Eva, do you like to go? Come, stay at home and play with me ?Thank you, papa; but I?d rather go to church ?Isn?t it dreadful tiresome?? said St ?I think it is tiresome, some,? said Eva, ?and I am sleepy, too, but I try to keep awake ?What do you go for, then?? ?Why, you know, papa,? she said, in a whisper, ?cousin told me that God wants to have us; and he gives us everything, you know; and it isn?t much to do it, if he wants us toIt isn?t so very tiresome after all ?You sweet, little obliging soul!? said StClare, kissing her; ?go along, that?s a good girl, and pray for me ?Certainly, I always do,? said the child, as she sprang after her mother into the carriageClare stood on the steps and kissed his hand to her, as the carriage drove away; large tears were in his eyes ?O, Evangeline! rightly named,? he said; ?hath not God made thee an evangel to me?? So he felt a moment; and then he smoked a cigar, and read the Picayune, and forgot his little gospelWas he much unlike other folks? ?You see, Evangeline,? said her mother, ?it?s always right and proper to be kind to servants, but it isn?t proper to treat them just as we would our relations, or people in our own class of lifeNow, if Mammy was sick, you wouldn?t want to put her in your own bed ?I should feel just like it, mamma,? said Eva, ?because then it would be handier to take care of her, and because, you know, my bed is better than hers Marie was in utter despair at the entire want of moral perception evinced in this reply ?What can I do to make this child understand me?? she said ?Nothing,? said Miss Ophelia, significantly Eva looked sorry and disconcerted for a moment; but children, luckily, do not keep to one impression long, and in a few moments she was merrily laughing at various things which she saw from the coach-windows, as it rattled along * * * * * * ?Well, ladies,? said StClare, as they were comfortably seated at the dinner-table, ?and what was the bill of fare at church today?? ?O, DrG??preached a splendid sermon,? said Marie?It was just such a sermon as you ought to hear; it expressed all my views exactly ?It must have been very improving,? said St?The subject must have been an extensive one ?Well, I mean all my views about society, and such things,? said Marie?The text was, ?He hath made everything beautiful in its season;? and he showed how all the orders and distinctions in society came from God; and that it was so appropriate, you know, and beautiful, that some should be high and some low, and that some were born to rule and some to serve, and all that, you know; and he applied it so well to all this ridiculous fuss that is made about slavery, and he proved distinctly that the Bible was on our side, and supported all our institutions so convincinglyI only wish you?d heard him ?O, I didn?t need it,? said St?I can learn what does me as much good as that from the Picayune, any time, and smoke a cigar besides; which I can?t do, you know, in a church ?Why,? said Miss Ophelia, ?don?t you believe in these views?? ?Who,?I? You know I?m such a graceless dog that these religious aspects of such subjects don?t edify me muchIf I was to say anything on this slavery matter, I would say out, fair and square, ?We?re in for it; we?ve got ?em, and mean to keep ?em,?it?s for our convenience and our interest;? for that?s the long and short of it,?that?s just the whole of what all this sanctified stuff amounts to, after all; and I think that it will be intelligible to everybody, everywhere ?I do think, Augustine, you are so irreverent!? said Marie?I think it?s shocking to hear you talk ?Shocking! it?s the truthThis religious talk on such matters,?why don?t they carry it a little further, and show the beauty, in its season, of a fellow?s taking a glass too much, and sitting a little too late over his cards, and various providential arrangements of that sort, which are pretty frequent among us young men;?we?d like to hear that those are right and godly, too ?Well,? said Miss Ophelia, ?do you think slavery right or wrong?? I?m not going to have any of your horrid New England directness, cousin,? said St?If I answer that question, I know you?ll be at me with half a dozen others, each one harder than the last; and I?m not a going to define my positionI am one of the sort that lives by throwing stones at other people?s glass houses, but I never mean to put up one for them to stone ?That?s just the way he?s always talking,? said Marie; ?you can?t get any satisfaction out of himI believe it?s just because he don?t like religion, that he?s always running out in this way he?s been shop doing

The Professor watched me critically"That will do," he said"Already?" I remonstrated"You took a great deal more from Art To which he smiled a sad sort of smile as he replied, "He is her lover, her fianceYou have work, much work to do for her and for others, and the present will suffice When we stopped the operation, he attended to Lucy, whilst I applied digital pressure to my own incisionI laid down, while I waited his leisure to attend to me, for I felt faint and a little sickBy and by he bound up my wound, and sent me downstairs to get a glass of wine for myselfAs I was leaving the room, he came after me, and half whispered "Mind, nothing must be said of thisIf our young lover should turn up unexpected, as before, no word to himIt would at once frighten him and enjealous him, tooSo!" When I came back he looked at me carefully, and then said, "You are not much the worseGo into the room, and lie on your sofa, and rest awhile, then have much breakfast and come here to me I followed out his orders, for I knew how right and wise they wereI had done my part, and now my next duty was to keep up my strengthI felt very weak, and in the weakness lost something of the amazement at what had occurredI fell asleep on the sofa, however, wondering over and over again how Lucy had made such a retrograde movement, and how she could have been drained of so much blood with no sign any where to show for itI think I must have continued my wonder in my dreams, for, sleeping and waking my thoughts always came back to the little punctures in her throat and the ragged, exhausted appearance of their edges, tiny though they were Lucy slept well into the day, and when she woke she was fairly well and strong, though not nearly so much so as the day beforeWhen Van Helsing had seen her, he went out for a walk, leaving me in charge, with strict injunctions that I was not to leave her for a momentI could hear his voice in the hall, asking the way to the nearest telegraph office Lucy chatted with me freely, and seemed quite unconscious that anything had happenedI tried to keep her amused and interestedWhen her mother came up to see her, she did not seem to notice any change whatever, but said to me gratefully, "We owe you so much, DrSeward, for all you have done, but you really must now take care not to overwork yourselfYou are looking pale yourselfYou want a wife to nurse and look after you a bit, that you do!" As she spoke, Lucy turned crimson, though it was only momentarily, for her poor wasted veins could not stand for long an unwonted drain to the headThe reaction came in excessive pallor as she turned imploring eyes on meI smiled and nodded, and laid my finger on my lipsWith a sigh, she sank back amid her pillows Van Helsing returned in a couple of hours, and presently said to me: "Now you go home, and eat much and drink enoughI stay here tonight, and I shall sit up with little miss myselfYou and I must watch the case, and we must have none other to knowDo not fear to think even the most not-improbable In the hall two of the maids came to me, and asked if they or either of them might not sit up with Miss LucyThey implored me to let them, and when I said it was DrVan Helsing's wish that either he or I should sit up, they asked me quite piteously to intercede with the 'foreign gentleman'I was much touched by their shop kindness

During that period,?being much trusted and favored by his employer,?he had free liberty to come and go at discretionThe marriage was highly approved of by MrsShelby, who, with a little womanly complacency in match-making, felt pleased to unite her handsome favorite with one of her own class who seemed in every way suited to her; and so they were married in her mistress? great parlor, and her mistress herself adorned the bride?s beautiful hair with orange-blossoms, and threw over it the bridal veil, which certainly could scarce have rested on a fairer head; and there was no lack of white gloves, and cake and wine,?of admiring guests to praise the bride?s beauty, and her mistress? indulgence and liberalityFor a year or two Eliza saw her husband frequently, and there was nothing to interrupt their happiness, except the loss of two infant children, to whom she was passionately attached, and whom she mourned with a grief so intense as to call for gentle remonstrance from her mistress, who sought, with maternal anxiety, to direct her naturally passionate feelings within the bounds of reason and religion After the birth of little Harry, however, she had gradually become tranquillized and settled; and every bleeding tie and throbbing nerve, once more entwined with that little life, seemed to become sound and healthful, and Eliza was a happy woman up to the time that her husband was rudely torn from his kind employer, and brought under the iron sway of his legal owner The manufacturer, true to his word, visited MrHarris a week or two after George had been taken away, when, as he hoped, the heat of the occasion had passed away, and tried every possible inducement to lead him to restore him to his former employment ?You needn?t trouble yourself to talk any longer,? said he, doggedly; ?I know my own business, sir ?I did not presume to interfere with it, sirI only thought that you might think it for your interest to let your man to us on the terms proposed ?O, I understand the matter well enoughI saw your winking and whispering, the day I took him out of the factory; but you don?t come it over me that wayIt?s a free country, sir; the man?s mine, and I do what I please with him,?that?s it!? And so fell George?s last hope;?nothing before him but a life of toil and drudgery, rendered more bitter by every little smarting vexation and indignity which tyrannical ingenuity could devise A very humane jurist once said, The worst use you can put a man to is to hang himNo; there is another use that a man can be put to that is WORSE! 1 A machine of this description was really the invention of a young colored man in Kentucky Chapter 3 The Husband and Father MrsShelby had gone on her visit, and Eliza stood in the verandah, rather dejectedly looking after the retreating carriage, when a hand was laid on her shoulderShe turned, and a bright smile lighted up her fine eyes ?George, is it you? How you frightened me! Well; I am so glad you ?s come! Missis is gone to spend the afternoon; so come into my little room, and we?ll have the time all to ourselves Saying this, she drew him into a neat little apartment opening on the verandah, where she generally sat at her sewing, within call of her mistress ?How glad I am!?why don?t you smile??and look at Harry?how he grows The boy stood shyly regarding his father through his curls, holding close to the skirts of his mother?s dress?Isn?t he beautiful?? said Eliza, lifting his long curls and kissing him ?I wish he?d never been born!? said George, bitterly?I wish I?d never been born myself!? Surprised and frightened, Eliza sat down, leaned her head on her husband?s shoulder, and burst into tears ?There now, Eliza, it?s too bad for me to make you feel so, poor girl!? said he, fondly; ?it?s too bad: O, how I wish you never had seen me?you might have been happy!? ?George! George! how can you talk so? What dreadful thing has happened, or is going to happen? I?m sure we?ve been very happy, till lately ?So we have, dear,? said GeorgeThen drawing his child on his knee, he gazed intently on his glorious dark eyes, and passed his hands through his long curls ?Just like you, Eliza; and you are the handsomest woman I ever saw, and the best one I ever wish to see; but, oh, I wish I?d never seen you, nor you me!? ?O, George, how can you!? ?Yes, Eliza, it?s all misery, misery, misery! My life is bitter as wormwood; the very life is burning out of meI?m a poor, miserable, forlorn drudge; I shall only drag you down with me, that?s allWhat?s the use of our trying to do anything, trying to know anything, trying to be anything? What?s the use of living? I wish I was dead!? ?O, now, dear George, that is really wicked! I know how you feel about losing your place in the factory, and you have a hard master; but pray be patient, and perhaps something?? ?Patient!? said he, interrupting her; ?haven?t I been patient? Did I say a word when he came and took me away, for no earthly reason, from the place where everybody was kind to me? I?d paid him truly every cent of my earnings,?and they all say I worked well ?Well, it is dreadful,? said Eliza; ?but, after all, he is your master, you know ?My master! and who made him my master? That?s what I think of?what right has he to me? I?m a man as much as he isI?m a better man than he isI know more about business than he does; I am a better manager than he is; I can read better than he can; I can write a better hand,?and I?ve learned it all myself, and no thanks to him,?I?ve learned it in spite of him; and now what right has he to make a dray-horse of me??to take me from things I can do, and do better than he can, and put me to work that any horse can do? He tries to do it; he says he?ll bring me down and humble me, and he puts me to just the hardest, meanest and dirtiest work, on purpose!? ?O, George! George! you frighten me! Why, I never heard you talk so; I?m afraid you?ll do something dreadfulI don?t wonder at your feelings, at all; but oh, do be careful?do, do?for my sake?for Harry?s!? ?I have been careful, and I have been patient, but it?s growing worse and worse; flesh and blood can?t bear it any longer;?every chance he can get to insult and torment me, he takesI thought I could do my work well, and keep on quiet, and have some time to read and learn out of work hours; but the more he see I can do, the more he loads onHe says that though I don?t say anything, he sees I?ve got the devil in me, and he means to bring it out; and one of these days it will come out in a way that he won?t like, or I?m mistaken!? ?O dear! what shall we do?? said Eliza, mournfully ?It was only yesterday,? said George, ?as I was busy loading stones into a cart, that young Mas?r Tom stood there, slashing his whip so near the horse that the creature was frightenedI asked him to stop, as pleasant as I could,?he just kept right shop on

When Van Helsing had seen her, he went out for a walk, leaving me in charge, with strict injunctions that I was not to leave her for a momentI could hear his voice in the hall, asking the way to the nearest telegraph office Lucy chatted with me freely, and seemed quite unconscious that anything had happenedI tried to keep her amused and interestedWhen her mother came up to see her, she did not seem to notice any change whatever, but said to me gratefully, "We owe you so much, DrSeward, for all you have done, but you really must now take care not to overwork yourselfYou are looking pale yourselfYou want a wife to nurse and look after you a bit, that you do!" As she spoke, Lucy turned crimson, though it was only momentarily, for her poor wasted veins could not stand for long an unwonted drain to the headThe reaction came in excessive pallor as she turned imploring eyes on meI smiled and nodded, and laid my finger on my lipsWith a sigh, she sank back amid her pillows Van Helsing returned in a couple of hours, and presently said to me: "Now you go home, and eat much and drink enoughI stay here tonight, and I shall sit up with little miss myselfYou and I must watch the case, and we must have none other to knowDo not fear to think even the most not-improbable In the hall two of the maids came to me, and asked if they or either of them might not sit up with Miss LucyThey implored me to let them, and when I said it was DrVan Helsing's wish that either he or I should sit up, they asked me quite piteously to intercede with the 'foreign gentleman'I was much touched by their kindnessPerhaps it is because I am weak at present, and perhaps because it was on Lucy's account, that their devotion was manifestedFor over and over again have I seen similar instances of woman's kindnessI got back here in time for a late dinner, went my rounds, all well, and set this down whilst waiting for sleep-This afternoon I went over to HillinghamFound Van Helsing in excellent spirits, and Lucy much betterShortly after I had arrived, a big parcel from abroad came for the ProfessorHe opened it with much impressment, assumed, of course, and showed a great bundle of white flowers "These are for you, Miss Lucy," he saidVan Helsing!" "Yes, my dear, but not for you to play with Here Lucy made a wry face"Nay, but they are not to take in a decoction or in nauseous form, so you need not snub that so charming nose, or I shall point out to my friend Arthur what woes he may have to endure in seeing so much beauty that he so loves so much distortAha, my pretty miss, that bring the so nice nose all straight againThis is medicinal, but you do not know howI put him in your window, I make pretty wreath, and hang him round your neck, so you sleep wellOh, yes! They, like the lotus flower, make your trouble forgottenIt smell so like the waters of Lethe, and of that fountain of youth that the Conquistadores sought for in the Floridas, and find him all too late Whilst he was speaking, Lucy had been examining the flowers and smelling themNow she threw them down saying, with half laughter, and half disgust, "Oh, Professor, I believe you are only putting up a joke on meWhy, these flowers are only common garlic To my surprise, Van Helsing rose up and said with all his sternness, his iron jaw set and his bushy eyebrows meeting, "No trifling with me! I never jest! There is grim purpose in what I do, and I warn you that you do not thwart meTake care, for the sake of others if not for your shop own

?Is God Here?? Ah, how is it possible for the untaught heart to keep its faith, unswerving, in the face of dire misrule, and palpable, unrebuked injustice? In that simple heart waged a fierce conflict; the crushing sense of wrong, the foreshadowing, of a whole life of future misery, the wreck of all past hopes, mournfully tossing in the soul?s sight, like dead corpses of wife, and child, and friend, rising from the dark wave, and surging in the face of the half-drowned mariner! Ah, was it easy here to believe and hold fast the great password of Christian faith, that ?God IS, and is the REWARDER of them that diligently seek Him?? Tom rose, disconsolate, and stumbled into the cabin that had been allotted to himThe floor was already strewn with weary sleepers, and the foul air of the place almost repelled him; but the heavy night-dews were chill, and his limbs weary, and, wrapping about him a tattered blanket, which formed his only bed-clothing, he stretched himself in the straw and fell asleep In dreams, a gentle voice came over his ear; he was sitting on the mossy seat in the garden by Lake Pontchartrain, and Eva, with her serious eyes bent downward, was reading to him from the Bible; and he heard her read ?When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour Gradually the words seemed to melt and fade, as in a divine music; the child raised her deep eyes, and fixed them lovingly on him, and rays of warmth and comfort seemed to go from them to his heart; and, as if wafted on the music, she seemed to rise on shining wings, from which flakes and spangles of gold fell off like stars, and she was goneWas it a dream? Let it pass for oneBut who shall say that that sweet young spirit, which in life so yearned to comfort and console the distressed, was forbidden of God to assume this ministry after death? It is a beautiful belief, That ever round our head Are hovering, on angel wings, The spirits of the dead 2 ?Jerusalem, my happy home,? anonymous hymn dating from the latter part of the sixteenth century, sung to the tune of ?St Words derive from StAugustine?s Meditations Chapter 33 Cassy ?And behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter4:1 It took but a short time to familiarize Tom with all that was to be hoped or feared in his new way of lifeHe was an expert and efficient workman in whatever he undertook; and was, both from habit and principle, prompt and faithfulQuiet and peaceable in his disposition, he hoped, by unremitting diligence, to avert from himself at least a portion of the evils of his conditionHe saw enough of abuse and misery to make him sick and weary; but he determined to toil on, with religious patience, committing himself to Him that judgeth righteously, not without hope that some way of escape might yet be opened to him Legree took a silent note of Tom?s availabilityHe rated him as a first-class hand; and yet he felt a secret dislike to him,?the native antipathy of bad to goodHe saw, plainly, that when, as was often the case, his violence and brutality fell on the helpless, Tom took notice of it; for, so subtle is the atmosphere of opinion, that it will make itself felt, without words; and the opinion even of a slave may annoy a masterTom in various ways manifested a tenderness of feeling, a commiseration for his fellow-sufferers, strange and new to them, which was watched with a jealous eye by LegreeHe had purchased Tom with a view of eventually making him a sort of overseer, with whom he might, at times, intrust his affairs, in short absences; and, in his view, the first, second, and third requisite for that place, was hardnessLegree made up his mind, that, as Tom was not hard to his hand, he would harden him forthwith; and some few weeks after Tom had been on the place, he determined to commence the process One morning, when the hands were mustered for the field, Tom noticed, with surprise, a new comer among them, whose appearance excited his attentionIt was a woman, tall and slenderly formed, with remarkably delicate hands and feet, and dressed in neat and respectable garmentsBy the appearance of her face, she might have been between thirty-five and forty; and it was a face that, once seen, could never be forgotten,?one of those that, at a glance, seem to convey to us an idea of a wild, painful, and romantic historyHer forehead was high, and her eyebrows marked with beautiful clearnessHer straight, well-formed nose, her finely-cut mouth, and the graceful contour of her head and neck, showed that she must once have been beautiful; but her face was deeply wrinkled with lines of pain, and of proud and bitter enduranceHer complexion was sallow and unhealthy, her cheeks thin, her features sharp, and her whole form emaciatedBut her eye was the most remarkable feature,?so large, so heavily black, overshadowed by long lashes of equal darkness, and so wildly, mournfully despairingThere was a fierce pride and defiance in every line of her face, in every curve of the flexible lip, in every motion of her body; but in her eye was a deep, settled night of anguish,?an expression so hopeless and unchanging as to contrast fearfully with the scorn and pride expressed by her whole demeanor Where she came from, or who she was, Tom did not knowThe first he did know, she was walking by his side, erect and proud, in the dim gray of the dawnTo the gang, however, she was known; for there was much looking and turning of heads, and a smothered yet apparent exultation among the miserable, ragged, half-starved creatures by whom she was surrounded ?Got to come to it, at last,?grad of it!? said one ?He! he! he!? said another; ?you?ll know how good it is, Misse!? ?We?ll see her work!? ?Wonder if she?ll get a cutting up, at night, like the rest of us!? ?I?d be glad to see her down for a flogging, I?ll bound!? said another The woman took no notice of these taunts, but walked on, with the same expression of angry scorn, as if she heard nothingTom had always lived among refined, and cultivated people, and he felt intuitively, from her air and bearing, that she belonged to that class; but how or why she could be fallen to those degrading circumstances, he could not tellThe women neither looked at him nor spoke to him, though, all the way to the field, she kept close at his side Tom was soon busy at his work; but, as the woman was at no great distance from him, he often glanced an eye to her, at her workHe saw, at a glance, that a native adroitness and handiness made the task to her an easier one than it proved to manyShe picked very fast and very clean, and with an air of scorn, as if she despised both the work and the disgrace and humiliation of the circumstances in which she was shop placed