but soon returns--he looks, he sees the young woman
wipe away the silent tear that steals down her alabaster cheek; he
feels ashamed that he should gaze so unmanly on the blushing face of the
woman. As he turns upon his heel he takes out his white handkerchief and
wipes his eyes. It may be that he has lost a sister, a mother, or some
dear one to whom he was betrothed. Again he comes, and the quadroon
hides her face. She has heard that foreigners make bad masters, and she
shuns his piercing gaze. Again he goes away and then returns. He takes a
last look and then walks hurriedly off.

The day wears away, but long before the time of closing the sale
the tall young man once more enters the slave-pen. He looks in every
direction for the beautiful slave, but she is not there--she has been
sold! He goes to the trader and inquires, but he is too late, and he
therefore returns to his hotel.

Having entered a military school in Paris when quite young, and soon
after been sent with the French army to India, Antoine Devenant had
never dabbled in matters of love. He viewed all women from the same
stand-point--respected them for their virtues, and often spoke of the
goodness of heart of the sex, but never dreamed of taking to himself a
wife. The unequalled beauty of Clotelle had dazzled his eyes, and
every look that she gave was a dagger that went to his heart. He felt a
shortness of breath, his heart palpitated, his head grew dizzy, and his
limbs trembled; but he knew not its cause. This was the first stage of
"love at first sight."

He who bows to the shrine of beauty when beckoned by this mysterious
agent seldom regrets it. Devenant reproached himself for not having made
inquiries concerning the girl before he left the market in the morning.
His stay in the city was to be short, and the yellow fever was raging,
which caused him to feel like making a still earlier departure. The
disease appeared in a form unusually severe and repulsive. It seized
its victims from amongst the most healthy of the citizens. The disorder
began in the brain by oppressive pain accompanied or followed by fever.
Fiery veins streaked the eye, the face was inflamed and dyed of a dark
dull red color; the ears from time to time rang painfully. Now mucous
secretions surcharged the tongue and took away the power of speech; now
the sick one spoke, but in speaking had foresight of death. When the
violence of the disease approached the heart, the gums were black