el ---- thought, as he uttered these words, 'so wicked
and uncivic' (as Gellius says of a similar wish on the part of a Roman
lady, for which she was fined the sum of twenty-five thousand pounds
brass), that in the future lay such dire fulfilment of them! Apropos of
the subject, what fitting tools for the purposes of rebellion have these
hated 'poor whites' proved themselves!--their ignorance, their vices,
their brutality rendering them all the more appropriate instruments for
the work in hand. It would seem, almost, as if a diabolic providence had
prepared them for this very result.

'I must ride over and see about this business at once,' resumed the
Colonel. 'Mr. ----, I can very well suppose you'd rather be spared
accompanying me, so make yourself at home for an hour or two. I won't be
a minute longer than I can help. Perhaps you'd better not mention this
unfortunate affair up at the house until I return; it'll shock the
girls, and I'm very careful to keep all unpleasant things out of their
way. It's the first time such an atrocity has occurred on this
plantation, believe me.'

And, ordering his horse, he rode off with the overseer. I should really
have preferred visiting the scene of the recent tragedy, but my host's
wish to the contrary was evident, and I knew enough of Southern
sensitiveness with respect to the ugly side of their 'institution' to
comply. (I had been advised by a fellow countryman not to attend a slave
sale in Charleston, lest my curiosity might be looked upon as
impertinent, and get me into trouble; but I did it, and, I am bound to
say, without any evil consequences.) So I retraced my steps toward the
house, presently encountering the lazy gentleman, and one in black, who
was introduced to me as the Reverend Mr. ----, an Episcopal clergyman of
Beaufort, also a resident on an adjacent island.

The lazy gentleman inquired after Colonel ----. Judging that my host's
caution, as to secrecy, was only intended to apply to his daughters, I
made no scruple of relating what I had heard. My auditors were at once
more than interested--anxious. Whenever a negro breaks bounds in the
South, everybody is on the alert, a self-constituted detective, judge,
inquisitor, and possible executioner. Eternal vigilance is the price
of--slavery!

'That boy born on the plantation?' asked the clergyman, when the affair
had been discussed at considerable length.

'Yes! He's a valuable hand, too; I've known him pick seven