he ears of the General in a tone which convinced him that the
attachment of the black troops to Toussaint Breda was as strong as he
himself had that morning declared it to be.

"Now you see, General," said Papalier, turning into the tent, from which
he too had come forth in the excitement of the scene--"you see what you
have to expect from these negroes."

"I see what I have to expect from you," replied the General, with
severity. "It is enough to witness how you speak of a man to whom you
owe your life this very day--and not for the first time."

"Nay, General, I have called him no names--not even `traitor.'"

"I have not owed him my life, Monsieur Papalier; and you are not the
commander of these forces. It is my duty to prevent the defection of
the negro troops; and I therefore used the language of the government I
serve in proclaiming him a traitor. Had it been in mere speculation
between him and myself that those papers had come in question, God knows
I should have called him something very different."

"There is something in the man that infatuates--that blinds one's
judgment, certainly," said Papalier. "His master, Bayou, spoiled him
with letting him educate himself to an absurd extent. I always told
Bayou so; and there is no saying now what the consequences may be. It
is my opinion that we have not heard the last of him yet."

"Probably," said the General, gathering up his papers as his aide
entered, and leaving the tent in conversation with him, almost without a
farewell notice of Papalier.

The negro troops were busy to a man, in learning from Jacques, and
repeating to one another, the particulars of what was in the
proclamation, and the reasons of Toussaint's departure. General Hermona
found that the two remaining black leaders, Jean Francais and Biasson,
were not infected by Toussaint's convictions; that, on the contrary,
they were far from sorry that he was thus gone, leaving them to the full
enjoyment of Spanish grace. They addressed their soldiers in favour of
loyalty, and in denunciation of treason, and treated the proclamation as
slightly as Don Joachim Garcia could possibly have wished. They met
with little response, however; and every one felt, amidst the show and
parade and festivity of the day, a restlessness and uncertainty which he
perceived existed no less in his neighbour than in himself. No one's
mind was in the business or enjoyment of the festival; and no one could
be greatly