bt she will," rejoined Mr. Garie; and he immediately entered the
house to announce the intended visit. The lamps were not lighted when Mrs.
Stevens was introduced, and faces could not, therefore, be clearly
distinguished.

"My dear," said Mr. Garie, "this is our neighbour, Mrs. Stevens."

"Will you excuse me for not rising?" said Mrs. Garie, extending her hand to
her visitor. "I have been quite ill, or I should have been most happy to
have received you before. My little folks are in your house a great deal--I
hope you do not find them troublesome."

"Oh, by no means! I quite dote on your little Emily, she is such a sweet
child--so very affectionate. It is a great comfort to have such a child
near for my own to associate with--they have got quite intimate, as I hope
we soon shall be."

Mrs. Garie thanked her for the kindness implied in the wish, and said she
trusted they should be so.

"And how do you like your house?" asked Mrs. Stevens; "it is on the same
plan as ours, and we find ours very convenient. They both formerly belonged
to Walters; my husband purchased of him. Do you intend to buy?"

"It is very probable we shall, if we continue to like Philadelphia,"
answered Mr. Garie.

"I'm delighted to hear that," rejoined she--"very glad, indeed. It quite
relieves my mind about one thing: ever since Mr. Stevens purchased our
house we have been tormented with the suspicion that Walters would put a
family of niggers in this; and if there is one thing in this world I detest
more than another, it is coloured people, I think."

Mr. Garie here interrupted her by making some remark quite foreign to the
subject, with the intention, no doubt, of drawing her off this topic. The
attempt was, however, an utter failure, for she continued--"I think all
those that are not slaves ought to be sent out of the country back to
Africa, where they belong: they are, without exception, the most ignorant,
idle, miserable set I ever saw."

"I think," said Mr. Garie, "I can show you at least one exception, and that
too without much trouble. Sarah," he cried, "bring me a light."

"Oh," said Mrs. Stevens, "I suppose you refer to Walters--it is true he is
an exception; but he is the only coloured person I ever saw that could make
the least pretension to anything like refinement or respectability.

"Let me show you another," said Mr. Garie, as he took the lamp from the
servant and placed it upon the table near his wife.

As the light fell