The light of the cheerful fire shone on the rug and carpet of a cosey parlor1, and glittered on the sides of the tea-cups and well-brightened tea-pot, as Senator Bird was drawing off his boots, preparatory to inserting his feet in a pair of new handsome slippers2, which his wife had been working for him while away on his senatorial tour. Mrs. Bird, looking the very picture of delight, was superintending the arrangements of the table, ever and anon mingling3 admonitory remarks to a number of frolicsome4 juveniles5, who were effervescing6 in all those modes of untold7 gambol8 and mischief9 that have astonished mothers ever since the flood.
"Tom, let the door-knob alone,--there's a man! Mary! Mary! don't pull the cat's tail,--poor pussy10! Jim, you mustn't climb on that table,--no, no!--You don't know, my dear, what a surprise it is to us all, to see you here tonight!" said she, at last, when she found a space to say something to her husband.
"Yes, yes, I thought I'd just make a run down, spend the night, and have a little comfort at home. I'm tired to death, and my head aches!"
Mrs. Bird cast a glance at a camphor-bottle, which stood in the half-open closet, and appeared to meditate11 an approach to it, but her husband interposed.
"No, no, Mary, no doctoring! a cup of your good hot tea, and some of our good home living, is what I want. It's a tiresome12 business, this legislating13!"
And the senator smiled, as if he rather liked the idea of considering himself a sacrifice to his country.
"Well," said his wife, after the business of the tea-table was getting rather slack, "and what have they been doing in the Senate?"
Now, it was a very unusual thing for gentle little Mrs. Bird ever to trouble her head with what was going on in the house of the state, very wisely considering that she had enough to do to mind her own. Mr. Bird, therefore, opened his eyes in surprise, and said,
"Not very much of importance."
"Well; but is it true that they have been passing a law forbidding people to give meat and drink to those poor colored folks that come along? I heard they were talking of some such law, but I didn't think any Christian14 legislature would pass it!"
"Why, Mary, you are getting to be a politician, all at once."
"No, nonsense! I wouldn't give a fip for all your politics, generally, but I think this is something downright cruel and unchristian. I hope, my dear, no such law has been passed."
"There has been a law passed forbidding people to help off the slaves that come over from Kentucky, my dear; so much of that thing has been done by these reckless Abolitionists, that our brethren in Kentucky are very strongly excited, and it seems necessary, and no more than Christian and kind, that something should be done by our state to quiet the excitement."
"And what is the law? It don't forbid us to shelter those poor creatures a night, does it, and to give 'em something comfortable to eat, and a few old clothes, and send them quietly about their business?"
"Why, yes, my dear; that would be aiding and abetting15, you know."
Mrs. Bird was a timid, blushing little woman, of about four feet in height, and with mild blue eyes, and a peach-blow complexion16, and the gentlest, sweetest voice in the world;--as for courage, a moderate-sized cock-turkey had been known to put her to rout17 at the very first gobble, and a stout18 house-dog, of moderate capacity, would bring her into subjection merely by a show of his teeth. Her husband and children were her entire world, and in these she ruled more by entreaty19 and persuasion20 than by command or argument. There was only one thing that was capable of arousing her, and that provocation21 came in on the side of her unusually gentle and sympathetic nature;--anything in the shape of cruelty would throw her into a passion, which was the more alarming and inexplicable22 in proportion to the general softness of her nature. Generally the most indulgent and easy to be entreated23 of all mothers, still her boys had a very reverent24 remembrance of a most vehement25 chastisement26 she once bestowed27 on them, because she found them leagued with several graceless boys of the neighborhood, stoning a defenceless kitten.
"I'll tell you what," Master Bill used to say, "I was scared that time. Mother came at me so that I thought she was crazy, and I was whipped and tumbled off to bed, without any supper, before I could get over wondering what had come about; and, after that, I heard mother crying outside the door, which made me feel worse than all the rest. I'll tell you what," he'd say, "we boys never stoned another kitten!"
On the present occasion, Mrs. Bird rose quickly, with very red cheeks, which quite improved her general appearance, and walked up to her husband, with quite a resolute28 air, and said, in a determined29 tone,
"Now, John, I want to know if you think such a law as that is right and Christian?"
"You won't shoot me, now, Mary, if I say I do!"
"I never could have thought it of you, John; you didn't vote for it?"
"Even so, my fair politician."
"You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It's a shameful30, wicked, abominable31 law, and I'll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I _shall_ have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman can't give a warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things!"
"But, Mary, just listen to me. Your feelings are all quite right, dear, and interesting, and I love you for them; but, then, dear, we mustn't suffer our feelings to run away with our judgment32; you must consider it's a matter of private feeling,--there are great public interests involved,--there is such a state of public agitation33 rising, that we must put aside our private feelings."
"Now, John, I don't know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate34; and that Bible I mean to follow."
"But in cases where your doing so would involve a great public evil--"
"Obeying God never brings on public evils. I know it can't. It's always safest, all round, to _do as He_ bids us.
"Now, listen to me, Mary, and I can state to you a very clear argument, to show--"
"O, nonsense, John! you can talk all night, but you wouldn't do it. I put it to you, John,--would _you_ now turn away a poor, shivering, hungry creature from your door, because he was a runaway35? _Would_ you, now?"
Now, if the truth must be told, our senator had the misfortune to be a man who had a particularly humane36 and accessible nature, and turning away anybody that was in trouble never had been his forte37; and what was worse for him in this particular pinch of the argument was, that his wife knew it, and, of course was making an assault on rather an indefensible point. So he had recourse to the usual means of gaining time for such cases made and provided; he said "ahem," and coughed several times, took out his pocket-handkerchief, and began to wipe his glasses. Mrs. Bird, seeing the defenceless condition of the enemy's territory, had no more conscience than to push her advantage.
"I should like to see you doing that, John--I really should! Turning a woman out of doors in a snowstorm, for instance; or may be you'd take her up and put her in jail, wouldn't you? You would make a great hand at that!"
"Of course, it would be a very painful duty," began Mr. Bird, in a moderate tone.
"Duty, John! don't use that word! You know it isn't a duty--it can't be a duty! If folks want to keep their slaves from running away, let 'em treat 'em well,--that's my doctrine38. If I had slaves (as I hope I never shall have), I'd risk their wanting to run away from me, or you either, John. I tell you folks don't run away when they are happy; and when they do run, poor creatures! they suffer enough with cold and hunger and fear, without everybody's turning against them; and, law or no law, I never will, so help me God!"
"Mary! Mary! My dear, let me reason with you."
"I hate reasoning, John,--especially reasoning on such subjects. There's a way you political folks have of coming round and round a plain right thing; and you don't believe in it yourselves, when it comes to practice. I know _you_ well enough, John. You don't believe it's right any more than I do; and you wouldn't do it any sooner than I."
At this critical juncture39, old Cudjoe, the black man-of-all-work, put his head in at the door, and wished "Missis would come into the kitchen;" and our senator, tolerably relieved, looked after his little wife with a whimsical mixture of amusement and vexation, and, seating himself in the arm-chair, began to read the papers.
After a moment, his wife's voice was heard at the door, in a quick, earnest tone,--"John! John! I do wish you'd come here, a moment."
He laid down his paper, and went into the kitchen, and started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:--A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen, with one shoe gone, and the stocking torn away from the cut and bleeding foot, was laid back in a deadly swoon upon two chairs. There was the impress of the despised race on her face, yet none could help feeling its mournful and pathetic beauty, while its stony40 sharpness, its cold, fixed41, deathly aspect, struck a solemn chill over him. He drew his breath short, and stood in silence. His wife, and their only colored domestic, old Aunt Dinah, were busily engaged in restorative measures; while old Cudjoe had got the boy on his knee, and was busy pulling off his shoes and stockings, and chafing42 his little cold feet.
"Sure, now, if she an't a sight to behold43!" said old Dinah, compassionately44; "'pears like 't was the heat that made her faint. She was tol'able peart when she cum in, and asked if she couldn't warm herself here a spell; and I was just a-askin' her where she cum from, and she fainted right down. Never done much hard work, guess, by the looks of her hands."
"Poor creature!" said Mrs. Bird, compassionately, as the woman slowly unclosed her large, dark eyes, and looked vacantly at her. Suddenly an expression of agony crossed her face, and she sprang up, saying, "O, my Harry47! Have they got him?"
The boy, at this, jumped from Cudjoe's knee, and running to her side put up his arms. "O, he's here! he's here!" she exclaimed.
"O, ma'am!" said she, wildly, to Mrs. Bird, "do protect us! don't let them get him!"
"Nobody shall hurt you here, poor woman," said Mrs. Bird, encouragingly. "You are safe; don't be afraid."
"God bless you!" said the woman, covering her face and sobbing48; while the little boy, seeing her crying, tried to get into her lap.
With many gentle and womanly offices, which none knew better how to render than Mrs. Bird, the poor woman was, in time, rendered more calm. A temporary bed was provided for her on the settle, near the fire; and, after a short time, she fell into a heavy slumber50, with the child, who seemed no less weary, soundly sleeping on her arm; for the mother resisted, with nervous anxiety, the kindest attempts to take him from her; and, even in sleep, her arm encircled him with an unrelaxing clasp, as if she could not even then be beguiled51 of her vigilant52 hold.
Mr. and Mrs. Bird had gone back to the parlor, where, strange as it may appear, no reference was made, on either side, to the preceding conversation; but Mrs. Bird busied herself with her knitting-work, and Mr. Bird pretended to be reading the paper.
"I wonder who and what she is!" said Mr. Bird, at last, as he laid it down.
"When she wakes up and feels a little rested, we will see," said Mrs. Bird.
"I say, wife!" said Mr. Bird after musing53 in silence over his newspaper.
"Well, dear!"
"She couldn't wear one of your gowns, could she, by any letting down, or such matter? She seems to be rather larger than you are."
A quite perceptible smile glimmered54 on Mrs. Bird's face, as she answered, "We'll see."
Another pause, and Mr. Bird again broke out,
"I say, wife!"
"Well! What now?"
"Why, there's that old bombazin cloak, that you keep on purpose to put over me when I take my afternoon's nap; you might as well give her that,--she needs clothes."
At this instant, Dinah looked in to say that the woman was awake, and wanted to see Missis.
Mr. and Mrs. Bird went into the kitchen, followed by the two eldest55 boys, the smaller fry having, by this time, been safely disposed of in bed.
The woman was now sitting up on the settle, by the fire. She was looking steadily56 into the blaze, with a calm, heart-broken expression, very different from her former agitated57 wildness.
"Did you want me?" said Mrs. Bird, in gentle tones. "I hope you feel better now, poor woman!"
A long-drawn, shivering sigh was the only answer; but she lifted her dark eyes, and fixed them on her with such a forlorn and imploring58 expression, that the tears came into the little woman's eyes.
"You needn't be afraid of anything; we are friends here, poor woman! Tell me where you came from, and what you want," said she.
"I came from Kentucky," said the woman.
"When?" said Mr. Bird, taking up the interogatory.
"Tonight."
"How did you come?"
"I crossed on the ice."
"Crossed on the ice!" said every one present.
"Yes," said the woman, slowly, "I did. God helping59 me, I crossed on the ice; for they were behind me--right behind--and there was no other way!"
"Law, Missis," said Cudjoe, "the ice is all in broken-up blocks, a swinging and a tetering up and down in the water!"
"I know it was--I know it!" said she, wildly; "but I did it! I wouldn't have thought I could,--I didn't think I should get over, but I didn't care! I could but die, if I didn't. The Lord helped me; nobody knows how much the Lord can help 'em, till they try," said the woman, with a flashing eye.
"Were you a slave?" said Mr. Bird.
"Yes, sir; I belonged to a man in Kentucky."
"Was he unkind to you?"
"No, sir; he was a good master."
"And was your mistress unkind to you?"
"No, sir--no! my mistress was always good to me."
"What could induce you to leave a good home, then, and run away, and go through such dangers?"
The woman looked up at Mrs. Bird, with a keen, scrutinizing61 glance, and it did not escape her that she was dressed in deep mourning.
"Ma'am," she said, suddenly, "have you ever lost a child?"
The question was unexpected, and it was thrust on a new wound; for it was only a month since a darling child of the family had been laid in the grave.
Mr. Bird turned around and walked to the window, and Mrs. Bird burst into tears; but, recovering her voice, she said,
"Why do you ask that? I have lost a little one."
"Then you will feel for me. I have lost two, one after another,--left 'em buried there when I came away; and I had only this one left. I never slept a night without him; he was all I had. He was my comfort and pride, day and night; and, ma'am, they were going to take him away from me,--to _sell_ him,--sell him down south, ma'am, to go all alone,--a baby that had never been away from his mother in his life! I couldn't stand it, ma'am. I knew I never should be good for anything, if they did; and when I knew the papers the papers were signed, and he was sold, I took him and came off in the night; and they chased me,--the man that bought him, and some of Mas'r's folks,--and they were coming down right behind me, and I heard 'em. I jumped right on to the ice; and how I got across, I don't know,--but, first I knew, a man was helping me up the bank."
The woman did not sob49 nor weep. She had gone to a place where tears are dry; but every one around her was, in some way characteristic of themselves, showing signs of hearty62 sympathy.
The two little boys, after a desperate rummaging63 in their pockets, in search of those pocket-handkerchiefs which mothers know are never to be found there, had thrown themselves disconsolately64 into the skirts of their mother's gown, where they were sobbing, and wiping their eyes and noses, to their hearts' content;--Mrs. Bird had her face fairly hidden in her pocket-handkerchief; and old Dinah, with tears streaming down her black, honest face, was ejaculating, "Lord have mercy on us!" with all the fervor65 of a camp-meeting;--while old Cudjoe, rubbing his eyes very hard with his cuffs66, and making a most uncommon67 variety of wry68 faces, occasionally responded in the same key, with great fervor. Our senator was a statesman, and of course could not be expected to cry, like other mortals; and so he turned his back to the company, and looked out of the window, and seemed particularly busy in clearing his throat and wiping his spectacle-glasses, occasionally blowing his nose in a manner that was calculated to excite suspicion, had any one been in a state to observe critically.
"How came you to tell me you had a kind master?" he suddenly exclaimed, gulping69 down very resolutely70 some kind of rising in his throat, and turning suddenly round upon the woman.
"Because he _was_ a kind master; I'll say that of him, any way;--and my mistress was kind; but they couldn't help themselves. They were owing money; and there was some way, I can't tell how, that a man had a hold on them, and they were obliged to give him his will. I listened, and heard him telling mistress that, and she begging and pleading for me,--and he told her he couldn't help himself, and that the papers were all drawn;--and then it was I took him and left my home, and came away. I knew 't was no use of my trying to live, if they did it; for 't 'pears like this child is all I have."
"Have you no husband?"
"Yes, but he belongs to another man. His master is real hard to him, and won't let him come to see me, hardly ever; and he's grown harder and harder upon us, and he threatens to sell him down south;--it's like I'll never see _him_ again!"
The quiet tone in which the woman pronounced these words might have led a superficial observer to think that she was entirely71 apathetic72; but there was a calm, settled depth of anguish73 in her large, dark eye, that spoke74 of something far otherwise.
"And where do you mean to go, my poor woman?" said Mrs. Bird.
"To Canada, if I only knew where that was. Is it very far off, is Canada?" said she, looking up, with a simple, confiding75 air, to Mrs. Bird's face.
"Poor thing!" said Mrs. Bird, involuntarily.
"Is 't a very great way off, think?" said the woman, earnestly.
"Much further than you think, poor child!" said Mrs. Bird; "but we will try to think what can be done for you. Here, Dinah, make her up a bed in your own room, close by the kitchen, and I'll think what to do for her in the morning. Meanwhile, never fear, poor woman; put your trust in God; he will protect you."
Mrs. Bird and her husband reentered the parlor. She sat down in her little rocking-chair before the fire, swaying thoughtfully to and fro. Mr. Bird strode up and down the room, grumbling77 to himself, "Pish! pshaw! confounded awkward business!" At length, striding up to his wife, he said,
"I say, wife, she'll have to get away from here, this very night. That fellow will be down on the scent78 bright and early tomorrow morning: if 't was only the woman, she could lie quiet till it was over; but that little chap can't be kept still by a troop of horse and foot, I'll warrant me; he'll bring it all out, popping his head out of some window or door. A pretty kettle of fish it would be for me, too, to be caught with them both here, just now! No; they'll have to be got off tonight."
"Tonight! How is it possible?--where to?"
"Well, I know pretty well where to," said the senator, beginning to put on his boots, with a reflective air; and, stopping when his leg was half in, he embraced his knee with both hands, and seemed to go off in deep meditation80.
"It's a confounded awkward, ugly business," said he, at last, beginning to tug81 at his boot-straps again, "and that's a fact!" After one boot was fairly on, the senator sat with the other in his hand, profoundly studying the figure of the carpet. "It will have to be done, though, for aught I see,--hang it all!" and he drew the other boot anxiously on, and looked out of the window.
Now, little Mrs. Bird was a discreet82 woman,--a woman who never in her life said, "I told you so!" and, on the present occasion, though pretty well aware of the shape her husband's meditations83 were taking, she very prudently84 forbore to meddle85 with them, only sat very quietly in her chair, and looked quite ready to hear her liege lord's intentions, when he should think proper to utter them.
"You see," he said, "there's my old client, Van Trompe, has come over from Kentucky, and set all his slaves free; and he has bought a place seven miles up the creek86, here, back in the woods, where nobody goes, unless they go on purpose; and it's a place that isn't found in a hurry. There she'd be safe enough; but the plague of the thing is, nobody could drive a carriage there tonight, but _me_."
"Why not? Cudjoe is an excellent driver."
"Ay, ay, but here it is. The creek has to be crossed twice; and the second crossing is quite dangerous, unless one knows it as I do. I have crossed it a hundred times on horseback, and know exactly the turns to take. And so, you see, there's no help for it. Cudjoe must put in the horses, as quietly as may be, about twelve o'clock, and I'll take her over; and then, to give color to the matter, he must carry me on to the next tavern87 to take the stage for Columbus, that comes by about three or four, and so it will look as if I had had the carriage only for that. I shall get into business bright and early in the morning. But I'm thinking I shall feel rather cheap there, after all that's been said and done; but, hang it, I can't help it!"
"Your heart is better than your head, in this case, John," said the wife, laying her little white hand on his. "Could I ever have loved you, had I not known you better than you know yourself?" And the little woman looked so handsome, with the tears sparkling in her eyes, that the senator thought he must be a decidedly clever fellow, to get such a pretty creature into such a passionate46 admiration88 of him; and so, what could he do but walk off soberly, to see about the carriage. At the door, however, he stopped a moment, and then coming back, he said, with some hesitation89.
"Mary, I don't know how you'd feel about it, but there's that drawer full of things--of--of--poor little Henry's." So saying, he turned quickly on his heel, and shut the door after him.
His wife opened the little bed-room door adjoining her room and, taking the candle, set it down on the top of a bureau there; then from a small recess90 she took a key, and put it thoughtfully in the lock of a drawer, and made a sudden pause, while two boys, who, boy like, had followed close on her heels, stood looking, with silent, significant glances, at their mother. And oh! mother that reads this, has there never been in your house a drawer, or a closet, the opening of which has been to you like the opening again of a little grave? Ah! happy mother that you are, if it has not been so.
Mrs. Bird slowly opened the drawer. There were little coats of many a form and pattern, piles of aprons91, and rows of small stockings; and even a pair of little shoes, worn and rubbed at the toes, were peeping from the folds of a paper. There was a toy horse and wagon92, a top, a ball,--memorials gathered with many a tear and many a heart-break! She sat down by the drawer, and, leaning her head on her hands over it, wept till the tears fell through her fingers into the drawer; then suddenly raising her head, she began, with nervous haste, selecting the plainest and mosd substantial articles, and gathering93 them into a bundle.
"Mamma," said one of the boys, gently touching94 her arm, "you going to give away _those_ things?"
"My dear boys," she said, softly and earnestly, "if our dear, loving little Henry looks down from heaven, he would be glad to have us do this. I could not find it in my heart to give them away to any common person--to anybody that was happy; but I give them to a mother more heart-broken and sorrowful than I am; and I hope God will send his blessings95 with them!"
There are in this world blessed souls, whose sorrows all spring up into joys for others; whose earthly hopes, laid in the grave with many tears, are the seed from which spring healing flowers and balm for the desolate and the distressed96. Among such was the delicate woman who sits there by the lamp, dropping slow tears, while she prepares the memorials of her own lost one for the outcast wanderer.
After a while, Mrs. Bird opened a wardrobe, and, taking from thence a plain, serviceable dress or two, she sat down busily to her work-table, and, with needle, scissors, and thimble, at hand, quietly commenced the "letting down" process which her husband had recommended, and continued busily at it till the old clock in the corner struck twelve, and she heard the low rattling97 of wheels at the door.
"Mary," said her husband, coming in, with his overcoat in his hand, "you must wake her up now; we must be off."
Mrs. Bird hastily deposited the various articles she had collected in a small `lain trunk, and locking it, desired her husband to see it in the carriage, and then proceeded to call the woman. Soon, arrayed in a cloak, bonnet98, and shawl, that had belonged to her benefactress, she appeared at the door with her child in her arms. Mr. Bird hurried her into the carriage, and Mrs. Bird pressed on after her to the carriage steps. Eliza leaned out of the carriage, and put out her hand,--a hand as soft and beautiful as was given in return. She fixed her large, dark eyes, full of earnest meaning, on Mrs. Bird's face, and seemed going to speak. Her lips moved,--she tried once or twice, but there was no sound,--and pointing upward, with a look never to be forgotten, she fell back in the seat, and covered her face. The door was shut, and the carriage drove on.
What a situation, now, for a patriotic99 senator, that had been all the week before spurring up the legislature of his native qtate to pass more stringent100 resolutions against escaping fugitives102, their harborers and abettors!
Our good senator in his native state had not been exceeded by any of his brethren at Washington, in the sort of eloquence103 which has won for them immortal104 renown105! How sublimely106 he had sat with his hands in his pockets, and scouted108 all sentimental109 weakness of those who would put the welfare of a few miserable110 fugitives before great state interests!
He was as bold as a lion about it, and "mightily111 convinced" not only himself, but everybody that heard him;--but then his idea of a fugitive101 was only an idea of the letters that spell the word,--or at the most, the image of a little newspaper picture of a man with a stick and bundle with "Ran away from the subscriber112" under it. The magic of the real presence of distress,--the imploring human eye, the frail113, trembling human hand, the despairing appeal of helpless agony,--these he had never tried. He had never thought that a fugitive might be a hapless mother, a defenceless child,--like that one which was now wearing his lost boy's little well-known cap; and so, as our poor senator was not stone or steel,--as he was a man, and a downright noble-hearted one, too,--he was, as everybody must see, in a sad case for his patriotism114. And you need not exult115 over him, good brother of the Southern States; for we have some inklings that many of you, under similar circumstances, would not do much better. We have reason to know, in Kentucky, as in Mississippi, are noble and generous hearts, to whom never was tale of suffering told in vain. Ah, good brother! is it fair for you to expect of us services which your own brave, honorable heart would not allow you to render, were you in our place?
Be that as it may, if our good senator was a political sinner, he was in a fair way to expiate116 it by his night's penance117. There had been a long continuous period of rainy weather, and the soft, rich earth of Ohio, as every one knows, is admirably suited to the manufacture of mud--and the road was an Ohio railroad of the good old times.
"And pray, what sort of a road may that be?" says some eastern traveller, who has been accustomed to connect no ideas with a railroad, but those of smoothness or speed.
Know, then, innocent eastern friend, that in benighted118 regions of the west, where the mud is of unfathomable and sublime107 depth, roads are made of round rough logs, arranged transversely side by side, and coated over in their pristine119 freshness with earth, turf, and whatsoever120 may come to hand, and then the rejoicing native calleth it a road, and straightway essayeth to ride thereupon. In process of time, the rains wash off all the turf and grass aforesaid, move the logs hither and thither121, in picturesque122 positions, up, down and crosswise, with divers123 chasms124 and ruts of black mud intervening.
Over such a road as this our senator went stumbling along, making moral reflections as continuously as under the circumstances could be expected,--the carriage proceeding125 along much as follows,--bump! bump! bump! slush! down in the mud!--the senator, woman and child, reversing their positions so suddenly as to come, without any very accurate adjustment, against the windows of the down-hill side. Carriage sticks fast, while Cudjoe on the outside is heard making a great muster126 among the horses. After various ineffectual pullings and twitchings, just as the senator is losing all patience, the carriage suddenly rights itself with a bounce,--two dront wheels go down into another abyss, and senator, woman, and child, all tumble promiscuously127 on to the front seat,--senator's hat is jammed over his eyes and nose quite unceremoniously, and he considers himself fairly extinguished;--child cries, and Cudjoe on the outside delivers animated128 addresses to the horses, who are kicking, and floundering, and straining under repeated cracks of the whip. Carriage springs up, with another bounce,--down go the hind60 wheels,--senator, woman, and child, fly over on to the back seat, his elbows encountering her bonnet, and both her feet being hammed into his hat, which flies off in the concussion129. After a few moments the "slough130" is passed, and the horses stop, panting;--the senator finds his hat, the woman straightens her bonnet and hushes131 her child, and they brace79 themselves for what is yet to come.
For a while only the continuous bump! bump! intermingled, just by way of variety, with divers side plunges132 and compound shakes; and they begin to flatter themselves that they are not so badly off, after all. At last, with a square plunge133, which puts all on to their feet and then down into their seats with incredible quickness, the carriage stops,--and, after much outside commotion134, Cudjoe appears at the door.
"Please, sir, it's powerful bad spot, this' yer. I don't know how we's to get clar out. I'm a thinkin' we'll have to be a gettin' rails."
The senator despairingly steps out, picking gingerly for some firm foothold; down goes one foot an immeasurable depth,--he tries to pull it up, loses his balance, and tumbles over into the mud, and is fished out, in a very despairing condition, by Cudjoe.
But we forbear, out of sympathy to our readers' bones. Western travellers, who have beguiled the midnight hour in the interesting process of pulling down rail fences, to pry135 their carriages out of mud holes, will have a respectful and mournful sympathy with our unfortunate hero. We beg them to drop a silent tear, and pass on.
It was full late in the night when the carriage emerged, dripping and bespattered, out of the creek, and stood at the door of a large farmhouse136.
It took no inconsiderable perseverance137 to arouse the inmates138; but at last the respectable proprietor139 appeared, and undid140 the door. He was a great, tall, bristling141 Orson of a fellow, full six feet and some inches in his stockings, and arrayed in a red flannel142 hunting-shirt. A very heavy mat of sandy hair, in a decidedly tousled condition, and a beard of some days' growth, gave the worthy143 man an appearance, to say the least, not particularly prepossessing. He stood for a few minutes holding the candle aloft, and blinking on our travellers with a dismal144 and mystified expression that was truly ludicrous. It cost some effort of our senator to induce him to comprehend the case fully76; and while he is doing his best at that, we shall give him a little introduction to our readers.
Honest old John Van Trompe was once quite a considerable land-owner and slave-owner in the State of Kentucky. Having "nothing of the bear about him but the skin," and being gifted by nature with a great, honest, just heart, quite equal to his gigantic frame, he had been for some years witnessing with repressed uneasiness the workings of a system equally bad for oppressor and oppressed. At last, one day, John's great heart had swelled145 altogether too big to wear his bonds any longer; so he just took his pocket-book out of his desk, and went over into Ohio, and bought a quarter of a township of good, rich land, made out free papers for all his people,--men, women, and children,--packed them up in wagons146, and sent them off to settle down; and then honest John turned his face up the creek, and sat quietly down on a snug147, retired148 farm, to enjoy his conscience and his reflections.
"Are you the man that will shelter a poor woman and child from slave-catchers?" said the senator, explicitly149.
"I rather think I am," said honest John, with some considerable emphasis.
"I thought so,"' said the senator.
"If there's anybody comes," said the good man, stretching his tall, muscular form upward, "why here I'm ready for him: and I've got seven sons, each six foot high, and they'll be ready for 'em. Give our respects to 'em," said John; "tell 'em it's no matter how soon they call,--make no kinder difference to us," said John, running his fingers through the shock of hair that thatched his head, and bursting out into a great laugh.
Weary, jaded150, and spiritless, Eliza dragged herself up to the door, with her child lying in a heavy sleep on her arm. The rough man held the candle to her face, and uttering a kind of compassionate45 grunt151, opened the door of a small bed-room adjoining to the large kitchen where they were standing152, and motioned her to go in. He took down a candle, and lighting153 it, set it upon the table, and then addressed himself to Eliza.
"Now, I say, gal154, you needn't be a bit afeard, let who will come here. I'm up to all that sort o' thing," said he, pointing to two or three goodly rifles over the mantel-piece; "and most people that know me know that 't wouldn't be healthy to try to get anybody out o' my house when I'm agin it. So _now_ you jist go to sleep now, as quiet as if yer mother was a rockin' ye," said he, as he shut the door.
"Why, this is an uncommon handsome un," he said to the senator. "Ah, well; handsome uns has the greatest cause to run, sometimes, if they has any kind o' feelin, such as decent women should. I know all about that."
The senator, in a few words, briefly155 explained Eliza's history.
"O! ou! aw! now, I want to know?" said the good man, pitifully; "sho! now sho! That's natur now, poor crittur! hunted down now like a deer,--hunted down, jest for havin' natural feelin's, and doin' what no kind o' mother could help a doin'! I tell ye what, these yer things make me come the nighest to swearin', now, o' most anything," said honest John, as he wiped his eyes with the back of a great, freckled156, yellow hand. "I tell yer what, stranger, it was years and years before I'd jine the church, 'cause the ministers round in our parts used to preach that the Bible went in for these ere cuttings up,--and I couldn't be up to 'em with their Greek and Hebrew, and so I took up agin 'em, Bible and all. I never jined the church till I found a minister that was up to 'em all in Greek and all that, and he said right the contrary; and then I took right hold, and jined the church,--I did now, fact," said John, who had been all this time uncorking some very frisky157 bottled cider, which at this juncture he presented.
"Ye'd better jest put up here, now, till daylight," said he, heartily158, "and I'll call up the old woman, and have a bed got ready for you in no time."
"Thank you, my good friend," said the senator, "I must be along, to take the night stage for Columbus."
"Ah! well, then, if you must, I'll go a piece with you, and show you a cross road that will take you there better than the road you came on. That road's mighty159 bad."
John equipped himself, and, with a lantern in hand, was soon seen guiding the senator's carriage towards a road that ran down in a hollow, back of his dwelling160. When they parted, the senator put into his hand a ten-dollar bill.
"It's for her," he said, briefly.
"Ay, ay," said John, with equal conciseness161.
They shook hands, and parted.
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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frolicsome
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| adj.嬉戏的，闹着玩的 | |
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juveniles
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| n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人 | |
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effervescing
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| v.冒气泡，起泡沫( effervesce的现在分词 ) | |
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untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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gambol
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| v.欢呼，雀跃 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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pussy
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| n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪 | |
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meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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legislating
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| v.立法，制定法律( legislate的现在分词 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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abetting
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| v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的现在分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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19
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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20
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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21
provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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30
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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31
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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32
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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33
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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34
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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35
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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36
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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37
forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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38
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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39
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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40
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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41
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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42
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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43
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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44
compassionately
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| adv.表示怜悯地，有同情心地 | |
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45
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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46
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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47
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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48
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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49
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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50
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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51
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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52
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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53
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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54
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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56
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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57
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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58
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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59
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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60
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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61
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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62
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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63
rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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64
disconsolately
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| adv.悲伤地，愁闷地；哭丧着脸 | |
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65
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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66
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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67
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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68
wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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69
gulping
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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70
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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71
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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72
apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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73
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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74
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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75
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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76
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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79
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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80
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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81
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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82
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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83
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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84
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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85
meddle
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| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
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86
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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87
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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88
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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92
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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93
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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94
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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95
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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96
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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97
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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98
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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99
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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100
stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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101
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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102
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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103
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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104
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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105
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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106
sublimely
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| 高尚地，卓越地 | |
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107
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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scouted
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| 寻找，侦察( scout的过去式和过去分词 )； 物色（优秀运动员、演员、音乐家等） | |
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109
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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110
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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111
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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112
subscriber
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| n.用户，订户；（慈善机关等的）定期捐款者；预约者；签署者 | |
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113
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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114
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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115
exult
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| v.狂喜，欢腾；欢欣鼓舞 | |
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116
expiate
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| v.抵补，赎罪 | |
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117
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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118
benighted
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| adj.蒙昧的 | |
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119
pristine
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| adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的 | |
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120
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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121
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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122
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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123
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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124
chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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promiscuously
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| adv.杂乱地，混杂地 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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129
concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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130
slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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131
hushes
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| n.安静，寂静( hush的名词复数 ) | |
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132
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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133
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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135
pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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136
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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137
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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138
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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139
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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140
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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141
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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142
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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143
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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144
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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146
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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148
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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explicitly
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| ad.明确地，显然地 | |
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jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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151
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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152
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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153
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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154
gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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155
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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156
freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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157
frisky
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| adj.活泼的，欢闹的；n.活泼，闹着玩；adv.活泼地，闹着玩地 | |
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158
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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159
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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160
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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161
conciseness
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| n.简洁，简短 | |
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