"Wal, you know, they may 'blige _me_, too," said the trader.
"Howsomever, I'll do the very best I can in gettin' Tom a good berth;
as to my treatin' on him bad, you needn't be a grain afeard. If there's
anything that I thank the Lord for, it is that I'm never noways cruel."

After the expositions which the trader had previously given of his
humane principles, Mr. Shelby did not feel particularly reassured by
these declarations; but, as they were the best comfort the case admitted
of, he allowed the trader to depart in silence, and betook himself to a
solitary cigar.



CHAPTER V

Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changing Owners


Mr. and Mrs. Shelby had retired to their apartment for the night. He was
lounging in a large easy-chair, looking over some letters that had come
in the afternoon mail, and she was standing before her mirror, brushing
out the complicated braids and curls in which Eliza had arranged her
hair; for, noticing her pale cheeks and haggard eyes, she had excused
her attendance that night, and ordered her to bed. The employment,
naturally enough, suggested her conversation with the girl in the
morning; and turning to her husband, she said, carelessly,

"By the by, Arthur, who was that low-bred fellow that you lugged in to
our dinner-table today?"