temper! Remember, young men will be young; and, if a fellow will -treat himself to a pretty wife, he must expect trials. But Tom ought not -to do so. I shall tell him. High! there comes Jake, with the basket and -the smoke-house key. Now for something to send down to those poor -hobgoblins. If people are going to starve, they mustn't come on to my -place to do it. I don't mind what I don't see—I wouldn't mind if the -whole litter of 'em was drowned to-morrow; but, hang it, I can't stand -it if I know it! So, here, Jake, take this ham and bread, and look 'em -up an old skillet, and see if you can't tinker up the house a bit. I'd -set the fellow to work, when he comes back; only we have two hands to -every turn, now, and the niggers always plague 'em. Harry, you go home, -and tell Nin Mrs. G. and I will be over to dinner."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XVIII.</span> <span class="smaller">DRED.</span></h2> - -<p>Harry spent the night at the place of Mr. John Gordon, and arose the -next morning in a very discontented mood of mind. Nothing is more -vexatious to an active and enterprising person than to be thrown into a -state of entire idleness; and Harry, after lounging about for a short -time in the morning, found his indignation increased by every moment of -enforced absence from the scene of his daily labors and interest. Having -always enjoyed substantially the privileges of a freeman in the ability -to regulate his time according to his own ideas, to come and go, to buy -and sell, and transact business unfettered by any felt control, he was -the more keenly alive to the degradation implied in his present -position.</p> - -<p>"Here I must skulk around," said he to himself, "like a partridge in the -bushes, allowing everything to run at loose ends, preparing the way for -my being found fault with for a lazy fellow by and by; and all for what? -Because my younger brother chooses to come, without right or reason, to -domineer over me, to insult my wife; and because the laws will protect -him in it, if he does it! Ah! ah! that's it. They are all leagued -together! No matter how right I am—no matter how bad he is! Everybody -will stand up for him, and put me down; all because my grandmother was -born in Africa, and his grandmother was born in America. Confound it -all, I won't stand it! Who knows what he'll be saying and doing to -Lisette while I am gone? I'll go back and face him, like a man! I'll -keep straight about my business, and, if he crosses me, let him take -care! He hasn't got but one life, any more than I have. Let him look -out!"</p> - -<p>And Harry jumped upon his horse, and turned his head homeward. He struck -into a circuitous path, which led along that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> immense belt of swampy -land to which the name of Dismal has been given. As he was riding along, -immersed in thought, the clatter of horses' feet was heard in front of -him. A sudden turn of the road brought him directly facing to Tom Gordon -and Mr. Jekyl, who had risen early and started off on horseback, in -order to reach a certain stage depot before the heat of the day. There -was a momentary pause on both sides; when Tom Gordon, like one who knows -his power, and is determined to use it to the utmost, broke out, -scornfully:—</p> - -<p>"Stop, you d——d nigger, and tell your master where you are going!"</p> - -<p>"You are not my master!" said Harry, in words whose concentrated -calmness conveyed more bitterness and wrath than could have been given -by the most violent outburst.</p> - -<p>"You d——d whelp!" said Tom Gordon, striking him across the face twice -with his whip, "take <i>that</i>, and <i>that</i>! We'll see if I'm not your -master! There, now, help yourself, won't you? Isn't that a master's -mark?"</p> - -<p>It had been the life-long habit of Harry's position to repress every -emotion of anger within himself. But, at this moment, his face wore a -deadly and frightful expression. Still, there was something majestic and -almost commanding in the attitude with which he reined back his horse, -and slowly lifted his hand to Heaven. He tried to speak, but his voice -was choked with repressed passion. At last he said:—</p> - -<p>"You may be sure, Mr. Gordon, this mark will <i>never</i> be forgotten!"</p> - -<p>There are moments of high excitement, when all that is in a human being -seems to be roused, and to concentrate itself in the eye and the voice. -And, in such moments, <i>any</i> man, apparently by virtue of his mere -humanity, by the mere awfulness of the human soul that is in him, gains -power to overawe those who in other hours scorn him. There was a -minute's pause, in which neither spoke; and Mr. Jekyl, who was a man of -peace, took occasion to touch Tom's elbow, and say:—</p> - -<p>"It seems to me this isn't worth while—we shall miss the stage." And, -as Harry had already turned his horse and was riding away, Tom Gordon -turned his, shouting after him, with a scornful laugh:—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p><p>"I called on your wife before I came away this morning, and I liked her -rather better the second time than I did the first!"</p> - -<p>This last taunt flew like a Parthian arrow backward, and struck into the -soul of the bondman with even a keener power than the degrading blow. -The sting of it seemed to rankle more bitterly as he rode along, till at -last he dropped the reins on his horse's neck, and burst into a -transport of bitter cursing.</p> - -<p>"Aha! aha! it has come nigh <i>thee</i>, has it? It toucheth <i>thee</i>, and thou -faintest!" said a deep voice from the swampy thicket beside him.</p> - -<p>Harry stopped his horse and his imprecations. There was a crackling in -the swamp, and a movement among the copse of briers; and at last the -speaker emerged, and stood before Harry. He was a tall black man, of -magnificent stature and proportions. His skin was intensely black, and -polished like marble. A loose shirt of red flannel, which opened very -wide at the breast, gave a display of a neck and chest of herculean -strength. The sleeves of the shirt, rolled up nearly to the shoulders, -showed the muscles of a gladiator. The head, which rose with an imperial -air from the broad shoulders, was large and massive, and developed with -equal force both in the reflective and perceptive department. The -perceptive organs jutted like dark ridges over the eyes, while that part -of the head which phrenologists attribute to the moral and intellectual -sentiments, rose like an ample dome above them. The large eyes had that -peculiar and solemn effect of unfathomable blackness and darkness which -is often a striking characteristic of the African eye. But there burned -in them, like tongues of flame in a black pool of naphtha, a subtle and -restless fire that betokened habitual excitement to the verge of -insanity. If any organs were predominant in the head, they were those of -ideality, wonder, veneration, and firmness; and the whole combination -was such as might have formed one of the wild old warrior prophets of -the heroic ages. He wore a fantastic sort of turban, apparently of an -old scarlet shawl, which added to the outlandish effect of his -appearance. His nether garments, of coarse negro-cloth, were girded -round the waist by a strip of scarlet flannel, in which was thrust a -bowie-knife and hatchet. Over one shoulder he carried a rifle, and a -shot-pouch was suspended to his belt. A rude<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> game-bag hung upon his -arm. Wild and startling as the apparition might have been, it appeared -to be no stranger to Harry; for, after the first movement of surprise, -he said, in a tone of familiar recognition, in which there was blended -somewhat of awe and respect:—</p> - -<p>"Oh, it is you, then, Dred! I didn't know that you were hearing me!"</p> - -<p>"Have I not heard?" said the speaker, raising his arm, and his eyes -gleaming with wild excitement. "How long wilt thou halt between two -opinions? Did not Moses refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's -daughter? How long wilt thou cast in thy lot with the oppressors of -Israel, who say unto thee, 'Bow down that we may walk over thee'? Shall -not the Red Sea be divided? 'Yea,' saith the Lord, 'it shall.'"</p> - -<p>"Dred! I know what you mean!" said Harry, trembling with excitement.</p> - -<p>"Yea, thou dost!" said the figure. "Yea, thou dost! Hast thou not eaten -the fat and drunk the sweet with the oppressor, and hid thine eyes from -the oppression of thy people? Have not <i>our</i> wives been for a prey, and -thou hast not regarded? Hath not our cheek been given to the smiter? -Have we not been counted as sheep for the slaughter? But thou saidst, -'Lo! I knew it not,' and didst hide thine eyes! Therefore, the curse of -Meroz is upon thee, saith the Lord. And <i>thou</i> shalt bow down to the -oppressor, and his rod shall be upon thee; and <i>thy</i> wife shall be for a -prey!"</p> - -<p>"Don't talk in that way!—don't!" said Harry, striking out his hands -with a frantic gesture, as if to push back the words. "You are raising -the very devil in me!"</p> - -<p>"Look here, Harry," said the other, dropping from the high tone he at -first used to that of common conversation, and speaking in bitter irony, -"did your master strike you? It's sweet to kiss the rod, isn't it? Bend -your neck and ask to be struck again!—won't you? Be meek and lowly! -that's the religion for you! You are a <i>slave</i>, and you wear broadcloth, -and sleep soft. By and by he will give you a fip to buy salve for those -cuts! Don't fret about your wife! Women always like the master better -than the slave! Why shouldn't they? When a man licks his master's foot, -his wife scorns him,—serves him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> right. Take it meekly, my boy! -'Servants, obey your masters.' Take your master's old coats—take your -wife when he's done with her—and bless God that brought you under the -light of the Gospel! Go! <i>you</i> are a slave! But as for me," he said, -drawing up his head, and throwing back his shoulders with a deep -inspiration, "<i>I</i> am a free man! Free by this," holding out his rifle. -"Free by the Lord of hosts, that numbereth the stars, and calleth them -forth by their names. Go home—that's all I have to say to you! You -sleep in a curtained bed.—I sleep on the ground, in the swamps! You eat -the fat of the land. I have what the ravens bring me! But no man whips -me!—no man touches <i>my</i> wife!—no man says to me, 'Why do ye so?' Go! -<i>you</i> are a slave!—I am free!" And, with one athletic bound, he sprang -into the thicket, and was gone.</p> - -<p>The effect of this address on the already excited mind of the bondman -may be better conceived than described. He ground his teeth, and -clenched his hands.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" he cried; "Dred, I will—I will—I'll do as you tell me—I will -not be a slave!"</p> - -<p>A scornful laugh was the only reply, and the sound of crackling -footsteps retreated rapidly. He who retreated struck up, in a clear, -loud voice, one of those peculiar melodies in which vigor and spirit are -blended with a wild inexpressible mournfulness. The voice was one of a -singular and indescribable quality of tone; it was heavy as the sub-bass -of an organ, and of a velvety softness, and yet it seemed to pierce the -air with a keen dividing force which is generally characteristic of -voices of much less volume. The words were the commencement of a wild -camp-meeting hymn, much in vogue in those parts:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Brethren, don't you hear the sound?</div> -<div class="i1">The martial trumpet now is blowing;</div> -<div>Men in order listing round,</div> -<div class="i1">And soldiers to the standard flowing."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>There was a wild, exultant fulness of liberty that rolled in the note; -and, to Harry's excited ear, there seemed in it a fierce challenge of -contempt to his imbecility, and his soul at that moment seemed to be -rent asunder with a pang such as only those can know who have felt what -it is to be a slave. There was an uprising within him, vague, -tumultuous, overpowering; dim <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>instincts, heroic aspirations; the will -to do, the soul to dare; and then, in a moment, there followed the -picture of all society leagued against him, the hopeless impossibility -of any outlet to what was burning within him. The waters of a nature -naturally rally noble, pent up, and without outlet, rolled back upon his -heart with a suffocating force: and, in his hasty anguish, he cursed the -day of his birth. The spasm of his emotion was interrupted by the sudden -appearance of Milly coming along the path.</p> - -<p>"Why, bless you, Milly," said Harry in sudden surprise, "where are you -going?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, bless you, honey, chile. I's gwine on to take de stage. Dey wanted -to get up de wagon for me; but, bless you, says I, what you s'pose de -Lord gin us legs for? I never wants no critturs to tug me round, when I -can walk myself. And, den, honey, it's so pleasant like, to be a walking -along in de bush here, in de morning; 'pears like de voice of de Lord is -walking among de trees. But, bless you, chile, honey, what's de matter -o' yer face?"</p> - -<p>"It's Tom Gordon, d—n him!" said Harry.</p> - -<p>'Don't talk dat ar way, chile!' said Milly; using the freedom with Harry -which her years and weight of character had gradually secured for her -among the members of the plantation.</p> - -<p>"I <i>will</i> talk that way! Why shouldn't I? I am not going to be good any -longer."</p> - -<p>"Why, 'twon't help de matter to be <i>bad</i>, will it, Harry? 'Cause you -hate Tom Gordon, does you want to act just like him?"</p> - -<p>"No!" said Harry, "I won't be like him, but I'll have my revenge! Old -Dred has been talking to me again, this morning. He always did stir me -up so that I could hardly live; and I won't stand it any longer!"</p> - -<p>"Chile," said Milly, "you take care! Keep clear on him! He's in de -wilderness of Sinai; he is with de blackness, and darkness, and tempest. -He han't come to de heavenly Jerusalem. Oh! Oh! honey! dere's a blood of -sprinkling dat speaketh better things dan dat of Abel. Jerusalem above -is <i>free</i>—is <i>free</i>, honey; so, don't you mind, now, what happens in -<i>dis</i> yer time."</p> - -<p>"Ah, ah, Aunt Milly! this may do well enough for old women<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> like you; -but, stand opposite to a young fellow like me, with good strong arms, -and a pair of doubled fists, and a body and soul just as full of light -as they can be; it don't answer to go to telling about a heavenly -Jerusalem! We want something here. We'll have it too! How do you know -there is any heaven, anyhow?"</p> - -<p>"Know it?" said Milly, her eye kindling, and striking her staff on the -ground. "Know it? I knows it by de <i>hankering arter it</i> I got in here;" -giving her broad chest a blow which made it resound like a barrel. "De -Lord knowed what he was 'bout when he made us. When he made babies -rooting round, with der poor little mouths open, he made milk, and de -mammies for 'em too. Chile, we's nothing but great babies, but an't got -our eyes opened—rooting round and round; but de Father'll feed us -yet—he will so."</p> - -<p>"He's a long time about it," said Harry, sullenly.</p> - -<p>"Well, chile, an't it a long time 'fore your corn sprouts—a long time -'fore it gets into de ears?—but you plants for all dat. What's dat to -me what I is here?—Shan't I reign with de Lord Jesus?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," said Harry.</p> - -<p>"Well, honey, <i>I does</i>! Jest so sure as I's standing on dis yer ground. -I knows in a few years I shall be reigning with de Lord Jesus, and a -casting my crown at his feet. Dat's what I knows. Flesh and blood didn't -reveal it unto me, but de Spirit of de Father. It's no odds to me what I -does here; every road leads straight to glory, and de glory an't got no -end to it!" And Milly uplifted her voice in a favorite stave—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"When we've been dere ten thousand years,</div> -<div class="i1">Bright shining like de sun,</div> -<div>We've no less days to sing God's praise</div> -<div class="i1">Than when we first begun."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Chile," said she to him, solemnly, "I an't a fool. Does ye s'pose dat I -thinks folks has any business to be sitting on der cheers all der life -long, and working me, and living on my money? Why, I knows dey han't! -An't it all wrong, from fust to last, de way dey makes merchandise o' -us! Why, I know it is; but I's still about it, for de Lord's sake. I -don't work for Miss Loo; I works for de Lord Jesus; and he is good -pay—no mistake, now I tell you."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p><p>"Well," said Harry, a little shaken, but not convinced, "after all, -there isn't much use in trying to do any other way. But you're lucky in -feeling so, Aunt Milly; but I can't."</p> - -<p>"Well, chile, any way, don't you do nothing rash, and don't you hear -<i>him</i>. Dat ar way out is through seas of blood. Why, chile, would you -turn against Miss Nina? Chile, if they get a going, they won't spare -nobody. Don't you start up dat ar tiger; 'cause, I tell ye, ye can't -chain him, if ye do!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Harry, "I see it's all madness, perfect madness; there's no -use thinking, no use talking. Well, good-morning, Aunt Milly. Peace go -with you!" And the young man started his horse, and was soon out of sight.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIX.</span> <span class="smaller">THE CONSPIRATORS.</span></h2> - -<p>We owe our readers now some words of explanation respecting the new -personage who has been introduced into our history; therefore we must go -back somewhat, and allude to certain historical events of painful -significance.</p> - -<p>It has been a problem to many, how the system of slavery in America -should unite the two apparent inconsistencies of a code of slave-laws -more severe than that of any other civilized nation, with an average -practice at least as indulgent as any other; for, bad as slavery is at -the best, it may yet be admitted that the practice, as a whole, has been -less cruel in this country than in many. An examination into history -will show us that the cruelty of the laws resulted from the effects of -indulgent practice. During the first years of importation of slaves into -South Carolina, they enjoyed many privileges. Those who lived in -intelligent families, and had any desire to learn, were instructed in -reading and writing. Liberty was given them to meet in assemblies of -worship, in class-meetings, and otherwise, without the presence of white -witnesses; and many were raised to situations of trust and consequence. -The result of this was the development of a good degree of intelligence -and manliness among the slaves. There arose among them grave, -thoughtful, energetic men, with their ears and eyes open, and their -minds constantly awake to compare and reason.</p> - -<p>When minds come into this state, in a government professing to be -founded on principles of universal equality, it follows that almost -every public speech, document, or newspaper, becomes an incendiary -publication.</p> - -<p>Of this fact the southern slave states have ever exhibited the most -singular unconsciousness. Documents containing sentiments most dangerous -for slaves to hear have been publicly read and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> applauded among them. -The slave has heard, amid shouts, on the Fourth of July, that his -masters held the truth to be self-evident that all men were born equal, -and had an <i>inalienable right</i> to life, liberty, and the pursuit of -happiness; and that all governments derive their just power from the -consent of the governed. Even the mottoes of newspapers have embodied -sentiments of the most insurrectionary character.</p> - -<p>Such inscriptions as "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God" stand, -to this day, in large letters, at the head of southern newspapers; while -speeches of senators and public men, in which the principles of -universal democracy are asserted, are constant matters of discussion. -Under such circumstances, it is difficult to induce the servant, who -feels that he is a man, to draw those lines which seem so obvious to -masters, by whom this fact has been forgotten. Accordingly we find that -when the discussions for the admission of Missouri as a slave state -produced a wave whose waters undulated in every part of the Union, there -were found among the slaves men of unusual thought and vigor, who were -no inattentive witnesses and listeners. The discussions were printed in -the newspapers; and what was printed in the newspapers was further -discussed at the post-office door, in the tavern, in the bar-room, at -the dinner-party, where black servants were listening behind the chairs. -A free colored man in the city of Charleston, named Denmark Vesey, was -the one who had the hardihood to seek to use the electric fluid in the -cloud thus accumulated. He conceived the hopeless project of imitating -the example set by the American race, and achieving independence for the -blacks.</p> - -<p>Our knowledge of this man is derived entirely from the printed reports -of the magistrates who gave an account of the insurrection, of which he -was the instigator, and who will not, of course, be supposed to be -unduly prejudiced in his favor. They state that he was first brought to -the country by one Captain Vesey, a young lad, distinguished for -personal beauty and great intelligence, and that he proved, for twenty -years, a most faithful slave; but, on drawing a prize of fifteen hundred -dollars in the lottery, he purchased his freedom of his master, and -worked as a carpenter in the city of Charleston. He was distinguished -for strength and activity, and, as the accounts state,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> maintained such -an irreproachable character, and enjoyed so much the confidence of the -whites, that when he was accused, the charge was not only discredited, -but he was not even arrested for several days after, and not till the -proof of his guilt had become too strong to be doubted. His historians -go on, with considerable <i>naïveté</i>, to remark:—</p> - -<p>"It is difficult to conceive <i>what motive he had to enter into such a -plot</i>, unless it was the one mentioned by one of the witnesses, who said -that Vesey had <i>several children who were slaves</i>, and that he said, on -one occasion, <i>he wished he could see them free</i>, as he himself artfully -remarked in his defence on his trial."</p> - -<p>It appears that the project of rousing and animating the blacks to this -enterprise occupied the mind of Vesey for more than four years, during -which time he was continually taking opportunities to animate and -inspire the spirits of his countrymen. The account states that the -speeches in Congress of those opposed to the admission of Missouri into -the Union, perhaps garbled and misrepresented, furnished him with ample -means for inflaming the minds of the colored population.</p> - -<p>"Even while walking in the street," the account goes on to say, "he was -not idle; for, if his companion bowed to a white person, as slaves -universally do, he would rebuke him, and observe, 'that all men were -born equal, and that he was surprised that any one would degrade himself -by such conduct; that he would never cringe to the whites nor ought any -one to, who had the feelings of a man.'<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> When answered, 'We are -slaves,' he would say, sarcastically and indignantly, 'You deserve to -remain slaves!' And, if he were further asked, 'What can we do?' he -would remark, 'Go and buy a spelling-book, and read the fable of -"Hercules and the Wagoner."' He also sought every opportunity of -entering into conversation with white persons, during which conversation -he would artfully introduce some bold remark on slavery; and sometimes, -when, from the character he was conversing with, he found he might be -still bolder, he would go so far that, had not his declarations been -clearly proved, they would scarcely have been credited."</p> - -<p>But his great instrument of influence was a book that has always been -prolific of insurrectionary movements, under all systems of despotism.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p><p>"He rendered himself perfectly familiar with all those parts of -Scripture which he thought he could pervert to his purpose, and would -readily quote them to prove that slavery was contrary to the laws of -God, and that slaves were bound to attempt their emancipation, however -shocking and bloody might be the consequences; that such efforts would -not only be pleasing to the Almighty, but were absolutely enjoined."</p> - -<p>Vesey, in the course of time, associated with himself five slavemen of -marked character—Rolla, Ned, Peter, Monday, and Gullah Jack. Of these, -the account goes on to say:—</p> - -<p>"In the selection of his leaders, Vesey showed great penetration and -sound judgment. Rolla was plausible, and possessed uncommon -self-possession; bold and ardent, he was not to be deterred from his -purpose by danger. Ned's appearance indicated that he was a man of firm -nerves and desperate courage. Peter was intrepid and resolute, true to -his engagements, and cautious in observing secrecy where it was -necessary; he was not to be daunted nor impeded by difficulties, and, -though confident of success, was careful in providing against any -obstacles or casualties which might arise, and intent upon discovering -every means which might be in their power, if thought of beforehand. -Gullah Jack was regarded as a sorcerer, and, as such, feared by the -natives of Africa, who believed in witchcraft. He was not only -considered invulnerable, but that he could make others so by his charms, -and that he could, and certainly would, provide all his followers with -arms. He was artful, cruel, bloody; his disposition, in short, was -diabolical. His influence among the Africans was inconceivable. Monday -was firm, resolute, discreet, and intelligent."</p> - -<p>"It is a melancholy truth that the general good conduct of all the -leaders, except Gullah Jack, was such as rendered them objects least -liable to suspicion. Their conduct had secured them, not only the -unlimited confidence of their owners, but they had been indulged in -every comfort, and allowed every privilege compatible with their -situation in the community; and, though Gullah Jack was not remarkable -for the correctness of his deportment, he by no means sustained a bad -character. But," adds the report, "not only were the leaders of good -character, and very much indulged by their owners, but this was very -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>generally the case with all who were convicted, many of them possessing -the highest confidence of their owners, <i>and not one a bad character</i>."</p> - -<p>"The conduct and behavior of Vesey and his five leaders during their -trial and imprisonment may be interesting to many. When Vesey was tried, -he folded his arms, and seemed to pay great attention to the testimony -given against him, but with his eyes fixed on the floor. In this -situation he remained immovable until the witnesses had been examined by -the court, and cross-examined by his counsel, when he requested to be -allowed to examine the witnesses himself, which he did. The evidence -being closed, he addressed the court at considerable length. When he -received his sentence, tears trickled down his cheeks.</p> - -<p>"Rolla, when arraigned, affected not to understand the charge against -him; and when, at his request, it was explained to him, assumed, with -wonderful adroitness, astonishment and surprise. He was remarkable -throughout his trial for composure and great presence of mind. When he -was informed that he was convicted, and was advised to prepare for -death, he appeared perfectly confounded, but exhibited no signs of fear.</p> - -<p>"In Ned's behavior there was nothing remarkable. His countenance was -stern and immovable, even while he was receiving sentence of death. From -his looks it was impossible to discover or conjecture what were his -feelings. Not so with Peter Poyes. In his countenance were strongly -marked disappointed ambition, revenge, indignation, and an anxiety to -know how far the discoveries had extended. He did not appear to fear -personal consequences, for his whole behavior indicated the reverse, but -exhibited an evident anxiety for the success of their plan, in which his -whole soul was embarked. His countenance and behavior were the same when -he received his sentence, and his only words were, on retiring, 'I -suppose you'll let me see my wife and family before I die,' and that in -no supplicating tone. When he was asked, a day or two after, 'If it was -possible that he could see his master and family murdered, who had -treated him so kindly?' he replied to the question only by a smile. In -their prison, the convicts resolutely refused to make any confessions or -communications which might implicate others; and Peter Poyes sternly -enjoined it upon them to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>maintain this silence,—'<i>Do not open your -lips; die silent, as you will see me do!</i>' and in this resolute silence -they met their fate. Twenty-two of the conspirators were executed upon -one gallows."</p> - -<p>The account says, "That Peter Poyes was one of the most active of the -recruiting agents. All the principal conspirators kept a list of those -who had consented to join them, and Peter was said, by one of the -witnesses, to have had six hundred names on his list; but, so resolutely -to the last did he observe his pledge of secrecy to his associates, -that, of the whole number arrested and tried, not one of them belonged -to his company. In fact, in an insurrection in which thousands of -persons were supposed to have been implicated, only thirty-six were -convicted."</p> - -<p>Among the children of Denmark Vesey was a boy by a Mandingo slave-woman, -who was his father's particular favorite. The Mandingos are one of the -finest of African tribes, distinguished for intelligence, beauty of -form, and an indomitable pride and energy of nature. As slaves, they are -considered particularly valuable by those who have tact enough to govern -them, because of their great capability and their proud faithfulness; -but they resent a government of brute force, and under such are always -fractious and dangerous.</p> - -<p>This boy received from his mother the name of Dred; a name not unusual -among the slaves, and generally given to those of great physical force.</p> - -<p>The development of this child's mind was so uncommon as to excite -astonishment among the negroes. He early acquired the power of reading, -by an apparent instinctive faculty, and would often astonish those -around him with things which he had discovered in books. Like other -children of a deep and fervent nature, he developed great religious -ardor, and often surprised the older negroes by his questions and -replies on this subject. A son so endowed could not but be an object of -great pride and interest to a father like Denmark Vesey. The impression -seemed to prevail universally among the negroes that this child was born -for extraordinary things; and perhaps it was the yearning to acquire -liberty for the development of such a mind which first led Denmark Vesey -to reflect on the nature of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>slavery, and the terrible weights which it -lays on the human intellect, and to conceive the project of liberating a -race.</p> - -<p>The Bible, of which Vesey was an incessant reader, stimulated this -desire. He likened his own position of comparative education, -competence, and general esteem among the whites, to that of Moses among -the Egyptians; and nourished the idea that, like Moses, he was sent as a -deliverer. During the process of the conspiracy, this son, though but -ten years of age, was his father's confidant; and he often charged him, -though he should fail in the attempt, never to be discouraged. He -impressed it upon his mind that he should never submit tamely to the -yoke of slavery; and nourished the idea already impressed, that some -more than ordinary destiny was reserved for him. After the discovery of -the plot, and the execution of its leaders, those more immediately -connected with them were sold from the state, even though not proved to -have participated. With the most guarded caution, Vesey had exempted -this son from suspicion. It had been an agreed policy with them both, -that in the presence of others they should counterfeit alienation and -dislike. Their confidential meetings with each other had been stolen and -secret. At the time of his father's execution, Dred was a lad of -fourteen. He could not be admitted to his father's prison, but he was a -witness of the undaunted aspect with which he and the other conspirators -met their doom. The memory dropped into the depths of his soul, as a -stone drops into the desolate depths of a dark mountain lake.</p> - -<p>Sold to a distant plantation, he became noted for his desperate, -unsubduable disposition. He joined in none of the social recreations and -amusements of the slaves, labored with proud and silent assiduity, but, -on the slightest rebuke or threat, flashed up with a savage fierceness, -which, supported by his immense bodily strength, made him an object of -dread among overseers. He was one of those of whom they gladly rid -themselves; and, like a fractious horse, was sold from master to master. -Finally, an overseer, hardier than the rest, determined on the task of -subduing him. In the scuffle that ensued Dred struck him to the earth, a -dead man, made his escape to the swamps, and was never afterwards heard -of in civilized life.</p> - -<p>The reader who consults the map will discover that the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> eastern -shore of the southern states, with slight interruptions, is belted by an -immense chain of swamps, regions of hopeless disorder, where the -abundant growth and vegetation of nature, sucking up its forces from the -humid soil, seems to rejoice in a savage exuberance, and bid defiance to -all human efforts either to penetrate or subdue. These wild regions are -the homes of the alligator, the moccasin, and the rattle-snake. -Evergreen trees, mingling freely with the deciduous children of the -forest, form here dense jungles, verdant all the year round, and which -afford shelter to numberless birds, with whose warbling the leafy -desolation perpetually resounds. Climbing vines, and parasitic plants, -of untold splendor and boundless exuberance of growth, twine and -interlace, and hang from the heights of the highest trees pennons of -gold and purple,—triumphant banners, which attest the solitary majesty -of nature. A species of parasitic moss wreaths its abundant draperies -from tree to tree, and hangs in pearly festoons, through which shine the -scarlet berry and green leaves of the American holly.</p> - -<p>What the mountains of Switzerland were to the persecuted Vaudois, this -swampy belt has been to the American slave. The constant effort to -recover from thence fugitives has led to the adoption, in these states, -of a separate profession, unknown at this time in any other Christian -land—hunters, who train and keep dogs for the hunting of men, women, -and children. And yet, with all the convenience of this profession, the -reclaiming of the fugitives from these fastnesses of nature has been a -work of such expense and difficulty, that the near proximity of the -swamp has always been a considerable check on the otherwise absolute -power of the overseer. Dred carried with him to the swamp but one -solitary companion—the Bible of his father. To him it was not the -messenger of peace and good-will, but the herald of woe and wrath!</p> - -<p>As the mind, looking on the great volume of nature, sees there a -reflection of its own internal passions, and seizes on that in it which -sympathizes with itself,—as the fierce and savage soul delights in the -roar of torrents, the thunder of avalanches, and the whirl of -ocean-storms,—so is it in the great answering volume of revelation. -There is something there for every phase of man's nature; and hence its -endless vitality and stimulating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> force. Dred had heard read in the -secret meetings of conspirators the wrathful denunciations of ancient -prophets against oppression and injustice. He had read of kingdoms -convulsed by plagues; of tempest, and pestilence, and locusts; of the -sea cleft in twain, that an army of slaves might pass through, and of -their pursuers whelmed in the returning waters. He had heard of prophets -and deliverers, armed with supernatural powers, raised up for oppressed -people; had pondered on the nail of Jael, the goad of Shamgar, the -pitcher and lamp of Gideon; and thrilled with fierce joy as he read how -Samson, with his two strong arms, pulled down the pillars of the festive -temple, and whelmed his triumphant persecutors in one grave with -himself.</p> - -<p>In the vast solitudes which he daily traversed, these things entered -deep into his soul. Cut off from all human companionship, often going -weeks without seeing a human face, there was no recurrence of every-day -and prosaic ideas to check the current of the enthusiasm thus kindled. -Even in the soil of the cool Saxon heart the Bible has thrown out its -roots with an all-pervading energy, so that the whole frame-work of -society may be said to rest on soil held together by its fibres. Even in -cold and misty England, armies have been made defiant and invincible by -the incomparable force and deliberate valor which it breathes into men. -But, when this oriental seed, an exotic among us, is planted back in the -fiery soil of a tropical heart, it bursts forth with an incalculable -ardor of growth.</p> - -<p>A stranger cannot fail to remark the fact that, though the slaves of the -south are unable to read the Bible for themselves, yet most completely -have its language and sentiment penetrated among them, giving a -Hebraistic coloring to their habitual mode of expression. How much -greater, then, must have been the force of the solitary perusal of this -volume on so impassioned a nature!—a nature, too, kindled by memories -of the self-sacrificing ardor with which a father and his associates had -met death at the call of freedom; for, none of us may deny that, wild -and hopeless as this scheme was, it was still the same in kind with the -more successful one which purchased for our fathers a national -existence.</p> - -<p>A mind of the most passionate energy and vehemence, thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> awakened, for -years made the wild solitudes of the swamp its home. That book, so full -of startling symbols and vague images, had for him no interpreter but -the silent courses of nature. His life passed in a kind of dream. -Sometimes, traversing for weeks these desolate regions, he would compare -himself to Elijah traversing for forty days and nights the solitudes of -Horeb; or to John the Baptist in the wilderness, girding himself with -camel's hair, and eating locusts and wild honey. Sometimes he would fast -and pray for days; and then voices would seem to speak to him, and -strange hieroglyphics would be written upon the leaves. In less elevated -moods of mind, he would pursue, with great judgment and vigor, those -enterprises necessary to preserve existence. The negroes lying out in -the swamps are not so wholly cut off from society as might at first be -imagined. The slaves of all the adjoining plantations, whatever they may -pretend, to secure the good-will of their owners, are at heart secretly -disposed, from motives both of compassion and policy, to favor the -fugitives. They very readily perceive that, in the event of any -difficulty occurring to themselves, it might be quite necessary to have -a friend and protector in the swamp; and therefore they do not hesitate -to supply these fugitives, so far as they are able, with anything which -they may desire. The poor whites, also, who keep small shops in the -neighborhood of plantations, are never particularly scrupulous, provided -they can turn a penny to their own advantage; and willingly supply -necessary wares in exchange for game, with which the swamp abounds.</p> - -<p>Dred, therefore, came in possession of an excellent rifle, and never -wanted for ammunition, which supplied him with an abundance of food. -Besides this, there are here and there elevated spots in the swampy -land, which, by judicious culture, are capable of great productiveness. -And many such spots Dred had brought under cultivation, either with his -own hands, or from those of other fugitives, whom he had received and -protected. From the restlessness of his nature, he had not confined -himself to any particular region, but had traversed the whole swampy -belt of both the Carolinas, as well as that of Southern Virginia; -residing a few months in one place, and a few months in another. -Wherever he stopped, he formed a sort of retreat, where he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>received and -harbored fugitives. On one occasion, he rescued a trembling and bleeding -mulatto woman from the dogs of the hunters, who had pursued her into the -swamp. This woman he made his wife, and appeared to entertain a very -deep affection for her. He made a retreat for her, with more than common -ingenuity, in the swamp adjoining the Gordon plantation; and, after -that, he was more especially known in that locality. He had fixed his -eye upon Harry, as a person whose ability, address, and strength of -character, might make him at some day a leader in a conspiracy against -the whites. Harry, in common with many of the slaves on the Gordon -plantation, knew perfectly well of the presence of Dred in the -neighborhood, and had often seen and conversed with him. But neither he -nor any of the rest of them ever betrayed before any white person the -slightest knowledge of the fact.</p> - -<p>This ability of profound secrecy is one of the invariable attendants of -a life of slavery. Harry was acute enough to know that his position was -by no means so secure that he could afford to dispense with anything -which might prove an assistance in some future emergency. The low white -traders in the neighborhood also knew Dred well; but, as long as they -could drive an advantageous trade with him, he was secure from their -intervention. So secure had he been, that he had been even known to -mingle in the motley throng of a camp-meeting unmolested. Thus much with -regard to one who is to appear often on the stage before our history is -done.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> These extracts are taken from the official report.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XX.</span> <span class="smaller">SUMMER TALK AT CANEMA.</span></h2> - -<p>In the course of a few days the family circle at Canema was enlarged by -the arrival of Clayton's sister; and Carson, in excellent spirits, had -started for a Northern watering-place. In answer to Nina's letter of -invitation, Anne had come with her father, who was called to that -vicinity by the duties of his profession. Nina received her with her -usual gay frankness of manner; and Anne, like many others, soon found -herself liking her future sister much better than she had expected. -Perhaps, had Nina been in any other situation than that of hostess, her -pride might have led her to decline making the agreeable to Anne, whom, -notwithstanding, she very much wished to please. But she was mistress of -the mansion, and had an Arab's idea of the privileges of a guest; and so -she chatted, sang, and played for her; she took her about, showed her -the walks, the arbors, the flower-garden; waited on her in her own -apartment, with a thousand little attentions, all the more fascinating -from the kind of careless independence with which they were rendered. -Besides, Nina had vowed a wicked little vow in her heart that she would -ride rough-shod over Anne's dignity; that she wouldn't let her be grave -or sensible, but that she should laugh and frolic with her. And Clayton -could scarce help smiling at the success that soon crowned her -exertions. Nina's gayety, when in full tide, had a breezy infectiousness -in it, that seemed to stir up every one about her and carry them on the -tide of her own spirits; and Anne, in her company, soon found herself -laughing at everything and nothing, simply because she felt gay.</p> - -<p>To crown all, Uncle John Gordon arrived, with his cheery, jovial face; -and he was one of those fearless, hit-or-miss talkers, that are -invaluable in social dilemmas, because they keep something or other all -the while in motion.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p><p>With him came Madam Gordon, or, as Nina commonly called her, Aunt -Maria. She was a portly, finely-formed, middle-aged woman, who might -have been handsome, had not the lines of care and nervous anxiety -ploughed themselves so deeply in her face. Her bright, keen, hazel eyes, -fine teeth, and the breadth of her ample form, attested the vitality of -the old Virginia stock from whence she sprung.</p> - -<p>"There," said Nina, to Anne Clayton, as they sat in the shady side of -the veranda, "I've marshalled Aunt Maria up into Aunt Nesbit's room, and -there they will have a comfortable dish of lamentation over me."</p> - -<p>"Over you?" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Yes—over me, to be sure!—that's the usual order of exercises. Such a -setting down as I shall get! They'll count up on their fingers all the -things I ought to know and don't, and ought to do and can't. I believe -that's the way relatives always show their affection—aunts in -particular—by mourning over you."</p> - -<p>"And what sort of a list will they make out?" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Oh, bless me, that's easy enough. Why, there's Aunt Maria is a -perfectly virulent housekeeper—really insane, I believe, on that -subject. Why, she chases up every rat and mouse and cockroach, every -particle of dust, every scrap of litter. She divides her hours, and is -as punctual as a clock. She rules her household with a rod of iron, and -makes everybody stand round; and tells each one how many times a day -they may wink. She keeps accounts like a very dragon, and always is sure -to pounce on anybody that is in the least out of the way. She cuts out -clothes by the bale; she sews, and she knits, and she jingles keys. And -all this kind of bustle she calls housekeeping! Now, what do you suppose -she must think of me, who just put on my hat in the morning, and go -sailing down the walks, looking at the flowers, till Aunt Katy calls me -back, to know what my orders are for the day?"</p> - -<p>"Pray, who is Aunt Katy?" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Oh, she is my female prime minister; and she is very much like some -prime ministers I have studied about in history, who always contrive to -have their own way, let what will come. Now, when Aunt Katy comes and -wants to know, so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>respectfully, 'What Miss Nina is going to have for -dinner,' do you suppose she has the least expectation of getting -anything that I order? She always has fifty objections to anything that -I propose. For sometimes the fit comes over me to try to be -<i>house-keepy</i>, like Aunt Maria; but it's no go, I can tell you. So, when -she has proved that everything that I propose is the height of -absurdity, and shown conclusively that there's nothing fit to be eaten -in the neighborhood, by that time I am reduced to a proper state of -mind. And, when I humbly say, 'Aunt Katy, what <i>shall</i> we do?' then she -gives a little cough, and out comes the whole programme, just as she had -arranged it the night before. And so it goes. As to accounts, why Harry -has to look after them. I detest everything about money, except the -spending of it—I have rather a talent for that. Now, just think how -awfully all this must impress poor Aunt Maria! What sighings, and -rollings up of eyes, and shakings of heads, there are over me! And, -then, Aunt Nesbit is always dinging at me about improving my mind! And -improving my mind means reading some horrid, stupid, boring old book, -just as she does! Now, I like the idea of improving my mind. I am sure -it wants improving, bad enough; but, then, I can't help thinking that -racing through the garden, and cantering through the woods, improves it -faster than getting asleep over books. It seems to me that books are -just like dry hay—very good when there isn't any fresh grass to be had. -But I'd rather be out and eat what's growing. Now, what people call -nature never bores me; but almost every book I ever saw does. Don't you -think people are made differently? Some like books, and some like -things; don't you think so?"</p> - -<p>"I can give you a good fact on your side of the argument," said Clayton, -who had come up behind them during the conversation.</p> - -<p>"I didn't know I was arguing; but I shall be glad to have anything on my -side," said Nina, "of course."</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said Clayton, "I'll say that the books that have -influenced the world the longest, the widest, and deepest, have been -written by men who attended to <i>things</i> more than to books; who, as you -say, eat what was growing, instead of dry hay. Homer couldn't have had -much to read in his time, nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> the poets of the Bible; and they have -been fountains for all ages. I don't believe Shakespeare was much of a -reader."</p> - -<p>"Well, but," said Anne, "don't you think that, for us common folks, who -are not going to be either Homers or Shakespeares, that it's best to -have two strings to our bow, and to gain instruction both from books and -things?"</p> - -<p>"To be sure," said Clayton, "if we only use books aright. With many -people, reading is only a form of mental indolence, by which they escape -the labor of thinking for themselves. Some persons are like Pharaoh's -lean kine; they swallow book upon book, but remain as lean as ever."</p> - -<p>"My grandfather used to say," said Anne, "that the Bible and Shakespeare -were enough for a woman's library."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "I don't like Shakespeare, there! I'm coming out flat -with it. In the first place, I don't understand half he says; and, then, -they talk about his being so very natural! I'm sure I never heard people -talk as he makes them. Now, did you ever hear people talk in blank -verse, with every now and then one or two lines of rhyme, as his -characters do when they go off in long speeches? Now, did you?"</p> - -<p>"As to that," said Clayton, "it's about half and half. His conversations -have just about the same resemblance to real life that acting at the -opera has. It is not natural for Norma to burst into a song when she -discovers the treachery of her husband. You make that concession to the -nature of the opera, in the first place; and then, with that reserve, -all the rest strikes you as natural, and the music gives an added charm -to it. So in Shakespeare, you concede that the plays are to be poems, -and that the people are to talk in rhythm, and with all the exaltation -of poetic sentiment; and, that being admitted, their conversations may -seem natural."</p> - -<p>"But I can't <i>understand</i> a great deal that Shakespeare says," said -Nina.</p> - -<p>"Because so many words and usages are altered since he wrote," said -Clayton. "Because there are so many allusions to incidents that have -passed, and customs that have perished, that you have, as it were, to -acquire his language before you can understand him. Suppose a poem were -written in a foreign tongue; you couldn't say whether you liked it or -disliked it till<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> you could read the language. Now, my opinion is, that -there is a liking for Shakespeare hidden in your nature, like a seed -that has not sprouted."</p> - -<p>"What makes you think so?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I see it in you, just as a sculptor sees a statue in a block of -marble."</p> - -<p>"And are you going to chisel it out?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"With your leave," said Clayton. "After all, I like your sincerity in -saying what you do think. I have often heard ladies profess an -admiration for Shakespeare that I knew couldn't be real. I knew that -they had neither the experience of life, nor the insight into human -nature, really to appreciate what is in him; and that their liking for -him was all a worked-up affair, because they felt it would be very -shocking not to like him."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "I'm much obliged to you for all the sense you find -in my nonsense. I believe I shall keep you to translate my fooleries -into good English."</p> - -<p>"You know I'm quite at your disposal," said Clayton, "for that or -anything else."</p> - -<p>At this moment the attention of Nina was attracted by loud exclamations -from that side of the house where the negro cottages were situated.</p> - -<p>"Get along off! don't want none o' yo old trash here! No, no, Miss Nina -don't want none o' yo old fish! She's got plenty of niggers to ketch her -own fish."</p> - -<p>"Somebody taking my name in vain in those regions," said Nina, running -to the other end of the veranda. "Tomtit," she said to that young -worthy, who lay flat on his back, kicking up his heels in the sun, -waiting for his knives to clean themselves, "pray tell me what's going -on there!"</p> - -<p>"Laws, missis," said Tom, "it's just one of dese yer poor white trash, -coming round here trying to sell one thing o' nother. Miss Loo says it -won't do 'courage 'em, and I's de same 'pinion."</p> - -<p>"Send him round here to me," said Nina, who, partly from humanity, and -partly from a spirit of contradiction, had determined to take up for the -poor white folks, on all occasions. Tomtit ran accordingly, and soon -brought to the veranda a man whose wretchedly tattered clothing scarcely -formed a decent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> covering. His cheeks were sunken and hollow, and he -stood before Nina with a cringing, half-ashamed attitude; and yet one -might see that, with better dress and better keeping, he might be made -to assume the appearance of a handsome, intelligent man. "What do you -ask for your fish?" she said to him.</p> - -<p>"Anything ye pleases!"</p> - -<p>"Where do you live?" said Nina, drawing out her purse.</p> - -<p>"My folks's staying on Mr. Gordon's place."</p> - -<p>"Why don't you get a place of your own to stay on?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>There was an impatient glance flashed from the man's eye, but it gave -place immediately to his habitual cowed expression, as he said,—</p> - -<p>"Can't get work—can't get money—can't get nothing."</p> - -<p>"Dear me," said her Uncle John, who had been standing for a moment -listening to the conversation. "This must be husband of that poor -hobgoblin that has lighted down on my place lately. Well, you may as -well pay him a good price for his fish. Keep them from starving one day -longer, may be." And Nina paid the man a liberal sum, and dismissed him.</p> - -<p>"I suppose, now, all my eloquence wouldn't make Rose cook those fish for -dinner," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Why not, if you told her to?" said Aunt Maria, who had also descended -to the veranda.</p> - -<p>"Why not?—Just because, as she would say, she hadn't <i>laid out</i> to do -it."</p> - -<p>"That's not the way <i>my</i> servants are taught to do!" said Aunt Maria.</p> - -<p>"I'll warrant not," said Nina. "But yours and mine are quite different -affairs, aunt. They all do as they have a mind to, in my '<i>diggings</i>.' -All I stipulated for is a little of the same privilege."</p> - -<p>"That man's wife and children have come and '<i>squatted</i>' down on my -place," said Mr. Gordon, laughing; "and so, Nin, all you paid for his -fish is just so much saving to me."</p> - -<p>"Yes, to be sure! Mr. Gordon is just one of those men that will have a -tribe of shiftless hangers on at his heels!" said Mrs. Gordon.</p> - -<p>"Well, bless my soul! what's a fellow to do? Can't see the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> poor heathen -starve, can we? If society could only be organized over, now, there -would be hope for them. The brain ought to control the hands; but among -us the hands try to set up for themselves;—and see what comes of it!"</p> - -<p>"Who do you mean by brain?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Who?—Why, <i>we</i> upper crust, to be sure! We educated people! We ought -to have an absolute sway over the working classes, just as the brain -rules the hand. It must come to that, at last—no other arrangement is -possible. The white working classes can't take care of themselves, and -must be put into a condition for us to take care of them. What is -liberty to them?—Only a name—liberty to be hungry and naked, that's -all. It's the strangest thing in the world, how people stick to names! I -suppose that fellow, up there, would flare up terribly at being put in -with my niggers; and yet he and his children are glad of the crumbs that -fall from their table! It's astonishing to me how, with such examples -before them, any decent man can be so stone blind as to run a tilt -against slavery. Just compare the free working classes with our slaves! -Dear me! the blindness of people in this world! It's too much for my -patience, particularly in hot weather!" said Mr. John, wiping his face -with a white pocket-handkerchief.</p> - -<p>"Well, but, Uncle John," said Nina, "my dear old gentleman, you haven't -travelled, as I have."</p> - -<p>"No, child! I thank the Lord I never stepped my foot out of a slave -state, and I never mean to," said Uncle John.</p> - -<p>"But you ought to see the <i>northern</i> working people," said Nina. "Why, -the Governors of the States are farmers, sometimes, and work with their -own men. The brain and the hand go together, in each one—not one great -brain to fifty pair of hands. And, I tell you, work is <i>done</i> up there -very differently from what's done here! Just look at our ploughs and our -hoes!—the most ridiculous things that I ever saw. I should think one of -them would weigh ten pounds!"</p> - -<p>"Well, if you don't have 'em heavy enough to go into the ground by their -own weight, these cussed lazy nigs won't do anything with them. They'd -break a dozen Yankee hoes in a forenoon," said Uncle John.</p> - -<p>"Now," said Nina, "Uncle John, you dear old heathen, you!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> do let me -tell you a little how it is there. I went up into New Hampshire, once, -with Livy Ray, to spend a vacation. Livy's father is a farmer; works -part of every day with his own men; hoes, digs, plants; but he is -Governor of the State. He has a splendid farm—all in first-rate order; -and his sons, with two or three hired men, keep it in better condition -than our places ever saw. Mr. Ray is a man who reads a great deal; has a -fine library, and he's as much of a gentleman as you'll often see. There -are no high and low <i>classes</i> there. Everybody works; and everybody -seems to have a good time. Livy's mother has a beautiful dairy, spring -house, and two strong women to help her; and everything in the house -looks beautifully; and, for the greater part of the day, the house seems -so neat and still, you wouldn't know anything had been done in it. Seems -to me this is better than making slaves of all the working classes, or -having any working classes at all."</p> - -<p>"How wise young ladies always are!" said Uncle John. "Undoubtedly the -millennium is begun in New Hampshire! But, pray, my dear, what part do -<i>young</i> ladies take in all this? Seems to me, Nin, <i>you</i> haven't picked -up much of this improvement in person."</p> - -<p>"Oh, as to that, I labor in my vocation," said Nina; "that is, of -enlightening dull, sleepy old gentlemen, who never travelled out of the -state they were born in, and don't know what can be done. I come as a -missionary to them; I'm sure that's work enough for one."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Aunt Maria, "I know I am as great a slave as any of the -poor whites, or negroes either. There isn't a soul in my whole troop -that pretends to take any care, except me, either about themselves or -their children, or anything else."</p> - -<p>"I hope that isn't a slant at me!" said Uncle John, shrugging his -shoulders.</p> - -<p>"I must say you are as bad as any of them," said Aunt Maria.</p> - -<p>"There it goes!—now, I'm getting it!" said Uncle John. "I declare, the -next time we get a preacher out here, I'm going to make him hold forth -on the duties of wives!"</p> - -<p>"And husbands, too!" said Aunt Maria.</p> - -<p>"Do," said Nina; "I should like a little prospective information."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p><p>Nina, as often, spoke before she thought. Uncle John gave a malicious -look at Clayton. Nina could not recall the words. She colored deeply, -and went on hastily to change the subject.</p> - -<p>"At any rate, I know that aunt, here, has a much harder time than -housekeepers do in the free states. Just the shoes she wears out chasing -up her negroes would hire help enough to do all her work. They used to -have an idea up there, that all the southern ladies did was to lie on -the sofa. I used to tell them it was as much as they knew about it."</p> - -<p>"<i>Your</i> cares don't seem to have worn you much!" said Uncle John.</p> - -<p>"Well, they will, Uncle John, if you don't behave better. It's enough to -break anybody down to keep you in order."</p> - -<p>"I wish," said Uncle John, shrugging up his shoulders, and looking -quizzically at Clayton, "somebody would take warning!"</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Aunt Maria, "I know one thing: I'd be glad to get -rid of my negroes. Sometimes I think life is such a burden that I don't -think it's worth having."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, you don't, mother!" said Uncle John; "not with such a charming -husband as you've got, who relieves you from all care so perfectly!"</p> - -<p>"I declare," said Nina, looking along the avenue, "what's that? Why, if -there isn't old Tiff, coming along with his children!"</p> - -<p>"Who is he?" said Aunt Maria.</p> - -<p>"Oh, he belongs to one of these miserable families," said Aunt Nesbit, -"that have squatted in the pine-woods somewhere about here—a poor, -worthless set! but Nina has a great idea of patronizing them."</p> - -<p>"Clear Gordon, every inch of her!" said Aunt Maria, as Nina ran down to -meet Tiff. "Just like her uncle!"</p> - -<p>"Come, now, old lady, I'll tell of <i>you</i>, if you don't take care!" said -Mr. Gordon. "Didn't I find you putting up a basket of provisions for -those folks you scolded me so for taking in?"</p> - -<p>"Scold, Mr. Gordon? I never scold!"</p> - -<p>"I beg pardon—that you reproved me for!"</p> - -<p>Ladies generally are not displeased for being reproached for their -charities; and Aunt Maria, whose bark, to use a vulgar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> proverb, was -infinitely worse than her bite, sat fanning herself, with an air of -self-complacency. Meanwhile, Nina had run down the avenue, and was busy -in a confidential communication with Tiff. On her return, she came -skipping up the steps, apparently in high glee.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle John! there's the greatest fun getting up! You must all go, -certainly! What do you think? Tiff says there's to be a camp-meeting in -the neighborhood, only about five miles off from his place. Let's make -up a party, and all go!"</p> - -<p>"That's the time of day!" said Uncle John. "I enrol myself under your -banner, at once. I am open to improvement! Anybody wants to convert me, -here I am!"</p> - -<p>"The trouble with you, Uncle John," said Nina, "is that you don't <i>stay</i> -converted. You are just like one of these heavy fishes—you bite very -sharp, but, before anybody can get you fairly on to the bank, you are -flapping and floundering back into the water, and down you go into your -sins again. I know at least three ministers who thought they had hooked -you out; but they were mistaken."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Aunt Maria, "I think these camp-meetings do more -harm than good. They collect all the scum and the riff-raff of the -community, and I believe there's more drinking done at camp-meetings in -one week than is done in six anywhere else. Then, of course, all the -hands will want to be off; and Mr. Gordon has brought them up so that -they feel dreadfully abused if they are not in with everything that's -going on. I shall set down <i>my</i> foot, this year, that they shan't go any -day except Sunday."</p> - -<p>"My wife knows that she was always celebrated for having the handsomest -foot in the country, and so she is always setting it down at <i>me</i>!" said -Mr. Gordon; "for she knows that a pretty foot is irresistible with me."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Gordon, how can you talk so? I should think that you'd got old -enough not to make such silly speeches!" said Aunt Maria.</p> - -<p>"Silly speeches! It's a solemn fact, and you won't hear anything truer -at the camp-meeting!" said Uncle John. "But come, Clayton, will you go? -My dear fellow, your grave face will be an appropriate ornament to the -scene, I can assure you;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> and, as to Miss Anne, it won't do for an old -fellow like me, in this presence, to say what a happiness it would be."</p> - -<p>"I suspect," said Anne, "Edward is afraid he may be called on for some -of the services. People are always taking him for a clergyman, and -asking him to say grace at meals, and to conduct family prayers, when he -is travelling among strangers."</p> - -<p>"It's a comment on our religion, that these should be thought peculiar -offices of clergymen," said Clayton. "Every Christian man ought to be -ready and willing to take them."</p> - -<p>"I honor that sentiment!" said Uncle John. "A man ought not so be -ashamed of his religion anywhere, no more than a soldier of his colors. -I believe there's more religion hid in the hearts of honest laymen, now, -than is plastered up behind the white cravats of clergymen; and they -ought to come out with it. Not that I have any disrespect for the -clergy, either," said Uncle John. "Fine men—a little stiffish, and -don't call things by good English names. Always talking about -dispensation, and sanctification, and edification, and so forth; but I -like them. They are sincere. I suppose they wouldn't any of them give me -a chance for heaven, because I rip out with an oath, every now and then. -But, the fact is, what with niggers, and overseers, and white trash, my -chances of salvation are dreadfully limited. I can't help swearing, now -and then, if I was to die for it. They say it's dreadfully wicked; but I -feel more Christian when I let out than when I keep in!"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Gordon," said Aunt Maria, reprovingly, "do consider what you're -saying!"</p> - -<p>"My dear, I <i>am</i> considering. I am considering all the time! I never do -anything else but consider—except, as I said before, every now and -then, when what-'s-his-name gets the advantage over me. And, hark you, -Mrs. G., let's have things ready at our house, if any of the clergy -would like to spend a week or so with us; and we could get them up some -meetings, or any little thing in their line. I always like to show -respect for them."</p> - -<p>"Our beds are <i>always</i> prepared for company, Mr. Gordon," said Aunt -Maria, with a stately air.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, yes, I don't doubt that! I only meant some special -preparation—some little fatted-calf killing, and so on."</p> - -<p>"Now," said Nina, "shall we set off to-morrow morning?"</p> - -<p>"Agreed!" said Uncle John.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXI.</span> <span class="smaller">TIFF'S PREPARATIONS.</span></h2> - -<p>The announcement of the expected camp-meeting produced a vast sensation -at Canema, in other circles beside the hall. In the servants' -department, everybody was full of the matter, from Aunt Katy down to -Tomtit. The women were thinking over their available finery; for these -gatherings furnish the negroes with the same opportunity of display that -Grace Church does to the Broadway belles. And so, before Old Tiff, who -had brought the first intelligence to the plantation, had time to -depart, Tomtit had trumpeted the news through all the cluster of -negro-houses that skirted the right side of the mansion, proclaiming -that "dere was gwine to be a camp-meeting, and tip-top work of grace, -and Miss Nina was going to let all de niggers go." Old Tiff, therefore, -found himself in a prominent position in a group of negro-women, among -whom Rose, the cook, was conspicuous.</p> - -<p>"Law, Tiff, ye gwine? and gwine to take your chil'en? ha! ha! ha!" said -she. "Why, Miss Fanny, dey'll tink Tiff's yer mammy! Ho! ho! ho!"</p> - -<p>"Yah! yah! Ho! ho! ho!" roared in a chorus of laughter on all sides, -doing honor to Aunt Rosy's wit; and Tomtit, who hung upon the skirts of -the crowd, threw up the fragment of a hat in the air, and kicked it in -an abandon of joy, regardless of the neglected dinner-knives. Old Tiff, -mindful of dignities, never failed to propitiate Rose, on his advents to -the plantation, with the gift which the "wise man saith maketh friends;" -and, on the present occasion he had enriched her own peculiar stock of -domestic fowl by the present of a pair of young partridge-chicks, a nest -of which he had just captured, intending to bring them up by hand, as he -did his children. By this discreet course, Tiff stood high where it was -of most vital consequence that he should so stand; and many a choice -morsel did Rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> cook for him in secret, besides imparting to him most -invaluable recipes on the culture and raising of sucking babies. Old -Hundred, like many other persons, felt that general attention lavished -on any other celebrity was so much taken from his own merits, and, -therefore, on the present occasion, sat regarding Tiff's evident -popularity with a cynical eye. At last, coming up, like a wicked fellow -as he was, he launched his javelin at Old Tiff, by observing to his -wife,—</p> - -<p>"I's 'stonished at you, Rose! <i>You</i>, cook to de Gordons, and making -youself so cheap—so familiar with de poor white folks' niggers!"</p> - -<p>Had the slant fallen upon himself, personally, Old Tiff would probably -have given a jolly crow, and laughed as heartily as he generally did if -he happened to be caught out in a rain-storm; but the reflection on his -family connection fired him up like a torch, and his eyes flashed -through his big spectacles like firelight through windows.</p> - -<p>"You go 'long, talking 'bout what you don' know nothing 'bout! I like to -know what you knows 'bout de old Virginny fam'lies? <i>Dem's</i> de real old -stock! You Car'lina folks come from <i>dem</i>, stick and stock, every blest -one of you! De Gordons is a nice family—an't nothing to say agin de -Gordons—but whar was you raised, dat ye didn't hear 'bout de Peytons? -Why, old Gen'al Peyton, didn't he use to ride with six black horses -afore him, as if he'd been a king? Dere wan't one of dem horses dat -hadn't a tail as long as my arm. <i>You</i> never see no such critters in -<i>your</i> life!"</p> - -<p>"I han't, han't I?" said Old Hundred, now, in his turn, touched in a -vital point. "Bless me, if I han't seen de Gordons riding out with der -eight horses, any time o' day!"</p> - -<p>"Come, come, now, dere wasn't so many!" said Rose, who had her own -reasons for staying on Tiff's side. "Nobody never rode with eight -horses!"</p> - -<p>"Did too! You say much more, I'll make sixteen on 'em! 'Fore my blessed -master, how dese yer old niggers will lie! Dey's always zaggerating der -families. Makes de very har rise on my head, to hear dese yer old -niggers talk, dey lie so!" said Old Hundred.</p> - -<p>"You tink folks dat take to lying is using up your business,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> don't ye?" -said Tiff. "But, I tell you, any one dat says a word agin de Peytons got -me to set in with!"</p> - -<p>"Laws, dem chil'en an't Peytons!" said Old Hundred; "dey's Crippses; and -I like to know who ever hearn of de Crippses? Go way! don't tell me -nothing about dem Crippses! Dey's poor white folks! A body may see <i>dat</i> -sticking out all over 'em!"</p> - -<p>"You shut up!" said Tiff. "I don't b'lieve you was born on de Gordon -place, 'cause you an't got no manners. I spects you some old, -second-hand nigger, Colonel Gordon must a took for debt, some time, from -some of dese yer mean Tennessee families, dat don' know how to keep der -money when dey gets it. Der niggers is allers de meanest kind. 'Cause -all de real Gordon niggers is ladies and gen'lemen—every one of 'em!" -said Old Tiff, like a true orator, bent on carrying his audience along -with him.</p> - -<p>A general shout chorused this compliment; and Tiff, under cover of the -applause, shook up his reins, and rode off in triumph.</p> - -<p>"Dar, now, you aggravating old nigger," said Rose, turning to her bosom -lord, "I hope yer got it now! De plaguest old nigger dat ever I see! And -you, Tom, go 'long and clean your knives, if yer don't mean to be -cracked over!"</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Tiff, restored to his usual tranquillity, ambled along -homeward behind his one-eyed horse, singing "I'm bound for the land of -Canaan," with some surprising variations.</p> - -<p>At last Miss Fanny, as he constantly called her, interposed with a very -pregnant question.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Tiff, where is the land of Canaan?"</p> - -<p>"De Lord-a-mercy, chile, dat ar's what I'd like to know myself."</p> - -<p>"Is it heaven?" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>"Well, I reckon so," said Tiff, dubiously.</p> - -<p>"Is it where ma is gone?" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>"Chile, I reckon it is," said Tiff.</p> - -<p>"Is it down under ground?" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>"Why, no! ho! ho! honey!" said Tiff, laughing heartily. "What put dat ar -in your head, Miss Fanny?"</p> - -<p>"Didn't ma go that way?" said Fanny, "down through the ground?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p><p>"Lordy, no, chile! Heaven's up!" said Tiff, pointing up to the intense -blue sky which appeared through the fringy hollows of the pine-trees -above them.</p> - -<p>"Is there any stairs anywhere? or any ladder to get up by?" said Fanny. -"Or do they walk to where the sky touches the ground, and get up? -Perhaps they climb up on the rainbow."</p> - -<p>"I don' know, chile, how dey works it," said Uncle Tiff. "Dey gets dar -somehow. I's studdin' upon dat ar. I's gwine to camp-meeting to find -out. I's been to plenty of dem ar, and I never could quite see clar. -'Pears like dey talks about everything else more'n dey does about dat. -Dere's de Methodists, dey cuts up de Presbyter'ans; and de Presbyter'ans -pitches into de Methodists; and den both on 'em's down on de 'Piscopals. -My ole mist' was 'Piscopal, and I never seed no harm in't. And de -Baptists think dey an't none on 'em right; and, while dey's all a -blowing out at each other, dat ar way, I's a wondering whar's de way to -Canaan. It takes a mighty heap o' larning to know about dese yer things, -and I an't got no larning. I don' know nothing, only de Lord, he 'peared -to your ma, and he knows de way, and he took her. But, now, chile, I's -gwine to fix you up right smart, and take you, Teddy, and de baby, to -dis yer camp-meeting, so you can seek de Lord in yer youth."</p> - -<p>"Tiff, if you please, I'd rather not go!" said Fanny, in an apprehensive -tone.</p> - -<p>"Oh, bress de Lord, Miss Fanny, why not? Fust-rate times dere."</p> - -<p>"There'll be too many people. I don't want them to see us."</p> - -<p>The fact was, that Rose's slant speech about Tiff's maternal -relationship, united with the sneers of Old Hundred, had their effect -upon Fanny's mind. Naturally proud, and fearful of ridicule, she shrank -from the public display which would thus be made of their family -condition; yet she would not for the world have betrayed to her kind old -friend the real reason of her hesitation. But Old Tiff's keen eye had -noticed the expression of the child's countenance at the time. If -anybody supposes that the faithful old creature's heart was at all -wounded by the perception, they are greatly mistaken.</p> - -<p>To Tiff it appeared a joke of the very richest quality; and, as he rode -along in silence for some time, he indulged himself in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> one of his -quiet, long laughs, actually shaking his old sides till the tears -streamed down his cheeks.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter with you, Tiff?" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Miss Fanny, Tiff knows!—Tiff knows de reason ye don't want to go -to camp-meeting. Tiff's seen it in yer face—ye ho! ho! ho! Miss Fanny, -is you 'fraid dey'll take Old Tiff for yer mammy?—ye ho! ho! ho!—for -yer mammy?—and Teddy's, and de baby's?—bless his little soul!" And the -amphibious old creature rollicked over the idea with infinite merriment. -"Don't I look like it, Miss Fanny? Lord, ye por dear lamb, can't folks -see ye's a born lady, with yer white, little hands? Don't ye be 'feared, -Miss Fanny!"</p> - -<p>"I know it's silly," said Fanny; "but, beside, I don't like to be called -<i>poor white folksy</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, chile, it's only dem mean niggers! Miss Nina's allers good to ye, -an't she? Speaks to ye so handsome. Ye must memorize dat ar, Miss Fanny, -and talk like Miss Nina. I's feared, now yer ma's dead, ye'll fall into -some o' my nigger ways of talking. 'Member you mustn't talk like Old -Tiff, 'cause young ladies and gen'lemen mustn't talk like niggers. Now, -I says 'dis and dat, dis yer and dat ar.' Dat ar is nigger talk, and por -white folksy, too. Only de por white folks, dey's mis'able, 'cause -niggers <i>knows</i> what's good talk, but dey doesn't. Lord, chile, Old Tiff -<i>knows</i> what good talk is. An't he heard de greatest ladies and -gen'lemen in de land talk? But he don't want de trouble to talk dat ar -way, 'cause he's a nigger! Tiff likes his own talk—it's good enough for -Tiff. Tiff's talk sarves him mighty well, I tell yer. But, den, white -children mustn't talk so. Now, you see, Miss Nina has got de prettiest -way of saying her words. Dey drops out one after another, one after -another, so pretty! Now, you mind, 'cause she's coming to see us off and -on—she promised so. And den you keep a good lookout how she walks, and -how she holds her pocket-handkerchief. And when she sits down she kind -o' gives a little flirt to her clothes, so dey all set out round her -like ruffles. Dese yer little ways ladies have! Why, dese yer por white -folks, did yer ever mind der settin' down? Why, dey jist slaps down into -a chair like a spoonful o' mush, and der clothes all stick tight about -'em. I don't want nothing <i>poor white folksy</i> 'bout you.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> Den, if you -don't understand what people's a saying to you, any time, you mustn't -star, like por white chil'en, and say, 'what?' but you must say 'I beg -pardon, sir,' or, 'I beg pardon, ma'am.' Dat ar's de way. And, Miss -Fanny, you and Teddy, you must study yer book; 'cause, if you can't -read, den dey'll be sure to say yer por white folks. And, den, Miss -Fanny, you see dat ladies don't demean demselves with sweeping and -scrubbing, and dem tings; and yet <i>dey does work</i>, honey! Dey sews, and -dey knits; and it would be good for you to larn how to sew and knit; -'cause, you know, I can't allers make up all de clothes; 'cause, you -see, young ladies haves ways wid 'em dat niggers can't get. Now, you -see, Miss Fanny, all dese yer tings I was telling you, you must 'bserve. -Now, you see, if you was one of dese yer por white folks, dere be no use -of your trying; 'cause dat ar 'scription o' people couldn't never be -ladies, if dey was waring themselves out a trying. But, you see, you's -got it in you; you was born to it, honey. It's in de blood; and what's -in de blood must come out—ho! ho! ho!" And with this final laugh, Tiff -drew up to his dwelling.</p> - -<p>A busy day was before Old Tiff; for he was to set his house in order for -a week's campaign. There was his corn to be hoed, his parsley to be -weeded, there was his orphan family of young partridges to be cared for. -And Tiff, after some considerable consideration, resolved to take them -along with him in a basket; thinking, in the intervals of devotion, he -should have an abundant opportunity to minister to their wants, and -superintend their education. Then he went to one of his favorite -springes, and brought from thence, not a fatted calf, to be sure, but a -fatted coon, which he intended to take with him, to serve as the basis -of a savory stew on the camp-ground. Tiff had a thriving company of -pot-herbs, and a flourishing young colony of onions; so that, whatever -might be true of the sermons, it was evident that the stew would lack no -savor. Teddy's clothes, also, were to be passed in review; washing and -ironing to be done; the baby fitted up to do honor to his name, or -rather to the name of his grandfather. With all these cares upon his -mind, the old creature was even more than usually alert. The day was -warm, and he resolved, therefore, to perform his washing operations in -the magnificent kitchen of nature. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>accordingly kindled a splendid -bonfire, which was soon crackling at a short distance from the house, -slung over it his kettle, and proceeded to some other necessary -avocations. The pine-wood, which had been imperfectly seasoned, served -him the ungracious trick that pine-wood is apt to do; it crackled and -roared merrily while he was present, but while he was down examining his -traps in the woods went entirely out, leaving only the blackened sticks.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Tiff," said Teddy, "the fire is all gone out!"</p> - -<p>"Ho! ho! ho!—Has it?" said Tiff, coming up. "Curus enough! Well, bress -de Lord, got all de wood left, any way; had a real bright fire, beside," -said Tiff, intent on upholding the sunniest side of things. "Lord, it's -de sun dat puts de fire out o' countenance. Did you ever see fire dat -wouldn't go out when de sun's shining right in it's face? Dat ar is a -curus fact. I's minded it heaps o' times. Well, I'll jist have to come -out wid my light-wood kindlings, dat's all. Bress de Lord, ho! ho! ho!" -said Tiff, laughing to himself, "if dese yer an't the very sp'rit of de -camp-meeting professors! Dey blazes away at de camp-meeting, and den -dey's black all de year round! See 'em at de camp-meetings, you'd say -dey war gwine right into de kingdom, sure enough! Well, Lord have marcy -on us all! Our 'ligion's drefful poor stuff! We don' know but a despert -leetle, and what we does know we don' do. De good Mas'r above must have -his hands full, with us!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE WORSHIPPERS.</span></h2> - -<p>The camp-meeting is one leading feature in the American development of -religion, peculiarly suited to the wide extent of country, and to the -primitive habits which generally accompany a sparse population. -Undoubtedly its general effects have been salutary. Its evils have been -only those incident to any large gatherings, in which the whole -population of a country are brought promiscuously together. As in many -other large assemblies of worship, there are those who go for all sorts -of reasons; some from curiosity, some from love of excitement, some to -turn a penny in a small way of trade, some to scoff, and a few to pray. -And, so long as the heavenly way remains straight and narrow, so long -the sincere and humble worshippers will ever be the minority in all -assemblies. We can give no better idea of the difference of motive which -impelled the various worshippers, than by taking our readers from scene -to scene, on the morning when different attendants of the meeting were -making preparations to start.</p> - -<p>Between the grounds of Mr. John Gordon and the plantation of Canema -stood a log cabin, which was the trading establishment of Abijah -Skinflint. The establishment was a nuisance in the eyes of the -neighboring planters, from the general apprehension entertained that -Abijah drove a brisk underhand trade with the negroes, and that the -various articles which he disposed for sale were many of them -surreptitiously conveyed to him in nightly instalments from off their -own plantations. But of this nothing could be proved.</p> - -<p>Abijah was a shrewd fellow, long, dry, lean, leathery, with a sharp -nose, sharp, little, gray eyes, a sharp chin, and fingers as long as -bird's-claws. His skin was so dry that one would have expected that his -cheeks would crackle whenever he smiled, or spoke; and he rolled in them -a never-failing quid of tobacco.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p><p>Abijah was one of those over-shrewd Yankees, who leave their country -for their country's good, and who exhibit, wherever they settle, such a -caricature of the thrifty virtue of their native land as to justify the -aversion which the native-born Southerner entertains for the Yankee. -Abijah drank his own whiskey,—<i>prudently</i>, however,—or, as he said, -"never so as not to know what he was about."</p> - -<p>He had taken a wife from the daughters of the land; who also drank -whiskey, but less prudently than her husband, so that sometimes she did -<i>not</i> know what she was about. Sons and daughters were born unto this -promising couple, white-headed, forward, dirty, and ill-mannered. But, -amid all domestic and social trials, Abijah maintained a constant and -steady devotion to the main chance—the acquisition of money. For money -he would do anything; for money he would have sold his wife, his -children, even his own soul, if he had happened to have one. But that -article, had it ever existed, was now so small and dry, that one might -have fancied it to rattle in his lean frame like a shrivelled pea in a -last year's peascod. Abijah was going to the camp-meeting for two -reasons. One, of course, was to make money; and the other was to know -whether his favorite preacher, Elder Stringfellow, handled the doctrine -of election according to his views; for Abijah had a turn for theology, -and could number off the five points of Calvinism on his five long -fingers with unfailing accuracy.</p> - -<p>It is stated in the Scriptures that the devils believe and tremble. The -principal difference between their belief and Abijah's was, that he -believed and did <i>not</i> tremble. Truths awful enough to have shaken the -earth, and veiled the sun, he could finger over with as much unconcern -as a practised anatomist the dry bones of a skeleton.</p> - -<p>"You, Sam!" said Abijah to his only negro helot, "you mind, you steady -that ar bar'l, so that it don't roll out, and pour a pailful of water in -at the bung. It won't do to give it to 'em too strong. Miss Skinflint, -you make haste! If you don't, I shan't wait for you; 'cause, whatever -the rest may do, it's important I should be on the ground early. Many a -dollar lost for not being in time, in this world. Hurry, woman!"</p> - -<p>"I am ready, but Polly an't'," said Mrs. Skinflint. "She's busy a -plastering down her hair."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p><p>"Can't wait for her!" said Abijah, as he sallied out of the house to -get into the wagon, which stood before the door, into which he had -packed a copious supply of hams, eggs, dressed chickens, corn-meal, and -green summer vegetables, to say nothing of the barrel of whiskey -aforesaid.</p> - -<p>"I say, Dad, you stop!" called Polly, from the window. "If you don't, -I'll make work for you 'fore you come home; you see if I don't! Durned -if I won't!"</p> - -<p>"Come along, then, can't you? Next time we go anywhere, I'll shut you up -over night to begin to dress!"</p> - -<p>Polly hastily squeezed her fat form into a red calico dress, and, -seizing a gay summer shawl, with her bonnet in her hand, rushed to the -wagon and mounted, the hooks of her dress successively exploding, and -flying off, as she stooped to get in.</p> - -<p>"Durned if I knows what to do!" said she; "this yer old durned gear -coat's all off my back!"</p> - -<p>"Gals is always fools!" said Abijah, consolingly.</p> - -<p>"Stick in a pin, Polly," said her mother, in an easy, sing-song drawl.</p> - -<p>"Durn you, old woman, every hook is off!" said the promising young lady.</p> - -<p>"Stick in more pins, then," said the mamma; and the vehicle of Abijah -passed onward.</p> - -<p>On the verge of the swamp, a little beyond Tiff's cabin, lived Ben -Dakin.</p> - -<p>Ben was a mighty hunter; he had the best pack of dogs within thirty -miles round; and his advertisements, still to be seen standing in the -papers of his native state, detailed with great accuracy the precise -terms on which he would hunt down and capture any man, woman, or child, -escaping from service and labor in that country. Our readers must not -necessarily suppose Ben to have been a monster for all this, when they -recollect that, within a few years, both the great political parties of -our Union solemnly pledged themselves, as far as in them lay, to accept -a similar vocation; and, as many of them were in good and regular -standing in churches, and had ministers to preach sermons to the same -effect, we trust they'll entertain no unreasonable prejudice against Ben -on this account.</p> - -<p>In fact, Ben was a tall, broad-shouldered, bluff, hearty-looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -fellow, who would do a kind turn for a neighbor with as much good-will -as anybody; and, except that he now and then took a little too much -whiskey, as he himself admitted, he considered himself quite as -promising a candidate for the kingdom as any of the company who were -going up to camp-meeting. Had any one ventured to remonstrate with Ben -against the nature of his profession, he would probably have defended it -by pretty much the same arguments by which modern theologians defend the -institution of which it is a branch.</p> - -<p>Ben was just one of those jovial fellows who never could bear to be left -behind in anything that was going on in the community, and was always -one of the foremost in a camp-meeting. He had a big, loud voice, and -could roll out the chorus of hymns with astonishing effect. He was -generally converted at every gathering of this kind; though, through the -melancholy proclivity to whiskey, before alluded to, he usually fell -from grace before the year was out. Like many other big and hearty men, -he had a little, pale, withered moonshiny wisp of a wife, who hung on -his elbow much like an empty work-bag; and Ben, to do him justice, was -kind to the wilted little mortal, as if he almost suspected that he had -absorbed her vitality into his own exuberant growth. She was greatly -given to eating clay, cleaning her teeth with snuff, and singing -Methodist hymns, and had a very sincere concern for Ben's salvation. The -little woman sat resignedly on the morning we speak of, while a -long-limbed, broad-shouldered child, of two years, with bristly white -hair, was pulling her by her ears and hair, and otherwise maltreating -her, to make her get up to give him a piece of bread and molasses; and -she, without seeming to attend to the child, was giving earnest heed to -her husband.</p> - -<p>"There's a despit press of business now!" said Ben. "There's James's -niggers, and Smith's Polly, and we ought to be on the trail, right -away!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Ben, you ought to 'tend to your salvation afore anything else!" -said his wife.</p> - -<p>"That's true enough!" said Ben; "meetings don't come every day. But what -are we to do with dis yer'un?" pointing to the door of an inner room.</p> - -<p>"Dis yer'un" was no other than a negro-woman, named Nance, who had been -brought in by the dogs, the day before.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p><p>"Laws!" said his wife, "we can set her something to eat, and leave the -dogs in front of the door. She can't get out."</p> - -<p>Ben threw open the door, and displayed to view a low kind of hutch, -without any other light than that between the crevices of the logs. On -the floor, which was of hard-trodden earth, sat a sinewy, lean -negro-woman, drawing up her knees with her long arms, and resting her -chin upon them.</p> - -<p>"Hollo, Nance, how are you?" said Ben, rather cheerily.</p> - -<p>"Por'ly, mas'r," said the other, in a sullen tone.</p> - -<p>"Nance, you think your old man will whale you, when he gets you?" said -Ben.</p> - -<p>"I reckons he will," said Nance; "he allers does."</p> - -<p>"Well, Nance, the old woman and I want to go to a camp-meeting; and I'll -just tell you what it is,—you stay here quiet, while we are gone, and -I'll make the old fellow promise not to wallop you. I wouldn't mind -taking off something of the price—that's fair, an't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, mas'r!" said the woman, in the same subdued tone.</p> - -<p>"Does your foot hurt you much?" said Ben.</p> - -<p>"Yes, mas'r!" said the woman.</p> - -<p>"Let me look at it," said Ben.</p> - -<p>The woman put out one foot, which had been loosely bound up in old rags, -now saturated in blood.</p> - -<p>"I declar, if that ar dog an't a pealer!" said Ben. "Nance, you ought -ter have stood still; then he wouldn't have hurt you so."</p> - -<p>"Lord, he hurt me so I couldn't stand still!" said the woman. "It an't -natur to stand still with a critter's teeth in yer foot."</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't know as it is," said Ben, good-naturedly. "Here, Miss -Dakin, you bind up this here gal's foot. Stop your noise, sir-ee!" he -added, to the young aspirant for bread and molasses, who, having -despatched one piece, was clamoring vigorously for another.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you what!" said Ben to his wife, "I am going to talk to that -ar old Elder Settle. I runs more niggers for him than any man in the -county, and I know there's some reason for it. Niggers don't run into -swamps when they's treated well. Folks that professes religion, I think, -oughtn't to starve their niggers, no way!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p><p>Soon the vehicle of Ben was also on the road. He gathered up the reins -vigorously, threw back his head to get the full benefit of his lungs, -and commenced a vehement camp-meeting melody, to the tune of</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Am I a soldier of the cross,</div> -<div>A follower of the Lamb?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A hymn, by the by, which was one of Ben's particular favorites.</p> - -<p>We come next to Tiff's cottage, of which the inmates were astir, in the -coolness of the morning, bright and early. Tiff's wagon was a singular -composite article, principally of his own construction. The body of it -consisted of a long packing-box. The wheels were all odd ones, that had -been brought home at different times by Cripps. The shafts were -hickory-poles, thinned at one end, and fastened to the wagon by nails. -Some barrel-hoops bent over the top, covered by coarse white cotton -cloth, formed the curtains, and a quantity of loose straw dispersed -inside was the only seat. The lean, one-eyed horse was secured to this -vehicle by a harness made of old ropes; but no millionaire, however, -ever enjoyed his luxuriantly-cushioned coach with half the relish with -which Tiff enjoyed his equipage. It was the work of his hands, the -darling of his heart, the delight of his eyes. To be sure, like other -mortal darlings, it was to be admitted that it had its weak points and -failings. The wheels would now and then come off, the shafts get loose, -or the harness break; but Tiff was always prepared, and, on occasion of -any such mishaps, would jump out and attend to them with such cheerful -alacrity, that, if anything, he rather seemed to love it better for the -accident. There it stands now, before the inclosure of the little cabin; -and Tiff, and Fanny, and Teddy, with bustling assiduity, are packing and -arranging it. The gum-tree cradle-trough took precedence of all other -articles. Tiff, by the private advice of Aunt Rose, had just added to -this an improvement, which placed it, in his view, tip-top among -cradles. He had nailed to one end of it a long splint of elastic -hickory, which drooped just over the baby's face. From this was -suspended a morsel of salt pork, which this young scion of a noble race -sucked with a considerate relish, while his large, round eyes opened and -shut with sleepy satisfaction. This arrangement Rose had recommended, in -mysterious tones, as all powerful in making <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>sucking babies forget their -mammies, whom otherwise they might pine for in a manner prejudicial to -their health.</p> - -<p>Although the day was sultry, Tiff was arrayed in his long-skirted white -great-coat, as his nether garments were in too dilapidated a state to -consist with the honor of the family. His white felt hat still bore the -band of black crape.</p> - -<p>"It's a 'mazin' good day, bless de Lord!" said Tiff. "'Pears like dese -yer birds would split der troats, praising de Lord! It's a mighty good -zample to us, any way. You see, Miss Fanny, you never see birds put out, -nor snarly like, rain or shine. Dey's allers a praising de Lord. Lord, -it seems as if critters is better dan we be!" And, as Tiff spoke, he -shouldered into the wagon a mighty bag of corn; but, failing in what he -meant to do, the bag slid over the side, and tumbled back into the road. -Being somewhat of the oldest, the fall burst it asunder, and the corn -rolled into the sand, with that provoking alacrity which things always -have when they go the wrong way. Fanny and Teddy both uttered an -exclamation of lamentation; but Tiff held on to his sides and laughed -till the tears rolled down his cheeks.</p> - -<p>"He! he! he! ho! ho! ho! Why, dat ar is de last bag we's got, and dar's -all de corn a running out in de sand! Ho! ho! ho! Lord, it's so curus!"</p> - -<p>"Why, what are you going to do?" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>"Oh, bress you, Miss Fanny," said Tiff, "I's bound to do something, -anyhow. 'Clare for it, now, if I han't got a box!" And Tiff soon -returned with the article in question, which proved too large for the -wagon. The corn, however, was emptied into it <i>pro tem.</i>, and Tiff, -producing his darning-needle and thimble, sat down seriously to the task -of stitching up the hole.</p> - -<p>"De Lord's things an't never in a hurry," said Tiff. "Corn and 'tatoes -will have der time, and why shouldn't I? Dar," he said, after having -mended the bag and replaced the corn, "dat ar's better now nor 'twas -before."</p> - -<p>Besides his own store of provisions, Tiff prudently laid into his wagon -enough of garden stuff to turn a penny for Miss Fanny and the children, -on the camp-ground. His commissariat department, in fact, might have -provoked appetite, even among the fastidious. There were dressed -chickens and rabbits, the coon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> aforesaid, bundles of savory herbs, -crisp, dewy lettuce, bunches of onions, radishes, and green peas.</p> - -<p>"Tell ye what, chil'en," said Tiff, "we'll live like princes! And you -mind, order me round <i>well</i>. Let folks har ye; 'cause what's de use of -having a nigger, and nobody knowing it?"</p> - -<p>And, everything being arranged, Tiff got in, and jogged comfortably -along. At the turn of the cross-road, Tiff, looking a little behind, -saw, on the other road, the Gordon carriage coming, driven by Old -Hundred, arrayed in his very best ruffled shirt, white gloves, and gold -hat-band.</p> - -<p>If ever Tiff came near having a pang in his heart, it was at that -moment; but he retreated stoutly upon the idea that, however appearances -might be against them, his family was no less ancient and honorable for -that; and, therefore, putting on all his dignity, he gave his beast an -extra cut, as who should say, "I don't care."</p> - -<p>But, as ill-luck would have it, the horse, at this instant, giving a -jerk, wrenched out the nails that fastened the shaft on one side, and it -fell, trailing dishonored on the ground. The rope harness pulled all -awry, and just at this moment the Gordon carriage swept up.</p> - -<p>"'Fore I'd drive sich old trash!" said Old Hundred, scornfully; "pulls -all to pieces every step! If dat ar an't a poor white folksy -'stablishment, I never seed one!"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" said Nina, putting her head out. "Oh, Tiff! -good-morning, my good fellow. Can we help you, there? John, get down and -help him."</p> - -<p>"Please, Miss Nina, de hosses is so full o' tickle, dis yer mornin', I -couldn't let go, no ways!" said Old Hundred.</p> - -<p>"Oh, laws bless you, Miss Nina," said Tiff, restored to his usual -spirits, "'tan't nothin'. Broke in a strordinary good place dis yer -time. I ken hammer it up in a minute."</p> - -<p>And Tiff was as good as his word; for a round stone and big nail made -all straight.</p> - -<p>"Pray," said Nina, "how are little Miss Fanny, and the children?"</p> - -<p>Miss Fanny! If Nina had heaped Tiff with presents, she could not have -conferred the inexpressible obligation conveyed in these words. He bowed -low to the ground, with the weight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> of satisfaction, and answered that -"Miss Fanny and the chil'en were well."</p> - -<p>"There," said Nina, "John, you may drive on. Do you know, friends, I've -set Tiff up for six weeks, by one word? Just saying <i>Miss</i> Fanny has -done more for him than if I'd sent him six bushels of potatoes."...</p> - -<p>We have yet to take our readers to one more scene before we finish the -review of those who were going to the camp-meeting. The reader must -follow us far beyond the abodes of man, into the recesses of that wild -desolation known as the "Dismal Swamp." We pass over vast tracts where -the forest seems growing out of the water. Cypress, red cedar, sweet -gum, tulip, poplar, beech, and holly, form a goodly fellowship, waving -their rustling boughs above. The trees shoot up in vast columns, fifty, -seventy-five, and a hundred feet in height; and below are clusters of -evergreen gall-bushes, with their thick and glossy foliage, mingled in -with swamp honeysuckles, grape-vines, twining brier, and laurels, and -other shrubs, forming an impenetrable thicket. The creeping plants -sometimes climb seventy or eighty feet up the largest tree, and hang in -heavy festoons from their branches. It would seem impossible that human -feet could penetrate the wild, impervious jungle; but we must take our -readers through it, to a cleared spot, where trunks of fallen trees, -long decayed, have formed an island of vegetable mould, which the art of -some human hand has extended and improved. The clearing is some sixty -yards long by thirty broad, and is surrounded with a natural rampart, -which might well bid defiance to man or beast. Huge trees have been -felled, with all their branches lying thickly one over another, in a -circuit around; and nature, seconding the efforts of the fugitives who -sought refuge here, has interlaced the frame-work thus made with thorny -cat-briers, cables of grape-vine, and thickets of Virginia creeper, -which, running wild in their exuberance, climb on to the neighboring -trees, and, swinging down, again lose themselves in the mazes from which -they spring, so as often to form a verdurous wall fifty feet in height. -In some places the laurel, with its glossy green leaves, and its masses -of pink-tipped snowy blossoms, presents to the eye, rank above rank, a -wilderness of beauty. The pendants of the yellow jessamine swing to and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> -fro in the air like censers, casting forth clouds of perfume. A thousand -twining vines, with flowers of untold name, perhaps unknown as yet to -the botanist, help to fill up the mosaic. The leafy ramparts sweep round -on all the sides of the clearing, for the utmost care has been taken to -make it impenetrable; and, in that region of heat and moisture, nature, -in the course of a few weeks, admirably seconds every human effort. The -only egress from it is a winding path cut through with a hatchet, which -can be entered by only one person at a time; and the water which -surrounds this island entirely cuts off the trail from the scent of -dogs. It is to be remarked that the climate, in the interior of the -swamp, is far from being unhealthy. Lumber-men, who spend great portions -of the year in it, cutting shingles and staves, testify to the general -salubrity of the air and water. The opinion prevails among them that the -quantity of pine and other resinous trees that grow there impart a -balsamic property to the water, and impregnate the air with a healthy -resinous fragrance, which causes it to be an exception to the usual rule -of the unhealthiness of swampy land. The soil also, when drained -sufficiently for purposes of culture, is profusely fertile. Two small -cabins stood around the border of the clearing, but the centre was -occupied with patches of corn and sweet potatoes, planted there to -secure as much as possible the advantage of sun and air.</p> - -<p>At the time we take our readers there, the afternoon sun of a sultry -June day is casting its long shadows over the place, and a whole choir -of birds is echoing in the branches. On the ground, in front of one of -the cabins, lies a negro-man, covered with blood; two women, with some -little children, are grouped beside him; and a wild figure, whom we at -once recognize as Dred, is kneeling by him, busy in efforts to stanch a -desperate wound in the neck. In vain! The red blood spurts out at every -pulsation of the heart, with a fearful regularity, telling too plainly -that it is a great life-artery which has been laid open. The -negro-woman, kneeling on the other side, is anxiously holding some -bandages, which she has stripped from a portion of her raiment.</p> - -<p>"Oh, put these on, quick—do!"</p> - -<p>"It's no use," said Dred; "he is going!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, do!—don't, don't let him go! <i>Can't</i> you save him?" said the -woman, in tones of agony.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p><p>The wounded man's eyes opened, and first fixed themselves, with a -vacant stare, on the blue sky above; then, turning on the woman, he -seemed to try to speak. He had had a strong arm; he tries to raise it, -but the blood wells up with the effort, the eye glazes, the large frame -shivers for a few moments, and then all is still. The blood stops -flowing now, for the heart has stopped beating, and an immortal soul has -gone back to Him who gave it.</p> - -<p>The man was a fugitive from a neighboring plantation—a simple-hearted, -honest fellow, who had fled, with his wife and children, to save her -from the licentious persecution of the overseer. Dred had received and -sheltered him; had built him a cabin, and protected him for months.</p> - -<p>A provision of the Revised Statutes of North Carolina enacts that slaves -thus secreted in the swamps, not returning within a given time, shall be -considered outlawed; and that "it shall be lawful for any person or -persons whatsoever to kill and destroy such slaves, by such ways and -means as they shall think fit, without any accusation or impeachment of -crime for the same." It also provides that, when any slave shall be -killed in consequence of such outlawry, the value of such slave shall be -ascertained by a jury, and the owner entitled to receive two thirds of -the valuation from the sheriff of the county wherein the slave was -killed.</p> - -<p>In olden times, the statute provided that the proclamation of outlawry -should be published on a Sabbath day, at the door of any church or -chapel, or place where divine service should be performed, immediately -after divine service, by the parish clerk or reader.</p> - -<p>In the spirit of this permission, a party of negro-hunters, with dogs -and guns, had chased this man, who, on this day, had unfortunately -ventured out of his concealment.</p> - -<p>He succeeded in outrunning all but one dog, which sprang up, and, -fastening his fangs in his throat, laid him prostrate within a few paces -of his retreat. Dred came up in time to kill the dog, but the wound, as -appeared, had proved a mortal one.</p> - -<p>As soon as the wife perceived that her husband was really dead, she -broke into a loud wail.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear, he's gone! and 'twas all for me he did it! Oh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> he was so -good, such a good man! Oh, do tell me, <i>is</i> he dead, is he?"</p> - -<p>Dred lifted the yet warm hand in his a moment, and then dropped it -heavily.</p> - -<p>"Dead!" he said, in a deep undertone of suppressed emotion. Suddenly -kneeling down beside him, he lifted his hands, and broke forth with wild -vehemence:—</p> - -<p>"O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself! Lift up thyself, -thou Judge of the earth, render a reward to the proud! Doubtless thou -art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge -us not. Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy ways are -everlasting—where is thy zeal and thy strength, and the sounding of thy -bowels towards us? Are they restrained?" Then, tossing his hands to -heaven, with a yet wilder gesture, he almost screamed: "O Lord! O Lord! -how long? Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down! Oh, let -the sighings of the prisoner come before thee! Our bones are scattered -at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood! We are -given as sheep to the slaughter! We are killed all the day long! O Lord, -avenge us of our adversaries!"</p> - -<p>These words were spoken with a vehement earnestness of gesture and -voice, that hushed the lamentation of the mourners. Rising up from his -knees, he stood a moment looking down at the lifeless form before him. -"See here," he said, "what harm had this man done? Was he not peaceable? -Did he not live here in quietness, tilling the ground in the sweat of -his brow? Why have they sent the hunters upon him? Because he wanted to -raise his corn for himself, and not for another. Because he wanted his -wife for himself, and not for another. Was not the world wide enough? -Isn't there room enough under the sky? Because this man wished to eat -the fruit of his own labor, the decree went forth against him, even the -curse of Cain, so that whosoever findeth him shall kill him. Will not -the Lord be avenged on such a people as this? To-night they will hold -their solemn assembly, and blow the trumpet in their new moon, and the -prophets will prophesy falsely, and the priests will speak wickedly -concerning oppression. The word of the Lord saith unto me, 'Go unto this -people, and break before them the staff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> beauty and the staff bands, and -be a sign unto this people of the terror of the Lord. Behold, saith the -Lord, therefore have I raised thee up and led thee through the -wilderness, through the desolate places of the land not sown.'"</p> - -<p>As Dred spoke, his great black eye seemed to enlarge itself and roll -with a glassy fulness, like that of a sleep-walker in a somnambulic -dream. His wife, seeing him prepare to depart, threw herself upon him.</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't, don't leave us! You'll be killed, some of these times, just -as they killed him!"</p> - -<p>"Woman! the burden of the Lord is upon me. The word of the Lord is as a -fire shut up in my bones. The Lord saith unto me, 'Go show unto this -people their iniquity, and be a sign unto this evil nation!'"</p> - -<p>Breaking away from his wife, he precipitated himself through an opening -into the thicket, and was gone.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXIII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE CAMP-MEETING.</span></h2> - -<p>The place selected for the camp-meeting was in one of the most -picturesque portions of the neighborhood. It was a small, -partially-cleared spot, in the midst of a dense forest, which stretched -away in every direction, in cool, green aisles of checkered light and -shade.</p> - -<p>In the central clearing, a sort of rude amphitheatre of seats was formed -of rough-pine slabs. Around on the edges of the forest the tents of the -various worshippers were pitched; for the spending of three or four days -and nights upon the ground is deemed an essential part of the service. -The same clear stream which wound round the dwelling of Tiff prattled -its way, with a modest gurgle, through this forest, and furnished the -assembly with water.</p> - -<p>The Gordons, having come merely for the purposes of curiosity, and -having a residence in the neighborhood, did not provide themselves with -a tent. The servants, however, were less easily satisfied. Aunt Rose -shook her head, and declared, oracularly, that "De blessing was sure to -come down in de night, and dem dat wanted to get a part of it would have -to be dar!"</p> - -<p>Consequently, Nina was beset to allow her people to have a tent, in -which they were to take turns in staying all night, as candidates for -the blessing. In compliance with that law of good-humored indulgence -which had been the traditionary usage of her family, Nina acceded; and -the Gordon tent spread its snowy sails, to the rejoicing of their -hearts. Aunt Rose predominated about the door, alternately slapping the -children and joining the chorus of hymns which she heard from every part -of the camp-ground. On the outskirts were various rude booths, in which -whiskey and water, and sundry articles of provision, and fodder for -horses, were dispensed for a consideration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> Abijah Skinflint here -figured among the money-changers, while his wife and daughter were -gossiping through the tents of the women. In front of the seats, under a -dense cluster of pines, was the preachers' stand: a rude stage of rough -boards, with a railing around it, and a desk of small slabs, supporting -a Bible and a hymn-book.</p> - -<p>The preachers were already assembling; and no small curiosity was -expressed with regard to them by the people, who were walking up and -down among the tents. Nina, leaning on the arm of Clayton, walked about -the area with the rest. Anne Clayton leaned on the arm of Uncle John. -Aunt Nesbit and Aunt Maria came behind. To Nina the scene was quite new, -for a long residence in the Northern States had placed her out of the -way of such things; and her shrewd insight into character, and her love -of drollery, found an abundant satisfaction in the various little points -and oddities of the scene. They walked to the Gordon tent, in which a -preliminary meeting was already in full course. A circle of men and -women, interspersed with children, were sitting, with their eyes shut, -and their heads thrown back, singing at the top of their voices. -Occasionally, one or other would vary the exercises by clapping of -hands, jumping up straight into the air, falling flat on the ground, -screaming, dancing, and laughing.</p> - -<p>"Oh, set me up on a rock!" screamed one.</p> - -<p>"I's sot up!" screamed another.</p> - -<p>"Glory!" cried the third, and a tempest of "amens" poured in between.</p> - -<p>"I's got a sperience!" cried one, and forthwith began piping it out in a -high key, while others kept on singing.</p> - -<p>"I's got a sperience!" shouted Tomtit, whom Aunt Rose, with maternal -care, had taken with her.</p> - -<p>"No, you an't neither! Sit down!" said Aunt Rose, kneading him down as -if he had been a batch of biscuits, and going on at the same time with -her hymn.</p> - -<p>"I's on the Rock of Ages!" screamed a neighbor.</p> - -<p>"I want to get on a rock edgeways!" screamed Tomtit, struggling -desperately with Aunt Rose's great fat hands.</p> - -<p>"Mind yourself!—I'll crack you over!" said Aunt Rose. And Tomtit, still -continuing rebellious, <i>was</i> cracked over <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>accordingly, with such force -as to send him head-foremost on the straw at the bottom of the tent; an -indignity which he resented with loud howls of impotent wrath, which, -however, made no impression in the general whirlwind of screaming, -shouting, and praying.</p> - -<p>Nina and Uncle John stood at the tent-door laughing heartily. Clayton -looked on with his usual thoughtful gravity of aspect. Anne turned her -head away with an air of disgust.</p> - -<p>"Why don't you laugh?" said Nina, looking round at her.</p> - -<p>"It doesn't make me feel like it," said Anne. "It makes me feel -melancholy."</p> - -<p>"Why so?"</p> - -<p>"Because religion is a sacred thing with me, and I don't like to see it -travestied," said she.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Nina, "I don't respect religion any the less for a good laugh -at its oddities. I believe I was born without any organ of reverence, -and so don't feel the incongruity of the thing as you do. The distance -between laughing and praying isn't so very wide in my mind as it is in -some people's."</p> - -<p>"We must have charity," said Clayton, "for every religious -manifestation. Barbarous and half-civilized people always find the -necessity for outward and bodily demonstration in worship; I suppose -because the nervous excitement wakes up and animates their spiritual -natures, and gets them into a receptive state, just as you have to shake -up sleeping persons and shout in their ears to put them in a condition -to understand you. I have known real conversions to take place under -just these excitements."</p> - -<p>"But," said Anne, "I think we might teach them to be decent. These -things ought not to be allowed!"</p> - -<p>"I believe," said Clayton, "intolerance is a rooted vice in our nature. -The world is as full of different minds and bodies as the woods are of -leaves, and each one has its own habit of growth. And yet our first -impulse is to forbid everything that would not be proper for us. No, let -the African scream, dance, and shout, and fall in trances. It suits his -tropical lineage and blood as much as our thoughtful inward ways do us."</p> - -<p>"I wonder who that is!" said Nina, as a general movement on the ground -proclaimed the arrival of some one who appeared to be exciting general -interest. The stranger was an unusually<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> tall, portly man, apparently -somewhat past the middle of life, whose erect carriage, full figure, and -red cheeks, and a certain dashing frankness of manner, might have -indicated him as belonging rather to the military than the clerical -profession. He carried a rifle on his shoulder, which he set down -carefully against the corner of the preacher's stand, and went around -shaking hands among the company with a free and jovial air that might -almost be described by the term rollicking.</p> - -<p>"Why," said Uncle John, "that's father Bonnie! How are you, my fine -fellow?"</p> - -<p>"What! <i>you</i>, Mr. Gordon?—How do you do?" said father Bonnie, grasping -his hand in his, and shaking it heartily. "Why, they tell me," he said, -looking at him with a jovial smile, "that you have fallen from grace!"</p> - -<p>"Even so!" said Uncle John. "I am a sad dog, I dare say."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I tell <i>you</i> what," said father Bonnie, "but it takes a strong hook -and a long line to pull in you <i>rich</i> sinners! Your money-bags and your -niggers hang round you like mill-stones! You are too tough for the -Gospel! Ah!" said he, shaking his fist at him, playfully, "but I'm going -to come down upon you, to-day, with the law, I can tell you! You want -the thunders of Sinai! You must have a dose of the law!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Uncle John, "thunder away! I suppose we need it, all of us. -But, now, father Bonnie, you ministers are always preaching to us poor -dogs on the evils of riches; but, somehow, I don't see any of you that -are much afraid of owning horses, or niggers, or any other good thing -that you can get your hands on. Now, I hear that you've got a pretty -snug little place, and a likely drove to work it. You'll have to look -out for your own soul, father Bonnie!"</p> - -<p>A general laugh echoed this retort; for father Bonnie had the reputation -of being a shrewder hand at a bargain, and of having more expertness in -swapping a horse or trading a negro, than any other man for six counties -round.</p> - -<p>"He's into you, now, old man!" said several of the by-standers, -laughingly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, as to that," said father Bonnie, laughing, also, "I go in with -Paul,—they that preach the Gospel must live of the Gospel.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> Now, Paul -was a man that stood up for his rights to live as other folks do. 'Isn't -it right,' says he, 'that those that plant a vineyard should first eat -of the fruit? Haven't we power to lead about a sister, a wife?' says he. -And if Paul had lived in our time he would have said a drove of niggers, -too! No danger about us ministers being hurt by riches, while you laymen -are so slow about supporting the Gospel!"</p> - -<p>At the elbow of father Bonnie stood a brother minister, who was in many -respects his contrast. He was tall, thin, and stooping, with earnest -black eyes, and a serene sweetness of expression. A threadbare suit of -rusty black, evidently carefully worn, showed the poverty of his worldly -estate. He carried in his hand a small portmanteau, probably containing -a change of linen, his Bible, and a few sermons. Father Dickson was a -man extensively known through all that region. He was one of those men -among the ministers of America, who keep alive our faith in -Christianity, and renew on earth the portrait of the old apostle: "In -journeyings often, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in -hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides -those things that are without, that which cometh upon them daily, the -care of all the churches. Who is weak, and they are not weak? who is -offended, and they burn not?"</p> - -<p>Every one in the state knew and respected father Dickson; and, like the -generality of the world, people were very well pleased, and thought it -extremely proper and meritorious for him to bear weariness and -painfulness, hunger and cold, in their spiritual service, leaving to -them the right of attending or not attending to him, according to their -own convenience. Father Dickson was one of those who had never yielded -to the common customs and habits of the country in regard to the holding -of slaves. A few, who had been left him by a relation, he had at great -trouble and expense transported to a free state, and settled there -comfortably. The world need not trouble itself with seeking to know or -reward such men; for the world cannot know and has no power to reward -them. Their citizenship is in heaven, and all that can be given them in -this life is like a morsel which a peasant gives in his cottage to him -who to-morrow will reign over a kingdom.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p><p>He had stood listening to the conversation thus far with the grave yet -indulgent air with which he generally listened to the sallies of his -ministerial brothers. Father Bonnie, though not as much respected or -confided in as father Dickson, had, from the frankness of his manners, -and a certain rude but effective style of eloquence, a more general and -apparent popularity. He produced more sensation on the camp-ground; -could sing louder and longer, and would often rise into flights of -eloquence both original and impressive. Many were offended by the -freedom of his manner out of the pulpit; and the stricter sort were -known to have said of him, "that when out he never ought to be in, and -when in never out." As the laugh that rose at his last sally died away, -he turned to father Dickson, and said:—</p> - -<p>"What do you think?"</p> - -<p>"I don't think," said father Dickson, mildly, "that you would ever have -found Paul leading a drove of negroes."</p> - -<p>"Why not, as well as Abraham, the father of the faithful? Didn't he have -three hundred trained servants?"</p> - -<p>"Servants, perhaps; but not slaves!" said father Dickson, "for they all -bore arms. For my part, I think that the buying, selling, and trading, -of human beings, for purposes of gain, is a sin in the sight of God."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, father Dickson, I wouldn't have thought you had read your -Bible to so little purpose as that! I wouldn't believe it! What do you -say to Moses?"</p> - -<p>"He led out a whole army of fugitive slaves through the Red Sea," said -father Dickson.</p> - -<p>"Well, I tell you, now," said father Bonnie, "if the buying, selling, or -holding, of a slave for the sake of gain, is, as you say, a sin, then -three fourths of all the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, and -Presbyterians, in the slave states of the Union, are of the devil!"</p> - -<p>"I think it is a sin, notwithstanding," said father Dickson, quietly.</p> - -<p>"Well, but doesn't Moses say expressly, 'Ye shall buy of the heathen -round about you'?"</p> - -<p>"There's into him!" said a Georgia trader, who, having camped with a -coffle of negroes in the neighborhood, had come up to camp-meeting.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p><p>"All those things," said father Dickson, "belong to the old covenant, -which Paul says was annulled for the weakness and unprofitableness -thereof, and have nothing to do with us, who have risen with Christ. We -have got past Mount Sinai and the wilderness, and have come unto Mount -Zion; and ought to seek the things that are above, where Christ -sitteth."</p> - -<p>"I say, brother," said another of the ministers, tapping him on the -shoulder, "it's time for the preaching to begin. You can finish your -discussion some other time. Come, father Bonnie, come forward, here, and -strike up the hymn."</p> - -<p>Father Bonnie accordingly stepped to the front of the stand, and with -him another minister, of equal height and breadth of frame, and, -standing with their hats on, they uplifted, in stentorian voices, the -following hymn:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Brethren don't you hear the sound?</div> -<div class="i1">The martial trumpet now is blowing;</div> -<div>Men in order listing round,</div> -<div class="i1">And soldiers to the standard flowing."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>As the sound of the hymn rolled through the aisles and arches of the -wood, the heads of different groups, who had been engaged in -conversation, were observed turning toward the stand, and voices from -every part of the camp-ground took up the air, as, suiting the action to -the words, they began flowing to the place of preaching. The hymn went -on, keeping up the same martial images:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Bounty offered, life and peace;</div> -<div class="i1">To every soldier this is given,</div> -<div>When the toils of life shall cease,</div> -<div class="i1">A mansion bright, prepared in heaven."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>As the throng pressed up, and came crowding from the distant aisles of -the wood, the singers seemed to exert themselves to throw a wilder -vehemence into the song, stretching out their arms and beckoning -eagerly. They went on singing:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"You need not fear; the cause is good,</div> -<div class="i1">Let who will to the crown aspire:</div> -<div>In this cause the martyrs bled,</div> -<div class="i1">And shouted victory in the fire.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"In this cause let's follow on,</div> -<div class="i1">And soon we'll tell the pleasing story,</div> -<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>How by faith we won the crown,</div> -<div class="i1">And fought our way to life and glory.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, ye rebels, come and 'list!</div> -<div class="i1">The officers are now recruiting:</div> -<div>Why will you in sin persist,</div> -<div class="i1">Or waste your time in vain disputing?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"All excuses now are vain;</div> -<div class="i1">For, if you do not sue for favor,</div> -<div>Down you'll sink to endless pain,</div> -<div class="i1">And bear the wrath of God forever."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>There is always something awful in the voice of the multitude. It would -seem as if the breath that a crowd breathed out together, in moments of -enthusiasm, carried with it a portion of the dread and mystery of their -own immortal natures. The whole area before the pulpit, and in the -distant aisles of the forest, became one vast, surging sea of sound, as -negroes and whites, slaves and freemen, saints and sinners, -slave-holders, slave-hunters, slave-traders, ministers, elders, and -laymen, alike joined in the pulses of that mighty song. A flood of -electrical excitement seemed to rise with it, as, with a voice of many -waters, the rude chant went on:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Hark! the victors singing loud!</div> -<div class="i1">Emanuel's chariot wheels are rumbling;</div> -<div>Mourners weeping through the crowd,</div> -<div class="i1">And Satan's kingdom down is tumbling!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Our friend, Ben Dakin, pressed to the stand, and, with tears streaming -down his cheeks, exceeded all others in the energy of his vociferations. -Ben had just come from almost a fight with another slave-hunter, who had -boasted a better-trained pack of dogs than his own; and had broken away -to hurry to the camp-ground, with the assurance that he'd "give him fits -when the preachin' was over;" and now he stood there, tears rolling down -his cheeks, singing with the heartiest earnestness and devotion. What -shall we make of it? Poor heathen Ben! is it any more out of the way for -him to think of being a Christian in this manner, than for some of his -more decent brethren, who take Sunday passage for eternity in the -cushioned New York or Boston pews, and solemnly drowse through very -sleepy tunes, under a dim, hazy impression that they are going to -heaven? Of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> the two, we think Ben's chance is the best; for, in some -blind way, he does think himself a sinner, and in need of something he -calls salvation; and, doubtless, while the tears stream down his face, -the poor fellow makes a new resolve against the whiskey-bottle, while -his more respectable sleepy brethren never think of making one against -the cotton-bale.</p> - -<p>Then there was his rival, also, Jim Stokes,—a surly, foul-mouthed, -swearing fellow,—he joins in the chorus of the hymn, and feels a -troublous, vague yearning, deep down within him, which makes him for the -moment doubt whether he had better knock down Ben at the end of the meeting.</p> - -<p>As to Harry, who stood also among the crowd, the words and tune recalled -but too vividly the incidents of his morning's interview with Dred, and -with it the tumultuous boiling of his bitter controversy with the laws -of the society in which he found himself. In hours of such high -excitement, a man seems to have an intuitive perception of the whole -extent and strength of what is within himself; and, if there be anything -unnatural or false in his position, he realizes it with double intensity.</p> - -<p>Mr. John Gordon, likewise, gave himself up, without resistance, to be -swayed by the feeling of the hour. He sung with enthusiasm, and wished -he was a soldier of somebody, going somewhere, or a martyr shouting -victory in the fire; and if the conflict described had been with any -other foe than his own laziness and self-indulgence—had there been any -outward, tangible enemy, at the moment—he would doubtless have -enlisted, without loss of time.</p> - -<p>When the hymn was finished, however, there was a general wiping of eyes, -and they all sat down to listen to the sermon. Father Bonnie led off in -an animated strain. His discourse was like the tropical swamp, bursting -out with a lush abundance of every kind of growth—grave, gay, -grotesque, solemn, fanciful, and even coarse caricature, provoking the -broadest laughter. The audience were swayed by him like trees before the -wind. There were not wanting touches of rude pathos, as well as earnest -appeals. The meeting was a union one of Presbyterians and Methodists, in -which the ministers of both denominations took equal part; and it was an -understood agreement among them, of course, that they were not to -venture upon polemic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> ground, or attack each other's peculiarities of -doctrine. But Abijah's favorite preacher could not get through a sermon -without some quite pointed exposition of Scripture bearing on his -favorite doctrine of election, which caused the next minister to run a -vehement tilt on the correlative doctrines of free grace, with a eulogy -on John Wesley. The auditors, meanwhile, according to their respective -sentiments, encouraged each preacher with a cry of "Amen!" "Glory be to -God!" "Go on, brother!" and other similar exclamations.</p> - -<p>About noon the services terminated, <i>pro tem.</i>, and the audience -dispersed themselves to their respective tents through the grove, where -there was an abundance of chatting, visiting, eating, and drinking, as -if the vehement denunciations and passionate appeals of the morning had -been things of another state of existence. Uncle John, in the most -cheery possible frame of mind, escorted his party into the woods, and -assisted them in unpacking a hamper containing wine, cold fowls, cakes, -pies, and other delicacies which Aunt Katy had packed for the occasion.</p> - -<p>Old Tiff had set up his tent in a snug little nook on the banks of the -stream, where he informed passers-by that it was his young mas'r and -missis's establishment, and that he, Tiff, had come to wait on them. -With a good-natured view of doing him a pleasure, Nina selected a spot -for their nooning at no great distance, and spoke in the most gracious -and encouraging manner to them, from time to time.</p> - -<p>"See, now, can't you, how real quality behaves demselves!" he said, -grimly, to Old Hundred, who came up bringing the carriage-cushions for -the party to sit down upon. "Real quality sees into things! I tell ye -what, blood sees into blood. Miss Nina sees dese yer chil'en an't de -common sort—dat's what she does!"</p> - -<p>"Umph!" said Old Hundred, "such a muss as ye keep up about yer chil'en! -Tell you what, dey an't no better dan oder white trash!"</p> - -<p>"Now, you talk dat ar way, I'll knock you down!" said Old Tiff, who, -though a peaceable and law-abiding creature, in general, was driven, in -desperation, to the last resort of force.</p> - -<p>"John, what are you saying to Tiff?" said Nina, who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> overheard some -of the last words. "Go back to your own tent, and don't you trouble him! -I have taken him under my protection."</p> - -<p>The party enjoyed their dinner with infinite relish, and Nina amused -herself in watching Tiff's cooking preparations. Before departing to the -preaching-ground, he had arranged a slow fire, on which a savory stew -had been all the morning simmering, and which, on the taking off of the -pot-lid, diffused an agreeable odor through the place.</p> - -<p>"I say, Tiff, how delightfully that smells!" said Nina, getting up, and -looking into the pot. "Wouldn't Miss Fanny be so kind as to favor us -with a taste of it?"</p> - -<p>Fanny, to whom Tiff punctiliously referred the question, gave a bashful -consent. But who shall describe the pride and glory that swelled the -heart of Tiff as he saw a bowl of his stew smoking among the Gordon -viands, praised and patronized by the party? And, when Nina placed on -their simple board—literally a board, and nothing more—a small loaf of -frosted cake, in exchange, it certainly required all the grace of the -morning exercises to keep Tiff within due bounds of humility. He really -seemed to dilate with satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"Tiff, how did you like the sermon?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Dey's pretty far, Miss Nina. Der's a good deal o' quality preaching."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by quality preaching, Tiff?"</p> - -<p>"Why, dat ar kind dat's good for quality—full of long words, you know. -I spects it's very good; but poor nigger like me can't see his way -through it. You see, Miss Nina, what I's studdin' on, lately, is, how to -get dese yer chil'en to Canaan; and I hars fus with one ear, and den -with t'oder, but 'pears like an't clar 'bout it, yet. Dere's a heap -about mose everything else, and it's all very good; but 'pears like I -an't clar, arter all, about dat ar. Dey says, 'Come to Christ;' and I -says, 'Whar is he, any how?' Bress you, I <i>want</i> to come! Dey talks -'bout going in de gate, and knocking at de do', and 'bout marching on de -road, and 'bout fighting and being soldiers of de cross; and de Lord -knows, now, I'd be glad to get de chil'en through any gate; and I could -take 'em on my back and travel all day, if dere was any road; and if -dere was a do', bless me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> if dey wouldn't hear Old Tiff a rapping! I -spects de Lord would have fur to open it—would so. But, arter all, when -de preaching is done, dere don't 'pear to be nothing to it. Dere an't no -gate, dere an't no do', nor no way; and dere an't no fighting, 'cept -when Ben Dakin and Jim Stokes get jawing about der dogs; and everybody -comes back eating der dinner quite comf'table, and 'pears like dere -wan't no such ting dey's been preaching 'bout. Dat ar troubles me—does -so—'cause I wants fur to get dese yer chil'en in de kingdom, some way -or oder. I didn't know but some of de quality would know more 'bout it."</p> - -<p>"Hang me, if I haven't felt just so!" said Uncle John. "When they were -singing that hymn about enlisting and being a soldier, if there had been -any fighting doing anywhere, I should have certainly gone right into it; -and the preaching always stirs me up terribly. But, then, as Tiff says, -after it's all over, why, there's dinner to be eaten, and I can't see -anything better than to eat it; and then, by the time I have drank two -or three glasses of wine, it's all gone. Now, that's just the way with me!"</p> - -<p>"Dey says," said Tiff, "dat we must wait for de blessing to come down -upon us, and Aunt Rose says it's dem dat shouts dat gets de blessing; -and I's been shouting till I's most beat out, but I hasn't got it. Den, -one of dem said none of dem could get it but de 'lect; but, den, t'oder -one, he seemed to tink different; and in de meeting dey tells about de -scales falling from der eyes,—and I wished dey fall from mine—I do so! -Perhaps, Miss Nina, now, you could tell me something."</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't ask me!" said Nina; "I don't know anything about these -things. I think I feel a little like Uncle John," she said, turning to -Clayton. "There are two kinds of sermons and hymns; one gets me to -sleep, and the other excites and stirs me up in a general kind of way; -but they don't either seem to do me real good."</p> - -<p>"For my part, I am such an enemy to stagnation," said Clayton, "that I -think there is advantage in everything that stirs up the soul, even -though we see no immediate results. I listen to music, see pictures, as -far as I can, uncritically. I say, 'Here I am; see what you can do with -me.' So I present myself to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> almost all religious exercises. It is the -most mysterious part of our nature. I do not pretend to understand it, -therefore never criticise."</p> - -<p>"For <i>my</i> part," said Anne, "there is so much in the wild freedom of -these meetings that shocks my taste and sense of propriety, that I am -annoyed more than I am benefited."</p> - -<p>"There spoke the true, well-trained conventionalist," said Clayton. "But -look around you. See, in this wood, among these flowers, and festoons of -vine, and arches of green, how many shocking, unsightly growths! <i>You</i> -would not have had all this underbrush, these dead limbs, these briers -running riot over trees, and sometimes choking and killing them. You -would have well-trimmed trees and velvet turf. But I love briers, dead -limbs, and all, for their very savage freedom. Every once in a while you -see in a wood a jessamine, or a sweet-brier, or a grape-vine, that -throws itself into a gracefulness of growth which a landscape gardener -would go down on his knees for, but cannot get. Nature resolutely denies -it to him. She says, 'No! I keep this for <i>my own</i>. You won't have my -wildness—my freedom; very well, then you shall not have the graces that -spring from it.' Just so it is with men. Unite any assembly of common -men in a great enthusiasm,—work them up into an abandon, and let every -one 'let go,' and speak as nature prompts,—and you will have brush, -underwood, briers, and all grotesque growths; but, now and then, some -thought or sentiment will be struck out with a freedom or power such as -you cannot get in any other way. You cultivated people are much mistaken -when you despise the enthusiasms of the masses. There is more truth than -you think in the old '<i>Vox populi, vox Dei</i>.'"</p> - -<p>"What's that?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"'The voice of the people is the voice of God.' There is truth in it. I -never repent my share in a popular excitement, provided it be of the -higher sentiments; and I do not ask too strictly whether it has produced -any tangible result. I reverence the people, as I do the woods, for the -wild, grand freedom with which their humanity develops itself."</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid, Nina," said Aunt Nesbit, in a low tone, to the latter, "I'm -afraid he isn't orthodox."</p> - -<p>"What makes you think so, aunt?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, I don't know; his talk hasn't the real sound."</p> - -<p>"You want something that ends in 'ation,' don't you, -aunt?—justification, sanctification, or something of that kind."</p> - -<p class="center">* * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the department of Abijah Skinflint exhibited a decided -activity. This was a long, low booth, made of poles, and roofed with -newly-cut green boughs. Here the whiskey-barrel was continually pouring -forth its supplies to customers who crowded around it. Abijah sat on the -middle of a sort of rude counter, dangling his legs, and chewing a -straw, while his negro was busy in helping his various customers. -Abijah, as we said, being a particularly high Calvinist, was recreating -himself by carrying on a discussion with a fat, little, turnipy brother -of the Methodist persuasion.</p> - -<p>"I say," he said, "Stringfellow put it into you, Methodists, this -morning! Hit the nail on the head, I thought!"</p> - -<p>"Not a bit of it!" said the other, contemptuously. "Why, elder Baskum -chawed him up completely! There wan't nothin' left of him!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Abijah, "strange how folks will see things! Why, it's just -as clar to me that all things is decreed! Why, that ar nails everything -up tight and handsome. It gives a fellow a kind of comfort to think on -it. Things is just as they have got to be. All this free-grace stuff is -drefful loose talk. If things is been decreed 'fore the world was made, -well, there seems to be some sense in their coming to pass. But, if -everything kind of turns up whenever folks think on't, it's a kind of -shaky business."</p> - -<p>"I don't like this tying up things so tight," said the other, who -evidently was one of the free, jovial order. "I go in for the freedom of -the will. Free Gospel, and free grace."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Abijah, rather grimly, "if things was managed my -way, I shouldn't commune with nobody that didn't believe in election, up -to the hub."</p> - -<p>"You strong electioners think you's among the elect!" said one of the -by-standers. "You wouldn't be so crank about it, if you didn't! Now, see -here: if everything is decreed, how am I going to help myself?"</p> - -<p>"That ar is none of <i>my</i> look-out," said Abijah. "But there's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> a pint my -mind rests upon—everything is fixed as it can be, and it makes a man -mighty easy."</p> - -<p class="center">* * * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>In another part of the camp-ground, Ben Dakin was sitting in his tent -door, caressing one of his favorite dogs, and partaking his noontide -repast with his wife and child.</p> - -<p>"I declar'," said Ben, wiping his mouth, "wife, I intend to go into it, -and sarve the Lord, now, full chisel! If I catch the next lot of -niggers, I intend to give half the money towards keeping up preaching -somewhere round here. I'm going to enlist, now, and be a soldier."</p> - -<p>"And," said his wife, "Ben, just keep clear of Abijah Skinflint's -counter, won't you?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I will, durned if I won't!" said Ben. "I'll be moderate. A fellow -wants a glass or two, to strike up the hymn on, you know; but I'll be -moderate."</p> - -<p>The Georgia trader, who had encamped in the neighborhood, now came up.</p> - -<p>"Do you believe, stranger," said he, "one of them durned niggers of mine -broke loose and got in the swamps, while I was at meeting this morning! -Couldn't you take your dog, here, and give 'em a run? I just gave nine -hundred dollars for that fellow, cash down."</p> - -<p>"Ho! what you going to <i>him</i> for?" said Jim Stokes, a short, pursy, -vulgar-looking individual, dressed in a hunting-shirt of blue Kentucky -jean, who just then came up. "Why, durn ye, his dogs an't no breed 't -all! Mine's the true grit, I can tell you; they's the true Florida -blood-hounds! I's seen one of them ar dogs shake a nigger in his mouth -like he'd been a sponge."</p> - -<p>Poor Ben's new-found religion could not withstand this sudden attack of -his spiritual enemy; and, rousing himself, notwithstanding the appealing -glances of his wife, he stripped up his sleeves, and, squaring off, -challenged his rival to a fight.</p> - -<p>A crowd gathered round, laughing and betting, and cheering on the -combatants with slang oaths and expressions, such as we will not repeat, -when the concourse was routed by the approach of father Bonnie on the -outside of the ring.</p> - -<p>"Look here, boys, what works of the devil have you got round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> here? None -of this on the camp-ground! This is the Lord's ground, here; so shut up -your swearing, and don't fight."</p> - -<p>A confused murmur of voices now began to explain to father Bonnie the -cause of the trouble.</p> - -<p>"Ho, ho!" said he, "let the nigger run; you can catch him fast enough -when the meetings are over. You come here to 'tend to your salvation. -Ah, don't you be swearing and blustering round! Come, boys, join in a -hymn with me." So saying, he struck up a well-known air:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"When Israel went to Jericho,</div> -<div>O good Lord, in my soul!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>in which one after another joined, and the rising tumult was soon -assuaged.</p> - -<p>"I say," said father Bonnie to the trader, in an undertone, as he was -walking away, "you got a good cook in your lot, hey?"</p> - -<p>"Got a prime one," said the trader; "an A number one cook, and no -mistake! Picked her up real cheap, and I'll let you have her for eight -hundred dollars, being as you are a minister."</p> - -<p>"You must think the Gospel a better trade than it is," said father -Bonnie, "if you think a minister can afford to pay at that figure!"</p> - -<p>"Why," said the trader, "you haven't seen her; it's dirt cheap for her, -I can tell you! A sound, strong, hearty woman; a prudent, careful -housekeeper; a real pious Methodist, a member of a class-meeting! Why, -eight hundred dollars an't anything! I ought to get a thousand for her; -but I don't hear preaching for nothing,—always think right to make a -discount to ministers!"</p> - -<p>"Why couldn't you bring her in?" said father Bonnie. "Maybe I'll give -you seven hundred and fifty for her."</p> - -<p>"Couldn't do that, no way!" said the trader. "Couldn't, indeed!"</p> - -<p>"Well, after the meetings are over I'll talk about it."</p> - -<p>"She's got a child, four years old," said the trader, with a little -cough; "healthy, likely child; I suppose I shall want a hundred dollars -for him!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that won't do!" said father Bonnie. "I don't want any more children -round my place than I've got now!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p><p>"But, I tell you," said the trader, "it's a likely boy. Why, the -keeping of him won't cost you anything, and before you think of it -you'll have a thousand-dollar hand grown on your own place."</p> - -<p>"Well," said father Bonnie, "I'll think of it!"</p> - -<p>In the evening the scene on the camp-ground was still more picturesque -and impressive. Those who conduct camp-meetings are generally men who, -without much reasoning upon the subject, fall into a sort of tact, in -influencing masses of mind, and pressing into the service all the great -life forces and influences of nature. A kind of rude poetry pervades -their minds, colors their dialect, and influences their arrangements. -The solemn and harmonious grandeur of night, with all its mysterious -power of exalting the passions and intensifying the emotions, has ever -been appreciated, and used by them with even poetic skill. The day had -been a glorious one in June; the sky of that firm, clear blue, the -atmosphere of that crystalline clearness, which often gives to the -American landscape such a sharply-defined outline, and to the human -system such an intense consciousness of life. The evening sun went down -in a broad sea of light, and even after it had sunk below the purple -horizon, flashed back a flood of tremulous rose-colored radiance, which, -taken up by a thousand filmy clouds, made the whole sky above like a -glowing tent of the most ethereal brightness. The shadows of the forest -aisles were pierced by the rose-colored rays; and, as they gradually -faded, star after star twinkled out, and a broad moon, ample and round, -rose in the purple zone of the sky. When she had risen above the horizon -but a short space, her light was so resplendent and so profuse, that it -was decided to conduct the evening service by that alone; and when, at -the sound of the hymn, the assembly poured in and arranged themselves -before the preaching-stand, it is probable that the rudest heart present -was somewhat impressed with the silent magnificence by which God was -speaking to them through his works. As the hymn closed, father Bonnie, -advancing to the front of the stage, lifted his hands, and pointing to -the purple sky, and in a deep and not unmelodious voice, repeated the -words of the Psalmist:—</p> - -<p>"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his -handy-work; day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth -knowledge."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, ye sinners!" he exclaimed, "look up at the moon, there, walking in -her brightness, and think over your oaths, and your cursings, and your -drinkings! Think over your backbitings, and your cheatings! think over -your quarrellings and your fightings! How do they look to you now, with -that blessed moon shining down upon you? Don't you see the beauty of our -Lord God upon her? Don't you see how the saints walk in white with the -Lord, like her? I dare say some of you, now, have had a pious mother, or -a pious wife, or a pious sister, that's gone to glory; and there they -are walking with the Lord!—walking with the Lord, through the sky, and -looking down on you, sinners, just as that moon looks down! And what -does she see you doing, your wife, or your mother, or sister, that's in -glory? Does she see all your swearings, and your drinkings, and your -fightings, and your hankerings after money, and your horse-racings, and -your cock-fightings? Oh, sinners, but you are a bad set! I tell you the -Lord is looking now down on you, out of that moon! He is looking down in -mercy! But, I tell you, he'll look down quite another way, one of these -days! Oh, there'll be a time of wrath, by and by, if you don't repent! -Oh, what a time there was at Sinai, years ago, when the voice of the -trumpet waxed louder and louder, and the mountain was all of a smoke, -and there were thunderings and lightnings, and the Lord descended on -Sinai! That's nothing to what you'll see, by and by! No more moon -looking down on you! No more stars, but the heavens shall pass away with -a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat! Ah! did -you ever see a fire in the woods? I have; and I've seen the fire on the -prairies, and it rolled like a tempest, and men and horses and -everything, had to run before it. I have seen it roaring and crackling -through the woods, and great trees shrivelled in a minute like tinder! I -have seen it flash over trees seventy-five and a hundred feet high, and -in a minute they'd be standing pillars of fire, and the heavens were all -a blaze, and the crackling and roaring was like the sea in a storm. -There's a judgment-day for you! Oh, sinner, what will become of you in -that day? Never cry, Lord, Lord! Too late—too late, man! You wouldn't -take mercy when it was offered, and now you shall have wrath! No place -to hide! The heavens and earth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> are passing away, and there shall be no -more sea! There's no place for you now in God's universe."</p> - -<p>By this time there were tumultuous responses from the audience of -groans, cries, clapping of hands, and mingled shouts of glory and amen!</p> - -<p>The electric shout of the multitude acted on the preacher again, as he -went on, with a yet fiercer energy. "Now is your time, sinners! Now is -your time! Come unto the altar, and God's people will pray for you! Now -is the day of grace! Come up! Come up, you that have got pious fathers -and mothers in glory! Come up, father! come up mother! come up, brother! -Come, young man! we want you to come! Ah, there's a hardened sinner, off -there! I see his lofty looks! Come up, come up! Come up, you rich -sinners! You'll be poor enough in the day of the Lord, I can tell you! -Come up, you young women! You daughters of Jerusalem, with your tinkling -ornaments! Come, saints of the Lord, and labor with me in prayer. Strike -up a hymn, brethren, strike up the hymn!" And a thousand voices -commenced the hymn,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Stop, poor sinner, stop and think,</div> -<div>Before you further go!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And, meanwhile, ministers and elders moved around the throng, entreating -and urging one and another to come and kneel before the stand. -Multitudes rushed forward, groans and sobs were heard, as the speaker -continued, with redoubled vehemence.</p> - -<p>"I don't care," said Mr. John Gordon, "who sees me; I'm going up! I am a -poor old sinner, and I ought to be prayed for, if anybody."</p> - -<p>Nina shrank back, and clung to Clayton's arm. So vehement was the -surging feeling of the throng around her that she wept with a wild, -tremulous excitement.</p> - -<p>"Do take me out,—it's dreadful!" she said.</p> - -<p>Clayton passed his arm round her, and, opening a way through the crowd, -carried her out beyond the limits, where they stood together alone, -under the tree.</p> - -<p>"I know I am not good as I ought to be," she said, "but I don't know how -to be any better. Do you think it would do me any good to go up there? -Do you believe in these things?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p><p>"I sympathize with every effort that man makes to approach his Maker," -said Clayton; "these ways do not suit me, but I dare not judge them. I -cannot despise them. I must not make myself a rule for others."</p> - -<p>"But, don't you think," said Nina, "that these things do harm -sometimes?"</p> - -<p>"Alas, child, what form of religion does not? It is our fatality that -everything that does good must do harm. It's the condition of our poor, -imperfect life here."</p> - -<p>"I do not like these terrible threats," said Nina. "Can fear of fire -make me love? Besides, I have a kind of courage in me that always rises -up against a threat. It isn't my nature to fear."</p> - -<p>"If we may judge our Father by his voice in nature," said Clayton, "he -deems severity a necessary part of our training. How inflexibly and -terribly regular are all his laws! Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy -wind, fulfilling his word—all these have a crushing regularity in their -movements, which show that he is to be feared as well as loved."</p> - -<p>"But I want to be religious," said Nina, "entirely apart from such -considerations. Not driven by fear, but drawn by love. You can guide me -about these things, for you are religious."</p> - -<p>"I fear I should not be accepted as such in any church," said Clayton. -"It is my misfortune that I cannot receive any common form of faith, -though I respect and sympathize with all. Generally speaking, preaching -only weakens my faith; and I have to forget the sermon in order to -recover my faith. I do not <i>believe</i>—I <i>know</i> that our moral nature -needs a thorough regeneration; and I believe this must come through -Christ. This is all I am certain of."</p> - -<p>"I wish I were like Milly," said Nina. "She is a Christian, I know; but -she has come to it by dreadful sorrows. Sometimes I'm afraid to ask my -heavenly Father to make me good, because I think it will come by -dreadful trials, if he does."</p> - -<p>"And I," said Clayton, speaking with great earnestness, "would be -willing to suffer anything conceivable, if I could only overcome all -evil, and come up to my highest ideas of good." And, as he spoke, he -turned his face up to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>moonlight with an earnest fervor of -expression, that struck Nina deeply.</p> - -<p>"I almost shudder to hear you say so! You don't know what it may bring -on you!"</p> - -<p>He looked at her with a beautiful smile, which was a peculiar expression -of his face in moments of high excitement.</p> - -<p>"I say it again!" he said. "Whatever it involves, let it come!"</p> - -<p class="center">* * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>The exercises of the evening went on with a succession of addresses, -varied by singing of hymns and prayers. In the latter part of the time -many declared themselves converts, and were shouting loudly. Father -Bonnie came forward.</p> - -<p>"Brethren," he shouted, "we are seeing a day from the Lord! We've got a -glorious time! Oh, brethren, let us sing glory to the Lord! The Lord is -coming among us!"</p> - -<p>The excitement now became general. There was a confused sound of -exhortation, prayers, and hymns, all mixed together, from different -parts of the ground. But, all of a sudden, every one was startled by a -sound which seemed to come pealing down directly from the thick canopy -of pines over the heads of the ministers.</p> - -<p>"Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end shall it be -for <i>you</i>? The day of the Lord shall be darkness, and not light! Blow ye -the trumpet in Zion! Sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the -inhabitants of the land tremble! for the day of the Lord cometh!"</p> - -<p>There was deep, sonorous power in the voice that spoke, and the words -fell pealing down through the air like the vibrations of some mighty -bell. Men looked confusedly on each other; but, in the universal license -of the hour, the obscurity of the night, and the multitude of the -speakers, no one knew exactly whence it came. After a moment's pause, -the singers were recommencing, when again the same deep voice was heard.</p> - -<p>"Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and the melody of thy viols; -for I will not hear them, saith the Lord. I hate and despise your -feast-days! I will not smell in your solemn assemblies; for your hands -are defiled with blood, and your fingers are greedy for violence! Will -ye kill, and steal, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>commit adultery, and swear falsely, and come -and stand before <i>me</i>, saith the Lord? Ye oppress the poor and needy, -and hunt the stranger; also in thy skirts is found the blood of poor -innocents! and yet ye say, Because I am clean shall his anger pass from -me! Hear this, ye that swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the -land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell -corn? that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of -shoes? The Lord hath sworn, saying, I will never forget their works. I -will surely visit you!"</p> - -<p>The audience, thus taken, in the obscurity of the evening, by an unknown -speaker, whose words seemed to fall apparently from the clouds, in a -voice of such strange and singular quality, began to feel a creeping awe -stealing over them. The high state of electrical excitement under which -they had been going on, predisposed them to a sort of revulsion of -terror; and a vague, mysterious panic crept upon them, as the boding, -mournful voice continued to peal from the trees.</p> - -<p>"Hear, oh ye rebellious people! The Lord is against this nation! The -Lord shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of -emptiness? For thou saidst, I will ascend into the stars; I will be as -God! But thou shalt be cast out as an abominable branch, and the wild -beasts shall tread thee down! Howl, fir-tree, for thou art spoiled! Open -thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars! for the Lord -cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the land! The Lord -shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great! -Multitudes! multitudes! in the valley of decision! For the day of the -Lord is near in the valley of decision! The sun and the moon shall be -dark, and the stars withdraw their shining; for the Lord shall utter his -voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and earth shall shake! In that day -I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and darken the whole earth! And -I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs into lamentation! -Woe to the bloody city! It is full of lies and robbery! The noise of a -whip!—the noise of the rattling of wheels!—of the prancing horses, and -the jumping chariot! The horseman lifteth up the sword and glittering -spear! and there is a multitude of slain! There is no end of their -corpses!—They are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>stumbling upon the corpses! For, Behold, I am -against thee, saith the Lord, and I will make thee utterly desolate!"</p> - -<p>There was a fierce, wailing earnestness in the sound of these dreadful -words, as if they were uttered in a paroxysm of affright and horror, by -one who stood face to face with some tremendous form. And, when the -sound ceased, men drew in their breath, and looked on each other, and -the crowd began slowly to disperse, whispering in low voices to each -other.</p> - -<p>So extremely piercing and so wildly earnest had the voice been, that it -actually seemed, in the expressive words of Scripture, to make every ear -to tingle. And, as people of rude and primitive habits are always -predisposed to superstition, there crept through the different groups -wild legends of prophets strangely commissioned to announce coming -misfortunes. Some spoke of the predictions of the judgment-day; some -talked of comets, and strange signs that had preceded wars and -pestilences. The ministers wondered, and searched around the stand in -vain. One auditor alone could, had he desired it, make an explanation. -Harry, who stood near the stand, had recognized the voice. But, though -he searched, also, around, he could find no one.</p> - -<p>He who spoke was one whose savage familiarity with nature gave him the -agility and stealthy adroitness of a wild animal. And, during the stir -and commotion of the dispersing audience, he had silently made his way -from tree to tree, over the very heads of those who were yet wondering -at his strange, boding words, till at last he descended in a distant -part of the forest.</p> - -<p>After the service, as father Dickson was preparing to retire to his -tent, a man pulled him by the sleeve. It was the Georgia trader.</p> - -<p>"We have had an awful time, to-night!" said he, looking actually pale -with terror. "Do you think the judgment-day really is coming?"</p> - -<p>"My friend," said father Dickson, "it surely is! Every step we take in -life is leading us directly to the judgment-seat of Christ!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said the trader, "but do you think that was from the Lord, the -last one that spoke? Durned if he didn't say awful things!—'nough to -make the hair rise! I tell you what, I've<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> often had doubts about my -trade. The ministers may prove it's all right out of the Old Testament; -but I'm durned if I think they know all the things that we do! But, -then, I an't so bad as some of 'em. But, now, I've got a gal out in my -gang that's dreadful sick, and I partly promised her I'd bring a -minister to see her."</p> - -<p>"I'll go with you, friend," said father Dickson; and forthwith he began -following the trader to the racks where their horses were tied. -Selecting, out of some hundred who were tied there, their own beasts, -the two midnight travellers soon found themselves trotting along under -the shadow of the forest's boughs.</p> - -<p>"My friend," said father Dickson, "I feel bound in conscience to tell -you that I think your trade a ruinous one to your soul. I hope you'll -lay to heart the solemn warning you've heard to-night. Why, your own -sense can show you that a trade can't be right that you'd be afraid to -be found in if the great judgment-day were at hand."</p> - -<p>"Well, I rather spect you speak the truth; but, then, what makes father -Bonnie stand up for 't?"</p> - -<p>"My friend, I must say that I think father Bonnie upholds a -soul-destroying error. I must say that, as conscience-bound. I pray the -Lord for him and you both. I put it right to your conscience, my friend, -whether you think you could keep to your trade, and live a Christian -life."</p> - -<p>"No; the fact is, it's a d——d bad business, that's just where 't is. -We an't fit to be trusted with such things that come to us—gals and -women. Well, I feel pretty bad, I tell you, to-night; 'cause I know I -haven't done right by this yer gal. I ought fur to have let her alone; -but, then, the devil or something possessed me. And now she has got a -fever, and screeches awfully. I declar, some things she says go right -through me!"</p> - -<p>Father Dickson groaned in spirit over this account, and felt himself -almost guilty for belonging ostensibly and outwardly to a church which -tolerated such evils. He rode along by the side of his companion, -breaking forth into occasional ejaculations and snatches of hymns. After -a ride of about an hour, they arrived at the encampment. A large fire -had been made in a cleared spot, and smouldering fragments and brands -were lying among the white ashes. One or two horses were tied to a -neighboring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> tree, and wagons were drawn up by them. Around the fire, in -different groups, lay about fifteen men and women, with heavy iron -shackles on their feet, asleep in the moonlight. At a little distance -from the group, and near to one of the wagons, a blanket was spread down -on the ground under a tree, on which lay a young girl of seventeen, -tossing and moaning in a disturbed stupor. A respectable-looking -mulatto-woman was sitting beside her, with a gourd full of water, with -which from time to time she moistened her forehead. The woman rose as -the trader came up.</p> - -<p>"Well, Nance, how does she do now?" said the trader.</p> - -<p>"Mis'able enough!" said Nance. "She done been tossing, a throwing round, -and crying for her mammy, ever since you went away!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I've brought the minister," said he. "Try, Nance, to wake her up; -she'll be glad to see him."</p> - -<p>The woman knelt down, and took the hand of the sleeper.</p> - -<p>"Emily! Emily!" she said, "wake up!"</p> - -<p>The girl threw herself over with a sudden, restless toss. "Oh, how my -head burns!—Oh, dear!—Oh, my mother! Mother!—mother!—mother!—why -don't you come to me?"</p> - -<p>Father Dickson approached and knelt the other side of her. The -mulatto-woman made another effort to bring her to consciousness.</p> - -<p>"Emily here's the minister you was wanting so much! Emily, wake up!"</p> - -<p>The girl slowly opened her eyes—large, tremulous, dark eyes. She drew -her hand across them, as if to clear her sight, and looked wistfully at -the woman.</p> - -<p>"Minister!—minister!" she said.</p> - -<p>"Yes, minister! You said you wanted to see one."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, I did!" she said, heavily.</p> - -<p>"My daughter!" said father Dickson, "you are very sick!"</p> - -<p>"Yes!" she said, "very! And I'm glad of it! I'm going to die!—I'm glad -of that, too! That's all I've got left to be glad of! But I wanted to -ask you to write to my mother. She is a free woman; she lives in New -York. I want you to give my love to her, and tell her not to worry any -more. Tell her I tried all I could to get to her: but they took us, and -mistress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> was so angry she sold me! I forgive her, too. I don't bear her -any malice, 'cause it's all over, now! She used to say I was a wild -girl, and laughed too loud. I shan't trouble any one that way any more! -So that's no matter!"</p> - -<p>The girl spoke these sentences at long intervals, occasionally opening -her eyes and closing them again in a languid manner. Father Dickson, -however, who had some knowledge of medicine, placed his finger on her -pulse, which was rapidly sinking. It is the usual instinct, in all such -cases, to think of means of prolonging life. Father Dickson rose, and -said to the trader:—</p> - -<p>"Unless some stimulus be given her, she will be gone very soon!"</p> - -<p>The trader produced from his pocket a flask of brandy, which he mixed -with a little water in a cup, and placed it in father Dickson's hand. He -kneeled down again, and, calling her by name, tried to make her take -some.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" said she, opening her wild, glittering eyes.</p> - -<p>"It's something to make you feel better."</p> - -<p>"I don't want to feel better! I want to die!" she said, throwing herself -over. "What should I want to live for?"</p> - -<p>What should she? The words struck father Dickson so much that he sat for -a while in silence. He meditated in his mind how he could reach, with -any words, that dying ear, or enter with her into that land of trance -and mist, into whose cloudy circle the soul seemed already to have -passed. Guided by a subtle instinct, he seated himself by the dying -girl, and began singing, in a subdued plaintive air, the following -well-known hymn:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Hark, my soul! it is the Lord,</div> -<div>'Tis thy Saviour, hear his word;</div> -<div>Jesus speaks—he speaks to thee!</div> -<div>Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The melody is one often sung among the negroes; and one which, from its -tenderness and pathos, is a favorite among them. As oil will find its -way into crevices where water cannot penetrate, so song will find its -way where speech can no longer enter. The moon shone full on the face of -the dying girl, only interrupted by flickering shadows of leaves; and, -as father Dickson sung, he fancied he saw a slight, tremulous movement -of the face,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> as if the soul, so worn and weary, were upborne on the -tender pinions of the song. He went on singing:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Can a mother's tender care</div> -<div>Cease toward the child she bare?</div> -<div>Yes, she may forgetful be:</div> -<div>Still will I remember thee."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>By the light of the moon, he saw a tear steal from under the long -lashes, and course slowly down her cheek. He continued his song:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Mine is an eternal love,</div> -<div>Higher than the heights above,</div> -<div>Deeper than the depths beneath,</div> -<div>True and faithful—strong as death.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Thou shalt see my glory soon,</div> -<div>When the work of faith is done;</div> -<div>Partner of my throne shalt be!</div> -<div>Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Oh, love of Christ! which no sin can weary, which no lapse of time can -change; from which tribulation, persecution, and distress cannot -separate—all-redeeming, all-glorifying, changing even death and despair -to the gate of heaven! Thou hast one more triumph here in the -wilderness, in the slave-coffle, and thou comest to bind up the -broken-hearted.</p> - -<p>As the song ceased, she opened her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Mother used to sing that!" she said.</p> - -<p>"And can you believe in it, daughter?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," she said, "I see Him now! <i>He</i> loves me! Let me go!"</p> - -<p>There followed a few moments of those strugglings and shiverings which -are the birth-pangs of another life, and Emily lay at rest.</p> - -<p>Father Dickson, kneeling by her side, poured out the fulness of his -heart in an earnest prayer. Rising, he went up to the trader, and, -taking his hand, said to him,—</p> - -<p>"My friend, this may be the turning-point with your soul for eternity. -It has pleased the Lord to show you the evil of your ways; and now my -advice to you is, break off your sins at once, and do works meet for -repentance. Take off the shackles of these poor creatures, and tell them -they are at liberty to go."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p><p>"Why, bless your soul, sir, this yer lot's worth ten thousand dollars!" -said the trader, who was not prepared for so close a practical -application.</p> - -<p>Do not be too sure, friend, that the trader is peculiar in this. The -very same argument, though less frankly stated, holds in the bonds of -Satan many extremely well-bred, refined, respectable men, who would -gladly save their souls if they could afford the luxury.</p> - -<p>"My friend," said father Dickson, using the words of a very close and -uncompromising preacher of old, "what shall it profit a man if he should -gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"</p> - -<p>"I know that," said the trader, doubtfully; "but it's a very hard case, -this. I'll think about it, though. But there's father Bonnie wants to -buy Nance. It would be a pity to disappoint him. But I'll think it -over."</p> - -<p>Father Dickson returned to the camp-ground between one and two o'clock -at night, and, putting away his horse, took his way to the ministers' -tent. Here he found father Bonnie standing out in the moonlight. He had -been asleep within the tent; but it is to be confessed that the interior -of a crowded tent on a camp-ground is anything but favorable to repose. -He therefore came out into the fresh air, and was there when father -Dickson came back to enter the tent.</p> - -<p>"Well, brother, where have you been so late?" said father Bonnie.</p> - -<p>"I have been looking for a few sheep in the wilderness, whom everybody -neglects," said father Dickson. And then, in a tone tremulous from -agitation, he related to him the scene he had just witnessed.</p> - -<p>"Do you see," he said, "brother, what iniquities you are countenancing? -Now, here, right next to our camp, a slave-coffle encamped! Men and -women, guilty of no crime, driven in fetters through our land, shaming -us in the sight of every Christian nation! What horrible, abominable -iniquities are these poor traders tempted to commit! What perfect hells -are the great trading-houses, where men, women, and children are made -merchandise of, and where no light of the Gospel ever enters! And when -this poor trader is convicted of sin, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> wants to enter into the -kingdom, you stand there to apologize for his sins! Brother Bonnie, I -much fear you are the stumbling block over which souls will stumble into -hell. I don't think you believe your argument from the Old Testament, -yourself. You must see that it has no kind of relation to such kind of -slavery as we have in this country. There's an awful Scripture which -saith: 'He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, so -that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right -hand?'"</p> - -<p>The earnestness with which father Dickson spoke, combined with the -reverence commonly entertained for his piety, gave great force to his -words. The reader will not therefore wonder to hear that father Bonnie, -impulsive and easily moved as he was, wept at the account, and was moved -by the exhortation. Nor will he be surprised to learn that, two weeks -after, father Bonnie drove a brisk bargain with the same trader for -three new hands.</p> - -<p>The trader had discovered that the judgment-day was not coming yet a -while; and father Bonnie satisfied himself that Noah, when he awoke from -his wine, said, "Cursed be Canaan."</p> - -<p class="center">* * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>We have one scene more to draw before we dismiss the auditors of the -camp-meeting.</p> - -<p>At a late hour the Gordon carriage was winding its way under the silent, -checkered, woodland path. Harry, who came slowly on a horse behind, felt -a hand laid on his bridle. With a sudden start, he stopped.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Dred, is it you? How dared you—how <i>could</i> you be so imprudent? -How dared you come here, when you know you risk your life?"</p> - -<p>"Life!" said the other, "what is life? He that loveth his life shall -lose it. Besides, the Lord said unto me, Go! The Lord is with me as a -mighty and terrible one! Harry, did you mark those men? Hunters of men, -their hands red with the blood of the poor, all seeking unto the Lord! -Ministers who buy and sell us! Is this a people prepared for the Lord? I -left a man dead in the swamps, whom their dogs have torn! His wife is a -widow—his children, orphans! They eat and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> wipe their mouth, and say, -'What have I done?' The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are -we!"</p> - -<p>"I know it," said Harry, gloomily.</p> - -<p>"And you join yourself unto them?"</p> - -<p>"Don't speak to me any more about that! I won't betray you, but I won't -consent to have blood shed. My mistress is my sister."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, to be sure! They read Scripture, don't they? Cast out the -children of the bond-woman! That's Scripture for them!"</p> - -<p>"Dred," said Harry, "I love her better than I love myself. I will fight -for her to the last, but never against her, nor hers!"</p> - -<p>"And you will serve Tom Gordon?" said Dred.</p> - -<p>"Never!" said Harry.</p> - -<p>Dred stood still a moment. Through an opening among the branches the -moonbeams streamed down on his wild, dark figure. Harry remarked his eye -fixed before him on vacancy, the pupil swelling out in glassy fulness, -with a fixed, somnambulic stare. After a moment, he spoke, in a hollow, -altered voice, like that of a sleep-walker:—</p> - -<p>"Then shall the silver cord be loosed, and the golden bowl be broken. -Yes, cover up the grave—cover it up! Now, hurry! come to me, or he will -take thy wife for a prey!"</p> - -<p>"Dred, what do you mean?" said Harry. "What's the matter?" He shook him -by the shoulder.</p> - -<p>Dred rubbed his eyes, and stared on Harry.</p> - -<p>"I must go back," he said, "to my den. 'Foxes have holes, the birds of -the air have nests,' and in the habitation of dragons the Lord hath -opened a way for his outcasts!"</p> - -<p>He plunged into the thickets, and was gone.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXIV.</span> <span class="smaller">LIFE IN THE SWAMPS.</span></h2> - -<p>Our readers will perhaps feel an interest to turn back with us, and -follow the singular wanderings of the mysterious personage, whose wild -denunciations had so disturbed the minds of the worshippers at the -camp-meeting.</p> - -<p>There is a twilight-ground between the boundaries of the sane and -insane, which the old Greeks and Romans regarded with a peculiar -veneration. They held a person whose faculties were thus darkened as -walking under the awful shadow of a supernatural presence; and, as the -mysterious secrets of the stars only become visible in the night, so in -these eclipses of the more material faculties they held there was often -an awakening of supernatural perceptions.</p> - -<p>The hot and positive light of our modern materialism, which exhales from -the growth of our existence every dewdrop, which searches out and dries -every rivulet of romance, which sends an unsparing beam into every cool -grotto of poetic possibility, withering the moss, and turning the -dropping cave to a dusty den—this spirit, so remorseless, allows us no -such indefinite land. There are but two words in the whole department of -modern anthropology—the sane and the insane; the latter dismissed from -human reckoning almost with contempt. We should find it difficult to -give a suitable name to the strange and abnormal condition in which this -singular being, of whom we are speaking, passed the most of his time.</p> - -<p>It was a state of exaltation and trance, which yet appeared not at all -to impede the exercise of his outward and physical faculties, but rather -to give them a preternatural keenness and intensity, such as sometimes -attends the more completely-developed phenomena of somnambulism.</p> - -<p>In regard to his physical system there was also much that was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> peculiar. -Our readers may imagine a human body of the largest and keenest vitality -to grow up so completely under the nursing influences of nature, that it -may seem to be as perfectly <i>en rapport</i> with them as a tree; so that -the rain, the wind, and the thunder, all those forces from which human -beings generally seek shelter, seem to hold with it a kind of -fellowship, and to be familiar companions of existence.</p> - -<p>Such was the case with Dred. So completely had he come into sympathy and -communion with nature, and with those forms of it which more -particularly surrounded him in the swamps, that he moved about among -them with as much ease as a lady treads her Turkey carpet. What would -seem to us in recital to be incredible hardship, was to him but an -ordinary condition of existence. To walk knee-deep in the spongy soil of -the swamp, to force his way through thickets, to lie all night sinking -in the porous soil, or to crouch, like the alligator, among reeds and -rushes, were to him situations of as much comfort as well-curtained beds -and pillows are to us.</p> - -<p>It is not to be denied, that there is in this savage perfection of the -natural organs a keen and almost fierce delight, which must excel the -softest seductions of luxury. Anybody who has ever watched the eager -zest with which the hunting-dog plunges through the woods, darts through -the thicket, or dives into water, in an ecstasy of enjoyment, sees -something of what such vital force must be.</p> - -<p>Dred was under the inspiring belief that he was the subject of visions -and supernatural communications. The African race are said by mesmerists -to possess, in the fullest degree, that peculiar temperament which fits -them for the evolution of mesmeric phenomena; and hence the existence -among them, to this day, of men and women who are supposed to have -peculiar magical powers. The grandfather of Dred, on his mother's side, -had been one of these reputed African sorcerers, and he had early -discovered in the boy this peculiar species of temperament. He had -taught him the secret of snake-charming, and had possessed his mind from -childhood with expectations of prophetic and supernatural impulses. That -mysterious and singular gift, whatever it may be, which Highland seers -denominate second sight, is a very common tradition among the negroes; -and there are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> not wanting thousands of reputed instances among them to -confirm belief in it. What this faculty may be, we shall not pretend to -say. Whether there be in the soul a yet undeveloped attribute, which is -to be to the future what memory is to the past, or whether in some -individuals an extremely high and perfect condition of the sensuous -organization endows them with something of that certainty of instinctive -discrimination which belongs to animals, are things which we shall not -venture to decide upon.</p> - -<p>It was, however, an absolute fact with regard to Dred, that he had often -escaped danger by means of a peculiarity of this kind. He had been -warned from particular places where the hunters had lain in wait for -him; had foreseen in times of want where game might be ensnared, and -received intimations where persons were to be found in whom he might -safely confide; and his predictions with regard to persons and things -had often chanced to be so strikingly true, as to invest his sayings -with a singular awe and importance among his associates.</p> - -<p>It was a remarkable fact, but one not peculiar to this case alone, that -the mysterious exaltation of mind in this individual seemed to run -parallel with the current of shrewd, practical sense; and, like a man -who converses alternately in two languages, he would speak now the -language of exaltation, and now that of common life, interchangeably. -This peculiarity imparted a singular and grotesque effect to his whole -personality.</p> - -<p>On the night of the camp-meeting, he was as we have already seen, in a -state of the highest ecstasy. The wanton murder of his associate seemed -to flood his soul with an awful tide of emotion, as a thunder-cloud is -filled and shaken by slow-gathering electricity. And, although the -distance from his retreat to the camp-ground was nearly fifteen miles, -most of it through what seemed to be impassable swamps, yet he performed -it with as little consciousness of fatigue as if he had been a spirit. -Even had he been perceived at that time, it is probable that he could no -more have been taken, or bound, than the demoniac of Gadara.</p> - -<p>After he parted from Harry he pursued his way to the interior of the -swamp, as was his usual habit, repeating to himself, in a chanting -voice, such words of prophetic writ as were familiar to him.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p><p>The day had been sultry, and it was now an hour or two past midnight, -when a thunder-storm, which had long been gathering and muttering in the -distant sky, began to develop its forces.</p> - -<p>A low, shivering sigh crept through the woods, and swayed in weird -whistlings the tops of the pines; and sharp arrows of lightning came -glittering down among the darkness of the branches, as if sent from the -bow of some warlike angel. An army of heavy clouds swept in a moment -across the moon; then came a broad, dazzling, blinding sheet of flame, -concentrating itself on the top of a tall pine near where Dred was -standing, and in a moment shivered all its branches to the ground, as a -child strips the leaves from a twig. Dred clapped his hands with a -fierce delight; and, while the rain and wind were howling and hissing -around him, he shouted aloud:—</p> - -<p>"Wake, O arm of the Lord! Awake, put on thy strength! The voice of the -Lord breaketh the cedars—yea, the cedars of Lebanon! The voice of the -Lord divideth the flames of fire! The voice of the Lord shaketh the -wilderness of Kadesh! Hailstones and coals of fire!"</p> - -<p>The storm, which howled around him, bent the forest like a reed, and -large trees, uprooted from the spongy and tremulous soil, fell crashing -with a tremendous noise; but, as if he had been a dark spirit of the -tempest, he shouted and exulted.</p> - -<p>The perception of such awful power seemed to animate him, and yet to -excite in his soul an impatience that He whose power was so infinite did -not awake to judgment.</p> - -<p>"Rend the heavens," he cried, "and come down! Avenge the innocent blood! -Cast forth thine arrows, and slay them! Shoot out thy lightnings, and -destroy them!"</p> - -<p>His soul seemed to kindle with almost a fierce impatience, at the -toleration of that Almighty Being, who, having the power to blast and to -burn, so silently endures. Could Dred have possessed himself of those -lightnings, what would have stood before him? But his cry, like the cry -of thousands, only went up to stand in waiting till an awful coming day!</p> - -<p>Gradually the storm passed by; the big drops dashed less and less -frequently; a softer breeze passed through the forest, with a patter -like the clapping of a thousand little wings; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> the moon occasionally -looked over the silvery battlements of the great clouds.</p> - -<p>As Dred was starting to go forward, one of these clear revealings showed -him the cowering form of a man, crouched at the root of a tree, a few -paces in front of him. He was evidently a fugitive, and, in fact, was -the one of whose escape to the swamps the Georgia trader had complained -of the day of of the meeting.</p> - -<p>"Who is here, at this time of night?" said Dred, coming up to him.</p> - -<p>"I have lost my way," said the other. "I don't know where I am!"</p> - -<p>"A runaway?" inquired Dred.</p> - -<p>"Don't betray me!" said the other, apprehensively.</p> - -<p>"Betray you! Would <i>I</i> do that?" said Dred. "How did you get into the -swamp?"</p> - -<p>"I got away from a soul-driver's camp, that was taking us on through the -states."</p> - -<p>"Oh, oh!" said Dred. "Camp-meeting and driver's camp right alongside of -each other! Shepherds that sell the flock, and pick the bones! Well, -come, old man; I'll take you home with me."</p> - -<p>"I'm pretty much beat out," said the man. "It's been up over my knees -every step; and I didn't know but they'd set the dogs after me. If they -do, I'll let 'em kill me, and done with it, for I'm 'bout ready to have -it over with. I got free once, and got clear up to New York, and got me -a little bit of a house, and a wife and two children, with a little -money beforehand; and then they nabbed me, and sent me back again, and -mas'r sold me to the drivers,—and I believe I's 'bout as good 's die. -There's no use in trying to live—everything going agin a body so!"</p> - -<p>"Die! No, indeed, you won't," said Dred; "not if I've got hold of you! -Take heart, man, take heart! Before morning I'll put you where the dogs -can't find you, nor anything else. Come, up with you!"</p> - -<p>The man rose up, and made an effort to follow; but, wearied, and unused -as he was to the choked and perplexed way, he stumbled and fell almost -every minute.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p><p>"How now, brother?" said Dred. "This won't do! I must put you over my -shoulder as I have many a buck before now!" And, suiting the action to -the word, he put the man on his back, and, bidding him hold fast to him, -went on, picking his way as if he scarcely perceived his weight.</p> - -<p>It was now between two and three o'clock, and the clouds, gradually -dispersing, allowed the full light of the moon to slide down here and -there through the wet and shivering foliage. No sound was heard, save -the humming of insects and the crackling plunges by which Dred made his -way forward.</p> - -<p>"You must be pretty strong!" said his companion. "Have you been in the -swamps long?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the other, "I have been a wild man—every man's hand against -me—a companion of the dragons and the owls, this many a year. I have -made my bed with the leviathan, among the reeds and the rushes. I have -found the alligators and the snakes better neighbors than Christians. -They let those alone that let them alone; but Christians will hunt for -the precious life."</p> - -<p>After about an hour of steady travelling, Dred arrived at the outskirts -of the island which we have described. For about twenty paces before he -reached it, he waded waist-deep in water. Creeping out, at last, and -telling the other one to follow him, he began carefully coursing along -on his hands and knees, giving, at the same time, a long, shrill, -peculiar whistle. It was responded to by a similar sound, which seemed -to proceed through the bushes. After a while, a crackling noise was -heard, as of some animal, which gradually seemed to come nearer and -nearer to them, till finally a large water-dog emerged from the -underbrush, and began testifying his joy at the arrival of the -new-comer, by most extravagant gambols.</p> - -<p>"So, ho! Buck! quiet, my boy!" said Dred. "Show us the way in!"</p> - -<p>The dog, as if understanding the words, immediately turned into the -thicket, and Dred and his companion followed him, on their hands and -knees. The path wound up and down the brushwood, through many sharp -turnings, till at last it ceased altogether, at the roots of a tree; -and, while the dog disappeared among the brushwood, Dred climbed the -tree, and directed his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> companion to follow him, and, proceeding out on -to one of the longest limbs, he sprang nimbly on to the ground in the -cleared space which we have before described.</p> - -<p>His wife was standing waiting for him, and threw herself upon him with a -cry of joy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you've come back! I thought, sure enough, dey'd got you dis time!"</p> - -<p>"Not yet! I must continue till the opening of the seals—till the vision -cometh! Have ye buried him?"</p> - -<p>"No; there's a grave dug down yonder, and he's been carried there."</p> - -<p>"Come, then!" said Dred.</p> - -<p>At a distant part of the clearing was a blasted cedar-tree, all whose -natural foliage had perished. But it was veiled from head to foot in -long wreaths of the tillandsia, the parasitic moss of these regions, -and, in the dim light of the approaching dawn, might have formed no -unapt resemblance to a gigantic spectre dressed in mourning weeds.</p> - -<p>Beneath this tree Dred had interred, from time to time, the bodies of -fugitives which he had found dead in the swamps, attaching to this -disposition of them some peculiar superstitious idea.</p> - -<p>The widow of the dead, the wife of Dred, and the new-comer, were now -gathered around the shallow grave; for the soil was such as scarcely -gave room to make a place deep enough for a grave without its becoming -filled with water.</p> - -<p>The dawn was just commencing a dim foreshadowing in the sky. The moon -and stars were still shining.</p> - -<p>Dred stood and looked up, and spoke, in a solemn voice.</p> - -<p>"Seek him that maketh Arcturus and Orion—that turneth the shadow of -death into morning! Behold those lights in the sky—the lights in his -hands pierced for the sins of the world, and spread forth as on a cross! -But the day shall come that he shall lay down the yoke, and he will bear -the sin of the world no longer. Then shall come the great judgment. He -will lay righteousness to the line and judgment to the plummet, and the -hail shall sweep away the refuges of lies."</p> - -<p>He stooped, and, lifting the body, laid him in the grave, and at this -moment the wife broke into a loud lament.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p><p>"Hush, woman!" said Dred, raising his hand. "Weep ye not for the dead, -neither bewail him; but weep ye sore for the living! He must rest till -the rest of his brethren be killed; for the vision is sealed up for an -appointed time. If it tarry, wait for it. It shall surely come, and -shall not tarry!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXV.</span> <span class="smaller">MORE SUMMER TALK.</span></h2> - -<p>A glorious morning, washed by the tears of last night's shower, rose -like a bride upon Canema. The rain-drops sparkled and winked from leaf -to leaf, or fell in showery diamonds in the breeze. The breath of -numberless roses, now in full bloom, rose in clouds to the windows.</p> - -<p>The breakfast-table, with its clean damask, glittering silver, and -fragrant coffee, received the last evening's participants of the -camp-meeting in fresh morning spirits, ready to discuss, as an every-day -affair, what, the evening before, they had felt too deeply, perhaps, to -discuss.</p> - -<p>On the way home, they had spoken of the scenes of the day, and wondered -and speculated on the singular incident which closed it. But, of all the -dark circle of woe and crime,—of all that valley of vision which was -present to the mind of him who spoke,—they were as practically ignorant -as the dwellers of the curtained boudoirs of New York are of the fearful -mysteries of the Five Points.</p> - -<p>The aristocratic nature of society at the south so completely segregates -people of a certain position in life from any acquaintance with the -movements of human nature in circles below them, that the most fearful -things may be transacting in their vicinity unknown or unnoticed. The -horrors and sorrows of the slave-coffle were a sealed book to Nina and -Anne Clayton. They had scarcely dreamed of them; and Uncle John, if he -knew their existence, took very good care to keep out of their way, as -he would turn from any other painful and disagreeable scene.</p> - -<p>All of them had heard something of negro-hunters, and regarded them as -low, vulgar people, but troubled their heads little further on the -subject; so that they would have been quite at a loss for the discovery -of any national sins that could have appropriately drawn down the -denunciations of Heaven.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p><p>The serious thoughts and aspirations which might have risen in any of -the company, the evening before, assumed, with everything else, quite -another light under the rays of morning.</p> - -<p>All of us must have had experience, in our own histories, of the great -difference between the night and the morning view of the same subject.</p> - -<p>What we have thought and said in the august presence of witnessing -stars, or beneath the holy shadows of moonlight, seems with the hot, dry -light of next day's sun to take wings, and rise to heaven with the -night's clear drops. If all the prayers and good resolutions which are -laid down on sleeping pillows could be found there on awaking, the world -would be better than it is.</p> - -<p>Of this Uncle John Gordon had experience, as he sat himself down at the -breakfast-table. The night before, he realized, in some dim wise, that -he, Mr. John Gordon, was not merely a fat, elderly gentleman, in blue -coat and white vest, whose great object in existence was to eat well, -drink well, sleep well, wear clean linen, and keep out of the way of -trouble. He had within him a tumult of yearnings and -aspirings,—uprisings of that great, life-long sleeper, which we call -<i>soul</i>, and which, when it wakes, is an awfully clamorous, craving, -exacting, troublesome inmate, and which is therefore generally put -asleep again in the shortest time, by whatever opiates may come to hand. -Last night, urged on by this troublesome guest, stimulated by the vague -power of such awful words as judgment and eternity, he had gone out and -knelt down as a mourner for sin and a seeker for salvation, both words -standing for very real and awful facts; and, this morning, although it -was probably a more sensible and appropriate thing than most of the -things he was in the habit of doing, he was almost ashamed of it. The -question arose, at table, whether another excursion should be made to -the camp-ground.</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Aunt Maria, "I hope you'll not go again, Mr. Gordon. -I think you had better keep out of the way of such things. I really was -vexed to see you in that rabble of such very common people!"</p> - -<p>"You'll observe," said Uncle John, "that, when Mrs. G. goes to heaven, -she'll notify the Lord, forthwith, that she has only been accustomed to -the most select circles, and requests to be admitted at the front door."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p><p>"It isn't because I object to being with common people," said Anne -Clayton, "that I dislike this custom of going to the altar; but it seems -to me an invasion of that privacy and reserve which belong to our most -sacred feelings. Besides, there are in a crowd coarse, rude, -disagreeable people, with whom it isn't pleasant to come in contact."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Mrs. John Gordon, "I don't believe in it at all! -It's a mere temporary excitement. People go and get wonderfully wrought -up, come away, and are just what they were before."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "isn't it better to be wrought up once in a while, -than <i>never</i> to have any religious feelings? Isn't it better to have a -vivid impression of the vastness and worth of the soul,—of the power of -an endless life,—for a few hours once a year, than never to feel it at -all? The multitudes of those people, there, never hear or think a word -of these things at any other time in their lives. For my part," he -added, "I don't see why it's a thing to be ashamed of, if Mr. Gordon or -I should have knelt at the altar last night, even if we do not feel like -it this morning. We are too often ashamed of our better moments;—I -believe Protestant Christians are the only people on earth who are -ashamed of the outward recognition of their religion. The Mahometan will -prostrate himself in the street, or wherever he happens to be, when his -hour for prayer comes. The Roman Catholic sailor or soldier kneels down -at the sound of the vesper bell. But we rather take pride in having it -understood that we take our religion moderately and coolly, and that we -are not going to put ourselves much out about it."</p> - -<p>"Well, but, brother," said Anne, "I will maintain, still, that there is -a reserve about these things which belongs to the best Christians. And -did not our Saviour tell us that our prayers and alms should be in -secret?"</p> - -<p>"I do not deny at all what you say, Anne," said Clayton; "but I think -what I said is true, notwithstanding; and, both being true, of course, -in some way they must be consistent with each other."</p> - -<p>"I think," said Nina, "the sound of the singing at these camp-meetings -is really quite spirit-stirring and exciting."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Clayton, "these wild tunes, and the hymns with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> which they -are associated, form a kind of forest liturgy, in which the feelings of -thousands of hearts have been embodied. Some of the tunes seem to me to -have been caught from the song of birds, or from the rushing of wind -among the branches. They possess a peculiar rhythmical energy, well -suited to express the vehement emotions of the masses. Did camp-meetings -do no other good than to scatter among the people these hymns and tunes, -I should consider them to be of inestimable value."</p> - -<p>"I must say," said Anne, "I always had a prejudice against that class -both of hymns and tunes."</p> - -<p>"You misjudge them," said Clayton, "as you refined, cultivated women -always do, who are brought up in the kid-slipper and carpet view of -human life. But just imagine only the old Greek or Roman peasantry -elevated to the level of one of these hymns. Take, for example, a verse -of one I heard them sing last night:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'The earth shall be dissolved like snow,</div> -<div class="i1">The sun shall cease to shine,</div> -<div>But God, who called me here below,</div> -<div class="i1">Shall be forever mine.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>What faith is there! What confidence in immortality! How could a man -feel it, and not be ennobled? Then, what a rough hearty heroism was in -that first hymn! It was right manly!"</p> - -<p>"Ah, but," said Anne, "half the time they sing them without the -slightest perception of their meaning, or the least idea of being -influenced by them."</p> - -<p>"And so do the worshippers in the sleepiest and most aristocratic -churches," said Clayton. "That's nothing peculiar to the camp-ground. -But, if it is true, what a certain statesman once said, 'Let me make the -ballads of the people, and I care not who makes their laws,' it is -certainly a great gain to have such noble sentiments as many of these -hymns contain circulating freely among the people."</p> - -<p>"What upon earth," said Uncle John, "do you suppose that last fellow was -about, up in the clouds, there? Nobody seemed to know where he was, or -<i>who</i> he was; and I thought his discourse seemed to be rather an -unexpected addition. He put it into us pretty strong, I thought! -Declare, such a bundle of woes and curses I never heard distributed! -Seemed to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> done up all the old prophets into one bundle, and -tumbled it down upon our heads! Some of them were quite superstitious -about it, and began talking about warnings, and all that."</p> - -<p>"Pooh!" said Aunt Maria, "the likelihood is that some itinerant poor -preacher has fallen upon this trick for producing a sensation. There is -no end to the trickeries and the got-up scenes in these camp-meetings, -just to produce effect. If I had had a pistol, I should like to have -fired into the tree, and see whether I couldn't have changed his tune."</p> - -<p>"It seemed to me," said Clayton, "from the little that I did hear, that -there was some method in his madness. It was one of the most singular -and impressive voices I ever heard; and, really, the enunciation of some -of those latter things was tremendous. But, then, in the universal -license and general confusion of the scene, the thing was not so much to -be wondered at. It would be the most natural thing in the world that -some crazy fanatic should be heated almost to the point of insanity by -the scene, and take this way of unburdening himself. Such excitements -most generally assume the form of denunciation."</p> - -<p>"Well, now," said Nina, "to tell the truth, I should like to go out -again to-day. It's a lovely ride, and I like to be in the woods. And, -then, I like to walk around among the tents, and hear the people talk, -and see all the different specimens of human nature that are there. I -never saw such a gathering together in my life."</p> - -<p>"Agreed!" said Uncle John. "I'll go with you. After all, Clayton, here, -has got the right of it, when he says a fellow oughtn't to be ashamed of -his religion, such as it is."</p> - -<p>"Such as it is, to be sure!" said Aunt Maria, sarcastically.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I say again, such as it is!" said Uncle John, bracing himself. "I -don't pretend it's much. We'll all of us bear to be a good deal better, -without danger of being translated. Now, as to this being converted, -hang me if I know how to get at it! I suppose that it is something like -an electric shock,—if a fellow is going to get it, he must go up to the -machine!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "you do hear some queer things there. Don't you -remember that jolly, slashing-looking fellow, whom they called Bill -Dakin, that came up there with his two dogs? In the afternoon, after the -regular services, we went to one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> tents where there was a very -noisy prayer-meeting going on, and there was Bill Dakin, on his knees, -with his hands clasped, and the tears rolling down his cheeks; and -father Bonnie was praying over him with all his might. And what do you -think he said? He said, 'O Lord, here's Bill Dakin; he is converted; now -take him right to heaven, now he is ready, or he'll be drunk again in -two weeks!'"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne Clayton, tossing her head, indignantly, "that's -blasphemy, in my opinion."</p> - -<p>"Oh, perhaps not," said Clayton, "any more than the clownish talk of any -of our servants is intentional rudeness."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, "don't you think it shows a great want of -perception?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly, it does," said Clayton. "It shows great rudeness and -coarseness of fibre, and is not at all to be commended. But still we are -not to judge of it by the rules of cultivated society. In well-trained -minds every faculty keeps its due boundaries; but, in this kind of -wild-forest growth, mirthfulness will sometimes overgrow reverence, just -as the yellow jessamine will completely smother a tree. A great many of -the ordinances of the old Mosaic dispensation were intended to -counteract this very tendency."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "did you notice poor old Tiff, so intent upon getting -his children converted? He didn't seem to have the least thought or -reference to getting into heaven himself. The only thing with him was to -get those children in. Tiff seems to me just like those mistletoes that -we see on the trees in the swamps. He don't seem to have any root of his -own; he seems to grow out of something else."</p> - -<p>"Those children are very pretty-looking, genteel children," said Anne; -"and how well they were dressed!"</p> - -<p>"My dear," said Nina, "Tiff prostrates himself at my shrine, every time -he meets me, to implore my favorable supervision as to that point; and -it really is diverting to hear him talk. The old Caliban has an eye for -color, and a sense of what is suitable, equal to any French milliner. I -assure you, my dear, I always was reputed for having a talent for dress; -and Tiff <i>appreciates</i> me. Isn't it charming of him? I declare, when I -see the old creature lugging about those children, I always think of an -ugly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> old cactus with its blossoms. I believe he verily thinks they -belong to him just as much. Their father is entirely dismissed from -Tiff's calculations. Evidently all he wants of him is to keep out of the -way, and let him work. The whole burden of their education lies on his -shoulders."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Aunt Nesbit, "I'm glad you've faith to believe in -those children. I haven't; they'll be sure to turn out badly—you see if -they don't."</p> - -<p>"And I think," said Aunt Maria, "we have enough to do with our own -servants, without taking all these miserable whites on our hands, too."</p> - -<p>"I'm not going to take all the whites," said Nina. "I'm going to take -these children."</p> - -<p>"I wish you joy!" said Aunt Maria.</p> - -<p>"I wonder," said Aunt Nesbit, "if Harry is under concern of mind. He -seems to be dreadfully down, this morning."</p> - -<p>"Is he?" said Nina. "I hadn't noticed it."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Uncle John, "perhaps he'll get set up, to-day—who knows? -In fact, I hope I shall myself. I tell you what it is, parson," said he, -laying his hand on Clayton's shoulder, "you should take the gig, to-day, -and drive this little sinner, and let me go with the ladies. Of course -you know Mrs. G. engrosses my whole soul; but, then, there's a kind of -insensible improvement that comes from such celestial bodies as Miss -Anne, here, that oughtn't to be denied to me. The clergy ought to -enumerate female influence among the means of grace. I'm sure there's -nothing builds me up like it."</p> - -<p>Clayton, of course, assented very readily to this arrangement; and the -party was adjusted on this basis.</p> - -<p>"Look ye here, now, Clayton," said Uncle John, tipping him a sly wink, -after he had handed Nina in, "you must confess that little penitent! She -wants a spiritual director, my boy! I tell you what, Clayton, there -isn't a girl like that in North Carolina. There's blood, sir, there. You -must humor her on the bit, and give her her head a while. Ah, but she'll -draw well at last! I always like a creature that kicks to pieces -harness, wagon, and all, to begin with. They do the best when they are -broken in."</p> - -<p>With which profound remarks Uncle John turned to hand Anne Clayton to -the carriage.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p><p>Clayton understood too well what he was about to make any such use of -the interview as Uncle John had suggested. He knew perfectly that his -best chance, with a nature so restless as Nina's, was to keep up a sense -of perfect freedom in all their intercourse; and, therefore, no -grandfather could have been more collected and easy in a <i>tête-à-tête</i> -drive than he. The last conversation at the camp-meeting he knew had -brought them much nearer to each other than they had ever stood before, -because both had spoken in deep earnestness of feeling of what lay -deepest in their heart; and one such moment, he well knew, was of more -binding force than a hundred nominal betrothals.</p> - -<p>The morning was one of those perfect ones which succeed a thunder-shower -in the night; when the air, cleared of every gross vapor, and -impregnated with moist exhalations from the woods, is both balmy and -stimulating. The steaming air developed to the full the balsamic -properties of the pine-groves through which they rode; and, where the -road skirted the swampy land, the light fell slanting on the leaves of -the deciduous trees, rustling and dripping with the last night's shower. -The heavens were full of those brilliant, island-like clouds, which are -said to be a peculiarity of American skies, in their distinct relief -above the intense blue. At a long distance they caught the sound of -camp-meeting hymns. But, before they reached the ground, they saw, in -more than one riotous group, the result of too frequent an application -to Abijah Skinflint's department, and others of a similar character. -They visited the quarters of Old Tiff, whom they found busy ironing some -clothes for the baby, which he had washed and hung out the night before. -The preaching had not yet commenced, and the party walked about among -the tents. Women were busy cooking and washing dishes under the trees; -and there was a great deal of good-natured gossiping.</p> - -<p>One of the most remarkable features of the day was a sermon from father -Dickson, on the sins of the church. It concluded with a most forcible -and solemn appeal to all on the subject of slavery. He reminded both the -Methodists and Presbyterians that their books of discipline had most -pointedly and unequivocally condemned it; that John Wesley had denounced -it as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> sum of all villanies, and that the general assemblies of the -Presbyterian Church had condemned it as wholly inconsistent with the -religion of Christ, with the great law which requires us to love others -as ourselves. He related the scene which he had lately witnessed in the -slave-coffle. He spoke of the horrors of the inter-state slave-trade, -and drew a touching picture of the separation of families, and the -rending of all domestic and social ties, which resulted from it; and, -alluding to the unknown speaker of the evening before, told his audience -that he had discerned a deep significance in his words, and that he -feared, if there was not immediate repentance and reformation, the land -would yet be given up to the visitations of divine wrath. As he spoke -with feeling, he awakened feeling in return. Many were affected even to -tears; but, when the sermon was over, it seemed to melt away, as a wave -flows back again into the sea. It was far easier to join in a temporary -whirlwind of excitement, than to take into consideration troublesome, -difficult, and expensive reforms.</p> - -<p>Yet, still, it is due to the degenerate Christianity of the slave states -to say, that, during the long period in which the church there has been -corrupting itself, and lowering its standard of right to meet a depraved -institution, there have not been wanting, from time to time, noble -confessors, who have spoken for God and humanity. For many years they -were listened to with that kind of pensive tolerance which men give when -they acknowledge their fault without any intention of mending. Of late -years, however, the lines have been drawn more sharply, and such -witnesses have spoken in peril of their lives; so that now seldom a -voice arises except in approbation of oppression.</p> - -<p>The sermon was fruitful of much discussion in different parts of the -camp-ground; and none, perhaps, was louder in the approbation of it than -the Georgia trader, who, seated on Abijah Skinflint's counter, declared: -"That was a <i>parson</i> as <i>was</i> a parson, and that he liked his <i>pluck</i>; -and, for his part, when ministers and church-members would give over -buying, he should take up some other trade."</p> - -<p>"That was a very good sermon," said Nina, "and I believe every word of -it. But, then, what do you suppose <i>we</i> ought to do?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p><p>"Why," said Clayton, "we ought to contemplate emancipation as a future -certainty, and prepare our people in the shortest possible time."</p> - -<p>This conversation took place as the party were seated at their nooning -under the trees, around an unpacked hamper of cold provisions, which -they were leisurely discussing.</p> - -<p>"Why, bless my soul, Clayton," said Uncle John, "I don't see the sense -of such an anathema maranatha as we got to-day. Good Lord, what earthly -harm are we doing? As to our niggers, they are better off than we are! I -say it coolly—that is, as coolly as a man can say anything between one -and two o'clock in such weather as this. Why, look at my niggers! Do <i>I</i> -ever have any chickens, or eggs, or cucumbers? No, to be sure. All <i>my</i> -chickens die, and the cut-worm plays the devil with <i>my</i> cucumbers; but -the niggers have enough. <i>Theirs</i> flourish like a green bay-tree; and of -course I have to buy of <i>them</i>. <i>They</i> raise chickens. <i>I</i> buy 'em, and -cook 'em and then <i>they</i> eat 'em! That's the way it goes. As to the -slave-coffles, and slave-prisons, and the trade, why, that's abominable, -to be sure. But, Lord bless you, <i>I</i> don't want it done! I'd kick a -trader off my doorsteps forthwith, though I'm all eaten up with -woolly-heads, like locusts. I don't like such sermons, for my part."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Aunt Nesbit, "our Mr. Titmarsh preached quite another way -when I attended church in E——. He proved that slavery was a scriptural -institution, and established by God."</p> - -<p>"I should think anybody's common sense would show that a thing which -works so poorly for both sides couldn't be from God," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Who is Mr. Titmarsh?" said Clayton to her, aside.</p> - -<p>"Oh, one of Aunt Nesbit's favorites, and one of my aversions! He isn't a -<i>man</i>—he's nothing but a theological dictionary with a cravat on! I -can't bear him!"</p> - -<p>"Now, people may talk as much as they please of the educated democracy -of the north," said Uncle John. "<i>I</i> don't like 'em. What do working-men -want of education?—Ruins 'em! I've heard of their learned blacksmiths -bothering around, neglecting their work, to make speeches. I don't like -such things. It raises them above their sphere. And there's nothing -going on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> up in those northern states but a constant confusion and -hubbub. All sorts of heresies come from the north, and infidelity, and -the Lord knows what! We have peace, down here. To be sure, our poor -whites are in a devil of a fix; but we haven't got 'em under yet. We -shall get 'em in, one of these days, with our niggers, and then all will -be contentment."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, "there's Uncle John's view of the millennium!"</p> - -<p>"To be sure," said Uncle John, "the lower classes want <i>governing</i>—they -want care; that's what they want. And all they need to know is, what the -Episcopal Church catechism says, 'to learn and labor truly to get their -own living in the state wherein it has pleased God to call them.' That -makes a well-behaved lower class, and a handsome, gentlemanly, orderly -state of society. The upper classes ought to be instructed in their -duties. They ought to be considerate and condescending, and all that. -That's my view of society."</p> - -<p>"Then you are no republican," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Bless you, yes I am! I believe in the equality of <i>gentlemen</i>, and the -equal rights of well-bred people. That's my idea of a republic."</p> - -<p>Clayton, Nina, and Anne, laughed.</p> - -<p>"Now," said Nina, "to see uncle so jovial and free, and 'Hail fellow -well met,' with everybody, you'd think he was the greatest democrat that -ever walked. But, you see, it's only because he's so immeasurably -certain of his superior position—that's all. He isn't afraid to kneel -at the altar with Bill Dakin, or Jim Sykes, because he's so sure that -his position can't be compromised."</p> - -<p>"Besides that, chick," said Uncle John, "I <i>have</i> the sense to know -that, in my Maker's presence, all human differences are child's play." -And Uncle John spoke with a momentary solemnity which was heartfelt.</p> - -<p>It was agreed by the party that they would not stay to attend the -evening exercises. The novelty of the effect was over, and Aunt Nesbit -spoke of the bad effects of falling dew and night air. Accordingly, as -soon as the air was sufficiently cooled to make riding practicable, the -party were again on their way home.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p><p>The woodland path was streaked with green and golden bands of light -thrown between the tree-trunks across the way, and the trees -reverberated with the evening song of birds. Nina and Clayton naturally -fell into a quiet and subdued train of conversation.</p> - -<p>"It is strange," said Nina, "these talkings and searchings about -religion. Now, there are people who have something they call religion, -which I don't think does them any good. It isn't of any use—it doesn't -make them better—and it makes them very disagreeable. I would rather be -as I am, than to have what they call religion. But, then, there are -others that have something which I know <i>is</i> religion; something that I -know I have not; something that I'd give all the world to have, and -don't know how to get. Now, there was Livy Ray—you ought to have seen -Livy Ray—there was something so superior about her; and, what was -extraordinary is, that she was <i>good</i> without being <i>stupid</i>. What do -you suppose the reason is that good people are generally so stupid?"</p> - -<p>"A great deal," said Clayton, "is called goodness, which is nothing but -want of force. A person is said to have self-government simply because -he has nothing to govern. They talk about self-denial, when their -desires are so weak that one course is about as easy to them as another. -Such people easily fall into a religious routine, get by heart a set of -phrases, and make, as you say, very stupid, good people."</p> - -<p>"Now, Livy," said Nina, "was remarkable. She had that kind of education -that they give girls in New England, stronger and more like a man's than -ours. She could read Greek and Latin as easily as she could French and -Italian. She was keen, shrewd, and witty, and had a kind of wild grace -about her, like these grape-vines; yet she was so <i>strong</i>! Well, do you -know, I almost worship Livy? And I think, the little while she was in -our school, she did me more good than all the teachers and studying put -together. Why, it does one good to know that such people are possible. -Don't you think it does?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Clayton; "all the good in the world is done by the -personality of people. Now, in books, it isn't so much what you learn -from them, as the contact it gives you with the personality of the -writer, that improves you. A real book always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> makes you feel that there -is more in the writer than anything that he has said."</p> - -<p>"That," said Nina, eagerly, "is just the way I feel toward Livy. She -seems to me like a mine. When I was with her the longest, I always felt -as if I hadn't half seen her. She always made me hungry to know her -more. I mean to read you some of her letters, some time. She writes -beautiful letters; and I appreciate that very much, because I can't do -it. I can talk better than I can write. Somehow my ideas will not take a -course down through my arms; they always will run up to my mouth. But -you ought to see Livy; such people always make me very discontented with -myself. I don't know what the reason is that I like to see superior -people, and things, when they always make me realize what a poor concern -I am. Now, the first time I heard Jenny Lind sing, it spoiled all my -music and all my songs for me,—turned them all to trash at one -stroke,—and yet I liked it. But I don't seem to have got any further in -goodness than just dissatisfaction with myself."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "there's where the foundation-stone of all -excellence is laid. The very first blessing that Christ pronounced was -on those who were poor in spirit. The indispensable condition to all -progress in art, science, or religion, is to feel that we have nothing."</p> - -<p>"Do you know," said Nina, after something of a pause, "that I can't help -wondering what you took up with me for? I have thought very often that -you ought to have Livy Ray."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm much obliged to you," said Clayton, "for your consideration -in providing for me. But, supposing I should prefer my own choice, after -all? We men are a little wilful, sometimes, like you of the gentler -sex."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "if you <i>will</i> have the bad taste, then, to insist on -liking me, let me warn you that you don't know what you are about. I'm a -very unformed, unpractical person. I don't keep accounts. I'm nothing at -all of a housekeeper. I shall leave open drawers, and scatter papers, -and forget the day of the month, and tear the newspaper, and do -everything else that is wicked; and then, one of these days, it will be, -'Nina, why haven't you done this? and why haven't you done that? and why -don't you do the other? and why <i>do</i> you do something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> else?' Ah, I've -heard you men talk before! And, then, you see, I shan't like it, and I -shan't behave well. Haven't the least hope of it; won't ever engage -to!—So, now, won't you take warning?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Clayton, looking at her with a curious kind of smile, "I -don't think I shall."</p> - -<p>"How dreadfully positive and self-willed men are!" said Nina, drawing a -long breath, and pretending to laugh.</p> - -<p>"There's so little of that in you ladies," said Clayton, "we have to do -it for both."</p> - -<p>"So, then," said Nina, looking round with a half-laugh and half-blush, -"you <i>will</i> persist?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, you wicked little witch!" said Clayton, "since you challenge me, I -<i>will</i>." And, as he spoke, he passed his arm round Nina, firmly, and -fixed his eyes on hers. "Come, now, my little Baltimore oriole, have I -caught you?" And—</p> - -<p>But we are making our chapter too long.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXVI.</span> <span class="smaller">MILLY'S RETURN.</span></h2> - -<p>The visit of Clayton and his sister, like all other pleasant things, had -its end. Clayton was called back to his law-office and books, and Anne -went to make some summer visits previous to her going to Clayton's -plantation of Magnolia Grove, where she was to superintend his various -schemes for the improvement of his negroes.</p> - -<p>Although it was gravely insisted to the last that there was no -<i>engagement</i> between Nina and Clayton, it became evident enough to all -parties that only the name was wanting. The warmest possible friendship -existed between Nina and Anne; and, notwithstanding that Nina almost -every day said something which crossed Anne's nicely-adjusted views, and -notwithstanding Anne had a gentle infusion of that disposition to -sermonize which often exists in very excellent young ladies, still the -two got on excellently well together.</p> - -<p>It is to be confessed that, the week after they left, Nina was rather -restless and lonesome, and troubled to pass her time. An incident, which -we shall relate, however, gave her something to think of, and opens a -new page in our story.</p> - -<p>While sitting on the veranda, after breakfast, her attention was called -by various exclamations from the negro department, on the right side of -the mansion; and, looking out, to her great surprise, she saw Milly -standing amid a group, who were surrounding her with eager -demonstrations. Immediately she ran down the steps to inquire what it -might mean. Approaching nearer, she was somewhat startled to see that -her old friend had her head bound up and her arm in a sling: and, as she -came towards her, she observed that she seemed to walk with difficulty, -with a gait quite different from her usual firm, hilarious tread.</p> - -<p>"Why, Milly!" she said, running towards her with eagerness, "what is the -matter?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p><p>"Not much, chile, I reckon, now I's got home!" said Milly.</p> - -<p>"Well, but what's the matter with your arm?"</p> - -<p>"No great! Dat ar man shot me; but, praise de Lord, he didn't kill me! I -don't owe him no grudge; but I thought it wasn't right and fit that I -should be treated so; and so I just <i>put</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Why, come in the house this minute!" said Nina, laying hold of her -friend, and drawing her towards the steps. "It's a shame! Come in, -Milly, come in! That man! I <i>knew</i> he wasn't to be trusted. So, this is -the good place he found for you, is it?"</p> - -<p>"Jes so," said Tomtit, who, at the head of a dark stream of young -juveniles, came after, with a towel hanging over one arm, and a knife -half cleaned in his hand, while Rose and Old Hundred, and several -others, followed to the veranda.</p> - -<p>"Laws-a-me!" said Aunt Rose, "just to think on't! Dat's what 'tis for -old fam'lies to hire der niggers out to common people!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Old Hundred, "Milly was allers too high feelin'; held her -head up too much. An't no ways surprised at it!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, go 'long, you old hominy-beetle!" said Aunt Rose. "Don't know -nobody dat holds up der head higher nor you does!"</p> - -<p>Nina, after having dismissed the special train of the juveniles and -servants, began to examine into the condition of her friend. The arm had -evidently been grazed by a bullet, producing somewhat of a deep -flesh-wound, which had been aggravated by the heat of the weather and -the fatigue which she had undergone. On removing the bandage round her -head, a number of deep and severe flesh-cuts were perceived.</p> - -<p>"What's all this?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"It's whar he hit me over de head! He was in drink, chile; he didn't -well know what he was 'bout!"</p> - -<p>"What an abominable shame!" said Nina. "Look here," turning round to -Aunt Nesbit, "see what comes of hiring Milly out!"</p> - -<p>"I am sure I don't know what's to be done!" said Aunt Nesbit, pitifully.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p><p>"Done! why, of course, these are to be bandaged and put up, in the -first place," said Nina, bustling about with great promptness, tearing -off bandages, and ringing for warm water. "Aunt Milly, I'll do them up -for you myself. I'm a pretty good nurse, when I set about it."</p> - -<p>"Bless <i>you</i>, chile, but it seems good to get home 'mong friends!"</p> - -<p>"Yes; and you won't go away again in a hurry!" said Nina, as she -proceeded rapidly with her undertaking, washing and bandaging the wound. -"There, now," she said, "you look something like; and now you shall lie -down in my room, and take a little rest!"</p> - -<p>"Thank ye, honey, chile, but I'll go to my own room; 'pears like it's -more home like," said Milly. And Nina, with her usual energy, waited on -her there, closed the blinds, and spread a shawl over her after she had -lain down, and, after charging her two or three times to go to sleep and -be quiet, she left her. She could hardly wait to have her get through -her nap, so full was she of the matter, and so interested to learn the -particulars of her story.</p> - -<p>"A pretty business, indeed!" she said to Aunt Nesbit. "We'll prosecute -those people, and make them pay dear for it."</p> - -<p>"That will be a great expense," said Aunt Nesbit, apprehensively, -"besides the loss of her time."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "I shall write to Clayton about it directly. I know -he'll feel just as I do. He understands the law, and all about those -things, and he'll know how to manage it."</p> - -<p>"Everything will make expense!" said Aunt Nesbit, in a deplorable voice. -"I'm sure misfortunes never come single! Now, if she don't go back, I -shall lose her wages! And here's all the expenses of a lawsuit, besides! -I think she ought to have been more careful."</p> - -<p>"Why, aunt, for pity's sake, you don't pretend that you wish Milly to go -back?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, of course I don't; but, then, it's a pity. It will be a great -loss, every way."</p> - -<p>"Why, aunt, you really talk as if you didn't think of anything but your -loss. You don't seem to think anything about what <i>Milly</i> has had to -suffer!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p><p>"Why, of course, I feel sorry for that," said Aunt Nesbit. "I wonder if -she is going to be laid up long. I wish, on the whole, I had hired out -one that wasn't quite so useful to me."</p> - -<p>"Now, if that isn't just like her!" said Nina, in an indignant tone, as -she flung out of the room, and went to look softly in at Milly's door. -"Never can see, hear, or think of anything but herself, no matter what -happens! I wonder why Milly couldn't have belonged to me!"</p> - -<p>After two or three hours' sleep, Milly came out of her room, seeming -much better. A perfectly vigorous physical system, and vital powers all -moving in the finest order, enabled her to endure much more than -ordinary; and Nina soon became satisfied that no material injury had -been sustained, and that in a few days she would be quite recovered.</p> - -<p>"And now, Milly, do pray tell me where you have been," said Nina, "and -what this is all about."</p> - -<p>"Why, you see, honey, I was hired to Mr. Barker, and dey said 'he was a -mighty nice man;' and so he was, honey, most times; but, den, you see, -honey, dere's some folks dere's <i>two</i> men in 'em,—one is a good one and -t'oder is very bad. Well, dis yer was just dat sort. You see, honey, I -wouldn't go for to say dat he got drunk; but he was dat sort dat if he -took ever so little, it made him kind o' ugly and cross, and so dere -wan't no suiting him. Well, his wife, she was pretty far; and so he was, -too, 'cept in spots. He was one of dese yer streaked men, dat has -drefful ugly streaks; and, some of dem times, de Lord only knows what he -won't do! Well, you see, honey, I thought I was getting along right -well, at first, and I was mighty pleased. But dere was one day he came -home, and 'peared like dere couldn't nobody suit him. Well, you see, dey -had a gal dere, and she had a chile, and dis yer chile was a little -thing. It got playing with a little burnt stick, and it blacked one of -his clean shirts, I had just hung up,—for I'd been ironing, you see. -Just den he came along, and you never heerd a man go on so! I's heerd -bad talk afore, but I never heerd no sich! He swore he'd kill de chile; -and I thought my soul he would! De por little thing run behind me, and I -just kep him off on it, 'cause I knowed he wan't fit to touch it; and -den he turned on me, and he got a cow-hide, and he beat me over de head. -I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> thought my soul he'd kill me! But I got to de door, and shut de chile -out, and Hannah, she took it and run with it. But, bless you, it 'peared -like he was a tiger,—screeching, and foaming, and beating me! I broke -away from him, and run. He just caught de rifle,—he always kep one -loaded,—and shot at me, and de ball just struck my arm, and glanced off -again. Bless de Lord, it didn't break it. Dat ar was a mighty close run, -I can tell you! But I did run, 'cause, thinks I, dere an't no safety for -me in dat ar house; and, you see, I run till I got to de bush, and den I -got to whar dere was some free colored folks, and dey did it up, and kep -me a day or two. Den I started and came home, just as you told me to."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "you did well to come home; and I tell you what, I'm -going to have that man prosecuted!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, laws, no, Miss Nina! don't you goes doing nothing to him! His wife -is a mighty nice woman, and 'peared like he didn't rightly know what he -was 'bout."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but, Milly, you ought to be willing, because it may make him more -careful with other people."</p> - -<p>"Laws, Miss Nina, why, dere is some sense in dat; but I wouldn't do it -as bearing malice."</p> - -<p>"Not at all," said Nina. "I shall write to Mr. Clayton, and take his -advice about it."</p> - -<p>"He's a good man," said Milly. "He won't say nothing dat an't right. I -spect dat will do very well, dat ar way."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, "such people must be taught that the law will take -hold of them. That will bring them to their bearings!"</p> - -<p>Nina went immediately to her room, and dispatched a long letter to -Clayton, full of all the particulars, and begging his immediate -assistance.</p> - -<p>Our readers, those who have been in similar circumstances, will not -wonder that Clayton saw in this letter an immediate call of duty to go -to Canema. In fact, as soon as the letter could go to him, and he could -perform a rapid horseback journey, he was once more a member of the -domestic circle.</p> - -<p>He entered upon the case with great confidence and enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"It is a debt which we owe," he said, "to the character of our state, -and to the purity of our institutions, to prove the efficiency<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> of the -law in behalf of that class of our population whose helplessness places -them more particularly under our protection. They are to us in the -condition of children under age; and any violation of their rights -should be more particularly attended to."</p> - -<p>He went immediately to the neighboring town, where Milly had been -employed, and found, fortunately, that the principal facts had been -subject to the inspection of white witnesses.</p> - -<p>A woman, who had been hired to do some sewing, had been in the next room -during the whole time; and Milly's flight from the house, and the man's -firing after her, had been observed by some workmen in the neighborhood. -Everything, therefore, promised well, and the suit was entered forthwith.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXVII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE TRIAL.</span></h2> - -<p>"Well, now," said Frank Russel, to one or two lawyers with whom he was -sitting, in a side-room of the court-house at E., "look out for -breakers! Clayton has mounted his war-horse, and is coming upon us, now, -like leviathan from the rushes."</p> - -<p>"Clayton is a good fellow," said one of them. "I like him, though he -doesn't talk much."</p> - -<p>"Good?" said Russel, taking his cigar from his mouth; "why, as the -backwoodsmen say, he an't nothing else! He is a great seventy-four -pounder, charged to the muzzle with goodness! But, if he should be once -fired off, I'm afraid he'll carry everything out of the world with him. -Because, you see, abstract goodness doesn't suit our present mortal -condition. But it is a perfect godsend that he has such a case as this -to manage for his maiden plea, because it just falls in with his heroic -turn. Why, when I heard of it, I assure you I bestirred myself. I went -about, and got Smithers, and Jones, and Peters, to put off suits, so as -to give him fair field and full play. For, if he succeeds in this, it -may give him so good a conceit of the law, that he will keep on with -it."</p> - -<p>"Why," said the other, "don't he like the law? What's the matter with -the law?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, nothing, only Clayton has got one of those ethereal stomachs that -rise against almost everything in this world. Now, there isn't more than -one case in a dozen that he'll undertake. He sticks and catches just -like an old bureau drawer. Some conscientious crick in his back is -always taking him at a critical moment, and so he is knocked up for -actual work. But this defending a slave-woman will suit him to a T."</p> - -<p>"She is a nice creature, isn't she?" said one of them.</p> - -<p>"And belongs to a good old family," said another.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said the third, "and I understand his lady-love has something to -do with the case."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Russel, "to be sure she has. The woman belongs to a family -connection of hers, I'm told. Miss Gordon is a spicy little puss—one -that would be apt to resent anything of that sort; and the Gordons are a -very influential family. He is sure to get the case, though I'm not -clear that the law is on his side, by any means."</p> - -<p>"Not?" said the other barrister, who went by the name of Will Jones.</p> - -<p>"No," said Russel. "In fact, I'm pretty clear it isn't. But that will -make no odds. When Clayton is thoroughly waked up, he is a whole team, I -can tell you. He'll take jury and judge along with him, fast enough."</p> - -<p>"I wonder," said one, "that Barker didn't compound the matter."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Barker is one of the stubbed sort. You know these middling kind of -people always have a spite against old families. He makes fight because -it is the Gordons, that's all. And there comes in his republicanism. He -isn't going to be whipped in by the Gordons. Barker has got Scotch blood -in him, and he'll hang on to the case like death."</p> - -<p>"Clayton will make a good speech," said Jones.</p> - -<p>"Speech? that he will!" said Russel. "Bless me, I could lay off a good -speech on it, myself. Because, you see, it really was quite an outrage; -and the woman is a presentable creature. And, then, there's the humane -dodge; that can be taken, beside all the chivalry part of defending the -helpless, and all that sort of thing. I wouldn't ask for a better thing -to work up into a speech. But Clayton will do it better yet, because he -is actually sincere in it. And, after all's said and done, there's a -good deal in that. When a fellow speaks in solemn earnest, he gives a -kind of weight that you can't easily get at any other way."</p> - -<p>"Well, but," said one, "I don't understand you, Russel, why you think -the law isn't on Clayton's side. I'm sure it's a very clear case of -terrible abuse."</p> - -<p>"Oh, certainly it is," said Russel, "and the man is a dolt, and a brute -beast, and ought to be shot, and so forth; but,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> then, he hasn't really -exceeded his legal limits, because, you see, the law gives to the hirer -all the rights of the master. There's no getting away from that, in my -opinion. Now, any <i>master</i> might have done all that, and nobody could -have done anything about it. They <i>do</i> do it, for that matter, if -they're bad enough, and nobody thinks of touching them."</p> - -<p>"Well, I say," said Jones, "Russel, don't you think that's too bad?"</p> - -<p>"Laws, yes, man; but the world is full of things that are too bad. It's -a bad kind of a place," said Russel, as he lit another cigar.</p> - -<p>"Well, how do you think Clayton is going to succeed," said Jones, "if -the law is so clearly against him?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, bless you, you don't know Clayton. He is a glorious mystifier. In -the first place, he mystifies himself. And, now, you mark me. When a -powerful fellow mystifies <i>himself</i>, so that he really gets himself -thoroughly on to his own side, there's nobody he <i>can't</i> mystify. I -speak it in sober sadness, Jones, that the want of this faculty is a -great hindrance to me in a certain class of cases. You see I can put on -the pathetic and heroic, after a sort; but I don't take myself along -with me—I don't really believe myself. There's the trouble. It's this -power of self-mystification that makes what you call earnest men. If men -saw the real bread and butter and green cheese of life, as I see -it,—the hard, dry, primitive facts,—they couldn't raise such -commotions as they do."</p> - -<p>"Russel, it always makes me uncomfortable to hear you talk. It seems as -if you didn't believe in anything!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, I do," said Russel; "I believe in the multiplication table, -and several other things of that nature at the beginning of the -arithmetic; and, also, that the wicked will do wickedly. But, as to -Clayton's splendid abstractions, I only wish him joy of them. But, then, -I shall believe him while I hear him talk; so will you; so will all the -rest of us. That's the fun of it. But the thing will be just where it -was before, and I shall find it so when I wake up to-morrow morning. -It's a pity such fellows as Clayton couldn't be used as we use big guns. -He is death on anything he fires at; and if he only would let me load -and point him, he and I together would make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> a firm that would sweep the -land. But here he comes, upon my word."</p> - -<p>"Hallo, Clayton, all ready?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Clayton, "I believe so. When will the case be called?"</p> - -<p>"To-day, I'm pretty sure," said Russel.</p> - -<p>Clayton was destined to have something of an audience in his first plea; -for, the Gordons being an influential and a largely-connected family, -there was quite an interest excited among them in the affair. Clayton -also had many warm personal friends, and his father, mother, and sister -were to be present; for, though residing in a different part of the -state, they were at this time on a visit in the vicinity of the town of -E.</p> - -<p>There is something in the first essay of a young man, in any profession, -like the first launching of a ship, which has a never-ceasing hold on -human sympathies. Clayton's father, mother, and sister, with Nina, at -the time of the dialogue we have given, were sitting together in the -parlor of a friend's house in E., discussing the same event.</p> - -<p>"I am sure that he will get the case," said Anne Clayton, with the -confidence of a generous woman and warm-hearted sister. "He has been -showing me the course of his argument, and it is perfectly irresistible. -Has he said anything to you about it, father?"</p> - -<p>Judge Clayton had been walking up and down the room, with his hands -behind him, with his usual air of considerate gravity. Stopping short at -Anne's question, he said,—</p> - -<p>"Edward's mind and mine work so differently, that I have not thought -best to embarrass him by any conference on the subject. I consider the -case an unfortunate one, and would rather he could have had some other."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Anne, eagerly, "don't you think he'll gain it?"</p> - -<p>"Not if the case goes according to law," said Judge Clayton. "But, then, -Edward has a great deal of power of eloquence, and a good deal of skill -in making a diversion from the main point; so that, perhaps, he may get -the case."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Nina, "I thought cases were always decided according to law! -What else do they make laws for?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p><p>"You are very innocent, my child," said Judge Clayton.</p> - -<p>"But, father, the proof of the outrage is most abundant. Nobody could -pretend to justify it."</p> - -<p>"Nobody will, child. But that's nothing to the case. The simple point -is, <i>did</i> the man exceed his legal power? It's my impression he did -not."</p> - -<p>"Father, what a horrible doctrine!" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"I simply speak of what is," said Judge Clayton. "I don't pretend to -justify it. But Edward has great power of exciting the feelings, and -under the influence of his eloquence the case may go the other way, and -humanity triumph at the expense of law."</p> - -<p>Clayton's plea came on in the afternoon, and justified the expectations -of his friends. His personal presence was good, his voice melodious, and -his elocution fine. But what impressed his auditors, perhaps, more than -these, was a certain elevation and clearness in the moral atmosphere -around him,—a gravity and earnestness of conviction which gave a secret -power to all he said. He took up the doctrine of the dependent relations -of life, and of those rules by which they should be guided and -restrained; and showed that while absolute power seems to be a necessary -condition of many relations of life, both reason and common sense -dictate certain limits to it. "The law guarantees to the parent, the -guardian, and the master, the right of enforcing obedience by -chastisement; and the reason for it is, that the subject being supposed -to be imperfectly developed, his good will, on the whole, be better -consulted by allowing to his lawful guardian this power."</p> - -<p>"<i>The good of the subject</i>," he said, "is understood to be the -foundation of the right; but, when chastisement is inflicted without -just cause, and in a manner so inconsiderate and brutal as to endanger -the safety and well-being of the subject, the great foundation principle -of the law is violated. The act becomes perfectly lawless, and as -incapable of legal defence as it is abhorrent to every sentiment of -humanity and justice."</p> - -<p>"He should endeavor to show," he said, "by full testimony, that the case -in question was one of this sort."</p> - -<p>In examining witnesses Clayton showed great dignity and acuteness, and -as the feeling of the court was already <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>prepossessed in his favor, the -cause evidently gathered strength as it went on. The testimony showed, -in the most conclusive manner, the general excellence of Milly's -character, and the utter brutality of the outrage which had been -committed upon her. In his concluding remarks, Clayton addressed the -jury in a tone of great elevation and solemnity, on the duty of those to -whom is intrusted the guardianship of the helpless.</p> - -<p>"No obligation," he said, "can be stronger to an honorable mind, than -the obligation of <i>entire dependence</i>. The fact that a human being has -no refuge from our power, no appeal from our decisions, so far from -leading to careless security, is one of the strongest possible motives -to caution and to most exact care. The African race," he said, "had been -bitter sufferers. Their history had been one of wrong and cruelty, -painful to every honorable mind. We of the present day, who sustain the -relation of slave-holder," he said, "receive from the hands of our -fathers an awful trust. Irresponsible power is the greatest trial of -humanity, and if we do not strictly guard our own moral purity in the -use of it, we shall degenerate into despots and tyrants. No -consideration can justify us in holding this people in slavery an hour, -unless we make this slavery a guardian relation, in which our superior -strength and intelligence is made the protector and educator of their -simplicity and weakness."</p> - -<p>"The eyes of the world are fastened upon us," he said. "Our continuing -in this position at all is, in many quarters, matter of severe -animadversion. Let us therefore show, by the spirit in which we -administer our laws, by the impartiality with which we protect their -rights, that the master of the helpless African is his best and truest -friend."</p> - -<p>It was evident, as Clayton spoke, that he carried the whole of his -audience with him. The counsel on the other side felt himself much -straitened. There is very little possibility of eloquence in defending a -manifest act of tyranny and cruelty; and a man speaks, also, at great -disadvantage, who not only is faint-hearted in his own cause, but feels -the force of the whole surrounding atmosphere against him.</p> - -<p>In fact, the result was, that the judge charged the jury, if they found -the chastisement to have been disproportionate and cruel, to give -verdict for the plaintiff. The jury, with little discussion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> gave it -unanimously, accordingly, and so Clayton's first cause was won.</p> - -<p>If ever a woman feels proud of her lover, it is when she sees him as a -successful public speaker; and Nina, when the case was over, stood -half-laughing, half-blushing, in a circle of ladies, who alternately -congratulated and rallied her on Clayton's triumph.</p> - -<p>"Ah," said Frank Russel, "we understand the magic. The knight always -fights well when his lady-love looks down! Miss Gordon must have the -credit of this. She took all the strength out of the other side,—like -the mountain of loadstone, that used to draw all the nails out of the -ship."</p> - -<p>"I am glad," said Judge Clayton, as he walked home with his wife, "I am -very glad that Edward has met with such success. His nature is so -fastidious that I have had my fears that he would not adhere to the law. -There are many things in it, I grant, which would naturally offend a -fastidious mind, and one which, like his, is always idealizing life."</p> - -<p>"He has established a noble principle," said Mrs. Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I wish he had," said the judge. "It would be a very ungrateful task, -but I could have shattered his argument all to pieces."</p> - -<p>"Don't tell him so!" said Mrs. Clayton, apprehensively; "let him have -the comfort of it."</p> - -<p>"Certainly I shall. Edward is a good fellow, and I hope, after a while, -he'll draw well in the harness."</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Frank Russel and Will Jones were walking along in another -direction.</p> - -<p>"Didn't I tell you so?" said Russel. "You see, Clayton run Bedford down, -horse and foot, and made us all as solemn as a preparatory lecture."</p> - -<p>"But he had a good argument," said Jones.</p> - -<p>"To be sure he had—I never knew him to want that. He builds up splendid -arguments, always, and the only thing to be said of him, after it's all -over, is, it isn't so; it's no such thing. Barker is terrible wroth, I -can assure you. He swears he'll appeal the case. But that's no matter. -Clayton has had his day all the same. He is evidently waked up. Oh, he -has no more objection to a little popularity than you and I have, now;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> -and if we could humor him along, as we would a trout, we should have him -a first-rate lawyer, one of these days. Did you see Miss Gordon while he -was pleading? By George! she looked so handsome, I was sorry I hadn't -taken her myself!"</p> - -<p>"Is she that dashing little flirting Miss Gordon that I heard of in New -York?"</p> - -<p>"The very same."</p> - -<p>"How came she to take a fancy to him?"</p> - -<p>"She? How do I know? She's as full of streaks as a tulip; and her liking -for him is one of them. Did you notice her, Will?—scarf flying one way, -and little curls, and pennants, and streamers, and veil, the other! And, -then, those eyes! She's alive, every inch of her! She puts me in mind of -a sweet-brier bush, winking and blinking, full of dew-drops, full of -roses, and brisk little thorns, beside! Ah, she'll keep him awake!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXVIII.</span> <span class="smaller">MAGNOLIA GROVE.</span></h2> - -<p>Judge Clayton was not mistaken in supposing that his son would -contemplate the issue of the case he had defended with satisfaction. As -we have already intimated, Clayton was somewhat averse to the practice -of the law. Regard for the feelings of his father had led him to resolve -that he would at least give it a fair trial. His own turn of mind would -have led him to some work of more immediate and practical philanthropy. -He would have much preferred to retire to his own estate, and devote -himself, with his sister, to the education of his servants. But he felt -that he could not, with due regard to his father's feelings, do this -until he had given professional life a fair trial.</p> - -<p>After the scene of the trial which we have described, he returned to his -business, and Anne solicited Nina to accompany her for a few weeks to -their plantation at Magnolia Grove, whither, as in duty bound, we may -follow her.</p> - -<p>Our readers will therefore be pleased to find themselves transported to -the shady side of a veranda belonging to Clayton's establishment at -Magnolia Grove.</p> - -<p>The place derived its name from a group of these beautiful trees, in the -centre of which the house was situated. It was a long, low cottage, -surrounded by deep verandas, festooned with an exuberance of those -climbing plants which are so splendid in the southern latitude.</p> - -<p>The range of apartments which opened on the veranda where Anne and Nina -were sitting were darkened to exclude the flies; but the doors, standing -open, gave picture-like gleams of the interior. The white, matted -floors, light bamboo furniture, couches covered with glazed white linen, -and the large vases of roses disposed here and there, where the light -would fall upon them, presented a background of inviting coolness.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p><p>It was early in the morning, and the two ladies were enjoying the -luxury of a <i>tête-à-tête</i> breakfast before the sun had yet dried the -heavy dews which give such freshness to the morning air. A small table -which stood between them was spread with choice fruits, arranged on -dishes in green leaves; a pitcher of iced milk, and a delicate little -<i>tête-à-tête</i> coffee-service, dispensing the perfume of the most -fragrant coffee. Nor were they wanting those small, delicate biscuits, -and some of those curious forms of cornbread, of the manufacture of -which every southern cook is so justly proud. Nor should we omit the -central vase of monthly roses, of every shade of color, the daily -arrangement of which was the special delight of Anne's brown little -waiting-maid Lettice.</p> - -<p>Anne Clayton, in a fresh white morning-wrapper, with her pure, healthy -complexion, fine teeth, and frank, beaming smile, looked like a queenly -damask rose. A queen she really was on her own plantation, reigning by -the strongest of all powers, that of love.</p> - -<p>The African race have large ideality and veneration; and in no -drawing-room could Anne's beauty and grace, her fine manners and -carriage, secure a more appreciating and unlimited admiration and -devotion. The negro race, with many of the faults of children, unite -many of their most amiable qualities, in the simplicity and -confidingness with which they yield themselves up in admiration of a -superior friend.</p> - -<p>Nina had been there but a day, yet could not fail to read in the eyes of -all how absolute was the reign which Anne held over their affections.</p> - -<p>"How delightful the smell of this magnolia blossom!" said Nina. "Oh, I'm -glad that you waked me so early, Anne!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Anne, "in this climate early rising becomes a necessary of -life to those who mean to have any real, positive pleasure in it, and -I'm one of the sort that must have <i>positive</i> pleasures. Merely negative -rest, lassitude, and dreaming, are not enough for me. I want to feel -that I'm alive, and that I accomplish something."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I see," said Nina, "you are not nominally like me, but really -housekeeper. What wonderful skill you seem to have! Is it possible that -you keep nothing locked up here?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p><p>"No," said Anne, "nothing. I am released from the power of the keys, -thank fortune! When I first came here, everybody told me it was sheer -madness to try such a thing. But I told them that I was determined to do -it, and Edward upheld me in it: and you can see how well I've -succeeded."</p> - -<p>"Indeed," said Nina, "you must have magic power, for I never saw a -household move on so harmoniously. All your servants seem to think, and -contrive, and take an interest in what they are doing. How did you -begin? What did you do?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, "I'll tell you the history of the plantation. In the -first place, it belonged to mamma's uncle; and, not to spoil a story for -relation's sake, I must say he was a dissipated, unprincipled man. He -lived a perfectly heathen life here, in the most shocking way you can -imagine; and so the poor creatures who were under him were worse heathen -than he. He lived with a quadroon woman, who was violent tempered, and -when angry ferociously cruel; and so the servants were constantly -passing from the extreme of indulgence to the extreme of cruelty. You -can scarce have an idea of the state we found them in. My heart almost -failed me; but Edward said, 'Don't give it up, Anne; try the good that -is in them.' Well, I confess, it seemed very much as it seemed to me -when I was once at a water-cure establishment,—patients would be -brought in languid, pale, cold, half dead, and it appeared as if it -would kill them to apply cold water; but, somehow or other, there was a -vital power in them that reacted under it. Well, just so it was with my -servants. I called them all together, and I said to them, 'Now, people -have always said that you are the greatest thieves in the world; that -there is no managing you except by locking up everything from you. But, -I think differently. I have an idea that you can be trusted. I have been -telling people that they don't know how much good there is in you; and -now, just to show them what you can do, I'm going to begin and leave the -closets and doors, and everything, unlocked, and I shall not watch you. -You can take my things, if you choose; and if, after a time, I find that -you can't be trusted, I shall go back to the old way.' Well, my dear, I -wouldn't have believed myself that the thing would have answered so -well. In the first place, approbativeness is a stronger principle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> with -the African race than almost any other; they like to be thought well of. -Immediately there was the greatest spirit in the house, for the poor -creatures, having suddenly made the discovery that somebody thought they -were to be trusted, were very anxious to keep up the reputation. The -elder ones watched the younger; and, in fact, my dear, I had very little -trouble. The children at first troubled me going into my store-closet -and getting the cake, notwithstanding very spirited government on the -part of the mammies. So, I called my family in session again, and said -that their conduct had confirmed my good opinion; that I always knew -they could be trusted, and that my friends were astonished to hear how -well they did; but that I had observed that some of the children -probably had taken my cake. 'Now, you know,' said I, 'that I have no -objection to your having some. If any of you would enjoy a piece of -cake, I shall be happy to give it to them, but it is not agreeable to -have things in my closet fingered over—I shall therefore set a plate of -cake out every day, and anybody that wishes to take some I hope will -take that.' Well, my dear, my plate of cake stood there and dried. You -won't believe me, but in fact it wasn't touched."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "I shouldn't think you could have had our Tomtit -here! Why, really this goes beyond the virtue of white children."</p> - -<p>"My dear, it isn't such a luxury to white children to be thought well -of, and have a character. You must take that into account. It was a -taste of a new kind of pleasure, made attractive by its novelty."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, "I have something in me which makes me feel this would -be the right way. I know it would be with me. There's nothing like -confidence. If a person trusts me, I'm bound."</p> - -<p>"Yet," said Anne, "I can't get the ladies of my acquaintance to believe -in it. They see how I get along, but they insist upon it that it's some -secret magic, or art, of mine."</p> - -<p>"Well, it is so," said Nina. "Such things are just like the -divining-rod; they won't work in every hand; it takes a real, generous, -warm-hearted woman, like you, Anne. But, could you carry your system -through your plantation, as well as your house?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p><p>"The field-hands were more difficult to manage, on some accounts," said -Anne, "but the same principle prevailed with them. Edward tried all he -could to awaken self-respect. Now, I counselled that we should endeavor -to form some decent habits before we built the cabins over. I told him -they could not appreciate cleanliness and order. 'Very likely they -cannot,' he said, 'but we are not to suppose it;' and he gave orders -immediately for that pretty row of cottages you saw down at the -quarters. He put up a large bathing establishment. Yet he did not -enforce at first personal cleanliness by strict rules. Those who began -to improve first were encouraged and noticed; and, as they found this a -passport to favor, the thing took rapidly. It required a great while to -teach them how to be consistently orderly and cleanly even after the -first desire had been awakened, because it isn't every one that likes -neatness and order, who has the forethought and skill to secure it. But -there has been a steady progress in these respects. One curious -peculiarity of Edward's management gives rise to a good many droll -scenes. He has instituted a sort of jury trial among them. There are -certain rules for the order and well-being of the plantation, which all -agree to abide by; and, in all offences, the man is tried by a jury of -his peers. Mr. Smith, our agent, says that these scenes are sometimes -very diverting, but on the whole there's a good deal of shrewdness and -sense manifested; but he says that, in general, they incline much more -to severity than he would. You see the poor creatures have been so -barbarized by the way they have been treated in past times, that it has -made them hard and harsh. I assure you, Nina, I never appreciated the -wisdom of God, in the laws which he made for the Jews in the wilderness, -as I have since I've tried the experiment myself of trying to bring a -set of slaves out of barbarism. Now, this that I'm telling you is the -fairest side of the story. I can't begin to tell you the thousand -difficulties and trials which we have encountered in it. Sometimes I've -been almost worn out and discouraged. But, then, I think, if there is a -missionary work in this world, it is this."</p> - -<p>"And what do your neighbors think about it?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, "they are all very polite, well-bred people, the -families with whom we associate; and such people, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> course, would -never think of interfering, or expressing a difference of opinion, in -any very open way; but I have the impression that they regard it with -suspicion. They sometimes let fall words which make me think they do. -It's a way of proceeding which very few would adopt, because it is not a -money-making operation, by any means. The plantation barely pays for -itself, because Edward makes that quite a secondary consideration. The -thing which excites the most murmuring is our teaching them to read. I -teach the children myself two hours every day, because I think this -would be less likely to be an offence than if I should hire a teacher. -Mr. Smith teaches any of the grown men who are willing to take the -trouble to learn. Any man who performs a certain amount of labor can -secure to himself two or three hours a day to spend as he chooses; and -many do choose to learn. Some of the men and the women have become quite -good readers, and Clayton is constantly sending books for them. This, -I'm afraid, gives great offence. It is against the law to do it; but, as -unjust laws are sometimes lived down, we thought we would test the -practicability of doing this. There was some complaint made of our -servants, because they have not the servile, subdued air which commonly -marks the slave, but look, speak, and act, as if they respected -themselves. I'm sometimes afraid that we shall have trouble; but, then, -I hope for the best."</p> - -<p>"What does Mr. Clayton expect to be the end of all this?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Why," said Anne, "I think Edward has an idea that one of these days -they may be emancipated on the soil, just as the serfs were in England. -It looks to me rather hopeless, I must say; but he says the best way is -for some one to begin and set an example of what ought to be done, and -he hopes that in time it will be generally followed. It would, if all -men were like him; but there lies my doubt. The number of those who -would pursue such a disinterested course is very small. But who comes -there? Upon my word, if there isn't my particular admirer, Mr. -Bradshaw!"</p> - -<p>As Anne said this, a very gentlemanly middle-aged man came up on -horseback, on the carriage-drive which passed in front of the veranda. -He bore in his hand a large bunch of different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> colored roses; and, -alighting, and delivering his horse to his servant, came up the steps -and presented it to Anne.</p> - -<p>"There," said he, "are the first fruits of my roses, in the garden that -I started in Rosedale."</p> - -<p>"Beautiful," said Anne, taking them. "Allow me to present to you Miss -Gordon."</p> - -<p>"Miss Gordon, your most obedient," said Mr. Bradshaw, bowing -obsequiously.</p> - -<p>"You are just in season, Mr. Bradshaw," said Anne, "for I'm sure you -couldn't have had your breakfast before you started; so sit down and -help us with ours."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Miss Anne," said Mr. Bradshaw, "the offer is too tempting to -be refused." And he soon established himself as a third at the little -table, and made himself very sociable.</p> - -<p>"Well, Miss Anne, how do all your plans proceed—all your benevolences -and cares? I hope your angel ministrations don't exhaust you."</p> - -<p>"Not at all, Mr. Bradshaw; do I look like it?"</p> - -<p>"No, indeed! but such energy is perfectly astonishing to us all."</p> - -<p>Nina's practised eye observed that Mr. Bradshaw had that particular -nervous, restless air, which belongs to a man who is charged with a -particular message, and finds himself unexpectedly blockaded by the -presence of a third person. So, after breakfast, exclaiming that she had -left her crochet-needle in her apartment, and resisting Anne's offer to -send a servant for it, by declaring that nobody could find it but -herself, she left the veranda. Mr. Bradshaw had been an old family -friend for many years, and stood with Anne almost on the easy footing of -a relation, which gave him the liberty of speaking with freedom. The -moment the door of the parlor was closed after Nina, he drew a chair -near to Anne, and sat down, with the unmistakable air of a man who is -going into a confidential communication.</p> - -<p>"The fact is, my dear Miss Clayton," he said, "I have something on my -mind that I want to tell you; and I hope you will think my long -friendship for the family a sufficient warrant for my speaking on -matters which really belong chiefly to yourself. The fact is, my dear -Miss Clayton, I was at a small <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>dinner-party of gentlemen, the other -day, at Colonel Grandon's. There was a little select set there, you -know,—the Howards, and the Elliotts, and the Howlands, and so on,—and -the conversation happened to turn upon your brother. Now, there was the -very greatest respect for him; they seemed to have the highest possible -regard for his motives; but still they felt that he was going on a very -dangerous course."</p> - -<p>"Dangerous?" said Anne, a little startled.</p> - -<p>"Yes, really dangerous; and I think so myself, though I, perhaps, don't -feel as strongly as some do."</p> - -<p>"Really," said Anne, "I'm quite at a loss!"</p> - -<p>"My dear Miss Anne, it's these improvements, you know, which you are -making.—Don't misapprehend me! Admirable, very admirable, in -themselves,—done from the most charming of motives, Miss Anne,—but -dangerous, dangerous!"</p> - -<p>The solemn, mysterious manner in which these last words were pronounced -made Anne laugh; but when she saw the expression of real concern on the -face of her good friend, she checked herself, and said,—</p> - -<p>"Pray, explain yourself. I don't understand you."</p> - -<p>"Why, Miss Anne, it's just here. We appreciate your humanity, and your -self-denial, and your indulgence to your servants. Everybody is of -opinion that it's admirable. You are really quite a model for us all. -But, when it comes to teaching them to read and write, Miss Anne," he -said, lowering his voice, "I think you don't consider what a dangerous -weapon you are putting into their hands. The knowledge will spread on to -the other plantations; bright niggers will pick it up; for the very -fellows who are most dangerous are the very ones who will be sure to -learn."</p> - -<p>"What if they should?" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Why, my dear Miss Anne," said he, lowering his voice, "the facilities -that it will afford them for combinations, for insurrections! You see, -Miss Anne, I read a story once of a man who made a cork leg with such -wonderful accuracy that it would walk of itself, and when he got it on -he couldn't stop its walking—it walked him to death—actually did! -Walked him up hill and down dale, till the poor man fell down exhausted; -and then it ran off with his body. And it's running with its skeleton to -this day, I believe."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p><p>And good-natured Mr. Bradshaw conceived such a ridiculous idea, at this -stage of his narrative, that he leaned back in his chair and laughed -heartily, wiping his perspiring face with a cambric pocket-handkerchief.</p> - -<p>"Really, Mr. Bradshaw, it's a very amusing idea, but I don't see the -analogy," said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Why, don't you see? You begin teaching niggers, and having reading and -writing, and all these things, going on, and they begin to open their -eyes, and look round and think; and they are having opinions of their -own, they won't take yours; and they want to rise directly. And if they -can't rise, why, they are all discontented; and there's the -what-'s-his-name to pay with them! Then come conspiracies and -insurrections, no matter how well you treat them; and, now, we South -Carolinians have had experience in this matter. You must excuse us, but -it is a terrible subject with us. Why, the leaders of that conspiracy, -all of them, were fellows who could read and write, and who had nothing -in the world to wish for, in the way of comfort, treated with every -consideration by their masters. It is a most melancholy chapter in human -nature. It shows that there is no trust to be placed in them. And, now, -the best way to get along with negroes, in my opinion, is to make them -happy; give them plenty to eat and drink and wear, and keep them amused -and excited, and don't work them too hard. I think it's a great deal -better than this kind of exciting instruction. Mind," he said, seeing -that Anne was going to interrupt him, "mind, now, I'd have religious -instruction, of course. Now, this system of oral instruction, teaching -them hymns and passages of Scripture suited to their peculiar condition, -it's just the thing; it isn't so liable to these dangers. I hope you'll -excuse me, Miss Anne, but the gentlemen really feel very serious about -these things; they find it's affecting their own negroes. You know, -somehow everything goes round from one plantation to another; and one of -them said that he had a very smart man who is married to one of your -women, and he actually found him with a spelling-book, sitting out under -a tree. He said if the man had had a rifle he couldn't have been more -alarmed; because the man was just one of those sharp, resolute fellows, -that, if he knew how to read and write, there's no knowing what he would -do. Well,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> now, you see how it is. He takes the spelling-book away, and -he tells him he will give him nine-and-thirty if he ever finds him with -it again. What's the consequence? Why, the consequence is, the man sulks -and gets ugly, and he has to sell him. That's the way it's operating."</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said Anne, looking somewhat puzzled, "I will strictly -forbid our people to allow spelling-books to go out of their hands, or -to communicate any of these things off of the plantation."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I tell you, Miss Anne, you can't do it. You don't know the passion -in human nature for anything that is forbidden. Now, I believe it's more -that than love of reading. You can't shut up such an experiment as you -are making here. It's just like a fire. It will blaze; it will catch on -all the plantations round; and I assure you it's matter of life and -death with us. You smile, Miss Anne, but it's so."</p> - -<p>"Really, my dear Mr. Bradshaw, you could not have addressed me on a more -unpleasant subject. I am sorry to excite the apprehension of our -neighbors; but"—</p> - -<p>"Give me leave to remind you, also, Miss Anne, that the teaching of -slaves to read and write is an offence to which a severe penalty is -attached by the laws."</p> - -<p>"I thought," said Anne, "that such barbarous laws were a dead letter in -a Christian community, and that the best tribute I could pay to its -Christianity was practically to disregard them."</p> - -<p>"By no means, Miss Anne, by no means! Why, look at us here in South -Carolina. The negroes are three to one over the whites now. Will it do -to give them the further advantages of education and facilities of -communication? You see, at once, it will not. Now, well-bred people, of -course, are extremely averse to mingling in the affairs of other -families; and had you merely taught a few favorites, in a private way, -as I believe people now and then do, it wouldn't have seemed so bad; but -to have regular provision for teaching school, and school-hours,—I -think, Miss Anne, you'll find it will result in unpleasant -consequences."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I fancy," said Anne, raising herself up, and slightly coloring, -"that I see myself in the penitentiary for the sin and crime of teaching -children to read! I think, Mr. Bradshaw, it is time such laws were -disregarded. Is not that the only way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> in which many laws are repealed? -Society outgrows them, people disregard them, and so they fall away, -like the calyx from some of my flowers. Come, now, Mr. Bradshaw, come -with me to my school. I'm going to call it together," said Anne, rising, -and beginning to go down the veranda steps. "Certainly, my dear friend, -you ought not to judge without seeing. Wait a moment, till I call Miss -Gordon."</p> - -<p>And Anne stepped across the shady parlor, and in a few moments -reappeared with Nina, both arrayed in white cape-bonnets. They crossed -to the right of the house, to a small cluster of neat cottages, each one -of which had its little vegetable garden, and its plot in front, -carefully tended, with flowers. They passed onward into a grove of -magnolias which skirted the back of the house, till they came to a -little building, with the external appearance of a small Grecian temple -the pillars of which were festooned with jessamine.</p> - -<p>"Pray what pretty little place is this?" said Mr. Bradshaw.</p> - -<p>"This is my school-room," said Anne.</p> - -<p>Mr. Bradshaw repressed a whistle of astonishment; but the emotion was -plainly legible in his face, and Anne said, laughing,—</p> - -<p>"A lady's school-room, you know, should be lady-like. Besides, I wish to -inspire ideas of taste, refinement, and self-respect, in these children. -I wish learning to be associated with the idea of elegance and beauty."</p> - -<p>They ascended the steps, and entered a large room, surrounded on three -sides by blackboards. The floor was covered with white matting, and the -walls hung with very pretty pictures of French lithographs, tastefully -colored. In some places cards were hung up, bearing quotations of -Scripture. There were rows of neat desks, before each of which there was -a little chair.</p> - -<p>Anne stepped to the door and rang a bell, and in about ten minutes the -patter of innumerable little feet was heard ascending the steps, and -presently they came streaming in—all ages, from four or five to -fifteen, and from the ebony complexion of the negro, with its -closely-curling wool, to the rich brown cheek of the quadroon, with -melancholy, lustrous eyes, and waving hair. All were dressed alike, in a -neat uniform of some kind of blue stuff, with white capes and aprons.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p><p>They filed in to the tune of one of those marked rhythmical melodies -which characterize the negro music, and, moving in exact time to the -singing, assumed their seats, which were arranged with regard to their -age and size. As soon as they were seated, Anne, after a moment's pause, -clapped her hands, and the whole school commenced a morning hymn, in -four parts, which was sung so beautifully that Mr. Bradshaw, quite -overpowered, stood with tears in his eyes. Anne nodded at Nina, and cast -on him a satisfied glance.</p> - -<p>After that, there was a rapid review of the classes. There was reading, -spelling, writing on the blackboard, and the smaller ones were formed in -groups in two adjoining apartments, under the care of some of the older -girls. Anne walked about superintending the whole; and Nina, who saw the -scene for the first time, could not repress her exclamation of delight. -The scholars were evidently animated by the presence of company, and -anxious to do credit to the school and teacher, and the two hours passed -rapidly away. Anne exhibited to Mr. Bradshaw specimens of the -proficiency of her scholars in handwriting, and the drawing of maps, and -even the copying of small lithograph cards, which contained a series of -simple drawing-patterns. Mr. Bradshaw seemed filled with astonishment.</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word," said he, "these are surprising! Miss Anne, you are a -veritable magician—a worker of miracles! You must have found Aaron's -rod, again! My dear madam, you run the risk of being burned for a -witch!"</p> - -<p>"Very few, Mr. Bradshaw, know how much of beauty lies sealed up in this -neglected race," said Anne, with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>As they were walking back to the house, Mr. Bradshaw fell a little -behind, and his face wore a thoughtful and almost sad expression.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, looking round, "a penny for your thoughts!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I see, Miss Anne, you are for pursuing your advantage. I see -triumph in your eyes. But yet," he added, "after all this display, the -capability of your children makes me feel sad. To what end is it? What -purpose will it serve, except to unfit them for their inevitable -condition—to make them discontented and unhappy?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p><p>"Well," replied Anne, "there ought to be no inevitable condition that -makes it necessary to dwarf a human mind. Any condition which makes a -full development of the powers that God has given us a misfortune, -cannot, certainly, be a healthy one—cannot be right. If a mind will -grow and rise, make way and let it. Make room for it, and cut down -everything that stands in the way!"</p> - -<p>"That's terribly levelling doctrine, Miss Anne."</p> - -<p>"Let it level, then!" said Anne. "I don't care! I come from the old -Virginia cavalier blood, and am not afraid of anything."</p> - -<p>"But, Miss Anne, how do you account for it that the best-educated and -best-treated slaves—in fact, as you say, the most perfectly-developed -human beings—were those who got up the insurrection in Charleston?"</p> - -<p>"How do you account for it," said Anne, "that the best-developed and -finest specimens of men have been those that have got up insurrections -in Italy, Austria, and Hungary?"</p> - -<p>"Well, you admit, then," said Mr. Bradshaw, "that if you say A in this -matter, you've got to say B."</p> - -<p>"Certainly," said Anne, "and when the time comes to say B, I'm ready to -say it. I admit, Mr. Bradshaw, it's a very dangerous thing to get up -steam, if you don't intend to let the boat go. But when the steam is -high enough, let her go, say I."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but, Miss Anne, other people don't want to say so. The fact is, we -are not all of us ready to let the boat go. It's got all our property in -it—all we have to live on. If you are willing yourself, so far as your -people are concerned, they'll inevitably want liberty, and you say -you'll be ready to give it to them; but your fires will raise a steam on -our plantations, and we must shut down these escape-valves. Don't you -see? Now, for my part, I've been perfectly charmed with this school of -yours; but, after all, I can't help inquiring whereto it will grow."</p> - -<p>"Well, Mr. Bradshaw," said Anne, "I'm obliged to you for the frankness -of this conversation. It's very friendly and sincere. I think, however, -I shall continue to compliment the good sense and gallantry of this -state, by ignoring its unworthy and unchristian laws. I will endeavor, -nevertheless, to be more careful and guarded as to the manner of what I -do; but, if I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> should be put into the penitentiary, Mr. Bradshaw, I hope -you'll call on me."</p> - -<p>"Miss Anne, I beg ten thousand pardons for that unfortunate allusion."</p> - -<p>"I think," said Anne, "I shall impose it as a penance upon you to stay -and spend the day with us, and then I'll show you my rose-garden. I have -great counsel to hold with you on the training of a certain pillar-rose. -You see, my design is to get you involved in my treason. You've already -come into complicity with it, by visiting my school."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Miss Anne; I should be only too much honored to be your -abettor in any treason you might meditate. But, really, I'm a most -unlucky dog! Think of my having four bachelor friends engaged to dine -with me, and so being obliged to decline your tempting offer! In fact, I -must take horse before the sun gets any hotter."</p> - -<p>"There he goes, for a good-hearted creature as he is!" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Do you know," said Nina, laughing, "that I thought that he was some -poor, desperate mortal, who was on the verge of a proposal, this -morning, and I ran away like a good girl to give him a fair field?"</p> - -<p>"Child," said Anne, "you are altogether too late in the day. Mr. -Bradshaw and I walked that little figure some time ago, and now he is -one of the most convenient and agreeable of friends."</p> - -<p>"Anne, why in the world don't you get in love with somebody?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"My dear, I think there was something or other left out when I was made -up," said Anne, laughing, "but I never had much of a fancy for the lords -of creation. They do tolerably well till they come to be lovers; but -then they are perfectly unbearable. Lions in love, my dear, don't appear -to advantage, you know. I can't marry papa or Edward, and they have -spoiled me for everybody else. Besides, I'm happy, and what do I want of -any of them? Can't there be now and then a woman sufficient to herself? -But, Nina, dear, I'm sorry that our affairs here are giving offence and -making uneasiness."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Nina, "I should go right on. I have noticed that -people try all they can to stop a person who is taking an unusual -course; and when they are perfectly certain that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> they can't stop them, -then they turn round and fall in with them; and I think that will be the -case with you."</p> - -<p>"They certainly will have an opportunity of trying," said Anne. "But -there is Dulcimer coming up the avenue with the letter-bag. Now, child, -I don't believe you appreciate half my excellence, when you consider -that I used to have all these letters that fall to you every mail."</p> - -<p>At this moment Dulcimer rode up to the veranda steps, and deposited the -letter-bag in Anne's hands.</p> - -<p>"What an odd name you have given him!" said Nina, "and what a -comical-looking fellow he is! He has a sort of waggish air that reminds -me of a crow."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Dulcimer don't belong to our <i>régime</i>," said Anne. "He was the -prime minister and favorite under the former reign,—a sort of licensed -court jester,—and to this day he hardly knows how to do anything but -sing and dance; and so brother, who is for allowing the largest liberty -to everybody, imposes on him only such general and light tasks as suit -his roving nature. But there!" she said throwing a letter on Nina's lap, -and at the same time breaking the seal of one directed to herself. "Ah, -I thought so! You see, puss, Edward has some law business that takes him -to this part of the state forthwith. Was ever such convenient law -business? We may look for him to-night. Now there will be rejoicings! -How now, Dulcimer? I thought you had gone," she said, looking up, and -observing that personage still lingering in the shade of a tulip-tree -near the veranda.</p> - -<p>"Please, Miss Anne, is Master Clayton coming home to-night?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Dulcimer; so now go and spread the news; for that's what you want, -I know."</p> - -<p>And Dulcimer, needing no second suggestion, was out of sight in the -shrubbery in a few moments.</p> - -<p>"Now, I'll wager," said Anne, "that creature will get up something or -other extraordinary for this evening."</p> - -<p>"Such as what?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Well, he is something of a troubadour, and I shouldn't wonder if he -should be cudgelling his brain at this moment for a song. We shall have -some kind of operatic performance, you may be sure."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXIX.</span> <span class="smaller">THE TROUBADOUR.</span></h2> - -<p>About five o'clock in the evening, Nina and Anne amused themselves with -setting a fancy tea-table on the veranda. Nina had gathered a quantity -of the leaves of the live-oak, which she possessed a particular faculty -of plaiting in long, flat wreaths, and with these she garlanded the -social round table, after it had been draped in its snowy damask, while -Anne was busy arranging fruit in dishes with vine-leaves.</p> - -<p>"Lettice will be in despair, to-night," said Anne, looking up, and -smiling at a neatly-dressed brown mulatto girl, who stood looking on -with large, lustrous eyes; "her occupation's gone!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lettice must allow me to show my accomplishments," said Nina. -"There are some household arts that I have quite a talent for. If I had -lived in what-'s-its-name, there, that they used to tell about in old -times—Arcadia—I should have made a good housekeeper; for nothing suits -me better than making wreaths, and arranging bouquets. My nature is -dressy. I want to dress everything. I want to dress tables, and dress -vases, and adorn dishes, and dress handsome women, Anne! So look out for -yourself, for when I have done crowning the table, I shall crown you!"</p> - -<p>As Nina talked, she was flitting hither and thither, taking up and -laying down flowers and leaves, shaking out long sprays, and fluttering -from place to place, like a bird.</p> - -<p>"It's a pity," said Anne, "that life can't be all Arcadia!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes!" said Nina. "When I was a child, I remember there was an old -torn translation of a book called Gesner's Idyls, that used to lie about -the house; and I used to read in it most charming little stories about -handsome shepherds, dressed in white, playing on silver and ivory -flutes; and shepherdesses, with azure mantles and floating hair; and -people living on such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> delightful things as cool curds and milk, and -grapes, and strawberries, and peaches; and there was no labor, and no -trouble, and no dirt, and no care. Everybody lived like the flowers and -the birds,—growing and singing, and being beautiful. Ah, dear, I have -never got over wanting it since! Why couldn't it be so?"</p> - -<p>"It's a thousand pities!" said Anne. "But what constant fight we have to -maintain for order and beauty!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina; "and, what seems worse, beauty itself becomes dirt in -a day. Now, these roses that we are arranging, to-morrow or next day we -shall call them <i>litter</i>, and wish somebody would sweep them out of the -way. But I never want to to be the one to do that. I want some one to -carry away the withered flowers, and wash the soiled vases; but I want -to be the one to cut the fresh roses every day. If I were in an -association, I should take that for my part. I'd arrange all their -flowers through the establishment, but I should stipulate expressly that -I should do no clearing up."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, "it's really a mystery to me what a constant downward -tendency there is to everything—how everything is gravitating back, as -you may say, into disorder. Now, I think a cleanly, sweet, tasteful -house—and, above all, table—are among the highest works of art. And -yet, how everything attacks you when you set out to attain it—flies, -cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes! And, then, it seems to be the fate of all -human beings, that they are constantly wearing out and disarranging and -destroying all that is about them."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, "I couldn't help thinking of that when we were at the -camp-meeting. The first day, I was perfectly charmed. Everything was so -fresh, so cool, so dewy and sweet; but, by the end of the second day, -they had thrown egg-shells, and pea-pods, and melon-rinds, and all sorts -of abominations, around among the tents, and it was really shocking to -contemplate."</p> - -<p>"How disgusting!" said Anne.</p> - -<p>"Now, I'm one of that sort," said Nina, "that love order dearly, but -don't want the trouble of it myself. My prime minister, Aunt Katy, -thanks to mamma, is an excellent hand to keep it, and I encourage her in -it with all my heart; so that any part<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> of the house where <i>I</i> don't go -much is in beautiful order. But, bless me, I should have to be made over -again before I could do like Aunt Nesbit! Did you ever see her take a -pair of gloves or a collar out of a drawer? She gets up, and walks <i>so</i> -moderately across the room, takes the key from under the napkin on the -right-hand side of the bureau, and unlocks the drawer, as gravely as -though she was going to offer a sacrifice. Then, if her gloves are at -the back side, underneath something else, she takes out one thing after -another, so moderately; and then, when the gloves or collar are found, -lays everything back exactly where it was before, locks the drawer, and -puts the key back under the towel. And all this she'd do if anybody was -dying, and she had to go for the doctor! The consequence is, that her -room, her drawers, and everything, are a standing sermon to me. But I -think I've got to be a much calmer person than I am, before this will -come to pass in my case. I'm always in such a breeze and flutter! I fly -to my drawer, and scatter things into little whirlwinds; ribbons, scarf, -flowers—everything flies out in a perfect rainbow. It seems as if I -<i>should die</i> if I didn't get the thing I wanted that minute; and, after -two or three such attacks on a drawer, then comes repentance, and a long -time of rolling up and arranging, and talking to little naughty Nina, -who always promises herself to keep better order in future. But, my -dear, she doesn't do it, I'm sorry to say, as yet, though perhaps there -are hopes of her in future. Tell me, Anne,—you are not stiff and -'<i>poky</i>,' and yet you seem to be endowed with the gift of order. How did -it come about?"</p> - -<p>"It was not natural to me, I assure you," said Anne. "It was a second -nature, drilled into me by mamma."</p> - -<p>"Mamma! ah, indeed!" said Nina, giving a sigh. "Then you are very happy! -But, come, now, Lettice, I've done with all these; take them away. My -tea-table has risen out of them like the world out of chaos," she said, -as she swept together a heap of rejected vines, leaves, and flowers. -"Ah! I always have a repenting turn, when I've done arranging vases, to -think I've picked so many more than were necessary! The poor flowers -droop their leaves, and look at me reproachfully, as if they said, 'You -didn't want us—why couldn't you have left us alone?'"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p><p>"Oh," said Anne, "Lettice will relieve you of that. She has great -talents in the floral line, and out of these she will arrange quantities -of bouquets," she said, as Lettice, blushing perceptibly through her -brown skin, stooped and swept up the rejected flowers into her apron.</p> - -<p>"What have we here?" said Anne, as Dulcimer, attired with most unusual -care, came bowing up the steps, presenting a note on a waiter. "Dear me, -how stylish! gilt-edged paper, smelling of myrrh and ambergris!" she -continued, as she broke the seal. "What's this?</p> - -<blockquote><p>"'The Magnolia Grove troubadours request the presence of Mr. and -Miss Clayton and Miss Gordon at an operatic performance, which will -be given this evening, at eight o'clock, in the grove.'</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Very well done! I fancy some of my scholars have been busy with the -writing. Dulcimer, we shall be happy to come."</p> - -<p>"Where upon earth did he pick up those phrases?" said Nina, when he had -departed.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Anne, "I told you that he was prime favorite of the former -proprietor, who used to take him with him wherever he travelled, as -people sometimes will a pet monkey; and, I dare say, he has lounged -round the lobbies of many an opera-house. I told you that he was going -to get up something."</p> - -<p>"What a delightful creature he must be!" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps so, to you," said Anne; "but he is a troublesome person to -manage. He is as wholly destitute of any moral organs as a jackdaw. One -sometimes questions whether these creatures have any more than a -reflected mimicry of a human soul—such as the German stories imagine in -Cobolds and water spirits. All I can see in Dulcimer is a kind of -fun-loving animal. He don't seem to have any moral nature."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Nina, "his moral nature is something like the -cypress-vine seeds which I planted three months ago, and which have just -come up."</p> - -<p>"Well, I believe Edward expects to see it along, one of these days," -said Anne. "His faith in human nature is unbounded. I think it one of -his foibles, for my part; but yet I try to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> hopes of Dulcimer, that -some day or other he will have some glimmering perceptions of the -difference between a lie and the truth, and between his own things and -other people's. At present, he is the most lawless marauder on the -place. He has been so used to having his wit to cover a multitude of -sins, that it's difficult for a scolding to make any impression on him. -But, hark! isn't that a horse? Somebody is coming up the avenue."</p> - -<p>Both listened.</p> - -<p>"There are two," said Nina.</p> - -<p>Just at this instant Clayton emerged to view, accompanied by another -rider, who, on nearer view, turned out to be Frank Russel. At the same -instant, the sound of violins and banjos was heard, and, to Anne's -surprise, a gayly-dressed procession of servants and children began to -file out from the grove, headed by Dulcimer and several of his -associates, playing and singing.</p> - -<p>"There," said Anne, "didn't I tell you so. There's the beginning of -Dulcimer's operations."</p> - -<p>The air was one of those inexpressibly odd ones whose sharp, metallic -accuracy of rhythm seems to mark the delight which the negro race feel -in that particular element of music. The words, as usual, amounted to -very little. Nina and Anne could hear,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, I see de mas'r a comin' up de track,</div> -<div>His horse's heels do clatter, with a clack, clack, clack!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The idea conveyed in these lines being still further carried out by the -regular clapping of hands at every accented note, while every voice -joined in the chorus:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Sing, boys, sing; de mas'r is come!</div> -<div>Give three cheers for de good man at home!</div> -<div class="i5">Ho! he! ho! Hurra! hurra!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Clayton acknowledged the compliment, as he came up, by bowing from his -horse; and the procession arranged itself in a kind of lane, through -which he and his companion rode up to the veranda.</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word," said Frank Russel, "I wasn't prepared for such a -demonstration. Quite a presidential reception!"</p> - -<p>When Clayton came to the steps and dismounted, a dozen sprang eagerly -forward to take his horse, and in the crowding round for a word of -recognition the order of the procession was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> entirely broken. After many -kind words, and inquiries in every direction for a few moments, the -people quietly retired, leaving their master to his own enjoyments.</p> - -<p>"You really have made quite a triumphal entry," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Dulcimer always exhausts himself on all such occasions," said Anne, "so -that he isn't capable of any further virtue for two or three weeks."</p> - -<p>"Well, take him while he is in flower, then!" said Russel. "But how -perfectly cool and inviting you look. Really, quite idyllic! We must -certainly have got into a fairy queen's castle!"</p> - -<p>"But you must show us somewhere to shake the dust off of our feet," said -Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Anne, "there's Aunt Praw waiting to show you your room. Go -and make yourselves as fascinating as you can."</p> - -<p>In a little while the gentlemen returned, in fresh white linen suits, -and the business of the tea-table proceeded with alacrity.</p> - -<p>"Well, now," said Anne, after tea, looking at her watch, "I must inform -the company that we are all engaged to the opera this evening."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, "the Magnolia Grove Opera House is to be opened, and -the Magnolia Troubadour Troupe to appear for the first time."</p> - -<p>At this moment they were surprised by the appearance, below the veranda, -of Dulcimer, with three of his colored associates, all wearing white -ribbons in their button-holes, and carrying white wands tied with satin -ribbon, and gravely arranging themselves two and two on each side of the -steps.</p> - -<p>"Why, Dulcimer, what's this?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>Dulcimer bowed with the gravity of a raven, and announced that the -committee had come to wait on the gentlemen and ladies to their seats.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Anne, "we were not prepared for our part of the play!"</p> - -<p>"What a pity I didn't bring my opera-hat!" said Nina. "Never mind," she -said, snatching a spray of multiflora rose, "this will do." And she gave -it one twist round her head, and her toilet was complete.</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word, that's soon done!" said Frank Russel, as he watched the -coronet of half-opened buds and roses.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said Nina. "Sit down, Anne; I forgot your crown. There, wait a -moment; let me turn this leaf a little, and weave these buds in -here—so. Now you are a Baltimore belle, to be sure! Now for the -procession."</p> - -<p>The opera-house for the evening was an open space in the grove behind -the house. Lamps had been hung up in the trees, twinkling on the glossy -foliage. A sort of booth or arbor was built of flowers and leaves at one -end, to which the party were marshalled in great state. Between two -magnolia-trees a white curtain was hung up; and the moment the family -party made their appearance, a chorus of voices from behind the scenes -began an animated song of welcome.</p> - -<p>As soon as the party was seated, the curtain rose, and the chorus, -consisting of about thirty of the best singers, males and females, came -forward, dressed in their best holiday costume, singing, and keeping -step as they sung, and bearing in their hands bouquets, which, as they -marched round the circle, they threw at the feet of the company. A -wreath of orange-blossoms was significantly directed at Nina, and fell -right into her lap.</p> - -<p>"These people seem to have had their eyes open. Coming events cast their -shadows before!" said Russel.</p> - -<p>After walking around, the chorus seated themselves at the side of the -area, and the space behind was filled up with a dense sea of heads—all -the servants and plantation hands.</p> - -<p>"I declare," said Russel, looking round on the crowd of dark faces, -"this sable cloud is turning a silver lining with a witness! How neat -and pretty that row of children look!" And, as they spoke, a procession -of the children of Anne's school came filing round in the same manner -that the other had done, singing their school-songs, and casting flowers -before the company. After this, they seated themselves on low seats in -front of all the others.</p> - -<p>Dulcimer and four of his companions now came into the centre.</p> - -<p>"There," said Anne, "Dulcimer is going to be the centrepiece. He is the -troubadour."</p> - -<p>Dulcimer, in fact, commenced a kind of recitative, to the tune "Mas'r's -in the cold, cold ground." After singing a few lines, the quartet took -up the chorus, and their voices were really magnificent.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p><p>"Why," said Nina, "it seems to me they are beginning in a very doleful -way."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Anne, "wait a minute. This is the old mas'r, I fancy. We -shall soon hear the tune changed."</p> - -<p>And accordingly, Dulcimer, striking into a new tune, began to rehearse -the coming in of a new master.</p> - -<p>"There," said Anne, "now for a catalogue of Edward's virtues! They must -all be got in, rhyme or no rhyme."</p> - -<p>Dulcimer kept on rehearsing. Every four lines, the quartet struck in -with the chorus, which was then repeated by the whole company, clapping -their hands and stamping their feet to the time, with great vivacity.</p> - -<p>"Now, Anne, is coming your turn," said Nina, as Dulcimer launched out, -in most high-flown strains, on the beauty of Miss Anne.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Clayton, "the catalogue of your virtues will be something -extensive."</p> - -<p>"I shall escape, at any rate," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Don't you be too sure," said Anne. "Dulcimer has had his eye on you -ever since you've been here."</p> - -<p>And true enough, after the next stanza, Dulcimer assumed a peculiarly -meaning expression.</p> - -<p>"There," said Anne, "do see the wretch flirting himself out like a saucy -crow! It's coming! Now look out, Nina!"</p> - -<p>With a waggish expression from the corner of his downcast eyes, he -sung,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, mas'r is often absent—do you know where he goes?</div> -<div>He goes to North Carolina, for de North Carolina rose."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"There you are!" said Frank Russel. "Do you see the grin going round? -What a lot of ivory! They are coming in this chorus, strong!"</p> - -<p>And the whole assembly, with great animation, poured out on the -chorus:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, de North Carolina rose!</div> -<div>Oh, de North Carolina rose!</div> -<div>We wish good luck to mas'r,</div> -<div>With de North Carolina rose!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>This chorus was repeated with enthusiasm, clapping of hands, and -laughing.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p><p>"I think the North Carolina rose ought to rise!" said Russel.</p> - -<p>"Oh, hush!" said Anne; "Dulcimer hasn't done yet."</p> - -<p>Assuming an attitude, Dulcimer turned and sang to one of his associates -in the quartet,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, I see two stars arising,</div> -<div>Up in de shady skies!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>To which the other responded, with animation:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"No, boy, you are mistaken;</div> -<div>'Tis de light of her fair eyes!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"That's <i>thorough</i>, at any rate!" said Russel. While Dulcimer went on:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, I see two roses blowing,</div> -<div>Togeder on one bed!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And the other responded:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"No, boy, you are mistaken;</div> -<div>Dem are her cheeks so red!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"And they are getting redder!" said Anne, tapping Nina with her fan. -"Dulcimer is evidently laying out his strength upon you, Nina!"</p> - -<p>Dulcimer went on singing:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, I see a grape-vine running,</div> -<div>With its curly rings, up dere!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And the response,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"No, boy, you are mistaken:</div> -<div>'Tis her rings of curly hair!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And the quartet here struck up:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, she walks on de veranda,</div> -<div class="i1">And she laughs out of de door,</div> -<div>And she dances like de sunshine</div> -<div class="i1">Across de parlor floor.</div> -<div>Her little feet, dey patter,</div> -<div class="i1">Like de rain upon de flowers;</div> -<div>And her laugh is like sweet waters,</div> -<div class="i1">Through all de summer hours!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Dulcimer has had help from some of the muses along there!" said -Clayton, looking at Anne.</p> - -<p>"Hush!" said Anne; "hear the chorus."</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>"Oh, de North Carolina rose!</div> -<div>Oh, de North Carolina rose!</div> -<div>Oh, plant by our veranda</div> -<div>De North Carolina rose!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>This chorus was repeated with three times three, and the whole assembly -broke into a general laugh, when the performers bowed and retired, and -the white sheet, which was fastened by a pulley to the limb of a tree, -was let down again.</p> - -<p>"Come, now, Anne, confess that wasn't all Dulcimer's work!" said -Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Well, to tell the truth," said Anne, "'twas got up between him and -Lettice, who has a natural turn for versifying, quite extraordinary. If -I chose to encourage and push her on, she might turn out a second -Phillis Wheatly."</p> - -<p>Dulcimer and his coadjutors now came round, bearing trays with lemonade, -cake, sliced pine-apples, and some other fruits.</p> - -<p>"Well, on my word," said Russel, "this is quite prettily got up!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I think," said Clayton, "the African race evidently are made to -excel in that department which lies between the sensuous and the -intellectual—what we call the elegant arts. These require rich and -abundant animal nature, such as they possess; and, if ever they become -highly civilized, they will excel in music, dancing, and elocution."</p> - -<p>"I have often noticed," said Anne, "in my scholars, how readily they -seize upon anything which pertains to the department of music and -language. The negroes are sometimes laughed at for mispronouncing words, -which they will do in a very droll manner; but it's only because they -are so taken with the sounds of words that they will try to pronounce -beyond the sphere of their understanding, like bright children."</p> - -<p>"Some of these voices here are perfectly splendid," said Russel.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Anne, "we have one or two girls on the place who have that -rich contralto voice which, I think, is oftener to be found among them -than among whites."</p> - -<p>"The Ethiopian race is a slow-growing plant, like the aloe," said -Clayton; "but I hope, some of these days, they'll come into flower; and -I think, if they ever do, the blossoming will be gorgeous."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p><p>"That will do for a poet's expectation," said Russel.</p> - -<p>The performance now gave place to a regular dancing-party, which went on -with great animation, yet decorum.</p> - -<p>"Religious people," said Clayton, "who have instructed the negroes, I -think have wasted a great deal of their energy in persuading them to -give up dancing and singing songs. I try to regulate the propensity. -There is no use in trying to make the negroes into Anglo-Saxons any more -than making a grape-vine into a pear-tree. I train the grape-vine."</p> - -<p>"Behold," said Russel, "the successful champion of negro rights!"</p> - -<p>"Not so very successful," said Clayton. "I suppose you've heard my case -has been appealed; so that my victory isn't so certain, after all."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Nina, "yes, it must be! I'm sure no person of common sense -would decide any other way; and your own father is one of the judges, -too."</p> - -<p>"That will only make him the more careful not to be influenced in my -favor," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>The dancing now broke up, and the servants dispersed in an orderly -manner, and the company returned to the veranda, which lay pleasantly -checkered with the light of the moon falling through trailing vines. The -air was full of those occasional pulsations of fragrance which rise in -the evening from flowers.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how delightful," said Nina, "this fragrance of the honeysuckles! I -have a perfect passion for perfumes! They seem to me like spirits in the -air."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Clayton, "Lord Bacon says, 'that the breath of flowers comes -and goes in the air, like the warbling of music.'"</p> - -<p>"Did Lord Bacon say that?" said Nina, in a tone of surprise.</p> - -<p>"Yes; why not?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I thought he was one of those musty old philosophers who never -thought of anything pretty!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "then to-morrow let me read you his essay on -gardens, and you'll find musty old philosophers often do think of pretty -things."</p> - -<p>"It was Lord Bacon," said Anne, "who always wanted musicians playing in -the next room while he was composing."</p> - -<p>"He did?" said Nina. "Why, how delightful of him! I think I should like -to hear some of his essays."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p><p>"There are some minds," said Clayton, "large enough to take in -everything. Such men can talk as prettily of a ring on a lady's finger, -as they can wisely on the courses of the planets. Nothing escapes them."</p> - -<p>"That's the kind of man <i>you</i> ought to have for a lover, Anne," said -Nina, laughing; "you have weight enough to risk it. I'm such a little -whisk of thistle-down that it would annihilate me. Such a ponderous -weight of wisdom attached to me would drag me under water, and drown me. -I should let go my line, I think, if I felt such a fish bite."</p> - -<p>"You are tolerably safe in our times," said Clayton. "Nature only sends -such men once in a century or two. They are the road-makers for the rest -of the world. They are quarry-masters, that quarry out marble enough for -a generation to work up."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "I shouldn't want to be a quarry-master's wife. I -should be afraid that some of his blocks would fall on me."</p> - -<p>"Why, wouldn't you like it, if he were wholly your slave?" said Frank -Russel. "It would be like having the genius of the lamp at your feet."</p> - -<p>"Ah," said Nina, "if <i>I</i> could keep him my slave; but I'm afraid he'd -outwit me at last. Such a man would soon put <i>me</i> up on a shelf for a -book read through. I've seen some great men,—I mean great for our -times,—and they didn't seem to care half as much for their wives as -they did for a newspaper."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Anne, "that's past praying for, with any husband. The -newspaper is the standing rival of the American lady. It must be a warm -lover that can be attracted from <i>that</i>, even before he is secure of his -prize."</p> - -<p>"You are severe, Miss Anne," said Russel.</p> - -<p>"She only speaks the truth. You men are a bad set," said Nina. "You are -a kind of necessary evil, half civilized at best. But if ever <i>I</i> set up -an establishment, I shall insist upon taking precedence of the newspaper."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXX.</span> <span class="smaller">TIFF'S GARDEN.</span></h2> - -<p>Would the limits of our story admit of it, we should gladly linger many -days in the shady precincts of Magnolia Grove, where Clayton and Nina -remained some days longer, and where the hours flew by on flowery feet; -but the inevitable time and tide, which wait for no man, wait not for -the narrator. We must therefore say, in brief, that when the visit was -concluded, Clayton accompanied Nina once more to Canema, and returned to -the circle of his own duties.</p> - -<p>Nina returned to her own estate, with views somewhat chastened and -modified by her acquaintance with Anne. As Clayton supposed, the -influence of a real noble purpose in life had proved of more weight than -exhortations, and she began to feel within herself positive aspirations -for some more noble and worthy life than she had heretofore led. That -great, absorbing feeling which determines the whole destiny of woman's -existence, is in its own nature an elevating and purifying one. It is -such even when placed on an unworthy object, and much more so when the -object is a worthy one. Since the first of their friendship, Clayton had -never officiously sought to interfere with the growth and development of -Nina's moral nature. He had sufficient sagacity to perceive that, -unconsciously to herself, a deeper power of feeling, and a wider range -of thought, was opening within her; and he left the development of it to -the same quiet forces which swell the rosebud and guide the climbing -path of the vine. Simply and absolutely he lived his own life before -her, and let hers alone; and the power of his life therefore became -absolute.</p> - -<p>A few mornings after her return, she thought that she would go out and -inquire after the welfare of our old friend Tiff. It was a hazy, warm, -bright summer morning, and all things lay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> in that dreamy stillness, -that trance of voluptuous rest, which precedes the approach of the -fiercer heats of the day. Since her absence there had been evident -improvement in Tiff's affairs. The baby, a hearty, handsome little -fellow, by dint of good nursing, pork-sucking, and lying out doors in -the tending of breezes and zephyrs, had grown to be a creeping creature, -and followed Tiff around, in his garden ministrations, with -unintelligible chatterings of delight.</p> - -<p>At the moment when Nina rode up, Tiff was busy with his morning work in -the garden.</p> - -<p>His appearance, it is to be confessed, was somewhat peculiar. He usually -wore, in compliment to his nursing duties, an apron in front; but, as -his various avocations pressed hard upon his time, and as his own -personal outfit was ever the last to be attended to, Tiff's nether -garments had shown traces of that frailty which is incident to all human -things.</p> - -<p>"Bress me," he said to himself, that morning, as he with difficulty -engineered his way into them, "holes here, and holes dar! Don't want but -two holes in my breeches, and I's got two dozen! Got my foot through de -wrong place! Por old Tiff! Laws a massy! wish I could get hold of some -of dem dar clothes dey were telling 'bout at de camp-meeting, dey wore -forty years in de wilderness! 'Mazing handy dem ar times was! Well, any -how, I'll tie an apron behind, and anoder in front. Bress de Lord, I's -got aprons, any how! I must make up a par of breeches, some of dese yer -days, when de baby's teeth is all through, and Teddy's clothes don't -want no mending, and de washing is done, and dese yer weeds stops a -growing in de garden. Bress if I know what de Lord want of so many -weeds. 'Pears like dey comes just to plague us; but, den, we doesn't -know. May be dere's some good in 'em. We doesn't know but a leetle, no -way."</p> - -<p>Tiff was sitting on the ground weeding one of his garden-beds, when he -was surprised by the apparition of Nina on horse-back coming up to the -gate. Here was a dilemma, to be sure! No cavalier had a more absolute -conception of the nature of politeness, and the claims of beauty, rank, -and fashion, than Tiff. Then, to be caught sitting on the ground, with a -blue apron on in front, and a red one on behind, was an appalling -dilemma!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> However, as our readers may have discovered, Tiff had that -essential requisite of good breeding, the moral courage to face an -exigency; and, wisely considering that a want of cordiality is a greater -deficiency than the want of costume, he rose up, without delay, and -hastened to the gate to acknowledge the honor.</p> - -<p>"Lord bress yer sweet face, Miss Nina!" he said, while the breezes -flapped and fluttered his red and blue sails, "Old Tiff's 'mazin' happy -to see you. Miss Fanny's well, thank ye; and Mas'r Teddy and the baby -all doing nicely. Bress de Lord, Miss Nina, be so good as to get down -and come in. I's got some nice berries dat I picked in de swamp, and -Miss Fanny'll be proud to have you take some. You see," he said, -laughing heartily, and regarding his peculiar costume, "I wasn't looking -for any quality long dis yer time o' day, so I just got on my old -clothes."</p> - -<p>"Why, Uncle Tiff, I think they become you immensely!" said Nina. "Your -outfit is really original and picturesque. You're not one of the people -that are ashamed of their work, are you, Uncle Tiff? So, if you just -lead my horse to that stump, I'll get down."</p> - -<p>"Laws, no, Miss Nina!" said Tiff, as with alacrity he obeyed her orders. -"Spects, if Old Tiff was 'shamed of work, he'd have a heap to be 'shamed -of; 'cause it's pretty much all work with him. 'Tis so!"</p> - -<p>"Tomtit pretended to come with me," said Nina, as she looked round; "but -he lagged behind by the brook to get some of those green grapes, and I -suspect it's the last I shall see of him. So, Tiff, if you please to tie -Sylphine in the shade, I'll go in to see Miss Fanny."</p> - -<p>And Nina tripped lightly up the walk, now bordered on either side by -china asters and marigolds, to where Fanny was standing bashfully in the -door waiting for her. In her own native woods this child was one of the -boldest, freest, and happiest of romps. There was scarce an eligible -tree which she could not climb, or a thicket she had not explored. She -was familiar with every flower, every bird, every butterfly, of the -vicinity. She knew precisely when every kind of fruit would ripen, and -flower would blossom; and was so <i>au fait</i> in the language of birds and -squirrels, that she might almost have been considered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> one of the -fraternity. Her only companion and attendant, Old Tiff, had that quaint, -fanciful, grotesque nature which is the furthest possible removed from -vulgarity; and his frequent lectures on proprieties and -conventionalities, his long and prolix narrations of her ancestral -glories and distinctions, had succeeded in infusing into her a sort of -childish consciousness of dignity, while at the same time it inspired -her with a bashful awe of those whom she saw surrounded with the actual -insignia and circumstances of position and fortune. After all, Tiff's -method of education, instinctive as it was, was highly philosophical, -since a certain degree of self-respect is the nurse of many virtues, and -a shield from many temptations. There is also something, perhaps, in the -influence of descent. Fanny certainly inherited from her mother a more -delicate organization than generally attends her apparent station in -life. She had, also, what perhaps belongs to the sex, a capability of -receiving the mysteries and proprieties of dress; and Nina, as she stood -on the threshold of the single low room, could not but be struck with -the general air of refinement which characterized both it and its little -mistress. There were flowers from the swamps and hedges arranged with -care and taste; feathers of birds, strings of eggs of different color, -dried grasses, and various little woodland curiosities, which showed a -taste refined by daily intercourse with nature. Fanny herself was -arrayed in a very pretty print dress, which her father had brought home -in a recent visit, with a cape of white muslin. Her brown hair was -brushed smoothly from her forehead, and her clear blue eyes, and fair, -rosy complexion, gave her a pleasing air of intelligence and refinement.</p> - -<p>"Thank you," said Nina, as Fanny offered her the only chair the -establishment afforded; "but I'm going with Tiff out in the garden. I -never can bear to be in the house such days as this. You didn't expect -me over so early, Uncle Tiff; but I took a notable turn, this morning, -and routed them up to an early breakfast, on purpose that I might have -time to get over here before the heat came on. It's pleasant out here, -now the shadow of the woods falls across the garden so. How beautifully -those trees wave! Tiff, go on with your work—never mind me."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Nina, it's mighty pleasant. Why, I was out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> dis yer garden -at four o'clock dis morning, and 'peared like dese yer trees was waving -like a psalm, so sort o' still, you know! Kind o' spreading out der -hands like dey'd have prayers; and dere was a mighty handsome star a -looking down. <i>I</i> spects dat ar star is one of de very oldest families -up dar."</p> - -<p>"Most likely," said Nina, cheerily. "They call it Venus, the star of -love, Uncle Tiff; and I believe that is a very old family."</p> - -<p>"Love is a mighty good ting, any how," said Tiff. "Lord bress you, Miss -Nina, it makes everyting go kind o' easy. Sometimes, when I'm studding -upon dese yer tings, I says to myself, 'pears like de trees in de wood, -dey loves each oder. Dey stands kind o' locking arms so, and dey kind o' -nod der heads, and whispers so! 'Pears like de grape-vines, and de -birds, and all dem ar tings, dey lives comfortable togeder, like dey was -peaceable, and liked each oder. Now, folks is apt to get a stewin' and a -frettin' round, and turning up der noses at dis yer ting, and dat ar; -but 'pears like de Lord's works takes everyting mighty easy. Dey just -kind o' lives along peaceable. I tink it's mighty 'structive!"</p> - -<p>"Certainly it is," said Nina. "Old Mother Nature is an excellent -manager, and always goes on making the best of everything."</p> - -<p>"Dere's heaps done dat ar way, and no noise," said Tiff. "Why, Miss -Nina, I studies upon dat ar out here in my garden. Why, look at dat ar -corn, way up over your head, now! All dat ar growed dis yer summer. No -noise 'bout it—'pears like nobody couldn't see when 'twas done. Dey -were telling us in camp-meeting how de Lord created de heaven and de -earth. Now, Miss Nina, Tiff has his own thoughts, you know; and Tiff -says, 'pears like de Lord is creating de heaven and de earth all de -time. 'Pears like you can see Him a doing of it right afore your face; -and dem growing tings are so curus! Miss Nina, 'pears for all de world -like as if dey was critters! 'Pears like each of 'em has der own way, -and won't go no oder! Dese yer beans, dey will come up so curus right -top o' de stalks; dey will turn round de pole one way, and, if you was -to tie 'em, you couldn't make 'em go round t'oder! Dey's set in der own -way—dey is, for all dey's so still 'bout it! Laws, Miss Nina<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> dese yer -tings makes Tiff laugh—does so!" he said, sitting down, and indulging -in one of his fits of merriment.</p> - -<p>"You are quite a philosopher, Tiff," said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Laws, Miss Nina, I hopes not!" said Tiff, solemnly; "'cause one of de -preachers at de camp-meeting used up dem folk terrible, I tell you! Dat -ar pretty much all I could make out of de sermon, dat people mustn't be -'losophers! Laws, Miss Nina, I hope I an't no sich!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I mean the good kind, Uncle Tiff. But how were you pleased, upon -the whole, at the camp-meeting?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Tiff, "Miss Nina, I hope I got something—I don't know -fa'rly how much 'tis. But, Miss Nina, it 'pears like as if you had come -out here to instruct us 'bout dese yer tings. Miss Fanny, she don't read -very well yet, and 'pears like if you could read us some out of de -Bible, and teach us how to be Christians"—</p> - -<p>"Why, Tiff, I scarcely know how myself!" said Nina. "I'll send Milly to -talk to you. She is a real good Christian."</p> - -<p>"Milly is a very nice woman," said Tiff, somewhat doubtfully; "but, Miss -Nina, 'pears like I would rather have white teaching; 'pears like I -would rather have you, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, Uncle Tiff! If you want to hear me read, I'll read to you now," -said Nina. "Have you got a Bible, here? Stay; I'll sit down. I'll take -the chair and sit down in the shade, and then you needn't stop your -work."</p> - -<p>Tiff hurried into the house to call Fanny; produced a copy of a -Testament, which, with much coaxing, he had persuaded Cripps to bring on -his last visit; and, while Fanny sat at her feet making larkspur rings, -she turned over the pages, to think what to read. When she saw Tiff's -earnest and eager attention, her heart smote her to think that the book, -so valuable in his eyes, was to her almost an unread volume.</p> - -<p>"What shall I read to you, Tiff? What do you want to hear?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I wants to find out de shortest way I ken, how dese yer chil'en's -to be got to heaven!" said Tiff. "Dis yer world is mighty well long as -it holds out; but, den, yer see, it don't last forever! Tings is passing -away!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p><p>Nina thought a moment. The great question of questions, so earnestly -proposed to her! The simple, childlike old soul hanging confidingly on -her answer! At last she said, with a seriousness quite unusual with -her:—</p> - -<p>"Tiff, I think the best thing I can do is to read to you about our -Saviour. He came down into this world to show us the way to heaven. And -I'll read you, when I come here days, all that there is about Him—all -he said and did; and then, perhaps, you'll see the way yourself. -Perhaps," she added, with a sigh, "I shall, too!"</p> - -<p>As she spoke, a sudden breeze of air shook the clusters of a -prairie-rose, which was climbing into the tree under which she was -sitting, and a shower of rose-leaves fell around her.</p> - -<p>"Yes," she said to herself, as the rose-leaves fell on her book, "it's -quite true, what he says. Everything is passing!"</p> - -<p>And now, amid the murmur of the pine-trees, and the rustling of the -garden-vines, came on the ear of the listeners the first words of that -sweet and ancient story:—</p> - -<p>"Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod -the King, behold there came wise men from the East, saying, 'Where is -<i>He</i> that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the -East, and are come to worship Him.'"</p> - -<p>Probably more cultivated minds would have checked the progress of the -legend by a thousand questions, statistical and geographical, as to -where Jerusalem was, and who the wise men were, and how far the East was -from Jerusalem, and whether it was probable they would travel so far. -But Nina was reading to children, and to an old child-man, in whose -grotesque and fanciful nature there was yet treasured a believing -sweetness, like the amulets supposed to belong to the good genii of the -fairy tales. The quick fancy of her auditors made reality of the story -as it went along. A cloudy Jerusalem built itself up immediately in -their souls, and became as well known to them as the neighboring town of -E——. Herod, the king, became a real walking personage in their minds, -with a crown on his head. And Tiff immediately discerned a resemblance -between him and a certain domineering old General Eaton, who used -greatly to withstand the cause of virtue, and the Peytons, in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> -neighborhood where he was brought up. Tiff's indignation, when the -slaughter of the innocents was narrated, was perfectly outrageous. He -declared "He wouldn't have believed that of King Herod, bad as he was!" -and, good-hearted and inoffensive as Tiff was in general, it really -seemed to afford him comfort, "dat de debil had got dat ar man 'fore -now."</p> - -<p>"Sarves him right, too!" said Tiff, striking fiercely at a weed with his -hoe. "Killing all dem por little chil'en! Why, what harm had dey done -him, any way? Wonder what he thought of hisself!"</p> - -<p>Nina found it necessary to tranquillize the good creature, to get a -hearing for the rest of the story. She went on reading of the wild -night-journey of the wise men, and how the star went before them till it -stood over the place where the child was. How they went in, and saw the -young child, and Mary his mother, and fell down before him, offering -gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.</p> - -<p>"Lord bless you! I wish I'd a been dar!" said Tiff. "And dat ar chile -was de Lord of glory, sure 'nough, Miss Nina! I hearn 'em sing dis yer -hymn at de camp-meeting—you know, 'bout cold on his cradle. You know it -goes dis yer way." And Tiff sung, to a kind of rocking lullaby, words -whose poetic imagery had hit his fancy before he knew their meaning.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining,</div> -<div class="i1">Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall;</div> -<div>Angels adore, in slumber reclining,</div> -<div class="i1">Maker, and Saviour, and Monarch of all."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Nina had never realized, till she felt it in the undoubting faith of her -listeners, the wild, exquisite poetry of that legend, which, like an -immortal lily, blooms in the heart of Christianity as spotless and as -tender now as eighteen hundred years ago.</p> - -<p>That child of Bethlehem, when afterwards he taught in Galilee, spoke of -seed which fell into a good and honest heart; and words could not have -been more descriptive of the nature which was now receiving this seed of -Paradise.</p> - -<p>When Nina had finished her reading, she found her own heart touched by -the effect which she had produced. The nursing, child-loving Old Tiff -was ready, in a moment, to bow before his Redeemer, enshrined in the -form of an infant; and it seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> as if the air around him had been made -sacred by the sweetness of the story.</p> - -<p>As Nina was mounting her horse to return, Tiff brought out a little -basket full of wild raspberries.</p> - -<p>"Tiff wants to give you something," he said.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Uncle Tiff. How delightful! Now, if you'll only give me a -cluster of your Michigan rose!"</p> - -<p>Proud and happy was Tiff, and, pulling down the very topmost cluster of -his rose, he presented it to her. Alas! before Nina reached home, it -hung drooping from the heat.</p> - -<p>"The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth; but the word of our God -shall stand forever."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXI.</span> <span class="smaller">THE WARNING.</span></h2> - -<p>In life organized as it is at the South, there are two currents:—one, -the current of the master's fortunes, feelings, and hopes; the other, -that of the slave's. It is a melancholy fact in the history of the human -race, as yet, that there have been multitudes who follow the triumphal -march of life only as captives, to whom the voice of the trumpet, the -waving of the banners, the shouts of the people, only add to the -bitterness of enthralment.</p> - -<p>While life to Nina was daily unfolding in brighter colors, the -slave-brother at her side was destined to feel an additional burden on -his already unhappy lot.</p> - -<p>It was toward evening, after having completed his daily cares, that he -went to the post-office for the family letters. Among these, one was -directed to himself, and he slowly perused it as he rode home through -the woods. It was as follows:</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">My dear Brother</span>,—I told you how comfortably we were living on our -place—I and my children. Since then, everything has been changed. -Mr. Tom Gordon came here and put in a suit for the estate, and -attached me and my children as slaves. He is a dreadful man. The -case has been tried and gone against us. The judge said that both -deeds of emancipation—both the one executed in Ohio, and the one -here—were of no effect; that my boy was a slave, and could no more -hold property than a mule before a plough. I had some good friends -here, and people pitied me very much; but nobody could help me. Tom -Gordon is a bad man—a <i>very</i> bad man. I cannot tell you all that -he said to me. I only tell you that I will kill myself and my -children before we will be his slaves. Harry, I have been <i>free</i>, -and I know what liberty is. My children have been brought up -<i>free</i>, and if I can help it they never shall know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> what slavery -is. I have got away, and am hiding with a colored family here in -Natchez. I hope to get to Cincinnati, where I have friends.</p> - -<p>My dear brother, I did hope to do something for you. Now I cannot. -Nor can you do anything for me. The law is on the side of our -oppressors; but I hope God will help us. Farewell!<span class="s3"> </span>Your -affectionate</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Sister</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is difficult to fathom the feelings of a person brought up in a -position so wholly unnatural as that of Harry. The feelings which had -been cultivated in him by education, and the indulgence of his nominal -possessors, were those of an honorable and gentlemanly man. His position -was absolutely that of the common slave, without one legal claim to -anything on earth, one legal right of protection in any relation of -life. What any man of strong nature would feel on hearing such tidings -from a sister, Harry felt.</p> - -<p>In a moment there rose up before his mind the picture of Nina in all her -happiness and buoyancy—in all the fortunate accessories in her lot. Had -the vague thoughts which crowded on his mind been expressed in words, -they might have been something like these:—</p> - -<p>"I have two sisters, daughters of one father, both beautiful, both -amiable and good; but one has rank, and position, and wealth, and ease, -and pleasure; the other is an outcast, unprotected, given up to the -brutal violence of a vile and wicked man. She has been a good wife, and -a good mother. Her husband has done all he could to save her; but the -cruel hand of the law grasps her and her children, and hurls them back -into the abyss from which it was his life-study to raise them. And I can -do nothing! I am not even a man! And this curse is on me, and on my -wife, and on my children and children's children, forever! Yes, what -does the judge say, in this letter? 'He can no more own anything than -the mule before his plough!' That's to be the fate of every child of -mine! And yet people say, 'You have all you want; why are you not -happy?' I wish they could try it! Do they think broadcloth coats and -gold watches can comfort a man for all this?"</p> - -<p>Harry rode along, with his hands clenched upon the letter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> the reins -drooping from the horse's neck, in the same unfrequented path where he -had twice before met Dred. Looking up, he saw him the third time, -standing silently, as if he had risen from the ground.</p> - -<p>"Where did you come from?" said he. "Seems to me you are always at hand -when anything is going against me!"</p> - -<p>"Went not my spirit with thee?" said Dred. "Have I not seen it all? It -is because we <i>will</i> bear this, that we have it to bear, Harry."</p> - -<p>"But," said Harry, "what can we do?"</p> - -<p>"Do? What does the wild horse do? Launch out our hoofs! rear up, and -come down on them! What does the rattlesnake do? Lie in their path, and -bite! Why did they make slaves of us? They tried the wild Indians first. -Why didn't they keep to them? <i>They</i> wouldn't be slaves, and we <i>will</i>! -They that <i>will</i> bear the yoke, <i>may</i> bear it!"</p> - -<p>"But," said Harry, "Dred, this is all utterly hopeless. Without any -means, or combination, or leaders, we should only rush on to our own -destruction."</p> - -<p>"Let us die, then!" said Dred. "What if we do die? What great matter is -that? If they bruise our head, we can sting their heels? Nat -Turner—they killed him; but the fear of him almost drove them to set -free their slaves! Yes, it was argued among them. They came within two -or three votes of it in their assembly. A little more fear, and they -would have done it. If my father had succeeded, the slaves in Carolina -would be free to-day. Die?—Why not die? Christ was crucified! Has -everything dropped out of you, that you can't die—that you'll crawl -like worms, for the sake of living?"</p> - -<p>"I'm not afraid of death myself," said Harry. "God knows I wouldn't care -if I did die; but"—</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know," said Dred. "She that letteth will let, till she be taken -out of the way. I tell you, Harry, there's a seal been loosed—there's a -vial poured out on the air; and the destroying angel standeth over -Jerusalem, with his sword drawn!"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by that?" said Harry.</p> - -<p>Dred stood silent for a moment; his frame assumed the rigid tension of a -cataleptic state, and his voice sounded like that of a person speaking -from a distance, yet there was a strange distinctness in it.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span></p><p>"The words of the prophet, and the vision that he hath from the Lord, -when he saw the vision, falling into a trance, and having his eyes open, -and behold he saw a roll flying through the heavens, and it was written, -within and without, with mourning and lamentation and woe! Behold, it -cometh! Behold, the slain of the Lord shall be many! They shall fall in -the house and by the way! The bride shall fall in her chamber, and the -child shall die in its cradle! There shall be a cry in the land of -Egypt, for there shall not be a house where there is not one dead!"</p> - -<p>"Dred! Dred! Dred!" said Harry, pushing him by the shoulder; "come out -of this—come out! It's frightful!"</p> - -<p>Dred stood looking before him, with his head inclined forward, his hand -upraised, and his eyes strained, with the air of one who is trying to -make out something through a thick fog.</p> - -<p>"I see her!" he said. "Who is that by her? His back is turned. Ah! I -see—it is he! And there's Harry and Milly! Try hard—try! You won't do -it. No, no use sending for the doctor. There's not one to be had. They -are all too busy. Rub her hands! Yes. But—it's no good. 'Whom the Lord -loveth, he taketh away from the evil to come.' Lay her down. Yes, it is -Death! Death! Death!"</p> - -<p>Harry had often seen the strange moods of Dred, and he shuddered now, -because he partook somewhat in the common superstitions, which prevailed -among the slaves, of his prophetic power. He shook and called him; but -he turned slowly away, and, with eyes that seemed to see nothing, yet -guiding himself with his usual dextrous agility, he plunged again into -the thickness of the swamp, and was soon lost to view.</p> - -<p>After his return home it was with the sensation of chill at his heart -that he heard Aunt Nesbit reading to Nina portions of a letter, -describing the march through some northern cities of the cholera, which -was then making fearful havoc on our American shore.</p> - -<p>"Nobody seems to know how to manage it," the letter said; "physicians -are all at a loss. It seems to spurn all laws. It bursts upon cities -like a thunderbolt, scatters desolation and death, and is gone with -equal rapidity. People rise in the morning well, and are buried before -evening. In one day houses are swept of a whole family."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p><p>"Ah," said Harry, to himself, "I see the meaning now, but what does it -portend to us?"</p> - -<p>How the strange foreshadowing had risen to the mind of Dred, we shall -not say. Whether there be mysterious electric sympathies which, floating -through the air, bear dim presentiments on their wings, or whether some -stray piece of intelligence had dropped on his ear, and been interpreted -by the burning fervor of his soul, we know not. The news, however, left -very little immediate impression on the daily circle at Canema. It was a -dread reality in the far distance. Harry only pondered it with anxious fear.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE MORNING STAR.</span></h2> - -<p>Nina continued her visits to Tiff's garden on almost every pleasant -morning or evening. Tiff had always some little offering, either berries -or flowers, to present, or a nice little luncheon of fish or birds, -cooked in some mode of peculiar delicacy; and which, served up in sylvan -style, seemed to have something of the wild relish of the woods. In -return, she continued to read the story so interesting to him; and it -was astonishing how little explanation it needed—how plain honesty of -heart, and lovingness of nature, interpreted passages over which -theologians have wrangled in vain. It was not long before Tiff had -impersonated to himself each of the disciples, particularly Peter; so -that, when anything was said by him, Tiff would nod his head -significantly, and say, "Ah, ah! dat ar's just like him! He's allers a -puttin' in; but he's a good man, arter all!"</p> - -<p>What impression was made on the sensitive young nature, through whom, as -a medium, Tiff received this fresh revelation, we may, perhaps, imagine. -There are times in life when the soul, like a half-grown climbing vine, -hangs wavering tremulously, stretching out its tendrils for something to -ascend by. Such are generally the great transition periods of life, when -we are passing from the ideas and conditions of one stage of existence -to those of another. Such times are most favorable for the presentation -of the higher truths of religion. In the hazy, slumberous stillness of -that midsummer atmosphere, in the long, silent rides through the pines. -Nina half awakened from the thoughtless dreams of childhood, yearning -for something nobler than she yet had lived for, thought over, and -revolved in her mind, this beautiful and spotless image of God, revealed -in man, which her daily readings presented; and the world that he -created seemed to whisper to her in every pulsation of its air,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> in -every breath of its flowers, in the fanning of its winds, "He still -liveth, and he loveth thee." The voice of the Good Shepherd fell on the -ear of the wandering lamb, calling her to his arms; and Nina found -herself one day unconsciously repeating, as she returned through the -woods, words which she had often heard read at church:—</p> - -<p>"When thou saidst unto me, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy -face, Lord, will I seek."</p> - -<p>Nina had often dreaded the idea of becoming a Christian, as one shrinks -from the idea of a cold, dreary passage which must be passed to gain a -quiet home. But suddenly, as if by some gentle invisible hand, the veil -seemed to be drawn which hid the face of Almighty Love from her view. -She beheld the earth and the heavens transfigured in the light of his -smile. A strange and unspeakable joy arose within her, as if some loving -presence were always near her. It was with her when she laid down at -night, and when she awoke in the morning the strange happiness had not -departed. Her feelings may be best expressed by an extract from a letter -which she wrote at this time to Clayton:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>"It seems to me that I have felt a greater change in me within the -last two months than in my whole life before. When I look back at -what I was in New York, three months ago, actually I hardly know -myself. It seems to me in those old days that life was only a -frolic to me, as it is to the kitten. I don't really think that -there was much harm in me, only the want of good. In those days, -sometimes I used to have a sort of dim longing to be better, -particularly when Livy Ray was at school. It seemed as if she woke -up something that had been asleep in me; but she went away, and I -fell asleep again, and life went on like a dream. Then I became -acquainted with you, and you began to rouse me again, and for some -time I thought I didn't like to wake; it was just as it is when one -lies asleep in the morning—it's so pleasant to sleep and dream, -that one resists any one who tries to bring them back to life. I -used to feel quite pettish when I first knew you, and sometimes -wished you'd let me alone, because I saw that you belonged to a -different kind of sphere from what I'd been living in. And I had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> -presentiment that, if I let you go on, life would have to be -something more than a joke with me. But <i>you would</i>, like a very -indiscreet man as you are, you would insist on being in sober -earnest.</p> - -<p>"I used to think that I had no heart; I begin to think I have a -good deal now. Every day it seems as if I could love more and more; -and a great many things are growing clear to me that I didn't use -to understand, and I'm growing happier every day.</p> - -<p>"You know my queer old <i>protégé</i>, Uncle Tiff, who lives in the -woods here. For some time past I have been to his house every day, -reading to him in the Testament, and it has had a very great effect -on me. It affected me very much, in the first place, that he seemed -so very earnest about religion, when I, who ought to know so much -more, was so indifferent to it; and when the old creature, with -tears in his eyes, actually insisted upon it that I should show his -children the road to heaven, then I began to read to him the -Testament, the life of Jesus. I didn't know myself how beautiful it -was—how suited to all our wants. It seemed to me I never saw so -much beauty in anything before; and it seems as if it had waked a -new life in me. Everything is changed; and it is the beauty of -Christ that has changed it. You know I always loved beauty above -all things, in music, in nature, and in flowers; but it seems to me -that I see something now in Jesus more beautiful than all. It seems -as if all these had been shadows of beauty, but <i>he</i> is the -substance. It is strange, but I have a sense of him, his living and -presence, that sometimes almost overpowers me. It seems as if he -had been following me always, but I had not seen him. He has been a -good shepherd, seeking the thoughtless lamb. He has, all my life, -been calling me child; but till lately my heart has never answered, -Father! Is this religion? Is this what people mean by conversion? I -tried to tell Aunt Nesbit how I felt, because now I feel kinder to -everybody; and really my heart smote me to think how much fun I had -made of her, and now I begin to love her very much. She was so -anxious I should talk with Mr. Titmarsh, because he is a minister. -Well, you know I didn't want to do it, but I thought I ought to, -because poor aunty really seemed to feel anxious I should. I -suppose, if I were as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> perfect as I ought to be, a good man's stiff -ways wouldn't trouble me so. But stiff people, you know, are my -particular temptation.</p> - -<p>"He came and made a pastoral call, the other day, and talked to me. -I don't think he understood me very well, and I'm sure I didn't -understand him. He told me how many kinds of faith there were, and -how many kinds of love. I believe there were three kinds of faith, -and two kinds of love; and he thought it was important to know -whether I had got the right kind. He said we ought not to love God -because he loves us, but because he is holy. He wanted to know -whether I had any just views of sin, as an infinite evil; and I -told him I hadn't the least idea of what infinite was; and that I -hadn't any views of anything, but the beauty of Christ; that I -didn't understand anything about the different sorts of faith, but -that I felt perfectly sure that Jesus is so good that he would make -me feel right, and give me right views, and do everything for me -that I need.</p> - -<p>"He wanted to know if I loved him because he magnified the law, and -made it honorable; and I told him I didn't understand what that meant.</p> - -<p>"I don't think, on the whole, that the talk did me much good. It -only confused me, and made me very uncomfortable. But I went out to -Old Tiff's in the evening, and read how Jesus received the little -children. You never saw anybody so delighted as Old Tiff was. He -got me to read it to him three or four times over; and now he gets -me to read it every time I go there, and he says he likes it better -than any other part of the Testament. Tiff and I get along very -well together. He doesn't know any more about faith than I do, and -hasn't any better views than I have. Aunt Nesbit is troubled about -me, because I'm so happy. She says she's afraid I haven't any sense -of sin. Don't you remember my telling you how happy I felt the -first time I heard <i>real</i> music? I thought, before that, that I -could sing pretty well; but in one hour all <i>my</i> music became trash -in my eyes. And yet, I would not have missed it for the world. So -it is now. That beautiful life of Jesus—so sweet, so calm, so -pure, so unselfish, so perfectly <i>natural</i>, and yet so far beyond -nature—has shown me what a poor, sinful, low creature I am; and -yet I rejoice. I feel, sometimes, as I did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> when I first heard a -full orchestra play some of Mozart's divine harmonies. I forgot -that I was alive; I lost all thought of myself entirely; and I was -perfectly happy. So it is now. This loveliness and beauty that I -see makes me happy without any thought of myself. It seems to me, -sometimes, that while I see it I never can suffer.</p> - -<p>"There is another thing that is strange to me; and that is, that -the Bible has grown so beautiful to me. It seems to me that it has -been all my life like the transparent picture, without any light -behind it; and now it is all illuminated, and its words are full of -meaning to me. I am light-hearted and happy—happier than ever I -was. Do you remember, the first day you came to Canema, that I told -you it seemed so sad that we must die? That feeling is all gone, -now. I feel that Jesus is everywhere, and that there is no such -thing as dying; it is only going out of one room into another.</p> - -<p>"Everybody wonders to see how light-hearted I am; and poor aunty -says, 'she trembles for me.' I couldn't help thinking of that, the -other morning I was reading to Tiff; what Jesus said when they -asked him why his disciples did not fast: 'Can the children of the -bride-chamber mourn while the bridegroom is with them?'</p> - -<p>"Now, my dear friend, you must tell me what you think of all this, -because, you know, I always tell you everything. I have written to -Livy about it, because I know it will make her so happy. Milly -seems to understand it all, and what she says to me really helps me -very much. I always used to think that Milly had some strange, -beautiful kind of inward life, that I knew nothing of, because she -would speak with so much certainty of God's love, and <i>act</i> as if -it was so real to her; and she would tell me so earnestly, 'Chile, -he loves you!' Now I see into it—that mystery of his love to us, -and how he overcomes and subdues all things by love; and I -understand how 'perfect love casteth out fear.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>To this letter Nina soon received an answer, from which also we give an -extract:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>"If I was so happy, my dearest one, as to be able to awaken that -deeper and higher nature which I always knew was in you,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> I thank -God. But, if I ever was in any respect your teacher, you have -passed beyond my teachings now. Your childlike simplicity of nature -makes you a better scholar than I in that school where the first -step is to forget all our worldly wisdom and become a little child. -We men have much more to contend with, in the pride of our nature, -in our habits of worldly reasoning. It takes us long to learn the -lesson that faith is the highest wisdom. Don't trouble your head, -dear Nina, with Aunt Nesbit or Mr. Titmarsh. <i>What you feel is -faith.</i> They <i>define</i> it, and you <i>feel</i> it. And there's all the -difference between the definition and the feeling, that there is -between the husk and the corn.</p> - -<p>"As for me, I am less happy than you. Religion seems to me to have -two parts to it. One part is the aspiration of man's nature, and -the other is God's answer to those aspirations. I have, as yet, -only the first; perhaps, because I am less simple and less true; -perhaps, because I am not yet become a little child. So <i>you</i> must -be my guide, instead of I <i>yours</i>; for I believe it is written of -the faithful, that a little child shall lead them.</p> - -<p>"I am a good deal tried now, my dear, because I am coming to a -crisis in my life. I am going to take a step that will deprive me -of many friends, of popularity, and that will, perhaps, alter all -my course for the future. But, if I should lose friends and -popularity, <i>you</i> would love me still, would you not? It is -wronging you to ask such a question; but yet I should like to have -you answer it. It will make me stronger for what I have to do. On -Thursday of this week, my case will come on again. I am very busy -just now; but the thought of you mingles with every thought."</p></blockquote> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXIII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE LEGAL DECISION.</span></h2> - -<p>The time for the session of the Supreme Court had now arrived, and -Clayton's cause was to be reconsidered. Judge Clayton felt exceedingly -chagrined, as the time drew near. Being himself the leading judge of the -Supreme Court, the declaration of the bench would necessarily be made -known through him.</p> - -<p>"It is extremely painful to me," he said, to Mrs. Clayton, "to have this -case referred to me; for I shall be obliged to reverse the decision."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Mrs. Clayton, "Edward must have fortitude to encounter the -usual reverses of his profession. He made a gallant defence, and -received a great deal of admiration, which will not be at all lessened -by this."</p> - -<p>"You do not understand me," said Judge Clayton. "It is not the coming -out in opposition to Edward which principally annoys me. It is the -nature of the decision that I am obliged to make—the doctrine that I -feel myself forced to announce."</p> - -<p>"And must you, then?" said Mrs. Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I must," said Judge Clayton. "A judge can only perceive and -declare. What I see, I must speak, though it go against all my feelings -and all my sense of right."</p> - -<p>"I don't see, for my part," said Mrs. Clayton, "how that decision can -possibly be reversed, without allowing the most monstrous injustice."</p> - -<p>"Such is the case," said Judge Clayton; "but I sit in my seat, not to -make laws, nor to alter them, but simply to declare what they are. -However bad the principle declared, it is not so bad as the proclamation -of a falsehood would be. I have sworn truly to declare the laws, and I -must keep my oath."</p> - -<p>"And have you talked with Edward about it?"</p> - -<p>"Not particularly. He understands, in general, the manner in which the -thing lies in my mind."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span></p><p>This conversation took place just before it was time for Judge Clayton -to go to his official duties.</p> - -<p>The court-room, on this occasion, was somewhat crowded. Barker, being an -active, resolute, and popular man, with a certain class, had talked up a -considerable excitement with regard to his case. Clayton's friends were -interested in it on his account; lawyers were, for the sake of the -principle; so that, upon the whole, there was a good deal of attention -drawn towards this decision.</p> - -<p>Among the spectators on the morning of the court, Clayton remarked -Harry. For reasons which our readers may appreciate, his presence there -was a matter of interest to Clayton. He made his way towards him.</p> - -<p>"Harry," he said, "how came you here?"</p> - -<p>"The ladies," said Harry, "thought they would like to know how the thing -went, and so I got on to my horse and came over."</p> - -<p>As he spoke, he placed in Clayton's hand a note, and, as the paper -touched his hand, a close spectator might have seen the color rise in -his cheek. He made his way back to his place, and opened a law-book, -which he held up before his face. Inside the law-book, however, was a -little sheet of gilt-edged paper, on which were written a few words in -pencil, more interesting than all the law in the world. Shall we commit -the treason of reading over his shoulder? It was as follows:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>"You say you may to-day be called to do something which you think -right, but which will lose you many friends; which will destroy -your popularity, which may alter all your prospects in life; and -you ask if I can love you yet. I say, in answer, that it was not -your friends that I loved, nor your popularity, nor your prospects, -but <i>you</i>. I <i>can</i> love and honor a man who is not afraid nor -ashamed to do what he thinks to be right; and therefore I hope ever -to remain yours,</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Nina</span>.</p> - -<p>"P. S. I only got your letter this morning, and have but just time -to scribble this and send by Harry. We are all well, and shall be -glad to see you as soon as the case is over."</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Clayton, my boy, you are very busy with your authorities,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> said Frank -Russel, behind him. Clayton hastily hid the paper in his hand.</p> - -<p>"It's charming!" said Russel, "to have little manuscript annotations on -law. It lights it up, like the illuminations in old missals. But say, -Clayton, you live at the fountain-head;—how is the case going?"</p> - -<p>"Against me!" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Well, it's no great odds, after all. You have had your triumph. These -after-thoughts cannot take away that.... But hush! There's your father -going to speak!"</p> - -<p>Every eye in the court-room was turned upon Judge Clayton, who was -standing with his usual self-poised composure of manner. In a clear, -deliberate voice, he spoke as follows:—</p> - -<p>"A judge cannot but lament, when such cases as the present are brought -into judgment. It is impossible that the reasons on which they go can be -appreciated, but where institutions similar to our own exist, and are -<i>thoroughly understood</i>. The struggle, too, in the judge's own breast, -between the feelings of the man and the duty of the magistrate, is a -severe one, presenting strong temptation to put aside such questions, if -it be possible. It is useless, however, to complain of things inherent -in our political state. And it is criminal in a court to avoid any -responsibility which the laws impose. With whatever reluctance, -therefore, it is done, the court is compelled to express an opinion upon -the extent of the dominion of the master over the slave in North -Carolina. The indictment charges a battery on Milly, a slave of Louisa -Nesbit....</p> - -<p>"The inquiry here is, whether a cruel and unreasonable battery on a -slave by the hirer is indictable. The judge below instructed the jury -that it is. He seems to have put it on the ground, that the defendant -had but a special property. Our laws uniformly treat the master, or -other person having the possession and command of the slave, as entitled -to the same extent of authority. <i>The object is the same, the service of -the slave</i>; and the same powers must be confided. In a criminal -proceeding, and, indeed, in reference to all other persons but the -general owner, the hirer and possessor of the slave, in relation to both -rights and duties, is, for the time being, the owner.... But, upon the -general question, whether the owner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> is answerable <i>criminaliter</i>, for a -battery upon his own slave, or other exercise of authority or force, not -forbidden by statute, the court entertains but little doubt. That he is -so liable, has never been decided; nor, as far as is known, been -hitherto contended. There has been no prosecution of the sort. The -established habits and uniform practice of the country, in this respect, -is the best evidence of the portion of power deemed by the whole -community requisite to the preservation of the master's dominion. If we -thought differently, we could not set our notions in array against the -judgment of everybody else, and say that this or that authority may be -safely lopped off.</p> - -<p>"This has indeed been assimilated at the bar to the other domestic -relations: and arguments drawn from the well-established principles, -which <i>confer</i> and <i>restrain</i> the authority of the parent over the -child, the tutor over the pupil, the master over the apprentice, have -been pressed on us.</p> - -<p>"The court does not recognize their application. There is no likeness -between the cases. They are in opposition to each other, and there is an -impassable gulf between them. The difference is that which exists -between freedom and slavery; and a greater cannot be imagined. In the -one, the end in view is the happiness of the youth born to equal rights -with that governor on whom the duty devolves of training the young to -usefulness, in a station which he is afterwards to assume among freemen. -To such an end, and with such a subject, moral and intellectual -instruction seem the natural means; and, for the most part, they are -found to suffice. Moderate force is superadded only to make the others -effectual. If that fail, it is better to leave the party to his own -headstrong passions, and the ultimate correction of the law, than to -allow it to be immoderately inflicted by a private person. With slavery -it is far otherwise. The end is the profit of the master, his security, -and the public safety; the subject, one doomed, in his own person and -his posterity, to live without knowledge, and without the capacity to -make anything his own, and to toil that another may reap the fruits. -What moral considerations shall be addressed to such a being, to -convince him what it is impossible but that the most stupid must feel -and know can never be true,—that he is thus to labor upon a principle -of natural duty, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> for the sake of his own personal happiness? Such -services can only be expected from one who has no will of his own; who -surrenders his will in implicit obedience to that of another. Such -obedience is the consequence only of uncontrolled authority over the -body. There is nothing else which can operate to produce the effect. <span class="smcap">The -power of the master must be absolute, to render the submission of the -slave perfect.</span> I most freely confess my sense of the harshness of this -proposition. I feel it as deeply as any man can. And, as a principle of -moral right, every person in his retirement must repudiate it. But, in -the actual condition of things, it must be so. There is no remedy. This -discipline belongs to the state of slavery. They cannot be disunited -without abrogating at once the rights of the master, and absolving the -slave from his subjection. It constitutes the curse of slavery to both -the bond and the free portions of our population. But it is <i>inherent in -the relation</i> of master and slave. That there may be particular -instances of cruelty and deliberate barbarity, where in conscience the -law might properly interfere, is most probable. The difficulty is to -determine where a <i>court</i> may properly begin. Merely in the abstract, it -may well be asked which power of the master accords with right. The -answer will probably sweep away all of them. But we cannot look at the -matter in that light. The truth is that we are forbidden to enter upon a -train of general reasoning on the subject. We cannot allow the right of -the master to be brought into discussion in the courts of justice. The -slave, to remain a slave, must be made sensible that there is no appeal -from his master; that his power is, in no instance, usurped, but is -conferred by the laws of man, at least, if not by the law of God. The -danger would be great, indeed, if the tribunals of justice should be -called on to graduate the punishment appropriate to every temper, and -every dereliction of menial duty.</p> - -<p>"No man can anticipate the many and aggravated provocations of the -master which the slave would be constantly stimulated by his own -passions, or the instigation of others, to give; or the consequent wrath -of the master, prompting him to bloody vengeance upon the turbulent -traitor; a vengeance <i>generally practised with impunity, by reason of -its privacy</i>. The court,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> therefore, disclaims the power of changing the -relation in which these parts of our people stand to each other.</p> - -<p class="center">* * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>"I repeat, that I would gladly have avoided this ungrateful question. -But, being brought to it, the court is compelled to declare that while -slavery exists amongst us in its present state, or until it shall seem -fit to the legislature to interpose express enactments to the contrary, -it will be the imperative <i>duty</i> of the judges <i>to recognize the full -dominion of the owner over the slave</i>, except where the exercise of it -is forbidden by statute.</p> - -<p>"And this we do upon the ground that <i>this dominion is essential to the -value of slaves as property, to the security of the master and the -public tranquillity, greatly dependent upon their subordination</i>; and, -in fine, as most effectually securing the general protection and comfort -of the slaves themselves. Judgment below reversed; and judgment entered -for the defendant."</p> - -<p>During the delivery of the decision Clayton's eyes, by accident, became -fixed upon Harry, who was standing opposite to him, and who listened -through the whole with breathless attention. He observed, as it went on, -that his face became pale, his brow clouded, and that a fierce and -peculiar expression flashed from his dark-blue eye. Never had Clayton so -forcibly realized the horrors of slavery as when he heard them thus so -calmly defined in the presence of one into whose soul the iron had -entered. The tones of Judge Clayton's voice, so passionless, clear, and -deliberate; the solemn, calm, unflinching earnestness of his words, were -more than a thousand passionate appeals. In the dead silence that -followed, Clayton rose, and requested permission of the court to be -allowed to say a few words in view of the decision. His father looked -slightly surprised, and there was a little movement among the judges. -But curiosity, perhaps, among other reasons, led the court to give -consent. Clayton spoke:—</p> - -<p>"I hope it will not be considered a disrespect or impertinence for me to -say that the law of slavery, and the nature of that institution, have -for the first time been made known to me to-day in their true character. -I had before flattered myself with the hope that it might be considered -a guardian institution, by which a stronger race might assume the care -and instruction of the weaker one; and I had hoped that its laws were -capable of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>being so administered as to protect the defenceless. This -illusion is destroyed. I see but too clearly now the purpose and object -of the law. I cannot, therefore, as a Christian man, remain in the -practice of law in a slave state. I therefore relinquish the profession, -into which I have just been inducted, and retire forever from the bar of -my native state."</p> - -<p>"There!—there!—there he goes!" said Frank Russel. "The sticking-point -has come at last. His conscience is up, and start him now who can!"</p> - -<p>There was a slight motion of surprise in the court and audience. But -Judge Clayton sat with unmoved serenity. The words had struck to the -depth of his soul. They had struck at the root of one of his strongest -hopes in life. But he had listened to them with the same calm and -punctilious attention which it was his habit to give to every speaker; -and, with unaltered composure, he proceeded to the next business of the -court.</p> - -<p>A step so unusual occasioned no little excitement. But Clayton was not -one of the class of people to whom his associates generally felt at -liberty to express their opinions of his conduct. The quiet reserve of -his manners discouraged any such freedom. As usual, in cases where a -person takes an uncommon course from conscientious motives, Clayton was -severely criticised. The more trifling among the audience contented -themselves with using the good set phrases, quixotic, absurd, -ridiculous. The elder lawyers, and those friendly to Clayton, shook -their heads, and said, rash, precipitate, unadvised. "There's a want of -ballast about him, somewhere!" said one. "He is unsound!" said another. -"Radical and impracticable!" added a third.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Frank Russel, who had just come up, "Clayton <i>is</i> as radical -and impracticable as the Sermon on the Mount, and that's the most -impracticable thing I know of in literature. We all <i>can</i> serve God and -Mammon. We have discovered that happy medium in our day. Clayton is -behind the times. He is <i>Jewish</i> in his notions. Don't you think so, Mr. -Titmarsh?" addressing the Rev. Mr. Titmarsh.</p> - -<p>"It strikes me that our young friend is extremely <i>ultra</i>," said Mr. -Titmarsh. "I might feel disposed to sympathize with him in the feelings -he expressed, <i>to some extent</i>; but it having pleased the Divine -Providence to establish the institution of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>slavery, I humbly presume it -is not competent for human reason to judge of it."</p> - -<p>"And if it had pleased the Divine Providence to have established the -institution of piracy, you'd say the same thing, I suppose!" said Frank -Russel.</p> - -<p>"Certainly, my young friend," said Mr. Titmarsh. "Whatever is divinely -ordered, becomes right by that fact."</p> - -<p>"I should think," said Frank Russel, "that things were divinely ordered -because they were right."</p> - -<p>"No, my friend," replied Mr. Titmarsh, moderately; "they are right -because they are ordered, however contrary they may appear to any of our -poor notions of justice and humanity." And Mr. Titmarsh walked off.</p> - -<p>"Did you hear that?" said Russel. "And they expect really to come it -over us with stuff like that! Now, if a fellow don't go to church -Sundays, there's a dreadful outcry against him for not being religious! -And, if they get us there, that's the kind of thing they put down our -throats! As if they were going to make practical men give in to such -humbugs!"</p> - -<p>And the Rev. Mr. Titmarsh went off in another direction, lamenting to a -friend as follows:—</p> - -<p>"How mournfully infidelity is increasing among the young men of our day! -They quote Scripture with the same freedom that they would a book of -plays, and seem to treat it with no more reverence! I believe it's the -want of catechetical instruction while they are children. There's been a -great falling back in the teaching of the Assembly's Catechism to -children when they are young! I shall get that point up at the General -Assembly. If that were thoroughly committed when they are children, I -think they would never doubt afterwards."</p> - -<p>Clayton went home and told his mother what he had done, and why. His -father had not spoken to him on this subject; and there was that about -Judge Clayton which made it difficult to introduce a topic, unless he -signified an inclination to enter upon it. He was, as usual, calm, -grave, and considerate, attending to every duty with unwearying -regularity.</p> - -<p>At the end of the second day, in the evening, Judge Clayton requested -his son to walk in to his study. The interview was painful on both -sides.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span></p><p>"You are aware, my son," he said, "that the step you have taken is a -very painful one to me. I hope that it was not taken precipitately, from -any sudden impulse."</p> - -<p>"You may rest assured it was not," said Clayton. "I followed the deepest -and most deliberate convictions of my conscience."</p> - -<p>"In that case, you could not do otherwise," replied Judge Clayton. "I -have no criticisms to make. But will your conscience allow you to retain -the position of a slave-holder?"</p> - -<p>"I have already relinquished it," replied Clayton, "so far as my own -intentions are concerned. I retain the legal relation of owner simply as -a means of protecting my servants from the cruelties of the law, and of -securing the opportunity to educate and elevate them."</p> - -<p>"And suppose this course brings you into conflict with the law of the -state?" said Judge Clayton.</p> - -<p>"If there is any reasonable prospect of having the law altered, I must -endeavor to do that," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"But," said Judge Clayton, "suppose the law is so rooted in the nature -of the institution, that it cannot be repealed without uprooting the -institution? What then?"</p> - -<p>"I say repeal the law, if it do uproot the institution," said Clayton. -"<i>Fiat justitia ruat cœlum.</i>"</p> - -<p>"I supposed that would be your answer," said Judge Clayton, patiently. -"That is undoubtedly the logical line of life. But you are aware that -communities do not follow such lines; your course, therefore, will place -you in opposition to the community in which you live. Your conscientious -convictions will cross self-interest, and the community will not allow -you to carry them out."</p> - -<p>"Then," said Clayton, "I must, with myself and my servants, remove to -some region where I can do this."</p> - -<p>"That I supposed would be the result," said Judge Clayton. "And have you -looked at the thing in all its relations and consequences?"</p> - -<p>"I have," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"You are about to form a connection with Miss Gordon," said Judge -Clayton. "Have you considered how this will affect her?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said Clayton. "Miss Gordon fully sustains me in the course I -have taken."</p> - -<p>"I have no more to say," said Judge Clayton. "Every man must act up to -his sense of duty."</p> - -<p>There was a pause of a few moments, and Judge Clayton added:—</p> - -<p>"You, perhaps, have seen the implication which your course throws upon -us who still continue to practise the system and uphold the institution -which you repudiate."</p> - -<p>"I meant no implications," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I presume not. But they result, logically, from your course," said his -father. "I assure you, I have often myself pondered the question with -reference to my own duties. My course is a sufficient evidence that I -have not come to the same result. Human law is, at best, but an -approximation, a reflection of many of the ills of our nature. Imperfect -as it is, it is, on the whole, a blessing. The worst system is better -than anarchy."</p> - -<p>"But, my father, why could you not have been a reformer of the system?"</p> - -<p>"My son, no reform is possible, unless we are prepared to give up the -institution of slavery. That will be the immediate result; and this is -so realized by the instinct of self-preservation, which is unfailing in -its accuracy, that every such proposition will be ignored, till there is -a settled conviction in the community that the institution itself is a -moral evil, and a sincere determination felt to be free from it. I see -no tendency of things in that direction. That body of religious men of -different denominations, called, <i>par excellence</i>, the church, exhibit a -degree of moral apathy on this subject which is to me very surprising. -It is with them that the training of the community, on which any such -reform could be built, must commence; and I see no symptoms of their -undertaking it. The decisions and testimonies of the great religious -assemblies in the land, in my youth, were frequent. They have grown -every year less and less decided; and now the morality of the thing is -openly defended in our pulpits, to my great disgust. I see no way but -that the institution will be left to work itself out to its final -result, which will, in the end, be ruinous to our country. I am not -myself gifted with the talents of a reformer. My turn of mind fits me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> -for the situation I hold. I cannot hope that I have done no harm in it; -but the good, I hope, will outweigh the evil. If you feel a call to -enter on this course, fully understanding the difficulties and -sacrifices it would probably involve, I would be the last one to throw -the influence of my private wishes and feelings into the scale. We live -here but a few years. It is of more consequence that we should do right, -than that we should enjoy ourselves."</p> - -<p>Judge Clayton spoke this with more emotion than he usually exhibited, -and Clayton was much touched.</p> - -<p>"My dear father," he said, putting Nina's note into his hand, "you made -allusion to Miss Gordon. This note, which I received from her on the -morning of your decision, will show you what her spirit is."</p> - -<p>Judge Clayton put on his spectacles, and read over the note -deliberately, twice. He then handed it formally to his son, and -remarked, with his usual brevity,—</p> - -<p>"She will do!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXIV.</span> <span class="smaller">THE CLOUD BURSTS.</span></h2> - -<p>The shadow of that awful cloud which had desolated other places now -began to darken the boundaries of the plantation of Canema. No disease -has ever more fully filled out the meaning of those awful words of -Scripture, "The pestilence that walketh in darkness." None has been more -irregular, and apparently more perfectly capricious, in its movements. -During the successive seasons that it has been epidemic in this country, -it has seemed to have set at defiance the skill of the physicians. The -system of medical tactics which has been wrought out by the painful -experience of one season seems to be laughed to scorn by the varying -type of the disease in the next. Certain sanitary laws and conditions -would seem to be indispensable; yet those who are familiar with it have -had fearful experience how like a wolf it will sometimes leap the -boundaries of the best and most carefully-guarded fold, and, spite of -every caution and protection, sweep all before it.</p> - -<p>Its course through towns and villages has been equally singular. -Sometimes descending like a cloud on a neighborhood, it will leave a -single village or town untouched amidst the surrounding desolations, and -long after, when health is restored to the whole neighborhood, come down -suddenly on the omitted towns, as a ravaging army sends back a party for -prey to some place which has been overlooked or forgotten. Sometimes, -entering a house, in twenty-four hours it will take all who are in it. -Sometimes it will ravage all the city except some one street or -locality, and then come upon that, while all else is spared. Its course, -upon southern plantations, was marked by similar capriciousness, and was -made still more fatal by that peculiar nature of plantation life which -withdraws the inmates so far from medical aid.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span></p><p>When the first letters were received describing the progress of it in -northern cities, Aunt Nesbit felt much uneasiness and alarm. It is -remarkable with what tenacity people often will cling to life, whose -enjoyments in it are so dull and low that a bystander would scarcely -think them worth the struggle of preservation. When at length the -dreaded news began to be heard from one point and another in their -vicinity, Aunt Nesbit said, one day, to Nina,—</p> - -<p>"Your cousins, the Gordons, in E., have written to us to leave the -plantation, and come and spend some time with them, till the danger is -over."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Nina, "do they think the cholera can't come there?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Aunt Nesbit, "they have their family under most excellent -regulations; and, living in a town so, they are within call of a doctor, -if anything happens."</p> - -<p>"Aunt," said Nina, "perhaps you had better go; but I will stay with my -people."</p> - -<p>"Why, don't you feel afraid, Nina?"</p> - -<p>"No, aunt, I don't. Besides, I think it would be very selfish for me to -live on the services of my people all my life, and then run away and -leave them alone when a time of danger comes. The least I can do is to -stay and take care of them."</p> - -<p>This conversation was overheard by Harry, who was standing with his back -to them, on the veranda, near the parlor door where they were sitting.</p> - -<p>"Child," said Aunt Nesbit, "what do you suppose you can do? You haven't -any experience. Harry and Milly can do a great deal better than you can. -I'll leave Milly here. It's our first duty to take care of our health."</p> - -<p>"No, aunt, I think there are some duties before that," said Nina. "It's -true I haven't a great deal of strength, but I have courage; and I know -my going away would discourage our people, and fill them with fear; and -that, they say, predisposes to the disease. I shall get the carriage up, -and go directly over to see the doctor, and get directions and -medicines. I shall talk to our people, and teach them what to do, and -see that it is done. And, when they see that I am calm, and not afraid, -they will have courage. But, aunt, if you are afraid, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> think you had -better go. You are feeble; you can't make much exertion; and if you feel -any safer or more comfortable, I think it would be best. I should like -to have Milly stay, and she, Harry, and I, will be a board of health to -the plantation."</p> - -<p>"Harry," she said, "if you'll get up the carriage, we'll go -immediately."</p> - -<p>Again Harry felt the bitterness of his soul sweetened and tranquillized -by the noble nature of her to whose hands the law had given the chain -which bound him. Galling and intolerable as it would have been -otherwise, he felt, when with her, that her service was perfect freedom. -He had not said anything to Nina about the contents of the letter which -he had received from his sister. He saw that it was an evil which she -had no power over, and he shrank from annoying her with it. Nina -supposed that his clouded and troubled aspect was caused wholly by the -solicitude of responsibility.</p> - -<p>In the same carriage which conveyed her to the town sat Aunt Nesbit -also, and her cap-boxes, whose importance even the fear of the cholera -could not lessen in her eyes. Nina found the physician quite <i>au fait</i> -on the subject. He had been reading about miasma and animalculæ, and he -entertained Nina nearly half an hour with different theories as to the -cause of the disease, and with the experiments which had been made in -foreign hospitals.</p> - -<p>Among the various theories, there was one which appeared to be his -particular pet; and Nina couldn't help thinking, as he stepped about so -alertly, that he almost enjoyed the prospect of putting his discoveries -to the test. By dint, however, of very practical and positive questions, -Nina drew from him all the valuable information which he had to give -her; and he wrote her a very full system of directions, and put up a -case of medicines for her, assuring her that he should be happy to -attend in person if he had time.</p> - -<p>On the way home, Nina stopped at Uncle John Gordon's plantation, and -there had the first experience of the difference between written -directions for a supposed case, and the actual, awful realities of the -disease. Her Uncle John had been seized only half an hour before, in the -most awful manner. The household was all in terror and confusion, and -the shrieks and groans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> of agony which proceeded from his room were -appalling. His wife, busy with the sufferer, did not perceive that the -messengers who had been sent in haste for the doctor were wringing their -hands in fruitless terror, running up and down the veranda, and doing -nothing.</p> - -<p>"Harry," said Nina, "take out one of the carriage-horses, and ride quick -for your life, and bring the doctor over here in a minute!"</p> - -<p>In a few moments the thing was done, and Harry was out of sight. She -then walked up to the distracted servants, and commanded them, in a tone -of authority, to cease their lamentations. Her resolute manner, and the -quiet tone of voice which she preserved, acted as a sedative on their -excited nerves. She banished all but two or three of the most reasonable -from the house, and then went to the assistance of her aunt.</p> - -<p>Before long the doctor arrived. When he had been in the sick room a few -moments, he came out to make some inquiries of Nina, and she could not -help contrasting the appalled and confounded expression of his -countenance with the dapper, consequential air, with which, only two -hours before, he had been holding forth to her on animalculæ and miasma.</p> - -<p>"The disease," he said, "presented itself in an entirely different -aspect from what he had expected. The remedies," he said, "did not work -as he anticipated; the case was a peculiar one."</p> - -<p>Alas! before the three months were over, poor doctor, you found many -peculiar cases!</p> - -<p>"Do you think you can save his life?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Child, only God can save him!" said the physician; "nothing works -right."</p> - -<p>But why prolong the torture of that scene, or rehearse the struggles, -groans, and convulsions? Nina, poor flowery child of seventeen summers, -stood with the rest in mute despair. All was tried that could be done or -thought of; but the disease, like some blind, deaf destroyer, marched -on, turning neither to right nor left, till the cries and groans grew -fainter, the convulsed muscles relaxed, and the strong, florid man lay -in the last stages of that fearful collapse which in one hour shrivels -the most healthy countenance and the firmest muscles to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> shrunken -and withered image of decrepit old age. When the breath had passed, and -all was over, Nina could scarcely believe that that altered face and -form, so withered and so worn, could have been her healthy and joyous -uncle, and who never had appeared healthier and more joyous than on that -morning. But, as a person passing under the foam and spray of Niagara -clings with blind confidence to a guide whom he feels, but cannot see, -Nina, in this awful hour, felt that she was not alone. The Redeemer, -all-powerful over death and the grave, of whom she had been thinking so -much of late, seemed to her sensibly near. And it seemed to her as if a -voice said to her, continually, "Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not -dismayed, for I am thy God."</p> - -<p>"How calm you are, my child!" said Aunt Maria to her. "I wouldn't have -thought it was in you. I don't know what we should do without you."</p> - -<p>But now a frightful wail was heard.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we are all dying! we are all going! Oh, missis, come quick! Peter -has got it! Oh, daddy has got it! Oh, my child! my child!"</p> - -<p>And the doctor, exhausted as he was by the surprise and excitement of -this case, began flying from one to another of the cabins, in the -greatest haste. Two or three of the house-servants also seemed to be -struck in the same moment, and only the calmness and courage which Nina -and her aunt maintained prevented a general abandonment to panic. Nina -possessed that fine, elastic temperament which, with the appearance of -extreme delicacy, possesses great powers of endurance. The perfect -calmness which she felt enabled her to bring all her faculties to bear -on the emergency.</p> - -<p>"My good aunty, you mustn't be afraid! Bring out your religion; trust in -God," she said, to the cook, who was wringing her hands in terror. -"Remember your religion; sing some of your hymns, and do your duty to -the sick."</p> - -<p>There is a magic power in the cheerful tone of courage, and Nina -succeeded in rallying the well ones to take care of the sick; but now -came a messenger, in hot haste, to say that the cholera had broken out -on the plantation at home.</p> - -<p>"Well, Harry," said Nina, with a face pale, yet unmoved, "our duty calls -us away."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span></p><p>And, accompanied by the weary physician, they prepared to go back to -Canema. Before they had proceeded far, a man met them on horseback.</p> - -<p>"Is Dr. Butler with you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Nina, putting her head out of the carriage.</p> - -<p>"Oh, doctor, I've been riding all over the country after you. You must -come back to town this minute! Judge Peters is dying! I'm afraid he is -dead before this time, and there's a dozen more cases right in that -street. Here, get on to my horse, and ride for your life."</p> - -<p>The doctor hastily sprang from the carriage, and mounted the horse; -then, stopping a moment, he cast a look of good-natured pity on the -sweet, pale face that was leaning out of the carriage window.</p> - -<p>"My poor child," he said, "I can't bear to leave you. Who will help -you?"</p> - -<p>"God," said Nina; "I am not afraid!"</p> - -<p>"Come, come," said the man, "do hurry!" And, with one hasty glance more, -he was gone.</p> - -<p>"Now, Harry," said Nina, "everything depends upon our keeping up our -courage and our strength. We shall have no physician. We must just do -the best we can. After all, it is our Lord Jesus that has the keys of -death, and <i>he</i> loved us and died for us. He will certainly be with us."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Miss Nina, you are an angel!" said Harry, who felt at that moment -as if he could have worshipped her.</p> - -<p>Arrived at home, Nina found a scene of terror and confusion similar to -that she had already witnessed. Old Hundred lay dead in his cabin, and -the lamenting crowd, gathering round, were yielding to the full tide of -fear and excitement, which predisposed them to the same fate. Nina rode -up immediately to the group. She spoke to them calmly; she silenced -their outcries, and bade them obey her.</p> - -<p>"If you wish, all of you, to die," she said, "this is the way towards -it; but, if you'll keep quiet and calm, and do what ought to be done, -your lives may be saved. Harry and I have got medicines—we understand -what to do. You must follow our directions exactly."</p> - -<p>Nina immediately went to the house, and instructed Milly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> Aunt Rose, -and two or three of the elderly women, in the duties to be done. Milly -rose up, in this hour of terror, with all the fortitude inspired by her -strong nature.</p> - -<p>"Bress de Lord," she said, "for his grace to you, chile! De Lord is a -shield. He's been wid us in six troubles, and he'll be wid us in seven. -We can sing in de swellings of Jordan."</p> - -<p>Harry, meanwhile, was associating to himself a band of the most reliable -men on the place, and endeavoring in the same manner to organize them -for action. A messenger was dispatched immediately to the neighboring -town for unlimited quantities of the most necessary medicines and -stimulants. The plantation was districted off, and placed under the care -of leaders, who held communication with Harry. In the course of two or -three hours, the appalling scene of distress and confusion was reduced -to the resolute and orderly condition of a well-managed hospital.</p> - -<p>Milly walked the rounds in every direction, appealing to the religious -sensibilities of the people, and singing hymns of trust and confidence. -She possessed a peculiar voice, suited to her large development of -physical frame, almost as deep as a man's bass, with the rich softness -of a feminine tone; and Nina could now and then distinguish, as she was -moving about the house or grounds, that triumphant tone, singing,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"God is my sun,</div> -<div class="i1">And he my shade,</div> -<div class="i1">To guard my head,</div> -<div>By night or noon.</div> -<div>Hast thou not given thy word</div> -<div class="i1">To save my soul from death?</div> -<div>And I can trust my Lord,</div> -<div class="i1">To keep my mortal breath.</div> -<div>I'll go and come,</div> -<div class="i1">Nor fear to die,</div> -<div class="i1">Till from on high</div> -<div>Thou call me home."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The house that night presented the aspect of a beleaguered garrison. -Nina and Milly had thrown open all the chambers; and such as were -peculiarly exposed to the disease, by delicacy of organization or -tremulousness of nervous system, were allowed to take shelter there.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span></p><p>"Now, chile," said Milly, when all the arrangements had been made, "you -jes lie down and go to sleep in yer own room. I see how 'tis with you; -de spirit is willing, but de flesh is weak. Chile, dere isn't much of -you, but dere won't nothing go widout you. So, you take care of yerself -first. Never you be 'fraid! De people's quiet now, and de sick ones is -ben took care of, and de folks is all doing de best dey can. So, now, -you try and get some sleep; 'cause if <i>you</i> goes we shall <i>all</i> go."</p> - -<p>Accordingly Nina retired to her room, but before she lay down she wrote -to Clayton:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>"We are all in affliction here, my dear friend. Poor Uncle John -died this morning of the cholera. I had been to E—— to see a -doctor and provide medicines. When I came back I thought I would -call a few moments at the house, and I found a perfect scene of -horror. Poor uncle died, and there are a great many sick on the -place now; and while I was thinking that I would stay and help -aunt, a messenger came in all haste, saying that the disease had -broken out on our place at home.</p> - -<p>"We were bringing the doctor with us in our carriage, when we met a -man riding full speed from E——, who told us that Judge Peters was -dying, and a great many others were sick on the same street. When -we came home we found the poor old coachman dead, and the people in -the greatest consternation. It took us some time to tranquillize -them and to produce order, but that is now done. Our house is full -of the sick and the fearful ones. Milly and Harry are firm and -active, and inspire the rest with courage. About twenty are taken -with the disease, but not as yet in a violent way. In this awful -hour I feel a strange peace, which the Bible truly says 'passeth -all understanding.' I see, now, that though the world and all that -is in it should perish, 'Christ can give us a beautiful immortal -life.' I write to you because, perhaps, this may be the only -opportunity. If I die, do not mourn for me, but thank God, who -giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. But, then, I -trust, I shall not die. I hope to live in this world, which is more -than ever beautiful to me. Life has never been so valuable and dear -as since I have known you. Yet I have such trust in the love of my -Redeemer, that, if <i>he</i> were to ask me to lay it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> down, I could do -it almost without a sigh. I would follow the Lamb whithersoever he -goeth. Perhaps the same dreadful evil is around you,—perhaps at -Magnolia Grove. I will not be selfish in calling you here, if Anne -needs you more. Perhaps she has not such reliable help as Harry and -Milly are to me. So do not fear, and do not leave any duty for me. -Our Father loves us, and will do nothing amiss. Milly walks about -the entries singing. I love to hear her sing, she sings in such a -grand triumphant tone. Hark, I hear her now!</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'I'll go and come,</div> -<div class="i1">Nor fear to die,</div> -<div class="i1">Till from on high</div> -<div>Thou call me home.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"I shall write you every mail, now, till we are better.</p> - -<p><span class="s3"> </span>"Living or dying, ever your own</p> - -<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Nina</span>."</p></blockquote> - -<p>After writing this, Nina lay down and slept—slept all night as quietly -as if death and disease were not hanging over her head. In the morning -she rose and dressed herself, and Milly, with anxious care, brought to -her room some warm coffee and crackers, which she insisted on her taking -before she left her apartment.</p> - -<p>"How are they all, Milly?" said Nina.</p> - -<p>"Well, chile," said Milly, "de midnight cry has been heard among us. -Aunt Rose is gone; and Big Sam, and Jack, and Sally, dey's all gone; but -de people is all more quiet, love, and dey's determined to stand it -out!"</p> - -<p>"How is Harry?" said Nina, in a tremulous voice.</p> - -<p>"He isn't sick; he has been up all night working over de sick, but he -keeps up good heart. De older ones is going to have a little -prayer-meeting after breakfast, as a sort of funeral to dem dat's dead; -and, perhaps, Miss Nina, you'd read us a chapter."</p> - -<p>"Certainly I will," said Nina.</p> - -<p>It was yet an early hour, when a large circle of family and plantation -hands gathered together in the pleasant, open saloon, which we have so -often described. The day was a beautiful one; the leaves and shrubbery -round the veranda moist and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> tremulous with the glittering freshness of -morning dew. There was a murmur of tenderness and admiration as Nina, in -a white morning-wrapper, and a cheek as white, came into the room.</p> - -<p>"Sit down, all my friends," she said, "sit down," looking at some of the -plantation men, who seemed to be diffident about taking the sofa, which -was behind them; "it's no time for ceremony now. We are standing on the -brink of the grave, where all are equal. I'm glad to see you so calm and -so brave. I hope your trust is in the Saviour, who gives us the victory -over death. Sing," she said. Milly began the well-known hymn:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"And must this feeble body fail,</div> -<div class="i1">And must it faint and die?</div> -<div>My soul shall quit this gloomy vale,</div> -<div class="i1">And soar to realms on high;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Shall join the disembodied saints,</div> -<div class="i1">And find its long-sought rest;</div> -<div>That only rest for which it pants,</div> -<div class="i1">On the Redeemer's breast."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Every voice joined, and the words rose triumphant from the very gates of -the grave. When the singing was over, Nina, in a tremulous voice, which -grew clearer as she went on, read the undaunted words of the ancient -psalm:—</p> - -<p>"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under -the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and -my fortress. My God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee -from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall -cover thee with his feathers. Under his wings shalt thou trust. Thou -shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that -flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for -the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall by thy -side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh -thee. He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy -ways."</p> - -<p>"It is possible," said Nina, "that we may, some of us, be called away. -But, to those that love Christ, there is no fear in death. It is only -going home to our Father. Keep up courage, then!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span></p><p>In all cases like this, the first shock brings with it more terror than -any which succeeds. The mind can become familiar with anything, even -with the prospect of danger and death, so that it can appear to be an -ordinary condition of existence. Everything proceeded calmly on the -plantation; and all, stimulated by the example of their young mistress, -seemed determined to meet the exigency firmly and faithfully. In the -afternoon of the second day, as Nina was sitting in the door, she -observed the wagon of Uncle Tiff making its way up the avenue; and, with -her usual impulsiveness, ran down to meet her humble friend.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tiff, how do you do, in these dreadful times!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Miss Nina," said the faithful creature, removing his hat, with -habitual politeness, "ef yer please, I's brought de baby here, 'cause -it's drefful sick, and I's been doing all I could for him, and he don't -get no better. And I's brought Miss Fanny and Teddy, 'cause I's 'fraid -to leave 'em, 'cause I see a man yesterday, and he tell me dey was dying -eberywhar on all de places round."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "you have come to a sorrowful place, for they are -dying here, too! But, if you feel any safer here, you and the children -may stay, and we'll do for you just as we do for each other. Give me the -baby, while you get out. It's asleep, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Nina, it's 'sleep pretty much all de time, now."</p> - -<p>Nina carried it up the steps, and put it into the arms of Milly.</p> - -<p>"It's sleeping nicely," she said.</p> - -<p>"Ah, honey!" said Milly, "it'll neber wake up out of dat ar! Dat ar -sleep an't de good kind!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Nina, "we'll help him take care of it, and we'll make room -for him and the children, Milly; because we have medicines and -directions, and they have nothing out there."</p> - -<p>So Tiff and his family took shelter in the general fortress. Towards -evening, the baby died. Tiff held it in his arms to the very last; and -it was with difficulty that Nina and Milly could persuade him that the -little flickering breath was gone forever. When forced to admit it, he -seemed for a few moments perfectly inconsolable. Nina quietly opened her -Testament, and read to him:—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span></p><p>"And they brought little children unto him, that he should touch them; -and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But Jesus said, -Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such -is the kingdom of heaven."</p> - -<p>"Bressed Lord!" said Tiff, "I'll gib him up, I will! I won't hold out no -longer! I won't forbid him to go, if it does break my old heart! Laws, -we's drefful selfish! But de por little ting, he was getting so pretty!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXV.</span> <span class="smaller">THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS.</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton was quietly sitting in his law-office, looking over and -arranging some papers necessary to closing his business. A colored boy -brought in letters from the mail. He looked them over rapidly; and, -selecting one, read it with great agitation and impatience. Immediately -he started, with the open letter crushed in his hand, seized his hat, -and rushed to the nearest livery-stable.</p> - -<p>"Give me the fastest horse you have—one that can travel night and day!" -he said. "I must ride for life or death!"</p> - -<p>And half an hour more saw Clayton in full speed on the road. By the -slow, uncertain, and ill-managed mail-route, it would have taken three -days to reach Canema. Clayton hoped, by straining every nerve, to reach -there in twenty-four hours. He pushed forward, keeping the animal at the -top of his speed; and, at the first stage-stand, changed him for a fresh -one. And thus proceeding along, he found himself, at three o'clock of -the next morning, in the woods about fifteen miles from Canema. The -strong tension of the nervous system, which had upheld him insensible to -fatigue until this point, was beginning slightly to subside. All night -he had ridden through the loneliness of pine-forests, with no eye -looking down on him save the twinkling mysterious stars. At the last -place where he had sought to obtain horses, everything had been horror -and confusion. Three were lying dead in the house, and another was -dying.</p> - -<p>All along upon the route, at every stopping-place, the air had seemed to -be filled with flying rumors and exaggerated reports of fear and death. -As soon as he began to perceive that he was approaching the plantation, -he became sensible of that shuddering dread which all of us may remember -to have had, in slight degrees, in returning home after a long absence, -under a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> vague expectation of misfortune, to which the mind can set no -definite limits. When it was yet scarcely light enough to see, he passed -by the cottage of Old Tiff. A strange impulse prompted him to stop and -make some inquiries there, before he pushed on to the plantation. But, -as he rode up, he saw the gate standing ajar, the door of the house left -open; and, after repeated callings, receiving no answer, he alighted, -and, leading his horse behind him, looked into the door. The gloaming -starlight was just sufficient to show him that all was desolate. Somehow -this seemed to him like an evil omen. As he was mounting his horse, -preparing to ride away, a grand and powerful voice rose from the -obscurity of the woods before him, singing, in a majestic, minor-keyed -tune, these words:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Throned on a cloud our God shall come,</div> -<div class="i1">Bright flames prepare his way;</div> -<div>Thunder and darkness, fire and storm,</div> -<div class="i1">Lead on the dreadful day!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Wearied with his night ride, his nervous system strained to the last -point of tension by the fearful images which filled his mind, it is not -surprising that these sounds should have thrilled through the hearer -with even a superstitious power. And Clayton felt a singular excitement, -as, under the dim arcade of the pine-trees, he saw a dark figure -approaching. He seemed to be marching with a regular tread, keeping time -to the mournful music which he sung.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" called Clayton, making an effort to recall his manhood.</p> - -<p>"I?" replied the figure, "I am the voice of one crying in the -wilderness! I am a sign unto this people of the judgment of the Lord!"</p> - -<p>Our readers must remember the strange dimness of the hour, the wildness -of the place and circumstances, and the singular quality of the tone in -which the figure spoke. Clayton hesitated a moment, and the speaker went -on:—</p> - -<p>"I saw the Lord coming with ten thousand of his saints! Before him went -the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet! Thy bow is -made quite naked, O God, according to the oaths of the tribes! I saw the -tents of Cushan in affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian -did tremble!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span></p><p>Pondering in his mind what this wild style of address might mean, -Clayton rode slowly onward. And the man, for such he appeared to be, -came out of the shadows of the wood and stood directly in his path, -raising his hand with a commanding gesture.</p> - -<p>"I know whom you seek," he said; "but it shall not be given you; for the -star, which is called wormwood, hath fallen, and the time of the dead is -come, that they shall be judged! Behold, there sitteth on the white -cloud <i>one</i> like the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and -in his hand a sharp sickle!"</p> - -<p>Then, waving his hand above his head, with a gesture of wild excitement, -he shouted:—</p> - -<p>"Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the -earth, for her grapes are fully ripe! Behold, the wine-press shall be -trodden without the city, and there shall be blood even to the horses' -bridles! Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the -trumpets of the other angels, which are yet to sound!"</p> - -<p>The fearful words pealed through the dim aisles of the forest like the -curse of some destroying angel. After a pause, the speaker resumed, in a -lower and more plaintive tone:—</p> - -<p>"Weep ye not for the dead! neither bewail her! Behold, the Lamb standeth -on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, -having his Father's name written on their foreheads. These are they -which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; and in their mouth is -found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God. -Behold the angel having the seal of God is gone forth, and she shall be -sealed in her forehead unto the Lamb."</p> - -<p>The figure turned away slowly, singing, as he made his way through the -forest, in the same weird and funereal accents; but this time the song -was a wild, plaintive sound, like the tolling of a heavy bell:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Ding dong! dead and gone!</div> -<div class="i1">Farewell, father!</div> -<div>Bury me in Egypt's land,</div> -<div class="i1">By my dear mother!</div> -<div>Ding, dong! ding, dong!</div> -<div>Dead and gone!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span></p><p>Clayton, as he slowly wound his way along the unfrequented path, felt a -dim, brooding sense of mystery and terror creeping over him. The tones -of the voice, and the wild style of the speaker, recalled the strange -incident of the camp-meeting; and, though he endeavored strenuously to -reason with himself that probably some wild and excited fanatic, made -still more frantic by the presence of death and destruction all around, -was the author of these fearful denunciations, still he could not help a -certain weight of fearful foreboding.</p> - -<p>This life may be truly called a haunted house, built as it is on the -very confines of the land of darkness and the shadow of death. A -thousand living fibres connect us with the unknown and unseen state; and -the strongest hearts, which never stand still for any mortal terror, -have sometimes hushed their very beating at a breath of a whisper from -within the veil. Perhaps the most resolute unbeliever in spiritual -things has hours of which he would be ashamed to tell, when he, too, -yields to the powers of those awful affinities which bind us to that -unknown realm.</p> - -<p>It is not surprising that Clayton, in spite of himself, should have felt -like one mysteriously warned. It was a relief to him when the dusky -dimness of the solemn dawn was pierced by long shafts of light from the -rising sun, and the day broke gladsome and jubilant, as if sorrow, -sighing, and death, were a dream of the night. During the whole -prevalence of this fearful curse, it was strange to witness the -unaltered regularity, splendor, and beauty, with which the movements of -the natural world went on. Amid fears, and dying groans, and wailings, -and sobs, and broken hearts, the sun rose and set in splendor, the dews -twinkled, and twilight folded her purple veil heavy with stars; birds -sung, waters danced and warbled, flowers bloomed, and everything in -nature was abundant, and festive, and joyous.</p> - -<p>When Clayton entered the boundaries of the plantation, he inquired -eagerly of the first person he met for the health of its mistress.</p> - -<p>"Thank God, she is yet alive!" said he. "It was but a dream, after all!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXVI.</span> <span class="smaller">THE EVENING STAR.</span></h2> - -<p>The mails in the State of North Carolina, like the prudential -arrangements of the slave states generally, were very little to be -depended upon; and therefore a week had elapsed after the mailing of -Nina's first letter, describing the danger of her condition, before it -was received by Clayton. During that time the fury of the shock which -had struck the plantation appeared to have abated; and, while on some -estates in the vicinity it was yet on the increase, the inhabitants of -Canema began to hope that the awful cloud was departing from them. It -was true that many were still ailing; but there were no new cases, and -the disease in the case of those who were ill appeared to be yielding to -nursing and remedies.</p> - -<p>Nina had risen in the morning early, as her custom had been since the -sickness, and gone the rounds, to inquire for the health of her people. -Returned, a little fatigued, she was sitting in the veranda, under the -shadow of one of the pillar-roses, enjoying the cool freshness of the -morning. Suddenly the tramp of horse's feet was heard, and, looking, she -saw Clayton coming up the avenue. There seemed but a dizzy, confused -moment, before his horse's bridle was thrown to the winds, and he was up -the steps, holding her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you are here yet, my rose, my bride, my lamb! God is merciful! This -is too much! Oh, I thought you were gone!"</p> - -<p>"No, dear, not yet," said Nina. "God has been with us. We have lost a -great many; but God has spared me to you."</p> - -<p>"Are you really well?" said Clayton, holding her off, and looking at -her. "You look pale, my little rose!"</p> - -<p>"That's not wonderful," said Nina; "I've had a great deal to make me -look pale; but I am very well. I have been well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> through it all—never -in better health—and, it seems strange to say it, but never happier. I -have felt so peaceful, so sure of God's love!"</p> - -<p>"Do you know," said Clayton, "that that peace alarms me—that strange, -unearthly happiness? It seems so like what is given to dying people."</p> - -<p>"No," said Nina, "I think that when we have no one but our Father to -lean on, he comes nearer than he does any other time; and that is the -secret of this happiness. But, come,—you look wofully tired; have you -been riding all night?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, ever since yesterday morning at nine o'clock. I have ridden down -four horses to get to you. Only think, I didn't get your letter till a -week after it was dated!"</p> - -<p>"Well, perhaps that was the best," said Nina; "because I have heard them -say that anybody coming suddenly and unprepared in the epidemic, when it -is in full force, is almost sure to be taken by it immediately. But you -must let me take care of you. Don't you know that I'm mistress of the -fortress here—commander-in-chief and head-physician? I shall order you -to your room immediately, and Milly shall bring you up some coffee, and -then you must have some sleep. You can see with your eyes, now, that we -are all safe, and there's nothing to hinder your resting. Come, let me -lead you off, like a captive."</p> - -<p>Released from the pressure of overwhelming fear, Clayton began now to -feel the reaction of the bodily and mental straining which he had been -enduring for the last twenty-four hours, and therefore he willingly -yielded himself to the directions of his little sovereign. Retired to -his room, after taking his coffee, which was served by Milly, he fell -into a deep and tranquil sleep, which lasted till some time in the -afternoon. At first, overcome by fatigue, he slept without dreaming; -but, when the first weariness was past, the excitement of the nervous -system, under which he had been laboring, began to color his dreams with -vague and tumultuous images. He thought that he was again with Nina at -Magnolia Grove, and that the servants were passing around in procession, -throwing flowers at their feet; but the wreath of orange-blossoms which -fell in Nina's lap was tied with black crape. But she took it up, -laughing, threw the crape away, and put the wreath on her head, and he -heard the chorus singing,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>"Oh, de North Carolina rose!</div> -<div>Oh, de North Carolina rose!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And then the sound seemed to change to one of lamentation, and the -floral procession seemed to be a funeral, and a deep, melancholy voice, -like the one he had heard in the woods in the morning, sang,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Weep, for the rose is withered!</div> -<div>The North Carolina rose!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>He struggled heavily in his sleep, and, at last waking, sat up and -looked about him. The rays of the evening sun were shining on the -tree-tops of the distant avenue, and Nina was singing on the veranda -below. He listened, and the sound floated up like a rose-leaf carried on -a breeze:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"The summer hath its heavy cloud,</div> -<div class="i1">The rose-leaf must fall,</div> -<div>But in our land joy wears no shroud—</div> -<div class="i1">Never doth it pall!</div> -<div>Each new morning ray</div> -<div>Leaves no sigh for yesterday—</div> -<div>No smile passed away</div> -<div class="i1">Would we recall!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The time was a favorite melody, which has found much favor with the -popular ear, and bore the title of "The Hindoo Dancing-Girl's Song;" and -is, perhaps, a fragment of one of those mystical songs in which oriental -literature abounds, in which the joy and reunion of earthly love are -told in shadowy, symbolic resemblance to the everlasting union of the -blessed above. It had a wild, dreamy, soothing power, as verse after -verse came floating in, like white doves from paradise, as if they had -borne healing on their wings:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Then haste to the happy land,</div> -<div class="i1">Where sorrow is unknown;</div> -<div>But first in a joyous band,</div> -<div class="i1">I'll make thee my own.</div> -<div>Haste, haste, fly with me</div> -<div>Where love's banquet waits for thee;</div> -<div>Thine all its sweets shall be,—</div> -<div class="i1">Thine, thine, alone!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A low tap at his door at last aroused him. The door was partly opened, -and a little hand threw in a half-opened spray of monthly-rosebuds.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span></p><p>"There's something to remind you that you are yet in the body!" said a -voice in the entry. "If you are rested, I'll let you come down, now."</p> - -<p>And Clayton heard the light footsteps tripping down the stairs. He -roused himself, and, after some little attention to his toilet, appeared -on the veranda.</p> - -<p>"Tea has been waiting for some time," said Nina. "I thought I'd give you -a hint."</p> - -<p>"I was lying very happy, hearing you sing," said Clayton. "You may sing -me that song again."</p> - -<p>"Was I singing?" said Nina; "why I didn't know it! I believe that's my -way of thinking, sometimes. I'll sing to you again, after tea. I like to -sing."</p> - -<p>After tea they were sitting again in the veranda, and the whole heavens -were one rosy flush of filmy clouds.</p> - -<p>"How beautiful!" said Nina. "It seems to me I've enjoyed these things, -this summer, as I never have before. It seemed as if I felt an influence -from them going through me, and filling me, as the light does those -clouds."</p> - -<p>And, as she stood looking up into the sky, she began singing again the -words that Clayton had heard before:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"I am come from the happy land,</div> -<div class="i1">Where sorrow is unknown;</div> -<div>I have parted a joyous band,</div> -<div class="i1">To make thee mine own!</div> -<div>Haste, haste, fly with me,</div> -<div>Where love's banquet waits for thee;</div> -<div>Thine all its sweets shall be,—</div> -<div class="i1">Thine, thine, alone!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"The summer has its heavy cloud,</div> -<div>The rose-leaf must fall,"—</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>She stopped her singing suddenly, left the veranda, and went into the -house.</p> - -<p>"Do you want anything?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Nothing," said she, hurriedly. "I'll be back in a moment."</p> - -<p>Clayton watched, and saw her go to a closet in which the medicines and -cordials were kept, and take something from a glass. He gave a start of -alarm.</p> - -<p>"You are not ill, are you?" he said, fearfully, as she returned.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, no; only a little faint. We have become so prudent, you know, that -if we feel the least beginning of any disagreeable sensation, we take -something at once. I have felt this faintness quite often. It isn't -much."</p> - -<p>Clayton put his arm around her, and looked at her with a vague yearning -of fear and admiration.</p> - -<p>"You look so like a spirit," he said, "that I must hold you."</p> - -<p>"Do you think I've got a pair of hidden wings?" she said, smiling, and -looking gayly in his face.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid so!" he said. "Do you feel quite well, now?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I believe so. Only, perhaps, we had better sit down. I think, -perhaps, it is the reaction of so much excitement makes me feel rather -tired."</p> - -<p>Clayton seated her on the settee by the door, still keeping his arm -anxiously around her. In a few moments she drooped her head wearily on -his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"<i>You are ill!</i>" he said, in tones of alarm.</p> - -<p>"No, no! I feel very well—only a little faint and tired. It seems to me -it is getting a little cold here, isn't it?" she said, with a slight -shiver.</p> - -<p>Clayton took her up in his arms, without speaking, carried her in and -laid her on the sofa, then rang for Harry and Milly.</p> - -<p>"Get a horse, instantly," he said to Harry, as soon as he appeared, "and -go for a doctor!"</p> - -<p>"There's no use in sending," said Nina; "he is driven to death, and -can't come. Besides, there's nothing the matter with me, only I am a -little tired and cold. Shut the doors and windows, and cover me up. No, -no, don't take me up stairs! I like to lie here; just put a shawl over -me, that's all. I am thirsty,—give me some water!"</p> - -<p>The fearful and mysterious disease, which was then in the ascendant, has -many forms of approach and development. One, and the most deadly, is -that which takes place when a person has so long and gradually imbibed -the fatal poison of an infected atmosphere, that the resisting powers of -nature have been insidiously and quietly subdued, so that the subject -sinks under it, without any violent outward symptom, by a quiet and -certain yielding of the vital powers, such as has been likened to the -bleeding to death by an internal wound. In this case, before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> an hour -had passed, though none of the violent and distressing symptoms of the -disease appeared, it became evident that the seal of death was set on -that fair young brow. A messenger had been dispatched, riding with the -desperate speed which love and fear can give, but Harry remained in -attendance.</p> - -<p>"Nothing is the matter with me—nothing is the matter," she said, -"except fatigue, and this change in the weather. If I only had more over -me! and, perhaps, you had better give me a little brandy, or some such -thing. This is water, isn't it, that you have been giving me?"</p> - -<p>Alas! it was the strongest brandy; but there was no taste, and the -hartshorn that they were holding had no smell. And there was no change -in the weather; it was only the creeping deadness, affecting the whole -outer and inner membrane of the system. Yet still her voice remained -clear, though her mind occasionally wandered.</p> - -<p>There is a strange impulse, which sometimes comes in the restlessness -and distress of dissolving nature, <i>to sing;</i> and, as she lay with her -eyes closed, apparently in a sort of trance, she would sing, over and -over again, the verse of the song which she was singing when the blow of -the unseen destroyer first struck her.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"The summer hath its heavy cloud,</div> -<div class="i1">The rose-leaf must fall;</div> -<div>But in our land joy wears no shroud,</div> -<div class="i1">Never doth it pall."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At last she opened her eyes, and, seeing the agony of all around, the -truth seemed to come to her.</p> - -<p>"I think I'm called!" she said. "Oh, I'm so sorry for you all! Don't -grieve so; my Father loves me so well,—he cannot spare me any longer. -He wants me to come to him. That's all—don't grieve so. It's <i>home</i> I'm -going to—<i>home</i>! 'Twill be only a little while, and you'll come too, -all of you. You are satisfied, are you not, Edward?"</p> - -<p>And again she relapsed into the dreamy trance, and sang, in that -strange, sweet voice, so low, so weak,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"In our land joy wears no shroud,</div> -<div class="i1">Never doth it pall."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Clayton,—what did he? What could he do? What have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> any of us done, who -have sat holding in our arms a dear form, from which the soul was -passing—the soul for which gladly we would have given our own in -exchange! When we have felt it going with inconceivable rapidity from -us; and we, ignorant and blind, vainly striving, with this and that, to -arrest the inevitable doom, feeling every moment that some <i>other</i> thing -might be done to save, which is not done, and that that which we are -doing may be only hastening the course of the destroyer! Oh, those -awful, agonized moments, when we watch the clock, and no physician -comes, and every stroke of the pendulum is like the approaching step of -death! Oh, is there anything in heaven or earth for the despair of such -hours?</p> - -<p>Not a moment was lost by the three around that dying bed, chafing those -cold limbs, administering the stimulants which the dead, exhausted -system no longer felt.</p> - -<p>"She doesn't suffer! Thank God, at any rate, for that!" said Clayton, as -he knelt over her in anguish.</p> - -<p>A beautiful smile passed over her face, as she opened her eyes and -looked on them all, and said,—</p> - -<p>"No, my poor friends, I don't suffer. I'm come to the land where they -never suffer. I'm only <i>so</i> sorry for you! Edward," she said to him, "do -you remember what you said to me once?—It has come now. You must bear -it like a man. God calls you to some work—don't shrink from it. You are -baptized with fire. It all lasts only a little while. It will be over -soon, very soon! Edward, take care of my poor people. Tell Tom to be -kind to them. My poor, faithful, good Harry! Oh! I'm going so fast!"</p> - -<p>The voice sunk into a whispering sigh. Life now seemed to have retreated -to the citadel of the brain. She lay apparently in the last sleep, when -the footsteps of the doctor were heard on the veranda. There was a -general spring to the door, and Dr. Butler entered, pale, haggard, and -worn, from constant exertion and loss of rest.</p> - -<p>He did not say in words that there was no hope, but his first dejected -look said it but too plainly.</p> - -<p>She moved her head a little, like one who is asleep uneasily upon her -pillow, opened her eyes once more, and said,—</p> - -<p>"Good by! I will arise and go to my Father!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span></p><p>The gentle breath gradually became fainter and fainter,—all hope was -over! The night walked on with silent and solemn footsteps—soft showers -fell without, murmuring upon the leaves—within, all was still as death!</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"They watched her breathing through the night,</div> -<div class="i1">Her breathing soft and low,</div> -<div>As in her breast the wave of life</div> -<div class="i1">Kept heaving to and fro.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"So silently they seemed to speak,</div> -<div class="i1">So slowly moved about,</div> -<div>As they had lent her half their powers</div> -<div class="i1">To eke her living out.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Their very hopes belied their fears,</div> -<div class="i1">Their fears their hopes belied—</div> -<div>They thought her dying when she slept,</div> -<div class="i1">And sleeping when she died.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"For when the morn came dim and sad,</div> -<div class="i1">And chill with early showers,</div> -<div>Her quiet eyelids closed—she had</div> -<div class="i1">Another morn than ours."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXVII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE TIE BREAKS.</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton remained at Canema several days after the funeral. He had been -much affected by the last charge given him by Nina, that he should care -for her people; and the scene of distress which he witnessed among them, -at her death, added to the strength of his desire to be of service to them.</p> - -<p>He spent some time in looking over and arranging Nina's papers. He -sealed up the letters of her different friends, and directed them in -order to be returned to the writers, causing Harry to add to each a -memorandum of the time of her death. His heart sunk heavily when he -reflected how little it was possible for any one to do for servants left -in the uncontrolled power of a man like Tom Gordon. The awful words of -his father's decision, with regard to the power of the master, never -seemed so dreadful as now, when he was to see this unlimited authority -passed into the hands of one whose passions were his only law. He -recalled, too, what Nina had said of the special bitterness existing -between Tom and Harry; and his heart almost failed him when he -recollected that the very step which Nina, in her generosity, had taken -to save Lisette from his lawlessness, had been the means of placing her, -without remedy, under his power. Under the circumstances, he could not -but admire the calmness and firmness with which Harry still continued to -discharge his duties to the estate; visiting those who were still -ailing, and doing his best to prevent their sinking into a panic which -might predispose to another attack of disease. Recollecting that Nina -had said something of some kind of a contract, by which Harry's freedom -was to be secured in case of her death, he resolved to speak with him on -the subject. As they were together in the library, looking over the -papers, Clayton said to him:—</p> - -<p>"Harry, is there not some kind of contract, or understanding,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> with the -guardians of the estate, by which your liberty was secured in case of -the death of your mistress?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Harry, "there is such a paper. I was to have my freedom on -paying a certain sum which is all paid in to five hundred dollars."</p> - -<p>"I will advance you that money," said Clayton, unhesitatingly, "if that -is all that is necessary. Let me see the paper."</p> - -<p>Harry produced it, and Clayton looked it over. It was a regular -contract, drawn in proper form, and with no circumstance wanting to give -it validity. Clayton, however, knew enough of the law which regulates -the condition in which Harry stood, to know that it was of no more avail -in his case than so much blank paper. He did not like to speak of it, -but sat reading it over, weighing every word, and dreading the moment -when he should be called upon to make some remark concerning it; -knowing, as he did, that what he had to say must dash all Harry's -hopes,—the hopes of his whole life. While he was hesitating a servant -entered and announced Mr. Jekyl; and that gentleman, with a -business-like directness which usually characterized his movements, -entered the library immediately after.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning, Mr. Clayton," he said, and then, nodding patronizingly to -Harry, he helped himself to a chair and stated his business, without -further preamble.</p> - -<p>"I have received orders from Mr. Gordon to come and take possession of -the estate and chattels of his deceased sister without delay."</p> - -<p>As Clayton sat perfectly silent, it seemed to occur to Mr. Jekyl that a -few moral reflections of a general nature would be in etiquette on the -present occasion. He therefore added, in the tone of voice which he -reserved particularly for that style of remark:—</p> - -<p>"We have been called upon to pass through most solemn and afflicting -dispensations of Divine Providence, lately. Mr. Clayton these things -remind us of the shortness of life, and of the necessity of preparation -for death!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl paused, and, as Clayton still sat silent, he went on:</p> - -<p>"There was no will, I presume?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Clayton, "there was not."</p> - -<p>"Ah, so I supposed," said Mr. Jekyl, who had now recovered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> his worldly -tone. "In that case, of course the whole property reverts to the -heir-at-law, just as I had imagined."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps Mr. Jekyl would look at this paper," said Harry, taking his -contract from the hand of Mr. Clayton, and passing it to Mr. Jekyl; who -took out his spectacles, placed them deliberately on his sharp nose, and -read the paper through.</p> - -<p>"Were you under the impression," said he to Harry, "that this is a legal -document?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly," said Harry. "I can bring witnesses to prove Mr. John -Gordon's signature, and Miss Nina's also."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's all evident enough," said Mr. Jekyl. "I know Mr. John -Gordon's signature. But all the signatures in the world couldn't make it -a valid contract. You see, my boy," he said, turning to Harry, "a slave, -not being a person in the eye of the law, cannot have a contract made -with him. The law, which is based on the old Roman code, holds him, <i>pro -nullis, pro mortuis</i>; which means, Harry, that he's held as nothing—as -dead, inert substance. That's his position in law."</p> - -<p>"I believe," said Harry in a strong and bitter tone, "that is what -religious people call a Christian institution!"</p> - -<p>"Hey?" said Mr. Jekyl, elevating his eyebrows, "what's that?"</p> - -<p>Harry repeated his remark, and Mr. Jekyl replied in the most literal -manner:—</p> - -<p>"Of course it is. It is a divine ordering, and ought to be met in a -proper spirit. There's no use, my boy, in rebellion. Hath not the potter -power over the clay, to make one lump to honor, and the other to -dishonor?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Jekyl, I think it would be expedient to confine the conversation -simply to legal matters," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Oh, certainly," said Mr. Jekyl. "And this brings me to say that I have -orders from Mr. Gordon to stay till he comes, and keep order on the -place. Also that none of the hands shall, at any time, leave the -plantation until he arrives. I brought two or three officers with me, in -case there should be any necessity for enforcing order."</p> - -<p>"When will Mr. Gordon be here?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow, I believe," said Mr. Jekyl. "Young man," he added, turning -to Harry, "you can produce the papers and books, and I can be attending -to the accounts."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span></p><p>Clayton rose and left the room, leaving Harry with the imperturbable -Mr. Jekyl, who plunged briskly into the business of the accounts, -talking to Harry with as much freedom and composure as if he had not -just been destroying the hopes of his whole lifetime.</p> - -<p>If, by any kind of inward clairvoyance, or sudden clearing of his mental -vision, Mr. Jekyl could have been made to appreciate the anguish which -at that moment overwhelmed the soul of the man with whom he was dealing, -we deem it quite possible that he might have been moved to a transient -emotion of pity. Even a thorough-paced political economist may sometimes -be surprised in this way, by the near view of a case of actual -irremediable distress; but he would soon have consoled himself by a -species of mental algebra, that the greatest good of the greatest number -was nevertheless secure; therefore there was no occasion to be troubled -about infinitesimal amounts of suffering. In this way people can reason -away every kind of distress but their own; for it is very remarkable -that even so slight an ailment as a moderate toothache will put this -kind of philosophy entirely to rout.</p> - -<p>"It appears to me," said Mr. Jekyl, looking at Harry, after a while, -with more attention than he had yet given him, "that something is the -matter with you, this morning. Aren't you well?"</p> - -<p>"In body," said Harry, "I am well."</p> - -<p>"Well, what is the matter, then?" said Mr. Jekyl.</p> - -<p>"The matter is," said Harry, "that I have all my life been toiling for -my liberty, and thought I was coming nearer to it every year; and now, -at thirty-five years of age, I find myself still a slave, with no hope -of getting free!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl perceived from the outside that there was something the matter -inside of his human brother; some unknown quantity in the way of -suffering, such as his algebra gave no rule for ascertaining. He had a -confused notion that this was an affliction, and that when people were -in affliction they must be talked to; and he proceeded accordingly to -talk.</p> - -<p>"My boy, this is a dispensation of Divine Providence!"</p> - -<p>"I call it a dispensation of human tyranny!" said Harry.</p> - -<p>"It pleased the Lord," continued Mr. Jekyl, "to foredoom the race of -Ham"—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span></p><p>"Mr. Jekyl, that humbug don't go down with me! I'm no more of the race -of Ham than you are! I'm Colonel Gordon's oldest son—as white as my -brother, who you say owns me! Look at my eyes, and my hair, and say if -any of the rules about Ham pertain to me!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Mr. Jekyl, "my boy, you mustn't get excited. Everything -must go, you know, by general rules. We must take that course which -secures the greatest general amount of good on the whole; and all such -rules will work hard in particular cases. Slavery is a great missionary -enterprise for civilizing and christianizing the degraded African."</p> - -<p>"Wait till you see Tom Gordon's management on this plantation," said -Harry, "and you'll see what sort of a christianizing institution it is! -Mr. Jekyl, you <i>know</i> better! You throw such talk as that in the face of -your northern visitors, and you know all the while that Sodom and -Gomorrah don't equal some of these plantations, where nobody isn't -anybody's husband or wife in particular! You know all these things, and -you dare talk to me about a missionary institution! What sort of -missionary institutions are the great trading-marts, where they sell men -and women? What are the means of grace they use there? And the dogs and -the negro-hunters!—those are for the greatest good, too! If your soul -were in our souls' stead, you'd see things differently."</p> - -<p>Mr. Jekyl was astonished, and said so. But he found a difficulty in -presenting his favorite view of the case, under the circumstances; and -we believe those ministers of the Gospel, and elders, who entertain -similar doctrines, would gain some new views by the effort to present -them to a live man in Harry's circumstances. Mr. Jekyl never had a more -realizing sense of the difference between the abstract and concrete.</p> - -<p>Harry was now thoroughly roused. He had inherited the violent and fiery -passions of his father. His usual appearance of studied calmness, and -his habits of deferential address, were superinduced; they resembled the -thin crust which coats over a flood of boiling lava, and which a burst -of the seething mass beneath can shiver in a moment. He was now wholly -desperate and reckless. He saw himself already delivered, bound hand and -foot, into the hands of a master from whom he could expect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> neither -mercy nor justice. He was like one who had hung suspended over an abyss, -by grasping a wild rose; the frail and beautiful thing was broken, and -he felt himself <i>going</i>, with only despair beneath him. He rose and -stood the other side of the table, his hands trembling with excitement.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Jekyl," he said, "it is all over with me! Twenty years of faithful -service have gone for nothing. Myself and wife, and unborn child, are -the slaves of a vile wretch! Hush, now! I will have my say for once! -I've borne, and borne, and borne, and it shall come out! You men who -call yourselves religious, and stand up for such tyranny,—you serpents, -you generation of vipers,—how can you escape the damnation of hell? You -keep the clothes of them who stone Stephen! You encourage theft, and -robbery, and adultery, and you know it! You are worse than the villains -themselves, who don't pretend to justify what they do. Now, go, tell Tom -Gordon—go! I shall fight it out to the last! I've nothing to hope, and -nothing to lose. Let him look out! They made sport of Samson,—they put -out his eyes,—but he pulled down the temple over their heads, after -all. Look out!"</p> - -<p>There is something awful in an outburst of violent passion. The veins in -Harry's forehead were swollen, his lips were livid, his eyes glittered -like lightning; and Mr. Jekyl cowered before him.</p> - -<p>"There will come a day," said Harry, "when all this shall be visited -upon you! The measure you have filled to us shall be filled to you -<i>double</i>—mark my words!"</p> - -<p>Harry spoke so loudly, in his vehemence, that Clayton overheard him, and -came behind him silently into the room. He was pained, shocked, and -astonished; and, obeying the first instinct, he came forward and laid -his hand entreatingly on Harry's shoulder.</p> - -<p>"My good fellow, you don't know what you are saying," he said.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I do," said Harry, "and my words will be true!"</p> - -<p>Another witness had come behind Clayton—Tom Gordon, in his -travelling-dress, with pistols at his belt. He had ridden over after -Jekyl, and had arrived in time to hear part of Harry's frantic ravings.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span></p><p>"Stop!" he said, stepping into the middle of the room; "leave that -fellow to me! Now, boy," he said, fixing his dark and evil eye upon -Harry, "you didn't know that your master was hearing you, did you? The -last time we met, you told me I wasn't your master! <i>Now</i>, we'll see if -you'll say that again! You went whimpering to your mistress, and got her -to buy Lisette, so as to keep her out of <i>my</i> way! Now who owns -her?—say! Do you see this?" he said, holding up a long, lithe -gutta-percha cane. "This is what I whip dogs with, when they don't know -their place! Now, sir, down on your knees, and ask pardon for your -impudence, or I'll thrash you within an inch of your life!"</p> - -<p>"I won't kneel to my younger brother!" said Harry.</p> - -<p>With a tremendous oath, Tom struck him; and, as if a rebound from the -stroke, Harry struck back a blow so violent as to send him stumbling -across the room, against the opposite wall; then turned, quick as -thought, sprang through the open window, climbed down the veranda, -vaulted on to Tom's horse, which stood tied at the post, and fled as -rapidly as lightning to his cottage door, where Lisette stood at the -ironing-table. He reached out his hand, and said, "Up, quick, Lisette! -Tom Gordon's here!" And before Tom Gordon had fairly recovered from the -dizziness into which the blow had thrown him, the fleet blood-horse was -whirling Harry and Lisette past bush and tree, till they arrived at the -place where he had twice before met Dred.</p> - -<p>Dred was standing there. "Even so," he said, as the horse stopped, and -Harry and Lisette descended; "the vision is fulfilled! Behold, the Lord -shall make thee a witness and commander to the people!"</p> - -<p>"There's no time to be lost," said Harry.</p> - -<p>"Well I know that," said Dred. "Come, follow me!"</p> - -<p>And before sunset of that evening Harry and Lisette were tenants of the -wild fastness in the centre of the swamp.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE PURPOSE.</span></h2> - -<p>It would be scarcely possible to describe the scene which Harry left in -the library. Tom Gordon was for a few moments stunned by the violence of -his fall, and Clayton and Mr. Jekyl at first did not know but he had -sustained some serious injury; and the latter, in his confusion, came -very near attempting his recovery, by pouring in his face the contents -of the large inkstand. Certainly, quite as appropriate a method, under -the circumstances, as the exhortations with which he had deluged Harry. -But Clayton, with more presence of mind, held his hand, and rang for -water. In a few moments, however, Tom recovered himself, and started up -furiously.</p> - -<p>"Where is he?" he shouted, with a volley of oaths, which made Mr. Jekyl -pull up his shirt-collar, as became a good elderly gentleman, -preparatory to a little admonition.</p> - -<p>"My young friend"—he began.</p> - -<p>"Blast you! None of your <i>young friends</i> to me! Where is he?"</p> - -<p>"He has escaped," said Clayton, quietly.</p> - -<p>"He got right out of the window," said Mr. Jekyl.</p> - -<p>"Confound you, why didn't you stop him?" said Tom, violently.</p> - -<p>"If that question is addressed to me," said Clayton, "I do not interfere -in your family affairs."</p> - -<p>"You <i>have</i> interfered, more than you ever shall again!" said Tom -roughly. "But, there's no use talking now; that fellow must be chased! -He thinks he's got away from me—we'll see! I'll make such an example of -him as shall be remembered!" He rang the bell violently. "Jim," he said, -"did you see Harry go off on my horse?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sah!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span></p><p>"Then, why in thunder didn't you stop him?"</p> - -<p>"I tought Mas'r Tom sent him—did so!"</p> - -<p>"You knew better, you dog! And now, I tell you, order out the best -horses, and be on after him! And, if you don't catch him, it shall be -the worse for you!—Stay! Get <i>me</i> a horse! I'll go myself."</p> - -<p>Clayton saw that it was useless to remain any longer at Canema. He -therefore ordered his horse, and departed. Tom Gordon cast an evil eye -after him, as he rode away.</p> - -<p>"I hate that fellow!" he said. "I'll make him mischief, one of these -days, if I can!"</p> - -<p>As to Clayton, he rode away in bitterness of spirit. There are some men -so constituted that the sight of injustice, which they have no power to -remedy, is perfectly maddening to them. This is a very painful and -unprofitable constitution, so far as this world is concerned; but they -can no more help it than they can the toothache. Others may say to them, -"Why, what is it to you? You can't help it, and it's none of your -concern;" but still the fever burns on. Besides, Clayton had just passed -through one of the great crises of life. All there is in that strange -mystery of what man can feel for woman had risen like a wave within him; -and, gathering into itself, for a time, the whole force of his being, -had broken, with one dash, on the shore of death, and the waters had -flowed helplessly backward. In the great void which follows such a -crisis, the soul sets up a craving and cry for something to come in to -fill the emptiness; and while the heart says no <i>person</i> can come into -that desolate and sacred enclosure, it sometimes embraces a <i>purpose</i>, -as in some sort a substitute.</p> - -<p>In this manner, with solemnity and earnestness, Clayton resolved to -receive as a life-purpose a struggle with this great system of -injustice, which, like a parasitic weed, had struck its roots through -the whole growth of society, and was sucking thence its moisture and -nourishment.</p> - -<p>As he rode through the lonely pine-woods, he felt his veins throbbing -and swelling with indignation and desire. And there arose within him -that sense of power which sometimes seems to come over man like an -inspiration, and leads him to say, "<i>This</i> shall not be, and <i>this</i> -shall be;" as if he possessed the ability<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> to control the crooked course -of human events. He was thankful in his heart that he had taken the -first step, by entering his public protest against this injustice, in -quitting the bar of his native state. What was next to be done, how the -evil was to be attacked, how the vague purpose fulfilled, he could not -say. Clayton was not aware, any more than others in his situation have -been, of what he was undertaking. He had belonged to an old and -respected family, and always, as a matter of course, been received in -all circles with attention, and listened to with respect. He who glides -dreamily down the glassy surface of a mighty river floats securely, -making his calculations to row upward. He knows nothing what the force -of that seemingly glassy current will be when his one feeble oar is set -against the whole volume of its waters. Clayton did not know that he was -already a marked man; that he had touched a spot, in the society where -he lived, which was vital, and which that society would never suffer to -be touched with impunity. It was the fault of Clayton, and is the fault -of all such men, that he judged mankind by himself. He could not believe -that anything, except ignorance and inattention, could make men -upholders of deliberate injustice. He thought all that was necessary was -the enlightening of the public mind, the direction of general attention -to the subject. In his way homeward he revolved in his mind immediate -measures of action. This evil should no longer be tampered with. He -would take on himself the task of combining and concentrating those -vague impulses towards good which he supposed were existing in the -community. He would take counsel of leading minds. He would give his -time to journeyings through the state; he would deliver addresses, write -in the newspapers, and do what otherwise lies in the power of a free man -who wishes to reach an utterly unjust law. Full of these determinations, -Clayton entered again his father's house, after two days of solitary -riding. He had written in advance to his parents of the death of Nina, -and had begged them to spare him any conversation on that subject; and, -therefore, on his first meeting with his mother and father, there was -that painful blank, that heavy dulness of suffering, which comes when -people meet together, feeling deeply on one absorbing subject, which -must not be named. It was a greater self-denial to his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>impulsive, -warm-hearted mother than to Clayton. She yearned to express sympathy; to -throw herself upon his neck; to draw forth his feelings, and mingle them -with her own. But there are some people with whom this is impossible; it -seems to be their fate that they cannot speak of what they suffer. It is -not pride nor coldness, but a kind of fatal necessity, as if the body -were a marble prison, in which the soul were condemned to bleed and -suffer alone. It is the last triumph of affection and magnanimity, when -a loving heart can respect that suffering silence of its beloved, and -allow that lonely liberty in which only some natures can find comfort.</p> - -<p>Clayton's sorrow could only be measured by the eagerness and energy with -which, in conversation, he pursued the object with which he endeavored -to fill his mind.</p> - -<p>"I am far from looking forward with hope to any success from your -efforts," said Judge Clayton, "the evil is so radical."</p> - -<p>"I sometimes think," said Mrs. Clayton, "that I regret that Edward began -as he did. It was such a shock to the prejudices of people!"</p> - -<p>"People have got to be shocked," said Clayton, "in order to wake them up -out of old absurd routine. Use paralyzes us to almost every injustice; -when people are shocked, they begin to think and to inquire."</p> - -<p>"But would it not have been better," said Mrs. Clayton, "to have -preserved your personal influence, and thus have insinuated your -opinions more gradually? There is such a prejudice against -abolitionists; and, when a man makes any sudden demonstration on this -subject, people are apt to call him an abolitionist, and then his -influence is all gone, and he can do nothing."</p> - -<p>"I suspect," said Clayton, "there are multitudes now in every part of -our state who are kept from expressing what they really think, and doing -what they ought to do, by this fear. Somebody must brave this mad-dog -cry; somebody must be willing to be odious; and I shall answer the -purpose as well as anybody."</p> - -<p>"Have you any definite plan of what is to be attempted?" said his -father.</p> - -<p>"Of course," said Clayton, "a man's first notions on such a subject must -be crude; but it occurred to me, first, to endeavor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> to excite the -public mind on the injustice of the present slave-law, with a view to -altering it."</p> - -<p>"And what points would you alter?" said Judge Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I would give to the slave the right to bring suit for injury, and to be -a legal witness in court. I would repeal the law forbidding their -education, and I would forbid the separation of families."</p> - -<p>Judge Clayton sat pondering. At length he said, "And how will you -endeavor to excite the public mind?"</p> - -<p>"I shall appeal first," said Clayton, "to the church and the ministry."</p> - -<p>"You can try it," said his father.</p> - -<p>"Why," said Mrs. Clayton, "these reforms are so evidently called for, by -justice and humanity, and the spirit of the age, that I can have no -doubt that there will be a general movement among all good people in -their favor."</p> - -<p>Judge Clayton made no reply. There are some cases where silence is the -most disagreeable kind of dissent, because it admits of no argument in -reply.</p> - -<p>"In my view," said Clayton, "the course of legal reform, in the first -place, should remove all those circumstances in the condition of the -slaves which tend to keep them in ignorance and immorality, and make the -cultivation of self-respect impossible; such as the want of education, -protection in the family state, and the legal power of obtaining redress -for injuries. After that, the next step would be to allow those masters -who are so disposed to emancipate, giving proper security for the good -behavior of their servants. They might then retain them as tenants. -Under this system, emancipation would go on gradually; only the best -masters would at first emancipate, and the example would be gradually -followed. The experiment would soon demonstrate the superior cheapness -and efficiency of the system of free labor; and self-interest would then -come in, to complete what principle began. It is only the first step -that costs. But it seems to me that in the course of my life I have met -with multitudes of good people, groaning in secret under the evils and -injustice of slavery, who would gladly give their influence to any -reasonable effort which promises in time to ameliorate and remove them."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span></p><p>"The trouble is," said Judge Clayton, "that the system, though ruinous -in the long run to communities, is immediately profitable to -individuals. Besides this, it is a source of political influence and -importance. The holders of slaves are an aristocracy supported by -special constitutional privileges. They are united against the spirit of -the age by a common interest and danger, and the instinct of -self-preservation is infallible. No logic is so accurate.</p> - -<p>"As a matter of personal feeling, many slave-holders would rejoice in -some of the humane changes which you propose; but they see at once that -any change endangers the perpetuity of the system on which their -political importance depends. Therefore, they'll resist you at the very -outset, not because they would not, many of them, be glad to have -justice done, but because they think they cannot afford it.</p> - -<p>"They will have great patience with you—they will even have sympathy -with you—so long as you confine yourself merely to the expression of -feeling; but the moment your efforts produce the slightest movement in -the community, then, my son, you will see human nature in a new aspect, -and know more about mankind than you know now."</p> - -<p>"Very well," said Clayton, "the sooner the better."</p> - -<p>"Well, Edward," said Mrs. Clayton, "if you are going to begin with the -ministry, why don't you go and talk to your Uncle Cushing? He is one of -the most influential among the Presbyterians in the whole state; and I -have often heard him lament, in the strongest manner, the evils of -slavery. He has told me some facts about its effect on the character of -his church-members, both bond and free, that are terrible!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Judge Clayton, "your brother will do all that. He will -lament the evils of slavery in private circles, and he will furnish you -any number of facts, if you will not give his authority for them."</p> - -<p>"And don't you think that he will be willing to do something?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Judge Clayton, "not if the cause is unpopular."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Mrs. Clayton, "do you suppose that my brother will be -deterred from doing his duty for fear of personal unpopularity?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span></p><p>"No," said Judge Clayton; "but your brother has the interest of Zion on -his shoulders,—by which he means the Presbyterian organization,—and he -will say that he can't afford to risk his influence. And the same will -be true of every leading minister of every denomination. The -Episcopalians are keeping watch over Episcopacy, the Methodists over -Methodism, the Baptists over Baptism. None of them dare espouse an -unpopular cause, lest the others, taking advantage of it, should go -beyond them in public favor. None of them will want the odium of such a -reform as this."</p> - -<p>"But I don't see any odium in it," said Mrs. Clayton. "It's one of the -noblest and one of the most necessary of all possible changes."</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless," said Judge Clayton, "it will be made to appear extremely -odious. The catch-words of abolition, incendiarism, fanaticism, will fly -thick as hail. And the storm will be just in proportion to the real -power of the movement. It will probably end in Edward's expulsion from -the state."</p> - -<p>"My father, I should be unwilling to think," said Clayton, "that the -world is quite so bad as you represent it,—particularly the religious -world."</p> - -<p>"I was not aware that I was representing it as very bad," said Judge -Clayton. "I only mentioned such facts as everybody can see about them. -There are undoubtedly excellent men in the church."</p> - -<p>"But," said Clayton, "did not the church, in the primitive ages, stand -against the whole world in arms? If religion be anything, must it not -take the lead of society, and be its sovereign and teacher, and not its -slave?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know as to that," said Judge Clayton. "I think you'll find the -facts much as I have represented them. What the church was in the -primitive ages, or what it ought to be now, is not at all to our -purpose, in making practical calculations. Without any disrespect, I -wish to speak of things just as they are. Nothing is ever gained by -false expectations."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Mrs. Clayton, "you lawyers get so uncharitable! I'm quite -sure that Edward will find brother ready to go heart and hand with him."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I shall be glad of it, if he does," said Judge Clayton.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span></p><p>"I shall write to him about it, immediately," said Mrs. Clayton, "and -Edward shall go and talk with him. Courage, Edward! Our woman's -instincts, after all, have some prophetic power in them. At all events, -we women will stand by you to the last."</p> - -<p>Clayton sighed. He remembered the note Nina had written him on the day -of the decision, and thought what a brave-hearted little creature she -was; and, like the faint breath of a withered rose, the shadowy -remembrance of her seemed to say to him, "Go on!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXXIX.</span> <span class="smaller">THE NEW MOTHER.</span></h2> - -<p>The cholera at length disappeared, and the establishment of our old -friend Tiff proceeded as of yore. His chickens and turkeys grew to -maturity, and cackled and strutted joyously. His corn waved its ripening -flags in the September breezes. The grave of the baby had grown green -with its first coat of grass, and Tiff was comforted for his loss, -because, as he said, "he knowed he's better off." Miss Fanny grew -healthy and strong, and spent many long sunny hours wandering in the -woods with Teddy; or, sitting out on the bench where Nina had been wont -to read to them, would spell out with difficulty, for her old friend's -comfort and enlightenment, the half-familiar words of the wondrous story -that Nina had brought to their knowledge.</p> - -<p>The interior of the poor cottage bore its wonted air of quaint, sylvan -refinement; and Tiff went on with his old dream of imagining it an -ancestral residence, of which his young master and mistress were the -head, and himself their whole retinue. He was sitting in his tent door, -in the cool of the day, while Teddy and Fanny had gone for wild grapes, -cheerfully examining and mending his old pantaloons, meanwhile -recreating his soul with a cheerful conversation with himself.</p> - -<p>"Now, Old Tiff," said he, "one more patch on dese yer, 'cause it an't -much matter what you wars. Mas'r is allers a promising to bring some -cloth fur to make a more 'specable pair; but, laws, he never does -nothing he says he will. An't no trusting in dat 'scription o' -people—jiggeting up and down de country, drinking at all de taverns, -fetching disgrace on de fam'ly, spite o' all I can do! Mighty long time -since he been home, any how! Shouldn't wonder if de cholera'd cotched -him! Well, de Lord's will be done! Pity to kill such critturs! Wouldn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> -much mind if he should die. Laws, he an't much profit to de family, -coming home here wid lots o' old trash, drinking up all my chicken-money -down to 'Bijah Skinflint's! For my part, I believe dem devils, when dey -went out o' de swine, went into de whiskey-bar'l. Dis yer liquor makes -folks so ugly! Teddy shan't never touch none as long as dere's a drop o' -Peyton blood in <i>my</i> veins! Lord, but dis yer world is full o' -'spensations! Por, dear Miss Nina, dat was a doin for de chil'en! she's -gone up among de angels! Well, bress de Lord, we must do de best we can, -and we'll all land on de Canaan shore at last."</p> - -<p>And Tiff uplifted a quavering stave of a favorite melody:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"My brother, I have found</div> -<div>The land that doth abound</div> -<div class="i1">With food as sweet as manna.</div> -<div>The more I eat, I find</div> -<div>The more I am inclined</div> -<div>To shout and sing hosanna!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Shoo! shoo! shoo!" he said, observing certain long-legged, half-grown -chickens, who were surreptitiously taking advantage of his devotional -engrossments to rush past him into the kitchen.</p> - -<p>"'Pears like dese yer chickens never will larn nothing!" said Tiff, -finding that his vigorous "shooing" only scared the whole flock in, -instead of admonishing them out. So Tiff had to lay down his work; and -his thimble rolled one way, and his cake of wax another, hiding -themselves under the leaves; while the hens, seeing Tiff at the door, -instead of accepting his polite invitation to walk out, acted in that -provoking and inconsiderate way that hens generally will, running -promiscuously up and down, flapping their wings, cackling, upsetting -pots, kettles, and pans, in promiscuous ruin, Tiff each moment becoming -more and more wrathful at their entire want of consideration.</p> - -<p>"Bress me, if I ever did see any kind o' crittur so shaller as hens!" -said Tiff, as, having finally ejected them, he was busy repairing the -ruin they had wrought in Miss Fanny's fanciful floral arrangements, -which were all lying in wild confusion. "I tought de Lord made room in -every beast's head for some sense, but 'pears like hens an't got the -leastest grain! Puts me out, seeing dem crawking and crawing on one leg, -'cause dey han't got sense 'nough to know whar to set down t'oder. Dey -never has no idees what dey's going to do, from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> morning to night, I -b'lieve! But, den, dere's folks dat's just like 'em, dat de Lord has gin -brains to, and dey won't use 'em. Dey's always settin round, but dey -never lays no eggs. So hens an't de wust critters, arter all. And I -rally don' know what we'd do widout 'em!" said Old Tiff, relentingly, -as, appeased from his wrath, he took up at once his needle and his -psalm, singing lustily, and with good courage,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Perhaps you'll tink me wild,</div> -<div>And simple as a child,</div> -<div class="i1">But I'm a child of glory!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Laws, now," said Tiff, pursuing his reflections to himself, "maybe he's -dead now, sure 'nough! And if he is, why, I can do for de chil'en raal -powerful. I sold right smart of eggs dis yer summer, and de sweet -'tatoes allers fetches a good price. If I could only get de chil'en -along wid der reading, and keep der manners handsome! Why, Miss Fanny, -now, she's growing up to be raal perty. She got de raal Peyton look to -her; and dere's dis yer 'bout gals and women, dat if dey's perty, why, -somebody wants to be marrying of 'em; and so dey gets took care of. I -tell you, dere shan't any of dem fellers dat he brings home wid him have -anyting to say to her! Peyton blood an't for der money, I can tell 'em! -Dem fellers allers find 'emselves mighty onlucky as long as I's 'round! -One ting or 'nother happens to 'em, so dat dey don't want to come no -more. Drefful poor times dey has!" And Tiff shook with a secret chuckle.</p> - -<p>"But, now, yer see, dere's never any knowing! Dere may be some Peyton -property coming to dese yer chil'en. I's known sich things happen, 'fore -now. Lawyers calling after de heirs; and den here dey be a'ready fetched -up. I's minding dat I'd better speak to Miss Nina's man 'bout dese yer -chil'en; 'cause he's a nice, perty man, and nat'rally he'd take an -interest; and dat ar handsome sister of his, dat was so thick wid Miss -Nina, maybe she'd be doing something for her. Any way, dese yer chil'en -shall neber come to want 'long as I's above ground!"</p> - -<p>Alas for the transitory nature of human expectations! Even our poor -little Arcadia in the wilderness, where we have had so many hours of -quaint delight, was destined to feel the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span>mutability of all earthly joys -and prospects. Even while Tiff spoke and sung, in the exuberance of joy -and security of his soul, a disastrous phantom was looming up from a -distance—the phantom of Cripps' old wagon. Cripps was not dead, as was -to have been hoped, but returning for a more permanent residence, -bringing with him a bride of his own heart's choosing.</p> - -<p>Tiff's dismay—his utter, speechless astonishment—may be imagined, when -the ill-favored machine rumbled up to the door, and Cripps produced from -it what seemed to be, at first glance, a bundle of tawdry, dirty finery; -but at last it turned out to be a woman, so far gone in intoxication as -scarcely to be sensible of what she was doing. Evidently, she was one of -the lowest of that class of poor whites whose wretched condition is not -among the least of the evils of slavery. Whatever she might have been -naturally,—whatever of beauty or of good there might have been in the -womanly nature within her,—lay wholly withered and eclipsed under the -force of an education churchless, schoolless, with all the vices of -civilization without its refinements, and all the vices of barbarism -without the occasional nobility by which they are sometimes redeemed. A -low and vicious connection with this woman had at last terminated in -marriage—such marriages as one shudders to think of, where gross animal -natures come together, without even a glimmering idea of the higher -purposes of that holy relation.</p> - -<p>"Tiff, this yer is your new mistress," said Cripps, with an idiotic -laugh. "Plaguy nice girl, too! I thought I'd bring the children a mother -to take care of them. Come along, girl!"</p> - -<p>Looking closer, we recognize in the woman our old acquaintance, Polly -Skinflint.</p> - -<p>He pulled her forward; and she, coming in, seated herself on Fanny's -bed. Tiff looked as if he could have struck her dead. An avalanche had -fallen upon him. He stood in the door with the slack hand of utter -despair; while she, swinging her heels, began leisurely spitting about -her, in every direction, the juice of a quid of tobacco, which she -cherished in one cheek.</p> - -<p>"Durned if this yer an't pretty well!" she said. "Only I want the nigger -to heave out that ar trash!" pointing to Fanny's flowers. "I don't want -children sticking no herbs round my house! Hey, you nigger, heave out -that trash!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span></p><p>As Tiff stood still, not obeying this call, the woman appeared angry; -and, coming up to him, struck him on the side of the head.</p> - -<p>"Oh, come, come, Poll!" said Cripps, "you be still! He an't used to no -such ways."</p> - -<p>"Still!" said the amiable lady, turning round to him. "You go 'long! -Didn't you tell me, if I married you, I should have a nigger to order -round, just as I pleased?"</p> - -<p>"Well, well," said Cripps, who was not by any means a cruelly-disposed -man, "I didn't think you'd want to go walloping him, the first thing."</p> - -<p>"I will, if he don't shin round," said the virago, "and you, too!"</p> - -<p>And this vigorous profession was further carried out by a vigorous -shove, which reacted in Cripps in the form of a cuff, and in a few -moments the disgraceful scuffle was at its full height. And Tiff turned -in disgust and horror from the house.</p> - -<p>"Oh, good Lord!" he said to himself, "we doesn't know what's 'fore us! -And I's feeling so bad when de Lord took my poor little man, and now I's -ready to go down on my knees to thank de Lord dat he's took him away -from de evil to come! To think of my por sweet lamb, Miss Fanny, as I's -been bringing up so carful! Lord, dis yer's a heap worse dan de -cholera!"</p> - -<p>It was with great affliction and dismay that he saw the children coming -forward in high spirits, bearing between them a basket of wild-grapes, -which they had been gathering. He ran out to meet them.</p> - -<p>"Laws, yer por lambs," he said, "yer doesn't know what's a coming on -you! Yer pa's gone and married a drefful low white woman, sich as an't -fit for no Christian children to speak to. And now dey's quar'ling and -fighting in dere, like two heathens! And Miss Nina's dead, and dere an't -no place for you to go!"</p> - -<p>And the old man sat down and actually wept aloud, while the children, -frightened, got into his arms, and nestled close to him for protection, -crying too.</p> - -<p>"What shall we do? what shall we do?" said Fanny. And Teddy, who always -repeated, reverentially, all his sister's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> words, said, after her, in a -deplorable whimper, "What shall we do?"</p> - -<p>"I's a good mind to go off wid you in de wilderness, like de chil'en of -Israel," said Tiff, "though dere an't no manna falling nowadays."</p> - -<p>"Tiff, does marrying father make her our ma?" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>"No 'deed, Miss Fanny, it doesn't! Yer ma was one o' de fustest old -Virginny families. It was jist throwing herself 'way, marrying him! I -neber said dat ar 'fore, 'cause it wan't 'spectful. But I don't care -now!"</p> - -<p>At this moment Cripps' voice was heard shouting:—</p> - -<p>"Hallo, you Tiff! Where is the durned nigger? I say, come back! Poll and -I's made it up, now! Bring 'long them children, and let them get -acquainted with their mammy," he said, laying hold of Fanny's hand, and -drawing her, frightened and crying, towards the house.</p> - -<p>"Don't you be afraid, child," said Cripps; "I've brought you a new ma."</p> - -<p>"We didn't want any new ma!" said Teddy, in a dolorous voice.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, you do," said Cripps, coaxing him. "Come along, my little man! -There's your mammy," he said, pushing him into the fat embrace of Polly.</p> - -<p>"Fanny, go kiss your ma."</p> - -<p>Fanny hung back and cried, and Teddy followed her example.</p> - -<p>"Confound the durn young uns!" said the new-married lady. "I told you, -Cripps, I didn't want no brats of t'other woman's! Be plague enough when -I get some of my own!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XL.</span> <span class="smaller">THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.</span></h2> - -<p>The once neat and happy cottage, of which Old Tiff was the guardian -genius, soon experienced sad reverses. Polly Skinflint's violent and -domineering temper made her absence from her father's establishment -rather a matter of congratulation to Abijah. Her mother, one of those -listless and inefficient women, whose lives flow in a calm, muddy -current of stupidity and laziness, talked very little about it; but, on -the whole, was perhaps better contented to be out of the range of -Polly's sharp voice and long arms. It was something of a consideration, -in Abijah's shrewd view of things, that Cripps owned a nigger—the first -point to which the aspiration of the poor white of the South generally -tends. Polly, whose love of power was a predominant element in her -nature, resolutely declared, in advance, she'd make him shin round, or -she'd know the reason why. As to the children, she regarded them as the -incumbrances of the estate, to be got over with in the best way -possible; for, as she graphically remarked, "Every durned young un had -to look out when she was 'bout!"</p> - -<p>The bride had been endowed with a marriage-portion, by her father, of -half a barrel of whiskey; and it was announced that Cripps was tired of -trading round the country, and meant to set up trading at home. In -short, the little cabin became a low grog-shop, a resort of the most -miserable and vicious portion of the community. The violent temper of -Polly soon drove Cripps upon his travels again, and his children were -left unprotected to the fury of their step-mother's temper. Every -vestige of whatever was decent about the house and garden was soon swept -away; for the customers of the shop, in a grand Sunday drinking-bout, -amused themselves with tearing down even the prairie-rose and -climbing-vine that once gave a sylvan charm to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> the rude dwelling. -Polly's course, in the absence of her husband, was one of gross, -unblushing licentiousness; and the ears and eyes of the children were -shocked with language and scenes too bad for repetition.</p> - -<p>Old Tiff was almost heart-broken. He could have borne the beatings and -starvings which came on himself; but the abuse which came on the -children he could not bear. One night, when the drunken orgy was raging -within the house, Tiff gathered courage from despair.</p> - -<p>"Miss Fanny," he said, "jist go in de garret, and make a bundle o' sich -tings as dere is, and throw 'em out o' de winder. I's been a praying -night and day; and de Lord says <i>He</i>'ll open some way or oder for us! -I'll keep Teddy out here under de trees, while you jist bundles up what -por clothes is left, and throws 'em out o' de winder."</p> - -<p>Silently as a ray of moonlight, the fair, delicate-looking child glided -through the room where her step-mother and two or three drunken men were -revelling in a loathsome debauch.</p> - -<p>"Halloa, sis!" cried one of the men, after her, "where are you going to? -Stop here, and give me a kiss!"</p> - -<p>The unutterable look of mingled pride, and fear, and angry distress, -which the child cast, as, quick as thought, she turned from them and ran -up the ladder into the loft, occasioned roars of laughter.</p> - -<p>"I say, Bill, why didn't you catch her?" said one.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no matter for that," said another; "she'll come of her own accord, -one of these days."</p> - -<p>Fanny's heart beat like a frightened bird, as she made up her little -bundle. Then, throwing it to Tiff, who was below in the dark, she called -out, in a low, earnest whisper,—</p> - -<p>"Tiff, put up that board, and I'll climb down on it. I won't go back -among those dreadful men!"</p> - -<p>Carefully and noiselessly as possible, Tiff lifted a long, rough slab, -and placed it against the side of the house. Carefully Fanny set her -feet on the top of it, and, spreading her arms, came down, like a little -puff of vapor, into the arms of her faithful attendant.</p> - -<p>"Bress de Lord! Here we is, all right," said Tiff.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tiff, I'm so glad!" said Teddy, holding fast to the skirt of Tiff's -apron, and jumping for joy.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said Tiff, "all right. Now de angel of de Lord'll go with us -into de wilderness!"</p> - -<p>"Ther's plenty of angels there, an't there?" said Teddy, victoriously, -as he lifted the little bundle, with undoubting faith.</p> - -<p>"Laws, yes!" said Tiff. "I don' know why dere shouldn't be in our days. -Any rate, de Lord 'peared to me in a dream, and says he, 'Tiff, rise and -take de chil'en and go in de land of Egypt, and be dere till de time I -tell dee.' Dem is de bery words. And 'twas 'tween de cock-crow and -daylight dey come to me, when I'd been lying dar praying, like a -hail-storm, all night, not gibing de Lord no rest! Says I to him, says -I, 'Lord, I don' know nothing what to do; and now, ef you was por as I -be, and I was great king, like you, I'd help you! And now, Lord,' says I -'you <i>must</i> help us, 'cause we an't got no place else to go; 'cause, you -know, Miss Nina she's dead, and Mr. John Gordon, too! And dis yer woman -will ruin dese yer chil'en, ef you don't help us! And now I hope you -won't be angry! But I has to be very bold, 'cause tings have got so dat -we can't bar 'em no longer!' Den, yer see, I dropped 'sleep; and I -hadn't no more'n got to sleep, jist after cock-crow, when de voice -come!"</p> - -<p>"And is this the land of Egypt," said Teddy, "that we're going to?"</p> - -<p>"I spect so," said Tiff. "Don't you know de story Miss Nina read to you, -once, how de angel of de Lord 'peared to Hagar in de wilderness, when -she was sitting down under de bush. Den dere was anoder one come to -'Lijah, when he was under de juniper-tree, when he was wandering up and -down, and got hungry, and woke up; and dere, sure 'nough, was a -corn-cake baking for him on de coals! Don't you mind Miss Nina was -reading dat ar de bery last Sunday she come to our place? Bress de Lord -for sending her to us! I's got heaps o' good through dem readings."</p> - -<p>"Do you think we really shall see any?" said Fanny, with a little shade -of apprehension in her voice. "I don't know as I shall know how to speak -to them."</p> - -<p>"Oh, angels is pleasant-spoken, well-meaning folks, allers," said Tiff, -"and don't take no 'fence at us. Of course, dey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> knows we an't fetched -up in der ways, and dey don't spect it of us. It's my 'pinion," said -Tiff, "dat when folks is honest, and does de bery best dey can, dey -don't need to be 'fraid to speak to angels, nor nobody else; 'cause, you -see, we speaks to de Lord hisself when we prays, and, bress de Lord, he -don't take it ill of us, no ways. And now it's borne in strong on my -mind, dat de Lord is going to lead us through the wilderness, and bring -us to good luck. Now, you see, I's going to follow de star, like de wise -men did."</p> - -<p>While they were talking, they were making their way through dense woods -in the direction of the swamp, every moment taking them deeper and -deeper into the tangled brush and underwood. The children were -accustomed to wander for hours through the wood; and, animated by the -idea of having escaped their persecutors, followed Tiff with alacrity, -as he went before them, clearing away the brambles and vines with his -long arms, every once in a while wading with them across a bit of -morass, or climbing his way through the branches of some uprooted tree. -It was after ten o'clock at night when they started. It was now after -midnight. Tiff had held on his course in the direction of the swamp, -where he knew many fugitives were concealed; and he was not without -hopes of coming upon some camp or settlement of them.</p> - -<p>About one o'clock they emerged from the more tangled brushwood, and -stood on a slight little clearing, where a grape-vine, depending in -natural festoons from a sweet gum-tree, made a kind of arbor. The moon -was shining very full and calm, and the little breeze fluttered the -grape-leaves, casting the shadow of some on the transparent greenness of -others. The dew had fallen so heavily in that moist region, that every -once in a while, as a slight wind agitated the leaves, it might be heard -pattering from one to another, like rain-drops. Teddy had long been -complaining bitterly of fatigue. Tiff now sat down under this arbor, and -took him fondly into his arms.</p> - -<p>"Sit down, Miss Fanny. And is Tiff's brave little man got tired? Well, -he shall go to sleep, dat he shall! We's got out a good bit now. I -reckon dey won't find us. We's out here wid de good Lord's works, and -dey won't none on 'em tell on us. So, now, hush, my por little man; shut -up your eyes!" And Tiff quavered the immortal cradle-hymn,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span>"Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber!</div> -<div class="i1">Holy angels guard thy bed;</div> -<div>Heavenly blessings, without number,</div> -<div class="i1">Gently falling on thy head."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In a few moments Teddy was sound asleep, and Tiff, wrapping him in his -white great-coat, laid him down at the root of a tree.</p> - -<p>"Bress de Lord, dere an't no whiskey here!" he said, "nor no drunken -critturs to wake him up. And now, Miss Fanny, por chile, your eyes is a -falling. Here's dis yer old shawl I put up in de pocket of my coat. Wrap -it round you, whilst I scrape up a heap of dem pine-leaves, yonder. Dem -is reckoned mighty good for sleeping on, 'cause dey's so healthy, -kinder. Dar, you see, I's got a desput big heap of 'em."</p> - -<p>"I'm tired, but I'm not sleepy," said Fanny. "But, Tiff, what are <i>you</i> -going to do?"</p> - -<p>"Do!" said Tiff, laughing, with somewhat of his old, joyous laugh. "Ho! -ho! ho! I's going to sit up for to meditate—a 'sidering on de fowls of -de air, and de lilies in de field, and all dem dar Miss Nina used to -read 'bout."</p> - -<p>For many weeks, Fanny's bed-chamber had been the hot, dusty loft of the -cabin, with the heated roof just above her head, and the noise of -bacchanalian revels below. Now she lay sunk down among the soft and -fragrant pine-foliage, and looked up, watching the checkered roof of -vine-leaves above her head, listening to the still patter of falling -dew-drops, and the tremulous whirr and flutter of leaves. Sometimes the -soft night-winds swayed the tops of the pines with a long swell of -dashing murmurs, like the breaking of a tide on a distant beach. The -moonlight, as it came sliding down through the checkered, leafy roof, -threw fragments and gleams of light, which moved capriciously here and -there over the ground, revealing now a great silvery fern-leaf, and then -a tuft of white flowers, gilding spots on the branches and trunks of the -trees; while every moment the deeper shadows were lighted up by the -gleaming of fire-flies. The child would raise her head a while, and look -on the still scene around, and then sink on her fragrant pillow in -dreamy delight. Everything was so still, so calm, so pure, no wonder she -was prepared to believe that the angels of the Lord were to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> be found in -the wilderness. They who have walked in closest communion with nature -have ever found that they have not departed thence. The wilderness and -solitary places are still glad for them, and their presence makes the -desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose.</p> - -<p>When Fanny and Teddy were both asleep, Old Tiff knelt down and addressed -himself to his prayers; and, though he had neither prayer-book, nor -cushion, nor formula, his words went right to the mark, in the best -English he could command for any occasion; and, so near as we could -collect from the sound of his words, Tiff's prayer ran as follows:—</p> - -<p>"Oh, good Lord, now please do look down on dese yer chil'en. I started -'em out, as you telled me; and now whar we is to go, and whar we is to -get any breakfast, I's sure I don' know. But, oh good Lord, you has got -everyting in de world in yer hands, and it's mighty easy for you to be -helping on us; and I has faith to believe dat you will. Oh, bressed Lord -Jesus, dat was carried off into Egypt for fear of de King Herod, do, -pray, look down on dese yer por chil'en, for I's sure dat ar woman is as -bad as Herod, any day. Good Lord, you's seen how she's been treating on -'em; and now do pray open a way for us through de wilderness to de -promised land. Everlasting—Amen."</p> - -<p>The last two words Tiff always added to his prayers, from a sort of -sense of propriety, feeling as if they rounded off the prayer, and made -it, as he would have phrased it, more like a white prayer. We have only -to say, to those who question concerning this manner of prayer, that, if -they will examine the supplications of patriarchs of ancient times, they -will find that, with the exception of the broken English and bad -grammar, they were in substance very much like this of Tiff.</p> - -<p>The Bible divides men into two classes: those who trust in themselves, -and those who trust in God. The one class walk by their own light, trust -in their own strength, fight their own battles, and have no confidence -otherwise. The other, not neglecting to use the wisdom and strength -which God has given them, still trust in his wisdom and his strength to -carry out the weakness of theirs. The one class go through life as -orphans; the other have a Father.</p> - -<p>Tiff's prayer had at least this recommendation, that he felt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> perfectly -sure that something was to come of it. Had he not told the Lord all -about it? Certainly he had; and of course he would be helped. And this -confidence Tiff took, as Jacob did a stone, for his pillow, as he lay -down between his children and slept soundly.</p> - -<p>How innocent, soft, and kind, are all God's works! From the silent -shadows of the forest the tender and loving presence which our sin -exiled from the haunts of men hath not yet departed. Sweet fall the -moonbeams through the dewy leaves; peaceful is the breeze that waves the -branches of the pines; merciful and tender the little wind that shakes -the small flowers and tremulous wood-grasses fluttering over the heads -of the motherless children. Oh thou who bearest in thee a heart hot and -weary, sick and faint with the vain tumults and confusions of the haunts -of men, go to the wilderness, and thou shalt find <i>Him</i> there who saith, -"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. I will be as -the dew to Israel. He shall grow as a lily, and cast forth his roots as -Lebanon."</p> - -<p>Well, they slept there quietly, all night long. Between three and four -o'clock, an oriole, who had his habitation in the vine above their -heads, began a gentle twittering conversation with some of his -neighbors; not a loud song, I would give you to understand, but a -little, low inquiry as to what o'clock it was. And then, if you had been -in a still room at that time, you might have heard, through all the -trees of pine, beech, holly, sweet-gum, and larch, a little, tremulous -stir and flutter of birds awaking and stretching their wings. Little -eyes were opening in a thousand climbing vines, where soft, feathery -habitants had hung, swinging breezily, all night. Low twitterings and -chirpings were heard; then a loud, clear, echoing chorus of harmony -answering from tree to tree, jubilant and joyous as if there never had -been a morning before. The morning star had not yet gone down, nor were -the purple curtains of the east undrawn; and the moon, which had been -shining full all night, still stood like a patient, late-burning light -in a quiet chamber. It is not everybody that wakes to hear this first -chorus of the birds. They who sleep till sunrise have lost it, and with -it a thousand mysterious pleasures—strange, sweet communings,—which, -like morning dew, begin to evaporate when the sun rises.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span></p><p>But, though Tiff and the children slept all night we are under no -obligations to keep our eyes shut to the fact that between three and -four o'clock there came crackling through the swamps the dark figure of -one whose journeyings were more often by night than by day. Dred had -been out on one of his nightly excursions, carrying game, which he -disposed of for powder and shot at one of the low stores we have alluded -to. He came unexpectedly on the sleepers, while making his way back. His -first movement, on seeing them, was that of surprise; then, stooping and -examining the group more closely, he appeared to recognize them. Dred -had known Old Tiff before; and had occasion to go to him more than once -to beg supplies for fugitives in the swamps, or to get some errand -performed which he could not himself venture abroad to attend to. Like -others of his race, Tiff, on all such subjects, was so habitually and -unfathomably secret, that the children, who knew him most intimately, -had never received even a suggestion from him of the existence of any -such person.</p> - -<p>Dred, whose eyes, sharpened by habitual caution, never lost sight of any -change in his vicinity, had been observant of that which had taken place -in Old Tiff's affairs. When, therefore, he saw him sleeping as we have -described, he understood the whole matter at once. He looked at the -children, as they lay nestled at the roots of the tree, with something -of a softened expression, muttering to himself, "They embrace the Rock -for shelter."</p> - -<p>He opened a pouch which he wore on his side, and took from thence one or -two corn-dodgers and half a broiled rabbit, which his wife had put up -for hunting provision, the day before; and, laying them down on the -leaves, hastened on to a place where he had intended to surprise some -game in the morning.</p> - -<p>The chorus of birds we have before described awakened Old Tiff, -accustomed to habits of early rising. He sat up, and began rubbing his -eyes and stretching himself. He had slept well, for his habits of life -had not been such as to make him at all fastidious with regard to his -couch.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said to himself, "any way, dat ar woman won't get dese yer -chil'en, dis yer day!" And he gave one of his old hearty laughs, to -think how nicely he had outwitted her.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span></p><p>"Laws," he said to himself, "don't I hear her now! 'Tiff! Tiff! Tiff!' -she says. Holla away, old mist'! Tiff don't hear yer! no, nor de chil'en -eider, por blessed lambs!"</p> - -<p>Here, in turning to the children, his eye fell on the provisions. At -first he stood petrified, with his hands lifted in astonishment. Had the -angel been there? Sure enough, he thought.</p> - -<p>"Well, now, bress de Lord, sure 'nough, here's de bery breakfast I's -asking for last night! Well, I knowed de Lord would do something for us; -but I really didn't know as 't would come so quick! May be ravens -brought it, as dey did to 'Lijah—bread and flesh in de morning, and -bread and flesh at night. Well, dis yer 's 'couraging—'tis so. I won't -wake up de por little lambs. Let 'em sleep. Dey'll be mighty tickled -when dey comes fur to see de breakfast; and, den, out here it's so sweet -and clean! None yer nasty 'bacca spittins of folks dat doesn't know how -to be decent. Bress me, I's rather tired, myself. I spects I'd better -camp down again, till de chil'en wakes. Dat ar crittur 's kep me gwine -till I's got pretty stiff, wid her contrary ways. Spect she'll be as -troubled as King Herod was, and all 'Rusalem wid her!"</p> - -<p>And Tiff rolled and laughed quietly, in the security of his heart.</p> - -<p>"I say, Tiff, where are we?" said a little voice at his side.</p> - -<p>"Whar is we, puppit?" said Tiff, turning over; "why, bress yer sweet -eyes, how does yer do, dis morning? Stretch away, my man! Neber be -'fraid; we's in de Lord's diggins now, all safe. And de angel's got a -breakfast ready for us, too!" said Tiff, displaying the provision which -he had arranged on some vine-leaves.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Tiff, did the angels bring that?" said Teddy. "Why didn't you -wake me up? I wanted to see them. I never saw any angel, in all my -life!"</p> - -<p>"Nor I neider, honey. Dey comes mostly when we's 'sleep. But, stay, -dere's Miss Fanny, a waking up. How is ye, lamb? Is ye 'freshed?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Tiff, I've slept so sound," said Fanny; "and I dreamed such a -beautiful dream!"</p> - -<p>"Well, den, tell it right off, 'fore breakfast," said Tiff, "to make it -come true."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span></p><p>"Well," said Fanny, "I dreamed I was in a desolate place, where I -couldn't get out, all full of rocks and brambles, and Teddy was with me; -and while we were trying and trying, our ma came to us. She looked like -our ma, only a great deal more beautiful; and she had a strange white -dress on, that shone, and hung clear to her feet; and she took hold of -our hands, and the rocks opened, and we walked through a path into a -beautiful green meadow, full of lilies and wild strawberries; and then -she was gone."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Teddy, "maybe 'twas she who brought some breakfast to us. -See here, what we've got!"</p> - -<p>Fanny look surprised and pleased, but, after some consideration, said,—</p> - -<p>"I don't believe mamma brought that. I don't believe they have corn-cake -and roast meat in heaven. If it had been manna, now, it would have been -more likely."</p> - -<p>"Neber mind whar it comes from," said Tiff. "It's right good and we -bress de Lord for it."</p> - -<p>And they sat down accordingly, and ate their breakfast with a good -heart.</p> - -<p>"Now," said Tiff, "somewhar roun' in dis yer swamp dere's a camp o' de -colored people; but I don' know rightly whar 'tis. If we could get dar, -we could stay dar a while, till something or nuder should turn up. Hark! -what's dat ar?"</p> - -<p>'Twas the crack of a rifle reverberating through the dewy, leafy -stillness of the forest.</p> - -<p>"Dat ar an't fur off," said Tiff.</p> - -<p>The children looked a little terrified.</p> - -<p>"Don't you be 'fraid," he said. "I wouldn't wonder but I knowed who dat -ar was. Hark, now! 'tis somebody coming dis yer way."</p> - -<p>A clear, exultant voice sung, through the leafy distance,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, had I the wings of the morning,</div> -<div>I'd fly away to Canaan's shore."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Yes," said Tiff, to himself, "dat ar's his voice. Now, chil'en," he -said, "dar's somebody coming; and you mustn't be 'fraid on him, 'cause I -spects he'll get us to dat ar camp I's telling 'bout."</p> - -<p>And Tiff, in a cracked and strained voice, which contrasted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> oddly -enough with the bell-like notes of the distant singer, commenced singing -part of an old song, which might, perhaps, have been used as a signal:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Hailing so stormily,</div> -<div>Cold, stormy weder;</div> -<div>I want my true love all de day.</div> -<div>Whar shall I find him? Whar shall I find him?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The distant singer stopped his song, apparently to listen, and, while -Tiff kept on singing, they could hear the crackling of approaching -footsteps. At last Dred emerged to view.</p> - -<p>"So you've fled to the wilderness?" he said.</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," said Tiff with a kind of giggle, "we had to come to it, dat -ar woman was so aggravating on de chil'en. Of all de pizin critturs dat -I knows on, dese yer mean white women is de pizinest! Dey an't got no -manners, and no bringing up. Dey doesn't begin to know how tings ought -to be done 'mong 'spectable people. So we just tuck to de bush."</p> - -<p>"You might have taken to a worse place," said Dred. "The Lord God giveth -grace and glory to the trees of the wood. And the time will come when -the Lord will make a covenant of peace, and cause the evil beast to -cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, -and shall sleep in the woods; and the tree of the field shall yield her -fruit, and they shall be safe in the land, when the Lord hath broken the -bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hands of those that -serve themselves of them."</p> - -<p>"And you tink dem good times coming, sure 'nough?" said Tiff.</p> - -<p>"The Lord hath said it," said the other. "But first the day of vengeance -must come."</p> - -<p>"I don't want no sich," said Tiff. "I want to live peaceable."</p> - -<p>Dred looked upon Tiff with an air of acquiescent pity, which had in it a -slight shade of contempt, and said, as if in soliloquy,—</p> - -<p>"Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens; and he saw -that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his -shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span></p><p>"As to rest," said Tiff, "de Lord knows I an't had much of dat ar, if I -be an ass. If I had a good, strong pack-saddle, I'd like to trot dese -yer chil'en out in some good cleared place."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Dred, "you have served him that was ready to perish, and -not betrayed him who wandered; therefore the Lord will open for you a -fenced city in the wilderness."</p> - -<p>"Jest so," said Tiff; "dat ar camp o'yourn is jest what I's arter. I's -willing to lend a hand to most anyting dat's good."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Dred, "the children are too tender to walk where we must -go. We must bear them as an eagle beareth her young. Come, my little -man!"</p> - -<p>And, as Dred spoke, he stooped down and stretched out his hands to -Teddy. His severe and gloomy countenance relaxed into a smile, and, to -Tiff's surprise, the child went immediately to him, and allowed him to -lift him in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Now I'd thought he'd been skeered o' you!" said Tiff.</p> - -<p>"Not he! I never saw a child or dog that I couldn't make come to me. -Hold fast, now, my little man!" he said, seating the boy on his -shoulder. "Trees have long arms; don't let them rake you off. Now, -Tiff," he said, "you take the girl and come after, and when we come into -the thick of the swamp, mind you step right in my tracks. Mind you don't -set your foot on a tussock if I haven't set mine there before you; -because the moccasons lie on the tussocks."</p> - -<p>And thus saying, Dred and his companion began making their way towards -the fugitive camp.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLI.</span> <span class="smaller">THE CLERICAL CONFERENCE.</span></h2> - -<p>A few days found Clayton in the city of ——, guest of the Rev. Dr. -Cushing. He was a man in middle life; of fine personal presence, urbane, -courtly, gentlemanly. Dr. Cushing was a popular and much-admired -clergyman, standing high among his brethren in the ministry, and almost -the idol of a large and flourishing church, a man of warm feelings, -humane impulses, and fine social qualities, his sermons, beautifully -written, and delivered with great fervor, often drew tears from the eyes -of the hearers. His pastoral ministrations, whether at wedding or -funeral, had a peculiar tenderness and unction. None was more capable -than he of celebrating the holy fervor and self-denying sufferings of -apostles and martyrs; none more easily kindled by those devout hymns -which describe the patience of the saints; but, with all this, for any -practical emergency, Dr. Cushing was nothing of a soldier. There was a -species of moral effeminacy about him, and the very luxuriant softness -and richness of his nature unfitted him to endure hardness. He was -known, in all his intercourse with his brethren, as a peace-maker, a -modifier, and harmonizer. Nor did he scrupulously examine how much of -the credit of this was due to a fastidious softness of nature which made -controversy disagreeable and wearisome. Nevertheless, Clayton was at -first charmed with the sympathetic warmth with which he and his plans -were received by his relative. He seemed perfectly to agree with Clayton -in all his views of the terrible evils of the slave system and was -prompt with anecdotes and instances to enforce everything that he said. -"Clayton was just in time," he said; "a number of his ministerial -brethren were coming to-morrow, some of them from the northern states. -Clayton should present his views to them."</p> - -<p>Dr. Cushing's establishment was conducted on the footing of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> the most -liberal hospitality; and that very evening the domestic circle was made -larger by the addition of four or five ministerial brethren. Among these -Clayton was glad to meet, once more, father Dickson. The serene, good -man, seemed to bring the blessing of the gospel of peace with him -wherever he went.</p> - -<p>Among others, was one whom we will more particularly introduce, as the -Rev. Shubael Packthread. Dr. Shubael Packthread was a minister of a -leading church, in one of the northern cities. Constitutionally, he was -an amiable and kindly man, with very fair natural abilities, fairly -improved by culture. Long habits, however, of theological and -ecclesiastical controversy had cultivated a certain species of acuteness -of mind into such disproportioned activity, that other parts of his -intellectual and moral nature had been dwarfed and dwindled beside it. -What might, under other circumstances, have been agreeable and useful -tact, became in him a constant and life-long <i>habit</i> of stratagem. While -other people look upon words as vehicles for conveying ideas, Dr. -Packthread regarded them only as mediums for concealment. His constant -study, on every controverted topic, was so to adjust language that, with -the appearance of the utmost precision, it should always be capable of a -double interpretation. He was a cunning master of all forms of -indirection; of all phrases by which people <i>appear</i> to say what they do -not say, and <i>not</i> to say what they <i>do</i> say.</p> - -<p>He was an adept also in all the mechanism of ecclesiastical debate, of -the intricate labyrinths of heresy-hunting, of every scheme by which -more simple and less advised brethren, speaking with ignorant sincerity, -could be entrapped and deceived. He was <i>au fait</i> also in all compromise -measures, in which two parties unite in one form of words, meaning by -them exactly opposite ideas, and call the agreement a <i>union</i>. He was -also expert in all those parliamentary modes, in synod or general -assembly, by which troublesome discussions could be avoided or disposed -of, and credulous brethren made to believe they had gained points which -they had not gained; by which discussions could be at will blinded with -dusty clouds of misrepresentation, or trailed on through interminable -marshes of weariness, to accomplish some manœuvre of ecclesiastical -tactics.</p> - -<p>Dr. Packthread also was master of every means by which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> influence of -opposing parties might be broken. He could spread a convenient report on -necessary occasions, by any of those forms which do not assert, but -which disseminate a slander quite as certainly as if they did. If it was -necessary to create a suspicion of the orthodoxy, or of the piety, or -even of the morality, of an opposing brother, Dr. Packthread understood -how to do it in the neatest and most tasteful manner. He was an -infallible judge whether it should be accomplished by innocent -interrogations, as to whether you had heard "so and so of Mr. ——;" or, -by "charitably expressed hopes that you had not heard so and so;" or, by -gentle suggestions, whether it would not be as well to inquire; or, by -shakes of the head, and lifts of the eyes, at proper intervals in -conversation; or, lastly, by <i>silence</i> when silence became the strongest -as well as safest form of assertion.</p> - -<p>In person, he was rather tall, thin, and the lines of his face appeared, -every one of them, to be engraved by caution and care. In his boyhood -and youth, the man had had a trick of smiling and laughing without -considering why; the grace of prudence, however, had corrected all this. -He never did either, in these days, without understanding precisely what -he was about. His face was a part of his stock in trade, and he -understood the management of it remarkably well. He knew precisely all -the gradations of smile which were useful for accomplishing different -purposes. The solemn smile, the smile of inquiry, the smile affirmative, -the smile suggestive, the smile of incredulity, and the smile of -innocent credulity, which encouraged the simple-hearted narrator to go -on unfolding himself to the brother, who sat quietly behind his face, as -a spider does behind his web, waiting till his unsuspecting friend had -tangled himself in incautious, impulsive, and, of course, contradictory -meshes of statement, which were, in some future hour, in the most gentle -and Christian spirit, to be tightened around the incautious captive, -while as much blood was sucked as the good of the cause demanded.</p> - -<p>It is not to be supposed that the Rev. Dr. Packthread, so skilful and -adroit as we have represented him, failed in the necessary climax of -such skill—that of deceiving himself. Far from it. Truly and honestly -Dr. Packthread thought himself one of the hundred and forty and four -thousand, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, in whose mouth is -found no guile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span> <i>Prudence</i> he considered the chief of Christian graces. -He worshipped Christian prudence, and the whole category of -accomplishments which we have described he considered as the fruits of -it. His prudence, in fact, served him all the purposes that the stock of -the tree did to the ancient idolater. "With part thereof he eateth -flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and -saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: and the residue thereof he -maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it, and -worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art -my god."</p> - -<p>No doubt, Dr. Packthread expected to enter heaven by the same judicious -arrangement by which he had lived on earth; and so he went on, from year -to year, doing deeds which even a political candidate would blush at; -violating the most ordinary principles of morality and honor; while he -sung hymns, made prayers, and administered sacraments, expecting, no -doubt, at last to enter heaven by some neat arrangement of words used in -two senses.</p> - -<p>Dr. Packthread's cautious agreeableness of manner formed a striking -contrast to the innocent and almost child-like simplicity with which -father Dickson, in his threadbare coat, appeared at his side. Almost as -poor in this world's goods as his Master, father Dickson's dwelling had -been a simple one-story cottage, in all, save thrift and neatness, very -little better than those of the poorest; and it was a rare year when a -hundred dollars passed through his hands. He had seen the time when he -had not even wherewithal to take from the office a necessary letter. He -had seen his wife suffer for medicine and comforts, in sickness. He had -himself ridden without overcoat through the chill months of winter; but -all those things he had borne as the traveller bears a storm on the way -to his home; and it was beautiful to see the unenvying, frank, simple -pleasure which he seemed to feel in the elegant and abundant home of his -brother, and in the thousand appliances of hospitable comfort by which -he was surrounded. The spirit within us that lusteth to envy had been -chased from his bosom by the expulsive force of a higher love; and his -simple and unstudied acts of constant good-will showed that simple -Christianity can make the gentleman. Father Dickson was regarded by his -ministerial brethren with great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span>affection and veneration, though wholly -devoid of any ecclesiastical wisdom. They were fond of using him much as -they did their hymn-books and testaments, for their better hours of -devotion; and equally apt to let slip his admonitions, when they came to -the hard, matter-of-fact business of ecclesiastical discussion and -management; yet they loved well to have him with them, as they felt -that, like a psalm or a text, his presence in some sort gave sanction to -what they did.</p> - -<p>In due time there was added to the number of the circle our joyous, -out-spoken friend, father Bonnie, fresh from a recent series of -camp-meetings in a distant part of the state, and ready at a minute's -notice for either a laugh or a prayer. Very little of the stereotype -print of his profession had he; the sort of wild woodland freedom of his -life giving to his manners and conversation a tone of sylvan roughness, -of which Dr. Packthread evidently stood in considerable doubt. Father -Bonnie's early training had been that of what is called, in common -parlance, a "self-made man." He was unsophisticated by Greek or Latin, -and had rather a contempt for the forms of the schools, and a joyous -determination to say what he pleased on all occasions. There were also -present one or two of the leading Presbyterian ministers of the north. -They had, in fact, come for a private and confidential conversation with -Dr. Cushing concerning the reunion of the New School Presbyterian Church -with the Old.</p> - -<p>It may be necessary to apprise some of our readers, not conversant with -American ecclesiastical history, that the Presbyterian Church of America -is divided into two parties in relation to certain theological points, -and that the adherents on either side call themselves <i>old</i> or <i>new</i> -school. Some years since, these two parties divided, and each of them -organized its own general assembly.</p> - -<p>It so happened that all the slaveholding interest, with some very -inconsiderable exceptions, went into the old school body. The great -majority of the new school body were avowedly anti-slavery men, -according to a solemn declaration, which committed the whole -Presbyterian Church to those sentiments in the year eighteen hundred and -eighteen. And the breach between the two sections was caused quite as -much by the difference of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span>feeling between the northern and southern -branches on the subject of slavery, as by any differences of doctrine.</p> - -<p>After the first jar of separation was over, thoughts of reunion began to -arise on both sides, and to be quietly discussed among leading minds.</p> - -<p>There is a power in men of a certain class of making an organization of -any kind, whether it be political or ecclesiastical, an object of -absorbing and individual devotion. Most men feel empty and insufficient -of themselves, and find a need to ballast their own insufficiency by -attaching themselves to something of more weight than they are. They put -their stock of being out at interest, and invest themselves somewhere -and in something; and the love of wife or child is not more absorbing -than the love of the bank where the man has invested himself. It is -true, this power is a noble one; because thus a man may pass out of -self, and choose God, the great good of all, for his portion. But human -weakness falls below this; and, as the idolater worships the infinite -and unseen under a visible symbol till it effaces the memory of what is -signified, so men begin by loving institutions for God's sake, which -come at last to stand with them in the place of God.</p> - -<p>Such was the Rev. Dr. Calker. He was a man of powerful though narrow -mind, of great energy and efficiency, and of that capability of abstract -devotion which makes the soldier or the statesman. He was earnestly and -sincerely devout, as he understood devotion. He began with loving the -church for God's sake, and ended with loving her better than God. And, -by the church, he meant the organization of the Presbyterian Church in -the United States of America. Her cause, in his eyes, was God's cause; -her glory, God's glory; her success, the indispensable condition of the -millennium; her defeat, the defeat of all that was good for the human -race. His devotion to her was honest and unselfish.</p> - -<p>Of course Dr. Calker estimated all interests by their influence on the -Presbyterian Church. He weighed every cause in the balance of her -sanctuary. What promised extension and power to her, <i>that</i> he -supported. What threatened defeat or impediment, <i>that</i> he was ready to -sacrifice. He would, at any day, sacrifice himself and all his interests -to that cause, and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span> felt equally willing to sacrifice others and -their interests. The anti-slavery cause he regarded with a simple eye to -this question. It was a disturbing force, weakening the harmony among -brethren, threatening disruption and disunion. He regarded it, -therefore, with distrust and aversion. He would read no facts on that -side of the question. And when the discussions of zealous brethren would -bring frightful and appalling statements into the general assembly, he -was too busy in seeking what could be said to ward off their force, to -allow them to have much influence on his own mind. Gradually he came to -view the whole subject with dislike, as a pertinacious intruder in the -path of the Presbyterian Church. That the whole train of cars, laden -with the interests of the world for all time, should be stopped by a -ragged, manacled slave across the track, was to him an impertinence and -absurdity. What was he, that the Presbyterian Church should be divided -and hindered for him? So thought the exultant thousands who followed -Christ, once, when the blind beggar raised his importunate clamor, and -they bade him hold his peace. So thought not HE, who stopped the tide of -triumphant success, that he might call the neglected one to himself, and -lay his hands upon him.</p> - -<p>Dr. Calker had from year to year opposed the agitation of the slavery -question in the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church, knowing -well that it threatened disunion. When, in spite of all his efforts, -disunion came, he bent his energies to the task of reuniting; and he was -the most important character in the present caucus.</p> - -<p>Of course a layman, and a young man also, would feel some natural -hesitancy in joining at once in the conversation of those older than -himself. Clayton, therefore, sat at the hospitable breakfast-table of -Dr. Cushing rather as an auditor than as a speaker.</p> - -<p>"Now, brother Cushing," said Dr. Calker, "the fact is, there never was -any need of this disruption. It has crippled the power of the church, -and given the enemy occasion to speak reproachfully. Our divisions are -playing right into the hands of the Methodists and Baptists; and ground -that we might hold, united, is going into their hands every year."</p> - -<p>"I know it," said Dr. Cushing, "and we southern brethren<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span> mourn over it, -I assure you. The fact is, brother Calker, there's no such doctrinal -division, after all. Why, there are brethren among us that are as new -school as Dr. Draper, and we don't meddle with them."</p> - -<p>"Just so," replied Dr. Calker; "and we have true-blue old school men -among us."</p> - -<p>"I think," said Dr. Packthread, "that, with suitable care, a document -might be drawn up which will meet the views on both sides. You see, we -must get the extreme men on both sides to agree to hold still. Why, now, -I am called new school; but I wrote a set of definitions once, which I -showed to Dr. Pyke, who is as sharp as any body on the other side, and -he said, 'He agreed with them entirely.' Those N—— H—— men are -incautious."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Dr. Calker, "and it's just dividing the resources and the -influence of the church for nothing. Now, those discussions as to the -time when moral agency begins are, after all, of no great account in -practical workings."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Dr. Cushing, "it's, after all, nothing but the tone of your -abolition fanatics that stands in the way. These slavery discussions in -general assembly have been very disagreeable and painful to our people, -particularly those of the western brethren. They don't understand us, -nor the delicacy of our position. They don't know that we need to be let -alone in order to effect anything. Now, I am for trusting to the -softening, meliorating influences of the Gospel. The kingdom of God -cometh not with observation. I trust that, in his mysterious providence, -the Lord will see fit, in his own good time, to remove this evil of -slavery. Meanwhile, brethren ought to possess their souls in patience."</p> - -<p>"Brother Cushing," said father Dickson, "since the assembly of eighteen -hundred and eighteen, the number of slaves has increased in this country -four-fold. New slave states have been added, and a great, regular system -of breeding and trading organized, which is filling all our large cities -with trading-houses. The ships of our ports go out as slavers, carrying -loads of miserable creatures down to New Orleans; and there is a -constant increase of this traffic through the country. This very summer -I was at the death-bed of a poor girl, only seventeen or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span>eighteen, who -had been torn from all her friends and sent off with a coffle; and she -died there in the wilderness. It does seem to me, brother Cushing, that -this silent plan does not answer. We are not half as near to -emancipation, apparently, as we were in eighteen hundred and eighteen."</p> - -<p>"Has there ever been any attempt," said Clayton, "among the Christians -of your denominations, to put a stop to this internal slave-trade?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Dr. Cushing, "I don't know that there has, any further than -general preaching against injustice."</p> - -<p>"Have you ever made any movement in the church to prevent the separation -of families?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"No, not exactly. We leave that thing to the conscience of individuals. -The synods have always enjoined it on professors of religion to treat -their servants according to the spirit of the Gospel."</p> - -<p>"Has the church ever endeavored to influence the legislature to allow -general education?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"No; that subject is fraught with difficulties," said Dr. Cushing. "The -fact is, if these rabid northern abolitionists would let us alone, we -might, perhaps, make a movement on some of these subjects. But they -excite the minds of our people, and get them into such a state of -inflammation, that we cannot do anything."</p> - -<p>During all the time that father Dickson and Clayton had been speaking, -Dr. Calker had been making minutes with a pencil on a small piece of -paper, for future use. It was always disagreeable to him to hear of -slave-coffles and the internal slave-trade; and, therefore, when -anything was ever said on these topics, he would generally employ -himself in some other way than listening. Father Dickson he had known of -old as being remarkably pertinacious on those subjects; and therefore, -when he began to speak, he took the opportunity of jotting down a few -ideas for a future exigency. He now looked up from his paper and -spoke:—</p> - -<p>"Oh, those fellows are without any reason—perfectly wild and crazy! -They are monomaniacs! They cannot see but one subject anywhere. Now, -there's father Ruskin, of Ohio—there's nothing can be done with that -man! I have had him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span> at my house hours and hours, talking to him, and -laying it all down before him, and showing him what great interests he -was compromising. But it didn't do a bit of good. He just harps on one -eternal string. Now, it's all the pushing and driving of these fellows -in the general assembly that made the division, in my opinion."</p> - -<p>"We kept it off a good many years," said Dr. Packthread; "and it took -all our ingenuity to do it, I assure you. Now, ever since eighteen -hundred and thirty-five, these fellows have been pushing and crowding in -every assembly; and we have stood faithfully in our lot, to keep the -assembly from doing anything which could give offence to our southern -brethren. We have always been particular to put them forward in our -public services, and to show them every imaginable deference. I think -our brethren ought to consider how hard we have worked. We had to be -instant in season and out of season, I can tell you. I think I may claim -some little merit," continued the doctor, with a cautious smile -spreading over his face; "if I have any talent, it is a capacity in the -judicious use of language. Now, sometimes brethren will wrangle a whole -day, till they all get tired and sick of a subject; and then just let a -man who understands the use of terms step in, and sometimes, by omitting -a single word, he will alter the whole face of an affair. I remember one -year those fellows were driving us up to make some sort of declaration -about slavery. And we really had to do it, because it wouldn't do to -have the whole west split off; and there was a three days' fight, till -finally we got the thing pared down to the lowest terms. We thought we -would pass a resolution that slavery was a <i>moral evil</i>, if the southern -brethren liked that better than the old way of calling it a sin, and we -really were getting on quite harmoniously, when some of the southern -ultras took it up; and they said that moral evil meant the same as sin, -and that would imply a censure on the brethren. Well, it got late, and -some of the hottest ones were tired and had gone off; and I just quietly -drew my pen across the word <i>moral</i>, and read the resolution, and it -went unanimously. Most ministers, you see, are willing to call slavery -an <i>evil</i>—the trouble lay in that word <i>moral</i>. Well, that capped the -crater for that year. But, then, they were at it again the very next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span> -time they came together, for those fellows never sleep. Well, then we -took a new turn. I told the brethren we had better get it on to the -ground of the reserved rights of presbyteries and synods, and decline -interfering. Well, then, that was going very well, but some of the -brethren very injudiciously got up a resolution in the assembly -recommending disciplinary measures for dancing. That was passed without -much thought, because, you know, there's no great interest involved in -dancing, and, of course, there's nobody to oppose such a resolution; -but, then, it was very injudicious, under the circumstances; for the -abolitionists made a handle of it immediately, and wanted to know why we -couldn't as well recommend a discipline for slavery; because, you see, -dancing isn't a sin, <i>per se</i>, any more than slavery is; and they -haven't done blowing their trumpets over us to this day."</p> - -<p>Here the company rose from breakfast, and, according to the good old -devout custom, seated themselves for family worship. Two decent, -well-dressed black women were called in, and also a negro man. At father -Dickson's request, all united in singing the following hymn:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Am I a soldier of the cross,</div> -<div class="i1">A follower of the Lamb;</div> -<div>And shall I fear to own his cause,</div> -<div class="i1">Or blush to speak his name?</div> -<div>Must I be carried to the skies</div> -<div class="i1">On flowery beds of ease,</div> -<div>While others fought to win the prize,</div> -<div class="i1">And sailed through bloody seas?</div> -<div>Sure I must fight if I would reign;</div> -<div class="i1">Increase my courage, Lord!</div> -<div>I'll bear the cross, endure the shame,</div> -<div class="i1">Supported by thy word</div> -<div>The saints, in all this glorious war,</div> -<div class="i1">Shall conquer, though they die;</div> -<div>They see the victory from afar,</div> -<div class="i1">With faith's discerning eye.</div> -<div>When that illustrious day shall rise,</div> -<div class="i1">And all thine armies shine</div> -<div>In robes of victory through the skies,</div> -<div class="i1">The glory shall be thine."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Anybody who had seen the fervor with which these brethren now united in -singing these stanzas, might have supposed them a company of the -primitive martyrs and confessors, who, having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span> drawn the sword and -thrown away the scabbard, were now ready for a millennial charge on the -devil and all his works. None sung with more heartiness than Dr. -Packthread, for his natural feelings were quick and easily excited; nor -did he dream he was not a soldier of the cross, and that the species of -skirmishes he had been describing were not all in accordance with the -spirit of the hymn. Had you interrogated him, he would have shown you a -syllogistic connection between the glory of God and the best good of the -universe, and the course he had been pursuing. So that, if father -Dickson had supposed the hymn would act as a gentle suggestion, he was -very much mistaken. As to Dr. Calker, he joined, with enthusiasm, -applying it all the while to the enemies of the Presbyterian Church, in -the same manner as Ignatius Loyola might have sung it, applying it to -Protestantism. Dr. Cushing considered the conflict described as wholly -an internal one, and thus all joined alike in swelling the chorus:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"A soldier for Jesus, hallelujah!</div> -<div class="i1">Love and serve the Lord."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Father Dickson read from the Bible as follows:—</p> - -<p>"Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our consciences, that in -simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the -grace of God, we have our conversation in the world."</p> - -<p>Father Dickson had many gentle and quiet ways, peculiar to himself, of -suggesting his own views to his brethren. Therefore, having read these -verses, he paused, and asked Dr. Packthread "if he did not think there -was danger of departing from this spirit, and losing the simplicity of -Christ, when we conduct Christian business on worldly principles."</p> - -<p>Dr. Packthread cordially assented, and continued to the same purpose in -a strain so edifying as entirely to exhaust the subject; and Dr. Calker, -who was thinking of the business that was before them, giving an uneasy -motion here, they immediately united in the devotional exercises, which -were led with great fervor by Dr. Cushing.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE RESULT.</span></h2> - -<p>After the devotional services were over, Dr. Calker proceeded -immediately with the business that he had in his mind. "Now, brother -Cushing," he said, "there never was any instrumentality raised up by -Providence to bring in the latter day equal to the Presbyterian Church -in the United States of America. It is the great hope of the world; for -here, in this country, we are trying the great experiment for all ages; -and, undoubtedly, the Presbyterian Church comes the nearest perfection -of any form of organization possible to our frail humanity. It is the -ark of the covenant for this nation, and for all nations. Missionary -enterprises to foreign countries, tract societies, home missionary, -seamen's friend societies, Bible societies, Sunday-school unions, all -are embraced in its bosom; and it grows in a free country, planted by -God's own right hand, with such laws and institutions as never were -given to mortal man before. It is carrying us right on to the -millennium; and all we want is <i>union</i>. United, we stand the most -glorious, the most powerful institution in the world. Now, there was no -need for you southern brethren to be so restive as you were. We were -doing all we could to keep down the fire, and keep things quiet, and you -ought not to have bolted so. Since you have separated from us, what have -we done? I suppose you thought we were going to blaze out in a regular -abolition fury; but you see we haven't done it. We haven't done any more -than when we were united. Just look at our minutes, and you'll see it. -We have strong and determined abolitionists among us, and they are -constantly urging and pushing. There have been great public excitements -on the subject of slavery, and we have been plagued and teased to -declare ourselves, but we haven't done it in a single instance—not one. -You see that Ruskin and his clique have gone off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span> from us, because we -would hold still. It is true that now and then we had to let some -anti-slavery man preach an opening sermon, or something of that sort; -but, then, opening sermons are nothing; they don't commit anybody; they -don't show the opinion of anybody but the speaker. In fact, they don't -express any more than that declaration of eighteen hundred and eighteen, -which stands unrepealed on <i>your</i> records, as well as on ours. Of -course, we are all willing to say that slavery is an evil, 'entirely -inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel,' and all that, because -that's on your own books; we only agree to say nothing about it, -nowadays, in our public capacity, because what was said in eighteen -hundred and eighteen is all-sufficient, and prevents the odium and -scandal of public controversy now. Now, for proof that what I have just -said is true, look at the facts. We had three presbyteries in -slave-holding states when we started, and now we have over twenty, with -from fifteen to twenty thousand members. That must show you what our -hearts are on this subject. And have we not always been making overtures -for reunion—really humbling ourselves to you, brethren? Now, I say you -ought to take these facts into account; our slave-holding members and -churches are left as perfectly undisturbed, to manage in their own way, -as yours. To be sure, some of those western men will fire off a -remonstrance once a year, or something of that sort. Just let them do -that; it keeps them easy and contented. And, so long as there is really -no interfering in the way of discipline or control, what harm is done? -You ought to bear some with the northern brethren, unreasonable as they -are; and we may well have a discussion every year, to let off the -steam."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said father Bonnie, "I want union, I'm sure. I'd tar and -feather those northern abolitionists, if I could get at them!"</p> - -<p>"<i>Figuratively</i>, I suppose," said Dr. Packthread, with a gentle smile.</p> - -<p>"Yes, figuratively and literally too," said father Bonnie, laughing. -"Let them come down here, and see what they'll get! If they will set the -country in a blaze, they ought to be the first ones to be warmed at the -fire. For my part, brethren, I must say that you lose time and strength -by your admissions, all of you. You don't hit the buck in the eye. I -thank the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span> Lord that I am delivered from the bondage of thinking slavery -a sin, or an evil, in any sense. Our abolitionist brethren have done one -good thing; they have driven us up to examine the Scriptures, and there -we find that slavery is not only permitted but appointed, enjoined. It -is a divine institution. If a northern abolitionist comes at me now, I -shake the Bible at him, and say, 'Nay, but, oh man, who art thou that -repliest against God?' Hath not the potter power over the clay, to make -one lump to honor, and another to dishonor? I tell you, brethren, it -blazes from every page of the Scriptures. You'll never do anything till -you get on to that ground. A man's conscience is always hanging on to -his skirts; he goes on just like a bear with a trap on his legs—can't -make any progress that way. You have got to get your feet on the rock of -ages, I can tell you, and get the trap off your leg. There's nothing -like the study of the Scriptures to clear a fellow's mind."</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said Clayton, "would it not be well to repeal the laws -which forbid the slaves to learn to read, and put the Scriptures into -their hands? These laws are the cause of a great deal of misery and -immorality among the slaves, and they furnish abolitionists with some of -their strongest arguments."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said father Bonnie, "that will never do, in the world! It will -expose them to whole floods of abolition and incendiary documents, -corrupt their minds, and make them discontented."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Dr. Cushing, "I have read Dr. Carnes' book, and I must say -that the scriptural argument lies, in my mind, on the other side."</p> - -<p>"Hang Dr. Carnes' book!" said father Bonnie.</p> - -<p>"Figuratively, I suppose," said Dr. Packthread.</p> - -<p>"Why, Dr. Carnes' much learning has made him mad!" said father Bonnie. -"I don't believe anything that can't be got out of a plain English -Bible. When a fellow goes shuffling off in a Hebrew fog, in a Latin fog, -in a Greek fog, I say, 'Ah, my boy, you are treed! you had better come -down!' Why, is it not plain enough to any reader of the Bible, how the -apostles talked to the slaves? They didn't fill their heads with stuff -about the rights of man. Now, see here, just at a venture," he said, -making a dive at a pocket-Bible that lay on the table,—"now, just let -me read you, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span>'<i>Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and -equal</i>.' Sho! sho! that isn't the place I was thinking of. It's here, -'<i>Servants, obey your masters!</i>' There's into them, you see! 'Obey your -masters that are in the flesh.' Now, these abolitionists won't even -allow that we are masters!"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Clayton, quietly, "if the slaves could read, they'd pay -more attention to the first passage that you favored us with."</p> - -<p>"Oh, likely," said father Bonnie, "because, you see, their interests -naturally would lead them to pervert Scripture. If it wasn't for that -perverting influence of self-love, I, for my part, would be willing -enough to put the Scriptures into their hands."</p> - -<p>"I suppose," said Clayton, "there's no such danger in the case of us -masters, is there?"</p> - -<p>"I say," said father Bonnie, not noticing the interruption, "Cushing, -you ought to read Fletcher's book. That book, sir, is a sweater, I can -tell you; I sweat over it, I know; but it does up this Greek and Hebrew -work thoroughly, I promise you. Though I can't read Greek or Hebrew, I -see there's heaps of it there. Why, he takes you clear back to the -creation of the world, and drags you through all the history and -literature of the old botherers of all ages, and he comes down on the -fathers like forty. There's Chrysostom and Tertullian, and all the rest -of those old cocks, and the old Greek philosophers, besides,—Plato and -Aristotle, and all the rest of them. If a fellow wants learning, there -he'll get it. I declare, I'd rather cut my way through the Dismal Swamp -in dog-days! But I was determined to be thorough; so I off coat, and -went at it. And, there's no mistake about it, Cushing, you must get the -book. You'll feel so much better, if you'll settle your mind on that -point. I never allow myself to go trailing along with anything hanging -by the gills. I am an out-and-outer. Walk up to the captain's office and -settle! That's what I say."</p> - -<p>"We shall all have to do that, one of these days," said father Dickson, -"and maybe we shall find it one thing to settle with the clerk, and -another to settle with the captain!"</p> - -<p>"Well, brother Dickson, you needn't look at me with any of your solemn -faces! I'm settled, now."</p> - -<p>"For my part," said Dr. Packthread, "I think, instead of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span> condemning -slavery in the abstract, we ought to direct our attention to its -abuses."</p> - -<p>"And what do you consider its abuses?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Why, the separation of families, for instance," said Dr. Packthread, -"and the forbidding of education."</p> - -<p>"You think, then," said Clayton, "that the slave ought to have a legal -right to his family?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Of course, he ought to have the legal means of maintaining it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Then, of course, he ought to be able to enter suit when this right is -violated, and to bear testimony in a court of justice?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"And do you think that the master ought to give him what is just and -equal, in the way of wages?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly, in one shape or another," said Dr. Packthread.</p> - -<p>"And ought the slave to have the means of enforcing this right?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly."</p> - -<p>"Then the slave ought to be able to hold property?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"And he should have the legal right to secure education, if he desires -it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "when the slave has a legal existence and legal -rights, can hold property and defend it, acquire education and protect -his family relations, he ceases to be a slave; for slavery consists in -the fact of legal incapacity for any of these things. It consists in -making a man a dead, inert substance in the hands of another, holding -men <i>pro nullis, pro mortuis</i>. What you call reforming abuses is -abolishing slavery. It is in this very way that I wish to seek its -abolition, and I desire the aid of the church and ministry in doing it. -Now, Dr. Packthread, what efforts has the church as yet made to reform -these abuses of slavery?"</p> - -<p>There was a silence of some minutes. At last Dr. Cushing replied,—</p> - -<p>"There has been a good deal of effort made in oral religious -instruction."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, yes," said father Bonnie, "our people have been at it with great -zeal in our part of the country. I have a class, myself, that I have -been instructing in the Assembly's Catechism, in the oral way; and the -synods have taken it up, and they are preaching the Gospel to them, and -writing catechisms for them."</p> - -<p>"But," said Clayton, "would it not be best to give them a legal ability -to obey the Gospel? Is there any use in teaching the sanctity of -marriage, unless you obtain for husbands and wives the legal right to -live faithful to each other? It seems to me only cruelty to awaken -conscience on that subject, without giving the protection and assistance -of law."</p> - -<p>"What he says is very true," said Dr. Cushing, with emphasis. "We -ministers are called to feel the necessity of that with regard to our -slave church-members. You see, we are obliged to preach unlimited -obedience to masters; and yet,—why, it was only last week, a very -excellent pious mulatto woman in my church came to me to know what she -should do. Her master was determined she should live with him as a -mistress; yet she has a husband on the place. How am I to advise her? -The man is a very influential man, and capable of making a good deal of -commotion; besides which, she will gain nothing by resistance, but to be -sold away to some other master who will do worse. Now, this is a very -trying case to a minister. I'm sure, if anything could be done, I'd be -glad; but the fact is, the moment a person begins to move in the least -to reform these abuses, he is called an abolitionist, and the whole -community is down on him at once. That's the state these northern -fanatics have got us into."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," said Dr. Baskum, a leading minister, who had recently come -in. "Besides, a man can't do everything! We've got as much as we can -stagger under on our shoulders, now. We've got the building up of the -church to attend to. That's the great instrumentality which at last will -set everything straight. We must do as the apostles did,—confine -ourselves to preaching the Gospel, and the Gospel will bring everything -else in its train. The world can't be made over in a day. We must do one -thing at a time. We can't afford, just at present, to tackle in with all -our other difficulties the odium and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span>misrepresentation of such a -movement. The minute we begin to do anything which looks like -restraining the rights of masters, the cry of church and state and -abolition will be raised, and we shall be swamped!"</p> - -<p>"But," said father Dickson, "isn't it the right way first to find out -our duty and do it, and then leave the result with God? Ought we to take -counsel of flesh and blood in matters like these?"</p> - -<p>"Of course not," said Dr. Packthread. "But there is a wise way and an -unwise way of doing things. We are to consider the times, and only -undertake such works as the movements of Divine Providence seem to -indicate. I don't wish to judge for brethren. A time may come when it -will be their duty to show themselves openly on this subject; but, in -order to obtain a foothold for the influences of the Gospel to work on, -it may be necessary to bear and forbear with many evils. Under the -present state of things, I hope many of the slaves are becoming -hopefully pious. Brethren seem to feel that education will be attended -with dangers. Probably it might. It would seem desirable to secure the -family relations of the slaves, if it could be done without too much -sacrifice of more important things. After all, the kingdom of our Lord -Jesus Christ is not of this world. The apostles entered no public -protest against the abuses of slavery, that we read of."</p> - -<p>"It strikes me," said Clayton, "that there is a difference between our -position under a republican government,—in which we vote for our -legislators, and, in fact, make the laws ourselves, and have the -admitted right to seek their repeal,—and that of the apostles, who were -themselves slaves, and could do nothing about the laws. We make our own -laws, and every one of us is responsible for any unjust law which we do -not do our best to alter. We have the right to agitate, write, print, -and speak, and bring up the public mind to the point of reform; and, -therefore, we are responsible if unjust laws are not repealed."</p> - -<p>"Well," said father Dickson, "God forgive me that I have been so remiss -in times past! Henceforth, whatever others may do, I will not confer -with flesh and blood; but I will go forth and declare the word of the -Lord plainly to this people, and show unto the house of Judah their -transgressions. And now I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span> one thing to say to our dear northern -brethren. I mourn over the undecided course which they take. Brethren in -slave states are beset with many temptations. The whole course of public -opinion is against them. They need that their northern brethren should -stand firm, and hold up their hands. Alas! how different has been their -course! Their apologies for this mighty sin have weakened us more than -all things put together. Public opinion is going back. The church is -becoming corrupted. Ministers are drawn into connivance with deadly sin. -Children and youth are being ruined by habits of early tyranny. Our land -is full of slave-prisons; and the poor trader—no man careth for his -soul! Our poor whites are given up to ignorance and licentiousness; and -our ministers, like our brother Bonnie, here, begin to defend this evil -from the Bible. Brother Calker, here, talks of the Presbyterian Church. -Alas! in her skirts is found the blood of poor innocents, and she is -willing, for the sake of union, to destroy them for whom Christ died. -Brethren, you know not what you do. You enjoy the blessings of living in -a land uncursed by any such evils. Your churches, your schools, and all -your industrial institutions, are going forward, while ours are going -backward; and you do not feel it, because you do not live among us. But -take care! One part of the country cannot become demoralized without, at -last, affecting the other. The sin you cherish and strengthen by your -indifference may at last come back in judgments that may visit even you. -I pray God to avert it! But, as God is just, I tremble for you and for -us! Well, good-by, brethren; I must be on my way. You will not listen to -me, and my soul cannot come into your counsels."</p> - -<p>And father Dickson rose to depart.</p> - -<p>"Oh, come, come, now, brother, don't take it so seriously!" said Dr. -Cushing. "Stay, at least, and spend the day with us, and let us have a -little Christian talk."</p> - -<p>"I must go," said father Dickson. "I have an appointment to preach, -which I must keep, for this evening, and so I must bid you farewell. I -hoped to do something by coming here; but I see that it is all in vain. -Farewell, brethren; I shall pray for you."</p> - -<p>"Well, father Dickson, I should like to talk more with you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> on this -subject," said Dr. Cushing. "Do come again. It is very difficult to see -the path of duty in these matters."</p> - -<p>Poor Dr. Cushing was one of those who are destined, like stationary -ships, forever to float up and down in one spot, only useful in marking -the ebb and flood of the tide. Affection, generosity, devotion, he -had—everything but the power to move on.</p> - -<p>Clayton, who had seen at once that nothing was to be done or gained, -rose, and said that his business was also pressing, and that he would -accompany father Dickson on his way.</p> - -<p>"What a good fellow Dickson is!" said Cushing, after he returned to the -room.</p> - -<p>"He exhibits a very excellent spirit," said Dr. Packthread.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Dickson would do well enough," said Dr. Calker, "if he wasn't a -monomaniac. That's what's the matter with him! But when he gets to going -on this subject, I never hear what he says. I know it's no use to reason -with him—entirely time lost. I have heard all these things over and -over again."</p> - -<p>"But I wish," said Dr. Cushing, "something could be done."</p> - -<p>"Well, who doesn't?" said Dr. Calker. "We all wish something could be -done; but, if it can't, it can't; there's the end of it. So now let us -proceed, and look into business a little more particularly."</p> - -<p>"After all," said Dr. Packthread, "you old school brethren have greatly -the advantage of us. Although you have a few poor good souls, like this -Dickson, they are in so insignificant a minority that they can do -nothing—can't even get into the general assembly, or send in a -remonstrance, or petition, or anything else; so that you are never -plagued as we are. We cannot even choose a moderator from the -slave-holding states, for fear of an explosion; but you can have -slave-holding moderators, or anything else that will promote harmony and union."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLIII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE SLAVE'S ARGUMENT.</span></h2> - -<p>On his return home, Clayton took from the post-office a letter, which we -will give to our readers:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Mr. Clayton</span>: I am now an outcast. I cannot show my face in the -world, I cannot go abroad by daylight; for no crime, as I can see, -except resisting oppression. Mr. Clayton, if it were proper for -your fathers to fight and shed blood for the oppression that came -upon them, why isn't it right for us? They had not half the -provocation that we have. Their wives and families were never -touched. They were not bought, and sold, and traded, like cattle in -the market, as we are. In fact, when I was reading that history, I -could hardly understand what provocation they did have. They had -everything easy and comfortable about them. They were able to -support their families, even in luxury. And yet they were willing -to plunge into war, and shed blood. I have studied the Declaration -of Independence. The things mentioned there were bad and -uncomfortable, to be sure; but, after all, look at the laws which -are put over <i>us</i>! Now, if they had forbidden them to teach their -children to read,—if they had divided them all out among masters, -and declared them as incapable of holding property as the mule -before the plough,—there would have been some sense in that -revolution.</p> - -<p>"Well, how was it with our people in South Carolina? Denmark Vesey -was a <i>man</i>! His history is just what George Washington's would -have been, if you had failed. What set him on in his course? The -Bible and your Declaration of Independence. What does your -Declaration say? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that -<i>all men are created equal</i>; that they are endowed by their Creator -with certain <i>inalienable</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span> rights: that among these are life, -liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That <i>to secure these -rights</i> governments are instituted among men. That <i>whenever any -form of government becomes destructive of any of these ends, it is -the right of the people to alter or to abolish it</i>. Now, what do -you make of that? This is read to us every Fourth of July. It was -read to Denmark Vesey and Peter Poyas, and all those other brave, -good men, who dared to follow your example and your precepts. Well, -they failed, and your people hung them. And they said they couldn't -conceive what motive could have induced them to make the effort. -They had food enough, and clothes enough, and were kept very -comfortable. Well, had not your people clothes enough, and food -enough? and wouldn't you still have had enough, even if you had -remained a province of England to this day,—much better living, -much better clothes, and much better laws, than we have to-day? I -heard your father's interpretation of the law; I heard Mr. Jekyl's; -and yet, when men rise up against such laws, you wonder what in the -world could have induced them! That's perfectly astonishing!</p> - -<p>"But, of all the injuries and insults that are heaped upon us, -there is nothing to me so perfectly maddening as the assumption of -your religious men, who maintain and defend this enormous injustice -by the Bible. We have all the right to rise against them that they -had to rise against England. They tell us the Bible says, -'Servants, obey your masters.' Well, the Bible says, also, 'The -powers that be are ordained of God, and whoso resisteth the power, -resisteth the ordinance of God.' If it was right for them to resist -the ordinance of God, it is right for us. If the Bible does justify -slavery, why don't they teach the slave to read it? And what's the -reason that two of the greatest insurrections came from men who -read scarcely anything else but the Bible? No, the fact is, they -don't believe this themselves. If they did, they would try the -experiment fairly of giving the Bible to their slaves. I can assure -you the Bible looks as different to a slave from what it does to a -master, as everything else in the world does.</p> - -<p>"Now, Mr. Clayton, you understand that when I say <i>you</i>, along -here, I do not mean you personally, but the generality of the -community of which you are one. I want you to think these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span> things -over, and, whatever my future course may be, remember my excuse for -it is the same as that on which your government is built.</p> - -<p>"I am very grateful to you for all your kindness. Perhaps the time -may come when I shall be able to show my gratitude. Meanwhile, I -must ask one favor of you, which I think you will grant for the -sake of that angel who is gone. I have a sister, who, as well as -myself, is the child of Tom Gordon's father. She was beautiful and -good, and her owner, who had a large estate in Mississippi, took -her to Ohio, emancipated and married her. She has two children by -him, a son and a daughter. He died, and left his estate to her and -her children. Tom Gordon is the heir-at-law. He has sued for the -property, and obtained it. The act of emancipation has been -declared null and void, and my sister and her children are in the -hands of that man, with all that absolute power; and they have no -appeal from him for any evil whatever. She has escaped his hands, -so she wrote me once; but I have heard a report that he has taken -her again. The pious Mr. Jekyl will know all about it. Now, may I -ask you to go to him, and make inquiries, and let me know? A letter -sent to Mr. James Twitchel, at the post-office near Canema, where -our letters used to be taken, will get to me. By doing this favor, -you will secure my eternal gratitude.</p> - -<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Harry Gordon.</span>"</p></blockquote> - -<p>Clayton read this letter with some surprise, and a good deal of -attention. It was written on very coarse paper, such as is commonly sold -at the low shops. Where Harry was, and how concealed, was to him only a -matter of conjecture. But the call to render him any assistance was a -sacred one, and he determined on a horseback excursion to E., the town -where Mr. Jekyl resided.</p> - -<p>He found that gentleman very busy in looking over and arranging papers -in relation to that large property which had just come into Tom Gordon's -hands. He began by stating that the former owner of the servants at -Canema had requested him, on her death-bed, to take an interest in her -servants. He had therefore called to ascertain if anything had been -heard from Harry.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span></p><p>"Not yet," said Mr. Jekyl, pulling up his shirt-collar. "Our -plantations in this vicinity are very unfortunate in their proximity to -the swamp. It's a great expense of time and money. Why, sir, it's -inconceivable the amount of property that's lost in that swamp! I have -heard it estimated at something like three millions of dollars! We -follow them up with laws, you see. They are outlawed regularly, after a -certain time, and then the hunters go in and chase them down; sometimes -kill two or three a day, or something like that. But on the whole, they -don't effect much."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, who felt no disposition to enter into any -discussion with Mr. Jekyl, "so you think he is there?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I have no doubt of it. The fact is, there's a fellow that's been -seen lurking about this swamp, off and on, for years and years. -Sometimes he isn't to be seen for months; and then again he is seen or -heard of, but never so that anybody can get hold of him. I have no doubt -the niggers on the plantation know him; but, then, you can never get -anything out of them. Oh, they are deep! They are a dreadfully corrupt -set!"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Gordon has, I think, a sister of Harry's, who came in with this new -estate," said Mr. Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," said Mr. Jekyl. "She has given us a good deal of trouble, -too. She got away, and went off to Cincinnati, and I had to go up and -hunt her out. It was really a great deal of trouble and expense. If I -hadn't been assisted by the politeness and kindness of the marshal and -brother officers, it would have been very bad. There is a good deal of -religious society, too, in Cincinnati; and so, while I was waiting, I -attended anniversary meetings."</p> - -<p>"Then you did succeed," said Clayton. "I came to see whether Mr. Gordon -would listen to a proposition for selling her."</p> - -<p>"Oh, he has sold her!" said Mr. Jekyl. "She is at Alexandria, now, in -Beaton & Burns' establishment."</p> - -<p>"And her children, too?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, the lot. I claim some little merit for that, myself. Tom is a -fellow of rather strong passions, and he was terribly angry for the -trouble she had made. I don't know what he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span> would have done to her, if I -hadn't talked to him. But I showed him some debts that couldn't be put -off any longer without too much of a sacrifice; and, on the whole, I -persuaded him to let her be sold. I have tried to exert a good influence -over him, in a quiet way," said Mr. Jekyl. "Now, if you want to get the -woman, like enough she may not be sold, as yet."</p> - -<p>Clayton, having thus ascertained the points which he wished to know, -proceeded immediately to Alexandria. When he was there, he found a -considerable excitement.</p> - -<p>"A slave-woman," it was said, "who was to have been sent off in a coffle -the next day, had murdered her two children."</p> - -<p>The moment that Clayton heard the news, he felt an instinctive certainty -that this woman was Cora Gordon. He went to the magistrate's court, -where the investigation was being held, and found it surrounded by a -crowd so dense that it was with difficulty he forced his way in. At the -bar he saw seated a woman dressed in black, whose face, haggard and wan, -showed yet traces of former beauty. The splendid dark eyes had a -peculiar and fierce expression. The thin lines of the face were settled -into an immovable fixedness of calm determination. There was even an air -of grave, solemn triumph on her countenance. She appeared to regard the -formalities of the court with the utmost indifference. At last she -spoke, in a clear, thrilling, distinct voice,—</p> - -<p>"If gentlemen will allow me to speak, I'll save them the trouble of that -examination of witnesses. It's going a long way round to find out a very -little thing."</p> - -<p>There was an immediate movement of curiosity in the whole throng, and -the officer said.—</p> - -<p>"You are permitted to speak."</p> - -<p>She rose deliberately, untied her bonnet-strings, looked round the whole -court, with a peculiar but calm expression of mingled triumph and power.</p> - -<p>"You want to know," she said, "who killed those children! Well, I will -tell you;" and again her eyes travelled round the house, with that same -strong, defiant expression; "I killed them!"</p> - -<p>There was a pause, and a general movement through the house.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," she said, again, "I killed them! And, oh, how glad I am that I -have done it! Do you want to know what I killed them for? Because I -loved them!—loved them so well that I was willing to give up my soul to -save theirs! I have heard some persons say that I was in a frenzy, -excited, and didn't know what I was doing. They are mistaken. I was not -in a frenzy; I was not excited; and I did know what I was doing! and I -bless God that it is done! I was born the slave of my own father. Your -old proud Virginia blood is in my veins, as it is in half of those you -whip and sell. I was the lawful wife of a man of honor, who did what he -could to evade your cruel laws, and set me free. My children were born -to liberty; they were brought up to liberty, till my father's son -entered a suit for us, and made us <i>slaves</i>. Judge and jury helped -him—all your laws and your officers helped him—to take away the rights -of the widow and the fatherless! The judge said that my son, being a -slave, could no more hold property than the mule before his plough; and -we were delivered into Tom Gordon's hands. I shall not say what he is. -It is not fit to be said. God will show at the judgment-day. But I -escaped, with my children, to Cincinnati. He followed me there, and the -laws of your country gave me back to him. To-morrow I was to have gone -in a coffle and leave these children—my son a slave for life—my -daughter"— She looked round the court-room with an expression which -said more than words could have spoken. "So I heard them say their -prayers and sing their hymns, and then, while they were asleep and -didn't know it, I sent them to lie down in green pastures with the Lord. -They say this is a dreadful sin. It may be so. I am willing to lose my -soul to have <i>theirs saved</i>. I have no more to hope or fear. It's all -nothing, now, where I go or what becomes of me. But, at any rate, they -are safe. And, now, if any of you mothers, in my place, wouldn't have -done the same, you either don't know what slavery is, or you don't love -your children as I have loved mine. This is all."</p> - -<p>She sat down, folded her arms, fixed her eyes on the floor, and seemed -like a person entirely indifferent to the further opinions and -proceedings of the court.</p> - -<p>She was remanded to jail for trial. Clayton determined, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span> his own -mind, to do what he could for her. Her own declaration seemed to make -the form of a trial unnecessary. He resolved, however, to do what he -could to enlist for her the sympathy of some friends of his in the city.</p> - -<p>The next day he called with a clergyman, and requested permission to see -her. When they entered her cell, she rose to receive them with the most -perfect composure, as if they had called upon her in a drawing-room. -Clayton introduced his companion as the Rev. Mr. Denton. There was an -excited flash in her eyes, but she said, calmly,—</p> - -<p>"Have the gentlemen business with me?"</p> - -<p>"We called," said the clergyman, "to see if we could render you any -assistance."</p> - -<p>"No, sir, you cannot!" was the prompt reply.</p> - -<p>"My dear friend," said the clergyman, in a very kind tone, "I wish it -were in my power to administer to you the consolations of the Gospel."</p> - -<p>"I have nothing to do," she answered, firmly, "with ministers who -pretend to preach the Gospel, and support oppression and robbery! Your -hands are defiled with blood!—so don't come to me! I am a prisoner, -here, and cannot resist. But, when I tell you that I prefer to be left -alone, perhaps it may have some effect, even if I am a slave!"</p> - -<p>Clayton took out Harry's letter, handed it to her, and said:—</p> - -<p>"After you have read this, you will, perhaps, receive me, if I should -call again to-morrow, at this hour."</p> - -<p>The next day when Clayton called, he was conducted by the jailer to the -door of the cell.</p> - -<p>"There is a lady with her now, reading to her."</p> - -<p>"Then I ought not to interrupt her," said Clayton, hesitating.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I suspect it would make no odds," said the jailer.</p> - -<p>Clayton laid his hand on his to stop him. The sound that came -indistinctly through the door was the voice of prayer. Some woman was -interceding, in the presence of eternal pity, for an oppressed and -broken-hearted sister. After a few moments the door was partly opened, -and he heard a sweet voice, saying:—</p> - -<p>"Let me come to you every day, may I? I know what it is to suffer."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span></p><p>A smothered sob was the only answer; and then followed words, -imperfectly distinguished, which seemed to be those of consolation. In a -moment the door was opened, and Clayton found himself suddenly face to -face with a lady in deep mourning. She was tall, and largely -proportioned; the outlines of her face strong, yet beautiful, and now -wearing the expression which comes from communion with the highest and -serenest nature. Both were embarrassed, and made a momentary pause. In -the start she dropped one of her gloves. Clayton picked it up, handed it -to her, bowed, and she passed on. By some singular association, this -stranger, with a serious, radiant face, suggested to him the sparkling, -glittering beauty of Nina; and it seemed for a moment, as if Nina was -fluttering by him in the air, and passing away after her. When he -examined the emotion more minutely afterwards, he thought, perhaps, it -might have been suggested by the perception, as he lifted the glove, of -a peculiar and delicate perfume, which Nina was fond of using. So -strange and shadowy are the influences which touch the dark, electric -chain of our existence.</p> - -<p>When Clayton went into the cell, he found its inmate in a softened mood. -There were traces of tears on her cheek, and an open Bible on the bed; -but her appearance was calm and self-possessed, as usual. She said:—</p> - -<p>"Excuse my rudeness, Mr. Clayton, at your last visit. We cannot always -command ourselves to do exactly what we should. I thank you very much -for your kindness to us. There are many who are kindly disposed towards -us; but it's very little that they can do."</p> - -<p>"Can I be of any assistance in securing counsel for you?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I don't need any counsel. I don't wish any," said she. "I shall make no -effort. Let the law take its course. If you ever should see Harry, give -my love to him—that's all! And, if you can help him, pray do! If you -have time, influence, or money to spare, and can get him to any country -where he will have the common rights of a human being, pray do, and the -blessing of the poor will come on you! That's all I have to ask."</p> - -<p>Clayton rose to depart. He had fulfilled the object of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span> mission. He -had gained all the information, and more than all, that he wished. He -queried with himself whether it were best to write to Harry at all. The -facts that he had to relate were such as were calculated to kindle to a -fiercer flame the excitement which was now consuming him. He trembled, -when he thought of it, lest that excitement should blaze out in forms -which should array against him, with still more force, that society with -which he was already at war. Thinking, however, that Harry, perhaps, -might obtain the information in some less guarded form, he sat down and -wrote him the following letter:</p> - -<blockquote><p>"I have received your letter. I need not say that I am sorry for -all that has taken place—sorry for your sake, and for the sake of -one very dear both to me and to you. Harry, I freely admit that you -live in a state of society which exercises a great injustice. I -admit your right, and that of all men, to life, liberty, and the -pursuit of happiness. I admit the right of an oppressed people to -change their form of government, <i>if they can</i>. I admit that your -people suffer under greater oppression than ever our fathers -suffered. And, if I believed that they were capable of obtaining -and supporting a government, I should believe in their right to -take the same means to gain it. But I do not, at present; and I -think, if you reflect on the subject, you will agree with me. I do -not think that, should they make an effort, they would succeed. -They would only embitter the white race against them, and destroy -that sympathy which many are beginning to feel for their oppressed -condition. I know it seems a very unfeeling thing for a man who is -at ease to tell one, who is oppressed and suffering, to be patient; -and yet I must even say it. It is my place, and your place, to seek -repeal of the unjust laws which oppress you. I see no reason why -the relation of master and servants may not be continued through -our states, and the servants yet be free men. I am satisfied that -it would be for the best interests of master as well as slave. If -this is the truth, time will make it apparent, and the change will -come. With regard to you, the best counsel I can give is, that you -try to escape to some of the northern states; and I will furnish -you with means to begin life there under better auspices. I am very -sorry that I have to tell you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span> something very painful about your -sister. She was sold to a trading-house in Alexandria, and, in -desperation, has killed both her children! For this she is now in -prison, awaiting her trial! I have been to see her, and offered -every assistance in my power. She declines all. She does not wish -to live, and has already avowed the fact; making no defence, and -wishing none to be made for her. Another of the bitter fruits of -this most unrighteous system! She desired her love and kind wishes -to you. Whatever more is to be known, I will tell you at some -future time.</p> - -<p>"After all that I have said to you in this letter, I cannot help -feeling, for myself, how hard, and cold, and insufficient it must -seem to you! If I had such a sister as yours, and her life had been -so wrecked, I feel that I might not have patience to consider any -of these things; and I am afraid you will not. Yet I feel this -injustice to my heart. I feel it like a personal affliction; and, -God helping me, I will make it the object of my life to remedy it! -Your sister's trial will not take place for some time; and she has -friends who do all that can be done for her."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Clayton returned to his father's house, and related the result of his -first experiment with the clergy.</p> - -<p>"Well, now," said Mrs. Clayton, "I must confess I was not prepared for -this."</p> - -<p>"I was," said Judge Clayton. "It's precisely what I expected. You have -tried the Presbyterians, with whom our family are connected; and now you -may go successively to the Episcopalians, the Methodists, the Baptists, -and you will hear the same story from them all. About half of them -defend the thing from the Bible, in the most unblushing, disgusting -manner. The other half acknowledge and lament it as an evil; but they -are cowed and timid, and can do nothing."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "the greatest evidence to my mind of the -inspiration of the Scriptures is, that they are yet afloat, when every -new absurdity has been successively tacked to them."</p> - -<p>"But," said Mrs. Clayton, "are there no people that are faithful?"</p> - -<p>"None in this matter that I know of," said Judge Clayton, "except the -Covenanters and the Quakers among us, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span> Free-will Baptists and a -few others at the north. And their number and influence is so small, -that there can be no great calculation made on them for assistance. Of -individuals, there are not a few who earnestly desire to do something; -but they are mostly without faith or hope, like me. And from the -communities—from the great organizations in society—no help whatever -is to be expected."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLIV.</span> <span class="smaller">THE DESERT.</span></h2> - -<p>There's no study in human nature more interesting than the aspects of -the same subject seen in the points of view of different characters. One -might almost imagine that there were no such thing as absolute truth, -since a change of situation or temperament is capable of changing the -whole force of an argument. We have been accustomed, even those of us -who feel most, to look on the arguments for and against the system of -slavery with the eyes of those who are at ease. We do not even know how -fair is freedom, for we were always free. We shall never have all the -materials for absolute truth on this subject, till we take into account, -with our own views and reasonings, the views and reasonings of those who -have bowed down to the yoke, and felt the iron enter into their souls. -We all console ourselves too easily for the sorrows of others. We talk -and reason coolly of that which, did we feel it ourselves, would take -away all power of composure and self-control. We have seen how the -masters feel and reason; how good men feel and reason, whose public -opinion and Christian fellowship support the master, and give him -confidence in his position. We must add, also, to our estimate, the -feelings and reasonings of the slave; and, therefore, the reader must -follow us again to the fastness in the Dismal Swamp.</p> - -<p>It is a calm, still, Indian-summer afternoon. The whole air is flooded -with a golden haze, in which the tree-tops move dreamily to and fro, as -if in a whispering reverie. The wild climbing grape-vines, which hang in -thousand-fold festoons round the inclosure, are purpling with grapes. -The little settlement now has among its inmates Old Tiff and his -children, and Harry and his wife. The children and Tiff had been -received in the house of the widow whose husband had fallen a victim to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span> -the hunters, as we mentioned in one of our former chapters. All had -united in building for Harry and Lisette a cabin contiguous to the -other.</p> - -<p>Old Tiff, with his habitual industry, might now be seen hoeing in the -sweet-potato patch, which belonged to the common settlement. The -children were roaming up and down, looking after autumn flowers and -grapes.</p> - -<p>Dred, who had been out all the night before, was now lying on the ground -on the shady side of the clearing, with an old, much-worn, much-thumbed -copy of the Bible by his side. It was the Bible of Denmark Vesey, and in -many a secret meeting its wild, inspiring poetry had sounded like a -trumpet in his youthful ear.</p> - -<p>He lay with his elbow resting on the ground, his hands supporting his -massive head, and his large, gloomy, dark eyes fixed in reverie on the -moving tree-tops as they waved in the golden blue. Now his eye followed -sailing islands of white cloud, drifting to and fro above them. There -were elements in him which might, under other circumstances, have made -him a poet.</p> - -<p>His frame, capacious and energetic as it was, had yet that keenness of -excitability which places the soul <i>en rapport</i> with all the great -forces of nature. The only book which he had been much in the habit of -reading—the book, in fact, which had been the nurse and forming power -of his soul—was the Bible, distinguished above all other literature for -its intense sympathy with nature. Dred, indeed, resembled in -organization and tone of mind some of those men of old who were dwellers -in the wilderness, and drew their inspirations from the desert.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable that, in all ages, communities and individuals who have -suffered under oppression have always fled for refuge to the Old -Testament, and to the book of Revelation in the New. Even if not -definitely understood, these magnificent compositions have a wild, -inspiring power, like a wordless yet impassioned symphony played by a -sublime orchestra, in which deep and awful sub-bass instruments mingle -with those of ethereal softness, and wild minors twine and interlace -with marches of battles and bursts of victorious harmony.</p> - -<p>They are much mistaken who say that nothing is efficient as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span> a motive -that is not definitely understood. Who ever thought of understanding the -mingled wail and roar of the Marseillaise? Just this kind of indefinite -stimulating power has the Bible to the souls of the oppressed. There is -also a disposition, which has manifested itself since the primitive -times, by which the human soul, bowed down beneath the weight of mighty -oppressions, and despairing, in its own weakness, seizes with avidity -the intimations of a coming judgment, in which the Son of Man, appearing -in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, shall right earth's -mighty wrongs.</p> - -<p>In Dred's mind this thought had acquired an absolute ascendency. All -things in nature and in revelation he interpreted by this key.</p> - -<p>During the prevalence of the cholera, he had been pervaded by a wild and -solemn excitement. To him it was the opening of a seal—the sounding of -the trumpet of the first angel. And other woes were yet to come.</p> - -<p>He was not a man of personal malignity to any human being. When he -contemplated schemes of insurrection and bloodshed, he contemplated them -with the calm, immovable firmness of one who felt himself an instrument -of doom in a mightier hand. In fact, although seldom called into -exercise by the incidents of his wild and solitary life, there was in -him a vein of that gentleness which softens the heart towards children -and the inferior animals. The amusement of his vacant hours was -sometimes to exercise his peculiar gifts over the animal creation, by -drawing towards him the birds and squirrels from the coverts of the -forest, and giving them food. Indeed, he commonly carried corn in the -hunting-dress which he wore, to use for this purpose. Just at this -moment, as he lay absorbed in reverie, he heard Teddy, who was near him, -calling to his sister,—</p> - -<p>"Oh, Fanny, do come and see this squirrel, he is so pretty!"</p> - -<p>Fanny came running, eagerly. "Where is he?" she said.</p> - -<p>"Oh, he is gone; he just went behind that tree."</p> - -<p>The children, in their eagerness, had not perceived how near they were -to Dred. He had turned his face towards them, and was looking at them -with a pleased expression, approaching to a smile.</p> - -<p>"Do you want to see him?" he said. "Stop a few minutes."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span></p><p>He rose and scattered a train of corn between him and the thicket, and, -sitting down on the ground, began making a low sound, resembling the -call of the squirrel to its young. In a few moments Teddy and Fanny were -in a tremor of eager excitement, as a pair of little bright eyes -appeared among the leaves, and gradually their owner, a brisk little -squirrel, came out and began rapidly filling its chops with the corn. -Dred still continued, with his eyes fixed on the animal, to make the -same noise. Very soon two others were seen following their comrade. The -children laughed when they saw the headmost squirrel walk into Dred's -hand, which he had laid upon the ground, the others soon following his -example. Dred took them up, and, softly stroking them, they seemed to -become entirely amenable to his will; and, to amuse the children, he let -them go into his hunting-pouch to eat the corn that was there. After -this, they seemed to make a rambling expedition over his whole person, -investigating his pockets, hiding themselves in the bosom of his shirt, -and seeming apparently perfectly fearless, and at home.</p> - -<p>Fanny reached out her hand, timidly. "Won't they come to me?" she said.</p> - -<p>"No, daughter," said Dred, with a smile, "they don't know you. In the -new earth the enmity will be taken away, and then they'll come."</p> - -<p>"I wonder what he means by the new earth!" said Fanny.</p> - -<p>Dred seemed to feel a kind of pleasure in the admiration of the -children, to which, perhaps, no one is wholly insensible. He proceeded, -therefore, to show them some other of his accomplishments. The wood was -resounding with the afternoon song of birds, and Dred suddenly began -answering one of the songsters with an exact imitation of his note. The -bird evidently heard it, and answered back with still more spirit; and -thus an animated conversation was kept up for some time.</p> - -<p>"You see," he said, "that I understand the speech of birds. After the -great judgment, the elect shall talk with the birds and the beasts in -the new earth. Every kind of bird has a different language, in which -they show why men should magnify the Lord, and turn from their -wickedness. But the sinners cannot hear it, because their ear is waxed -gross."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span></p><p>"I didn't know," said Fanny, hesitating, "as that was so. How did you -find it out?"</p> - -<p>"The Spirit of the Lord revealed it unto me, child."</p> - -<p>"What is the Spirit?" said Fanny, who felt more encouraged, as she saw -Dred stroking a squirrel.</p> - -<p>"It's the Spirit that spoke in the old prophets," he said.</p> - -<p>"Did it tell you what the birds say?"</p> - -<p>"I am not perfected in holiness yet, and cannot receive it. But the -birds fly up near the heavens, wherefore they learn droppings of the -speech of angels. I never kill the birds, because the Lord hath set them -between us and the angels for a sign."</p> - -<p>"What else did the Spirit tell you?" said Teddy.</p> - -<p>"He showed me that there was a language in the leaves," said Dred. "For -I rose and looked, and, behold, there were signs drawn on the leaves, -and forms of every living thing, with strange words, which the wicked -understand not, but the elect shall read them. And, behold, the signs -are in blood, which is the blood of the Lamb, that descendeth like dew -from heaven."</p> - -<p>Fanny looked puzzled. "Who are the elect?" she said.</p> - -<p>"They?" said Dred. "They are the hundred and forty and four thousand, -that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. And the angels have charge, -saying, 'Hurt not the earth till these are sealed in their forehead.'"</p> - -<p>Fanny instinctively put her hand to her forehead. "Do you think they'll -seal me?" she said.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Dred; "such as you are of the kingdom."</p> - -<p>"Did the Spirit tell you that?" said Fanny, who felt some considerable -anxiety.</p> - -<p>"Yea, the Spirit hath shown me many such things," said Dred. "It hath -also revealed to me the knowledge of the elements, the revolutions of -the planets, the operations of the tide, and changes of the seasons."</p> - -<p>Fanny looked doubtfully, and, taking up her basket of wild grapes, -slowly moved off, thinking that she would ask Tiff about it.</p> - -<p>At this moment there was a rustling in the branches of the oak-tree -which overhung a part of the clearing near where Dred was lying, and -Harry soon dropped from the branches on to the ground. Dred started up -to receive him.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span></p><p>"How is it?" said he. "Will they come?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; by midnight to-night they will be here. See here," he added, -taking a letter from his pocket, "what I have received."</p> - -<p>It was the letter which Clayton had written to Harry. It was remarkable, -as Dred received it, how the wandering mystical expression of his face -immediately gave place to one of shrewd and practical earnestness. He -sat down on the ground, laid it on his knee, and followed the lines with -his finger. Some passages he seemed to read over two or three times with -the greatest attention, and he would pause after reading them, and sat -with his eyes fixed gloomily on the ground. The last part seemed to -agitate him strongly. He gave a sort of suppressed groan.</p> - -<p>"Harry," he said, turning to him, at last, "behold the day shall come -when the Lord shall take out of our hand the cup of trembling, and put -it into the hand of those that oppress us. Our soul is exceedingly -filled now with the scorning of them that are at ease, and with the -contempt of the proud. The prophets prophesy falsely, the rulers bear -rule by their means, and the people love to have it so. But what will it -be in the end thereof? Their own wickedness shall reprove them, and -their backsliding shall correct them. Listen to me, Harry," he said, -taking up his Bible, "and see what the Lord saith unto thee. 'Thus saith -the Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter; whose possessors slay -them, and hold themselves not guilty, and they that sell them say, -blessed be the Lord for I am rich. And their own shepherds pity them -not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the -Lord. But, lo, I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbor's -hand, and into the hand of his king. And they shall smite the land, and -out of their hand I will not deliver them. And I will feed the flock of -slaughter, even you, O ye poor of the flock. And I took unto me two -staves: the one I called beauty, and the other I called bands. And I fed -the flock. And I took my staff, even beauty, and cut it asunder, that I -might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was -broken in that day, so the poor of the flock that waited on me knew it -was the word of the Lord. Then I cut asunder mine other stave,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</a></span> even -bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. The -burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which -stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, -and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem -a cup of trembling to all the people round about. Also in that day I -will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden -themselves with it shall be cut to pieces. In that day, saith the Lord, -I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every rider with -madness. And I will open mine eyes on the house of Judah, and will smite -every horse of the people with blindness. In that day I will make the -governors of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a -torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people on the -right and the left.'</p> - -<p>"Harry," said he, "these things are written for our learning. We will go -up and take away her battlements, for they are not the Lord's!"</p> - -<p>The gloomy fervor with which Dred read these words of Scripture, -selecting, as his eye glanced down the prophetic pages, passages whose -images most affected his own mind, carried with it an overpowering -mesmeric force.</p> - -<p>Who shall say that, in this world, where all things are symbolic, bound -together by mystical resemblances, and where one event is the archetype -of thousands, that there is not an eternal significance in these old -prophecies? Do they not bring with them "<i>springing</i> and <i>germinant</i> -fulfilments" wherever there is a haughty and oppressive nation, and a -"flock of the slaughter?"</p> - -<p>"Harry," said Dred, "I have fasted and prayed before the Lord, lying all -night on my face, yet the token cometh not! Behold, there are prayers -that resist me! The Lamb yet beareth, and the opening of the second seal -delayeth! Yet the Lord had shown unto me that we should be up and doing, -to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord! The Lord hath said unto -me. 'Speak to the elders, and to the prudent men, and prepare their -hearts.'"</p> - -<p>"One thing," said Harry, "fills me with apprehension. Hark, that brought -me this letter, was delayed in getting back;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</a></span> and I'm afraid that he'll -get into trouble. Tom Gordon is raging like a fury over the people of -our plantation. They have always been held under a very mild rule, and -every one knows that a plantation so managed is not so immediately -profitable as it can be made for a short time by forcing everything up -to the highest notch. He has got a man there for overseer—Old -Hokum—that has been famous for his hardness and meanness; and he has -delivered the people, unreservedly, into his hands. He drinks, and -frolics, and has his oyster-suppers, and swears he'll shoot any one that -brings him a complaint. Hokum is to pay him so much yearly, and have to -himself all that he makes over. Tom Gordon keeps two girls, there, that -he bought for himself and his fellows, just as he wanted to keep my -wife!"</p> - -<p>"Be patient, Harry! This is a great christianizing institution!" said -Dred, with a tone of grave irony.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid for Hark," said Harry. "He is the bravest of brave fellows. -He is ready to do anything for us. But if he is taken, there will be no -mercy."</p> - -<p>Dred looked on the ground, gloomily. "Hark was to be here to-night," he -said.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Harry, "I wish we may see him."</p> - -<p>"Harry," said Dred, "when they come, to-night, read them the Declaration -of Independence of these United States, and then let each one judge of -our afflictions, and the afflictions of their fathers, and the Lord -shall be judge between us. I must go and seek counsel of the Lord."</p> - -<p>Dred rose, and, giving a leap from the ground, caught on the branch of -the oak, which overhung their head, and, swinging himself on the limb, -climbed in the thickness of the branches, and disappeared from view. -Harry walked to the other side of the clearing, where his lodge had been -erected. He found Lisette busy within. She ran to meet him, and threw -her arms around his neck.</p> - -<p>"I am so glad you've come back, Harry! It is so dreadful to think what -may happen to you while you are gone! Harry, I think we could be very -happy here. See what a nice bed I have made in this corner, out of -leaves and moss! The women are both very kind, and I am glad we have got -Old Tiff and the children here. It makes it seem more natural. See, I -went out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</a></span> with them, this afternoon, and how many grapes I have got! -What have you been talking to that dreadful man about? Do you know, -Harry, he makes me afraid? They say he is a prophet. Do you think he -is?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know, child," said Harry, abstractedly.</p> - -<p>"Don't stay with him too much!" said Lisette. "He'll make you as gloomy -as he is."</p> - -<p>"Do I need any one to make me gloomy?" said Harry. "Am I not gloomy -enough? Am I not an outcast? And you, too, Lisette?"</p> - -<p>"It isn't so very dreadful to be an outcast," said Lisette. "God makes -wild grapes for us, if we are outcasts."</p> - -<p>"Yes, child," said Harry, "you are right."</p> - -<p>"And the sun shines so pleasant, this afternoon!" said Lisette.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Harry; "but by and by cold storms and rain will come, and -frosty weather!"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Lisette, "then we will think what to do next. But don't let -us lose this afternoon, and these grapes, at any rate."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLV.</span> <span class="smaller">JEGAR SAHADUTHA.</span></h2> - -<p>At twelve o'clock, that night, Harry rose from the side of his sleeping -wife, and looked out into the darkness. The belt of forest which -surrounded them seemed a girdle of impenetrable blackness. But above, -where the tree-tops fringed out against the sky, the heavens were seen -of a deep, transparent violet, blazing with stars. He opened the door, -and came out. All was so intensely still that even the rustle of a leaf -could be heard. He stood listening. A low whistle seemed to come from a -distant part of the underwood. He answered it. Soon a crackling was -heard, and a sound of cautious, suppressed conversation. In a few -moments a rustling was heard in the boughs overhead. Harry stepped -under.</p> - -<p>"Who is there?" he said.</p> - -<p>"The camp of the Lord's judgment!" was the answer, and a dark form -dropped on the ground.</p> - -<p>"Hannibal?" said Harry.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Hannibal!" said the voice.</p> - -<p>"Thank God!" said Harry.</p> - -<p>But now the boughs of the tree were continually rustling, and one after -another sprang down to the ground, each one of whom pronounced his name, -as he came.</p> - -<p>"Where is the prophet?" said one.</p> - -<p>"He is not here," said Harry. "Fear not, he will be with us."</p> - -<p>The party now proceeded to walk, talking in a low voices.</p> - -<p>"There's nobody from the Gordon place, yet," said Harry, uneasily.</p> - -<p>"They'll be along," said one of them. "Perhaps Hokum was wakeful, -to-night. They'll give him the slip, though."</p> - -<p>The company had now arrived at the lower portion of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[Pg 478]</a></span> clearing, where -stood the blasted tree, which we formerly described, with its -funeral-wreaths of moss. Over the grave which had recently been formed -there Dred had piled a rude and ragged monument of stumps of trees, and -tufts of moss, and leaves. In the top of one of the highest stumps was -stuck a pine-knot, to which Harry now applied a light. It kindled, and -rose with a broad, red, fuliginous glare, casting a sombre light on the -circle of dark faces around. There were a dozen men, mulatto, quadroon, -and negro. Their countenances all wore an expression of stern gravity -and considerate solemnity.</p> - -<p>Their first act was to clasp their hands in a circle, and join in a -solemn oath never to betray each other. The moment this was done, Dred -emerged mysteriously from the darkness, and stood among them.</p> - -<p>"Brethren," he said, "this is the grave of your brother, whose wife they -would take for a prey! Therefore he fled to the wilderness. But the -assembly of the wicked compassed him about, and the dogs tore him, and -licked up his blood, and here I buried him! Wherefore, this heap is -called <span class="smcap">Jegar Sahadutha</span>! For the God of Abraham and Nahor, the God of -their fathers, shall judge betwixt us. He that regardeth not the oath of -brethren, and betrayeth counsel, let his arm fall from his -shoulder-blade! Let his arm be broken from the bone! Behold, this heap -shall be a witness unto you; for it hath heard all the words that ye -have spoken!"</p> - -<p>A deep-murmured "Amen" rose solemnly among them.</p> - -<p>"Brethren," said Dred, laying his hand upon Harry, "the Lord caused -Moses to become the son of Pharaoh's daughter, that he might become -learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, to lead forth his people from -the house of bondage. And, when he slew an Egyptian, he fled into the -wilderness, where he abode certain days, till the time of the Lord was -come. In like manner hath the Lord dealt with our brother. He shall -expound unto you the laws of the Egyptians; and for me, I will show you -what I have received from the Lord."</p> - -<p>The circle now sat down on the graves which were scattered around, and -Harry thus spoke:—</p> - -<p>"Brothers, how many of you have been at Fourth of July celebrations?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[Pg 479]</a></span></p><p>"I have! I have! All of us!" was the deep response, uttered not -eagerly, but in low and earnest tones.</p> - -<p>"Brethren, I wish to explain to you to-night the story that they -celebrate. It was years ago that this people was small, and poor, and -despised, and governed by men sent by the King of England, who, they -say, oppressed them. Then they resolved that they would be free, and -govern themselves in their own way and make their own laws. For this -they were called rebels and conspirators; and, if they had failed, every -one of their leaders would have been hung, and nothing more said about -it. When they were agreeing to do this, they met together and signed a -paper, which was to show to all the world the reason why. You have heard -this read by them when the drums were beating and the banners flying. -Now hear it here, while you sit on the graves of men they have -murdered!"</p> - -<p>And, standing by the light of the flaring torch, Harry read that -document which has been fraught with so much seed for all time. What -words were those to fall on the ears of thoughtful bondmen!</p> - -<p>"Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed." -"When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the -same object, evinces a determination to reduce them under absolute -despotism, it is their <i>right</i> and their <i>duty</i> to throw off such -government."</p> - -<p>"Brothers," said Harry, "you have heard the grievances which our masters -thought sufficient to make it right for them to shed blood. They rose up -against their king, and when he sent his armies into the country, they -fired at them from the windows of the houses, and from behind the barns, -and from out of the trees, and wherever they passed, till they were -strong enough to get together an army, and fight them openly."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Hannibal, "I heard my master's father tell of it. He was one -of them."</p> - -<p>"Now," said Harry, "the Lord judge between us and them, if the laws that -they put upon us be not worse than any that lay upon them. They -complained that they could not get justice done to them in the courts. -But how stands it with us, who cannot even come into a court to plead?"</p> - -<p>Harry then, in earnest and vehement language, narrated the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[Pg 480]</a></span> abuse which -had been inflicted upon Milly; and then recited, in a clear and solemn -voice, that judicial decision which had burned itself into his memory, -and which had confirmed and given full license to that despotic power. -He related the fate of his own contract—of his services for years to -the family for which he had labored, all ending in worse than nothing. -And then he told his sister's history, till his voice was broken by -sobs. The audience who sat around were profoundly solemn; only -occasionally a deep, smothered groan seemed to rise from them -involuntarily.</p> - -<p>Hannibal rose. "I had a master in Virginny. He was a Methodist preacher. -He sold my wife and two children to Orleans, and then sold me. My next -wife was took for debt, and she's gone."</p> - -<p>A quadroon young man rose. "My mother was held by a minister in -Kentucky. My father was a good, hard-working man. There was a man set -his eye on her, and wanted her; but she wouldn't have anything to do -with him. Then she told her master, and begged him to protect her; but -he sold her. Her hair turned all white in that year, and she went crazy. -She was crazy till she died!"</p> - -<p>"I's got a story to tell, on that," said a middle-aged negro man, of low -stature, broad shoulders, and a countenance indicative of great -resolution, who now rose. "I's got a story to tell."</p> - -<p>"Go on, Monday," said Harry.</p> - -<p>"You spoke 'bout de laws. I's seen 'bout dem ar. Now, my brother Sam, he -worked with me on de great Morton place, in Virginny. And dere was going -to be a wedding dere, and dey wanted money, and so some of de colored -people was sold to Tom Parker, 'cause Tom Parker he was a buying up -round, dat ar fall; and he sold him to Souther, and he was one o' yer -drefful mean white trash, dat lived down to de bush. Well, Sam was nigh -'bout starved, and so he had to help hisself de best way he could; and -he used fur to trade off one ting and 'nother fur meal to Stone's store, -and Souther he told him 'dat he'd give him hell if he caught him.' So, -one day, when he missed something off de place, he come home and he -brought Stone with him, and a man named Hearvy. He told him dat he was -going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[Pg 481]</a></span> to cotch it. I reckon dey was all three drunk. Any how, dey tied -him up, and Souther he never stopped to cut him, and to slash him, and -to hack him; and dey burned him with chunks from de fire, and dey -scalded him with boiling water. He was strong man, but dey worked on him -dat way all day, and at last he died. Dey hearn his screeches on all de -places round. Now, brethren, you jest see what was done 'bout it. Why, -mas'r and some of de gen'lemen round said dat Souther 'wasn't fit to -live,' and it should be brought in de courts; and sure 'nough it was; -and, 'cause he is my own brother, I listened for what dey would say. -Well, fust dey begun with saying dat it wan't no murder at all, 'cause -slaves, dey said, wan't people, and dey couldn't be murdered. But den de -man on t'oder side he read heaps o' tings to show dat dey <i>was</i> -people—dat dey <i>was</i> human critturs. Den de lawyer said dat dere wan't -no evidence dat Souther meant fur to kill him, any how. Dat it was de -right of de master to punish his slave any way he thought fit. And how -was he going to know dat it would kill him? Well, so dey had it back and -forth, and finally de jury said 'it was murder in de second degree.' -Lor! if dat ar's being murdered in de second degree, I like to know what -de fust is! You see, dey said he must go to de penitentiary for five -years. But, laws, he didn't, 'cause dere's ways enough o' getting out of -dese yer tings; 'cause he took it up to de upper court, and dey said -'dat it had been settled dat dere couldn't be noting done agin a mas'r -fur no kind of beating or 'busing of der own slaves. Dat de master must -be protected, even if 'twas ever so cruel.'<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>"So, now, brethren, what do you think of dat ar?"</p> - -<p>At this moment another person entered the circle. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[Pg 482]</a></span> was a general -start of surprise and apprehension, which immediately gave place to a -movement of satisfaction and congratulation.</p> - -<p>"You have come, have you, Henry?" said Harry.</p> - -<p>But at this moment the other turned his face full to the torch-light, -and Harry was struck with its ghastly expression.</p> - -<p>"For God's sake, what's the matter, Henry? Where's Hark?"</p> - -<p>"Dead!" said the other.</p> - -<p>As one struck with a pistol-shot leaps in the air, Harry bounded, with a -cry, from the ground.</p> - -<p>"Dead?" he echoed.</p> - -<p>"Yes, dead, at last! Dey's all last night a killing of him."</p> - -<p>"I thought so! Oh, I was afraid of it!" said Harry. "Oh, Hark! Hark! -Hark! God do so to me, and more also, if I forget this!"</p> - -<p>The thrill of a present interest drew every one around the narrator, who -proceeded to tell how "Hark having been too late on his return to the -plantation, had incurred the suspicion of being in communication with -Harry. How Hokum, Tom Gordon, and two of his drunken associates, had -gathered together to examine him by scourging. How his shrieks the night -before had chased sleep from every hut of the plantation. How he died, -and gave no sign." When he was through, there was dead and awful -silence.</p> - -<p>Dred, who had been sitting, during most of these narrations, bowed, with -his head between his knees, groaning within himself, like one who is -wrestling with repressed feeling, now rose, and, solemnly laying his -hand on the mound, said:—</p> - -<p>"<i>Jegar Sahadutha!</i> The God of their fathers judge between us! If they -had a right to rise up for their oppressions, shall they condemn us? For -judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off! Truth -is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter! Yea, truth faileth, -and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey! They are not -ashamed, neither can they blush! They declare their sin as Sodom, and -hide it not! The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth -himself! Therefore, forgive them not, saith the Lord!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[Pg 483]</a></span></p><p>Dred paused a moment, and stood with his hands uplifted. As a -thunder-cloud trembles and rolls, shaking with gathering electric fire, -so his dark figure seemed to dilate and quiver with the force of mighty -emotions. He seemed, at the moment, some awful form, framed to symbolize -to human eye the energy of that avenging justice which all nature -shudderingly declares.</p> - -<p>He trembled, his hands quivered, drops of perspiration rolled down his -face, his gloomy eyes dilated with an unutterable volume of emotion. At -last the words heaved themselves up in deep chest-tones; resembling the -wild, hollow wail of a wounded lion, finding vent in language to him so -familiar, that it rolled from his tongue in a spontaneous torrent, as if -he had received their first inspiration.</p> - -<p>"Hear ye the word of the Lord against this people! The harvest groweth -ripe! The press is full! The vats overflow! Behold, saith the -Lord—behold, saith the Lord, I will gather all nations, and bring them -down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them for my -people, whom they have scattered among the nations! Woe unto them, for -they have cast lots for my people, and given a boy for a harlot, and -sold a girl for wine, that they may drink! For three transgressions of -Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, saith -the Lord! Because they sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for -a pair of shoes! They pant after the dust on the head of the poor, and -turn aside the way of the meek! And a man and his father will go in unto -the same maid, to profane my holy name! Behold, saith the Lord, I am -pressed under you, as a cart is pressed full of sheaves!</p> - -<p>"The burden of the beasts of the South! The land of trouble and anguish, -from whence cometh the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery, flying -serpent! Go write it upon a table, and note it in a book, that it may be -for time to come, for ever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, -lying children—children that will not hear the law of the Lord! Which -say to the seers, See not! Prophesy not unto us right things! Speak unto -us smooth things! Prophesy deceits! Wherefore, thus saith the Holy one -of Israel, Because ye despise his word, and trust in oppression, and -perverseness, and stay thereon; therefore, this iniquity shall be to you -as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[Pg 484]</a></span> a high wall whose breaking -cometh suddenly in an instant! And he shall break it as the breaking of -a potter's vessel!"</p> - -<p>Pausing for a moment, he stood with his hands tightly clasped before -him, leaning forward, looking into the distance. At last, with the -action and energy of one who beholds a triumphant reality, he broke -forth:—</p> - -<p>"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments, from Bozrah? -This, that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of -his strength?"</p> - -<p>He seemed to listen, and, as if he had caught an answer, he repeated:—</p> - -<p>"I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save!"</p> - -<p>"Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that -treadeth in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of -the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in my anger, -and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled on my -garments, and I will stain all my raiment! For the day of vengeance is -in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come! And I looked, and -there was none to help! And I wondered that there was none to uphold! -Therefore mine own arm brought salvation, and my fury it upheld me! For -I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my -fury!"</p> - -<p>Gradually the light faded from his face. His arms fell. He stood a few -moments with his head bowed down on his breast. Yet the spell of his -emotion held every one silent. At last, stretching out his hand, he -broke forth in passionate prayer:</p> - -<p>"How long, O Lord, how long? Awake! Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Why -withdrawest thou thy hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom! We see not the -sign! There is no more any prophet, neither any among us, that knoweth -how long! Wilt thou hold thy peace forever? Behold the blood of the poor -crieth unto thee! Behold how they hunt for our lives! Behold how they -pervert justice, and take away the key of knowledge! They enter not in -themselves, and those that are entering in they hinder! Behold our wives -taken for a prey! Behold our daughters sold to be harlots! Art thou a -God that judgest on the earth? Wilt thou not avenge thine own elect, -that cry unto thee day and night? Behold the scorning of them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[Pg 485]</a></span> that are -at ease, and the contempt of the proud! Behold how they speak wickedly -concerning oppression! They set their mouth against the heavens, and -their tongue walketh through the earth! Wilt thou hold thy peace for all -these things, and afflict us very sore?"</p> - -<p>The energy of the emotion which had sustained him appeared gradually to -have exhausted itself. And, after standing silent for a few moments, he -seemed to gather himself together as a man waking out of a trance, and, -turning to the excited circle around him, he motioned them to sit down. -When he spoke to them in his ordinary tone:—</p> - -<p>"Brethren," he said, "the vision is sealed up, and the token is not yet -come! The Lamb still beareth the yoke of their iniquities; there be -prayers in the golden censers which go up like a cloud! And there is -silence in heaven for the space of half an hour! But hold yourselves in -waiting, for the day cometh! And what shall be the end thereof?"</p> - -<p>A deep voice answered Dred. It was that of Hannibal.</p> - -<p>"We will reward them as they have rewarded us! In the cup that they have -filled to us we will measure to them again!"</p> - -<p>"God forbid," said Dred, "that the elect of the Lord should do that! -When the Lord saith unto us, Smite, then will we smite! We will not -torment them with the scourge and fire, nor defile their women, as they -have done with ours! But we will slay them utterly, and consume them -from off the face of the earth!"</p> - -<p>At this moment the whole circle were startled by the sound of a voice -which seemed to proceed deep in from among the trees, singing, in a wild -and mournful tone, the familiar words of a hymn:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,</div> -<div class="i1">And did my Sovereign die?</div> -<div>Would he devote that sacred head</div> -<div class="i1">For such a wretch as I?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>There was a dead silence as the voice approached still nearer, and the -chorus was borne upon the night air:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Oh, the Lamb, the loving Lamb,</div> -<div class="i1">The Lamb of Calvary!</div> -<div>The Lamb that was slain, but liveth again,</div> -<div class="i1">To intercede for me!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[Pg 486]</a></span></p><p>And as the last two lines were sung, Milly emerged and stood in the -centre of the group. When Dred saw her, he gave a kind of groan, and -said, putting his hand out before his face:—</p> - -<p>"Woman, thy prayers withstand me!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, brethren," said Milly, "I mistrusted of yer councils, and I's been -praying de Lord for you. Oh, brethren, behold de Lamb of God! If dere -must come a day of vengeance, pray not to be in it! It's de Lord's -strange work. Oh, brethren, is we de fust dat's been took to de -judgment-seat? dat's been scourged, and died in torments? Oh, brethren, -who did it afore us? Didn't He hang bleeding three hours, when dey -mocked Him, and gave Him vinegar? Didn't He sweat great drops o' blood -in de garden?"</p> - -<p>And Milly sang again, words so familiar to many of them, that, -involuntarily, several voices joined her:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Agonizing in the garden,</div> -<div class="i1">On the ground your Maker lies;</div> -<div>On the bloody tree behold Him,</div> -<div class="i1">Hear Him cry, before He dies,</div> -<div class="i1">It is finished! Sinners, will not this suffice?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Oh, won't it suffice, brethren!" she said. "If de Lord could bear all -dat, and love us yet, shan't we? Oh, brethren, dere's a better way. I's -been whar you be. I's been in de wilderness! Yes, I's heard de sound of -dat ar trumpet! Oh, brethren! brethren! dere was blackness and darkness -dere! But I's come to Jesus, de Mediator of de new covenant, and de -blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better tings than dat of Abel. -Hasn't <i>I</i> suffered? My heart has been broke over and over for every -child de Lord give me! And, when dey sold my poor Alfred, and shot him, -and buried him like a dog, oh, but didn't my heart burn? Oh, how I hated -her dat sold him! I felt like I'd kill her! I felt like I'd be glad to -see mischief come on her children! But, brethren, de Lord turned and -looked upon me like he done on Peter. I saw him with de crown o' thorns -on his head, bleeding, bleeding, and I broke down and forgave her. And -de Lord turned her heart, and he was our peace. He broke down de middle -wall 'tween us, and we come together, two poor sinners, to de foot of de -cross. De Lord he judged her poor soul! She wan't let off from her sins. -Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[Pg 487]</a></span> chil'en growed up to be a plague and a curse to her! Dey broke her -heart! Oh, she was saved by fire—but, bress de Lord, she <i>was</i> saved! -She died with her poor head on my arm—she dat had broke my heart! Wan't -dat better dan if I'd killed her? Oh, brethren, pray de Lord to give 'em -repentance! Leave de vengeance to him. Vengeance is mine—I will repay, -saith de Lord. Like he loved us when we was enemies, love yer enemies!"</p> - -<p>A dead silence followed this appeal. The key-note of another harmony had -been struck. At last Dred rose up solemnly:—</p> - -<p>"Woman, thy prayers have prevailed for this time!" he said. "The hour is -not yet come!"</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Lest any of our readers should think the dark witness who -is speaking mistaken in his hearing, we will quote here the words which -stand on the Virginia law records, in reference to this very case. -</p><p> -"It has been decided by this court, in Turner's case, that the owner of -a slave, for the <i>malicious, cruel, and excessive beating of his own -slave, cannot be indicted</i>.... It is the policy of the law in respect to -the relation of the master and slave and for the sake of securing proper -subordination and obedience on the part of the slave, to <i>protect the -master from prosecution even if the whipping and punishment be -malicious, cruel, and excessive</i>."—7 <i>Grattan</i>, 673, 1851, <i>Souther vs. -Commonwealth</i>.</p> - -<p>Any one who has sufficiently strong nerves to peruse the records of this -trial will see the effect of the slave system on the moral sensibilities -of educated men.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[Pg 488]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLVI.</span> <span class="smaller">FRANK RUSSEL'S OPINIONS.</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton was still pursuing the object which he had undertaken. He -determined to petition the legislature to grant to the slave the right -of seeking legal redress in cases of injury; and, as a necessary to -this, the right of bearing testimony in legal action. As Frank Russel -was candidate for the next state legislature, he visited him for the -purpose of getting him to present such a petition.</p> - -<p>Our readers will look in on the scene, in a small retired back room of -Frank's office, where his bachelor establishment as yet was kept. -Clayton had been giving him an earnest account of his plans and designs.</p> - -<p>"The only safe way of gradual emancipation," said Clayton, "is the -reforming of law; and the beginning of all legal reform must of course -be giving the slave legal personality. It's of no use to enact laws for -his protection in his family state, or in any other condition, till we -open to him an avenue through which, if they are violated, his -grievances can be heard, and can be proved. A thousand laws for his -comfort, without this, are only a dead letter."</p> - -<p>"I know it," said Frank Russel; "there never was anything under heaven -so atrocious as our slave-code. It's a bottomless pit of oppression. -Nobody knows it so well as we lawyers. But, then, Clayton, it's quite -another thing what's to be done about it."</p> - -<p>"Why, I think it's very plain what's to be done," said Clayton. "Go -right forward and enlighten the community. Get the law reformed. That's -what I have taken for my work; and, Frank, you must help me."</p> - -<p>"Hum!" said Frank. "Now, the fact is, Clayton, if I wore a stiff white -neckcloth, and had a <i>D. D.</i> to my name, I should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[Pg 489]</a></span> tell you that the -interests of Zion stood in the way, and that it was my duty to preserve -my influence, for the sake of being able to take care of the Lord's -affairs. But, as I am not so fortunate, I must just say, without further -preface, that it won't do for me to compromise Frank Russel's interests. -Clayton, I can't afford it—that's just it. It won't do. You see, our -party can't take up that kind of thing. It would be just setting up a -fort from which our enemies could fire on us at their leisure. If I go -in to the legislature, I have to go in by my party. I have to represent -my party, and, of course, I can't afford to do anything that will -compromise them."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Frank," said Clayton, seriously and soberly, "are you going -to put your neck into such a noose as this, to be led about all your -life long—the bond-slave of a party?"</p> - -<p>"Not I, by a good deal!" said Russel. "The noose will change ends, one -of these days, and I'll drag the party. But we must all stoop to -conquer, at first."</p> - -<p>"And do you really propose nothing more to yourself than how to rise in -the world?" said Clayton. "Isn't there any great and good work that has -beauty for you! Isn't there anything in heroism and self-sacrifice?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Russel, after a short pause, "may be there is; but, after -all, Clayton, <i>is</i> there? The world looks to me like a confounded -humbug, a great hoax, and everybody is going in for grub; and, I say, -hang it all, why shouldn't I have some of the grub, as well as the -rest?"</p> - -<p>"Man shall not live by bread alone!" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Bread's a pretty good thing, though, after all," said Frank shrugging -his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"But," said Clayton, "Frank, I am in earnest, and you've got to be. I -want you to go with me down to the depths of your soul, where the water -is still, and talk to me on honor. This kind of half-joking way that you -have isn't a good sign, Frank; it's too old for you. A man that makes a -joke of everything at your age, what will he do before he is fifty? Now, -Frank, you do know that this system of slavery, if we don't reform it, -will eat out this country like a cancer."</p> - -<p>"I know it," said Frank. "For that matter, it has eaten into us pretty -well."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[Pg 490]</a></span></p><p>"Now," said Clayton, "if for nothing else, if we had no feeling of -humanity for the slave, we must do something for the sake of the whites, -for this is carrying us back into barbarism, as fast as we can go. -Virginia has been ruined by it—run all down. North Carolina, I believe, -has the unenviable notoriety of being the most ignorant and poorest -state in the Union. I don't believe there's any country in old, despotic -Europe where the poor are more miserable, vicious, and degraded, than -they are in our slave states. And it's depopulating us; our men of -ability, in the lower classes, who want to be respectable, won't stand -it. They will go off to some state where things <i>move on</i>. Hundreds and -hundreds move out of North Carolina, every year, to the Western States. -And it's all this unnatural organization of society that does it. We -have got to contemplate some mode of abolishing this evil. We have got -to take the first step towards progress, some time, or we ourselves are -all undone."</p> - -<p>"Clayton," said Frank, in a tone now quite as serious as his own, "I -tell you, as a solemn fact, that we can't do it. Those among us who have -got the power in their hands are determined to keep it, and they are -wide awake. They don't mean to let the <i>first</i> step be taken, because -they don't mean to lay down their power. The three fifths vote that they -get by it is a thing they won't part with. They'll die first. Why, just -look at it! There is at least twenty-four millions of property held in -this way. What do you suppose these men care about the poor whites, and -the ruin of the state, and all that? The poor whites may go to the -devil, for all them; and as for the ruin of the state, it won't come in -<i>their</i> day; and 'after us the deluge,' you know. That's the talk! These -men are our masters; they are yours; they are mine; they are masters of -everybody in these United States. They can crack their whips over the -head of any statesman or clergyman, from Maine to New Orleans, that -disputes their will. They govern the country. Army, navy, treasury, -church, state, everything is theirs, and whoever is going to get up must -go up on their ladder. There isn't any other ladder. There isn't an -interest, not a body of men, in these whole United States, that they -can't control; and I tell you, Clayton, you might as well throw ashes -into the teeth of the north wind, as undertake to fight their influence. -Now, if there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[Pg 491]</a></span> was any hope of doing any good by this, if there was the -least prospect of succeeding, why, I'd join in with you; but there -isn't. The thing is a fixed fact, and why shouldn't I climb up on it, as -well as everybody else?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing is fixed," said Clayton, "that isn't fixed in right. God and -nature fight against evil."</p> - -<p>"They do, I suppose; but it's a long campaign," said Frank, "and I must -be on the side that will win while I'm alive. Now, Clayton, to you I -always speak the truth; I won't humbug you. I worship <i>success</i>. I am of -Frederick the Great's creed, 'that Providence goes with the strongest -battalions.'</p> - -<p>"I wasn't made for defeat. I must have power. The preservation of this -system, whole and entire, is to be the policy of the leaders of this -generation. The fact is, they stand where it <i>must</i> be their policy. -They <i>must</i> spread it over the whole territory. They <i>must</i> get the -balance of power in the country, to build themselves up against the -public opinion of mankind.</p> - -<p>"Why, Clayton, moral sentiment, as you call it, is a humbug! The whole -world acquiesces in <i>what goes</i>—they always have. There is a great -outcry about slavery now, but let it <i>succeed</i>, and there won't be. When -they can outvote the Northern States, they'll put <i>them</i> down. They have -kept them subservient by intrigue so far, and by and by they'll have the -strength to put them down by force. England makes a fuss now; but let -them only succeed, and she'll be civil as a sheep. Of course, men always -make a fuss about injustice, when they have nothing to gain by holding -their tongues; but England's mouth will be stopped with cotton—you'll -see it. They love trade, and hate war. And so the fuss of anti-slavery -will die out in the world. Now, when you see what a poor hoax human -nature is, what's the use of bothering? The whole race together aren't -worth a button, Clayton, and self-sacrifice for such fools is a humbug. -That's my programme!"</p> - -<p>"Well, Frank, you have made a clean breast; so will I. The human race, -as you say, may be a humbug, but it's every man's duty to know for -himself that <i>he</i> isn't one. <i>I</i> am not. I do <i>not</i> worship success, and -<i>will</i> not. And if a cause is a right and honorable one, I will labor in -it till I die, whether there is any chance of succeeding or not."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[Pg 492]</a></span></p><p>"Well, now," said Frank Russel, "I dare say it's so. I respect your -sort of folks; you form an agreeable heroic poem, with which one can -amuse the tediousness of life. I suppose it won't do you any good to -tell you that you are getting immensely unpopular, with what you are -doing."</p> - -<p>"No," said Clayton, "it won't."</p> - -<p>"I am really afraid," said Russel, "that they'll mob you, some of these -bright days."</p> - -<p>"Very well," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course. I knew it would be very well; but say, Clayton, what do -you want to get up a petition on <i>that</i> point for? Why don't you get up -one to prevent the separation of families? There's been such a muss made -about that in Europe, and all round the world, that it's rather the -fashion to move about that a little. Politicians like to appear to -intend to begin to do something about it. It has a pleasing effect, and -gives the northern editors and ministers something to say, as an apology -for our sins. Besides, there are a good many simple-hearted folks, who -don't see very deep into things, that really think it possible to do -something effective on this subject. If you get up a petition for that, -you might take the tide with you; and I'd do something about it, -myself."</p> - -<p>"You know very well, Frank, for I told you, that it's no use to pass -laws for that, without giving the slaves power to sue or give evidence, -in case of violation. The improvement I propose touches the root of the -matter."</p> - -<p>"That's the fact—it surely does!" said Russel. "And, for that very -reason, you'll never carry it. Now, Clayton, I just want to ask you one -question. Can you fight? <i>Will</i> you fight? Will you wear a bowie-knife -and pistol, and shoot every fellow down that comes at you?"</p> - -<p>"Why, no, of course, Frank. You know that I never was a fighting man. -Such brute ways are not to my taste."</p> - -<p>"Then, my dear sir, you shouldn't set up for a reformer in Southern -States. Now, I'll tell you one thing, Clayton, that I've heard. You made -some remarks at a public meeting, up at E., that have staked a mad-dog -cry, which I suppose came from Tom Gordon. See here; have you noticed -this article in the <i>Trumpet of Liberty</i>?" said he, looking over a -confused<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[Pg 493]</a></span> stack of papers on his table. "Where's the article? Oh, here -it is."</p> - -<p>At the same time he handed Clayton a sheet bearing the motto "Liberty -and union, now and forever, one and inseparable," and pointed to an -article headed</p> - -<blockquote><p class="center">"<span class="smcap">Covert Abolitionism! Citizens, Beware!</span></p> - -<p>"We were present, a few evenings ago, at the closing speech -delivered before the Washington Agricultural Society, in the course -of which the speaker, Mr. Edward Clayton, gratuitously wandered -away from his subject to make inflammatory and seditious comments -on the state of the laws which regulate our negro population. It is -time for the friends of our institutions to be awake. Such remarks -dropped in the ear of a restless and ignorant population will be a -fruitful source of sedition and insurrection. This young man is -supposed to be infected with the virus of northern abolitionists. -We cannot too narrowly watch the course of such individuals; for -the only price at which we can maintain liberty is eternal -vigilance. Mr. Clayton belongs to one of our oldest and most -respected families, which makes his conduct the more inexcusable."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Clayton perused this with a quiet smile, which was usual with him.</p> - -<p>"The hand of Joab is in that thing," said Frank Russel.</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I said very little," said Clayton. "I was only showing the -advantage to our agriculture of a higher tone of moral feeling among our -laborers, which, of course, led me to speak of the state of the law -regulating them. I said nothing but what everybody knows."</p> - -<p>"But, don't you know, Clayton," said Russel, "that if a fellow has an -enemy—anybody bearing him the least ill-will—that he puts a tremendous -power in his hands by making such remarks? Why, our common people are so -ignorant that they are in the hands of anybody who wants to use them. -They are just like a swarm of bees; you can manage them by beating on a -tin pan. And Tom Gordon has got the tin pan now, I fancy. Tom intends to -be a swell. He is a born bully, and he'll lead a rabble. And so you must -take care. Your family is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[Pg 494]</a></span>considerable for you; but, after all, it -won't stand you in stead for everything. Who have you got to back you? -Who have you talked with?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "I have talked with some of the ministry"—</p> - -<p>"And, of course," said Frank, "you found that the leadings of Providence -didn't indicate that <i>they</i> are to be martyrs! You have their prayers -<i>in secret</i>, I presume; and if you ever get the cause on the upper -hill-side, they'll come out and preach a sermon for you. Now, Clayton, -I'll tell you what I'll do. If Tom Gordon attacks you, I'll pick a -quarrel with him, and shoot him right off the reel. My stomach isn't -nice about those matters, and that sort of thing won't compromise me -with my party."</p> - -<p>"Thank you," said Clayton, "I shall not trouble you."</p> - -<p>"My dear fellow," said Russel, "you philosophers are very much mistaken -about the use of carnal weapons. As long as you wrestle with flesh and -blood, you had better use fleshly means. At any rate, a gentlemanly -brace of pistols won't hurt you; and, in fact, Clayton, I am serious. -You <i>must</i> wear pistols,—there are no two ways about it. Because, if -these fellows know that a man wears pistols and will use them, it keeps -them off. They have an objection to being shot, as this is all the world -they are likely to have. And I think, Clayton, you can fire off a pistol -in as edifying and dignified a manner, as you can say a grace on proper -occasions. The fact is, before long, there will be a row kicked up. I'm -pretty sure of it. Tom Gordon is a deeper fellow than you'd think, and -he has booked himself for Congress; and he means to go in on the -thunder-and-blazes principle, which will give him the vote of all the -rabble. He'll go into Congress to do the fighting and slashing. There -always must be a bully or two there, you know, to knock down fellows -that you can't settle any other way. And nothing would suit him better, -to get his name up, than heading a crusade against an abolitionist."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "if it's come to that, that we can't speak and -discuss freely in our own state, where are we?"</p> - -<p>"Where are we, my dear fellow? Why, I know where we are; and if you -don't, it's time you did. Discuss freely?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[Pg 495]</a></span> Certainly we can, on <i>one</i> -side of the question; or on both sides of any other question than this. -But this you can't discuss freely, and they can't afford to let you, as -long as they mean to keep their power. Do you suppose they are going to -let these poor devils, whites, get their bandages off their eyes, that -make them so easy to lead now? There would be a pretty bill to pay, if -they did! Just now, these fellows are in as safe and comfortable a -condition for use as a party could desire; because they have got votes, -and we have the guiding of them. And they rage, and swear, and tear, for -our institutions, because they are fools, and don't know what hurts -them. Then, there's the niggers. Those fellows are deep. They have as -long ears as little pitchers, and they are such a sort of fussy set, -that whatever is going on in the community is always in their mouths, -and so comes up that old fear of insurrection. That's the awful word, -Clayton! <i>That</i> lies at the bottom of a good many things in our state, -more than we choose to let on. These negroes are a black well; you never -know what's at the bottom."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "the only way, the only safeguard to prevent this -is reform. They are a patient set, and will bear a great while; and if -they only see that anything is being done, it will be an effectual -prevention. If you want insurrection, the only way is to shut down the -escape-valve; for, will ye nill ye, the steam must rise. You see, in -this day, minds <i>will grow</i>. They <i>are</i> growing. There's no help for it, -and there's no force like the force of growth. I have seen a rock split -in two by the growing of an elm-tree that wanted light and air, and -would make its way up through it. Look at all the aristocracies of -Europe. They have gone down under this force. Only one has stood—that -of England. And how came that to stand? Because it knew when to <i>yield</i>; -because it never confined discussion: because it gave way gracefully -before the growing force of the people. That's the reason it stands -to-day, while the aristocracy of France has been blown to atoms."</p> - -<p>"My dear fellow," said Russel, "this is all very true and convincing, no -doubt; but you won't make <i>our</i> aristocracy believe it. They have -mounted the lightning, and they are going to ride it whip and spur. They -are going to annex Cuba and the Sandwich Islands, and the Lord knows -what, and have a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[Pg 496]</a></span> great and splendid slave-holding empire. And the north -is going to be what Greece was to Rome. We shall govern it, and it will -attend to the arts of life for us. The south understands governing. We -are trained to rule from the cradle. We have leisure to rule. We have -nothing else to do. The free states have their factories, and their -warehouses, and their schools, and their internal improvements, to take -up their minds; and, if we are careful, and don't tell them too plain -where we are taking them, they'll never know it till they get there."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Clayton, "there's one element of force that you've left out -in your calculation."</p> - -<p>"And what's that?" said Russel.</p> - -<p>"God," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>"I don't know anything about him," said Russel.</p> - -<p>"You may have occasion to learn, one of these days," said Clayton. "I -believe he is alive yet."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[Pg 497]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLVII.</span> <span class="smaller">TOM GORDON'S PLANS.</span></h2> - -<p>Tom Gordon, in the mean while, had commenced ruling his paternal -plantation in a manner very different from the former indulgent system. -His habits of reckless and boundless extravagance, and utter -heedlessness, caused his cravings for money to be absolutely insatiable; -and, within legal limits, he had as little care how it was come by as a -highway robber. It is to be remarked that Tom Gordon was a worse -slave-holder and master from the very facts of certain desirable -qualities in his mental constitution; for, as good wine makes the -strongest vinegar, so fine natures perverted make the worse vice. Tom -had naturally a perfectly clear, perceptive mind, and an energetic, -prompt temperament. It was impossible for him, as many do, to -sophisticate and delude himself with false views. He marched up to evil -boldly, and with his eyes open. He had very little regard for public -opinion, particularly the opinion of conscientious and scrupulous -people. So he carried his purposes, it was very little matter to him -what any one thought of them or him; they might complain till they were -tired.</p> - -<p>After Clayton had left the place, he often pondered the dying words of -Nina, "that he should care for her people; that he should tell Tom to be -kind to them." There was such an impassable gulf between the two -characters, that it seemed impossible that any peaceable communication -should pass between them. Clayton thought within himself that it was -utterly hopeless to expect any good arising from the sending of Nina's -last message. But the subject haunted him. Had he any right to withhold -it? Was it not his duty to try every measure, however apparently -hopeless?</p> - -<p>Under the impulse of this feeling, he one day sat down and wrote to Tom -Gordon an account, worded with the utmost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[Pg 498]</a></span>simplicity, of the last hours -of his sister's life, hoping that he might read it, and thus, if nothing -more, his own conscience be absolved.</p> - -<p>Death and the grave, it is true, have sacred prerogatives, and it is -often in their power to awaken a love which did not appear in life. -There are few so hard as not to be touched by the record of the last -hours of those with whom they have stood in intimate relations. A great -moralist says, "There are few things not purely evil of which we can -say, without emotion, this is the last."</p> - -<p>The letter was brought to Tom Gordon one evening when, for a wonder, he -was by himself; his associates being off on an excursion, while he was -detained at home by a temporary illness. He read it over, therefore, -with some attention. He was of too positive a character, however, too -keenly percipient, not to feel immediate pain in view of it. A man of -another nature might have melted in tears over it, indulged in the -luxury of sentimental grief, and derived some comfort, from the -exercise, to go on in ways of sin. Not so with Tom Gordon. He could not -afford to indulge in anything that roused his moral nature. He was doing -wrong of set purpose, with defiant energy; and his only way of keeping -his conscience quiet was to maintain about him such a constant tumult of -excitement as should drown reflection. He could not afford a -<i>tête-à-tête</i> conversation with his conscience;—having resolved, once -for all, to go on in his own wicked way, serving the flesh and the -devil, he had to watch against anything that might occasion -uncomfortable conflict in his mind. He knew very well, lost man as he -was, that there was something sweet and pure, high and noble, against -which he was contending; and the letter was only like a torch, which a -fair angel might hold up, shining into the filthy lair of a demon. He -could not bear the light; and he had no sooner read the note than he -cast it into the fire, and rang violently for a hot brandy-toddy, and a -fresh case of cigars. The devil's last, best artifice to rivet the -fetters of his captives is the opportunity which these stimulants give -them to command insanity at will.</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon was taken to bed drunk; and, if a sorrowful guardian spirit -hovered over him as he read the letter, he did not hear the dejected -rustle of its retreating wings. The next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[Pg 499]</a></span> day nothing was left, only a -more decided antipathy to Clayton, for having occasioned him so -disagreeable a sensation.</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon, on the whole, was not unpopular in his vicinity. He -determined to rule them all, and he did. All that uncertain, -uninstructed, vagrant population, which abound in slave states, were at -his nod and beck. They were his tools—prompt to aid him in any of his -purposes, and convenient to execute vengeance on his adversaries. Tom -was a determined slave-holder. He had ability enough to see the whole -bearings of that subject, from the beginning to the end; and he was -determined that, while he lived, the first stone should never be pulled -from the edifice in his state. He was a formidable adversary, because -what he wanted in cultivation he made up in unscrupulous energy; and, -where he might have failed in argument, he could conquer by the cudgel -and the bludgeon. He was, as Frank Russel had supposed, the author of -the paragraph which had appeared in the <i>Trumpet of Freedom</i>, which had -already had its effect in awakening public suspicion.</p> - -<p>But what stung him to frenzy, when he thought of it, was, that every -effort which he had hitherto made to recover possession of Harry had -failed. In vain he had sent out hunters and dogs. The swamp had been -tracked in vain. He boiled and burned with fierce tides of passion, as -he thought of him in his security defying his power.</p> - -<p>Some vague rumors had fallen upon his ear of the existence, in the -swamp, of a negro conspirator, of great energy and power, whose lair had -never yet been discovered; and he determined that he would raise heaven -and earth to find him. He began to suspect that there was, somehow, -understanding and communication between Harry and those who were left on -the plantation, and he determined to detect it. This led to the scene of -cruelty and tyranny to which we made allusion in a former chapter. The -mangled body was buried, and Tom felt neither remorse nor shame. Why -should he, protected by the express words of legal decision? He had only -met with an accident in the exercise of his lawful power on a slave in -the act of rebellion.</p> - -<p>"The fact is, Kite," he said, to his boon-companion, Theophilus Kite, as -they were one day sitting together, "I'm bound to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[Pg 500]</a></span> have that fellow. I'm -going to publish a proclamation of outlawry, and offer a reward for his -head. That will bring it in, I'm thinking. I'll put it up to a handsome -figure, for that will be better than nothing."</p> - -<p>"Pity you couldn't catch him alive," said Kite, "and make an example of -him!"</p> - -<p>"I know it," said Tom. "I'd take him the long way round, that I would! -That fellow has been an eye-sore to me ever since I was a boy. I believe -all the devils that are in me are up about him."</p> - -<p>"Tom," said Kite, "you've got the devil in you—no mistake!"</p> - -<p>"To be sure I have," said Tom. "I only want a chance to express him. I -wish I could get hold of the fellow's wife! I could make him wince -there, I guess. I'll get her, too, one of these days! But, now, Kite, -I'll tell you, the fact is, somebody round here is in league with him. -They know about him, I know they do. There's that squeaky, leathery, -long-nosed Skinflint, trades with the niggers in the swamp—I know he -does! But he is a double and twisted liar, and you can't get anything -out of him. One of these days I'll burn up that old den of his, and -shoot him, if he don't look out! Jim Stokes told me that he slept down -there, one night, when he was tracking, and that he heard Skinflint -talking with somebody between twelve and one o'clock; and he looked out, -and saw him selling powder to a nigger."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that couldn't be Harry," said Kite.</p> - -<p>"No, but it's one of the gang that he is in with. And, then, there's -that Hark. Jim says that he saw him talking,—giving a letter, that he -got out of the post-office, to a man that rode off towards the woods. I -thought we'd have the truth out of his old hide! But he didn't hold out -as I thought he would."</p> - -<p>"Hokum don't understand his business," said Kite. "He shouldn't have -used him up so fast."</p> - -<p>"Hokum is a bother," said Tom, "like all the rest of those fellows! Hark -was a desperately-resolute fellow, and it's well enough he is dead, -because he was getting sullen, and making the others rebellious. Hokum, -you see, had taken a fancy to his wife, and Hark was jealous."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[Pg 501]</a></span></p><p>"Quite a romance!" said Kite, laughing.</p> - -<p>"And now I'll tell you another thing," said Tom, "that I'm bound to -reform. There's a canting, sneaking, dribbling, whining old priest, -that's ravaging these parts and getting up a muss among people about the -abuses of the slaves; and I'm not going to have it. I'm going to shut up -his mouth. I shall inform him, pretty succinctly, that, if he does much -more in this region, he'll be illustrated with a coat of -tar-and-feathers."</p> - -<p>"Good for you!" said Kite.</p> - -<p>"Now," said Tom, "I understand that to-night he is going to have a -general snivelling season in the old log church, out on the cross run, -and they are going to form a church on anti-slavery principles. -Contemptible whelps! Not a copper to bless themselves with! Dirty, -sweaty, greasy mechanics, with their spawn of children! Think of the -impudence of their getting together and passing anti-slavery -resolutions, and resolving they won't admit slave-holders to the -communion! I have a great mind to let them try the dodge, once! By -George, if I wouldn't walk up and take their bread and wine, and pitch -it to thunder!"</p> - -<p>"Are they really going to form such a church?"</p> - -<p>"That's the talk," said Tom. "But they'll find they have reckoned -without their host, I fancy! You see, I just tipped Jim Stokes the wink. -Says I, 'Jim, don't you think they'll want you to help the music there, -to-night?' Jim took at once; and he said he would be on the ground with -a dog or two, and some old tin pans. Oh, we shall get them up an -orchestra, I promise you! And some of our set are going over to see the -fun. There's Bill Akers, and Bob Story, and Sim Dexter, will be over -here to dinner, and towards evening we'll ride over."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[Pg 502]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLVIII.</span> <span class="smaller">LYNCH LAW.</span></h2> - -<p>The rays of the afternoon sun were shining through the fringy needles of -the pines. The sound of the woodpecker reverberated through the -stillness of the forest, answering to thousand woodland notes. Suddenly, -along the distant path, a voice is heard singing, and the sound comes -strangely on the ear through the dreamy stillness:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Jesus Christ has lived and died—</div> -<div>What is all the world beside?</div> -<div>This to know is all I need,</div> -<div>This to know is life indeed.</div> -<div>Other wisdom seek I none—</div> -<div>Teach me this, and this alone:</div> -<div>Christ for me has lived and died,</div> -<div>Christ for me was crucified."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And, as the last lines fall upon the ear, a figure, riding slowly on -horseback, comes round the bend of the forest path. It is father -Dickson. It was the habit of this good man, much of whose life was spent -in solitary journeyings, to use the forest arches for that purpose for -which they seemed so well designed, as a great cathedral of prayer and -praise. He was riding with the reins loose over the horse's neck, and a -pocket-Bible in his hand. Occasionally he broke out into snatches of -song, like the one which we heard him singing a few moments ago. As he -rides along now, he seems absorbed in mental prayer. Father Dickson, in -truth, had cause to pray. The plainness of speech which he felt bound to -use had drawn down upon him opposition and opprobrium, and alienated -some of his best friends. The support which many had been willing to -contribute to his poverty was entirely withdrawn. His wife, in feeble -health, was toiling daily beyond her strength; and hunger had looked in -at the door, but each day prayer had driven it away. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[Pg 503]</a></span>petition, -"Give us <span class="smaller">THIS DAY</span> our daily bread," had not yet failed to bring an -answer, but there was no bread for to-morrow. Many friendly advisers had -told him that, if he would relinquish a futile and useless undertaking, -he should have enough and to spare. He had been conferred with by the -elders in a vacant church, in the town of E., who said to him, "We enjoy -your preaching when you let alone controverted topics; and if you'll -agree to confine yourself solely to the Gospel, and say nothing on any -of the delicate and exciting subjects of the day, we shall rejoice in -your ministrations." They pleaded with him his poverty, and the poor -health of his wife, and the necessities of his children; but he -answered, "'Man shall not live by bread alone.' God is able to feed me, -and he will do it." They went away, saying that he was a fool, that he -was crazy. He was not the first whose brethren had said, "He is beside himself."</p> - -<p>As he rode along through the forest paths, he talked of his wants to his -Master. "Thou knowest," he said, "how I suffer. Thou knowest how feeble -my poor wife is, and how it distresses us both to have our children grow -up without education. We cast ourselves on thee. Let us not deny thee; -let us not betray thee. Thou hadst not where to lay thy head; let us not -murmur. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his -lord." And then he sang:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Jesus, I my cross have taken,</div> -<div class="i1">All to leave and follow thee;</div> -<div>Naked, poor, despised, forsaken,</div> -<div class="i1">Thou my all henceforth shalt be!</div> -<div>Let the world despise and leave me—</div> -<div class="i1">They have left my Saviour too;</div> -<div>Human looks and words deceive me—</div> -<div class="i1">Thou art not, like them, untrue!</div> -<div>And, while thou shalt smile upon me,</div> -<div class="i1">God of wisdom, power, and might,</div> -<div>Foes may hate and friends disown me,</div> -<div class="i1">Show thy face and all is bright!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And, as he sang and prayed, that strange joy arose within him which, -like the sweetness of night flowers, is born of darkness and -tribulation. The soul hath in it somewhat of the divine, in that it can -have joy in endurance beyond the joy of indulgence.</p> - -<p>They mistake who suppose that the highest happiness lies in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[Pg 504]</a></span> wishes -accomplished—in prosperity, wealth, favor, and success. There has been -a joy in dungeons and on racks passing the joy of harvest. A joy strange -and solemn, mysterious even to its possessor. A white stone dropped from -that signet-ring, peace, which a dying Saviour took from his own bosom, -and bequeathed to those who endure the cross, despising the shame.</p> - -<p>As father Dickson rode on, he lifted his voice, in solemn exultation:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Soul, then know thy full salvation;</div> -<div class="i1">Rise o'er fear, doubt, and care;</div> -<div>Joy to find, in every station,</div> -<div class="i1">Something still to do or bear.</div> -<div>Think what spirit dwells within thee;</div> -<div class="i1">Think what Father's smiles are thine;</div> -<div>Think that Jesus died to win thee;</div> -<div class="i1">Child of heaven, wilt thou repine?"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At this moment Dr. Cushing in the abundant comforts of his home, might -have envied father Dickson in his desertion and poverty. For that peace -seldom visited him. He struggled wearily along the ways of duty, never -fulfilling his highest ideal; wearied by confusing accusations of -conscience, and deeming himself happy only because, having never lived -in any other state, he knew not what happiness was like. He alternately -condemned his brother's rashness, and sighed as he thought of his -uncompromising spirituality; and once or twice he had written him a -friendly letter of caution, inclosing him a five-dollar bill, wishing -that he might succeed, begging that he would be careful, and ending with -the pious wish that we might all be guided aright; which supplication, -in many cases, answers the purpose, in a man's inner legislation, of -laying troublesome propositions on the table. Meanwhile the shades of -evening drew on, and father Dickson approached the rude church which -stood deep in the shadow of the woods. In external appearance it had not -the pretensions even of a New England barn, but still it had echoed -prayers and praises from humble, sincere worshippers. As father Dickson -rode up to the door, he was surprised to find quite a throng of men, -armed with bludgeons and pistols, waiting before it. One of these now -stepped forward and, handing him a letter, said,—</p> - -<p>"Here, I have a letter for you to read!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[Pg 505]</a></span></p><p>Father Dickson put it calmly in his pocket. "I will read it after -service," said he.</p> - -<p>The man then laid hold of his bridle. "Come out here!" he said; "I want -to talk to you."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, friend, I will talk with you after meeting," said he. "It's -time for me to begin service."</p> - -<p>"The fact is," said a surly, wolfish-looking fellow who came behind the -first speaker, "the fact is, we an't going to have any of your d——d -abolition meetings here! If he can't get it out, I can!"</p> - -<p>"Friends," said father Dickson, mildly, "by what right do you presume to -stop me?"</p> - -<p>"We think," said the first man, "that you are doing harm, violating the -laws"—</p> - -<p>"Have you any warrant from the civil authorities to stop me?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir," said the first speaker; but the second one, ejecting a large -quid of tobacco from his mouth, took up the explanation in a style and -taste peculiarly his own.</p> - -<p>"Now, old cock, you may as well know fust as last, that we don't care a -cuss for the civil authorities, as you call them, 'cause we's going to -do what we darn please; and we don't please have you yowping -abolishionism round here, and putting deviltry in the heads of our -niggers! Now, that ar's plain talk!"</p> - -<p>This speech was chorused by a group of men on the steps, who now began -to gather round and shout,—</p> - -<p>"Give it to him! That's into him! Make the wool fly!"</p> - -<p>Father Dickson, who was perfectly calm, now remarked in the shadow of -the wood, at no great distance, three or four young men mounted on -horses, who laughed brutally and called out to the speaker,—</p> - -<p>"Give him some more!"</p> - -<p>"My friends," said father Dickson, "I came here to perform a duty, at -the call of my heavenly Master, and you have no right to stop me."</p> - -<p>"Well, how will you help yourself, old bird? Supposing we haven't?"</p> - -<p>"Remember, my friends, that we shall all stand side by side at the -judgment seat to give an account for this night's transactions. How will -you answer for it to God?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[Pg 506]</a></span></p><p>A loud, sneering laugh came from the group under the trees, and a -voice, which we recognize as Tom Gordon's, calls out,</p> - -<p>"He is coming the solemn dodge on you, boys! Get on your long faces!"</p> - -<p>"Come," said the roughest of the speakers, "this here don't go down with -us! We don't know nothing about no judgments; and as to God, we an't -none of us seen him, lately. We 'spect he don't travel round these -parts."</p> - -<p>"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the -good," said father Dickson.</p> - -<p>Here one of the mob mewed like a cat, another barked like a dog, and the -spectators under the tree laughed more loudly than ever.</p> - -<p>"I say," said the first speaker, "you shan't go to getting up rat-traps -and calling 'em meetings! This yer preaching o' yourn is a cussed sell, -and we won't stand it no longer! We shall have an insurrection among our -niggers. Pretty business, getting up churches where you won't have -slave-holders commune! I's got niggers myself, and I know I's bigger -slave than they be, and I wished I was shet of them! But I an't going to -have no d——d old parson dictating to me about my affairs! And we -won't, none of the rest of us, will we? 'Cause them that an't got any -niggers now means to have. Don't we, boys?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, ay, that we do! Give it to him!" was shouted from the party.</p> - -<p>"It's our right to have niggers, and we will have them, if we can get -them," continued the speaker.</p> - -<p>"Who gave you the right?" said father Dickson.</p> - -<p>"Who gave it? Why, the Constitution of the United States, to be sure, -man! Who did you suppose? An't we got the freest government in the -world? Is we going to be shut out of communion, 'cause we holds niggers? -Don't care a cuss for your old communion, but it's the <i>principle</i> I's -going for! Now, I tell you what, old fellow, we've got you; and you have -got to promise, right off the reel, that you won't say another word on -this yer subject."</p> - -<p>"Friend, I shall make no such promise," said father Dickson, in a tone -so mild and steadfast that there was a momentary pause.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[Pg 507]</a></span></p><p>"You'd better," said a man in the crowd, "if you know what's good for -you!"</p> - -<p>A voice now spoke from the circle of the young men,—</p> - -<p>"Never cave in, boys!"</p> - -<p>"No fear of us!" responded the man who had taken the most prominent part -in the dialogue hitherto. "We'll serve it out to him! Now, ye see, old -feller, ye're treed, and may as well come down, as the coon said to -Davy. You can't help yourself, 'cause we are ten to one; and if you -don't promise peaceable, we'll make you!"</p> - -<p>"My friends," said father Dickson, "I want you to think what you are -doing. Your good sense must teach you the impropriety of your course. -You know that you are doing wrong. You know that it isn't right to -trample on all law, both human and divine, out of professed love to it. -You must see that your course will lead to perfect anarchy and -confusion. The time may come when your opinions will be as unpopular as -mine."</p> - -<p>"Well, what then?"</p> - -<p>"Why, if your course prevails, you must be lynched, stoned, tarred, and -feathered. This is a two-edged sword you are using, and some day you may -find the edge turned towards you. You may be seized, just as you are -seizing me. You know the men that threw Daniel into the den got thrown -in themselves."</p> - -<p>"Daniel who?" shouted one of the company; and the young men under the -tree laughed insultingly.</p> - -<p>"Why are you afraid to let me preach, this evening?" said father -Dickson. "Why can't you hear me, and, if I say anything false, why can't -you show me the falsehood of it? It seems to me it's a weak cause that -can only get along by stopping men's mouths."</p> - -<p>"No, no—we an't going to have it!" said the man who had taken the most -active part. "And now you've got to sign a solemn promise, this night, -that you won't ever open your mouth again about this yer subject, or -we'll make it worse for you!"</p> - -<p>"I shall never make such a promise. You need not think to terrify me -into it, for I am not afraid. You must kill me before you can stop me."</p> - -<p>"D—n you, then, old man," said one of the young men, riding up by the -side of him, "I'll tell you what you shall do!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[Pg 508]</a></span> You shall sign a pledge -to leave North Carolina in three days, and never come back again, and -take your whole spawn and litter with you, or you shall be chastised for -your impudence! Now, look out, sir, for you are speaking to your -betters! Your insolence is intolerable! What business have you passing -strictures reflecting on the conduct of gentlemen of family? Think -yourself happy that we let you go out of the state without the -punishment that your impudence deserves!"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Gordon, I am sorry to hear you speaking in that way," said Father -Dickson, composedly. "By right of your family, you certainly ought to -know how to speak as a gentleman. You are holding language to me that -you have no right to hold, and uttering threats that you have no means -of enforcing."</p> - -<p>"You'll see if I haven't!" replied the other, with an oath. "Here, -boys!"</p> - -<p>He beckoned one or two of the leaders to his side, and spoke with them -in a low voice. One of them seemed inclined to remonstrate.</p> - -<p>"No, no—it's too bad!" he said.</p> - -<p>But the others said,—</p> - -<p>"Yes, it serves him right! We'll do it! Hurra, boys! We'll help on the -parson home, and help him kindle his fire!"</p> - -<p>There was a general shout, as the whole party, striking up a ribald -song, seized father Dickson's horse, turned him round, and began -marching in the direction of his cabin in the woods.</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon and his companions, who rode foremost, filled the air with -blasphemous and obscene songs, which entirely drowned the voice of -father Dickson whenever he attempted to make himself heard. Before they -started, Tom Gordon had distributed freely of whiskey among them, so -that what little manliness there might have been within seemed to be -"set on fire of hell." It was one of those moments that try men's souls.</p> - -<p>Father Dickson, as he was hurried along, thought of that other <i>one</i>, -who was led by an infuriate mob through the streets of Jerusalem, and he -lifted his heart in prayer to the Apostle and High Priest of his -profession, the God in Jesus. When they arrived before his little cabin, -he made one more effort to arrest their attention.</p> - -<p>"My brethren," he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[Pg 509]</a></span></p><p>"None of your brethren! Stop that cant!" said Tom Gordon.</p> - -<p>"Hear me one word," said father Dickson. "My wife is quite feeble. I'm -sure you wouldn't wish to hurt a sick woman, who never did harm to any -mortal creature."</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said Tom Gordon, facing round to him, "if you care so very -much about your wife, you can very easily save her any further trouble. -Just give us the promise we want, and we'll go away peaceably, and leave -you. But, if you won't, as true as there is a God in heaven, we'll pull -down every stick of timber in your old kennel! I'll tell you what, old -man, you've got a master to deal with, now!"</p> - -<p>"I cannot promise not to preach upon this subject."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, you must promise to take yourself out of the state. You can -go among your northern brethren, and howl and mawl round there; but we -are not going to have you here. I have as much respect for respectable -ministers of the Gospel as any one, when they confine themselves to the -duties of their calling; but, when they come down to be intriguing in -our worldly affairs, they must expect to be treated as we treat other -folks that do that. Their black coats shan't protect them! We are not -going to be priest-ridden, are we, boys?"</p> - -<p>A loud whoop of inflamed and drunken merriment chorused this question. -Just at this moment the door of the cottage was opened, and a pale, -sickly-looking woman came gliding out to the gate.</p> - -<p>"My dear," she said, and her voice was perfectly calm, "don't yield a -hair's breadth, on my account. I can bear as well as you. I am not -afraid. I am ready to die for conscience' sake. Gentlemen," she said, -"there is not much in this house of any value, except two sick children. -If it is agreeable to you to pull it down, you can do it. Our goods are -hardly worth spoiling, but you can spoil them. My husband, be firm; -don't yield an inch!"</p> - -<p>It is one of the worst curses of slavery that it effaces from the breast -all manly feeling with regard to woman. Every one remembers the story -how the frail and delicate wife of Lovejoy placed her weakness as a -shield before the chamber door where her husband was secreted, and was -fought with brutal oaths and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[Pg 510]</a></span> abuse by the drunken gang, who were -determined to pass over her body, if necessary, to his heart! They who -are trained to whip women in a servile position, of course can have none -of the respect which a free man feels for woman as woman. They respect -the sex when they see it enshrined by fashion, wealth, and power; but -they tread it in the dust when, in poverty and helplessness, it stands -in the path of their purposes.</p> - -<p>"Woman," said Tom Gordon, "you are a fool! You needn't think to come it -round us with any of that talk! You needn't think we are going to stop -on your account, for we shan't. We know what we are about."</p> - -<p>"So does God!" said the woman, fixing her eye on him with one of those -sudden looks of power with which a noble sentiment sometimes lights up -for a moment the weakest form.</p> - -<p>There was a momentary pause, and then Tom broke out into oaths and -curses.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you what, boys," he said, "we had better bring matters to a -point! Here, tie him up to this tree, and give him six-and-thirty! He is -so dreadful fond of the niggers, let him fare with them! We know how to -get a promise out of him!"</p> - -<p>The tiger was now fully awake in the crowd. Wild oaths and cries of -"Give it to him! Give it to him, G—d d—n him!" arose.</p> - -<p>Father Dickson stood calm; and, beholding him, they saw his face as if -it had been that of an angel, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. -A few moments more, and he was divested of his outer garments, and bound -to a tree.</p> - -<p>"Now will you promise?" said Tom Gordon, taking out his watch. "I give -you five minutes."</p> - -<p>The children, now aroused, were looking out, crying, from the door. His -wife walked out and took her place before him.</p> - -<p>"Stand out of the way, old woman!" said Tom Gordon.</p> - -<p>"I will not stand out of the way!" she said, throwing her arms round her -husband. "You shall not get to him but over my body!"</p> - -<p>"Ben Hyatt, take her away!" said Tom Gordon. "Treat her decently, as -long as she behaves herself."</p> - -<p>A man forced her away. She fell fainting on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Lay her down," said Tom Gordon. "Now, sir, your five minutes are up. -What have you got to say?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[Pg 511]</a></span></p><p>"I have to say that I shall not comply with your demands."</p> - -<p>"Very well," said Tom, "it's best to be explicit."</p> - -<p>He drew his horse a little back, and said to a man who was holding a -slave-whip behind,—</p> - -<p>"Give it to him!"</p> - -<p>The blows descended. He uttered no sound. The mob, meanwhile, tauntingly -insulted him.</p> - -<p>"How do you like it? What do you think of it? Preach us a sermon, now, -can't you? Come, where's your text?"</p> - -<p>"He is getting stars and stripes, now!" said one.</p> - -<p>"I reckon he'll see stars!" said another.</p> - -<p>"Stop," said Tom Gordon. "Well, my friend," he said, "you see we are in -earnest, and we shall carry this through to the bitter end, you may rely -on it. You won't get any sympathy; you won't get any support. There an't -a minister in the state that will stand by you. They all have sense -enough to let our affairs alone. They'd any of them hold a candle here, -as the good elder did when they thrashed Dresser, down at Nashville. -Come, now, will you cave in?"</p> - -<p>But at this moment the conversation was interrupted by the riding up of -four or five gentlemen on horseback, the headmost of whom was Clayton.</p> - -<p>"What's this?" he exclaimed, hurriedly. "What, Mr. Gordon—father -Dickson! What—what am I to understand by this?"</p> - -<p>"Who the devil cares what you understand? It's no business of yours," -said Tom Gordon; "so stand out of my way!"</p> - -<p>"I shall make it some of my business," said Clayton, turning round to -one of his companions. "Mr. Brown, you are a magistrate?"</p> - -<p>Mr. Brown, a florid, puffy-looking old gentleman, now rode forward.</p> - -<p>"Bless my soul, but this is shocking! Mr. Gordon, don't! how can you? My -boys, you ought to consider!"</p> - -<p>Clayton, meanwhile, had thrown himself off his horse, and cut the cords -which bound Father Dickson to the tree. The sudden reaction of feeling -overcame him. He fell, fainting.</p> - -<p>"Are you not ashamed of yourselves?" said Clayton, indignantly glancing -round. "Isn't this pretty business for great,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[Pg 512]</a></span> strong men like you, -abusing ministers that you know won't fight, and women and children that -you know can't!"</p> - -<p>"Do you mean to apply that language to me?" said Tom Gordon.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, I do mean just that!" said Clayton, looking at him, while he -stretched his tall figure to its utmost height.</p> - -<p>"Sir, that remark demands satisfaction."</p> - -<p>"You are welcome to all the satisfaction you can get," said Clayton, -coolly.</p> - -<p>"You shall meet me," said Tom Gordon, "where you shall answer for that -remark!"</p> - -<p>"I am not a fighting man," said Clayton; "but, if I were, I should never -consent to meet any one but my equals. When a man stoops to do the work -of a rowdy and a bully, he falls out of the sphere of gentlemen. As for -you," said Clayton, turning to the rest of the company, "there's more -apology for you. You have not been brought up to know better. Take my -advice; disperse yourselves now, or I shall take means to have this -outrage brought to justice."</p> - -<p>There is often a magnetic force in the appearance, amid an excited mob, -of a man of commanding presence, who seems perfectly calm and decided. -The mob stood irresolute.</p> - -<p>"Come, Tom," said Kite, pulling him by the sleeve, "we've given him -enough, at any rate."</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," said Mr. Brown, "Mr. Gordon, I advise you to go home. We -must all keep the peace, you know. Come, boys, you've done enough for -one night, I should hope! Go home, now, and let the old man be; and -there's something to buy you a treat, down at Skinflint's. Come, do the -handsome, now!"</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon sullenly rode away, with his two associates each side; but, -before he went, he said to Clayton,—</p> - -<p>"You shall hear of me again, one of these days!"</p> - -<p>"As you please," said Clayton.</p> - -<p>The party now set themselves about recovering and comforting the -frightened family. The wife was carried in and laid down on the bed. -Father Dickson was soon restored so as to be able to sit up, and, being -generally known and respected by the company, received many expressions -of sympathy and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[Pg 513]</a></span>condolence. One of the men was an elder in the church -which had desired his ministerial services. He thought this a good -opportunity of enforcing some of his formerly expressed opinions.</p> - -<p>"Now, father Dickson," he said, "this just shows you the truth of what I -was telling you. This course of yours won't do; you see it won't, now. -Now, if you'd agree not to say anything of these troublesome matters, -and just confine yourself to the preaching of the Gospel, you see you -wouldn't get into any more trouble; and, after all, it's the Gospel -that's the root of the matter. The Gospel will gradually correct all -these evils, if you don't say anything about them. You see, the state of -the community is peculiar. They won't bear it. We feel the evils of -slavery just as much as you do. Our souls are burdened under it," he -said, complacently wiping his face with his handkerchief. "But -Providence doesn't appear to open any door here for us to do anything. I -think we ought to abide on the patient waiting on the Lord, who, in his -own good time, will bring light out of darkness, and order out of -confusion."</p> - -<p>This last phrase being a part of a stereotyped exhortation with which -the good elder was wont to indulge his brethren in church -prayer-meetings, he delivered it in the sleepy drawl which he reserved -for such occasions.</p> - -<p>"Well," said father Dickson, "I must say that I don't see that the -preaching of the Gospel, in the way we have preached it hitherto, has -done anything to rectify the evil. It's a bad sign if our preaching -doesn't make a conflict. When the apostles came to a place, they said, -'These men that turn the world upside down are come hither.'"</p> - -<p>"But," said Mr. Brown, "you must consider our institutions are peculiar; -our negroes are ignorant and inflammable, easily wrought upon, and the -most frightful consequences may result. That's the reason why there is -so much sensation when any discussion is begun which relates to them. -Now, I was in Nashville when that Dresser affair took place. He hadn't -said a word—he hadn't opened his mouth, even—but he was known to be an -abolitionist; and so they searched his trunks and papers, and there they -found documents expressing abolition sentiments, sure enough. Well, -everybody, ministers and elders, joined in that affair, and stood by to -see him whipped. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[Pg 514]</a></span> thought, myself, they went too far. But there is -just where it is. People are not reasonable, and they won't be -reasonable, in such cases. It's too much to ask of them; and so -everybody ought to be cautious. Now, I wish, for my part, that ministers -would confine themselves to their appropriate duties. 'Christ's kingdom -is not of this world.' And, then, you don't know Tom Gordon. He is a -terrible fellow! I never want to come in conflict with him. I thought -I'd put the best face on it, and persuade him away. I didn't want to -make Tom Gordon my enemy. And I think Mr. Dickson, if you must preach -these doctrines I think it would be best for you to leave the state. Of -course, we don't want to restrict any man's conscience; but when any -kind of preaching excites brawls and confusion, and inflames the public -mind, it seems to be a duty to give it up."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Mr. Cornet, the elder, "we ought to follow the things which -make for peace—such things whereby one may edify another."</p> - -<p>"Don't you see, gentlemen," said Mr. Clayton, "that such a course is -surrendering our liberty of free speech into the hands of a mob? If Tom -Gordon may dictate what is to be said on one subject, he may on another; -and the rod which has been held over our friend's head to-night may be -held over ours. Independent of the right or wrong of father Dickson's -principles, he ought to maintain his position, for the sake of -maintaining the right of free opinion in the state."</p> - -<p>"Why," said Mr. Cornet, "the Scripture saith, 'If they persecute you in -this city, flee ye into another.'"</p> - -<p>"That was said," said Clayton, "to a people that lived under despotism, -and had no rights of liberty given them to maintain. But, if we give way -before mob law, we make ourselves slaves of the worst despotism on -earth."</p> - -<p>But Clayton spoke to men whose ears were stopped by the cotton of -slothfulness and love of ease. They rose up, and said,</p> - -<p>"It was time for them to be going."</p> - -<p>Clayton expressed his intention of remaining over the night, to afford -encouragement and assistance to his friends, in case of any further emergency.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[Pg 515]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XLIX.</span> <span class="smaller">MORE VIOLENCE.</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton rose the next morning, and found his friends much better than he -had expected after the agitation and abuse of the night before. They -seemed composed and cheerful.</p> - -<p>"I am surprised," he said, "to see that your wife is able to be up this -morning."</p> - -<p>"They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength," said father -Dickson. "How often I have found it so! We have seen times when I and my -wife have both been so ill that we scarcely thought we had strength to -help ourselves; and a child has been taken ill, or some other emergency -has occurred that called for immediate exertion, and we have been to the -Lord and found strength. Our way has been hedged up many a time—the sea -before us and the Egyptians behind us; but the sea has always opened -when we have stretched our hands to the Lord. I have never sought the -Lord in vain. He has allowed great troubles to come upon us; but he -always delivers us."</p> - -<p>Clayton recalled the sneering, faithless, brilliant Frank Russel, and -compared him, in his own mind, with the simple, honest man before him.</p> - -<p>"No," he said to himself, "human nature is not a humbug, after all. -There are some real men—some who will not acquiesce in what is -successful, if it be wrong."</p> - -<p>Clayton was in need of such living examples; for, in regard to religion, -he was in that position which is occupied by too many young men of high -moral sentiment in this country. What he had seen of the worldly policy -and time-serving spirit of most of the organized bodies professing to -represent the Christian faith and life, had deepened the shadow of doubt -and distrust which persons of strong individuality and discriminating -minds are apt to feel in certain stages of their spiritual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[Pg 516]</a></span>development. -Great afflictions—those which tear up the roots of the soul—are often -succeeded, in the course of the man's history, by a period of -scepticism. The fact is, such afflictions are disenchanting powers; they -give to the soul an earnestness and a power of discrimination which no -illusion can withstand. They teach us what we need, what we must have to -rest upon; and, in consequence, thousands of little formalities, and -empty shows, and dry religious conventionalities, are scattered by it -like chaff. The soul rejects them, in her indignant anguish; and, -finding so much that is insincere, and untrue, and unreliable, she has -sometimes hours of doubting all things.</p> - -<p>Clayton saw again in the minister what he had seen in Nina—a soul -swayed by an attachment to an invisible person, whose power over it was -the power of a personal attachment, and who swayed it, not by dogmas or -commands, merely, but by the force of a sympathetic emotion. Beholding, -as in a glass, the divine image of his heavenly friend, insensibly to -himself the minister was changing into the same image. The good and the -beautiful to him was an embodied person,—even Jesus his Lord.</p> - -<p>"What may be your future course?" said Clayton, with anxiety. "Will you -discontinue your labors is this state?"</p> - -<p>"I may do so, if I find positively that there is no gaining a hearing," -said father Dickson. "I think we owe it to our state not to give up the -point without a trial. There are those who are willing to hear -me—willing to make a beginning with me. It is true they are poor and -unfashionable; but still it is my duty not to desert them till I have -tried, at least, whether the laws can't protect me in the exercise of my -duty. The hearts of all men are in the hands of the Lord. He turneth -them as the rivers of water are turned. This evil is a great and a -trying one. It is gradually lowering the standard of morals in our -churches, till men know not what spirit they are of. I held it my duty -not to yield to the violence of the tyrant, and bind myself to a promise -to leave, till I had considered what the will of my Master would be."</p> - -<p>"I should be sorry," said Clayton, "to think that North Carolina -couldn't protect you. I am sure, when the particulars of this are known, -there will be a general reprobation from all parts of the country. You -might remove to some other part of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[Pg 517]</a></span> state, not cursed by the -residence of a man like Tom Gordon. I will confer with my uncle, your -friend Dr. Cushing, and see if some more eligible situation cannot be -found, where you can prosecute your labors. He is at this very time -visiting his wife's father, in E., and I will ride over and talk with -him to-day. Meanwhile," said Clayton, as he rose to depart, "allow me to -leave with you a little contribution to help the cause of religious -freedom in which you are engaged."</p> - -<p>And Clayton, as he shook hands with his friend and his wife, left an -amount of money with them such as had not crossed their palms for many a -day. Bidding them adieu, a ride of a few hours carried him to E., where -he communicated to Dr. Cushing the incidents of the night before.</p> - -<p>"Why, it's perfectly shocking—abominable!" said Dr. Cushing. "Why, what -are we coming to? My dear young friend, this shows the necessity of -prayer. 'When the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord -must lift up a standard against him.'"</p> - -<p>"My dear uncle," said Clayton, rather impatiently, "it seems to me the -Lord has lifted up a standard in the person of this very man, and people -are too cowardly to rally around it."</p> - -<p>"Well, my dear nephew, it strikes me you are rather excited," said Dr. -Cushing, good-naturedly.</p> - -<p>"Excited?" said Clayton. "I ought to be excited! You ought to be -excited, too! Here's a good man beginning what you think a necessary -reform, and who does it in a way perfectly peaceable and lawful, who is -cloven down under the hoof of a mob, and all you can think of doing is -to pray to <i>the Lord</i> to raise up a standard! What would you think, if a -man's house were on fire, and he should sit praying the Lord that in his -mysterious providence he would put it out?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, the cases are not parallel," said Dr. Cushing.</p> - -<p>"I think they are," said Clayton. "Our house is the state, and our house -is on fire by mob law; and, instead of praying the Lord to put it out, -you ought to go to work and put it out yourself. If all your ministers -would make a stand against this, uncle, and do all you can to influence -those to whom you are preaching, it wouldn't be done again."</p> - -<p>"I am sure I should be glad to do something. Poor father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[Pg 518]</a></span> Dickson! such -a good man as he is! But, then, I think, Clayton, he was rather -imprudent. It don't do, this unadvised way of proceeding. We ought to -watch against rashness, I think. We are too apt to be precipitate, and -not await the leadings of Providence. Poor Dickson! I tried to caution -him, the last time I wrote to him. To be sure, it's no excuse for them; -but, then, I'll write to brother Barker on the subject, and we'll see if -we can't get an article in the <i>Christian Witness</i>. I don't think it -would be best to allude to these particular circumstances, or to mention -any names; but there might be a general article on the importance of -maintaining the right of free speech, and of course people can apply it -for themselves."</p> - -<p>"You remind me," said Clayton, "of a man who proposed commencing an -attack on a shark by throwing a sponge at him. But, now, really, uncle, -I am concerned for the safety of this good man. Isn't there any church -near you to which he can be called? I heard him at the camp-meeting, and -I think he is an excellent preacher."</p> - -<p>"There are a good many churches," said Dr. Cushing, "which would be glad -of him, if it were not for the course he pursues on that subject; and I -really can't feel that he does right to throw away his influence so. He -might be the means of converting souls, if he would only be quiet about -this."</p> - -<p>"Be quiet about fashionable sins," said Clayton, "in order to get a -chance to convert souls! What sort of converts are those who are not -willing to hear the truth on every subject? I should doubt conversions -that can only be accomplished by silence on great practical -immoralities."</p> - -<p>"But," said Dr. Cushing, "Christ and the apostles didn't preach on the -abuses of slavery, and they alluded to it as an existing institution."</p> - -<p>"Nor did they preach on the gladiatorial shows," said Clayton; "and Paul -draws many illustrations from them. Will you take the principle that -everything is to be let alone now about which the apostles didn't preach -directly?"</p> - -<p>"I don't want to enter into that discussion now," said Dr. Cushing. "I -believe I'll ride over and see brother Dickson. After all, he is a dear, -good man, and I love him. I'd like to do something for him, if I were -not afraid it might be misunderstood."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[Pg 519]</a></span></p><p>Toward evening, however, Clayton, becoming uneasy at the lonely -situation of his clerical friend, resolved to ride over and pass the -night with him, for the sake of protecting him; and, arming himself with -a brace of pistols, he proceeded on his ride. As the day had been warm, -he put off his purpose rather late, and darkness overtook him before he -had quite accomplished his journey.</p> - -<p>Riding deliberately through the woodland path in the vicinity of the -swamp, he was startled by hearing the tramp of horses' hoofs behind him. -Three men, mounted on horseback, were coming up, the headmost of whom, -riding up quickly behind, struck him so heavy a blow with a gutta percha -cane, as to fell him to the earth. In an instant, however, he was on his -feet again, and had seized the bridle of his horse.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" said he; for, by the dim light that remained of the -twilight, he could perceive that they all wore masks.</p> - -<p>"We are men," said one of them, whose voice Clayton did not recognize, -"that know how to deal with fellows who insult gentlemen, and then -refuse to give them honorable satisfaction."</p> - -<p>"And," said the second speaker, "we know how to deal with renegade -abolitionists, who are covertly undermining our institutions."</p> - -<p>"And," said Clayton, coolly, "you understand how to be cowards; for none -but cowards would come three to one, and strike a man from behind! Shame -on you! Well, gentlemen, act your pleasure. Your first blow has disabled -my right arm. If you wish my watch and my purse, you may help -yourselves, as cut-throats generally do!"</p> - -<p>The stinging contempt which was expressed in these last words seemed to -enrage the third man, who had not spoken. With a brutal oath, he raised -his cane again, and struck at him.</p> - -<p>"Strike a wounded man, who cannot help himself—do!" said Clayton. "Show -yourself the coward you are! You are brave in attacking defenceless -women and children, and ministers of the Gospel!"</p> - -<p>This time the blow felled Clayton to the earth, and Tom Gordon, -precipitating himself from the saddle, proved his eligibility for -Congress by beating his defenceless acquaintance on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[Pg 520]</a></span> head, after the -fashion of the chivalry of South Carolina. But, at this moment, a -violent blow from an unseen hand struck his right arm, and it fell, -broken, at his side. Mad with pain, he poured forth volumes of oaths, -such as our readers have never heard, and the paper refuses to receive. -And a deep voice said from the woods,—</p> - -<p>"Woe to the bloody and deceitful man!"</p> - -<p>"Look for the fellow! where is he?" said Tom Gordon.</p> - -<p>The crack of a rifle, and a bullet which passed right over his head, -answered from the swamp, and the voice, which he knew was Harry's, -called from within the thicket,—</p> - -<p>"Tom Gordon, beware! Remember Hark!" At the same time another rifle-shot -came over their heads.</p> - -<p>"Come, come," said the other two, "there's a gang of them. We had better -be off. You can't do anything with that broken arm, there." And, helping -Tom into the saddle, the three rode away precipitately.</p> - -<p>As soon as they were gone, Harry and Dred emerged from the thicket. The -latter was reported among his people to have some medical or surgical -skill. He raised Clayton up, and examined him carefully.</p> - -<p>"He is not dead," he said.</p> - -<p>"What shall we do for him?" Said Harry. "Shall we take him along to the -minister's cabin?"</p> - -<p>"No, no," said Dred; "that would only bring the Philistines upon him!"</p> - -<p>"It's full three miles to E.," said Harry. "It wouldn't do to risk going -there."</p> - -<p>"No, indeed," said Dred. "We must take him to our stronghold of Engedi, -even as Samson bore the gates of Gaza. Our women shall attend him, and -when he is recovered we will set him on his journey."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[Pg 521]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER L.</span> <span class="smaller">ENGEDI.</span></h2> - -<p>The question may occur to our readers, why a retreat which appeared so -easily accessible to the negroes of the vicinity in which our story is -laid should escape the vigilance of hunters.</p> - -<p>In all despotic countries, however, it will be found that the oppressed -party become expert in the means of secrecy. It is also a fact that the -portion of the community who are trained to labor enjoy all that -advantage over the more indolent portion of it which can be given by a -vigorous physical system, and great capabilities of endurance. Without a -doubt, the balance of the physical strength of the south now lies in the -subject race. Usage familiarizes the dwellers of the swamp with the -peculiarities of their location, and gives them the advantage in it that -a mountaineer has in his own mountains. Besides, they who take their -life in their hand exercise their faculties with more vigor and -clearness than they who have only money at stake; and this advantage the -negroes had over the hunters.</p> - -<p>Dred's "stronghold of Engedi," as we have said, was isolated from the -rest of the swamp by some twenty yards of deep morass, in which it was -necessary to wade almost to the waist. The shore presented to the eye -only the appearance of an impervious jungle of cat-brier and grapevine -rising out of the water. There was but one spot on which there was a -clear space to set foot on, and that was the place where Dred crept up -on the night when we first introduced the locality to our readers' -attention.</p> - -<p>The hunters generally satisfied themselves with exploring more -apparently accessible portions; and, unless betrayed by those to whom -Dred had communicated the clue, there was very little chance that any -accident would ever disclose the retreat.</p> - -<p>Dred himself appeared to be gifted with that peculiar faculty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[Pg 522]</a></span> of -discernment of spirits which belonged to his father Denmark Vesey, -sharpened into a preternatural intensity by the habits of his wild and -dangerous life. The men he selected for trust were men as impenetrable -as himself, the most vigorous in mind and body on all the plantations.</p> - -<p>The perfectness of his own religious enthusiasm, his absolute certainty -that he was inspired of God, as a leader and deliverer, gave him an -ascendency over the minds of those who followed him, which nothing but -religious enthusiasm ever can give. And this was further confirmed by -the rigid austerity of his life. For all animal comforts he appeared to -entertain a profound contempt. He never tasted strong liquors in any -form, and was extremely sparing in his eating; often fasting for days in -succession, particularly when he had any movement of importance in -contemplation.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to fathom the dark recesses of a mind so powerful and -active as his, placed under a pressure of ignorance and social -disability so tremendous. In those desolate regions which he made his -habitation, it is said that trees often, from the singularly unnatural -and wildly stimulating properties of the slimy depths from which they -spring, assume a goblin growth, entirely different from their normal -habit. All sorts of vegetable monsters stretch their weird, fantastic -forms among its shadows. There is no principle so awful through all -nature as the principle of <i>growth</i>. It is a mysterious and dread -condition of existence, which, place it under what impediment or -disadvantage you will, is constantly forcing on; and when unnatural -pressure hinders it, develops in forms portentous and astonishing. The -wild, dreary belt of swamp-land which girds in those states scathed by -the fires of despotism is an apt emblem, in its rampant and we might say -delirious exuberance of vegetation, of that darkly struggling, wildly -vegetating swamp of human souls, cut off, like it, from the usages and -improvements of cultivated life.</p> - -<p>Beneath that fearful pressure, souls whose energy, well-directed, might -have blessed mankind, start out in preternatural and fearful -developments, whose strength is only a portent of dread.</p> - -<p>The night after the meeting which we have described was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[Pg 523]</a></span> one, to this -singular being, of agonizing conflict. His psychological condition, as -near as we can define it, seemed to be that of a human being who had -been seized and possessed, after the manner related in ancient fables, -by the wrath of an avenging God. That part of the moral constitution, -which exists in some degree in us all, which leads us to feel pain at -the sight of injustice, and to desire retribution for cruelty and crime, -seemed in him to have become an absorbing sentiment, as if he had been -chosen by some higher power as the instrument of doom. At some moments -the idea of the crimes and oppressions which had overwhelmed his race -rolled in upon him with a burning pain, which caused him to cry out, -like the fated and enslaved Cassandra, at the threshold of the dark -house of tyranny and blood.</p> - -<p>This sentiment of justice, this agony in view of cruelty and crime, is -in men a strong attribute of the highest natures; for he who is -destitute of the element of moral indignation is effeminate and tame. -But there is in nature and in the human heart a pleading, interceding -element, which comes in constantly to temper and soften this spirit and -this element in the divine mind, which the Scriptures represent by the -sublime image of an eternally interceding high priest, who, having -experienced every temptation of humanity, constantly urges all that can -be thought in mitigation of justice. As a spotless and high-toned mother -bears in her bosom the anguish of the impurity and vileness of her -child, so the eternally suffering, eternally interceding love of Christ -bears the sins of our race. But the Scriptures tell us that the -mysterious <i>person</i>, who thus stands before all worlds as the image and -impersonation of divine tenderness, has yet in reserve this awful energy -of wrath. The oppressors, in the last dread day, are represented as -calling to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and hide them from -the wrath of the <span class="smcap">Lamb</span>. This idea had dimly loomed up before the mind of -Dred, as he read and pondered the mysteries of the sacred oracles; and -was expressed by him in the form of language so frequent in his mouth, -that "the Lamb was bearing the yoke of the sins of men." He had been -deeply affected by the presentation which Milly had made in their night -meeting of the eternal principle of intercession and atonement. The -sense of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[Pg 524]</a></span> it was blindly struggling with the habitual and overmastering -sense of oppression and wrong.</p> - -<p>When his associates had all dispersed to their dwellings, he threw -himself on his face, and prayed: "O Lamb of God, that bearest the yoke, -why hast thou filled me with wrath? Behold these graves! Behold the -graves of my brothers, slain without mercy, and, Lord, they do not -repent! Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look -on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, -and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more -righteous than he? They make men as fishes in the sea, as creeping -things that have no ruler over them. They take them up with the angle. -They catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag. Therefore -they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and -burn incense unto their drag, because by them their portion is fat, and -their meat plenteous. Shall they, therefore, empty their net, and not -spare continually to slay the nations? Did not he that made them in the -womb make us? Did not the same God fashion us in the womb? Doubtless -thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel -acknowledgeth us not. Thou, O God, art our Father, our Redeemer. -Wherefore forgettest thou us for ever, and forsakest us so long a time? -Wilt thou not judge between us and our enemies? Behold, there is none -among them that stirreth himself up to call upon thee, and he that -departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. They lie in wait, they set -traps, they catch men, they are waxen fat, they shine, they overpass the -deeds of the wicked, they judge not the cause of the fatherless; yet -they prosper, and the right of the needy do they not judge. Wilt thou -not visit for these things, O Lord? Shall not thy soul be avenged on -such a nation as this? How long wilt thou endure? Behold under the altar -the souls of those they have slain! They cry unto thee continually. How -long, O Lord, dost thou not judge and avenge? Is there any that stirreth -himself up for justice? Is there any that regardeth our blood? We are -sold for silver; the price of our blood is in thy treasury; the price of -our blood is on thine altars! Behold, they build their churches with the -price of our hire! Behold, the stone doth cry out of the wall, and the -timber doth answer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[Pg 525]</a></span> it. Because they build their towns with blood, and -establish their cities by iniquity. They have all gone one way. There is -none that careth for the spoilings of the poor. Art thou a just God? -When wilt thou arise to shake terribly the earth, that the desire of all -nations may come? Overturn, overturn, and overturn, till <i>he</i> whose -right it is shall come!"</p> - -<p>Such were the words, not uttered continuously, but poured forth at -intervals, with sobbings, groanings, and moanings, from the recesses of -that wild fortress. It was but a part of that incessant prayer with -which oppressed humanity has besieged the throne of justice in all ages. -We who live in ceiled houses would do well to give heed to that sound, -lest it be to us that inarticulate moaning which goes before the -earthquake. If we would estimate the force of almighty justice, let us -ask ourselves what a mother might feel for the abuse of her helpless -child, and multiply that by infinity.</p> - -<p>But the night wore on, and the stars looked down serene and solemn, as -if no prayer had gone through the calm, eternal gloom; and the morning -broke in the east resplendent.</p> - -<p>Harry, too, had passed a sleepless night. The death of Hark weighed like -a mountain upon his heart. He had known him for a whole-souled, -true-hearted fellow. He had been his counsellor and friend for many -years, and he had died in silent torture for him. How stinging is it at -such a moment to view the whole respectability of civilized society -upholding and glorifying the murderer; calling his sin by soft names, -and using for his defence every artifice of legal injustice! Some in our -own nation have had bitter occasion to know this, for we have begun to -drink the cup of trembling which for so many ages has been drank alone -by the slave. Let the associates of Brown ask themselves if they cannot -understand the midnight anguish of Harry!</p> - -<p>His own impulses would have urged to an immediate insurrection, in which -he was careless about his own life, so the fearful craving of his soul -for justice was assuaged. To him the morning seemed to break red with -the blood of his friend. He would have urged to immediate and -precipitate action. But Dred, true to the enthusiastic impulses which -guided him, persisted in waiting for that sign from Heaven which was to -indicate when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[Pg 526]</a></span> the day of grace was closed, and the day of judgment to -begin. This expectation he founded on his own version of certain -passages in the prophets, such as these:—</p> - -<p>"I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; -blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke! The sun shall be turned into -darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of -the Lord shall come!"</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, his associates were to be preparing the minds of the people, -and he was traversing the swamps in different directions, holding -nightly meetings, in which he read and expounded the prophecies to -excited ears. The laborious arguments, by which northern and southern -doctors of divinity have deduced from the Old Testament the divine -institution of slavery, were too subtle and fine-spun to reach his ear -amid the denunciations of prophecies, all turning on the sin of -oppression. His instinctive understanding of the spirit of the Bible -justified the sagacity which makes the supporter of slavery, to this -day, careful not to allow the slave the power of judging it for himself; -and we leave it to any modern pro-slavery divine whether, in Dred's -circumstances, his own judgment might not have been the same.</p> - -<p>After daylight, Harry saw Dred standing, with a dejected countenance, -outside of his hut.</p> - -<p>"I have wrestled," he said, "for thee; but the time is not yet! Let us -abide certain days, for the thing is secret unto me; and I cannot do -less nor more till the Lord giveth commandment. When the Lord delivereth -them into our hands, one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten -thousand to flight!"</p> - -<p>"After all," said Harry, "our case is utterly hopeless! A few poor, -outcast wretches, without a place to lay our heads, and they all -revelling in their splendor and their power! Who is there in this great -nation that is not pledged against us? Who would not cry <i>Amen</i>, if we -were dragged out and hung like dogs? The north is as bad as the south! -They kill us, and the north consents and justifies! And all their -wealth, power, and religion, are used against us. We are the ones that -all sides are willing to give up. Any party in church or of state will -throw in our blood and bones as a make-weight, and think nothing of it. -And, when I see them riding out in their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[Pg 527]</a></span>splendid equipages, their -houses full of everything that is elegant, they so cultivated and -refined, and our people so miserable, poor, and down-trodden, I haven't -any faith that there is a God!"</p> - -<p>"Stop!" said Dred, laying his hand on his arm. "Hear what the prophet -saith. 'Their land, also, is full of silver and gold; neither is there -any end of their treasures. Their land, also, is full of horses; neither -is there any end of their chariots. Their land also is full of idols. -They worship the work of their own hands. Enter into the rock, and hide -thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his -majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of -man shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that -day. For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be on every one that is -proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be -brought low! And upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted -up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, -and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, -and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon -all pleasant pictures! And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, the -haughtiness of man shall be made low! And they shall go in the holes of -the rocks, and in the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for -his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth!'"</p> - -<p>The tall pines, and whispering oaks, as they stood waving in purple -freshness at the dawn, seemed like broad-winged attesting angels, -bearing witness, in their serene and solemn majesty, to the sublime -words, "Heaven and earth shall not pass away till these words have been -fulfilled!"</p> - -<p>After a few moments a troubled expression came over the face of Dred.</p> - -<p>"Harry," he said, "verily, he is a God that hideth himself! He giveth -none account to any of these matters. It may be that I shall not lead -the tribes over this Jordan; but that I shall lay my bones in the -wilderness! But the day shall surely come, and the sign of the Son of -Man shall appear in the air, and all tribes of the earth shall wail, -because of him! Behold, I saw white spirits and black spirits, that -contended in the air; and the thunder rolled, and the blood flowed, and -the voice said, 'Come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[Pg 528]</a></span> rough, come smooth! Such is the decree. Ye must -surely bear it!' But, as yet, the prayers of the saints have power; for -there be angels, having golden censers, which be the prayers of saints. -And the Lord, by reason thereof, delayeth. Behold I have borne the -burden of the Lord even for many years. He hath covered me with a cloud -in the day of his anger, and filled me with his wrath; and his word has -been like a consuming fire shut in my bones! He hath held mine eyes -waking, and my bones have waxed old with my roarings all the day long! -Then I have said, 'Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in the dust! That thou -wouldst keep me secret till thy wrath be past!'"</p> - -<p>At this moment, soaring upward through the blue sky, rose the fair form -of a wood-pigeon, wheeling and curving in the morning sunlight, cutting -the ether with airy flight, so smooth, even, and clear, as if it had -learnt motion from the music of angels.</p> - -<p>Dred's eye, faded and haggard with his long night-watchings, followed it -for a moment with an air of softened pleasure, in which was blent -somewhat of weariness and longing.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that I had wings like a dove!" he said. "Then would I flee away and -be at rest! I would hasten from the windy storm and tempest! Lo, then I -would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness!"</p> - -<p>There was something peculiar in the power and energy which this man's -nature had of drawing others into the tide of its own sympathies, as a -strong ship, walking through the water, draws all the smaller craft into -its current.</p> - -<p>Harry, melancholy and disheartened as he was, felt himself borne out -with him in that impassioned prayer.</p> - -<p>"I know," said Dred, "that the new heavens and the new earth shall come, -and the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in it. But, as for me, I am a -man of unclean lips, and the Lord hath laid on me the oppressions of the -people! But, though the violent man prevail against me, it shall surely -come to pass!"</p> - -<p>Harry turned away, and walked slowly to the other side of the clearing, -where Old Tiff, with Fanny, Teddy, and Lisette, having kindled a fire on -the ground, was busy in preparing their breakfast. Dred, instead of -going into his house, disappeared in the thicket. Milly had gone home -with the man who came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529">[Pg 529]</a></span> from Canema. The next day, as Harry and Dred made -a hunting excursion through the swamp, returning home in the edge of the -evening, they happened to be passing near the scene of lawless violence -which we have already described.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[Pg 530]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LI.</span> <span class="smaller">THE SLAVE HUNT.</span></h2> - -<p>Tom Gordon, for the next two or three days after his injury, was about -as comfortable to manage as a wounded hyena. He had a thousand varying -caprices every hour and moment; and now one and now another prevailed. -The miserable girls who were held by him as his particular attendants -were tormented by every species of annoyance which a restless and -passionate man, in his impatience, could devise.</p> - -<p>The recent death of Milly's mistress by the cholera had reduced her -under Tom's authority; and she was summoned now from her work every hour -to give directions and advice, which, the minute they were given, were -repudiated with curses.</p> - -<p>"I declare," said Aunt Katy, the housekeeper, "if Mas'r Tom isn't 'nough -to use a body off o' der feet. It's jist four times I's got gruel ready -for him dis last two hours—doing all I could to suit him; and he swars -at it, and flings it round real undecent. Why, he's got fever, and does -he spect to make things taste good to him, when he's got fever! Why, -course I can't, and no need of him calling me a devil, and all that! -That ar's very unnecessary, I think. I don't believe in no such! The -Gordons allers used to have some sense to 'em, even if they was cross; -but he an't got a grain. I should think he was 'sessed wid Old Sam, for -my part. Bringing 'sgrace on us all, the way he cuts up! We really don' -know how to hold up our head, none of us. The Gordons have allers been -sich a genteel family! Laws, we didn't know what privileges we had when -we had Miss Nina! Them new girls, dressed up in all their flounces and -ferbuloes! Guess they has to take it!"</p> - -<p>In time, however, even in spite of his chafing, and fretfulness, and -contempt of physicians' prescriptions, Tom seemed to recover, by the -same kind of fatality which makes ill-weeds thrive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[Pg 531]</a></span> apace. Meanwhile he -employed his leisure hours in laying plans of revenge, to be executed as -soon as he should be able to take to his horse again. Among other -things, he vowed deep vengeance on Abijah Skinflint, who, he said, he -knew <i>must</i> have sold the powder and ammunition to the negroes in the -swamp. This may have been true, or may not; but, in cases of lynch law, -such questions are indifferent matter. A man is accused, condemned, and -judged, at the will of his more powerful neighbor. It was sufficient to -Tom that <i>he thought so</i>; and, being sick and cross, thought so just now -with more particular intensity.</p> - -<p>Jim Stokes, he knew, cherished an animosity of long standing towards -Abijah, which he could make use of in enlisting him in the cause. One of -the first uses, therefore, which Tom made of his recovered liberty, -after he was able to ride out, was to head a raid on Abijah's shop. The -shop was without ceremony dismantled and plundered; and the mob, having -helped themselves to his whiskey, next amused themselves by tarring and -feathering him; and, having insulted and abused him to their -satisfaction, and exacted a promise from him to leave the state within -three days, they returned home glorious in their own eyes. And the next -week a brilliant account of the affair appeared in the <i>Trumpet of -Liberty</i>, headed,—</p> - -<blockquote><p class="center">"<span class="smcap">Summary Justice</span>."</p> - -<p>Nobody pitied Abijah, of course; and, as he would probably have -been quite willing to join in the same sort of treatment for any -one else, we know not that we are particularly concerned for his -doom. The respectable people in the neighborhood first remarked -that they didn't approve of mobs in general, and then dilated, with -visible satisfaction, on this in particular, after a fashion of -that stupid class that are called respectable people, generally. -The foolish mob gloried and exulted, not considering that any day -the same weapons might be turned against them. The mob being now -somewhat drilled and animated, Tom proposed, while their spirit was -up, to get up a hunting in the swamp, which should more fully -satisfy his own private vengeance. There is a sleeping tiger in the -human breast that delights in violence and blood; and this tiger -Tom resolved to unchain.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[Pg 532]</a></span></p><p>The act of outlawry had already publicly set up Harry as a mark for -whatever cruelty drunken ingenuity might choose to perpetrate. As our -readers may have a curiosity in this kind of literature, we will indulge -them with a copy of this:—</p> - -<blockquote><p class="right">"<i>State of North Carolina, Chowan County.</i></p> - -<p>"Whereas, complaint upon oath hath this day been made to us, two of -the Justices of the Peace for the said county and state aforesaid, -by Thomas Gordon, that a certain male slave belonging to him, named -Harry, a carpenter by trade, about thirty-five years old, five feet -four inches high or thereabouts; dark complexion, stout built, blue -eyes, deep sunk in his head, forehead very square, tolerable loud -voice; hath absented himself from his master's service, and is -supposed to be lurking about in the swamp, committing acts of -felony or other misdeeds. These are, therefore, in the name of the -state aforesaid, to command said slave forthwith to surrender -himself, and return home to his said master. And we do hereby, by -virtue of the act of assembly, in such case made and provided, -intimate and declare that if the said slave Harry doth not -surrender himself, and return home immediately after the -publication of these presents, that any person or persons may kill -and destroy the said slave by such means as he or they may think -fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime or offence for -so doing, and without incurring any penalty or forfeiture thereby.</p> - -<p class="right">"Given under our hands and seal,<span class="s3"> </span><br /> -"<span class="smcap">James T. Muller</span>, { <span class="smaller">SEAL.</span> }<br /> -"<span class="smcap">T. Buttercourt</span>."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> { <span class="smaller">SEAL.</span> }</p></blockquote> - -<p>One can scarcely contemplate without pity the condition of a population -which grows up under the influence of such laws and customs as these. -That the lowest brutality and the most fiendish cruelty should be -remorselessly practised by those whose ferocity thus receives the -sanction of the law, cannot be wondered at. Tom Gordon convened at his -house an assemblage of those whom he used as the tools and ministers of -his vengeance. Harry had been secretly hated by them all in his -prosperous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[Pg 533]</a></span> days, because, though a slave, he was better dressed, better -educated, and, on the whole, treated with more consideration by the -Gordon family and their guests, than they were; and, at times, he had -had occasion to rebuke some of them for receiving from the slaves goods -taken from the plantation. To be sure, while he was prosperous they were -outwardly subservient to him, as the great man of a great family; but -now he was <i>down</i>, as the amiable fashion of the world generally is, -they resolved to make up for their former subservience by redoubled -insolence.</p> - -<p>Jim Stokes, in particular, bore Harry a grudge, for having once -expressed himself with indignation concerning the meanness and brutality -of his calling; and he was therefore the more willing to be made use of -on the present occasion. Accordingly, on the morning we speak of, there -was gathered before the door of the mansion at Canema a confused -<i>mélange</i> of men, of that general style of appearance which, in our -times, we call "Border Ruffians,"—half drunken, profane, obscene as the -harpies which descended on the feast of Æneas. Tom Gordon had only this -advantage among them, that superior education and position had given him -the power, when he chose, of assuming the appearance and using the -language of a gentleman. But he had enough of grossness within, to -enable him at will to become as one of them. Tom's arm was still worn in -a sling, but, as lack of energy never was one of his faults, he was -about to take the saddle with his troop. At present they were drawn up -before the door, laughing, swearing, and drinking whiskey, which flowed -in abundance. The dogs—the better-mannered brutes of the two, by all -odds—were struggling in their leashes with impatience and excitement. -Tom Gordon stood forth on the veranda, after the fashion of great -generals of old, who harangued their troops on the eve of battle. Any -one who has read the speeches of the leaders who presided over the -sacking of Lawrence will get an idea of some features in this style of -eloquence, which our pen cannot represent.</p> - -<p>"Now, boys," said Tom, "you are getting your names up. You've done some -good work already. You've given that old, snivelling priest a taste of -true orthodox doctrine, that will enlighten him for the future. You've -given that long-nosed Skinflint light enough to see the error of <i>his</i> -ways."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[Pg 534]</a></span></p><p>A general laugh here arose, and voices repeated,—</p> - -<p>"Ah, ah, that we did! Didn't we, though?"</p> - -<p>"I reckon you did!" said Tom Gordon. "I reckon he didn't need candles to -see his sins by, that night! Didn't we make a candle of his old -dog-kennel? Didn't he have light to see his way out of the state by? and -didn't we give him a suit to keep him warm on the road? Ah, boys, that -was a warm suit—no mistake! It was a suit that will stick to him, too! -He won't trade that off for rum, in a hurry, I'm thinking! Will he, -boys?"</p> - -<p>Bursts of crazy, half-drunken applause here interrupted the orator.</p> - -<p>"Pity we hadn't put a match to it!" shouted one.</p> - -<p>"Ah, well, boys, you did enough for that time! Wait till you catch these -sneaking varmins in the swamp; you shall do what you like with them. -Nobody shall hinder you, that's law and order. These foxes have troubled -us long enough, stealing at our hen-roosts while we were asleep. We -shall make it hot for them, if we catch them; and we are going to catch -them. There are no two ways about it. This old swamp is like Davy's -coon—it's got <i>to come down</i>! And it will come down, boys, when it sees -<i>us</i> coming. No mistake about that! Now, boys, mind, catch him alive, if -you can; but shoot him, if you can't. Remember, I'll give a hundred and -fifty dollars for his head!"</p> - -<p>A loud shout chorused this last announcement, and Tom descended in glory -to take his place in his saddle.</p> - -<p>Once, we suppose, this history would not have been believed, had it been -told; but of late our own sons and brothers have been hounded and hunted -by just such men, with such means.</p> - -<p>The fire which began in the dry tree has spread to the green!</p> - -<p>Long live the <i>great Christianizing Institution</i>!!!</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The original document from which this is taken can be seen -in the Appendix. It appeared in the <i>Wilmington Journal</i>, December 18, -1850.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[Pg 535]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LII.</span> <span class="smaller">"ALL OVER."</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton, at the time of the violent assault which we have described, -received an injury upon the head which rendered him insensible.</p> - -<p>When he came to himself, he was conscious at first only of a fanning of -summer breezes. He opened his eyes, and looked listlessly up into the -blue sky, that appeared through the thousand leafy hollows of waving -boughs. Voices of birds warbling and calling, like answering echoes, to -each other, fell dreamily on his ear. Some gentle hand was placing -bandages around his head; and figures of women, he did not recognize, -moved whisperingly around him, tending and watching.</p> - -<p>He dropped asleep again, and thus for many hours lay in a kind of heavy -trance.</p> - -<p>Harry and Lisette had vacated, for his use, their hut; but, as it was -now the splendid weather of October, when earth and sky become a temple -of beauty and serenity, they tended him during the hours of the day in -the open air, and it would seem as if there were no art of healing like -to this. As air and heat and water all have a benevolent tendency to -enter and fill up a vacuum, so we might fancy the failing vitality of -the human system to receive accessions of vigor by being placed in the -vicinity of the healthful growths of nature. All the trees which John -saw around the river of life and heaven bore healing leaves; and there -may be a sense in which the trees of our world bear leaves that are -healing both to body and soul. He who hath gone out of the city, sick, -disgusted, and wearied, and lain himself down in the forest, under the -fatherly shadow of an oak, may have heard this whispered to him in the -leafy rustlings of a thousand tongues.</p> - -<p class="center">* * * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[Pg 536]</a></span></p><p>"See," said Dred to Harry, as they were watching over the yet -insensible form of Clayton, "how the word of the Lord is fulfilled on -this people. He shall deliver them, every man into the hand of his -neighbor; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Harry; "but this is a good man; he stands up for our rights. -If he had his way, we should soon have justice done us."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Dred, "but it is even as it was of old; 'behold I send unto -you prophets and wise men, and some of them shall ye slay. For this -people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears have they closed. -Therefore, the Lord shall bring upon this generation the blood of all -the slain, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, -the son of Barachias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar.'"</p> - -<p class="center">* * * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>After a day or two spent in a kind of listless dreaming, Clayton was so -far recovered as to be able to sit up and look about him. The serene -tranquillity of the lovely October skies seemed to fall like a spell -upon his soul.</p> - -<p>Amidst the wild and desolate swamp, here was an island of security, -where nature took men to her sheltering bosom. A thousand birds, -speaking with thousand airy voices, were calling from breezy tree-tops, -and from swinging cradles of vine-leaves; white clouds sailed, in -changing and varying islands, over the heavy green battlements of the -woods. The wavering, slumberous sound of thousand leaves, through which -the autumn air walked to and fro, consoled him. Life began to look to -him like a troubled dream, forever past. His own sufferings, the hours -of agony and death which he had never dared to remember, seemed now to -wear a new and glorified form. Such is the divine power in which God -still reveals himself through the lovely and incorruptible forms of -nature.</p> - -<p>Clayton became interested in Dred, as a psychological study. At first he -was silent and reserved, but attended to the wants of his guest with -evident respect and kindness. Gradually, however, the love of -expression, which lies hidden in almost every soul, began to unfold -itself in him, and he seemed to find pleasure in a sympathetic listener. -His wild jargon of hebraistic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[Pg 537]</a></span> phrases, names, and allusions, had for -Clayton, in his enfeebled state, a quaint and poetic interest. He -compared him, in his own mind, to one of those old rude Gothic doorways, -so frequent in European cathedrals, where scriptural images, carved in -rough granite, mingle themselves with a thousand wayward, fantastic -freaks of architecture; and sometimes he thought, with a sigh, how much -might have been accomplished by a soul so ardent and a frame so -energetic, had they been enlightened and guided.</p> - -<p>Dred would sometimes come, in the shady part of the afternoon, and lie -on the grass beside him, and talk for hours in a quaint, rambling, -dreamy style, through which there were occasional flashes of practical -ability and shrewdness.</p> - -<p>He had been a great traveller—a traveller through regions generally -held inaccessible to human foot and eye. He had explored not only the -vast swamp-girdle of the Atlantic, but the everglades of Florida, with -all their strange and tropical luxuriance of growth; he had wandered -along the dreary and perilous belt of sand which skirts the southern -Atlantic shores, full of quicksands and of dangers, and there he had -mused of the eternal secret of the tides, with whose restless, -never-ceasing rise and fall the soul of man has a mysterious sympathy. -Destitute of the light of philosophy and science, he had revolved in the -twilight of his ardent and struggling thoughts the causes of natural -phenomena, and settled these questions for himself by theories of his -own. Sometimes his residence for weeks had been a stranded hulk, cast on -one of these inhospitable shores, where he fasted and prayed, and -fancied that answering voices came to him in the moaning of the wind and -the sullen swell of the sea.</p> - -<p>Our readers behold him now, stretched on the grass beside the hut of -Harry and Lisette, in one of his calmest and most communicative moods.</p> - -<p>The children, with Lisette and the women, were searching for grapes in a -distant part of the inclosure; and Harry, with the other fugitive man, -had gone to bring in certain provisions which were to have been -deposited for them in a distant part of the swamp by some of their -confederates on one of the plantations. Old Tiff was hoeing potatoes -diligently in a spot not very far distant, and evidently listening to -the conversation with an ear of shrewd attention.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[Pg 538]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said Dred, with that misty light in his eye which one may often -have remarked in the eye of enthusiasts, "the glory holds off, but it is -coming! Now is the groaning time! <i>That</i> was revealed to me when I was -down at Okerecoke, when I slept three weeks in the hulk of a ship out of -which all souls had perished."</p> - -<p>"Rather a dismal abode, my friend," said Clayton, by way of drawing him -on to conversation.</p> - -<p>"The Spirit drove me there," said Dred, "for I had besought the Lord to -show unto me the knowledge of things to come; and the Lord bade me to go -from the habitations of men, and to seek out the desolate places of the -sea, and dwell in the wreck of a ship that was forsaken, for a sign of -desolation unto this people. So I went and dwelt there. And the Lord -called me Amraphal, because hidden things of judgment were made known -unto me. And the Lord showed unto me that even as a ship which is -forsaken of the waters, wherein all flesh have died, so shall it be with -the nation of the oppressor."</p> - -<p>"How did the Lord show you this?" said Clayton, bent upon pursuing his -inquiry.</p> - -<p>"Mine ear received it in the night season," said Dred, "and I heard how -the whole creation groaneth and travaileth, waiting for the adoption; -and because of this he hath appointed the tide."</p> - -<p>"I don't see the connection," said Clayton. "Why because of this?"</p> - -<p>"Because," said Dred, "every day is full of labor, but the labor goeth -back again into the seas. So that travail of all generations hath gone -back, till the desire of all nations shall come, and He shall come with -burning and with judgment, and with great shakings; but in the end -thereof shall be peace. Wherefore, it is written that in the new heavens -and the new earth there shall be no more sea."</p> - -<p>These words were uttered with an air of solemn, assured confidence, that -impressed Clayton strangely. Something in his inner nature seemed to -recognize in them a shadow of things hoped for. He was in that mood into -which the mind of him who strives with the evils of this world must -often fall—a mood of weariness and longing; and heard within him the -cry of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[Pg 539]</a></span>human soul, tempest-tossed and not comforted, for rest and -assurance of the state where there shall be no more sea.</p> - -<p>"So, then," he said unto Dred, "so, then, you believe that these heavens -and earth shall be made new."</p> - -<p>"Assuredly," said Dred. "And the King shall reign in righteousness. He -shall deliver the needy when he crieth,—the poor and him that hath no -helper. He shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence. He shall -sit upon a white cloud, and the rainbow shall be round about his head. -And the elect of the Lord shall be kings and priests on the earth."</p> - -<p>"And do you think you shall be one of them?" said Clayton.</p> - -<p>Dred gave a kind of inward groan.</p> - -<p>"Not every one that prophesieth in his name shall be found worthy!" he -said. "I have prayed the Lord, but He hath not granted me the assurance. -I am the rod of his wrath, to execute vengeance on his enemies. Shall -the axe magnify itself against him that lifteth it?"</p> - -<p>The conversation was here interrupted by Harry, who, suddenly springing -from the tree, came up, in a hurried and agitated manner.</p> - -<p>"The devil is broke loose!" he said. "Tom Gordon is out, with his whole -crew at his heels, beating the swamp! A more drunken, swearing, -ferocious set I never saw! They have got on to the trail of poor Jim, -and are tracking him without mercy!"</p> - -<p>A dark light flashed from Dred's eye, as he sprang upon his feet.</p> - -<p>"The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; yea, the wilderness of -Kadesh. I will go forth and deliver him!"</p> - -<p>He seized his rifle and shot-bag, and in a few moments was gone. It was -Harry's instinct to have followed him; but Lisette threw herself, -weeping, on his neck.</p> - -<p>"Don't go—don't!" she said. "What shall we all do without you? Stay -with us! You'll certainly be killed, and you can do no good!"</p> - -<p>"Consider," said Clayton, "that you have not the familiarity with these -swamps, nor the wonderful physical power of this man. It would only be -throwing away your life."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[Pg 540]</a></span></p><p>The hours of that day passed gloomily. Sometimes the brutal sound of -the hunt seemed to sweep near them,—the crack of rifles, the baying of -dogs, the sound of oaths,—and then again all went off into silence, and -nothing was heard but the innocent patter of leaf upon leaf, and the -warbling of the birds, singing cheerily, ignorant of the abyss of -cruelty and crime over which they sang.</p> - -<p>Towards sunset a rustling was heard in the branches of the oak, and Dred -dropped down into the inclosure, wet, and soiled, and wearied. All -gathered round him, in a moment.</p> - -<p>"Where is Jim?" asked Harry.</p> - -<p>"Slain!" said Dred. "The archers pressed him sore and he hath fallen in -the wilderness!"</p> - -<p>There was a general exclamation of horror. Dred made a movement to sit -down on the earth. He lost his balance, and fell; and they all saw now, -what at first they had not noticed, a wound in his breast, from which -the blood was welling. His wife fell by his side, with wild moans of -sorrow. He lifted his hand, and motioned her from him.</p> - -<p>"Peace," he said, "peace! It is enough! Behold, I go unto the witnesses -who cry day and night!"</p> - -<p>The circle stood around him in mute horror and surprise. Clayton was the -first who had presence of mind to kneel and stanch the blood. Dred -looked at him; his calm, large eyes filled with supernatural light.</p> - -<p>"All over!" he said.</p> - -<p>He put his hand calmly to his side, and felt the gushing blood. He took -some in his hand and threw it upward, crying out, with wild energy, in -the words of an ancient prophet,—</p> - -<p>"Oh, earth, earth, earth! Cover thou not my blood!"</p> - -<p>Behind the dark barrier of the woods the sun was setting gloriously. -Piles of loose, floating clouds, which all day long had been moving -through the sky in white and silvery stillness, now one after another -took up the rosy flush, and became each one a light-bearer, filled with -ethereal radiance. And the birds sang on as they ever sing, unterrified -by the great wail of human sorrow.</p> - -<p>It was evident to the little circle that He who is mightier than the -kings of the earth was there, and that that splendid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[Pg 541]</a></span> frame, which had -so long rejoiced in the exuberance of health and strength, was now to be -resolved again into the eternal elements.</p> - -<p>"Harry," he said, "lay me beneath the heap of witness. Let the God of -their fathers judge between us!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[Pg 542]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LIII.</span> <span class="smaller">THE BURIAL.</span></h2> - -<p>The death of Dred fell like a night of despair on the hearts of the -little fugitive circle in the swamps—on the hearts of multitudes in the -surrounding plantations, who had regarded him as a prophet and a -deliverer. He in whom they trusted was dead! The splendid, athletic -form, so full of wild vitality, the powerful arm, the trained and -keen-seeing eye, all struck down at once! The grand and solemn voice -hushed, and all the splendid poetry of olden time, the inspiring symbols -and prophetic dreams, which had so wrought upon his own soul, and with -which he had wrought upon the souls of others, seemed to pass away with -him, and to recede into the distance and become unsubstantial, like the -remembered sounds of mighty winds, or solemn visions of evening clouds, -in times long departed.</p> - -<p>On that night, when the woods had ceased to reverberate the brutal -sounds of baying dogs, and the more brutal profanity of drunken men; -when the leaves stood still on the trees, and the forest lay piled up in -the darkness like black clouds, and the morning star was standing like a -calm angelic presence above them, there might have been heard in the -little clearing a muffled sound of footsteps, treading heavily, and -voices of those that wept with a repressed and quiet weeping, as they -bore the wild chieftain to his grave beneath the blasted tree. Of the -undaunted circle who had met there at the same hour many evenings -before, some had dared to be present to-night; for, hearing the report -of the hunt, they had left their huts on the plantations by stealth when -all were asleep, and, eluding the vigilance of the patrols, the night -watch which commonly guards plantations, had come to the forest to learn -the fate of their friends; and bitter was the dismay and anguish which -filled their souls when they learned the result. It is melancholy to -reflect, that among the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[Pg 543]</a></span> children of one Father an event which excites -in one class bitterness and lamentation should in another be cause of -exultation and triumph. But the world has been thousands of years and -not yet learned the first two words of the Lord's Prayer; and not until -all tribes and nations have learned these will his kingdom come, and his -will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.</p> - -<p>Among those who stood around the grave, none seemed more bowed down and -despairing than one whom we have before introduced to the reader, under -the name of Hannibal. He was a tall and splendidly formed negro, whose -large head, high forehead, and marked features, indicated resolution and -intellectual ability. He had been all his life held as the property of -an uneducated man, of very mean and parsimonious character, who was -singularly divided in his treatment of him, by a desire to make the most -of his energies and capabilities as a slave, and a fear lest they should -develop so fast as to render him unfit for the condition of slavery.</p> - -<p>Hannibal had taught himself to read and write, but the secret of the -acquisition was guarded in his own bosom, as vigilantly as the traveller -among thieves would conceal in his breast an inestimable diamond; for he -well knew that, were these acquisitions discovered, his master's fears -would be so excited as to lead him to realize at once a present sum upon -him, by selling him to the more hopeless prison-house of the far south, -thus separating him from his wife and family.</p> - -<p>Hannibal was generally employed as the keeper of a ferryboat by his -master, and during the hours when he was waiting for passengers found -many opportunities for gratifying, in an imperfect manner, his thirst -for knowledge.</p> - -<p>Those who have always had books about them more than they could or would -read know nothing of the passionate eagerness with which a repressed and -starved intellect devours in secret its stolen food.</p> - -<p>In a little chink between the logs of his ferry-house there was secreted -a Bible, a copy of Robinson Crusoe, and an odd number of a northern -newspaper which had been dropped from the pocket of a passenger; and -when the door was shut and barred at night, and his bit of pine knot -lighted, he would take these out and read them hour by hour. There he -yearned after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[Pg 544]</a></span> wild freedom of the desolate island. He placed his -wife and children, in imagination, in the little barricaded abode of -Robinson. He hunted and made coats of skin, and gathered strange fruits -from trees with unknown names, and felt himself a free man.</p> - -<p>Over a soul so strong and so repressed it is not to be wondered at that -Dred should have acquired a peculiar power. The study of the Bible had -awakened in his mind that vague tumult of aspirations and hopes which it -ever excites in the human breast; and he was prompt to believe that the -Lord who visited Israel in Egypt had listened to the sighings of their -captivity, and sent a prophet and a deliverer to his people.</p> - -<p>Like a torch carried in a stormy night, this hope had blazed up within -him; but the cold blast of death had whistled by, and it was -extinguished forever.</p> - -<p>Among the small band that stood around the dead, on the edge of the -grave, he stood, looking fixedly on the face of the departed. In the -quaint and shaggy mound to which Dred had attached that strange, rugged, -oriental appellation, <i>Jegar Sahadutha</i>, or the "heap of witness," there -was wildly flaring a huge pine-knot torch, whose light fell with a red, -distinct glare on the prostrate form that lay there like a kingly cedar -uprooted, no more to wave its branches in air, yet mighty in its fall, -with all the shaggy majesty of its branches around. Whatever might have -been the strife and struggle of the soul once imprisoned in that form, -there was stamped upon the sombre face an expression of majestic and -mournful tranquillity, as if that long-suffering and gracious God, to -whose judgment he had made his last appeal, had rendered that judgment -in mercy. When the statesmen and mighty men of <i>our</i> race die, though -they had the weaknesses and sins of humanity, they want not orators in -the church to draw the veil gently, to speak softly of their errors and -loudly of their good, and to predict for them, if not an abundant -entrance, yet at least a safe asylum among the blessed; and something -not to be rebuked in our common nature inclines to join in a hopeful -amen. It is not easy for us to believe that a great and powerful soul -can be lost to God and itself forever.</p> - -<p>But he who lies here so still and mournfully in this flickering -torch-light had struggling within him the energies which make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[Pg 545]</a></span> the -patriot and the prophet. Crushed beneath a mountain of ignorance, they -rose blind and distorted; yet had knowledge enlightened and success -crowned them, his name might have been, with that of Toussaint, -celebrated in mournful sonnet by the deepest thinking poet of the age:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i12">"Thou hast left behind</div> -<div>Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies;</div> -<div>There's not a breathing of the common wind</div> -<div>That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;</div> -<div>Thy friends are exaltations, agonies,</div> -<div>And love, and man's unconquerable mind."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The weight of so great an affliction seemed to have repressed the usual -vivacity with which the negro is wont to indulge the expression of -grief. When the body was laid down by the side of the grave, there was -for a time a silence so deep that the rustling of the leaves, and the -wild, doleful clamor of the frogs and turtles in the swamps, and the -surge of the winds in the pine-tree tops, were all that met the ear. -Even the wife of the dead stood with her shawl wrapped tightly about -her, rocking to and fro, as if in the extremity of grief.</p> - -<p>An old man in the company, who had officiated sometimes as preacher -among the negroes, began to sing a well-known hymn very commonly used at -negro funerals, possibly because its wild and gloomy imagery has -something exciting to their quick imaginations. The words rose on the -night air:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound,</div> -<div class="i1">My ears attend the cry;</div> -<div>Ye living men, come view the ground</div> -<div class="i1">Where you must shortly lie."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>During the singing of this verse Hannibal stood silent, with his arms -gloomily folded, his eyes fixed on the lifeless face. Gradually the -sentiment seemed to inspire his soul with a kind of serene triumph; he -lifted his head, and joined his deep bass voice in the singing of the -second verse:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Princes, this clay must be your bed,</div> -<div class="i1">In spite of all your towers;</div> -<div>The tall, the wise, the reverend head,</div> -<div class="i1">Must lie as low as ours."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Yes," he said, "brethren, that will be the way of it. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[Pg 546]</a></span> triumph and -lord it over us now, but their pomp will be brought down to the grave, -and the noise of their viols. The worm shall be spread under them, and -the worm shall cover them; and when we come to stand together at the -judgment seat, our testimony will be took there if it never was afore; -and the Lord will judge atween us and our oppressors,—that's one -comfort. Now, brethren, let's jest lay him in the grave, and he that's a -better man, or would have done better in his place, let him judge him if -he dares."</p> - -<p>They lifted him up and laid him into the grave; and in a few moments all -the mortal signs by which that soul had been known on earth had -vanished, to appear no more till the great day of judgment and decision.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[Pg 547]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LIV.</span> <span class="smaller">THE ESCAPE.</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton had not been an unsympathizing or inattentive witness of these -scenes.</p> - -<p>It is true that he knew not the whole depth of the affair; but Harry's -letter and his own observations had led him, without explanation, to -feel that there was a perilous degree of excitement in some of the -actors in the scene before him, which, unless some escape-valve were -opened, might lead to most fatal results.</p> - -<p>The day after the funeral, he talked with Harry, wisely and kindly, -assuming nothing to himself on the ground either of birth or position; -showing to him the undesirableness and hopelessness, under present -circumstances, of any attempt to right by force the wrongs under which -his class were suffering, and opening to him and his associates a -prospect of a safer way by flight to the Free States.</p> - -<p>One can scarcely appreciate the moral resolution and force of character -which could make a person in Clayton's position in society—himself -sustaining, in the eye of the law, the legal relation of a -slave-holder—give advice of this kind. No crime is visited with more -unsparing rigor by the <i>régime</i> of southern society than the aiding or -abetting the escape of a slave. He who does it is tried as a -negro-stealer; and in some states death, in others a long and -disgraceful imprisonment in the penitentiary, is the award.</p> - -<p>For granting the slightest assistance and succor, in cases like -these,—for harboring the fugitive for even a night,—for giving him the -meanest shelter and food,—persons have been stripped of their whole -property, and turned out destitute upon the world. Others for no other -crime, have languished years in unhealthy dungeons, and coming out at -last with broken health<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[Pg 548]</a></span> and wasted energies; nor has the most saintly -patience and purity of character in the victim been able to lessen or -mitigate the penalty.</p> - -<p>It was therefore only by the discerning power of a mind sufficiently -clear and strong to see its way through the mists of educational -association, that Clayton could feel himself to be doing right in thus -violating the laws and customs of the social state under which he was -born. But, in addition to his belief in the inalienable right of every -man to liberty, he had at this time a firm conviction that nothing but -the removal of some of these minds from the oppressions which were -goading them could prevent a development of bloody insurrection.</p> - -<p>It is probable that nothing has awakened more bitterly the animosity of -the slave-holding community than the existence in the Northern States of -an indefinite yet very energetic institution, known as <i>the underground -railroad</i>; and yet, would they but reflect wisely on the things that -belong to their peace, they would know that this has removed many a -danger from their dwellings. One has only to become well acquainted with -some of those fearless and energetic men who have found their way to -freedom by its means, to feel certain that such minds and hearts would -have proved, in time, an incendiary magazine under the scorching reign -of slavery. But by means of this, men of that class who cannot be kept -in slavery have found a road to liberty which endangered the shedding of -no blood but their own; and the record of the strange and perilous means -by which these escapes have been accomplished sufficiently shows the -resolute nature of the men by whom they were undertaken.</p> - -<p>It was soon agreed that a large party of fugitives should in concert -effect their escape. Harry, being so white as easily to escape detection -out of the immediate vicinity where he was known, assumed the task of -making arrangements, for which he was amply supplied with money by -Clayton.</p> - -<p>It is well known that there are, during the greater part of the year, -lumberers engaged in the cutting and making of shingles, who have -extensive camps in the swamp, and live there for months at a time. These -camps are made by laying foundations of logs on the spongy soil, thus -forming platforms on which rude cabins are erected. In the same manner -roads are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[Pg 549]</a></span>constructed into distant parts of the swamp, by means of -which transportation is carried on. There is also a canal cut through -the middle of the swamp, on which small sailing craft pass backwards and -forwards with shingles and produce.</p> - -<p>In the employ of these lumberers are multitudes of slaves hired from -surrounding proprietors. They live here in a situation of comparative -freedom, being obliged to make a certain number of staves or shingles -within a stipulated time, and being furnished with very comfortable -provision. Living thus somewhat in the condition of freemen, they are -said to be more intelligent, energetic, and self-respecting, than the -generality of slaves. The camp of the fugitives had not been without -intercourse with the camp of lumberers, some five miles distant. In -cases of straits they had received secret supplies from them, and one or -two of the more daring and intelligent of the slave lumberers had -attended some of Dred's midnight meetings. It was determined, therefore, -to negotiate with one of the slaves who commanded a lighter, or small -vessel, in which lumber was conveyed to Norfolk, to assist their escape.</p> - -<p>On some consultation, however, it was found that the numbers wanting to -escape were so large as not to be able, without exciting suspicion, to -travel together, and it was therefore decided to make two detachments. -Milly had determined to cast in her lot with the fugitives, out of -regard to her grandchild, poor little Tomtit, whose utter and merry -thoughtlessness formed a touching contrast to the gravity and -earnestness of her affections and desires for him. He was to her the -only remaining memorial of a large family, which had been torn from her -by the ordinary reverses and chances of slavery; and she clung to him, -therefore, with the undivided energy of her great heart. As far as her -own rights were concerned, she would have made a willing surrender of -them, remaining patiently in the condition wherein she was called, and -bearing injustice and oppression as a means of spiritual improvement, -and seeking to do what good lay in her power.</p> - -<p>Every individual has an undoubted right, if he chooses, thus to resign -the rights and privileges of his earthly birthright; but the question is -a very different one when it involves the improvement and the immortal -interests of those for whom the ties of blood oblige him to have care.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[Pg 550]</a></span></p><p>Milly, who viewed everything with the eye of a Christian, was far less -impressed by the rigor and severity of Tom Gordon's administration than -by the dreadful demoralization of character which he brought upon the -plantation.</p> - -<p>Tomtit being a bright, handsome child, his master had taken a particular -fancy to him. He would have him always about his person, and treated him -with the same mixture of indulgence and caprice which one would bestow -upon a spaniel. He took particular pleasure in teaching him to drink and -to swear, apparently for nothing else than the idle amusement it -afforded him to witness the exhibition of such accomplishments in so -young a child.</p> - -<p>In vain Milly, who dared use more freedom with him than any other -servant, expostulated. He laughed or swore at her, according to the -state in which he happened to be. Milly, therefore, determined at once -to join the flying party, and take her darling with her. Perhaps she -would not have been able to accomplish this, had not what she considered -a rather fortunate reverse, about this time, brought Tomtit into -disgrace with his master. Owing to some piece of careless mischief which -he had committed, he had been beaten with a severity as thoughtless as -the indulgence he at other times received, and, while bruised and -trembling from this infliction, he was fully ready to fly anywhere.</p> - -<p>Quite unexpectedly to all parties, it was discovered that Tom Gordon's -confidential servant and valet, Jim, was one of the most forward to -escape. This man, from that peculiar mixture of boldness, adroitness, -cunning, and drollery, which often exists among negroes, had stood for -years as prime and undisputed favorite with his master; he had never -wanted for money, or for anything that money could purchase; and he had -had an almost unreproved liberty of saying, in an odd fashion, what he -pleased, with the licensed audacity of a court buffoon.</p> - -<p>One of the slaves expressed astonishment that he, in his favored -position, should think of such a thing. Jim gave a knowing inclination -of his head to one side, and said:—</p> - -<p>"Fac' is, bredren, dis chile is jest tired of dese yer partnership -concerns. I and mas'r, we has all tings in common, sure 'nough; but den -I'd rather have less of 'em, and have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[Pg 551]</a></span>something dat's <i>mine</i>; 'sides -which, I never's going to have a wife till I can get one dat'll belong -to myself; dat ar's a ting I's 'ticular 'bout."</p> - -<p>The conspirators were wont to hold their meetings nightly in the woods, -near the swamp, for purposes of concert and arrangement.</p> - -<p>Jim had been trusted so much to come and go at his own pleasure, that he -felt little fear of detection, always having some plausible excuse on -hand, if inquiries were made.</p> - -<p>It is to be confessed that he had been a very profane and irreverent -fellow, often attending prayer-meetings, and other religious exercises -of the negroes, for no other apparent purpose than to be able to give -burlesque imitations of all the proceedings for the amusement of his -master and his master's vile associates. Whenever, therefore, he was -missed, he would, upon inquiry, assert, with a knowing wink, that "he -had been out to de prayer-meetin'."</p> - -<p>"Seems to me, Jim," says Tom, one morning, when he felt peculiarly -ill-natured, "seems to me you are doing nothing but go to meeting, -lately. I don't like it, and I'm not going to have it. Some deviltry or -other you are up to, and I'm going to put a stop to it. Now, mind -yourself; don't you go any more, or I'll give you——"</p> - -<p>We shall not mention particularly what Tom was in the habit of -threatening to give.</p> - -<p>Here was a dilemma. One attendance more in the woods this very night was -necessary,—was, indeed, indispensable. Jim put all his powers of -pleasing into requisition. Never had he made such desperate efforts to -be entertaining. He sang, he danced, he mimicked sermons, carried on -mock meetings, and seemed to whip all things sacred and profane -together, in one great syllabub of uproarious merriment; and this to an -idle man, with a whole day upon his hands, and an urgent necessity for -never having time to think, was no small affair.</p> - -<p>Tom mentally reflected in the evening, as he lay stretched out in the -veranda, smoking his cigar, what in the world he should do without Jim, -to keep him in spirits; and Jim, under cover of the day's glory, had -ventured to request of his master the liberty of an hour, which he -employed in going to his tryst<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[Pg 552]</a></span> in the woods. This was a bold step, -considering how positively he had been forbidden to do it in the -morning; but Jim heartily prayed to his own wits, the only god he had -been taught to worship, to help him out once more. He was returning -home, hastening, in order to be in season for his master's bed-time, -hoping to escape unquestioned as to where he had been.</p> - -<p>The appointments had all been made, and, between two and three o'clock -that night, the whole party were to strike out upon their course, and -ere morning to have travelled the first stage of their pilgrimage -towards freedom.</p> - -<p>Already the sense of a new nature was beginning to dawn on Jim's mind—a -sense of something graver, steadier, and more manly, than the wild, -frolicsome life he had been leading; and his bosom throbbed with a -strange, new, unknown hope.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, on the very boundary of the spot where the wood joins the -plantation, whom should he meet but Tom Gordon, sent there as if he had -been warned by his evil stars.</p> - -<p>"Now, Lord help me! if dere is any Lord," said Jim. "Well, I's got to -blaze it out now de best way I ken."</p> - -<p>He walked directly up to his master, with his usual air of saucy -assurance.</p> - -<p>"Why, Jim," said Tom, "where have you been? I've been looking for you."</p> - -<p>"Why, bless you, mas'r, honey, I's been out to de meetin'."</p> - -<p>"Didn't I tell you, you dog," said Tom, with an oath, "that you were not -to go to any more of those meetings?"</p> - -<p>"Why, laws, mas'r, honey, chile, 'fore my heavenly mas'r, I done forgot -every word you said!" said Jim. "I's so kind o' tumbled up and down this -day, and things has been so cur'us!"</p> - -<p>The ludicrous grimace and tone, and attitude of affected contrition, -with which all this was said, rather amused Tom; and, though he still -maintained an air of sternness, the subtle negro saw at once his -advantage, and added, "'Clare if I isn't most dead! Ole Pomp, he -preached, and he gets me so full o' grace I's fit to bust. Has to do -something wicked, else I'll get translated one dese yer days, like -'Lijah, and den who'd mas'r have fur to wait on him?"</p> - -<p>"I don't believe you've been to meeting," said Tom, eyeing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[Pg 553]</a></span> him with -affected suspicion. "You've been out on some spree."</p> - -<p>"Why, laws, mas'r, honey, you hurts my feelings! Why, now, I's in hopes -you'd say you see de grace a shining out all over me. Why, I's been in a -clar state of glorrufication all dis evening. Dat ar ole Pomp, dar's no -mistake, he does lift a body up powerful!"</p> - -<p>"You don't remember a word he said, now, I'll bet," said Tom. "Where was -the text?"</p> - -<p>"Text!" said Jim, with assurance; "'twas in de twenty-fourth chapter of -Jerusalem, sixteenth verse."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Tom, "what was it? I should like to know."</p> - -<p>"Laws, mas'r, I b'lieve I can 'peat it," said Jim, with an indescribable -air of waggish satisfaction. "'Twas dis yer: 'Ye shall sarch fur me in -de mornin' and ye won't find me.' Dat ar's a mighty solemn text, mas'r, -and ye ought to be 'flecting on't."</p> - -<p>And Tom had occasion to reflect upon it, the next morning, when, having -stormed, and sworn, and pulled until he broke the bell-wire, no Jim -appeared. It was some time before he could actually realize or believe -he was gone.</p> - -<p>The ungrateful dog! The impudent puppy, who had had all his life -everything he wanted, to run away from him!</p> - -<p>Tom aroused the whole country in pursuit; and, as servants were found -missing in many other plantations, there was a general excitement -through the community. The <i>Trumpet of Liberty</i> began to blow dolorous -notes, and articles headed, "The results of Abolitionist teaching, and -covert incendiarism," began to appear. It was recommended that a general -search should be made through the country for all persons tinctured with -abolitionist sentiments, and immediate measures pursued to oblige them -to leave the state forthwith.</p> - -<p>One or two respectable gentlemen, who were in the habit of taking the -<i>National Era</i>, were visited by members of a vigilance committee, and -informed that they must immediately drop the paper or leave the state; -and when one of them talked of his rights as a free citizen, and -inquired how they would enforce their requisitions, supposing he -determined to stand for his liberty, the party informed him succinctly -to the following <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[Pg 554]</a></span>purport: "If you do not comply, your corn, grain, and -fodder, will be burned; your cattle driven off; and, if you still -persist, your house will be set on fire and consumed, and you will never -know who does it."</p> - -<p>When the good gentleman inquired if this was freedom, his instructors -informed him that freedom consisted in their right and power to make -their neighbors submit to their own will and dictation; and he would -find himself in a free country so far as this, that every one would feel -at liberty to annoy and maltreat him so long as he opposed the popular -will.</p> - -<p>This modern doctrine of liberty has of late been strikingly and -edifyingly enforced on the minds of some of our brethren and sisters in -the new states, to whom the offer of relinquishing their principles or -their property and lives has been tendered with the same admirable -explicitness.</p> - -<p>It is scarcely necessary to remark that both these worthy gentlemen, to -use the language of their conquerors, "caved in," and thus escaped with -no other disadvantage than a general plundering of their smoke-houses, -the hams in which were thought a desirable addition to a triumphal -entertainment proposed to be given in honor of law and order by <span class="smcap">The -Associate Bands</span> of the <span class="smcap">Glorious Immortal Coons</span>, the body-guard which was -Tom Gordon's instrument in all these exploits.</p> - -<p>In fact, this association, although wanting the advantage of an -ordaining prayer and a distribution of Bibles, as has been the case with -some more recently sent from Southern States, to beat the missionary -drum of state rights and the principles of law and order on our -frontiers, yet conducted themselves in a manner which might have won -them approbation even in Col. Buford's regiment, giving such exhibitions -of liberty as were sufficient to justify all despots for putting it down -by force for centuries to come.</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon was the great organizer and leader of all these operations; -his suspicions had connected Clayton with the disappearance of his -slaves, and he followed upon his track with the sagacity of a -bloodhound.</p> - -<p>The outrage which he had perpetrated upon him in the forest, so far from -being a matter of shame or concealment, was paraded as a cause for open -boast and triumph. Tom rode<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[Pg 555]</a></span> about with his arm in a sling as a wounded -hero, and received touching testimonials and demonstrations from sundry -ladies of his acquaintance for his gallantry and spirit. When on the -present occasion he found the pursuit of his slaves hopeless, his wrath -and malice knew no bounds, and he determined to stir up and enkindle -against Clayton to the utmost degree the animosities of the planters -around his estate of Magnolia Grove.</p> - -<p>This it was not difficult to do. We have already shown how much latent -discontent and heart-burning had been excited by the course which -Clayton and his sister had pursued on their estate.</p> - -<p>Tom Gordon had a college acquaintance with the eldest son of one of the -neighboring families, a young man of as reckless and dissipated habits -as his own.</p> - -<p>Hearing, therefore, that Clayton had retired to Magnolia Grove, he -accepted an invitation of this young man to make him a visit, -principally, as it would appear, for the purpose of instigating some mischief.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[Pg 556]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LV.</span> <span class="smaller">LYNCH LAW AGAIN.</span></h2> - -<p>The reader next beholds Clayton at Magnolia Grove, whither he had fled -to recruit his exhausted health and spirits. He had been accompanied -there by Frank Russel.</p> - -<p>Our readers may often have observed how long habits of intimacy may -survive between two persons who have embarked in moral courses, which, -if pursued, must eventually separate them forever.</p> - -<p>For such is the force of moral elements, that the ambitious and -self-seeking cannot <i>always</i> walk with those who love good for its own -sake. In this world, however, where all these things are imperfectly -developed, habits of intimacy often subsist a long time between the most -opposing affinities.</p> - -<p>The fact was that Russel would not give up the society of Clayton. He -admired the very thing in him which he wanted himself; and he comforted -himself for not listening to his admonitions by the tolerance and -good-nature with which he had always heard them. When he heard that he -was ill, he came to him and insisted upon travelling with him, attending -him with the utmost fidelity and kindness.</p> - -<p>Clayton had not seen Anne before since his affliction—both because his -time had been very much engaged, and because they who cannot speak of -their sorrows often shrink from the society of those whose habits of -intimacy and affection might lead them to desire such confidence. But he -was not destined in his new retreat to find the peace he desired. Our -readers may remember that there were intimations conveyed through his -sister some time since of discontent arising in the neighborhood.</p> - -<p>The presence of Tom Gordon soon began to make itself felt. As a -conductor introduced into an electric atmosphere will draw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_557" id="Page_557">[Pg 557]</a></span> to itself -the fluid, so he became an organizing point for the prevailing -dissatisfaction.</p> - -<p>He went to dinner-parties and talked; he wrote in the nearest paper; he -excited the inflammable and inconsiderate; and, before he had been there -many weeks, a vigilance association was formed among the younger and -more hot-headed of his associates, to search out and extirpate covert -abolitionism. Anne and her brother first became sensible of an entire -cessation of all those neighborly acts of kindness and hospitality, in -which southern people, when in a good humor, are so abundant.</p> - -<p>At last, one day Clayton was informed that three or four gentlemen of -his acquaintance were wishing to see him in the parlor below.</p> - -<p>On descending, he was received first by his nearest neighbor, Judge -Oliver, a fine-looking elderly gentleman, of influential family -connection.</p> - -<p>He was attended by Mr. Bradshaw, whom we have already introduced to our -readers, and by a Mr. Knapp, who was a very wealthy planter, a man of -great energy and ability, who had for some years figured as the -representative of his native state in Congress.</p> - -<p>It was evident, by the embarrassed air of the party, that they had come -on business of no pleasing character.</p> - -<p>It is not easy for persons, however much excited they may be, to enter -at once upon offensive communications to persons who receive them with -calm and gentlemanly civility; therefore, after being seated, and having -discussed the ordinary topics of the weather and the crops, the party -looked one upon another, in a little uncertainty which should begin the -real business of the interview.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Clayton," at length said Judge Oliver, "we are really sorry to be -obliged to make disagreeable communications to you. We have all of us -had the sincerest respect for your family and for yourself. I have known -and honored your father many years, Mr. Clayton; and, for my own part, I -must say I anticipated much pleasure from your residence in our -neighborhood. I am really concerned to be obliged to say anything -unpleasant; but I am under the necessity of telling you that the course -you have been pursuing with regard to your servants,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[Pg 558]</a></span> being contrary to -the laws and usages of our social institutions, can no longer be -permitted among us. You are aware that the teaching of slaves to read -and write is forbidden by the law, under severe penalties. We have -always been liberal in the interpretation of this law. Exceptional -violations, conducted with privacy and discretion, in the case of -favored servants, whose general good conduct seems to merit such -confidence, have from time to time existed, and passed among us without -notice or opposition; but the institution of a regular system of -instruction, to the extent and degree which exists upon your plantation, -is a thing so directly in the face of the law, that we can no longer -tolerate it; and we have determined, unless this course is dropped, to -take measures to put the law into execution."</p> - -<p>"I had paid my adopted state the compliment," said Clayton, "to suppose -such laws to be a mere relic of barbarous ages, which the practical -Christianity of our times would treat as a dead letter. I began my -arrangements in all good faith, not dreaming that there could be found -those who would oppose a course so evidently called for by the spirit of -the Gospel, and the spirit of the age."</p> - -<p>"You are entirely mistaken, sir," said Mr. Knapp, in a tone of great -decision, "if you suppose these laws are, or can ever be, a matter of -indifference to us, or can be suffered to become a dead letter. Sir, -they are founded in the very nature of our institutions. They are -indispensable to the preservation of our property, and the safety of our -families. Once educate the negro population, and the whole system of our -domestic institutions is at an end. Our negroes have acquired already, -by living among us, a degree of sagacity and intelligence which makes it -difficult to hold an even rein over them; and, once open the flood-gates -of education, and there is no saying where they and we might be carried. -I, for my part, do not approve of these exceptional instances Judge -Oliver mentioned. Generally speaking, those negroes whose intelligence -and good conduct would make them the natural recipients of such favors -are precisely the ones who ought not to be trusted with them. It ruins -them. Why, just look at the history of the insurrection that very nearly -cut off the whole city of Charleston: what sort of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[Pg 559]</a></span> men were those who -got it up? They were just your steady, thoughtful, well-conducted -men,—just the kind of men that people are teaching to read, because -they think they are so good it can do no harm. Sir, my father was one of -the magistrates on the trial of those men, and I have heard him say -often there was not one man of bad character among them. They had all -been <i>remarkable</i> for their good character. Why, there was that Denmark -Vesey, who was the head of it: for twenty years he served his master, -and was the most faithful creature that ever breathed; and after he got -his liberty, everybody respected him, and liked him. Why, at first, my -father said the magistrates could not be brought to arrest him, they -were so sure that he could not have been engaged in such an affair. Now, -all the leaders in that affair could read and write. They kept their -lists of names; and nobody knows, or ever will know, how many were down -on them, for those fellows were deep as the grave, and you could not get -a word out of them. Sir, they died and made no sign; but all this is a -warning to us."</p> - -<p>"And do you think," said Clayton, "that if men of that degree of energy -and intelligence are refused instruction, they will not find means to -get knowledge for themselves? And if they do get it themselves, in spite -of your precautions, they will assuredly use it against you.</p> - -<p>"The fact is, gentlemen, it is inevitable that a certain degree of -culture must come from their intercourse with us, and minds of a certain -class <i>will</i> be stimulated to desire more; and all the barriers we put -up will only serve to inflame curiosity, and will make them feel a -perfect liberty to use the knowledge they conquer from us against us. In -my opinion, the only sure defence against insurrection is systematic -education, by which we shall acquire that influence over their minds -which our superior cultivation will enable us to hold. Then, as fast as -they become fitted to enjoy rights, we must grant them."</p> - -<p>"Not we, indeed!" said Mr. Knapp, striking his cane upon the floor. "We -are not going to lay down our power in that way. We will not allow any -such beginning. We must hold them down firmly and consistently. For my -part, I dislike even the system of oral religious instruction. It starts -their minds, and leads them to want something more. It's indiscreet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_560" id="Page_560">[Pg 560]</a></span> -and I always said so. As for teaching them out of the Bible,—why, the -Bible is the most exciting book that ever was put together! It always -starts up the mind, and it's unsafe."</p> - -<p>"Don't you see," said Clayton, "what an admission you are making? What -sort of a system must this be, that requires such a course to sustain -it?"</p> - -<p>"I can't help that," said Mr. Knapp. "There's millions and millions -invested in it, and we can't afford to risk such an amount of property -for mere abstract speculation. The system is as good as forty other -systems that have prevailed, and will prevail. We can't take the -frame-work of society to pieces. We must proceed with things as they -are. And now, Mr. Clayton, another thing I have to say to you," said he, -looking excited, and getting up and walking the floor. "It has been -discovered that you receive incendiary documents through the -post-office; and this cannot be permitted, sir."</p> - -<p>The color flushed into Clayton's face, and his eye kindled as he braced -himself in his chair. "By what right," he said, "does any one pry into -what I receive through the post-office? Am I not a free man?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir, you are not," said Mr. Knapp,—"not free to receive that which -may imperil a whole neighborhood. You are not free to store barrels of -gunpowder on your premises, when they may blow up ours. Sir, we are -obliged to hold the mail under supervision in this state; and suspected -persons will not be allowed to receive communications without oversight. -Don't you remember that the general post-office was broken open in -Charleston, and all the abolition documents taken out of the mail-bags -and consumed, and a general meeting of all the most respectable -citizens, headed by the clergy in their robes of office, solemnly -confirmed the deed?"</p> - -<p>"I think, Mr. Knapp," said Judge Oliver, interposing in a milder tone, -"that your excitement is carrying you further than you are aware. I -should rather hope that Mr. Clayton would perceive the reasonableness of -our demand, and of himself forego the taking of these incendiary -documents."</p> - -<p>"I take no incendiary documents," said Clayton, warmly. "It is true I -take an anti-slavery paper, edited at Washington, in which the subject -is fairly and coolly discussed. I hold it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_561" id="Page_561">[Pg 561]</a></span> no more than every man's duty -to see both sides of a question."</p> - -<p>"Well, there, now," said Mr. Knapp, "you see the disadvantage of having -your slaves taught to read. If they could not read your papers, it would -be no matter what you took; but to have them get to reasoning on these -subjects, and spread their reasonings through our plantations,—why, -there'll be the devil to pay, at once."</p> - -<p>"You must be sensible," said Judge Oliver, "that there must be some -individual rights which we resign for the public good. I have looked -over the paper you speak of, and I acknowledge it seems to me very fair; -but, then, in our peculiar and critical position, it might prove -dangerous to have such reading about my house, and I never have it."</p> - -<p>"In that case," said Clayton, "I wonder you don't suppress your own -newspapers; for as long as there is a congressional discussion, or a -Fourth of July oration, or senatorial speech in them, so long they are -full of incendiary excitement. Our history is full of it, our state -bills of rights are full of it, the lives of our fathers are full of it; -we must suppress our whole literature, if we would avoid it."</p> - -<p>"Now, don't you see," said Mr. Knapp, "you have stated just so many -reasons why slaves must not learn to read?"</p> - -<p>"To be sure I do," said Clayton, "if they are always to remain slaves, -if we are never to have any views of emancipation for them."</p> - -<p>"Well, they <i>are</i> to remain slaves," said Mr. Knapp, speaking with -excitement. "Their condition is a finality; we will not allow the -subject of emancipation to be discussed, even."</p> - -<p>"Then, God have mercy on you!" said Clayton, solemnly; "for it is my -firm belief that, in resisting the progress of human freedom, you will -be found fighting against God."</p> - -<p>"It isn't the cause of human freedom," said Mr. Knapp, hastily. "They -are not human; they are an inferior race, made expressly for subjection -and servitude. The Bible teaches this plainly."</p> - -<p>"Why don't you teach them to read it, then?" said Clayton, coolly.</p> - -<p>"The long and the short of the matter is, Mr. Clayton," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_562" id="Page_562">[Pg 562]</a></span> Mr. Knapp, -walking nervously up and down the room, "you'll find this is not a -matter to be trifled with. We come, as your friends, to warn you; and, -if you don't listen to our warnings, we shall not hold ourselves -responsible for what may follow. You ought to have some consideration -for your sister, if not for yourself."</p> - -<p>"I confess," said Clayton, "I had done the chivalry of South Carolina -the honor to think that a lady could have nothing to fear."</p> - -<p>"It is so generally," said Judge Oliver, "but on this subject there is -such a dreadful excitability in the public mind, that we cannot control -it. You remember, when the commissioner was sent by the Legislature of -Massachusetts to Charleston, he came with his daughter, a very -cultivated and elegant young lady; but the mob was rising, and we could -not control it, and we had to go and beg them to leave the city. I, for -one, wouldn't have been at all answerable for the consequences, if they -had remained."</p> - -<p>"I must confess, Judge Oliver," said Clayton, "that I have been -surprised, this morning, to hear South Carolinians palliating two such -events in your history, resulting from mob violence, as the breaking -open of the post-office, and the insult to the representative of a -sister state, who came in the most peaceable and friendly spirit, and to -womanhood in the person of an accomplished lady. Is this hydra-headed -monster, the mob, to be our governor?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, it is only upon this subject," said all three of the gentlemen, at -once; "this subject is exceptional."</p> - -<p>"And do you think," said Clayton, "that</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i5">'you can set the land on fire,</div> -<div>To burn just so high, and no higher?'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"You may depend upon it you will find that you cannot. The mob that you -smile on and encourage when it does work that suits you, will one day -prove itself your master in a manner that you will not like."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Mr. Clayton," said Mr. Bradshaw, who had not hitherto -spoken, "you see this is a very disagreeable subject; but the fact is, -we came in a friendly way to you. We all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_563" id="Page_563">[Pg 563]</a></span>appreciate, personally, the -merits of your character, and the excellence of your motives; but, -really sir, there is an excitement rising, there is a state of the -public mind which is getting every day more and more inflammable. I -talked with Miss Anne on this subject, some months ago, and expressed my -feelings very fully; and now, if you will only give us a pledge that you -will pursue a different course, we shall have something to take hold of -to quiet the popular mind. If you will just write and stop your paper -for the present, and let it be understood that your plantation system is -to be stopped, the thing will gradually cool itself off."</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen," said Clayton, "you are asking a very serious thing from me, -and one which requires reflection. If I am violating the direct laws of -the state, and these laws are to be considered as still in vital force, -there is certainly some question with regard to my course; but still I -have responsibilities for the moral and religious improvement of those -under my care, which are equally binding. I see no course but removal -from the state."</p> - -<p>"Of course, we should be sorry," said Judge Oliver, "you should be -obliged to do that; still we trust you will see the necessity, and our -motives."</p> - -<p>"Necessity is the tyrant's plea, I believe," said Clayton, smiling.</p> - -<p>"At all events, it is a strong one," replied Judge Oliver, smiling also. -"But I am glad we have had this conversation; I think it will enable me -to pacify the minds of some of our hot-headed young neighbors, and -prevent threatened mischief."</p> - -<p>After a little general conversation, the party separated on apparently -friendly terms, and Clayton went to seek counsel with his sister and -Frank Russel.</p> - -<p>Anne was indignant with that straight-out and generous indignation which -belongs to women, who, generally speaking, are ready to follow their -principles to any result with more inconsiderate fearlessness than men. -She had none of the anxieties for herself which Clayton had for her. -Having once been witness of the brutalities of a slave-mob, Clayton -could not, without a shudder, connect any such possibilities with his -sister.</p> - -<p>"I think," said Anne, "we had better give up this miserable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_564" id="Page_564">[Pg 564]</a></span> sham of a -free government, of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and all -that, if things must go on in this way."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Frank Russel, "the fact is that our republic, in these -states, is, like that of Venice; it's not a democracy, but an oligarchy, -and the mob is its standing army. We are, all of us, under the 'Council -of Ten', which has its eyes everywhere. We are free enough as long as -our actions please them; when they don't, we shall find their noose -around our necks. It's very edifying, certainly, to have these gentlemen -call on you to tell you that they will not be answerable for -consequences of excitement which they are all the time stirring up; for, -after all, who cares what you do, if they don't? The large proprietors -are the ones interested. The rabble are their hands, and this warning -about popular excitement just means, 'Sir, if you don't take care, I -shall let out my dogs, and then I won't be answerable for -consequences.'"</p> - -<p>"And you call this liberty!" said Anne, indignantly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, well," said Russel, "this is a world of humbugs. We call it liberty -because it's an agreeable name. After all, what is liberty, that people -make such a breeze about? We are all slaves to one thing or another. -Nobody is absolutely free except Robinson Crusoe, in the desolate -island; and he tears all his shirts to pieces and hangs them up as -signals of distress, that he may get back into slavery again."</p> - -<p>"For all that," said Anne, warming, "I know there is such a thing as -liberty. All that nobleness and enthusiasm which has animated people in -all ages for liberty cannot be in vain. Who does not thrill at those -words of the Marsellaise:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'O Liberty, can men resign thee,</div> -<div class="i1">Once having felt thy generous flame?</div> -<div>Can dungeons, bolts, or bars, confine thee,</div> -<div class="i1">Or whips thy noble spirit tame?'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"These are certainly agreeable myths," said Russel, "but these things -will not bear any close looking into. Liberty has generally meant the -liberty of me and my nation and my class to do what we please; which is -a very pleasant thing, certainly, to those who are on the upper side of -the wheel, and probably involving much that's disagreeable to those who -are under."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_565" id="Page_565">[Pg 565]</a></span></p><p>"That is a heartless, unbelieving way of talking," said Anne, with -tears in her eyes. "I know there have been some right true, noble souls, -in whom the love of liberty has meant the love of right, and the desire -that every human brother should have what rightly belongs to him. It is -not <i>my</i> liberty, nor <i>our</i> liberty, but the <i>principle</i> of liberty -itself, that they strove for."</p> - -<p>"Such a principle, carried out logically, would make smashing work in -this world," said Russell. "In this sense, where is there a free -government on earth? What nation ever does or ever did respect the right -of the weaker, or ever will, till the millennium comes?—and that's too -far off to be of much use in practical calculations; so don't let's -break our hearts about a name. For my part, I am more concerned about -these implied threats. As I said before, 'the hand of Joab is in this -thing.' Tom Gordon is visiting in this neighborhood, and you may depend -upon it that this, in some way, comes from him. He is a perfectly -reckless fellow, and I am afraid of some act of violence. If he should -bring up a mob, whatever they do, there will be no redress for you. -These respectable gentlemen, your best friends, will fold their hands, -and say, 'Ah, poor fellow! we told him so!' while others will put their -hands complacently in their pockets, and say, 'Served him right!'"</p> - -<p>"I think," said Clayton, "there will be no immediate violence. I -understood that they pledged as much when they departed."</p> - -<p>"If Tom Gordon is in the camp," said Russel, "they may find that they -have reckoned without their host in promising that. There are two or -three young fellows in this vicinity, who, with his energy to direct -them, are reckless enough for anything; and there is always an abundance -of excitable rabble to be got for a drink of whiskey."</p> - -<p>The event proved that Russel was right. Anne's bedroom was in the back -part of the cottage, opposite the little grove where stood her -school-room.</p> - -<p>She was awakened, about one o'clock that night, by a broad, ruddy glare -of light, which caused her at first to start from her bed, with the -impression that the house was on fire.</p> - -<p>At the same instant she perceived that the air was full of barbarous and -dissonant sounds, such as the beating of tin pans, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_566" id="Page_566">[Pg 566]</a></span> braying of -horns, and shouts of savage merriment, intermingled with slang oaths and -curses.</p> - -<p>In a moment, recovering herself, she perceived that it was her -school-house which was in a blaze, crisping and shrivelling the foliage -of the beautiful trees by which it was surrounded, and filling the air -with a lurid light.</p> - -<p>She hastily dressed, and in a few moments Clayton and Russel knocked at -the door. Both were looking very pale.</p> - -<p>"Don't be alarmed," said Clayton, putting his arm around her with that -manner which shows that there is everything to fear; "I am going out to -speak to them."</p> - -<p>"Indeed you are going to do no such thing," said Frank Russel, -decidedly. "This is no time for any extra displays of heroism. These men -are insane with whiskey and excitement. They have probably been -especially inflamed against you, and your presence would irritate them -still more. Let me go out: I understand the <i>ignobile vulgus</i> better -than you do; besides which, providentially, I haven't any conscience to -prevent my saying and doing what is necessary for an emergency. You -shall see me lead off this whole yelling pack at my heels in triumph. -And now, Clayton, you take care of Anne, like a good fellow, till I come -back, which may be about four or five o'clock to-morrow morning. I shall -toll all these fellows down to Muggins', and leave them so drunk they -cannot stand for one three hours."</p> - -<p>So saying, Frank proceeded hastily to disguise himself in a shaggy old -great-coat, and to tie around his throat a red bandanna silk -handkerchief, with a very fiery and dashing tie, and surmounting these -equipments by an old hat which had belonged to one of the servants, he -stole out of the front door, and, passing around through the shrubbery, -was very soon lost in the throng who surrounded the burning building. He -soon satisfied himself that Tom Gordon was not personally among -them,—that they consisted entirely of the lower class of whites.</p> - -<p>"So far, so good," he said to himself, and, springing on to the stump of -a tree, he commenced a speech in that peculiar slang dialect which was -vernacular with them, and of which he perfectly well understood the use.</p> - -<p>With his quick and ready talent for drollery, he soon had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_567" id="Page_567">[Pg 567]</a></span> them around -him in paroxysms of laughter; and, complimenting their bravery, -flattering and cajoling their vanity, he soon got them completely in his -power, and they assented, with a triumphant shout, to the proposition -that they should go down and celebrate their victory at Muggins' -grocery, a low haunt about a mile distant, whither, as he predicted, -they all followed him. And he was as good as his word in not leaving -them till all were so completely under the power of liquor as to be -incapable of mischief for the time being.</p> - -<p>About nine o'clock the next day he returned, finding Clayton and Anne -seated together at breakfast.</p> - -<p>"Now, Clayton," he said, seating himself, "I am going to talk to you in -good, solemn earnest, for once. The fact is, you are checkmated. Your -plans for gradual emancipation, or reform, or anything tending in that -direction, are utterly hopeless; and, if you want to pursue them with -your own people, you must either send them to Liberia, or to the -Northern States. There was a time, fifty years ago, when such things -were contemplated with some degree of sincerity by all the leading minds -at the south. That time is over. From the very day that they began to -open new territories to slavery, the value of this kind of property -mounted up, so as to make emancipation a moral impossibility. It <i>is</i>, -as they told you, a <i>finality</i>; and don't you see how they make -everything in the Union bend to it? Why these men are only about three -tenths of the population of our Southern States, and yet the other seven -tenths virtually have no existence. All they do is to vote as they are -told—as they know they must, being too ignorant to know any better.</p> - -<p>"The mouth of the north is stuffed with cotton, and will be kept full as -long as it suits us. Good, easy gentlemen, they are so satisfied with -their pillows, and other accommodations inside of the car, that they -don't trouble themselves to reflect that we are the engineers, nor to -ask where we are going. And, when any one does wake up and pipe out in -melancholy inquiry, we slam the door in his face, and tell him 'Mind -your own business, sir,' and he leans back on his cotton pillow, and -goes to sleep again, only whimpering a little, that 'we might be more -polite.'</p> - -<p>"They have their fanatics up there. We don't trouble ourselves to put -them down; we make them do it. They get up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_568" id="Page_568">[Pg 568]</a></span> mobs on our account, to hoot -troublesome ministers and editors out of their cities; and their men -that they send to Congress invariably do all our dirty work. There's now -and then an exception, it is true; but they only prove the rule.</p> - -<p>"If there was any public sentiment at the north for you reformers to -fall back upon, you might, in spite of your difficulties, do something; -but there is not. They are all implicated with us, except the class of -born fanatics, like you, who are walking in that very unfashionable -narrow way we've heard of."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Anne, "let us go out of the state, then. I will go -anywhere; but I will not stop the work that I have begun."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_569" id="Page_569">[Pg 569]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LVI.</span> <span class="smaller">FLIGHT.</span></h2> - -<p>The party of fugitives, which started for the north, was divided into -two bands. Harry, Lisette, Tiff, and his two children, assumed the -character of a family, of whom Harry took the part of father, Lisette -the nurse, and Tiff the man-servant.</p> - -<p>The money which Clayton had given them enabling them to furnish a -respectable outfit, they found no difficulty in taking passage under -this character, at Norfolk, on board a small coasting-vessel bound to -New York.</p> - -<p>Never had Harry known a moment so full of joyous security as that which -found him out at sea in a white-winged vessel, flying with all speed -toward the distant port of safety.</p> - -<p>Before they neared the coast of New York, however, there was a change in -their prospects. The blue sky became darkened, and the sea, before -treacherously smooth, began to rise in furious waves. The little vessel -was tossed baffling about by contrary and tumultuous winds.</p> - -<p>When she began to pitch and roll, in all the violence of a decided -storm, Lisette and the children cried for fear. Old Tiff exerted himself -for their comfort to the best of his ability. Seated on the cabin-floor, -with his feet firmly braced, he would hold the children in his arms, and -remind them of what Miss Nina had read to them of the storm that came -down on the Lake of Gennesareth, and how Jesus was in the hinder part of -the boat, asleep on a pillow. "And he's dar yet," Tiff would say.</p> - -<p>"I wish they'd wake him up, then," said Teddy, disconsolately; "I don't -like this dreadful noise! What does he let it be so for?"</p> - -<p>Before the close of that day the fury of the storm increased; the -horrors of the night can only be told by those who have felt the like. -The plunging of the vessel, the creaking and straining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_570" id="Page_570">[Pg 570]</a></span> of the timbers, -the hollow and sepulchral sound of waves striking against the hull, and -the shiver with which, like a living creature, she seemed to tremble at -every shock, were things frightful even to the experienced sailor; much -more so to our trembling refugees.</p> - -<p>The morning dawned only to show the sailors their bark drifting -helplessly toward a fatal shore, whose name is a sound of evil omen to -seamen.</p> - -<p>It was not long before the final crash came, and the ship was wedged -among rugged rocks, washed over every moment by the fury of the waves.</p> - -<p>All hands came now on deck for the last chance of life. One boat after -another was attempted to be launched, but was swamped by the furious -waters. When the last boat was essayed, there was a general rush of all -on board. It was the last chance for life. In such hours the instinctive -fear of death often overbears every other consideration; and the boat -was rapidly filled by the hands of the ship, who, being strongest and -most accustomed to such situations, were more able to effect this than -the passengers. The captain alone remained standing on the wreck, and -with him Harry, Lisette, Tiff, and the children.</p> - -<p>"Pass along," said the captain, hastily pressing Lisette on board, -simply because she was the first that came to hand.</p> - -<p>"For de good Lord's sake," said Tiff, "put de chil'en on board; dere -won't be no room for me, and 'tan't no matter! You go 'board and take -care of 'em," he said, pushing Harry along.</p> - -<p>Harry mechanically sprang into the boat, and the captain after him. The -boat was full.</p> - -<p>"Oh, do take poor Tiff—do!" said the children, stretching their hands -after their old friend.</p> - -<p>"Clear away, boys,—the boat's full!" shouted a dozen voices; and the -boat parted from the wreck, and sunk in eddies and whirls of boiling -waves, foam, and spray, and went, rising and sinking, onward driven -toward the shore.</p> - -<p>A few, looking backwards, saw a mighty green wave come roaring and -shaking its crested head, lift the hull as if it had been an egg-shell, -then dash it in fragments upon the rocks. This was all they knew, till -they were themselves cast, wet and dripping, but still living, upon the -sands.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_571" id="Page_571">[Pg 571]</a></span></p><p>A crowd of people were gathered upon the shore, who, with the natural -kindness of humanity on such occasions, gathered the drenched and -sea-beaten wanderers into neighboring cottages, where food and fire, and -changes of dry clothing, awaited them.</p> - -<p>The children excited universal sympathy and attention, and so many -mothers of the neighborhood came bringing offerings of clothing, that -their lost wardrobe was soon very tolerably replaced. But nothing could -comfort them for the loss of their old friend. In vain the "little -dears" were tempted with offers of cake and custard, and every -imaginable eatable. They sat with their arms around each other, quietly -weeping.</p> - -<p>No matter how unsightly the casket may be which holds all the love there -is on earth for us, be that love lodged in the heart of the poorest and -most uneducated, the whole world can offer no exchange for the loss of -it.</p> - -<p>Tiff's devotion to these children had been so constant, so provident, so -absolute, that it did not seem to them possible they could live a day -without him; and the desolation of their lot seemed to grow upon them -every hour. Nothing would restrain them. They would go out and look up -and down, if, perhaps, they might meet him; but they searched in vain. -And Harry, who had attended them, led them back again, disconsolate.</p> - -<p>"I say, Fanny," said Teddy, after they had said their prayers, and lain -down in their little bed, "has Tiff gone to heaven?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly he has," said Fanny, "if ever anybody went there."</p> - -<p>"Won't he come and bring us pretty soon?" said Teddy. "He won't want to -be there without us, will he?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't know," said Fanny. "I wish we could go; the world is so -lonesome!"</p> - -<p>And, thus talking, the children fell asleep. But it is written in an -ancient record, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the -morning;" and, verily, the next morning Teddy started up in bed, and -awakened his sister with a cry of joy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Fanny! Fanny! Tiff isn't dead! I heard him laughing."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_572" id="Page_572">[Pg 572]</a></span></p><p>Fanny started up, and, sure enough, there came through the partition -which separated their little sleeping-room from the kitchen a sound very -much like Tiff's old, unctuous laugh.</p> - -<p>One would have thought no other pair of lungs could have rolled out the -jolly Ho, ho, ho, with such a joyous fulness of intonation.</p> - -<p>The children hastily put on their clothes, and opened the door.</p> - -<p>"Why, bress de Lord! poppets, here dey is, sure 'nough! Ho! ho! ho!" -said Tiff, stretching out his arms, while both the children ran and hung -upon him.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tiff, we are so glad! Oh, we thought you was drowned; we've been -thinking so all night."</p> - -<p>"No, no, no, bress de Lord! You don't get shet of Ole Tiff dat ar way! -Won't get shet of him till ye's fetched up and able to do for -yerselves."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tiff, how did you get away?"</p> - -<p>"Laws! why, chil'ens, 'twas a very strait way. I told de Lord 'bout it. -Says I, 'Good Lord, you knows I don't care nothing 'bout it on my own -'count; but 'pears like dese chil'en is so young and tender, I couldn't -leave dem, no way;' and so I axed him if he wouldn't jest please to help -me, 'cause I knowed he had de power of de winds and de sea. Well, sure -'nough, dat ar big wave toted me clar up right on de sho'; but it tuk my -breff and my senses so I didn't farly know whar I was. And de peoples -dat foun' me took me a good bit 'way to a house down here, and dey was -'mazing good to me, and rubbed me wid de hot flannels, and giv me one -ting and anoder, so't I woke up quite peart dis mornin', and came out to -look up my poppets; 'cause, yer see, it was kinder borne in on my mind -dat I should find you. And now yer see, chil'en, you mark my words, de -Lord been wid us in six troubles, and in seven, and he'll bring us to -good luck yet. Tell ye, de sea han't washed dat ar out o' me, for all -its banging and bruising." And Tiff chuckled in the fulness of his -heart, and made a joyful noise.</p> - -<p>His words were so far accomplished that, before many days, the little -party, rested and refreshed, and with the losses of their wardrobe made -up by friendly contributions, found themselves under the roof of some -benevolent friends in New York.</p> - -<p>Thither, in due time, the other detachment of their party <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_573" id="Page_573">[Pg 573]</a></span>arrived, -which had come forward under the guidance of Hannibal, by ways and means -which, as they may be wanted for others in like circumstances, we shall -not further particularize.</p> - -<p>Harry, by the kind patronage of friends, soon obtained employment, which -placed him and his wife in a situation of comfort.</p> - -<p>Milly and her grandson, and Old Tiff and his children, were enabled to -hire a humble tenement together; and she, finding employment as a -pastry-cook in a confectioner's establishment, was able to provide a -very comfortable support, while Tiff presided in the housekeeping -department.</p> - -<p>After a year or two an event occurred of so romantic a nature, that, had -we not ascertained it as a positive fact, we should hesitate to insert -it in our veracious narrative.</p> - -<p>Fanny's mother had an aunt in the Peyton family, a maiden lady of very -singular character, who, by habits of great penuriousness, had amassed a -large fortune, apparently for no other purpose than that it should, some -day, fall into the hands of somebody who would know how to enjoy it.</p> - -<p>Having quarrelled, shortly before her death, with all her other -relatives, she cast about in her mind for ways and means to revenge -herself on them, by placing her property out of their disposal.</p> - -<p>She accordingly made a will, bequeathing it to the heirs of her niece -Susan, if any such heirs existed; and if not, the property was to go to -an orphan asylum.</p> - -<p>By chance, the lawyer's letter of inquiry was addressed to Clayton, who -immediately took the necessary measures to identify the children, and -put them in possession of the property.</p> - -<p>Tiff now was glorious. "He always knowed it," he said, "dat Miss Sue's -chil'en would come to luck, and dat de Lord would open a door for them, -and he had."</p> - -<p>Fanny, who was now a well-grown girl of twelve years, chose Clayton as -her guardian; and, by his care, she was placed at one of the best New -England schools, where her mind and her person developed rapidly.</p> - -<p>Her brother was placed at school in the same town.</p> - -<p>As for Clayton, after some inquiry and consideration, he bought a large -and valuable tract of land in that portion of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_574" id="Page_574">[Pg 574]</a></span> Canada where the climate -is least severe, and the land the most valuable for culture.</p> - -<p>To this place he removed his slaves, and formed there a township, which -is now one of the richest and finest in the region.</p> - -<p>Here he built for himself a beautiful residence, where he and his sister -live happily together, finding their enjoyment in the improvement of -those by whom they are surrounded.</p> - -<p>It is a striking comment on the success of Clayton's enterprise, that -the neighboring white settlers, who at first looked coldly upon him, -fearing he would be the means of introducing a thriftless population -among them, have been entirely won over, and that the value of the -improvements which Clayton and his tenants have made has nearly doubled -the price of real estate in the vicinity.</p> - -<p>So high a character have his schools borne, that the white settlers in -the vicinity have discontinued their own, preferring to have their -children enjoy the advantages of those under his and his sister's -patronage and care.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>Harry is one of the head men of the settlement, and is rapidly acquiring -property and consideration in the community.</p> - -<p>A large farm, waving with some acres of fine wheat, with its fences and -out-houses in excellent condition, marks the energy and thrift of -Hannibal, who, instead of slaying men, is great in felling trees and -clearing forests.</p> - -<p>He finds time, winter evenings, to read, with "none to molest or make -afraid." His oldest son is construing Cæsar's <i>Commentaries</i> at school, -and often reads his lesson of an evening to his delighted father, who -willingly resigns the palm of scholarship into his hands.</p> - -<p>As to our merry friend Jim, he is the life of the settlement. Liberty, -it is true, has made him a little more sober; and a very energetic and -capable wife, soberer still; but yet Jim has enough and to spare of -drollery, which makes him an indispensable requisite in all social -gatherings.</p> - -<p>He works on his farm with energy, and repels with indignation any -suggestion that he was happier in the old times, when he had abundance -of money, and very little to do.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_575" id="Page_575">[Pg 575]</a></span></p><p>One suggestion more we almost hesitate to make, lest it should give -rise to unfounded reports; but we are obliged to speak the truth.</p> - -<p>Anne Clayton, on a visit to a friend's family in New Hampshire, met with -Livy Ray, of whom she had heard Nina speak so much, and very naturally -the two ladies fell into a most intimate friendship; visits were -exchanged between them, and Clayton, on first introduction, discovered -the lady he had met in the prison in Alexandria.</p> - -<p>The most intimate friendship exists between the three, and, of course, -in such cases reports will arise; but we assure our readers we have -never heard of any authentic foundation for them; so that, in this -matter, we can clearly leave every one to predict a result according to -their own fancies.</p> - -<p>We have now two sketches, with which the scenery of our book must close.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> These statements are all true of the Elgin settlement, -founded by Mr. King, a gentleman who removed and settled his slaves in -the south of Canada.</p></div></div> - -<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_576" id="Page_576">[Pg 576]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER LVII.</span> <span class="smaller">CLEAR SHINING AFTER RAIN.</span></h2> - -<p>Clayton had occasion to visit New York on business.</p> - -<p>He never went without carrying some token of remembrance from the -friends in his settlement to Milly, now indeed far advanced in years, -while yet, in the expressive words of Scripture, "her eye was not dim, -nor her natural force abated."</p> - -<p>He found her in a neat little tenement in one of the outer streets of -New York, surrounded by about a dozen children, among whom were blacks, -whites, and foreigners. These she had rescued from utter destitution in -the streets, and was giving to them all the attention and affection of a -mother.</p> - -<p>"Why, bless you, sir," she said to him, pleasantly, as he opened the -door, "it's good to see you once more! How is Miss Anne?"</p> - -<p>"Very well, Milly. She sent you this little packet; and you will find -something from Harry and Lisette, and all the rest of your friends in -our settlement.—Ah! are these all your children, Milly?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, honey; mine and de Lord's. Dis yer's my second dozen. De fust is -all in good places, and doing well. I keeps my eye on 'em, and goes -round to see after 'em a little, now and then."</p> - -<p>"And how is Tomtit?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Tomtit's doing beautiful, thank 'e, sir. He's 'come a Christian, -and jined the church; and they has him to wait and tend at the -anti-slavery office, and he does <i>well</i>."</p> - -<p>"I see you have black and white here," said Clayton, glancing around the -circle.</p> - -<p>"Laws, yes," said Milly, looking complacently around; "I don't make no -distinctions of color,—I don't believe in them. White chil'en, when -they 'haves themselves, is jest as good as black, and I loves 'em jest -as well."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_577" id="Page_577">[Pg 577]</a></span></p><p>"Don't you sometimes think it a little hard you should have to work so -in your old age?"</p> - -<p>"Why, bress you, honey, no! I takes comfort of my money as I goes along. -Dere's a heap in me yet," she said, laughing. "I's hoping to get dis yer -batch put out and take in anoder afore I die. You see," she said, "dis -yer's de way I took to get my heart whole. I found it was getting so -sore for my chil'en I'd had took from me, 'pears like the older I grow'd -the more I thought about 'em; but long's I keeps doing for chil'en it -kinder eases it. I calls 'em all mine; so I's got good many chil'en -now."</p> - -<p>We will inform our reader, in passing, that Milly, in the course of her -life, on the humble wages of a laboring woman, took from the streets, -brought up, and placed in reputable situations, no less than <i>forty</i> -destitute children.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>When Clayton returned to Boston, he received a note written in a -graceful female hand, from Fanny, expressing her gratitude for his -kindness to her and her brother, and begging that he would come and -spend a day with them at their cottage in the vicinity of the city. -Accordingly, eight o'clock the next morning found him whirling in the -cars through green fields and pleasant meadows, garlanded with flowers -and draped with bending elms, to one of those peaceful villages which -lie like pearls on the bosom of our fair old mother, Massachusetts.</p> - -<p>Stopping at —— station, he inquired his way up to a little eminence -which commanded a view of one of those charming lakes which open their -blue eyes everywhere through the New England landscape. Here, embowered -in blossoming trees, stood a little Gothic cottage, a perfect gem of -rural irregularity and fanciful beauty. A porch in the front of it was -supported on pillars of cedar, with the rough bark still on, around -which were trained multitudes of climbing roses, now in full flower. -From the porch a rustic bridge led across a little ravine into a -summer-house, which was built like a nest into the branches of a great -oak which grew up from the hollow below the knoll on which the house -stood.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_578" id="Page_578">[Pg 578]</a></span></p><p>A light form, dressed in a pretty white wrapper, came fluttering across -the bridge, as Clayton ascended the steps of the porch. Perhaps our -readers may recognize in the smoothly-parted brown hair, the large blue -eyes, and the bashful earnestness of the face, our sometime little -friend Fanny; if they do not, we think they'll be familiar with the -cheery "ho, ho, ho," which comes from the porch, as our old friend Tiff, -dressed in a respectable suit of black, comes bowing forward. "Bress de -Lord, Mas'r Clayton,—it's good for de eyes to look at you! So, you's -come to see Miss Fanny, now she's come to her property, and has got de -place she ought for to have. Ah, ah!—Old Tiff allers know'd it! He seed -it—he know'd de Lord would bring her out right, and he did. Ho! ho! -ho!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Fanny, "and I sometimes think I don't enjoy it half as well -as Uncle Tiff. I'm sure he ought to have some comfort of us, for he -worked hard enough for us—didn't you, Uncle Tiff?"</p> - -<p>"Work! bress your soul, didn't I?" said Tiff, giggling all over in -cheerful undulations. "Reckon I has worked, though I doesn't have much -of it to do now; but I sees good of my work now'days,—does so. Mas'r -Teddy, he's grow'd up tall, han'some young gen'leman, and he's in -college,—only tink of dat! Laws! he can make de Latin fly! Dis yer's -pretty good country, too. Dere's families round here dat's e'enamost up -to old Virginny; and she goes with de best on 'em—dat she does."</p> - -<p>Fanny now led Clayton into the house, and, while she tripped up stairs -to change her morning dress, Tiff busied himself in arranging cake and -fruit on a silver salver, as an apology for remaining in the room.</p> - -<p>He seemed to consider the interval as an appropriate one for making some -confidential communications on a subject that lay very near his heart. -So, after looking out of the door with an air of great mystery, to -ascertain that Miss Fanny was really gone, he returned to Clayton, and -touched him on the elbow with an air of infinite secrecy and precaution.</p> - -<p>"Dis yer an't to be spoken of out loud," he said. "I's ben mighty -anxious; but, bress de Lord, I's come safely through; 'cause, yer see, -I's found out he's a right likely man, beside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_579" id="Page_579">[Pg 579]</a></span> being one of de very -fustest old families in de state; and dese yer old families here 'bout -as good as dey was in Virginny; and, when all's said and done, it's de -men dat's de ting, after all; 'cause a gal can't marry all de -generations back, if dey's ever so nice. But he's one of your likeliest -men."</p> - -<p>"What's his name?"</p> - -<p>"Russel," said Tiff, lifting up his hand apprehensively to his mouth, -and shouting out the name in a loud whisper. "I reckon he'll be here -to-day, 'cause Mas'r Teddy's coming home, and going to bring him wid -him; so please, Mas'r Clayton, you won't notice nothing; 'cause Miss -Fanny she's jest like her ma,—she'll turn red clar up to her har, if a -body only looks at her. See here," said Tiff, fumbling in his pocket, -and producing a spectacle-case, out of which he extracted a portentous -pair of gold-mounted spectacles; "see what he give me, de last time he's -here. I puts dese yer on of a Sundays, when I sets down to read my -Bible."</p> - -<p>"Indeed," said Clayton; "have you learned, then, to read?"</p> - -<p>"Why, no, honey, I don'no as I can rightly say dat I's larn'd to read, -'cause I's 'mazing slow at dat ar; but, den, I's larn'd all de best -words, like Christ, Lord, and God, and dem ar; and whar dey's pretty -thick, I makes out quite comfortable."</p> - -<p>We shall not detain our readers with minute descriptions of how the day -was spent: how Teddy came home from college a tall, handsome fellow, and -rattled over Latin and Greek sentences in Tiff's delighted ears, who -considered his learning as, without doubt, the eighth wonder of the -world; nor how George Russel came with him, a handsome senior, just -graduated; nor how Fanny blushed and trembled when she told her guardian -her little secret, and, like other ladies, asked advice after she had -made up her mind.</p> - -<p>Nor shall we dilate on the yet brighter glories of the cottage three -months after, when Clayton, and Anne, and Livy Ray, were all at the -wedding, and Tiff became three and four times blessed in this brilliant -consummation of his hopes. The last time we saw him he was walking forth -in magnificence, his gold spectacles set conspicuously astride of his -nose, trundling a little wicker wagon, which cradled a fair, pearly -little Miss Fanny, whom he informed all beholders was "de very sperit of -de Peytons."</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> These circumstances are true of an old colored woman in New -York, known by the name of Aunt Katy, who in her youth was a slave, and -who is said to have established among these destitute children the first -Sunday-school in the city of New York.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_580" id="Page_580">[Pg 580]</a></span></p> - -<h2>APPENDIX I.</h2> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p class="center">NAT TURNER'S CONFESSIONS.</p> - -<p>As an illustration of the character and views ascribed to Dred, we make -a few extracts from the Confessions of Nat Turner, as published by T. R. -Gray, Esq., of Southampton, Virginia, in November, 1831. One of the -principal conspirators in this affair was named Dred.</p> - -<p>We will first give the certificate of the court, and a few sentences -from Mr. Gray's introductory remarks, and then proceed with Turner's own narrative.</p> - -<blockquote><p>"We, the undersigned, members of the court convened at Jerusalem, -on Saturday, the fifth day of November, 1831, for the trial of Nat, -<i>alias</i> Nat Turner, a negro slave, late the property of Putnam -Moore, deceased, do hereby certify, that the confession of Nat to -Thomas R. Gray was read to him in our presence, and that Nat -acknowledged the same to be full, free, and voluntary; and that -furthermore, when called upon by the presiding magistrate of the -court to state if he had anything to say why sentence of death -should not be passed upon him, replied he had nothing further than -he had communicated to Mr. Gray. Given under our hands and seals at -Jerusalem, this fifth day of November, 1831.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Jeremiah Cobb</span>, (<i>Seal.</i>)<br /> -<span class="smcap">James W. Parker</span>, (<i>Seal.</i>)<br /> -<span class="smcap">Samuel B. Hines</span>, (<i>Seal.</i>)<br /> -<span class="smcap">Thomas Pretlow</span>, (<i>Seal.</i>)<br /> -<span class="smcap">Carr Bowers</span>, (<i>Seal.</i>)<br /> -<span class="smcap">Orris A. Browne</span>, (<i>Seal.</i>)"</p></blockquote></blockquote> - -<blockquote><p>"<i>State of Virginia, Southampton County</i>, to wit:</p> - -<p>"I, James Rochelle, Clerk of the County Court of Southampton in the -State of Virginia, do hereby certify, that Jeremiah Cobb, Thomas -Pretlow, James W. Parker, Carr Bowers, Samuel B. Hines, and Orris -A. Browne, Esqrs., are acting justices of the peace in and for the -county aforesaid; and were members of the court which convened at -Jerusalem, on Saturday, the fifth day of November, 1831, for the -trial of Nat, <i>alias</i> Nat Turner, a negro slave, late the property -of Putnam Moore, deceased, who was tried and convicted, as an -insurgent in the late insurrection in the County of Southampton -aforesaid, and that full faith and credit are due and ought to be -given to their acts as justices of the peace aforesaid.</p> - -<p>(<i>Seal.</i>)</p> - -<p class="right">In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand,<br /> -and caused the seal of the court aforesaid to be<br /> -affixed, this fifth day of November, 1831.<br /><span class="smcap">James Rochelle</span>, C. S. C. C."</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Everything connected with this sad affair was wrapt in mystery, until -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_581" id="Page_581">[Pg 581]</a></span><span class="smcap">Nat</span> <span class="smcap">Turner</span>, the leader of this ferocious band, whose name has resounded -throughout our widely-extended empire, was captured.</p> - -<p>"Since his confinement, by permission of the jailer, I have had ready -access to him; and, finding that he was willing to make a full and free -confession of the origin, progress, and consummation of the insurrectory -movements of the slaves, of which he was the contriver and head, I -determined, for the gratification of public curiosity, to commit his -statements to writing, and publish them, with little or no variation, -from his own words.</p> - -<p>"He was not only the contriver of the conspiracy, but gave the first -blow towards its execution.</p> - -<p>"It will thus appear, that whilst everything upon the surface of society -wore a calm and peaceful aspect, whilst not one note of preparation was -heard to warn the devoted inhabitants of woe and death, a gloomy fanatic -was revolving in the recesses of his own dark, bewildered, and -overwrought mind, schemes of indiscriminate massacre to the whites. -Schemes too fearfully executed, as far as his fiendish band proceeded in -their desolating march. No cry for mercy penetrated their flinty bosoms. -No acts of remembered kindness made the least impression upon these -remorseless murderers. Men, women, and children, from hoary age to -helpless infancy, were involved in the same cruel fate. Never did a band -of savages do their work of death more unsparingly.</p> - -<p>"Nat has survived all his followers, and the gallows will speedily close -his career. His own account of the conspiracy is submitted to the -public, without comment. It reads an awful, and, it is hoped, a useful -lesson, as to the operations of a mind like his, endeavoring to grapple -with things beyond its reach. How it first became bewildered and -confounded, and finally corrupted and led to the conception and -perpetration of the most atrocious and heartrending deeds.</p> - -<p>"If Nat's statements can be relied on, the insurrection in this county -was entirely local, and his designs confided but to a few, and these in -his immediate vicinity. It was not instigated by motives of revenge or -sudden anger; but the result of long deliberation, and a settled purpose -of mind—the offspring of gloomy fanaticism acting upon materials but -too well prepared for such impressions."</p> - -<p class="space-above">"I was thirty-one years of age the second of October last, and born the -property of Benjamin Turner, of this county. In my childhood a -circumstance occurred which made an indelible impression on my mind, and -laid the groundwork of that enthusiasm which has terminated so fatally -to many, both white and black, and for which I am about to atone at the -gallows. It is here necessary to relate this circumstance. Trifling as -it may seem, it was the commencement of that belief which has grown with -time; and even now, sir, in this dungeon, helpless and forsaken as I am, -I cannot divest myself of. Being at play with other children, when three -or four years old, I was telling them something, which my mother, -overhearing, said it had happened before I was born. I stuck to my -story, however, and related some things which went, in her opinion, to -confirm it. Others being called on, were greatly astonished, knowing -that these things had happened, and caused them to say, in my hearing, I -surely would be a prophet, as the Lord had shown me things that had -happened before my birth. And my father and mother strengthened me in -this my first impression, saying, in my presence, I was intended for -some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on -my head and breast. (A parcel of excrescences, which, I believe, are not -at all uncommon, particularly among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_582" id="Page_582">[Pg 582]</a></span> negroes, as I have seen several -with the same. In this case he has either cut them off, or they have -nearly disappeared.)</p> - -<p>"My grandmother, who was very religious, and to whom I was much -attached—my master, who belonged to the church, and other religious -persons who visited the house, and whom I often saw at prayers, noticing -the singularity of my manners, I suppose, and my uncommon intelligence -for a child, remarked I had too much sense to be raised, and, if I was, -I would never be of any service to any one as a slave. To a mind like -mine, restless, inquisitive, and observant of everything that was -passing, it is easy to suppose that religion was the subject to which it -would be directed; and, although this subject principally occupied my -thoughts, there was nothing that I saw or heard of to which my attention -was not directed. The manner in which I learned to read and write, not -only had great influence on my own mind, as I acquired it with the most -perfect ease—so much so, that I have no recollection whatever of -learning the alphabet; but, to the astonishment of the family, one day, -when a book was shown me, to keep me from crying, I began spelling the -names of different objects. This was a source of wonder to all in the -neighborhood, particularly the blacks—and this learning was constantly -improved at all opportunities. When I got large enough to go to work, -while employed I was reflecting on many things that would present -themselves to my imagination; and whenever an opportunity occurred of -looking at a book, when the school-children were getting their lessons, -I would find many things that the fertility of my own imagination had -depicted to me before. All my time, not devoted to my master's service, -was spent either in prayer, or in making experiments in casting -different things in moulds made of earth, in attempting to make paper, -gunpowder, and many other experiments, that, although I could not -perfect, yet convinced me of its practicability if I had the means.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>"I was not addicted to stealing in my youth, nor have ever been; yet -such was the confidence of the negroes in the neighborhood, even at this -early period of my life, in my superior judgment, that they would often -carry me with them when they were going on any roguery, to plan for -them. Growing up among them with this confidence in my superior -judgment, and when this, in their opinions, was perfected by Divine -inspiration, from the circumstances already alluded to in my infancy, -and which belief was ever afterwards zealously inculcated by the -austerity of my life and manners, which became the subject of remark by -white and black; having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, -and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself -in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer.</p> - -<p>"By this time, having arrived to man's estate, and hearing the -Scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular -passage which says, 'Seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all things shall -be added unto you.' I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily -for light on this subject. As I was praying one day at my plough, the -Spirit spoke to me, saying, 'Seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all -things shall be added unto you.' <i>Question.</i> 'What do you mean by the -Spirit?' <i>Answer.</i> 'The Spirit that spoke to the prophets in former -days,'—and I was greatly astonished, and for two years prayed -continually, whenever my duty would permit; and then again I had the -same revelation, which fully confirmed me in the impression that I was -ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty. Several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_583" id="Page_583">[Pg 583]</a></span> -years rolled round, in which many events occurred to strengthen me in -this my belief. At this time I reverted in my mind to the remarks made -of me in my childhood, and the things that had been shown me; and as it -had been said of me in my childhood, by those by whom I had been taught -to pray, both white and black, and in whom I had the greatest -confidence, that I had too much sense to be raised, and if I was I would -never be of any use to any one as a slave; now, finding I had arrived to -man's estate, and was a slave, and these revelations being made known to -me, I began to direct my attention to this great object, to fulfil the -purpose for which, by this time, I felt assured I was intended. Knowing -the influence I had obtained over the minds of my fellow-servants—(not -by the means of conjuring and such-like tricks—for to them I always -spoke of such things with contempt), but by the communion of the Spirit, -whose revelations I often communicated to them, and they believed and -said my wisdom came from God,—I now began to prepare them for my -purpose, by telling them something was about to happen that would -terminate in fulfilling the great promise that had been made to me.</p> - -<p>"About this time I was placed under an overseer, from whom I ran away -and, after remaining in the woods thirty days, I returned, to the -astonishment of the negroes on the plantation, who thought I had made my -escape to some other part of the country, as my father had done before. -But the reason of my return was, that the Spirit appeared to me and said -I had my wishes directed to the things of this world, and not to the -kingdom of heaven, and that I should return to the service of my earthly -master—'For he who knoweth his Master's will, and doeth it not, shall -be beaten with many stripes, and thus have I chastened you.' And the -negroes found fault, and murmured against me, saying that if they had my -sense they would not serve any master in the world. And about this time -I had a vision—and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in -battle, and the sun was darkened—the thunder rolled in the heavens, and -blood flowed in streams—and I heard a voice saying, 'Such is your luck, -such you are called to see; and let it come rough or smooth, you must -surely bear it.'</p> - -<p>"I now withdrew myself as much as my situation would permit from the -intercourse of my fellow-servants, for the avowed purpose of serving the -Spirit more fully; and it appeared to me, and reminded me of the things -it had already shown me, and that it would then reveal to me the -knowledge of the elements, the revolution of the planets, the operation -of tides, and changes of the seasons. After this revelation in the year -1825, and the knowledge of the elements being made known to me, I sought -more than ever to obtain true holiness before the great day of judgment -should appear, and then I began to receive the true knowledge of faith. -And from the first steps of righteousness until the last, was I made -perfect; and the Holy Ghost was with me, and said, 'Behold me as I stand -in the heavens.' And I looked and saw the forms of men in different -attitudes; and there were lights in the sky, to which the children of -darkness gave other names than what they really were; for they were the -lights of the Saviour's hands, stretched forth from east to west, even -as they were extended on the cross on Calvary for the redemption of -sinners. And I wondered greatly at these miracles, and prayed to be -informed of a certainty of the meaning thereof; and shortly afterwards, -while laboring in the field, I discovered drops of blood on the corn, as -though it were dew from heaven; and I communicated it to many, both -white and black, in the neighborhood—and I then found on the leaves in -the woods hieroglyphic characters and numbers, with the forms of men in -different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_584" id="Page_584">[Pg 584]</a></span> -had seen before in the heavens. And now the Holy Ghost had revealed -itself to me, and made plain the miracles it had shown me, for as the -blood of Christ had been shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven -for the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to earth again in -the form of dew,—and as the leaves on the trees bore the impression of -the figures I had seen in the heavens,—it was plain to me that the -Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, -and the great day of judgment was at hand.</p> - -<p>"About this time I told these things to a white man (Etheldred T. -Brantley), on whom it had a wonderful effect; and he ceased from his -wickedness, and was attacked immediately with a cutaneous eruption, and -blood oozed from the pores of his skin, and after praying and fasting -nine days he was healed. And the Spirit appeared to me again, and said, -as the Saviour had been baptized, so should we be also; and when the -white people would not let us be baptized by the church, we went down -into the water together, in the sight of many who reviled us, and were -baptized by the Spirit. After this I rejoiced greatly, and gave thanks -to God. And on the 12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the -heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent -was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the -sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, -for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the -last should be first. <i>Ques.</i> 'Do you not find yourself mistaken -now?'—<i>Ans.</i> 'Was not Christ crucified?' And by signs in the heavens -that it would make known to me when I should commence the great work, -and until the first sign appeared I should conceal it from the knowledge -of men; and on the appearance of the sign (the eclipse of the sun, last -February), I should arise and prepare myself, and slay my enemies with -their own weapons. And immediately on the sign appearing in the heavens, -the seal was removed from my lips, and I communicated the great work -laid out for me to do to four in whom I had the greatest confidence -(Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam). It was intended by us to have begun the -work of death on the 4th of July last. Many were the plans formed and -rejected by us, and it affected my mind to such a degree that I fell -sick, and the time passed without our coming to any determination how to -commence—still forming new schemes and rejecting them, when the sign -appeared again, which determined me not to wait longer.</p> - -<p>"Since the commencement of 1830 I had been living with Mr. Joseph -Travis, who was to me a kind master, and placed the greatest confidence -in me; in fact, I had no cause to complain of his treatment to me. On -Saturday evening, the 20th of August, it was agreed between Henry, Hark, -and myself, to prepare a dinner the next day for the men we expected, -and then to concert a plan, as we had not yet determined on any. Hark, -on the following morning brought a pig, and Henry brandy; and being -joined by Sam, Nelson, Will, and Jack, they prepared in the woods a -dinner, where, about three o'clock, I joined them."</p> - -<p>"<i>Q.</i> Why were you so backward in joining them?"</p> - -<p>"<i>A.</i> The same reason that had caused me not to mix with them for years -before.</p> - -<p>"I saluted them on coming up, and asked Will how came he there. He -answered, his life was worth no more than others, and his liberty as -dear to him. I asked him if he thought to obtain it. He said he would, -or lose his life. This was enough to put him in full confidence. Jack, I -knew, was only a tool in the hands of Hark. It was quickly agreed we -should commence a home (Mr. J. Travis') on that night; and until we had -armed and equipped ourselves, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_585" id="Page_585">[Pg 585]</a></span> gathered sufficient force, neither -age nor sex was to be spared—which was invariably adhered to. We -remained at the feast until about two hours in the night, when we went -to the house and found Austin."</p> - -<p>We will not go into the horrible details of the various massacres, but -only make one or two extracts, to show the spirit and feelings of -Turner:—</p> - -<p>"I then went to Mr. John T. Harrow's; they had been here and murdered -him. I pursued on their track to Capt. Newit Harris', where I found the -greater part mounted and ready to start. The men, now amounting to about -forty, shouted and hurraed as I rode up. Some were in the yard, loading -their guns; others drinking. They said Captain Harris and his family had -escaped; the property in the house they destroyed, robbing him of money -and other valuables. I ordered them to mount and march instantly; this -was about nine or ten o'clock, Monday morning. I proceeded to Mr. Levi -Waller's, two or three miles distant. I took my station in the rear, -and, as it was my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we -went, I placed fifteen or twenty of the best armed and most to be relied -on in front, who generally approached the houses as fast as their horses -could run. This was for two purposes—to prevent their escape, and -strike terror to the inhabitants; on this account I never got to the -houses, after leaving Mrs. Whitehead's, until the murders were -committed, except in one case. I sometimes got in sight in time to see -the work of death completed; viewed the mangled bodies as they lay, in -silent satisfaction, and immediately started in quest of other victims. -Having murdered Mrs. Waller and ten children, we started for Mr. Wm. -Williams',—having killed him and two little boys that were there; while -engaged in this, Mrs. Williams fled and got some distance from the -house, but she was pursued, overtaken, and compelled to get up behind -one of the company, who brought her back, and, after showing her the -mangled body of her lifeless husband, she was told to get down and lay -by his side, where she was shot dead.</p> - -<p>"The white men pursued and fired on us several times. Hark had his horse -shot under him, and I caught another for him as it was running by me; -five or six of my men were wounded, but none left on the field. Finding -myself defeated here, I instantly determined to go through a private -way, and cross the Nottoway River at the Cypress Bridge, three miles -below Jerusalem, and attack that place in the rear, as I expected they -would look for me on the other road, and I had a great desire to get -there to procure arms and ammunition. After going a short distance in -this private way, accompanied by about twenty men, I overtook two or -three, who told me the others were dispersed in every direction.</p> - -<p>"On this, I gave up all hope for the present; and on Thursday night, -after having supplied myself with provisions from Mr. Travis', I -scratched a hole under a pile of fence-rails in a field, where I -concealed myself for six weeks, never leaving my hiding-place but for a -few minutes in the dead of the night to get water, which was very near. -Thinking by this time I could venture out, I began to go about in the -night, and eavesdrop the houses in the neighborhood; pursuing this -course for about a fortnight, and gathering little or no intelligence, -afraid of speaking to any human being, and returning every morning to my -cave before the dawn of day. I know not how long I might have led this -life, if accident had not betrayed me. A dog in the neighborhood passing -by my hiding-place one night while I was out, was attracted by some meat -I had in my cave, and crawled in and stole it, and was coming out just -as I returned. A few nights after, two negroes having started to go -hunting with the same dog, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_586" id="Page_586">[Pg 586]</a></span> passed that way, the dog came again to -the place, and having just gone out to walk about, discovered me and -barked; on which, thinking myself discovered, I spoke to them to beg -concealment. On making myself known, they fled from me. Knowing then -they would betray me, I immediately left my hiding-place and was pursued -almost incessantly, until I was taken, a fortnight afterwards, by Mr. -Benjamin Phipps, in a little hole I had dug out with my sword, for the -purpose of concealment, under the top of a fallen tree.</p> - -<p>"During the time I was pursued, I had many hair-breadth escapes, which -your time will not permit you to relate. I am here loaded with chains, -and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me."</p> - -<p>Mr. Gray asked him if he knew of any extensive or concerted plan. His -answer was, I do not. When I questioned him as to the insurrection in -North Carolina happening about the same time, he denied any knowledge of -it; and when I looked him in the face, as though I would search his -inmost thoughts, he replied, "I see, sir, you doubt my word, but can you -not think the same ideas, and strange appearances about this time in the -heavens, might prompt others, as well as myself, to this undertaking?" I -now had much conversation with and asked him many questions, having -forborne to do so previously, except in the cases noted in parenthesis; -but during his statement had, unnoticed by him, taken notes as to some -particular circumstances, and, having the advantage of his statement -before me in writing, on the evening of the third day that I had been -with him, I began a cross-examination, and found his statement -corroborated by every circumstance coming within my own knowledge, or -the confessions of others who had been either killed or executed, and -whom he had not seen or had any knowledge of since the 22d of August -last. He expressed himself fully satisfied as to the impracticability of -his attempt. It has been said he was ignorant and cowardly, and that his -object was to murder and rob for the purpose of obtaining money to make -his escape. It is notorious that he was never known to have a dollar in -his life, to swear an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. As to his -ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education, but he -can read and write (it was taught him by his parents), and for natural -intelligence and quickness of apprehension is surpassed by few men I -have ever seen. As to his being a coward, his reason as given for not -resisting Mr. Phipps shows the decision of his character. When he saw -Mr. Phipps present his gun, he said he knew it was impossible for him to -escape, as the woods were full of men: he therefore thought it was -better to surrender, and trust to fortune for his escape. He is a -complete fanatic, or plays his part most admirably. On other subjects he -possesses an uncommon share of intelligence, with a mind capable of -attaining anything, but warped and perverted by the influence of early -impressions. He is below the ordinary stature, though strong and active, -having the true negro face, every feature of which is strongly marked. I -shall not attempt to describe the effect of his narrative, as told and -commented on by himself, in the condemned hole of the prison. The calm, -deliberate composure with which he spoke of his late deeds and -intentions; the expression of his fiend-like face when excited by -enthusiasm, still bearing the stains of the blood of helpless innocence -about him; clothed with rags and covered with chains, yet daring to -raise his manacled hands to Heaven, with a spirit soaring above the -attributes of man. I looked on him, and my blood curdled in my veins.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> When questioned as to the manner of manufacturing those -different articles, he was found well informed.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_587" id="Page_587">[Pg 587]</a></span></p> - -<h2>APPENDIX II.</h2> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p>The chapter headed <i>Jegar Sahadutha</i> contains some terrible stories. It -is to be said, they are all facts on judicial record, of the most -fiend-like cruelty, terminating in the death of the victim, where the -affair has been judicially examined, and the perpetrator escaped death, -and in most cases <i>any</i> punishment for his crime.</p> - -<p>1. Case of Souther.</p> - -<p class="center">"<i>Souther v. The Commonwealth</i>, 7 <i>Grattan</i>, 673, 1851.</p> - -<blockquote><p>"The killing of a slave by his master and owner, by wilful and -excessive whipping, is murder in the first degree: though it may -not have been the purpose and intention of the master and owner to -kill the slave.</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Simon Souther was indicted at the October term, 1850, of the Circuit -Court for the County of Hanover, for the murder of his own slave. The -indictment contained fifteen counts, in which the various modes of -punishment and torture by which the homicide was charged to have been -committed were stated singly, and in various combinations. The fifteenth -count unites them all: and, as the court certifies that the <i>indictment -was sustained by the evidence</i>, the giving the facts stated in that -count will show what was the charge against the prisoner, and what was -the proof to sustain it.</p> - -<p>"The count charged that on the 1st day of September, 1849, the prisoner -tied his negro slave, Sam, with ropes about his wrists, neck, body, -legs, and ankles, to a tree. That whilst so tied, the prisoner first -whipped the slave with switches. That he next beat and cobbed the slave -with a shingle, and compelled two of his slaves, a man and a woman, also -to cob the deceased with the shingle. That whilst the deceased was so -tied to the tree, the prisoner did strike, knock, kick, stamp, and beat -him upon various parts of his head, face, and body; that he applied fire -to his body; ... that he then washed his body with warm water, in which -pods of red pepper had been put and steeped; and he compelled his two -slaves aforesaid also to wash him with this same preparation of warm -water and red pepper. That after the tying, whipping, cobbing, striking, -beating, knocking, kicking, stamping, wounding, bruising, lacerating, -burning, washing, and torturing, as aforesaid, the prisoner untied the -deceased from the tree in such a way as to throw him with violence to -the ground; and he then and there did knock, kick, stamp, and beat the -deceased upon his head, temples, and various parts of his body. That the -prisoner then had the deceased carried into a shed-room of his house, -and there he compelled one of his slaves, in his presence, to confine -the deceased's feet in stocks, by making his legs fast to a piece<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_588" id="Page_588">[Pg 588]</a></span> of -timber, and to tie a rope about the neck of the deceased, and fasten it -to a bedpost in the room, thereby strangling, choking, and suffocating, -the deceased. And that whilst the deceased was thus made fast in stocks, -as aforesaid, the prisoner did kick, knock, stamp, and beat him upon his -head, face, breast, belly, sides, back, and body; and he again compelled -his two slaves to apply fire to the body of the deceased, whilst he was -so made fast as aforesaid. And the count charged that from these various -modes of punishment and torture, the slave Sam then and there died. It -appeared that the prisoner commenced the punishment of the deceased in -the morning, and that it was continued throughout the day; and that the -deceased died in the presence of the prisoner, and one of his slaves, -and one of the witnesses, whilst the punishment was still progressing.</p> - -<p>"Field, J., delivered the opinion of the court.</p> - -<p>"The prisoner was indicted and convicted of <i>murder in the second -degree</i>, in the Circuit Court of Hanover, at its April term last past, -and was sentenced to the <i>penitentiary for five years</i>, the period of -time ascertained by the jury. The murder consisted in the killing of a -negro man-slave by the name of Sam, the property of the prisoner, by -cruel and excessive whipping and torture, inflicted by Souther, aided by -two of his other slaves, on the 1st day of September, 1849. The prisoner -moved for a new trial, upon the ground that the offence, <i>if any</i>, -amounted only to manslaughter. The motion for a new trial was overruled, -and a bill of exceptions taken to the opinion of the court, setting -forth the facts proved, or as many of them as were deemed material for -the consideration of the application for a new trial. The bill of -exception states: That the slave Sam, in the indictment mentioned, was -the slave and property of the prisoner. That for the purpose of -chastising the slave for the offence of getting drunk, and dealing, as -the slave confessed and alleged, with Henry and Stone, two of the -witnesses for the Commonwealth, he caused him to be tied and punished in -the presence of the said witnesses, with the exception of slight -whipping with peach or apple-tree switches, before the said witnesses -arrived at the scene after they were sent for by the prisoner (who were -present by request from the defendant), and of several slaves of the -prisoner, in the manner and by the means charged in the indictment; and -the said slave died under and from the infliction of the said -punishment, in the presence of the prisoner, one of his slaves, and one -of the witnesses for the Commonwealth. But it did not appear that it was -the design of the prisoner to kill the said slave, unless such design be -properly inferable from the manner, means, and duration, of the -punishment. And, on the contrary, it did appear that the prisoner -frequently declared, while the said slave was undergoing the punishment, -that he believed the said slave was feigning, and pretending to be -suffering and injured when he was not. The judge certifies that the -slave was punished in the <i>manner and by the means charged in the -indictment</i>. The indictment contains fifteen counts, and sets forth a -case of the most cruel and excessive whipping and torture....</p> - -<p>"It is believed that the records of criminal jurisprudence do not -contain a case of more atrocious and wicked cruelty than was presented -upon the trial of Souther; and yet it has been gravely and earnestly -contended here by his counsel that his offence amounts to manslaughter -only.</p> - -<p>"It has been contended by the counsel of the prisoner that a man cannot -be indicted and prosecuted for the cruel and excessive whipping of his -own slave. That it is lawful for the master to chastise his slave, and -that if death ensues from such chastisement, unless it was intended to -produce death, it is like the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_589" id="Page_589">[Pg 589]</a></span> case of homicide which is committed by a -man in the performance of a lawful act, which is manslaughter only. It -has been decided by this court in Turner's Case, 5 Rand. that the owner -of a slave, for the malicious, cruel, and excessive beating of his own -slave, cannot be indicted; yet it by no means follows, when such -malicious, cruel, and excessive beating results in death, though not -intended and premeditated, that the beating is to be regarded as lawful -for the purpose of reducing the crime to manslaughter, when the whipping -is inflicted for the sole purpose of chastisement. <i>It is the policy of -the law, in respect to the relation of master and slave, and for the -sake of securing proper subordination and obedience on the part of the -slave, to protect the master from prosecution in all such cases, even if -the whipping and punishment be malicious, cruel, and excessive.</i> But in -so inflicting punishment for the sake of punishment, the owner of the -slave acts at his peril; and if death ensues in consequence of such -punishment, the relation of master and slave affords no ground of excuse -or palliation. The principles of the common law, in relation to -homicide, apply to his case without qualification or exception; and, -according to those principles, the act of the prisoner, in the case -under consideration, amounted to murder.... The crime of the prisoner is -not manslaughter, but murder in the first degree."</p> - -<p>2. Death of Hark.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The master is, as we have asserted, protected from prosecution by -express enactment, if the victim dies in the act of resistance to -his will, or under moderate correction.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p>"Whereas by another Act of the Assembly, passed in 1774, the -killing of a slave, however wanton, cruel, and deliberate, is only -punishable in the first instance by imprisonment and paying the -value thereof to the owner, which <i>distinction of criminality -between the murder of a white person and one who is equally a human -creature, but merely of a different complexion, is</i> <span class="smcap">disgraceful to -humanity, and degrading in the highest degree to the laws and -principles of a free, Christian, and enlightened country</span>, Be it -enacted, &c., That if any person shall hereafter be guilty of -wilfully and maliciously killing a slave, such offender shall, upon -the first conviction thereof, be adjudged guilty of murder, and -shall suffer the same punishment as if he had killed a free man: -<i>Provided always, this act shall not extend to the person killing a -slave</i> <span class="smcap">outlawed by virtue of any Act of Assembly of this State</span>, <i>or -to any slave in the act of resistance to his lawful owner or -master, or to any slave dying under moderate correction</i>."</p> - -<p>Instance in point;—</p> - -<p class="center">"<i>From the 'National Era,' Washington, November 6, 1851.</i></p> - -<p class="center">"HOMICIDE CASE IN CLARKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.</p> - -<p>"Some time since, the newspapers of Virginia contained an account -of a horrible tragedy, enacted in Clarke County, of that state. A -slave of Colonel James Castleman, it was stated, had been chained -by the neck, and whipped to death by his master, on the charge of -stealing. The whole neighborhood in which the transaction occurred -was incensed; the Virginia papers abounded in denunciations of the -cruel act; and the people of the North were called upon to bear -witness to the justice which would surely be meted out in a slave -state to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_590" id="Page_590">[Pg 590]</a></span>master of a slave. We did not publish the account. -The case was horrible; it was, we were confident, exceptional. It -should not be taken as evidence of the general treatment of slaves. -We chose to delay any notice of it till the courts should pronounce -their judgment, and we could announce at once the crime and its -punishment, so that the state might stand acquitted of the foul deed.</p> - -<p>"Those who were so shocked at the transaction will be surprised and -mortified to hear that the actors in it have been tried and -<i>acquitted</i>! and when they read the following account of the trial -and verdict, published at the instance of the friends of the -accused, their mortification will deepen into bitter indignation."</p> - -<p class="center">"<i>From the 'Spirit of Jefferson.'</i></p> - -<p>"'<span class="smcap">Colonel James Castleman.</span>—The following statement, understood to -have been drawn up by counsel, since the trial, has been placed by -the friends of this gentleman in our hands for publication:—</p> - -<p>"'At the Circuit Superior Court of Clarke County, commencing on the -13th of October, Judge Samuels presiding, James Castleman and his -son Stephen D. Castleman were indicted jointly for the murder of -negro Lewis, property of the latter. By advice of their counsel, -the parties elected to be tried separately, and the attorney for -the Commonwealth directed that James Castleman should be tried first.</p> - -<p>"'It was proved, on this trial, that for many months previous to -the occurrence the money-drawer of the tavern kept by Stephen D. -Castleman, and the liquors kept in large quantities in his cellar, -had been pillaged from time to time, until the thefts had attained -to a considerable amount. Suspicion had, from various causes, been -directed to Lewis, and another negro, named Reuben (a blacksmith), -the property of James Castleman; but, by the aid of two of the -house-servants, they had eluded the most vigilant watch.</p> - -<p>"'On the 20th of August last, in the afternoon, S. D. Castleman -accidentally discovered a clue, by means of which, and through one -of the house-servants implicated, he was enabled fully to detect -the depredators, and to ascertain the manner in which the theft had -been committed. He immediately sent for his father, living near -him, and, after communicating what he had discovered, it was -determined that the offenders should be punished at once, and -before they should know of the discovery that had been made.</p> - -<p>"'Lewis was punished first; and in a manner, as was fully shown, to -preclude all risk of injury to his person, by stripes with a broad -leathern strap. He was punished severely, but to an extent by no -means disproportionate to his offence: nor was it pretended, in any -quarter, that this punishment implicated either his life or health. -He confessed the offence, and admitted that it had been effected by -false keys, furnished by the blacksmith, Reuben.</p> - -<p>"'The latter servant was punished immediately afterwards. It was -believed that he was the principal offender, and he was found to be -more obdurate and contumacious than Lewis had been in reference to -the offence. Thus it was proved, both by the prosecution and the -defence, that he was punished with greater severity than his -accomplice. It resulted in a like confession on his part, and he -produced the false key, one fashioned by himself, by which the -theft had been effected.</p> - -<p>"'It was further shown, on the trial, that Lewis was whipped in the -upper room of a warehouse, connected with Stephen Castleman's -store, and near the public road, where he was at work at the time; -that after he had been flogged,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_591" id="Page_591">[Pg 591]</a></span> to secure his person, whilst they -went after Reuben, he was confined by a chain around his neck, -which was attached to a joist above his head. The length of this -chain, the breadth and thickness of the joist, its height from the -floor, and the circlet of chain on the neck, were accurately -measured; and it was thus shown that the chain unoccupied by the -circlet and the joist was a foot and a half longer than the space -between the shoulders of the man and the joist above, or to that -extent the chain hung loose above him; that the circlet (which was -fastened so as to prevent its contraction) rested on the shoulders -and breast, the chain being sufficiently drawn only to prevent -being slipped over his head, and that there was no other place in -the room to which he could be fastened except to one of the joists -above. His hands were tied in front; a white man, who had been at -work with Lewis during the day, was left with him by the Messrs. -Castleman, the better to insure his detention, whilst they were -absent after Reuben. It was proved by this man (who was a witness -for the prosecution) that Lewis asked for a box to stand on, or for -something that he could jump off from; that after the Castlemans -had left him he expressed a fear that when they came back he would -be whipped again; and said, if he had a knife, and could get one -hand loose, he would cut his throat. The witness stated that the -negro "stood firm on his feet," that he could turn freely in -whatever direction he wished, and that he made no complaint of the -mode of his confinement. This man stated that he remained with -Lewis about half an hour, and then left there to go home.</p> - -<p>"'After punishing Reuben, the Castlemans returned to the warehouse, -bringing him with them; their object being to confront the two men, -in the hope that by further examination of them jointly all their -accomplices might be detected.</p> - -<p>"'They were not absent more than half an hour. When they entered -the room above, Lewis was found hanging by the neck, his feet -thrown behind him, his knees a few inches from the floor, and his -head thrown forward,—the body warm and supple (or relaxed), but -life was extinct.</p> - -<p>"'It was proved by the surgeons who made a post-mortem examination -before the coroner's inquest that the death was caused by -strangulation by hanging; and other eminent surgeons were examined -to show, from the appearance of the brain and its blood-vessels -after death (as exhibited at the post-mortem examination), that the -subject could not have fainted before strangulation.</p> - -<p>"'After the evidence was finished on both sides, the jury, from -their box, and of their own motion, without a word from counsel on -either side, informed the court that they had agreed upon their -verdict. The counsel assented to its being thus received, and a -verdict of "<i>Not guilty</i>" was immediately rendered. The attorney -for the commonwealth then informed the court that all the evidence -for the prosecution had been laid before the jury; and, as no new -evidence could be offered on the trial of Stephen D. Castleman, he -submitted to the court the propriety of entering a <i>nolle -prosequi</i>. The judge replied that the case had been fully and -fairly laid before the jury upon the evidence; that the court was -not only satisfied with the verdict, but, if any other had been -rendered, it must have been set aside; and that, if no further -evidence was to be adduced on the trial of Stephen, the attorney -for the commonwealth would exercise a proper discretion in entering -a <i>nolle prosequi</i> as to him, and the court would approve its being -done. A <i>nolle prosequi</i> was entered accordingly, and both -gentlemen discharged.</p> - -<p>"'It may be added that two days were consumed in exhibiting the -evidence,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_592" id="Page_592">[Pg 592]</a></span> and that the trial was by a jury of Clarke County. Both -the parties had been on bail from the time of their arrest, and -were continued on bail whilst the trial was depending.'</p> - -<p>"Let us admit that the evidence does not prove the legal crime of -homicide; what candid man can doubt, after reading this <i>ex parte</i>, -version of it, that the slave died in consequence of the punishment -inflicted upon him?</p> - -<p>"In criminal prosecutions the federal constitution guarantees to -the accused the right to a public trial by an impartial jury; the -right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to -be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory -process for obtaining witness in his favor; and to have the -assistance of counsel; guarantees necessary to secure innocence -against hasty or vindictive judgment,—absolutely necessary to -prevent injustice. Grant that they were not intended for slaves; -every master of a slave must feel that they are still morally -binding upon him. He is the sole judge; he alone determines the -offence, the proof requisite to establish it, and the amount of the -punishment. The slave, then, has a peculiar claim upon him for -justice. When charged with a crime, common humanity requires that -he should be informed of it, that he should be confronted with the -witnesses against him, that he should be permitted to show evidence -in favor of his innocence.</p> - -<p>"But how was poor Lewis treated? The son of Castleman said he had -discovered who stole the money; and it was forthwith 'determined -that the offenders should be punished at once, and <i>before they -should know of the discovery that had been made</i>.' Punished without -a hearing! Punished on the testimony of a house-servant, the nature -of which does not appear to have been inquired into by the court! -Not a word is said which authorizes the belief that any careful -examination was made, as it respects their guilt. Lewis and Reuben -were assumed, on loose evidence, without deliberate investigation, -to be guilty; and then, without allowing them to attempt to show -their evidence, they were whipped until a confession of guilt was -extorted by bodily pain.</p> - -<p>"Is this Virginia justice?"</p> - -<p>"'<i>To the Editor of the Era</i>:</p> - -<p>"'I see that Castleman, who lately had a trial for whipping a slave -to death in Virginia, was "<i>triumphantly acquitted</i>,"—as many -expected. There are three persons in this city, with whom I am -acquainted, who stayed at Castleman's the same night in which this -awful tragedy was enacted. They heard the dreadful lashing, and the -heartrending screams and entreaties of the sufferer. They implored -the only white man they could find on the premises, not engaged in -the bloody work, to interpose, but for a long time he refused, on -the ground that he was a dependant, and was afraid to give offence; -and that, moreover, they had been drinking, and he was in fear of -his own life, should he say a word that would be displeasing to -them. He did, however, venture, and returned and reported the cruel -manner in which the slaves were chained, and lashed, and secured in -a blacksmith's vise. In the morning, when they ascertained that one -of the slaves was dead, they were so shocked and indignant that -they refused to eat in the house, and reproached Castleman with his -cruelty. He expressed his regret that the slave had died, and -especially as he had ascertained that he <i>was innocent</i> of the -accusation for which he had suffered. The idea was that he had -fainted from exhaustion; and, the chain being round his neck, he -was strangled. The persons I refer to are themselves slaveholders; -but their feelings were so harrowed and lacerated that they could -not sleep (two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_593" id="Page_593">[Pg 593]</a></span> of them are ladies), and for many nights afterwards -their rest was disturbed, and their dreams made frightful, by the -appalling recollection.</p> - -<p>"'These persons would have been material witnesses, and would have -willingly attended on the part of the prosecution. The knowledge -they had of the case was communicated to the proper authorities, -yet their attendance was not required. The only witness was that -dependant who considered his own life in danger.</p> - -<p>Yours, &c.,</p> - -<p class="right">J. F."</p> - -<p class="center"><i>The Law of Outlawry.</i></p> - -<p><i>Revised</i> Statutes of North Carolina, chap. cxi., sect. 22:</p> - -<p>"'Whereas, <span class="smaller">MANY TIMES</span> <i>slaves run away and lie out, hid and lurking -in swamps, woods, and other obscure places</i>, killing cattle and -hogs, and committing other injuries to the inhabitants of this -state; in all such cases, upon intelligence of any slave or slaves -lying out as aforesaid, any two justices of the peace for the -county wherein such slave or slaves is or are supposed to lurk or -do mischief, shall, and they are hereby empowered and required to -issue proclamation against such slave or slaves (reciting his or -their names, and the name or names of the owner or owners, if -known), thereby requiring him or them, and every of them, forthwith -to surrender him or themselves; and also to empower and require the -sheriff of the said county to take such power with him as he shall -think fit and necessary for going in search and pursuit of, and -effectually apprehending, such outlying slave or slaves; which -proclamation shall be published at the door of the court-house, and -at such other places as said justices shall direct. And if any -slave or slaves, against whom proclamation hath been thus issued, -stay out, and do not immediately return home, it shall be lawful -for any person or persons whatsoever to kill and destroy such slave -or slaves by <i>such ways and means as he shall think fit</i>, without -accusation or impeachment of any crime for the same.'</p> - -<p>"'<span class="smcap">State of North Carolina, Lenoir County.</span>—Whereas complaint hath -been this day made to us, two of the justices of the peace for the -said county, by William D. Cobb, of Jones County, that two negro -slaves belonging to him, named Ben (commonly known by the name of -Ben Fox) and Rigdon, have absented themselves from their said -master's service, and are lurking about in the Counties of Lenoir -and Jones, committing acts of felony; these are, in the name of the -state, to command the said slaves forthwith to surrender -themselves, and turn home to their said master. And we do hereby -also require the sheriff of said County of Lenoir to make diligent -search and pursuit after the above-mentioned slaves.... And we do -hereby, by virtue of an act of assembly of this state concerning -servants and slaves, intimate and declare, if the said slaves do -not surrender themselves and return home to their master -immediately after the publication of these presents, that any -person may kill or destroy said slaves by such means as he or they -think fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime or -offence for so doing, or without incurring any penalty of -forfeiture thereby.</p> - -<p>"'Given under our hands and seals, this 12th of November, 1836.</p> - -<p class="right">"'<span class="smcap">B. Coleman</span>, J. P. [<i>Seal.</i>]<br /> -"'<span class="smcap">Jas. Jones</span>, J. P.' [<i>Seal.</i>]</p> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p>"'$200 <span class="smcap">Reward</span>.—Ran away from the subscriber, about three years -ago, a certain negro man, named Ben, commonly known by the name of -Ben Fox;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_594" id="Page_594">[Pg 594]</a></span> also one other negro, by the name of Rigdon, who ran away -on the eighth of this month.</p> - -<p>"'I will give the reward of one hundred dollars for each of the -above negroes, to be delivered to me, or confined in the jail of -Lenoir or Jones County, <i>or for the killing of them, so that I can -see them</i>.</p> - -<p>"'<i>November 12, 1836.</i></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">W. D. Cobb.</span>'</p> - -<p>"That this act was <i>not</i> a dead letter, also, was plainly implied -in the protective act first quoted. If slaves were not, as a matter -of fact, ever outlawed, why does the act formally recognize such a -class?—'provided that this act shall not extend to the killing of -any slave <i>outlawed</i> by any act of the assembly.' This language -sufficiently indicates the existence of the custom.</p> - -<p>"Further than this, the statute-book of 1821 contained two acts: -the first of which provides that all masters, in certain counties, -who have had slaves killed in consequence of outlawry, shall have a -claim on the treasury of the state for their value, unless cruel -treatment of the slaves be proved on the part of the master; the -second act extends the benefits of the latter provision to all the -counties in the state.</p> - -<p>"Finally there is evidence that this act of outlawry was executed -so recently as the year 1850,—the year in which 'Uncle Tom's -Cabin' was written. See the following from the <i>Wilmington Journal</i> -of December 13, 1850.</p> - -<p>"'<span class="smcap">State of North Carolina, New Hanover County.</span>—Whereas complaint, -upon oath, hath this day been made to us, two of the justices of -the peace for the said state and county aforesaid, by Guilford -Horn, of Edgecombe County, that a certain male slave belonging to -him, named Harry, a carpenter by trade, about forty years old, five -feet five inches high, or thereabouts, yellow complexion, stout -built; with a scar on his left leg (from the cut of an axe); has -very thick lips, eyes deep sunk in his head; forehead very square; -tolerably loud voice; has lost one or two of his upper teeth; and -has a very dark spot on his jaw, supposed to be a mark,—hath -absented himself from his master's service, and is supposed to be -lurking about in this county, committing acts of felony or other -misdeeds; these are, therefore, in the name of state aforesaid, to -command the said slave forthwith to surrender himself and return -home to his said master; and we do hereby, by virtue of the act of -assembly in such cases made and provided, intimate and declare that -if the said slave Harry doth not surrender himself and return home -immediately after the publication of these presents, that any -person or persons may <span class="smaller">KILL</span> and <span class="smaller">DESTROY</span> the said slave by such means -as he or they may think fit, without accusation or impeachment of -any crime or offence in so doing, and without incurring any penalty -or forfeiture thereby.</p> - -<p>"'Given under our hands and seals, this 29th day of June, 1850.</p> - - -<p class="right">"'<span class="smcap">James T. Miller</span>, J. P. [<i>Seal.</i>]<br /> -"'<span class="smcap">W. C. Bettencourt</span>, J. P.' [<i>Seal.</i>]</p> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p>'"<span class="smcap">One Hundred and Twenty-five Dollars Reward</span> will be paid for the -delivery of the said Harry to me at Tosnott Depot, Edgecombe -County, or for his confinement in any jail in the state, so that I -can get him; or <i>One Hundred and Fifty Dollars will be given for his head</i>.</p> - -<p>'"He was lately heard from in Newbern, where he called himself -Henry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_595" id="Page_595">[Pg 595]</a></span> Barnes (or Burns), and will be likely to continue the same -name, or assume that of Copage or Farmer. He has a free mulatto -woman for a wife, by the name of Sally Bozeman, who has lately -removed to Wilmington, and lives in that part of the town called -Texas, where he will likely be lurking.</p> - -<p>"'Masters of vessels are particularly cautioned against harboring -or concealing the said negro on board their vessels, as the full -penalty of the law will be rigorously enforced.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Guilford Horn.</span></p> - -<p>"'<i>June 29th, 1850.</i>'"</p> - -<p>This last advertisement was cut by the author from the <i>Wilmington -Journal</i>, December 13th, 1850, a paper published in Wilmington, North Carolina.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_596" id="Page_596">[Pg 596]</a></span></p> - -<h2>APPENDIX III.</h2> - -<hr class="smler" /> - -<p class="center">CHURCH ACTION ON SLAVERY.</p> - -<p>In reference to this important subject, we present a few extracts from -the first and second chapters of the fourth part of the "Key to Uncle -Tom's Cabin":</p> - -<p>Let us review the declarations that have been made in the Southern -church, and see what principles have been established by them.</p> - -<p>1. That slavery is an innocent and lawful relation, as much as that of -parent and child, husband and wife, or any other lawful relation of -society. (Harmony Pres., S. C.)</p> - -<p>2. That it is consistent with the most fraternal regard for the good of -the slave. (Charleston Union Pres., S. C.)</p> - -<p>3. That masters ought not to be disciplined for selling slaves without -their consent. (New School Pres. Church, Petersburg, Va.)</p> - -<p>4. That the right to buy, sell, and hold men for purposes of gain, was -given by express permission of God. (James Smylie and his Presbyteries.)</p> - -<p>5. That the laws which forbid the education of the slave are right, and -meet the approbation of the reflecting part of the Christian community. -(Ibid.)</p> - -<p>6. That the fact of slavery is not a question of morals at all, but is -purely one of political economy. (Charleston Baptist Association.)</p> - -<p>7. The right of masters to dispose of the time of their slaves has been -distinctly recognized by the Creator of all things. (Ibid.)</p> - -<p>8. That slavery, as it exists in these United States, is not a moral -evil. (Georgia Conference, Methodist.)</p> - -<p>9. That, without a new revelation from heaven, no man is entitled to -pronounce slavery wrong.</p> - -<p>10. That the separation of slaves by sale should be regarded as -separation by death, and the parties allowed to marry again. (Shiloh -Baptist Ass., and Savannah River Ass.)</p> - -<p>11. That the testimony of colored members of the churches shall not be -taken against a white person. (Methodist Church.)</p> - -<p>In addition, it has been plainly avowed, by the expressed principles and -practice of Christians of various denominations, that they regard it -right and proper to put down all inquiry upon this subject by Lynch law.</p> - -<p>The Old School Presbyterian Church, in whose communion the greater part -of the slaveholding Presbyterians of the South are found, has never felt -called upon to discipline its members for upholding a system which -denies legal marriage to all slaves. Yet this church was agitated to its -very foundation by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_597" id="Page_597">[Pg 597]</a></span> discussion of a question of morals which an -impartial observer would probably consider of far less magnitude, -namely, whether a man might lawfully marry his deceased wife's sister. -For the time, all the strength and attention of the church seemed -concentrated upon this important subject. The trial went from Presbytery -to Synod, and from Synod to General Assembly; and ended with deposing a -very respectable minister for this crime.</p> - -<p>Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, D. D., a member of the Old School Assembly, -has thus described the state of the slave population as to their -marriage relations:</p> - -<p>"The system of slavery denies to a whole class of human beings the -sacredness of marriage and of home, compelling them to live in a state -of concubinage; for, in the eye of the law, no colored slave-man is the -husband of any wife in particular, nor any slave-woman the wife of any -husband in particular; no slave-man is the father of any child in -particular, and no slave-child is the child of any parent in -particular."</p> - -<p>Now, had this church considered the fact that three millions of men and -women were, by the laws of the land, obliged to live in this manner, as -of equally serious consequence, it is evident, from the ingenuity, -argument, vehemence, biblical research, and untiring zeal, which they -bestowed on Mr. McQueen's trial, that they could have made a very strong -case with regard to this also.</p> - -<p>The history of the united action of denominations which included -churches both in the slave and free states is a melancholy -exemplification, to a reflecting mind, of that gradual deterioration of -the moral sense which results from admitting any compromise, however -slight, with an acknowledged sin. The best minds in the world cannot -bear such a familiarity without injury to the moral sense. The facts of -the slave system and of the slave laws, when presented to disinterested -judges in Europe, have excited a universal outburst of horror, yet, in -assemblies composed of the wisest and best clergymen of America, these -things have been discussed from year to year, and yet brought no results -that have, in the slightest degree, lessened the evil. The reason is -this. A portion of the members of these bodies had pledged themselves to -sustain the system, and peremptorily to refuse and put down all -discussion of it; and the other part of the body did not consider this -stand so taken as being of sufficiently vital consequence to authorize -separation.</p> - -<p>Nobody will doubt that, had the Southern members taken such a stand -against the divinity of our Lord, the division would have been immediate -and unanimous; but yet the Southern members do maintain the right to buy -and sell, lease, hire, and mortgage, multitudes of men and women, whom, -with the same breath, they declare to be members of their churches, and -true Christians. The Bible declares of all such that they are the -temples of the Holy Ghost; that they are the members of Christ's body, -of his flesh and bones. Is not the doctrine that men may lawfully sell -the members of Christ, his body, his flesh and bones, for purposes of -gain, as really a heresy as the denial of the divinity of Christ? and is -it not a dishonor to Him who is over all, God blessed forever, to -tolerate this dreadful opinion, with its more dreadful consequences, -while the smallest heresies concerning the imputation of Adam's sin are -pursued with eager vehemence? If the history of the action of all the -bodies thus united can be traced downwards, we shall find that, by -reason of this tolerance of an admitted sin, the anti-slavery testimony -has every year grown weaker and weaker. If we look over the history of -all denominations, we shall see that at first they used very stringent -language with relation to slavery. This is particularly the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_598" id="Page_598">[Pg 598]</a></span> case with -the Methodist and Presbyterian bodies, and for that reason we select -these two as examples. The Methodist Society especially, as organized by -John Wesley, was an anti-slavery society, and the Book of Discipline -contained the most positive statutes against slaveholding. The history -of the successive resolutions of the Conference of this church is very -striking. In 1780, before the church was regularly organized in the -United States, they resolved as follows:</p> - -<p>"The conference acknowledges that slavery is contrary to the laws of -God, man, and nature, and hurtful to society; contrary to the dictates -of conscience and true religion; and doing what we would not others -should do unto us."</p> - -<p>In 1784, when the church was fully organized, rules were adopted -prescribing the times at which members who were already slaveholders -should emancipate their slaves. These rules were succeeded by the -following:</p> - -<p>"Every person concerned, who will not comply with these rules, shall -have liberty quietly to withdraw from our Society within the twelve -months following the notice being given him, as aforesaid; otherwise the -assistants shall exclude him from the Society.</p> - -<p>"No person holding slaves shall in future be admitted into the Society, -or to the Lord's Supper, till he previously comply with these rules -concerning slavery.</p> - -<p>"Those who buy, sell, or give slaves away, unless on purpose to free -them, shall be expelled immediately."</p> - -<p>In 1801:</p> - -<p>"We declare that we are more than ever convinced of the great evil of -African slavery, which still exists in these United States.</p> - -<p>"Every member of the Society who sells a slave shall immediately, after -full proof, be excluded from the Society, etc.</p> - -<p>"The Annual Conferences are directed to draw up addresses for the -gradual emancipation of the slaves, to the Legislature. Proper -committees shall be appointed by the Annual Conference, out of the most -respectable of our friends, for the conducting of the business; and the -presiding elders, deacons, and travelling preachers, shall procure as -many proper signatures as possible to the addresses, and give all the -assistance in their power, in every respect, to aid the committees, and -to further the blessed undertaking. Let this be continued from year to -year, till the desired end be accomplished."</p> - -<p>In 1836, let us notice the change. The General Conference held its -annual session in Cincinnati, and resolved as follows:</p> - -<p>"Resolved, by the delegates of the Annual Conferences in General -Conference assembled, that they are decidedly opposed to modern -abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish, or intention to -interfere in the civil and political relation between master and slave, -as it exists in the slaveholding States of this Union."</p> - -<p>These resolutions were passed by a very large majority. An address was -received from the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in England, -affectionately remonstrating on the subject of slavery. The Conference -refused to publish it. In the pastoral address to the churches are these -passages:</p> - -<p>"It cannot be unknown to you that the question of slavery in the United -States, by the constitutional compact which binds us together as a -nation, is left to be regulated by the several State Legislatures -themselves; and thereby is put beyond the control of the general -government, as well as that of all ecclesiastical bodied, it being -manifest that in the slaveholding States themselves the entire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_599" id="Page_599">[Pg 599]</a></span> -responsibility of its existence, or non-existence, rests with those -State Legislatures.... These facts, which are only mentioned here as a -reason for the friendly admonition which we wish to give you, constrain -us, as your pastors, who are called to watch over your souls, as they -must give account, to exhort you to abstain from all abolition movements -and associations, and to refrain from patronizing any of their -publications," etc....</p> - -<p>The subordinate conferences showed the same spirit.</p> - -<p>In 1836, the New York Annual Conference resolved that no one should be -elected a deacon or elder in the church unless he would give a pledge to -the church he would refrain from discussing this subject.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> - -<p>In 1838, the Conference resolved—</p> - -<p>"As the sense of this Conference, that any of its members, or -probationers, who shall patronize <i>Zion's Watchman</i>, either by writing -in commendation of its character, by circulating it, recommending it to -our people, or procuring subscribers, or by collecting or remitting -moneys, shall be deemed guilty of indiscretion, and dealt with -accordingly."</p> - -<p>It will be recollected that <i>Zion's Watchman</i> was edited by La Roy -Sunderland, for whose abduction the State of Alabama had offered fifty -thousand dollars.</p> - -<p>In 1840, the General Conference at Baltimore passed the resolution that -we have already quoted, forbidding preachers to allow colored persons to -give testimony in their churches. It has been computed that about eighty -thousand people were deprived of the right of testimony by this act. -This Methodist Church subsequently broke into a Northern and Southern -Conference. The Southern Conference is avowedly all pro-slavery, and the -Northern Conference has still in its communion slaveholding conferences -and members.</p> - -<p>Of the Northern Conferences, one of the largest, the Baltimore, passed -the following:</p> - -<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That this Conference disclaims having any fellowship with -abolitionism. On the contrary, while it is determined to maintain its -well-known and long-established position, by keeping the travelling -preachers composing its own body free from slavery, it is also -determined not to hold connection with any ecclesiastical body that -shall make non-slaveholding a condition of membership in the church, but -to stand by and maintain the discipline as it is."</p> - -<p>The following extract is made from an address of the Philadelphia Annual -Conference to the Societies under its care, dated Wilmington, Delaware, -April 7, 1847:</p> - -<p>"If the plan of separation gives us the pastoral care of you, it remains -to inquire whether we have done anything, as a conference, or as men, to -forfeit your confidence and affection. We are not advised that even in -the great excitement which has distressed you for some months past, any -one has impeached our moral conduct, or charged us with unsoundness in -doctrine, or corruption, or tyranny in the administration of discipline. -But we learn that the simple cause of the unhappy excitement among you -is, that some suspect us, or affect to suspect us, of being -abolitionists. Yet no particular act of the Conference, or any -particular member thereof, is adduced as the ground of the erroneous and -injurious suspicion. We would ask you, brethren, whether the conduct of -our ministry among you for sixty years past ought not to be sufficient -to protect us from this charge. Whether the question we have been -accustomed, for a few years past, to put to candidates for admission -among us, namely, Are you an abolitionist? and, without each one -answered in the negative, he was not received, ought not to protect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_600" id="Page_600">[Pg 600]</a></span> us -from the charge. Whether the action of the last Conference on this -particular matter ought not to satisfy any fair and candid mind that we -are not, and do not desire to be, abolitionists.... We cannot see how we -can be regarded as abolitionists, without the ministers of the Methodist -Episcopal Church South being considered in the same light....</p> - -<p>"Wishing you all heavenly benedictions, we are, dear brethren, yours, in -Christ Jesus,</p> - -<table summary="Committee"> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">J. P. Durbin</span>,</td> - <td class="left">}</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">J. Kennaday</span>,</td> - <td class="left">}</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Ignatius T. Cooper</span>,</td> - <td class="left">} <i>Committee</i>."</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">William H. Gilder</span>,</td> - <td class="left">}</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Joseph Castle</span>,</td> - <td class="left">}</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>These facts sufficiently define the position of the Methodist church. -The history is melancholy, but instructive. The history of the -Presbyterian church is also of interest.</p> - -<p>In 1793, the following note to the eighth commandment was inserted in -the Book of Discipline, as expressing the doctrine of the church upon -slaveholding:</p> - -<p>"1 Tim. 1:10.—The law is made for <span class="smaller">MAN-STEALERS</span>. This crime among the -Jews exposed the perpetrators of it to capital punishment (Exodus -21:15); and the apostle here classes them with sinners of the first -rank. The word he uses, in its original import, comprehends all who are -concerned in bringing any of the human race into slavery, or in -retaining them in it. <i>Hominum fures, qui servos vel liberos, abducunt, -retinent, vendunt, vel emunt.</i> Stealers of men are all those who bring -off slaves or freemen, and <span class="smaller">KEEP</span>, <span class="smaller">SELL</span>, or <span class="smaller">BUY THEM</span>. To steal a free man, -says Grotius, is the highest kind of theft. In other instances, we only -steal human property; but when we steal or retain men in slavery, we -seize those who, in common with ourselves, are constituted by the -original grant lords of the earth."</p> - -<p>No rules of church discipline were enforced, and members whom this -passage declared guilty of this crime remained undisturbed in its -communion, as ministers and elders. This inconsistency was obviated in -1816 by expunging the passage from the Book of Discipline. In 1818 it -adopted an expression of its views on slavery. This document is a long -one, conceived and written in a very Christian spirit. The Assembly's -Digest says, page 341, that it was <i>unanimously</i> adopted. The following -is its testimony as to the nature of slavery:</p> - -<p>"We consider the voluntary enslaving of one part of the human race by -another as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights of -human nature, as utterly inconsistent with the law of God which requires -us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and as totally irreconcilable with -the spirit and principles of the Gospel of Christ, which enjoin that -'all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so -to them.' Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system. It exhibits -rational, accountable, and immortal beings in such circumstances as -scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. It exhibits them as -dependent on the will of others whether they shall receive religious -instruction; whether they shall know and worship the true God; whether -they shall enjoy the ordinances of the Gospel; whether they shall -perform the duties and cherish the endearments of husbands and wives, -parents and children, neighbors and friends; whether they shall preserve -their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates of justice and -humanity. Such are some of the consequences of slavery,—consequences -not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very existence. The -evils to which the slave is always exposed often take place in fact, and -in their very worst degree and form; and where all of them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_601" id="Page_601">[Pg 601]</a></span> do not take -place,—as we rejoice to say that in many instances, through the -influence of the principles of humanity and religion on the minds of -masters, they do not,—still the slave is deprived of his natural right, -degraded as a human being, and exposed to the danger of passing into the -hands of a master who may inflict upon him all the hardships and -injuries which inhumanity and avarice may suggest."</p> - -<p>This language was surely decided, and it was <i>unanimously</i> adopted by -slaveholders and non-slaveholders. Certainly one might think the time of -redemption was drawing nigh. The declaration goes on to say:</p> - -<p>"It is manifestly the duty of all Christians who enjoy the light of the -present day, when the inconsistency of slavery both with the dictates of -humanity and religion has been demonstrated, and is generally seen and -acknowledged, to use honest, earnest, unwearied endeavors to correct the -errors of former times, and as speedily as possible to efface this blot -on our holy religion, and to <span class="smaller">OBTAIN THE COMPLETE ABOLITION</span> of slavery -throughout Christendom and throughout the world."</p> - -<p>Here we have the Presbyterian Church, slaveholding and non-slaveholding, -virtually formed into one great <i>abolition society</i>, as we have seen the -Methodist was.</p> - -<p>The Assembly then goes on to state that the slaves are not <i>at present</i> -prepared to be free,—that they tenderly sympathize with the portion of -the church and country that has had this evil entailed upon them, where, -as they say, "a great and the most virtuous part of the community <span class="smaller">ABHOR -SLAVERY</span>, and wish <span class="smaller">ITS EXTERMINATION</span>." But they exhort them to commence -immediately the work of instructing slaves, with a view to preparing -them for freedom, and to let no greater delay take place than "a regard -to public welfare <i>indispensably</i> demands;" "to be governed by no other -considerations than an <i>honest and impartial regard to the happiness of -the injured party, uninfluenced by the expense and inconvenience</i> which -such regard may involve." It warns against "<i>unduly extending this plea -of necessity</i>,"—against making it a cover for the <i>love and practice of -slavery</i>. It ends by recommending that any one who shall sell a -fellow-Christian without his consent be immediately disciplined and -suspended.</p> - -<p>If we consider that this was <i>unanimously</i> adopted by slaveholders and -all, and grant, as we certainly do, that it was adopted in all honesty -and good faith, we shall surely expect something from it. We should -expect forthwith the organizing of a set of common schools for the slave -children; for an efficient religious ministration; for an entire -discontinuance of trading in Christian slaves; for laws which make the -family relations sacred. Was any such thing done or attempted? Alas! Two -years after this came the <span class="smcap">admission of Missouri</span>, and the increase of -demand in the Southern slave-market, and the internal slave-trade. -Instead of school-teachers, they had slave-traders; instead of gathering -<i>schools</i>, they gathered <i>slave-coffles</i>. Instead of building -schoolhouses, they built slave-pens and slave-prisons, jails, -barracoons, factories, or whatever the trade pleases to term them; and -so went the plan of gradual emancipation.</p> - -<p>In 1834, sixteen years after, a committee of the Synod of Kentucky, in -which state slavery is generally said to exist in its mildest form, -appointed to make a report on the condition of the slaves, gave the -following picture of their condition. First, as to their spiritual -condition, they say:</p> - -<p>"After making all reasonable allowances, our colored population can be -considered, at the most, but semi-heathen.</p> - -<p>"Brutal stripes, and all the various kinds of personal indignities, are -not the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_602" id="Page_602">[Pg 602]</a></span> only species of cruelty which slavery licenses. The law does -not recognize the family relations of the slave, and extends to him no -protection in the enjoyment of domestic endearments. The members of a -slave-family may be forcibly separated, so that they shall never more -meet until the final judgment. And cupidity often induces the masters to -practise what the law allows. Brothers and sisters, parents and -children, husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and permitted to see -each other no more. These acts are daily occurring in the midst of us. -The shrieks and the agony often witnessed on such occasions proclaim -with a trumpet-tongue the iniquity and cruelty of our system. The cries -of these sufferers go up to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. There is -not a neighborhood where these heartrending scenes are not displayed. -There is not a village or road that does not behold the sad procession -of manacled outcasts, whose chains and mournful countenances tell that -they are exiled by force from all that their hearts hold dear. Our -church, years ago, raised its voice of solemn warning against this -flagrant violation of every principle of mercy, justice, and humanity. -Yet we blush to announce to you and to the world, that this warning has -been often disregarded, even by those who hold to our communion. Cases -have occurred, in our own denomination, where professors of the religion -of mercy have torn the mother from her children, and sent her into a -merciless and returnless exile. Yet acts of discipline have rarely -followed such conduct."</p> - -<p>Hon. James G. Birney, for years a resident of Kentucky, in his pamphlet, -amends the word <i>rarely</i> by substituting <i>never</i>. What could show more -plainly the utter inefficiency of the past act of the Assembly, and the -necessity of adopting some measures more efficient? In 1835, therefore, -the subject was urged upon the General Assembly, entreating them to -carry out the principles and designs they had avowed in 1818.</p> - -<p>Mr. Stuart, of Illinois, in a speech he made upon the subject, said:</p> - -<p>"I hope this Assembly are prepared to come out fully and declare their -sentiments, that slaveholding is a most flagrant and heinous <span class="smaller">SIN</span>. Let us -not pass it by in this indirect way, while so many thousands and tens of -thousands of our fellow-creatures are writhing under the lash, often -inflicted, too, by ministers and elders of the Presbyterian church.</p> - -<p class="center">* * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>"In this church a man may take a free-born child, force it away from its -parents, to whom God gave it in charge, saying, 'Bring it up for me,' -and sell it as a beast, or hold it in perpetual bondage, and not only -escape corporal punishment, but really be esteemed an excellent -Christian. Nay, even ministers of the Gospel and doctors of divinity may -engage in this unholy traffic, and yet sustain their high and holy -calling.</p> - -<p class="center">* * * -* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>"Elders, ministers, and doctors of divinity are, with both hands, -engaged in the practice."</p> - -<p>One would have thought facts like these, stated in a body of Christians, -were enough to wake the dead; but, alas! we can become accustomed to -very awful things. No action was taken upon these remonstrances, except -to refer them to a committee, to be reported on at the next session, in -1836.</p> - -<p>The moderator of the Assembly in 1836 was a slaveholder, Dr. T. S. -Witherspoon, the same who said to the editor of the <i>Emancipator</i>, "I -draw my warrant from the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to hold -my slaves in bondage. The principle of holding the heathen in bondage is -recognized by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_603" id="Page_603">[Pg 603]</a></span> God. When the tardy process of the law is too long in -redressing our grievances, we at the South have adopted the summary -process of Judge Lynch."</p> - -<p>The majority of the committee appointed made a report as follows:</p> - -<p>"Whereas the subject of slavery is inseparably connected with the laws -of many of the states in this Union, with which it is by no means proper -for an ecclesiastical judicature to interfere, and involves many -considerations in regard to which great diversity of opinion and -intensity of feeling are known to exist in the churches represented in -this Assembly; and whereas there is great reason to believe that any -action on the part of this Assembly, in reference to this subject, would -tend to distract and divide our churches, and would probably in no wise -promote the benefit of those whose welfare is immediately contemplated -in the memorials in question:</p> - -<p>"Therefore, Resolved,</p> - -<p>"1. That it is not expedient for the Assembly to take any further order -in relation to this subject.</p> - -<p>"2. That as the notes which have been expunged from our public -formularies, and which some of the memorials referred to the committee -request to have restored, were introduced irregularly, never had the -sanction of the church, and, therefore, never possessed any authority, -the General Assembly has no power, nor would they think it expedient, to -assign them a place in the authorized standards of the church."</p> - -<p>The minority of the committee, the Rev. Messrs. Dickey and Beman, -reported as follows:</p> - -<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, 1. That the buying, selling, or holding a human being as -property, is in the sight of God a heinous sin, and ought to subject the -doer of it to the censures of the church.</p> - -<p>"2. That it is the duty of every one, and especially of every Christian, -who may be involved in this sin, to free himself from its entanglement -without delay.</p> - -<p>"3. That it is the duty of every one, especially of every Christian, in -the meekness and firmness of the Gospel, to plead the cause of the poor -and needy, by testifying against the principle and practice of -slaveholding, and to use his best endeavors to deliver the church of God -from the evil, and to bring about the emancipation of the slaves in -these United States, and throughout the world."</p> - -<p>The slaveholding delegates, to the number of forty-eight, met <i>apart</i>, -and <i>Resolved</i>,</p> - -<p>"That if the General Assembly shall undertake to exercise authority on -the subject of slavery, so as to make it an immorality, or shall in any -way declare that Christians are criminal in holding slaves, that a -declaration shall be presented by the Southern delegation declining -their jurisdiction in the case, and our determination not to submit to -such decision."</p> - -<p>In view of these conflicting reports, the Assembly resolved as follows:</p> - -<p>"Inasmuch as the constitution of the Presbyterian church, in its -preliminary and fundamental principles, declares that no church -judicatories ought to pretend to make laws to bind the conscience in -virtue of their own authority; and as the urgency of the business of the -Assembly, and the shortness of the time during which they can continue -in session, render it impossible to deliberate and decide judiciously on -the subject of slavery in its relation to the church, therefore, -Resolved, that this whole subject be indefinitely postponed."</p> - -<p>The amount of the slave-trade at the time when the General Assembly -refused to act upon the subject of slavery at all may be inferred from -the following items. The <i>Virginia Times</i>, in an article published in -this very year of 1836, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_604" id="Page_604">[Pg 604]</a></span>estimated the number of slaves exported for -sale from that state alone, during the twelve months preceding, at forty -thousand. The <i>Natchez</i> (Miss.) <i>Courier</i> says that in the same year the -States of Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas imported two hundred and fifty -thousand slaves from the more northern states. If we deduct from these -all who may be supposed to have emigrated with their masters, still what -an immense trade is here indicated!</p> - -<p>Two years after, the General Assembly, by a sudden and very unexpected -movement, passed a vote exscinding, without trial, from the communion of -the church, four synods, comprising the most active and decided -anti-slavery portions of the church, The reasons alleged were, doctrinal -differences and ecclesiastical practices inconsistent with -Presbyterianism. By this act about five hundred ministers and sixty -thousand members were cut off from the Presbyterian church.</p> - -<p>That portion of the Presbyterian church called New School, considering -this act unjust, refused to assent to it, joined the exscinded synods, -and formed themselves into the New School General Assembly. In this -communion only three slaveholding presbyteries remained; in the old -there were between thirty and forty.</p> - -<p>The course of the Old School Assembly, after the separation, in relation -to the subject of slavery, may be best expressed by quoting one of their -resolutions, passed in 1845. Having some decided anti-slavery members in -its body, and being, moreover, addressed on the subject of slavery by -associated bodies, they presented, in this year, the following -deliberate statement of their policy. (Minutes for 1845, p. 18.)</p> - -<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, 1. That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in -the United States was originally organized, and has since continued the -bond of union in the church, upon the conceded principle that the -existence of domestic slavery, under the circumstances in which it is -found in the Southern portion of the country, is no bar to Christian -communion.</p> - -<p>"2. That the petitions that ask the Assembly to make the holding of -slaves in itself a matter of discipline do virtually require this -judicatory to dissolve itself, and abandon the organization under which, -by the Divine blessing, it has so long prospered. The tendency is -evidently to separate the Northern from the Southern portion of the -church—a result which every good Christian must deplore, as tending to -the dissolution of the Union of our beloved country, and which every -enlightened Christian will oppose, as bringing about a ruinous and -unnecessary schism between brethren who maintain a common faith.</p> - -<p class="center">"Yeas, Ministers and Elders, 168.<br /> -"Nays, Ministers and Elders, 13."</p> - -<p>It is scarcely necessary to add a comment to this very explicit -declaration. It is the plainest possible disclaimer of any protest -against slavery; the plainest possible statement that the existence of -the ecclesiastical organization is of more importance than all the moral -and social considerations which are involved in a full defence and -practice of American slavery.</p> - -<p>The next year a large number of petitions and remonstrances were -presented, requesting the Assembly to utter additional testimony against slavery.</p> - -<p>In reply to the petitions, the General Assembly reaffirmed all their -former testimonies on the subject of slavery for sixty years back, and -also affirmed that the previous year's declaration must not be -understood as a retraction of that testimony; in other words, they -expressed it as their opinion, in the words<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_605" id="Page_605">[Pg 605]</a></span> of 1818, that slavery is -"<i>wholly opposed to the law of God</i>," and "<i>totally irreconcilable with -the precepts of the Gospel of Christ</i>;" and yet that they "had formed -their church organization upon the conceded principle that the existence -of it, under the circumstances in which it is found in the Southern -States of the Union, is no bar to Christian communion."</p> - -<p>Some members protested against this action. (Minutes, 1846. Overture, No. 17.)</p> - -<p>Great hopes were at first entertained of the New School body. As a body, -it was composed mostly of anti-slavery men. It had in it three synods -whose anti-slavery opinions and actions had been, to say the least, one -very efficient cause for their excision from the Church. It had only -three slaveholding Presbyteries. The power was all in its own hands. -Now, if ever, was their time to cut this loathsome encumbrance wholly -adrift, and stand up, in this age of concession and conformity to the -world, a purely protesting church, free from all complicity with this -most dreadful national immorality.</p> - -<p>On the first session of the General Assembly this course was most -vehemently urged, by many petitions and memorials. These memorials were -referred to a committee of decided anti-slavery men. The argument on one -side was, that the time was now come to take decided measures to cut -free wholly from all pro-slavery complicity, and avow their principles -with decision, even though it should repel all such churches from their -communion as were not prepared for immediate emancipation.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the majority of the committee were urged by opposing -considerations. The brethren from slave states made to them -representations somewhat alike to these: "Brethren, our hearts are with -you. We are with you in faith, in charity, in prayer. We sympathized in -the injury that had been done you by excision. We stood by you then, and -are ready to stand by you still. We have no sympathy with the party that -have expelled you, and we do not wish to go back to them. As to this -matter of slavery, we do not differ from you. We consider it an evil. We -mourn and lament over it. We are trying, by gradual and peaceable means, -to exclude it from our churches. We are going as far in advance of the -sentiment of our churches as we consistently can. We cannot come up to -more decided action without losing our hold over them, and, as we think, -throwing back the cause of emancipation. If you begin in this decided -manner, we cannot hold our churches in the union; they will divide, and -go to the Old School."</p> - -<p>Here was a very strong plea, made by good and sincere men. It was an -appeal, too, to the most generous feelings of the heart. It was, in -effect, saying, "Brothers, we stood by you, and fought your battles, -when everything was going against you; and, now that you have the power -in your hands, are you going to use it so as to cast us out?"</p> - -<p>These men, strong anti-slavery men as they were, were affected. One -member of the committee foresaw and feared the result. He felt and -suggested that the course proposed conceded the whole question. The -majority thought, on the whole, that it was best to postpone the -subject. The committee reported that the applicants, for reasons -satisfactory to themselves, had withdrawn their papers.</p> - -<p>The next year, in 1839, the subject was resumed; and it was again urged -that the Assembly should take high, and decided, and unmistakable -ground; and certainly, if we consider that all this time not a single -church had emancipated its slaves, and that the power of the institution -was everywhere <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_606" id="Page_606">[Pg 606]</a></span>stretching and growing and increasing, it would -certainly seem that something more efficient was necessary than a -general understanding that the church agreed with the testimony -delivered in 1818. It was strongly represented that it was time -something was done. This year the Assembly decided to refer the subject -to Presbyteries, to do what they deemed advisable. The words employed -were these: "Solemnly referring the whole to the lower judicatories, to -take such action as in their judgment is most judicious, and adapted to -remove the evil." The Rev. George Beecher moved to insert the word moral -before evil; they declined.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>This brought, in 1840, a much larger number of memorials and petitions; -and very strong attempts were made by the abolitionists to obtain some -decided action.</p> - -<p>The committee this year referred to what had been done last year, and -declared it inexpedient to do anything further. The subject was -indefinitely postponed. At this time it was resolved that the Assembly -should meet only once in three years. Accordingly, it did not meet till -1843. In 1843, several memorials were again presented, and some -resolutions offered to the Assembly, of which this was one (Minutes of -the General Assembly for 1843, p. 15):</p> - -<p>"Resolved, That we affectionately and earnestly urge upon the Ministers, -Sessions, Presbyteries, and Synods, connected with this Assembly, that -they treat this as all other sins of great magnitude; and by a diligent, -kind, and faithful application of the means which God has given them, by -instruction, remonstrance, reproof, and effective discipline, seek to -purify the church of this great iniquity."</p> - -<p>This resolution they declined. They passed the following:</p> - -<p>"Whereas there is in this Assembly great diversity of opinion as to the -proper and best mode of action on the subject of slavery; and whereas, -in such circumstances, any expression of sentiment would carry with it -but little weight, as it would be passed by a small majority, and must -operate to produce alienation and division; and whereas the Assembly of -1839, with great unanimity, referred this whole subject to the lower -judicatories, to take such order as in their judgment might be adapted -to remove the evil;—Resolved, That the Assembly do not think it for the -edification of the church for this body to take any action on the -subject."</p> - -<p>They, however, passed the following:</p> - -<p>"Resolved, That the fashionable amusement of promiscuous dancing is so -entirely unscriptural, and eminently and exclusively that of 'the world -which lieth in wickedness,' and so wholly inconsistent with the spirit -of Christ, and with that propriety of Christian deportment and that -purity of heart which his followers are bound to maintain, as to render -it not only improper and injurious for professing Christians either to -partake in it, or to qualify their children for it, by teaching them the -'art,' but also to call for the faithful and judicious exercise of -discipline on the part of Church Sessions, when any of the members of -their churches have been guilty."</p> - -<p>Thus has the matter gone on from year to year, ever since.</p> - -<p>In 1856 we are sorry to say that we can report no improvement in the -action of the great ecclesiastical bodies on the subject of slavery, but -rather deterioration. Notwithstanding all the aggressions of slavery, -and notwithstanding the constant developments of its horrible influence -in corrupting and degrading the character of the nation, as seen in the -mean, vulgar, assassin-like outrages in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_607" id="Page_607">[Pg 607]</a></span> our national Congress, and the -brutal, bloodthirsty, fiend-like proceedings in Kansas, connived at and -protected, if not directly sanctioned and in part instigated, by our -national government;—notwithstanding all this, the great ecclesiastical -organizations seem less disposed than ever before to take any efficient -action on the subject. This was manifest in the General Conference of -the Methodist Episcopal Church North, held at Indianapolis during the -spring of the present year, and in the General Assemblies of the -Presbyterian Church held at New York at about the same time.</p> - -<p>True, a very large minority in the Methodist Conference resisted with -great energy the action, or rather no action, of the majority, and gave -fearless utterance to the most noble sentiments; but in the final result -the numbers were against them.</p> - -<p>The same thing was true to some extent in the New School Presbyterian -General Assembly, though here the anti-slavery utterances were, on the -whole, inferior to those in the Methodist Conference. In both bodies the -Packthreads, and Cushings, and Calkers, and Bonnies, are numerous and -have the predominant influence, while the Dicksons and the Ruskins are -fewer, and have far less power. The representations, therefore, in the -body of the work, though very painful, are strictly just. Individuals, -everywhere in the free states, and in same of the slave states, are most -earnestly struggling against the prevailing corruption; but the -churches, as such, are, for the most part, still on the wrong side. -There are churches free from this stain, but they are neither numerous -nor popular.</p> - -<p>For an illustration of the lynching of Father Dickson, see "Key to Uncle -Tom's Cabin," Part III., Chapter VIII.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> This resolution is given in Birney's pamphlet.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Goodell's History of the Great Struggle between Freedom -and Slavery.</i></p></div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dred, by Harriet beecher Stowe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DRED *** - -***** This file should be named 55012-h.htm or 55012-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/0/1/55012/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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