her voice was as
sweet as the dulcimer, her smiles to me were like the May morning sunbeams
in the spring, one glance of her large dark eyes broke my heart in pieces,
with a stroke like that of an earthquake. O, I thought, this girl would
make me a paradise, and to enjoy her love I thought would be heaven. In
spite of either patrols or dogs, who stood in my way, every night nearly I
was in Mary's company. I learned from her that she had already had a child
to her master in Mobile, and that her mistress had sold her down here for
revenge; and she told me also of the sufferings that she had undergone
from her mistress on account of jealousy--her baby she said her mistress
sold out of her arms, only eleven months old, to a lady in Marysville,
Kentucky. Having never before felt a passion like this, or of the gentle
power, so peculiar to women, that, hard as I worked all day, I could not
sleep at night for thinking of this almost angel in human shape. We kept
company about six weeks, during which time I was at sometimes as wretched
as I was happy at others. Much to my annoyance Mary was adored by every
negro in the neighbourhood, and this excited my jealousy and made me
miserable. I was almost crazy when I saw another negro talking to her.
Again and again I tried my best to get her to give up speaking to them,
but she refused to comply. There was one negro who was in the habit of
calling on Mary whom I dreaded more than all the rest of them put
together, this negro was Dan, he belonged to Rogers; and notwithstanding I
believed myself to be the best looking negro to be found anywhere in the
neighbourhood, still I was aware that I was not the best of talkers. Dan
was a sweet and easy talker, and a good bone and banjo player. I was led
to fear that he would displace me in Mary's affections, and in this I was
not mistaken. One night I went over to see Mary, and in looking through
the window, saw Mary--my sweet and beloved Mary--sitting upon Dan's knee;
and here it is impossible to describe the feeling that came over me at
this unwelcome sight. My teeth clenched and bit my tongue--my head grew
dizzy, and began to swim round and round, and at last I found myself
getting up from the ground, having stumbled from the effects of what I had
seen. I wandered towards home, and arriving there threw myself on the
straw and cried all night. My first determination was to kill Dan; but
then I thought they would hang me and the devil would have