er, "It is a very fine
morning, sir." The latter took no notice, but kept looking out of the
window. Mr. Cray soon repeated this remark, in a little louder tone,
but my master remained as before. This indifference attracted the
attention of the passengers near, one of whom laughed out. This, I
suppose, annoyed the old gentleman; so he said, "I will make him hear;"
and in a loud tone of voice repeated, "It is a very fine morning, sir."

My master turned his head, and with a polite bow said, "Yes," and
commenced looking out of the window again.

One of the gentlemen remarked that it was a very great deprivation to
be deaf. "Yes," replied Mr. Cray, "and I shall not trouble that fellow
any more." This enabled my master to breathe a little easier, and to
feel that Mr. Cray was not his pursuer after all.

The gentlemen then turned the conversation upon the three great topics
of discussion in first-class circles in Georgia, namely, Niggers,
Cotton, and the Abolitionists.

My master had often heard of abolitionists, but in such a connection as
to cause him to think that they were a fearful kind of wild animal.
But he was highly delighted to learn, from the gentlemen's
conversation, that the abolitionists were persons who were opposed to
oppression; and therefore, in his opinion, not the lowest, but the very
highest, of God's creatures.

Without the slightest objection on my master's part, the gentlemen left
the carriage at Gordon, for Milledgeville (the capital of the State).

We arrived at Savannah early in the evening, and got into an omnibus,
which stopped at the hotel for the passengers to take tea. I stepped
into the house and brought my master something on a tray to the
omnibus, which took us in due time to the steamer, which was bound for
Charleston, South Carolina.

Soon after going on board, my master turned in; and as the captain and
some of the passengers seemed to think this strange, and also
questioned me respecting him, my master thought I had better get out
the flannels and opodeldoc which we had prepared for the rheumatism,
warm them quickly by the stove in the gentleman's saloon, and bring
them to his berth. We did this as an excuse for my master's retiring
to bed so early.

While at the stove one of the passengers said to me, "Buck, what have
you got there?" "Opodeldoc, sir," I replied. "I should think it's
opo-DEVIL," said a lanky swell, who was leaning back in a chair with
his heels upon