their common pathway to
an exalted and benignant destiny, admonished to mutual forbearance and
deference by mournful yet proud recollections of their great struggle,
and realizing in their newly established and truly fraternal concord the
opening of a long, bright vista of reciprocal kindness and inviolable
peace.

A MERCHANT'S STORY.

'All of which I saw, and part of which I was.'

CHAPTER IV.

It was five years after the events recorded in the previous chapter,
when, one day late in October, I started on my annual tour among the
Southern correspondents of the mercantile-house of which I was then a
member. Arriving at Richmond shortly after noon, I took a hasty meal at
the wretched restaurant near the railway-station, and, with a segar in
my mouth, seated myself on a trunk in the baggage-car, to proceed on my
journey. As the train moved off from the depot, a hand was placed on my
arm, and a familiar voice said:

'Lord bless me! Kirke, is this you?'

Looking up, I saw Mr. Robert Preston--or, as he was known among his
acquaintance, 'Squire Preston of Jones'--a gentleman whose Northern
business I had transacted for several years. He had been on a visit to
some Virginia relatives, and was returning to his plantation on the
Trent, about twenty miles from Newbern. Though I had never been at his
home, he had often visited mine, and we were well--in fact, intimately
acquainted. I soon explained that I was on the way to New-Orleans, and
mentioned that I might, on my return, find the route to his plantation.
He urged me to visit it at once, and I finally consented to do so. We
rode on by the cars as far as Goldsboro, and there, after a few hours'
rest, and a light breakfast of corn-cake, hominy, and bacon, took seats
on the stage, which then was the only public conveyance to Newbern.

Preston was an intelligent, cultivated gentleman, and, at that time,
appeared to be about thirty-three years of age. He was tall, athletic,
and of decidedly prepossessing appearance; and, though somewhat careless
in his dress, had a simple dignity about him that is not furnished by
the tailor. The firm lines about his mouth, his strong jaw, wide
nostrils, and large nose--straight as if cut after a bevel--indicated a
resolute, determined character; but his large, dreamy eyes--placed far
apart, as if to give fit proportion to his broad, overhanging
brows--showed that his nature was as gentle and tender as a woman's. He
spoke with