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Show 14G UNCLE TOM' S CABIN: Olt, muddy wn.YCS of cYcry-dny life j and up came the everlasting hard inquiry of '' \Vhat is to be done next 'J" It rose to the mind of 'Marie, as, dressed in loose morning- robes, and surroundetl by anxious servants, she sat up in a great easy-chair, and inspected samples of crape and bombazine. It r ose to :L\Iiss Ophelia, who began to tum her thOughts townrds her northern home. It rose, in silent terrors, to the minds of the servants, who well knew the unfeeling, tyrannical character of tho mistress in whose hands they wore left. All know, very well, that the indulgences which had been accorded to them were not from their mistress, but from their master; and that, now he was gone, there would be no screen between them and every tyrannous infliction which n. temper soured by afHiction might devise. It was about a. fortnight after tho funeral, that :Miss Ophelia, busied one da.y in her apartment, heard a. gentle tap at the door. She opened it, and there stood Rosa, the pretty young quadroon, whom we have before often noticeU, her hair in disorUcr, and her eyes swelled with crying. no, :Miss Feely," she said, falling on her knees, and catching the skirt of her dress, "do, do go to lVIiss ~fa ric for me! do plead for me ! She 's goin' to send me out to be whipped,- look there! " And she handed to Miss Ophelia a paper. It was an order, written in 1\iaric's delicate Italian hand, to the master of a whipping-establishment, to give the bearer fifteen lashes. · "What hove you been doing?" sai~ Miss Ophelia. . ,"You know, :Miss Feely, I 'vo got such a bad temper; 1t s very bad of me. I wns trying on l\liss :Marie's dress, and she slapped my face; and I spoke out before I thought, and was saucy; and she said that she 'd bring me down, and LIFE AMONG TilE LOWLY. 147 have mo know, once for all, that I wasn't going to he so topping "'' I had been; and she wrote this, and says I shall carry it. I 'd rather she'd kill me, right out." Miss Ophelia stood considering, with tho paper in her hand. "You sec, l\iiss Feely," said Rosa, "I don't mind the whipping so much, if :Miss :Marie or you wo.s to do it; but, to be sent to a rnan! and such a horrid man,- the sho.mo of it, l\'liss Feely! " :Miss Ophelia well knew that it was the universal custom to send women and young girls to whipping-houses, to the hands of the lowest of men,-mcn vile enough to make this their profession,- there to be subjected to brutal expos me and shameful correction. She had kuou;n it before; but hitherto she had never realized it, till she saw the slender form of Rosa almost convulsed with distress. All the honest blood of womanhood, the strong New England blood of liberty, flushed to her checks, and throbbed bitterly in her indignant heart; but, with habitual prudence and self-control, she mastered herself, and, crushing the paper firmly in her hand, she merely said to Rosa, " Sit down, child, while I go to your mistress." n Shameful ! monstrous ! outrageous! " she said to herself, as she was crossing the parlor. She found Marie sitting up in her easy-chair, with Mammy standing by her, combing her hair; Jane sat on the ground before her, busy in chafing her feet. "!low do you find yourself, to-day?" said Miss Ophelia . A deep sigh, and a closing of the eyes, was the only reply, for a moment; and then l\farie answered, "0, I don't know, Cousin; I suppose I 'm as well as I ever shall be ! " and |
