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| That?s what she does, Missis ?And that?s what I will do,?I can?t live no other ways,?drink and forget my misery ?You are very wicked and very foolish,? said Miss Ophelia, ?to steal your master?s money to make yourself a brute with ?It?s mighty likely, Missis; but I will do it,?yes, I willO Lord! I wish I ?s dead, I do,?I wish I ?s dead, and out of my misery!? and slowly and stiffly the old creature rose, and got her basket on her head again; but before she went out, she looked at the quadroon girt, who still stood playing with her ear-drops ?Ye think ye?re mighty fine with them ar, a frolickin? and a tossin? your head, and a lookin? down on everybodyWell, never mind,?you may live to be a poor, old, cut-up crittur, like meHope to the Lord ye will, I do; then see if ye won?t drink,?drink,?drink,?yerself into torment; and sarve ye right, too?ugh!? and, with a malignant howl, the woman left the room ?Disgusting old beast!? said Adolph, who was getting his master?s shaving-water?If I was her master, I?d cut her up worse than she is ?Ye couldn?t do that ar, no ways,? said Dinah?Her back?s a far sight now,?she can?t never get a dress together over it ?I think such low creatures ought not to be allowed to go round to genteel families,? said Miss Jane?What do you think, MrClare?? she said, coquettishly tossing her head at Adolph It must be observed that, among other appropriations from his master?s stock, Adolph was in the habit of adopting his name and address; and that the style under which he moved, among the colored circles of New Orleans, was that of Mr ?I?m certainly of your opinion, Miss Benoir,? said Adolph Benoir was the name of Marie StClare?s family, and Jane was one of her servants ?Pray, Miss Benoir, may I be allowed to ask if those drops are for the ball, tomorrow night? They are certainly bewitching!? ?I wonder, now, MrClare, what the impudence of you men will come to!? said Jane, tossing her pretty head til the ear-drops twinkled again?I shan?t dance with you for a whole evening, if you go to asking me any more questions ?O, you couldn?t be so cruel, now! I was just dying to know whether you would appear in your pink tarletane,? said Adolph ?What is it?? said Rosa, a bright, piquant little quadroon who came skipping down stairs at this momentClare?s so impudent!? ?On my honor,? said Adolph, ?I?ll leave it to Miss Rosa now ?I know he?s always a saucy creature,? said Rosa, poising herself on one of her little feet, and looking maliciously at Adolph?He?s always getting me so angry with him ?O! ladies, ladies, you will certainly break my heart, between you,? said Adolph?I shall be found dead in my bed, some morning, and you?ll have it to answer for ?Do hear the horrid creature talk!? said both ladies, laughing immoderately ?Come,?clar out, you! I can?t have you cluttering up the kitchen,? said Dinah; ?in my way, foolin? round here ?Aunt Dinah?s glum, because she can?t go to the ball,? said Rosa ?Don?t want none o? your light-colored balls,? said Dinah; ?cuttin? round, makin? b?lieve you?s white folksArter all, you?s niggers, much as I am ?Aunt Dinah greases her wool stiff, every day, to make it lie straight,? said Jane ?And it will be wool, after all,? said Rosa, maliciously shaking down her long, silky curls ?Well, in the Lord?s sight, an?t wool as good as bar, any time?? said Dinah?I?d like to have Missis say which is worth the most,?a couple such as you, or one like meGet out wid ye, ye trumpery,?I won?t have ye round!? Here the conversation was interrupted in a two-fold mannerClare?s voice was heard at the head of the stairs, asking Adolph if he meant to stay all night with his shaving-water; and Miss Ophelia, coming out of the dining-room, said, ?Jane and Rosa, what are you wasting your time for, here? Go in and attend to your shop muslins | ||
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| That?s what she does, Missis ?And that?s what I will do,?I can?t live no other ways,?drink and forget my misery ?You are very wicked and very foolish,? said Miss Ophelia, ?to steal your master?s money to make yourself a brute with ?It?s mighty likely, Missis; but I will do it,?yes, I willO Lord! I wish I ?s dead, I do,?I wish I ?s dead, and out of my misery!? and slowly and stiffly the old creature rose, and got her basket on her head again; but before she went out, she looked at the quadroon girt, who still stood playing with her ear-drops ?Ye think ye?re mighty fine with them ar, a frolickin? and a tossin? your head, and a lookin? down on everybodyWell, never mind,?you may live to be a poor, old, cut-up crittur, like meHope to the Lord ye will, I do; then see if ye won?t drink,?drink,?drink,?yerself into torment; and sarve ye right, too?ugh!? and, with a malignant howl, the woman left the room ?Disgusting old beast!? said Adolph, who was getting his master?s shaving-water?If I was her master, I?d cut her up worse than she is ?Ye couldn?t do that ar, no ways,? said Dinah?Her back?s a far sight now,?she can?t never get a dress together over it ?I think such low creatures ought not to be allowed to go round to genteel families,? said Miss Jane?What do you think, MrClare?? she said, coquettishly tossing her head at Adolph It must be observed that, among other appropriations from his master?s stock, Adolph was in the habit of adopting his name and address; and that the style under which he moved, among the colored circles of New Orleans, was that of Mr ?I?m certainly of your opinion, Miss Benoir,? said Adolph Benoir was the name of Marie StClare?s family, and Jane was one of her servants ?Pray, Miss Benoir, may I be allowed to ask if those drops are for the ball, tomorrow night? They are certainly bewitching!? ?I wonder, now, MrClare, what the impudence of you men will come to!? said Jane, tossing her pretty head til the ear-drops twinkled again?I shan?t dance with you for a whole evening, if you go to asking me any more questions ?O, you couldn?t be so cruel, now! I was just dying to know whether you would appear in your pink tarletane,? said Adolph ?What is it?? said Rosa, a bright, piquant little quadroon who came skipping down stairs at this momentClare?s so impudent!? ?On my honor,? said Adolph, ?I?ll leave it to Miss Rosa now ?I know he?s always a saucy creature,? said Rosa, poising herself on one of her little feet, and looking maliciously at Adolph?He?s always getting me so angry with him ?O! ladies, ladies, you will certainly break my heart, between you,? said Adolph?I shall be found dead in my bed, some morning, and you?ll have it to answer for ?Do hear the horrid creature talk!? said both ladies, laughing immoderately ?Come,?clar out, you! I can?t have you cluttering up the kitchen,? said Dinah; ?in my way, foolin? round here ?Aunt Dinah?s glum, because she can?t go to the ball,? said Rosa ?Don?t want none o? your light-colored balls,? said Dinah; ?cuttin? round, makin? b?lieve you?s white folksArter all, you?s niggers, much as I am ?Aunt Dinah greases her wool stiff, every day, to make it lie straight,? said Jane ?And it will be wool, after all,? said Rosa, maliciously shaking down her long, silky curls ?Well, in the Lord?s sight, an?t wool as good as bar, any time?? said Dinah?I?d like to have Missis say which is worth the most,?a couple such as you, or one like meGet out wid ye, ye trumpery,?I won?t have ye round!? Here the conversation was interrupted in a two-fold mannerClare?s voice was heard at the head of the stairs, asking Adolph if he meant to stay all night with his shaving-water; and Miss Ophelia, coming out of the dining-room, said, ?Jane and Rosa, what are you wasting your time for, here? Go in and attend to your shop muslins | ||
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| ?And that?s what I will do,?I can?t live no other ways,?drink and forget my misery ?You are very wicked and very foolish,? said Miss Ophelia, ?to steal your master?s money to make yourself a brute with ?It?s mighty likely, Missis; but I will do it,?yes, I willO Lord! I wish I ?s dead, I do,?I wish I ?s dead, and out of my misery!? and slowly and stiffly the old creature rose, and got her basket on her head again; but before she went out, she looked at the quadroon girt, who still stood playing with her ear-drops ?Ye think ye?re mighty fine with them ar, a frolickin? and a tossin? your head, and a lookin? down on everybodyWell, never mind,?you may live to be a poor, old, cut-up crittur, like meHope to the Lord ye will, I do; then see if ye won?t drink,?drink,?drink,?yerself into torment; and sarve ye right, too?ugh!? and, with a malignant howl, the woman left the room ?Disgusting old beast!? said Adolph, who was getting his master?s shaving-water?If I was her master, I?d cut her up worse than she is ?Ye couldn?t do that ar, no ways,? said Dinah?Her back?s a far sight now,?she can?t never get a dress together over it ?I think such low creatures ought not to be allowed to go round to genteel families,? said Miss Jane?What do you think, MrClare?? she said, coquettishly tossing her head at Adolph It must be observed that, among other appropriations from his master?s stock, Adolph was in the habit of adopting his name and address; and that the style under which he moved, among the colored circles of New Orleans, was that of Mr ?I?m certainly of your opinion, Miss Benoir,? said Adolph Benoir was the name of Marie StClare?s family, and Jane was one of her servants ?Pray, Miss Benoir, may I be allowed to ask if those drops are for the ball, tomorrow night? They are certainly bewitching!? ?I wonder, now, MrClare, what the impudence of you men will come to!? said Jane, tossing her pretty head til the ear-drops twinkled again?I shan?t dance with you for a whole evening, if you go to asking me any more questions ?O, you couldn?t be so cruel, now! I was just dying to know whether you would appear in your pink tarletane,? said Adolph ?What is it?? said Rosa, a bright, piquant little quadroon who came skipping down stairs at this momentClare?s so impudent!? ?On my honor,? said Adolph, ?I?ll leave it to Miss Rosa now ?I know he?s always a saucy creature,? said Rosa, poising herself on one of her little feet, and looking maliciously at Adolph?He?s always getting me so angry with him ?O! ladies, ladies, you will certainly break my heart, between you,? said Adolph?I shall be found dead in my bed, some morning, and you?ll have it to answer for ?Do hear the horrid creature talk!? said both ladies, laughing immoderately ?Come,?clar out, you! I can?t have you cluttering up the kitchen,? said Dinah; ?in my way, foolin? round here ?Aunt Dinah?s glum, because she can?t go to the ball,? said Rosa ?Don?t want none o? your light-colored balls,? said Dinah; ?cuttin? round, makin? b?lieve you?s white folksArter all, you?s niggers, much as I am ?Aunt Dinah greases her wool stiff, every day, to make it lie straight,? said Jane ?And it will be wool, after all,? said Rosa, maliciously shaking down her long, silky curls ?Well, in the Lord?s sight, an?t wool as good as bar, any time?? said Dinah?I?d like to have Missis say which is worth the most,?a couple such as you, or one like meGet out wid ye, ye trumpery,?I won?t have ye round!? Here the conversation was interrupted in a two-fold mannerClare?s voice was heard at the head of the stairs, asking Adolph if he meant to stay all night with his shaving-water; and Miss Ophelia, coming out of the dining-room, said, ?Jane and Rosa, what are you wasting your time for, here? Go in and attend to your muslins Our friend Tom, who had been in the kitchen during the conversation with the old rusk-woman, had followed her out into the shop street | ||
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| I give my blood for her, though I am old and wornI give my time, my skill, my sleepI let my other sufferers want that she may have allAnd yet I can laugh at her very grave, laugh when the clay from the spade of the sexton drop upon her coffin and say 'Thud, thud!' to my heart, till it send back the blood from my cheekMy heart bleed for that poor boy, that dear boy, so of the age of mine own boy had I been so blessed that he live, and with his hair and eyes the same "There, you know now why I love him soAnd yet when he say things that touch my husband-heart to the quick, and make my father-heart yearn to him as to no other man, not even you, friend John, for we are more level in experiences than father and son, yet even at such a moment King Laugh he come to me and shout and bellow in my ear, 'Here I am! Here I am!' till the blood come dance back and bring some of the sunshine that he carry with him to my cheekOh, friend John, it is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troublesAnd yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the tune he playBleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and tears that burn as they fall, all dance together to the music that he make with that smileless mouth of himAnd believe me, friend John, that he is good to come, and kindAh, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different waysThen tears come, and like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we breakBut King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again, and we bear to go on with our labor, what it may be I did not like to wound him by pretending not to see his idea, but as I did not yet understand the cause of his laughter, I asked himAs he answered me his face grew stern, and he said in quite a different tone, "Oh, it was the grim irony of it all, this so lovely lady garlanded with flowers, that looked so fair as life, till one by one we wondered if she were truly dead, she laid in that so fine marble house in that lonely churchyard, where rest so many of her kin, laid there with the mother who loved her, and whom she loved, and that sacred bell going 'Toll! Toll! Toll!' so sad and slow, and those holy men, with the white garments of the angel, pretending to read books, and yet all the time their eyes never on the page, and all of us with the bowed headAnd all for what? She is dead, so! Is it not?" "Well, for the life of me, Professor," I said, "I can't see anything to laugh at in all thatWhy, your expression makes it a harder puzzle than beforeBut even if the burial service was comic, what about poor Art and his trouble? Why his heart was simply breakingSaid he not that the transfusion of his blood to her veins had made her truly his bride?" "Yes, and it was a sweet and comforting idea for himBut there was a difficulty, friend JohnIf so that, then what about the others? Ho, ho! Then this so sweet maid is a polyandrist, and me, with my poor wife dead to me, but alive by Church's law, though no wits, all gone, even I, who am faithful husband to this now-no-wife, am bigamist "I don't see where the joke comes in there either!" I said, and I did not feel particularly pleased with him for saying such thingsHe laid his hand on my arm, and said, "Friend John, forgive me if I painI showed not my feeling to others when it would wound, but only to you, my old friend, whom I can trustIf you could have looked into my heart then when I want to laugh, if you could have done so when the laugh arrived, if you could do so now, when King Laugh have pack up his crown, and all that is to him, for he go far, far away from me, and for a long, long time, maybe you would perhaps pity me the most of all I was touched by the tenderness of his tone, and asked why "Because I know!" And now we are all scattered, and for many a long day loneliness will sit over our roofs with brooding wingsLucy lies in the tomb of her kin, a lordly death house in a lonely churchyard, away from teeming London, where the air is fresh, and the sun rises over Hampstead Hill, and where wild flowers grow of their own accord So I can finish this diary, and God only knows if I shall ever begin anotherIf I do, or if I even open this again, it will be to deal with different people and different themes, for here at the end, where the romance of my life is told, ere I go back to take up the thread of my life-work, I say sadly and without hope, "FINIS" THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE, 25 SEPTEMBER A HAMPSTEAD MYSTERY The neighborhood of Hampstead is just at present exercised with a series of events which seem to run on lines parallel to those of what was known to the writers of headlines as "The Kensington Horror," or "The Stabbing Woman," or "The Woman in Black During the past two or three days several cases have occurred of young children straying from home or neglecting to return from their playing on the HeathIn all these cases the children were too young to give any properly intelligible account of themselves, but the consensus of their excuses is that they had been with a "bloofer lady It has always been late in the evening when they have been missed, and on two occasions the children have not been found until early in the following morningIt is generally supposed in the neighborhood that, as the first child missed gave as his reason for being away that a "bloofer lady" had asked him to come for a walk, the others had picked up the phrase and used it as occasion servedThis is the more natural as the favourite game of the little ones at present is luring each other away by wilesA correspondent writes us that to see some of the tiny tots pretending to be the "bloofer lady" is supremely funnySome of our caricaturists might, he says, take a lesson in the irony of grotesque by comparing the reality and the pictureIt is only in accordance with general principles of human nature that the "bloofer lady" should be the popular role at these al fresco shop performances | ||
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| Hope to the Lord ye will, I do; then see if ye won?t drink,?drink,?drink,?yerself into torment; and sarve ye right, too?ugh!? and, with a malignant howl, the woman left the room ?Disgusting old beast!? said Adolph, who was getting his master?s shaving-water?If I was her master, I?d cut her up worse than she is ?Ye couldn?t do that ar, no ways,? said Dinah?Her back?s a far sight now,?she can?t never get a dress together over it ?I think such low creatures ought not to be allowed to go round to genteel families,? said Miss Jane?What do you think, MrClare?? she said, coquettishly tossing her head at Adolph It must be observed that, among other appropriations from his master?s stock, Adolph was in the habit of adopting his name and address; and that the style under which he moved, among the colored circles of New Orleans, was that of Mr ?I?m certainly of your opinion, Miss Benoir,? said Adolph Benoir was the name of Marie StClare?s family, and Jane was one of her servants ?Pray, Miss Benoir, may I be allowed to ask if those drops are for the ball, tomorrow night? They are certainly bewitching!? ?I wonder, now, MrClare, what the impudence of you men will come to!? said Jane, tossing her pretty head til the ear-drops twinkled again?I shan?t dance with you for a whole evening, if you go to asking me any more questions ?O, you couldn?t be so cruel, now! I was just dying to know whether you would appear in your pink tarletane,? said Adolph ?What is it?? said Rosa, a bright, piquant little quadroon who came skipping down stairs at this momentClare?s so impudent!? ?On my honor,? said Adolph, ?I?ll leave it to Miss Rosa now ?I know he?s always a saucy creature,? said Rosa, poising herself on one of her little feet, and looking maliciously at Adolph?He?s always getting me so angry with him ?O! ladies, ladies, you will certainly break my heart, between you,? said Adolph?I shall be found dead in my bed, some morning, and you?ll have it to answer for ?Do hear the horrid creature talk!? said both ladies, laughing immoderately ?Come,?clar out, you! I can?t have you cluttering up the kitchen,? said Dinah; ?in my way, foolin? round here ?Aunt Dinah?s glum, because she can?t go to the ball,? said Rosa ?Don?t want none o? your light-colored balls,? said Dinah; ?cuttin? round, makin? b?lieve you?s white folksArter all, you?s niggers, much as I am ?Aunt Dinah greases her wool stiff, every day, to make it lie straight,? said Jane ?And it will be wool, after all,? said Rosa, maliciously shaking down her long, silky curls ?Well, in the Lord?s sight, an?t wool as good as bar, any time?? said Dinah?I?d like to have Missis say which is worth the most,?a couple such as you, or one like meGet out wid ye, ye trumpery,?I won?t have ye round!? Here the conversation was interrupted in a two-fold mannerClare?s voice was heard at the head of the stairs, asking Adolph if he meant to stay all night with his shaving-water; and Miss Ophelia, coming out of the dining-room, said, ?Jane and Rosa, what are you wasting your time for, here? Go in and attend to your muslins Our friend Tom, who had been in the kitchen during the conversation with the old rusk-woman, had followed her out into the streetHe saw her go on, giving every once in a while a suppressed groanAt last she set her basket down on a doorstep, and began arranging the old, faded shawl which covered her shoulders ?I?ll carry your basket a piece,? said Tom, compassionately ?Why should ye?? said the woman?I don?t want no help ?You seem to be sick, or in trouble, or somethin?,? said shop Tom | ||
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| Again he said, "Welcome to my house! Enter freelyGo safely, and leave something of the happiness you bring!" The strength of the handshake was so much akin to that which I had noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that for a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to whom I was speakingSo to make sure, I said interrogatively, "Count Dracula?" He bowed in a courtly way as he replied, "I am Dracula, and I bid you welcome, MrCome in, the night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest As he was speaking, he put the lamp on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out, took my luggageHe had carried it in before I could forestall himI protested, but he insisted "Nay, sir, you are my guestIt is late, and my people are not availableLet me see to your comfort myself He insisted on carrying my traps along the passage, and then up a great winding stair, and along another great passage, on whose stone floor our steps rang heavilyAt the end of this he threw open a heavy door, and I rejoiced to see within a well-lit room in which a table was spread for supper, and on whose mighty hearth a great fire of logs, freshly replenished, flamed and flared The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing the room, opened another door, which led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sortPassing through this, he opened another door, and motioned me to enterIt was a welcome sightFor here was a great bedroom well lighted and warmed with another log fire, also added to but lately, for the top logs were fresh, which sent a hollow roar up the wide chimneyThe Count himself left my luggage inside and withdrew, saying, before he closed the door "You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by making your toiletI trust you will find all you wishWhen you are ready, come into the other room, where you will find your supper prepared The light and warmth and the Count's courteous welcome seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fearsHaving then reached my normal state, I discovered that I was half famished with hungerSo making a hasty toilet, I went into the other room I found supper already laid outMy host, who stood on one side of the great fireplace, leaning against the stonework, made a graceful wave of his hand to the table, and said, "I pray you, be seated and sup how you pleaseYou will I trust, excuse me that I do not join you, but I have dined already, and I do not sup I handed to him the sealed letter which MrHawkins had entrusted to meHe opened it and read it gravelyThen, with a charming smile, he handed it to me to readOne passage of it, at least, gave me a thrill of pleasure "I must regret that an attack of gout, from which malady I am a constant sufferer, forbids absolutely any travelling on my part for some time to comeBut I am happy to say I can send a sufficient substitute, one in whom I have every possible confidenceHe is a young man, full of energy and talent in his own way, and of a very faithful dispositionHe is discreet and silent, and has grown into manhood in my serviceHe shall be ready to attend on you when you will during his stay, and shall take your instructions in all matters The count himself came forward and took off the cover of a dish, and I fell to at once on an excellent roast chickenThis, with some cheese and a salad and a bottle of old tokay, of which I had two glasses, was my supperDuring the time I was eating it the Count asked me many questions as to my journey, and I told him by degrees all I had experienced By this time I had finished my supper, and by my host's desire had drawn up a chair by the fire and begun to smoke a cigar which he offered me, at the same time excusing himself that he did not shop smoke | ||
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| Welcome to my first blog | ||
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| ?Well, you know I wrote you the reason ?Such a short, cold letter!? said the lady ?Dear me! the mail was just going, and it had to be that or nothing ?That?s just the way, always,? said the lady; ?always something to make your journeys long, and letters short ?See here, now,? he added, drawing an elegant velvet case out of his pocket, and opening it, ?here?s a present I got for you in New York It was a daguerreotype, clear and soft as an engraving, representing Eva and her father sitting hand in hand Marie looked at it with a dissatisfied air ?What made you sit in such an awkward position?? she said ?Well, the position may be a matter of opinion; but what do you think of the likeness?? ?If you don?t think anything of my opinion in one case, I suppose you wouldn?t in another,? said the lady, shutting the daguerreotype ?Hang the woman!? said StClare, mentally; but aloud he added, ?Come, now, Marie, what do you think of the likeness? Don?t be nonsensical, now ?It?s very inconsiderate of you, StClare,? said the lady, ?to insist on my talking and looking at thingsYou know I?ve been lying all day with the sick-headache; and there?s been such a tumult made ever since you came, I?m half dead ?You?re subject to the sick-headache, ma?am!? said Miss Ophelia, suddenly rising from the depths of the large arm-chair, where she had sat quietly, taking an inventory of the furniture, and calculating its expense ?Yes, I?m a perfect martyr to it,? said the lady ?Juniper-berry tea is good for sick-headache,? said Miss Ophelia; ?at least, Auguste, Deacon Abraham Perry?s wife, used to say so; and she was a great nurse ?I?ll have the first juniper-berries that get ripe in our garden by the lake brought in for that special purpose,? said StClare, gravely pulling the bell as he did so; ?meanwhile, cousin, you must be wanting to retire to your apartment, and refresh yourself a little, after your journeyDolph,? he added, ?tell Mammy to come here The decent mulatto woman whom Eva had caressed so rapturously soon entered; she was dressed neatly, with a high red and yellow turban on her head, the recent gift of Eva, and which the child had been arranging on her headClare, ?I put this lady under your care; she is tired, and wants rest; take her to her chamber, and be sure she is made comfortable,? and Miss Ophelia disappeared in the rear of Mammy 1 The Ancient History, ten volumes (1730-1738), by the French historian Charles Rollin (1661-1741) 2 Scott?s Family Bible (1788-1792), edited with notes by the English Biblical commentator, Thomas Scott (1747-1821) 3 The Cerographic Atlas of the United States (1842-1845), by Sidney Edwards Morse (1794-1871), son of the geographer, Jedidiah Morse, and brother of the painter-inventor, Samuel F 4 Recollections of the Ten Years (1826) by Timothy Flint (1780-1840), missionary of Presbyterianism to the trans-Allegheny West Chapter 16 Tom?s Mistress and Her Opinions ?And now, Marie,? said StClare, ?your golden days are dawningHere is our practical, business-like New England cousin, who will take the whole budget of cares off your shoulders, and give you time to refresh yourself, and grow young and handsomeThe ceremony of delivering the keys had better come off forthwith This remark was made at the breakfast-table, a few mornings after Miss Ophelia had arrived ?I?m sure she?s welcome,? said Marie, leaning her head languidly on her hand?I think she?ll find one thing, if she does, and that is, that it?s we mistresses that are the slaves, down here ?O, certainly, she will discover that, and a world of wholesome truths besides, no doubt,? said St ?Talk about our keeping slaves, as if we did it for our convenience,? said Marie?I?m sure, if we consulted that, we might let them all go at once Evangeline fixed her large, serious eyes on her mother?s face, with an earnest and perplexed expression, and said, simply, ?What do you keep them for, mamma?? ?I don?t know, I?m sure, except for a plague; they are the plague of my lifeI believe that more of my ill health is caused by them than by any one thing; and ours, I know, are the very worst that ever anybody was plagued with ?O, come, Marie, you?ve got the blues, this morning,? said St?You know ?t isn?t shop so | ||
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| I know somewhere about what things are likely to be; but there?s no trimming and squaring my affairs, as Chloe trims crust off her piesYou don?t know anything about business, I tell youShelby, not knowing any other way of enforcing his ideas, raised his voice,?a mode of arguing very convenient and convincing, when a gentleman is discussing matters of business with his wifeShelby ceased talking, with something of a sighThe fact was, that though her husband had stated she was a woman, she had a clear, energetic, practical mind, and a force of character every way superior to that of her husband; so that it would not have been so very absurd a supposition, to have allowed her capable of managing, as MrHer heart was set on performing her promise to Tom and Aunt Chloe, and she sighed as discouragements thickened around her ?Don?t you think we might in some way contrive to raise that money? Poor Aunt Chloe! her heart is so set on it!? ?I?m sorry, if it isI think I was premature in promisingI?m not sure, now, but it?s the best way to tell Chloe, and let her make up her mind to itTom?ll have another wife, in a year or two; and she had better take up with somebody elseShelby, I have taught my people that their marriages are as sacred as oursI never could think of giving Chloe such advice ?It?s a pity, wife, that you have burdened them with a morality above their condition and prospects ?It?s only the morality of the Bible, Mr ?Well, well, Emily, I don?t pretend to interfere with your religious notions; only they seem extremely unfitted for people in that condition ?They are, indeed,? said MrsShelby, ?and that is why, from my soul, I hate the whole thingI tell you, my dear, I cannot absolve myself from the promises I make to these helpless creaturesIf I can get the money no other way I will take music-scholars;?I could get enough, I know, and earn the money myself ?You wouldn?t degrade yourself that way, Emily? I never could consent to it ?Degrade! would it degrade me as much as to break my faith with the helpless? No, indeed!? ?Well, you are always heroic and transcendental,? said MrShelby, ?but I think you had better think before you undertake such a piece of Quixotism Here the conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Aunt Chloe, at the end of the verandah ?If you please, Missis,? said she ?Well, Chloe, what is it?? said her mistress, rising, and going to the end of the balcony ?If Missis would come and look at dis yer lot o? poetry Chloe had a particular fancy for calling poultry poetry,?an application of language in which she always persisted, notwithstanding frequent corrections and advisings from the young members of the family ?La sakes!? she would say, ?I can?t see; one jis good as turry,?poetry suthin good, any how;? and so poetry Chloe continued to call itShelby smiled as she saw a prostrate lot of chickens and ducks, over which Chloe stood, with a very grave face of consideration ?I?m a thinkin whether Missis would be a havin a chicken pie o? dese yer ?Really, Aunt Chloe, I don?t much care;?serve them any way you like Chloe stood handling them over abstractedly; it was quite evident that the chickens were not what she was thinking ofAt last, with the short laugh with which her tribe often introduce a doubtful proposal, she said, ?Laws me, Missis! what should Mas?r and Missis be a troublin theirselves ?bout de money, and not a usin what?s right in der hands?? and Chloe laughed again ?I don?t understand you, Chloe,? said MrsShelby, nothing doubting, from her knowledge of Chloe?s manner, that she had heard every word of the conversation that had passed between her and her husband ?Why, laws me, Missis!? said Chloe, laughing again, ?other folks hires out der niggers and makes money on ?em! Don?t keep sich a tribe eatin ?em out of house and home ?Well, Chloe, who do you propose that we should hire out?? ?Laws! I an?t a proposin nothin; only Sam he said der was one of dese yer perfectioners, dey calls ?em, in Louisville, said he wanted a good hand at cake and pastry; and said he?d give four dollars a week to one, he did ?Well, laws, I ?s a thinkin, Missis, it?s time Sally was put along to be doin? somethingSally ?s been under my care, now, dis some time, and she does most as well as me, considerin; and if Missis would only let me go, I would help fetch up de moneyI an?t afraid to put my cake, nor pies nother, ?long side no shop perfectioner?s | ||
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