 | CHAPTER XI.
IN WHICH PROPERTY GETS INTO AN IMPROPER STATE OF MIND. Uncle Tom's cabin, or, Life among the lowly |  |
11. CHAPTER XI.
IN WHICH PROPERTY GETS INTO AN IMPROPER STATE OF MIND.
It was late in a drizzly afternoon that a traveller alighted
at the door of a small country hotel, in the village of N —,
in Kentucky. In the bar-room he found assembled quite a
miscellaneous company, whom stress of weather had driven to
harbor, and the place presented the usual scenery of such reunions.
Great, tall, raw-boned Kentuckians, attired in hunting-shirts,
and trailing their loose joints over a vast extent of
territory, with the easy lounge peculiar to the race, — rifles
stacked away in the corner, shot-pouches, game-bags, hunting-dogs,
and little negroes, all rolled together in the corners, —
were the characteristic features in the picture. At each end
of the fireplace sat a long-legged gentleman, with his chair
tipped back, his hat on his head, and the heels of his muddy
boots reposing sublimely on the mantel-piece, — a position, we
will inform our readers, decidedly favorable to the turn of
reflection incident to western taverns, where travellers exhibit
a decided preference for this particular mode of elevating
their understandings.
Mine host, who stood behind the bar, like most of his countrymen,
was great of stature, good-natured, and loose-jointed,
with an enormous shock of hair on his head, and a great tall
hat on the top of that.
In fact, everybody in the room bore on his head this characteristic
emblem of man's sovereignty; whether it were felt
hat, palm-leaf, greasy beaver, or fine new chapeau, there it
appeared to be the characteristic mark of every individual.
Some wore them tipped rakishly to one side — these were
your men of humor, jolly, free-and-easy dogs; some had
them jammed independently down over their noses — these
were your hard characters, thorough men, who, when they
wore their hats, wanted to wear them, and to wear them just
as they had a mind to; there were those who had them set
far over back — wide-awake men, who wanted a clear prospect;
while careless men, who did not know, or care, how their hats
sat, had them shaking about in all directions. The various
hats, in fact, were quite a Shakespearean study.
Divers negroes, in very free-and-easy pantaloons, and with
no redundancy in the shirt line, were scuttling about, hither
and thither, without bringing to pass any very particular
results, except expressing a generic willingness to turn over
everything in creation generally for the benefit of Mas'r and
his guests. Add to this picture a jolly, crackling, rollicking
fire, going rejoicingly up a great wide chimney, — the outer
door and every window being set wide open, and the calico
window-curtain flopping and snapping in a good stiff breeze of
damp raw air, — and you have an idea of the jollities of a
Kentucky tavern.
Your Kentuckian of the present day is a good illustration
of the doctrine of transmitted instincts and peculiarities. His
fathers were mighty hunters, — men who lived in the woods,
and slept under the free, open heavens, with the stars to
hold their candles; and their descendant to this day always
acts as if the house were his camp, — wears his hat at all
hours, tumbles himself about, and puts his heels on the tops
of chairs or mantel-pieces, just as his father rolled on the
green sward, and put his upon trees and logs, — keeps all the
air enough for his great lungs, — calls everybody “stranger,”
with nonchalant bonhommie, and is altogether the frankest,
easiest, most jovial creature living.
Into such an assembly of the free and easy our traveller
entered. He was a short, thick-set man, carefully dressed,
with a round, good-natured countenance, and something rather
fussy and particular in his appearance. He was very careful
of his valise and umbrella, bringing them in with his own
hands, and resisting, pertinaciously, all offers from the various
servants to relieve him of them. He looked round the bar-room
with rather an anxious air, and, retreating with his valuables
to the warmest corner, disposed them under his chair,
sat down, and looked rather apprehensively up at the worthy
whose heels illustrated the end of the mantel-piece, who was
spitting from right to left, with a courage and energy rather
alarming to gentlemen of weak nerves and particular habits.
“I say, stranger, how are ye?” said the aforesaid gentleman,
firing an honorary salute of tobacco-juice in the direction
of the new arrival.
“Well, I reckon,” was the reply of the other, as he dodged,
with some alarm, the threatening honor.
“Any news?” said the respondent, taking out a strip of
tobacco and a large hunting-knife from his pocket.
“Not that I know of,” said the man.
“Chaw?” said the first speaker, handing the old gentleman
a bit of his tobacco, with a decidedly brotherly air.
“No, thank ye — it don't agree with me,” said the little
man, edging off.
“Don't, oh?” said the other, easily, and stowing away the
morsel in his own mouth, in order to keep up the supply of
tobacco-juice, for the general benefit of society.
The old gentleman uniformly gave a little start whenever
his long-sided brother fired in his direction; and this being
observed by his companion, he very good-naturedly turned his
artillery to another quarter, and proceeded to storm one of
the fire-irons with a degree of military talent fully sufficient
to take a city.
“What 's that?” said the old gentleman, observing some
of the company formed in a group around a large handbill.
“Nigger advertised!” said one of the company, briefly.
Mr. Wilson, for that was the old gentleman's name, rose
up, and, after carefully adjusting his valise and umbrella, proceeded
deliberately to take out his spectacles and fix them on
his nose; and, this operation being performed, read as follows:
“Ran away from the subscriber, my mulatto boy, George. Said George
six feet in height, a very light mulatto, brown curly hair; is very intelligent,
speaks handsomely, can read and write; will probably try to pass
for a white man; is deeply scarred on his back and shoulders; has been
branded in his right hand with the letter H.
“I will give four hundred dollars for him alive, and the same sum for
satisfactory proof that he has been killed.”
The old gentleman read this advertisement from end to end,
in a low voice, as if he were studying it.
The long-legged veteran, who had been besieging the fire-iron,
as before related, now took down his cumbrous length,
and rearing aloft his tall form, walked up to the advertisement,
and very deliberately spit a full discharge of tobacco-juice
on it.
“There 's my mind upon that!” said he, briefly, and sat
down again.
“Why, now, stranger, what 's that for?” said mine host.
“I 'd do it all the same to the writer of that ar paper, if
he was here,” said the long man, coolly resuming his old
like that, and can't find any better way o' treating on him,
deserves to lose him. Such papers as these is a shame to
Kentucky; that 's my mind right out, if anybody wants to
know!”
“Well, now, that's a fact,” said mine host, as he made an
entry in his book.
“I 've got a gang of boys, sir,” said the long man, resuming
his attack on the fire-irons, “and I jest tells 'em — `Boys,'
says I, — `run now! dig! put! jest when ye want to! I never
shall come to look after you!' That 's the way I keep mine.
Let 'em know they are free to run any time, and it jest breaks
up their wanting to. More 'n all, I 've got free papers for
'em all recorded, in case I gets keeled up any o' these times,
and they knows it; and I tell ye, stranger, there an't a fellow
in our parts gets more out of his niggers than I do.
Why, my boys have been to Cincinnati, with five hundred
dollars' worth of colts, and brought me back the money, all
straight, time and agin. It stands to reason they should.
Treat 'em like dogs, and you 'll have dogs' works and dogs'
actions. Treat 'em like men, and you 'll have men's works.”
And the honest drover, in his warmth, endorsed this moral
sentiment by firing a perfect feu de joie at the fireplace.
“I think you 're altogether right, friend,” said Mr. Wilson;
“and this boy described here is a fine fellow — no mistake
about that. He worked for me some half-dozen years
in my bagging factory, and he was my best hand, sir. He
is an ingenious fellow, too: he invented a machine for the
cleaning of hemp — a really valuable affair; it 's gone into
use in several factories. His master holds the patent of it.”
“I 'll warrant ye,” said the drover, “holds it and makes
money out of it, and then turns round and brands the boy in
reckon, so that he 'd carry it one while.”
“These yer knowin' boys is allers aggravatin' and sarcy,”
said a coarse-looking fellow, from the other side of the room;
“that 's why they gets cut up and marked so. If they behaved
themselves, they would n't.”
“That is to say, the Lord made 'em men, and it 's a hard
squeeze getting 'em down into beasts,” said the drover, dryly.
“Bright niggers is n't no kind of 'vantage to their masters,”
continued the other, well intrenched, in a coarse, unconscious
obtuseness, from the contempt of his opponent; “what 's
the use o' talents and them things, if you can't get the use
on 'em yourself? Why, all the use they make on 't is to get
round you. I 've had one or two of these fellers, and I jest
sold 'em down river. I knew I 'd got to lose 'em, first or
last, if I did n't.”
“Better send orders up to the Lord, to make you a set, and
leave out their souls entirely,” said the drover.
Here the conversation was interrupted by the approach of
a small one-horse buggy to the inn. It had a genteel appearance,
and a well-dressed, gentlemanly man sat on the seat,
with a colored servant driving.
The whole party examined the new comer with the interest
with which a set of loafers in a rainy day usually examine
every new comer. He was very tall, with a dark, Spanish
complexion, fine, expressive black eyes, and close-curling
hair, also of a glossy blackness. His well-formed aquiline
nose, straight thin lips, and the admirable contour of his finely-formed
limbs, impressed the whole company instantly with the
idea of something uncommon. He walked easily in among
the company, and with a nod indicated to his waiter where to
place his trunk, bowed to the company, and, with his hat in
as Henry Butler, Oaklands, Shelby County. Turning, with
an indifferent air, he sauntered up to the advertisement, and
read it over.
“Jim,” he said to his man, “seems to me we met a boy
something like this, up at Bernan's, did n't we?”
“Yes, Mas'r,” said Jim, “only I an't sure about the
hand.”
“Well, I did n't look, of course,” said the stranger, with a
careless yawn. Then, walking up to the landlord, he desired
him to furnish him with a private apartment, as he had some
writing to do immediately.
The landlord was all obsequious, and a relay of about seven
negroes, old and young, male and female, little and big, were
soon whizzing about, like a covey of partridges, bustling, hurrying,
treading on each other's toes, and tumbling over each
other, in their zeal to get Mas'r's room ready, while he seated
himself easily on a chair in the middle of the room, and
entered into conversation with the man who sat next to him.
The manufacturer, Mr. Wilson, from the time of the entrance
of the stranger, had regarded him with an air of disturbed and
uneasy curiosity. He seemed to himself to have met and
been acquainted with him somewhere, but he could not recollect.
Every few moments, when the man spoke, or moved, or
smiled, he would start and fix his eyes on him, and then suddenly
withdraw them, as the bright, dark eyes met his with
such unconcerned coolness. At last, a sudden recollection
seemed to flash upon him, for he stared at the stranger with
such an air of blank amazement and alarm, that he walked up
to him.
“Mr. Wilson, I think,” said he, in a tone of recognition,
and extending his hand. “I beg your pardon, I did n't recollect
Oaklands, Shelby County.”
“Ye — yes — yes, sir,” said Mr. Wilson, like one speaking
in a dream.
Just then a negro boy entered, and announced that Mas'r's
room was ready.
“Jim, see to the trunks,” said the gentleman, negligently;
then addressing himself to Mr. Wilson, he added — “I should
like to have a few moments' conversation with you on business,
in my room, if you please.”
Mr. Wilson followed him, as one who walks in his sleep;
and they proceeded to a large upper chamber, where a new-made
fire was crackling, and various servants flying about,
putting finishing touches to the arrangements.
When all was done, and the servants departed, the young
man deliberately locked the door, and putting the key in his
pocket, faced about, and folding his arms on his bosom, looked
Mr. Wilson full in the face.
“George!” said Mr. Wilson.
“Yes, George,” said the young man.
“I could n't have thought it!”
“I am pretty well disguised, I fancy,” said the young man,
with a smile. “A little walnut bark has made my yellow
skin a genteel brown, and I 've dyed my hair black; so you
see I don't answer to the advertisement at all.”
“O, George! but this is a dangerous game you are playing.
I could not have advised you to it.”
“I can do it on my own responsibility,” said George, with
the same proud smile.
We remark, en passant, that George was, by his father's
side, of white descent. His mother was one of those unfortunates
of her race, marked out by personal beauty to be the
who may never know a father. From one of the proudest
families in Kentucky he had inherited a set of fine European
features, and a high, indomitable spirit. From his
mother he had received only a slight mulatto tinge, amply
compensated by its accompanying rich, dark eye. A slight
change in the tint of the skin and the color of his hair had
metamorphosed him into the Spanish-looking fellow he then
appeared; and as gracefulness of movement and gentlemanly
manners had always been perfectly natural to him, he found
no difficulty in playing the bold part he had adopted — that
of a gentleman travelling with his domestic.
Mr. Wilson, a good-natured but extremely fidgety and
cautious old gentleman, ambled up and down the room,
appearing, as John Bunyan hath it, “much tumbled up and
down in his mind,” and divided between his wish to help
George, and a certain confused notion of maintaining law and
order: so, as he shambled about, he delivered himself as
follows:
“Well, George, I s'pose you 're running away — leaving
your lawful master, George — (I don't wonder at it) — at the
same time, I 'm sorry, George, — yes, decidedly — I think I
must say that, George — it 's my duty to tell you so.”
“Why are you sorry, sir?” said George, calmly.
“Why, to see you, as it were, setting yourself in opposition
to the laws of your country.”
“My country!” said George, with a strong and bitter
emphasis; “what country have I, but the grave, — and I
wish to God that I was laid there!”
“Why, George, no — no — it won't do; this way of
talking is wicked — unscriptural. George, you 've got a hard
master — in fact, he is — well he conducts himself reprehensibly
the angel commanded Hagar to return to her mistress, and
submit herself under her hand; and the apostle sent back
Onesimus to his master.”
“Don't quote Bible at me that way, Mr. Wilson,” said
George, with a flashing eye, “don't! for my wife is a Christian,
and I mean to be, if ever I get to where I can; but to
quote Bible to a fellow in my circumstances, is enough to
make him give it up altogether. I appeal to God Almighty;
— I 'm willing to go with the case to Him, and ask Him if I
do wrong to seek my freedom.”
“These feelings are quite natural, George,” said the good-natured
man, blowing his nose. “Yes they 're natural, but
it is my duty not to encourage 'em in you. Yes, my boy,
I 'm sorry for you, now; it 's a bad case — very bad; but the
apostle says, `Let every one abide in the condition in which
he is called.' We must all submit to the indications of Providence,
George, — don't you see?”
George stood with his head drawn back, his arms folded
tightly over his broad breast, and a bitter smile curling his
lips.
“I wonder, Mr. Wilson, if the Indians should come and
take you a prisoner away from your wife and children, and
want to keep you all your life hoeing corn for them, if you 'd
think it your duty to abide in the condition in which you were
called. I rather think that you 'd think the first stray horse
you could find an indication of Providence — should n't you?”
The little old gentleman stared with both eyes at this illustration
of the case; but, though not much of a reasoner, he
had the sense in which some logicians on this particular subject
do not excel, — that of saying nothing, where nothing
could be said. So, as he stood carefully stroking his umbrella,
on with his exhortations in a general way.
“You see, George, you know, now, I always have stood
your friend; and whatever I 've said, I 've said for your good.
Now, here, it seems to me, you 're running an awful risk.
You can 't hope to carry it out. If you 're taken, it will be
worse with you than ever; they 'll only abuse you, and half
kill you, and sell you down river.”
“Mr. Wilson, I know all this,” said George. “I do run
a risk, but —” he threw open his overcoat, and showed two
pistols and a bowie-knife. “There!” he said, “I 'm ready
for 'em! Down south I never will go. No! if it comes to
that, I can earn myself at least six feet of free soil, — the first
and last I shall ever own in Kentucky!”
“Why, George, this state of mind is awful; it 's getting
really desperate, George. I 'm concerned. Going to break
the laws of your country!”
“My country again! Mr. Wilson, you have a country;
but what country have I, or any one like me, born of slave
mothers? What laws are there for us? We don't make
them, — we don't consent to them, — we have nothing to do
with them; all they do for us is to crush us, and keep us
down. Have n't I heard your Fourth-of-July speeches?
Don't you tell us all, once a year, that governments derive
their just power from the consent of the governed? Can't a
fellow think, that hears such things? Can't he put this and
that together, and see what it comes to?”
Mr. Wilson's mind was one of those that may not unaptly
be represented by a bale of cotton, — downy, soft, benevolently
fuzzy and confused. He really pitied George with all his
heart, and had a sort of dim and cloudy perception of the
to go on talking good to him, with infinite pertinacity.
“George, this is bad. I must tell you, you know, as a
friend, you 'd better not be meddling with such notions; they
are bad, George, very bad, for boys in your condition, — very;”
and Mr. Wilson sat down to a table, and began nervously
chewing the handle of his umbrella.
“See here, now, Mr. Wilson,” said George, coming up and
sitting himself determinately down in front of him; “look at
me, now. Don't I sit before you, every way, just as much a
man as you are? Look at my face, — look at my hands, —
look at my body,” and the young man drew himself up proudly;
“why am I not a man, as much as anybody? Well, Mr.
Wilson, hear what I can tell you. I had a father — one of
your Kentucky gentlemen — who did n't think enough of me
to keep me from being sold with his dogs and horses, to satisfy
the estate, when he died. I saw my mother put up at sheriff's
sale, with her seven children. They were sold before her
eyes, one by one, all to different masters; and I was the
youngest. She came and kneeled down before old Mas'r, and
begged him to buy her with me, that she might have at least
one child with her; and he kicked her away with his heavy
boot. I saw him do it; and the last that I heard was her
moans and screams, when I was tied to his horse's neck, to be
carried off to his place.”
“Well, then?”
“My master traded with one of the men, and bought my
oldest sister. She was a pious, good girl, — a member of the
Baptist church, — and as handsome as my poor mother had
been. She was well brought up, and had good manners. At
first, I was glad she was bought, for I had one friend near me.
I was soon sorry for it. Sir, I have stood at the door and
my naked heart, and I could n't do anything to help her; and
she was whipped, sir, for wanting to live a decent Christian
life, such as your laws give no slave girl a right to live; and
at last I saw her chained with a trader's gang, to be sent to
market in Orleans, — sent there for nothing else but that, —
and that 's the last I know of her. Well, I grew up, — long
years and years, — no father, no mother, no sister, not a living
soul that cared for me more than a dog; nothing but
whipping, scolding, starving. Why, sir, I 've been so hungry
that I have been glad to take the bones they threw to their
dogs; and yet, when I was a little fellow, and laid awake whole
nights and cried, it was n't the hunger, it was n't the whipping,
I cried for. No, sir; it was for my mother and my sisters,
— it was because I had n't a friend to love me on earth.
I never knew what peace or comfort was. I never had a
kind word spoken to me till I came to work in your factory.
Mr. Wilson, you treated me well; you encouraged me to do
well, and to learn to read and write, and to try to make something
of myself; and God knows how grateful I am for
it. Then, sir, I found my wife; you 've seen her, — you know
how beautiful she is. When I found she loved me, when I
married her, I scarcely could believe I was alive, I was so
happy; and, sir, she is as good as she is beautiful. But now
what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away
from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me
down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I
forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a
nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and
my wife, and says I shall give her up, and live with another
woman. And all this your laws give him power to do, in
spite of God or man. Mr. Wilson, look at it! There is n't
mother and my sister, and my wife and myself, but your laws
allow, and give every man power to do, in Kentucky, and none
can say to him nay! Do you call these the laws of my
country? Sir, I have n't any country, any more than I have
any father. But I 'm going to have one. I don't want anything
of your country, except to be let alone, — to go peacably
out of it; and when I get to Canada, where the laws will
own me and protect me, that shall be my country, and its
laws I will obey. But if any man tries to stop me, let him
take care, for I am desperate. I 'll fight for my liberty to
the last breath I breathe. You say your fathers did it; if it
was right for them, it is right for me!”
This speech, delivered partly while sitting at the table, and
partly walking up and down the room, — delivered with tears,
and flashing eyes, and despairing gestures, — was altogether too
much for the good-natured old body to whom it was addressed,
who had pulled out a great yellow silk pocket-handkerchief,
and was mopping up his face with great energy.
“Blast 'em all!” he suddenly broke out. “Have n't I
always said so — the infernal old cusses! I hope I an't swearing,
now. Well! go ahead, George, go ahead; but be careful,
my boy; don't shoot anybody, George, unless — well —
you 'd better not shoot, I reckon; at least, I would n't hit
anybody, you know. Where is your wife, George?” he
added, as he nervously rose, and began walking the room.
“Gone, sir, gone, with her child in her arms, the Lord only
knows where; — gone after the north star; and when we ever
meet, or whether we meet at all in this world, no creature
can tell.”
“Is it possible! astonishing! from such a kind family?”
“Kind families get in debt, and the laws of our country
its master's debts,” said George, bitterly.
“Well, well,” said the honest old man, fumbling in his
pocket. “I s'pose, perhaps, I an't following my judgment, —
hang it, I won't follow my judgment!” he added, suddenly;
“so here, George,” and, taking out a roll of bills from his
pocket-book, he offered them to George.
“No, my kind, good sir!” said George, “you 've done a
great deal for me, and this might get you into trouble. I
have money enough, I hope, to take me as far as I need it.”
“No; but you must, George. Money is a great help everywhere;
— can't have too much, if you get it honestly. Take
it, — do take it, now, — do, my boy!”
“On condition, sir, that I may repay it at some future
time, I will,” said George, taking up the money.
“And now, George, how long are you going to travel in
this way? — not long or far, I hope. It 's well carried on,
but too bold. And this black fellow, — who is he?”
“A true fellow, who went to Canada more than a year ago.
He heard, after he got there, that his master was so angry at
him for going off that he had whipped his poor old mother;
and he has come all the way back to comfort her, and get a
chance to get her away.”
“Has he got her?”
“Not yet; he has been hanging about the place, and found
no chance yet. Meanwhile, he is going with me as far as
Ohio, to put me among friends that helped him, and then he
will come back after her.”
“Dangerous, very dangerous!” said the old man.
George drew himself up, and smiled disdainfully.
The old gentleman eyed him from head to foot, with a sort
of innocent wonder.
“George, something has brought you out wonderfully. You
hold up your head, and speak and move like another man,”
said Mr. Wilson.
“Because I 'm a freeman!” said George, proudly.
“Yes, sir; I 've said Mas'r for the last time to any man.
I 'm free!”
“Take care! You are not sure, — you may be taken.”
“All men are free and equal in the grave, if it comes to
that, Mr. Wilson,” said George.
“I 'm perfectly dumb-foundered with your boldness!” said
Mr. Wilson, — “to come right here to the nearest tavern!”
“Mr. Wilson, it is so bold, and this tavern is so near, that
they will never think of it; they will look for me on ahead,
and you yourself would n't know me. Jim's master don't
live in this county; he is n't known in these parts. Besides,
he is given up; nobody is looking after him, and nobody will
take me up from the advertisement, I think.”
“But the mark in your hand?”
George drew off his glove, and showed a newly-healed scar
in his hand.
“That is a parting proof of Mr. Harris' regard,” he said,
scornfully. “A fortnight ago, he took it into his head to give
it to me, because he said he believed I should try to get away
one of these days. Looks interesting, does n't it?” he said,
drawing his glove on again.
“I declare, my very blood runs cold when I think of it, —
your condition and your risks!” said Mr. Wilson.
“Mine has run cold a good many years, Mr. Wilson; at
present, it 's about up to the boiling point,” said George.
“Well, my good sir,” continued George, after a few moments'
silence, “I saw you knew me; I thought I 'd just
have this talk with you, lest your surprised looks should bring
by to-morrow night I hope to sleep safe in Ohio. I shall
travel by daylight, stop at the best hotels, go to the dinner-tables
with the lords of the land. So, good-by, sir; if you
hear that I 'm taken, you may know that I 'm dead!”
George stood up like a rock, and put out his hand with the
air of a prince. The friendly little old man shook it heartily,
and after a little shower of caution, he took his umbrella, and
fumbled his way out of the room.
George stood thoughtfully looking at the door, as the old
man closed it. A thought seemed to flash across his mind.
He hastily stepped to it, and opening it, said,
“Mr. Wilson, one word more.”
The old gentleman entered again, and George, as before,
locked the door, and then stood for a few moments looking on
the floor, irresolutely. At last, raising his head with a sudden
effort —
“Mr. Wilson, you have shown yourself a Christian in your
treatment of me, — I want to ask one last deed of Christian
kindness of you.”
“Well, George.”
“Well, sir, — what you said was true. I am running a
dreadful risk. There is n't, on earth, a living soul to care if
I die,” he added, drawing his breath hard, and speaking with
a great effort, — “I shall be kicked out and buried like a dog,
and nobody 'll think of it a day after, — only my poor wife!
Poor soul! she 'll mourn and grieve; and if you 'd only contrive,
Mr. Wilson, to send this little pin to her. She gave it
to me for a Christmas present, poor child! Give it to her,
and tell her I loved her to the last. Will you? Will you?”
he added, earnestly.
“Yes, certainly — poor fellow!” said the old gentleman,
his voice.
“Tell her one thing,” said George; “it 's my last wish,
if she can get to Canada, to go there. No matter how kind
her mistress is, — no matter how much she loves her home;
beg her not to go back, — for slavery always ends in misery.
Tell her to bring up our boy a free man, and then he won't
suffer as I have. Tell her this, Mr. Wilson, will you?”
“Yes, George, I 'll tell her; but I trust you won't die;
take heart, — you 're a brave fellow. Trust in the Lord,
George. I wish in my heart you were safe through, though,
— that 's what I do.”
“Is there a God to trust in?” said George, in such a tone
of bitter despair as arrested the old gentleman's words. “O,
I 've seen things all my life that have made me feel that there
can't be a God. You Christians don't know how these things
look to us. There 's a God for you, but is there any for us?”
“O, now, don't — don 't, my boy!” said the old man,
almost sobbing as he spoke; “don't feel so! There is — there
is; clouds and darkness are around about him, but righteousness
and judgment are the habitation of his throne. There 's
a God, George, — believe it; trust in Him, and I 'm sure
He 'll help you. Everything will be set right, — if not in this
life, in another.”
The real piety and benevolence of the simple old man
invested him with a temporary dignity and authority, as he
spoke. George stopped his distracted walk up and down the
room, stood thoughtfully a moment, and then said, quietly,
“Thank you for saying that, my good friend; I 'll think
of that.”
| CHAPTER XI.
IN WHICH PROPERTY GETS INTO AN IMPROPER STATE OF MIND. Uncle Tom's cabin, or, Life among the lowly | |