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Show 54 RTCHARD HURDTS. 1•avc cursed you with bitterness, I• ad you struck your brother with clinched hauds." "I came nigl1 it, mother. lie shook It is wl1ip over my head, and I dragged l1im from l1iS horse. I would at that moment have tramj)lcd him under my feet, Lut that the voice of Mary EasterLy arrested me. Sl•c came between us. Sl•c alone- I confess it, mothcr-s],c :done kept me from greater violence." "liM von bless l•cr! licnven bless the chance that brought 11er there! 0 Ricl,anlllurdis !-my son, my son !-wl•y will you not bear more patiently witl1 John? why will you not labor for my sake, Richard, if not for his and your own 1" Sl1c trembled as if palsied, while I rclatcU to her the ad,·eu~ t.urc of t he preceding day; and though schooled, as women in the new countries of the South and "\Vest arc very apt to be, against those emotions wl1ich overcome the keener sensibilities of the sex in very refined communities, yet I had never seen l1cr exhibit so much mental suffering before. S he tottered to a chair, at the conclusion of her speech, refusing my ofl'er to assist l1er, and, burying her face in l1er lmnds, wept without restraint, until suddenly aroused to consciousness Ly tl1e approaching footsteps of my father. l fe was a stern man, and gave little heed and no sympathy to such emotious for any cause. lie would lmvc been more ready to rebuke tlt:m to relieve them; and tlHtt feeling of shame which forbids us to show our sorrows to the unsympatl1izing, made her lw.sten to clear up her countc. nancc, and remove the traces of her suiferi11g, as he re-eutered the apartment. ""\Veil, Richard," he said, throwing down a handkerchief of s ilver dollars-a more profuse collection than is readily to be met with in tl1e same region now- 11 l10re is your money; half in SIJCcie, half in paper. It is all your own; count it for yourself, and teH me if' it's right.'' 10 I'm satisfied if you lwvc counted it, sir; there's no usc in counting it again." "'rhat's as you think prop<'r, my son; yet I shnll be better satisfied if you will count it." I did so to please ldm, declared myself content, and put the money aside. 'l'his done, I proceeded to put up my clothes, and get myself in readiness. Such matters took but little time, FAREWELL TO IIOliE. 55 Lowcver: tl1e last words form the cl1icf rmd most serious busi. ness in every dcp:nture. The fewer of tllem tl1c better. So my father tlwngl1t. His f:ucwcll and benediction were equally and almost morti(yiugly brief:- " \Vel!, Richard, since it must be so-if you will be obstinate -if you will go from where your breud has been so long buttered- wily, God send you to a land where y ou won't feel the want of tl1ose you Jea\'e, 1 trust, bowcnlr, to sec you return before long, and go Lack to tl1e old bu!liness." " Uctun1 I may, fnther, but not to tl1e old business," was my prompt reply; " 1 l1ave hnd enough of tlwt. If I am able to be nothing better than an overseer, :md to look after the slaves of otl1ers, tlJe sooner I am nothing the better." "You speak bravely now, Loy," said my father ; "but the best bird tlwt eYCl' crowed iu the moruing lws had l1is tail. feathers plucked before e,·ening. I_.ook to yourself~ my son; be prudent- keep a bright eye about you as you travel, and learn from me wlmt your OwH fortunes have not taught you yet, but what they 111ay soon enough teach you uulcss you take counsel {i·om cxpcriencc-tk1t tl10re is 110 cllickcn so scant of fleslJ, for which tl1ere is not some lmlf.starved hawk to whom Lis lean legs yield good picking. You lmvo not mucl1 money, but enough to lose, nnd qu ite enough for a sharper to win. 'l'nkc care of it. Should you ftnd it easily lost, come Lack, I say, and you can always find employment on the old terms." " I doubt it not, father-! doubt not to find the same tenus anywhere on my route from 1\Jarcngo to Yalo-bushn. 1'herc is no lack of employment when the pay is moderate and the work 11lcnty." "I can get hundreds ·who will take your place, Ricl1ard, for the same IJricc," said my father lmstily, and with no little disquiet. "And do wl111.t I hnve done, sir 1" lie did not answer the question, but walked to and fro for severn! moments in, silence, while I spoke with my mother. "And what about your own neg1·oes, Richard 1" llC again ab. ruptly addressed me. "Why, sir, you must work them as usual if you have no ob jectiona. I shall have no need of them for tho present.'' |