It was late in a drizzly1 afternoon that a traveler alighted at the door of a small country hotel, in the village of N----, in Kentucky. In the barroom 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, attired2 in hunting-shirts, and trailing their loose joints3 over a vast extent of territory, with the easy lounge peculiar4 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 reposing5 sublimely6 on the mantel-piece,--a position, we will inform our readers, decidedly favorable to the turn of reflection incident to western taverns9, where travellers exhibit a decided7 preference for this particular mode of elevating their understandings.
Mine host, who stood behind the bar, like most of his country men, was great of stature10, 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 emblem11 of man's sovereignty; whether it were felt hat, palm-leaf, greasy12 beaver13, or fine new chapeau, there it reposed14 with true republican independence. In truth, 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 prospect15; 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.
Divers16 negroes, in very free-and-easy pantaloons, and with no redundancy in the shirt line, were scuttling17 about, hither and thither18, without bringing to pass any very particular results, except expressing a generic19 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 flopping20 and snapping in a good stiff breeze of damp raw air,--and you have an idea of the jollities of a Kentucky tavern8.
Your Kentuckian of the present day is a good illustration of the doctrine21 of transmitted instincts and pecularities. His fathers were mighty22 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 mantelpieces, just as his father rolled on the green sward, and put his upon trees and logs,--keeps all the windows and doors open, winter and summer, that he may get air enough for his great lungs,--calls everybody "stranger," with nonchalant bonhommie, and is altogether the frankest, easiest, most jovial23 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 countenance25, and something rather fussy26 and particular in his appearance. He was very careful of his valise and umbrella, bringing them in with his own hands, and resisting, pertinaciously27, all offers from the various servants to relieve him of them. He looked round the barroom with rather an anxious air, and, retreating with his valuables to the warmest corner, disposed them under his chair, sat down, and looked rather apprehensively28 up at the worthy29 whose heels illustrated30 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 salute31 of tobacco-juice in the direction of the new arrival.
"Well, I reckon," was the reply of the other, as he dodged32, 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, eh?" said the other, easily, and stowing away the morsel33 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 artillery34 to another quarter, and proceeded to storm one of the fire-irons with a degree of military talent fully24 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, briefly35.
Mr. Wilson, for that was the old gentleman's name, rose up, and, after carefully adjusting his valise and umbrella, proceeded deliberately36 to take out his spectacles and fix them on his nose; and, this operation being performed, read as follows:
"Ran away from the subscriber37, 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 besieging38 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 employment of cutting tobacco. "Any man that owns a boy 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 know 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, endorsed39 this moral sentiment by firing a perfect _feu de joi_ 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 his right hand. If I had a fair chance, I'd mark him, I 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 wouldn't."
"That is to say, the Lord made 'em men, and it's a hard squeeze gettin 'em down into beasts," said the drover, dryly.
"Bright niggers isn't no kind of 'vantage to their masters," continued the other, well entrenched40, in a coarse, unconscious obtuseness41, 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 didn'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 newcomer. He was very tall, with a dark, Spanish complexion42, fine, expressive43 black eyes, and close-curling hair, also of a glossy44 blackness. His well-formed aquiline45 nose, straight thin lips, and the admirable contour of his finely-formed limbs, impressed the whole company instantly with the idea of something uncommon46. 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 his hand, walked up leisurely47 to the bar, and gave in his name as Henry Butter, 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 Beman's, didn't we?"
"Yes, Mas'r, said Jim, "only I an't sure about the hand."
"Well, I didn'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 obsequious48, 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, bustling49, hurrying, treading on each other's toes, and tumbling over each other, in their zeal50 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 recollect51. Every few moments, when the man spoke52, 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 amazement53 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 didn't recollect you before. I see you remember me,--Mr. Butler, of 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, negligently54; 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 chamber55, 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 bosom56, looked Mr. Wilson full in the face.
"George!" said Mr. Wilson.
"Yes, George," said the young man.
"I couldn't have thought it!"
"I am pretty well disguised, I fancy," said the young man, with a smile. "A little walnut57 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 slave of the passions of her possessor, and the mother of children 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 tinge58, amply compensated59 by its accompanying rich, dark eye. A slight change in the tint60 of the skin and the color of his hair had metamorphosed him into the Spanish-looking fellow he then appeared; and as gracefulness61 of movement and gentlemanly manners had always been perfectly62 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, ambled63 up and down the room, appearing, as John Bunyan hath it, "much tumbled up and down in his mind," and divided `etween 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 lawful64 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 opposition65 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--I can't pretend to defend him. But you know how the angel commanded Hagar to return to her mistress, and submit herself under the hand;[1] and the apostle sent back Onesimus to his master."[2]
[1] Gen. 16. The angel bade the pregnant Hagar return to her mistress Sarai, even though Sarai had dealt harshly with her.
[2] Phil. 1:10. Onesimus went back to his master to become no longer a servant but a "brother beloved."
"Don't quote Bible at me that way, Mr. Wilson," said George, with a flashing eye, "don't! for my wife is a Christian66, 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 everyone abide67 in the condition in which he is called.' We must all submit to the indications of Providence68, George,--don't you see?"
George stood with his head drawn69 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--shouldn'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, and folding and patting down all the creases70 in it, he proceeded on with his exhortations71 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 the 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. Haven't I heard your Fourth-of-July speeches? Don't you tell us all, once a year, that governments derive72 their just power from the consent of the governed? Can't a fellow _think_, that hears such things? an'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, benevolently73 fuzzy and confused. He really pitied George with all his heart, and had a sort of dim and cloudy perception of the style of feeling that agitated74 him; but he deemed it his duty to go on talking _good_ to him, with infinite pertinacity75.
"George, this is bad. I must tell you, you know, as a friend, you'd better not be meddling76 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 nervously77 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 didn'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 pious78, 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 heard her whipped, when it seemed as if every blow cut into my naked heart, and I couldn'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 wasn't the hunger, it wasn't the whipping, I cried for. No, sir, it was for _my mother_ and _my sisters_,--it was because I hadn'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 isn't _one_ of all these things, that have broken the hearts of my 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 nay79! Do you call these the laws of _my_ country? Sir, I haven't any country, anymore 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 peaceably 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. "Haven'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 wouldn'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 allow them to sell the child out of its mother's bosom to pay its master's debts," said George, bitterly.
"Well, well," said the honest old man, fumbling80 in his pocket: "I s'pose, perhaps, I an't following my judgment81,--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-founded 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 wouldn't know me. Jim's master don't live in this county; he isn'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, doesn'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 me out. I leave early tomorrow morning, before daylight; by tomorrow 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 heartily82, and after a little shower of caution, he took his umbrella, and fumbled83 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, irresolutely84. 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 isn'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 contrive85, 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, taking the pin, with watery86 eyes, and a melancholy87 quiver in his voice.
"Dell 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 misery88. 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 Christians89 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 sobbing90 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 piety91 and benevolence92 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_."
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drizzly
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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reposing
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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sublimely
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| 高尚地，卓越地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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scuttling
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| n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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18
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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generic
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| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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flopping
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| n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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pertinaciously
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| adv.坚持地；固执地；坚决地；执拗地 | |
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apprehensively
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| adv.担心地 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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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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besieging
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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endorsed
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| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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obtuseness
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| 感觉迟钝 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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52
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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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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54
negligently
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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gracefulness
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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63
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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64
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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65
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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67
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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68
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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69
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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creases
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
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71
exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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72
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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73
benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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74
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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75
pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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76
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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78
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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79
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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80
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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81
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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82
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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83
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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84
irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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85
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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86
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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87
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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88
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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89
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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90
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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91
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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92
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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