for? I never knew any mischief in my life, that a woman was'nt at the bottom of it. It's that tattling babbler, widow Hinkley, that brought colonel Moore and the rest of 'em over here yesterday; — curse the envious old jade, she wants to drive me out of the neighborhood, and get all the custom for herself."
I knew that Mr Gordon had no turn for sentiment, and that it would be casting pearls before swine's feet to waste any upon him. So I told him it was too late to talk about our reasons for running away, — run away we had, — and the only thing now was, to avoid being taken.
"Ay, ay, boy, I understand you. It's a damned silly business, and you begin to be ashamed of it already. You had better make up your minds now to go in, take your whippings, and make the best of it. It's the loss of the wench that colonel Moore is most angry about; and I dare say, if you were to go in, Archy, and make a merit of telling where he could find her, you might get off mighty easy, and shift all the blame upon her shoulders."
I concealed the indignation which this base proposal excited. Such treachery to one another is too common among slaves, and is always promoted and rewarded by the masters. I could not expect Mr Gordon to rise very far above the level of current morals. So I passed by his. proposal in silence. I only said, that I had made up my mind to undergo any thing rather than return to Spring-Meadow. If he was resolved not to assist me, I would be off, as soon as possible, trusting to his honor, to say nothing about this visit. As a last resource, I hinted that I had the money to pay for all I wanted, and that I should not dispute about the price.
Whether it was this last hint, or some more generous motive, or the combined effect of both, I shall not undertake to determine; but certain it is, that Mr Gordon began to exhibit a more favorable disposition.
"As to money, Archy, between friends like us, there is no need of speaking about that. And if you will have your own way, considering what has happened between us, 'twould be mighty unkind in me not to let you have the things you're wantings But you'll never get off — mind
