ng the pail of water when they
entered. He came forward, and taking the poor fellow by the shoulders,
this beast in human form cried out, "Get up now, ye miserable thief,
ye." The poor fellow made a struggle, but as the black man raised his
head-which seemed to hang as a dead weight-exhaustion had left him
without strength, and he fell back among the bloody shavings like a
mutilated mass of lifeless flesh.

"None of your humbugging; yer worth a dozen dead niggers anyhow," said
he, taking up the pail of water and throwing nearly half of it over him;
then passing the bucket to the black man and ordering him to get more
water and wash him down; then to get some saltpetre and a sponge to sop
his flesh.

"Well," said the colonel, "I have seen a good deal of cruelty to slaves,
but this is the most beastly I have ever beheld. If you don't send for
a doctor at once, I shall report you. That man will die, to a moral
certainty. Now, you may depend upon what I say-if that man dies, you'll
feel the consequences, and I shall watch you closely."

"Sure I always takes care of me own niggers, an' it's himself that won't
be asked to do a stroke of work for a week, but have the same to git
well in," said the tyrant as the colonel and Captain were leaving.

"God be merciful to us, and spare us from the savages of mankind. That
scene, with its bloody accompaniment, will haunt me through life. Do
your laws allow such things?" said the Captain, evidently excited.

"To tell the truth, Captain," said the colonel, "our laws do not reach
them. These men own a few negroes, which, being property, they exercise
absolute control over; a negro's testimony being invalid, gives them an
unlimited power to abuse and inflict punishment; while, if a white man
attempts to report such things, the cry of 'abolitionist' is raised
against him, and so many stand ready to second the cry, that he must
have a peculiar position if he does not prejudice his own interests
and safety. I am sorry it is so; but it is too true, and while it
stigmatizes the system, it works against ourselves. The evil is in the
defects of the system, but the remedy is a problem with diverse and
intricate workings, which, I own, are beyond my comprehension to solve.
The reason why I spoke to you as I did when you cut the pinions from the
man's hands, was to give you a word of precaution. That is a bad man.
Negroes would rather be sold to a sugar plantation in Louisiana any
time than be