er slaves without the slightest provocation, and
seemed to take delight in inventing new tortures with which to punish
them. One night last winter, after having flogged one of her slaves
nearly to death, she returned to her room, and by some means the bedding
took fire, and the house was in flames before any one was awakened.
There was no one in the building at the time but the old woman and the
slaves, and although the latter might have saved their mistress, they
made no attempt to do so. Thus, after a frightful career of many years,
this hard-hearted woman died a most miserable death, unlamented by a
single person."

Clotelle wiped the tears from her eyes, as her father finished this
story, for, although Mrs. Miller had been her greatest enemy, she
regretted to learn that her end had been such a sad one.

"My peace of mind destroyed," resumed the father, "and broken down in
health, my physician advised me to travel, with the hope of recruiting
myself, and I sailed from New York two months ago."

Being brought up in America, and having all the prejudice against color
which characterizes his white fellow-countrymen, Mr. Linwood very much
regretted that his daughter, although herself tinctured with African
blood, should have married a black man, and he did not fail to express
to her his dislike of her husband's complexion.

"I married him," said Clotelle, "because I loved him. Why should the
white man be esteemed as better than the black? I find no difference in
men on account of their complexion. One of the cardinal principles of
Christianity and freedom is the equality and brotherhood of man."

Every day Mr. Linwood became more and more familiar with Jerome, and
eventually they were on the most intimate terms.

Fifteen days from the time that Clotelle was introduced into her
father's room, they left Ferney for Geneva. Many were the excursions
Clotelle made under the shadows of Mont Blanc, and with her husband
and father for companions; she was now in the enjoyment of pleasures
hitherto unknown.

CHAPTER XXXV. THE FATHER'S RESOLVE

AWARE that her father was still a slave-owner, Clotelle determined to
use all her persuasive power to induce him to set them free, and in this
effort she found a substantial supporter in her husband.

"I have always treated my slaves well," said Mr. Linwood to Jerome, as
the latter expressed his abhorrence of the system; "and my neighbors,
too, are generally good men; for sl