. Our information is from the man who did his
master's bidding--poured the water--and dared not say, "Good massa,
spare poor Jacob." We visited the place about a month afterward, on
a pretext of examining the basement of the building, and saw the
unmistakable evidences of civilized torture yet remaining in the ground
and upon the shavings that were scattered around.

"Captain, you must not judge the institution of slavery by what you
saw there; that is only one of those isolated cases so injurious in
themselves, but for which the general character of the institution
should not be held answerable," said the colonel.

"A system so imperfect should be revised, lest innocent men be made to
suffer its wrongs," said the Captain.

They continued their walk through several very pretty parts of the city,
where fine flowering gardens and well-trimmed hedges were nicely laid
out; these, however, were not the habitations of the "old families."
They occupied parts of the city designated by massive-looking old
mansions, exhibiting an antiqueness and mixed architecture, with
dilapidated court-yards and weather-stained walls, showing how steadfast
was the work of decay.

The colonel pointed out the many military advantages of the city, which
would be used against Uncle Sam if he meddled with South Carolina. He
spoke of them ironically, for he was not possessed of the secession
monomania. He had been a personal friend of Mr. Calhoun, and knew his
abstractions. He knew Mr. McDuffie; Hamilton, (the transcendant, of
South Carolina fame;) Butler, of good component parts-eloquent, but
moved by fancied wrongs; Rhett, renouncer of that vulgar name of Smith,
who hated man because he spoke, yet would not fight because he feared
his God; and betwixt them, a host of worthies who made revenge a motto;
and last, but not least, great Quattlebum, whose strength and
spirit knows no bound, and brought the champion Commander, with his
enthusiastic devotion, to lead unfaltering forlorn hopes. But he knew
there was deception in the political dealings of this circle of great
names.

Returning to the market, they took a social glass at Baker's, where the
colonel took leave of the Captain; and the latter, intending to repair
to his vessel, followed the course of the market almost to its lowest
extreme. In one of the most public places of the market, the Captain's
attention was attracted by a singular object of mechanism. It seemed
so undefined in its ap